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# Scintillations and Lévy flights through the interstellar medium

## 1 Introduction

Intensity fluctuations of pulsars radiation are caused by scattering of radio waves by electron density inhomogeneities in the interstellar medium. These fluctuations are a signature of turbulent, non-equilibrium motion in the ISM, and as the phenomenon of turbulence itself, they have withstood full theoretical understanding for decades, see e.g. reviews by Sutton (1971) and Rickett (1977, 1990). Observationally, the presence of electron density fluctuations leads, among other effects, to temporal and angular broadening of the pulsar image. These two effects are naturally related – due to fluctuations of the refraction index, different rays from a pulsar travel along paths of different shapes and the stronger the deviation of the path from the straight line, the broader the pulsar image and the larger the time broadening of the arriving signal. Denoting the angular width of the image as $`\mathrm{\Delta }\theta `$, and using simple geometrical consideration, one estimates the arrival time broadening as $`\tau _d(\mathrm{\Delta }\theta )^2d/c`$, where $`d`$ is the distance to the pulsar, and $`c`$ is the speed of light, see more detailed discussion in (Blanford & Narayan, 1985; Gwinn, Bartel, & Cordes, 1993).

A ray propagating through the interstellar medium encounters many randomly distributed small “prisms” on its way, that make the scattering angle wander randomly. At each scattering event, the angle deflection is proportional to $`\lambda ^2`$ \[see below\], where $`\lambda `$ is the wavelength of the scattered radiation. Taking into account that the scattering angle is small and exhibits the standard Gaussian random walk, we estimate $`(\mathrm{\Delta }\theta )^2\lambda ^4d`$, and the time delay scales as $`\tau _d\lambda ^4d^2`$, where $`d`$ plays the role of time in this random walk. The distance to the pulsar is proportional to the dispersion measure, $`DM`$, and therefore this relation can be checked experimentally. As has been consistently noted for more than 30 years, observed scaling of scintillations of distant pulsars, $`DM>20\text{pc/cm}^3`$, is far from this simple theoretical prediction, instead, it is well described by $`\tau _d\lambda ^4DM^4`$, see e.g., (Sutton, 1971; Rickett, 1977). Sutton proposed that scaling for longer lines of sight arose from dramatically increased probability of intersection with strongly scattering HII regions. In this sense, he proposed that rare, large events dominated the line-of-sight averages.

The problem of scintillations was addressed by many authors who developed thorough analytical models, see the discussion in (Tatarskii & Zavorotnyi, 1980; Rumsey, 1975; Gochelashvily & Shishov, 1975; Lee & Jokipii, 1975a, b; Goodman & Narayan, 1985; Blanford & Narayan, 1985; Lithwick & Goldreich, 2001). These models account for both smooth and non-smooth density fluctuations, the latter can arise from turbulent cascades. The main object of the theories is the so-called projected correlator of density fluctuations. Denote as $`N(𝐫,t)`$ the electron density, and $`\stackrel{~}{N}(𝐱,t)=^d\text{d}zN(𝐫,t)`$ its projection perpendicular to the distance $`d`$. Here $`𝐱`$ is a two dimensional vector in the plane perpendicular to the line of sight, and $`z`$ is a coordinate along the line of sight, i.e. $`𝐫=(𝐱,z)`$. Note that these theories all assume that the distribution of projected density fluctuations is Gaussian. The density and projected density correlators are related as:

$`\stackrel{~}{N}(𝐱_1)\stackrel{~}{N}(𝐱_2)={\displaystyle \underset{0}{\overset{d}{}}}{\displaystyle \underset{0}{\overset{d}{}}}\text{d}z\text{d}z^{}N(𝐫_1)N(𝐫_2),`$ (1)
where both fields inside the brackets are taken at the same time. Due to space homogeneity, these correlators depend only on the difference of the coordinates, e.g., $`N(𝐫_1)N(𝐫_2)=\kappa (𝐫_1𝐫_2)`$. Assuming that the density fluctuations have finite correlation length $`l`$, i.e. the $`\kappa `$ function decays fast for $`|𝐫_1𝐫_2|>l`$, we obtain

$`\stackrel{~}{N}(𝐱_1)\stackrel{~}{N}(𝐱_2)=d{\displaystyle \underset{0}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}}\text{d}z\kappa (𝐱_1𝐱_2,z)d\stackrel{~}{\kappa }(𝐱_1𝐱_2).`$ (2)
It is easy to show that if in the inertial range of turbulent fluctuations, $`|r|l`$, the $`\kappa `$ function behaves as $`\kappa (𝐫)N_0^2[1B(r/l)^\alpha ]`$, then the projected function is expanded as $`\stackrel{~}{\kappa }(x,t)\stackrel{~}{N}_0^2[1\stackrel{~}{B}(x/l)^{1+\alpha }]`$. As an estimate, one has $`N^2=N_0^2\stackrel{~}{N}_0^2/l`$, and $`B`$ and $`\stackrel{~}{B}`$ are of the order 1. The analytical case corresponds to $`\alpha =1`$, and in this case $`\tau _d\lambda ^4d^2`$. In a general case, the density field should not be analytic, and $`\alpha 1`$. For example, Kolmogorov turbulence would imply $`\alpha =2/3`$. Such different possibilities have been exhaustively analyzed in the literature, see e.g. (Lee & Jokipii, 1975a, b; Goodman & Narayan, 1985; Lambert & Rickett, 2000). Rigorous consideration shows that in the non-analytic case, the scaling of the broadening time changes. For $`\alpha 1`$, one obtains

$`\tau _d\lambda ^{2(\alpha +3)/(\alpha +1)}d^{(\alpha +3)/(\alpha +1)},`$ (3)
while for a more exotic case, $`\alpha >1`$, one gets

$`\tau _d\lambda ^{8/(3\alpha )}d^{(3+\alpha )/(3\alpha )}.`$ (4)
In section 2 we present a simple derivation of these results. Since most observational data indicate that $`\lambda `$-scaling is close to $`\lambda ^4`$, neither possibility provides enough freedom for changing the $`d`$-scaling from $`d^2`$ to $`d^4`$.

In the present paper we propose a new model, that fully exploits the turbulent origin of the density fluctuations. We assume that the statistics of the density fluctuations is not Gaussian, but highly intermittent, and that the probability density function (PDF) of density differences has power-law decay, $`P(\delta N)|\delta N|^{1\beta }`$. If this power-law distribution does not have a second moment ($`\beta <2`$), the Gaussian random walk approach does not work. Instead, we suggest to use the theory of Lévy distributions, see (Shlesinger, Zaslavsky, & Frisch, 1995). Physically, the possibility of power-law density distribution seems rather natural for strong turbulent fluctuations. Indeed, the ISM turbulence can be near-sonic, i.e. velocity and density fields can develop shock discontinuities. From the theory of shock turbulence (Burgers turbulence) one knows that shocks or large negative velocity gradients have a power-law distribution, (Polyakov, 1995; E et al, 1997; Boldyrev, 1998). Jump conditions on a shock then show that the velocity and density discontinuities are proportional to each other, therefore density jumps may also have power-law distribution. Taking the Lévy distribution of the density fluctuations as a working conjecture, we demonstrate that the scaling of the broadening time with respect to $`d`$ is sensitive to the exponent of the distribution, $`\beta `$, and the scaling $`\tau _d\lambda ^4d^4`$ is reproduced for $`\beta =2/3`$.

In the next section we review the ray-tracing model of pulse propagation, considered before by Williamson (1972, 1973); Blanford & Narayan (1985). In particular, we re-derive the results cited above for the Gaussian density fluctuations in a general, non-analytic case. In Section 3 we apply the model to the non-Gaussian, Lévy distributed density fluctuations. We then numerically calculate the distribution of pulse-arrival times in the case of a smooth density field, and demonstrate that if $`P(\delta N)|\delta N|^{5/3}`$, the width of this distribution changes with the distance to the pulsar as $`\lambda ^4d^4`$, in agreement with our scaling arguments. Conclusions and future research are outlined in Section 4.

