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# The normal state Fermi surface of pristine and Pb-doped Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ from ARPES measurements and its photon energy independence.

## Abstract

We address the question as to whether the topology of the normal state Fermi surface of Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ \- as seen in angle resolved photoemission - depends on the photon energy used to measure it. High resolution photoemission spectra and Fermi surface maps from pristine and Pb-doped Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ are presented, recorded using both polarised and unpolarised radiation of differing energies. The data show clearly that no main band crosses the Fermi surface along the $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$$`\overline{M}`$Z direction in reciprocal space, even for a photon energy of 32 eV, thus ruling out the existence of a $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$-centred, electron-like Fermi surface in this archetypal high TC superconductor. The true topology of the normal state Fermi surface remains that of hole-like barrels centred at the X,Y points of the Brillouin zone.

There is currently an ongoing and lively discussion as regards the true topology and character of the normal state Fermi surfaces (FS) of the high temperature superconductors (HTSC) in general, and of Bi2212 in particular. The ’traditional’ picture seen in angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) is that of three different features with different origins: the main FS centred around the X(Y) points  of the Brillouin zone (BZ), as predicted by band structure calculations ; the so-called shadow FS due to antiferromagnetic spin correlations ; and extrinsic features (diffraction replicas (DRs)) which result from a diffraction of the outgoing photoelectrons as they pass through the structurally modulated Bi-O layers .

Recently, ARPES data recorded with photon energies of 32 - 33 eV seemed to show a different picture and have been interpreted in terms of an electron-like FS centred around the $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ point . It has even been suggested that the ARPES-derived FS depends on the photon energy used in the experiment . This, of course, would constitute a revolution in our thinking about the normal state FS of the HTSC and thus it is of utmost importance that this question be addressed quickly and clearly by a number of independent groups. In this contribution, we present ARPES investigations of Bi2212, with the aim of clearing up the controversy regarding the apparant photon energy dependence of normal state FS topology as seen by photoemission.

We present a combination of energy distribution curves (EDCs) measured using polarized synchrotron radiation with angle-scanned photoemission data using unpolarised radiation at various photon energies and demonstrate that, as physical intuition dictates, the main FS of the Bi2212 materials is independent of the photon energy used to measure it in an ARPES experiment.

The synchrotron-based data were recorded using the U2-FSGM beamline at the BESSY I facility, with a sample temperature of 100K, an overall energy resolution of 70 meV and an angular resolution of $`\pm `$1, which gives $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$k $``$ 0.094 Å-1 (i.e. 8.1 $`\%`$ of $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$X) in the case of 32 eV radiation. In all cases the crystals were aligned such that the high symmetry direction being scanned was parallel to the electric field vector of the incoming synchrotron radiation. For the $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$Y scans the analyser was then swung downwards out of the plane spanned by the surface normal and the E-vector, whilst for the $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$$`\overline{M}`$Z scans the energy analyser remained in the aforementioned plane. The angle-scanned ARPES experiments were performed at 300 K or 120 K using monochromated, unpolarised He I and He II radiation and a SCIENTA SES200 analyser enabling simultaneous analysis of both the E and k-distribution of the photoelectrons. The overall energy resolution was set to 30 meV and the angular resolution to $`\pm `$0.38 , which gives $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$k $``$ 0.028 Å-1 (i.e. 2.4 $`\%`$ of $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$X) in the case of He I radiation. High quality single crystals of pristine  and Pb-doped Bi2212, the latter grown from the flux in the standard manner, were cleaved in-situ to give mirror-like surfaces .

Returning to the current ARPES controversy - certain points are universally accepted. Firstly, there is a consensus that the ’traditional’ FS picture is correct for ARPES data recorded with low photon energies (h$`\nu `$ $``$22eV)  Secondly, with respect to the high symmetry directions in k-space, the main FS crossing along the $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$X direction is also generally accepted to be valid for all photon energies used to date. Thus, it is in fact the exact situation around the $`\overline{M}`$ point which is central to the debate, as it is in this region of k-space where the ’closing’ of the main FS arcs to give a $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$-centred (electron-like) FS has been proposed .

Consequently, in order to investigate the validity of the ’new’ FS topology in detail, as well as to address the question as to whether the final states (17-20 eV above EF) accessed with lower photon energies are sufficiently high to guarantee their free-electron-like character, we have measured EDCs of Bi2212 using synchrotron radiation of different energies along the $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$$`\overline{M}`$Z line in k-space. The data are shown in Fig. 1. For h$`\nu `$=32eV, the $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$$`\overline{M}`$ data are very similar to those reported in Ref. , having been recorded in the same experimental geometry. In particular, the reduction of spectral weight around $`\overline{M}`$ for h$`\nu `$=32eV, and to a lesser extent for 40eV photons, could indeed be seen as a sign of a FS crossing, followed by the re-appearance of the band between $`\overline{M}`$ and Z. However, a reduction of the spectral weight of the states related to the extended saddle-point singularity around $`\overline{M}`$ for h$`\nu `$ around 30eV has been predicted to be due to matrix element effects alone in a recent theoretical treatment . Furthermore, for h$`\nu `$=50eV, for which no-one would doubt the validity of a free-electron-like final state, the situation resembles to that at lower photon energy and thus we see no indication of a $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$$`\overline{M}`$ FS crossing.

Since it is the h$`\nu `$=32 and 40 eV data which most significantly deviate from the commonly accepted picture, we devote the rest of the paper to their detailed discussion. The claims for a $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$$`\overline{M}`$Z main FS crossing have been based not only on the intensity suppression around $`\overline{M}`$ as seen in Fig. 1, but also on an analysis of the k-dependence of both the total photoemission intensity (which is related to the momentum distribution n(k)) and of the magnitude of the ARPES intensity at the Fermi level (I(EF)) . Fig. 2a shows data for h$`\nu `$=32eV for both the $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$Y (panel 1) and $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$$`\overline{M}`$ (panel 2) directions. We start first with the uncontroversial $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$Y direction. The grey-scale image and Iint / I(EF) analysis shown in the panels marked 1 contain the ’signature’ of a main FS crossing - with a sharp peak in I(EF) coinciding with a steep drop in Iint. However, the analogous data for the $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$$`\overline{M}`$ direction (Fig. 2a - panels marked 2) show a different behaviour: both the drop in the total ARPES intensity as well as the peak in I(EF) are considerably broader than their counterparts along $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$Y. In particular, the I(EF) peak is more than a factor of three broader than was the case for the $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$Y main FS crossing. The question then arises as to whether this Iint / I(EF) characteristic for $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$$`\overline{M}`$ (h$`\nu `$=32eV) is compatible with a main FS crossing. We believe that it is not, and will lay out our arguments for this in the following.

Firstly, assuming for the sake of argument the validity of the $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$-centred FS, the data for $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$Y and $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$$`\overline{M}`$ both represent scans crossing the FS at right angles (see the sketch at the top of Fig. 2a). Why, then, should the Iint and I(EF) analyses for the two directions be so different?

One argument that immediately springs to mind is based upon the fact that the photoemission features along the two directions (directly seen as white features in the I(E,k) images of Fig. 2a) have different dispersion relations, thus possibly leading to the anomalous width in both Iint and I(EF) for $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$$`\overline{M}`$. A stringent test of this argument would be to compare the $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$$`\overline{M}`$ data with the Iint / I(EF) characteristics of a band, which not only crosses the main FS at right angles, but also displays the same dispersion relation as that observed along $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$$`\overline{M}`$ for k$``$kF. Ideally speaking, this test should also be carried out for h$`\nu `$=32eV, but in practice this is hampered by severe difficulties in the location of a true right-angular FS crossing, which could not, of course, be along a high symmetry direction. This last point means that additional complications in the quantification of Iint and I(EF) would also result from the strong matrix-element effects implicit in the use of polarised synchrotron radiation (e.g. h$`\nu `$=32eV). Furthermore, the DR features which ’decorate’ the ARPES data of pure Bi2212 make it harder still to find a suitable main FS crossing to use as a test system.

Therefore, in order to determine the Iint / I(EF) signature of a main (right angular) FS crossing with dispersion equal to that seen along $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$$`\overline{M}`$ for h$`\nu `$=32eV we turn to data from Pb-doped Bi2212, measured with unpolarised He I radiation (h$`\nu `$=21.2eV). This approach has the following advantages: use of unpolarised radiation minimises the differences in datasets recorded with different azimuthal angles and ARPES data from Pb-doped Bi2212 are simpler to interpret due to the absence of DR features . In Fig. 2b we show the comparison between Pb-doped Bi2212 ARPES data for $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$Y (panel 3) and for a different direction in k-space (roughly from 0.4($`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$$`\overline{M}`$) towards Y), representing a right-angular crossing of the main FS (panel 4). As is evident from Figs. 2a and 2b, the dispersion relations of the bands in panels 2 and 4 are essentially identical - thus we have found a suitable candidate for our test. This search was only made possible by the use of the full-EDC FS map shown at the top of Fig. 2b. The lower panels of Fig. 2b show without any doubt that the Iint and I(EF) characteristic of a main FS crossing is essentially unaffected by the steepness of the dispersion relation of the band coming up to the FS as both panels 3 and 4 of Fig. 2b show sharp peaks in I(EF) coupled to a steep drop in Iint. This, then, is in favour of our contention that the h$`\nu `$=32 eV $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$$`\overline{M}`$ data shown in Figs. 1 and 2a do not signal a main FS crossing in the Bi2212-based materials.

