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# The broad-band spectrum of 3C 120 observed by BeppoSAX

## 1 INTRODUCTION

3C 120 is a broad-line radio galaxy (BLRG) at $`z=0.033`$ exhibiting characteristics intermediate between those of FR I galaxies and BL Lacs (Urry & Padovani 1995). It is also classified as a Seyfert 1 (Burbidge 1967), although its optical morphology is complex, see Grandi et al. (1997). It is variable in all energy bands, and shows superluminal motion in the VLBI core (e.g., Walker 1997).

In 1994, 3C 120 has been observed by ASCA, and since then the strength and the width of its Fe K$`\alpha `$ has been a subject of a considerable controversy. Reynolds (1997) found the line to be extremely strong, with an equivalent width of $`W_{\mathrm{K}\alpha }1`$ keV, as well as extremely broad, with a Gaussian width of $`\sigma _{\mathrm{K}\alpha }2`$ keV. The physical origin of such a line is unclear. A slightly weaker line, with $`W_{\mathrm{K}\alpha }0.5`$ keV and $`\sigma _{\mathrm{K}\alpha }1`$ keV, was found in the same data by Grandi et al. (1997). Both results were obtained assuming the underlying continuum was a single power law in the entire energy range observed by ASCA, and Grandi et al. (1997) mentioned the possibility that the unusual line parameters were caused by that assumption not being valid. Indeed, Woźniak et al. (1998, hereafter W98) found that if the ASCA data (with an updated calibration of 1997) were fitted in the 4–10 keV range assuming the presence of Compton reflection with a reflector solid angle of $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ between 0 and $`2\pi `$, the parameters of the line became much more physically plausible, with the best-fit values of $`W_{\mathrm{K}\alpha }60`$–110 eV, the peak energy, $`E_{\mathrm{K}\alpha }6.4`$ keV, and $`\sigma _{\mathrm{K}\alpha }0.32`$ keV and 0.20 keV assuming $`\mathrm{\Omega }=0`$ and $`2\pi `$, respectively. The line in the ASCA data was again claimed to be very strong and broad by Sambruna, Eracleous & Mushotzky (1999), who obtained $`W_{\mathrm{K}\alpha }=510_{90}^{+70}`$ eV and $`\sigma _{\mathrm{K}\alpha }=0.89_{0.15}^{+0.17}`$ keV, virtually identical with the values of Grandi et al. (1997).

This issue has recently been resolved thanks to results of RXTE and BeppoSAX. Eracleous, Sambruna & Mushotzky (2000, hereafter E00) have found the line in the RXTE data ($`4`$ keV) to be weak with the parameters consistent with those of W98, namely $`W_{\mathrm{K}\alpha }=90_{20}^{+30}`$ eV and $`\sigma _{\mathrm{K}\alpha }<1.2`$ keV. Similarly, Grandi (2000, hereafter G00) have found $`W_{\mathrm{K}\alpha }=60_{40}^{+80}`$ eV and $`\sigma _{\mathrm{K}\alpha }=0.27_{0.27}^{+0.40}`$ keV in a preliminary analysis of the BeppoSAX data.

Since Ginga did not observe 3C 120, the actual strength of Compton reflection had been unknown until the results of E00 and G00, who found $`\mathrm{\Omega }/2\pi =0.4_{0.1}^{+0.4}`$ and $`0.7_{0.4}^{+0.4}`$, respectively. These values of the solid angle are compatible (George & Fabian 1991; Życki & Czerny 1994) with the presence of a modest Fe K$`\alpha `$ line with the parameters of W98, E00 and G00.

Here, we present a comprehensive analysis of the observation of 3C 120 by BeppoSAX, which combines the broad-band hard X-ray coverage of RXTE with a high energy resolution and an energy range in soft X-rays comparable to that of ASCA. We address the issues of the parameters of the line and the continuum, their variability, radiative processes and geometry of the source, and the relationship of 3C 120 to other BLRGs as well as Seyferts.

## 2 DATA REDUCTION

The observation log is given in Table 1. Data from each instrument have been reduced following the standard procedures (Fiore, Guainazzi & Grandi 1999, hereafter F99). Spectra of LECS and MECS (2 units) detectors were extracted using a radius of $`6^{}`$ and $`4^{}`$, respectively. The background spectra were taken from the blank sky fields in the position of the source with the same extraction regions.

We bin the LECS and MECS spectral files proportionally to the instrumental resolution (F99). After rebinning, there is always more than 20 counts per channel, as required for the validity of $`\chi ^2`$ fitting. The LECS data are analyzed in the 0.3–4 keV energy range (channels 24–80). The lower limit is above the standard value of 0.15 keV (F99) because the source was strongly dominated by the background below 0.3 keV. The energy range of 1.3–10 keV (channels 34–114) is used for the MECS data. We allow a free normalization of the LECS spectrum with respect to the MECS one (F99).

We use the variable rise-time PDS spectrum. This choice is in agreement with F99, who recommend this method for weak sources with count rates $`0.5`$–1 s-1 and the statistical uncertainty of the photon index, $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$, of $`\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{\Gamma }0.1`$, and with spectra similar to that of the Crab. Indeed, $`\mathrm{\Gamma }2.1\pm 0.1`$ in the PDS data, very similar to the Crab spectrum, and the 13–110 keV count rate is 0.72 s-1. After using the logarithmic rebinning in 18 channels (F99), photons are detected up to channel 15, and hereafter we use channels 2–15. When the variable and fixed rise-time spectra are fitted by the same model, the normalization of the former is about 0.95 of the latter. The same value is obtained by directly dividing the two spectra in the 15–100 keV energy range. If the lowest channels (13–15 keV) are also included, the ratio becomes slightly lower (0.93). From this and recommendations of F99, we derive the allowed relative normalization of the PDS spectrum with respect to the MECS one of 0.77–0.85.

## 3 SPECTRAL ANALYSIS

### 3.1 Spectral Models

We use xspec (Arnaud 1996) for spectral fitting. The parameter uncertainties below correspond to 90% confidence for a single parameter, i.e., $`\mathrm{\Delta }\chi ^2=+2.7`$, the plotted error bars are 1-$`\sigma `$, and the displayed spectral data are rebinned for clarity. The significance level of a hypothesis is obtained, unless stated otherwise, from the $`F`$-test. For calculations of luminosity, we assume $`H_0=75`$ km s-1 Mpc-1, which gives the distance of 134 Mpc.

Intrinsic model spectra are absorbed by the interstellar medium in the Galaxy with a column density of $`N_\mathrm{H}^\mathrm{G}=1.23\times 10^{21}`$ cm-2 (Elvis, Lockman & Wilkes 1989). We also allow for intrinsic absorption at the redshift of the source with a column, $`N_\mathrm{H}`$. The absorption is in neutral matter with the abundances of Anders & Ebihara (1982) and the opacities of Morrison & McCammon (1983).

We allow for Compton reflection of the primary continuum from an optically-thick medium. We use Green’s functions for angle-dependent reflection of isotropic incident radiation of Magdziarz & Zdziarski (1995). The inclination of 3C 120 is most likely close to face-on (Zenzus 1989), and we thus use $`\mathrm{cos}i=0.95`$, which is the maximum value for which the Green’s functions are given. The relative amount of reflection is measured by the solid angle, $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$, subtended by the reflector. The opacities of reflector are the same as for the absorber. We also test whether the reflecting medium can be ionized, in which case we use the one-zone ionization model of Done et al. (1992) modified as in Gondek et al. (1996). We assume then a reflector temperature of $`10^5`$ K (Krolik & Kallman 1984). The ionization parameter is defined as $`\xi L_{\mathrm{ion}}/nd^2`$, where $`L_{\mathrm{ion}}`$ is the luminosity in an incident power-law continuum in the 5 eV–20 keV range, $`n`$ is the density, and $`d`$ the distance between the source of radiation and the reflector.

Reflection of the continuum is accompanied by emission of fluorescent lines, the most prominent of those is the Fe K$`\alpha `$ line. In models with static reflection (as above), we model the line as a Gaussian, in which we constrain the line width to $`\sigma _{\mathrm{K}\alpha }1`$ keV (so as to avoid this component to play a role of an additional continuum). The line equivalent width, $`W_{\mathrm{K}\alpha }`$, is proportional to $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ at a given $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ (George & Fabian 1991; Życki & Czerny 1994). In the case of an optically-thick accretion disk with a low ionization, cosmic abundances, an inclination of $`i0`$, and the photon index of $`\mathrm{\Gamma }1.8`$–1.9 (which we find a posteriori to be the case for our data, see §3.2), calculations of George & Fabian (1991) give approximately

$$W_{\mathrm{K}\alpha }=\frac{\mathrm{\Omega }}{2\pi }150\mathrm{eV},$$
(1)
which condition we impose in our models. On the other hand, a remote molecular torus may be also present. It is likely that $`N_\mathrm{H}`$ of the torus is substantially less than $`10^{24}`$ cm-2, as in most of Seyfert 2s (e.g. Risaliti, Maiolino & Salvati 1999) and both narrow and broad line radio galaxies (Sambruna et al. 1999), as well as it is the case on average for Seyfert 1s (Lubiński & Zdziarski 2001). In this case, reflection from the torus will be negligible (e.g., W98) but a a narrow Fe K$`\alpha `$ line at 6.4 keV will still be produced (e.g., Makishima 1986). Thus, we allow the presence of a line with $`E_{\mathrm{K}\alpha }=6.4`$ keV and $`\sigma _{\mathrm{K}\alpha }=0`$ keV and a free normalization in addition to that tied to the reflection.

When the reflection comes from a fast rotating disk in a strong gravitational potential, Doppler and gravitational shifts become important. We approximate these effects by convolving both the reflected component and the Fe K$`\alpha `$ line (with $`E_{\mathrm{K}\alpha }=6.4`$ keV and $`\sigma _{\mathrm{K}\alpha }=0`$ keV in the rest frame) with the Schwarzschild disk profile of Fabian et al. (1989). In calculating the relativistic distortion, we consider a range of radii from $`r_{\mathrm{in}}6`$ to $`r_{\mathrm{out}}=1000`$, where $`r`$ is in units of the gravitational radius, $`R_\mathrm{g}GM/c^2`$. We assume the emissivity of the reflection and the line to vary along the disk radius in the same way as the accretion disk emissivity, as expected when X-ray emitting regions above the disk derive their power from accretion. To properly describe the line in this detailed model, we also include the component of the Fe K$`\alpha `$ line singly-scattered in the disk at 6.2 keV containing 12% of the photons in the main component, as well as the Fe K$`\beta `$ and Ni K$`\alpha `$ components, the sum of which we model as a single disk-line at 7.2 keV containing 18% of the photons in the main component (see W98). In those models, $`W_{\mathrm{K}\alpha }`$ is defined for the Fe K$`\alpha `$ component only (including the downscattered part), and it is tied to $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ via equation (1).

