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# Mass-renormalized electronic excitations at (𝜋, 0) in the superconducting state of 𝐵𝑖₂𝑆𝑟₂𝐶𝑎𝐶𝑢₂𝑂_{8+𝛿}

## Abstract

Using high-resolution angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy on $`Bi_2Sr_2CaCu_2O_{8+\delta }`$, we have made the first observation of a mass renormalization or ”kink” in the E vs. $`\stackrel{}{k}`$ dispersion relation localized near $`(\pi ,0)`$. Compared to the kink observed along the nodal direction, this new effect is clearly stronger, appears at a lower energy near 40 meV, and is only present in the superconducting state. The kink energy scale defines a cutoff below which well-defined quasiparticle excitations occur. This effect is likely due to coupling to a bosonic excitation, with the most plausible candidate being the magnetic resonance mode observed in inelastic neutron scattering.

One of the most pressing scientific questions in condensed matter physics concerns the mechanism that binds two electrons into a Cooper pair in high temperature superconductors (HTSCs). It is known that these pairs have d-wave symmetry, with the superconducting gap, $`\mathrm{\Delta }(\stackrel{}{k})`$, having a maximum value at the $`(\pi ,0)`$ point of the two-dimensional Brillouin zone, and zero gap $`45^{}`$ away along the $`(\pi ,\pi )`$ line Shen:1993 ; Tsuei:2000 . In conventional superconductors it is known that the s-wave pairing is mediated by the electron-phonon interaction. Most forms of this interaction are isotropic in $`\stackrel{}{k}`$-space, and are generally unfavorable for the d-wave pairing state found in HTSCs. More likely important for HTSC is a boson that couples strongly to the $`(\pi ,0)`$ electrons at the d-wave maximum. Here we show direct observations that electrons at $`(\pi ,0)`$ are strongly coupled to a bosonic excitation, with indications that this boson consists of the famous magnetic resonance mode long observed in inelastic neutron scattering (INS) experiments Bourges:1998 . We find that this interaction only exists in the superconducting state and is a large effect, strongly renormalizing the E vs. $`\stackrel{}{k}`$ dispersion of the low-energy electronic states.

In the many-body language of solid state physics, the electron self-energy, $`\mathrm{\Sigma }(\stackrel{}{k},w)`$, contains the information of the interactions or correlation effects which ”dress” the free electrons in a solid to make quasiparticles. This dressing renormalizes the dispersion of electrons near the Fermi energy, giving them an enhanced mass or flatter E vs. $`\stackrel{}{k}`$ dispersion. At high energies (greater than the energy of the boson being coupled to), the dispersion returns to its bare value, giving the dispersion a ”kink”. The energy scale and strength of the kink are thus related to the boson energy and coupling strength respectively. Much effort has recently been put forth to study dispersion kinks in relation to HTSC, with the hopes of uncovering the phonons or other bosonic modes which couple to the near-$`E_F`$ electrons. ARPES is the only direct method for this, with essentially all efforts to date focused on the nodal region of the Brillouin zone Bogdanov:2000 ; Kaminski:2001 ; Lanzara:2001 ; Johnson:2001 , where the d-wave superconducting gap goes to zero. Measurements near the $`(\pi ,0)`$ point of the Brillouin zone, where much of the exotic physics of HTSC such as the maximum in the d-wave superconducting gap Shen:1993 ; Tsuei:2000  and normal state pseudogap Ding:1996 ; Loeser:1996  occur, have been limited. The main reason for the lack of kink measurements near $`(\pi ,0)`$ to date are the large widths of spectral features there. While these widths affect the accuracy of determining peak positions, more importantly they can hinder a deconvolution of the bilayer-split bands into their bonding and antibonding components, disallowing measurements of their dispersion. By overdoping high quality single-crystalline $`Bi_2Sr_2CaCu_2O_{8+\delta }`$ samples, we have obtained very sharp spectral features near $`(\pi ,0)`$ and for the first time have been able to accurately deconvolve the bilayer splitting as well as superstructure effects Chuang:2001 ; Chuang:preprint  with similar work done by Feng et al. Feng:2001 . The ability to clearly resolve these separate features is one of the key steps that enabled the new experiments reported here.

We performed high-resolution ARPES experiments on $`Bi_2Sr_2CaCu_2O_{8+\delta }`$ (Bi2212) samples over a wide range of oxygen concentrations. Samples are labelled with a convention based on the transition temperature ($`T_c`$), i.e. an overdoped (OD) Bi2212 sample with $`T_c=58K`$ is referred to as OD58. The same convention is used for optimal (OP) and underdoped (UD) samples. All ARPES measurements were taken at beamline 10.0.1 of the Advanced Light Source, Berkeley, and at beamline 5-4 of the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory using SES 200 electron spectrometers. The experiments were done using 20eV photons, with a combined experimental energy resolution of 12meV, and a momentum resolution better than $`0.01\pi /a`$ (where a is the Bi2212 lattice constant) along the entrance slit to the spectrometer.

Figures 1(a)-(c) show raw data near the $`(\pi ,0)`$ region (see figure 3(e)) taken on samples OD58 and OP91. A salient feature of the data is the clear resolution of two bands, the higher binding energy bonding band (B) and the lower binding energy antibonding band (A), plus some weak superstructure bands (SS) due to the extra periodicity induced by the Bi-O plane lattice mismatch. Superimposed on top of the B band we show the peak positions (red) determined from Lorentzian fitting of Momentum Distribution Curves (MDCs), which are cuts in momentum space at constant energy. For this data the MDCs display a simple Lorentzian lineshape, allowing us to accurately determine the dispersion. Error bars from the fits are included, but are so small that they are essentially invisible. We also include the dispersion of the A band (black dots), extracted from the sharp low-energy peak in the Energy Distribution Curves (EDCs). The normal state dispersion shown in panel (a) is seen to be nearly linear and featureless in the energy range displayed. Upon cooling the sample to 10K (panel (b)), the dispersion as well as near-$`E_F`$ spectral weight are radically changed. First, the features do not reach $`E_F`$ because of the opening of the superconducting gap $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$. In addition to the gap opening, there is a clear kink in the dispersion around 40 meV. Although for sample OP91 the spectral features are broader due to decreased doping (panel (c)), the data show a similar effect.

The temperature dependence of the $`(\pi ,0)`$ kink can be seen in figure 2(a), where the MDC-derived bonding band dispersion from sample OD71 is shown at a series of temperatures taken on cooling through $`T_c`$. The black dotted line is a linear fit to the highest temperature ($`T=85K`$) data. Since this dispersion is featureless, it is considered to be the non-interacting dispersion. A kink near 40 meV opens up as the temperature is lowered, in addition to low energy changes that are associated with the opening of the superconducting gap SCMDCcomment . To highlight the temperature dependent effects we subtract the superconducting state MDC dispersion from the normal state dispersion, shown in the inset to panel (a). In this way we extract $`Re\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ from the data. Panel (b) shows the maximum point of each $`Re\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ curve from the inset in panel (a) as a function of temperature (red), which is seen to have an onset at or very near $`T_c`$ = 71K. In addition, we also plot the superconducting gap $`\mathrm{\Delta }_{LE}`$ as a function of temperature (blue) extracted from the identical data set by simply measuring the shift of the midpoint of the EDC leading edge from $`E_F`$. We plot $`\mathrm{\Delta }_{LE}(T)`$ in lieu of the gap $`\mathrm{\Delta }_p(T)`$, determined from EDC peak positions, because a reliable determination of $`\mathrm{\Delta }_p(T)`$ is made difficult by thermal broadening. We see that the maximum in $`Re\mathrm{\Sigma }`$, which provides a measure of the coupling strength, tracks the opening of the superconducting gap, making it clear that the two are closely linked.

One may imagine that the $`(\pi ,0)`$ kink is a byproduct of the opening of the superconducting gap. In particular, if we consider damping of the system due to electron-hole excitations, then each branch will see a turn on at the gap energy $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$, leading to a step in the damping rate $`Im\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ near an energy $`3\mathrm{\Delta }`$. This will in turn introduce structure into $`Re\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ (as seen by a Kramers-Krönig analysis), and could be imagined as the origin of the kink. This is somewhat attractive because the temperature as well as $`\stackrel{}{k}`$-space dependence to first order appear reasonable \- it should turn on at $`T_c`$ and the d-wave nature of $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$ may cause some localization of the effect near $`(\pi ,0)`$. However, as the temperature is raised towards $`T_c`$, the energy of the kink is observed to decrease slowly, staying at a sizeable finite value (figure 2(a)). In contrast, the $`3\mathrm{\Delta }`$ model would predict that the kink energy should decrease to zero at $`T_c`$, just as $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$ does pseudogapcomment .

Figures 3(a)-(d) show the $`\stackrel{}{k}`$-dependence of the ARPES kink, measured on sample OD71. Data were taken at four momentum slices parallel to the standard $`(\pi ,0)`$ cuts of figures 1(a)-(b), centered around the $`\stackrel{}{k}`$ values of $`(\pi ,0)`$, $`(0.9\pi ,0)`$, $`(0.8\pi ,0)`$, and $`(0.7\pi ,0)`$ (blue bars, panel (e)). Panels (a)-(d) show the MDC dispersion of the bonding band from portions of these cuts in both the normal (red) and superconducting (blue) states. From the progression we see that the kink weakens dramatically as we move away from the $`(\pi ,0)`$ point, such that it is barely visible in the $`0.7\pi `$ cut of panel (d).

There is another key physical property discussed in the HTSC literature that has a similar temperature and momentum dependence as the kink, namely the magnetic resonance mode observed in inelastic neutron scattering (INS) experiments. The resonance mode only occurs below $`T_c`$ Fong:1999 , or in underdoped samples below $`T^{}`$ Dai:1999 . It has a characteristic energy near 40meV for optimally doped samples and is centered at a wavevector $`\stackrel{}{Q}=(\pi ,\pi )`$. The open black circles of figure 4(f) show the resonance mode intensity as a function of momentum transfer $`\stackrel{}{Q}`$ for an OD83 Bi2212 sample, extracted from the INS studies of He et al. He:1999 . The mode half-intensity points are at approximately $`\stackrel{}{Q}=0.66(\pi ,\pi )`$ and $`1.33(\pi ,\pi )`$ along this cut (green dashed lines, panel (f)), and are expected to be roughly isotropic in $`\stackrel{}{Q}`$-space Mook:1998 . We show these half-intensity points schematically on the Brillouin zone in panel (e) as green circles centered around $`(\pi ,0)`$ and $`(0,\pi )`$, according to the standard belief that the $`(\pi ,\pi )`$ mode connects these points since they have the largest near-$`E_F`$ electron density and are separated by a vector of $`(\pi ,\pi )`$ Ioffe:1998 . The circles are drawn so that the closest (furthest) edges are connected by a $`\stackrel{}{Q}`$ of $`0.66(\pi ,\pi )`$ $`(1.33(\pi ,\pi ))`$. In this way, if we were to plot circles representative of the endpoints of the bottom axis in panel (f), these circles would just touch each other.

