Modeling Spectra of Solid Methane
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Modeling Spectra of Solid Methane. By Linda Henneberg Mentor: Dr. Kris Andersen Northern Arizona University SpaceGrant Symposium April 2009. Outline. Why is modeling methane important? Getting to know solid methane Methods and procedure Data and results Future work.
Modeling Spectra of Solid Methane
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Modeling Spectra of Solid Methane By Linda Henneberg Mentor: Dr. Kris Andersen Northern Arizona University SpaceGrant Symposium April 2009
Outline • Why is modeling methane important? • Getting to know solid methane • Methods and procedure • Data and results • Future work
Why is this important? • Only way to gather information about astronomical objects. Image from: http://www.cnes.fr
Methane • CH4 • Bond angle is 109.5o H C H H H Image from: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Methane-3D-balls.png
Phase II Jmol: http://www.jmol.org/ Image from: I. Nakahata, et al. (1999)
Methods • Generalized gradient approximation (PBE) • 6x6x6 k-point grid • Latin for “first principles” • 400 eV cutoff energy
Data and Analysis a = 4.65 ang
Future Work • Find the lattice constant for phase II methane • Analyze the vibrational spectra • Compare to experiments and observations • Repeat the process for nitrogen
Thank you! • My mentor, Dr. Kris Andersen • NASA, for providing funding for the SpaceGrant program • Kathleen Stigmon and Dr. Nadine Barlow, for all the work they put into this program