text:
# A Closer Look at the Soft X-ray Transient X1608-52: Long-term Optical/X-ray Observations

## 1 Introduction

Soft X-ray transients (SXTs) are a subclass of the low mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs), mass-transfer systems where matter donated by a late-type star is accreted onto either a neutron star (NS) or a black hole. SXTs are characterized by prominent outbursts separated by long periods of quiescence. The physical mechanism underlying the outbursts remains under debate, although the favored scenario at present is some variation of the disk instability model (see the recent review by Lasota 2001). During an outburst, the luminosity of SXTs increases by several orders of magnitude at all wavelengths. While the optical light is dominated by the accretion disk and the heated face of the companion during the outburst as in the persistent LMXBs, the quiescent state of SXTs offers the rare opportunity to study the mass donor “uncontaminated” by other sources of emission. Observations of the mass donor in quiescence can provide the orbital period of the system through ellipsoidal variations, the spectral type and radial velocity curve of the donor star, and also constrain the mass of the compact object. The majority of SXTs appear to contain black hole primaries and this group provides some of the best black hole candidates with the most stringent mass constraints.

X1608$``$52 is a member of the rarer group of SXTs with neutron star primaries (based on the detection of type I X-ray bursts). X-ray outbursts from this system have been recorded since the early 1970’s. While some of the data suggested a recurrence pattern of $`600`$ days (Murakami et al. 1980), Lochner & Roussel-Dupre (1994) reported a more complex outburst history. Hasinger & van der Klis (1989) classified X1608$``$52 as an Atoll source. Kilohertz quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs) were discovered during the decay of the 1996 outburst (van Paradijs et al. 1996, Berger et al. 1996), twin QPO peaks with varying separation during the 1998 outburst (Mendez et al. 1998), and finally possible sideband oscillations (Jonker, Mendez & van der Klis 2000).

The optical counterpart of X1608$``$52, QX Normae, was discovered by Grindlay & Liller (1978) after an outburst in 1977. Wachter (1997) detected QX Nor in the IR and optical a few months after its outburst in 1996. If X1608$``$52 was to adhere to the recurrence pattern of its last two outbursts (February 1996 and 1998), the next outburst was expected to occur early in 2000. We report here on long-term optical and X-ray observations spanning from 1999 to 2001.

## 2 Observations

### 2.1 Optical

We performed CCD photometry of QX Nor with various CTIO telescopes between 1999 and 2001. A log of all observations can be found in Table 1. The YALO 1m telescope is operated exclusively in queue mode by a consortium consisting of Yale, AURA, University of Lisbon, and Ohio State University. The SSTO (Synoptic/Service/Target–of–Opportunity) Program at the CTIO 0.9m telescope provided queue scheduled observations about once per week during Feb–Jul 2000. Most observations of X1608$``$52 were carried out in the $`I_C`$ band with exposure times ranging from 600–900 s depending on the brightness of the target and/or observing conditions. The data were overscan-corrected, bias-corrected, and flat-fielded in the standard manner using IRAF. Photometry was performed by point spread function fitting with DAOPHOT II (Stetson 1993). The instrumental magnitudes were transformed to the standard system by comparison with previously calibrated local standards (Wachter 1997). The errors quoted here are the intrinsic 1$`\sigma `$ errors of this relative photometry. The 1$`\sigma `$ error at the different magnitude levels was derived from the rms scatter in the light curves of several comparison stars of appropriate brightness.

### 2.2 X-rays

The bulk of the X-ray observations utilized in this paper are the publicly available data from the All Sky Monitor 111provided by the ASM/RXTE teams at MIT and at the RXTE SOF and GOF at NASA’s GSFC. on board the the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (Bradt, Rothschild & Swank 1993). We also present data obtained with the RXTE proportional counter array (PCA). The PCA consists of five proportional counter units (PCUs) and is currently being operated with reduced duty cycles for three out of the five PCU detectors. X1608$``$52 was observed (with the PCA) 34 times from 2000 March 6 to 2000 May 24 and 14 times from 2001 January 2 to 2001 January 28. We also used the target-of-opportunity public domain data of X1608$``$52 from 2000 January 6 to 2000 January 16 (4 observations).

The observations were performed in various configurations; the X-ray data presented here were obtained using Standard 1 and Standard 2 modes. The Standard 1 mode has a time resolution of 1/8 s in one energy band (2-60 keV) and the Standard 2 mode has a time resolution of 16 s and 129 channels in the 2-60 keV energy band. The Standard 1 data were used to exclude time intervals from the light curve in which type I X-ray bursts were present. We used the Standard 2 data to compute the intensity light curve based on the various PCUs available, excluding PCU 0 after 2000 12 May (due to the loss of the propane veto layer in PCU 0). X-ray timing and spectral analysis will be presented in a forthcoming paper.

We performed our data analysis using RXTE standard software FTOOLS 5.0 and our own IDL routines. We only utilized data obtained when the source was $`>10`$ degrees above the Earth’s limb. Intervals measured within 30 minutes of passages of the South Atlantic Anomaly or during times of high particle background (ELECTRON 0 or 2 greater than 0.1) were discarded. Data were only extracted from the top layer of the PCUs. Background subtraction was performed using the sky-VLE model for observations when X1608$``$52 was bright (net count rate greater than 40 c s-1 PCU-1) and the L7-240 model for the faintest intensity observations.

## 3 Low Intensity State versus True Quiescence

As part of a monitoring program of SXTs in quiescence, we obtained several optical CCD frames of the X1608$``$52 field in May 1999. The ASM light curve indicated that the system was not active at the time and that $`13`$ months had passed since its last outburst in 1998. Consequently, we expected the optical counterpart, QX Nor, to be undetectable as in previous observations during quiescence. To our surprise, we observed the optical counterpart at the same brightness as in our observations only two months after the 1996 outburst (Wachter 1997), at an average level of $`I=18.6`$, $`R=20.1`$! Wachter (1997) had speculated that QX Nor was still bright two months after the outburst due to a delayed outburst decay in the optical compared to the X-rays. However, finding the counterpart at similar brightness 13 months after an outburst clearly requires an alternative explanation.

After continued monitoring of QX Nor in June and July 1999 and the first half of 2000, it became clear that X1608$``$52 exhibits three distinct states: the outburst state, an extended low intensity state (LIS), and the quiescent state. We will refer to the quiescent state as true quiescence (TQ) in order to distinguish it from the LIS that was previously thought to also represent the quiescent state of the system. Figure 1 illustrates the various source states observed in the X-ray and optical. The only optical observations of QX Nor during an X-ray outburst have been reported by Corbel & Chapuis (2000) and are reproduced in the figure. During the 1998 outburst ($`70`$ ASM counts s-1 at peak), the optical counterpart reached $`I=17.6`$. During the 1999 and most of the 2000 observations, the source is in the LIS ($`3`$ ASM counts s-1) with a corresponding optical brightness of $`I=18.520.0`$. The variability apparent in the optical data in this state is partly due to the overall variation seen in the X-rays as well as possible orbital modulation (see Section 4). Only after 2000 May 16 (HJD 2,451,680) and prior to the 1998 outburst is the source at true quiescent levels. The ASM count rate hovers around zero and the optical counterpart drops to $`I=2121.5`$. Our optical data during TQ constitute the first detection of the quiescent optical counterpart and will be discussed in more detail below.

These different states of X1608$``$52 become even more apparent when considering the entire five year ASM light curve shown in Figure 2. After the outburst in 1996, X1608$``$52 remained in the LIS for $`11`$ months, then spent $`12`$ months in TQ, underwent a new outburst in 1998 followed by almost two years in the LIS, and finally TQ for about the last year. In January of both 2000 and 2001, the ASM data seem to show the decaying tail of a new outburst of X1608$``$52. Unfortunately, all of those data points fall in the time interval each year (November to January) when the source is very close to the sun and the recorded data points are the most unreliable. These time intervals can be easily identified in the long-term X-ray light curve as times with missing coverage and/or increased scatter and measurement errors. Even if all the data points can be trusted, the 2000 “outburst” would have been very short (there are several points that would correspond to the rise phase) compared to the previous two, and reached nowhere near the previously recorded peak values. If real, it seems more reminiscent of one of the higher variability spikes evident in the LIS on various occasions, e.g., around October 1996, March 1999, and May 2000. In addition, in the context of the outburst mechanism models, it might be more plausible for the system to replenish matter in the disk in TQ for some time before another major outburst can be sustained. The possible 2001 outburst is more difficult to evaluate. It would have started from TQ as expected, but also returned immediately into TQ as confirmed by the faintness of the optical counterpart. In contrast, X1608$``$52 remained in the LIS for extended periods after both the 1996 and 1998 outbursts. Our 2001 PCA data do show count rates of 20–90 counts s-1 PCU-1 during January 2–19, supporting the authenticity of some X-ray activity in X1608$``$52. By the date of the first optical observation (2001 February 1), however, the system had returned to TQ. It remains unclear, whether the 2001 event constituted a major outburst of the system akin to those in 1996 and 1998. We note that there are marked differences in the X-ray timing and spectral behavior between the outbursts in 2000 and 2001. For example, the low frequency noise in 2001 is much stronger than in 2000. This is true throughout the two outbursts. A detailed analysis of the X-ray data will be presented in a forthcoming paper.

Are the two non-outburst states, the LIS and TQ, unique features of X1608$``$52 or a universal characteristic of SXTs? The latter possibility might offer some additional clues to the physics underlying the outburst mechanism. Aql X-1 is the only neutron star SXT other than X1608$``$52 that has undergone multiple outbursts since the launch of RXTE and has sufficient X-ray flux to distinguish between possible LIS and TQ states. The ASM lightcurve from this source is shown in Figure 3. On occasion, Aql X-1 indeed seems to show the same two level states outside of outburst as observed in X1608$``$52: a LIS is seen for several months after the outburst in June 1999 as well as possibly between outbursts in 1996. Jain et al. (2001) report optical observations of Aql X-1 across the 1999 outburst and LIS. The behavior of the optical counterpart is strikingly similar to that of X1608$``$52: the Jain et al. (2001) light curve shows a persistent optical brightness at a level $`1`$ magnitude lower than during the peak of the outburst, but several magnitudes brighter than quiescence, during the period July–November 1999, immediately following the large X-ray outburst. We can also compare the X-ray luminosities of the various states for both of these sources. Chen, Shrader, & Livio (1997) list outburst peak / quiescent luminosities of about $`(28)\times 10^{37}`$ / $`2\times 10^{33}`$ ergs s-1 for X1608$``$52 and $`(15)\times 10^{37}`$ / $`6\times 10^{32}`$ ergs s-1 for Aql X-1. For X1608$``$52, our PCA data give $`1.5\times 10^{35}4.6\times 10^{36}`$ ergs s-1 for the LIS luminosity in the 2-10 keV band. Jain et al. (2001) arrive at $`5\times 10^{35}`$ ergs s-1 for the LIS in Aql X-1 (the assumed distances for X1608$``$52 and Aql X-1 are 3.6 kpc and 2.5 kpc, respectively). Thus, the LIS is very similar in both sources. Interestingly, most outbursts of Aql X-1 do not lead to an LIS, and there is evidence for LISs unassociated with a true outburst state. Most recently, Bailyn et al. (2001) have reported an optical brightening of the Aql X-1 counterpart starting in June 2001, during which the ASM flux never exceeded 8 counts s-1. This LIS seems likely to be analogous to the modest X-ray activity observed in June 1996 and January 1999.

