Ionization and transport in partially ionized multicomponent plasmas: Application to atmospheres of hot Jupiters

Abstract

We study ionization and transport processes in partially ionized multicomponent plasmas. The plasma composition is calculated via a system of coupled mass action laws. The electronic transport properties are determined by the electron-ion and electron-neutral transport cross sections. The influence of electron-electron scattering is considered via a correction factor to the electron-ion contribution. Based on this data, the electrical and thermal conductivity as well as the Lorenz number are calculated. For the thermal conductivity, we consider also the contributions of the translational motion of neutral particles and of the dissociation, ionization, and recombination reactions. We apply our approach to a partially ionized plasma composed of hydrogen, helium, and a small fraction of metals (Li, Na, Ca, Fe, K, Rb, Cs) as typical for hot Jupiter atmospheres. We present results for the plasma composition and the transport properties as function of density and temperature and then along typical P-T profiles for the outer part of the hot Jupiter HD 209458b. The electrical conductivity profile allows revising the Ohmic heating power related to the fierce winds in the planet's atmosphere. We show that the higher temperatures suggested by recent interior models could boost the conductivity and thus the Ohmic heating power to values large enough to explain the observed inflation of HD 209458b.

References in corpus (12)

• On the radiative equilibrium of irradiated planetary atmospheres
• Line and Mean Opacities for Ultracool Dwarfs and Extrasolar Planets
• Protostar Formation in the Early Universe
• Can TiO Explain Thermal Inversions in the Upper Atmospheres of Irradiated Giant Planets?
• Inflating Hot Jupiters With Ohmic Dissipation
• Ab initio Equation of State data for hydrogen, helium, and water and the internal structure of Jupiter
• Constraints on Deep-seated Zonal Winds Inside Jupiter and Saturn
• The 4.5 $\mu$m full-orbit phase curve of the hot Jupiter HD 209458b
• Magnetic moment and plasma environment of HD 209458b as determined from Ly$\alpha$ observations
• Explaining Jupiter's magnetic field and equatorial jet dynamics
• Ohmic Dissipation in the Interiors of Hot Jupiters
• Ohmic Dissipation in Mini-Neptunes