Study finds CO2 molecules change abnormally under strong radiation

An Israeli-German research team discovered unusual behavior in carbon dioxide (CO2) molecules under strong radiation, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HU) said on Monday.

In a study published in Nature Communications, researchers from HU, the Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics in Heidelberg, and the Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY in Hamburg found that the molecules surprisingly undergo asymmetric structural rearrangements. This symmetry-breaking leads to the formation of CO3 moieties, which could play a crucial role in the chemical evolution of more complex species in the cold environments of outer space.

HU noted that this discovery may shed new light on chemical processes in the atmosphere and outer space, offering a deeper understanding of molecular behavior under extreme conditions.

The researchers used time-resolved extreme ultraviolet (EUV) imaging to study how pairs, or dimers, of CO2 molecules behave when ionized. They combined this with computer simulations and discovered that when the dimer is ionized, it quickly shifts from its stable slipped-parallel shape to a T-shaped structure within about 100 millionths of a billionth of a second. Additionally, they found that after a second ionization, the dimer can form a complex that remains stable for a while.

The researchers explained that the pair of CO2 molecules exists in a superposition of two symmetry-breaking states. The system preserves symmetry until the quantum wave function collapses upon measurement, resulting in one CO2 molecule rotating relative to the other.

These results suggest that the distribution of charge in the dimer affects its behavior when ionized, which is important for understanding such interactions in complex environments, the researchers concluded.