A new lever on exoplanetary B fields: measuring heavy ion velocities

TL;DR

This paper proposes a novel spectroscopic method to measure exoplanet magnetic fields by comparing velocities of heavy ions and neutral gas, providing new insights into planetary magnetic properties.

Contribution

It introduces a new technique using high-resolution spectroscopy of heavy ions to constrain magnetic field strengths in hot gas giant exoplanets, which was previously unfeasible.

Findings

Heavy ions show measurable velocity differences under magnetic influence.

A 10G magnetic field causes ~1 km/s velocity difference.

A 50G magnetic field causes ~20 km/s velocity difference.

Abstract

Magnetic fields connect an array of planetary processes, from atmospheric escape to interior convection. Despite their importance, exoplanet magnetic fields are largely unconstrained by both theory and observation. In this Letter, we propose a novel method for constraining the B field strength of hot gas giants: comparing the velocities of heavy ions and neutral gas with high-resolution spectroscopy. The core concept of this method is that ions are directly deflected by magnetic fields. While neutrals are also affected by B fields via friction with field-accelerated ions, ionic gas should be more strongly coupled to the underlying magnetic field than bulk neutral flow. Hence, measuring the difference between the two velocities yields rough constraints on the B field, provided an estimate of the stellar UV flux is known. We demonstrate that heavy ions are particularly well suited for this technique, because they are less likely to be entrained in complex hydrodynamic outflows than their lighter counterparts. We perform a proof-of-concept calculation with Ba II, an ion whose velocity has been repeatedly measured at high confidence with high-resolution spectroscopy. Our work shows that a 10G magnetic field would produce ~ km/s ion--neutral velocity differences at a microbar, whereas a 50G magnetic field would produce ~20km/s velocity difference. With new leverage on magnetic fields, we will be able to investigate magnetic field generation in the extreme edge cases of hot gas giants, with wide-ranging consequences for planetary interior structure, dynamo theory, and habitability.