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# New Observations of Extra-Disk Molecular Gas in Interacting Galaxy Systems, Including a Two-Component System in Stephan’s Quintet

## 1 Introduction

Large amounts of interstellar gas can be removed from the main disks of spiral galaxies by four main processes: tides due to the gravitational force of a companion, ram pressure stripping during a near-head-on collision between gas-rich galaxies, ram pressure stripping by intracluster gas, and galactic winds driven by supernovae. By ejecting processed gas into intergalactic space, these mechanisms contribute to the metal-enrichment of the intergalactic medium. In many cases, which of these four processes is active in a given galaxy system can be determined from the optical, radio, and/or X-ray morphology. The signature of a tidal encounter between two galaxies is the presence of long stellar and/or HI tails and bridges (e.g., Toomre $`\&`$ Toomre 1972), while head-on collisions between gas-rich galaxies can produce ring galaxies (e.g., Lynds $`\&`$ Toomre 1976; Theys $`\&`$ Spiegel 1977) as well as gaseous bridges between the galaxies (Struck 1997). Ram pressure stripping by intracluster gas leads to an HI deficiency (e.g., Giovanelli $`\&`$ Haynes 1983), truncation of the outer HI disk of a galaxy (Cayette et al. 1990), and in some cases, bending of the HI disk (Kenney $`\&`$ Koopmann 1999), but not usually removal of large quantities of molecular gas (Kenney $`\&`$ Young 1989). Galactic winds are identified by extended extra-disk ionized gas without stellar counterparts (e.g., Rand, Kulkarni, $`\&`$ Hester 1990).

Star formation sometimes occurs in gas clouds far removed from the main disks of galaxies. Of the four processes that can remove gas from disks, the best-known to trigger the formation of young stars in the stripped gas is tidal forces: numerous examples of luminous H II regions in tidal features have been found (e.g., Schweizer 1978; Mirabel et al. 1991, 1992). Young stars have also been found in extra-disk gas clouds thought to have been stripped during head-on collisions (Smith et al. 1999) and interstellar-intracluster encounters (Xu et al. 1999).

In order to better understand the processes that lead to the removal of gas from galaxies and the triggering of star formation in this gas, it is important to make a complete inventory of the gas in these features. This means not just the atomic gas, which has been surveyed in a large number of extragalactic tails and bridges (e.g., Haynes et al. 1984; Smith 1991; Hibbard $`\&`$ van Gorkom 1996), but also the molecular gas. Molecular gas has proved elusive in classical tidal tails; in our earlier CO survey of six tidal tails (Smith $`\&`$ Higdon 1994), no CO was found to very low levels, while only very low mass concentrations of molecular gas ($``$107 M) were found in the tidal features of the nearby interacting system M81/M82/NGC 3077 (Brouillet, Henkel, $`\&`$ Baudry 1992; Walter $`\&`$ Heithausen 1999).

In contrast to tidal features, gas removed from galaxy disks by ram pressure during head-on collisions between two gas-rich galaxies may be richer in CO. The proto-type of this class of object is the CO-rich gas concentration found outside the disk of the Virgo Cluster galaxy NGC 4438 by Combes et al. (1988). If the standard Galactic N$`_{H_2}`$/ICO ratio holds in this feature, it contains M$`_{H_2}`$ $``$ 109 M. The ring-like morphology of NGC 4438 and the proximity of the companion galaxy NGC 4435 suggests that this clump was removed during a head-on collision between the two galaxies (Kenney et al. 1995). Another apparent example of gas ram pressure-stripped during a galaxy-galaxy collision is the eastern tail of the peculiar galaxy NGC 2782. This feature has strong CO emission, corresponding to 6 $`\times `$ 108 M$`_{_{}}`$, assuming the Galactic N$`_{H_2}`$/ICO conversion factor (Smith et al. 1999). Based on morphological considerations, we surmised that this feature was created during a near head-on collision between two galaxies, rather than a grazing encounter (Smith 1994).

These results suggest that features produced in head-on collisions may differ in a fundamental way from classical tidal tails and bridges formed during grazing encounters: they may be richer in CO. During a head-on collision, the material pulled out into a tail or bridge may originate in the inner disk of one of the galaxies, and so may be more metal-rich than gas pulled out from the outer disk in a more distant encounter. The metallicity of the gas may affect the N$`_{H_2}`$/ICO ratio, and therefore the detectability of the CO line. Both theoretical (e.g., Maloney $`\&`$ Black 1988) and observational (e.g., Wilson 1995; Verter $`\&`$ Hodge 1995; Arimoto, Sofue, $`\&`$ Tsujimoto 1996) studies show that low metallicities can lead to enhanced N$`_{H_2}`$/ICO ratios compared to the Galactic value. In gas with low abundances and dust content, ultraviolet radiation penetrates more deeply into a molecular cloud, causing a larger C+ region relative to the CO core, increasing the N$`_{H_2}`$/ICO ratio.

The conclusion that tidal gas differs from ram pressure stripped gas is quite uncertain, in part because of the very small sample size. We have therefore continued our CO survey of extragalactic tails and bridges, selecting systems with high HI column densities, strong star formation rates, and/or ring-like morphologies. In this paper, we present new CO data for tails and bridges in nine additional interacting galaxy systems. We compare these data with the previous results discussed above, as well as the new CO data discussed in Smith (2000), Braine et al. (2000), and Gao et al. (2000).

Throughout this paper, we assume Ho = 75 km s-1 Mpc-1.

## 2 Observations

The CO (1 $``$ 0) observations were made using the 3mm SIS receiver on the National Radio Astronomy Observatory111The National Radio Astronomy Observatory is a facility of the National Science Foundation, operated under cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc. (NRAO) 12m telescope during several observing runs between 1996 and 2000. Two 256$`\times `$2 MHz filterbanks, one for each polarization, were used for the observations, providing a total bandpass of 1300 km s-1 with a spectral resolution of 5.2 km s-1. A nutating subreflector with an azimuthal beam throw of 3 was used, taking care to avoid chopping on other galaxies, tails, or bridges in the system. Each scan was 6 minutes long. The beamsize FWHM is 55′′ at 115 GHz. The pointing was checked periodically with bright continuum sources and was consistent to 10′′. The system temperatures ranged from 200 to 500 K. Calibration was accomplished using an ambient chopper wheel.

A total of 45 positions in nine interacting systems were observed. These nine systems are listed in Table 1, along with a brief description of their optical morphologies. In Figure 1, we display optical images of these systems, obtained from the Digitized Sky Survey222The Digitized Sky Survey was produced at the Space Telescope Science Institute under U.S. Government grant NAG W-2166. These images are digitized versions of photographic plates from the Second Palomar Observatory Sky Survey (POSS-II) made by the California Institute of Technology with funds from the National Science Foundation, the National Geographic Society, the Sloan Foundation, the Samuel Oshin Foundation, and the Eastman Kodak Corporation.  (DSS). Table 2 lists the observed positions in the galaxies and tails/bridges; these positions and the CO FWHM beamwidth are marked in Figure 1. Fourteen of the observed positions were in tails or bridges; the rest were in the main disks of the galaxies. A total of eleven tails and bridges were observed. In three systems (Arp 144, NGC 2814/20, and NGC 3628), we observed multiple positions in a single tail or bridge.

Table 2 also lists the central velocities of the observed bandpasses. Note that I Zw 192, NGC 3561B, and position A in Stephan’s Quintet were all observed twice, with two different central velocities, to increase the observed bandpass; these two sets of data were combined.

The results of the CO observations are given in Table 3: the line fluxes, velocities, widths, and rms noise levels. The summed spectra for each observed position are displayed in Figure 2. Note that the center of NGC 7828 and one of the tail positions in this system were previously observed by Smith $`\&`$ Higdon (1994); the new and old data have been combined.

## 3 Results

Out of our nine interacting systems, the only unambiguous detection of CO outside of the main disk of a galaxy is the star formation region in Stephan’s Quintet. In two of our systems (NGC 3395/6 and the Taffy Galaxies), the two galaxies in the pair are separated by only 70′′ $``$ 90′′, and the star formation regions in the bridges are unresolved from the main disks with our beamsize. Thus, although the bridge positions were detected in CO, this may be emission from the galaxy disk in the 12m beam. Higher resolution follow-up observations are needed to confirm the existence of CO in these regions.

In Table 4, we give the molecular gas mass for the galaxy disks, derived assuming the standard Galactic N$`_{H_2}`$/ICO ratio (2.8 $`\times `$ 1020 cm-2/(K km s-1); Bloemen et al. 1986) and the emission fills the beam ($`\eta `$c = 0.82). For the galaxies where more than one position in the disk was detected, the total CO flux from the galaxy was obtained assuming a Gaussian distribution. For the observed extra-disk positions in these systems, the molecular gas mass was derived under the same assumptions, and are recorded in Table 5. Although these assumptions may not hold in all cases, they provide a basis for comparison. In Table 5, we also provide the HI column densities averaged over the CO beam, along with the implied M$`_{H_2}`$/MHI ratios and the beam size $`\mathrm{\Theta }`$, in kpc.

For comparison, in Table 6, we give results for thirteen other tails, bridges, and extra-disk gas clouds previously observed in CO. This includes structures in NGC 2782 (Smith $`\&`$ Higdon 1994; Smith et al. 1999), NGC 4438 (Combes et al. 1988), NGC 4676, NGC 7252, and Arp 143 (Smith $`\&`$ Higdon 1994), Arp 245 (Braine et al. 2000), NGC 4410 (Smith 2000), NGC 3561 (Braine et al. 2000), M81 (Brouillet et al. 1992) and NGC 3077 (Walter $`\&`$ Heithausen 1999), as well as the tentative (4$`\sigma `$) detection of CO in the southern tail of NGC 4038/9 (Gao et al. 2000). Note that in this paper we present CO data for the northern tail in the NGC 3561 system, while data for the southern feature are available from Braine et al. (2000). In Tables 5 and 6, we also give the H$`\alpha `$ luminosities for these sources, when available, as well as the L/M$`_{H_2}`$ ratio.

For the sources in Tables 5 and 6 which have HI data available, in Figure 3 we plot the HI column density in the CO beam NHI against M$`_{H_2}`$/MHI. For those with H$`\alpha `$ fluxes also available, in Figure 4 we compare L/M$`_{H_2}`$ with M$`_{H_2}`$/MHI. Figures 3 and 4 show a wide range in L/M$`_{H_2}`$ and M$`_{H_2}`$/MHI ratios for the features in our sample. The most extreme cases are 1) the NGC 7714/5 bridge, with a very high HI column density but very low CO flux, 2) the eastern feature of NGC 2782, with a low L/M$`_{H_2}`$ ratio, 3) the molecular clump near NGC 4438, with a very high implied M$`_{H_2}`$/MHI ratio and a low L/M$`_{H_2}`$ value, and 4) the extra-disk star formation region in Stephan’s Quintet, with a high L/M$`_{H_2}`$ ratio.

The global ratios for spiral galaxies are typically L/M$`_{H_2}`$ $``$ 0.0025 $``$ 0.1 L/M and M$`_{H_2}`$/MHI $``$ 0.2 $``$ 6 (Young et al. 1996). The star formation region in Stephan’s Quintet, the Arp 245 feature, the NGC 4038/9 paper, and the upper limits to the NGC 4676 tail and the NGC 3561 features are consistent with these global ratios. In contrast, the features in NGC 2782 and NGC 4438 have very low L/M$`_{H_2}`$ ratios, and the NGC 7714/5 bridge has a low implied M$`_{H_2}`$/MHI ratio compared to global values for spirals.

Dwarf galaxies typically have higher L/M$`_{H_2}`$ ratios and lower M$`_{H_2}`$/MHI ratios than normal spirals, if the standard Galactic conversion factor is applied. For example, the 14 dwarf galaxies in the Sage et al. (1992) sample have L/M$`_{H_2}`$ $``$ 0.04 L/M and M$`_{H_2}`$/MHI $``$ 0.5, after converting to the standard Galactic conversion factor, while all but two of the 25 dwarf galaxies studied by Israel, Tacconi, $`\&`$ Baas (1995) have M$`_{H_2}`$/MHI ratios $``$ 0.02 with this conversion factor. The inferred molecular gas masses for dwarf galaxies may be low because their N$`_{H_2}`$/ICO ratio is enhanced due to low metallicities (Maloney $`\&`$ Black 1988). Note, however, that specific locations within dwarf galaxies may have high implied M$`_{H_2}`$/MHI ratios; for example, in IC 10, at positions with NH $``$ 2 $`\times `$ 1021 cm-2, M$`_{H_2}`$/MHI $``$ 3 (Ohta, Sasaki, $`\&`$ Saito 1988).

The tails and bridges in Figure 3 that are undetected in CO have upper limits to their M$`_{H_2}`$/MHI ratios consistent with global values for dwarfs. The upper limits for the NGC 3561 irregular, the NGC 7714 loop, the NGC 7715 tail, and the NGC 7714/5 bridge, are lower than typical global values for spirals; the rest have less strict upper limits.