We converted the $`\stackrel{}{k}`$-space values of the Fermi surface crossing locations (panel (e), blue dots) into a radial $`\stackrel{}{k}`$-distance from the $`(\pi ,0)`$ points in units of $`\sqrt{2\pi }`$ , listed in panels (a) - (d). The top axis of panel (f) shows the maximum in $`Re\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ plotted versus radial distance from $`(\pi ,0)`$, with the edges of the plot again corresponding to the situation where circles centered at $`(\pi ,0)`$ just touch. Since we do not have kink data exactly at the $`(\pi ,0)`$ point, we scale the vertical axes to match for the $`(\pi ,0.19\pi )`$ point. The excellent agreement between the neutron and ARPES intensities makes an intimate relationship between the kink and the magnetic mode highly plausible.

The trends in the ARPES spectral weight also support the notion of coupling to a boson such as the magnetic mode. In particular, the superconducting state ARPES peaks are seen to be sharp and intense for binding energies below the kink energy (figure 1(b)), whereas they are strongly damped for binding energies above the kink energy, as well as for all energies in the normal state (figure 1(a)). This is expected within the bosonic coupling picture because at low energies, only virtual excitations of the boson are present, which renormalize the electronic excitations. At high energies, real excitations of the boson will be allowed, causing a rapid turn-on of the damping effect. The peak broadening in the normal state, which is believed to represent its ”non-quasiparticle-like” nature, has also received intense attention Laughlin:1999 ; Shen:1997 ; Sawatzky:1989 . Interestingly, at high binding energies (100 meV and above), the spectral weight is essentially identical in the normal and superconducting states. A possible explanation for this is that above $`T_c`$ the magnetic excitations are greatly smeared out in energy but retain a similar $`\stackrel{}{Q}`$-dependence, as neutron data is beginning to show Bourges:2000 .

From the above data, the differences between the $`(\pi ,0)`$ kink and the well-studied nodal kink can be summarized as follows: 1) The $`(\pi ,0)`$ kink strength is strongly temperature dependent (figure 2), while the nodal kink is roughly temperature independent Lanzara:2001 ; Johnson:2001 . 2) The $`(\pi ,0)`$ kink is at a significantly lower energy scale than the nodal kink (figure 1(d)) and has a different momentum dependence. 3) The strength of the $`(\pi ,0)`$ kink (or coupling strength) is much stronger than the nodal kink Gromko:preprint . These points make a strong case that the two kinks are separate entities. The very strong temperature dependence of the $`(\pi ,0)`$ kink, as well as the tight localization of the kink in k-space make it unlikely that electron-phonon coupling is responsible for the $`(\pi ,0)`$ kink, although it does remain a possibility for the nodal kink Lanzara:2001 . Another possibility for the origin of the nodal kink is coupling to the local magnetic susceptibility, which is observed in $`\stackrel{}{Q}`$-integrated INS measurements and which occurs with a slightly higher energy than the magnetic resonance mode Bourges:1998 .

Figure 1(d) shows a comparison of the energy scales of the ARPES kink at $`(\pi ,0)`$ (green triangles), the INS resonance He:1999 (black circles), and the nodal kink from our own data Gromko:preprint (red circles). Following the analogy of $`\alpha ^2F(\omega )`$ oscillations in strongly electron-phonon coupled conventional s-wave superconductors, we may expect the $`(\pi ,0)`$ kink to be observed at an energy equal to $`\mathrm{\Delta }+\omega _R`$, where $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$ is the superconducting gap and $`\omega _R`$ is the neutron resonance mode energy. In the presence of a varying d-wave gap with a broadened edge, there is no a-priori portion of the gap or gap-edge from which to reference the mode energy. If we choose the superconducting state EDC peak position $`\mathrm{\Delta }_p`$ at $`(\pi ,0)`$ (blue squares), the energies $`\mathrm{\Delta }_p+\omega _R`$ will clearly be larger than the kink energy scale, though if we choose the leading edge half-maximum point $`\mathrm{\Delta }_{LE}`$ at $`(\pi ,0)`$ (gray diamonds), the agreement between $`\mathrm{\Delta }_{LE}+\omega _R`$ and the kink energy scale is much better. Regardless of whether this should be considered an agreement of energy scales, it is not surprising that the situation should be more complicated in the cuprates than in conventional superconductors. For one, the resonance mode to which the electrons appear to be coupling is not yet understood, even at the basic level of whether it corresponds to particle-particle Demmler:1995  or particle-hole Eschrig:2000  excitations.

Since the magnetic mode is electronic in origin and only occurs in the paired state, there is a likelihood of a strong feedback effect that may change the observed energy scale. This contrasts with the traditional electron-phonon coupling system, where lattice dynamics are minimally affected by the onset of pairing correlations. In some limits, the energy scale of electronic coupling to the magnetic mode may be similar to the $`3\mathrm{\Delta }`$ case discussed earlier Abanov:2000 , as the magnetic mode is often considered to be an electron-hole excitation, albeit one with highly defined constraints in momentum. Finally, we note that the strong coupling near the $`(\pi ,0)`$ point makes vertex corrections much more important Zhang:pcomm , and these as well as the possibility of excitonic effects Abanov:2000  may lower the energy of the kink.

In conclusion, we have made the first observation of a kink in the ARPES spectra of HTSC cuprates near the critical $`(\pi ,0)`$ point of the zone, where the pairing is strongest. The temperature and $`\stackrel{}{k}`$-dependence of this kink suggest it originates from strong coupling of electrons to the collective magnetic resonance mode long observed in inelastic neutron scattering experiments. This increases the possibility that the magnetic mode acts as the ”glue” that couples the electrons together within a Cooper pair.

We acknowledge sample preparation help from M. Varney, beamline support from X.J. Zhou, P. Bogdanov, Z. Hussain and D.H. Liu, and helpful discussions with G. Aeppli, A. Chubukov, C. Kendziora, A. Millis, P. Lee, D. Pines, D. Scalapino, J. Schmallian, Z-X. Shen, and S.C. Zhang. We gratefully acknowledge the help of R. Goldfarb at NIST for the use of the SQUID magnetometer. This work was supported by the NSF Career-DMR-9985492 and the DOE DE-FG03-00ER45809. ALS and SSRL are operated by the DOE, Office of Basic Energy Sciences.


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# Conceptual design of nanostructures for efficient photoinduced phase transitions

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## Abstract

By means of Monte Carlo simulations on a kinetic model, we demonstrate that the efficiency of a photoinduced phase change can in general be enhanced drastically by using a superstructure of an appropriate combination of two components. This is due to the accelerated nucleation of converted domains in the structural blocks relatively close to local instability. The present mechanism provides a general guideline on the design of photocontrollable materials with potential applications for memory and storage devices.

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Control of material phases by external stimuli, especially by light, has been a subject of much interest in recent years in view of potential applications for memory and storage devices in the future. It requires a material exhibiting bistability between two distinct phases. In many cases the global bistability of a solid has a local origin, while the photo-conversion between phases usually proceeds in a cooperative fashion. This phenomenon is therefore called a photoinduced phase transition, in analogy with ordinary (thermally induced) phase transitions.

The actual observation of the phenomenon has been limited within a small number of materials: one or a few examples from each class of materials, including spin-crossover complexes, Prussian blue analogues, organic charge-transfer complexes and conjugated polymers. The scarcity of materials is presumably related to the requirement that the two phases must be energetically close to each other, otherwise the metastable phase would return to the stable phase quickly.

Here we propose a general scheme to overcome this difficulty. Suppose we have a bistable material $`\alpha `$ in which the metastable state B is much higher in energy than the stable state A, so that photo-conversion is difficult. Let us then prepare a companion material $`\beta `$ in which the relative stability is opposite (see Fig.1(a)). If we combine the two materials in an appropriate fashion, e.g., in a superlattice as shown in Fig.1(b), and if there are sufficient cooperative interactions that favor the $`\alpha `$ and $`\beta `$ units being in the same state (either A or B), then the energy of the A phase in the total system can be made degenerate with that of the B phase. This is rather an obvious way of designing new suitable materials in general. However, this approach yields more than that: We will demonstrate in the following that the photo-conversion efficiently is drastically enhanced in such mixed structures compared with uniform structures.

We consider a phenomenological model described by the Ising Hamiltonian

$$H=\underset{(i,j)=\mathrm{n}.\mathrm{n}.}{}J_{ij}S_iS_j+\underset{i}{}\epsilon _iS_i,$$
(1)
on a three-dimensional lattice, where the ‘spin’ variable $`S_i=\pm 1`$ denotes the two states (B and A) of the site $`i`$ with the energy difference $`2\epsilon _i`$. The nearest neighbor (n.n.) coupling $`J_{ij}`$ is assumed to be a positive constant $`J`$, so that the neighboring sites prefer to be in the same state. We use a simple cubic lattice of $`N\times N\times N`$ sites with periodic boundary conditions. $`N=60`$ is a typical size used in our simulations. We consider the superstructures consisting of two kinds of blocks, $`\alpha `$ and $`\beta `$, alternating in one-, two-, or three-dimensional (1D, 2D, 3D) directions as shown in Fig. 1(b). The size of each block is $`n`$ in the confined directions. (The system size $`N`$ must be an integer multiple of $`2n`$.) The site potential $`\epsilon _i`$ is assumed to be constant in each of the blocks, $`\mathrm{\Delta }/2`$ and $`\mathrm{\Delta }/2`$ in the $`\alpha `$ and $`\beta `$ blocks, respectively, corresponding to the situation illustrated in Fig. 1(a). Note that the system is symmetric with respect to the interchange of A and B ($`\alpha `$ and $`\beta `$). The case of $`\mathrm{\Delta }=0`$ corresponds to the uniform system.

