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# Non-equilibrium Surface Growth and Scalability of Parallel Algorithms for Large Asynchronous Systems

## 1 Introduction

Dynamic Monte Carlo (MC) simulations are invaluable tools for investigating the evolution of complex systems. For a wide range of systems it is plausible to assume (and in rare cases it is possible to derive) that attempts to update the state of the system form a Poisson process. The basic notion is that time is continuous, and the discrete events (update attempts) occur instantaneously. The state of the system remains constant between events. It is worthwhile to note that the standard random-sequential update schemes (easily implementable on serial computers) produce this dynamics for “free:” the waiting-time distribution for the attempts to update each subsystem or component is geometrical and approaches the exponential distribution in the large-system limit. This uniquely characterizes the Poisson process.

The parallel implementation of these dynamic MC algorithms belongs to the class of parallel discrete-event simulation, which is one of the most challenging areas in parallel computing Fuji . The numerous applications range from the natural sciences and engineering to computer science and queueing networks. For example, in lattice Ising models the discrete events are spin-flip attempts, while in queueing systems they are job arrivals. The difficulty of parallel discrete-event simulations is that update attempts are not synchronized by a global clock. In fact, the traditional dynamic MC algorithms were long believed to be inherently serial, i.e., in spin language, the corresponding algorithm was thought to be able to update only one spin at a time. However, Lubachevsky presented an approach for parallel simulation of these systems Luba  without changing the underlying Poisson process. Applications include modeling of cellular communication networks GLNW , particle deposition LPR , and metastability and hysteresis in kinetic Ising models KNR .

In a distributed massively parallel scheme each processing element (PE) carries a subsystem of the full system. The parallel algorithm must concurrently advance the Poisson streams corresponding to each subsystem without violating causality. This requires the concept of local simulated time, as well as a synchronization scheme. Intuitively it is clear that systems with short-range interactions contain a “substantial” amount of parallelism. For the “conservative” approach Luba , the efficiency of the algorithm is simply the fraction of PEs that are guaranteed to attempt the update without breaking causality. The rest of the PEs must idle.

## 2 Time Horizon Evolution and Efficiency Modeling

We consider a $`d`$-dimensional hypercubic regular lattice topology where the underlying physical system has only nearest-neighbor (nn) interactions (e.g., Glauber spin-flip dynamics) and periodic boundary conditions. The scalability analysis is made for the “worst-case” scenario in which each PE hosts a single site (e.g., one spin) of the underlying system. While this may be the only scenario for a special-purpose computer with extremely limited local memory, on architectures with relatively large memory one PE can host a block of sites. This substantially increases the efficiency, bringing it to the level of practical applicability KNR .

In the basic parallel scheme Luba , each PE generates its own local simulated time for the next update attempt. The set of local times $`\{\tau _i(t)\}_{i=1}^{L^d}`$ constitute the simulated time horizon. Here, $`L`$ is the linear size of the lattice ($`L^d`$ is the number of PEs), and $`t`$ is the index of the simultaneously performed parallel steps. Initially, $`\tau _i(0)`$$`=`$$`0`$ for every site. At each parallel time step, only those PEs for which the local simulated time is not greater than the local simulated times of their nn can attempt the update and increment their local time by an exponentially distributed random amount, $`\eta _i(t)`$. Without loss of generality we take $`\eta _i(t)`$$`=`$$`1`$. The other PEs idle. Due to the continuous nature of the random simulated times, for $`t`$$`>`$$`0`$ the probability of equal-time updates for any two sites is of measure zero. The comparison of the nn simulated times and idling if necessary enforces causality. Since at worst the PE with the absolute minimum simulated time makes progress, the algorithm is free from deadlock. For this basic conservative scheme, the theoretical efficiency (ignoring communication overheads) is simply the fraction of non-idling PEs. This corresponds to the density of local minima of the simulated time horizon. Note that the evolution of the simulated time horizon is completely independent of the underlying model (except for its topology) and can be written as:

$$\tau _i(t+1)=\tau _i(t)+\underset{jD_i^{\mathrm{nn}}}{}\mathrm{\Theta }\left(\tau _j(t)\tau _i(t)\right)\eta _i(t).$$
(1)
Here $`D_i^{\mathrm{nn}}`$ is the set of nearest neighbors of site $`i`$, and $`\mathrm{\Theta }()`$ is the Heaviside step function. The evolution of the simulated time horizon is clearly analogous to an irreversibly growing and fluctuating surface.

There are two important quantities to study. The first is the density of local minima, $`u(t)_L`$, in particular its asymptotic (or steady-state) value and finite-size effects. It corresponds directly to the efficiency of the algorithm. The second is the surface width, $`w^2(t)`$$`=`$$`(1/L^d)_{i=1}^{L^d}\left[\tau _i(t)\overline{\tau }(t)\right]^2`$, where $`\overline{\tau }(t)`$$`=`$$`(1/L^d)_{i=1}^{L^d}\tau _i(t)`$. It describes the macroscopic roughness of the time horizon and has important consequences for actual implementations GSS  (e.g., optimal buffer size for a collecting statistics network Luba ).

For $`d`$$`=`$$`1`$ we showed KTNR  by coarse-graining and direct simulation of (1) that the evolution of the simulated time horizon belongs to the KPZ universality class KPZ . Our simulation confirmed that before reaching the steady state, $`w^2(t)`$$``$$`t^{2\beta }`$ with $`\beta `$$``$$`1/3`$ \[Fig. 1(a)\]. At the same time the density of local minima, $`u(t)_L`$, decreases monotonically with time towards a long-time asymptotic limit well separated from zero \[Fig. 1(b)\]. The steady state is governed by the Edwards-Wilkinson Hamiltonian EW , and the stationary width scales as $`w^2`$$``$$`L^{2\alpha }`$, where $`\alpha `$$`=`$$`1/2`$ is the roughness exponent. This guarantees that the coarse-grained landscape is a simple random-walk surface; the local slopes are short-range correlated. Thus, the density of local minima is non-zero. The non-zero density of local minima is a universal characteristic of this class KTNR ; TKSZ . Further, its steady-state finite-size effects can be written as $`u_L=u_{\mathrm{}}+\mathrm{const}/L`$. The $`𝒪(1/L)`$ correction in $`d`$$`=`$$`1`$ appears to be rather robust for periodic boundary conditions TKSZ . The extrapolated value for the efficiency is $`u_{\mathrm{}}`$$`=`$$`0.2464(1)`$ \[Fig. 1(c)\].

In higher dimensions we observe the same qualitative behavior as for $`d`$$`=`$$`1`$. The surface roughens and saturates for any finite system, as seen in Fig. 2(a,c). Simultaneously, the density of local minima decreases monotonically towards its asymptotic ($`t`$$``$$`\mathrm{}`$) finite-size value \[Fig. 2(b,d)\]. Again, the steady-state density of local minima appears to be well separated from zero. For $`d`$$`=`$$`2`$ $`u_{\mathrm{}}`$$``$$`0.12`$, and for $`d`$$`=`$$`3`$ $`u_{\mathrm{}}`$$``$$`0.075`$. The $`u_{\mathrm{}}`$$``$$`𝒪(1/K)`$ behavior appears to be rather general GSS , where $`K`$$`=`$$`2d`$ is the number of nearest neighbors on a regular lattice.

Similar to the $`d`$$`=`$$`1`$ case, corrections to scaling are very strong, both for the surface width and the density of local minima. While for $`d`$$`=`$$`1`$ we were able to simulate large systems ($`L`$$``$$`10^3`$) to obtain the KPZ scaling exponents and the steady-state finite-size behavior of $`u_L`$, in higher dimensions the relatively small system sizes prevented us from extracting the scaling behavior of the width and the finite-size effects of the density of local minima.

We conjecture that the simulated time horizon exhibits KPZ-like evolution in higher dimensions as well. While the scalability of the parallel scheme for random topology has been investigated earlier GSS , the underlying mechanism for regular lattices (macroscopic roughening) was only recently pointed out KTNR . The major implication is that while the algorithm is scalable, and the width of the simulated time horizon saturates for any finite number of PEs, it diverges in the limit of an infinite number of PEs. Thus, in an actual implementation the programmer has to take some actions to handle statistics collection.

## 3 Summary and Outlook

The analogy between the evolution of the simulated time horizon and non-equilibrium surface growth illustrates that when devising parallel algorithms, the programmer has to be very much concerned with the morphological properties of the associated surface. To fully describe the evolution of the simulated time horizon and the efficiency of the algorithm, one must focus on both the long wave-length behavior (the macroscopic width) and short-distance properties (the density of local minima). While most previous surface studies focus on the long wave-length properties, physics at short distances is just as challenging, has real applications, and may reveal universal features KTNR ; TKSZ .

## Acknowledgments

We thank B. D. Lubachevsky, A. Weiss, and S. Das Sarma for useful discussions. We acknowledge the support of DOE through SCRI-FSU, NSF-MRSEC at UMD, and NSF through Grant No. DMR-9871455.


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# Tailoring of vibrational state populations with light-induced potentials in molecules

## Abstract

We propose a method for achieving highly efficient transfer between the vibrational states in a diatomic molecule. The process is mediated by strong laser pulses and can be understood in terms of light-induced potentials. In addition to describing a specific molecular system, our results show how, in general, one can manipulate the populations of the different quantum states in double well systems.

Quantum control of molecular processes has recently opened new possibilities for controlling chemical processes, and also for understanding the multistate quantum dynamics of molecular systems. With strong and short laser pulses one can create quantum superpositions of vibrational and continuum states, i.e., wave packets, which often propagate like classical objects under the influence of molecular electronic potentials . Typically in spectroscopy one induces with laser light population transfer between individual vibrational states, and describes the process using Franck-Condon factors, perturbation theory and a very truncated Hilbert space for the molecular wave functions. If the laser light comes in as a very short pulse we expect to couple many vibrational states because of the broad spectrum. However, in this Letter we show that it is possible to start from a single vibrational state, and end up selectively on another single vibrational state, with very high efficiency, even when one uses strong and fast laser pulses.

We have previously discussed how one can transfer the vibrational ground state population of one electronic state to the vibrational ground state of another electronic state . This process was called adiabatic passage in light-induced potentials (APLIP). These potentials, which depend on time, due to the time dependence of the laser pulse envelopes, provide a useful description of the process (see e.g. Ref.  and references therein). Here we use the same kind of light-induced potentials to describe and understand transfer processes between excited vibrational states. However, we will see that the process is more complicated than the simple adiabatic following assumed in APLIP.