The subset of these undetected features with H$`\alpha `$ fluxes available (NGC 4676, NGC 7714/5, and the northern tail of NGC 3561) have L/M$`_{H_2}`$ lower limits consistent with values for both dwarfs and spirals. However, the Arp 245 feature, the Stephan’s Quintet source, the NGC 4038/9 tail, the eastern NGC 2782 tail, and the NGC 4438 CO clump are brighter in CO relative to H$`\alpha `$ than typical dwarf galaxies, while Stephan’s Quintet, the eastern NGC 2782 tail, and the NGC 4438 CO clump have higher inferred M$`_{H_2}`$/MHI ratios than dwarfs. The southern NGC 3561 feature has an M$`_{H_2}`$/MHI ratio higher than that usually found in dwarfs, but just a lower limit to L/M$`_{H_2}`$.

## 4 Comments on Individual Galaxies

### 4.1 NGC 7714/5

The most extreme feature in our sample in terms of inferred M$`_{H_2}`$/MHI ratio is the bridge of NGC 7714/5. This bridge, which contains luminous H II regions (Arp 1966; Bernlöhr 1993; González-Delgado et al. 1995; Smith et al. 1997), was not detected in CO, in spite of its high column density of atomic hydrogen (1.6 $`\times `$ 1021 cm-2 in the CO beam; from the data in Smith et al. 1997). At this bridge, our upper limit implies N$`_{H_2}`$ $``$ 5.0 $`\times `$ 1019 cm-2 and M$`_{H_2}`$/MHI $``$ 0.063, more than three times smaller than our upper limit for the system with the second lowest M$`_{H_2}`$/MHI ratio in a tail or bridge, the NGC 3561 irregular. The HI column density in this bridge is above the H2 and CO self-shielding limits for solar metallicity gas ($``$5 $`\times `$ 1020 cm-2 and 1021 cm-2, respectively; Federman et al. 1979; van Dishoeck $`\&`$ Black 1988). However, the nucleus of NGC 7714 is known to be low metallicity (French 1980; García-Vargas et al. 1997), so it is likely that the gas in the bridge would also have low abundances, leading to an enhanced N$`_{H_2}`$/ICO ratio. Thus there may be more molecular gas in this system than implied by the CO measurements. We note that the mid-infrared camera on the Infrared Space Observatory (ISOCAM) did not detect this bridge (O’Halloran et al. 2000), but it did detect the more distant extra-disk source in Stephan’s Quintet (Xu et al. 1999). This suggests a smaller warm dust component in the NGC 7714/5 bridge.

The smaller galaxy NGC 7715, the eastern tail of NGC 7715, and the HI loop north of NGC 7714 are also weak in CO, with inferred M$`_{H_2}`$/MHI ratios $``$0.16, $``$0.16, and $``$0.24, respectively. These may also have enhanced N$`_{H_2}`$/ICO ratios. Note that NGC 7715, its tail, and the NGC 7714 loop have not been detected in H$`\alpha `$ (Smith et al. 1997). Also note that NGC 7714 and NGC 7715 have absolute blue magnitudes of $``$19.8 and $``$18.1, respectively (de Vaucouleurs et al. 1991), compared to $``$17.7 for the Large Magellanic Cloud (de Vaucouleurs et al. 1991; Sandage, Bell, $`\&`$ Tripicco 1999). At absolute magnitudes fainter than about $``$19, both irregular and spiral galaxies typically have less than solar metallicities (Skillman et al. 1989; Vila-Costas $`\&`$ Edmunds 1992; Storchi-Bergmann et al. 1994), thus NGC 7715 may also be metal-poor.

### 4.2 NGC 2782 and NGC 4438

At the other extreme from the NGC 7714/5 bridge in terms of CO brightness is the eastern tail of NGC 2782 and the extra-disk gas cloud near NGC 4438, with low L/M$`_{H_2}`$ ratios compared to the other features (see Figure 4). These features have strong CO emission, but little on-going star formation (Combes et al. 1988; Kenney et al. 1995; Smith et al. 1999). None of the features in our new sample are as rich in CO as the NGC 2782 and NGC 4438 features. As discussed at length in Smith et al. (1999), the gas in these features may be metal-rich material removed from the interiors of their disks by near-head-on collisions, leading to high CO fluxes. Star formation may be inhibited in these features because of the collision (Smith et al. 1999). Gas clouds pushed out of a galactic disk by a high velocity collision may compress and then adiabatically expand, reducing their self-gravity. This may decrease the rate of star formation and therefore the L/M$`_{H_2}`$ ratio.

### 4.3 Arp 245, NGC 3561, and NGC 4038/9

In Figure 3 and Tables 5 and 6, the structure with the highest HI column density in the CO beam is the northern tail of the relatively nearby galaxy Arp 245, which has NHI = 2.3 $`\times `$ 1021 cm-2 averaged over the 3.5 kpc beam (Duc et al. 2000). As discussed in Duc et al. (2000), this feature is relatively gas-rich and CO-rich (M$`_{H_2}`$ $``$ 1.5 $`\times `$ 108 M, MHI $``$ 4.8 $`\times `$ 108 M, and M$`_{H_2}`$/MHI $``$ 0.31 in the CO beam) and has many properties in common with spiral galaxies. It has an L/M$`_{H_2}`$ ratio similar to spirals, and a stellar population dominated by an underlying old population (Duc et al. 2000). Furthermore, it has a relatively high extinction (AB = 2.6, from the Balmer decrement), a high blue luminosity (MB = $``$17.2 and LB = 1.2 $`\times `$ 109 L, uncorrected for internal extinction), and a metallicity of 12 + log(O/H) $``$ 8.6 (Duc et al. 2000). With a modest correction for internal extinction, these values are consistent with the metallicity-luminosity relationship for late-type spirals (Zaritsky, Kennicutt, $`\&`$ Huchra 1994; Garnett et al. 1997). Thus it is possible that this structure may not be a tidal tail, but rather a pre-existing edge-on disk galaxy that is interacting with the other two galaxies in the system. High resolution kinematic data may be useful in testing this hypothesis. In any case, this feature appears to be richer in CO relative to HI and H$`\alpha `$ than most dwarf galaxies.

The fact that the Arp 245 feature was detected in CO and many of the other features were not may be due to its high HI column density and relatively high metallicity. There is some evidence that N$`_{H_2}`$/ICO is correlated with metallicity (Wilson 1995; Verter $`\&`$ Hodge 1995; Arimoto et al. 1996). The trends implied in these papers suggest that at the metallicity of the Arp 245 feature, the N$`_{H_2}`$/ICO ratio is enhanced only slightly, between 1.5 $``$ 3 times bigger than the Galactic value. Thus, at the high HI column density of the Arp 245 feature, the CO self-shielding limit is exceeded. We note that IC 10, which has a lower oxygen abundance that the Arp 245 feature, shows strong CO at positions where NHI exceeds 1021 cm-2 (Ohta, Sasaki, $`\&`$ Saito 1988). At present, the metal abundances of most of the features listed in Tables 5 and 6 are unknown.

The NGC 3561 system (Arp 105; Figure 1d) contains a spiral (NGC 3561A), an S0 or E galaxy (NGC 3561B), and two tidal features with on-going star formation, presumably pulled out from the spiral galaxy. The concentration of gas and star formation in the northern tail is classified as a Magellanic irregular by Duc $`\&`$ Mirabel (1994). The southern feature, which crosses the companion NGC 3561B, is visible as an optical knot in Figure 1d, and is classified as a compact dwarf by Duc $`\&`$ Mirabel (1994). This southern feature was detected in CO by Braine et al. (2000), yielding a high M$`_{H_2}`$/MHI ratio in the CO beam of $``$0.8. This ratio is higher than that of the Arp 245 feature, in spite of its more modest HI column density in the CO beam, $``$ 2 $`\times `$ 1020 cm-2 (Duc et al. 1997) and its lower oxygen abundance (12 + log(O/H) $``$ 8.4; Duc $`\&`$ Mirabel 1994). This feature also has a lower blue luminosity (MB = $``$16.9; LB = 9.0 $`\times `$ 108 L, uncorrected for internal extinction) and a lower extinction (AB = 1.0) (Duc et al. 1994) than the Arp 245 feature.

The northern tail of NGC 3561 (the Magellanic irregular) has a peak HI column density four times higher and a blue luminosity five times larger than the southern tail (Duc et al. 1997), and has a higher oxygen abundance 12 + log(O/H) $``$ 8.6 (Duc $`\&`$ Mirabel 1994), but was undetected in CO, with a lower M$`_{H_2}`$/MHI ratio of $``$0.2. This difference may be due in part to the difference in beam sizes of our CO observations and the higher resolution observations of Braine et al. (2000), which are less affected by beam dilution. In the interaction scenario for this system presented by Duc et al. (1997), the spiral galaxy NGC 3561A interacts with the elliptical NGC 3561B, drawing out a long tail to the north, and a shorter countertail to the south. Since both features may have originated in NGC 3561A, it is reasonable to expect they would have similar gas properties. The southern feature may have a relatively small angular size, high column density clump in which the self-shielding limits are exceeded.

If the tentative detection of CO in the NGC 4038/9 tail (Gao et al. 2000) is confirmed by more sensitive observations, it places this tail in the same category as the NGC 3561 and Arp 245 features: it is richer in CO than dwarf galaxies, relative to its H$`\alpha `$ flux. The metallicity in this feature has been estimated to be somewhat lower than that in the Arp 245 feature, 12 + log(O/H) $``$ 8.4 (Mirabel et al. 1992).

### 4.4 M81 and NGC 3077

The tidal features of M81 and NGC 3077 have also been detected in CO (Brouillet et al. 1992; Walter $`\&`$ Heithausen 1999). Like those in Arp 245 and NGC 3561, they also have high inferred M$`_{H_2}`$/MHI ratios (Table 6). However, the inferred H2 masses in the CO beam are small ($``$106 M, using the standard Galactic N$`_{H_2}`$/ICO ratio; 107 M, using the virial theorem) and there is no evidence for on-going star formation in these locations (Brouillet et al. 1992; Henkel et al. 1993; Walter $`\&`$ Heithausen 1999). The M81/M82/NGC 3077 group is very nearby, so the area subtended by the CO beam ($``$360 pc) is much smaller than in the other systems listed. The other features plotted in Figure 3 have physical beam diameters ranging from 1.8 kpc (NGC 4438) to 43 kpc (I Zw 192). As with the Arp 245 and NGC 3561 features, the CO self-shielding threshold may be exceeded locally in these features. We note that the HI column density in the CO beam is quite high for the M81 and NGC 3077 positions, 1021 cm-2.

A recent larger area CO survey of the NGC 3077 tail (Walters $`\&`$ Heithausen 2000) shows CO in two clumps covering an area of about 3 (2.8 kpc). In this region, the standard Galactic conversion factor gives M$`_{H_2}`$ $``$ 6 $`\times `$ 106 M and an average H2 column density of $``$8 $`\times `$ 1019 cm-2. As in IC 10, CO is only detected at HI column densities above $``$ 1021 cm-2. In this larger area, the inferred M$`_{H_2}`$/MHI ratio is smaller, $``$ 0.1, consistent with the upper limits on the undetected tails and bridges in the sample.

### 4.5 Stephan’s Quintet

Of the nine extra-disk locations in our new sample, only one was detected in CO: the position in Stephan’s Quintet (HCG 92; Arp 319). Stephan’s Quintet is a compact group of four galaxies with similiar velocities ($``$6000 km s-1; NGC 7317, NGC 7318A/B, and NGC 7319), and a probable foreground galaxy (NGC 7320) with a much lower velocity ($``$800 km s-1). The outlying galaxy NGC 7320C also has a velocity of $``$6000 km s-1, and so probably also belongs to this group. Strong gravitational interactions are clearly present in this group (Figure 1g). A long optical tail stretches more than 1 (26 kpc) to the southeast of NGC 7319; this tail is also detected in HI (Shostak et al. 1984; Verdes-Montenegro et al. 2000). Two more optical tails are seen extending to the north of the close pair NGC 7318A/B (see Figure 1g). Along the easternmost of these features, X-rays (Pietsch et al. 1997) and radio continuum emission (van der Hulst $`\&`$ Rots 1981) are visible, suggesting a shock front. At the location where the two optical tails of NGC 7318A/B intersect, a large concentration of ionized gas has been detected (Moles, Sulentic, $`\&`$ Márquez 1997; Ohyama et al. 1998; Xu et al. 1999). This source is also present in the optical DSS image (Figure 1g), in the mid-infrared map of Xu et al. (1999), and in HI (Shostak, Sullivan, $`\&`$ Allen 1984; Verdes-Montenegro et al. 2000). Optical spectroscopy shows that the ionization mechanism for this source is young stars, while spectral signatures of shocks are present to the south, along the radio continuum and X-ray ridge (Moles, Márquez, $`\&`$ Sulentic 1998).

