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# Soft Mode Anomalies in the Perovskite Relaxor Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3

## I Introduction

In the past year two neutron inelastic scattering studies have been carried out in an attempt to elucidate the nature of the lattice dynamics in the relaxor-based systems Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3 (PMN) and Pb(Zn1/3Nb2/3)0.92Ti0.08O3 (PZN-8%PT) which have the complex perovskite structure $`A(B^{}B^{\prime \prime })O_3`$ and $`A(B^{}B^{\prime \prime }B^{\prime \prime \prime })O_3`$, respectively . Of particular interest to both studies was the soft phonon mode that is ubiquitous in ferroelectric and perovskite systems. The displacive phase transition in classical ferroelectric systems such as PbTiO3, which has the simple $`ABO_3`$ perovskite structure, is driven by the condensation or softening of a zone-center transverse optic (TO) phonon, i. e. a “soft mode,” that transforms the system from a cubic paraelectric phase to a tetragonal ferroelectric phase. Direct evidence of this soft mode behavior is easily obtained from neutron inelastic scattering measurements made at different temperatures above the Curie temperature $`T_c`$. The top panel of Fig. 1 shows, for example, the phonon dispersion of the lowest-energy TO branch in PbTiO3 (PT) at 20 K above $`T_c`$. Here one can see that the zone center ($`\zeta =0`$) phonon energy has already dropped to a very low value of 3 meV . As $`TT_c`$, the soft mode energy $`\mathrm{}\omega _o(TT_c)^{1/2}0`$.

By contrast, the so-called “relaxor” systems possess a built-in disorder that stifles the ferroelectric transition. Instead of a sharp transition at $`T_c`$, one observes a diffuse phase transition in which the dielectric permittivity $`ϵ`$ exhibits a broad maximum as a function of temperature at a temperature $`T_{max}`$. The disorder in relaxors can be either compositional or frustrated in nature. In the case of PMN and PZN (Z = Zn), the disorder results from the $`B`$-site being occupied by ions of differing valence (either Mg2+ or Zn2+, and Nb5+). Hence the randomness of the $`B`$-site cation breaks the translational symmetry of the crystal. Yet despite years of intensive research, the physics of the observed diffuse phase transition is still not well understood . Moreover, it is interesting to note that no definitive evidence for a soft mode has been found in these systems.

Fig. 1. Top - Dispersions of the lowest-energy TO mode and the TA mode in PbTiO3, measured just above $`T_c`$ (from ). Bottom - Dispersions of the equivalent modes in PMN measured far above $`T_{max}`$ (from ).

In a series of papers published in 1983, Burns and Dacol proposed an elegant model to describe the disorder intrinsic to relaxor systems . Using measurements of the optic index of refraction on both ceramic samples of (Pb1-3x/2Lax)(ZryTi1-y)O3 (PLZT) as well as microscopically homogeneous single crystals of PMN and PZN , they demonstrated that a randomly-oriented local polarization $`P_d`$ develops at a well-defined temperature $`T_d`$, often referred to as the Burns temperature, several hundred degrees above the apparent ferroelectric transition temperature $`T_c`$. The spatial extent of these locally polarized regions in the vicinity of $`T_d`$ was conjectured to be $``$ several unit cells, and has given rise to the term “polar micro-regions,” or PMR . For PMN, the formation of the PMR occurs at $``$ 617 K , well above the temperature $`T_{max}`$ = 230 K where the dielectric permittivity reaches a maximum . Recently, using neutron inelastic scattering techniques, we have found striking anomalies in the lowest-energy TO phonon branch (the same branch that goes soft at at the zone center at $`T_c`$ in PbTiO3) that we speculate are directly caused by these same nanometer-sized PMR.

## II Search for a Soft Mode in PMN

Our phonon measurements on relaxor systems began with PMN at the NIST Center for Neutron Research (NCNR) in 1997. At that time many diffuse scattering studies of PMN using X-rays and neutrons had already been published . However, there were no published neutron inelastic scattering measurements on PMN until the 1999 phonon study by Naberezhnov et al . The bottom panel of Fig. 1 shows neutron scattering data taken by Naberezhnov et al. on PMN exactly analogous to that shown in the top panel for PbTiO3, except that the PMN data were taken at 800 K, a temperature that is much higher relative to the transition temperature of PMN, i. e. $`570`$ K above $`T_{max}`$.

The neutron scattering measurements presented here were performed at the NCNR using both the BT2 and BT9 triple-axis spectrometers. The (002) reflections of highly-oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) crystals were used to both monochromate and analyze the incident and scattered neutron beams. An HOPG transmission filter was used to eliminate higher-order neutron wavelengths. Inelastic measurements were made by holding the final neutron energy $`E_f`$ fixed at 14.7 meV ($`\lambda _f=2.36`$ Å) while varying the incident neutron energy $`E_i`$. Typical horizontal beam collimations used were 60-40-40-80 and 40-48-48-80. The single crystal of PMN used in this study measures 0.5 cm3 in volume, and was the identical crystal used by Naberezhnov et al. It was grown using the Chochralsky technique described elsewhere . The crystal was mounted onto an aluminum holder and oriented in air with the either the cubic \[$`\overline{1}`$10\] or  axis vertical.

We used two types of scans to collect data. Constant energy (constant-$`E`$) scans were performed by keeping the energy transfer $`\mathrm{}\omega =\mathrm{\Delta }E=E_fE_i`$ fixed while varying the momentum transfer $`\stackrel{}{Q}`$. Constant-$`\stackrel{}{Q}`$ scans were performed by holding the momentum transfer $`\stackrel{}{Q}=\stackrel{}{k_f}\stackrel{}{k_i}`$ ($`k=2\pi /\lambda `$) fixed while varying the energy transfer $`\mathrm{\Delta }E`$. Using these scans, the dispersions of both the transverse acoustic (TA) and the lowest-energy transverse optic (TO) phonon modes were mapped out at room temperature (still in the cubic phase, but well below the Burns temperature $`T_d`$ 617 K).

Fig. 2. Solid dots represent positions of peak scattered neutron intensity taken from constant-$`\stackrel{}{Q}`$ scans at 300 K along the  symmetry direction. Vertical bars represent phonon FWHM linewidths in meV. Solid lines are guides to the eye indicating the TA and TO dispersion curves. Shaded area represents region of TO dispersion where constant-$`\stackrel{}{Q}`$ scans showed no well-defined peaks.

In Fig. 2 we plot the positions of the peak in the scattered neutron intensity taken from constant-$`\stackrel{}{Q}`$ scans at 300 K as a function of $`\mathrm{}\omega `$ and $`|\stackrel{}{q}|=k`$. Here $`\stackrel{}{q}=\stackrel{}{Q}\stackrel{}{G}`$ is the momentum transfer measured relative to the $`\stackrel{}{G}=(2,0,0)`$ Bragg reflection along the  symmetry direction. Limited data were also taken near $`(3,0,0)`$. The lengths of the vertical bars represent the measured phonon peak FWHM linewidths (full width at half maximum) in $`\mathrm{}\omega `$ (meV), and were derived from Gaussian least-squares fits to the constant-$`\stackrel{}{Q}`$ scans. The lowest-energy data points trace out the TA phonon branch along , and solid lines have been drawn through these points as a guide to the eye. We see that the TA dispersion curve is identical to that shown for PMN at 800 K in the bottom panel of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3. Data from constant-$`\stackrel{}{Q}`$ scans taken near (2,0,0) at 300 K. Lines are guides to the eye. The scan at $`q=0.2`$ r.l.u. shows well-defined TA and TO modes. But at $`q=0.1`$ r.l.u., only the TA peak is well-defined. The TO mode is strongly overdamped. The inset, however, shows data taken on the same crystal at the same $`q`$ at 880 K in which the TO mode is clearly well-defined (from ).

It is also clear from the dispersion diagram presented in Fig. 2 that our room temperature data show the same TO1 modes at high $`q`$ as those reported at 800K by Naberezhnov et al. However the scattering intensities for this mode for small $`q0.15`$ r.l.u. were scarcely above background at $`(2,q,0)`$ as well as at $`(3,q,0)`$. This is evident in Fig. 3 where two constant-$`\stackrel{}{Q}`$ scans, taken near (2,0,0) at 300 K, are shown. For $`q`$ = -0.2 r.l.u. (1 r.l.u. = 2$`\pi `$/a = 1.553 Å-1), we observe two well-defined peaks corresponding to scattering from the TA and TO modes. But for $`q`$ = -0.1 r.l.u. only the TA mode is well-defined. The TO mode scattering is weak and broadly distributed in $`q`$. By contrast, the inset of Fig. 3 shows a very prominent peak in the scattering from the TO mode at the same $`q`$ (-0.1 r.l.u.) taken on the same crystal (data from . The only difference was that these data were taken at much higher temperature, i. e. 880 K. These data remained a puzzle as we could not locate where the scattering intensity had gone, and we were forced to abandon our search for the soft mode for the time being.

## III The Morphotropic Phase Boundary and PZN-8%PT

Our phonon studies of relaxor single crystals were subsequently resumed two years later from a very different perspective. The nearly vertical morphotropic phase boundary (MPB) in Pb(Zr1-xTix)O3 (PZT), which separates the rhombohedral and tetragonal regions of the PZT phase diagram near a Ti concentration of 50%, had recently been reinvestigated by Noheda et al . There they found a previously unknown monoclinic phase above 300 K that separates the tetragonal and rhombohedral phases. This was an exceedingly important discovery, and was extensively discussed in this conference , because the monoclinic phase forms a natural bridge between the tetragonal and rhombohedral phases, and sheds new light on possible explanations for the enhanced piezoelectric properties observed in PZT ceramics for compositions that lie close to the MPB.

Motivated by this result, Gehring, Park and Shirane realized that a very similar MPB boundary exists in $`(1x)`$PZN-$`x`$PT around $`x=0.08`$ . These are solid solutions which exhibit even greater piezoelectric properties than are obtained in PZT ceramics. Moreover, unlike the case of PZT, they can be grown into large high quality single crystals, ideal for neutron inelastic scattering studies. The soft phonons in PbTiO3 (PT) had already been thoroughly characterized by Shirane et al . Hence their idea was to study the phonons in $`(1x)`$PZN-$`x`$PT at higher $`x`$, say 20% PT, and then trace the evolution of the transverse optic modes to 8% PT and PZN as a function of $`x`$. In this way it was hoped that the scattering associated with the missing optic branch at small $`q`$ for PMN could be located.

