text:
# What do HST and Chandra tell us about the jet and the nuclear region of the radio galaxy 3C 270?Based on observations obtained at the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Incorporated, under NASA contract NAS 5-26555.

## 1 Introduction

The unified scheme for low luminosity radio–loud active galactic nuclei associates low luminosity FR I radio galaxies with BL Lacs objects, or at least with most of them. According to the most recent studies, there is growing evidence that the non–thermal radiation produced at the base of the relativistic jet, on sub–pc scales, which dominates the overall emission in BL Lacs, is also visible in the nuclei of their misaligned counterparts. The nuclear sources observed through high resolution HST optical and UV images in the great majority of complete samples of FR I (Chiaberge et al., 1999, 2002; Verdoes Kleijn et al., 2002), tightly correlate with the radio core emission, strongly arguing for a common origin (i.e non-thermal synchrotron emission from the base of the jet). The discovery of such non-thermal nuclei imply that FR I radio galaxies represent a fundamentally different manifestation of the AGN phenomenon, as they lack at least two of the typical characteristics of other active galaxies: optically and geometrically thick tori, and thermal disk emission.

On larger (kpc) scales, jets have been observed in the optical (e.g. De Koff et al. 1996, Martel et al. 1999, Capetti et al. 2000) and in the UV band (Allen et al., 2002), in a substantial number of FR I radio galaxies. The origin for the emission of these jets is most plausibly non-thermal synchrotron radiation. Best support for this interpretation comes from detailed multiwavelength observations of the different components of the jets (e.g Perlman et al. 2001, Sparks et al. 1996), which show smooth spectra from the radio to the UV. Sparks et al. (2000) have shown that optical jets in a complete sample of 24 nearby 3CR FR I are associated with sources in which dark disks are seen presumably face-on. Their analysis strongly supports the scenario in which, as a result of relativistic beaming, optical non-thermal synchrotron emission from a jet is detected only if the jet is pointing towards the observer, forming an angle to the line–of–sight $`\theta <30^{}40^{}`$.

On the other hand, observations made with the Chandra satellite have shown that X–ray jets are common among low luminosity radio galaxies Worrall et al. (2001) and are observed in quasars as well (Chartas et al., 2000; Sambruna et al., 2002). For the X-ray emission of powerful quasars’ jets, the most plausible radiation mechanism is inverse Compton scattering (Harris & Krawczynski, 2002, for a recent analysis of the emission processes in X-ray jets). The source for the seed photons which are upscattered to X–ray energies might reside in the Cosmic Microwave Radiation. This mechanism requires high velocity bulk motion of the jet on the kpc scales, which might be present in powerful quasars (and FR II galaxies) but is not expected in lower luminosity objects. Another possible source for the seed photons, which might well apply to low luminosity radio galaxies’ jets, is their “blazar” nucleus. Celotti et al. (2001) have shown that, for large viewing angles to the jet, this can be the dominant mechanism, if the jet has a slow velocity component (which might be still relativistic but with a Lorentz factor of $`2`$). In order to discriminate between the above scenarios, a detailed modeling of the SED of such large–scale jets is required. Clearly, this is possible only if multiwavelength and co–spatial data, from radio to the X-ray band, are available.

The low luminosity radio galaxy 3C 270 is an ideal object to further investigate all of the above issues. In VLA radio maps, this nearby111We adopt a distance to 3C 270 of 41 Mpc (Faber et al., 1989) source shows an FR I morphology (Fanaroff & Riley, 1974) with symmetric jet and counter–jet (Birkinshaw & Davies, 1985). VLBA radio images show symmetric jets on the sub-pc scale, implying that the viewing angle to the jet is quite large, $`>60^{}`$ (Jones & Wehrle, 1997; Jones et al., 2000, 2001; Piner et al., 2001). In the HST images, the galaxy shows a large (hundreds–of–pc–scale) obscure dusty disk (Ferrarese, Ford, & Jaffe, 1996; Martel et al., 2000). The jet axis projects onto the disk minor axis and it is plausibly almost perpendicular to the disk. An unresolved nucleus is present in the IR and optical (Capetti et al., 2000; Chiaberge et al., 1999), but it is not detected in the UV (Allen et al., 2002; Chiaberge et al., 2002).

