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Challenges in Modelling the Reaction Chemistry of Interstellar Dust |
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Challenges in
modelling the reaction chemistry of interstellar dust Organisers:
Fedor Goumans ( The
burgeoning and strongly interdisciplinary field of astrochemistry has built
upon the enormous recent growth and development in our experimental,
observational and theoretical efforts to understand the chemical processes
occurring in the interstellar medium. Astrochemical research efforts have
increasingly focussed on the role of dust grains as it has become clear that
these are of crucial importance for interstellar chemical evolution. The aim of
this workshop was to improve the accuracy and scope of modelling reactive
processes on realistic interstellar dust grain models, specifically through
identifying 1)
realistic models for bare and ice-covered interstellar
dust grains surfaces 2)
ways of adequately dealing with quantum tunnelling and
weak interactions 3)
extrapolation schemes of accurate rate constants to
astrochemical models 4)
a concrete list of priority problems that are
addressable by new collaborations The
workshop covered a broad scope of the scientific theme, through observations
and experiments of ices, dust and their chemistry, theoretical calculations of
these and finally long-time scale astronomical modelling. Because of this
diverse exposure none of the attendees knew all participants before the
workshop which has led to cross-fertilisation of ideas across disciplines. Many
lively discussions were observed during the informal discussion time after
lunch and throughout the social events. We
have asked the Chief Editor of Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics if he would
be interested in a, high-profile, perspective article, covering the issues that
were discussed in the workshop. He was personally looking forward to such a
contribution. To this extent the organisers are currently collaborating with 3
workshop participants to put together this article covering the current
state-of-the-art and a roadmap towards achieving the 4 goals stated above.
During the course of the workshop it turned out that good progress has been
made the last few years towards goal 1), and we have good hope that more and
more accurate models will be achieved in the near future through collaborative
efforts. It transpired that goal 2) was for a large part already achieved in
the very recent past and that further progress can be foreseen with more
powerful computers to study larger, more precise systems. The third goal can
only be achieved by a closer collaboration and clearer communication across all
disciplines so that the measured and calculated rate data can be translated for
use in astronomical models – this workshop will contribute significantly
towards that. From the discussion session at the end of each day we already
have a long-list of priority problems (goal 4), which we will further delineate
in the course of writing the perspective article. The
format of the workshop was very accommodating towards setting up conversations
across disciplines and between people that did know each other before the
meeting. Especially the Monday evening social event opened up interactions,
helped by a perfect size of the group (~50, we would certainly not recommend a
bigger group, 40-50 seems ideal), and attendees coming from very many different
institutions, avoiding ‘cliquing’. The lively discussion during coffee and
lunch breaks, informal and formal discussion sessions always seemed to involve
different combinations of people, and we therefore have to conclude that we
have managed to achieve new links between people, which we hope to establish in
long-lasting collaborations advancing this interesting, interdisciplinary
field. [Back] |
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