Astronomy Astrophysics

Abstract. We present the basic features of a steady state chemical model of Photon Dominated Regions (PDR), where the deu-terium chemistry is explicitly introduced. The model is an extension of a previous PDR model (Abgrall et al. 1992; Le Bourlot et al. 1993; Le Bourlot 2000) in which the microscopic processes relative to HD have been incorporated. The J-dependent pho-todissociation probabilities have been calculated and included in the statistical equilibrium of the rotational levels of HD where the latest collision molecular data are also introduced. The thermal balance is calculated from the equilibrium between the dierent heating and cooling processes. We introduce a standard model of density nH = 500 cm−3 embedded in the Interstellar Standard Radiation Field (ISRF) from which we derive the main properties of HD in PDR. The D/HD transition does not de-pend only on the density, radiation field but also on the chemical processes and especially on the dust formation eciency. In standard radiation field conditions, the D/HD transition occurs in a narrow range of visual extinctions as long as density is less than 1000 cm−3 and HD is formed through the D+ + H2 reaction. At higher densities a logarithmic dependence of the location of the transition is derived. The model is applied both to ultraviolet absorption observations from the ground rotational state of HD performed in diuse and translucent clouds and infrared emission detectable at high densities and for high ultraviolet radiation fields coming from the bright surrounding stars. Key words. astrochemistry – molecular processes – ISM: molecules 1