A further argument is based upon an analysis of the binding energy position of the leading edge of the ARPES spectra. In our experience, based upon full-EDC FS maps comprising more than 4000 spectra , the leading edge of the spectra not only approaches EF as the band disperses up towards the FS, but also moves rapidly away from EF again once the band has crossed the FS (this is a consequence of the well-known incoherent background present in ARPES data of all HTSC). Thus, following the leading edge energy as a function of k, a main FS crossing exhibits a sharp dip centred at kF, as is illustrated in Fig. 3. Figs. 3a, 3b and 3c show analyses of the leading edge energy for the h$`\nu `$=32 eV data for $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$Y (which is shown in panel 1 of Fig. 2a), and the He I data shown in Fig. 2b (panel 3) and Fig. 2b (panel 4), respectively. In all cases, the main FS crossing, and thus kF, are characterised by the sharp dip or ’V’ in the leading edge energy. This behaviour is to be compared with that for the $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$$`\overline{M}`$ direction (Figs. 3d-f) in which, regardless of the photon energy, no sharp, ’V’-like structure is seen in the leading edge energy profiles centred around the proposed FS crossing (kF = 0.81 and 1.19 ($`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$$`\overline{M}`$)). Thus it is clear that the leading edge data of Fig. 3d (h$`\nu `$=32eV) should be grouped with the data of Fig. 3e and 3f which characterise flat-band, saddle-point behaviour, and not with the leading edge datasets describing a main FS crossing (Figs. 3a-3c).

Taking the arguments given above, the viewpoint that the observed  FS ’crossings’ along the $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$$`\overline{M}`$Z line in Bi2212 result, in fact, from the superposition of extrinsic DR features is considerably strengthened. In Ref.  we argued that multi-order DRs combine to give a high intensity ribbon, visible in FS mapping data running along the (0,-$`\pi `$)-($`\pi `$,0) line. The suppression of the spectral weight from the extended saddle-point singularity states predicted for photon energies around 30 eV , would then lead to a ’hollowing-out’ of the ribbon - leaving its edges intense enough to appear as a pair of FS crossings either side of the $`\overline{M}`$ point. In order to test this point, and bearing in mind the efficacy of FS maps recorded using unpolarised radiation and based upon real, uninterpolated EDCs , we have carried out such FS mapping experiments on Pb-doped Bi2212, in which the Pb substitution supresses the incommensurate Bi-O modulation  and thus ’switches off’ the DR features in the ARPES spectra.

Fig. 4 shows the FS maps, in which I(EF) for a 20 meV energy window (T=300K) is plotted. Data recorded using He I radiation (h$`\nu `$=21.22eV) are shown in Fig. 4a, whereas Figs. 4b and 4c contain smaller maps measured with He II (h$`\nu `$=40.8eV) radiation which highlight those areas in k-space indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 4a. In each case, the main hole-like FS centred at the X and Y points is clearly visible (solid white line). While these conclusions are under no doubt for the He I data, upon consideration of Fig. 1, it can be seen that a photon energy of 40eV is still in the critical range for which an intensity suppression near $`\overline{M}`$ is observed. Thus, we point out that Fig. 4c (h$`\nu `$=40.8eV) shows no indication of a FS crossing at the points 0.81 and 1.19 ($`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$$`\overline{M}`$) as suggested in Ref. , nor at any point along or near to the $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$$`\overline{M}`$Z line. Therefore, the FS maps presented in Fig. 4, taken together with the detailed analysis of Iint / I(EF) (Fig. 2) and of the leading edge energies of the ARPES spectra (Fig. 3) offer very strong additional support to arguments that the alleged FS crossings along the $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$$`\overline{M}`$Z direction in pristine Bi2212 are, in fact, due to DR features . These dominate the ARPES spectra as a result of the matrix element-related supression of the saddle-point emission near $`\overline{M}`$ for photon energies around 30eV .

Thus, in summary we can state that such DR-related ’FS crossings’ along $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$$`\overline{M}`$Z in Bi2212 do not have any consequences for the true normal state FS topology of the Bi2212-based HTSC, which remains that of hole-like barrels centred at the X,Y points, independent of the photon energy used in the ARPES experiment.

We are grateful to the the BMBF (05 SB8BDA 6), the DFG (Graduiertenkolleg ’Struktur- und Korrelationseffekte in Festkörpern’ der TU-Dresden) and the SMWK (4-7531.50-040-823-99/6) for financial support, to U. Jännicke-Rössler and K. Nenkov for characterisation of the crystals. T.P. acknowledges an APART fellowship of the Austrian Academy of Sciences.


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# Chemical and dynamical evolution in gas-rich dwarf galaxies

## 1. Introduction

Blue compact dwarf galaxies (BCD) are gas-rich systems experiencing an intense star formation. These galaxies have very simple structures, small sizes and are very metal poor. For these reasons, BCD are excellent laboratories to investigate the effect of a starburst on the chemical and dynamical evolution of the interstellar medium (ISM).

Previous dynamical and chemical studies of these galaxies have suggested the existence of a ‘differential galactic wind’, in the sense that after a starburst event these objects would loose mostly metals (ref. Mac Low & Ferrara 1999; D’Ercole & Brighenti 1999; Pilyugin 1992, 1993; Marconi et al. 1994). However, in none of these studies, detailed chemical and dynamical evolution was taken into account at the same time. The aim of this paper is to include the effects (both energetic and chemical) of type II and type Ia SNe in a detailed dynamical model.

## 2. Model description

We consider a rotating gaseous component in hydrostatic isothermal equilibrium with the gravitational and the centrifugal forces. The potential well is given by the sum of a spherical, quasi-isothermal dark halo and an oblate King profile. The resulting gas distribution resembles that observed in IZw18 in a region $`R`$ 1 Kpc and $`z`$ 730 pc, which we call ‘galactic region’.

To describe the evolution of the ISM we solve a set of time-dependent, hydrodynamical equations, with source terms describing the rate of energy and mass return from the starburst. Mass is returned mostly by SNeII and intermediate-mass stars (IMS), while the energy is injected essentially by SNe. For the first time, here we take into account also the contribution by SNeIa. These supernovae start to explode after 29 Myr, at the end of the SNII activity, occurring with the explosion of stars with 8 M (see Nomoto, Thielemann & Yokoi 1984).

Following Bradamante et al. (1998), we suppose that SNeII convert only 3% of their explosion energy into thermal energy of the ISM. SNeIa, instead, do not suffer radiative losses because they explode in a medium heated and diluted by the previous SNeII activity and release all their energy into the ISM.

We solve an ancillary set of equations which keep track of the evolution in space and time of some specific elements lost by stars, namely H, He, C, N, O, Mg, Si, Fe. The production of these elements are obtained following the nucleosynthetic prescriptions from various authors: Woosley & Weaver (1995) for the SNeII, Renzini & Voli (1981) for IMS and Nomoto et al. (1984) for SNeIa. For more details, see Recchi et al. (2000).

The standard model, called M1, has a gaseous mass inside the galactic region of $`1.7\times 10^7\mathrm{M}_{}`$ and a mass of gas turned into stars of $`6\times 10^5\mathrm{M}_{}`$, in reasonable agreement with the observations of IZw18. We run other two models obtained by reducing the burst luminosity of a factor 0.6 (model M2) and by reducing the mass of gas of a factor 0.25 (model M3). Moreover, we consider four nucleosynthetic options: we consider an initial abundance of the ISM of $`Z=0`$ and $`Z=0.01\mathrm{Z}_{}`$ and two possible values for the mixing lenght parameter $`\alpha _{\mathrm{RV}}=0`$ and $`\alpha _{\mathrm{RV}}=1.5`$. In the models with $`\alpha _{\mathrm{RV}}=1.5`$ we can produce N in a primary way in IMS.

## 3. Results

In model M1 a classical bubble develops as a consequence of SNII explosions (see Fig. 1). It expands faster along the $`z`$ direction, where the ISM density gradient is steeper. The SNII wind stops before the possible breakout, and the subsequent SNIa wind is not strong enough to expand the cavity further. The size of the bubble thus does not change for nearly 300 Myr, although the shape varies irregularly because of the Kelvin-Helmholtz instabilities along the interface between the hot cavity and the surrounding gas. After $``$ 340 Myr the expanding ISM is diluted enough and the hot bubble finally breaks out through a funnel. Most of the SNII ejecta remain locked into the bubble wall inside the galaxy, while the SNIa elements, ejected later, are easily channelled along the funnel. Iron is mostly produced by SNeIa and, when the breakup occurs, most of it is lost. Thus the gas \[$`\alpha `$/Fe\] ratio results lower outside the galaxy than inside (see Fig. 2).

After $``$ 29 Myr \[the burst in IZw18 is evaluated to be 15 - 27 Myr old by Martin (1996)\] the galactic abundances found in this model are in good agreement with those observed in IZw18 once the nucleosynthetic prescriptions with $`Z=0`$ and $`\alpha _{\mathrm{RV}}=1.5`$ are assumed. At this time a substantial fraction of N is produced by IMS in a primary way. An initial metallicity of $`Z=0.01\mathrm{Z}_{}`$ (simulating a pre-enriched burst), worsens the agreement between data and model results. Also the observed dimensions of the dynamical structures are in reasonable agreement with our result after $``$ 29 Myr.

Models M2 and M3 have similar dynamical behaviours. However, due to the different quantity of metals produced and gas mass lost, their abundances are overestimated (M3) or underestimated (M2) compared to IZw18. We also run a model similar to M1 but with a 100% efficiency of SNeII in heating the gas. In this case the galaxy results devoided of gas 450 Myr after the burst, at variance with the substantial amount of ISM in IZw18.

