Chemical modeling of infrared dark clouds: The role of surface chemistry

Abstract

We simulate the chemistry of infrared dark clouds (IRDCs) with a model in which the physical conditions are homogeneous and time independent. The chemistry is solved as a function of time with three networks: one purely gas phase, one that includes accretion and desorption, and one, the complete gas-grain network, that includes surface chemistry in addition. We compare our results with observed molecular abundances for two representative IRDCs - IRDC013.90-1 and IRDC321.73-1 - using the molecular species N2H +, HC3N, HNC, HCO+, HCN, C2H, NH3, and CS. IRDC013.90-1 is a cold IRDC, with a temperature below 20 K, while IRDC321.73-1 is somewhat warmer, in the range 20-30 K. We find that the complete gas-grain model fits the data very well, but that the goodness of fit is not sharply peaked at a particular temperature. Surface processes are important for the explanation of the high gas-phase abundance of N 2H+ in IRDC321.73-1. The general success of the zero-dimensional model in reproducing single-dish observations of our limited sample of eight species shows that it is probably sufficient for an explanation of this type of data. To build and justify more complicated models, including spatial temperature and density structure, contraction, and heating, we require high-resolution interferometric data. © 2012. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved..