Contributions > By speaker > Müller Simon

Recent observational and theoretical work suggests that Jupiter could have a deep radiative zone that creates a boundary layer between the upper envelope (atmosphere) and the deeper interior. A mechanism that can generate such a layer is an opacity window, caused by a depletion in alkali metals. Here, we explore how the presence of a deep radiative zone affects the evolution and inferred composition of giant exoplanets. Our models cover a large range of planetary masses and equilibrium temperatures. We show that a deep radiative zone significantly changes the predicted radii of giant exoplanets and allows the atmospheric metallicity to be higher than in the envelope. This strongly affects the characterisation of gaseous planets and has implications for interpreting atmospheric measurements. We show that understanding the role of deep radiative zones in giant exoplanets is crucial for their characterisation and for comprehending the atmosphere-interior connection.