### 3.2 Results

The spectrum is rather poorly fitted by a power-law continuum ($`\mathrm{\Gamma }=1.82`$) absorbed by $`N_\mathrm{H}^\mathrm{G}`$, at $`\chi _\nu ^2=256.4/148`$. We have found that the bad fit is clearly caused by the presence of soft-excess, Fe K$`\alpha `$, Compton-reflection, and high-energy cutoff spectral features.

We then fit an intrinsic continuum of an e-folded power law accompanied by static Compton reflection and a Gaussian line. This model provides a fair fit to the data, with $`\mathrm{\Gamma }=1.96_{0.05}^{+0.05}`$, $`\mathrm{\Omega }/2\pi =0.96_{0.32}^{+0.38}`$, $`E_\mathrm{c}=250_{120}^{+770}`$ keV, $`N_\mathrm{H}=7.7_{1.7}^{+1.9}\times 10^{20}`$ cm-2, at $`\chi _\nu ^2=159.4/142`$. However, there is a strong systematic residual feature at $`1`$ keV as well as the line width is at its allowed upper limit, $`\sigma _{\mathrm{K}\alpha }=1`$ keV, which is not physically consistent with the assumed static reflection. If we let the line flux to be independent of reflection, $`\sigma _{\mathrm{K}\alpha }<1`$ keV, but then $`W_{\mathrm{K}\alpha }`$ is only $`0.4`$ of the value expected from the fitted reflection (see discussion below on the absence of resonant absorption), as well as there is no improvement of $`\chi ^2`$. Any possible contribution to the reprocessing features by the torus would only strengthen this discrepancy as a torus can produce a line without Compton reflection (see §3.1 above).

We find that allowing for an additional complexity of the spectrum in the soft X-ray range significantly improves the fit as well as makes the model more physically consistent. We first allow for a soft power-law component. This improves $`\chi ^2`$ to 152.9/140 (corresponding to 95% significance). The additional power law is quite soft, $`\mathrm{\Gamma }=4.6_{1.6}^{+0.9}`$, and a rather large $`N_\mathrm{H}=3.2_{2.1}^{+1.3}\times 10^{21}`$ cm-2 is required. Then, we consider an incident e-folded broken power law. We indeed find a break energy at $`E_\mathrm{b}=1.0`$ keV. However, somewhat surprisingly, we find that the best-fit model has a power law index, $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_1=1.00`$, below $`E_\mathrm{b}`$ harder than that, $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_2=1.88`$, above $`E_\mathrm{b}`$. The best-fit $`N_\mathrm{H}`$ is 0 now, which explains the presence of the soft excess in the previous single power-law models with $`N_\mathrm{H}10^{21}`$ cm-2. The present model yields $`E_\mathrm{c}=170`$ keV, $`\mathrm{\Omega }/2\pi =0.61`$, $`\sigma _{\mathrm{K}\alpha }=0.40`$ keV, null flux in the narrow line not associated with reflection, and $`\chi _\nu ^2=150.5/140`$ (the $`\chi ^2`$ reduction is significant at 98%). However, as we discuss below, such a broken power law does not appear to correspond to a physical model.

On the other hand, the soft excess apparent in the single power-law model can also be accounted for by an extended (thus absorbed by $`N_\mathrm{H}^\mathrm{G}`$ only) emission of a thermal, optically-thin, plasma (e.g., Mewe, Gronenschild & van den Oord 1985) at $`kT_\mathrm{s}1`$ keV. Using this model for the soft excess yields $`\chi _\nu ^2=150.5/140`$, i.e., an improvement of the fit at the 98% confidence level with respect to the model without a soft excess. The data and the model are shown in Figure 1. The absorbed 0.2–2 keV luminosity in the extended emission is $`4.4\times 10^{42}`$ erg s-1, while its total unabsorbed luminosity is $`9.5\times 10^{42}`$ erg s-1, which is only 1.8% of the bolometric (0.1–$`10^3`$ keV) luminosity of $`L=5.2\times 10^{44}`$ erg s-1. A weak (and probably constant) soft X-ray excess in 3C 120 has also been found in EXOSAT observations by Walter & Courvoisier (1992), and in Einstein data by Turner et al. (1991).

With the model above, we find that $`\mathrm{\Omega }=0`$ yields $`\chi _\nu ^2=179.4/141`$, which corresponds to the probability of the absence of reflection of $`7\times 10^7`$. The best-fit flux of the narrow line in our best-fit model with reflection is null. Also, the best-fit parameters of the broad line remain virtually the same if we allow its flux to be independent of reflection. Thus we hereafter consider only the line associated with Compton reflection. The parameters of that model are given in Table 2. Note that $`W_{\mathrm{K}\alpha }`$ and $`\mathrm{\Omega }/2\pi `$ given there are not independent but instead related via eq. (1), which also yield the line flux of $`I_{\mathrm{K}\alpha }=(\mathrm{\Omega }/2\pi )8.8\times 10^5`$ cm-2 s-1 in this specific model. (The corresponding $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$-$`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ error contour is shown in §5 below.)

Using this model except for allowing reflector to be ionized, we find the reflecting surface is close to neutral, with $`\xi =0^{+30}`$ erg s-1 cm, which implies that the dominant ion is Fe xiii (well below the region of resonant absorption). Also, allowing the Fe abundance to vary does not improve the fit and it has weak effect on its parameters (cf. E00). This confirms the validity of of equation (1). On the other hand, theoretical uncertainties on the Fe K$`\alpha `$ line flux from disk reflection (Życki & Czerny 1994) allow it to be within $`0.7`$–1 of the values of George & Fabian (1991). If we use the lowest prediction on the disk line flux, the allowed narrow line is still rather weak, with $`W_{\mathrm{K}\alpha }=5_5^{+45}`$ eV. Thus, given the limited statitics of our data, we cannot rule out some contribution from a remote torus, either Thomson-thin (yielding only a narrow line as in the case above) or Thomson-thick (yielding fractions of both the observed line and reflection).

The Gaussian Fe K$`\alpha `$ line shows evidence for a broadening and redshift (see Table 2). Therefore, we also consider a model with the line emission and Compton reflection \[tied via eq. (1)\] both originating in a relativistic disk (§3.1). We have found that this model provides as good a fit, with $`\chi _\nu ^2=151.3/142`$, as the one with a Gaussian line and static reflection. Its parameters are $`\mathrm{\Gamma }=1.86_{0.05}^{+0.05}`$, $`\mathrm{\Omega }/2\pi =0.65_{0.14}^{+0.31}`$, $`E_\mathrm{c}=120_{20}^{+110}`$ keV, $`r_{\mathrm{in}}=6^{+17}`$, and $`W_{\mathrm{K}\alpha }=100_{20}^{+40}`$ eV. With this physical model we re-examine the significance of the presence of the soft excess. Without it, the above model yields $`\chi _\nu ^2=162.8/144`$, which corresponds to the significance increased 99.5%. This shows that the physical requirement that both the line and the reflection continuum are broadened in the same way leads to an increase of the significance of the presence of a soft excess.

Then, we considered models with the continuum given by thermal Comptonization (including the soft plasma emission as in Table 2). We use a model of Poutanen & Svensson (1996), initially for spherical geometry with a homogeneous distribution of sources of seed photons, which we assumed to be a blackbody at a temperature of $`kT_{\mathrm{bb}}=5`$ eV. We obtain a temperature of the scattering medium of $`kT=36_6^{+100}`$ keV, a Thomson optical depth of $`\tau =2.5_{1.9}^{+0.9}`$, $`\mathrm{\Omega }/2\pi =0.56_{0.19}^{+0.24}`$, and $`r_{\mathrm{in}}=12_6^{+100}`$ at $`\chi _\nu ^2=151.0/142`$. The fitted parameters weakly depend on the assumed geometry; e.g., a geometry with hot plasma regions in the form of cylinders on the surface of a disk yields $`kT=50_8^{+80}`$ keV, $`\tau =2.2_{1.4}^{+0.3}`$, $`\mathrm{\Omega }/2\pi =0.64_{0.08}^{+0.24}`$, and $`r_{\mathrm{in}}=10_4^{+4}`$ at $`\chi _\nu ^2=151.3/142`$.

The latter geometry yields an anisotropy break appearing around the peak of the 2nd scattering order (Poutanen & Svensson 1996), which could, possibly, account for the broken power-law spectral solution with the break at $`1`$ keV and no additional soft component described above. However, we have found that a coronal geometry without an additional soft component yields a relatively poor fit, $`\chi _\nu ^2=159.1/144`$ with $`kT120`$ keV, $`\tau 0.9`$. Comparing to the thermal-Compton above, the significance of the presence of a soft component is still 97%. If the temperature of seed photons is allowed to be free, $`kT_{\mathrm{bb}}20`$ eV, which constraint follows from the anisotropy break entering the fitted energy range.

We also consider a model with a broken power-law primary continuum with a break at high energies. However, this model requires the break to be above our data, at $`110`$ keV, with the index below the break of $`\mathrm{\Gamma }=1.91`$ and an unconstrained index above the break. This model also provides a relatively poor fit, with $`\chi _\nu ^2=154.6/139`$. Thus, there is no evidence for a sharp spectral break at high energies in the data.

## 4 VARIABILITY

The spectrum analyzed in §3.2 has been integrated over the observation spanning more than 2 days (see Table 1), during which the source varied. The LECS and MECS light curves are shown in Figure 2a. In both instruments, the $`\chi ^2`$ probability that the source were constant was $`<10^3`$ independently of the temporal bin used. This is in agreement with the observed earlier on various time scales by EXOSAT, ROSAT and ASCA (Maraschi et al. 1991, hereafter M91; Grandi et al. 1997).

We see in Figure 2a that the soft spectrum is more variable than the hard one. Namely, the amplitude of the variations is $`15\%`$ in the 0.3–2 keV energy range and only $`5\%`$ in the 2–10 keV band. This variability pattern is driven by the spectrum becoming softer with increasing soft flux, as shown in Figure 2b. The linear correlation coefficient between the hardness ratio and the soft count rate is $`r=0.92`$, and the probability that the 2 quantities are correlated is $`>99\%`$. A similar anticorrelation of the X-ray flux and spectral index was found on longer time scales in Einstein data by Halpern (1985) and in EXOSAT data by M91 and Grandi et al. (1992).