The neutron inelastic measurements on PZN-8%PT were performed at 500 K. By employing a combination of both constant-$`\stackrel{}{Q}`$ and constant-$`E`$ scans, an anomalous enhancement of the scattering cross section was discovered between 0.10 r.l.u. $`<|\stackrel{}{q}|<`$ 0.15 r.l.u. . This enhancement was located at a fixed $`q`$ relative to the zone center, and was energy independent over a large range of energy transfer extending from 4 meV to 9 meV. When plotted in the form of a “dispersion” diagram, the TO branch appeared to drop precipitously into the acoustic branch. This resulting TO branch was referred to as a “waterfall” for this reason, and is shown in the inset to Fig. 4.

It was conjectured that these waterfalls are caused by the polar micro-regions first demonstrated by Burns and Dacol . The existence of such polarized regions, which are of finite spatial extent, should effectively inhibit the propagation of the ferroelectric TO mode. Moreover, the size of these regions can be estimated as $`2\pi /q`$, which at 500 K corresponds to about 31 Å, or roughly 7 to 8 unit cells. This value is consistent with that put forth in the picture of Burns and Dacol.

Fig. 4. Two constant-E scans measured along  at 5 meV and 9 meV at 300 K. These scans demonstrate the presence of the same anomalous scattering that was observed in PZN-8%PT (shown in the inset, from ).

At this point it was natural to ask the question whether or not the same anomalous “waterfall” was present in PMN as this would provide a natural explanation for the missing low-$`q`$ portion of the optic branch in PMN. So we went back to our old data of PMN taken at room temperature, and we found two constant-$`E`$ scans at 5 and 9 meV which we had taken along the  direction from near (2,2,0). These data, shown in the right hand portion of Fig. 4, clearly indicate the presence of an anomalous enhancement of the scattering intensity at a fixed $`q`$, similar to that observed in PZN-8%PT.

## IV Discussion and Interpretation

Naberezhnov et al. identified the normal-looking optic phonon branch at 800 K shown in Fig. 1 as a hard TO1 mode, and not the ferroelectric soft mode, because the $`\stackrel{}{Q}`$-dependence of the associated dynamic structure factor was inconsistent with that expected for ferroelectric fluctuations, i. e. nearly no critical scattering was observed near the (2,2,0) Bragg peak in the vicinity of $`T_{max}`$ . On the other hand, the absence of critical fluctuations at (2,2,0) may simply mean that the eigenvectors for PMN are different from those of PbTiO3. The lowest polar optic mode is still clearly present and well-defined at 880 K. At lower temperatures, using the same PMN single crystal, we observe an overdamped phonon scattering cross section in addition to this new anomalous scattering at small $`q`$ below $`T_d`$, i. e. the waterfall. So the proper question to ask is whether or not this TO1 branch is the lowest-energy polar optic mode in PMN.

Before this point can be settled uniquely, more neutron measurements will be needed at temperatures both above and below $`T_d`$ to show precisely how the anomalous scattering changes with temperature, that is, whether or not the waterfall evolves into the TO1 branch measured by Naberezhnov et al. at 880 K. For this purpose, constant-$`E`$ scans will be of particular importance since, as we learned in 1997, the waterfall is not readily visible without them.

At present, our picture of PMN is that at high temperatures $`T>T_d`$ the system behaves like all other simple perovskites. When the PMR are formed below the Burns temperature, the crystal behaves like a two-phase mixture from a lattice dynamical point of view. The PMR exhibit the anomalous waterfall as found in PZN-8%PT, whereas the non-PMR regions show a gradual change from the regular TO branch to one which is overdamped. These are shown very nicely in the constant-$`\stackrel{}{Q}`$ data of Vakhrushev et al. at $`(3,q,0)`$ between 880 K and 450 K . Consequently we believe that the study of Naberezhnov et al. properly characterized the coupled modes of PMN at small $`q`$, whereas the study of Gehring, Park and Shirane characterized the modes at intermediate $`q`$ in which the highly unusual waterfall was discovered.

Future measurements are being planned to determine whether or not an applied electric field can influence the shape of the waterfall.

## V Acknowledgments

We thank L. E. Cross, R. Guo, S. -E. Park, S. Shapiro, N. Takesue, and G. Yong, for stimulating discussions. Financial support by the U. S. Department of Energy under contract No. DE-AC02-98CH10886 is acknowledged. Work at the Ioffe Institute was supported by the Russian Fund for Basic Research grant 95-02-04065, and by the National Program “Neutron Scattering Study of Condensed Matter.” We also acknowledge the support of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, U. S. Department of Commerce, in providing the neutron facilities used in this work.


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# Ordered and self–disordered dynamics of holes and defects in the one–dimensional complex Ginzburg–Landau equation

## Abstract

We study the dynamics of holes and defects in the 1D complex Ginzburg–Landau equation in ordered and chaotic cases. Ordered hole–defect dynamics occurs when an unstable hole invades a plane wave state and periodically nucleates defects from which new holes are born. The results of a detailed numerical study of these periodic states are incorporated into a simple analytic description of isolated “edge” holes. Extending this description, we obtain a minimal model for general hole–defect dynamics. We show that interactions between the holes and a self–disordered background are essential for the occurrence of spatiotemporal chaos in hole–defect states.

The formation of local structures and the occurrence of spatiotemporal chaos are the most striking features of pattern forming systems. The complex Ginzburg–Landau equation (CGLE)

$$A_t=A+(1+ic_1)^2A(1ic_3)|A|^2A$$
(1)
provides a particularly rich example of these phenomena. The CGLE describes pattern formation near a Hopf bifurcation and has become a paradigmatic model for the study of spatiotemporal chaos . Defects occur when $`A`$ goes through zero and the complex phase $`\psi :=\mathrm{arg}(A)`$ is no longer defined. In two and higher dimensions, such defects can only disappear via collisions with other defects, and act as long–living seeds for local structures like spirals  and scroll waves  whose instabilities lead to various chaotic states . For the 1D CGLE, however, defects occur only at isolated points in space–time (see Fig. 1) and intricate dynamics of defects and local hole structures occurs, especially in the so–called intermittent and bi–chaotic regimes . The holes are characterized by a local concentration of phase–gradient $`q:=_x\psi `$ and a depression of $`|A|`$ (hence the name “hole”), and dynamically connect the defects (Fig. 1). We divide these holes into two categories: coherent and incoherent structures.

Coherent structures - By this we mean uniformly propagating structures of the form $`A(x,t)=e^{i\omega t}\overline{A}(xvt)`$ . Recently, hole solutions of this form called homoclinic holes were obtained . Asymptotically, homoclinic holes connect identical plane waves where $`Ae^{i(q_{ex}x\omega t)}`$. With $`c_1,c_3`$ and $`q_{ex}`$ fixed, unique left moving and unique right moving coherent holes are found. Left (right) moving holes with $`q_{ex}=Q`$ ($`q_{ex}=Q`$) are related by the left–right $`qq`$ symmetry of the CGLE. Coherent holes have one unstable core mode .

Incoherent structures - In full dynamic states of the CGLE, one does not observe the unstable coherent homoclinic holes, unless one fine–tunes the initial conditions (see Fig. 2d). Instead evolving incoherent holes that can

grow out to defects occur (Fig. 1 and 2b).

In this Letter we study the hole $``$ defect and defect $``$ holes dynamical processes of the 1D CGLE . We present a minimal model for hole–defect dynamics that describes the full “interior” spatiotemporal chaotic states of Fig. 1a, where holes propagate into a self–disordered background. Similar “self–replicating” patterns are observed in many other situations, e.g., reaction–diffusion models , film–drag , eutectic growth , forced CGLE  and space–time intermittency models .

Hole $``$ defect - Let us consider the short–time evolution of an isolated hole propagating into a plane wave state. Holes can be seeded from initial conditions like:

$$A=\mathrm{exp}(i[q_{ex}x+(\pi /2)\mathrm{tanh}(\gamma x)]).$$
(2)
The precise form of the initial condition is not important here as long as we have a one–parameter family of localized phase–gradient peaks. This is because the left moving and right moving coherent holes for fixed $`c_1,c_3`$ and $`q_{ex}`$ are each unique and have one unstable mode only. As $`\gamma `$ is varied three possibilities can arise for the time

evolution of the initial peak: evolution towards a defect (as in Fig. 1a), decay, or evolution arbitrary close to a coherent homoclinic hole (see Fig. 2).

The hole propagation velocities are much larger than the typical group velocities in the plane wave states: the holes are thus only sensitive to the leading wave. Their internal, slow dynamics determines their trailing wave. A (nearly) coherent hole will, due to phase conservation, have a trailing wave (nearly) identical to the leading wave (Fig. 2); hence the relevance of the homoclinic holes.

Defect $``$ holes - What dynamics occurs after a defect has been formed? A study of the spatial defect profiles reveals that they consist of a negative and positive phase–gradient peak in close proximity (the early stage of the formation of these two peaks can be seen in Fig. 2b; see also Fig. 4d of ). The negative (positive) phase gradient peak generates a left (right) moving hole. The lifetimes of these holes depend on their parent defect profile (analogous to what we described in Fig. 2) and also on $`c_1,c_3`$ and $`q_{ex}`$. Hence the defects act as seeds for the generation of daughter holes (see also Fig. 1).

Periodic hole-defect states - When an incoherent hole invades a plane wave state and generates defects, stable periodic hole $``$ defect $``$ hole behavior can set in at the edges of the resulting pattern  (Fig 1a). The asymptotic period $`\tau `$ of this process depends on $`c_1,c_3`$, the propagation direction and the wavenumber $`q_{ex}`$ of the initial condition only; we focus here on right moving holes. The period $`\tau `$ diverges at a well–defined value of $`q_{ex}=q_{coh}`$ (Fig. 3a). This can be understood in the phase space picture presented in Fig. 2. Suppose we fix $`c_1`$ and $`c_3`$. The edge defects that are generated periodically yield

constant initial conditions for their daughter edge holes, similar to fixing $`\gamma `$ in Eq. (2). The period $`\tau `$ will depend on the location of the defect profile with respect to the stable manifold of the coherent hole. When $`q_{ex}`$ is varied, both this manifold and the defect profile may change, and for a certain value of $`q_{ex}`$ which we call $`q_{coh}`$, the defect generates an initial condition precisely on the stable manifold of the coherent hole. The lifetime of the resulting daughter hole then diverges (see Fig. 2d).