At the location of the extra-disk star formation region in Stephan’s Quintet, we have detected two CO components, at 6000 km s-1 and 6700 km s-1, at the 5$`\sigma `$ and 6$`\sigma `$ significance level, respectively. These two components have similar CO fluxes (Table 3). The large velocity separation of these two features argues against the idea that they are caused by the double-horned signature of a rotating disk, but are instead two distinct gas clouds. These two components each contain 1.0 $`\times `$ 109 M of molecular gas, if the standard Galactic N$`_{H_2}`$/ICO ratio holds. One of these components (6000 km s-1) was detected at a 4$`\sigma `$ level in the CO interferometer data of Gao $`\&`$ Xu (2000). We have also detected CO in NGC 7319 and NGC 7318B. NGC 7319 had previously been seen in CO (Verdes-Montenegro et al. 1998; Yun et al. 1997), however, the weaker CO flux from 7318B was not seen in those less sensitive studies. The CO detection in NGC 7318B is at 6000 km s-1, a somewhat higher velocity than the optical velocity of this galaxy (5765 km s-1; Moles et al. 1998).

Both of the CO components in the extra-disk star formation region have HI counterparts (Shostak et al. 1984). They also both appear to have on-going star formation. Moles et al. (1998) obtained optical spectra of three H II regions in this vicinity; two have velocities of $``$6020 km s-1 and one has a velocity of 6680 km s-1. Two H$`\alpha `$ velocity components are also indicated by the narrowband imaging of Xu et al. (1999).

The H$`\alpha `$ luminosity, molecular gas mass, and HI mass for the extra-disk source in Stephan’s Quintet are similar to those of many normal spiral galaxies (Young et al. 1996), but unlike those of typical dwarf galaxies (Sage et al. 1992). The implied M$`_{H_2}`$/MHI ratios for both velocity components in this region are very high, $``$0.65, higher than values typically found for dwarf galaxies (Sage et al. 1992). The L/M$`_{H_2}`$ ratio for the Stephan’s Quintet source, 0.016 L/M, is consistent with global values for spirals (Young et al. 1996), as well as the values found for the NGC 4676 tail, the Arp 245 feature, and the southern tail of NGC 3561, but is higher than the values seen for the eastern tail of NGC 2782 and the NGC 4438 clump. In Smith et al. (1999), we suggested that star formation was inhibited in the eastern tail of NGC 2782 and the NGC 4438 CO clump because of strong shocks sustained during a head-on collision between two gas-rich galaxies. If the extra-disk cloud in Stephan’s Quintet was formed in this way, star formation is clearly not inhibited.

To explain the peculiar morphology of Stephan’s Quintet, a number of different interaction scenarios have been suggested. Some of these scenarios involve ram pressure stripping during a head-on collision between two galaxies. For example, Peterson $`\&`$ Shostak (1980) suggest that a head-on collision between NGC 7318B and NGC 7319 removed the gas and caused the radio continuum ridge between them. A different scenario was suggested by Shostak et al. (1984): a prograde tidal encounter of NGC 7320C and NGC 7319 occurred, pulling gas out of these galaxies, creating the long tail south of NGC 7319. This was followed by a high-speed collision between NGC 7318A and NGC 7318B. Other scenarios involve a collision between an ‘intruder galaxy’ (usually NGC 7318B) and intragalactic gas that had previously been tidally-stripped or ram pressure-stripped in an earlier encounter between two different galaxies in the group (van der Hulst $`\&`$ Rots 1981; Moles et al. 1997). Moles et al. (1997) suggest that a direct collision between the outlying galaxy NGC 7320C and NGC 7319 occurred in the recent past (108 years ago), removing a large quantity of gas from these galaxies. After this event, NGC 7318B entered the group at high velocity, colliding with this stripped gas and triggering star formation.

Our new data shed some light on the question of the origin of the extra-disk gas in Stephan’s Quintet. Our detection of two CO-rich components in the extra-disk star formation region shows that the star formation in this feature was triggered by a collision involving relatively high metallicity, molecule-rich gas concentrations, rather than metal-poor intracluster medium. This does not rule out ram pressure stripping of NGC 7318B by an intergalactic medium, but it does require that this intergalactic medium be relatively metal-rich gas: gas previously removed from a galaxy. How this gas was originally removed from the disk is unclear: as shown in Arp 245 and NGC 3561, structures apparently created by tidal forces can be relatively CO-rich. Thus this intergalactic gas may have been removed either by tidal forces, or via ram pressure stripping.

The 6700 km s-1 extra-disk component may have originally come from NGC 7319 or NGC 7318A, which have similar optical velocities (6650 km s-1 and 6620 km s-1, respectively; Moles et al. 1998). The most likely candidate of these two is the barred spiral NGC 7319, which shows a surprising lack of H II regions (Arp 1973), a long optical tail, and a very offset CO distribution (Yun et al. 1997). NGC 7318A also has an optical tail, however, this may have been created by another interaction.

The 6000 km s-1 extra-disk gas may have originated in either the outlying galaxy NGC 7320C or in NGC 7318B. NGC 7320C has an optical radial velocity of 6000 $`\pm `$ 150 km s-1 (Lynds 1972), consistent with this velocity. Previous arguments for the involvement of NGC 7320C (Moles et al. 1997) cited the long tail south of NGC 7319 that points towards NGC 7320C. Alternatively, this component of the extra-disk gas may have come from NGC 7318B. As noted above, our CO observations show a faint CO line in NGC 7318B at this velocity, redshifted 300 km s-1 from the optical velocity. This detection corresponds to a molecular gas mass of 1.7 $`\times `$ 109 M, assuming the standard N$`_{H_2}`$/ICO conversion factor.

We therefore suggest that the extra-disk gas undergoing star formation in Stephan’s Quintet originated in NGC 7318B and NGC 7319. At the present time it is unclear whether a single collision between NGC 7318B and NGC 7319 occurred, ram pressure stripping the gas and creating the shock front between the two galaxies, or whether gas had been removed from NGC 7319 earlier, by an earlier encounter with another galaxy, and then this gas was impacted by NGC 7318B.

## 5 Conclusions

We have obtained new CO (1 $``$ 0) observations of eleven extragalactic tails and bridges, and compared these measurements with previously-published data for another thirteen features. Of these 24 structures, four have inferred M$`_{H_2}`$/MHI upper limits (assuming the Galactic N$`_{H_2}`$/ICO conversion factor) less than global values for spiral galaxies, consistent with those found for irregular galaxies. Three of these four CO-poor features are in the NGC 7714/5 system; the most extreme case is the star forming bridge, which has a very high HI column density (1.6 $`\times `$ 1021 cm-2 in the 55′′ CO beam), yet was undetected in CO, giving an inferred M$`_{H_2}`$/MHI upper limit of $``$0.063. These features may have enhanced N$`_{H_2}`$/ICO ratios compared to the Galactic value due to low metallicities.

Of the 24 structures in our combined sample, eight have been detected in CO. Three of these eight (the Stephan’s Quintet extra-disk source, the NGC 4038/9 tail, and the Arp 245 tail) have inferred efficiencies of star formation (L/M$`_{H_2}`$) consistent with global values for spiral galaxies. In contrast, the L/M$`_{H_2}`$ ratios for the eastern tail of NGC 2782 and the NGC 4438 clump are lower than typical for disk galaxies, suggesting inhibited star formation. In none of the features were our CO limits low enough to conclusively show L/M$`_{H_2}`$ ratios as high as those found in dwarf galaxies.

Of the eight detected features, two (NGC 2782 and NGC 4438) have optical morphologies indicating head-on collisions. The Stephan’s Quintet feature may also have been formed in this manner. In these systems, we suggest that metal-rich gas with an approximately Galactic N$`_{H_2}`$/ICO ratio was pulled from the inner parts of the galaxies.

A few recent studies have reported the detection of CO in a number of classical tidal features (e.g., NGC 4038/9, Arp 245, and NGC 3561). In these structures, the HI column density may be locally high enough that the CO self-shielding limit is exceeded, in spite of modestly enhanced N$`_{H_2}`$/ICO ratios. There is a slight tendency for these tidal features to have lower M$`_{H_2}`$/MHI ratios and higher L/M$`_{H_2}`$ ratios than ram pressure stripped features discussed above, but there is a large amount of scatter and the sample size is small. More observations are needed to determine whether there is truly a statistical difference in the gaseous and star formation properties of tidal and ram pressure stripped features.

We are grateful for the help of the NRAO 12m telescope operators and staff in obtaining these data. This research has made use of the NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database (NED) which is operated by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory under contract with NASA. We are pleased to acknowledge partial funding for this project from a NASA grant administrated by the American Astronomical Society and from NSF grant INT-9908542.

Captions

Figure 1. Optical images of the nine interacting galaxy systems in our sample, with the locations and FWHM beamsizes of the CO beams marked. All images are from the Digitized Sky Survey (DSS), except when noted. a) Arp 144 (NGC 7828/9). There is an HI tail without a known optical counterpart to the southeast of the optical pair (Higdon 1988). b) NGC 2814/20/MK 208. c) NGC 3395/6. d) Arp 105 (NGC 3561). This image has been smoothed by a 3′′ FWHM Gaussian to enhance low surface brightness features. e) The brightest galaxy in the Leo Triplet, NGC 3628. A long HI tail extends to the east of NGC 3628 (Rots 1978; Haynes, Giovanelli, $`\&`$ Roberts 1979); this tail has a faint optical counterpart not visible in the DSS image shown here (Kormendy $`\&`$ Bahcall 1974). The two marked locations are in this tail. We also observed the center of NGC 3628. f) I Zw 192. g) Stephan’s Quintet. h) A narrowband red continuum image of NGC 7714/5 (Arp 284), from Smith et al. (1997). i) UGC 12914/5 (Taffy Galaxies).

Figure 2. The summed CO (1 $``$ 0) scans for the observed positions, after the spectra have been smoothed by a 36 km s-1 boxcar and then resampled at 21 km s-1 spacing.

Figure 3. A comparison of NHI with M$`_{H_2}`$/MHI for the extra-disk positions in Tables 5 and 6 with both HI and CO data. For comparison purposes, the standard Galactic N$`_{H_2}`$/ICO ratio is used to calculate the molecular gas masses. As discussed in the text, this ratio may not hold in all cases. The unlabeled points near M$`_{H_2}`$/MHI $``$ 0.8 $``$ 0.9 and NHI $``$ 1020 cm-2 are the data for the Arp 143 tail, the two positions in the Arp 144 tail, the NGC 2782 western tail, and the NGC 4410 tail (see Tables 5 and 6).

Figure 4. The M$`_{H_2}`$/MHI ratio plotted against the L/M$`_{H_2}`$ ratio for the extra-disk sources with HI, CO, and H$`\alpha `$ measurements available.

TABLE 1
INTERACTING GALAXY SYSTEMS IN SAMPLEa

| System Name | Galaxies/Tails/Bridges | Optical and HI Morphology |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Arp 144 | NGC 7828 | Ring Galaxyb |
|  | NGC 7829 | Spheroidalb |
|  | HI Plumec | No Detected Optical Counterpartc |
| NGC 2814/2820 Group | NGC 2814 | Sb |
|  | NGC 2820 | SB(s)c pec |
|  | MK 208 | I0 Pec; near NGC 2814/20 Bridge |
|  | NGC 2814/20 Bridge | Visible in Radio Continuumd |
| NGC 3395/6 | NGC 3395 | SAB(rs)cd pec |
|  | NGC 3396 | IBm pec |
|  | NGC 3395/6 Bridge | Visible in Radio Continuume |
| Arp 105 | NGC 3561A | SA(r)a Pec |
|  | NGC 3561B | S0 Pec |
|  | NGC 3561 Irregularf | Connected by Stellar Bridge to NGC 3561A |
|  | NGC 3561 Compact Dwarff | Immediately South of NGC 3561B |
| Leo Triplet | NGC 3627 | SAB(s)b |
|  | NGC 3623 | SAB(rs)a |
|  | NGC 3628 | Sb Pec |
|  | NGC 3628 Tail | Visible in Optical and HI Mapsg |
| I Zw 192 System | I Zw 192 | Ring or Loop-like Optical Structureh |
|  | I Zw 192 Companion | Compact Galaxy Connected by Bridgeh |
|  | I Zw 192 Plume | Plume Extending from Companionh |

TABLE 1 (Continued)
INTERACTING GALAXY SYSTEMS IN SAMPLEa

| System Name | Galaxies/Tails/Bridges | Optical and HI Morphology |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Stephan’s Quintet | NGC 7317 | E4 |
|  | NGC 7318A | E2 pec |
|  | NGC 7318B | SB(s)bc pec |
|  | NGC 7319 | SB(s)bc pec |
|  | NGC 7320 | SA(s)d; Foreground Galaxy |
|  | NGC 7320C | (R)SAB(s)0/a |
|  | Star Formation Region A | North of NGC 7318B, Near Optical Tails |
| Taffy Galaxies | UGC 12914 | (R)S(r)cd pec |
|  | UGC 12915 | Sc |
|  | UGC 12914/5 Bridge | Visible in Radio Continuum and HIi |
| Arp 284 | NGC 7714 | SB(s)b pec |
|  | NGC 7715 | Im pec |
|  | NGC 7714/5 Bridge | HI Offset from Optical Bridgej |
|  | NGC 7714 Loop | Visible in Optical and HI Mapsj |
|  | NGC 7715 Tail | Visible in Optical and HI Mapsj |

aAll information from the NASA Extragalactic Database (NED), unless otherwise noted. bFreeman $`\&`$ de Vaucouleurs 1974. cHigdon 1988; Figure 1a. dBosma et al. 1980; van der Hulst $`\&`$ Hummel 1985. eHuang et al. 1994. fDuc $`\&`$ Mirabel 1994. gKormendy $`\&`$ Bahcall 1974; Rots 1978; Haynes, Giovanelli, $`\&`$ Roberts 1979. hSmith 1989; Figure 1f. iCondon et al. 1993. jSmith et al. 1997.

