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# Dust Grain Size Distributions and Extinction in the Milky Way, LMC, and SMC DRAFT:

## 1 Introduction

Mathis, Rumpl, & Nordsieck (1977, MRN) constructed their classic interstellar dust model on the basis of the observed extinction of starlight for lines of sight passing through diffuse clouds. Strong absorption is observed at $`9.7`$ and $`18\mathrm{\mu m}`$, corresponding to stretching and bending modes in silicates. The strong extinction feature at $`2175\mathrm{\AA }`$ can be approximately reproduced by small graphite particles (Stecher & Donn 1965; Wickramasinghe & Guillaume 1965). The simplest model incorporating both silicate and graphite material consists of two separate grain populations, one of silicate composition and one of graphite composition. MRN found that the extinction curve (i.e. the functional dependence of the extinction on the wavelength $`\lambda `$) is well reproduced if the grain size distribution (with identical form for each component) is given by

$$dn_{\mathrm{gr}}=Cn_\mathrm{H}a^{3.5}da,a_{\mathrm{min}}<a<a_{\mathrm{max}}$$
(1)
with $`a_{\mathrm{min}}=50\mathrm{\AA }`$ and $`a_{\mathrm{max}}=0.25\mathrm{\mu m}`$; $`n_{\mathrm{gr}}(a)`$ is the number density of grains with size $`a`$ and $`n_\mathrm{H}`$ is the number density of H nuclei (in both atoms and molecules). MRN adopted spherical grains, for which Mie theory can be used to compute extinction cross sections, and we shall do the same; in this case $`a`$ is the grain radius. Draine & Lee (1984) extended the wavelength coverage of the MRN model, constructed dielectric functions for “astronomical silicate” and graphite, and found the following normalizations for the size distribution: $`C=10^{25.13}`$ ($`10^{25.11}`$) $`\mathrm{cm}^{2.5}`$ for graphite (silicate).

Since the development of the MRN model, more observational evidence has become available; some of these new observations require revisions of the model. First, the extinction curve has been found to vary, depending upon the interstellar environment through which the starlight passes. Cardelli, Clayton, & Mathis (1989, CCM) found that this dependence can be characterized fairly well by a single parameter, which they took to be $`R_VA(V)/E(BV)`$, the ratio of visual extinction to reddening. CCM have fitted the average extinction curve $`A(\lambda )/A(V)`$ as functions of $`\lambda `$ and $`R_V`$. For the diffuse ISM, $`R_V3.1`$; higher values are observed for dense clouds. Kim, Martin, & Hendry (1994) used the maximum entropy method to find smooth size distributions, for silicate and graphite grains, for which the extinction for $`R_V=3.1`$ and $`5.3`$ is well reproduced. Their $`R_V=5.3`$ distribution has significantly fewer “small” grains ($`a<0.1\mathrm{\mu m}`$) than their $`R_V=3.1`$ distribution, as well as a modest increase at larger sizes. This result was expected, since generally there is relatively less extinction at short wavelengths (provided by small grains) for larger values of $`R_V`$.

Observations of thermal emission from dust have provided another challenge to the MRN model. Emission in the 3 to $`60\mathrm{\mu m}`$ range, presumably generated by grains small enough to reach temperatures of 30 to $`600\mathrm{K}`$ or more upon the absorption of a single starlight photon (see e.g. Draine & Anderson 1985), imply a population of very small grains (with $`a<50\mathrm{\AA }`$). The non-detection of the $`10\mathrm{\mu m}`$ silicate feature in emission from diffuse clouds (Mattila et al. 1996; Onaka et al. 1996) appears to rule out silicate grains as a major component of the $`a15\mathrm{\AA }`$ population (but see note added in proof). Emission features at 3.3, 6.2, 7.7, 8.6, and $`11.3\mathrm{\mu m}`$ (see Sellgren 1994 for a review) have been identified as C-H and C-C stretching and bending modes in polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (Léger & Puget 1984), suggesting that the carbonaceous grain population extends down into the molecular regime. Recent observations of dust-correlated microwave emission has been attributed to the very small grain population (Draine & Lazarian 1998a).

The abundance of very small grains required to generate the observed IR emission from the diffuse ISM is not yet well-known. In the model of Désert, Boulanger, & Puget (1990), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) molecules with less than 540 C atoms (equal to the number of C atoms in a spherical graphite grain with $`a10\mathrm{\AA }`$) lock up a C abundance111By “abundance”, we mean the number of atoms of an element per interstellar H nucleus. of $`4\times 10^5`$. Li & Draine (2001) compare observations of diffuse galactic emission with detailed model calculations for grains heated by galactic starlight and find that a C abundance $`4`$$`6\times 10^5`$ is required in hydrocarbon molecules with $`10^3`$ C atoms. They conclude that the emission is best reproduced if the very small grain population is the sum of two log-normal size distributions:222 The log-normal distribution with $`a_{0,1}=3.5\mathrm{\AA }`$ is required to reproduce the observed 3–25$`\mathrm{\mu m}`$ emission, and the $`a_{0,1}=30\mathrm{\AA }`$ component is needed to contribute emission in the DIRBE $`60\mathrm{\mu m}`$ band.

$$\frac{1}{n_\mathrm{H}}\left(\frac{dn_{\mathrm{gr}}}{da}\right)_{vsg}D(a)=\underset{i=1}{\overset{2}{}}\frac{B_i}{a}\mathrm{exp}\left\{\frac{1}{2}\left[\frac{\mathrm{ln}(a/a_{0,i})}{\sigma }\right]^2\right\},a>3.5\mathrm{\AA }$$
(2)
$$B_i=\frac{3}{(2\pi )^{3/2}}\frac{\mathrm{exp}(4.5\sigma ^2)}{\rho a_{0,i}^3\sigma }\frac{b_{\mathrm{C},i}m_\mathrm{C}}{1+\mathrm{erf}[3\sigma /\sqrt{2}+\mathrm{ln}(a_{0,i}/3.5\mathrm{\AA })/\sigma \sqrt{2}]},$$
(3)
where $`m_\mathrm{C}`$ is the mass of a C atom, $`\rho =2.24\mathrm{g}\mathrm{cm}^3`$ is the density of graphite, $`b_{\mathrm{C},1}=0.75b_\mathrm{C}`$, $`b_{\mathrm{C},2}=0.25b_\mathrm{C}`$, $`b_\mathrm{C}`$ is the total C abundance (per H nucleus) in the log-normal populations, $`a_{0,1}=3.5\mathrm{\AA }`$, $`a_{0,2}=30\mathrm{\AA }`$, and $`\sigma =0.4`$.

Draine & Lazarian (1998b) estimated the electric dipole radiation from spinning grains, and found that it could account for the dust-correlated component of the diffuse Galactic microwave emission if $`b_\mathrm{C}2\times 10^5`$. More recent modelling confirms that the microwave emission can be reproduced with $`b_\mathrm{C}2`$$`4\times 10^5`$ (B. T. Draine & A. Li 2001, in preparation).

Our goal here is to find size distributions which include very small carbonaceous grains333We take “carbonaceous grains” to refer to graphitic grains and PAH molecules. Although not all carbonaceous grains are graphite, we will continue to refer to the dust model considered here as the “graphite/silicate” model, for simplicity. (in numbers sufficient to explain the observed infrared and microwave emission attributed to this population) and are consistent with the observed extinction, for different values of $`R_V`$ in the local Milky Way and for regions in the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds. We consider several values of $`b_\mathrm{C}`$, since the C abundance in very small grains is not yet established. We discuss the observational constraints and our method for fitting the extinction in §2, present results in §3, and give a discussion in §4. The size distributions obtained here will be employed in separate studies, including an investigation of photoelectric heating by interstellar dust (Weingartner & Draine 2001).

## 2 Fitting the Extinction

### 2.1 “Observed” Extinction

For the “observed” extinction $`A_{\mathrm{obs}}(R_V,\lambda )`$, we adopt the parametrization given by Fitzpatrick (1999). Bohlin, Savage, & Drake (1978) found that the ratio of the total neutral hydrogen column density $`N_\mathrm{H}`$ (including both atomic and molecular forms) to $`E(BV)`$ is fairly constant for the diffuse ISM, with value $`5.8\times 10^{21}\mathrm{cm}^2`$. This provides the normalization for the extinction curve: $`A(V)/N_\mathrm{H}=5.3\times 10^{22}\mathrm{cm}^2`$. The normalization is less clear for dense clouds, because of the difficulty in measuring $`N_\mathrm{H}`$.444 Kim & Martin (1996) compiled a set of sight lines for which both $`A(V)/N_\mathrm{H}`$ and $`R_V`$ are observationally determined. Their data are consistent with $`A(V)/N_\mathrm{H}`$ being independent of $`R_V`$, but the uncertainties are large. CCM found that $`A(\lambda )/A(I)`$ appears to be independent of $`R_V`$ for $`\lambda >0.9\mathrm{\mu m}`$ (= I band), suggesting that the diffuse cloud value of $`A(I)/N_\mathrm{H}=2.6\times 10^{22}\mathrm{cm}^2`$ may also hold for dense clouds (see, e.g., Draine 1989); we adopt this normalization.

### 2.2 Functional Form for the Size Distribution

Lacking a satisfactory theory for the size distribution of interstellar dust, we employ functional forms for the distribution which (1) allow for a smooth cutoff for size $`a>a_t`$, with control of the steepness of this cutoff; and (2) allow for a change in the slope $`d\mathrm{ln}n_{\mathrm{gr}}/d\mathrm{ln}a`$ for $`a<a_t`$. We adopt the following form:

$$\frac{1}{n_\mathrm{H}}\frac{dn_{\mathrm{gr}}}{da}=D(a)+\frac{C_\mathrm{g}}{a}\left(\frac{a}{a_{\mathrm{t},\mathrm{g}}}\right)^{\alpha _\mathrm{g}}F(a;\beta _\mathrm{g},a_{\mathrm{t},\mathrm{g}})\times \{\begin{array}{cc}1,\hfill & 3.5\mathrm{\AA }<a<a_{\mathrm{t},\mathrm{g}}\hfill \\ \mathrm{exp}\left\{[(aa_{\mathrm{t},\mathrm{g}})/a_{\mathrm{c},\mathrm{g}}]^3\right\},\hfill & a>a_{\mathrm{t},\mathrm{g}}\hfill \end{array}$$
(4)
for carbonaceous dust \[with $`D(a)`$ from eq. (2)\] and

$$\frac{1}{n_\mathrm{H}}\frac{dn_{\mathrm{gr}}}{da}=\frac{C_\mathrm{s}}{a}\left(\frac{a}{a_{\mathrm{t},\mathrm{s}}}\right)^{\alpha _\mathrm{s}}F(a;\beta _\mathrm{s},a_{\mathrm{t},\mathrm{s}})\times \{\begin{array}{cc}1,\hfill & 3.5\mathrm{\AA }<a<a_{\mathrm{t},\mathrm{s}}\hfill \\ \mathrm{exp}\left\{[(aa_{\mathrm{t},\mathrm{s}})/a_{\mathrm{c},\mathrm{s}}]^3\right\},\hfill & a>a_{\mathrm{t},\mathrm{s}}\hfill \end{array}$$
(5)
for silicate dust. The term

