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# Crossover in the nature of the metallic phases in the perovskite-type 𝑅NiO3

## Abstract

We have measured the photoemission spectra of Nd1-xSmxNiO3, where the metal-insulator transition and the Néel ordering occur at the same temperature for $`x0.4`$ and the metal-insulator transition temperature ($`T_{MI}`$) is higher than the Néel temperature for $`x0.4`$. For $`x0.4`$, the spectral intensity at the Fermi level is high in the metallic phase above $`T_{MI}`$ and gradually decreases with cooling in the insulating phase below $`T_{MI}`$ while for $`x>0.4`$ it shows a pseudogap-like behavior above $`T_{MI}`$ and further diminishes below $`T_{MI}`$. The results clearly establish that there is a sharp change in the nature of the electronic correlations in the middle ($`x0.4`$) of the metallic phase of the $`R`$NiO3 system.

Many $`3d`$ transition-metal compounds undergo a metal-insulator transition as a function of temperature, carrier concentration, band width and so on. Mott ; MIT  In these systems, electron correlation plays an important role. V2O3, NiS2-xSex, NiS and $`R`$NiO3 ($`R`$: rare earth) are well-known bandwidth-controlled metal-insulator transition systems. They undergo a transition from an antiferromagnetic insulator to a paramagnetic metal under high pressure or under “chemical pressure”. To understand their phase diagrams from a microscopic point of view is one of the major goals in the studies of strongly correlated systems and much theoretical effort has been made so far along this direction. DMFT ; Takano  In V2O3 (Ref. V2O3, ) and NiS2-xSex (Ref. NiSSe, ), the metallic phase exists on the lower temperature side of the paramagnetic insulating phase as predicted theoretically DMFT  and as expected from the large magnetic entropy in the paramagnetic insulating phase. On the other hand, the phase diagram of $`R`$NiO3 has a peculiar feature that the metallic phase exists on the higher temperature side of the paramagnetic insulating phase as shown in Fig. 1phase

The perovskite-type oxide $`R`$NiO3 belongs to the charge-transfer regime of the Zaanen-Sawatzky-Allen (ZSA) diagramZSA , and its ligand-to-metal charge-transfer energy $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$ is smaller than the $`3d`$-$`3d`$ Coulomb repulsion energy $`U`$ ($`\mathrm{\Delta }<U`$). Hence its band gap is given by $`\mathrm{\Delta }W`$, where $`W`$ is the band width. $`W`$ depends on the Ni-O-Ni bond angle or the tolerance factor \[$`d_{R\mathrm{O}}/\sqrt{2}d_{\mathrm{Ni}\mathrm{O}}`$\], which depends on the rare-earth ionic radius. Hence, whether the band gap is open ($`\mathrm{\Delta }W`$) or closed ($`\mathrm{\Delta }W`$) is determined by the deviation of the Ni-O-Ni bond angle from the ideal value 180. As illustrated in Fig. 1, the least distorted LaNiO3, which has the perovskite structure with a weak rhombohedral distortion, is a paramagnetic metal at all temperatures. The other $`R`$NiO3 members, which have the orthorhombic GdFeO3-type structure, undergo a temperature-induced metal-insulator transition. The metal-insulator transition and the antiferromagnetic ordering occur at the same temperature for $`R`$ = Pr and Nd, while the metal-insulator transition temperature ($`T_{MI}`$) is higher than the Néel temperature ($`T_N`$) for the compounds with $`R`$ = Sm and other small rare earths. As a result, the metallic phase exists on the higher temperature side of the paramagnetic insulating phase. The boundary between these two types of phase transitions is located between NdNiO3 and SmNiO3.

Recently, Vobornik et al. Vobornik  reported that the temperature dependence of photoemission spectra near $`E_F`$ in the insulating phase is different between NdNiO3 and SmNiO3, which is probably related with the different magnetoresistance behaviors reported by Mallik et alMallik  In the Nd1-xSmxNiO3 system, $`T_{MI}>T_N`$ for $`x0.4`$, while $`T_{MI}=T_N`$ for $`x0.4`$ (Fig. 1). In this Rapid Communicattion, we report on a systematic photoemission study of Nd1-xSmxNiO3 as a function of $`x`$ and temperature and reveal quite different behaviors between $`x0.4`$ and $`x>0.4`$. Based on this result, we propose that there is a phase boundary or a crossover line within the metallic phase, which separates two different kinds of metallic phases in the $`R`$NiO3 system.

Preparation and characterization of polycrystalline Nd1-xSmxNiO3 ($`x`$ = 0.0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, 1.0) are described elsewhere. Mallik  The $`T_{MI}`$ was measured by the differential scanning calorimetric method, and was 199.5 K for NdNiO3 and 400.2 K for SmNiO3. For the $`T_{MI}`$ of the intermediate compounds, we have linearly interpolated between NdNiO3 and SmNiO3 according to Ref. Frand, . Photoemission measurements were carried out using a VSW hemispherical analyzer and a VG He discharge lamp. The He I (21.2 eV) resonance line was used for excitation. The total energy resolution was set to about 30 meV. Clean surfaces were obtained by repeated in situ scraping at each measurement temperature. The base pressure of the spectrometer was better than 1 $`\times `$ 10-10 Torr.

Figure 2 shows the photoemission spectra of Nd1-xSmxNiO3 at various temperatures. All the spectra have been normalized to the integrated intensity in the indicated energy range, that is, from - 0.8 eV to 0.2 eV. The results for NdNiO3 and SmNiO3 are consistent with Vobornik et al.’s results, Vobornik  i.e., the spectra of NdNiO3 show a high intensity at $`E_F`$ above $`T_{MI}`$ and decreasing intensity below $`T_{MI}`$. The intensity continuously decreases with decreasing temperature even well below $`T_{MI}`$. The spectra of SmNiO3 show a weaker temperature dependence below $`T_{MI}`$. As for Nd1-xSmxNiO3, the spectra for $`x`$ = 0.2 and 0.4 show a strong temperature dependence similar to NdNiO3. They show clear spectral weight transfer from the region - (0-0.3) eV to - (0.3-0.6) eV in going from above $`T_{MI}`$ to well below it. The spectra for $`x`$ = 0.6 and 0.8 also show similar spectral weight transfer but the overall intensity is weak similar to SmNiO3. In the $`x`$ = 0.6, 0.8, and 1.0 compounds, the $`T_N`$ is different from the $`T_{MI}`$, and no remarkable change has been observed at $`T_N`$. The temperature dependence of the intensity at $`E_F`$ plotted in Fig. 3 clearly indicates the contrasting behavior between $`x0.4`$ and $`x>0.4`$. Since the boundary between $`T_{MI}=T_N`$ and $`T_{MI}>T_N`$ is located at $`x0.4`$, the result implies that the electronic structure is different depending on whether $`T_{MI}=T_N`$ or $`T_{MI}>T_N`$.

In order to remove the effect of the Fermi-Dirac distribution function and to deduce the experimental “density of states” (DOS), we have divided the spectra by the Fermi-Dirac distribution function broadened with a Gaussian corresponding to the experimental resolution as shown in the inset of each panel of Fig. 2. For $`x0.4`$, the experimental DOS above $`T_{MI}`$ is almost flat or weakly increases with energy. Just below $`T_{MI}`$, the DOS is reduced, but remains finite at $`E_F`$, indicating a pseudogap opening of 0.1 - 0.2 eV. On the other hand, the spectra for $`x>0.4`$ is pseudogap-like already above $`T_{MI}`$.

Figure 4 (a) and (b) shows the Fermi-Dirac function-divided spectra taken at the lowest temperatures and just above $`T_{MI}`$, respectively. The spectra taken at the lowest temperatures are identical for all $`x`$’s. This suggests that the ground state is essentially the same for all $`x`$’s, i.e., in the same antiferromagnetic insulating state. This is in accordance with the fact that the magnetic structure is the same between NdNiO3 (Ref. neutron1, ) and SmNiO3 (Ref. neutron2, ). Also, charge disproportionation was recently found in NdNiO3Zaghrioui  which implied that it is present in all $`R`$NiO3 ($`R`$ La) because it had been already found in other $`R`$NiO3 with small $`R`$ ($`R`$ = Ho, Y, Er, Tm, Yb and Lu). Alonso  On the other hand, the spectra above $`T_{MI}`$ is quite different between $`x0.4`$ and $`x>0.4`$. The spectra for $`x0.4`$ is nearly flat around $`E_F`$ whereas the spectra for $`x`$ = 0.6 and 0.8 show a weak pseudogap-like behavior. This indicates that the paramagnetic metallic phase is different between $`x0.4`$ and $`x>0.4`$. As shown in the inset of Fig. 4 (b), the intensity at $`E_F`$ just above $`T_{MI}`$ sharply changes at $`x0.4`$. From these results, we consider that a phase boundary or a sharp crossover line exists within the high-temperature metallic phase at $`x0.4`$.

