Speaker: Maria Pettyjohn (UNSW Sydney)

Date: Wednesday 6 September 2023

Time: 14:00

Location: Physics 3.21 (Berry)

Quantum meets astrobiology: Approximate vibrational spectral data for potential biosignatures

The scientific search for extraterrestrial life relies on the atmospheric detection of molecules that could be related to biology on a given (exo)planet (biosignatures). Such atmospheric detections require high-resolution spectral data, which is relatively sparse and only available for a limited number of molecules, restricting the scope of molecular detections in (exo)planetary atmospheres.

We constructed a new dataset storing approximate infrared spectral data for thousands of potential biosignatures using a reliable automated pipeline of quantum chemistry calculations. Though not accurate enough to enable definitive molecular detections in (exo)planetary atmospheres, we have showcased the benefits of this big data in screening potential molecular candidates responsible for unknown spectral signals. Specifically, we have listed molecular species that could be responsible for the unknown spectral peak at 4.56µm present in the IR spectrum of WASP-39b. Further applications of this big data also include sorting strong molecular absorbers and recognising potential molecular ambiguities in spectra.