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# Quark pair simulation near threshold : Reweighting and hadronization

## 1 Introduction

Several physics subjects of interest require a correct description of low mass quark-antiquark systems. In $`e^+e^{}\mathrm{q}\overline{\mathrm{q}}`$ processes, initial state radiation can bring back the mass of the outgoing quark pair near its production threshold, giving rise to topologies with an energetic photon and a collimated hadronic system. Such events can for example be used to extract a measurement of the hadronic cross-section at the effective center-of-mass energy (and the ratio R of hadronic to pointlike muonic cross-sections) , or represent a background to searches for physics beyond the standard model, such as radiative decays of intermediate vector bosons.

In neutral-current $`e^+e^{}\mathrm{q}\overline{\mathrm{q}}\mathrm{f}\overline{\mathrm{f}}`$ processes, low-mass quark pairs give again access to hadronized virtual photons. Such events are interesting in their own right (they have been studied by the LEP experiments at LEP1 , and the corresponding cross-section is measured by the Delphi experiment at LEP2 ), but can also represent a background to new particle searches, of which low mass Higgs boson searches are an example.

Current two- and four-fermion generators are not adapted to these kinds of studies. A first point is that the string model , upon which the PYTHIA program  relies to simulate the hadronization of parton systems, describes the data well at high energy, but is expected to break down below about 2 GeV. Secondly, computations of amplitudes generally make use of state-of-the-art knowledge of electroweak corrections and include a first order QCD term, but ignore non-perturbative corrections to vertices involving a light $`\mathrm{q}\overline{\mathrm{q}}`$ pair. In other words, diquark systems are generated with distorted mass distributions in the low mass region, and are hadronized unrealistically.

Low mass quark-antiquark pairs appearing in $`e^+e^{}`$ annihilations most often involve a coupling to a virtual photon. This suggests using experimental data on $`\mathrm{e}^+\mathrm{e}^{}\mathrm{hadrons}`$ a low energy, namely the R-ratio and measurements of exclusive final states cross-sections, to solve the problem. The mass spectrum and hadronization aspects are described in turn in the next two sections. Although it is not the main subject of this report, some results for two- and four-fermion processes are summarized in the third section. The code location is given in the last section.

## 2 Quark-pair production near thresholds

The task of implementing non-perturbative QCD corrections to $`\mathrm{q}\overline{\mathrm{q}}`$ differential cross-sections was first attempted in the framework of the four-fermion generator FERMISV . The present method is similar and improves on a few shortcomings : the integration of the $`\mathrm{q}\overline{\mathrm{q}}`$ are spectra are improved using proper Monte-Carlo techniques ; most importantly, recent data in the charm resonance region are used in order to obtain a good description of this mass range.

### 2.1 Reweighting of the $`\gamma ^{}\mathrm{q}\overline{\mathrm{q}}`$ vertex

With QCD turned off, the cross-section for quark pair production through a virtual photon can be written (in a symbolic way):

$`d\sigma _{hadrons}^0`$ $`=`$ $`d\sigma _{\mathrm{u}\overline{\mathrm{u}}}^0+d\sigma _{\mathrm{d}\overline{\mathrm{d}}}^0+d\sigma _{\mathrm{s}\overline{\mathrm{s}}}^0+d\sigma _{\mathrm{c}\overline{\mathrm{c}}}^0+d\sigma _{\mathrm{b}\overline{\mathrm{b}}}^0`$
$`=`$ $`d\sigma _{\mu \mu }\times (R_u^0+R_d^0+R_s^0+R_c^0+R_b^0)`$
$`=`$ $`d\sigma _{\mu \mu }\times R^0,`$
where the $`R_q^0`$ are just charge, colour and threshold factors, already taken into account in generators, and $`R^0`$ is the total parton level R-ratio. We now consider QCD effects, and write similarly:

$`d\sigma _{hadrons}`$ $`=`$ $`d\sigma _{\mu \mu }\times R`$
$`=`$ $`d\sigma _{\mu \mu }\times (R_u+R_d+R_s+R_c+R_b)`$
$`=`$ $`d\sigma _{\mathrm{u}\overline{\mathrm{u}}}^0\overline{R}_u+d\sigma _{\mathrm{d}\overline{\mathrm{d}}}^0\overline{R}_d+d\sigma _{\mathrm{s}\overline{\mathrm{s}}}^0\overline{R}_s+d\sigma _{\mathrm{c}\overline{\mathrm{c}}}^0\overline{R}_c+d\sigma _{\mathrm{b}\overline{\mathrm{b}}}^0\overline{R}_b,`$
with $`\overline{R}_qR_q/R_q^0`$ .The above lines express that for a given quark flavour q, a QCD-improved description can be implemented by multiplying the parton level matrix elements by a factor $`\overline{R}_q`$, representing the contribution of quark flavour q to the experimental R-ratio, with charge, colour and threshold factors divided out 111Of course, the splitting of R into contributions from different flavours is only a computational convenience, and the whole procedure makes sense only after summing all contributions.. Cross-sections of processes containing a $`\mathrm{q}\overline{\mathrm{q}}`$ pair will thus be computed as

$`d\sigma =\overline{R}_q(m_{\mathrm{q}\overline{\mathrm{q}}})\times ||^2\times dPh,`$
with $`||^2`$ the parton level matrix elements, and $`\overline{R}_q`$ evaluated at the $`\mathrm{q}\overline{\mathrm{q}}`$ mass.

The parametrizaton of R includes the contributions from all $`J^{PC}=1^{}`$ resonances up to the $`\mathrm{{\rm Y}}(11020)`$, with parameters taken from . Intuitively (and as in ), the $`\rho `$’s and $`\omega `$’s are attributed to the u- and d-quarks ($`ie`$, entered in the definitions of $`\overline{R}_u`$ and $`\overline{R}_d`$); the $`\varphi `$’s, the $`\psi `$’s and the $`\mathrm{{\rm Y}}`$’s are attributed to s-, c- and b-quarks (included in $`\overline{R}_s`$,$`\overline{R}_c`$,$`\overline{R}_b`$) respectively.

The continuum is parametrized by simple functions satisfying partonic boundary conditions, with parameters adjusted in the threshold regions so that the available data  are correctly reproduced. At present, one such function is defined for u- and d-quarks, one for s-quarks, and one for c-quarks. Since the currently available data do not allow a detailed representation of the Upsilon resonance region, the continuum from b-quarks is represented by a step function at the B-meson threshold.

Finally, the continuum parametrizations include an overall second order perturbative QCD correction factor. The running of the strong coupling constant is computed at second order, and $`\mathrm{\Lambda }_{QCD}`$ is set so as to reproduce the world-averaged $`\alpha _S(m_Z^2)`$ . The implementation used is taken from .

The resulting parametrization of the R-ratio is illustrated in Figure 1.

### 2.2 Monte-Carlo sampling

The R function being very accidented, special attention has to be paid to its Monte-Carlo sampling. Exploration of all narrow peaks is performed using iterative dividing of the integration range. In a first step, the full range is divided in a number of sub-intervals, the borders of which are set on the (a priori known) peaks of the resonances. The interval contributing most to the integral is then divided into two equal sub-intervals. This process is iterated and fine granularity is obtained by requiring a large number of intervals. After completion of the initialization phase, drawing intervals at random (in proportion to their contribution to the total integral) then ensures correct population of all the peaks. The program implementing this algorithm and used for our purpose, VESKO, was first described in . It was modified to be able to take into account the positions of a priori known peaks in the distributions, and to handle several distributions simultaneously.

### 2.3 Caveats

The above procedure is valid only if the final state quark pair is genuinely coupled to a virtual photon. Therefore, this method should not be applied to the $`e^+e^{}e^+e^{}\mathrm{q}\overline{\mathrm{q}}`$ process, unless a kinematic region is selected where the multi-peripheral (mostly $`\gamma `$-$`\gamma `$) diagrams have negligible contribution and interference with the other diagrams.

Other complications appear for final states with four quarks. In principle, one $`\overline{R}`$ factor should be present for every pair of identical quarks, but there are cases where care should be taken. For example, in the $`\mathrm{u}\overline{\mathrm{d}}\mathrm{d}\overline{\mathrm{u}}`$ final state and if all quarks have same colour, one should evaluate whether charged current diagrams ($`ie`$, WW production) or neutral current diagrams (Z/$`\gamma ^{}`$ Z/$`\gamma ^{}`$) dominate the total amplitude, depending on momentum configurations. Similarly, in final states with four identical quarks (of same colour), the “pairing” which dominates the total amplitude has to be determined, and the $`\overline{R}`$ factors should be evaluated at the masses of the connected quark pairs.

On the contrary, the $`e^+e^{}\mathrm{q}\overline{\mathrm{q}}`$ process is unambiguous.

