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# The Gravitational Lens – Galaxy Group Connection: I. Discovery of a Group Coincident with CLASS B0712+472

## 1 Introduction

Studies of the large scale structure in the local universe indicate that a significant fraction of galaxies reside in groups. Redshift surveys out to $`15,000\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1`$ find that 50 – 60% of galaxies are members of groups, with the most common systems being small, loose groups with 4 to 5 galaxies (Turner & Gott, 1976; Geller & Huchra, 1983; Tully, 1987; Ramella et al., 1989). As such, small groups of galaxies make a substantial contribution to the total mass of the universe and constitute the most common galaxy environment. Groups of galaxies have been well-studied at low redshifts (e.g., Tully, 1987; dell’Antonio, Geller, & Fabricant, 1994; Mulchaey et al., 1996; Mahdavi et al., 1997; Zabludoff & Mulchaey, 1998). However, little work has been done on more distant groups of galaxies because the modest optical overdensities of small groups make them difficult to detect at intermediate and high redshift.

Recent data suggest that gravitational lens systems may provide a method for finding moderate and high-redshift groups of galaxies. Specifically, observations of four gravitational lens systems (MG 0751+2716, PG 1115+080, MG 1131+0456, and JVAS B1422+231) have detected and spectroscopically confirmed groups of galaxies which are associated with the primary lensing galaxy (Kundić et al., 1997a, b; Tonry, 1998; Tonry & Kochanek, 1999, 2000). In addition, there are at least two lens systems (CLASS B1359+154 and a second group for MG 1131+0456) for which the high spatial density and colors of the galaxies close to the lens system suggest the presence of a group (Rusin et al., 2001; Kochanek et al., 2000a). All of these groups are compact, with at least three members within a projected radius of $``$30″ (within 1$`\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}`$7 in the case of B1359+154). We note that several gravitational lenses are associated with more massive systems, namely clusters of galaxies. The most famous example is the first gravitational lens to be discovered Q0957+561 (Walsh et al., 1979; Young et al., 1980). However, the project described in this paper is concerned only with small groups of galaxies.

Although these data are not conclusive, they strongly suggest that the primary lensing galaxies in gravitational lens systems are associated with groups of galaxies, implying that a larger association of galaxies may contribute to the lensing mass distribution. In addition, Blandford, Surpi, & Kundić (2001) analyze the lensing rates in the Hubble Deep Field North (HDF-N; Williams et al., 1996) and find that the number of multiple-imaged galaxies is an order of magnitude smaller than predicted on the basis of radio lens surveys. They argue that this strong deficit of gravitational lenses in the HDF-N (Zepf et al., 1997; Blandford, 1998) is associated with the subsequent lack of elliptical–group combinations at $`z_{\mathrm{}}0.5`$, the most likely redshift for lensing. Hence, they postulate that most galaxy lenses are located in compact groups. Similarly, an analysis based on the relationship between galaxy types and their local environment by Keeton, Christlein, & Zabludoff (2000) suggests that at least 25% of gravitational lenses should be found in groups or clusters.

Searches for gravitational lens are biased toward high mass systems because these systems have a larger cross-section for lensing. Consequently, theoretical analyses predict that most gravitational lenses will be early-type (elliptical or S0) galaxies (e.g., Turner, Ostriker, & Gott, 1984; Fukugita & Turner, 1991; Maoz & Rix, 1993; Kochanek, 1993) because these galaxies are more massive than spirals. Some spiral galaxy lenses have been detected (e.g., Carilli, Rupen, & Yanny, 1993; Jaunsen & Hjorth, 1997; Jackson, Nair, & Browne, 1998). However, high angular-resolution images from the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) show that most lensing galaxies have properties consistent with those of early-types (e.g., Keeton et al., 1998; Kochanek et al., 2000b). In the nearby universe early-type galaxies are preferentially found in groups or clusters (e.g., Dressler, 1980; Zabludoff & Mulchaey, 1998). If this correlation continues to higher redshift, a large fraction of gravitational lenses may be found in groups of galaxies. The mean redshift for gravitational lenses is $`z_{\mathrm{}}0.6`$. Thus, if the lens–group association is valid, gravitational lens systems can be used to study groups of galaxies in a redshift range which has been largely unexplored. In addition, the major source of uncertainty in $`H_0`$ measurements from gravitational lenses is the modeling of the lensing potential (e.g., Koopmans & Fassnacht, 1999). If galaxy groups contribute significantly to the lensing mass distribution or to an external shear, the group mass needs to be measured. A spectroscopic survey and the resulting velocity dispersion measurements are the most practical way to achieve this end.

In light of this, we have begun a coordinated effort to study the link between groups of galaxies and gravitational lenses. Specifically, we are obtaining photometric and spectroscopic data on the fields surrounding all lens systems where both the source and lens redshift are currently known. Our ground-based program is complemented by the extensive set of gravitational lens images in the HST archive. Many of the archival images were obtained by CfA-Arizona Space Telescope Lens Survey team (CASTLES111See http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/castles; Muñoz et al., 1998; Falco et al., 2001), which is conducting a program to obtain uniform multi-band ($`V`$, $`I`$, and $`H`$) HST images of all known lens systems.

In this paper, we present the results from observations of the field surrounding the gravitational lens system CLASS B0712+472. Unless otherwise noted, we use $`h`$ to express the value of the Hubble Constant, where $`H_0=100h\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1\mathrm{Mpc}^1`$, and assume $`\mathrm{\Omega }_m=0.2`$, and $`\mathrm{\Omega }_\mathrm{\Lambda }=0.0`$.

## 2 CLASS B0712+472

The B0712+472 gravitational lens system was discovered by Jackson et al. (1998) as part of the Cosmic Lens All-Sky Survey (CLASS; Browne et al., 2001; Myers et al., 2001). The maximum separation of the four lensed images is 1$`\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}`$27, and the flux density ratios at 15 GHz are $`14.2:10.5:5.4:1`$ for components $`\mathrm{A}:\mathrm{B}:\mathrm{C}:\mathrm{D}`$, respectively. High-resolution radio maps from the Very Large Array (VLA) and the Multiple-Element Radio-Linked Interferometer (MERLIN) do not resolve the four images (Jackson et al., 1998). Images taken with the Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 (WPFC2) aboard HST show the three brightest images of the background source; in addition, the lensing galaxy is detected with optical magnitudes of $`V22.2`$ and $`I20.0`$ in an elliptical aperture with major and minor axes of 2″ and 1″, respectively (Jackson et al., 1998). Images obtained with the Near-Infrared Camera/Multi-Object Spectrograph (NICMOS) aboard HST are similar to the WFPC2 images but show, additionally, the fourth lensed image (image D) and a faint arc produced by the host galaxy of the background quasar (Jackson, Xanthopoulos, & Browne, 1998).

Preliminary spectroscopic observations of lens system were taken at the William Herschel Telescope (Jackson et al., 1998); however, the definitive measurement of the system redshifts were made by Fassnacht & Cohen (1998) using the Low Resolution Imaging Spectrograph (LRIS; Oke et al., 1995) on the Keck telescopes. The resulting source and lens redshifts are $`(z_{\mathrm{}},z_s)=(0.4060,1.339)`$. The background source exhibits broad C III\] and Mg II emission lines typical of a quasar spectrum. The lensing galaxy has an early-type spectrum which is characterized by a moderately strong 4000Å break, small equivalent width Balmer absorption lines, and no \[O II\] emission. The observed image splitting in B0712+472 implies that the mass and mass-to-light of the lensing galaxy within the Einstein ring radius are $`5.40\pm 0.22\times 10^{10}h^1\mathrm{M}_{}`$ and $`8.6\pm 0.9h(\mathrm{M}/\mathrm{L})_{}`$, respectively, for $`q_0=0.5`$ (Fassnacht & Cohen, 1998).

## 3 Observations

### 3.1 Broad-Band Optical

#### 3.1.1 Palomar 60–in

Preliminary photometric observations were taken on January 3-4 and April 1-2, 2000 with the CCD camera on the Palomar 60–in (1.5–m) telescope. The camera covers a field-of-view of $`12\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}9\times 12\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}9`$. The field containing the lens system was imaged in the three filters, Gunn $`g`$, $`r`$, and $`i`$. The total exposure times were $`\{720036002400\}`$ sec in $`\{gri\}`$, respectively. The average seeing during these observations was 1$`\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}`$5. We calibrated the Palomar images to the Gunn photometric system through exposures on several Gunn standards (Thuan & Gunn, 1976). The typical variations about the nightly photometric transformations are 0.08 mag or less.

Object detection, cataloging, and photometry were performed on the final images using the software package SExtractor (Bertin & Arnouts, 1996). We adopted a fixed detection threshold of 1.5-$`\sigma _{\mathrm{sky}}`$. This threshold corresponds to a surface brightness of approximately $`\{\mu _g\mu _r\mu _i\}\{26.125.825.1\}\mathrm{mag}\mathrm{arcsec}^2`$. A Gaussian filter with a FWHM of 1$`\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}`$1 and a minimum detection area of $`1.4\mathrm{arcsec}^2`$ were used. The objects detected in each image were visually inspected, so that spurious detections (e.g., cosmic rays or diffraction spikes) could be removed from the catalog. The number of spurious detections corresponded to 10–15% of all detections. The resulting object catalog contains 996 objects. For each object, we have measured a total magnitude, an aperture magnitude within a circular aperture of radius 3″, and a star–galaxy classification (see Bertin & Arnouts, 1996). We reach approximate limiting magnitudes of $`g23.0`$, $`r23.0`$, $`i22.0`$ for a 5-$`\sigma `$ detection in our standard circular aperture.

