Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2017 / iii / Paper 315 / 2 / a

In the collisionless exosphere, an atom escapes if its outward trajectory has positive total mechanical energy. Neglect tides and stellar forces and use Newtonian gravity at exobase radius $r_e$:With thermal speed $v_{\mathrm{th}}=\sqrt{2k_B{T}_e/m}$, the Jeans escape parameter isA thermal distribution always has an escaping tail; Jeans escape is exponentially suppressed for ${\lambda }_e\gg 1$, with Jeans escape flux proportional to $(1+{\lambda }_e)e^{-{\lambda }_e}$. Efficient escape requires ${\lambda }_e$ of order a few or smaller, with an order-unity energetic estimate $k_B{T}_e\sim G{M}_{p}m/r_e$.

Assume a Neptune-like mass and radius, $r_e\simeq R_p$, and atomic hydrogen. Using the supplied rounded constants givesHenceUsing the mean kinetic energy $3k_{B}T/2$ instead gives an order-unity coefficient and $T\simeq 2.3\times 10^4\mathrm{K}$. An expanded exobase has weaker binding and lowers the estimate by $R_p/r_e$. A comet-like tail can also be shaped by radiation pressure and stellar-wind interactions; it does not by itself measure $T_e$ or prove that a hydrostatic Jeans model is valid. At ${\lambda }_e\sim 1$, $H/r_e\sim 1$ and hydrostatic equilibrium fails as a global description: substantial mass loss must usually be treated as hydrodynamic atmospheric escape.

The exobase is defined by mean free path $\ell \sim H$, not by a universal pressure. For a neutral hydrostatic gas with collision cross-section ${\sigma }_c$,For example, explicitly assuming ${\sigma }_c\sim 10^{-19}\text{–}10^{-20}{\mathrm{m}}^2$ gives $P_e\sim 2\times 10^{-7}\text{–}2\times 10^{-6}\mathrm{Pa}$, or $2\times 10^{-12}\text{–}2\times 10^{-11}\mathrm{bar}$. These are representative extremely dilute neutral-exobase pressures, with orders of magnitude varying with composition, cross-sections and expansion. The supplied constants contain no collision information, so they cannot uniquely determine an exobase pressure; ionization or a non-hydrostatic density profile changes this estimate.

Three physically distinct mechanisms are as follows.

Thermal-tail escape, a bulk hydrodynamic wind, and nonthermal particle energization are three distinct channels; a detected tail need not distinguish them alone. Jeans escape and hydrodynamic atmospheric escape are both thermal mechanisms in the broad sense, but have different distribution functions and dynamical assumptions.