## References

Bradamante, F., Matteucci, F. & D’Ercole, A. 1998, A&A, 337, 338

D’Ercole, A. & Brighenti, F. 1999, MNRAS, 309, 941

Mac Low, M.-M. & Ferrara, A. 1999, ApJ, 513, 142

Marconi, G., Matteucci, F. & Tosi, M. 1994, MNRAS, 217, 391

Martin, C.L., 1996, ApJ, 465, 680

Nomoto, K., Thielemann, F.K. & Yokoi K. 1984, ApJ, 286, 644

Pilyugin, L.S., 1992, A&A, 260, 58

Pilyugin, L.S., 1993, A&A, 277, 42

Recchi, S., Matteucci, F. & D’Ercole, A. 2000, submitted to MNRAS

Renzini, A. & Voli, M. 1981, A&A, 94, 175

Woosley, S.E. & Weaver, T.A. 1995, ApJS, 101, 181


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# ISO-SWS spectra of galaxies: continuum and features Based on observations with ISO, an ESA project with instruments funded by ESA member states (especially the PI countries: France, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom) and with participation of ISAS and NASA.

## 1 Introduction

Mid-infrared spectra of galaxies are rich in emission lines, and display prominent broader emission and absorption features due to the presence of various solids and/or large molecules in their interstellar medium (ISM). Significant variation from source to source suggests that these features may provide important diagnostics of the ISM conditions in galaxies.

The ground based and Kuiper Airborne Observatory spectra of the prototypical starburst M 82 by Gillett et al. (1975) and Willner et al. (1977) fully established the existence of the mid-infrared ‘unidentified infrared bands’ (UIB) at 6.2, 7.7, 8.6, and 11.3$`\mu `$m in galaxy spectra. These emission bands are characteristic of C-C and C-H bonds in aromatic molecules. In this paper we will refer to them as ‘PAH features’ according to one of the most popular interpretations of their carrier, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon molecules 111Other suggested carriers include small grains of hydrogenated amorphous carbon (HACs), quenched carbonaceous composites (QCCs), or coal.. These detections and related work using the IRAS LRS (Cohen & Volk 1989) form the basic pre-ISO knowledge of mid-infrared spectral features in galaxies.

Considerable work has also been done from the ground but has been limited to the features found in atmospheric windows, mainly silicate absorption and PAH feature emission in the N band (e.g. Roche et al. 1991, and references therein) and the companion PAH feature in the L band (e.g. Moorwood 1986). The restriction to atmospheric windows increases problems in establishing the ‘continuum’ on which the features are superposed. This is a nontrivial task, even with full wavelength coverage, due to the crowding of mid-infrared emission and absorption features (especially in the 10$`\mu `$m region).

With the Short Wavelength Spectrometer SWS (de Graauw et al. 1996) on board the Infrared Space Observatory ISO (Kessler et al. 1996) high spectral resolution observations with good signal-to-noise (S/N) were obtained for a number of bright galaxies. Their main advantages lie in continuous wavelength coverage from 2.4 to 45$`\mu `$m and in the possibility to clearly separate features from nearby emission lines.

The interpretation of galaxy-integrated spectra strongly benefits from comparisons to similar observations of galactic sources, sometimes spatially resolved, allowing better isolation of the physical mechanisms at work. Recent ISO spectra of many galactic template objects, such as reflection nebulae (e.g. Boulanger et al. 1996, Cesarsky et al. 1996a, Verstraete et al. 1996, Moutou et al. 1998), planetary nebulae and circumstellar regions (e.g. Beintema et al. 1996), and HII regions (Roelfsema et al. 1996, Cesarsky et al. 1996b) have clearly demonstrated the importance of such template spectra. They prove that PAHs are an ubiquitous part of the ISM. Additional information on emission features of crystalline silicates comes from similar template observations with ISO of e.g. planetary nebulae (Waters et al. 1998), evolved stars (Waters et al. 1996), young stars (Waelkens et al. 1996), or LBVs in the LMC (Voors et al. 1999). Absorption features (silicates, ices) have been found e.g. in the Galactic center (Lutz et al. 1996, Chiar et al. 2000), young stellar objects (d’Hendecourt et al. 1996, Whittet et al. 1996, Dartois et al. 1999), and in dark clouds in the solar neighborhood (Whittet et al. 1998).

In this paper we present an inventory of mid-infrared spectral features detected in high resolution (R$``$1500) ISO-SWS 2.4–45$`\mu `$m spectra of the starburst galaxies M 82 and NGC 253, the Seyfert 2 galaxies Circinus and NGC 1068, and a position in the 30 Doradus star forming region of the Large Magellanic Cloud (Sect. 3). We briefly discuss possible feature identifications (Sect. 4.1) and highlight possible relations between these features and the physical state of the interstellar medium in galaxies (Sect. 4.2). We also address the issue of the continuum determination and the apparent depth of the silicate absorption at 9.7$`\mu `$m (Sect. 5). Finally (Sects. 6 and 7) we demonstrate the use of these ISO spectra as templates for future infrared missions such as SIRTF, with particular emphasis on potential identification problems at low resolving power that are caused by coincidences of lines and features.

All the spectra shown here exhibit a large number of atomic, ionic and molecular emission lines. These have been or will be discussed elsewhere, along with more details on observations and data processing (Circinus: Moorwood et al. 1996; M 82: Lutz et al. 1998b, Schreiber 1998; NGC 1068: Lutz et al. 2000; 30 Dor: Thornley et al., in prep.).

## 2 Observations and data reduction

The objects discussed here have been observed as part of the ISO guaranteed time project on bright galactic nuclei. Here we concentrate on full grating scans obtained in SWS01 mode, speed 4. This mode provides a full 2.4–45$`\mu `$m scan at resolving power of approximately 1000–2000. For NGC 253, Circinus, and NGC 1068 the observations were centered on the nuclei. In the case of M 82 the observation was centered on the southwestern star formation lobe. For 30 Dor the apertures were lying roughly parallel to an ionized shell region, about 0.5′ away from the central stellar cluster. Table 1 summarizes the positions. Note that different parts of an SWS full grating scan are observed with different aperture sizes222The aperture sizes are 14″$`\times `$20″ for 2.4–12.0$`\mu `$m, 14″$`\times `$27″ for 12.0–27.5$`\mu `$m, 20″$`\times `$27″ for 27.5–29.0$`\mu `$m, and 20″$`\times `$33″ for 29.0–45$`\mu `$m, with some wavelength overlap between the bands., varying between 14″$`\times `$20″ and 20″$`\times `$33″.

We have processed the data using the SWS Interactive Analysis (IA) system (Lahuis et al. 1998, Wieprecht et al. 1998) and the ISO Spectral Analysis Package ISAP (Sturm et al. 1998). Dark current subtraction, scan direction matching, and flatfielding have been done interactively, and noisy detectors have been eliminated. In ISAP we clipped outliers and averaged the data of all 12 detectors for each AOT band, retaining the instrumental resolution. For those wavelength ranges affected by fringes, the averaged spectra were defringed using the FFT or iterative sine fitting options of the defringe module within ISAP.

To reduce noise for display purposes (Fig. 1), we have smoothed the data with a gaussian filter to a uniform resolution of 1000. This broadens slightly the line widths of the narrow atomic and ionic emission lines, but does not affect the broad emission and absorption features discussed in this paper. We did not remove the flux jumps at detector band limits. Part of these jumps may be real because the sources are extended and because the aperture sizes change at some band edges (at approximately 12.0, 27.5 and 29.0$`\mu `$m). Another part simply reflects the flux calibration uncertainty, which is of the order of 20 per cent.

We carefully checked the reality of the features in the final spectra against the possibility of residual instrumental features from the Relative Spectral Response Function (RSRF), which might be caused e.g. by an improper dark current subtraction. For example, the detector RSRF exhibits absorption features at 11.05 and 34$`\mu `$m which might appear in emission in the calibrated spectrum. This is, however, at most an effect of the order of a few per cent of the continuum level. The features we see at these wavelengths in our spectra (see below) are stronger, so that they must be real. Furthermore, we checked whether a feature appears in both scan directions and in the majority of all detectors. Additional confirmation was possible for those features that lie in the overlap region of two different AOT bands and appear in both bands. At this stage of instrument calibration, we do not believe that any of the broad structures in band 3E (appr. 27.5–29.5 $`\mu `$m) are real features. Also, features at the end of band 4 (43–45 $`\mu `$m, e.g. in Circinus) cannot be trusted.

## 3 An inventory of features

In Tables 2 and 3 we give an inventory of features that we believe to be reliable detections. We consider a detection reliable if the feature has an amplitude of at least 3$`\sigma `$ of the noise level and if it fulfills the criteria described above. We also list a few uncertain detections in parantheses, e.g. features in compliance with the above criteria but with an amplitude of less than 3$`\sigma `$ (but note that the definition of the local noise level is in many cases somewhat uncertain). Most of these features have been described before in reports of ISO-SWS observations of galactic template sources (e.g. Moutou et al. 1996, Verstraete et al. 1996, Roelfsema et al. 1996, Beintema et al. 1996). Here we highlight a few of their characteristics, source by source. In Sect. 4.1 we briefly discuss possible identifications. Please note that many of the features are severely blended and thus the peak wavelengths given here are approximate.

