text:
# The Gravitational Lens Candidate FBQ 1633+3134Based on observations carried out in part at the MDM Observatory, the W. M. Keck Observatory and the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) Very Large Array (VLA). The NRAO is a facility of the National Science Foundation operated under cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc.

## 1 INTRODUCTION

The number of quasars multiply imaged by gravitational lenses has steadily increased in the last decade. There are now over 40 well-established cases of galaxy-size gravitational lenses (Kochanek et al. 1998). The usefulness of gravitational lenses are well known (Kochanek & Hewitt 1996). For example, measurements of a time-delay between the light curves of individual images can lead to a determination of the Hubble constant (Refsdal 1964), and the observed frequency of strong lensing events can provide statistical constraints on the cosmological constant (Kochanek 1996). Also, since the observed image configuration is sensitive to the gravitational potential of the lens, gravitational lensing offers a means to probe the matter distribution of the lensing object (e.g., Maller et al. 2000). This provides a method to sample the dark matter halos of intermediate redshift galaxies which is independent of the galaxy’s luminosity.

The identification of a close separation (i.e., $`<10\mathrm{}`$) double quasar, however, is not confirmation of a gravitational lens. An alternative explanation is a physical binary quasar (e.g., Kochanek et al. 1999, Mortlock et al. 1999). In principle, the distinction between these two possibilities is clear: either there is direct evidence for an intervening galaxy between the quasar images, confirming the lensing scenario, or the spectral properties of the pair differ to the extent that the most likely explanation is that of two separate quasars. In the latter case, it is usually the failure to detect one of the quasars at radio wavelengths that eliminates the lensing hypothesis (e.g., Djorgovski et al. 1987; Muñoz et al. 1998). In practice, there are a number of quasar pairs that do not fall neatly into either category (Kochanek et al. 1999). The astrometric and spectral characteristics of these pairs are typical of gravitational lenses, yet no direct evidence for a lensing galaxy is found. The double quasar FIRST J163349.0+313412 (hereafter, FBQ 1633+3134), which we analyze here, is best classified as one of these “border-line” systems. In this paper, we present our ground-based optical imaging, spectral observations, and radio mapping of FBQ 1633+3134, and discuss the likelihood that the system is a gravitational lens.

FBQ 1633+3134 (16$`^\text{h}`$ 33$`^\text{m}`$ 48$`\stackrel{\mathrm{s}}{\mathrm{.}}`$97, +31$`\mathrm{°}`$ 34$`\mathrm{}`$ 11$`\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}`$8; J2000.0) was originally identified as a $`z=1.52`$, $`B=17.3`$ quasar from the FIRST Bright Quasar Survey (FBQS; Gregg et al. 1996). The target was first detected as a 2 mJy radio source at 20 cm as part of the FIRST radio survey (Becker, White, & Helfand 1995), and follow-up spectral observations taken with the Lick 3 m telescope confirmed the radio source as a high-redshift quasar (White et al. 2000). The FBQS offers a major advantage over fainter quasar surveys for the purpose of discovering lensed quasars. Since the majority of the FBQS targets are bright ($`B<18`$), the probability of finding a quasar multiply imaged by gravitational lensing is enhanced over a sampling of fainter quasars due to the magnification bias effect (Turner, Ostriker, & Gott 1984). Using the 2.4 m Hiltner Telescope at the MDM Observatory, we have exploited this bias by obtaining optical images of the brightest ($`B<18`$) and more distant ($`z>1`$) of the FBQS quasars to search for arcsecond scale multiple imaging indicative of strong gravitational lensing. One such observing run in 1996 December discovered the quasar FBQ 0951+2635 as a sub-arcsecond separation gravitational lens (Schechter et al. 1998). A subsequent observing run was carried out during 1997 June and targeted an additional $`100`$ FBQS quasars in a further search for lenses. During this run, a $`3`$ minute $`R`$-band exposure of FBQ 1633+3134 showed two stellar-like point sources separated by $`0\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}7`$, and immediate follow-up exposures showed the same separation and similar flux ratios in $`BVI`$ bandpasses as well, providing the initial evidence that FBQ 1633+3134 might be gravitationally lensed.

We describe our initial optical observations and analysis of FBQ 1633+3134 in §2, as well as higher resolution follow-up optical imaging taken immediately afterwards using the 3.5 m WIYN telescope. In §3, we describe the original FBQS spectrum of FBQ 1633+3134, as well as a follow-up spectrum taken with the Keck 10 m telescope. While radio observations were originally obtained as part of the FIRST survey, we have since obtained higher resolution VLA radio imaging of FBQ 1633+3134 following the optical detection of the object’s double nature. We present these radio observations and their implications in §4. Finally, we discuss lens modeling and interpretation of the system in §5, and §6 summarizes our findings and conclusions for FBQ 1633+3134.

## 2 OPTICAL OBSERVATIONS AND REDUCTION

### 2.1 Initial Optical Imaging

Initial optical images of FBQ 1633+3134 were taken by one of us (P.L.S.) with the MDM 2.4 m Hiltner Telescope as part of the optical follow-up program for FBQS quasars described above. Imaging was conducted on the nights of 1997 June 1, 2, and 4. The Tek 1024 $`\times `$ 1024 CCD detector (“Charlotte”) was used, with a gain of 3.16 $`e^{}`$ ADU-1 and a readnoise of 5.45 $`e^{}`$. The telescope was operated at an $`f`$ ratio of $`f/7.5`$, yielding a plate scale of 0$`\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}`$2750 per pixel. Sky conditions were marred by the presence of intermittent clouds on the nights of the 2nd and 4th, although observations reported here were taken during photometric periods. Multiple $`3`$ minute exposures of FBQ 1633+3134 were taken using the Schombert $`BVRI`$ filter set, with seeing conditions that ranged from 0$`\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}`$8 to 1$`\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}`$0 FWHM. Multiple $`BVRI`$ observations of the Landolt standard field PG 1633 (Landolt 1992) were also taken on the night of the 2nd. A summary of the MDM observations for FBQ 1633+3134 are presented in Table 1. Figure 1 shows a $`5\mathrm{}`$ square field of the target quasar and nearby stars from one of the $`I`$-band frames.

All CCD frames were bias-subtracted, flattened, and trimmed using the VISTA reduction program. The flatfield frames consisted of twilight sky exposures taken on June 1, and were removed of cosmic rays using AUTOCLEAN, a program written and kindly provided by J. Tonry. The initial $`3`$ minute $`R`$-band exposure of FBQ 1633+3134 showed it to be noticeably misshapen as compared to other stars in the field, with an ellipticity of $`0.6`$ (Fig. 2). This large ellipticity is consistent with a comparatively bright companion at less than an arcsecond away from the brighter optical component. There is also a faint point source $`3\mathrm{}`$ to the SW of the elongated image, with a peak flux of $`1\%`$ of the peak flux of the target quasar.