In order to find the range of the spectral index, $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$, corresponding to the anticorrelation shown in Figure 2b, we have used the model of Table 2 in which we have varied (only) $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ and then adjusted the normalization to match the 0.3–2 keV LECS rate of the extreme best-fit points in Figure 2b. We have found that the range of $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ matching the observed spectral variability is quite large, 1.70–2.03 (significantly larger than the 90%-uncertainty range of the average $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ in Table 2).

We have then investigated which physical process can be responsible for the observed behavior. A natural candidate here is thermal Comptonization in a hot plasma cloud irradiated by a variable flux of soft seed photons, as suggested by M91. If the power supplied to the cloud and its Thomson optical depth, $`\tau `$, are constant, its electron temperature, $`kT`$, will adjust itself to the variable seed flux as to satisfy energy balance. Then, the higher the seed flux, the lower $`kT`$, and (since a decrease of $`kT`$ at a constant $`\tau `$ corresponds to an increase of the X-ray spectral index, $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$) the softer the X-ray spectrum. Since the Comptonized spectrum joins at low energies to the peak of the spectrum of the seed photons, this will also correspond to an increase of the soft X-ray flux.

To test whether this process can indeed reproduce the observed spectral variability, we have used a Comptonization code by Coppi (1992, 1999), with its present xspec version described in Gierliński et al. (1999). This model is relatively similar to the one used in §3.2 except for $`kT`$ being calculated self-consistently (rather than assumed) from the fluxes in Comptonized photons, $`F_\mathrm{C}`$, and in the seed photons irradiating the cloud, $`F_{\mathrm{seed}}`$. Thus, its main parameters are $`\tau `$, $`F_\mathrm{C}`$, and $`F_{\mathrm{seed}}`$, with $`F_{\mathrm{seed}}`$ giving the normalization of the spectrum. We assume that the plasma is purely thermal, and the seed photons are blackbody at $`kT_{\mathrm{bb}}=10`$ eV. We then fit the time-averaged spectrum, and obtain the amplification factor of $`F_\mathrm{C}/F_{\mathrm{seed}}=7.4_{1.6}^{+2.0}`$ and $`\tau =2.4_{1.4}^{+0.3}`$. Reflection is tied to the Fe K line and the relativistic smearing is taken into account as in §3.2, yielding $`\mathrm{\Omega }/2\pi =0.54_{0.15}^{+0.15}`$ and $`r_{\mathrm{in}}=12_6^{+250}`$. We also take into account the soft-excess emission of an optically thin plasma (§3.2), and obtain $`\chi _\nu ^2=151.4/142`$.

We then vary only $`F_{\mathrm{seed}}`$, increasing and decreasing it by a factor of 2. Unlike the power-law model above, we do not adjust the model normalization. The resulting predictions on the soft count rate and the spectral hardness are shown in Figure 2b. Given the simplicity of our assumption, the agreement with the observed spectral variability is extremely good, yielding strong support to the picture of the X-ray variability driven by a variable flux of irradiating UV photons.

The unabsorbed spectra corresponding to the inferred variability pattern are shown in Figure 3. Note that the shown UV and EUV part corresponds only the blackbody photons irradiating the hot plasma, with photons emitted directly to the observer dominating actual UV spectra of 3C 120 (see fig. 8 in M91). We see that the average and the extreme spectra pivot in the $`4`$–12 keV range. This is consistent with a lack of correlation of $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ and the 2–10 keV flux found by Walter & Courvoisier (1992).

A result of Walter & Courvoisier (1992) that $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ is approximately proportional to the logarithm of the ratio of the UV flux to the X-ray flux is then consistent with the variability pattern in Figure 3, provided the UV flux incident on the hot plasma is proportional to that emitted towards the observer. This scenario is also supported by the finding of M91 that their highest UV state corresponds to the softest X-ray spectrum.

Note that Walter & Courvoisier (1992) have suggested that the spectral variability in X-rays (and the UV/X-ray correlation) can be explained by thermal Comptonization in a plasma with variable $`\tau `$. For our obtained plasma parameters, we do not confirm this suggestion. Namely, varying $`\tau `$ by a factor of 2 changes the soft count rate, but without any noticeable changes in the hardness ratio, in contrast to our successful model with variable $`F_{\mathrm{seed}}`$.

As we see in Figure 3, a prediction of the thermal-Compton model is that the lowest soft X-ray flux is associated with the highest flux in the $`20`$–50 keV band as well as with the highest $`kT`$. Unfortunately, the limited statistics of our PDS data do not allow us to test this prediction. This can be tested in the future by the IBIS detector aboard INTEGRAL (Ubertini et al. 1999). Interestingly, the spectral variability of the black-hole binary Cyg X-1 in the hard state does show a pattern similar to that in Figure 3. Namely, a relatively hard spectrum with $`\mathrm{\Gamma }1.6`$ has a high-energy cutoff corresponding to $`kT100`$ keV (Gierliński et al. 1997) whereas a relatively soft spectrum with $`\mathrm{\Gamma }2`$ has $`kT60`$ keV (Frontera et al. 2001) and the 2 spectra intersect at $`5`$ keV (see Zdziarski, Wen & Paciesas 2001).

In principle, the variability shown in Figure 2 could also be a result of a variable $`N_\mathrm{H}`$. However, setting $`N_\mathrm{H}=0`$ in our models of §3.2 does not reproduce the highest count rate shown in Figure 2. For that, we have found that the intrinsic power law index would have to be $`\mathrm{\Gamma }1.95`$. As already found in §3.2, such a $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ gives a relatively bad fit to the average spectrum as well as it has not been observed by ASCA and RXTE (see §5 below). Also, a model with variable $`N_\mathrm{H}`$ has been considered by M91, who ruled it out based on the extensive EXOSAT monitoring. Finally, that model would not explain the UV/X-ray correlation discussed above.

## 5 COMPARISON WITH ASCA, XTE AND OSSE

Figure 4 shows a comparison of the spectrum from BeppoSAX (black symbols; the LECS and PDS spectra are renormalized to that of MECS) with those from ASCA (red symbols; the data from the 4 ASCA detectors are normalized to SIS0 and coadded, W98), RXTE (green symbols; the data are from E00) and CGRO/OSSE (blue, W98).

As seen in Figure 4, the ASCA spectrum shows both the continuum and the line profile remarkably similar to those of the BeppoSAX spectrum. However, the ASCA data show a spectral break at $`4`$ keV, with $`\mathrm{\Gamma }2.0`$ and 1.75 below and above the break, respectively (using the same data as W98). Then the model with a broken power-law and Compton reflection tied to the Fe K$`\alpha `$ line yields both the reflection and line parameters very similar to those in the BeppoSAX data, namely $`\mathrm{\Omega }/2\pi =0.50_{0.19}^{+0.55}`$, $`E_{\mathrm{K}\alpha }6.4`$ keV, $`\sigma _{\mathrm{K}\alpha }0.24`$ keV, $`W_{\mathrm{K}\alpha }75_{29}^{+83}`$ eV. When the presence of the break is not taken into account and the ASCA data are fitted with a single power-law continuum and a line with free parameters, an unphysical line with $`\sigma _{\mathrm{K}\alpha }W_{\mathrm{K}\alpha }1`$ keV appears, as discussed by W98.

Since the break at 4 keV is not seen in the BeppoSAX data, we have considered possible causes of its presence in the ASCA data. We note first that a similar break appears in the RXTE data (see below), with the spectrum below 3.5 keV being significantly softer than that above it. However, this may result from calibration problems, as it is shown to be the case, e.g., for a simultaneous ASCA/RXTE observation of Cyg X-1 (Gierliński et al. 1999), and, accordingly, E00 have not taken into account the energy range below $`4`$ keV in their analysis. We have then looked at possible discrepancies between the ASCA SIS and GIS data. We have found that the SIS data at $`5`$ keV and $`1`$ keV are somewhat harder and softer, respectively, than the GIS data (in both versions of the ASCA data of W98 and of Sambruna et al. 1999). However, when we ignore the SIS data above 5 keV and either SIS or GIS data below 1 keV, we obtain virtually identical parameters of the broken power-law fit, with only a slight change of the hard power law of $`\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{\Gamma }<0.05`$. Thus, we conclude that the (small) discrepancy between the SIS and GIS data is not the cause of the 4-keV break, or, equivalently, of the spuriously strong and broad line appearing in fits with a single power law continuum. We also note that in the ASCA sample analyzed by W98, a break at $`3`$–4 keV appears also in the spectrum of 3C 382 and in one of 3 spectra of 3C 390.3 (all observed in 1993–94) whereas is not seen in the spectra of 3C 445, 3C 111 and the remaining two of 3C 390.3 (from 1995–96). A further analysis of this issue appears desirable.

We have also found a good agreement of the spectral shapes between the BeppoSAX and RXTE spectra. We have refitted the RXTE data of E00 in the 3.5–25 keV (PCA) and 20–50 keV (HEXTE) ranges with our baseline model (including a thermal soft-excess component and $`N_\mathrm{H}`$ with parameters fixed at those obtained from the BeppoSAX data). We find that the RXTE data are compatible with the presence of an additional line component in addition to that coming from the reflector (see § 3.2). We obtain then continuum parameters similar to those of E00, namely $`\mathrm{\Gamma }=1.89_{0.02}^{+0.02}`$, $`\mathrm{\Omega }/2\pi =0.49_{0.10}^{+0.10}`$, yielding $`\chi _\nu ^2=41.9/51`$. The equivalent widths of the reflection-related line and the additional line are $`70\pm 15`$ eV and $`15\pm 15`$ eV, respectively. The data prefer the reflection-related line to be narrow, with $`\sigma _{\mathrm{K}\alpha }=0.09_{0.09}^{+0.32}`$ keV. In spite of these differences, the line parameters in the RXTE and BeppoSAX data are still consistent with each other within 90% confidence. The $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$-$`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ error contours for the RXTE data and those from BeppoSAX (using the model of Table 2) are shown in Figure 5.

We also note hard tails in the PCA and HEXTE data above the energy ranges used by us. The presence of these tails, most likely due to residual inaccuracies in background subtraction, appear responsible for the very high e-folding energy ($`10^4`$ keV) and for the relatively large $`\chi _\nu ^2=64.4/59`$ obtained by E00. When the data containing the tails are not used, $`E_\mathrm{c}`$ is unconstrained by the RXTE data, and we thus kept it fixed at 150 keV (obtained from the BeppoSAX data).

Thus, there is an overall agreement about the parameters of both the line and the hard X-ray continuum between the BeppoSAX, ASCA and RXTE data: $`\sigma _{\mathrm{K}\alpha }0.2`$–0.3 keV, $`W_{\mathrm{K}\alpha }80`$–100 eV, $`\mathrm{\Gamma }1.8`$–1.9, $`\mathrm{\Omega }/2\pi 0.5`$–0.6.