There have been some reports which indicate that the metallic phase may be different between NdNiO3 and SmNiO3. According to the magnetic susceptibility measurement of NdNiO3NdNiO3  and SmNiO3SmNiO3  the metallic phase of NdNiO3 is Pauli-paramagnetic after the subtraction of the rare-earth local-moment contribution, while that of SmNiO3 is Curie-Weiss like. This result would indicate that the metallic phase of NdNiO3 is essentially the same as that of Pauli-paramagnetic LaNiO3, while conduction electrons in the metallic phase of SmNiO3 show local moment behavior. Due to the existence of the local moment, the metallic phase of SmNiO3 would have a large magnetic entropy. If the entropy of the local moments plus that of the conduction electrons in the metallic phase exceed the entropy of the local moments in the paramagnetic insulating phase, the metallic phase can exist on the higher temperature side of the paramagnetic insulating phase across the first-order metal-insulator phase boundary. In the Nd1-xSmxNiO3 system, the band width becomes narrower with Sm content, making $`\mathrm{\Delta }/W`$ larger. We propose that with Sm content, the Ni $`3d`$ electrons become more strongly correlated and the local magnetic moment is induced.

Finally, we comment on the origin of the strong temperature dependence of the spectra in the insulating phase. Granados et al.Granados1 ; Granados2  and Blasco and GarciaBlasco  have reported that hysteresis below $`T_{MI}`$ extends to a wide temperature range up to 70 K from the transport and calorimetric measurement and proposed that the metallic and insulating phases coexist over this temperature range. The temperature dependence of the photoemission spectra in the insulating phase may be related to this unusually strong hysteresis. We may attribute these strong hysteretic features to disorder such as oxygen non-stoichiometry and/or rare-earth atom vacancies, which cannot be avoided in this kind of materials. In a system where both disorder and electron correlation effect are important, the spectra may show an unusual temperature dependence as reported by Sarma et al. Sarma  on disorder-induced metal-insulator transition in LaNi$`{}_{1x}{}^{}M_{x}^{}`$O3 ($`M`$ = Mn, Fe, and Co). According to them, while an insulating compound has a finite gap at $`E_F`$ at very low temperatures, the gap closes at elevated temperature. Competing or cooperative behaviors between electron correlation and disorder have not been investigated so far and have to be clarified in future.

In conclusion, we have studied the temperature-dependent electronic structure of Nd1-xSmxNiO3 by photoemission measurements. While the spectra at the lowest temperatures are identical for all $`x`$’s, the spectra above $`T_{MI}`$ show a pseudogap behavior for $`x>0.4`$, different from the spectra of a typical metal for $`x0.4`$. It appears that the appearance of the pseudogap is related with the appearance of local magnetic moment in the metallic phase of $`x>0.4`$. We propose that the nature of the metallic state is different between these two composition ranges caused by a change in the strength of electron correlation between the two regions.

The authors would like to thank D. D. Sarma for enlightening discussion. This work was supported by Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research A12304018 and “Novel Quantum Phenomena in Transition Metal Oxides” from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology.


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# New catalogue of optically visible open clusters and candidates Tables 1a, 1b, 2 and 3 are only available in electronic form at http://www.iagusp.usp.br/~wilton/, or at the CDS via anonymous ftp to …

## 1 Introduction

In this work, we introduce a new catalogue of the open clusters of our Galaxy. Open clusters have long been recognized as important tools to investigate the kinematics of star formation regions, aspects of Galactic structure such as the location of spiral arms, Galactic dynamics, or even the chemical abundance gradients in the disk.

With the publication of the Hipparcos Catalogue (ESA 1997) and its sub-products, the Tycho (ESA 1997) and Tycho2 (Høg et al. 2000) catalogues , and with individual works using CCDs for photometry and/or astrometry, we have seen a large growth of the available data on open clusters in a short time.

Among the recent results, we note the discovery of new open clusters by different authors: Platais et al. (1998) discovered 12 new objects using Hipparcos data, Chereul et al. (1999) discovered 3 new probable loose open clusters, and Dutra & Bica (2001) discovered 42 objects at infra-red wavelengths using the 2MASS survey. Important contributions were given by Baumgardt et al. (2000) and Dias et al. (2001, 2002) who determined the mean proper motions of more than a hundred clusters, using the Hipparcos and Tycho2 catalogues, respectively. Dias et al. (2001, 2002) also computed the membership probabilities of the stars in the cluster fields. Other recent results are the determination of the fundamental parameters of 423 clusters by Loktin et al. (2000) and the discussion of the problem of the differences in the distances obtained with parallaxes and by photometric main sequence fitting (see Pinsonneault et al. 1998, and references therein). The latest publications on open clusters are divulged in the SCYON electronic newsletter hosted by the University of Heidelberg 111http://www.rzuser.uni-heidelberg.de/~s17/scyon/current.html in parallel with the WEBDA database222http://obswww.unige.ch/webda/.

Most of the basic data, as well as other results, are included in the WEBDA database (Mermilliod 1995), which is the most complete open cluster database presently available. The WEBDA database includes not only the data contained in the Lyngå (1987) catalogue, which is also a basic reference much used in the literature, but also provides a huge amount of additional information. Most of this information is, however, presented in separate files, available individually for each cluster. Also, the database is not updated in what concerns recently discovered clusters and new designations proposed in the literature (as discussed in next section). Therefore, the main reasons that prompted us to prepare a new catalogue, instead of simply adding newly discovered objects, were the need to have the relevant information in a single file, for easiness of use, and more important, the fact that the previous catalogues do not provide the open clusters’ proper motions and radial velocities in a systematic way.

In this work, we inserted the available information on open clusters’ fundamental parameters, kinematics and metalicity in a single file. We believe that this list will be an important tool for all types of research on open clusters. Sect. 2 describes the contents of the catalogue and the main reference sources. In Sect. 3 we comment on the new data included.

## 2 The catalogue

In this new open cluster catalogue, we used the previous ones like the WEBDA, ESO Catalogue (Lauberts 1982) and Lyngå (1987) as a starting point. The basic data contained in these catalogues are coordinates, age, apparent diameter, colour excess, and distance. We inserted new objects, and when available, kinematical and metalicity data. We made extensive use of the Simbad database and of the literature to find data on the clusters or on individual stars of the clusters, to obtain radial velocities and proper motions averaged over a number of stars. We do not claim, however, that the catalogue is the result of a complete survey of all the bibliography on open clusters.

Our catalogue (Tab. 1a) consists of a single list of fundamental parameters and kinematical data, with bibliographic notes. The file is self-explanatory and fully documented internally. The present version of the catalogue includes information for 1537 open clusters. For each cluster we list its equatorial coordinates in J2000.0 and the following parameters, when available: angular apparent diameter; distance; colour excess; age; mean proper motions and errors; number of stars used in the proper motion computation and references; mean radial velocity and error; number of stars used in the radial velocity determination and references; mean metalicity and errors; number of stars used in the metalicity determination. An identical list (Tab. 1b) is also provided with positions and proper motions in galactic coordinates. The full bibliographic references are given in a separate file (Tab. 2).

In total, 94.7$`\%`$ of the objects have estimates of their apparent diameters, and 37$`\%`$ have distance, $`E(BV)`$ and age determinations. Concerning the data on kinematics, 18$`\%`$ have their mean proper motions listed, 12$`\%`$ their mean radial velocities, and 9$`\%`$ have both information simultaneously.

Many objects in the list were visually checked in the Digitized Sky Survey 333http://archive.stsci.edu/dss/ (DSS) plates, and in several cases the central coordinates of the clusters were corrected. This is the case of clusters like Lynga~8, Stock~12, Stock~15 and vdB-Hagen~164, just to mention a few, that present great differences in position.

Throughout our visual inspection of the DSS plates, there were also many cases in which no cluster could be found (eg. several Ruprecht, Collinder and Loden clusters), even in large fields around their catalogued coordinates. They were nevertheless kept in the catalogue, but a comment was added. We shall refer to these “objects” as “non-identified clusters”. Among these, are the NGC objects flagged as “non-existent” in the *The Revised New General Catalogue of Non stellar Astronomical Objects* (RNGC)(Sulentic & Tifft 1973). On the other hand, some clusters noted as “non-existent” in the RNGC seem to be actual clusters (eg. NGC~2017, NGC~2609, NGC~3036, NGC~5800, NGC~6115, NGC~6444). These have been marked as “recovered” in our catalogue.

A complementary table (Tab. 3) of the clusters with available photometric data was also built. Tab. 3 consists of four columns: cluster name; bands observed with CCD; bands observed with photomultipiers; bands observed with photographic plates. For each cluster, only bands with more than ten observed stars are listed. At the present, the table only lists the UBVRI bands, but it will be extended to other commonly used photometric systems (eg. uvby$`\beta `$, Geneva, Washington, Vilnius, etc.). The data table was assembled using data collected from WEBDA and from searches in the literature.

## 3 Comments on new information and new data included

In this section we comment on some important information given in the catalogue.

designations \- An additional remark on the nature of the open clusters is provided. Among others, we flag the POCR (Possible Open Cluster Remnant, Bica et al. 2001). There are 34 objects located at relatively high galactic latitudes ($`b15^\mathrm{°}`$) which appear to be late stages of star cluster dynamical evolution. The categories also include possible moving groups like the objects catalogued by Latysev and non-identified clusters.

kinematics \- Recently, many open clusters were investigated and their mean proper motions (Dias et al. 2001, 2002; Baumgardt et al. 2000) could be determined. New mean proper motions for 280 objects, and radial velocities for 182 were inserted in the list.

Fundamental parameters \- The main source of the fundamental parameters (reddening, distance and age) was the WEBDA which uses the information compiled by Lyngå (1987), Loktin et al. (2000), Dambis (1998) and Malysheva (1997).

All the clusters investigated by Baumgardt et al. (2000) had their distances estimated from the mean Hipparcos parallaxes of the stars considered as members. Recently we investigated 4 open clusters and determined the mean Hipparcos parallax of stars with membership probability provided by Tycho2 proper motions (Dias et al. 2001). The catalogue includes distances derived from mean parallaxes for Ruprecht 147, Stock 10, vdB-Hagen 23, vdB-Hagen 34, all within 1 kpc. Also, a number of parameters from isolated studies were added.

Newly discovered open clusters  \- The list includes 191 clusters not present in the previous catalogues. To mention some cases: Platais et al. (1998) \- 12 open clusters were discovered using Hipparcos data. They are nearby and extended objects; ESO-SC - these objects (more than 100) were published as probable new open clusters in the ESO catalogue Lauberts (1982); Loiano 1- A photometric study of the surrounding stellar field (Bernabei & Polcaro 2001) revealed that this object lies inside the sky area of a previously undetected open cluster of intermediate age. Alessi 1 to 12 are non catalogued objects in the solar vicinity. Their fundamental parameters were recently determined showing that they are located at $`d1kpc`$ (Alessi et al. 2002).

## 4 Summary and conclusions

We have presented a new list of open clusters containing revised data compiled from old catalogues and from isolated papers recently published. This catalogue (Tab. 1a) has been developed mainly to be an efficient tool for open cluster studies since it presents all the available basic data (fundamental parameters and kinematics) in a single easy-to-use list. The catalogue is regularly updated, and the latest version is available at *http://www.iagusp.usp.br/~wilton/*. An alternative list (Tab. 1b) with positions and proper motions in galactic coordinates is also made available. Since it is expected that the catalogue will be used in the selection of observational targets, an additional table of open clusters with available photometric data (Tab. 3) is also provided. Finally, Tab. 2 includes the references to the data used in Tabs. 1a and 1b.

In this edition, 1537 objects are given, of which 356 are not given in the catalogue compiled by Lyngå (1987). The new objects include 191 open cluster published in the literature, and 11 recently discovered open cluster with fundamental parameters determined by our group and yet unpublished.

Nearly all the clusters (94.7$`\%`$) have estimates of their apparent diameters. Distances, $`E(BV)`$ and ages are listed for 37$`\%`$ . Concerning the data on kinematics, 18$`\%`$ have mean proper motions determinations, 12$`\%`$ mean radial velocities, and 9$`\%`$ have both information simultaneously. These results point out to the observers that a large effort is still needed to improve the data on kinematics. Our group is presently working in this direction.

###### Acknowledgements.

We use data from Digitized Sky Survey which were produced at the Space Telescope Science Institute under U.S. Government grant NAG W-2166. The images of these surveys are based on photographic data obtained using the Oschin Schmidt Telescope on Palomar Mountain and the UK Schmidt Telescope. Extensive use has been made of the Simbad and WEBDA databases. This project was supported by FAPESP (grant number 99/11781-4).


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# Critical Analysis of Electronic Simulation of Financial Market Fluctuations

## 1 Introduction

Recently, Sato, Takayasu and Sawada  have constructed a very interesting analog circuit able to generate a signal corresponding to a time series with fluctuations resembling those of a typical financial market. The corresponding probability density function presents a power law tail.

It is worth mentioning that the proposal of Ref.  immediately attracted the opinion of the scientific community. In particular, we should mention that the American Institute of Physics Bulletin of Physics News number 478 of April 6, 2000 includes a comment on Ref.  under the title ”An electrical circuit mimics yen-dollar fluctuations”. It ends by saying that the circuit costing approximately $`\$5`$ can estimate yen-dollar fluctuations as fast as the $`\$10,000`$ workstations that are running mathematical simulations of the exchange rates. On the other hand, CERN Courier of June 2000 includes also a comment under the title ”How can you make a million?” where one can read that Japanese Scientists have unveiled a $`\$5`$ electrical circuit that can mimic fluctuations in the yen-dollar exchange rate.

The circuit constructed in Ref.  being very interesting in its own, deserves a careful analysis from the electronic point of view. We present here an exhaustive study of the circuit behavior and of its potentialities for reproducing financial market fluctuations. We conclude that the circuit really mimics these fluctuations but the meaning of this mimics is precisely the one the Oxford Dictionary gives: imitate closely in order to make fun of.

Before the presentation of the circuit and its relationship with the Langevin equation with multiplicative noise, we discuss, in Section 2 the stability conditions for this kind of noise. Afterwards we include in Section 3 an analysis of the power law fluctuations generator in connections with the electronic components and their corresponding parameters. A circuit simulation completes our study and its results are presented in Section 4. Finally, Section 5 summarizes our conclusions.

## 2 Stability

Before entering into the discussion of both the electronic and the simulation analysis, let us briefly review the stability in multiplicative stochastic processes. It is well known that an additive stochastic process is stable whenever the associated deterministic problem is. In fact, given the process defined by

$$\frac{dv}{dt}=L(v)+\eta $$
(1)
where $`\eta `$ is a standard Gaussian noise, it has a stable stationary behaviour when all its moments $`v^n`$ exist up to the n-th order. This imposes a condition on the integral of $`L(v)`$ .

However, for a multiplicative noise the stability of the deterministic problem is not enough to ensure the stability under fluctuations . Consider now the process

$$\frac{dv}{dt}=dv+v\eta $$
(2)
where $`\eta `$ is again a standard Gaussian noise and $`d`$ a parameter. In this case the moments are given by

$$v^n=v^n_{t=0}exp\left[nt\left(dnD/2\right)\right]$$
(3)
where $`D`$ is the measure of the Gaussian fluctuation, namely

$$\eta (t+\tau )\eta (t)=D\delta (\tau )$$

The stationary distribution results

$$p_0(v)=v^{12d/D}$$
(4)
which is not normalizable. It is then clear from Eq. (3) that in this case of multiplicative noise, the condition

$$n\frac{2d}{D}$$

has to be fulfilled in order to guarantee the finiteness of the moments $`v^n`$ when $`t\mathrm{}`$. Consequently, if $`d<D/2`$, the multiplicative noise overcome the deterministic restoring term $`dv`$, even if this deterministic problem has a stable solution.

Having these mathematical conditions in mind, we re-analyzed the circuit proposed in Ref . The main point is to simulate, electronically or numerically, the equation of Langevin type with multiplicative noise (2), that in the present case reads

$$\frac{dv_0}{dt}=\left(\frac{1}{R_fC_f}+\frac{k}{R_vC_f}\mu (t)\right)v_0+\psi (t)$$
(5)
Notice a change of sign in the first term of the r.h.s of this equation, with respect to Eq. (12) of Ref..

## 3 Electronics

### 3.1 Generalities

The general block diagram in Fig. 1 represents the integrated form of the original differential equation 5.

The different blocks involved in Fig. 1 are implemented by using electronic components, mainly amplifiers. From the diagram in Fig. 1, the electronic implementation can be easily derived giving rise to the circuit in Fig. 2

The electronic components have their own characteristics and impose some restrictions on the functions to be implemented. It means that the range of values where the function is valid is bounded by the electronic components behaviour.

Let us then analyze, following Ref. , the integrator block implementation shown in Fig. 3.

Considering an ideal amplifier, namely one with Gain Product Bandwith (GBW)$`\mathrm{}`$ and Gain $`(A_0)\mathrm{}`$, the corresponding transfer function is

$$A(s)=\frac{V_0(s)}{V_i(s)}=\frac{R_f}{R_v}\frac{1}{\left(1+sR_fC_f\right)}$$
(6)
with $`s=i\omega `$. Fig. 3 includes also the Bode plot of this expression.

Under the condition $`\omega 1/(C_fR_f)`$, Eq (6) gives rise to

$$V_0(s)=\frac{R_f}{R_v}\frac{1}{\left(sR_fC_f\right)}V_i(s)$$
(7)
and

$$v_0(t)=\frac{1}{R_fC_f}v_i(t)𝑑t$$
(8)
Consequently the above circuit works as an integrator for frequencies above $`\omega _p=1/(R_fC_f)`$. In summary, to implement an integrator using a real operational amplifier (OA) its GBW must be larger than the highest frequency of interest and $`A_0R_f/R_v`$.

To verify the above conditions, the Bode plot of the desired integrator, should be compared with that of the open loop gain of the OA. As a rule of thumb, the implementation will be valid if the plot of the OA ”contains” the integrator’s Bode plot.

### 3.2 Circuit analysis

The criteria above was applied to the original circuit proposed in Ref.  that includes the values

$$C_f=10pF;R_f=100K\mathrm{\Omega };R_v=5200\mathrm{\Omega }$$

giving rise to

$$\omega _p=1MHz;A=\frac{R_f}{R_v}=5486db.$$

In Fig. 4, a Bode diagram of Eq. (6) is plotted together with the OA $`LF157`$ characteristic obtained from the National Semiconductor Co. Linear Databook. As can easily be seen, the condition that the OA ”contains” the desired characteristic is not fulfilled. So the changes of $`R_v`$ between the specified values do not produce a full change in the ”integrator gain” and the observed effects are only marginal ones. In other words, a change in $`R_v`$ is not fully reflected as a change of the ”integrator gain”.

Moreover, when the circuit in Fig. 2 was tested with the specified values of $`R_v`$, the output presents unwanted saturation as shown in Fig. 5.

Only for values of $`R_v>1.7K\mathrm{\Omega }`$, the amplifier remains almost linear giving rise to the output seen in Fig. 6. In fact, the reported behaviour in Ref.  was qualitative found for $`1.7K\mathrm{\Omega }<R_v<4K\mathrm{\Omega }`$. For larger values, the electrical noise dominates.

It is important to remark that our measurements were done with a Tek scope (Model TDS 3030) with 8 bits of resolution. Nevertheless we are certain that this technical detail doesn’t change our conclusions.

Following the circuit criteria discussed above, a new set of values for $`R_v`$, $`C_f`$ and $`R_f`$ was chosen . To include the integrator characteristic inside the Operational Amplifier (OA) open loop, a lower pole frequency ($`\omega _p`$) was in order. To avoid output saturation, higher values of $`R_v`$ are also needed. Then, we decided to use the values

$$C_f=11pF;R_f=800K\mathrm{\Omega };R_v=612K\mathrm{\Omega }.$$

Resulting in

$$\omega _p=113KHz;A=\frac{R_f}{R_v}=3545db$$

This is not an arbitrary selection because a value of $`C_f`$ higher than $`15pF`$ put the system in a heavy oscillation. A careful study of the LF157 characteristics shows that the stability conditions are greatly affected if a capacitor larger than $`15pF`$ is connected between the input and the output. Consequently, a different amplifier should be used instead.

The circuit with modified parameters worked as predicted. In Fig. 7 we present the log-log plot of the probability density function for the $`R_v`$ values specified.

Using the adequate values for $`C_fR_f`$, a tighter control of the integrator gain is obtained. Notice also that for lower values of $`R_v`$, that means higher gain, the circuit does not met the integrator condition, and for $`R_v`$ higher than $`12K\mathrm{\Omega }`$ the electrical noise dominates.

## 4 Simulation

In order to check the influence of the amplifier’s offset voltage we have performed additional tests. This offset, independently of the circuit values, does not affect the final power law behaviour and can be reduced in the data processing stage.

If the circuit is to be really useful in predicting fluctuations on a quantitative way, it must be necessary to know the influence of each electrical parameter on the output signal in order to reproduce, for example, the probability distribution of historical data. This work would be tedious, when not impossible using the real circuit.

We propose to use instead some simulation procedures that, without loosing the electrical point of view, put in evidence the influence of each of the parameters. We have tried several configurations using the Spice program . Although this program allows one to use realistic components, by means of transistor- level models, we prefer to use quite ideal representation where the different parameters of the circuit, desirable or not, can be added separately. It can be mentioned that the simulation with real components simulation is also plagued of serious convergence problems, being certainly difficult to make it runs in a fiable way.

Fig. 8 shows the circuit used in the simulation. It reproduces the differential equation of interest. Different gain blocks allows one to change amplitudes, parameters such as offset voltage and saturation limits when added, as well as different noise generators.

The typical output of the simulation is summarized in Fig. 9.

## 5 Conclusions

We have carefully analyzed the recently proposed electronic analog circuit that generates fluctuations with a probability density function having power law tails.

We found that the originally proposed parameters are not the most pertinent ones because they place the circuit in the borderline of the integrator Bode plot. With appropriate parameters, the circuit performance is noteworthily improved. Moreover, by changing the integrated circuit originally chosen, a further improvement can be achieved.

On the other hand, the numerical simulation, even if carried out in terms of ideal electronic components, reinforces the previous conclusions.

Finally, several comments are in order:

* Even if the power fluctuation generator circuit is certainly a low cost apparatus, a costly peripheral equipment is needed for taking and analyzing the output data.
* The circuit, in order to mimic reasonable fluctuations, needs a fine tuning of the pertinent parameters.
* A direct numerical simulation of the original equation seems to be a much better solution.

## 6 Acknowledgment

We want to warmly thank A.-H. Sato for correspondence regarding reference .


text:
# 1 Aberration for moving source (left) and for moving observer (right).

Why the Bradley aberration cannot be used to measure absolute speeds. A comment.

Klaus Kassner

Institut für Theoretische Physik, Otto-von-Guericke-Universität Magdeburg, Postfach 4120, D-39016 Magdeburg, Germany

29 August 2001

In a recent article in this journal , Sardin proposed to use the Bradley aberration of light for the construction of a speedometer capable of measuring absolute speeds. The purpose of this comment is to show that the device would not work.

Stellar aberration appears to be independent of the velocity of the star observed. This fact, even though explained long ago , has remained a source of continuing confusion. After all, it seems difficult to reconcile with the relativity principle. Indeed, if the arguments of  could be upheld, they would lead to a rejection of this principle. To clarify the issue a bit, I will discuss different concepts of aberration and their relation to the Bradley aberration.

Roughly speaking, aberration is the difference between the observed and “true” angular positions of a star, caused by the motion of either the observer or the star. A problem with this definition is that there is no such thing as a true position. Positions have been observer dependent since the days of Newton. In order to get a workable definition of true aberration, a distinguished observer is needed determining the frame in which to measure the true position of a star. Clearly, the most natural choice would be an observer at rest with respect to the star, because she will always see it at the same angle. Her frame of reference is the same as that of the star, so I will consider just the frames of observer and star. It is then easy to calculate the so-defined true aberration for various situations. For simplicity, the calculations will be done with the velocities of the star and the observer(s) parallel to a prescribed line taken as $`x`$ axis.

First assume the star to move at velocity $`𝐕`$ (in a certain frame $`\mathrm{\Sigma }^{}`$) and the observer to be at rest. Let a light ray emitted at an angle $`\theta `$ (see Fig. 1, left) in the star’s frame $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ hit the observer’s eye. What is the observed angle $`\theta ^{}`$?

The answer is provided by the relativistic addition theorem for velocities:

$$𝐮^{}=𝐮_{}^{}{}_{}{}^{}+𝐮_{}^{}{}_{}{}^{}=\frac{𝐮_{}𝐕}{1\mathrm{𝐕𝐮}/c^2}+\frac{𝐮_{}}{\gamma (1\mathrm{𝐕𝐮}/c^2)},$$
(1)
where $`𝐮`$ is the velocity in $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$, $`𝐮_{}𝐕(\mathrm{𝐕𝐮})/V^2`$ and $`𝐮_{}𝐮𝐮_{}`$ are its components parallel and perpendicular to $`𝐕`$, respectively, $`𝐮^{}`$, $`𝐮_{}^{}{}_{}{}^{}`$, $`𝐮_{}^{}{}_{}{}^{}`$ are the corresponding quantities in $`\mathrm{\Sigma }^{}`$ and $`\gamma =(1V^2/c^2)^{1/2}`$. Note that while the speed of light is the same in the two frames, its velocity (vector) is not. In $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$, we have $`𝐮=c(\mathrm{cos}\theta 𝐞_x+\mathrm{sin}\theta 𝐞_y)`$, so we obtain $`𝐮^{}=c(\mathrm{cos}\theta ^{}𝐞_x+\mathrm{sin}\theta ^{}𝐞_y)`$, with $`\mathrm{cos}\theta ^{}=(\mathrm{cos}\theta +V/c)/[1+(V/c)\mathrm{cos}\theta ]`$ and $`\mathrm{sin}\theta ^{}=\mathrm{sin}\theta /[\gamma (1+(V/c)\mathrm{cos}\theta )]`$, which can be simplified, using $`\mathrm{tan}x/2=\mathrm{sin}x/(1+\mathrm{cos}x)`$, to yield the well-known result

$$\mathrm{tan}\frac{\theta ^{}}{2}=\mathrm{tan}\frac{\theta }{2}\sqrt{\frac{cV}{c+V}}.$$
(2)
Consider now the situation (Fig. 1, right) where the observer moves at $`𝐕`$ in some system $`\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Sigma }}`$, while the star is at rest (hence $`\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Sigma }}=\mathrm{\Sigma }`$). If the angle observed in $`\mathrm{\Sigma }^{}`$ is $`\theta ^{}`$ again, what will be its value in $`\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Sigma }}`$? One finds, using the addition theorem with $`𝐕`$ instead of $`𝐕`$: $`\mathrm{tan}\stackrel{~}{\theta }/2=\mathrm{tan}\theta ^{}/2\sqrt{(c+V)/(cV)}`$. Hence $`\stackrel{~}{\theta }=\theta `$, and the true aberration is the same for the two situations. It depends on the relative velocities of star and observer only.