It is difficult to understand the LIS and TQ in the context of the pure disk instability model which describes the SXT phenomenon as a limit cycle between two discrete disk states. An outburst occurs when a heating front in the disk is triggered and initiates the transition from a quiescent, cold, low viscosity disk to a hot, high viscosity state. Subsequent cooling fronts return the disk to the quiescent state (e.g. Lasota 2001). The model does not produce an extended intermediate state analogous to the observed LIS. During the LIS, X1608$``$52 appears very much like a persistent LMXB, with a relatively stable X-ray flux and photometrically varying counterpart. Instead of returning directly to the quiescent cold disk after an outburst, X1608$``$52 seems to retain a luminous accretion disk with a stable mass transfer rate sufficient to sustain an elevated X-ray flux for an extended period of time. The presence of a luminous accretion disk during the LIS is supported by the observation that the brightness of the optical counterpart does not decrease as strongly from outburst state to the LIS as from LIS to TQ. Figure 1 shows that the optical counterpart increases in brightness by about two magnitudes from TQ to LIS, but at most one magnitude between the LIS and the peak of the outburst (when the X-ray flux increases by a factor of more than 20). A similarly small optical brightness difference between the LIS and full outburst level is seen in the 1999 Aql X-1 outburst. This implies that the main optically luminous components that are created in the system during the outburst are retained for the duration of the LIS. The major elements likely to change during an SXT outburst are the size and luminosity of the accretion disk. Any additional brightening during outburst in the optical is probably due to an increase in X-ray irradiation of the disk and the mass donor and represents a smaller contribution to the overall brightness of the system than the transition from the cold quiescent disk to the hot disk during outburst and the LIS.

The LIS is reminiscent of the standstills seen in the optical light curves of Z Cam type cataclysmic variables (CVs). For Z Cam systems, the decline from outburst is interrupted and the systems remain at about 0.7 mag below the peak brightness (e.g. Warner 1995, p. 163). The duration of the standstills varies from ten days to years. After a standstill, the system returns to its usual quiescent state. These observed properties are interpreted in the framework of the disk instability model where the mass transfer rate from the secondary fluctuates about the critical rate that separates stable systems from those that undergo dwarf nova outbursts. Buat-Menard, Hameury, & Lasota (2001) show that heating of the outer disk by the accretion stream impact point also has to be included to successfully model observed Z Cam type lightcurves. Stellar spots have been suggested as the main cause for the required variations in mass transfer rate.

In the case of X1608$``$52, it is unclear why the transition to TQ eventually occurs and why the LIS can last for very different periods of time (between 10 months and 2 years according to the present RXTE data set). Figure 4 shows the details of the transition from the LIS to TQ during 2000. The ASM data indicate two plateau-like levels preceding TQ, each separated by a small X-ray “flare” (HJD 2,451,608 and 2,451,663). The optical data mimic this behavior although the plateaus and the subsequent flares are less pronounced, most likely due to the intrinsic optical variability during the orbital cycle (see Section 4). The decay via the observed plateaus may be explained by discrete physical changes in the disk as a consequence of a decrease in mass transfer rate. The mass transfer rate in turn might decrease due to diminishing X-ray irradiation. X-ray irradiation is increasingly recognized to play a crucial role in transient outbursts. X-ray irradiation stabilizes the accretion disk against the thermal instability that causes SXT outbursts and increases the mass transfer rate from the mass donor (Hameury, Lasota, & Warner 2000; Smak 1995). The LIS might occur because the level of X-ray irradiation in X1608$``$52 after a major outburst is sufficient to stabilize the mass transfer rate slightly above the critical level separating persistent and transient behavior. However, since the system is so close to this critical boundary, any change in the X-ray irradiation could trigger a decay to quiescence. Such a change in X-ray irradiation might be due to the development of transient vertical structure in the disk that shields a large fraction of the disk and the mass donor from the central X-ray flux. The secondary and disk cool, the mass transfer rate from the secondary drops, and the disk temporarily stabilizes at a lower mass transfer level. However, the new accretion rate and associated X-ray irradiation are now insufficient to induce long-term stability in the disk, so the mass transfer declines further and the disk eventually reaches the quiescent state. The return to TQ in the optical appears to be delayed with respect to the X-ray decay. Unfortunately, our optical data are very sparse during the transition and we can only estimate the delay to be on the order of 2–5 days.

## 4 Periodic Optical Modulation

Figure 5 shows the optical $`I`$ band light curve of QX Nor obtained in 1999 May, June, and July when the system was in the LIS. The source exhibits large amplitude variations of up to 0.6 mag during each night as well as pronounced changes in overall brightness between the observations in different months. The May observations in particular are highly suggestive of a periodic modulation. We searched the individual and combined 1999 data sets for a periodic variability component with CLEAN (Roberts, Lehar & Dreher, 1987) and PDM within IRAF (Stellingwerf 1978). A strong signal for a period around 0.5 days is found in the individual data set from each month; however, this period is not apparent when all the data are combined. More detailed analysis shows that this is due to the large changes in the overall system brightness. Detrending the data (i.e. correcting the data for an overall shift in the magnitude level for each night) is difficult. Simply offsetting by a nightly average does not work due to the large amplitude variability and differences in orbital phase coverage on each night. On nights with very few measurements we cannot unambiguously determine which part of the light curve is sampled and/or the data do not include reference points (either the maximum or minimum transition) that indicate the overall brightness of the system. We finally assumed that the system was at a constant level for all of the May data, and at a different but constant level for the first two nights of the June data. These data then define the full amplitude between maxima and minima. Subsequently, we only corrected those data to the level of the May measurements for which either a maximum or minimum transition is visible and discarded nights with only a few data points for the purpose of the period analysis. For this detrended data set, PDM and CLEAN give best periods of 0.546$`\pm 0.059`$, 0.538$`\pm 0.025`$, 0.531$`\pm 0.022`$, and 0.5370$`\pm 0.0015`$ days for the May, June, July and combined data sets, respectively.

Figure 6 shows the detrended data from each month folded on the 0.5370 day period, with the reference point for the phasing fixed at the time of the first observation in May. Each data set clearly displays variability on this period, however, there is also some indication of a phase shift from one month to the next. This phase shift, as well as the tendency towards increasingly shorter periods (when each month’s data are considered separately), led us to consider superhumps, in addition to more traditional mechanisms, as the cause of the photometric variability. In the past, photometric modulation in LMXBs was thought to be due to either the varying aspect of the heated face of the mass donor or ellipsoidal variations from the distorted shape of the mass donor. In both cases, the modulation is strictly periodic and only differs in the number of maxima and minima per orbital cycle. Haswell et al. (2001) discussed possible mechanisms for superhumps in LMXBs and claimed that for many LMXBs (with low inclination) the observed variability is more likely to be a superhump than an orbital modulation. Superhumps are common in CVs, where they are believed to be the consequence of an eccentric, precessing disk (Warner 1995). Superhump periods are usually a few percent ($`17`$%) longer than the orbital period and have been found to slowly decrease in length during outbursts. Aql X-1 may also show superhump behavior. Jain et al. (2001) report stable periodicity in the early stages of the 1999 outburst of that object at a period of $`18.5`$ hours, somewhat smaller than the 18.9 hr period observed by many authors during outburst, and suggest that the outburst periodicity may be superhumps.

Figure 7 shows our detrended light curve data together with two fits, corresponding to sine waves with either a fixed period of 0.5370 days, or with a time variable period of the form $`P(t)=P_0+\dot{P}t`$. In both cases, the sine wave semi-amplitude was held constant at 0.27 mag. For the variable period, the best fit is achieved with $`P_0=0.554`$ days and $`\dot{P}=0.00024`$. The superhump (time-variable) period gives a marginally better fit with rms $`=0.08`$ versus rms $`=0.12`$ for the constant orbital period scenario, but there is clearly not enough data to conclusively distinguish between these two possibilities. However, this duplicity could be easily resolved during a future bright state of the optical counterpart. Several extended monitoring campaigns could be planned in such a way as to cover time intervals when the two mechanisms produce modulation that is clearly out of phase. Alternatively, radial velocity studies in TQ could unambiguously determine the orbital period of the system, but would require much larger telescopes. In any case, the orbital period of the system is likely to be close to 0.537 d, since orbital and superhump periods generally differ by only a few percent. If the optical emission in the system is dominated by reprocessing of X-rays in the disk and the facing side of the mass donor, the detection of superhump modulation will depend on the inclination of the system according to Haswell et al. (2001). Superhump modulation is expected to be visible only in low inclination systems, while brightness variations due to the X-ray heated face of the secondary will dominate in high inclination systems. Identifying the process underlying the photometric variability could, therefore, offer the first clues to the inclination of X1608$``$52.

## 5 The Quiescent Counterpart

According to the 2000 ASM, PCA, and optical light curves (see Figure 4), X1608$``$52 entered its TQ state around HJD 2,451,680 (2000 May 16). In the TQ state, photometry of the optical counterpart with the YALO (1m) telescope is only possible under exceptional observing conditions and with limited accuracy (see Figure 8). Averaging all YALO detections after HJD 2,451,680, we measure $`I=21.5\pm 0.8`$. In order to derive more accurate quiescent magnitudes, we also observed the counterpart with the CTIO 1.5m telescope on 2000 May 20–22, and again in 2001 June 01 with the CTIO 4m telescope. The observations on the CTIO 1.5m were obtained only a few days after the source faded to TQ. The observations on the CTIO 4m telescope, taken over a year later, provide the opportunity to determine whether the brightness level detected with the YALO after HJD 2,451,680 indeed represents a stable quiescent state or whether the counterpart has faded to even fainter magnitudes in the intervening months.

Figure 8 shows two $`I`$ frames of the X1608$``$52 field. The image on the left was obtained with the YALO telescope when the source was still in the LIS, the image on the right was created by combining four 900 s exposures from the CTIO 1.5m in the TQ state. Notice the change in brightness relative to the faint comparison star F ($`I=19.90\pm 0.1`$). The quiescent counterpart is clearly detected in the CTIO 1.5m data with an average brightness of $`I=21.1\pm 0.3`$, consistent with the YALO data within the errors. Unfortunately, accurate photometry of the faint counterpart is very difficult since it is strongly affected by the PSF of the nearby bright stars even under good seeing conditions. The observations with the CTIO 4m were mainly obtained in the $`R`$ band, since $`I`$ band observations with the MOSAIC II instrument are susceptible to fringing that is difficult to correct in the crowded field of X1608$``$52. We measure $`R=22.3\pm 0.4`$ and $`I=20.7\pm 0.4`$, confirming that our data actually reflect a stable quiescent state.

