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# The Broad-Line and Narrow-Line Regions of the LINER NGC 45791footnote 11footnote 1Based on observations with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope obtained at STScI, which is operated by AURA, Inc., under NASA contract NAS5-26555.

## 1 Introduction

In the twenty years since LINERs were first identified as a major component of the extragalactic population (Heckman, 1980), most research on these objects has been directed toward resolving the question of whether they represent a type of accretion-powered active galactic nucleus (AGN), or whether they are instead powered by purely stellar phenomena. The LINER class may be heterogeneous, but it is now very clear that at least some LINERs must be genuine AGNs (for a review, see Ho, 1999a). An exciting recent development has been the detection of very broad, double-peaked H$`\alpha `$ emission lines in a handful of nearby LINERs (Storchi-Bergmann, Baldwin, & Wilson, 1993; Bower et al., 1996; Shields et al., 2000; Ho et al., 2000), a phenomenon which is most readily interpreted in terms of emission from a relativistic accretion disk.

NGC 4579 is a Virgo cluster Sb-type spiral with a redshift of $`cz=1520`$ km s-1 and a distance of 21 Mpc according to recent Tully-Fisher measurements (Gavazzi et al., 1999). It has long been known to host a LINER nucleus with broad wings on the H$`\alpha `$ emission-line profile (Stauffer, 1982; Keel, 1983; Filippenko & Sargent, 1985). Using a ground-based spectrum obtained at the Palomar 5-m telescope, Ho et al. (1997b) found that the broad component of H$`\alpha `$ has a full-width at half maximum (FWHM) of $`2300`$ km s-1. *Hubble Space Telescope* (*HST*) Faint Object Spectrograph data have revealed substantially broader permitted lines in the ultraviolet (UV): for example, C IV $`\lambda `$1549 has FWHM $`=6600`$ km s-1 and full-width at zero intensity (FWZI) of $`13,000`$ km s-1 (Barth et al., 1996). In this paper, we describe an *HST* optical spectrum of the NGC 4579 nucleus, which provides new insights into the properties of this low-luminosity AGN. Our analysis of the rather complex emission-line kinematics will be presented elsewhere.

## 2 Observations

We observed NGC 4579 with the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) on 1999 April 21 UT as part of a program to study the emission-line kinematics of a sample of six nearby AGNs. The galaxy was observed at five parallel positions with the STIS 0$`\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}`$2-wide slit, with a gap of 0$`\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}`$05 between adjacent slit positions. Six spacecraft orbits were divided roughly equally among the five slit positions, and the exposure time for the central slit position was 2700 s. The telescope was oriented with the STIS slit at a position angle of 95$`\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}`$3.

The observations were obtained with the G750M grating and a tilt setting of 6300–6860 Å, giving coverage of \[O I\] $`\lambda `$$`\lambda `$6300, 6363, the H$`\alpha `$+\[N II\] emission blend, and the \[S II\] $`\lambda `$$`\lambda `$6716, 6731 doublet. For this setting, the point-source spectral resolution is $`0.9`$ Å. The CCD was read out in unbinned mode, for a pixel scale of 0.554 Å along the dispersion direction and 0$`\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}`$0507 along the spatial axis. Three separate exposures were combined with rejection of cosmic-ray hits. The data were calibrated by the standard pipeline at STScI. To remove remaining hot pixels, we performed one additional step of cleaning the data using a filtering algorithm which replaced deviant pixels with a local median value. The cleaned images were then geometrically rectified using the STIS calibration software.

## 3 Broad H$`\alpha `$ Emission

### 3.1 Observed Properties

Figure 1 shows the *HST* spectrum of the NGC 4579 nucleus. The extraction is centered on the nucleus and is a sum of four CCD rows (0$`\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}`$2 total) in the 2-dimensional spectrum. The background level (including starlight from the galaxy bulge) is negligible in comparison with the nuclear brightness, and no background subtraction has been applied. In addition to the usual narrow-line features expected in a LINER spectrum, there is a surprisingly broad and asymmetric component to the H$`\alpha `$ emission. On the blue side, the profile has a “shoulder” at 6520 Å, just blueward of the base of the \[N II\] $`\lambda `$6548 line. The red side of the profile does not exhibit such well-defined features, although there is a shallow shoulder on the profile at $`6670`$ Å. These shoulders are real features and not merely artifacts of the data reduction or geometric rectification, as they also appear in spectral extractions of the raw data, even for large extraction widths. The blue edge of the line appears to be at $`6420`$ Å rest wavelength, while its red tail extends to the end of the spectrum at 6820 Å, giving FWZI $`18,000`$ km s-1. For comparison, Figure 1 also displays the ground-based spectrum from Ho, Filippenko, & Sargent (1997a), which was obtained at the Palomar 5-m telescope on 1984 February 12 UT.

We performed profile fits to remove the narrow-line contributions of H$`\alpha `$, \[N II\], and \[S II\]. To fit the narrow lines, we first fit a spline to the approximate shape of the very broad H$`\alpha `$ emission profile, and subtracted this component from the spectrum, leaving only the narrow lines and a possible contribution from a “normal” broad H$`\alpha `$ component. The \[S II\] doublet was fitted with a pair of Gaussians. For the H$`\alpha `$+\[N II\] blend, we used a four-Gaussian fit representing narrow and broad H$`\alpha `$ and the two \[N II\] lines, which were constrained to have the same velocity width and a height ratio of 3:1. The narrow H$`\alpha `$, \[N II\], and \[S II\] lines have FWHM = 520–570 km s-1, while the normal broad component of H$`\alpha `$ has FWHM = 2100 km s-1, very similar to the value of 2300 km s-1 found by Ho et al. (1997a).

After subtracting the fitted components, the remaining very broad component of H$`\alpha `$ has $`f=1.1\times 10^{13}`$ erg cm-2 s-1, corresponding to a luminosity of $`5.8\times 10^{39}`$ erg s-1 for a distance of 21 Mpc. Since there have been no previous optical *HST* spectra of the NGC 4579 nucleus, it is not possible to determine whether this component has always been present or whether it is a transient feature. The amplitude of the broad feature is sufficiently low that it could be present but undetected in the Palomar spectrum. In general, it is extremely difficult to detect such broad, low-amplitude features in ground-based spectra, because of the overwhelming contamination by starlight from the bulge of the host galaxy. To make matters worse, elliptical galaxies and spiral bulges generally display a broad continuum hump in the region 6400-6700 Å (e.g., Filippenko & Sargent, 1985). The starlight subtraction method employed by Ho et al. (1997a) was designed to yield zero continuum flux in the subtracted spectrum, and this procedure could have removed a faint, very broad H$`\alpha `$ feature by oversubtracting the stellar continuum template.

No other broad optical lines have been detected in NGC 4579, but the *HST* UV spectrum (taken in 1994 December) clearly demonstrates that other permitted lines are very broad as well. The UV spectrum has low signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) in the grating setting that covers Ly $`\alpha `$ and C IV, but emission from background starlight in this wavelength range is negligible. As shown in Figure 2, the Ly $`\alpha `$ and C IV profiles have blue wings which extend to $`6000`$ km s-1 from the systemic velocity, comparable to the maximum extent of the blue wing of H$`\alpha `$. The red wing of H$`\alpha `$ extends to velocities roughly 4000 km s-1 greater than the red wing of C IV. It is difficult to discern the maximum extent of the red wing of Ly $`\alpha `$ due to the low S/N and a possible contribution from N V $`\lambda `$1240, but Ly $`\alpha `$ emission is seen out to perhaps $`9000`$ km s-1 from the systemic velocity.

### 3.2 Relationship to the Central Engine

Double-peaked broad H$`\alpha `$ emission lines have previously been detected in six LINERs as well as in several radio galaxies and radio-loud quasars; see Eracleous & Halpern (1994), Filippenko (1996), and Ho et al. (2000) for reviews of their properties. Models of emission from rotating, Keplerian accretion disks provide the best explanation for the origin of the double-peaked H$`\alpha `$ lines in these objects (e.g., Halpern & Filippenko, 1988; Chen, Halpern, & Filippenko, 1989; Halpern et al., 1996; Storchi-Bergmann et al., 1997). The width of the broad-line profile in NGC 4579 is comparable to the linewidths in these double-peaked emitters, which have typical FWZI $`15,00020,000`$ km s-1. While the NGC 4579 H$`\alpha `$ profile is not clearly double-peaked, the shoulders at $`2500`$ and 5000 km s-1 are very similar to the features detected in NGC 4203 (Shields et al., 2000) and NGC 4450 (Ho et al., 2000). The overall similarities in the line profiles suggest a common origin for the broad-line emission in these three galaxies. Their profile shoulders are much less pronounced than the broad humps in “classic” double-peaked emitters such as Arp 102b (e.g., Halpern & Filippenko, 1988), but Ho et al. (2000) have shown that a relativistic accretion disk model can fit the double-peaked profile in NGC 4450.

