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# Modeling informational novelty in a conversational system with a hybrid statistical and grammar-based approach to surface natural language generation

## 1 Introduction

We present a module for surface natural language generation (NLG) that is capable of dynamically re-ordering words based on information in the run-time dialog state of a conversational system in the air travel domain. For our purposes, we make the distinction that deep NLG is the process of deciding what information to convey, whereas surface NLG is the process of rendering that information in natural language. The surface NLG module is used by the conversational system to express the new information differently than old information, similar to how people might express informational novelty in a human-human conversation. The eventual goal of this experiment is to test if strategically re-ordering the words in the response of a conversational system can address a widely held criticism, namely, that such systems “don’t sound human.”

## 2 Previous Approaches

The most popular technique for surface NLG is templates. A template for describing a flight noun phrase in the air travel domain might be “flight departing from $city-fr at $time-dep and arriving in $city-to at $time-arr” where the words starting with “$” are actually variables —representing the departure city, and departure time, the arrival city, and the arrival time, respectively— whose values will be extracted from the environment in which the template is used. This approach requires the programmer to write a different template for every possible word ordering, and may be impractical for domains in which many word orderings are necessary.

There are more sophisticated surface generation packages, such as FUF/SURGE \[Elhadad and Robin, 1996\], KPML \[Bateman, 1996\], MUMBLE \[Meteer et al., 1987\], and RealPro \[Lavoie and Rambow, 1997\], which produce natural language text from abstract semantic representations. These packages use many rules written by linguistic experts to map the input representations to textual output.

In order to partially automate the process of mapping input representations to textual output, several researchers have recently investigated the use of statistics in generation. Our approach is in the same spirit as other recent work, such as such as \[Langkilde and Knight, 1998\], \[Ratnaparkhi, 2000\], and \[Bangalore and Rambow, 2000\], in which statistics from a corpus have been used to disambiguate or rank candidates for surface generation. We compare our approach with these approaches in section 7.

## 3 Our approach: A Hybrid Grammar and Statistical surface NLG system

The motivation for our approach is the desire for a surface generation framework that allows dynamic word re-ordering in the context of a conversational system. People naturally re-order words in a conversation in a way that maximizes their communicative power, and we hope to duplicate this behavior in an automated conversational system. We describe our surface generation framework, the linguistic behavior it tries to duplicate, and its implementation in an air travel conversational system.

The central idea of our surface NLG module is that given a dependency-like grammar, it generates many word sequences that are consistent with the grammar rules and rule conditions, and uses corpus statistics to find the word sequence that most resembles the real utterances of people. In our framework, the input to the surface NLG module consists of

* a mandatory set of attribute-value pairs, $`A_1`$
* an optional set of attribute-value pairs, $`A_2`$

In the air travel domain, an example attribute might be “$city-fr”, denoting the departure city, while an example value might be “New York”. (Attributes are denoted here by the “$” prefix.) The surface NLG is required to express every attribute in the set $`A_1`$, but does not need to express anything from the set $`A_2`$. In practice, $`A_1`$ carries the intended meaning of the utterance to be generated, while $`A_2`$ carries miscellaneous information that is accessible to the NLG module. The sets $`A_1`$ and $`A_2`$ are extracted from the dialog state of the conversational system, after the dialog manager has determined that it needs to speak an utterance to the user, and after the deep generation module has determined the content of $`A_1`$ and $`A_2`$. We assume that any relevant fact about the discourse history exists in the dialog state, and can be encoded as an attribute-value pair in either $`A_1`$ or $`A_2`$. We make the assumption that attribute-value pairs are sufficient to describe the meaning of the utterance we intend to generate. This assumption is reasonable for small domains like air travel.

### 3.1 Grammar

In our approach, grammar rules define the possible dependency trees the NLG module may generate in the context of the current dialog state. Any dependency tree generated by our grammar can be converted to a flat word sequence by a deterministic procedure.

A grammar rule in this system specifies a relationship between a parent, and one more children, using the following structure:

This is the parent, and is usually the linguistic “head” of the phrase.

is either - (left) or + (right), and indicates the intended word order of the children relative to the parent.

One or more words that are children to the parent

A code fragment that evaluates to either true or false in the current state of the dialog system ($`A_1`$, $`A_2`$)

The order of the children specified in a single rule is fixed; it is merely the order written by the programmer. However, there is no ordering constraint between the children of different rules with the same head. For example, take the following grammar (in which the Condition section has been omitted for clarity),

| Parent | Direction | Children |
| --- | --- | --- |
| a | + | b |
| a | + | c d |
| c | - | f |

This grammar will allow the following dependency trees,

a       b+          a       c+      d+

each of whom represent the application of one grammar rule for the head “a”. The + sign denotes a right child, whereas the - sign denotes a left child (regardless of whether the child is visually typeset to the left or right of its parent). The following trees reflect the use of the first two rules, in both possible orderings

a       b+      c+      d+

a       c+      d+      b+

The siblings “c” and “d” cannot be re-ordered or broken up with respect to each other, since they were specified in a single rule. So the tree

a       c+      b+      d+

is disallowed. The children can themselves be recursively expanded, so the tree

a       b+        c+       f-       d+

is allowed. The dependency trees can be converted to word sequences (i.e., linearized), by recursively traversing the left children, the parent, and the right children. The word sequence corresponding to the tree above is “a b f c d”. It is possible for different dependency trees to yield the same word sequence.

The Condition section of the rule specifies an arbitrary code fragment that is evaluated in the context of the attribute-value sets $`A_1,A_2`$, which are derived from the current dialog state. The rule is used only if the code fragment evaluates to true. A rule condition associates an element of meaning with its realization as a phrase in natural language. For example, in the air travel domain, Table 1 lists a grammar rule, with a condition in pseudo-code, that might be used to describe a departure city. This rule would allow “flights from New York” if the departure city, as specified in the dialog state, is “New York”.

The rule condition can be more complex if necessary; in our implementation, the rule condition is an arbitrary fragment of code in the language Tcl. Also, the rules in our implementation are slightly more abstract in that they may contain attributes in addition to words. In this case the attribute will be instantiated with a value of interest at some later point. Table 2 shows a rule for describing departure cities that uses attributes. With attributes allowable as children, the output of the NLG module is essentially just a template. The difference between our system and the template method for NLG is that the programmer need only specify template fragments in the form of parent/children relationships, instead of the entire template.

Lists with conjunctions are linguistic phenonema that need to be generated frequently in the air travel domain. For example, a list with one item $`a_1`$ is realized simply as “$`a_1`$”, but two items are realized as “$`a_1`$ and $`a_2`$”, while $`n>2`$ items are realized as “$`a_1`$, $`\mathrm{}`$, $`a_{n1}`$, and $`a_n`$”. We found it easier to properly generate the conjunction and commas with a built-in construct, as opposed a programmer-supplied grammar rule. We define the constructs “&” and “$`|`$” to denote that the children of a rule must be generated with conjunctions (“and” and “or”, respectively) and commas. For example, the grammar (with the conditions omitted):

| Parent | Direction | Children |
| --- | --- | --- |
| a | +& | b |
| a | +& | c |
| a | +& | d |

will generate (among others) the word sequences

* a b
* a b and c
* a b , c , and d

Of course, the words “and” and “or”, are dependent on the language and perhaps even the genre of the language. The comma notation is dependent on the application of interest. It is critical to have the commas placed properly if the generated text will eventually be synthesized into speech; the speech synthesizer relies on commas to generate the appropriate pauses in the speech output.

The system currently has no facility that is specially designed to handle the generation of morphological variants. For example, in the air travel domain, the word “flight” should be realized as “flights”, if the number of flights is greater than 1. Similarly, the verb “arrive” must agree with “flight” in the phrase “flight that arrives” versus “flights that arrive”. We instead use a generic token re-write facility, in which the programmer, for example, can tell the system to re-write the word “flight” as “flights” based on information in $`A_1,A_2`$. This facility can be flexible since different uses of the same word in the grammar can be represented by distinct tokens, (e.g. flight-subj, flight-obj) which are later realized into their morphologically correct spellings. Our system is not meant to be a general purpose generator, and in the future, we plan to extend our system to better handle the generation of morphological variants.

#### 3.1.1 Assigning scores to trees

We assign scores to a dependency tree $`t`$ by first converting it to a word sequence $`w_1\mathrm{}w_n`$, and by using an interpolated $`n`$-gram language model on the word sequence:

$`P(w_1\mathrm{}w_n)`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{i=1}{\overset{n}{}}}P(w_i|w_{i1}\mathrm{}w_1)`$
$`P(w_i|w_{i1}\mathrm{}w_1)`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{j=1}{\overset{4}{}}}\lambda _jP_j(w_i|w_{i1}\mathrm{}w_1)`$
The probability models $`P_j`$ are computed from statistics derived from roughly 8000 utterances in the air travel domain. The probability model $`P_1`$, $`P_2`$, and $`P_3`$ are derived from trigram, bigram, and unigram statistics, while $`P_4`$ is the uniform model. The $`\lambda _j`$ are set heuristically such that $`\lambda _j0`$ and $`_{j=1}^4\lambda _j=1`$.

### 3.2 Searching for the best dependency tree

The goal of the system is to find the highest-scoring dependency tree that is consistent with the grammar. The strategy is, given an existing tree $`t`$, to enumerate all the ways of creating new dependency trees $`t_1\mathrm{}t_n`$ that are consistent with the grammar, and to only keep the top $`N`$ scoring trees for consideration in the next search iteration. The search terminates when $`N`$ $`A`$-completed111A mnemonic for “attribute-completed” trees are found, where an $`A`$-completed tree mentions all of the attributes in the mandatory attribute-value set $`A_1`$ exactly once. We justify the restriction to $`A`$-completed trees because trees that have omitted one or more attributes are clearly not expressing the meaning of $`A_1`$, while we view trees that mention the same attribute more than once as containing redundant information. The highest scoring $`A`$-completed tree is the answer returned by the NLG module. This search strategy is heuristic in nature; it is not guaranteed to find the highest-scoring tree.

On each search iteration, the system finds the top scoring $`N`$ trees $`t_1\mathrm{}t_n`$ that are currently under consideration, and attempts to create a new set of trees by applying the following algorithm to each tree $`t`$ in the set.

* Check to see if $`t`$ is $`A`$-complete. If so, remove it from consideration. If $`N`$ trees are $`A`$-completed, terminate the search.
* If $`t`$ is not $`A`$-complete, the system determines the active parent, by starting at the root of $`t`$, and recursively checking the left children, the right children, and then the parent itself, for the first tree node that is not completed. A tree node is completed if

+ it is left-complete, meaning that all of its left children have been generated, and
    + it is right-complete, meaning that all of its right children have been generated
* If no active parent is found, $`t`$ is discarded, since we cannot apply more rules to make $`t`$ $`A`$-complete.
* If $`p`$ is the active parent, the system decides to work in the left direction if $`p`$ is not left-complete, otherwise it works in the right direction.
* Either

+ Apply a rule: once the direction is settled, the system applies a rule $`r`$ in the grammar if

    - the parent specified in $`r`$ is equal to the active parent $`p`$
        - the condition of $`r`$ evaluates to true
        - $`r`$ has not been previously used to generate children for the parent $`p`$
        - the attributes mentioned in the children have not been mentioned elsewhere in the tree
    + If the rule can be applied, add the children in the rule to the active parent. Add from right-to-left if we are adding left children, add from left-to-right if we are adding right children.
    + Use the new tree $`t^{}`$ for consideration in the next search iteration
* or mark the tree

+ left-complete, if we were adding in the left direction
    + right-complete, if we were adding in the right direction
    + use the new tree $`t^{\prime \prime }`$ for consideration in the next search iteration

The point of the search algorithm is that it explores many possible word sequences, while requiring the programmer to only specify template fragments in the form of dependency tree parent/children relationships. The programmer can specify several ways to express any given attribute; the search guarantees that any attribute given in $`A_1`$ will be mentioned only once in the generated utterance. Intuitively, the system takes the fragments of natural language given by the programmer, explores many ways of “pasting” them together such that they respect the grammar, and returns the “best” way with respect to the scoring function. Figure 1 gives a pictorial depiction of the search procedure looking for ways to express the attributes $city-fr and $air, which represent the departure city and air carrier, respectively. The attributes are instantiated with their corresponding values after the search has found the best candidate for surface generation.

## 4 Using word order to express informational novelty

It has been long argued that utterances have an information structure, such that one part refers to pre-existing information in the discourse, while the other part refers to information that is newly introduced into the discourse. There are several existing dichotomies, which capture the same general idea but differ in their details, such as theme vs rheme, topic vs. comment, presupposed vs. focus. See \[Prevost, 1996\] for a summary of different information structure schemes.

We want to model informational novelty, which correlates roughly with the theme vs. rheme distinction, so that old information (theme) is expressed differently than the new information (rheme). Furthermore, at this time, we wish to do it without modifying the pitch, only with word ordering. \[Steedman, 1996\] gives a more fine-grained information structure, and points out that sub-elements of the theme can also contain new information, and are often emphasized with pitch. However, for our purposes, we choose to model the more simplistic structure of new versus old information, since this is the only distinction we can reliably make in our current dialog system.

In a spoken conversational system, it is usually necessary to confirm to the user what was spoken and understood by the computer in the last turn. This way, the user can ascertain if system’s speech recognition module and natural language understanding module are working correctly, and can repeat any information that the computer misunderstood. Another reason for confirmation messages is to remind the user of information that was understood several turns ago. Ideally, we should analyze a sample of text in the domain of interest (air travel) and annotate how the confirmation information (new vs. old) is expressed. However, most confirmations in human-human conversations do not contain both new and old information, and happen in a manner that is not easily reproducible with a speech-to-speech conversational system, as shown in Table 3. In this type of dialog, the user interrupts the travel agent in order to confirm what has been recently spoken, the confirmation is done with an “mm hmm” sound. We have noticed that some confirmations, do contain both old and new information, as shown in Table 4. In this case, the old information (“Buffalo to Chicago”) is spoken for confirmational purposes.

Many of the human-human dialogs in the air travel domain that do contain old and new information are expressed in a way such that the old information precedes the new information. At this time, we are still accumulating quantitative evidence in a corpus of transcribed human-human dialogs in the air travel domain to make this claim more precise. Furthermore, in English, it has been long noted that there is a tendency to specify old information before new information (e.g., see \[Sornicola, 1999\] for a review of many studies).

Note that word order is not the only indication of novelty! It is clear that other factors, such as pitch and loudness, also convey novelty, even when the word order is fixed. We assume that pitch and loudness are roughly constant, and that we can model novelty by only varying the word order. Also, using only word order to model novelty has the advantage that it leaves open the possibility of using our NLG technique for non-spoken text, e.g., an interactive web page.

## 5 Application: Modeling informational novelty in a conversational system

The hybrid surface NLG module has been integrated into a telephony conversational system for air travel reservations, developed for the DARPA Communicator effort, and described in \[Axelrod, 2000\]. Most system utterances are generated using an existing template-based approach, while a certain class of utterances are generated with the NLG system described in this paper.

The conversational system first collects information from the user, and then consults a flight database to find flights that match the user’s constraints. If one flight was found, it asks the user to confirm it. If no flights were found, it asks the user to relax some of the constraints, whereas if many flights were found, it prompts the user to further constrain the flight list. In the case where either many or no flights were found, the first utterance given by the system is called a summary sentence, whose purpose is to give a one-sentence summary of the results from the flight database. In the current system, the summary sentence is generated using templates, where some template fragments are “optional”, so that they are printed only in the presence of certain attributes. In the existing approach, the generation of certain words is optional, but the order in which they are presented is fixed.

In our new approach, the word order in the summary sentence depends on three sources of information

This is the dependency grammar specified by the programmer. Approximately 50 rules were needed to generate the possible summary sentences.

These are derived from a corpus of roughly 8000 utterances in the air travel domain, and are used by the NLG module’s scoring function.

Each attribute in set of mandatory attributes $`A_1`$ is marked as either old or new. For our purposes, new attributes are those which were given to the system in the last user turn. Anything not marked new is assumed to be old.

The attributes are marked as old or new by the deep generation component, by using information in the dialog history and some heuristics.

We use the surface NLG module to express the new attributes differently than the old attributes in the summary sentence. The surface NLG system allows us to detect the novelty of an attribute in any of the rule conditions of the grammar, e.g., with a function call that takes the name of an attribute and returns either true or false. Therefore, we can have two kinds of rules for every attribute: one rule to express it when it is new), and another rule to express it when it is old. The grammar for the summary sentence is written in a way to produce sentences having general structure shown in Figure 2. The \[old information\] is the area in the sentence in which the old information will be expressed, while the \[new information\] is the area in the sentence in which the new information will be expressed. In the case where there is more than one old and one new attribute, novelty alone does not determine the word order; it merely tells the NLG module the area in the sentence that will contain the phrase expressing the attribute. The complete word order is attained with the scoring function (applied in the search procedure), which ranks the possible different orderings that are consistent with the grammar structure.

Table 5 shows how several grammar rules can be used to control the placement of old and new information. Table 6 contains a dialog with the existing conversational air travel system. Table 7 contains the dialog, with the same user input, but with the system using the NLG module discussed in this paper. Approximately 50 grammar rules were used to generate the summary sentence in our prototype conversational system.

In our approach, the definition of novelty is rather peculiar. We mark an attribute as new if it has been introduced by the user in the previous turn, and mark it as old otherwise. Using this definition, all of the attributes in the summary sentence are “old” in the sense that they have already been introduced into the dialog by the user; the labels new and old only distinguish the time at which the user introduced the attributes. Truly novel information, i.e., information from the flight database that has not previously been heard by the user or said by the system, is not expressed in the summary sentence. Unfortunately, in our current approach, we confine the use of the hybrid NLG system to the summary sentence. In future work, we plan to extend it to other kinds of sentences in the system’s response in the hopes of modeling the “truly novel” information.

## 6 Evaluation

Evaluating our surface NLG system in isolation is difficult, because its output is dependent on information in the dialog state of a conversation. We propose to evaluate it in the context of an entire conversational system, by recording the time it takes for a user to complete certain tasks using the existing template generation, and comparing it with how long it takes users to complete the same tasks using the surface NLG module described in this paper. Such evaluations are already underway in the DARPA Communicator effort \[Walker et al., 2000\]. We believe that strategically setting the word order will reduce the amount of attention and mental effort necessary from the user in order to successfully use a conversational system. We hope that this reduction in mental effort will allow users to have higher success rates with the system, faster completion times, and eventually, the ability to multitask, i.e., to ability to use the system while engaged in some other secondary activity.

## 7 Comparison with other work

Our work is similar to \[Langkilde and Knight, 1998\], \[Bangalore and Rambow, 2000\], and \[Ratnaparkhi, 2000\] in that we use statistical information to select between multiple candidates for surface generation. \[Langkilde and Knight, 1998\] use statistics to select the best generation candidate from a word lattice generated from a grammar, while \[Bangalore and Rambow, 2000\] use statistics to select the word order of an underspecified dependency tree generated from a grammar. \[Ratnaparkhi, 2000\] uses statistics to rank candidates given by a grammar induced from a dependency tree annotated corpus.

Our approach differs from previous approaches in that it is specifically directed towards modeling informational novelty in a conversational system. In our system, the programmer can impose partial constraints on the ordering, using rule conditions to finely control the ordering in some cases, e.g., the novel attributes, while leaving other cases for the statistics to disambiguate. To our knowledge, previous approaches have not addressed informational novelty in a conversational system, although we suspect that they could be adapted to do so as well.

The hybrid surface NLG module described in this paper is not meant to be a general purpose generation package. Instead, it is designed to generate utterances in a small domain, such as air travel, and provides a framework to experiment with the ability to express additional shades of meaning by varying the word order at run-time. While our hybrid surface NLG system is not linguistically sophisticated as other full-fledged generation packages, the grammar rules are easy to write, and do not require much linguistic expertise. For this reason, we believe it is more practical than the other full-fledged generation packages. Our hope is that programmers will be able to implement NLG in a conversational system without needing to know how to specify detailed linguistic descriptions, as are usually required by the more sophisticated NLG packages. We hope to extend the framework with some useful facilities as they are needed by our conversational system. For example, we hope to add a facility to pass semantic “features” from a parent to a child, and an interface with a morphological database, which will more properly deal with phenomena such as agreement and inflection. Furthermore, we hope to add these extensions without compromising the simplicity of the grammar rule structure.

## 8 Conclusion

We have presented a system for surface natural language generation that uses grammar rules, rule conditions, and statistical information to decide the word order at run time. It takes template fragments given by the programmer, and attempts to paste them together in a way that is both consistent with the grammar and optimal with respect to the scoring function. We have integrated it into a conversational system for air travel and have attempted to model the linguistic notion of focus with attribute novelty. To our knowledge, we are the first to model informational novelty in a surface generation system with a combination of grammar rules and statistics, and we are also the first to integrate this into a practical conversational system. Our NLG module is not intended as a general purpose generator, and appears adequate for domains of low complexity. We hope to more extensively use our surface NLG module in our conversational system, and we hope that future evaluations will reveal that strategically varying the word order makes the system talk more like a real person.


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# Polarimetric Imaging of the Massive Black Hole at the Galactic Center

## 1 Introduction

The compact radio source Sgr A\* at the Galactic center continues to draw attention from both theorists and observers as the growing body of evidence points more and more to a massive black hole paradigm to explain its characteristics and behavior (for the latest comprehensive review on this subject, see Melia & Falcke 2001). The kinematics of the central star cluster probes the gravitational potential within a mere $`0.015`$ pc of the nucleus and reveals the presence of $`2.6\times 10^6M_{}`$ of dark matter in this region (Genzel et al. 1997; Ghez et al. 1998). Several alternative scenarios invoked to explain this condensation of matter have been excluded with a high degree of confidence (Haller et al. 1996; Genzel et al. 1996; Melia & Coker 1999).

Complementary information on the nature of Sgr A\* is provided by its spectral properties, which reflect the physics of matter accreting toward Sgr A\* at distances of several Schwarzschild radii ($`r_S2GM/c^27.7\times 10^{11}`$ cm, or roughly $`0.05`$ A.U.). Falcke, Melia & Agol (2000) have shown that the ‘shadow’ cast by the black hole may have an apparent diameter of about $`5r_S`$, nearly independent of the black hole spin or its orientation. This depression in intensity (literally, a ‘black hole’) arises from the effects of strong light bending near the event horizon, so that radiation emitted in the background is either absorbed or redirected away from the line-of-sight. The distance to Sgr A\* being roughly $`8`$ kpc, this diameter corresponds to an angular size of $`30\mu `$as, which approaches the resolution of current radio interferometers.

This is very exciting because several aspects of the observational program are evolving toward a fortuitous convergence to make such an important observation feasible within just a few years. No other galactic nucleus, whether in the local and M81 groups, or in the category of very active (though much more distant) sources, can provide such an opportunity in the foreseeable future. Sgr A\*’s spectrum at mm/sub-mm wavelengths shows a distinctive ‘hump’ (Falcke et al. 1998), whose characteristics seem to confirm the suggestion that the radiating plasma (emitting predominantly via thermal synchrotron processes) is making a transition from optically thick to thin emission near $`\nu =2\times 10^{11}`$ Hz (Melia 1992, 1994). Other scenarios, such as the jet model (Falcke & Markoff 2000) and the ADAF disk model (Narayan et al 1995), also require that the medium goes transparent across this range of frequencies. The fortunate aspect about this transition is that it happens to occur at about the same set of frequencies where the scatter broadening in the interstellar medium decreases below the intrinsic source size (see also Melia, Jokipii & Narayanan 1992). Falcke, Melia & Agol (2000) showed that taking this effect into account, as well as the finite achievable telescope resolution, the shadow of Sgr A\* should be observable with very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) below $`1`$ mm; it should be quite distinctive at $`0.6`$ mm.

During this past year, considerable progress has been made in modeling the structure and physical attributes of the inner emitting region surrounding Sgr A\*, taking into account several crucial new data, including mm/sub-mm polarization measurements (Aitken et al. 2000) and Chandra’s identification of an X-ray counterpart (Baganoff et al. 2001). In their analysis, Melia, Liu, & Coker (2000, 2001) concluded that the sub-mm bump is probably produced by thermal synchrotron emission in a tight Keplerian flow within the inner $`5r_S`$. A circularization such as this is expected on the basis of hydrodynamical simulations which show that infalling gas possesses an average specific angular momentum to settle into a rotating structure below $`40r_S`$ (Coker & Melia 1997). Presumably the spectrum of Sgr A\* longward of $`12`$ mm is generated outside of the Keplerian region, where the gas is making a transition from a quasi-spherical infall into a circularized pattern. Within the rotating plasma, self-Comptonization of the sub-mm bump radiation produces an X-ray component that may account for the Chandra source.

Although this correlation between the radio and X-ray components in the spectrum of Sgr A\* is not unique to this picture (see, e.g., Falcke & Markoff 2000), the recent detection of significant linear polarization at mm and sub-mm wavelengths (if confirmed) seems to provide supporting evidence for the circularized flow when the flip of the polarization vector is taken into account (Melia, Liu & Coker 2000). The reason for this is that the optically thick emission is dominated by emitting elements on the near and far sides of the black hole, for which the Extraordinary wave (with the magnetic field pointing in the azimuthal direction) has a polarization vector parallel to the reference axis (perpendicular to the Keplerian plane). In contrast, the dominant contribution in the thin region comes from the blue shifted emitter to the side of the black hole, where the Extraordinary wave has a polarization vector mostly perpendicular to this axis. This is why the position angle apparently shifts by about $`90^{}`$ near the peak of the mm/sub-mm bump.

In this Letter, we present the results of new calculations that update these findings in several very important ways, particularly with regard to the upcoming VLBI imaging observations. We have carried out fully self-consistent ray-tracing simulations with the magnetized Keplerian flow geometry to incorporate the effects of light-bending and area amplification into this observationally-motivated physical model. One of our main goals is to produce polarimetric images motivated by the expected capability of mm and sub-mm interferometry.

## 2 Calculation of the Polarimetric Image

Magnetic field dissipation suppresses the field intensity well below its equipartition value in the quasi-spherical portion of the accreting plasma (Kowalenko & Melia 2000). However, once the gas circularizes and settles into a Keplerian flow, a magnetohydrodynamic dynamo can produce an enhanced (though still sub-equipartition) magnetic field, dominated by its azimuthal component (Hawley, Gammie & Balbus 1996). Overcoming the rate of field destruction in the differentially rotating portion of the inflow, the field reaches a saturated intensity since the dynamo time scale is shorter than the dissipation time scale in this region (Melia, Liu & Coker 2001). Our approach in this paper is to consider a physical scenario that seems to account well for all the available data, not only the mm/sub-mm spectrum and degree of polarization, but also the position-angle flip, in order to predict the polarimetric map of Sgr A\*. Motivated by certain aspects of earlier hydrodynamical simulations and a pseudo-Newtonian treatment of the inner Keplerian region, and combining these with the phenomenology associated with the salient observational constraints, we are led to adopt a model in which the gas circularizes at small radii, winding the magnetic field within a relativistic Keplerian disk. We take the specific analysis of Melia, Liu, & Coker (2000,2001) to estimate the plausible structure of the gas distribution within several Schwarzschild radii of the black hole, from which we infer the emissivities required to produce the images. We thus track both the Extraordinary and Ordinary waves, which can be expressed, respectively, as

$`ϵ^e`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{\sqrt{3}e^3}{8\pi m_ec^2}}B\mathrm{sin}\theta ^{}{\displaystyle _0^{\mathrm{}}}N(E)[F(x)+G(x)]𝑑E,`$ (1)
$`ϵ^o`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{\sqrt{3}e^3}{8\pi m_ec^2}}B\mathrm{sin}\theta ^{}{\displaystyle _0^{\mathrm{}}}N(E)[F(x)G(x)]𝑑E,`$ (2)
where $`N(E)`$ is the electron distribution function at energy $`E`$, and

$`\mathrm{cos}\theta ^{}={\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{cos}\theta v_\varphi /c}{1(v_\varphi /c)\mathrm{cos}\theta }},`$ $`x={\displaystyle \frac{4\pi \nu m_e^3c^5}{3eB\mathrm{sin}\theta ^{}E^2}},`$ (3)
$`F(x)=x{\displaystyle _x^{\mathrm{}}}K_{5/3}(z)𝑑z,`$ $`G(x)=xK_{2/3}(x).`$ (4)
$`K_{5/3}`$ and $`K_{2/3}`$ are the corresponding modified Bessel functions (Pacholczyk 1970). Here, $`\nu `$ is the frequency measured in the co-moving frame, and $`\theta `$ is the angle between the local magnetic field vector and the outward pointing ray. We take a thermal distribution of electrons to fix $`N(E)`$. (Note that the temperature in this region may reach $`10^{11}`$ K, for which inverse Compton processes then produce an X-ray component. We shall not include this in our calculations since we are primarily interested in mapping the polarization vector at mm/sub-mm wavelengths.)

In adopting the model of Melia, Liu, & Coker (2001), we do not fix the parameters a priori, but rather perform a $`\chi ^2`$-minimization with the goal of producing polarimetric images consistent with the spectral and polarization data. As we shall see, the simulation that produces a good fit to the observed spectrum begins with a gas inflow rate of $`3.6\times 10^{16}`$ g s-1, at a circularization radius of 8 $`r_S`$. The light-emitting flow extends down to about 2 $`r_S`$, at which point the gas achieves a plunging orbit into the black hole. Calculating the physical profiles as functions of radius using the prescription in Melia, Liu & Coker (2001), we find that the temperature stays within a factor of a few times $`10^{10}`$ K in the Keplerian region, while the particle density varies in the range of about $`2\times 10^7`$ to $`4\times 10^8`$ cm-3 and the magnetic field increases from about 4 to 20 G. With this model, we find that modestly low inclination angles, around $`30^{}`$ give a good fit to the observations, although higher values are not strongly excluded.

We emphasize that the model parameters adopted here provide a self-consistent description of the flow in the neighborhood of the supermassive black hole. The inflow rate we infer is substantially lower than the limits obtained using other arguments (e.g., Faraday depolarization), considered within the context of alternative mechanisms for producing the polarized emission (see, e.g., Agol 2000; Quataert & Gruzinov 2000). The viability of the model ultimately depends on the uncertain conditions of the inflow (and, possibly, outflow) at larger radii. For example, the hydrodynamical simulations discussed earlier are rather limited in scope, given that their modest resolution imposed an inner boundary of $`1,000r_S`$ or more. Thus, there is little guidance as to the behavior of the gas at smaller radii, particularly with regard to whether mass loss occurs or not. Nonetheless, it seems implausible to assume that the specific angular momentum accreted inward of this boundary should increase. At the same time, the heterogeneous nature of the Galactic Center suggests that material arriving in the vicinity of the black will have at least some residual angular momentum, so circularization at small radii seems inevitable.

The overall specific intensity $`I_\nu ^{e,o}`$ observed at infinity is an integration of the emissivity $`ϵ^{e,o}`$ over the path length along geodesics. To obtain $`I_\nu ^{e,o}`$ from the emitting accreting disk, we make the simplifying assumption that the disk is geometrically thin, and that its vertical structure is a uniform slab (e.g., Melia, Liu & Coker, 2001). Otherwise, our calculations incorporate all relativistic effects including frame dragging, gravitational redshift, light bending, and Doppler boosting. We use a second-order geodesic solver similar to that introduced by Bromley, Chen & Miller (1997), and trace photon trajectories from a pixel-array detector all the way through a thick spherical shell bounded by the outer disk radius and a surface near the event horizon. We pick up contributions to the observed flux every time the trajectory intersects the disk midplane. In this way, the primary disk image (from photons traveling directly to the observer without crossing the midplane after leaving the disk) and higher-order images (multiple midplane crossings) are formed.

The output of our ray-tracing code is a pixelized image, with specific intensities at the detector calculated from the relativistic invariant $`I_\nu /\nu ^3`$. Emitter-frame frequencies come from the projection of the emitted photon 4-momentum onto the 4-velocity of the emitter (e.g., Cunningham 1975). Similarly, local emission angles, such as $`\theta ^{}`$ in Equation (1), follow from projection of the photon 4-momentum onto the spacelike components of a tetrad tied to the emitter frame. We assume Keplerian flow except at small radii where circular orbits are unstable. In this case the emitters are on freefall trajectories as if perturbed from the minimum stable orbit (3 $`r_S`$ for a black hole with zero angular momentum). We calculate fluxes by summing over the pixels in the image, taking into account the physical size of the detector array and the distance to the disk.

The ray-tracing method adopted here is tuned for the synchrotron problem in two novel ways. First, our code is capable of integrating radiative transfer equations along photon trajectories. Here we make only modest use of this feature by allowing for absorption of light from high-order images after multiple disk crossings, taking into account the redshift of photons as they travel from one region of the emitting gas to another. It will be more important to exercise the code’s full capabilities in future work when we treat detailed models of the disk’s vertical structure.

The second key feature of our code is the calculation of polarization in a strongly curved spacetime. It is straightforward to relate the specific intensity of each polarization separately in the emitter and detector frames from the relativistic invariant $`I_\nu /\nu ^3`$, and the degree of polarization is itself an invariant. The position angle of polarized light may also be calculated from a relativistic invariant related to the parallel transport of a polarization vector along a null ray (Conners & Stark 1977; Laor, Netzer & Piran 1991). Here we perform the parallel transport operation quite directly by defining a reference vector at the detector and numerically propagating it along with the null ray itself. This allows us to consistently map a position angle from one frame to another, an essential feature for calculating radiative transfer for the Ordinary and Extraordinary waves that make multiple passes through the disk.

Aitken et al. (2000) provide specific constraints for the magnetohydrodynamic disk model and our relativistic calculations in terms of the total flux and polarization of Sgr A\*. The polarization “flip” in the spectrum near a wavelength of 1 mm is a particularly important constraint. We use a nonlinear least-squares search of the model parameter space, including spatial extent of the accretion flow, the mass accretion rate, and other factors governing the radial infall velocity, disk thickness and magnetic field strength (see Melia, Liu & Coker 2001 for details) in order to optimize the fit. Here we consider only a non-rotating black hole. The inclination angle $`i`$ is sampled sparsely, but sufficiently to demonstrate that low values of $`i`$ provide a greater total flux, while high values of $`i`$ give a sharper polarization flip. As mentioned above we find that $`i=30^{}`$ yields a good fit, although, larger angles are not strongly excluded.

There are strong observational constraints on the linear polarization from Sgr A\* at longer wavelengths as well. Bower et al. (1999) have placed limits on the linear polarization at a variety of frequencies below 100 GHz. For our simulations, the 1% upper bound at 86 GHz is the most constraining; at this frequency, our simulation predicts 0.7% linear polarization. The predicted linear polarization at longer wavelengths is $``$ 0.1%, consistent with the observationally-imposed limits. Figure 1 shows a comparison between the simulation results and the data.

## 3 Discussion

The polarimetric images demonstrate that future mm/sub-mm interferometry can directly reveal material flowing near the horizon in Sgr A\*. Here, the “shadow” of the black hole takes the form of a dark cavity in a crescent. The bright crescent shape itself, and its highly distinctive distribution of polarized light, may be understood as a manifestation of the relativistic beaming from material on the incoming side of the disk. For optically thin synchrotron emission, the specific intensity in the emitter frame is highly anisotropic, and the beaming effect causes an alignment between the observed photon trajectory and the direction of maximum emission only on the incoming side. This effect is most apparent in the images which show individual components of polarized light. For example, in the absence of relativity the Extraordinary emission will dominate the flux along the disk spin axis where the photon emission and polarization position angles are at 90 to the azimuthal magnetic field. However, the relativistic beaming causes the region of maximum Extraordinary emission to shift toward the incoming side of the disk.

Following Falcke, Melia & Agol (2000) we now assess the possibility that VLBI imaging may reveal the structure of the accretion flow, its polarized emission, and the presence of the event horizon. Figure 2 shows images of the accretion flow at an ideal detector, as well as polarimetric images taking into account the blurring due to a finite VLBI resolution and scattering by the interstellar medium. The blurring is modeled by convolution with two Gaussians: the first is an approximate model of the scattering effects with an ellipsoidal filter whose major- and minor-axis FWHM values are 24.2 $`\mu `$as $`\times (\lambda /1.3\text{mm})^2`$ and 12.8 $`\mu `$as $`\times (\lambda /1.3\text{mm})^2`$, respectively, for emission at wavelength $`\lambda `$ (Lo et al. 1998). For the purposes of creating test VLBI images, we chose the spin axis of the disk to lie along the minor axis of the scattering ellipsoid, and we have assumed a global interferometer with a $`8,000`$ km baseline (Krichbaum 1996). The second is a spherically symmetric filter with a FWHM of 33.5 $`\mu `$as $`\times (\lambda /1.3\text{mm})`$ to account for the resolution effects of an ideal interferometer. These images demonstrate clearly the viability of conducting polarimetric imaging of the black hole at the Galactic center with upcoming VLBI techniques.

Acknowledgments We thank Vladimir Pariev for his suggestions on the polarization calculations in curved spacetime. This research was partially supported by NASA under grants NAG5-8239, NAG5-9205, and NAG5-8277, and has made use of NASA’s Astrophysics Data System Abstract Service. FM is very grateful to the University of Melbourne for a Miegunyah Fellowship. BCB acknowledges computing support from NASA/JPL Supercomputing.


text:
# On the interpretation of the burst structure of GRBs

## Abstract

Given the very accurate data from the BATSE experiment and RXTE and Chandra satellites, we use the GRB 991216 as a prototypical case to test the EMBH theory linking the origin of the energy of GRBs to the electromagnetic energy of black holes. The fit of the afterglow fixes the only two free parameters of the model and leads to a new paradigm for the interpretation of the burst structure, the IBS paradigm. It leads as well to a reconsideration of the relative roles of the afterglow and burst in GRBs by defining two new phases in this complex phenomenon: a) the injector phase, giving rise to the proper-GRB (P-GRB), and b) the beam-target phase, giving rise to the extended afterglow peak emission (E-APE) and to the afterglow. Such differentiation leads to a natural possible explanation of the bimodal distribution of GRBs observed by BATSE. The agreement with the observational data in regions extending from the horizon of the EMBH all the way out to the distant observer confirms the uniqueness of the model.

black holes, gamma ray bursts, supernovae  11affiliationtext: ruffini@icra.it

The most decisive tool in the identification of the energetics of GRBs has been the discovery by Beppo SAX of the afterglow phenomenon. We show in this letter how the afterglow data can be fit using the theory which relates the GRB energy to the extraction process of the electromagnetic energy of a black hole endowed with electromagnetic structure (an EMBH). This energy extraction process occurs via vacuum polarization pair creation and approaches almost perfect reversibility in the sense of black hole physics (Christodoulou & Ruffini, 1971; Damour & Ruffini, 1975; Preparata et al., 1998).

In addition to yielding excellent agreement between the theory and the data, a new paradigm will be introduced here for the interpretation of the burst structure which we call the IBS paradigm. Because of the unique accuracy of its data, we use the GRB 991216 as a prototype for a description which may then be generalized to other GRBs. The relevant data for GRB 991216 are reproduced in Fig. 1, namely the data on the burst as recorded by BATSE (BATSE Rapid Burst Response, 1999) and the data on the afterglow from the RXTE satellite (Corbet & Smith, 2000) and the Chandra satellite (Piro et al., 2000) (see also Halpern et al., 2000). We have modeled the afterglow assuming that the ultra-high energy baryons (the ABM pulse of Ruffini et al. (2001a), Letter 1), accelerated in the pair-electromagnetic-baryonic pulse (PEMB pulse) following a black hole collapse process (see Letter 1), after reaching transparency interact with the interstellar medium (ISM), assumed to have an average density $`n_{ism}`$ of 1 proton$`/cm^3`$. All internal energy developed in the collision is assumed to be radiated away in a “fully radiative” regime (Bianco et al., 2001b).

In our model there are only two free parameters characterizing the EMBH: the mass $`M`$ in solar mass units $`\mu =M/M_{\mathrm{}}`$ and the charge to mass ratio $`\xi =Q/(M\sqrt{G})`$, where $`M`$ and $`Q`$ are the mass-energy and charge of the EMBH and $`G`$ is Newton’s gravitational constant. These two quantities are related to the total energy of the dyadosphere $`\left(E_{dya}\right)`$ through the EMBH mass-energy formula (Christodoulou & Ruffini, 1971; Preparata et al., 1998) as follows

$$E_{dya}=\frac{Q^2}{2r_+}\left(1\frac{r_+}{r_{ds}}\right)\left[1\left(\frac{r_+}{r_{ds}}\right)^2\right],$$
(1)
where $`r_+=1.47\times 10^5\mu (1+\sqrt{1\xi ^2})`$ is the horizon radius and $`r_{ds}=1.12\times 10^8\sqrt{\mu \xi }`$ is the dyadosphere radius. This energy is the source of the burst $`\left(E_{burst}\right)`$ and afterglow $`\left(E_{aft}\right)`$ energies

$$E_{dya}=E_{burst}+E_{aft}.$$
(2)
The only remaining free parameters describe the amount and location of the baryonic matter left over in the collapse process of the precursor star of initial radius $`10^{10}`$ cm which forms the EMBH, see Ruffini et al. (2000). The amount of baryonic matter can be parametrized by the dimensionless parameter $`B=(M_Bc^2)/E_{dya}`$. As discussed in the previous Letter 1, the results are quite insensitive to the actual density of the baryonic component but they are very sensitive to the value of $`B`$ (Ruffini et al., 2000).

In Fig. 2 we present some of the results of fitting the data from the RXTE and Chandra satellites corresponding to an EMBH mass of 22.3 $`M_{\mathrm{}}`$ and for selected values of the parameters $`\xi `$ and $`B`$. The main conclusions from our model are the following:

1) The slope of the afterglow, $`n=1.6`$, is rather insensitive to the values of the parameters $`\mu `$, $`\xi `$ and $`B`$ and is in perfect agreement with the observational data. The physical reason for this universality of the slope is essentially related to the ultra-relativistic energy of the baryons in the ABM pulse, the assumption of constant average density in the ISM, the “fully radiative” conditions leading predominantly to the X-ray emission, as well as all the different relativistic effects presented in the RSTT paradigm. See for details Ruffini et al. (2001f).

2) The afterglow fit does not depend on all three parameters $`\mu ,\xi `$ and $`B`$ but only on the combinations $`E_{dya}`$ and $`B`$. Thus there is a 1-parameter family of values of the pair $`(\mu ,\xi )`$ allowed by a given viable value of $`E_{dya}`$.

3) It is clear, both from studying the profiles and the time dependence of the afterglow, that by suitably modifying the values of B and $`\xi `$, the average flux of the main burst observed by BATSE can also be fit by the afterglow curve, up to the degeneracy in $`(\mu ,\xi )`$, leading to (see Fig. 3):

$$E_{dya}=9.57\times 10^{52}erg,B=4\times 10^3.$$
(3)
The peak of the average afterglow emission occurs at $`23.7`$ seconds and its intensity and time scale are in excellent agreement with the BATSE observations, an important result (see also Ruffini et al., 2001e). In addition to the BATSE data, there is also clearly perfect agreement with the decaying part of the afterglow data from the RXTE and Chandra satellites. It is clear that such an extended afterglow peak emission (E-APE) is not a burst, but it is seen as such by BATSE because of the background noise level in this observation (see also Ruffini et al., 2001e). Thus the long lasting unsolved problem of explaining the long GRBs (see e.g. Wilson et al., 1996; Salmonson et al., 2001; Piran, 2001) is radically resolved.

After we fix the free parameters of the EMBH theory, modulo the mass-charge relationship which fixes $`E_{dya}`$, all other features of the observations must be explained by the theory.

There is a natural question to be asked: where does one find the burst which is emitted when the condition of transparency against Thomson scattering is reached? We refer to this as the proper-gamma ray burst (P-GRB) in order to distinguish it from the global GRB phenomena (see Letter 1 and Bianco et al. (2001a)). Ruffini et al. (2000) showed that, for a fixed value of $`E_{dya}`$, a value of $`B`$ uniquely determines the energy of the P-GRB, which we indicate by $`E_{burst}`$, and the energy of the afterglow $`E_{aft}`$ (see Fig. 4). For the particular values of the parameters given in Eq. (3), we then predict

$`{\displaystyle \frac{E_{burst}}{E_{dya}}}=1.45\times 10^2;`$
$`E_{burst}=1.39\times 10^{51}erg;`$ (4)
$`E_{dya}=9.57\times 10^{52}erg.`$
Is there any evidence of such a signal in the BATSE data? From the relative time transformation paradigm presented in Letter 1, we can retrace such a P-GRB by reading off the time parameters of point 4 in Fig. 1 from Tab. 1, both in Letter 1. The transparency is reached at $`14.23`$ sec in comoving time, at a radial coordinate $`r=9.692\times 10^{13}`$ cm in the laboratory frame and at $`1.361\times 10^1`$ sec in arrival time at the detector. All this, namely the energy predicted in Eq.(4) for the intensity of the burst and its time of arrival, leads to the unequivocal identification of the P-GRB with the apparently inconspicuous initial burst in the BATSE data. We have estimated the ratio of the first peak (the P-GRB) to the E-APE over the background noise level of the BATSE data to be $`10^2`$, in very good agreement with the first entry in Eq. (4).

In summary, the observational data agree with the predictions of the model on:
1) the intensity ratio, $`1.45\times 10^2`$, between the P-GRB and the E-APE, which strongly depends on the parameter $`B`$,
2) the absolute intensities for both the P-GRB and the E-APE, respectively $`1.39\times 10^{51}`$ erg and $`9.43\times 10^{52}`$, which depends on $`E_{dya}`$,
3) the arrival time of the P-GRB and the peak of the E-APE, respectively $`1.361\times 10^1`$ sec and $`23.7`$ sec.

Without the introduction of any new parameter, the model offers additional information both on the detailed structure of the P-GRB and of the E-APE.

Regarding the P-GRB spectrum, the initial energy of the electron-positron pairs and photons in the dyadosphere for given values of the parameters can be easily computed following the work of Preparata et al. (1998). We obtain respectively $`T=1.95`$ MeV and $`T=29.4`$ MeV in the two approximations we have used (Bianco et al., 2001b): for a given $`E_{dya}`$ we have assumed either a constant average energy density over the entire dyadosphere volume, or a more compact configuration with energy density equal to the peak value. It is then possible to follow, in the laboratory frame, the time evolution of the temperature of the electron-positron pairs and photons through the different eras presented in Letter 1, see Fig. 5. The condition of transparency is reached at temperatures in the range of $`1555`$ keV at the detector, in agreement with the BATSE results.

Regarding the E-APE, all the above considerations refer to the smoothed average emission. It is interesting that the detailed structure of the E-APE observed by BATSE can also be reproduced in the model in terms of relativistic effects and deviations from the average value of the ISM density due to inhomogeneities (Ruffini et al., 2001e, f, g).

We can now proceed to the formulation of the IBS paradigm: in GRBs we can distinguish an injector phase and a beam-target phase. The injector phase includes the process of gravitational collapse of a progenitor star to a black hole endowed with electromagnetic structure (EMBH), the formation of the dyadosphere and the associated phenomena of vacuum polarization as well as the different eras presented in Letter 1: era I corresponds to the PEM pulse, era II to the engulfment of the baryonic matter of the remnant and era III the PEMB pulse. The injector phase terminates at the point where the plasma transparency condition is reached and the P-GRB is emitted. The beam-target phase addresses the interaction of the ABM pulse, namely the beam generated during the injection phase, with the ISM as the target. It gives rise to the E-APE and the decaying part of the afterglow.

We advance the possibility, to be verified on the basis of the time variabilities and spectral information mentioned above (Bianco et al., 2001a; Ruffini et al., 2001g), that the P-GRBs coincide with the class of short events ($`<2`$ sec) discovered in the bimodal distribution of GRBs in the BATSE catalogue (Kouveliotou et al., 1993), while the E-APEs coincide with the class of longer events ($`>2`$ sec).

It is interesting that, even in this very energetic case of GRB 991216, the general energetic requirement can be easily fulfilled by an EMBH with $`M=22.3M_{}`$ and $`\xi =0.1`$. No beaming is needed, and no evidence of beaming is obtained by the fitting of the theory and the observational data, contrary to views expressed by e.g. Halpern et al. (2000). See Ruffini et al. (2001f) for details.

As the EMBH model is confirmed by additional sources, the GRBs will be used to scan the regions around the newly formed EMBHs, to infer their physical and astrophysical composition as well as to acquire information on the process of gravitational collapse leading to the EMBH and on the astrophysical structures in the high redshift universe. The first clear intuition of such a possibility has been expressed by Dermer & Mitman (1999). We will give a first application of such a “tomographic” imaging technique in Ruffini et al. (2001c).

We conclude:
1) In the range of distances (see Letter 1 Tab. 1) $`r10^{14}10^{17}`$ cm from the EMBH, information on the ISM, $`\overline{\rho }10^{24}g/cm^3`$, and on the surrounding additional astrophysical systems can be inferred from the E-APE and from the afterglow (see Ruffini et al., 2001c, e, f).
2) At a distance $`r10^{10}`$ cm, where $`\overline{\rho }1g/cm^3`$ (see Letter 1 Tab. 2), we can evaluate the percentage of mass of the progenitor star left in the remnant by the process of gravitational collapse. We have in fact (see Bianco et al., 2001b):

$$M_Bc^2=BE_{dya}\frac{1}{4}B\xi ^2c^2M_{BH}$$
(5)
which in the case of the GRB 991216 implies that up to 99.9% of the matter of the progenitor star collapses to the EMBH. This indicates that the gravitational collapse to a black hole differs markedly from the corresponding process occurring in neutron star formation (Bianco et al., 2001b).
3) At $`r<r_{ds}10^8cm`$ the electrodynamical constraints imply $`\overline{\rho }<10^9g/cm^3`$, to avoid baryonic contamination in the dyadosphere. This condition can be easily satisfied during the gravitational collapse to an EMBH as the horizon is approached. The details of such a process, with all its general relativistic effects, can be followed through the structure of the P-GRB (Ruffini et al., 2001g).

The IBS paradigm we have introduced is common to a number of models based on a single process of gravitational collapse, leading to GRBs. The uniqueness of the EMBH model resides a) in the energetics (Ruffini, 1998), b) in the time structure of the P-GRB (Ruffini et al., 2001g, h), c) in the spectral information of the P-GRB (Bianco et al., 2001b).

The fact that the model is testable from the ISM all the way down to the horizon of the EMBH offers an unprecedented tool for proving its uniqueness, confirming that we are witnessing the formation of EMBHs and the extraction of their electromagnetic energy through the resulting GRBs.

The intrinsic simplicity of the EMBH model of GRBs, shown here to depend only from two parameters, offers an unique opportunity to use GRBs as “standard candles” in cosmology.

We thank three anonymous referees for their remarks, which have improved the presentation of this letter


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# Hard radio spectra from reconnection regions in galactic nuclei

## 1 Introduction

Flat and even inverted radio spectra, $`I_\nu \nu ^\alpha `$ with $`\alpha <0`$, are a common feature of the non-thermal emission of galactic nuclei. For example Sgr A, the very center of the Milky Way, as well as the galactic center arc region (Lesch and Reich, 1992; Duschl and Lesch, 1994) exhibit an inverted spectrum with $`\alpha 1/3`$. The same holds for the nucleus of M81 (Reuter and Lesch, 1996). Slee et al. (1994) found that compact radio continuum cores in about 70 % of radio emitting elliptical and S0 galaxies have a flat or inverted spectrum with a median spectral index of $`\alpha =0.3`$. Observations of the Seyfert galaxy NGC 1068 indicate an inverted spectrum with index $`\alpha =0.3`$, as well (Muxlow et al., 1996). For active galactic nuclei (AGN) radio surveys by Kühr et al. (1981) and Rayner et al. (2000) have accumulated a huge wealth of data about flat radio spectra. Of special interests are the flat radio spectra of the BL Lac sources Mrk 421 (Tosti et al., 1998) and Mrk 501 (Edwards et al., 2000), both also strong TeV-emitters. However, AGNs and BL Lacs exhibit relatively steep power-law spectra at frequencies higher than the radio regime. The complete electromagnetic spectrum of these objects is a result of different energy loss and gain mechanisms. Consequently, the total spectra show flat and steep power-law spectra up to the radiation cut-off (Miller et al., 1996; Terzian et al., 1999). Flat spectrum radio sources are known to be variable over the entire accessible part of the electromagnetic spectrum down to the shortest timescales probed so far (Wagner, 1998).

Flat spectrum radio spectra have been attributed to self absorption. For the self-absorption peak frequency to extend over some decades specific geometrical properties in the source are required - this is well known as ”cosmic conspiracy” (Marscher, 1977; Cotton et al., 1980). This model depends on the source size as $`I_\nu \nu r`$, where $`r`$ is the radius of a conical geometry. It implies that the linear size of the source is inversely proportional to the emission frequency, which is not supported by interferometric data (Cotton et al., 1980). Of special interest is the galactic center region, in which it was clearly proven that its flat radio spectrum is not due to self absorption (Lesch et al., 1988; Yusef-Zadeh, 1989).

The evidence for flat, optically thin radio spectra in several active galactic nuclei has been presented by Hughes et al. (1989); Melrose (1996); Wang et al. (1997). All these authors consider different Fermi-like acceleration schemes (either multiple shocks or second order Fermi mechanism) to be responsible for the hardness of the electron energy spectra.

In the present contribution it is suggested that optically thin synchrotron emission due to hard electron spectra produced in magnetic reconnection regions can explain the nature of the flat/inverted spectrum radio sources.

## 2 Particle acceleration in reconnection regions

Any acceleration model of charged particles must ultimately be based on the energy gain of the particles in electric fields. However, the dynamics of the respective plasma processes involved can be quite different. The principal acceleration scenarios (reviews are given, e.g., by Schlickeiser (1986); Kirk (1994); Kuijpers (1996)) may be divided in the Fermi I and Fermi II mechanisms, shock-drift acceleration (which in fact can be considered as an example of Fermi I acceleration), diffusive shock acceleration, plasma wave acceleration, electrostatic double layers and the energization of particles in reconnection events. In contrast to the other ’classic’ mechanisms it was only more recently that reconnection was discussed as a process that does not only convert magnetic field energy to plasma bulk motion and heating but also plays an important role in the context of fast particle acceleration (Schindler et al., 1991; Vekstein and Priest, 1995; Lesch and Birk, 1998; Schopper et al., 1998; Litvinenko, 1997, 1999).

In the context of shock acceleration much elaborated work has been done concerning the shape and evolution of the energy distribution of the accelerated particles (e.g. Kuijpers (1996); Achterberg (2000) and ref. therein). One may note that in the diffusive shock scenarios the injection problem appears, i.e. one has to assume a high-energy electrons to start with. Within many applications only the modification of power law spectra by shocks which are assumed for the injected particle population in the first place are investigated. What is more, very flat spectra are very hard to explain in the context of simple shock acceleration (Melrose, 1996).

Nothing comparable to the detailed studies on the energy spectra of shock accelerated particles has been done for the reconnection scenario. In this contribution we analyze the energy spectra that can be expected to be caused by high-energy particles accelerated in dc electric fields in reconnection regions starting from the space-averaged transport equation for the one-particle distribution function that represents the high-energy particle component.

In three-dimensional configurations with $`B0`$ everywhere a finite electric field component parallel to the magnetic field $`E_s`$ is necessary for the onset of magnetic reconnection (Hesse and Schindler, 1988; Schindler et al., 1991). Ideal Ohm’s law is to be violated

$$𝐄+\frac{1}{c}𝐯\times 𝐁=𝐑0$$
(1)
where $`𝐑`$ is some yet unspecified non-idealness. In the associated generalized electric potential (Schindler et al., 1988, 1991)

$$U=E_s𝑑s=R_s𝑑s,$$
(2)
where the integral is evaluated along the magnetic field lines that penetrate the reconnection region, charged particles can be efficiently accelerated. It should be mentioned that in general $`U`$ is not an electrostatic potential. Note that particles are not necessarily accelerated up to energies associated with $`U`$ but expression (2) gives an upper limit of the energy level of the accelerated particle population. The electric potentials are often associated with non-ideal flows like steady rotational motion or (non-)stationary shear flows. The nature of the non-idealness $`𝐑`$ and the reconnection process determines the strength, structure and time dependence of the electric potential and thereby the particle energization. One can think of different kinds of non-idealness in Ohm’s law that allow for the reconnection process to start. Since astrophysical plasmas are on large spatial scales highly collisionless the Coulomb resistivity is negligible. Nevertheless, Ohm’s law can locally be violated by $`R_s=\eta j_s`$, where $`j_s`$ is the magnetic field aligned component of the current density, provided that some anomalous resistivity $`\eta `$ is caused by microturbulent stochastic electromagnetic fields (e.g. Huba (1985) and ref. therein). The microturbulence can be caused by currents. When the current density exceeds a critical value, unstable kinetic waves can be excited that in their non-linear evolution result in stochastic microturbulent electromagnetic fields. The same concept $`R_sj_s`$ for $`j>j_{crit}`$ holds for stochastic ion acoustic double layers as a source for anomalous dissipation (Haerendel, 1993). In relativistic plasmas, in particular, finite particle inertia can be responsible for the non-idealness $`R_sj_s/t+(\mathrm{𝐯𝐣}+\mathrm{𝐣𝐯})`$ as was recently discussed in the context of extragalactic jets (Lesch and Birk, 1998).

In the present study we are rather interested in the resulting power-law indices of the energy spectra of the high-energy particles than in their maximum energy. The spectra result from the combined effects of direct acceleration of charged particles in the dc electric fields in reconnection regions and radiative loss processes. For the acceleration the yet unspecified quantity $`R_s`$ plays the crucial role. In the simplest standard scenario of two-dimensional stationary reconnection a constant electric field perpendicular to the plane where a projection of one magnetic field component changes sign occurs, e.g., (Parker, 1963; Biskamp, 1993). This electric field is a result of the non-idealness $`R_s`$ that is assumed to be constant in the reconnection region. Let us now consider a configuration with a dominant constant magnetic field component parallel to the direction of the associated electric current. The electric field parallel to this magnetic field component is approximately $`E_s`$ and therefore the fast particle acceleration is constant in time. A finite pitch angle of the accelerated particles allows for the radiative losses. To be more specific let us consider a generic shear configuration. If a plasma flow, say $`𝐯_s=v_s(x,z)𝐞_y`$ is applied to an homogeneous magnetic field $`𝐁=B_z𝐞_z`$ a shear component forms $`B_y=B_zv_s/zdt`$ that results, in particular, in an electric current flowing parallel to $`B_z`$. Given some localized dissipation (caused, e.g., by a supercritical current density) magnetic reconnection can take place. In a stationary state a constant (Biskamp, 1993) inflow $`𝐯_i=v_i𝐞_x`$ towards the reconnection region occurs and the magnetic shear is converted to heat and kinetic energy as fast as it is built up by the external shear flow $`v_s`$. The convergent velocity $`v_i`$ can be expressed as a function of the local Alfvén velocity and the (constant) reconnection rate (Biskamp, 1993). The quasi-stationary magnitude of the electric field component that causes the acceleration of fast particles along $`B_z`$ can then be estimated without specifying for the non-idealness $`R_s`$ as it is possible in a more elaborated general three-dimensional reconnection model (Schindler et al., 1988, 1991). In our example, we find

$$E_z\frac{1}{\mathrm{\Delta }_{\mathrm{rec}}c}_{\mathrm{\Delta }_{\mathrm{rec}}}𝑑z_T𝑑tv_i\frac{B_y}{t}$$
(3)
where $`\mathrm{\Delta }_{\mathrm{rec}}`$ and $`T`$ denote the extent of the reconnection region along $`B_z`$ and the typical time scale of shear formation.

In what follows, we describe the particle acceleration by a an average constant electric field. In particular, the acceleration force does not depend on the momentum of the charged particles.

## 3 The momentum balance equation for the accelerated particle population

The population of high-energy particles that do not interact with each other can be described by the one-body distribution function $`f(𝐫,𝐩,t)`$ that obeys the Liouville equation

$$\frac{f}{t}+\frac{d𝐫}{dt}_𝐫f+\frac{d𝐩}{dt}_𝐩f=0.$$
(4)
Though this equation contains the full dynamical information it is of limited use since this non-linear differential equation in seven variables is usually unsolvable for physical situations of interest. Fortunately, we need not to know the full information of the particle dynamics in a rigorous manner. First, will assume pitch angle isotropy. This idealization is motivated by the fact that in reconnection regions Alfvénic and magnetosonic wave fields with relatively high-energy densities are to be expected which cause an efficient particle scattering in momentum space (Schlickeiser, 1986). Additionally, self-excited Alfvén turbulence maintain quasi-isotropy, if the systematic velocity of the high-energy particles exceeds the Alfvén speed of the ambient plasma (Kuijpers, 1996). Second, when asking about the energy spectrum of the accelerated particles in a specified astrophysical object the detailed spatial dependence of the distribution function is often of no interest. Rather it is usually sufficient to concentrate on a distribution function space-averaged over the volume $`V`$. Thus, we deal with the isotropic distribution $`f^{}(p,t)=𝑑𝐫f(𝐫,p,t)/V`$. The total particle number is calculated as $`N(t)=4\pi f^{}p^2𝑑p`$. The loss in information is not too high a price to pay in order to obtain a transport equation in momentum space one can really deal with. The continuous momentum gains and losses $`\mathrm{\Delta }p`$ the particles experience can be described by a momentum operator

$$_p=\frac{1}{p^2}\frac{}{p}[(\dot{p}_{gain}+\dot{p}_{loss})p^2],$$
(5)
if one concentrates, as in the present study, on systematic temporal momentum gains $`\dot{p}_{gain}`$ and losses $`\dot{p}_{loss}`$. The finite characteristic time $`\tau `$ a particle stays in the acceleration region gives rise to a further sink in the balance equation for $`f^{}(p,t)`$. In the reconnection scenario particles can escape $`E_s0`$-regions by following reconnected field-lines outward the non-ideal regions. Some explicit source term $`S(p)`$, on the other hand, represents the injected particle population. Taking these effects into account the temporal evolution of the particle distribution is governed by the equation (Jones, 1970; Schlickeiser, 1984, 1986)

$$\frac{f^{}(p,t)}{t}+_pf^{}(p,t)+\frac{f^{}(p,t)}{\tau }=S(p)$$
(6)
which holds, if the distribution function $`f(𝐫,p,t)`$ is separable in the space and the momentum variables, and if the momentum operator $`_p`$ is space independent.

It should be noted that equations(5) and (6) hold only for momentum changes $`\mathrm{\Delta }pp`$ during a time interval $`\mathrm{\Delta }t\tau `$. If one wants to include the effects of stochastic diffusion in momentum space, which may become important, e.g., for a microturbulent resistivity, a Fokker-Planck diffusion term could be incorporated (Schlickeiser, 1984, 1986) in equation(5).

The momentum change terms in equation(5) in our case can be specified as follows. The dominant loss processes that are mainly responsible for the non-thermal radiative phenomena are synchrotron and inverse Compton radiation. We will not consider Bremsstrahlung ($`\dot{p}_{loss}p`$) here, since this effect usually is dominated by the other ones mentioned. Both processes scale as (Longair, 1981) $`\dot{p}_{loss}=kp^2`$ with $`k=\frac{4}{3}\sigma _\mathrm{T}c^2U`$ where $`\sigma _\mathrm{T}`$ is the Thomson cross-section and $`U`$ is the magnetic field or photon energy density, respectively. The momentum gain of a single charged particle in the acceleration region is given by

$$\dot{p}_{gain}=\frac{d}{dt}(\gamma mv)=qE_s=qR_s$$
(7)
where $`\gamma `$ is the Lorentz factor and $`q`$ is the electrical charge. In this contribution we exclusively consider the case $`qR_s=\zeta =`$const. (see discussion in section 2) and thus, solve the transport equation

$$\frac{f}{t}+\left(\frac{2\zeta }{p}4kp\right)f+\left(\zeta kp^2\right)\frac{f}{p}+\frac{f}{\tau }=S(p)$$
(8)
where the primes are now omitted. Equations of this kind can, in general, be solved by means of the inverse Laplace transformation (Melrose, 1980).

## 4 Power law particle distributions

First, we solve the steady-state version of equation(8) for different source populations. The resulting distribution function reads

$$f(p)=f_0p^2|\zeta kp^2|^1\left|\frac{1+p\sqrt{k/\zeta }}{1p\sqrt{k/\zeta }}\right|^{\frac{1}{2\tau \sqrt{k\zeta }}}$$
(9)
where $`f_0`$ depends on the injected source population by the integral

$$f_0=^pp^2\left|\frac{1+p^{}\sqrt{k/\zeta }}{1p^{}\sqrt{k/\zeta }}\right|^{\frac{1}{2\tau \sqrt{k\zeta }}}S\left(p^{}\right)𝑑p^{}.$$
(10)
If the acceleration is negligible as compared to radiative losses, the stationary energy spectrum equation(9) shows the pure aging behavior (see Longair (1981)) caused by synchrotron or inverse Compton losses $`f(p)p^4`$ where $`f(p)dp`$ is the particle number in the momentum interval $`dp`$. If the losses are negligible, the spectrum is given by $`f(p)p^2e^{p/\zeta \tau }`$.

We note that the distribution function given by equation(9) may diverge at the momentum $`p=p_c=\sqrt{\zeta /k}`$ where gains and losses balance. When it is rewritten as

$$f(p)=f_0k\left(\frac{p}{p_c}\right)^2\left(1+\frac{p}{p_c}\right)^{\frac{1}{2\tau \sqrt{k\zeta }}1}\left|1\frac{p}{p_c}\right|^{\frac{1}{2\tau \sqrt{k\zeta }}1}$$
(11)
it becomes clear that the function is well behaved for $`2\tau \sqrt{k\zeta }<1`$, with $`f(p_c)=0`$. A pile-up of particles occurs if $`2\tau \sqrt{k\zeta }>1`$. This is equivalent to $`\tau >\sqrt{t_{acc}t_{loss}}/2`$ if one defines the acceleration and loss timescale as $`\dot{p}_{gain}=p/t_{acc}=\zeta `$ and $`\dot{p}_{loss}=p/t_{loss}=kp^2`$, respectively. This means that the particles are collected near $`p=p_c`$ when the escape time (which depends on the geometry of the acceleration region) is longer than half the geometric mean of the timescales for acceleration and radiative losses. Otherwise the particles escape before they can accumulate.

It needs mentioning that the pile-up at the critical momentum $`p_c=\sqrt{\zeta /k}`$ would be smoothed out, if a Fokker-Planck diffusion term was incorporated in equation(8). This was done by Schlickeiser (1984) for the case of shock acceleration.

We now turn to determine $`f_0`$ in equation(9) for different injection spectra. For a monoenergetic source population $`S(p)=s_0\delta (pp_0)`$ we find

$$f_0=s_0p_0^2\mathrm{\Theta }(pp_0)\left(\frac{1+p_0\sqrt{k/\zeta }}{1p_0\sqrt{k/\zeta }}\right)^{\frac{1}{2\tau \sqrt{k\zeta }}}$$
(12)
where $`\mathrm{\Theta }`$ denotes the Heaviside function. In the next section we will calculate spectra for this source population. For a relativistic Maxwellian source population $`S(p)=s_0\mathrm{exp}(ap)`$, where $`a`$ is a constant, one obtains

$$f_0=s_0^pp^2e^{ap^{}}\left|\frac{1+p^{}\sqrt{k/\zeta }}{1p^{}\sqrt{k/\zeta }}\right|^{\frac{1}{2\tau \sqrt{k\zeta }}}𝑑p^{}$$
(13)
where $`c`$ is some integration constant. In the limit of negligible particle escape, i.e. $`\tau \sqrt{k\zeta }\mathrm{}`$, or for negligible acceleration as compared to radiative losses $`k/\zeta \mathrm{}`$ the particle distribution reads

$$f(p)=\frac{1}{a^3}e^{ap}(2+2ap+a^2p^2)|\zeta kp^2|^1p^2.$$
(14)
For a power law source distribution, $`S(p)=s_0p^z`$ $`f_0`$, can be determined as

$$f_0=s_0^pp^{2z}e^{ap^{}}\left|\frac{1+p^{}\sqrt{k/\zeta }}{1p^{}\sqrt{k/\zeta }}\right|^{\frac{1}{2\tau \sqrt{k\zeta }}}𝑑p^{}.$$
(15)
If one considers again the limits of negligible particle escape or negligible acceleration one finds

$$f(p)=s_0\frac{p^{3z}}{3z}|\zeta kp^2|^1p^2.$$
(16)
Non-stationary solutions of equation(8) with an exponential time evolution $`f(p,t)e^{t/\tau }`$ can be found provided the distribution function satisfies $`_pf=S(p)`$. For a monoenergetic source population one obtains for $`p>p_0`$

$$f(p,t)=cp^2|\zeta kp^2|^1e^{\frac{t}{\tau }}$$
(17)
where the constant $`c`$ contains $`s_0`$. A relativistic Maxwellian source population and a power-law one result in

$$f(p,t)=\left(c+\frac{s_0}{a}e^{ap}\right)p^2|\zeta kp^2|^1e^{\frac{t}{\tau }}$$
(18)
and

$$f(p,t)=\left(c+s_0p^z\right)p^2|\zeta kp^2|^1e^{\frac{t}{\tau }},$$
(19)
respectively.

## 5 Synchrotron emission spectrum

The spectral power $`P_\nu `$ radiated by a single particle with momentum $`p`$ is in a good approximation given by ($`b=\sqrt{3}e^3B\mathrm{sin}\theta /mc^2`$ and $`\nu _c=3eB\mathrm{sin}\theta p^2/4\pi (mc)^3`$, with $`\theta `$ being the angle between the magnetic field and the line of sight)

$$P_\nu (p)=b\left(\frac{\nu }{\nu _c}\right)^{1/3}e^{\nu /\nu _c},$$
(20)
see Melrose (1980b). It has its maximum near $`\nu =\nu _c`$ and shows a characteristic $`\nu ^{1/3}`$ spectrum for $`\nu \nu _c`$ and an exponential cutoff for $`\nu \nu _c`$. The specific intensity from an isotropic momentum distribution of particle density $`N(p)=4\pi p^2f(p)`$ can then be calculated by

$$I_\nu =𝑑pN(p)P_\nu (p).$$
(21)
In figure (1) we plot the distribution function $`N(p)=4\pi p^2f(p)`$ with $`f(p)`$ from equation(11) for a monoenergetic source population (equation(12)) with different values of $`a=1/2\tau \sqrt{k\zeta }`$. The pile-up results for $`a=0.5`$. The higher cut-off results for $`a=2`$ and the third curve represents the case $`a=6`$. Figure (2) shows the corresponding synchrotron radiation spectra along with the spectrum of a single particle (upper curve) according to equation(20) for comparison. Going downward, the other curves again represent $`a=0.5`$, $`a=2`$, and $`a=6`$, respectively. It is interesting that the low-frequency part becomes flattened even though the particle distribution remains constant at low energies and changes only near the cutoff momentum. The spectral index $`\alpha `$ with $`I_\nu \nu ^\alpha `$ is given by $`\alpha =0.33`$ for the upper curve and $`\alpha 0.1`$ for the lowest curve. This shows that synchrotron emission with inverted spectra is to be expected from reconnection zones. We note again that in the context of AGNs and BL Lacs the complete emission spectra show power-laws for higher than radio frequencies.

## 6 Discussion

Particle acceleration by field-aligned electric fields in reconnection regions can be described by diffusion in momentum space as long as the differential momentum changes are small compared to the respective instant particle momentum. This assumption seems not to be that restrictive, since reconnection events are expected to excite intense Alfvénic modes and MHD turbulence that causes efficiently pitch angle diffusion. Thus, in many applications the diffusion treatment seems to be appropriate. The present analysis shows that mainly constant distributions for accelerated particles are to be expected no matter whether monoenergetic, Maxwellian or power law populations are injected into the reconnection regions. The associate synchrotron spectra $`I_\nu \nu ^\alpha `$ show negative spectral indices $`\alpha <0`$. Such rising spectra are ubiquitously observed in galactic nuclei (Rayner et al., 2000) as in the core regions of blazars (Edwards et al., 2000).

We stress that the actual acceleration problem is highly involved. Our findings come from a quite simple nonetheless physically reasonable scenario. Highly anisotropic particle distributions cannot be described within our approach. Neither local variations of the spectra can be determined. Whereas some improvement may be possible on the analytical side we feel that a numerical test particle approach and self-consistent electromagnetic particle simulations are indispensable for a deeper understanding of the acceleration of high-energy particles in reconnection regions.

This work has been supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft through the grant LE 1039/6.


text:
# The oxidation state at tunnel junction interfaces

## Abstract

We demonstrate that at the usual $`10^7`$ torr range of base pressures in the sputtering chamber, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy shows the existence of a thin AlOx layer at the Nb/Al interface in both Nb/Al-AlOx/Pb tunnel junctions and Nb/Al bilayers. This is due to the time elapsed between the deposition of the Nb and Al bottom layers, even at times as short as 100 s. We also give some direct evidence of the oxidation of the top Pb electrode on the Nb electrode surface. Such oxidation probably occurs at the pinholes of the intermediate Al-AlOx layer of the junctions, as a consequence of the oxidation state at the Nb/Al interface. We therefore suggest that both the base pressure and the time lapse between layer depositions should be carefully controlled in magnetic tunnel junctions.

