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# “Lifshitz tails” and extended states in an Imaginary random potential

## Abstract

Non-Hermitean operators may appear during the calculation of a partition function in various models of statistical mechanics. The tail eigen-states, having anomalously small real part of energy $`Re(\epsilon )`$, became naturally important in this case. We consider the distribution of such states and the form of eigenfunctions for the particle propagating in an imaginary random potential (the model motivated by the statistics of polymer chains). Unlike it is in the Hermitean quantum mechanics, our tail states are sufficiently extended. Such state appear if the values of random potential turns out to be anomalously close inside the large area. Results of numerical simulations in the case of strong coupling confirm the analytic estimates.

today

The phenomena of Anderson localization  of a quantum particle in the random potential attracted a permanent interest during last 40 years. On the other hand, a considerable attention have been paid last years to the investigation of features of eigenfunctions of non-Hermitean Hamiltonians with disorder. A popular example of this kind is the Hatano-Nelson model , where in the presence of the imaginary vector-potential the transition between real and complex spectrum takes place . This transition is usually referred as the mobility edge in 1d problem (which is already surprising). In this paper we consider another example, where the localized(delocalized) eigenfunctions of non-Hermitean Hamiltonian behave in the ”inverted”, compared to the Hermitean case, way.

Two recent papers  deals with the non-Hermitean quantum mechanical Hamiltonian with an imaginary random potential

$$H=\frac{p^2}{2m}+iV(r).$$
(1)
This study was motivated by the observation that the Euclidean evolution operator $`r|\mathrm{exp}[tH]|0`$ with $`H`$ (1) after averaging over $`\delta `$-correlated disordered potential $`V`$ coincides with the probability distribution $`Z(r,t)`$ for the Edwards self-repulsing polymer .

Many applications of non-Hermitean operators (like both our examples) come from the statistical physics and naturally deal with the imaginary time(Euclidean) evolution. In its turn, for the Euclidean evolution operator the ground state contribution (contribution from the states with lowest $`Re\epsilon `$) is naturally enhanced . Therefore in this paper we are going to consider the tail of the eigenfunctions of the Hamiltonian (1), having smallest real part of energy $`Re\epsilon `$. In the Hermitean quantum mechanics eigen-states with anomalously small $`\epsilon `$ (so called “Lifshitz tails” ) originates from the rare localized fluctuations of the disorder $`V`$ and are themselves well localized. For the Hamiltonian eq. (1) first of all the energy is bounded from below $`Re\epsilon >0`$ . The most surprising is the fact that for smaller and smaller $`Re\epsilon `$ in eq. (1) (closer to $`Re\epsilon =0`$) one finds (exponentially rare) the more and more extended states. Investigation of this “delocalization at the tail” in imaginary disordered potential will be the main goal of this paper.

In all cases the tail states appear only due to some special rare fluctuations of the random potential. The standard procedure is to derive some kind of saddle-point equation in order to find the most probable fluctuation giving rise to the eigenmode with given (small) energy. Both the potential and the wave function in this case are the instanton-like solutions of some nonlinear differential equation . This straight scenario breaks up for the model eq. (1). The necessary fluctuation in our case is simply $`Vconst`$ inside some sufficiently large connected area. The small probability to have no considerable fluctuations on top of this $`V=const`$ leads to the exponential suppression of density of states at the tail. This absence of the well defined saddle-point equation describing the rare tail states may not be specific only for our Hamiltonian with random imaginary potential. It will be extremely interesting to find another physically motivated models, where the Instanton is not defined via the solution of any classical equation of motion.

