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# Isolated neutron stars discovered by ROSAT

## 1. Introduction

The vast majority of the 108-109 isolated neutron stars (INS) present in the Galaxy should be virtually undetectable using current observational means. Young cooling neutron stars might emit thermal X-rays during the first $``$ 106 yr and their pulsed radio emission will reveal them up to ages of $``$ 108 yr. Recycled millisecond pulsars are old objects but their previous accreting binary phase may have altered their physical properties in particular the magnetic field strength. In this context, the possibility that a sizeable fraction of the entire ’fossil’ population is re-heated by accretion from interstellar medium and becomes detectable in the EUV / X-ray domain is exciting. This could allow an observational study of old neutron stars and give access to information on past stellar formation, heating and cooling mechanisms and magnetic field decay. This idea was first proposed by Ostriker, Rees & Silk (1970). Population synthesis models were later computed by Treves & Colpi (1991), Blaes & Madau (1993) and Madau & Blaes (1994). A recent and extensive review on current issues can be found in Treves et al. (1999). Early models predicted that a rather large number of ROSAT XRT all-sky survey (RASS) sources could be accreting INS, initiating several optical identification campaigns. In this paper we shall describe the general observational properties of the INS discovered by ROSAT, discuss the possible X-ray powering mechanisms, consider what identification campaigns can tell us so far on the total population and discuss in more details the pulsating sources.

## 2. General properties

The group of INS discovered by ROSAT shares a rather well defined set of properties. Although each of these features may be present individually in sub groups of INS (e.g. some radio pulsars have very soft X-ray spectra and some X-ray emitting radio quiet INS are found in SNR environments), the properties characterizing this new group are never encountered together in previously known classes of INS.

Soft X-ray spectra. All ROSAT discovered INS exhibit soft X-ray spectra which at the energy resolution of the PSPC can be very well fitted by blackbody models with temperatures in the range of $``$ 50 to 120 eV. No bright X-ray hard component seems to be present, at least at the level encountered in most X-ray detected radio pulsars. Another common spectral feature is the low NH towards these sources ($``$ 1020 cm-2) which implies distances of the order of 100 to 1000 pc at most.

No strong radio emission. The absence of detected bright radio emission seems to be also a common feature although not all members have been surveyed yet. At present, constraints on radio emission are mostly based on the FIRST and NVSS surveys. We list in Table 1 various upper limits on luminosity gathered for a subset of INS candidates. In Fig. 1 we show the position of these upper limits with respect to observed 1.4 GHz luminosity distribution of radio pulsars.

ROSAT discovered INS are undoubtedly less radio luminous than most known radio pulsars. The difference is stricking if one assumes that these are young cooling objects with ages of less than about 106 yrs. However, targeted radio observations should easily improve on current upper limits.

No association with SNR. ROSAT and Einstein observatories have discovered a number of X-ray bright but apparently radio quiet neutron stars associated with SNRs (Gotthelf et al. 1997, Brazier & Johnston 1999). Their X-ray spectra, although often thermal like are in general significantly hotter than those of the group of INS discussed here. In contrast, the fact that none of the INS considered here lies close to an SNR suggests ages older than $``$ 105 yr.

No long term variability. ROSAT was able to monitor the mean X-ray luminosity of some candidates over several years, basically from the all-sky survey time till the last operational phases. EXOSAT and Einstein have also serendipitously observed some of these targets further extending the time base. In the cases investigated in details no evidence for X-ray variability over months or years time scale exist with very stringent upper limits of the order of few percents (Walter et al. 1996, Haberl et al. 1997, Motch et al. 1999).

Long rotation periods. At least one of the INS candidates, RX J0720-3125 exhibits X-ray pulsations with a period of 8.39 s (Haberl et al. 1997). Another case is RX J0420$``$5022 which is possibly pulsating at 22.7 s (Haberl et al. 1999). The spin period of other candidates is not known but this issue may be settled by forthcoming XMM observations. These long spin periods are most unusual for radio pulsars. We shall see below that the long periods have profound impact on the possible evolutionary status of these objects.

### 2.1. Optical identifications

Only the two X-ray brightest candidates have a secure optical identification. The ROSAT source RX J1856.5$``$3758 was identified by Walter et al. (1996) with a V = 25.6, U-V = $``$1.2 object. A faint B = 26.1-26.5 blue star is also the likely counterpart of RX J0720-3125 (Motch & Haberl 1998, Kulkarni & van Kerkwijk 1998). In these two cases, the optical continuum lies only 1.4 and 1.7 magnitude respectively above the Rayleigh-Jeans tail of the blackbody seen in soft X-rays. For the remaining candidates, the identification with an INS eventually rests on the absence of optical signatures of other possible soft X-ray emitters such as magnetic CVs or soft AGNs.

### 2.2. The catalogue

We list in Table 2 the main properties of the INS discovered so far on the basis of their X-ray emission. In almost all cases, their nature was established by ROSAT observations although some of them already had Einstein or EXOSAT detections. MS 0317.7-6647 (Stocke et al. 1995) is a particular case as its X-ray energy distribution undergoes very high absorption. Also, its INS nature is not entirely clear since an identification with a very massive accreting black hole in the field spiral galaxy NGC 1313 is not excluded.

## 3. X-ray powering mechanisms

A number of possible mechanisms leading to production of X-rays from INS may be envisaged. Basically, the X-ray luminosity may be extracted from spin down as ’normal’ radio pulsars do, from cooling, or the neutron star may be re-heated by accretion of interstellar material. We consider below in some details each of these mechanisms.

### 3.1. Rotation

Becker & Trümper (1997) showed that for ’normal’ radio pulsars, the X-ray luminosity is tightly linked to rotational energy loss with $`\mathrm{L}_\mathrm{X}`$$``$ 10-3 $`\dot{\mathrm{E}}`$. Wang et al. (1999) pointed out that at least in the case of RX J0720$``$3125 this mechanism could not work since the observed X-ray luminosity was more than twice the upper limit on spin down power ($`\dot{\mathrm{P}}`$ $``$ 0.8 10-12, Haberl et al. 1997). However in the absence of spin period measurements and derivatives this mechanism cannot be ruled out for other INS candidates. All radio pulsars bright enough to have a constraining ROSAT PSPC spectrum exhibit a rather hard power law component which is thought to be the signature of intense magnetospheric activity (Becker & Trümper 1997). The absence of a luminous hard X-ray tail above the thermal component in ROSAT discovered INS is a general argument against a rotationally driven origin of X-rays.

### 3.2. Cooling

Blackbody temperatures in excess of 50 eV imply ages younger than $``$ 106 yr for standard cooling curves while the absence of nearby SNR sets a lower limit of $``$ 105 yr. Among the X-ray emitting radio pulsars listed by Becker & Trümper (1997) two middle aged (105-106 yr) pulsars (PSR 0656+14 and PSR 1055-52) exhibit in addition to the power law a clear thermal component believed to be due to cooling from the neutron star surface. A luminous thermal component is probably also present in the younger (104-105 yr) Vela type pulsars. In PSR 0656+14 the soft blackbody dominates the 0.1-2.4 keV energy distribution and has characteristics ($`\mathrm{T}_{\mathrm{bb}}`$ = 87 eV, NH = 1.9 $`\pm `$ 0.4 1020 cm-2) quite similar to those of the INS discussed here. In the case of RX J1605+3249 for instance, Motch et al. (1999) show that owing to the lower statistics, a hard component of similar intensity as in PSR 0656+14 would not have been detected nor would the 0.384 s period with a 9% pulsed fraction have been seen. In this context, a natural and simple explanation for the absence of radio emission from an otherwise X-ray bright and nearby source is that the radio beam does not sweep the earth. The proportion of the sky swept by the radio beam decreases with increasing periods and is of the order of 0.3 for the period range of cooling pulsars (Biggs 1990). In the range of PSPC count rates covered so far there are two cooling radio pulsars (see Table 3). Although this is small number statistics, the picture is in fact consistent with the entire ROSAT discovered population being cooling radio pulsars whose beam remains undetected because it does not cross the earth.

### 3.3. Accretion from interstellar medium

Accretion of interstellar matter onto old neutron stars can produce X-ray luminosities large enough to detect a sizeable fraction of the total galactic population. Assuming Bondi-Hoyle accretion, the mass accretion rate is $`\dot{\mathrm{M}}`$ $``$ 1010 n $`(\mathrm{V}/40\mathrm{kms}^1)^3`$ g s-1 with V the neutron star velocity with respect to interstellar medium and n the mean density. The temperature of the polar cap heated by accretion is $`\mathrm{T}_{\mathrm{bb}}`$ $``$ 20 ($`\dot{\mathrm{M}}`$/1010g s-1)1/4 f-1/4 eV with f the relative surface area of the polar cap. However, before matter can reach the neutron star surface a number of conditions must be fulfilled. The first one is that ram pressure at accretion radius exceeds pulsar momentum flux otherwise the star is in the ejector state. This requires the spin period to be less than $``$ 9 $`(\mathrm{B}/10^{12}\mathrm{G})^{1/2}`$ n-1/4 $`(\mathrm{V}/40\mathrm{kms}^1)^{1/2}`$ s. Magnetic dipole braking allows to reach this period in $``$ 5 $`(\mathrm{B}/10^{12}\mathrm{G})^1`$ n-1/2 $`(\mathrm{V}/40\mathrm{kms}^1)`$ Gyr (Blaes & Madau 1993). The most constraining condition is that the corotation radius must be larger than the Alfven radius. For the low accretion rates prevailing here, this condition requires very slow rotation Prot $``$ 3000 $`(\mathrm{B}/10^{12})^{6/7}`$ n-3/7 $`(\mathrm{V}/40\mathrm{kms}^1)^{9/7}`$ s. Dipole magnetic radiation is not efficient enough to slow down the neutron star on a reasonable time scale. Braking is probably achieved by the propeller mechanism which acts on a short time scale of $``$ 0.8 $`(\mathrm{B}/10^{12}\mathrm{G})^{11/14}`$ n-17/28 $`(\mathrm{V}/40\mathrm{kms}^1)^{29/14}`$ Gyr (Blaes & Madau 1993).

