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# A Pulsar Wind Nebula in the Oxygen-Rich Supernova Remnant G292.0+1.8

## 1 Introduction

G292.0+1.8 (MSH 11$``$54) is a southern supernova remnant (SNR), discovered in the radio band (Milne 1969; Shaver & Goss 1970), with a radio spectral index intermediate between that of a typical shell-type and Crab-type remnant (Goss et al. 1979). Optically the spectrum is dominated by oxygen and neon emission lines (Goss et al. 1979) covering a wide range, $``$2000 km s-1, in velocity (Murdin & Clark 1979). G292.0+1.8 is, therefore, an oxygen-rich SNR, of which there are only two other examples in the Galaxy (Cassiopeia A and Puppis A) and a handful elsewhere (e.g., N132D, E0540$``$69.3, and E0102.2$``$7219 in the Magellanic Clouds). It is believed that G292.0+1.8 is a young SNR with an age $`<`$$``$ 1600 yr in which the supernova ejecta have not yet fully mixed with the swept-up circumstellar material and thus may represent a slightly older version of Cas A.

Recent developments suggest that G292.0+1.8 is, in fact, a composite remnant, i.e., one showing both thermal emission from SN ejecta, as well as a synchrotron nebula powered by a rapidly rotating neutron star. Wallace & Gaensler (1997) presented a high resolution 20-cm radio map of the SNR from the Australia Telescope, which shows a bright, extended nebula near the center with a flatter spectrum ($`\nu ^{0.4}`$) than elsewhere in the remnant ($`\nu ^{0.7}`$). Pulsar-powered plerions, like the Crab Nebula, have traditionally been distinguished from their shell-type cousins by their flatter radio spectra. Recently Torii, Tsunemi, & Slane (1998) have reported on the G292.0+1.8 ASCA data. In addition to the thermal emission at soft X-ray energies, above $``$3 keV they found a hard X-ray source with a power-law spectrum, unresolved at ASCA angular resolution and positionally consistent (within the usual ASCA position uncertainty of 40′′) with the extended, flat-spectrum radio component mentioned above. Although not conclusive, these observations suggest that a synchrotron nebula powered by the spin-down of a central pulsar possibly lurks within G292.0+1.8. This finding is quite important, since it would allow us to conclusively associate the young, oxygen-rich SNR G292.0+1.8 with a core-collapse, massive star SN explosion. Indeed only one other oxygen-rich remnant, SNR E0540$``$69.3 in the Large Magellanic Cloud, is known to contain a rapidly spinning pulsar.

## 2 Observations

G292.0+1.8 was observed with the back-side illuminated chip (S3) of the Chandra Advanced CCD Imaging Spectrometer (ACIS-S) (Garmire et al. 1992; Bautz et al. 1998) on 11 March, 2000, as part of the Penn State GTO program. Observations were taken in full frame mode with a readout time of 3.2 s. We filtered the data for times of flaring background or bad aspect solution, applied the bad pixel map, and verified that the level 2 events had been gain-corrected using the gain map appropriate to the focal plane temperature at the time of observation ($``$120 C). The effective deadtime-corrected exposure time after time filtering was 43026.6 s.

The S3 chip was used in order to take advantage of its soft response and good spectral resolution. The pointing direction was set so that as much of the remnant at possible fell on this chip. The remnant is slightly larger than $`8^{}`$ in diameter so complete coverage was not possible; small portions of the remnant toward the south and west were not imaged. In addition, we point out that the imaging quality varies across the S3 field of view. For this observation of G292.0+1.8 the aimpoint and its surrounding region of $`1^{\prime \prime }`$ imaging (50% encircled energy radius) is on the eastern half of the remnant. At the extreme northern and southern extent of the SNR, image quality has degraded to $``$$`1.5^{\prime \prime }`$, while on the extreme western edge it has become $``$$`2.5^{\prime \prime }`$.

## 3 Spectral and Spatial Analysis

In Figure 1 we show images of G292.0+1.8 in soft (left panel) and hard (right panel) X-ray bands. The soft X-ray image shows a highly structured and filamentary remnant with features on all scales from arcminutes to arcseconds. The brightest emission is mostly confined to an irregular “belt” that runs in an east-west direction across the remnant. These features tend to be quite narrow ($`<`$$``$ 3′′) in the transverse (generally north-south) direction. Comparison of separate images made in energy bands containing the strong O, Ne, and Mg K$`\alpha `$ lines reveals complex spectral variations with position. The integrated spectrum of the remnant (Figure 2) shows that lines from these species, in addition to Si and S, dominate the X-ray emission. Iron appears not to be a major constituent of the X-ray spectrum. There is no significant Fe K-shell emission: the equivalent width of a narrow line feature with energy between 6.4 and 6.9 keV in the integrated ACIS-S spectrum is $`<`$200 eV (at 95% confidence). We defer a more detailed quantitative discussion of the thermal emission from G292.0+1.8 to a future study.

In the higher energy band, we spectacularly confirm the previous radio and X-ray evidence for a plerion in G292.0+1.8. Embedded within a diffuse nebula approximately 1 in radius, we find a point-like source at position $`\alpha _{\mathrm{J2000}}=11^\mathrm{h}24^\mathrm{m}39.1^\mathrm{s}`$, $`\delta _{\mathrm{J2000}}=59^{}16^{}20.0^{\prime \prime }`$, which we designate CXOU J112439.1$``$591620 (hereafter the “pulsar candidate”). We verified absolute positions in the ACIS image by identifying two serendipitous X-ray sources with optical stars ($`m_R=10`$ and $`m_R=11.8`$) from the USNO-A2.0 catalog. Our resulting X-ray positions are accurate to $`<`$1′′.

Figure 3 shows a smoothed 4–8 keV X-ray image centered on the pulsar candidate. This band was chosen to isolate the hard nebular emission and represents a compromise between obtaining sufficient signal from the nebula and avoiding contamination by the generally softer thermal emission. The pulsar candidate, located near the peak of the diffuse emission, has a FWHM extent of 1.3′′, while the unrelated source nearby (which is at roughly the same off-axis angle) has an extent of 1.1′′, which we take to infer that the pulsar candidate has an extended component (perhaps a terminal wind boundary). (Neither source shows an obvious optical counterpart in the digitized POSS.) As the insert to Fig. 3 shows, the X-ray emission from the immediate vicinity of the pulsar candidate is rather complex with a symmetric, extended component (out to a radius of $``$1.5′′) embedded in a ridge of emission that is aligned nearly east-west. On larger scales, the pulsar candidate is centered on an arcminute-long ridge of fainter emission that is also oriented in roughly the east-west direction. The pulsar candidate is located about 0.9 from our eyeball estimate of the geometric center of the remnant, which is indicated by the plus sign on Fig. 3.

Within a radius of 2.5 pixels (1.23′′) centered on the position of the pulsar candidate we obtain a total of 3326 ACIS-S events for a count rate of $`0.0773\pm 0.0014`$ s-1. Background, both instrumental and from the rest of G292.0+1.8 itself, was sufficiently small in this aperture to be neglected. An absorbed power-law provided an acceptable fit to the Chandra data. Numerical values from the fits are given in Table 1 and the spectrum is plotted in Fig. 2. The unabsorbed fluxes of the pulsar candidate are $`6.9\times 10^{13}`$ ergs cm-2 s-1 (0.2–4 keV band) and $`4.8\times 10^{13}`$ ergs cm-2 s-1 (2–8 kev band).

Detection of pulsed emission would clearly confirm the pulsar hypothesis. Unfortunately the low time resolution implicit in the ACIS Timed Exposure mode makes detection of rapid pulsations impossible. We searched unsuccessfully for pulsed emission from the vicinity of the pulsar candidate in the ROSAT HRI and PSPC data. In neither data set was the candidate detected as a resolved source, due to the poorer angular resolution of these instruments, the strong soft thermal X-ray emission, and the low statistical signal. In addition there have been no reports of pulsed X-ray emission from G292.0+1.8 from either ASCA or RXTE.

The spectrum of the diffuse nebula is significantly contaminated by the remnant’s soft thermal emission within annular apertures even rather close to the pulsar candidate. For example, the aperture extending over 3′′ – 5′′ unmistakeably shows soft thermal emission (i.e., prominent lines of O, Ne, and Mg), which introduces significant uncertainty into the derived spectral properties of the hard, diffuse nebula. Nevertheless out to a radius of 20′′ we were able to confirm that the spectrum above 3 keV is a power law with photon index in the range $`\alpha _p=1.72.0`$. Because of the thermal contamination it was not possible to determine if the photon index of the nebular emission steepened with radius. Such an effect has been seen in other Crab-like SNRs with Chandra (e.g., G21.5$``$0.9; Slane et al. 2000) and is expected for an extended synchrotron nebula powered by a central pulsar.

The total X-ray flux of the diffuse nebula is an important observable that we estimated in the following manner. In the 4–8 keV band the radial profile of the diffuse nebula centered on the pulsar candidate fell roughly as an exponential with radius. The profile was summed out to the radius where the emission was twice the background level, which yielded a total count rate of 0.145 s-1. For comparison the pulsar candidate count rate in the same energy band is only 0.0074 s-1, while at the other extreme, the total background subtracted rate from G292.0+1.8 is 0.2188 s-1. Thus the diffuse nebula accounts for 66% of the total 4–8 kev flux from the remnant. We assumed the nebular spectral parameters to be the same as those of the pulsar candidate in order to convert the band-limited count rate to fluxes. The estimated nebular spectrum is shown in Fig. 2 (as the middle curve). Our estimates of the unabsorbed fluxes from the nebula are $`1.5\times 10^{11}`$ ergs cm-2 s-1 (0.2–4 keV band) and $`1\times 10^{11}`$ ergs cm-2 s-1 (2–8 kev band). The hard band flux would increase by only about 10% if we assume that the nebula’s spectrum is steeper, with $`\alpha _p=2.1`$ like the Crab. The increase in the soft band flux in this case would be much larger, about a factor of 2.

## 4 Discussion and Results

We have presented evidence for a point-like source embedded in a diffuse nebula, both of which exhibit featureless hard X-ray emission and are spatially coincident with a flat-spectrum radio source in the SNR G292.0+1.8. These features are the classic signatures of a young rapidly-rotating pulsar and its associated synchrotron, or pulsar wind, nebula. The spin-down energy loss rate of the pulsar can be estimated using the established correlation between this quantity and the nebular X-ray luminosity (e.g., Seward and Wang 1988). From our flux estimate we obtain an unabsorbed luminosity (0.2–4 keV band) of $`L_X=4\times 10^{34}D_{4.8\mathrm{kpc}}^2`$ ergs s-1, assuming the Hi absorption distance of 4.8 kpc (Saken, Fesen, & Shull 1992), which implies only a modest spin-down energy loss rate of $`\dot{E}7\times 10^{36}`$ ergs s-1. Based on this estimate, then for a braking index $`n=3`$, and assuming that the current spin period $`P`$ is much longer than the initial value, the remnant age implies $`P280`$ ms and a spin-down rate $`\dot{P}3\times 10^{12}\mathrm{s}\mathrm{s}^1`$. This corresponds to a surface magnetic field strength $`B10^{13}`$ G, which is quite large. This value is reduced if we relax the constraint that $`PP_0`$. We note that there are considerable uncertainties in this estimate, including the relationship between $`L_x`$ and $`\dot{E}`$ (see, e.g., Chevalier 2000). Clearly discovery of the pulsed emission from the new pulsar candidate is of highest priority. Observations optimized for fast timing using the HRC on Chandra have been approved for observation in cycle 2 and will be carried out soon.

The pulsar candidate is not directly at the geometric center of the remnant, suggesting that it has moved since birth. Its implied transverse speed of $``$$`770(D/4.8\mathrm{kpc})(t/1600\mathrm{yr})^1\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1`$ is in good agreement, given our uncertainties, with the mean birth velocity of pulsars of $`450\pm 90\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1`$ (Lyne & Lorimer 1994). Concerning the uncertainties in our velocity estimate we note that it is likely that the blast wave has expanded more slowly toward the southeast in G292.0+1.8. This is where the optical emission is most intense and thus where the density of the ambient interstellar medium should be highest. If true this would shift the true center of the remnant toward the southeast and thereby reduce the implied transverse velocity of the pulsar candidate. We note that there is no evidence in the X-ray band for a bow shock preceding the pulsar candidate in this, or any, direction.

To summarize, the Chandra data reveal the effects of a central pulsar on three spatial scales in G292.0+1.8: an unresolved source (the pulsar candidate itself); a compact resolved region of X-ray emission surrounding the point source and an extended pulsar wind nebula. The compact emission near the pulsar (see insert to Fig. 3) shows a symmetric component, $``$1.5′′ (0.035 pc) in size, as well as an elongated ridge of emission covering roughly $`3^{\prime \prime }\times 10^{\prime \prime }`$ ($`0.07\times 0.23`$ pc). Such compact, but resolved, components have been seen by Chandra near the central compact objects in other known pulsar-wind nebula, specifically the Crab (Weisskopf et al. 2000) and G21.5$``$0.9 (Slane et al. 2000). These structures, on scales of tenths of parsecs, have been interpreted as arising from the pulsar wind termination shock (e.g., Rees & Gunn 1974, Kennel & Coroniti 1984). On larger scales the triangular morphology of the extended pulsar wind nebula in G292.0+1.8 bears considerable similarity as well to the overall shape of the Crab Nebula. The physical sizes are similar as well. The bright portion of the nebula in G292.0+1.8 between the light and dark contours in Fig. 3 is roughly 1 pc across, which is just about the same size as the long extent of the so-called X-ray torus in the Crab Nebula.

During its first year of operation Chandra has discovered point-like sources within the two youngest Galactic oxygen-rich supernova remnants (Cas A and G292.0+1.8) that are likely the compact remnants of these SN explosions. The compact object in Cas A remains mysterious (e.g., Pavlov et al. 2000), while the one in G292.0+1.8 appears to have characteristics that are consistent with a young rapidly-rotating pulsar like the Crab pulsar. Interestingly enough Cas A and G292.0+1.8 also differ in the properties of their X-ray emitting ejecta. Cas A is dominated by Si- and Fe-rich ejecta that were likely produced by explosive O- and Si-burning (Hughes et al. 2000). In G292.0+1.8, on the other hand, we have been unable to find evidence for either of these particular types of nucleosynthetic yields, while the most common ejecta features are rich in O, Ne, and Mg. Further study should reveal whether these differences in the X-ray emitting ejecta are due to an evolutionary or age effect or whether they signal more fundamental differences in the stellar progenitors. Such studies using Chandra will offer us a new window on the connection between compact objects and the SN progenitors that form them.

This research has made use of the SIMBAD Astronomical Database maintained by the Centre de Données astronomiques de Strasbourg. Financial support was provided by NASA contract NAS8-38252 (PSU), NASA contract NAS8-39073 (SAO), and Chandra grant GO0-1035X to Rutgers.


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# The Formation of Molecular Clouds

## 1 Introduction

Recent advances in our theoretical and observational understanding are combining to imply that the lifetimes of molecular clouds are much less than had been previously supposed. Indeed it seems, as discussed in Section 2 below, that molecular clouds form, produce stars and disperse all within a few dynamical timescales. These conclusions have strong implications about the way in which molecular clouds can form, and we argue below (Section 3) that the gas out of which they are formed is already predominantly molecular. This, in turn, has implications for the nature of the ISM in the disks of spiral galaxies which we discuss in Section 4. We discuss and summarise our conclusions in Section 5.

## 2 The Lifetimes of Molecular clouds

The properties of Giant Molecular Clouds (GMCs) have been reviewed by Blitz (1991, 1994), and by Williams, Blitz & McKee (2000). GMCs appear to be discrete objects, with well defined boundaries, and are the sites of essentially all the star formation that is occurring in the Galaxy. The size distribution of clouds means that most of the mass of clouds (and hence most of the star formation) is in the most massive clouds. With this in mind, we shall for our present purposes take a typical GMC to have a mass $`M_{\mathrm{cl}}5\times 10^5M_{}`$, and radius $`R_{\mathrm{cl}}30`$pc (Solomon et al., 1987; Leisawitz, 1990; Blitz, 1994). Such a cloud has a mean baryon number density of $`\overline{n}200`$ cm-3 , corresponding to a molecular hydrogen number density of $`n(H_2)80`$ cm-3, and has a dynamical timescale of $`t_{\mathrm{cl}}[R_{\mathrm{cl}}^3/GM_{\mathrm{cl}}]^{1/2}4\times 10^6`$y.

It has long been argued (Zuckerman & Evans, 1974; Zuckerman & Palmer 1974) on global grounds that the lifetime of the molecular gas, which is visible in the form of molecular clouds, must exceed the dynamical timescales of the clouds by about an order of magnitude. This is because if one takes the total mass of $`H_2`$ observed in the Galaxy, $`M(H_2)2\times 10^9M_{}`$ and divides by the dynamical timescale $`t_{\mathrm{cl}}`$ one obtains an estimated star formation rate of $`500M_{}/\mathrm{y}`$. This exceeds the currently observed rate by a factor of about $`100`$ (Scalo, 1986; Evans, 1999). Thus the molecular gas in the galaxy is being converted to stars on a timescale which exceeds its dynamical timescale by a factor of $`100`$. It is important to realise that since stars form only out of this molecular gas, this statement remains true independent of whatever else might be going on. This argument on its own, in fact, tells us nothing directly about the lifetimes of molecular clouds, but there is a connection through the concept of the efficiency of star formation.

For example, if all the visible molecular gas turns into stars, and none of it is dispersed back to atomic gas, then the efficiency of star formation111We define the efficiency of star formation as the fraction of the molecular gas in a GMC which is converted into stars before the GMC is dispersed. Note that this differs from the usual observational definition which is the current mass in stars in a GMC divided by the current total mass (stars plus gas). is 100 per cent, and each molecular cloud must have a lifetime of $`100t_{\mathrm{cl}}`$. However, estimates of the dispersal timescale for molecular clouds (Bash, Green & Peters, 1977; Blitz & Shu, 1980; Leisewitz, Bash & Thaddeus, 1989; Blitz, 1994) suggest that the average age or lifetime of a typical GMC is around $`3\times 10^7`$y, or around $`10t_{\mathrm{cl}}`$. If so, then the efficiency of star formation (as defined here) for a typical molecular cloud is around $`10`$ per cent.

It was quickly realised that the picture of molecular clouds lasting for around $`10t_{\mathrm{cl}}`$ is problematic, because the internal motions within the clouds are observed to be highly supersonic. GMCs obey a size-linewidth relation which indicates internal velocity dispersions of around $`\sigma _{\mathrm{cl}}35`$ km s-1 (Blitz 1994). This exceeds the thermal (sound) speed ($`c_s0.2`$ km s-1) in the cool ($`T_{\mathrm{th}}10`$ K) molecular gas by an order of magnitude. In the absence of any mechanism to prevent it, such supersonic turbulence would die out on the crossing timescale of the cloud, $`t_{\mathrm{cr}}R_{\mathrm{cl}}/\sigma _{\mathrm{cl}}7\times 10^6`$ y. 222Note that $`t_{\mathrm{cr}}`$ and $`t_{\mathrm{cl}}`$ are different physical quantities. One is dynamical and the other kinematic. The general observation that for most clouds $`t_{\mathrm{cr}}t_{\mathrm{cl}}`$ would imply that most clouds are in approximate virial equilibrium, were it not for the fact that cloud masses are often inferred using the (implicit) assumption of virial equilibrium. In the standard scenario molecular clouds are envisaged as being supported by (turbulent) magnetic fields (Arons & Max 1975; Lizano & Shu 1989; Carlberg & Pudritz 1990; Bertoldi & McKee, 1992; Allen & Shu, 2000), and star formation within the clouds is envisaged as being controlled by the rate at which material can escape from the field lines by the process of ambipolar diffusion (Mestel, 1965; Mouschovias, 1991).

However, a succession of numerical simulations (Mac Low et al., 1998; Padoan & Nordlund, 1999; Ostriker, Gammie & Stone, 1999; Heitsch, Mac Low & Klessen, 2001; see the review by Vázquez-Semadeni et al., 2000) on the dissipation of supersonic turbulence in non-magnetic, slightly magnetic, and highly magnetic media have demonstrated convincingly that the dissipation timescale is approximately the same in each case and is of order the crossing timescale, $`t_{\mathrm{cr}}`$. In hindsight (Goldreich & Kwan, 1974; Field, 1978) this is not too surprising because the hoped for effect of the magnetic fields in cushioning the shocks and so preventing dissipation can only work if the motion is exactly at right angles to the field lines. In a general turbulent medium the field lines and velocities are not usually orthogonal and so the fluid moves freely along the field lines and shocks almost as readily as in a non-magnetic medium.

In addition, it is no longer clear that ambipolar diffusion is the dominant mechanism for regulating star formation. This is mainly because the ambipolar diffusion timescale is apparently too long (Myers & Kersonsky 1995; Nakano, 1998; Caselli et al ., 1998; Ward-Thompson et al., 1999; Burkert & Lin 2000; but see Ciolek & Basu, 2001). Moreover, the original picture of the formation of a magnetically supported self-gravitating core, followed by slow removal of the magnetic support, gives rise, in general, to a centrally condensed hydrostatic configuration, which leads to the formation of a single star (Boss, 1987; Myhill & Kaula, 1992). Most stars are formed as members of binary and multiple stellar systems, and to obtain such multiple fragmentation it may be necessary for the collapse event to be instigated dynamically, and for the collapsing material to be already free of magnetic support (Pringle, 1989; see the review by Pringle, 1991). The basic problem here can be expressed simply in terms of the following question: why does the self-gravitating $`1000M_{}`$ core of a molecular cloud form $`1000`$ stars each of mass $`1M_{}`$, rather than forming a single star of mass $`1000M_{}`$? The considerations here are analagous to those relevant to the formation of globular clusters (Murray & Lin, 1989, 1992). There may still be a problem with the removal of magnetic support because molecular clouds are observed to contain magnetic fields (see, for example, Williams et al 2000) with strengths such that the magnetic energy density is comparable to the turbulent kinetic energy (as might be expected for an equipartition field in a turbulent medium). Some consideration has been given to the removal of magnetic support, at least for a sufficient fraction of the gas to account for the observed star formation efficiency, by magnetic reconnection (Clifford & Elmegreen, 1983; Norman & Heyvaerts, 1985; Shu, 1987; Lubow & Pringle, 1996; Norman et al., 1996).

There is also a major problem from an observational point of view in that the simple initial concept that star formation continues at a steady rate throughout the lifetime of a GMC (whether or not this rate is governed by ambipolar diffusion) is no longer sustainable. Because all molecular clouds contain substantial amounts of star formation, it is already clear that the onset time $`t_{\mathrm{onset}}`$ (that is, the time from the formation of a GMC to the onset of star formation) must be much less than the lifetime of a cloud and is at most of the order of a crossing timescale (Beichman et al 1986; Jessup & Ward-Thompson, 2000; Myers, 1999). Elmegreen (2000) has taken this argument a stage further and makes a strong case that the star formation in a GMC occurs within one or two crossing times of its formation. If so, this implies that the mean efficiency of star formation (as defined here), averaged over all molecular gas, can only be a few per cent. His arguments are based on the estimates of cluster ages relative to the dynamical times and on the hierarchical structure of embedded young clusters. Moreover, comparisons of the ages of young clusters and their association with molecular gas both in the Galaxy (Leisawitz, Bash & Thaddeus, 1989) and in the LMC (Fukui et al 1999) indicate that the dispersal of a cloud in which star formation has occurred only takes a timescale of 5-10 Myr, i.e one or two dynamical timescales. This view is reinforced by the work of Ballesteros-Paredes, Hartmann & Vázquez-Semadeni (1999) who argue that in the Taurus-Auriga complex the lack of post T Tauri stars (ages $`\text{ }>`$ 5 Myr) compared to the T Tauri stars (ages $``$ 1 Myr) indicates that the molecular clouds come together, form stars and disperse all within a few Myr.

## 3 Formation mechanisms

If we accept the conclusions outlined in the previous section that molecular clouds form, produce stars and disperse all within a few dynamical timescales, then this sets severe constraints on how molecular clouds can form. This in turn has serious implications for the initial conditions of the star formation process itself, and thus for the star formation rate and, perhaps, for the IMF (Elmegreen 2000). The formation of a molecular cloud on a timescale roughly equal to its own dynamical timescale can be achieved in two obvious ways, which we discuss below.

### 3.1 Formation from atomic gas, HI

The standard picture for the formation of molecular clouds follows from the assumption that the only molecular gas in the Galaxy is the gas which can be readily observed (for example in CO surveys, Solomon et al., 1987). In this picture molecular clouds are formed in situ from atomic gas. If the gas out of which the molecular cloud is formed is initially HI, then it is necessary for HI gas to collide in such a way that a sufficient amount of H2 is formed sufficiently quickly and in a sufficiently small volume.

Our typical molecular cloud has a mean baryon number density of $`\overline{n}200\mathrm{cm}^3`$ and a virial temperature of $`T_{\mathrm{vir}}10^3`$K.333The fact that the virial pressure $`n(H_2)T_{\mathrm{vir}}10^5`$ K cm-3 exceeds the ambient pressure ($`10^4`$ K cm-3 ; Dickey & Lockman, 1990) in the interstellar medium by one or two orders of magnitude had been part of the traditional argument that molecular clouds must be self-gravitating objects (independent of the estimates of the actual mass which depends on estimates of the CO/H2 ratio). If the clouds only last a time of order their crossing timescales, however, this virially based argument is no longer valid. As long as the postshock gas has a pressure as high as this, then the formation of molecular gas from atomic gas on a short enough timescale (of order a few times $`10^6`$y) appears to be achievable (Vázquez-Semadeni et al, 1996; Ballesteros-Paredes et al, 1999; Koyama & Inutsuka, 2000).

Let us consider the nature of the HI gas out of which such a cloud might have formed. The mass-radius relation for molecular clouds implies approximately that they all have the same baryon surface number density of $`N_H2\times 10^{22}`$ cm-2. If this amount of material has to be assembled in a time $`t_{\mathrm{cl}}4\times 10^6`$y from material moving at a pre-shock velocity of $`V_0`$ and with a pre-shock density $`n_0`$, then we find that $`n_0N_H/V_0t_{\mathrm{cl}}\overline{n}\sigma _{\mathrm{cl}}/V_0`$, that is

$$n_010^2(V_0/10\mathrm{k}\mathrm{m}\mathrm{s}^1)^1\mathrm{cm}^3,$$
(1)
where we have assumed that the HI gas is moving at a velocity of $`V_0`$ corresponding either to the shock velocity in a spiral shock, or to the observed galactic dispersion velocity of around 5-10 km s-1 (Dickey & Lockman, 1990). If this gas had been in pressure equilibrium with the ISM, it would have had to have a temperature of $`100`$ K. That is, it was already cool enough to have been molecular. Moreover, since the pre-shock velocity, $`V_010`$ km s-1, is only a factor of two or three greater than the internal velocity dispersion of the resultant GMC, $`\sigma _{\mathrm{cl}}35`$ km s-1, then for the GMC to be assembled in a crossing time requires that the column density of the preshock gas, parallel to the shock, must be not less than two or three times smaller than the resulting column density of the GMC, i.e. $`N_H\text{ }>10^{22}`$ cm-2. This amount of column density is enough to provide self-shielding against ambient UV radiation.

Thus, the formation of molecular clouds directly from atomic gas requires, as a prerequisite, the existence of atomic gas which is already dense ($`n_010^2`$ cm-3) and cool ($`T_{\mathrm{th}}100`$ K) enough to be mainly molecular. In addition, we note that the Jeans length in such gas is $`R_J3`$ pc, and the corresponding Jeans mass is $`M_J8000M_{}`$. These quantities are already much less than the masses and scale-sizes required for the pre-shock gas if it is to form a GMC with $`M_{\mathrm{cl}}5\times 10^5M_{}`$ and $`R_{\mathrm{cl}}30`$ pc, and imply that self-gravity was already playing a significant role in the pre-shock gas. We conclude that it is not evident that the standard picture of forming molecular clouds directly from atomic gas is one which is internally self-consistent.

### 3.2 Formation from molecular gas, H2

If the gas from which GMCs form is already molecular, then the above problem is replaced by the conundrum that almost all the observed molecular gas in the Galaxy is in molecular clouds and is already involved in the process of forming stars. Thus we would have to argue that not only is a substantial fraction of the mass in the ISM (say, as much as a half) in molecular form, but that it has yet to be detected. Before dismissing this out of hand, it seems fruitful to explore such a possibility.

Allen and coworkers (Allen, 1996; Allen et al, 1986; Tilanus et al 1998; Tilanus and Allen, 1989) have explored the details of shock structure and star formation in the spiral arms of two spiral galaxies M51 and M83. If, according to the standard scenario, molecular clouds form from atomic gas in shocks one would expect to see as one progresses through a spiral shock: first HI, then H2, and then star formation. In contrast, what they find is that one sees first narrow dust lanes and enhanced radio continuum emission, indicative of the position of the shock, and then, downstream, HI, HII and young stars. They argue that what happens at the spiral shock is that molecular gas already present is collected together into denser agglomerations where it forms stars. Downstream of the shock, the young stars disassociate the molecular gas to form HI, and then ionize the atomic gas to form HII.

In this picture one might envisage the interarm ISM to consist of (say) 50/50 molecular/atomic gas by mass, although almost all HI by volume. The H2/CO would be in dense wisps (not in blobs or droplets as it is not self-gravitating and has no cohesiveness). But in a shock, such as a spiral arm, the molecular gas (having a non-negligible fraction of the mass and momentum) can come together (c.f. Shu et al., 1972; Lubow, Balbus & Cowie, 1986) . In the interarm gas, the molecular gas must be cold (say $`T5`$ K) so that it is not readily detectable, and it becomes visible only where it is heated sufficiently to radiate (say $`T\text{ }>10`$ K). Thus molecular clouds represent the regions in the ISM where the molecular gas becomes detectable. The reason the gas becomes detectable is that it is heated by the new-born stars. Thus, in this picture, it is no surprise that $`t_{\mathrm{onset}}`$ is so short.