To substantiate this intuitive picture, we have performed numerics on the dynamics of “edge–holes” invading a plane wave state where $`Ae^{i(q_{ex}x\omega t)}`$. We have performed runs for many different parameters, but will only discuss a representative subset here. Our results indicate that the $`\tau `$ divergence is of the form

$$\tau s\mathrm{ln}(q_{ex}q_{coh})+\tau _0.$$
(3)
This equation, and in particular the value of $`s`$ can be understood by considering the flow near the saddle point shown in Fig 2a. Just after the hole has been formed, it first evolves rapidly along the stable manifold. Secondly it evolves slowly along the unstable manifold before being shot away towards the next defect. For values of $`q_{ex}`$ close to $`q_{coh}`$, the holes approach the coherent structure fixed point very closely, and $`\tau `$ will be dominated by a regime of exponential growth close to this fixed point. Small changes in $`q_{ex}`$ will have a negligible effect on the duration of the first phase ($`\tau _0`$), but the duration of the second phase will diverge logarithmically as $`(1/\lambda )\mathrm{ln}(q_{ex}q_{coh})`$. Here $`\lambda `$, which depends on $`c_1`$ and $`c_3`$, denotes the unstable eigenvalue of the coherent structures at $`q_{ex}=q_{coh}`$. In Table 1 we list some numerically determined values for $`q_{coh}`$, $`1/\lambda `$, and $`s`$. We obtained $`s`$ and $`q_{coh}`$ from a fit of $`\tau `$ to Eq. (3), whereas $`\lambda `$ is obtained from a shooting algorithm, see Ref. . The agreement between $`s`$ and $`1/\lambda `$ is quite satisfactory.

We will now construct a phenomenological model for isolated incoherent holes. (i) We will ignore their early time attraction to the unstable manifold, and think of their location on $`W^\mathrm{U}`$ as an internal degree of freedom, parameterized by the phase–gradient extremum $`q_m`$. (ii) Clearly the model should have an unstable fixed point for values of $`q_m`$ corresponding to coherent holes. We have found that, in good approximation, coherent holes have

$`q_m=q_n+gq_{ex}`$ where $`q_n`$ denotes the value of $`q_m`$ for a coherent hole in a $`q_{ex}=0`$ state, and $`g`$ is a negative phenomenological constant. (iii) When approaching a defect, $`q_m`$ diverges as $`(\mathrm{\Delta }t)^1`$ ; we have confirmed this by accurate numerics (Fig. 3b). An appropriate equation incorporating these three features is

$$\dot{q}_m=\lambda (q_m(q_n+gq_{ex}))+\mu (q_m(q_n+gq_{ex}))^2,$$
(4)
where $`g`$ and $`\mu `$ are phenomenological constants. The first term on the RHS of (4) results from the linearization near the coherent fixed point. Nonlinear terms of higher than quadratic order on the RHS of Eq. (4) are ruled out by the $`(\mathrm{\Delta }t)^1`$ divergence of $`q_m`$. Our numerical data for $`\dot{q}_m`$ versus $`q_m`$ indeed shows quadratic behavior for large enough values of $`q_m`$ (Fig. 3c). For smaller values of $`q_m`$, the curves are quite intricate; this corresponds to the rapid early time evolution along the stable manifold not included in model (4). From Eq. (4), it is straightforward to show that the hole lifetime $`\tau `$ (the time taken for $`q_m`$ to diverge) displays the required logarithmic divergence as $`q_{ex}`$ is tuned towards a critical value $`q_{coh}`$.

Disordered dynamics -  If the patches away from the holes/defects were simply plane waves with fixed wavenumber, then one would expect, following the arguments given above, quite regular dynamics. The coupling between holes and the background induced by phase conservation becomes the key ingredient to understand disorder in hole–defect dynamics such as shown in Fig 1a. Let us introduce a variable $`\varphi :=𝑑xq`$ that measures the phasedifference across a certain interval.

Consider again an edge hole evolving towards a defect. While the peak of the $`q`$-profile grows, the hole creates a dip in its wake (see Fig. 2b) in order to locally conserve $`\varphi `$. Clearly the trailing edge of this incoherent hole is not a perfect plane wave. In the interior of states such as shown in Fig. 1a, unstable holes move back and forth through a background of disordered $`q_{ex}`$ and amplify this disorder. Nevertheless, as we pointed out earlier, the disordering dynamics is sufficiently slow such that the holes remain approximately homoclinic for much of their lives. Although the typical range of values for the disordered $`q_{ex}`$ is small, the hole lifetimes depend on it sensitively. Hence the variation in $`q_{ex}`$ and $`\varphi `$ is sufficient to explain the varying lifetimes found in the interior states such as that shown in Fig 1a. Thus the essence of the spatiotemporal chaotic states here lies in the propagation of unstable local structures in a self–disordered background.

Minimal model - To illustrate our picture of self–disordered dynamics, we will now combine the various hole–defect properties with the left–right symmetry and local phase conservation of the CGLE to form a minimal model of hole–defect dynamics. From our previous analysis, we see that the following hole–defect properties should be incorporated: (i) Incoherent holes propagate either left or right with essentially constant velocity (see Fig. 1a). (ii) For fixed $`c_1,c_3`$, their lifetime depends on the profile of their parent defect, the direction of propagation, and on the wavenumber of the state into which they propagate. (iii) Eq. (4) captures essentially all aspects of the evolution of their internal degree of freedom. When $`q_m`$ diverges, a defect occurs.

In our model we will assume that all the defects have the same profile and so act as unique initial conditions for their daughter incoherent holes. While in principle a defect profile could depend on the entire history of the hole which preceded it, for simplicity we have chosen to neglect this. We have observed that for some regions of the $`c_1,c_3`$ parameter space, the defect profiles from the interior spatiotemporal chaotic patterns show a surprising lack of scatter . Therefore we believe that treating the defect profiles as constant, and only including the effect of the background in the hole dynamics incorporates the essence of the coupling to a disordered background.

We discretize both space and time by coarse-graining, and take a “staggered” type of update rule which is completely specified by the dynamics of a $`2\times 2`$ cell (see Fig. 4a). We put a single variable $`\varphi _i`$ on each site, corresponding to the phase difference across a cell divided by $`2\pi `$. Local phase conservation is implemented by $`\varphi _l^{}+\varphi _r^{}=\varphi _l+\varphi _r`$, where the primed (unprimed) variables refer to values after (before) an update.

Holes are represented by active sites where $`|\varphi |>\varphi _t`$; here $`\varphi `$ plays the role of the internal degree of freedom. Inactive sites are those with $`|\varphi |<\varphi _t`$, and they represent the background. The value of the cutoff $`\varphi _t`$ is not very important as long as it is much smaller than typical values of $`\varphi `$ for coherent holes. Here $`\varphi _t`$ is fixed at $`0.15`$. Without loss of generality we force holes with positive (negative) $`\varphi `$ to propagate only from $`\varphi _l`$ ($`\varphi _r`$) to $`\varphi _r^{}`$ ($`\varphi _l^{}`$).

Depending on the two incoming states, we have the following three possibilities:

One site active:  Without loss of generality we assume that we have a right moving hole. We implement evolution similar to Eq. (4), but neglect the quadratic term of Eq. (4); even though $`q_m`$ diverges, the local phasedifference $`\varphi _m`$ does not diverge near a defect. Hence the finite time divergence of the local phase gradient $`q`$ that signals a defect can be replaced by a cutoff $`\varphi _d`$ for $`\varphi `$. Therefore, when $`\varphi _l<\varphi _d`$, the internal hole coordinate $`\varphi `$ is taken to evolve via $`\varphi _r^{}=\varphi _l+\lambda (\varphi _l\varphi _ng\varphi _r)`$. Here $`\lambda `$ sets the time scales and can be taken small (fixed at $`0.1`$). This evolution equation, combined with the local phase conservation, means that an incoherent hole propagating

into a perfect laminar state will leave a disordered state in its wake. When $`\varphi _l>\varphi _d`$, a defect occurs and two new holes are generated: $`\varphi _r^{}=\varphi _{ad}`$, and $`\varphi _l^{}=\varphi _d1\varphi _{ad}`$. The factor $`1`$ reflects the change in winding number at a defect.

Both sites inactive:  Away from the holes/defects, the relevant dynamics is phase diffusion. This is implemented via: $`\varphi _r^{}=D\varphi _l+(1D)\varphi _r`$. The value of $`D`$ is fixed at $`0.05`$ and is not very important.

Both sites active:  This corresponds to the collision of two oppositely moving holes. Typically this leads to the annihilation of both holes (see Fig. 1a), which we implement here via phase conservation: $`\varphi _r^{}=\varphi _l^{}=(\varphi _l+\varphi _r)/2`$.

The coupling of the holes to their background, $`g`$, should be taken negative (although its precise value is unimportant). For $`g=0`$ the lifetime $`\tau `$ becomes a constant, independent of the $`\varphi `$ of the state into which the holes propagate, and moreover, the dynamical states are regular Sierpinsky gaskets (Fig. 4b). Nevertheless, starting from a $`\varphi =0`$ state, the local phase conservation of the hole dynamics leads to a background state with a disordered $`\varphi `$ profile. For $`g<0`$ the coupling to this background leads to disorder as shown in Fig. 4c,d. This illustrates the crucial importance of the coupling between the holes and the self–disordered background.

The essential parameters determining the qualitative nature of the overall state are $`\varphi _n`$, $`\varphi _d`$ and $`\varphi _{ad}`$. These parameters determine the amount of phase winding in the core of the $`q_{ex}=0`$ coherent holes ($`\varphi _n`$) and in the new holes generated by defects ($`\varphi _{ad},\varphi _d1\varphi _{ad}`$). When varying the CGLE coefficients $`c_1,c_3`$, these parameters change too; for example, $`\varphi _n`$ typically decreases when $`c_1`$ or $`c_3`$ are increased. As a result, for large values of $`c_1`$ and $`c_3`$, $`|\varphi _l^{}|`$ and $`\varphi _r^{}`$ are typically larger than $`\varphi _n`$ so that most “daughter holes” will grow out to form defects and hole-defect chaos spreads (Fig. 4c,d). For sufficiently small values of $`c_1`$ and $`c_3`$, on the other hand, $`\varphi _n`$ is large and both daughter holes will decay. For intermediate values of $`c_1`$ and $`c_3`$ it may occur that $`|\varphi _l^{}|`$ is significantly larger than $`\varphi _r^{}`$, leading to zigzag states  (Fig. 4d).