To demonstrate the new process we have chosen the same Na dimer potentials, shown in Fig. 1(a), as in our previous study . The three electronic states are coupled in a ladder formation by two laser pulses. Instead of describing the system in terms of the vibrational states and Franck-Condon factors, we consider only the electronic state wave functions, $`\mathrm{\Psi }_i(R,t)`$, $`i=X,A,\mathrm{\Pi }`$. If we apply the rotating wave approximation, we can ‘shift’ the $`X^1\mathrm{\Sigma }_g^+`$ and $`2^1\mathrm{\Pi }_g`$ state potentials in energy by the corresponding laser photons. Then we obtain the situation shown in Fig. 1(b), after a suitable redefinition of the energy zero point. The resonances between the electronic state potentials now become curve crossings. The evolution of the three wave functions $`\mathrm{\Psi }_i(R,t)`$ is given by the time-dependent Schrödinger equation with the Hamiltonian

$$H=\frac{\mathrm{}^2}{2m}\frac{^2}{R^2}+𝒰(R,t)$$
(1)
where $`R`$ is the internuclear separation, $`m`$ is the reduced mass of the molecule, and the electronic potentials and couplings are given by

$$𝒰(R,t)=\left[\begin{array}{ccc}U_X(R)& \mathrm{}\mathrm{\Omega }_1(t)& 0\\ \mathrm{}\mathrm{\Omega }_1(t)& U_A(R)+\mathrm{}\mathrm{\Delta }_1& \mathrm{}\mathrm{\Omega }_2(t)\\ 0& \mathrm{}\mathrm{\Omega }_2(t)& U_\mathrm{\Pi }(R)+\mathrm{}(\mathrm{\Delta }_1+\mathrm{\Delta }_2)\end{array}\right].$$
(2)
Here $`U_X(R)`$, $`U_A(R)`$, and $`U_\mathrm{\Pi }(R)`$ are the three potentials, $`\mathrm{\Delta }_1`$ and $`\mathrm{\Delta }_2`$ are the detunings of the two pulses from the lowest points of the potentials \[dashed lines in Fig. 1(a)\], and $`\mathrm{\Omega }_1(t)=\mu _{XA}E_1(t)/\mathrm{}`$, $`\mathrm{\Omega }_2(t)=\mu _{A\mathrm{\Pi }}E_2(t)/\mathrm{}`$ are the two Rabi frequencies. We have assumed for simplicity that the two dipole moments are independent of $`R`$ and we have used Gaussian pulse shapes, $`\mathrm{\Omega }_i(t)=\mathrm{\Omega }\mathrm{exp}\{[(tt_i)/T]^2\}`$, $`i=1,2`$.

The light-induced potentials are obtained by diagonalising the potential term (2). For these potentials the curve crossings become avoided crossings. It is easy to see from Fig. 1(b) that in the absence of the pulses (or when they both are weak) one of the light-induced states corresponds, at low energies, to the double well structure formed by the $`X^1\mathrm{\Sigma }_g^+`$ and $`2^1\mathrm{\Pi }_g`$ electronic state potentials. In Fig. 1(b) this corresponds to the lower part of the two solid curves and we will call this the active eigenstate. In Ref.  we showed that, if the pulses are applied in a counterintuitive order ($`t_1>t_2`$), the double well structure will disappear as the bottom of the (initially empty) well on the right moves up and vanishes. (In Fig. 1(b) this is seen to be because of a repulsion between the $`2^1\mathrm{\Pi }_g`$ and A$`{}_{}{}^{1}\mathrm{\Sigma }_{u}^{+}`$ ($`\mathrm{\Delta }<0`$) state). After this the left well broadens and moves to the right. Finally the double well structure is re-established as the pulses reduce in intensity. If we now consider that the ground vibrational state of the left well is initially populated, that population would follow the light-induced potential and be transformed smoothly into the ground state wave function of the right well. This is APLIP, and the smooth change in the total wave function is demonstrated in the contour plot in Fig. 2(a).

If we choose $`\mathrm{\Delta }_1=\mathrm{\Delta }_2\mathrm{\Delta }`$, the bottoms of the two wells are on the same level initially and finally \[as in Fig. 1(b)\]. The sign of $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$ determines the evolution of the light-induced potential. For negative $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$ we obtain the APLIP situation, but for positive $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$ the right well drops down at first, instead of disappearing. In this case the APLIP situation is not obtained.

One is tempted to associate the APLIP process with STIRAP , and consider the active light-induced potential as a dark state , which, because of the counterintuitive pulse order, remains uncoupled from the other states. It is true that during the APLIP process the intermediate state ($`A^1\mathrm{\Sigma }_u^+`$) population remains very small. However, the process is not the same as STIRAP, because the strength of the atom-light coupling, i.e. Rabi frequency, becomes much larger than the vibrational spacing; it is not possible to isolate only a few energy levels. Furthermore, in a STIRAP process there would not be a smooth transport of the wave packet in Fig. 2(a) because only two simple vibrational eigenfunctions would be involved.

STIRAP is also considered to be an adiabatic process, which is not strictly the case for Fig. 2. We can see this by considering the initial (and final) vibrational states of the active light-induced potential which matches the two original electronic potentials as shown in Fig. 2(b). The lowest states correspond to the individual vibrational states of the original potentials. In STIRAP we should start with the lowest state on left, and we would expect it to evolve adiabatically into the lowest state on the right, though not in the smooth way seen for the APLIP process in Fig. 2(a). However, if the evolution were truly adiabatic the population would remain in the left well; by definition of adiabatic following it cannot change state. This is because, for the example shown in Fig. 2(b), as the right well rises up, and the right-hand-well wave function with it, there is a diabatic crossing of the energy states which allows the population to remain in the left well as the right well vanishes. As long as the barrier between the two wells is thick enough, the crossing of vibrational eigenenergies remains diabatic (uncoupled) and the wave packet (left-hand well vibrational ground state) can be channelled from left to right (APLIP). There always has to be at least one such diabatic crossing, but if there is only one, it could come at the start, or the end, of the time evolution depending on whether the initial or final vibrational state is lower in energy. Thus the interesting processes mediated by the light-induced potentials are different from STIRAP, and they can not be obtained by perfect adiabatic following.

Figure 2(b) also displays the initial and final situation if we now switch to a positive detuning. We choose $`\mathrm{}\mathrm{\Delta }=2010`$ cm-1 for the time evolution shown in Fig. 3(a) where $`\mathrm{}\mathrm{\Omega }=733`$ cm-1 and $`t_1t_2=T=5.5`$ ps. We denote the vibrational quantum number of the states in the electronic potential with $`\nu `$, and indicate with the terms “left well” and “right well”, whether these states correspond to the initial state ($`X^1\mathrm{\Sigma }_u^+`$), or the final state ($`2^1\mathrm{\Pi }_g`$), respectively. We transfer the $`\nu =0`$ state on the left well into the $`\nu =1`$ state on the right well. The process is very efficient: the occupation probability of the right well ($`2^1\mathrm{\Pi }_g`$ state) in the end is 94 %. Clearly the crucial moment is around $`t=20`$ ps where the original single-peak distribution extends to the right and forms temporarily a four-peaked distribution over the combined well system. Also, around $`t=25`$ ps the four-peak structure compresses into the two-peak structure located on the right well.

In order to understand the process, we have calculated the time dependence of the eigenenergies of the active light-induced potential \[seen for initial and final time in Fig. 2(b)\]. The figure shows clearly that if the evolution is fully adiabatic, no change of $`\nu `$ can occur during the time evolution because there are no crossings of eigenenergies. This also means that no change of well is possible either. However, we do see several avoided crossings between the eigenenergies and the point is that when the pulses are weak, these crossings are passed diabatically, and when the pulses are strong they are passed adiabatically.

In our example, Fig. 3(b), the second lowest state corresponds initially, and finally, to the lowest vibrational state of the left well (i.e., the state populated initially in our calculation) as may be confirmed by inspecting Fig. 2(b). During the time evolution the wave function passes the two first avoided crossings diabatically, but for $`t>20`$ ps it follows nearly adiabatically the fourth eigenstate. Just before $`t=30`$ ps it moves diabatically onto the third eigenstate, which asymptotically corresponds with the $`\nu =1`$ state on the right well \[see again Fig. 2(b)\]. In Fig. 4 we show the change at the crucial moment around $`t=21`$ ps. The transition from a narrow single well wave function into a wide combined two-well wave function takes place very quickly. A fascinating aspect is that the evolution of the total wave function still follows the fourth vibrational eigenstate of the active light-induced potential. A similar adiabatic following happens also near $`t=25`$ ps when the third and the fourth eigenstate again approach each other.

The example given here is not unique. By allowing $`\mathrm{\Delta }_1\mathrm{\Delta }_2`$ we have a very good handle in choosing which single well states are paired into a combined well state. In Fig. 5 we show two other examples. They demonstrate that the process does not require the initial state on the left to be $`\nu =0`$, and the process can be used also to change $`\nu `$ but keep the initial and final well the same .

Even in the region where both pulses are strong the adiabatic following of a single vibrational eigenstate is not complete. Small oscillating contributions appear in the final state. The contour plots tend to emphasise these oscillations. For example, in the particular case of Fig. 3(a), only about 2 % probability of diabatic transfer creates these oscillations.

The examples shown here for tailoring the vibrational state populations have two advantages over the APLIP process. Firstly, having $`\mathrm{\Delta }>0`$ (a region in which APLIP does not work) moves the central frequencies of the two laser pulses away from each other. Secondly, the required intensities are clearly smaller as we mainly need to shift the potentials, but not to deform them strongly. Of course, the discussion in Ref.  regarding the role of electronic states outside our truncated three-state system, and the rotational states still apply. We have used Gaussian pulse shapes, but with other pulse shapes it might be possible to achieve even better control of the adiabaticity at different avoided crossings between the eigenstates.

