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# RXTE observations of the neutron star low-mass X-ray binary GX 17+2: correlated X-ray spectral and timing behavior

## 1 Introduction

Based on their broad-band spectral and variability properties, six of the persistently bright neutron star low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs) were classified as Z sources (Hasinger & van der Klis, 1989), after the Z-like tracks they trace out in X-ray color-color (CDs) and hardness-intensity diagrams (HIDs). These sources are GX 17+2, Cyg X-2, GX 5-1, GX 340+0, Sco X-1, and GX 349+2. The Z-like tracks consist of three branches, which, from top to bottom, are referred to as the horizontal branch (HB), the normal branch (NB), and the flaring branch (FB). It is generally believed that the parameter that determines the position along the Z track is the mass accretion rate, increasing from the HB to the FB. Note that the definition of the mass accretion rate in this respect is rather vague – it is often defined as the mass accretion rate through the inner disk and onto the neutron star surface. In addition to spectral changes along the Z-track, some of the Z sources show long term changes in the shape and position of the Z-track in the CD and HID. These secular changes, as they are referred to, are clearly observed in Cyg X-2 (Kuulkers et al., 1996; Wijnands et al., 1997b), GX 5-1 (Kuulkers et al., 1994), and GX 340+0 (Kuulkers & van der Klis, 1996) (the Cyg-like sources; the other Z sources are referred to as the Sco-like sources), and more recently also in GX 17+2 (Wijnands et al., 1997a). It has been suggested that they are related to the relatively high inclination at which these sources are seen (Kuulkers et al., 1994; Kuulkers & van der Klis, 1995), or to different magnetic field strengths of the neutron stars (Psaltis et al., 1995).

The power spectra of the Z sources show several types of quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs) and noise components (see van der Klis, 1995a, for a review). It was found that their presence and properties are very well correlated with the position of the source along the Z track (Hasinger & van der Klis, 1989), even when the Z-tracks show secular changes (e.g. Kuulkers et al., 1994). Three types of low frequency ($`<`$100 Hz) QPOs are seen in the Z sources: the horizontal branch (HBOs), normal branch (NBOs) and flaring branch QPOs (FBOs). Their names derive from the branches on which they were originally found. The HBO is found on the HB and NB with a frequency (15–60 Hz) that gradually increases along the HB towards the NB. When the sources move from the HB onto the NB the frequency increase flattens off. In GX 17+2 and Cyg X-2 it was found that when the source passes a certain point on the NB, the HBO frequency starts to decrease (Wijnands et al., 1996, 1997b). The NBO and FBO are most likely the same phenomenon. They are found on the NB and FB (near the NB/FB vertex) but not on the HB. On the NB the QPO has a frequency of $``$5–7 Hz, which rapidly increases to $``$20 Hz when the source moves across the NB/FB vertex (Priedhorsky et al., 1986; Dieters & van der Klis, 2000). In recent years two high frequency (or kHz) QPO were found in the Z sources (van der Klis et al. 1996; Wijnands et al. 1997a, 1998a, 1998b; Jonker et al. 1998; Zhang et al. 1998, see van der Klis 2000, for a review). They are often observed simultaneously, with a frequency difference of $``$300 Hz, and have frequencies between 215 Hz and 1130 Hz, which increase from the HB to the NB. In Sco X-1 the frequency difference was found to decrease with increasing QPO frequency (van der Klis et al., 1997b). The frequency difference in the other Z sources is both consistent with the behavior seen in Sco X-1 and with being constant (Wijnands et al., 1997a; Jonker et al., 1998; Psaltis et al., 1998). Three types of noise are seen in the Z sources. They are the very low frequency noise (VLFN), the low frequency noise (LFN), and the high frequency noise (HFN). The VLFN and HFN are found on all branches, whereas the LFN is only observed on the HB and NB. The VLFN, which is found at frequencies below 1 Hz, can be described by a power law. The HFN and LFN are both band limited components, with cutoff frequencies of, respectively, 10–100 Hz, and 2–10 Hz.

Many competing models have been proposed for the origin of the QPOs and noise components. It is beyond the scope of this introduction to mention these models in detail - most of them will be discussed in Section 4.

In this paper we present a study, based on data acquired with the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE), of the correlated spectral and variability properties of the Z source GX 17+2. It is a continuation of the work by Wijnands et al. (1996, 1997a). The current paper constitutes the first report on the very large observing campaign of 1999, which more than doubled the total coverage of the source. This campaign was undertaken with the express purpose of investigating if a non-monotonic relation exists between the frequency of the kHz QPOs and the HBO in GX 17+2. Section 2 deals with the observations and analysis. The spectral results are presented in Section 3.1 and the results for each power spectral component in Sections 3.2 and 3.3. A number of qualitatively new results is found in our greatly expanded data set. In particular, we find that when the upper kHz QPO frequency is below 1030 Hz, it correlates with the HBO frequency, whereas above 1030 Hz they anti-correlate. We also find that kHz QPO frequency difference is not constant and that the Q values of the HBO and kHz QPOs are probably not explained by life time broadening. These and other results are compared to observations of other Z sources and discussed in terms of current models in Section 4. Finally, we argue that changes in the spectral and variability properties of the Z sources may not be not driven by changes in the mass accretion rate.

## 2 Observations and Analysis

The data used for the analysis in this paper were all obtained with the Proportional Counter Array (PCA, Jahoda et al. 1996) on board RXTE (Bradt et al., 1993). The PCA consists of five xenon-filled proportional counter units (PCUs), each with an effective area of $``$1250 cm2 (at 10 keV). Although the five PCUs are in principle identical they all have a slightly different energy response. These responses change continuously due to slow processes such as gas leakage and the aging of the electrodes. In addition, the high voltage settings of the instruments are occasionally altered (gain changes), resulting in rather more drastic changes in the detector response. These changes have, at the time of writing, been applied three times during the life time of RXTE thereby defining four gain epochs. Occasionally one or more PCUs are not operational. They can be switched off by an internal safety mechanism, or by the ground control crew, for reasons of detector preservation. Therefore, the number of active detectors varies between the observations.

All our RXTE/PCA observations of GX17+2 were done between 1997 February 2 and 2000 March 31. A log of the observations is given in Table 1. We do not include the observations done in February 1996, which were used by Wijnands et al. (1996). The reasons for this are the limited time resolution in the energy range of interest and difficulties with scaling the $`S_z`$ (see below) due to an incomplete Z track. Data taken during satellite slews and Earth occultations were removed. The nine type I X-ray bursts that were observed are the subject of a separate article by Kuulkers et al. (2001); two of those were also studied in this paper. The total amount of good data that remained was $``$600 ks.

Data were collected in several modes with different time and spectral resolutions. Two of these modes, ‘Standard 1’ and ‘Standard 2’, were always operational. In addition to these two modes, other modes were active that varied between the observations. The properties of all modes are given in Table 2.

The Standard 2 data were used to perform a broad-band spectral analysis. The data were background subtracted, but no dead time corrections were applied; these were in the order of 2–5%.

For each 16 s data segment (i.e. the intrinsic resolution of the Standard 2 mode) we defined two colors, which are the ratios of count rates in two different energy bands, and an intensity, which is simply the count rate in one energy band. The energy bands used for the colors (soft and hard color) and intensity, are given in Table 3. The lower energy boundaries for the soft color and intensity were chosen relatively high in order to avoid the lowest and least reliable energy channels. By plotting the two colors against each other a color-color diagram (CD) was produced. A hardness-intensity diagram (HID) was produced by plotting the hard color against the intensity. To produce the CDs and HIDs we only used data obtained with those PCUs that (for each gain epoch) were always on. For gain epoch 3 these were PCUs 0, 1 and 2, and for gain epoch 4 PCUs 0 and 2. Due to the different numbers of detectors and the differences in the detector settings we decided to produce the CDs and HIDs separately for the two gain epochs. However, in choosing the energy channels we tried to take channels whose energy boundaries were as close as possible.

Due to the aging processes mentioned earlier, observations with the same source spectrum that are made more than a few weeks apart end up at a different location in the CD. To correct for this effect we analyzed a number of RXTE/PCA observations of the Crab pulsar/nebula (which is assumed to have a constant spectrum, see also Kuulkers et al. 1994) that were taken around the time of our GX 17+2 observations. For all Crab observations we produced the colors in the same energy bands as we used for GX 17+2. We found that the observed colors of the Crab indeed changed. For each observation we calculated multiplicative scaling factors, for both colors, with respect to those of the first Crab observation. We used these factors to scale the colors of the GX 17+2 observations back to those of the first GX 17+2 observation. This procedure could only be applied to the epoch 3 observations, where, as expected, we found it to result in a narrower track in the CD. No corrections were applied for the intensity. Since no Crab observations were available for the March 2000 observations, no corrections could be applied to epoch 4 data. The shifts in that data set appeared to be small anyway.

Our power spectral analysis was based on selecting observations as a function of the position along the Z track in the CD. We used a method that is based on the ’rank number’ and ’$`S_z`$’ parameterization methods introduced by Hasinger et al. (1990) and Hertz et al. (1992), that has been gradually refined in similar studies (Kuulkers et al., 1994; Kuulkers & van der Klis, 1996; Kuulkers et al., 1997; Wijnands et al., 1997b; Dieters & van der Klis, 2000). In this method in its current form, all points in the CD are projected onto a bicubic spline (see Press et al., 1992) whose normal points are placed by hand in the middle of the Z track (see Figure 1). The HB/NB and NB/FB vertices are given the values $`S_z`$=1 and $`S_z`$=2, respectively. The rest of the Z track is scaled according to the length of the NB. Problems arise when sharp curves are present in the track, in our study most notably around the NB/FB vertex. Due to scatter, points which have FB properties end up on the NB and vice versa. This is not a problem that is only intrinsic to the $`S_z`$ parameterization; it is a limitation that applies to all selection methods based on colors. No observable parameter, apart from the power spectra, has been identified that could be used to distinguish NB and FB observations around the vertex better than the X-ray colors.

In order to improve on the results of Wijnands et al. (1997a) we wished to combine the epoch 3 and epoch 4 data sets. Unfortunately, the tracks traced out in the CDs of epoch 3 and 4 are not the same and two different splines had to be used for the $`S_z`$ parameterization. Since the normal points for these splines were drawn by hand, the $`S_z`$ scales for the epoch 3 and epoch 4 CDs were unlikely to be exactly the same. Therefore, we first transformed the $`S_z`$ scale of epoch 4 to that of epoch 3. To accomplish this, we measured the frequency of either the HBO or NBO at several places along the Z track of epoch 3, and determined the $`S_z`$ interval corresponding to the same frequency in the epoch 4 data. We found that $`S_{z,epoch\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}4}}=(0.06\pm 0.04)+(1.005\pm 0.018)S_{z,epoch\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}3}}`$, showing that, although the scales are the same (within the errors), a small shift is present. We subsequently scaled the $`S_z`$ values of epoch 4 using the above expression. The above scaling method assumes that the HBO and NBO frequencies are strongly related to $`S_z`$. Previous studies of Z sources (see e.g. Kuulkers et al., 1997; Wijnands et al., 1997a; Jonker et al., 2000b; Dieters & van der Klis, 2000), as well as the fact that only little scatter was present around the linear relation seem to confirm this.

Power spectra were created from the data in modes with high time resolution ($`2^{13}s`$; see Table 2) using standard Fast Fourier Transform techniques (see van der Klis, 1989, and references therein). The data were not background subtracted and no dead time corrections were applied prior to the Fourier transformations. We made power spectra in several energy bands, with several frequency resolutions and Nyquist frequencies. We finally settled on 0.0625–4096 Hz power spectra in the 5.1–60 keV (epoch 3) and 5.8–60 keV (epoch 4) bands, since the QPOs were most significantly detected in those bands (note that the source does actually not contribute significantly to the power spectra above $``$40 keV, however, our data modes did not allow us to discard data above this energy). This choice of frequency range means that the properties of the VLFN, which dominates the power spectrum below 0.1 Hz, could not always be measured satisfactorily, but it does allow us to follow the power spectral evolution on time scales down to 16 s. Note that the power spectra of epoch 4 were produced in a slightly higher energy band than those of epoch 3. Due to the gain changes and the limited choice of energy channels this was the best possible match.

The power spectra were selected on the basis of $`S_z`$, as determined from the CD. The $`S_z`$ selections usually had a width of 0.1 and did not overlap - no power spectrum was represented in more than one $`S_z`$-selection. Different widths were used in cases where the power spectrum changed rapidly as a function of $`S_z`$ (narrower selections) or when the powers were weak (wider selections). All the power spectra in a selection were averaged, and the resulting power spectrum was rms normalized according to a procedure described in van der Klis (1995b).

The properties of the power spectra were quantified by fitting functional forms to them. The low frequency (0.0625–256 Hz) and high frequency (100–4096 Hz) parts of the power spectrum were fitted separately. The high frequency part was fitted with one or two Lorentzians (for the kHz QPO(s)) and with the function $`P(\nu )=P_1+P_2cos(2\pi \nu /\nu _N)+P_3cos(4\pi \nu /\nu _N)`$ for the dead time modified Poisson level (Zhang, 1995; Zhang et al., 1995); no separate term was used for the contribution of the Very Large Events (VLE) count rate since it was absorbed by this fit function. At low frequencies the noise that was present could not be fitted consistently, and varying combinations of functionals had to be used:

* $`S_z`$$`<`$0.0: A Lorentzian (LFN+VLFN)
* $`S_z`$=0.0–0.1: A cut-off power law (LFN+VLFN)
* $`S_z`$=0.1–1.4: A power law (VLFN) and a cut-off power law (LFN)
* $`S_z`$=1.4–1.6: A power law (VLFN) and a Lorentzian (LFN+NBO)
* $`S_z`$=1.6–5.0: A power law (VLFN) and a Lorentzian (LFN)
* $`S_z`$$`>`$5.0: A power law (VLFN)

The expression for a power law is $`P(\nu )\nu ^\alpha `$, that for a cut-off power law is $`P(\nu )\nu ^\alpha e^{\nu /\nu _{cut}}`$ (where $`\nu _{cut}`$ is the cut-off frequency), and for a Lorentzian $`P(\nu )1/[(\nu \nu _c)^2+(FWHM/2)^2]`$ (where $`\nu _c`$ is the centroid frequency and $`FWHM`$ is the full-width-at-half-maximum). The HBO, its second harmonic and the NBO/FBO were each fitted with a Lorentzian. Below the HBO, at about half its frequency, a broad bump was present that was also fitted with a Lorentzian, whose frequency was sometimes fixed to zero. At low frequencies the dead time modified Poisson level was fitted with a constant. An example of a fit to a power spectrum ($`S_z`$=0.4–0.5), displaying the contributing of the several components, is shown in Figure 4.

Note that changes in the fit function, such as using a cut-off power law instead of a Lorentzian or adding an extra component, may lead to minor changes in the values of other parameters. Errors on the fit parameters were determined using $`\mathrm{\Delta }\chi ^2=1`$. Upper limits were determined by fixing some or all of the parameters of a component, except the rms amplitude, to values similar to those obtained in the closest $`S_z`$ selection where it was found to be significant, leaving all other fit parameters free, and using $`\mathrm{\Delta }\chi ^2=2.71`$ (95% confidence).

A study of the energy dependence and time lag properties of the QPOs and noise components will be presented elsewhere.

## 3 Results

### 3.1 Broad-band spectral behavior

The CDs and HIDs of both epochs are shown in Figure 1. In both CDs the HB/NB vertex is not well defined, since the HB is almost a continuation of the NB. This is mainly due to the relatively high energies that we chose for our soft color (see Section 2). At lower energies the turn-over is much clearer. In Figure 2 we show the count rate in several energy bands as a function of $`S_z`$, for epoch 4. It shows that the HB/NB vertex in the HID is entirely due to the count rates at low energies. At high energies the HB is a perfect continuation of the NB, and no vertex is present.

In the HID of epoch 3 the Z track appears to be segmented, which was already noted by Wijnands et al. (1997a). Although no corrections for the slow detector aging processes were applied to the intensity in this HID, we note that a quick look showed that they would only have made the segmentation more apparent. The shifts in the HID might be due to the secular motion that has been observed in other Z sources. The shifts, of up to $``$5% in intensity, do not show up in the CD. This is because colors are ratios of intensities and are therefore not very sensitive to overall intensity changes; exactly for this reason CDs are preferable over HIDs for our purpose. Moreover, the width of the tracks in the CD is about 5%, so changes smaller than this are hard to observe.

The bottom panel of Figure 3 shows the distribution of the time spent by the source in each part of the Z track. The source spent 28% of the time on the HB ($`S_z`$$``$1), 44.2% on the NB (1$`<`$$`S_z`$$``$2), and 27.8% on the FB ($`S_z`$$`>`$2). The average speed along the Z track as a function of $`S_z`$($`V_z`$) is shown in the top panel of Figure 3. The speed at a given $`S_z(i)`$ is defined as $`V_z(i)=|S_z(i+1)S_z(i1)|/32`$ (see also Wijnands et al., 1997b), where $`i`$ is used to number the points in order of time. As expected the $`V_z`$ increases considerably when the source enters the FB, but also at the top of the HB ($`S_z<0.5`$). Combined with the small amount of time spent in the upper HB we can conclude that the source reaches to $`S_z`$ values this low only in brief, quick dashes.

For a more detailed analysis of the spectral changes as a function of the position along the Z track in GX 17+2 we refer to O’ Brien et al. (in prep.).

### 3.2 Power spectra

#### 3.2.1 Low Frequency QPOs and Noise Components

Figure 5 shows the low frequency part (0.0625–256 Hz) of the power spectrum for nine different $`S_z`$ selections. The power spectra shown in Figure 5 are selected from epoch 3 and epoch 4 and are therefore a combination of 5.1–60 keV and 5.8–60 keV data. The percentage of epoch 3 and epoch 4 data varies between the $`S_z`$-selections. The contribution of epoch 3 data is highest at the extremes of the $`S_z`$ range, reaching 100%, and gradually decreases from both ends to $``$10% around $`S_z`$=1.

Several components can be seen, which change in strength and shape as a function of $`S_z`$. The different components are identified in Figure 5 (see also Figure 4) and the $`S_z`$ ranges in which they were detected are given in Table 4. The component identified as the sub-harmonic of the HBO is rather broad and does not have the appearance of a QPO. However, based on the frequency ratios (see below) it is referred to as the HBO sub-harmonic.

Some difficulties were experienced while fitting the low frequency part of the power spectrum between $`S_z`$=1.4 and $`S_z`$=1.6, where two or more components with similar frequencies were simultaneously present. Above $`S_z`$=1.4 the NBO appeared, as a broad feature on top of the LFN. We were not able to distinguish the two components and decided to fit them together with a single Lorentzian. The fit values are not used in figures and tables, since they do not represent any of the individual components. Above $`S_z`$=1.6, the NBO and LFN could be distinguished more easily. The fit function used for the LFN, which was underlying the NBO, was changed to a Lorentzian to be more consistent with fits at higher $`S_z`$ (fits with a cut-off power law gave equally good $`\chi _{red}^2`$ at this $`S_z`$).

In the following sections the results for each of the components will be presented.

#### 3.2.2 HBO

The HBO was detected between $`S_z`$=$``$0.6 and $`S_z`$=2.1 and its second harmonic between $`S_z`$=$``$0.6 and $`S_z`$=1.0. The second and third columns of Figure 6 show their rms amplitudes, FWHM, and frequencies as a function of $`S_z`$ (see also Table 5). The frequency of the HBO increased from 21.3 Hz at $`S_z`$=$``$0.43 to 60.3 Hz at $`S_z`$=1.45 and then decreased to 48.2 Hz at $`S_z`$=2.04. The second harmonic of the HBO had a frequency that was on average 1.941$`\pm `$0.007 times that of the first harmonic, which is significantly different from the expected value of 2. An explanation for this discrepancy is proposed in Section 4.1.2. Between $`S_z`$=$``$0.6 and $`S_z`$=1.0 both the HBO and its second harmonic decreased in strength, with the decrease of the second harmonic occurring somewhat faster than that of the HBO. In that same $`S_z`$ interval the FWHM of the HBO and its second harmonic were fairly constant (showing a slight increase), although considerable scatter was present around the average values (which were, respectively, 7.9$`\pm `$0.3 Hz and 14.4$`\pm `$0.6 Hz). The Q values of the HBO and its harmonic are shown in Figure 7. In the $`S_z`$ range where both were detected their Q values were consistent with each other. When the second harmonic was not significantly detected anymore ($`S_z`$$`>`$1.0) the rms amplitude and the FWHM of the HBO both decreased from, respectively, 2.45$`\pm `$0.08% and 9.7$`\pm `$7 Hz ($`S_z`$=0.5–1.0) to 1.48$`\pm `$0.06% and 5.1$`\pm `$0.4 Hz ($`S_z`$=1.0–1.5). Between $`S_z`$=1.0 and $`S_z`$=1.5 the relation between the $`S_z`$ and the HBO frequency started to flatten. Above $`S_z`$=1.5 the frequency of the HBO clearly dropped, initially quite abruptly and later on more smoothly. This frequency drop coincided with an increase in the FWHM to 15.7$`\pm `$1.5 ($`S_z`$=1.5–2.1); the rms amplitude showed a small increase to 2.1$`\pm `$0.1% ($`S_z`$=1.76), followed by a decrease to 1.2$`\pm `$0.2% ($`S_z`$=2.04).

