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# Magnetic Order in YBa2Cu3O6+x Superconductors

## I Introduction

It is well understood that superconductivity produces a gap in the quasiparticle spectra, and in conventional materials this gap disappears as the temperature is increased to $`T_c`$ where the superconducting electron pairs are no longer bound together. The problem is that for the underdoped cuprate materials this gap appears to get bigger as $`T_c`$ gets smaller. This pseudogap is one of the most puzzling attributes of the cuprate superconductors. A news article on the pseudogap can be found in Ref. buchanan  while a comprehensive review of the various experimental techniques used to determine the pseudogap is given by Timusk and Statt timusk . One way to understand the pseudogap is to postulate that phase-incoherent pairs are established as the material is cooled through the pseudogap temperature $`T^{}`$ and superconductivity takes place at a lower temperature $`T_c`$ when phase coherence is established emery1 ; uemura . An experiment on the sample used in the present study suggested that pre-formed pairs were present in the normal state that leads to superconductivity at a reduced temperature dain . It appeared that preformed pairs might not be present at a temperature as high as $`T^{}`$, but this could not be conclusively established.

A completely different approach to the problem was taken by Varma varma , who postulated a state with broken time and rotational symmetry that displayed a pattern of circulating currents (CC phase) in the $`a`$-$`b`$ plane. This state appeared at $`T^{}`$ and for the near optimal doping case ended at a quantum critical point. The currents of the CC phase would produce a signal visible by a sufficiently sensitive neutron scattering experiment at certain $`(h,k,l)`$ positions in the reciprocal lattice. Observing these peaks necessitates a difficult polarized beam experiment that was undertaken lee , but no effect could be found. However, if the scattering was largely two-dimensional as in the present case, it is unlikely the signal would be observed. Circulating currents around the Cu-O bonds that resulted from the staggered flux phase of the $`t`$-$`J`$ model were introduced by Hsu et al. hsu  and a neutron scattering experiment was considered to observe such a phase. Chakravarty et al. chakravarty1  recently proposed a picture in some respects similar to the Varma proposal, but with physical currents that circulate around the Cu-O bonds. This state competes with superconductivity and provides an explanation of the relationship between the pseudogap and superconductivity. In this case a new state, termed the $`d`$-density wave (DDW), is formed below $`T^{}`$. This state breaks translational symmetry as well as time reversal and rotational symmetry. The moments from the bond currents result in peaks at the $`(h/2,k/2,l)`$ superlattice positions of the reciprocal lattice that can be detected by a neutron scattering experiment of sufficient sensitivity. A phase with the same current paths was considered by Ivanov et al. ivanov , but in this case the moments fluctuate and can only be observed in vortex cores by neutrons.

This paper describes experiments designed to search for the DDW state. Most of the measurements were made on a high quality crystal of YBa2Cu3O6.6 that has a hole doping of about 0.1 electron per planar Cu and a $`T_c`$ of 63 K. A preliminary experiment has been done on the YBa2Cu3O6.6 crystal and a small signal was observed that became established below about 200 K and increased below $`T_c`$ mook1 . However, the experiment was done without polarized neutrons so that only limited information could be obtained. A polarized neutron study has now been completed that shows a similar temperature dependence for the magnetic intensity as is shown in Fig. 1. A high temperature phase (region $`C`$), is found above about 200 K, while the same increase as was observed before is found below 200 K (region $`B`$), with a further increase below $`T_c`$ (region $`A`$). The region of interest related to the pseudogap is region $`B`$ and the paper will discuss this scattering in detail and show how it differs from the scattering in region $`C`$. The scattering in region $`A`$ has not been investigated in detail, but doesn’t seem to differ in any major way from the scattering in region $`B`$. An experiment has been done by Sidis et al. sidis  on a crystal of YBa2Cu3O6.5 ($`T_c=55`$ K) that shows a rather large magnetic signal with a high temperature phase and an increase in intensity below $`T_c`$. This experiment at first sight seems in conflict with the present work, but on further examination appears to be consistent with it. A very recent experiment by Stock et al. stock  performed on a high quality crystal of YBa2Cu3O6.5 gave no indication of a magnetic signal. A sensitivity of 0.003 $`\mu _B`$ is claimed if the signal was as sharp as the resolution width, but as will be shown signals of that size are very difficult to observe without polarization analysis. This crystal has a large magnetic background that increases considerably upon cooling that is not observed in any of our crystals. There is also no observation of a pseudogap for energies as low as 6.2 meV. It is thus questionable if the crystal might be expected to display the DDW state.

## II Polarization analysis

Polarized neutrons have played a major role in understanding the nature of the observed magnetic signal, so we first discuss how polarization analysis is used to characterize the magnetic signal. The seminal paper on polarization analysis was published by Moon et al. in 1969 moon  . We will only discuss the issues of interest for the present experiment, but background information is available in this reference. Our polarized beam measurements were made on the IN20 spectrometer at the Institut Laue-Langevin neutron source in Grenoble, France. The spectrometer arrangement was the standard one used for polarization analysis and employed Heusler alloy crystals for the monochromator and analyzer. The collimation was 40-40-40-60 from in front of the monochromator until after the analyzer. The neutron energy was 13.78 meV providing an energy resolution of about 1 meV, and three pyrolytic graphite filters were used to avoid higher order contamination. The scattering plane used in the experiment is shown in Fig. 2. The $`(h,h,l)`$ zone was selected so that the reflections of interest for the DDW state could be examined. The crystals used in the experiments are twinned so that $`a^{}`$ could not be differentiated from $`b^{}`$. We thus consider the crystals to be tetragonal so that the $`[1,1,0]`$ direction is in the basal plane and the $`[1,1,0]`$ direction perpendicular to the page is also in the basal plane. We describe our reciprocal lattice positions by $`|𝐚^{}||𝐛^{}|=\pi /(a+b)`$ and $`|𝐜^{}|=2\pi /c`$, and the scans to be shown are made in reciprocal lattice units (r.l.u.). Many of our results were obtained using the $`(1/2,1/2,1)`$ reflection as shown in Fig. 2. The momentum transfer $`𝐐`$ for this reflection is determined by the difference in the incoming and outgoing neutron wavevectors, $`𝐤𝐤^{}`$. Guide fields were used to provide a neutron polarization direction either vertical to the scattering plane (vertical field or VF) or along the $`𝐐`$ (horizontal field or HF), and a standard spin-flipping coil was used in the scattered beam. A flipping ratio of 19 was measured in both field configurations. All the data shown in the paper have been corrected for the small amount of incomplete polarization.

The magnetic neutron scattering intensity always originates from the moment projected on the plane perpendicular to $`𝐐`$. The polarization analysis technique can further determine how much of the moment lies along the direction of $`𝐐_{}`$. The neutron polarization is directed either along or opposite to the guide field direction. We denote a scattering event in which the spin makes a 180 degree rotation as spin flip (SF), while scattering with no spin direction change is non-spin flip (NSF). For the HF case all magnetic scattering is SF and stems from all the moment in the crystal projected on the plane perpendicular to $`𝐐`$. The NSF scattering arises from nonmagnetic processes. For the VF case the magnetic scattering is divided up into SF and NSF parts. The SF part of the magnetic scattering lies in the scattering along $`𝐐_{}`$. The NSF magnetic scattering stems from the moments pointing in the direction perpendicular to the scattering plane. If we adopt the notation of Sidis et al. sidis  the HF SF scattering for the $`(1/2,1/2,1)`$ reflection as shown on Fig. 2 becomes $`\frac{1}{2}M_{a,b}^2(1+\mathrm{sin}^2\theta )+M_c^2\mathrm{cos}^2\theta `$ where $`M_{a,b}^2`$ and $`M_c^2`$ are the thermodynamic averages of the magnetization within the $`a`$-$`b`$ plane and along $`c`$-axis respectively. For the VF case the SF scattering is given by $`\frac{1}{2}M_{a,b}^2\mathrm{sin}^2\theta +M_c^2\mathrm{cos}^2\theta `$ and the NSF scattering is given by $`1/2M_{a,b}^2`$. The result is the same for the other reflections in the scattering plane if the appropriate value of $`\theta `$ is used.

In order to confirm the nature of the magnetic scattering in the antiferromagnetic parent compound and to check the operation of the spectrometer, measurements were made on IN20 with a large crystal of YBa2Cu3O6.15. This material is an antiferromagnetic insulator with a transition temperature well above room temperature and has been studied previously tranquada ; shamoto . Fig. 3a and b give the HF scattering for the first antiferromagnetic Bragg peak, and show that the signal all occurs in the SF channel and is thus totally magnetic. For the VF case shown in Fig. 3c and d the magnetic scattering is divided up between the SF and NSF channels. The sum of these should be the HF SF result. The least squares gaussian fits give $`239\pm 5`$ for HF SF scattering, $`39\pm 1`$ for the VF SF scattering and $`204\pm 3`$ for the VF NSF case. The sum is thus correct within the experimental error. The moment was earlier determined to lie in the $`a`$-$`b`$ plane, but the VF data can be used to check that result. $`\theta =24.94`$ degrees for the $`(1/2,1/2,1)`$ reflection so that the HF SF scattering would become $`0.5889M_{a,b}^2`$ assuming $`M_c^2=0`$. The VF SF scattering would be $`0.0889M_{a,b}^2`$ or 6.62 times smaller than the HF SF result. The measurement gives $`6.13\pm 0.1`$ which is slightly smaller than expected. The VF NSF scattering would be $`0.5M_{a,b}^2`$ so that the expected HF SF to VF NSF ratio would be 1.18 with the measured result being $`1.17\pm 0.03`$. The data are consistent with the moment being essentially in the $`a`$-$`b`$ plane. Other reflections also can be used to confirm this result, but the $`(1/2,1/2,1)`$ reflection is the best, as the small size of the VF SF scattering makes a sensitive determination possible.

## III Sample Characterization

The high quality single crystal of YBa2Cu3O6.6 has been used in a number of neutron scattering experiments. This crystal provides excellent neutron scattering patterns. Presumably one of the reasons for this is that the chain order is well developed. The superconducting transition is narrow, being about 1.5K (10%-90%) as shown in Fig. 4a dai96 . The neutron scattering data obtained to characterize the chain order in Fig. 4b were acquired at the HB-3 spectrometer at the high-flux-isotope reactor (HFIR) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The data in Fig. 4c and d were obtained at the National Institute of Science and Technology (NIST) reactor using the SPINS spectrometer. The scan in Fig. 4b shows that the only chain order is of the ortho-II type and that the peak from this order at 0.5 is very intense. Following Andersen et al. andersen , we fit the scattering from the oxygen superlattice by

$$S(q)=\frac{A}{[1+(q_h/\mathrm{\Gamma }_h)^2+(q_l/\mathrm{\Gamma }_l)^2]^y},$$

where $`\xi =1/\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ is the correlation length and $`q`$ is the deviation from the ordering modulation vector. Since the crystal is twinned we lump the $`a`$ and $`b`$ directions together under the index $`h`$ while the $`c`$ correlatons are indexed by $`l`$. The least-squares fit in Fig. 5c yields a correlation length of $`35\pm 1`$ Å along $`a,b`$ with $`y=1.68\pm 0.08`$ as expected for $`3D`$ domains with sharp boundaries. The fit of all the peaks along $`c^{}`$ in Fig. 4d gives a correlation length of $`23\pm 1`$ Å along $`c`$. This is very well defined chain order despite the fact that the crystal is twinned. The background under the $`c`$-axis reflections is also found to be very flat. A sloping background that is largest at $`(0.5,0,0)`$ is commonly found for less well ordered samples.

This sample was the one used to discover incommensurate scattering in the YBa2Cu3O6+x system dai98 ; mook98  and to study the absolute intensity and temperature dependence of the resonance dai99 . The resonance peak is considerably narrower than that measured on other samples dai01  . The fact that only ortho-II chain ordering is observed might suggest that the oxygen concentration of our sample is somewhat lower than 6.6. This is possible although the temperature treatment used is expected to result in an oxygen concentration of 6.6, and the lattice constants of $`a=3.826`$ Å, $`b=3.876`$ Å, and $`c=11.73`$ Å are those expected for YBa2Cu3O6.6. This means that some of the normally empty chains of the ortho-II structure are at least partially filled. The sample contains Y2BaCuO5 in powdered form in small pockets in the crystal. The Y2BaCuO5 pockets are necessary to provide pathways for oxygen so that a very uniform oxygen concentration can be achieved. However, these powdered phases produce rings in the scattering which generally make accurate measurements of the magnetic reflections difficult without polarization analysis. The sample weighs 25.6 grams and gives a counting rate of about $`5000`$ counts per second for the rather weak $`(0,0,2)`$ reflection on the IN20 spectrometer under the conditions used for the polarized beam experiment.

## IV Scattering in Region $`C`$

The temperature dependence of the magnetic scattering in Fig. 1 has three main regions. The first region to be investigated is the signal that remains at the highest temperatures. The temperature dependence shown is from the $`(1/2,1/2,2)`$ reflection, however, the dependence observed with the $`(1/2,1/2,1)`$ reflection appears to be identical. The plot shows the signal minus background obtained $`0.05`$ rlu from both sides of the peak. Measurements were made at 293 K in region $`C`$ so as to be well removed from region $`B`$. The results of the measurements are shown in Fig. 5. From this point all the neutron spectra will be shown normalized to a 5 minute counting time to make it easy to compare the results from figure to figure. The error bars result from the total counting time used. Measurements made on the $`(1/2,1/2,0)`$ reflection showed no peak. This means that only antiferromagnetic coupling is present. The HF SF and HF NSF scans through the $`(1/2,1/2,1)`$ Bragg peak are shown in Fig. 5a and b and are similar to those of the YBa2Cu3O6.15 insulator except very much smaller. The Gaussian fit gives a height of $`91.3\pm 10`$ counts and a width of $`0.019\pm 0.003`$ rlu HWHM. The NSF scan shows some extraneous structure from nuclear scattering processes, particularly near 0.54 rlu. However, there is no peak at $`(1/2,1/2,1)`$ so the scattering there is purely magnetic. A HF SF and NSF scan along $`c^{}`$ is shown in Fig. 5e and f. The NSF scan again has peaks that stem from extraneous nuclear scattering events. The SF scan showing the magnetic scattering has only one clear peak. This peak appears to be at or near to the $`(1/2,1/2,1)`$ position. A VF SF scan through this peak is given in Fig. 5c. Any peak in this scan is certainly smaller than 20 counts. If the moment direction is in the $`a`$-$`b`$ plane we would only expect a peak about of $`91.1/6.1`$ or about 15 counts. This is obtained using the measured ratio for YBa2Cu3O6.15. In this case the intensity of about 91 counts should show up in the VF NSF channel. Because the NSF scattering contains extraneous nuclear scattering and the magnetic signal is rather small the $`\mathrm{VF}\mathrm{HF}`$ difference is shown. This is on the order of the 90 counts as expected. It is clear the moment in region $`C`$ is located essentially in the $`a,b`$ plane just as is the case for the YBa2Cu3O6.15 insulator. The peak width along $`(1,1,0)`$ is also the same value as for the insulator which is resolution limited. Defining a correlation length as $`2\pi /FWHM`$ would result in a correlation length of about 200 Å. The width of the peak along $`c^{}`$ in Fig. 5f from a gausssian fit over the range from 0 to 1.4 rlu is $`0.45\pm 0.05`$ rlu. This would result in a correlation length of about 26 Å.

A pattern of magnetic scattering such as found in Fig. 5e is that expected from a magnet that is positionally disordered off the lattice sites of the crystal. This moment appears to derive from an impurity. Although we do not know definitely the nature of the impurity, it most likely is hydrogen. Analysis by high-resolution mass spectrometry of pieces removed from our crystals shows the number of any impurities is small, except for hydrogen. We note that the SF background for both HF and VF is about 340 counts. Since the background is equal in both cases, it can not come from random magnetic impurities and must stem from the nuclear spins in the crystal moon . The NSF scattering is also in the neighborhood of 340 counts so the ratio of the SF to NSF background scattering is about 1:1. It is found for other crystals of YBa2Cu3O6+x that the ratio of the SF to NSF background scattering is about 1:4. Obviously the crystal contains a considerable amount of an impurity that has a large nuclear SF cross section. The material with the largest nuclear SF cross section is hydrogen, which has a nuclear incoherent SF scattering of almost 80 barns. It appears that the sample contains hydrogen as an impurity. It is likely that hydrogen enters the vacant chains of the ortho-II structure and in turn causes magnetism to appear in the planes.