Preliminary photometry for the MDM data was performed using DoPHOT (Schechter, Mateo, & Saha 1993), and was able to split FBQ 1633+3134 as a double image in all bandpasses. We fit the elongated image with two empirical point spread functions (PSFs), using a variant of the DoPHOT program designed to deal with close, point-like and extended objects (Schechter & Moore 1993). Hereafter, we will refer to the brighter and fainter components of the two PSF fit as components A and B, respectively. We simultaneously fit for the presence of the faint SW object as well (hereafter, component C), to ensure that this object did not affect the photometric solutions for the main components. Star #5 in Fig. 1 served as the empirical PSF.

For our photometric fits, we have simultaneously solved for the relative fluxes of the system components and the overall position of the system, but have held the relative separations of the components fixed at values determined from the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) NICMOS imaging of E. Falco (PI), obtained as part of the CASTLES program (Kochanek et al. 1998) in 1998 August111The HST/NICMOS images of FBQ 1633+3134 may be viewed online at the CASTLES homepage at http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/castles. Using the archival HST/NICMOS images of FBQ 1633+3134, centroid positions for components A, B, and C were determined by the authors using gaussian fits to the peaks of the flux profiles; this gave a separation between the brighter two components of $`0\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}663`$. Appropriate steps were then taken to account for the relative orientations and plate scales of the MDM and HST/NICMOS detectors. We report our photometric solutions for the MDM data using fixed relative positions for the three components in Table 2. Error bars in Table 2 are statistical ($`1\sigma `$) errors obtained from the frame-to-frame scatter for each filter.

The broadband magnitude differences between components A and B show little variation across wavelength. The photometric solutions reported in Table 2 correspond to A:B flux ratios of 2.45 in $`B`$, and 3.25, 3.24, and 3.36 in $`V,R,`$ and $`I`$, respectively. This is consistent with components A and B having similar spectral energy distributions (SEDs) at optical wavelengths, as would be expected if the system consisted of two quasars (Mortlock et al. 1999), or a single quasar multiply imaged by gravitational lensing. Component B has a $`BV`$ color index of $`0.114`$, and $`VR`$ and $`VI`$ color indices of $`0.356`$ and $`0.691`$, with uncertainties of $`0.04`$ for each index. The $`BV`$ index is consistent with an A star, while the $`VR`$ and $`VI`$ indices are consistent with a late F to early G star. The color of component B is therefore inconsistent with it being a foreground Galactic star. The $`BV`$, $`VR`$, and $`VI`$ color indices for component A are $`0.422`$, $`0.353`$, and $`0.725`$, with uncertainties of $`0.02`$ for each index. Although these colors are consistent with a late F star, spectral observations presented in §3 make it highly unlikely that the brighter component is a Galactic star.

The photometric solutions reported in Table 2 also shed light on the nature of component C. Component C has $`BV`$, $`VR`$, and $`VI`$ color indices of $`0.95,0.50,`$ and $`0.95`$ respectively, with ($`1\sigma `$) statistical errors of $`0.2`$ for $`BV`$, and $`0.1`$ for $`VR`$ and $`VI`$. These colors are consistent with a late G to early K star. In addition, if we suppose components A and B do indeed arise from gravitational lensing, then the relative position of component C with respect to components A and B is inconsistent with it being either a third image of the lensed quasar or the lensing galaxy. Because it also it appears as a point source in our optical imaging, we conclude that component C is a foreground Galactic star and is not physically associated with the two brighter components of the system.

### 2.2 Astrometry and Photometric Calibration

The apparent magnitudes for FBQ 1633+3134 reported in Table 2 were calibrated using offsets and color terms obtained from observations of the Landolt standard field PG 1633 (Landolt 1992), where we have used extinction coefficients taken from the Kitt Peak direct imaging manual ($`k_B=0.25,k_V=0.15,k_R=0.10,k_I=0.07`$; Massey et al. 1997). DoPHOT yields flux ratios for all objects in the field with respect to the PSF template star. Once the PSF star has been calibrated onto the standard system, apparent magnitudes for the remainder of objects in the field are straightforward to obtain. We have also obtained astrometric solutions for reference objects in the field relative to the Automatic Plate Measuring (APM) astrometry of McMahon & Irwin (1992) using one of the $`I`$-band frames. To aid in the calibration of future observations, Table 3 presents our photometric and astrometric solutions for 8 reference stars within a 5 arcminute radius of the target quasar. The positional uncertainties in the astrometric solutions are $`0\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}4`$ ($`1\sigma `$).

### 2.3 Follow-Up Optical Imaging

To probe components A and B for possible signs of a lensing galaxy, higher resolution follow-up imaging of FBQ 1633+3134 was taken by C. Bailyn immediately following the MDM run. On 1997 June 5, a total of 6 CCD exposures of FBQ 1633+3134 were taken (2 each in Harris $`B`$ and $`R`$, and 1 each in $`V`$ and $`I`$) using the WIYN 3.5 m telescope at the Kitt Peak National Observatory. The 2SKB 2048 $`\times `$ 2048 detector was used, with a gain setting of 2.8 $`e^{}`$ ADU-1, a readnoise of 8 $`e^{}`$, and a plate scale of 0$`\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}`$1971 pixel-1. Seeing conditions for the series of exposures were 0$`\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}`$7 FWHM, slightly better than for the MDM run. Each exposure lasted 120 s. These images were bias-subtracted, flattened, and trimmed using standard IRAF procedures, and the $`B`$\- and $`R`$-band images were stacked using integer pixel offsets before obtaining photometric solutions. PSF fitting was then carried out using the identical procedure as for the MDM data, with star # 5 again providing the empirical PSF.

Results from PSF analysis, again using fixed relative positions taken from the HST/NICMOS data, yield A:B flux ratios of 2.67 in $`B`$, and 3.20, 3.21, 3.28 in $`V`$, $`R`$, and $`I`$. These results agree well with the corresponding MDM flux ratios for the two components. In Figure 2, we show an excised portion of the $`I`$-band frame, along with residuals after empirical PSF subtraction for the $`V`$ and $`I`$ filters. Tick marks for the residual panels indicate the centroid locations of components A (top-right) and B (bottom-left); the orientation of the system is identical in all four panels. We do not show the $`R`$-band residuals, as the $`R`$-band PSF was discovered to vary slightly over the face of the detector, which masked any residual signature from FBQ 1633+3134 that may have been present due to additional sources of flux in the system. The ellipticity of the $`R`$-band PSF increased from $`0.01`$ to $`0.06`$ for stars sampled from the center to the periphery of the detector, leaving an FBQ 1633+3134 residual pattern $`1\%`$ of component A’s brightness. The $`R`$-band PSF-induced residual pattern seen for components A and B of FBQ 1633+3134 was similar to the patterns observed for isolated stars in the field.