## 3 Hadronization

Having decided on the $`\mathrm{q}\overline{\mathrm{q}}`$ mass spectrum in the resonance region, it remains to be determined how every individual event should behave in the detector. As a function of the mass of the quark pair, it has to be decided whether we it can be treated as a resonance of known decay properties, and if not, if the string or cluster fragmentation algorithms available in PYTHIA will work. In the first case, the quark pair is replaced by the corresponding resonance in the PYTHIA event record, and it is decayed by a subsequent call to the hadronization routine. In the second case, it is assumed that above a mass of 2 GeV, string hadronization is convenient, except in the $`\mathrm{c}\overline{\mathrm{c}}`$ and $`\mathrm{b}\overline{\mathrm{b}}`$ threshold regions where cluster hadronization correctly takes over.

Since the lowest mass region is dominated by the $`\rho `$, we are left with a mass window between $`0.9`$ and 2 GeV, open to u-, d-, and s-quarks, where new input is needed. This input can be taken from experiment, since the first hadronic final states in $`\mathrm{e}^+\mathrm{e}^{}`$ collisions have been extensively studied in the seventies and eighties. Data on the following exclusive non-resonant cross-sections  were compiled for this purpose:

* $`\mathrm{e}^+\mathrm{e}^{}3\pi (\pi ^+\pi ^{}\pi ^0)`$,
* $`\mathrm{e}^+\mathrm{e}^{}4\pi (2\pi ^+2\pi ^{},\pi ^+\pi ^{}2\pi ^0)`$,
* $`\mathrm{e}^+\mathrm{e}^{}5\pi (2\pi ^+2\pi ^{}\pi ^0)`$,
* $`\mathrm{e}^+\mathrm{e}^{}6\pi (2\pi ^+2\pi ^{}2\pi ^0,3\pi ^+3\pi ^{})`$,
* $`\mathrm{e}^+\mathrm{e}^{}2K(K^+K^{},K_SK_L)`$,
* $`\mathrm{e}^+\mathrm{e}^{}K_SK^+\pi ^{}`$ \+ CC ,
* $`\mathrm{e}^+\mathrm{e}^{}K^+K^{}\pi ^+\pi ^{}`$.

The $`K_LK^+\pi ^{}`$ final state has never been measured due to experimental difficulties related to $`K_L`$ detection, but was assumed to be equal to the $`K_SK^+\pi ^{}`$ cross-section.

These cross-sections define the “branching fractions” of the non-resonant $`\gamma ^{}`$, which are displayed in figure 2. In practice, when a $`\mathrm{q}\overline{\mathrm{q}}`$ pair is found to be neither a resonance, nor heavy enough to be administrated by string fragmentation, one of the above final states is drawn at random according to the measured cross-sections at the current $`\mathrm{q}\overline{\mathrm{q}}`$ mass. The momenta of the outgoing hadrons are then generated uniformly in the available phase space using the CERN routine GENBOD  (it has currently not been attempted to reproduce the inner kinematic structure of these multiparticle final states. For example, it is ignored that a significant part of the $`2\pi ^+2\pi ^{}`$ final state is genuinely $`\rho \rho `$ decays). Finally, the quark pair is replaced by its daughter hadrons in the PYTHIA event record.

## 4 Results for specific processes

The present algorithm has been implemented in the 2-fermion generator KK2f . Running this generator in the configuration of current $`e^+e^{}`$ colliders allows to estimate the radiative hadronic cross-sections expected at these machines. Table 1 summarizes results for the existing $`\mathrm{\Phi }`$\- and B-factories, and for a hypothetical Charm factory such as the Cleo-c program at CESR. Given the expected luminosities at these machines, $`𝒪(10^610^7)`$ events are expected in regions where the knowledge of the hadronic cross-section is still limited 222These numbers are given with initial state radiation computed to third order (see ), and final state radiation switched off. A discussion on the level of accuracy of this approximation is beyond the scope of this work, but is expected to be 1-2%.. Figure 3 illustrates the differential hadronic cross-sections expected when operating at D- and B-meson threshold.

In the context of four-fermion processes, events with a light quark-pair will show up as thin, collimated jet (most often a $`\pi ^+\pi ^{}`$ pair from a $`\rho `$ decay) recoiling against an energetic lepton- or jet-pair. Table 2 summarizes some results for the $`\mu ^+\mu ^{}\mathrm{q}\overline{\mathrm{q}}`$ and $`\mathrm{q}\overline{\mathrm{q}}\mathrm{q}\overline{\mathrm{q}}`$ processes. Assuming 500 $`\mathrm{fb}^1`$ recorded per experiment, the number of expected events with one quark pair of mass smaller than 2 GeV is $`𝒪(10^110^2)`$, depending on the process under consideration. This confirms that such events can represent a substantial background to new particle searches, and need to be accounted for in the simulation of standard model processes.

## 5 Program availability

The routines implementing the methods described above are obtainable from , together with installation notes and commented example applications.

## 6 Conclusions

A complete treatment of low-mass quark pair production and hadronization is described, which is relevant whenever the pair is produced via a virtual photon. This allows to release traditional cuts on quark pair invariant masses, and to study low mass hadronic systems specifically. The large statistics available at existing $`e^+e^{}`$ machines will allow to compare these predictions with experiment, with applications both in two- and four-fermion processes.


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# X–ray and optical monitoring of the peculiar source 4U 1700+24/V934 HerPartly based on observations collected at the Bologna Astronomical Observatory in Loiano, Italy

## 1 Introduction

In optical astronomy the identification of a binary system derives in most cases from the observation of photometric and/or radial velocity variations at the orbital period; these techniques also allow determining the masses of the two components. This application is of great importance in X–ray binaries, as it helps understanding the nature of the accreting compact object (hereafter labeled also as ‘primary component’, in contrast with the mass donor star which is indicated as ‘secondary component’). As not all X–ray binaries have optical counterparts known or displaying periodic modulation associated with the orbital period, a further effective criterium in galactic X–ray astronomy for the identification of a binary system harbouring an accreting compact object is often based on the observed X–ray luminosity. For persistent X–ray binaries with a neutron star (NS) or possibly a black hole (BH), luminosities $`L_\mathrm{X}`$ of the order of at least 1034 – 1035 erg s-1 are easily reached. The diagnosis of the presence of a NS rather than a BH in bright persistent Low Mass X–Ray Binaries (LMXRBs) is in most cases driven by the detection of pulsations or thermonuclear X–ray bursts. X–ray binaries harbouring white dwarfs (WDs) also show some distinctive features. As an example, in polars and intermediate polars optical and UV observations often reveal the typical signatures of the presence of a WD in the system. Orbital periods and light curves also add unambiguous and reliable evidence of the presence of WDs in this class of X–ray binaries.

For a number of X–ray sources (see e.g. the catalog of Liu et al. 2001) the identification of a class or even the diagnosis of binarity is rather difficult, especially when the observed X–ray luminosity is $`L_\mathrm{X}`$ $`10^{33}`$ erg s-1, as they do not easily fit in any of the groups of objects just listed. They do not show any signature in the optical radial velocity to allow the determination of an orbital period, and obviously of the system mass function. Also, they often do not seem to have pulsations or modulations in their X–ray flux which could be related to rotational or orbital periods. They are associated with Population I stars, therefore suggesting a relatively young age, and show persistent emission with a X–ray luminosity varying by at least an order of magnitude. They also display irregular short-term variability, from thousands to tens of seconds and sometimes shorter. The object 4U 1700+24 belongs to this group.

This X–ray source was first detected as a variable object by the satellites Ariel V (Cooke et al. 1978) and Uhuru (Forman et al. 1978). It shows extremely erratic variations, but no pulsations were ever detected. The rapid (10–1000 s) time variability in X–rays observed with Einstein and EXOSAT spacecraft is strongly suggestive of turbulent accretion, often observed in X–ray binaries; moreover, the X–ray spectrum of 4U 1700+24 appears rather energetic and was measured up to 10 keV (Garcia et al. 1983; Dal Fiume et al. 1990). The hardness of the spectrum suggests an origin from accretion onto a compact object, but it cannot be used as a decisive parameter.

Its optical counterpart, the bright ($`V`$ 7.8) red star HD154791 (subsequently named V934 Her; Kazarovets et al. 1999), was identified by Garcia et al. (1983) as a late type giant of spectral class M3 II on the basis of the positional coincidence with the error boxes determined by the Einstein and HEAO1 satellites. The optical spectrum of this giant looks quite typical (Garcia et al. 1983; Dal Fiume et al. 1990), with no signs of peculiarities such as emission lines; this fact makes this system unique in the sense that this is the only LMXRB with a “normal” giant star as optical counterpart. However, Gaudenzi & Polcaro (1999) recently found some interesting and variable features in its optical spectrum; these authors gave also a different spectral classification of this star (M3 III). Variable UV line emission was detected by Garcia et al. (1983) and by Dal Fiume et al. (1990) in different IUE pointings, showing at last some unusual features in the emission from this otherwise normal giant. This energetic emission is likely linked to the same mechanism that produces the observed X–ray emission. The X–ray luminosity of the system, computed assuming a distance of 730 pc (Garcia et al. 1983), is $`L_\mathrm{X}`$ $``$ 1033 erg s-1. Infrared emission from this object was observed up to 25 $`\mu `$m with IRAS (Schaefer 1986), while no counterpart was detected at radio wavelengths (Wendker 1995).