TABLE 2
CO (1-0) OBSERVATIONS

| Name | Position Observed | | | | | | Central Velocity |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|  | R.A. (1950) | | | Dec. (1950) | | | (km s-1) |
| NGC 7828 | 0 | 3 | 53.7 | $``$13 | 41 | 40.0 | 5770 |
| Arp 144 Tail $`\mathrm{\#}1`$ | 0 | 4 | 4.2 | $``$13 | 43 | 57.7 | 5700 |
| Arp 144 Tail $`\mathrm{\#}2`$ | 0 | 4 | 10.2 | $``$13 | 45 | 16.0 | 5700 |
| NGC 2814 | 9 | 17 | 9.2 | 64 | 27 | 50.0 | 1634 |
| NGC 2814/20 Bridge | 9 | 17 | 15.5 | 64 | 27 | 23.0 | 1580 |
| MK 208 | 9 | 17 | 26.9 | 64 | 27 | 7.0 | 1580 |
| NGC 2820 | 9 | 17 | 43.7 | 64 | 28 | 16.0 | 1580 |
| NGC 2820 NE1 | 9 | 17 | 47.0 | 64 | 28 | 28.9 | 1580 |
| NGC 2820 NE2 | 9 | 17 | 50.3 | 64 | 28 | 41.8 | 1580 |
| NGC 2820 NE3 | 9 | 17 | 53.6 | 64 | 28 | 54.6 | 1580 |
| NGC 2820 NE4 | 9 | 17 | 56.9 | 64 | 29 | 7.5 | 1580 |
| NGC 3395 | 10 | 47 | 2.7 | 33 | 14 | 44.0 | 1620 |
| NGC 3395/6 Bridge | 10 | 47 | 6.0 | 33 | 15 | 5.8 | 1620 |
| NGC 3396 | 10 | 47 | 8.9 | 33 | 15 | 18.0 | 1620 |
| NGC 3561A | 11 | 8 | 31.3 | 28 | 59 | 0.9 | 8810 |
| NGC 3561 Irregular | 11 | 8 | 31.4 | 29 | 2 | 12.1 | 8670 |
| NGC 3561B | 11 | 8 | 31.5 | 28 | 58 | 5.5 | 8500, 8700 |
| NGC 3628 | 11 | 17 | 40.3 | 13 | 51 | 46.0 | 880 |
| NGC 3628 Tail $`\mathrm{\#}1`$ | 11 | 19 | 46.3 | 13 | 54 | 57.0 | 880 |
| NGC 3628 Tail $`\mathrm{\#}2`$ | 11 | 20 | 38.0 | 13 | 59 | 0.0 | 880 |

TABLE 2 (Continued)
CO (1-0) OBSERVATIONS

| Name | Position Observed | | | | | | Central Velocity |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|  | R.A. (1950) | | | Dec. (1950) | | | (km s-1) |
| I Zw 192 | 17 | 39 | 14.4 | 38 | 45 | 21.0 | 12100, 12300 |
| I Zw 192 Companion | 17 | 39 | 18.4 | 38 | 46 | 12.0 | 12300 |
| I Zw 192 Plume | 17 | 39 | 19.6 | 38 | 46 | 37.0 | 12300 |
| NGC 7318A | 22 | 33 | 39.3 | 33 | 42 | 22.2 | 6630 |
| NGC 7318B | 22 | 33 | 40.9 | 33 | 42 | 24.1 | 5774 |
| Stephan’s Quintet A | 22 | 33 | 41.2 | 33 | 43 | 21.5 | 5774, 6630 |
| NGC 7319 | 22 | 33 | 46.0 | 33 | 42 | 59.4 | 6764 |
| NGC 7714 West | 23 | 33 | 38.9 | 1 | 52 | 42.0 | 2800 |
| NGC 7714 South | 23 | 33 | 40.6 | 1 | 52 | 17.0 | 2800 |
| NGC 7714 Center | 23 | 33 | 40.6 | 1 | 52 | 42.0 | 2800 |
| NGC 7714 North | 23 | 33 | 40.6 | 1 | 53 | 7.0 | 2800 |
| NGC 7714 Loop | 23 | 33 | 40.6 | 1 | 53 | 32.0 | 2800 |
| NGC 7714 East | 23 | 33 | 42.3 | 1 | 52 | 42.0 | 2800 |
| NGC 7714/5 Bridge | 23 | 33 | 44.9 | 1 | 52 | 50.0 | 2800 |
| NGC 7715 Center | 23 | 33 | 48.3 | 1 | 52 | 48.0 | 2800 |
| NGC 7715 Tail | 23 | 33 | 51.1 | 1 | 53 | 12.0 | 2800 |
| UGC 12914 SW2 | 23 | 59 | 0.4 | 23 | 11 | 44.0 | 4371 |
| UGC 12914 NW2 | 23 | 59 | 1.6 | 23 | 13 | 17.0 | 4371 |
| UGC 12914 SW1 | 23 | 59 | 2.4 | 23 | 12 | 3.0 | 4371 |
| UGC 12914 NW1 | 23 | 59 | 3.0 | 23 | 12 | 50.0 | 4371 |

TABLE 2 (Continued)
CO (1-0) OBSERVATIONS

| Name | Position Observed | | | | | | Central Velocity |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|  | R.A. (1950) | | | Dec. (1950) | | | (km s-1) |
| UGC 12914 Center | 23 | 59 | 4.4 | 23 | 12 | 22.0 | 4371 |
| UGC 12914 SE1 | 23 | 59 | 5.8 | 23 | 11 | 54.0 | 4371 |
| UGC 12914 Bridge | 23 | 59 | 6.4 | 23 | 12 | 41.0 | 4371 |
| UGC 12914 SE2 | 23 | 59 | 7.2 | 23 | 11 | 26.8 | 4371 |
| UGC 12915 Center | 23 | 59 | 8.3 | 23 | 13 | 00.0 | 4371 |

TABLE 3
CO (1-0) RESULTS

| Name | TR (rms)a | $`I_{CO}`$b | Line Velocity | $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$Vc |  |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|  | (mK) | (K km s-1) | (km s-1) | (km s-1) |  |
| NGC 7828d | 2.5 | 1.16 $`\pm `$ 0.13 | 5620 | 625 |  |
| Arp 144 Tail $`\mathrm{\#}1`$ | 2.5 | $``$0.13e |  |  |  |
| Arp 144 Tail $`\mathrm{\#}`$2d | 2.4 | $``$0.13e |  |  |  |
| NGC 2814 | 2.0 | 0.27 $`\pm `$ 0.07 | 1710 | 260 |  |
| NGC 2814/20 Bridge | 3.6 | $``$0.59f |  |  |  |
| MK 208 | 3.0 | $``$0.49f |  |  |  |
| NGC 2820 | 4.3 | 1.39 $`\pm `$ 0.23 | 1620 | 570 |  |
| NGC 2820 NE1 | 5.1 | $``$0.83f |  |  |  |
| NGC 2820 NE2 | 5.3 | $``$0.87f |  |  |  |
| NGC 2820 NE3 | 7.4 | $``$1.21f |  |  |  |
| NGC 2820 NE4 | 5.5 | $``$0.90f |  |  |  |
| NGC 3395 | 4.4 | 1.19 $`\pm `$ 0.17 | 1600 | 360 |  |
| NGC 3395/6 Bridge | 3.6 | 0.92 $`\pm `$ 0.18 | 1660 | 420 |  |
| NGC 3396 | 5.1 | 0.55 $`\pm `$ 0.14 | 1700 | 150 |  |
| NGC 3561A | 4.0 | 2.12 $`\pm `$ 0.21 | 8750 | 550 |  |
| NGC 3561 Irregular | 2.3 | $``$0.20g |  |  |  |
| NGC 3561B | 3.8, 4.3, 2.8 | $``$0.19g |  |  |  |
| NGC 3628 | 4.8 | 29.58 $`\pm `$ 0.25 | 860 | 400 |  |
| NGC 3628 Tail $`\mathrm{\#}1`$ | 2.3 | $``$0.13h |  |  |  |
| NGC 3628 Tail $`\mathrm{\#}2`$ | 2.2 | $``$0.13h |  |  |  |

TABLE 3
CO (1-0) RESULTS

| Name | TR (rms)a | $`I_{CO}`$b | Line Velocity | $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$Vc |  |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|  | (mK) | (K km s-1) | (km s-1) | (km s-1) |  |
| I Zw 192 | 2.5, 1.9, 1.3 | 1.41 $`\pm `$ 0.07 | 12130 | 600 |  |
| I Zw 192 Companion | 2.0 | $``$0.34i |  |  |  |
| I Zw 192 Plume | 3.1 | $``$0.52i |  |  |  |
| NGC 7318A | 12.7 | $``$2.13j |  |  |  |
| NGC 7318B | 2.3 | 0.47 $`\pm `$ 0.12 | 6000 | 400 |  |
| Stephan’s Quintet A | 1.8, 1.7, 1.0 | 0.296 $`\pm `$ 0.059, 0.286 $`\pm `$ 0.048 | 6000, 6700 | 140, 180 |  |
| NGC 7319 | 2.7 | 1.90 $`\pm `$ 0.15 | 6730 | 470 |  |
| NGC 7714 West | 4.1 | 0.65 $`\pm `$ 0.14 | 2800 | 230 |  |
| NGC 7714 South | 3.0 | 0.50 $`\pm `$ 0.14 | 2780 | 390 |  |
| NGC 7714 Center | 2.6 | 1.43 $`\pm `$ 0.08 | 2800 | 200 |  |
| NGC 7714 North | 3.9 | 0.84 $`\pm `$ 0.13 | 2800 | 220 |  |
| NGC 7714 Loop | 4.4 | $``$0.33k |  |  |  |
| NGC 7714 East | 3.1 | 1.21 $`\pm `$ 0.11 | 2850 | 250 |  |
| NGC 7714/5 Bridge | 2.4 | $``$0.15k |  |  |  |
| NGC 7715 Center | 2.7 | $``$0.21k |  |  |  |
| NGC 7715 Tail | 3.1 | $``$0.16k |  |  |  |
| UGC 12914 SW2 | 11.4 | $``$1.91l |  |  |  |
| UGC 12914 NW2 | 13.5 | $``$2.26l |  |  |  |
| UGC 12914 SW1 | 8.2 | $``$1.37l |  |  |  |
| UGC 12914 NW1 | 13.1 | 4.89 $`\pm `$ 0.75 | 4200 | 620 |  |

TABLE 3
CO (1-0) RESULTS

| Name | TR (rms)a | $`I_{CO}`$b | Line Velocity | $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$Vc |  |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|  | (mK) | (K km s-1) | (km s-1) | (km s-1) |  |
| UGC 12914 Center | 6.1 | 6.50 $`\pm `$ 0.29 | 4330 | 600 |  |
| UGC 12914 SE1 | 8.2 | 4.10 $`\pm `$ 0.33 | 4550 | 310 |  |
| UGC 12914 Bridge | 8.1 | 12.63 $`\pm `$0.53 | 4500 | 830 |  |
| UGC 12914 SE2 | 9.7 | $``$1.63l |  |  |  |
| UGC 12915 Center | 8.7 | 12.07 $`\pm `$ 0.43 | 4460 | 730 |  |

aAs noted in Table 2 and in the text, at three positions two sets of observations were made at two different central velocities, in order to increase the observed bandpass. In these cases, the rms values listed correspond to the noise levels for the lower velocity spectrum, the higher velocity spectrum, and the combined overlap region, respectively. Note that for Stephan’s Quintet A, two lines were detected, at two different velocities. bStatistical uncertainties only. cFull width zero maximum (FWZM) line widths. dCombined with data from Smith $`\&`$ Higdon 1994. eUsing $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$v = 60 km s-1, from the HI data of Higdon 1988. fUsing the CO line width of NGC 2820 of 570 km s-1. gUsing the HI line widths of 98 km s-1 for NGC 3561B and 161 km s-1 for the NGC 3561 dwarf, from Duc et al. 1997. hUsing the HI line width of 70 km s-1 from Rots 1978. iUsing the CO line width of I Zw 192, 600 km s-1. jAssuming a line width of $``$600 km s-1. kUsing the HI line widths of 80 km s-1 for the bridge, 130 km s-1 for NGC 7715, 60 km s-1 for the eastern tail of NGC 7715, and 120 km s-1 for the northern loop. These widths were obtained from the combined HI dataset of Smith $`\&`$ Wallin 1992 and Smith et al. 1997. lUsing the CO line width of UGC 12914, 600 km s-1.