Visual inspection of our ground-based $`B`$-, $`V`$\- and $`I`$-band residuals show no obvious signs of unaccounted flux in the system. Although we did not perform a rigorous PSF subtraction of the HST/NICMOS data, a cursory inspection of the CASTLES image also shows no obvious indication of a lensing galaxy. If a lensing galaxy were located between components A and B, its presence would be most evident in our data in $`I`$-band, where the quasar-galaxy flux contrast would be more equal. To quantify the $`I`$-band magnitude limit for our non-detection, we inserted a series of gaussian flux profiles between components A and B, representative of an intervening galaxy, and investigated the residual patterns that emerged after fitting and subtracting two empirical PSFs as described above. The location of the gaussian profile was dictated by the singular isothermal sphere model (see §5), with a FWHM of $`0\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}71`$ (the average seeing for the $`I`$-band exposure). Again holding the relative separations of components A and B fixed at the HST/NICMOS values, we were able to detect $`5\sigma `$ residuals for a third object down to $`I=23.0`$, where $`\sigma `$ is the rms sky noise of the exposure. We therefore rule out the presence of an $`I<23`$ magnitude point source at the suspected lensing galaxy position. The significance of this non-detection is discussed in §5.

## 3 SPECTROSCOPY

A spectrum of FBQ 1633+3134 had been originally obtained by one of us (R.B.) using the Kast Double Spectrograph at the Lick Observatory on 1996 June 10 as part of the FIRST Bright QSO Survey (see White et al. 2000). The spectrum left no doubt that FBQ 1633+3134 was a quasar, clearly showing redshifted C IV, C III\], and Mg II emission features. Several metal-line absorption features were also detected from an intervening line-of-sight absorber. However, the signal to noise (S/N) of the Lick spectrum was only $`10`$ at blue wavelengths, which hampered the absorption analysis.

We have since obtained a higher S/N spectrum using the Echellette Spectrograph and Imager (ESI; Epps & Miller 1998) at the Keck Observatory on 2000 March 9. The wavelength range of the observations was from 3700 Å to 8700 Å, with a dispersion that ranged from 0.7 to 11 Å from blue to red wavelengths. The slit orientation was held at a PA of $`40\mathrm{°}`$ E of N, roughly perpendicular to the image separation. The seeing FWHM was 0$`\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}`$8 – insufficient to resolve the two components. The 600 s spectrum is shown in Figure 3.

Prominent absorption and emission features for the FBQ 1633+3134 spectrum are presented in Table 4. The source quasar has a redshift of 1.513(2) based on gaussian fits to peaks of the C III\] and C IV emission features. The S/N of the Keck spectrum ranges from $`50`$ to $`90`$ from red to blue wavelengths, allowing the detection of an intervening metal-line absorption system at $`z_{abs}=0.684`$. The Mg II $`\lambda \lambda `$2796, 2803 Å doublet is clearly resolved, as is a series of Fe II $`\lambda \lambda `$2383, 2586, 2600 Å and Fe I $`\lambda `$2474 Å absorption lines. The Mg II doublet has a total rest-frame equivalent width of 2.4 Å. A strong (1.7 Å equivalent width) absorption feature at an observed wavelength of $`\lambda `$3708.9 Å was also detected in the Lick spectrum, which may correspond to Ca I $`\lambda `$2201 Å at the slightly higher redshift of $`z_{abs}=0.685`$. The detection of a strong Mg II and Fe absorption system is evidence for a damped Lyman $`\alpha `$ system (DLAS) at the absorber redshift. A DLAS at intermediate redshift is likely to be the dusty, metal-rich disk of a late-type galaxy (Boisse et al. 1998).

The high S/N of the Keck spectrum provides a means to rule out the possibility that either component is a Galactic star. In general, the equivalent width of a spectral absorption feature is reduced by a factor of $`(1+f)^1`$ when flooded with continuum flux from a companion object, where $`f`$ represents the ratio of continuum intensities of the brighter object to the fainter object exhibiting the absorption feature. Prominent stellar absorption features typically have equivalent widths that are of order $`1`$ Å (Jacoby et al. 1984). Thus, if the fainter optical component was indeed a Galactic star, the 3:1 optical flux ratio would predict stellar absorption features of typically $`0.25`$ Å equivalent width. The equivalent width associated with the rms noise in the Keck spectrum ranges from $`0.01`$ Å in the blue to $`0.1`$ Å in the far red. The Keck spectrum therefore has a high enough S/N to confidently detect stellar absorption features if they were present. None of the common stellar absorption features are detected at the indicated positions (dashed lines) of Figure 3, which argues against either component being a foreground Galactic star. The simplest explanation for the combined spectrum is that we are seeing the light from two identical redshift quasars.

## 4 RADIO OBSERVATIONS

FBQ 1633+3134 is a milli-Jansky radio source at 20 cm in the FIRST survey. The survey was carried out using the Very Large Array (VLA) in the B configuration, providing a resolution of $`5\mathrm{}`$ (Becker et al. 1995). The original radio observations lack the required resolution to probe for subarcsecond companions to the target quasar. Once optical observations had revealed the quasar’s double nature, higher resolution VLA imaging was obtained.

On 1998 March 14, follow-up VLA observations were carried out by one of us (R.B.) at 8.46 GHz while the VLA was in the A configuration, providing an angular resolution of $`0\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}2`$. Integration time was 60 minutes. Only one source was securely detected, with a peak intensity of 0.27 mJy and an rms noise level in the field of 0.03 mJy.

If we assume the radio emission comes from the brighter component of the optical pair, then the optical flux ratio of $`3:1`$ would predict a peak radio intensity for the fainter component of $`.1`$ mJy. The failure to detect a radio component is therefore significant at the $`3\sigma `$ level.

The position of the radio source from the high resolution VLA imaging was determined to be 16$`^\text{h}`$ 33$`^\text{m}`$ 48$`\stackrel{\mathrm{s}}{\mathrm{.}}`$943, +31$`\mathrm{°}`$ 34$`\mathrm{}`$ 11$`\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}`$19 (J2000.0), with a positional uncertainty of $`0.2\mathrm{}`$. This differs from our ground-based optical positions of component A (16$`^\text{h}`$ 33$`^\text{m}`$ 48$`\stackrel{\mathrm{s}}{\mathrm{.}}`$974, +31$`\mathrm{°}`$ 34$`\mathrm{}`$ 11$`\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}`$85) by $``$0$`\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}`$8 and for component B (16$`^\text{h}`$ 33$`^\text{m}`$ 49$`\stackrel{\mathrm{s}}{\mathrm{.}}`$020, +31$`\mathrm{°}`$ 34$`\mathrm{}`$ 11$`\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}`$44) by $``$1$`\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}`$0. The APM catalog position for the composite AB source shows the same difference. We also queried the U.S. Naval Observatory A2.0 (USNO-A2.0) catalog, which uses the Precision Measuring Machine (PPM) astrometry of Monet et al. (1996), and found a similar 1$`\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}`$0 offset with respect to the radio position. We are unable to identify with confidence which of the two optical components corresponds to the radio detection. A similar $`1\mathrm{}`$ discrepancy between VLA and optical astrometric solutions was also identified for the FIRST lensed quasar FBQ 0951+2635 (Schechter et al. 1998).

