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11. ION RECOMBINATION ON DUST GRAINS

As discussed by Jenkins (2003), determinations of elemental abundances from interstellar absorption line observations may require estimation of the fraction in unobserved ionization states, such as Na II, K II, or Ca III. Such estimates require knowledge of the rates for ionization and recombination processes. Neutral or negatively-charged dust grains provide a pathway for ion neutralization that for some cases can be faster than ordinary radiative recombination with free electrons (Weingartner & Draine 2001).