## 2 Ray-tracing method

This method is applicable in the limit of geometrical optics, i.e. when the wave length is much smaller than the characteristic size of density inhomogeneities (Lifshitz, Landau, & Pitaevsky, 1995). This rather effective method was applied to the problem of scintillations by Williamson (1972, 1973); Blanford & Narayan (1985); we present it here in the form that allows us to apply it in the next section to Lévy walks. In the limit considered, signal propagation can be characterized by rays, $`𝐫(t)`$, along which wave packets travel similar to particles obeying the following system of Hamilton equations:

$`\dot{𝐫}`$ $`=`$ $`\omega (k,r)/𝐤,`$
$`\dot{𝐤}`$ $`=`$ $`\omega (k,r)/𝐫.`$ (5)
In this representation, $`\omega `$ plays the role of Hamiltonian, $`\omega ^2=\omega _{pe}^2(r)+k^2c^2`$, where $`\omega _{pe}^2(r)=4\pi N(r)e^2/m_e`$ is the electron plasma frequency and $`𝐤`$ is a wave vector. Differentiating the first equation in (5) with respect to $`t`$ and using the second equation one obtains:

$`\ddot{𝐫}=2\pi c^2\lambda ^2r_0N(r)/𝐫,`$ (6)
where $`r_0=e^2/m_ec^2`$ is the classical radius of electron. Taking into account that the ray propagates at small angles to the line of sight, chosen as the $`z`$-axis, we are interested in ray displacement in the perpendicular, $`𝐱`$ direction, and instead of time we will use $`z`$ variable, $`z=ct`$. Consider now two rays, separated by a vector $`\mathrm{\Delta }𝐱`$ in the direction perpendicular to the $`z`$-axis. As follows from (6), this vector obeys the following equation

$`{\displaystyle \frac{d(\mathrm{\Delta }𝐱)}{dz}}`$ $`=`$ $`\mathrm{\Delta }𝐯,`$
$`{\displaystyle \frac{d(\mathrm{\Delta }𝐯)}{dz}}`$ $`=`$ $`A\mathrm{\Delta }{\displaystyle \frac{N(x,z)}{𝐱}},`$ (7)
where $`A=2\pi \lambda ^2r_0`$, and $`\mathrm{\Delta }𝐯`$ is an auhiliary variable having the meaning of velocity of beam spreading in the $`𝐱`$ direction, clearly $`\mathrm{\Delta }\theta |\mathrm{\Delta }𝐯|`$. Let us now assume that the electron density is a Gaussian random function with the correlation length $`l`$. Then, $`\mathrm{\Delta }𝐯(z)`$ is a Gaussian random walk, whose elementary time step has the length $`l`$. Since we are interested in very large propagation distances, $`zl`$, and the scattering angles are very small, one can effectively assume that the random density is short-time correlated, i.e., the characteristic “$`z`$-time” of change of vectors $`\mathrm{\Delta }𝐯`$ and $`\mathrm{\Delta }𝐱`$ is much larger than $`l`$.

The diffusion coefficient for this random walk is

$`D=A^2{\displaystyle \frac{d^2\stackrel{~}{\kappa }(\mathrm{\Delta }x)}{d(\mathrm{\Delta }x)^2}}\lambda ^4r_0^2N_0^2\left({\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{\Delta }x}{l}}\right)^{\alpha 1}{\displaystyle \frac{1}{l}},`$ (8)
and the diffusion is described by $`(\mathrm{\Delta }\theta )^2Dz`$. We however observe that the diffusion coefficient depends of the distance $`\mathrm{\Delta }x`$, and its behavior differs qualitatively for $`\alpha <1`$ and $`\alpha >1`$. In the first case, $`\alpha <1`$, diffusion is larger for smaller distances, therefore two rays are effectively attracting each other in the course of propagation. This means that at some point the geometrical ray picture will break down, and one needs to consider the effects of interference (interaction) of different rays. This happens when the beam is compressed to the size limited by the uncertainty condition in the perpendicular direction , $`k\mathrm{\Delta }\theta \mathrm{\Delta }x1`$. Upon substituting $`\mathrm{\Delta }\theta D^{1/2}z^{1/2}`$, and using the expression for the diffusion coefficient (8), we can obtain the minimal size of contraction, and, equivalently, the diffraction angle corresponding to the aperture of this size. Assuming that the contraction happens at about half the distance between the pulsar and the Earth, $`zd/2`$, we find:

$`(\mathrm{\Delta }\theta )^2\left[N_0^4r_0^4l^{2\alpha }\lambda ^{2(\alpha +3)}d^2\right]^{1/(\alpha +1)},\alpha <1.`$ (9)
Recalling now that $`\tau _d(\mathrm{\Delta }\theta )^2d`$, we recover the result (3). In the second case, $`\alpha >1`$, the rays effectively repel, so geometrical optics does not break down. In this case $`\mathrm{\Delta }x\mathrm{\Delta }vzD^{1/2}z^{3/2}`$. This equation gives

$`(\mathrm{\Delta }\theta )^2\left[N_0^4r_0^4l^{2\alpha }\lambda ^8d^{2\alpha }\right]^{1/(3\alpha )},1\alpha <3,`$ (10)
which agrees with the result (4). Both expressions give the same result for the analytic case, $`\alpha =1`$. The above standard results have been obtained by many authors and by a variety of different methods, see e.g., (Williamson, 1972; Lee & Jokipii, 1975a, b; Goodman & Narayan, 1985; Blanford & Narayan, 1985). As we mentioned in the introduction, neither one of the expressions (9) or (10) allows us to recover the observed scaling $`\tau _d\lambda ^4d^4`$. In the next section we address the problem, assuming that the density-difference distribution has a slowly decaying power-law tail, such that the second moment of the distribution does not exist. In this case the diffusion approximation does not hold, and one needs to work directly with Eq. (7) to establish the scaling of the probability of pulse arrival times.

## 3 Lévy model for scintillations

In previous section we implicitly used the central limit theorem, which states that the sum of many independent random variables has Gaussian distribution if second moments of these variables exist. More precisely, a convolution of many distribution functions that have second moments, converges to an appropriately rescaled Gaussian distribution. Therefore, the convolution of two Gaussian functions is a Gaussian function again. One can generalize this question for distribution functions without finite second moments: if their convolution converges, what is going to be the limit? The answer is the so-called Lévy distribution (Shlesinger, Zaslavsky, & Frisch, 1995). As is the Gaussian distribution, the Lévy distribution is stable: convolution of this distribution with itself gives the same distribution after proper rescaling. In other words, if two independent random variables are drawn from a Lévy distribution, their sum has the same distribution, appropriately rescaled. Analogously to a Gaussian random walk, a sum of independent, Lévy distributed random variables is called a Lévy walk or Lévy flight. The latter name reflects the highly intermittent behavior of a typical Lévy trajectory: it has sudden large jumps or “flights,” see Fig. 1. Lévy flights are common in completely different random systems and often replace diffusion in turbulent systems. For example, a particle exhibiting a Brownian random motion in an equilibrium fluid, exhibits a Lévy walk in a turbulent fluid. For a variety of further illustrations see (Shlesinger, Zaslavsky, & Frisch, 1995).

If a random variable $`y`$ has a Lévy probability density, $`P(y)`$, then the Fourier transform of this distribution (the characteristic function) has the form:

$`\mathrm{\Phi }(\mu )={\displaystyle \underset{\mathrm{}}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}}\text{d}yP(y)\mathrm{exp}(i\mu y)=\mathrm{exp}(C|\mu |^\beta ),`$ (11)
where $`0<\beta <2`$, and $`C`$ is some positive constant. For $`\beta =2`$ we recover a Gaussian distribution. This formula can be taken as the definition of a symmetric Lévy walk. One can verify that $`P(y)|y|^{1\beta }`$ as $`|y|\mathrm{}`$. Of course, a distribution of a physical quantity usually has a second moment. This does not contradict our case, since the far tails of the PDF, which are not described by the Lévy formula, make the dominant contribution to the second moment. However, if we are interested in effects caused by small fluctuations, $`yy_{rms}`$, it is the central part of the PDF that is important.

The characteristic function of a convolution of $`n`$ Lévy distributions is just a product of $`n`$ characteristic functions (11). We therefore conclude that the sum of $`n`$ Lévy distributed random variables has the distribution

$`P_n(y)=P(yn^{1/\beta })n^{1/\beta }.`$ (12)
This is the demonstration of the convolution stability of the Lévy distribution. Formula (12) teaches us that the displacement $`y`$ of the Lévy random walk scales with the number of steps as $`yn^{1/\beta }`$. In the Gaussian case, $`\beta =2`$, we recover the well known diffusion result.

We now would like to apply this result to our scintillation problem. Let us assume that the dimensionless density difference $`\mathrm{\Delta }N(x)/N_0`$ has a Lévy distribution with parameter $`\beta `$. We then obtain from (5), $`\mathrm{\Delta }𝐯A\mathrm{\Delta }N`$, and \[compare this result to (8)!\]:

$`(\mathrm{\Delta }\theta )^2\lambda ^4r_0^2N_0^2\left({\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{\Delta }x}{l}}\right)^{\alpha 1}\left({\displaystyle \frac{z}{l}}\right)^{2/\beta }.`$ (13)
In this formula, $`\alpha `$ describes the scaling of the density fluctuations with distance, while $`\beta `$ is the exponent of the power-law decay of the density-difference probability distribution function. The scaling in Eq. (13) is understood not in the sense of averaging (the moments of $`\mathrm{\Delta }\theta `$ of the order higher than $`\beta `$ do not satisfy this scaling), but in the sense of scaling of the central part of the distribution $`P_z(\mathrm{\Delta }\theta )`$. We now proceed exactly as we did in the derivation of formulae (9) and (10), and obtain for $`\alpha <1`$:

$`(\mathrm{\Delta }\theta )^2\left[N_0^4r_0^4l^{22\alpha 4/\beta }\lambda ^{2(\alpha +3)}d^{4/\beta }\right]^{1/(\alpha +1)},`$ (14)
and for $`1\alpha <3`$:

$`(\mathrm{\Delta }\theta )^2\left[N_0^4r_0^4l^{22\alpha 4/\beta }\lambda ^8d^{2\alpha 2+4/\beta }\right]^{1/(3\alpha )}.`$ (15)
In the smooth (analytic) case, $`\alpha =1`$, the scaling of the time broadening is

$`\tau _d\left(N_0^2r_0^2l^{2/\beta }/c\right)\lambda ^4d^{(2+\beta )/\beta }.`$ (16)
We see that this scaling is sensitive to the exponent of the power distribution of the density fluctuations. This result was obtained by rather general arguments, and describes the scaling of the arrival time distribution, rather than the moments of this distribution. Observations measure precisely the time width of the arriving signal, not its moments, i.e. they infer exactly the quantity corresponding to scaling (16).

