Phosphorus in circumstellar envelopes

We have investigated the chemistry of phosphorus-bearing compounds in the circumstellar envelopes of both oxygen-rich and carbon-rich evolved stars. In accordance with thermodynamic calculations of photospheric chemistry, we have assumed that the dominant forms of phosphorus in the inner circumstellar envelope (CSE) are PS and HCP in each case. In the C-rich case, we can reproduce the observed CP abundance reasonably well if it is the photodaughter of HCP In the O-rich case we find, for the same amount of P available in PS, that large abundances of atomic P are available for reaction but that a low abundance of PO can be produced. We have not extensively explored the effect of additional neutral processes since our results are partly compromised by the fact that neither HCP nor PS is detected in the three CSEs where searches have been made; our models predict column densities in excess of the published upper limits. Sensitive searches for these molecules at higher frequencies are required before their presence in circumstellar envelopes can definitely be ruled out. Dust condensation may incorporate all the available P into refractory grains and so we suggest that searches for P-bearing molecules may have the greatest opportunity for success in more evolved objects, such as protoplanetary nebulae, where P has been released from grains through the action of strong shock waves.