For $`\mathrm{\Delta }>0`$, the $`\alpha `$ and $`\beta `$ blocks favor the A and B states, respectively. However, the system still tends to be in a uniform state without phase separation, if the block thickness $`n`$ is not very large and the inter-block interface energy proportional to $`J`$ outweighs the intra-block energy gain proportional to $`|\mathrm{\Delta }|`$. The condition for uniformity is written as $`|\mathrm{\Delta }|<\mathrm{\Delta }_\mathrm{c}4dJ/n`$, where $`d`$ is the dimensionality of the superstructure. Under this condition, the uniform ground states are doubly degenerate: The phase of all the sites being in the A state has the same energy as that of all the sites in the B state.

We have studied the kinetics of the model at finite temperatures under external excitations by means of a classical Monte Carlo simulation, wherein the spin flipping rate at each site $`j`$ is the sum of the thermal and external terms: $`w_j=w_j^\mathrm{T}+w_j^\mathrm{P}`$. When we consider selective excitation from A to B, we set $`w_j^\mathrm{P}(AB)=W`$ and $`w_j^\mathrm{P}(BA)=0`$. In each Monte Carlo step (MCS), both thermal and external spin-flip trials are performed at every site once on average. The heat bath model is used for the thermal flipping rate $`w_j^\mathrm{T}`$, although we have checked that other algorithms such as the Glauber, Metropolis, and Arrhenius models give essentially the same results.

Suppose the system is initially in the A phase and develops under an excitation rate $`W`$ from A to B at temperature $`k_\mathrm{B}T=J`$. Figure 2(a) shows the fraction of sites in the B state as a function of the excitation time $`t`$ for various $`W`$ in the homogeneous case of $`\mathrm{\Delta }=0`$. For weak excitation with $`W=0.09`$, the system remains permanently in the A phase, whereas conversion to the B phase occurs for larger $`W`$. The converted fraction does not increase linearly with time but grows rather suddenly after a certain time. This is a clear reflection of the cooperative nature of the phase change. This type of behavior was actually observed in a spin-crossover complex, where the transition occurs with the absorbed photon flux of about 1018 cm-3s-1.

We move on to the case of a superstructure with $`\mathrm{\Delta }0`$. Figure 2(b) displays the time evolution for a weak excitation rate $`W=0.05`$ at $`k_\mathrm{B}T=J`$ in the 2D superstructure with the block size $`n=1`$ and $`\mathrm{\Delta }=0.8\mathrm{\Delta }_\mathrm{c}=6.4J`$. The phase change occurs in a short time in contrast to the case of $`\mathrm{\Delta }=0`$, for which there is no indication of a phase transition. (Note the different time scales of Fig.2(a) and Fig.2(b).)

To clarify the underlying mechanism of the accelerated phase transition, we plot in Fig. 2(b) the converted fractions in the $`\alpha `$ blocks and in the $`\beta `$ blocks separately. The converted fraction of the $`\beta `$ blocks grows quickly from the beginning, and then that of the $`\alpha `$ blocks gradually follows. By tracking the time evolution of all the sites, it has been found that a nucleated domain of B states in a $`\beta `$ block does not decay so quickly as in the case of the uniform structure because of the local stabilization energy $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$, thereby allowing further growth of the B domain around the nucleus firstly in the $`\beta `$ block and then onto the surrounding $`\alpha `$ blocks. Although the energy difference $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$ counteracts as an energy cost in the $`\alpha `$ blocks, the growth process continues once the stable nucleus is formed.

The time of continuous excitation required for inducing the phase transition, $`t_\mathrm{p}`$, depends on the excitation intensity $`W`$. The $`W`$-dependence of $`t_\mathrm{p}`$ is shown in Fig. 3 for various $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$ in the 2D superstructure. Here $`t_\mathrm{p}`$ is defined by the time of the converted fraction exceeding 0.8. There is a threshold $`W_\mathrm{c}`$ below which the phase transition does not occur for each $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$, and $`t_\mathrm{p}`$ sharply diverges from above $`W_\mathrm{c}`$. We have confirmed the critical behavior by extending simulations up to 100,000 MCSs. Similar results have been obtained for 1D and 3D superstructures. The existence of a threshold light intensity for the photoinduced phase transition was also suggested in real materials. The threshold $`W_\mathrm{c}`$ at which $`t_\mathrm{p}`$ diverges is reduced drastically with increasing $`|\mathrm{\Delta }|`$. The results in Fig. 3 imply that the required time $`t_\mathrm{p}`$ at each $`W`$ drastically decreases with increasing $`|\mathrm{\Delta }|`$. For example, at $`W`$=0.12, the phase transition in the case of $`\mathrm{\Delta }=0.9\mathrm{\Delta }_\mathrm{c}`$ requires only one tenth of the excitation time for the homogeneous structure with the same excitation intensity.

In conclusion, by using nanostructures, we can drastically reduce the threshold light intensity and enhance the efficiency of phase switching in both the forward and backward directions. With this principle, which does not rely on the details of materials, the range of useful materials can be extended substantially, because an appropriate combination of inferior materials can produce a superior material for photoinduced switching.

The present mechanism was hinted by the study of the photoinduced magnetism in cobalt-iron cyanides , which can be considered as a mixed system of different local environments with cooperative interactions due to lattice distortions. It would be very interesting to make a superstructure in this class of materials as well as in other materials such as perovskite manganese oxides, for which a photoinduced metal-insulator transition was observed in the bulk.

The authors acknowledge useful discussions with Kazuhito Hashimoto, Naonobu Shimamoto, Osamu Sato and Yoshihiro Asai. This work was partly supported by NEDO under the Nanotechnology Materials Program. Computations were carried out partly using the facilities of the AIST Tsukuba Advanced Computing Center.


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# Constraining the difference in convective blueshift between the components of 𝛼 Cen with precise radial velocities

## 1 Introduction

Pourbaix (1999) derived an orbit of $`\alpha `$ Cen A & B whose main purpose was to illustrate how efficient the combination of visual and spectroscopic data can be in terms of distance and mass determination (Pourbaix 1998). This system also offers a laboratory for several areas of astronomy ranging from stellar evolution (Pourbaix et al. 1999; Guenther & Demarque 2000; Morel et al. 2000) and asteroseismology (Bouchy & Carrier 2001) to extra-solar planet search (Murdoch et al. 1993; Endl et al. 2001).

Instead of assuming an orbit and looking for a tiny variation caused by an unseen companion in some highly precise radial velocities, we use the data to improve the orbital parameters. The limits of such an approach are discussed in Sect. 2. We improve the spectro-visual orbit in Sect. 3 by combining the published data with new ones from the Anglo-Australian (Butler et al. 2001) and CORALIE (Queloz 2001) planet search projects. The corrections applied to these data are interpreted in Sect. 4 in terms of convective blueshift and gravitational redshift.

## 2 The parallax as a model parameter

$`\alpha `$ Cen is so close to us that there are several sources for the different ingredients required to derive the individual masses, for instance the mass sum and the mass ratio. We have already argued (Pourbaix 1998) that double-lined spectroscopic visual binaries offer a hypothesis-free determination of the distance and individual masses. The discrepancy between the former orbital parallax $`737.0\pm 2.6`$ mas (Pourbaix et al. 1999) and several others $`742\pm 1.42`$ mas (HIP 71683, ESA 1997), $`747.1\pm 1.2`$ mas (Söderhjelm 1999) and the consequences on the masses are therefore rather puzzling (Guenther & Demarque 2000).

Even if the old radial velocities exhibit a large scatter (the left end of the window in Fig. 2), in 1999, the precision of $`K_A`$ and $`K_B`$ (the amplitude of the radial velocity curves of A and B respectively) was better than 130 m/s for both components thanks to the sole data of Murdoch et al. (1993). But how accurate was the latter set? Pourbaix (1999) adopted their radial velocity zero point and shifted the earlier sets accordingly. With the semi-major axis of the visual orbit and the mass-ratio set, parallaxes of 737 mas and 750 mas, i.e. a change of 1.76%, are distinguishable if $`K_A+K_B`$ is known to better than 170 m/s. Unfortunately, the accuracy quoted by Murdoch & Hearnshaw (1993) was only 200 m/s.

The difference between $`K_A+K_B`$ derived with the $`747.1\pm 1.2`$ mas (Söderhjelm 1999) and 737 mas is 169 m/s. However, the closer one gets to the systemic velocity (Sep. 2006), the smaller the difference in the relative velocity (Fig. 1). Over the recent observing campaigns (about 5 years long), the effect of this parallax difference was too small to be detected even if accurate absolute radial velocities had been measured.

With the very precise relative radial velocities available now (Sect. 3), one can no longer consider the parallax as an independent parameter of the model. Indeed, the orbital parallax depends on the corrections applied to these velocities to change them into absolute ones. Therefore, either one assumes these shifts to be known and derives an orbital parallax or one assumes the latter and derives the former. From now on, we will assume that the parallax is known and set to $`747.1\pm 1.2`$ mas (Söderhjelm 1999).

## 3 New data and orbital solution

### 3.1 AAT data

The relative velocities of A and B were calculated in the usual way (Butler et al. 2001), and have typical internal measurement errors of 3 m/s. The RMS to a linear fit for A and B velocities is 5.8 and 3.6 m/s. The absolute velocity zero-point was then derived by reanalyzing the A and B observations using the NSO solar atlas (Kurucz et al. 1984) as the stellar template (Nidever et al. 2002).

These two sets of radial velocities are absolute in some sense since $`V_A`$ and $`V_B`$ have the same zero point. However, neither the AAT nor the CORALIE data are absolute per se since they only barely account for the gravitational redshift and the convective blueshift. Although these two shifts are rather tough to derive, their total effect can be guessed.

Owing to the similarity between the template and component A, the radial velocities of the latter were assumed to be absolute. The required correction to the velocities of B was $`215\pm 8`$ m/s (presumably to account for the gravitational redshift, the convective blueshift and the template mismatch) in order for the orbital parallax to match the adopted value. This correction has a linear effect on the orbital parallax. Therefore, the 8 m/s uncertainty corresponds to the 1.2 mas uncertainty of the parallax after Söderhjelm (1999).

### 3.2 CORALIE data

The CORALIE data were obtained in the usual way, i.e. a synthetic K0V template was used for both A (slightly evolved G2V) and B (K1V). The RMS to a linear fit for A and B velocities is 3.15 and 2.54 m/s. These data together with the visual observations lead to a parallax of 694 mas, about 7% too small with a mass ratio also discrepant with respect to previous estimates (Kamper & Wesselink 1978; Pourbaix et al. 1999). By adding corrections of $`+9`$ m/s and $`215`$ m/s to the CORALIE data of A and B respectively, the parallax becomes consistent with the estimate after Söderhjelm (1999). A shift of $`+40`$ m/s was also needed to put the CORALIE data in the same frame as the AAT one.

