Section: Formation and Growth of Hydrocarbons and PAHs
Barthel, Scholz, Seifert

Introduction
Observation of molecular pattern, IEB (CH vibrations), PAH hypothesis, cosmic abundances, mechanisms of at different T and p regimes (interstellar vs. circumstellar), top-down vs. bottom-up mechanisms, precursors of PAHs (and cosmic abundances), reaction analysis (experimental and computational)
Computational reaction analysis
Collisional and postcollisional processes of ion-molecules reactions, molecular dynamics simulation (quasi-classical, wave-packet), unimolecular processes (RRKM, QET), minimum energy path search (chain-of-states methods), thermodynamic properties
Circumstellar processes
high T and p processes (HACA, cycloaddition)
Interstellar processes
low T and p processes of small interstellar abundant CxHy with hydrocarbons, formation of benzene, naphthalene, phenanthrene (kinetic and thermodynamic aspects) by CH, C3H and cumulenes carbenes (H2C2 etc.), growth of new hexagon and pentagon units, hydrogen elimination processes, radiative and non-radiative relaxation.