Investigating the Minimum Energy Principle in Searches for New Molecular Species—The Case of H_2C_3O Isomers
Abstract
Recently, Lattelais et al. have interpreted aggregated observations of molecular isomers to suggest that there exists a "minimum energy principle," such that molecular formation will favor more stable molecular isomers for thermodynamic reasons. To test the predictive power of this principle, we have fully characterized the spectra of the three isomers of C_3H_2O toward the well-known molecular region Sgr B2(N). Evidence for the detection of the isomers cyclopropenone (c-C_3H_2O) and propynal (HCCCHO) is presented, along with evidence for the non-detection of the lowest zero-point energy isomer, propadienone (CH_2CCO). We interpret these observations as evidence that chemical formation pathways, which may be under kinetic control, have a more pronounced effect on final isomer abundances than thermodynamic effects such as the minimum energy principle.
Additional Information
© 2015 The American Astronomical Society. Received 22 August 2014; accepted for publication 30 October 2014; published 14 January 2015. R.A.L. gratefully acknowledges funding from an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship and the Virginia Space Grant Program, as well as support from the College Science Scholars program at the University of Virginia. B.A.M. gratefully acknowledges funding from an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship, and G. A. Blake for his support. We thank an anonymous referee for important comments. The National Radio Astronomy Observatory is a facility of the National Science Foundation operated under cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc.Attached Files
Published - 0004-637X_799_1_34.pdf
Submitted - 1410.8528v1.pdf
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Additional details
- Eprint ID
- 55323
- Resolver ID
- CaltechAUTHORS:20150227-092137995
- NSF Graduate Research Fellowship
- Virginia Space Grant Program
- University of Virginia
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2015-03-01Created from EPrint's datestamp field
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2021-11-10Created from EPrint's last_modified field