Underlying the HBO and its second harmonic, but with a central frequency lower than that of the HBO, we found a broad feature that was also fitted with a Lorentzian. It was significantly detected between $`S_z`$=$``$0.6 and $`S_z`$=1.3. The properties of the broad feature are shown in the first column of Figure 6 (see also Table 5). Below $`S_z`$=0 the frequency of the Lorentzian was fixed to zero. Between $`S_z`$=0.5 and $`S_z`$=1.5 the frequency of the broad feature is on average 0.539$`\pm `$0.015 times that of the HBO. This could mean that the broad feature is the sub-harmonic of the HBO, certainly when one takes into account that the frequency of a broad feature is rather sensitive to the shape of the continuum. Whereas the rms amplitude and the frequency of the sub-harmonic both change strongly with $`S_z`$ the FWHM remains more or less constant, with an average value of 29.5$`\pm `$1.5 Hz.

#### 3.2.3 NBO and FBO

The NBO and FBO were detected between $`S_z`$=1.6 and $`S_z`$=2.7. The fit results for the NBO/FBO are shown in Figure 8 (see also Table 5). Below $`S_z`$=2.1 the NBO (represented by the filled circles in Figure 8) had a fairly constant frequency, with values between 6.3 Hz and 7.0 Hz. Its rms amplitude increased from 1.7% to 3.2%, and the FWHM was approximately $``$2.1 or $``$3.8. In the $`S_z`$=2.0–2.1 selection both the NBO and FBO were present. This is likely an artifact of the $`S_z`$ selection method, since a careful inspection of dynamical power spectra showed no evidence for simultaneous presence of both QPOs. It is interesting to note though, that in the $`S_z`$=2.0–2.1 selection the frequency of the FBO was 2.0$`\pm `$0.1 times that of the NBO, which could mean that the two NBO and FBO are harmonically related (however, see below). The FBO increased in frequency from 13.9 Hz ($`S_z`$=2.04) to 23.1 Hz ($`S_z`$=2.65), while its FWHM increased from $``$5 Hz to $``$13 Hz. The rms amplitude of the FBO initially continued the trend of the NBO rms amplitude; it increased from 2.8% ($`S_z`$=2.04) to 5.6% ($`S_z`$=2.23), but then decreased to 1.8% ($`S_z`$=2.65).

To study the transitions between the NBO and FBO more carefully, we inspected all dynamical power spectra of observations with $`S_z`$ values around 2. Although no clear transitions were found, mainly due to the limited quality of the dynamical power spectra, we did in some cases see QPOs with intermediate frequencies ($``$ 10 Hz), suggesting that the frequency does not jump directly from $``$7 Hz to $``$14 Hz. Fitting the power spectra in consecutive time intervals (longer than 16 s), rather than inspecting dynamical power spectra with the eye, will probably lead to more conclusive results, but is beyond the scope of the current paper. The time scales on which the NBO/FBO frequency changed from $``$7 Hz to $``$14 Hz and back were as short as a few tens of seconds.

We also studied the behavior of the NBO/FBO during two long type I X-ray bursts. The first one started on 1998 November 18 at 08:51:26 UTC, the second one on 1999 Oct 10 at 09:10:47 UTC. Their exponential decay times were, respectively, 189$`\pm `$2 s and 144$`\pm `$2 s (Kuulkers et al., 2001). Both bursts occurred near the NB/FB vertex and in the power spectra of their respective observations the NBO/FBO is clearly detected. No other QPOs were detected in the power spectra of these bursts. Figure 9 shows the dynamical power spectra of both bursts, together with their 2–60 keV light curves. During the brightest part of the bursts the NBO/FBO seemed to disappear. Apparently, the burst flux was not modulated at the NBO/FBO frequencies with the same amplitude as the persistent flux. To quantify this, we determined upper limits on the NBO/FBO strength and compared those with the values outside the bursts. The results are shown in Table 6. Clearly, during the brightest part of the bursts the rms amplitude of the NBO/FBO was significantly weaker, not only as a fraction of the total flux, but also in absolute terms (and hence as a fraction of the persistent flux, if the persistent emission is assumed to continue during the bursts). These measurements constitute the first determination of the effect of X-ray bursts on the NBO/FBO. The fact that the bursts suppress the QPO can have important consequences for our understanding of its formation mechanism (see Section 4.1.6).

#### 3.2.4 Noise components: LFN and VLFN

LFN was detected between $`S_z`$=$``$0.6 and $`S_z`$=5.0. As mentioned before, the appearance of the NBO around $`S_z`$=1.4, kept us from putting firm constraints on the LFN parameters between $`S_z`$=1.4 and $`S_z`$=1.6. The fit results for the LFN are shown in Figure 10 (see also Table 7), in two separate columns: one for the fits with a cut-off power law fit ($`S_z`$=0.0–1.4) and one for the fits with a Lorentzian ($`S_z`$$`<`$0.0 and $`S_z`$=1.6–5.0). The strength of the LFN was in both cases defined as the integrated power spectral density between 1 Hz and 100 Hz. We note that below $`S_z`$=0.1 the VLFN was not fitted separately from the LFN. An inspection of 1/256–4096 Hz power spectra below $`S_z`$=0.1 showed that a weak power law component was present at frequencies below 0.1 Hz. This component was probably VLFN; its power in the 1–100 Hz range was much smaller than that of the LFN, so, although some VLFN power was absorbed by the LFN, this did not affect the LFN rms amplitudes significantly. The strength of the LFN changed considerably as a function of $`S_z`$. It showed a narrow peak between $`S_z`$=$``$0.6 and $`S_z`$=0.2 of $``$5% rms. Between $`S_z`$=0.2 and $`S_z`$=1.7 it gradually decreased from $``$4.5% rms to $``$2.5% rms. Another decrease was observed between $`S_z`$=2.7 and $`S_z`$=5.0, from $``$3.8% rms to $``$0.9% rms. The behavior between $`S_z`$=1.7 and $`S_z`$=2.7 was quite erratic, probably due to interactions with the fit functions of NBO and FBO.

The centroid frequency of a Lorentzian and the cut-off frequency of a cut-off power law cannot be directly compared. Since we wanted to see how the typical frequency of the LFN evolved with $`S_z`$, we chose to plot $`\nu _{max}`$, which is the maximum in a $`\nu P(\nu )`$ plot and the frequency at which most of the power is concentrated per logarithmic frequency interval (Belloni, Psaltis, & van der Klis 2001, in prep.). For a Lorentzian $`\nu _{max}`$ is $`(\nu _c^2+(FWHM/2)^2)^{1/2}`$ and for a cut-off power law $`\nu _{max}`$ is $`(1\alpha )\nu _{cut}`$ (see Section 2 for analytical expressions for a Lorentzian and cut-off power law). As can be seen from Figure 10, between $`S_z`$=$``$0.6 and $`S_z`$=1.7 $`\nu _{max}`$ smoothly increased from $``$1.2 Hz to $``$14.7 Hz. Above $`S_z`$=1.7 the errors on $`\nu _{max}`$ were larger and the behavior was less clear. Between $`S_z`$=1.7 and $`S_z`$=2.3 $`\nu _{max}`$ decreased to $``$6.5 Hz, and above $`S_z`$=2.3 it increased again to $``$15 Hz. We tested whether the change of the fit functions at $`S_z`$=0.0 affected the values for $`\nu _{max}`$ and the other power spectral parameters, by swapping the fit functions used below and above $`S_z`$=0.0; no significant changes were found.

VLFN was detected over almost the whole $`S_z`$ range. Although we only started fitting the VLFN separately from the LFN above $`S_z`$=0.1 (in the 16 s power spectra), VLFN was present at frequencies below 0.1 Hz in the 256 s power spectra below $`S_z`$=0.1. In the 16 s power spectra it was only significantly detected above $`S_z`$=0.3. The fit results for the VLFN are shown in Figure 11 (see also Table 7). Between $`S_z`$=0.3 and $`S_z`$=1.4 the VLFN strength decreased from $``$0.9% rms to $``$0.4% rms. Above $`S_z`$=1.4 its strength increased, to a peak value of $``$1.3% rms at the NB/FB vertex. On the lower FB the strength decreased again, to a value of $``$0.5% rms, and above $`S_z`$=3.0 it increased to $``$1.6% rms at the top of the FB. The index of the VLFN slowly increased from $``$0.6 to $``$1.0 between $`S_z`$=0.1 and $`S_z`$=2.4, with a small peak between $`S_z`$=1.6 and $`S_z`$=1.9, where the index had a value of $``$1.5. Between $`S_z`$=2.4 and $`S_z`$=3.2 the VLFN was much steeper. The indices were not well constrained and had values between 1.7 and 4.0. Above $`S_z`$=3.2, where the error bars are much smaller, the index slowly decreased from 2.1 to 1.8.

Our fits did not require an additional component to fit possible HFN; no such component was found. Possible explanations for this are discussed in Section 4.1.7.

### 3.3 High Frequency QPOs

Both the lower and upper kHz QPO were clearly detected; the lower kHz QPO between $`S_z`$=0.5 and $`S_z`$=1.5, the upper kHz QPO between $`S_z`$=–0.3 and $`S_z`$=1.7. The results can be found in Table 8 and are shown in Figure 12. The QPO frequencies showed a clear increase with $`S_z`$, although both relations flattened at their low frequency ends. The FWHM of the lower kHz QPO was consistent with being constant at $``$100 Hz, whereas the rms amplitude showed a peak near $`S_z`$=1.05 with a value of 3.6$`\pm `$0.3. The rms amplitude and FWHM of the upper kHz QPO both decreased with $`S_z`$.

Figure 13a shows the frequency difference of the two kHz QPOs as a function of the frequency of the upper kHz QPO. Some fits were made to the data; they are also shown in Figure 13a. The best fit to the frequency difference with a constant gave a value of 282$`\pm `$4 Hz. The $`\chi ^2/d.o.f.`$ for this fit was 18.6/9, which means that at a 97% confidence level the frequency difference was not constant. This is the first time that this is observed for GX 17+2. Fits with first and second order polynomials (taking into account errors in both coordinates) resulted in, respectively, $`\chi ^2/d.o.f.`$=15.0/8 and $`\chi ^2/d.o.f.`$=3.7/7. Although the latter two fits show that with 99.76 % confidence (3.2$`\sigma `$) a decrease towards higher frequency is not monotonic, it is not clear either whether the decrease towards lower frequencies is significant or not. This would be the first time that such a decrease towards lower frequencies is observed in any kHz QPO source with a non-constant frequency difference. To test this, two fits with a broken line (not shown) were performed, where in one case the slope of the low frequency part was fixed to zero. They resulted in $`\chi ^2/d.o.f.`$=6.28/7 (slope fixed) and $`\chi ^2/d.o.f.`$=2.52/6 (slope free), which suggests that the frequency decrease towards lower frequency is only significant at a 97.6% confidence level (2.4$`\sigma `$).

In Figure 13b we show additional fits to the data with theoretical curves for the radial epicyclic frequency vs. azimuthal frequency, which in the relativistic precession models are associated with the frequency difference and the upper kHz QPO frequency. The solid line is the best fit for circular orbtis (Stella & Vietri, 1998; Markovic & Lamb, 2001), which yields a $`\chi _{red}^2`$ of 7.3 (d.o.f = 9) for a mass of 2.07 M; the dashed line is the best fit for eccentric orbits (Markovic & Lamb, 2001), yielding a $`\chi _{red}^2`$ of 1.14 (d.o.f = 8) for a mass of 1.86 M. Both curves were calculated for non-rotating stars; rotation of the neutron star gives only insignificant improvements. For comparison we also plotted the data for Sco X-1 from van der Klis et al. (1997b). Clearly, both fits (especially the solid line) do not fit the decrease of the frequency difference towards lower frequencies, which occurs in a frequency range for the upper kHz QPO that was not observed in Sco X-1, very well.

