Astrochemical Kinetic Grid Models of Groups of Observed Molecular Abundances: Taurus Molecular Cloud 1 (TMC-1)

Abstract

Abstract The emission-line spectra of cyanoacetylene and methanol reveal chemical and physical heterogeneity on very small (<0.1 pc) scales toward the peak in cyanopolyyne emission in the Taurus Molecular Cloud, TMC-1 CP. We generate grids of homogeneous chemical models using a three-phase rate equation approach to obtain all time-dependent abundances spanning the physical conditions determined from molecular tracers of compact and extended regions of emission along this line of sight. Each time-dependent abundance is characterized by one of four features: a maximum/minimum, a monotonic increase/decrease, oscillatory behavior, or inertness. We similarly classify the time-dependent agreement between modeled and observed abundances by calculating both the rms logarithm difference and rms deviation between the modeled and observed abundances at every point in our grid models for three groups of molecules: (i) a composite group of all species present in both the observations and our chemical network G, (ii) the cyanopolyynes C = {HC3N, HC5N, HC7N, HC9N}, and (iii) the oxygen-containing organic species methanol and acetaldehyde S = {CH3OH, CH3CHO}. We discuss how the Bayesian uncertainties in the observed abundances constrain solutions within the grids of chemical models. The calculated best-fit times at each grid point for each group are tabulated to reveal the minimum solution space of the grid models and the effects the Bayesian uncertainties have on the grid model solutions. The results of this approach separate the effects different physical conditions and model-free parameters have on reproducing accurately the abundances of different groups of observed molecular species.