$$F(a;\beta ,a_\mathrm{t})\{\begin{array}{cc}1+\beta a/a_\mathrm{t},\hfill & \beta 0\hfill \\ \left(1\beta a/a_\mathrm{t}\right)^1,\hfill & \beta <0\hfill \end{array}$$
(6)
provides curvature. The form of the exponential cutoff was suggested by Greenberg (1978). The structure of the size distribution $`D(a)`$ for the very small carbonaceous grains has only a mild effect on the extinction for the wavelengths of interest; we adopt the same values as Li & Draine (2001) for $`a_{0,1}=3.5\mathrm{\AA }`$, $`a_{0,2}=30\mathrm{\AA }`$, and $`\sigma =0.4`$, and the same relative populations in the two log-normal components ($`b_{\mathrm{C},1}=0.75b_\mathrm{C}`$, $`b_{\mathrm{C},2}=0.25b_\mathrm{C}`$), but will consider different values of $`b_\mathrm{C}`$. Thus equation (4) has a total of six adjustable parameters ($`b_\mathrm{C}`$, $`C_\mathrm{g}`$, $`a_{\mathrm{t},\mathrm{g}}`$, $`a_{\mathrm{c},\mathrm{g}}`$, $`\alpha _\mathrm{g}`$, $`\beta _\mathrm{g}`$), with another five parameters ($`C_\mathrm{s}`$, $`a_{\mathrm{t},\mathrm{s}}`$, $`a_{\mathrm{c},\mathrm{s}}`$, $`\alpha _\mathrm{s}`$, $`\beta _\mathrm{s}`$) in equation (5) for the silicate size distribution.

### 2.3 Calculating the Extinction from the Model

The extinction at wavelength $`\lambda `$ is given by

$$A(\lambda )=(2.5\pi \mathrm{log}e)d\mathrm{ln}a\frac{dN_{\mathrm{gr}}(a)}{da}a^3Q_{\mathrm{ext}}(a,\lambda ),$$
(7)
where $`N_{\mathrm{gr}}(a)`$ is the column density of grains with size $`a`$ and $`Q_{\mathrm{ext}}`$ is the extinction efficiency factor, which we evaluate (assuming spherical grains) using a Mie theory code derived from BHMIE (Bohren & Huffman 1983).

We adopt silicate dielectric functions based on the “astronomical silicate” functions given by Draine & Lee (1984) and Laor & Draine (1993), but differing in the ultraviolet. The “astronomical silicate” dielectric function $`ϵ=ϵ_1+iϵ_2`$ of Draine & Lee (1984), based on laboratory measurements of crystalline olivine in the ultraviolet (Huffman & Stapp 1973), contains a feature at $`6.5\mathrm{\mu m}^1`$. Kim & Martin (1995) have pointed out that this feature, which is of crystalline origin, is not present in the observed interstellar extinction or polarization. We have therefore excised this feature from $`ϵ_2`$ and “redistributed” the oscillator strength over frequencies between 8 and $`10\mathrm{\mu m}^1`$; we then recomputed $`ϵ_1`$ using the Kramers-Kronig relation (Draine & Lee 1984). (The resulting “smoothed astronomical silicate” dielectric functions are available at http://www.astro.princeton.edu/$``$draine/.)

For carbonaceous grains, we adopt the description given by Li & Draine (2001), in which the smallest grains are PAH molecules, the largest grains consist of graphite, and grains of intermediate size have optical properties intermediate between those of PAHs and graphite. For PAHs, Li & Draine estimate absorption cross sections per C atom, for both neutral and ionized molecules. Li & Draine estimate PAH absorption near 2175$`\mathrm{\AA }`$ by assuming that the 2175$`\mathrm{\AA }`$ absorption profile is in large part due to the PAH population; our adopted PAH absorption cross sections near 2175$`\mathrm{\AA }`$ therefore agree – by construction – with the observed 2175$`\mathrm{\AA }`$ profile. We convert to a size-based description by assuming a C density $`\rho =2.24\mathrm{g}\mathrm{cm}^3`$, and we assume that 50% are neutral and 50% are ionized (the ionization state affects the absorption by these grains at $`\lambda 0.6\mathrm{\mu m}`$). We take graphite dielectric functions from Draine & Lee (1984) and Laor & Draine (1993) and adopt the usual “$`1/32/3`$” approximation: $`Q_{\mathrm{ext}}=[Q_{\mathrm{ext}}(ϵ_{})+2Q_{\mathrm{ext}}(ϵ_{})]/3`$, where $`ϵ_{}`$ and $`ϵ_{}`$ are the components of the graphite dielectric tensor for the electric field parallel and perpendicular to the $`c`$-axis, respectively. Draine & Malhotra (1993) showed that the $`1/32/3`$ approximation is sufficiently accurate for extinction curve modelling.

### 2.4 Abundance/Depletion Constraints

Given estimates of the abundances and interstellar depletions of the elements incorporated in dust and the mass densities of the grain materials, we can estimate the total volume per H atom, $`V_{\mathrm{tot}}`$, in the carbonaceous and silicate grain populations. For a long time, solar abundances were used for this purpose (see Grevesse & Sauval 1998 for a recent compendium of solar abundances). Recent evidence, e.g. from measurements of abundances in the atmospheres of B stars, suggest that the abundances in the present-day ISM may be substantially lower than the solar values (see Snow & Witt 1996; Mathis 1996, 2000; and Snow 2000 for reviews). However, Fitzpatrick & Spitzer (1996) concluded that S has solar abundance in the ISM, and Howk, Savage, & Fabian (1999) found solar abundances of Zn, P, and S along the line of sight to $`\mu `$ Columbae. Thus, interstellar abundances are not yet well-known.

We adopt the solar C abundance of $`3.3\times 10^4`$ (Grevesse & Sauval 1998) and assume that $`30\%`$ is in the gas phase.555Cardelli et al. (1996) and Sofia et al. (1997) found a gas-phase C abundance of $`1.4\times 10^4`$, larger than the $`1\times 10^4`$ that we assume. With the ideal graphite density of $`2.24\mathrm{g}\mathrm{cm}^3`$, we find $`V_{\mathrm{tot},\mathrm{g}}2.07\times 10^{27}\mathrm{cm}^3\mathrm{H}^1`$ for carbonaceous dust. To estimate the total volume in amorphous silicates, we assume a stoichiometry approximating MgFeSiO4, with mass number per structural unit of 172. Since Si, Mg, and Fe have similar abundances in the Sun and are all highly depleted in the ISM (Savage & Sembach 1996), we simply assume that the Si abundance in silicate dust is equal to its solar value of $`3.63\times 10^5`$. We adopt a density of $`3.5\mathrm{g}\mathrm{cm}^3`$, intermediate between the values for crystalline forsterite (Mg2SiO4, $`3.21\mathrm{g}\mathrm{cm}^3`$) and fayalite (Fe2SiO4, $`4.39\mathrm{g}\mathrm{cm}^3`$). Thus, we estimate $`V_{\mathrm{tot},\mathrm{s}}2.98\times 10^{27}\mathrm{cm}^3\mathrm{H}^1`$ for silicate dust.

### 2.5 Method of Solution

For a given pair of values ($`R_V`$, $`b_\mathrm{C}`$), we seek the best fit to the extinction by varying the powers $`\alpha _\mathrm{g}`$ and $`\alpha _\mathrm{s}`$; the “curvature” parameters $`\beta _\mathrm{g}`$ and $`\beta _\mathrm{s}`$; the transition sizes $`a_{\mathrm{t},\mathrm{g}}`$ and $`a_{\mathrm{t},\mathrm{s}}`$; the upper cutoff parameters $`a_{\mathrm{c},\mathrm{g}}`$ and $`a_{\mathrm{c},\mathrm{s}}`$; and the total volume per H in both the carbonaceous and silicate distributions, $`V_{\mathrm{tot},\mathrm{g}}`$ and $`V_{\mathrm{tot},\mathrm{s}}`$, respectively.

We use the Levenberg-Marquardt method, as implemented in Press et al. (1992), to fit the continuous extinction between $`0.35\mathrm{\mu m}^1`$ and $`8\mathrm{\mu m}^1`$.666The lower limit of $`0.35\mathrm{\mu m}^1`$ was chosen so as to avoid infrared absorption features, most notably the $`3.4\mathrm{\mu m}`$ C-H stretch feature. Extinction data for $`\lambda ^1>8\mathrm{\mu m}^1`$ are very limited. We evaluate the extinction at 100 wavelengths $`\lambda _i`$, equally spaced in $`\mathrm{ln}\lambda `$, and minimize one of two error functions. In the first case (hereafter “case A”) we minimize $`\chi ^2=\chi _1^2+\chi _V^2`$.

The first term in $`\chi ^2`$ gives the error in the extinction fit:

$$\chi _1^2=\underset{i}{}\frac{\left(\mathrm{ln}A_{\mathrm{obs}}\mathrm{ln}A_{\mathrm{mod}}\right)^2}{\sigma _i^2},$$
(8)
where $`A_{\mathrm{obs}}(\lambda _i)`$ is the average “observed” extinction (§2.1), $`A_{\mathrm{mod}}(\lambda _i)`$ is the extinction computed for the model \[equation (7)\], and the $`\sigma _i`$ are weights. When evaluating $`A_{\mathrm{mod}}`$, we verify that the integral in equation (7) is evaluated accurately. We take the weights $`\sigma _i^1=1`$ for $`1.1\mathrm{\mu m}^1<\lambda ^1<8\mathrm{\mu m}^1`$ and $`\sigma _i^1=1/3`$ for $`\lambda ^1<1.1\mathrm{\mu m}^1`$, since the actual IR extinction is uncertain.

The term $`\chi _V^2`$ is a penalty which keeps the total volumes in the carbonaceous and silicate grain populations from grossly exceeding the abundance/depletion-limited values found in §2.4. We take

$$\chi _V^2=0.4[\mathrm{max}(\stackrel{~}{V}_\mathrm{g},1)1]^{1.5}+0.4[\mathrm{max}(\stackrel{~}{V}_\mathrm{s},1)1]^{1.5},$$
(9)
where $`\stackrel{~}{V}_\mathrm{g}=V_{\mathrm{tot},\mathrm{g}}/2.07\times 10^{27}\mathrm{cm}^3\mathrm{H}^1`$ and $`\stackrel{~}{V}_\mathrm{s}=V_{\mathrm{tot},\mathrm{s}}/2.98\times 10^{27}\mathrm{cm}^3\mathrm{H}^1`$.

Given our assumption that $`A(I)/N_\mathrm{H}`$ is independent of $`R_V`$, the extinction for higher $`R_V`$ can be fit using less total grain volume. It seems highly unlikely that material is transferred from grains to the gas phase as gas and dust cycles into regions of higher density. Thus, we also consider a second case (“case B”) for which the grain volumes are held fixed at approximately the values found for $`R_V=3.1`$: $`V_{\mathrm{tot},\mathrm{s}}=3.9\times 10^{27}\mathrm{cm}^3\mathrm{H}^1`$ and $`V_{\mathrm{tot},\mathrm{g}}=2.3\times 10^{27}\mathrm{cm}^3\mathrm{H}^1`$. In this case, we seek to minimize $`\chi _1^2`$.