## 5 MODEL AND INTERPRETATION

The identification of an intervening metal-line absorption system in the FBQ 1633+3134 spectrum raises the obvious question of whether this material could serve as the lens. Although this possibility is attractive from the lensing point of view, the mere presence of an intervening absorption system should not be taken as direct evidence of a lensing galaxy. The observed incidence of Mg II absorption systems in quasar spectra is $`1`$ such system per unit redshift range down to a minimum equivalent width of 0.3 Å (Steidel & Sargent 1992), so it is common to find an intervening metal-line absorber in the spectra of high-redshift quasars. In this section, we explore the likelihood that the $`z_{abs}=0.684`$ absorber could indeed indicate the presence of the lensing galaxy, and investigate the properties of the putative lensing galaxy as constrained by other observables of the system. Throughout this section, we have adopted an $`\mathrm{\Omega }_m=0.3`$, $`\mathrm{\Omega }_\mathrm{\Lambda }=0.7`$ cosmological model and have parameterized the Hubble constant as $`H_o=100h\text{ km s}^1\text{ Mpc}^1`$.

We will adopt the singular isothermal sphere (SIS) model to describe the gravitational potential of the hypothesized lensing galaxy. The SIS model is described by the line-of-sight velocity dispersion $`\sigma `$ of the lensing galaxy. The corresponding Einstein radius is $`\mathrm{\Theta }_E=4\pi \left(\frac{\sigma }{c}\right)^2\frac{D_{LS}}{D_{OS}},`$ where $`D_{LS}`$ and $`D_{OS}`$ are the angular diameter distances from the lens to the source and from the observer to the source, respectively (e.g., Narayan & Bartleman 1998). The SIS produces a two image lens configuration, with an angular separation between the two images of $`2\mathrm{\Theta }_E`$. If the angular distance between the brighter (fainter) image and the core of the potential is denoted by $`AG`$ ($`BG`$), then the ratio of image distances $`AG/BG`$ is the same as the lensing-induced flux ratio of the two images. We further take the $`B`$-band luminosity of galaxies to be related to their line-of-sight velocity dispersions according to a Faber-Jackson (1976) relationship of the form $`L/L_{}=(\sigma /\sigma _{})^\gamma `$. Following Keeton et al. (1998), we adopt parameters of $`\sigma _{}`$ = 220 (144) km/s and $`\gamma `$ = 4 (2.6) for early-type ellipticals (late-type spirals), where $`L_{}`$ corresponds to a $`B`$-band magnitude of $`M_B^{}=19.7+5\mathrm{log}h`$.

For a given lensing redshift $`z_l`$, one can use the observed image separation to estimate the velocity dispersion and luminosity of the lensing galaxy. Figure 4 shows the predicted luminosity of the lensing galaxy as a function of redshift for both an early-type elliptical and a late-type spiral. At the redshift of the metal-line absorber (indicated by the dashed vertical line in Figure 4), the predicted luminosities for both galaxy types are comparable to an $`L_{}`$ galaxy; $`0.3L_{}`$ for the elliptical, and $`1.3L_{}`$ for the spiral, with a corresponding dark matter velocity dispersion of $`160`$ km/s for both galaxy types. The observed image separation can therefore be reproduced by a slightly overluminous spiral or underluminous elliptical (with respect to an $`L_{}`$ galaxy) at the absorber redshift. We also use the techniques of Kochanek (1992) to estimate the lens redshift probability distribution for the system. Using a critical lens radius of $`r=0\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}33`$ for FBQ 1633+3134, we compute a median redshift for an elliptical (spiral) lens galaxy of $`z=0.72`$ ($`0.59`$), with a $`2\sigma `$ redshift interval of $`0.21z1.15`$ ($`0.17z1.04`$). The detected metal-line absorption at $`z_{abs}=0.684`$ lies within $`1\sigma `$ of the median lensing redshift for either type of galaxy.

Although the redshift and predicted velocity dispersion of any intervening galaxy are consistent with gravitational lensing, the predicted luminosity of the lens is difficult to reconcile with the detection limits presented in §2. Using spectral energy distributions for early- and late-type galaxies, we predict the apparent magnitude of the lensing galaxy as a function of the lensing redshift $`z_l`$. To calculate broadband apparent magnitudes, we adopt SEDs from Lilly (1997, private communication), which consist of interpolated and extrapolated curves from Coleman, Wu, and Weedman (1980). No evolution correction was applied to the energy distributions. The SEDs were normalized to their Faber-Jackson $`B`$-band luminosities at $`4400(1+z_l)`$ Å, which yields the predicted absolute magnitudes on the $`AB`$ magnitude system. The corresponding apparent magnitudes are then computed using the cosmological distance modulus relation

$$m_{AB}(\lambda _{obs})M_{AB}(\lambda _{rest})=5\mathrm{log}(\frac{D_L}{10\text{pc}})+7.5\mathrm{log}(1+z_l),$$
(1)
where $`D_L`$ is the angular diameter distance to the lensing galaxy. The apparent $`AB`$ magnitudes are finally transformed onto the standard $`BVRI`$ system by subtracting $`0.110,0.011,0.199,`$ and $`0.456`$, respectively (Fukugita, Shimasaku, & Ichikawa 1995). The resulting magnitudes are accurate to within $`\pm `$ 1 magnitude.

Figure 5 presents our $`I`$-band magnitude predictions for both an early-type elliptical and late-type spiral galaxy as a function of lensing redshift. The predicted apparent magnitudes initially become fainter with increasing redshift, but eventually increase to brighter magnitudes as the lens redshift approaches the source redshift. This increase is because the velocity dispersion required to produce a fixed image separation increases without bound as the lens approaches the source, leading to a corresponding increase in the lens luminosity. For FBQ 1633+3134, the $`I`$-band detection limit of $`I=23`$ from §2 roughly corresponds to the faintest predicted magnitude for an early-type elliptical, but $`1.5`$ magnitudes fainter than the faintest prediction for a late-type spiral. At the absorber redshift of $`z_{abs}=0.684`$, the predicted magnitudes lie above the detection limit by $`0.5`$ ($`2.0`$) magnitudes for an elliptical (spiral) galaxy. While an early-type elliptical lensing galaxy could conceivable escape our $`I`$-band detection limit, a late-type spiral should have been bright enough to detect in our optical imaging.

