Free access article

A&A 399, 583-587 (2003)
DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361:20021533

Complex bifurcations in interstellar chemistry?

S. B. Charnley¹ and A. J. Markwick<sup>2

1</sup>  Space Science Division, NASA Ames Research Center, MS 245-3, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA
    e-mail: charnley@dusty.arc.nasa.gov
²  Department of Physics, UMIST, PO Box 88, Manchester M60 1QD, UK

(Received 6 November 2001 / Accepted 21 October 2002)

Abstract
Bifurcation diagrams for the steady-state chemical abundances of dense molecular gas have been computed in the region of parameter space where bistable solutions are known to occur. Despite the appearance of many exotic bifurcations, which could be interpreted as sections though higher dimensional catastrophes, we show that they are fundamentally projection effects of the same basic bifurcation, which is an hysteresis loop.

Key words: ISM: abundances -- ISM: molecules -- molecular processes

Offprint request: A. J. Markwick, ajm@ajmarkwick.com

© ESO 2003

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