However, with an a priori unknown velocity of the star, an observer at rest with respect to it is not normally handy. Therefore what is measured is not the true aberration, in general. Let us then define as relative aberration the difference in angles observed by two arbitrary observers moving at different velocities $`𝐕_\mathrm{𝟏}`$ and $`𝐕_\mathrm{𝟐}`$ and looking at the same star (the moment they meet). From (2), we have $`\mathrm{tan}\theta _1/2=\mathrm{tan}\theta /2\sqrt{(cV_1^s)/(c+V_1^s)}`$ and $`\mathrm{tan}\theta _2/2=\mathrm{tan}\theta /2\sqrt{(cV_2^s)/(c+V_2^s)}`$, where $`V_1^s`$ and $`V_2^s`$ are the velocities of the observers relative to the star. $`\theta `$ may be eliminated to obtain $`\mathrm{tan}\theta _2/2=\mathrm{tan}\theta _1/2\sqrt{(cV_2^s)(c+V_1^s)/(c+V_2^s)(cV_1^s)}`$. Using the velocity addition theorem to express $`V_{1/2}^s`$ by $`V_{1/2}`$ and the unknown velocity $`W`$ of the star, $`V_{1/2}^s=(V_{1/2}W)/(1V_{1/2}W/c^2)`$, we find $`(c+V_{1/2}^s)/(cV_{1/2}^s)=[(cW)(c+V_{1/2})]/[(c+W)(cV_{1/2})]`$ and thus

$$\mathrm{tan}\frac{\theta _2}{2}=\mathrm{tan}\frac{\theta _1}{2}\sqrt{\frac{(cW)(c+V_1)}{(c+W)(cV_1)}\frac{(c+W)(cV_2)}{(cW)(c+V_2)}}=\mathrm{tan}\frac{\theta _1}{2}\sqrt{\frac{cV_{21}}{c+V_{21}}},$$
(3)
where $`V_{21}=(V_2V_1)/(1V_1V_2/c^2)`$ is the relative velocity between the two observers. The speed $`W`$ of the star cancels out of the formula! Of course, we could have obtained this result directly by using the same reasoning as in the derivation of (2). But Eq. (3) is much more instructive, as it gives us also conditions under which the velocity of the star drops out.

For what is measured as Bradley aberration is not precisely the relative aberration. We don’t simultaneously have two observers handy. What is measured is the difference in angles obtained by one observer in different states of motion, at different times. But this is the same thing as the relative aberration provided the velocity of the star is constant between measurements. Then the only velocity that counts is $`V_{21}`$, a relative velocity again. If the velocity of the star changed, we would obtain, instead of (3)

$$\mathrm{tan}\frac{\theta _2}{2}=\mathrm{tan}\frac{\theta _1}{2}\sqrt{\frac{(cW_1)(c+V_1)}{(c+W_1)(cV_1)}\frac{(c+W_2)(cV_2)}{(cW_2)(c+V_2)}},$$
(4)
where now $`W_1`$ and $`W_2`$ are the velocities of the star, when it emitted the light rays reaching the observer when she had the velocities $`V_1`$ and $`V_2`$, respectively.

Sardin’s device to measure “absolute speeds” replaces the star by a light source moving along with the observer. Thus the velocity of the source changes between successive observations at different observer speeds. Hence, the independence of Bradley aberration of the source velocity does not hold. But this is the central argument on which the working principle of the device is based. Therefore, the device will not work. In fact, we can calculate the aberration measured by the device from (4), because the velocities of the light source are known here. In any state of uniform motion we have $`W_1=V_1`$, $`W_2=V_2`$. The result $`\mathrm{tan}\theta _2/2=\mathrm{tan}\theta _1/2`$ indicates that there will be no observable aberration. There is no need to abandon the relativity principle.


text:
# Incoherent Eta Photoproduction from the Deuteron near Threshold

## Abstract

Very recent data for the reaction $`\gamma d\eta np`$, namely total cross sections, angular and momentum spectra, are analyzed within a model that includes contributions from the impulse approximation and next order corrections due to the $`np`$ and $`\eta N`$ interactions in the final state. Comparison between the calculations and the new data indicate sizable contributions from the $`np`$ and $`\eta N`$ final state interactions. Some systematic discrepancies between the calculations and the data are also found.

The reaction $`\gamma d\eta np`$ close to the meson production threshold offers an opportunity to investigate the final state interactions (FSI) between the outgoing particles, proton, neutron and $`\eta `$-meson. Provided the FSI between the nucleons is understood, the reaction allows to draw conclusions about the $`\eta `$N interaction at low energies. In Refs.  we investigated incoherent $`\eta `$ photoproduction from the deuteron close to threshold taking into account that the reaction amplitude is given by the sum of the first order term, the impulse approximation (IA), and the terms of next higher order due to the final state interactions in the neutron-proton ($`np`$) the $`\eta `$-nucleon ($`\eta N`$) system.

When comparing our calculations to the data  available at that time we found that the few experimental points for the cross section of the reaction $`\gamma d\eta np`$ close to the reaction threshold require for an adequate description the additional contribution from the $`\eta `$-nucleon final state interaction.

In Fig.1 these old data points are indicated by open squares. It seemed clear that more precise measurements are necessary to further understand the interplay between the final state interactions of the two subsystems. Moreover, in  we concluded that due to the strong $`np`$ final state interaction the momentum spectra of the $`\eta `$-meson should be enhanced at high momenta if the reaction is considered close to threshold.

Very recently the TAPS Collaboration reported new data  for the incoherent photoproduction of $`\eta `$-mesons from the deuteron near threshold. These new data not only contain the total $`\gamma d\eta np`$ reaction cross section but also angular and momentum spectra of the $`\eta `$-meson. In this brief communication we study whether those new data  can shed some light on issues raised in our previous work .

For the sake of completeness we briefly summarize the main ingredients of our previous calculations  on incoherent photoproduction of $`\eta `$-mesons from the deuteron. Let us recall that for a given spin $`S`$ and isospin $`T`$ of the final nucleons the amplitude $`_{IA}`$ for the impulse approximation is written as

$$_{IA}=A^T(s_1)\varphi (p_2)(1)^{S+T}A^T(s_2)\varphi (p_1),$$
(1)
where $`\varphi (p_i)`$ is the deuteron wave function , $`p_i(i=1,2)`$ is the momentum of the proton or neutron in the deuteron rest frame, and $`A^T`$ is the isoscalar or isovector $`\eta `$-meson photoproduction amplitude on a nucleon at the squared invariant collision energy $`s_N`$

$$s_N=sm_N^22(E_\gamma +m_d)E_N+2\stackrel{}{k}_\gamma \stackrel{}{p}_i.$$
(2)
The photon momentum is given by $`k_\gamma `$, and the invariant mass by $`s=m_d^2+2m_dE_\gamma `$, $`E_N`$ is the total nucleon energy and $`m_N`$ and $`m_d`$ are the nucleon and deuteron mass, respectively.

Now the amplitude $`_{NN}`$ for the $`NN`$ final state interaction is given by

$$_{NN}=m_N𝑑kk^2\frac{t_{NN}(q,k)A^T(s_N^{})\varphi (p_N^{})}{q^2k^2+iϵ},$$
(3)
where $`q`$ is the nucleon momentum in the final $`np`$ system and

$$\stackrel{}{p}_N^{}=\stackrel{}{k}+\frac{\stackrel{}{k}_\gamma \stackrel{}{p}_\eta }{2},$$
(4)
$`p_\eta `$ is the $`\eta `$-meson momentum and $`p_N^{}=|\stackrel{}{p}_N^{}|`$. The half-shell $`np`$ scattering matrix $`t_{NN}(q,k)`$ in the $`{}_{}{}^{1}S_{0}^{}`$ and $`{}_{}{}^{3}S_{1}^{}`$ partial waves was obtained at corresponding off-shell momenta $`k`$ from the CD-Bonn potential .

Finally, the amplitude $`_{\eta N}`$ for the $`\eta `$N final state interaction is given as

$$_{\eta N}=\frac{m_Nm_\eta }{m_N+m_\eta }𝑑kk^2\frac{t_{\eta N}(q,k)A^T(s_N^{\prime \prime })\varphi (p_N^{\prime \prime })}{q^2k^2+iϵ},$$
(5)
where the $`\eta `$-meson momenta in the final and intermediate state of the $`\eta N`$ system are indicated by $`q`$ and $`k`$, $`t_{\eta N}(q,k)`$ is the half-shell $`\eta N`$ scattering matrix in the $`S_{11}`$ partial wave and

$$\stackrel{}{p}_N^{\prime \prime }=\stackrel{}{k}+\frac{m_N(\stackrel{}{k}_\gamma \stackrel{}{p}_N)}{m_N+m_\eta },$$
(6)
where $`\stackrel{}{p}_N`$ is the momentum of final proton or neutron in the deuteron rest frame and $`m_\eta `$ is $`\eta `$-meson mass.