In this Letter we have shown how, even with strong and short laser pulses one can still perform very selective and yet efficient tailoring of vibrational state populations in molecules. If we were to describe the process using the vibrational state basis of the three electronic potentials, the treatment would involve complicated transfer processes between a large number of states. Our presentation shows that the process can be understood very well in terms of the light-induced potentials, and their time-dependent vibrational eigenstates. Furthermore, this description also allows one to identify how the system parameters should be set in order to achieve specific outcomes. The main ingredient is establishing the right balance between the adiabatic following of the time-dependent vibrational eigenstates, and nonadiabatic transfer between them at avoided crossings. We have discussed the situation in a molecular multistate framework, but in the light-induced potential description the relevant process really takes place within a general two-well potential structure. Thus our observations hold also for any two-well structure, where the barrier height and the well depths can be controlled time dependently in similar manner.

This work was supported by the Academy of Finland, Project no. 43336.


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# Prospects of Variable Star Research by Future Space Missions

## 1. Introduction

Many advantages are present when going in space. The most exploited one has been the access to wavelengths not transmitted through the atmosphere. For photometry near the visible part of the spectrum, there are many benefiting aspects: No atmosphere means no absorption bands of $`H_2O`$ and $`O_3`$, no scintillation, no emission or diffusion from the sky (dark sky), no variable extinction. Furthermore depending on the satellite orbit, it may be possible to make long continuous monitorings (however eclipses by the Moon or the Earth may occur) or to make a global sky coverage.

As a comparative example, the COROT team (see section 6) studied fictive Earth projects (cf. Baglin 1997a) and showed that even an immoderate project of 8 8m-class telescopes disseminated around the Earth would not surpass their small space mission.

The drawbacks of space projects are their complexity, cost, aging, limited operation time, and many technical constraints. Space missions are fragile on technical and also political point of views. The global budgets of ESA and NASA in local currencies have been relatively flat for about 8 years, but they may be subjected to high volatility according to changes in the policy.

## 2. Main types of missions

Three main types of missions will be presented: one performing astrometry, one oriented towards asteroseismology and one aiming at detecting telluric planets. Many of these projects lead to massive photometric surveys and have thus very valuable scientific returns as discussed by Paczyński (1997). Then, an overview of the distinctive features of some specific satellites will be given.

### 2.1. Astrometric missions

After the pioneering mission Hipparcos, projects performing astrometric measurements are flourishing. Thanks to the advance of technology (CCD, interferometry), the jump in astrometric precision is of 2-3 orders of magnitude, thus making a new mission very attractive. The accuracies reached by these projects are now labeled in $`\mu `$as (micro arcsec), cf. Table 1.

The interest for variable stars is threefold. First, several proposed missions are scanning the whole sky and performing photometry. They will thus give, as Hipparcos did, huge amounts of photometric measurements, achieving magnitude completeness. As the scanning law is optimised for the astrometric purpose, the time series have a semi-regular sampling which produce aliasing. Second, the information of parallax is a stringent constraint for testing stellar models when used in asteroseismology (cf. Baglin 1997b, Favata 1999). In the case of Hipparcos for instance, Matthews et al. (1999) showed a comparison of asteroseismologic parallax versus trigonometric parallax. On an other hand, absolute luminosities or masses derived from parallaxes can be used as starting point of the seismologic models. Third, Parallaxes are also of primordial importance for calibrating distance indicators as Cepheids, RR Lyrae and Miras. All the presented missions will literally pin down many of these objects.

### 2.2. Asteroseismologic missions

Several unsuccessful attempts have been made to measure solar-like oscillations from Earth, for such measurements the precision in luminosity determination to be reached is as high as few ppm, furthermore high frequency resolution is required which imposes very long continuous monitoring. As previously remarked, the scintillation is a limiting factor which is magnitude independent as long as photon noise is not dominating. With space missions these requirements can be reached.

### 2.3. Planet detection missions

Among several methods to detect planets, the most famous is the measurement of the periodic variation in radial velocity that a planet induces on its host star. Another promising technique, shown to be more appropriate for the discovery of telluric planets, is the detection of the luminosity decrease during an eclipsing transit of the planet. In this case, the system planet-star should be in a favorable configuration for the observer. Thus large numbers of stars must be observed to achieve valuable statistics.

## 3. The GAIA Mission

The goal of the GAIA (http://astro.estec.esa.nl/SA-general/Projects/GAIA/) satellite is to describe our Galaxy and its history by making an inventory of 1% of its stars (down to magnitude V=20) in terms of their kinematical and physical properties. However, the impact of GAIA will go well beyond gaining knowledge of the Galaxy, it will infiltrate many domains of astronomy such as stellar astronomy, general relativity and cosmology. GAIA should not be seen merely as a Super-Hipparcos; it has several instruments among them one is performing astrometry reaching the precision of 4 $`\mu `$as for magnitude $`V=12`$ and 10 $`\mu `$as for magnitude $`V=15`$. These measurements lead to parallaxes and proper motions. On board, GAIA has a spectrometer which measures radial velocities (with precision of 3-10 km/s for $`V<17`$) to complete the 3-dim velocity field. A provisional 11 intermediate band photometric system was specially designed in order to determine the temperature, gravity and metallicity of the observed stars. GAIA will produce photometric time series of about 100 measurements spread over 5 years. The precision is magnitude dependent (cf. Grenon et al. 1999) and for a single transit is of the order of 0.05 mag at $`V=17`$ in the band F51 (centered at 570 nm and of 90 nm width). The time sampling is semi-regular as a result of the scanning law of the satellite. Eyer & Cuypers (these proceedings) are studying the expectation for variable star numbers. Although the estimations are at preliminary stages, GAIA might detect a few thousand Cepheids and about 90 000 RR Lyrae. GAIA will permit to study star pulsations in terms of the physical parameters, especially the metallicity.

## 4. FAME

FAME (http://aa.usno.navy.mil/FAME/) stands for Full-sky Astrometric Mapping Explorer. FAME will observe 40 million stars and will perform a Galactic survey magnitude complete up to $`V=15`$. The astrometric precision will be $`<`$ 50 $`\mu `$as for mag $`V<9`$ and $`<`$ 500 $`\mu `$as for mag $`V<15`$. It will collect photometric measurements in four bands of the Sloan system (Fukugita et al. 1994). The announced precision of the photometry is 1.6 mmag for mag 9 and 25 mmag for mag 15 in the astrometric filter. The scanning law will determine the time sampling. The rotation period of the satellite is 40 minutes, the length of the mission is 2 years and a half. The satellite will furnish thousands of measurement per star, with a semi-regular sampling grouped in sequences of 9-31-9 etc minutes.

## 5. DIVA

The DIVA (`http://www.aip.de/groups/DIVA/`, Double Interferometer for Visual Astrometry) satellite is a project of the German space agency (DLR). DIVA will reach an astrometric precision of 150 $`\mu `$as at $`V=9`$ and 5 mas at $`V=15`$. DIVA will have broad-band and narrow-band systems. The photometric precision is under study. The scanning law is very similar to the Hipparcos one, with a rotation period of 2 hours.

## 6. The COROT Mission

The COROT (`http://www.astrsp-mrs.fr/www/pagecorot.html`, COnvection and ROtation) satellite has two major goals, first it was designed for doing asteroseismology, focussing on 5 principal fields for very precise and continuous monitoring of 5 months each. The noise level is 0.6 ppm for G type stars over 5 days. The long time base makes possible a high accuracy on frequencies determination (0.1 $`\mu `$Hz) necessary for the detailed seismic investigation of the stellar structure proposed for COROT. A planet detection program using the transit method was added, this other goal has to survey large sample of stars (30 000 to 60 000) with a photometric precision of 0.1 % for 16 minutes of integration time in order to detect telluric planets. This survey is achieved in dense fields down to mag 15. Two-color information will be available for $``$ 1/3 of the targets to establish the achromaticity of the phenomenon. There is also an exploratory program where COROT will measure 50 to 80 solar-like stars with $`V<9`$ at a precision better than 2.4 ppm.

## 7. MONS

MONS (`http://www.obs.aau.dk/MONS/`, Measuring Oscillation in Nearby Stars) is a project of the Danish Small Satellite Program, which already launched one successful satellite (Ørsted). MONS will observe about 20 solar-like stars over two years as a primary scientific objective; it will also measure $`\delta `$ Scuti, roAp stars and samples of stars of all types as a secondary objective. Its eccentric orbit with high apogee (Molniya orbit) permits access to a large part of the sky. It will measure changes in colour ratio. Oscillations of amplitude of 1-10 ppm will be detected (cf. Kjeldsen et al. 1999). Furthermore, MONS will obtain science data from the Star Imagers designed for attitude control; they will permit measurement of about 900 stars, 700 in with the Imager SI 1, and 200 with the Imager SI 2. The accuracy will be about 11 ppm (SI 1) and 26 ppm (SI 2) at magnitude $`V=6`$.

## 8. MOST

MOST (`http://www.astro.ubc.ca/MOST/`, Microvariability and Oscillations of STars) is a funded project which is the first satellite of the Canadian Space Agency. MOST will observe several (3-5) solar-like stars over 40 days. It will also observe roAp, Wolf-Rayet and $`\delta `$ Scuti stars. The photometric precision for a $`V=6`$ star is better than a few ppm for 10 days of integration.

## 9. Kepler

Although the Kepler project (`http://www.kepler.arc.nasa.gov/`) was not selected due to questions about the ability to perform the photometry in space, the scientific case was rated very highly. The Kepler team is planning to resubmit the project. Its goal is to ”explore the structure and diversity of planetary systems” by performing differential photometry. It will monitor 100 000 main-sequence stars in the magnitude range from 9th to 14th with an accuracy of 0.002 % including instrument noise, shot noise and stellar variability for a star of $`V=12`$. The mission would point continuously at a single field in Cygnus during 4 years. Because only data for preselected stars are saved, all objects to be monitor must be pre-specified. The team will probably entertain ”guest observing” for additional interesting objects like variable stars. A subset of a few hundred brighter stars will also be incorporated and observed with a shorter integration time for asteroseismological purposes.

## 10. Conclusion

Many of these projects might be selected in a near future for their realisation. The projects performing astrometry will provide deep galactic surveys and thus an inventory for galactic variable stars. The asteroseismological projects have common goals but they use different ingenious techniques and have different and diverse by-products.

The future spatial projects will open new domains in variable star studies, therefore precise predictions are delicate. Since some presented missions are already funded, there is the conviction that after the projects like Hipparcos or the microlensing surveys, the domain of variable stars will still be under a strong evolution.

