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# Contents

## 1 Introduction

### 1.1 Overview

Following the request of the CERN SPSC at its meeting on 23 May 2000, this report provides further details on the experimental programme and beam schedule of CLOUD. Specifically, we describe (in §4 and §5) two examples of the type of experiments to be performed by CLOUD, and their expected precisions. The experimental and theoretical motivation for these experiments is summarised in §3. The beam requirements and schedule are elaborated in §7. We also summarise the progress on the detector design since the proposal  in §2, and the expected scope of the aerosol and cloud simulations for the experiment in §6.

### 1.2 Choice of experiments

The ions and radicals produced in the atmosphere by galactic cosmic rays (GCRs) may influence cloud microphysics in several ways:

1. Nucleation (creation) of new condensation nuclei (CN) from trace condensable vapours.
2. Growth of CN into cloud condensation nuclei (CCN), which seed cloud droplets.
3. Activation of CCN into cloud droplets in the presence of supersaturated water vapour.
4. Creation of ice nuclei, which cause the freezing of supercooled liquid droplets in clouds.

If the rate or efficiency of any of these processes is significantly modified by ions in the atmosphere, then the GCR intensity could modify the droplet number concentrations of clouds and thereby affect their lifetimes and radiative properties. Motivated by the experimental and theoretical considerations summarised in §3, we have selected for this report one example experiment from each of the first two processes listed above, specifically:

Binary homogeneous nucleation of ultrafine condensation nuclei (UCN) of sulphuric acid and water, under atmospheric conditions (§4).

Growth of these UCN into CCN in the presence of additional vapours: sulphuric acid, water, ammonia and low volatility organic compounds (LVOCs), again under atmospheric conditions (§5).

These examples are part of the category I experiments (“Creation & growth of aerosols”) listed in Table 3 (p.29) of the CLOUD proposal.

## 2 Progress on the detector design

### 2.1 Summary

Since the proposal we have improved the detector design by replacing the buffer expansion tank and flow chamber (described in §4 of the proposal) by a single device, a *reactor chamber* (Figs. 1 and 2).

The reactor chamber will be located in the beamline, immediately behind the cloud chamber. It performs the same functions as the devices it replaces, but with improved performance, namely:

1. Buffer tank for small expansions. This functions in the same way as described previously in the proposal, providing a second method to produce small expansions.
2. A reactor chamber for providing the source of reacted gas/aerosols for the external detectors. This replaces the function of the original flow chamber but with the improvement that it is now effective for long growth-time experiments extending for several days, since diffusion losses to the walls are strongly reduced. Since the aerosol and trace gas lifetimes from wall losses should scale as the linear dimension of the vessel (i.e. the ratio of its volume to surface area), we expect the reactor chamber will have about a factor four longer particle lifetime than the cloud chamber. The cloud chamber is suitable for growth experiments lasting up to about a day. For longer growth-time experiments the reactor chamber can now provide samples of reacted gas/aerosols for analysis in the cloud chamber itself since its volume is much larger than the cloud chamber (by a factor 64).

The estimated extra cost of the reactor chamber over the original buffer expansion tank and flow chamber it replaces is 30 kCHF.

### 2.2 Reactor chamber design

The reactor chamber is a cylinder of internal dimensions 2 m (diameter) $`\times `$ 2 m (height). The inner vessel can be operated between atmospheric pressure and a vacuum. It is constructed from aluminium, with black teflon lining the inner surface. The teflon is made partly conductive in order to prevent any charge buildup. An inner field cage provides a simple clearing field.

The reactor chamber is exposed to the same beam as the cloud chamber and operated at the same temperature and pressure. However, since it simply provides a container for trace gases and aerosols to react in the presence of the beam (i.e. no droplet activation is involved), the requirements on the temperature stability are less demanding than for the cloud chamber, and a stability of a few $`\times `$ 0.1 K is adequate. The temperature is controlled with liquid fluorocarbon circulated in pipes around the outer surface of the reactor vessel. Heater cables are also wrapped around the reactor vessel to allow cleaning by bakeout under vacuum. A simplified thermal insulation is employed, comprising superinsulation and a vacuum layer. The liquid system is independent of the one used for the cloud chamber in order to maintain the precise temperature stability of 0.01 K required for the cloud chamber.

The reactor chamber is equipped with gas/aerosol inlet and outlet pipes. A small fan is installed inside the vessel to provide the option of slow stirring of the gas filling to assist, where necessary, homogeneous mixing throughout the large volume. A special inlet pipe located near the fan provides fresh trace gas to replace losses to the walls or to aerosol growth. The reactor vessel is also equipped with sampling probes to extract gas and aerosols for the external detectors (mass/ion/mobility spectrometers, trace gas analysers and aerosol particle sizers). The tip of each sampling probe can be independently adjusted to any radial position ($`0<r<1`$ m) inside the vessel. The reactor vessel also includes ports connecting to the vacuum system and to the active volume of the cloud chamber.

Access to the inside of the reactor vessel is provided by a removable hatch in the side wall and, for full access, the top of the vacuum tank and reactor vessel are also removable. The vessel is equipped with internal illumination and two inspection ports. Internal UV lamps are also provided for experiments involving photochemical processes.

### 2.3 Reactor chamber performance

The performance of the reactor chamber principally concerns the lifetime of trace gases and aerosols due to wall losses. Aerosols that strike the walls will be lost due to attractive van der Waals forces. Since the diffusion coefficient of aerosol particles is small, the wall losses due to thermal diffusion are small (see Fig. 42 of the proposal). Trace gas molecules, on the other hand, have a high diffusion rate. However these molecules strike the walls at high velocity and mostly rebound (which is, after all, the origin of gas pressure in a vessel). The fraction that do not rebound depends on temperature and on the nature of the gas molecules and the surface material.

The experience of the AIDA aerosol facility  at Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe is instructive in this regard. AIDA is a large cylindrical vessel of internal dimensions 4 m (diameter) $`\times `$ 7 m (height) with an inner ceramic lining. The temperature is controlled to 0.5 K precision by cold air circulating around the outside of the vessel. It is equipped with an internal fan to ensure homogeneous mixing. Operation of the fan is found to have only a small effect on aerosol lifetimes. The measured 1/$`e`$ lifetimes in AIDA for trace O3 and NO2 gases at room temperature are 70 h and 370 h, respectively. Since the lifetimes should scale as the linear dimension of the vessel, this implies the CLOUD reactor chamber should have corresponding lifetimes of about 30 h and 150 h, respectively. In fact, since teflon is superior to ceramic as a lining material, these lifetime figures are probably conservative. During long-duration experiments with CLOUD, the losses of trace vapours due to wall adhesion or to aerosol growth will be compensated by a continuous small inflow of trace gases.

## 3 Experimental and theoretical motivation

### 3.1 Present experimental knowledge

There are only sparse experimental data on the effect of ions in the atmosphere on new particle formation—and none, to our knowledge, on the effect of ions on particle growth from CN to CCN. Observations have been made of nucleation bursts of CN in the atmosphere that cannot be explained by classical theories. For example, Hõrrak *et al.*  reported the spontaneous formation of bursts of intermediate size ions in urban air, which they suggest may be due to ion-induced nucleation. Also, Clarke *et al.*  observed formation of new ultrafine particles in the tropical marine (Pacific) boundary layer that could not be explained by classical binary (H2SO4-H2O) homogeneous nucleation theory at the low ambient concentrations of sulphuric acid (1–5$`10^7`$ molecules cm-3).

However a recent study by Yu and Turco  based on an ion-mediated model *is* able to reproduce the observations of Clarke *et al.*, as described below. Their model indicates that the nucleation rate of fresh CN in the marine boundary layer111The *boundary layer* extends from the Earth’s surface up to about 1 km; the region extending from about 1 km to the tropopause is known as the *free troposphere*. is generally limited by the available ion production rate from GCRs. In contrast, the nucleation rate in the upper atmosphere is generally limited by the trace vapour concentration since the temperatures are lower and the trace vapour saturation ratios correspondingly higher, and so binary homogeneous nucleation can occur at an appreciable rate. This could explain why satellite observations show a solar modulation signal only in clouds below about 3 km (Fig. 6 in the CLOUD proposal).

Direct experimental evidence that ions are involved in the nucleation of new particles under atmospheric conditions is lacking. However positive effects with ions have been seen. For example, Bricard *et al.* observed new particle production in filtered (aerosol-free) Paris air exposed to very high radiation doses ($`310^8`$ Bq m-3 $`\times `$ 300 s). Vohra *et al.*, on the other hand, carried out experiments with radon at naturally-occurring ionisation levels of 3–15 Bq m-3 and observed new particle production proportional to ionisation rate, but using artificial air containing high concentrations of trace gases (300 ppb SO2, 100 ppb C2H4 and 160 ppb O3).

In short, many of the CLOUD experiments will be the first of their kind and, as such, there are good prospects for making important advances in our understanding of the importance of ionising particle radiation on aerosol and cloud physics.

### 3.2 Physical model of ion-mediated nucleation and growth

Despite intensive research over several decades, the origin of the ubiquitous background of ultrafine aerosols in the troposphere has not yet been determined. Moreover even the fundamental mechanism that leads to new particle formation remains poorly understood. It has been suggested that ionisation from GCRs plays a key role in the formation of new aerosol particles , and indeed this will be one of the major areas of study for CLOUD.

The classical theory of binary H2SO4-H2O homogeneous nucleation fails to explain observations of new ultrafine particle formation in clean regions of the lower atmosphere, such as occurs over oceans and in pristine continental air . Typically the nucleation rates predicted by classical theory are far lower (by as much as 10 orders of magnitude) than the experimentally-observed rates. Recent modelling work  demonstrates that thermodynamically-stable charged clusters, caused by vapours condensing onto ions produced by GCRs, can form at much lower ambient vapour concentrations and grow significantly faster than neutral clusters.

The steps involved in the creation of CCN from condensable vapours (in this case, sulphuric acid) are shown in Fig. 3. Molecular H2SO4-H2O clusters form and evaporate continually (step 1) by kinetic motion. Under suitable conditions some clusters will reach the critical size of about 1–2 nm diameter—known as *nucleation* (step 2). Once the critical size is reached, continued growth of the cluster becomes preferential thermodynamically.

The nucleation of aerosols in the atmosphere involves several competing processes which include molecular clustering, evaporation, scavenging of condensable vapour by pre-existing particles, and sedimentation by rainfall. In this environment, electrically charged embryos have a competitive advantage over neutral embryos. Charged clusters provide additional electrostatic attractions with polar molecules, allowing critical embryos to form with fewer molecules than for neutral clusters. Therefore ions can greatly enhance the rate of formation of new particles in regions where the concentration of condensable vapours is too low for stable neutral clusters to form at an appreciable rate, such as frequently occurs in the marine boundary layer. The key parameters controlling the rate of new particle formation are the concentrations of condensable vapours, the GCR ionisation rate, and the surface area of pre-existing particles.

Once formed, the ultrafine condensation nuclei (UCN) continue to grow (step 3). The main growth process up to diameters of about 10 nm is molecular condensation; for larger sizes the main growth mechanism is coagulation of existing CN. During the growth of CN to CCN, other vapours in the atmosphere such as ammonia, nitric acid and organic compounds are known to be important. The growth rate is also expected to be enhanced by the presence of ions, becoming less significant with increasing size of the aerosol particle. This enhancement is largest when the two colliding particles have opposite sign ($`+`$), but there is also an increased rate between one charged and one neutral particle ($`+0`$ or $`0`$), when compared with two neutral particles ($`00`$). Finally the activation of CCN into cloud droplets (step 4) may also be influenced by charge. However the effect is expected to be small for the typical electric charges found on aerosol particles under fair-weather conditions.

There is a continual interchange between charged and neutral particles as small ions diffuse onto existing CN and CCN, either neutralising or charging them in the process. This implies that ions may potentially affect the production rate of a large fraction of the CCN produced by gas-to-particle conversion, regardless of whether or not the original UCN were produced via ion-mediated processes.

It is important to note that aerosol particles and trace vapours are continually being scavenged from the atmosphere by rainfall. Following a precipitation event, the air is left with a relatively low aerosol particle number concentration and a low aerosol surface area. It is under these conditions that the nucleation of fresh UCN is most likely to occur. Furthermore, for clean environments, this indicates that the *rate* at which new particles are produced and grow into CCN can strongly affect the lifetime and radiative properties of the clouds in these regions, since there is rarely sufficient time for a large CCN population to form.

### 3.3 Aerosol effects on cloud radiative properties

The effect that a change in the CCN number concentration has on the radiative properties of a cloud can be quantitatively estimated as follows . Assuming the liquid water content and depth of the cloud is fixed, then its optical thickness, $`\tau `$, is given by $`\tau Nr^2`$, where $`N`$ is the droplet number concentration and $`r`$ the mean droplet radius. Since $`Nr^3`$, this indicates $`\tau N^{1/3}`$. Therefore a change of the droplet number concentration by $`\mathrm{\Delta }N`$ leads to a change of the optical thickness by $`\mathrm{\Delta }\tau `$, where

$`{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{\Delta }\tau }{\tau }}={\displaystyle \frac{1}{3}}{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{\Delta }N}{N}}`$ (1)
The albedo (reflectivity), $`A`$, of a cloud is the fraction of incident radiation that is reflected into the backward hemisphere. For the scattering of solar radiation by clouds ,

$`A{\displaystyle \frac{\tau }{\tau +6.7}}`$ (2)
Differentiating Eq. 2 and combining with Eq. 1 gives,

$`{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{\Delta }A}{A}}=(1A){\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{\Delta }N}{N}}`$ (3)
The rather thin stratiform clouds that cover an appreciable fraction of the Earth’s surface, and especially marine regions, have an albedo of about 0.5 and a droplet number concentration of about 100 cm-3 or less (see Fig. 9). Equation 3 shows that these clouds are very sensitive to changes in the CCN number concentration; their reflectance changes by 0.5% or more per single additional cloud droplet per cubic centimetre of air! This in turn indicates that GCR-induced changes in the CCN number concentration of only a few per cent could produce significant effects on the radiative properties of such clouds.

## 4 Exp.1: Nucleation of ultrafine CN

### 4.1 Model predictions

The recent model study of Yu and Turco  provides quantitative predictions of the ion-mediated nucleation of ultrafine condensation nuclei (UCN) and their subsequent growth, under the ambient conditions measured in the Pacific boundary layer by Clarke *et al.* . Their model incorporates the effects of electrostatic interactions between charged and neutral molecules and clusters. Although the basic physics is well known, several parameters of the model are poorly constrained by experimental data—such as the ‘sticking’ probability when two particles collide—and, in these cases, reasonable values have been estimated. The model predictions should be therefore be taken as representative of the magnitude of ion-mediated effects, rather than as definitive. Nevertheless the model studies of Yu and Turco represent the most quantitative that presently exist on the possible effects of GCR ionisation on aerosol formation and growth under atmospheric conditions.

To compare directly with the data of Clarke *et al.*, the simulation is initialised at 11:00 local time under the experimentally-observed conditions, namely T = 298 K, relative humidity (RH) = 95% and an initial background aerosol distribution of 100 cm-3. Sulphuric acid vapour is generated *in situ* at the observed rate of

$`10^4\mathrm{sin}[\pi (t6)/12]\mathrm{molecules}\mathrm{cm}^3\mathrm{s}^1`$ (4)
where 6 $`<t<`$ 18 h is the local time. The H2SO4 production rate is set to zero at other times. The ion pair production rate is 2 cm-3s-1, corresponding to GCRs at ground level.

The results of the simulation are shown in Fig. 4, in comparison with the experimental data. The model predicts negligible UCN ($`>`$3 nm diameter) formation until the H2SO4 concentration reaches about $`10^7`$ cm-3 (at about 11:15 local time) and then, within one hour, a UCN population of about $`10^4`$ cm-3 has formed. The H2SO4 concentration falls after 12:00 due to a decreased production rate and to scavenging by the aerosol particles. The newly-formed particles continue to grow, and after 12:00 an appreciable fraction exceed 10 nm diameter (labelled ‘CN’). The simulation agrees well with the experimental observations of Clarke *et al.*, which are indicated by the vertical bars in Fig. 4.

Under these conditions classical binary homogeneous nucleation theory predicts an insignificant production of new particles. Figure 5, for example, shows the results of an earlier calculation by Raes, Janssens and Van Dingenen , which indicates negligible new particle formation (i.e. below the so-called *critical nucleation rate* of 1 cm-3s-1) until the H2SO4 concentration reaches about $`410^8`$ molecules cm-3s-1. Raes *et al.* estimate the threshold for ion-induced nucleation occurs at an H2SO4 concentration about one order of magnitude lower. (Yu and Turco estimate the ion-mediated threshold to be still lower by about a factor of four, i.e. near $`10^7`$ molecules cm-3s-1. This is mainly due to the higher RH and lower background aerosol concentration in Yu and Turco’s simulation.) Note also from Fig. 5 that the maximum production rate of new aerosols by ion-induced nucleation is predicted to be limited by the GCR intensity (2 cm-3s-1 at ground level).

### 4.2 Experimental goals

The purpose of this experiment is to measure the effect of ionising particle radiation on the rate of formation of ultrafine condensation nuclei in the few-nm size range, in the presence of sulphuric acid and water vapours. Sulphuric acid is chosen because field measurements indicate it is an important precursor vapour for gas-to-particle conversion in the atmosphere.

The basic parameter to be measured is the *nucleation rate*, $`J`$ \[cm-3s-1\], of UCN as a function of the primary experimental variables, namely, sulphuric acid vapour concentration, relative humidity, temperature, background aerosol concentration and ion-pair production rate. A representative expectation of the variation of $`J`$ with sulphuric acid vapour concentration and ion-pair production rate is shown in Fig. 5. This figure indicates that a large measurement range is required for the nucleation rate since it is a steep function of parameters such as vapour concentration (and also temperature).

The nucleation rate is determined by a measurement of the UCN number concentration \[cm-3\] after a time $`t`$ \[s\]. In the case of the cloud chamber, the minimum detectable particle number (after activation to visible droplets) is about 1 particle per 10 cm3. Assuming an exposure time of an hour (3600 s), this indicates the minimum measurable nucleation rate is $`J310^5`$ cm-3s-1. The maximum nucleation rate that can be measured is about 12 orders of magnitude higher. The maximum measurable droplet density in the cloud chamber is about $`10^7`$ cm-3. Depending on the variable under study, if the effective exposure time is adjusted to about 1 s duration then a maximum $`J`$ of $`10^7`$ cm-3s-1 can be measured. If the variable under study is ion pair concentration then this is achieved by initiating a cloud chamber expansion cycle 1 s after the arrival of the beam pulse. If the variable is sulphuric acid saturation ratio, then a short, precise saturation pulse can be generated by a piston expansion during the nucleation phase, followed by a small re-compression which arrests nucleation but allows droplet growth and observation. We have used the latter technique extensively for nucleation studies with the Vienna cloud chambers (see, for example, ref. ).

### 4.3 Experimental measurements

The experimental conditions for the first run are as follows:

| H2SO4 molecular concentration | $`510^7`$ | cm-3 |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Relative humidity | 100 | % |
| Temperature | 298 | K |
| Background aerosol concentration | 0 | cm-3 |
| Pressure | 101 | kPa |
| Beam intensity | $`10^3`$ | $`\pi `$/p pulse-1 |

The carrier gas is pure artificial air (80:20 N2:O2). The procedure is first to adjust the cloud chamber and reactor chamber to the desired temperature and then to fill both of them with the specified gas mixture at the desired pressure.

Before starting the run, thermodynamic equilibrium is established. During this period the clearing field is used to clear ions produced by GCRs from the chambers. The clearing time for small ions is about 2 s in the cloud chamber and 8 s in the reactor chamber. This should be compared with the typical ion lifetime of $`1000`$ s under atmospheric conditions and with the time needed for an ion to attract an H2SO4 molecule of $`50`$ s at these concentrations. Therefore when the clearing field is present it reduces the ambient ion pair concentration from GCRs by about a factor 100 below the natural level, and also essentially excludes ion-mediated nucleation processes. The clearing field is therefore a very effective tool for measurements at “zero GCR” ionisation.

After thermodynamic equilibrium is established, the chambers are exposed to the beam for the required period. In the case of UCN nucleation and growth to $`10`$ nm diameter, the characteristic times at atmospheric vapour concentrations are up to about one hour (Figs. 6 and 7), with the first UCN appearing after about 10 minutes. During the beam exposure small quantities of gas are continually drawn off from the reactor chamber via the sampling probes for analysis in the external mass spectrometers, mobility spectrometers, and particle sizers and counters. In this way the evolution of the UCN nucleation and growth can be analysed and recorded continuously during the 1-hour beam exposure.

In order to detect and measure UCN concentrations in the cloud chamber, a large volume expansion ratio of about 35% is required to create a water vapour supersaturation of about 600%. Under these conditions, the cloud chamber is sensitive to all particles above 1.2 nm diameter and and to all *charged* particles down to molecular sizes of 0.2 nm (see Fig. 49 in the proposal). In the case of commercial particle sizers the lowest detection limit is about 3 nm diameter. Therefore, when studying UCN nucleation, the cloud chamber will provide information complementary to the external particle sizers. The latter will be used to measure the UCN size spectra versus time (i.e. the distributions shown in Fig. 6). The cloud chamber, in contrast, integrates the particle count above a certain minimum size which is set by the expansion ratio. Once an expansion and droplet activation cycle has taken place, the cloud chamber must be refilled with a fresh mixture since the residual aerosols after droplet evaporation may have been altered during the activated phase.

During each run the following quantities will be measured with the detectors222The acronyms are as follows: BCS (beam counter system), CIMS (chemical ionisation mass spectrometer), CPC (condensation particle counter), IOMAS (ion mass spectrometer), PIMS (programmable ion mobility spectrometer), PITMAS (quadrupole ion trap mass spectrometer), SMPS (scanning mobility particle sizer) and ToFMS (time-of-flight mass spectrometer). indicated:

| Quantity | Detector |
| --- | --- |
| UCN nucleation rate, $`J`$ \[cm-3s-1\] | Cloud chamber, CPC |
| UCN size spectrum | SMPS |
| UCN mass spectrum ($`<10^4`$ amu) | ToFMS, IOMAS |
| UCN chemical composition | PITMAS |
| Charged UCN mobility spectrum | PIMS |
| Trace gas concentrations | CIMS |
| Small ion concentration | PIMS |
| Ion pair production rate | BCS |

The expected experimental precisions for the first two quantities are indicated by the error bars in Figs. 57. In addition the various thermodynamic conditions—such as temperature, pressure and relative humidity—will be recorded.

After completing a run with a fixed set of conditions, the ‘primary’ variable under study is changed and the next run is started. The primary variables are those for which the nucleation rate may be most sensitive, and which will therefore be studied in detail. They include the H2SO4 concentration, relative humidity, temperature, background aerosol concentration, and ionisation rate. Pressure is a secondary variable. The approximate ranges of study for the primary variables are as follows:

| H2SO4 concentration | $`310^610^{10}`$ | cm-3 |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Relative humidity | $`40100`$ | % |
| Temperature | $`268298`$ | K |
| Background aerosol concentration | $`01000`$ | cm-3 |
| Beam intensity | $`010^3`$ | $`\pi `$/p pulse-1 |

This series of measurements should allow CLOUD to determine the effect of GCR ionisation on the nucleation of sulphuric acid-water UCN under conditions corresponding to the marine boundary layer. This experiment is estimated to require 4 weeks beamtime (§7.2).

## 5 Exp.2: Growth of CN into CCN

### 5.1 Model predictions

Yu and Turco have extended their ion-mediated simulation in time to follow the growth of freshly formed UCN into CCN over a period of several days . The initial conditions are the same as described in §4.1 except that organic vapours are now included in the simulation, and an initial background aerosol distribution of 10 cm-3 is assumed, which corresponds to clean air, freshly scavenged by precipitation. Although H2SO4 vapour is important for the nucleation of new aerosols, the atmospheric concentrations are generally too small to account for all of the subsequent rate of growth of CN into CCN, and so additional vapours are implicated. The model assumes constant production rates for non-volatile organic compounds of 0.5 $`\mu `$g m-3 day-1 and for low volatile organic compounds of 5 $`\mu `$g m-3 day-1, as suggested by field observations.

The results are shown in Fig. 8. The simulations indicate a significant production of CCN (diameters above $``$100 nm) by ion-mediated processes after about 24 h. These characteristic times for the *in situ* growth of new CN and CCN are consistent with our field measurements . Note in Fig. 8 that, although the H2SO4 vapour production rate peaks each day at 12:00 (Eq. 4), it does not lead to the formation of new UCN after the first day because of scavenging by the existing aerosols.

### 5.2 Experimental goals

The purpose of this experiment is to measure the effect of ionising particle radiation on the rate of growth of CN into CCN (i.e. from $``$5 nm diameter to $``$100 nm) in the presence of condensable vapours that are known to be important in the atmosphere: sulphuric acid, water, ammonia and organic compounds.

The basic parameter to be measured is the CCN concentration, $`CCN(s)`$. The CCN are the subset of the CN population that activate into droplets at a specified water vapour supersaturation, $`s`$. The fraction of the CN that constitute CCN depends not only on their size but also on their chemical composition and other properties. Field measurements show that $`CCN(s)`$ \[cm-3\] can often be parametrised as

$$CCN(s)=cs^k$$

where s \[%\] is the water vapour supersaturation, and $`c`$ \[cm-3\] and $`k`$ are empirical parameters that embed the information about the size and chemical composition of the aerosol population. Measurements of $`CCN(s)`$ versus $`s`$ at several sites are shown in Fig. 9 . This figure illustrates the low CCN population (10–100 cm-3) that characterises clean marine regions. The peak values of $`s`$ reached in the atmosphere depend on the spectrum of CCN and on other conditions such as the updraft velocity of the air parcel. For marine stratiform clouds, the typical values of $`s`$ are in the range 0.1 to 0.5%. Even for strongly convective clouds the peak values of $`s`$ are rarely above 1% since droplet activation arrests further increase. In the CLOUD experiment the CCN concentration is measured with the cloud chamber operated with a small volume expansion ratio of $`10^3`$, corresponding to a piston movement of $``$500 $`\mu `$m (see Table 5 on p.65 of the proposal). The expected measurement precision of $`CCN(s)`$ is indicated in Fig. 9.

Other important parameters to measure in this experiment are the size-discriminated aerosol number concentrations (Fig. 8) and the aerosol size spectra (Fig. 6). Both will be measured versus time over the duration of each run, which lasts about 2 days.

### 5.3 Experimental measurements

The experimental conditions for the first run are the same as for the previous experiment (§4.3), with the addition of ammonia and low volatility organic compounds (LVOCs)333LVOCs that may be important for aerosol growth in the atmosphere include terpenes, acetone, isoprene and the higher $`n`$-alkanes. in trace amounts:

| NH3 concentration | 1 | ppbv |
| --- | --- | --- |
| LVOC concentration | 5 | $`\mu `$g m-3 day-1 |

The procedure is similar to the previous experiment, except in the following respects. The beam exposure time for a single run is now 2 days. During this time small quantities of the trace vapours are introduced into the cloud chamber and the reactor chamber to compensate for wall losses and for aerosol growth. As before, during the beam exposure small samples of gas are continually drawn off from the reactor chamber via the sampling probes for analysis in the external detectors. In this way the evolution of the CN into CCN can be measured over the course of the beam exposure.

After the first expansion of the cloud chamber to measure $`CCN(s)`$ at, say, $`s=0.3`$%, the cloud chamber is cleared and re-filled from the reactor chamber. The volume of the cloud chamber is less than 2% of that of the reactor chamber. Therefore a total of about 5 samples for $`CCN(0.3\%)`$ measurements can be made this way over the course of the 2 day exposure period without serious impact on the contents of the reactor chamber. At the end of the 2-day run, several samples will be drawn off sequentially from the reactor chamber into the cloud chamber in order to measure the final $`CCN(s)`$ distribution over the range $`0.1<s<1.0`$%444The cloud chamber hydraulic system can be programmed to provide a continuous, precise slow piston expansion if required. This may allow a continuous scan measurement of $`CCN(s)`$ to be made over the range $`0.1<s<1.0`$% with a single chamber filling. (Fig. 9).