In this paper we will investigate in detail only the case of strong disorder. To this end it is natural to consider the discretized version of the Hamiltonian (1)

$$(H\psi )_n=t(\psi _{n+1}+\psi _{n1})+iV_n\psi _n=\epsilon \psi _n.$$
(2)
This is for 1-dimension. Generalization for the arbitrary dimension $`d`$ is straightforward. Let random $`V`$ be uniformly distributed over $`w/2<V_n<w/2`$ with $`wt`$. Taking into account Gaussian distributed disorder is important if one would like to consider the mapping onto some kind of polymer problem. In our case however, Gaussian potential will only introduce unnecessary complexifications like nonuniform distribution of eigenvalues along the imaginary axis. In the strong coupling limit states in the bulk of spectrum are evidently localized, making it easy to distinguish the extended states at the border. For the continuous model (1) disorder also should be always considered as strong for the small enough $`Re\epsilon `$. Therefore although the features of solutions of the eq. (2) will be very peculiar in the bulk, we still may expect some kind of universal behavior at the tail.

In the leading approximation in $`t/w`$ one has

$$\psi _n\delta _{n,m},\epsilon iV_m.$$
(3)
The wave function is localized at the site $`m`$ and the energy is pure imaginary. Corrections to the energy appear only in the second order in $`t`$ (again the generalization for arbitrary $`d`$ is trivial)

$$\epsilon =iV_m\frac{it^2}{V_mV_{m+1}}\frac{it^2}{V_mV_{m1}}+\mathrm{}.$$
(4)
There is also no real part of $`\epsilon `$. Moreover since the perturbation ($`t`$) has no diagonal matrix elements the corrections to energy may be only of the even order in $`t`$ and consequently odd in $`iV`$. Therefore, in any order of perturbation theory the energy is pure imaginary. The nonzero $`Re\epsilon `$ appears if the values of potential at two neighboring sites occasionally turns out to be very close $`V_1V_2t`$. The two values of energy are now found by simple diagonalization of $`2\times 2`$ matrix

$$\epsilon =i\frac{V_1+V_2}{2}\pm \sqrt{t^2\frac{(V_1V_2)^2}{4}}.$$
(5)
For $`|V_1V_2|>2t`$ the energy is complex, but the perturbative series in $`t/(V_1V_2)`$ has finite radius of convergence. For our model (2) the $`4td/w`$ part of states are beyond this convergence region and acquire the nonzero $`Re\epsilon `$. The nonperturbative origin of $`Re\epsilon `$ is clearly an artifact of the strong coupling limit. However, it will teach us how the extended states may appear in this model. On fig. 1 we have plotted the distribution of real part of energy for the $`1d`$ and $`2d`$ versions of the Hamiltonian (2) found numerically for different values $`w/t`$.

In agreement with our prediction the huge $`\delta `$-peak appears at $`Re\epsilon =0`$. Due to the vanishing of the derivative $`dRe\epsilon /d(V_1V_2)`$ at $`V_1=V_2`$ the density of states described by the eq. (5) is singular at $`Re\epsilon =\pm t`$ (rainbow singularity)

$$\epsilon x+iy,P(x)=\frac{2d|x|}{w\sqrt{x^2t^2}}.$$
(6)
Here we use $`x`$ and $`y`$ for real and imaginary part of energy. The two peaks at $`x=\pm t`$ are clearly seen at the figure. (The data for smallest values of $`w/t`$ corresponds more to the case of intermediate disorder. Still some sharp peaks at $`x`$ close to $`\pm t`$ are seen in this case.)

In the case of only two close states (5) one has $`t<x<t`$. However, if where will be no disorder at all $`x`$ will vary within $`2dt<x<2dt`$. These two examples show, how to construct the fluctuations of $`V`$ which may lead to the smallest values of $`x`$. One should simply arrange a big cluster with anomalously close values of $`V`$ at many neighboring sites of the lattice. In $`1d`$ the cluster means a chain of $`q`$ consecutive sites with close $`V_n`$, $`V_iV_{i+1}\mathrm{}V_{i+q1}\overline{V}`$. The Schrödinger equation (2) on a finite segment has $`q`$ solutions of the form ($`1kq`$)