A somewhat unclear issue is the form of the break or cutoff at soft $`\gamma `$-rays. The RXTE data do not allow us to determine it, as discussed above. The BeppoSAX data require a high-energy break or a cutoff. In the e-folded power-law model, shown in Figure 4, $`E_\mathrm{c}150`$ keV. Also, an OSSE observation simultaneous with that by ASCA required the presence of a cutoff with $`E_\mathrm{c}100`$ keV at a significance of 99.95% (W98). However, we see that the average OSSE data shown in Figure 4 above $`150`$ keV clearly lie above the predictions of this model for energies $`150`$ keV. This remains the case when the OSSE data (at a free normalization) are fitted together with the BeppoSAX data, in which case the best-fit values are $`E_\mathrm{c}=250`$ keV ($`\chi _\nu ^2=185.9/178`$) and $`kT=100`$ keV in the e-folded power-law model and the spherical thermal-Compton model, respectively. Since the OSSE data show the source variability at energies $`50`$ keV (W98), it is possible that the cutoff energy is variable, and the spectrum at the time of the BeppoSAX observation did have an exponential cutoff. On the other hand, the spectrum of 3C 120 might have a substantial high-energy tail due to a non-thermal continuum. This hypothesis is supported by OSSE observations of other radio galaxies, as discussed in W98.

In particular, the OSSE data might contain a contribution from non-thermal, Doppler-enhanced, radiation of a jet. In order to test this hypothesis, we again fit the combined BeppoSAX/OSSE data (as above) with the model of Table 2 but with an addition of a power law representing the jet emission. This yields yields $`\chi _\nu ^2=183.0/176`$ (which corresponds to the significance of adding the power-law component of only 75%) and the best-fit $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_{\mathrm{jet}}=1.7`$ (which is almost unconstrained due to the low significance of adding that component; other best-fit parameters are $`\mathrm{\Gamma }=1.89`$, $`\mathrm{\Omega }/2\pi =0.64`$, $`E_\mathrm{c}=120`$ keV). The 1-keV normalization of the jet component is $`(2.3\pm 2.3)\times 10^3`$ cm-2 s-1 keV-1 when $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_{\mathrm{jet}}`$ is fixed at 1.7. The 2 components intersect at $`100`$ keV. However, the integrated photon flux above 100 MeV of this model is $`(1.0\pm 1.0)\times 10^6`$ cm-2 s-1, which best-fit value is $`10`$ times higher than the CGRO/EGRET detection threshold. Even though pointed several times, EGRET has not detected 3C 120 (Lin et al. 1993). Thus, if such a power-law jet component exists, it has to be either very weak or have a strong break/cutoff at energies below those observed by EGRET. On the other hand, there is no statistically significant evidence for its existence in the data.

## 6 DISCUSSION

### 6.1 Relationship to BLRGs and Seyferts

W98 have pointed out that BLRGs appear, on average, to have less Compton reflection, weaker F K$`\alpha `$ lines and harder X-ray spectra than radio-quiet Seyfert 1s. Those conclusions have been confirmed by the studies of the BeppoSAX and RXTE data (G00, E00). In particular, the mean of the best-fit values of $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ and the standard error of measuring that mean in models with Compton reflection in the above BLRG samples from Ginga (W98), BeppoSAX (G00), and RXTE (E00) are $`\mathrm{\Gamma }=1.67\pm 0.09`$, $`1.74\pm 0.03`$ and $`1.83\pm 0.08`$, respectively. For the sum of the 3 samples, we obtain $`\mathrm{\Gamma }=1.74\pm 0.04`$. All these values are less than the corresponding mean for Seyfert 1s, which for the sample from Ginga (Nandra & Pounds 1994) and BeppoSAX (Matt 2000) is $`\mathrm{\Gamma }=1.95\pm 0.05`$ and $`1.91\pm 0.05`$, respectively. (In both cases, NGC 4151, a Seyfert 1 with very strong X-ray absorption, has not been included for computing the mean.)

These numbers clearly show that $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ in BLRGs is significantly lower (by $`5\sigma `$) than that in Seyfert 1s. The probability that the mean of the above joint sample of BLRGs equals 1.95 (i.e., the mean of Seyfert 1s of Nandra & Pounds 1994) is $`2.3\times 10^5`$ (obtained from the Student $`t`$ distribution). Also, we note that all 15 best-fit values of $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ in the above 3 samples of BLRGs are less than $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ of Nandra & Pounds (1994). If $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$s of BLRGs were sampled from the same distribution as that of Seyfert 1s, the probability of such an event would be only $`2^{15}3\times 10^5`$. Furthermore, we can test the hypothesis that the joint sample of BLRGs has the mean of 1.95 and the standard deviation of 0.15 (as in the sample of Nandra & Pounds 1994), for which we obtain the probability of $`4.7\times 10^8`$ (based on the normal distribution).

We note that E00 stated that their distribution of $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ did not differ from that of Seyfert 1s from Ginga. However, the probability that their values of $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ (1.78, 1.90, 1.72, 1.92) belong to the distribution with $`\mathrm{\Gamma }=1.95`$ and $`\sigma _\mathrm{\Gamma }=0.15`$ is only 5%. Furthermore, we should note the difference of $`\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{\Gamma }0.1`$ between RXTE and other X-ray instruments in fits to the Crab as well as other sources (e.g., Gierliński et al. 1999; Done, Madejski & Życki 2000), which, if taken into account, would make the difference in $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ between BLRGs and Seyfert 1s even more pronounced, reducing the above probability to $`1.7\times 10^3`$.

On the other hand, the distribution of $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ in BLRGs is not disjoint from that in Seyfert 1s. This can be noted by considering the intrinsic dispersion, $`\sigma _\mathrm{\Gamma }`$, of the values of $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ in the samples (given by their standard deviations). For the BLRGs samples from Ginga, BeppoSAX and RXTE, $`\sigma _\mathrm{\Gamma }=0.18`$, 0.08, and 0.10, respectively, while $`\sigma _\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ of their sum equals 0.14. The dispersion in the Seyfert-1 samples from Ginga and BeppoSAX (Nandra & Pounds 1994; Matt 2000) is $`\sigma _\mathrm{\Gamma }=0.15`$ and 0.20, respectively. Given the values of $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ listed above, the distributions for BLRGs and Seyfert 1s significantly overlap (which, we stress again, does not imply that the 2 distributions are indistinguishable).

Furthermore, BLRGs obey an overall correlation between these $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ and $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ seen in Seyferts (Zdziarski, Lubiński & Smith 1999, hereafter Z99). This is illustrated in Figure 5 (where we can also note the $`\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{\Gamma }0.1`$ offset between the RXTE results and those of Ginga and BeppoSAX). We see that BLRGs (including 3C 120) simply occupy a lower left part of the broader $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$-$`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ parameter space occupied by radio-quiet Seyferts. Also, the average strength of the broad component of the Fe K$`\alpha `$ line in radio-quiet Seyferts with $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ close to that of 3C 120 observed by ASCA (Lubiński & Zdziarski 2001) corresponds to the strength of Compton reflection consistent within error bars with that observed in 3C 120.

This implies a general similarity between the physical conditions in the X-ray sources of Seyferts and BLRGs (including 3C 120), but with some unknown parameter determining ($`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$, $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$) in BLRGs offset with respect to that in radio-quiet Seyferts. We discuss this issue in the §6.3 below.

The overall similarity between the X-ray properties of BLRGs and radio-quiet Seyferts is further confirmed by the variability pattern of 3C 120 (Fig. 2b), where the X-ray spectrum becomes softer with the increasing X-ray flux. This pattern is the same as that often seen in radio-quiet Seyfert 1s, e.g., in NGC 5548 (Magdziarz et al. 1998) and NGC 4151 (Yaqoob & Warwick 1991). We also note that black-hole binaries in the hard state show a similar behavior (e.g., Zdziarski, Wen & Paciesas 2001).

### 6.2 Radiative and pair processes

Clearly, the dominant radiative process responsible for X-ray continua of many classes of compact objects is Compton upscattering of soft photons by energetic electrons. Less clear issues are the form of the electron distribution and the source of the seed soft photons. In the case of radio-quiet Seyfert 1s, the form of the soft $`\gamma `$-ray spectra from OSSE rules out distributions dominated by non-thermal electrons (Gondek et al. 1996). The strongest evidence for an electron distribution close to Maxwellian with $`kT50`$–100 keV and $`\tau 1`$ in Seyferts comes from the average OSSE spectrum of NGC 4151 (Johnson et al. 1997) and the combined average OSSE spectra of other Seyferts (Zdziarski, Poutanen & Johnson 2000).

In the case of 3C 120 (as well as other BLRGs, W98), there is a break or a cutoff in soft $`\gamma `$-rays, but its form is not well determined. The thermal-Compton model gives $`kT30`$–130 keV, but the OSSE data above 100 keV lie somewhat above the predictions of this model, indicating a possible high-energy, non-thermal, tail.

On the other hand, the fact that the X-ray spectra of BLRGs obey the $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$-$`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ correlation supports their predominantly thermal origin. As discussed in Z99, the most likely origin of the correlation is a feedback between cold and hot media. The cold medium Compton reflects hard emission and provides blackbody seed photons for thermal-Compton cooling of the hot, X-ray emitting, plasma. (If the electrons in the hot plasma were predominantly non-thermal, no relation of the X-ray slope to the rate of cooling would be required.) Furthermore, the observed softening of the X-ray spectrum with increasing flux (Figs. 2-3) strongly supports the thermal-Compton model with a variable flux of irradiating soft photons, as shown in §4.

As stated above, the presence of the $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$-$`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ correlation implies that the seed photons Comptonized in the hot plasma are emitted by a surrounding cold medium rather than intrinsically to the hot plasma. This is independently supported by results of Wardziński & Zdziarski (2000, see their fig. 8), who found that the expected strength of magnetic field in accreting sources in luminous AGNs (such as 3C 120) is far too weak to provide enough seed photons via thermal synchrotron emission for Comptonization to account for the observed X-ray spectra.

The best-fit thermal-Compton models (§3.2) have $`kT`$ ($`40`$–50 keV) too low for the plasma clouds with $`\tau 2`$ and sizes $`R_\mathrm{g}`$ to be made predominantly of $`e^\pm `$ pairs, as follows from consideration of equilibrium between pair production and annihilation (Stern et al. 1995; Svensson 1996). Pair-dominated plasmas are only marginally possible for the highest $`kT`$/lowest $`\tau `$ compatible with the data at 90% confidence, $`kT130`$ keV, $`\tau <1`$, provided the active regions are small enough (Svensson 1996). On the other hand, a modest non-thermal tail in the electron distribution could greatly enhance the pair-production rate, easing the above constraint. Thus, our data do not significantly constrain the pair content in the X-ray emitting plasma in 3C 120. We note that even if the plasma is pair-dominated, the presence of a distinct $`e^\pm `$ annihilation feature around 511 keV is unlikely (Maciołek-Niedźwiecki, Zdziarski & Coppi 1995). To conclusively resolve the issue of the presence of pairs, high signal-to-noise data up to $`1`$ MeV (e.g., from the IBIS/INTEGRAL detector) are required.