## References

Baglin, A. 1997a, CNES, COR-SP-0-83-PROJ

Baglin, A. 1997b, in The First Results of Hipparcos and Tycho (JD 14 of the XXIII General Assembly of the IAU), ed. C. Turon, 555

Grenon, M., Jordi, C., Figueras, F., Torra, J. 1999, to be published

Favata, F. 1998, in The First MONS Workshop: Science with a Small Space Telescope, eds. H. Kjeldsen, T.R. Bedding, 89

Fukugita, M., Hichikawa, T., Gunn, J.E., Doi, M., Shimasaku, K., Schneider, D.P. 1996, AJ111, 1748

Kjeldsen, H., Bedding, T.R., Christensen-Dalsgaard, J. 1999, Document No. MONS-99/01

Matthews, Kurtz, D., & Martinez, P. 1999, ApJ 511, 422

Paczyński B. 1997, in Variables Stars and the Astrophysical Returns of the Microlensing Surveys (12th IAP Astrophysics Colloquium), eds. R. Ferlet, J.-P. Maillard & B. Raban, Editions Frontières, 357


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# REFERENCES

\[ Comment on “Relativistic Effects of Light in Moving Media with Extremely Low Group Velocity”
\] In  Leonhardt and Piwnicki have presented an interesting analysis of how to use a flowing dielectric fluid to generate a so–called “optical black hole”. Unfortunately there is subtle misinterpretation in the analysis regarding these “optical black holes”. While it is clear that “optical black holes” can certainly exist as theoretical constructs, and while the experimental prospects for actually building them in the laboratory are excellent, the particular model geometries of  are in fact not black holes at all.

Leonhardt and Piwnicki consider a vortex geometry, where the dielectric fluid is swirling in a purely azimuthal direction around a straight linear core — there is no radial motion into the core in their models, and this is enough to prevent the formation of trapped surfaces and event horizons. This observation depends only on the fact that the effective metric can globally be cast in the ADM-like form

$$[g_{\mathrm{eff}}]_{\mu \nu }=\left(\begin{array}{cc}[c_{\mathrm{eff}}^2g_{ab}v_{\mathrm{eff}}^av_{\mathrm{eff}}^b]& [v_{\mathrm{eff}}]_i\\ [v_{\mathrm{eff}}]_j& [g_{\mathrm{eff}}]_{ij}\end{array}\right).$$
(1)
In the acoustic geometry of , the constant-time 3-space metric $`[g_{\mathrm{eff}}]_{ij}`$ is particularly simple (it’s the identity matrix), the effective velocity $`[v_{\mathrm{eff}}]_i`$ equals the fluid velocity, and $`c_{\mathrm{eff}}`$ is just the local speed of sound. In the non-relativistic limit of the non-dispersive moving-medium optical geometry of , the effective velocity $`[v_{\mathrm{eff}}]_i`$ equals the fluid velocity adjusted by the Fresnel drag correction, while $`c_{\mathrm{eff}}c/n`$ is just the local speed of light, and the 3-metric acquires $`O(v^2)`$ corrections. In the extreme-dispersion model of  the optical geometry is more complicated but the effective velocity is still proportional to the fluid velocity. These technical complications do not affect the key issue: An ergo-region certainly forms once the norm of this effective velocity exceeds the local effective propagation speed ($`v_{\mathrm{eff}}>c_{\mathrm{eff}}`$), but provided that $`c_{\mathrm{eff}}`$ remains positive, a trapped surface will form only if the inward normal component of the effective velocity exceeds the local effective propagation speed . Since there is no inward velocity in either of the vortex models , there is no possibility of forming an event horizon. This result is generic and does not depend on any optical-acoustic analogy.

What Leonhardt and Piwnicki actually do is to demonstrate that the vortex geometries they write down possesses an unstable circular photon orbit, very similar in its qualitative properties to the unstable circular photon orbit that occurs at $`r=3M`$ in the Schwarzschild geometry (when the Schwarzschild geometry is written in down in Schwarzschild coordinates.) Photons/light-rays/null geodesics with high angular momentum, higher than some critical value which depends on the details of the fluid velocity profile, either (1) come in from spatial infinity and return to spatial infinity without ever crossing the unstable photon orbit, or (2) emerge from the vortex core, never get past the unstable photon orbit and subsequently fall back to the vortex core. Photons/light-rays/null geodesics with lower than critical angular momentum come in from spatial infinity, cross the unstable photon orbit, and eventually crash into the vortex core. If their angular momentum is just fractionally less than critical they may appear to “hover” near the unstable photon orbit. However, when Leonhardt and Piwnicki use the phrase “Schwarzschild radius” it is the radius of this unstable circular photon orbit they are referring to, and their usage of the phrases “Schwarzschild radius” and “event horizon” has nothing to do with the sense in which they are defined in general relativity.

Despite this technical issue, which causes problems for the two particular toy models they discussed , it is clear that the basic idea is fine — it certainly is possible to form “optical black holes” but only by adding an inward radial component to the vortex flow. Alternatively, you could think of a nozzle that accelerates a low-compressibility dielectric fluid to (effectively) superluminal velocities. Any region of superluminal effective velocity $`v_{\mathrm{eff}}`$ will be an ergo-region, and any surface for which the inward normal component of this effective velocity is superluminal will be a trapped surface .

If successful, this technique will be able to probe aspects of semiclassical quantum gravity, such as the existence of Hawking radiation. Because the effective metric is not constrained by the Einstein equations you only probe kinematic aspects of how quantum fields react to being placed on a curved background geometry, but do not probe any dynamical questions of just how quantum matter feeds into the Einstein equations to generate real spacetime curvature . Though “effective metric” techniques are limited in this sense, they are still a tremendous advance over the current state of affairs.

Matt Visser
Washington University in Saint Louis
Saint Louis, Missouri 63130-4899
e-mail: visser@kiwi.wustl.edu
homepage: http://www.physics.wustl.edu/~visser

PACS numbers: 42.50.Gy, 04.20.-q

Received 2 Feb 2000; 31 May 2000


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# Exclusion Limits on the WIMP-Nucleon Cross-Section from the Cryogenic Dark Matter Search

## Abstract

The Cryogenic Dark Matter Search (CDMS) employs Ge and Si detectors to search for WIMPs via their elastic-scattering interactions with nuclei while discriminating against interactions of background particles. CDMS data give limits on the spin-independent WIMP-nucleon elastic-scattering cross-section that exclude unexplored parameter space above 10 GeV c-2 WIMP mass and, at $`>84`$% CL, the entire 3$`\sigma `$ allowed region for the WIMP signal reported by the DAMA experiment.

preprint: CWRU-P5-00/UCSB-HEP-00-01

Extensive evidence indicates that a large fraction of the matter in the universe is nonluminous, nonbaryonic and “cold” – nonrelativistic at the time matter began to dominate the energy density of the universe. Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs) are an excellent candidate for nonbaryonic, cold dark matter . Minimal supersymmetry provides a natural WIMP candidate in the form of the lightest superpartner, with a typical mass $`M100`$ GeV c-2 . WIMPs are expected to have collapsed into a roughly isothermal, spherical halo within which the visible portion of our galaxy resides. WIMPs scatter off nuclei via the weak interaction, potentially allowing their direct detection . The expected spectrum of recoil energies (energy given to the recoiling nucleus during the interaction) is exponential with a characteristic energy of a few to tens of keV . The expected event rate is model-dependent but is generically 1 kg-1 d-1 or lower .

This Letter reports new exclusion limits on the spin-independent WIMP-nucleon elastic-scattering cross-section by the Cryogenic Dark Matter Search (CDMS). The rate of rare WIMP-nucleon interactions is constrained by extended exposure of detectors that discriminate WIMP-induced nuclear recoils from electron recoils caused by interactions of background particles .

The ionization yield $`Y`$ (the ratio of ionization production to recoil energy in a semiconductor) of a particle interaction differs greatly for nuclear and electron recoils. CDMS detectors measure phonon and electron-hole pair production to determine recoil energy and ionization yield for each event. The data discussed here were obtained with two types of detectors, Berkeley Large Ionization- and Phonon-mediated (BLIP) and Z-sensitive Ionization- and Phonon-mediated (ZIP) detectors . For both types, the drift field for the ionization measurement is supplied by radially-segmented electrodes on the faces of the disk-shaped crystals . In BLIP detectors, phonon production is determined from the detector’s calorimetric temperature change. In ZIP detectors, athermal phonons are collected to determine phonon production and xy-position. Detector performance is discussed in detail elsewhere .

Photons cause most bulk electron recoils, while low-energy electrons incident on the detector surfaces cause low-$`Y`$ electron recoils in a thin surface layer (“surface events”). Neutron, photon, and electron sources are used to determine efficiencies for discrimination between nuclear recoils and bulk or surface electron recoils. Above 10 keV, CDMS detectors reject bulk electron recoils with $`>`$ 99% efficiency and surface events with $`>`$ 95% efficiency. CDMS detectors that sense athermal phonons provide further surface-event rejection based on the differing phonon pulse shapes of bulk and surface events . This phonon-based surface-event rejection alone is $`>`$ 99.7% efficient above 20 keV.

The 1-cm-thick, 7-cm-diameter detectors are stacked 3 mm apart with no intervening material. This close packing enables the annular outer ionization electrodes to shield the disk-shaped inner electrodes from low-energy electron sources on surrounding surfaces. The probability that a surface event will multiply scatter is also increased.

The low rate of WIMP interactions necessitates operation at a site with low background-particle flux. CDMS detectors are operated beneath 16 meters-water-equivalent overburden, which stops the hadronic component of cosmic-ray air showers and reduces the muonic component by a factor of 5. A custom, radiopure extension to a modified Oxford S-400 dilution refrigerator provides a low-background 20 mK volume .

Several layers of shielding surround the cryostat. Outermost is a $`>`$ 99.9% efficient plastic-scintillator veto to detect muons and thus allow rejection of muon-coincident particles. Inside the veto, a 15-cm-thick lead shield reduces the background photon flux by a factor of 1000. A 1-cm-thick shield made of ancient lead provides additional photon shielding inside the cryostat . Samples of all construction materials were screened to ensure low radioactive contamination. The measured event rate below 100 keV due to photons is roughly 60 keV-1 kg-1 d-1 overall and 2 keV-1 kg-1 d-1 anticoincident with veto.