During each run the following quantities will be measured:

| Quantity | Detector |
| --- | --- |
| CCN concentration, $`CCN(s)`$ \[cm-3\] | Cloud chamber |
| CN concentration | CPC |
| CN size spectrum | SMPS |
| UCN mass spectrum ($`<10^4`$ amu) | ToFMS, IOMAS |
| CN chemical composition | PITMAS |
| Charged CN mobility spectrum | PIMS |
| Trace gas concentrations | CIMS |
| Small ion concentration | PIMS |
| Ion pair production rate | BCS |

As for the previous experiment, after completing a run with a fixed set of conditions, the primary variable under study is changed and the next run is started. In view of the long duration of these runs, the primary variables in the first round experiment will be limited to trace gas concentrations, background aerosol concentrations, and beam intensity. Their approximate ranges of study are as follows:

| LVOC concentration | 0.5 - 50 | $`\mu `$g m-3 day-1 |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Background aerosol concentration | 0 - 1000 | cm-3 |
| Beam intensity | $`010^3`$ | $`\pi `$/p pulse-1 |

For the run at zero beam intensity, it may be necessary to start the experiment with a beam exposure of about 1 hour in order to generate the initial CN population. For the remainder of this run, the beam would be turned off so the growth of the CN into CCN could be measured under zero-beam conditions.

This series of measurements should allow CLOUD to determine the effect of GCR ionisation on the growth of CN into CCN under conditions characteristic of the marine boundary layer. The CCN concentrations will be parametrised as a function of water vapour supersaturation and other variables so the results can be readily incorporated into cloud models. This experiment is estimated to require 8 weeks beamtime (§7.2).

## 6 Goals of the aerosol and cloud simulations

The experimental results obtained with CLOUD will be evaluated with aerosol and cloud simulations. The basic physics aims of these simulations are as follows:

1. To incorporate the microphysics of ion-mediated processes into the aerosol and cloud models.
2. To examine the sensitivity of clouds under atmospheric conditions to variations in the GCR intensity, in the presence of other sources of natural variability.

As is familiar with Monte Carlo simulations in particle physics experiments, there will be a close feedback between the simulations and the experimental observations to confirm a) that the simulations closely reproduce the experimental data and b) that the underlying microphysics is understood. We expect the simulations will also eventually become important in guiding the direction of the experimental programme.

As well as a detector simulation, this work will require a complete simulation of the microphysical processes under study. Already existing within our collaboration are detailed models of aerosol nucleation, growth and activation, and also two sophisticated cloud models—for cumulus and marine stratus clouds, respectively. Ion-mediated microphysics will be incorporated into these models based on the experimental data from CLOUD.

It is important to make clear that the present modelling expertise of our collaboration extends as far as single clouds. If item 2 above reveals discernible GCR effects on single clouds, we would seek to provide suitable parametrisations for the climate modelling community to explore the influence of GCR effects on the global climate.

## 7 Accelerator requirements

### 7.1 Beam requirements

As described in the proposal (§7), we request to install CLOUD at the CERN PS in the T11 beamline of the East Hall. The experimental area layout including the new reactor chamber is shown in Fig. 10. A dedicated counting room for CLOUD will be installed above the current T11 counting room. The cloud chamber and reactor chamber will be permanently located at the downstream end of the T11 beamline, with the external detectors installed nearby. The upstream half of the present free space along the T11 beamline will be left open for installing small test experiments during the beam periods that CLOUD is not operating. However, during its operation periods, CLOUD would be the sole user of T11.

The present energy, maximum intensity and particle composition of the T11 beam is suitable for CLOUD. However, we have a special requirement that the minimum beam intensity can be adjusted to about 100 particles per pulse spread over an area of about $`30\times 30`$ cm2 (i.e. near to the natural GCR ionisation rate). The low intensity may be reached by closing beam collimators and perhaps adding a beam absorber. By suitable de-focusing of the quadrupole magnets in the T11 beamline, a transverse size at the detector of $`30\times 30`$ cm2 seems feasible. The transverse dimensions of the beam scintillation counters have been increased to $`40\times 40`$ cm2 to accommodate the larger beam size (Figs. 1 and 2).

### 7.2 Beam schedule

The estimated beamtime required during the first year of CLOUD operation is 24 weeks, as summarised in Table 1. The checkout period includes setting up the correct operation of the hardware and data acquisition, and carrying out technical performance tests.

The estimated beamtime required for each of the two experiments described in this document is 4 weeks and 8 weeks, respectively, as follows:

Each run is estimated to require 1 shift (8 h) for setup and beam exposure. The experimental variables and the approximate number of different values that will be measured are as follows:

| H2SO4 concentration | 6 | measurements |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Relative humidity | 3 | ” |
| Temperature | 4 | ” |
| Background aerosol concentration | 3 | ” |

This totals 16 runs, assuming only the variable under study is changed in a given family of measurements. Each of these 16 different sets of operating conditions will be measured at 4 beam intensities: 0, 1, 3 and 10 $`\times `$ the natural GCR ionisation rate in the boundary layer. (A value of ‘0’ corresponds to the beam-off measurement.) The total beam time is therefore 64 shifts (3 weeks); or a calendar time of 4 weeks after allowing for downtime, chamber cleaning, etc.

Each run is estimated to require 6 shifts (48 h) for setup and beam exposure. The experimental variables and the approximate number of different values that will be measured are as follows:

| Trace gas concentrations | 4 | measurements |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Background aerosol concentration | 3 | ” |

This totals 7 runs, each requiring 6 shifts, to total 42 shifts. Each of these 7 different sets of operating conditions will be measured at 3 beam intensities: 0, 1 and 10 $`\times `$ the natural GCR ionisation rate. The total beam time is therefore 126 shifts (6 weeks); or a calendar time of 8 weeks.

As regards the experimental programme for the subsequent years, 2003 and 2004, at this stage it is not possible to define the schedule precisely since it will depend on the outcome of the initial studies as well as developments elsewhere in the field. However we can estimate the beamtime required for the various experiments summarised in Table 3 (p.29) of the proposal as follows:

| Experiment | Beamtime \[weeks\] |
| --- | --- |
| NOx formation | 2 |
| Polar stratospheric aerosols | 6 |
| Droplet activation | 4 |
| UCN nucleation II (ternary vapours) | 8 |
| CN $``$ CCN growth II | 8 |
| Creation of ice nuclei II | 4 |
| Total: | $`\overline{\text{32 weeks}}`$ |

Therefore during 2003 and 2004 we estimate at least 16 weeks of beamtime will be required for CLOUD each year, which represents just over one half of the normal yearly operation of the East Hall beamlines.

## Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Richard Turco, Fangqun Yu and Peter Zink for stimulating and informative discussions.


text:
# Zig-zag instability of an Ising wall in liquid crystals

## Abstract

We present a theoretical explanation for the interfacial zigzag instability that appears in anisotropic systems. Such an instability has been experimentally highlighted for an Ising wall formed in a nematic liquid crystal cell under homeotropic anchoring conditions. From an envelope equation, relevant close to the Fréedericksz transition, we have derived an asymptotic equation describing the interface dynamics in the vicinity of its bifurcation. The asymptotic limit used accounts for a strong difference between two of the elastic constants. The model is characterized by a conservative order parameter which satisfies a Cahn-Hilliard equation. It provides a good qualitative understanding of the experiments.

The zig-zag instability, undergone by straight rolls in two-dimensional extended systems like Rayleigh-Bénard convection manneville  or electroconvection kramer  fluid systems, have been extensively studied over the last decades. A similar zig-zag instability affecting anisotropic interfaces has recently aroused considerable interest in different fields, for example, in gas discharge system astrov , crystal growth nepomnyashchy , rifts in spreading wax layer bodenschatz , Ising wall in nematic and cholesteric liquid crystals Chevallard2000  and chevrons layer structure of smectic liquid crystals limat . In this letter, we present a theoretical explanation for this interfacial zigzag instability and show how it justifies the Ising wall dynamics in liquid crystal samples. Besides, the instability is experimentally characterized for a thin layer of nematic liquid crystal homeotropically anchored. From an amplitude equation, which is valid in the vicinity of the Fréedericksz transition, we derive a solvability equation that describes the interface dynamics at the onset of the bifurcation. This model is in qualitative agreement with the experimental results, even though these latter were obtained far from the Fréedericksz transition. Numerical simulations allow to strengthen the relevance of the model.

In two-dimensional extended systems, the dynamics of a straight interface can be entirely characterized by the dynamics of the interface position $`P`$, function that parametrizes the interface in space and time. Henceforth we consider that the variables $`x`$ and $`y`$ describe respectively the transversal and longitudinal directions of the straight interface. As a consequence of the translational invariance of the interface ($`PP+P_o`$) and of the space reflection symmetry in the tangential direction to the interface ($`yy`$), the order parameter $`P(t,y)`$ shows a spatio-temporal evolution which is modelled by the Kuramoto-Sivashinky equation kuramoto , as long as one assumes that, the interface only depends on the tangential direction. If one considers moreover the space reflection symmetry in the transversal direction ($`PP`$ ), then the order parameter satisfies the following diffusion equation

$$_tP=\epsilon P_{yy}.$$
(1)
When $`\epsilon `$ is small (positive or negative), the order parameter dynamics is described by the asymptotic equation

$$_tP=\epsilon P_{yy}+3P_y^2P_{yy}P_{yyyy}$$
(2)
where $`\epsilon `$ is the diffusion (antidiffusion, $`\epsilon <0`$), $`P_y^2P_{yy}`$ the nonlinear diffusion and the last term the hyperdiffusion.

In the preceding expressions, we have only considered transversal perturbations to the straight interface and adiabatically eliminated the diffusive behavior in the longitudinal direction, approximations that are both correct for anisotropic systems. In isotropic systems, a straight interface can be linearly unstable ($`\epsilon <1`$) along the longitudinal direction as a result of the interface symmetry. However, in this case, nonlinear terms appear simultaneously ($`_xP_{yy}P`$, and $`_yP_{xy}P`$ evaluated at the interface) that destabilize the solutions of eq. (2). Due to these nonlinear terms, the vertices, shown on figures 2 and 4, will become fingers that propagate along the transversal direction CocoMar . Therefore all physical systems that show a zig-zag instability leading to a zigzag coarsening dynamics are anisotropic astrov ; nepomnyashchy ; bodenschatz ; limat .