Furthermore, within the effective range approximation, the $`\eta N`$ on-shell scattering matrix is related to the scattering length $`a_{\eta N}`$ as

$$\left[iq\frac{1}{a_{\eta N}}\right]^1=\pi \frac{\sqrt{q^2+m_N^2}\sqrt{q^2+m_\eta ^2}}{\sqrt{q^2+m_N^2}+\sqrt{q^2+m_\eta ^2}}t_{\eta N}(q,q).$$
(7)
In our previous work  we showed that within our approach the uncertainty of the calculations is dominated by the insufficient knowledge of the strength of the $`\eta `$N interaction at low energies, here represented by $`a_{\eta N}`$. Moreover, possible effects due to higher order corrections from the multiple scattering expansion  might be overshadowed by the sizable variation of $`a_{\eta N}`$, which as a result of different model calculations or extractions can range from 0.25+i0.16 to 1.05+i0.27 fm. In our calculations we adopt $`t_{\eta N}(q,k)`$ from the Jülich meson-baryon model , which gives a scattering length $`a_{\eta N}`$=0.42+i0.32 fm. When comparing our calculations  with the old cross section data for the reaction $`\gamma d\eta np`$ , we concluded that the value of $`a_{\eta N}`$ given by this model was consistent with the data.

A comparison between our full calculation, including NN and $`\eta `$N FSI, with the recent experimental information  for the total cross section of the reaction $`\gamma d\eta np`$ is shown in Fig. 1. Here the new data are indicated by filled circles. We can well describe the data close to the reaction threshold, while there is systematic underprediction of $``$10% of the experimental results between 660 and 680 MeV photon energy. We should not attribute this discrepancy to $`a_{\eta N}`$, since we found in Ref.  that the $`\eta N`$ interaction acts predominantly very close to threshold. We also want to point out that our calculation matches up with the older data (open squares) at energies larger than 680 MeV.

The recent data of Ref.  are more complete and contain not only total cross sections but also angular distributions of $`\eta `$-mesons in the photon-deuteron center-of-mass (c.m.) system at different photon energies. They are shown in Fig. 2 together with our calculations. The angular spectra at the lower energies, 630$`E_\gamma `$650 MeV, are quite sensitive to both final state interactions. Especially, the $`\eta N`$ FSI is necessary to describe the data.

At photon energies 650$`E_\gamma `$689 MeV our predictions show a stronger peaking at forward angles compared to the data, and a slight but systematic underestimation of the data at backward angles. The latter might be attributed to an additional contribution from re-scattering mechanism with intermediate $`\pi `$-meson and $`\pi N\eta N`$ transition. However, we are aware that we can not make any final assessment about the discrepancies at the present stage.

The momentum spectra of the $`\eta `$-mesons in the $`\gamma d`$ cm frame are shown in Fig. 3 and compared with our calculations. We would like to emphasize that the theoretical results displayed represent an average over a finite energy interval. This is done in order to make the predictions comparable to the experiment, where likewise an averaging over energy bins is made . Specifically for the momentum distribution of the $`\eta `$ meson this averaging has a significant influence on the result as shown in . The vertical arrows in Fig. 3 indicate the maximally allowed $`\eta `$ momentum, which is given by

$$p_\eta =\frac{[(s(m_n+m_p)^2m_\eta ^2)^24(m_n+m_p)^2m_\eta ^2]^{1/2}}{2\sqrt{s}},$$
(8)
and calculated for the maximal photon energy $`E_\gamma `$ indicated in the figure.

As Fig. 3 clearly indicates, for the lowest energy interval a substantial part of experimental points is located beyond the kinematical limit. This might  stems from a larger experimental uncertainty in determining the $`\eta `$-meson momentum. These errors are not indicated in Fig. 3 by horizontal error bars. Unfortunately, due to this a clean comparison between our calculations and the data can not be made. As an aside, when shifting all data points by the same percentage inside the kinematically allowed region, the cross section points fall closer toward our calculation. However this can only serve as a guide to the eye and does not allow any further speculations.

In order to investigate the sensitivity of the $`\eta `$ momentum distribution to the $`\eta N`$ scattering length we calculate $`\eta `$-meson angular and momentum spectra at $`E_\gamma `$=630-640 and 640-650 MeV with different values for $`a_{\eta N}`$ and compare our results with the data  in Fig. 4. Here the solid lines show our calculations with $`a_{\eta N}`$=0.42+i0.32 fm, the dashed lines the ones with $`a_{\eta N}`$=0.74+i0.27 fm, and the dotted line the calculations with $`a_{\eta N}`$=0.25+i0.16 fm. As it turns out, both observables are quite sensitive to the size of $`a_{\eta N}`$.

It can be instructive to consider different possibilities of analyzing the data to find a representation which may shed a different light on the reaction $`\gamma d\eta np`$. For this reason we consider the Dalitz plot representation, which is given as

$$\frac{d\sigma }{ds_{\eta p}ds_{np}}=\frac{|_{IA}+_{NN}+_{\eta N}|^2}{256\pi ^3s(sm_d^2)}.$$
(9)
Here $`s_{\eta p}`$ and $`s_{np}`$ denote the squared invariant mass of the $`\eta p`$ and $`np`$ subsystems.

This representation may be an additional tool to isolate the different FSI. In Fig. 5 we display the Dalitz plot projections calculated at photon energies $`E_\gamma `$=643 and 681 MeV. For this calculation we employ the $`\eta N`$ FSI given by the Jülich model with $`a_{\eta N}`$=0.42+i0.32 fm. The hatched areas indicate the contributions from the impulse approximation, the dotted lines stand for the the calculations with $`np`$ FSI alone, while the solid lines represent the full calculations. The difference between the impulse approximation and full calculation is not only a result of the absolute sizes, but essentially the different shapes of the invariant mass spectra. At $`E_\gamma `$=643 MeV the low mass part of $`np`$ spectrum is substantially enhanced by the $`np`$ FSI. Thus the $`\eta p`$ spectrum is shifted to higher masses. The difference between the calculations with $`\eta N`$ and $`np`$ FSI and that with $`np`$ alone can be considered as an overall rescaling of the model results. This can be well understood through our findings in Ref. , namely that a quite weak $`\eta N`$ interaction can manifest itself through the interference with the substantially stronger $`np`$ FSI.

The results become more exciting at $`E_\gamma `$=681 MeV. While the shape of the $`\eta p`$ distribution is almost similar to that obtained at $`E_\gamma `$=643 MeV, the $`np`$ spectrum clearly shows a low mass structure due to the $`np`$ and $`\eta N`$ FSI, and the size of this enhancement is given by the coherent sum of the $`np`$ and $`\eta N`$ interactions. The production mechanism alone, or the contribution of the impulse approximation may well be isolated by imposing $`np`$ invariant mass cuts.

We believe that an experimental observation of such double peaks structure might serve as direct evidence of FSI effects. Finally, we notice that the Dalitz plot analysis of the reaction $`pppp\eta `$ measured at COSY  indicates quite a similar structure in the $`pp`$ invariant mass distribution. This finding may encourage further analysis of the new $`\gamma d\eta np`$ data .

In conclusion, we presented a detailed comparison between our model for the reaction $`\gamma d\eta np`$ developed in Refs.  and recently published experimental information  on total cross sections as well as angular and momentum $`\eta `$-meson spectra for this reaction. For our calculations we employ the $`\eta N`$ FSI obtained from the Jülich meson-baryon model.

The comparison between the data  and our calculations shows reasonably agreement. The $`\gamma d\eta np`$ data close to the reaction threshold require additional contributions from the $`\eta N`$ FSI and are consistent with the size of $`a_{\eta N}`$=0.42+i0.32 fm given by the Jülich model. The angular and momentum $`\eta `$-meson spectra at $`E_\gamma `$650 MeV are very sensitive to the size of $`a_{\eta N}`$.

However, we found some $``$10% disagreement between our calculations and the new data  for the total cross section for the reaction $`\gamma d\eta np`$ at photon energies 650$`E_\gamma `$689 MeV. Furthermore, at these energies the model predicts a stronger peaking of the angular distribution at forward angles and a slight but systematic underestimation of the data at backward angles. Further investigations are necessary in order to clarify whether this discrepancy stems from re-scattering mechanisms.

In addition, we found that the Dalitz plot analysis of the reaction $`\gamma d\eta np`$ may serve as a very helpful tool for isolating FSI effects. The Dalitz plot projection on $`np`$ invariant mass may show a clean double peak structure at $`E_\gamma `$=681 MeV, while at low photon energy $`E_\gamma `$=643 MeV the $`np`$ invariant mass spectrum is substantially enhanced at low masses.

###### Acknowledgements.

This work was performed in part under the auspices of the U. S. Department of Energy under contract No. DE-FG02-93ER40756 with the Ohio University. The authors appreciate valuable discussions with V. Hejny, B. Krusche, V. Metag and H. Ströher, and thank the TAPS Collaboration for providing us with the new experimental results.


text:
# Properties of disks and spiral arms along the Hubble sequence

## 1 Introduction

When investigating the mass distribution within highly flattened, axisymmetric, self-gravitating spiral galaxies, Toomre (1963) found a family of exact solutions of the Poisson equation with arbitrary laws of rotation,

$$^2\varphi (R,z)=4\pi G\rho (R,z)=4\pi G\mu (R)\delta (z).$$
(1)
From Toomre’s (1963) disk models of galaxies, Miyamoto & Nagai (1975) introduced a new potential-density pair, in which the mass is no longer confined to an infinitesimally thin disk. This model is free from singularities and involve functions that are quite explicit and elementary.