TABLE 4
PARAMETERS OF THE MAIN DISKS OF THE SAMPLE GALAXIES

| Name | M(H2)a |
| --- | --- |
|  | (M$`_{_{}}`$) |
| NGC 7828 | 3.0 $`\times `$ 109 |
| NGC 2820 | 3.1 $`\times `$ 108 |
| NGC 2814 | 6.0 $`\times `$ 107 |
| NGC 3395 | 2.4 $`\times `$ 108 |
| NGC 3396 | 1.1 $`\times `$ 108 |
| NGC 3561A | 1.3 $`\times `$ 1010 |
| NGC 3561B | $``$1.2 $`\times `$ 109 |
| NGC 3628 | 1.6 $`\times `$ 109 |
| I Zw 192 | 1.7 $`\times `$ 1010 |
| I Zw 192 Companion | $``$4.1 $`\times `$ 109 |
| NGC 7318A | $``$7.6 $`\times `$ 109 |
| NGC 7318B | 1.7 $`\times `$ 109 |
| NGC 7319 | 6.7 $`\times `$ 109 |
| NGC 7714 | 2.2 $`\times `$ 109 |
| NGC 7715 | $``$1.3 $`\times `$ 108 |
| UGC 12914 | 1.7 $`\times `$ 1010 |
| UGC 12915 | 1.9 $`\times `$ 1010 |

aCalculated assuming the standard Galactic N$`_{H_2}`$/ICO ratio (M$`_{H_2}`$ = 1.1 $`\times `$ 104 D2 $``$SVdV, where D is the distance in Mpc; Bloemen et al. 1986), Ho = 75 km s-1 Mpc-1, and assuming 34 Jy/K for the 12m telescope and the source fills the beam ($`\eta `$c = 0.82). For the two sources with more than one position detected in the disk, the data were fit to a Gaussian distribution as in Young et al. 1995.

TABLE 5
PARAMETERS OF THE EXTRA-DISK REGIONSa

| Name | $`\mathrm{\Theta }`$ | M$`_{H_2}`$b | N$`_{H_2}`$b | NHI | $`\frac{M_{H_2}}{M_{HI}}`$ | Lc | $`\frac{L_{H\alpha }}{M_{H_2}}`$ |  |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|  | (kpc) | (108 M$`_{_{}}`$) | (cm-2) | (cm-2) |  | (erg s-1) | ($`\frac{L_{}}{M_{}}`$) |  |
| Arp 144 Tail $`\mathrm{\#}1`$ | 21 | $``$3.3 | $``$4.4 $`\times `$ 1019 | 9.7 $`\times `$ 1019 | $``$0.91 |  |  |  |
| Arp 144 Tail $`\mathrm{\#}`$2 | 21 | $``$3.3 | $``$4.4 $`\times `$ 1019 | 1.1 $`\times `$ 1020 | $``$0.81 |  |  |  |
| NGC 2814/20 Bridge | 5.6 | $``$1.1 | $``$2.0 $`\times `$ 1020 |  |  |  |  |  |
| MK 208 | 5.6 | $``$1.1 | $``$1.7 $`\times `$ 1020 |  |  |  |  |  |
| NGC 3395 Bridged | 5.9 | $``$1.9 | $``$3.1 $`\times `$ 1020 |  |  |  |  |  |
| NGC 3561 Irregulare | 31 | $``$12 | $``$6.8 $`\times `$ 1019 | 7 $`\times `$ 1020 | $``$0.20 | $``$8 $`\times `$ 1038 | $``$0.00018 |  |
| NGC 3628 Tail $`\mathrm{\#}1`$ | 3.2 | $``$0.072 | $``$4.4 $`\times `$ 1019 |  |  |  |  |  |
| NGC 3628 Tail $`\mathrm{\#}2`$ | 3.2 | $``$0.072 | $``$4.4 $`\times `$ 1019 |  |  |  |  |  |
| I Zw 192 Plume | 43 | $``$62 | $``$1.8 $`\times `$ 1020 |  |  |  |  |  |
| SQ Af, 6000 km s-1 | 24 | 11 | 1.0 $`\times `$ 1020 | 2.5 $`\times `$ 1020 | 0.80 | 1.2 $`\times `$ 1041 | 0.016 |  |
| SQ Af, 6700 km s-1 | 24 | 10 | 9.8 $`\times `$ 1019 | 2.5 $`\times `$ 1020 | 0.78 |  |  |  |
| NGC 7714 Loop | 9.9 | $``$2.1 | $``$1.1 $`\times `$ 1020 | 9.2 $`\times `$ 1020 | $``$0.24 |  |  |  |
| NGC 7714/5 Bridgeg | 9.9 | $``$0.94 | $``$5.0 $`\times `$ 1019 | 1.6 $`\times `$ 1021 | $``$0.063 | 1.8 $`\times `$ 1039 | $``$0.005 |  |
| NGC 7715 Tail | 9.9 | $``$1.0 | $``$5.5 $`\times `$ 1019 | 6.5 $`\times `$ 1020 | $``$0.16 |  |  |  |
| UGC 12914 Bridged | 15 | $``$190 | $``$4.3 $`\times `$ 1021 |  |  |  |  |  |

aAll values averaged over the 55′′ NRAO 12m beam. bCalculated assuming the standard Galactic N$`_{H_2}`$/ICO ratio (N$`_{H_2}`$/ICO = 2.8 $`\times `$ 1020 cm-2/(K km s-1) and M$`_{H_2}`$ = 1.1 $`\times `$ 104 D2 $``$SVdV, where D is the distance in Mpc; Bloemen et al. 1986), Ho = 75 km s-1 Mpc-1, and assuming 34 Jy/K for the 12m telescope and the source fills the beam ($`\eta `$c = 0.82). As noted in the text, these assumptions may not hold for all these sources; they are used for comparison purposes here. cNot corrected for extinction. dBecause this position is separated from the main disk of the galaxies by less than half of the FWHM beamwidth, the molecular gas mass is given as an upper limit here. eH$`\alpha `$ luminosity from Duc $`\&`$ Mirabel 1994. This was obtained via spectroscopy with a 1.5′′ slit and so is a lower limit. fHI values from Shostak et al. 1984. Both velocity components are included in the L and L/M$`_{H_2}`$ values given here. gDerived from the data presented in Smith et al. 1997.

TABLE 6
PARAMETERS OF ADDITIONAL EXTRA-DISK REGIONSa

| Name | $`\mathrm{\Theta }`$ | M$`_{H_2}`$b | N$`_{H_2}`$b | NHI | $`\frac{M_{H_2}}{M_{HI}}`$ | Lc | $`\frac{L_{H\alpha }}{M_{H_2}}`$ |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|  | (kpc) | (108 M$`_{_{}}`$) | (cm-2) | (cm-2) |  | (erg s-1) | ($`\frac{L_{}}{M_{}}`$) |
| Arp 143 Taild | 14 | $``$2.0 | $``$5 $`\times `$ 1019 | 1.1 $`\times `$ 1020 | $``$0.9 |  |  |
| Arp 245e | 3.5 | 1.5 | 3.6 $`\times `$ 1020 | 2.3 $`\times `$ 1021 | 0.31 | 5.2 $`\times `$ 1039 | 0.009 |
| M81 CO Clumpf | 0.36 | $``$0.01 | 8 $`\times `$ 1020 | 1021 | 1.6 |  |  |
| NGC 3077 CO Clumpg | 0.36 | $``$0.01 | 8 $`\times `$ 1020 | 1.5 $`\times `$ 1021 | 1.1 |  |  |
| NGC 2782 East Tailh | 14d | 6 | 2 $`\times `$ 1020 | 6 $`\times `$ 1020 | 0.6 | 4 $`\times `$ 1039 | 0.002 |
| NGC 2782 West Taild | 14 | $``$1.3 | $``$8.5 $`\times `$ 1019 | 1.1 $`\times `$ 1020 | $``$0.9 |  |  |
| NGC 3561 South Taili | 13 | 2.3 | 8 $`\times `$ 1019 | 2.2 $`\times `$ 1020 | 0.8 | $``$1.3 $`\times `$ 1040 | $``$0.015 |
| NGC 4038/9 Tailj | 6.1 | 0.84 | 1.2 $`\times `$ 1020 | 8 $`\times `$ 1020 | 0.3 | 1.7 $`\times `$ 1039 | 0.005 |
| NGC 4438 CO Clumpk | 1.8 | 8.4 | 2.0 $`\times `$ 1021 | 9.2 $`\times `$ 1020 | 5 | $``$1.6 $`\times `$ 1039 | $``$0.0005 |
| NGC 4410A+B Taill | 26 | $``$8 | $``$4 $`\times `$ 1019 | 9 $`\times `$ 1019 | $``$0.9 |  |  |
| NGC 4676 North Tailj | 23 | $``$6.0 | $``$5.9 $`\times `$ 1019 | 2.1 $`\times `$ 1020 | $``$0.6 | 1.1 $`\times `$ 1040 | $``$0.01 |
| NGC 7252 North Taild | 17 | $``$2.4 | $``$4.5 $`\times `$ 1019 | 1.8 $`\times `$ 1020 | $``$0.5 |  |  |
| NGC 7252 South Taild | 17 | $``$4.5 | $``$8.5 $`\times `$ 1019 | 1.4 $`\times `$ 1020 | $``$1.2 |  |  |

aAll values averaged over the 55′′ NRAO 12m beam, except where noted. bCalculated assuming the standard Galactic N$`_{H_2}`$/ICO ratio (N$`_{H_2}`$/ICO = 2.8 $`\times `$ 1020 cm-2/(K km s-1) and M$`_{H_2}`$ = 1.1 $`\times `$ 104 D2 $``$SVdV, where D is the distance in Mpc; Bloemen et al. 1986), Ho = 75 km s-1 Mpc-1, and assuming 34 Jy/K for the 12m telescope and the source fills the beam ($`\eta `$c = 0.82). As noted in the text, these assumptions may not hold for all these sources; they are used for comparison purposes here. cNot corrected for extinction. dAs tabulated in Smith $`\&`$ Higdon 1994. eUsing the data from Braine et al. 2000 and Duc et al. 2000, in a $``$23′′ beam. The H$`\alpha `$ luminosity has been corrected for \[N II\] using H$`\alpha `$/(H$`\alpha `$+\[N II\]) $``$ 0.7, as indicated by the spectroscopy in Duc et al. (2000). fUsing the data from Brouillet et al. 1992 and Rots $`\&`$ Shane 1975, in a $``$23′′ beam. No evidence of star formation at this position has been observed (Henkel et al. 1993). The assumed distance is 3.2 Mpc (Sandage $`\&`$ Tammann 1978; Humphreys $`\&`$ Aaronson 1987). gUsing the data from Walter $`\&`$ Heithausen 1999, in a $``$23′′ beam. There is no observed star formation at this position (Walter $`\&`$ Heithausen 1999). The HI column density quoted here was estimated from the HI map in Walter $`\&`$ Heithausen 2000. hFrom data in Smith et al. 1999. These are averaged over the five detected positions in the tail, covering an area of $``$7645 arcsec-2, the equivalent of an 87′′ beam. iUsing the data from Braine et al. 2000, Duc $`\&`$ Mirabel 1994, and Duc et al. 1997, in a $``$23′′ beam. The H$`\alpha `$ flux was derived from spectroscopy with a 1.5′′ slit, and so is an upper limit. jThe CO measurement is a tentative (4$`\sigma `$) detection from Gao et al. 2000; note that this assumes a broader line (175 km s-1) than the upper limit quoted in Smith $`\&`$ Higdon 2000. The HI measurement is estimated from the Hibbard et al. (2000) HI map. The H$`\alpha `$ measurement is from Mirabel et al. 1992. kAs tabulated in Smith et al. 1999, in a 23′′ beam. lUsing the data from Smith 2000.


format: text

text:
# Field-induced metal-insulator transition in a two-dimensional organic superconductor

\[

## Abstract

The quasi-two-dimensional organic superconductor $`\beta ^{^{\prime \prime }}`$-(BEDT-TTF)2SF5CH2CF2SO3 ($`T_c4.4`$ K) shows very strong Shubnikov–de Haas (SdH) oscillations which are superimposed on a highly anomalous steady background magnetoresistance, $`R_b`$. Comparison with de Haas–van Alphen oscillations allow a reliable estimate of $`R_b`$ which is crucial for the correct extraction of the SdH signal. At low temperatures and high magnetic fields insulating behavior evolves. The magnetoresistance data violate Kohler’s rule, i.e., cannot be described within the framework of semiclassical transport theory, but converge onto a universal curve appropriate for dynamical scaling at a metal-insulator transition.

\]

The electrical transport in metals can usually be described by the coherent motion of electrons in Bloch states with well-defined wave vectors. A common approach to this problem is the Boltzmann transport theory which works well for most metals and semiconductors. There are, however, a number of cases where a more complex transport mechanism is involved and where the simple approach fails . Prominent examples are the cuprate superconductors  and organic metals  which reveal unusual normal-state properties. A central issue for these layered materials is whether the electronic conduction can be described by the coherent motion of Bloch electrons with well-defined wave vectors or whether the interlayer transport is caused by an incoherent diffusive motion of the electrons between the layers.

