Interstellar dust as a dynamic environment

TL;DR

This paper discusses the importance of interstellar dust in cosmic processes and introduces a novel computational method to model dust-radiation interactions in complex, non-spherical conditions using scalable parallel computing.

Contribution

It presents a new implementation of the Transition Matrix formalism for modeling dust interactions in non-spherical geometries, enabling more accurate simulations.

Findings

Enhanced modeling of dust-radiation interactions in complex geometries

Scalable parallel implementation of the Transition Matrix formalism

Potential for improved interpretation of observational data

Abstract

In spite of accounting for only a small fraction of the mass of the Interstellar Medium (ISM), dust plays a primary role in many physical and chemical processes in the Universe. It is the main driver of extinction of radiation in the UV/optical wavelength range and a primary source of thermal IR emission. Dust grains contain most of the refractory elements of the ISM and they host chemical processes that involve complex molecular compounds. However, observational evidence suggests that grain structure is highly non-trivial and that dust particles are characterized by granularity, asymmetry and stratification, which significantly affect their interaction with radiation fields. Accurate modeling of such interaction is fundamental to properly explain observational results, but it is a computationally demanding task. Here we present the possibility to investigate the effects of radiation/particle interactions in non-spherically symmetric conditions using a novel implementation of the Transition Matrix formalism, designed to run on scalable parallel hardware facilities.