Carbon fractionation in photo-dissociation regions^⋆

I. Physikalisches Institut, Universität zu Köln, Zülpicher Str. 77, 50937 Köln, Germany
e-mail: roellig@ph1.uni-koeln.de

Received: 30 July 2012
Accepted: 14 November 2012

Abstract

We upgraded the chemical network from the UMIST Database for Astrochemistry 2006 to include isotopes such as ¹³C and ¹⁸O. This includes all corresponding isotopologues, their chemical reactions and the properly scaled reaction rate coefficients. We study the fractionation behavior of astrochemically relevant species over a wide range of model parameters, relevant for modelling of photo-dissociation regions (PDRs). We separately analyze the fractionation of the local abundances, fractionation of the total column densities, and fractionation visible in the emission line ratios. We find that strong C⁺ fractionation is possible in cool C⁺ gas. Optical thickness as well as excitation effects produce intensity ratios between 40 and 400. The fractionation of CO in PDRs is significantly different from the diffuse interstellar medium. PDR model results never show a fractionation ratio of the CO column density larger than the elemental ratio. Isotope-selective photo-dissociation is always dominated by the isotope-selective chemistry in dense PDR gas. The fractionation of C, CH, CH⁺ and HCO⁺ is studied in detail, showing that the fractionation of C, CH and CH⁺ is dominated by the fractionation of their parental species. The light hydrides chemically derive from C⁺, and, consequently, their fractionation state is coupled to that of C⁺. The fractionation of C is a mixed case depending on whether formation from CO or HCO⁺ dominates. Ratios of the emission lines of [C ii], [C i], ¹³CO, and H¹³CO⁺ provide individual diagnostics to the fractionation status of C⁺, C, and CO.