In conclusion, we have studied in detail the dynamics of local structures in the 1D CGLE. We have obtained a quantitative understanding of the edge holes, unraveled the interplay between defects and holes, and put forward a simple model for some of the spatiotemporal chaotic states occurring in the CGLE.

M.v.H. acknowledges support from the EU under contract ERBFMBICT 972554. M.H. acknowledges support from the Niels Bohr Institute, the NSF through the Division of Materials Research, and NSERC of Canada.


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# A Comparison of Ultraviolet, Optical, and X-Ray Imagery of Selected Fields in the Cygnus Loop

## 1 Introduction

Because of its large angular size and wide range of shock conditions, the Cygnus Loop is one of the best laboratories for studying the environment and physics of middle-aged supernova remnants (SNR). It covers a huge expanse in the sky (2.8$`\times `$3.5o) corresponding to 21.5$`\times `$27 pc, at a newly determined distance of 440 pc (Blair et al. (1999)). The currently accepted view for the Cygnus Loop is that it represents an explosion in a cavity produced by a fairly massive precursor star (cf. Levenson et al. (1998)). The SN shock has been traveling relatively unimpeded for roughly ten parsecs and has only recently begun reaching the denser cavity walls. The size of the cavity implicates a precursor star of type early B. The interaction of the shock with the complex edges of the cavity wall is responsible for the complicated mixture of optical and X-ray emission seen in superposition, and a dazzling variety of optical filament morphologies.

Portions of the SN blast wave propagating through the fairly rarefied atomic shell ($`<`$1 cm-3), show faint filaments with hydrogen Balmer-line-dominated optical spectra. These filaments represent the position of the primary blast wave and are often termed nonradiative shocks (because radiative losses are unimportant to the dynamics of the shock itself). Ambient gas is swept up and progressively ionized, emitting He II, C IV, N V, and O VI lines in the FUV (Figure 1, bottom spectrum) (Hester, Raymond, & Blair (1994), Raymond et al. (1983)). Balmer-dominated emission arises from the fraction ($``$0.3) of neutral hydrogen swept up by the shock that stands some chance of being excited and recombining before it is ionized in the post-shock flow (Chevalier & Raymond (1978); Chevalier, Kirshner, & Raymond (1980)).

The Balmer emission is accompanied by hydrogen two-photon events which produce a broad continuum above 1216Å peaking at $``$1420Å (Nussbaumer & Schmutz (1984)). For recombination and for high temperature shocks, the ratio of two-photon emission to Balmer is nearly constant ($``$8:1). In slow shocks ($``$40$`\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1`$) in neutral gas, the ratio can be enhanced considerably (Dopita, Binette, & Schwartz, (1982)).

Balmer-dominated filaments are very smooth and WFPC2 observations by Blair et al. (1999) show that they are exceedingly thin as well—less than one WFC pixel across when seen edge-on, or $`<6\times 10^{14}`$ cm at our assumed distance, in keeping with theoretical predictions (cf. Raymond et al. (1983)). Postshock temperatures reach millions of degrees and the hot material emits copious soft X-rays. The density is low, however, and cooling is very inefficient. With time, as the shock continues to sweep up material, these filaments will be able to start cooling more effectively and will evolve to become radiative filaments.

The bright optical filaments in the Cygnus Loop represent radiative shocks in much denser material, such as might be expected in the denser portions of the cavity wall. These shocks are said to be radiative (that is, energy losses from radiation are significant); they have more highly developed cooling and/or recombination zones. The shocked material emits in the lines of a broad range of hot, intermediate, and low temperature ions, depending on the effective ‘age’ of the shock at a given location and the local physical conditions. For instance, a relatively recent encounter between the shock and a density enhancement (or similarly, a shock that has swept up a fairly low total column of material) may show very strong \[O III\] $`\lambda 5007`$ compared with H$`\alpha `$. This would indicate that the coolest part of the flow, the recombination zone where the Balmer lines become strong, has not yet formed. Such shocks are said to be ‘incomplete’ as the shocked material remains hot and does not yet emit in the lower ionization lines.

In contrast, radiative filaments with the full range of ionization (including the low ionization lines) are well approximated by full, steady-flow shock model calculations, such as those of Raymond (1979), Dopita, Binette, & Tuohy (1984), and Hartigan, Raymond, & Hartmann (1987; hereafter HRH ). Morphologically, radiative complete filaments lack the smooth grace of nonradiative filaments or even radiative incomplete filaments in some cases (cf. Fesen, Blair, & Kirshner (1982)). The more irregular appearance of these filaments is due partly to inhomogeneities in the shocked clouds themselves, partly to turbulence and/or thermal instabilities that set in during cooling (cf. Innes (1992) and references therein), and partly to several clouds appearing along single lines of sight. Often the emission at a given filament position cannot be characterized by a single shock velocity.

Much of the above understanding of shock types and evolutionary stages has been predicated on UV/optical studies of the Cygnus Loop itself. The Cygnus Loop is a veritable laboratory for such studies because of its relative proximity, large angular extent and low foreground extinction (E\[B $``$ V\] = 0.08; Fesen, Blair, & Kirshner (1982)), and thus its accessibility across the electromagnetic spectrum. However, because of the range of shock interactions and shock types, coupled with the significant complication of projection effects near the limb of the SNR, great care must be taken in order to obtain a full understanding of what is happening at any given position in the nebular structure.

Although FUV spectra are available at a number of individual filament locations from years of observations with IUE and the shuttle-borne Hopkins Ultraviolet Telescope (HUT), the perspective obtainable from FUV imaging has been largely lacking. The Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (UIT) was flown as part of the Astro-1 Space Shuttle mission in 1990 was used to observe a field in the Cygnus Loop through both mid-UV and far-UV (FUV) filters (Cornett et al. (1992)). In this paper, we report on additional FUV observations with UIT obtained during the Astro-2 shuttle mission in 1995. In addition to the field imaged during Astro-1, UIT observed four different regions around the periphery of the Cygnus Loop with a resolution comparable to existing optical and X-ray observations. These fields sample the full range of physical and shock conditions and evolutionary stages in the SNR. We combine these data with existing ground-based optical images and ROSAT HRI X-ray data to obtain new insights into this prototypical SNR and its interaction with its surroundings.

In §2 we present the observations obtained with the UIT and review the comparison data sets. In §3 we discuss the spectral content of the UIT filter used in the observations. In §4 we discuss examples of the various kinds of shocks as seen in the UIT fields, and summarize our conclusions in §5.

## 2 UIT Observations and Comparison Data

UIT has flown twice on the Space Shuttle as part of the Astro-1 and Astro-2 programs (1990 December 2-10 and 1995 March 2-18). Together with the Hopkins Ultraviolet Telescope (HUT) and the Wisconsin Ultraviolet Photo-Polarimeter Experiment, UIT explored selected UV targets. An f/9 Ritchey-Chretien telescope with a 38 cm aperture and image intensifier systems produced images of circular 40′ fields of view with $``$3″ resolution at field center (depending on pointing stability). Images were recorded on 70mm Eastman Kodak IIa-O film which was developed and digitized at NASA/GSFC and processed into uniform data products. Technical details on the hardware and data processing can be found in Stecher et al. (1992) and Stecher et al. (1997).

Table 1: UIT B5 Filter Observations in the Cygnus Loop
Position RA(J2000) Dec(J2000) exposure (sec) Figure    W cloud 20:45:38 +31:06:33 1010 3  NE nonrad 20:54:39 +32:17:29 2041 4  NE cloud 20:56:16 +31:44:34 500 5  XA regiona 20:57:35 +31:07:28 1280 6  XA region 20:57:04 +31:07:45 1151 6  XA region 20:57:22 +31:04:02 1516 6  XA region 20:57:24 +31:03:51 1274 6  SE cloud 20:56:05 +30:44:01 2180 7
a Astro-1 image (cf. Cornett et al. (1992))

Astro/UIT images are among the few examples of FUV images of SNRs, and UIT’s B5 bandpass ($`1450`$Å to $`1800`$Å) encompasses severally generally high-excitation and heretofore unmapped lines that are often present in SNR shocks (Figure 1). UIT’s two Astro flights have produced eight FUV images of five different Cygnus Loop fields. Table 1 lists the observation parameters and field locations, which are indicated in Figure 2. We will refer to these fields by the names listed in Table 1. Since all four exposures of the XA region (named by Hester & Cox (1986)) are reasonably deep, we constructed a mosaic of the field using the IRAF111IRAF is distributed by the National Optical Astronomy Observatories, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc. (AURA) under cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation. IMCOMBINE task, resulting in significantly improved signal-to-noise in the overlapped region of the combined image. In panel c of Figures 3 through 7, we show the five reduced UIT images as observed in the B5 filter bandpass.

UIT images with long exposure times suffer from an instrumental malady dubbed “measles” by the UIT team (Stecher et al. (1997)). Measles manifest themselves as fixed-pattern noise spikes in images with a large sunlight flux, such as long daylight exposures or images of red, very bright sources (e.g. planets or the Moon). This effect is probably produced by visible light passing through pinholes in either the output phosphor of the first stage or the bialkali photocathode of the second stage of the UIT FUV image tube. The Cygnus Loop was a daytime object for both the Astro-1 and Astro-2 flights, but the phenomenon is visible only in some of the longer exposures. Most dramatically, measles are seen in the northeast cloud nonradiative image (Figure 4) as a darkening in the northwest corner; the individual “measles” are spread into a background by the binning used to produce these images. Various approaches to removing the appearance of measles were attempted but none of them have yielded satisfactory results. In practice, the measles, here arising from daylight sky contamination, affect our analysis only by adding to the background level, so the original images are presented here, “measles” and all.