Previously, Wachter (1997) reported the detection of the IR quiescent counterpart and derived constraints on the spectral type of the mass donor. We can combine our $`R`$ and $`I`$ band measurements with those $`J`$ and $`K`$ values, and repeat the calculations. We use a distance estimate of 3.6 kpc based on type I X-ray bursts with photospheric radius expansion (Nakamura et al. 1989). The extinction towards X1608$``$52 is highly uncertain. The hydrogen column density ($`N_H`$) derived from X-ray spectral fits in the literature ranges from (1.0–2.0)$`\times 10^{22}`$ cm-2. Rutledge et al. (1999) use two representative values of $`N_H=0.8\times 10^{22}`$ cm-2 and $`N_H=1.5\times 10^{22}`$ cm-2 for their recent reanalysis of X1608$``$52 X-ray spectra. Utilizing the relationships between $`A_V`$ and $`N_H`$ by Gorenstein (1975) and Predehl & Schmitt (1995) leads to $`4<A_V<11`$ for the range of $`N_H`$. A lower limit on the extinction can be estimated from the observations of the open cluster Ruprecht 115 by Piatti, Claria & Bica (1999) which is located only $`3`$’ away from X1608$``$52. The cluster is found to lie at a distance of 2.5$`\pm 0.7`$ kpc with an extinction of E(B–V)=0.6$`\pm 0.10`$, corresponding to $`A_V2.0`$. It is also unclear whether the absorbing material is distributed between the observer and X1608$``$52 or within the LMXB itself.

Figure 9 illustrates the various photometric constraints on the spectral type of the mass donor. The extinction values for the different filters were calculated from $`A_V`$ using the relationships given in Cardelli, Clayton, & Mathis (1989). The shaded areas indicate the range in dereddened magnitudes for QX Nor in (arbitrarily chosen) intervals as follows: vertical shading – $`A_V=46`$ ($`A_R=34.5`$); diagonal shading – $`A_V=68`$ ($`A_R=4.56`$); horizontal shading – $`A_V=810`$ ($`A_R=67.5`$). We will first consider the case of a main sequence donor. The spectral energy distributions of four different main sequence spectral types at a distance of 3.6 kpc are shown in Figure 9. A late F to early G type main sequence star appears to be the most consistent with the current data. One problem is the apparent lack of a unique extinction value associated with this choice. However, it is important to keep in mind that all the quiescent flux measurements of QX Nor carry a rather large uncertainty. In addition, a residual accretion disk could contribute some flux and thus distort the quiescent spectrum attributed to the donor star. As seen in the previous section, the source also varies strongly during the LIS. It is not clear what level of variability can be expected in TQ, but it adds another source of uncertainty to the quiescent measurements, which were taken years apart in some cases. The IR magnitudes place the strongest constraints on the spectral type. It would be important to repeat those measurements, as well as those at the other wavelengths, with higher accuracy and closer proximity in time.

While a giant mass donor is inconsistent with the quiescent magnitudes of X1608$``$52, we have to consider the possibility that the mass donor is evolved. In many LMXBs, both persistent and transient, main sequence donors would significantly underfill their Roche lobes. Consequently, somewhat evolved companions are required. For example, Shahbaz, Naylor & Charles (1993) conclude that their observations of the neutron star SXT Cen X-4 are most consistent with a subgiant mass donor. Steeghs & Casares (2001) show that the mass donor in Sco X-1 must be a significantly evolved subgiant. In addition, theory suggests that most NS systems require evolved mass donors in order to appear as transient systems (King, Kolb & Burderi 1996). In Figure 9, the spectral energy distributions for the various spectral types would shift to brighter magnitudes for evolved secondaries (we neglect for the moment any changes in colors due to the uncertainty of colors for subgiants), thus pushing a lower mass K star into the regime of possible mass donors. Using equation (10) from King, Kolb & Burderi (1996), we find $`M_2/M_2(MS)<0.2`$ as the condition for X1608$``$52 to exhibit SXT behavior (assuming $`M_1`$=1.4$`M_{}`$ and P=0.537 d). $`M_2/M_2(MS)`$ is the ratio of the secondary mass $`M_2`$ to that of a main sequence star $`M_2(MS)`$ of equal density which would fill its Roche lobe in a binary of the same period. The mean density in a Roche-lobe filling star is determined solely by the binary period, $`\rho 115P_{hr}^2`$ g cm-3 (Frank, King, & Raine 1992). Assuming P=0.537 d, then $`\rho =0.69`$ g cm-3, which would correspond to an F0 main sequence star with $`M_2(MS)=1.6M_{}`$ (Cox 2000). Hence, we would derive $`M_2=0.32M_{}`$ for the mass of an evolved mass donor in X1608$``$52 that fulfills the condition for SXT behavior as given by King, Kolb & Burderi (1996).

Figure 10 illustrates the relationship between the size of the mass donor’s Roche lobe and the system’s mass ratio assuming three different NS masses. We calculated the Roche lobe size in a 0.5 day binary for a range of mass ratios $`q`$ ($`=M_2/M_1`$) using the standard approximate analytic formula by Eggleton (1983),

$$\frac{R_L}{a}=\frac{0.49q^{2/3}}{0.6q^{2/3}+ln(1+q^{1/3})}$$
(1)
together with Kepler’s law. For comparison, the radii of main sequence stars of various spectral types (taken from Cox 2000) are also shown. As calculated above, a main sequence F0 star would fill its Roche lobe in a 0.5 day orbit with a 1.4$`M_{}`$ NS. Slightly later F types are sufficient for higher mass NSs. This is a somewhat earlier spectral type than favored by the quiescent magnitudes. However, Figure 9 shows that a higher value for $`A_V`$ and/or a slightly larger distance would improve the agreement. The 3.6 kpc distance to the source was derived assuming specific values for the mass and radius of the NS and the anisotropy factor of burst emission (Nakamura et al. 1989) and allows variations of 20–40%. We have also indicated the case for an evolved mass donor, by repeating the calculations detailed in the previous paragraph for different masses of the NS. We note that only the case of an evolved mass donor will satisfy the condition $`q0.33`$ required for the formation of superhumps if the disk eccentricity is caused by the 3:1 orbital resonance.

## 6 Conclusions

We have identified three distinct states in the X-ray and optical light curves of X1608$``$52. In addition to the previously recognized outburst and (true) quiescence states, X1608$``$52 also exhibits an extended low intensity state during which the optical counterpart, QX Nor, is found to be about two magnitudes brighter than during true quiescence. The LIS is characterized by the presence of a luminous accretion disk in the system. The optical counterpart displays pronounced variability that can be attributed to either the varying aspect of the X-ray irradiated face of the mass donor with an orbital period of 0.5370 days, or a time variable superhump period with $`P_0=0.554`$ days and $`\dot{P}=0.00024`$. This ambiguity could be resolved with photometric monitoring during a future bright state of the system. If the mass donor is assumed to be a main sequence star, an F to G type star is consistent with the current observations. However, theoretical considerations argue for an evolved mass donor with a mass of $`0.32M_{}`$ (for a $`1.4M_{}`$ NS primary). Only an evolved mass donor would satisfy the condition for the occurrence of superhumps.

We thank Dr. Alan Levine from the MIT ASM team for help with questions regarding the ASM data. This research has made use of the Simbad database, operated at CDS, Strasbourg, France. Some of the data were obtained as part of the Synoptic, Service, and Target-of-Opportunity (SSTO) program provided by the National Optical Astronomy Observatory on the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory 0.9-m telescope. CDB acknowledges support from NSF grant AST 97-30774.


format: text

text:
# DTP–MSU/01-21 hep-th/0112038 GRAVITATING LUMPS

## 1 Introduction

During the past decade many surprising phenomena were discovered in the study of gravitating solitons and black holes involving Yang-Mills (YM) fields. A key role in this development has been played by gravitational sphalerons, known as Bartnik-McKinnon (BK) particle-like solutions to the Einstein-Yang-Mills (EYM) equations. The associated black holes, violating no-hair and uniqueness theorems, attracted much attention and helped to clarify a number of beliefs persistent in the Einstein theory. Other conceptually important results were obtained in the study of self-gravitating magnetic monopoles in gauge theories with spontaneous symmetry breaking. Meanwhile, for many years this research basically served only as a theoretical laboratory to study gravity in unusual conditions. Direct physical applications were unknown until the recent progress in superstring theory culminated in the discovery of D-branes and the related gauge theory/supergravity correspondence. It turned out that some gravitating lumps have non-trivial ten-dimensional interpretation and are extremely useful in the holographic treatment of the $`𝒩=1`$ supersymmetric gauge theory. The goal of this talk111This is a written version of the talk given at the 16th International Conference on General Relativity and Gravitation, held on July 15-21, 2001, in Durban, South Africa is to give a brief overview of the subject with an emphasis on the results obtained during the last three years. A review of the work done before 1998 was given in  where we address the reader for references prior to November 1998, citing only names and years.

## 2 Gravitational sphalerons

Neither pure gravity, nor flat space Yang-Mills (YM) theory admit static particle-like solutions. Gravity is purely attractive, and no static equilibrium is possible, unless some repulsive matter is introduced. On the contrary, the YM field field is repulsive: due to scale invariance, the trace of the energy momentum tensor is zero, so the positivity of the energy density implies the positivity of the sum of principal pressures. Gravity breaks scale invariance, therefore the coupled Einstein-Yang-Mills (EYM) theory is expected to contain particle-like solutions. There is also a topological argument similar to Manton-Taub explanation of the existence of the sphaleron in the Weinberg-Salam theory. In that theory the Higgs broken phase manifold is $`S^3`$. Non–triviality of the third homotopy group $`\pi _3(S^3)`$ is an indication of the presence of non–contractible loops in the configuration space for asymptotically flat solutions, and, hence, saddle points on the energy surface. The corresponding unstable solution is the sphaleron; it sits on the top of the potential barrier separating topologically distinct Yang–Mills vacua. It was argued (Gal’tsov and Volkov (1991), Sudarsky and Wald (1992)) that the same argument can be applied to the gauge group itself, in fact $`SU(2)S^3`$, once Higgs is replaced by another attractive field of non-topological nature, like gravity or dilaton.

