Reaction Kinetics in Uniform Supersonic Flows at Very Low Temperatures

Abstract

A review with 23 refs. In this presentation, we hope to demonstrate by the variety of the reactions that have been examd., the versatility of the CRESU technique (Cinetique de Reactions en Ecoulements Supersoniques Uniformes, i.e., Kinetics of Reactions in Uniform Supersonic Flows) for the study of physico-chem. reactions at very low temps. This versatility proves to be very useful when directed towards the problems presented by astrochem., namely the extremely diverse chem. reactions seen in the interstellar medium and in cold planetary atmospheres. From a fundamental standpoint, the results obtained concerning reaction kinetics in this unique temp. range, allow us to expand our knowledge of theor. models for collision processes and chem. reactivity. [on SciFinder(R)]