The Q values (frequency/FWHM) of the two kHz QPOs were consistent with each other and with that of the HBO and its harmonic (see Figure 7); between $`S_z`$=1.0 and $`S_z`$=1.5 the Q values of the HBO and kHz QPOs increased from $``$5 to $``$10. This unexpected finding may provide a key to understanding the formation mechanism of the three QPOs – this will be further discussed in Section 4.1.5.

When comparing Figures 12 and 6 one can see that above $`S_z`$=1.5, where the HBO frequency starts to decrease, the upper kHz QPO frequency still increases. In Figure 14 we plot the frequencies of both QPOs against each other. For values of the upper kHz frequency lower than 1030 Hz the frequencies are well correlated, but above there is a clear anti-correlation. The solid line is the best power law fit to the points below 1000 Hz. The power law index is 2.08$`\pm `$0.07. This is the first time in any atoll or Z source showing kHz QPOs that an anti-correlation is observed between the frequencies of the low and high frequency QPOs (see Section 4.1.2 for a discussion).

## 4 Discussion

We performed a detailed study of the low and high frequency power spectral features of the neutron star low-mass X-ray binary and Z source GX 17+2. As was found in previous studies of GX 17+2 and other Z sources, the properties of most power spectral features correlated well with the position of the source along the Z track in the X-ray color-color diagram, suggesting that the spectral and variability changes are caused by one and the same parameter. Some new results were found, the most interesting being the fact that the frequency separation of the kHz QPOs was not constant and probably not monotonic (Fig. 13), that their Q values were consistent with those of the HBO and its harmonic (Fig. 7), and that the frequency of the upper kHz QPO was anti-correlated with that of the HBO when the latter started to decline on the NB (Fig. 14). We also found a sub-harmonic of the HBO and showed that the absolute amplitude of the NBO/FBO is suppressed during type I X-ray bursts (Fig. 9). In the remainder of this section these and other results will be discussed in more detail. For a more detailed discussion, including a comparison of our results with those obtained from with other satellites (like EXOSAT and Ginga) and of other Z sources, we refer to Homan (2001).

### 4.1 Timing behavior

#### 4.1.1 HBO and kHz QPO models

In our discussion of the HBO and kHz QPO results, we will only consider models that try to explain the behavior of both types of QPOs. Currently these models are the relativistic precession model, the sonic point beat frequency model and the two-oscillator model. In the latter model (see Osherovich & Titarchuk, 1999) an angle between the magnetospheric equator and the disc plane is defined, which depends on the frequencies of the HBO and kHz QPOs and is supposed to be constant. However, Jonker et al. (2001) show, by using our GX 17+2 results and theirs of GX 5-1, that this is definitely not the case. For this reason, we will only consider the first two models. In the relativistic precession model (RPM, Stella & Vietri 1998, 1999; Morsink & Stella 1999; Stella et al. 1999) three frequencies are predicted; they correspond to the fundamental frequencies of motion of a test particle in the vicinity of a compact object and are identified with the HBO and the two kHz QPOs. The lowest predicted frequency, which should explain the HBO, is a factor 2 lower than the low frequency QPOs in the atoll sources and the sub-harmonic of the HBO in the Z sources. Hence, a way to produce second harmonics is required. Note that no actual mechanism is proposed for the production of QPOs themselves. However, in a recent model by Psaltis & Norman (2001) the accretion disk acts as low band-pass filter with resonances close to the three frequencies predicted in the RPM. It is unclear to what extent the details of the RPM (i.e. the turnover in the relation between HBO and upper kHz frequency) carry over to the Psaltis & Norman (2001) description. We also note that recent investigations of the RPM by Markovic & Lamb (2001) have cast some doubt on the frequencies predicted by the RPM and relations between them. In the sonic point beat frequency model (SPBFM, Miller et al., 1998; Lamb & Miller, 2001) the HBO is explained by the original beat frequency model of Alpar & Shaham (1985) and Lamb et al. (1985). The observed kHz frequencies are close to the orbital frequency at the sonic point of this disk and the beat of this frequency with neutron star spin frequency. The model requires the presence of a magnetosphere and a solid surface, and can therefore not explain the low and high frequency QPO in the black hole candidates.

#### 4.1.2 Horizontal Branch Oscillations

The decrease of the HBO frequency on the NB in GX 17+2 was first observed in RXTE data that were not used in our analysis (Wijnands et al., 1996). There were interesting features in the HBO properties which were reproduced in that data and ours. In both cases the $`S_z`$ dependence of the HBO frequency was not symmetric around its peak value; below, the frequency slowly flattened off to its maximum value, but above it showed a fast decrease by a few Hz that was followed by a more or less linear decrease with $`S_z`$. Also, simultaneously with the frequency drop, the FWHM increased by a factor of more than two. Possible explanations for the HBO frequency decrease are discussed in Section 4.1.4.

In all Z sources where an harmonic of the HBO has been observed, the frequency ratio of the harmonic and the fundamental is generally less than two. This can be explained, at least in GX 17+2, by looking at the $`S_z`$ dependence of the rms amplitudes of both components. In a certain $`S_z`$ selection both frequencies tend to be dominated by those with the higher rms amplitudes, and hence by lower $`S_z`$ and lower frequencies; this effect will be stronger for the harmonic than for the fundamental, since the $`S_z`$ dependence of its rms amplitude is steeper (see Figure 6). As a result the frequency ratio will end up to be less than two. To test this hypothesis we calculated the weighted averages of two harmonically related linear functions, representing the HBO frequency-$`S_z`$relation between $`S_z`$=0.0 and $`S_z`$=1.0. As weight we used linear functions that were fit to the HBO rms-$`S_z`$ relation between $`S_z`$=0.0 and $`S_z`$=1.0. The ratio of the weighted frequency averages was 1.93, which is very close to the observed value of 1.94.

Peaked features with frequencies intermediate to those of the LFN and the HBO have been reported for GX 340+0 (Jonker et al., 2000b), Sco X-1 (van der Klis et al., 1997b; Wijnands & van der Klis, 1999a), GX 5-1 (Kuulkers et al., 1994; Jonker et al., 2001), and now also for GX 17+2. Based on the average frequency ratio of this sub-HBO component and the HBO in GX 17+2, 0.539$`\pm `$0.015, we suggest that, similar to what was suggested for GX 340+0, it may be the sub-harmonic of the HBO. A comparative study by Wijnands & van der Klis (1999a) of low frequency (HBO-like) QPOs and band limited noise components in the neutron star Z and atoll sources and black holes revealed strong correlations between the typical frequencies of those components. When plotting the frequency of the low frequency QPO versus the break frequency of the band limited noise they found that the branch traced out by the Z sources, although lying parallel to that of the atoll source and black holes, was slightly offset. It is interesting to see that this discrepancy between the Z sources on the one hand and the atoll sources and black holes on the other disappears (Jonker et al., 2000b), at least for GX 17+2, Sco X-1 and GX 340+0, when one uses the frequencies of the sub-HBO component, instead of the HBO frequency (see also Wijnands & van der Klis, 1999a). If the low frequency QPO in the atoll sources and the sub-HBO component of the three Z sources would indeed be the same QPO, this would mean that the(se) Z sources do not anymore follow the relation between the low frequency (HBO-like) QPO and the lower kHz QPO as defined by atoll and black hole systems (Psaltis et al., 1999). It is interesting to see that the three Z sources would then end up near or slightly above a second relation that is traced out by atoll sources like 4U 1728-34 and 4U 1608–52. At the moment, however, it seems that the relation found by Wijnands & van der Klis (1999a) and the main relation of Psaltis et al. (1999) are mutually exclusive for the two types of sources. Note that Wijnands & van der Klis (1999a) found that if in their plot for Sco X-1 the frequencies of the sub-HBO component and the HBO were used, instead of the LFN and HBO frequencies, the discrepancy between Sco X-1 and the non-Z sources also disappeared. This reinterpretation has the advantage of preserving the consistency with the Psaltis et al. (1999) relation as well.

The dominance of the even harmonics over the odd harmonics in the low frequency (HBO-like) QPOs, as suggested by the presence of a sub-harmonic of the HBO, is not only observed in the Z sources, but also a common feature in BHCs such as GS 1124–68 (Belloni et al., 1997) and XTE J1550–564 (Homan et al., 2001). It suggests that a two-fold symmetry is present in the production mechanism of these low frequency QPOs. For the SPBFM one could think of an asymmetry in the magnetic field, which results in different areas for the polar caps (see e.g. Kuulkers et al., 1997). In the RPM a two-fold symmetry is introduced by the two points at which the slightly inclined orbits of test particles cross the plane of the accretion disk.

#### 4.1.3 High frequency QPOs

The kHz QPOs in GX 17+2 were discovered with RXTE(van der Klis et al., 1997a; Wijnands et al., 1997a). In our data the lower kHz QPO was found between 517 Hz and 794 Hz ($`S_z`$=0.5–1.5) and the upper kHz QPO between 618 Hz and 1087 Hz ($`S_z`$=-0.3–1.7), similar to what was reported by Wijnands et al. (1997a). Our findings of the kHz QPOs in GX 17+2 are compatible with the general properties of kHz in other Z sources (van der Klis, 2000).

An important new result is that the frequency difference is no longer consistent (at a 97% confidence level) with being constant (see Figure 13). The frequency separation reached a maximum value of 308 Hz, when the upper peak frequency was about 915 Hz, and fell off in both directions to values of 263 Hz and 239 Hz, when the frequencies of the upper peak were, respectively, 780 Hz and 1033 Hz. Note that the decrease in both directions, when fitted with a parabola, resulted in significantly (3.1 $`\sigma `$) better fits than that with a constant. The decrease in the frequency separation at the low frequency side of the upper kHz QPO, although itself only significant at a 2.3$`\sigma `$ level, has not been seen before in any kHz QPO source. In the other LMXBs that show an non-constant frequency separation, Sco X-1 (van der Klis et al., 1997b), 4U 1608–52 (Méndez et al., 1998a, b), 4U 1735–44 (Ford et al., 1998), and 4U 1728–34 (Méndez & van der Klis, 1999), the frequency separation was not measured at upper peak frequencies as low as in GX 17+2. Although both the SPBFM and the RPM are capable of explaining the observed decrease in frequency difference towards higher upper peak frequencies, they have severe problems with a decrease towards lower frequencies. Such a decrease is not possible in the SPBFM, and, although it is in principle predicted by the RPM, that model only yields reasonale fits to our data when one allows for highly eccentric orbits (see Figure 13b).

