JWST observations constraining the population of planets in debris disc systems with gaps

Combining the resolved observations of debris discs with ALMA and the enhanced sensitivity of JWST presents a unique opportunity to deepen our understanding of planetary systems. Over the past 5 years, ALMA has revealed substructures within debris discs, suggestive of planetary influence, yet the direct detection of these putative planets remains elusive. Now with JWST's advanced capabilities, we have an unprecedented opportunity to detect the population of planets at 10s of au currently inferred by ALMA.

While only three debris discs have shown gaps so far, we are becoming more aware that these gaps might be common. Similar to observations in our Solar System, the presence of gaps in debris components hints towards the presence of planets. These gaps could either be carved by planets in situ or by inner planets exercising secular resonances.

In this talk, I will present JWST Cycle 1 MIRI 11um observations targeting three known debris discs with gaps: HD107146, HD92945, HD206893. I will show how planet-disc interactions combined with astrometric accelerations allow us to constrain the population of planets in the inner regions of these systems, at the disc inner edge and in the gap location, ultimately evaluating the degenerate scenarios proposed as the origin of these gaps.