In this paper we show that the HST/STIS UV image of 3C 270 shows a further feature, which is possibly connected to the jet. As we will show in the following, such feature is unexpected in an object as 3C 270, in which the jets almost lie on the plane of the sky. The presence of this component, together with both the absence of the nucleus in the UV and the information from the Chandra X–ray data, give us a unique global picture of the nuclear structure of this object. The X–ray image also shows the presence of a jet and, more surprisingly, of a counterjet. All of these issues have important implications for the AGN unified models.

This paper is organized as follows: in Section 2 we describe the HST and Chandra observations and we show the results; in Section 3 we discuss our results and we propose different scenarios which can account for the observations; in Section 4 we present a summary of our findings and we draw conclusions.

## 2 Observations and results

### 2.1 HST observations

The UV HST-STIS image was taken as part of the UV Snapshot survey of 3CR radio galaxies (Allen et al., 2002, SNAP 8275), using the NUV-MAMA detector and the F25SRF2 broad band filter, whose transmission function is centered at 2320 Å. The image has been processed through the HST pipeline calibration. IRAF standard packages have been used for the analysis. In Fig. 1 (left panel) we show the central $`4.5^{\prime \prime }\times 3^{\prime \prime }`$ of the STIS image, which has been smoothed by convolving the original image with a 2 pixels (corresponding to $`0.048^{\prime \prime }`$) sigma gaussian in order to improve the rather low signal–to–noise ratio ($`S/N10`$ in the center of the galaxy). The most apparent feature in the UV image is the $``$ three hundred pc–scale dark disk (Jaffe et al., 1993). Emission from the host galaxy stellar component is also clearly visible. The circle represents the position of the center of the galaxy, which has been identified by fitting ellipses to the isophotes of the galaxy, in the region outside the dark disk, between 1.5 and 2.5 arcsec from the center. Due to the relatively low signal–to–noise ratio of the UV image, the position of the center of the galaxy is known with an uncertainty of $`\pm 1`$ pixel.

While an unresolved nucleus is present in the near–infrared and optical HST images (Ferrarese, Ford, & Jaffe, 1996; Capetti et al., 2000), in the UV image a faint, elongated, jet–like structure appears to emerge from the center of the galaxy, and the nucleus is not detected (Allen et al., 2002). As pointed out by Ferrarese, Ford, & Jaffe (1996), the nucleus is probably not at the center of the galaxy isophotes. However, the error on the position of the center in the UV image is of the same order as the shift between the isophote center and the position of the unresolved nucleus in the optical images. Therefore such small shift ($`0.023\pm 0.009`$ arcsec) is not significant for our purposes.

The apparent angular dimensions of the jet–like feature (to which we will refer in the following as the “A” component) are $`0.3\times 0.1`$ arcsec, which correspond to $`60\times 20`$ pc. However, the width of the feature is consistent with being unresolved. The “A” component lies at the same position angle ($`90^{}`$) as the jets observed in the radio, both on the VLBI and VLA scales (Jones et al. 2000, Birkinshaw & Davies 1985), and in the X–ray band (see below). Clumps of emission, possibly superimposed on other components aligned with the jet, are present on larger scales, across the western edge of the obscure disk, up to a distance of $`0.8`$ arcsec from the location of the nucleus.

We have measured the flux of the “A” component, by extracting the count rate from a box of $`13\times 7`$ pixels, and evaluating the background by averaging the counts in the pixels contiguous to such box. The background evaluation is clearly the largest source of error in the process of evaluating the flux of this component. Adopting the PHOTFLAM parameter in the image header222The HST internal calibration is expected to be accurate to $`5\%`$. to convert from counts to flux density, we obtained $`F_\lambda =5(\pm 2)\times 10^{19}`$ erg cm-2 s-1 Å-1. At the distance to 3C 270 this corresponds to a luminosity $`\lambda L_\lambda =2.3(\pm 1.0)\times 10^{38}`$ erg s-1.

### 2.2 Chandra observations

We analyze a Chandra archival 34 ksec observation of 3C 270 (P.I. Birkinshaw), obtained on 2000 May 6 with the back illuminated ACIS-S3 chip. Since significant pileup effects were expected, a subarray configuration was used, which allowed to reduce the frametime to 1.8 sec and the estimated pileup fraction to $`10\%`$. The data reduction was performed with CIAO v2.2 applying the standard corrections for bad and flaring pixels, and filtering for standard ASCA grades. An updated gain map included in the CALDB 2.8 release was used, which reduces the calibration uncertainties at low energies. We also eliminated about 12% of the exposure time where the background flux was $`3\sigma `$ above the average value.

