Dialectics of the PAH Abundance Trend with Metallicity

Abstract

This paper reviews the various processes that have been pro- posed to explain the observed trend of PAH strength with metallicity. It summarizes a study showing that, although PAH destruction by hard radiation is important in low-metallicity environments, it is not suffi- cient to explain their paucity. In these systems, the deficiency of their formation mechanism, related to stellar evolution, has to be invoked.