Modeling Complex Organic Molecules in dense regions: Eley-Rideal and complex induced reaction

TL;DR

This paper investigates how Eley-Rideal and complex induced reactions can produce complex organic molecules in cold dense regions, challenging previous warm-up models by demonstrating efficient formation at 10K.

Contribution

It introduces and evaluates the role of Eley-Rideal and complex induced reactions in forming COMs in cold environments, supported by recent experimental data.

Findings

Reactions are efficient at 10K to produce COMs.

Low chemical desorption efficiency suffices to explain observed abundances.

Mechanisms provide an alternative to warm-up scenarios.

Abstract

Recent observations have revealed the existence of Complex Organic Molecules (COMs) in cold dense cores and prestellar cores. The presence of these molecules in such cold conditions is not well understood and remains a matter of debate since the previously proposed "warm- up" scenario cannot explain these observations. In this article, we study the effect of Eley- Rideal and complex induced reaction mechanisms of gas-phase carbon atoms with the main ice components of dust grains on the formation of COMs in cold and dense regions. Based on recent experiments we use a low value for the chemical desorption efficiency (which was previously invoked to explain the observed COM abundances). We show that our introduced mechanisms are efficient enough to produce a large amount of complex organic molecules in the gas-phase at temperatures as low as 10K.