#### 3.1.2 Keck 10–m

Higher-quality photometric observations were obtained on January 17-19, 2001 with LRIS on the Keck I telescope. LRIS covers a field-of-view of $`6\mathrm{}\times 8\mathrm{}`$. Data were taken in three broad band filters, $`BRI`$, which match the Cousins system well. The total exposure times were $`\{300018002400\}`$ sec in $`\{BRI\}`$, respectively. The Keck observations were calibrated to the standard Cousins-Bessell-Landolt (Cape) system through exposures on a number of Landolt standard star fields (Landolt, 1992). As in the processing of the Palomar 60–in data, the SExtractor package was used to detect, classify, and obtain aperture and total magnitudes for all objects in the co-added $`BRI`$ images. The detection thresholds in the three bands were $`\{\mu _B\mu _R\mu _I\}\{27.626.426.0\}\mathrm{mag}\mathrm{arcsec}^2`$.

For the color analysis presented in this paper, we use aperture magnitudes computed in a circular aperture with a radius of $`3^{\prime \prime }`$ from these Keck observations. This corresponds to a physical radius of $`10.5h^1\mathrm{kpc}`$ at $`z=0.4060`$, the redshift of the lensing galaxy in B0712+472. The final catalog contains 986 objects. The approximate limiting magnitudes are $`B25.5`$, $`R24.5`$, and $`I23.5`$ for a 5-$`\sigma `$ detection in our standard aperture. Because of the smaller field-of-view of LRIS compared to the Palomar 60-in camera, some of our spectroscopic targets (see §3.2) do not have available LRIS imaging. Those for which LRIS imaging is available are listed in Table 1; those without LRIS imaging are listed separately in Table 2 (see §4).

### 3.2 Spectroscopic

The spectroscopic observations were performed on March 28, 2000 and January 17-19, 2001 with LRIS on the Keck I telescope. Multi-slit and long-slit observations of galaxies in the B0712+472 field were made with LRIS in spectroscopic mode using an $`300\mathrm{g}\mathrm{mm}^1`$ grating blazed at 5000 Å. The chosen grating provided a dispersion of 2.44 Å per pixel and a spectral coverage of 5100 Å. The grating angle was set in order to provide coverage from approximately 4400 Å to 9500 Å. In order to obtain the full wavelength range along the dispersion axis, the field-of-view of the multislit spectral observations was reduced to approximately $`2\mathrm{}\times 8\mathrm{}`$. Conditions during the March 2000 observations consisted of light to moderate cirrus and marginal seeing which ranged from 1$`\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}`$0 to 1$`\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}`$5. The weather during the January 2001 observations was predominately clear with only thin cirrus at times. The seeing ranged from 0$`\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}`$7 to 1$`\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}`$0.

Spectroscopic candidates were chosen from the Palomar $`gri`$ imaging. First, we included only those objects which were classified as galaxies by SExtractor (a star–galaxy classification of $`<0.8`$; see Bertin & Arnouts, 1996). Secondly, we wanted to target specifically those galaxies which were most likely associated with the lens and, therefore, at the same redshift. To achieve this, we selected galaxies which had similar colors, $`(ri)\pm 0.2`$, to the lensing galaxy. The measured color of the lensing galaxy from the Palomar 60-in imaging is $`(ri)=0.45`$. This color is consistent with the $`(F814WF555W)`$ color measured from the existing WFPC2 images (see §2) and with a no-evolution model of an elliptical galaxy at the lens redshift (e.g., Fukugita, Shimasaku, & Ichikawa, 1995).

Two slitmasks were made for this lens field. In selecting objects for the slitmask, those galaxies that had similar colors and were spatially close to the lensing galaxy were weighted most heavily. Galaxies which were bluer or redder than our original color cut were also included (though with lower weights) in order to optimize the total number of objects per mask. A slit width of 1$`\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}`$0 and a minimum slit length of 20″ were used. In the end, we obtain 25 and 29 objects, respectively, on the two masks. The first mask was observed during the March 2000 run. Two exposures of equal duration were taken with a total exposure time of 2400 sec. The second slitmask was observed during the January 2001 run with three exposures of equal duration for a total exposure time of 5400 sec.

In addition to the slitmasks, we have also used the 1$`\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}`$0 long-slit, which is $`175^{\prime \prime }`$ in length, to observe galaxies which were very close to the lensing galaxy and which were not included on either of the two slitmasks. Three long-slit positions were observed, each covering two galaxies. Two exposures of equal duration were taken at each position. The total exposure times were 2400, 3600, and 2400 seconds for the first, second, and third long-slit position, respectively.

To calibrate both the multi-slit and long-slit observations, flat-fielding and wavelength calibration were performed using internal flat-field and arc lamp exposures which were taken after each science exposure. Observations of the Oke (1990) spectrophotometric standard stars Feige 34 and G191B2B were used to remove the response function of the chip.

## 4 Results

In Tables 1 & 2, we present the observed parameters, including distance from the lensing galaxy, the magnitudes and colors from either the Keck 10-m or Palomar 60-in observations, and the measured redshift, for all galaxies which were spectroscopically observed in the B0712+472 field. The redshift uncertainties have been estimated by taking the RMS scatter in the redshifts calculated from the individual spectral lines.

In Figure 1, we plot the resulting distribution of redshifts (excluding Galactic stars) in the B0712+472 field. The redshift distribution shows a peaky structure which is typical of larger pencil beam surveys (e.g., Cohen et al., 1996). In addition, there is one significant peak in the distribution. While we have not detected a group of galaxies associated with the lensing galaxy at $`z_{\mathrm{}}=0.4060`$, we have detected a foreground group, consisting of ten galaxies with a mean redshift of $`\overline{z}=0.2909`$.

### 4.1 Global Group Properties

Using the redshifts of the ten group members, we measure a group velocity dispersion (corrected for cosmological effects) of $`\sigma =306_{58}^{+110}`$ km s-1. This velocity dispersion has also been corrected for redshift measurement errors which are typically about 100 km s-1 (see Table 1). We compute the uncertainty in the dispersion according to the prescription of Danese, de Zotti, & di Tullio (1980), which assumes that the errors in velocity dispersions can be modeled as a $`\chi ^2`$ distribution and that a galaxy’s velocity deviation from the mean group redshift is independent of the galaxy’s mass (i.e., the group is virialized). For more details, see §3 of Postman, Lubin, & Oke (1998). Figure 2 shows the histogram of velocity offsets for the groups members and the best-fit Gaussian to the distribution.

Figure 3 shows the position of these galaxies, relative to the lensing galaxy in B0712+472, on the composite $`R`$ band image. The spatial distribution of the group galaxies is reasonably compact with a harmonic radius of $`R_h=0.18\pm 0.02h^1`$ Mpc and is centered close to the gravitational lens system. The radius and velocity dispersion of the group imply a virial mass of $`3.0_{1.2}^{+2.2}\times 10^{13}h^1M_{}`$ and a crossing time (in units of the Hubble time) of $`t_c/t_0=0.02`$. This short crossing time is indicative of a bound system of galaxies, such as a group or rich cluster (Ramella et al., 1989).

The properties of this distant group are completely consistent with the range of values found in nearby groups of galaxies (e.g., Geller & Huchra, 1983; Tully, 1987; Ramella et al., 1989; Zabludoff & Mulchaey, 1998). For example, Ramella et al. (1989) have studied 92 galaxy groups at $`cz15,000`$ km s-1. For the 36 rich groups which contain 5 or more members, they find that their mean properties are $`\sigma =228\pm 147`$ km s-1, $`R_h=0.52\pm 0.34h^1`$ Mpc, and $`t_c/t_0=0.06\pm 0.05`$, respectively. We have estimated the dispersion on each parameter as $`\mathrm{\Delta }=0.741\times \mathrm{IQR}`$, where IQR is the interquartile range listed in Table 6 of Ramella et al. (1989).

### 4.2 Properties of the Group Galaxies

Figures 4 and 5 show the spectra of the ten member galaxies. Five of the ten galaxies are active, star-forming galaxies (Figure 4). Their spectra are characterized by strong emission lines, including \[O II\], \[O III\], $`H_\alpha `$, and/or $`H_\beta `$. The rest-frame \[O II\] (or $`H_\alpha `$ in the case of galaxy G+016+007) equivalent widths are all in excess of 20Å. The remaining five galaxies are elliptical-like in nature (Figure 5). They exhibit classic K-star absorption features, including Ca II H & K, and/or G-band absorption. These spectra show little or no \[O II\] emission with rest-frame equivalent widths of less than 15Å.

In Figure 6, we plot the color-magnitude diagrams (CMDs) obtained from the Keck $`BRI`$ imaging of the field containing B0712+472. The lensing galaxy and the ten galaxies which are members of the foreground group are indicated. In the $`(BR)`$ versus $`R_{tot}`$ CMD there is a reasonably well-defined sequence of galaxies which is redder ($`BR2.5`$) than the typical blue, field galaxy ($`BR1.01.8`$). This red sequence includes the lensing galaxy at $`z_{\mathrm{}}=0.4060`$, as well as the five elliptical-like galaxies in the foreground group at $`\overline{z}=0.2909`$. The average colors of the five foreground galaxies are $`BR=2.47\pm 0.08`$ and $`RI=0.91\pm 0.03`$.

Of the remaining five group members, four are significantly bluer, as expected from their star-forming spectral features. Their average colors are $`BR=1.40\pm 0.06`$ and $`RI=0.57\pm 0.08`$. The final galaxy classified as star-forming is G+016+007. Although its spectrum exhibits Ca II H & K absorption, it also contains relatively strong \[O II\] and $`H_\alpha `$ emission (see Figure 4) with rest-frame equivalent widths of $`14`$ and 23Å, respectively. The galaxy’s colors, however, are noticeably redder than the other four active galaxies. Here, $`(BR)=2.28`$ and $`(RI)=0.99`$. These results may indicate a galaxy with a relatively old stellar population which has recently undergone a burst of star formation due to an interaction or merger.

Local galaxy groups follow a well-established correlation between early-type fraction and velocity dispersion (Hickson, Kindl, & Huchra, 1988; Zabludoff & Mulchaey, 1998). As the velocity dispersion increases from 100 to 450 km s-1, the early-type fraction increases from effectively zero to 55%. These measures include all ($`2050`$) member galaxies that are brighter than $`M_B16`$ to $`17+5\mathrm{log}h`$ and are within a radius of $`0.60.8h^1`$ Mpc (Zabludoff & Mulchaey, 1998). Based on the local correlation, we expect the early-type fraction for our moderate-redshift group to be approximately $`30_{10}^{+20}\%`$. From the spectroscopic data, we find that five (out of ten) galaxies have spectra which are typical of early-type galaxies, while the remaining five galaxies are star-forming, implying that they are most likely late-type (spiral or irregular) galaxies. This suggests an early-type fraction of 50%, which is on the high end of that expected from the local correlation. This result, however, may not be statistically significant because the scatter in the local correlation is reasonably large (see Figure 7 of Zabludoff & Mulchaey, 1998). More importantly, our survey does not reach the faint magnitudes of the local observations. If we apply a magnitude limit more typical of our survey ($`M_B18+5\mathrm{log}h`$) to the local group data, we see an increase in the early-type fraction associated with a given velocity dispersion, although the scatter in the relationship also increases. This is not unexpected since the brightest galaxies in groups are normally early-types. For the groups with the highest velocity dispersion, the early-type fraction approaches 80% or more.

To measure accurately the early-type fraction, we need visual classifications of the group galaxies. Fortunately, we can measure these morphologies for all but one of the group members through the publically-available HST images. The WFPC2 observations of B0712+472 were taken as part of two separate programs, GO-5908 (PI Jackson) and GO-9133 (PI Falco, as part of the CASTLES program). We have chosen to analyze the GO-9133 observations because the exposure times are longer, the images have been dithered in three positions to improve the angular resolution, and the position angle provides a more beneficial field-of-view. The observations were taken in the F555W and F814W filters for a total exposure time of 2200 seconds each. We have reduced these data using the “drizzle” software (Fruchter & Hook, 1997) given in the STSDAS package ditherII. Nine of the ten group members fall within the WFPC2 field-of-view. We have used data in the reddest band F814W to make a visual classification of these galaxies based on the Revised Hubble scheme (e.g., Sandage, 1961; Sandage & Bedke, 1994). The classifications (and other information; for details, see Smail et al., 1997; Lubin et al., 1998) are listed in Table 3.

Figure 7 shows the postage stamp images of each galaxy. The four galaxies which have very strong \[O II\] and/or $`H_\alpha `$ emission (G–009+005, G+016+007, G–001–022, G+056+020; see Figure 4) are classified as late-type spiral galaxies. The remaining five galaxies which have elliptical-like spectra, with little or no \[O II\] emission (G+008+009, G+015+015, G+029–021, G+018–079, G+052–071; see Figure 5), are classified as either elliptical, S0 or Sa galaxies. The only galaxy for which we do not have a visual classification, G+089–151, is the one which is farthest from the lens system. This galaxy has extremely strong $`H_\alpha `$, $`H_\beta `$, and \[O III\] emission and is, therefore, almost certainly a late-type (spiral or irregular) galaxy. Based on this evidence, we conclude that the early-type fraction is 40% and that the morphological content of this moderate-redshift group is consistent (within the uncertainties) with that of nearby groups of galaxies.

## 5 Effect on Gravitational Potential

The presence of a group of galaxies centered close to a gravitational lens system will perturb the lensing gravitational potential and affect the lensed images of the background source. The effect of the group mass distribution on the main gravitational potential may be expressed in terms of an additional convergence ($`\kappa _T(\stackrel{}{r})`$) and shear ($`\gamma _T(\stackrel{}{r})`$). The convergence describes the isotropic component of the magnification of an image produced at a position $`\stackrel{}{r}`$, while the shear describes the anisotropic distortion of the image. Some lens systems require a strong shear component in order to produce the observed image configuration. Particularly notable is the JVAS B1422+231 system, in which the early lens models required a strong external shear (e.g., Hogg & Blandford, 1994; Keeton et al., 1997), possibly in addition to an extremely flattened mass distribution in the primary lensing galaxy (Kormann, Schneider, & Bartelmann, 1994). Later observations found a group of galaxies that provided the necessary external shear (Kundić et al., 1997b). A simple singular isothermal sphere (SIS) plus external shear model for the CLASS B0712+472 system suggests that the external shear in this system should be small ($`0.05\pm 0.04`$; Keeton et al., 1998). We note that this model is not a particularly good fit to the observations ($`\chi ^2/N_{\mathrm{dof}}=4.7`$; Keeton et al., 1998) and might be improved by a multiple-shear model (e.g., Keeton et al., 1997). However, it is probably correct in indicating that a very large external shear is not needed for this system.

We can estimate the shear contribution of the foreground group to CLASS B0712+472 and compare it to the predicted value. We make the approximation that the group gravitational potential is that produced by a SIS. The SIS has a particularly simple analytic expression for $`\gamma _T`$, namely,

$$\gamma _T(r)=\frac{b}{2r},$$

where $`b`$ is the critical radius of the SIS and $`r`$ is the distance from the center of the SIS, both expressed in angular units. For a SIS with one-dimensional velocity dispersion, $`\sigma _v`$, lensing a background source at a redshift $`z_s`$, the critical radius (Einstein ring radius) is

$$b=4\pi \frac{\sigma _v^2}{c^2}\frac{D_\mathrm{}s}{D_s}2.59\left(\frac{\sigma _v}{300\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1}\right)^2\frac{D_\mathrm{}s}{D_s}\mathrm{arcsec}.$$

Here, $`D_\mathrm{}s`$ and $`D_s`$ are the angular diameter distances from the SIS to the background source and from the observer to the background source, respectively. The ratio of these distances is a function of the redshifts of the SIS and the background source and has a weak dependence on the cosmological model given by $`\mathrm{\Omega }_m`$ and $`\mathrm{\Omega }_\mathrm{\Lambda }`$. For the group of galaxies discussed in this paper, the velocity dispersion is $`\sigma _v=306\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1`$ and the redshifts are $`z_{\mathrm{SIS}}=0.2909`$ and $`z_s=1.34`$ for the group and the background source, respectively. To explore the dependence on the cosmological model, we calculate $`b`$ for three common models: $`(\mathrm{\Omega }_m,\mathrm{\Omega }_\mathrm{\Lambda })`$ = (1.0,0.0), (0.2,0.0), and (0.2,0.8). The resulting critical radii are $`b=`$1$`\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}`$76, 1$`\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}`$77, and 1$`\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}`$97, respectively. The convergence and shear produced by the group at the position of the lens system, for the three cosmologies considered, are:

$$\kappa _T(r_{\mathrm{}})=\gamma _T(r_{\mathrm{}})\frac{0.95}{r_{\mathrm{}}},$$

where $`r_{\mathrm{}}`$ is the angular distance from the group center to the lens system, in arcseconds.

The effect of the foreground group on the gravitational lensing potential depends critically on $`r_{\mathrm{}}`$. Unfortunately, this quantity is not well determined because the position of the group center is not clear. A simple calculation of the luminosity-weighted centroid of the group gives $`r_{\mathrm{}}=29\mathrm{}`$, and thus $`\gamma _T(r_{\mathrm{}})0.03`$, which is consistent with the value predicted by Keeton et al. (1998). However, with only ten galaxies known to be in the group, this number is subject to the effects of small-number statistics. For example, by excluding the galaxy most distant from the lens system, the luminosity-weighted group centroid shifts significantly closer to the lens, giving $`r_{\mathrm{}}=18\mathrm{}`$ and $`\gamma _T(r_{\mathrm{}})0.05`$.

In addition, the luminosity-weighted centroid is almost certainly biased toward the south of the lens system. This bias arises because a fifth-magnitude star lies $``$6′ to the north-northwest of the lens. Scattered light from this star strongly contaminated our Palomar 60-in images. In order to reduce the effect of the scattered light to a reasonable level, we centered our images $``$4′ to the south of the lens system. The horizontal line in Figure 3 indicates the northern limit of the Palomar 60-in images. Because we had no information about galaxies north of this line, they were not included on the slitmasks. It is likely that the Keck images, which are much less affected by the scattered light, will provide good candidate group members to the north of the lens system. The inclusion of these galaxies could shift the group centroid farther to the north and closer to the lens system.

A final estimate of $`r_{\mathrm{}}`$, and thus $`\gamma _T`$, can be obtained by exploiting a relationship seen in nearby groups of galaxies. In local galaxy groups for which diffuse X-ray emission has been detected, the brightest group galaxy (BGG) is located at the center of the group potential (Zabludoff & Mulchaey, 1998). Thus, if the CLASS B0712+472 foreground group is virialized, the distance from the BGG to the lens system should be a good estimator of $`r_{\mathrm{}}`$. Our survey of the group members is far from complete due to the northern cutoff in our galaxy selection and the sparseness of our spectroscopic coverage. However, for the purposes of our rough estimate, we can assume that the brightest galaxy known to be in the group (G+015+015, with $`R=19.6`$) is the BGG. This would imply that $`r_{\mathrm{}}=21`$″ and, thus, $`\gamma _T(r_{\mathrm{}})0.05`$.

Unless further observations significantly increase the number of galaxies known to be in this group, it is unlikely that the optical observations alone will adequately determine the location of the center of the group gravitational well. A sensitive X-ray observation with XMM or Chandra, which would provide a measure of the total and gas mass distribution, could give a much more accurate location for the group centroid.

## 6 Conclusion

We present the first results from our observational program which seeks to exploit the gravitational lens–galaxy group connection to find and study moderate to high-redshift groups of galaxies. We have surveyed the field surrounding the gravitational lens system B0712+472 and have found a foreground group of galaxies at $`\overline{z}=0.2909`$ which is coincident with the lensing galaxy. The small group, which contains 10 member galaxies, has dynamical and morphological properties which are consistent with those of local groups of galaxies. We estimate that the effect of the foreground group on the gravitational lensing potential of B0712+472 is small. Based on the simplest model, that of a singular isothermal sphere, the group produces an external shear which is only a few percent. However, the magnitude of the shear is reasonably uncertain because it is inversely proportional to the distance between the group center and the lens system. Based on the relatively small number of confirmed group members, this distance is uncertain by at least a factor of 2.

