Laboratory astrophysics and astrochemistry in the Herschel/ALMA era

Department of Astrophysics, CAB. INTA-CSIC, Crta Torrejón km 4, 28850 Torrejón de Ardoz, Madrid, Spain ;
e-mail: jcernicharo@cab.inta-csic.es

Abstract

The interpretation of molecular line surveys at millimetre and submillimetre wavelengths towards astrophysical objects requires a good knowledge of the spectroscopy of the molecules present in the gas phase, and of the basic collisional processes between them and molecular and atomic Hydrogen, Helium, and electrons. From the chemical point of view, the modeling of these data requires a large amount of laboratory information concerning the reactivity of these species in the gas phase and in the ice mantles of dust grains. In this contribution I will focus on the problems to interpret line surveys and I will discuss how we will have to proceed in the new era opened by ALMA where sensitivity and angular resolution will surpass by nearly a factor 10 those of existing facilities, and where the spectral confusion limit could be reached towards many sources.