#### 4.1.4 HBO-kHz QPO frequency relation

The principal aim of our observing campaign in 1999 was to check on the relation between HBO frequency (whose increase was known to turn into a decrease towards higher $`S_z`$) and upper kHz QPO frequency. Clearly, a decrease, or even flattening, of the upper kHz QPO frequency, is not observed to accompany the decrease in HBO frequency (see Figures 6, 12, and 14). In a pure RPM, this can not be explained. However, if classical precession due to oblateness of the neutron star also plays a role, such an explanation is possible. For certain combinations of neutron star parameters, the prediction is that above a certain value of the upper kHz QPO frequency, the frequency of the HBO in fact starts to decrease (see Morsink & Stella, 1999), due to the increasing importance of the classical precession. In GX 17+2 this turn-over of the HBO frequency occurs at a value of $``$1 kHz for the upper kHz QPO with a peak frequency of $``$60 Hz for the HBO. Judging from Figure 2 in Morsink & Stella (1999), the relation between the HBO and upper kHz QPO frequencies in GX 17+2 would require a high neutron star spin frequency ($``$500–700 Hz), a neutron star mass of more than 2 $`M_{}`$, and a hard equation of state (assuming the observed HBO frequency is four times the predicted frequency). In the RPM, well below the turn-over, the HBO frequency is expected to scale quadratically with the upper kHz QPO frequency. The best power law fit to the data below 1000 Hz yielded an index of 2.08$`\pm `$0.07 (see Figure 14), which is consistent with a quadratic relation.

In the SPBFM a turnover in the HBO-upper kHz QPO relation is not predicted, but as the two frequencies do not directly depend on each other, the model is flexible enough to account for it; in case the turnover in HBO frequency can be explained by the two flow model put forward by Wijnands et al. (1996), the steady increase of the upper kHz QPO frequency could in principle be explained by assuming that most of the radial flow falls back to the disk and rejoins the disk flow before the sonic point is reached, so that $`\dot{M}`$ at that location, and hence the upper kHz QPO frequency keep increasing. However, since the two radii at which the different QPOs are generated are very close, this seems a rather unlikely option.

#### 4.1.5 Q values of the HBO and kHz QPOs

The Q values of the kHz QPOs are remarkably similar to each other, and to those of the HBO and its harmonic (see Figure 7). They also show an almost simultaneous increase above $`S_z`$=1, when the HBO harmonic is no longer detected. If the QPOs were artificially broadened by our selection method, averaging together peaks with different centroid frequencies, one would expect correlations of the FWHM (and Q value) with the width of the $`S_z`$ selection and with $`d\nu /dS_z`$. Such correlations, if present at all, are far too weak to explain the observed similarities.

The FWHM of a QPO can be caused by several mechanisms; intrinsic frequency variations, phase jumps, the simultaneous presence of several frequencies, and a finite lifetime of the signal will all cause a signal to appear as a broadened peak in a power spectrum. The data quality did not allow us to test the phase jump option. Lifetime broadening can probably not explain our results. In the SPBFM there is no reason why the lifetimes of the low and high frequency oscillations, which are determined by different processes, would lead to similar Q values. In the RPM, where all frequencies are generated by a single blob of matter, the lifetime for all variations should to first order be the same. However, in that case the Q values of the kHz QPOs should be much higher (by a factor 10–20) than those of the HBO, since more kHz cycles fit in a blob’s lifetime. Of course, it is possible that the lifetime of the oscillations is not determined by the lifetime of the blob, but rather by a damping factor. Assuming that these factors are not the same for the different QPOs, the similarity of the Q values could in principle be explained. However, there is no obvious reason why the (independent) damping factors would be fine tuned in a such a way that they lead to similar Q values.

Explaining the Q values by broadening due to the presence of several frequencies does not work either. Below the turnover in the HBO-upper kHz QPO frequency relation, the frequency of the HBO scales quadratically with the frequency of the upper kHz QPO. A given range of upper kHz frequencies would therefore lead to a Q value for the HBO that is half the Q value for the upper kHz QPO. This is not consistent with what we find.

Frequency modulation could in principle explain the similar Q values, but only if the modulation is caused by a different parameter than the one that determines the frequency changes along the Z track. Frequency modulation only produces similar Q values if the QPO frequencies vary with the modulating parameter by the same factor, i.e. proportionally to each other. The observed quadratic relation between the HBO frequency and that of the upper kHz QPO as well as the subsequent turnover, shows that this is not the case for the parameter that causes the motion along the Z track. However, assuming that the modulating parameter is not responsible for motion along the Z (see Section 4.2), we discuss the possibility of frequency modulation in a bit more detail. For broadening by frequency modulation to be observable in our power spectra, the time scale of these variations should be longer than that of the HBO. Additionally, the strength of those variations should anti-correlate with the Q values of the QPO. Assuming that the parameter that causes the frequency modulations also causes some changes in the count rate we could try to identify it in the power spectrum. The only reasonably strong components that we see in our power spectra and whose typical frequencies fulfill the above frequency requirement ($`\nu <10`$ Hz) are the VLFN, the LFN and the NBO/FBO. The VLFN might be associated with the motion along the Z (see Section 4.1.7); disentangling that effect from a possible additional one on QPO frequencies is beyond the scope of this work. The strength of the LFN, which is of interest below $`S_z`$=1.5, anti-correlates with the Q values below $`S_z`$=1.5. Above $`S_z`$=1.5 the Q values decrease again to a value between 2 and 5. In that case the broadening might be due to the appearance of the NBO/FBO and the increase in the LFN strength. It is interesting to note that in Sco X-1 it has already been found that the kHz QPO properties are clearly modulated by the NBO (Yu et al., 2001).

#### 4.1.6 Normal and flaring branch oscillations

For the first time we were able to study the properties of the NBO/FBO during type I X-ray bursts. We found that the absolute rms amplitude significantly decreased when the radiation from the neutron star surface increased. This is clearly different from the behavior of the $``$1 Hz QPOs in the dipping LMXBs 4U 1323–62 (Jonker et al., 1999), EXO 0748–676 (Homan et al., 1999), and 4U 1746–37 (Jonker et al., 2000a), whose absolute rms amplitudes increased during type I X-ray bursts. It is thought that these QPOs are not related to the NBO/FBO in the Z sources. The behavior of the NBO/FBO in GX 17+2 shows that NBO/FBO mechanism is very sensitive to the radiation field, thereby lending strong support for radiation feedback mechanisms (see below). In the framework of such mechanisms it is easy to understand that the NBO/FBO disappears during bursts: the NBO/FBO is only observed in a narrow $`S_z`$ range, suggesting that it requires a delicate balance of certain parameters, among which the radiation field. The observations during the burst tails indicate that the NBO/FBO mechanism does not switch on instantly but rather becomes stronger in a more gradual way. Spectral fits during the bursts (Kuulkers et al., 2001) suggest that the spectral properties of the accretion flow itself are not affected much by the increase in radiation.

The frequency of the NBO/FBO changed from being more or less constant below $`S_z`$=2 to being strongly correlated with $`S_z`$, above $`S_z`$=2. In our data set we found the NBO between $`S_z`$=1.6 and $`S_z`$=2.1, although it may already have been present as a very broad feature as early as $`S_z`$=1.4. Between $`S_z`$=2.0 and $`S_z`$=2.1, the NBO (6.86 Hz) was detected simultaneously with the FBO (13.9 Hz). Above $`S_z`$=2.1 the FBO frequency increased, to $``$23 Hz at $`S_z`$=2.65. Note that the simultaneous presence of the NBO and FBO between $`S_z`$=2.0 and $`S_z`$=2.1 is likely an artifact of the $`S_z`$ selection method. Inspection of dynamical power spectra showed that they were never present at the same time. It is interesting though, that in that $`S_z`$ selection their frequencies differed by a factor of 2, which is suggestive of mode switching of the NBO/FBO. However, there is evidence for QPOs with intermediate frequencies, which undermines that idea. The only way to see whether the frequencies really gradually transform into each other is to study the power spectral changes as a function of time. However, the quality of the GX 17+2 data is not sufficient to perform such a study.

The presence of the NBO/FBO in the Z sources has often been related to the fact that these sources accrete at near Eddington mass accretion rates. It is thought that at these high mass accretion rates a significant fraction of the accretion flow is in the form of a thick and perhaps spherical flow. Also, the effects of radiation pressure are thought to play an important role in this regime. The model for the NBO by Fortner et al. (1989) is based on a radiation feedback mechanism in a spherical accretion flow. Another model for the NBO was proposed by Alpar et al. (1992), in which the NBO frequency is basically that of sound waves in a thickened accretion disk. This model does not explain how the NBO changes into the FBO. A major problem for both models could be the recently discovered NBO/FBO-like QPOs in the two atoll sources 4U 1820–30 (Wijnands et al., 1999) and XTE J1806–246 (Wijnands & van der Klis, 1999b). Certainly in the first source the luminosity is believed to be only $``$20–40 % of the Eddington luminosity, while near-Eddington luminosities are required in both models.

#### 4.1.7 Noise Components - LFN, VLFN

The lack of HFN in our data, compared to, e.g., in the EXOSAT (Kuulkers et al., 1997) data can be explained by instrumental effects and different approaches to fitting the data. A study of EXOSAT data of several sources by Berger & van der Klis (1994) showed that a component with an rms amplitude of $``$3% is always present in the frequency range where the HFN was often found in the EXOSAT data. When HFN was found at lower frequencies, it was, based on strength and frequency, most likely the component that we identified as the sub-harmonic of the HBO.

Past measurements of the energy spectrum of the VLFN suggest that it is caused by motion of the source along the Z (van der Klis, 1986, 1991; Lewin et al., 1992). The strength of the VLFN (Fig. 11) and the speed along the Z track ($`V_z`$, see Figure 3) should therefore have a similar dependence on $`S_z`$. Our results are inconclusive; although some correlations are observed (the increase above $`S_z`$=3, and the steep increase around $`S_z`$=2) there are also some differences. Most notable is the dip in the VLFN strength around $`S_z`$=3, which is not observed as a decrease in $`V_z`$. However, it is possible that due to the steepness of the VLFN around $`S_z`$=2.5 most of its power was outside the range in which we determined the strength.

The LFN followed the behavior of the HBO, both in strength and frequency, until the latter disappeared ($`S_z=2.1`$). Between $`S_z`$=2.1 and $`S_z`$=2.8 the behavior is rather complex and probably considerably influenced by the presence of the NBO/FBO. Above $`S_z`$=3.0 the behavior was rather clean, with a decrease in strength and an increase in frequency. It is not clear, however, whether the LFN on the FB is the same as that on the HB and NB. Unfortunately no HBO was observed above $`S_z`$=2.1 to compare its behavior with. Van der Klis et al. (1997) suggested that in Sco X-1 the NBO/FBO emerged from the LFN. This seems not to be the case in GX 17+2, since the rms amplitude of the LFN already started to decrease well before the NBO appeared. Moreover, $`\nu _{max}`$ shows a gradual increase between $`S_z`$=-0.6 and $`S_z`$=1.4 to values well above the NBO frequency. A comparative study by Wijnands & van der Klis (1999a) strongly suggests that LFN has a similar origin as the band-limited noise component in atoll sources, BHCs, and the millisecond X-ray pulsar SAX 1808.4-3658. They suggest that this noise component is produced in the accretion disk, and does not require the presence of magnetosphere or solid surface.