Neutrons with energies capable of producing keV nuclear recoils are produced by muons interacting inside and outside the veto (“internal” and “external” neutrons, respectively). The dominant, low-energy ($`<50`$ MeV) component of these neutrons is moderated by a 25-cm thickness of polyethylene between the outer lead shield and cryostat . However, high-energy external neutrons may punch through the moderator. A simulation of these neutrons assumes the production spectrum given in  and propagates them through the shield to the detectors. The accuracy of the simulation’s propagation of neutrons is confirmed by the excellent agreement of the simulated and observed recoil-energy spectra due to veto-coincident and calibration-source neutrons. A large fraction of the external neutrons are vetoed: $``$40% due to neutron-scintillator interactions and an unknown fraction due to associated hadronic showers. This unknown fraction, combined with a factor of $``$4 uncertainty in the production rate, makes it difficult to accurately predict the absolute flux of unvetoed external neutrons. However, normalization-independent predictions of the simulation, such as relative rates of single scatters and multiple scatters, relative rates in Si and Ge detectors, and the shapes of nuclear-recoil spectra, are insensitive to reasonable changes in the neutron spectrum.

Two data sets are used in this analysis: one consisting of 33 live days taken with a 100 g Si ZIP detector between April and July, 1998, and another taken later with Ge BLIP detectors. The Si run yields a 1.6 kg d exposure after cuts. The total low-energy electron surface-event rate is 60 kg-1 d-1 between 20 and 100 keV. Four nuclear recoils are observed in the Si data set. Based on a separate electron calibration, the upper limit on the expected number of unrejected surface events is 0.26 events (90% CL). These nuclear recoils also cannot be due to WIMPs. Whether their interactions with target nuclei are dominated by spin-independent or spin-dependent couplings, WIMPs yielding the observed Si nuclear-recoil rate would cause an unacceptably high number of nuclear recoils in the Ge data set discussed below. Therefore, the Si data set, whose analysis is described elsewhere , measures the unvetoed neutron background.

Between November, 1998, and September, 1999, 96 live days of data were obtained using 3 of 4 165 g Ge BLIP detectors. One detector is discarded because it displays a high rate of veto-anticoincident low-energy electron surface events, 230 kg-1 d-1 as compared to 50 kg-1 d-1 for the other detectors (10 to 100 keV). This detector suffered additional processing steps that may have contaminated its surface and damaged its electrodes. Data-quality, nuclear-recoil acceptance, and veto-anticoincidence cuts reduce the exposure (mass $`\times `$ time) by 45%. To take advantage of close packing, analysis is restricted to events fully contained in the inner electrodes, reducing the exposure further by a factor of 2.5 to yield a final Ge exposure of 10.6 kg d .

Figure 1 shows a plot of ionization yield vs. recoil energy for the Ge data set. Bulk electron recoils lie at ionization yield $`Y1`$. Low-energy electron events form a distinct band at $`Y0.75`$, leaking into the nuclear-recoil acceptance region below 10 keV.

Figure 2 displays the recoil-energy spectrum of unvetoed nuclear recoils for the Ge data set. Only single scatters (events triggering a single detector) are shown; the WIMP multiple-scatter rate is negligible. An analysis threshold of 10 keV, well above trigger thresholds, is imposed. This choice reduces the data set’s sensitivity but simplifies analysis by rendering low-energy electron misidentification negligible. The nuclear-recoil efficiency is determined using calibration-source neutrons and its stability is monitored using veto-coincident neutrons. Thirteen unvetoed nuclear recoils are observed in the 10.6 kg d exposure between 10 and 100 keV; this rate is similar to that expected for the WIMP signal claimed by the DAMA experiment . However, much evidence indicates that the CDMS nuclear recoils are caused by neutrons rather than WIMPs.

Figure 3 displays a scatter plot of ionization yields for multiple scatters. The observation of 4 Ge multiple-scatter nuclear recoils is the primary evidence for the neutron interpretation. It is highly unlikely that these events are misidentified low-energy electron events. Figures 1 and 3 demonstrate excellent separation of low-energy electron events from nuclear recoils. Analysis using events due to electrons emitted by the contaminated detector yields an upper limit of 0.05 misidentified multiple-scatter low-energy electron events (90% CL).

All other pieces of evidence are also consistent with the neutron interpretation. First, the 4 nuclear recoils observed in the Si data set cannot be interpreted as WIMPs or surface events. Second, there is reasonable agreement between predictions from the Monte Carlo simulation and the relative observed numbers of 4 Ge multiple scatters, 4 Si single scatters, and 13 Ge single scatters. Normalizing the simulation by the 17 total Ge nuclear-recoil events yields 2.7 expected Si single scatters and 1.3 expected Ge multiple scatters. Statistically, the expected neutron background should result in a less likely combination of Ge single scatters, Ge multiple scatters, and Si single scatters 23% of the time. Finally, a Kolmogorov-Smirnov test indicates that the deviation between the observed and simulated nuclear-recoil spectral shapes would be larger in 28% of experiments.

The 90% CL excluded region for the WIMP mass $`M`$ and the spin-independent WIMP-nucleon elastic-scattering cross-section $`\sigma `$ is derived using an extension of the approach of Feldman and Cousins . The above arguments require accounting for the component of the observed Ge single scatters (with energies $`E_\mathrm{i}`$) that is due to the unvetoed neutron flux $`n`$. This flux is constrained by the number $`N_\mathrm{m}`$ of multiple scatters in Ge and the number $`N_{\mathrm{S}i}`$ of nuclear recoils in Si. To determine the 90% CL excluded region in the plane of $`M`$ and $`\sigma `$ alone, the parameter $`n`$ is projected out. For a grid of physically allowed values of $`M`$, $`\sigma `$, and $`n`$, the expected distribution of the likelihood ratio $`R=(E_i,N_\mathrm{m},N_{\mathrm{S}i}|\sigma ,M,\stackrel{~}{n})/\widehat{}`$ is calculated by Monte Carlo simulation in order to determine the critical parameter $`R_{90}`$ such that 90% of the simulated experiments have $`R>R_{90}`$. Here $`\stackrel{~}{n}`$ is the value of $`n`$ that maximizes the likelihood $``$ for the given parameters $`M`$ and $`\sigma `$ and the observations. $`\widehat{}`$ is the maximum of the likelihood for any physically allowed set of parameters. The WIMP-nucleon cross-section $`\sigma `$ is converted to a WIMP-nucleus cross-section assuming $`A^2`$ scaling with target nuclear mass. This scaling is valid for models of supersymmetric WIMPs currently favored . The 90% CL region excluded by the observed data set, with ratio $`R_{\mathrm{d}ata}`$, consists of all parameter space for which $`R_{\mathrm{d}ata}R_{90}`$. Figure 4 displays the lower envelope of points excluded for all values of $`n`$. Because all the nuclear recoils may be neutron scatters, $`\sigma =0`$ is not excluded.

This limit excludes new parameter space for WIMPs with $`M>`$ 10 GeV c-2, some of which is allowed by supersymmetry . The data are compatible with the DAMA/NaI-0 exclusion limit based on pulse-shape analysis . However, these data exclude, at $`>84\%`$ CL, the entire region allowed at 3$`\sigma `$ by the DAMA/NaI-1 to 4 annual modulation signal . This region, given by the $`v_0=220`$ km s-1 curve in Figure 4a of Ref. , is used because it is determined solely from the annual modulation signal. The data presented here also exclude the analogous 2$`\sigma `$ allowed region for DAMA/NaI-1 to 2 at $`>96`$% CL . Although without theoretical support, non-$`A^2`$ scaling may allow the two results to be compatible.

We thank Paul Luke of LBNL for his advice regarding surface-event rejection. We thank the engineering and technical staffs at our respective institutions for invaluable support. This work is supported by the Center for Particle Astrophysics, an NSF Science and Technology Center operated by the University of California, Berkeley, under Cooperative Agreement No. AST-91-20005, by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. PHY-9722414, by the Department of Energy under contracts DE-AC03-76SF00098, DE-FG03-90ER40569, DE-FG03-91ER40618, and by Fermilab, operated by the Universities Research Association, Inc., under Contract No. DE-AC02-76CH03000 with the Department of Energy.


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# Long-term photometry of the Wolf-Rayet stars WR 137, WR 140, WR 148, and WR 153 Based on observations collected at the National Astronomical Observatory Rozhen, Bulgaria

## 1 Introduction

Photometric studies of Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars during the past decades (e.g. Moffat & Shara 1986; Lamontagne & Moffat 1987; van Genderen et al. 1987; Balona et al. 1989; Robert et al. 1989; Gosset et al. 1990; Antokhin et al. 1995; Marchenko et al. 1998a; Marchenko et al. 1998b) have revealed light variations of several per cent (up to 0.1 mag) on time-scales (typically) of days. WR stars are generally believed to be evolved Population I stars, descendants of Of-type stars (Maeder 1996). They exhibit strong, dense winds (mass loss rates of $`10^5`$ to $`10^4`$ M yr<sup>-1</sup>) which, in most cases, hide the stellar surface. The wind-flow is dependant on time. Moffat et al. (1988, 1994) and Robert (1994) discovered the existence of small, outward moving wind condensations, which they called propagating blobs. Unlike most O-type stars, the continuum light of many WR stars originates from a layer in the dense wind ($`\tau =1`$), a “pseudo-photosphere” (van Genderen et al. 1987), which could be inhomogeneous because of dynamical wind instabilities. The brightness variations of some WR stars proved to be periodic and are possibly due to binary or rotation effects. Core (photospheric) eclipses as well as atmospheric eclipses have been observed. The latter are characterized by only one V-shaped minimum on the light curve, which is caused by the atmospheric eclipse of an O-type star by the WR star’s extended wind (Lamontagne et al. 1996). Random light variations are common in WR stars and they are often superimposed on the regular (binary) variations, increasing the “noise” and sometimes even totally disturbing the underlying regular light variations. Marchenko et al. (1998b) suggested that random light variations (light scatter) may be caused by short-lived, core-induced, multimode fluctuations, propagating in the wind. Other causes of variability, such as radial pulsations (Maeder 1985) non-radial pulsations (Vreux 1985, Antokhin et al. 1995, Rauw et al. 1996) and axial rotation (Matthews & Moffat 1994) have been proposed for WR stars. Occasional “eclipses” caused by dust formation in late-type WC stars have been studied by Veen et al. (1998).