## 3 Results

### 3.1 Dust in the Milky Way

#### 3.1.1 Size Distributions and Extinction Fits

We have generally found, in fitting the extinction, that $`\chi ^2`$ varies only slightly with the silicate cutoff parameter $`a_{\mathrm{c},\mathrm{s}}`$ until $`a_{\mathrm{c},\mathrm{s}}`$ exceeds a critical value of $`0.1\mathrm{\mu m}`$ (for Milky Way dust; see Figure 1). As $`a_{\mathrm{c},\mathrm{s}}`$ increases, the silicate grains contribute less short-wavelength extinction, and a large abundance of small carbonaceous grains is required to pick up the slack. When $`a_{\mathrm{c},\mathrm{s}}0.1\mathrm{\mu m}`$, the $`2175\mathrm{\AA }`$ hump is overproduced. Although $`\chi ^2`$ is nearly constant for $`a_{\mathrm{c},\mathrm{s}}0.1\mathrm{\mu m}`$, it does increase slightly with $`a_{\mathrm{c},\mathrm{s}}`$. Consequently, our fitting algorithm returns very small values for $`a_{\mathrm{c},\mathrm{s}}`$, for which the silicate size distribution drops off very sharply at the large-size end. Since such sharp cutoffs are unlikely to occur in nature, we have opted to fix $`a_{\mathrm{c},\mathrm{s}}=0.1\mathrm{\mu m}`$.

In Table 1 we list the values of the distribution parameters for which the extinction with $`R_V=3.1`$, $`4.0`$, and $`5.5`$ is best fit, for various values of $`b_\mathrm{C}`$.777These parameters \[and a FORTRAN subroutine that returns $`dn_{\mathrm{gr}}/da(a)`$\] are also available in electronic form on the World Wide Web at www.cita.utoronto.ca/$``$weingart. These distributions are displayed in Figures 2 through 6.

In Figure 7 we display $`A_{\mathrm{obs}}`$ and $`A_{\mathrm{mod}}`$ for case A, the three values of $`R_V`$, and the highest values of $`b_\mathrm{C}`$ included in Table 1, in a log-log plot, to give a sense for the fit quality over the entire range of $`\lambda ^1`$. In Figures 8 through 12, we display extinction curves for $`b_\mathrm{C}=0`$ and for the highest value of $`b_\mathrm{C}`$ included in Table 1; we show the contribution from each of the grain distribution components.

In Table 1 we also display $`\chi ^2`$, $`\chi _1^2`$, and $`\chi _2^2=_i(\mathrm{ln}A_{\mathrm{obs}}\mathrm{ln}A_{\mathrm{mod}})^2`$. For a given value of $`R_V`$, the error functions do not vary substantially with $`b_\mathrm{C}`$ until a critical value of $`b_\mathrm{C}`$ is reached, at which point the error functions increase dramatically (see Figure 13). Clearly, extinction evidence alone does not constrain $`b_\mathrm{C}`$ well except that $`b_\mathrm{C}6\times 10^5`$ for the $`R_V=3.1`$ extinction law, $`b_\mathrm{C}4\times 10^5`$ for $`R_V=4`$, and $`b_\mathrm{C}3\times 10^5`$ for $`R_V=5.5`$. In each case, the upper limit on $`b_\mathrm{C}`$ is reached when the very small carbonaceous particles account for 100% of the 2175Å extinction feature.

In assessing the quality of the extinction fits, one must bear in mind that (1) the dielectric functions used are certainly not correct in detail, even for bulk material, (2) the surface monolayers of grains are likely to differ from bulk materials, (3) the true size distributions undoubtedly differ from the adopted functional form, and (4) the interstellar grains are appreciably non-spherical. Therefore, a precise fit is not to be expected. One should also remember that the adopted PAH absorption cross section in the vacuum ultraviolet was constructed to fit the interstellar 2175$`\mathrm{\AA }`$ profile, and the silicate dielectric function in the vacuum ultraviolet was modified to suppress structure not present in the observed interstellar extinction.

#### 3.1.2 Further Results

Although neutral H gas is opaque for wavelengths shortward of the Lyman limit, extinction by dust at such wavelengths could have important observational consequences within ionized regions, including objects at high redshift. Thus, in Figure 14 we plot the model extinction resulting from several of our distributions over an extended wavelength range.

In Figure 15, we plot the albedo and asymmetry parameter $`g\mathrm{cos}\theta `$ (i.e. the average value of $`\mathrm{cos}\theta `$, where $`\theta `$ is the angle through which radiation is scattered by dust) resulting from several of our model size distributions.

Since Li & Draine (2001) find that the IR emission from dust in the diffuse ISM is best fit when $`b_\mathrm{C}6\times 10^5`$, we adopt this value for the $`R_V=3.1`$ curves in Figures 14 and 15. For such a large $`b_\mathrm{C}`$, the $`2175\mathrm{\AA }`$ hump is almost entirely due to the very small carbonaceous grain population. If this is the case for the diffuse ISM, then it seems plausible that it also holds in denser regions; i.e., the decrease in the strength of the $`2175\mathrm{\AA }`$ feature with $`R_V`$ might result entirely from the depletion of very small carbonaceous grains. Thus, we have also adopted the large-$`b_\mathrm{C}`$ distributions for $`R_V=4.0`$ and 5.5 in Figures 14 and 15.

#### 3.1.3 Dust Along the Line of Sight to HD 210121

Although the variation of the extinction curve with interstellar environment is fairly well characterized by the CCM parameterization, there are lines of sight for which the extinction deviates substantially from CCM. As a further test of the bare carbonaceous/silicate dust model, it is important to seek size distributions which can reproduce the extinction along such sightlines. The extinction observed toward HD 210121 (a sightline passing through a high-latitude diffuse molecular cloud) has (1) an extremely small value of $`R_V=2.1`$, (2) a $`2175\mathrm{\AA }`$ feature weaker than predicted by the CCM parameterization, and (3) a stronger-than-expected far-UV rise (see Figure 1 in Larson et al. 2000). This sightline therefore provides an opportunity to test the carbonaceous/silicate model and the functional forms used for our size distributions.

Larson et al. (2000) used the maximum entropy method to construct size distributions for the grains toward HD 210121. We seek to reproduce the extinction toward HD 210121 (Larson et al. 2000; Larson, Whittet, & Hough 1996; Welty & Fowler 1992) with size distributions of our simple functional form. We adopt the normalization given by Larson et al. (2000): $`A_V/N_\mathrm{H}=3.6\times 10^{22}\mathrm{cm}^2`$. In fitting the extinction, we adopt 100 points equally spaced in $`\lambda ^1`$ rather than in $`\mathrm{ln}\lambda `$. We have found that this yields a better fit to the $`2175\mathrm{\AA }`$ hump and far-UV rise without compromising the fit quality in the infrared. Distribution parameter values are given in Table 2 and the distributions and extinction fits are plotted in Figures 16 and 17, respectively.

We are able to obtain acceptable fits to the extinction toward HD 210121 with values of $`b_c`$ ranging up to $`4\times 10^5`$, and reasonable size distributions for the carbonaceous and silicate grain populations. Our grain model successfully accomodates this line of sight with its extremely small value of $`R_V`$ and deviation from the CCM parameterization.

### 3.2 Dust in the Magellanic Clouds

The metallicities in the Magellanic Clouds are substantially lower than in the Milky Way, and measured extinction curves toward stars in the LMC and SMC differ from typical extinction curves in the Milky Way. The LMC and SMC therefore offer opportunities to test the applicability of our grain model to low-metallicity extragalactic environments.888See Pei (1992) for an early extension of the MRN model to the Magellanic Clouds.

Clayton et al. (2000) used the maximum entropy method to find graphite/silicate size distributions that accurately reproduce the extinction along various Magellanic Cloud sightlines. Here, we seek distributions of our simple functional form that reproduce the average extinction in the LMC (Misselt, Clayton, & Gordon 1999), the extinction in the LMC 2 area (Misselt et al. 1999), and the extinction in the SMC bar, along the line of sight to the star AzV398 (Gordon & Clayton 1998). For $`\lambda ^13\mathrm{\mu m}^1`$, the extinction is determined at only a small number of wavelengths. Thus, for the Magellanic Clouds, we evaluate the extinction at 100 wavelengths spaced equally in $`\lambda ^1`$, rather than in $`\mathrm{ln}\lambda `$.

The extinction normalization and elemental abundances are even more uncertain for the Magellanic clouds than for the Milky Way. For the LMC, Koorneef (1982) found $`N(\mathrm{H}\mathrm{I})/E(BV)=2.0\times 10^{22}\mathrm{cm}^2`$ and Fitzpatrick (1985) found $`N(\mathrm{H}\mathrm{I})/E(BV)=2.4\times 10^{22}\mathrm{cm}^2`$. Averaging these results and taking $`R_V=2.6`$ (the average for the 10 measured $`R_V`$ values in Misselt et al.’s sample), we adopt $`A(V)/N_\mathrm{H}=1.2\times 10^{22}\mathrm{cm}^2`$. For the SMC, Martin, Maurice, & Lequeux (1989) found $`N_\mathrm{H}/E(BV)=4.6\times 10^{22}\mathrm{cm}^2`$; with $`R_V=2.87`$ (Gordon & Clayton 1998) this yields $`A(V)/N_\mathrm{H}=6.2\times 10^{23}\mathrm{cm}^2`$. We take the abundance/depletion-limited values of $`V_{\mathrm{tot},\mathrm{g}}`$ and $`V_{\mathrm{tot},\mathrm{s}}`$ to be reduced from their values in the Milky Way by a factor 1.6 for the LMC and 4.0 for the SMC (Gordon & Clayton 1998).

Distribution parameters for which the extinction is best fit are given in Table 3. We also tabulate the total grain volumes, normalized to the limiting values estimated in the previous paragraph; note that all of the LMC distributions use less than the estimated available amount of C and Si. Size distributions, extinction fits, and related quantities are plotted in Figures 18 through 23.

Note the absence of the $`2175\mathrm{\AA }`$ feature in the SMC bar extinction curve (Figure 21), which implies the absence of very small carbonaceous grains. Recently, Reach et al. (2000) have detected PAH emission features in a quiescent molecular cloud in the SMC. Reach et al. point out that SMC extinction curve measurements are biased towards hot, luminous stars, so that very small grains may have been destroyed along these sightlines.

## 4 Discussion

### 4.1 Abundances and Grain Models

Note from Table 1 that, in the Milky Way, the silicate volumes generally exceed the abundance/depletion-limited value, by $`10\%`$ when $`R_V=5.5`$ to $`30\%`$ when $`R_V=3.1`$, and the carbonaceous grain volume exceeds its abundance/depletion-limited value by $`10\%`$ when $`R_V=3.1`$. We would expect non-spherical grains to produce more extinction per unit grain volume than spheres, so that our violation of abundance constraints might be an artifact due to the use of only spherical grains in our modelling. However, we have used the discrete dipole approximation (Draine & Flatau 1994; Draine 2000) to calculate extinction efficiencies for silicate grains of various shapes with $`a0.01\mathrm{\mu m}`$ and have found that the integrated extinction per grain volume, $`(C_{\mathrm{ext}}/V)𝑑\lambda `$ integrated over $`\lambda ^1[0.35,8.0]\mathrm{\mu m}^1`$, varies only slightly with shape.