Ferromagnet/insulator/ferrromagnet (FM/I/FM) magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) exhibiting large magnetoresistance (MR) have lately attracted much interest due to their potential applications. The performance of the junctions is strongly dependent on the oxidation of the FM electrodes at the FM/I interfaces, as well as on the oxidation state of the barrier, which has to be homogenous and complete. The use of thinner and thinner barriers has reopened the question of how to rule out the presence of pinholes. Rowell and others developed a set of criteria to ascertain that tunneling is the dominant mechanism in junctions with at least one superconducting (S) electrode. Three of these criteria still apply in FM/I/FM structures: (i) an exponential insulator thickness dependence of the conductance, $`G`$; (ii) a parabolic voltage dependence of $`G`$ that can be fitted to the theoretical models; and (iii) a weak insulating-like dependence $`G(T)`$.

For the first criterion, it has been shown that pinholes may mimic the exponential thickness dependence of the tunneling resistance. For the second one, some of us demonstrated that S/I/FM junctions that displayed parabolic $`G(V)`$ curves in the normal state, showed, at low temperatures and depending on the oxidation procedure, either tunneling or pinhole conduction (Andreev reflection). The recent observation of very large MR in Co-Co and Ni-Ni wire nanocontacts also suggests the pinhole contribution to TMR in MTJs. Given the ratio of the conduction between metallic contacts and junctions, pinhole regions of one part in $`10^6`$ must be ruled out to ensure no pinhole conduction in parallel with tunneling. For the third criterion, some results suggest that pinholes yield a metallic-like temperature dependence of the junction resistance. Therefore, out of the three Rowell criteria, only one, the insulating-like $`G(T)`$, seems to be reliable.

X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) is an excellent technique for the analysis of MTJs since it is sensitive to the chemical species as well as to their bonding state. In this letter, we show that at the usual $`10^7`$ torr range of base pressures in the sputtering chamber, XPS indicates that there exists a thin oxygen layer mostly adsorbed on the surface of the bottom electrode that yields the oxidation of the first impinging atoms of the intermediate layer. We also demostrate that this is due to the time elapsed between the deposition of the layers. Therefore, the oxidation state at the interfaces strongly affects the tunneling process by modifying the pinhole conductivity and the interface chemistry and roughness.

The junctions were prepared as follows: a dc sputtered superconducting Nb(80 nm)/Al(10 nm) bilayer bottom electrode was oxidized in air 10 minutes and a Pb top electrode (200 nm) was deposited in a separate thermal evaporation unit, leading to the Nb/Al-AlOx/Pb junction (Pb sample). The resulting oxide thickness was typically 1-2 nm and the remaining 8 nm of metallic Al were superconducting for proximity to the Nb. For a second sample, the bottom electrode was oxidized for 18 hours in air (barrier thickness of 2-3 nm) and a Ni (20 nm) layer was dc sputtered on top, leading to the Nb/Al-AlOx/Ni junction (Ni sample). The junction area for both samples was $`1\times 0.3`$ mm2. These two samples are representative of the variety of samples studied. Standard ac (1 kHz) differential conductance $`G=dI/dV`$ measurements as a function of dc bias were carried out from 4.2 to 300 K using a balanced bridge. XPS spectra (Al Kα; base pressure $`10^9`$ torr) were recorded for exactly the same samples as in $`G(V)`$. The distribution of elements across the junction was studied by performing a low-energy sputtering process (4 keV, incident at 45; typical etching rate 6-10 nm/minute) for a short time (6-18 s) and recording the spectrum after each step. This sputtering process, which may lead to a certain intermixing, together with the fact that the XPS signal averages the out-coming electrons from a region of about 5-10 nm in depth, precludes the observation of sharp interfaces.

For the Pb junction, $`G(V)`$ at 155 K suggests tunnel conduction (Fig. 1(a)), which is confirmed by the signature of the superconducting gap at 4.2 K (inset of Fig. 1(a)). The fit of $`G(V)`$ to the Brinkman-Dynes-Rowell (BDR) model yields a barrier thickness of 1.1 nm and heights of 3.6 eV and 2.4 eV on the Pb and Nb/Al sides, respectively, while the fit to the Simmons’ model yields 1.2 nm and 2.9 eV. For the Ni sample, $`G`$ is high and flat, indicating big metal-to-metal shorts. This suggests that Pb mostly adds to the AlOx barrier without damaging it and that the latter is free of metal-to-metal pinholes. However, Ni damages the barrier, in agreement with previous studies of the influence of the top electrode on the junction properties: both the junction resistance and the barrier height increase with the ionic radius (from Ni to Pb) since the larger the latter is, the less the element can penetrate in the barrier, resulting in less effective micro-shorts.

Fig. 1(b) shows the atomic concentration of Nb, Pb, AlOx and O obtained from the XPS intensities for the Pb sample, as a function of the sputtering time (sputtering steps of 18 s). The AlOx concentration was obtained by fitting the intensity of the Al $`2p`$ core level to both a metallic and oxide contribution. As soon as Nb is detected, the O signal increases, first reaching a maximum and later decreasing as the sputtering process approaches the Nb layer. The AlOx concentration perfectly follows that of O (Fig. 1(b)), the first maximum corresponding to the insulating barrier, the second one (ca. 300 s) suggesting that there is a thin oxygen layer on top of Nb that oxidizes the first Al atoms arriving at the bottom electrode. At short sputtering times, the oxidation of both the free surface of the sample (O-Pb $`1s`$ at 528.3-529.4 eV) and the barrier (O-Al $`1s`$ at 531-531.5 eV) are observed. Besides, the O-Al $`1s`$ peaks at the Nb/Al interface are clearly asymmetric at low energies, and a small peak at about 529.3 eV is observed (Fig. 1(c)), suggesting an O-Pb contribution of about 3%. This indicates that some PbOx is present on the Nb surface, which is probably due both to the existence of the oxygen layer at the Nb/Al interface and to the consequent Pb oxidation at the pinholes of the Al-AlOx layer. This is in agreement with some electron microscopy studies showing a pinhole surface area up to about 2% in AlOx barriers, even if in the present Pb junction, the former Al layer was about 10 nm in thickness. From the Nb $`3d`$ core level (Fig. 1(d)), some NbO (Nb-O $`3d_{5/2}`$ at 204.6 eV) on the surface of the Nb layer is inferred, although the calculated O-Nb contribution is at least one order of magnitude smaller than the experimental O-Al one, so that the former (530.0-530.4 eV) is not detected since it overlaps to the latter. The Pb $`4f`$ core level (not shown) at the Nb/Al interface also yields a small amount of PbO and/or Pb3O4, while the O-Pb/Pb-O ratio is about 1.5. The Ni sample also follows this framework: both the O-Al $`1s`$ and Al-O $`2p`$ signals increase on the surface of Nb.

Given the base pressures in the sputtering chamber ($`2.6\times 10^7`$ and $`1.3\times 10^7`$ torr for the Pb and Ni samples, respectively), the thin oxygen layer at the Nb/Al interface is related to the time that the Nb film is kept in the chamber before the Al deposition proceeds (45 minutes and 5 hours for the Pb and Ni junctions, respectively). Three Nb(100 nm)/Al(20 nm) bilayers were prepared to support this suggestion: sample Nb/Al-1, for which the Nb layer was 100 s in chamber (base pressure of $`1.4\times 10^7`$ torr); sample Nb/Al-2, for which the Nb layer was 18.5 hours in the chamber ($`1.2\times 10^7`$ torr); and sample Nb/Al-3, for which the Nb layer was 27 hours in air (former base pressure of $`1.4\times 10^7`$ torr). The role of the standard Gibbs energy of formation of the metal oxides ($`\mathrm{\Delta }_fG_0`$ at 298.15 K) was studied by preparing two Nb(100 nm)/Pb(200 nm) bilayers with increasing transfer time in air from the sputtering chamber to the Pb evaporation unit; sample Nb/Pb-1 was 7 minutes in air, while sample Nb/Pb-2, was 24 hours.

The atomic concentration for Nb, metallic Al, O and AlOx for the Nb/Al bilayers is shown in Fig. 2 as a function of the sputtering time (sputtering step of 6 s). The AlOx concentration at the Nb/Al interface clearly increases with increasing time between the Nb and Al depositions. Even for sample Nb/Al-1 (Fig. 2(a)), there is change in the slope of both the concentrations of AlOx and O as the Nb layer is detected. The O $`1s`$ core level yields mostly O-Al bonds and, although there might be some NbO on the surface of the Nb, the calculated O-Nb contribution is at least about one order of magnitude smaller than the O-Al one for all samples, in agreement with $`\mathrm{\Delta }_fG_0`$(Al2O3)= -1582.3 kJ/mol and $`\mathrm{\Delta }_fG_0`$(NbO)= -378.6 kJ/mol. A similar picture is drawn for the Nb/Pb samples (not shown), the main differences being that, while at the free surface of the samples the oxidation state corresponds to O-Pb, in agreement with the Pb-O contribution to the Pb $`4f`$ core level, the O $`1s`$ increase at the Nb/Pb interface takes place at 530.0-530.4 eV, suggesting that this is the core level energy for the O-Nb $`1s`$ bonds. Both the Nb-O peak position and the O-Nb/Nb-O ratio at the Nb/Pb interfaces, suggest NbO2. Besides, the calculated O-Pb contribution is about two orders of magnitude smaller than the O-Nb one, in agreement with $`\mathrm{\Delta }_fG_0`$(NbO2)= -740.5 kJ/mol and $`\mathrm{\Delta }_fG_0`$(PbO)= - 187.9 kJ/mol.

In conclusion, we have shown that when preparing tunnel junctions at the usual $`10^7`$ torr base pressures, the oxidation state at the interfaces depends on the time elapsed between the deposition of the layers, even at times as short as 100 s, which is most relevant for the performance of the junctions. We therefore suggest that both parameters should be carefully controlled. We have also given some direct evidence of the oxidation of the top electrode on the surface of the bottom one, probably at the pinholes of the intermediate layer —even if the latter is about 10 nm in thickness— and due to the oxidation state at the interfaces. As some junctions studied show tunnel conduction, the oxidation state at the interfaces may be relevant to the dominant conduction mechanism. Consequently, the oxidation of the top FM layer at the pinholes of the insulating barrier in MTJs may well be influenced by the synthesis conditions so that the role of the latter in the quality of the junctions should be taken into account, the relative metal oxide formation energy of the selected elements being crucial.

Financial support of the Spanish CICYT (MAT2000-0858) and the Generalitat de Catalunya (ACI2000-04 and 2000SGR-025) are gratefully recognized. IKS acknowledges US DARPA and ONR.