In-depth exploration of catalytic sites on amorphous solid water: I. The astrosynthesis of aminomethanol.

Chemical processes taking place on ice-grain mantles are pivotal to the complex chemistry of interstellar environments. In this study, we conducted a comprehensive analysis of the catalytic effects of an amorphous solid water (ASW) surface on the reaction between ammonia (NH) and formaldehyde (HCO) to form aminomethanol (NHCHOH) using density functional theory. We identified potential catalytic sites based on the binding energy distribution of NH and HCO reactants, on a set-of-clusters surface model composed of 22 water molecules and found a total of 14 reaction paths.

Small-scale dynamo at low magnetic Prandtl numbers.

The present-day Universe is highly magnetized, even though the first magnetic seed fields were most probably extremely weak. To explain the growth of the magnetic field strength over many orders of magnitude, fast amplification processes need to operate. The most efficient mechanism known today is the small-scale dynamo, which converts turbulent kinetic energy into magnetic energy leading to an exponential growth of the magnetic field.