Recently, during the Fall of 1997, an X–ray outburst peaking at $``$30 mCrab in the 2–10 keV band was detected with RXTE from 4U 1700+24 (see the long–term X–ray light curve reported in Fig. 1); optical spectra acquired during outburst did not show any change with respect to those obtained during low intensity state (Tomasella et al. 1997). Finally, in spite of various attempts, no evidence of an orbital period was obtained from radial velocity analysis of optical spectra (e.g. Garcia et al. 1983). Therefore, the picture emerging from observations gives only hints in favour of a binary system, as no “classical” features to be associated with the presence of a compact object were ever found.

The aim of this paper is therefore to get a deeper insight on the high-energy properties of this source and to test whether the binary M giant plus accreting compact object scenario for this system is viable. To this task we have monitored this source over a time span of $``$15 years with various X–ray satellites (EXOSAT, ASCA and BeppoSAX). Additionally, in order to achieve a better understanding of the long- and short-term X–ray behaviours of this source, we analyzed still unpublished archival ROSAT and RXTE public data and we retrieved the data collected with the RXTE All-Sky Monitor (ASM). Also, here we report on ground-based optical spectroscopic observations taken at the Loiano 1.5-meter telescope of the Bologna Astronomical Observatory (quasi-)simultaneously with the ASCA and BeppoSAX pointings.

The paper is organized as follows: Sect. 2 will illustrate the observations and the data analysis, while in Sect. 3 the X–ray and optical results will be reported; in Sect. 4 a discussion will be given, and in Sect. 5 we will draw the conclusions.

## 2 Observations and data reduction

### 2.1 ASCA and BeppoSAX data

In this Subsection and in the following one we describe the X–ray observations made with several spacecraft on 4U 1700+24. Table 1 reports the log of all the X–ray observations presented in Sections 2.1 and 2.2.

4U 1700+24 was observed with the satellite ASCA (Tanaka et al. 1994) on 1995 March 8. This spacecraft carried four X–ray telescopes (Serlemitsos et al. 1995) equipped with two Gas Imaging Spectrometers (GIS; Ohashi et al. 1996, Makishima et al. 1996) and two Solid-State Imaging Spectrometers (SIS; Yamashita et al. 1997), each of them sensitive in the 0.5–10 keV range. Standard filtering criteria were applied to the SIS and GIS data: we selected time intervals outside the South Atlantic Geomagnetic Anomaly (SAGA) and for which the elevation angle above the earth limb was $`>`$$`5^{}`$ and the cutoff rigidity was below 7 GV. Data were extracted from a circular area centered on the source position and with radius 6 for the GIS and 3 for the SIS. The background was evaluated from blank areas of GIS and SIS images of the 4U 1700+24 field and then subtracted from the source events.

This source was also observed with the Narrow Field Instruments (NFIs) onboard BeppoSAX (Boella et al. 1997a) on 1998 March 27. The NFIs include the Low-Energy Concentrator Spectrometer (LECS, 0.1–10 keV; Parmar et al. 1997), two Medium-Energy Concentrator Spectrometers (MECS, 1.5–10 keV; Boella et al. 1997b), a High Pressure Gas Scintillation Proportional Counter (HPGSPC, 4–120 keV; Manzo et al. 1997), and the Phoswich Detection System (PDS, 15–300 keV; Frontera et al. 1997). During all pointings the four NFIs worked nominally and the source was detected by all of them. Good NFI data were selected from intervals outside the SAGA when the elevation angle above the earth limb was $`>`$$`5^{}`$, when the instrument functioning was nominal and, for LECS events, during spacecraft night time. The SAXDAS 2.0.0 data analysis package (Lammers 1997) was used for the extraction and the processing of LECS, MECS and HPGSPC data. The PDS data reduction was instead performed using XAS version 2.1 (Chiappetti & Dal Fiume 1997). LECS and MECS data were reduced using an extraction radius of 4 and 3, respectively, centered at the source position; before extraction, data from the two MECS units were merged together. Background subtraction for the two imaging instruments was performed using standard library files, while the background for the HPGSPC and for the PDS data was evaluated from the fields observed during off-source pointing intervals.

### 2.2 Other public X–ray data

In order to present a thorough long-term analysis of the X–ray behaviour of 4U 1700+24, we also retrieved from the HEASARC archive111available at: http://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/
cgi-bin/W3Browse/w3browse.pl all the unpublished X–ray observations on this source. These comprise ROSAT and RXTE data; we also re-examine an EXOSAT pointing already presented in Dal Fiume et al. (1990).

Two pointed observations were performed on 4U 1700+24 with the ROSAT satellite (Trümper 1982). The first one was acquired between March 22 and 24, 1992 with the Position Sensitive Proportional Counter (PSPC; Pfeffermann & Briel 1986) unit B, sensitive in the 0.1–2.4 keV range. The second observation was performed with the High Resolution Imager (HRI; Pfeffermann et al. 1987) onboard ROSAT between September 8 and 22, 1997, again in the 0.1–2.4 keV range. The HRI detector had a better spatial resolution than PSPC, but it had no spectral resolution, so it could not provide any spectral information on the source. PSPC spectra and light curves were selected by extracting events from a region centered on the source centroid and with 1$`\stackrel{}{.}`$8 radius; good HRI data were instead selected from a circular region with 45′′ radius centered on the source. The background was evaluated from blank selected areas in the observed field.

The RXTE satellite (Bradt et al. 1993) carries a 5-unit Proportional Counter Array (PCA; Jahoda et al. 1996), which is sensitive in the 2–60 keV energy range and allows a time resolution of 1 $`\mu `$s, and a High Energy X–ray Timing Experiment (HEXTE; Rothschild et al. 1998) composed of two clusters of 4 phoswich scintillation detectors working in the 15–250 keV energy range. This satellite also carries an ASM222ASM light curves are available at:
http://xte.mit.edu/ASM\_lc.html (Levine et al. 1996) which regularly scans the X–ray sky in the 2–10 keV range with a daily sensitivity of 5 mCrab. Figure 1 reports the complete up-to-date (October 2001) 2–10 keV ASM light curve of 4U 1700+24 starting on January 1996, along with the times of the single BeppoSAX pointing, of the second ROSAT one and of the two RXTE pointed observations. In order to clearly display the long-term trend in the X–ray emission from 4U 1700+24, each point of Fig. 1 is computed as the average of 5 subsequent measurements; given that the single original ASM points we retrieved were basically acquired on a daily basis (i.e. they are one-day averaged measurements), the plot illustrated in Fig. 1 roughly corresponds to a 5-day averaged X–ray light curve.

The RXTE pointings were performed on 4U 1700+24 on 1997 February 14 and on 1997 November 15; the latter observation was acquired during the fairly intense X–ray outburst detected by the ASM (see Fig. 1). In the following we will refer to these two RXTE pointings as observations I and II, respectively. The PCA instrument detected 4U 1700+24 in both occasions; during the two observations, all five detector units of the PCA were on. Good PCA data were then selected after filtering for low-earth events and high background times. The background was subtracted using the standard PCA background models. Instead, HEXTE detected the source during the second pointing only, when the source was in outburst. In this case, a similar procedure as above was applied to each HEXTE cluster to select good data. Background was determined by periodically rocking the cluster elements on- and off-source. The spectral analysis was performed on good data extracted in the RXTE “Standard 2” mode, which provides full spectral information with a time resolution of 16 s.

Finally, the EXOSAT observation was acquired on 1985 March 15 with the Medium Energy (ME; Turner et al. 1981) proportional counter (1–50 keV). The source was detected only up to 10 keV during this observation. A more detailed description on this observation and on the applied reduction techniques can be found in Dal Fiume et al. (1990).

### 2.3 Optical data

Optical medium-resolution spectra of the star V934 Her were acquired, (quasi-)simultaneously with the ASCA and BeppoSAX pointings, in Loiano (Italy) with the Bologna Astronomical Observatory 1.52-meter “G.D. Cassini” telescope plus BFOSC on 1995 March 8 and on 1998 March 28. The telescope was equipped with a 1100$`\times `$1100 pixels Thompson CCD on both occasions. Grism #4 was used on both epochs, providing the nominal spectral coverage indicated in Table 2. The slit width was 1$`\stackrel{}{.}`$5 for the March 1995 observation and 2′′ for the March 1998 pointing. The use of this setup secured a final dispersion of 3.7 Å/pix for the spectra acquired during both nights. The complete log of the optical spectroscopic observations presented here is reported in Table 2.