In eq. (2) we have assumed that the nonlinear and fourth-order derivative terms saturate the instability, which imposed the signs of these two terms. Note that this equation is a continuity equation that expresses the conservation of the area enclosed by the curve $`P(y,t)`$ and the y-axis. This law stands from the fact that the interface connects two symmetrical states ($`PP`$) and hence, when one part of the interface moves in one direction, another part moves simultaneously in the opposite direction. Moreover, this equation is variational,i.e. it can be rewritten in the following form

$$_tP=\frac{\delta }{\delta P}\text{}[P]=𝑑y\left\{\epsilon \frac{P_y^2}{2}+\frac{P_y^4}{4}+\frac{P_{yy}^2}{2}\right\}$$
(3)
where the free energy $``$ only depends on the order parameter derivatives. Introducing the variable $`\mathrm{\Lambda }P_y`$, which describes the local tilt of the interface with respect to the original orientation of the straight interface, the latter equation is reduced to

$$_t\mathrm{\Lambda }=_{yy}\left(\epsilon \mathrm{\Lambda }+\mathrm{\Lambda }^3\mathrm{\Lambda }_{yy}\right)$$
(4)
This equation is the well-known Cahn-Hilliard equation cahn , which describes the phase separation dynamics in conservative systems. The dynamical behavior of this equation has been studied by many authors (see for example kawasaki ; Bates  and the references therein). It is noteworthy that the relevant conservation law for the dynamics is actually

$$M=\mathrm{\Lambda }(y,t)𝑑y$$
(5)
and not the integral of $`P`$, as a consequence of the translational invariance. When $`M`$ is zero, the dynamical evolution, deduced from the theoretical analysis, is in good quantitative agreement with the experiments, as we shall see later. A wave number of order $`\sqrt{\epsilon /2}`$ arises initially in the system. Later on, the system exhibits a coarsening dynamics (see fig. 2) during which the wavelength increases. New periodic solutions emerge with a logarithmically slow growth rate Bates .

To find the steady solutions, one has to minimize the free energy taking into account the area conservation. This can be done by considering a Lagrange multiplier ($`\lambda `$). Hence, the free energy takes the form Elliot

$$𝒢[\mathrm{\Lambda }]=𝑑y\left\{\epsilon \frac{\mathrm{\Lambda }^2}{2}+\frac{\mathrm{\Lambda }^4}{4}+\frac{\mathrm{\Lambda }_y^2}{2}+\lambda \mathrm{\Lambda }\right\}$$
(6)
The family of solutions that minimize this free energy satisfies the differential equation

$$\mathrm{\Lambda }_{yy}=\lambda +\epsilon \mathrm{\Lambda }+\mathrm{\Lambda }^3$$
(7)
Obviously such solutions also satisfy eq. (4). The global minimum of the free energy $`𝒢`$ is either the homoclinic solution (which is an interface with three facets) or the constant solution. This one, as well as the facets, can be any of the local minima of the potential $`V=\lambda \mathrm{\Lambda }+\epsilon \frac{\mathrm{\Lambda }^2}{2}+\frac{\mathrm{\Lambda }^4}{4}`$ . We remark that these solutions have different Lagrange multiplier values.

Let’s consider now an anisotropic nematic liquid crystal sample that exhibits experimentally an interfacial zig-zag instability, as emphasized below. This instability will be theoretically described in the framework of the nonlinear elasticity theory of liquid crystals.

In the experiments, we used a cyanobiphenyl compound (5CB) whose anisotropic physical properties at $`25^{}C`$ are: elastic constants $`K_1=6.3`$, $`K_2=4.1`$, $`K_3=8.4`$ ($`10^7`$ dynes); dielectric anisotropy $`ϵ_a=11.3`$; diamagnetic anisotropy $`\chi _a=1.142`$ ($`10^7`$cm$`{}_{}{}^{3}g_{}^{1}`$); rotational viscosity $`\gamma _110^2`$Pa.s.

The samples are made of two glass plates separated by thin mylar spacers that determine the cell thickness (between $`50`$ and $`250\mu m`$). The glass surfaces are treated with lecithin to provide homeotropic anchoring. The sample is subjected to a sinusoidal vertical electric field $`\stackrel{}{E}=E\stackrel{}{e}_z`$ ($`V_{eff.}09V`$) with a high frequency ($`5kHz`$) in order to avoid charge injection or electroconvection phenomena. Moreover, two permanent magnets induce a homogeneous horizontal magnetic field in the sample. The field magnitude can be changed by bringing the magnets nearer or farther. Its maximum value is about $`0.55`$ Tesla.

The application of a horizontal magnetic field can induce, for a high enough magnitude, a partial reorientation of the bulk molecules along the field direction. Due to the twofold degeneracy of the bifurcated state, domains of opposite orientation may be created helfrich . The interface between a pair of domains is called Ising wall gilli . An Ising wall in a splay-bend configuration is formed by using the flux lines curvature in a region where the field is inhomogeneous (see fig. 1). Then, it is quenched into the area between the two magnets, where the field is homogeneous. Its width is determined by the distance to the threshold of the Fréedericksz transition and can be modified by variations of the fields magnitude.

The interface behavior is observed through a polarizing microscope (see fig. 1). Video films or numerical images (see fig. 2) can be registered thanks to a 3CCD camera placed on the top of the microscope.

The experiments have been carried out far from the Fréedericksz threshold, since near the transition any little imperfection on the parallelism between the sample and the magnetic field plane makes the wall drift towards one edge of the cell.

The splay-bend Ising wall is ever unstable, for the control parameters that we used experimentally, when it is thrust into the homogeneous area of the magnetic field. Initially, the interface develops an instability characterized by a well-defined wavelength, which is determined by the experimental parameters. Later on, the sinusoidal interface becomes an angled line composed of pieces of wall turned with angles $`\pm \mathrm{\Psi }_0`$ (see fig. 2). Two adjacent pieces, whose orientations are opposite, are connected by a region of strong curvature of the line that we called kink. The dynamics consists then in reassembling domains of even orientation, the angle of the ”zig” and ”zag” facets staying unchanged (coarsening dynamics). This process occurs thanks to annihilations of kinks and without characteristic lengthscale. Actually, the averaged domain size increases regularly in time (see fig. 2). The dynamics, which tends to separate the zig and zag facets, is the one-dimensional counterpart of the spinodal decomposition dynamics observed in conservative binary mixtures cahn .

The instability is triggered by the elastic anisotropy of the liquid crystal whose influence is emphasized in the wall. Indeed, the involved distortions depend on the orientation of the interface with respect to the magnetic field direction. For most of the usual compounds, the energy cost of a wall aligned with the field (twist wall) is lower than the one of a wall perpendicular to the field (splay-bend wall) since $`K_2<K_1`$. Consequently, the system (splay-bend wall) reduces its energy by changing the direction of the wall. A global rotation of the interface can not occur in an infinite medium. Therefore, the interface is forced to rotate locally and is divided into facets turned with opposite angles $`\pm \mathrm{\Psi }_0`$. These angles, whose values are determined by the control parameters (see fig. 3), result from several effects. More precisely, the rotation is favored by the elasticity but is made difficult by the resulting elongation of the interface along its original direction and by the escape of the molecules from the vertical plane containing the magnetic field. The local reorientation generates many defects (kinks), which will eventually disappear since this leads to a decrease in energy.

The experiments have been performed far from the Fréedericksz transition. However, for the sake of simplicity, the theoretical approach has been developed near this transition. At the onset of the bifurcation, the system is described by the two-dimensional Landau equation

$$_TZ=\epsilon ZbZ^3+\left(K_1_x^2+K_2_y^2\right)Z.$$
(8)
where $`\epsilon ϵ_aE^2K_3\frac{\pi ^2}{d^2}+\chi _aH^2`$, $`b\frac{1}{2}\left(K_1\frac{3}{2}K_3\right)\frac{\pi ^2}{d^2}\frac{3}{4}ϵ_aE^2+\frac{3}{4}\chi _aH^2`$, $`T=t/\gamma _1`$, and the director takes the form $`\stackrel{}{n}=(Z\mathrm{cos}(\frac{\pi z}{d}),0,1\frac{Z^2}{2}\mathrm{cos}^2(\frac{\pi z}{d}))`$. This equation contains wall-type solutions. When both diffusion constants ($`K_1/\gamma _1`$ and $`K_2/\gamma _1`$) are of the same order of magnitude, these solutions are always stable. In order to explain the appearance of the interfacial instability, one has to consider that $`K_2`$ is much smaller than the other constants $`K_1`$ and $`K_3`$ ($`K_2\epsilon `$). Then, the solution $`Z=0`$ is marginal with respect to perturbations in the $`y`$-direction. Note that the interface identifies with the center of the Ising wall, which is a curve where $`Z=0`$ (homeotropic state). Hence, higher-order terms must be considered in order to study the stability of the interface, and the dynamical equation reads now