The X-ray image (Fig. 2) clearly shows the nucleus, diffuse emission from the hot corona, a kpc-scale jet (pointing westwards) and, surprisingly, a faint counterjet. The counterjet is clearly visible in the X–ray image when only the soft (0.3–0.6 keV) is displayed (Fig. 3). The jet–counterjet flux ratio is $`2.2\pm 1.1`$, in substantial agreement with what is observed in the radio band (Xu et al., 2000; Piner et al., 2001).

To avoid contamination from the kpc-scale jets and thermal gas, we extract the nuclear spectrum in a circle with aperture radius of 4 pixel ($`2`$ arcsec), which is twice as large as the FWHM of the observed Point Spread Function. The background spectrum is measured in an external region on the same chip. The background flux is less than 1% of the source flux, therefore our results are not altered by measuring the background spectrum in a different region.

We carry out the spectral analysis using the XSPEC v11.1.0 package. We fitted the 0.3–9 keV spectrum of 3C 270 with an absorbed powerlaw (the AGN) plus a thermal plasma (mekal model in XSPEC). Since it is likely that the observed spectrum has been significantly hardened by pileup, we convolve the model with the pileup model in XSPEC (Davis, 2001). In addition to the thermal component we obtain a hard power–law333The spectral index $`\alpha `$ is defined by $`F_\nu \nu ^\alpha `$ ($`\alpha =0.30\pm 0.06`$) which is similar to what has been found in ASCA and ROSAT data (Matsumoto et al., 2001; Sambruna et al., 1999; Capetti et al., 2000).

Most importantly, and differently from the ROSAT and ASCA observations, we find evidence for a moderate amount of nuclear absorption ($`N_H=6.33\pm 0.78\times 10^{22}`$ cm-2). The X–ray spectrum of 3C 270 is shown in Fig. 4.

Note that the presence of moderate X–ray absorption is rather common among FR I. Sambruna et al. (1999) studied nine FR I galaxies with the ASCA satellite, finding a broad range of absorbing columns. The typical values for $`N_H`$ lie between $`10^{21}`$ and $`10^{22}`$ cm-2, and for three out of the nine FR I galaxies in their sample, they find no intrinsic absorption. Very recent work with Chandra (e.g. Hardcastle et al. 2001, 2002) basically confirms this picture. In order to check for consistency with the previous X–ray observations of 3C 270, we have reanalyzed the ASCA data. We find that a satisfactory fit can be obtained by setting the parameters for the power-law component and absorption to those we have obtained from the Chandra observation.

We also find that a $`6.4`$ keV iron line is not statistically required by our fit. However, its presence cannot be ruled out by the Chandra data, since we have no stringent upper limits on its equivalent width (380 eV at 90% c.l.). In Table 1 we summarize the parameters for the best fit ($`\chi ^2/dof=95/69`$), and fluxes and luminosities of the different spectral components (errors are at 90% c.l.). Note that the 2–10 keV flux is comparable to the ASCA value, while the Chandra 0.5–2 keV flux is a factor 4 lower, since, due to the the small extraction area we adopt, we are missing most of the diffuse soft thermal emission. Instead, the total 2–10 keV flux is dominated by the (nuclear) power–law component. By subtracting the thermal component from the total flux, we obtain that the observed flux of the power–law component in the range 2–10 keV is $`6.88\times 10^{13}`$ erg s-1 cm-2.

## 3 Discussion

Two are the most important questions arising from the analysis of the STIS image of the nuclear regions of 3C 270:

$``$ what is the nature of the “A” jet–like feature?

$``$ what is the role of nuclear absorption in this radio galaxy?

In the following sections, we test whether the available data are consistent with the synchrotron scenario for the jet-like feature, and we discuss the implications for the AGN unified model. Then, we consider a different scenario for the observed emission (namely scattered radiation from the “blazar” nucleus) which has again important implications for the unification schemes. Finally, we discuss the role of nuclear absorption, and we suggest future observations that may offer a definitive discrimination between the two.

### 3.1 A UV jet?

A fundamental tool in order to constrain the emission process of the jet–like structure in 3C 270 is the information about its spectral shape. Unfortunately, the “A” component is not detected in any other HST image, and no co–spatial observations are available either in the radio or in the X–ray bands.

The absence of a corresponding feature in the optical images is not surprising: we can predict the expected counts of such feature in the optical (F547M) image, by considering the flux density of component “A” in the UV. Assuming a spectral index $`\alpha =1`$, which is common among synchrotron emitting sources in the optical-UV regime, the expected flux is $`F_{5500}3\times 10^{19}`$ erg cm-2 s-1 Å-1. Using the WFPC2 exposure time calculator, this translates in a count rate of $`4\times 10^2`$ counts/sec integrated on an area of $`13\times 7`$ pixels, corresponding to an average value of 0.4 counts/pixel in the F547M image (which has $`t_{exp}=800`$s). This value is less than 0.3% of the background in the region of the dark disk, at the position angle of the jet. Therefore if the “A” component is a synchrotron jet, it cannot be detected in the available optical images.

In Fig. 1 (right panel) we show a “color” image UV–V. We have chosen the V–band image since in the other optical images the PSF from the nuclear component dominates the central regions. The galaxy emission fills the field of view of both instruments, therefore the background is undetermined and the estimate of the color index of the jet is not straightforward (Sparks & Jorgensen, 1993). Such an analysis is well out of the purposes of this paper. However, a qualitative analysis of this image tells us that i) the region with similar spectral properties (the jet?) extends further than the “A” component, and its color is almost constant on a scale of $`0.8^{\prime \prime }`$ ii) the “jet” is bluer than the underlying stellar emission of the host galaxy.

It is also important to compare the UV to the radio emission. As already mentioned, unfortunately no co–spatial radio observations are available in the literature. However, since the distance in frequency between radio and UV measurement is relatively high, we can roughly estimate the radio flux by subtracting the VLBI total flux (observed on the scale of $`50`$ mas from the nucleus) from the VLA core flux. This results in a rough estimate of the emission coming from the region between the VLA and the VLBI scales, i.e. some tenths of arcsec. Adopting the fluxes given by Xu et al. (2000), we obtain a value of the radio–UV spectral index $`\alpha _{\mathrm{r}\mathrm{UV}}0.80.9`$, which is compatible with other synchrotron emitting jets (Sparks et al., 1996). Note that due to the large difference in frequency between the radio and the UV, an error of a factor two on one of the two measurements would result in a variation of only $`\mathrm{\Delta }\alpha _{\mathrm{r}\mathrm{UV}}=0.05`$.

### 3.2 Synchrotron emission

The detection of synchrotron emission from a jet oriented at such a large angle to the line–of–sight is not expected at either optical or UV wavelengths, since the observed flux from relativistic jets is certainly affected by relativistic beaming. The observed flux is $`F=\delta ^4F^{}`$, where $`\delta =1/\mathrm{\Gamma }(1\beta \mathrm{cos}\theta )`$, $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ is the bulk Lorentz factor, $`\beta =v/c`$ and $`F^{}`$ is the flux observed in the comoving frame of the jet. 3C 270 has a quasisymmetric jet and counter–jet (on all scales and both in the radio and in the X–ray band), therefore, in the standard picture, the viewing angle should be quite large. This results in a small value for $`\delta `$, and most of the jet radiation should be beamed away from our line–of sight444For a jet bulk Lorentz factor of 10, $`\delta (60^{})=0.2`$, which would reduce the observed flux by a factor $`600`$, while for $`\mathrm{\Gamma }=5`$ the flux is still reduced by a factor $`40`$.. Although the extreme Lorentz factors ($`\mathrm{\Gamma }1020`$) required in order to account for the BL Lac phenomenon are probably limited to the very innermost region of the jet (sub–pc), it is not yet clear where the jet deceleration takes place and what are the characteristics of the velocity gradients along the jet. Giovannini et al. (2001) and Xu et al. (2000) have pointed out that the low number of objects with detected VLBI counterjets in randomly oriented samples implies that motions with $`\mathrm{\Gamma }35`$ must be present, at least on the pc scale.

On larger scales, the study of jet asymmetries performed by Laing et al. (1999) suggest that FR I jets are still relativistic up to $`1`$ kpc from the core. Furthermore, the analysis of Sparks et al. (2000) of a statistically complete and randomly oriented sample of nearby FR I from the 3CR catalog, for which a set of homogeneous HST observations is available, shows that relativistic beaming plays indeed an important role in the detection of FR I optical jets on the kpc scale.

The chance of detecting a UV synchrotron jet in a highly misaligned source such as 3C 270 is significantly increased if lower speed components are present in the jet. This scenario might find support from radio observations of this object. Piner et al. (2001) have calculated that the viewing angle of the 3C 270 jet is $`63^{}\pm 3`$, on the basis of the jet-counterjet ratio and the apparent jet velocity from VLBI data. According to their observations, the intrinsic velocity is $`\beta =0.46\pm 0.02`$. Although their estimate is only based on the motion of a single local maximum on the jet profile plots, this would corresponds to a mildly relativistic motion with a Lorentz factor $`\mathrm{\Gamma }=1.13`$, which might be expected if the jet has a velocity structure on the pc (and sub-pc) scales, for example a fast spine and a slower layer (Laing et al., 1999; Chiaberge et al., 2000)555If we assume a value of $`\mathrm{\Gamma }35`$ for the jet velocity, which appears to be more typical of the broad class of low luminosity radio galaxies, the jet-to-counterjet ratio (in the radio band and on the VLBI scale) implies that the viewing angle can be as large as $`80^{}`$.. In this case, the detection of synchrotron emission in highly misaligned sources ($`60^{}`$ or more) is possible, since with such low Lorentz factors the de-beaming effect does not affect dramatically the jet radiation. Note however, that if all FR I had significant emission from such a slow component, we would expect to observe optical jets in most of them, which is not the case. The probability of observing them might increase in the UV, due to the enhanced contrast between the jet emission and the underlying stellar galaxy component. However, HST/STIS UV images are available for 14 of the 24 FR I of the Sparks et al. (2000) sample. With the only possible exception of 3C 270, no “new” jets have been discovered (Allen et al., 2002). This further supports the idea that detection of jets is more strongly determined by relativistic beaming than by the contrast to the host galaxy emission.

We stress that whatever the viewing angle to 3C 270 (which however has to be rather large), the detection of a synchrotron UV jet implies that we are observing a component of the jet which moves slower than what is expected for a typical BL Lac nucleus, for which $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ is constrained to be $`1020`$, at least at optical-UV frequencies (e.g. Tavecchio et al. 1998, Sikora et al. 1994). A low–velocity component must be present on larger scales, to account for the observation of X–ray emission from the kpc–scale jet (and counter–jet).

We can further test this scenario through a reverse argument, in the frame of the AGN unification schemes. We can calculate the luminosity of the “A” component as seen from an observer placed at a small angle to the axis of the jet ($`\theta 1/\mathrm{\Gamma }`$), under the assumption of highly relativistic motion of such a component. If we assume $`\mathrm{\Gamma }=15`$ for the bulk Lorentz factor of the jet, for a large viewing angle ($`60^{}80^{}`$) we obtain $`\delta _A0.1`$. Therefore, the luminosity $`\nu L_\nu `$, as observed on-axis would be $`L_{onax}(L_A/\delta _A^4)\delta _{15}^4=10^{47}`$ erg s-1. We can compare this to the optical luminosity ($`\nu L_\nu `$) of a BL Lac which has the same extended (unbeamed) radio power as 3C 270 ($`\mathrm{log}L_{1.4}=31.4`$ erg s-1 Hz-1). Although there is a large scatter in the data ($`\pm 1`$ dex), an average value of $`L_{BL}=5\times 10^{44}`$ erg s-1 (see e.g. Chiaberge et al. 2000) represents a good estimate for its luminosity. Therefore, $`L_{onax}`$ is at least 2 orders of magnitude higher than expected. In order for the “A” component not to outshine the inner BL Lac, we must set an upper limit for its bulk Lorentz factor $`\mathrm{\Gamma }<7`$ (if the viewing angle to the jet in 3C 270 is $`\theta 60^{}`$, and even lower if $`\theta `$ is larger). This limit is therefore compatible with the scenario in which the UV emission observed on the scale of tens–of–pc is produced by a rather slow component of the jet.