WR 137 is a well known dust maker (Williams 1997; Marchenko et al. 1999). However little is known about long-term light variations for that star and its binary status is still uncertain. WR 140 is another repeating dust maker (Williams 1997). The orbit is well determined. Because of its high eccentricity ($`e=0.84`$) the strongest wind interaction occurs at periastron passage. During the last periastron passage in 1993, WR 140 received much attention and has been studied at different wavelengths from X-ray to radio. However, only a few photometric studies in the optical were carried out so far and the long-term behaviour of that star is not known. Both stars WR 137 and WR 140 are included in the infrared study by Williams et al. (1987a) and reported to have dust shells.

WR 148 is a good candidate for a WR + c (WR plus compact companion) binary. There is some controversy about the light variations concerning the period and the shape of the light curve. Marchenko et al. (1998a) were not able to detect the 4.31 d binary period in the HIPPARCOS photometry data, otherwise well known from ground-based observations (Marchenko et al. 1996). The very “noisy” light curve and unusually broad minimum need further investigation.

WR 153 is a quadruple system (Massey 1981), containing a WN + O and an O + O system, or two WN + O pairs (Panov & Seggewiss 1990). During the past years, several photometric studies have been carried out. Yet the light variability of the two pairs could not always be unambiguously separated (Lamontagne et al. 1996). Our aim is to try to solve some of these controversial questions.

## 2 Observations

In 1991 we started a long-term photometric study of the four WR stars at the National Astronomical Observatory Rozhen, Bulgaria, using the 60 cm telescope and the UBV single channel, photon counting photometer. The photometric equipment has been used for many years and proved to be very stable (cf. Panov et al. 1982).

Table 1 contains the comparison and the check stars used. Generally, a 20″ diaphragm and an integration of 10 s were used. Each measurement consists of four consecutive integration cycles. An observing cycle was arranged in the following way: Sky - Comp - WR - Comp - Sky and was repeated 3 to 5 times, depending on the quality of the night. A separate measurement of the comparison star against the check star in the same way was obtained before or after the WR star observation. Thus a nightly mean was calculated from the 3 to 5 individual measurements. The standard error of the nightly mean is 0.003 - 0.005 mag in most cases. Reduction of the data was made taking into account dead-time effects, atmospheric extinction, and transformation into the standard $`UBV`$ system. In the following tables we present the magnitudes in the standard system; for WR 137, WR 140, and WR 148 the data are magnitude differences in the sense: comparison star minus WR star. The contribution $`\delta (BV)`$ and $`\delta (UB)`$ of emission lines to the respective colours are taken from Pyper (1966) and included in Table 1 (last two columns). No corrections have been applied for emission lines in our data. However, it does seem possible to distinguish the continuum light from the emission line variations by comparing the light in the $`UBV`$ passbands.

Many WR stars show subtle short and long term variations as can be seen in the case of WR 148 (Sec. 3.3). Therefore it is preferable to use the same photometric equipment for long term studies. This reduces possible systematic effects caused by slightly different passbands or response curves.

## 3 Discussion

### 3.1 WR 137

WR 137 = HD 192641 (WC7 + ?) has been studied in the infrared (IR) and peaks in brightness were reported in 1984.5 and in 1997, probably caused by heated dust (Williams 1997). The dust emission has been directly IR-imaged at two epochs recently using the Hubble Space Telescope by Marchenko et al. (1999). The repetition of IR maxima occurs with a $``$13 yr period, suggesting a possible binary origin, as found for other WR periodic dust makers. WR 137 was discovered to be a spectroscopic binary by Annuk (1995). However, Underhill (1992) did not find any evidence for binary motion in her data. Therefore, the binary status of WR 137 remains uncertain.

Marchenko & Pikhun (1992) published a long-term photometric study for 1958 - 1989, but it is based on photographic plates and the accuracy is insufficient to reveal light variations below a few per cent. Our photometry is presented in Table 2 and the light curves are shown in Fig 1. We searched for periodicities using the procedure of Lafler & Kinman (1965), in the period range from 1 d to 100 d, but no period could be found. The only photometric variations we can see in our data are random light variations with amplitudes of 0.02 mag (peak to peak) in $`V`$ during each observing season and up to 0.03 mag (peak to peak) when we compare different years. (However, the peak to peak amplitude from all data is 0.05 mag in $`B`$, and 0.07 mag in $`U`$.) During 1991-1998 22 measurements of the check star HD 192987 were obtained. The mean values (N = 22) of the magnitude differences (HD 192538 minus HD 192987) and their standard deviations are $`\mathrm{\Delta }V=0.002\pm 0.008`$ mag and $`\mathrm{\Delta }B=0.088\pm 0.009`$ mag. The scatter in Fig. 1 is greater than the observational error ($`5\sigma `$ in $`B!`$) and, therefore, probably contains real erratic variations with small amplitudes.

In 1997, when the last peak in the IR was observed (Williams 1997), no photometric effect can be seen, apart from small-amplitude random variations. Their origin should arise in the continuum, as the plots in Fig. 2 suggest: There are some correlations ($`r=0.58`$ for $`B`$ and $`V`$ and $`r=0.64`$ for $`U`$ and $`B`$) between the lightcurves in each of the three passbands, which would be difficult to explain by variability of emission lines. The origin of the small-amplitude random continuum variations of WR 137 is possibly related to dynamical wind instabilities, resulting in temperature effects at the “pseudo-photospheric” level.

### 3.2 WR 140

WR 140 = HD 193793 (WC7 + O4-5) is another periodic dust maker. Williams et al. (1978, 1987a, 1987b, 1990) and Williams (1997) reported variations in the IR, revealing brightenings in 1977, 1985, and in 1993, which they attributed to the building of dust grains in the WR 140 wind with a period of 7.94 yr. The re-occurrence of the heated dust has been interpreted as due to wind-wind interaction in a binary system. Earlier spectroscopic studies failed to reveal the binary motion. However, a re-analysis of earlier published radial velocities and using the period in the IR (7.94 yr) led to a successful determination of the orbit (Williams et al. 1987c). It was found that the grain formation coincides with the periastron passage (PP) in the system (actually occurring before PP). This discovery was later confirmed by Moffat et al. (1987) and now presents the basic model for studies of WR 140. Williams et al. (1990) and van der Hucht et al. (1991) reported on variability of WR 140 at X-ray, UV, IR and radio-wavelengths. Our photometry of WR 140 is presented in Table 3 and the light curves are shown in Fig. 3. From Fig. 3, there is clear evidence for a dip in the light in 1993, between orbital phases $``$0.9 and 1.1. The dip is seen in all passbands and should therefore be due to continuum light attenuation. The amplitude of the “eclipse” in the $`V`$ passband is 0.03 mag.

Two remarkable features are to be mentioned. First, the very broad shape of the light minimum, assuming a smooth trend between yearly data. After 1993, the light gradually increased to reach the “pre-eclipse” level in 1997, or even 1998. Considering the “eclipse” to be caused by an obscuration of the star(s) by the wind, the light curves strongly suggest that a dust envelope was built up around the WR star by the wind-wind interaction at the PP, which was gradually dispersed in the following years. Possibly it is the same dust observed in the IR when still heated. Second, it is apparent (Fig. 3) that the amplitude of the eclipse increases towards shorter wavelengths. In the lower panel of Fig. 3, the variation of the colour $`\mathrm{\Delta }(UV)`$ is shown, which is in the sense: WR 140 colour gets redder when its light is attenuated. This conclusion is easily obtained when considering the magnitudes of the comparison star HD 193888, which are: $`V=8.54`$, $`BV=0.07`$, $`UB=0.25`$, and $`UV=0.32`$. The amplitude of the colour variation in $`UV`$ of WR 140 is 0.04 mag (again Fig. 3). As is well known, the main source of opacity, (non-relativistic) electron scattering, has no effect on colours. Thus, in this case electron scattering alone is not sufficient, and an additional opacity source should be introduced, possibly Rayleigh (or Mie) scattering by small carbon dust particles.

Occasional “eclipses” have been observed in the carbon-rich late-type WC stars WR 103, WR 113, and WR 121 (for a history of “eclipses” see Veen et al. 1998). In these cases the “eclipses” were caused by occasional formation of dust in the line-of-sight. Although dust formation in the winds of late-type WC stars is now well established, the problem with grain condensation in the very hostile environments where the grains are believed to form remains unsolved. Clearly, a trigger is needed to start the grain formation. In the case of WR 140, this could be the shock compression in the colliding winds at PP. We assume that the fading of WR 140 shortly after PP is due to dust condensation in the wind of the WC star. After the condensation ceases the star brightens again because the dust is blown away and gradually dispersed. The “eclipses” studied by Veen et al. (1998) have typical amplitudes of several tenths of a magnitude and last from several days up to a month. In contrast, the amplitude of the light dip in WR 140 is much smaller and the recovery of brightness lasts several years. This implies continuing supply (expanding from the PP production + new?) of dust, even 2 – 3 years after PP. If there is new dust, this would be really surprising, since the trigger seems no longer to be effective. Following the procedure of Veen et al. (1998, using their equations (5), (6), and (7)) and taking the terminal velocity $`v_{\mathrm{}}=2900\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1`$ from Eenens & Williams (1994), we obtain for the distance $`R_{\mathrm{cc}}`$ of the dust formation region from the WC star in WR 140: $`R_{\mathrm{cc}}\mathrm{300\hspace{0.17em}000}R_{\mathrm{}}`$. This is only a rough estimate, but it is much larger than the respective distances for all “eclipses” studied by Veen and co-workers. It is also much larger than the radius of the shell of WR 140 obtained by Williams et al. (1987a) which is $`R_{shell}=1490R_{\mathrm{}}`$. Taking for the carbon particle density $`1.85\mathrm{g}\mathrm{cm}^3`$ we get for the dust mass production rate (over unit area) the value $`\dot{M}_d=\mathrm{2\hspace{0.17em}10}^{13}\mathrm{kg}\mathrm{m}^2\mathrm{s}^1`$. These results should be taken with caution because of the small amplitude of the “eclipse” in WR 140 and of possible deviations from the model used (e.g. continued supply of dust after PP).

WR 140 was observed photometrically during PP in 1977 by Fernie (1978) but no changes of brightness were found. This is likely due to his low precision data.