$`\psi _k^q(n)=\sqrt{{\displaystyle \frac{2}{q}}}\mathrm{sin}\left({\displaystyle \frac{\pi kn}{q+1}}\right)`$ ; $`0<n<q+1,`$ (7)
$`\epsilon _k=2t\mathrm{cos}\left({\displaystyle \frac{\pi k}{q+1}}\right)`$ $`+`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{i}{q}}{\displaystyle \underset{m=1}{\overset{q}{}}}V_m+𝒪(V^2/t).`$ (8)
Here $`|V_n\overline{V}|t`$ for all $`1nq`$. The tail states correspond to $`k=1`$. For $`q=2`$, $`k=1`$ and $`|V_1V_2|t`$ the eq. (7) reduces to the eq. (5). The solutions with $`k>1`$ are also extended, but they have large $`Re\epsilon `$. Therefore, $`\psi _k`$ with $`k>1`$ at given $`\epsilon `$ are statistically insufficient (except for the highest state with $`k=q`$). Taking into account the mixing with sites $`0`$ and $`q+1`$ may be done perturbatively. However, now the correction to energy due to the $`V_{0(q+1)}`$ is pure imaginary in any order of perturbation theory. The only corrections to the real part of energy described by the eq. (7) comes from $`V_n`$ with $`1nq`$.

The most interesting in the eq. (7) is that while looking for the state with small $`Re\epsilon `$ we have got in addition the smooth eigenfunction extended over the large ($`q1`$) number of lattice sites. (We prefer not to call our states delocalized since the localization length $`\xi `$ is usually defined via the exponent governing the decay of the tail of wave function and in our case $`\xi 1`$.)

On the fig. 2 we have shown the example of a rare extended wave function for the $`1d`$ model with $`w/t=10`$. We have found only one such ”delocalized” eigenmode among $`2\times 10^9`$ ($`6\times 10^7`$ realizations of the random potential on the sample having length $`l=30`$ lattice sites). The size of the cluster is $`q=11`$ and $`Re\epsilon =1.886`$. Another quantity, which may characterize the number of components of the wave function is the participation ratio $`p=(|\psi (i)|^2)^2/|\psi (i)|^4`$. For the function shown on the fig. 2 $`p=7.62`$, which is consistent with $`p=2q/3`$, following from the eq. (7).

We devote the rest of the paper to the estimation of the probability to find the extended tail states.

For any $`q`$ the real part of energy described by the eq. (7) is bounded from below. In particular for large $`q`$

$$\mathrm{min}Re\epsilon =\epsilon _0^{(q)}2t+t\pi ^2/q^2.$$
(9)
In the more realistic case the real part of energy is given by the second order formula

$$\epsilon (V)^{(q)}=\epsilon _0^{(q)}+\underset{n=2}{\overset{q}{}}\frac{1|\widehat{V}|nn|\widehat{V}|1}{\epsilon _n\epsilon _1}.$$
(10)
Here the summation goes over the states on the cluster (chain of the length $`q`$) described by the eq. (7). $`\widehat{V}`$ is the real potential eq. (2). The probability to find such cluster in the leading order may be found by simple counting of the number of independent variables $`V_n`$ entering the eq. (10). This gives

$$P^{(q)}\delta (\epsilon (V)^{(q)}x)\underset{i=1}{\overset{q}{}}\frac{dV_i}{w}\left[\frac{t(x\epsilon _0^{(q)})}{w^2}\right]^{{\scriptscriptstyle \frac{q}{2}}}.$$
(11)
Here $`q1`$. More precisely $`P^{(q)}(x\epsilon _0^{(q)})^{(q3)/2}`$, which gives the rainbow singularity (6) at $`x=t`$ and a finite jump of $`P(x)`$ at $`x=\sqrt{2}t`$. For given $`x`$ the $`P^{(q)}(x)`$ (11) reaches maximum at $`q`$ equal to

