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# Gravitino production in the warm inflationary scenario

## I Introduction

The warm inflation scenario  is an unusual variant on the inflationary cosmology, in which the inflaton has significant interactions during the inflationary epoch leading to a continuous production of radiation. The backreaction of this production on the inflaton field appears as a viscosity, slowing down the scalar field evolution and hence aiding slow-roll inflation . In such a scenario, inflation can proceed with potentials steeper than those in standard chaotic scenarios.

Issues concerning the implementation of warm inflation within a realistic particle physics context have yet to be studied to the same depth as the standard inflationary scenario . Nevertheless, given that the warm inflationary scenario is very different phenomenologically from the usual picture, it makes good sense to examine the extent to which its phenomenology is consistent with observations. The two main purposes of inflation are to provide a large, nearly homogeneous, patch in the Universe within which structure formation can take place, and to ensure that unwanted relic particles do not spoil the successes of the standard hot big bang cosmology. The first of these has seen a reasonable amount of study , and so we will consider an example of the latter.

In the context of modern particle physics, the most troublesome relics are the gravitino and the moduli fields . We will consider the gravitino, whose existence arises as the supersymmetric partner of the graviton, and whose mass is expected to be order of 1 TeV. It is a cosmological threat because if produced in enough abundance in the early Universe, it is sufficiently long lived to survive until after nucleosynthesis, at which point its decays spoil the element abundances . To avoid this, the ratio of gravitino to photon number densities must be below about $`10^{12}`$. The gravitino may be produced both by interactions within a thermal bath  and by various non-thermal processes . In conventional inflationary scenarios, the former gives an important upper limit on the reheat temperature, while the latter may constrain many possible physical processes.

In this paper we explore the consequences of gravitino production during and after warm inflation. Warm inflation differs from conventional inflation in that radiation is constantly produced during inflation, and the radiation density decreases monotonically throughout the evolution, with inflation ending when the radiation density overtakes the inflaton energy density. There is therefore continuous gravitino production during inflation, and also no delay in post-inflationary thermal production due to an intervening (p)reheating period. Consequently the gravitino bound is much harder to satisfy. We will show that the abundance of gravitinos produced during inflation is similar to that produced after inflation, and assess the strength of the constraints this imposes on warm inflation model-building.

## II Evolution of fields during warm inflation

### A Dissipation effects during inflation

We review the dynamics of warm inflation closely following Taylor and Berera , where full details can be found. Warm inflation is distinguished from ordinary inflation by the presence of a viscous damping during the inflationary evolution, so that the inflaton field $`\varphi `$ satisfies the equation

$$\ddot{\varphi }+(3H+\mathrm{\Gamma })\dot{\varphi }+V^{}=0.$$
(1)
Here $`H\dot{a}/a`$ is the Hubble parameter, $`a`$ is the cosmological expansion factor, and $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ is the dissipation coefficient. $`V(\varphi )`$ is the potential of the inflationary field. For simplicity we assume a spatially-flat universe throughout. A dot denotes differentiation with respect to time and a prime with respect to $`\varphi `$.

The energy density of relativistic species, $`\rho _{\mathrm{rad}}`$, follows from energy conservation as

$$\dot{\rho }_{\mathrm{rad}}+4H\rho _{\mathrm{rad}}=\mathrm{\Gamma }\dot{\varphi }^2.$$
(2)
These equations are completed by the Friedmann equation

$$H^2=\frac{8\pi }{3m_{\mathrm{Pl}}^2}\left(\rho _\varphi +\rho _{\mathrm{rad}}\right),$$
(3)
where $`m_{\mathrm{Pl}}`$ is the Planck mass and the energy density of the inflaton field is

$$\rho _\varphi =V(\varphi )+\frac{1}{2}\dot{\varphi }^2.$$
(4)
During an inflationary era the potential field dominates both the kinetic energy of the inflationary field and the energy density of the radiation, so the Friedmann equation can be reduced to

$$H^2\frac{8\pi }{3m_{\mathrm{Pl}}^2}V.$$
(5)
Assuming the slow-roll condition, $`\ddot{\varphi }V^{}`$, the equation of motion for the inflaton reduces to

$$\dot{\varphi }\frac{V^{}}{3H(1+r)},$$
(6)
where

$$r\frac{\mathrm{\Gamma }}{3H},$$
(7)
is a dimensionless dissipation coefficient, whose value in general is time dependent. During the inflationary period the production of radiation will soon settle into a stable state, where $`\dot{\rho }_{\mathrm{rad}}\mathrm{\Gamma }\dot{\varphi }^2`$, giving

$$\rho _{\mathrm{rad}}\frac{\pi ^2}{30}g_{}T^4=\frac{3}{4}r\dot{\varphi }^2,$$
(8)
where $`g_{}`$ is the number of relativistic degrees of freedom. In the Standard Model of particle physics $`g_{}=106.75`$ for $`T300\mathrm{GeV}`$, while in the minimal supersymmetric model (MSSM) we shall be assuming here this rises to $`g_{}=228.75`$ once the temperature is above the mass of the supersymmetric particles.

Combining Eqs. (3), (6) and (8) we find

$$\rho _{\mathrm{rad}}=\frac{1}{2}\left[\left(1+\frac{2ϵr}{(1+r)^2}\right)^{1/2}1\right]\rho _\varphi ,$$
(9)
where

$$ϵ\frac{m_{\mathrm{Pl}}^2}{16\pi }\left(\frac{V^{}}{V}\right)^2$$
(10)
is the usual inflationary slow-roll parameter. Eq. (9) holds for all values of $`r`$. In the limit $`r0`$ dissipation is switched off, and the radiation field vanishes as

$$\rho _{\mathrm{rad}}=\frac{ϵr}{2}\rho _\varphi .$$
(11)
In this regime, increasing the dissipation factor $`r`$ increases the decay of the inflaton field into radiation, while having no effect on the evolution of the inflaton field. For fixed $`ϵ`$ the fractional density of radiation is at a maximum when $`r=1`$ (equivalently $`\mathrm{\Gamma }=3H`$).

### B The strong dissipation regime

Our main focus will be the strong dissipation regime, where the differences from standard inflation are most pronounced. In the regime of strong dissipation $`r1`$ the radiation field is given by

$$\rho _{\mathrm{rad}}=\frac{ϵ}{2r}\rho _\varphi .$$
(12)
The major effect of increasing the dissipation factor is to heavily dampen the evolution of the inflaton field, slowing its evolution down the potential and decreasing the decay into radiation.

The conditions for slow-roll and warm inflation to occur are

$$ϵ<2r,$$
(13)
and for an extended period of inflation we need

$$|\eta |3r^2,$$
(14)
where

$$\eta \frac{m_{\mathrm{Pl}}^2}{8\pi }\frac{V^{\prime \prime }}{V}.$$
(15)
Eqs. (13) and (14) relax the usual constraints on the inflationary potential. Supercooled inflation ends when $`ϵ1`$, while warm inflation takes place until

$$ϵ2r,$$
(16)
when the radiation energy density starts to dominate the energy density of the inflaton field. At this point the universe makes a smooth transition from the inflation phase to a radiation-dominated, hot Friedmann model.

To illustrate the evolution of warm inflation we will consider polynomial potentials of the form

$$V(\varphi )=\lambda m^4\left(\frac{\varphi }{m}\right)^\alpha ,$$
(17)
where we allow $`\alpha `$ to be a positive real number. It is important to note that the only fully complete model of warm inflation, where a period of warm inflation comes to a natural end with the field finishing in the minimum of its potential, occurs when $`\alpha =2`$. For other positive even integers the potential has a suitable minimum at the origin. However for $`\alpha >4`$ the radiation density falls compared to the inflaton energy and so warm inflation does not take hold, as can be seen from Eq. (12) since $`ϵ\varphi ^2`$ and $`r\varphi ^{\alpha /2}`$ . The case $`\alpha =4`$ is special in that the densities of the two components remain in fixed proportion; inflation proceeds forever with the dissipation easing the inflaton asymptotically into the minimum. Modification to the potential would be required to end inflation. We will also consider odd and non-integral values of $`\alpha `$ (taking the field to have positive values). Such potentials have no minimum, and indeed may be ill-defined for negative $`\varphi `$; we include them merely to illustrate the effects of modifications to the slope of the inflaton potential. Our range of investigation will cover $`1\alpha 4`$.

For the polynomial potential the slow-roll parameter $`ϵ=\alpha ^2m_{\mathrm{Pl}}^2/16\pi \varphi ^2`$, and the number of $`e`$-folds of expansion to the end of inflation, $`N(\varphi )`$, is

$$N(\varphi )\mathrm{ln}\frac{a_{\mathrm{end}}}{a}\frac{\alpha }{4\alpha }\frac{\rho _\varphi }{\rho _{\mathrm{rad}}},$$
(18)
where $`\rho _\varphi `$ and $`\rho _{\mathrm{rad}}`$ are the energy densities near the start of warm inflation once stable radiation production has been established. If warm inflation starts with an initial stable ratio $`\rho _\varphi /\rho _{\mathrm{rad}}`$, it will take $`N\rho _\varphi /\rho _{\mathrm{rad}}`$ $`e`$-folds before the radiation and the vacuum energy are equal.

Figure 1 shows the evolution of the energy densities of the inflaton and radiation fields during an inflationary era, when $`\alpha =2`$. We numerically solved Eqs. (1), (2) and (3) as in Ref. . The number of $`e`$-folds is $`N=100`$, and we began the model with $`\rho _{\mathrm{rad}}=\rho _\varphi `$, although the evolution is insensitive to the initial conditions and soon settles into its stable configuration. The choice of parameters was made so that the amplitude of thermally-produced adiabatic perturbations generated during warm inflation agrees with the amplitude of temperature fluctuations in the CMB measured by COBE, $`\delta _\mathrm{H}=2\times 10^5`$ (see Section IV.B and Ref.  for details), with $`\mathrm{\Gamma }=10^2m`$, $`m=10^8m_{\mathrm{Pl}}`$, and $`V^{1/4}10^4m_{\mathrm{Pl}}`$.

## III Thermal production of gravitinos

Gravitinos are too weakly interacting to be able to reach thermal equilibrium with a radiation bath unless the temperature is around the Planck temperature. However, although interactions are negligible once they form, they can be created by two-body processes such as

$$\gamma +\gamma \stackrel{~}{g}+\overline{\stackrel{~}{g}}.$$
(19)
The single-particle decay rate for gravitinos gives a lifetime of order $`m_{3/2}^3/m_{\mathrm{Pl}}^2`$.

