Single-encounter escape velocity bound ($u>(\sqrt{2}-1)/2$)

For a particle initially having semimajor axis one and encountering a circular planet at radius one, the incoming stellar-frame speed is one. A conservative encounter at planet-relative speed $u$ changes the stellar-frame velocity by at most $2u$. Since stellar escape requires speed $\sqrt{2}$, a necessary bound is $u>(\sqrt{2}-1)/2$. Retaining the outgoing relative-velocity geometry sharpens the necessary bound to $u>\sqrt{2}-1$. Neither inequality by itself guarantees a realizable deflection at a specified impact parameter.