### 6.3 The geometry of the X-ray source

Two main disk geometries have been invoked for accreting X-ray sources: a patchy corona above a cold accretion disk, and a hot accretion disk with an overlapping cold medium (either an outer cold disk, cold blobs or both). As we show below, both of those possibilities appear viable for 3C 120, and BLRGs in general.

In the case of coronal geometry, the values of $`kT`$ and $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ fitted to the BeppoSAX spectrum of 3C 120 (§3.2) strongly rule out either a homogeneous corona or active regions located directly on the disk surface, from considerations of energy and pair balance (Stern et al. 1995). On the other hand, models with static active regions elevated above the disk to a height comparable to their size can fit 3C 120, see Svensson (1996). In this geometry, the fitted $`\mathrm{\Omega }<2\pi `$ can be explained by a partial obscuration of the reflecting disk surface by the active regions.

However, in order to produce harder spectra, like those of other BLRGs, the emitting region should be even more separated from the cold accretion disk (e.g., Svensson 1996), but in that case the predicted $`\mathrm{\Omega }/2\pi 1`$ and $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ would increase with decreasing $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$, opposite to the observed $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$-$`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ correlation (Fig. 5). This problem can be solved by mildly relativistic motion of emitting plasma away from the disk, in which case both hard spectra and little reflection are obtained (Beloborodov 1999a, b). The dashed curve in Figure 5 shows a specific version of this model, as computed in Z99. We see that it can approximately reproduce the values of $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ and $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ of BLRGs.

This model has been claimed to be untenable for BLRGs by E00 on the grounds that radio jets in BLRGs are highly relativistic, with $`\gamma 10`$. However, radio jets (in particular the relativistic jet in 3C 120, Walker 1997) are observed on scales much larger than $`r10`$–100 inferred from the observed Fe K$`\alpha `$ line broadening. The process of jet formation remains not well understood, but it is quite likely that the matter in the jet originates in an accretion disk. In that case, there has to be an inner region with a mildly relativistic wind velocity before $`\gamma 10`$ is reached. That inner region may be then responsible for the observed X-ray emission.

The main alternative model involves a hot accretion disk (Shapiro, Lightman & Eardley 1976). Advection in the flow results in a branch with ineffective cooling as well as it limits the possible maximum luminosity and the optical depth of an inner flow (Narayan & Yi 1995; Abramowicz et al. 1995). The strength of reflection depends on the amount of overlap of the hot disk with an outer cold disk. The less overlap, the less effective cooling by blackbody photons emitted by the cold disk and the harder the X-ray spectrum. Results of a simple calculation of this effect by Z99 are shown by the solid curve in Figure 5. We see that this model is also roughly capable of explaining the data for 3C 120 and most other BLRGs. In the case of 3C 120, the overlap is required by the relatively large fitted value of $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ since a sharp radial transition between the hot and cold phases yields $`\mathrm{\Omega }/2\pi 0.4`$ (see Z99).

Both models explain the anticorrelation between the soft X-ray flux and the spectral hardness as being due to the increased cooling of the hot plasma by emission of the cold disk. In the hot accretion disk model, this can naturally be associated with the cold disk moving inward. In the outflow model, an increased soft flux can be directly due to an increase of the accretion rate.

The fact that BLRGs have harder spectra with less reflection than those average for Seyfert 1s indicates that some physical parameter (presumably the same that leads to the strong radio emission and jet formation in BLRGs) leads (on average) either to stronger coronal outflows (in the disk-corona model) or to larger inner radii of the cold disk (in the hot/cold disk model) than in the case of radio-quiet Seyferts.

### 6.4 The soft component

In §3.2, we have compared 3 pairs of models with and without an additional soft component. In the case of static reflection and a Gaussian line, the fit improvement due to adding emission of an optically-thin thermal plasma has 98% significance. However, the model without that component has a line with a large width incompatible with the assumed static reflection. When both the line and reflection are relativistically smeared, this significance increases to 99.5%. Finally, this significance for coronal Comptonization regions (which soft X-ray spectrum differs from a power law) is 97%. Using the last model, we have also demonstrated that the broken-power law fit in §3.2 cannot be physically justified as an approximation to the Comptonization anisotropy break. Thus, combining our spectral analysis with physical constraints we find the presence of a soft X-ray excess in the data to be confirmed at a high significance.

The optically-thin emission is likely to come from a larger, kpc-scale, region. Extended thermal components are commonly detected in soft X-rays from 3C radio galaxies, especially of the FR I type (Hardcastle & Worrall 1999). A recent analysis of ROSAT data has shown the presence of a hot gaseous environment in the BLRG 3C 382 (Prieto 2000), which X-ray spectrum is rather similar to that of 3C 120 (W98, G00). In fact, a re-analysis of the ROSAT/HRI image of 3C 120 (D. Harris, private communication) appears to show an extended halo, with the 0.2–2 keV luminosity emitted beyond the core radius of $`10^{\prime \prime }`$ (6.5 kpc) comparable to that emitted by the optically-thin plasma in our spectral model (§3.2). This result strongly supports the actual presence of the soft excess in 3C 120 (also found in EXOSAT data by Walter & Courvoisier 1992).

Alternatively, the optically-thin emission can come from an intercloud medium within the broad-line region. The emission measure obtained by us is, in fact, consistent with the typical intercloud density ($`10^7`$ cm-3) and the size of the broad-line region in 3C 120 of $`43`$ light-days, inferred from reverberation techniques (Wandel, Peterson & Malkan 1999).

A somewhat worse fit was obtained with an additional steep power law, which could represent emission from a soft X-ray jet. However, the only resolved feature away ($`25^{\prime \prime }`$) from the nucleus in the ROSAT/HRI image of 3C 120 (Harris et al. 1999) emits a negligible soft X-ray luminosity, $`10^3`$ of the total X-ray/$`\gamma `$-ray luminosity, which makes this model relatively unlikely.

Also, the soft power law fitted by us could also represent a high-energy extension of the UV bump present in 3C120 (M91). This, however, requires rather high temperatures of the UV emitting medium, which could, in principle, be achieved in a transition layer between the disk and the corona (e.g., Czerny & Elvis 1987). This (together with the observed variability pattern, §4) would require the soft X-ray excess to vary together with the main X-ray component, which may be in conflict with results of Walter & Courvoisier (1992).

Finally, we note that the pattern of spectral variability shown in Figure 3 shows a variable power law index. The resulting average spectrum will be concave as the softest and hardest power law will dominate in the lowest and highest energies, respectively. This concave spectrum can, in principle, be responsible for the fitted soft excess.

Thus, we cannot conclusively determine the nature of the soft component due to the limited X-ray imaging and spectroscopic capabilities of BeppoSAX. To achieve this goal, observations with Chandra and XMM are highly desirable.

## 7 CONCLUSIONS

Our BeppoSAX data clearly show a continuum due to reflection of an X-ray power law with $`\mathrm{\Gamma }1.8`$–1.9 from a cold material. The significance of the presence of reflection is $`>99.99\%`$ and the solid angle of the reflector is $`2\pi `$ ($`\mathrm{\Omega }/2\pi =0.56_{0.20}^{+0.44}`$ for the e-folded power-law incident continuum). The reflection is accompanied by a fluorescent Fe K$`\alpha `$ line with an equivalent width ($`80`$ eV) fully consistent with originating entirely from the reflector. The line is moderately broad, and combining our spectral constraints with those from ASCA and RXTE (which data show an overall agreement with those of BeppoSAX) yields $`\sigma _{\mathrm{K}\alpha }0.2`$–0.3 keV. If this line comes from a Keplerian disk in a Schwarzschild metric, the inner radius of the emitting region is $`10GM/c^2`$.

We find the presence of a high-energy break or cutoff in the BeppoSAX data. We can fit the data by either an e-folded power law or thermal Comptonization, obtaining $`E_\mathrm{c}=150_{30}^{+230}`$ keV, $`kT40`$–130 keV, respectively. In the latter model, $`\tau 0.6`$–3. We also detect a relatively weak (but significant at a $`98\%`$ confidence) soft excess. It is best-fitted by emission from an extended thermal plasma at $`kT_\mathrm{s}1`$ keV, which model is supported by an independent finding of an extended soft X-ray halo from 3C 120.

We find strong spectral variability during the 2-day observation, corresponding to $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ varying from $`1.7`$ to $`2`$ and correlated with the soft X-ray flux. The variability is very well modeled by thermal Comptonization in a hot plasma with a constant $`\tau `$ which temperature adjusts to a variable flux of irradiating UV photons.

The 3C 120 data obey the general correlation between the power-law slope and the strength of Compton reflection found in Seyferts and black-hole binaries. Interpretation of this correlation involves feedback between a thermal Comptonizing plasma and a cold medium, yielding support for our thermal-Compton spectral model. Our data are consistent with two geometries: an outflow above the surface of a disk, or a hot inner disk surrounded by an overlapping cold disk. Both homogeneous and static patchy corona models can be ruled out.

We confirm (at a very high confidence level) that BLRGs have harder X-ray spectra, less Compton reflection and weaker Fe K$`\alpha `$ lines than those average in radio-quiet Seyferts. However, the distributions of those parameters in BLRGs and radio-quiet Seyferts are not disjoint; the former occupy a part of the parameter space occupied by the latter.

AAZ has been supported in part by a grant from the Foundation for Polish Science and KBN grants 2P03D00614 and 2P03C00619p0(1,2). We are grateful to P. Woźniak for help in preparing the proposal for the observation analyzed here and E. Piconcelli for partially reducing the data. We also thank M. Gierliński for help with xspec models, M. Eracleous and R. Sambruna for sending us their RXTE and ASCA data, D. Harris for letting us know of his results prior to publication, K. Leighly, G. Malaguti, G. Palumbo and J. Poutanen for valuable discussions, and the anonymous referee for insightful comments.


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# N* Mass Spectrum from an Anisotropic Action

## 1 Introduction

There is increasing experimental information on the N\* spectrum from JLab and other accelerators, and the associated desire to understand it from first principles. Given that state-of-the-art lattice QCD simulations have produced a ground-state spectrum that is very close to the observed values , it is important to extend beyond the ground states. The rich structure of the N\* spectrum  provides a fertile ground for exploring how the internal degrees of freedom in the nucleon are excited and how QCD works in a wider context. One outstanding example is the splitting pattern between the observed $`1/2+`$ spectrum and its parity partner: the $`1/2`$ spectrum. The splittings are a direct manifestation of spontaneous chiral symmetry breaking of QCD, because without it QCD predicts parity doubling in the baryon spectrum.