## 6 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

From an observational standpoint, the requirements for a double quasar to be confidently classified as a gravitational lens can be stated as follows: First, since gravitational lensing is achromatic, the optical flux ratio of the components should (ideally) be self-consistent across broadband filters. In practice, the ratios will not agree exactly due to differential reddening through the lens galaxy (McLeod et al. 1998) and microlensing by stars in the lens galaxy (Wisotzki et al. 1993). More importantly, the radio flux ratio, if available, must also agree with the optical ratio, again because of the achromatic nature of lensing. Second, spectral observations of the quasar pair must support the conclusion that both objects are identical redshift quasars with similar (although not necessarily identical; Wisotzki et al. 1993) emission and continuum properties. Third, the lensing galaxy itself must be detected, ideally by direct imaging, although weaker arguments based on the presence of intervening absorption features in the QSO spectrum have been used in the past (e.g., Hewett et al. 1994). In practice, the first two requirements are necessary for a lens classification, while the third (direct imaging of the lensing galaxy) is usually sufficient.

FBQ 1633+3134 meets the necessary requirements for a gravitational lens. The broadband flux ratio ($`2.5:1`$ in $`B`$, $`3.3:1`$ in $`VR`$, & $`I`$) is self-consistent across broadband wavelengths. Although only one component was detected in radio, the lower limit to the radio flux ratio of $`3:1`$ is not in severe conflict with the corresponding optical flux ratio. Also, the spectral analysis argues against either component of the pair being a Galactic star, and the unresolved emission profiles from the pair are consistent with two identical-redshift quasars.

The sufficient condition that could elevate FBQ 1633+3134 to the status of a lensed quasar, direct detection of the lensing galaxy, is not realized with our optical imaging. Subtraction of two PSFs for the WIYN data presented in §2 show no significant indication of unaccounted flux in the system, and place a magnitude limit of $`I>23.0`$ using a simple SIS model for the lensing potential. Although the hypothesized lens galaxy is not detected directly, a weaker argument for its presence can be made from the spectral identification of a rich $`z_{abs}=0.684`$ metal-line absorption system, which is within $`1\sigma `$ of the median lensing redshift. Also, the estimated luminosity of the suspected galaxy does not differ strongly from an $`L_{}`$ galaxy for either of the galaxy types considered here. On the other hand, the predicted apparent magnitude of a late-type spiral at the absorber redshift is $`2`$ magnitudes above the $`I`$-band detection threshold, while an early-type galaxy is only marginally consistent with the detection limit.

We conclude that FBQ 1633+3134 is a strong candidate for a close separation (0$`\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}`$66) gravitational lens. The evidence presented here suggests lensing by a relatively faint ($`I>23.0`$), $`z=0.684`$ metal-rich galaxy, although the binary quasar scenario cannot be positively ruled out. Confirmation of the lensing hypothesis can be provided by a deeper radio probe for the fainter component of the system. We have obtained VLA A array time for late 2000 with this aim in mind, and intend to present these results, along with a systematic analysis of the HST data for this system, in a future paper.

The authors would like to thank Charles Bailyn for obtaining the WIYN optical data of FBQ 1633+3134, and Brian Skiff for noticing a V band calibration error in an earlier version of this paper. N.D.M. and P.L.S. gratefully acknowledge the support of the U.S. National Science Foundation through grant AST96-16866. Some of the data presented here were obtained at the W.M. Keck Observatory, which is operated as a scientific partnership among the California Institute of Technology, the University of California and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The Keck Observatory was made possible by the generous financial support of the W.M. Keck Foundation. The FIRST Survey is supported by grants from the National Science Foundation (grant AST98-02791), NATO, the National Geographic Society, Sun Microsystems, and Columbia University. Part of the work reported here was done at the Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics, under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory under contract No. W-7405-Eng-48.


format: text

text:
# Hidden Star Formation: The Ultraviolet Perspective

## 1. Why observe star forming galaxies in the ultraviolet?

About 60% of the intrinsic bolometric luminosity of star forming populations is emitted between 912Å and 3000Å with little variation in this fraction with star formation duration (from models of Leitherer et al. 1999). Hence UV light is potentially very useful for measuring star formation. It represents direct emission from hot main-sequence stars, the same stars that will provide the majority of the mechanical energy feedback into the ISM. The UV spectrum is very rich in features that can be used to diagnose the stellar populations and intervening ISM. The overall intrinsic spectral slope in the UV is fairly constant. For young ionizing populations it is set by the Rayleigh-Jeans tail of the Planck function. When looking at high redshifts the importance of the rest-frame UV increases; at a fixed bandpass it is the last stop before the Lyman-edge.

The big problem with using UV measurements is dust, which most efficiently absorbs and scatters UV radiation. The absorbed UV light is reradiated at far infrared (FIR) wavelengths. Not only is the amount of dust important, so to is its distribution. If the geometry is unfavorable, as in the mixed stars and dust model, then the UV emission will be dominated by the stars closest to the observer and the center may be practically invisible (e.g. Witt, Thronson, & Capuano 1992). Fortunately, this is not the case for a wide range of starburst galaxies as shown in Fig. 1. For them the FIR to UV flux ratio, or infrared excess (IRX), which gives the effective dust absorption, correlates with the UV spectral slope $`\beta `$ (Meurer et al. 1995, 1999). This is a prediction of the dust screen model (Witt et al.). While variations on this geometry can also explain this correlation (Calzetti 1997; Charlot & Fall 2000), the mere fact of this correlation allows one to recover the intrinsic luminosity of starbursts using UV quantities alone.

## 2. Applying IRX-$`\beta `$ to the high-redshift universe

Lyman Break Galaxies (LBGs) at $`z3`$ are similar to local starbursts. In particular they have similar SEDs (Dickinson 2000), spectral properties (Tremonti et al. 2000), ISM dynamics (e.g. Pettini et al. 1999), and surface brightnesses (Meurer et al. 1997). They are also noticeably redder than dust-free starbursts. Meurer et al. (1999) used the rest frame colors of LBGs and the IRX-$`\beta `$ correlation to estimate that the Hubble Deep Field LBG sample suffers from a factor of about five in dust absorption at rest $`\lambda _01600`$Å. It is hard to test whether the IRX-$`\beta `$ correlation actually holds for LBGs because predicted FIR fluxes are typically just below current detection limits with instruments such as SCUBA. Other data show that what little we know about the LBGs is consistent with them obeying the same reddening law as local starbursts. For instance, we assumed that the FIR-radio correlation holds, and took the LBGs with the top ten predicted FIR emission and predicted summed radio fluxes of 27 $`\pm 5\mu `$Jy, and 105 $`\pm 24\mu `$Jy (assuming a 0.3 dex uncertainty on each flux) at observed frame wavelengths 3.5cm and 20cm, while the Richards (2000) data yield measured summed fluxes of 28 $`\pm 10\mu `$Jy, and 100 $`\pm 33\mu `$Jy respectively. Adopting IRX-$`\beta `$, Adelberger & Steidel (2000) show that the UV detectable galaxies at $`z=1,2`$ and 3 can account for most or all of the FIR background at 850 $`\mu `$m.

