Understand the emergence, transfer and destruction of molecular complexity during star formation via deuterium astrochemistry studies
Final Report Abstract
Astrochemistry addresses some of the most important questions of modern astrophysics, and has a huge relevance to human society as it may ultimately help us to understand the emergence of life in the solar system. The field is entering a new, interdisciplinary era, with close interactions between laboratory science, observational astronomy and theoretical modeling. With this Emmy Noether project, I investigated the chemical processes leading to molecular complexity during low-mass star formation. The long-term ultimate goal of this project is to study the formation of complex molecules, and their survival or destruction in each step of the formation of a solar-type star, from the dark cloud to the protostellar phase and the formation of a planetary system similar to our own, and comets. Studying deuterium astrochemistry can provide key insights into these processes, and was chosen as a manageable first step. The project resulted, among other, in several ground-breaking discoveries: • On the observational side, the detection in the interstellar medium of several new molecules was secured. Hydrogen peroxyde (HOOH), hydroperoxyl (HOO), and deuterated hydroxyl (OD), which all play a key role in the chemistry of water, were detected for the first time. D2 H+, which plays a key role in deuterium exchange processes, was detected unambiguously. • On the modelling side, a new heterogeneous model (including chemical processes in the gas and on the surface of dust grains) was developed to solve the chemistry taking place in the interstellar medium. This model was shown to treat correctly the stochastic effects introduced by the surface processes. We demonstrated also the success of quantitative predictions for the first time with such class of models. This project made use of facilities of the Max-Planck-Institut fur Radioastronomie (APEX telescope, SOFIA instruments ...), as well as German and European funded instruments (e.g. the IRAM facilities and the Herschel satellite), participating in enhancing the scientific output from these facilities, and paved the way for exploiting this area of research with the ALMA interferometer. It may have impacts on extragalactic astronomy and studies of the early universe by providing new methods of investigation. Parise et al. 2011: http://www.mpg.de/601182/pressemitteilung201012151 Bergman, Parise et al. 2011: http://www.eso.org/public/news/eso1123/ Parise, Du, Liu et al. 2012: http://www.mpifr-bonn.mpg.de/pressreleases/2012/8