### A Thermal production during warm inflation

The number density, $`n_{3/2}`$, of gravitinos produced from the thermal bath is governed by the equation

$$\dot{n}_{3/2}+3Hn_{3/2}=\sigma _{3/2}|v|n_{\mathrm{rad}}^2,$$
(20)
where

$$n_{\mathrm{rad}}=\frac{\zeta (3)}{\pi ^2}g_{}T^30.28g_{}^{1/4}\rho _{\mathrm{rad}}^{3/4},$$
(21)
is the number density of particles in the thermal bath, and $`\zeta (3)=1.202`$. Provided the typical particle energies well exceed the gravitino mass, which is always an excellent approximation for us, the effective total cross-section in a thermal bath for gravitino production, including all particle channels, has been computed as $`\sigma _{3/2}^{\mathrm{tot}}250/m_{\mathrm{Pl}}^2`$ . For convenience we have defined a mean creation rate per particle species as $`\sigma _{3/2}250/g_{}^2m_{\mathrm{Pl}}^2`$, the square arising as the production is a two-body process.***Our notation differs from that of Ref. , who define $`n_{\mathrm{rad}}`$ to be the number density of a single degree of freedom and use the total cross-section. We will be considering temperatures hot enough that all supersymmetric species participate in the thermal bath. The factor $`v1`$ is the velocity of the produced gravitinos. The gravitino production is small enough that backreaction on the radiation density can be neglected, as can reactions destroying gravitinos by interactions or decays.

After a short period of inflation the gravitino production rate becomes stable, $`\dot{n}_{3/2}\sigma _{3/2}|v|n_{\mathrm{rad}}^2`$, and the gravitino number density is given by

$$n_{3/2}=r_gn_{\mathrm{rad}},$$
(22)
where

$$r_g=\frac{\sigma _{3/2}|v|}{3H}n_{\mathrm{rad}},$$
(23)
is the dimensionless production rate in units of the Hubble expansion. We define the yield of gravitinos as

$$Y_{3/2}\frac{n_{3/2}}{s},$$
(24)
where the entropy $`s`$ is equal to $`3.6n_{\mathrm{rad}}`$ in the high-energy regime. Hence during warm inflation the yield is simply

$$Y_{3/2}=\frac{r_g}{3.6}.$$
(25)
As long as the stable production hypothesis is valid, the ultimate yield will only depend on the situation at the end of warm inflation.

Figure 2 shows the evolution of the number densities of the radiation and gravitino populations during warm inflation. The number densities are normalised to the number density of radiation at the $`50^{th}`$ $`e`$-fold, and are typically $`n_{\mathrm{rad}}10^{12}m_{\mathrm{Pl}}^3`$, and $`n_{3/2}10^{20}m_{\mathrm{Pl}}^3`$. The choice of model parameters is the same as for Figure 1.

The gravitino yield is given by Eqs. (21), (23), (25), (12) and (5)

$$Y_{3/2}=2g_{}^{7/4}\left(\frac{ϵ}{2r}\right)^{3/4}\frac{V^{1/4}}{m_{\mathrm{Pl}}}.$$
(26)
For a fixed potential, the yield during warm inflation increases with increasing potential magnitude and slope, as there is greater dissipation into radiation, while the yield decreases with increasing dissipation factor as strong dissipation will dampen the decay process.

For polynomial potentials of the form of Eq. (17) the yield is given by

$$Y_{3/2}=0.4g_{}^{7/4}\lambda ^{5/8}\alpha ^{3/2}\frac{m}{m_{\mathrm{Pl}}}\left(\frac{m_{\mathrm{Pl}}}{\mathrm{\Gamma }}\right)^{3/4}\left(\frac{\varphi }{m}\right)^{(5\alpha 12)/8}.$$
(27)
For this type of potential we see that $`\alpha =12/5`$ is a critical slope for gravitino production, leading to a constant yield as a function of time. Expressing Eq. (27) in terms of the number of $`e`$-folds until the end of warm inflation

$$Y_{3/2}\left[1+\frac{(4\alpha )}{2\alpha }N\right]^{(5\alpha 12)/4(4\alpha )}.$$
(28)
For $`\alpha <12/5`$ the yield increases as a function of time, or $`e`$-folds, with a maximum at the end of warm inflation. For $`\alpha >12/5`$ the yield is a decreasing function of time.

Figure 3 shows the evolution of the yield $`Y_{3/2}`$ during the warm inflation phase, for polynomial potentials with $`\alpha =2`$, $`3.8`$ and $`4`$. The solid lines are calculated numerically, while the lighter lines are from the analytic expression, Eq. (27). Since the gravitino number density quickly settles into its stable production state, the analytic expression accurately describes the evolution.

As the slope is increased to $`\alpha 4`$, the timescale for inflation is asymptotically stretched out, as discussed in Section II B. The dependence on $`e`$-folds asymptotically becomes $`Y_{3/2}e^{N/4}=(a/a_{\mathrm{end}})^{1/4}`$. This weak dependence can be seen in Figure 3.

At the end of warm inflation $`ϵ=2r`$ and the yield is given by

$$Y_{3/2}^{\mathrm{end}}=2g_{}^{7/4}\frac{V^{1/4}}{m_{\mathrm{Pl}}}.$$
(29)
Hence at the end of warm inflation the yield only depends on the magnitude of the potential. The end yield is directly related to the final temperature, $`T_{\mathrm{end}}`$, by

$$Y_{3/2}(T_{\mathrm{end}})1.5g_{}^{3/2}\left(\frac{T_{\mathrm{end}}}{m_{\mathrm{Pl}}}\right).$$
(30)
### B Evolution of gravitinos after warm inflation

Gravitinos have a sufficiently long decay time that they survive beyond nucleosynthesis. Their decays destroy 4He and D nuclei by photodissociation, and if the gravitino abundance is high enough this will disrupt the successful predictions of nucleosynthesis. The important quantity is the ratio of the gravitino to entropy densities.

The entropy is a particularly useful quantity to follow, as the comoving entropy is conserved not only during normal expansion but also during epochs where species fall out of thermal equilibrium and annihilate, changing the number of particle species in the thermal bath, so $`s1/a^3`$ always.An exception to this would be if there were particles with late out-of-equilibrium decays. The evolution of gravitinos, Eq. (20), can be rewritten

$$\dot{n}_{3/2}+3Hn_{3/2}=s\dot{Y}_{3/2}=\sigma _{3/2}|v|n_{\mathrm{rad}}^2.$$
(31)
The yield produced once radiation domination begins is readily calculated using the normal radiation-dominated solution. It is dominated by early time production, as is well known, and the total yield from the beginning of radiation domination is

$$Y_{3/2}Y_{3/2}^{\mathrm{end}}\frac{3g_{}^{11/6}}{m_{\mathrm{Pl}}}\left[n_{\mathrm{rad}}^{1/3}(T_{\mathrm{end}})n_{\mathrm{rad}}^{1/3}(T)\right].$$
(32)
Once $`TT_{\mathrm{end}}`$, the right-hand side of Eq. (32) equals the yield at the end of warm inflation, given by Eq. (29), since at the end of warm inflation $`\rho _\varphi \rho _{\mathrm{rad}}`$. We conclude therefore that the production of gravitinos during warm inflation can only lead to at most a factor of two enhancement over the total production at the end of the warm inflation era.

## IV Constraints on warm inflation

Having calculated the yield of gravitinos during the warm inflationary era, and shown that the yield does not significantly change afterwards, we now use this to constrain the warm inflationary parameters. In standard inflation, there are essentially two free parameters, the amplitude of the inflaton potential, $`V`$, and its slope, $`ϵ`$. In general these can be constrained by the gravitino yield and the amplitude of adiabatic perturbations, the latter being constrained by the observed fluctuations in the microwave background. In the following section we shall show that the main constraint from the gravitino production is on the magnitude of the inflaton potential, while the adiabatic density perturbations constrain the dissipation factor $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$. We begin with the constraint from the gravitino production.

### A The constraint from nucleosynthesis

Avoiding overproduction of D + 3He constrains the ratio of gravitinos to photons at the end of warm inflation. The details of the constraint depend on the gravitino mass , but for our purposes we can safely adopt a conservative limit

$$Y_{3/2}10^{12}.$$
(33)
Combining this with Eq. (29) for the yield at the end of warm inflation, and Eq. (32), for the subsequent production during radiation domination, we find the following constraint on the magnitude of the inflation potential

$$V^{1/4}2\times 10^{13}g_{}^{7/4}m_{\mathrm{Pl}}.$$
(34)
This can be expressed in terms of the temperature at the end of the warm inflationary phase, via Eq. (30), giving

$$T_{\mathrm{end}}8\times 10^6g_{}^{3/2}\mathrm{GeV}.$$
(35)
With $`g_{}=228.75`$ for the MSSM, this gives a constraint in good agreement with the standard result , though slightly weaker due to our adoption of a conservative constraint on $`Y_{3/2}`$. This is as expected since warm inflation has not greatly enhanced the gravitino yield. The main difference in warm inflation is how this constraint interacts with other constraints on the scenario.

### B The constraint from the amplitude of adiabatic density perturbations

In addition to the yield we can add the independent constraint on warm inflation parameters from the amplitude of perturbations, $`\delta _\mathrm{H}^2`$, produced from thermal fluctuations during the warm inflationary era ,

$$\delta _H^2=0.57g_{}^{1/4}\left(\frac{r}{ϵ}\right)^{3/4}\left(\frac{r^2V}{m_{\mathrm{Pl}}^4}\right)^{3/4}.$$
(36)
The observational constraint from adiabatic density perturbations does not actually constrain the amplitude of the potential field alone , since the amplitude is observed at a fixed $`e`$-fold from the end of warm inflation, but rather the combination $`r^2V\mathrm{\Gamma }^2m_{\mathrm{Pl}}^2/24\pi `$. As we usually assume the amplitude of perturbations is measured at the 50th $`e`$-fold from the end of warm inflation, some scaling has to be made to match the constraint from the yield at the end of warm inflation. We may write the number of $`e`$-folds from the end of warm inflation as

$$NA\left(\frac{r}{ϵ}1\right),$$
(37)
where $`A`$ depends on the shape of the potential. For polynomial potentials

$$A=\frac{2\alpha }{(4\alpha )}.$$
(38)
The amplitude of perturbations then constrains the dissipation factor

$$\mathrm{\Gamma }=10^6\left(\frac{\delta _\mathrm{H}^2}{4\times 10^{10}}\right)^{2/3}g_{}^{1/6}\left(1+\frac{N}{50A}\right)^{1/2}m_{\mathrm{Pl}}.$$
(39)
As $`r=\mathrm{\Gamma }/H`$ and $`HV^{1/2}`$, we can combine Eq. (39) with the constraint on the gravitino yield, giving a constraint on the dimensionless dissipation rate

$$r2\times 10^{18}\left(\frac{\delta _\mathrm{H}^2}{4\times 10^{10}}\right)^{2/3}g_{}^{7/3}\left(1+\frac{N}{50A}\right)^{1/2}.$$
(40)
This equation is our main result. It shows that if warm inflation is to simultaneously produce density perturbations of a satisfactory magnitude and avoid overgenerating gravitinos, then the dimensionless dissipation must be extremely high. The main reason for this is that high dissipation increases the magnitude of density perturbations, allowing the inflationary energy scale to be normalized down. With sufficient dissipation, the energy scale becomes low enough that the gravitino yield is sufficiently suppressed.

One caveat to Eq. (40) is the factor $`A`$, relating the ratio $`r/ϵ`$ to the number of $`e`$-folds before the end of warm inflation, when the density perturbations where formed. For polynomial potentials this is typically of order unity, but for potentials with very flat slopes, $`\alpha 0`$, the dissipation rate can be arbitrarily small, as the radiation production is suppressed.