## 4. Constraints on populations of X-ray emitting isolated neutron stars

The first constraints came from the general identification campaigns which aimed at a complete census of the RASS source population at different flux levels and galactic latitudes. In addition a number of projects specifically searching for INS were initiated. Zickgraf et al. (1997), Motch et al. (1997), Belloni et al. (1997) and Danner et al. (1998) reported on deep surveys in small areas including molecular clouds. Shallow surveys of large areas were performed by Manning et al. (1996), Bade et al. (1998) and Thomas et al. (1998), among others. These campaigns led to the discovery of the handful of candidates discussed here. They also yielded the unexpected result that the number of INS present in the RASS was far below that predicted by early population synthesis models which assumed that a few thousands neutron stars should be detected in the RASS. The results of these observational constraints have been summarized by Neuhäuser & Trümper (1998). We show an updated version of their figure 1 in Fig. 2. At the faint flux end, upper limits on ROSAT INS densities are incompatible with model predictions from Treves & Colpi (1991) and Blaes & Madau (1993) (not shown) but still consistent with the revised models of Madau & Blaes (1994). The most recent large sky area searches (labeled A,B and C in Fig. 2) yield even stronger constraints. The results (A) of Danner et al. (1998) is restricted to dark clouds area and is therefore not directly comparable with model predictions. Constraints labeled B and C cover large unbiased sky areas. (C) results from the identification of very bright soft ROSAT sources with $`|b|`$ $``$ 20 by Thomas et al. (1998). The upper limit shown in (B) is derived from an identification campaign of soft sources over $``$ 1/4 of the whole sky conducted at ESO (Motch et al. 2000). Optical identification of a total of 116 sources down to a PSPC count rate of 0.17 cts/s yielded only 3 possible cases among which 2 are already known INS. Spectral selection is discussed in Motch et al. (1999).

Contrary to other studies, surveys (B) and (C) assume that accreting INS are intrinsically soft sources and preselect candidates on the basis of ROSAT PSPC hardness ratios. The brightest INS found in the RASS without spectral selection are indeed soft and a soft spectrum is also theoretically expected (e.g. Zampieri et al. 1995). However, the possibility remains that because of the spectral preselection a fraction of the population, for instance INS accreting in very dense medium, escapes the search.

The painstaking optical identification campaigns have yielded the very significant and unexpected result that the number of accreting old INS shining in X-rays is a factor 10 to 1000 below that predicted by population synthesis models. This discrepancy points to a fundamental error in one or more of the model assumptions used. Constraints on an accreting population may be even stronger since; i) the observed LogN-LogS is almost consistent with a young cooling neutron star population only and ii) for none of the INS candidates discovered so far can the accreting model be unambiguously established by the discovery of X-ray variability or the measurement of a negative $`\dot{\mathrm{P}}`$ for instance. In two cases INS are found in regions of particularly low mean densities contrary to naive expectations (n $``$ 0.4 and 0.3 cm-3 for RX J0720$``$3125 and RX J1605+3249 respectively). Very low relative velocities of less than 10 km s-1 must be assumed to account for the observed luminosities. However, selection effects and ISM patchiness on very small scales may solve this paradox. Finally, accretion should enrich neutron star atmosphere in H and He and could cause a brighter optical continuum than observed (Pavlov et al. 1996).

## 5. Are old neutron stars accreting ?

Newly born neutron stars must be spun down efficiently before they can start accreting from the interstellar medium. The evolution of magnetic field with time seems a key parameter as it both determines braking strength during ejector and propeller phases and the minimum period allowing accretion. Treves et al. (1999) argue that for certain values of initial magnetic field and decay time scales, the life time of the ejector phase may be longer than the age of the Galaxy. Colpi et al. (1998) and Livio et al. (1998) also showed that field decay significantly increases the duration of the propeller phase with the consequence that most old neutron stars could still not be able to accrete. Because of the steep dependence of Bondi-Hoyle accretion rate with relative velocity, the velocity distribution of old neutron stars is another key parameter. Early models were based on the work of Narayan & Ostriker (1990). Since then new observations by Lyne & Lorimer (1994) suggest a typical mean velocity at birth of the order of 450 km s-1 about twice that of Narayan & Ostriker (1990). These two effects may cooperate to explain the small number of X-ray detections.

## 6. Pulsating sources

Two INS, RX J0720$``$3125 and possibly RX J0420$``$5022 have long rotation periods which modulate their X-ray light curve by 20 to 80 %. These spin period are significantly longer than those generally measured in radio pulsars. In the accretion scenario, the spin period yields an estimate of the surface magnetic field which has to be weaker than $``$ 1010 G to allow for accretion (Haberl et al. 1997). If confirmed, this would clearly point to secular magnetic field decay. Unfortunately, alternative explanations exist. Based on the similarity of spin periods Haberl et al. (1997) proposed that RX J0720$``$3125 is related to class of anomalous (braking) X-ray pulsars (AXPs). The nature of AXPs itself remains a mystery. Two models often mentioned are i) isolated neutron stars evolving from Thorne-$`\dot{\mathrm{Z}}`$ytkow objects (van Paradijs et al. 1995) and accreting from a remnant disk and ii) magnetars (Thompson & Duncan 1996). An interpretation in terms of a cooling neutron star faces the difficulty to reconcile thermal and rotational ages. For RX J0720$``$3125, $`\mathrm{T}_{\mathrm{bb}}`$ = 8 105 K implies ages in the range of 1 to 4 105 yr (Heyl & Hernquist 1998) whereas the time required to spin down from a short birth period to 8.39 s with dipole radiation is $``$ 1.2 109 $`(\mathrm{B}/10^{12}\mathrm{G})^2`$ yr. This discrepancy may be solved assuming the star was born with a long period. Alternatively, Heyl & Hernquist (1998) proposed the exciting possibility that RX J0720$``$3125 is a magnetar with B$``$ 1014 G, similar to those proposed to explain soft-$`\gamma `$ repeaters and AXPs. Because radio emission is quenched by the strong magnetic field magnetars remain undetected by classical radio means. Their birth rate may be $``$ 10% of that of ordinary pulsars (Kouveliotou et al. 1994). Gotthelf & Vasisht (1999) also argue that a large fraction of SNR contains previously unrecognized slowly rotating, radio-quiet and X-ray bright pulsars which could be the natural progenitors of the long period INS discovered by ROSAT. The high magnetic field allows efficient magnetic dipole spin down and its decay provides an additional source of heat which allows magnetars to remain detectable in X-rays over longer times than ordinary pulsars. Consequently, although less numerous than normal pulsars, cooling magnetars may show up in comparable numbers in X-ray surveys.

## 7. Conclusions

All optical identification campaigns carried out so far confirm the scarcity of X-ray emitting isolated neutron stars in the ROSAT all sky survey. Clearly, the large population of old galactic neutron stars does not accrete from interstellar medium at the rate predicted by early models, or the accretion energy is re-radiated outside the ROSAT energy band. This unexpected result tells us something fundamental on the kinematics and/or magnetic field evolution of old neutron stars and points to a secular magnetic field decay or a large mean velocity. ROSAT has however discovered a handful of INS sharing as common properties a soft blackbody like X-ray spectrum, absence of luminous radio emission and absence of long term variability. It is not yet proven that any of the 6-7 confirmed INS accretes from ISM. Their small number could be compatible with cooling normal pulsars whose radio beam does not cross the earth or with magnetars evolved from Soft-$`\gamma `$ repeaters, AXPs and more generally from the slowly rotating X-ray bright and radio quiet pulsars found in several SNRs. Future observations with VLTs and Chandra/XMM should help to solve the puzzle of the evolutionary status of this population by measuring proper motions, rotation periods and period derivatives which are key parameters to distinguish between young cooling and old accreting INS. Finally these INS should allow the detailed observation of a rather unperturbed neutron star atmosphere and the accurate measurement of fundamental neutron star properties.

## ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to thank F. Haberl for enlightening discussions.

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# Comparing Ultraviolet and H𝛼 Star Formation Rates

## 1. The Data

We have selected a sample of 43 galaxies with FUV detections or upper limits and H$`\alpha `$ luminosities from the sample of spiral galaxies imaged using the Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (UIT). Magnitudes at an effective wavelength of 1567 Å were derived; from external comparisons, we estimate that our magnitudes are accurate to at worst 0.4 mag, and typically 0.2 mag. Magnitudes for a further 33 galaxies observed by FAUST (Deharveng et al. 1994) at 1650 Å were also included in the analysis as a check.

H$`\alpha `$ luminosities are primarily taken from the literature, with the addition of some unpublished CCD data taken by the authors. When appropriate, the total flux was corrected for $`[`$N ii$`]`$ following Kennicutt (1983). To determine the importance of dust, we also examined far-infrared (FIR) and thermal radio continuum luminosities. The FUV to FIR ratio is a rough probe of dust attenuation. The H$`\alpha `$ to thermal radio ratio is a direct probe of the attenuation of the H$`\alpha `$ light as the two radiations are produced by the same thermal electrons: the only disadvantage is that the thermal radio luminosity is difficult to measure accurately in most cases.

## 2. Results

In panels a and b of Fig. 1, we can see that the H$`\alpha `$ SFRs are a factor of $``$1.5 larger than the FUV SFRs for high luminosity galaxies, and comparable for lower luminosity galaxies. This is consistent with a scenario in which both the H$`\alpha `$ and FUV radiation suffer attenuation (where the FUV attenuation is larger than the H$`\alpha `$ attenuation), and that the overall amount of attenuation varies as a function of galaxy luminosity (e.g. Tully et al. 1998).

We explore the attenuation more directly in panel c, where we plot the H$`\alpha `$ attenuation determined from the H$`\alpha `$ to thermal radio ratio against the FIR to FUV luminosity ratio (a tracer of FUV attenuation, modulo uncertainties from older stellar population heating of the dust). The H$`\alpha `$ attenuations are clearly correlated with the FUV attenuations, indicating a real spread in overall spiral galaxy attenuation. Furthermore, the data are consistent with a H$`\alpha `$ attenuation $``$ 1 – 2 times lower than the FUV attenuation (simple models predict a factor of 4 offset: models that take into account the different distribution of FUV and H$`\alpha `$ emitting sources predict a factor of 2 offset). A more thorough discussion of these results is presented by Bell & Kennicutt (2000).

### Acknowledgments.

This work was supported by NASA LTSA grant NAG5-8426 and NSF grant AST-9900789.

## References

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Kennicutt, R. C., Jr. 1983, ApJ, 272, 54

Kennicutt, R. C., Jr. 1998, ARA&A, 36, 189

Tully R. B., et al. 1998, AJ, 115, 2264


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# Molecular gas and star formation in BIMA SONG bars

## Abstract

Using a sample of 7 barred spirals from the BIMA Survey of Nearby Galaxies (SONG), we compare the molecular gas distribution in the bar, to recent massive star formation activity. In all 7 galaxies, H$`\alpha `$ is offset azimuthally from the CO on the downstream side. The maximum offset, at the bar ends, ranges from 170-570 pc, with an average of 320$`\pm `$120 pc. We discuss whether the observed offsets are consistent with the description of gas flows in bars provided by the two main classes of models: n-body models and hydrodynamic models. This work111The entire poster at http://bima.astro.umd.edu/projects/bimasong/pubs/romeposter.ps is supported by NSF grants AST 9981289, AST 9981308.