We note that for component A the corrections required for the AAT and CORALIE velocities differ by 9 m/s. This difference of 9 m/s for A could be caused by the use, in the CORALIE analysis, of the K0V template for the G2V star. The resulting spectral-type mismatch apparently causes a zero-point error of 9 m/s in A. Actually, although these 9 m/s are real, they are likely to be actually spread over the two components, caused by a template mismatch for the two components for both AAT and CORALIE.

Hence, although the instruments, calibration, and reduction techniques are totally different, the AAT and CORALIE velocity sets both suggest that the sum of gravitational redshift and convective blueshifts are different by $``$220 m/s between A and B. We consider this difference of $`220`$ m/s to be a significant measurement, albeit differential, of the effects of gravitational redshift and convective blueshift in G2V and K1V stars.

### 3.3 Simultaneous solution

The radial velocities published by Endl et al. (2001) are relative radial velocities. Therefore, the only information they constrain is the mass ratio (Eq. 2). Once the absolute scale is set, the relative radial velocities can be adjusted accordingly. The whole set of spectroscopic data is thus composed of the data after Pourbaix et al. (1999), by Endl et al. (2001) and those in Table 2. A differential correction of $`43`$ m/s was also added to the data of B after Murdoch et al. (1993). This correction is well within the accuracy limits quoted by these authors. The zero point of these radial velocities was shifted by $`568`$ m/s to coincide with the AAT one. Consequently, all the older radial velocities were also shifted by $`568`$ m/s since they were initially tied (Pourbaix 1999) to the data of Murdoch et al. (1993). However, the relative weight of these latter data sets is so small with respect to the AAT and CORALIE ones that the effect of these changes is barely noticeable.

The relative position of the secondary has also been measured a few times over the past 15 years. These observations have been added to the Washington Double Star Catalog of Observations and kindly supplied to us (Hartkopf & Mason, priv. comm.). These data combined with all the radial velocities yield the orbit in Table 1.

Although the system exhibits a large proper motion (3.7 ”/yr (ESA 1997)), our model does not account for any perspective effect. Although the visual observations cover more than three revolutions, they are not precise enough ($`\sigma _\theta =2.3\mathrm{deg}`$ and $`\sigma _\rho =0.6`$”) to exhibit any noticeable trend. Even if such a perspective effect should be accounted at the level of precision for the modern radial velocities, the time interval they cover is too short for any noticeable effect.

With respect to the 1999 solution, one notes an upward revision of the fractional mass (still rather consistent with the estimate after Murdoch & Hearnshaw (1993)) which is hypothesis-free and relies on the relative velocities only (Sect. 4). This change combined with the larger parallax yield smaller masses, with a larger effect on A than on B. The precision on the masses ($`<1`$%), about 4.5 times smaller than in 1999, therefore reflects the precision of the parallax and the accuracy of the mass ratio, orbital period and semi-major axis of the visual orbit. The revised mass of the primary agrees more with what was assumed in some recent theoretical investigations (e.g. Guenther & Demarque 2000). It is also quite consistent with the recent result of asteroseismology by Carrier et al. (2001).

With respect to the orbit, the radial velocities of Endl et al. (2001) have standard deviations of 11.9 m/s and 12.4 m/s for A and B respectively, quite consistent with the mean measurement errors (12.3 m/s and 9.9 m/s). For the AAT data, the standard deviations are 4.8 m/s and 3.7 m/s, again very consistent with the estimated mean measurement errors. The CORALIE radial velocities have standard deviations of 7.6 and 4.3 m/s for A and B respectively. For this latter set, the larger noise on component A is due to some guiding problems noticed for bright stars.

## 4 Blue and red shifts

Radial velocities of double lined spectroscopic binaries are often used to derive the mass ratio (Irwin 1973). As long as the precision of these velocities does not exceed their accuracy, this is indeed a licit approach. Nowadays, the radial velocities have a precision better than 10 m/s, however there has been little concern since Murdoch et al. (1993) about improving their accuracy. Indeed, whereas the precision is essential for the planet search campaign, very few people seem to worry about the accuracy (Griffin 1999; Gullberg 1999).

Starting with the equations of the radial velocity curves (Binnendijk 1960),

$$\begin{array}{c}V_A=V_0K_A(\mathrm{cos}(\omega +v)+e\mathrm{cos}\omega ),\hfill \\ V_B=V_0+K_B(\mathrm{cos}(\omega +v)+e\mathrm{cos}\omega )\hfill \end{array}$$
(1)
where $`v`$ is the true anomaly and $`\omega `$ is the argument of the periastron of B, one usually derives

$$\frac{V_BV_0}{V_0V_A}=\frac{K_B}{K_A}=\frac{M_A}{M_B}=\frac{1}{\kappa }1$$
(2)
where $`V_A`$ and $`V_B`$ represent the absolute radial velocities of both components, not the observed ones. Indeed, the latter are affected by the gravitational redshift (Harwit 1998) and the convective blueshift (Dravins 1999). Therefore, unless the measured radial velocities are corrected for the total effect of these two shifts, these velocities do not yield the mass ratio.

If the mass and radius of the star are known, the gravitational redshift can be computed (Harwit 1998). Even at a 10 m/s precision, the differential effect of that shift would already be rather large. Thus, with the stellar parameters adopted below, the differential redshift is 143 m/s, i.e. a $`14\sigma `$ effect. Accounting for the convective blueshift is much more difficult because that would require some a priori understanding of the internal structure of the star.

Actually, one does not need (and should even avoid) the absolute radial velocities to derive the mass ratio. Indeed, the latter can already be obtained from the relative radial velocities. From

$$\begin{array}{c}V_A=V_0+V_{0A}+\mathrm{\Delta }_A\hfill \\ V_B=V_0+V_{0B}+\mathrm{\Delta }_B\hfill \end{array}$$
(3)
where $`V_{0A}`$ and $`V_{0B}`$ account for the zero points and the gravitational and convective shifts and $`\mathrm{\Delta }_A`$ and $`\mathrm{\Delta }_B`$ are the relative radial velocities, one derives

$$\kappa =\frac{M_B}{M_A+M_B}=\frac{\mathrm{\Delta }_A}{\mathrm{\Delta }_A\mathrm{\Delta }_B}.$$
(4)
Thus, from Endl et al. (2001), an orthogonal least-square fit yields $`\kappa =0.457`$ which is very consistent with $`0.454\pm 0.002`$ after Kamper & Wesselink (1978).

We showed in the previous section that both the CORALIE and AAT data had to be differentially corrected by about 220 m/s in order to obtain likely parallax and mass ratio. We can therefore write

$$(G_BC_B)(G_AC_A)=215\pm 8\mathrm{m}/\mathrm{s}$$
(5)
where $`G`$ denotes the gravitational redshift and $`C`$ the convective blueshift (both regarded as positive quantities). It is worth keeping in mind that the 8 m/s uncertainty is based on the AAT data, results from the uncertainty on the adopted parallax only and does not account for the possible effect of the template mismatch. With the effective temperatures from Neuforge-Verheecke & Magain (1997), the luminosities from Guenther & Demarque (2000) and the masses we obtain (Table 1), $`G_A=560\pm 14`$ m/s and $`G_B=703\pm 20`$ m/s thus yielding

$$C_AC_B=72\pm 26\mathrm{m}/\mathrm{s}$$
(6)
for the overall spectrum. The difference in convective blueshifts between the components of this system for the Fe I line at $`\lambda 520`$ nm is about 500 m/s (Dravins & Nordlund 1990). Hence, for at least one of these two stars, the Fe I line does not seems to be a good indicator for the overall convective blueshift.

## 5 Conclusion

We have solved the 3D two-body problem to derive masses and their precisions. The advantage of this solution is that it is completely independent of theoretical considerations such as models of stellar structure and evolution. Therefore, unless the original observations (the relative positions or the radial velocities) become questionable, these masses should be considered as true observables and the parameters of the theoretical models adjusted accordingly (not the opposite). However, in the case of double-lined spectroscopic visual binaries, although the mass ratio is accurately derived, only the precision can be guaranteed for the individual masses.

We have studied in detail the case of $`\alpha `$ Cen A & B. Thanks to the accurate estimate of the parallax (e.g. after Hipparcos) and the combination of precise radial velocities and positions, it is possible to constrain the total effect of the convective blueshift and the gravitational redshift.

###### Acknowledgements.

We thank L. Lindegren, the referee, for his valuable suggestions. The Anglo-Australian Planet Search team would like to thank the Director of the AAO, B. Boyle, and the superb technical support of the AAT staff – in particular E. Penny, R. Patterson, D. Stafford, F. Freeman, S. Lee, J. Pogson and G. Schafer. We acknowledge the UK and Australian government support of the AAT through their PPARC and DETYA (HRAJ, CGT, AJP) ; NASA grant NAG5-8299, & NSF grant AST95-20443 (GWM); NASA grant NAG5-11094 (DP); NSF grant AST-9988987 (RPB) and Sun Microsystems.


text:
# Is the Universe Inflating? Dark Energy and the Future of the Universe

## I Introduction

There is now considerable evidence that the universe is dominated by a peculiar energy component with negative pressure. This component, called dark energy, leads to the acceleration of the universe and explains why type Ia supernovae of intermediate redshift are observed to be dimmer than they would be in a matter-only universe Riess:1998cb ; Perlmutter:1998np . Dark energy also obviates the apparent discrepancy between large-scale structure measurements, which indicate that matter comprises around 30% of the critical energy density, and cosmic microwave background measurements, which show that the total energy density is very nearly equal to critical. The energy density of this mysterious component, $`X`$, relative to the critical density is $`\mathrm{\Omega }_X0.7`$ and the equation of state is $`1wp_X/\rho _X0.6`$ Perlmutter:1999jt ; Wang:1999fa .

This important discovery raises some interesting and fundamental issues. Of particular interest to us is the possibility that the universe may be entering a stage of inflation Guth:1980zm ; Linde:1981mu ; Albrecht:1982wi , similar to that thought to have occurred in the early universe. If this is the case, we would like to know when the universe started or will start to inflate, when we will be able to observe this inflation, and what observational constraints, if any, exist that could reveal, even in principle, whether the inflationary period will be prolonged or even eternal. To address these questions, we are motivated by the exciting prospects for constraining dark energy using cosmological probes. Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) have been the most effective and direct probes to date, and give strong evidence for the existence of the negative-pressure component Riess:1998cb ; Perlmutter:1998np . Number counts of galaxies newman  and galaxy clusters holder  are also very promising techniques, which are sensitive to the growth of density perturbations. While weak gravitational lensing WL  and large-scale structure surveys GDM  are mostly sensitive to the matter component, and the cosmic microwave background (CMB) primarily probes the total energy density, all three of these provide crucial complementary information; namely the fraction of the total energy density in matter $`\mathrm{\Omega }_M`$ and the total energy density $`\mathrm{\Omega }_{TOT}`$ (both in units of the critical density). With the proposed wide-field telescopes, such as the Large-aperture Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST)111www.dmtelescope.org on the ground, and the Supernova Acceleration Probe (SNAP)222snap.lbl.gov in space, the next decade may offer an order-of-magnitude better constraints on the properties of dark energy.

To address the observability of the fate of the universe, Starkman et al. Starkman:1999pg  (heretofore STV) have used the concept of the minimal anti-trapped surface (MAS). The MAS is a sphere, centered on the observer, on which the velocity of comoving objects is the speed of light $`c`$. In a Friedmann-Robertson-Walker (FRW) cosmology, the radius of the MAS at any given conformal time $`\eta _e`$ is the Hubble radius at that time $`H(\eta _e)^1`$. For sources inside our MAS, photons emitted directly at us get nearer with time, while all photons emitted by sources outside the MAS are initially receding from us because of the superluminal recession of the source. If the MAS is expanding (in comoving terms), then the retreating photons will eventually stop retreating and reach the observer – the source will come into view. If the MAS is contracting, many of the photons will never reach us. The authors then argue that comoving contraction of the MAS can be identified with inflation.

The work of STV builds on earlier work of Vachaspati and Trodden Vachaspati:1998dy , who have shown that in a FRW cosmology at conformal time $`\eta _e`$, the necessary and sufficient condition for the contraction of the MAS is that a region of size $`H^1(\eta _e)`$, the radius of the MAS, be vacuum dominated. Assuming a flat universe with vacuum energy relative to critical of $`\mathrm{\Omega }_\mathrm{\Lambda }=0.8`$, STV compute the redshift at which we can observe the MAS to be $`z_{MAS}1.8`$. Since the comoving radius of the MAS is equal to the comoving Hubble radius, the condition for the onset of inflation is particularly simple

$$\frac{dH_{\mathrm{comov}}^1}{d\eta }=0.$$
(1)
STV then conclude that in a flat universe the MAS is directly observable only if $`\mathrm{\Omega }_\mathrm{\Lambda }>0.96`$, and so, for the currently favored value of $`\mathrm{\Omega }_\mathrm{\Lambda }`$, this is not possible.

Subsequently several other paper on essentially the same topic have appeared, and we briefly comment on them here. Avelino et al. Avelino:2000ix  address the same problem as STV, but replace the criterion for inflation used by STV (i.e., the contraction of the MAS) by the condition that inflation arises when the energy-momentum tensor is vacuum-energy dominated out to a redshift $`z=z_{}`$, where the distance to $`z_{}`$ is equal to the distance to the event horizon. With this definition, higher $`\mathrm{\Omega }_\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ implies smaller $`z_{}`$, which the authors consider a more reasonable result than the one from STV (in which higher $`\mathrm{\Omega }_\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ implies higher $`z_{MAS}`$.) Gudmundsson and Björnsson Gudmundsson:2001gd  introduce the concept of a $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$-sphere, which they define as the surface within which the vacuum energy dominates and is located at the redshift of the onset of acceleration of the universe. In this work we shall retain the criterion for inflation used by STV, defined by contraction of the MAS. This definition is simple, mathematically precise and intuitively clear and corresponds with the fundamental causal notion of inflation – that in inflation objects are leaving apparent causal contact.

In this paper we extend the analysis of STV in several ways. First of all, in Sec. II we generalize all results from a pure cosmological constant to a general dark energy component described by its fractional density $`\mathrm{\Omega }_X`$ and redshift-dependent equation of state ratio $`w(z)`$. Indeed, although the vacuum energy considered in STV is in many ways the simplest dark-energy candidate, there are a number of other candidates, some of which have been thoroughly explored (e.g. quintessence Ratra:1987rm ; Caldwell:1997ii , or k-essence Armendariz-Picon:2000dh ; Armendariz-Picon:2000ah ). These alternatives can have complex dynamics and lead to observationally distinct cosmic evolutions. In Sec. III we use a toy model to investigate in depth some possible scenarios. Finally, in Sec. IV we discuss in detail what cosmological observations can and cannot tell us about the fate of the universe. Throughout, we assume a flat universe as suggested by recent CMB anisotropy results Netterfield:2001yq ; Pryke:2001yz ; max ; wang . The fiducial model we use is $`\mathrm{\Omega }_X=1\mathrm{\Omega }_M=0.7`$ and $`w(z)=1`$, which corresponds to the current concordance model turner\_scripta .

Finally, we make two additional assumptions. First, we assume the validity of the weak energy condition (that is, $`w(z)1`$), which is required in order to use the results of Vachaspati and Trodden regarding the MAS Vachaspati:1998dy . Second, we assume that the universe is homogeneous on the current horizon scales (i.e., on scale $`H_0^1`$). Besides being confirmed to a high accuracy by observations, the homogeneity assumption is crucial for our arguments; it follows that the energy content of our patch of the universe is a function of time only (obtained through $`\mathrm{\Omega }_M(z)`$ and $`\mathrm{\Omega }_X(z)`$) and not space.

## II A Generalized condition for inflation

Let us see which dark energy models satisfy the condition (1) on the turnaround of the MAS, and at what redshift.

The energy density in the dark component evolves as

$$\rho _X(z)=\mathrm{\Omega }_X\rho _{crit}\mathrm{exp}\left(3_0^z(1+w(z^{}))d\mathrm{ln}(1+z^{})\right).$$
(2)
The condition for the turnaround of the MAS then simplifies to

$$\rho _M(z)+[1+3w(z)]\rho _X(z)=0,$$
(3)
or, using the fact that $`\mathrm{\Omega }_X(z)\rho _X(z)/\rho _{crit}(z)`$,

$$Q(z)1+3w(z)\mathrm{\Omega }_X(z)=0.$$
(4)
Since $`dH_{comov}^1/d\eta =0`$ is equivalent to $`\ddot{a}/a=0`$ in an FRW universe, this is precisely the same as the condition that the universe be accelerating. Here $`a(t)`$ is the cosmic scale factor and a dot denotes a derivative with respect to physical time $`t`$.

Our observational knowledge of cosmic history puts certain constraints on $`Q(z)`$ at large $`z`$. It is possible that $`\mathrm{\Omega }_X(z)`$ is significant and $`w(z)`$ negative at particular eras at high $`z`$. For example, during big bang nucleosynthesis $`\mathrm{\Omega }_X(z_{BBN})0.2`$ is allowed ferreira , and $`\mathrm{\Omega }_X(z)`$ may even be unity for short enough periods in a later era. However, there must have been an epoch when $`\mathrm{\Omega }_X(z)`$ was less than $`1/3`$ (the value we require from Eq. (4)), since otherwise the dark energy component would interfere with structure formation and big-bang nucleosynthesis. Thus it is clear that $`Q(z)>0`$ at some large enough $`z`$. In addition, the fact that galaxies and other objects in the universe are visible tells us that the MAS was not contracting during the same epoch. It then follows that the condition for inflation is therefore $`Q(z)<0`$, or

$$w(z)<\frac{1}{3\mathrm{\Omega }_X(z)}.$$
(5)
In particular, for $`\mathrm{\Omega }_X=0.7`$ today, the criterion for inflation is $`w(0)<0.48`$, which coincides with the more familiar condition for acceleration ($`\ddot{a}/a>0`$).

Of course, it is a significant experimental challenge to measure $`w(z)`$ at a given $`z`$ or, more generally, to isolate the equation of state ratio in a particular redshift window (for a more detailed discussion, see Refs. huttur ; weller ; kujat ). Abrupt variations in $`w(z)`$ are particularly difficult to detect due to the integral effect of $`w(z)`$ on the expansion rate; see Eq. (2). An example is given in Fig. 1. The equation of state ratio depicted here is negative at high $`z`$, causing the onset of inflation (which occurred at $`z=0.67`$ if $`w`$ has always been $`1`$); $`w`$ then rapidly increases and inflation then stops when $`w`$ saturates the bound of Eq. (5). If the change in $`w`$ is sufficiently abrupt, this change (and therefore the end of inflation) will be cosmologically unobservable.

## III A toy model

Our goal is to investigate a class of dark energy models to understand in each case what observations may in principle tell us about the future evolution of our patch of the universe. For example, since current data indicate $`\mathrm{\Omega }_X0.7`$ and $`w0.8`$ (see, for example Ref. bean ), implying current inflation, we would like to understand how we might test the broad range of theoretical scenarios that are consistent with current observations but in which the MAS is not currently contracting.

We will adopt a four-parameter description of $`w(z)`$ of the following form

$$w(z)=\{\begin{array}{cc}w_1& 0<z<z_1\hfill \\ \frac{w_1(z_2z)w_2(z_1z)}{z_2z_1}& z_1zz_2\hfill \\ w_2& z>z_2\hfill \end{array}$$
(6)
(see Fig. 2), so that the equation of state ratio takes different constant values at low and high redshifts, and interpolates linearly between these two regimes. This parameterization, although crude, mimics a wide class of dark energy models. Although in principle we have four adjustable parameters $`w_1`$, $`w_2`$, $`z_1`$ and $`z_2`$, the results in the $`w_1`$-$`w_2`$ plane are similar for various choices of $`z_1`$ and $`z_2`$ and so it is not necessary to run through the full parameter space.

As Fig. 3 shows, there are three interesting regions of parameter space.

* Region I: Here $`w_1<1/(3\mathrm{\Omega }_X)`$, and hence the universe is undergoing inflation today independent of the behavior of $`w(z)`$ at higher $`z`$.
* Region II: Here $`w_1`$ is too high for inflation to be occurring today, and $`w_2`$ is too high for inflation to have occurred in the past, cf. Eq. (5). Hence, our patch of the universe never underwent late-time inflation.
* Region III: Here $`w_1`$ is too large for inflation to be occurring now, but $`w_2`$ is negative enough that the universe recently inflated but then stopped inflating.