Kim et al. (1994) sought to maximize the efficient use of grain volume by allowing more complicated size distributions. Although such an approach could lower the total amount of grain volume that we need to reproduce the observed extinction, we find such fine-tuning unappealing. It seems to us unlikely that nature has produced size distributions fine-tuned to maximize the extinction per volume over just the wavelengths where we are able to measure the extinction. We think it more likely that either the true elemental abundances in the ISM really are somewhat higher than in the Sun, or that the bare graphite/silicate model is inadequate in some more fundamental way.

Other well-developed models include composite, fluffy grains (Mathis 1996, 1998) and grains consisting of silicate cores covered by organic refractory mantles (Li & Greenberg 1997). The recent discovery that the $`3.4\mathrm{\mu m}`$ aliphatic C-H stretch absorption feature toward Sgr A IRS7 is unpolarized (whereas the $`9.7\mathrm{\mu m}`$ silicate absorption feature toward Sgr A IRS3 is polarized) may rule out the core-mantle model (Adamson et al. 1999), although model calculations of the relative polarization in these features have not yet been carried out for the core-mantle model, and the silicate feature polarization has yet to be measured for IRS 3 itself.

Mathis (1996) found that a mixture of composite grains (consisting of small silicate and amorphous carbon grains and $`45\%`$ vacuum), small graphite grains, and some small silicate grains could reproduce the observed extinction while incorporating C, Si, Fe, and Mg with substantially sub-solar abundances. However, there are some difficulties with this model. First, Mathis adopts dielectric functions for the composite grains using effective medium theory, calculates extinction cross sections for spheres, and then multiplies the cross sections by a factor 1.09, to account for enhancements in extinction due to non-spherical shapes. The final step must be viewed with suspicion, since it fails for compact silicate grains.

Also, Mathis used the optical properties of “Be” amorphous carbon from Rouleau & Martin (1991). Schnaiter et al. (1998) have pointed out that the derived optical properties, while possibly correct, are unproven, since the adopted description of the sample geometry as a continuous distribution of ellipsoids is so simplistic that substantial errors can result. Furthermore, “Be” amorphous carbon is much more absorbing at long wavelengths than various forms of hydrogenated amorphous carbon, and this absorption provides most of the extinction for $`\lambda ^13\mathrm{\mu m}^1`$ in the Mathis (1996) composite model.999Dwek (1997) has argued that the fluffy grain model employing “Be” amorphous carbon produces too much IR emission compared with the COBE data (Dwek et al. 1997). Furton, Laiho, & Witt (1999) have performed laboratory studies of hydrogenated amorphous carbon, and find that such grains can reproduce the observed $`3.4\mathrm{\mu m}`$ absorption feature if the degree of hydrogenation is rather large ($`0.5`$H/C). There is very little visible/IR continuum absorption in this case. Thus, the composite model does not simultaneously provide enough long-wavelength extinction and $`3.4\mathrm{\mu m}`$ absorption. Of course, the bare graphite/silicate model does not account for the $`3.4\mathrm{\mu m}`$ absorption either.101010To accomodate the 3.4$`\mathrm{\mu m}`$ feature, the graphite/silicate model must be extended to include aliphatic hydrocarbons, possibly within hydrogenated carbon coatings on the large graphitic grains.

Although the bare graphite/silicate model apparently requires higher abundances of C, Si, Fe, and Mg than are generally thought to be available in the ISM, it would be premature to abandon it. The true interstellar abundances are not yet known, and the alternatives have difficulties too. Further progress in dust modelling will require the determination of dielectric functions for amorphous carbons with a range of degrees of hydrogenation, over the full range $`\lambda ^1[0.35,8.0]\mathrm{\mu m}^1`$, as well as detailed modelling of how the extinction per unit volume varies depending on grain geometry.

### 4.2 Observed Size Distribution of Interstellar Grains Streaming Through the Solar System

Recently, Frisch et al. (1999) have presented a grain mass distribution for the local interstellar medium (LISM), derived from the measured rate of impact of interstellar grains with detectors on the Ulysses and Galileo spacecraft; we reproduce their data points in Figure 24. We also show mass distributions as derived here from fitting extinction, for $`(R_V,10^5b_\mathrm{C})=`$ (3.1, 3.0), (4.0, 2.0), and (5.5, 1.0). We adopt $`n_\mathrm{H}=0.3\mathrm{cm}^3`$, as recommended by Frisch et al. Note that none of our distributions resemble the Frisch et al. result. The steep drop in the Frisch et al. distribution at small masses probably reflects the exclusion of small grains from the solar system – smaller grains are more tightly coupled to the magnetic field and are less likely to penetrate the heliosphere to within $`5\mathrm{AU}`$ of the Sun (Linde & Gombosi 2000). However, the large amount of mass in large grains in the Frisch et al. distribution is hard to fathom. The error bars on the Frisch et al. data (not shown in Figure 24) are large; further observations of interstellar dust entering the solar system would be of great value.

If the Frisch et al. result is confirmed, then there are two possibilities. If the region through which the solar system is now passing contains a truly representative dust-gas mixture, then a dramatically different grain model would be required. It is difficult to envision a grain model which could simultaneously account for the interstellar extinction law, be consistent with interstellar elemental abundances, and reproduce the Frisch et al. size distribution. Alternatively, it could be the case that size-sorting and gas-grain separation occur on small scales in the ISM, and that the region through which the solar system is now moving happens to have an unusual concentration of large grains.

### 4.3 Conclusions

The simplest interstellar dust model consists of a population of carbonaceous grains and a separate population of silicate grains. In the original development of this model by MRN, the grain size distribution was chosen so as to reproduce the observed extinction for lines of sight with $`R_V3.1`$. The observation of relatively short-wavelength infrared emission from dust implies that there are substantial numbers of very small (mainly carbonaceous) grains, smaller than the lower cutoff size of the MRN distribution. Furthermore, the extinction curve has been found to vary substantially depending on the interstellar environment through which the starlight passes; thus, there is no single grain size distribution which applies in all environments. By finding carbonaceous/silicate grain size distributions which contain sufficient very small grains to account for the observed infrared emission (Li & Draine 2001), and which reproduce the observed extinction for a wide range of environments, we have demonstrated that the simplest dust model remains viable.

Although difficulties remain, they are no more severe than the difficulties with other, more complicated, models. These difficulties include the requirement of somewhat super-solar abundances of the dust constituent elements, the lack of a $`3.4\mathrm{\mu m}`$ absorption feature in a model in which all of the C is in graphite or PAHs, and the gross disparity between the derived grain size distributions and that inferred by Frisch et al. (1999) for dust in the local ISM. Additionally, there is evidence from depletion patterns that metallic Fe or Fe oxides are an important dust component (Sofia et al. 1994; Howk et al. 1999). The observed 90 GHz emission from interstellar dust appears to rule out a substantial metallic Fe component (Draine & Lazarian 1999), but oxides such as FeO or magnetite Fe3O4 are not excluded. Dielectric functions for candidate Fe oxides are needed to investigate such grain models.

Finally, the variation in the grain size distribution with environment seems to indicate that small grains coagulate onto large grains in relatively dense environments, as expected (Draine 1985; Draine 1990). Presumably, mass is returned from large to small grains via shattering during grain-grain collisions in shock waves. (Mass is also returned to the gas via sputtering processes.) Weingartner & Draine (1999) found that the observed elemental depletions in the interstellar medium could be due to accretion onto grains if the timescales for matter to cycle between interstellar phases are $`10^7\mathrm{yr}`$. It remains a mystery how two separate grain populations – carbonaceous grains and silicate grains – could remain distinct after evolving through many cycles of coagulation, shattering, accretion, and erosion; perhaps they do not.

While real grains are undoubtedly more complex, the graphite/silicate model for dust in diffuse clouds is clearly-defined, and consistent with observations of interstellar extinction in the Milky Way, LMC, and SMC (as demonstrated in the present work) and infrared emission (Li & Draine 2001). While the model does not explicitly account for the $`3.4\mathrm{\mu m}`$ feature or the relatively weak diffuse interstellar bands (Herbig 1995), these could conceivably be accomodated by modest modifications of or extensions to the basic graphite/silicate model. The “extended red emission” from interstellar dust (Witt & Boroson 1990) could also perhaps be due to a minor modification of the basic graphite/silicate model (e.g., a hydrogenated amorphous carbon coating; Witt & Furton 1995).

Until a more compelling grain model is available, we recommend the use of the simplest one, specified by the size distributions found here and optical properties given by Draine & Lee (1984), Laor & Draine (1993), and Li & Draine (2001). In particular, we favor the distributions with relatively large $`b_\mathrm{C}`$ (Li & Draine 2001), for which the very small carbonaceous grain population entirely accounts for the $`2175\mathrm{\AA }`$ hump in the extinction curve.

This research was supported in part by NSF grant AST-9619429 and by NSF Graduate and International Research Fellowships to JCW. We are grateful to Eli Dwek, Aigen Li, and John Mathis for helpful discussions and to R. H. Lupton for the availability of the SM plotting package.

Note added in proof—Li & Draine (2000) have recently found that the nondetection of the $`10\mathrm{\mu m}`$ silicate feature in emission from diffuse clouds does not strongly constrain the ultrasmall silicate grain population, since the $`10\mathrm{\mu m}`$ feature may be hidden by the dominant PAH features. Li & Draine estimate that as much as $`20\%`$ of the interstellar Si could be in grains with $`a15\mathrm{\AA }`$.


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# The Age of the Inner Halo Globular Cluster NGC 6652Based on observations made with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope obtained at the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Incorporated, under NASA contract NAS5-26555.

## 1 Introduction

NGC 6652 is a compact globular cluster which is projected near the Galactic center at $`\mathrm{}=1.53\mathrm{°}`$ and $`b=11.38\mathrm{°}`$ (Harris, 1996). A color magnitude diagram (CMD) for this cluster was presented by Ortolani, Bica & Barbuy (1994, hereafter OBB), who determined a number of cluster parameters, including $`[\mathrm{Fe}/\mathrm{H}]0.9`$, $`\mathrm{E}(\mathrm{B V})=0.10\pm 0.02`$, $`<\mathrm{V}_{\mathrm{HB}}>=15.85\pm 0.04`$ and $`\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{V}_{\mathrm{HB}}^{\mathrm{TO}}=3.35\pm 0.16`$. The small value of $`\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{V}_{\mathrm{HB}}^{\mathrm{TO}}`$ suggested that NGC 6652 is younger than the average Galactic halo cluster. Adopting an absolute horizontal branch (HB) magnitude of $`\mathrm{M}_\mathrm{V}^{\mathrm{HB}}=+0.7`$, OBB determined $`\text{R}\text{GC}=2.1`$kpc. Its proximity to the Galactic center, reasonably low metallicity and small reddening make NGC 6652 somewhat unique. It is an inner halo globular cluster for which one can obtain an accurate relative age with respect to other halo clusters.

