Actualités du Laboratoire

DOI: 10.1063/5.0233558
Résumé:

While the growing realization of the importance of long-range interactions is being demonstrated in cold and ultracold bimolecular collision experiments, their influence on one of the most critical ion-neutral reactions has been overlooked. Here, we address the non-Langevin abrupt decrease observed earlier in the low energy integral cross sections and rate coefficients of the astrochemically important H + HeH$^+$ $\rightarrow$ H$^+_2$ + He reaction. We attribute this to the presence of artificial barriers on existing potential energy surfaces (PESs). By incorporating precise long-range interaction terms, we introduce a new refined barrierless PES for the electronic ground state of HeH$_{2}^{+}$ reactive system, aligning closely with high level {\ab} electronic energies. Our findings, supported by various classical, quantum, and statistical methods, underscore the significance of long-range terms in accurately modeling reactive PESs. The low temperature rate coefficient on this new PES shows a substantial enhancement as compared to the previous results and aligns with Langevin behavior. This enhancement could affect noticeably the impact HeH$^{+}$ abundance prediction in early Universe condition.

Résumé:

To test the hypothesis that amino acids, the molecular precursors of life, could have reached primitive Earth embedded in icy grains of space transported by comets or asteroids, we are combining a DFT study of the decarboxylation and deamination of glycine—neutral, singly, and doubly ionized—with a RT-TDDFT study of the same neutral and charged glycine interacting with ionizing radiation. In all cases, the molecules are surrounded by water molecules, mimicking the icy environment. The outcomes of this study will be presented.

Ref Arxiv: 2405.19052
DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361/202449581
Ref. & Cit.: NASA ADS
Résumé:

The accurate characterisation of the stellar magnetism of planetary host stars has been gaining momentum, especially in the context of transmission spectroscopy investigations of exoplanets. Indeed, the magnetic field regulates the amount of energetic radiation and stellar wind impinging on planets, as well as the presence of inhomogeneities on the stellar surface that hinder the precise extraction of the planetary atmospheric absorption signal. We initiated a spectropolarimetric campaign to unveil the magnetic field properties of known exoplanet hosting stars included in the current list of potential Ariel targets. In this work, we focus on HD 63433, a young solar-like star hosting two sub-Neptunes and an Earth-sized planet. These exoplanets orbit within 0.15 au from the host star and have likely experienced different atmospheric evolutionary paths. We analysed optical spectropolarimetric data collected with ESPaDOnS, HARPSpol, and Neo-Narval to compute the magnetic activity indices (log R'_HK , H$\alpha$, and Ca ii infrared triplet), measure the longitudinal magnetic field, and reconstruct the large-scale magnetic topology via Zeeman-Doppler imaging (ZDI). The magnetic field map was then employed to simulate the space environment in which the exoplanets orbit. The reconstructed stellar magnetic field has an average strength of 24 G and it features a complex topology with a dominant toroidal component, in agreement with other stars of a similar spectral type and age. Our simulations of the stellar environment locate 10% of the innermost planetary orbit inside the Alfv\'en surface and, thus, brief magnetic connections between the planet and the star can occur. The outer planets are outside the Alfv\'en surface and a bow shock between the stellar wind and the planetary magnetosphere could potentially form.

Commentaires: 13 pages, 11 figures and 4 tables.