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Paper: Charging of Dust Grains
Volume: 309, Astrophysics of Dust
Page: 453
Authors: Weingartner, J.C.
Abstract: Cosmic grains are subjected to various electrical charging mechanisms and the resulting non-zero grain charge has several important astrophysical consequences. I briefly discuss the various physical processes that can contribute to grain charging and describe a number of potential applications. Then, I focus on grain charging in HI regions, where the dominant charging processes are starlight-induced photoelectric emission and collisions with gas-phase electrons and ions. I discuss recent progress in the quantitative estimation of the charging rates and point out areas where improvements are needed. Finally, I discuss one important application, namely, grain-assisted electron-ion recombination.
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