Based upon its metallicity, radial velocity, HB type and position in the Galaxy, Zinn (1993) classified NGC 6652 as an old halo cluster. This is at odds with OBB’s suggestion (based on the turn-off magnitude) that NGC 6652 is younger than the average halo cluster. Because NGC 6652 is a compact cluster located in a crowded field, the photometry near the turn-off obtained by OBB had a great deal of scatter leading to a large error in the age determination. For this reason, we were granted HST time to obtain a deep CMD of NGC 6652, in order to clearly delineate the turn-off region and to obtain an accurate estimate of its age. The observations and data reduction procedure are presented in §2 and the generation of the isochrones used to determine the age of NGC 6652 is discussed in §3. The analysis of the CMD is presented in §4, the discussion of the age of NGC 6652 is in §5, and the summary of the results are in §6.

## 2 Observations and Data Reduction

NGC 6652 was observed in September 1997 with WFPC2 on HST. The cluster was centered on the PC1 chip. Observations were obtained with the F555W (V) filter ($`3\times 23`$ s and $`12\times 160`$ s) and the F814W (I) filter ($`3\times 20`$ s and $`12\times 160`$ s). The short exposure times were chosen to ensure good photometry at the level of the HB, while the long exposure times were picked to ensure good photometry around the turn-off and to allow for a good inter-comparison between the long and short exposure frames. Figure 1 shows the averaged, long exposure F555W image of the cluster. The WFPC2 images of NGC 6652 were divided into three sets of four long exposure (160s) F555W and F814W frames and one set of three short exposure F555W (23s) and F814W (20s) frames. Each set of four long and three short exposures in a given filter was averaged using GCOMBINE in IRAF/STSDAS with cosmic ray rejection enabled and the data quality files used to flag defective pixels. This yielded a total of 8 WFPC2 images which were input into our photometric procedure.

We utilized the aperture photometry routines in DAOPHOT II (Stetson, 1987, 1994) adopting an aperture radius of 2.5 pixels in the Planetary Camera and 2 pixels in the Wide Field chips. Corrections from the small aperture photometry to the standard 0.5 arcsec radius were determined using 30 to 50 relatively uncrowded stars. These gave aperture corrections with typical standard deviations between 0.01 and 0.03 mag. The V and I instrumental magnitudes were matched to form colors, and corrected to a 0.5 arcsec radius aperture. The total instrumental magnitudes were then adjusted for exposure time and placed on the standard VI system using the coefficients in Table 7 of Holtzman et al. (1995). A correction was also applied for the well-known charge transfer efficiency (CTE) problem using the formulation of Whitmore, Heyer & Casertano (1999). Magnitudes of stars in common between the long exposure frames were averaged together and only stars measured on all three frame pairs were retained. The final photometry file contains stars fainter than V=17 from the long exposure frames and brighter than V=17 from the short exposures (4832 stars in total). In order to ensure that the long and short exposures magnitudes were internally consistent, the magnitude of a number of stars (approximately 10 per chip) in common between the long and short exposures were compared and the average offset determined. This average offset (0.03 mag) was then applied to the short exposure magnitudes, implying that all of the magnitudes are on the long exposure scale. The photometry data is presented in Table 1, the full version of which is available in the electronic version of this article.

Due to its compact nature, the inner regions of NGC 6652 are crowded on the PC1 chip. The faint (long exposure) photometry within $`r<11.5^{\prime \prime }`$ (250 pixels) of the cluster center showed considerable scatter around the turn-off region. For this reason, the long exposure photometry in our final CMD only includes stars with $`r>11.5^{\prime \prime }`$ from the cluster center. This trimmed data-set includes 3790 stars with good photometry.

A careful inspection of the photometry obtained with the different chips showed no difference \[$`\delta (VI)<0.005`$\] in the location of the principal features (i.e. location of the main sequence, sub-giant branch, red giant branch and the HB) in the CMD. This indicates that the aperture corrections (applied to each chip individually) are accurate, implying that the internal errors in the photometry are very small. The external errors are set by the accuracy of the Holtzman et al. (1995) transformations to the standard system.

## 3 The Stellar Models and Isochrones

Stellar evolution tracks for masses in the range $`0.501.1M_{\mathrm{}}\text{ }`$ (in $`0.05M_{\mathrm{}}\text{ }`$ increments) were calculated using the Yale stellar evolution code (Guenther et al., 1992). These models incorporate the following physics: high temperature opacities from Iglesias & Rogers (1996); low temperature opacities from Kurucz (1991); nuclear reaction rates from Bahcall & Pinsonneault (1992) and Bahcall (1989); helium diffusion coefficients from Michaud & Proffitt (1993); and an equation of state which includes the Debye-Hückel correction (Guenther et al., 1992). Note that this equation of state yields stellar models which are in good agreement with those derived using the OPAL equation of state (Rogers, 1994; Chaboyer & Kim, 1995). The surface boundary conditions were calculated using a grey $`T\tau `$ relation. The stellar models employ a solar calibrated mixing length ($`\alpha _{\mathrm{}}=1.78`$). The models were typically evolved from the zero age main sequence to the upper giant branch (around $`M_V1.0`$) in 4000 time steps. In each time step, the stellar evolution equations were solved with a numerical accuracy exceeding 0.01%. The models did not include any overshooting beyond the formal edge of the convection zones.

The heavy element composition of the models was chosen to reflect the observed abundance ratios in metal-poor stars (e.g., Lambert, 1989). In particular, the $`\alpha `$-capture elements (O, Mg, Si, S, and Ca) and Ti were enhanced by $`+0.4`$dex, while Mn was made to be deficient by the same proportions. The solar abundances (before $`\alpha `$-enhancement) were taken from Grevesse & Noels (1993). Kurucz (low temperature) and Iglesias & Rogers (high temperature) provided us with opacities for this specific mixture.

NGC 6652 has $`[\mathrm{Fe}/\mathrm{H}]=0.96`$ on the Zinn & West (1984) scale and $`[\mathrm{Fe}/\mathrm{H}]=0.85`$ on the Carretta & Gratton (1997) scale. Based upon the inclination of the red giant branch, OBB found that NGC 6652 was more metal-poor than 47 Tuc, and concluded that $`[\mathrm{Fe}/\mathrm{H}]0.9`$. In light of these abundance determinations, stellar models and isochrones were calculated for $`[\mathrm{Fe}/\mathrm{H}]=1.20,1.00,0.85,0.70`$. The most metal-poor isochrone was calculated to facilitate an age comparison with somewhat more metal-poor halo clusters (see §5.2). To explore the effect of the $`\alpha `$-element enhancement, at $`[\mathrm{Fe}/\mathrm{H}]=0.85`$, scaled solar abundance models and isochrones were calculated in addition to the $`\alpha `$-element enhanced isochrones.

Our calibrated solar model had an initial solar helium abundance of $`Y_{\mathrm{}}=0.263`$ and heavy element mass fraction of $`Z_{\mathrm{}}=0.0182`$. Assuming a primordial helium abundance of $`Y_p=0.234`$ (Olive et al., 1997), our calibrated solar model implies $`\mathrm{\Delta }Y/\mathrm{\Delta }Z=1.59`$. Thus, the helium abundance for the models was determined using

$$Y=0.234+1.59Z$$
(1)
There is some evidence that 47 Tuc has a solar helium abundance (Salaris & Weiss, 1998). As 47 Tuc is being used as a comparison cluster in this study, for $`[\mathrm{Fe}/\mathrm{H}]=0.70`$ stellar models and isochrones were calculated for a solar helium abundance ($`Y_{\mathrm{}}=0.263`$) in addition to the helium abundance implied by equation (1), $`Y=0.245`$. The evidence for a solar helium abundance in 47 Tuc is not strong, and indeed Dorman, Vandenberg & Laskarides (1989) found $`Y0.24`$ from fitting the HB morphology.

The isochrones were constructed by interpolating among the evolutionary tracks using the method of equal evolutionary points (Prather, 1976) for the age range 6 – 18 Gyr, in 1 Gyr increments. The isochrones were transformed from the theoretical $`(\mathrm{log}L,\mathrm{log}\mathrm{T}_{\mathrm{eff}})`$ plane to observed colors and magnitudes using color transformations and bolometric corrections based on the Kurucz (1993) model atmospheres. The transformations used here were kindly supplied to us by Sukyoung Yi (private communication), who derived them for a wide range of metallicities, using a procedure similar to that described by Bessell et al. (1998). At solar metallicities, the Yi tables agree with Bessell et al. (1998) Table 1 to within $``$0.007 mag in B V and $``$0.004 in $`VI`$ over the range of colors appropriate for old clusters. In the Yi tables, the solar colors are $`(\mathrm{B V})_{}=0.670`$ and $`(VI)_{}=0.718`$. Bessell et al. (1998) extensively tested their Kurucz-based (ATLAS9) colors for solar metallicities, and found that all indices agreed extremely well with observations for $`\mathrm{log}\mathrm{T}_{\mathrm{eff}}>4250`$K (4250K corresponds to $`VI1.3`$ at $`[\mathrm{Fe}/\mathrm{H}]=0.85`$).

Weiss & Salaris (1999) recently studied the issue of color transformations for isochrones in the VI-plane. They concluded that on the main sequence the color transformations based on the ATLAS9 models were a good choice. On the giant branch Weiss & Salaris (1999) preferred to use empirical color relations. However, an inspection of their Figure 5 indicates that the color transformation based upon the ATLAS9 models is in good agreement with the empirical relations preferred by Weiss & Salaris (1999). Thus it appears that our choice of the Yi color table is a reasonable one, in good agreement with presently available data.

Figure 2 displays the 12 Gyr isochrones for the various compositions used in this paper. It is interesting to note that changing the helium abundance from $`Y=0.245`$ (given by eqn. (1)) to the solar value ($`Y_{\mathrm{}}=0.263`$), has very little effect on the isochrone. Thus, the exact choice of $`Y`$ will not effect the derived ages. In contrast, changing the $`[\alpha /\mathrm{Fe}]`$ ratio by $`0.4`$dex has a substantial effect on the isochrones (larger than changing $`[\mathrm{Fe}/\mathrm{H}]`$ by $`0.15`$dex) and so the uncertainty in the actual value of $`[\alpha /\mathrm{Fe}]`$ in NGC 6652 will lead to a substantial uncertainty in the derived age.