Department of Astronomy, U. Maryland, College Park, MD 20742-2421

I. Star Formation in Bars: How and why do stars form where they do ? To answer this question one may begin by studying star formation activity and its molecular gas environment in a variety of environments, such as bars, spiral arms, and rings. Then by drawing together physical processes and triggers that are common in these different regions, we may shed light on how star formation might occur. Here we concentrate on bars in 7 galaxies from the BIMA Survey of Nearby Galaxies (SONG). We compare the molecular gas distribution, traced by the CO (J=1-0) emission line, to the star formation activity traced by the H$`\alpha `$ emission line. While overlays of CO and H$`\alpha `$ maps show qualitative agreement, we use a cross-correlation analysis to quantify the relationship between the two.

II. The Cross-Correlation Process: After matching the images in resolution, we deproject them and convert them to polar coordinates. To cross-correlate the images, we overlay and shift one image against the other, at each step multiplying the images pixel by pixel and recording the sum. The offset lag at which the two images match best has the largest correlation value. The results of our analysis are shown in Figure 1.

III. Results: Interpreting in Context of Gas Flow Models:

* In ALL 7 galaxies, H$`\alpha `$ is predominantly offset azimuthally from the CO. Moreover, the offset is always on the downstream side.
* Maximum offset (measured at bar ends): 170–570 pc, Mean: 320$`\pm `$120 pc.

IIIa. N-body simulations: Gas clouds behave as in spiral arms, crowding in the dust lane, but eventually crossing it on the leading side (e.g., Combes & Gerin 1985). These models predict the observed offset of CO and H$`\alpha `$ but fail to reproduce the straight dust lanes and high shear across the dust lanes. So these models may not be applicable in all cases.

IIIb. Hydrodynamic simulations: Gas undergoes a hydrodynamic shock at the dust lane, and flows down the dust lane, never crossing the dust lane. Though the dust lane is inhospitable for star formation (e.g., Reynaud & Downes 1998), stars may form in dust spurs upstream of dust lane (Sheth et al. 2000). Since none of the 7 galaxies show offsets $`>`$ 500pc, star formation in these bars may still occur in dust spurs because the distance between the spurs and HII regions is consistent with typical gas speeds (50 km/s) and HII region lifetimes. But the offset also indicates that HII regions spend most of their time on the leading side of the dust lane, thus constraining star formation to occur very close (100-200 pc) to the dust lane. The dust lane may be involved, if not in triggering the star formation, in formation of dust spurs.

IV. Conclusions: H$`\alpha `$ emission is always offset downstream from bar dust lanes; the offset is consistent with both sets of gas flow models.

References
Combes, F., & Gerin, M. 1985, A&A, 150, 327
Reynaud, D., & Downes, D. 1998, A&A, 337, 671
Sheth, K., Regan, M.W., Vogel, S.N. & Teuben, P.J. 2000, ApJ, 533, 221


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# Phase transition in a spatial Lotka-Volterra model

## ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Support from the Hungarian National Research Fund (T-23552 and T-25793) is acknowledged.


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# Multi-Frequency Analysis of the New Wide-Separation Gravitational Lens Candidate RX J0921+45291footnote 11footnote 1 Based on Observations made with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, obtained at the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by AURA, Inc., under NASA contract NAS 5-26555.,2footnote 22footnote 2Based on observations obtained at the Multiple Mirror Telescope Observatory, a facility operated jointly by the University of Arizona and the Smithsonian Institution.

## 1 Introduction

Gravitational lenses produced by isolated galaxies should have a mean image separation of 1$`\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}`$5, closely matching the mean separation observed in the current sample of over 60 gravitational lenses (e.g. Falco, Kochanek & Muñoz 1998). Surveys for lenses (JVAS, Patnaik et al. 1992; MG-VLA, Burke et al. 1993; CLASS, Jackson et al. 1998; see also http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/castles) have demonstrated that gravitational lenses with image separations larger than 3$`\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}`$0 are rare. In order of increasing separation we know of HE 1104-1805 ($`\mathrm{\Delta }\theta =3\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}19`$), MG 2016+112 ($`\mathrm{\Delta }\theta =3\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}26`$) and Q 0957+561 ($`\mathrm{\Delta }\theta =6\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}26`$).333 These are the standard separations introduced by Kochanek et al. (2000) which correct for shear effects. Five lenses have maximum separations larger than 3$`\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}`$0. In order of increasing separation, these are HE 1104-1805 ($`\mathrm{\Delta }\theta _{max}=3\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}19`$), RX J0911+0551 ($`\mathrm{\Delta }\theta _{max}=3\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}25`$), HST 14176+5226 ($`\mathrm{\Delta }\theta _{max}=3\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}28`$), MG 2016+112 ($`\mathrm{\Delta }\theta _{max}=3\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}88`$), and Q 0957+561 ($`\mathrm{\Delta }\theta _{max}=6\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}17`$). All five of these systems have massive early-type galaxies as their primary lens. All three of these systems have massive early-type galaxies as their primary lens (Kochanek et al. 2000).

The overwhelming dominance of the lens population by galaxies is a consequence of the condensation of the baryons in forming galaxies. Predictions of the distribution of image separations based on the density and masses of dark matter halos, either from Press-Schechter models or simulations, catastrophically fail to match the observed separation distribution of lenses at both high and low image separations. The large separation lenses correspond to lenses produced by groups and small clusters, and Keeton (1998) has shown that we expect a strong enhancement in lensing by galaxies compared to groups and small clusters because the “cooled” baryons of the galaxies make them relatively more efficient lenses. The absolute numbers of wide separation lenses are in good agreement with predictions for power spectra normalized to produce the observed density of clusters (Narayan & White 1988, Cen et al. 1994, Kochanek 1995, Maoz et al. 1997, Wambsganss, Cen & Ostriker 1998).

Discussions of wide separation lenses were confused for many years by the presence of a larger population of binary quasars with separations of 3$`\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}`$0 to 10$`\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}`$0. Although the spectral similarities of some binary quasars remains a puzzle (e.g. Michalitsianos et al. 1997, Peng et al. 1999, Mortlock et al. 1999), Muñoz et al. (1998) and Kochanek, Falco & Muñoz (1999) demonstrated that most of the so-called “dark lenses” were binary quasars. Moreover, Kochanek et al. (1999) provided a quantitative explanation of their separations and abundances. We are now confident that wide separation lenses should be associated with visible groups or clusters of galaxies whose higher masses explain the larger separations.

In this paper we present a new example, RX J0921+4529. Its angular separation of 6$`\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}`$93 would make it the lensed quasar with the largest angular separation, if lensing were to be confirmed. The detection of a galaxy lying between the two quasars and the presence of an X-ray galaxy cluster to explain the wide separation of the images, make this system a good gravitational lens candidate. In §2 we discuss the discovery of RX J0921+4529 and subsequent observations to measure its properties. In §3 we present simple lens models and discuss their consequences.

## 2 Observations

RX J0921+4529 was detected as an extended X-ray source in a 160 deg2 ROSAT survey for high redshift galaxy clusters (Vikhlinin et al. 1998). The X-ray image was significantly (6-$`\sigma `$) broader than the local ROSAT Point Response Function, and the X-ray surface brightness distribution is well fit by a $`\beta `$-model, $`S(r)=S_0/(1+r^2/r_c^2)^{3\beta 0.5}`$ with a $`\beta `$ fixed at 0.7 and $`r_c=26\mathrm{}`$. The X-ray flux is 2.39 $`10^{13}`$ erg/s/cm2 in the 0.5-2 keV band. At the cluster redshift ($`z_l0.32`$), this corresponds to LX=1.0 $`10^{44}`$ erg/s (H0=50 km s-1 Mpc-1), or a temperature of 3.7 keV (derived from the LX-T relation). Optical images were obtained with the Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory (FLWO) 1.2m telescope in the R band to search for a cluster corresponding to the X-ray source. As illustrated in Figure 1, there is a significant excess of galaxies in the field, centered on the X-ray source. The optical images also revealed two blue point sources (labeled A and B in Figure 1), which appeared to be promising quasar candidates.

We obtained spectra of the point sources (A and B) with the MMT and the Blue Channel spectrograph. The spectra had integration times of 3000s and 3600s respectively, and they covered a wavelength range of 3230–8800Å, with a resolution of 1.96 Å $`\mathrm{pixel}^1`$ and an effective resolution (FWHM) of 7 Å. Both A and B are $`z_s=1.66`$ quasars (see Figure 2), with a velocity difference of $`|\mathrm{\Delta }v|1500\text{ km s}\text{-1}`$ depending on the wavelength range used for the spectral cross-correlation. Thus, RX J0921+4529A/B are either a gravitational lens or a binary quasar. For a lens with a time delay $`100`$ days, a velocity difference of $`|\mathrm{\Delta }v|1500\text{ km s}\text{-1}`$ could be created by quasar variability coupled with a long time delay (see Small, Sargent & Steidel 1997). Note that the continuum of the B spectrum is flatter than that of the A spectrum. In addition to the two quasars, spectra were obtained for 5 of the nearby galaxies (see Table 2). Three of them were acquired at the University of Hawaii 2.2m telescope. All five were found to have redshifts of $`z_l0.32`$, confirming the presence of a cluster and a favorable geometry for producing a wide separation lens. We failed to measure the redshift of the central, putative lens galaxy G, and we will assume it is a member of the cluster.

We obtained HST observations of RX J0921+4529, as part of the CASTLES (CfA/Arizona Space Telescope Lens Survey) project. The target was observed for 2560 s using the NICMOS/NIC2 camera with the F160W filter (H-band), and for 1800 s using the WFPC2 camera with the F814W filter (I-band). The data were reduced and analyzed using the standard procedures described in Lehár et al. (2000), see also McLeod (1997). In the H-band image the A and B quasars are separated by $`6\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}929\pm 0\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}006`$ and have H-band magnitudes of 16.90$`\pm `$0.03 and 18.29$`\pm `$0.04 respectively. Figure 3 shows the surrounding field from the NICMOS H-band image. Lying between the two quasars is an H=$`18.2\pm 0.4`$ (I$``$H=$`1.9\pm 0.4`$) galaxy with apparent spiral structure (see Figure 4 and Table 1). All other wide separation lenses have a massive early-type galaxy which dominates the lensing effects. In the residual image found after subtracting the two quasars from the NIC2 H-band image (see Figure 4), there appears to be an extended, faint object B near the fainter quasar B. In our best models there is a small but poorly determined shift ($`0\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}3\pm 0\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}2`$) between B and B, suggesting that B is a faint cluster galaxy. However B is undetected in the I-band image and we cannot rule out that it corresponds to the host galaxy of the B quasar. No comparable extended object is seen near the A quasar. As we discuss in §3, if B is the host galaxy of quasar B, the absence of a host galaxy for quasar A means that the system is a perversely located binary quasar rather than a gravitational lens.

