Determining the dissociative recombination rate constants for several species of interstellar relevance

INTERSTELLAR RELEVANCE by PATRICK ANDREW LAWSON (Under the Direction of Nigel G. Adams) ABSTRACT Dissociative recombination (DR) is when a positively charged molecular ion and an incoming electron recombine, and the neutral then dissociates and forms a series of products. It is an important process in planetary atmospheres, plasmas, the interstellar medium, and several other ionized media where electrons are present. Although it is extremely poorly understood, knowing accurate recombination rate constants and product branching ratios for these recombination reactions is crucial to modeling and understand the chemistry that is taking place in the aforementioned areas. The more complex organic species present in the interstellar medium, ISM, are of particular interest, due to an increase in both detections of these complex organics and their role in the interstellar modeling of these dense molecular clouds. Including these unmeasured rates in chemical models will prove useful to have the most precise and accurate understanding of the chemistry occurring in the interstellar clouds.