Note also the $`z_1`$ and $`z_2`$-dependent “dip” at $`w_1`$ just greater than $`0.48`$. This feature can be explained simply. If $`w_1=0.45`$, say, then dark energy becomes subdominant to dark matter with increasing redshift, and it takes a very negative $`w_2`$ (close to $`1`$) to achieve inflation in the past. However, if $`w_1`$ is more positive, $`+1.0`$ say, dark energy is not as subdominant at higher $`z`$ (or perhaps is dominant), and it takes a less negative $`w_2`$ to achieve inflation in the past.

## IV Observing the contraction of the MAS?

Let us begin by generalizing the condition of STV Starkman:1999pg  for the observability of the turnaround point of the MAS. The redshift of the turnaround $`z_c`$ (where ‘c’ stands for ‘contraction’) is given by

$$Q(z_c)=0,$$
(7)
where $`Q(z)`$ is given in Eq. (4) and $`\rho _X(z)`$ is given by Eq. (2). The condition for observing the turnaround point is given by

$$a_c_{\eta _0}^{\eta _c}𝑑\eta =H^1(\eta _c),$$
(8)
which, when combined with Eq. (7) and for constant $`w`$, simplifies to

$$_{a_c}^1\frac{dx}{\sqrt{x^3(x^{3w}13w)}}=\frac{1}{\sqrt{3w}},$$
(9)
where $`a_c`$ is the scale factor at turnaround (normalized to 1 today).

We can now compute which models allow the turnaround to be observable (that is, $`a_c<1`$). Solving Eq. (9) numerically for $`a_c`$ and combining with Eq. (7), we find that, to a good approximation, the constraint from STV is roughly independent of w; see Fig. 4. Therefore, $`\mathrm{\Omega }_X0.90.95`$ would be necessary to directly observe the contraction of the MAS, with weak dependence of this value on $`w`$. Sadly, current data suggest that $`\mathrm{\Omega }_X0.7`$.

Since the contraction of the MAS is currently unobservable, the best we can hope for is to observe points on our light cone that are causally connected with the turnaround point of the MAS. By making observations out to one of these points, call it $`P`$, we can verify (at least in principle) the continued presence of the dark-energy component (i.e., $`\mathrm{\Omega }_X(z)`$ and $`w(z)`$). Having successfully done this, the only obstacle to concluding that the universe is inflating is that there could exist some physics, such as a domain wall separating our region of false vacuum from one of true vacuum, located at $`P`$ and which adds enough energy (with sufficiently positive pressure) at the turnaround point to spoil the contraction of the MAS, and hence inflation.

The redshift of these observable points $`P`$ can be computed for a given speed with which a signal located at that point (and observed by us) moves in order to reach the turnaround of the MAS some time later. In Fig. 5, these points are labeled as $`P_v`$, where $`v`$ is the speed of the signal in question ($`v`$ is in units of the speed of light $`c`$).

From Fig. 5, the conformal distance and time at which we see these points is given by

$`r_v`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{v(\eta _0\eta _c)r_c}{v1}}`$ (10)
$`\eta _v`$ $`=`$ $`\eta _0r_v,`$ (11)
where $`v`$ is the velocity of the signal with respect to us, $`r`$ and $`\eta `$ are conformal distance and time respectively, and subscripts $`0`$ and $`c`$ denote today and at the contraction point of the MAS respectively. We have adopted the convention that $`v=\pm 1`$ denotes the signal moving directly toward (away) away from us (at the speed of light). Obviously, $`r(v=1)=\mathrm{}`$, since if $`r(v=1)`$ were finite, then the MAS would be on our light cone and we would be able to see it.

We solve Eqs. (10) and (11) numerically, and display the results in Fig. 6. The top and middle panels of Fig. 6 show the observable redshifts $`z_v`$ as a function of the speed of the signal $`v`$ for two different values of $`w`$. Note that $`z_v`$ increases rapidly as $`v`$ increases, going to infinity for $`v0.8`$, and is fairly insensitive to $`w`$. The bottom panel shows $`z_v`$ as a function of (constant) $`w`$ for three different values of $`v`$; for example, for $`v=0`$ and $`1<w<0.5`$, $`z_v1.8`$.

Now, when we look at the CMB sky, we observe photons that arrive from the last scattering surface (LSS). We compute the velocity with which a signal located at the LSS would have to propagate in order for the signal to interact with the turnaround point of the MAS, and hence affect the onset of inflation in our patch of the universe. We use Eqs. (10) and (11) to compute this velocity and its dependence on various cosmological parameters. Representative results are displayed in Fig. (7) in which we plot $`v`$ as a function of constant $`w`$, for fixed $`\mathrm{\Omega }_X=0.7`$. Clearly, for any disturbance propagating at $`v0.8c`$ it is impossible to rule out that this disturbance has prevented or ended a recent inflationary period.

## V Conclusions

During the last few years there has been considerable excitement over a wide variety of data, most directly the observations of type Ia supernovae, strongly suggesting that on the scales that have been probed the rate of cosmic expansion is accelerating (or at least was at $`z0.5`$). If correct, this implies that the energy density of the universe is (or was) dominated by dark energy – a component with negative pressure comparable to its energy density. The inferences that have been drawn – that the entire universe is currently in the throes of a new period of inflation of indefinite, and perhaps infinite, duration – rely on common but important simplifying assumptions: that the dark energy density is homogeneous out to at least the limit of the visible universe, and that the time evolution of the dark energy density, if any, is relatively slow, governed perhaps by the classical evolution of a scalar field in some smooth, flat, effective potential.

Unfortunately, as we have found, none of these inferences or assumptions are fully testable. The period of accelerated cosmic expansion has not lasted long enough for any observations, even in principle, to confirm that the local Hubble volume is vacuum-dominated and contained in the interior of an antitrapped surface – the condition that inflation is indeed taking place. Such observations, even assuming a homogeneous cosmological constant-dominated universe, will need to wait until the energy density of the cosmic vacuum has risen to about 95% of the critical energy density from its current 70%. If the assumption of spatial homogeneity is maintained, but the assumption of a static source of dark energy density is relaxed, then we find that inflation is underway in any epoch in which $`w`$, the effective equation of state of the dark energy over a Hubble volume, is sufficiently vacuum-like; $`w<1/(3\mathrm{\Omega }_x)`$. Investigations of spatial inhomogeneities, particularly ones that could end any ongoing inflationary expansion, require observations of relatively small effects at relatively large distances. It is possible, in principle, to look out and tell whether a slow moving ($`v0.8c`$) disturbance will prevent our little corner of the universe from inflating. However, until $`\mathrm{\Omega }_X0.95`$, we cannot be completely confident that this inflation will ultimately begin and we can never tell how long it will last, since this depends on the future behavior of dark energy and its equation of state. The future of the universe remains uncertain.

###### Acknowledgements.

The authors would like to thank Tanmay Vachaspati for numerous helpful discussions. The work of DH and GDS is supported by a Department of Energy grant to the particle astrophysics theory group at CWRU. The work of MT is supported by the National Science Foundation under grant PHY-0094122.


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# Chandra and ASCA Observations of the X-ray-brightest T-Tauri Stars in the 𝜌 Ophiuchi Cloud

## 1 INTRODUCTION

Low-mass stars in the pre-main sequence (PMS) stage are classified into four types based on their infrared (IR) to sub-mm spectral energy distributions (SEDs); molecular cloud cores through protostars are represented by class 0 and I SEDs, while classical and weak-line T-Tauri stars (CTTSs and WTTSs) exhibit class II and III SEDs (Shu, Adams, & Lizano, 1987; André & Montmerle, 1994).

The Einstein satellite first revealed that T-Tauri stars (TTSs = CTTSs and WTTSs) emit intense and time variable X-rays with occasional rapid flares (Feigelson & DeCampli, 1981; Montmerle et al., 1983). These properties are consistent with a scenario of enhanced solar-type activity, attributable to magnetic dynamo processes. Successive X-ray satellites such as ROSAT, ASCA, and Chandra have detected X-ray emission from many PMS stars, even from the youngest class 0 stage (Tsuboi et al., 2001), and suggest that X-ray emission from low-mass PMS stars is caused by magnetic activity. These results, however, rely mainly on short duration observations; neither long-term nor detailed behavior of the X-ray spectrum and timing has been well studied. This paper hence addresses three topics on TTSs; (1) the duty ratio of the X-ray flare, (2) the long-term plasma structure and variability, and (3) the chemical compositions in the quiescent and flare phases.

(1) Stelzer, Neuhäuser, & Hambaryan (2000) compiled ROSAT PSPC observations of the Taurus-Auriga-Perseus region and found that the flare rate may depend on the stellar age, rotation period, and/or multiplicity; stars with younger ages, shorter rotation periods, and located in binary systems tend to show more frequent flares. Hence, the flare rate may help to reveal the physical conditions of PMS stars.

(2) Preibisch (1997) fitted the ROSAT PSPC spectra of $``$60 PMS stars with several thermal plasma models and found that multi-temperature components are needed for most of the spectra. Tsujimoto et al. (2001) also reported that about two-thirds of the Chandra spectra of TTSs in the Orion molecular cloud tend to be well fitted by multi-temperature plasma models as compared with single temperature plasma models for younger objects (protostars). The multi-temperature structure may also depend on the activity phase of each star; higher temperature plasma becomes dominant in a flare compared with a quiescent phase. Thus long-term monitoring of both flare and quiescent phases is crucial for the study of the origin and structure of the multi-temperature plasma.

(3) ASCA found that the mean chemical composition of X-ray-emitting plasma in young stellar objects (YSOs) is generally sub-solar and varies from star to star (Kamata et al., 1997; Ozawa, 2000). These results may be misleading, however, because the mean-abundance determination is biased toward elements with strong emission lines in the relevant energy range and largely depends on the plasma temperature. Moreover, the abundances of the stellar corona may be different from those in the photosphere, depending on the first ionization potential (FIP) of the relevant elements. For instance, in a solar corona, elements with low FIP are overabundant relative to the solar photospheric values (“the FIP effect”, Feldman 1992). In some of the stellar coronae, however, the abundances of high-FIP elements are larger than the others (the Inverse FIP = IFIP effect). The IFIP effect appears in X-ray active stars, while the FIP effect is generally seen in less active stars (Audard, Güdel, & Mewe, 2001; Brinkman et al., 2001; Güdel et al., 2001a, b, c; Huenemoerder, Canizares, & Schulz, 2001; Kastner et al., 2001). The dependence of abundance on the X-ray activity is also found within individual stars; the enhancements in abundance are seen from quiescent to flare phases, or even within a single flare phase (e.g. HR1099, Audard et al. 2001; V773 Tau, Tsuboi et al. 1998). Due to the limited statistics and samples, however, it is unclear whether or not abundance variations between quiescent and flare phases are common, and whether or not FIP/IFIP effects are present in low-mass YSOs.