Assuming that the very broad emission from NGC 4579 originates in an accretion disk, the inner radius of the line-emitting portion of the disk can be estimated from the maximum velocity extent of the line. For a disk inclination of 45°, the projected velocity of the red wing of H$`\alpha `$ ($`12,000`$ km s-1) corresponds to a radius of 160 Schwarzschild radii ($`R_\mathrm{s}`$). The very broad line does not uniquely imply the presence of an accretion disk, however. Since the line does not possess a disklike, strongly double-peaked profile, other models may be able to explain the H$`\alpha `$ profile. Spherical broad-line region (BLR) models incorporating radial outflows can produce line profiles with horns and shoulders as well as very broad wings (Robinson, Pérez, & Binette, 1990), qualitatively resembling the H$`\alpha `$ profile in NGC 4579. In addition, the broad-line profiles produced by the outflow models possess an intermediate-width core similar in appearance to the “normal” broad-line component observed in NGC 4579. If the accretion disk model does apply to NGC 4579, then the intermediate-width component of H$`\alpha `$ most likely originates in the “normal” BLR of NGC 4579 rather than in the accretion disk, as the disk alone will produce a double-horned rather than centrally peaked profile (e.g., Eracleous et al., 1995). Linewidths of $`2000`$ km s-1 are typical for the broad H$`\alpha `$ components seen in ground-based spectra of LINERs (Ho et al., 1997b).

Alternatively, models based on binary black holes (Gaskell, 1983) can also produce very broad, asymmetric emission-line profiles. Such models have been ruled out, at least for a few well-studied objects, because the velocities of the broad wings do not exhibit the pattern of long-term variability that would be expected from orbital motion of a close pair of black holes (Eracleous et al., 1997).

NGC 4579 shares other properties in common with the double-peaked emitters, most notably the overall shape of its spectral energy distribution (SED). In particular, NGC 4579 lacks a “big blue bump” component, and its radio-to-optical flux ratio qualifies it as radio-loud although its radio luminosity on an absolute scale is small (Ho, 1999b). Advection-dominated accretion flows (ADAFs; Narayan & Yi, 1994) have been proposed as an explanation for these properties, and Quataert et al. (1999) have shown that the SED of NGC 4579 can be explained by emission from a thin accretion disk with a transition at $`100R_\mathrm{s}`$ to an ADAF for the innermost accretion flow. By truncating the thin-disk portion of the accretion flow and removing the innermost, hottest portion of the thin disk, the models are able to produce an SED without a big blue bump. Interior to the truncation radius, the disk is presumed to evaporate into an ADAF, and this portion of the accretion flow generates the X-ray emission. The broad H$`\alpha `$ linewidth is consistent with this scenario, as it requires the truncation radius of the thin disk to be at $`r160`$ $`R_\mathrm{s}`$.

However, the value of $`M_{\mathrm{BH}}`$ used by Quataert et al. (1999) in modeling the SED of NGC 4579 is probably too low by an order of magnitude. The black-hole mass can be estimated using the recently discovered correlation between $`M_{\mathrm{BH}}`$ and bulge velocity dispersion (Ferrarese & Merritt, 2000; Gebhardt et al., 2000). Central velocity dispersion measurements for NGC 4579 range from 130 to 187 km s-1 (Whitmore, McElroy, & Tonry, 1985; González-Delgado & Pérez, 1996; Palacios et al., 1997; Héraudeau & Simien, 1998). Applying the Gebhardt et al. (2000) and Ferrarese & Merritt (2000) relations, the predicted black-hole mass is in the range $`(1.89.3)\times 10^7`$ $`M_{}`$.111In applying the Gebhardt et al. (2000) relation, we neglect the small ($`10\%`$) difference between the central velocity dispersion and the luminosity-weighted velocity dispersion within the effective radius, as spatially resolved measurements of $`\sigma `$ are not available. The smaller value of $`4\times 10^6`$ $`M_{}`$ used by Quataert et al. (1999) was a crude estimate based on the UV broad-line widths and ionization parameter (Barth et al., 1996), and the $`M_{\mathrm{BH}}\sigma `$ correlations probably predict the central mass more accurately. With this larger central mass, the model predictions for the SED are altered, and it may be possible to fit the UV/optical portion of the SED with a thin disk extending all the way in to $`r_{\mathrm{in}}=3R_\mathrm{s}`$, as described by Quataert et al. (1999) for the case of M81. It remains to be seen whether models of a truncated thin disk surrounding an ADAF can be constructed to simultaneously fit the UV/optical continuum and the X-ray luminosity of NGC 4579, for a central mass of $`M_{\mathrm{BH}}5\times 10^7`$ $`M_{}`$.

Other evidence for an accretion disk in NGC 4579 is ambiguous. Iron K-line emission observed in *ASCA* spectra (Terashima et al., 1998, 2000) may originate from the inner accretion disk. However, the line does not clearly show a disk-like, relativistically broadened profile like those seen in some Seyfert 1 nuclei (e.g., Tanaka et al., 1995; Nandra et al., 1999), which would be expected if the disk extended all the way in to the black hole. Future X-ray observations with greater sensitivity and higher spectral resolution can better constrain the nature of the inner accretion flow and the possible presence of an ADAF.

## 4 Narrow-line Properties

Shock heating was the first mechanism proposed for the excitation of LINER narrow-line regions (NLRs), largely because observations of the \[O III\] $`\lambda `$$`\lambda `$4959, 5007 and $`\lambda `$4363 lines seemed to indicate electron temperatures higher than would be expected for photoionized gas (e.g., Koski & Osterbrock, 1976; Fosbury et al., 1978). Subsequent studies demonstrated that the observed \[O III\] line ratios could be reproduced by photoionization models provided that a high-density component ($`n_e10^{5.5}`$ cm-3) is present in the NLR to boost emission in the \[O III\] $`\lambda `$4363 line (Filippenko & Halpern, 1984). Correlations between narrow-line width and critical density for collisional deexcitation ($`n_{\mathrm{crit}}`$), found in several LINERs, support this hypothesis by demonstrating the probable presence of radial density gradients in the NLR (Filippenko & Halpern, 1984; Filippenko, 1985; Filippenko & Sargent, 1988). Due to the difficulty of obtaining spectra with subarcsecond spatial resolution, however, there has been little *direct* evidence (in the form of spatially resolved density measurements) for density stratification in LINERs. The STIS observations present an opportunity to revisit this issue, using the ratio of the \[S II\] $`\lambda `$$`\lambda `$6716, 6731 lines as a density diagnostic.

Since the S/N of the observations is not sufficient for fitting the \[S II\] lines on a row-by-row basis, we performed multi-row extractions at several locations along the slit, for all five slit positions. When possible, we extracted regions corresponding to a well-defined cloud or clump. For each extraction region, we subtracted the local background level and fitted the \[S II\] doublet using a pair of Gaussians. The two components were assumed to have the same velocity width, except at the nucleus where the higher S/N permitted a fit with fewer constraints. The line ratios were then converted to an electron density at each position using the STSDAS task TEMDEN, for an assumed temperature of $`T_e=10^4`$ K. The \[O I\] $`\lambda `$6300 line intensity was also measured by fitting a single Gaussian. Due to the large difference between the critical densities of the \[S II\] ($`n_{\mathrm{crit}}=1.6\times 10^3`$ and $`1.5\times 10^4`$ cm-3) and \[O I\] ($`n_{\mathrm{crit}}=1.6\times 10^6`$ cm-3) transitions, the intensity ratio of \[O I\]/\[S II\] is sensitive to the nebular density as well.

The results of these measurements are shown in Figure 3. The electron density measured from the \[S II\] lines rises from $`200`$ cm-3 in the outer parts of the NLR ($`r100`$ pc) to $`2630\pm 70`$ cm-3 at the nucleus. Overall, the trend of increasing $`n_e`$ toward the nucleus directly supports the picture of a radially stratified density in the NLR. Although the \[S II\] line ratio cannot probe densities greater than $`10^4`$ cm-3, the intensity and width of \[O I\] at the nucleus implies still greater densities in the inner NLR. The \[O I\]/\[S II\] ratio exhibits a sharp “spike” at the nucleus. Also, in the extraction centered on the nucleus, \[O I\] $`\lambda `$6300 (FWHM = 930 km s-1) is nearly twice as broad as the \[S II\] lines (FWHM = 500 and 570 km s-1 for $`\lambda `$6716 and $`\lambda `$6731, respectively), indicating that the linewidth-$`n_{\mathrm{crit}}`$ relation continues to hold at the smallest radii resolvable by *HST*. The difference between the widths of the two \[S II\] lines in the nuclear extraction (an effect first seen in M81; Filippenko & Sargent, 1988) also demonstrates the presence of a linewidth-$`n_{\mathrm{crit}}`$ correlation within the inner $`r=2`$ pc.

