California-Kepler Survey (CKS). IV. Planets

We explore this connection by analyzing the metallicities of Kepler target stars and the subset of stars found to host transiting planets. After correcting for survey incompleteness, we measure planet occurrence: the number of planets per 100 stars with a given metallicity M. Planet occurrence correlates with metallicity for some, but not all, planet sizes and orbital periods.

For warm super-Earths having P=10-100 days and R_P_=1.0-1.7 R_{Earth}_, planet occurrence is nearly constant over metallicities spanning -0.4 to +0.4 dex. We find 20 warm super-Earths per 100 stars, regardless of metallicity. In contrast, the occurrence of warm sub-Neptunes (R_P_=1.7-4.0 R_{Earth}_) doubles over that same metallicity interval, from 20 to 40 planets per 100 stars.