In the rest of this section we would like to verify the scaling (16), by numerical simulation of Eq. (7). Our simulations also provide the time-shape of the arriving signal. Let us assume that the distance to the pulsar, $`d`$, is much larger than the scale of an elementary scatter, $`l`$, i.e., $`n=d/l1`$, where $`n`$ is the number of scattering events. At each scattering event, the angle of the ray changes by $`\delta \theta 1`$, where $`\delta \theta `$ is a Lévy-distributed random variable. \[We denote $`\delta N`$ and $`\delta \theta `$ the characteristic changes of the density field and of the angle of propagation on one scattering segment of length $`l`$ along the line of sight. This should not be confused with the changes of these variables between two different rays in a perpendicular plane $`𝐱`$, denoted by $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$’s.\] The time delay (compared to the straight propagation) introduced by each scattering segment is $`\delta \tau _dl\theta ^2/c`$. We need to find the probability distribution of the total travel time delay:

$`\tau _d={\displaystyle \frac{l}{c}}{\displaystyle \underset{m=1}{\overset{n}{}}}\theta _m^2={\displaystyle \frac{l}{c}}{\displaystyle \underset{m=1}{\overset{n}{}}}\left[{\displaystyle \underset{s=1}{\overset{m}{}}}\delta \theta _s\right]^2,`$ (17)
assuming that each $`\delta \theta _s`$ \[where $`\delta \theta _sA\delta N`$ due to (7)\] is distributed identically, independently, and according to the Lévy law (11) with $`\beta =2/3`$. This random variable can be generated in the following manner, see (Klafter, Zumofen, & Shlesinger, 1995). Choose two positive numbers $`a>b>1`$. Let $`\delta \theta =\theta _0b^i`$ with probability $`P(i)=(a1)/(2a^{i+1})`$, and $`\delta \theta =\theta _0b^i`$ with the same probability, where $`i=0,1,2\mathrm{}`$. This is the so-called Weierstrass self-similar random walk, that can be considered as a discrete analog of the Lévy walk with $`\beta =\mathrm{ln}(a)/\mathrm{ln}(b)`$.

In Fig. 2 we plot intensity of the arriving signal (the number of arriving rays) as a function of time. The arrival time was calculated with the aid of (17), where in the distribution of $`\delta \theta `$ we have chosen $`\beta =2/3`$, $`b=4`$, and $`\theta _0=0.0002`$. We considered the number of scattering events (the distance to the pulsar) to be $`n_1=100`$, $`n_2=100\times 2^{1/4}119`$, and $`n_3=100\times 2^{1/4}84`$. From Fig. 2 one can see that the widths of the curves (estimated at the half of their maximum values) indeed differ by a factor of 2, as the scaling $`\tau _d\lambda ^4d^4`$ would predict for these distances.

## 4 Conclusions

In conclusion, we suggest a novel explanation for the observed scaling of time broadening of pulsar signals for large distances (large dispersion measures, $`DM>20\text{pc/cm}^3`$), $`\tau _d\lambda ^4d^4`$. The central concept is that the density fluctuations in the interstellar medium have a Lévy probability distribution function that has power-law decay and does not have a second moment. The angle of pulse propagation, deviated by these density fluctuations, exhibits not a conventional Brownian motion, but rather a Lévy flight. The exponent $`\beta `$ is the parameter of the probability distribution of density differences, and the pulse broadening time is rather sensitive to it, as is described by our main formulae (14) and (15). The scaling $`\tau _d\lambda ^4d^4`$ is recovered for $`\beta =2/3`$, i.e. for the $`|\delta N|^{5/3}`$ decay of the distribution function of density differences. This tail of the PDF appears as a result of turbulent density fragmentation, and it would be highly desirable to develop an analytical explanation for it. This is a concrete prediction of our model for the turbulence in the ISM, that can in principle be checked numerically.


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# Coherent States and Duality

## 1 Introduction

Duality in strings, branes and M–theory  motivates the study of duality in quantum mechanics. Now scattering amplitudes in perturbative string theory can be organised in a manner analogous to the loop expansion of quantum field theory. The latter expansion is a series in powers of $`\mathrm{}`$, with an $`L`$–loop amplitude contributing a prefactor $`\mathrm{}^{L1}`$. In string theory, the role of loops is played by the genus of the string worldsheet, and the role of $`\mathrm{}`$ is played by the string coupling $`g_s`$. By the same token, duality in quantum mechanics refers to different regimes in a series expansion in powers of $`\mathrm{}`$.

In the standard formulation of quantum mechanics, if one observer calls a certain phenomenon semiclassical, then so will it be for all other observers. If one observer calls a certain phenomenon strong quantum, then so will it be for all other observers. This does not allow for the relativity of the concept of a quantum that underlies the notion of duality. In view of these developments, a framework for quantum mechanics is required that can accommodate such a relativity of of the concept of a quantum. In this letter we address this issue through an analysis of coherent states .

## 2 Global coherent states

Throughout this letter, $`𝒞`$ will denote a $`2n`$–dimensional classical phase space endowed with a symplectic form $`\omega _𝒞`$ that, in local Darboux coordinates, may be written as

$$\omega _𝒞=\underset{l=1}{\overset{n}{}}\mathrm{d}p_l\mathrm{d}q^l.$$
(1)
Let us assume that $`𝒞`$ admits a complex structure $`𝒥_𝒞`$. Furthermore let $`𝒥_𝒞`$ be compatible with the symplectic structure $`\omega _𝒞`$. This means that the real and imaginary parts of the holomorphic coordinates $`z^l`$ for $`𝒥_𝒞`$ are Darboux coordinates for the symplectic form $`\omega _𝒞`$:

$$z^l=q^l+\mathrm{i}p_l,l=1,\mathrm{},n.$$
(2)
The set of all $`z^l`$ so defined provides a holomorphic atlas for $`𝒞`$. Upon quantisation, the Darboux coordinates $`q^l`$ and $`p_l`$ become operators $`Q^l`$ and $`P_l`$ satisfying the Heisenberg algebra

$$[Q^j,P_k]=\mathrm{i}\delta _k^j.$$
(3)
Define the annihilation operators

$$A^l=Q^l+\mathrm{i}P_l,l=1,\mathrm{},n.$$
(4)
Quantum excitations are measured with respect to a vacuum state $`|0`$. The latter is defined as that state in the Hilbert space $``$ which satisfies

$$A^l|0=0,l=1,\mathrm{},n,$$
(5)
and coherent states $`|z^l`$ are eigenvectors of $`A^l`$, with eigenvalues given in equation (2) above:

$$A^l|z^l=z^l|z^l,l=1,\mathrm{},n.$$
(6)
How do the vacuum state $`|0`$ and the coherent states $`|z^l`$ transform under a canonical coordinate transformation on $`𝒞`$? Call the new Darboux coordinates $`q^l`$, $`p_l^{}`$. Upon quantisation the corresponding operators $`Q^l`$, $`P_l^{}`$ continue to satisfy the Heisenberg algebra (3). Then the combinations

$$z^l=q^l+\mathrm{i}p_l^{},l=1,\mathrm{},n$$
(7)
continue to provide holomorphic coordinates for $`𝒞`$, and the transformation between the $`z^l`$ and the $`z^l`$ is given by an $`n`$–variable holomorphic function $`f`$,

$$z^{}=f(z),\overline{}f=0.$$
(8)
We can write as above

$$A^l=Q^l+\mathrm{i}P_l^{},l=1,\mathrm{},n,$$
(9)
$$A^l|0=0,l=1,\mathrm{},n,$$
(10)
$$A^l|z^l=z^l|z^l,l=1,\mathrm{},n.$$
(11)
There is no physical difference between equations (4), (5) and (6), on the one hand, and their holomorphic transforms (9), (10) and (11), on the other. Under the transformation (8), the vacuum state $`|0`$ is mapped into itself, and the coherent states $`|z^l`$ are mapped into the coherent states $`|z^l`$. Therefore the notion of coherence is global for all observers on $`𝒞`$, i.e., any two observers will agree on what is a coherent state vs. what is a noncoherent state. A consequence of this fact is the following. Under holomorphic diffeomorphisms of $`𝒞`$, the semiclassical regime of the quantum theory on $``$ is mapped into the semiclassical regime, and the strong quantum regime is mapped into the strong quantum regime.