$`_TZ`$ $`=`$ $`\epsilon ZbZ^3+\left(K_1_x^2+K_2_y^2\right)Z+{\displaystyle \frac{K_1^2}{a}}_{x^2y^2}Z`$ (9)
$`+{\displaystyle \frac{K_1^3}{a^2}}_{x^2y^4}Z+{\displaystyle \frac{3}{4}}K_3\text{ }\left(Z\left(_yZ\right)^2{\displaystyle \frac{Z^2}{2}}_{yy}Z\right),`$
where we have considered the asymptotic limit $`Z\epsilon ^{1/2}`$, $`_y^2Z\mu \epsilon ^{1/2}`$, $`_x^2Z\epsilon ^{3/2}`$, $`K_1K_31`$, and $`K_2\epsilon `$, with $`\epsilon \mu 1`$, $`a`$$`ϵ_aE^2+K_3\frac{\pi ^2}{d^2}`$and $`\mu \left(\frac{K_2}{\epsilon }\frac{2K_1}{5a}\right)`$. Then, the expression of the local director is given by

$$\stackrel{}{n}=\left(\begin{array}{c}n_x\\ n_x\\ n_z\end{array}\right)=\left(\begin{array}{c}Z\mathrm{cos}\left(\frac{\pi z}{d}\right)\\ \left(\frac{K_1}{a}_{xy}Z+\frac{K_1^2}{a^2}_{xy^3}Z\right)\mathrm{cos}\left(\frac{\pi z}{d}\right)\\ 1\frac{Z^2}{2}\mathrm{cos}^2\left(\frac{\pi z}{d}\right)\end{array}\right)$$

In this asymptotic limit, the Ising wall solution reads $`Z=\sqrt{\epsilon /b}\mathrm{tanh}\left(\sqrt{\epsilon /2K_1}\left(xx_o\right)\right)`$. In order to describe the dynamical behaviour of the wall under perturbations, we introduce the following ansatz

$$Z(x,P(y,T))\sqrt{\frac{\epsilon }{b}}\mathrm{tanh}\left(\sqrt{\frac{\epsilon }{2K_1}}xP(y,T)\right)+w(x,P)$$
(10)
where $`w(x,P)`$ is a small perturbative term. One can show that, $`P`$ satisfies the following solvability equation

$$_TP=D_1P_{yy}+D_2P_y^2P_{yy}D_3P_{yyyy}$$
(11)
with $`D_1\mu \epsilon =\left(K_2\frac{2K_1\epsilon }{5a}+\frac{3K_3\epsilon }{40b}\right)`$, $`D_2\frac{48K_1^2}{7}`$ $`\frac{\epsilon }{a^2}`$, $`D_3\frac{2K_1^2}{5}\frac{\epsilon }{a^2}`$.

Thus, the characteristic time-scale of the interface dynamics $`\left(\mu ^1\epsilon ^1\right)`$ is smaller than the time-scale of the interface formation $`\left(\epsilon ^1\right)`$, which is consistent with experimental observations. The expression of $`D_1`$ indicates that the elastic anisotropy can give rise to the instability ($`D_1<0`$). Numerical simulations of eq. (9) confirms the latter calculations (see fig. 4).

As a consequence of the finite size of liquid crystal sample, one experimentally observes a global rotation of the interface, which is superimposed to the coarsening dynamics. This favours one orientation of the domains, but does not change the angle of the facets.

In conclusion, we have presented a theoretical explanation of the interfacial zig-zag instability that appears in anisotropic systems. The instability of an Ising wall formed in a nematic liquid crystal has been more specifically investigated, both experimentally and theoretically. Close to the Fréedericksz transition, this instability is described by the Cahn-Hilliard equation, and leads to the facets separation and coarsening dynamics. The asymptotic limit used in the derivation of this model emphasizes the role of the elastic anisotropy. Such a limit contains all the ingredients required to give an adequate description of the experimental observations.

The authors acknowledge S. Thiberge for fruitful discussions. One of us P.C. thanks the support of the ”Institut Universitaire de France” and M.C. thanks he support of Cátedra Presidencial. The simulation software developed at the laboratory INLN in France has been used for all the numerical simulations presented in this paper.


text:
# The Fanaroff-Riley Transition and the Optical Luminosity of the Host Elliptical Galaxy

## 1 Introduction

A landmark in the study of extragalactic radio sources was the demonstration by Fanaroff and Riley (fanaroff (1974)) of the existence of a relatively sharp morphological transition at a radio luminosity of $`P_R^{}`$ corresponding to $`P_{178\mathrm{M}\mathrm{H}\mathrm{z}}2.5\times 10^{26}h_{50}^2`$ W Hz-1. The great majority of sources below this luminosity (FR I type) are characterized by having diffuse radio lobes, with their brightest regions within the inner half of the radio source, and so can be called edge-dimmed. On the contrary, more powerful sources are usually straighter, exhibit edge-brightened (FR II) morphology, and typically contain hotspots near the outer edges of their radio lobes.

More recently it was realized that the critical radio luminosity separating the FRI and FR II actually increases with the optical luminosity of the host elliptical galaxy, so that $`P_R^{}L_{\mathrm{opt}}^{1.65}`$ (as measured from Fig. 1 of Ledlow & Owen ledlow (1996)); also see Owen & White (owen91 (1991)); Owen & Ledlow (owen94 (1994)) for earlier indications of this effect. Although many detailed differences between the host galaxies of the FR I and FR II sources have been discovered (e.g., Baum et al. baum (1995); Zirbel zirbel (1997); for a recent summary, see Gopal-Krishna & Wiita gkw00 (2000)), it is fair to state that a key fact is that the more luminous the host galaxy is, the more powerful the radio source must be in order to attain the FR II morphological classification.

The most widely known explanation for the difference between the FR I and FR II sources is that, while the jets in both cases start out moving at very high (relativistic) speeds, those in FR II sources remain that way out to multi-kpc distances, while those in the FR I’s decelerate to much lower speeds within a few kpc of the core (e.g., Begelman begelman (1982); Bicknell bicknell84 (1984); De Young deyoung (1993); Komissarov komissarov (1994); Laing laing93 (1993), laing96 (1996); Laing et al. laingetal99 (1999)). Detailed models for decelerating relativistic jets were developed by Bicknell (bicknell94 (1994), bicknell95 (1995)). The core of his argument is that relativistic jets, once they come into pressure equilibrium with the external interstellar medium (ISM) or intracluster medium (ICM), will become strongly Kelvin-Helmholtz unstable and then entrain substantial amounts of cold ambient material. Bicknell (bicknell95 (1995)) showed that this instability typically set in as the internal jet Mach number approaches $`2`$, corresponding to internal bulk velocities having dropped to about $`0.6c`$.

Of course, many other explanations for the FR I/FR II dichotomy have been proposed (e.g., Baum et al. baum (1995); Reynolds et al. 1996a , 1996b ; Meier meier (1999); Valtonen & Heinämäki valtonen (2000); see the recent discussion by Gopal-Krishna & Wiita gkw00 (2000)). Some of these proposals involve fundamental differences in the nature of the jets (electron/positron vs. electron/proton plasma) or of the central engine (black hole spin, type of accretion disk). The viability of any member of this class of explanations is challenged by the existence of HYbrid MOrphology Radio Sources, or HYMORS, which have a clear FR I morphology on one side of the host galaxy, but a distinct FR II morphology on the other side (Gopal-Krishna & Wiita (gkw00 (2000), gkw01 (2001)).

An alternative approach posits that FR I and FR II sources differ primarily in the importance of the beam thrust relative to the basic parameters of the ambient medium (Gopal-Krishna & Wiita gkw88 (1988) (GKW88); Gopal-Krishna gk91 (1991) (GK91); Gopal-Krishna et al. gkwh (1996) (GKWH96); Blandford 1996). In this version of the deceleration scenario, the emphasis is on the slowing of the advance of the hotspot, or working surface, at the end of the jet, rather than on the slowing of the bulk flow within the jet (e.g., Bicknell bicknell95 (1995)). When the hotspot’s advance becomes transonic relative to the ambient medium, its Mach disk weakens considerably due to the fall in ram pressure, and the jet becomes decollimated; this soon leads to an FR I morphology. Further expansion of such jets beyond this point is expected to be in the form of a plume, as discussed in GKW88, where it was also shown that for reasonable values of jet and galaxy parameters (density, core radius and temperature of the ISM) such a jet flaring can occur within several kpc of the core for jet powers below about $`10^{43}`$ erg s-1, consistent with the observations of the FR I/FR II division (GKW88; GK91; GKWH96). Also, in this picture, the concomitant dimunition/cessation of the ‘backflow’ of the beam plasma would cause a depletion of the protective sheath of beam plasma around the jet, facilitating entrainment of the ISM material into the jet flow.

Bicknell (bicknell95 (1995)) expanded his model to account for the Owen–Ledlow transition in the $`P_R`$$`L_{\mathrm{opt}}`$ plane. A key ingredient in his scenario involved connecting the jet dynamics to empirically established relations between the optical magnitude of the galaxy on the one hand, and the soft X-ray luminosity, core radius, and central velocity dispersion of elliptical galaxies on the other hand. In the present study, we follow Bicknell and adopt these same empirical relationships. Bicknell then ties the galactic parameters to those of the jet by demanding that the establishment of a pressure balance between the jet and the external medium corresponds closely to the location of the jet’s internal transonic transition. By doing so, he was able to derive a formula connecting beam power to the optical luminosity of the host galaxy. In this paper we follow a different approach in this latter stage.

Additional assumptions on the efficiency of the conversion of the jet’s energy into total radio luminosity ($`>12\%`$), and thence into monochromatic radio emission, allowed Bicknell (bicknell95 (1995)) to obtain a fairly good fit to the slope of the Owen–Ledlow division, finding that $`P_R^{}L_{\mathrm{opt}}^{2.1}`$, as well as getting a decent fit to the intercept; however, there were quite a few poorly constrained parameters in his model. Nevertheless, Bicknell (bicknell95 (1995)) argued that the the slope of the relation was rather insensitive to the likely uncertainties in parameters. He further argued that the intercept would tend to be driven towards better agreement with the data for plausible variations in those parameters, which included: the ratio of the jet’s lifetime to the synchrotron cooling time of the highest energy electrons; the ratio of the upper and lower cutoff energies for the electron distribution; the ratio of jet radius to its length at the transition distance; the ratio of the product of the jet pressure and square of its radius evaluated at the transition radius to that of the external medium evaluated at its core radius; the bulk velocity of the jet at the transition point; the low frequency radio spectral index; and the value of an integral (discussed below) which depends on an upper cut-off radius for the X-ray emitting halo of the host galaxy.