Spectra, after correction for flat-field and bias, were background subtracted and optimally extracted (Horne 1986) using IRAF333IRAF is the Image Analysis and Reduction Facility made available to the astronomical community by the National Optical Astronomy Observatories, which are operated by AURA, Inc., under contract with the U.S. National Science Foundation. STSDAS is distributed by the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA), Inc., under NASA contract NAS 5–26555.. Helium-Argon lamps were used for wavelength calibration; spectra taken on March 1998 were then flux-calibrated by using the spectrophotometric standard HD161817 (Philip & Hayes 1983; Silva & Cornell 1992) and finally averaged together. Correction for slit losses was also introduced. For the March 1995 spectrum no spectroscopic standard was available. The correctness and consistency of March 1998 spectra flux calibration was checked against the optical photoelectric data collected in the $`UBVRI`$ bands with the 0.6-m Loiano telescope at the epoch in which these spectra were acquired (Diodato 1998). Wavelength calibration was instead checked by using the positions of background night sky lines: the error was 0.5 Å.

## 3 Results

### 3.1 Optical spectra and a new distance determination

The flux-calibrated averaged 4100–7900 Å spectrum of V934 Her acquired on 1998 March 28 is reported in Fig. 2. As it appears evident, it is dominated by TiO absorption bands and no emission features are apparent. This is typical of normal M-type giants, as already remarked by other authors (Garcia et al. 1983; Gaudenzi & Polcaro 1999). The Hα line is also detected in absorption. We do not detect the emission wings reported by Gaudenzi & Polcaro (1999) for this line. This might suggest that these wings are variable in intensity due to e.g. changes in the X–ray irradiation (see below), but their non-detection in our spectra might however be also due to our coarser spectral dispersion (3.7 Å/pix, against 1.5 Å/pix of the 6300-7800 Å spectra of Gaudenzi & Polcaro 1999). We also detect, among the main spectral features, the Mg ‘b’ absorption around 5170 Å and two atomic line blends of metal intersystem lines of Fe i, Ti i, Cr i, Ba i, Ca i, Mn i, Co i and Ni i located at 6352 Å and 6497 Å (see e.g. Turnshek et al. 1985). Telluric absorption features are moreover detected at 6870 and 7600 Å.

We next compare the March 1998 averaged spectrum with the one taken on March 1995. As the latter could not be calibrated in flux, we normalized both to their continuum. No appreciable variation in the strength of any absorption line or band between the two epochs is detected in the considered spectral range.

Then, using the Bruzual-Persson-Gunn-Stryker Spectrophotometry Atlas444available at:
ftp://ftp.stsci.edu/cdbs/cdbs1/grid/bpgs/ (Gunn & Stryker 1983), we compare the spectrum of V934 Her with that of several red stars whose spectra are present in this atlas. To this task we dereddened our spectrum assuming $`E(BV)`$ = 0.044; this value is derived from the dust maps by Schlegel et al. (1998). The best match is obtained with the M2 III star HD104216, whose optical spectrum is strikingly similar to that of V934 Her. A good match, albeit somewhat poorer, is obtained with the star HD142804 (M1 III). Stars of later or earlier spectral types, as well as (see the classification by Garcia et al. 1983) an M3 II template, the star BD +191947 from the Jacoby-Hunter-Christian Spectrophotometric Atlas555available at:
ftp://ftp.stsci.edu/cdbs/cdbs1/grid/jacobi/ (Jacoby et al. 1984), provide substantially poorer matches. Thus, we can confidently state that the spectral type of V934 Her is M2 III. This is consistent with the classification made by Gaudenzi & Polcaro (1999), albeit ours appears slightly bluer.

Concerning the more significant difference between our classification and that provided by Garcia et al. (1983), it could be suggested that the star underwent a consistent spectral change somewhere in the past between the years of Garcia et al.’s (1983) and of Gaudenzi & Polcaro’s (1999) spectral observations. We however consider this explanation unlikely on the basis of the lack of a strong optical variability and color changes in the $`UBVRI`$ photometry (Dal Fiume et al. 2000; Diodato 1998), which always shows colors typical of a luminosity class III M-type giant (Lang 1992). Thus, we believe that the spectral classification of V934 Her made by Garcia et al. (1983) using the width of the Ca ii K emission line could be biased by the UV variability of this object and by the possible presence of the additional absorption suggested by Gaudenzi & Polcaro (1999). Also, from the data set of Engvold & Rygh (1978), using which Garcia et al. (1983) determined the absolute magnitude MV in the $`V`$ band (and then the spectral type) of V934 Her, it seems that the relation between this quantity and the width of the Ca ii K line is very steep for giant stars, i.e. a small variation in the line width reflects in a substantial jump of MV. Therefore we consider the comparison with template optical spectra of stars as a more secure method of spectral classification.

Assuming that V934 Her is a star of spectral type M2 III, we can revise its distance in the following way. Given that the absolute magnitude MV of a M2 III star is $``$0.6 (Lang 1992), and that the $`V`$ magnitude of V934 Her, corrected for interstellar absorption, is $`V`$ 7.5, we obtain, by applying the distance modulus formula, $`d`$ = 420$`\pm `$40 pc; here the error reflects the uncertainties on the intervening galactic absorption, on the mean $`V`$-band magnitude of the star and on the spectral classification. This value is fully consistent with the distance $`d`$ = 390$`\pm `$130 pc obtained from the annual parallax ($`\pi `$ = 2.57$`\pm `$0.86 milliarcsec) of this source as measured with the Hipparcos satellite (Perryman et al. 1997). In our distance estimate we made the assumption that all of the $`V`$-band magnitude comes from the optical companion. This, given the shape of the optical spectrum, is in our opinion reasonable.

Thus, throughout the rest of the paper we will use our revised distance of 420 pc for the 4U 1700+24 X–ray luminosity measurements.

### 3.2 X–ray data

#### 3.2.1 Positional information

Among all the pointed X–ray observations presented here, the most accurate source position for 4U 1700+24 can be determined using the ROSAT HRI data of the September 1997 pointing. The results of the HRI observation on 4U 1700+24 show that the source is located at $`\alpha `$ = 17h 06h 34$`\stackrel{s}{.}`$49, $`\delta `$ = +23 58 18$`\stackrel{}{.}`$22 (J2000); the total (boresight plus statistical) error along both coodinates is 8′′.

This position is in total agreement with the one provided in the ROSAT PSPC bright source catalogue of Voges et al. (1999). This is true even if only the statistical uncertainty (0$`\stackrel{}{.}`$7) is considered. We also confirm, after comparison with the Digitized Sky Survey, that the only object brighter than the magnitude limit of this survey (i.e. with $`R`$ 21.5) lying inside the HRI error circle is indeed the star V934 Her; again, even considering the statistical error only, the HRI localization is fully consistent with the optical counterpart proposed by Garcia et al. (1983), the coordinates of which are given with an extreme degree of accuracy (the reported error is less than 0$`\stackrel{}{.}`$1 along both coordinates) in the Hipparcos catalogue (Perryman et al. 1997). This further strengthens the association between 4U 1700+24 and V934 Her. This is in agreement, within the uncertainties, with the results independently obtained by Morgan & Garcia (2001) from this same ROSAT HRI observation.

#### 3.2.2 Light curves and timing analysis

The long-term (1995/2001) 2–10 keV variability of 4U 1700+24 is evident from the RXTE ASM light curve reported in Fig. 1. The increase in the 4U 1700+24 count rate detected in the Fall of 1997 is quite clear, as well as long-term variations of the low state level. However, an apparent recursive behaviour, with peaks which are in any case much less evident than that of Fall 1997, seems to appear in the ASM light curve after the aforementioned outburst. The timing analysis of the 5-day averaged data shows a tentative periodicity of $``$400 days for the outbursting activity of the source. A similar indication is obtained using the dwell-by-dwell and the daily-averaged ASM data sets. Instead, the suggested optical periodicity of 31.41 days reported by Perryman et al. (1997) from Hipparcos observations is not found in any of the ASM X–ray data sets.

We also examined the shorter-term X–ray light curves of the pointed observations on 4U 1700+24. These are reported in Fig. 3. All curves are rebinned at 200 s with the exception of those from the two RXTE pointings. These are binned with a shorter time interval (16 s) as they allow detecting fast variations with good S/N thanks to the PCA sensitivity.

As one can see, the variability timescale lies between $``$10 s and several thousands of seconds. The substantial erratic variations already detected with EXOSAT (Dal Fiume et al. 1990) are clearly present in all observations. The source flux in the BeppoSAX pointing is significantly lower than that in the ASCA and RXTE observations, and comparable with that detected in the EXOSAT observation (see next Subsection). Likewise, the ROSAT light curves at softer (0.1–2 keV) X–ray energies show an erratic variability behaviour similar to that present in the 2–10 keV light curves. Moreover, the longer HRI pointing, performed during the rising branch of the Fall 1997 outburst, shows a hint of increase in the emission with time. These variations do not appear to be correlated with the source hardness, this remaining fairly constant throughout each single pointing.

Timing analysis on the X–ray light curves from the various spacecraft was performed with the FTOOLS666available at:
http://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/ftools/ (Blackburn 1995) task XRONOS, version 4.02, after having converted the event arrival times to the solar system barycentric frame. The erratic source variability is clearly visible in the Power Spectral Density (PSD); however, no coherent pulsations or periodicities are detected at any significant level in the $`f`$ 10-4–10 Hz frequency range. No indication of the $``$900 s X–ray periodicity found by Morgan & Garcia (2001) from Einstein data is found in our data set. Only a 1/$`f`$-type PSD distribution, typical of the shot-noise behaviour evident from the light curves in Fig. 3, is found below 10-2 Hz. An example of this is shown in Fig. 4, where a PSD calculated on the time series of the summed 2–10 keV GIS2 and GIS3 count rates binned at 0.1 s is reported. The power density spectra were calculated for runs with typical duration of 3000 s. The PSD shown in Fig. 4 is obtained by averaging the temporal spectra of different runs and by summing adjacent frequencies with a logarithmic rebinning.

Likewise, a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) analysis was made to search for fast periodicities (pulsations or fast QPOs) in the 1–2000 Hz range within the RXTE data of observations I and II. In both observations, data in “Good Xenon” mode with a 2-20 s (i.e. 1 $`\mu `$s) time resolution and 256 energy bands were available. To search for fast pulsations and/or kiloHertz QPOs we made several FFTs of 16 s long data segments in the 2–10 keV and 10–60 keV energy intervals and with a Nyquist frequency of 4096 Hz. The power density spectra were then averaged for each observation. To reduce the effect of any possible (albeit unlikely) short-term orbital modulation we divided, for each observation, the whole data span in subintervals $``$3000 s long (a typical RXTE contiguous data segment). We calculated the $`Z^2`$ statistics (Buccheri et al. 1983) on each subinterval and finally added together the results. No presence of QPO peaks or of coherent pulsations was detected in both RXTE observations.

#### 3.2.3 Spectra

In order to perform spectral analysis, the pulse-height spectra from the detectors of all spacecraft were rebinned to oversample by a factor 3 the full width at half maximum (FWHM) of the energy resolution and to have a minimum of 20 counts per bin, such that the $`\chi ^2`$ statistics could reliably be used. For all detectors, data were then selected, when a sufficient number of counts were obtained, in the energy ranges where the instrument responses are well determined. We then used the package xspec (Arnaud 1996) v11.0 to fit the resulting broad band energy spectra.

In the broad band BeppoSAX fits, normalization factors were applied to LECS, HPGSPC and PDS spectra following the cross-calibration tests between these instruments and the MECS (Fiore et al. 1999). These factors were constrained to be within the allowed ranges during the spectral fitting. Similarly, a constant was introduced between GIS and SIS spectra to allow intercalibration between the two GIS and the two SIS. For the same reason we allowed for a calibration constant between PCA and HEXTE in the RXTE data spectral fits. Also, in order to keep into account systematic errors in the response matrices of PCA and HEXTE and the intercalibration uncertainties between these two detectors, a systematic uncertainty of 1% in the count rate was added to their spectra before fitting. Moreover, the spectra from the two HEXTE clusters were fitted independently and the normalization between them was left free given the presence of a small systematic difference between their response. A photoelectric absorption column, modeled using the Wisconsin cross sections as implemented in xspec (Morrison & McCammon 1983) and with solar abundances as given by Anders & Grevesse (1989), was applied to all spectral models used in the data analysis and illustrated in this Subsection.

BeppoSAX and RXTE data show continuum emission above 10 keV coming from the source; during outburst, RXTE detects the object up to 100 keV. Moreover, on the low-energy end of the X–ray spectral range, a clear soft excess below 1 keV is apparent from the BeppoSAX and ROSAT observations (see Fig. 5). In order to find a suitable model which could fit spectra of all observations we started with simple models such as blackbody (BB), disk-blackbody (DBB; Mitsuda et al. 1984), power law, cut-off power law and thermal bremsstrahlung. None of these models could produce an acceptable fit to our X–ray data with the only exception of the EXOSAT spectrum which, as already illustrated by Dal Fiume et al. (1990), can be fit either with a power law or with a thermal bremsstrahlung.

Motivated by the suggested similarity in the X–ray temporal and spectral behaviours between $`\gamma `$ Cas (Frontera et al. 1987; Haberl 1995) and 4U 1700+24, we next tried to fit the data with the xspec models raymond, mekal and vmekal representing emission from hot diffuse gas (Raymond & Smith 1977; Mewe et al. 1985). This choice was suggested from the work by Kubo et al. (1998) and Owens et al. (1999), who respectively modeled ASCA and BeppoSAX observations of $`\gamma `$ Cas with such a prescription. Our application of these models to our data set is instead far from satisfactory: we get $`\chi _\nu ^2`$ values between 4 and 8 for all observations even allowing for unplausibly low ($`<`$10-11) metal abundances with respect to the solar value. Therefore, we reject this representation of the source X–ray spectrum also. Moreover, the partially absorbed bremsstrahlung model used in a preliminary analysis of our ASCA and BeppoSAX spectra (Dal Fiume et al. 2000) gives unacceptable fits when applied to the other observations.

Thus, we tried a composition of two models. The best results are obtained considering a BB plus a Comptonization model. For the latter, we used the first-order modelization by Sunyaev and & Titarchuk (1980; compST in xspec) for the low-state observations (i.e. all but the RXTE II), and the more complete one by Titarchuk (1994; compTT in xspec) for the outburst pointing. This choice is basically due to two reasons: (i) the lower S/N of the low state spectra does not allow a good constraining of some (or all) parameters of the compTT model; (ii) the RXTE II observation detects the source up to 100 keV, thus enabling a better sampling of the high-energy component and then a better determination of all compTT parameters. It should be noted that the fit to the RXTE observation II data is not sensitive to the geometry of the Comptonizing cloud: we therefore decided to assume the (default) spherical geometry.

The BB+Comptonization description of the data allows acceptable fits of all the spectra of our data set. Best-fit parameters are reported in Table 3. The X–ray spectra with the best-fit model superimposed to the data and the fit residuals are shown in Fig. 5. We remark that the absorption column density $`N_\mathrm{H}`$ could not be reliably determined from any of the spectra of our set; therefore, we fixed it to the Galactic value in the direction of 4U 1700+24, which is $`N_\mathrm{H}`$ = 4$`\times `$1020 cm-2 (Dickey & Lockman 1990). This value is in agreement with the $`N_\mathrm{H}`$ determined from the optical interstellar absorption along that direction (Schlegel et al. 1998) by using the empirical relationship by Predehl & Schmitt (1995).

As it can be seen from Table 3, the BeppoSAX and EXOSAT spectra (which were taken at the lowest flux levels observed from the source in the present data set) the BB component is not required; for these two spectra, the fit is performed using a compST model only, and a 90% confidence level upper limit to the BB flux was computed (see Table 3). In all other cases the BB component is always detected, and the fits performed with this model plus a Comptonization are always much better than those obtained with either single Comptonization or DBB plus Comptonization models.

From our fits there appears to be no need for including an iron emission line around 6.7 keV. In each observation we however computed the 90% confidence level upper limits for the equivalent width (EW) of a Fe emission at 6.7 keV assuming different line FWHM. The results are reported in Table 4. As one can see, the most stringent limits (coming from RXTE II and also, in the narrow-line hypothesis, from ASCA observations) imply an EW less than 25 eV in the case of a narrow Fe emission and less than 50 eV considering a broad emission line.

## 4 Discussion

### 4.1 X–ray variability: accretion onto a NS

The X–ray light curves of 4U 1700+24 illustrated in Figs. 1 and 3, along with the results shown in Table 3 for the various spectral observations presented in this paper, confirm that this source has substantial X–ray variability. In particular, we note that, as the X–ray luminosity $`L_\mathrm{X}`$ (say, in the 2–10 keV band) increases, the emission from the object becomes harder: the (5–10 keV)/(2–5 keV) hardness ratio spans from $``$0.5 at the lowest flux level sampled here (the BeppoSAX observation) to $``$1.3 during outburst (the RXTE II pointing); likewise, the 10–100 keV flux rises of a factor more than 2000 between these two observations, becoming stronger than the 2–10 keV flux during outburst. The fit parameters, in particular the temperature $`kT_{\mathrm{BB}}`$ and radius $`R_{\mathrm{BB}}`$ of the BB component, as well as the temperature $`kT_e^{}`$ and the optical depth $`\tau `$ of the Comptonizing cloud, also show clear correlations (direct for the first three parameters, inverse for the latter one) with $`L_\mathrm{X}`$ (see Table 3).

The ratio between the BB and Comptonization components has instead a more complex behaviour: it increases from basically zero to about 0.7 following the X–ray luminosity level in the low-intensity state, and then drops to 0.3 during outburst.

All this is consistent with a model in which enhancement of accreting matter onto a compact object is responsible for the observed spectral shape and variability. Indeed, the two components detected in the X–ray spectrum are suggestive of the presence of a compact object (responsible for the BB emission) which is accreting matter and which is surrounded by a corona of hot electrons; the latter emits hard X–rays by Comptonization of the softer BB photons. In addition, the hardening of the spectrum with increasing luminosity seems to point toward accretion of matter with low specific angular momentum, as suggested by e.g. Smith et al. (2001) and Wu et al. (2002) to explain a similar behaviour observed in other X–ray binaries.

On the contrary, short-period hardness ratio variations are not detected within each single pointed observation. This fast and “colorless” variability is typical of inhomogeneities inside the accretion flow (e.g. van der Klis 1995). This explanation for the fast X–ray variability of 4U 1700+24 is also suggested by the “shot-noise” 1/$`f`$-type PSD associated with all the pointed observations presented here.

Both these longer and shorter term variabilities would point to the presence of variable accretion in this system. The X–ray flux is also much harder and stronger than that expected from coronal emission of a late-type giant star, this being generally 2–3 orders of magnitude lower (Hünsch et al. 1998) than the one detected here even at the lowest luminosity level.

Thus, the X–ray spectral shape and the temperatures of the BB and the Compton cloud would suggest the presence of an extremely compact accreting object, most likely a NS or a BH. Indeed, a WD as accretor is basically ruled out because of the X–ray spectral shape, which (as stated in the previous Section) is completely different from that observed by Kubo et al. (1998) and Owens et al. (1999) in the system $`\gamma `$ Cas, which is thought to host an accreting WD. Moreover, the high BB temperatures found here are incompatible with those of a WD surface, which basically emits in the UV rather than in the soft X–rays. Also, the X–ray spectrum of 4U 1700+24 observed in outburst is definitely too hard to be emitted by an accreting WD. The BH interpretation for the nature of the accreting compact object also seems less strong than the NS solution because the hard component of the X–ray spectra reported here is generally systematically softer than what expected in the case of an accreting BH (e.g. Barret et al. 2000). So, we suggest that the accreting object is a NS, even if no pulsations or X–ray bursts were ever detected from this source.

It is evident from Table 3 that in every observation the size of the emitting area of the BB is remarkably small, of the order of tens of metres. Shortcomings and limitations of the BB model are known (Gierliński et al. 1999; Merloni et al. 2000); however, these would hardly compensate for the entire difference between the inferred ($``$200 m) BB emitting area and that expected in the case of isotropic BB emission from a NS (few km). We therefore suggest that accretion in this system does not take place in a spherical fashion onto the compact object but, rather, that mass coming from the M-type companion in the form of a stellar wind is captured by the NS and then accreted onto a small zone of its surface. An equatorial accretion belt (such as a boundary layer) is disfavoured because the wind has no high intrinsic angular momentum, so a disk can hardly be formed with this accretion mechanism. Indeed, the use of a DBB model instead of a BB produces worse (and in some cases unacceptable) fits to our X–ray data. Also, the non-detection kiloHertz QPOs (which are believed to originate in the inner parts of the disk; see e.g. van der Klis 2000) and of enhanced optical activity (e.g. emission lines) during the Fall 1997 outburst points to the absence of an accretion disk as usually observed in LMXRB where accretion onto the compact object takes place via Roche-lobe overflow of the secondary. Besides, as already remarked by Garcia et al. (1983), in this system the matter transfer onto the compact object is hardly occurring via Roche-lobe overflow as this would produce X–ray emission which is 3–4 orders of magnitude more intense than observed.

An alternative explanation comes by considering a magnetically-driven accretion scenario. In this case, if the magnetic field of the compact object is strong enough, two accretion columns would form and the captured matter flows along field lines and impacts the NS surface in correspondence of the magnetic polar caps. This would however produce pulsations if the rotational and magnetic field axes are not aligned. Given that we do not detect X–ray pulsations from 4U 1700+24, the alignment between these two axes must be invoked to explain the observations. Although this would appear a rather ad hoc hypothesis, we must remark that a similar interpretation has been proposed to explain the absence of pulsations in 4U 1700$``$37 (White et al. 1983) and, more recently, in 4U 2206+54 (Corbet & Peele 2001), which are believed to host an accreting NS.

Then, if the NS rotation axis is coincident with the magnetic field axis, and the BB emitting area is that of the polar caps only, we could easily obtain, for the emitting area around the NS poles, a size of the order of the BB radius measured from the X–ray spectral fits. Alternatively, we can explain the lack of pulsations from the magnetized accreting NS by assuming a low inclination angle for the system (see next Subsection) and the NS rotational axis perpendicular to the orbital plane of the system. In this case, even assuming a non-zero (say, $``$20) angle between the NS magnetic field and rotational axes, the system geometry is such that we continuously see X–ray radiation from a single polar cap of the NS. Clearly, the emission will not be modulated by the NS rotation in this case also.

We must however note that a further possible explanation for the small BB emitting area size is the following. The estimate coming from our fits is based on the assumption of isotropic emission from the NS surface. It has however been shown (London et al. 1986) that because of cooling and back-warming effects the spectrum at the NS surface, if fitted with a “classic” BB model, can lead to the net effect of overestimating the BB emitting area by as much as 2 orders of magnitude. This would possibly explain our fit results without invoking the funneling of matter onto the NS polar caps by means of an intense magnetic field and the alignment of its axis with the NS rotation axis. In this case, one can overcome the very low ($``$10-5 – 10-6) accretion efficiency assuming that the NS is orbiting the M giant in a wide orbit (i.e. with separation $`a`$ 500 $`R_{}`$; see below), and thus only a very small quantity of the emitted stellar wind can be captured and accreted by the compact object.

### 4.2 A possible scenario for the system

In the hypothesis that the observed X–ray luminosity coming from 4U 1700+24 is due to accretion, an inferred accretion rate onto the NS of $`\dot{M}`$ 10-14 $`M_{}`$ yr-1 is found. This can be explained by assuming a typical mass loss rate via stellar wind of a red giant ($`\dot{M}`$ 10-9 $`M_{}`$ yr-1; e.g. Willson 2000) and an accretion efficiency $`\eta `$ = 10-4 which is quite normal for a NS accreting from the stellar wind (e.g. Frank et al. 1992). The remaining difference between the two above values of $`\dot{M}`$ can be accounted for by a partial inhibition of the accretion due to the “propeller effect” (Illarionov & Sunyaev 1975), according to which the magnetosphere of the NS acts as a barrier to accretion of matter onto the NS surface. Nevertheless, a small fraction of matter can flow along the magnetic field lines and find a way to the NS. This “leaking” of matter through the magnetosphere has been invoked to explain the X–ray emission of A0535+26 during its low intensity state (Negueruela et al. 2000) and, more recently, of 4U 2206+54 (Corbet & Peele 2001).

The presence of a cold wind from the secondary can be suggested by three further issues: the UV variability, the possible additional absorption detected by Gaudenzi & Polcaro (1999) in the bluest part of their optical spectra, and the fact that the IRAS measurements of the mid-infrared source flux at 12 and 25 $`\mu `$m are about a factor three larger than those expected from a normal M giant. Modulations in the wind density, such as density waves produced by pulsations of the M giant envelope, could be responsible for the tentatively observed periodicity in the ASM X–ray light curve. Alternatively, the compact object and the M giant are orbiting around each other along a wide and eccentric orbit, and the X–ray enhancements are due to the transit of the NS through the inner and denser parts of the stellar wind. It is not however clear why no indication of X–ray emission enhancements were present before the large X–ray outburst of Fall 1997. Possibly, this event triggered the mechanism of producing these “periodic” increases of X–ray activity even though at a lower level with respect to the first one.

Whichever the reason for these phenomena, accretion from higher density regions of the stellar wind onto an extremely compact object (very likely a NS) is the most viable explanation for the observed behaviour of luminosity and spectral parameters in the X–ray range. These density variations would modulate the strength of the propeller effect; indeed, the magnetospheric radius is expected to be larger (and thus the magnetospheric barrier should be stronger) when the density of the accreting matter is lower, thus better inhibiting accretion onto the NS. The faster (10–1000 s) variations in the X–ray luminosity are instead most probably produced by small-scale inhomogeneities of the accretion flow onto the compact object.

Concerning the “normal” spectrum of the optical counterpart, V934 Her, we note that the bolometric luminosity (most of which is emitted in the optical and near-infrared bands) of a M2 III giant is 550 $`L_{}`$ (Lang 1992), which is a factor $``$200 higher than the $`L_\mathrm{X}`$ measured during outburst from 4U 1700+24 (see Table 3). This would explain the absence in the optical spectrum of emission features (Tomasella et al. 1997) which could be induced by the possible X–ray irradiation during outburst. For instance, the object GX 1+4, which is often compared to 4U 1700+24 as it is the only other LMXRB with a M giant secondary, displays a composite optical spectrum with numerous emission lines (Chakrabarty & Roche 1997); it however has a bolometric flux from the secondary which is 4 times less than the X–ray luminosity of the compact object (a pulsating NS). This can naturally explain the difference between the optical spectra of these two X–ray binaries. Possibly, the emission wings from Balmer and He lines detected by Gaudenzi & Polcaro (1999) in V934 Her could be an indication of emission coming from small regions of the accretion flow or of the M giant surface heated by the X–ray irradiation.

