Joseph Luc Robitaille’s scientific contributions

In the liquid metallic hydrogen solar model (LMHSM), the chromosphere is the site of hydrogen condensation (P.M. Robitaille. The Liquid Metallic Hydrogen Model of the Sun and the Solar Atmosphere IV. On the Nature of the Chromosphere. Progr. Phys., 2013, v. 3, L15–L21). Line emission is associated with the dissipation of energy from condensed hydrogen structures, CHS. Previously considered reactions resulted in hy-drogen atom or cluster addition to the site of condensation. In this work, an additional mechanism is presented, wherein atomic or molecular species interact with CHS, but do not deposit hydrogen. These reactions channel heat away from CHS, enabling them to cool even more rapidly. As a result, this new class of processes could complement true hydrogen condensation reactions by providing an auxiliary mechanism for the removal of heat. Such 'futile' reactions lead to the formation of activated atoms, ions, or molecules and might contribute to line emission from such species. Evidence that complimentary 'futile' reactions might be important in the chromosphere can be extracted from lineshape analysis.

In the liquid metallic hydrogen solar model (LMHSM), the chromosphere is the site of hydrogen condensation (P.M. Robitaille. The Liquid Metallic Hydrogen Model of the Sun and the Solar Atmosphere IV. On the Nature of the Chromosphere. Progr. Phys., 2013, v. 3, L15-L21). Line emission is associated with the dissipation of energy from condensed hydrogen structures, CHS. Previously considered reactions resulted in hydrogen atom or cluster addition to the site of condensation. In this work, an additional mechanism is presented, wherein atomic or molecular species interact with CHS, but do not deposit hydrogen. These reactions channel heat away from CHS, enabling them to cool even more rapidly. As a result, this new class of processes could complement true hydrogen condensation reactions by providing an auxiliary mechanism for the removal of heat. Such 'futile' reactions lead to the formation of activated atoms, ions, or molecules and might contribute to line emission from such species. Evidence that complimentary 'futile' reactions might be important in the chromosphere can be extracted from lineshape analysis.