The detectability of the CO(1-0) millimetre line emission from the heated surfaces of spherical model GMCs excited by an ambient UV flux, and the relationship between the CO emission to the amount of $`H_2`$ present, have been calculated in detail by Kaufman et al. (1999). Their models describe many aspects of the far-infrared and millimetre/sub-millimetre line and continuum emission from photo-dissociation regions (PDRs) over a wide range of parameter space. Among many important results, such as the use of line ratios as diagnostics for physical conditions on the surfaces of molecular clouds, these authors discuss the conditions under which one can use the CO(1-0) luminosity from the cloud surface to estimate the mass of $`H_2`$ within the cloud. From their results (Figure 19 in Kaufman et al., 1999), it is evident that the standard ratio relating CO(1-0) luminosity to $`H_2`$ mass, which is widely used by many millimetre observers (the “X-factor”), applies only over a limited range of parameter space. In particular it applies to gas with solar metallicity, in high density clouds ($`n10^4`$ cm-3), subject to bright UV fluxes ($`1100`$ times the value in the ISM near the sun) and with total cloud column densities such that $`N_H\text{ }>10^{22}`$ cm-2. At lower volume densities, the X-factor considerably underestimates the amount of $`H_2`$ present. In particular, for the standard GMC with $`\overline{n}200`$ cm-3 and $`R30`$ pc (and thus with $`N_H2\times 10^{22}`$ cm-2) subject to the local ISM value of the UV flux ($`G_01`$) and for solar metallicity ($`Z1`$), the use of the assumed standard X-factor to convert the observed CO(1-0) millimetre flux to $`H_2`$ mass underestimates that mass by almost an order of magnitude. This discrepancy get worse for larger UV fluxes, since at these baryon densities the CO brightness is essentially independent of UV flux, and the CO is more readily disassociated than the $`H_2`$.

In fact, taken at face value, the results of Kaufman et al. (1999) indicate that the CO(1-0) emission observed at relatively low angular resolution in the disks of nearby galaxies is not likely to be produced in PDRs. It may be that a more likely source of the excitation is low-energy cosmic rays (Suchkov et al., 1993). This would explain more simply why galaxies such as M83, which are bright in the non-thermal radio continuum, are also correspondingly bright in CO(1-0) emission (Adler et al., 1991; Allen, 1992). This would also account for the high CO brightness in the arms of M51, where the non-thermal radio emisison is also bright, and the relative absence of CO emission between the arms, where the radio continuum surface brightness is correspondingly lower. In this picture, the actual relationship between CO(1-0) luminosity and the amount of $`H_2`$ in a galaxy depends sensitively on the local cosmic ray density (Suchkov et al., 1993) and cannot be readily determined without information about that component of the ISM.

## 4 Implications for the nature of the ISM

Might this idea that a substantial fraction of the ISM is in the form of molecular gas be a generic picture for the ISM in spiral galaxies? It has usually been thought that the fraction of ISM in atomic form increases along the Hubble Sequence towards the late-type galaxies (see the review by Roberts & Haynes 1994), and that the atomic fraction dominates the molecular by an order of magnitude or more for a significant number of star forming galaxies of types Sc and later (Young & Knezek 1989). However, Smith et al. (2000) find that in the giant Scd spiral M101 the molecular gas is found with a narrow range in density from 30-1000 cm-3 near star forming regions at all radii in the disk out to a distance of at least 26 kpc. They conclude that most of the ISM throughout the disk of this galaxy is in molecular form.

A frequent objection to the concept that most of the ISM is in molecular form (apart from astronomers’ healthy scepticism about the existence of something that is hard to observe), is that molecular gas is quickly disassociated back to atomic form by the general UV background photon flux. The relevant photons are in the range 6.5 – 13.6 eV for H2 and 11.1 – 13.6 eV for CO. In this wavelength range the background photon flux is approximately $`U_\lambda 4\times 10^{17}`$ erg s-1 $`\AA ^1`$ (Habing, 1968; Greenberg, 1971; Lang, 1978; Gondhalekhar et al., 1980; Redfield & Linsky, 2000). This gives a photo-destruction timescale for an isolated CO or H2 molecule of around 100 – 300 y. We should bear in mind, however, that the UV flux corresponds to the UV flux measured in the vicinity of the Sun, and that this may be an overestimate of the UV photon flux seen at a general point in the disk of the Galaxy, if, for example, the Sun is in a low density bubble in the ISM (Cowie & Songalia, 1986; Lallement & Bertin 1992; Lallement et al., 1995). In addition, molecular gas can exist if it is sufficiently shielded. The shielding is provided by dust, present in both the atomic and the molecular components of the ISM, and a column density of $`N_H10^{21}`$ cm-2, which corresponds to a visual extinction of $`A_V0.5`$, is generally taken to be what is required. Thus, we should ask: what is the mean extinction experienced at a typical point in the disk of the Galaxy? This is not an easy question to answer for our own Galaxy, and we need to look for evidence in external systems. Here, there is growing evidence that the discs of galaxies are not as transparent as has been usually been assumed. For example, White et al (1996), Berlind et al (1997) and Gonzalez et al (1998) find that disk galaxies contain a lot of patchy dust, with average extinctions through the disk, even in the interarm regions, being around $`A_V0.5`$. Comparable, but somewhat lower values are found by Domingue, Keel & White (2000), and by White and Keel (2001). These extinctions are along lines of sight more or less perpendicular to the gas disk plane, and so presumably pass through at most around a few hundred parsec of the galaxy’s ISM. This implies that for lines of sight within and along the disk plane, relevant to the light paths from hot stars to molecular gas, the extinctions would be correspondingly higher. Thus, presumably in the patches, and perhaps in between, molecular gas would be able to exist without being subject to UV photo-disassociation.

How do we expect the molecular gas to be distributed? We have already argued that most of it cannot be in large enough agglomerations to be self-gravitating – otherwise it would be forming stars (Note that there may be some low level agglomeration of such material corresponding the interarm star formation). In between spiral shocks, the gas (atomic and molecular) is moving supersonically on essentially particle orbits. There is not time between spiral arm shocks for hydrostatic equilibrium to be established perpendicular to the plane of the disk (the timescale to achieve this is approximately the same as the orbital timescale around the centre of the galaxy). Thus, as long as the energy input from star-formation at each shock provides sufficient velocity dispersion, there is no dynamical reason why the molecular gas should be distributed very differently from the atomic component. Koyama & Inutsuka (2000) in their computations of the formation of molecular gas in shock-compressed layers argue that the instabilities in the thermally collapsed post-shock layers break up the molecular gas into tiny molecular cloudlets. The idea that dense gas may reside in the form of unresolved clumps is not new (see, for example, the review by Evans, 1999), and the concept is given further credence by observations of high galactic latitude translucent clouds (the Galactic “cirrus” clouds). These are parcels of dense gas which are found at heights of around 100pc out of the galactic plane. Despite being subject to the full force of the interstellar UV radiation field, they contain molecular gas with a surface density of $`N(H_2)N(HI)4\times 10^{20}`$ cm-2 (Reach et al., 1994). More recent investigation of the radiation properties of these clouds, in particular of the ratios of emission in various transitions of CO, suggests that the bulk of the molecular gas may be in high density ($`n\text{ }>10^4`$ cm-3), low temperature ($`T8`$ K) cells of size around $`0.01`$pc (Ingalls et al., 2000).

## 5 Conclusions

We have considered the implications of the argument advanced by Elmegreen (2000) that the lifetimes of molecular clouds are comparable to their dynamical lifetimes (or to their crossing times), and have advanced the argument that this might have interesting implications as to the the nature of the interstellar medium. In particular, we have considered the hypothesis that a large fraction (perhaps about a half) of the the interstellar medium is in the form of molecular gas, which is too cool to be detected. If this hypothesis is correct, then this changes our picture of the nature of molecular clouds in a fundamental way.

In this scenario, molecular clouds are, like the tips of icebergs, just the small but visible component of a much larger mass of molecular gas. That is, the things we call molecular clouds are in reality only parts of larger structures of molecular gas, and are simply those parts which are illuminated by nearby heating sources (new-born stars). This cool gas is spread throughout the atomic component of the interstellar medium and is not in general self-gravitating. It is compressed in spiral shocks, and in these shocks a sufficient fraction of it becomes self-gravitating enough to initiate star formation (c.f. Shu et al., 1972; Lubow et al., 1986).

This in turn implies, first, that the initial conditions for the onset of star formation are likely to be dynamic, rather than quasi-static, and, second, because the gas has already been cool and dense for some time, that it can already be sufficiently free of magnetic fields to undergo immediate and unimpeded gravitational collapse. This provides conditions favourable to the formation of binary and multiple stars (Pringle, 1989).

Because the clouds of visible (heated) molecular gas exist only for a few of their dynamical or crossing timescales – either because the they have been dispersed by the effects of star formation, or because the strong initial burst of UV radiation from new-born massive stars has died away, which also occurs on a timescale of $`10^7`$y – there is no need for them to be in virial equilibrium. Indeed the shapes of molecular clouds are usually indicative of non-relaxed dynamical structures. This implies that the assumption of virial equilibrium should not be used in estimating the masses of molecular clouds.

Furthermore, the usual interpretation of the size-linewidth relations in terms of virial equilibrium are also likely to be invalid, as are estimates of the masses of molecular clouds based on the usual assumption of virial equilibrium. Indeed the aggregate properties of molecular clouds, such as the size-linewidth relation, are somewhat different to what one might observe for a selection of random positions embedded in a turbulent gas (Miesch, Scalo & Bally, 1999; Ballesteros-Paredes, Vázquez-Semadeni & Scalo, 1999; Scalo, 1990), although it is not obvious to what extent the ISM should be expected to display fully developed turbulence, rather than just a randomly disordered velocity field.

In summary, if the hypothesis considered in this paper is correct, then it provides (at least partial) explanation for the following:

$``$ The star formation in a molecular cloud occurs within one or two crossing times of its formation.

$``$ The lifetimes of molecular clouds are short, and comparable to a few crossing times.

$``$ Molecular clouds do not appear to be in dynamical equilibrium.

$``$ The onset time for star formation is shorter than the ambipolar diffusion timescale.

$``$ Most stars form in clusters and are binary (or multiple) rather than single.

It is evident, however, that the validity of the somewhat speculative ideas put forward in this paper requires testing through further work, both observational and theoretical. On the theoretical side, the most obvious lacuna is in understanding the physical properties, and the dynamics, of the hypothesized cold phase of what is evidently a multi-phase interstellar medium, especially its behaviour in galactic shocks. Current hydrodynamic and magneto-hydrodynamic codes should be capable of tackling this problem (c.f. Wada & Norman, 1999, 2000). On the observational front, the most pressing need is to find some means by which limits can be set to the quantity of hitherto unobserved molecular gas within the disks of our own and of other galaxies. An initial attempt to provide limits to the amount of cold dust in our galaxy are given by Reach et al. (1995) and by Lagache et al. (1998), and a more general discussion is given by Combes & Pfenniger (1997).

Acknowledgements: We thank Drs. Annette Ferguson, Cathie Clarke, Matthew Bate, and Colin Norman for enlightening discussions. JEP is grateful to STScI for hospitality and for continued support under its Visitors Program.


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# A BeppoSAX observation of Her X-1 during the first main-on after an anomalous low-state: evidence for rapid spin-down

## 1 Introduction

Her X-1 is an eclipsing binary X-ray pulsar with a pulse period of 1.24s and an orbital period of 1.7 days (Tananbaum et al. t:72 (1972); Giacconi et al. g:73 (1973)). Normally, the source exhibits a 35 day X-ray intensity cycle comprising a $``$10 day duration main on-state and a fainter $``$5 day duration secondary on-state approximately half a cycle later. At other phases of the 35 day cycle, Her X-1 is still visible at a low level (Jones & Forman j:76 (1976)). This modulation has been ascribed to a tilted precessing accretion disk that periodically obscures the line of sight to the neutron star (Gerend & Boynton g:76 (1976)). In addition, a regular pattern of X-ray intensity dips is usually observed at certain orbital phases. These may be caused by obscuration from periodically released matter from the companion star (Crosa & Boynton c:80 (1980)).

The 35-day cycle has been evident in RXTE All-Sky Monitor (ASM) 1.5–12 keV data with the main-on state being clearly detected every 35 days for $`>`$3 years (e.g., Scott & Leahy s:99 (1999)). An exception to this regularity occurred when the on-state expected around 1999 March 23 was not detected (Levine & Corbet l:99 (1999)). Observations with BeppoSAX showed only low level activity during the expected time of the next main-on (Parmar et al. p:99 (1999)). Similar exceptions have been detected twice before. In 1983 June to August EXOSAT failed to detect an X-ray on-state from Her X-1 and instead a faint source, with a strength comparable to that of the low-state emission was observed over a wide range of 35-day phases (Parmar et al. p:85 (1985)). Optical observations during this interval, and in 1999 April, detected the effects of strong X-ray heating on the companion star (HZ Her) indicating that it was still being irradiated by a strong X-ray source (Delgado et al. d:83 (1983); Margon et al. m:99 (1999)). The 1983 anomalous low-state lasted $`<`$0.8 year with the 35-day cycle returning by 1984 March. Similarly, in 1993 August ASCA failed to observe the expected on-state, again detecting instead a faint X-ray source (Vrtilek et al. v:94 (1994); Mihara & Soong m:94 (1994)). The latest anomalous low-state is the longest ever observed, lasting 1.5 years. During the beginning of this anomalous low-state a rapid spin-down of the pulse period was observed (Parmar et al. p:99 (1999); Coburn et al. c:00 (2000)), which was interpreted as resulting from a torque-reversal, possibly caused by a reversal of the rotation of the inner disk (see e.g., van Kerkwijk et al. vk:98 (1998)).

Here we report on a BeppoSAX observation during the first main-on state (as derived from the RXTE-ASM light curve) after the 1999 March to 2000 September anomalous low-state had ended. We discuss the source properties and show that the 0.1–30 keV spectrum, light curves and pulse profiles are indistinguishable from those during previous high-states, but that the pulse period probably continued its strong spin-down behavior during the anomalous low-state itself. Additionally, we examine the 35 day turn-on times after and before the anomalous low-state and find that the 35 day period, or phasing, changed during the anomalous low-state.

## 2 Observations

Results from the Low-Energy Concentrator Spectrometer (LECS; 0.1–10 keV; Parmar et al. p:97 (1997)), the Medium-Energy Concentrator Spectrometer (MECS; 1.8–10 keV; Boella et al. b:97 (1997)), and the Phoswich Detection System (PDS; 15–300 keV; Frontera et al. f:97 (1997)) on-board BeppoSAX are presented. The MECS consists of two grazing incidence telescopes with imaging gas scintillation proportional counters in their focal planes. The LECS uses an identical concentrator system as the MECS, but utilizes an ultra-thin entrance window and a driftless configuration to extend the low-energy response to 0.1 keV. The non-imaging PDS consists of four independent units arranged in pairs each having a separate collimator. Each collimator was alternatively rocked on- and 210′ off-source every 96 s during the observation. The HPGSPC was not operated during this observation.

The observation was performed during the rising edge of the main-on between 2000 October 9 08:12 and October 13 01:08 (UTC). Examination of the RXTE-ASM light curve shows that the start of the on-state occurred a few hours earlier. This is also seen in the MECS light curve (Fig. 1) where the count rate at the start is already increasing and higher than the low-state value of $``$1 s-1 (see Oosterbroek et al. o:00 (2000)). The standard LECS and MECS extraction radii of 8 and 4 were used. Standard data selection and background subtraction procedures were applied using the using the SAXDAS 2.0.0 data analysis package. The resulting exposures in the LECS, MECS, and PDS instruments are 28.5 ks, 106.0 ks, and 48.1 ks, respectively.

## 3 Analysis

The pulse period of Her X-1 was determined. First, the arrival times of the photons were corrected to the solar system barycenter. Then, the arrival times were additionally corrected to the Her X-1 center of mass using the ephemeris of Deeter et al. (d:91 (1991)). The period was obtained with an epoch-folding technique using the MECS data, while the (1$`\sigma `$) uncertainties were determined by fitting the arrival times of 17 averaged profiles. We find a period of 1.2377697(3) s. This pulse period is plotted in Fig. 2 together with a compilation of previously obtained pulse periods (see Parmar et al. p:99 (1999) and Coburn et al. (c:00 (2000)) for references).

The LECS and MECS spectra were rebinned to have $`>`$20 counts in each bin. Additionally, a rebinning was performed such that the full width half-maximum energy resolution is oversampled by at most a factor 3 to ensure the applicability of the $`\chi ^2`$ statistic. A 1% systematic uncertainty was added to the rebinned data. Spectra were obtained during the whole of the second and third orbits (excluding dips and eclipses) and during 5 small intervals of the first orbit (since rapid variations are present). The LECS, MECS and PDS spectra were fit with the model described in Oosterbroek et al. (o:00 (2000)), which consists of a soft blackbody and a hard power-law, together with two Gaussian emission features near 6.5 and 1.0 keV (describing two iron lines). The spectra obtained during the second and third orbits (see Fig. 3) are in all respects similar to the spectra obtained during previous main-on states, while the spectrum obtained during the first orbit can be adequately described with the standard model modified by partial covering. The spectrum (Fig. 3) was fit using the model in Dal Fiume et al. (df:98 (1998)), without the addition of the cyclotron line (since we limit our spectrum to 30 keV). This model consists of a broken powerlaw (with a break-energy Ebreak, and two power-law indices, $`\alpha _1`$ and $`\alpha _2`$) modified by a high-energy cutoff (characterized by Ecutoff, and , Efold) two gaussians, and a (soft) blackbody. The main parameters of the continuum are (with the Dal Fiume df:98 (1998) model 1 values in parentheses): $`\alpha _1`$ $`0.89\pm 0.01(0.884\pm 0.003)`$, Ebreak (keV) $`17.1\pm _{0.8}^{0.3}(17.74\pm _{0.30}^{0.26})`$, $`\alpha _2`$ $`1.86\pm 0.4(1.83\pm _{0.07}^{0.05})`$, Ecutoff(keV) $`23.5\pm 2(24.2\pm 0.2)`$, Efold(keV) $`15.5\pm 5(14.8\pm 0.4)`$

Therefore, the spectral parameters are completely consistent with those of the normal main-on spectrum, and we therefore conclude that the 0.1–30 keV spectrum during this main-on state is in no way remarkable.

In Fig. 4 the pulse profiles obtained in 4 different energy bands are plotted. These clearly show the well known transition from a broad, approximately sinusoidal, profile at low energies (associated with the soft blackbody component, see e.g., Oosterbroek et al. o:97 (1997)) to the sharper double-peaked profile at higher energies (associated with the power-law component). They are very similar to e.g., the main-on observation reported in Oosterbroek et al. (o:97 (1997)).

### 3.1 35 day turn-on time

In order to investigate whether the 35 day on-states observed after the anomalous low-state occurred at times consistent with their ephemeris before the low-state RXTE-ASM data covering the interval 1996 January 05 to 2001 February 26 were used. Only ASM detections with a signal to noise ratio of $`>`$7.5 were included (this had the side-effect of excluding all but one measurement outside the main-on state - which was manually deleted). The mean occurrence time of each the main-on state intensity was determined to be the mean of the 2–12 keV data points belonging to each main-on, while the uncertainty was taken as the the square root of the variance divided by the number of points (i.e. the error in the mean). We note that this is only a very rough estimate of the uncertainty, and does not take into account any systematic uncertainties. However, our results are insensitive to the choice of uncertainties. Whilst this is a very rough method, the results agree surprisingly well with the more detailed analysis (basically a template fitting method) of Shakura et al. (s:98 (1998)). Next a linear ephemeris was fit to the times of the main-ons that occurred before the anomalous low-state to give a mean 35 day cycle time of 34.8 day, consistent with the model of Staubert et al. (s:83 (1983)) where it is proposed that the mean period is 20.5 times the orbital period, ie., 34.85 day and that the observed on-states can fluctuate around this value by 0 or $`\pm `$$`\frac{1}{2}`$ orbital cycles. This simple ephemeris gives a reasonable description of the observed main-on times, while the extrapolation to the main-ons observed after the anomalous low-state by the RXTE-ASM show that these occurred $``$7 days (or $``$0.2 in phase) late (or alternatively, $``$0.8 in phase early etc). This ambiguity is present because the 35 day cycle count is not available during the anomalous low-state. Fig. 5 shows the residuals with respect to the best-fit ephemeris assuming the former case. A clear difference between the on-state occurrence times before and after the anomalous low-state is evident.

