Photon Tools for Physical Chemistry 2014

Session

Session 5 Astrochemistry (Nahon)

1 Oct 2014, 10:30

7. Chiral photons as trigger of life’s asymmetry?

Dr Cornelia Meinert (Institut de Chimie de Nice, Université de Nice-Sophia Antipolis)

01/10/2014, 11:00

Talk

All life on Earth is defined by its asymmetry – both our genetic material and our proteins have a “twist” inherent within their structure. Understanding how this asymmetry initially arose is a key question related to intimate processes at the origin of life. Given the detection of circularly polarized light in star-forming regions and the identification of amino acids from meteoritic samples...

2. Photon Induced Desorption of interstellar relevant ices in the VUV

Prof. Jean-Hugues FILLION (LERMA - Université Pierre et Marie Curie)

01/10/2014, 11:25

Talk

During the cold and dense phase of star- and planet-formation, ices frozen out on microscopic interstellar dust particles are the dominant reservoir of molecules other than H2. When exposed to UV radiation from protostars, background stars or through secondary H2 emission induced by cosmic rays, the mantle molecules non-thermally desorb into the gas phase. Because of negligible thermal...

28. Structure and energetics of PAH clusters of interstellar relevance

Dr Christine Joblin (Université Toulouse 3/ CNRS, IRAP)

01/10/2014, 11:50

Talk

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are key species in the physics and chemistry of UV-irradiated astronomical environments [1]. Still, our understanding of the formation and evolution of these species remains very partial and is a challenge for astronomers, physicists and chemists. From the analysis of the mid-infrared spectra, Rapacioli et al. [2] have proposed an evolutionary scenario...

19. Electronic Spectra of Organic Radicals and Ions of Relevance to Combustion and Interstellar Space

Prof. John Maier (University of Basel, Klingelbergstrasse 80, CH-4056 Basel)

01/10/2014, 14:00

Talk

A number of modern approaches of chemical physics and spectroscopy are used to identify for the first time the electronic spectra of reactive intermediates of organic molecules. The reactive species selected are intermediates in terrestrial processes such as combustion of hydrocarbons leading to formation of aromatics, as well as in interstellar environments of diffuse and dark clouds and...

10. Exploring the Ion Chemistry of Small Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons with Coincidence Spectroscopy

Prof. Paul Mayer (University of Ottawa)

01/10/2014, 14:25

Talk

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) molecules have been postulated to be key species in astrochemistry. This proposal has motivated numerous laboratory studies to advance our understanding of the formation and evolution of these species in space and their impact on the physics and chemistry of interstellar and circumstellar environments. In particular, PAHs absorb UV photons from stars,...