### 4.2 Broad-band Spectral Behavior

In our observations GX 17+2 traced out the well known Z-like tracks in the CD and HID. In addition to motion along this track, we also observed secular motion of the Z track itself in the HID of epoch 3 (see Figure 1), as was already reported by Wijnands et al. (1997a) (see also Kuulkers et al., 1997, for a possible shift in the EXOSAT HID of GX 17+2). Below $`S_z`$=1 the fluxes in the hard and soft energy bands behaved quite differently (Fig. 2); unlike the soft flux, the hard flux continued the trend that is observed above $`S_z`$=1. Hence, the HB/NB vertex in the CD is entirely due to the turn over of the soft spectral flux. It is not clear what causes the soft spectral flux to decrease below $`S_z`$=1. Although it is partly an instrumental effect – the peak of the soft component slowly shifts out of the PCA effective energy range as it becomes softer– most likely intrinsic source changes occur at $`S_z`$=1. Most variability components increase in strength below $`S_z`$=1, suggesting that they are related to the hard spectral component.

It is commonly believed that the motion of the source along and its position on the Z track are determined by the mass accretion rate ($`\dot{M}`$) through the inner accretion disk and onto the neutron star, increasing from the HB to the FB. Even though the count rates actually decrease on the NB and in some sources also on the FB (implying an anti-correlation between $`\dot{M}`$ and flux) there are several observational results that support this view: (1) the frequencies of the HBO and kHz QPOs, that in many models are directly related to $`\dot{M}`$, gradually increase from HB to NB (and in Sco X-1 even to the FB, see van der Klis et al., 1996). (2) The optical and UV flux increase from HB to FB (Hasinger et al., 1990; Vrtilek et al., 1990; van Paradijs et al., 1990; Vrtilek et al., 1991; Hertz et al., 1992; Augusteijn et al., 1992); in X-ray binaries they are thought to be due to reprocessing of X-rays from the central source in the outer accretion disk. There are several reasons to believe that the optical and UV flux are betters tracers of the mass accretion rate than the X-ray flux (Hasinger et al., 1990). This would then solve the apparent anti-correlation between $`\dot{M}`$ and the (X-ray) flux (Hasinger et al., 1990). (3) Motion of a source is always along the Z track; jumps between branches are never observed, in accordance with the assumption that $`\dot{M}`$ varies continuously.

It has been found that secular motion of the Z tracks in the CDs of the Cyg-like sources does not affect the relation between the rapid variability properties and source position along the track (see, e.g. Kuulkers et al. 1994; Jonker et al. 2000b, however see Wijnands & van der Klis 2001). In view of the $`\dot{M}`$-driven picture mentioned above, these changes can therefore not be due to changes in $`\dot{M}`$, but should have a different origin. It has been suggested that the Cyg-like sources are viewed at a higher inclination than the Sco-like sources (Kuulkers et al., 1994). The differences in shapes of the Z tracks and some of the variability properties are also explained in this model (Kuulkers et al., 1994; Kuulkers & van der Klis, 1995). Psaltis et al. (1995) suggest that the difference among the Z sources might be explained by a difference in the magnetic field strength, with the Sco-like sources having a lower magnetic field.

In the last few years results have been obtained that may challenge the above described $`\dot{M}`$-driven picture. These results are mainly due to the arrival of RXTE and BeppoSAX, whose high quality data revealed new phenomena and allowed for a better comparison between different classes of X-ray binaries. In the following we discuss how some of our results of GX 17+2 conflict with the $`\dot{M}`$-driven picture.

The frequency of the HBO in GX17+2 starts to decrease when the source is half way through the NB. Although there are several explanations for this (see Section 4.1.2), it means that the first assumption given above (i.e. QPO frequencies increase with $`\dot{M}`$) is not as solid as it seemed a few years ago.

The theory of type I X-ray bursts predicts that their properties change and correlate with $`\dot{M}`$ (Fujimoto et al., 1981; Fushiki & Lamb, 1987). A study of the type I X-ray bursts in GX 17+2 by Kuulkers et al. (2001) showed that their properties did not correlate well with the position along the Z track at which they occurred, and therefore not well with the inferred $`\dot{M}`$. Although other explanations are possible (see Kuulkers et al., 2001), this could mean that $`\dot{M}`$ does not determine the position of the source along the Z track. However, note that there does seem to be a correlation between burst occurrence and position along the Z track, which is usually explained by a changes in $`\dot{M}`$ onto the neutron star (along the Z track).

Recently, di Salvo et al. (2000) reported the discovery with BeppoSAX of a hard tail in the energy spectrum of GX 17+2. It increased in strength from the HB/NB vertex (where only upper limits on its strength could be determined) onto the HB. They also showed that the total 0.1–200 keV flux increased monotonically from the NB/FB vertex ($`F_X=1.52\times 10^8ergs^1`$) to the top of the HB ($`F_X=1.84\times 10^8ergs^1`$). This is different from the behavior of the 2.9–20.1 keV count rate (see Figure 2a), which increased from NB/FB vertex to the HB/NB vertex, but decreases afterwards. As can be seen from Figure 2b the behavior of the hard count rate confirms the findings of di Salvo et al. (2000). Also, there is no evidence for a change in its behavior near the HB/NB vertex. Unfortunately no BeppoSAX data were taken on the FB to compare to our RXTE data. Hard power law tails have also been found in the Z sources GX 5-1 (Asai et al., 1994), Cyg X-2 (Frontera et al., 1998; di Salvo et al., 2001a), Sco X-1 (Strickman & Barret, 2000; D’Amico et al., 2001) and GX 349+2 (di Salvo et al., 2001b). Except for Sco X-1, where no clear correlation with spectral state was found (D’Amico et al., 2001), in all these sources the strength of the hard power law tail seems to decrease in the same direction as was observed in GX 17+2, i.e. from HB to FB.

The behavior of the 0.1–200 keV flux on the NB and HB suggest that $`\dot{M}`$ actually increases in the opposite direction from what is commonly assumed. However, since the flux changes are rather moderate ($``$20%), other options are that $`\dot{M}`$ does not change at all along the Z track, or at least that it shows no good correlation with the position along the Z. In that case motion along the Z track (i.e. spectral change) is caused by another parameter, for example the inner disk radius (van der Klis, 2000). A similar possibility was suggested by Homan et al. (2001) to explain the observed behavior of the black hole transient XTE J1550–564. They found that spectral transitions occurred at different levels of the inferred $`\dot{M}`$. The spectral changes were ascribed to an unknown parameter, which they suggested to be the inner disk radius (based on variability), the size of the Comptonizing region (based on spectral hardness), and/or the accretion flow geometry (based on radio brightness). Note that options like the latter one may lead to changes in the $`\dot{M}`$ onto the neutron star, while the $`\dot{M}`$ through the inner disk remains constant; in that way the occurrence of type X-rays bursts might become dependent on the position along the Z track. If the above also applies to the Z sources, the secular motion that is observed could perhaps be explained by changes in the $`\dot{M}`$. The apparent lack of a correlation between the type I burst properties and the position along the Z track could then also be explained, since $`\dot{M}`$ would determine the properties of the bursts but no longer the spectral properties.

It is interesting to see that GX 17+2 and the Z sources, show in fact several similarities with XTE J1550–564 and other black hole sources. The first was already briefly mentioned above, and concerns the independent behavior of the hard and soft flux on the HB. This independence of the hard and soft spectral components is commonly observed in black hole candidates (BHCs, see Tanaka & Lewin, 1995). Moreover, there are several properties that correlate well with the spectral hardness in BHCs and also with the spectral hardness in Z sources, which increases from the NB to the HB (for the moment we will exclude the FB from the comparison; it will be discussed later). These properties are the radio flux, the optical flux, and to a certain degree also QPO frequencies. (1) The radio flux in BHCs is correlated with the spectral hardness (Fender et al., 1999; Fender, 2001, and references therein). This is also true for GX 17+2, where the radio flux increases from the NB to the HB (Penninx et al., 1988). Sco X-1 (Hjellming et al., 1990b) and Cyg X-2 (Hjellming et al., 1990a) show similar behavior, whereas GX 5-1 only showed one radio flare on the NB (Tan et al., 1992). The behavior of the radio flux suggests that as the spectral hardness increases, part of the flow onto the neutron star evolves into an outflow. (2) Jain et al. (2001) found that in XTE J1550–564 the optical flux decreased during several small hard X-ray flares. Although the optical counterpart of GX 17+2 (Callanan et al., 1999; Deutsch et al., 1999) has never been studied in much detail, this behavior is similar to the anti-correlation between the hard color and optical/UV flux on the NB and HB in the Z sources Cyg X-2 (Hasinger et al., 1990; Vrtilek et al., 1990; van Paradijs et al., 1990) and Sco X-1 (Vrtilek et al., 1991; Hertz et al., 1992; Augusteijn et al., 1992). (3) In XTE J1550–564 the frequencies of the low and high frequency QPO anti-correlate with the hard flux (Sobczak et al., 2000; Homan et al., 2001). This is also found in GX 17+2 for the kHz QPOs and HBO (compare Figure 2b with Figures 6 and 12) and other Z sources. The only exception to this, together with the odd behavior of the hard tail in Sco X-1 (see above) is the correlation between the HBO frequency and spectral hardness that we observed on the lower NB. In that respect it is interesting to mention that Rutledge et al. (1999) report a switch from a correlation to an anti-correlation between the QPO frequency and spectral hardness in several BHCs, when the latter increases beyond a certain value. In addition to the QPO frequencies also the band-limited noise behaves similarly. It becomes stronger with spectral hardness, both in BHCs and Z sources (van der Klis, 1995a)

It is tempting to compare the different black hole states (Tanaka & Lewin, 1995; van der Klis, 1995a) with those of the Z sources. Based on the above similarities, we suggest that the HB corresponds to the low state, the NB to the intermediate and/or very high state state, and the FB to the high state. However, there are still considerable differences: the low state spectra are much harder than those of the HB, and also the noise in the low state is much stronger. Moreover, flaring is not observed in the black hole high state. However, in both the high state and FB the variability at high frequencies ($`>`$50 Hz) is extremely weak. It is not clear if and how the presence of a solid surface can account for these differences.

## 5 Summary and conclusions

Our most important findings are the variable frequency difference of the kHz QPO, the non-monotonic relation between the HBO and the upper kHz QPO, the similar Q values of the HBO, its second harmonic, and the kHz QPOs and the suppression of the NBO amplitude during type I X-ray bursts.

In the following we summarize what the implications of each of our new findings are for some of the proposed models. The models we considered for the HBO and kHz QPOs were the relativistic precession model (RPM), the ’disk-filter’ model, the sonic point beat frequency mode (SPBFM), and the two-oscillator model. The latter model can be discarded on the basis of our results (see Jonker et al., 2001). For the disk-filter model we assumed that it produces the same frequencies as the RPM and it will therefore not be discussed it separately.