A simple model for the density structure can be constructed under the assumption that the ionization parameter $`U`$ (defined as the ratio of ionizing photon density to electron density at the illuminated face of a cloud) is roughly independent of radius (Filippenko & Halpern, 1984). Then, $`n_er^2`$. The assumption of constant $`U`$ is certainly an oversimplification, as the UV spectrum of NGC 4579 demonstrates that the NLR contains clouds with a range of values of $`U`$ and $`n_e`$ (Barth et al., 1996), and the observed values of $`n_e`$ show considerable scatter. However, the model curve shown in Figure 3 demonstrates that an $`r^2`$ density law approximates the general trend of density as a function of radius. The \[S II\] density in the nuclear extraction falls well below the $`r^2`$ model prediction, but as noted already, the \[S II\] ratio at the nucleus most likely underestimates the central density.

To confirm that the \[O I\]/\[S II\] ratio is indeed indicative of higher densities at the nucleus, we calculated a grid of photoionization models using Cloudy (Ferland et al., 1998) for a single, plane-parallel slab of solar-metallicity gas. Conditions were assumed to be typical of LINERs and of NGC 4579 in particular: an ionization parameter of $`U=10^310^{3.5}`$ and an ionizing continuum slope of $`\alpha _{\mathrm{ox}}=0.9`$ (Barth et al., 1996). We find that \[O I\]/\[S II\] $`1`$ is only achieved at densities $`n_e2\times 10^4`$ cm-3 for dust-free gas, or at $`n_e10^5`$ cm-3 when gas-phase depletion and dust grains with a Galactic dust-to-gas mass ratio are included in the calculations. Thus, the observed \[O I\]/\[S II\] intensity ratio of $`1.01\pm 0.05`$ at the nucleus indicates that $`n_e`$ continues to rise well above $`10^4`$ cm-3 within the unresolved, inner portion of the NLR, and the inferred density increases further for the high-velocity material which contributes to the wings of the \[O I\] profile.

## 5 Conclusions

STIS observations have recently revealed very broad double-peaked or double-shouldered broad H$`\alpha `$ profiles in three LINERs: NGC 4203 (Shields et al., 2000) and NGC 4450 (Ho et al., 2000) from *HST* program GO-7361 (which observed a total of 24 targets), and NGC 4579 from program GO-7403 (with 6 targets observed). In contrast, no double-peaked emitters were found during the course of the Ho et al. (1997a) Palomar Observatory survey, which observed 486 nearby galaxies. Ground-based spectroscopy is apparently a very inefficient way to detect such features, except in much more luminous AGNs such as Arp 102B (Stauffer, Schild, & Keel, 1983) and Pictor A (Halpern & Eracleous, 1994). Among nearby ($`D20`$ Mpc), low-luminosity ($`L_{bol}10^{43}`$ erg s-1) AGNs, NGC 1097 is the only example of a double-peaked emitter discovered from the ground (Storchi-Bergmann et al.1993). It is difficult to determine meaningful statistics on the incidence of broad double-peaked emission in the LINER population, but an *HST* spectroscopic survey of a larger sample of galaxies would provide useful constraints.

From the width of the very broad H$`\alpha `$ line in NGC 4579, we infer an inner radius of $`160`$ $`R_\mathrm{s}`$ for the line-emitting portion of the accretion disk. Alternatively, BLR models based on radial outflow rather than emission from a rotating disk may also be able to explain the observed H$`\alpha `$ profile. Periodic *HST* monitoring of this galaxy (and other LINERs having double-peaked emission) would be valuable, as line-profile variability can provide tests of the accretion-disk and outflow models.

Finally, the direct detection of a radial density gradient within the inner NLR of NGC 4579 provides support for the interpretation of LINERs as photoionized AGNs.

Support for this work was provided through grant GO-7403 from STScI, which is operated by AURA, Inc., under NASA contract NAS 5-26555. NASA grant NAG 3-3556 is also acknowledged. Research by A.J.B. is supported by a postdoctoral fellowship from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. We thank Gary Ferland for making Cloudy available to the community. An anonymous referee provided insightful comments on the manuscript, and we also thank Eliot Quataert for helpful discussions on accretion disk models.


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# CLASS B0739+366: A new two-image gravitational lens system

## 1 Introduction

Gravitational lensing is a potent tool for addressing a number of current problems in cosmology and astrophysics. First, measured time delays between the images of a lensed source, when combined with a well-constrained mass model for the system, allow for a determination of the Hubble constant, $`H_o`$ (Refsdal 1964). Thus far time delays have been measured for six gravitational lens systems (Schechter et al. 1997; Kundic et al. 1997; Lovell et al. 1998; Biggs et al. 1999; Fassnacht et al. 1999b; Koopmans et al. 2000) and favor a Hubble constant of $`H_o=66\pm 6\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1\mathrm{Mpc}^1`$ (Koopmans & Fassnacht 1999). Second, the lensing rate in a systematic survey can place strong limits on the cosmological density parameters, particularly the cosmological constant (Turner, Ostriker & Gott 1984; Turner 1990). For flat ($`\mathrm{\Omega }_m+\mathrm{\Omega }_\mathrm{\Lambda }=1`$) cosmological models, recent analyses favor $`\mathrm{\Omega }_\mathrm{\Lambda }<0.65`$ at $`95\%`$ confidence (Kochanek 1996; Falco, Kochanek & Muñoz 1998; Helbig et al. 1999). Finally, gravitational lensing is an excellent means of constraining the properties of galaxy mass distributions (Kochanek 1991).

The Cosmic Lens All-Sky Survey (CLASS; Browne et al. 1999; Myers et al. in preparation) seeks to discover new cases of gravitational lensing among flat-spectrum radio sources. Such sources are compact, which eases the identification of multiple imaging, and variable, so time delays can be measured from component lightcurves. CLASS builds upon the success of the Jodrell-VLA Astrometric Survey (JVAS; Patnaik et al. 1992; Browne et al. 1998; Wilkinson et al. 1998; King et al. 1999) and extends the search to weaker flux densities. CLASS has observed over $`15000`$ sources with the Very Large Array (VLA) in A-configuration at 8.4 GHz. The observations have been performed over four phases (CLASS 1–4) from spring 1994 to summer 1999, and are now complete.

Sources in the first two phases of CLASS were selected from the 87GB 5 GHz catalogue (Gregory & Condon 1991), with $`S_525`$ mJy and spectral index $`\alpha 0.5`$ (where $`S_\nu \nu ^\alpha `$) between 5 GHz and the 327 MHz Westerbork Northern Sky Survey (WENSS; Rengelink et al. 1997) or the 365 MHz Texas Survey (Douglas et al. 1996). Recently, the sources in the CLASS sample were reselected using the 5 GHz GB6 catalogue (Gregory et al. 1996) and the 1.4 GHz NRAO VLA Sky Survey (NVSS; Condon et al. 1998), with a 5 GHz cutoff of 30 mJy and the same spectral criteria. The final CLASS statistical sample will consist of $`12000`$ sources (Myers et al. in preparation).

The VLA survey data are calibrated in the data reduction package AIPS with the usual procedure, and are mapped using an automated script within the imaging package DIFMAP (Shepherd 1997). The data are then modeled with Gaussian components, which provides a quantitative means of describing the observed radio morphologies. Sources modeled with multiple compact components are selected as preliminary lens candidates. These candidates are followed up with high-resolution radio observations using the Multi-Element Radio-Linked Interferometer Network (MERLIN) and then the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) for the few surviving sources. The vast majority of the lens candidates are rejected on surface brightness and morphological grounds. Those candidates surviving the radio filter are followed up further with optical and/or near-infrared imaging and spectroscopy.

The first phase of CLASS observations (CLASS–1) has yielded four new lens systems: B0712+472 (Jackson et al. 1998), B1600+434 (Jackson et al. 1995), B1608+656 (Myers et al. 1995) and B1933+503 (Sykes et al. 1998). The second series of observations (CLASS–2) has until now produced three new lenses: B1127+385 (Koopmans et al. 1999), B1555+375 (Marlow et al. 1999) and B2045+265 (Fassnacht et al. 1999a). Two additional lens systems have recently been discovered during the third phase of CLASS observations (CLASS–3): B1152+199 and B1359+154 (Myers et al. 1999; Rusin et al. 2000). Radio follow-up observations of the remaining CLASS–3 and CLASS–4 candidates are currently taking place.

Here we present the discovery of a new two-image gravitational lens system from CLASS–2: B0739+366. In section 2 we outline the radio observations of the source. Section 3 describes NICMOS imaging of the lens. In section 4 a preliminary mass model for the lens system is presented. Section 5 concludes with a summary of our results and discusses future work.