Several lattice studies of the N\* spectrum have appeared recently. In  the $`1/2\pm `$ spectrum was first explored with a $`𝒪(a^2)`$ improved next-nearest-neighbor action. In  the splitting $`N_{1/2}N_{1/2+}`$ was examined with the domain-wall fermion action. In  results are reported for the $`N_{1/2\pm }`$ and the $`\mathrm{\Delta }_{3/2\pm }`$ based on the non-perturbative $`𝒪(a)`$ improved clover action. All the calculations show a clear splitting of the $`N_{1/2}`$ from the ground-state nucleon. In this work, we report further calculations in the $`1/2\pm `$ sectors using a highly-improved action on a anisotropic lattice.

## 2 Method

Two independent, local interpolating fields coupling to the nucleon are considered:

$$\chi _1(x)=ϵ^{abc}\left(u^{Ta}(x)C\gamma _5d^b(x)\right)u^c(x),$$
(1)
$$\chi _2(x)=ϵ^{abc}\left(u^{Ta}(x)Cd^b(x)\right)\gamma _5u^c(x).$$
(2)
The interpolating fields for other members of the octet can be found by appropriate substitutions of quark fields . Despite having explicit positive-parity by construction, these interpolating fields couple to both positive and negative parity states. A parity projection is needed to separate the two. In the large Euclidean time limit, the correlator with Dirichlet boundary condition in the time direction and zero spatial momentum becomes

$$G(t)=\underset{𝐱}{}<0|\chi (x)\overline{\chi (0)}|0>$$
(3)
$$=\lambda _+^2\frac{\gamma _4+1}{2}e^{M_+t}+\lambda _{}^2\frac{\gamma _4+1}{2}e^{M_{}t}$$
(4)
The relative sign in front of $`\gamma _4`$ provides the solution: taking the trace of G(t) with $`(1\pm \gamma _4)/4`$ respectively. A method on how to do the projection at finite momentum was also proposed in  which involves only diagonal elements. Three types of correlators are considered in this work: two diagonal ones $`N_1=<\chi _1\overline{\chi _1}>`$ and $`N_2=<\chi _2\overline{\chi _2}>`$, and the crossed $`N_3=<\chi _2\overline{\chi _1}>+<\chi _1\overline{\chi _2}>`$.

The anisotropic gauge action of , and the anisotropic D234 quark action of  are used. Both have tadpole-improved tree-level coefficients. Similar anisotropic actions have been used to study systems with heavy quarks . One advantage of anisotropic lattices is that with modest lattice sizes one can access large spatial volumes while having a fine temporal resolution, important when the states are extended and heavy. A $`10^3\times 30`$ lattice with $`a_s0.24`$ fm and anisotropy $`\xi =a_s/a_t=3`$ is used. The tadpole factor from the plaquette mean link is $`u_s=0.81`$ while $`u_t`$ is set to 1. In all, 500 configurations are analyzed. On each configuration 9 quark propagators are computed using a multi-mass solver, with quark masses ranging from approximately 780 to 90 MeV. The corresponding mass ratio $`\pi /\rho `$ is from 0.93 to 0.60. The source is located at the 2nd time slice. A gaussian-shaped, gauge-invariant smearing function  was applied at both the source and the sink to increase the overlap with the states in question. Statistical errors are derived from a bootstrap procedure.

## 3 Results and Discussion

Figure 1 shows some sample effective mass plots at quark mass no. 3 and 7 for all three correlators in the source-sink combination of SL which has the best signal among LL,LS,SL,SS. Valid plateaus exist in all cases. Figure 2 shows the extracted masses as a function of the quark mass. The $`N_1`$ and $`N_3`$ give roughly the same mass, while $`N_2`$ yields a consistently higher mass. It turns out that $`\chi _2`$ has very little overlap with the ground-state nucleon and couples mostly to the first excited state, the Roper $`N_{1/2+}(1440)`$. This point will be clarified below. All three negative-parity correlators give consistent masses. The ordering of $`N_{1/2+}(1440)`$ and $`N_{1/2}(1535)`$ at the quark masses considered is inverted compared to that from experiment. These results are consistent with those observed in . It would be interesting to see if the ordering is reversed at smaller quark masses where meson cloud becomes more important. The crossing can be expected even in the quenched approximation where quarks wiggling backward in time provide part of the meson cloud. Of course quenched QCD is sick at small quark masses, so a correct description must include the sea quarks. There is already evidence of such crossing at very small quark masses in the case of $`a_0`$ and $`a_1`$ mesons . The effects of the meson cloud show up as non-analytic behavior in the quark mass. Some curvature is already apparent in the data so a linear extrapolation is undesirable.

In order to make contact with experiment, Figure 3 presents mass ratios of the $`1/2`$ states to the nucleon ground state as a function of $`(\pi /\rho )^2`$. This way of presenting data has minimal dependence on the uncertainties in determining the scale and the quark masses. These ratios appear headed in the right direction compared to experiment. The $`\mathrm{\Lambda }_{1/2}(1405)`$ deserves special attention since it requires a larger curvature. At present it is almost degenerate with $`N_{1/2}(1535)`$ while in the physical spectrum its mass is lower despite having a heavier strange quark. This has been a long-standing puzzle. The origin of the mass suppression of the $`\mathrm{\Lambda }_{1/2}(1405)`$ lies in strong resonance channels such as the $`KN`$ and $`\pi \mathrm{\Sigma }`$ which would present themselves as nonlinearities in the quark-mass extrapolation. Whether it happens at smaller quark masses remains to be seen.

To extract information on the first excited states in each sector, the 2 by 2 correlator matrix from the two interpolating fields is considered, using the variational method originally proposed in . Figure 4 shows the results in the nucleon channel. It confirms that $`\chi _2`$ couples mostly to the the $`N_{1/2+}(1440)`$. The splitting of the Roper $`N_{1/2+}(1440)`$ from the nucleon is roughly 5 times that of the $`N_{1/2}(1620)`$ from the $`N_{1/2}(1535)`$, consistent with experimental observations. This may be traced back to the structure of the interpolating fields used to excite the states. The $`\chi _1`$ and $`\chi _2`$ have upper spinor components of the order 1 and $`(p/E)^2`$ respectively, whereas the interpolating fields for 1/2- states, $`\chi _1^{}=\gamma _5\chi _1`$ and $`\chi _2^{}=\gamma _5\chi _2`$, both have upper spinor components of the order $`p/E`$ which also introduce derivatives of the quark field operators. In the quark model, the two nearby low-lying $`N_{1/2}`$ states of the physical spectrum are described by coupling three quarks to a spin-1/2 or spin-3/2 spin-flavor wave function coupled in turn to one unit of orbital angular momentum. In a relativistic field theory one does not expect $`\chi _1^{}`$ and $`\chi _2^{}`$ to isolate individual states. However, it is expected that $`\chi _1^{}`$ will predominantly excite the lower-lying $`j=1/2`$ state associated with $`\mathrm{}=1`$ and $`s=1/2`$ while $`\chi _2^{}`$ will predominantly excite the higher-lying state associated with $`s=3/2`$. This expectation is borne out in the variational analysis. The results should improve with a larger basis of interpolating fields. An independent method based on maximum entropy  is being applied to verify the results.

## 4 Conclusion

The potential of anisotropic lattices, smeared operators and correlator matrix is demonstrated in probing the low-lying N\*s in the $`1/2+`$ and $`1/2`$ sectors. The pattern of the splittings is mostly consistent with experiment. More definite comparisons should address the systematics: finite $`a`$, finite volume, statistics, and most importantly, the chiral limit. There are still unresolved issues, such as the inverted ordering of the $`N_{1/2+}(1440)`$ and the $`N_{1/2}(1535)`$, and the degeneracy of the $`\mathrm{\Lambda }_{1/2}(1405)`$ and the $`N_{1/2}(1535)`$ at present quark masses, that depend on this limit. One way to proceed is to use ChPT to extrapolate the lattice data at quark masses where the quenched approximation is benign, like that proposed in . The more desirable way is to be able to simulate directly at or near the physical quark masses. Toward this end, good chiral properties are essential, and the domain-wall and the overlap quarks  seem to hold the promise.

## 5 Acknowledgment

This work is supported in part by U.S. DOE under grant DE-FG02-95ER40907. A combination of computing resources have been used, including an allocation from NERSC, the Calico Alpha cluster at JLab, and the Origin 2000 at the Virginia Campus of GW. I am indebted to D. Leinweber for initial collaborations on the subject and continuing discussions. I also benefited from discussions with K.F. Liu, D. Richards, C. Morningstar, R. Fiebig, N. Isgur, R. Edwards.


text:
# Inflation on a single brane – exact solutions

## I Introduction

The possibility  that our observable universe may be viewed as a domain wall embedded in a higher–dimensional space has received considerable attention recently. Motivated by developments in superstring and M–theory , it is assumed in this scenario that the standard model interactions are confined to a $`(3+1)`$–dimensional hypersurface, but that gravity may propagate through the ‘bulk’ dimensions perpendicular to the brane. This change in viewpoint has important consequences for early universe cosmology and, in particular, for the inflationary paradigm.

Various cosmological aspects of branes embedded in five dimensions have been investigated . The effects of including a scalar field in the bulk have also been studied . In this paper, we consider a co–dimension $`1`$ brane with positive tension, $`\lambda `$, embedded in vacuum Einstein gravity with a negative cosmological constant. This corresponds to the scenario introduced by Randall and Sundrum where the extra dimension is infinite . We focus on the region of parameter space defined by $`\lambda ^{1/4}m_5m_4`$, where $`m_{4,5}`$ represent the four– and five–dimensional Planck scales, respectively.