## 3 Local coherent states

We now relax the conditions imposed on $`𝒞`$. In this section we will assume that $`𝒞`$ carries an almost complex structure $`J_𝒞`$ compatible with the symplectic structure $`\omega _𝒞`$. Specificallly, an almost complex structure is defined as a tensor field $`J_𝒞`$ of type $`(1,1)`$ such that, at every point of $`𝒞`$, $`J_𝒞^2=\mathrm{𝟏}`$. Using Darboux coordinates $`q^l`$, $`p_l`$ on $`𝒞`$ let us form the combinations

$$w^l=q^l+\mathrm{i}p_l,l=1,\mathrm{},n.$$
(12)
Compatibility between $`\omega _𝒞`$ and $`J_𝒞`$ means that we can take $`J_𝒞`$ to be

$$J_𝒞\left(\frac{}{w^l}\right)=\mathrm{i}\frac{}{w^l},J_𝒞\left(\frac{}{\overline{w}^l}\right)=\mathrm{i}\frac{}{\overline{w}^l}.$$
(13)
Unless $`𝒞`$ is a complex manifold to begin with, equations (12) and (13) fall short of defining a complex structure $`𝒥_𝒞`$. The set of all such $`w^l`$ does not provide a holomorphic atlas for $`𝒞`$. There exists at least one canonical coordinate transformation between Darboux coordinates, call them $`(q^l,p_l)`$ and $`(q^l,p_l^{})`$, such that the passage between $`w^l=q^l+\mathrm{i}p_l`$ and $`w^l=q^l+\mathrm{i}p_l^{}`$ is given by a nonholomorphic function $`g`$ in $`n`$ variables,

$$w^{}=g(w,\overline{w}),\overline{}g0.$$
(14)
Mathematically, nonholomorphicity implies the mixing of $`w^l`$ and $`\overline{w}^l`$. Quan-tum–mechanically, the loss of holomorphicity has deep physical consequences. One would write, in the initial coordinates $`w^l`$, a defining equation for the vacuum state $`|0`$

$$a^l|0=0,l=1,\mathrm{},n,$$
(15)
where $`a^l=Q^l+\mathrm{i}P_l`$ is the corresponding local annihilation operator. However, one is just as well entitled to use the new coordinates $`w^l`$ and write

$$a^l|0^{}=0,l=1,\mathrm{},n,$$
(16)
where we have primed the new vacuum, $`|0^{}`$. Are we allowed to identify the states $`|0`$ and $`|0^{}`$? We could identify them if $`w^l`$ were a holomorphic function of $`w^l`$; such was the case in section 2. However, now we are considering a nonholomorphic transformation, and we cannot remove the prime from the state $`|0^{}`$. This is readily seen. We have

$$a^{}=G(a,a^{}),$$
(17)
with $`G`$ a quantum nonholomorphic function corresponding to the classical nonholomorphic function $`g`$ of equation (14). As $`[a^j,a_k^{}]=\delta _k^j`$, ordering ambiguities will arise in the construction of $`G`$ from $`g`$, that are usually dealt with by normal ordering. Normal ordering would appear to allow us to identify the states $`|0`$ and $`|0^{}`$. However this is not the case, as there are choices of $`g`$ that are left invariant under normal ordering, such as the sum of a holomorphic function plus an antiholomorphic function, $`g(w,\overline{w})=g_1(w)+g_2(\overline{w})`$. Under such a transformation one can see that the state $`|0`$ satisfying eqn. (15) will not satisfy eqn. (16). We conclude that, in the absence of a complex structure on classical phase space, the vacuum depends on the observer. The state $`|0`$ is only defined locally on $`𝒞`$; it cannot be extended globally to all of $`𝒞`$.

Similar conclusions may be expected for the coherent states $`|w^l`$. The latter are defined only locally, as eigenvectors of the local annihilation operator, with eigenvalues given in equation (12):

$$a^l|w^l=w^l|w^l,l=1,\mathrm{},n.$$
(18)
Due to $`[a^j,a_k^{}]=\delta _k^j`$, under the nonholomorphic coordinate transformation (14), the local coherent states $`|w^l`$ are not mapped into the local coherent states satisfying

$$a^l|w^l=w^l|w^l,l=1,\mathrm{},n$$
(19)
in the primed coordinates. No such problems arose for the holomorphic operator equation $`A^{}=F(A)`$ corresponding to the holomorphic coordinate change $`z^{}=f(z)`$ of equation (8), because the commutator $`[A^j,A_k^{}]=\delta _k^j`$ played no role. Thus coherence becomes a local property on classical phase space. In particular, observers on $`𝒞`$ not connected by means of a holomorphic change of coordinates need not, and in general will not, agree on what is a semiclassical effect vs. what is a strong quantum effect.

## 4 Coherence

We have called coherent the states constructed in previous sections. However, we have not verified that they actually satisfy the usual requirements imposed on coherent states . What ensures that the states so constructed are actually coherent is the following argument.

We have made no reference to coupling constants or potentials, with the understanding that the Hamilton–Jacobi method has already placed us, by means of suitable coordinate transformations, in a coordinate system on $`𝒞`$ where all interactions vanish . Then any dynamical system with $`n`$ independent degrees of freedom that can be transformed into the freely–evolving system can be further mapped into the $`n`$–dimensional harmonic oscillator. The combined transformation is canonical. Moreover it is locally holomorphic when $`𝒞`$ is an almost complex manifold. Thus locally on $`𝒞`$, our global states $`|z^l`$ of section 2 coincide with the coherent states of the $`n`$–dimensional harmonic oscillator. Mathematically this fact reflects the structure of a complex manifold: locally it is always holomorphically diffeomorphic to $`𝐂^n`$ . Physically this fact reflects the decomposition into the creation and annihilation modes of perturbative quantum mechanics and field theory. In this way, the mathematical problem of patching together different local coordinates $`z_\alpha ^l`$ labelled by an index $`\alpha `$ may be recast in physical terms. It is the patching together of different local expansions into creators $`A_\alpha ^{}`$ and annihilators $`A_\alpha `$, for different values of $`\alpha `$.

In particular, we can write the resolution of unity on $``$ associated with a holomorphic atlas on $`𝒞`$ consisting of coordinates $`z_\alpha ^l`$:

$$\underset{\alpha }{}\underset{l=1}{\overset{n}{}}_𝒞d\mu _𝒞|z_\alpha ^lz_\alpha ^l|=\mathrm{𝟏},$$
(20)
where $`\mathrm{d}\mu _𝒞`$ is an appropriate measure on $`𝒞`$.

Analogous arguments are also applicable to the local states $`|w^l`$ of section 3. In particular, every almost complex manifold is locally a complex manifold. Every holomorphic coordinate chart on $`𝒞`$ is diffeormorphic to $`𝐂^n`$, so the $`|w^l`$ look locally like the coherent states of the $`n`$–dimensional harmonic oscillator. However, the loss of holomorphicity of $`𝒞`$ alters equation (20) in one important way. We may write as above

$$\underset{\alpha }{}\underset{l=1}{\overset{n}{}}_𝒞d\mu _𝒞|w_\alpha ^lw_\alpha ^l|,$$
(21)
but we can no longer equate this to the identity on $``$. The latter is a complex vector space, while eqn. (21) allows one at most to expand an arbitrary, real–analytic function on $`𝒞`$, since the latter is just a real–analytic manifold. Hence we cannot equate (21) to $`\mathrm{𝟏}_{}`$. We can only equate it to the identity on the real Hilbert space of real–analytic functions on $`𝒞`$. This situation is not new; coherent states without a resolution of unity have been analysed in ref. , where they have been related to the choice of an inadmissible fiducial vector.

## 5 Discussion

The purpose of this article is to present a framework for quantum mechanics in which coherent states are defined locally on classical phase space $`𝒞`$, but not necessarily globally. This is an explicit implementation of the relativity (underlying the notion of duality) of the concept of a quantum.

Our results may be summarised as follows. Coherent states can always be defined locally, i.e., in the neighbourhood of any point on $`𝒞`$. When there is a complex structure $`𝒥_𝒞`$, coherence becomes a global property on $`𝒞`$. In the absence of a complex structure, however, the best we can do is to combine Darboux coordinates $`q`$, $`p`$ as $`q+\mathrm{i}p`$. Technically this only defines an almost complex structure $`J_𝒞`$ on $`𝒞`$. Since the combination $`q+\mathrm{i}p`$ falls short of defining a complex structure, quantities depending on $`q+\mathrm{i}p`$ on a certain coordinate patch will generally also depend on $`q\mathrm{i}p`$ when transformed to another coordinate patch. This proves that coherence remains a local property on classical phase space: observers not connected by means of a holomorphic change of coordinates need not, and in general will not, agree on what is a semiclassical effect vs. what is a strong quantum effect.

Most physical systems admit a complex structure $`𝒥_𝒞`$ on their classical phase spaces $`𝒞`$. Prominent among them is the 1–dimensional harmonic oscillator. Mathematically, the corresponding $`𝒞`$ supports the simplest holomorphic structure, that of the complex plane. Physically, canonical quantisation rests on the decomposition of a field into an infinite number of oscillators. The notions that the vacuum state is unique, and that coherence is a universal property independent of the observer, follow naturally. However, recent breakthroughs in quantum field theory and M–theory suggest the need for a framework in which duality transformations can be accommodated at the elementary level of quantum mechanics, before considering field theory or strings. This, in turn, would help to understand better the dualities underlying quantum fields, strings and branes.

The formalism presented here can accommodate duality transformations in a natural way. In the absence of a complex structure $`𝒥_𝒞`$, all our statements concerning the vacuum state and the property of coherence are necessarily local in nature, i.e., they do not hold globally on $`𝒞`$. A duality transformation of the quantum theory on $``$ will thus be specified by a nonholomorphic coordinate transformation on $`𝒞`$.

However, the question immediately arises: do we not have an overabundance of vacua? Does every imaginable nonholomorphic transformation induce a physical duality? Duality is not to be understood as a transformation between different physical phenomena. Rather, it is to be understood as a transformation between different descriptions of the same quantum physics. A judicious application of physical symmetries can vastly restrict this apparent overabundance of vacua. Usually dualities appear under the form of a group $`𝒟`$. Rather than taking every imaginable nonholomorphic transformation to define a physical duality we must assume, as is the case in M–theory, a knowledge of the duality group $`𝒟`$, and restrict ourselves to those nonholomorphic transformations that actually realise it.

In using coherent states our analysis has been geometric. Geometric approaches to quantum mechanics  have proved extremely useful. In particular, that coherence equals holomorphicity has been known for long . Here we have proved that noncomplex structures (such as almost complex structures) allow to implement duality transformations.

Acknowledgements

Support from PPARC (grant PPA/G/O/2000/00469) and DGICYT (grant PB 96-0756) is acknowledged.


text:
# Imaging low order CO emission from the 𝑧=4.12 QSO PSS 2322+1944

## 1 Introduction

Two of the more important recent discoveries on nearby galaxies are: (i) the large majority of spheroidal galaxies in the nearby universe contain massive black holes, and (ii) the black hole mass correlates with the mass of the spheroid of the parent galaxy (Richstone et al. 1998; Gebhardt et al. 2000; Ferrarese & Merritt 2000). These discoveries suggest a ‘causal connection between the formation and evolution of the black hole and the bulge’ (Gebhardt et al. 2000), and have have led to the hypothesis of co-eval formation of massive black holes and galaxy spheroids, perhaps occurring in merging galaxies at high redshift (Franceschini et al. 1999, Blain et al. 1999, Kauffmann & Haenelt 2000; Page et al. 2002). We have undertaken an extensive observational program from radio through (sub)mm wavelengths of high redshift QSOs in order to address the interesting possibility of co-eval black hole and spheroidal galaxy formation (Carilli et al. 2001a, b; Omont et al. 2001, Omont et al. 2002, Carilli, Menten, & Yun 1999; Carilli et al. 2002).

The $`z=4.12`$ QSO PSS 2322+1944 has an $`M_B=28.1`$, and was discovered in the Digitized Palomar Sky Survey high redshift QSO search (Djorgovski et al. in prep.111http://www.astro.caltech.edu/ george/z4.qsos). Djorgovski et al. (2002) found that 2322+1944 is a double source in the optical, with two similar spectrum components separated by about 1.5′′. This morphology may indicate a QSO pair at $`z=4.12`$, or gravitational lensing by an intervening galaxy.

PSS 2322+1944 is the brightest (sub)mm source from the recent surveys of Omont et al. (2002) and Isaak et al. (2002), with a flux density of $`9.6\pm 0.5`$ mJy at 250 GHz and $`22.5\pm 2.5`$ mJy at 350 GHz. The rest frame IR spectral energy distribution (SED) of 2322+1944 is consistent with thermal emission from dust at a temperature of about 47 K (Cox et al. 2002). The apparent FIR luminosity is then $`3\times 10^{13}`$ L. Radio continuum emission from 2322+1944 was detected at 1.4 GHz with the VLA, with a total flux density of 102$`\pm `$20 $`\mu `$Jy, and an intrinsic size of about 2′′ (Carilli et al. 2001b).

Cox et al. (2002) show that the radio through IR SED for 2322+1944 is similar to that of the dwarf nuclear starburst galaxy M82, supporting the idea of active star formation co-eval with the AGN activity of the QSO. The implied star formation rate, up to 103 M year-1 if the source is not strongly gravitationally lensed, is adequate to form the majority of the stars in a normal spheroidal galaxy in a relatively short time ($`10^8`$ years). On the other hand, the global SED for 2322+1944 from cm-to-optical wavelengths is not out of the range defined by lower redshift, lower luminosity QSOs (Carilli et al. 2001b; Sanders et al. 1989), and hence the case for dust-heating by star formation based on the SED alone is by no means secure.

Omont et al. (2001) point out that a pre-requisite for star formation at the rate considered for PSS 2322+1944 is a massive reservoir of molecular gas ($`10^{11}`$ M). Such reservoirs have been detected via their CO line emission in other IR-luminous QSOs at $`z>4`$ (Omont et al. 1996a; Ohta et al. 1996; Guilloteau et al. 1997, 1999; Carilli et al. 2000; 2002). Recently, Cox et al. (2002) have detected emission in the high order CO transitions from 2322+1944. They find that 2322+1944 has the highest apparent CO(5-4) line luminosity of any $`z>4`$ QSO.

In this paper we present observations of CO 1–0 and CO 2–1 emission from the PSS 2322+1944 using the Very Large Array. From these data we derive the spatial distribution and excitation conditions of the molecular gas. We assume $`H_o`$ = 65 km s-1 Mpc-1, $`\mathrm{\Omega }_M=0.3`$ and $`\mathrm{\Omega }_\mathrm{\Lambda }=0.7`$.

## 2 Observations

PSS 2322+1944 was observed with the VLA in the fall of 2001 using the D configuration (1 km maximum baseline). Observations were made of the redshifted CO 1–0 line at 22.515 GHz, and of the CO 2–1 line at 45.035 GHz. A total of 14 hours was spent on each transition.

The CO 1–0 observations at 22.5 GHz employed the spectral line correlator mode with two polarizations and 7 spectral channels of 6.25 MHz width (= 83 km s-1). Due to limitations with the VLA bandwidth and correlator, the CO 2–1 observations at 45 GHz were done using the continuum correlator mode with two IFs of 50 MHz bandwidth and two polarizations each. One of the IFs was centered on the CO 2–1 emission line, while the second was centered 350 km s-1 off the line in order to determine the continuum level, if any. This mode maximizes sensitivity to the line, but sacrifices a measurement of the line velocity profile. Our CO 2–1 analysis will necessarily assume the line profile as given by the 1–0 line.

Standard amplitude and phase calibration were applied, correcting for atmospheric opacity at high frequency, and the absolute flux density scale was set by observing 3C 286. In the analysis below we include a 10$`\%`$ systematic error due to calibration uncertainties at high frequency. Fast switching phase calibration was employed (Carilli & Holdaway 1999) with a cycle time of 3 minutes, although subsequent inspection of the phase stability showed that a cycle time of 15 minutes, or even longer, would have been easily adequate to maintain phase coherence. The observations took place at night under excellent weather conditions, with RMS phase variations after calibration typically less than $`10^{}`$. The phase coherence was checked by imaging a calibrator with a similar calibration cycle time as that used for the target source. At all times the coherence was found to be better than 90$`\%`$.

## 3 Results and Analysis

Figure 1a shows the CO 1–0 emission spectrum from 2322+1944. A Gaussian profile was fit to the spectrum with a resulting full width at half maximum (FWHM) of $`200\pm 70`$ km s-1, a peak flux density of $`0.89\pm 0.22`$ mJy, and a velocity-integrated flux density of $`0.19\pm 0.08`$ Jy km s-1. Zero velocity in Figure 1a is defined as the center of channel 4, corresponding to a heliocentric redshift of 4.11956 for CO 1–0. The Gaussian fit has a central velocity of $`22\pm 24`$ km s-1 relative to this redshift, corresponding to a redshift of $`4.1192\pm 0.0004`$. For comparison, the Gaussian fit to the CO(5-4) line has a FWHM = $`273\pm 50`$ km s-1, and a central redshift of $`4.1199\pm 0.0008`$ (Cox et al. 2002).

The image of the CO 1–0 emission averaged over channels 3, 4, and 5 is shown in Figure 1b, and the average of the continuum channels (1 and 6) is shown in Figure 1c. The source is spatially unresolved, with an upper limit to the (deconvolved) source size of 3′′ (derived from Gaussian fitting), and a peak flux density of $`0.65\pm 0.07`$ mJy (note that this peak corresponds to the average of channels 3, 4, and 5). The upper limit (2$`\sigma `$) to continuum emission at 22 GHz is 0.14 mJy.

Figure 2a shows the integrated CO 2–1 emission from 2322+1944, while 2b shows the continuum channel. No continuum emission is detected to a 2$`\sigma `$ limit of 0.15 mJy. The CO emission is resolved spatially. A Gaussian fit results in a deconvolved source size of FWHM = $`2.1^{\prime \prime }\times 1.6^{\prime \prime }`$ with a major axis position angle of 152o, and a total flux density of $`2.7\pm 0.24`$ mJy. The implied (redshift corrected) mean brightness temperature is 2.8 K. The velocity-integrated flux density is $`0.92\pm 30`$ Jy km s-1, assuming a line width as given by the CO 1–0 transition. The CO 2–1 image also shows emission extending about 2′′ to the southwest of the peak position. This structure repeats (to within the noise) on the three different observing days. The average (redshift corrected) brightness temperature of this emission is $`0.5\pm 0.1`$ K. We note that the observed morphology of the CO 2–1 emission agrees within the errors with that observed for the radio continuum emission at 1.4 GHz (Carilli et al. 2001b).

The data for the velocity-integrated flux densities for various CO transitions for 2322+1944 are plotted in Figure 3. The higher order transition data is taken from Cox et al. (2002). Also plotted are the corresponding numbers for two other IR-luminous QSOs at $`z>4`$, BRI 1202–0725 at $`z=4.7`$ and BRI 1335–0417 at $`z=4.4`$, for which multiple CO transitions have been observed (see Carilli et al. 2002; Cox et al. 2002). The data have been normalized to the velocity-integrated line flux density for CO(5-4). For comparison, we have included the CO ladder observed for the best studied nuclear starburst galaxy M82 (Güsten et al. 1993; Mao et al. 2000), and that for the integrated emission from the Milky Way disk inside the solar radius (excluding the Galactic center) as seen by COBE (Fixsen, Bennett, & Mather 1999).

We have fit a standard one component LVG model simulating a spherical cloud to interpret the observed line ratios (for details see Carilli et al. 2002). Due to the lack of constraints, there is a degeneracy in LVG modeling between various parameters such as the density and kinetic temperature (Güsten et al. 1993). Our modeling is not meant as an exhaustive analysis, but is merely representative of the types of conditions that can give rise to the observed line ratios. Given the paucity of information, we adopt a kinetic temperature of 47 K, corresponding to the temperature derived from the far-IR spectrum of thermal emission by warm dust (Cox et al. 2002). We also use the cosmic microwave background radiation temperature at $`z=4.12`$ of 14 K. The CO data can be reasonably fit by a model with: N(CO) = $`2\times 10^{19}`$ cm-2, n(H2) = $`5\times 10^3`$ cm-3, and grad $`V`$ = 1 km s-1 pc-1. Given the inhomogeneity of the interstellar medium in the Milky Way and nearby galaxies, our assumption of uniform physical conditions is crude but appropriate for a source with four detected lines from the main CO species and no information on rare isotopomers.

## 4 Discussion

The optical QSO positions are shown as crosses on Figure 2a. The deconvolved size and position angle of the CO 2–1 emission from PSS 2322+1944 are consistent with the separation and position angle of the double optical QSO components found by Djorgovski et al. (2002), as is the observed radio continuum morphology at 1.4 GHz (Carilli et al. 2001). However, the resolution of the current VLA image is insufficient to determine if the CO emission is from two small components associated with the optical QSOs, or from more diffuse emission with a mean (redshift corrected) brightness temperature of 2.8 K. The more extended emission to the southwest appears to be robust, although, given the relatively low surface brightness, we feel this extension needs to be confirmed with further observations.

As discussed in Carilli et al. (2002), the CO excitation conditions for two other IR-luminous QSOs at $`z>4`$, BRI 1202–0725 and BRI 1335–0417, are similar to those seen in the dwarf nuclear starburst galaxy M82, and are consistent with a fairly high kinetic temperature of 70 K and a high (mean) molecular gas density of $`2\times 10^4`$ cm-3. For 2322+1944 we find excitation conditions intermediate between those seen in M82 and those seen for the disk of the Milky Way. The data are consistent with a kinetic temperature equal to the temperature derived from the far-IR SED of the thermal emission by warm dust (47 K), and a density for the molecular gas of $`\mathrm{n}(\mathrm{H}_2)=5\times 10^3`$ cm-3, ie. a factor 4 lower than that found for 1202–0725 and 1335-0417. These results may indicate that the CO emission from 2322+1944 is dominated by gas that is more diffuse and cooler than is seen in the other two QSOs. However, if the CO emission from 2322+1944 is strongly lensed, then differential magnification due to (possibly) different source-plane spatial distributions for the low and high excitation molecular gas makes a detailed excitation analysis problematic until higher resolution observations, and a proper lens model, are available.

The apparent CO 1–0 luminosity, $`L^{}`$, for PSS 2322+1944 is $`1.5\times 10^{11}`$ K km s-1 pc2. The H2 gas mass can be calculated from the CO luminosity assuming a value of X = the H2 mass-to-CO(1-0) luminosity conversion factor in M (K km s-1 pc2)-1 (Solomon et al. 1997). We adopt a value of $`\mathrm{X}0.8`$, as found for Ultra-Luminous Infrared Galaxies ($`L_{FIR}10^{12}`$ L; ULIRGs) by Downes and Solomon (1998), leading to a molecular gas mass of $`1.2\times 10^{11}`$ M. Of course, X depends on a number of factors, including the excitation conditions, and in the case of 2322+1944 the possibility of gravitational lensing complicates the situation.

Lastly, we consider the continuum-to-line ratio: $`[L_{\mathrm{FIR}}]/[L_{\mathrm{CO}(10)}^{}]`$, in units of L (K km s-1 pc2)-1. Solomon et al. (1997) show that this ratio increases with increasing $`L_{\mathrm{FIR}}`$, with values between 5 and 50 for Galactic Giant Molecular Clouds and nearby galaxies with $`L_{\mathrm{FIR}}10^{10}`$ L, and values between 80 and 250 for ULIRGs. Evans et al. (2001) have extended this relationship to include IR-excess, optically selected QSOs at $`z0.17`$. These QSOs have LFIR values ranging from a few $`\times 10^{11}`$ L to 1012 L. They find that the low $`z`$ QSOs typically show continuum-to-line ratios (as defined above) between 100 and 260, with the majority of sources toward the low end of this range. \[Note that we have converted from their LIR to LFIR using a ratio of 0.52, as found by Dale et al. (2000) for a large sample IR-selected galaxies.\] Evans et al. (2001) also find that the QSOs with high continuum-to-line ratios reside in optically disturbed galaxies, ie. on-going mergers of gas rich spiral galaxies, while the sources with low values reside in more normal-looking galaxies.

For 2322+1944 we find: $`[L_{\mathrm{FIR}}]/[L_{\mathrm{CO}(10)}^{}]=200`$ L (K km s-1 pc2)-1. For comparison, in BRI 1335–0417 and BRI 1202–0725 values of about 340 were found by Carilli et al. (2002). Carilli et al. argued that the large continuum-to-line ratio in these latter two QSOs, both of which have $`L_{FIR}10^{13}`$ L, continues the trend of increasing continuum-to-line ratio with increasing IR luminosity. The fact that 2322+1944 has a continuum-to-line ratio more consistent with ULIRGs, and with low redshift, lower IR luminosity QSOs, could be used to argue for strong (factor $`10`$) gravitational magnification of the emission regions, thereby lowering its IR luminosity to $`10^{12}`$ L. However, given the scatter in the relationship between IR luminosity and the continuum-to-line ratio, this is at best a weak argument in favor of gravitational lensing.

Detecting the massive reservoir of molecular gas in PSS 2322+1944 is one of the required (although not sufficient) elements for demonstrating the existence of active star formation co-eval with the AGN activity in this high-$`z`$ QSO. However, the possibility of gravitational lensing in PSS 2322+1944 complicates the physical analysis. An argument in favor of lensing is the relatively low velocity dispersion for the CO emission. The observed value of 200 km s-1 is typical for a galaxy potential, but is low for a group potential, as might be expected if the observed CO line was the sum of emission from the host galaxies of a QSO pair at $`z=4.12`$. If the system is strongly gravitationally lensed, then judicious use of a lens model could elucidate structure in the source plane on finer physical scales ($`100`$ pc) than can be obtained normally (Yun et al. 1997; Lewis et al. 2002). Sensitive, high resolution observations of the CO 2–1 emission from 2322+1944 are planned to confirm, and better resolve, the molecular line emitting regions, while observations of higher order transitions at high spatial resolution are planned to better constrain the CO excitation conditions.

The National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) is operated by Associated Universities, Inc. under a cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation. SDG acknowledges partial support from the Bressler Foundation. We thank A. Mahabel for assistance with the optical astrometry, and the referee, A. Evans, for very helpful comments.

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11footnotetext: This 2-column preprint was prepared with the AAS L$`A`$ macros v4.0.