This rosy view of the utility of UV astronomy flies in the face of what we have learned over the last few decades: that dust enshrouded star formation is best seen in the infrared. Would not dust obstruct our view of star formation, even at high-$`z`$? The bright SCUBA sources, in particular, are inferred to have $`z13`$, usually have little or no rest-frame UV emission and probably have an equal contribution to the star formation rate density as non-dust corrected LBGs (Barger, Cowie, & Richards 2000). They have $`L_{\mathrm{bol}}>10^{12}L_{}`$, so the best local analog to them are thought to be the Ultra-Luminous Infrared Galaxies (ULIGs). Relatively little was known about the UV properties of ULIGs, until Trentham, Kormendy & Sanders (1999) presented weak UV detections of three ULIGs with HST’s Faint Object Camera and Surace & Sanders (2000) showed that they are detectable from the ground in the $`U^{}`$ band.

## 3. STIS UV Images of ULIGs

We have been granted HST time to image seven galaxies in the UV using the STIS (Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph) MAMAs which have much higher sensitivity than the FOC. Our sample was chosen to have $`\mathrm{log}(L_{\mathrm{bol}}/L_{})11.6`$, starting in $`L_{\mathrm{bol}}`$ where the IUE sample ends. So far six galaxies have been observed, five of these are ULIGs. We detect all of these in both the far UV (FUV; $`\lambda _c1460`$Å) and near UV (NUV; $`\lambda _c2350`$Å). In both bands, UV emission can be detected projected to within 1 Kpc of the infrared nuclei seen by NICMOS (Scoville et al. 2000). However, especially in the FUV, very little, if any UV emission is detected within the inner few hundred parsecs where most of the bolometric luminosity probably originates.

Figure 2 shows the IRX-$`\beta `$ diagram for our sample compared to the IUE starbursts. Typically only 0.5% of the bolometric luminosity is observed in the FUV. Furthermore, the IRX-$`\beta `$ correlation under-predicts the FIR emission of ULIGs by factors ranging from 7 to 70. The FIR flux is still under-predicted if only the light within 1 Kpc of the IR nucleus is considered. In these galaxies IRX-$`\beta `$ only gives a lower limit to the FIR flux. These results confirm that ULIGs represent galaxies with star formation almost totally hidden from the UV.

## 4. High-$`z`$ Implications

Our work shows that we must still be cautious with rest-frame UV observations of galaxies: they may harbor hidden-star formation beyond that predicted with the IRX-$`\beta `$ correlation. However, not all galaxies are as extreme as ULIGs. At high-$`z`$, the most luminous LBGs can not generally have IRX values like ULIGs or else more would be detected at 850$`\mu `$m with SCUBA (multiply predictions in Table 4 of Meurer et al. 1999 by 7 – 70). Could ULIGs be selected as LBGs? At $`z=3`$ ULIGs would have an observed frame $`VI0.5`$ ABmag. Presumably they would have very red $`UB`$ colors resulting from the strong opacity of the Lyman forest and edge. Therefore, they should have the right colors to be selected as LBGs. However at this redshift they would be very faint, having $`V27`$ to 30 ABmag, at or beyond the limits of many current surveys such as the Hubble Deep Fields. So ULIGs still make good analogs to SCUBA sources, but probably only contribute to the faint end of the LBG population.

ULIGs have also been touted as good local prototypes for Extremely Red Objects (EROs). Using our photometry and published results we find that ULIGs emit enough rest-frame UV emission, that at $`z=1.8`$ or 3.5 in the observed frame they would have $`2.3RK5.6`$ ABmag. This is bluer than $`RK<6`$, the definition of EROs (Graham & Dey 1996). Since our sample is small, and some approach this limit perhaps some more extreme ULIGs may be recognized as EROs at high-$`z`$, but in general they would be too blue.

## References

Adelberger, K.L., & Steidel, C.C. 2000, ApJ, in press (astro-ph/0001126)

Barger, A.J., Cowie, L.L., & Richards, E.A., 2000, AJ, 119, 2092

Calzetti, D. 1997, AJ, 113, 162

Charlot, S., & Fall, S.M. 2000, ApJ, 539, 718

Dickinson, M. 2000, Phil. Trans. Royal Soc., in press (astro-ph/0004028)

Graham, J.R., & Dey, A. 1996, ApJ, 471, 720

Leitherer, C., Schaerer, D., Goldader, J.D., Gonzalez Delgado, R.M., Robert, C., Kune, D.F., de Mello, D.F., Devost, D., & Heckman, T.M. 1999, ApJS, 123, 3

Meurer, G.R., Heckman, T.M., Leitherer, C., Kinney, A., Robert, C., & Garnett D.R. 1995, AJ, 110, 2665

Meurer, G.R., Heckman, T.M., Lehnert, M.D., Leitherer, C., & Lowenthal, J. 1997, AJ, 114, 54

Meurer, G.R., Heckman, T.M., & Calzetti, D. 1999, ApJ, 521, 64

Pettini, M., Kellogg, M., Steidel, C.C., Dickinson, M., Adelberger, K.L., & Giavalisco, M. 1998, ApJ, 508, 539

Richards, E.A. 2000, ApJ, 533, 611

Scoville, N.Z., Evans, A.S., Thompson, R., Rieke, M., Hines, D.C., Low, F.J., Dinshaw, N., Surace, J.A., & Armus, L. 2000, AJ, 119, 991

Surace, J.A., & Sanders, D.B. 2000, AJ, 120, 604

Tremonti, C.A., Calzetti, D., Leitherer, C., & Heckman, T.M. 2000, ApJ, submitted

Trentham, N., Kormendy, J., & Sanders, D.B. 1999, AJ, 117, 2152

Witt, A.N., Thronson, H.A., & Capuano J.M. 1992, ApJ, 393, 611


text:
# Probing the nuclear equation of state by 𝐾⁺ production in heavy ion collisions

\[\]

## Abstract

The dependence of $`K^+`$ production on the nuclear equation of state is investigated in heavy ion collisions. An increase of the excitation function of $`K^+`$ multiplicities obtained in heavy ($`Au+Au`$) over light ($`C+C`$) systems when going far below threshold which has been observed by the KaoS Collaboration strongly favours a soft equation of state. This observation holds despite of the influence of an in-medium kaon potential predicted by effective chiral models which is necessary to reproduce the experimental $`K^+`$ yields.

From the very beginning kaons have been considered as one of the best probes to study dense and hot nuclear matter formed in relativistic heavy ion collisions . In particular at incident energies below the corresponding production thresholds in free space $`K^+`$ mesons are created in the early and high density phase of such reactions and – due to strangeness conservation – are not reabsorbed by the nuclear environment. Furthermore, there exist strong evidences that kaons change their properties inside the nuclear medium as predicted by effective chiral models . The investigation of a partial restoration of chiral symmetry in dense matter probed by $`K`$ mesons has strongly stimulated both experimental and theoretical efforts in the recent years .

