Anionic hydrogen clusters as a source of diffuse interstellar bands (DIBs)
Astrophysics of Galaxies
2019-12-30 v1 Chemical Physics
Abstract
The sources behind numerous key diffuse interstellar bands (DIBs) remain elusive, and thus evidence is presented here that a family of seven anionic hydrogen atomic clusters (H(-)2n+1, n = 1 to 7) are pertinent contributors. Configuration interaction calculations show hat these charge-induced dipole clusters are stable at temperatures characteristic of the interstellar medium, and emerge from the most abundant element in the Universe. The clusters' spectra yield 25 absorption optical lines that align with observed DIBs to within the computational uncertainties. The absorption bands are due to excitations from the ground states of the clusters to metastable states.
Cite
@article{arxiv.1912.11605,
title = {Anionic hydrogen clusters as a source of diffuse interstellar bands (DIBs)},
author = {Lulu Huang and Cherif F. Matta and Daniel Majaess and Tina Harriott and Joseph Capitani and Lou Massa},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1912.11605},
year = {2019}
}
Comments
20 pages in total including 3 figures, 3 tables, and Supporting Information