Simulating the Escaping Atmosphere of GJ 436 b with Two-fluid Magnetohydrodynamic Models

TL;DR

This study uses a multi-fluid magnetohydrodynamic model to explore how magnetic fields influence the decoupling of ions and neutral atoms in the escaping atmospheres of hot Neptunes like GJ 436 b, revealing regional differences and heavier particle effects.

Contribution

It introduces a novel multi-fluid MHD simulation approach to study magnetic field effects on atmospheric escape, highlighting the decoupling behavior of ions and neutrals in exoplanet atmospheres.

Findings

Magnetic fields increase decoupling between H$^+$ and H.

Heavier particles like O show more pronounced decoupling.

Merging H and H$^+$ into a single flow may be valid under certain conditions.

Abstract

Observations of transmission spectra reveal that hot Jupiters and Neptunes are likely to possess escaping atmospheres driven by stellar radiation. Numerous models predict that magnetic fields may exert significant influences on the atmospheres of hot planets. Generally, the escaping atmospheres are not entirely ionized, and magnetic fields only directly affect the escape of ionized components within them. Considering the chemical reactions between ionized components and neutral atoms, as well as collision processes, magnetic fields indirectly impact the escape of neutral atoms, thereby influencing the detection signals of planetary atmospheres in transmission spectra. In order to simulate this process, we developed a magneto-hydrodynamic multi-fluid model based on MHD code PLUTO. As an initial exploration, we investigated the impact of magnetic fields on the decoupling of H$^+$ and H in the escaping atmosphere of the hot Neptune GJ436 b. Due to the strong resonant interactions between H and H$^+$, the coupling between them is tight even if the magnetic field is strong. Of course, alternatively, our work also suggests that merging H and H$^+$ into a single flow can be a reasonable assumption in MHD simulations of escaping atmospheres. However, our simulation results indicate that under the influence of magnetic fields, there are noticeable regional differences in the decoupling of H$^+$ and H. With the increase of magnetic field strength, the degree of decoupling also increases. For heavier particles such as O, the decoupling between O and H$^+$ is more pronounced. Our findings provide important insights for future studies on the decoupling processes of heavy atoms in the escaping atmospheres of hot Jupiters and hot Neptunes under the influence of magnetic fields.