$$q=\pi \sqrt{\frac{t}{x\epsilon _0}},x\epsilon _0^{(q)}=\frac{2(x\epsilon _0)}{\mathrm{ln}\left(w^2/t(\epsilon \epsilon _0)\right)},$$
(12)
where $`\epsilon _0=\epsilon _0^{(q=\mathrm{})}=2t`$. The resulting probability to find the eigenstate, given by this largest $`P^{(q)}`$, reads

$$P(x)\left(\frac{const\times w^2}{t(x\epsilon _0)}\right)^{{\scriptscriptstyle \frac{\pi }{2}}\sqrt{{\scriptscriptstyle \frac{t}{x\epsilon _0}}}}.$$
(13)
Here we keep only the leading contributions and the argument of the exponent in the r.h.s. is found with only $`1/\mathrm{ln}(w/t)`$ accuracy. In $`2d`$ in order to get the anomalously small $`Re\epsilon `$ one should have occasionally close values of $`V_i`$ within the large circle (radius $`r=\sqrt{q/\pi }`$). The analog of the eq. (9) now became

$$\epsilon _0^{(q)}=4t+\pi j_0^2t/q,$$
(14)
where $`j_02.4048`$ is the first node of the Bessel function $`J_0(x)`$. Since we are in the strong coupling regime, eq. (11) is valid for any number of spatial dimensions. However, due to the another $`q`$-dependence of $`\epsilon _0^{(q)}`$ (14) the probability now has the form ($`\epsilon _0=4t`$)

$$P(x)\left(\frac{const\times w^2}{t(x\epsilon _0)}\right)^{{\scriptscriptstyle \frac{\pi j_0^2}{2}}{\scriptscriptstyle \frac{t}{x\epsilon _0}}}.$$
(15)
In general for arbitrary $`d`$ we expect ($`\epsilon _0=2dt`$)

$$\mathrm{ln}(P(x))\mathrm{ln}\left(\frac{w^2}{t(x\epsilon _0)}\right)\times \left(\frac{t}{x\epsilon _0}\right)^{d/2}.$$
(16)
On the figs. 3 and 4 we have plotted the $`\mathrm{ln}(P(x))`$ for $`d=1,2`$, found numerically for few values of $`w`$, as a function of scaling variable $`\chi =(t/(x\epsilon _0))^{d/2}`$. The agreement between the experiment and the theoretical formulas (13) and (15) (found with only $`1/\mathrm{ln}`$ accuracy!) for large $`w/t`$ is rather appreciable.

To conclude, we have considered the extended states in the strong coupling limit of the non-Hermitean Hamiltonian with random imaginary potential. Unlike it is in the case of Hermitean quantum mechanics, only the extended states survive close to the border of spectrum (may have anomalously small (large) $`Re(\epsilon )`$). These extended states appear due to the rare fluctuations of the random potential, where the values of $`V`$ inside some sufficiently large area turns out to be close. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first consideration of the instanton-like effect, where the most important large fluctuation of the field ($`V`$) is not found by the solution of any equation of motion. In the strong coupling limit the real part of energy appears only non-perturbatively. This leads to a special form of the density of states with various sharp features. This singular behavior is clearly seen at the histogram representing the results of numerical simulations. Simple analytical expressions were found for the density of states at the tail (and correspondingly for the probability to find the extended states). Even though the formulas were found only with the logarithmic accuracy, the theory agrees well with the results of numerical experiment. Extension of our approach for the case of weak disorder requires a further investigation. It will be also interesting to find another examples of rare ”physical” events described by non-classical instantons.

This work was supported by RFBR, grant 98-02-17905.


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# Raman Scattering Wings of H𝛼 in Symbiotic Stars

## 1 Introduction

A long standing puzzle regarding the identification of the so called symbiotic bands around 6830 Å and 7088 Å occurring in about half of symbiotic stars has been solved by Schmid (1989), who proposed that they are the O VI 1032, 1038 doublet features that are Raman scattered by atomic hydrogen. These Raman-scattered lines possess very broad profiles because of the broadening enhancement by a factor of about 6.4 due to the scattering incoherency, and they exhibit rich structures including multiple peaks and high degrees of polarization often accompanied by a position angle flip in the red wing parts (Harries & Howarth 1996, Schmid & Schild 1994, Schmid et al. 2000).