Currently, there are five spectroscopically-confirmed groups (as opposed to massive clusters) detected by their association with gravitational lens systems. In Table 4, we list the properties of all five groups, including the one presented in this paper. Remarkably, the redshift of each group is $`z0.3`$. Each is quite compact with harmonic radii less than $`0.18h^1`$ Mpc. Based on the small number of confirmed group members, we find that the velocity dispersions range by more than an order of magnitude, from $`30535`$ km s-1. However, the smallest velocity dispersion is highly uncertain because the group, that associated with MG 0751+2716, has only three confirmed members. Further studies of these systems are clearly required in order to make accurate measurements of the dynamical properties of the groups, as well as the spectral and morphological properties of their member galaxies. Because all five groups have very similar redshifts, they comprise an unique sample in which to study the diversity of group properties at this redshift.

We would like to thank Marc Postman, David Rusin, Alice Shapley, Gordon Squires, and Ann Zabludoff for helpful discussions and essential aids to this paper. We are grateful to Karl Dunscombe, Skip Staples, Jean Mueller, Steve Kunsman, Dave Tennent, Greg Van Idsinga, Ron Quick, Meg Whittle, Barbara Schaefer, Randy Campbell, Bob Goodrich, Grant Hill, David Sprayberry, Greg Wirth, and the rest of the staff at the Palomar and Keck Observatories for keeping the telescopes operating smoothly. The W. M. Keck Observatory is operated as a scientific partnership between the California Institute of Technology, the University of California, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. It was made possible by generous financial support of the W. M. Keck Foundation. Some of the data presented in this paper were obtained from the Multimission Archive at the Space Telescope Science Institute (MAST). STScI is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under NASA contract NAS5-26555. Support for MAST for non-HST data is provided by the NASA Office of Space Science via grant NAG5-7584 and by other grants and contracts. The National Radio Astronomy Observatory is operated by Associated Universities, Inc., under cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation. MERLIN is operated as a National Facility by NRAL, University of Manchester, on behalf of the UK Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council.


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# Phase transitions in the steady state behavior of mechanically perturbed spin glasses and ferromagnets

## Abstract

We analyze the steady state regime of systems interpolating between spin glasses and ferromagnets under a tapping dynamics recently introduced by analogy with the dynamics of mechanically perturbed granular media. A crossover from a second order to first order ferromagnetic transition as a function of the spin coupling distribution is found. The flat measure over blocked states introduced by Edwards for granular media is used to explain this scenario. Annealed calculations of the Edwards entropy are shown to qualitatively explain the nature of the phase transitions. A Monte-Carlo construction of the Edwards measure confirms that this explanation is also quantitatively accurate.

PACS: 05.20 y Classical statistical mechanics, 75.10 Nr Spin glasses and other random models, 81.05 Rm Porous materials; granular materials

In complex systems such as granular media the energy available due to thermal fluctuations is not sufficient to cause particle rearrangement, hence in the absence of external perturbations the system is trapped in a metastable state. A granular media may be shaken mechanically and experiments reveal a steady state regime defined by an asymptotic density . The non trivial behavior of these systems, such as slow relaxation dynamics and hysteresis effects arises from the fact that such systems have an extensive entropy of metastable or blocked states. A vertically tapped system of hard spheres tends to a random close packing , whereas a horizontally shaken system crystallizes , the stationary states obtained in these systems are not theoretically understood for the moment. Edwards  has proposed that one may construct a thermodynamics over metastable states in the same way as Boltzmann and Gibbs developed over microstates, his hypothesis is that the equilibrium measure is flat over all blocked or metastable states satisfying the relevant macroscopic constraints. This is an ergodic hypothesis which is conceivably true in the case of extensive manipulations such as stirring, pouring, shaking an tapping. This scenario had been recently tested on a wide range of models by comparing dynamical time averaged quantities in the steady state with those predicted by a flat measure which is either calculated numerically or analytically . In a number of systems the Edwards measure was seen to work extremely well, although, reassuringly given the strength of the hypothesis, there are cases where it does not appear to be applicable .

Given the recent interest in the Edwards measure and the fundamental and industrial importance of mechanically driven systems it is natural to examine phase transitions in this context. As pointed out by Edwards and coworkers, the construction of a steady state measure for mechanically perturbed systems would allow one to predict, for example, whether two powders or granular media form a mixture or phase separate upon stirring or shaking. In mean field implementations of the Edwards measure to binary granular systems second order phase transitions have been found between the mixed and separated phases .

Recently  there has been interest in using spin systems to examine tapping like dynamics on systems with an extensive entropy of metastable states. These systems, though far from being realistic models of granular media, provide a testing ground for the development of thermodynamic like theories for granular systems and indeed seem to show much of the phenomenology seen in real systems.

The models we shall consider are Ising spin systems on random thin graphs. A random thin graph is a collection of $`N`$ points, each point being linked to exactly $`c`$ of its neighbors, $`c`$ therefore being the connectivity of the graph. The spin glass/ferromagnet model we shall consider has the Hamiltonian $`H=\frac{1}{2}_{ji}J_{ij}n_{ij}S_iS_j`$ where the $`S_i`$ are Ising spins, $`n_{ij}`$ is equal to one if the sites $`i`$ and $`j`$ are connected and zero otherwise. The fact that the local connectivity is fixed as $`c`$ imposes the local constraints $`_jn_{ij}=c`$, for all sites $`i`$. For the following, we have fixed $`c=3`$. The couplings $`J_{ij}`$ are independent random variables with distribution: $`P(J_{ij})=\alpha \delta (J_{ij}+1)+(1\alpha )\delta (J_{ij}1)`$ ($`\alpha `$ being a parameter in $`[0,1/2]`$).

We define the tapping dynamics as follows: In between the taps, the system has a natural zero temperature relaxational dynamics, it evolves under a random sequential single spin flip dynamics where only moves which reduce the energy are allowed. When blocked, it is tapped with strength $`p[0,1/2]`$, that is to say each spin is flipped with a probability $`p`$, the updating at this point being parallel - this corresponds to the extensive manipulation. The system is then evolved by the zero temperature dynamics until it becomes once again stuck and the tapping is repeated. After a transient regime, the system reaches a stationary regime characterized by an energy per spin $`E(p)`$. Numerical simulations show that $`E(p)`$ is a monotonically decreasing function of $`p`$ \- the lighter one taps, the lower the energy obtained. Here we make the analogy with experiments on vertically tapped granular media , where (in the reversible part of the experiment) the asymptotic compactivity increases as the system is more lightly tapped. Our numerical simulations are reversible and one can move up and down the curve of $`E(p)`$ if the system is tapped for a sufficiently long time after changing $`p`$. Here the macroscopic quantity which is fixed on average by the tapping dynamics is $`E(p)`$, whereas in granular material it is the average volume $`v=V/N`$ per particle.

The canonical form of the Edwards hypothesis  then leads to the consideration of the partition function $`Z(\beta )=𝑑E𝑑m\mathrm{exp}\left(N(\beta Es_{Edw}(E,m))\right)`$, where $`s_{Edw}(E,m)`$ the Edwards entropy per spin at average energy $`E`$ and magnetization $`m`$ per spin. Here $`\beta =\beta (p)`$ is a Lagrange multiplier fixing $`E`$, numerical tapping simulations thus suggest that $`\beta (p)`$ decreases as $`p`$ is increased. In spin glasses the Edwards entropy per spin at fixed average energy can be calculated (or approximated) and can be shown to be extensive (i.e. $`s_{Edw}(E)`$ is of order $`1`$ and independent of $`N`$ in the thermodynamic limit). As mentioned previously granular systems are expected to share this property. Let us emphasize at this point that this rather ambitious goal of developing a thermodynamics for granular systems does use additional information about the dynamics as compared to usual thermodynamics. The definition of the entropy contains the information about metastability. This is a partial, though rather limited, use of dynamics to describe statics.

If we assume that $`\beta (p)`$ is continuous on reducing $`p`$ one expects the possibility of an onset of ferromagnetic ordering, which would correspond to phase separation in a granular material. The Edwards free energy per spin $`f(\beta )=\mathrm{min}_{E,m}f(E,m,\beta )=\mathrm{min}_Ef(E,\beta )`$ with $`f(E,m,\beta )=Es_{Edw}(E,m)/\beta `$ and $`f(E,\beta )=f(E,m(E),\beta )`$, where $`m(E)`$ is the point where $`f(E,m,\beta (p))`$ is a minimum with respect to $`m`$. The value of $`m(E)`$ is thus given by $`s_{Edw}(E,m(E))/m=0`$. In the models studied here we find that there exists a value $`E_c`$ such that for $`E>E_c`$ one has $`m(E)=0`$ and for $`E<E_c`$ the solution $`m=0`$ becomes a local maximum of $`f(E,m,\beta )`$ and there is a second order phase transition with $`m`$ becoming non zero.

For $`E<E_c`$ in the neighborhood of $`E_c`$ we have found that, depending on the parameters of the disorder, there are two possible behaviors:

(1) $`^2s_{Edw}(E,m(E))/E^2|_{E=E_c^{}}<0`$ in which case the ferromagnetic phase is stable and the system exhibits a second order phase transition in the energy with a discontinuity in $`\beta /E`$.

(2) $`^2s_{Edw}(E,m(E))/E^2|_{E=E_c^{}}>0`$ and the ferromagnetic phase is unstable. In this case there is a second minimum of $`f(E)`$ (case (2a)) or end point of $`f(E)`$ (where the Edwards entropy vanishes, that is to say the ground state $`E_{GS}`$) (case (2b)) at an energy $`E^{}`$ which is strictly lower than $`E_c`$. Hence there is a first order phase transition with a non zero spontaneous magnetization $`m(E^{})`$. We find in this case that the paramagnetic phase may be in fact only metastable for a range of values $`\beta <\beta _c`$ i.e. the second minimum exists below $`\beta _c`$ and may have a lower Edwards free energy. Comparing our simulations with the annealed calculation we find it is only when this metastable phase becomes unstable (at the spinodal point) that the transition occurs. This suggests that the tapping dynamics is not efficient at tunneling over free energy barriers - it is interesting to note that the fluffy (arch rich) phase in granular media exhibit this strong metastability .

