Institute of Physics Publishing Gas-Phase Chemistry in Space: From elementary particles to complex organic molecules: Harvard Global Health Catalyst summit lecture notes (AAS-IOP Astronomy)

Gas-Phase Chemistry in Space is written by a collection of experts in the field of astrochemistry. The book introduces essential concepts that govern the formation, excitation and destruction of molecules at postgraduate and research levels. A broad range of topics are covered; from early universe chemistry and stellar nucleosynthesis, to the study of bimolecular reaction kinetics. Review As the editors state in their preface to this authoritative volume, astrochemistry is a rapidly growing field in astrophysics. Molecules are found in many types of astronomical region, from the Solar System to high-redshift galaxies, and molecular emissions can be used as thermometers and barometers that help astronomers probe the physical conditions in those objects. Molecules may also have active roles in which their behaviour controls the evolution of the region, as in the formation of galaxies, stars, and planets. A detailed understanding of the chemistry by which molecules are produced may also provide a remarkably thorough description of any astronomical molecular region and its evolution. This book is a collaboration by fifteen experts in eight substantial chapters. These cover a wide range of topics from chemistry in the early Universe and the origin of the elements, to bimolecular reactions and collisional and radiative processes that may excite astronomical molecules. The final chapter reviews the success of gas-phase models and their insatiable appetite for molecular data. The chapters are written at a level suitable for active researchers in fundamental astrochemistry who may need to broaden the range of their knowledge. For such workers, it would be a great advantage to have this volume readily to hand. The emphasis throughout the book is on the essential theory of topics that underpin all of astrochemistry, and some attention is given to the indispensable contribution of laboratory work to the subject. The book does not attempt to tell the magnificent story emerging from observational molecular astronomy. As the title emphasizes, the book is strictly limited to gas-phase processes. The book is beautifully produced, with many high-quality diagrams; comprehensive references are provided in all chapters. It should be an essential companion to those working in this field, and I recommend it highly. Review This attractive and useful book is an introduction to the amuse software which provides a framework for linking together existing simulation codes in the astrophysical domains of gravitational dynamics, stellar evolution, hydrodynamics, and radiative transfer. The book is well written and pleasant to read (even amusing!). The many full-colour plots showing output-simulation results add to the attractiveness of the book. Astronomical software is not always well documented and the authors are to be commended for investing the time required to create this book. The type of documentation given here (what the code is good for, how to do the simplest thing, an example of how to do something complicated, where to get more information, where the pitfalls are) is the type of documentation that the user really needs.Lorne Whiteway 2020 The Observatory Magazine