Speaker
Jonathan Tennyson
(University College London)
Description
We can observe the Universe in exquisite detail by careful study of the wavelengths of light that arrive at Earth. However to interpret these signals requires laboratory data, much of it associated with spectroscopy and the behaviour of molecules. In hotter environments such the atmospheres of brown dwarfs, cool stars and most observed exoplanets, as well non-LTE environments such cometary tails, the amount of molecular data required can be huge. I will discribe efforts to provide the required information using detailed solutions of the equations of quantum mechanics from the detection of
H3+ in Jupiter's ionosphere to the ExoMol project, which aims to provide a comprehensive solution to this problem.