## 2 Radio Observations

### 2.1 VLA and MERLIN Observations

The B0739+366 system was observed on 1995 August 13 with the VLA at 8.4 GHz in A-configuration during the second phase of the CLASS survey observations. The data were modeled within DIFMAP by two compact Gaussian components separated by $`0\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}54`$, with a flux density ratio of 6.4:1. The final map is shown in Fig. 1 and has an angular resolution of $`0\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}2`$. Follow-up VLA 5, 8.4 and 15 GHz A-configuration observations were performed on 1999 August 30. The component flux densities are given in Table 1. The spectral indices of the components are $`\alpha _A=0.3\pm 0.1`$ and $`\alpha _B=0.5\pm 0.1`$ ($`S_\nu \nu ^\alpha `$), respectively, between 5 GHz and 15 GHz. Since the B0739+366 VLA survey data were fitted with multiple compact components, the source was considered a promising lens candidate and selected for high-resolution radio follow-up.

MERLIN 5 GHz snapshot observations of B0739+366 were performed on 1996 December 27. The data were modeled by two compact components with a flux density ratio of 6.9:1. Subsequently, a second MERLIN 5 GHz observation was made on 1998 December 4. The total integration time was 12 hours. The final map (Fig. 2) shows a slight extension to the primary image. The compactness of the components and their similarity in spectral index are evidence of the lensed nature of this system.

### 2.2 VLBA Observations

VLBA 5 GHz observations of B0739+366 were obtained on 1997 August 2. Snapshots were taken over a range of hour angles to synthesize $`uv`$-coverage. The total integration time was 32 minutes. Phase referencing was performed by switching from the nearby strong VLBI calibrator B0738+313. Fringe-fitting was performed on B0738+313 and the solutions were transferred to B0739+366 directly. Both components seen in the MERLIN map were detected. The naturally-weighted 5 GHz VLBA maps are shown in Fig. 3 and have a resolution of $`3.8\times 1.5`$ mas and an RMS noise level of $`110`$ $`\mu `$Jy/beam. The primary component shows evidence of substructure and was modeled by two Gaussian subcomponents. The secondary component appears to be very slightly resolved, but was modeled by a single Gaussian. The positions, flux densities and sizes of the VLBA modelfit components are listed in Table 2.

A deep 1.7 GHz VLBA observation of the system was obtained on 1999 August 29. Alternate observations of the target source and a phase reference source (B0749+376) were iterated on a cycle of 3 minutes and 1.5 minutes, respectively. The total integration time was 8 hours. Fringe-fitting was performed on B0749+376 and the solutions were transferred to B0739+366. Naturally-weighted 1.7 GHz VLBA longtrack maps of B0739+366 are shown in Fig. 4. The maps have a resolution of $`7.7\times 5.4`$ mas and an RMS noise level of $`45`$ $`\mu `$Jy/beam. Weak, extended jet emission is detected to the east of component A and to the west of component B. The oppositely directed jets in A and B are characteristic of parity reversal induced by gravitational lensing.

## 3 HST/NICMOS Observations

Hubble Space Telescope (HST) observations of B0739+366 were performed on 1998 April 10 with the Near-Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS). The F160W filter was used, which corresponds roughly to ground-based $`H`$ band. The observations were performed with the NIC1 camera, which has a detector scale of 43 mas/pixel and a field-of-view of $`11\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}0\times 11\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}0`$. The total exposure time was 2624 seconds. The data were subjected to the standard calibration pipeline involving bias and dark current subtraction, linearity and flat-field correction, photometric calibration and cosmic ray removal.

The calibrated image (Fig. 5) shows two clear emission peaks corresponding to the lensed images. The ring surrounding component A is due to the NICMOS point-spread function (PSF). In addition, an extended emission feature appears to be blended with component B. We identify this with the lensing galaxy. The relative positions of the lensed images match those seen at radio wavelengths to within $`10`$ mas. The F160W magnitudes are $`m_A=19.0`$ for image A, $`m_B=21.7`$ for image B and $`m_{gal}=21.7`$ for the galaxy.

A PSF subtraction was performed to better study the lensing galaxy. First a standard TinyTim PSF (Krist & Hook 1997) for the NICMOS/F160W filter was fitted to the center of component A using the MAXFIT task in the AIPS data analysis package. Component A was removed using a manually-scaled best-fit PSF. The PSF was then shifted to the radio position of component B, which was removed using a scaled fit. The ratio subtracted at A and B was 6.3 with an error of approximately 0.4. This is very close to the ratio of flux densities measured for the radio components, and indicates very little dust extinction at $`H`$ band, assuming no variability of the lensed source. The subtracted image (Fig. 5) offers a greatly improved view of the lensing galaxy. The detection of optical counterparts to the radio components along with extended galaxy emission provides strong evidence for the lensing hypothesis.

## 4 Modeling

In this section we present a preliminary mass model that describes the observed properties of the B0739+366 lens system. We assumed a flat $`\mathrm{\Omega }_M=1`$ universe with $`H_0=100h\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1\mathrm{Mpc}^1`$, a lens redshift of $`z=0.5`$ and a source redshift of $`z=1.5`$ for all calculations.

We modeled the system with a singular isothermal ellipsoid mass distribution (SIE; Kormann, Schneider & Bartelmann 1994). Although each radio component exhibits core and jet emission, the jet features are quite weak and highly resolved. Since their centroids are poorly determined, they are unlikely to provide good additional modeling constraints at the present time. Therefore we use only the positions of the core components in our modeling analysis.

To limit the number of free parameters and ensure a constrained model, we fixed the SIE on the surface brightness center of the lens galaxy from the NICMOS image. The model therefore has only five free parameters – the lens velocity dispersion, axial ratio and position angle, and two source coordinates. The 5 GHz VLBA data provided five constraints – four absolute image coordinates and a flux density ratio. The number of degrees of freedom (NDF) is therefore zero. The position of component A was taken to be that of VLBA component A1. The flux density of component A was taken to be the sum of A1 and A2.

Modeling was performed with an image plane minimization, as described by Kochanek (1991). We optimized the goodness of fit parameter using the image positions $`\theta _i`$ and magnification ratio $`r=|S(B)/S(A)|`$,

$$\chi ^2=\underset{i=A,B}{}\left[\frac{(\theta _i^{}\theta _i)^2}{\mathrm{\Delta }\theta _i^2}\right]+\frac{(r^{}r)^2}{\mathrm{\Delta }r^2}$$
(1)
where primed quantities are model-predicted and unprimed quantities are observed. Because NDF $`=0`$, the best-fit model is described by $`\chi ^2=0`$, independent of the positional and flux density errors. The optimized model parameters, predicted magnifications and time delays are listed in Table 3. The critical curves and caustics for the system are shown in Fig. 6.

A series of Monte Carlo simulations was performed to examine the stability of the best-fit model parameters. Gaussian-distributed errors accounting for observational uncertainties were added simultaneously to the galaxy position ($`10`$ mas in each coordinate) and component flux densities ($`10\%`$). This latter uncertainty also accounts for the possible effect of source variability on the flux density ratio. The optimized model parameters and recovered time delay were determined for each of 10,000 trials. The uncertainties in the best-fit model parameters were found from the ranges enclosing $`95\%`$ of the results, and are given in Table 3.

## 5 Summary and Future Work

We have discovered a new gravitational lens system in the Cosmic Lens All-Sky Survey – CLASS B0739+366. The system consists of two components separated by $`0\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}54`$, with a flux density ratio of $``$ 6:1. VLA observations have determined that the spectral indices of the radio components agree within the measurement errors. Follow-up observations with the VLBA have detected jet emission extending from each of the radio components. The jets are oppositely directed, and provide a classic example of lensing-induced parity reversal. All available radio data of B0739+366 is therefore consistent with what is expected for a gravitational lens system.

HST/NICMOS imaging has detected infrared counterparts to each of the radio components, as well as an extended emission feature which we identify with the lensing galaxy. These observations offer further proof for the lensing hypothesis. We note that no lens candidate that has survived high-resolution radio and optical filters such as those presented here has ever been rejected by additional observations.

A preliminary lens model has been constructed using constraints derived from the VLBA and HST data. Assuming typical lens and source redshifts of $`z=0.5`$ and $`z=1.5`$, respectively, the predicted time delay between the lensed components is $`7h^1`$ days for $`H_0=100h\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1\mathrm{Mpc}^1`$ and a flat $`\mathrm{\Omega }_M=1.0`$ cosmology. The error on the time delay due to observational uncertainties is roughly $`10\%`$.

Deeper VLBA or global VLBI observations of B0739+366 are required to study the extended jet emission present in each of the lensed radio components, with a view to acquiring additional constraints on our lens model. Such observations would demand significantly longer integrations than those already undertaken ($`8`$ hr), as the jets are very weak and extended. Future optical observations will focus on obtaining redshifts for both the lensing galaxy and lensed source. Redshifts are necessary to convert a measured time delay into a value of the Hubble constant, and will also provide important input to statistical analyses of the CLASS survey data.

