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Fragmentation Dynamics of Astrochemical Molecules Induced by UV and EUV Photons

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Computational Science and Its Applications – ICCSA 2023 Workshops (ICCSA 2023)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNCS,volume 14105))

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Abstract

The present paper reports on an experimental and computational study aimed at characterizing the microscopic fragmentation dynamics of molecules in space that are subject to double photoionization phenomena by UV and EUV (Extreme Ultraviolet) photons. This kind of processes happening in planetary ionospheres and interstellar medium are simulated at the GASPHASE and CIRCULAR POLARIZATION beamlines of the ELETTRA Synchrotron Facility of Basovizza, Trieste (Italy) using the ARPES (Angle Resolved PhotoEmission Spectroscopy) end station: a molecular beam apparatus coupled with the PEPIPICO (Photoelectron-Photoion-Photoion Coincidence) technique and the TOF (Time-of-Flight) mass spectrometry. The used synchrotron radiation is in the 25.0–45.0 eV photon energy range. Preliminary data are presented for the case of the double photoionization of allene molecules whose photoinduced decomposition highlights 8 different open two-body fragmentation channels and 3 three-body dissociations. For each investigated dissociation channels threshold energies, relative cross sections and the appearing energy for the allene (C3H4)2+ dication as a function of the photon energy have been measured. Based on a Monte Carlo trajectory simulation, the computational analysis of the PEPIPICO spectra experimentally collected which is still in progress allows the possible extraction of the kinetic energy released (KER) and the angular distributions for the final fragment ions. These observables are very important to rationalize the physical chemistry of the elementary processes induced by the interaction between molecules and ionizing radiations in space.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported and financed with the “Fondo Ricerca di Base, 2018, dell’Università degli Studi di Perugia” (Project Titled: Indagini teoriche e sperimentali sulla reattività di sistemi di interesse astrochimico). Support from Italian MIUR and University of Perugia (Italy) is acknowledged within the program “Dipartimenti di Eccellenza 2018–2022”. The scientific staff of the GASPHASE beamline of ELETTRA Synchrotron Facility of Basovizza (Trieste, Italy) is warmly acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Perugia, Via G. Duranti 93, 06125, Perugia, Italy

    Marco Parriani & Franco Vecchiocattivi

  2. IOM CNR Laboratorio TASC, 34012, Trieste, Italy

    Michele Alagia & Stefano Stranges

  3. Sincrotrone Trieste, Area Science Park, 34149, Basovizza, Trieste, Italy

    Robert Richter

  4. Department of Chemistry and Drug Technology, University of Rome Sapienza, 00185, Rome, Italy

    Stefano Stranges

  5. Department of Chemistry, Biology and Biotechnologies, University of Perugia, Via Elce di Sotto 8, 06100, Perugia, Italy

    Andrea Giustini, Simonetta Cavalli & Fernando Pirani

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  1. Marco Parriani
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  2. Michele Alagia
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  7. Fernando Pirani
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  8. Franco Vecchiocattivi
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Correspondence to Marco Parriani .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy

    Osvaldo Gervasi

  2. University of Basilicata, Potenza, Italy

    Beniamino Murgante

  3. University of Minho, Braga, Portugal

    Ana Maria A. C. Rocha

  4. University of Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy

    Chiara Garau

  5. University of Basilicata, Potenza, Italy

    Francesco Scorza

  6. University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA

    Yeliz Karaca

  7. Polytechnic University of Bari, Bari, Italy

    Carmelo M. Torre

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Parriani, M. et al. (2023). Fragmentation Dynamics of Astrochemical Molecules Induced by UV and EUV Photons. In: Gervasi, O., et al. Computational Science and Its Applications – ICCSA 2023 Workshops. ICCSA 2023. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 14105. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-37108-0_44

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-37108-0_44

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