An efficient Monte Carlo model for the slowing down of photoelectrons. Application to H-$\alpha$ in exoplanet atmospheres

TL;DR

This paper introduces an efficient Monte Carlo model to simulate photoelectron slowing down in planetary atmospheres, revealing their significant role in ionization and minor influence on excited hydrogen populations in exoplanet atmospheres.

Contribution

The paper presents a novel multi-score Monte Carlo model that efficiently handles rare collisional channels in photoelectron energy loss simulations for planetary atmospheres.

Findings

Photoelectrons dominate ionization at H-$eta$ line formation altitudes.

Photoelectron-driven excitation of H(2) is inefficient at line core pressures.

Photoelectrons have negligible effect on H(2) destruction but influence ionization processes.

Abstract

Photoelectrons, the fast electrons produced in the photoionization of planetary atmospheres, drive transformations in the atmospheric gas that are often inhibited by energy considerations for thermal electrons. The transformations include excitation and ionization of atoms and molecules, which affect the detectability of these gases and constrain the fraction of incident stellar radiation that transforms into heat. To gain insight into these important questions, we build a Monte Carlo model that solves the slowing down of photoelectrons in a gas with arbitrary amounts of H and He atoms and thermal electrons. Our novel multi-score scheme differs from similar tools in that it efficiently handles rare collisional channels, as in the case of low-abundance excited atoms that undergo superelastic and inelastic collisions. The model is validated and its performance demonstrated. Further, we investigate whether photoelectrons might affect the population of the excited hydrogen H(2) detected at some exoplanet atmospheres by transmission spectroscopy in the H-$\alpha$ line. For the ultra-hot Jupiter HAT-P-32b, we find that photoelectron-driven excitation of H(2) is inefficient at the pressures probed by the line core but becomes significant (yet sub-dominant) deeper in the atmosphere where the line wings form. The contribution of photoelectrons to the destruction of H(2) either by collisional deexcitation or ionization is entirely negligible, a conclusion likely to hold for exoplanet atmospheres at large. Importantly, photoelectrons dominate the gas ionization at the altitudes probed by the H-$\alpha$ line, a fact that will likely affect, even if indirectly, the population of H(2) and other tracers such as metastable helium. Future modeling of these excited levels should incorporate photoelectron-driven ionization.