We also list the fluxes of four of the most prominent PAHs in Tables 4 and 5. To measure these fluxes we defined continua by a linear interpolation between the following points: 2.50 and 3.65$`\mu `$m for the 3.3$`\mu `$m feature, 5.9 and 10.9$`\mu `$m for the features at 6.2 and 7.7$`\mu `$m, and 10.9 and 11.8$`\mu `$m for the 11.3$`\mu `$m feature. We then obtained the fluxes by integrating between the following band limits: 3.10–3.35$`\mu `$m, 6.0–6.5$`\mu `$m, 7.3–8.2$`\mu `$m, and 11.1–11.7$`\mu `$m. To give an indication of the relative contribution of these features to the infrared luminosity we also list their ratio to the continuum flux in the range 11.6–11.9$`\mu `$m. Due to the uncertainties involved in this measuring process (continuum shape, feature profile, etc.) all absolute and relative fluxes are only approximate. By definition, these fluxes ignore a possible, PAH-related ‘plateau’ or ‘continuum’ in the 6–9 and 10–13$`\mu `$m range (e.g. Boulanger et al. 1996).

M 82: M 82 is a small galaxy undergoing a very powerful starburst, and is considered to be a prototype of starburst activity. Due to its proximity (3.63 Mpc, Freedman et al. 1994) it is the brightest galaxy in the infrared, with the infrared luminosity arising mainly from warm dust in the central region. Emission features at 8.7 and 11.3$`\mu `$m were first detected by Gillett et al (1975), and the 3.3, 6.2 and 7.6$`\mu `$m features by Willner et al. (1977).

The main PAH features are clearly seen in the mid-infrared spectrum of M 82, shown in its entirety in Fig. 1 and in detail in the top panels of Fig 2. In addition, the spectrum shows a large number of weaker features which have previously been detected with ISO only in galactic template sources.

The 3.3$`\mu `$m feature has satellites at 3.4 and 3.5$`\mu `$m. It also shows a blue asymmetry, which might be due to a feature at 3.25$`\mu `$m (see Beintema et al. 1996). Two weak features at 5.25 and 5.65$`\mu `$m, that have been observed e.g. in the planetary nebula NGC 7027 (Beintema et al. 1996) and the photodissociation front of M 17 (Verstraete et al. 1996), are also present in M 82. The 6.2$`\mu `$m band has a red shoulder and shows an additional feature at 6.0$`\mu `$m. The 7.7$`\mu `$m feature consists of two bands at 7.6 and 7.8$`\mu `$m. A significant contribution of 7.7$`\mu `$m solid methane absorption (e.g. Whittet et al. 1996, Lutz et al. 1996) to this strong dip between 7.6 and 7.8$`\mu `$m is unlikely, since in M 82 related icy absorption features are shallower and extinction is lower (Sect. 5) than in the sources with clear methane absorptions. A weak feature is present at 10.6$`\mu `$m, which is confirmed in the average starburst spectrum of Lutz et al. 1998a (their Fig. 1, independent ISOPHOT-S data), and probably related to a feature seen by Beintema et al. (1996) in the spectrum of NGC 7027. The 11.3$`\mu `$m feature peaks at 11.2$`\mu `$m and shows the well-known asymmetric shape towards longer wavelengths (Witteborn et al. 1989). There is an additional component around 11.05$`\mu `$m, much too strong to be related to artifacts from the RSRF correction known to exist at this wavelength. A weak feature may be present near 12.0$`\mu `$m. The 12.7$`\mu `$m feature is very prominent in M 82. Moutou et al. (1998) found two emission features at 15.8 and 16.4$`\mu `$m in the spectrum of the galactic reflection nebula NGC 7023. On the basis of their laboratory work, they attributed these features to PAH molecules. These two features are clearly seen in M 82, and in some of our other template spectra. More emission features can be found at still longer wavelenghts (20.5 and 33-34$`\mu `$m).

In addition we find two features that – to our knowledge – have not been reported before: at 7.0 and 8.3$`\mu `$m. A feature around 7.0$`\mu `$m is also present in NGC 253 (most clearly), and perhaps in 30 Dor. We found the same feature in ISO-SWS spectra of the cool, dusty envelopes of the planetary nebula He 2-113 (see e.g. Waters et al. 1998, their Fig. 2). The average ISOPHOT-S spectra of starburst and normal galaxies (Lutz et al. 1998a, Helou et al. 2000) also show hints of a weak feature, blended with H2 S(5) 6.91$`\mu `$m and \[Ar II\] 6.99$`\mu `$m (see also Sect. 6). The 8.3 feature is also visible in the galactic template spectrum of NGC 7023 (Fig. 4), and perhaps in some of the compact HII regions shown in Roelfsema et al. (1996). We also want to mention here the 14.3$`\mu `$m band. An astronomical observation of this band has been reported only recently for the first time (Tielens et al. 1999). It is present in all our template spectra, with the exception of NGC 1068, in NGC 7023, and perhaps also in some of the circumstellar PAH spectra shown in Beintema et al. (1996). On the other hand, our spectra do not show some of the emission features that have been detected before in astronomical observations, e.g. at 4.65$`\mu `$m (Verstraete et al. 1996) and 13.3$`\mu `$m (Moutou et al. 1998).

There are very few absorption features in our spectrum of M 82. The trough around 10$`\mu `$m looks like a strong 9.7$`\mu `$m silicate feature. In Sect. 5 we argue, however, that the trough is mainly due to the strong PAH emission at 8.7 and 11.3$`\mu `$m. Also, there is no clear signature of a corresponding silicate absorption feature at 18$`\mu `$m. A broad absorption feature around 3.0$`\mu `$m is probably due to H2O-ice. Its optical depth ($`\tau `$0.2) is relatively small compared e.g. to the Galactic center ($`\tau `$=0.5, Lutz et al. 1996, Chiar et al. 2000). However, since the overall extinction estimates differ in the same sense, this is consistent with the M 82 line of sight having properties similar to that towards the Galactic center: a mixture of diffuse ISM and molecular cloud extinction, with some variance in the relative weight for different lines of sight (Chiar et al. 2000). These properties seem to be quite typical for starburst galaxies, as we find similar conditions in NGC 253 (see below) and in NGC 4945 (Spoon et al., in prep.).

The M 82 spectrum has the highest S/N ratio and shows the largest number of features in our sample. Combined with the ISO-LWS long wavelength spectrum (Colbert et al. 1999) it will be an important template for future missions.

NGC 253: NGC 253 is a nearby, almost edge-on barred spiral galaxy with a high level of circumnuclear starburst activity. At optical wavelengths the galaxy is heavily obscured by dust lanes in the central regions. The ionic emission lines in NGC 253 are of lower excitation (e.g. lower \[Ne III\]/\[Ne II\] ratio) than in M 82, suggesting a softer average radiation field (Thornley et al., in prep.). Despite these differences between the two galaxies, their spectra of broad emission features are remarkably similar. This is demonstrated in Fig. 3. Only beyond 9$`\mu `$m does a difference in the underlying continuum become obvious. NGC 253 has a stronger continuum at these longer wavelengths. In starburst galaxies this underlying continuum is usually attributed to very small grains (VSG) of dust (e.g. Désert et al. 1990). In Sect. 5 we will use the difference in the continua of M 82 and NGC 253 to characterise the shape of the VSG continuum.

Table 2 shows that nearly all features of M 82 are also seen in NGC 253. The very few exceptions may simply be due to the lower S/N ratio of the NGC 253 spectrum. The red shoulder of the 6.2$`\mu `$m band seen in M 82 is more prominent in NGC 253 and is probably due to an additional feature at 6.35$`\mu `$m. The 3.0$`\mu `$m ice absorption is also present, having an optical depth of $`\tau `$0.25.

30 Dor: The 30 Dor region in the LMC is the largest, most massive, and most luminous H II region in the Local Group. As a local template for massive star formation and its interaction with the interstellar medium, it is instructive to compare its spectrum to the galaxy spectra in our sample. A more detailed study of the mid-infrared fine structure emission lines in 30 Dor will be presented in an upcoming paper (Thornley et al., in prep.).

An inspection of Fig. 2 and Table 2 shows that the 30 Dor spectrum exhibits most of the PAH features found in the galaxy spectra. Lower S/N may contribute to the non-detection of some of the weak features. Compared to the two starburst galaxies, the features in 30 Dor are much weaker relative to the continuum (see also Tables 4 and 5) and show different ratios. Note, for instance, the high 6.2/7.7$`\mu `$m feature ratio, the unusually high 3.4/3.3 ratio ($``$ 0.5, see also Sect. 4.2), the shape of the 7.6/7.8$`\mu `$m features, or the complete absence of the 12.7$`\mu `$m feature. These differences may be partly due to the fact, that the SWS apertures covered only part of the entire 30 Dor complex. Verstraete et al. (1996) use the case of M17 to demonstrate the strong variations in PAH spectra going from the center of an H II region to the surrounding photodissociation region. On the other hand, the similarity of the 30 Dor spectrum to the integrated ISOPHOT-S spectrum of the dwarf galaxy NGC 5253 (Rigopoulou et al. 1999) strongly suggests that the weakness of the PAHs is not an aperture effect but reflecting an intrinsic property of very active star formation in a low metallicity environment.

Silicate absorption at 9.7 and 18$`\mu `$m is, if at all present, very weak. No other absorption features can be detected.

NGC 1068: The nearby, prototypical Seyfert 2 galaxy NGC 1068 is a key object in the investigation and modeling of active galactic nuclei (AGNs). The ISO-SWS observations were centered on the active nucleus, with the aperture covering very little of the circumnuclear star forming ‘ring’, which has a radius of $``$15″. In stark contrast to the starburst templates we have shown, this active nucleus spectrum shows very little PAH emission. The weaker features (e.g. 3.3, 6.2 or 12.7$`\mu `$m) are barely visible, if at all.

