2006/01/16 by Gai I. Boger, Amiel Sternberg · 38 citations
Chemistry · Physics and Astronomy · #Advanced Physical and Chemical Molecular Interactions #Astrochemistry #Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies #Bistability #Dissociative recombination #Interstellar cloud #Ionization #Scaling #Scaling law #Simple (philosophy) #Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1086/502624
published in The Astrophysical Journal 645(1), 314-323 (IOP Publishing) · Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal
arxiv created 2006/01/16 · openalex publication_date 2006/07/01 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
We present an analysis of "bistability" in gas-phase chemical models of dark interstellar clouds. We identify the chemical mechanisms that allow high- and low-ionization solutions to the chemical rate equations to coexist. We derive simple analytic scaling relations for the gas densities and ionization rates for which the chemistry becomes bistable. We explain why bistability is sensitive to the H dissociative recombination rate coefficient and why it is damped by gas-grain neutralization.