Carbon-rich molecular chains in protoplanetary and planetary atmospheres: Quantum mechanisms and electron attachment rates for anion formation

Abstract

The elementary mechanisms through which molecular polyynes could form stable negative ions after interacting with free electrons in planetary atmospheres (e.g., Titan's) are analyzed using quantum scattering calculations and quantum structure methods. The case of radical species and of nonpolar partners are analyzed via specific examples for both the C n H and HC n H series, with n values from 4 to 12. We show that attachment processes to polar radicals are dominating the anionic production and that the mediating role of dipolar scattering states is crucial to their formation. The corresponding attachment rates are presented as calculated upper limits to their likely values and are obtained down to the low temperatures of interest. The effects of the computed rates, when used in simple evolutionary models, are also investigated and presented in detail. © 2013. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.