## 4 Discussion

We have observed Her X-1 during the first main-on state following the 1999 March to 2000 September anomalous low-state. We find that the 0.1–30 keV light curves, spectra, and pulse profiles are indistinguishable from those of previous main-on states and we therefore conclude that we observed Her X-1 during a normal main-on state.

The rapid spin-down of Her X-1 continued during at least part of the anomalous low-state, such that the pulse period is now at a similar value to $``$15 years ago. This implies a spin-down rate which is a factor of $``$9 times larger than the average spin-up rate. Vrtilek et al. (v:01 (2001)) noted that the magnitude of deviation from spin-down appears to be correlated with the length of the anomalous low state; this observation confirms this. There is no indication that the mass accretion rate changed substantially during the anomalous low-state since optical observations detected the effects of continued strong X-ray heating on the companion star (Margon et al. m:99 (1999)). This implies that the spin-down torque originating from approximately the same amount of mass transfer was $``$9 times stronger during the anomalous low-state than during normal intervals. Periods of more rapid spin-up than average are seen occasionally in Her X-1, but the magnitude of the spin-down rate observed during the recent anomalous low state is still larger by a factor of $``$2.5 than the most rapid spin-up rate previously observed (around day 7300–8000 in Fig. 2).

This imposes constraints on any theory modeling the accretion torques in this source. The low-mass X-ray binary 4U 1626-67 underwent a torque-reversal (accompanied by a change in the spectrum, see Chakrabarty et al. c:97 (1997)), but with only a change in the sign (not magnitude). This appears substantially different then a torque-reversal combined with a change in magnitude of a factor $``$9 observed here. It has been suggested (Li & Wickramasinghe lw:98 (1998)) that variations in the spin-down rate can be caused by changes in the structure of the outer magnetosphere of the neutron star. In our case these changes may be accompanied by changes in the disk structure which produce the anomalous low-state.

The measured mean times of the main-on states that occur after the anomalous low-state occur at times inconsistent by at least $``$7 days, or 0.2 in 35 day phase, with a simple linear extrapolation of the previous on-state times. However, we cannot exclude that this is actually 0.8 cycles earlier in 35 day phase, or some other multiple of the cycle. This difference may be explained by either a change in the 35 day phase at which the main on-states occur, or by a change in the underlying 35 day recurrence interval. It is probable that seventeen 35 day cycles occurred during the anomalous low-state. A change of $``$1.5% in the 35 day period could give rise to the observed difference. As Ögelman (o:87 (1987)) points out, the largest ($``$6.5 day) 35 day phase excursion recorded previously occurred at the time of the 1983 anomalous low-state. This suggests that the occurrence of the anomalous low-states and mechanism responsible for the 35 day cycle in Her X-1 are somehow linked. Shakura et al. (s:98 (1998)) report a positive correlation between the length of the 35 day cycle and the mean X-ray flux. During the anomalous low-state the effects of strong X-ray heating on HZ Her were still evident (Margon et al. m:99 (1999)). However, there is no reliable estimate of how much the mean X-ray flux changed compared to intervals when the 35 day cycle is present. Indeed, since the mechanism producing this correlation is unknown, it is unclear whether the amount of X-ray heating experienced by HZ Her is a reliable indicator for this effect. This correlation suggests that during the anomalous low-state whichever part of the Her X-1 system regulated this mechanism received a significantly different mean X-ray intensity than during normal intervals.

###### Acknowledgements.

The BeppoSAX satellite is a joint Italian and Dutch programme. We thank the staffs of the BeppoSAX Science Data and Operations Control Centers for help with these observations. We thank the RXTE instrument teams at MIT and NASA/GSFC for providing the All-Sky Monitor data.


text:
# WHY DO SOLAR NEUTRINO EXPERIMENTS BELOW 1 MEV?11footnote 1To be published in the proceedings of the SEcond International Workshop on Low Energy Solar Neutrinos, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan, December 4 and 5, 2000 (World Scientific).

## Acknowledgments

I am grateful to Professor Yoichiro Suzuki for his leadership in organizing this workshop and for his insightful guidance in understanding the nature of low energy neutrino experiments. I acknowledge support from NSF grant #PHY0070928.

## References


text:
# Homology class of a Lagrangian Klein bottle

## 1. Self-linking indices for totally real surfaces

### 1.1. Characteristic circles

Let $`S`$ be a closed real surface. The characteristic homology class $`u\mathrm{H}_1(S;/2)`$ is uniquely defined by the condition

$$ux=xx=(w_1(S),x)\text{ for all }x\mathrm{H}_1(S;/2),$$

where $`w_1(S)`$ is the first Stiefel–Whitney class of $`S`$. Note that $`u=0`$ if and only if $`S`$ is orientable.

###### Lemma 1.1.

Let $`\xi \mathrm{H}^1(S;)`$ be an integral cohomology class. Then $`(\xi mod2,u)=0`$.

###### Proof.

Any integral cohomology class on a surface can be represented by the intersection index with a two-sided curve. The intersection of $`u`$ with such a curve is zero by the definition of $`u`$. ∎

###### Definition 1.2.

A characteristic circle is a simple closed curve $`\mathrm{}S`$ in the characteristic homology class.

###### Example 1.3.

Represent the Klein bottle $`K`$ as the non-trivial circle bundle over the circle. A fiber $`mK`$ of this bundle is a meridian of $`K`$. It is easy to check that $`m`$ is a characteristic circle on $`K`$.

###### Lemma 1.4.

If $`SX`$ is an embedded surface in a smooth manifold such that $`[S]=0\mathrm{H}_2(X;/2)`$, then $`[\mathrm{}]=0\mathrm{H}_1(X;/2)`$ for any characteristic circle $`\mathrm{}S`$.

###### Proof.

If $`S`$ is orientable, there is nothing to prove. Otherwise, let $`\xi \mathrm{H}^1(X;/2)`$ be any mod 2 cohomology class. The obstruction to lifting it to an integral cohomology class lives in $`\mathrm{H}^2(X;)`$. Consider the commutative diagram

$$\begin{array}{ccccc}\mathrm{H}^2(X;)& & & & \mathrm{H}^2(X;/2)\\ & & & & 0& & \\ \mathrm{H}^2(S;)& & \stackrel{}{}& & \mathrm{H}^2(S;/2)\end{array}$$

where the vertical arrows are restrictions to $`S`$ and horizontal arrows reductions modulo $`2`$. It follows that the map $`\mathrm{H}^2(X;)\mathrm{H}^2(S;)(/2)`$ is trivial. Hence, the restriction of $`\xi `$ to $`S`$ lifts to an integral cohomology class on $`S`$ and has zero pairing with $`u=[\mathrm{}]`$ by the previous lemma. Thus, $`[\mathrm{}]=0\mathrm{H}_1(X;/2)`$ by Poincaré duality over $`/2`$. ∎

### 1.2. Viro index (cf. , §4)

An embedded surface $`SX`$ in an almost complex four-manifold $`(X,J)`$ is called totally real if $`J(T_pS)`$ is transverse to $`T_pS`$ at every point $`pS`$.

###### Definition 1.5.

Let $`\mathrm{}S`$ be a two-sided simple closed curve on a totally real surface $`SX`$. Its $``$-normal pushoff $`\mathrm{}^{\mathrm{}}`$ is the isotopy class of curves in $`XS`$ containing the pushoff of $`\mathrm{}`$ in the direction of the vector field $`J\nu _{\mathrm{},S}`$, where $`\nu _{\mathrm{},S}`$ is a non-vanishing normal vector field to $`\mathrm{}`$ in $`S`$.

The $``$-normal pushoff is well-defined because any two non-vanishing normal vector fields on $`\mathrm{}S`$ are homotopic through non-vanishing sections of $`TS|_{\mathrm{}}`$.

###### Definition 1.6.

Let $`SX`$ be a totally real surface with $`[S]=0\mathrm{H}_2(X;/2)`$ in an almost complex four-manifold $`(X,J)`$, and let $`\mathrm{}S`$ be a two-sided simple closed curve such that $`[\mathrm{}]=0\mathrm{H}_1(X;/2)`$. The Viro index of $`\mathrm{}`$ is the modulo 2 linking number

$$V(\mathrm{})=lk(\mathrm{}^{\mathrm{}},S),$$

where $`\mathrm{}^{\mathrm{}}`$ is the $``$-normal pushoff of $`\mathrm{}`$.

Remark. It is known that $`V(\mathrm{})`$ depends only on the homology class of $`\mathrm{}`$, and the map $`[\mathrm{}]1+V(\mathrm{})`$ is a quadratic function called the Viro form of $`SX`$.

###### Lemma 1.7.

Let $`SX`$ be a totally real surface such that $`(w_2(X),[S])=0`$. Then every characteristic circle $`\mathrm{}S`$ is two-sided.

###### Proof.

Note that $`TX|_STSTS`$ and therefore $`w_2(TX|_S)=w_1(S)w_1(S)`$ by the Whitney formula. Hence, $`(w_1(S),[\mathrm{}])=w_1(S)^2=(w_2(TX),[S])=0`$, which proves the lemma. ∎

Lemmas 1.4 and 1.7 show that the Viro index is defined for any characteristic circle on a nullhomologous totally real surface. If the ambient manifold is compact, then we have the following formula which is closely related to the results of Netsvetaev , Fiedler , and Polterovich .