Colliding winds models are often invoked to explain the abundant structures shown in the Raman scattered lines (e.g. Girard & Willson 1987). Another point of view was presented by Lee & Park (1999), who argued that an accretion disk type emission model may be more adequate for explanations of the spectropolarimetric observational data. The Raman scattered lines should be important in that they provide unique information that can be obtained from a mirror located on the binary axis connecting the giant and the dwarf.

Nussbaumer et al. (1989) emphasized the importance of Raman scattering in astrophysics, and proposed that it may play an important role in the formation of broad H$`\alpha `$ wings from incident Ly$`\beta `$ photons. Lee & Hyung (2000, hereafter LH) computed the template wing profiles that are formed through Raman scattering in a plane-parallel H I region with various H I column densities, and applied their analysis to the young and compact planetary nebula IC 4997. The excellent agreement between the template profile with the observed one supports the hypothesis that the broad H$`\alpha `$ wings in IC 4997 are formed through Raman scattering in a neutral envelope with a H I column density $`N_{HI}10^{20}\mathrm{cm}^2`$, which is also consistent with the H I 21 cm absorption observation of IC 4997 (Altschuler et al. 1986).

The neutral envelope found in IC 4997 is an important element to study the mass loss process of the central star and we turn our attention to find similar evidence in symbiotic stars. Van Winckel et al. (1993) have compiled high resolution H$`\alpha `$ line profiles of symbiotic stars in the southern hemisphere and the northern counterparts have been done by Ivison et al. (1994). It was shown that a typical H$`\alpha `$ profile exhibits a dip in the center part and broad wings that often cover the narrow \[NII\] 6548, 6584 lines. Despite many studies on the H$`\alpha `$ profiles of symbiotic stars, it is not still clear whether they consist of multiple emission components or the center part is absorbed. A recent study by Schwank et al. (1997) shows that the central dip may represent the absorption and that the wing parts have a different origin. In this Letter, we perform profile fitting analyses to propose that Raman scattering may be responsible for the H$`\alpha `$ broad wings observed in symbiotic stars.

## 2 Profile Fitting Analysis

### 2.1 Assumptions

Most H$`\alpha `$ wings in symbiotic stars show velocity widths $`1000\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1`$. If they are formed through Raman scattering, then this implies that the kinematics of the emission region is characterized by a typical velocity of order $`150\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1`$, considering the Doppler enhancement factor $`\lambda _{H\alpha }/\lambda _{Ly\beta }=6.4`$. The detailed kinematic structure of the emission region is not certain at the moment, and this velocity scale exceeds by an order of magnitude the wind velocity associated with the mass loss of the giant companion in a symbiotic system. However, the Raman scattered features at 6830 Å and 7088 Å have typical widths of $`20\mathrm{\AA }`$, which also requires a similar velocity scale of about $`100\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1`$ in the O VI emission region. From the ORFEUS observations, O VI $`\lambda \lambda `$ 1032, 1038 lines with FWHM up to $`100\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1`$ have been observed in several symbiotic systems (Schmid et al. 1999). One plausible suggestion is that the UV lines are formed in an accretion disk type emission region that extends a sub-AU scale around the white dwarf component (Lee & Park 1999, Morris 1987).

In the profile analysis performed on the H$`\alpha `$ wings in IC 4997 by LH, it was assumed that there exists a dense emission region characterized by an electron density $`n_e10^{910}\mathrm{cm}^3`$ and the photoionization code ‘CLOUDY’ was used to show that a sufficient number of Ly$`\beta `$ photons are available for Raman scattering in the neutral envelope that is supposed to cover the central emission line region (Ferland 1996). Noting the similarity of the overall H$`\alpha `$ profile of IC 4997 and those of symbiotic stars compiled by van Winckel et al. (1993) and Ivison et al. (1994), we assume that Ly$`\beta `$ flux is available with a smooth profile and concentrate on the wing formation through Raman scattering.

