Investigation of the influence of heating sources on dust temperatures for use in complex molecule formation models 504 views

In the growing field of astrochemistry, a main goal is to better understand the abundances and formation processes of atoms and molecules in outer space. A particular focus is on the formation of complex molecules which may eventually provide more information on the evolution of life in the universe. The interstellar medium (ISM) is an outer-space lab for chemistry to occur. Many computational models have been developed to simulate the chemistry that occurs in ISM clouds and provide a wealth of abundancy and formation process information. The models take as inputs several physical parameters to be able to simulate various different environments, from cold cores to star forming regions. It is very important to understand the lower limit of dust temperatures in these models, because it has a significant impact on the distribution of material between the gas and dust phases. It is also important to understand in what regimes certain heating methods dominate, especially in core collapse models in which the parameters are evolving over time. This paper explores the heating mechanisms employed to determine the dust temperature in ISM clouds. It also outlines the addition of gas-dust coupling as a heating and cooling source. The paper concludes with a discussion of the effects of this mechanism and what they mean for ISM chemistry models.

BS (Bachelor of Science)

Astrochemistry; Dust; Grains; Interstellar Medium; Coupling; Dust temperature

English

2017-05-09