Next, we would like to briefly discuss about the possible size and orbital period of this system. In order to match the very low ($`<`$3 km s-1) projected orbital velocity of the secondary star obtained from optical spectroscopic measurements (Garcia et al. 1983) with the fact that the accretion most likely occurs via stellar wind capture, the system should be fairly wide. Indeed, considering $`P_{\mathrm{orb}}`$ 400 days and assuming typical masses for a NS (1.4 $`M_{}`$) and a M2 III star (1.3 $`M_{}`$; Lang 1992), we get by applying Kepler’s third law an orbital separation $`a`$ 300 $`R_{}`$, thus substantially larger than the radius of a M2 III giant ($``$ 60–70 $`R_{}`$; Dumm & Schild 1998). In this case the orbital velocity would however be $``$10 times larger than the upper limit to its projected value measured by Garcia et al. (1983). Thus, the above prescription would be valid only if the system has a low inclination angle ($`i<`$ 10). Alternatively, considering higher vales for $`i`$ and keeping the orbital separation larger than the radius of a M2 III star, we obtain longer (2–5 years) orbital periods. In the latter case, the tentative 400-day X–ray activity periodicity of the source would be tied to density waves in the stellar wind and thus to possible secondary star pulsations, rather than to the orbital modulation.

Finally, we want to draw the attention of the reader on the fact that this low-luminosity source can be studied in the high energy range because of its proximity. Indeed, if it were at, say, 4 kpc from earth, its emission would have been hardly detected by any of the spacecraft quoted above. Therefore, several other systems similar to 4U1700+24/V934 Her might be present throughout the Galaxy, and its “uniqueness” is actually a selection effect due to a combination of its low X–ray emission and its closeness.

## 5 Conclusions

We analyzed the existing and mostly still unpublished data set of X–ray pointed observations on the source 4U 1700+24. These observations span a time baseline of more than 15 years and were acquired with 5 different spacecraft. In parallel, we presented (quasi-)simultaneous ground-based optical spectroscopic observations.

The optical data allow us to show that the optical counterpart is a red giant of spectral type M2 III with no significant peculiarities. With this more accurate classification we can determine a better distance estimate to the object, which lies at $``$400 pc from earth. The X–ray data show strong and fast erratic shot-noise variability with no hardness variations connected with the intensity changes. On the longer term, instead, the X–ray emission from the source becomes harder as the luminosity increases. No pulsations, periodicities or quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs) are detected in the X–ray light curve with the possible exception of a tentative long-term periodicity of $``$400 days. X–ray spectra can generally be well described using a BB+Comptonization model, although the BB component is practically undetected at the lowest X–ray intensity states. This spectral modelization is suggestive of a compact object harboured in this system and accreting matter from the giant M star positionally coincident with the X–ray localization. The rather high BB and Comptonizing cloud temperatures along with the X–ray spectral shape of the Comptonization component suggest the presence of a NS as the accreting collapsed object.

The observed 2–10 keV X–ray luminosity of the source ranges from $``$2$`\times `$1032 during the low intensity state and $``$1$`\times `$1034 erg s-1 at the peak of the outburst which occurred in the Fall of 1997. These values point to accretion from a stellar wind rather than via Roche-lobe overflow, in which case one would expect X–ray luminosities larger by 3–4 orders of magnitude. The fast X–ray variations are in this hypothesis connected with inhomogeneities in the accreted wind.

The markedly small size of the BB emitting area inferred from our fits to the X–ray data could indicate that wind accretion is funneled by the NS magnetic field onto the magnetic polar caps; given that no X–ray pulsations are detected from the object, it would be possible that the magnetic and rotational axes of the NS are coincident, or that the system has a very low inclination. In addition, the magnetic propeller effect would explain the very low accretion efficiency. Alternatively, cooling effects on the NS surface could explain this small BB emitting area, without invoking a substantially strong magnetic field for the collapsed object; in this case, the low accretion efficiency may be interpreted by assuming a wide binary separation for the system. Indeed, given the known upper limit to any orbital motion of the M giant, only systems with wide (hundreds of $`R_{}`$) separations could be fit into the outcoming observational picture.

###### Acknowledgements.

This work is supported by the Agenzia Spaziale Italiana (ASI) and the Italian Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR). BeppoSAX is a joint program of ASI and of the Netherlands Agency for Aerospace Programs (NIVR). The ASCA observation was performed as part of the joint ESA/Japan scientific program. This research has made wide use of data obtained through the High Energy Astrophysics Science Archive Research Center Online Service, provided by the NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center. This research has also made use of the SIMBAD database, operated at CDS, Strasbourg, France. ASM data were provided by the RXTE ASM teams at MIT and at the RXTE SOF and GOF at NASA’s GSFC. We thank the anonymous referee for valuable comments. We also thank Massimo Cappi and Mauro Dadina for assistance in the ASCA data analysis, Stefano Bernabei for useful discussions on the optical spectra, and the staff astronomers of the Observatory of Bologna in Loiano for assistance during observations.


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# Overpopulation of Ω̄ in pp collisions: a way to distinguish statistical hadronization from string dynamics

## Abstract

The $`\overline{\mathrm{\Omega }}/\mathrm{\Omega }`$ ratio originating from string decays is predicted to be larger than unity in proton proton interactions at SPS energies ($`E_{\mathrm{lab}}`$=160 GeV). The anti-omega dominance increases with decreasing beam energy. This surprising behavior is caused by the combinatorics of quark-antiquark production in small and low-mass strings. Since this behavior is not found in a statistical description of hadron production in proton proton collisions, it may serve as a key observable to probe the hadronization mechanism in such collisions.

Hadron yields and their ratios stemming from the final state of ultra-relativistic heavy-ion collisions have been extensively used to explore the degree of chemical equilibrium  and to search for evidence for exotic states and phase transitions in such collisions . Under the assumption of thermal and chemical equilibrium, fits with a statistical (thermal) model have been used to extract bulk properties of hot and dense matter, e.g. the temperature and chemical potential at which chemical freeze-out occurs .

The application of a statistical model to elementary hadron hadron reactions was first proposed by Hagedorn  in order to describe the exponential shape of the $`m_t`$-spectra of produced particles in p+p collisions. Recent analysis  on hadron yields in electron positron and proton proton interactions at several center-of-mass energies have shown that particle abundances can also be described by a statistical ensemble with maximized entropy. In fact, they are consistent with a model assuming the existence of equilibrated fireballs at a temperature $`T`$160-170 MeV. These findings have given renewed rise to the interpretation that hadronization in elementary hadron hadron (hh) collisions is a statistical process, which is difficult to reconcile with the popular picture that hadron production in hh collisions is due to the decay of color flux tubes , a model which has explained many dynamical features of these collisions.

In this letter we argue that the $`\overline{\mathrm{\Omega }}/\mathrm{\Omega }\mathrm{\Omega }^+/\mathrm{\Omega }^{}`$ ratio in elementary proton proton collisions is an unambiguous and sensitive probe to distinguish particle production via the break up of a color flux tube from statistical hadronization.

Color flux tubes, called strings, connect two SU(3) color charges \[ $`3`$ \] and \[ $`\overline{3}`$ \] with a linear confining potential. If the excitation energy of the string is high enough it is allowed to decay via the Schwinger mechanism , i.e. the rate of newly produced quarks is given by:

$$\frac{\mathrm{d}N_\kappa }{\mathrm{d}p_{}}\mathrm{exp}\left[\pi m_{}^2/\kappa \right],$$
(1)
where $`\kappa `$ is the string tension and $`m_{}=\sqrt{p_{}^2+m^2}`$ is the transverse mass of the produced quark with mass $`m`$.

However, specific string models may differ in their philosophy and the types of strings that are created:

* In UrQMD the projectile and target protons become excited objects due to the momentum transfer in the interaction. The resulting strings, with at most two strings being formed, are of the diquark quark type.
* In NeXuS, the pp interaction is described in terms of pomeron exchanges or ladder diagrams. Both hard and soft interactions take place in parallel. Energy is shared equally between all cut pomerons and the remnants. The endpoints of the cut pomerons (i.e. the endpoints of the strings) may be valence quarks, sea quarks or antiquarks.
* In PYTHIA, a scheme similar to that in UrQMD is employed. However, hard interactions may create additional strings from scattered gluons and sea quarks. Most strings are also of diquark quark form.

Fig. 1 (left) depicts the anti baryon to baryon ratio at midrapidity in proton proton interactions at 160 GeV. The results of the calculations by NeXuS, UrQMD and PYTHIA, which are well established string-fragmentation models for elementary hadron hadron interactions, are included in this figure. In all these models, the $`\overline{B}/B`$ ratio increases strongly with the strangeness content of the baryon. For strangeness $`|s|=3`$ the ratio significantly exceeds unity. In UrQMD and PYTHIA the hadronization of the diquark quark strings leads directly to the overpopulation of $`\overline{\mathrm{\Omega }}`$. In NeXuS, however, the imbalance of quarks and anti quarks in the initial state leads to the formation of $`q_{\mathrm{val}}\overline{s}_{\mathrm{sea}}`$ strings (the $`s_{\mathrm{val}}\overline{q}_{\mathrm{sea}}`$ string is not possible). These strings then result in the overpopulation of $`\overline{\mathrm{\Omega }}^,`$s.

