Could the H−3 ion exist in interstellar medium?

Olivier Dulieu (1) , Mehdi Ayouz (2) , Maurice Raoult (1) , Jacques Robert (1) , Viatcheslav Kokoouline (1, 3)

1 LAC - Laboratoire Aimé Cotton
2 LGPM - Laboratoire de Génie des Procédés et Matériaux - EA 4038
3 UCF - University of Central Florida [Orlando]

Based on our new calculations of its structure, we discuss the possibility for the H−3 ion to be formed and observed in cold and dense interstellar medium in an environment with a large fraction of ionized molecular hydrogen. The detection the H−3 ion would be a probe for the presence of H− in the interstellar medium.

Domains: Physics [physics]

Olivier Dulieu, Mehdi Ayouz, Maurice Raoult, Jacques Robert, Viatcheslav Kokoouline. Could the H−3 ion exist in interstellar medium? . AIP Conference Proceedings, 2015, 1642 (366), ⟨10.1063/1.4906695⟩. ⟨hal-01239253⟩