One approach to determining the expansion of the brane is to project the five–dimensional metric onto the brane world–volume . In effect, this is equivalent to solving Einstein’s field equations, together with appropriate jump conditions, for a negative cosmological constant and an energy–momentum tensor restricted to the brane . The field equations admit a first integral that may be interpreted as a generalized Friedmann equation . We emphasize, however, that the dynamics could differ in a compactified scenario, due to the effects of radion stabilization. If the cosmological constant and brane tension are related in an appropriate fashion, this equation takes the form***In this paper we assume that the world–volume metric of the three–brane is the spatially flat, Friedmann–Robertson–Walker (FRW) line element with scale factor, $`a(t)`$, and Hubble parameter, $`H\dot{a}/a`$. A dot and prime denote differentiation with respect to cosmic time, $`t`$, and the scalar field, $`\varphi `$, respectively. :

$$H^2=\frac{4\pi }{3\lambda m_4^2}\rho (\rho +2\lambda )+\frac{ϵ}{a^4},$$
(1.1)
where $`\rho `$ represents the energy density of matter on the brane, $`ϵ`$ is a constant and we have assumed that the four–dimensional cosmological constant is zero. The last term on the right–hand side of Eq. (1.1) behaves as ‘dark radiation’ and arises due to the backreaction of the bulk gravitational degrees of freedom on the brane . At sufficiently low energies, $`\rho \lambda `$, the standard cosmic behaviour is recovered and the primordial nucleosynthesis constraint is satisfied provided that $`\lambda (1\mathrm{MeV})^4`$.

Quantum gravitational effects become important if the energy density on the brane exceeds the five–dimensional Planck scale. In this case, the assumption that matter is confined to the brane may become unreliable. However, if $`\lambda m_5^4`$, there is a region of parameter space, corresponding to $`\lambda \rho m_5^4`$, where the classical solution is still valid, but where the quadratic correction becomes significant. In particular, this term can play an important role during inflation . Cosmological inflation has played a central role in studies of the very early universe. (For recent reviews, see, e.g., Refs. ). It is therefore important to study the inflationary dynamics of the braneworld scenario. In the standard inflationary cosmology, the universe is dominated by a scalar ‘inflaton’ field self–interacting through a potential, $`V(\varphi )`$, with an energy density $`\rho \dot{\varphi }^2/2+V`$. Inflation proceeds if the potential energy of the field dominates its kinetic energy. Maartens et al. have recently considered the case where a single inflaton field is confined to the brane and have derived the necessary criteria for successful inflation when the slow–roll approximation is valid . In general, the quadratic term in the Friedmann equation (1.1) results in an enhanced friction on the field, implying that inflation is possible for a wider region of parameter space than in the standard cosmology .

When the scalar field is confined to the brane, energy–momentum conservation implies that its equation of motion has the standard form:

$$\ddot{\varphi }+3H\dot{\varphi }+V^{}(\varphi )=0.$$
(1.2)
Eq. (1.2) can be expressed in terms of the energy density such that

$$\dot{\rho }=3H\dot{\varphi }^2$$
(1.3)
and it follows that a given inflationary braneworld model is specified by a solution to the Friedmann–scalar field equations (1.1) and (1.3).

In general, however, it is very difficult to solve this system of equations, even when the standard slow–roll assumptions, $`\dot{\varphi }^2V`$ and $`|\ddot{\varphi }|H|\dot{\varphi }|`$, are made. It is therefore important to develop generating techniques for finding exact solutions to Eqs. (1.1) and (1.2) and this is the purpose of the present work. During inflation, the dark radiation redshifts rapidly and soon becomes dynamically negligible and we therefore consider models where $`ϵ=0`$. On the other hand, we do not assume that the slow–roll approximation is necessarily valid. Thus, such a study has direct applications to the final stages of inflation, where the kinetic energy of the inflaton field inevitably becomes significant. Depending on the form of the potential, this may happen when the quadratic correction to the Friedmann equation (1.1) is still important. The search for exact scalar field braneworlds is also important because it allows one to classify the possible types of behaviour that arise in these universes and to uncover the generic characteristics of such models.

## II First–Order Field Equations

From a particle physics perspective, it is natural to begin by specifying the functional form of the potential. However, even for simple choices, such as exponential or power law potentials, analytical progress can not be made. An alternative route, originally introduced within the context of standard chaotic inflation , is to specify the time–dependence of the scale factor, $`a(t)`$. In the braneworld scenario, given $`a(t)`$, one may deduce $`\rho (t)`$ from Eq. (1.1) and hence $`\dot{\varphi }(t)`$ from Eq. (1.3). Integrating yields $`\varphi (t)`$. The time–dependence of the potential follows immediately from the definition of the energy density and the form of $`V(\varphi )`$ is deduced by inverting $`\varphi (t)`$. The drawback of this approach is that such an inversion is not always possible and moreover a realistic potential does not necessarily result.

In principle, these problems are partially avoided by first specifying an invertible form for $`\varphi (t)`$ , although we do not explore this possibility further here. Our approach is to note that during inflation, the scalar field rolls monotonically down its potential. Thus, Eq. (1.3) may be expressed in the form

$$\rho ^{}=3H\dot{\varphi }.$$
(2.1)
The formal limit, $`\lambda \mathrm{}`$, corresponds to the standard inflationary scenario. In this case, Eqs. (1.1) and (2.1) can be written in the particularly simple ‘Hamilton–Jacobi’ form

$`H^{}a^{}={\displaystyle \frac{4\pi }{m_4^2}}Ha`$ (2.2)
$`H^{}={\displaystyle \frac{4\pi }{m_4^2}}\dot{\varphi }`$ (2.3)
$`(H^{})^2{\displaystyle \frac{12\pi }{m_4^2}}H^2={\displaystyle \frac{32\pi ^2}{m_4^4}}V,`$ (2.4)
where the Hubble parameter is viewed implicitly as a function of the scalar field. Eq. (2.2) may be integrated to yield the scale factor:

$$a(\varphi )=\mathrm{exp}\left[\frac{4\pi }{m_4^2}^\varphi 𝑑\varphi \frac{H}{H^{}}\right]$$
(2.5)
and this implies that the cosmological dynamics is determined, up to a single quadrature, once the functional form of $`H(\varphi )`$ has been specified. It has been suggested that $`H(\varphi )`$ should be viewed as the solution generating function when analysing inflationary cosmologies . The advantage of such an approach is that the form of the potential is readily deduced from Eq. (2.4). The question that naturally arises within the braneworld context, therefore, is whether there exists an analogous generating function when the quadratic correction in the Friedmann equation (1.1) is relevant.

To proceed, we define a new function $`y(\varphi )`$:

$$\rho \frac{2\lambda y^2}{1y^2},$$
(2.6)
where the restriction $`y^2<1`$ must be imposed for the weak energy condition to be satisfied. Substituting Eq. (2.6) into the Friedmann equation (1.1) implies that the Hubble parameter is given by

$$H(\varphi )=\left(\frac{16\pi \lambda }{3m_4^2}\right)^{1/2}\frac{y}{1y^2}.$$
(2.7)
The right–hand side of Eq. (2.7) can be expanded as a geometric progression:

$$H=\left(\frac{16\pi \lambda }{3m_4^2}\right)^{1/2}\left[y+y^3+y^5+\mathrm{}\right],$$
(2.8)
implying that $`y`$ is proportional to the Hubble parameter in the low–energy limit, $`y0`$ $`(\rho /\lambda 0)`$.

Substitution of Eq. (2.6) into the scalar field equation (2.1) implies that

$$\dot{\varphi }=\left(\frac{\lambda m_4^2}{3\pi }\right)^{1/2}\frac{y^{}}{1y^2}$$
(2.9)
and the potential is given in terms of $`y(\varphi )`$ by combining Eqs. (2.6) and (2.9):

$$V(\varphi )=\frac{2\lambda y^2}{1y^2}\frac{\lambda m_4^2}{6\pi }\left(\frac{y^{}}{1y^2}\right)^2.$$
(2.10)
It follows from Eqs. (2.7) and (2.9) that the scale factor satisfies

$$y^{}a^{}=\frac{4\pi }{m_4^2}ya.$$
(2.11)
Eq. (2.11) is formally identical to Eq. (2.2) and may be integrated to yield the scale factor in terms of a single quadrature with respect to the scalar field:

$$a(\varphi )=\mathrm{exp}\left[\frac{4\pi }{m_4^2}^\varphi 𝑑\varphi \frac{y}{y^{}}\right].$$
(2.12)
Finally, the dependence of the scalar field on cosmic time is deduced by evaluating the integral

$$tt_0=\left(\frac{3\pi }{\lambda m_4^2}\right)^{1/2}_{\varphi _0}^\varphi 𝑑\varphi \frac{y^21}{y^{}}$$
(2.13)
and inverting the result, where $`t_0`$ is an arbitrary integration constant.

Thus, we have reduced the second–order system of equations (1.1) and (1.2) to the non–linear, first–order system (2.9) and (2.11) by employing the scalar field as dynamical variable.

Further insight may be gained by defining a second new function $`b(\varphi )`$:

$$y\mathrm{tanh}b.$$
(2.14)
It follows immediately from Eqs. (2.7) and (2.9) that the Hubble parameter is given by

$$H=\left(\frac{4\pi \lambda }{3m_4^2}\right)^{1/2}\mathrm{sinh}2b$$
(2.15)
and that the scalar field varies as

$$\dot{\varphi }=\left(\frac{\lambda m_4^2}{3\pi }\right)^{1/2}b^{}.$$
(2.16)
Eq. (2.16) is formally equivalent to Eq. (2.3). Hence, the scale factor is given by

$$a=\mathrm{exp}\left[\frac{2\pi }{m_4^2}^\varphi 𝑑\varphi \frac{\mathrm{sinh}2b}{b^{}}\right]$$
(2.17)
and the potential takes the simple form

$$V=2\lambda \mathrm{sinh}^2b\frac{\lambda m_4^2}{6\pi }b^2.$$
(2.18)
The time–dependence of the scalar field is determined by the integral

$$tt_0=\left(\frac{3\pi }{\lambda m_4^2}\right)^{1/2}_{\varphi _0}^\varphi 𝑑\varphi \frac{1}{b^{}}.$$
(2.19)
The function $`b`$ plays the equivalent role to that of the Hubble parameter in the field equation (2.3). Indeed, $`b(\varphi )H(\varphi )`$ in the low–energy limit. It follows from Eq. (2.16) that $`b(t)`$ is a monotonically decreasing function of cosmic time.

To summarize this Section, we have found that the braneworld field equations can be rewritten after suitable redefinitions in a way that directly extends the Hamilton–Jacobi form of the standard scalar field cosmology. However, the physical interpretation of the variables is different in the two cases. Nevertheless, this correspondence implies that similar techniques may be employed to find exact braneworld cosmologies. In particular, when the functional form of the parameter $`y(\varphi )`$ is known, the potential is determined in terms of this function and its first derivative. The function $`a(\varphi )`$ follows from Eq. (2.12) and $`\varphi (t)`$ follows by evaluating Eq. (2.13) and inverting the result. An alternative method for solving the field equations is to specify the form of $`b(\varphi )`$ and to then evaluate the two integrals in Eqs. (2.17) and (2.19). This is equivalent to determining the kinetic energy of the scalar field as a function of the field itself. A related technique was recently employed in the standard inflationary scenario . The advantage of this approach is that the integrand in Eq. (2.17) can be expanded as a power series in $`b`$.

