Excitation and dissociation of molecular hydrogen in shock waves at interstellar densities

Details Excitation and dissociation of molecular hydrogen in shock waves at interstellar densities Excitation and dissociation of molecular hydrogen in shock waves at interstellar densities

Jul 1987

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1987apj...318..379d&link_type=abstract

Astrophysical Journal, Part 1 (ISSN 0004-637X), vol. 318, July 1, 1987, p. 379-391. NSERC-supported research.

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

33

Gas Dissociation, Interstellar Matter, Molecular Collisions, Molecular Excitation, Para Hydrogen, Shock Waves, Density (Mass/Volume), Infrared Radiation, Molecular Clouds, Molecular Rotation, Population Inversion, Temperature Dependence, Thermal Dissociation, Time Dependence

Scientific paper

The rate constant (kD) for the thermal dissociation of molecular parahydrogen by collisions with helium at kinetic temperatures of 2000-10,000 K is determined for the entire range of densities appropriate to interstellar molecular clouds. Included in a solution of the master equation for the dissociation reaction are collisional transitions among the rotation-vibration levels, collision induced dissociation out of all levels, and infrared quadrupole emission. The rate constant decreases strongly over the density range of 1 million-10,000/cu cm due to the competition between radiative and collisional processes. At low densities, kD approaches a constant value corresponding to direct collisional dissociation out of the (v = 0, J = 0) level. It is noted that the population distribution among the rotation-vibration levels can show large deviations from a Boltzmann distribution and that, under certain circumstances, there are even population inversions.

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