Molecular hydrogen formation in the interstellar medium

We have developed a model for molecular hydrogen formation under astrophysically relevant conditions. This model takes fully into account the presence of both physisorbed and chemisorbed sites on the surface, allows quantum mechanical diffusion as well as thermal hopping for absorbed H-atoms, and has been benchmarked versus recent laboratory experiments on H2 formation on silicate surfaces. The results show that H2 formation on grain surface is efficient in the interstellar medium up to some 300K. At low temperatures (