The original motivation to study the kaon production in heavy ion reactions at intermediate energies, namely to extract information on the nuclear equation of state (EOS) at high densities is a matter of current debate. Already in the first theoretical investigations by transport models it was noticed that the $`K^+`$ yield reacts sensitive on the nuclear equation of state , i.e. it was found to be about a factor 2–3 larger when a soft EOS was applied compared to a hard EOS. At that time the available data  already favoured a soft equation of state. However, calculations as well as the experimental data were still burdened with large uncertainties. It was further noticed  that the influence of the repulsive momentum dependent part of the nuclear interaction leads to a strong suppression of the kaon abundances. An underprediction of $`K^+`$ yields using more realistic momentum dependent forces was due to the fact that the production mechanism is twofold: baryon induced processes $`BBBYK^+`$ where the kaon is created via binary baryon–baryon collisions ($`B`$ stands either for a nucleon or a $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$–resonance and $`Y`$ for a $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ or a $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ hyperon, respectively) and processes $`\pi BYK^+`$ induced by pion absorption. In the early studies on subthreshold $`K^+`$ production only the baryon induced channels have been considered . As shown in  the pionic channel plays an important role, particular in heavy systems. Taking this fact into account the kaon yield could be explained adopting realistic momentum dependent nuclear interactions . However, the dependence of the kaon production on the nuclear EOS turned now out to be too small for definite conclusions.

The aim of the present work is to study the question if in the meantime decisive information on the nuclear EOS can be extracted from subthreshold kaon production in heavy ion collisions. There are several reasons why it appears worthwhile to do this: Firstly, there has been significant progress in the recent years towards a more precise determination of the elementary kaon production cross sections , based also on new data points form the COSY-11 for the reactions $`pppK^+X`$ very close to threshold . Secondly, the KaoS Collaboration has performed systematic measurements of the $`K^+`$ production far below threshold in heavy ($`Au+Au`$) and light ($`C+C`$) systems . Looking at the ratios built from heavy and light systems possible uncertainties which might still exist in the theoretical calculations should cancel out to a large extent which allows to draw reliable conclusions. Furthermore, far below threshold the kaon production is a highly collective process and a particular sensitivity to the compression of the participant matter is expected.

The present investigations are based on the Quantum Molecular Dynamics (QMD) transport model . For the nuclear EOS we adopt soft and hard Skyrme forces corresponding to a compression modulus of K=200 MeV and 380 MeV, respectively, and with a momentum dependence adjusted to the empirical optical nucleon-nucleus potential . The saturation point of nuclear matter is thereby fixed at $`E_B=16`$ MeV and $`\rho _{\mathrm{sat}}=0.17\mathrm{fm}^3`$ . The calculations include $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$ and $`N^{}(1440)`$ resonances with . The QMD approach with Skyrme interactions is well tested, contains a controlled momentum dependence and provides a reliable description of the reaction dynamics in the SIS energy range, expressed e.g. by collective nucleon flow observables as well as particle production. Also the EOS predicted by microscopic approaches (G-matrix)  is similar to the soft version of the Skyrme interaction for densities up to $`2\rho _{\mathrm{sat}}`$.

We further consider the influence of an in-medium kaon potential based on effective chiral models . The $`K^+`$ mean field consists of a repulsive vector part $`V_\mu =3/8f_\pi ^2j_\mu `$ and an attractive scalar part $`\mathrm{\Sigma }_S=m_\mathrm{K}m_\mathrm{K}^{}=m_\mathrm{K}\sqrt{m_\mathrm{K}^2\frac{\mathrm{\Sigma }_{\mathrm{KN}}}{f_\pi ^2}\rho _\mathrm{s}+V_\mu V^\mu }`$. Here $`j_\mu `$ is the baryon vector current and $`\rho _\mathrm{s}`$ the scalar baryon density and $`\mathrm{\Sigma }_{\mathrm{KN}}=450`$ MeV. Following  in the vector field the pion decay constant in the medium $`f_\pi ^2=0.6f_\pi ^2`$ is used. However, the enhancement of the scalar part using $`f_\pi ^2`$ is compensated by higher order contributions in the chiral expansion , and therefore here the bare value is used, i.e. $`\mathrm{\Sigma }_{\mathrm{KN}}\rho _\mathrm{s}/f_\pi ^2`$. Compared to other chiral approaches  the resulting kaon dispersion relation shows a relatively strong density dependence. The increase of the in-medium $`K^+`$ mass $`\stackrel{~}{m}_\mathrm{K}`$, Eq. (2), with this parameterisation is still consistent with the empirical knowledge of kaon-nucleus scattering and allows to explore in-medium effects on the production mechanism arising from zero temperature kaon potentials. For the kaon production via pion absorption $`\pi BYK^+`$ the elementary cross section of  are used. For the $`NNBYK^+`$ channels we apply the cross sections of Ref.  which give a good fit to the COSY-data close to threshold. For the case of $`N\mathrm{\Delta }BYK^+`$ and $`\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{\Delta }BYK^+`$ reactions experimental are rare. Thus we rely on the model calculation of ref. . In the case that a $`N^{}`$ resonance is involved in the reaction we used the same cross section as for nucleons. In the presence of scalar and vector fields the kaon optical potential in nuclear matter has the same structure as the corresponding Schroedinger equivalent optical potential for nucleons

$$U_{\mathrm{opt}}(\rho ,𝐤)=\mathrm{\Sigma }_S+\frac{1}{m_\mathrm{K}}k_\mu V^\mu +\frac{\mathrm{\Sigma }_S^2V_\mu ^2}{2m_\mathrm{K}}.$$
(1)
and leads to a shift of the thresholds conditions inside the medium. To fulfil energy-momentum conservation the optical potential is absorbed into an newly defined effective mass

$$\stackrel{~}{m}_\mathrm{K}(\rho ,𝐤)=\sqrt{m_\mathrm{K}^2+2m_\mathrm{K}U_{\mathrm{opt}}(\rho ,𝐤)}$$
(2)
which is a Lorentz scalar and sets the canonical momenta on the mass-shell $`0=k_\mu ^2\stackrel{~}{m}_\mathrm{K}^2`$. Thus, e.g., the threshold condition for $`K^+`$ production in baryon induced reactions reads $`\sqrt{s}\stackrel{~}{m}_B+\stackrel{~}{m}_Y+\stackrel{~}{m}_K`$ with $`\sqrt{s}`$ the centre–of–mass energy of the colliding baryons. For a consistent treatment of the thresholds the scalar and vector baryon mean fields entering into eq. (2) are determined from two versions of the non-linear Walecka model with K=200/380 MeV, respectively . The hyperon field is thereby scaled by 2/3 which yields also a good description of the $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ flow . Since the parameterisations chosen for the non-linear Walecka model yield the same EOS as the Skyrme ones, the overall energy is conserved. The kaon production is treated perturbatively and does generally not affect the reaction dynamics .

