Radial velocity fiber-fed spectrographs towards the discovery of compact planets and pulsations on M stars

Abstract

This thesis is developed in the framework of the paradigm that seeks for the discovery of an Earth analog. Nowadays, low mass stars, and in particular M dwarf stars, are key targets towards achieving this goal. In this thesis, I focus on the study of the short-time domain of M dwarf stars with the aim of searching for short period planets, but also for the first detection of stellar pulsations on this spectral type. Both science goals are the primary objectives of the “Cool Tiny Beats” (CTB) survey, which has produced most of the data used in this thesis. CTB data consist in high-resolution and high-cadence spectroscopic Doppler measurements taken either with HARPS or HARPS-N spectrographs.