Microlensing Searches for Extrasolar Planets: Current Status and Future Prospects

Abstract

I review results from, and future prospects for, microlensing searches for extrasolar planets. Analyses of well-sampled microlensing light curves by several collaborations have demonstrated that current searches are sensitive to Jupiter-mass planets with few AU separations from M-dwarfs in the Galactic bulge. To date, however, no unambiguous planetary detections have been made. Detailed analysis has shown that this null result implies that <33% of typical stars (i.e. M-dwarfs) in the Galactic bulge have Jupiter-mass companions with separations between 1.5 and 4 AU, and <45% have three-Jupiter-mass companions between 1 and 7 AU. The recent dramatic increase in the number of alerts per year will allow ongoing microlensing searches to probe companion fractions of a few percent within a few years.