## V Conclusions

A crucial role of inflation is to ensure that unwanted relic particles do not survive with abundances capable of spoiling the standard hot big bang model. We have studied the production of gravitinos during and after a warm inflationary era, and combined the constraint this gives with the requirement that density perturbations of the correct magnitude are generated.

We have found that although there is continuous gravitino production during warm inflation from interactions in the thermal bath, this does not in itself lead to a very significant extra yield of gravitinos over and above that produced at the end of warm inflation. Nevertheless, avoiding overproduction of gravitinos is much more challenging than in conventional inflationary scenarios, because the radiation density is monotonically decreasing throughout the evolution. Satisfying the gravitino bound requires that the potential energy at the end of warm inflation be very small, $`V^{1/4}10^9m_{\mathrm{Pl}}`$. In order for density perturbations to have the correct magnitude requires a dissipation factor $`\mathrm{\Gamma }10^6m_{\mathrm{Pl}}`$, and hence a dimensionless dissipation $`r10^{12}`$ unless the slope of the potential is extremely flat. Either way, it is clear that evading overproduction of gravitinos strongly constrains the warm inflation scenario, requiring dimensionless numbers many orders of magnitude away from unity.

## Acknowledgments

A.N.T. is a PPARC Advanced Fellow, and thanks the University of Sussex Astronomy Centre, where this work began, for its hospitality, and Arjun Berera for useful discussion. A.R.L. acknowledges CITA for hospitality while some of this work was carried out, and Beatriz de Carlos for discussions on gravitino properties.


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# Spin Profile of Galactic Halos and Disk Formation

## 1. Introduction

Disk galaxies that form in cosmological hydro simulations are surprisingly smaller and of lower spin than observed disks, posing an “angular-momentum problem” (e.g. Navarro & Steinmetz 1997, 2000). A key ingredient in the origin of galactic rotation, which can be studied in detail, is the distribution of angular momentum in the dark halo within which baryonic infall is assumed to form the disk. We describe here several advances in the investigation of the origin of halo angular momentum and its distribution, and preliminary implications on disk formation, based on high-resolution $`N`$-body simulations and analytic approximations. The universal $`j`$ profile (§2) and the implied disk structure (§3) are presented in Bullock et al. (2000, BDK+). The issues of tidal-torque theory (§4) are studied by Porciani, Dekel, & Hoffman (2000, PDH) and the scaling relation is by Porciani & Dekel (2000, PD). The $`j`$ profile due to mergers (§5) is by Dekel & Burkert (2000, DB). The correlations with merger history (§6) are to be described in Wechsler et al. (2000, WBD+).

## 2. A Universal Halo Spin Profile

We use a high-resolution $`N`$-body simulation of the $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$CDM cosmology ($`\mathrm{\Omega }_\mathrm{m}=0.3`$) inside a $`60h^1\mathrm{Mpc}`$ box, with particles of $`10^9\mathrm{M}_{_{\mathrm{}}}`$ and force resolution of $`2h^1\mathrm{kpc}`$ (ART code, Kravtsov et al. 1997). Spherical halos are identified around density maxima using an NFW density profile; they contain a mass $`M`$ inside a virial radius $`R`$, defined such that it encompasses a mean overdensity of 340. We focus here on 500 isolated halos with $`M>10^{12}h^1\mathrm{M}_{_{\mathrm{}}}`$.

We find that the mass distribution of specific angular momentum $`j`$ is well fit by a universal  profile:

$$M(<j)=\mu Mj/(j_0+j),\mu >1.$$
(1)
This is roughly a power law for $`j<j_0`$, which flattens off if $`j>j_0`$. The shape  parameter $`\mu `$ correlates with the fraction of mass in the power-law regime, which always contains more than half the mass.

One can replace $`j_0`$ with a robust spin parameter $`\lambda ^{}J/(\sqrt{2}MV_\mathrm{c}R)`$, where $`V_\mathrm{c}^2=GM/R`$. It coincides with the standard spin parameter $`\lambda `$ for an isothermal sphere and for an NFW profile with concentration $`C10`$. The pairs $`(\mu ,j_0)`$ and $`(\mu ,\lambda ^{})`$ are related via

$$j_0b(\mu )=\sqrt{2}V_\mathrm{c}R\lambda ^{},b(\mu )\mu \mathrm{ln}(1\mu ^1)1.$$
(2)
Either pair can fully characterize the $`j`$ profile. Fig. 1 shows a few examples. Fig. 2 (left) shows a certain correlation between $`\mu `$ and $`\lambda ^{}`$, with a correlation coefficient $`r=0.23`$, meaning that high-spin halos tend to have power-law profiles.

We find that the direction of the angular-momentum vector tends to be aligned throughout the halo; for more than half the mass, $`j`$ and $`j_z`$ typically differ by less than a factor of 2. The spatial symmetry of $`j`$ tends to be more cylindrical than spherical; in 80% of the halos, the mean value of $`j`$ (over longitude) decreases by less than a factor of 2 when moving away from the equatorial plane along lines parallel to the spin axis.

## 3. Disk Structure: Core and Tail

A simple model can convert the halo $`M(<j)`$ into a disk density profile. Assume that the gas initially traces the $`j`$ distribution of the halo, and that $`j`$ is conserved during the gas contraction into a rotation-supported disk of mass $`fM`$. Then, using Eq. 1, the disk mass inside radius $`r`$ is $`j(r)/[j_0+j(r)]`$. Under the assumption of an isothermal halo with a flat rotation curve, one has $`j(r)=rV_\mathrm{c}`$, and then the disk surface-density profile is

$$\mathrm{\Sigma }_\mathrm{d}=\frac{f\mu M}{2\pi }\frac{r_\mathrm{d}}{r(r_\mathrm{d}+r)^2},r_\mathrm{d}\frac{\sqrt{2}\lambda ^{}R}{b(\mu )}.$$
(3)
The characteristic length scale $`r_\mathrm{d}`$ is based on Eq. 2.

A more accurate numerical calculation using an NFW profile, that self-consistently solves for the disk circular velocity at $`r`$ and takes into account the adiabatic contraction of the halo in response to the baryonic infall, leads to the typical profile shown in Fig. 2 (right). Compared to an exponential disk (which is similar to the profile obtained from a uniform, solid-body rotating halo), our resultant profile has a core and tail excess, with somewhat higher densities both at small and large radii. Since observed (stellar) disks are closer to exponential, this result may either indicate that $`j`$ is not exactly preserved during the collapse, or it may require some additional viscous processes (e.g. Lin & Pringle 1987). In some cases, the obtained slow-rotating core may be associated with a bulge. The extended disk, on the other hand, may be useful in explaining the damped Lyman-alpha systems observed at high redshift (Maller et al. 2000).

Our result for the limiting case of $`j`$ conservation clearly sharpens the big “angular-momentum problem”, because $`j`$ transport from gas to dark matter and from inside out can only worsen any agreement with observed disks. It seems that one needs to appeal to some process of gas removal from subclumps before they merge into the halo center, and thus reduce $`j`$ transport.

## 4. Spin Profile based on Tidal Torque Theory

We find in the simulations that the halo $`j`$ profile in spherical shells is roughly a power law, $`j(M)M^s`$, with $`s`$ distributed like a Gaussian: $`s=1.3\pm 0.3`$ (see an early indication by Barnes & Efstathiou 1987). Here $`j`$ is the specific angular momentum in a shell of radius $`r`$, and $`M`$ is the mass in the sphere encompassed by this shell. This profile can be related to the distribution $`M(<j)`$ under the assumptions of spherical symmetry for the density and cylindrical symmetry for $`j`$. Linear tidal-torque theory (TT) provides one hint for the origin of this power law, as follows.

TT (e.g. White 1984) implies that the $`j`$ gained by a halo at time $`t`$ before its turn-around is

$$J_i(t)=a(t)^2\dot{D}(t)ϵ_{ijk}T_{jl}I_{lk},$$
(4)
where the time growth is from some fiducial initial time $`t_\mathrm{i}`$, $`I_{lk}`$ is the inertia tensor of the proto-halo at $`t_\mathrm{i}`$, and $`T_{jl}`$ is the tidal tensor at the halo center, smoothed on the halo scale. This is based on assuming the Zel’dovich approximation for the velocities inside the proto-halo, and a 2nd-order Taylor expansion of the potential (see PDH). We show elsewhere (PD) that the standard scaling relation of TT should be slightly modified; it should read

$$jt_\mathrm{c}\sigma (M)M^{2/3},$$
(5)
where $`t_\mathrm{c}`$ is the turn-around time of the halo (assuming that the relevant cosmology at $`t_\mathrm{c}`$ is still EdS) and $`\sigma (M)`$ is the rms density fluctuation on scale $`M`$ at $`t_\mathrm{i}`$.

To obtain the spin profile we apply Eq. 5 shell by shell. The turn-around time of each shell is determined by $`\overline{\delta }(M)D(t_\mathrm{c})1`$, where $`\overline{\delta }(M)`$ is the mean density inside $`M`$. The densities within the different shells are correlated, such that, for a Gaussian field, the typical density fluctuation profile about a random point scales like $`\delta (r)\xi (r)`$, where $`\xi (r)`$ is the linear two-point correlation function (Dekel 1981). This is accurate to a few percent also around a high peak (Bardeen et al. 1986, Fig. 8). Thus, for a power-law power spectrum $`P_kk^n`$ and a flat universe, we obtain for the $`j`$ profile within each halo

$$j(M)M^{2/3+(3+n)/3}.$$
(6)
This implies $`1<s<4/3`$ for $`2<n<1`$, the range appropriate for large galactic halos in a CDM spectrum, in pleasant agreement with our finding for the simulated halos. A similar analysis, using the accretion rate into halos based on the Extended Press-Schechter approximation, also explains a weak anti-correlation detected in the simulations between $`s`$ and halo mass (BDK+).

Using simulated halos (in GIF simulations), PDH find that TT predicts an amplitude for the halo spin in the right ball-park. This confirms the relevance of TT to the $`j`$ distribution in halos. On the other hand, PDH find that the predicted spin direction is only weakly correlated with the true direction, with an average deviation of $`53^{}`$. This reflects large inaccuracies in the smoothing of the tidal tensor and the truncation of the Taylor expansion of the potential. This relative failure of TT in predicting the spin direction should be born in mind when trying to use TT for the analysis of spin-spin correlations and weak-lensing phenomena.

