To cool is to keep: residual H/He atmospheres of super-Earths and sub-Neptunes

ABSTRACT

Super-Earths and sub-Neptunes are commonly thought to have accreted hydrogen/helium envelopes, consisting of a few to ten percent of their total mass, from the primordial gas disc. Subsequently, hydrodynamic escape driven by core-powered mass-loss and/or photoevaporation likely stripped much of these primordial envelopes from the lower mass and closer-in planets to form the super-Earth population. In this work, we show that after undergoing core-powered mass-loss, some super-Earths can retain small residual H/He envelopes. This retention is possible because, for significantly depleted atmospheres, the density at the radiative–convective boundary drops sufficiently such that the cooling time-scale becomes shorter than the mass-loss time-scale. The residual envelope is therefore able to contract, terminating further mass-loss. Using analytic calculations and numerical simulations, we show that the mass of primordial H/He envelope retained as a fraction of the planet’s total mass, fret, increases with increasing planet mass, Mc, and decreases with increasing equilibrium temperature, Teq, scaling as $f_\mathrm{ret} \propto M_\mathrm{c}^{3/2} T_\mathrm{eq}^{-1/2} \exp {[M_\mathrm{c}^{3/4} T_\mathrm{eq}^{-1}]}$. fret varies from <10−8 to about 10−3 for typical super-Earth parameters. To first order, the exact amount of left-over H/He depends on the initial envelope mass, the planet mass, its equilibrium temperature, and the envelope’s opacity. These residual hydrogen envelopes reduce the atmosphere’s mean molecular weight compared to a purely secondary atmosphere, a signature observable by current and future facilities. These remnant atmospheres may, however, in many cases be vulnerable to long-term erosion by photoevaporation. Any residual hydrogen envelope likely plays an important role in the long-term physical evolution of super-Earths, including their geology and geochemistry.