In §5.1, the isochrones are fit to the CMD of NGC 6652. This fitting procedure assumes that the location of the unevolved main sequence predicted by the theoretical isochrones is accurate. To test this assumption, the Hipparcos catalogue was searched for stars which (a) have $`\sigma _\pi /\pi <0.10`$, (b) are fainter than $`\mathrm{M}_\mathrm{V}5.5`$, and (c) are not known or suspected Hipparcos binaries or variables. This resulted in a list of 2618 stars, of which the great majority have near solar metallicity. As we are interested in stars with a similar metallicity to NGC 6652, we require stars with $`1.05[\mathrm{Fe}/\mathrm{H}]0.65`$. To identify these metal-poor stars in the Hipparcos sample, we have cross identified the above Hipparcos subsample with the 1996 high resolution spectroscopic catalogue of Cayrel de Strobel et al. (1997), and more recent papers which give high dispersion abundance analysis of metal-poor stars: Reid (1998); Clementini et al. (1999); Tomkin & Lambert (1999); Carretta, Gratton & Sneden (2000). Any stars which were known or suspected binaries and whose companions would contribute a significant flux in the BVI passbands were removed from our final list. In total only 3 stars in the Hipparcos catalogue pass our stringent selection criteria. A comparison between these stars and our isochrones is shown in Figure 3. Unfortunately, we were unable to locate Kron-Cousins $`VI`$ colors for these stars, so the comparison is only shown in B V. The small number of stars prevents us from reaching any definitive conclusions based upon this comparison. However, we note that the star with the most accurate parallax (with $`[\mathrm{Fe}/\mathrm{H}]=0.87`$) lies close to our $`[\mathrm{Fe}/\mathrm{H}]=0.85`$ isochrone. Given the typical uncertainties in the abundance determinations, $`\sigma _{[\mathrm{Fe}/\mathrm{H}]}0.08`$dex, it appears that our isochrones correctly predict the location of the unevolved main sequence around $`[\mathrm{Fe}/\mathrm{H}]=0.85`$.

Further support that our isochrones correctly predict the location of the unevolved main sequence comes from the following additional tests: (1) a comparison between single field stars with good parallaxes from Hipparcos and our isochrones found good agreement between $`1.5[\mathrm{Fe}/\mathrm{H}]1.0`$ (Chaboyer et al., 1998). This study was interested in metal-poor globular clusters, and so did not consider stars with $`[\mathrm{Fe}/\mathrm{H}]>1.0`$. (2) With no adjustable parameters, our isochrones provide a good match to the main sequence of the Hyades ($`[\mathrm{Fe}/\mathrm{H}]=+0.15`$) derived from Hipparcos parallaxes (Chaboyer, Green & Liebert, 1999), and (3) we are using a solar calibrated mixing length which implies our models are in good agreement with main sequence solar metallicity stars. Clearly, these tests are not definitive as the number of single, metal-poor stars with well determined parallaxes is relatively small. However, these tests do show that the isochrones are not in gross disagreement with the observations, and suggest that at the level of $`\pm 0.10`$, the isochrones correctly predict the location of the unevolved main sequence in relatively metal-poor stars ($`1.5[\mathrm{Fe}/\mathrm{H}]0.65`$).

## 4 Analysis of the CMD

The ($`V,VI`$) CMD for NGC 6652 obtained from the HST data is shown in Figure 4. As discussed in §2, data from the long exposures ($`V17`$) does not include stars with $`r<11.5^{\prime \prime }`$. The CMD clearly delineates the major evolutionary sequences from $`4`$ mag below the turn-off to $`1.5`$ mag above the HB. An inspection of the CMD leads to the following values: $`V_{\mathrm{ZAHB}}=16.00\pm 0.03`$, $`<V_{\mathrm{HB}}>=15.96\pm 0.04`$, $`(VI)_{\mathrm{TO}}=0.818\pm 0.004`$, $`V_{\mathrm{TO}}=19.55\pm 0.07`$, $`V_{\mathrm{SGB}}=19.09\pm 0.03`$, $`\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{V}_{\mathrm{HB}}^{\mathrm{TO}}=3.59\pm 0.08`$, and $`\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{V}_{\mathrm{HB}}^{\mathrm{SGB}}=3.13\pm 0.05`$. All errors are estimated internal errors, which reflect the scatter of the photometry. The magnitude of the HB was estimated at the mid-point in the color of the HB (around $`VI1.05`$). The point $`V_{\mathrm{SGB}}`$ was defined by Chaboyer et al. (1996) to be the magnitude of the point on the sub-giant branch which is 0.05 mag redder than the turn-off. As discussed by Chaboyer et al. (1996) it is an excellent age indicator for old stellar systems. Recently, Ferraro et al. (1999) have presented an homogeneous catalog of HB parameters. They stress that due to the rapid evolution away from the zero-age horizontal branch (ZAHB), the observed lower envelope of the HB does not coincide with the ZAHB from theoretical models. The $`V_{\mathrm{ZAHB}}`$ level reported above is the lower envelope of the observations. Using their theoretical HB models, Ferraro et al. (1999) determined that a correction of $`+0.04`$ mag needs to be applied to the observed lower envelope of the NGC 6652 HB. If such a correction is necessary in our dataset then $`V_{\mathrm{ZAHB}}=16.04\pm 0.03`$ using the methodology of Ferraro et al. (1999).

The ($`V,VI`$) CMD of OBB shows considerable scatter around the turn-off, so it is difficult to compare our photometry to that of OBB at the fainter magnitudes. However, it is possible to compare our photometry around the level of the HB. This comparison is shown in Figure 5. From this figure, it is clear that the level of the ZAHB is $`0.03`$ mag fainter in the photometry of OBB as compared to the photometry presented in this paper. In addition, the color of the red giant branch (RGB) at the level of the HB as found by OBB is 0.08 mag bluer than the RGB color in our photometry. The reason(s) for these differences is unclear. The differences are considerably larger than our estimated errors due to the aperture corrections, and are larger than the estimated errors in the HST $`V,VI`$ calibration. To investigate this further, F439W and F555W (B,V) GO 6095 observations (Sosin et al., 1997) were retrieved from the HST archive and the data were reduced in exactly the same manner as was done with our V,$`VI`$ data. The results of this comparison are plotted in Figure 6. From this, one can see that the B–V RGBs are in better agreement between the two datasets than those in V–I. There is a slight offset in the level of the ZAHB, with the OBB photometry being brighter than the HST photometry. From the OBB B V data, we obtained $`<V_{\mathrm{HB}}>=15.85`$ and $`(\mathrm{B V})_g=1.11`$ (color of the RGB at the level of the HB). From the VI data presented by OBB, we find $`<V_{\mathrm{HB}}>=15.95`$ and $`(VI)_g=1.11`$. The disagreement between the level of the HB in the B V and $`VI`$ datasets suggests that the OBB data is not internally consistent. In the B V and $`VI`$ HST data, the level of the HB agrees to within 0.01 mag. In addition, OBB found $`(\mathrm{B V})_g=(VI)_g`$. In general, the $`VI`$ color is redder than the B V color. Our isochrones show this trend, as does the observational transformation for globular cluster giant branches from B V to $`VI`$ presented by Zinn & Barnes (1996). From the HST data, we find $`(\mathrm{B V})_g=1.06`$ and $`(VI)_g=1.22`$. The Zinn & Barnes (1996) transformation applied to the HST B V data implies $`(VI)_g=1.24`$ in good agreement with the measured value.

Finally, we note that OBB determined a brighter turn-off magnitude, $`V_{\mathrm{TO}}19.2\pm 0.15`$ and found $`\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{V}_{\mathrm{HB}}^{\mathrm{TO}}3.35\pm 0.16`$. These values differ by $`2.5\sigma `$ and $`2.1\sigma `$ respectively from the values obtained with our photometry. As the turn-off magnitude is a primary age indicator, the fainter turn-off found in our photometry implies an older age for NGC 6652.

## 5 The Age of NGC 6652

### 5.1 Isochrone Fitting

A variety of methods may be used to determine the age of a globular cluster, each with their advantages and disadvantages. Perhaps the simplest method is to fit an isochrone to the data by adjusting the distance modulus and reddening (within their known uncertainties) such that the mean locus of observed points is matched to the theoretical isochrone. Due to uncertainties in surface boundary conditions, color-effective temperature transformations and the treatment of convection, the colors of the isochrones may be in error. This is particularly true on the RGB, where a modest change in the choice of the mixing length can lead to a large change in the predicted RGB colors. For this reason, when fitting the isochrones to the data only the main sequence and turn-off regions were used in the fit. Such a fit is shown in Figure 7 for our $`[\mathrm{Fe}/\mathrm{H}]=0.85`$, $`[\alpha /\mathrm{Fe}]=+0.4`$ isochrones. The best fitting isochrone has an age of 13 Gyr. The best fit distance modulus ($`(mM)_V=15.15`$) implies $`M_V(HB)=0.81\pm 0.04`$. This is in good agreement with the distance modulus derived using the preferred $`\mathrm{M}_\mathrm{v}(\mathrm{RR})`$ relation given by Chaboyer (1999) which implies $`M_V(HB)=0.73\pm 0.12`$ at the metallicity of NGC 6652. The best fit reddening of $`\mathrm{E}(VI)=0.15`$ corresponds to $`\mathrm{E}(\mathrm{B V})=0.12`$ and is in reasonable agreement with the value obtained by OBB ($`\mathrm{E}(\mathrm{B V})=0.10\pm 0.02`$). The Schlegel, Finkbeiner & Davis (1998) reddening maps based on IRAS/DIRBE dust emission yield $`\mathrm{E}(\mathrm{B V})=0.114`$ for NGC 6652, also in good agreement.

When performing main sequence fitting, there is considerable degeneracy between the derived distance modulus and the reddening. For example, changing the reddening to $`\mathrm{E}(VI)=0.13`$, leads to a derived distance modulus of $`(mM)_V=15.05`$ and an age of 15 Gyr. Assuming an uncertainty of the reddening of $`\pm 0.02`$ mag leads to an uncertainty in the derived distance modulus of $`\pm 0.10`$ mag and in the age of $`\pm 2`$ Gyr. In fitting the isochrones to the data, the degeneracy between the distance modulus and reddening was broken by examining the region around the turn-off and the sub-giant branch to obtain the best fit shown in Figure 7. This allows us to determine our preferred values for the age and distance modulus, but it is important to realize that the error in these best fit parameters are rather large.

The implicit assumption in this fitting procedure is that the location of the unevolved main sequence predicted by the theoretical isochrones is accurate. The validity of this assumption has been discussed at the end of §3, where we conclude that at the level of $`\pm 0.10`$ mag the isochrones correctly predict the location of the unevolved main sequence in relatively metal-poor stars ($`1.5[\mathrm{Fe}/\mathrm{H}]0.6`$). Combining the uncertainty in the theoretical location of the unevolved main sequence with the uncertainty in our fitting procedure due to errors in the reddening leads us to conclude that the age and distance modulus we derive from isochrone fitting are accurate to $`\pm 15\%`$ and $`\pm 0.15`$mag respectively.

Fits of the isochrones with the various compositions discussed in §3 were also performed. In all cases, the fits in the turn-off, sub-giant branch and RGB regions were considerably inferior to the fit shown in Figure 7 which uses our best estimate for the composition ($`[\mathrm{Fe}/\mathrm{H}]=0.85`$; $`[\alpha /\mathrm{Fe}]=+0.4`$). The best fitting parameters for the various isochrone fits are shown in Table 2. Given that the other compositions gave inferior fits to the data, we prefer to take as our central values those found from the isochrones with the best estimate for the compositions. Taking into account the uncertainty in the reddening, along with the variation in derived parameters shown in Table 2, isochrone fitting implies the following parameters for NGC 6652 $`(mM)_V=15.15\pm 0.15`$, $`\mathrm{E}(VI)=0.15\pm 0.02`$ and an age of $`13\pm 2`$Gyr. Due to uncertainties in the theoretical models and the reddening of NGC 6652, the age we derive based upon isochrone fitting has a relatively large error. The isochrone fitting procedure serves as a first order test of our models (ensuring they are in reasonable agreement with the observations) and allows us to determine the age of the cluster which is independent of the HB.