With respect to the relaxational part of the dynamics introduced above, the total number of metastable states for a given set of $`J_{ij}`$ and $`n_{ij}`$ is given by :

$`N_{MS}(E,m)=\mathrm{Tr}{\displaystyle \underset{i=1}{\overset{N}{}}}\theta \left({\displaystyle \underset{ji}{}}J_{ij}n_{ij}S_iS_j\right)`$ (1)
$`\delta (HNE)\delta ({\displaystyle \underset{i}{}}S_iNm)`$ (2)
where $`\theta (x)=0`$ if $`x<0`$ and $`\theta (x)=1`$ if $`x0`$. The above formula expresses the fact that each spin is aligned with its local molecular field in a metastable state and hence none can flip under the relaxational dynamics. The Edwards entropy of the metastable states of energy per spin $`E`$ and at magnetization $`m`$ is thus $`s_{Edw}(E,m)=\frac{1}{N}\mathrm{ln}N_{MS}(E,m)`$, the brackets denoting the average over the disorder. Unfortunately this average is not easily taken analytically at low energy, and we have to compute an annealed average, which will give an upper bound for the Edwards entropy:

$$s_{Edw}(E,m)=\underset{N\mathrm{}}{lim}\frac{1}{N}\mathrm{ln}N_{MS}(E,m)$$
(3)
In the the SK model and for Ising spin systems on random thin graphs , there exists an energy $`E_{ann}`$ above which this annealed approximation is exact.

The computation of this quantity is a generalization of that for $`\alpha =0`$ . One finds $`s_{Edw}(E,m)`$ is given by the saddle point value of the action

$`S(u,v,t,\beta ;E,m)=\beta ({\displaystyle \frac{c}{2}}E)+{\displaystyle \frac{c}{2}}\mathrm{ln}(12\alpha )`$ (4)
$`{\displaystyle \frac{c}{2}}\mathrm{ln}\left[(1\alpha )(2t+u^2+t^2v^2)\alpha (2tuv+1+t^2)\right]`$ (5)
$`+{\displaystyle \frac{1+m}{2}}\mathrm{ln}\left(f(ue^\beta )\right)+{\displaystyle \frac{1+m}{2}}\mathrm{ln}\left(t^cf(ve^\beta )\right)`$ (6)
$`{\displaystyle \frac{1+m}{2}}\mathrm{ln}\left({\displaystyle \frac{1+m}{2}}\right){\displaystyle \frac{1m}{2}}\mathrm{ln}\left({\displaystyle \frac{1m}{2}}\right)`$ (7)
with respect to the parameters $`u,v,t`$ and $`\beta `$. The magnetization of the metastable states at energy $`E`$ is given by the maximization of (4) with respect to $`m`$:

$$m=\frac{f(ue^\beta )t^cf(ve^\beta )}{f(ue^\beta )+t^cf(ve^\beta )}$$
(8)
In order to compute the Edwards entropy, we solve the stationarity conditions coming from the extremization with respect to $`u,v,t,\beta `$ of $`S(u,v,t,\beta ;E,m(E))`$, with $`m(E)`$ replaced by the expression (8). The resulting value for $`\beta `$ is $`\beta =\frac{s_{Edw}(E)}{E}`$, which is the definition of the inverse Edwards temperature.

The saddle point can be found numerically to compute $`f(E,\beta )`$. In the annealed approximation when $`\alpha <\alpha _c0.06`$ we find that we are in scenario (2), for $`\alpha >\alpha _c`$ we are in scenario (1). Shown in Figs. (1), (2) and (3) is the behavior of $`f(E,\beta )`$ for $`\alpha =0`$, $`\alpha =0.04`$ and $`\alpha =0.12`$ respectively and one sees that one has the behaviors (2b), (2a) and (1). In the range $`\beta _0<\beta <\beta _c`$ shown in Figs. (1) and (2) the higher energy, paramagnetic, minimum is only metastable.

To test the above predictions, we have tapped systems with $`\alpha =0.002,0.005,0.02,0.05`$ and recorded both the energy $`E(p)`$ and the magnetization $`m(p)`$ in the quasi equilibrium regime. Systems were of size $`N=10^6`$ and we have checked that this was large enough to consider a single sample instead of several realizations of disorder. The curves for $`E(p)`$ are shown in Fig. (4). For $`\alpha =0.005`$ and $`\alpha =0.002`$, there is a first order phase transition, whereas for $`\alpha =0.05`$ and $`\alpha =0.02`$ this transition is a second order one, in qualitative agreement with the previous discussion of the role of the Edwards entropy. Of course, as the annealed entropy is not expected to be exact a low energy, the values of $`\alpha _c`$ and $`E_c(\alpha )`$ which come from this calculation are only approximate. Indeed, it is found in the tapping simulations that $`0.005<\alpha _c<0.02`$, and $`E(p_c(\alpha )^+,\alpha )`$ differs systematically with $`E_c(\alpha )`$ found from Eq. (3).

In order to test this scenario in a quantitative fashion, we have computed the Edwards entropy as was done in . One introduces an auxiliary temperature $`1/\beta _{aux}`$, which is a Lagrange multiplier to fix the number of spins which are not in the same direction as their local field. Then, one fixes $`\beta `$ and does a Monte-Carlo simulation using the Metropolis algorithm where a randomly chosen spin is flipped with probability $`\text{min}(1,e^{\beta _{aux}\mathrm{\Delta }_{aux}})`$, with $`\beta _{aux}_{aux}=\beta +\beta _{aux}_i\theta \left(s_i_{ji}n_{ij}J_{ij}s_j\right)`$. Starting from $`\beta _{aux}=0`$, we increased it very slowly until the system was blocked in a metastable state. Repeated several times, this allowed us to sample $`E(\beta )`$ for systems of $`N=10^5`$. At the end of the simulation, we have recorded both energy and magnetization. The comparisons between $`m(E(p))`$ from tapping simulations and $`m(E(\beta ))`$ from Monte-Carlo simulations for $`\alpha =0.05`$ are shown in Fig.(5), the agreement is excellent. In the high temperature region $`\beta [0,\beta _c(0)]`$, for all $`\alpha [0,1/2]`$, the value of $`E(\beta )`$ measured in the simulations were in excellent agreement with the results of the annealed calculation, indicating the latter is correct in this range. For $`\beta _c(0)<\beta <\beta _c(\alpha )`$ (here we mean $`\beta _c`$ from the annealed approximation) the annealed calculation is close but certainly deviates from the numerically measured one (see Fig (6)). Moreover, the value of $`E_c(\alpha )`$ found in this Monte-Carlo procedure was much closer to $`E(p_c(\alpha )^+)`$ than that found in the annealed approximation. This means that this approximation is not exact for $`E`$ when $`m(E)0`$ and explains the quantitative disagreement between $`E(p_c(\alpha )^{},\alpha )`$ and $`E^{}(\alpha )`$ obtained from (4).

For $`\alpha <\alpha _c`$, the simulated annealing again predicts $`E_c(\alpha )`$ very close to $`E(p_c(\alpha )^+,\alpha )`$ determined by the tapping simulations. The behavior of the low energy magnetization for $`E<E^{}(\alpha )`$ is also the same for the two simulations, although the region of energy close to $`E^{}(\alpha )`$ is difficult to sample with the simulated annealing. Fig.(7) is the histogram of the energy obtained during the tapping dynamics in the stationary regime for $`\alpha =0.002`$ for different $`p`$ near $`p_c`$, for a relatively small system size. There are clearly two peaks separated by a gap and the spread towards negative energy of the one of highest energy becomes large when $`p`$ approaches $`p_c`$, thus indicating the approach of the spinodal point. It is interesting to compare Fig. (2) qualitatively with Fig.(7), the comparison is quite striking. For $`\beta `$ slightly smaller than $`\beta _c`$ we see that the form of the high energy peak, with a small spread to the right and a large one to the left is predicted by the geometry of the first minimum of $`f(E,\beta )`$ in Fig. (2). In addition for $`\beta `$ slightly smaller than $`\beta _c`$ we see that the ferromagnetic minimum is close to its spinodal point, thus explaining the large, two sided in this case, spread in the histogram in this region.

In conclusion we have examined a dynamics driven by an extensive external perturbation on a family of systems having an extensive Edwards entropy of blocked states. The existence of first and second order ferromagnetic transitions are qualitatively explained by invoking the Edwards measure calculated within an annealed approximation. The quantitative predictions using this measure in Monte-Carlo simulations are also in excellent agreement with tapping simulations on the system. We have found similarly promising results in models of higher connectivity and in the infinitely connected SK spin glass . This work suggests the possibility of using the Edwards measure to explain phase transitions in realistic granular systems, the main obstacle is the technical difficulty in the computation of the Edwards measure.

Figure captions

Fig. 1. Free energy $`f(E,\beta )`$ versus $`E`$ for different values of $`\beta `$ with $`\alpha =0`$. Between A and B, the local minimum has the lowest free energy, between B and C, it is only metastable and above C it is no longer a minimum.

Fig. 2. Free energy $`f(E,\beta )`$ versus $`E`$ for different values of $`\beta `$ and $`\alpha =0.04<\alpha _c`$. One sees that when $`\beta `$ increases the minimum of high energy starting as a global minimum becomes metastable and then disappears at the transition.

Fig. 3. Free energy $`f(E,\beta )`$ versus $`E`$ for different values of $`\beta `$ and $`\alpha =0.12>\alpha _c`$. Here there is only one local minimum which moves continuously with $`\beta `$. The vertical dashed lines indicates the energy $`E`$ where $`f(E,\beta )`$ is non analytic.

Fig. 4. Energy per spin $`E(p)`$ in the steady state regime versus $`p`$ for $`\alpha =0.002,0.005,0.02,0.05,0.5`$ and $`N=10^6`$ spins.

Fig. 5. Comparison of the measurements of $`m(E)`$ in the tapping simulations and Monte-Carlo simulations. In the former (a) $`m(p)`$ is plotted versus $`E(p)`$ and in the latter (b) $`m(\beta )`$ is plotted versus $`E(\beta )`$.

Fig. 6. Comparison of $`E(\beta )`$ for $`\alpha =0.05`$ obtained from the annealed calculation (a) and the Monte-Carlo simulation (b). At the right of the vertical dashed line, the annealed calculation is not exact any more. It predicts a first order phase transition, whereas the Monte Carlo predicts a second order one, with $`E_c`$ in very good agreement with that of the tapping at $`p=0.05`$.

Fig. 7. Histogram of the energy during the tapping simulations in the steady state regime for $`\alpha =0.002`$ and $`N=25000`$ spins during $`10^5`$ taps and for $`p=0.2584,0.2585,0.2586,0.2587,0.2588,0.2589`$ (reading left to right from the top).


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# Analogue models of and for gravity

## 1 Introduction

Analogue models of (and to some extent for) general relativity have recently become a growth industry . Typically based on various condensed-matter systems, these analogue models are most often used for devising *gedanken-experiments* that probe the structure of curved-space quantum field theory. More boldly, they seem promising routes to providing real laboratory tests of the foundations of curved-space quantum field theory. (The most spectacular suggestion along these lines is that analogue models may make experimental tests of the Hawking radiation phenomenon a realistic possibility.)

Ideas along these lines have, to some extent, been quietly in circulation almost since the inception of general relativity itself. Walther Gordon (of the Klein–Gordon equation) introduced a notion of “effective metric” to describe the effect of a refractive index on the propagation of light . The Russian school, as epitomized by Landau and Lifshitz, used notions developed in optics to represent gravitational fields in terms of an “equivalent refractive index” . There is an extensive, but largely neglected *samizdat* literature (of extremely variable quality) that explores these issues. (For an extensive, though still not comprehensive, bibliography see .)

The modern revival is due largely to Unruh  (and to some extent Moncrief ) who in the early eighties considered the use of hydrodynamic analogues, in which sound waves in a flowing fluid are mapped into a suitable scalar field theory in an effective curved spacetime — the “acoustic geometry”. (The precise statement, as will be described more fully below, is that sound in an irrotational inviscid barotropic fluid is identical to a massless minimally coupled scalar field in curved spacetime; and *quantized* sound \[the phonon field\] is identical to curved-space quantum field theory.)

The nineties saw considerable work on the nature of Hawking radiation in these analogue models, still largely with the attitude that one was performing *gedanken-experiments*. It is only now, at the turn of the millennium, that serious consideration is being given to the actual construction of laboratory experiments. Three classes of system stand out as being the most likely to lead to useful experimental probes:

* Acoustics in Bose–Einstein condensates.
* Slow light.
* Quasiparticles in superfluids.

## 2 Acoustics in BECs

In this mini-survey we will mainly concentrate on acoustics in BECs, and give some feel for where we stand and what the near-term prospects are. Acoustic analogues of black holes are formed by supersonic fluid flow . The flow entrains sound waves and forms a trapped region from which sound cannot escape. The surface of no return, the acoustic horizon, is qualitatively very similar to the event horizon of a general relativity black hole; in particular Hawking radiation (in this case a thermal bath of *phonons* with temperature proportional to the “surface gravity”) is expected to occur . There are at least three physical situations in which acoustic horizons are *known* to occur: Bondi–Hoyle accretion , the Parker wind  (coronal outflow from a star), and supersonic wind tunnels. Recent improvements in the creation and control of Bose–Einstein condensates (see e.g.) have lead to a growing interest in these systems as experimental realizations of acoustic analogs of event horizons. In reference  we considered supersonic flow of a BEC through a Laval nozzle (converging-diverging nozzle) in a quasi-one-dimensional approximation. We showed that this geometry allows the existence of a fluid flow with acoustic horizons without requiring any special external potential, and we then studied this flow with a view to finding situations in which the Hawking effect is large. We were able to present simple physical estimates for the “surface gravity” and Hawking temperature, and so to identify an experimentally plausible configuration with a Hawking temperature of order $`70`$ n K; this figure should be contrasted with the critical condensation temperature which is of the order of $`90`$ n K. We stress that in present day experiments the actual physical temperature of the condensate, although difficult to measure, is believed to lie well below this critical temperature.

### 2.1 From Gross–Pitaevskii to hydrodynamics

Bose–Einstein condensates are most usefully described by the nonlinear Schrödinger equation, also called the Gross–Pitaevskii equation, or sometimes the time-dependent Landau–Ginsburg equation:

$$i\mathrm{}_t\psi (t,\stackrel{}{x})=\frac{\mathrm{}^2}{2m}^2\psi (t,\stackrel{}{x})+\lambda \psi ^2\psi (t,\stackrel{}{x}).$$
(2.1)
(We have suppressed the externally applied trapping potential for algebraic simplicity. For many technical details, and various extensions of the model, see Barceló et al. . That reference also contains an extensive background bibliography.) Now use the Madelung representation  to put the Schrödinger equation in “hydrodynamic” form:

$$\psi =\sqrt{\rho }\mathrm{exp}(i\theta m/\mathrm{}).$$
(2.2)
Take real and imaginary parts: The imaginary part is a continuity equation for an irrotational fluid flow of velocity $`\stackrel{}{v}\theta `$ and density $`\rho `$; while the real part is a Hamilton–Jacobi equation (Bernoulli equation; its gradient leads to the Euler equation). Specifically:

$$_t\rho +(\rho \theta )=0.$$
(2.3)
$$\frac{}{t}\theta +\frac{1}{2}(\theta )^2+\frac{\lambda \rho }{m}\frac{\mathrm{}^2}{2m^2}\frac{\mathrm{\Delta }\sqrt{\rho }}{\sqrt{\rho }}=0.$$
(2.4)
That is, the nonlinear Schrödinger equation is completely equivalent to irrotational inviscid hydrodynamics with a particular form for the enthalpy

$$h=\frac{\mathrm{d}p}{\rho }=\frac{\lambda \rho }{m},$$
(2.5)
plus a peculiar derivative self-interaction:

$$V_Q=\frac{\mathrm{}^2}{2m^2}\frac{\mathrm{\Delta }\sqrt{\rho }}{\sqrt{\rho }}.$$
(2.6)
The equation of state for this “quantum fluid” is calculated from the enthalpy

$$p=\frac{\lambda \rho ^2}{2m}.$$
(2.7)
The corresponding speed of sound is

$$c_s^2=\frac{\mathrm{d}p}{\mathrm{d}\rho }=\frac{\lambda \rho }{m}.$$
(2.8)
### 2.2 Acoustic metric

To now extract a Lorentzian geometry, linearize around some background. In the low-momentum limit it is safe to neglect $`V_Q`$. It is a by now standard result that the *phonon* is a massless minimally-coupled scalar that satisfies the d’Alembertian equation in the effective (inverse) metric

$$g^{\mu \nu }(t,\stackrel{}{x})\frac{\rho _0}{c_s}\left[\begin{array}{ccc}1& \mathrm{}& v_0\\ \mathrm{}\mathrm{}& & \mathrm{}\mathrm{}\mathrm{}\mathrm{}\\ v_0& \mathrm{}& (c_s^2𝐈v_0v_0)\end{array}\right].$$
(2.9)
Here

$$c_s^2\frac{\lambda \rho _0}{m};v_0=\theta _0.$$
(2.10)
It cannot be overemphasized that low-momentum phonon physics is completely equivalent to (scalar) quantum field theory in curved spacetime. That is, everything that theorists have learned about curved space QFT can be carried over to this acoustic system, and conversely acoustic experiments can in principle be used to experimentally investigate curved space QFT. In particular, it is expected that acoustic black holes (dumb holes) will form when the condensate flow goes supersonic, and that they will emit a thermal bath of Hawking radiation at a temperature related to the physical acceleration of the condensate as it crosses the acoustic horizon . For completeness we mention that the metric is

$$g_{\mu \nu }(t,\stackrel{}{x})\frac{\rho _0}{c_s}\left[\begin{array}{ccc}(c_s^2v_0^2)& \mathrm{}& \stackrel{}{v}_0\\ \mathrm{}\mathrm{}\mathrm{}\mathrm{}& & \mathrm{}\mathrm{}\\ \stackrel{}{v}_0& \mathrm{}& 𝐈\end{array}\right],$$
(2.11)
so the space-time interval can be written 111 Although Eq. 2.12 seems to imply that a standard BEC can only simulate metrics with conformally flat spatial sections, it can nevertheless be shown that if the condensate is characterized by some anisotropic mass tensor (realized, e.g., via some doping gradient) then non-conformally flat spatial sections could also be simulated .

$$\mathrm{d}s^2=\frac{\rho _0}{c_s}\left[c_s^2\mathrm{d}t^2+\mathrm{d}\stackrel{}{x}\stackrel{}{v}_0\mathrm{d}t^2\right].$$
(2.12)
The low-momentum phonon physics looks completely Lorentz invariant. (This is an acoustic Lorentz invariance mind you, with the speed of sound doing duty for the speed of light .)

### 2.3 Hawking effect

#### 2.3.1 Laval nozzle

A general problem with the experimental construction of acoustic horizons is that many of the background fluid flows so far studied seem to require very special fine-tuned forms for the external potential. (See e.g., the Schwarzschild-like geometry in reference .) In this respect a possible improvement toward the realizability of acoustic horizons is the construction of a flow in a trap which “geometrically constrains” the flow in such a way as to replace the need for a special external potential. An example of such a geometry is the so called Laval nozzle (converging-diverging nozzle). In particular we shall consider a pair of Laval nozzles; this provides a system which includes a region of supersonic flow bounded between two subsonic regions.

Consider such a nozzle pointing along the $`z`$ axis. Let the cross sectional area be denoted $`A(z)`$. We apply, with appropriate modifications and simplifications, the calculations of references  and . The crucial approximation is that transverse velocities (in the $`x`$ and $`y`$ directions) are small with respect to velocity along the $`z`$ axis. Then, assuming steady flow, we can write the continuity equation in the form

$$\rho (z)A(z)v(z)=J;J=\text{constant.}$$
(2.13)
The Euler equation (which we simplify by excluding external forces $`\mathrm{d}\mathrm{\Phi }/\mathrm{d}z`$, and excluding internal viscous friction $`f_v`$) reduces to

$$\rho v\frac{\mathrm{d}v}{\mathrm{d}z}=\frac{\mathrm{d}p}{\mathrm{d}z}.$$
(2.14)
Finally, we assume a barotropic equation of state $`\rho =\rho (p)`$, and define $`X^{}=\mathrm{d}X/\mathrm{d}z`$. Then continuity implies

$$\rho ^{}=\rho \frac{(Av)^{}}{(Av)}=\rho \left[\frac{A^{}}{A}+\frac{v^{}}{v}\right]=\rho \left[\frac{A^{}}{A}+\frac{a}{v^2}\right],$$
(2.15)
while Euler implies

$$\rho a=\frac{\mathrm{d}p}{\mathrm{d}\rho }\rho ^{}.$$
(2.16)
Defining the speed of sound by $`c^2=\mathrm{d}p/\mathrm{d}\rho `$, and eliminating $`\rho ^{}`$ between these two equations yields a form of the well-known “nozzle equation”

$$a=\frac{v^2c^2}{c^2v^2}\left[\frac{A^{}}{A}\right].$$
(2.17)
The presence of the factor $`c^2v^2`$ in the denominator is crucial and leads to several interesting physical effects. For instance, if the physical acceleration is to be finite at the acoustic horizon, we need

$$A^{}\mathrm{\hspace{0.33em}0}.$$
(2.18)
This is a fine-tuning condition that forces the acoustic horizon (technically, the acoustic ergosurface) to form at exactly the narrowest part of the nozzle. (If external body forces and internal friction are not neglected, then there is a precise relationship between these forces and the location of the horizon.) Experience with wind tunnels has shown that the flow will indeed self-adjust (in particular, the location of the acoustic horizon will self-adjust) so as to satisfy this fine tuning. We can now calculate the acceleration of the fluid at the acoustic horizon by adopting L’Hôpital’s rule.

$$a_H=\frac{c_H^4A_H^{\prime \prime }/A_H}{(c^2)_H^{}2a_H}.$$
(2.19)
Now use the fact that

$`(c^2)^{}`$ $``$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{d}^2p}{\mathrm{d}\rho ^2}}\rho ^{}=\rho {\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{d}^2p}{\mathrm{d}\rho ^2}}{\displaystyle \frac{(Av)^{}}{Av}}\rho _H{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{d}^2p}{\mathrm{d}\rho ^2}}|_H\left[{\displaystyle \frac{a_H}{c_H^2}}\right].`$ (2.20)
Therefore

$$a_H^2=\frac{c^4A^{\prime \prime }/A}{2+\rho (\mathrm{d}^2p/\mathrm{d}\rho ^2)/c^2}|_H.$$
(2.21)
That is

$$a_H=\pm \frac{c^2}{\sqrt{2A}}\sqrt{\frac{A^{\prime \prime }}{1+\frac{\rho }{2c^2}[\mathrm{d}^2p/\mathrm{d}\rho ^2]}}|_H.$$
(2.22)
Thus the physical acceleration of the fluid as it crosses an acoustic horizon is tightly constrained in terms of the speed of sound, the geometry of the horizon ($`A_H`$ and $`A_H^{\prime \prime }`$), plus some information coming from the equation of state.

#### 2.3.2 “Surface gravity”

It is more useful to consider the “surface gravity” defined by the limit of the quantity

$$g=\frac{1}{2}\frac{\mathrm{d}(c^2v^2)}{\mathrm{d}z}$$
(2.23)
It is this combination $`g`$, rather than the physical acceleration of the fluid $`a`$, that more closely tracks the general relativistic notion of “surface gravity”, and it is the limit of this quantity as one approaches the acoustic horizon that enters into the Hawking radiation calculation . Note that

$$g=a\frac{1}{2}(c^2)^{}.$$
(2.24)
This implies, in particular, that the fine-tuning (2.18) used to keep $`a`$ finite at the acoustic horizon will also keep $`g`$ finite there. In particular

$$g_H=a_H\left[1+\frac{\rho }{2c^2}\frac{\mathrm{d}^2p}{\mathrm{d}\rho ^2}\right]_H,$$
(2.25)
and so

$$g_H=\pm \frac{c_H^2}{\sqrt{2A_H}}\sqrt{1+\frac{\rho }{2c^2}\frac{\mathrm{d}^2p}{\mathrm{d}\rho ^2}}|_H\sqrt{A_H^{\prime \prime }}.$$
(2.26)
The first factor is of order $`c_H^2/R`$, with $`R`$ the minimum radius of the nozzle, while the second and third factors are square roots of dimensionless numbers. This is in accord with our intuition based on dimensional analysis . If $`A^{\prime \prime }<0`$, corresponding to a maximum of the cross section, then $`a_H`$ and $`g_H`$ are imaginary which means no event horizon can form there. The two signs $`\pm `$ correspond to either speeding up and slowing down as you cross the horizon, both of these must occur at a minimum of the cross sectional area $`A^{\prime \prime }>0`$. (If the flow accelerates at the horizon this is a black hole horizon \[future horizon\]; if the flow decelerates there it is a white hole horizon \[past horizon\]. See Figure 1.) If the nozzle has a circular cross section, then the quantity $`A_H^{\prime \prime }`$ is related to the longitudinal radius of curvature $`R_c`$ at the throat of the nozzle, in fact

$$A_H^{\prime \prime }=\pi \frac{R}{R_c}.$$
(2.27)
#### 2.3.3 Bose–Einstein condensate

The technological advantages provided by the use of BECs as a working fluid for acoustic black holes have been discussed by Garay et al.  (see also reference  for a discussion of plausible extensions to that model). The present discussion can be interpreted as a somewhat different approach to the same physical problem, side-stepping the technical complications of the Bogoliubov equations in favour of a more fluid dynamical point of view. For a standard BEC

$$c^2=\frac{\lambda \rho }{m}.$$
(2.28)
Then

$$\rho \left[\frac{\mathrm{d}^2p}{\mathrm{d}\rho ^2}\right]=\rho \frac{\mathrm{d}(c^2)}{\mathrm{d}\rho }=c^2,$$
(2.29)
while

$$1+\frac{1}{2}\frac{\rho }{c^2}\left[\frac{\mathrm{d}^2p}{\mathrm{d}\rho ^2}\right]=\frac{3}{2}.$$
(2.30)
So we have, rather simply

$$a_H=\pm \frac{c_H^2}{\sqrt{A_H}}\sqrt{A_H^{\prime \prime }/3}.$$
(2.31)
Similarly

$$g_H=\pm \frac{c_H^2}{\sqrt{A_H}}\sqrt{3A_H^{\prime \prime }/4}.$$
(2.32)
This implies, at a black hole horizon \[future horizon\], a Hawking temperature

$$k_\mathrm{B}T_H=\frac{\mathrm{}g_H}{2\pi c_H}=\mathrm{}\frac{c_H}{2\pi \sqrt{A_H}}\sqrt{\frac{3A_H^{\prime \prime }}{4}}.$$
(2.33)
Ignoring the issue of gray-body factors (they are a refinement on the Hawking effect, not really an essential part of the physics), the phonon spectrum peaks at

$$\omega _{\mathrm{peak}}=\frac{c_H}{2\pi \sqrt{A_H}}\sqrt{\frac{3A_H^{\prime \prime }}{4}},$$
(2.34)
that is

$$\lambda _{\mathrm{peak}}=4\pi ^2\sqrt{A_H}\sqrt{\frac{4}{3A_H^{\prime \prime }}}.$$
(2.35)
This extremely simple result relates the typical wavelength of the Hawking emission to the physical size of the constriction and a factor depending on the flare-out at the narrowest point. Note that you cannot permit $`A_H^{\prime \prime }`$ to become large, since then you would violate the quasi-one-dimensional approximation for the fluid flow that we have been using in this note. (There is of course nothing physically wrong with violating the quasi-one-dimensional approximation, it just means the analysis becomes more complicated. In particular, if there is no external body force and the viscous forces are zero then by slightly adapting the analysis of  the acoustic horizon \[more precisely the ergo-surface\] is a minimal surface of zero extrinsic curvature.) The preceding argument suggests strongly that the best we can realistically hope for is that the spectrum peaks at wavelength

$$\lambda _{\mathrm{peak}}\sqrt{A_H}.$$
(2.36)
(Note that this is the analog, in the context of acoustic black holes, of the fact that the Hawking flux from general relativity black holes is expected to peak at wavelengths near the physical diameter of the black hole, its Schwarzschild radius — up to numerical factors depending on charge and angular momentum.) You can (in principle) try to adjust the equation of state to make the second factor in (2.26) larger, but this is unlikely to be technologically feasible.

#### 2.3.4 Physical estimates

It is the fact that the peak wavelength of the Hawking radiation is of order the physical dimensions of the system under consideration that makes the effect so difficult to detect. This suggests that it might be useful to look for indirect effects. In particular, in BECs it is common to have a sound speed of order $`6\text{mm/s}`$. If one then chooses a nozzle of diameter about 1 micron, and a flare-out of $`A_H^{\prime \prime }1`$, then $`T_H7\text{n K}`$. Compare this to the condensation temperature required to form the BEC

$$T_{\mathrm{condensate}}90\text{n K}.$$
(2.37)
We see that in this situation the Hawking effect, although tiny, is at least comparable in magnitude to other relevant temperature scales. Moreover recent experiments indicate that it is likely that these figures can be improved. In particular, the scattering length for the condensate can be tuned by making use of the so called Feshbach resonance . This effect can be used to increment the scattering length; factors of up to 100 have been experimentally obtained . Therefore the acoustic propagation speed, which scales as the square root of the scattering length, could thereby be enhanced by a factor up to 10. This suggests that it might be experimentally possible to achieve $`c_H6\text{cm/s}`$, and so

$$T_H70\text{n K};$$
(2.38)
which places us much closer to the condensation temperature. The speed of sound can also be enhanced by increasing the density of the condensate (propagation speed scales as the square root of the density). In all of these situations there is a trade-off: For fixed nozzle geometry the Hawking temperature scales as the speed of sound, so larger sound speed gives a bigger effect but conversely makes it more difficult to set up the supersonic flow.