Recent work shows that impurity derived antiferromagnetism from Co in the chains takes place even in the highest $`T_c`$ cuprate superconductors hodges  . We do not know the exact structure of the impurity phase, but information on hydrogen based antiferromagnetism is given in Ref. macfarlane ; gunther  . We have attempted to investigate this process by introducing water vapor into crystals with the ortho-II chain structure. The crystals took up a considerable amount of water, but showed no sign of any additional magnetic scattering at $`(1/2,1/2,1)`$. It is thus not clear exactly how the impurity driven antiferromagnetism takes place. The antiferromagnetism does appear to be closely related to that in the insulating phase with a high transition temperature and an $`a,b`$ plane ordered moment tranquada ; shamoto . The phase has long range correlation’s along $`a,b`$ but is disordered with the lattice along $`c`$. It may have a slightly different $`c`$-axis lattice constant than the YBa2Cu3O6.6 sample. Region $`C`$ is defined by the expected temperature dependence for the Ne$`\stackrel{´}{\mathrm{e}}`$l antiferromagnet, $`A(1T/T_N)^{0.5}`$ where $`A`$ is a constant determined so that the curve passes through the 293 K data points. Since the Ne$`\stackrel{´}{\mathrm{e}}`$l temperature $`T_N`$ of the impurity phase is not known it was chosen to be 350 K. The shape of the curve is not greatly sensitive to $`T_N`$ and we did not want to risk destroying the crystal chain order by heating beyond 293 K. It seems likely the scattering observed by Sidis et al. sidis  is similar to this impurity phase. In fact the scattering in this case is much larger then that observed here. They suggest a moment of about 0.05 $`\mu _B`$ compared to the 0.02 $`\mu _B`$ determined earlier for the YBa2Cu3O6.6 sample, which results in about 6 times more scattering. We have not observed this magnitude of magnetic moment in any crystal with a hole doping larger than YBa2Cu3O6.35. It may be that the YBa2Cu3O6.5 composition, which has empty chain spaces in the ortho-II structure, is very susceptible to the introduction of impurities.

## V SCATTERING IN REGION $`B`$

The main increase in scattering defining region $`B`$ occurs somewhat below 200 K or at about $`T^{}`$ for the YBa2Cu3O6.6 composition. This is the region of current interest as the DDW state should become evident below $`T^{}`$. The curve defining the region is similar to that established earlier mook1  except that the polarized measurements permit an accurate determination of the background which is difficult in the unpolarized case. Fig. 6 shows measurements made at 70 K which is the region of highest intensity, but still above $`T_c`$. The magnetic $`(1/2,1/2,1)`$ and $`(1/2,1/2,2)`$ reflections shown in Fig. 6a and b are wider than the $`(1/2,1/2,1)`$ reflection in region $`C`$, being $`0.024\pm 0.001`$ rlu and $`0.028\pm 0.001`$ rlu HWFM respectively. The peak is likely the sum of a wide distribution from region $`B`$ and a narrow one from region $`C`$, however, the signal is too small to try to distinguish these two distributions. Nevertheless, the correlation length is clearly shorter in the $`B`$ phase. The correlation length in the $`c^{}`$ direction is also shorter in region $`B`$ based on the width of the $`(1/2,1/2,1)`$ reflection shown in Fig. 6g. A Gaussian fit over the range from 0 to 1.4 rlu gives a width of $`0.82\pm 0.15`$ rlu HWHM for the 70 K data. This results in correlation lengths of about 150 Å from the $`(1/2,1/2,1)`$ peak and 14 Å along $`c^{}`$. Again no $`(1/2,1/2,0)`$ peak is observed so that the magnetic structure is antiferromagnetic.

The shorter correlation length plus the increase in intensity identifies a new phase since a broadening by itself would decrease the intensity. Fig. 6b and d show no peak in the NSF intensity at the Bragg position so that the observed peak is entirely magnetic in nature. Fig. 6e gives the VF SF scattering and provides one of the most important results. If the moment direction is the same as for the antiferromagnetic insulator this peak should be 6.1 times smaller than the scattering in Fig. 6a and 6g or $`25\pm 1`$ counts. Instead the fit in Fig. 2e gives $`38\pm 5`$ counts. The VF NSF scattering is shown in Fig. 6f. This is contaminated by extraneous nuclear scattering near 0.54 rlu as can also be seen from the HF data in Fig. 6b. However, the region near 0.5 rlu is reasonably clear of extraneous scattering so two Gaussian distributions have been fitted to the data. The height of the distribution at 0.5 rlu is $`123\pm 7`$ counts. The ratio of VF NSF to HF SF scattering is thus $`4.9\pm 0.3`$ where it should be should be 5.6 for $`a,b`$-axis moments. The more accurate comparison is between the HF and VF SF data, especially as it is free from extraneous nuclear scattering. A $`c`$-axis component of the moment direction is thus found for the scattering in region $`B`$. In fact an appreciable part of the increase in intensity attributed to region $`B`$ results from $`c`$-axis directed moments. This can mean that the scattering in region $`C`$ acquires a $`c`$-axis moment component at lower temperatures. However, it is more likely that an appreciable part of the additional moment in region $`B`$ is directed along the $`c`$-axis. Fig. 6g shows that the increase in intensity comes at positions associated with the YBa2Cu3O6.6 lattice as can be particularly noted for the $`(1/2,1/2,2)`$ reflection. The peaks in the curve are not exactly at the reciprocal lattice points, but the new intensity which is added to that shown in Fig. 3f does occur on the lattice points.

The scattering in region $`B`$ is thus quite different than that in region $`C`$ thought to result from an impurity phase. The peaks in the scattering in the $`B`$ phase stem from Bragg scattering from the YBa2Cu3O6.6 lattice. Of course the scattering in $`B`$ could come from a different type of impurity phase, but this would have to have a moment direction that is appreciably directed along the $`c`$-axis. No such impurity scattering has been previously observed. The correlation lengths of the moments in the $`B`$ phase are also considerably shorter that in the $`C`$ phase. The work by Sidis et al. sidis  does not show a distinct $`B`$ phase. However, the scattering from the impurity phase is so strong in their case that the $`B`$ phase would go unnoticed.

The $`A`$ phase where increased scattering is observed below $`T_c`$ has not been thoroughly investigated. The ratio of HF SF scattering to VF SF scattering does not seem to be appreciably different than for region $`B`$ and the peak widths do not change noticeably. Since such a result has also been seen by Sidis et al. sidis  it would seem that the measurements are observing the same effect. However, the origin of the increased scattering is unknown.

## VI THE HIGHER ANGLE REFLECTIONS

In general the pattern of the reflections can be used to determine the moment direction. Also the size of the outer reflections should help determine whether the moment stems from electron spins or from orbital moments such as the DDW state. However, the situation is complicated by the presence of more than one kind of order. A reasonable picture of the peaks in the $`B`$ phase can be obtained by subtracting the data taken at 293 K from the 70 K data. Fig. 7a shows this result smoothed to obtain a result that is easier to visualize. Smoothing can introduce artificial structure if the data contains a spurious data point, but the results in Fig. 5f and 6g appear well behaved. In general SF data are free from spurious effects. A case to the contrary is shown in c, d, and e of Fig. 7, but this can be easily identified as the NSF data contains a huge peak that likely stems from higher order scattering. The main result desired from Fig. 7a is the ratio of the heights of the Bragg peaks. Essentially the same result is obtained by subtracting the data and adding the 5 points surrounding the various Bragg positions together. The line shown is a Gaussian fit to the peaks at the 5 positions along $`l`$. The fit at the $`l=1`$ and 2, positions was unconstrained while at $`l=3,`$ 4, and 5 the fit was constrained to the lattice positions with a width set the same as for the $`l=2`$ case.

The peak ratios depend on the magnetic structure, form factor, and spectrometer resolution. These can be calculated in a straightforward way for the antiferromagnetic insulator. However, we have measured them for the YBa2Cu3O6.15 material and the ratios for the $`l=1`$ through 5 peaks normalized to $`l=1`$ are 1, 1.18, 0.13, 0.06, 0.82. These agree with the expected values for the previously determined magnetic structure tranquada . The most obvious difference between these and the result in Fig. 7a is the lack of a peak at $`l=5`$. This can be seen as well from the unsubtracted data in Fig. 6g. The peak ratio determined from Fig. 7a is 1, 0.89, 0.17, 0, 0.10. The $`l=5`$ peak is also shown in Fig. 7b in a scan along $`(h,h,5)`$. The fit gives a peak of $`9\pm 7`$ counts or a very small number. This scan is across the ridge of scattering that results from region $`C`$ so it includes any scattering that might stem from this phase. However, Fig. 5f shows any contribution from the $`C`$ region is small. We also have an estimate for the size of the $`l=1`$ peak from the difference of the scans in Fig. 6a and Fig. 5a. This difference is about 61 counts which is larger than that in Fig. 7a, but not inconsistent with it since the peak intensity is reduced by the smoothing process. However, it confirms the small size of the $`l=5`$ peak compared to the $`l=1`$ peak. Zero on Fig. 7a is about 15 counts demonstrating the small background increase at 70 K.