The continuum around 10$`\mu `$m is strong because of a central warm component heated by the AGN. Silicate absorption is clearly present, although centered at 9.4$`\mu `$m rather than at 9.7$`\mu `$m, but again surrounding weak PAH emission complicates its interpretation. Hydrocarbon absorption is seen at 3.4$`\mu `$m (see also Bridger et al. 1994), in contrast to our starburst templates, where it is not observed. Note, however, that in M 82 and NGC 253 a similar absorption feature could plausibly exist if the analogy to the Galactic center holds, but be filled in by the 3.3/3.4 PAH emission. On the other hand M 82 and NGC 253 show an H2O ice absorption at 3.0$`\mu `$m which is definitely absent in NGC 1068. These differences in absorption features are entirely plausible because of the different physical conditions in the obscuring regions. For the starbursts, they likely include diffuse ISM as well as molecular clouds that can host icy grains. Conversely, infrared polarimetry suggests that most of the near-infrared obscuration in NGC 1068 occurs within a few parsecs from the nucleus, possibly in the torus (e.g. Packham et al. 1997). Such an energetic environment will be much less favourable for the existence of icy grains.

Circinus: The Circinus Galaxy is a nearby spiral galaxy which shows Seyfert 2 activity (e.g. Moorwood & Glass 1984, Oliva et al. 1994, Moorwood et al. 1996, Oliva et al. 1998). Due to its proximity (5 times closer than NGC 1068) it has become another template object for the study of AGNs. The AGN is surrounded by circumnuclear star-forming regions, as is often the case in Seyfert nuclei residing in spirals. The ISO-SWS observations were centered on the active nucleus, but contrary to the observations of NGC 1068 the apertures covered a significant amount of this circumnuclear star formation. Hence, most of the dust emission features seen in the starburst templates are also found in Circinus, but with weaker line-to-continuum ratio (see the discussion in Sect. 4.2). A peculiarity of the Circinus spectrum are the very pronounced features in the 20–22$`\mu `$m region.

The observation was performed very early in the mission, when the observing strategy was not yet fully optimized. For instance, exposures of the internal flux calibration lamps, preceeding observations of the scientific target, caused memory effects in the immediately following scans. The low flux level of band 4 ($`\lambda `$ 29$`\mu `$m), relative to the preceding bands, is due to such a memory effect and an incorrect dark current subtraction. The same might be true for the apparent features near 44$`\mu `$m (which are not visible in the overlapping LWS spectrum). We did not attempt to improve the dark current subtraction further since this would involve subjective assumptions about the true dark current.

## 4 Mid-infrared features and the physical state of the ISM

### 4.1 Identification

#### 4.1.1 The 2-13$`\mu `$m region:

The emission features in this wavelength range have been extensively studied with ISO in galactic objects during the last few years. Comprehensive discussions of their identifications and characteristics can be found e.g. in Beintema et al. (1996), Moutou et al. (1998), Roelfsema et al. (1996), and Verstraete et al. (1996). They are most often attributed to PAH molecules. This is supported by recent laboratory studies (e.g. Roelfsema et al. 1996, Moutou et al. 1996). The only features in this range, which have not been addressed in the literature so far, are the ones at 7.0 and 8.3$`\mu `$m. In our sample of galaxies they are unambiguously detected only in M 82 and NGC 253 (the 8.3$`\mu `$m feature only in M 82), but as mentioned in Sect. 3 they seem to be present in other published spectra as well. It seems likely that they can be attributed to a PAH modes, too.

#### 4.1.2 Features between 13 and 20$`\mu `$m:

Features in this range have attracted less attention in the past, because they are intrinsically weak (but see e.g. Beintema et al. 1996). These bands, however, are more sensitive to the molecular structure of PAHs, since they involve the motion of the molecule as a whole, therefore depending on the exact species (Léger et al. 1989). Hence, their observation could help to better constrain the composition of the interstellar mixture. The 13.6, 15.8, and 16.5$`\mu `$m features are also visible in the spectra of NGC 7023 and have been attributed to PAH bands in the past by Moutou et al. (1998), based on their laboratory work. The band at 14.3$`\mu `$m has been tentatively attributed to a phenyl bending mode by Tielens et al. (1999). Moutou et al. (1996) list a feature at this wavelength in their composite laboratory spectrum of a mixture of PAHs. Although weak, it might cause confusion with \[Ne V\] in low resolution spectra (see Sect. 6). Finally, the weak feature at 14.8$`\mu `$m (if real) could be due to the smallest PAH, benzene (Tielens et al. 1999).

#### 4.1.3 Features in the 20 to 45 $`\mu `$m region:

The number of modes in the laboratory PAH spectra of Moutou et al. (1996) decreases with increasing wavelength. Few species show emission beyond 20$`\mu `$m, e.g. near 21, 28 and 40$`\mu `$m. In this wavelength range other sources must be taken into account. A number of recent papers have reported the detection of crystalline silicates (olivines, fosterite, pyroxene, etc.) in objects like Luminous Blue Variables (Voors et al. 1999), dusty circumstellar disks (Waelkens et al. 1996, Waters et al. 1996), or Planetary Nebulae (Waters et al. 1998). In particular the feature at 34$`\mu `$m could be attributed to these kind of sources. However, one would expect to see emission features at e.g. 23, 28, 40 and 43$`\mu `$m, as well; none of these features are clearly detected in our spectra. On the other hand, even in some of the galactic templates, such as the planetary nebula NGC 6543 (e.g. Waters et al. 1996), not all of these features are present.

A feature near 20.5$`\mu `$m shows a striking variation in shape and central wavelength between the galaxies. This is particularly surprising since the galaxy spectra include a mixture of many different regions, and may suggest a carrier occuring only transiently in very special conditions. In Circinus this feature is most prominent, and peaks at the bluest wavelength (20.2$`\mu `$m). Circinus also shows a second peak at 21.7$`\mu `$m which is absent in the other spectra. A bump around 20.5$`\mu `$m is also seen in ISO-SWS spectra of M supergiants (Voors et al. 1999, Molster et al. 1999). It could be due to PAHs or alternatively metal oxides like FeO (Waters et al. 1996, Henning et al. 1995). IRAS-LRS and ISO-SWS spectroscopy have also detected a broad feature, centered at approximately 20.1$`\mu `$m, in carbon rich stars (Volk et al. 1999, García-Lario et al. 1999, Szczerba et al. 1999). Possible candidates that have been proposed include large PAH clusters or hydrogenated amorphous carbon grains, hydrogenated fullerenes, and nano-diamonds (see references in Volk et al. 1999). However, compared to these detections, the features in our spectra are much narrower.

A mixture of fullerene molecules of different degree of hydrogenation (Webster 1995) might also explain the second peak in Circinus around 21.7$`\mu `$m, since the emission peak shifts from 23 for fully hydrogenated fullerene (C60H60) to 19$`\mu `$m for non-hydrogentated fullerene (C60). None of the other galaxies exhibit this feature, but the SWS01 spectrum of NML Cyg (Voors et al. 1999) and of the galaxy NGC4945 (S. Lord, private communication) also show a weak emission feature around 21.6–22$`\mu `$m.

The broad plateau at 33–34$`\mu `$m, i.e. under the strong lines of \[Si II\] and \[S III\], could be affected by detector memory effects. To remove such a possible instrumental effect we treated the two different scan directions of the SWS01 mode separately. The trailing wings of each line profile, i.e. the blue wing for the scan with increasing wavelength, and the red wing for the scan decreasing in wavelength, are much more distorted by memory effects than the leading wings. Therefore, we cut out these trailing wings, before we averaged the spectra of the two scan directions. We are hence confident that most of the remaining plateau is real. Such a feature has been observed in many galactic targets and is generally attributed to crystalline silicates (olivine, e.g. Waters et al. 1998).

### 4.2 Variation of PAH features

Published mid-IR spectra of galactic template sources show a significant variation of intrinsic PAH ratios from source to source. For instance Roelfsema et al. (1996) see a drastic change in the relative intensities of the 7.7 and 8.6 bands with increasing intensity or hardness of the radiation field. Similar changes are seen e.g. in different regions of M17 (Verstraete et al. 1996) or - for the 8.6/11.3 ratio - in the reflection nebula NGC 1333 (Joblin et al. 1996). PAHs exposed to intense and hard radiation fields can be ionized, lose hydrogen atoms, or be photodissociated; any of these effects may contribute to the observed variations in PAH ratios. According to Joblin et al. (1996) the ionization is best traced by the 3.4/3.3 and 8.6/11.3 ratios. A good hydrogenation indicator is the (12+12.7)/11.3 ratio. For instance, these authors find a high 3.4/3.3 ratio of 0.1 in radiation fields that are 105 times the standard.

Another important factor that can alter observed PAH ratios is extinction. Extinction will suppress the 6.2, 8.6 and 11.3$`\mu `$m features with respect to the one at 7.7$`\mu `$m. The 12.7/11.3 ratio is similarly affected, since the 11.3 feature is still in the wing of the 9.7$`\mu `$m silicate absorption. Details will depend on the applicable extinction law (see e.g. the Galactic center, Lutz et al. 1996). While extinction clearly affects PAH spectra in highly obscured sources like Ultraluminous Infrared Galaxies (ULIRGs, Lutz et al. 1998a) or the edge-on galaxy NGC 4945 (Spoon et al., in prep.), its effect will be less pronounced in the lower extinction sources of our sample.

Finally, in active galaxies, such as NGC 1068 or the Circinus Galaxy, PAH features can be diluted by an AGN-powered hot dust continuum. Genzel et al. (1998) and Lutz et al. (1998a) have used this as a diagnostic of the power sources of ULIRGs.