(1) HBO-kHz QPO frequencies: The RPM can only explain a turnover of the HBO-kHz QPO frequency relation when one assumes that the observed HBO is four times the predicted frequency and then only for rather extreme neutron star parameters: a high neutron star spin frequency ($``$500–700 Hz), a neutron star mass of more than 2 $`M_{}`$, and a hard equation of state. The SPBFM needs some extension; for example, decoupling of part of the accretion flow from the disk flow outside the magnetosphere (to explain the HBO frequency decrease) and a subsequent recoupling of this flow with the disk flow before the sonic point radius is reached (to explain the increase in the kHz QPO frequencies). How this should exactly work is not clear.

(2) Variable kHz QPO separation: Although not significant at a 3 sigma level, the kHz QPO separation seems to decrease both towards low and high values for the upper kHz QPO frequency. The RPM basically predicts such behavior, but in its current form it is inconsistent with our results, as is apparent from Figure 13. The SPBFM can not explain the possible decrease of the frequency separation at the low frequency side.

(3) Similar Q values: In the SPBFM the low and high frequency QPOs are produced independently from each other and there is no a priori reason why their Q values should be similar. In the RPM, all the oscillations are produced by a single test particle. Lifetime broadening and the presence of multiple test particles both lead to different Q values for the low and high frequency QPO. Frequency modulation could work for both models, but only if the modulating parameter is not the same as the one that causes the motion along the Z track.

It is clear that both the RPM and SPBFM in their current forms cannot satisfactorily explain all the observed phenomena.

The observed behavior of the NBO during two type I X-ray bursts showed that this QPO is rather sensitive to the strength of the radiation field from the neutron star. This seems to confirm the basic idea behind the feedback mechanism model that was proposed by Fortner et al. (1989), i.e. it requires a delicate balance between the inwards directed forces and the radiation field.

Finally, we compared the behavior of GX 17+2 (and the other Z sources) with that of (some) black hole LMXBs. Many similarities exist, particularly with regard to the relation between the hard spectral component on the one hand, and variability properties (QPO frequency, broad band noise strength) and radio flux on the other. Based on recent findings in black hole LMXBs we conclude that the mass accretion might not be the parameter that determines the position along the Z track after all.

This work was supported in part by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) grant 614-51-002 and by NWO Spinoza grant 08-0 to E.P.J. van den Heuvel. RW was supported by NASA through the Chandra Postdoctoral Fellowship grant number PF9-10010 awarded by the Chandra X-ray Center, which is operated by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory for NASA under contract NAS8-39073. MM is a fellow of the Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas de la República Argentina. WHGL is grateful for support from NASA. The authors thank the referee for his/her thorough reading and usefull remarks. Finally, we would like to thank Draza Marković for helpfull comments and for providing theoretical fits to our data.


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# Spectroscopic Evidence for Anisotropic S-Wave Pairing Symmetry in 𝐌𝐠𝐁_𝟐

## Abstract

Scanning tunneling spectroscopy of superconducting MgB2 ($`T_c=39`$ K) were studied on high-density pellets and c-axis oriented films. The sample surfaces were chemically etched to remove surface carbonates and hydroxides, and the data were compared with calculated spectra for all symmetry-allowed pairing channels. The pairing potential ($`\mathrm{\Delta }_k`$) is best described by an anisotropic $`s`$-wave pairing model, with $`\mathrm{\Delta }_k=\mathrm{\Delta }_{xy}\mathrm{sin}^2\theta _k+\mathrm{\Delta }_z\mathrm{cos}^2\theta _k`$, where $`\theta _k`$ is the angle relative to the crystalline c-axis, $`\mathrm{\Delta }_z8.0`$ meV, and $`\mathrm{\Delta }_{xy}5.0`$ meV.

Since the discovery of superconductivity in MgB2 at a superconducting transition temperature $`T_c39`$Nagamatsu et al. (2001), a number of reports Nagamatsu et al. (2001); Kotegawa et al. (2001); Bud’ko et al. (2001a); Rubio-Bollinger et al. (2001); Karapetrov et al. (2001); Sharoni et al. (2001); Schmidt et al. (2001) have suggested that this hole-doped layered superconductor Kortus et al. (2001); An and Pickett (2001); Kang et al. (2001a) may be consistent with conventional BCS $`s`$-wave pairing. On the other hand, muon spin rotation ($`\mu `$SR) studies of MgB2 have found that the temperature dependence of the magnetic penetration depth is suggestive of unconventional pairing symmetry with nodes in the superconducting order parameter Panagopoulos et al. (2001). To address the issue of the pairing symmetry in this new superconductor, possible complications by disorder or surface impurities must be considered. Indeed, recent x-ray photoemission spectroscopy (XPS) studies have revealed that MgCO3 and Mg(OH)2 exist on the surface of as-grown MgB2 Vasquez et al. (2001). It is therefore important to understand how these surface impurity phases may contribute to surface-sensitive experiments such as the scanning tunneling spectroscopy (STS) Rubio-Bollinger et al. (2001); Karapetrov et al. (2001); Sharoni et al. (2001) and point-contact measurements Schmidt et al. (2001) of the quasiparticle spectra. In particular, existing STS data on as-grown polycrystalline MgB2 Karapetrov et al. (2001) exhibited “V-shape” differential conductance ($`dI_{NS}/dV`$) versus voltage ($`V`$) plots near zero-bias (i.e. the Fermi level $`E_F`$), with rounded “humps” rather than sharp peaks at the gap values ($`V=\pm \mathrm{\Delta }/e`$) and large residual density of states (DOS) at $`E_F`$. Those spectra were fitted with an $`s`$-wave pairing potential $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$ broadened by disorder parameterized as $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$, and a large ratio of $`(\mathrm{\Gamma }/\mathrm{\Delta })60\%`$ was suggested Karapetrov et al. (2001). For comparison, in cuprate superconductors the V-shape conductance spectra near $`E_F`$ for quasiparticle tunneling along the c-axis are known to be the signature of the $`d_{x^2y^2}`$ pairing symmetry Yeh et al. (2001a, b); Wei et al. (1998); Tsuei and Kirtley (2000); VanHarlingen (1995), and strong directionality in the quasiparticle spectra has been observed Yeh et al. (2001a, b); Wei et al. (1998). In particular, a zero-bias conductance peak (ZBCP) Hu (1994); Tanaka and Kashiwaya (1995) can occur if quasiparticles are incident close to the $`\{110\}`$ nodal direction of the $`d_{x^2y^2}`$-wave order parameter. Thus, should the pairing symmetry be unconventional, the observation of V-shape tunneling spectra in polycrystalline MgB2 samples associated with certain grain orientations would be accompanied by frequent occurrence of ZBCP for other grain orientations. To date, no ZBCP has been found from vacuum tunneling studies of as-grown MgB2 Rubio-Bollinger et al. (2001); Karapetrov et al. (2001); Sharoni et al. (2001). However, a major concern presented by existing quasiparticle spectra is that the measured gap values vary widely, and that most values are smaller than that the BCS prediction Rubio-Bollinger et al. (2001); Karapetrov et al. (2001); Sharoni et al. (2001); Schmidt et al. (2001).

Our starting point for investigating the pairing symmetry of MgB2 is to consider all the possible pairing channels based on group theory. The global symmetry group $`𝒢`$ of MgB2 in its normal state can be expressed by $`𝒢=U(1)\times 𝒯\times SU(2)\times 𝒢_{space}`$, where $`U(1)`$ is the electromagnetic gauge broken below $`T_c`$, $`𝒯`$ and $`SU(2)`$ denote the time-reversal and spin-rotational symmetries that are generally preserved below $`T_c`$ for spin-singlet Cooper pairs, and $`𝒢_{space}`$ is the space group $`D_{6h}`$ for MgB2. Given that the Cooper pairs in MgB2 are spin-singlets Kotegawa et al. (2001) and that no other obvious symmetry-breaking fields exist below $`T_c`$ except $`U(1)`$, the possible pairing channels can be derived from the even-parity irreducible representations of $`D_{6h}`$. For a single-component superconductor, the relevant pairing channels can be further reduced to four one-dimensional (1D) even-parity irreducible representations in $`D_{6h}`$: $`A_{1g}`$, $`A_{2g}`$, $`B_{1g}`$ and $`B_{2g}`$. The pairing potentials $`\mathrm{\Delta }_k`$ for these representations can be expressed as a function of the momentum $`\stackrel{}{k}`$ to the lowest order:

$`A_{1g}:`$ $`\mathrm{\Delta }_k=\mathrm{\Delta }_0,(\text{isotropic }\text{s})`$
$`:`$ $`\mathrm{\Delta }_k=\mathrm{\Delta }_0[1+ϵ\mathrm{cos}(6\varphi _k)],(\text{anisotropic }\text{s})`$
$`:`$ $`\mathrm{\Delta }_k=\mathrm{\Delta }_{xy}\mathrm{sin}^2\theta _k+\mathrm{\Delta }_z\mathrm{cos}^2\theta _k,(\text{anisotropic }\text{s})`$
$`A_{2g}:`$ $`\mathrm{\Delta }_k=\mathrm{\Delta }_0\mathrm{sin}^6\theta _k\mathrm{sin}(6\varphi _k),`$ (1)
$`B_{1g}:`$ $`\mathrm{\Delta }_k=\mathrm{\Delta }_0\mathrm{cos}\theta _k\mathrm{sin}^3\theta _k\mathrm{sin}(3\varphi _k),`$
$`B_{2g}:`$ $`\mathrm{\Delta }_k=\mathrm{\Delta }_0\mathrm{cos}\theta _k\mathrm{sin}^3\theta _k\mathrm{cos}(3\varphi _k).`$
Here $`\theta _k`$ is the angle measured relative to $`\widehat{k}_z`$, with $`\widehat{k}_z`$ parallel to the crystalline c-axis, and $`\varphi _k`$ is measured relative to $`\widehat{k}_x`$. In addition, $`0<ϵ<1`$ and $`\mathrm{\Delta }_{xy}\mathrm{\Delta }_z`$ for the anisotropic $`s`$-wave pairing potentials. The graphical representations of these different pairing potentials are illustrated in Figs. 1(a)-(d).

Among different $`A_{1g}`$-representations, the lowest-order possibilities include the isotropic $`s`$-wave order parameter, anisotropic $`s`$-wave with 6-fold in-plane modulations, or anisotropic $`s`$-wave with uniaxial symmetry, with the latter two illustrated in Figs. 1(a) and 1(b). The lowest-order $`A_{2g}`$-representation consists of twelve “lobes” of alternating phases, and the phases are even under $`k_z`$-inversion. For either $`B_{1g}`$ or $`B_{2g}`$-representation, the order parameter consists of twelve lobes with alternating phases, and the phases are odd under $`k_z`$-inversion.