It is clear that the outer reflections are small or nonexistent for both the $`C`$ and $`B`$ phases. However, the $`C`$ phase shows only one peak and a mostly featureless ridge of scattering. This is the signature of a positionally disordered phase in which the outer reflections are spread out so much as to be invisible. The $`B`$ phase has two clear reflections of comparable width centered on the magnetic lattice. This is not the signature of a spatially disordered magnet so that the smallness of the outer reflections must stem from another source. In fact the pattern is quite similar to that expected for $`c`$-axis order as characterized by an intensity ratio for the $`(1/2,1/2,l)`$ reflections of 1, 0.90, 0.12, 0, 0.02. This serves to confirm the VF polarized result for region $`B`$. It is also similar to the pattern expected for orbital moment scattering chakravarty01a ; chakravarty01b  . However, the data are not sensitive enough to distinguish between the two cases.

If the moment in region $`B`$ is a Cu spin moment, a noticeable intensity should be visible in the next magnetic zone out along $`[1,3,0]`$ which is the $`(1/2,3/2,l)`$ zone. The intensity of the $`(1/2,3/2,1)`$ and $`(1/2,3/2,2)`$ reflections should be 0.44 and 0.5 of the $`(1/2,1/2,1)`$ reflection respectively assuming a $`3d_{x^2y^2}`$ Cu spin form factor. These reflections are shown in Fig. 7c-e. Unfortunately, the large higher order nuclear peak that contaminates the data makes the determination of a small peak difficult. The expected peak of about 31 counts is not obvious in c and d, but it is difficult to rule it out. There also may be some contribution from region $`C`$ in these scans. The scan along $`l`$ in e is more useful as a $`(1/2,3/2,2)`$ peak would not be expected from region $`C`$ since there is no $`(1/2,1/2,2)`$ peak. Since the inset with the square points has been scaled up by a factor of 5, a peak of about 150 counts is expected. There is no indication of a peak of this size. This is in favor of an orbital moment interpretation of the moment in region $`B`$ since the form factor would be expected to fall off more quickly in the orbital moment case. Data obtained in the $`(3/2,3/2,l)`$ zone are included in f and g for completeness. The fit is again a gaussian fixed at the magnetic Bragg point with the width fixed at the expected value determined from the spectrometer resolution. The peak heights determined are $`5\pm 9`$ and $`9\pm 9`$ for the $`(3/2,3/2,1)`$ and $`(3/2,3/2,2)`$ reflections. These are small, however, the expected peak heights from Cu spin magnetism for the moment attributed to the $`B`$ phase are about 10 counts or comparable to the experimental errors.

## VII INELASTIC SCATTERING AND THE GAP

Measurements of inelastic scattering to determine the excitations in the gap have also been made. Results on a low energy scale were obtained at the SPINS spectrometer at NIST while results at higher energies were obtained on the HB-3 triple-axis spectrometer at HFIR. The data are presented in Fig. 8. The scan in Fig. 8a is unpolarized so that structure from nuclear contamination is found. Nevertheless a peak over background of about 2000 counts is observed The scan is made with a neutron energy of 5 meV and open beam collimation. Two Be filters in the beam removed higher order contamination. Fig. 8b shows an energy scan demonstrating that no inelastic signal over the 20 count background is found. Fig. 8c is a scan for a 1 meV transfer. Any excess signal at the magnetic position is smaller than about 2 counts. The gap is extraordinarily clean. The elastic signal in Fig. 8a is estimated to correspond to about 0.02 $`\mu _B`$ and any signal at 1 meV is $`10^4`$ times smaller. No excitations stemming from the elastic signal are thus observed. This is not unexpected as spin excitations from the $`C`$ phase are likely to have a gap larger than 1 meV. Any orbital scattering from the DDW state should have a gap comparable to the pseudo gap. Fig. 8d shows measurements made on the HB-3 spectrometer. Pyrolytic graphite was used for the monochromator and analyzer and the collimatiom was $`40^{}`$-$`40^{}`$-$`80^{}`$-120 from in front of the monochromator to behind the analyzer. The final energy was held fixed at 30.5 meV and a pyrolytic graphite filter was used in the scattered beam. The measurements were made around the $`(1/2,3/2,1.8)`$ magnetic position. No peak is observed at the magnetic position at 10 K and 70 K. Magnetic scattering begins to be observed at 150 K as the pseudogap temperature is reached. Note from Fig. 1 that this is the temperature where most of the scattering in region B is lost. The data show the extreme cleanness of the gap at 10 K and the pseudogap at 70 K. Fig. 8e shows the 34 meV resonance as determined from temperature subtracted data near the same magnetic position used in Fig. 8d. The height of the resonance is about 400 counts over background. The scattering at 10 meV and 70 K can be at most 5 counts. The fit gives $`13\pm 9`$ counts at 70 K. The scattering in the pseudogap at 10 meV is thus at least 50 times smaller than the resonance. This very clean gap is another signature of the quality of the sample.

## VIII magnetic field dependence

The magnetic field dependence of the elastic scattering at the $`(1/2,1/2,1)`$ magnetic Bragg point has been made on SPINS. In this case the crystal was orientated so the field was approximately along the $`c`$-axis dain . This means the beam must pass through the thick part of the sample crystal so that the overall signal is smaller than for the measurements in Fig. 8a. The results are shown in Fig. 9. A scan at 30 K with and without the 7 T applied field is shown in Fig. 9a. It is obvious that there is no sizable field effect. The temperature dependence of the scattering at 0 T and 7 T is shown in Fig. 9b. Any field dependence is small, but if there is any effect the scattering appears to get larger in the field. That might suggest the signal increases as vortices are introduced into the crystal. However, the increase seems to appear above $`T_c`$ as well as below and a small shift in the crystal as the field is applied may account for the effect. The scattering in region $`C`$ attributed to a high temperature spin ordering would not be expected to change appreciably in a 7 T field. Likewise scattering from orbital ordering would be expected to insensitive to fields of this size nguyen ; marston . It would be interesting to make measurements in larger fields and these will be attempted at a later date.

## IX other sample crystals

Polarized beam measurements were made on a number of other sample crystals of different compositions. In each case the signal from magnetic order was either absent within the errors of the measurement or much smaller than the scattering from the YBa2Cu3O6.6 crystal. The crystals were all about the same size except for a YBa2Cu3O7 crystal which weighed about 80 grams. This crystal showed no observable magnetic signal. This is not unexpected for DDW scattering which would have a small intensity at high hole doping levels. A small signal was observed for crystals with the composition YBa2Cu3O6.7 and YBa2Cu3O6.45. $`T_c`$ for these crystals is 74 K and 48 K respectively. These crystals are the same ones characterized in Ref. dai01 , and scans showing the incommensurate and resonance scattering are available there. The crystals are not as highly ordered as the YBa2Cu3O6.6 crystal with the superconducting transition being 2.7 K wide for the YBa2Cu3O6.7 sample and 5 K wide for the YBa2Cu3O6.45 crystal. The resonance and incommensurate structure are much less well defined than for the YBa2Cu3O6.6 crystal. However, the ratio of the SF to NSF background scattering was about 1 to 4 showing a much smaller SF background. It appears likely the highly ordered ortho-II phase is very susceptible to impurities.

Data for the YBa2Cu3O6.45 crystal are shown in Fig. 10. The HF SF scattering in Fig. 10a is clearly visible but is very small. The Gaussian fit yields a height of $`17\pm 2`$ counts and a width of $`0.03\pm 0.005`$ rlu. The width is thus wider than the resolution and is of a similar width as the scattering in region $`B`$ for the YBa2Cu3O6.6 crystal. The intensity is about 3 times smaller than the moment attributed to region $`B`$. The size of the VF scattering appears to be comparable with the HF scattering indicating a $`c`$-axis directed moment. The scattering diminishes as the temperature is increased. The NSF scattering is contaminated with spurious nuclear scattering as in the YBa2Cu3O6.6 case. Fig. 10f gives the result of adding the strongest magnetic signal shown in Fig. 10a to the NSF scattering. It is obvious that no magnetic signal is observable without a polarized beam. The observed scattering is what might be expected from the DDW phase. However, the signal is so weak that it is hard to characterize it in any detail. We are now searching for a crystal that shows a stronger magnetic signal, but is free of the high SF background scattering found in the YBa2Cu3O6.6 crystal.

## X Summary and Conclusions

It is now obvious that searches for a small magnetic moment of the size expected for the DDW state are only accomplished with considerable difficulty. Small static moments are more difficult to observe than dynamics because of the large background from competing nuclear and magnetic scattering. Polarized neutrons appear to be a necessity to get a clear picture of the magnetic scattering. The problem of obtaining a sample crystal with sufficiently low disorder to observe the DDW state is perhaps the most difficult one. Samples with the ortho-II structure probably have the lowest disorder, but appear to be very sensitive to the introduction of impurity phases. The three experiments done on crystals of this type all show some type of extraneous magnetic signal. The Sidis et al. sidis  experiment shows a large moment that orders at high temperatures that must stem from an impurity since moments of this size are observed in no other samples of roughly the same composition. The Stock et al. stock  experiment shows a very large roughly $`Q`$ independent magnetic background that increases as the temperature is lowered that is not observed in other samples. Note that the background in Fig. 10a and b is essentially unchanged with temperature despite the very high sensitivity of the experiment. Our crystal of YBa2Cu3O6.6 appears to have a high temperature impurity phase that is smaller, but similar to the Sidis et al. sidis  sample. It is interesting that in both cases the magnetic scattering increases below $`T_c`$. This effect may be important in its own right and should be explored further. Any crystal to be used in such experiments obviously has to be carefully characterized. Obvious requirements are a very clean gap and pseudogap.

