Recombination of H3+ Ions in the Afterglow of a He-Ar-H2 Plasma

Recombination of H3+ with electrons was studied in a low temperature plasma in helium. The plasma recombination rate is driven by two body, H3+ + e, and three-body, H3+ + e + He, processes with the rate coefficients 7.5x10^{-8}cm3/s and 2.8x10^{-25}cm6/s correspondingly at 260K. The two-body rate coefficient is in excellent agreement with results from storage ring experiments and theoretical calculations. We suggest that the three-body recombination involves formation of highly excited Rydberg neutral H3 followed by an l- or m- changing collision with He. Plasma electron spectroscopy indicates the presence of H3.Comment: 4 figure

Enhanced cosmic-ray flux toward zeta Persei inferred from laboratory study of H3+ - e- recombination rate

The H3+ molecular ion plays a fundamental role in interstellar chemistry, as it initiates a network of chemical reactions that produce many interstellar molecules. In dense clouds, the H3+ abundance is understood using a simple chemical model, from which observations of H3+ yield valuable estimates of cloud path length, density, and temperature. On the other hand, observations of diffuse clouds have suggested that H3+ is considerably more abundant than expected from the chemical models. However, diffuse cloud models have been hampered by the uncertain values of three key parameters: the rate of H3+ destruction by electrons, the electron fraction, and the cosmic-ray ionisation rate. Here we report a direct experimental measurement of the H3+ destruction rate under nearly interstellar conditions. We also report the observation of H3+ in a diffuse cloud (towards zeta Persei) where the electron fraction is already known. Taken together, these results allow us to derive the value of the third uncertain model parameter: we find that the cosmic-ray ionisation rate in this sightline is forty times faster than previously assumed. If such a high cosmic-ray flux is indeed ubiquitous in diffuse clouds, the discrepancy between chemical models and the previous observations of H3+ can be resolved.Comment: 6 pages, Nature, in pres

Nuclear CaMKII enhances histone H3 phosphorylation and remodels chromatin during cardiac hypertrophy.

Calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII) plays a central role in pathological cardiac hypertrophy, but the mechanisms by which it modulates gene activity in the nucleus to mediate hypertrophic signaling remain unclear. Here, we report that nuclear CaMKII activates cardiac transcription by directly binding to chromatin and regulating the phosphorylation of histone H3 at serine-10. These specific activities are demonstrated both in vitro and in primary neonatal rat cardiomyocytes. Activation of CaMKII signaling by hypertrophic agonists increases H3 phosphorylation in primary cardiac cells and is accompanied by concomitant cellular hypertrophy. Conversely, specific silencing of nuclear CaMKII using RNA interference reduces both H3 phosphorylation and cellular hypertrophy. The hyper-phosphorylation of H3 associated with increased chromatin binding of CaMKII occurs at specific gene loci reactivated during cardiac hypertrophy. Importantly, H3 Ser-10 phosphorylation and CaMKII recruitment are associated with increased chromatin accessibility and are required for chromatin-mediated transcription of the Mef2 transcription factor. Unlike phosphorylation of H3 by other kinases, which regulates cellular proliferation and immediate early gene activation, CaMKII-mediated signaling to H3 is associated with hypertrophic growth. These observations reveal a previously unrecognized function of CaMKII as a kinase signaling to histone H3 and remodeling chromatin. They suggest a new epigenetic mechanism controlling cardiac hypertrophy

Temperature dependence of binary and ternary recombination of H3+ ions with electron

We study binary and the recently discovered process of ternary He-assisted recombination of H3+ ions with electrons in a low temperature afterglow plasma. The experiments are carried out over a broad range of pressures and temperatures of an afterglow plasma in a helium buffer gas. Binary and He-assisted ternary recombination are observed and the corresponding recombination rate coefficients are extracted for temperatures from 77 K to 330 K. We describe the observed ternary recombination as a two-step mechanism: First, a rotationally-excited long-lived neutral molecule H3* is formed in electron-H3+ collisions. Second, the H3* molecule collides with a helium atom that leads to the formation of a very long-lived Rydberg state with high orbital momentum. We present calculations of the lifetimes of H3* and of the ternary recombination rate coefficients for para and ortho-H3+. The calculations show a large difference between the ternary recombination rate coefficients of ortho- and para-H3+ at temperatures below 300 K. The measured binary and ternary rate coefficients are in reasonable agreement with the calculated values.Comment: 15 page

