Molecular Dynamics Simulations of Energy Dissipation on Amorphous Solid Water: Testing the Validity of Equipartition.

ABSTRACT: Many different molecular species have been observed in the interstellar medium. These range from simple diatomic species to saturated organic molecules with several carbon atoms. The latter molecules are assumed to be formed predominantely on the surface of interstellar dust grains. All surface reactions that can proceed under the low interstellar temperatures are exothermic. Their exothermicity can be as high as a few electron volts, which is considerable compared to the thermal energy of the molecules at 10 K. It is postulated that this exothermicity can be used for the desorption of reaction products from the grain. In previous studies, we have shown that translational excitation can lead to desorption, whereas vibrational and rotational excitations are much less efficient in the desorp

SUBMITTER: Fredon A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8381352 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature