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# The Influence of Stellar Wind Variability on Measurements of Interstellar O VI Along Sightlines to Early-Type Stars

## 1 Introduction

The O VI $`\lambda \lambda `$1032, 1038 resonance doublet is an excellent diagnostic of high-energy processes ($`113.9`$ eV) in rarefied media because of the large cosmic abundance of oxygen and the substantial energy required to strip five electrons from O atoms. A key program for the Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE) mission is to measure the strength of this doublet along many sightlines, in order to determine the origin and evolution of hot gas in the interstellar medium (ISM; see, e.g., Savage et al., 2000; Sembach et al., 2000).

However, O VI also occurs in the stellar winds of the OB-type stars that frequently serve to illuminate the intervening ISM. Its presence in these winds is surprising, since the photospheric radiation fields of only the hottest stars produce atmospheric O VI. A current explanation is that winds contain ensembles of strong shocks, which might be produced by the strong line-driven instability (Owocki et al., 1988). The X-rays created by these shocks produce O VI from the dominant O IV ion via Auger ionization (Cassinelli & Olson, 1979). Consequently, the shapes and strengths of the O VI wind profiles are largely determined by the distribution, strength, and time-dependent behavior of the shocks. Indeed, previous work with Copernicus (see, e.g., York et al., 1977; Snow et al., 1980) and early results from FUSE (Massa et al., 2000) confirm that the O VI wind lines of early-type stars are variable on a variety of time scales, as are most other wind features; see Prinja (1998) for a recent review. As a result, undulations in the broad P-Cygni wind profiles blend with the interstellar components in a complicated, time-dependent way, which may compromise measurements of interstellar O VI by unknown amounts.

To assess the influence of stellar wind variability on measurements of interstellar O VI, we have used FUSE to obtain 2–3 observations for each object in a sample of $``$50 OB-type stars in the Galaxy and Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). These sparse time series exhibit variations over intervals ranging from about a day to several months. Preliminary results suggest that stellar wind variability is often found in O VI, with no apparent differences between the Galaxy and the LMC. In this Letter we illustrate the influence of the variability on interstellar measurements along five sightlines, which typify the problems that may be encountered.

## 2 Observations and Analysis

The design and performance of the FUSE spectrograph have been described by Moos et al. (2000) and Sahnow et al. (2000), respectively. Table 1 summarizes the repeated FUSE observations for the five sightlines discussed here. The observations of HD 97913 were obtained in histogram mode; all others were obtained in time-tag mode. All observations were obtained through the $`30\mathrm{}\times 30\mathrm{}`$ apertures. Standard processing with the current version of the calibration pipeline software (calfuse v1.8.7) was used to extract and calibrate the spectra. The extracted spectra associated with separate exposures of a given observation were aligned by cross-correlating the positions of strong interstellar lines (other than O VI). Since these subexposures did not exhibit significant variations, they were coadded and rebinned to a spectral resolution of $``$15,000.

Fig. 1 shows the FUSE spectra of the LMC star Sk $`69^{}124`$ and summarizes the method used to detect stellar wind variability in these sparse time series. (1) Since the flux is well calibrated, two spectra of the same object taken at different times were overplotted and directly compared (top panel). (2) To ensure that the wind variations are genuine, we require that they are similar in both transitions of the doublet (bottom panel) and in data from different detector segments. Since the O VI $`\lambda `$1032 line is intrinsically stronger than the $`\lambda `$1038 line, the amplitude of any fluctuation will generally be larger in the blue component. Fig. 1 shows clearly the dramatic effect that the stellar wind variability might have on interstellar measurements. If the O VI $`\lambda `$1038 Galactic feature is detected, the LMC component is not; but even more striking is the absence of any obvious interstellar O VI $`\lambda `$1032 component.

To quantify the influence of the stellar wind variability on the interstellar measurements, we consider three other stars that exhibit large variations in the vicinity of the interstellar O VI $`\lambda `$1032 feature (Table 1 and Fig. 2). Typically, the signal-to-noise ratios per resolution element lie between 15 and 30 for these spectra. We have fitted the apparent stellar continuum of each observation independently; i.e., we did not fit the continua with a preconceived notion based on the other spectrum. For that reason, the chosen continua look different between panels in Fig. 2. The criterion to define the continuum was that the O VI $`\lambda `$1032 full width (FW) should not be larger than about $`[70,+70]`$ $`\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1`$ for the Galactic stars (Savage et al., 2000), while for the LMC it should be approximately in the range of $`[80,+350]`$ $`\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1`$ (Howk, priv. comm., 2001), with small scatter from one sightline to another. The O VI $`\lambda `$1032 line is also bracketed by two H2 lines, $`(60)`$ $`P(3)`$ $`\lambda `$1031.19 and $`R(4)`$ $`\lambda `$1032.35, which often complicate continuum placement. Although a detailed H2 model based on all the transitions in the FUSE bandpass could in principle constrain the influence of these lines on the local continuum, for this study we have simply interpolated over them. Moreover, if the interstellar O VI $`\lambda `$1038 feature is resolved, it should always be compared to O VI $`\lambda `$1032, though generally O VI $`\lambda `$1038 is very difficult to discern due to blending with C II, C II\*, and H2; this is the case for all the stars discussed here. The continuum was fitted by a Legendre polynomial of degree $`d`$ (see Table 1). Fig. 2 shows very complex profiles and therefore the order of the polynomial to fit the continuum needed to be relatively large. Once the continuum was considered satisfactory, the equivalent width and column density were calculated by directly integrating the O VI $`\lambda `$1032 intensity and apparent column density, $`N_a(v)3.768\times 10^{14}\tau _a(v)/[f\lambda _0(\mathrm{\AA })]`$ (Savage & Sembach, 1991) where $`f=0.132`$ and $`\lambda _0=1031.926`$. The results are given in Table 1. The statistical errors and errors on continuum placement, presented in Table 1, were obtained following the method outlined by Sembach & Savage (1992). The continuum placement errors are comparable to or larger than the statistical errors and do not reflect systematic differences that result from different choices for the wavelength intervals defining the (unknown) location of the true continuum.

For the two Galactic stars, there is good agreement between the absolute measurements of the interstellar O VI features, though the 1$`\sigma `$ errors can be quite large (see Table 1). However, even though the H2 $`P(3)`$ and O VI features are similar for both the normalizations illustrated in Fig. 2, the depth of the H2 $`R(4)`$ line is quite different, which suggests that the continuum is not well defined on the red side. The discrepancy is particularly obvious in the case of HD 168941. For HD 97913, the two normalized profiles have noticeable differences, even though the measured equivalent widths agree within the uncertainties. For this star, we did not account properly for the Cl I feature; this also explains why the H2 $`P(3)`$ line appears to be overnormalized. The situation was even worse for the second observation and therefore we concentrated on a smaller part of the spectrum. The sightline toward the LMC star Sk $`67^{}191`$ shows large discrepancies depending on which normalization is adopted, so that the resultant equivalent widths do not agree within the estimated $`1\sigma `$ uncertainties.

## 3 Discussion

Stellar wind variability can have serious consequences for interstellar O VI studies: (1) In some instances, it can make the interstellar O VI identification very difficult (see Fig. 1). (2) It complicates significantly the stellar continuum placement which increases the uncertainty in determining the interstellar line strength, or even gives erroneous results in situations where multiple interstellar components produce broad features. Since the interstellar O VI FW toward LMC stars is typically about three times that observed in Galactic stars, analysis of LMC sightlines are particularly susceptible to these uncertainties. While this study shows that stellar wind variability is generally negligible for studies of interstellar O VI along sightlines toward Galactic OB-type stars, systematic errors in continuum placement can remain large for complicated continua. Modeling of stellar wind profiles could in principle help to constrain the shape of the local continuum, but at present the fits are uncertain for Galactic stars (due mainly to the H2 contamination), and moreover, do not yet incorporate time-dependent behavior in a self-consistent way. However, since these cases show wind variations very close to the interstellar O VI $`\lambda `$1032 line, they should be considered as “worst case” scenarios. Preliminary results from our mini-survey for O VI variability (Lehner et al. 2001, in prep.) indicate that at least $``$60$`\%`$ of our sample exhibits O VI wind variability; but less than $``$30$`\%`$ (14/50) of the total sample exhibits variations in the region of the interstellar features, i.e., $`600<v<600`$ $`\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1`$, at the time of the survey. The relevant velocity ranges are defined by the separations between the O VI doublet and O VI $`\lambda `$1032 and H I Ly $`\beta `$, 1654 and 1805 $`\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1`$, respectively. For 10 of these 14 stars, the terminal velocity ($`v_{\mathrm{}}`$) is known: 7/10 have roughly $`1665v_{\mathrm{}}2135`$ $`\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1`$, while 3/10 have lower $`v_{\mathrm{}}`$ and can blend with high velocity interstellar components.

Although the nature of the stellar wind variations cannot be determined from the mini-survey, they are likely related to the discrete absorption components (DACs) that are commonly observed in the wind lines of hot stars (Prinja, 1998). DACs are particularly strong near $`v_{\mathrm{}}`$. When $`v_{\mathrm{}}1650`$ $`\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1`$, the interstellar measurement will not be affected by DACs (provided that $`v_{\mathrm{ISM}}`$ is not much greater than 0 $`\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1`$). But when $`v_{\mathrm{}}1650`$ $`\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1`$, contamination by DACs is possible. When $`v_{\mathrm{}}1650`$ $`\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1`$, the effect of the DACs on the local continuum is much less, since they change during their blueward motion from broad, weak features to a deep, sharp one near $`v_{\mathrm{}}`$ (Prinja, 1998), assuming that O VI DACs behave as for the other ions. It is also important to note that the separation between O VI $`\lambda `$1032 and the edge of the strongly saturated part of H I Ly $`\beta `$ can be $`1800`$ $`\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1`$, and therefore information from the DACs in O VI $`\lambda `$1032 can be lost. Fig. 3 shows the blueward motion of a DAC in the wind of the Galactic star HD 91597. Three other sightlines presented here show an absorption feature on the red side of O VI $`\lambda `$1032 (see Figs. 1 & 2). In the more extended sample that will appear in our later paper, only one case has a FW comparable to a Galactic interstellar O VI line, while all others have typically $`200\mathrm{FW}400`$ $`\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1`$. Although we are not able to quantify further the effects of DACs from short time series of many different objects, it is clear that their presence in O VI wind profiles can complicate continuum placement (see Fig. 2) and in the worst case situations even produce erroneous measurements.

We thank Chris Howk and Dave Bowen for insightful comments on an early draft of this Letter, and Don York for initially suggesting a study to gauge the impact of stellar variability on measurements of interstellar O VI absorption. This work is based on data obtained for the Guaranteed Time Team by the NASA-CNES-CSA FUSE mission operated by the Johns Hopkins University. Financial support to U. S. participants has been provided by NASA contract NAS5-32985.

Top: FUSE spectra of Sk $`69^{}124`$ in the vicinity of O VI obtained at two times separated by 62 days. The rest wavelength and $`v_{\mathrm{}}`$ are indicated for the O VI doublet by horizontal bars. The observed differences between $``$1027 and 1035 Å are due to wind variability from both components of the doublet. The horizontal thick dotted line shows where the Galactic and LMC interstellar components would be expected. Bottom: Ratio of the fluxes plotted in the rest frame velocity of each component of the doublet. Note that while the wind variability does not affect the interstellar O VI $`\lambda 1038`$ feature, the middle diagram shows clearly how the high velocity O VI $`\lambda 1038`$ wind variability can interact with the interstellar O VI $`\lambda 1032`$ feature. The dotted line indicates $`v_{\mathrm{}}`$, while the extent of the variation is shown by the solid thick vertical lines. Error bars show the typical $`1\sigma `$ error in the flux (top) or flux ratio (bottom). The positions of strong airglow lines due to H I and O I emission are indicated in both panels. Note that while the wind variability does not affect the interstellar O VI $`\lambda 1038`$ feature, the middle diagram shows clearly how the high velocity O VI $`\lambda 1038`$ wind variability can interact with the interstellar O VI $`\lambda 1032`$ feature. The dotted line indicates $`v_{\mathrm{}}`$, while the extent of the variation is shown by the solid thick vertical lines. Error bars show the typical $`1\sigma `$ error in the flux (top) or flux ratio (bottom). The positions of strong airglow lines due to H I and O I emission are indicated in both panels.


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# 1 Introduction

## 1 Introduction

With the naturalness argument, the latest electroweak data that suggest a light Higgs make supersymmetry the most probable candidate for New Physics especially as it can also solve the dark matter problem. In most scenarios the lightest supersymmetric particle is a neutral, stable, weakly interacting particle: the neutralino LSP. Current limits on both the Higgs and the neutralino in a general SUSY model are such that it is kinematically possible for the Higgs to decay into the lightest neutralino. If the decay rate is substantial the Higgs will be mainly invisible, while its usual branching ratios will be dramatically reduced preventing a detection in the much studied channels at the LHC and the Tevatron. Some theoretical studies have addressed the issue of how to hunt an invisibly decaying Higgs at a hadronic machine, with optimistic conclusions especially in the case of the LHC. At the Tevatron requiring a $`5\sigma `$ discovery of an invisible Higgs with as much as $`100\%`$ branching into invisibles, $`\mathrm{BR}_{\mathrm{inv}}`$, will need more than $`30fb^1`$ for a Higgs mass consistent with the direct limit from LEP. Therefore the prospect for the detection of an invisibly decaying Higgs at the Tevatron seems dim. As for the LHC it has been suggested to use $`WH/ZH`$ production which could be efficient if $`\mathrm{BR}_{\mathrm{inv}}>25\%`$ with a luminosity of $`100fb^1`$, while $`t\overline{t}h`$ would require $`\mathrm{BR}_{\mathrm{inv}}>60\%`$. Both these studies should be updated and are in need of a full simulation. A recent suggestion has been to exploit the $`W`$ fusion process. The results for the latter are quite promising since for a luminosity of $`100fb^1`$ a branching ratio into invisibles as low as $`5\%`$ is enough for Higgs discovery. It rests that a full simulation that should tackle the issue of trigger is needed, before one draws definite conclusions. The aim of the present study is to find out how large the branching ratio into neutralinos can be, taking into account the present data and also what accompanying SUSY phenomenology, if any, should we be prepared to look for in such eventuality. This letter is an update and an extension of a comprehensive study we have made recently. Since we will be dealing with a rather light SUSY spectrum we will here also include a discussion about the latest limit on the muon $`g2`$ from the E821 experiment and whether the scenarios we are considering help account for the reported discrepancy with the $`𝒮`$value.

Our starting point is to find out under which conditions a large invisible width of the Higgs due to neutralinos is possible. The width of the lightest Higgs to the lightest neutralinos writes

$`\mathrm{\Gamma }(h\stackrel{~}{\chi }_1^0\stackrel{~}{\chi }_1^0)`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{G_FM_Wm_h}{2\sqrt{2}\pi }}(14m_{\stackrel{~}{\chi }_1^0}^2/m_h^2)^{3/2}|C_{h\stackrel{~}{\chi }_1^0\stackrel{~}{\chi }_1^0}|^2`$
$`\mathrm{where}C_{h\stackrel{~}{\chi }_1^0\stackrel{~}{\chi }_1^0}`$ $`=`$ $`(O_{12}^N\mathrm{tan}\theta _WO_{11}^N)(\mathrm{sin}\alpha O_{13}^N+\mathrm{cos}\alpha O_{14}^N)`$ (1)
$``$ $`(O_{12}^N\mathrm{tan}\theta _WO_{11}^N)(\mathrm{sin}\beta O_{14}^N\mathrm{cos}\beta O_{13}^N)\mathrm{for}M_AM_Z`$
$`O_{ij}^N`$ are the elements of the orthogonal (we assume $`𝒞𝒫`$conservation) matrix which diagonalizes the neutralino mass matrix (for convention and definition, see ) . $`\alpha `$ is the angle that enters the diagonalization of the $`𝒞𝒫`$-even neutral Higgses which in the decoupling limit (large $`M_A`$ and ignoring radiative corrections) is trivially related to the angle $`\beta `$. $`|O_{1j}^N|^2`$ defines the composition of the lightest neutralino $`\stackrel{~}{\chi }_1^0`$. $`j=1`$ defines the bino component, $`j=2`$ the wino, while $`j=3,4`$ give the Higgsino component. It is clear then, apart from phase space, that the LSP has to be a mixture of gaugino and higgsino in order to have a large enough coupling to the Higgs. Since the lightest MSSM Higgs mass can not exceed $`135`$GeV, one must require the LSP to be lighter than about $`65`$GeV. This puts rather strict constraints on $`M_2`$ and $`\mu `$, since these parameters also define the chargino masses whose limit is about $`103`$GeV, almost independently of any other SUSY parameter. Thus one needs $`M_1`$ to be small enough so that it sets the mass of the neutralino which will then be, to a large degree, a bino. However one can not make $`\mu `$ too small either, otherwise one washes out any higgsino component which is essential to get enough mixing for the neutralino to couple to the Higgs. The fact that one tries to make $`\mu `$ as small as possible means that large mixings entail also light charginos and neutralinos NLSP not far above the present experimental limit. One also finds  that positive $`\mu `$ values are preferred. One would think that by taking larger values of $`\mathrm{tan}\beta `$ one would make the Higgs mass higher which will allow more phase space for the invisible decay. However, we find  that the LSP masses increase even faster and their coupling to the Higgs gets smaller with increasing $`\mathrm{tan}\beta `$. Therefore the largest effects for the invisible Higgs occur for moderate $`\mathrm{tan}\beta `$.

Most collider constraints on the neutralino refer to the so-called gaugino unification condition $`M_1=\frac{5}{3}\mathrm{tan}^2\theta _WM_2M_2/2`$. In this case the limit on the lightest neutralino is set by the chargino which in turn leaves very little room for an appreciable Higgs decay into invisible neutralinos. In our previous paper we found that, for such models, this branching is never above $`20\%`$ and thus does not endanger the searches in the conventional channels. Previously we had concentrated on the case $`M_1=M_2/10`$ valid at the electroweak scale and allowed $`M_2`$ and $`\mu `$ to vary. Though the value of $`M_1`$ with respect to $`\mu `$ was not optimised, substantial branching into invisible was found. In the present analysis we seek a larger higgsino-gaugino mixing and instead of $`M_1=M_2/10`$ we also study $`M_1=M_2/5`$, at the electroweak scale, in detail. We thus also allow for larger LSP masses which, as we will see, lead to some quite interesting novel features especially as concerns cosmological considerations. We will also investigate which range of $`M_1`$, independently of $`M_2`$ and $`\mu `$, give the largest invisible branching ratio.

## 2 MSSM models for an invisible Higgs and constraints

Our scenario requires as large a Higgs mass as possible without making $`\mathrm{tan}\beta `$too large. We will then only consider the MSSM in the decoupling limit with $`M_A1`$TeV and choose large enough stop masses ($`m_{\stackrel{~}{t}}=`$1TeV) and large mixing ($`A_t=2.4`$TeV). With $`\mathrm{tan}\beta >5`$, we could essentially consider the Higgs mass as a free parameter. We have imposed $`m_h>113`$GeV and with our parameters we have $`m_h=125`$GeV ($`128`$GeV) for $`\mathrm{tan}\beta =5`$(10).

The limits on $`M_1,M_2,\mu `$, the key ingredients for this analysis, are set from the chargino mass limit at LEP2, $`m_{\chi _1^\pm }>103`$GeV. This bound can be slightly relaxed depending on $`\mathrm{tan}\beta `$ and the sneutrino mass, however we prefer to take the strongest constraint so that our results are more robust. The cross section into neutralinos at LEP2, $`\sigma (e^+e^{}\stackrel{~}{\chi }_1^0\stackrel{~}{\chi }_2^0+\stackrel{~}{\chi }_1^0\stackrel{~}{\chi }_3^0)`$ could in principle also help reduce the parameter space for these non-unified gaugino mass models. The neutralino cross section constraint, as opposed to the chargino mass limit, depends crucially on the higgsino content of the produced neutralinos, as well as on the mass of the selectron and the decay pattern. We impose $`\sigma (e^+e^{}\stackrel{~}{\chi }_1^0\stackrel{~}{\chi }_2^0+\stackrel{~}{\chi }_1^0\stackrel{~}{\chi }_3^0E/\mu ^+\mu ^{})<.1pb`$, for $`\sqrt{s}=208`$GeV. Our formulae for the branching ratios of the heavier neutralinos include all two and three body decays. For the parameters we have studied we find, in fact, that this constraint does not overcome the chargino mass limit. We have also imposed the limits on the invisible width of the $`Z`$:

$`\mathrm{\Gamma }_{\mathrm{inv}}^Z\mathrm{\Gamma }(Z\stackrel{~}{\chi }_1^0\stackrel{~}{\chi }_1^0)<3MeV`$ (2)
We will also take $`m_{\stackrel{~}{l}}>96`$GeV, for all sleptons $`\stackrel{~}{l}`$, even though the limit on the lightest stau is slightly lower.

Scenarios with low $`M_1`$ that have very light neutralino LSP into which the Higgs can decay, suppressing quite strongly its visible modes, can contribute quite substantially to the relic density $`\mathrm{\Omega }h^2`$, if all sfermions are heavy. Indeed, in the models we are considering the LSP is mainly (but not totally) a bino. Since it is rather light the annihilation channels are into the light fermions and therefore the largest contributions are from processes involving “right-handed” sleptons. This is because the latter have the largest hypercharge. In this case the relic density may be approximated as $`\mathrm{\Omega }h^210^3m_{\stackrel{~}{l}_R}^4/m_{\stackrel{~}{\chi }_1^0}^2`$ (all masses in GeV) which shows how the strong constraint on $`m_{\stackrel{~}{l}_R}`$ rapidly sets in. However this limit can become irrelevant in the models we consider. Interestingly, allowing larger neutralino masses than in our previous analysis, annihilation through the $`Z`$ pole, $`\stackrel{~}{\chi }_1^0\stackrel{~}{\chi }_1^0Z`$, can become very effective. The above formula for the relic density no longer holds then. We use a new code for the calculation of the relic density that tackles all $`s`$-channels poles, threshold effects and includes all co-annihilations channels (including slepton, neutralino and chargino co-annihilations). The program extracts all exact matrix elements (for about 500 processes) from CompHEP and is linked to HDECAY and FeynHiggs for the Higgs sector. When possible, checks against DarkSUSY have been performed. The agreement is generally quite good. In the last few years constraints on the cosmological parameters that enter the calculation of the relic density have improved substantially. Various observations suggest to take as a benchmark $`\mathrm{\Omega }h^2<.3`$ where we identify $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ with the fraction of the critical energy density provided by neutralinos. $`h`$ is the Hubble constant in units of 100 km sec-1 Mpc-1. This constraint is consistent with limits on the age of the Universe, the measurements of the lower multipole moment power spectrum from CMB data and the determination of $`\mathrm{\Omega }_{\mathrm{matter}}`$ from rich clusters, see  for reviews. It also, independently, supports data from type Ia supernovae indicative for a cosmological constant. Note that it is not essential to impose the lower bound $`\mathrm{\Omega }h^2>.1`$. A lower value of $`\mathrm{\Omega }h^2`$ would mean that one needs other form of dark matter than the SUSY models one is considering. Our bound $`\mathrm{\Omega }h^2<.3`$ can be considered as quite conservative in view of the latest CMB data from BOOMERANG, MAXIMA and Dasi. The latter extracts $`\mathrm{\Omega }h^2=.14\pm \mathrm{\hspace{0.33em}.04}`$ almost independently of the choice of a “prior” on $`h`$ and thus the $`2\sigma `$ upper bound is $`.22`$. This is also consistent with the latest BOOMERANG data with a very weak “prior” on $`h`$, $`.45<h<.9`$ and the requirement of an Universe older than $`10`$Gyr. Combining this with stronger priors including type Ia supernovae and analysis of Large Scale Structure (LSS) together with the theoretical bias $`\mathrm{\Omega }_{\mathrm{tot}}=1`$, gives the rather precise constraint $`\mathrm{\Omega }h^2=.13\pm \mathrm{\hspace{0.33em}.01}`$, which at $`2\sigma `$ would only allow $`\mathrm{\Omega }h^2<.15`$ for any SUSY contribution. Although one should be cautious at this stage about using such a strict bound considering that some of the cosmological parameters are still subject to fluctuations, we will comment briefly on how our results change if one takes this strict constraint at face value.

For the calculation of the relic density one needs a model for the SUSY masses. We assumed all squarks to be heavy. In any case squarks compared to “right sleptons” do not contribute much to the annihilation cross section for a bino LSP. On the other hand heavy squarks, especially stops would be required in order to get a heavy enough light Higgs. A simple model would be to take a common scalar mass $`m_0`$ (defined at the GUT scale) for the SUSY breaking sfermion mass terms of both left and right sleptons of all three generations. As for the gaugino masses, to obtain $`M_1=rM_2`$ at the electroweak scale one needs $`\overline{M}_12r\overline{M}_2`$ at the GUT scale. $`\overline{M}_2`$ is the $`SU(2)`$ gaugino mass at the GUT scale which again relates to $`M_2`$ at the electroweak scale as $`M_20.825\overline{M}_2`$. For $`r<1/3`$ or so, this scheme leads to almost no running of the right slepton mass, since the contribution from the running is of order $`M_1^2`$, while left sleptons have an added $`M_2^2`$ contribution and would then be “much heavier”. Indeed, neglecting Yukawa couplings one may write, with $`M_1=rM_2`$ at the electroweak scale

$`m_{\stackrel{~}{e}_R}^2`$ $`=`$ $`m_0^2+\mathrm{\hspace{0.33em}.88}r^2M_2^2\mathrm{sin}^2\theta _WD_z`$
$`m_{\stackrel{~}{e}_L}^2`$ $`=`$ $`m_0^2+(0.72+.22r^2)M_2^2(.5\mathrm{sin}^2\theta _W)D_z`$
$`m_{\stackrel{~}{\nu _e}}^2`$ $`=`$ $`m_0^2+(0.72+.22r^2)M_2^2+D_z/2\mathrm{with}`$
$`D_z`$ $`=`$ $`M_Z^2\mathrm{cos}(2\beta )`$ (3)
Note that squarks can be made much heavier than the sleptons even by taking the same common scalar mass since they receive a large contribution from the SU(3) gaugino mass. Of course, to allow for a low $`\mu `$ in this scenario one needs to appropriately choose the soft SUSY Higgs scalar masses at high scale. It is important to stress that the kind of models we investigate in this letter are quite plausible. The GUT-scale relation which equates all the gaugino masses at high scale need not be valid in a more general scheme of SUSY breaking. In fact even within SUGRA this relation need not necessarily hold since it requires the kinetic terms for the gauge superfields to be the most simple and minimal possible (diagonal and equal). One can easily arrange for a departure from equality by allowing for more general forms for the kinetic terms. Within $`SU(5)`$ this occurs when the auxiliary component of a superfield transforms as a 24 dimensional representation. In this case one gets $`M_1=M_2/6`$, at the electroweak scale, but $`M_3=2M_2`$. In superstring models, although dilaton dominated manifestations lead to universal gaugino masses, moduli-dominated or a mixture of moduli and dilaton fields lead also to non universality of the gaugino masses and may or may not (multi-modulii) lead to universal scalar masses. The so-called anomaly-mediated SUSY breaking mechanisms are also characterised by non-universal gaugino masses, though most models in the literature lead rather to $`r>1`$ which is irrelevant for the Higgs search.

Since the model requires light charginos and since dark matter argument may force us to also consider light sleptons one should inquire whether these scenarios may account for the latest $`g2`$ results from the E821 experiment at Brookhaven. First, as stressed in our previous analyses models that lead to the largest branching into invisibles have $`\mu >0`$, which is preferred by $`g2`$. Though large $`\mathrm{tan}\beta `$values do give a larger $`g2`$ they do not give as large branching into invisibles. Moderate $`\mathrm{tan}\beta `$that give a large invisible Higgs decay should also have light sleptons to account for $`g2`$. We will discuss the situation by imposing the $`2\sigma `$ limit, $`\mathrm{1.1\hspace{0.33em}10}^9<a_\mu ^{\mathrm{susy}}<\mathrm{7.5\hspace{0.33em}10}^9`$, on $`g2`$ as well as what remains when one does not take into account the observed discrepancy in the measurement of $`g2`$. Our calculation of $`g2`$, which we have checked against some of the computations in the extensive literature, includes also the effect of $`A_\mu `$, the tri-linear soft-Susy breaking parameter in the smuon sector. However all of our discussion refers to the situation with $`A_\mu =0`$. We have checked that especially in the regions that lead to the largest branching into invisibles, the results are not much dependent on $`A_\mu `$.

Fig. 1 shows the allowed parameter space in the $`M_2,\mu `$ plane with $`\mathrm{tan}\beta =5`$ and $`M_1=M_2/5`$ for four different values of $`m_0`$. To a good approximation $`m_0`$ can be identified with the “right slepton” mass. The chargino mass limit from LEP2 is delimited by a line. It does not depend on $`m_0`$. The direct LEP2 limits, expectedly, cut on the lowest $`\mu ,M_2`$ region. This is in contrast to the relic density requirement which depend sensitively on $`m_0`$. We delineate three regions set by the relic density:a) the overclosure region $`\mathrm{\Omega }h^2>.3`$ which we consider as being definitely ruled out, b) $`.1<\mathrm{\Omega }h^2<.3`$ which is the preferred region and c) $`\mathrm{\Omega }h^2<.1`$ where there is simply not enough susy dark matter. As $`m_0`$ increases the allowed region for the relic density shrinks. These remaining allowed regions correspond essentially to the pole annihilation $`\stackrel{~}{\chi }_1^0\stackrel{~}{\chi }_1^0Z`$. Also shown is the line corresponding to the lower $`2\sigma `$ limit on the $`g2`$, which becomes also more constraining as $`m_0`$ increases. To compensate for the increase in $`m_0`$, smaller combinations of $`\mu M_2`$ corresponding to lighter charginos in the loop are picked up. It is worth stressing that the $`g2`$ measurement constrains regions with large $`\mu M_2`$ values especially for large $`m_0`$, but these regions as, we will see, do not correspond to the largest branching ratio into invisibles. Note that, especially for this somewhat low value of $`\mathrm{tan}\beta `$, we never find large contributions to $`g2`$. In fact if one slightly relaxes the $`g2`$ limit by requiring $`a_\mu >0`$, one has for the parameters of interest no constraint from $`g2`$. On the other hand, had we imposed, for $`\mathrm{tan}\beta =5`$, that the SUSY contribution be within $`1\sigma `$ we would not have found a solution, apart from a tiny “hole” at low $`m_0=100`$GeV. Finally, we note that $`bs\gamma `$ is irrelevant since the squarks and gluinos are assumed heavy and that we are choosing $`\mu >0`$ anyway.

## 3 Results

The branching ratio into invisible due to neutralinos will be denoted by $`B_{\chi \chi }`$. The opening up of this channel will not have any effect on any of the Higgs production mechanisms. This is in contrast to other SUSY effects on the production and decay of the Higgs, like those due to a light stop, see for instance . Thus the Higgs discovery significances of the different channels at the LHC (and the Tevatron) are only affected by the reduction in the branching ratio into $`b\overline{b}`$ and $`\gamma \gamma `$. We define $`R_{bb}`$ as the reduction factor of the branching ratio of $`hb\overline{b}`$ due to invisible compared to the same branching ratio of a standard model Higgs with the same Higgs mass:

$`R_{bb}={\displaystyle \frac{BR^{SUSY}(hb\overline{b})}{BR^{SM}(hb\overline{b})}}`$ (4)
Likewise we define $`R_{\gamma \gamma }`$ for the branching ratio into $`\gamma \gamma `$. Since in the absence of light neutralinos the width of the Higgs is dominated by that into $`b\overline{b}`$, one has roughly

$`R_{bb}R_{\gamma \gamma }1B_{\chi \chi }`$ (5)
This is well supported by our full analysis and therefore we will refrain from showing simultaneously the behaviour of all these three observables .

We take a scenario with $`\mathrm{tan}\beta =5`$ and $`M_1=M_2/5`$ and scan over $`\mu ,M_2,m_0`$ (defined in Eq. 2) with $`70<m_0<300`$GeV, $`100<M_2<350`$GeV and $`150<\mu <500`$GeV. We see, in Fig. 2, that indeed the largest drop in $`R_{\gamma \gamma }`$ is for the lowest allowed value of $`\mu `$, which as argued earlier maximises the higgsino component. The second panel of the figure shows that even after putting the $`g2`$ constraint, a large fraction of the parameter space is compatible with the relic density constraint, many models giving even just the needed amount of dark matter, $`.1.3`$. One also sees that large values of slepton masses are still compatible with dark matter and lead to large drops in the channels with visible signatures. As the figure clearly shows this is due to the efficient annihilation at the $`Z`$ pole. We also show (second panel), that imposing the strict bound suggested by BOOMERANG, $`\mathrm{\Omega }h^2<.15`$, still allows values of $`B_{\chi \chi }`$ as large as about $`70\%`$. Fig. 3 shows the different contours in the $`M_2\mu `$ plane of $`B_{\chi \chi }`$ together with the constraint from the relic density and $`g2`$. We see that, even after taking all these constraints, we still find large branching ratio of the lightest SUSY Higgs into neutralinos and we confirm that the largest branchings correspond to the smallest $`\mu `$ values which are not terribly constrained by dark matter and $`g2`$. Insisting on explaining the $`g2`$ value at $`1\sigma `$ for $`m_0=100`$GeV selects a tiny region corresponding to $`B_{\chi \chi }`$ in the range $`.4.6`$. It is also worth stressing that even in these general models, the branching ratio into invisible is never larger than $`70\%`$.

For completeness we have also redone the same analysis but with $`\mathrm{tan}\beta =10`$. As expected the largest $`B_{\chi \chi }`$ is more modest than for a lower $`\mathrm{tan}\beta `$ and is found to be $`45\%`$ at most, as shown in Fig. 4. This corresponds to $`R_{\gamma \gamma }>.5`$, which means that with enough luminosity, $`300fb^1`$ at the LHC, one should see the $`2\gamma `$ signal.

We have also searched, by making a large scan over $`M_1,M_2,\mu `$ and $`m_0`$, but for fixed $`\mathrm{tan}\beta =5`$, which minimum value of $`M_1`$ one can entertain given our assumption for the slepton spectrum. Here $`M_1`$ was varied in the range $`10<M_1<100`$GeV. We find that, in order not to have too large a relic density, one can not have values of $`M_1`$ below $`20`$GeV independently of $`M_2`$ and $`\mu `$, as seen in Fig. 5. This is not a value that gives the largest branching into invisibles since considering the limit on $`\mu `$, the mixing is not as strong as with a value of $`M_1`$ around $`4050`$GeV. Higher values of $`M_1`$ ($`M_1>65`$GeV) are safe since the LSP mass turns out to be too large for the Higgs to decay invisibly. Note that values of $`M_14050`$GeV within the gaugino masses unification assumption correspond to $`M_2100`$GeV. As we can see from the first panel of Fig. 1, such “low” $`M_2`$ values can only be compatible with the LEP2 limit on the chargino mass for a large $`\mu `$ around $`400500`$GeV. For such high $`\mu `$ there is not enough higgsino component in the LSP. Lower $`\mu `$ values require $`M_2>180`$GeV, ($`M_1>90`$GeV) leaving no phase space for the invisible decay of the Higgs. We thus see how useful it is once again to disconnect $`M_1`$ from $`M_2`$.

To conclude we have found that there are still regions of parameter space that give a substantial branching fraction of the lightest SUSY Higgs into invisibles that can account both for the discrepancy in the $`g2`$ value and for the dark matter in the universe. We also find that these scenarios do not always require a very light slepton since we can obtain an acceptable amount of LSP relic density through an efficient annihilation at the $`Z`$ pole. However scenarios with the largest branching ratio into LSP do entail that the lightest chargino and at the least the next LSP are light enough that they could be produced at the Tevatron. The phenomenology at the Tevatron should somehow be similar to the Sugra $`SU(5)`$ based “24-model” mentioned above and which was studied in . Among other things, due to the fact that one has a larger splitting between the LSP and the NLSP, as compared to the usual unified scenario, one expects an excess of events containing many isolated leptons originating, for example, from a real $`Z`$ coming from the decay of the NLSP. However to make definite statements about observability of these states at the Tevatron requires a thorough simulation. Recently it has also been pointed out that models with light sleptons and charginos of a mixed nature (as are required in our analysis to obtain a large branching into invisibles) apart from helping give a “good” $`g2`$ at not so large $`\mathrm{tan}\beta `$ can also help improve the $`\chi ^2`$ fits of the electroweak data. It is therefore important to study in detail phenomenological models out of the mSUGRA paradigm.

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Sasha Pukhov for his collaboration in the code for the relic density calculation based on CompHEP matrix elements. We also acknowledge a helpful discussion with Fiorenza Donato regarding the latest BOOMERANG results. We have also benefited from comments and discussions with the participants of the Higgs and BSM Working Groups at the Les Houches 2001 Workshop on Physics at TeV Colliders. R.G. acknowledges the hospitality of LAPTH where this work was initiated. This work is done under partial financial support of the Indo-French Collaboration IFCPAR-1701-1 Collider Physics.


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# The white dwarf revealed in the intermediate polar V709 Cassiopeiae. Based on data collected at the Haute-Provence Observatory OHP (France)

## 1 Introduction

Cataclysmic Variables (CVs) consist of a white dwarf accreting matter from a low mass companion filling its Roche lobe which, in some cases, can be an evolved secondary. Among them, polars and intermediate polars, or magnetic CVs, are a sub-class where the magnetic field of the white dwarf strongly affects the mass flow within the binary system (see reviews by Cropper 1990 and Patterson 1994). In polars (also called AM Her stars), the field is strong enough to lock the white dwarf spin in synchrony with the orbit and to control the flow into an accretion column. In Intermediate Polars (IP, previously DQ Her stars), the field is thought to be weaker, leading to a desynchronisation with a white dwarf spin faster than the orbit. The accretion may then take place either through an accretion disc (disk-fed), or directly from the inner Lagrangian point (diskless) or via a combination of both (overflow-disk) (see review by Patterson 1994). Since CVs are interacting binary systems, their emission from the X-rays to the infrared is generally totally dominated by the release of the gravitational energy of the accreted matter in a disk and/or an accretion column and not by the emission of the stellar components (white dwarf and low-mass companion). In polars, some hints of the stellar characteristics can however be obtained during the period of low accretion rates which is a typical feature of these systems. During these low states, detected stellar photospheric lines can be used to constrain the temperature and magnetic field of the white dwarf (see Beuermann 1996, Sion 1999) as well as the nature and distance of the companion (see Cropper 1990, Warner 1995a). Possibly due to a different evolutionary stage and to a higher accretion rate, among IPs no such low states are known to exist and therefore very little is known about the stellar characteristics. The only cases where a stellar spectrum has been detected are for the very peculiar long period AE Aqr and GK Per systems where the secondary is an evolved star (Welsh et al. 1993, Reinsch 1994).

The X-ray source RXJ0028.8+5917 was detected in the ROSAT All Sky Survey and identified as an intermediate polar on the basis of its spectral characteristics with a hard X-ray ($``$10 keV) component and a NH $`10^{21}`$ at.cm-2 column density (Haberl & Motch 1995). Further pointed observations by the ROSAT satellite led to the detection of an X-ray pulsation at 312.8 s with a 40$`\%`$ amplitude and a probable identification with coincident catalogued sources from previous different surveys 4U0027+59, 3A0026+593 and 1H0025+588 (Haberl & Motch 1995). Subsequent optical observations identified the source with the mv $``$ 14 variable star, V709 Cas, and line velocity variations reveal two possible orbital periods P = 5.4$`\pm `$0.2 h and P = 4.45$`\pm `$0.15 h (Motch et al. 1996, hereafter M96). Optical oscillations at the X-ray spin period and sideband have also been reported (Kozhevnikov 2001). A ROSAT observation in February 1998 showed a peculiar double-peaked X-ray pulsation with peaks separated by one third of the spin period and the source is suspected to be fed by accretion through a disk seen at low inclination angle and with a relatively weakly magnetized white dwarf (Norton et al. 1999). A more detailed spectral analysis has been provided by recent BeppoSAX and RXTE observations (de Martino et al. 2001a, submitted)

We report here on spectroscopic observations of the intermediate polar RXJ0028.8+5917/V709 Cas, which clearly shows the evidence of broad Balmer absorption lines, superimposed on the usual IP emission line spectrum. These lines are attributed to the white dwarf atmosphere and are used to constrain for the first time the temperature and magnetic field of the white dwarf in an intermediate polar system.

## 2 Observations and Reduction

Spectroscopic observations of V709 Cas were carried out at the 1.93m telescope of the Haute-Provence Observatory (OHP), equipped with the Carelec spectrograph (Lemaitre et al. 1990). A 130 Å/mm grating was used to obtain low resolution (FWHM $``$ 7 Å) spectroscopy over a wide (3600 - 7200 Å) range. Observations of (2-3) hour duration were performed in three consecutive nights and an additional one separated by one day (see Table 1). To avoid interruption in the orbital coverage, wavelength and photometric absolute calibrations were performed at the beginning and end of the run. A careful check for the stability of the wavelength calibration during the run was made, using the strongest sky emission lines present in the spectrum, such as the O \[I\] line ( 5577.34 Å), and small variations were corrected to an accuracy better than 0.1 Å. The standard stars BD +284211 and Feige 110 were used for the photometric calibration on each night but due to variable atmospheric absorption, only the night of Aug. 23 could be used to provide reliable absolute fluxes. To smooth out the influence of a possible modulation with the short ($``$ 5 min) spin period, spectra were accumulated in either 15 min or 20 min exposures. All spectra were corrected for bias, flat-fielded and wavelength calibrated using the standard ESO/MIDAS procedures.

## 3 Analysis and results

### 3.1 The two-component spectrum

A total of 43 spectra were acquired over the 4 nights of observations. The spectra on the different nights are similar to those reported from the first optical observations by M96, showing strong Balmer and HeII( 4686 Å) lines in emission, superimposed on a blue continuum. Figure 1 shows a representative mean spectrum, averaged over one night. Weaker HeI and HeII emission lines are also visible in the figure. The bump in the continuum, visible around 5500 Å , is due to broad variable atmospheric extinction due to ozone, not corrected by the applied standard extinction curve. Absorptions around 6280 Å and 6880 Å are also atmospheric features. Absorption on the red side of HeI ( 5875Å) is most likely due to the NaD doublet. Its origin may be interstellar but it may also reveal a significant contribution from the secondary.

The overall spectrum of V709 Cas is typical of IPs but a more careful inspection of the lines reveals an unusual feature. Beside the presence of an emission component, the Balmer lines show a very significant symmetrical depression on both sides of the emission, suggestive of a broad absorption. This feature is absent in the HeII( 4686 Å) line and the Hα line. The spectra obtained during the different nights all show the same characteristics, though it is slightly more pronounced on Aug. 23. The normalized source spectrum is presented in Fig. 2, which shows more clearly that the most significant absorption is seen at Hγ and Hδ. The feature is less symmetric around Hβ where the blue part of the absorption seems to be filled up.

### 3.2 The orbital period

To take into account the absorption features, the line characteristics (velocities, equivalent widths), have been derived by a fit with a two-gaussian function for emission and absorption, with the adjacent continuum being described by a one degree polynomial. The velocities of the strongest Hα emission line, measured over the 5 day interval, have been used to determine the orbital period. A Fourier transform (FFT) of the velocities was first used to constrain the period. The FFT yields two prominent peaks at periods P = 5.34$`\pm `$0.05 h and P = 4.37$`\pm `$0.06 h with smaller peaks at P = 3.70$`\pm `$0.06 h and P = 6.87$`\pm `$0.06 h, all one day aliases with respect to each other, the errors being determined by the width of the peak at half maximum. The two most significant periods are in accordance with the values reported by M96.

Velocities of the emission lines were then folded with the two most significant periods and fitted with a function V = $`\gamma `$ \+ K.sin\[(2$`\pi `$t/P)-$`\varphi _0`$\] with $`\gamma `$, K, and $`\varphi _0`$ as free parameters, using a $`\chi ^2`$ minimization program. For all lines, the fit is significantly better at P = 5.34 h, so that the main alias period of P = 4.37 h can be securely rejected. For Hα, the reduced $`\chi _r^2`$ value decreases from 9.8 (P = 4.37 h) to 4.0 (P = 5.34 h), corresponding to a significance at a level better than 99%, computed from a F-test. The (O-C) values of the sine blue-to-red crossing times, computed with the trial period of 5.34 h period, were then fitted to yield a best period value of P = (5.341$`\pm `$0.005) h with a corresponding ephemeris as To = HJD2451048.0575(2) + E\*0.2225(2) d, where To is the blue-to-red crossing time of the emission lines.

### 3.3 The line characteristics

Table 2 gives the amplitude (K) and phasing ($`\varphi _0`$) of the different emission lines folded with the above ephemeris. All Balmer lines show velocity curves with similar phasing but with radial velocity amplitudes decreasing through the Balmer series from 103 km.s-1 (Hα) to 77 km.s-1 (Hδ). The HeII( 4686 Å) shows the lowest amplitude at $``$ 76 km.s-1 with a slight shift in phase and a different $`\gamma `$ velocity.

The velocity curves for H$`\alpha `$ and H$`\gamma `$ emission lines are shown in Figure 3. Inspection of the curves reveals a significant dispersion of the points obtained on the different nights. Though the minimum around $`\varphi `$ $``$ 0.75 is relatively well defined, there is a noticeable shift in velocity from one night to another for points at the same phase, in the range $`\varphi `$ $``$(0.3-0.5) and (0.8-1.0). The dispersion from a pure sine curve is also reflected by the high values of the reduced $`\chi _r^2`$ of the fits (Table 2). Using the sky emission lines, we checked that between the different nights the accuracy of the absolute calibration was better than 0.1 Å. The shift in velocity from night to night is of the order of 70 km.s-1 (1.0 Å at Hγ and 1.5 Å at Hα). There is no clear change in the line profiles from night to night but we cannot exclude the existence of some asymmetry in the lines that would be poorly fitted by gaussian curves. Fits of the emission lines with an unique gaussian function yield a similar amount of dispersion, showing that the effect is not due to the existence of the absorption component. The distortion is also present in Hα where no absorption is seen. The influence of the spin period can also be excluded as the exposure times of 20 min and 15 min were chosen to be close multiples of the spin period (3.8 and 2.9 respectively). Possible significances of this dispersion are considered in the discussion.

The velocity of the Hγ absorption component, as deduced from the fits, is also plotted in Figure 3. The measured values are however highly uncertain due to the very shallow and broad nature of the line and no significant radial velocity curve can be derived. An attempt was made to measure the velocity changes with a cross-correlation method, using one of the best S/N spectra as a template. Though somewhat reducing the dispersion of the points, this method also does not reveal any regular variations.

Table 3 gives the measured equivalent widths (EW) and intrinsic widths (FW at half-maximum) of the emission and absorption components. For the Balmer lines where an absorption is measured, the absorption is always very broad (FWHM $``$ 2500-4000 km.s-1) and with an EW nearly comparable to emission, with the exception of Hβ for which the EW is significantly smaller, due to the partial filling of the blue part of the absorption. The intrinsic widths of the absorption component ($``$40-60 Å) are similar to what is observed in a spectrum of a DA white dwarf, with Balmer lines in absorption.

## 4 Discussion

The optical spectrum of V709 Cas , with strong (EW$``$4-18 Å) Balmer and HeII( 4686 Å) emission lines, is typical of IPs. However, it also shows evidence of broad (FWHM$``$40-60 Å) absorptions which were not yet noticed in this source nor in any other IP. Balmer lines in absorption are sometimes seen among classical CVs, mainly in nova-like systems in high states and during dwarf nova eruptions, which suggests that they are formed in an optically thick accretion disk with a high mass transfer (see for instance La Dous 1994, Hessman 1986). Absorption lines have also been observed among dwarf novae in a very few systems where the accretion rate is low, as in GW Lib (Szkody et al. 2000) or with a high inclination, as in OY Car (Hessman et al. 1989). The other known cases are among polars during low states where Balmer absorption lines are clearly seen, significantly split by the Zeeman effect. They are attributed in this case to the atmosphere of a strongly magnetized white dwarf (see Cropper 1990). In the case of V709 Cas, the stability of the optical flux excludes a dwarf nova event and points toward a white dwarf rather than a disk origin. The absence of He absorptions also does not favour a disk origin. The lack of any significant absorption around Hα is indirect evidence that the spectral component responsible for the absorption has a rather steep continuum, contributing significantly only in the blue and becoming negligible in the red part of the spectrum by a dilution effect with the rest of the emission. This is therefore indicative of a hot white dwarf as commonly seen among polars.
We therefore attempted to describe the underlying absorption spectrum, using a grid of WD models with LTE atmospheres (Finley et al. 1997, Koester 2000, private communication). As the contribution of the white dwarf to the overall flux is unknown, we used an indirect method. The temperature-gravity domain was first constrained by comparing the observed intrinsic line widths with the ones predicted from theoretical models. The contribution of the white dwarf to the overall flux was then deduced from the measured EW of the absorption lines.

For the determination of the observed parameters, we use primarily the Hγ measurements as the Hδ line is weaker and the Hβ line seems to be contaminated by side emissions. Figure 4 shows the theoretical FWHM for a grid of LTE models of DA white dwarfs with a temperature ranging from T = 15 000 to 45 000 K and a gravity from log $`g`$ = 7.5 to 8.5. Assuming a gravity of log $`g`$ = 8, the measured FWHM given in Table 3 is consistent with a temperature in the range T = 18 000-30 000 K with a best value at 23 000 K. If one allows for a full range of gravities, the T-log $`g`$ domain is not unambiguously determined and the temperature is only weakly constrained in the range 15 000-35 000 K.

A dilution factor was defined as the ratio of the white dwarf emission to the global continuum flux, $`\alpha `$= Fwd/Fcont. For a continuum flux close to an emission line, $`\alpha `$ is also the ratio EWabs/EWth, where EWabs is the observed EW of the absorption (including dilution) and EWth the theoretical EW value. The dilution factor and hence the contribution of the white dwarf to the global flux can then be evaluated from the line EW. Assuming log $`g`$ = 8, the measured EW of the Hγ line in Table 3 yields a dilution factor of (0.17$`\pm `$0.04) at $``$4500 Å for the range of temperatures determined above. Given the steep energy distribution of the white dwarf, its contribution is significantly lower around Hαwith $`\alpha `$0.06, corresponding to an expected absorption component of EWabs $``$ 1 Å. This is negligible compared to the emission component EWem $``$ 18 Å, therefore explaining the absence of noticeable absorption at Hα.

The comparison of the observed WD flux with the predicted theoretical flux yields then an additional constraint on the Rwd/D ratio shown in Figure 4, where Rwd is the white dwarf radius in units of 109cm and D is the system distance in units of 100 pc. For log $`g`$ = 8.0, Rwd is $``$0.87 109cm for a standard M/R relation (Nauenberg 1972) and, from the range of temperatures (T = 18 000-30 000 K) consistent with the observed FWHM, the system distance is then derived as D = (210-250) pc.

The assumption of an underlying WD spectrum responsible for the observed broad absorption lines leads therefore to a T$``$ 23 000 K white dwarf contributing $``$17% (around 4500 Å) to the overall flux for a system at $``$230pc. These values are quite consistent with what can be expected from a typical IP system. The absence of absorption associated with the He lines suggests a pure DA white dwarf, at the difference of a disk emission where absorption helium lines could be produced. Another interesting feature is the absence of Zeeman splitting, such as is observed in polars during low states. A significant Zeeman splitting is expected and observed in isolated white dwarfs for magnetic fields greater than 6-10 MG (see Achilleos et al. 1991) and is commonly present in polar systems with B fields in the range 10-30 MG. Such components are not detected here for Hβ or Hγ. With the same method as described in Bonnet-Bidaud et al. (2000), synthetic profiles have been built using the Zeeman wavelengths and oscillator strengths tabulated by Kemic (1974). The absorption features expected at the position of the Zeeman components from a magnetic field as low as 3 MG have been compared to the observed spectra. We find in particular that for the lowest tabulated B value of 3 MG, the Hβ $`\sigma `$ components at 4832 Å and 4896 Å are clearly missing. The observations are therefore the first direct indication that, at least in some intermediate polars, the white dwarfs have lower magnetic fields than in polars. A low magnetic field for V709 Cas seems also suggested by the short (312 s) spin period of the system if one assumes that the system is at equilibrium with a spin period corresponding to the Keplerian period at the Alfven radius (see Norton et al. 1999).

The question arises as to why V709 Cas is, so far, the only system among IPs where the white dwarf is seen to contribute significantly to the overall flux so that the atmospheric absorptions become visible. From the deduced best characteristics, there is no indication that the white dwarf is atypical. Its temperature (T$``$ 23 000 K) is similar, though at the upper edge of the values reported for magnetic CVs (Sion 1999). However, the gravity being not fully constrained; the contribution of the white dwarf could be indeed more important if the gravity is somewhat lower. This would imply a larger radius together with a higher temperature, as seen from Figure 4. For log $`g`$ = 7.5, the white dwarf contribution around 4500 Å would be larger by a factor $``$ 3.5 when compared to log $`g`$ = 8.0. This would however also correspond to a rather low mass object ($``$0.34M) with a very peculiar high temperature (T $``$ 35 000 K), the lower limit being at T $``$ 25 000 K from the lower bound of the FWHM values.

A sufficient contrast between the white dwarf and the overall flux could also be obtained if the contributions from the other regions in the system are significantly lower when compared to other intermediate polars. From the residual (total-white dwarf) flux at a distance of $``$230 pc, an absolute magnitude of Mv$``$7.6 is derived, after correction for a visual extinction of AV$``$0.45 corresponding to the NH $`\mathrm{8.7\hspace{0.17em}10}^{20}`$ at.cm-2 column density observed in the X-rays (de Martino et al. 2001a, submitted). If attributed to a disk, and using the crude (Mv-$`\dot{M}`$) relation given in Smak (1989) for face-on blackbody disks, this absolute magnitude would correspond, for a $``$0.6M (log $`g`$ = 8.0) white dwarf, to a $`\dot{M}`$ in the range $`(12)\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}10}^{16}`$ g.s-1, depending on the exact extension of the disk. This is consistent with the range of values $`(0.71.3)\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}10}^{16}`$ g.s-1 derived from the recent X-ray spectral analysis (de Martino et al. 2001a, submitted). If, as suggested from an analysis of the X-ray pulsations (Norton et al. 1999), the disk is seen at a relatively low inclination angle, its luminosity would therefore not be abnormaly low.

However, the possibility of a larger inclination angle cannot yet be excluded. The large dispersion seen in the radial velocity curves (see sect. 3.3) is strongly suggestive of the S-wave line distorsions introduced by a variable hot spot contribution and/or partial eclipses of the line regions found in high inclination systems (see Warner 1995b). There is also some evidence from recent photometric observations of a possible partial disk eclipse (de Martino et al. 2001b, in preparation). We therefore cannot exclude that the important contribution of the white dwarf to the overall flux could be due to a combination of a low gravity white dwarf with a somewhat inclined disk.

Additional observations are also clearly needed to see if the visibility of the white dwarf also depends on the overall accretion rate and luminosity of the source.

Acknowledgments. We are very grateful to D. Koester and N. Dolez for having provided us with detailed catalogues of theoretical white dwarf spectra.


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# Magnetization reversal by uniform rotation (Stoner–Wohlfarth model) in f.c.c. cobalt nanoparticles

## I Generalisation of the Stoner–Wohlfarth model

The model of uniform rotation of magnetisation, developed by Stoner and Wohlfarth  and Néel , is the simplest classical model describing magnetisation reversal. One considers a particle of an ideal magnetic material where exchange energy holds all spins tightly parallel to each other, and the magnetisation magnitude does not depend on space. In this case the exchange energy is constant, and it plays no role in the energy minimisation. Consequently, there is competition only between the anisotropy energy of the particle and the effect of the applied field.

The original model of Stoner and Wohlfarth assumed only uniaxial shape anisotropy with one anisotropy constant—that is, one second-order term. This is sufficient to describe highly symmetric cases like a prolate spheroid of revolution or an infinite cylinder. However, real systems are often quite complex, and the anisotropy is a sum of mainly shape (magnetostatic), magnetocrystalline, magnetoelastic, and surface anisotropy. One additional complication arises because the different contributions of anisotropies are often aligned in an arbitrary way one with respect to each other. All these facts motivated a generalisation of the Stoner–Wohlfarth model for an arbitrary effective anisotropy which was done by Thiaville .

Similar to the Stoner–Wohlfarth model, one supposes that the exchange interaction in the particle couples all the spins strongly together to form a giant spin whose direction is described by the unit vector $`\stackrel{}{m}`$. The only degrees of freedom of the particle’s magnetisation are the two angles of orientation of $`\stackrel{}{m}`$. The reversal of the magnetisation is described by the potential energy

$$E(\stackrel{}{m},\stackrel{}{H})=E_0(\stackrel{}{m})\mu _0VM_\mathrm{s}\stackrel{}{m}.\stackrel{}{H}$$
(1)
where $`V`$ and $`M_s`$ are the magnetic volume and the saturation magnetisation of the particle respectively, $`\stackrel{}{H}`$ is the external magnetic field, and $`E_0(\stackrel{}{m})`$ the magnetic anisotropy energy which is given by

$$E_0(\stackrel{}{m})=E_{\mathrm{shape}}(\stackrel{}{m})+E_{\mathrm{MC}}(\stackrel{}{m})+E_{\mathrm{surface}}(\stackrel{}{m})+E_{\mathrm{ME}}(\stackrel{}{m})$$
(2)
$`E_{\mathrm{shape}}`$ is the magnetostatic energy related to the particle shape. $`E_{\mathrm{MC}}`$ is the magnetocrystalline anisotropy (MC) arising from the coupling of the magnetisation with the crystalline lattice, similar as in bulk. $`E_{\mathrm{surface}}`$ is due to the symmetry breaking and surface strains. In addition, if the particle experiences an external stress, the volumic relaxation inside the particle induces a magnetoelastic (ME) anisotropy energy $`E_{\mathrm{ME}}`$. All these anisotropy energies can be developed in a power series of $`m_x^am_y^bm_z^c`$ with $`p=a+b+c=2,4,6,\mathrm{}`$ giving the order of the anisotropy term. Shape anisotropy can be written as a biaxial anisotropy with two second-order terms. Magnetocrystalline anisotropy is in most cases either uniaxial (hexagonal systems) or cubic, yielding mainly second- and fourth-order terms. Finally, in the simplest case, surface and magnetoelastic anisotropies are of second order.

Thiaville proposed a geometrical method to calculate the particle’s energy and to determine the switching field for all angles of the applied magnetic field yielding the critical surface of switching fields which is analogous to the Stoner–Wohlfarth astroid.

The main interest of Thiaville’s calculation is that measuring the critical surface of the switching field allows one to find the effective anisotropy of the nanoparticle. The knowledge of the latter is important for temperature-dependent studies and quantum tunnelling investigations. Knowing precisely the particle’s shape and the crystallographic axis allows one to determine the different contributions to the effective anisotropy.

## II Uniform Rotation with cubic anisotropy

We have seen in the previous studies  that the magnetic anisotropy is often dominated by second-order anisotropy terms. However, for nearly symmetric shapes, fourth-order terms ***For example, the fourth-order terms of f.c.c. magnetocrystalline anisotropy. can be comparable or even dominant with respect to the second-order terms. Therefore, it is interesting to discuss further the features of fourth order terms. We restrict the discussion to the 2D problem  (see Ref.  for 3D).

The reversal of the magnetisation is described by Eq. (1) that can be rewritten in 2D

$$E(\theta )=E_0(\theta )\mu _0vM_\mathrm{s}(H_x\mathrm{cos}(\theta )+H_y\mathrm{sin}(\theta ))$$
(3)
where $`v`$ and $`M_s`$ are the magnetic volume and the saturation magnetisation of the particle, respectively, $`\theta `$ is the angle between the magnetisation direction and $`x`$, $`H_x`$ and $`H_y`$ are the components of the external magnetic field along $`x`$ and $`y`$, and $`E_0(\theta )`$ is the magnetic anisotropy energy. The conditions of critical fields ($`E/\theta =0`$ and $`E^2/\theta ^2=0`$) yield a parametric form of the locus of switching fields

$`H_x={\displaystyle \frac{1}{2\mu _0vM_\mathrm{s}}}\left(\mathrm{sin}(\theta ){\displaystyle \frac{dE}{d\theta }}+\mathrm{cos}(\theta ){\displaystyle \frac{d^2E}{d\theta ^2}}\right)`$ (4)
$`H_y=+{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2\mu _0vM_\mathrm{s}}}\left(\mathrm{cos}(\theta ){\displaystyle \frac{dE}{d\theta }}\mathrm{sin}(\theta ){\displaystyle \frac{d^2E}{d\theta ^2}}\right)`$ (5)
As an example we study a system with uniaxial shape anisotropy and cubic anisotropy. The total magnetic anisotropy energy can be described by

$$E_0(\theta )=vK_1\mathrm{sin}^2(\theta +\theta _0)+vK_2\mathrm{sin}^2(\theta )\mathrm{cos}^2(\theta )$$
(6)
where $`K_1`$ and $`K_2`$ are anisotropy constants ($`K_1`$ could be a shape anisotropy and $`K_2`$ the cubic crystalline anisotropy of a f.c.c. crystal.) $`\theta _0`$ is a constant which allows to turn one anisotropy contribution with respect to the other one. Fig. 1 displays an example of a critical curve which can easily be calculated from Eqs. (4)–(6). When comparing the standard Stoner–Wohlfarth astroid with Fig. 1, we can realise that the critical curve can cross itself several times. In this case, the switching field of magnetisation depends on the path followed by the applied field. In order to understand this point, let us follow the energy potential \[Eqs. (3) and (6)\] when sweeping the applied field as indicated in Fig. 2. When the field is in A, the energy $`E`$ has two minima and the magnetisation is in the metastable potential well. As the field increases, the metastable well becomes less and less stable. Let us compare two paths, one going along A $``$ B1 $``$ C $``$ D $``$ E, the other over B2 instead of B1. Fig. 3 shows $`E`$ in the vicinity of the metastable well for different field values along the considered paths (the stable potential well is not presented). One can realise that the state of the magnetisation in C depends on the path followed by the field: Going over B1 leads to the magnetisation state in the left metastable well (1), whereas going over B2 leads to the right metastable well (2). The latter path leads to magnetisation switching in D, and the former one leads to a switching in E. Note that a small magnetisation switch happens when reaching B1 or B2. Point I is a supercritical bifurcation.

## III Experimental evidence for magnetisation reversal by uniform rotation

In order to demonstrate experimentally the uniform rotation mode, the angular dependence of the magnetisation reversal has often been studied (see references in Ref. ). However, a comparison of theory with experiment is difficult because magnetic particles often have a nonuniform magnetisation state that is due to rather complicated shapes and surfaces, crystalline defects, and surface anisotropy. In general, for many particle shapes the demagnetisation fields inside the particles are nonuniform leading to nonuniform magnetisation states .

An example are ultrathin magnetic dots with in-plane uniaxial anisotropy showing switching fields that are very close to the Stoner–Wohlfarth model, although magnetic relaxation experiments clearly showed that nucleation volumes are by far smaller than an individual dot volume  being in agreement with calculations . These studies show clearly that switching field measurements as a function of the angles of the applied field cannot be taken unambiguously as a proof of a Stoner–Wohlfarth reversal.

The first clear demonstration of the uniform reversal mode has been found with Co nanoparticles , and BaFeO nanoparticles , the latter having a dominant uniaxial magnetocrystalline anisotropy. The three-dimensional angular dependence of the switching field measured on BaFeO particles of about 20 nm could be explained with the Stoner–Wohlfarth model taking into account the shape anisotropy and hexagonal crystalline anisotropy of BaFeO . This explication were supported by temperature- and time-dependent measurements yielding activation volumes which are very close to the particle volume. More recently, the three-dimensional switching field measurements of individual 3 nm Co nanoparticles showed also the uniform reversal mode with dominant uniaxial magnetocrystalline anisotropy which was dominated by surface anisotropy (particle–matrix interface) .

The study of uniform rotation for particles with dominating cubic anisotropy revealed to be very difficult because nearly all structural defects in particles lead to dominating uniaxial anisotropy. Nevertheless, we could find few particles which were sufficiently ”perfect” in order to show clearly a field path dependence of the switching field (Fig. 1) which is the important signature of strong higher order terms in the potential energy (Eq. (1). The first measurement of such a field path dependence of switching fields were performed on single-domain FeCu nanoparticles of about 15 nm with a cubic crystalline anisotropy and a small arbitrarily oriented shape anisotropy . Here we report on the magnetic study of individual single-domain cobalt nanoparticles encapsulated in a carbon envelope which provides a very efficient protection against oxidation. Our results show an experimental agreement with the simple classical model mentioned above.

### A Synthesis of nanoparticles

The arc-discharge method using two graphite electrodes has initially been developed for the synthesis of fullerenes  and carbon nanotubes  and has been then adapted to the production of endohedral fullerenes and carbon coated nanocrystallites. This technique was used to synthesise the cobalt nanoparticles encapsulated in carbon: the graphite anode was drilled and packed with a mixture of graphite and pure cobalt powders . A plasma was established in the helium atmosphere under the following conditions : 0.6 bar, 25-30 V, 100-105 A dc, during 45 minutes. The deposit formed on the graphite cathode was ground, ultrasonically dispersed in ethanol and put on a holey carbon film for Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM).

The cobalt nanoparticles are very abundant whereas only a few partially filled carbon nanotubes can be found. Most of the nanocrystals have a spherical shape with a diameter ranging from 5 to 30 nm (Fig. 4). All the particles are coated by carbon. For particles smaller than 10 nm in diameter, the carbon coating is amorphous whereas large particles are encapsulated in graphitic cages and their shape is more polyhedral. Most of the particles have only 3 or 4 graphitic sheets stacked parallel to their surface and are surrounded with amorphous carbon. No void has been observed between the crystallite and the carbon envelope which avoids the oxidation on the surface of the particles that could dramatically affect the magnetic properties.

The crystallites are pure cobalt and have a face-centered cubic (f.c.c.) structure according to the electron diffraction patterns obtained from assemblies of particles. However, the presence of a small amount of hexagonal close-packed (h.c.p.) particles cannot be excluded. Fig. 5 shows an High Resolution TEM image of a typical f.c.c.-Co nanoparticle in a $`<`$110$`>`$ projection and encapsulated in 3 or 4 graphitic sheets. No evidence of cobalt carbides has been found. This indicates that the particles were formed at high temperature and rapidly quenched since f.c.c.-Co is the high temperature phase and h.c.p.-Co and cobalt carbides are not stable above 500C. The nanoparticles are mostly single-crystals and often contain twin boundaries and stacking faults (Fig. 4) since these planar defects are known to occur frequently in f.c.c.-Co. As revealed by the HRTEM images, the surface roughness generally does not exceed 2 or 3 atomic layers : this is another important point for the quality of particles with regard to the magnetic properties.

### B Measurement technique

We studied the magnetic properties of individual nanoparticles by using planar Nb micro-bridge-DC-SQUIDs (of about 1 $`\mu `$m) . In order to place one nanoparticle on the SQUID detector, we disperse the particles in ethanol by ultrasonication. Then we place a drop of this liquid on a chip of about one hundred SQUIDs. When the drop is dry the nanoparticles stick on the chip due to Van der Waals forces. Only in the case when a nanoparticle falls on a micro-bridge of the SQUID loop, the flux coupling between SQUID loop and nanoparticle is strong enough for our measurements. Finally we determine the exact position and shape of the nanoparticles by scanning electron microscopy.

The switching fields of the magnetisation of single Co nanoparticles were measured by using the cold mode method and the blind mode method described in detail in Ref. .

### C Results

The measured angular dependence of switching fields of nearly all Co nanoparticles revealed a dominating uniaxial magnetic anisotropy similar to previous measurements . Fig. 6 presents a typical example. We estimated the shape anisotropy of the typical nearly spherical nanoparticles (Fig. 4) and found that the shape anisotropy constants should be of the order of magnitude of $`10^4`$ J/m3, i.e. one order of magnitude smaller than the value of the bulk f.c.c. cobalt . This result suggests that twin boundaries and stacking faults (Fig. 4) strongly alter the cubic crystal symmetry leading to dominating uniaxial anisotropy.

Nevertheless, we could find few particles which were sufficiently ”perfect” in order to show a more complex switching field surface and a field path dependence of the switching field (Fig. 1) which is the important signature of strong higher order terms in the potential energy (Eq. 1). One example is presented in Figs. 79. Note that this surface has two easy axes. In addition, the hard plan is deformed. Such a surface can, in principle, be generated by the generalised Stoner-Wohlfarth model when taking into account that the different contributions of anisotropies are aligned in an arbitrary way one with respect to each other.

In order to understand this point qualitatively, let’s come back to the simple 2D case (Eq. 6) where $`\theta _0`$ is a constant which allows to turn the uniaxial shape anisotropy with respect to the cubic anisotropy. Fig. 10 shows the angular dependence of the switching field for a misalignment of $`\theta _0=10^{}`$ which leads to a strong deformation of the curve in Fig. 1.

## IV Conclusion

We used the micro-SQUID technique to study high quality nanoparticles which were synthesised by arc-discharge. The angular dependence of switching fields could be understood in the frame of the simplest classical model describing the magnetisation reversal by uniform rotation. This model were proposed more than 50 years ago by Néel, Stoner and Wohlfarth. The measured critical surface can be considered as a geometrical representation of the magnetic anisotropy of the nanoparticle. Nearly all f.c.c. Co nanoparticles revealed a dominating uniaxial magnetic anisotropy. This result suggests that twin boundaries and stacking faults strongly alter the cubic magnetocrystalline anisotropy leading to dominating uniaxial anisotropy. However, few particles were sufficiently ”perfect” in order to show a more complex switching field surface and a field path dependence of the switching field. The latter is the important signature of the cubic magnetocrystalline anisotropy.