Nature of the first excited state of He-4

We study the first excited state of He4 in a microscopic {H3+p,He3+n} cluster model, including H3 and He3 distortions. The phenomenological 1S0 H3+p scattering phase shift is well reproduced. We localize a complex pole of the S-matrix between the H3+p and He3+n thresholds. The corresponding resonance parameters are E_r=93 keV position relative to H3+p, and Gamma=390 keV width. A pole search is also performed in an extended R-matrix method, and a resonance is found with parameters E_r=114 keV and Gamma=392 keV. The R-matrix approach gives several additional poles, some of which may be connected with an enhanced threshold effect.Comment: 13 pages, 2 figure

Observations of H3+ in the Diffuse Interstellar Medium

Surprisingly large column densities of H3+ have been detected using infrared absorption spectroscopy in seven diffuse cloud sightlines (Cygnus OB2 12, Cygnus OB2 5, HD 183143, HD 20041, WR 104, WR 118, and WR 121), demonstrating that H3+ is ubiquitous in the diffuse interstellar medium. Using the standard model of diffuse cloud chemistry, our H3+ column densities imply unreasonably long path lengths (~1 kpc) and low densities (~3 cm^-3). Complimentary millimeter-wave, infrared, and visible observations of related species suggest that the chemical model is incorrect and that the number density of H3+ must be increased by one to two orders of magnitude. Possible solutions include a reduced electron fraction, an enhanced rate of H2 ionization, and/or a smaller value of the H3+ dissociative recombination rate constant than implied by laboratory experiments.Comment: To be published in Astrophysical Journal, March 200

Spectroscopy and dissociative recombination of the lowest rotational states of H3+

The dissociative recombination of the lowest rotational states of H3+ has been investigated at the storage ring TSR using a cryogenic 22-pole radiofrequency ion trap as injector. The H3+ was cooled with buffer gas at ~15 K to the lowest rotational levels, (J,G)=(1,0) and (1,1), which belong to the ortho and para proton-spin symmetry, respectively. The rate coefficients and dissociation dynamics of H3+(J,G) populations produced with normal- and para-H2 were measured and compared to the rate and dynamics of a hot H3+ beam from a Penning source. The production of cold H3+ rotational populations was separately studied by rovibrational laser spectroscopy using chemical probing with argon around 55 K. First results indicate a ~20% relative increase of the para contribution when using para-H2 as parent gas. The H3+ rate coefficient observed for the para-H2 source gas, however, is quite similar to the H3+ rate for the normal-H2 source gas. The recombination dynamics confirm that for both source gases, only small populations of rotationally excited levels are present. The distribution of 3-body fragmentation geometries displays a broad part of various triangular shapes with an enhancement of ~12% for events with symmetric near-linear configurations. No large dependences on internal state or collision energy are found.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figures, to be published in Journal of Physics: Conference Proceeding

Potential energy and dipole moment surfaces of H3- molecule

A new potential energy surface for the electronic ground state of the simplest triatomic anion H3- is determined for a large number of geometries. Its accuracy is improved at short and large distances compared to previous studies. The permanent dipole moment surface of the state is also computed for the first time. Nine vibrational levels of H3- and fourteen levels of D3- are obtained, bound by at most ~70 cm^{-1} and ~ 126 cm^{-1} respectively. These results should guide the spectroscopic search of the H3- ion in cold gases (below 100K) of molecular hydrogen in the presence of H3- ions

First Time-dependent Study of H2 and H3+ Ortho-Para Chemistry in the Diffuse Interstellar Medium: Observations Meet Theoretical Predictions

The chemistry in the diffuse interstellar medium initiates the gradual increase of molecular complexity during the life cycle of matter. A key molecule that enables build-up of new molecular bonds and new molecules via proton-donation is H3+. Its evolution is tightly related to molecular hydrogen and thought to be well understood. However, recent observations of ortho and para lines of H2 and H3+ in the diffuse ISM showed a puzzling discrepancy in nuclear spin excitation temperatures and populations between these two key species. H3+, unlike H2, seems to be out of thermal equilibrium, contrary to the predictions of modern astrochemical models. We conduct the first time-dependent modeling of the para-fractions of H2 and H3+ in the diffuse ISM and compare our results to a set of line-of-sight observations, including new measurements presented in this study. We isolate a set of key reactions for H3+ and find that the destruction of the lowest rotational states of H3+ by dissociative recombination largely control its ortho/para ratio. A plausible agreement with observations cannot be achieved unless a ratio larger than 1:5 for the destruction of (1,1)- and (1,0)-states of H3+ is assumed. Additionally, an increased CR ionization rate to 10(-15) 1/s further improves the fit whereas variations of other individual physical parameters, such as density and chemical age, have only a minor effect on the predicted ortho/para ratios. Thus our study calls for new laboratory measurements of the dissociative recombination rate and branching ratio of the key ion H3+ under interstellar conditions.Comment: 27 pages, 6 figures, 3 table