We cataloged the galaxies in the HST images using the SExtractor package (Bertin & Arnouts 1996). The software classified the optical objects, and computed total magnitudes using Kron-type automatic apertures. Colors were computed using fixed apertures scaled to the F814W size of each object. Table 2 lists all the galaxies detected by HST within 20″ of the lens, after visually confirming the SExtractor classification. The galaxies were labeled G# in order of decreasing I-band brightness, or H# for those NICMOS galaxies with no I-band detection. The large number of galaxies detected corroborates the presence of the cluster of galaxies. Figure 5 shows HST colors and magnitudes for the nearby galaxies, compared to evolutionary tracks for various spectrophotometric models (Bruzual & Charlot 1993; 2000, in preparation). The putative lens galaxy G and its neighbors are photometrically consistent with the $`z=0.32`$ cluster redshift. Galaxy G appears to have spiral structure (see Figure 4) which our image fitting software is not designed to model. We modeled the galaxy (Table 1) as a de Vaucouluers bulge plus an exponential disk, but the residuals are still large. Because the galaxies in this field are larger than most in the CASTLES target fields, we have increased the color apertures to a fixed 4″diameter in all cases.

Finally, we obtained a radio map of RX J0921+4529, using the VLA C configuration at 3.6 cm. The VLA observations were made on 1998.12.10, with 15 minutes on target. The beam FWHM was 3″ and the detection limit was 0.05 mJy/beam. The cluster galaxy G2 was clearly detected, so we aligned the optical and radio images using it. In the VLA map (see Figure 6), both G2 and the lens galaxy G have 8.5 GHz fluxes of $`1.0\pm 0.1`$ mJy. There may be a marginal detection of A, at $`0.1\pm 0.05`$ mJy. If A is a $`0.1`$ mJy source, then we would expect B to be a $`0.03`$ mJy source, so a deeper radio image could further confirm the lensing nature of the system.

## 3 Discussion

With a separation of 6$`\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}`$93, RX J0921+4529 is the widest angular separation lens found without searching directly behind a rich cluster. Almost all the data support the lens interpretation, as we see 2 images of a $`z_s=1.66`$ lensed quasar with similar spectra and a modest magnitude difference. There is a foreground galaxy located between the quasars to provide the high surface density region needed to produce two images, and the galaxy is almost certainly a member of the $`z=0.32`$ X-ray cluster which provides the additional mass needed to produce the large separation.

The large angular separation of RX J0921+4529 should be produced by the combination of the main lens galaxy lying between the two quasar images and the presence of the galaxy cluster. We estimated the local tidal shear from nearby galaxies by assuming that each is embedded in a singular isothermal sphere halo, with the same mass-to-light ratio as the lens galaxy G. We assumed an Einstein ring radius of $`b1\mathrm{}`$ for the lens galaxy, and scaled the other galaxy ring sizes to the SExtractor I-filter luminosity, with $`b\sqrt{L}`$ (see Table 2). A total $`\gamma _T0.17`$ in the direction PA=$`36\mathrm{°}`$ is obtained by taking the tensor sum of the individual contributions. Because the HST field is not big enough to include the full cluster this shear estimate represents only a preliminary value. Chandra or XMM imaging and deeper wide-field optical images could clarify the cluster properties and its contribution to the lensing gravitational potential.

The simplicity of the lens geometry means that we find a wide range of lens models consistent with our current data. However with the extant data, we cannot determine the position of the cluster center, and we cannot easily include the cluster in the lens models. Thus, our objective in this section is only to illustrate the importance of the interpretation of B as either a small cluster galaxy or the host of the B quasar. For now we fit the system only with a singular isothermal sphere (SIS) and an external shear. Given the lens galaxy and quasar positions, and the quasar flux ratio (see Table 1) this lens model needs an Einstein radius $`b=3\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}3`$, and an external shear $`\gamma =0.047`$ orientated in the direction PA$`=33\mathrm{°}`$. The leading image is the fainter B quasar and the time delay in a flat ($`\mathrm{\Omega }=1`$) cosmology is $`\mathrm{\Delta }t=93h^1`$ days444A singular isothermal ellipsoid (SIE) with a fixed external shear to the observed values (see above) also fits the data with the lens parameters $`b=3\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}3`$, e=0.48 and $`\theta _e=51\mathrm{°}`$. For this model the time delay is $`\mathrm{\Delta }t=118h^1`$ days.. In Figure 7 we show both the source and lens planes. The source plane includes an image of the lens galaxy G to orient the figure, a point source for the quasar and its host galaxy with a de Vaucouleurs profile. In the image plane we see the 2 images of the quasar which exactly fit the observed positions and fluxes. The small arc from the host galaxy near quasar B has a flux matching that of B. However, if B were a host galaxy, we would see the larger, brighter and undetected arc seen near image A.

We are reasonably certain that the extended object B near the B quasar is a faint cluster galaxy rather than the host galaxy of quasar B. If, however, it is the host galaxy, the absence of a larger host image near quasar A means that the system is a particularly perverse example of a binary quasar lying behind a foreground X-ray cluster. Deeper HST images would determine more accurately the B position and would clarify the nature of the object. Deeper radio images may also resolve the problem if our marginal detection of the A quasar at 8.5 GHz is real.

Acknowledgements: Support for the CASTLES project was provided by NASA through grant numbers GO-7495 and GO-7887 from the Space Telescope Science Institute which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc. under NASA contract NAS 5-26555. This research was supported in part by the Smithsonian Institution. CSK is also supported by NASA grant NAG5-4062.


text:
# 1 Introduction

## 1 Introduction

Recently we have given a description, both at macroscopic and microscopic level, of the generating solution of four dimensional regular BPS black holes within toroidally compactified string (or M) theory, . Acting by means of $`U`$–duality transformations on the above solution one can reconstruct any other solution of the same kind within the relevant four dimensional effective theory (i.e. $`N=8`$ supergravity) and also give for each of them a corresponding microscopic description in terms of bound states of stringy objects, . Because of its very definition, the generating solution encodes the fundamental degrees of freedom (related to $`U`$–duality invariants) characterizing the most general regular BPS black hole within the same theory. Hence a detailed microscopic understanding of this solution is of considerable relevance for a deeper understanding of stringy oriented microscopic entropy counting111For a review see for example  and, more recently,  and references therein..

Although we have given a prediction for the microscopic entropy of the generating solution which is consistent with what is expected (see ), a missing aspect in our analysis was the statistical interpretation (and computation) of the predicted formula. In this note we fill such a lack. This can be done by suitably extending the microscopic computation of  (which was carried out in the context of Calabi-Yau compactifications) to the toroidal case. One of the main concerns in the analysis of  was to compute higher order corrections to the semi–classical result. In general one expects both $`\alpha ^{}`$ and $`g_{string}`$ corrections. It is known (see ) that the two affect the area law by a deformation of the effective horizon area and by a deviation from the area law itself. The latter has a leading term which is topological (originating from $`R^4`$ terms in M–theory) and which thus depends on the particular compactifying manifold considered, giving therefore different contributions for Calabi–Yau and toroidal compactifications. Although our analysis is limited just to the semiclassical leading approximation we shall easily see that in the case of tori this topological term does not contribute.

The microscopic configuration corresponding to the generating solution presented in  can be described, in the type IIA framework, as a bound state of 3 bunches of D4–branes intersecting on a point, a bunch of D0–branes on top of them plus some magnetic flux on the D4–branes world volume (in a way which is consistent with the residual supersymmetry of the solution) which induces D2 and (extra) D0–brane effective charges. Upon $`T`$–duality transformations along three internal directions the same solution is described in type IIB by four bunches of D3–branes intersecting at non–trivial $`SU(3)`$ angles (where the non–trivial angle $`\theta `$ is in turn the $`T`$–dual of the magnetic flux). On the other hand, via a $`S`$–duality transformation, one may obtain the M–theory counterpart of the type IIA system described above. In fact, in computing the statistical entropy, the M–theory picture is more convenient to deal with. Indeed, in this case the effective low–energy field theory describing the physics of the intersection is, in a suitable limit, a conformal 2–dimensional one, rather than conformal quantum mechanics, as it would be in the type IIA setting. Even if the two pictures describe two $`S`$–dual regimes, the corresponding entropy, which is a $`U`$–duality invariant, is the same and so is the degeneracy of the corresponding microscopic degrees of freedom.

The M–theory configuration describing the generating solution is depicted in table 1 and consists of a set of three bunches of M5–branes intersecting on a (compact) line along which some units of KK–momentum has been put, and with non–trivial 3–form potential switched–on on their world volume (the latter accounting for the essential fifth parameter characterizing the generating solution). The compact space $`T_6\times S_1`$ is along directions $`x^4,\mathrm{},x^9,x^{10}`$ while the non–compact four dimensional coordinates are $`x^0,x^1,x^2,x^3`$. The M5–branes are $`N_1,N_2,N_3q^2`$ respectively, there are $`N_0+N_3p^2`$ units of KK momentum along the spatial $`10^{th}`$ direction and the magnetic flux, related to non–trivial 3–form field strength $`h_{(3)}`$ excited on the M5–brane, is proportional to a rational number $`\gamma =p/q`$, ($`p,q\text{ZZ}`$). The integers $`p,q`$ are related to the angle $`\theta `$ characterizing the $`S\times T`$–dual type IIB D3–brane configuration by the condition: $`q\mathrm{sin}\theta =p\mathrm{cos}\theta `$.