In order to generate H$`\alpha `$ wing profiles that may extend in the range 6540 Å through 6580 Å, we assume that the incident Ly$`\beta `$ flux has a top-hat profile with a full width $`300\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1`$. This velocity scale is somewhat larger than that associated with the O VI emission lines observed in ORFEUS. It is pointed out here that if we use a narrow profile as the incident Ly$`\beta `$ flux such as a Gaussian with FWHM$`100\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1`$, then the Raman scattering will not produce the broad H$`\alpha `$ wings observed in symbiotic stars.

The neutral envelope may possess an expansion velocity of order $`10\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1`$ or higher, but this value is much smaller than the total wing width. The bulk velocity of the scattering region also shifts the center of the wing profiles with respect to the center of the core emission part. However, in this Letter, we neglect these small velocity shifts and concentrate on the wing formation process in a medium that is assumed to be static.

### 2.2 Template H$`\alpha `$ Wing Profiles

In order to prepare the template profiles, LH computed the Raman conversion factor $`C_R(\lambda )`$ which is defined as the ratio of the number of Raman-scattered and emergent H$`\alpha `$ photons to that of the incident Ly$`\beta `$ photons. In the wavelength interval $`6540\mathrm{\AA }\lambda _o6580\mathrm{\AA }`$ the branching ratio of the Raman scattering with respect to the Rayleigh scattering is approximately given by the relation

$$\sigma _{Ram}/\sigma _{Ray}0.1342+11.06\mathrm{\Delta }\lambda _i/\lambda _{Ly\beta },$$
(1)
where $`\mathrm{\Delta }\lambda _i\lambda _i\lambda _{Ly\beta }`$ is the difference of the wavelength $`\lambda _i`$ of the incident photon and that of the Ly$`\beta `$ line center (see Lee & Yun 1998).

The wing profile is obtained in the optically thin limit, where almost all the incident Ly$`\beta `$ photons are scattered no more than once. In this limit, from the Kramers-Heisenberg formula, the total scattering cross section that is the sum of the Rayleigh and Raman scattering cross sections is approximated by the far Lorentzian wing part, and therefore

$$\sigma _{tot}\mathrm{\Delta }\lambda _i^2+O(\mathrm{\Delta }\lambda _i^0).$$
(2)
Here, $`O(\mathrm{\Delta }\lambda _i^0)`$ is the remainder term dominated by the zeroth order of the wavelength shift (e.g. Sakurai 1967), and we neglected the damping constant associated with the life time of the $`2p`$ state of hydrogen atom.

Therefore, the wing profile is given by the relation

$$f_\lambda 0.1342/\mathrm{\Delta }\lambda _i^2+11.06/(\mathrm{\Delta }\lambda _i\lambda _{Ly\beta })+\mathrm{}.$$
(3)
This implies that the wing profile is approximated to the first order by the curve proportional to $`f(\mathrm{\Delta }v)=\mathrm{\Delta }v^2`$ with the flat incident Ly$`\beta `$ profile.

In the opposite limit where the scattering optical depth is much larger than 1, $`C_R`$ converges to a constant value that depends sensitively on the branching ratio $`\sigma _{Ram}/\sigma _{Ray}`$. Schmid (1996) showed that a Monte Carlo technique is useful to compute the efficiency of Raman scattering, and we use a Monte Carlo code to find that $`C_R`$ reaches 0.6 in the optically thick limit, which is consistent with the empirical formula proposed by Lee & Lee (1997).

