Astrochemistry: Synthesis and Modelling

TL;DR

This paper reviews models used to study the chemical composition of the interstellar medium, emphasizing their adaptation to different astrophysical objects and ongoing improvements through observations and laboratory work.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of astrochemical models, highlighting their customization for various objects and the integration of observational and laboratory data.

Findings

Models are tailored to specific astrophysical environments.

Continuous improvements are driven by observational comparisons.

Laboratory and theoretical studies enhance model accuracy.

Abstract

We discuss models that astrochemists have developed to study the chemical composition of the interstellar medium. These models aim at computing the evolution of the chemical composition of a mixture of gas and dust under as- trophysical conditions. These conditions, as well as the geometry and the physical dynamics, have to be adapted to the objects being studied because different classes of objects have very different characteristics (temperatures, densities, UV radia- tion fields, geometry, history etc); e.g., proto-planetary disks do not have the same characteristics as protostellar envelopes. Chemical models are being improved continually thanks to comparisons with observations but also thanks to laboratory and theoretical work in which the individual processes are studied.