The PAH hypothesis after 25 years
Astrophysics of Galaxies
2015-06-03 v1
Abstract
The infrared spectra of many galactic and extragalactic objects are dominated by emission features at 3.3, 6.2, 7.7, 8.6 and 11.2 \mu m. The carriers of these features remained a mystery for almost a decade, hence the bands were dubbed the unidentified infrared (UIR) bands. Since the mid-80's, the UIR bands are generally attributed to the IR fluorescence of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon molecules (PAHs) upon absorption of UV photons -- the PAH hypothesis. Here we review the progress made over the past 25 years in understanding the UIR bands and their carriers.
Cite
@article{arxiv.1111.3680,
title = {The PAH hypothesis after 25 years},
author = {Els Peeters},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1111.3680},
year = {2015}
}
Comments
13 pages, 7 figures. To appear in the proceedings of IAU symposium 280 "The Molecular Universe"