### 5.2 $`\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{V}_{\mathrm{HB}}^{\mathrm{SGB}}`$ Ages

A more robust determination of the cluster’s age may be found using the difference in magnitude of the point on the sub-giant branch which is $`0.05`$ mag redder than the turn-off and the HB (Chaboyer et al., 1996, referred to as $`\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{V}_{\mathrm{HB}}^{\mathrm{SGB}}`$). The magnitude of the SGB point as a function of age is determined from the isochrones. The theoretical value of $`M_\mathrm{V}(\mathrm{HB})`$ was calculated using $`\mathrm{M}_\mathrm{v}(\mathrm{RR})=0.23([\mathrm{Fe}/\mathrm{H}]+1.6)+0.56`$ (Chaboyer, 1999) and corrected for the fact that the HB was only apparent redward of the RR Lyrae instability strip in NGC 6652. This correction was determined using the theoretical HB models of Demarque et al. (2000). From this procedure, we obtain an age of $`11.7\pm 1.6`$Gyr, where the error includes a $`\pm 0.1`$dex uncertainty in $`[\mathrm{Fe}/\mathrm{H}]`$, the observational error in determining $`\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{V}_{\mathrm{HB}}^{\mathrm{SGB}}`$, and the error in our adopted $`\mathrm{M}_\mathrm{v}(\mathrm{RR})`$ calibration. This may be compared to an age of $`13\pm 2`$ Gyr which was found from isochrone fitting. This age difference of $`1.3\pm 2.6`$ Gyr is well within our errors. From the theoretical point of view, $`\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{V}_{\mathrm{HB}}^{\mathrm{SGB}}`$ is a more robust age indicator than isochrone fitting as it does not depend critically on the (uncertain) colors of the theoretical models (Chaboyer et al., 1996). Thus, we prefer the use of the $`\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{V}_{\mathrm{HB}}^{\mathrm{SGB}}`$ age indicator. Ignoring the error in the zero-point calibration of our $`\mathrm{M}_\mathrm{v}(\mathrm{RR})`$ relation gives a precise relative age for NGC 6652 of $`11.7\pm 1.0`$Gyr.

The above relative age may be compared to other clusters with a similar metallicity. For example, there exists excellent $`VI`$ photometry of the thick disk globular cluster 47 Tuc from Kaluzny et al. (1998). This cluster has a well established metallicity of $`[\mathrm{Fe}/\mathrm{H}]=0.71`$ on both the Zinn & West (1984) and Carretta & Gratton (1997) scales, which is 0.14 dex more metal-rich than our preferred $`[\mathrm{Fe}/\mathrm{H}]`$ for NGC 6652. This difference in metallicity precludes the use of the $`\delta `$-color technique to determine an age difference for the two clusters.

The electronic data of Kaluzny et al. (1998) was used to determine $`(VI)_{\mathrm{TO}}=0.714\pm 0.004`$, $`V_{\mathrm{SGB}}=17.25\pm 0.03`$, $`<V_{\mathrm{HB}}>=14.07\pm 0.04`$, $`\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{V}_{\mathrm{HB}}^{\mathrm{SGB}}=3.18\pm 0.05`$. These values were determined in exactly the same manner as for NGC 6652. The value of $`\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{V}_{\mathrm{HB}}^{\mathrm{SGB}}`$for 47 Tuc is very similar to that of NGC 6652. Formally, $`\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{V}_{\mathrm{HB}}^{\mathrm{SGB}}(\mathrm{N6652}47\mathrm{T}\mathrm{u}\mathrm{c})=0.05\pm 0.07`$. Assuming that 47 Tuc has $`[\alpha /\mathrm{Fe}]=+0.40`$ and a helium abundance which is given by eqn. (1) then a precise relative age of $`12.2\pm 0.7`$ Gyr is obtained for 47 Tuc using the $`\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{V}_{\mathrm{HB}}^{\mathrm{SGB}}`$ method. This is virtually identical to the age derived for NGC 6652. To the precision of the data, the two clusters have the same age to within $`\pm 1.2`$Gyr.

Brown & Wallerstein (1992) found an enhancement in $`\alpha `$-capture elements of $`[\alpha /\mathrm{Fe}]=0.22`$ in 47 Tuc. Using this value of $`[\alpha /\mathrm{Fe}]`$ and using the same assumptions as this paper, Liu & Chaboyer (2000) found a $`\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{V}_{\mathrm{HB}}^{\mathrm{SGB}}`$ age of $`12.9\pm 0.7`$Gyr for 47 Tuc implying that 47 Tuc is $`1.2\pm 1.2`$Gyr older than NGC 6652. If 47 Tuc has a solar helium abundance, the absolute magnitude of the HB would be different than what has been assumed, implying that the derived age would be altered. Salaris & Weiss (1998) found that increasing the helium abundance by 0.019 to (their) solar value decreased the estimated age of 47 Tuc by 1.1 Gyr. This difference in helium abundance between our solar value and that implied by eqn. (1) is 0.0177, and so if 47 Tuc has a solar helium abundance the $`\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{V}_{\mathrm{HB}}^{\mathrm{SGB}}`$ age we determined should be decreased by 1.0 Gyr. This would imply that the NGC 6652 is $`0.9\pm 1.2`$Gyr older than 47 Tuc. Thus, allowing for differences in the $`[\alpha /\mathrm{Fe}]`$ or in the helium abundance between the two clusters does not change our conclusion that, to the precision of the data, NGC 6652 and 47 Tuc are the same age. This lack of age difference between 47 Tuc and NGC 6652 implies that the formation of the thick disk overlapped with the formation of the inner halo.

At the suggestions of the referee, we have tested the results of our $`\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{V}_{\mathrm{HB}}^{\mathrm{SGB}}`$ analysis by overlaying the CMD of 47 Tuc with that of NGC 6652. The 47 Tuc data was shifted so that the turnoff colors and the luminosities of the observed ZAHBs are made coincident. The results of this comparison are shown in Figure 8. A careful inspection of this figure reveals that when the ZAHBs of the 2 clusters are made coincident, the 47 Tuc subgiant branch is slightly fainter (by $`0.06\pm 0.03`$ mag) than the subgiant branch of NGC 6652. Thus, $`\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{V}_{\mathrm{HB}}^{\mathrm{SGB}}`$ for 47 Tuc is slightly larger than $`\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{V}_{\mathrm{HB}}^{\mathrm{SGB}}`$ in NGC 6652. This is exactly what was determined by the $`\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{V}_{\mathrm{HB}}^{\mathrm{SGB}}`$ analysis presented in the previous paragraph.

The age of NGC 6652 may also be compared to NGC 6171 (M107). M107 is also considered a member of the halo (Zinn, 1985). From their Ca II triplet analysis, Rutledge, Hesser & Stetson (1997) found $`[\mathrm{Fe}/\mathrm{H}]=1.09`$ on the Zinn & West (1984) scale and $`[\mathrm{Fe}/\mathrm{H}]=0.95`$ on the Carretta & Gratton (1997) scale. This implies that M107 is $`0.1`$ dex more metal-poor than NGC 6652. A V, B V CMD for M107 has been presented by Ferraro et al. (1991). As no V, $`VI`$ data is publicly available for this cluster, we cannot do a differential age comparison using the $`\delta `$-color technique, and instead analyze the age difference using $`\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{V}_{\mathrm{HB}}^{\mathrm{SGB}}`$. The electronic data of Ferraro et al. (1991) was carefully inspected, and the following points measured: $`(\mathrm{B V})_{\mathrm{TO}}=0.870\pm 0.01`$, $`V_{\mathrm{SGB}}=18.86\pm 0.04`$, $`<V_{\mathrm{HB}}>=15.59\pm 0.03`$, $`\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{V}_{\mathrm{HB}}^{\mathrm{SGB}}=3.27\pm 0.05`$. This value of $`\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{V}_{\mathrm{HB}}^{\mathrm{SGB}}`$ is $`0.14\pm 0.07`$ mag larger than that found for NGC 6652 ($`\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{V}_{\mathrm{HB}}^{\mathrm{SGB}}=3.13\pm 0.05`$). Using our isochrones, an $`\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{V}_{\mathrm{HB}}^{\mathrm{SGB}}`$ age for M107 of $`14.0\pm 1.1`$Gyr is found, which is $`2.7\pm 1.5`$Gyr older than the $`\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{V}_{\mathrm{HB}}^{\mathrm{SGB}}`$ age of NGC 6652. This suggests that M107 may be older than NGC 6652. However, this result is only significant at the $`1.8\sigma `$ level. A more definitive study (using $`VI`$ photometry for M107) is needed to determine if NGC 6652 is younger than M107.

To investigate this issue further, we have also determined the age of NGC 1851, a somewhat more metal-poor cluster. Rutledge, Hesser & Stetson (1997) found $`[\mathrm{Fe}/\mathrm{H}]=1.23`$ on the Zinn & West (1984) scale and $`[\mathrm{Fe}/\mathrm{H}]=1.03`$ on the Carretta & Gratton (1997) scale, implying that NGC 1851 is $`0.2`$dex more metal-poor than NGC 6652. Walker (1998) obtained BVI CCD data for this cluster. Using the $`V`$, $`VI`$ data, we determined $`(VI)_{\mathrm{TO}}=0.581\pm 0.01`$, $`V_{\mathrm{SGB}}=19.11\pm 0.04`$, $`<V_{\mathrm{HB}}>=16.12\pm 0.04`$, $`\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{V}_{\mathrm{HB}}^{\mathrm{SGB}}=2.99\pm 0.06`$. This implies an age of $`10.4\pm 1.0`$ Gyr, adopting $`[\mathrm{Fe}/\mathrm{H}]=1.10`$. Thus, NGC 1851 is $`0.9\pm 1.4`$Gyr younger than NGC 6652, and $`3.6\pm 1.5`$Gyr younger than M107. Salaris & Weiss (1998) and Rosenberg et al. (1999) have also concluded that NGC 1851 is somewhat younger than M107 ($`2.1\pm 1.4`$Gyr and $`2.9\pm 1.3`$ Gyr respectively, using different age diagnostics). In summary, there is a suggestion that NGC 6652 is somewhat younger ($`2.7\pm 1.5`$Gyr) than the halo cluster M107, while it appears to be slightly older ($`0.9\pm 1.4`$Gyr) than NGC 1851.

