  The Gemini Planet (GPI) imager is an "extreme" adaptive optics system being
designed and built for the Gemini Observatory. GPI combines precise and
accurate wavefront control, diffraction suppression, and a speckle-suppressing
science camera with integral field and polarimetry capabilities. GPI's primary
science goal is the direct detection and characterization of young, Jovian-mass
exoplanets. For systems younger than 2 Gyr exoplanets more massive than 6 MJ
and semimajor axes beyond 10 AU are detected with completeness greater than
50%. GPI will also discover faint debris disks, explore icy moons and minor
planets in the solar system, reveal high dynamic range main-sequence binaries,
and study mass loss from evolved stars. This white paper explains the role of
GPI in exoplanet discovery and characterization and summarizes our
recommendations to the NSF-NASA-DOE Astronomy and Astrophysics Advisory
Committee ExoPlanet Task Force.