Figure Captions

FIG. 1a.— The CO 1–0 spectrum of PSS 2322+1944 as measured at 22.515 GHz at a spatial resolution of 3.8′′. Zero velocity is defined as the center of channel 4, corresponding to a heliocentric redshift of 4.11956 for CO 1–0. Each channel is 83 km s-1 wide, and the rms noise in each channel is 0.12 mJy beam-1. The dashed line is a Gaussian fit to the velocity profile (see section 3).
1b. The contour image of the average of channels 3, 4, and 5 from the spectrum shown in Figure 1a. The contour levels are: -0.24, -0.12, 0.12, 0.24, 0.36, 0.48, 0.60 mJy beam-1. The Gaussian restoring CLEAN beam has FWHM = $`3.9^{\prime \prime }\times 3.7^{\prime \prime }`$ with a major axis position angle of -46, as shown in the inset. The rms noise on this image is 74$`\mu `$Jy beam-1. The crosses in this and subsequent images show the position of the two optical QSOs found by Djorgovski et al. (2002)
1c. The contour image of the off-line channels (1 and 6) from the spectrum shown in Figure 1a. The contour levels and beam are the same as Figure 1b.

FIG. 2a.—The contour image of the average of the on-line IF for the CO 2–1 observations of PSS 2322+1944. The IF bandwidth is 50 MHz (= 350 km s-1), and is centered at 45.035 GHz, corresponding to a heliocentric redshift of 4.1191 GHz for CO 2–1. The contour levels are -0.24, -0.12, 0.12, 0.24, 0.36, 0.48, 0.60 mJy beam-1. The Gaussian restoring CLEAN beam has FWHM = $`1.8^{\prime \prime }\times 1.4^{\prime \prime }`$ with a major axis position angle of -28, as shown in the inset. The rms noise on this image is 77$`\mu `$Jy beam-1.
2b. The contour image of the off-line IF for the 44.985 GHz VLA observations of 2322+1944. The contour levels and beam are the same as Figure 2a.

FIG. 3. — The velocity-integrated flux densities for CO emission from PSS 2322+1944, as derived from data from this paper and from Cox et al. (2002), are show as large filled circles with error bars. Also plotted are the corresponding values for the QSOs BRI 1202–0725 at $`z=4.7`$ (open squares), and BRI 1335–0417 at $`z=4.4`$ (open triangles) (from Carilli et al. 2002). The solid triangles are the data for the CO ladder for the integrated emission from the Milky Way disk inside the solar radius (excluding the Galactic center) as seen by COBE (Fixsen, Bennett, & Mather 1999). The open circles are the results for the starburst nucleus of M82 (Güsten et al. 1993; Mao et al. 2000). The ordinate is the velocity-integrated line flux density. The CO(5-4) line has been detected in all the sources, and the velocity-integrated line flux densities for the other transitions in each source have all been normalized by the corresponding CO(5-4) values, except for the Milky Way, for which the values are normalized at CO(3-2). The short dash line shows an LVG model with Tkin = 47 K and n(H2) = $`5\times 10^3`$ cm-3.


text:
# Subarcsec emission in Seyfert galaxies: the nuclear component in the 𝐿- and 𝑀-bands

## 1 Introduction

The unified model for Seyfert galaxies postulates that Seyfert type 1 (S1) and type 2 (S2) nuclei are intrinsically similar, the observed differences between them being due to obscuration and viewing angle to the AGN. The nuclear continuum and the broad line region (BLR) of S1s are obscured from direct view in S2s by an optically and geometrically thick torus of gas and dust. This torus absorbs a significant fraction of the nuclear high energy emission, and reradiates it into the infrared (IR; e.g. Antonucci 1993).

A promising method to test the validity of the unified model is to perform high spatial resolution imaging in the $`LM`$-bands, 3 – 5 $`\mu `$m. Recent near-IR (NIR; $`JHK`$-bands, 1 – 2.5 $`\mu `$m) continuum imaging studies of Seyfert nuclei (e.g. Kotilainen & Ward 1994; Alonso-Herrero, Ward & Kotilainen 1996) have shown that the stellar contribution decreases with increasing wavelength, dominating in the $`JH`$-bands but accounting only for $``$50 % of the emission in the $`K`$-band, particularly in S2s. If this trend persists towards longer wavelengths, the 3 – 5 $`\mu `$m range should give us a much cleaner view of the nuclear region in Seyferts. Furthermore, with reduced extinction effects, that spectral region may start to reveal the presence, and even the structure, of the putative obscuring dusty torus or disk surrounding the Seyfert nuclei. The internal regions of the torus may reach high temperatures (T $``$ 1000 K) and thus radiate at NIR wavelengths in S1s whereas this emission may remain optically thick in S2s. However, dust emitting in the 3 – 5 $`\mu `$m range should arise from regions further away from the nucleus, being thus cooler (T = 600 - 800 K) and equally traceable in both Seyfert types. By modeling the $`LM`$-band luminosity profiles, it should be possible to assess the contributions from stellar and dust emission, which should be similar in both Seyfert types if the unified model is valid.

Previous studies in the 3 – 5 $`\mu `$m range are scarce. Pioneering work by Kotilainen et al. (1992), Zhou, Wynn-Williams & Sanders (1993) and Alonso-Herrero et al. (1996; 2001) lack sufficient spatial resolution, sensitivity and field-of-view to detect the host galaxies and therefore do not allow for an accurate separation of the central nuclear component. Also, the available imaging only allows photometry with large apertures ($``$3″). Recently, diffraction-limited imaging in the $`LM`$-bands using adaptive optics (AO) of the nearby prototype S2 galaxy NGC 1068 revealed a wealth of information (Marco & Alloin 2000). These observations reveal in NGC 1068 a core with radius $`<`$ 8 pc, a disk structure of $``$80 pc size and extended emission perpendicular to the disk of $``$100 pc size.

This paper presents our first results from an ISAAC program on the ESO VLT devoted to subarcsec resolution images in the $`LM`$-bands of nearby S1 and S2 galaxies. The results focuses on the two S2s, NGC 7496 at z = 0.00550 and NGC 7582 at z = 0.00525, and one S1, NGC 7213 at z = 0.00597. The excellent image quality provided by VLT lead to unprecedentedly high spatial resolution images in the $`LM`$-bands, 0$`\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}`$4 and 0$`\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}`$6 FWHM, respectively, corresponding to physical distances between 70 and 90 pc.

## 2 Observations

Broad-band images of the Seyferts in the $`L`$\- (3.8 $`\mu `$m) and $`M`$\- (4.7 $`\mu `$m) bands were obtained with ISAAC on the ESO VLT UT Antu in service mode during 2000 September - October. The observations were taken in chopping mode. Each final image is the result of stacking 46 ($`L`$) or 104 ($`M`$) individual chopped frames. In addition to chopping, consecutive frames were taken after nodding the telescope to typically 20″ distance on the sky. The total integration time for all galaxies was 25 minutes in the $`L`$-band and 45 minutes in the $`M`$-band. The field-of-view of the images is 73″, thus, these are the first large-format array $`LM`$-band images of any Seyfert galaxies. Previously published images in these bands cover smaller field-of-views by a factor of $``$ 3. The instrumental PSF shape was determined from images of standard stars taken close in time to the galaxy images. Occasional image elongations were seen in the core of the PSF caused by field instabilities produced by the secondary mirror during chopping. These image elongations are generally $`<`$ 0$`\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}`$5 FWHM in both bands. Additional $`JHK`$-band images were taken with SOFI on the ESO NTT. These images have a typical seeing of 1″ FWHM and integration times of 75 seconds in $`JH`$\- and 100 seconds in $`K`$-band.

## 3 Results

Fig. 1 shows the $`LM`$-band images of the three galaxies. All exhibit extended emission, traceable up to $``$3 - 7″ from the nucleus. In the $`L`$-band, the extent of this emission ranges from 500 pc in NGC 7496 to 1.2 kpc in NGC 7213, whereas in the $`M`$-band, it is more compact and extends from 150 pc in NGC 7496 to 500 pc in NGC 7582.

The S1 galaxy NGC 7213 is a face-on SA0, with identical morphology from the optical to the $`M`$-band. At 8.4-GHz, it is unresolved, the core region being less than 70 pc FWHM (Thean et al. 2000). In contrast, the optical images of the S2s show a distorted nuclear region caused by dust extinction and the presence of bars. The SBcb NGC 7582 is crossed by a dust lane along its major axis (Regan & Mulchaey 1999). H$`\alpha `$ imaging reveals a continuous distribution of HII regions along its central disk or bar (Hameed & Devereux 1999). The optical and NIR emission of the SBbc NGC 7496 is dominated by a long bar along its major axis, and its central 20″ emission shows a peanut-shaped bulge (Mulchaey, Regan & Kundu 1997). The $`LM`$-band images of these two S2s (Fig. 1) show, however, rather ordered elliptical isophotes, particularly in NGC 7582. In NGC 7496, the peanut-shaped morphology disappears, the $`L`$-band image revealing instead symmetric extended emisssion at opposite sides of the nucleus, presumably from the central bar. At 8.4-GHz (Thean et al.), NGC 7582 is resolved in a peak and diffuse emission extending over $``$1 kpc size whereas NGC 7496 is unresolved down to a region of 43 pc FWHM.

