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Even though water is the main constituent in interstellar icy mantles, its chemical origin is not well understood. Three different formation routes have been proposed following hydrogenation of O, O2, or O3, but experimental evidence is…
Formaldehyde (H2CO) is one of the most abundant molecules observed in the icy mantle covering interstellar grains. Studying its evolution can contribute to our understanding of the formation of complex organic molecules in various…
Stars form within molecular clouds, so characterizing the physical states of molecular clouds is key in understanding the process of star formation. Cloud structure and stability is frequently assessed using metrics including the virial…
Ice is a major component of astrophysical environment - from interstellar molecular clouds through protoplanetary disks to evolved solar systems. Ice and complex organic matter coexist in these environments as well, and it is thought…
The phase diagram of surface structures for the model catalyst RuO2(110) in contact with a gas environment of O2 and CO is calculated by density-functional theory and atomistic thermodynamics. Adsorption of the reactants is found to depend…
We analyse the CO-dark molecular gas content of simulated molecular clouds from the SILCC-Zoom project. The simulations reach a resolution of 0.1 pc and include H$_2$ and CO formation, radiative stellar feedback and magnetic fields. CO-dark…
We explore molecular cloud properties and the physics of CO transition lines in z >~ 6 Lyman-break galaxies and predict their CO fluxes using an analytic formalism built from global models of star formation in high-redshift galaxies that…
The simultaneous detection of organic molecules of the form C$_2$H$_{\text{n}}$O, such as ketene (CH$_2$CO), acetaldehyde (CH$_3$CHO), and ethanol (CH$_3$CH$_2$OH), toward early star-forming regions offers hints of shared chemical history.…
In a recent paper, Elmegreen (2000) has made a cogent case, from an observational point of view, that the lifetimes of molecular clouds are comparable to their dynamical timescales. If so, this has important implications for the mechanisms…
Context: Molecular hydrogen ($\rm{H_2}$) is crucial in galaxy formation and evolution, serving as the main fuel for star formation (SF). In metal-enriched environments, $\rm{H_2}$ primarily forms on interstellar dust grain surfaces.…
Polaron formation plays a major role in determining the structural, electrical and chemical properties of ionic crystals. Using a combination of first principles calculations and scanning tunneling microscpoy/atomic force microscopy…
With the advent of JWST ice observations, dedicated studies on the formation reactions of detected molecules are becoming increasingly important. One of the most interesting molecules in interstellar ice is CO$_2$. Despite its simplicity,…
Astrochemical surface reactions are thought to be responsible for the formation of complex organic molecules, which are of potential importance for the origin of life. In a situation, when the chemical composition of dust surfaces is not…
Much of what we know about molecular clouds, and by extension star formation, comes from molecular line observations. Interpreting these correctly requires knowledge of the underlying molecular abundances. Simulations of molecular clouds…
The present study experimentally demonstrated that solid H2O is formed through the surface reaction OH + H2 at 10 K. This is the first experimental evidence of solid H2O formation using hydrogen in its molecular form at temperatures as low…
We study the rovibronic transitions in NaK$_2$ between its electronic ground state $1^2A'$ and its second excited state $3^2A'$, to identify possible pathways for the creation of ultracold ground-state triatomic molecules. Our methodology…
We describe an overall picture of galactic-scale star formation. Recent high-resolution magneto-hydrodynamical simulations of two-fluid dynamics with cooling/heating and thermal conduction have shown that the formation of molecular clouds…
The physical conditions in a collapsing cloud can be traced by observations of molecular lines. To correctly interpret these observations the abundance distributions of the observed species need to be derived. The chemistry in a collapsing…
We present the first numerical simulations that self-consistently follow the formation of dense molecular clouds in colliding flows. Our calculations include a time-dependent model for the H2 and CO chemistry that runs alongside a detailed…
Solid state astrochemical reaction pathways have the potential to link the formation of small nitrogen-bearing species, like NH3 and HNCO, and prebiotic molecules, specifically amino acids. To date, the chemical origin of such small…