2020/06/29 by Thiem Hoang, Hoang, Thiem · 1 citation
Physics and Astronomy · #Astro and Planetary Science #Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies #Astrophysics of Galaxies (astro-ph.GA) #Atomic and Molecular Physics #Earth and Planetary Astrophysics (astro-ph.EP) #FOS: Physical sciences #High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena (astro-ph.HE) #Solar and Stellar Astrophysics (astro-ph.SR)
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2006.16084
openalex publication_date 2020/06/29 · openalex created_date 2022/07/26 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Dust is an essential component of the interstellar medium (ISM) and plays an\nimportant role in many different astrophysical processes and phenomena.\nTraditionally, dust grains are known to be destroyed by thermal sublimation,\nCoulomb explosions, sputtering, and shattering. The first two mechanisms arise\nfrom the interaction of dust with intense radiation fields and high-energy\nphotons (extreme UV), which work in a limited astrophysical environment. The\npresent review is focused on a new destruction mechanism present in the it\ndust-radiation interaction that is effective in a wide range of radiation\nfields and has ubiquitous applications in astrophysics. We first describe this\nnew mechanism of grain destruction, namely rotational disruption induced by\nRadiative Torques (RATs) or RAdiative Torque Disruption (RATD). We then discuss\nrotational disruption of nanoparticles by mechanical torques due to supersonic\nmotion of grains relative to the ambient gas, which is termed MEchanical Torque\nDisruption (METD). These two new mechanisms modify properties of dust and ice\n(e.g., size distribution and mass), which affects observational properties,\nincluding dust extinction, thermal and nonthermal emission, and polarization.\nWe present various applications of the RATD and METD mechanisms for different\nenvironments, including the ISM, star-forming regions, astrophysical\ntransients, and surface astrochemistry.\n