Lin & Shu (1964, 1966) did the pioneering work to explain the spiral structure of disk galaxies using density waves to describe spiral patterns. These waves compress the gas component as it flows through the arms (Roberts, Roberts & Shu, 1975). The spiral arms can also be the result of the tidal field of a nearby neighbor (Toomre & Toomre, 1972), bars (Sanders & Huntley, 1976) or Stochastic Self-propagating Star Formation (Gerola & Seiden, 1978; Mueller & Arnett, 1976).

Under the quasi-stationary spiral structure theory (QSSS) of density waves by Lin & Shu (1964) and using the Green function method plus Fourier-Bessel transformation of three dimensional disk galaxies, Peng et al. (1978, 1979, 1988) obtained the formulation of the gravitational potential of both galactic disks and spiral arms with different mathematical spiral curves. They generalized the Toomre models of two dimensional disk galaxies to three dimensional models. That is to say, the distribution of surface density may be analytically derived from Toomre’s rotation curves in a disk galaxy with a finite thickness. Based on the fundamental assumption (see details in Peng et al. 1979 or Peng 1988) that the density distribution along $`z`$-direction for a finite thickness disk is

$$\rho (r,\varphi ,z)=\frac{1}{H}\sigma (r,\varphi )e^{|z|/h},$$
(2)
where $`h`$ is the vertical exponential scale height, $`H=2h`$ the disk thickness and $`\sigma (r,\varphi )`$ is the surface density, Peng et al. (1979) obtained a criterion for the appearance of density waves, which is

$$r>r_0=\frac{H\sqrt{m^2+\mathrm{\Lambda }^2}}{2},$$
(3)
where $`r_0`$ is the polar coordinate of the starting point from which the arms of a galaxy stretch outward on the galactic plane, $`m`$ is the number of the arms in a spiral galaxy, and $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ is the winding parameter of the arm. Based on this criterion, Peng (1988) proposed a method for estimating the thickness of a non-edge-on spiral galaxy. Using this method, Ma et al. (1997, 1998) estimated the thickness of 72 spirals.

To study the component separation in edge-on spiral galaxies, van der Kruit & Searle (1981a, 1981b, 1982a, 1982b) proposed a model for the three-dimensional distribution of light in galactic disks. Under the assumption that a disk galaxy has a locally isothermal, self-gravitating and truncated exponential disk, the space-luminosity of this model can be described by

$$L(r,z)=L_0e^{r/h_r}\mathrm{sech}^2(z/z_0).$$
(4)
A detailed investigation of edge-on spiral galaxies by de Grijs et al. (1997) showed, however, that the vertical light profiles are much closer to the exponential than to the isothermal solution.

The question of the mathematical form of spiral arms was recognized at the beginning of this century (von der Pahlen, 1911; Groot, 1925). Then, Danver (1942), Kennicutt (1981) and Kennicutt & Hodge (1982) systematically studied the shapes of spiral arms by fitting different spiral curves by least squares and using an iterative procedure. These authors concluded that spiral arms are better represented by logarithmic spirals.

There are many determinations of the pitch angles of spiral arms that can be found in the literature. Danver (1942) measured these values for a sample of 98 nearby spirals. Kennicutt (1981) measured the shapes of spiral arms in 113 nearby Sa-Sc galaxies. Using the Fourier analysis first proposed by Kalnajs (1975) and further developed by Considère & Athanassoula (1982, 1988), García-Gómez & Athanassoula (1993) calculated the pitch angles in a sample of 44 spiral galaxies. Puerari & Dottori (1992) using also a similar technique measured the pitch angles in 22 galaxies. Recently, Seigar & James (1998a, 1998b) determined the pitch angles of spiral arms for 45 spiral galaxies based on the images in the near-IR J and K bands. With the IRAF software, Ma et al. (1997, 1998) directly fitted the shapes of spiral arms on the images of 72 northern spiral galaxies. The details of this procedure can be found in Ma et al. (1997, 1998, 1999). These measures on the pitch angles can be used to understand which is the influence of the different physical properties of galaxy disks in arm shapes.

The structure of this paper is as follows: In Sect. 2 we present a correlation between galaxy type or color with disk thickness. In Sect. 3, we show some new correlations between the pitch angles of spiral arms and the physical properties of galaxy disks. Finally, in Sect. 4 we present our conclusions.

## 2 Statistical properties of disk thickness along the Hubble sequence

Our statistical sample contains 72 northern spiral galaxies, for which the values of disk thickness, inclination and pitch angle of individual spiral arms were measured in Ma et al. (1997, 1998). A more detailed discussion can be found in Ma et al. (1999).

Ma et al. (1998, 1999) have presented some statistical correlations between thickness and flatness of spiral disks with some other physical properties of spiral galaxies. The main conclusions are that the thickness is correlated with color, mass in neutral hydrogen and $`\mathrm{H}_\alpha +[\mathrm{NII}]`$ equivalent width (see details in Ma et al. 1998, 1999). In this section, we will investigate a new correlation between thickness or flatness and total luminosity.

Roberts & Haynes (1994) systematically studied the physical parameters along the Hubble sequence by making use of two primary catalogues, the first one is the RC3 catalogue (de Vaucouleurs et al., 1991) and the second one is a private catalogue maintained by R. Giovanelli & M. Haynes. These authors showed that the mean total luminosity of the galaxies changes only slightly as a function of Hubble type until the latest types (Scd). The mean total luminosity, however, clearly shows a decrease for the dwarf galaxies (Sd and Sm).

In order to study the correlation between thickness along the Hubble sequence and total (“face-on”) absolute magnitude from the RC3 catalogue (de Vaucouleurs et al., 1991), we plot in Fig. 1 the mean thickness for each Hubble type of the galaxies in our sample versus mean total luminosity. In this figure a clear trend is shown, namely, galaxies of later Hubble types tend to be flatter than galaxies of early types. More specifically, Scd galaxies are, on average, 40% flatter than Sb galaxies. The total absolute optical magnitudes in the B and V systems, which are corrected for differential galactic and internal extinction (to “face-on”), and the Hubble types, come from the RC3 catalogue (de Vaucouleurs et al., 1991). We calculated the mean, dispersion of the distributions of $`H`$ between different Hubble types. Table 1 lists the relevant quantities for these distributions. In Col. 1 we give the Hubble type and in Col. 3 the numbers of galaxies in each Hubble type, as well as the difference. Col. 4 gives the means of the distributions of $`H`$, Col. 5 the dispersion around the means. In Col. 6 we present the probability that the two $`H`$ means between different Hubble types come from the same distribution. Since there are only 4 Sab galaxies in this study, we merge these galaxies with the Sb galaxies to get a single Sab-Sb class. From the Student’s t-test we can see that the means of the distributions of $`H`$ between different Hubble types are different except for the means between Sab-Sb class and Sc class.

Guthrie (1992) derived the axial ratios of disk components, $`R`$, for 262 edge-on spiral galaxies, and analyzed the distribution of isophotal axial ratios for 888 diameter-limited normal Sa-Sc galaxies to obtain information on the true axial ratios $`R_0`$. If we suppose that the radial to vertical scale parameter ratio is equal to $`R_0`$ from Guthrie (1992), we can calculate the values of $`\overline{\mathrm{log}R_0}`$ for each Hubble type of the galaxies in our sample.

Fig. 2 shows the dependence of $`\overline{\mathrm{log}R_0}`$ on galaxy type in the RC3 catalogue (de Vaucouleurs et al., 1991). In this figure we can see a correlation between $`\overline{\mathrm{log}R_0}`$ and Hubble sequence, in the sense that galaxies become systematically flatter when going from type Sab to Scd. We also calculated the mean, dispersion of the distribution of $`\overline{\mathrm{log}R_0}`$ between different Hubble types. Table 2 summarises the relevant quantities of this distribution as in Table 1. We also merge Sab galaxies with the Sb galaxies to get a single Sab-Sb class. From the Student’s t-test we can see that the means of the distributions of $`\overline{\mathrm{log}R_0}`$ between different Hubble types are also different except for the means between Sab-Sb class and Sbc class.

Ma et al. (1998) have studied the correlation between thickness and color index ($`(BV)_T^0`$) between the B and V bands, and presented the conclusion that thinner spirals are bluer. Fig. 3 plots the correlation of average thickness with color index $`(BV)_T^0`$ along the Hubble type in the RC3 catalogue (de Vaucouleurs et al., 1991). The color indices, which are corrected for differential galactic, internal extinction (to “face-on”) and redshift between the B and V bands, are also taken from the RC3 catalogue (de Vaucouleurs et al., 1991). The corresponding averages for each Hubble type are showed in Fig. 3 as in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 shows that the correlation between average thickness and color index is also monotonic. Namely, along the Hubble sequence the galaxies tend to be bluer and thinner. We also calculated the mean, dispersion of the distribution of $`(BV)_T^0`$ between different Hubble types. Table 3 summarises some of the relevant quantities for this distribution as in Tables 1 and 2. We also merge Sab galaxies with the Sb galaxies to get a single Sab-Sb class. From the Student’s t-test we can see that the means of the distributions of $`(BV)_T^0`$ between different Hubble types are not different except for the means between Sc class and Scd class.