Despite the difficulties our experiments show evidence that a state with an orbital moment may well exist. Such a state would seem to be best characterized by a moment that is predominately directed along the $`c`$-axis and appears at roughly $`T^{}`$. The $`B`$ phase in our YBa2Cu3O6.6 crystal appears to have these properties. Orbital moments should also have a form factor that falls off faster than the spin form factor. This also appears to be the case for the scattering from the $`B`$ phase. However, this determination is made difficult by the existence of the high temperature ordered phase. Care also has to be taken that the moment in question is ordered on the crystal lattice as a disordered moment such as that ascribed to the $`C`$ phase also has small outer reflections.

Additional measurements are needed to clearly determine the existence of orbital moments and the DDW phase. It appears that these are best done by obtaining a crystal of the ortho-II phase without magnetic impurities. If this is impossible less well ordered crystals like the YBa2Cu3O6.45 sample that show no evidence of impurity scattering may have to be used despite the small magnetic signal. $`\mu `$SR measurements like those of Sonier et al. sonier  can observe the effect of very small moments. However, the moment is difficult to characterize sufficiently well in such experiments to determine its origin. Neutrons can identify if the moments lie on the crystal lattice, the moment direction, and the magnetic form factor. This is essential information needed to identify orbital scattering.

Finally it appears that the cuprates display a number of competing phases so that for instance stripe order may appear in some samples, charge order in others, and orbital order in others yet. It is thus possible to have experiments that seem to disagree, but are only sampling the order present in a particular sample. This makes sample characterization particularly important in experiments to determine the true nature of the pseudogap.

## XI Acknowledgements

We are grateful to S. Chakravarty, R. Laughlin, D. Morr, D. Pines, and B. Marston for helpful conservations. M. Enderle provide valuable assistance with the IN20 spectrometer. We thank W.J.L. Buyers for supplying his results prior to publication. This work was supported by U.S. DOE under contract DE-AC05-00OR22725 with UT-Battelle, LLC.


text:
# The Inner Scale Length of Spiral Galaxy Rotation Curves

## 1 Introduction

At optical and near infrared wavelengths, interstellar dust depresses the observed flux of galaxy disks by both scattering and absorption. Several authors have proposed that, even in the face–on perspective, normal, non–starburst disks are optically thick at optical wavelengths, while others have argued for substantial transparency (see the volume edited by Davies & Burstein 1995 and the review by Calzetti 2001 for details). Using a sample of spiral galaxies within $`cz10,000`$ km s-1 , we statistically derived photometric solutions for the degree of internal extinction at I–band as a function of disk inclination (Giovanelli et al. 1994), finding a difference of more than a magnitude of flux between face–on and edge–on systems. At the same time, we found evidence for transparency of the outer parts of disks, at radii $`>3`$ disk scale lengths from the center. We later reported that the amount of internal extinction is luminosity dependent: more luminous disks being more opaque than less luminous ones (Giovanelli et al.  1995). These results have been confirmed by more recent analyses (e.g. Tully et al.  1998; Wang & Heckman 1996).

Purely photometric techniques are subject to a peculiar set of selection effects, that can severely affect quantitative conclusions on internal extinction, as witnessed by the liveliness of the debate over the last decade. In 1981, Goad & Roberts noted a kinematic effect which can provide an independent test for disk extinction.

Let $`V(r)`$ be the rotation curve of a disk ($`r`$ being the radial coordinate along the disk’s projected major axis), assumed to have axial symmetry. Let $`(x,y)`$ be a set of Cartesian coordinates in the plane of the disk. If the disk is thin and it is observed at inclination $`i`$ ($`i=90^{}`$ for edge–on), the component of velocity along the line of sight which intercepts the disk at $`(x,y)`$ is

$$V_{}=V(r)\frac{x}{\sqrt{x^2+y^2}}\mathrm{sin}i+V_{turb},$$
(1)
where $`V_{turb}`$ accounts for turbulence and $`x`$ is oriented along the disk’s apparent major axis. An observed rotation curve, as derived for example from a long–slit H$`\alpha `$ spectrum positioned along $`x`$, is smeared by seeing, instrumental resolution, averaging across the slit width, the finite thickness of the disk and extinction occurring within the disk itself. As realistically thick disks approach the edge–on perspective, lines–of–sight along the major axis sample regions of increasingly broad range in $`y`$, yielding a velocity distribution with a peak velocity contributed by parcels of gas at $`y=0`$ and a low velocity wing contributed by parcels at $`|y|>0`$. If extinction is important, only foreground parts of the disk contribute to the emission and the factor $`(x/\sqrt{x^2+y^2})<1`$ depresses the velocity distribution observed at $`r=x`$. Goad & Roberts noted how this tapering effect may, in opaque edge–on disks, produce observed rotation curves resembling solid–body behavior, independently of the true shape of $`V(r)`$. Bosma et al. (1992) applied this technique to two edge–on systems, NGC 100 and NGC 891, by comparing HI synthesis and H$`\alpha `$ observations. The evidence led them to conclude that the disk of NGC 100 is transparent, while in the case of NGC 891 they could not exclude the possibility of extinction in the inner parts of the disk. Prada et al. (1994) compared long–slit spectra of NGC 2146 in the optical and near IR and reported evidence for extinction in the inner parts of the galaxy.

Here, we apply the Goad & Roberts test in a statistically convincing manner to a sample of more than 2000 H$`\alpha `$/\[N 2\] rotation curves. Our results clearly indicate substantial opacity in the inner disks of spiral disks. They also show the effect to be luminosity dependent, in a manner very much in agreement with our previous photometric determination. In Section 2 we present our data sample and describe our rotation curve fits. Results on extinction are discussed in Section 3. In Section 4, we discuss an interesting serendipitous finding: the apparent constancy of the mean value of the kinematic scale length of H$`\alpha `$/\[N 2\] rotation curves, across populations of different luminosity class. Throughout this paper, distances and luminosities are obtained from redshifts in the Cosmic Microwave Background reference frame and scaled according to a Hubble parameter $`H_{}=100h`$ km s-1 Mpc-1.

## 2 Data Sample and Rotation Curve Model Fits

As an effort to map the peculiar velocity field of the local Universe, we have assembled a sample of several thousand observations of I–band photometry and rotational width data of spiral galaxies. Our observations, including those listed in Dale & Giovanelli (2000 and refs. therein) as well as several hundred obtained at the Hale 5 m telescope after that report and to be presented elsewhere, have been complemented by the samples observed in the southern hemisphere by Mathewson and co–workers (Mathewson et al.  1992; Mathewson & Ford 1996). The kinematic information for a substantial subset of these data is in the form of rotation curves in electronic form, derived from long–slit H$`\alpha `$/\[N 2\] spectra.

Rotation curves can be fitted by a variety of parametric models, some of which are motivated by the physical expectation of contributions by a baryonic component with a mass distribution mimicking that of the light plus a dark matter spheroidal halo. Other models rely purely on the versatility of a mathematical form in fitting effectively the observed rotation curves with a minimum of free parameters. Here we report on fits to 2246 rotation curves with a parametric model of the form

$$V_{pe}(r)=V_{}(1e^{r/r_{pe}})(1+\alpha r/r_{pe})$$
(2)
where $`V_{}`$ regulates the overall amplitude of the rotation curve, $`r_{pe}`$ yields a scale length for the inner steep rise and $`\alpha `$ sets the slope of the slowly changing outer part. This simple model, which we refer to as Polyex, has been found to be very “plastic”. It fits effectively both the steeply rising inner parts of rotation curves, as well as varying outer slopes, and it can be used to advantage in estimating velocity widths at specific radial distances from the galactic center as required by applications of the luminosity–linewidth relation. In particular, it provides a very useful estimate of the inner slope of the rotation curve as given by $`r_{pe}`$. Of the 2246 rotation curves fitted by the model shown in Equation (2), 425 have been rejected due to poor quality of the data or of the fit or because $`r_{pe}`$ projects to less than 3” and may thus be affected by poor angular resolution. Mean values of $`\alpha `$, the value of $`r_{pe}`$ as seen in face–on systems, $`r_{pe}^{}`$, and of the ratio between $`r_{pe}`$ and the scale length of the disk light for face–on systems are given in Table 1, for different luminosity bins; mean values of $`r_{pe}`$ are shown in Figure 1 and discussed in the next section, where they are used to probe disk extinction. Contents of columns 5 and 6 of Table 1 are discussed in Section 4.