The new magnetic switch model (Meier meier (1999)) fundamentally distinguishes FR I from FR II sources through the different speeds of rotation of the magnetic field lines of their central engines, which are tied to the different spin rates of their supermassive black holes. While this scenario can also produce a slope for the $`P_R^{}L_{\mathrm{opt}}`$ dividing line close to that found by Ledlow & Owen (ledlow (1996)) (Meier meier (1999)) we recall that it is hard to reconcile this scheme with the existence of HYMORS (Gopal-Krishna & Wiita gkw00 (2000), gkw01 (2001)). Venturing beyond the standard nuclear jet paradigm, gravitational slingshot models can in principle be compatible with the Owen–Ledlow relation (Valtonen & Heinämäki valtonen (2000)), and could also account for HYMORS (Gopal-Krishna & Wiita gkw00 (2000)).

## 2 The Model

In an earlier study involving “weak headed quasars”, where prominent one-sided jets are not seen to terminate in a conspicuous hotspot, we have argued that dissipation of jet power, as suggested by Swarup et al. (swarup (1982)) and Saikia et al. (saikia (1983)), may actually not be responsible for the lack of terminal hotspots (GKWH96). Taking a clue from the fact that no two-sided jets are seen in these sources, we argued that the lack of a hotspot could be best explained through the onset of a jet’s decollimation when the hotspot’s (or, nearly equivalently, the bow shock’s) velocity becomes transonic relative to the external medium (GKWH96). This successful explanation of this class of radio sources motivates us to seek an explanation for the Owen–Ledlow relation in terms of a similar scenario. This model makes no assumptions about the relativistic nature of the bulk velocity of the internal jet fluid, which may be gradually decelerating as the head of the jet advances.

Our study makes use of the same empirical relations between the elliptical’s blue magnitude, $`M_B`$, and its soft X-ray emission, $`L_\mathrm{X}`$ (Donnelly, Faber and O’Connell donnelly (1990)), stellar velocity dispersion, $`\sigma `$ (Terlevich et al. terlevich (1981) — the Faber–Jackson relation), and X-ray core radius, $`a`$ (Kormendy kormendy (1987)), as employed by Bicknell (bicknell95 (1995)), assuming $`H_0=75`$ km s-1 Mpc-1:

$$\mathrm{log}L_\mathrm{X}=22.30.872M_\mathrm{B},$$
(1)
$$\mathrm{log}\sigma =5.4120.0959M_\mathrm{B},$$
(2)
$$\mathrm{log}a=11.70.436M_\mathrm{B}.$$
(3)
However, we adopt the initially conical jet model based on our earlier work (Gopal-Krishna & Wiita gkw87 (1987)), which was generalized in Gopal-Krishna et al. (gkws89 (1989), GKWS89) to allow for bulk relativistic jet flow whereby the hotspot motion can also be relativistic. Ram pressure balance, under these conditions, gives the hotspot velocity, $`v`$, as a function of distance, $`D`$, from the central engine, as (GKWS89):

$$v(D)=\frac{Xc[1+(D/a)^2]^{\delta /2}}{D+X[1+(D/a)^2]^{\delta /2}}.$$
(4)
Here $`X=(4L_b/\pi c^3\theta ^2n_om_p\mu )^{1/2}`$, where $`L_b`$ is the jet (beam) power, $`\theta `$ is the jet’s effective opening angle, $`m_p`$ and $`\mu `$ have their usual definitions, and $`n_0`$ is the central density of the ISM, which is taken to fall off as (e.g., Forman et al. forman (1985); Canizares et al. canizares (1987); Conway conway (2001))

$$n(D)=\frac{n_0}{[1+(D/a)^2]^\delta }.$$
(5)
For our calculations we choose $`\theta =0.1`$ rad, which is certainly justified as appropriate for the inner jet regions, particularly since it is now recognized that the jet’s thrust acts on a larger area than the instantaneous hot spot (e.g., Scheuer’s scheuer (1982) ‘dentist-drill’, as supported by many three-dimensional numerical simulations: Norman norman (1996); Clarke clarke (1996); Kaiser & Alexander kaiser (1997); Hooda & Wiita hooda98 (1998)). Following Bicknell (bicknell95 (1995)), we further assume that the X-ray emitting ISM gas temperature is tied to the central stellar velocity dispersion, $`\sigma `$, via, $`kT=2.2\mu m_p\sigma ^2/\delta `$, which is Fall’s (fall (1987)) relation between circular velocity and $`\sigma `$. Here $`\delta `$ is roughly 0.75, as inferred from soft X-ray images of nearby ellipticals (e.g., Forman et al. forman (1985); Canizares et al. canizares (1987); Sarazin sarazin (1986)), as well as dynamical models of radio sources (e.g., Gopal-Krishna & Wiita gkw91 (1991); Conway conway (2001)).

Studies of many sub-classes of young radio sources, including Compact Symmetric Objects (e.g., Owsianik & Conway owsianik (1998); Conway conway (2001)), Gigahertz Peaked Sources (Carvalho carvalho (1999)) and Compact Steep Spectrum radio sources (Gopal-Krishna & Wiita gkw91 (1991); Jeyakumar et al. jeyakumaretal (2001)) have indicated that the mean density of the gas interacting with the radio lobes in the inner $`1`$ kpc or so is typically a few atoms cm-3, or several times that estimated from X-ray emission. This evidence in favor of a significant contribution of cooler gas to the ambient medium (at least in the inner portions of elliptical galaxies) is further supported by studies of the linear-size distribution of these radio sources (O’Dea & Baum odea (1997)). We shall parameterize the relation between the confining central density, $`n_0`$, used in Eq. (5) and that derived from X-ray measurements, $`n_X`$ as follows: $`n_0=\kappa n_X`$, with $`\kappa 1`$; the fiducial value we use below is $`\kappa =3`$.

The radio data cited above as well as the relation between $`M_\mathrm{B}`$ and the X-ray core radius (Eq. 3) lead to values of of $`a1`$ kpc. Therefore the ISM density begins to approach the large scale behavior, and thus declines quite rapidly, at radial distances beyond a few kpc. Hence, the most likely regime for the jets’ decollimation due to the hot spots having slowed to subsonic speeds lies within roughly 10 kpc of the core. If the hot spot manages to retain supersonic speed out to such radial distances, then in most cases the jet is likely to propagate ahead down the rapidly declining ISM density, preserving its FR II character. In some cases another possibility for jet flaring can arise farther out when the jet crosses the pressure-matched interface between the ISM and the intergalactic medium (GKW88; Wiita et al. wiita90 (1990); Wiita & Norman wiita92 (1992); Hooda et al. hoodaetal (1994); Hooda & Wiita hooda96 (1996), hooda98 (1998); Zhang et al. zhang (1999)). Relatively few sources will, however, make a transition to FR I morphology upon crossing this interface since a significant degree of beam collimation appears to occur by such radial distances within the extended halos of most galaxies (Blundell et al. blundelletal (2001); Jeyakumar & Saikia jeyakumar (2000)). For such very extended sources, our model is clearly oversimplified, as the evolution appears to break from self-similarity and the decrease in $`P_R`$ with time (even for constant $`L_b`$) cannot be ignored (e.g., Blundell & Rawlings blundell (2000)).

Other types of sources that may not be readily accommodated in our simple picture are, for instance, cases where a narrow jet is seen to terminate in a bright knot far away (say $`>50`$ kpc) from the nucleus, and flares only beyond that point (e.g., 3C 130, Hardcastle 1998). Of course, higher values of $`D^{}`$ are expected for sources for which the beam’s power and opening angle lie near the upper and lower ends of their respective ranges. Also, the possibility of a bright knot and jet expansion occurring when the jet interacts with irregularities in the ambient medium must be considered (e.g., Wang et al. wang (2000)). In this context it is especially interesting to recall that recent radio observations of the nearest radio galaxy, Centaurus A, have provided clear evidence that a radio jet can even emerge recollimated after flaring upon hitting a gas cloud (Morganti et al. morganti (1999)). These Australian Telescope Compact Array observations have revealed that the flaring of the northern jet of Cen A, a few kiloparsecs away from from the nucleus, gives rise to the inner radio ‘lobe’, out of which a narrow jet is seen to emerge and propagate further out for another few kiloparsecs before flaring and fading away in the fashion of typical FR I jets. Morganti et al. (morganti (1999)) have interpreted this striking ‘leaky bulb’ type morphology as being a manifestation of the de Laval nozzle model proposed by Blandford & Rees (br (1974)).

In our analytical formulation, we evaluate the critical beam power, $`L_b^{}`$, for which the hot-spot deceleration to subsonic velocities occurs at a fiducial distances, $`D^{}`$, of 3 and 10 kpc from the core, for a range of absolute magnitudes of the host galaxy between $`M_\mathrm{B}=19`$ and $`23.5`$. The 10 kpc value is a typical distance at which jets flare in a sample of radio galaxies (O’Donoghue et al. odonoghue (1993)). A recent study of a sample of 38 FR I sources by Laing et al. (laingetal99 (1999)) gives a mean projected value of $`3.5`$ kpc for the radial distance of the point where the kiloparsec scale jet first becomes visible, after an initial emission gap (using our value of $`H_0`$). Our main results are not very sensitive to the choice of $`D^{}`$, at least until the very most luminous galaxies are considered, and the predicted slope of the separation between FR I and FR II sources that we derive below is not strongly dependent upon it.