For comparison with our FUV images, we show narrow-band optical images in \[O III\] $`\lambda `$5007 and H$`\alpha `$+\[N II\] (which for simplicity we refer to as H$`\alpha `$) obtained with the Prime Focus Corrector on the 0.8 m telescope at McDonald Observatory (cf. Levenson et al. (1998)). These images, shown in panels a and b of Figures 3 – 7, are aligned and placed on a common scale of 5″ per pixel, which is similar to the FUV resolution of 3″. The optical images have each been processed with a 3-pixel median filter to remove faint stars and stellar residuals.

In addition, we show the soft X-ray (0.1–2.4 keV) emission for each field, as observed with the ROSAT High Resolution Imager (HRI) (from Levenson et al. (1997)). The resolution of the HRI imager is 6″ on axis degrading to 30″ at the edge of each field. As with the optical data, the X-ray images are aligned on a 5″ per pixel scale. The HRI images have additionally been smoothed with a 3-pixel FWHM gaussian and are shown in panel d of Figures 3 – 7. All images in Figures 3 – 7 are displayed on a logarithmic scale.

Figure 8 shows three-color composite images using H$`\alpha `$ as red, B5 as green, and the ROSAT HRI as blue. The color levels have been adjusted for visual appearance, to best show the relative spatial relationships of the different emissions. (The color composite for the Northeast nonradiative region is not shown, since little new information is gained above Figure 4 and because of the adverse effect of the measles.) This will be discussed in more detail below.

## 3 Spectral Content of UIT Images

Figure 1 shows the UIT B5 filter profile superimposed on spectra of typical radiative and nonradiative filaments, as observed by HUT. Unlike typical SNR narrow band images in the optical, the B5 filter is relatively broad and does not isolate a single spectral line, but rather encompasses several strong, moderately high ionization lines that are variable from filament to filament. Cornett et al. (1992) point out that C IV should dominate emission in this bandpass since it is a strong line centered near the filter’s peak throughput, and since shock models predict this result for a range of important velocities (cf. Figure 10 and accompanying discussion). Here we look at this more closely over a larger range of shock velocities, and in particular also discuss the potential complicating effects of hydrogen two-photon recombination continuum emission, shock completeness, and resonance line scattering.

Empirical comparisons of IUE and HUT emission line observations can be used to quantify at what level the C IV emission is expected to dominate the line emission detected through the B5 filter. For instance, in the highly radiative XA region (see Figure 7) we have compared a large number of FUV spectra both on and adjacent to bright optical filaments against the throughput curve of B5 (Danforth, Blair, & Raymond 2000; henceforth DBR ). This comparison shows that on average the various lines contribute as follows: C IV $`\lambda `$1550, 42%; O III\] $`\lambda `$1665, 27%; He II $`\lambda `$1640, 17%; N IV $`\lambda `$1486, 8%; and 6% from fainter emission lines. Using the HUT observation of Long et al. (1992), we estimate for nonradiative shocks the B5 contributions are more like C IV (60%), He II (28%), and all other species 12%. These percentages are only approximate, of course, and will vary with shock velocity, geometry and a host of other conditions, but they serve to highlight the fact that, while C IV is the strongest contributor to the line emission, it is not the only contributor.

In addition, while it is not obvious at the scale of Figure 1, a low level continuum is often seen in IUE and HUT spectra of Cygnus Loop filaments, especially where optical H$`\alpha `$ emission is present and strong. This continuum arises due to the hydrogen two-photon process (cf. Osterbrock (1989)). Benvenuti, Dopita, & D’Odorico (1980) note that SNR shocks cause two-photon emission from hydrogen via both collisional excitation and recombination into the 22S1/2 state. The two-photon spectrum arises from a probability distribution of photons that is symmetric about 1/2 the energy of Ly$`\alpha `$ (corresponding to 2431Å), resulting in a shallow spectral peak near 1420Å and extending from 1216Å towards longer wavelengths, throughout the UV and optical region. The expected (integrated) strength of this component is about 8 $`\times `$ the H$`\alpha `$ flux but is spread over thousands of Angstroms. However, the wide bandpass of the B5 filter detects $``$15% of the total two-photon flux available, enough to compete with line emission in the bandpass. Further complicating the question, two-photon emission can also be highly variable from filament to filament.

By using signatures from the images and spectra at other wavelengths, we can interpret, at least qualitatively, what is being seen in the UIT images. For instance, Figure 4 shows the NE rim of the SNR. The faint, smooth H$`\alpha `$ filament running along the edge of the X-ray emission is clearly a nonradiative filament. The faint emission seen in the B5 image traces these faint Balmer filaments well, and at this position, does not correlate particularly well with the clumpy \[O III\] emission seen near the middle of the field. This implies a relatively strong contribution from two-photon continuum, although as shown in the bottom spectrum of Figure 1, C IV and He II are also present in the filaments at some level.

As discussed earlier, in radiative filaments, higher ionization lines such as O VI $`\lambda `$1035, N V $`\lambda `$1240, C IV $`\lambda `$1550, and \[O III\] $`\lambda `$5007 become strong first, followed by lower ionization lines like \[S II\] $`\lambda `$6725, \[O I\] $`\lambda `$6300, and the hydrogen Balmer lines. Hence, in filaments that show high optical \[O III\] to H$`\alpha `$ ratios, and are thus incomplete shocks, the B5 content primarily arises from C IV and other line emission. In older, more complete shocks where the optical \[O III\] to H$`\alpha `$ ratios are close to those expected from steady flow shock models, two-photon emission again should compete with the line emission and the B5 flux should arise from both sources. It is difficult to assess these competing effects from Figures 3 – 7 since the relative intensities of the two optical images are not always obvious, but much of the variation in coloration in Figure 8 for bright radiative filaments is due to the variation in relative amounts of line emission and two-photon continuum contributions to the B5 image.

In Figure 9, we show the XA field as seen with UIT (panel a) and ratio maps of the UIT image against the aligned optical H$`\alpha `$ and \[O III\] images. Since the ionization energies of C IV (64.5 eV) and O III (54.9 eV) are similar (and to the extent that the B5 image contains a substantial component of C IV emission), we would expect a ratio of B5 to H$`\alpha `$ to show evidence for the transition from incomplete to complete shock filaments. Such a ratio map is shown in panel b of Figure 9, and a systematic pattern is indeed seen. The white filaments, indicative of a relatively low value of the ratio (and hence relatively strong H$`\alpha `$ filaments) tend to lie systematically to the right. These filaments tend to be closer to the center of the SNR, and hence should have had more time (on average) to cool and recombine. Of course, there is significant evidence for projection effects in this complicated field as well. Indeed, one interpretation of Figure 9b is that we are separating some of these projection effects, and are seeing two separate ‘systems’ of filaments that are at differing stages of completeness.

Another way of assessing the expected contributions of line emission and two-photon emission to the B5 flux is by comparing to shock model calculations. We use the equilibrium preionization “E” series shock models of Hartigan, Raymond, & Hartmann (1987, HRH ) to investigate variations in spectral contributions to the UIT images as a function of shock velocity. Figure 10 shows how various spectral components are predicted to change in relative intensity as shock velocity increases for this set of planar, complete, steady flow shock models. As expected, the key contributors to the B5 bandpass are indeed C IV and two-photon continuum, although between $``$100 – 200 $`\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1`$ these models indicate C IV should dominate.

This is quite at odds with ‘ground truth’, as supplied by careful comparisons at the specific locations of IUE and HUT spectra within the UIT fields of view. We note that the two-photon flux per Å in HUT and IUE spectra is low and thus difficult to measure accurately since background levels are poorly known. Even so, it is quite clear from comparisons such as those of Benvenuti, Dopita, & D’Odorico (1980) and Raymond et al. (1988) that nowhere do we see C IV dominate at the level implied by Figure 10. (Indeed such studies indicate that two-photon should dominate! As will be discussed more thoroughly in §4, Benvenuti, Dopita, & D’Odorico (1980) and others give two-photon fluxes which overwhelm C IV in the B5 band by a factor of 5-10. Interestingly, consideration of incompleteness effects only serves to exacerbate this discrepancy since the expected two-photon emission should be weaker or absent. Something else is going on.

That ‘something else’ is apparently resonance line scattering. It has long been suspected that the strong UV resonance lines, like N V $`\lambda `$1240, C II $`\lambda `$1335, and C IV $`\lambda `$1550, are affected by self-absorption along the line of sight, either by local gas within the SNR itself or by the intervening interstellar medium. We can expect significant column depth from the cavity wall of the remnant itself. Since filaments selected for optical/UV observation have tended to be bright, and since many such filaments are edge-on sheets of gas with correspondingly high line of sight column densities (Hester (1987)), the spectral observations are likely affected in a systematic way.

While this has been known for some years (Raymond et al. (1981)), the UIT data presented here indicate just how widespread resonance line scattering is in the Cygnus Loop and how significantly the C IV intensity may be reduced by this effect. Figure 9c shows a ratio map of the B5 image to the \[O III\] optical image of the XA region (cf. Cornett et al. (1992)). Since \[O III\] is a forbidden transition, its optically thin emission is not affected by resonance scattering. The ionization potentials for C IV and \[O III\] are similar, so this ratio should provide some information about resonance scattering, if a significant fraction of the B5 image can be attributed to C IV. Hence, this ratio image shows where resonance line scattering is most important, and provides information on the 3-dimensional structure of regions within the SNR.

The B5 image gives the appearance of smaller dynamic range and lower spatial resolution than \[O III\] because we see optically thick radiation from only a short distance into the filaments. The highest saturation (lowest ratios, or light areas in Figure 9c) occurs in the cores of filaments and dense clouds, such as the three regions indicated in Figure 9a. The “spur” filament was studied in detail by Raymond et al. (1988) and is probably an edge-on sheet of gas. The region marked ‘B’ is the turbulent, incomplete shocked cloud observed with HUT during Astro-1 (Blair et al. (1991)). The XA region is also a shocked cloud or finger of dense gas that is likely elongated in our line of sight (cf. Hester & Cox (1986); DBR ). What is surprising, however, is the extent to which the light regions in Figure 9c extend beyond the cloud cores into regions of more diffuse emission. This indicates that significant resonance scattering is very widespread in the Cygnus Loop. The diminished C IV flux also boosts the relative importance of two-photon emission in the B5 bandpass and explains the discrepancy between numerous spectral observations and the shock model predictions shown in Figure 10.