## 3 Evidence for Extinction

In Figure 1, the mean value of $`r_{pe}`$ is shown separately for different luminosity classes, as a function of the disk inclination as expressed by $`\mathrm{log}(a/b)`$, where $`(a/b)`$ is the apparent axial ratio. Each symbol is the average within a bin including between 20 and 30 galaxies. The horizontal dotted line in each panel indicates an arbitrary scale of $`1.6h^1`$ kpc. The total number of galaxies and the absolute magnitude range is indicated within each panel of the Figure. The parameter $`r_{pe}`$ gives an indication of the radial distance at which the rotational velocity is $`11/e=0.63`$ of $`V_{}(1+\alpha )`$ (the asymptotic velocity for flat rotation curves, for which $`\alpha =0`$). Figure 1 shows that, as $`\mathrm{log}(a/b)`$ approaches 0.45 ($`i70^{}`$), the kinematic scale length $`r_{pe}`$ of observed rotation curves starts increasing. The effect is more marked for more luminous disks, for which edge–on systems exhibit an average value of $`r_{pe}`$ nearly three times as large as that of systems with $`i<45^{}`$. The effect is not evident in the least luminous systems (those with $`M_I5\mathrm{log}h`$ fainter than -19.5). This result is in agreement with the expectations based on the photometric determination of Giovanelli et al. (1995). No axial ratio dependence is observed for $`\alpha `$, the outer slope of the rotation curves.

We have carried out preliminary modelling of the observations shown in Figure 1 by simulating the dust and H$`\alpha `$ distributions as exponential disks both in $`r`$ and $`z`$. Assuming the same distribution for dust and H$`\alpha `$ tracers, with a ratio between scale height and scale length of 0.06 (as found by Xilouris et al. 1997; 1998), we obtain approximate match between models and Figure 1 for values of the the face–on ($`i=0^{}`$), central ($`r=0`$) optical depth of the model at the wavelegth of H$`\alpha `$ ($`\lambda =0.66\mu `$), $`\tau _\alpha ^{}(0)`$, of about 4. These modelling results are preliminary and depend very sensitively on the assumed thickness of disks and on the relative scales of dust and H$`\alpha `$ sources. We will report more extensively on the results of this effort at a later stage.

## 4 A Characteristic Kinematic Scale Length

Figure 1 shows that, for low axial ratios (where the effect of internal extinction is negligible), the average value of the kinematical scale length $`r_{pe}`$ is approximately the same for disks of all luminosities. Is this result to be expected?

First, we exclude that the angular resolution of spectroscopic observations has a significant impact on the reported findings. Not using galaxies for which $`r_{pe}`$ projects to an angular size $`a_{pe}<3\mathrm{"}`$ rules out bias due to extreme cases of poor angular resolution. Since we use rotation curves from different sources, which have been produced with different angular sampling intervals, we have also verified that there is no systematic difference in the fitted values of $`a_{pe}`$ among different data sources, taking advantage of significant sample overlaps. We have done so for several dozen galaxies appearing in at least two samples among those: of our own, of Mathewson et al., of Courteau (1997) and of Rubin et al. (1999 and refs. therein).

Second, we explore the effect of sample selection criteria. The values of $`<r_{pe}>`$ displayed in Figure 1 are affected by Malmquist bias, which does not impact on the trends produced by extinction but alters the relative values of $`<r_{pe}>`$ among different luminosity classes: since more luminous populations have larger average distance, for them the angular size limit of 3” produces an $`<r_{pe}>`$ biased high. In order to remove this bias, we draw a subsample which is volume limited, by including in it only systems with $`a_{pe}>3\mathrm{"}`$, $`hr_{pe}>1`$ kpc and within the distance range $`20h^1`$ to $`80h^1`$ Mpc. At $`80h^1`$ Mpc, an angular size limit of 3” translates into a linear size limit of about 1 kpc; the reason for a lower limit in distance is to reduce the uncertainty introduced by peculiar velocities. We further restrict the subsample to low inclination disks ($`\mathrm{log}(a/b)<0.3`$, $`<0.4`$, $`<0.5`$ respectively for $`M5\mathrm{log}h<21.0`$, $`<19.5`$ and $`>19.5`$) — in order to get around the extinction effect discussed in the previous section — and compute the mean values of $`r_{pe}`$ and $`a_{pe}`$, now identified by a subscript “1”; those values are listed in columns 5 and 6 of Table 1, for each luminosity class. The exclusion of galaxies with $`hr_{pe}<1`$ kpc biases high the values of $`<hr_{pe}>_1`$; it does so however equally for all luminosity classes, through which $`<hr_{pe}>_1`$ remains approximately constant. The mean values $`<a_{pe}>_1`$, which increase with decreasing luminosity, illustrate the fact that less luminous populations are on the average more nearby. Note that the values of $`<a_{pe}>_1`$ are fairly large in comparison with the typical seeing, excluding the likelihood of an angular resolution bias.

Next, we inquire on the implications of a constant $`r_{pe}`$ on the total mass distribution. Assume the total mass of the galaxy $`M_{200}`$ is that comprised within a limiting radius $`r_{200}`$, defined as that within which the halo mean density is 200 times the critical density of the Universe. Then,

$$M(r_{pe})=M_{200}\frac{\overline{\rho }(r_{pe})}{\overline{\rho }_{200}}\left(\frac{r_{pe}}{r_{200}}\right)^3$$
(3)
where $`M(r_{pe})`$ is the mass within $`r_{pe}`$, and $`\overline{\rho }(r_{pe})`$ and $`\overline{\rho }_{200}`$ are respectively the mean density within $`r_{pe}`$ and within $`r_{200}`$. Since $`V^2(r)=GM(r)/r`$, we can also express the ratio between the rotational velocity at $`r_{pe}`$ and the asymptotic value $`V_{200}`$ as

$$\left[\frac{V(r_{pe})}{V_{200}}\right]^2=\frac{\overline{\rho }(r_{pe})}{\overline{\rho }_{200}}\left(\frac{r_{pe}}{r_{200}}\right)^2$$
(4)
For a flat rotation curve, the definition of $`r_{pe}`$ yields $`[V(r_{pe})/V_{200}]^20.4`$; then

$$M(r_{pe})0.4M_{200}\frac{r_{pe}}{r_{200}}$$
(5)
It can be shown that $`r_{200}M_{200}^{1/3}`$; thus, for a constant value of $`r_{pe}`$:

$$M(r_{pe})M_{200}^{2/3}$$
(6)
Since $`V_{}(1+\alpha )`$ does not generally coincide with $`V_{200}`$, the effect of the luminosity dependence of $`\alpha `$ needs to be taken into account: it can be parametrized by writing $`(V(r_{pe})/V_{200})^2M_{200}^\beta `$, where $`\beta `$ is small and positive. In general, Equation (6) can then be rewritten as

$$M(r_{pe})M_{200}^{2/3+\beta }$$
(7)
We now inquire on the dependence of the halo mass within $`r_{pe}`$ on the total mass. We assume a halo density form as proposed by Navarro, Frenk & White (1997):

$$\rho _h(r)=\rho _{crit}\frac{\delta _{}}{(r/r_s)(1+r/r_s)^2}$$
(8)
where $`\rho _{crit}`$ is the cosmological critical density, and the scaling parameters $`\delta _{}`$ and $`r_s`$ can be expressed in terms of $`r_{200}`$ and a concentration index $`cr_{200}/r_s`$, with $`\delta _{}=c^3(200/3)[\mathrm{ln}(1+c)c/(1+c)]^1`$. For small values of $`r`$, the halo mass within radius $`r`$ is

$$M_h(r)=\frac{400\pi c^2\rho _{crit}r_{200}}{\mathrm{ln}(1+c)c/(1+c)}r^2$$
(9)
where $`M_{200}M_h(r_{200})`$. For a constant $`r_{pe}`$,

$$M_h(r_{pe})\frac{c^2}{\mathrm{ln}(1+c)c/(1+c)}M_{200}^{1/3}$$
(10)
Numerical simulations indicate that $`c`$ is mildly dependent on halo mass, decreasing approximately as $`(M_{200})^b`$ with $`b0.10`$ (Navarro, Frenk & White 1997). A comparison of Equations (7) and (10) thus indicates that the mass in the halo cannot account for the inner shape of the rotation curve, unless the concentration index increases with halo mass, opposite to what numerical simulations suggest. An alternative interpretation is that the contribution of disk and bulge to $`M(r_{pe})`$ increases with galaxy luminosity (and mass), a well–exercised idea in the current literature (e.g. Burstein & Rubin 1985; Broeils 1992; Moriondo, Giovanardi & Hunt 1998; Sellwood 1999 and refs. therein). If we assume that $`M(r_{pe})=M_h(r_{pe})(1+f_d)`$, $`\beta 0`$ and neglect the dependence of $`c`$ on $`M_{200}`$,

$$1+f_dM_{200}^{1/3},$$
(11)
suggesting that as the galaxy mass increases, the fraction of baryonic material in the inner few kpc grows rather quickly. For these systems, the baryonic mass fraction may saturate at its cosmological level (i.e. these systems retain all their baryons) and their inner rotation curves may be completely determined by it.

