Chemical Evolution of the Universe - Faraday Discussion 133
Abbaye de St Jacut de la Mer, Brittany, France
April 24-26 2005

Website: http://fd133.univ-rennes1.fr/

Invited speakers:
Professor Alex Dalgarno FRS, Harvard Smithsonian Observatory, USA
(Opening talk)
Professor John Black, Chalmers - Onsala Space Observatory, Sweden
Professor Jacques Crovisier, Observatoire de Paris-Meudon, France
Professor Pascale Ehrenfreund, Leiden University, The Netherlands
Professor Eric Herbst, Ohio State University, USA
Dr Martin McCoustra, University of Nottingham, UK
Professor Ian W M Smith FRS, Universities of Birmingham and Cambridge,
UK
Professor Ewine van Dishoeck,	Leiden Observatory, The Netherlands
Professor David A Williams, UCL, UK (Summary and closing talk)

ABSTRACT DEADLINE 11 JULY 2005

Offers of abstracts for presentation are invited for the Faraday
Division’s 133rd Discussion Meeting, focusing on the Chemical
Evolution of the Universe. The meeting will be held at Abbaye de St
Jacut on the Brittany coast near Rennes, France.

Introduction
Astronomical observations confirm that chemistry has been active in
the Universe from very early times until the present. Molecules and
dust have been detected in galaxies at redshifts greater than six,
representing an era when the Universe was only a few percent of its
present age. Even before this, chemistry in a largely atomic hydrogen
gas produced molecular hydrogen, the coolant that controlled the
formation of the first stars which seeded the Universe with atoms of
carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen, etc, and permitted a rich chemistry.
Chemistry provides the molecules by which we trace the interstellar
gas in galaxies, and especially in their star-forming regions. This
chemistry is very extensive, and involves thousands of reactions in
the gas phase, on surfaces of dust, and in solid state ices.
Observations show that planets form in circumstellar disks of gas and
dust. These are regions of great chemical activity which is yet to be
fully explored. The role of chemistry in planet formation is as yet
unclear, but extra-solar planetary systems certainly exist. Even in
our own Solar System, apart from planets, chemistry is active in
comets, asteroids and meteorites and helps us to understand our
origin.

Focus
The meeting will focus on recent astronomical observations of
molecules in various regions and eras of the Universe, and on
describing the processes that determine the chemistry. These processes
include gas phase neutral exchanges and ion-molecule reactions,
surface reactions on dust grains, and the radiative processing of
dirty ices.

Offers of papers related to the following themes are now invited, but
emerging new areas will also be considered:

- Chemistry in the early Universe and in galaxies at high redshift
Chemistry of hydrogen/helium gas; chemical networks of gas phase
reactions; observations and modelling of high redshift galaxies

- The role of chemistry in star-forming regions
Experiments and theory on ion-molecule and neutral exchange reactions
and gas-surface interactions; deposition of and desorption from
interstellar ices; observations and modelling of star-forming regions

- Circumstellar disks and planet formation
Observations and modelling of disks and their chemistry; the role of
dust and chemistry in the formation of planets

- Habitable zones, astrochemistry as the initiator of astrobiology,
and the role of cometary chemistry
Hydrocarbon gas-phase chemistry; radiation processing of ices;
cometary chemistry and water

Abstracts that fit most closely with the themes of the meeting will be
selected for oral presentations. Authors of the selected abstracts
will then be invited to submit their work as a full paper, which will
form the basis of their short presentation at the meeting. The paper
itself must contain new, unpublished work and be submitted by Friday
25 November 2005. The papers selected for presentation and discussion
will be refereed and then sent to all participants as preprints.

How to submit an abstract
Abstracts for both oral and poster presentations should be sent by
email attachment to RSC Conferences (email: [log in to unmask]) with
the following subject header: ‘FD133 abstract’. The abstracts should
be no longer than one A4 page in portrait layout. Please include your
full address and contact details in the email and indicate whether you
are submitting either an oral or poster presentation. 

Deadlines for abstract submission
Oral presentation abstracts: Monday 11 July 2005 
Poster presentation abstracts: Friday 24 February 2006

Ian Sims

PALMS - UMR 6627 du CNRS
Equipe: "Astrochimie Expérimentale"
Bat. 11c, Campus de Beaulieu,
Université de RENNES 1,
35042 RENNES Cedex, FRANCE
tel.: +33 2 23 23 69 18
fax.: +33 2 23 23 67 86
email: < mailto:[log in to unmask] >
web: < http://perso.univ-rennes1.fr/ian.sims/ >

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