Bistability in interstellar gas-phase chemistry

Gai I. Boger; Amiel Sternberg

doi:10.1086/502624

Bistability in interstellar gas-phase chemistry

Gai I. Boger^*, Amiel Sternberg

^*Corresponding author for this work

School of Physics and Astronomy

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

We present an analysis of "bistability" in gas-phase chemical models of dark interstellar clouds. We identify the chemical mechanisms that allow high- and low-ionization solutions to the chemical rate equations to coexist. We derive simple analytic scaling relations for the gas densities and ionization rates for which the chemistry becomes bistable. We explain why bistability is sensitive to the H₃⁺ dissociative recombination rate coefficient and why it is damped by gas-grain neutralization.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	314-323
Number of pages	10
Journal	Astrophysical Journal
Volume	645
Issue number	1 I
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1086/502624
State	Published - 1 Jul 2006

Keywords

ISM: molecules
Molecular processes

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10.1086/502624

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AB - We present an analysis of "bistability" in gas-phase chemical models of dark interstellar clouds. We identify the chemical mechanisms that allow high- and low-ionization solutions to the chemical rate equations to coexist. We derive simple analytic scaling relations for the gas densities and ionization rates for which the chemistry becomes bistable. We explain why bistability is sensitive to the H3+ dissociative recombination rate coefficient and why it is damped by gas-grain neutralization.

KW - ISM: molecules

KW - Molecular processes

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U2 - 10.1086/502624

DO - 10.1086/502624

M3 - מאמר

AN - SCOPUS:33746890166

VL - 645

SP - 314

EP - 323

JO - Astrophysical Journal

JF - Astrophysical Journal

SN - 0004-637X

IS - 1 I

ER -

Bistability in interstellar gas-phase chemistry

Abstract

Keywords

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