Collective expertize of the network teams
<< BackParticipant Number 11: Madrid (ES)
Expertise in Research and Complementarity
The Madrid team is strongly involved in the study of the physics and
chemistry of interstellar matter, in quantum chemical calculations and
in laboratory studies of molecular jets. The team provides scientific
and instrumental contribution to European ground-based telescopes and
ESA/NASA observatories. J.Cernicharo is mission scientist of the
Herschel satellite of ESA and J.Martín-Pintado is Co-I of the
HIFI instrument for the same satellite. The team has developed several
radiative transfer codes that have been used to analyze and interpret
data from many telescopes. Prof. J. Cernicharo (JC) has wide experience
in the study of interstellar molecules and in astrophysical modelling,
J. Martín-Pintado has extensive experience in the study of
molecular clouds; J.R. Pardo has been working in the submillimeter
domain for several years. The group of quantum chemistry is working on
the structure of floppy molecules and on the study of charge transfer in
reactions of astrophysical interest. Prof. A. Macias has a large
experience in the field of charge transfer in molecular reactions and
Dr. M.L. Senent has been working for more than 15 years in the field of
molecular quantum calculations. The three teams belong to the Spanish
Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC) and are
working in two departments, Molecular and Infrared Astrophysics and
Molecular Physics of the ``Instituto de Estructura de la Materia''.
Expertise in Training and Knowledge Transfer
The team in Madrid has a large interdisciplinary component both in its
activities and the background of the involved researchers in the fields
of astrophysics, physics, spectroscopy and chemistry. The team has
therefore sufficient resources for the training of young researchers
and postdocs in several fields. Two Theoretical Chemists, Prof. A.
Macías and Dr. M.L.Senent are also members of the Molecular
Astrophysical Department. A.M. is an expert in molecular dynamics and
collisions and M.L.S performs spectroscopic studies using ab initio
methods. The groups study the spectroscopy of non-rigid molecules and
organic polycycles; they work on group theory problems for non- rigid
molecules and have studied the kinetics and reactivity of systems of
pharmacological and biological interest. The group of Prof. Montero
(Molecular Physics Department) has been working in recent years on
molecular jets and in the determination of molecular collisional rates.
Over the past four years, our team has supervised 5 PhD students (3M,
2F), of whom 2 have graduated and 3 are current students. The three
groups have also supervised 5 post-docs (4M,1F), of whom three are
still under contract.
Involvement of Key Scientific Staff.
| Name | Position | M/F | Expertise |
| J. Cernicharo | Research Professor | M | Molecular Astrophysics,radiative transfer |
| J. Martín-Pintado | Research Professor | M | Molecular Astrophysics,observations |
| A. Macias | Research Professor | M | Charge Transfer in chemical reactions |
| S. Montero | Research Professor | M | Molecular jets/laboratory collisions |
| M.L. Senent | Research Scientist | F | Floppy molecules (ab initio) |
| J.M. Fernández | Research Scientist | M | Molecular jets/laboratory collisions |
| J.R. Pardo | Associated Res. Scientist | M | Millimeter and submillimeter radioastronomy |
| M.B. Maté Naya | Associated Res. Scientist | F | Molecular Jets/laboratory collisions |
Significant References
1. Infrared Space Observatory's Discovery of C
H
, C
H, and Benzene in CRL 618. J.
Cernicharo et al., ApJ Letters, 564, L121-L126 (2001).
2. Far-Infrared OH Fluorescent Emission in Sagittarius B2. J.R.
Goicoechea and J. Cernicharo, 2002, ApJ Letters, 576, L77-L80 (2002).