Historically, particle-like SU(2) EYM solutions were discovered numerically by Bartnik and McKinnon (1988) before this sphaleron interpretation was suggested. The metric is spherically symmetric and is parameterized by two functions $`N,\sigma `$ of a radial variable:

$$ds^2=N\sigma ^2dt^2\frac{dr^2}{N}r^2d\mathrm{\Omega },$$
(1)
while the YM field is purely magnetic: $`A=(1w)\left(T_\theta \mathrm{sin}\theta d\phi T_\phi d\theta \right),`$ where $`w`$ is a real function of $`r`$ and $`T_\theta ,T_\phi `$ are spherical projections of the SU(2) generators. This is a configuration with the unit winding number. Higher winding numbers lead to non-spherical solutions. An embedded Abelian magnetic monopole with unit magnetic charge is $`w0`$, while $`w=\pm 1`$ correspond to the neighboring topologically distinct YM vacua. Particle-like solutions are characterized by regularity at the origin

$$w=1br^2+O(r^4),N=14b^2r^2+O(r^4),$$
(2)
and asymptotic flatness: $`N12M/r`$ with finite mass $`M`$, together with $`\sigma 1`$. This implies that the YM field asymptotically stays in one of the vacua

$$w=\pm (1a/r)+O(1/r^2).$$
(3)
Parameters $`b,M,a`$ can be determined via numerical matching. Solutions exist for a discrete increasing sequence $`b_n`$ on the semi-open interval $`[b_1=0.4537,b_{\mathrm{}}=0.706)`$, with masses $`M_n`$ converging to unity as $`n\mathrm{}`$ in the units $`m_{Pl}/g`$, where $`g`$ is the gauge coupling constant. The function $`w_n`$ has $`n`$ zeroes and tends to $`(1)^n`$, solutions exist for any finite $`n`$. The limiting solution, corresponding to $`b_{\mathrm{}}`$, is asymptotically non-flat.

For the lowest $`n=1`$ BK solution, $`w`$ is a decreasing function varying between $`w=1`$ and $`w=1`$ in exactly the same way, as in the electroweak sphaleron. Odd-$`n`$ solutions all have sphaleron nature, while even-$`n`$ ones are topologically trivial. A vacuum to vacuum path was constructed explicitly (Gal’tsov and Volkov (1991)), showing that the Chern-Simons number is $`1/2`$ for odd-$`n`$ solutions and zero for even $`n`$. Sphaleron interpretation is supported by the fact that the $`n`$-th solution has exactly $`n`$ odd-parity negative modes, corresponding to excitations in the electric sector. In addition, there are also $`n`$ even-parity negative modes exhibiting gravitational instability of BK solutions. Spherically symmetric magnetic configurations of the SU(N) YM field are described by $`N1`$ real functions, the corresponding BK-type solutions have a nodal structure determined by the set of $`N1`$ integers (Kleihaus, Kunz and Sood (1995-1996)).

Magnetic configurations with the winding number $`\nu `$ could be obtained by replacing $`\phi \nu \phi `$ in the YM ansatz, but from the EYM equations it follows that there are no $`\nu 1`$ spherically symmetric solutions other than embedded Abelian. Essentially non-Abelian configurations with $`\nu 2`$ can be axially symmetric, in which case purely magnetic field is parameterized by four real functions subject to one gauge condition. Static axially symmetric regular solutions of the BK type were found numerically for lower $`\nu =2,3,4`$ (Kleihaus and Kunz (1997)), they are likely to exist for all $`\nu `$. The SU(2) solutions are characterized by a node number $`n`$, their masses increase both with growing $`\nu `$ and $`n`$, approaching $`M=\nu `$ for $`n\mathrm{}`$. The metric is parameterized by three functions entering the Papapetrou ansatz; they exhibit toroidal or spheroidal shape of the equipotential surfaces. These solutions can be interpreted as superposition of BK particles aligned along $`z`$-axis, their Chern-Simons number is $`\nu /2`$. It remains unknown, whether static asymptotically flat EYM solutions exist without axial symmetry, like multimonopoles with $`\nu 3`$.

## 3 Gravitating monopoles

### 3.1 Gravitational excitations

Magnetic monopole in the Georgy-Glashow model possesses a mass $`M_{mon}v/g`$, where $`v`$ is the vacuum expectation value of Higgs, and a radius $`R_{mon}1/(gv)`$. When the monopole gravitational radius $`R_GGM_{mon}`$ approaches $`R_{mon}`$, one can expect new phenomena to occur. With this motivation, Lee, Nair and Weinberg (1992), Ortiz (1992), Breitenlohner, Forgacs and Maison (1992, 1995), see also , have investigated the coupled EYM-Higgs (EYMH) static spherically symmetric system and found that the existence of the maximal value of the dimensionless parameter $`\alpha =\sqrt{G}v`$, which is proportional to the ratio of the mass of $`W`$-boson in this theory to the Planck’s mass, such that self-gravitating monopoles cease to exist for $`\alpha >\alpha _{cr}`$. This is not surprising, since for $`\alpha 1`$ the monopole radius and its gravitational radius become comparable, so for large $`\alpha `$ the monopole would be inside the event horizon.

An important new feature is the possibility of gravitational excitation of monopoles. Note that the YM function $`w`$ in the monopole solution starts with $`w=1`$ at the origin and monotonically tends to zero at infinity. There are other solutions in which $`w`$ oscillates $`n`$ times around zero before to enter the asymptotic regime, these correspond to higher values of the parameter $`b`$ in (2), increasing with $`n`$, for each $`\alpha `$. On the phase diagram $`(b,\alpha )`$ one observes the lower branch extending up to $`\alpha _{cr}`$ (ground state monopole) where it bifurcates giving rise to the upper branch (excited monopole with one $`w`$-node). This upper branch bifurcates in its turn giving rise to the next $`n=2`$ branch and so on. All upper branches in the limit $`\alpha 0`$ tend to BKn EYM solutions after a suitable rescaling. Solutions belonging to the main branch are stable, like flat-space monopoles, while BK-excited monopoles are unstable, like BK particles. Excited monopoles can be regarded as bound states of monopoles with BK particles inside. Solutions near the main bifurcation point were recently investigated in detail by Lue and Weinberg  revealing new surprising features. Other recent work on gravitating monopoles includes the study of dyons , SU(3) monopoles , EYMH solutions with non-minimal gravitational coupling , YMH coupled to Brans-Dicke gravity .

### 3.2 Gravitational binding of monopoles

Like monopoles at rest in the flat space-time do not interact in the BPS limit where the Higgs field is massless, and a scalar attraction is precisely compensated by a magnetic repulsion. Away from the BPS bound, the Higgs field is massive, and the scalar force falls off exponentially, so magnetic repulsion dominates, and the energy of multimonopole solutions per winding number is always larger than the energy of the spherical $`\nu =1`$ monopole. For $`\nu 3`$ the BPS multimonopoles with no axial symmetry also exist .

It was found that gravity can bind monopoles provided the Higgs self-interaction constant $`\lambda `$ is small enough. It was verified  that the energy per unit winding number for $`\nu =2,3`$ aligned gravitating monopoles is smaller than the energy of a single $`\nu =1`$ monopole. In the case of monopole-antimonopole pairs, gravity enlarges the space of solutions: beside the ground state pair solution, there are BK-excitations which bifurcate at critical $`\alpha `$. The upper branch in the limit of vanishing $`\alpha `$ correspond to the (rescaled) BK1 solution, which is spherically symmetric. An excited monopole-antimonopole pair linking to BK2 was also found , this is conjectured to be valid for all $`n`$.

Other flat-space particle-like solutions include sphalerons in the Weinberg-Salam model and Skyrmions. Similarly to monopoles, gravitating sphalerons exist up to finite $`\alpha `$ and link to the BK-excitations (the bifurcation pattern is somewhat different from that in monopoles, for details see . When Higgs self-interaction constant increases, new sphaleron solutions, currently called bi-sphalerons, bifurcate from the main branch (Kunz and Brihaye (1989),Yaffe (1990)). Their response to gravity was studied in . For Skyrmions the self-gravitating problem was studied by Luckock (1987) well before the corresponding monopole problem was investigated. More detailed study was undertaken by Heusler, Droz and Straumann (1991) and Bizon and Chmaj (1992). The moduli space again exhibits bifurcations with BK-excited branches.

## 4 Hairy black holes

### 4.1 Violation of black hole rules

Soon after discovery of BK solutions, it was shown that there also exist black hole solutions with similar structure of fields outside the event horizon. For them, instead of regularity conditions (2) at the origin, the regularity of the event horizon is required. The (non-degenerate) horizon is a linear zero of $`N:N(r_h)=0,N^{}(r_h)>0`$, on which $`w`$ starts with a finite value $`w_h=w(r_h)`$. This quantity serves as a parameter labeling solutions, another parameter is the horizon radius $`r_h`$. One finds black hole solutions for any $`r_h`$ and a discrete sequence of $`w_h`$ within the interval $`0<w_h<1`$ (Volkov and Gal’tsov (1989), Kunzle and Masood-ul-Alam (1990), Bizon (1990)).

The EYM black holes violate a naive no-hair conjecture, since the magnetic YM field outside the horizon is not associated with conserved charges. Also, a uniqueness property is violated: an infinite number of different solutions exists with equal ADM mass and zero Coulomb charges. Black hole counterparts to axially symmetric higher-$`\nu `$ solutions were found as well (Kleihaus and Kunz, 1997), these obviously violate the Israel theorem, valid for vacuum and electrovacuum, stating that static black holes should be spherically symmetric. Further, the Birkhoff theorem is no longer valid for the YM matter, since ’spin from isospin’ phenomenon gives rise to field modes, which are spherically symmetric, but time-dependent. Finally, the (electro)vacuum staticity theorem does not hold (though admits a non-Abelian generalization), and the Einstein-Maxwell circularity theorem is violated. All this stimulated a widespread interest to black holes with YM hair as a laboratory to test various long-standing beliefs of the black hole physics.

An internal structure of EYM black holes turned out to be particularly interesting (Donets, Gal’tsov and Zotov (1996). There are discrete sequences of black holes which have either Schwarzschild or Reissner-Nordström (RN) type internal structure, but a generic black hole exhibits a very unusual interior. The metric function $`N`$ oscillates with an exponentially growing amplitude remaining always negative, but approaching zero closer and closer in subsequent cycles. Each time when such an ’almost’ Cauchy horizon is reached, the mass function starts to inflate, making $`N`$ to turn back, so true Cauchy horizons never form. These oscillations never end, and the approach to the singularity is non-analytic. All solutions, except for a discrete RN-type set (of zero measure in the moduli space) satisfy the strong cosmic censorship hypothesis (no internal Cauchy horizons).

### 4.2 Monopole-black hole transition

Gravitating Georgy-Glashow model solutions with $`\alpha >\alpha _{cr}`$ contain an event horizon inside the monopole core. This phenomenon is rather generic (Kastor and Trashen (1992)), it occurs each time when the lagrangian leads to the relation $`\epsilon +p_rN`$ at a ’would be’ event horizon (the sum of the energy density and the radial pressure). It is so for the EYMH systems with triplet or complex doublet Higgs and the Skyrme model, all these theories admit hairy black holes. In fact, the first such black hole was discovered in the Skyrme model (Luckock and Moss (1986)), it is particularly interesting as an example of a stable hairy black hole. Note, that purely EYM black holes are unstable, $`n`$-node solution inherits from BK $`2n`$ negative modes. Skyrme black holes violate even a weak form of the no-hair conjecture, ascribing the no-hair property only to stable black holes. For the recent work on gravitating Skyrme model see . Dyonic EYMH black holes were discussed in .