We now write the relevant expressions as follows:

$$X=C_2n_0^{1/2}L_b^{1/2};$$
(6)
where $`C_2=(4/\pi c^3\theta ^2m_p\mu )^{1/2}=2.14\times 10^3`$ for $`\mu =0.620`$. We also require, $`C_1=4\pi (0.909)\mathrm{\Lambda }(T)I_X`$, where the cooling function, $`\mathrm{\Lambda }(T)`$ is a rather weak function of the temperature; assuming $`T=10^7`$K, $`\mathrm{\Lambda }(T)1.17\times 10^{23}`$ (Bicknell bicknell95 (1995)), and the integral over the gas density distribution gives $`I_X5.0`$ (for $`\delta =0.75`$), a value we adopt, following Bicknell (bicknell95 (1995)). With these choices, $`C_1=6.68\times 10^{22}.`$

Equations (1–3) and (6) can now be combined to yield:

$$\mathrm{log}L_\mathrm{X}=\mathrm{log}C_1+2\mathrm{l}\mathrm{o}\mathrm{g}n_0+3\mathrm{l}\mathrm{o}\mathrm{g}a,$$
(7)
$$\mathrm{log}n_X=\mathrm{log}n_0\mathrm{log}\kappa =4.188+0.218M_\mathrm{B},$$
(8)
$$\mathrm{log}X=0.109M_\mathrm{B}+\mathrm{log}C_2+0.25\mathrm{log}C_1+3.20+0.5\mathrm{log}L_b.$$
(9)
We next impose the transonic condition on the LHS of Eq. (4), via

$$v(D)=c_s=[\gamma 2.2/\delta ]^{1/2}\sigma .$$
(10)
Taking the ratio of specific heats for the combined plasma, $`\gamma =5/3`$, and using $`\delta =0.75`$, this becomes

$$\mathrm{log}v(D)=0.345+\mathrm{log}\sigma =4.7200.0959M_\mathrm{B}.$$
(11)
Equating this to the RHS of (4), treated as a function of $`X`$, gives,

$$\mathrm{dex}(4.7200.0959M_\mathrm{B})=\frac{X}{D/[1+(D/a)^2]^{\delta /2}+X},$$
(12)
as the relation that must be solved for $`L_b^{}`$ in terms of $`M_\mathrm{B}`$.

## 3 Results and Conclusions

The values of $`L_b^{}`$, $`a`$, and $`n_0`$ can be found for specified values of $`M_\mathrm{B}`$ and $`D^{}`$ by solving Eqs. (3), (8), (9) and (12). The results are given in Table 1, along with, $`\beta `$, the local slope of the $`\mathrm{log}L_b^{}`$$`\mathrm{log}L_{\mathrm{opt}}`$ relation. For the choice of $`D^{}=10`$ kpc, these slopes, $`\beta `$, vary little for $`M_\mathrm{B}>23.5`$, and correspond closely to a relation where $`L_b^{}L_{\mathrm{opt}}^{1.6}`$; for $`D^{}=3`$ kpc, $`\beta `$ is only slightly less steep. For the most luminous galaxies, the value of $`\beta `$ from the model flattens somewhat.

In the absence of a definitive approach to compute the efficiency, $`ϵ`$, of conversion of the beam power into synchrotron radiation, we make the commonly adopted first order approximation that the monochromatic radio luminosity is a constant fraction of the beam power (at least near the transition luminosity). Then the local slope remains the same, with $`P_{\mathrm{R},1.4\mathrm{GHz}}^{}\stackrel{}{}L_{\mathrm{opt}}^{1.56}`$, and the key features of the Owen–Ledlow diagram are satisfactorily explained, with a very good fit to the slope retained. The intercept also fitted well, provided the product $`ϵ\kappa 0.27`$ for $`D^{}=10`$ kpc. As shown in Fig. 1, this is in excellent agreement with the bifurcation between FR I and FR II radio sources, and nominally provides even a better fit than does Bicknell’s (bicknell95 (1995)) model, which yields a power-law index above 2.0. We use a mean color index for elliptical galaxies $`(BR)=1.15`$ taken from a CCD photometric study of cluster galaxies (Jørgensen et al. jorgensen (1992)) to convert from the absolute blue magnitudes used in Eqs. (1–3) to the red magnitudes plotted by Ledlow et al. (ledlow00 (2001)); the dependence of color index on optical magnitude is small over this range and we have not attempted to correct for it (Jørgensen et al. jorgensen (1992); Kodama et al. kodama (1998); Peletier et al. peletier (1990)).

We note that earlier estimates based on the application of beam models for FR II sources are in reasonable agreement with such values of $`ϵ0.1`$ (Gopal-Krishna & Saripalli gks (1984); Dreher dreher (1984); Saripalli & Gopal-Krishna saripalli (1985)), particularly if a “ready to radiate” electron-positron jet composition is assumed; and evidence for such a composition is growing (e.g., Reynolds et al. 1996a ; Kaiser & Alexander kaiser (1997); Kaiser et al. kaiseretal (1997); Hirotani et al. hirotani (1999)). Given that our analysis involves a fairly large set of empirical relations for elliptical galaxies, the agreement of our prediction with the observational data is quite encouraging (Fig. 1).

It is perhaps worth remarking on the consistency of our model with the recent Very Long Baseline Interferometry measurements for the expansion of very small and young Compact Symmetric Object (CSO) radio sources (e.g., Owsianik & Conway owsianik (1998) (OC)). For the CSO 0710$`+`$439, the best values obtained by OC are $`V0.13h^1c`$ at a distance $`D25h^1`$pc ($`a`$), for $`n_02`$ cm-3, and $`L_b5\times 10^{44}`$erg s-1. Inserting the last three values into Eq. (4), and choosing our nominal $`\theta =0.1`$ rad, we obtain $`V=0.18h^1c`$, in quite reasonable agreement; a somewhat higher value for $`\theta `$ might be inferred from the maps in OC, thereby reducing our computed velocity and improving the agreement. Less well determined values of expansion speeds obtained by other groups for 3 other CSO radio sources quoted by OC range from $`0.070.13h^1c`$ and would easily be accommodated by more typical values of $`L_b`$. The derived range, $`0.08<ϵ<0.31`$, for 0710$`+`$439 (OC) is also in good agreement with our model.

The forgoing analysis is admittedly oversimplified; for instance, we have considered a fixed opening angle for beams of all powers, and have also assumed specific values of $`\delta `$ and $`\kappa `$, all of which are certain to vary somewhat from source to source. On the other hand, the division between FR I and FR II sources is not perfect by any means, and such a spread in properties would allow for the small number of sources found on the ‘wrong’ side of the dividing line in Fig. 1. Also, we have ignored any variation in the jet disruption length with the galaxy’s optical luminosity by typically choosing $`D^{}=`$ 10 kpc; however, such a variation is quite plausible, and therefore we have also provided results for $`D^{}=`$ 3 kpc in the last two columns in Table 1.

To obtain essentially as good a fit with $`D^{}=`$ 3 kpc, one would have to raise $`ϵ`$ to 0.16 if $`\kappa =3`$ instead of $`ϵ=0.09`$ for $`D^{}=`$ 10 kpc; of course both values could drop if $`\kappa >3`$ is considered. As a first step towards a more realistic model, one could consider a distribution of 2–10 kpc for $`D^{}`$ over the range in the hosts’ optical magnitudes, taking smaller $`D^{}`$ for lower $`L_{\mathrm{opt}}`$. Then the predicted slope of the $`P_R^{}L_{\mathrm{opt}}`$ relation clearly would be slightly steeper (cf. columns 4 and 6 of Table 1), further improving the accord with the data presented by Ledlow & Owen (ledlow (1996)) and recently updated by Ledlow et al. (ledlow00 (2001)). We also note that the exact results quoted assume a specific spectral index ($`\alpha =1.0`$) and upper and lower cut-offs to the radio band (10 MHz and 100 GHz) respectively, in relating the monochromatic radio power to the beam power. Assuming a flatter overall spectrum, say $`\alpha =0.7`$, would not affect the slope of the relation but would demand that the product $`ϵ\kappa `$ rise to $`0.52`$ (for $`D^{}=`$ 10 kpc) to normalize it. Despite these uncertainties, it is probably fair to note that overall our variant model employs several fewer parameters than does Bicknell’s (bicknell95 (1995)), although in connecting optical and X-ray properties we have closely followed his approach.

The available very detailed maps of a few kiloparsec-scale FR I jets provide evidence for the existence of a slower moving sheath of synchrotron plasma surrounding a relativistic spine (e.g., Laing laing93 (1993), laing96 (1996); Laing et al. laingetal99 (1999)). In Bicknell’s picture this sheath arises from turbulent mixing of the ambient plasma after the jet’s Mach number becomes low enough to allow an exponential growth of the planar Kelvin-Helmholtz instability. In our picture, the entrainment process is accelerated once the hotspot’s motion has become subsonic, as this results in the cessation of the ‘backflow’ of the jet plasma; this leads to the diminution of the protective cocoon around the jet core which had hitherto separated the latter from the ISM material. We also recall that the impingement of the ‘backflow’ onto the jet engenders some of the reconfinement shocks (e.g. Norman et al. normanetal (1982); Hooda & Wiita hooda96 (1996), hooda98 (1998)) so that the depletion of the shrouding cocoon plasma reduces their effects and therefore contributes to the jet’s decollimation. Thus, in our picture, the dramatic slowing down of the beam flow can be thought of as an eventual outcome of the decollimation of the beam’s head (leading to FR I structure), instead of being its principal cause.

###### Acknowledgements.

We thank Michael Ledlow and Frazer Owen for providing the data used in Fig. 1 and B. Premkumar for assistance in producing that figure. GK appreciates hospitality at Princeton University while much of this work was carried out. PJW acknowledges support from CST funds at Princeton and RPE funds at Georgia State University.