With the assumption of a constant scattering time $`\tau _s`$ for all charge carriers the semiclassical transport theory predicts a universal temperature and field dependence of the magnetoresistance which can be described as $`R(B,T)/R(0,T)=f(B/R(0,T))`$, where $`f(x)`$ is a universal function. This is known as Kohler’s rule which holds for many metals regardless of the Fermi-surface topology . Furthermore, for $`B`$ parallel to the current, no magnetoresistance is expected semiclassically. Deviations from this behavior are known to occur for the interlayer transport in some organic conductors . This was taken as an indication for incoherent transport. Other evidence for the failure of conventional transport theory is the very large low-temperature normal-state resistivity (a few $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$cm) which would correspond to mean-free paths much shorter than interatomic distances.

For the quasi-two-dimensional (2D) organic metals one can assume that the interlayer transport is caused by uncorrelated tunneling events between the layers . Thereby the transport is incoherent because the electrons are scattered many times within the layer before a tunneling event takes place. This may occur when the time it takes for an electron to hop between the layers is much larger than $`\tau _s`$, i.e., $`\mathrm{}/t_c\tau _s`$, where $`t_c`$ is the interlayer hopping integral. In case the intralayer momentum is conserved during the tunneling process and an interference between the wave functions on adjacent layers is possible, McKenzie and Moses  showed that certain metallic properties persist even though no three-dimensional (3D) Fermi surface would exist.

A potential candidate which might fit into the above scenario is the 2D organic superconductor $`\beta ^{^{\prime \prime }}`$-(BEDT-TTF)2SF5CH2CF2SO3 ($`T_c=4.4`$ K) , where BEDT-TTF stands for bisethylenedithio-tetrathiafulvalene. The Fermi surface has been mapped out by de Haas–van Alphen (dHvA) , Shubnikov–de Haas (SdH) , and angular-dependent magnetoresistance oscillations (AMROs) . High-field dHvA measurements proved the existence of an ideal 2D Fermi surface . In line with an incoherent transport mechanism  neither beats in the magnetic quantum oscillations nor a peak in the AMROs for field parallel to the layers was observed. Another not-explained phenomenon is the peak in $`R(B)`$ at low fields and low temperatures . At zero field, the material seems to be close to an insulating phase, since replacing CH2CF2 in the anion with CH2 yields an insulator .

Although the measured dHvA oscillations of $`\beta ^{^{\prime \prime }}`$-(BEDT-TTF)2SF5CH2CF2SO3  could quantitatively be understood by a 2D theory , the SdH oscillations seemed to show strong deviations in the field and temperature dependence from the usually expected behavior . Similar observations have been reported for the SdH oscillations in other organic metals . A principal problem inherent to transport data is the correct extraction of the SdH signal, which is given by the relative conductance oscillations $`\mathrm{\Delta }\sigma /\sigma =\sigma /\sigma _b1`$, with $`\sigma _b`$ the steady part of the relevant conductance of the band which is responsible for the oscillations . Only for $`\mathrm{\Delta }\sigma /\sigma `$ the framework of the Lifshitz–Kosevich (LK) theory can be applied . In general, a tensor inversion from the measured longitudinal and transverse resistances is necessary to obtain $`\sigma _b`$. In the present case, however, the Hall component of the resistivity tensor is negligible and for the used field configuration ($`B`$ is applied parallel to the interlayer-transport current) it should be even exactly zero. Therefore, the SdH signal is given by $`\mathrm{\Delta }\sigma /\sigma =R_b/R1`$, where the main task is reduced to the reliable determination of $`R_b=1/\sigma _b`$ out of the measured resistance $`R`$. In the following we specify a method how this can be reasonably performed. The extracted $`R_b`$ reveals a field-induced insulating behavior, which cannot be described by the semiclassical transport theory but can be scaled onto a universal curve. The observed dynamical scaling suggests a scenario of this metal-insulator transition as a quantum phase transition.

The $`\beta ^{^{\prime \prime }}`$-(BEDT-TTF)2SF5CH2CF2SO3 single crystals (labelled $`A`$ to $`C`$ hereafter) were grown by electrocrystallization . For the transport measurements 15 $`\mu `$m gold-wire current leads were glued with graphite paste to the samples. $`R`$ was measured either with a lock-in amplifier or by use of a four-point low-frequency ac-resistance bridge with currents of a few $`\mu `$A. The anisotropic magnetization, $`M`$, was measured by means of a capacitance cantilever torque magnetometer. Thereby, the contacted crystal $`A`$ was placed on top of the cantilever plate allowing the simultaneous measurement of both SdH and dHvA signals. The measurements were performed at the High Magnetic Field Laboratories in Grenoble in fields up to 28 T and in Tallahasse up to 30 T.

In first high-field SdH measurements, $`R_b`$ was estimated by a polynomial fit to the measured $`R`$ data . Thereby the oscillation amplitude of $`\mathrm{\Delta }\sigma /\sigma `$ reduced towards lower temperatures for fields above about 20 T (see Fig. 3 in ). This is contrary to the standard theories for magnetic quantum oscillations . In order to get a better estimate for $`R_b`$, we simultaneously measured the SdH and dHvA effect of a new and better-quality sample ($`A`$).

Figure 1 shows the torque signal, $`\tau `$, (dotted line) and the magnetoresistance (solid line) measured during falling field which was tilted by about $`0.4^{}`$ in order to resolve a non-zero dHvA signal. In line with previous results  the dHvA signal shows an “inverse sawtooth” wave form - after subtraction of a quadratic background magnetization - which can be explained quantitatively by a 2D theory with fixed chemical potential . The highly asymmetric wave form becomes more apparent in the strong anharmonicities of $`B^2dM/dB`$, i.e., in the derivative of the dHvA signal times $`B^2`$ (inset of Fig. 1) which is expected to be directly proportional to the SdH signal $`\mathrm{\Delta }\sigma /\sigma `$ . With the assumption that the SdH signal should be consistent with the dHvA effect and that the theory for SdH oscillations  holds even for magnetoresistance oscillations as large as in the present case, the background magnetoresistance $`R_b`$ can be estimated. The SdH signal $`\mathrm{\Delta }\sigma /\sigma `$ is proportional to the oscillating part of the density of states at the Fermi level $`\mathrm{\Delta }N(ϵ_F)/N_0`$, where $`N_0`$ is the steady density of states. Relevant for the magnetic quantum oscillations in the present case is a single 2D hole-like band, which coexists together with open 1D electron-like bands . A priori, both bands are expected to contribute to the electronic transport. If, therefore, the conductivities originating from each band exhibit strong field and temperature dependences, one has to disentangle the different contributions from the measured $`R`$. For the present case, this means to extract the background resistance for the 2D band. With $`R_b`$ as shown in Fig. 1 (dashed line), a SdH signal $`\mathrm{\Delta }\sigma /\sigma `$ is obtained which reasonably well agrees with the thermodynamic quantity $`B^2dM/dB`$ (see inset). For this sample and sample $`B`$ (see below) a simple polynomial fit through the data would yield a smaller $`R_b`$ and, consequently, a too low $`\mathrm{\Delta }\sigma /\sigma `$ at higher fields.

The estimated $`R_b`$ for sample $`A`$ is well inside the range of the resistance-oscillation amplitude. This is different for samples which reveal smaller-amplitude oscillations, i.e., which are of less-high quality. $`R_b`$ for sample $`B`$ has to be set at about the maxima of the measured $`R`$ in order to reproduce in $`\mathrm{\Delta }\sigma /\sigma `$ approximately the field dependence of $`B^2dM/dB`$ (Fig. 2). For this sample $`R`$ was measured in Tallahassee and subsequently $`\tau `$ was measured in Grenoble (sample 2 in Ref. ), which explains the slight phase shift. It is obvious that without the knowledge of the dHvA signal the chosen $`R_b`$ seems to be rather arbitrary. For the usual polynomial estimate of $`R_b`$, the $`B`$ and $`T`$ dependence of the resulting SdH signal would contradict the LK theory (see Refs. ). Although there remains an uncertainty in $`R_b`$ especially towards higher $`B`$, the comparison of the magnetic quantum oscillations extracted from thermodynamic and transport data indeed allows a reliable estimate of the magnetoresistance.

Finally, Fig. 3 shows the magnetoresistance of a high-quality sample ($`C`$) with very large oscillation amplitudes in $`R`$ (three times larger than for sample $`B`$). Here, a polynomial fit for $`R_b`$ results in a reasonable field and temperature dependence of $`\mathrm{\Delta }\sigma /\sigma `$. The inset of Fig. 3 shows the field dependence of $`R_b`$ for different temperatures. While for low fields $`R_b`$ decreases with decreasing $`T`$ in a metallic-like fashion, insulating behavior at high fields and low temperatures with $`dR/dT<0`$ is observed. This suggests a metal-insulator transition as $`T0`$. At high fields, $`R_b`$ grows approximately exponentially with field. This field-induced metal-insulator transition, recognized qualitatively already earlier , is a unique feature of the present organic metal.

It is important to note that the magnetoresistance cannot be explained by a conventional semiclassical theory. For charge carriers with a constant $`\tau _s`$ on the whole Fermi surface, the Boltzmann equation predicts that Kohler’s rule is obeyed. However, a Kohler plot of $`R_b/R(0)`$ vs $`B/R(0)`$ for different temperatures (inset of Fig. 4), where $`R(0)`$ for $`B=0`$ is extrapolated from $`R_b`$ at fields above the superconducting phase transition, shows the failure of the semiclassical theory. This leads to the question whether the concept of Bloch states for interlayer transport still has a meaning for the present material  and how the observed field-induced metal-insulator transition and the interlayer transport in general can be understood.

One explanation for an anomalously large magnetoresistance is based on the existence of a periodic potential in each layer . A magnetic field applied perpendicular to the layers then converts the in-plane periodic potential into a periodic potential along the field direction. When the period is incommensurate with the layer spacing and when this potential is stronger than the interlayer hopping rate the electron wave function would become localized. The strength of the potential increases with field resulting in an increasing magnetoresistance . For the present material, there is however no indication for the existence of an in-plane periodic potential, caused e.g. by a density wave. Therefore, it is unclear whether this kind of incoherent transport is present here.

The metal-insulator transition has been intensively studied in a number of other materials. For these, usually a universal dynamic scaling relation can be found which describes the resistivity as a function of the tuning parameter and temperature . Thereby, the tuning parameter controls the quantum phase transition, i.e., might be the charge-carrier concentration, pressure, disorder, or the magnetic field. A scaling variable which has been found to hold well for the magnetic-field-tuned superconductor-insulator transition of 2D films is $`(BB_0)/T^\kappa `$, where $`B_0`$ is the critical field for the metal-insulator transition and $`\kappa `$ is a composed critical exponent.  A first attempt to scale $`R_b`$ (inset of Fig. 3) directly as a function of $`(BB_0)/T^\kappa `$ did not yield a satisfactory result. However, the data do collapse onto one single curve when normalizing $`R_b`$ by its value at $`B=0`$ (Fig. 4). Thereby, a critical field of $`B_0=3.5`$ T and a critical exponent of $`\kappa =0.65`$ was chosen. $`R(0)`$ lies between 27.5 $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ for $`T=0.44`$ K and 54 $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ for $`T=4.2`$ K. For sample $`B`$ an equally good scaling was obtained with $`B_0=3.5`$ T and $`\kappa =0.7`$. The slight deviations of the different curves towards higher fields may originate from the uncertainty in $`R_b`$. The scaling works very well over about two decades in $`R_b`$ and about one decade in $`B`$ and $`T`$. For non-zero temperatures above $`B_0`$ a finite conductivity should be possible only due to hopping processes. Ideally, for $`T0`$ the magnetoresistance for large enough $`B`$ should diverge. However, towards lower temperatures the scaling fails and $`R_b`$ rather seems to saturate.  A similar deviation from scaling at low $`T`$ observed in superconducting 2D films was ascribed to the coupling of the system to a dissipative bath .

The field $`B_0`$ separates the insulating from the metallic behavior. Usually, the data for $`B<B_0`$ should scale onto a second branch when plotting $`R_b/R(0)`$ vs $`|(BB_0)/T^\kappa |`$. In the present case, where $`B_0=3.5`$ T is approximately equal to the upper critical field for superconductivity , the resistivity below $`B_0`$ is strongly influenced by the vortex dynamics in the superconducting state. Therefore, a reliable scaling for $`B<B_0`$ is not possible. For the known quantum phase transitions the exponent $`\kappa `$ can be written as $`1/z\nu `$. For the field-tuned metal-insulator transition of strongly disordered films a dynamical critical exponent $`z=1`$ and $`\nu 1`$ for the coherence-length exponent was predicted and found experimentally ($`\nu 1.3`$) . However, recent results deviate from that prediction and suggest a more complex scenario . Although the exponent $`\kappa =0.65(5)`$ found here is close to the result of , the investigated organic system is very clean and the metal-insulator transition will probably fall in a different universality class.