In the $`LM`$-bands the innermost 90 pc emission of all three galaxies is however dominated by a central point source. To disentangle the nuclear component from the host galaxy, the azimuthally averaged radial luminosity profiles from $`J`$\- to $`M`$-band were deconvolved into an unresolved point source component (AGN) and a bulge component (host galaxy). In the $`LM`$-band images, the point source component was approximated by the Moffat fit derived from the star observed close in time, while the bulge component was approximated by a de Vaucouleurs law. For NGC 7582, the extended emission was also alternatively fit with an exponential disk. In the $`JHK`$-band images, the unresolved component was directly approximated from the profiles of field stars in the galaxy frames. As the extension of the galaxies in these bands is larger than in the $`LM`$-bands, an additional disk component was included to better model the extended emission.

The resulting fits for NGC 7213 are shown as an example in Fig. 2., while the magnitudes and the fractional contributions of the unresolved and the extended component, and the modeled and observed luminosities in the $`JHKLM`$ bands within different apertures for all Seyferts are given in Table 1. The contribution from the unresolved component increases with decreasing aperture and increasing wavelength. In the $`J`$-band, the emission is dominated by the host galaxy in the S1 NGC 7213 and in the S2 NGC 7496, and accounts for $``$50 % in the S2 NGC 7582. In the $`K`$-band, the host galaxy contribution is already reduced to $``$50 % level, while in the $`LM`$-bands, the emission is dominated by the unresolved component in all three Seyferts.

The spectral energy distributions (SED) of the nuclear and stellar components from $`J`$\- to $`M`$-band within a 1″ radius aperture ($``$150 pc) are shown in Fig. 3., along with similar data on NGC 1068 in a 0$`\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}`$6 aperture (Marco & Alloin 2000). The $`K`$\- to $`M`$-band SED of the unresolved nuclear component is in all galaxies well fit by a grey black-body with temperature T = 500 - 800 K. This hot dust resides in a region $`<`$ 70-90 pc from the nucleus. Note, however, that the $`JH`$-band SED of the unresolved component clearly departs from that followed at longer wavelengts. The $`J`$-$`H`$ and $`H`$-$`K`$ colors (cf. magnitudes in Table 1) indicate much hotter dust. For all galaxies, the best fit to the $`JH`$-band emission indicates a dust temperature in the range T = 800 - 1600 K, close to the graphite sublimation temperature. However, the temperature of this dust component may be much cooler if an additional contribution by bremsstrahlung from the cooling of nuclear photoionized gas at T = $`10^4K`$ is considered (see e.g. Contini & Viegas 2001).

Overall, the $`J`$-$`H`$, $`H`$-$`K`$ and $`K`$-$`L`$ colors of the unresolved component are much redder than those found in quasars (Hyland & Allen 1982). This difference is probably due to the still dominant contribution from the host galaxy, particularly in the $`JH`$-bands, in the central 150 pc region (Table 1), which renders the estimate of the unresolved component subject to large uncertainties. The $`K`$-$`L`$ colors are also redder than those derived for the central region of NGC 1068 ($`K`$-$`L`$ = 1.8$`\pm `$0.2; Marco & Alloin 2000), although note that the contribution from the host galaxy in the $`K`$-band was not removed in this galaxy. This situation is reversed when comparing the $`L`$-$`M`$ colors: whereas in our three Seyferts $`L`$-$`M`$ $``$0.7, in NGC 1068 $`L`$-$`M`$ = 1.6$`\pm `$0.4, indicating that the emission peak of the unresolved component is toward even longer wavelengths in NGC 1068.

On the other hand, the SED of the host galaxy shows an opposite trend from that of the unresolved component, namely a smoothly decreasing contribution from $`J`$\- to $`M`$-band. The stellar contribution appears to be unimportant in the central 80 - 100 pc region in the $`LM`$-bands, whereas it dominates in the $`JHK`$-bands, and also at larger distances in all bands. The $`J`$-$`H`$ and $`H`$-$`K`$ colors (Table 1) are close to those of giants and supergiants (Koorneef 1983) and of normal spirals (Willner et al. 1984). The $`K`$-$`L`$ colors are much redder than in normal spirals but this is expected as the unresolved component dominates the nuclear $`L`$-band light.

Finally, at slightly larger scales (radius $`>`$ 100 pc), the $`L`$-band emission from the host galaxy of NGC 7582 deserves particular attention. The subtraction of a bulge model from the $`L`$-band image reveals residual clumps of emission between 150 and 300 pc radius along the major axis of the galaxy (Fig. 4). These clumps are located along the disk/bar of HII regions seen also in H$`\alpha `$ (Hameed & Devereux 1999). These clumps probably represent individual dust cocoons heated by the underlying ring of powerful star forming regions to temperatures high enough to emit in the $`L`$-band and beyond. The $`L`$-$`M`$ colors of the clumps indicate relatively hot dust, T $`>`$ 800 K, but these estimates are rather uncertain as the colors are averaged over the entire galaxy between 150 and 300 pc radius.

## 4 Conclusions

Deep, high spatial resolution $`L`$\- and $`M`$-band imaging of three nearby Seyferts (two S2s and one S1) has allowed for the first time at these wavelengths to separate the AGN from the host galaxy emission. Regardless of the Seyfert type, in all three galaxies the unresolved nuclear component dominates the $`LM`$-band emission within $`<`$ 90 pc diameter central region. The contribution of this component in the $`JHK`$-bands is, on the other hand, $`<`$ 50 %. Together with literature AO data for NGC 1068, the $`K`$\- to $`M`$-band SEDs of the unresolved component are well accounted for by dust emission with temperature T = 500 - 800 K in all cases.

The expected signature for central obscuring material - the putative disk or torus – is not seen in these galaxies. If typical sizes of the obscuring region are in the 80 pc range (cf. NGC 1068) the resolution of our data is just at the limit to resolve it. Future AO observations will provide a definitive answer. Interesting, recent 10 $`\mu `$m imaging of the S2 NGC 7582 reveals a nuclear disk structure just at the right position, about perpendicular to the radio axis of the galaxy (Acosta-Pulido et al. 2002). We note that contarily to the relative high polarization, P$``$16%, measured in NGC 1068, and interpreted as due to scatter nuclear light from its hidden S1 nucleus (Antonucci, 1993), the reported values for these galaxies are very low, $`<`$1% (Brindle et al. 1990), and probably not intrinsic to the sources.

The contribution of the host galaxy in the $`LM`$-bands is negligible within the central 90 pc region, but increases with radius and accounts for $`>`$ 50 % of the integrated $`LM`$-band emission. The total extent of the host galaxy emission in the $`L`$-band is $``$1 kpc in all three Seyferts, whereas the $`M`$-band emission is more compact, with average size $``$500 pc.

The overall morphology of the galaxies at these wavelengths is rather relaxed. Particularly, the emission in the $`L`$-band contrasts with the distorted optical and NIR emission of the two S2s. The lack of a prominent nucleus in the optical images contrasts with the bright nucleus seen in the $`LM`$-band images of the S2s. In particular, the nucleus of NGC 7582 is as bright as that of the S1 NGC 7213 in the $`LM`$-bands. Note that NGC 7582 is heavily absorbed, with N(H) = $`1.67\times 10^{23}`$ cm-2 (Turner & Pounds 1989). Correcting for this absorption, its hard X-ray (2-10 keV) luminosity is $`4\times 10^{42}`$ erg s-1, of the same order as that in NGC 7213 (Nandra & Pounds 1994). Thus, the brightness of its nucleus in the $`LM`$-bands indicates that NGC 7582 harbors a nucleus as powerful as that in NGC 7213. In the radio domain, the core flux of NGC 7213 at 8.4-GHz is $``$ 3.5 larger than that measured in NGC 7582 in this case over a region of 10 arcsec (cf. section 2); within the framework of the Seyfert Unifying Schemes the difference could be interpreted as due to emission from the jet pointing close to the line of sight in the case of NGC 7213.

The S2 NGC 7496, although at the same distance as the other Seyferts, appears to be intrinsically weaker. It is also heavily absorbed, with N(H) $`5\times 10^{22}`$ cm-2 (Kruper, Canizares & Urry 1990), but the derived absorption-corrected hard X-ray (2-10 keV) luminosity is only $`1\times 10^{42}`$ erg s-1, much lower than in the other cases. Its 8.4-GHz core emission is also $``$ 14 times lower than in NGC 7582. The $`LM`$-band luminosities of the unresolved component are also $``$3 magnitudes fainter than in the other two Seyferts, altogether confirming NGC 7496 as the weakest of the three AGN.

Finally, for NGC 7582 we report to our knowledge the first detection of a star forming ring around a Seyfert nucleus in the $`L`$-band. This detection highlights the potential of high spatial resolution studies in the 3 – 5 $`\mu `$m range to reveal important circunuclear emission in AGN.

Based on observations collected at the European Southern Observatory, Chile. We acknowledge the staff at Paranal Observatory, C. Lidman, J.G. Cuby and O. Marco, who carried out this VLT ISAAC program in service mode. We kindly thank R. Falomo for providing us with the luminosity profile fitting routines.