## III Exact Braneworlds

We now find exact braneworld models by employing the above techniques. Firstly, we consider the ansatz

$$y=\mathrm{sech}\left(\frac{\sqrt{2\pi }C}{m_4}\varphi \right),$$
(3.1)
where $`C`$ is an arbitrary constant. Substitution of Eq. (3.1) into Eq. (2.10) implies that the potential is given by

$$V=\frac{\lambda }{3}\left(6C^2\right)\mathrm{cosech}^2\left(\frac{\sqrt{2\pi }C}{m_4}\varphi \right).$$
(3.2)
Thus, we require $`C^2<6`$ for the potential to be positive–definite and we consider this region of parameter space in what follows. Evaluating Eq. (2.13) implies that

$$tt_0=\left(\frac{3}{4\pi \lambda }\right)^{1/2}\frac{m_4}{C^2}\mathrm{cosh}\left(\frac{\sqrt{2\pi }C}{m_4}\varphi \right)$$
(3.3)
and substituting Eqs. (3.1) and (3.3) into Eq. (2.12) implies that the scale factor is given by

$$a(t)=\left[\frac{4\pi \lambda C^4}{3m_4^2}\left(tt_0\right)^21\right]^{1/C^2}.$$
(3.4)
Without loss of generality, we may choose $`t_0=[3m_4^2/(4\pi \lambda C^4)]^{1/2}`$ such that the origin of time corresponds to a vanishing scale factor.

It can be verified by direct substitution that the solution (3.4) is a scaling solution, in the sense that the kinetic and potential energies of the scalar field redshift at the same rate as the brane expands. The field behaves as a perfect fluid with an effective equation of state, $`p=\omega \rho `$, where the barotropic index is given by

$$\omega =\frac{C^23}{3}.$$
(3.5)
Thus, we have found the scalar field model equivalent to the perfect fluid cosmology presented in Ref. . The solution is interesting because it reduces to the power–law cosmology driven by an exponential potential in the low–energy limit. Inflation proceeds indefinitely into the future if $`C^2<2`$ and the expansion decelerates for $`C^2>2`$. However, at early times, the asymptotic behaviour is $`at^{1/C^2}`$, and inflation proceeds for a finite time for $`C^2<1`$. In this limit, the potential is of the form $`V\varphi ^2`$, where the constant of proportionality determines the power of the expansion.

At late times the function $`y`$ given in Eq. (3.1) asymptotes to an exponential form. It is therefore of interest to consider a second ansatz

$$y=\mathrm{exp}\left(\sqrt{2\pi }C\varphi /m_4\right),$$
(3.6)
that is valid for all time, where we assume implicitly that $`\varphi >0`$ and that $`C^2<6`$. Integrating Eqs. (2.9) and (2.12) implies that

$`\varphi ={\displaystyle \frac{m_4}{\sqrt{2\pi }C}}\mathrm{ln}\left(T+\sqrt{T^21}\right)`$ (3.7)
$`a=\left(T+\sqrt{T^21}\right)^{2/C^2},`$ (3.8)
where we have introduced a rescaled time variable

$$T\left(\frac{\pi \lambda C^4}{3m_4^2}\right)^{1/2}\left(tt_0\right)$$
(3.9)
and the origin of time corresponds to $`T=1`$. The potential of the scalar field is deduced by substituting Eq. (3.6) into Eq. (2.10):

$$V=\frac{2\lambda y^2}{1y^2}\left[1\frac{C^2}{6}\frac{1}{1y^2}\right].$$
(3.10)
The potential is negative for $`y^2>(6C^2)/6`$, has a single maximum located at $`y^2=(6C^2)/(6+C^2)`$ and exponentially decays to zero from above as $`y^20`$. Although the potential is negative to the right of the maximum, the solution exists for all $`\varphi >0`$ because the initial magnitude of the field’s kinetic energy is sufficiently large for it to move over the maximum and reach $`\varphi +\mathrm{}`$.

We now consider the formulation of the cosmological brane equations summarized in Eqs. (2.14)–(2.19). One ansatz that can be invoked is

$$b\left(\frac{3\pi A^2}{\lambda m_4^2}\right)^{1/2}\varphi ,$$
(3.11)
where $`A`$ is a constant. From Eq. (2.16), this represents a model where the kinetic energy of the scalar field is a constant for all time:

$$\varphi =\varphi _0A\left(tt_0\right).$$
(3.12)
The scale factor and potential of the field are readily deduced from Eqs. (2.17) and (2.18), respectively:

$`a=\mathrm{exp}\left[{\displaystyle \frac{\lambda }{3A^2}}\mathrm{cosh}\left(\sqrt{{\displaystyle \frac{12\pi A^2}{\lambda m_4^2}}}\varphi \right)\right]`$ (3.13)
$`V=2\lambda \mathrm{sinh}^2\left(\sqrt{{\displaystyle \frac{3\pi A^2}{\lambda m_4^2}}}\varphi \right){\displaystyle \frac{A^2}{2}}.`$ (3.14)
Early times correspond to the limit $`\varphi \lambda ^{1/2}m_4/A`$, where the potential has an asymptotically exponential form and inflation may proceed for a wide range of parameter space. Inflation ends within a finite time, however, and the field eventually falls into its minimum at $`V_{\mathrm{min}}=A^2/2`$. The expansion of the universe is then reversed and the subsequent collapse enables the field to move up the other side of its potential.

Another solvable model is defined by

$$bp_2\varphi ^2,$$
(3.15)
where $`p_2`$ is an arbitrary constant. Substituting Eq. (3.15) into Eq. (2.18) implies that the potential is given by

$$V=2\lambda \mathrm{sinh}^2\left(p_2\varphi ^2\right)\frac{2\lambda p_2^2m_4^2}{3\pi }\varphi ^2.$$
(3.16)
This potential has a single maximum at $`V(\varphi =0)=0`$ and two minima at

$$\mathrm{sinh}(2p_2\varphi ^2)=\frac{p_2m_4^2}{3\pi }.$$
(3.17)
Integration of Eq. (2.16) implies that the time–dependence of the scalar field is given by

$$\varphi =\varphi _0\mathrm{exp}\left[\left(\frac{4\lambda p_2^2m_4^2}{3\pi }\right)^{1/2}\left(tt_0\right)\right].$$
(3.18)
Finally, the growth in the scale factor can be expressed as a power series by substituting Eq. (3.15) into Eq. (2.17) and integrating:

$$a=\mathrm{exp}\left[\frac{\pi }{2p_2m_4^2}\underset{n=0}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}\frac{1}{(2n+1)(2n+1)!}\left(2p_2\varphi ^2\right)^{2n+1}\right].$$
(3.19)
Before concluding, we develop in the next Section an algorithm that generates a new braneworld cosmology from a known solution such as those presented above.

## IV A Third Algorithm

Since $`b(t)`$ is a monotonically decreasing function, Eq. (2.16) may be rewritten as

$$\dot{\varphi }^2=\left(\frac{\lambda m_4^2}{3\pi }\right)^{1/2}\dot{b}.$$
(4.1)
Defining a new function

$$c\mathrm{exp}\left[^t𝑑t^{}b(t^{})\right]$$
(4.2)
and a new time parameter

$$\eta ^t𝑑t^{}c(t^{})$$
(4.3)
implies that Eq. (4.1) may be then expressed in the form of a one–dimensional Helmholtz equation:

$$\left[\frac{d^2}{d\eta ^2}U(\eta )\right]c=0,$$
(4.4)
where the effective potential is uniquely determined by the kinetic energy of the scalar field:

$$U(\eta )\left(\frac{3\pi }{\lambda m_4^2}\right)^{1/2}\left(\frac{d\varphi }{d\eta }\right)^2.$$
(4.5)
The importance of Eq. (4.4) is that if a particular solution, $`c_1(\eta )`$, is known, the general solution can be written in terms of a single quadrature with respect to this solution :

$$c=c_1\left(\kappa +^\eta \frac{dz}{c_1^2(z)}\right),$$
(4.6)
where $`\kappa `$ is an arbitrary constant. It is this feature that form the basis of the algorithm. Suppose a particular solution to the braneworld field equations has already been found, i.e., that $`\{b(t),\varphi (t)\}`$ are known. The function, $`c_1(\eta )`$, can in principle be evaluated from Eqs. (4.2) and (4.3). Eq. (4.6) then yields the new solution for $`c(\eta )`$ and, hence, $`b(\eta )`$ from the definition (4.2). The form of $`\varphi (\eta )`$ is identical in both solutions, but the potential of the scalar field is different in the new solution. It is given by

$$V[\eta (\varphi )]=2\lambda \mathrm{sinh}^2\left[b(\eta )\right]\frac{1}{2}c^2(\eta )\left(\frac{d\varphi }{d\eta }\right)^2,$$
(4.7)
or, equivalently, by

$$V[\eta (\varphi )]=2\lambda \left[\mathrm{sinh}\left(\frac{dc}{d\eta }\right)\right]^2\left(\frac{\lambda m_4^2}{12\pi }\right)^{1/2}c\frac{d^2c}{d\eta ^2}.$$
(4.8)
The form of $`V(\varphi )`$ follows from Eqs. (4.7) and (4.8) and the scale factor is deduced as before from Eq. (2.17).

In effect, each particular braneworld cosmology is twinned with a second solution. In practice, it may not always be possible to evaluate the integrals (4.2) and (4.3), but it would be interesting to explore models of this nature further. We also remark that in the low–energy limit, $`c`$ varies as a power of the scale factor of the brane. Thus, the above discussion is also relevant to standard scalar field cosmology.

## V Conclusions

In conclusion, we have presented algorithms for solving the braneworld Friedmann equation for a single, self–interacting scalar field confined to a brane with positive tensione3 embedded in five–dimensional, vacuum Einstein gravity. The formalism does not assume the slow–roll approximation and is valid during inflation when the field is monotonically rolling down its potential. It does not apply if the field is oscillating about a minimum. A number of new exact solutions were found, including the scalar field model that corresponds to a perfect fluid. The algorithms may be viewed as generalizations of the Hamilton–Jacobi formalism that has played a central role in analyses of the standard chaotic inflationary scenario . In the latter case, the Hamilton–Jacobi formalism provides the necessary framework for establishing the precise correspondence between the potential of the scalar field and the scalar and tensor perturbation spectra that are generated during inflation . It would be interesting to employ the techniques developed above to establish the equivalent correspondence in the braneworld scenario.

###### Acknowledgements.

RMH is supported by a Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council (PPARC) postgraduate studentship. JEL is supported by the Royal Society. We thank David Wands for numerous helpful discussions.