## 3 Statistical properties of spiral arms with some physical properties of galaxies

### 3.1 Comparison of our pitch angle values with other sources

In this section, we will show some new correlations between the properties of spiral arms and some physical properties of galaxy disks. But, first, it will be useful to compare the pitch angles of the common galaxies, which were measured by Danver (1942), Kennicutt (1981) or other authors (Considère & Athanassoula, 1988; Puerari & Dottori, 1992; García-Gómez & Athanassoula, 1993). The comparisons are plotted in Fig. 4. In this figure, the dashed lines are the diagonal, and the solid lines are the result of the linear correlations. For each line, we calculated the correlation coefficient, which is shown in Table 4, together with the number of points used for each correlations. In Col. 1 we list the symbol of panel in Fig. 4 and in Col. 2 the number of galaxies. Col. 3 gives the linear correlation coefficient. From Table 4 and Fig. 4, we can see that our data correlate better with the values of Danver and Kennicutt than the data coming from the rest of the sources. The reason may be that our method is similar to the method used by Danver and Kennicutt.

### 3.2 Pitch angles as a function of Hubble type

Hubble (1926, 1936) introduced an scheme to classify galaxies which is still in use today. Galaxy types run from elliptical, to lenticular, spiral and finally, irregular galaxies. This scheme, which was extended by some astronomers (Holmberg, 1958; de Vaucouleurs, 1956, 1959; Morgan, 1958, 1959; van den Bergh, 1960a, b, 1976; Sandage, 1961; Sandage & Tammann, 1981, 1987; Sandage & Bedke, 1993), is based on a number of observational criteria such as the gas content, size of nuclear bulges, resolution of the spiral arms, and pitch angle of spiral arms.

The tightness of spiral arms, in addition to the degree of resolution in the arm and the relative size of the unresolved nuclear region, are the fundamental criteria in Hubble’s classification of spiral galaxies (Hubble, 1926, 1936). In order to better understand the nature and origin of the Hubble sequence and evaluate the difference in the classification, Kennicutt (1981) compared his measures of pitch angles with the Hubble type as determined by Sandage & Tammann (1981, hereafter ST) and Yerkes class by Morgan (1958, 1959). From Figs. 7 and 8 in Kennicutt (1981), we can see that, although the ST’s classification is based almost solely upon disk resolution and the Morgan’s solely on the central concentration of the galaxies, the trends between arm pitch angles and the galaxy types in both classifications are almost the same. In the classifications of galaxies by de Vaucouleurs et al. (1976, RC2; 1991, RC3), the three criteria are considered.

To clearly see the weight of the tightness of spiral patterns in the RC3 catalogue (de Vaucouleurs et al., 1991), we plot the measured pitch angles by Ma et al. (1997, 1998) against the Hubble types coming from the RC3 catalogue (de Vaucouleurs et al., 1991) in Fig. 5. We can see that there is an increase of the mean pitch angles along the Hubble sequence. This trend represents the spirit of Hubble’s original scheme for the classification of spirals. This relation has been discussed by many authors such as Kennicutt (1981), Considère & Athanassoula (1988), Puerari & Dottori (1992), and García-Gómez & Athanassoula (1993). Our measures on the pitch angles follow the expected relation with Hubble type as for the rest of authors. Note, however, that the dispersions for each Hubble type are very large. For some Sab galaxies the pitch angles can be larger than for some Scd galaxies. So, it is obvious that the weight of tightness for spiral patterns in the RC3 catalogue (de Vaucouleurs et al., 1991) is only qualitative, not quantitative.

### 3.3 HI linewidths vs. pitch angle

Tully & Fisher (1977) studied the correlation between distance independent observable, global neutral hydrogen line profile widths and absolute magnitude or diameter of spiral galaxies. Using these measures, they offered a tool of measuring extragalactic distance, as well as a method of estimating the Hubble constant. In this study, we will present some statistical properties of spiral arms with some physical properties of galaxies using the weighted mean HI profile linewidths defined at the level of $`20\%`$ of the peak flux (called W20) from the RC3 catalogue (de Vaucouleurs et al., 1991). These values are corrected for bandwidth, but not for redshift. The inclinations are derived by the Tully’s formula (1988)

$$\gamma =\mathrm{arccos}\sqrt{[(\frac{d_{25}}{D_{25}})^20.2^2]/(10.2^2)}+3^{},$$
(5)
here $`D_{25}`$ and $`d_{25}`$, which are the apparent major and minor isophotal diameters measured at, or reduced down to the surface brightness level $`\mu _B=25.0`$ B magnitudes per square arcsecond, come from the RC3 catalogue (de Vaucouleurs et al., 1991). The inclinations ($`\gamma `$) of all these galaxies exceed $`50^{}`$ from face-on so that there is no appreciable error in correcting the hydrogen profile for projection. In Fig. 6, we plot the correlation between pitch angle and W20. The pitch angles are from Danver (1942), Kennicutt (1981), Ma et al. (1997, 1998) and other authors (Considère & Athanassoula, 1988; Puerari & Dottori, 1992; García-Gómez & Athanassoula, 1993). The horizontal error bars are from these sources, or the r.m.s. calculated from all values in the literature if there are different values of the pitch angle for some particular galaxy. In this figure, we do not include the galaxies for which the values of the r.m.s. of the pitch angles are larger than 5 degrees. The panel a) shows the correlation pooling together all the data, b) the data for Sab and Sb galaxies, c) the data for Sbc galaxies and d) the data for Sc and Scd galaxies. The panel a) shows that there exits a correlation between arm shape and W20, which has been presented by Kennicutt & Hodge (1982). However, the data show a great dispersion. Besides, as HI linewidths and pitch angles both are somewhat related through Hubble types, this panel can be dominated by the effect of the Hubble sequence. We may not conclude from this panel alone that the pitch angles are related to the W20. In order to eliminate the effect of the Hubble sequence, we show the panels b), c) and d) separating the galaxies in their respective Hubble types. For each group, we calculated the Spearman rank-order correlation coefficient and its significance. Table 5 summarises the relevant quantities. In Col. 1 we list the symbol of the panel in Fig. 6 and in Col. 2 the number of data used for each panel. Col. 3 gives the correlation coefficient and Col. 4 its significance. From Fig. 6 and Table 5, we can see that, except for the case of Sab-Sb galaxies, there exists a correlation between the arm shape and W20 for each Hubble type separately. The case of panel b) can be due in part to the difficulties in determining the HI line widths for these galaxies, due to the lower HI contents, specially in the central parts. However, it is clear that W20 cannot be the only parameter that dictates arm shape, since the scatter is large.

As we know, more massive galaxies have more stars than less massive ones, and more massive galaxies rotate faster. W20 connects with the maximum rotation velocity of a galaxy. Tully & Fouqu$`\stackrel{´}{\mathrm{e}}`$ (1985) proposed a formula that could transform the 20$`\%`$ linewidths into the parameter WR, which approximates twice the maximum rotation velocity of a galaxy. The correlation between pitch angle and W20 can indicate that, the arm shape of spiral galaxies is partially determined by the mass of a galaxy.

### 3.4 Total mass luminosity ratio and total mass surface density vs. pitch angle

Roberts & Haynes (1994) systematically studied the physical parameters along the Hubble sequence. They showed that the total mass luminosity ratios ($`M_T/L_B`$) of spiral galaxies are nearly independent of Hubble type, and that the total mass surface densities ($`\sigma _T`$) are also approximately constant along the Hubble sequence for Sab to Sc galaxies, showing some decrease for Scd galaxies. Fig. 7 shows the correlations between pitch angle and total mass luminosity ratio (panel a), and total mass surface density (panel b). The sources of pitch angles and horizontal error bars are the same as in Fig. 6. The total mass luminosity ratios and total mass surface densities are calculated as in Roberts & Haynes (1994) using the RC3 catalogue (de Vaucouleurs et al., 1991). In this figure, the inclinations ($`\gamma `$) of all these galaxies also exceed $`50^{}`$ from face-on so that there is no appreciable error in correcting the hydrogen profile for projection. For simplicity, as in Roberts & Haynes (1994), we use the corrected 20$`\%`$ linewidths as the measure of $`2V_{rot}`$ and $`D_{25}`$ as the indicator of $`2R`$. For each correlation, we calculated the Spearman rank-order correlation coefficient and its significance. Table 6 summarises some of the relevant quantities. In Col. 1 we list the symbol of the corresponding panel in Fig. 7 and in Col. 2 the number of galaxies. Col. 3 gives the correlation coefficient and Col. 4 its significance. From Fig. 7 and Table 6, we can see a significant trend in the sense that for lower total mass luminosity ratio and lower mass surface density the pitch angles tend to be larger, although the scatter in this figure is also large.

## 4 Conclusion

In this paper, we investigate some new statistical correlations between the physical properties of disks and of spiral arms with some physical properties of galaxies. Our main conclusions are: (1). Along the Hubble sequence, the spiral galaxies tend to be thinner and somewhat bluer, specially the later types, Sc-Scd. (2). For later Hubble types, there is a correlation between arm pitch angle and HI linewidths. This correlation exits for each Hubble type separately and can indicate that the arm shape is partially determined by the mass of the galaxy. (3). As the pitch angles increase, the total mass luminosity ratios and total mass surface densities decrease.

###### Acknowledgements.

We are indebted to the referee, Dr. Carlos García-Gómez, for many critical comments and helpful suggestions, and for English editing that have greatly improved our paper.