UIT’s B5 images are particularly useful in that they sample two important shock physics regimes–the brightest radiative shocks arising in dense clouds and the primary blast wave at the edge of the shell. However, it is evidently difficult to predict the spectral content of B5 images alone without detailed knowledge of the physics of the emitting regions. Nonetheless, B5 images are useful in combination with \[O III\]$`\lambda `$5007 and H$`\alpha `$ images as empirical tools. The image combinations allow us to determine whether C IV or two-photon dominates, in two clear-cut cases. 1) In regions where B5 images closely resemble \[O III\] images, the B5 filter is detecting radiative shocks with velocities in the range 100-200 $`\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1`$ and therefore primarily C IV. 2) In regions where B5 images closely resemble H$`\alpha `$, the B5 filter is detecting largely two-photon emission from recombination of hydrogen in radiative shocks or from collisional excitiation of hydrogen in nonradiative shocks.

## 4 Discussion

Each of the fields in our study portrays a range of physical conditions and geometries, and hence filament types, seen in projection in many cases. By comparing the UV, X-ray and optical emissions, we can gain new insights into these complexities. In this section, we discuss the spatial relationships between the hot, intermediate and cooler components seen in these images.

### 4.1 The Western Cloud

In the Western Cloud field (Figure 3) the B5 image of the bright north-south filaments resembles the \[O III\]5007Å images very closely. The filaments are clearly portions of a radiative shock viewed edge-on to our line of sight. The Western Cloud has been studied spectroscopically at optical wavelengths by Miller (1974) and in the FUV by Raymond et al. (1980b).

This region shows a case where a cloud is evidently being overrun by a shock, and the cloud is much larger than the scale of the shock. The cloud is elongated in the plane of the sky of dimensions perhaps 1$`\times `$10 pc (Levenson et al. (1998)) and represents an interaction roughly 1000 years old (Levenson et al. (1996)). The main north-south radiative filament is bright in all wavelengths, with good detailed correlation between B5 and \[O III\]. H$`\alpha `$ is seen to extend farther to the east, toward the center or ’behind’ the shock, as is expected in a complete shock stratification.

Bright X-rays (Figure 3d) are seen to lag behind the radiative filaments by 1-2′ (0.15 to 0.3 pc). This is indicative of a reverse shock being driven back into the interior material from the dense cloud. This doubly-shocked material shows enhanced brightness of about a factor of 2. From this, Levenson et al. (1996) derive a cloud/ambient density contrast of about 10.

Attempts to fit shock models to optical observations of the bright filament have been frustrated by the large \[O III\]/H$`\beta `$ ratio. A shock velocity of 130 $`\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1`$ was found by Raymond et al. (1980b) using IUE line strengths and assuming a slight departure from steady flow and depleted abundances in both C and Si. Raymond et al. (1980b) also note that much of the hydrogen recombination zone predicted by steady flow models is absent, implying that the interaction is fairly young.

As seen in the H$`\alpha `$ image, a Balmer-dominated filament projects from the south of the bright radiative filament toward the northwest. Raymond et al. (1980a) find that the optical spectrum of the filament contains nothing but hydrogen Balmer lines. High-resolution observations of the H$`\alpha `$ line (Treffers (1981)) show a broad component and a narrow component, corresponding to the pre- and post-shock conditions in the filament, with a resulting estimated shock velocity of 130-170 $`\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1`$. The filament may be a foreground or background piece of the blast wave not related to the radiative portion of the shock, or a related piece of blast wave that is travelling through the atomic (rather than molecular) component. It is visible in both H$`\alpha `$ (Figure 3a) and B5 (Figure 3c) though generally not in other bands; thus the B5 flux for this filament arises primarily from the two-photon process. There is a small segment of the filament visible in \[O III\] where the shock may be becoming radiative, visible in B5 as a brightening near the southern end of the filament.

The X-ray luminosity behind this nonradiative filament is much fainter than that observed to the east of the main radiative filament, since there is no reverse shock associated with the nonradiative filament to boost the brightness (Hester, Raymond, & Blair (1994)). The absence of X-rays to the west of this filament confirms that it represents the actual blast front. As expected, the peak X-ray flux lags behind the H$`\alpha `$ and B5 flux by roughly one arcminute (0.1 pc). This representing the “heating time” of gas behind the shock.

A CO cloud is seen just to the south of the Western Cloud field (Scoville et al. (1977)). The presence of CO clearly indicates material with molecular hydrogen at densities of 300-1000 cm-3. The nonradiative filament runs closely along the Tantenna=5K contour of the CO cloud, indicating this shock is moving through the atomic component at this stage, but showing no sign of interaction with the molecular cloud.

### 4.2 Northeast Nonradiative Region

The canonical example of nonradiative filaments in any context lies on the north and northeast rim of the Cygnus Loop. There, smooth Balmer filaments extend counterclockwise from the northern limb (Figure 4), and can be seen prominently in H$`\alpha `$ in Figure 5a. Small portions of this shock system have been extensively studied by Raymond et al. (1983), Blair et al. (1991), Long et al. (1992), Hester, Raymond & Blair (1994), and most recently by Blair et al. (1999). The filaments are clearly visible in H$`\alpha `$ (Figure 4a) as well as B5 (Figure 4c), but invisible along most of their length in \[O III\] (Figure 4b) except for small segments. These segments represent portions of the shock front where a slightly higher density has allowed the shock to become partially radiative. The shocked, T$`10^6`$K gas emits in an edge-brightened band of X-rays (Figure 4d). The brightness variations in X-rays confirm that the nonradiative filaments are simply wrinkles in the blast wave presenting larger column densities to our line of sight.

Spectroscopic observations of selected locations on the filaments indicate that the B5 filter observes nonradiative filaments as a mixture of C IV and two-photon emission. Long et al. (1992) find an intrinsic ratio of two-photon emission to C IV of 4.3, which gives an observed ratio in B5 of 0.65. Raymond et al. (1983) find fluxes in the same filament which give an observed ratio of 1.6; in a nearby filament, Hester, Raymond & Blair (1994) find a ratio near 2.0. These filaments all have velocities of around 170 $`\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1`$. It is likely that much of the ISM carbon is locked up in grains in the preshock medium, thus boosting the ratio.

The system of thin filaments in the NE nonradiative field extends to the south and is visible in H$`\alpha `$ ahead of the radiative Northeast Cloud (Figure 5) discussed below.

### 4.3 The Northeast Cloud

The Northeast Cloud (Figure 5) radiative filaments, south and east of the field discussed above, make up one of the brightest systems in the Cygnus Loop. The interaction of the SN blast wave and the denser cavity wall is most evident at this location. A complex of radiative filaments can be seen, apparently jumbled together along our line of sight, displaying the signs of a complete shock undergoing radiative cooling. The X-ray edge marking the SN blast wave is well separated from the optical and UV filaments, implying a strongly decelerated shock and cooling that has continued for some time. Stratification of different ionic species is evident, with \[O III\] in sharp filaments to the east, and more diffuse H$`\alpha `$ behind (Figure 8b).

The Northeast Cloud extends into the southern portions of the NE nonradiative field (Figure 4) as well. However, the exposure time for this FUV image is a factor of four shorter than that in Figure 4c, so the nonradiative filaments are not detected above the background. There are a few UV-bright sections which correspond closely with bright \[O III\] knots. However, other equally bright \[O III\] knots in the region do not have corresponding FUV knots. This may be evidence for a range of shock velocities, or it may be portions of the shocks that are in transition from nonradiative to radiative conditions.

Using IUE spectra Benvenuti, Dopita, & D’Odorico (1980) measure the two-photon continuum for one of the brightest radiative positions within the NE cloud, with a resulting observed two-photon/C IV ratio of 5.0. Observations of other radiative regions both in the Cygnus Loop and in other SNRs similar in morphology and spectrum give ratios between 1.7 and 10 (Raymond et al. (1988); various unpublished data). Therefore, while conditions vary widely within these shocked regions, spectroscopy indicates that resonance scattering of C IV causes us to see 2-6 times more flux from two-photon emission than from other ions in the field. Yet the B5 morphology of most of the field resembles \[O III\] far more than H$`\alpha `$, as we would expect if two-photon emission were dominant. The apparent conflict is likely caused by the fact that most lines of sight through this region undoubtedly encounter material with a broad range of physical conditions. Furthermore, the UIT NE cloud exposure is the shortest of our set. Only regions bright in both H$`\alpha `$ and \[O III\] show up in B5.

### 4.4 The XA Field

The XA field (Figure 6) is a complicated region of predominantly radiative filaments, noteworthy because an extremely bright and sharp X-ray edge corresponds closely to a bright knot of UV/visible emission (Hester & Cox (1986)). Indeed, this region is seen to be bright in many wavelengths including radio (Green (1990); Leahy et al. (1997)) and infrared (Arendt, Dwek, & Leisawitz (1992)). Strong O VI $`\lambda `$1035 emission is seen (Blair et al. (1991)) as well as other high-ionization species; N V, C IV, O III\] (DBR ) and \[Ne V\] (Szentgyorgyi et al. (2000)). See DBR for a more detailed analysis of this region.

In general, the B5 emission corresponds closely to optical \[O III\]. However, while optical images show a high contrast between the brightest ‘cloud’ regions and others in ’empty’ space, B5 contrast is lower (Cornett et al. (1992)). This suggests contributions from a high column depth of diffuse C IV and/or two-photon emission. We are either looking at diffuse material through the edge of a cavity wall or are seeing emission from face on sheets of gas. DBR  show evidence that the bright ’cloud’ in the center is not isolated and may be a density enhancement in the cavity wall or a finger of denser material projecting in from the east. The entire blast wave in the region appears indented from the otherwise circular extent of the SNR (Levenson et al. (1997)) implying that the disturbance is produced by a cloud extended several parsecs in our line of sight. The visible structure is likely the tip of a much larger cloud.

Levenson et al. (1998) suggest a density enhancement in the cavity wall, resulting in rapid shock deceleration and accounting for the bright emission. IUE and HUT observations show evidence for a 150 $`\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1`$ cloud shock in the dense core of XA itself (the west-pointing V shape in the center of the field) and a faster, incomplete shock in the more diffuse regions to the north and south (DBR ). Two parallel, largely east-west filaments are seen flanking the central ’cloud’. The X-ray emission is seen to drop off dramatically south of the two long radial filament systems.

