Super-Earth Atmospheres: Self-Consistent Gas Accretion and Retention

TL;DR

This paper models the processes of gas accretion and atmospheric loss in super-Earths, identifying conditions under which these planets can retain thick atmospheres, and matches theoretical predictions with observed exoplanet data.

Contribution

It provides a self-consistent analytical framework linking gas accretion, atmospheric evolution, and mass-loss processes in super-Earths, defining a 'Goldilocks' zone for their formation.

Findings

Super-Earth atmospheres shrink significantly after disk dispersal.

Planets must be massive and cold enough to retain atmospheres.

Low-density super-Earths are found within the predicted parameter space.

Abstract

Some recently discovered short-period Earth to Neptune sized exoplanets (super Earths) have low observed mean densities which can only be explained by voluminous gaseous atmospheres. Here, we study the conditions allowing the accretion and retention of such atmospheres. We self-consistently couple the nebular gas accretion onto rocky cores and the subsequent evolution of gas envelopes following the dispersal of the protoplanetary disk. Specifically, we address mass-loss due to both photo-evaporation and cooling of the planet. We find that planets shed their outer layers (dozens of percents in mass) following the disk's dispersal (even without photo-evaporation), and their atmospheres shrink in a few Myr to a thickness comparable to the radius of the underlying rocky core. At this stage, atmospheres containing less particles than the core (equivalently, lighter than a few % of the planet's mass) can be blown away by heat coming from the cooling core, while heavier atmospheres cool and contract on a timescale of Gyr at most. By relating the mass-loss timescale to the accretion time, we analytically identify a Goldilocks region in the mass-temperature plane in which low-density super Earths can be found: planets have to be massive and cold enough to accrete and retain their atmospheres, while not too massive or cold, such that they do not enter runaway accretion and become gas giants (Jupiters). We compare our results to the observed super-Earth population and find that low-density planets are indeed concentrated in the theoretically allowed region. Our analytical and intuitive model can be used to investigate possible super-Earth formation scenarios.