###### Theorem 1.8.

Let $`\mathrm{}`$ be a characteristic circle on a totally real surface $`S`$ with $`[S]=0\mathrm{H}_2(X;/2)`$ in a compact almost complex four-manifold $`X`$. Then

$$V(\mathrm{})=1+\frac{\chi (S)}{4}mod2,$$

where $`\chi (S)`$ is the Euler characteristic of $`S`$.

###### Example 1.9 (Klein bottle case).

If $`\mathrm{}=m`$ is a meridian of a totally real homologically trivial Klein bottle $`KX`$, then the theorem shows that $`V(m)=1mod2`$. In other words, the $``$-normal pushoff of the meridian is non-trivially linked with $`K`$, which is the result that will be used in the proof of Theorem A.

### 1.3. Proof of Theorem 1.8

Let us first construct a non-vanishing section of the restriction of the complex determinant bundle $`\mathrm{\Lambda }_{}^2TX`$ to the surface $`S`$ which has standard form on $`\mathrm{}`$.

###### Lemma 1.10.

Let $`\tau _{\mathrm{}}`$ be a non-vanishing vector field tangent to the curve $`\mathrm{}`$. Then the complex wedge product $`\sigma _{\mathrm{}}:=\tau _{\mathrm{}}_{}\nu _{\mathrm{},S}`$ extends to a non-vanishing section of $`\mathrm{\Lambda }_{}^2TX|_S`$.

###### Proof.

The real wedge product $`\tau _{\mathrm{}}\nu _{\mathrm{},S}`$ is a non-vanishing section of the real determinant bundle $`\mathrm{\Lambda }_{}^2TS`$ restricted to $`\mathrm{}`$. Note first that it can be extended to a global non-vanishing section of the complexification $`\mathrm{\Lambda }_{}^2TS`$. Indeed, the obstruction is given by the relative characteristic number $`w_1^2(S,\mathrm{})/2`$ which is zero because the complement to the characteristic circle $`\mathrm{}`$ is orientable.

It remains to note that, for the totally real surface $`SX`$, the map

$$\mathrm{\Lambda }_{}^2TS\mathrm{\Lambda }_{}^2TX|_S$$

defined by replacing the real wedge product on $`TS`$ by the complex one on $`TX`$ is an isomorphism. ∎

###### Example 1.11.

Consider the Klein bottle $`K`$ represented as the quotient of the two-torus by the equivalence relation $`(\phi ,\psi )(\phi +\pi ,\psi )`$ (see Subsec. 2.1 below). Then $`e^{i\phi }\frac{}{\psi }\frac{}{\phi }`$ is a well-defined non-vanishing section of $`\mathrm{\Lambda }_{}^2TK`$ extending the section $`\tau _m\nu _{m,K}=\frac{}{\psi }\frac{}{\phi }`$ from the meridian $`m=\{\phi =0\}K`$.

Let $`\sigma \mathrm{\Gamma }(X,\mathrm{\Lambda }_{}^2TX)`$ be a generic global extension of the section constructed in the lemma. Then the zero set

$$\mathrm{\Sigma }=\{xX\sigma (x)=0\}$$

is an oriented two-dimensional submanifold of $`X`$ disjoint from $`S`$. Note that $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ is mod 2 Poincaré dual to the cohomology class $`c_1(\mathrm{\Lambda }_{}^2TX)mod2=w_2(X)`$. Thus, both $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ and $`\mathrm{\Sigma }S`$ are characteristic submanifolds of $`X`$, i. e., their mod 2 homology classes are Poincaré dual to the second Stiefel–Whitney class of $`X`$.

Let further $`MX`$ be an embedded surface with boundary $`M=\mathrm{}`$ that is normal to $`S`$ along $`\mathrm{}`$ and whose interior intersects $`S`$ and $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ transversally. Such surfaces exist (because $`[\mathrm{}]=0\mathrm{H}_1(X;/2)`$ by Lemma 1.4) and are called membranes for $`\mathrm{}S\mathrm{\Sigma }`$.

The Rokhlin index of $`M`$ (with respect to $`\mathrm{\Sigma }S`$) is defined by the formula

$$R(M)=n(M,\nu _{\mathrm{},S})+\mathrm{\#}(MS)+\mathrm{\#}(M\mathrm{\Sigma }),$$

where $`n(M,\nu _{\mathrm{},S})`$ is the obstruction to extending $`\nu _{\mathrm{},S}`$ to a non-vanishing normal vector field on $`M`$, and $`\mathrm{\#}(MS)`$ and $`\mathrm{\#}(M\mathrm{\Sigma })`$ are the numbers of interior intersection points of $`M`$ with $`S`$ and $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$, respectively.

###### Lemma 1.12.

$`R(M)={\displaystyle \frac{SS}{4}}mod2`$, where $`SS`$ is the normal Euler number of $`SX`$.

###### Proof.

To any characteristic two-dimensional submanifold $`FX`$ there is associated a quadratic function

$$𝔮_F:Ker\iota _{}/4$$

on the kernel of the inclusion homomorphism $`\iota _{}:\mathrm{H}_1(F;/2)\mathrm{H}_1(X;/2)`$ called the Rokhlin–Guillou–Marin form of $`F`$ (see , , and , §2.6). The value of this function on the characteristic homology class $`u\mathrm{H}_1(F;/2)`$ (assuming that $`uKer\iota _{}`$) satisfies the congruence

$$𝔮_F(u)=\frac{sign(X)FF}{2}mod4,$$
(1.1)
where $`sign(X)`$ is the signature of the four-manifold $`X`$. This formula is due to Rokhlin (at least in the case when $`\iota _{}=0`$, see , n 4). It may be obtained from the generalised Rokhlin–Guillou–Marin congruence (see , Theorem 2.6.1, or , Théorème 3) by reducing it modulo 8 and plugging in an elementary algebraic property of the Brown invariant (see , 3.4.4(2)).

Applying (1.1) to the characteristic submanifolds $`\mathrm{\Sigma }S`$ and $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$, respectively, and using the orientability of $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$, we obtain that

$$𝔮_{\mathrm{\Sigma }S}([\mathrm{}])=\frac{sign(X)\mathrm{\Sigma }\mathrm{\Sigma }SS}{2}mod4$$

and

$$0=\frac{sign(X)\mathrm{\Sigma }\mathrm{\Sigma }}{2}mod4.$$

(The second congruence follows also from van der Blij’s lemma, see , §II.5.) Thus,

$$𝔮_{\mathrm{\Sigma }S}([\mathrm{}])=\frac{SS}{2}mod4,$$

whence

$$R(M)=\frac{SS}{4}mod2$$

because $`𝔮_{\mathrm{\Sigma }S}([\mathrm{}])=2R(M)mod4`$ by the definition of the Rokhlin–Guillou–Marin form. ∎

Let us now choose the membrane $`M`$ more carefully. Namely, assume henceforth that it has the following additional properties:

* The tangent (half-)space to $`M`$ at each point $`p\mathrm{}`$ is spanned by $`\tau _{\mathrm{}}(p)`$ and $`J\nu _{\mathrm{},S}(p)`$. Note that these two vectors in $`T_pX`$ are linearly independent over $``$ so that $`M`$ is totally real near its boundary.
* The complex points of $`M`$ (i. e., the points $`pM`$ such that $`J(T_pM)=T_pM`$) are generic.

The first property is achieved by spinning $`M`$ around $`\mathrm{}`$, and the second one by a small perturbation of the result. The Rokhlin index of this special membrane $`M`$ can be calculated from a modulo 2 version of Lai’s formulas for the number of complex points of $`M`$ (see  and , §4.3).

###### Lemma 1.13.

$`R(M)=1+V(\mathrm{})mod2`$.

###### Proof.

Note first that the pushoff of $`\mathrm{}`$ inside $`M`$ is the $``$-normal pushoff of $`\mathrm{}`$ by property (1) of $`M`$. Hence, $`V(\mathrm{})=\mathrm{\#}(MS)mod2`$ by the definition of the Viro index. Thus, we need to show that

$$n(M,\nu _{\mathrm{},S})+\mathrm{\#}(M\mathrm{\Sigma })=1mod2.$$

The obstruction $`n(M,\nu _{\mathrm{},S})`$ can be computed as follows. Let $`\tau `$ be a generic tangent vector field on $`M`$ such that $`\tau =J\nu _{\mathrm{},S}`$ on $`\mathrm{}=M`$. (Note that $`\tau `$ is transverse to $`M`$.) Then $`J\tau `$ fails to give a non-vanishing normal extension of $`\nu _{\mathrm{},S}`$ at the points $`pM`$ such that $`J\tau (p)T_pM`$. These points are, firstly, the zeroes of $`\tau `$ and, secondly, the complex points of $`M`$. Neglecting the signs involved, we get the modulo $`2`$ formula

$$n(M,\nu _{\mathrm{},S})=\chi (M)+c(M)mod2,$$
(1.2)
where $`\chi (M)`$ is the Euler characteristic of $`M`$ and $`c(M)`$ is the number of complex points on $`M`$.