A monopole-black hole transition near the bifurcation threshold was recently studied in detail by Lue and Weinberg , see also a review . Globally regular and black hole space-times are qualitatively different, nevertheless, transition between them passes through a continuous family of configurations. Near the threshold $`\alpha \alpha _{cr}`$ the metric function $`N`$ develops a minimum at some point, attaining a value very close to zero. This regular space-time has properties close to those of black holes. One can associate with near-critical solutions an entropy , since information about the quasi-interior region is accessible with larger and larger time delay as one approaches the critical point. This entropy is likely to be compatible with the Bekenstein entropy. Lue-Weinberg bifurcation was also discussed in other models .

### 4.3 Static non-spherical black holes

Black hole counterparts to axially-symmetric multimonopole solutions were constructed  possessing a deformed event horizon with a constant surface gravity. These disprove  a recent modified uniqueness conjecture formulated in terms of the ’isolated horizons’ language . Axial dyonic black holes were constructed in . An interesting case is the neutral black hole with a magnetic dipole hair . It is obtained by inserting a horizon between two centers in the monopole-antimonopole solution. Black holes in higher $`\nu `$ magnetic monopoles may be non-axisymmetric, therefore violating Hawking’s ’strong rigidity’ (Ridgway and Weinberg (1995)). Though no explicit solutions (even numerical) were obtained so far, the argument showing their existence is simple: there is an instability of the magnetically charged (embedded Abelian) Reissner-Nordström solution, which may have any magnetic charge, with respect to massive vector field present in the spontaneously broken gauge theory, in modes which are not axially symmetric. Moreover, again due to ’spin from isospin’, there are no spherically symmetric states for $`\nu 1`$. Going beyond the linear approximation, one is able to show that for $`\nu =2`$ the instability results in an axially symmetric configuration, for $`\nu =3`$ — tetrahedral, for $`\nu =4`$ — cubic, etc. In fact, such crystal-type structures are known in the flat space BPS multimonopole systems . Note that the internal structure of hairy black holes with scalar fields is very different then described above for the EYM case: near the singularity the scalar field dominates and the mass-function exhibit a ’power-low inflation’ (Gal’tsov, Donets and Zotov (1977), Breitenlohner, Lavrelashvili and Maison (1998)). For the Skyrme case see .

### 4.4 YM hair and quantum coherence

String infinite symmetries may be responsible for the maintenance of the quantum coherence in the black hole evaporation. These symmetries could encode all information about an enormous number of massive string excitations accumulated in the black hole state. Initially this idea was implemented using essentially two-dimensional black holes (quantum W-hair). An attempt to construct a four-dimensional model was made in  invoking hairy black holes with the $`SU(\mathrm{})`$ YM field. The $`su(N)`$ algebra in the limit $`N\mathrm{}`$ can be mapped to Poisson brackets defined on a unit ’internal’ sphere. The static spherically symmetric ansatz, elaborated by Kunzle (1991) for finite $`N`$, then gives rise to the YM function depending on a radial variable and an internal angle $`\theta `$. In presence of the large negative cosmological constant (with respect to the energy scale of the YM field) an approximate solution was obtained describing a black hole with hair, depending on infinite number of parameters.

## 5 Asymptotically AdS lumps

### 5.1 Nodeless solutions for EYM system

Recent interest to AdS/CFT correspondence stimulated an investigation of the EYM systems in presence of the negative cosmological constant $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$. Hairy black holes in the SU(2) theory were first studied in , and then (together with regular solutions) in . Asymptotic conditions now follow form a finiteness of the mass $`M`$, which is a limiting value of the mass function $`m(r)`$ defined via $`N=12m(r)/r\mathrm{\Lambda }r^2/3`$ (also $`\sigma 1`$). This no more implies $`w\pm 1`$, instead any constant value $`w_{\mathrm{}}`$ is allowed. This means that solutions will have non-zero magnetic charge $`Q_m=(1w_{\mathrm{}}^2)`$. Since the asymptotic condition on $`w`$ is relaxed, one finds solutions for continuously varying parameter $`b`$ in (2) for each number of nodes $`n`$ including zero. Topologically, the nodeless solutions have no sphaleronic nature, so it can be expected that they do not have odd parity negative modes. This was proved to be the case both in the spherically symmetric sector  and for non-spherical perturbations . The gravitational (even parity) perturbations were studied in the spherical sector in  and for non-spherical excitations in . Spherical modes are stable in the $`n=0`$ sector for $`w_{\mathrm{}}<1/\sqrt{3}`$. Another news is that the ’non-Abelian baldness’ (forbidding AF SU(2) dyons, Gal’tsov and Ershov (1989,1990)) is no longer valid: there are essentially non-Abelian solutions with an electric sector in the SU(2) theory. One finds dyon solutions with finite $`M`$ for continuously varying $`b`$ (and the corresponding parameter in the electric sector) and any number of nodes $`n`$ including $`n=0`$.

Although these AdS monopoles and dyons are very different from those in the AF EYMH theory, one finds again the bifurcation patterns similar to described above: branches with neighboring $`n`$ get connected via bifurcation points in the parameter space. In particular, the mass of nodeless monopole solutions as a function of the magnetic charge exists till some critical charge value, then it turns back forming an upper unstable $`n=1`$ branch. This feature, first observed in , was further studied in . Axially symmetric EYM solutions with higher winding numbers were investigated for $`\mathrm{\Lambda }<0`$ in a recent paper . Transition from negative to positive $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ apparently reveals a fractal structure of the moduli space .

### 5.2 Asymptotically AdS monopoles and sphalerons

Solutions of the EYMH system with triplet Higgs were studied in . Contrary to the EYM case, no essentially new features appear as compared with the $`\mathrm{\Lambda }=0`$ theory. Like in the AF case, they exist in a limited region of the parameter $`Gv^2`$, the critical value being somewhat smaller. The theory with the doublet Higgs in presence of the negative cosmological constant was investigated in . Again, the situation is rather similar to the $`\mathrm{\Lambda }=0`$ case: the electric component of the YM field is forbidden, no arbitrary $`w_{\mathrm{}}`$ is possible, a critical value of the Newton constant is observed where solutions cease to exist. However, non-zero $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ implies a power law fall-off of the fields at infinity. An extensive study of perturbations of asymptotically AdS solitons and black holes was performed recently  confirming earlier results on stability of nodeless solutions.

### 5.3 Black holes with non-spherical topology

Once asymptotic flatness is abandoned, there is no more ’topological censorship’, forbidding black holes with non-spherical topology of the event horizon. Namely, for the negative cosmological constant, two-dimensional section of the horizon may be an arbitrary genus Riemann surface . Generalization of topological censorship for higher genus black holes was discussed in . Asymptotically AdS solutions provide non-trivial examples of black holes with the winding number one which are topologically different from the BK type solutions. One has merely to replace the spherical element $`d\mathrm{\Omega }`$ in (1) by flat or hyperbolic $`d\mathrm{\Omega }_k=d\theta ^2+f_k(\theta )d\phi ^2`$, with $`k=1,\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}0},1`$ and $`f_1=\mathrm{sin}\theta ,f_0=\theta ,f_1=\mathrm{sinh}\theta `$. Purely magnetic nodeless $`n=0`$ black holes with $`k=1,\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}0}`$ were constructed numerically in . For $`k=0`$ the mass function remains positive definite elsewhere, so the solutions have positive mass. For the negative curvature $`k=1`$, there are black holes not only with positive, but also with zero or negative mass. Solutions with $`k=0`$ are stable both in odd and even parity sectors, while the hyperbolic solutions $`k=1`$ are stable provided $`w_{\mathrm{}}>1`$. Black hole solutions with non-spherical topology do not have globally regular counterparts.

## 6 Rotation

### 6.1 Failure of circularity

Mechanical equilibrium inside the flat space static compact field configurations generically will be destroyed once they are forced to rotate, so a priori it is unlikely that one could endow solitons with an arbitrary angular momentum. On the other hand, in quantum theory, magnetic monopoles generically acquire discrete angular momentum (spin) due to interaction with fermions (fermion zero modes). This is closely related to supersymmetric embeddings, so the possibility of proper rotational zero modes (involving bosonic fields) is an important question. It is known that there are no such modes satisfying Bogomol’nyi equation. More recently the absence of non-Bogomol’nyi rotational zero modes for EYMH particle-like solutions was proved by Brodbeck and Heusler (1997) and Brodbeck, Heusler, Straumann and Volkov (1997). One serious complication to study rotation non-perturbatively is a failure of the circularity theorem for non-Abelian matter (Heusler and Straumann, 1993). The problem is that the Ricci-circularity condition for the stationary axially-symmetric space-time is not ensured by just imposing the same symmetries on the YM field. Therefore a Papapetrou ansatz does not necessarily hold. The most general parameterizations was derived in . It is a 2D dilaton gravity, with the matter sector including the 2D Yang-Mills field , two 2D Higgs fields , as well as two scalar moduli , the dilaton and two 2D Kaluza-Klein two-forms.

### 6.2 Rotational zero modes

Meanwhile, in the linearized theory, the number of odd-parity zero modes involved in rotation is considerably less. An analysis of perturbations of the EYMH system, extending previous work on this subject (see  for a review and references), was performed in , showing, in particular, stability of the Schwarzschild and Reissner-Nordström black holes with respect to odd-parity EYM perturbations. It was confirmed also that only $`l=1`$ zero modes, consisting of three real-valued functions, are responsible for (infinitesimal) rotation of both EYM and EYMH solitons and black holes. At this level circularity does hold. The set includes $`h_{t\phi }`$ metric perturbation and two isotopic variations of $`A_t`$. They satisfy a coupled system of linear ordinary differential equations of the second order, so the overall order of the system is six. A necessary condition for globally defined continuously varying zero modes to exist is a non-trivial intersection of the moduli spaces of local solutions near the origin (the event horizon black holes) and at spatial infinity. A local analysis reveals that the moduli space at infinity is four-dimensional for EYM (without Higgs) and three-dimensional for EYMH. In both cases the dimension of the moduli space near the origin (solitons) is three, while that at the horizon is four. Thus, for solitons involving scalar fields, the intersection of two three-dimensional moduli spaces inside the full six-dimensional space is trivial. For black holes inside magnetic monopoles, there is a one-parameter intersection space, so event horizons may be rotating. For EYM (BK) particle-like solutions the intersection space is also one-dimensional, and more careful analysis shows that the electric charge and angular momentum are excited simultaneously.

### 6.3 Rotation and charge

An essential difference between EYMH solitons and BK particles is that the binding is non-gravitational in the first case and gravitational in the second. So it is perhaps not surprising that BK solutions possess rotational zero modes, while magnetic monopoles do not. For black holes gravitational attraction is dominating, so zero modes do exist in both cases. These may be regarded as another admissible hair for static solutions. Another interesting feature is that the charge and rotational degrees of freedom are connected in a different ways for different solutions. Recall that the magnetic YM configuration in BK particles is of the dipole type. An intuition based on the properties of the Kerr-Newmann solution suggest to view the magnetic moment of charged rotating solutions as due to Faraday effect. For rotating BK the situation is inverse: magnetic dipole configuration is primary, while rotation leads to charging the particle. For EYM black holes the angular momentum and the electric charge are independent parameters, but the relationship between the angular velocity of the event horizon and the angular momentum defined at infinity is non-trivial. This is again related to the ’spin from isospin’ phenomenon: there is an extra contribution to the angular momentum from the black hole hair. In particular, there exist black holes with zero angular velocity of the horizon (static), but non-zero angular momentum (and non-zero charge). Alternatively, there are black holes with rotating horizons, but zero angular momentum, as seen from infinity. A non-perturbative numerical analysis of rotating EYM black holes with an assumption of circularity was reported recently , confirming consistency of this assumption at non-linear level.

## 7 Links to superstrings

### 7.1 Dilaton

Since the YM field is scale-invariant, the only dimensional parameter of the EYM theory is the Planck mass. It is natural, therefore, to look for physical applications in the superstring theory. The first step to incorporate BK solutions into this framework consisted in including the dilaton. Particle-like solutions similar to BK were found in the flat YMD theory by Lavrelashvili and Maison (1992). When gravity is also taken into account, one finds a surprising equality of the ADM mass and the dilaton charge of BK-type solutions (Donets and Gal’tsov, 1993). This was shown to be is a consequence of the scaling symmetry of the system of equation leading to the relation $`g_{tt}=\mathrm{exp}(2\varphi )`$ (Donets, Gal’tsov and Volkov, 1993). Another enigmatic feature was observed for the $`n=1`$ EYMD solution: it turned out that the parameter $`b`$ in (2) is rational, $`b_1=1/6`$, while $`a_1=2M`$ (Lavrelashvili and Maison, 1993). Efforts to explain these ’magic’ numbers have led to a fascinating development; before going to this, let us mention some recent work on gravitating lumps with dilaton: axially symmetric EYMD configurations , Georgy-Glashow-dilaton monopoles  and black holes , dilaton binding in multimonopoles .

### 7.2 Freedman–Schwarz model

In a search of hidden supersymmetry tentatively underlying these features, Chamseddine and Volkov (1997) have investigated the $`𝒩=4SU(2)\times SU(2)`$ gauged supergravity also known as Friedman-Schwarz (FS) model. Its bosonic sector includes two YM fields, dilaton and axion (which can be set zero for static purely magnetic configurations) with the dilaton potential, proportional to $`(g_1^2+g_2^2)\mathrm{exp}(2\varphi )`$. Formally one can derive the SU(2) EYMD equations for $`g_2=ig_1`$. This trick does not destroy supersymmetry: the supergravity Bogomol’nyi equations survive. Later it was shown by Volkov  that such ’complexified’ theory corresponds to the Euclidean FS model, and the associated Bogomol’nyi equations admit indeed one-node $`w(r)`$ as a solution  (though still not found analytically). If one passes to the Lorentzian metric in this solution (this does not return us to the initial Lorentzian FS model), one obtains the EYMD analog of the $`BK_1`$, which is, of course, not supersymmetric (and unstable), but still bears an imprint of supersymmetry of its Euclidean counterpart.

Leaving only one SU(2) field in N=4 supergravity (’half-gauged’ FS model), one gets the lagrangian $`L=R+2(\varphi )^2\mathrm{e}^{2\varphi }F^2/2+\mathrm{e}^{2\varphi }`$ which differs from the simple EYMD one by the dilaton potential. This theory admits an analytic solution

$$ds^2=dt^2dr^2R^2d\mathrm{\Omega },R^2=2r\mathrm{coth}(r+c)w^21,$$

$$w=r\mathrm{sinh}^1(r+c),\mathrm{e}^{2\varphi }=R^1\mathrm{sinh}(r+c),$$
(4)
where the metric is presented in the string frame, and $`c`$ is a real parameter. The solution preserves $`1/4`$ of the initial supersymmetry of the FS model for all $`c`$. Asymptotically $`w0`$, so this is a charge one monopole. However, the metric asymptotically is not flat and not AdS. The $`c=0`$ solution is globally regular, an expansion of $`w`$ near the origin is of the type (2) with ’magic’ $`b=1/6`$. For $`c0`$ ($`c`$ is assumed to be non-negative), the radius $`R`$ shrinks at some finite $`r`$, which is a curvature singularity. In the limit $`c\mathrm{}`$ one gets an Abelian dilatonic monopole.

### 7.3 Holographic interpretation

This solution has a ten-dimensional counterpart in Type I (pure) supergravity; in fact, as was shown by Volkov (1997), the $`D=4`$ FS model corresponds to compactification of the latter on $`S^3\times S^3`$. Somewhat unexpectedly, it was found  that the same solution describes wrapping of a NS5 brane of the IIB theory on a shrinking $`S^2`$ . This opens a way to construct a holographic description for the $`𝒩=1`$ super Yang-Mills. A particularly interesting aspect of the latter theory, which can be investigated using this duality, is the chiral symmetry breaking transition. The non-Abelian component of the gauge field serves as the order parameter: unbroken chiral symmetry corresponds to having only Abelian YM component, $`w=0`$. Thus, the BK-type solutions correspond to broken chiral symmetry, while a formation of an Abelian black hole signals the symmetry restoration. So one needs a detailed information about solutions including black holes; this was the subject of the recent paper by Gubser, Tseytlin and Volkov . Other solutions than (4) are non-BPS, they include globally regular solutions which start at the origin with $`b1/6`$. Like for asymptotically AdS BK solutions, the parameter $`b`$ here is continuous, for $`b<1/6`$ $`w`$-solutions are still nodeless, while for $`1/6<b<1/2`$, solutions with more and more nodes appear, with the limiting solution $`n=\mathrm{}`$ starting with $`b=1/2`$. These solutions may be regarded as BK-excited monopoles. This part of the solution space is somewhat similar to solutions of the pure EYM theory with a negative cosmological constant. However, now an asymptotic value of $`w`$ is zero, indicating the charge one monopole topology, while in the AdS case the magnetic (and electric) charges are continuously varying. An interesting new feature is that there is a discrete subspace of solutions with $`b=b_n`$ possessing a finite energy. Apart from these, there are non-trivial solutions with $`w\pm 1,0`$, which have different ten-dimensional counterparts.

Black hole solutions are determined by the horizon value $`w_h`$. For $`w_h=0`$ solutions are Abelian, while non-zero values $`w_h`$ give rise to non-Abelian black holes. These contain a discrete subclass of finite-energy solutions for which $`w`$ falls off exponentially at infinity. Black holes with toroidal event horizon in the $`U(1)\times U(1)`$ sector of the FS model were constructed in

### 7.4 Gauss-Bonnet

One earlier attempt to incorporate ’stringy’ effects was to include higher-curvature terms in the lagrangian. First $`\alpha ^{}`$ correction to the heterotic string effective action includes the Gauss-Bonnet term, $`\beta \mathrm{exp}(2\varphi )R_{GB},R_{GB}=R_{\mu \nu \lambda \tau }R^{\mu \nu \lambda \tau }4R_{\mu \nu }R^{\mu \nu }+R^2`$, which produces a non-trivial effect in four dimensions due to the dilaton factor. Note by passing that this term does not generate derivatives higher than the second order. Remarkably, in the static spherical space-time this term does not destroy the scale invariance of the equations of motion, so a non-trivial first integral still exists (Donets and Gal’tsov, 1993) implying the equality $`M=D`$. However, solutions exist only for restricted values of the coefficient $`\beta <\beta _n`$, e.g. $`n=1`$ solution disappears for $`\beta _1=0.37`$, the critical value decreases for higher $`n`$. The question was raised whether quadratic curvature terms (Gauss-Bonnet) can stabilize negative modes . It is known that Gauss-Bonnet acts as a ’hair tonic’ opening a channel of neutral black holes with a dilaton charge (Kanti, Mavromatos, Rizos, Tamvakis and Winstanley, 1996), and these are linearly stable in absence of the vector fields (the same authors, 1998). Actually, in the EYM(D) static spherically symmetric theory with the Gauss-Bonnet term there exists four types of black holes: i) neutral dilatonic (YM sector non-excited), ii) usual BK type, iii) holes with the unit magnetic charge (embedded Abelian, electric sector non-excited) and vi) holes with an electric charge, also embedded Abelian. It was found in  that those solutions whose perturbations involve the YM magnetic function (ii, iii) remain unstable (in particular, sphaleronic instabilities of ii) are untouched), while neutral and electric solutions are stable, reflecting stability of Schwarzschild and Reissner-Nordström black holes.

## 8 Born-Infeld

Another aspect related to superstrings consist in investigation of solitons and black holes in the non-Abelian SU(N) Dirac-Born-Infeld theory, arising as an effective theory on N D3-branes . If branes are coincident, one deals with the purely massless theory, while for separated branes there is a Higgs potential with the vacuum expectation value equal to the brane separation. The simplest case is the pure YM theory with the Born-Infeld (BI) type action

$$S=\frac{\beta ^2}{4\pi }\mathrm{tr}\left\{1\sqrt{det(g_{\mu \nu }+\beta ^1F_{\mu \nu })}\right\}d^4x$$
(5)
In the non-Abelian case, $`F_{\mu \nu }`$ is matrix-valued, and one can a priori take the trace in the action in different ways (see  for details). Two definitions are the most reliable: the symmetrized trace suggested by Tseytlin, which well covers the lower orders of the perturbative string effective action, and the ’ordinary trace-square root’ form, which is a direct non-Abelian generalization of the four-dimensional U(1) BI action obtained by evaluating the determinant under the square root. For the static spherically symmetric SU(2) magnetic ansatz these definitions lead to somewhat different one-dimensional lagrangians:

$$L_{tr}=\beta ^2r^2(1R)=(1+V^2+2K^2)^{1/2},$$
(6)
where $`V^2=(1w^2)^2/(2\beta ^2r^4),K^2=w^2/(2\beta ^2r^2)`$, and

$$L_{str}=\beta ^2r^2\left[1(1+V^2)^{1/2}+K^2𝒜(1+V^2)^{1/2}\right]$$
(7)
with $`𝒜=W^1\mathrm{arctan}W,W=(1+V^2)^{1/2}(V^2K^2)^{1/2}`$.