In conclusion, we have shown that for $`\beta ^{^{\prime \prime }}`$-(BEDT-TTF)2SF5CH2CF2SO3 the apparent deviation of the SdH oscillations from conventional behavior depends on the sample quality and relies strongly on the correct determination of the background magnetoresistance $`R_b`$, which can be achieved by a direct comparison with dHvA data. $`R_b`$ exhibits a field-induced metal-insulator transition which semiclassical theory fails to describe. The magnetoresistance data for different temperatures can reasonably well be scaled onto a universal curve. It remains to be checked whether the unusual behavior of the SdH oscillations observed in other organic metals  might be understood by a similar scenario.

We thank R.H. McKenzie for enlightening discussions. The work at Karlsruhe was supported by the DFG and the TMR Programme of the European Community (contract No. ERBFMGECT950077). J.S.Q. was supported by Grant No. NSF-DMR-10427. We acknowledge the National Science Foundation, the state of Florida, and the U.S. Dept. of Energy for support of the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory. Work at Argonne National Laboratory was supported by the U.S. Dept. of Energy (W-31-109-ENG-38). Work at Portland State University was supported by NSF (Che-9904316) and the Petroleum Research Fund (ACS-PRF # 34624-AC7).


text:
# 1 Introduction

## 1 Introduction

In this article we study the phase diagram $`E\times ϵ`$ of the Harper equation

$$\begin{array}{ccc}\hfill \psi _{n+1}+\psi _{n1}+2ϵ\mathrm{cos}(2\pi \varphi _n)\psi _n& =& E\psi _n,\hfill \\ \hfill \varphi _n& =& \varphi _0+\omega n.\hfill \end{array}$$
(1)
The Harper equation is a Schrödinger operator of two discrete variables $`\psi `$ and $`\varphi `$ and, among other application, is associated with the quantum algebra of discrete magnetic translations $`U_q(sl_2)`$. Namely it is obtained in the Azbel-Hofstadter model  of Bloch electrons (electrons on a $`2`$-dimensional periodic potential) in the presence of a uniform magnetic field in the Landau gauge. Here the anisotropy parameter $`ϵ`$ is the ratio between the spacing in the two directions of the underlying $`2`$-dimensional periodic potential lattice, $`\omega `$ is the magnetic flux per unit cell of the potential lattice and the quantum deformation parameter is $`q^2=e^{i2\pi \omega }`$ .

The Harper equation is second order on $`\psi `$. In order to simplify the numerical treatment of this equation we can cast it into a first order equation by considering the transformation of variables $`x_n=\psi _{n1}/\psi _n`$. The resulting equation is equivalent to the Harper equation (1) and is known as the Harper map

$$\begin{array}{ccc}\hfill x_{n+1}& =& \frac{1}{x_nE+2ϵ\mathrm{cos}(2\pi \varphi _n)},\hfill \\ \hfill \varphi _n& =& \varphi _0+\omega n.\hfill \end{array}$$
(2)
In order to study the phase diagram $`E\times ϵ`$ we need to identify the Localized and Extended phases. In order to do so we use Aubry and André study , they proved that the Lyapunov exponent $`\lambda `$ is proportional to the localization length, specifically $`\lambda =2\gamma `$. For the Harper map $`\lambda 0`$, such that for $`\lambda =0`$ the phase is Extended and for $`\lambda <0`$ the phase is Localized. The Lyapunov exponent corresponding to the $`\varphi `$ dynamics is always $`0`$ and the one concerning to the $`x`$ dynamics is given by

$$\lambda =\underset{N\mathrm{}}{lim}\frac{1}{N}\underset{n=0}{\overset{N}{}}y_n,$$
(3)
where $`y_n=\mathrm{log}\frac{x_{n+1}}{x_n}=\mathrm{log}x_{n+1}^2`$.

There exists already in the literature classifications, both for the Extended phases  and for the Localized phases  of equations (1) and (2). In the remaining of this article we propose a new hierarchical topological classification of the several Localized phases for irrational flux $`\omega ^{}=(\sqrt{5}1)/2`$ based on the topological winding number of the attractors on the space of variables $`(\varphi ,x)`$. In order to study the irrational phase diagram we take successive rational approximants $`\omega _m`$. The fractal structure of the phase diagram emerge naturally in this framework and we suggest a rule that reproduces it. As we will show in detail, the great advantage of this new classification is that its labels correspond to the magnitude of the several different phases. Here the phase magnitude is understood as the area of each different phase on the full phase diagram. Also the area (hence magnitude) of the several phases coincide with its order of appearance in the phase diagrams for successive approximants $`\omega _m`$ to $`\omega ^{}`$.

This article is organized as follows, in section 2 we introduce the irrational phase diagram and successive approximants as well as the one-dimensional attractor in the $`\varphi \times x`$ diagram for irrational $`\omega ^{}`$. In section 3 we justify the identification of the $`\varphi \times x`$ with a torus and introduce our classification. In section 4 we analyse the phase diagram and give the rules to build the Hierarchical Tree for the phase diagram. In order to better explain the fractal structure and how to build this Tree we have three appendixes. In appendix A we present the Lyapunov exponents for $`\omega =\omega ^{}`$ and $`ϵ=1`$ with enough resolution to identify the several phases (that correspond to each negative bump). In appendix B we list the $`\varphi \times x`$ diagrams up to $`\eta =55`$ (with indication of the respective energies). Finally in appendix C we show graphically how to build the triangular structure up to level 9.

## 2 Phase Diagram

We proceed to present the numerical results and study the properties of the $`E\times ϵ`$ phase diagram of the Harper map (2) which is equivalent to the Harper equation (1). We consider successive rational approximants $`\omega =\omega _m`$ of the irrational value $`\omega =\omega ^{}`$ given by the golden mean. The rational succession $`\omega _m=F_{m1}/F_m`$ converges to the irrational golden mean $`\omega ^{}=(\sqrt{5}1)/2`$. Being $`F_0=F_1=1`$ and $`F_m=F_{m1}+F_{m2}`$ the $`m^{\mathrm{th}}`$ Fibonacci number in the Fibonacci sequence.

Computing the phase diagram for successive rational $`\omega _m`$ allows us to visualize the fractal structure of the irrational $`\omega ^{}`$ emerging in the phase diagrams. As we consider successive rational approximants, the Extended phases split and new thinner Localized phases emerge. Their number increases until it becomes infinite. More precisely for a given $`\omega _m`$ there are $`F_{m1}`$ Localized phases in the first quadrant. Two of such diagrams are pictured in figure 1 for $`\omega =5/8`$ and $`\omega =8/13`$.

For greater $`m`$’s the phase transition lines become denser and denser. In the limit of irrational $`\omega ^{}`$, the lines cross at the critical value $`ϵ=1`$ and the Lyapunov exponents go to zero at these points of intersection . Although for the rational values $`\omega _m`$ the phase diagrams depend on $`\varphi _0`$, in the irrational limit $`\omega ^{}`$ the phase diagram is not sensitive to $`\varphi _0`$.

Note also that for $`ϵ>1`$ the Lyapunov exponents become always negative, this means that the phase transitions are smooth without undergoing an Extended phase. See  for further details in these discussion. As a final remark we note that the phase diagram is symmetric with respect to both axes $`E=0`$ and $`ϵ=0`$. Also we stress that from the mathematical point of view the parameters $`E`$ and $`ϵ`$ can be both negative or positive, from a physical point of view they should be positive, $`E`$ is the energy and $`ϵ`$ is the ratio of the unit cell sides.

The phase diagram becomes in the limit of irrational $`\omega ^{}`$ a fractal (see figure 2 and 3), more exactly, a Cantor set . It is this particular limit that interest us. From the above discussion it is enough to restrict our analysis of the several phases to the first quadrant for $`ϵ<1`$ and $`\varphi _0=0`$.

It remains to study the attractors in the space of variables $`(\varphi ,x)`$. Concerning the purpose of this work we describe the behaviour of the map in the Localized phases only, for further details on extended phases see . For a given $`\omega _m`$, the map has 0-dimensional attractors with period $`F_m`$, this means that the attractor is a $`F_m`$-cycle. In other words the map iteration cycle trough $`F_m`$ distinct points. In the limit $`\omega \omega ^{}`$ it becomes an one-dimensional attractor $`F_{\mathrm{}}`$, it is a line. These results are present in figure 4. It is this property that we are exploring next in order to define our phase classification.

## 3 Topological Classification

It is time to define the classification. We are considering a map from the generic space of variables $`\varphi \times x`$ to a torus such that the identifications $`\varphi :01`$ and $`x:+\mathrm{}\mathrm{}`$ hold. We note that we don’t actually have to impose these identifications, they naturally come from the definitions of the variables $`\varphi `$ and $`x`$.

The $`\varphi `$ identification is justified by noting that $`2\pi \varphi `$ is an angular phase, then the variable $`\varphi `$ is compact in the interval $`[0,1]`$ with identification $`\varphi :01`$ as any usual angular variable.

The $`x`$ identification $`x:+\mathrm{}\mathrm{}`$ is somehow more subtle. By inspecting the attractors we realize that the one-dimensional attractors cross from $`\pm \mathrm{}`$ to $`\mathrm{}`$ at the same value of $`\varphi `$ (as an example see figures 4 and 5). The $`\varphi \times x`$ diagram gives us local properties of the original continuous variable $`\psi `$ at each spatial index $`n`$. We note however that we completely loose all the information about the spatial localization itself (ordering on the spatial indexes $`n`$) of where (and in which order) the original variable $`\psi `$ have those properties. We are going to show that the $`x_n=\psi _{n1}/\psi _n`$ variable is describing exactly the same situation for both cases $`x=+\mathrm{}`$ and $`x=\mathrm{}`$. The setup here is the original continuous variable being null $`\psi =0`$ at some (or many) points, $`x_n=\psi _{n1}/\psi _n=\pm \mathrm{}`$ means that $`\psi _n=0`$. To show the validity of this statement based on geometrical arguments see figure 6 where two points, at different spatial localizations $`n`$ and $`n^{}`$, are considered, the discretized points $`\psi _{n1}`$, $`\psi _n`$, $`\psi _{n^{}1}`$ and $`\psi _n^{}`$ are represented in the figure. Take in both cases $`|\psi _{n1}||\psi _n|`$ and $`|\psi _{n^{}1}||\psi _n^{}|`$. This means that $`x_n+\mathrm{}`$ and $`x_n^{}\mathrm{}`$ do correspond to the same situation of the continuous variable $`\psi =0`$. Both kind of situations will always occur for irrational $`\omega `$ (many times for large $`N`$) because the period of the variable $`\psi `$ and the period of the underlying discretized lattice (given by the magnetic flux $`\omega `$) are incommensurate .

In order to formalize our argument we can invert the map $`x_n=\psi _{n1}/\psi _n`$ between variables obtaining $`\psi _n=\psi _{n1}/x_n`$, then we have that $`x_n\pm \mathrm{}`$ correspond to one only value $`\psi _n0`$. Although not in the scope of the present study, it is interesting to note that $`x_n0`$ correspond to $`\psi _n\pm \mathrm{}`$, therefore a divergence of the original variable $`\psi `$.

So we just proved that the variable identifications $`\varphi :01`$ and $`x:+\mathrm{}\mathrm{}`$ are natural with out need for any a priori assumptions. Then the space of variables $`\varphi \times x`$ is topologically a torus. Therefore the one-dimensional attractors, for irrational $`\omega ^{}`$, are close contours living on the surface of that torus. By inspection we conclude that the attractors wind several times along the $`x`$ coordinate. Furthermore the winding number along the $`x`$ homology cycle is unique for each continuous Localized phase. So we classify these several phases accordingly, such that our classification label $`\eta `$ is the winding number along the $`x`$ homology cycle of the one-dimensional attractors. Note that the winding number in the $`\varphi `$ homology cycle is always $`1`$ except for $`E=0`$ and $`ϵ<1`$ where there are two one-dimensional attractors with winding number $`0`$ in the $`x`$ axis and $`1`$ in the $`\varphi `$ axis . This particular case $`E=0`$ is excluded from our classification.

The great advantage of this classification is that it also provide us a natural hierarchy based on the areas of the several phases. It coincides with the ordering of the areas occupied by the corresponding Localized phases. Furthermore as we consider successive $`\omega _m`$’s, the order of appearance of the phases also coincides with their hierarchical importance. As explained in section 2 this is due to the Localized phases emerging from the splitting of the Extended phases. The diagram for irrational $`\omega ^{}`$ and the classification of areas up to $`\eta =12`$ is presented in figure 3. As an example for higher $`\eta `$ attractors we present in figure 5 the cases for $`\eta =10`$ and $`\eta =11`$.

## 4 Hierarchical Fractal Structure

Here we will define the generic rules to build the fractal structure of the phase diagram in the first quadrant ($`E>0`$ and $`ϵ>0`$).