In Fig. 1 the string model results are compared with the predictions of statistical models (SM). Within the SM, hadron production is commonly described using the grand canonical (GC) partition function, where the charge conservation is controlled by the related chemical potential. In this description a net value of a given U(1) charge is conserved on average. However, in the limit of small particle multiplicities, conservation laws must be implemented exactly. This is done by using the canonical (C) ensemble . The conservation of quantum numbers in the canonical approach severely reduces the phase space available for particle production. Thus, exact charge conservation is of crucial importance in the description of particle yields in proton-induced processes and in $`e^+e^{}`$ , as well as in peripheral heavy-ion collisions .

In Fig. 1 the predictions of two different statistical models for $`\overline{B}/B`$ ratios in pp collisions are included. The main difference between these models are the implementation of baryon number and electric charge conservation and the way an additional strangeness suppression is introduced.

(I) The calculation in this statistical model  is a full canonical one with fixed baryon number, strangeness and electric charge identical to those of the initial state. Also, an extra strangeness suppression is introduced to reproduce the experimental multiplicities. This is done by considering the number of newly produced $`s\overline{s}`$ pairs as an additional charge to be found in the final hadrons. The $`s\overline{s}`$ pairs fluctuate according to a Poisson distribution and its mean number is considered as a free parameter to be fitted . The parameters used for the prediction of the $`\mathrm{\Omega }^+/\mathrm{\Omega }^{}`$ ratio ($`T`$, global volume $`V`$ sum of single cluster volumes and $`s\overline{s}`$) have been obtained by a fit to preliminary NA49 pp data  yielding $`T=183.7\pm 6.7`$ MeV, $`VT^3=6.49\pm 1.33`$ and $`s\overline{s}=0.405\pm 0.026`$ with a $`\chi ^2/\mathrm{dof}=11.7/9`$. It must be pointed out that the $`\mathrm{\Omega }^+/\mathrm{\Omega }^{}`$ ratio is actually independent of the $`s\overline{s}`$ parameter and only depends on $`T`$ and $`V`$ (see also Fig. 4).

(II) Here the conservation of baryon number and electric charge is approximated by using the GC ensemble. Under thermal conditions at top SPS energy this approximation leads to deviations from the exact C results in pp collisions by at most 20$`\%`$-30$`\%`$ . Strangeness conservation is, however, implemented on the canonical level following the procedure proposed in . It accounts for strong correlations of produced strange particles due to constraints imposed by the locality of the conservation laws. In pp collisions strangeness is assumed not to be distributed in the whole volume of the fireball but to be locally strongly correlated. A correlation volume parameter $`V_0=4\pi R_0^3/3`$ is introduced, where $`R_01`$ fm is a typical scale of QCD interactions. The previous analysis of WA97 pA data yields: $`R_01.12`$ fm corresponding to $`V_06`$ fm3. Note that, however, hidden strange particles are not canonically suppressed in this approach. The analysis of experimental data in AA collisions has shown that $`T`$ and $`\mu _B`$ are almost entirely determined by the collision energy and only depend weakly on the number of participants . The $`4\pi `$ results of NA49 on $`\overline{p}/\pi `$ and $`\pi /A_{part}`$ ratios in p-p and Pb-Pb collisions coincide within 20$`\%`$-30$`\%`$. In terms of the SM this can be understood if $`T`$ and $`\mu _B`$ in p-p and Pb-Pb collisions have similar values. We take $`T158`$ MeV and $`\mu _B238`$ MeV as obtained from the SM analysis of full phase-space NA49 Pb Pb data . The volume of the fireball $`V17`$ fm3 and the charge chemical potential in pp was then found to reproduce the average charge and baryon number in the initial state.

The predictions of the statistical models are shown in Fig. 1 (right). In these approaches the $`\overline{B}/B`$ ratio is seen to exhibit a significantly weaker increase with the strangeness content of the baryon than expected in the string fragmentation models. For comparison, both figures include preliminary data on the $`\overline{B}/B`$ ratios obtained at midrapidity by the NA49 Collaboration .

Note that the predictions of the statistical models in Fig. 1 refer to full phase-space particle yields whilst measurements of $`\overline{B}/B`$ ratios in pp collisions have been performed at midrapidity, where they are expected to be the largest. Therefore, sizeable deviations of the model results from the data seen in Fig. 1 are to be expected.

The rapidity dependence of the $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ and $`\overline{\mathrm{\Omega }}`$ yield is presented in Fig. 2 within different string models. The results were calculated in pp interactions at 160 GeV within PYTHIA, NeXuS and UrQMD (from top to bottom). As can be seen, the $`\overline{\mathrm{\Omega }}/\mathrm{\Omega }`$ ratio is largest around mid rapidity.

The $`\overline{\mathrm{\Omega }}/\mathrm{\Omega }`$ ratio is fairly robust – different string-model implementations (PYTHIA, UrQMD, NeXuS) all agree in their predictions within $`\pm 20\%`$. However, as shown in Table I the total $`4\pi `$ yields of $`\mathrm{\Omega }^,`$s and $`\overline{\mathrm{\Omega }}^,`$s may differ by a factor of 4 between the different string models. The statistical models give in general more consistent results, however, deviations up to $`30\%`$ are not excluded. In string models, the particle abundances depend on the parameters chosen for the fragmentation scheme, while in statistical models they reflect the differences between the ensembles chosen. Thus, the absolute yields allow a distinction to be made between the implementations once experimental data become available. We will show now that this is a generic feature that string models give $`\overline{\mathrm{\Omega }}/\mathrm{\Omega }>1`$, whereas statistical models yield $`\overline{\mathrm{\Omega }}/\mathrm{\Omega }<1`$ in pp interactions.

In order to understand the large $`\overline{\mathrm{\Omega }}/\mathrm{\Omega }`$ values predicted by string models one elucidates in Fig. 3 the color flux tube break-up mechanism. Fig. 3 shows the fragmentation of the color field into quark-antiquark pairs, which then coalesce into hadrons. While in large strings $`\mathrm{\Omega }^,`$s and $`\overline{\mathrm{\Omega }}^,`$s are produced in equal abundance (a), low-mass strings in UrQMD suppress $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ production at the string ends (b), while in NeXuS $`\overline{\mathrm{\Omega }}`$,s are enhanced (c). Thus, the microscopic method of hadronization leads to a strong imbalance in $`\overline{\mathrm{\Omega }}/\mathrm{\Omega }`$ ratio in low-mass strings.

The $`\overline{\mathrm{\Omega }}/\mathrm{\Omega }`$ ratio depends in a strongly non-linear fashion on the mass of the fragmenting string. Fig. 4 shows the $`\overline{\mathrm{\Omega }}/\mathrm{\Omega }`$ ratio as a function of the mass of the fragmenting string (i.e. different beam energies in pp). One clearly observes a strong enhancement of $`\overline{\mathrm{\Omega }}`$ production at low energies, while for large string masses the ratio approaches the value of $`\overline{\mathrm{\Omega }}/\mathrm{\Omega }=1`$ (which should be reached in the limit of an infinitely long color flux tube).

Statistical models, on the other hand, are not able to yield a ratio of $`\overline{\mathrm{\Omega }}/\mathrm{\Omega }>1`$. This can be easily understood in the GC formalism, where the $`\overline{B}/B`$ ratio is very sensitive to the baryon chemical potential $`\mu _B`$. For finite baryon densities, the $`\overline{B}/B`$ ratio will always be $`<1`$ and only in the limit of $`\mu _B=0`$ may $`\overline{\mathrm{\Omega }}/\mathrm{\Omega }=1`$ be approached. These features survive in the canonical framework, where the GC fugacities are replaced by ratios of partition functions . This is shown in Fig. 4 (right) where the ratio $`\overline{\mathrm{\Omega }}/\mathrm{\Omega }`$ in pp collisions (according to the previously described model I) is plotted as a function of volume for four different temperatures. Hence, finite size corrections in the statistical model actually lead to the opposite behavior in the ratio of $`\overline{\mathrm{\Omega }}/\mathrm{\Omega }`$ vs. system size (i.e. volume replacing string mass) to that observed in the fragmenting color flux tube picture.

In conclusion, within the fragmenting color flux tube models we have predicted that the $`\overline{\mathrm{\Omega }}/\mathrm{\Omega }`$ ratio is significantly above unity. This is in strong contrast to statistical model results, which always imply that $`\overline{B}/B`$ ratios are below or equal to unity in proton proton reactions. Since this observable is accessible to NA49 measurements at the SPS it can provide an excellent test to distinguish the statistical model hadronization scenario from that of microscopic color-flux tube dynamics.

We thank K. Kadjio (NA49) for fruitful and stimulating discussions. S.B. acknowledges support from RIKEN, Brookhaven National Laboratory and DOE grants DE-FG02-96ER40945 as well as DE-AC02-98CH10886. K.R acknowledges Polish Committee for Scientific Research grants KBN-2P03B-03018. M.B. acknowledges support from the region Pays de la Loire.