### 3.3 Scattered emission from a misoriented BL Lac

Considering the potential difficulties about the synchrotron origin, we explore an alternative scenario, namely scattered radiation from the central regions. Such a phenomenon might indeed be observed only in highly misoriented sources. The observation of scattered radiation (both in the form of continuum and emission lines) from absorbed nuclei in Type 2 AGNs is the most striking confirmation of the unification schemes. The best examples of such a process can be found in spectropolarimetric data of Seyfert 2 and radio galaxies (Antonucci & Miller, 1985; Cohen et al., 1999) and in HST polarimetric images of Seyfert 2 galaxies (Capetti et al., 1995; Kishimoto et al., 2002). The observed phenomenology has been successfully interpreted as due to the presence of a hidden quasar nucleus, in which both the continuum emission from the accretion disk and the broad emission line region are seen through scattered light. The nature of the “mirrors” is still unknown, since the ambiguity between electron scattering and dust-grain scattering has not been clearly solved.

Since there are strong clues that the nuclear emission from any accretion disk is rather low in FR I (Chiaberge et al., 1999; Whysong & Antonucci, 2001; Perlman et al., 2001), the dominant nuclear source for the scattered light might reside in the base of the relativistic jet. The material responsible for scattering might be either the ISM or the jet itself. In the former case, the observed structure (i.e. component “A”) represents a direct evidence of the jet beam. Note that in such a scenario, the fact that the width of component A is unresolved at a distance of $`60`$ pc from the nucleus sets a limit to the half opening angle of the beam of the inner misoriented BL Lac as being $`\theta <9.5^{}`$. This in turn translates to a bulk Lorentz factor of the jet $`\mathrm{\Gamma }>6`$, which is consistent with the highly relativistic velocities $`\mathrm{\Gamma }1020`$ required by modeling of the BL Lac overall emission (Ghisellini et al., 1998).

Let us now calculate the particle density of the scattering material. The radiation observed by any material located on the line of propagation of the jet can be estimated by considering the emission of a BL Lac object of the same intrinsic total power as 3C 270. We assume again $`L_{BL}=5\times 10^{44}`$ erg s-1. Since the luminosity of component “A” is $`L_A=2.3(\pm 1.0)\times 10^{38}`$ erg s-1 and it has a dimension of $`20\times 60`$ pc, the particle density inside the scattering cloud using $`L_A=(L_{BL}/(4\pi R^2))\times \sigma _p\times V\times n_p`$, where R is the distance to the source of radiation ($`R50`$pc), $`\sigma _p`$ is the particles cross section, $`n_p`$ is the particle density and $`V`$ is the volume of the scattering region. In case of scattering by electrons we obtain $`n_e0.4`$ cm-3, while in case of scattering by dust we have (assuming normal dust/gas ratio) $`n_H3\times 10^4`$ cm-3. More precisely, these values should be considered as lower limits, since the width of the “A” component might be unresolved, and therefore the volume of the jet might in turn be overestimated. Although both of them appear to be reasonable values, we stress that from the normalization of the thermal component in the X–ray spectrum666 The normalization of the thermal component is defined as $`N=(10^{14}_Vn_en_H𝑑V)/(4\pi d^2)`$, where V is the source volume in cm3, d is the distance to the source $`n_e`$ and $`n_h`$ are the electron and hydrogen density in the gas in cm-3. For a gas temperature of 0.6 keV, it is reasonable to assume $`n_Hn_e`$. We then estimate $`n_e`$ by assuming that the gas is distributed in a sphere with radius $`400`$ pc (corresponding to 2 arcsec, i.e. the extraction radius for the X–ray spectrum). we obtain $`n_e=0.56`$ cm-3, which is in agreement with the value for $`n_e`$ we obtain in the electron scattering scenario.

We must point out that the presence of the jet might strongly affect the properties of the ISM, and the material might well be swept away along the line of propagation of the jet. In this case, the material responsible for scattering may reside either in an region which surrounds the jet, or inside the jet itself. In the latter scenario, the electrons of the jet, which are relativistic in their comoving frame since they emit synchrotron radiation at least in the radio band, may upscatter the nuclear emission via the inverse Compton process. Electrons with a Lorentz factor $`\gamma 1000`$ (which, assuming, as a reference value, a magnetic field $`B10^4`$ Gauss emit synchrotron radiation in the radio band at $`0.5`$ GHz), can upscatter radio photons of frequency $`\nu _s`$ to frequencies as high as $`\nu _c\gamma ^2\nu _s`$. For $`\nu _s1`$ GHz and $`\gamma 1000`$, we obtain $`\nu _c1\times 10^{15}`$ Hz, i.e. UV emission. Clearly, more data at different frequencies are necessary for a detailed modeling of synchrotron and inverse Compton radiation.

