CN molecule collisions with H+ at a wide range of astrophysical energies

Abstract

We analyze the quantum-mechanical rotational excitation/de-excitation spectrum and cross sections of CN molecules during low and high-energy collisions with protons, H+. The problem is of significant importance in astrophysics of the early Universe, specifically connected with the problems of cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation. A quantum-mechanical close-coupling method is applied in this work. The cyanide molecule (CN) is treated as a rigid rotor, i.e. the distance between the carbon and nitrogen atoms is fixed at an average equilibrium value. The new results of the excitation/de-excitation cross-sections and corresponding thermal rate coefficients are compared with the results of few previous calculations performed on the basis of few approximate semiclassical frameworks. The interaction potential between CN and H+ is taken in the following form: proton induced polarization potential + proton-dipole potential + proton-quadrupole potential.