Even if the redshifts can be measured, CLASS B0739+366 will be a challenging lens system to use for Hubble constant determination. First, the predicted time delay is quite short, which would require a rather densely sampled monitoring program. Second, the weakness of component B will make it difficult to construct a clean lightcurve for this image. A moderately variable source (with an amplitude of $`10\%`$) would produce features at the level of only a few tenths of a mJy in component B, which is approximately the error associated with absolute flux densities derived from VLA monitoring observations (eg. Fassnacht et al. 1999b; Koopmans et al. 2000). In addition, the lightcurves of weak compact radio images could be susceptible to scintillation, as the component sizes may not be more than a few tens of microarcseconds (eg. Koopmans & de Bruyn 2000). For these reasons B0739+366 is not considered one of the best CLASS lenses with which to determine $`H_o`$. However, when combined with the other lenses discovered in the JVAS and CLASS surveys, this system will add to the statistical evidence placing limits on the values of the cosmological energy densities.

We thank the staffs of the VLA, MERLIN and VLBA for their assistance during our observing runs. We also thank the anonymous referee, whose comments and suggestions led to a greatly improved draft. The National Radio Astronomy Observatory is a facility of the National Science Foundation operated under cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc. MERLIN is operated as a National Facility by NRAL, University of Manchester, on behalf of the UK Particle Physics & Astronomy Research Council. This research used observations with the Hubble Space Telescope, obtained at the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by Associated Universities for Research in Astronomy Inc. under NASA contract NAS5-26555. DR gratefully acknowledges a fellowship from the Zaccheus Daniel Foundation. STM was supported by an Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania. This research was supported in part by European Commission TMR Programme, Research Network Contract ERBFMRXCT96-0034 “CERES”.


text:
# References

Reply to

No Contradictions between Bohmian

and quantum mechanics

Partha Ghose

S. N. Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences, III/JD, Salt Lake, Calcutta 700 098, India

In a recent paper Marchildon has claimed that the basic conclusion of my papers regarding the incompatibility of Bohmian mechanics and standard quantum mechanics is unfounded. This is based on a simple mistake. Let us consider Marchildon’s final equation (18) which he uses to refute my claim. Let $`y=x_1+x_2`$. Then eqn.(18) can be written as

$$\frac{dy}{dt}=cy,$$
(1)
where $`c=\frac{\mathrm{}k}{mL}`$. Integrating this we get

$$y(t)=y(0)e^{ct}.$$
(2)
Since $`y(0)=x_1(0)+x_2(0)=0`$ by assumption, it follows that $`y(t)=0`$ for all $`t`$. Q. E. D.

As would be clear from my papers, the conditions under which Fraunhoffer diffraction holds was essential for the conclusion I drew. If one carries out these approximations in Marchildon’s calculations, the quadratic terms in $`a`$ and $`x`$ must be dropped in his equations (13) and (14) which therefore reduce to

$`r_A`$ $``$ $`y{\displaystyle \frac{2ax}{2L}}`$ (3)
$`r_B`$ $``$ $`y+{\displaystyle \frac{2ax}{2L}}`$ (4)
When these are substituted into his equation (17), the right hand side of his equation (18) vanishes.

What Marchildon’s calculations have, in fact, established is that the assumption of translation invariance (Fraunhoffer diffraction and plane waves) imposed by me in my papers are sufficient but not necessary to obtain the basic result, namely that the trajectories are symmetrical at all times and do not cross, and therefore imply the incompatibility of Bohmian mechanics and standard quantum mechanics, as I claimed.


text:
# Can dark matter see itself?

## I Introduction

Dark matter seems to be a necessary ingredient for structure formation in the universe . The standard hierarchical clustering model where the dark matter is in the form of very non-relativistic, collisionless particles has been very successful in explaining structure from galactic scales to the largest scale observable, that of the cosmic microwave background radiation (CMBR) . In the 1980s it was realised that the flat, pure CDM model produces too much small scale structure if it is normalized on large scales . Some modification of the model is needed, and several possible avenues for this exist. The most popular model initially was mixed dark matter , where some of the dark matter is made up of light particles with large free streaming length. The prime candidate for these light particles is a neutrino with a mass of a few eV. However, recent results from Super-Kamiokande  and other neutrino oscillation experiments suggest that the mass of the most massive neutrino is of the order 0.1 eV, far too small a mass to be cosmologically significant. Thus, the mixed dark matter model is currently disfavoured although perhaps not completely excluded. However, data from type Ia supernovae at high redshift suggests that the energy density in the universe is dominated by a cosmological constant . This also dampens small scale structure formation and can bring the CDM model into agreement with observations without the need for hot dark matter.

Recently, however, a new problem for the CDM model has surfaced, having to do with structure on galactic scales and below. Observations of spiral galaxies, both high and low surface brightness, suggest that the dark matter in spirals is in the form of a halo with almost constant central density . To a reasonable approximation it can be described by a universal profile of the form

$$\rho (r)\rho _0\frac{r_0^3}{(r+r_0)(r^2+r_0^2)}_{r0}\rho _0,$$
(1)
where the central density, $`\rho _0`$, and the core radius, $`r_0`$, depend on the specific system. However, numerical simulations of halo formation consistently show much more singular core profiles. The first large scale study of CDM halo profiles, with sufficient resolution to resolve galaxy sized halos, was that of Navarro, Frenk and White , who found that the simulated CDM halos also follow a universal profile

$$\rho (r)\frac{\rho _c\delta _c}{(r/r_s)(1+r/r_s)^2}_{r0}\rho _c\delta _c\frac{r_s}{r},$$
(2)
known as the NFW profile. $`\rho _c\delta _c`$ and $`r_s`$ are again parameters that are to be fitted to individual systems. Close to the center this profile approaches $`\rho r^1`$, in strong disagreement with observations. More recent simulations with much higher resolution find an even steeper profile, approaching $`\rho r^{3/2}`$ . Furthermore, it has been claimed that these CDM simulations are now of sufficiently high resolution that the results for the central halo profile have converged to the infinite resolution limit.

In addition to this problem with the halo density profiles, observations show that a galaxy like the Milky Way contains almost an order of magnitude fewer small satellite galaxies than what is found in CDM simulations .

## II Possible solutions

This discrepancy between CDM simulations and observations of galaxies is so serious that it needs to be investigated more closely, because it could indicate a fundamental flaw in our understanding of structure formation and the nature of dark matter. There are basically three possible ways to remedy the discrepancy, which we shall discuss in turn.

### A Observational solutions

Until very recently, relatively little effort has been devoted to measuring reliable rotation curves in the inner parts of low surface brightness (LSB) galaxies, the reason being that the outer parts of the rotation curves are completely dominated by dark matter, and thus hold important information about the total dark matter mass in the halo. Even if there is a singular core in the halo, its integrated mass is only a small fraction of the total halo mass. In that case, high angular resolution in the central part of the galaxy is not an important issue. Therefore observations of galactic rotation curves have primarily been made using observations of the 21cm neutral hydrogen hyperfine-structure line with radio telescopes. These observations have the advantage that neutral hydrogen systems extend further out in most galaxies than the visible light, meaning that the halo structure can be mapped out to very large radii. If the total halo mass is the parameter to be determined then this technique is indeed the best possible. But because of the poor angular resolution of radio observations there are indeed significant effects of beam-smearing in the measurements of the inner rotation curves. Furthermore there is usually not much neutral hydrogen present within the central kpc of a galaxy.

Recently it was pointed out by van den Bosch and Swaters  that taking beam smearing into account increases the uncertainty in rotation curve measurements by a significant amount. In fact it seems that some LSB galaxies are consistent with having a cusp-like feature in the central halo, whereas others are still best fitted by a constant density core. At present it is not clear how important this beam-smearing effect really is, and other very recent studies reach the opposite conclusion, that galaxy halos are best fitted by constant density cores .

Instead of using radio observations to probe the inner parts of rotation curves it may be more feasible to use observations of HII regions instead of neutral hydrogen. These observations can be made with optical telescopes and in principle have very high angular resolution. HII is usually also very abundant in the central parts of galaxies. One very recent study of HII rotation curves by Swaters, Madore and Trewhella  indicates that there could be cusps present, but on the other hand they also do not rule out the constant density cores. Clearly, better observational data from the inner parts of galaxies are needed, as well as an increased understanding of the possible uncertainties involved in these observations.

It is more difficult to imagine an observational solution to the substructure problem. If small satellite galaxies were present in galactic halos in the numbers predicted by CDM simulations they would doubtless have been detected. However, that conclusion assumes that their mass-to-light ratio is not too different from ordinary galaxies. As will be discussed in the next section, it has been proposed that small satellite galaxies are not seen, simply because they have extremely large mass-to-light ratios.

