Physics of the atmospheric escape driven by EUV photoionization heating: Classification of the hydrodynamic escape in close-in planets

Abstract

Abstract The intense extreme ultraviolet radiation heats the upper atmosphere of close-in exoplanets and drives the atmospheric escape. The escaping process determines the planetary evolution of close-in planets. The mass loss rate depends on the UV flux at the planet. We introduce the relevant physical quantities which describe the dominant physics in the atmosphere. We find that the equilibrium temperature and the characteristic temperature determine whether the system becomes energy-limited or recombination-limited. We classify the observed close-in planets using the physical conditions. We also find that many of the Lyman-α absorptions detected planets receive intenser flux than the critical flux which can be determined from physical conditions. Our classification method can quantitatively reveal whether the EUV is not strong enough to drive the outflow or the Lyman- α absorption is not detected for some reason (e.g. stellar wind confinement). We also discuss the thermo-chemical structure of hydrodynamic simulations with the relevant physics.