The spirals in our sample have small bulges (they are mostly of type Sbc and Sc). Within that context, note that in an exponential disk–dominated rotation curve a rotational velocity $`11/e=0.63`$ of the maximum is obtained at a radial distance of about 0.6 disk scale lengths. For galaxies in our high luminosity bin, the mean ratio between $`r_{pe}`$ and the scale length of the disk light is $`0.63\pm 0.02`$, as shown in Table 1, while it rises to twice that value for the less luminous galaxies in our sample.

We conclude that the simplest and most likely explanation of the near constancy of $`<r_{pe}>`$ among luminosity classes is that the baryonic mass fraction within the inner few kpc of spirals increases with total luminosity, and that within that region the most luminous spirals are entirely dominated by baryonic matter. We integrate photometric profiles to $`r=r_{pe}`$ in order to obtain I band luminosities within that radius, assuming a solar absolute magnitude of +3.94 (Livingston 2000). Estimating mass from $`M(r_{pe})=r_{pe}V(r_{pe})^2/G`$, for galaxies brighter than $`M_I=22+5\mathrm{log}h`$ we obtain a mean baryonic mass–to–light ratio $`\overline{\mathrm{{\rm Y}}}_I=(2.7\pm 0.12)h`$ $`M_{}/L_{,I}`$ within $`r_{pe}`$. Individual colors for galaxies in our sample are not available; however, if we assume that spiral galaxies radiate approximately like blackbodies with $`RI0.5`$, then a mean bolometric $`\overline{\mathrm{{\rm Y}}}1.25\overline{\mathrm{{\rm Y}}}_I=3.4h`$ $`M_{}/L_{}`$ can be estimated. The coarse analysis presented here does not take into consideration the dynamical effect of a central bulge with a low spin parameter and we have not attempted to separate disk and bulge contributions to the light. It is interesting to compare our result with that of Bottema (1999) for the Sb galaxy NGC 7331: from measurements of stellar velocity dispersions he obtains $`\mathrm{{\rm Y}}_{I,disk}=1.6\pm 0.7`$ and $`\mathrm{{\rm Y}}_{I,bulge}=6.8\pm 1.0`$.

## 5 Conclusions

We have shown that the H$`\alpha `$/\[N 2\] rotation curves of spiral galaxies exhibit a dependence of the inner slope of their rotation curves on the galaxy axial ratio. We have interpreted this result as induced by extinction occurring within disks. The effect is luminosity dependent, being stronger for the most luminous systems as previously indicated by Giovanelli et al. (1995) on photometric grounds.

Serendipitously, it was also found that rotation curves of galaxies of different luminosity classes exhibit approximately the same average exponential scale length in the inner regions, of about $`1.7h^1`$ kpc (the result has potential in the determination of redshift–independent distances: we will report elsewhere on this application). This is in agreement with the idea that in the inner parts of spiral galaxies the baryonic component contributes a rapidly increasing fraction of the mass, with increasing total luminosity of systems. In fact, the most luminous galaxies in our sample appear to be completely baryon–dominated within the inner few kpc. We use this inference and the combination of spectroscopic and photometric data to estimate a mean baryonic mass–to–light ratio for that region $`\overline{\mathrm{{\rm Y}}}_I=2.7h`$ $`M_{}/L_{,I}`$ in the I band.

This work has been supported by NSF grants AST96–17069 and AST99–00695. Discussions with M. S. Roberts are thankfully acknowledged.


text:
# Theorem 1

## Proof

Define $`I`$ to be the ideal generated by the matrix entries of the map $`\phi :R^qR^p`$ where $`R^q\stackrel{\phi }{}R^pE0`$ is an exact sequence in which $`p`$ is minimal (equal to the dimension of the vector space $`E/𝔪E`$ over $`R/𝔪`$, where $`𝔪`$ denotes the maximal ideal in $`R`$). It can be seen that this $`I`$ has the desired property. $`\mathrm{}`$

## Remark 3

As a consequence, if $`R`$ is a noetherian local ring and $`E`$ a finite $`R`$-module such that $`E/𝔪^nE`$ is a free module over $`R/𝔪^n`$ for each $`n2`$, then $`E`$ is free over $`R`$. For by the above lemma, $`I𝔪^n`$ for each $`n2`$, hence $`I=0`$.

###### Lemma 4

(Srinivas) Let $`R`$ be an artin local ring with maximal ideal $`𝔪`$, and let $`E`$ be a finite $`R`$-module, with corresponding ideal $`I`$ as in Lemma 2. Suppose that the ideal $`I`$ is a principal ideal and $`𝔪I=0`$. Then $`E`$ is isomorphic to a direct sum of the form $`R^m(R/I)^n`$, where $`m,n`$ are non-negative integers.

## Proof

Let $`R^q\stackrel{\phi }{}R^pE0`$ be an exact sequence of $`R`$-modules such that $`p=dim_{R/𝔪}(E/𝔪E)`$. The ideal $`I`$ is generated by the matrix entries of the map $`\phi :R^qR^p`$. By assumption, there exists some $`a𝔪`$ with $`I=(a)`$ and $`𝔪a=0`$. If $`a=0`$ then $`E`$ is free, so now assume $`a0`$. Hence every non-zero element of $`I`$ is of the form $`ua`$ where $`uR𝔪`$ is some unit of $`R`$. Hence the non-zero matrix entries of $`\phi :R^qR^p`$ (if any) are of the form $`ua`$. Hence there is another matrix $`\psi `$ whose non-zero entries are units of $`R`$, with $`\varphi =a\psi `$. Changing the free basis of $`R^q`$ and $`R^p`$ gives row and column operations on $`\psi `$, which can be used to put it in a block form

$$\left(\begin{array}{cc}1_{m\times m}\hfill & 0_{m\times (qm)}\hfill \\ 0_{(pm)\times m}\hfill & 0_{(pm)\times (qm)}\hfill \end{array}\right)$$

The lemma follows. $`\mathrm{}`$

###### Lemma 5

Let $`S`$ be a noetherian scheme, and let $`E`$ be a coherent $`𝒪_S`$-module. Let $`E^{}`$ be a coherent subsheaf of $`E`$, such that the quotient $`E/E^{}`$ is locally free. If $`GL_E`$ is representable, then the subfunctor $`P`$ of $`GL_E`$ which consists of automorphisms of $`E`$ (over base changes) which preserve $`E^{}`$ is also representable, and is represented by a closed subgroup scheme of $`GL_E`$ over $`S`$.

## Proof

If $`f:F^{}F`$ is a homomorphism of coherent sheaves on a scheme $`T`$ such that $`F`$ is locally free, then $`T`$ has a closed subscheme $`T_0T`$ with the universal property that $`f`$ vanishes identically under a base-change $`T^{}T`$ if and only if it factors via $`T_0T`$. Applying this with $`T=GL_E`$, $`F^{}=E_T^{}`$, $`F=(E/E^{})_T`$, and with $`f:E_T^{}(E/E^{})_T`$ the composite $`E_T^{}E_T\stackrel{u}{}E_T(E/E^{})_T`$ where $`u:E_TE_T`$ is the universal family of automorphisms over $`T=GL_E`$, we get a closed subscheme $`PGL_E`$ which has the desired properties. $`\mathrm{}`$

###### Lemma 6

Let $`X`$ be a scheme, and $`I𝒪_X`$ a quasi-coherent ideal sheaf, with $`I^n=0`$ for some $`n1`$. Suppose that the closed subscheme $`YX`$ defined by $`I`$ is affine. Then $`X`$ is affine.