As illustrated in , the solution at the asymptotically flat radial infinity is characterized by a set of eight moduli–dependent charges $`(y,x)(y^\alpha ,x_\alpha ),\alpha =0,\mathrm{},3`$ (four magnetic $`y^\alpha `$ describing the Kaluza–Klein monopole and M5 charges, and four electric $`x_\alpha `$ related to the Kaluza–Klein momentum and M2 charges)222These charges are related to the moduli–independent quantized charges through a symplectic transformation (see  and ) and therefore are quantized as well.. The precise relation between the macroscopic charges $`(y,x)`$ as related to the effective charges along the various cycles of $`T_6\times S_1`$ and the microscopic parameters $`\{N_\alpha ,p,q\}`$ in the M–theory description of our solution (as well as in the $`S`$–dual type IIA one), is given in table 2. This correspondence was worked out in  and was made possible thanks to an intrinsic group theoretical characterization, carried out in , of the ten dimensional origin of the vector and scalar fields in the four dimensional $`N=8`$ model, once the latter is interpreted as the low energy effective theory of type IIA/IIB superstring theories on $`T_6`$.

The expression of the entropy in terms of the charges $`(y,x)`$ is given by applying to our solution  (for which $`y^0=x_3=0`$) the Bekenstein–Hawking formula and expressing the area of the horizon $`A_h`$ (in suitable units) in terms of the charges at infinity:

$`S`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{A_h}{4l_P^2}}=2\pi \sqrt{y_1y_2y_3\left[x_0{\displaystyle \frac{(x_1y_1x_2y_2)^2}{4y_1y_2y_3}}\right]}`$ (1)
$`l_P`$ being the Plank length. The moduli dependence of the charges $`(y,x)`$ in the above expression drops out, consistently with the moduli independence of the entropy. Using table 2, the macroscopic entropy can be expressed in terms of the microscopic parameters and reads:

$`S=2\pi \sqrt{N_1N_2N_3q^2\left[N_0+p^2N_3{\displaystyle \frac{1}{4}}p^2N_3{\displaystyle \frac{\left(N_1+N_2\right)^2}{N_1N_2}}\right]}`$ (2)
where the first two terms in the square bracket correspond to $`x_0`$ (the total momentum along $`S_1`$) while the third term represents a shift $`\mathrm{\Delta }x_0`$ to be subtracted to $`x_0`$ in order to define the relevant momentum contribution to the entropy and which we shall comment on in the sequel. Notice that the second and third terms in the square bracket are related to non–trivial membrane effective charges and therefore consistently vanish as $`\gamma ,p0`$ (while $`q`$ can be absorbed in a re–definition of $`N_3`$), i.e. when the magnetic flux, in the type IIA/M–theory language, or the non–trivial angle $`\theta `$, in the type IIB description, vanishes.

We wish to derive the expression (2) from a microscopic BPS state counting. As anticipated, this can be done along the lines of . Having expressed the entropy in terms of charges computed in the asymptotically flat radial infinity allows us to perform a “far from the horizon” counting of states for which the relevant framework is M–theory on $`M_4\times T_7`$ (or type II superstring on $`M_4\times T_6`$). Although the analysis of  is concerned with BPS black holes deriving from M–theory compactified on a manifold of the form $`M_4\times CY_3\times S_1`$ which has a different topology, we expect the low energy properties of our solution at tree level to coincide with those of the black holes studied in  for a suitable choice of the $`CY_3`$ manifold. Indeed (at tree level) the generating solution of $`N=8`$ regular BPS black holes is also a solution of an $`N=2`$ consistent truncation of the $`N=8`$ model, namely the STU model, whose six dimensional scalar manifold has a geometry defined by a cubic prepotential. This model describes also the tree level low energy dynamics of black holes within M–theory on $`M_4\times CY_3\times S_1`$, where the prepotential characterizing the special Kähler geometry of the complex structure moduli space of $`CY_3`$ is cubic, at tree level. We shall check, in this particular case, that the result of the entropy counting attained in  does coincide at tree level with the result of the analogous calculation we shall perform on our generating solution. The following analysis will be carried out in the eleven dimensional framework, adapting to the torus the study in . References to the dual type IIA setting will be done under the reasonable assumption that the degeneracy of BPS microstates is insensitive to the type IIA/M–theory duality333This would require in turn that, in changing the moduli of the background, singularities are not encountered and all the quantities defining BPS states behave smoothly, which is indeed the case..

Let us first briefly comment on the regime of parameters in which our computations are carried out. First of all we require the M–theory modes to decouple from the Kaluza–Klein modes of eleven dimensional supergravity compactified on $`M_4\times T_7`$444Which amounts to asking Kaluza–Klein supergravity to provide a reliable description of the physics on the chosen eleven dimensional vacuum.. This happens if $`T_7`$ is large in the eleven dimensional Planck units, i.e. if $`R_il_P`$, $`R_i`$ being the radii of the internal directions of $`T_7`$. Secondly we demand the four dimensional supergravity description of the generating solution to be reliable. This is the case if the curvature of the solution (whose upper bound is the near horizon curvature $`1/A_h`$) is smaller than the scale fixed by the Kaluza–Klein spectrum. A sufficient condition for this to hold is therefore $`A_hR_i^2`$. Using eq.(1) the latter amounts to the condition that the quantized charges $`(x,y)`$ be much larger than $`R_i/l_P`$ ($`1`$).

A successful strategy for achieving a microscopic entropy counting has been so far to choose suitable limits in the background geometry such that the low energy quantum fluctuations around the solution are described by a two–dimensional conformal field theory on a torus (a cylinder in the limit of non–compact time). In this case the asymptotic value of the degeneracy of microstates $`\rho (h)`$ for high excited levels $`h`$ is given in terms of the central charges of the $`\sigma `$–model by the Cardy formula . The conformal field theory considered in  emerges in the limit in which the radius of the eleventh dimension $`R`$ is much larger than the radii of the remaining compact manifold, which means, in our case, $`RV(T_6)^{1/6}`$. In this limit, the low energy fluctuations of the three M5–branes will be independent of the $`T_6`$ coordinate and described by a conformal $`1+1`$ $`\sigma `$–model. On the six–dimensional world volume of each M5–brane embedded in the background of the other 2 branes there is $`(0,2)`$ supersymmetry and BPS excitations will break half of them. This chiral supersymmetry will manifest on the two–dimensional conformal field theory as a $`(0,4)`$ supersymmetry (this is the same effective theory describing the microscopic degrees of freedom of the configuration described in ). The BPS states of this model will be annihilated by the right–moving supercharges and therefore they are described as excitations of the left moving sector. Denoting by $`c_L`$ the left–mover central charge and by $`h`$ the excitation level, the asymptotic value of $`\rho (h)`$ for large $`h`$ ($`hc_L`$) is given by the Cardy formula555An other condition for the validity of this formula, which we can reasonably assume to hold in our case, is that the minimum excitation level $`h_0`$ should be small: $`h_0c_L`$.:

$$\rho (h)\left(\frac{c_L}{96h^3}\right)^{1/4}e^{2\pi \sqrt{\frac{c_Lh}{6}}}\rho (h_0)e^{2\pi \sqrt{\frac{c_Lh}{6}}}$$
(3)
From the above expression, using the Boltzmann formula, one can derive the asymptotic value of the black hole entropy:

$$S_{micro}=\mathrm{ln}\rho (h)2\pi \sqrt{\frac{c_Lh}{6}}$$
(4)
In the M–theory picture $`h`$ is the non–zero mode contribution to the momentum along the eleventh direction $`S_1`$, i.e. in the conformal theory language, the non–zero mode contribution to $`L_0\overline{L}_0`$. In the type IIA description the momentum along $`S_1`$ is given by the D0–brane charge: $`x_0=N_0+p^2N_3`$. Clearly the regimes of validity of the type IIA picture and the description in terms of the above defined conformal field theory are opposite. Since, as previously said, the charge and density of BPS states can be supposed to be invariant with respect to the $`S`$–duality mapping large to small radius of $`S_1`$, we shall compute $`h`$, in the type IIA framework, in terms of a suitable contribution to the D0–brane charge. This is done in section 3.

## 2 Computation of the central charge $`c_L`$

Let us start by computing the central charge $`c_L`$. The general expression for $`c_L`$ is:

$$c_L=N_L^B+\frac{1}{2}N_L^F$$
(5)
$`N_L^B`$ and $`N_L^F`$ being the number of left–moving bosonic and fermionic degrees of freedom, respectively. The number of left–moving bosons has essentially two contributions. One is coming from the moduli of the 4–cycles $`P`$ of the torus $`T_6`$ along which the M5–branes are wrapped (call their number $`d_p`$). The other contribution comes from the moduli of the rank two antisymmetric tensor potential $`b`$ propagating on the M5–branes world volume ($`h_{(3)}=db`$). We can assume that each couple of M5–branes does intersect along the common directions (e.g. the branes with charges $`y_1`$ and $`y_3`$ along the plane $`(6,7)`$)666An alternative is for the projections of the two M5–branes along the common directions to be separated by a distance along the non–compact space directions. The two configurations clearly have the same charges and energy.. In this case the configuration of the three M5–branes can be described by a superposition $`P`$ of 4–cycles of $`T_6`$ whose fundamental class is $`[P]=_iy^i\alpha _i`$ with $`\alpha _i,i=1,2,3`$ being three $`(1,1)`$–cycles in $`H^2(T_6,\text{ZZ})`$ which will be defined precisely for our configuration in the sequel777We take the complex structure on $`T_6`$ to be defined in this way: $`z^1=x^4+\mathrm{i}x^5`$, $`z^2=x^6+\mathrm{i}x^7`$, $`z^3=x^8+\mathrm{i}x^9`$. (recall that 2–cycles are isomorphic to 4–cocycles). As far as the first type of moduli is concerned one can see, assuming suitable conditions on $`[P]`$ 888Along the lines of , we assume the 4–cycle $`P`$ to be a very ample divisor of $`T_6`$, which formalizes in the language of algebraic geometry the requirement for $`P`$ to be “large”, besides the weaker condition for $`[P]`$ to define a Kähler class (positiveness), . and recalling that a torus has vanishing Chern classes, that:

$$d_p=\frac{1}{3}_{T_6}[P]^32$$
(6)
Let us now consider the contribution from the 2–form $`b`$. As previously stated, in the limit of small $`T_6`$ with respect to $`S_1`$, the field $`b`$ can be considered, in the low energy limit, as function of just the coordinates $`\{x^{10},x^0\}`$ on $`S_1\times \mathrm{IR}`$. The three form $`h_{(3)}=db`$ defined on the M5 world volume is self–dual. This implies that among the fields $`b`$ which are 2–forms on $`P`$, the left–moving ones are anti–self–dual ($`b^{}`$), while the right–moving ones are self–dual ($`b^+`$). Moreover, the forms $`b`$ with just one index on $`P`$ are non–dynamical gauge fields in the theory on $`S_1\times \mathrm{IR}`$ which will enter the game since $`b_1=2h_{(1,0)}(P)0`$ and on which we are going to comment in a moment. Using the Hodge index theorem on $`P`$ and doing some simple calculations, one can see that the spaces of the $`b^\pm `$ have the following dimensions, respectively:

$`\mathrm{dim}\{b^{}\}`$ $`=`$ $`h_{(1,1)}1={\displaystyle \frac{2}{3}}{\displaystyle _{T_6}}[P]^3+2h_{(1,0)}1`$
$`\mathrm{dim}\{b^+\}`$ $`=`$ $`1+2h_{(2,0)}={\displaystyle \frac{1}{3}}{\displaystyle _{T_6}}[P]^3+2h_{(1,0)}1`$ (7)
As far as the fermion modes $`N_{L,R}^F`$ are concerned, from standard analysis it is known that on a complex manifold the number of left–moving and right–moving fermions are related to the dimension of $`H^{(2r+1,0)}(P)`$ and $`H^{(2r,0)}(P)`$, respectively: $`N_L^F=4h_{(1,0)}`$ and $`N_R^F=4(h_{(0,0)}+h_{(2,0)})`$. Let us now collect our results. With the above definitions, the number of left and right moving bosons is given, in general, by:

$`N_L^B`$ $`=`$ $`d_p+\mathrm{dim}\{b^{}\}+3`$
$`N_R^B`$ $`=`$ $`d_p+\mathrm{dim}\{b^+\}+3`$ (8)
where the $`+3`$ in the two cases takes into account the contribution of three translational zero modes. Hence we have:

$`N_L^B`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle _{T_6}}[P]^3+2h_{(1,0)}\{2h_{(1,0)}={\displaystyle _{T_6}}[P]^3\}`$
$`N_L^F`$ $`=`$ $`4h_{(1,0)}\{4h_{(1,0)}=0\}`$
$`N_R^B`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{2}{3}}{\displaystyle _{T_6}}[P]^3+2h_{(1,0)}\{2h_{(1,0)}={\displaystyle \frac{2}{3}}{\displaystyle _{T_6}}[P]^3\}`$
$`N_R^F`$ $`=`$ $`4h_{(2,0)}+4\{4h_{(1,0)}\}`$ (9)
where the terms in the curly brackets represent the effect of the gauging of the $`b_1`$ non–dynamical gauge fields introduced previously. Indeed, coupling the (left and right moving) bosonic and fermionic modes to these vector fields will reduce the scalar degrees of freedom by $`b_1=2h_{(1,0)}(P)`$ and the fermionic ones by $`2b_1`$ (we require, according to , this coupling to be left–right symmetric). This gauging is not optional, since it restores supersymmetry on the right sector. This can be easily seen deriving from eq.(7) the following relation:

$$\frac{1}{6}_{T_6}[P]^3=h_{(2,0)}h_{(1,0)}+1$$
(10)
which in turn implies that, provided the gauging is performed, the values of $`N_R^B`$ and $`N_R^F`$, read off from eq.s (2), coincide. From eq.(5) and eq.s (2) we can finally deduce the value of the central charge $`c_L`$ to be: $`c_L=_{T_6}[P]^3`$. To compute its value in terms of the quantized charges $`y^i`$ we consider suitable representatives of the classes $`\alpha _i`$ and define as $`D_{ijk}`$ the restriction to them of the triple intersection numbers of $`T_6`$:

$`1`$ $`=`$ $`6D_{ijk}={\displaystyle \alpha _i}\alpha _j\alpha _k`$
$`\alpha _i`$ $`=`$ $`dx^adx^b`$
$`\{i\}`$ $`=`$ $`\{1,2,3\}\{(ab)\}=\{(45),(67),(89)\}`$ (11)
The left–mover central charge is therefore:

$$c_L=_{T_6}[P]^3=6y_1y_2y_3=6q^2N_1N_2N_3$$
(12)
Notice that the gauging discussed earlier besides ensuring supersymmetry on the right–mover sector, provides a consistency condition for the left sector as well. Indeed if it were not performed, $`c_L`$ would have an additional term proportional to $`b_1`$. As a consequence of this, the entropy computed from eq.(4), provided $`h0`$, would have a non vanishing leading contribution even if the number of intersecting (bunches of) branes would have been less than three999 As explained above we are considering the limit where $`N_0>>c_L`$. In this regime, the dominant configuration is that of “short” branes : we have three bunches of parallel M5–branes, $`N_1,N_2,N_3q^2`$ respectively which therefore intersect on $`N_1N_2N_3q^2`$ points on $`T_6`$., in disagreement with the Bekenstein–Hawking macroscopic prediction (differently, in the case of a generic C–Y manifold one needs instead just one set of coinciding branes to have a regular horizon in four dimensions, see for instance ).

## 3 Non–zero mode contribution to the momentum along $`S_1`$: a type IIA computation

The remaining quantity to be computed on our solution is the excitation level $`h`$ in eq.(4). This can be done by extending to our configuration on $`T_6`$ the computation performed in  within the M–theory framework. As previously anticipated, we shall adopt the type IIA viewpoint instead, and write $`h`$ as the difference between the total D0–brane charge $`x_0=N_0+p^2N_3`$ related to the background configuration and a contribution $`\mathrm{\Delta }x_0`$ to be suitably interpreted from type IIA perspective. While the former quantity corresponds in eleven dimensions to the total KK momentum along $`x^{10}`$, i.e., in the CFT limit, to the eigenvalue of $`L_0\overline{L}_0`$, the latter defines the zero–mode contribution to $`L_0\overline{L}_0`$. On the type IIA side $`\mathrm{\Delta }x_0`$, as we shall see, can be expressed in terms of the contribution to the D0–brane charge due to a magnetic flux $`^{(0)}`$, defined on the intersections along the planes $`(45)`$, $`(67)`$, $`(89)`$ of the D4–branes, which can be interpreted as the part of the total magnetic flux $``$ due to the same modes or states which in the $`S`$–dual CFT picture are zero–modes of the potential $`b`$. In the language of open strings attached to D4–branes these states can be possibly identified with modes of Dirichelet–Dirichelet strings connecting the $`N_3q^2`$ branes to the $`N_1`$ and $`N_2`$ branes, which are massless and will induce an equal flux density $`^{(0)}`$ on the world volume of the $`N_i`$ and $`N_j`$ branes along their common directions. The flux $`^{(0)}`$ will correspond, upon dimensional oxidation and suitable dualization, to a 3–form $`h_{(3)}^{(0)}`$ on the M5–branes. The derivation of the WZ term in the world volume action of the D4–brane, yielding the contribution of the magnetic flux to the D0–brane charge, from the corresponding term in the M5–brane world volume action, is discussed in the appendix, and the result can be applied to the fields $`^{(0)}`$ and $`h_{(3)}^{(0)}`$.

The magnetic flux density $`^{(0)}`$, differently from the whole $``$ which is non–vanishing only on the world volume of the $`N_3q^2`$ branes, can be defined on $`T_6`$ in terms of the three 2–forms $`\alpha _i`$: $`^{(0)}=_i^{(0)|i}\alpha _i`$101010The components $`\{^{(0)|1},^{(0)|2},^{(0)|3}\}`$ correspond to $`\{_{45}^{(0)},_{67}^{(0)},_{89}^{(0)}\}`$, consistently with the convention on the indices defined in eq.(11).. Its value is determined in terms of the effective electric charges $`x_i`$ through the WZ terms which couple it to the D4 brane world volumes. The part of the R–R 3–form $`A`$ coupled to $`^{(0)}`$ in these terms is $`_iA_\mu ^idx^\mu \alpha _i`$, where the index $`\mu `$ runs along the non–compact directions and the vectors fields $`A_\mu ^i`$ denote three electric potentials of the effective four dimensional theory. The corresponding charges $`x_i`$ are defined by the four dimensional minimal couplings:

$`x_i{\displaystyle A_0^i𝑑x^0}={\displaystyle \frac{1}{2\pi }}{\displaystyle \underset{k}{}}{\displaystyle _{(D4)_k}}^{(0)|j}\alpha _j\alpha _iA_0^idx^0=\left(6D_{ijk}y^k{\displaystyle \frac{^{(0)|j}}{2\pi }}\right)\times {\displaystyle A_0^i𝑑x^0}`$
(13)
hence:

$`x_i`$ $`=`$ $`6D_{ijk}y^jG^k=6D_{ij}G^j`$ (14)
where we have defined $`G^i=F^{(0)|i}/(2\pi )`$ and $`D_{ij}=D_{ijk}y^k=_P\alpha _i\alpha _j/6`$. The integrals on the right hand side of eq.(13) are computed on the D4–brane world volumes, and eventually extended to the whole $`T_6`$ using the fundamental class $`[P]`$ previously defined. We have considered moreover $`^{(0)|i}`$ to be uniform along the planes on which it is defined. The contribution of $`^{(0)}`$ to the total D0–brane charge is given by:

$`\mathrm{\Delta }x_0`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2(2\pi )^2}}{\displaystyle _P}^{(0)}^{(0)}=3D_{ij}G^iG^j`$ (15)
Inverting eq.(14) one finds $`G^i=D^{ij}x_j/6`$, where $`D^{ij}D_{jk}=\delta _k^i`$. Inserting this result in eq.(15) we obtain:

$`\mathrm{\Delta }x_0`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{4y_1y_2y_3}}\left({\displaystyle \underset{i}{}}(y_ix_i)^22{\displaystyle \underset{i<j}{}}y_ix_iy_jx_j\right)={\displaystyle \frac{p^2N_3}{4N_1N_2}}\left(N_1+N_2\right)^2`$ (16)
where in the last passage we have used the expression of the charges $`(x,y)`$ given in table 2. This quantity, being related in the $`S`$–dual CFT picture, to the zero–mode contribution to the KK momentum along $`S_1`$, has to be subtracted from the total D0–brane charge $`x_0`$ in order to obtain $`h`$. Hence we finally get:

$$h=x_0\mathrm{\Delta }x_0=N_0+p^2N_3\frac{p^2N_3}{4N_1N_2}\left(N_1+N_2\right)^2$$
(17)
Inserting the above expression and eq.(12) in eq.(4) one finally obtains the correct microscopic prediction for the Bekenstein–Hawking entropy, eq.(2)! This ends the computation.

