title: UV circular polarisation in star formation regions: the origin of homochirality?
abstract: Ultraviolet circularly polarised light has been suggested as the initial cause of the homochirality of organic molecules in terrestrial organisms, via enantiomeric selection of prebiotic molecules by asymmetric photolysis. We present a theoretical investigation of mechanisms by which ultraviolet circular polarisation may be produced in star formation regions. In the scenarios considered here, light scattering produces only a small percentage of net circular polarisation at any point in space, due to the forward throwing nature of the phase function in the ultraviolet. By contrast, dichroic extinction can produce a fairly high percentage of net circular polarisation ( approximately 10%) and may therefore play a key role in producing an enantiomeric excess.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Sciences, University of Hertfordshire, College Lane, Hatfield, UK. pwl@star.herts.ac.uk
authors.forename: P W
authors.initials: PW
authors.lastname: Lucas
authors.forename: J H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Hough
authors.forename: Jeremy
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bailey
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Chrysostomou
authors.forename: T M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Gledhill
authors.forename: Alan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: McCall
mesh_terms: D055580:Astronomical Phenomena; D001256:Astronomy; D002942:Circular Dichroism; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D009010:Monte Carlo Method; D010782:Photolysis; D012542:Scattering, Radiation; D013237:Stereoisomerism; D014466:Ultraviolet Rays