Similarly, let us consider the modulo $`2`$ obstruction to extending the section $`\sigma _{\mathrm{}}`$ (from Lemma 1.10) to a non-vanishing section of $`\mathrm{\Lambda }_{}^2TX|_M`$. On the one hand, it is equal to $`\mathrm{\#}(M\mathrm{\Sigma })mod2`$ because $`M\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ is the transverse zero set of such an extension $`\sigma |_M`$. On the other hand, observe that

$$\sigma _{\mathrm{}}=\tau _{\mathrm{}}_{}\nu _{\mathrm{},S}=\sqrt{1}\tau _{\mathrm{}}_{}J\nu _{\mathrm{},S}=\sqrt{1}\tau _{\mathrm{}}_{}\nu _{\mathrm{},M}.$$

As we have already seen in the proof of Lemma 1.10, the obstruction to extending $`\tau _{\mathrm{}}_{}\nu _{\mathrm{},M}`$ from $`M`$ to a non-vanishing section of $`\mathrm{\Lambda }_{}^2TX|_M`$ is the sum of two obstructions. Firstly, $`\mathrm{\Lambda }_{}^2TM`$ can be non-trivial. Secondly, the map $`\mathrm{\Lambda }_{}^2TM\mathrm{\Lambda }_{}^2TX|_M`$ degenerates at the complex points of $`M`$. Altogether, we see that

$$\mathrm{\#}(M\mathrm{\Sigma })=w_1^2(M,M)+c(M)mod2.$$
(1.3)
Combining formulas (1.2) and (1.3) gives the congruence

$$n(M,\nu _{\mathrm{},S})+\mathrm{\#}(M\mathrm{\Sigma })=\chi (M)+w_1^2(M,M)mod2.$$

The right hand side is equal to $`1mod2`$ for any surface $`M`$ with a single boundary component, and the lemma follows. ∎

It is now easy to complete the proof of the theorem. Lemmas 1.13 and 1.12 show that

$$V(\mathrm{})=1+\frac{SS}{4}mod2,$$

and it remains to observe that $`SS=\chi (S)`$ for any totally real embedded surface $`S`$.∎

## 2. Application of Luttinger’s surgery

### 2.1. Explicit model (cf.  and , §2)

Let us first consider the (trivial) cotangent bundle $`T^{}\mathrm{T}`$ of the two-torus with the coordinates

$$(\phi ,\psi ,r,\theta )/2\pi \times /2\pi \times _+\times /2\pi ,$$

where $`(\phi ,\psi )`$ are the standard coordinates on the torus and $`(r,\theta )`$ are the polar coordinates on the fibre.

The Luttinger twist $`f_{n,k}`$ is the diffeomorphism of the hypersurface $`\{r=1\}T^{}\mathrm{T}`$ given by

$$(\phi ,\psi ,\theta )(\phi +n\theta ,\psi +k\theta ,\theta ),$$

for a pair of integers $`(n,k)^2`$. The crucial property of this map is that it preserves the restriction of the canonical symplectic form to the hypersurface $`\{r=1\}`$.

The Klein bottle $`K`$ is the quotient of the torus by the equivalence relation

$$(\phi ,\psi )(\phi +\pi ,\psi ).$$

Hence, the cotangent bundle of $`K`$ is the quotient of the cotangent bundle of the torus by the relation

$$(\phi ,\psi ,r,\theta )(\phi +\pi ,\psi ,r,\theta ).$$

It follows that the Luttinger twists $`f_{0,k}`$ with $`n=0`$ descend to the hypersurface $`\{r=1\}T^{}K`$.

On $`T^{}K`$ we consider the Kähler structure $`(g_0,\omega _0,J_0)`$ defined by the flat metric and the canonical symplectic form. This structure lifts to the similarly defined structure on $`T^{}\mathrm{T}`$ and is given by the same formulas in the coordinates $`(\phi ,\psi ,r,\theta )`$.

###### Lemma 2.1.

The $``$-normal pushoff of the meridian $`m=\{\phi =0\}K`$ in $`(T^{}K,J_0)`$ is given by the curve $`\{\phi =0,r=1,\theta =0\}`$.

### 2.2. Reconstructive surgery

Let $`KX`$ be a totally real Klein bottle embedded in an almost complex four-manifold $`(X,J)`$. Then there exists a closed tubular neighbourhood $`NK`$ orientation preserving diffeomorphic to the unit disc bundle $`DT^{}K=\{r1\}T^{}K`$. Furthermore, the diffeomorphism can be chosen so that the almost complex structure $`J`$ on $`TX|_K`$ corresponds to the standard complex structure $`J_0`$.

###### Theorem 2.2.

Let $`KX`$ be a nullhomologous totally real Klein bottle in a compact almost complex four-manifold. Then the Luttinger surgery

$$X^{}=N_{f_{0,1}}(XN)$$

makes the Klein bottle $`K`$ homologically non-trivial.

###### Proof.

By Lemma 1.4, the meridian $`mK`$ is nullhomologous in $`X`$ (modulo 2). The Mayer–Vietoris sequence for $`X=N(XN)`$ shows that there exists a homology class $`\zeta \mathrm{H}_1(N;/2)`$ such that

* $`ı_{}\zeta =[m]\mathrm{H}_1(N;/2)`$,
* $`ȷ_{}\zeta =0\mathrm{H}_1(\overline{XN};/2)`$,

where $`ı:NN`$ and $`ȷ:N\overline{XN}`$ are inclusion maps. It follows from the second property that

$$lk(\zeta ,K)=0.$$

Therefore, Theorem 1.8 shows that $`\zeta `$ differs from the homology class of the $``$-normal pushoff $`m^{\mathrm{}}`$ (see Example 1.9).

The pre-image $`ı_{}^1([m])\mathrm{H}_1(N;/2)`$ consists of exactly two homology classes, represented by the curves $`m^{}=\{\phi =0,r=1,\theta =0\}`$ and $`m^{\prime \prime }=\{\phi =0,r=1,\theta =\psi \}`$. The first curve gives the $``$-normal pushoff of the meridian by Lemma 2.1. Thus, $`\zeta =[m^{\prime \prime }]`$ and therefore $`m^{\prime \prime }`$ bounds in $`\overline{XN}`$.

Now consider the fibre $`\{\phi =0,\psi =0,r=1\}`$ of the projection $`NK`$. The Luttinger twist

$$f_{0,1}(\phi ,\psi ,1,\theta ):=(\phi ,\psi +\theta ,1,\theta )$$

maps this fibre to the curve $`m^{\prime \prime }`$. It follows that the disc $`\mathrm{\Delta }=\{\phi =0,\psi =0,r1\}`$ bounded by the fibre in $`N`$ and the chain bounded by $`m^{\prime \prime }`$ in $`\overline{XN}`$ are glued together into a 2-cycle in $`X^{}`$. The intersection index of this cycle with $`K`$ equals $`\mathrm{\#}(K\mathrm{\Delta })=1mod2`$, and therefore $`K`$ is homologically non-trivial in $`X^{}`$. ∎

###### Corollary 2.3.

$`dim_{/2}\mathrm{H}_1(X^{};/2)=dim_{/2}\mathrm{H}_1(X;/2)+1`$.

###### Proof.

Consider the following long exact sequences in cohomology with compact support:

$$\mathrm{}\mathrm{H}_c^2(X;/2)\mathrm{H}_c^2(K;/2)\mathrm{H}_c^3(XK;/2)\mathrm{H}_c^3(X;/2)\mathrm{H}_c^3(K;/2)0$$

and

$$\mathrm{}\mathrm{H}_c^2(X^{};/2)\mathrm{H}_c^2(K;/2)\mathrm{H}_c^3(X^{}K;/2)\mathrm{H}_c^3(X^{};/2)\mathrm{H}_c^3(K;/2)0.$$

The first map in the first sequence is trivial because $`K`$ is nullhomologous in $`X`$. Hence,

$$\begin{array}{ccc}\hfill dim_{/2}\mathrm{H}_c^3(X;/2)& =& dim_{/2}\mathrm{H}_c^3(XK;/2)dim_{/2}\mathrm{H}_c^2(K;/2)\hfill \\ & =& dim_{/2}\mathrm{H}_c^3(XK;/2)1.\hfill \end{array}$$

On the other hand, the first map in the second sequence is onto because $`[K]0`$ in $`X^{}`$, and therefore

$$dim_{/2}\mathrm{H}_c^3(X^{};/2)=dim_{/2}\mathrm{H}_c^3(X^{}K;/2).$$

Since $`XK`$ and $`X^{}K`$ are diffeomorphic, we conclude that

$$dim_{/2}\mathrm{H}_c^3(X^{};/2)=dim_{/2}\mathrm{H}_c^3(X;/2)+1,$$

and the result follows because $`\mathrm{H}_1(Y;/2)\mathrm{H}_c^3(Y;/2)`$ for any four-manifold $`Y`$ by Poincaré duality. ∎

### 2.3. Symplectic rigidity: Proof of Theorem A

Let now $`KX`$ be a Lagrangian Klein bottle in a compact symplectic four-manifold $`(X,\omega )`$. Then $`K`$ is totally real with respect to any almost complex structure $`J`$ on $`X`$ compatible with $`\omega `$.

Let $`X^{}`$ be the manifold obtained from $`X`$ by the Luttinger surgery used in Theorem 2.2. Since $`K`$ is Lagrangian, it follows that the Luttinger surgery can be performed symplectically, i. e., there exists a symplectic form $`\omega ^{}`$ on $`X^{}`$ that coincides with $`\omega `$ on $`X^{}N=XN`$. This is proved in exactly the same way as the analogous statement for Lagrangian tori in . A different proof using symplectic Lefschetz pencils is given in .

Note that $`c_1(X,\omega )[\omega ]=c_1(X^{},\omega ^{})[\omega ^{}]`$. (The proof follows easily from the fact that $`\mathrm{H}^2(N;)=0`$ and is left to the reader.) Thus, if $`c_1(X,\omega )[\omega ]>0`$, then $`c_1(X^{},\omega ^{})[\omega ^{}]>0`$, and hence each of the manifolds $`X`$ and $`X^{}`$ is diffeomorphic to $`\mathrm{P}^2`$ or to (a blow-up of) a ruled surface by the result of Liu and Ohta–Ono cited in the introduction. In particular, the $`/2`$-dimensions of $`\mathrm{H}_1(X;/2)`$ and $`\mathrm{H}_1(X^{};/2)`$ are even.

However, if $`[K]=0\mathrm{H}_2(X;/2)`$, then $`dim_{/2}\mathrm{H}_1(X^{};/2)=dim_{/2}\mathrm{H}_1(X;/2)+1`$ by Corollary 2.3, and at least one of these dimensions is odd. This contradiction proves Theorem A.∎

###### Remark 2.4.

It is not hard to specialise our proof of Theorem A to yield just the non-existence of embedded Lagrangian Klein bottles in $`(^4,\omega _0)`$. Several steps in the argument are then simplified or avoided. For instance, Gromov’s original theorem about symplectic four-manifolds symplectomorphic to $`(^4,\omega _0)`$ at infinity may be used instead of the more involved results of Liu and Ohta–Ono.