The current analysis is purely “hydrodynamic”, and does not seek to deal with the “quantum potential” — the fact that the dispersion relation is at high momenta modified in such a way as to recover “infinite” propagation speed as in the Bogoliubov dispersion relation . This issue has relevance to the so-called trans-Planckian problem (which in this BEC condensate context becomes a trans-Bohrian problem). Fortunately it is known, thanks to model calculations in field theories with explicit high-momentum cutoffs, that the low energy physics of the emitted radiation is largely insensitive to the nature and specific features of the cutoff.

To summarize: this analysis complements that of Garay et al. , in that it provides a rationale for simple physical estimates of the Hawking radiation temperature without having to solve the full Bogoliubov equations. Additionally, the current analysis provides simple numerical estimates of the size of the effect and identifies several specific physical mechanisms by which the Hawking temperature can be manipulated: via the speed of sound, the nozzle radius, the equation of state, and the degree of flare-out at the throat.

### 2.4 Bogolubov dispersion relation

However, there is a bit of a puzzle hiding in this analysis: We started with the nonlinear Schrödinger equation. That equation is parabolic, so we know that the characteristics move at infinite speed. How did we get a hyperbolic d’Alembertian equation with a finite propagation speed? The subtlety resides in neglecting the higher-derivative term $`V_Q`$. To see this, keep $`V_Q`$, and go to the eikonal approximation. One obtains the dispersion relation

$$\left(\omega \stackrel{}{v}_0\stackrel{}{k}\right)^2=c_s^2k^2+\left(\frac{\mathrm{}}{2m}k^2\right)^2.$$
(2.39)
This is the curved-space generalization of the well-known Bogolubov dispersion relation. Equivalently

$$\omega =\stackrel{}{v}_0\stackrel{}{k}+\sqrt{c_s^2k^2+\left(\frac{\mathrm{}}{2m}k^2\right)^2}.$$
(2.40)
The group velocity is

$$\stackrel{}{v}_g=\frac{\omega }{\stackrel{}{k}}=\stackrel{}{v}_0+\frac{\left(c_s^2+\frac{\mathrm{}^2}{2m^2}k^2\right)}{\sqrt{c_s^2k^2+\left(\frac{\mathrm{}}{2m}k^2\right)^2}}\stackrel{}{k},$$
(2.41)
while for the phase velocity

$$\stackrel{}{v}_p=\frac{\omega \widehat{k}}{k}=(v_0\widehat{k})\widehat{k}+\sqrt{c_s^2+\frac{\mathrm{}^2k^2}{4m^2}}\widehat{k}.$$
(2.42)
Both group and phase velocities have the appropriate relativistic limit at *low* momentum, but then grow without bound at *high* momentum, leading to an infinite signal speed and the recovery of the parabolic nature of the differential equation at high momentum. ($`kk_cmc_s/\mathrm{}`$; equivalently in terms of the acoustic Compton wavelength $`\lambda \lambda _C\mathrm{}/(mc_s)`$.)

To investigate the situation a little more deeply, consider:

$$\omega (k)=\sqrt{m_0^2+k^2+\left(\frac{k^2}{2m_{\mathrm{}}}\right)^2}.$$
(2.43)
(This is equivalent to the original Bogolubov dispersion relation. We have set the background flow $`v_0`$ to zero. In BEC condensates $`m_0=0`$ but there are other condensed matter systems where it need not be zero. Additionally $`c=\mathrm{}=1`$ for simplicity.) Then at low momenta ($`km_0`$) the dispersion relation is Newtonian

$$\omega (k)=m_0+\frac{k^2}{2m_0}+O(k^4).$$
(2.44)
while at intermediate momenta ($`m_0km_{\mathrm{}}`$) it is (approximately) relativistic. Perhaps surprisingly at large momenta ($`km_{\mathrm{}}`$) the dispersion relation again takes on Newtonian form

$$\omega (k)=\frac{k^2}{2m_{\mathrm{}}}+m_{\mathrm{}}+O(k^2),$$
(2.45)
and explicitly deviates from Lorentz symmetry. (Even more complicated deviations from Lorentz symmetry are possible, see for example reference .)

The implication is this: If we consider a mode that far away from the horizon has a wave vector $`k`$ that is well inside the “phonon” region of the dispersion relation, and then follow that mode back until it approaches the horizon, then near the horizon $`k`$ diverges and the mode leaves the “phonon” region. It enters the “particle” region of the dispersion relation. This is the analog, in this particular condensed matter context, of the so-called trans-Planckian problem of general relativistic black hole physics. Fortunately it is now realised that the low-$`k`$ far-from-the-horizon physics of the Hawking effect is largely insensitive to the precise details of how the dispersion relation is modified by high-$`k`$ near-horizon physics. It is only part of the near-horizon physics, specifically the “surface gravity” that is really important in regards to the Hawking effect.

As a closing comment we would like to add that dispersion relation of the form (2.43), and with quadratic or cubic deviations from Lorentz invariance, have also been encountered in several approaches to quantum gravity (see e.g. ) and that there have been recent attempts to test these ideas via astrophysical observation. (See e.g.  and references therein.)

## 3 Slow light

Slow light systems, photon pulses with anomalously low group velocities engendered by electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) in an otherwise opaque medium, have also been mooted as being experimentally interesting avenues towards building analogue black holes . One of the key issues here is that EIT intrinsically requires one to work in a narrow frequency range close to an atomic resonance; the resulting analogue black hole will trap pulses of light only over a very narrow frequency range, outside of which the medium is typically opaque.

Although the technology for building and manipulating slow light systems is developing at an extremely rapid pace , this intrinsic limitation to working in a narrow frequency range somewhat obscures the meaning of Hawking radiation and makes it less clear just what signal should be looked for. For a discussion of the possibilities see .

## 4 Quasiparticles

The use of superfluid quasiparticles, in particular the quasiparticles and domain walls of liquid He3A, has been investigated by Jacobson and Volovik . A particularly nice feature is due to the two-fluid nature of the system, in that in this system it seems possible to arrange a wide separation between the Landau critical velocity and the velocity relevant to defining the horizon at which the Hawking phenomenon is expected to occur.

## 5 Normal modes

The sheer number of different physical systems in which analogue models for general relativity may be found is indicative of a deep underlying principle. Indeed, finding an approximate Lorentzian geometry is really just a matter of picking an arbitrary physical system, isolating a particular degree of freedom that is approximately decoupled from the rest of the physics, and doing a low-momentum field-theory normal-modes analysis .

Roughly speaking: in any hyperbolic system of differential equations (no matter how derived) there are by definition wave-like solutions . The set of admissible wavevectors associated with these wave-like solutions can be used to define (modulo some nasty complications we defer to the technical literature ) a cone-like structure in momentum space, and hence a conformal class of Lorentzian-signature metrics. For this reason the emergence of Lorentzian-signature effective metrics is an almost generic aspect of low-momentum physics.

## 6 Emergent gravity

So far, the entire discussion has been about models *of* gravity, models that reproduce the *kinematics*. If one wants to make a bolder proposal, that analogue models might be useful for generating models *for* gravity, models that reproduce the Einstein–Hilbert *dynamics* (or some approximation thereto), then the situation is considerably more subtle and tentative. Kinematics is relatively easy, and is in some sense generic. Einstein–Hilbert dynamics is trickier — to get an “emergent gravity” arising from these analogue models will require some variant of Sakharov’s notion of “induced gravity” . A useful observation in this regard is that any curved-space relativistic quantum field theory will automatically generate an Einstein–Hilbert counterterm through one-loop effects . In heat kernel language, the first Seeley–DeWitt coefficient generically contains a term proportional to the Einstein–Hilbert action, and after renormalization this generically provides an Einstein–Hilbert term in the effective action . Unfortunately the same logic provides an uncontrolled cosmological constant from the zeroth Seeley–DeWitt coefficient, plus quadratic curvature-squared terms from the second Seeley–DeWitt coefficient, so the argument is not fully acceptable. Furthermore there are technical issues involved in specifying the volume of the function space on which this effective action is defined. To get Einstein gravity one needs both an Einstein–Hilbert action and the freedom to perform arbitrary metric variations. Though the situation is still far from clear, interest in these possibilities is both long-standing (see for instance the sub-manifold models in references ) and ongoing .

## 7 Discussion

In this mini-survey we have seen how an effective metric emerges as a low-energy low-momentum approximation in certain physical systems. Indeed we have been able to argue that the emergence of such effective metrics is an almost generic consequence of performing a “normal modes” analysis on an arbitrary field theory. Once one has an effective metric in hand (no matter how derived), all kinematic aspects of general relativity can in principle be carried over to these analogue systems — in particular all curved-space field theory (both classical and quantum) finds a natural home in these systems.

The most stunning feature of these analogue models is the ability to generate analogue horizons (analogue black holes) and more specifically, the possibility of detecting an analogue form of Hawking radiation. In the body of this article we have specifically considered the use of acoustics in Bose–Einstein condensates as a particularly promising analogue system. This particular model stands out for purely technological reasons — the condensation temperature, required to form the condensate in the first place is of order $`90\text{nK}`$, which is considerably less than 1 order of magnitude away from the estimates of the relevant Hawking temperature. It is this congruence between two important physical scales that makes this particular system so interesting. Many condensed matter systems are capable of mimicking curved space quantum field theory; this particular condensed matter system does so in a particularly interesting manner that seems amenable to experimental probes in the not too distant future.

## Acknowledgements

Matt Visser was supported by the US DOE. Stefano Liberati was supported by the US NSF. Carlos Barceló was supported by the Spanish MCYT, and is now supported by a European Community Marie Curie grant.