Related papers: Trans-cis molecular photoswitching in interstellar…
The isomerism of molecules in the interstellar medium and the mechanisms behind it are essential questions in the chemistry of organic molecules in space. In particular, for the simple formic and thioformic acids, the low temperatures found…
We investigate the role of carbon monoxide ice in the chemical evolution of prestellar cores using astrochemical rate equation models. We constrain the ratios of the binding energies on CO ice and H$_{2}$O ice for a series of adsorbates…
Molecular predissociation is the spontaneous, nonradiative bond breaking process that can occur upon excitation. In the context of laser cooling, predissociation is an unwanted consequence of molecular structure that limits the ability to…
Band oscillator strengths for electronic transitions in CO were obtained at the Synchrotron Radiation Center of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Our focus was on transitions that are observed in interstellar spectra with the Far…
CO is the most widely used observational tracer of molecular gas. The observable CO luminosity is translated to H_2 mass via a conversion factor, X_CO, which is a source of uncertainty and bias. Despite variations in X_CO, the…
We find that transparent conducting oxides (TCOs) exhibit oscillatory (sign-reversing) dynamics on a few optical cycle timescale under extreme electron temperatures. We demonstrate a mechanism for such transient dynamics and present an…
We present a summary of our previous investigations of the physical and chemical structure of the Horsehead nebula, and discuss how these studies led to advances on the understanding of the impact of FUV radiation on the structure of dense…
We present observations of molecular high-energy radiation probes and report the first detections of CO+ toward W3 IRS5, a source containing ultracompact HII regions. UV radiation and X-rays from the central objects may enhance molecules…
Water (H2O) ice is an important solid constituent of many astrophysical environments. To comprehend the role of such ices in the chemistry and evolution of dense molecular clouds and comets, it is necessary to understand the freeze-out,…
IR luminescence and absorption in bismuth-doped silica glass-core fibers observed recently (see [arXiv:1106.2969v1 [physics.optics]) are argued to be caused by transitions in interstitial BiO molecules
Absorption of ultraviolet radiation by water ice coating interstellar grains can lead to dissociation and desorption of the ice molecules. These processes are thought to be important in the gas-grain chemistry in molecular clouds and…
There exist two types of structural instability in polyacene: double bonds in a cis pattern and those in a trans pattern. They are isoenergetic but spectroscopically distinct. We demonstrate optical characterization and manipulation of…
Current gas phase models do not account for the abundances of HNCO isomers detected in various environments, suggesting a formation in icy grain mantles. We attempted to study a formation channel of HNCO and its possible isomers by…
Carbon monoxide (CO) is the most abundant molecule after molecular hydrogen and is important for the chemistry in circumstellar envelopes around evolved stars. When modelling the strength and shape of molecular lines, the size of the CO…
Carbonyl sulfide (OCS) is widely observed in the gas phase towards star-forming regions and was the first of the only two sulfur-bearing species detected in interstellar ices so far. However, the chemical network governing its formation is…
We present a detailed model for the thermal balance, chemistry, and radiative transfer within quiescent dense molecular cloud cores that contain a central protostar. Large variations in the gas temperature are expected to affect the…
We report the first detection in the interstellar medium of a C$_2$H$_5$O$_2$N isomer: $syn$-glycolamide (NH$_2$C(O)CH$_2$OH). The exquisite sensitivity at sub-mK levels of an ultra-deep spectral survey carried out with the Yebes 40m and…
Transverse pattern formation in an optical cavity containing a cloud of cold two-level atoms is discussed. We show that density modulation becomes the dominant mechanism as the atomic temperature is reduced. Indeed, for low but achievable…
We discuss the interstellar absorption from many atomic and molecular species seen in high-resolution $HST$/STIS UV and high-S/N optical spectra of the moderately reddened B3-5~V star HD~62542. This remarkable sight line exhibits both very…
We present a new approach to constrain the spectral energy distribution of the intergalactic UV background observationally by studying metal absorption systems. We study single-component metal line systems exhibiting various well-measured…