Like WR 137, the observations of WR 140 also show small-amplitude, day-to-day random light variations (amplitudes up to 0.02 mag), in addition to the eclipse variation. Fig. 4 shows the correlations of the random light variations in $`UBV`$, indicating that they are likely due to continuum rather than emission line variations (similar to WR 137, Fig. 2). Dynamical wind instabilities could be the origin, as in WR 137. Moffat & Shara (1986) suggested a 6.25 d period for the light variations they observed in WR 140, which, however, does not fit our data. Our observations during 1991 - 1998 cover 90% of the orbit. It remains to be seen whether the forthcoming PP in 2001 will repeat the light curve so far observed.

### 3.3 WR 148

WR 148 (= HD 197406, WN8 + c?) is a single-line spectroscopic binary, possibly hosting a compact companion. The star has been studied by Bracher (1979). She determined the orbital period as $`P=4.3174`$ d and also found light variations with the same period and an amplitude of 0.04 mag in $`V`$. Further spectroscopic studies by Moffat & Seggewiss (1979, 1980) revealed an unusually low mass function of the system, which was later confirmed by Drissen et al. (1986): f(m) = 0.28 M. WR 148 has also an exceptionally large distance from the galactic plane, $`z=500800`$ pc (Moffat & Isserstedt 1980; Dubner et al. 1990). Smith et al. (1996) found that WR 148 is a WN8 star. The low mass function and high $`z`$ value led Moffat & Seggewiss (1980) to advance the idea that WR 148 harbours a compact companion as product of a supernovae explosion some 5 Myr ago. In their model, the companion is orbiting within the WR envelope. As the companion orbits around the WR star the projected envelope density varies. This is the origin of the light variations of WR 148, because electron scattering occurs in this envelope. Photometric studies by Antokhin (1984), Moffat & Shara (1986), and Marchenko et al. (1996) confirmed the light variations found by Bracher (1979) with an amplitude of 0.03 mag in $`V`$ and also point to the very “noisy” appearence of the light curve. (With the ephemeris of Drissen et al. (1986), the light minimum occurs at phase zero with the WR star in front). Marchenko et al. (1996) noted the unusual wide-shaped light minimum, quite different from other known WR + O systems with atmospheric eclipses and a V-shaped light minimum (Lamontagne et al. 1996). For WR 148, Marchenko et al. suggested that the secondary light arises from an extended hot cavity in the WR envelope, near the companion, and which is ionized by X-rays. According to Marchenko et al., the rather weak X-ray source observed in WR 148 (Pollock et al. 1995) may be explained by the hot X-ray cavity being locally embedded in the WR envelope. Presently, the evolutionary status of WR 148 remains unclear and the companion could be either a B2-B4 III-V star or a relativistic object (as deduced from the mass function, Marchenko et al. 1996).

Our photometry is presented in Table 4 and the light curves are shown in Fig. 5, plotted with the ephemeris of Drissen et al. (1986). From Fig. 5 it is apparent that our light curves in 1993 are similar to the light curves published by Moffat & Shara (1986). The minimum occurs at phase zero. The 1994 light curves, however, show a remarkable change in their shape and mean light level. Random light variations, already noted in other works, could well contribute to the disturbance of the light curve shape, but it is unlikely that they would change the mean light. Furthermore, long-term changes in mean light appear to be correlated in $`U`$, $`B`$, and $`V`$ (Fig. 5). Therefore, they too should be due to changes in continuum light.

There is a strong evidence for a long-term variation of the mean light. Although the time-base is too short, there are some indications that the long-term variation is periodic, possibly with a cycle of about 4 years. Marchenko et al. (1998b) point to a possible “overall brightening” of WR 148 in 1994 and 1995. As shown in Fig. 5, it is obvious that in 1993 the mean light was even some 0.05 mag higher, as in 1994. This long-term variation completely masks the short-term binary variations if the whole data set is depicted in one plot. Therefore we plotted the data separately for each year in Fig. 5.

Taking into account the model of Marchenko et al.(1996), the long-term light variations in WR 148 could be due to variations of the size of the hot X-ray cavity. Further conclusions at that time seem premature. A comment should be given on the observation at JD 2449585.4, phase = 0.57 (the companion $``$ in front), which strongly deviates from the regular light curve of 1994. As we can exclude observational errors as a reason for this measurement, it has to have some astrophysical origin. For instance, an event of accretion onto a compact companion could be invoked to explain this flare-like burst.

Flickering and flaring of WR 148 on different time-scales have been reported by Antokhin & Cherepashchuck (1989), Zhilyaev et al. (1995) and Khalack & Zhilyaev (1995). Matthews et al. (1992) looked for flares in the WR star EZ Canis Majoris (WR 6 = HD 50896, WN5) and reported one flare event. Flare-type activity of EZ CMa was also observed by Duijsens et al. (1996). This star is in many respects similar to WR 148, e.g. showing light variations with a 3.77 d period, long-term changes in the light curve, and a possible WR + c binary status (Firmani et al. 1980; Balona et al. 1989; Duijsens et al. 1996).

### 3.4 WR 153

WR 153 (= HD 211853 = GP Cep) is a quadruple system (Massey 1981) with orbital periods 6.6884 d (pair A, WR + O) and 3.4696 d (pair B, WR + O or O + O). Earlier spectroscopic studies by Hiltner (1945) and Bracher (1968) revealed radial velocity variations due to binary motion with a period of 6.68 d. Panov & Seggewiss (1990) reanalysed Hiltner‘s velocity data and found evidence for two WR stars, one in each pair. WR 153 has been observed photometrically by Hjellming & Hiltner (1963), Stepien (1970), Moffat & Shara (1986), Panov & Seggewiss (1990), and Annuk (1994), all detecting eclipses with both periods, 6.6884 d and 3.47 d. Finally, Annuk (1994) refined the second period to 3.4696 d, in agreement with the velocity data of Massey (1981). However, in the recent analysis of WR star light curves by Lamontagne et al. (1996) the 3.47 d variation of pair B could not unambiguously be extracted from their data.

Our photometry of WR 153 is presented in Table 5 and the light curves are shown in Fig. 6a and Fig. 6b, with the 6.6884 d and 3.4696 d periods, respectively. From Fig. 6, our data are consistent with the ephemeris of Massey (1981) and Annuk (1994), respectively. Since the true shape of both light curves is unknown, no allowance is made for the 3.47 d period in Fig. 6a, where it is superimposed on the 6.69 d light variations. In Fig. 6b, the data points around the 6.69 d period minimum (at phases from 0.96 to 0.13 in Fig. 6a) have been removed.

The light curve with the 6.69 d period (pair A) is probably due to an atmospheric eclipse (only one, V-shaped light minimum!). In pair B, two light minima are seen due to a core eclipse in that pair. Independent evidence can be obtained from the HIPPARCOS photometry data. We made a period search, using 122 data-points from HIPPARCOS. The analysis was performed with the PERIBM procedure, developed at the Astronomical Institute of the University of Vienna (latest version from:
ftp://dsn.astro.univie.ac.at./pub/PERIOD98/current/). Our analysis clearly shows that there are peaks at $`f1=0.5763641`$ d<sup>-1</sup>, corresponding to a 1.735 d period, and at $`f2=0.1495867`$ d<sup>-1</sup>, corresponding to the 6.69 d period. The 1.735 d period is exactly 1/2 of the 3.47 d period and the reason that it shows up in the amplitude spectrum is because of the double-wave light curve (two eclipses in pair B), consistent with our ground-based photometry. Moffat & Shara (1986) also deduced that pair A had a single minimum at phase 0.00 ($`P=6.69`$ d) and pair B had a double minimum at phases 0.00 and 0.50 ($`P=3.47`$ d).

## 4 Conclusions

Our photometry of WR 137 reveals only small amplitude ($``$ 0.03 mag in the $`V`$ passband) random light variations. No periodicity could be found. These variations should be attributed to the continuum and they are probably due to dynamical wind instabilities.

WR 140 exhibited remarkable light variations and a shallow light dip is seen in all passbands shortly after periastron passage in 1993. The light attenuation lasted until 1997 or even 1998, probably because of a dust envelope built around the WR star by wind-wind interaction at periastron passage. The dust envelope was gradually dispersed. From the wavelength dependence of the light attenuation, we find strong evidence for Rayleigh (Mie-like) scattering, contributing to the opacity, in addition to electron scattering.

For WR 148, our photometric study confirms the 4.317364 d light variation, but reveals occasional scatter, disturbing the light curve shape. On one occasion, we see a flare-like event at a phase when the companion is in front. Our photometry reveals long-term variations of the mean light and, possibly, of the amplitude of the regular variation. There is some evidence for a periodicity of the long-term light variation and a 4 year cycle cannot be ruled out.

Our photometry of WR 153 is consistent with the quadruple model for this star and both the 6.6884 d and the 3.4696 d periods are seen in the light. In pair A (6.6884 d period) we found evidence for an atmospheric eclipse, in agreement with the results of other works, while in pair B (3.4696 d period) the eclipse is probably photospheric (core eclipse).

###### Acknowledgements.

This research project was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft DFG,
grant 436 BUL 113/88/0. In addition, M. Altmann is grateful to the DFG for grant Bo 779/21. K.P. Panov kindly acknowledges the support by the Bulgarian National Science Foundation, grant F 826. Thanks are due to J.S.W. Stegert for his participation in the observations. The authors are thankful to the referee Dr. A.F.J. Moffat for his fruitful suggestions. For our research we made with pleasure use of the SIMBAD data base in Strasbourg.


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# The Morphology, Color, and Gas Content of Low Surface Brightness Galaxies

## 1. Introduction

The importance of low surface brightness (LSB) galaxies in the local universe has recently been emphasized in a study by O’Neil & Bothun (2000) which has extended the known distribution of galaxies in the local universe. Their result is a flat surface brightness distribution function from the Freeman value of 21.65 $`\pm `$ 0.30 to the survey limit of 25.0 B mag arcsec-2, more than 10$`\sigma `$ away (Figure 1a). This indicates that the majority of the galaxies, and potentially the majority of the baryons in the local universe, are contained in gravitational potentials only dimly lit by the embedded galaxy. Realizing that most galaxies are optically diffuse, then, it becomes extremely important to understand these systems if we wish to understand galaxy formation and evolution as a whole. With this in mind I wish to undertake a brief review both of our current understanding of LSB galaxy properties as well as a review of some popular ideas behind the formation of these enigmatic systems.