Our sample of galaxy spectra exhibits a similar trend in relative PAH strengths as the galactic templates. M 82 and NGC 253 have high 3.4/3.3 ratios, consistent with them being active starburst galaxies. 30 Dor seems to have an even higher 3.4/3.3 ratio, but the S/N ratio is not sufficient for a detailed analysis. However, a strong and hard, highly ionizing radiation field in 30 Dor is consistent with the results of Thornley et al. (1998), which are based on the ratios of fine structure emission lines, like \[Ne III\]/\[Ne II\]. In that context it is interesting to note again the complete absence of the 12.7$`\mu `$m feature in 30 Dor. In the two starburst galaxies M 82 and NGC 253 we see well-separated 7.6/7.8 and 8.6 features. The 8.6 band is much weaker than the 7.6/7.8 band, just as observed in ‘normal’ HII regions. In the Seyfert galaxy NGC 1068, however, the 8.6 band is similar in strength to the 7.7 band, as it is seen in the ultracompact HII regions in M 17 (Cesarsky 1996b) or IRAS 18323-0242 (Roelfsema et al. 1996), where the UV radiation field is extremely strong.

NGC 1068, like many AGNs, shows an additional component of warm dust in the 10$`\mu `$m region. Unified models for Seyfert galaxies predict a dusty torus which would emit at these mid-infrared wavelengths (e.g. Pier & Krolik 1992). Hence, an alternative interpretation of the weak emission features on both sides of the silicate absorption might be self-absorbed silicate emission from the torus, i.e. the emissions we identified as PAH might simply be wings of a wide silicate emission maximum, the center of which is suppressed by absorption. However, the observed double peaks at 7.7/8.6 and 11.05/11.25, as well as the distinct rise in flux near 7.3$`\mu `$m are not reproduced by torus models and show that there must be some real, although weak, PAH emission on top of the continuum. The weakness of the PAH emission can be understood in terms of dilution by the hot dust continuum and destruction by the intense AGN radiation field.

NGC 1068 has a circumnuclear starburst region, and some of the PAH emission might be picked up from this region by the large SWS aperture. The match in shape with the (small-aperture) ground-based data of Roche et al. (1984) in the 8-13$`\mu `$m range, and comparisons to ground-based CO maps, suggest that this effect is of minor importance here.

In the Circinus Galaxy the 7.7/8.6 ratio is somewhere in between the two extrema M 82 and NGC 1068. The feature/continuum ratio of the PAH features, however, is much higher in Circinus than in NGC 1068. We attribute this to the fact that in the case of Circinus the large SWS aperture indeed picked up parts of the well-known circumnuclear star forming region.

## 5 Continuum placement and the depth of the silicate feature

An important diagnostic in many extragalactic studies is the depth of the silicate absorption feature at 9.7$`\mu `$m and the extinction derived from it. However, the presence of strong PAH bands on both sides of the 9.7$`\mu `$m silicate feature makes it very difficult to estimate the continuum level and the true depth of the silicate absorption. In particular ground-based 8–13$`\mu `$m data suffer from this problem. Because of their continuous wavelength coverage ISO-SWS01 spectra are well suited to shed more light on this question. In the following we will discuss this issue using the example of M 82.

Firstly, evidence against a strong 9.7$`\mu `$m absorption comes from the absence of a strong 18$`\mu `$m silicate absorption (see Fig. 1). According to Draine & Lee (1984) the expected ratio $`\tau _{sil}`$(18$`\mu `$m) / $`\tau _{sil}`$(9.7$`\mu `$m) is 0.4. Furthermore an analysis of hydrogen recombination lines in the ISO range yields a moderate AV(gas)$``$ 5 mag (for a uniform screen model - see Schreiber 1998).

Next we come back to the comparison of the M 82 spectrum to the spectrum of NGC 253 (Fig. 3). The two galaxies are similar in AV and exhibit a very similar PAH spectrum. The only distinction appears to be a stronger VSG continuum in NGC 253. A strong rise of the continuum in this range is typical for regions of intense UV flux (e.g. Désert et al. 1990, Vigroux et al. 1996) 333The spectrum of NGC 253 indicates lower ionization (e.g. low \[Ne III\]/\[\[Ne II\]), but due to the compactness of the starburst in NGC 253 the radiation field here is more intense than in M 82.. The difference between both spectra can be well fit by a power-law continuum that begins to rise at approximately 8–9$`\mu `$m.

Finally, we compare our spectrum of M 82 to the SWS01 spectrum of the galactic reflection nebula NGC 7023. Little extinction is expected in the line of sight to this nebula. The continuum under the PAH bands in NGC 7023 is very weak and starts to grow only beyond 20$`\mu `$m (Moutou et al. 1998). The flux density around 10$`\mu `$m is almost on the same level as the flux density shortward of the 6$`\mu `$m PAH band and at 15–20$`\mu `$m. It could be explained by an underlying PAH plateau, or by the wings of the 7.7/8.6 and 11.3 PAH features (which can be represented by Lorentz profiles - Boulanger et al. 1998, Mattila et al. 1999). We therefore assume that in NGC 7023 this region consists mainly of emission bands, with little or no continuum and silicate absorption. In Fig. 4 we overplot the (smoothed) NGC 7023 spectrum on that of M 82. The NGC 7023 spectrum has been multiplied by a factor 3.25 in order to normalize the PAH emission feature at 7.6$`\mu `$m to the one in M 82. The 3.3 and 11.3$`\mu `$m bands in M 82 are weaker compared to NGC 7023. This might be explained e.g. by the harder radiation field in M 82 (Joblin et al. 1996, see Sect. 4.2). Apart from this the two spectra are remarkably similar. Only at higher wavelengths a component of hot, small dust grains starts to add to the M 82 continuum, as expected due to the much harder radiation field in M 82.

In view of these arguments we constructed a toy model in order to reproduce the observed spectrum of M 82. The model simply consists of the scaled spectrum of NGC 7023 plus a power-law continuum which starts at 8.5$`\mu `$m ($`f(\lambda 8.5)^\alpha `$). We use a power-law rather than a black body curve for sake of simplicity. A power-law produces a very good fit to the continuum up to 20 – 25$`\mu `$m. A black-body curve would be more problematic, because the dust may not have a single temperature, and might not be in thermal equilibrium. M 82 is an extended source for the SWS apertures. There is a flux jump around 12$`\mu `$m by a factor of about 1.3, corresponding to a similar change in aperture size. We hence multiplied the power law continuum by 1.3 longward of 12$`\mu `$m 444A more accurate correction for the change in aperture size would have to assume a light distribution (as a function of wavelength) and a model of the instrument beam profile. Such a correction tool is not yet available.. The free parameters - the scaling factors for the NGC 7023 spectrum and the power law, plus the power law index - were adjusted by hand; we did not pursue a formal fit. Fig. 5 shows, that this simple model matches the observed spectrum remarkably well. There is no need to invoke any kind of extinction. Due to the uncertainties in the spectra, however, there is room for a moderate extinction, in accordance with the results from the recombination line studies (AV $``$ 5 mag). A slightly different power-law, modified by a modest amount of extinction, could fit the spectrum equally well. However, a strong overall extinction, as deduced from the ground based 8-13$`\mu `$m data (AV = 15–60 mag, Gillett et al. 1975), is clearly incompatible with the new ISO data. This is an example of the potential danger of overestimating the silicate absorption depth in baseline-limited data.

## 6 The interpretation of low resolution spectra

Many ISO spectra of galactic and extragalactic objects have been taken in low resolution mode (ISOPHOT-S, ISOCAM-CVF). Also, surveys with future mid- and far-infrared space missions, e.g. of galaxies at higher redshifts, will likely be performed with a relatively low resolution. For example the IRS spectrometer on board SIRTF will have a resolution of approximately 50–100 (plus a medium resolution mode of R=600) in a wavelength range similar to ISO-SWS. In this low resolution mode SIRTF-IRS, being much more sensitive than ISO-SWS, will be a unique tool to detect emission features in spectra of faint high-z galaxies. Low resolution spectra, however, suffer from possible identification and interpretation problems caused by coincidences of atomic/ionic lines and solid state features. In our high resolution SWS01 galaxy spectra lines and features are well separated, and we can use these spectra as templates to identify and highlight the importance of possible confusion problems. In Fig. 6 we have smoothed and rebinned the M 82 and NGC 1068 spectra to a resolution of 50 to simulate e.g. an ISOCAM-CVF or a SIRTF-IRS spectrum.

In Table 2 we have indicated possible confusions with nearby molecular, atomic, and ionic lines. We want to mention three lines in particular: \[Ar II\] at 6.99$`\mu `$m, which might be confused with the underlying PAH emission (and the nearby H2 S(5) line), \[Ne II\] at 12.8$`\mu `$m, which in fact has been confused in the past with the underlying 12.7$`\mu `$m PAH feature, and \[Ne V\] at 14.3$`\mu `$m, which also has been confused in the past with the nearby PAH emission. To get an indication of the relative contributions of the 12.7$`\mu `$m PAH flux and the \[Ne II\] line flux to the combined (line plus feature) flux in low resolution spectra we have measured both fluxes in our high resolution spectra. Table 6 summarizes the ratios of PAH/\[Ne II\] in all 5 templates. The values vary widely: in 30 Dor the flux is solely due to \[Ne II\], whereas in Circinus \[Ne II\] contributes only about 15% of the combined flux. For the 7.0$`\mu `$m feature, we find that the broad feature contributes 25% of the combined flux of feature, H2, and \[Ar II\] in NGC 253.