## 5. Spin Profile due to Mergers

A simple toy calculation for how $`j`$ is being deposited in the halo during a merger provides another hint for the origin of the $`j`$ profile. Consider a fixed halo and an incoming satellite of mass profiles $`M(r)`$ and $`m(\mathrm{})`$ respectively. Assume that as it moves in, the satellite is losing mass outside a tidal radius $`\mathrm{}_\mathrm{t}`$, determined at $`r`$ by

$$m(\mathrm{}_\mathrm{t})/\mathrm{}_\mathrm{t}^2=\mathrm{}_\mathrm{t}\mu (r)/r^3,\mu (r)=[2M(r)r\mathrm{d}M/\mathrm{d}r].$$
(7)
For isothermal halos this implies $`m(r)M(r)r`$. Now assume that the satellite is spiraling in due to dynamical friction in circular orbits, and that the mass and $`j`$ are deposited locally. Then $`j(r)`$ is obtained by averaging over shells,

$$4\pi r^2\rho (r)j(r)=m(r)\frac{\mathrm{d}[rV_\mathrm{c}(r)]}{\mathrm{d}r}+\frac{\mathrm{d}m(r)}{\mathrm{d}r}rV_\mathrm{c}(r).$$
(8)
The $`j`$ transfer is due to both the slowdown of the satellite by dynamical friction and the direct tidal stripping of mass. For an isothermal halo, we obtain

$$j(M)M.$$
(9)
Fig. 3 (left) shows the $`j`$ profile for an NFW halo swallowing a satellite that is loosing mass either according to the recipe $`m(r)M(r)`$ or based on Eq. 7 assuming that the satellite has an isothermal profile, compared to the case of no mass loss. The general shape of $`j(M)`$ in the outer decade of mass, when realistic mass loss is considered, is reminiscent of the profiles detected in the cosmological simulation.

Full $`N`$-body simulations of mergers, spanning a range of halo and collision parameters, confirm the robust production of such power-law like profiles (DB).

The resulting $`j(M)`$ from a sequence of minor mergers would be a sum of similar contributions, each projected onto the direction of the total net angular momentum (perhaps determined by the most major merger).

Since halo accretion histories typically reflect some combination of relatively quiescent mass accretion and more pronounced mergers, the $`j`$ profiles of individual halos may reflect a combination of the two processes explored above. We see that the profiles produced by each of the two processes are, in general, of similar shape to the profiles measured in the simulations.

## 6. Spin and Merger History

Further investigations of halos in the ART and GIF simulations (WBD+) reveal interesting correlations between halo spin and merger history. For example, halos that had a major merger in the last Gyr tend to have higher spins, $`\lambda =0.055`$, in comparison with the average of 0.035 for all halos. This is hardly surprising because most of the orbits of merging halos are expected to be of large impact parameter and therefore to bring in much angular momentum.

On the other hand, we find that major mergers also result in effective loss of $`j`$, typically by a factor of $`2`$ of the original orbital $`j`$. This spin loss is associated with mass loss of the weakly bound outer layers of the halos which are preferentially $`j`$-rich, Eq. 1. This spin loss somewhat weakens the tendency for high spin in merger products.

These effects may be correlated with the fact that major mergers tend to be prograde, with the spins of the two merging halos oriented roughly parallel to each other and to the angular momentum of their mutual orbit. Fig. 3 (right) shows the average $`cos(\theta )`$ between the two spins and between the spin and orbit for pairs of halos at a given separation $`r`$. There is a significant alignment at $`r<400h^1\mathrm{kpc}`$, growing as a power law towards smaller distances. Prograde encounters indeed explain both the high spin and the high spin loss. Being prograde they are more effective in transferring energy from the orbit to internal motions and thus making the typical impact parameter for mergers even larger. This, plus the coherency of progenitor spins and orbital $`j`$, results in a high spin. But at the same time a prograde encounter causes effective stripping of $`j`$-rich mass.

High spin due to major mergers seems not to go naturally with the common wisdom that such mergers produce low-spin bulges and elliptical galaxies. However, it is the halo properties at $`z1`$ (say) rather than today that are likely to determine the $`j`$ content of the gas which later falls in to form the disk. Then, it is the halo merger history prior to $`z1`$ that is more relevant for the galactic spin, while later mergers govern the bulge-to-disk ratio. The high-spin halos at $`z1`$, those that were assembled and virialized not long before $`z1`$, may be the hosts of high-spin disks that are observed as low-surface-brightness galaxies (Dekel et al. 2001).

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text:
# WIYN1footnote 11footnote 1The WIYN telescope is maintained and operated by a consortium whose member institutions are University of Wisconsin, Indiana University, Yale University, and the National Optical Astronomy Observatories. Open Cluster Study 5. Lithium Depletion and Metallicity in G and K Dwarfs of the Open Cluster M35.

## 1 Introduction

Late spectral type stars share a series of characteristics which make them extremely interesting objects. Among other parameters, these properties usually depend on the age and the stellar mass. These stars have activity which is analog to the one present on the Sun, arising from the stellar corona, the chromosphere and the photosphere. This activity is produced as a consequence of the interaction between differential rotation and magnetic fields, the so-called stellar dynamo (Parker 1955). Rotation itself is a very important characteristic, with a dependence on mass and age not fully understood. The understanding of these properties require to locate them in an evolutionary scenario. This is done by studying members of open clusters of different ages and metallicities, so we can determine which is the particular role of age, stellar mass and chemical composition.

Lithium is a chemical element which can be used as a probe to the internal structure, since convection transports the material downward to layers hot enough to destroy lithium by interactions with protons. Due to this, its surface abundance depends strongly on age for a given mass during the pre-Main Sequence (pre-MS) phase. And, because of increasing depth of the convective envelope when moving to less massive stars, the lithium abundance also depends on mass. (or stars of spectral type later than F8, at a given age, more massive stars have higher Li.) After the pre-MS phase, additional mixing mechanisms are needed, in order to explain the lithium abundance of FGK spectral type members of clusters of different ages. For recent reviews, see Deliyannis (2000) and Jeffries (2000). In particular, Deliyannis (2000) stresses the stellar mass as the first parameter controlling Li depletion, and age the second parameter. Additional parameters might be composition, and initial angular momentum. There have been reported a significant amount of studies on the evolution of lithium with age and the dependence on mass. Updated reviews on the lithium phenomenon, from the theoretical and observational point of views, can be found in Vauclair (2000) and Martín (2000), respectively. Very well known open clusters such as the Hyades, Praesepe, Coma, M67 and Alpha Per have been exhaustively investigated, as well as other not so famous, and the behavior of lithium in their members analyzed. The Pleiades has played a prima donna role in these investigations. Duncan & Jones (1983) showed that G Pleiades stars have significant lithium abundances differences. Butler et al. (1987) reported a scatter for rapid rotators of K spectral type, confirmed by García López et al. (1991a,b), and Soderblom et al. (1993a). García López, Rebolo, & Martín (1994) added more data to the sample and established that the relation between fast rotators and high lithium abundances broke down for stars at Teff$`<`$4500 K. Jones et al. (1996) examined the late K and Russell (1996), Stuik et al. (1997), Jeffries (1999), King, Krishnapurthi & Pinsonneault (2000) and Barrado y Navascués et al. (2000) have recently dealt with the origin of the lithium spread in K Pleiades stars, without solving completely the puzzle.

The M35 cluster (NGC2168) is, allegedly, coeval to the Pleiades, since their turn–off is located in the same position in the color-magnitude diagram (Vidal 1973). Due to several properties, it has a promising future as a target for this type of studies. Although it is moderately far away –(m-M)0=9.7 magnitudes, compared with (m-M)0=5.36 in the case of the Pleiades, Robichon et al. (1999)–, it has a clear advantage over other associations: its richness. It is one of the richest nearby young clusters, with a total mass estimated between 1600 and 3200 M (Leonard & Merritt 1989). Membership of those (few) stars hotter than about 5700 K can be checked against the excellent proper motion membership study of McNamara and Sekigushi (1985). In addition, several optical surveys have been recently conducted, producing long lists of candidate members (Sung & Bessell 1999; von Hippel 2000; Sarrazine et al. 2000). The recent study by Sung & Bessell (1999) yields (m-M)0=9.60$`\pm `$0.10, E(B–V)=0.255$`\pm `$0.024 and an age of 200$`{}_{}{}^{+200}{}_{100}{}^{}`$ Myr, somewhat older than the turn–off age of the Pleiades, 80 Myr. Similar results have been derived by Sarrazine et al. (2000), including (m-M)=10.16$`\pm `$0.01, E(B–V)=0.198$`\pm `$0.008, and an age of 160$`\pm `$40 Myr.

For some time now, we have been studying exhaustively this cluster, tackling problems such as the mass function of the cluster (Barrado y Navascués et al. 1999, 2000a), rotational periods, and multicolor photometric surveys (Barrado y Navascués et al. 2000a). Moreover, since the cluster covers less than 1 sq.deg., it is a perfect candidate for multi–object spectroscopy. We have taken advantage of the WIYN/HYDRA multi–fiber spectrograph and observed a sample of M35 candidate members, with the goal of identifying bona fide members, determining the pattern of lithium depletion and rotation for them, and establishing the connection between these two last properties (rotation and lithium). We present the data in Section 2, whereas the analysis and comparison with open clusters, including the Pleiades, are discussed in Section 3. A summary and the main conclusion can be found in Section 4.

## 2 The data

### 2.1 M35 observations and data reduction

We selected our initial sample of M35 photometric candidate from Barrado y Navascués et al. (2000a). In that paper, we produced a list of cluster candidates based on their location in a V,Ic and Ic,Rc color-magnitude diagrams. Our targets have colors and magnitudes in the ranges V=14.5–17.5 and (V–I)c=0.85–1.55. Figure 1 displays the location in a color-magnitude diagram of our target stars. In total, we observed 76 candidate members of the cluster. Table 1 lists the names and positions of these stars, as well as the photometry (our data from Barrado y Navascués et al 2000a and a compilation of data from Sung & Bessell 1999). The last column in Table 1 indicates the membership status of these candidates (see Section 3.1).

Our candidate members were observed spectroscopically using WIYN/HYDRA, a multifiber spectrograph, capable of observing 97 targets simultaneously. We took 6 individual exposures of $``$2 hours each, over 2 different nights.

The reduction was carried out with the IRAF222IRAF is distributed by National Optical Astronomy Observatories, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under contract to the National Science Foundation, USA environment, using standard procedures (bias subtraction, flat–fielding, extraction of the individual spectra and wavelength calibration). IRAF contains a specific package which performs optimally all these functions in a standardized way, denominated ”dohydra”. The final free spectral range is 6440-6850 Å, with a resolution of R$``$20 000, as measured in the comparison lamp spectra (2 pixels). Since we collected spectra in two consecutive nights, and within each night the observations were split in individual exposures two hours long each, we processed each individual set of spectra in a complete independent way. Once the exposure was reduced and the individual spectra were extracted for each star, we combined all the spectra corresponding to the same star using a median filter, in order to remove remaining cosmic rays. The signal–to–noise ratios range from 40 per pixel for our faintest objects, to 160 in the case of the brightest. This is a remarkable feat for stars which are at (m-M)=10.4 magnitudes. Some examples of spectra of our sample of M35 candidates are shown in Figure 2. The effective temperature decreases upward. Note the obvious change of the H$`\alpha `$ equivalent width and profile, and the presence of the lithium doublet at Li I 6708Å.