### 2.3 Results

In Fig. 1, we compared the template profiles with the H$`\alpha `$ profiles of the symbiotic star SY Mus obtained by van Winckel et al. (1993). We enlarged the profiles by 5 times to show the detailed wing profiles. By the thick dashed lines we represent the profiles proportional to $`f(\mathrm{\Delta }v)=\mathrm{\Delta }v^2`$, which correspond to the envelope profiles in the optically thin limit and a flat incident radiation. The dotted lines and the long dashed lines show the wing profiles that are generated using the Monte Carlo technique adopted in the work of LH. The long dashed lines represent the wing profiles obtained from the scattering region of H I column density $`N_{HI}=5\times 10^{19}\mathrm{cm}^2`$ and the dotted lines from $`N_{HI}=10^{19}\mathrm{cm}^2`$. Notice that the wing strength is determined by the product of the Ly$`\beta `$ flux and the scattering column density, so that the solid blue lines are obtained from 5 times stronger incident Ly$`\beta `$ flux than in the case of the dotted blue lines.

In Fig. 2, we show the result of our fitting analysis to 16 symbiotic stars selected from the atlas of H$`\alpha `$ spectra compiled by van Winckel et al. (1993) and Ivison et al. (1994). In the present work we selected objects with conspicuous wings, and no particular selection criterion was applied. We note that most H$`\alpha `$ profiles not shown in Fig. 2 also showed similar quality of agreement with our template profiles. In Fig. 2, we used the Monte Carlo profile obtained from the scattering column of $`N_{HI}=10^{19}\mathrm{cm}^2`$ for simplicity of presentation. There is an excellent agreement between the observed H$`\alpha `$ wing profiles and the template wing profiles, which implies that Raman scattering is definitely a possible mechanism for the formation of the observed H$`\alpha `$ line wings in symbiotic stars.

## 3 Discussion

### 3.1 Alternative Candidates for the H$`\alpha `$ Wing Formation Mechanism

We may consider other theoretical possibilities for the H$`\alpha `$ wing formation mechanism. These include electron scattering, fast stellar winds or outflows and H$`\alpha `$ damping wing scattering. The electron scattering cross section is wavelength independent and therefore similar wings may be found in other emission lines including higher Balmer line series that may be formed in the same emission region as H$`\alpha `$. Spectroscopy with higher signal to noise ratio will be necessary to distinguish electron scattering wings from Raman wings.

If the H$`\alpha `$ wings in symbiotic stars represent the kinematics of the ionized hydrogen, then it may imply the existence of fast stellar winds or outflows. These outflows are often found in various objects including symbiotic stars, Wolf-Rayet stars and luminous blue variables. In particular, Schild, Mürset & Schmutz (1996) fitted the line wings of RW Hydrae with synthetic wind profiles and concluded that the wings are consistent with a wind feature. Wind emission may be distinguished from the scattered features by polarimetry, which is briefly discussed later.

According to Schwank et al. (1997) the core part of H$`\alpha `$ is formed mainly in the transition zone where ionized hydrogen recombines. They show that the Balmer lines are optically thick and therefore it is a possibility that the broad wings may be due to the H$`\alpha `$ damping wings. Because the H$`\alpha `$ damping wings are also characterized by the same dependence $`\mathrm{\Delta }\lambda ^2`$, this process is worth further discussion.

However, in this case the wing photons are also generated in the same region as the core photons and therefore we may expect that the wing strength should be strongly correlated with that of the core part. Schmutz et al.(1994) presented the H$`\alpha `$ profiles at various orbital phases of the symbiotic star SY Mus. They pointed out that the H$`\alpha `$ core part of this object shows regular variations both in the profiles and in the line intensity, whereas the wing part remains constant. This implies that the wing part may be formed in a much more extended region than in the region responsible for the core part.

It is notable that the Raman scattered H$`\alpha `$ wings can be strongly polarized depending on the scattering geometry. Because symbiotic stars usually exhibit bipolar nebular morphology, which may represent an anisotropic matter distribution around the central stellar region, we may expect that neutral hydrogen is distributed in a similar way. In this case, the H$`\alpha `$ wings can be strongly polarized with the polarization direction parallel or perpendicular to the polar axis. Furthermore, if the neutral envelope is expanding, then much stronger polarized flux will be obtained in the red wing part than in the blue wing part.