In the low resolution representation of M 82 in Fig. 6 the shape of the 14.3$`\mu `$m PAH resembles very much the shape of an unresolved line like the \[Ne III\] line at 15.5$`\mu `$m and can be mistaken as \[Ne V\]. The high resolution spectrum of M 82 (Fig. 2) clearly shows, that there is no \[Ne V\] at 14.32$`\mu `$m but an emission feature plus a weak line of \[Cl II\] 14.37$`\mu `$m. Of all the strong fine structure emission lines only few lines remain unambiguously detectable in low resolution spectra, like Br $`\beta `$, Br $`\alpha `$, \[Ne III\] 15$`\mu `$m, \[S III\] 18.7, 33.5$`\mu `$m, and \[Si II\] 34.8$`\mu `$m in M 82, or \[O IV\] 26$`\mu `$m and perhaps \[Ne V\] 24$`\mu `$m, and \[S IV\] 10.5$`\mu `$m in NGC 1068. Clearly, low resolution spectra are very well suited for PAH and continuum measurements. However, flux measurements of narrow lines, and – in some cases – even their identification, can be very difficult. For these purposes higher resolutions, as for instance provided by the R=600 mode of the SIRTF spectrometer, are definitely needed.

## 7 Conclusions

We have detected a large number of mid-infrared features in galaxy spectra, some of them previously unobserved, and discussed the dependence of the dust features on ISM condition in galaxies. The spectral features vary considerably from source to source in presence and relative strength. Emission features are largely absent in the intense radiation field close to an AGN, and weak in a low metallicity, intensely star forming environment. Differences in the absorption spectra point to different physical properties of the obscuring regions in starburst and active galaxies.

The spectra presented here will be valuable template spectra for future mid- and far-infrared space missions such as SIRTF, SOFIA or FIRST. They provide important clues for the identification and interpretation of high redshift, dusty galaxies. The strongest PAH features can be used to provide redshift information in far-infrared photometric galaxy surveys (Simpson & Eisenhardt 1999, see also the example of 21396+3623, Rigopoulou et al. 1999). Furthermore, they affect galaxy number counts. For instance, Xu et al. (1998) have constructed semi-empirical galaxy SEDs to model the considerable PAH effects on number counts and redshift distributions. Finally, the continuum and the PAH features can be used to distinguish between starburst activity and active nuclei in high redshift galaxies, as has been demonstrated for local infrared bright galaxies (Genzel et al. 1998, Lutz et al. 1998a, Rigopoulou et al. 1999).

The advantage of the wide wavelength coverage of the SWS spectra has been used to illustrate the problem of the continuum definition and the true depth of the silicate absorption. We find that in our starburst templates the hot VSG dust continuum begins to rise around 8 to 9$`\mu `$m, and that it can be well fitted by a simple power-law up to 20…25$`\mu `$m. Finally we have demonstrated possible line identification problems in low resolution spectra.

The spectra presented here are available in electronic form from the authors. We want to note again, that different parts of the spectra were observed through different aperture sizes, which should be taken into account for a detailed use as template spectra.

###### Acknowledgements.

We wish to thank George Helou for very fruitful discussions, and Bernhard Brandl for support with the SIRTF-IRS simulations. SWS and the ISO Spectometer Data Center at MPE are supported by DLR under grants 50 QI 8610 8 and 50 QI 9402 3. The ISO Spectral Analysis Package (ISAP) is a joint development by the LWS and SWS Instrument Teams and Data Centers. Contributing institutes are CESR, IAS, IPAC, MPE, RAL and SRON.


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# Wave-Particle duality at the Planck scale: Freezing of neutrino oscillations

## 1 Introduction

One of the most challenging quests in contemporary theoretical physics concerns the nature of space-time at the Planck scale, and deciphering gravitationally-induced modifications to the quantum realm, and vice versa. While some of these aspects can only be revealed by observations, Maxwellian arguments of consistency can also shed light on the joint realm of the gravity and the quantum.

One such Maxwellian argument was presented in Ref. . It says that quantum measurements in the Planck realm necessarily alter the local space-time metric in a manner that destroys the commutativity of the position measurements of two different particles. In addition, it also affects the fundamental commutator,

$`[x,p_x]=i\mathrm{}`$ (1)
The essential idea of the above argument resides in the observations that a position measurement collapses the wave function, say, in the following manner, $`\text{Position Measurement}:\stackrel{}{r}|\psi (0r\mathrm{})\stackrel{}{r}|\psi (0rR)`$. In case $`R`$ is of the order of Planck length, the gravitational effects associated with the wave function collapse become important as it necessarily invokes the collapse of the energy-momentum tensor. Hence, the local space-time metric changes. As shown in Ref. , this circumstance makes the position measurements of two distinguishable particles non-commutative.

As a consequence, non-locality must be an essential part of any attempt to merge the theory of general relativity with quantum mechanics. The derived non-commutativity easily extends to measurements of different components of the position vector of a single particle, and modifies the fundamental commutators of the Heisenberg algebra. A further essential conclusion beyond the stated gravitationally-induced non-locality is that space-time itself acquires a non-commutative character.

Some implications of such non-commutative space times have been studied, e.g., by Madore , and by Connes , however, from an entirely different view point. Independently, efforts in string theories also arrive at gravitationally-modified fundamental uncertainty relations. In that context an early reference is the work of Veneziano , while a recent one is . In yet another line of argument, without invoking extended objects, and entirely within the framework of quantum mechanics and the theory of general relativity, Adler and Santiago  also obtain similar modifications to the uncertainty principle without invoking extended objects (cf., ). A somewhat different argument, based on the existence of an upper bound for acceleration, also results in a gravitational modification to the uncertainty principle . The mathematical expression of the above results that leads to a gravitationally modified expression for the wave particle duality is given by the following modification to the fundamental commutator :

$`[𝐱,𝐩]=i\mathrm{}\left[\mathrm{𝟏}+ϵ{\displaystyle \frac{\lambda _P^2𝐩^2}{\mathrm{}^2}}\right]`$ (2)
where $`\lambda _P=\sqrt{\mathrm{}G/c^3}`$, is the Planck length, and $`ϵ`$ is some dimensionless number of the order of unity. In what follows I set $`ϵ`$ equal to unity.

It is the purpose of this Letter to decipher the wave-particle duality as contained in (2). To make our argument, we first recapture the origin of the wave-particle duality in the absence of gravitational effects, and then immediately return to the stated objective.

### 1.1 Wave-Particle duality in the absence of gravity

The fundamental commutator, (1), encodes the fact that intensity of matter and gauge fields cannot be arbitrarily reduced to zero, but is bounded from below. The first direct evidence for this circumstance came from Einstein’s understanding of the photo-electric effect. It is precisely this commutator that lies behind the de Broglie relation, and the entire edifice of the wave-particle duality. To see this, recall that in configuration space, $`p_x=\frac{\mathrm{}}{i}\frac{}{x}`$, is a solution of the fundamental commutator (1), with eigenfunctions of the form $`\psi (p_x)=N\mathrm{exp}\left(\frac{i}{\mathrm{}}p_xx\right)`$. The spatial periodicity, $`\lambda =\frac{h}{|p_x|}`$, carried by $`\psi (p_x)`$, when extended to three dimensions, yields the well known de Broglie relation

$`\lambda ={\displaystyle \frac{h}{p}},`$ (3)
where $`p=|\stackrel{}{p}|`$ is the magnitude of the momentum vector associated with an object. A simple text-book algebraic exercise, with (1) as the physical input, gives the Heisenberg uncertainty relation

$`\mathrm{\Delta }x\mathrm{\Delta }p_x\mathrm{}/2,\text{etc.}`$ (4)
In the absence of gravity, equations (1), (3), and (4) represent various inter-related aspects of the wave-particle duality. One immediately sees that as $`p`$ approaches the Planck scale, and then beyond, the de Broglie wavelength continuously shrinks to zero and allows quantum-mechanical probing of space-time to all length scales and energies. However, as already mentioned, if the gravitational effects in the quantum-measurement process are taken into consideration, these results are no longer true. Planck length, up to a factor of the order of unity, emerges as the limiting length scale beyond which space-time cannot be probed. This circumstance, therefore, immediately suggests that the the relation (3) must undergo a change in which the left hand side of (3) saturates to, within a few times, the Planck length. It is precisely this that emerges in the following.

As long as the entire theoretical structure of the existing quantum field theories rests upon the wave-particle duality, it is necessary to fix the domain of its validity. The heaviest objects for which the wave-particle duality (3) has been experimentally verified, so far, is the $`C_{60}`$ fullerene . In this context, the experiment sets the scale at $`m_{C_{60}}=1.20\times 10^{21}`$ g. This is already an impressive achievement. Yet, it is to be compared with the Planck mass, $`m_{Pl.}(\mathrm{}c/G)^{1/2}=2.18\times 10^5`$ g. However, in order to study possible departures from the de Broglie wave-particle duality in the Planck regime, one may even not need to invoke early universe directly. All one may need are Planck mass quantum objects, and an appropriate technique to study an associated interference phenomena. To be specific, such effects may become indirectly observable via extremely high-energy gamma rays, and high-energy neutrinos.

Here, and in the following, the operator, or $`c`$-number, nature of objects, such as $`p_x`$ in (1), where it is an operator, and $`p_x`$ in $`\psi (p_x)`$, where it is a $`c`$-number, shall be omitted and will be assumed apparent from the context.