### B Astrophysical Solutions

CDM simulations with very high resolution (sufficient to resolve cores of galactic halos) at present do not include baryons . The reason is both that the computational demands for this type of simulation are very high, and that there is no really reliable way of including star formation, supernovae and similar small scale features in the baryonic component. Without such high resolution simulations it is difficult to completely exclude the possibility that a proper treatment of the baryons would cure the discrepancy between simulations and observations.

Several scenarios have in fact been proposed that try to remedy the problem by invoking baryonic features. As was mentioned in the last section, small satellite galaxies would not have been detected if they contain very few stars. Bullock, Kravtsov and Weinberg  have suggested that when the universe was reionised at a redshift $`z5`$, accretion of baryons onto existing low mass dark matter halos was almost completely halted. The presence of a strong ionising radiation field stops formation of galaxies with velocity dispersion smaller than $`30`$ km/s, almost exactly the scale below which the discrepancy between the predicted and observed number of systems becomes apparent. If this explanation is true, then the prediction is that galactic halos contain a very large number of dark matter clumps with very few stars in them. Such clumps could possibly have disastrous effect on disk galaxies. It is well known that thin disks are unstable to heating by the frequent passage through the disk of massive objects, whereas thick disks are more robust. At present it is not clear how the distribution of dark matter clumps predicted by CDM would affect disk galaxies, and better simulations of this effect would be highly desirable.

It has also been proposed that tidal interactions between baryons and dark matter in the central halo can erase the cusp-like feature seen in pure CDM simulations . In this scenario a singular CDM halo forms at high redshift and starts accreting a baryonic disk. At some point a massive burst of star formation and subsequent supernova events occurs, initiating a galactic wind that can eventually carry off almost all gas present in the disk. If not too much star formation has occurred prior to the wind formation, the total baryonic mass carried off could be close to the total mass of the disk. This dramatically changes the gravitational potential felt by the dark matter and the subsequent violent relaxation can erase the singular core. After this event, the baryonic disk which is observed in present day spirals is slowly accreted at lower redshift.

Even though this scenario seems plausible there are a number of serious questions related to it. Firstly, preliminary results of galactic winds driven by star formation show that almost all metals can be easily expelled from the galaxy because of their high opacity . This fits well with the fact that metals are observed in abundance in the intergalactic medium at high redshift. However, it seems impossible to expel a large fraction of the hydrogen, which makes up most of the mass . Thus it seems unlikely that the required amount of baryons can be expelled from the galaxy by this initial burst of star formation. Secondly, the hypothesis that most of the baryons remain in diffuse gas until they are expelled is neither supported nor ruled out by present observations. In order to determine if this is indeed the case, a better understanding of star formation is needed.

Thus, the final conclusion is that a scenario where the problem is resolved by properly taking into account interactions between baryons and the dark matter cannot be ruled out at present. However, explaining the cusp problem requires some fairly strong assumptions about the behaviour of the baryonic component at high redshift.

### C Possible particle physics solutions

If the astrophysical or observational solutions turn out not to work, then the only option we have left is to consider solutions from particle physics. Roughly this type of solution can be divided up into two categories, those that derive from physics at the epoch of initial power spectrum formation and those which come from changing the physical properties of the dark matter particles.

The first type of solution is in a sense the simplest because it does not affect physics during structure formation, only the initial conditions. The initial condition in this regard is the power spectrum of fluctuations from inflation. In order to solve the substructure problem we need to dramatically reduce fluctuations on scales smaller than a galaxy, or

$$\frac{k}{1\mathrm{Mpc}^1}5\left(\frac{M}{10^{11}M_{}}\right)^{1/3}.$$
(3)
This could for instance be the case in inflationary models with broken scale invariance, as was proposed by Kamionkowski and Liddle . These authors showed that the substructure problem could indeed be solved by this method. However, the cusp problem is more serious. It has been shown in N-body CDM simulations, with an artificial power spectrum cut-off introduced, that dark matter halos also have singular cores . The reason for this is simply that in any cold, collisionless collapse there is a large amount of material with very low entropy (temperature). This material eventually ends up in the centers of gravitational wells, forming the singular cores observed in simulations. Thus, the conclusion is that introducing a power spectrum cut-off does not remedy the problem, it is a generic feature in any collisionless CDM structure formation scenario, regardless of the initial conditions.

This leads us to consider the other possible solution which has to do with the nature of the dark matter itself. A very interesting possibility was proposed by Spergel and Steinhardt  (see also ), namely that the cold dark matter could possess relatively strong self-interactions. If there are such self-interactions they have significant effect on halo formation. For example substructure clumps will be evaporated by interactions with the smooth dark matter halo background, and could decrease the number of substructure halos to the observed level.

The maximum entropy state of any self-gravitating system is the singular isothermal sphere, regardless of possible self-interactions. However, if the interaction cross-section has the right magnitude, collapse to a singular halo could be prevented for a sufficiently long time that present day halos would not show singular cores. It has been shown in numerical simulations  that a cross section higher than

$$\frac{\sigma }{m}10^{23}10^{22}\mathrm{cm}^2/\mathrm{GeV}$$
(4)
leads to quick core-collapse and formation of a singular core. On the other hand, cross sections smaller than

$$\frac{\sigma }{m}10^{25}\mathrm{cm}^2/\mathrm{GeV}$$
(5)
will not have an observable effect on structure formation. If the cross section is fine-tuned to a value

$$\frac{\sigma }{m}10^{24}10^{23}\mathrm{cm}^2/\mathrm{GeV},$$
(6)
the initial expansion of the halo core prior to collapse lasts more than a Hubble time, so that present day halos could fit observations (see A. Burkert in this volume for a more thorough discussion of this model). At present it is not entirely clear whether the scattering cross-sections needed to explain the substructure problem are the the same as are needed to explain the cusp problem. If this turns out not to be the case, then self-interacting cold dark matter is certainly disfavoured.

Another possibility which has received a lot of attention recently is that dark matter is not completely cold, but has some thermal motion in the early universe . If the dark matter has thermal motion, any fluctuations are erased on scales smaller than the free-streaming length

$$k_{\mathrm{streaming}}1\mathrm{Mpc}^1(m/1\mathrm{keV})^{3/4},$$
(7)
for particles which are in a relativistically decoupled thermal distribution. In the old hot dark matter model of structure formation, where the dark matter was in the form of neutrinos with a mass of $`30`$ eV, the free-streaming length would be of order $`k_{\mathrm{streaming}}0.05\mathrm{Mpc}^1`$, roughly the size of a large cluster. This is clearly too large to fit large scale observations, but if the mass of the dark matter particle is $`1`$ keV, the free-streaming length is of the order $`k_{\mathrm{streaming}}12\mathrm{Mpc}^1`$, just what is needed to explain the substructure problem. At first sight this “warm” dark matter (WDM) model  would seem to suffer from the same problem as those with a power spectrum cut-off, namely that low entropy material clusters in the central parts of halos and produce singular cores. However, there is one vital difference between this model and CDM with a power spectrum cut-off. The warm dark matter has finite temperature, which implies that the phase-space distribution occupies a finite volume in momentum space. On the other hand, the CDM distribution is by definition a $`\delta `$-function in momentum space. A useful quantity describing this is the average phase space density

$$Q\frac{\rho }{v^2^{3/2}}\{\begin{array}{cc}<\mathrm{}\hfill & \text{for WDM}\hfill \\ \mathrm{}\hfill & \text{for CDM}\hfill \end{array}.$$
(8)
In an adiabatic collapse to a lowered isothermal sphere, the central halo density can be crudely estimated as

$$\rho _0Q(3\sigma )^{3/2}\{\begin{array}{cc}<\mathrm{}\hfill & \text{for WDM}\hfill \\ \mathrm{}\hfill & \text{for CDM}\hfill \end{array}.$$
(9)
Thus, WDM halos are expected to have non-singular cores. However, the question is whether the same WDM particle mass can solve both the substructure problem and the cusp problem. From studies of galactic substructure, as well as the Lyman-$`\alpha `$ forest  it has been concluded that $`m_{\mathrm{WDM}}750\mathrm{eV}`$ in order to fit observations.

To date no N-body simulation with sufficient resolution to tackle the WDM effect on halo cores has been performed. We are therefore for the moment forced to rely on crude estimates of the effect, such as Eq. (9). Hogan and Dalcanton  have estimated that the WDM mass should be $`m_{\mathrm{WDM}}200300\mathrm{eV}`$ in order to produce the correct core radii for low surface brightness galaxies.

It therefore seems that the collisionless WDM model has difficulty in explaining both the substructure and the cusp problem (however, see also Ref. ). However, it should not be immediately dismissed because whereas the estimate of the mass needed to reproduce substructure is probably quite accurate, the estimate of the mass needed to resolve the cusp problem is at best a crude guess.