### 8.1 NBI particle-like solutions (sphalerons)

The BI lagrangian breaks scale invariance introducing a new new scale parameter — BI critical field $`\beta `$, which should be regarded as a manifestation of non-locality of the underlying string theory. Therefore, the no-go theorem for classical glueballs in the flat space YM theory is overruled, and one is led to look for such solutions in the non-Abelian Born-Infeld (NBI) theory. The proof of existence and numerical results for flat space NBI particle-like solutions were presented in  for the ordinary trace (6) and in  for the symmetrized trace (7) lagrangians, they have qualitatively similar properties. Solutions form a sequence of the BK type, but the difference is that now the parameter $`b_n`$ in the expansion (2) is rather large and rapidly growing with the node number $`n`$, for example, $`b_1=12.7,b_2=887`$ in the case (6) (these values are even larger for the model (7). Solutions have sphaleron features and are expected to be unstable. When gravity is taken into account , one finds that $`b_n`$, as a function of the dimensionless parameter $`G\beta `$, continuously interpolates  between these values for small $`G\beta `$, and the BK values for large $`G\beta `$.

### 8.2 Damping of gigantic oscillations inside YM black holes

Black hole solutions in the Einstein-NBI theory were also constructed , outside the horizon they are qualitatively similar to those in the EYM case. However, an internal structure of the ENBI black holes is drastically different. In fact, one could expect that violent oscillations inside the EYM black holes should be modified in quantum theory: already in the first inflationary cycle the mass function attains values exceeding the Planck mass. Although the ENBI theory is still classical, it incorporates string $`\alpha ^{}`$ quantum corrections in a non-perturbative way, so one could expect that the problem of the over-Planckian masses in the EYM black holes will be resolved. This is indeed the case : the internal behavior of the mass function now is perfectly smooth, though the singularity still bears non-analytic features. Namely, the function $`w`$ attains a final value $`w_0`$, and there exist a two-parameter family of solutions for which the mass function is analytic in the Schwarzschild-type singularity. This family, however, is not generic, like in the EYM case. But now a generic three-parametric solution can be obtained in the vicinity of the singularity as the series expansion in terms of $`r^{1/2}`$. Mass function again attains a finite value, but one finds that the singularity is much weaker than in the Schwarzschild case. The scalar curvature diverges only as $`Rr^{3/2}`$. Note that non-analytic behavior of the mass function $`m(r)`$ in the singularity is also observed in the Abelian Einstein-Born-Infeld theory coupled to dilaton .

### 8.3 NBI monopoles

Adding triplet Higgs to the NBI lagrangian, one finds flat space monopoles  which exhibit features, similar to those of gravitating monopoles. In view of the existence of the flat-space NBI sphalerons, this is not surprising. Monopole (and dyon) solutions exist for $`\beta `$ varying from infinity to a finite value $`\beta _{cr}`$, which was shown  to be a bifurcation point giving rise to the branch of excited monopoles with one-node $`w`$ (higher node excitations exist as well). In  a non-commutative U(1) monopole (with Higgs) was also constructed following the D-brane in B-field / non-commutative gauge theory correspondence. Note that it is the symmetrized trace version of the theory which leads to the BPS equations coincident with the YMH ones. Effect of gravity on the NBI monopoles was discussed in . Recently the NBI model with doublet Higgs was considered , it was found that the sphalerons in this theory interpolate between the usual electroweak sphaleron and the NBI sphalerons of .

## 9 Conclusion

Basic properties of gravitating non-Abelian solitons and hairy black holes are fairly well understood now and exhibit certain universality: character of gravitational excitations, bifurcation patterns of moduli spaces, dependence of spectra on asymptotic conditions, phenomena near ’almost’ horizons. Our list of references is almost complete for the period 1999 – November 2001 within the covered topics. However, many related directions remained outside the scope of the talk: global monopoles, boson stars, solutions to the gravity coupled Abelian Higgs model, cosmological solutions with non-Abelian fields, topological inflation, critical collapse of the YM field, solutions to higher-dimensional EYM systems. More complete update to the review  will be given elsewhere.

## Acknowledgments

The author is grateful to LOC for hospitality during the conference and to Gravity Research Foundation for support. The work was also supported in part by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research under grant 00-02-16306.

## References


text:
# Effect of annealing on electron dephasing in three-dimensional polycrystalline metals

## I Introduction

The electron dephasing time $`\tau _\varphi `$ is a very important quantity that governs the mesoscopic phenomena at low temperatures. Particularly, the behavior of the dephasing time near zero temperature, $`\tau _\varphi ^0=\tau _\varphi (T0)`$, has recently attracted vigorous experimental  and theoretical  attention. One of the central themes of this renewed interest is concerned with whether $`\tau _\varphi ^0`$ should reach a finite or an infinite value as $`T`$ 0. The connection of the zero-temperature dephasing behavior with the very fundamental condensed matter physics problems such as the validity of the Fermi-liquid picture, the possibility of the occurrence of a quantum phase transition, and the persistent currents in metals, etc., has been addressed. Conventionally, it is accepted that $`\tau _\varphi ^0`$ should reach an infinite value if there exist only the inelastic electron-electron and electron-phonon scattering. However, several recent measurements performed on different mesoscopic conductors have revealed that $`\tau _\varphi ^0`$ depends only very weakly on $`T`$, if at all, when $`T`$ is sufficiently low. There is no generally accepted process of electron–low-energy-excitation interactions that can satisfactorily explain the “saturation” of $`\tau _\varphi ^0`$ found in the experiments. It should be noted that those experiments  have ruled out electron heating, external microwave noises, and very dilute magnetic impurities as the origins for the observed finite dephasing as $`T0`$.

To unravel the issue of electron dephasing, systematic information of $`\tau _\varphi ^0`$ over a wide range of sample properties is very desirable. Bearing this in mind, we have in this work performed systematic measurements of $`\tau _\varphi ^0`$ on several series of as-sputtered and subsequently annealed AuPd and Sb thick films. The low-field magnetoresistances of the as-sputtered samples are first measured. The samples are then annealed, and their magnetoresistances measured. The annealing and magnetoresistance measurement procedures are repeated a few times. $`\tau _\varphi `$ is extracted by comparing the measured magnetoresistances with the three-dimensional (3D) weak-localization (WL) theoretical predictions . Generally, thermal annealing causes a decrease in the sample resistivity, signifying a reduction in the amount of defects in the microstructures. Controlled annealing measurements are thus crucial for testing the theoretical models of electron dephasing invoking magnetic impurities and dynamical defects .

## II Experimental Method

Thick film samples were prepared by dc sputtering deposition onto glass substrates held at room temperature. The deposition rate was varied to tune the amount of disorder, i.e., the residual resistivity $`\rho _0`$ (= $`\rho `$(10 K)) of the films. The AuPd films were typically 6000 $`\mathrm{\AA }`$ $`\times `$ 0.3 mm $`\times `$ 17 mm, while the Sb films were typically 3000 $`\mathrm{\AA }`$ $`\times `$ 0.3 mm $`\times `$ 17 mm. Thermal annealing of the AuPd (Sb) films was performed in a 99.999% pure Ar atmosphere at moderate temperatures of $``$ 100$``$300C ($``$ 150C) for about one half to several hours until $`\rho _0`$ changed by a desirable amount. The use of an extremely high purity Ar atmosphere greatly minimized the presence of any oxygen residual gas in the annealing. The values of the relevant parameters for our as-sputtered films are listed in table I.

We notice that the four AuPd films listed in Table I were newly made from a new Au50Pd50 target different from that used in our previous study . Moreover, a different sputtering gun and a different vacuum chamber were utilized. Previously, we had studied $`\tau _\varphi `$ in a series of dc sputtered AuPd thick films prepared and measured in a different laboratory . By applying these new samples, we are able to perform a close comparison study of $`\tau _\varphi `$ in the same material prepared under different conditions. Such a comparison is indispensable for clarifying the possible role, if at all, of magnetic scattering on $`\tau _\varphi ^0`$. If there were any noticeable magnetic contamination during this experiment, it is natural to expect an unintentional magnetic concentration, $`n_m`$, that differs from that in our previously samples . Consequently, a distinct value of $`\tau _\varphi ^0`$ should be observed. On the other hand, if a similar value of $`\tau _\varphi ^0`$ is measured, this result must then bear important information about an intrinsic material property.

In addition to the newly prepared AuPd samples, we have studied two “aged” Sb films. The two Sb films listed in Table I were first deposited and studied two years ago in ref. . During the past two years, they were exposed to air all the time. One might have naively speculated that these two samples must be heavily contaminated by (magnetic) impurities and, thus, have a shorter $`\tau _\varphi `$ with a much weaker $`T`$ dependence, compared with that measured two years ago. To the contrary, this experiment indicates that 3D AuPd and Sb are not as vulnerable to contamination as speculated. Our results point to an experimental fact that suggests that the observed saturation of $`\tau _\varphi ^0`$ cannot be readily explained by magnetic scattering.

## III Results and Discussion

We have measured the magnetoresistances and compared with 3D WL predictions  to extract the values of $`\tau _\varphi `$. Our experimental method and data analysis procedure had been discussed previously . Here we emphasize that, in the limit of strong spin-orbit scattering (which applies for both AuPd and Sb), $`\tau _\varphi `$ is the only adjusting parameter in the least-squares fits of the measured magnetoresistances with WL predictions. This great advantage makes the extraction of $`\tau _\varphi `$ highly reliable. Empirically, $`\tau _\varphi `$ can be written in the form

$$1/\tau _\varphi (T)=1/\tau _\varphi ^0+1/\tau _\mathrm{i}(T),$$
(1)
where $`\tau _\varphi ^0`$ dominates at the lowest measurement temperatures, and $`\tau _\mathrm{i}`$ is the relevant inelastic scattering time which is usually important at a (few) degree(s) Kelvin and higher. In three dimensions, electron-phonon scattering is the predominant inelastic process while the Nyquist electron-electron scattering is negligibly small , i.e. $`1/\tau _\mathrm{i}1/\tau _{ep}`$ in eq. (1). The electron-phonon scattering rate $`1/\tau _{ep}`$ varies as $`T^p`$, with 2 $`p`$ 4.

Figure 3(a) shows our measured $`\tau _\varphi `$ as a function of temperature for four as-sputtered AuPd films. This figure demonstrates that $`\tau _\varphi `$ first increases with decreasing $`T`$ at a few degrees Kelvin, where the electron-phonon scattering dominates the total dephasing and $`1/\tau _\varphi 1/\tau _{ep}T^2`$ in AuPd . Below about 2 K, the inelastic process is much less effective and a new mechanism progressively takes over, resulting in a very weak temperature dependence of $`\tau _\varphi `$ as $`T0`$. To our knowledge, there is no generally accepted process of electron–low-energy-excitation interactions that can account for such a weak $`T`$ behavior. A weak temperature dependence of $`\tau _\varphi ^0`$ is also observed in the two Sb thick films listed in table I. In fact, an (almost) absence of temperature dependence of $`\tau _\varphi `$ has previously been found in numerous three-dimensional polycrystalline metals . We notice that the values of $`\tau _\varphi ^0`$ in fig. 3(a) follow closely the scaling relation of $`\tau _\varphi ^010^{10}D^1`$ s established in fig. 3 of , where the diffusion constant $`D`$ is in cm2/s. This result suggests that the behavior of $`\tau _\varphi `$ found in fig. 3(a) is material intrinsic.

