Photoevaporative gravitational radius

ID: photoevaporative-gravitational-radius

The thermal binding scale defined by equating heated gas sound speed to circular Keplerian orbit speed. It is . The circular-orbit binding energy is per unit mass, while the gas specific enthalpy is of order . A heated disk surface at radii comparable to or larger than can therefore drive photoevaporation. The actual launching radius can differ by a factor of order unity; is not the ballistic escape speed.

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