2026ApJ...997..203B -
Astrophys. J., 997, 203 (2026/February-1)
TIRAMISU: Non-LTE Radiative Transfer for Molecules in Exoplanet Atmospheres.
BOWESMAN C.A., YURCHENKO S.N., AL-REFAIE A.F. and TENNYSON J.
Abstract (from CDS):
The TIRAMISU code, a new program for computing on-the-fly non-LTE molecular spectra and opacities for solving self-consistent radiative transfer problems in exoplanet atmospheres, is presented. The ultra-hot Jupiter KELT-20 b is used as a case study to identify the wavelength regions at which non-LTE effects may be detectable. It is shown that upper atmospheric OH in vibrational non-LTE should be observable primarily via hot bands in the mid-infrared and enhanced photodissociation in the visible. Varying the abundance of OH in non-LTE demonstrates a nonlinear relationship between the abundance and the strength of non-LTE effects. Using recent calculations of the photodissociation probabilities of OH, it is shown that non-LTE effects can increase the total photodissociation rate by 2 orders of magnitude in the upper atmosphere, which is likely to have a significant impact on atmospheric and chemical modelling. Increases and reductions in the molecular opacities under non-LTE conditions may lead to the mischaracterization of molecular abundances in retrievals that only consider opacities computed under LTE. Collisional data requirements to support future non-LTE modeling for a variety of exoplanet atmospheres and across a wide range of wavelengths are discussed.
Abstract Copyright:
© 2026. The Author(s). Published by the American Astronomical Society.
Journal keyword(s):
Molecular spectroscopy - Molecular data - Radiative transfer - Radiative transfer simulations - Computational methods - Exoplanet atmospheres - Exoplanets - Hot Jupiters
Simbad objects:
3
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