Blair et al. (1991) report HUT observations of a radiative but incomplete cloud shock directly to the north of XA marked ‘B’ in Figure 9a. This region features almost complete cooling with the exception of H$`\alpha `$ and cooler ions. Raymond et al. (1988) studied the Spur filament and found a completeness gradient along the length of it. This filament is well-defined in B5 as well as the optical bands.

The XA region is the one region in the Cygnus Loop where preionization is visible ahead of the shock front (Levenson et al. (1998)). This preionization is caused by X-ray flux from the hot, postshock gas ionizing neutral material across the shock front. The emission measure is high enough in this photoionized preshock gas that it is clearly visible as a diffuse patch of emission a few arc minutes to the east of the main XA knot in the center of the field in both H$`\alpha `$ and B5. The B5 flux presumably arises almost entirely from two-photon emission in this case since no \[O III\] is seen (and hence no strong UV line emission is expected).

One unique ability of the B5 filter becomes apparent in the XA region; that of detecting nonradiative shocks in ionized gas. In the X-ray (Figure 6d) we see a bulge of emission to the north and east of the brightest knot (Hester & Cox’s XA region proper). This bulge does not show up in either of the optical bands, but the perimeter is visible in the FUV at the edge of the X-ray emission in Figure 6c. This region has likely been ionized by X-ray flux from the hot post-shock gas. A nonradiative shock is now propagating through it and, lacking a neutral fraction to radiate in H$`\alpha `$, is seen only in high ions such as C IV. This filament is becoming more complete in its southern extremity (the ‘B’ location in Figure 9a) and is emitting in \[O III\] as well. This filament also appears to connect to the nonradiative filament seen in H$`\alpha `$ in the Northeast cloud (Figure 5a).

### 4.5 The Southeast Cloud

The Southeast Cloud (Figure 7) presents an interesting quandry. In the optical it appears as a small patch of radiative emission with a few associated nonradiative filaments. Fesen, Kwitter, & Downes (1992) hypothesize that it represents a small, isolated cloud at a late stage of shock interaction. Indeed, the resemblance to the late-stage numerical models of Bedogni & Woodward (1990) and Stone & Norman (1992) is striking.

More recent X-ray analysis (Graham et al. (1995)) suggests that the shocked portion of the southeast cloud is merely the tip of a much larger structure. Indeed, it is probably similar to the Western and Northeastern Clouds but at an even earlier point in its evolution. Fesen, Kwitter, & Downes (1992) note that the age of the interaction is probably $`4.1\times 10^3`$ years based on an assumed blast wave velocity. Given the revised distance estimate of Blair et al. (1999), this age becomes $`2.3\times 10^3`$ years.

In H$`\alpha `$ (Figure 7a) we see a set of nonradiative filaments to the southeast of the cloud. These filaments are visible very faintly in B5 (Figure 7c) as well.Given the complete lack of X-ray emission (Figure 7d) to the east, these filaments are the primary blast wave. The fact that these filaments are indented from the circular rim of the SNR implies the blast wave is diffracting around some object much larger than the visible emission and extended along our line of sight (Graham et al. (1995)).

Fesen et al. identify a filament segment seen to the west of the SE cloud–visible in both H$`\alpha `$ and our B5 image–as a reverse shock driven back into the shocked medium. The X-ray emission, however, demonstrates that this is instead due the primary forward-moving blast wave. X-ray enhancement is seen to the west of the cloud, not the east as we would expect from a doubly shocked system. Furthermore, the optical filament is Balmer-dominated, which requires a significant neutral fraction in the pre-shock gas, which would not occur at X-ray producing temperatures (Graham et al. (1995)). These points suggest that the filament segment seen is a nonradiative piece of the main blast wave not obviously related to the other emission in the area. The relative faintness and lack of definition compared to other nonradiative filaments suggests that it is not quite parallel to our line of sight.

Meanwhile, the densest material in the shocked cloud tip has cooled enough to emit in ionic species like \[O III\] (Figure 7b) and C IV. Gas stripping resulting from instabilities in the fluid flow along the edges of the cloud is seen as ’windblown streamers’ on the north and south as well as diffuse emission (because of a less favorable viewing angle) to the east. The B5 image shows great detail of the cloud shock and closely resemble the \[O III\] filaments, but with an added “tail” extending to the southeast. The main body of the cloud shock as viewed in B5 is likely composed of C IV and O III\] emission while the “tail” may be an example of a slow shock in a neutral medium and have an enhanced two-photon flux (Dopita, Binette, & Schwartz, (1982)). The shock velocity in the cloud is quoted by Fesen et al. as $`<`$60 $`\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1`$ though this is based on the identification of the western segment as a reverse shock. Given the bright \[O III\] and B5 emission in the cloud shock, it seems more likely that the cloud shock is similar to other structures to the north where shock velocities are thought to be more nearly 140 $`\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1`$.

There is a general increase in signal in the northern half of the SE FUV field (Figure 7c). It is unclear whether this is primarily due to the background “measles” noted in §2 or if this represents diffuse, hot gas emitting C IV as is seen in the halo around the central knot of XA. There is very faint emission seen in both H$`\alpha `$ and \[O III\] in the area which could represent a region of more nearly face-on emitting gas.

## 5 Concluding Remarks

The UIT B5 band, although broader than ideal for SNR observations, provides a unique FUV spectral window. Under some conditions, the B5 bandpass provides images of radiative filaments overrun by very high-speed shocks. Under other conditions, B5 observes nonradiative filaments at the extreme front edge of SNR blast waves. Combined with other image and spectral data, the B5 band can provide unique insights into complex, difficult-to-model shock phenomena such as C IV resonance scattering and shock completeness.

In nonradiative filaments, B5 flux comes from a mixture of C IV as it ionizes up and two-photon emission from preshock neutral hydrogen. In general, nonradiative filament morphology is very similar in B5 and H$`\alpha `$, implying that two-photon emission, originating in the same regions as H$`\alpha `$, is the primary contributor to the B5 images. One unique capability of B5 imaging is its ability to capture nonradiative shocks in ionized media. We see one example of such in Figure 6c where a nonradiative shock is faintly seen in C IV and He II.

Radiative filaments usually show good correlation between B5 and \[O III\] morphology, suggesting that B5 flux arises in ions with similar excitation energies such as C IV. Existing models for simple, complete shocks indicate the same origin.

However, existing FUV spectra complicate this picture, indicating that these regions should be dominated by two-photon flux which we would expect to follow more closely the H$`\alpha `$ morphology. Observational selection restricts detailed spectral information to only the very brightest knots and filaments. Presumably, these bright regions also suffer the greatest resonance scattering in C IV$`\lambda `$1550, decreasing its observed flux; in fact, DBR found unexpectedly strong resonance scattering even away from the bright filaments and knots. Despite this, morphological similarities between B5 and \[O III\] in radiative filaments strongly suggest that, at least away from the brightest filaments and cloud cores, B5 flux is dominated by C IV.

#### Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank John Raymond for valuable discussions and the use of unpublished HUT data. We would also like to thank an anonymous referee for several valuable suggestions including using FUV images to trace nonradiative filaments through ionized regions. Funding for the UIT project has been through the Spacelab Office at NASA headquarters under project number 440-551.


text:
# X-ray absorption lines in the Seyfert 1 galaxy NGC 5548 discovered with Chandra-LETGS

## 1 Introduction

Low to medium energy resolution X-ray spectra of AGN such as obtained by the Rosat or ASCA observatories showed the presence of warm absorbing material (see references in Kaastra kaastra (1999)). This was deduced from broad band fits to the continuum, showing a flux deficit at wavelengths shorter than the expected edges of ions such as O vii and O viii. The relation of this warm X-ray absorber to the medium that produces narrow UV absorption lines in C iv or N v is not clear, mainly due to a lack of sufficient constraints in the X-ray band. A major drawback of all previous X-ray studies of AGN has been the low spectral resolution, making it hard to disentangle any emission line features from the surrounding absorption edges, and prohibiting the measurements of Doppler shifts or broadening. With the Chandra spectrometers it is now possible for the first time to obtain high-resolution X-ray spectra of AGN.

## 2 Observations

The present Chandra observations were obtained on December 11/12, 1999, with an effective exposure time of 86400 s. The detector used was the High Resolution Camera (HRC-S) in combination with the Low Energy Transmission Grating (LETG). The spectral resolution of the instrument is about 0.06 Å and almost constant over the entire wavelength range (1.5–180 Å). Event selection and background subtraction were done using the same standard processing as used for the first-light observation of Capella (Brinkman et al. brinkman (2000)). The wavelength scale is currently known to be accurate to within 15 mÅ. The efficiency calibration has not yet been finished, and our efficiency estimates are based upon preflight estimates for wavelengths below 60 Å and on inflight calibration based upon data from Sirius B for longer wavelengths. We estimate that the current effective area is accurate to about 20–30 %, that it may show large scale systematic variations within those limits, but it does not show significant small scale variations.

The observed count spectrum was corrected for higher spectral order contamination by subtracting at longer wavelengths the properly scaled observed count spectrum at shorter wavelengths. The spectrum was then converted to flux units by dividing it by the effective area, and by correcting for the galactic absorption of $`1.65\times 10^{24}`$ m-2 (Nandra et al. nandra (1993)), as well as for the cosmological redshift, for which we took the value of 0.01676 (Crenshaw et al. crenshaw (1999)).

The spectrum in the 5–38 Å range is shown in Fig. 1. The continuum is rather smooth; the reality of the large-scale structures cannot be assessed completely at this moment given our current understanding of the efficiency calibration of the instrument. Nevertheless, there is no indication for the presence of strong O vii or O viii K-shell absorption edges at 16.77 and 14.23 Å, respectively. A more detailed discussion of the spectrum, including the long-wavelength part will be given in a forthcoming paper, when the full efficiency calibration of the instrument is available.

### 2.1 Absorption lines

The most striking feature of the spectrum is the presence of narrow absorption lines, including the Lyman $`\alpha `$ and $`\beta `$ transitions of H-like C, N, O, Ne and Mg, as well as the 2–1 resonance absorption line of He-like O and Ne. We have searched the wavelength range of Fig. 1 systematically for absorption and emission lines, and found the lines listed in Table 1. In addition we provide data for some weaker features for which the equivalent widths (or their upper limits) help to constrain models. We give expected wavelength $`\lambda _0`$, the measured wavelength difference $`\mathrm{\Delta }\lambda \lambda _0\lambda _{\mathrm{o}bs}/(1+z)`$ (thereby accounting for the cosmological redshift $`z`$), the equivalent line width $`W`$ (determined from a gaussian fit to the line profile), and the proposed line identification. A negative sign before an equivalent width indicates an emission line.