## 2 Gravitationally-modified Wave-Particle duality: minimal modification, and some implications

In one spatial dimension (chosen as $`x`$), the gravitationally-modified position-momentum uncertainty relation immediately follows from the commutator (2), and reads:

$`\mathrm{\Delta }x\mathrm{\Delta }p_x{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{}}{2}}\left[1+\left({\displaystyle \frac{\lambda _P\mathrm{\Delta }p_x}{\mathrm{}}}\right)^2+\left({\displaystyle \frac{\lambda _P𝐩}{\mathrm{}}}\right)^2\right].`$ (5)
It carries as a characteristic feature the Kempf-Mangano-Mann (KMM, ref.) lower bound on the position uncertainty:

$`\mathrm{\Delta }x__K=\lambda _P\left(1+{\displaystyle \frac{\lambda _P𝐩}{\mathrm{}}}\right)^{1/2}`$ (6)
Notice that $`\mathrm{\Delta }x_K`$ has a state dependence via $`𝐩`$. For a state of a vanishing $`𝐩`$, one obtains the absolute minimal distance that can be probed quantum mechanically. This lowest bound does not depend on the particle species. Therefore, the existence of the “absolute minimal distance” suggests a new intrinsic property of the space-time itself.

An important implication of the KMM lower bound, $`\mathrm{\Delta }x__K`$, is that the de Broglie plane waves can no longer represent the physical wave functions, even not in principle. Thus the wave-particle duality must undergo a fundamental conceptual and quantitative change.

A non-relativistic modification to the de Broglie relation was presented in pioneering KMM work. This case, however, is likely to be of limited interest in the Planck regime. Here, I present the gravitationally modified de Broglie relation without restrictions on the particle’s momentum.

It is readily seen that the momentum space wave function consistent with the gravitationally modified uncertainty relations (5) reads :

$`\psi (p)`$ $`=`$ $`N\left(1+\beta p^2\right)^{\left[\kappa (𝐩)/4\beta (\mathrm{\Delta }p)^2\right]}`$ (7)
$`\times \mathrm{exp}\left[i{\displaystyle \frac{𝐱}{\lambda _P}}\mathrm{tan}^1\left(\sqrt{\beta }p\right){\displaystyle \frac{\kappa (𝐩)𝐩}{2(\mathrm{\Delta }p)^2\sqrt{\beta }}}\mathrm{tan}^1\left(\sqrt{\beta }p\right)\right]`$
where $`\kappa (𝐩):=1+\beta (\mathrm{\Delta }p)^2+\beta 𝐩^2`$, and $`\beta :=\lambda _P^2/\mathrm{}^2`$. $`N`$ is a normalization factor. This represents an oscillatory function damped by a momentum-dependent exponential. I identify the oscillation length with the gravitationally modified de Broglie wave length:

$`\lambda =2\pi {\displaystyle \frac{\lambda _P}{\mathrm{tan}^1\left(\sqrt{\beta }p\right)}}`$ (8)
Introducing $`\overline{\lambda }_P:=2\pi \lambda _P`$ as the Planck circumference; and $`\lambda _{dB}`$ as the gravitationally unmodified de Broglie wave length, $`\lambda _{dB}=h/p`$, the above expression takes the form:

$`\lambda ={\displaystyle \frac{\overline{\lambda }_P}{\mathrm{tan}^1\left(\overline{\lambda }_P/\lambda _{dB}\right)}}\{\begin{array}{cc}\lambda _{dB}\hfill & \text{for low energy regime}\hfill \\ 4\lambda _P\hfill & \text{for Planck regime}\hfill \end{array}`$ (9)
In addition, for the specific non-relativistic regime considered by Kempf et al. , $`\lambda `$ reproduces their equation (44). This justifies the interpretation of the oscillatory length associated with KMM’s $`\psi (p)`$ as the gravitationally modified de Broglie wavelength.

The gravitationally induced modifications to (1), (3), and (4) are now contained in (2), (9), and (5). These latter equations constitute the minimal conceptual and quantitative changes in the nature of the wave-particle duality.

A brief discussion on immediate physical implications of the modified wave-particle duality in the Planck realm now follows.

### 2.1 Freezing of neutrino oscillations

To explore one of the concrete consequences of the above-presented modification to the wave-particle duality, note that the existing data suggests flavor eigenstates of neutrinos to be linear superposition of different mass eigenstates :

$`|\nu _{\mathrm{}}={\displaystyle \underset{ȷ}{}}U_\mathrm{}ȷ|m_ȷ`$ (10)
where, $`\mathrm{}=\mathrm{},\mu ,\tau `$, is the flavor index, and $`ȷ=1,2,3`$, enumerates the mass eigenstates, while $`U`$ is a $`3\times 3`$ unitary matrix. Several fundamental questions now arise. Is this low-energy, i.e. low in comparison to the Planck mass, construct still valid at the Planck scale? What is the time evolution of the flavor and mass eigenstates in the Planck realm? At a deeper and related level, does the non-commutative space-time still carry Poincaré symmetry? – for the very notions of mass and spin (which the underlying mass eigenstates carry) originate from the Casimir invariants associated with the Poincaré group. In addition, the equations governing the evolution of the states derive their form from the space-time symmetries. None of these questions has a readily available answer. An answer must, therefore, await future theoretical and observational input. The latter, for example, may come from the study of anomalous events around and beyond $`10^{20}`$ eV cosmic rays.

Under these circumstances we take note of the fact that low-energy neutrino oscillations owe their physical origin to different de Broglie oscillation lengths associated with each of the underlying mass eigenstates. If one assumes that each of the mass eigenstates carries the same energy, then the flavor oscillations arise due to different de Broglie oscillation lengths carried by each of the mass eigenstates. If this scenario was considered for neutrino oscillations then it is clear that neutrino oscillations shall freeze at Planck scale due to the above obtained gravitationally-induced modification to the wave-particle duality. In particular, I draw attention to the saturation of $`\lambda `$ as indicated in Eq. (9).

In the ordinary neutrino oscillation phenomenology the flavor oscillations are not altered at any practical level if one considers the “equal energy,” or “equal velocity”, or “wave packet” approaches . Not knowing the answer to the questions posed above it is not yet possible to say if the Planck-scale freezing of neutrino flavor oscillations shall survive in all neutrino oscillation frameworks.

Our discussion here, therefore, is intended to bring attention to the fact that the gravitationally-induced modifications to the wave-particle duality may have significant physically observable consequences for the early universe.

### 2.2 Effect on H-atom

For comparison, to the lowest order in $`\lambda _P`$, the effect of the modification (5) on the ground state level of the hydrogen atom results in the following modified uncertainty principle estimate for the ground state of an electron in an H-atom:

$`\left(E_0\right)_g{\displaystyle \frac{me^4}{2\mathrm{}^2}}\left[1{\displaystyle \frac{4m\lambda _P^2}{\mathrm{}^2}}\left({\displaystyle \frac{me^4}{2\mathrm{}^2}}\right)\right]`$ (11)
Identifying:

$`E_0={\displaystyle \frac{me^4}{2\mathrm{}^2}}`$ (12)
with the ground state level of the hydrogen atom without incorporating the gravitationally-induced correction to the uncertainty relation, one immediately notices that the effect of gravitational corrections is to reduce the magnitude of the ionization energy by $`2.5\times 10^{48}\text{eV}`$. This suggests that a space-time endowed with the KMM bound is in some sense a heat bath as it decreases the energy required to disassociate the H-atom.

### 2.3 Coherence in the early universe and in biological systems

The wavelength $`\lambda `$ asymptotically approaches the constant value $`4\lambda _P`$ that is now universal for all particle species. As a consequence of this universality, a new type of coherence may emerge in the early universe and this may carry significance for the large-scale uniformity of the universe. It is also speculated that quantum mechanics plays a fundamental role in brain function, see,e.g., . Therefore, the new coherence may also carry significant implications for functioning of the brain, and other biological systems, if important biological elements carry a mass of the order of $`M_P=\left(\mathrm{}c/G\right)^{1/2}=2.2\times 10^5\text{g}`$.

## 3 Conclusion

If the effects of the gravitationally-induced modification to the de Broglie wave particle duality are negligible for low energy, their relevance perhaps cannot be overestimated at the Planck-scale. At present, there are already speculations that anomalous events around $`10^{20}`$ eV cosmic rays may be pointing towards a violation of the Lorentz symmetry . It is expected that the gravitationally-modified wave-particle duality carries with it deformations of the Poincaré symmetries. Some of these deformations can be studied with the recently-approved Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope (GLAST), and with other detectors.111The reader is referred to references  for the original proposal, and for details on the recent progress in this direction. A related proposal on gravitationally-induced modification of quantum evolution by Ellis, Hagelin, Nanopoulos, and Srednicki  can be studied via flux equalization of the cosmic neutrinos as shown by Liu, Hu, and Ge . The possible freezing of neutrino oscillations in the early universe could carry significant impact on the formation of structure in the early universe.

In the context of this Letter, and two recent works ,222Under the assumption of operationally independence of the inertial and gravitational masses, these works establish a quantum-induced violation of the equivalence principle. the above discussion makes it clear that the conceptual foundations of the theory of general relativity and quantum mechanics are so rich that they impose concrete modifications onto each other in the interface region. Yet, a complete theory of quantum gravity shall carry “quantum” and “gravity” with new meanings - meanings that are yet to be deciphered from theory and observations in their entirety.

## Acknowledgements.

It is my pleasure to thank Achim Kempf for an extended e-discussion on the subject, and Mariana Kirchbach for a critical reading of the manuscript. This work was supported by CONACyT (Mexico), and ISGBG.