If it turns out that collisionless WDM does not work then WDM with self-interactions might . Even relatively weak self-interactions will keep the WDM distribution in pressure equilibrium until $`Tm`$ in the early universe. In that case the WDM particles cannot free-stream and perturbation on small scales are not damped. However, the model does not resemble CDM either because the pressure equilibrium prevent fluctuations smaller than the Jeans mass from growing . Since the Jeans length is almost a factor of 2 smaller than the free streaming scale

$`k_J`$ $``$ $`1.7m_{\mathrm{keV}}^{3/4}\mathrm{Mpc}^1`$ (10)
$`k_{\mathrm{stream}}`$ $``$ $`1.1m_{\mathrm{keV}}^{3/4}\mathrm{Mpc}^1,`$ (11)
we find that the mass needed to explain the substructure problem in this model is only $`m300400`$ eV, which is quite close to the mass needed to explain finite cores.

## III Discussion

We have reviewed the nature of the apparent discrepancy between CDM simulations of galactic halos and observations of spiral galaxies. In addition we have discussed which possible solutions there are to this problem. The simplest possibility is that either observations or simulations are in error, but presently it is not at all clear whether or not this is indeed the case. If it turns out that the discrepancy persists even with better simulations and observations, the only other solution is some additional particle physics. Merely changing the initial power spectrum from inflation does not work, so the only option is that the dark matter is not standard CDM. Both self-interacting CDM and warm dark matter are intriguing possibilities, although at the moment these models have not been sufficiently investigated to determine whether they work better than CDM. In any case, the CDM problem on small scales has stirred a lot of interest recently and is likely to do so in the future as well.


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# Thermal and Viscous Instability of Accretion Disc in AGN

## 1 Introduction

Accretion disc in Active Galactic Nuclei are subject to thermal - viscous instabilities which operate in the inner disc regions. The radiation pressure driven instability (Lightman & Eardley 1974) is developed in the models, which assume the viscous torque proportional to the total pressure. It operates in the innermost disc part, while further away, where the disc is gas pressure dominated, there exists a partial ionization zone. Therefore these regions are unstable due to the same mechanism as in cataclysmic variables (e.g. Smak 1984, Lasota et al. 1995), but in much longer time scales. Finally, the outer parts of the disc may be gravitationally unstable (Hure 1998).

Here we consider only the ionization instability. Its radial extension depends on several parameters, like the mass of a central black hole, viscosity parameter $`\alpha `$ and external acceretion rate $`\dot{M}_{ext}`$. Using the parametrization given in Siemiginowska et al. (1996) we estimate for the inner and outer radii of the unstable zone that $`R_{in}250R_{schw}`$ and $`R_{out}1500R_{schw}`$ for $`M=10^8M_{}`$, $`\alpha =0.03`$ and $`\dot{M}_{ext}=0.1\dot{M}_{Edd}`$.

At any given radius the local thermal equilibrium may be represented by the chracteristic shape of the S curve on the $`T_{eff}\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ (or $`\dot{M}\mathrm{\Sigma }`$) plane. The upper and lower branches of the positive slope describe the stable configurations and the middle part of the S curve describes the unstable solution. When the external accretion rate corresponds to the unstable branch the disk undergoes oscillations between the upper hot and the lower cold branch. Faint phase corresponds to the slow accumulation of the material and increase of the disk surface density; the accretion rate and surface density corresponding to the upper end of the low branch are characteristic for this phase.

## 2 Vertical structure model

The basic equations that describe the disc vertical structure are the equation of viscous energy dissipation, the hydrostatic equilibrium, and equation of energy transfer. The last equation takes into account the presence of convection which carries non-negligible fraction of energy. The frequency-averaged opacity $`\kappa `$ (Rosseland mean) includes the electron scattering as well as the required free-free and bound-free transitions. The tables are from Alexander, Johnson & Rypma (1983) for log $`T<3.8`$, from Seaton et al. (1994) for log $`T>4.0`$ and the value of opacity is interpolated between these two tables for intermediate values of the temperature, as in Różańska et al. (1999).

The temperature dependence of the Rosseland mean opacity changes for different temperature ranges: for $`T<10^3`$ K the power law function is: $`\kappa \rho T^5`$, for $`T>10^4`$ K the power law index is equal to -3.5, while at the intermediate temperature range, corresponding to partial hydrogen ionization, the trend is opposite and power law index is about 5 - 10 (see Kato et al. 1999). The opacity changes affect the cooling rate in the disc, which is important in determining the equilibrium solutions. Moreover, the presence of $`H^{}`$ ions causes a large reduction of radiative transport efficiency and therefore excited convection results in higher opacity.

## 3 Results

In Figure 1. we plot local stability curves for several different radii. The critical turning points on each curve, indicated as $`a_1`$, $`a_2`$ and $`a_3`$, represent the maximum surface densities achieved during the faint phase of the ionization instability cycle. The critical mass transfer rate is $`\dot{M}_{crit}(r)\dot{M}(\mathrm{\Sigma }_{max}(r))`$.

In Figure 2. we show the radial dependence of accretion rate in the faint phase, derived from our vetical structure model. The accretion rate is in Eddington units and the radius is in Schwarzschild radii. This dependence is well fitted with the power law function: $`\dot{m}(r)r^{2.3}`$.

The effective temperature of the accretion disc scales with radius as $`T(r)(\dot{M}(r)/r^3)`$ and for the stationary accretion disc this relation gives $`T(r)r^{0.75}`$, while in our model we obtain $`T(r)r^{0.175}`$. The approximate spectral slope is given by the formula $`F_\nu \nu ^{32/p}`$, where $`p`$ is the index in the radial dependence of the temperature (Kato et al. 1999). In the first case it results in $`F_\nu \nu ^{1/3}`$. In the latter case it becomes $`F_\nu \nu ^{8.4}`$, however as the outer disc temperature is not very much smaller than the inner disc temperature, the resulting spectrum looks practically like a single black body. None of these, however, is observed in the Seyfert galaxies, for which the optical/UV spectral indices are in the range from -1.9 to -1.2 (e.g. Edelson & Malkan 1986). For NGC 7469 the spectral slope in the optical band is $`1.69`$ (see also Nandra et al. 1998), while for the faint state of NGC 4151 it is $`1.7`$ (Lyutyi & Doroshkievich, 2000).

Therefore our conclusion is, that even if the instability processes may affect the emitted optical spectral slope, nevertheless the non-negligible effect of starlight component should be taken into account.

In Figure 3. we show the example of the starlight spectrum, taken to be the spectrum of the nuclear bulge of M31 galaxy, as in Kuraszkiewicz et al. (1997). It is compared with the power law spectrum of the index -1.9 ( e.g. NGC 4051, NGC 3516, Mkn 231). We conclude, that the starlight contribution may be responsible for this spectral slope, however it must extend to shorter wavelengths. Clearly more young, blue stars are needed in this case to account for this shape of the spectrum.

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# Fluctuation-Dissipation-Theorem violation during the formation of a colloidal-glass

## Abstract

The relationship between the conductivity and the polarization noise is measured in a gel as a function of frequency in the range $`1Hz40Hz`$. It is found that at the beginning of the transition from a fluid like sol to a solid like gel the fluctuation dissipation theorem is strongly violated. The amplitude and the persistence time of this violation are decreasing functions of frequency. At the lowest frequencies of the measuring range it persists for times which are about $`5\%`$ of the time needed to form the gel. This phenomenology is quite close to the recent theoretical predictions done for the violation of the fluctuation dissipation theorem in glassy systems.

Many physical systems in nature are not in thermodynamic equilibrium because they present very slow relaxation processes. A typical example of this phenomenon is the aging of glassy materials: when they are quenched from above their glass transition temperature $`T_g`$ to a temperature $`T<T_g`$, any response function of these systems depends on the aging time $`t_a`$ spent at $`T`$. For example, the dielectric and elastic constants of polymers continue to evolve several years after the quench . Because of these slow relaxation processes, the glass is out of equilibrium, and usual thermodynamics does not apply. However, as this time evolution is slow, some concepts of the classical approach may be useful for understanding the glass aging properties. A widely studied question, is how the temperature of these systems can be defined. One possible answer comes from the study of the deviation to the Fluctuation Dissipation Theorem (FDT) in an out of equilibrium system (for a review see ref. ). In this letter we show that this approach is relevant for the study of a sol-gel transition, where a strong violation of FDT is measured. Implications of this observation go beyond the physics interest. Indeed FDT is used as a tool to extract, from fluctuations measurements, several properties in biological, chemical and physical systems . Our results indicate that before extending this smart technique to other systems, one has to carefully ensure that these systems are in equilibrium.

