SAMOP 2021 – scientific programme
Parts | Days | Selection | Search | Updates | Downloads | Help
MO: Fachverband Molekülphysik
MO 5: Miscellaneous
MO 5.2: Talk
Thursday, September 23, 2021, 11:00–11:15, H2
Electron recombination of rotationally cold CH+ molecules — •Daniel Paul1,2, Manfred Grieser1, Robert von Hahn1, Ábel Kálosi1,2, Claude Krantz1, Holger Kreckel1, Damian Müll1, Daniel W. Savin2, Patrick Wilhelm1, Andreas Wolf1, and Oldřich Novotný1 — 1Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik, Heidelberg, Germany — 2Columbia Astrophysics Laboratory, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
Molecular cations in the interstellar medium (ISM) are used to trace the properties of interstellar clouds, out of which stars and planets form. These cations can be destroyed by dissociative recombination (DR) with free electrons. Since calculations of this reaction are challenging, and thus often do not match experimental results, laboratory studies of DR are needed to understand the molecular evolution in space.
We have studied the DR of CH + , which is of particular interest for the interpretation of diffuse cloud observations. In the electrostatic cryogenic storage ring CSR, CH + ions in their lowest rovibrational states can be stored for DR experiments under conditions relevant for the diffuse ISM. Using merged ion and electron beams in the CSR electron cooler, low energy (meV) collisions can be studied, corresponding to temperatures on the order of 10 K. We report on experimental DR rate coefficient results for the CH+ rovibrational ground state ( v=0, J=0 ). In addition, final state branching ratios and angular fragmentation characteristics give a hint for a yet undiscovered dissociative CH state.