Unfolding the Information of the Interstellar H_2 Spectrum: Its impact on Spitzer IR Observations

Details Unfolding the Information of the Interstellar H_2 Spectrum: Its impact on Spitzer IR Observations Unfolding the Information of the Interstellar H_2 Spectrum: Its impact on Spitzer IR Observations

Jun 2005

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2005sptz.prop20275f&link_type=abstract

Spitzer Proposal ID #20275

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

Scientific paper

Molecular hydrogen is the most ubiquitous molecule in the universe. H_2 plays a pivotal role in a variety of processes that significantly influence the chemical and physical state of interstellar gas. However, the lack of both accurate and complete collisional data sets for rovibrational inelastic cross sections and rate coefficients for H, He, and H_2 impacting the dominant molecular species (e.g. H_2, HD, and CO) has created a serious set back in the development of reliable astrophysical models complementing NASA's {it Spitzer} IR observations. It has been shown that the uncertainties in the existing collisional rate coefficient data can be significant. Modeling and interpretation of observations of such environments require quantitatively accurate and complete treatment of H_2. To derive significant scientific return from the unprecedented observations that are expected in the near future, we propose to compute rovibrational excitation and dissociation cross sections and rate coefficients for collisions of H, H_2 and He with H_2 and HD for all transitions between all bound rovibrational levels of the target molecules using continued development of well established quantum mechanical close-coupling and classical trajectory methods. Rate coefficients will be computed from 10 to 50,000 K and fit to convenient functional forms with physical low- and high-temperature limits. The results of this proposal will then enable models, such as the very widely used and tested spectral modeling code Cloudy, to reliably simulate these astrophysical environments, leading to deeper examination and understanding of their physical properties through {it Spitzer} observations of H_2 features.

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