MAIN INTERESTS: astrochemistry, spectroscopy
This research deals with a very special kind of a chemistry - that of the interstellar medium. About 130 chemical compounds were hitherto identified in the interstellar space. Among those, the profusion of chain molecules, held together by carbon backbones with multiple bonds, is striking. Cyanopolyacetylenes, H-(CC)n-CN (with n=1-5), constitute a representative example.
The interpretation of astronomical IR data cannot be
accomplished without the detailed knowledge of characteristic vibrational
frequencies for individual compounds. Paradoxically, the molecules of
interest - most abundant in the Galaxy, and possibly also in the entire
Universe - are often unstable and/or hard to synthesize in laboratories. Our
current research concentrates on 1) studying the molecules already
discovered in space, 2) predicting the properties of unknown, yet
potentially interstellar species (when possible, we try to synthesize the
latter), and 3) looking for possible interstellar synthesis pathways.
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FAX: +48 22 632 52 76
Last updated: March 10, 2004