In Fig. 1 the $`K^+`$ excitation function for $`Au+Au`$ and $`C+C`$ reactions starting from 0.8 A$``$GeV which is far below threshold ($`E_{thr}=`$ 1.58 GeV) are shown. The calculations are performed for a soft/hard EOS including the in-medium kaon potential. For both systems the agreement with the KaoS data  is very good when a soft EOS is used. In the large system there is a visible EOS effect which is absent in the light system. To estimate the influence of the in-medium kaon potential for $`C+C`$ also calculations without potential are shown. Already in the light system the $`K^+`$ yield is reduced by about $`50\%`$ by the influence of the potential which is essential to reproduce the data .

To extract more clear information on the nuclear EOS next we consider the ratio $`R`$ of the kaon multiplicities obtained in $`Au+Au`$ over $`C+C`$ reactions, normalised to the corresponding mass numbers. In Fig. 2 central (b=0 fm) collisions are analysed. Going far below threshold $`R`$ strongly increases when a soft EOS is applied whereas the increase of $`R`$ is much less pronounced using the stiff EOS and $`R`$ even slightly drops at the lowest energy.

Hence, this ratio reflects the higher compression achieved in the heavy system. The $`C+C`$ system, on the other hand, is too small to develop a significantly larger compression in the case of a soft EOS compared to the hard EOS. Moreover, in the latter case the slightly more energetic binary collisions lead even to a higher $`K^+`$ yield in the case of a hard EOS at 0.8 A$``$GeV. Remarkably, this behaviour is seen despite of the presence of an in-medium kaon potential which acts opposite to the EOS effect: a higher compression increases the kaon yield but also the value of the in-medium kaon mass which, on the other hand, tends to lower the yield again. However, the increase of the in-medium mass goes linear with density whereas the collision rate per volume increases approximately with $`\rho ^2`$. E.g. in central $`Au+Au`$ reactions at 0.8 A$``$GeV the average density $`<\rho >`$ at kaon production is enhanced from 1.47 to 1.57 $`\rho _{\mathrm{sat}}`$ switching from the hard to the soft EOS. This leads to an average shift of the in-medium mass (2) compared to the vacuum value of 55/61 MeV using the hard/soft EOS, i.e. a relative shift of 6 MeV between soft and hard. However, collective effects like the accumulation of energy by multiple scattering show a higher sensitivity on the compression resulting in an enhancement of the available energy $`<\sqrt{s}>=90`$ MeV applying the soft EOS. For $`C+C`$ this effect is reverse ($`<\sqrt{s}>=45`$ MeV) since the system is too small to develop a significant difference in compression and more repulsive collisions enhance the $`K^+`$ yield at low energies. This effect disappears above 1.0 A$``$GeV. There exists thus a visuable EOS dependence of the kaon multiplicities.

To obtain a quantitative picture of the explored density effects in Fig. 3 the baryon densities are shown at which the kaons are created. The energy is chosen most below threshold, i.e. at 0.8 A$``$GeV and only central collisions are considered where the effects are maximal. $`dM_{K^+}/d\rho `$ is defined as

$$dM_{K^+}/d\rho =\underset{i}{\overset{N_{K^+}}{}}\frac{dP_i}{d\rho _B(𝐱_i,t_i)}$$
(3)
where $`\rho _B`$ is the baryon density at which the kaon $`i`$ was created and $`P_i`$ is the corresponding production probability. For the comparison of the two systems the curves are normalised to the corresponding mass numbers. Fig.3 illustrates several features: Only in the case of a soft EOS the mean densities at which kaons are created differ significantly for the two different reaction systems, i.e. $`<\rho /\rho _{\mathrm{sat}}>`$=1.46/1.40 ($`C+C`$) and 1.47/1.57 ($`Au+Au`$) using the hard/soft EOS. Generally, in $`C+C`$ densities above $`2\rho _{\mathrm{sat}}`$ are rarely reached whereas in $`Au+Au`$ the kaons are created at densities up to three times saturation density. Furthermore, for $`C+C`$ the density distributions are weakly dependent on the nuclear EOS. The situation changes completely in $`Au+Au`$. Here the densities profile shows a pronounced EOS dependence . Moreover, the excess of kaons obtained with the soft EOS originates almost exclusively from high density matter which demonstrates that compression effects are probed.

The comparison to the KaoS data  is finally made in Fig. 4. Here only calculations including the kaon potential are shown since it is already clear from Fig. 1 that without the potential one is not able to reproduce the experimental yields. The calculations are performed under minimal bias conditions with $`b_{\mathrm{max}}=11`$ fm for $`Au+Au`$ and $`b_{\mathrm{max}}=5`$ fm for $`C+C`$ and normalised to the experimental reaction cross sections . Both calculations show an increase of $`R`$ with decreasing incident energy down to 1.0 A$``$GeV. As already seen for the central collisions this increase is much less pronounced using the stiff EOS. In the latter case $`R`$ even drops for 0.8 A$``$GeV whereas the soft EOS leads to an unrelieved increase of $`R`$. At 1.5 A$``$GeV which is already very close to threshold the differences between the two models tend to disappear. The overall behaviour of $`R`$ is found to be quite independent of the various production channels with initial states $`i=NN,\pi N,N\mathrm{\Delta },\pi \mathrm{\Delta },\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{\Delta }`$. Ratios $`R_i`$ built separately for the individual channels show in both cases (soft or hard) a similar energy dependence as the total $`R`$ (except of $`R_{\pi \mathrm{\Delta }}`$ which tends to remain large also at high energies). The transport calculations further demonstrate that the increase of $`R`$ is not is not caused by a trivial, i.e. EOS independent limitation of phase space at low energy in the small system. This is supported by the fact that the number of collisions which the involved particles encountered prior to the production of a kaon and which is a measure of the collectivity provided by the system does not reach a sharp limit for $`C+C`$ at low energies. The strong increase of $`R`$ can be directly related to higher compressible nuclear matter. The comparison to the experimental data from KaoS  where the increase of $`R`$ is even more pronounced strongly favours a soft equation of state.

To summarise, we find that at incident energies far below the free threshold $`K^+`$ production is a suitable tool to study the dependence on the nuclear equation of state. Using a light system as reference frame there is a visible sensitivity on the EOS when ratios of heavy ($`Au+Au`$) over light ($`C+C`$) systems are considered. Transport calculations indicate that the $`K^+`$ production gets hardly affected by compressional effects in $`C+C`$ but is highly sensitive to the high density matter ($`1\rho /\rho _{\mathrm{sat}}3`$) created in $`Au+Au`$ reactions. Results for the $`K^+`$ excitation function in $`Au+Au`$ over $`C+C`$ reactions as measured by the KaoS Collaboration, strongly support the scenario with a soft EOS. This statement is also valid when an enhancement of the in-medium kaon mass as predicted by chiral models is taken into account.

The authors would like to acknowledge valuable discussions with J. Aichelin, H. Oeschler, P. Senger and C. Sturm. This work was supported in part by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) under grant 446 CHV-113/91/1, and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) under grant no 19775068 and 19975074.