The presence of these aborption lines can be seen as evidence for a warm, absorbing medium in NGC 5548 along the line of sight towards the nucleus. The absorption can be very strong: the core of the C vi Ly$`\alpha `$ line for example absorbs some 90 % of the continuum, and this is just a lower limit, since the true line profile is smeared out by the instrument. That the optical depth in some lines is considerable is evidenced by two facts: firstly, the equivalent width ratio of the Ly$`\beta `$ to Ly$`\alpha `$ lines of C vi and O viii is much larger than the ratio of their oscillator strengths (0.079 to 0.417). Secondly, we see absorption features of sodium, despite the fact that the sodium abundance is 20 times smaller than, e.g., the magnesium abundance. All this can be explained if the line cores of the more abundant elements are strongly saturated.

### 2.2 Column densities

Using the observed equivalent width $`W`$ of the absorption lines, it is possible to derive the absorbing column density, assuming a gaussian velocity distribution (standard deviation $`\sigma _\mathrm{v}`$) of the absorbing ions and neglecting the scattered line emission contribution:

$$W=\frac{\lambda \sigma _\mathrm{v}}{c}\underset{\mathrm{}}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}[1\mathrm{exp}(\tau _0\mathrm{e}^{y^2/2})]dy,$$
(1)
with $`\tau _0`$ the optical depth of the line at the line center, given by

$$\tau _0=0.106fN_{20}\lambda /\sigma _{\mathrm{v},100}.$$
(2)
Here $`f`$ is the oscillator strength, $`\lambda `$ the wavelength in Å, $`\sigma _{\mathrm{v},100}`$ the velocity dispersion in units of 100 km/s and $`N_{20}`$ the column density of the ion in units of $`10^{20}`$ m-2. Given a value for $`\sigma _\mathrm{v}`$ and the measured equivalent width, these equations yield the column density. For some ions we have more than one absorption line identified, and this allows us to constrain $`\sigma _\mathrm{v}`$. From the O vii, O viii and C vi ions we obtain $`\sigma _\mathrm{v}`$=140$`\pm `$30 km/s. Using this value, we derive the column densities of Table 2.

We give the column density $`N`$ in logarithmic units. The reason is the relatively large inferred optical depth of some lines, e.g. 70 for the O viii Ly$`\alpha `$ line. This makes the line core saturated and hence significant changes in the column density lead to minor changes in the equivalent width.

One of the most striking features of the spectrum is the absence of the oxygen continuum absorption edges that were deduced from low resolution X-ray spectra such as those acquired with Rosat (Nandra et al. nandra (1993)), ASCA (Fabian et al. fabian (1994)) or BeppoSAX (Nicastro et al. nicastro (2000)). The absence is, however, consistent with the column densities derived above from the line absorption. We predict a jump of 11 % at the O viii edge (14.23 Å) and 4 % at the O vii edge (16.77 Å), all within a factor of 2. We can measure any jumps near the edges with an accuracy of about 10 % of the continuum, but we find no evidence for an absorption edge; the data even suggest a small emission edge (radiative recombination continuum) of 10$`\pm `$10 %.

The column densities of the other ions for which we have absorption measurements do not lead to significant absorption edges, except for Ne ix and Ne x, which should be at the low side of their column density range in order to avoid significant continuum absorption. Note that the Ne x Ly$`\alpha `$ line has some blending from Fe xvii 4d-2p; taking that into account leads to a somewhat smaller column density.

We have made a set of runs using the XSTAR photoionization code (Kallman & Krolik kallman (1999)), using solar abundances and the spectral shape as given by Mathur et al. (mathur (1995)), normalised to 13 photons m-2s-1Å-1 at 20 Å. We obtained a good overall agreement with our measured column densities using a hydrogen column density of $`3\times 10^{25}`$ m-2 and $`\xi =100\pm 25`$ (in units of 10-9 W m). This column density is comparable to the value derived from earlier ASCA observations (Fabian et al. fabian (1994)). However, our ionization parameter is significantly larger, having most of the oxygen as O viii or O ix. The plasma temperature of the absorber implied by the XSTAR model is $`2\times 10^5`$ K. The low temperatures imply that thermal contributions to line broadening ($`\sigma _\mathrm{v}`$) are negligible.

### 2.3 Velocity fields

The absorption lines appear to be blueshifted: the average blueshift of the C, N and O lines is 280$`\pm `$70 km/s. There is some evidence that the lines are broadened in proportion to their wavelengths, indicative of Doppler broadening. Subtracting the instrumental line width ($`\sigma `$=0.023 Å) yields for the intrinsic line broadening a width ($`\sigma `$) of 270$`\pm `$100 km/s, somewhat larger than the width of 140 km/s derived from line ratios (previous section). This could indicate that the absorber consists of a few narrow components ($`\sigma `$140 km/s), with different mean velocities and $`\sigma `$270 km/s for the ensemble. As an illustration we show the velocity profile of six of the strongest absorption lines in Fig. 2. On the blue side, the line profiles extend out to about 2000 km/s. There is no clear evidence for the presence of an underlying broad emission component for these lines, although for O viii and C vi there appears to be an excess at the red side of the absorption line.

### 2.4 Emission lines

The LETGS spectrum of NGC 5548 shows only a few emission lines. Except for a clear detection of the He-like triplet of O vii, we only identified the forbidden lines of the same triplets of Ne ix and Mg xi; these are marginally detected. Here we focus upon the O vii triplet (Fig. 3). The forbidden ($`f`$) and intercombination ($`i`$) line are not blue-shifted like the absorption lines but have a marginally significant redshift of 200$`\pm `$130 km/s. The ratio $`i/f`$ can be used as a density diagnostic if the coupling between the upper levels ($`2^3`$S and $`2^3`$P) of $`f`$ and $`i`$ is determined by electron collisions and not by the external radiation field from the central source. For a photon flux of 50 photons m-2s-1Å-1 at 1600 Å and the atomic parameters taken from Porquet & Dubau (porquet (2000)) we estimate that this is the case as long as $`n_\mathrm{e}>4\times 10^{14}`$ m-3. The ratio $`i/f`$ does depend only weakly upon the type of ionization balance: Collisional ionization equilibrium (CIE) or photoionization equilibrium (PIE) (Mewe mewe (1999) and Porquet & Dubau porquet (2000)). From the observed value $`i/f`$ of 0.45$`\pm `$0.29 we derive an upper limit to the electron density $`n_\mathrm{e}`$ of $`7\times 10^{16}`$ m-3. The observed ratio $`G=(i+f)/r`$ is 3.2$`\pm `$1.5, although this value might be somewhat smaller due to overlap of the $`r`$ absorption component. For CIE plasmas, $`G`$ should be of order 1, while for PIE plasmas, values larger than about 4 can be expected (Liedahl liedahl (1999), Porquet & Dubau porquet (2000)). Thus, the O vii triplet probably originates from a photoionized plasma.

Does the emission from the triplet arise from the same medium that absorbs the continuum? Assuming that the absorber has the shape of a thin, spherical shell, we calculate on the basis of recombination and the absorber parameters derived in section 2.2 emission line intensities that agree within the error bars with the measured intensities. The upper limit for $`n_\mathrm{e}`$ found from the $`i/f`$ ratio then implies a lower limit for the thickness of the shell of $`5\times 10^8`$ m, and a distance from the central source of at least $`8\times 10^{13}`$ m. Thus, both the absorption and emission of the O vii resonance line, as well as the emission from $`i`$ and $`f`$ may originate in the same expanding shell.

## 3 Discussion

For the first time we see narrow absorption lines in the X-ray spectrum of an AGN. However narrow absorption lines in Seyfert galaxies have been seen before in the UV band. Shull and Sachs (shull (1993)) discovered narrow absorption features in the C iv and N v lines. This was confirmed by Mathur et al. (mathur (1995)) and studied in more detail by Mathur et al. (mathur99 (1999)) and Crenshaw et al. (crenshaw (1999)). These last authors find at least 5 narrow absorption components in the C iv 1550 Å and N v 1240 Å lines. These components are broadened by $`\sigma _v`$=20–80 km/s, somewhat smaller than we find. The rms width of the ensemble of UV absorption lines is 160 km/s for C iv and 260 km/s for N v, consistent with the effective line width of 270$`\pm `$100 km/s that we find from our Chandra data. Also, the average blueshift of the UV absorption lines ($`390`$ km/s for C iv and $`490`$ km/s for N v) is only slightly larger than what we find for the C, N and O lines ($`280\pm 70`$ km/s). Note that our wavelength scale has residual uncertainties of 100–300 km/s for most of our lines.

However, the column density of the lithium-like ions C iv and N v as derived by Crenshaw et al. is 100 times smaller than the column density of the corresponding hydrogen-like ions that we find. The difference may be attributed to either time variability (low column density during the UV observations), a high degree of ionization (hydrogenic ions dominating) or a stratified absorber (with UV and X-ray absorption lines originating from different zones). We favour this last possibility. This is supported by the fact that our simulations with XSTAR imply C iv and N v columns that are 100 times smaller than the measured values by Crenshaw et al.

Crenshaw & Kraemer (crenshawk (1999)) find that the weakest of the five dynamical components (their number 1) in the UV absorption lines has the highest outflow velocity ($`1056`$ km/s). Based upon the N v to C iv ratio, they argue that this component has the highest ionization parameter and could produce the oxygen continuum absorption edges as implied by the ASCA data. Our modelling with XSTAR also predicts column densities of N v and C iv close to the measured values for component 1. But the outflow velocity of the X-ray absorber that we find is significantly smaller than the velocity of UV component 1. However, Mathur et al. (mathur99 (1999)) identify component 3 ($`540`$ km/s) as the most likely counterpart to the X-ray warm absorber. We conclude that the detailed relation between UV and X-ray absorbers is still an open issue.

###### Acknowledgements.

The Laboratory for Space Research Utrecht is supported financially by NWO, the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research. Work at LLNL was performed under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy, Contract No. W-7405-Eng-48.