Related papers: H-D Substitution in Interstellar Solid Methanol: A…
The origin of the observed variability of the gas-phase D/H ratio in the local interstellar medium is still debated, and in particular the role of deuterium depletion onto dust grains. Here we extend the study of the relationship between…
Cold cores are an early step of star formation, characterized by densities > 10$^4$ cm$^{-3}$, low temperatures (< 15 K), and very low external UV radiation. We investigate the physico-chemical processes at play to tracing the origin of…
On the basis of arguments from galactic chemical evolution we suggest that the recent observations of D/H vs. metallicity in several high redshift absorbers are best understood if the primordial D value is in the range 2-3 10$^{-5}$. This…
Because the ionization balances for HI, OI, and DI are locked together by charge exchange, D/O is an important tracer for the value of the D/H ratio and for potential spatial variations in the ratio. As the DI and OI column densities are of…
The predictions of Galactic chemical evolution models for D and $^3$He are described in connection with those on the other Galactic quantities for which observational constraints are available. Models in agreement with the largest set of…
A very low primordial deuterium abundance of D/H = 1.5 10^{-5} has recently been proposed by Molaro et al. in the Lyman limit system with log(N_HI) = 18.1 cm^{-2} at z_a = 3.514 towards the quasar APM08279+5255. The D/H value was estimated…
[abridged] The enhanced degrees of deuterium fractionation observed in envelopes around protostars demonstrate the importance of chemistry at low temperatures, relevant in pre- and protostellar cores. formaldehyde is an important species in…
Numerical calculations of the sensitivity coefficients, Q_mu, of microwave molecular transitions in the ground torsion-rotation state of deuterated methanol (CH3OD, CD3OH, and CD3OD) to small variations in the fundamental physical constant…
At the low temperatures ($\sim$10 K) and high densities ($\sim$100,000 H$_2$ molecules per cc) of molecular cloud cores and protostellar envelopes, a large amount of molecular species (in particular those containing C and O) freeze-out onto…
Studies of the abundances of deuterium in different astrophysical sites are of fundamental importance to answering the question about how much deuterium was produced during big bang nucleosynthesis and what fraction of it was destroyed…
Gas-phase and solid-state chemistry in low-temperature interstellar clouds and cores leads to a D/H enhancement in interstellar ices, which is eventually inherited by comets, meteorites, and even planetary satellites. Hence, the D/ H ratio…
Water reservoirs in the Solar System exhibit a deuterium enrichment that links back to the physical environment at the time of stellar birth. Gas-phase and ice-grain deuterium enrichments occur through chemical processes that operate at low…
We report two detections of deuterated molecular hydrogen (HD) in QSO absorption-line systems at $z > 2$. Toward J2123-0500, we find $N$(HD) $= 13.84 \pm 0.2$ for a sub-DLA with metallicity $\simeq 0.5Z_{\odot}$ and $N$(H$_2$) = $17.64 \pm…
The gas-phase abundances of deuterium (D) in the local interstellar medium (ISM) exhibit considerable regional variations. Particularly, in some regions the gas-phase D abundances are substantially lower than the primordial D abundance…
Context. Recent Monte Carlo simulations and laboratory studies of interstellar ices have proposed an alternative pathway involving the radical-molecule H-atom abstraction reaction in the overall mechanism of methanol (CH3OH) formation in…
Studies of deuterated isotopologues of complex organic molecules can provide important constraints on their origin in regions of star formation. In particular, the abundances of deuterated species are very sensitive to the physical…
We present sensitive observations of NH2D at 110.153599 GHz toward 50 Galactic massive star-forming regions with IRAM 30-m telescope. The NH2D transition is detected toward 36 objects, yielding a detection rate of 72%. Column densities of…
In the past decade, much progress has been made in characterising the processes leading to the enhanced deuterium fractionation observed in the ISM and in particular in the cold, dense parts of star forming regions such as protostellar…
The H3+ ion plays a key role in the chemistry of dense interstellar gas clouds where stars and planets are forming. The low temperatures and high extinctions of such clouds make direct observations of H3+ impossible, but lead to large…
Wavelength dependent photodesorption rates have been determined using synchrotron radiation, for condensed pure and mixed methanol ice in the 7 -- 14 eV range. The VUV photodesorption of intact methanol molecules from pure methanol ices is…