The long-wavelength emission of interstellar PAHs: characterizing the spinning dust contribution

TL;DR

This paper models the long-wavelength emission of interstellar PAHs, linking their rovibrational and rotational spectra to observed anomalous microwave emission, and explores how this constrains PAH properties and interstellar medium conditions.

Contribution

It introduces a comprehensive model of PAH emission across IR to microwave wavelengths, accounting for various interstellar phases and comparing with observations to constrain PAH characteristics.

Findings

PAH IR emission at wavelengths <3mm does not scale with radiation field intensity.

Spinning PAHs can explain the anomalous emission observed in the Perseus molecular cloud.

The broadband emissivity of spinning PAHs per carbon atom remains relatively constant under certain conditions.

Abstract

The emission of cold dust grains at long wavelengths will soon be observed by the Planck and Herschel satellites and provide new constraints on the nature of interstellar dust. The microwave anomalous emission, proposed to be due to spinning PAHs, should help to better define these species. Moreover, understanding the fluctuations of the anomalous emission over the sky is crucial for CMB studies. We focus on the long wavelength emission of interstellar PAHs in their rovibrational and rotational transitions. The PAH emission spectrum from the IR to the microwave range is presented and compared to anomalous emission observations. To model their long wavelength emission, we treat PAHs as isolated systems and follow consistently their IR and rotational emissions. We consider several interstellar phases and discuss how the anomalous emission may constrain their size distribution. Our model of PAH emission accounts for the mid-IR spectra of the diffuse interstellar medium and of the Orion Bar. For lambda<3mm the PAH IR emission does not scale any more with the radiation field intensity (Go) unlike the mid-IR part of the spectrum. This emission represents less than 10% of the total dust emission at 100 GHz. We find the broadband emissivity of spinning PAHs per carbon atom to be rather constant for Go<100 and nH<100cm-3. Observations of anomalous emission in the Perseus molecular cloud are explained by our model of spinning PAH emission with a standard abundance, supporting PAHs as the origin of the anomalous emission. The behaviour of the spinning dust emissivity with Go provides a clear test that can be tested against observations of anomalous and dust mid-IR emissions. Comparison of these emissions will provide constraints on the size and/or electric dipole moment of interstellar PAHs.