To obtain the quasiparticle spectra for all possible pairing channels with different $`\mathrm{\Delta }_k`$, we consider a crystalline plane with a normal vector $`\widehat{n}_k`$ characterized by the parameters $`(\theta _k,\varphi _k)`$. Defining the direction of an incident quasiparticle relative to $`\widehat{n}_k`$ by the parameters $`\widehat{\mathrm{}}(\theta _{in},\varphi _{in})\widehat{\mathrm{}}_{in}`$, which explicitly considers the transverse momentum for the incident quasiparticles (i.e., a finite “tunneling cone”) relative to $`\widehat{n}_k`$, such that $`\theta _{in}`$ is primarily confined between $`\beta `$ and $`\beta `$, and $`0\varphi _{in}2\pi `$, we can generalize the theory of Blonder-Tinkham-Klapwijk (BTK) Hu (1994); Tanaka and Kashiwaya (1995); Blonder et al. (1982) to three dimensions (3D), and compute the tunneling current $`I_{NS}`$ as a function of the bias voltage $`V`$, temperature $`T`$, tunneling barrier strength $`Z`$, tunneling direction $`\widehat{n}_k`$, and tunneling cone $`\beta `$:

$`I_{NS}`$ $`=`$ $`G_{NN}{\displaystyle _0^{2\pi }}𝑑\varphi _{in}{\displaystyle _0^{\pi /2}}𝑑\theta _{in}\mathrm{cos}\theta _{in}e^{\frac{\theta _{in}^2}{\beta ^2}}{\displaystyle 𝑑E_k}`$ (2)
$`\times \left[1+AB\right]\times \left[f(E_keV)f(E_k)\right].`$
In Eq. (2), $`G_{NN}`$ denotes the normal-state conductance, $`E_k`$ is the quasiparticle energy, $`A`$ and $`B`$ represent the kernals for Andreev and normal reflection, respectively, and $`f(E_k)`$ is the Fermi function Hu (1994); Tanaka and Kashiwaya (1995). Thus, the differential conductance spectra $`(dI_{NS}/dV)`$-vs.-$`V`$ can be obtained for given $`\widehat{n}_k`$ and $`\mathrm{\Delta }_k`$ using Eqs. (Spectroscopic Evidence for Anisotropic S-Wave Pairing Symmetry in $`\mathrm{𝐌𝐠𝐁}_\mathrm{𝟐}`$) and (2). The representative spectra for high-impedance tunneling barrier $`Z=5`$ are shown in the left panels of Fig. 1(a)-(d).

Except for the $`A_{1g}`$-representation, the spectral characteristics for all other representations exhibit strong directionality (i.e., dependence on the crystalline normal $`\widehat{n}_k`$ relative to the average quasiparticle momentum), as manifested by calculated spectra in the right panels of Fig. 1(a)-(d). It is clear that the ZBCP would have been a common occurrence in the tunneling spectra of MgB2 pellets had the order parameter been one of the unconventional pairing channels ($`A_{2g},B_{1g},B_{2g}`$).

To compare the calculated results with experiments, we performed scanning tunneling spectroscopy on high-density pellets Sung et al. (2001); Jung et al. (2001a, b) and c-axis textured films of MgB2 Kang et al. (2001b) at 4.2 K. Both the pellets and c-axis films were fully characterized Vasquez et al. (2001); Sung et al. (2001); Jung et al. (2001a, b); Kang et al. (2001b), showing single-phased material with superconducting transition at $`T_c=39.0`$ K, sharp magnetization transition widths ($`\mathrm{\Delta }T_c<1`$ K for the pellets and $`\mathrm{\Delta }T_c0.7`$ K for the films), and nearly 100% bulk superconducting volume Sung et al. (2001); Jung et al. (2001a, b); Kang et al. (2001b). According to XPS studies on these samples Vasquez et al. (2001), the surface MgCO3 and Mg(OH)2 impurities on the as-grown MgB2 could be mostly removed by chemical etching, with no discernible etch residues for the tunneling experiments Vasquez et al. (2001). Tunneling studies were conducted on the as-grown and etched MgB2 pellets and films at 4.2 K, using a low-temperature scanning tunneling microscope. Spatially resolved tunneling spectra were taken on over 100 randomly oriented grains of each sample. On each grain, the spectra were taken under the vacuum tunneling condition and on an area approximately $`(200nm\times 200nm)`$ in size with nano-scale surface flatness. A large number of grains were studied on each sample to ensure sufficient statistical sampling of different $`\widehat{n}_k`$ in pellets.

Representative tunneling spectra for a MgB2 pellet after etching are shown in the main panel of Fig. 2(a), and those for the same sample before etching are given in the lower right inset. We note significantly improved spectra after etching, with long-range spatial homogeneity ($`>400`$ nm) within each grain, which correlated well with the long-range atomic flatness of the topography as exemplified in Figure 2(c) and also according to our AFM images, and was in contrast to the strong spatial variations in both the spectra and topography of MgB2 powder Giubileo et al. (2001). Furthermore, the density of states (DOS) nearly vanished at $`E_F`$, with a normalized value $`[(dI_{NS}/dV)_{V=0}/(dI_{NS}/dV)_{V=20meV}]2\%`$. While the tunneling spectra were homogeneous within each grain (with lateral dimension $``$ a few $`\mu `$m Jung et al. (2001a)), the gap values varied from grain to grain in the pellets, ranging from $`5`$ to $`8`$ meV. On the other hand, tunneling spectra of etched c-axis oriented films were homogeneous everywhere. Overall, no ZBCP was observed among over five hundred spectra taken on all samples. We therefore conclude that the pairing symmetry must be of the $`A_{1g}`$ representation.

To identify the correct pairing potential under the $`A_{1g}`$ representation in Eq. (Spectroscopic Evidence for Anisotropic S-Wave Pairing Symmetry in $`\mathrm{𝐌𝐠𝐁}_\mathrm{𝟐}`$), we performed the BTK analysis for both anisotropic and isotropic $`s`$-wave pairing, as well as the isotropic BCS fitting to all spectra. The latter involved a disorder parameter $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ for an isotropic gap $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$ with the density of states $`𝒩(E)`$ given by Dynes et al. (1978):

$$𝒩(E)=\text{Re}\left[(Ei\mathrm{\Gamma })/\sqrt{(Ei\mathrm{\Gamma })^2\mathrm{\Delta }^2}\right]dI_{NS}/dV.$$

For both BTK and BCS isotropic $`s`$-wave fitting, we notice several difficulties. First, the inclusion of the disorder-induced pair-breaking strength $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ alone cannot fully account for the spectral characteristics, particularly the line-width and line-shape of the peaks, as manifested in Figs. 3(a) and 3(b). Second, significant variations in the supposedly isotropic pairing potential must be invoked to account for all data taken on the pellets. The variation was unlikely the result of bulk stoichiometric inhomogeneity because of the sharp superconducting transition width ($`<1`$ K) revealed in the magnetization measurement of our MgB2 pellet. In other words, had the gap variation been the result of the grain-to-grain stoichiometric variation, we would have observed a very broad $`T_c`$ distribution in the magnetization measurements, from $`39`$ K to $`24`$ K for the $`58`$ meV gap variation. Given the quality of the spectra and topography of our well characterized sample surfaces, we suggest that *the variation observed in the gap values of $`MgB_2`$ pellets is the result of different grain orientations relative to the incident quasiparticles*. The single gap value in the c-axis oriented films further corroborates the notion of $`k`$-dependent pairing potential. More importantly, had the pairing symmetry been isotropic $`s`$-wave, the $`(2\mathrm{\Delta }/k_BT_c)`$ ratios deduced from our tunneling spectra would not have varied from $`2.5`$ to $`4.5`$ from grain to grain for $`T_c`$ variation smaller than 1.0 K. In addition, to date there is no known theory for isotropic $`s`$-wave superconductors that can justify a $`(2\mathrm{\Delta }/k_BT_c)`$ ratio smaller than the BCS value.

On the other hand, the electronic and structural anisotropy in the MgB2 system can lead to anisotropic $`s`$-wave pairing, and therefore a $`\stackrel{}{k}`$-dependent pairing potential and a range of gap values in the STS studies of polycrystalline samples. Comparing the two possibilities of anisotropic s-wave pairing potentials depicted in Figs. 1(a) and 1(b), we note that an in-plane 6-fold anisotropy would have resulted in a c-axis spectrum with a sharp peak at $`\mathrm{\Delta }_0(1+ϵ)`$ and complicated spectral curvatures in $`𝒩(E)`$ for $`\mathrm{\Delta }_0(1ϵ)<E<\mathrm{\Delta }_0(1+ϵ)`$, as shown in Fig. 1(a). Such behavior was never seen in our data. In contrast, spectra derived from the order parameter in Fig. 1(b) appeared to be most consistent with our finding of smooth spectra on all samples, and with one maximum gap value at $`\mathrm{\Delta }_z8`$ meV for the c-axis films.

Using the anisotropic $`s`$-wave pairing potential $`\mathrm{\Delta }_k=\mathrm{\Delta }_{xy}\mathrm{sin}^2\theta _k+\mathrm{\Delta }_z\mathrm{cos}^2\theta _k`$, with the minimum gap $`\mathrm{\Delta }_{xy}5`$ meV and the maximum gap $`\mathrm{\Delta }_z8`$ meV determined empirically, we can consistently account for all experimental data on both pellets and c-axis films by varying one parameter $`\theta _k`$. As exemplified in the main panel and inset of Fig. 3(a), the former is consistent with $`\theta _k=(\pi /5)`$ and the latter with $`\theta _k=0`$. Similarly, the same pairing potential can also be applied to the c-axis film data with $`\theta _k=0`$, as shown in the main panel of Fig. 3(b). Our empirical finding of a smaller in-plane gap value ($`\mathrm{\Delta }_{xy}<\mathrm{\Delta }_z`$) is consistent with the stronger in-plane Coulomb repulsion in MgB2 Voelker et al. (2001). A similar anisotropic $`s`$-wave pairing scenario has also been proposed recently to account for the thermodynamic and optical properties of MgB2 wires Haas and Maki (2001). Furthermore, a number of recent experimental reports, including the upper critical field ($`H_{c2}`$) measurements Xu et al. (2001); Bud’ko et al. (2001b), high-resolution photoemission spectroscopy Tsuda et al. (2001), and electron spin resonance Simon et al. (2001), are supportive of significantly anisotropic properties in the superconducting state of MgB2.

In summary, we have investigated the possible pairing channels in MgB2 based on group theory consideration, and have calculated the quasiparticle spectra using a generalized BTK theory for quasiparticle tunneling in 3D. Comparing the calculated results with spectra taken on fully characterized MgB2 pellets and c-axis oriented films, we conclude that the order parameter of MgB2 belongs to the $`A_{1g}`$-representation of $`D_{6h}`$ group, and is best described by an anisotropic $`s`$-wave pairing potential with uniaxial symmetry.

###### Acknowledgements.

The research at Caltech was supported by NSF Grant #DMR-0103045 and the Caltech President’s Fund. Part of the work described in this paper was performed by the Center for Space Microelectronics Technology, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and was sponsored by NASA. The work at Pohang University was supported by the Ministry of Science and Technology of Korea through the Creative Research Initiative Program.