H3+ at the interface between astrochemistry and astroparticle physics
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Updated: May 18, 2026

Synthesis and Microdiffraction at Extreme Pressures and Temperatures
Published on: October 7, 2013
1Department of Earth and Space Sciences, Chalmers University of Technology, Onsala Space Observatory, 43992 Onsala, Sweden. john.black@chalmers.se
Abstract:
The H(3)(+) molecular ion has been used by Oka and collaborators to trace the rate of ionization by cosmic rays in the interstellar medium. More energetic cosmic rays also produce diffuse γ-radiation. Now that several supernova remnants (SNRs) have been identified as γ-ray sources, it is possible to use spectroscopy of molecular ions to search for enhanced ionization rates that would pinpoint the SNRs as the accelerators of cosmic rays. It is proposed that the warm, dilute molecular gas revealed by H(3)(+) absorption in the central molecular zone of the Galaxy can also be investigated via radio recombination lines of atoms and possibly triatomic hydrogen.
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