Cosmic ray-driven radiation chemistry in cold interstellar environments

Shingledecker, Christopher N.

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/100827 Copy

Description

Title

Cosmic ray-driven radiation chemistry in cold interstellar environments

Author(s)

Shingledecker, Christopher N.

Contributor(s)

• Herbst, Eric
• Le Gal, Romane
• Tennis, Jessica D.

Issue Date

2018-06-20

Keyword(s)

Astronomy

Abstract

The physiochemical impact of cosmic rays on interstellar regions is widely known to be significant a . Indeed, the cosmic ray-driven formation of H+ 3 via the ionization of H2 was shown to be of key importance in even the first astrochemical models b . Later, cosmic rays were implicated in the collisional excitation of H2, which leads to the production of internally produced UV photons that also have profound effects on the chemistry of molecular clouds c . Despite these key findings, though, attempts at a more complete consideration of interstellar radiation chemistry have been stymied by the lack of a general method suitable for use in astrochemical models and capable of preserving the salient macroscopic phenomena that emerge from a large number of discrete microscopic events. Recently, we have developed a theoretical framework which meets these criteria and allows for the estimation of the decomposition pathways, yields, and rate coefficients of radiation-chemical reactions d . In this talk, we present preliminary results illustrating the effect of solid-phase radiation chemistry on models of TMC-1 in which we consider the radiolysis of the primary ice-mantle constituents of dust grains. We further discuss how the inclusion of this non-thermal chemistry can lead to the formation of complex organic molecules from simpler ice-mantle constituents, even under cold core conditions.

Publisher

International Symposium on Molecular Spectroscopy

Type of Resource

text

Language

eng

Permalink

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/100827

DOI

10.15278/isms.2018.WL04

Copyright and License Information

Copyright 2018 Christopher N. Shingledecker

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