It should be emphasized that the weak $`T`$ dependence or the so-called “saturation” of $`\tau _\varphi ^0`$ in fig. 3(a) is observed in a temperature regime where the sample resistance varies as $`\sqrt{T}`$ all the way down to our lowest measurement temperatures (fig. 3(b)). This $`\sqrt{T}`$ dependence of resistance is well described by the 3D electron-electron interaction effects . This result indicates that the saturation of $`\tau _\varphi ^0`$ is not caused by electron heating. A similar assertion of non-hot-electron effects has also been reached in previous experiments .

Information about the effect of annealing is crucial for clarifying the nature of magnetic scattering and dynamical defects. Figure 3(a) shows the variation of $`\tau _\varphi `$ with temperature for the as-prepared and subsequently annealed AuPd1e thick film. This figure clearly indicates that $`\tau _\varphi `$ increases with annealing. Similar behavior of increasing $`\tau _\varphi `$ with annealing has also been found in the as-prepared and annealed AuPd6e thick film. At first glance, this observation is easily explained. Suppose that annealing results in the rearrangement of lattice atoms and relaxation of grain boundaries and, hence, makes the film less disordered. Because two-level systems (TLS) are closely associated with the presence of defects in the microstructures, their number concentration would be reduced by annealing. By assuming that dynamical defects are effective scatterers, one can then understand fig. 3(a) in terms of a reducing TLS picture. However, our further measurements indicate that the nature of low-temperature dephasing in real metals is not so straightforward. We find that the effect of annealing on $`\tau _\varphi `$ is distinctly different in strongly disordered samples (fig. 3). For the convenience of discussion, the AuPd1e and AuPd6e (AuPd4a and AuPd5e) thick films are referred to as moderately (strongly) disordered, because they have $`\rho _0`$ 120 (470) $`\mu \mathrm{\Omega }`$ cm before annealing.

Figure 3(b) shows the variation of $`\tau _\varphi `$ with $`T`$ for the as-prepared and annealed Sb01B thick film. This figure clearly indicates that $`\tau _\varphi `$ increases with annealing. Similar effect of annealing has also been found in the Sb12 thick film. The results of figs. 3(a) and 3(b) suggest that an enhancement of $`\tau _\varphi `$ by thermal annealing is common to different moderately disordered metals. (We notice that the high resistivities in Sb films arise from a low carrier concentration instead of a short electron mean free path . Our Sb thick films are thus moderately disordered.)

## IV The importance of three-dimensional structures

One of the widely accepted explanations for the “saturation” behavior of $`\tau _\varphi ^0`$ invokes magnetic spin-spin scattering due to a low level contamination of the sample. This explanation has been challenged in several recent careful experiments . However, despite this experimental situation, there is still an insisting opinion that argues for non-zero magnetic scattering in the sample. To completely reject such an opinion is non-trivial, because it is argued that the level of unintentional contamination is so low that it cannot be detected by the state-of-the-art material analysis techniques. The situation becomes more serious when reduced-dimensional systems are involved. In the case of low-dimensional structures, surface effects due to interfaces, substrates, and paramagnetic oxidation are non-negligible. Therefore, it is not straightforward to ascribe the observed saturation of $`\tau _\varphi ^0`$ to either intrinsic material properties or surface/interface effects. On the other hand, this kind of ambiguity does not occur in our three-dimensional measurements. In fact, we believe that magnetic scattering can at most play a subdominant role in our experiment. Our reasons are given as follows. (i) Suppose that there is a low level of magnetic contamination in our as-sputtered films. Upon annealing, the magnetic impurity concentration $`n_m`$ should be left unchanged. If the original “saturation” in our as-sputtered samples is caused by spin-spin scattering, one should then expect the same value of $`\tau _\varphi ^0`$ ($`n_m^1`$) after annealing. However, we find increasing $`\tau _\varphi ^0`$ with annealing. Our result is thus in disagreement with this assumption. (ii) Our argument for a non-magnetic origin is supported by the observation of an increased $`\tau _\varphi ^0`$ in the aged and annealed Sb films. Since our Sb01B and Sb12 thick films were aged in air for two years, one might have naively expected a large decrease in $`\tau _\varphi ^0`$ due to magnetic contamination. Nevertheless, this is not the case found in fig. 3(b). (iii) Moreover, if our samples do contain an appreciable level of unintentional magnetic impurities, the contaminated concentration $`n_m`$ should be basically the same in all films, because similar fabrication and measurement procedures were involved. One should then expect a similar $`\tau _\varphi ^0`$ in all as-prepared samples, regardless of disorder. This is certainly inconsistent with the observed scaling relation $`\tau _\varphi ^0D^1`$ discussed above. Therefore, magnetic scattering in its current form cannot easily explain our overall results in a consistent manner.

In order to explain the widely observed saturation behavior of $`\tau _\varphi ^0`$, it has recently been proposed that dynamical defects can be important . The low-energy excitations of the dynamical defects are usually modelled by two-level systems. We already discussed that TLS might be partly responsible for the saturated dephasing found in our moderately disordered films. However, it is impossible to perform a quantitative comparison of our experiment with the TLS theories. The difficulties lie on the facts that (i) the number concentration of TLS in a particular sample is not known, (ii) the strength of coupling between conduction electrons and a TLS is poorly understood, and (iii) the dynamical properties of real defects (impurities, grain boundaries, etc.) are even less clear. Experimentally, we also find other features of thermal annealing (fig. 3) that seem incompatible with a TLS picture of dephasing.

In addition to the moderately disordered samples, we have performed measurements on thick films containing much higher levels of disorder. Surprisingly, we discover that the effect of annealing is completely different. In the strongly disordered AuPd4a and AuPd5e thick films, we find that annealing causes negligible effect on $`\tau _\varphi `$. Figure 3 shows the variation of $`\tau _\varphi `$ with $`T`$ for the as-prepared and annealed AuPd4a thick film. This figure clearly demonstrates that the values of $`\tau _\varphi `$ for the as-prepared and annealed samples are essentially the same, even though the resistance, and hence diffusion constant $`D`$ changed by a factor of more than 6. The absence of an appreciable annealing effect in this case implies that, in addition to the usual TLS addressed above, these two films contain other defects that cannot be readily cured by thermal annealing. Such a null effect of annealing seems to suggest that, despite a large effort in this direction, no real defects of any nature can be found to have dynamical properties that may explain the saturation behavior of $`\tau _\varphi ^0`$. A comparison of figs. 3 and 3 strongly indicates that low-temperature dephasing is very sensitive to the microstructures.

The observation of fig. 3 deserves further discussion. First, we recall that our measured $`\tau _\varphi `$ in the as-sputtered, strongly (and moderately) disordered films follows the scaling relation of $`\tau _\varphi ^0D^1`$ mentioned above , implying that the result of fig. 3 is material intrinsic. Secondly, in the context of magnetic scattering, Blachly and Giordano recently found that Kondo effect is very sensitive to disorder, namely, an increase in disorder suppresses Kondo effect . Along this line, if the original saturated $`\tau _\varphi ^0`$ found in fig. 3 were due to magnetic scattering, one should argue that thermal annealing that suppresses disorder should enhance Kondo effect. Then, a decreased $`\tau _\varphi ^0`$ should be expected with annealing. Since our $`\tau _\varphi ^0`$ does not change even when the sample resistivity is reduced by a factor of more than 6 by annealing, fig. 3 thus cannot be easily reconciled with a magnetic scattering scenario. Besides, this picture of a weakened Kondo effect by disorder is also incompatible with our result for the moderately disordered films (fig. 3) where an increased, instead of a decreased, $`\tau _\varphi ^0`$ with annealing is found. Thirdly, one might argue that annealing in the presence of oxygen can lead to the oxidation of magnetic impurities, and hence to the disappearance of Kondo resistivity . We argue that this is unlikely in our case, since we had taken precautions by annealing our films in a 99.999% pure Ar atmosphere, where the amount of oxygen residual gas was greatly minimized. Moreover, since we do not find a rapid increase in the $`T`$ dependence of $`\tau _\varphi ^0`$ after annealing, there is thus no clear evidence of the presence of oxygen or magnetic impurities in our films. In any case, it would be interesting to study if annealing in oxygen would have a drastic effect on $`\tau _\varphi ^0`$.

Lastly, we discuss the advantage of using three-, instead of lower-dimensional, mesoscopic structures for $`\tau _\varphi `$ measurements. In 3D, the dominating inelastic process is the electron-phonon scattering for which $`\tau _{ep}`$ obeys a strong $`T^p`$ (2 $`p`$ 4) dependence . Such a temperature variation is much stronger than the dominating $`p=2/3`$ in one dimension and $`p=1`$ in two dimensions (which are both due to electron-electron scattering ). Inspection of the solid lines, which are drawn proportional to $`T^2`$, in figs. 3 and 3 reveals that our measured $`\tau _\varphi ^0`$ at 0.3 K is already $``$ two orders of magnitude lower than that as would be extrapolated from the measured $`\tau _{ep}`$ at a few degrees Kelvin. Such a huge discrepancy is well outside any experimental uncertainties. On the contrary, in the case of narrow wires, the dominating inelastic dephasing time obeys a much weaker $`T^{2/3}`$ law just mentioned. In this case, any discrepancy between the measured and extrapolated values of $`\tau _\varphi ^0`$ would be less dramatic in the attainable experimental temperature range, rendering a discrimination of the presence or absence of a saturated $`\tau _\varphi ^0`$ less clear-cut.

## V Conclusion

We have studied the influence of thermal annealing on low-temperature electron dephasing in polycrystalline AuPd and Sb thick films. We find that $`\tau _\varphi ^0`$ reveals an extremely weak temperature dependence in both as-sputtered and annealed samples. The effect of annealing is non-universal, depending strongly on the amount of disorder quenched in the microstructures during deposition. The observed saturation behavior of $`\tau _\varphi ^0`$ cannot be easily explained by magnetic-scattering in its current form. We also find that the disorder behavior of $`\tau _\varphi ^0`$ in as-prepared and annealed samples is very different. A complete theoretical explanation would need to take the microstructures into account.

###### Acknowledgements.

The authors are grateful to M. Büttiker, C. S. Chu, P. Mohanty, R. Rosenbaum, J. von Delft, G. Y. Wu, and A. Zawadowski for valuable discussion. This work was supported by the Taiwan NSC through Grant No. NSC 89-2112-M-009-054.