First let us state some conclusions obtained by inspection (CI) of successive phase diagrams for approximants $`\omega _m`$ (see figures 1 and 3):

1. In each new diagram for successive approximants the last phase on the far right (for $`E>2`$) has always $`\eta =0`$ and correspond to the phase with greater area. It is always present and doesn’t contribute anything to explain the structure. So $`\eta =\mathrm{𝟎}`$ is excluded from the classification.
2. The first phase to appear next (corresponding to the next greater area) as we move in the Fibonacci succession, is $`\eta =1`$. Although we have two Fibonacci elements corresponding to this number, we have only one phase in the phase diagram. In some way (that we will explain later) this means that $`\eta =\mathrm{𝟏}`$ is a degenerate phase.
3. We recall from section 2 that for each approximant $`\omega _m`$ there are $`F_{m1}`$ Localized phases, from the Fibonacci succession we have that $`F_m=F_{m2}+F_{m1}`$, then as we go trough the approximants, from $`\omega _m`$ to $`\omega _{m+1}`$ emerge exactly $`F_{m2}`$ new Localized phases. It seems then a good guess to organize the phases in levels such that in each level $`k=m1`$ there are exactly $`F_{k2}`$ labels in the range $`F_{k1}<\eta _{levelk}F_k`$. We are therefore building a triangular structure.
4. Also as we increase $`m`$ the last phase on the far right (just before $`\eta =0`$) corresponds always to one label belonging to the Fibonacci succession $`\eta _k^R=F_m`$ with $`k=m1`$. We will call $`\eta _k^R`$ the right pivots.
5. The last phase on the left side of the diagram (near $`E=0`$) only changes for the second odd number in the Fibonacci succession (even, odd, odd, even, odd, odd,…). This means that only for $`k=3n+1`$ (for all integer $`n`$) we will have a label $`\eta _{3n+1}^L=F_{3n}+F_{3n2}`$. We will call $`\eta _k^L`$ the left pivots.
6. As we move along the approximants new phases will emerge in the bulk of the diagram next to the ones that already exist in the previous approximants. However if one phase $`\eta _n`$ appears at some approximant $`\omega _m`$, at the immediately next approximant $`\omega _{m+1}`$ no new phases will appear next to this phase $`\eta _n`$. So, for each new phase appearing, there are not adjacent new phases at the immediately next approximant.
7. Also these new phases appearing adjacent to the already existing phases in the bulk will appear either on the right or on the left of the already phases that already exist. So the order of appearance of new phases alternate between left and right.

So we have a triangular Hierarchical Tree organized in levels, each level k has exactelly $`F_{k2}`$ elements (see point CI.3 above) and we are ready to define the rules to build it. In order to accomplish it we first give the rules for the edges of the triangle and then define a recursive rule for the bulk of the triangle. For the reader interested in the full details we present in appendix A the Lyapunov exponents for $`\omega =\omega ^{}`$ and $`ϵ=1`$ with enough resolution to identify the several phases (that correspond to each negative bump) and in appendix B we list the $`\varphi \times x`$ diagrams up to $`\eta =55`$ with indication of the respective energies.

We can define the vertex and edges of the triangle following the following rules:

1. On the top vertex of the triangle is placed the degenerate label $`\eta =1`$ (see point CI.2 in our list of conclusions above). It is degenerate simply because it belongs simultaneously to the right and left edge of the triangle, i.e. it is both a left and a right pivot $`\eta _0^R=\eta _0^L=1`$ (see conclusions by inspection CI.2, CI.4 and CI.5).
2. At the right edge of the triangle we have at each level k the right pivots $`\eta _k^R=F_{k+1}`$ distributed, in sequence (see point CI.4 on the list of conclusions above).
3. On the left edge not all levels have a pivot, we will have left pivots only for level (3n+1) (for any integer $`n`$) with labels $`\eta _{3n+1}^L=F_{3n}+F_{3n2}`$ (see figure 7).

Next we will define a recursive rule for the bulk of Tree. In order to distribute the labels in each level, consider the Tree completely built up to level k and let us construct the next level k+1. We have therefore $`F_{k1}`$ labels in the range $`F_k<\eta _{levelk+1}F_{k+1}`$ (see point CI.3). Although we already have rules for the edges of the triangle (see Rule II and Rule III) we include in the recursive rules also the edges. The following rules should be applied in sequence:

1. Group the two last right pivots $`(\eta _{k1}^R,\eta _k^R)`$ and sum them together, the result is the new pivot of level $`k+1`$, i.e. $`\eta _{k+1}^R=\eta _{k1}^R,\eta _k^R`$.
2. Group in pairs all the remaining elements (the labels) up to level $`k1`$ (we note that no other elements of level k will be used except for the right pivot $`\eta _k^R`$). The way to group them is to start from the right pivot $`\eta _{k2}^R`$ and group it with the immediately adjacent element to the left. Then we take the next element immediately adjacent to the left and group it to next one adjacent to the left, and so on. Here adjacent means the order in the phase diagram as we move to the left, in terms of the Hierarchical Tree, i.e. the closest element in relation to the horizontal projected distance. From two in two levels there will be out of the pairs a single left pivot (see point CI.5 above), then after applying Rule R.3 below, apply also Rule R.4.
3. Sum the right pivot of level k ($`\eta _k^R`$) to all the pairs obtained in Rule 2, then we swap the order of the elements inside each pair and place the resulting (swapped elements) pair at level $`k+1`$ between the elements of the original pair. Again, here, between means in relation to the horizontal projection of the elements. We note that these rules do reproduce the behaviour described in the conclusions by inspection CI.6 and CI.7.
4. From two in two levels we will have a single left pivot unpaired of level k-1, in this case we sum it to the right pivot $`\eta _k^R`$ and place the result as the left pivot of level k+1.

We note that in order to apply the recursive rules we only need the two first labels, i.e. $`\eta _0^R=\eta _0^L=1`$ and $`\eta _1^R=2`$. We note that Rule II is equivalent to Rule 1 and Rule III to Rule 4, we simple list both set for completeness. In this way the rules defining the triangular structure are complete! The first 9 levels of the Hierarchical Tree are shown in figure 7, we can compare it with the corresponding phases in the phase diagram (figure 3). In appendix C we show graphically how to build the triangular structure up to level 9 using these recursive rules.

## 5 Conclusions

In this paper we have proposed an integer topological hierarchical classification for the infinite many Localized phases in the phase diagram $`E\times ϵ`$ of the Harper map for irrational parameter $`\omega ^{}=(\sqrt{5}1)/2`$. This map is equivalent to the Harper equation which, among other applications, describes the Azbel-Hofstader model with $`E`$ being the energy, $`ϵ`$ the anisotropy parameter and $`\omega `$ the magnetic flux per unit cell. The classification is based in the winding number around the holonomy cycles of the One-dimensional attractors in the toroidal space of variables $`\varphi \times x`$. For the classifications obtained, the fractal structure of the $`E\times ϵ`$ phase diagram is built and organized into a triangular structure that exactly describes the phase diagram taking in account the ordering of the several phases. Moreover the integer classification labels (1, 2, 3, …) exactly correspond to the phase importance, concerning their area in the phase diagram and order of appearance in the succession of phase diagrams for the several approximants $`\omega _n`$ converging to $`\omega ^{}`$. So in this since the triangular fractal structure correctly describes all approximants. As possible future works in this subject it would be interesting to investigate the fractal structure for $`\omega `$ given by other irrational numbers and, if possible, to find a rule for generic irrational numbers and respective approximants.

Acknowledgements
This work was supported by PRAXIS XXI/BD/11461/97 and SFRH/BPD/17683/2004. The first part of this work was done at the Department of Physics of the University of Oxford, without the well organized computer resources efficiently available there it would be impossible to accomplish it. The author thanks F.P. Mancini and M.H.R. Tragtenberg for several discussions and comments.

## Appendix A Lyapunov Exponent

In this appendix we present the Lyapunov exponents for $`ϵ=1`$ and $`\omega ^{}`$. The several phases are labelled until $`\eta =55`$.

## Appendix B $`\varphi \times x`$ diagrams

Next we list all the attractors in the space of variables $`\varphi \times x`$ up to $`\eta =55`$.

## Appendix C Building the Hierarchical Tree

We show graphically how to build the Hierarchical Tree up to level 9. Level 1 and Level 2 are given and only contain the vertex (simultaneously left and right) pivot $`\eta _0^R=\eta _0^L=F_1=1`$ and the right pivot $`\eta _1^R=F_2=2`$. We give details of the application of the construction rules up to level 6 which contains all rules. The remaining levels do not involve any new rule and can be build straight forwardly.

On the following figures the pivot used to construct each level $`n+1`$ (i.e. $`\eta _n^R`$, the pivot of the level immediately above the one we are constructing) is inside a darker circle. The remaining elements used are grouped in pairs pictorially marked. We note that up to some level n we have present in our Tree all labels up to $`\eta _n^R=F_{n+1}`$.


text:
# 1 Introduction

## 1 Introduction

The effective potential determines the vacuum state of a quantum field theory.1 When radiative corrections are included or, if one constructs the finite temperature version of field theory the (effective)potential may have two minimum, one of which is lower than the other. The ’higher’ minimum is referred to as the false or metastable vacuum. The global minimum is the true vacuum state of the theory. The existence of these metastable vacua have interesting consequences in the early Universe. If at early times the field settles in the false vacuum it may ’decay’ to the true vacuum either by quantum tunneling or thermal hopping. The transition region is spherically symmetric in coordinate space. Bubbles of the stable phase appear in the metastable phase. In relativistic field theory a formalsim for calculating decay rates from the unstable to the stable vacuum has been developed.2 Since potentials which are non-linear in the fields are inherent in these problems, it is usually not always possible to find analytic solutions to the decay rate equations. Numerical methods are employed in order to avoid too many analytic approximations. For example, in one detailed numerical study, a scalar field in 1 + 1 dimensions in contact with a thermal bath was modeled using a phenomenological Langevin equation with a field independent, white noise driving term.3 There have been attempts to derive a Langevin equation containing fluctuation and dissipation terms from purely field theory considerations.4 In these works the authors considered different models for the thermal bath, but the common result obtained was the possiblity that the thermal noise in the Langevin equation could be colored and depend on the field. In this work we investigate the effects of these non-linear fluctuation and dissipation terms numerically.

## 2 Numerical Method

We study nucleation by evolving the equations of motion of the field on a lattice using a staggerd leap-frog algorithm. We work in $`1+1`$ dimensions and assume that the decay is thermally driven. The field is coupled to the thermal bath through a stochastic noise term, $`\xi (x,t)`$.

$$\frac{^2\varphi (x,t)}{x^2}\frac{^2\varphi (x,t)}{t^2}\eta F(\varphi (x,t))\frac{\varphi (x,t)}{t}=V(\varphi )+\xi (x,t)G(\varphi (x,t))$$
(1)
where $`F(\varphi (x,t))=G(\varphi (x,t))=1`$ for additive noise and, $`F(\varphi (x,t))=\varphi (x,t)^2`$ and $`G(\varphi (x,t))=\varphi (x,t)`$ for multiplicative noise. The general shape of the potential is show in Fig. 2(a). The noise is assumed to be Gaussian, in terms of the distribution of sizes of the fluctuations, and white, in that the fluctuations are uncorrelated in space and time. We assume the noise and viscosity terms are related through the fluctuation-dissipation theorem.5

$$<\xi (x,t)\xi (x^{},t^{})>=2T\eta \delta (xx^{})\delta (tt^{}).$$
(2)
In later work a generalized fluctuation-dissipation theorem for the multiplicative noise will be discussed. We start with the field in the false vacuum, $`V(\varphi )=0`$, and evolve the equation of motion on the lattice until the field acquires its true vacuum value at enough neighboring space points to avoid counting as bubbles fluctuations that re-collapse to the false vacuum value.

## 3 Results

We report on some observations and preliminary results of our study. A large number of nucleation times has to be obtained in order to make a good estimate of the nucleation rate. Furthermore, the nucleation times obtained from the simulation have to be suitably interpreted. We found that if one starts in the false vacuum with a uniform field configuration or with one which is random and uncorrelated then there is a long waiting time before the any bubble is nucleated. This delay is interpreted as the time taken for the coupled field to acquire the short range correlation that is needed for a bubble to nucleate. Nucleation of bubbles occurs only when the field at some point in space reaches the true vacuum and pulls along neighbouring points. A quenching technique, where the equations are evolved in an unbroken potential until the short distance correlation, Fig.2(b), is obtained, can be used to eliminate the delay time. Fig. 3(a) and (b) show the nucleation times recorded for $`5000`$ bubbles using separately the additive and multiplicative noise from (1). We used $`\alpha =0.74`$, $`\lambda =0.1`$, and $`\eta =1`$.

At the time of quenching we reset the time to zero. We see that the distributions are not symmetric. This is expected for the distribution of waiting times for a decay process. We also see that the for the multiplicative noise case the nucleation times are larger and more broadly distributed. Although the size of the thermal fluctuations is multiplied by the field value, the nonlinear dissipation term has an overall larger effect and retards the decay in comparison to the additive noise case. If one obtains non-linear Langevin type equations when studying realistic models like the Electroweak effective potential, for example, the implication for the time scale of nucleation will require a similar careful study. Other aspects of these non-linear models currently under study include the effects on bubble wall expansion and the spatial distribution of critical fluctuations.

Acknowledgements

We thank Ruslan Davidchack, Brian Laird, John Ralston, and Hume Feldman for very helpful discussions.

References