Nonequilibrium photodissociation regions: Ionization dissociation fronts

We discuss the theory of coupled ionization-dissociation fronts produced when molecular clouds are exposed to lambda,<1110 Angstrom radiation from hot stars. A steady, composite structure is developed, which generally includes an ionized outflow away from the cloud, an ionization front, a layer of photodissociated gas, a photodissociation front, and a shock wave preceding the photodissociation front. We show that the properties of the structure are determined by two dimensionless parameters, psi and delta, and by the Alfen speed in the preshock gas. For a broad range of parameters of interest, the ionization front and the hydrogen photodissociation front do not separate, the H-2 photodissociation and photoionization take place together, and a classical hydrogen ''photodissociation region'' (PDR) does not exist. We also show that even when a distinct PDR exists, in many cases the dissociation front propagates too rapidly for the usual stationary models of PDRs to be applicable. We discuss several famous PDRs, e.g., in M17 and Orion, and conclude that they cannot be described by equilibrium PDR models.