To investigate the above-mentioned subjects, we selected the three X-ray brightest TTSs; DoAr 21 (ROXs 8), ROXs 21 and ROXs 31 in the $`\rho `$ Ophiuchi cloud ($`\rho `$ Oph) located at a distance of 145 pc (de Zeeuw et al., 1999), because all three have publicly available long-term observations with Chandra and ASCA. These TTSs were first recognized as bright X-ray sources with Einstein (Montmerle et al., 1983), and were identified with optical K–M stars having weak H$`\alpha `$ emission (Bouvier & Appenzeller, 1992), hence classified as WTTS (class III). Simon et al. (1995) observed the lunar occultation of these WTTSs at infrared wavelengths and found that ROXs 21 and ROXs 31 are binary systems with separation angles of 0$`\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}`$3 and 0$`\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}`$48, respectively. The rotational period of ROXs 21 is reported to be 1.39 days (Shevchenko & Herbst, 1998). Since no continuum emission is found at 1.3 mm (André & Montmerle, 1994), the circumstellar envelope of these TTSs is thought to have already disappeared, while DoAr 21 may still have an accretion disk, as suggested by the detection of near-infrared (NIR) polarized emission (Ageorges et al., 1997). Using the theoretical evolutionary tracks in the H-R diagram, the age of DoAr 21 is estimated to be $``$105 yr, which is younger than that of ROXs 21 and ROXs 31 ($``$106 yr) (Nürnberger et al., 1998). Finally, DoAr 21 and ROXs 31 show variable radio emission, which is probably due to the gyro-synchrotron emission induced by the surface magnetic field (Stine et al., 1988).

Early results with the Chandra and ASCA observations (Koyama et al., 1994; Kamata et al., 1997; Tsuboi, 1999; Tsuboi et al., 2000; Skinner, 2000; Imanishi et al., 2001) revealed that these particular TTSs have luminosities of $``$1030 ergs s-1 and relatively low absorption ($`N_\mathrm{H}`$ $``$ 1022 cm-2). Thus they can provide enough counts to measure their temporal and spectral properties in great detail.

## 2 OBSERVATIONS AND DATA REDUCTION

The Chandra (Weisskopf, O’dell, & van Speybroeck, 1996) observation (hereafter, obs C1) of these TTSs was made with five front-illuminated X-ray CCDs, ACIS-I0, I1, I2, I3, and S2, in the 0.2–10 keV band. The level 2 data were retrieved from the Chandra X-ray Center (CXC) archive. X-ray events are selected using the ASCA grades 0, 2, 3, 4, and 6. An effective exposure time of $``$100 ks is obtained (Table 1). Another long exposure observation of the $`\rho `$ Oph core A, which contains DoAr 21 in the ACIS-I3, is also in the archive (obs C2), but this data suffer from the photon pile-up and therefore were not used.

Three observations (obs A1, A2, and A3) were carried out with the two Gas Imaging Spectrometers (GISs) (Ohashi et al., 1996) and the two Solid-state Imaging Spectrometers (SISs) (Burke et al., 1991) onboard ASCA (Tanaka, Inoue, & Holt, 1994), at the foci of the X-ray telescopes (XRTs) (Serlemitsos et al., 1995) sensitive to photons in 0.4–10 keV. However, the TTS sources were located outside of, or at the edge of the SIS’s field of view in the majority of the observations; therefore we do not use the SIS data. We retrieved the ASCA unscreened data from the HEASARC Online Service. Data taken at a geomagnetic cutoff rigidity lower than 4 GV, at an elevation angle less than 5 from the Earth, and during passage through the South Atlantic Anomaly were filtered out. Particle events were also removed using the rise-time discrimination method. The total available exposure times were $``$38 ks (obs A1), 93 ks (A2), and 75 ks (A3) (Table 1).

## 3 ANALYSIS AND RESULTS

### 3.1 Extraction of Source and Background Photons

The positions of NIR counterparts (Barsony et al., 1997) were used to fine-tune the Chandra coordinates. We then extracted the source photons using an ellipse with major and minor axes of 60$`\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}`$0 and 35$`\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}`$0, respectively, for DoAr 21, and from respective circles of 11$`\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}`$7 and 12$`\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}`$0 radius for ROXs 21 and ROXs31, with the regions centered at the NIR positions (Barsony et al., 1997). The relatively large source areas are due to large off-axis point spread functions (PSFs); DoAr 21 lies in ACIS-S2 $``$20 away from the optical axis, while ROXs 21 and ROXs 31 are at the edge of ACIS-I1 with off-axis angles of $``$7–10. The large off-axis angle (and hence large PSF) for the brightest source DoAr21 mitigates photon pile-up, which in fact is a problem for the obs C2 case. The background region for DoAr 21 was taken from a source-free 19 arcmin2 region on ACIS-S2, while that for ROXs 21 and ROXs 31 was taken from a 63 arcmin2 region on the ACIS-I array. For the ASCA GIS data (obs A1–A3) the source photons were extracted from 3 radii circles. The background regions were also taken using 3 radii circles from nearby source-free regions.

### 3.2 Time Variability

Figure 1 and 2 show the X-ray light curves (no background subtraction) of (a) DoAr 21, (b) ROXs 21, and (c) ROXs 31 obtained with the Chandra ACIS (obs C1) and the ASCA GIS (obs A1–A3), respectively. The photon counts are normalized by the effective area at 1 keV, for comparison with the different instruments and observation epochs. The time bins of each data point are 103 s and 104 s for ACIS (Figure 1) and GIS (Figure 2), respectively. The energy band of the ACIS and GIS data for DoAr 21 are taken to be 0.5–9.0 keV. However, the GIS light curves for ROXs 21 and ROXs 31 are limited in the soft energy band of 0.5–1.5 keV in order to avoid possible contamination from a nearby variable hard X-ray source, YLW 15A (Tsuboi, 1999; Tsuboi et al., 2000; Imanishi et al., 2001). To verify the energy band, we extracted the ACIS-I spectrum of YLW 15A and fit it with an absorbed thin thermal plasma model. We find a best-fitted absorption of $`N_\mathrm{H}`$ = 4.4$`\times `$1022 cm-2 (Imanishi et al., 2001), which reduces the X-ray emission below 1.5 keV to less than 3% of the 1.5–9 keV flux. Hence possible contamination from YLW 15 A to the GIS source circles of ROXs 21 and ROXs 31 is insignificant in the 0.5–1.5 keV band. No data is shown in the ROXs 21 light curve (Figure 2b) from MJD = 50511.55–50512.20 due to significant contamination from an exceptionally giant flare of ROXs 31 (see Figure 2c).

For a unified study, we conventionally define a flare using the following criterion: at least two consecutive time bins must have larger fluxes than the quiescent bin by $`5\sigma `$-level, where the quiescent bin is the minimum time bin in each observation. Under this criterion, we detect six, three, and two flares from DoAr 21, ROXs 21 and ROXs 31, respectively. These are labelled as “F”, “F1”, “F2”, and “F3” with arrows in Figure 1 and 2, while the quiescent phases are indicated by “Q”. An extremely large flare with the maximum flux of $``$100 times higher than the quiescent level is detected from ROXs 31 (Figure 2c) and is separately treated in §3.4.

### 3.3 X-ray Spectra

The background-subtracted ACIS spectra of each source using all the data of obs C1 are shown in Figure 3. Several emission lines from highly ionized elements such as O, Ne, Na, Mg, Si, S, Ar, Ca, and Fe are seen, hence the spectra are characteristic of a thin thermal plasma. We therefore fit the spectra with a thin thermal plasma model allowing the abundance of each element with prominent lines (indicated by arrows in Figure 3) to be free. For the study of time variation of the spectra, we separately fit the flare and quiescent spectra as shown in Figure 1. A single-temperature (1-T) thin-thermal plasma model (Mewe et al. 1985) is not acceptable for all the spectra except DoAr 21 and the flare phase of ROXs 31. We therefore fit two-temperature (2-T) plasma models for ROXs 21 and ROXs 31 and find acceptable fits. Table 2 shows the best-fit parameters. All the elemental abundances are below the solar photospheric values (Anders & Grevesse, 1989) except for Ne in DoAr 21 and Na in ROXs 21. The best-fit abundances are displayed in Figure 4 with the order of the FIP.

We investigate the Na overabundance seen in ROXs 21 in further detail, because Na is a relatively rare element compared with the major 4N nuclei and the Na Lyman-$`\alpha `$ line lies near the Lyman-$`\beta `$ line of the more abundant element Ne. Figure 5a shows the best-fit result when the Na abundance is correctively varied with the “other” elements. A significant data excess is found at $``$1.2 keV, near the Lyman-$`\beta `$ line of Ne (1.211 keV). The intensity ratio of Lyman-$`\beta `$ to -$`\alpha `$ lines of Ne should increase with increasing plasma temperature, but stay almost constant at $``$ 7 for plasma temperatures higher than 1 keV (Mewe et al. 1985). Therefore 1/7 of the Lyman-$`\alpha `$ flux should be an upper-limit to the Lyman-$`\beta `$ line flux. Since the flux of the Ne Lyman-$`\alpha `$ line is fairly strong, the Lyman-$`\beta `$ line flux is well constrained as seen in Fig 5a. Thus the excess flux should originate from another element; the Lyman-$`\alpha `$ line of Na (1.236 keV) is the best candidate. Allowing the Na abundance to be a free parameter improved the fit as demonstrated in Figure 5b. The reduction of $`\chi ^2`$ ($`d.o.f.`$) from 114 (97) to 108 (96) is significant with $``$98 % confidence level for the $`F`$-test (Bevington & Robinson, 1992).

Using the GIS spectra of DoAr 21, we investigate the long-term ($``$yr) behavior of the spectral parameters. Since the energy resolution does not allow us to separate the emission lines from the key elements, we correctively varied the abundances. The best-fit luminosity shows long-term variability in the range $`(28)\times 10^{31}`$ erg s-1. The best-fit temperatures and abundances also vary from 2.5 to 4 keV and 0.15 to 0.5 solar, respectively; both are possibly correlated to the X-ray luminosity as are shown in Figure 6a and 6b. The $`N_\mathrm{H}`$ value is consistent with being constant, although weak variability within a factor $``$ 2 cannot be rejected. We note that although the 1-T model in the medium resolution X-ray spectra may lead to an error in abundance by a factor $``$2 (Reale, Peres, & Orlando, 2001), such an effect is significantly reduced with 2-T or multi-T models. Since we used 2-T models for 2 out of the 3 sources, the artificial abundance uncertainty should be better constrained.