### 2.2 Data from other clusters.

In the next sections we will analyze the data we have derived for M35 candidate members. We will also compare our data with data collected from a number of open clusters, namely the Pleiades, NGC2516, M34 –NGC1039–, NGC6475, Ursa Majoris moving group –UMaG– and the Hyades. The turn–off ages of these clusters lie in the ranges 70–100, 120–150, 200, 220, 300 and 600-800 Myr, respectively. At the present time, our group has estimated the ages of the open clusters IC2391 (Barrado y Navascués, Stauffer & Patten 1999), Alpha Per (Stauffer et al. 1999), and the Pleiades (Stauffer, Schultz, & Kirkpatrick 1998), based on the lithium depletion boundary technique (LDB) in very low mass members of each cluster. These LDB ages are $``$50 % older than the turn–off ages. However, they agree with turn–off ages computed with a moderate amount of core overshooting (Ventura et al. 1998). In fact, Stauffer & Barrado y Navascués (1999) have been able to define a new age scale for young open clusters based on the lithium dating technique, in opposition to the Upper Main Sequence age scale, such as that from Mermilliod (1981). Note that in the new LDB age scale, the Pleiades is 125$`\pm `$5 Myr. Although there are now very deep photometry of M35, reaching the lithium depletion boundary of the cluster (Barrado y Navascués et al. 1999, 2000a), the distance modulus of the cluster is so large that it poses an extraordinary challenge to detect lithium at the bottom of its Main Sequence even with the largest telescopes and a significant amount of observing time. Regardless of the age scale we use, the conclusions of this study remain the same, providing we use ages in the same scale for each cluster. Therefore, we will work with the turn–off age scale, keeping in mind that the real ages may be a 50 % older.

The data for these clusters we are going to compare come from several sources. In the case of the Pleiades, photometry, rotation, activity, and lithium equivalent widths come from Soderblom et al. (1993a), García López, Rebolo, & Martín (1994), Jones et al. (1996) and Jeffries (1999). Additional photometric data were selected from Johnson & Mitchell (1958), Stauffer (1982, 1984), and Stauffer & Hartmann (1987). NGC2516 data come from Jeffries, James, & Thurston (1998). Jones et al. (1997) is the source of M34 data, whereas James & Jeffries (1997) provides the information for NGC6475. Data for UMaG were collected by Boesgaard et al. (1988) and Soderblom et al. (1993c). Finally, Hyades data were selected from a number of sources, including Duncan & Jones (1983), Boesgaard & Tripicco (1986), Rebolo & Beckman (1988), Soderblom et al. (1990), Thorburn et al. (1993), Barrado y Navascués & Stauffer (1996). We have to point out that in some cases, these databases only provide the (B–V) or (V–I)k color indices, whereas our M35 sample was observed in the V,Ic filters. In general, we look for additional data in these last two bands, losing some stars which do not have this type of data. In some cases, we only could find data in the Kron system, instead the Cousins system. Then, the (V–I)k color was transformed into (V–I)c color using Bessell & Weis (1987) transformation. However, for other comparisons, we preferred to keep all the original sample (such as in some comparisons between M35 and the Pleiades). In this case, we converted those (B–V) Pleiades values into (V–I)c colors using an average relation between these colors which was computed using Pleiades stars observed in both colors. This transformation introduces a bias, due to the inhomogeneous reddening for some Pleiades stars (Soderblom 1993b). We emphasize that all the data for these seven clusters were treated in an homogeneous way (for instance, the derived lithium abundances).

## 3 Analysis

### 3.1 Radial velocities and membership

Our spectral resolution (R$``$20,000) allows us to compute radial velocities to an accuracy of $``$1 km/s. This was achieved by measuring the positions of strong lines (from iron and calcium) on the spectra and deriving the shifts respect their rest wavelengths. We also performed cross-correlation against M35 candidate members. HYDRA is a bench spectrograph and, therefore, the wavelength calibration is very precise (that is, it always yields the same value). In any case, even if there is any shift having other origin than the relative velocity of the M35 candidates and Earth, this unlikely shift should be the same for all stars in our sample, since a particular exposure for a star was obtained simultaneous to the rest of candidates. Since we have several exposures which were taken during two consecutive nights, we have measured radial velocities in each of them. Therefore, we have 11 data-points for each M35 candidate member.

Based on the radial velocity information, we have classified our M35 candidate members in three different categories:

* Probable members, single stars. These stars do not present variability on the radial velocity (at least in the time scale of our series of observations, two days) and the measured values are well within the average radial velocity of the cluster ($`<`$RV$`>`$M35=–8.0$`\pm `$1.5 km/s). There are 39 objects in this group. Average radial velocities and dispersions are listed in column #2 of Table 2 for these stars.
* Possible members, spectroscopic binaries. This group includes all the candidates with variable radial velocity. Some of them show lines arising from both components of the system. Since we have obtained only a handful of spectra per star, we are not able to estimate the radial velocity of the baricenter and, therefore, to determine their membership status. There are 13 objects in this category, including 3 SB2 binaries
* Probable non-member. Those stars whose radial velocity is constant and different to the cluster average have been classified as non-members based on this criterion. Moreover, the majority of these stars have a remarkable weak Li I 6708Å doublet. Most field stars are likely to be older than the very young M35, and are thus likely to have depleted their Li, consistent with our findings.

Note that we only have used lithium as a membership criterion to confirm the classification as a non-member of stars falling in this group. Figure 1 depicts all the stars in our sample, probable members, possible SB members and non-members, as solid circles, empty circles and crosses, respectively. Since our goal is to study the properties of dG–dK members of the M35 cluster (rotational velocities, metallicity, activity and lithium abundances), we do not consider further the non-member. See Barrado y Navascúes et al. (2000a) for more information about them. We defer the discussion about the possible binaries of M35 to a forthcoming paper, which will analyze the lithium abundance and photometric properties of the components in the same fashion as Barrado y Navascués & Stauffer (1996) and Barrado y Navascués et al. (1997b), where we presented an exhaustive and comprehensive analysis of long period and tidally locked binaries belonging to the Hyades and M67 open clusters. For the special role that short period binaries play in testing models of lithium depletion caused by rotationally induced mixing, see discussion in Deliyannis (1990); for related discoveries of high-Li short binaries, see, a) in the Hyades (Thorburn et al. 1993), b) in M67 (Deliyannis et al. 1994), and c) in the field and metal-poor stars (Ryan and Deliyannis 1995). For a general description from the phenomenological point of view of the role of binarity on the lithium depletion phenomenon, see Barrado y Navascués (1998).

### 3.2 Rotational velocities

Rotational velocities were derived by cross-correlation technique. First, we selected one spectrum with very narrow lines, and spinned it up using rotational broadening functions with rotational velocities from 10 km/s to 90 km/s, with increments of 10 km/s. These artificially broadened spectra were cross–correlated with the candidate members, using the spectral range 6600–6730 Å. The v sini values are listed in the last column of Table 2.

Figure 3a depicts our measured rotational velocity against the dereddened (V–I)c color index for all the probable members of M35. Solid circles represent actual measurements, whereas solid triangles correspond to upper limits. As a comparison, we have included data from the Pleiades, which were selected from Soderblom et al. (1993a). This sample appears as crosses in the figure. Despite of its youth, M35 lacks rapid rotators in this color range. Only a handful of the warmer stars in the sample have projected rotational velocities well above the detection limit. Their velocity ranges between 20 and 30 km/s. Only one star in the cooler end (M35-5376) has a high rotational velocity. (In fact, the largest among our sample of probable members of the cluster.) However, stars belonging to the Pleiades open cluster show a very different pattern in their distribution of rotational velocities. A significant amount of them have values larger than 50 km/s, even reaching 130–140 km/s in two cases. Since M35 and the Pleiades have, allegedly, the same age, this situation defies, till certain extent, our understanding of the age-rotation connection. It should be taken into account that the Pleiades (V–I)c values where derived from (B–V) colors. To avoid any possible bias introduced by this process, we have re-plotted the data in Figure 3b using measured (V–I)k colors for Pleiades stars and transforming them into (V–I)c. Some of these stars have disappeared from scene, due to the lack of adequate photometry. More important, some of these Pleiades stars have been shifted red-wards, and they lie now on top of the M35 cool rapid rotator. The lack of concordance between (B–V) and (V–I) photometry has been noticed by King, Krishnamurthi & Pinsonneault (2000), who pointed out that it could be due to errors in one passband or to increased red flux from stellar spots. In fact, they found, in their words “… strong evidence that our Teff values … are affected by activity level.” But the conclusion still holds, the Pleiades has a significant amount of fast rotators which are not present in M35. Other parameters might be working, such as a difference in metallicity (see next subsection) and/or a different initial angular momentum distribution (it would have been more uniform in M35). An additional piece of information can be extracted from the comparison between M35 and NGC2516 data, shown in Figure 3c. The similitude of both distributions is remarkable, an understandable phenomenon if, as pointed out by Sung & Bessel (1999), M35 is 200$`{}_{}{}^{+200}{}_{100}{}^{}`$ Myr, and therefore closer in age to NGC2516 than to the Pleiades.

### 3.3 The metallicity of M35

The lithium depletion depends, among other parameters, on age, rotation and metallicity (see recent reviews by Balachandran 1995; Pinsonneault 1997; Martín 2000). Therefore, in order to interpret correctly our observations, we have to take into account the metal content, specially if we intend to infer conclusions by comparison with other clusters. To our knowledge, there is no previous spectroscopic study of the metallicity of this cluster. Sung & Bessell (1999), based on photometric data (UBVI filters), estimated \[Fe/H\]M35=-0.3. Gratton (2000), using DDO photometry, estimated \[Fe/H\]M35=-0.28. We have obtained an independent estimate of the M35 metallicity based on spectral synthesis. We have used the MOOG spectral synthesis program (Sneden 1973) and Kurucz (1992) model atmospheres. In all cases, we used a gravity of log g=4.5. The gf-values were derived by Balachandran (private communication), via spectral synthesis of solar equivalent widths (Kurucz et al. 1984). We applied these data to a subsample of our bona fide M35 single probable members. This group includes the 9 brightest-warmest stars, with the highest S/N. The spectrum of some of these stars can be found in Figure 2.

We measured the equivalent widths of several iron lines present in the observed spectral range (about 10 per star, see Table 3). We acknowledge that the number of lines is small, due to the short free spectral range, and all of them belong to the ion Fe I. These facts introduce uncertainties in the final estimate. The \[Fe/H\] value was derived in two different ways: (i) We used the effective temperature evaluated from the photometry (temperature scale from Bessel 1979, with values derived from (V–I)c, listed in Table 1). A model atmosphere with this temperature was introduced in MOOG as input in order to derive the iron abundance for each line. We list the average value in columns #2 and #3 of Table 4. (ii) We adjusted the effective temperature (spectroscopic temperatures) with MOOG in order to obtain the similar values of \[Fe/H\] for all lines at different excitation potentials. The results, as well as their standard deviations, are listed in columns #4 and #5 of Table 4.