## 4 Conclusion

Our final formula is the same as (3.28) of . However we wish to emphasize that the above computed microscopic entropy formula accounts for the entropy of all regular BPS black holes within toroidally compactified string (or M) theory, . In particular, the shift factor encodes the essential fifth parameter which is crucial for the solution to be a generating one. Notice that since the near horizon geometry is characterized by just one of the 5 parameters (i.e. the entropy or horizon area) which is the one accounting for the microscopic degeneracy of the (proper) black hole states111111Here by “proper” black hole we mean the near horizon solution which is hairless thanks to supersymmetry, as opposite to the whole solution interpolating between the horizon and the asymptotically flat radial infinity, which has indeed hair, i.e. it depends on matter fields. The microscopic degrees of freedom of this hair are encoded in four of the five $`U`$–duality invariants., we actually expect that this geometry does not distinguish between regular solutions characterized by different numbers of $`U`$–duality invariants. Indeed, for suitable values of the corresponding quantized charges, two different solutions can have precisely the same near horizon geometry (and therefore the same entropy). For instance, the difference between the expression of the entropy for a five or a four parameter solution may amount just to the aforementioned shift which can be absorbed in a re–definition of the quantized charges (as far as near horizon geometry is concerned). However, if we wish to characterize the entropy of a (proper) regular black hole as part of the most general interpolating solution, then the parameter characterizing this shift is an essential ingredient for supporting all the independent $`U`$–duality invariant degrees of freedom. Therefore it is far from the horizon where this shift parameter acquires a highly non–trivial physical meaning. The magnetic flux manifests itself by coupling to new scalars (the axions) whose radial evolution in the solution is non–trivial. These extra scalars are needed for the solution to be a generating one, .

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank M. Billò, G. Bonelli, R. Russo, C. Scrucca and A. Westerberg for clarifying discussions and the Spinoza Institute, where part of this work has been carried out, for the kind ospitality. We acknowledge partial support by ECC under contracts ERBFMRX-CT96-0045 and ERBFMRX-CT96-0012. M.B. is supported by INFN.

## Appendix

Let us briefly review the derivation of the WZ term describing the contribution to the D0–brane charge due to a magnetic flux $``$ on the D4–brane from the perspective of M–theory compactified on a circle. The normalization we choose for this term in the low energy effective action on the D4–brane is the following:

$$\frac{1}{2(2\pi )^2}_PC_{(1)}$$
(18)
where $`C_{(1)}`$ is the pull–back of the R–R 1–form which couples to the D0–brane and $`P`$ is the four cycle of $`T_6`$ on which the D4–brane is wrapped.

In general, the derivation of the D4–brane action from that of the M5–brane upon double dimensional reduction is not straightforward. In fact, as shown in detail in , by compactifying the world volume action of the M5–brane one ends in an dual gauge. In order to get the usual D4–brane action one has to perform a (electro–megnetic) duality transformation, which moreover mixes the DBI and the WZ terms. Here, however, we are just interested in deriving the term (18), and computations can be much simplified. If we take the background gauge potential to have only the temporal component non–vanishing and choose static gauge, then only $`C_0`$ survives on the world volume (and coincides with the corresponding component of the background field). If we now choose it to be small, the WZ term (18) turns out to be the same in the two dual regimes, at leading order. This can be easily seen by comparison of formulae (81) and (82) of the appendix of .

Let us then consider the theory on the M5–brane (double oxidation of the D4–brane) embedded in a Minkowsky space–time $`G_{MN}=\eta _{MN}`$ ($`M,N=0,\mathrm{},10`$) and perform an infinitesimal shift on this metric by a quantity $`\delta G_{MN}`$ whose only non zero entry is $`\delta G_{\mathrm{0\hspace{0.17em}10}}=C_01`$ (we are thinking of the dimensional reduction on $`S_1`$ to ten dimensions and of the known fact that ultimately $`C_m\delta G_{10m}`$). The world volume action of the M5–brane would acquire a term of the form:

$`\delta S`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle _{S_1\times \mathrm{IR}}}T_{vw}\delta \widehat{G}^{vw}𝑑\xi ^{10}𝑑\xi ^0=2{\displaystyle _{S_1\times \mathrm{IR}}}T_{\mathrm{0\hspace{0.17em}10}}C_0𝑑\xi ^{10}𝑑\xi ^0`$
$`T_{\mathrm{0\hspace{0.17em}10}}`$ $`=`$ $`\beta \left(h_{0}^{}{}_{}{}^{ab}h_{10cd}\right){\displaystyle _P}\alpha _{ab}{}_{}{}^{}\alpha _{}^{cd}h_{0ab}h_{10}^{}{}_{}{}^{ab}`$ (19)
where it is understood that the M5–brane world volume extends over $`P\times S_1\times \mathrm{IR}`$, the indexes $`v,w`$ get values $`0,\mathrm{},6,10`$, $`\widehat{G}`$ is the pull–back of the metric $`G`$, and $``$ is the Hodge duality on $`P`$. The constant $`\beta `$ is determined by our choice of normalization in eq.(18) and will be fixed at the end. If we label by $`a`$ the internal directions of $`T_6`$ then we choose the components $`h_{abc}`$ of the self–dual tensor to be zero. The self–duality of $`h_{(3)}`$ implies that $`h_{\pm }^{}{}_{}{}^{ab}\alpha _{ab}^{}=0`$, where “$`\pm `$” labels on the $`h_{(3)}`$ tensor the light–cone coordinates $`\xi ^\pm =\xi ^0\pm \xi ^{10}`$ and on the 2–form $`\alpha `$ its self–dual/anti–self–dual components in $`P`$: $`\alpha =\alpha ^++\alpha ^{}`$, $`{}_{}{}^{}\alpha =\alpha ^+\alpha ^{}`$.

We may rewrite the action term in eq.(19) as follows:

$`\delta S`$ $`=`$ $`2\beta {\displaystyle _{P\times S_1}}h_{0}^{}{}_{}{}^{ab}h_{10cd}\alpha _{ab}{}_{}{}^{}\alpha _{}^{cd}d\xi ^{10}{\displaystyle C_0𝑑\xi ^0}=`$ (20)
$`2\beta {\displaystyle _{P\times S_1}}\left(h_{+}^{}{}_{}{}^{ab}h_{+cd}h_{}^{}{}_{}{}^{ab}h_{cd}\right)\alpha _{ab}{}_{}{}^{}\alpha _{}^{cd}d\xi ^{10}{\displaystyle C_0𝑑\xi ^0}=`$
$`2\beta {\displaystyle _{P\times S_1}}h_{10}^{}{}_{}{}^{ab}h_{10}^{}{}_{}{}^{cd}\alpha _{ab}\alpha _{cd}d\xi ^{10}{\displaystyle C_0𝑑\xi ^0}`$
where we have used the self–duality of $`h_{(3)}`$.

If we integrate the expression in eq.(20) over $`S_1`$ (very small), after considering only the zero–modes along it, and make the (leading–order) identification $`_{ab}/(2\pi )=h_{10ab}`$ (see ) we obtain precisely the term in eq.(18) setting $`\beta =1/(8\pi R)`$, $`R`$ being the radius of the eleventh dimension.


text:
# Wigner molecules in quantum dots

## Abstract

We perform unrestricted Hartree-Fock (HF) calculations for electrons in a parabolic quantum dot at zero magnetic field. The crossover from Fermi liquid to Wigner molecule behavior is studied for up to eight electrons and various spin components $`S_z`$. We compare the results with numerically exact path-integral Monte Carlo simulations and earlier HF studies. Even in the strongly correlated regime the symmetry breaking HF solutions provide accurate estimates for the energies and describe the one-particle densities qualitatively. However, the HF approximation favors the formation of a Wigner molecule and produces azimuthal modulations of the density for even numbers of electrons in one spatial shell.

The last decade has seen an enormous interest in quantum dots, i.e., a small number of 2D electrons confined in a semiconductor heterostructure . Experimentally, the $`N`$-electron states of these systems are studied by means of far-infrared , capacitance  and transport spectroscopy , and exhibit features of quantization of charge and energy. Theoretically, a whole arsenal of methods for interacting electronic systems together with increasing computational power applies: Exact diagonalization techniques , density functional theory  and quantum Monte Carlo methods . Recently, also the very strongly correlated regime of small electronic densities has attracted considerable interest . In particular, the formation of a Wigner molecule was studied with Quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) , Hartree-Fock (HF) and configuration interaction  calculations.

In this paper we reconsider the Hartree-Fock approximation focusing on the crossover to the Wigner regime. An important practical and conceptual question to be clarified is how correlations beyond the mean field approximation contribute to the exact energy and whether the Wigner molecule is described reliably within HF. In its unrestricted version, allowing for symmetry-broken solutions, HF approaches the true ground state energy considerably better than restricted HF which preserves the rotational symmetry of the Hamiltonian. This is achieved, however, on expense of the quality of the wave functions.

In the case of a strong central potential in three dimensions, such as in real atoms, the HF approximation is known to yield useful results both for energies and wave functions. Here, we show by comparison with exact Monte Carlo data  that even for strong interaction unrestricted HF can give very good estimates for the ground state energies of 2D quantum dots. Only tiny energy differences between different spin states cannot be resolved reliably. On the other hand, the charge density distribution resulting from unrestricted HF cannot quantitatively describe the strongly correlated regime. For even number of electrons per shell, the HF densities show effects of localization due to the strong electron interaction. Furthermore, within HF  this crystallization sets in rather too early at higher densities than in the QMC study .

Model — We study a two-dimensional parabolic quantum dot with $`N`$ electrons at zero magnetic field as it has been discussed by many authors \[5-10\]. Measuring energy in units of the oscillator energy $`\mathrm{}\omega _0`$ and length in units of $`l_0=\sqrt{\mathrm{}/m^{}\omega _0}`$, where $`m^{}`$ is the effective mass, the dimensionless Hamiltonian reads

$`H`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{j=1}{\overset{N}{}}}\left({\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}\mathrm{\Delta }_j+{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}𝒓_j^2\right)+{\displaystyle \underset{i<j=1}{\overset{N}{}}}{\displaystyle \frac{\lambda }{|𝒓_i𝒓_j|}}`$ (1)
$``$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{i=1}{\overset{N}{}}}h_i+{\displaystyle \underset{i<j=1}{\overset{N}{}}}w_{ij}.`$ (2)
Here we have introduced the dimensionless coupling constant $`\lambda =l_0/a_\mathrm{B}^{}=e^2/\kappa l_0\mathrm{}\omega _0`$ with the effective Bohr radius $`a_\mathrm{B}^{}`$ and the dielectric constant $`\kappa `$. For example $`\lambda =2`$ corresponds to $`\mathrm{}\omega _03`$meV for a GaAs quantum dot. Since this Hamiltonian is rotationally invariant and spin independent, the exact eigenfunctions can be chosen as simultaneous eigenfunctions of the total angular momentum $`L_z^{\mathrm{tot}}`$, the total spin $`𝑺_{\mathrm{tot}}^2`$ and its $`z`$-component $`S_z^{\mathrm{tot}}`$. These eigenfunctions and corresponding densities are then rotationally invariant.