## Proof

By induction on $`n`$, we can reduce to the case where $`I^2=0`$. As $`I^2=0`$, $`I`$ becomes an $`𝒪_Y`$-module. As $`I`$ is quasi-coherent over $`𝒪_X`$, it is quasi-coherent over $`𝒪_Y`$. If $`F`$ is any quasi-coherent sheaf on $`X`$, then we have a short exact sequence $`0IFFF/IF0`$. As $`I^2=0`$, both $`IF`$ and $`F/IF`$ are $`𝒪_Y`$-modules, and these are quasi-coherent. Hence as $`Y`$ is affine, $`H^1(Y,IF)=H^1(Y,F/IF)=0`$. But these are just cohomologies over the space $`X`$, as topologically $`Y`$ is $`X`$. Hence by the long exact sequence of $`0IFFF/IF0`$, it follows that $`H^1(X,F)=0`$. As this holds for every quasi-coherent $`𝒪_X`$-module, $`X`$ is affine by Serre’s theorem. $`\mathrm{}`$

###### Lemma 7

Let $`A`$ be a ring and $`IA`$ an ideal with $`I^n=0`$ for some $`n1`$. Let $`B`$ be an $`A`$-algebra, such that $`B/IB`$ is finite-type over $`A`$ (equivalently, over $`A/I`$). Let $`b_1,\mathrm{},b_mB`$ such that $`B/I=A[\overline{b}_1,\mathrm{},\overline{b}_m]`$, where $`\overline{b}_iB/I`$ is the residue of $`b_i`$. Then $`B`$ is generated as an $`A`$-algebra by $`b_1,\mathrm{},b_m`$.

## Proof

By induction on $`n`$, we are reduced to the case where $`I^2=0`$. As $`B/I=A[\overline{b}_1,\mathrm{},\overline{b}_m]`$, any $`xB`$ can be written as $`x=f(b_1,\mathrm{},b_m)+uy`$ where $`f`$ is a polynomial in $`m`$ variables over $`A`$, $`uI`$, and $`yB`$. Similarly, $`y=g(b_1,\mathrm{},b_m)+vz`$ where $`g`$ is a polynomial in $`m`$ variables over $`A`$, $`vI`$, and $`zB`$. As $`I^2=0`$, we get $`x=f(b_1,\mathrm{},b_m)+ug(b_1,\mathrm{},b_m)`$. Hence $`B=A[b_1,\mathrm{},b_m]`$. $`\mathrm{}`$

###### Lemma 8

Let $`R`$ be an artin local ring with maximal ideal $`𝔪`$, and let $`0I𝔪`$ be a non-zero proper ideal. Let $`E=(R/I)^nR^m`$ where $`n1`$ and $`m0`$. Then the functor $`GL_E`$ is not representable.

## Proof

By Nakayama, $`𝔪II`$, so we can base-change to $`R/𝔪I`$ and assume that $`𝔪I=0`$, in particular, $`I^2=0`$. Suppose $`GL_E`$ is represented by a group-scheme $`G`$ over $`R`$. The restriction of $`G`$ to $`R/I`$ is the affine scheme $`GL_{n+m,R/I}`$ over $`R/I`$, and $`I`$ is a nilpotent ideal, hence $`G`$ must be affine by Lemma 6, and finite-type over $`R`$ by Lemma 7. By Lemma 5, the automorphisms which preserve $`(R/I)^nE`$ are represented by a closed subgroup scheme $`PG`$. Let $`P=Spec(A)`$ where $`A`$ is a finitely generated $`R`$-algebra.

The elements of the group $`P(R)`$ are matrices with the block form $`\left(\begin{array}{cc}X& Y\\ 0& Z\end{array}\right)`$ where $`XGL_n(R/I)`$, $`YHom(R^m,(R/I)^n)=(R/I)^{mn}`$, and $`ZGL_m(R)`$. Hence the elements $`gP(R)`$ which restrict to the identity in $`P(R/I)`$, that is, elements of the kernel of $`P(R)P(R/I)`$, are exactly the elements of the form $`\left(\begin{array}{cc}1& 0\\ 0& 1+W\end{array}\right)`$ where $`WM_m(I)`$ is an arbitrary matrix with all entries in $`I`$.

The restriction of $`P`$ to $`R/I`$ is the parabolic subgroup scheme $`HGL_{n+m,R/I}`$ which preserves $`(R/I)^n(R/I)^{n+m}`$, with coordinate ring

$$B=R/I[x_{i,j},y_{i,\beta },z_{\alpha ,\beta },det(x_{i,j})^1,det(z_{\alpha ,\beta })^1]$$

where $`1i,jn`$, and $`1\alpha ,\beta m`$. As $`B=A/IA`$ where $`I^2=0`$, by Lemma 7 we get that

$$A=R[x_{i,j},y_{i,\beta },z_{\alpha ,\beta },det(x_{i,j})^1,det(z_{\alpha ,\beta })^1]/J$$

for some ideal $`JIR[x_{i,j},y_{i,\beta },z_{\alpha ,\beta },det(x_{i,j})^1,det(z_{\alpha ,\beta })^1]`$. Let $`VM_n(I)`$ be any arbitrary $`n\times n`$-matrix over $`I`$. We can define an $`R`$-algebra homomorphism $`AR`$ by

$$x_{i,j}\delta _{i,j}+v_{i,j},y_{i,\beta }0,\text{ and }z_{\alpha ,\beta }\delta _{\alpha ,\beta }.$$

Modulo $`I`$, this specializes to identity, hence this contradicts the above description of the kernel of $`P(R)P(R/I)`$. This contradiction proves the lemma. $`\mathrm{}`$

Now all the necessary preliminaries are in place for completing the proof of the main result.

Proof of the Theorem 1 Suppose that $`E`$ is not locally free. By first passing to the local ring of $`S`$ at some point where $`E`$ is not locally free and then going modulo a high power of the maximal ideal (see Remark Remark 3), we can assume that $`S=Spec(R)`$ where $`R`$ is an artin local ring, and $`E`$ is a finite $`R`$ module which is not free. Let $`0I𝔪`$ be the ideal defined by $`E`$ as in Lemma 2, where $`𝔪`$ is the maximal ideal of $`R`$. Let $`I=(a_1,\mathrm{},a_r)`$ where $`r`$ is the smallest number of generators needed to generate the ideal $`I`$. If $`r2`$, let $`J=(a_1,\mathrm{},a_{r1})I`$. Then going modulo $`J`$ (that is, by base-changing to $`R/J`$), we are reduced to the case where $`I`$ is a principal ideal. By further going modulo $`𝔪I`$, we can assume $`𝔪I=0`$. Hence by Lemma 4, $`E`$ splits as a direct sum $`R^m(R/I)^n`$, where $`n1`$ as $`E`$ is not free. Hence $`GL_E`$ is not representable by Lemma 8, which completes the proof of the theorem. $`\mathrm{}`$

## Example 9

The functor on commutative rings, defined by $`R(R/2R)^\times `$ (the multiplicative group of units in the ring $`R/2R`$), is not representable by a scheme. This follows by taking $`S=Spec()`$ and $`E=/2`$ in the Theorem 1. A shorter direct proof is also possible in this example, by using discrete valuation rings instead of artin local rings.

Direct proof  If a group scheme $`GSpec()`$ represents this functor, then the fiber of $`G`$ over the closed point $`(2)`$ will be $`𝐆_{m,𝐅_2}`$, while over the open complement $`Spec()(2)`$, the restriction of $`G`$ will be trivial. Let $`U`$ be an affine open neighbourhood in $`G`$ of the identity point $`1𝐆_{m,𝐅_2}G`$, and let $`x𝐆_{m,𝐅_2}`$ be a closed point other than $`1`$ which is in $`U`$ (the purpose of using an affine open $`U`$ is to avoid any assumption about separatedness of $`G`$). The residue field $`\kappa (x)`$ at $`x`$ is a finite extension of $`𝐅_2`$, hence separable over $`𝐅_2`$. Let $`A`$ be the henselization of the local ring $`_{(2)}`$ with respect to the residue field extension $`𝐅_2\kappa (x)`$. This is a discrete valuation ring of characteristic zero, with maximal ideal $`2A`$ as $`A`$ is étale over $`_{(2)}`$, and residue field $`\kappa (x)`$. Therefore, $`G(\kappa (x))=\kappa (x)^\times =(A/2A)^\times =G(A)`$, and so $`x`$ uniquely prolongs to an $`A`$-valued point of $`G`$, which we denote by $`x^{}`$. Note that $`x^{}:SpecAG`$ factors through $`UG`$. Therefore we have points $`1`$ and $`x^{}`$ of $`U(A)`$ which coincide over the generic point of $`A`$, but differ over the special point. This contradicts the separatedness of $`USpec()`$. $`\mathrm{}`$

Acknowledgement  I had useful discussions on various aspects with S.M. Bhatwadekar, Hélène Esnault, D.S. Nagaraj, Kapil Paranjape, and V. Srinivas, resulting in crucial inputs in the proof.

Address : School of Mathematics, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Homi Bhabha Road, Mumbai 400 005, India. e-mail: nitsure@math.tifr.res.in

3 April 2002, 21 June 2002