A hint of this behavior is shown in the spectropolarimetric observation of BI Crucis presented by Harries (1996), who proposed the accretion disk reflection as the main mechanism for polarization generation. However, the overall spectropolarimetric behavior shown in BI Cru can be also interpreted in the context of the Raman scattering in an expanding neutral envelope, of which more detailed theoretical study is under way (Bak & Lee, in preparation). Further spectropolarimetric observations of H$`\alpha `$ in symbiotic stars are expected to provide important clues to the origin of the broad H$`\alpha `$ wings.

At present, other mechanisms cannot be excluded as the origin of the H$`\alpha `$ broad wings in symbiotic stars. However, in view of the current profile fitting analyses and the existence of the Raman scattered O VI lines in symbiotic stars, we propose that the Raman scattering of Ly$`\beta `$ by atomic hydrogen may provide the most plausible explanation for the H$`\alpha `$ wing formation.

### 3.2 Observational Ramifications

In the present work, the essential parameters are the strength of the incident Ly$`\beta `$ and the scattering column density $`N_{HI}`$, of which the product determines the wing flux profile and therefore becomes the only free parameter in the profile fitting analysis. In the fitting analysis performed on the planetary nebula IC 4997 by LH, there exist H I observations to obtain an independent measurement of $`N_{HI}`$ (see Altschuler et al. 1986). In the present work no such observations seem to be available at this time, and similar H I observations may provide important information about the wing formation mechanisms.

From the strength of the Raman scattered features around 6830 Å and 7088 Å, it is often proposed that they are scattered in a region with $`N_{HI}10^{22}\mathrm{cm}^2`$. It appears that these features are formed deep inside the symbiotic system where the scattering region is located near the giant component. However, since Ly$`\beta `$ line photons have much larger scattering cross section than O VI $`\lambda \lambda `$ 1032, 1034 photons do, the H$`\alpha `$ wings may also be contributed significantly in a more extended region with a much lower $`N_{HI}`$ than the O VI scattering region. Furthermore, it is not apparent that the wings are formed in a scattering region of a uniform density, because a composite profile from a number of scattering regions with different $`N_{HI}`$ will produce a similar profile with the dependence of Eq. (3). More detailed information may be obtained from high resolution far UV spectroscopy around Ly$`\beta `$, which may be achieved by the FUSE mission (see also Schmid et al. 1999).

The recent report by Van de Steene, Wood, & van Hoof (2000) shows that broad H$`\alpha `$ wings are also present in a number of post AGB stars. Balick (1989) also reported the existence of very broad wings around H$`\alpha `$ in the planetary nebula M2-9. It appears that the broad H$`\alpha `$ wings are a common feature of post AGB stars, symbiotic stars and young compact planetary nebulae, most of which are believed to be (or have been) in the process of heavy mass loss giving rise to the formation of a neutral envelope around the hot emission region. As Nussbaumer et al. (1989) noted, the Raman scattering may also operate in active galactic nuclei (AGN) to form broad H$`\alpha `$ wings. Romano et al. (1996) investigated the H$`\alpha `$ wing profiles of AGN and found that they are well fitted by the relation $`\mathrm{\Delta }v^2`$. In AGN the H$`\alpha `$ wing width often exceeds $`10^4\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1`$ and we may expect to find a slight deviation from $`\mathrm{\Delta }\lambda ^2`$ due to the contribution from the second term in Eq. (3), of which more theoretical and observational work is needed to test this hypothesis.

The author is grateful to Yong-Ik Byun for helpful discussion. He also thanks the referee Werner Schmutz, who suggested various important points and helped improve the presentation of this paper. HWL gratefully acknowledges support from the BK21 project initiated by the Korea Ministry of Education.