Method — HF theory consists in approximating the many-particle wave function by an optimal single Slater determinant

$$\mathrm{\Psi }^{\mathrm{HF}}=\frac{1}{\sqrt{N!}}det\left(\phi _i(𝒓_j)\right)_{1i,jN}.$$
(3)
This HF Slater determinant is build up by single particle orbitals $`\phi _i(𝒓)`$, which are expanded in the angular momentum basis of the 2D harmonic oscillator (Fock-Darwin states)

$$𝒓|nM=\sqrt{\frac{n!}{\pi (n+|M|)!}}e^{iM\phi }r^{|M|}_n^{|M|}(r^2)e^{r^2/2}.$$
(4)
Here, $`n`$ and $`M`$ are the radial and angular quantum numbers, and $`_n^{|M|}`$ is a Laguerre polynomial. In the unrestricted HF approximation an orbital has the expansion

$$\phi _i(𝒓)=\underset{\genfrac{}{}{0pt}{}{n=0,\mathrm{}}{M=\mathrm{},\mathrm{}}}{}u_{nM}^i𝒓|nM\sigma _i,$$
(5)
where $`\sigma _i=\pm \frac{1}{2}`$ is the fixed electron spin of the $`i`$-th orbital. This orbital is no longer an eigenfunction of the one particle angular momentum, therefore the HF Slater determinant is in general not an eigenfunction of $`L_z^{\mathrm{tot}}`$, but a deformed, symmetry broken solution . Similarly, the HF solution is in general not an eigenfunction of the total spin but only of its $`z`$-component with eigenvalue $`S_z^{\mathrm{tot}}S_z=(N_{}N_{})/2=_i\sigma _i`$.

Minimizing the HF energy $`E^{\mathrm{HF}}=\mathrm{\Psi }^{\mathrm{HF}}\left|H\right|\mathrm{\Psi }^{\mathrm{HF}}`$ and imposing orthonormality between the HF orbitals yields the HF equations for the expansion coefficients $`u_{nM}^i`$

$$\underset{\alpha }{}\left\{\gamma \left|h\right|\alpha +\underset{\beta \beta ^{}}{}(\gamma \beta |w|\alpha \beta ^{})\rho _{\beta ^{}\beta }\right\}u_\alpha ^k=\epsilon _ku_\gamma ^k.$$
(6)
Here, greek indices abbreviate the quantum numbers of (4), for example $`\alpha (n,M,\sigma )`$. The density matrix is defined by $`\rho _{\alpha \alpha ^{}}=_{i=1}^Nu_\alpha ^iu_{\alpha ^{}}^{i}{}_{}{}^{}`$, $`\gamma \left|h\right|\alpha `$ is the one particle matrix element and $`(\alpha \alpha ^{}|w|\beta \beta ^{})=\alpha \alpha ^{}\left|w\right|\beta \beta ^{}\alpha \alpha ^{}\left|w\right|\beta ^{}\beta `$ denotes the antisymmetrized Coulomb matrix element, which we calculated analytically by transformation into relative and center of mass coordinates . The nonlinear selfconsistent eigenvalue problem (6) for the expansion coefficients $`u_\alpha ^i`$ is solved by iterative diagonalization starting from an initial guess for the density matrix. Several starting guesses have to be chosen in order to avoid local minima. The true minimum can also be identified by its one particle density,

$$n^{\mathrm{HF}}(𝒓)=\underset{i=1}{\overset{N}{}}|\phi _i(𝒓)|^2,$$
(7)
which in the strong coupling limit mirrors the geometry of classical electrostatic point-charges as we discuss below.

In our calculations we used up to 55 Fock-Darwin states for each spin direction. We present results for various sets of $`N,\lambda ,S_z`$ from $`N=2`$ to $`8`$ particles covering the whole range of interaction strengths from $`\lambda =2`$ to $`10`$.

HF energies and spin — The most important properties of the HF ground state energies can already be seen for $`N=2`$ (quantum dot Helium). Here one knows the exact solution from diagonalization of the Hamiltonian for the relative motion . We have reproduced these results in Table I. The true ground state is always a singlet and the energy gap to the triplet vanishes slowly as $`\lambda \mathrm{}`$. In contrast, the HF approximation finds a triplet ground state for $`\lambda \stackrel{>}{}5`$, and the energies of singlet and triplet converge more rapidly . The (absolute and relative) error is largest in the case of $`S_z=0`$ and $`\lambda 2`$. In the polarized case the error of HF increases monotonically with $`\lambda `$. These features of the HF energies can be seen for all $`N`$.

For $`N>2`$ we compare with the path integral QMC data of Ref. , which have been obtained for the very low temperature $`T=0.1\mathrm{}\omega _0/k_\mathrm{B}`$. The HF ground state energies are always above the QMC energies for all particle numbers investigated so that the QMC data may serve effectively as zero temperature reference points. In the case of $`N=5`$ electrons, QMC gives a ground state spin of $`1/2`$. In Fig. 1 we plot the energy difference of the different spin states with respect to the true ground state, $`\mathrm{\Delta }E=E_SE_{1/2}^{\mathrm{QMC}}`$, for various spin states as a function of the coupling strength $`\lambda `$. Again we see that $`\mathrm{\Delta }E`$ is largest for $`\lambda 2`$ and smallest spin. It remains constant for $`\lambda \stackrel{>}{}4`$, resulting in a very low relative error of only $`12`$% in the low density regime. The HF energy is very accurate in the case of $`S_z=5/2`$ which becomes the HF ground state for $`\lambda \stackrel{>}{}4`$. This unphysically high ground state spin is due to the exchange term in the HF energy, which lowers the energy only for parallel spins. Therefore the spin ordering of the HF energies is just reversed.

For $`N=8`$ we give the HF energies in Table II. The QMC predicts a transition of the ground state spin from $`S=1`$ to $`S=2`$ for $`\lambda \stackrel{>}{}4`$. Again HF finds the wrong spin ordering in the correlated regime. The relative error is largest for the unpolarized states. The convergence of the HF energies for different $`S_z`$ for $`\lambda \stackrel{>}{}6`$ can be understood in the classical picture of localized electrons without overlap and therefore no spin sensitivity.

HF densities — Next we study the HF one particle densities (7), where the crossover to the Wigner molecule is discernible. However, one has to keep in mind that the deformation and structure of the HF densities arise from the symmetry violating mean field and therefore may be artificial (whereas the HF energies are a true upper bounds for the ground state energies). Second we want to point out that a symmetry breaking Slater determinant does not necessarily mean that its corresponding density displays a molecule-like structure. In Fig. 2 we display the densities for $`N=2`$ to $`5`$ for strong coupling $`\lambda =6`$ and maximal spin $`S_z=N/2`$ (From $`\lambda \stackrel{>}{}6`$ the HF densities are essentially the same for all spins.). In the case of $`2`$ and $`4`$ electrons they show quite distinct azimuthal maxima. This is not the case for the odd electron numbers $`3`$ and $`5`$: Surprisingly the HF densities, though belonging to a deformed Slater determinant, seem to be rotationally symmetric.

In order to understand this even-odd effect consider an exact spin-polarized $`N`$-electron wave function $`\mathrm{\Psi }_N`$ for the Wigner molecule case. An even number of electrons in one spatial shell carries a nonzero angular momentum $`\pm \mathrm{}N/2`$ . In this fashion the HF wavefunctions with modulated density ($`N=2,4`$) can be interpreted as standing waves from a superposition of opposite angular momenta .

However the HF densities display the right classical filling for the spatial shells: From the maxima in the densities one can also read off the Brueckner parameter $`r_s`$, which is defined as the the nearest-neighbor distance in units of $`a_\mathrm{B}^{}`$. These values $`r_s`$ agree well with those obtained by QMC and from a model of classical point-charges. In Fig. 3 we show a 7-electron Wigner molecule for two interaction strengths. For $`\lambda =2`$ the HF density is already 6-fold modulated with a central electron. Confronting this with the exact density in Fig. 1 of Ref. , we notice that the crystallization (as suggested by the HF densities) occurs too early. This explains why the authors of Ref.  observe Wigner crystallization for higher densities than in the exact QMC study . For higher $`\lambda `$ the molecule with two spatial shells becomes more and more distinct. The maxima agree very well with the classical formula $`r_s^3=\lambda ^4(2.25+1/\sqrt{3})`$ for the 6-fold geometry.

Finally we show in Fig. 4 the crystallization for $`N=6`$ and $`S_z=0`$. This unpolarized case depicts a crossover from a 6-fold arrangement \[Fig. 4(a)\] to a 5-fold geometry \[Fig. 4(c) and (d)\]. The 6-electron molecule was also studied by Reimann et al. , who found by means of configuration interaction calculations that the true ground state was unpolarized with a 6-fold symmetry up to at least $`\lambda 3.5`$. Within HF the $`S_z=0`$ state acquires a 5-fold symmetry already for $`\lambda 2.85`$. In this range the HF density is distorted \[$`\lambda =4`$ in Fig. 4(c)\] and then again apparently round for higher lambda \[$`\lambda =6`$ in Fig. 4(d)\] with a central maximum. Fig. 4(b) shows the 6-fold isomer for $`\lambda =4`$, which is by $`0.33`$ higher in energy than the ground state in Fig. 4(c). In contrast the spin-polarized state exhibits 5-fold symmetry throughout the whole parameter range .

In conclusion we have shown in how far an unrestricted HF description of the Wigner molecule in quantum dots is reliable. The HF energies are good estimates of the true ground state energies especially for spin-polarized states. The energy differences for different spin-states in the strong interacting regime cannot be resolved properly. We find deformed HF densities in the regime of intermediate interaction up to $`\lambda \stackrel{<}{}4`$. For strong correlation the densities are azimuthally modulated for an even number of electrons in a shell and round for an odd number per shell. The onset of this modulation is enhanced within HF, which leads to overestimate the value of the critical density for the crossover to the Wigner molecule. However the HF densities mirror the classical filling scheme with the electrons arranged in spatial shells.

We thank R. Blümel, R. Egger, C. Stafford, and T. Vorrath for useful discussions. This research has been supported by the SFB 276 of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (Bonn)