相关论文: Science with an ngVLA: Prebiotic Molecules
Dramatic recent progress in understanding galactic chemical evolution (GCE) has been driven partly by direct observations of the distant past with HST and JWST of stellar abundances from giant high-resolution spectroscopic surveys (APOGEE,…
Within the precise cosmological framework provided by the Lambda-Cold Dark Matter model and standard Big Bang nucleosynthesis, the chemical evolution of the pregalactic gas can now be followed with accuracy limited only by the uncertainties…
Chemical evolution models are useful for understanding the formation and evolution of stars and galaxies. Model predictions will be more robust as more observational constraints are used. We present chemical evolution models for the dwarf…
The formation and evolution of disks early in the protostellar phase is an area of study in which the ngVLA is poised to make significant breakthroughs. The high-sensitivity and resolution at wavelengths of 3~mm and longer will enable…
The damped Lyman alpha systems seen in the spectra of high redshift QSOs offer the means to determine element abundances in galaxies observed while still at an early stage of evolution. Such measurements, which have only recently come…
Glycolaldehyde (HCOCH2OH) is the simplest sugar and an important intermediate in the path toward forming more complex biologically relevant molecules. In this paper we present the first detection of 13 transitions of glycolaldehyde around a…
The ngVLA will enable significant advances in our understanding of the formation and evolution of multiple star systems in the protostellar phase, building upon the breakthroughs enabled by the VLA. The high-sensitivity and resolution at…
Stars are fossils that retain the history of their host galaxies. Elements heavier than helium are created inside stars and are ejected when they die. From the spatial distribution of elements in galaxies, it is therefore possible to…
The chemical properties of protoplanetary disks are especially sensitive to their ionization environment. Sources of molecular gas ionization include cosmic rays, stellar X-rays and short-lived radionuclides, each of which varies with…
The role of planetary nebulae as probes for the galactic chemical evolution is reviewed. Their abundances throughout the Galaxy are discussed for key elements, in particular oxygen and other alpha elements. The abundance distribution…
This paper presents the first substantial study of the chemistry of the envelopes around a sample of 18 low-mass pre- and protostellar objects for which physical properties have previously been derived from radiative transfer modeling of…
Amino acids in solar system bodies may have played a key role in the chemistry that led to the origin of life on Earth. We present laboratory studies testing the stability of amino acids against gamma radiation photolysis. All the 20 chiral…
Understanding the chemical evolution in star-forming cores is a necessary pre-condition to correctly assess physical conditions when using molecular emission. We follow the evolution of chemistry and molecular line profiles through the…
The widespread presence of ribonucleic acid (RNA) catalysts and cofactors in Earth's biosphere today suggests that RNA was the first biopolymer to support Darwinian evolution. However, most "path-hypotheses" to generate building blocks for…
Galactic chemical evolution is a topic that involves nuclear physics, stellar evolution, galaxy evolution, observation, and cosmology. Continuous communication and feedback between these fields is a key component in improving our…
I describe a new method of estimating the prevalence of life in the Universe, based on the fact that more chemically complex environments are more rare. The paper makes three main claims: (1) There is a statistically significant (inverse)…
Interstellar hydrides -- that is, molecules containing a single heavy element atom with one or more hydrogen atoms -- were among the first molecules detected outside the solar system. They lie at the root of interstellar chemistry, being…
Globular clusters (GCs) are sites of extremely efficient star formation, and recent studies suggest they significantly contributed to the early Milky Way's stellar mass build-up. Although their role has since diminished, GCs' impact on the…
Most of the stars today reside in galactic spheroids, whose properties are tightly tied to the supermassive black holes (MBHs) at their centers, implying that the accretion activity onto MBHs leaves a lasting imprint on the evolution of…
The next generation Very Large Array (ngVLA) will revolutionize our understanding of the distant Universe via the detection of cold molecular gas in the first galaxies. Its impact on studies of galaxy characterization via detailed gas…