Figure 4 shows both sets of results (data derived using spectroscopic and photometric temperatures appear as solid and empty circles). The average values in both cases are very similar, within the uncertainties. We have adopted a metallicity for the M35 cluster of \[Fe/H\]M35=–0.21$`\pm `$0.10 dex, corresponding to the average value of our individual metallicities. In order to compare with the Pleiades open cluster, we proceeded in the same way with several Pleiades members of the same color range (spectra kindly provided by D. Soderblom). In this case, the result is \[Fe/H\]Pleiades=+0.01 dex. This value can be compared with those results for the Pleiades by Cayrel, Cayrel de Strobel, & Campbel (1988), +0.13 dex; Boesgaard & Friel (1990), –0.034$`\pm `$0.024 dex; Gratton (2000), –0.03$`\pm `$0.06 dex; and King et al. (2000), +0.06$`\pm `$0.06 dex. Figure 4 also shows our two average metallicities for M35 and the Pleiades (solid and dashed lines, respectively). We conclude that M35 is slightly metal–poor compared with the Pleiades.

### 3.4 The Age of M35

Vidal (1973) estimated, based on the turn–off of the Pleiades and M35 massive stars, that both clusters have the same age. However, this comparison was made using photographic data. Deep, accurate CCD photometry for M35 has not been available until very recently (Barrado y Navascués et al. 1999; Sung & Bessel 1999; von Hippel at al. 2000; Barrado y Navascués et al. 2000a). This wealth of new data allows an accurate age determination. Sung & Bessell (1999), using isochrone fitting in multiple color-magnitude diagrams, have derived an age of 200$`{}_{}{}^{+200}{}_{100}{}^{}`$ Myr, significantly older than the Pleiades standard age of 80 Myr. The isochrone fittings of the red giant probable member and the two red giants possible members give 125 and 200 Myr, respectively. The same qualitative results have been obtained by von Hippel et al. (2000) fitting the MS of the cluster. Moreover, Sarrazine et al. (2000) have estimated, using several color-magnitude and color-color diagrams in the UBVRI bands, that the age is 160$`\pm `$40 Myr. As comparison, they applied the same technique to the Pleiades and derived a turn–off age of 80$`\pm `$20 Myr. Mysore (1999) analyzed a sequence of M35 V band images, identified a set of probable M35 members, and searched for photometric variability due to starspots among the G and K dwarf cluster members. Despite being sensitive to variability sufficient to easily identify stars like the rapidly rotating K dwarfs in the Pleiades (which have typical light curve amplitudes in V of about 0.1 mag), she found no certain M35 variables. She concluded from this that M35 is likely to be significantly older than the Pleiades.

These age ranges fully agree with our own findings concerning the distribution of rotational velocities and, as we will see, the lithium depletion. Therefore, we will assume that M35 is a 175 Myr old cluster, the average age of the three M35 red giants.

### 3.5 Lithium abundances

#### 3.5.1 The lithium equivalent widths

We have measured the lithium Li I 6707.8Å equivalent widths –W(Li I)– for all our M35 candidates. Due to our spectral resolution, the high lithium abundances and the rotation velocities, the lithium feature is blended with Fe I 6707.4Å. Therefore, we removed this small contribution using an empirical relation between color and W(Fe I) derived by Soderblom et al. (1993a). We list the blended and deblended equivalent widths W(Li$`+`$Fe) and W(Li) in columns #3 and #4 of Table 2. Before analyzing the pattern of lithium depletion in M35, let’s examine first how the lithium equivalent widths depend on the color, dependence depicted in Figure 5. Solid circles and crosses represent M35 probable members and Pleiades data from Soderblom et al. (1993a), respectively. The (V–I)c color indices used in panel a were derived from (B–V), whereas those shown in panel b come from (V–I)k values (see section 2.2). It is easy to appreciate the scatter present in the Pleiades data. For a discussion about the origin of this spread, see Soderblom et al. (1993a), King, Krishnamurthi & Pinsonneault (2000), Barrado y Navascués et al. (2000b), and Section 3.5.3. This scatter is more conspicuous for stars redder than (V–I)c,0=0.8. On the other hand, M35 stars in the range 0.6$`<`$(V–I)c,0$`<`$1.0 have, within the errors, a tighter relation between W(Li I) and the color index. However, as it happens in Pleiades stars, there is an important scatter for cooler M35 stars. Moreover, on average, M35 stars show a smaller lithium equivalent widths for a given color, when compared with the Pleiades. If both clusters have the same age, this situation is difficult to understand (this also was the case of rotational velocities, with Pleiades stars rotating faster than equivalent M35 stars). Why do M35 stars have smaller W(Li I) than their Pleiades counterparts? Why is the relation better defined in M35? What is the origin of the scatter around (V–I)c,0$``$1.2? In the next subsections we will try to shed some light over these problems.

#### 3.5.2 The Teff-A(Li) plane

We have derived lithium abundances for all stars discussed here using the curves of growth computed by Soderblom et al. (1993a). After measuring the lithium equivalent widths (or gathering them from the literature in the case of the other open clusters, see Section 2.2), the following step was used to estimate effective temperatures. Since temperature scales based on (B–V) colors are more sensitive to metallicity than those based on (V–I), and our clusters have different metal content (\[Fe/H\]M35=–0.21, \[Fe/H\]Pleiades=$`+`$0.01 –both from this paper, see section 3.4–, \[Fe/H\]NGC2516=–0.32 –Jeffries et al. (1997)–, \[Fe/H\]M34=–0.29 –Gratton 2000–, \[Fe/H\]NGC6475=+0.11 –James & Jeffries 1997–, \[Fe/H\]UMaG=–0.079 or –0.085 –Boesgaard et al. 1988 and Boesgaard & Friel 1990, respectively– , \[Fe/H\]Hyades=$`+`$0.16, or $`+`$0.127, or $`+`$0.13 –Cayrel, Cayrel de Strobel, Campbel 1988; Boesgaard & Friel 1990; and Gratton 2000, respectively–), we derived effective temperatures from (V–I)c colors, after Bessell (1979) temperature scale. The effective temperature values are listed in columns #6 and #8 of Table 2. In the first case, the temperature was computed using our values of (V–I)c (Barrado y Navascués et al. 2000a), whereas in the second case we used the color indices selected from Sung & Bessell (1999). These two sets of effective temperatures and the lithium equivalent widths were used to derived the lithium abundances listed in columns #7 and #9 of the same table. As can be seen, there is not relevant differences in both cases. (i.e., the scatter introduced on the final lithium abundances by differences in the photometry of individual M35 stars is quite small.) From now on, we will used the effective temperatures and lithium abundances derived with our photometry. Errors in the computed abundances were estimated taking into account the uncertainties in effective temperatures and lithium equivalent widths.

Figures 6a and 6b are like Figures 5a and 5b, but in this case we depict the abundance –in the customary scale where A(Li)=12+log(Li/H)– against the effective temperature. Note that the temperatures corresponding to Pleiades stars which are shown in Figure 6a come directly from Table 1 of Soderblom et al. (1993a) and, therefore, they were computed from (B–V) colors. There are three features in these figures which are worth discussing:

1.- Independently of the origin of the Pleiades temperatures, it seems clear that, for a given spectral type, M35 stars have depleted more lithium than similar Pleiades stars. This phenomenon is more conspicuous in the range 6000-5500 K, where the Pleiades show abundances close to the cosmic value –A(Li)cosmic=3.2, Rebolo (1989), Anders & Grevesse (1989); Martín et al. (1994)–, whereas M35 members have abundances below A(Li)=3.0 dex. If indeed the Pleiades and M35 have the same age, this situation arises some concerns on our understanding of the processes taking place during the lithium depletion in pre-MS stars and its relation with age. The distribution of rotational velocities is similar for both clusters in this temperature range, and a rotational effect cannot be responsible of the differences in lithium abundances. The difference in metallicity cannot also be called upon as the main actor, since the difference is small and it would act in the opposite direction: the bottom of the convective envelope would be closer to the surface in the case of M35, making more difficult the lithium depletion.

2.- Pleiades stars in the range 5300-5000 K have a very relevant lithium spread, related to rotation and activity (Butler et al. 1987; Soderblom et al. 1993a; García López, Rebolo, & Martín 1994), larger than 1 dex. This scatter does not appear in the case of M35 members. However, this situation does not prove the lack of connection between lithium depletion and rotation/activity, since these M35 members are very slow rotators. That is, there is no slow rotator with high abundance and vice versa, a fact which either would contradict the relation between lithium depletion and rotation, or would indicate that the rotational history is playing an important role (in opposition to a sharp connection rotation–lithium for a given age). See section 3.5.3 for an additional discussion about the lithium spread.

3.- Stars at lower temperature (Teff$``$4500 K) do show a large spread ($`\mathrm{\Delta }`$Li$`>`$1.0 dex). The spread is quite apparent if the spectra of these stars are compared (see Figure 7a,b). This spread is marginally related to rotation, but unfortunately our sample only contains one cool fast rotator and it is safer not to derive any conclusion at the present stage. Only additional data can establish the origin of this spread and its relation with rotation and activity.

There are four M35 probable members with only upper limits to their lithium abundances. Three of them are quiet cool, and their low abundances, below A(Li)=0 dex, can be explained by the dependence of the lithium depletion on mass, as happens in slightly cooler Pleiades stars. However, one among these stars, #5190, is warmer and its behavior clearly departs from that characteristic of similar M35 members at the same temperature. This is probably an indication of non-membership. However, since we only used radial velocities as membership criterion, we have left this star in our sample of members of the M35 cluster.

#### 3.5.3 The connection lithium-rotation-activity

During the last decade, much has been discussed about the nature of the lithium abundance spread in Pleiades early K dwarfs. From the observational point of view, there are several pieces of evidence which support the fact that the derived abundances are real, the spread is real, and it is connected with the stellar rotation rate. Butler et al. (1987) were the first to notice the spread and it relation with rotation, followed by García López et al. (1991a,b). Soderblom et al. (1993a) carried out a systematic analysis of the lithium spread and its relation with rotation and activity, using different indicators such as H$`\alpha `$ and the Ca II infrared triplet. They also considered the possible effect of stellar spots on the apparent lithium equivalent widths and the derived abundances, concluding that the spread was real, and that for a given color, those stars rotating faster had the largest lithium abundances and chromospheric activity. Jones et al. (1996) provided additional data, including cooler K spectral type stars. They confirmed the spread for early K and the break down of the relation for the fainter objects, noticed by García López et al. (1994).

However, other studies, either from the observational or the theoretical point of views, have challenged these results and their interpretation. Houdebine & Doyle (1995) computed a grid of model atmospheres for M dwarfs in non local thermodynamical equilibrium, showing that very high chromospheric activity levels could modify the strength of Li I 6708Å. Russell (1996) found that derived abundances for several Pleiades stars using Li I 6103Å are different than those computed with Li I 6708Å. The lithium spread disappeared with the former abundances. He interpreted the situation as an indication of the effect of chromospheric activity on the Li I line, in agreement with the results of Houdebine & Doyle (1995), although Martín (1997) has pointed out the difficulty of deriving abundances using Li I 6103Å due to the presence of much stronger nearby lines and Stuik et al. (1997) affirmed that Li I 6708Å and K I 7699Å are not very sensitive to the presence of a chromosphere. They argued that the potassium feature can be used as a proxy to understand the formation of the lithium line without the effect of the abundance spread. Note that the K I 7699Å equivalent width does not depend on age, since potassium is not depleted in the stellar interior, in opposition to what happens to lithium. However, they could not establish if the magnetic activity can affect the K I 7699Å in Pleiades stars. In the same line, Jeffries (1999), by monitoring several Pleiades stars, concluded that it is still unsafe to attribute the spread to real abundance differences, and King, Krishnamurthi & Pinsonneault (2000) presented some additional evidences that the Pleiades lithium dispersion is partially due to stellar atmosphere effect. Moreover, they found a strong correlation between stellar activity and lithium abundances (see also Fernandez-Figueroa et al. 1993), but the relation between rotation and lithium abundance is not one-to-one, making unlikely that the reason of the lithium spread is rotation per se. Our own simulations (Barrado y Navascués et al. 2000b) indicate that stellar inhomogeneities (spots and active regions) could, indeed, introduce part of the lithium scatter, due to the combined effect of the inhomogeneities on the observed color (a star would appear to be cooler and less massive that it really is) and the equivalent widths (the observed lithium equivalent widths) would be increased in a significant amount, an effect noticed by Giampapa (1984). As shown by Barrado y Navascués et al. (2000b), the presence on the surface of stellar inhomogeneities can change in a significant way the observed colors and lithium equivalent widths, if the activity rates are very high (and, with them, the filling factor or stellar spots and active regions). Doppler imaging of active Pleiades stars shows that they are, indeed, covered with huge polar spots (Stout-Batalha & Vogt 1999) of presumably long life span. The observed relation between lithium and rotation could be due, to some extent, to the link between rotation and activity. This situation does not mean that there are not genuine differences in the lithium abundances for stars of the same age and masses, and that these differences are related to the rotation and the rotational history of the star, as proposed by Deliyannis (1990), Deliyannis et al. (1990) and Pinsonneault, Deliyannis & Demarque (1991, 1992a,b). In fact, Barrado y Navascués et al. (2000b) have shown that under realistic conditions (when the filling factor of spots is less than 0.30), only part of the lithium spread can be attributed to surface inhomogeneities. Moreover, it has been shown that tidally locked binary systems (TLBS) in the Hyades and M67 have larger abundances than similar non-TLBS or single stars (Thorburn et al. 1993; Deliyannis et al. 1994; Ryan & Deliyannis 1995; Barrado y Navascués & Stauffer 1986; Barrado y Navascués et al. 1997b). Since most of the rotational periods of these Hyades and M67 TLBS are larger than any Pleiades star, the activity and the spot filling factor can not be invoked to explain these differences in abundances, which seem to be real. The same situation holds for chromospherically active binaries of different ages and evolutionary stages (Fernandez-Figueroa et al. 1993; Barrado y Navascués 1996, 1997; Barrado y Navascués et al. 1994, 1997a, and 1998). Therefore, the real lithium abundance differences due to rotation per se would be smaller than the values normally accepted. In this scenario, Pleiades rapid rotators would lose most of their angular momentum before they reach the M35 age, reducing their stellar activity. Therefore, the filling factor of stellar inhomogeneities would be reduced considerably, and the observed photometry and equivalent width of the star would be modify accordingly (the star would be moved blue-ward in the color magnitude diagram and Teff–lithium plane, due to the lack of cool spots). At this point, most of the lithium scatter would have disappeared. The remaining spread would be due to the real effect of rotation on the lithium depletion.

Figure 6 shows clearly that M35, an open cluster significantly older than the Pleiades (Section 3.4), does not have a large scatter for early K stars. If the observed Pleiades scatter is due to real abundance differences and the Pleiades cluster represents the situation of M35 when it was 70-100 Myr old, it should be explained how the lithium spread has disappeared in these tens of million years. That is, all Pleiades stars for a given mass will have to deplete their lithium in a specific amount (more for those with the larger abundance) so they will end up with the same abundance once they reach M35 age (175 Myr). There are two possible scenarios which can account for this situation: (i) If we assume that the differences in the lithium abundances for a given temperatures are no real, that they are an artifact of the chromospheric activity and the presence of inhomogeneities on the stellar surface, as explained above, then we would be comparing stars with the same observed effective temperature, but different masses. The most active star, being also the one with the larger apparent abundance, would be, in fact, more massive. Moreover, the observed lithium equivalent width would not correspond to real one, due to the change of the apparent lithium equivalent width. Unfortunately, no model has been able to quantify properly these effects, in order to remove them and derive real abundances for the Pleiades stars. (ii) An alternative would be the combination of metallicity and the distribution of rotational velocities. As we have shown, M35 has a distribution of rotational velocities much tighter than the Pleiades. It metallicity is also smaller. If we assume that the distribution of initial angular momentum is tighter in metal–poor stars, the Yale models (Pinsonneault et al. 1990, 1992) would predict a tight dependency of lithium on temperature for M35, compare with the Pleiades.

In any case, the high quality M35 data presented here, together with the rotational velocities and the tight relation between lithium abundance and temperature, makes this young open cluster an ideal laboratory to test theoretical models proposed to explain the lithium depletion in late spectral type stars.

#### 3.5.4 Lithium depletion and age

Figures 8a-f contain several comparisons between M35 probable members and stars belonging to open clusters of different ages. Namely, the Pleiades, NGC2516, M34, NGC6475, UMaG and the Hyades; with ages 80, 150, 200, 220, 300 and 800 Myr, respectively. Note that other age values can be found in the literature. For the origin of the data and the way they were homogenized, see section 2.2. Temperatures and lithium abundances were derived in the same fashion for all databases. As pointed out by a number of studies (e.g. Balachandran 1995, Pinsonneault 1997; Martín 2000; Jeffries 2000; Deliyannis 2000, and references therein), open clusters of different ages show a characteristic pattern of lithium depletion: the older the age, the smaller the abundance for a given mass. In the particular case of these seven clusters, it is clear that Hyades stars have depleted their lithium in a much larger amount than M35, whereas Pleiades stars (specifically, those of early G spectral type) have kept most of their original content, when M35 stars have already destroy part of it. NGC2516 data is more sparse, but the data seem to indicate that the distribution of lithium abundances of NGC2516 and M35 stars are alike. Note, however, that NGC2516 shows a spread in the abundances in the Teff range 6000-5000 K not present in the case of M35. Figure 8c seems to indicate that M34 members could have depleted more lithium, on average, than M35 counterpart. However, the lithium spread is quiet large in the case of M34 stars. Since the metallicities of both cluster quite similar, this situation can be interpreted as a sign that M35 is slightly younger than M34 (i.e., younger than 200 Myr). The comparison of the distribution of lithium abundances with clusters in this age range, such as NGC6475, yields similar results: abundances are distributed in similar way, but in this last case, as happens in M35, there is no spread, the relation lithium abundance and effective temperature is quite tight. Again, average abundances of NGC6475 are lower than those characteristic of M35, for a given age. Abundances of UMaG members are more depleted compared with M35 and Hyades members have abundances at least 1.5 dex lower than M35 members.

If we accept that, indeed, M35 is significantly older than the Pleiades, these results fit in the picture, and it is reasonable to assume that the main parameter involved in the lithium depletion is still age (for a given stellar mass). Metallicity, at least in this range of values, is a second order effect. In fact, rotation per se could play a secondary role also in the lithium depletion phenomenon. It is remarkable the fact that between 80 Myr (the Pleiades age) and 175 Myr (our adopted age for the cluster, see section 3.4), the differences between rotation rates for a given mass have disappear and, with them, the lithium abundances have come to the same value (assuming that the Pleiades represents the M35 stage at 80 Myr). We interpret the phenomenon from another perspective. We believe that the Pleiades, in truth, represents the characteristic properties of stars of its age, there is nothing abnormal about the cluster to lead us to think otherwise. However, the differences in abundances for a given mass, the scatter related with rotation/activity might be due to the activity per se, at least partially (see the discussion in Section 3.5.3). Therefore, the pattern of lithium depletion in M35 seems to confirm the assumed age of the cluster ($``$175 Myr) and the effect of rotation and stellar activity on the apparent lithium abundance.

## 4 Summary and conclusions

We have collected multi-fiber, high resolution spectroscopy of 76 candidate members of the young cluster M35. Our spectra have moderate to high signal–to–noise rations (S/N$``$40–160), a remarkable feat for stars located at (m-M)=10.4. We have measured radial velocities and using these values as membership criterion, we have cataloged 39 stars out of the original 76 as probable members of the cluster. Another 13 stars are spectroscopic binaries and part of them could be members of the cluster. We also have measured rotational velocities via cross–correlation. The comparison between the the rotation pattern of members of M35 and the Pleiades indicates that, indeed, M35 is somewhat older, about 175 Myr, since it lacks fast rotators. Our high quality M35 spectra have been used to derive the metallicity of the brighter and warmer members of the cluster. The result yields \[Fe/H\]M35=–0.21$`\pm `$0.10, lower than the Pleiades metal content, \[Fe/H\]=+0.01. Subsequently, we have derived lithium abundances of the M35 members, and compared these values with members of other nearby clusters of different ages and metallicities. We conclude that at the age of M35, most of the lithium spread observed in Pleiades stars is not longer present. We have interpreted this fact, at least partially, as an effect of the photospheric spots on the apparent lithium abundance of Pleiades stars. Stellar rotation could also play some role. The data presented in this study are perfectly suited to be used as a validity check of theoretical models involving the lithium depletion.

DBN thanks the “Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias” and “Ministerio de Educación y Cultura” (Spain), and the “Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft” (Germany) for their fellowships. CPD gratefully acknowledges support for this work from the National Science foundation under Grant AST-9812735. JRS acknowledges support from NASA Grant NAGW-2698 and 3690. This work has been partially suported by Spanish “Plan Nacional del Espacio”, under grant ESP98–1339-CO2. We appreciate the very useful comments and suggestions by the referee, R.J. García López.

Figure Captions


text:
# CMB Anisotropies in Pre-Big Bang Cosmology

## Introduction

The pre-big bang idea (see PBB  and references therein) represents one of the first and most interesting attempts to develop a new cosmological scenario which solves the horizon and flatness problems, based on string theory. In this radically new picture, the underlying duality symmetry present in the low energy sector of string theory naturally leads to an inflationary phase prior to the big bang during which curvature and dilaton are growing.

Superstring theory is a tensor-scalar theory of gravity in 10 dimensions. The minimal low energy effective action of the NS-NS sector of string theory can be written under certain conditions as

$$S=d^4x\sqrt{|g|}e^\varphi \left[\text{R}+(\varphi )^23(\mathrm{log}b)^2\frac{1}{2}e^{2\varphi }(\sigma )^2\right],$$
(1)
where we have assumed dimensional reduction by compactification of 6 dimensions on some isotropic Ricci flat manifolds. This action includes a time dependent dilaton field $`\varphi (t)`$. R is the Ricci scalar of the 4-dimensional metric $`g_{\mu \nu }=\mathrm{diag}[1,\mathrm{a}^2(\mathrm{t}),\mathrm{a}^2(\mathrm{t}),\mathrm{a}^2(\mathrm{t})]`$ and $`\mathrm{log}b(t)`$ is a time dependent moduli field, where $`b(t)`$ represents the scale factor of the 6 extra dimensions. The last term of this action contains a pseudo-scalar field, the axion $`\sigma `$ (not to be confused with the Peccei-Quinn axion), which is universal in string theory.

When the axion field is trivial, $`\dot{\sigma }=0`$, or its contribution to the global dynamics of the universe is negligible, the cosmological equations derived from (1), where all the fields are supposed to be homogeneous, are invariant under the duality transformations, $`a(t)1/a(t)`$, $`\varphi (t)\varphi (t)6\mathrm{ln}(a(t))`$, which is called scale factor duality and represents an important motivation behind the pre-big bang scenario PBB . In fact, this property relates a positive time/post-big bang universe with constant dilaton (our universe) to a negative time/pre-big bang universe, where inflation is driven by the kinetic energy of the growing dilaton.

For negative time, the field equations for $`a,\varphi `$ and $`\mathrm{log}b`$ are then solved PBB  by the following power laws, known as dilaton-vacuum solutions:

$$a(t)=(t)^\alpha ,b(t)=(t)^\beta ,e^{\varphi (t)}=(t)^{3\alpha 1},$$
(2)
where $`\alpha `$ and $`\beta `$ satisfy the Kasner constraint, $`3\alpha ^2+6\beta ^2=1`$. From these solutions one can see that, during the pre-big bang phase, i.e. for negative times, a negative $`\alpha `$ and a positive $`\beta `$ are required to make the external 3-dimensional space expand and the internal 6-dimensional space contract.

## Cosmic structure from axion seeds

The pre-big bang scenario was thought for some time to be unable to provide a scale-invariant spectrum of perturbations. First-order tensor and scalar perturbations in the metric, together with perturbations in the moduli fields and the dilaton, were found to be characterized by extremely “blue” spectra 5b . This large tilt together with a natural normalization imposed by the string cutoff at the shortest amplified scales, make their contribution to large-scale structure completely negligible.

However, the spectral tilt of the axion field, if produced by amplification of vacuum quantum fluctuation during the pre-big bang phase, can assume a whole range of values depending on the behavior of the internal and external dimensions; in particular, it can naturally provide a scale-invariant spectrum of perturbations Copeland .

One can compute the primordial axion spectral index by varying the action (1) with respect to the field $`\sigma `$ and introducing the canonical variable, $`\psi a_A\sigma ae^{\varphi /2}\sigma `$, which yields the evolution equation for the axion field, written in Fourier modes as

$$\ddot{\psi _𝐤}+(k^2\ddot{a}_A/a_A)\psi _𝐤=0.$$
(3)
The dot represents the derivative with respects to conformal time $`\eta `$, defined by $`d\eta =a(t)dt`$.

By matching the solution to this equation during the pre-big bang phase, properly normalized to vacuum fluctuation at early times, with the solution found after the singularity in the radiation dominated era, one finds the spectrum of the axion field,

$$\mathrm{\Omega }_\sigma (k)\frac{1}{\rho _c}\frac{d\rho _\sigma (k)}{d\mathrm{log}k}g_1^2\left(\frac{k}{k_1}\right)^{n_\sigma 1},$$
(4)
where $`k_1`$ represents the maximally amplified scale, $`\eta _1=1/k_1`$, and $`g_1=k_1/a(\eta _1)/M_{\mathrm{Planck}}`$ is the normalized string scale. The axion spectral index $`n_\sigma `$ is related to the power which characterizes the evolution of the external dimensions by $`n_\sigma =2(1+\alpha )/(1\alpha )`$. Notice that a perfect Harrison-Zel’dovich spectrum $`n_\sigma =1`$ requires an isotropic evolution of the external and internal dimensions, $`\alpha =\beta =1/3`$, or $`a(t)1/b(t)`$. This holds only in a 10-dimensional space-time 1 .

In the following we suppose that the contribution of the axion field to the background is negligible and that the solutions to the action (1) are given by (2). Assuming that the primordial axion spectrum remains uneffected, at least at large scales, by the high-energy transition to the post-big bang universe, the axions can be the source of the perturbations if they play the role of “seeds” which, by their gravitational field, induce fluctuations in the cosmic fluid 1 . We then suppose that the axions are first order perturbations, interacting with the cosmic fluid only gravitationally; the back-reaction of the metric perturbations on their evolution is second order and can be neglected.

For a universe with a given cosmic fluid, the cosmological perturbation equations are of the form

$$𝒟X=\mathrm{SS}^\sigma ,$$
(5)
where $`X`$ is a long vector containing all the fluid perturbation variables, $`\mathrm{SS}^\sigma `$ is a source vector which consists of certain combinations of the axion energy-momentum tensor, and $`𝒟`$ is a linear ordinary differential operator. More concretely, we first consider a (post-big bang) universe consisting of cold dark matter, baryons, photons, three types of massless neutrino, and a non zero cosmological constant, with a total density parameter, $`\mathrm{\Omega }=1`$.

The axion field $`\sigma `$ is a Gaussian stochastic variable and hence its energy-momentum tensor is quadratic in $`\sigma `$ and therefore not Gaussian; this leads to non Gaussian perturbations. Moreover, although the axion field evolves according to a linear equation, its energy-momentum will not; this gives rise to the phenomena of decoherence111Decoherence has been discussed in afrg  where it has been shown that in the axion seeds model it leads to negligible deviations from the perfectly coherent approximation used here..

The perturbations in the dark matter and radiation components are set to zero in the initial conditions and are subsequently induced by the gravitational field of the axion. Hence, axion seed perturbations belong to the class of isocurvature perturbations.

Notice that in the standard (inflationary) adiabatic scenario the source term $`\mathrm{SS}^\sigma `$ in Eq. (5) is absent and the initial conditions for the perturbation variables $`X`$ are non vanishing linear functions of the perturbation in the inflaton field. This leads to completely linear and coherent evolution of fluctuations. The isocurvature nature of the perturbations in our model will particularly show up in the CMB anisotropy power spectrum giving rise to an “isocurvature hump” and a different position of the first Doppler peak for equal total density parameter.

## CMB anisotropies and comparison with data

As shown in 1 , CMB anisotropies seeded by axions can lead to a flat spectrum at large scale as required by the “old” data. However, in the last two years, a peak in the CMB power spectrum at $`\mathrm{}200`$ as been detected by several different experiments, most recently by BOOMERanG98 and MAXIMA-1 debbe . In order for our model to be compelling, it is necessary to compare it to these observations.

We therefore determine the CMB anisotropies by numerically solving the axion field equation in the unperturbed background geometry, Eq. (3), during the radiation and matter dominated eras, by computing its energy-momentum tensor and inserting the resulting source functions in a Boltzmann solver. The result depends on the primordial axion spectral index which is the initial condition, the heritage of the pre-big bang phase, and which depends, on the other hand, on the evolution of the external and internal dimensions afrg .

In Fig. 1 we plot the dependence of the CMB anisotropy power spectrum on the primordial axion spectral index $`n_\sigma `$. A slightly tilted spectral index ($`1.3\mathrm{}<n_\sigma \mathrm{}<1.4`$) is required to have a sufficiently high peak. Together with the normalization condition of the axion spectrum imposed by Eq. (4), namely $`\mathrm{\Omega }_\sigma (k_1)g_1^2`$, this requires, in the simplest case, the presence of a kink in the spectrum. At very large scales the axion spectrum must be slightly blue, to fit the CMB data, and only at an intermediate break scale, $`k_b`$, it must become flat (see Fig. 1). This requires, in terms of the evolution of the scale factors in the pre-big bang, $`\alpha \mathrm{}>\beta `$, i.e. a slower expansion of the external dimensions and, correspondingly, a somewhat faster contraction of internal dimensions at very early (negative) time.

We do not want to specify the event which may have triggered such a transition from $`n_{\sigma (k<k_b)}=1+ϵ`$ to $`n_{\sigma (k>k_b)}=1`$ but it is interesting to note that isotropic expansion and contraction in a $`26`$-dimensional space-time gives just about the “tilt” needed to fit the observed CMB anisotropies (see below).

As shown in Fig. 1, the CMB anisotropy power spectra display two characteristic isocurvature signatures which are absent in adiabatic models. These are an isocurvature hump at $`\mathrm{}40`$ and the position of the first acoustic peak at $`\mathrm{}300`$ for a flat universe. While the presence of the hump is unavoidable, the position of the peak can be changed by a suitable choice of cosmological parameters.

In order to have a first peak at $`\mathrm{}200`$, we rescale our CMB anisotropy power spectrum in position, $`\mathrm{}_{\mathrm{rescaled}}=\mathrm{}_{\mathrm{flat}}/R`$, by the angular diameter distance parameter for a closed universe, $`R=(1/2)\sqrt{\mathrm{\Omega }_m/|\mathrm{\Omega }_K|}\mathrm{sin}y`$. Here $`\mathrm{\Omega }_K=1\mathrm{\Omega }_m\mathrm{\Omega }_\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ is the curvature parameter and $`y`$ is the following integral:

$$y=\sqrt{|\mathrm{\Omega }_K|}_0^{z_{dec}}\frac{dz}{[\mathrm{\Omega }_m(1+z)^3+\mathrm{\Omega }_K(1+z)^2+\mathrm{\Omega }_\mathrm{\Lambda }]^{1/2}}.$$
(6)
The condition $`R=`$ const. identifies curves in the $`\mathrm{\Omega }_m\mathrm{\Omega }_\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ plane, with nearly degenerate $`C_{\mathrm{}}`$ spectra. In Fig. 2 we plot the confidence levels in the $`\mathrm{\Omega }_\mathrm{\Lambda }\mathrm{\Omega }_m`$ plane which are then combined with SN1a results SN1 . It is clear that the model can be brought in reasonable agreement with observations only if the universe is moderately closed, with $`\mathrm{\Omega }_\mathrm{\Lambda }0.85`$ and $`\mathrm{\Omega }_m0.4`$, which is also compatible with cluster abundance and X-ray data.

In Fig. 2 we also compare the CMB anisotropy power spectrum of our model for this choice of cosmological parameters with the COBE, MAXIMA-1, and BOOMERanG98 data. The position of the first acoustic peak has been correctly adjusted; nonetheless, the width of the peak, compressed by the increase of $`R`$, as well as the isocurvature hump, are still not in very good agreement with the data. The resulting normalized $`\chi ^2`$ is about $`1.8`$ for the best-fit, which “excludes” the model at 70% confidence 222One has however to keep in mind that the $`C_{\mathrm{}}`$’s are not Gaussian and therefore the probability for our model to lead to the measured CMB anisotropies is even somewhat higher than 30%.. Clearly more and better data around the isocurvature hump region, i.e. $`\mathrm{}50`$, is needed to decide definitely whether the model is ruled out.

Even if our model will turn out to disagree with better data, we believe that we learn the important lesson that cosmological parameters obtained from CMB anisotropies are strongly model dependent, a point which is swept under the carpet by the vast majority of the circulating “parameter-fitting” literature. We believe that it is very important in the future to concentrate on model independent quantities, like inter-peak distances, to determine cosmological parameters.