### 3.4 Giant Flare from ROXs 31

For the study of the spectral evolution during the flare, we make and fit time-sliced GIS spectra of the giant flare from ROXs 31 in obs A2 (Figure 2c). The time intervals are shown in Figure 7 (left). The spectra show strong K$`\alpha `$ emission of He-like Fe at $``$6.7 keV, hence we let the Fe abundance vary. The flare spectra are well fitted with a 1-T model. The best-fit parameters for each time interval are shown in Figure 7 (right). As shown in the figure, this flare has an unusual time profile. The light curve increases slowly over $``$15 ks (see also Skinner 2000). The temperature reaches its peak value before the flux maximum, and stays nearly constant during the decay phase.

The absorption ($`N_\mathrm{H}`$) and abundances dramatically change from quiescent to flare; $`N_\mathrm{H}`$ in the flare is $``$7.1$`\times `$1021 cm-2, $``$2 times smaller than that of the quiescent phase (obs C1) of 1.7$`\times `$1022 cm-2, and the abundances increase by a factor of 3–30 from quiescent (Z = 0.01–0.1 Z) to the giant flare (0.26–0.29). These parameters, however, do not change during the flare.

## 4 DISCUSSION

### 4.1 Flare Rate

We have detected six (DoAr 21), three (ROXs 21) and two (ROXs 31) flares under our flare criterion (see §3.2). The total exposure time of the four observations is $``$7 days, hence the flare rate is one per 1.2, 2.3, and 3.5 days for DoAr 21, ROXs 21 and ROXs 31, respectively. We also confirmed the high flare rate of DoAr 21 in obs C2, although the data suffer from photon pile-up. Two possibilities could account for the higher rate in DoAr 21: differences of the energy band (DoAr 21: 0.5–9.0 keV, versus ROXs 21 and ROXs 31: 0.5–1.5 keV in obs A1–A3) and the mean count rate (DoAr 21: $``$0.4 counts s-1, versus ROXs 21 and ROXs 31: 0.04–0.09 counts s-1 in obs C1). In fact, limiting the GIS data of DoAr 21 to 0.5–1.5 keV reduces the number of flares (under our criterion) to two (F2 in obs A2 and F in obs A3), similar in number to those of ROXs 21 and ROXs 31. Also, the higher count rate of DoAr 21 results in a higher sensitivity to smaller amplitude flares that can be detected under our criterion (§3.2). Indeed, both flares in Figure 1a have smaller amplitudes than those in Figure 1b and c. Conversely, at similar sensitivities, the flare rate of ROXs 21 and ROXs 31 may be comparable to that of DoAr 21, in spite of different ages (DoAr 21, $``$105 yr; ROXs 21 and ROXs 31, $``$106 yr) and different structure (ROXs 21 and ROXs 31 are binaries, while DoAr 21 may be a single star).

The typical flare rate of X-ray sources in the Taurus-Auriga-Perseus region (Stelzer et al. 2000) is 1/(4–5) days (assuming a typical decay time scale of 1 hour). Therefore we predict significantly higher flare rates than that reported previously. The higher duty ratio may be primarily due to the extended sensitivity in the hard X-ray band ($`>`$1.5 keV) and their brightness, because the flare activity (flux increase) is clearer in the harder X-ray band and/or for brighter sources as we have already demonstrated for DoAr 21 in the previous paragraph and in Figure 6a.

### 4.2 Interpretation of the Temperature Structure

The high-quality spectra of the long Chandra ACIS exposure reveal that the 2-T models gives a better fit for overall spectra than the 1-T models for ROXs 21 and ROXs 31. This supports previous 2-T model fits for some fraction of other bright TTSs (Carkner et al., 1996; Preibisch, 1997; Costa et al., 2000; Ozawa, 2000; Tsujimoto et al., 2001). DoAr 21, on the other hand, displays a simple 1-T spectrum with $`kT`$3 keV; hence it has no additional soft component. Since the age of DoAr 21 ($``$105 yr) is younger than that of ROXs 21 and ROXs 31 ($``$106 yr) (Nürnberger et al., 1998), coupled with the result of Tsujimoto et al. (2001) that 2-T spectra are found more often in older TTSs than in younger protostars, we speculate that the soft component, probably a relatively steady corona, is generated gradually as the system increases in age, finally reaching solar-like corona. In this scenario, the hard component would be the sum of unresolved flares.

### 4.3 Chemical Composition of the X-ray-emitting Plasma

The coronal abundances of the TTSs are sub-solar, consistent with the previous results. From Figure 4, we see that both high-FIP (Ne and Ar) and low-FIP (Na, Mg and Ca) elements show higher abundances than the other elements (the IFIP and FIP effects).

For the abundances in solar corona, the FIP-effect appears in elements with FIPs below 10 eV; these elements are collisionally ionized in the photosphere at 6000–7000 K temperature, and would be preferentially transferred to the upper coronal region by electric fields (Feldman, 1992). DoAr 21 and ROXs 21 are a K0 star and a binary of K4 with M2.5, respectively, and hence have photospheric temperatures of 4000–5000 K, 0.6–0.8 times that of the solar photosphere (Nürnberger et al., 1998). Therefore the FIP-effect energy-limit of 10 eV should be shifted to 6–8 eV, which is near Mg (FIP = 7.8 eV) and Ca (6.1 eV), but well above Na (5.1 keV). Hence, the abundance enhancements of Mg, Ca and Na provide independent evidence supporting the universality of the FIP-scenario proposed by Feldman (1992).

The X-ray luminosities of our TTS sample are a few $`\times `$ $`10^{3031}`$ ergs s-1, which is significantly higher than typical FIP sources of $`10^{29}`$ ergs s-1 (such as the sun, $`\pi ^1`$ UMa, and $`\chi ^1`$ Ori; Güdel et al. 2001c). The high luminosity may also be responsible for the IFIP effect we observed. A related issue would be the dramatic abundance increase in the giant flare of ROXs 31.

A scenario for the IFIP effect was proposed by Güdel et al. (2001c). A “downward-pointing” electric field is produced by the high-energy non-thermal electrons during X-ray active phase, and suppresses the transfer of the ionized low-FIP elements into the corona. The electrons also loose their kinetic energy at the photosphere by the collisional process and then heat up the cool elements, making the abundance increase during the flare. The radio gyro-synchrotron emission from DoAr 21 and ROXs 31 further supports this idea, because this is the direct evidence for the presence of the high-energy electrons. Since the abundance increase should be correlated with the non-thermal radio flux variations, simultaneous radio and X-ray observations would help to constrain physical models.

Another possibility is photo-ionization by coronal X-rays. This was proposed to explain a solar flare in which Ne is enhanced relative to O (Shemi, 1991; Schmelz, 1993). The IFIP effect is seen in the X-ray brightest stars with $`L_X`$ = 1029–1032 ergs s-1 (HR 1099, Brinkman et al. 2001; AB Dor, Güdel et al. 2001a; YY Gem, Güdel et al. 2001b; II Pegasi, Huenemoerder et al. 2001; and TW Hydrae, Kastner et al. 2001), in which large X-ray photo-ionization may occur. The abundances increase in the X-ray flare may also be explained by this scenario.

### 4.4 Interpretation of the Giant Flare of ROXs 31

The unusual giant flare from ROXs 31 shows 1-T plasma emission, in contrast to the quiescent phase. The flux of the soft component in the quiescent phase is 10–100 times lower than that of the flare flux. Hence it is highly possible that the soft component does exist during the flare but is hidden by the more luminous harder component.

The peak luminosity of $``$1033 ergs s-1 and temperature of $``$10 keV are comparable to the giant flare of another TTS binary system V773 Tau (Tsuboi et al., 1998). However, the time profile of the plasma temperature is different from that of V773 Tau; the temperature arrives at the peak value preceding the flare peak, and, in the decay phase, stays nearly constant at 4–5 keV. These imply the existence of successive energy release due to the magnetic reconnection and that the generation and heating of the plasma occur even in the decay phase, as suggested by Tsuboi et al. (1998); Schmitt & Favata (1999); Favata & Schmitt (1999). Such a phenomenon is also seen in long duration event (LDE) flares of the Sun (Isobe et al., 2001).

The abundance and absorption during the giant flare are systematically larger and smaller than those in the quiescent phase (Table 2). This could be due to evaporation of photosphere and environments by high-energy electrons, which may be produced just after magnetic reconnection. Evaporation by the flare X-rays may not be important, because the abundances and absorption do not change much during the flare. Thus, in the case of the IFIP effect in the giant flare of ROXs 31, the high-energy electron origin is more likely than X-ray irradiation scenario.

## 5 SUMMARY

We analyzed the Chandra and ASCA data of the three X-ray-bright TTSs, DoAr 21, ROXs 21, and ROXs 31. Based on the timing and spectral features, we derived several results as follows;

1. Six flares in the 0.5–9 keV band are detected from DoAr 21 during the total duration of $``$7 days. Also, three and two flares are detected from ROXs 21 and ROXs 31, respectively, with Chandra in 0.5–9.0 keV and ASCA in 0.5–1.5 keV. Converting to the 0.5-9 keV band sensitivity, the flare numbers become nearly the same as DoAr 21. Thus the flare rate of these TTSs may be extremely high (about one per one day).
2. The spectra of DoAr 21 are well fitted with a 1-T model, while those of ROXs 21 and ROXs 31 need additional soft components. This can be interpreted as a gradual generation of the soft component with the increasing age.
3. We found relative abundance enhancements in both the low-FIP (Na, Mg and Ca) and high-FIP (Ne and Ar) elements.
4. An unusual giant flare is detected from ROXs 31. The temperature remains high (4–5 keV) even during the decay phase, suggesting a successive energy release. A large abundance and absorption jump from quiescent to flare is found, which may suggest a large contribution to gas evaporation from the photosphere and environments by non-thermal electrons.

The authors express their thanks to Dr. Thomas Preibisch for critical refereeing and useful comments. The authors also acknowledge Dr. Franz Bauner, Dr. Yohko Tsuboi, Hiroaki Isobe, and Taro Morimoto for useful discussions and comments. The Chandra data were obtained through the Chandra X-ray Observatory Science Center (CXC) operated for NASA by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. The ASCA data were obtained through the High Energy Astrophysics Science Archive Research Center Online Service provided by the NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center. K.I. and M.T. are financially supported by JSPS Research Fellowship for Young Scientists.