## 6 Summary

HST ($`V,I`$) photometry has been obtained for the inner halo globular cluster NGC 6652. This photometry includes a well populated HB and extends well below the main sequence turn-off. From these data, we determined $`V_{\mathrm{ZAHB}}=16.00\pm 0.03`$, $`<V_{\mathrm{HB}}>=15.96\pm 0.04`$, $`(VI)_{\mathrm{TO}}=0.818\pm 0.004`$, $`V_{\mathrm{TO}}=19.55\pm 0.07`$, $`V_{\mathrm{SGB}}=19.09\pm 0.03`$, $`\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{V}_{\mathrm{HB}}^{\mathrm{TO}}=3.59\pm 0.08`$, and $`\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{V}_{\mathrm{HB}}^{\mathrm{SGB}}=3.13\pm 0.05`$. This turn-off magnitude is $`0.35\pm 0.17`$ magnitudes fainter than that found in the previous study of NGC 6652 by OBB. As a consequence, the age derived from our photometry is substantially older than age determinations based upon the OBB photometry. The OBB photometry shows considerable scatter around the turn-off, while the data presented here clearly delineates the main sequence turn-off region.

New stellar evolution models and isochrones were calculated for $`[\mathrm{Fe}/\mathrm{H}]=1.20,1.00,0.85`$ and $`0.70`$ in order to determine the age of NGC 6652 and other globular clusters with similar metallicities. Estimates for the metallicity of NGC 6652 vary from $`[\mathrm{Fe}/\mathrm{H}]=0.96`$ on the Zinn & West (1984) scale to $`[\mathrm{Fe}/\mathrm{H}]=0.85`$ on the Carretta & Gratton (1997) scale. Our best fitting isochrones have $`[\mathrm{Fe}/\mathrm{H}]=0.85`$ and imply $`(mM)_V=15.15\pm 0.10`$ and $`\mathrm{E}(VI)=0.15\pm 0.02`$. With $`\text{R}\text{GC}2.0`$kpc, NGC 6652 is the globular cluster closest to the Galactic center for which a precise relative age comparison can be made to other globular clusters which are relatively metal-poor. From the HST data, NGC 6652 has an age of $`11.7\pm 1.6`$Gyr (using $`\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{V}_{\mathrm{HB}}^{\mathrm{SGB}}`$ as the age indicator). Using data from the literature, $`\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{V}_{\mathrm{HB}}^{\mathrm{SGB}}`$ ages of $`12.2\pm 0.7`$ Gyr for 47 Tuc (thick disk cluster with $`[\mathrm{Fe}/\mathrm{H}]=0.71`$), $`14.0\pm 1.1`$Gyr for M107 (halo cluster with $`[\mathrm{Fe}/\mathrm{H}]=0.95`$) and $`10.4\pm 1.0`$ Gyr for NGC 1851 (halo cluster with $`[\mathrm{Fe}/\mathrm{H}]1.1`$) were determined. These precise relative ages demonstrate that the halo clusters NGC 6652 and NGC 1851 are the same age as the thick disk cluster 47 Tuc. There is some evidence that M107 is somewhat older, but the difference in age between M107 and NGC 6652 is only significant at the $`1.5\sigma `$ level. A more definitive study (using $`VI`$ photometry for M107) is needed to determine if NGC 6652 is younger than M107.

We would like to thank the anonymous referee whose suggestions led to an improved paper. This research was supported by NASA through grant number GO-06517 from the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by AURA, Inc., under NASA contract NAS 5-26555.


text:
# EQSE Diagonalization of the Hubbard Model

## 1 Introduction

The enhanced quasi-sparse eigenvector (EQSE) method of solving quantum field theory Hamiltonians is the combination of quasi-sparse eigenvector (QSE) method  with a stochastic calculation for the contribution of the remaining basis states . The Hubbard model was chosen as a laboratory for testing this method for several reasons. First, we believed the approach could yield results. The basis vectors can be specified in a few words of data and the Hamiltonian is sparse is momentum space. On the other hand, the ground state of the Hubbard model is known for its inclusion of a extraordinary number of Fock states  so the model presents a non-trivial challenge to the quasi-sparse approach. Finally, the Hubbard model is thought to be a physically relevant model for superconductivity . While the description of the model is simple, solutions have been difficult and any promising new approach is worthwhile.

We work on a 2-dimensional spatial lattice with the Hubbard Hamiltonian

$$H=t\underset{\begin{array}{c}\sigma =,\\ <i,j>\text{nearest}\end{array}}{}(c_{i\sigma }^{}c_{j\sigma }+c_{j\sigma }^{}c_{i\sigma })+U(c_i^{}c_ic_i^{}c_i)$$

There are 2 species of electron so there are 4 possible states for each lattice site. Thus the 8x8 Hubbard model has $`4^{64}`$ dimensions. Even after using particle conservation to partition the space there are more than $`10^{32}`$ basis vectors. In this large space the Hamiltonian is clearly sparse But the equality of the off-diagonal elements contributes to an extraordinary number of Fock states in the ground.

It is thought that the D-wave correlator $`C_{d_{x^2y^2}}(r)`$ is an important indicator of superconductivity .

## 2 Hamiltonian Momentum Lattice Formulation

After making space periodic we use the Fock states as our basis set. The Hamiltonian conserves momentum which helps limit the number of relevant basis states.

$`H_{\text{kin}}=2t{\displaystyle (\mathrm{cos}\frac{\pi n}{L}+\mathrm{cos}\frac{\pi n}{L})a_{np,\sigma }^{}a_{np,\sigma }}`$
$`V={\displaystyle \frac{U}{4L^2}}{\displaystyle \underset{\begin{array}{c}kl+mn=0\\ pq+rs=0\end{array}}{}}a_{kp}^{}a_{lq}^{}a_{mr}^{}a_{ns}^{}`$
There is a 16 member symmetry group generated by reflections in the $`x`$ and $`y`$ planes, $`xy`$ and$``$. For the purpose of finding the ground state, we use only symmetrized basis states.

The first step in the calcualation consists of picking a basis set of size $`N`$ and diagonalizing its submatrix of the Hamiltonian using the Lanczos method . The $`\frac{N}{5}`$basis vectors which least contribute to the ground are then discarded, replacements are chosen and the Hamiltonian is again diagonalized. When the ground energy $`E_0`$ obtained in this manner converges the QSE step is complete.

The EQSE is a first order correction to this result. We calculate it stochastically. Let $`C`$ be a set of basis vectors for the complement of the $`N`$-dimensional subspace. Then, choosing representative basis vectors $`vC`$ with probability $`P(v)`$ .

$`E=E_0+\text{Average}{\displaystyle \frac{FO(v)}{P(v)}},FO(v)={\displaystyle \frac{0|H|vv|H|0}{\lambda _v}}`$
where $`|0`$ is the ground state of the $`N`$ dimensional subspace. The expectation is thus

$$E=E_0+\underset{vC}{}P(v)\frac{FO(v)}{P(v)}.$$

## 3 Results

Results were obtained for the ground state energy, wavefunction and $`d`$-wave correlator. The computing time was about 2 days on a 350Mhz Pentium II. Where available, we compare with Husslein et al  results labeled Exact, Projector Quantum Monte-Carlo (PQMC), and Stochastic Diagonalization (SD) (which uses a different method of choosing the subspace than QSE).

| Ground State Energy 4x4 Hubbard Model($`\frac{5}{16}`$ occupied) | | | | | | |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Coupling | States | QSE | EQSE | Exact | SD | PQMC |
|  | 50 | -.47471 | -.50127(5) |  |  |  |
| U=2 | 100 | -.47967 | -.50147(5) | -.50194 | -.501 | -.49 |
|  | 500 | -.49454 | -.50181(3) |  |  |  |
|  | 1000 | -.50062 | -.50198 |  |  |  |
|  | 50 | -1.5707 | -1.80635(5) |  |  |  |
| U=4 | 100 | -1.6203 | -1.8113(4) | -1.8309 | -1.829 | -1.8(2) |
|  | 500 | -1.7476 | -1.8242(3) |  |  |  |
|  | 1000 | -1.8003 | -1.8302 |  |  |  |
|  | 50 | -2.2450 | -2.6663(8) |  |  |  |
| U=5 | 100 | -2.3322 | -2.6724(7) | -2.7245 | -2.723 | -2.9(3) |
|  | 500 | -2.5578 | -2.7073(4) |  |  |  |
|  | 1000 | -2.6512 | -2.7208(2) |  |  |  |
|  | 2000 | -2.685 | -2.7231 |  |  |  |
|  | 50 | -2.963 | -3.615 |  |  |  |
| U=6 | 100 | -3.103 | -3.635 |  |  |  |
|  | 1000 | -3.452 | -3.697 |  |  |  |
|  | 2000 | -3.595 | -3.723 |  |  |  |

| Ground Energy 8x8 Hubbard Model($`\frac{25}{64}`$ occupied) | | | |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Coupling | States | QSE | EQSE |
|  | 50 | -.281 | -2.58(2) |
|  | 100 | -.443 | -2.49(2) |
| U=2 | 500 | -1.221 | -2.40(2) |
|  | 1000 | -1.751 | -2.406(8) |
|  | 2000 | -1.956 | -2.423(9) |
|  | 4000 | -1.958 | -2.427 |
|  | 50 | -.811 | -9.18(6) |
|  | 100 | -1.386 | -8.48(6) |
| U=4 | 500 | -3.449 | -7.58(5) |
|  | 1000 | -4.798 | -7.59(3) |
|  | 2000 | -5.374 | -7.620(4) |
|  | 4000 | -5.387 | -7.621(5) |
|  | 50 | -1.222 | -13.33(8) |
|  | 100 | -1.88 | -12.33(8) |
| U=5 | 500 | -4.65 | -10.65(6) |
|  | 1000 | -6.44 | -10.65(3) |
|  | 2000 | -7.225 | -10.671(5) |
|  | 4000 | -7.236 | -10.662(8) |
|  | 50 | -1.6 | -18.2 |
|  | 100 | -2.4 | -16.6 |
| U=6 | 500 | -5.9 | -13.93(8) |
|  | 1000 | -8.15 | -13.78(4) |
|  | 2000 | -9.110 | -13.888(7) |
|  | 4000 | -9.113 | -13.880(8) |

The $`d_{x^2y^2}`$ correlator was also obtained using the QSE algorithm. The 4x4 result again matched that of Husslein et al . The EQSE calculation has not been completed and we therefore omit the data.

## 4 Conclusion

As we can see, the ground state for the 4x4 Hubbard model can be well described with about 1000 symmetrized states and the 50 state results yield remarkable accuracy when the first order correction is included. In the 8x8 case it is clear that even 4000 states are not sufficient to describe the ground state. The precision of the first-order values will be determined with the completion of higher order calculations.

Further advances will come in the refinement of the enhancement technique. Better importance sampling will speed convergence of second and higher orders contributions. Other extensions will be calculation of excited states of the Hamiltonian, correlation functions, binding energies and other quantities of interest.

### Acknowledgments

The author thanks the organizers of the Light-Cone Meeting at Heidelberg, Nikolay Prokofyev and collaborators on the original papers cited here.


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# WEAK FORM FACTORS FOR HEAVY MESON DECAYS11footnote 1Talk presented by D. Melikhov

## Acknowledgments

It is a pleasure to thank the Organizers for creating a fruitful working atmosphere during this nice and interesting meeting. D.M. acknowledges the support of the BMBF under project 05 HT 9 HVA3.

## References