Physics
Scientific paper
Jan 1995
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1995phdt........21r&link_type=abstract
Thesis (PH.D.)--UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY, 1995.Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 57-03, Section: B
Physics
5
Scientific paper
Shock waves in molecular clouds heat, compress, accelerate, and chemically alter the gas they encounter. Despite their crucial role in determining the physical state of the dense interstellar medium and despite their making possible direct observations of H_2, molecular shocks are still poorly understood, as evidenced by the many discrepancies between theory and observations. In my dissertation, I use the supernova remnant IC 443 as a laboratory to test our understanding of shock -excited H_2 emission. By examining roughly 20 separate 2-4 μm Ha transitions, I find the non-uniform temperature structure essentially reproduces that found in Orion Peak 1, and so is consistent with the partially dissociating J-shock model presented by Brand and collaborators. Subsequent mid-infrared observations of the pure rotational S(2) transition at 12 mu m strengthens these conclusions. Velocity resolved line profiles of the strong 1-0 S(1) transition uncover a relationship between the remnant's large-scale geometry and the line profile's full-width at 10% intensity, centroid, and shape. The relationship contradicts any model requiring local bow geometries to explain broad H_2 line widths. Comparing the 1-0 S(1) data with similar observations of the 2-1 S(1) line, I demonstrate that the excitation temperature in the shocked gas depends primarily on position, not velocity. Taken together, the identical velocity extent of the 1-0 S(1) and the 2-1 S(1) lines and their upper state energy separation of E/k ~ 6000 K proves the H_2 -emitting gas reaches its full velocity dispersion prior to cooling below roughly 1500 K. Finally, I compare, with similar spatial and spectral resolution, H_2 and HCO^+ J = 1 - 0 and find evidence for temperature gradients as a result of both preshock density inhomogeneities and postshock cooling.
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