## 2. What We (think) We Know about LSB Galaxies

LSB galaxy colors: Contrary to what was first believed, the colors of LSB galaxies range across the entire high surface brightness (HSB) galaxy spectrum, including what may be the bluest galaxy known (UGC 12695, with $`UI=0.2`$) as well has some fairly red systems ($`BV>\mathrm{\hspace{0.25em}1.0}`$) (Figure 1b) (O’Neil, et.al. 1997a, 1997b, 1998). Although currently it appears that LSB galaxy colors do not quite extend into the extremely red colors found in some HSB galaxies, this is likely due more to small number statistics rather than to an actual lack of extremely red LSB systems.

Gas-to-luminosity ratio of LSB galaxies: The gas-to-luminosity ratio (MHI/LB) of LSB galaxies spans an extremely large range, from fairly low (MHI/LB = 0.1 $`M_{}/L_{}`$ ) through what may be the highest MHI/LB galaxies known (\[OBC97\] N9-2, MHI/LB = 46 $`M_{}/L_{}`$ ). Additionally, if any trend can be seen between the galaxies’ color and gas content it is that there may be an increase in their MHI/LB with redder color (Figure 2a) (O’Neil, Bothun, & Schombert 2000, OBS from now on).

Tully-Fisher relation: Although previous studies have shown LSB galaxies to follow a slightly broadened version of the standard Tully-Fisher (T-F) relation defined by HSB galaxies (Zwaan, et.al. 1995), a recent study of over 40 LSB galaxies found no significant correlation between LSB galaxy velocity widths and absolute magnitudes, with only 40% of the sample falling within 1$`\sigma `$ of the previously defined LSB T-F relation (Figure 2b). At the least, then, there is a significant population of LSB galaxies which do not adhere to the T-F relation (OBS).

Rotation curves: The rotation curves of LSB galaxies have been shown to rise more slowly than similar HSB galaxies Using ‘standard’ values for the stellar mass-to-luminosity ratio, as taken from HSB galaxies ($`\mathrm{{\rm Y}}_{}`$ = 1 – 3), this leads to the conclusion that many LSB galaxies have a baryonic mass fraction up to 3$`\times `$ less than HSB galaxies with the same velocity width (i.e. Swaters, et.al. 2000; Van Zee, et.al. 1998; de Blok & McGaugh 1997).

## 3. What Are LSB Galaxies?

The faded version of HSB galaxies? No. LSB galaxies often have both very blue colors and very low metallicities ($`BV`$ $`<`$ 0.2, Z $`<`$ 0.01$`Z_{}`$ ), precluding the possibility that LSB galaxies are primarily composed of an old stellar population. As a caveat, though, it should be noted that a number of very red LSB galaxies have now been found, and these could be faded HSB galaxies. If this is correct, though, all other LSB galaxies (i.e. those which do not have extremely red colors) would have to be explained, as well as why there are two separate populations of LSB galaxies (O’Neil, et.al. 1997a, 1997b).

“Stretched out” HSB galaxies? No. Current theories describing LSB galaxies as extending further into their dark matter haloes than similar HSB galaxies predict that LSB galaxies will follow either a universal T-F relation or one which is unique at each $`\mu `$(0) . These theories therefore cannot account for the galaxies of OBS which fall well off the T-F relation, with no correlation between $`\mu `$(0) and residual error. Additional problems with the models can (depending on which models are considered) include: difficulty matching the observed shape of LSB galaxy rotation curves; inability to allow for high gas fraction, red LSB galaxies, (i.e. Dalcanton, et.al. 1997; McGaugh & de Blok 1998; Avila-Reese & Firmani 2000; McGaugh 1999).

A completely new type of galaxy? No. Although this idea could justify ignoring LSB galaxies when determining theories of galaxy formation and evolution, no evidence has been seen for LSB galaxies to be anything but a continuation of the HSB galaxy spectrum. There is a smooth transition between LSB and HSB galaxies in surface brightness and complete overlap in LSB and HSB galaxy colors, scale lengths, mass, luminosity, etc. (i.e. Bell & de Blok 2000; O’Neil, et.al. 1997a, 1997b).

Galaxies with a different stellar population? Maybe. Although this is not a popular idea, as having an IMF which depends on galaxy properties (i.e. surface density) adds complication to models of galaxy evolution, this theory has not yet been disproved. The gas density of LSB galaxies is typically at or below the nominal threshold for star formation, as set by the Toomre criterion (i.e. Van Zee, et.al. 1998; de Blok, McGaugh, & Van der Hulst 1996). With this in mind, it would be suprising if LSB galaxies’ IMF was not at least somewhat affected by their low density. Additionally, recent HST WFPC-2 studies of three nearby LSB dE galaxies failed to find evidence for a significant number of red giants ($`<`$ 13 per 10 pc2, as opposed to the 100s per 10 pc2 typically found in HSB galaxies (O’Neil, et.al. 1999)). Using these two ideas – the low gas density and the lack of evidence for significant numbers of giant branch stars – we can construct a toy model wherein no stars greater than 2$`M_{}`$ are allowed to form. When this is done, not only are LSB galaxy colors, gas fractions, etc. readily matched, but it is also remarkably easy to form both red and blue galaxies which do not follow the canonical T-F relation (see OBS). Additionally, the addition of a large number of small stars to any galaxy dramatically increases the galaxy’s stellar mass-to-luminosity ratio ($`\mathrm{{\rm Y}}_{}`$) and can dramatically decrease the total amount of dark matter needed in LSB systems (Swaters, et.al. 2000; OBS). Although these models are admittedly extremely oversimplified, they pave the way for further studies into this idea, and currently appear to be the best theory going.

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# Measuring the Size of the Vela Pulsar’s Radio Emission Region

## 1. Theoretical Background

Waves from a pointlike source observed through a scattering medium will suffer random phase changes. If the phase changes are much larger than 1 radian, the observer will receive radiation from many Fresnel zones, and the scattering is said to be “strong”. In this case the electric field at the plane of the observer is the sum of the electric field from many lines of sight, differing random phases (Goodman 1985). The net electric field is the result of a random walk. The electric field is thus drawn from a Gaussian distribution. Its square modulus, the intensity, is drawn from an exponential distribution (Scheuer 1968).

The region from which the observer receives radiation is known as the scattering disk. Scattering changes phases in the Fresnel zones, and thus acts somewhat like a lens. If the source is resolved by this “lens”, the observed intensity is an incoherent sum from each part of the source. For a source of small but finite size, the resulting distribution of intensity is the sum of 3 exponentials. The scales of the smaller exponentials are approximately the size of the source along either direction on the sky, in units of the linear resolution of the scattering disk (Gwinn et al. 1998). Figure 1 shows example of the resulting intensity distributions for a point source, and for a small but resolved source. When the source is resolved, the lowest intensities are absent.

## 2. Observations

We compare the observed distribution of intensity with theoretical models to find the size of the Vela pulsar. The Vela pulsar is a favorable object for such observations because it is strong and heavily scattered. Observations at decimeter wavelengths easily capture many independent scintles in time and frequency. We observe the source interferometrically, rather than with a single dish, to avoid interference and effects of the substantial noise baseline seen in single-dish observations. Details of the observations are described elsehwere (Gwinn et al. 2000a).

Figure 1 shows an example of the observed distribution of correlated flux density on the short Tidbinbilla-Parkes baseline for the Vela pulsar. We find a size of $`340\pm 80`$ km for the data shown in the figure.

Noise affects the distribution shown in Figure 1 strongly. Like finite source size, noise reduces the number of points at small amplitude. Noise can be measured accurately from observations of quasars, blank sky, or between pulses. Its effects can then be removed. The effects of changes in spectral structure on noise from digitization can also be caculated (Gwinn et al. 2000b).

Several effects other than noise can also affect the observed distribution. Among these are correlator saturation, shot noise, pulse-to-pulse variability, and gain variations. These can be either calculated theoretically, measured from observations, or inferred from the distribution of intensity. Gwinn et al. (2000a) discuss these effects in detail.

## 3. Modulation Index

The fact that source size affects the distribution of intensity, in scintillation, has long been known. (“Stars twinkle, planets do not.”) The modulation index, $`m=\sqrt{<I^2><I>^2}/<I>`$, quantifies the effect (Salpeter 1967, Cohen, Gundermann, & Harris 1967). For a point source $`m=1`$; for an extended source $`m<1`$, with smaller modulation $`m`$ for a larger source, other factors being equal. Single-dish observers used measurements of modulation index to infer source sizes before the advent of radio interferometry, and this technique remains standard at low frequencies (Hewish, Readhead, & Duffett-Smith 1974, Hajivasiliou 1992). However, it is more subject to scintillation shot noise, and less immune to systematic effects, than a direct comparison of distribution functions.

A finite observation necessarily samples a finite number of scintles. Averages over this sample approximate the statistical averages $`<I^2>`$ and $`<I>`$. Because the nearly-exponential distribution falls off rapidly at high intensity, these sums (particularly $`<I^2>`$) are dominated by the relatively rare scintles with the highest intensities. On the other hand, the effects of source structure are most important at the lowest intensities, where the number of scintillations is large, but the contribution to $`<I>`$ and $`<I^2>`$ is small. Thus, direct estimation of the modulation index is relatively insensitive to source size and relatively more sensitive to scintle shot noise than a direct comparison of the forms of distribution functions.

Correlator saturation also affects the modulation index strongly, because its effects are largest at high intensity. Moreover, since the observable is a single number, rather than a distribution, it is more difficult to know what effects are playing signficant roles.

Interestingly, Roberts & Ables (19) measured the modulation index, as well as the characteristic time and frequency scales of scintillation, in their classic study of scattering of southern-hemisphere pulsars. They report a modulation index of $`0.97\pm 0.03`$ for the Vela pulsar at 18 cm wavelength, and of $`0.90\pm 0.02`$ at 9 cm wavelength. Interpolation between these values is consistent with our results quoted above.

Interestingly, Roberts & Ables find that the modulation index is smaller at shorter observing wavelengths, suggesting that the source size is greater. This conclusion is surprising from the standpoint of the standard radius-to-frequency mapping. (Note, however, that these measurements are of size rather than emission height.) The larger inferred size might reflect on the more complicated pulse profile of this pulsar at shorter wavelengths (Kern et al. 2000). On the other hand, it might also reflect systematic effects; at short wavelengths the scintles have wide bandwidths but the source remains quite strong, so that correlator saturation should become more serious. In contrast, self-noise and gain variations might be expected to be more important at lower frequencies. Observations of the full distribution of intensity in scintillation, as a function of wavelength, should indicate the origin of this variation of modulation index.

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