In order to understand this new definition of temperature, we have to recall the main consequences of FDT in a system which is in thermodynamic equilibrium. We consider an observable $`V`$ of such a system and its conjugate variables $`q`$ (examples of conjugate variables are voltage-charge, pressure-volume etc.). The response function $`\chi _{Vq}(\omega )`$, at frequency $`\nu =\omega /2\pi `$, describes the variation $`\delta V(\omega )`$ of $`V`$ induced by a perturbation $`\delta q(\omega )`$ of $`q`$, that is $`\chi _{Vq}(\omega )=\delta V(\omega )/\delta q(\omega )`$ (examples of response functions are the electric constants and compressibility of a material). FDT relates the fluctuation spectral density of $`V`$ to the response function $`\chi _{Vq}`$ and the temperature T of the system:

$$S(\omega )=\frac{2k_BT}{\pi \omega }\mathrm{𝐼𝑚}\left[\chi _{Vq}(\omega )\right]$$
(1)
where $`S(\omega )=<|V(\omega )|^2>`$ is the fluctuation spectral density of $`V`$, $`k_B`$ is the Boltzmann constant, $`\mathrm{𝐼𝑚}\left[\chi _{Vq}(\omega )\right]`$ is the imaginary part of $`\chi _{Vq}(\omega )`$. Textbook examples of FDT are Nyquist’s formula relating the voltage noise to the electrical resistance and the Einstein’s relation for Brownian motion relating the particle diffusion coefficient to the fluid viscosity .

When the system is not in equilibrium FDT may fail. For example violations, of about a factor of 2, of eq.1 have been observed in the density fluctuations of polymers in the glassy phase . The first to propose that the study of the FDT violations were relevant for glassy systems was Sompolinsky . This idea, which was generalized in the context of weak turbulence , has been recently reconsidered by Cugliandolo and Kurchan  and successively tested in many analytical and numerical models of glass dynamics ,-. Let us briefly recall the main and general findings of these models. Because of the slow dependence on $`t_a`$ of the responses functions, it has been proposed that eq.1 can be used to define an effective temperature of the system, specifically:

$$T_{eff}(t_a,\omega )=\frac{S(t_a,\omega )\pi \omega }{\mathrm{𝐼𝑚}\left[\chi _{Vq}(t_a,\omega )\right]2k_B}$$
(2)
It is clear that if eq.1 is satisfied $`T_{eff}=T`$, otherwise $`T_{eff}`$ turns out to be a decreasing function of $`t_a`$ and $`\omega `$. The physical meaning of eq.2 is that there is a time scale (for example $`t_a`$) which allows to separate the fast processes from the slow ones. In other words the low frequency modes relax towards the equilibrium value much slower than the high frequency ones which rapidly relax to the temperature of the thermal bath. Therefore it is conceivable that the slow frequency modes keep memory of higher temperatures for a long time and for this reason their temperature should be higher than that of the high frequency ones. This striking behavior has been observed in several numerical models of aging ,-. Further analytical and numerical studies of simple models show that eq.2 is a good definition of temperature in the thermodynamic sense . In spite of the large amount of theoretical studies there are only a few experiments which show a violation of FDT in real materials . However these measurements are done at a single frequency and there is no idea on how the temperature relaxes as function of time and frequency. The experimental analysis of the dependence of $`T_{eff}(\omega ,t_a)`$ on $`\omega `$ and $`t_a`$ is very useful to distinguish among different models of aging: FDT violations are model dependent ,-.

For these reasons we have experimentally studied the violation of eq.1 during a sol-gel transition in Laponite RD , a synthetic clay consisting of discoid charged particles. It disperses rapidly in water to give gels even for very low mass fraction. Physical properties of this preparation evolves for a long time, even after the sol-gel transition, and have shown many similarities with standard glass aging . Recent experiments  have even proved that the structure function of Laponite at low concentration (less than $`3\%`$ mass fraction) is close to that of a colloidal glass. For this reason we call our gel a colloidal glass.

In our experiment we measure the time evolution of the Laponite electrical properties during the sol-gel transition. The solution is used as a conductive liquid between the two golden coated electrodes of a cell (see fig.1). The Laponite solution is prepared in a clean $`\mathrm{N}_2`$ atmosphere to avoid $`\mathrm{CO}_2`$ and $`\mathrm{O}_2`$ contamination, which perturbs the electrical measurements. Laponite particles are dissolved at a concentration of $`2.5\%`$ mass fraction in pure water under vigorous stirring during $`20min`$. To avoid the existence of any initial structure in the sol, we pass the solution through a $`1\mu m`$ filter when filling our cell. This instant define the origin of the aging time $`t_a`$ (the filling of the cell takes roughly two minutes, which can be considered the maximum inaccuracy of $`t_a`$). The sample is then sealed so that no pollution or evaporation of the solvent can occur. At this concentration, the gelation time is about $`500h`$ , and we only study the beginning of this sol-gel transition.

The two electrodes of the cell are connected to our measurement system, where we alternately record the cell electrical impedance $`Z(t_a,\omega )`$ and the voltage noise density $`S_Z(t_a,\omega )`$ (see Fig.1). Taking into account that in this configuration $`\mathrm{𝐼𝑚}\left[\chi _{Vq}(t_a,\omega )\right]=\omega \mathrm{𝑅𝑒}\left[Z(t_a,\omega )\right]`$, one obtains from eq.2 that the effective temperature of the Laponite solution as a function of the aging time and frequency is:

$$T_{eff}(t_a,\omega )=\pi S_Z(t_a,\omega )/2k_B\mathrm{𝑅𝑒}\left[Z(t_a,\omega )\right]$$
(3)
which is an extension of the Nyquist formula.

In Fig.2(a), we plot the real and imaginary part of the impedance as a function of the frequency $`\nu `$, for a typical experiment. The response of the sample is the sum of 2 effects: the bulk is purely conductive, the ions of the solution follow the forcing field, whereas the interfaces between the solution and the electrodes give mainly a capacitive effect due to the presence of the Debye layer. This behavior has been validated using a four-electrode potentiostatic technique  to make sure that the capacitive effect is only due to the surface. In order to test only bulk properties, the geometry of the cell is tuned to push the surface contribution to low frequencies: the cutoff frequency of the equivalent R-C circuit is less than $`0.6Hz`$. The time evolution of the resistance of one of our sample is plotted in Fig.2(b): it is still decaying in a non trivial way after $`24h`$, showing that the sample has not reached any equilibrium yet. This aging is consistent with that observed in light scattering experiments .

As the dissipative part of the impedance $`Re(Z)`$ is weakly time and frequency dependent, one would expect from the Nyquist formula that so does the voltage noise density $`S_Z`$. But as shown in Fig.3, FDT must be strongly violated for the lowest frequencies and earliest times of our experiment: $`S_Z`$ changes by several orders of magnitude between highest values and the high frequency tail . This violation is clearly illustrated by the behavior of the effective temperature in Fig.4. For long times and high frequencies, the FDT holds and the measured temperature is the room one ($`300K`$); whereas for early times $`T_{eff}`$ climbs up to $`3.10^5K`$ at $`1Hz`$. Notice that the violation extends to frequencies much larger than the $`0.6Hz`$ cutoff separating the volume from the surface effects, leaving no doubt that it takes place in the bulk. Moreover, the scaling presented in inset of Fig.3 seems to indicate that $`T_{eff}`$ can be even larger for lower frequencies and lower aging times. Indeed, we found in all the tested samples no evidence of a saturation of this effective temperature in our measurement range. The observed very large value of $`T_{eff}`$ is of course very striking. However the existence of infinite $`T_{eff}`$ was predicted  and numerically verified  in systems presenting domain growth process. This is probably the way in which the Laponite solution makes the transition towards the gel (colloidal glass) state.

In conclusion we have observed for the first time that at the beginning of the transition from a fluid like sol to a solid like gel FDT is strongly violated. As predicted by the theory the amplitude and the persistence time of this violation are decreasing functions of frequency. This large violations are observed in numerical simulations of systems presenting domain growth process which are probably good models to describe the formation of a Laponite gel. At the moment we are unable to claim whether in our system $`T_{eff}`$ can be seen as a temperature in the thermodynamic sense: other kind of measurements will be necessary to do such a statement. However the observed violation is very important from the application point of view because FDT is often invoked to estimate the response from a measurement of fluctuations. Our results show that this technique, although very powerful, has to be used with a great precaution : one has to carefully insure that the system under study has reached equilibrium.

Acknowledgements We thank J. Kurchan, L. Berthier and M. Carlà for useful discussions and suggestions. We acknowledge L. Renaudin for technical support. This work has been partially supported by the Programme Thématique of Region Rhône-Alpes.


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# Implications of 𝑠𝑢(2) symmetry on the dynamics of population difference in the two-component atomic vapor

## ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

One of the authors (A.K.) is grateful to E. A. Cornell for useful discussion of possibilities of observing the echo effect. This work was partially supported by a CUNY Collaborative Grant.