Although with the available data we cannot firmly distinguish among the proposed different scenarios, either of them are consistent with the FR I–BL Lacs unification scheme. When interpreted in such a framework, these observations give us important information on the jet structure and the physical conditions in the central tens of parsecs. In particular, if the origin of the “A” component is synchrotron radiation from the jet, this implies that either a velocity structure in the jet must be present, or the whole jet has already slowed down on the scale of tens of parsecs. This provides an important “link” to the evidence for such stratification in jets which have already been found on larger (Laing et al., 1999) and smaller scales (Chiaberge et al., 2000; Giovannini et al., 1999).

We argue that the emission analogous to component “A”, with its intrinsic low surface brightness, might be visible only in a few selected objects. 3C 270 has to be considered as a special case for three main reasons: i) its low distance; ii) the presence of the dark disk; iii) the particular viewing angle, at which the “A” component is projected on the dark disk. We argue that all of these parameters combine in such way that 3C 270 represents a rather unique opportunity to observe resolved jet components in the UV regime on the scale of $`<100`$pc with current instruments.

The hard power–law in the X–rays obtained from the analysis of the Chandra data basically confirms the results obtained with both ASCA and ROSAT. As already argued by Capetti et al. (2000), we interpret the presence of a hard X–ray power law component in the nuclear SED as due to inverse Compton scattering, since this is indeed expected in the framework of the the AGN unification models. In particular, the presence of such spectral feature is a key characteristic of low energy–peaked BL Lac objects Giommi & Padovani (1994), to which 3C 270 should be unified.

### 3.4 Nuclear absorption

In Fig. 5 we show a “picture gallery” of 3C 270, as seen at different wavelengths. From left to right, in the upper panel, we report the radio map at 5 GHz as taken from Birkinshaw & Davies (1985), images at 1.6 $`\mu `$m with HST/NICMOS (Capetti et al., 2000). In the lower panel: images at 6700 Å and 5500 Å with HST/WFPC2 (Ferrarese, Ford, & Jaffe, 1996), 2300 Å with HST/STIS (Allen et al., 2002), and the X–ray Chandra/ACIS archival image. The HST images are reproduced on the same scale ($`7^{\prime \prime }\times 7^{\prime \prime }`$), which is reported for reference on the Chandra/ACIS image as a black empty square. The unresolved nucleus dominates the emission of the central region of the dark disk in the 1.6 $`\mu `$m and 6700 Å images. For shorter wavelengths the nucleus is progressively fainter, and vanishes in the UV.

The absence of the nucleus, together with the presence of a “jet” which has its base at the location of the nucleus, is a clue that obscuration is only confined to the very innermost region (less than $`10`$pc). To investigate the properties of the obscuring structure, we combine the HST data and the X–ray information obtained with the Chandra satellite. We can evaluate the absorption of the dusty disk by comparing the counts in different regions of the disk (along the semi–major axis) to the counts in a small box of $`5\times 5`$ pixels just outside the disk, $`0.7`$ arcsec east of the nucleus. We assume that the galaxy is optically thin to stellar light, therefore $`1/2`$ of the observed counts are produced between the disk and the observer, and $`1/2`$ are produced behind it. Along the line–of–sight to the disk, only the contribution from $`1/2`$ of the produced light is diminished by the presence of dust. Under this assumptions we obtain for both the F675W and the F547M images an optical extinction $`A_V=1.2`$ magnitudes. This has to be understood as a lower limit to the disk absorption. A lower fraction of stellar light produced in the far half of the galaxy and the presence of emission on the disk (star forming regions are commonly observed in dusty structures of nearby galaxies; e.g. Allen et al. 2002, Calzetti et al. 2001) would result in a higher value of $`A_V`$. If the fraction of light from the back of the galaxy is only $`1/3`$ of the total, the value of $`A_V`$ increases to 2.5 (see Martel et al. 2000 for an extensive discussion on this issue).

A value of several magnitudes for the nuclear extinction is also compatible with the analysis of the spectral energy distribution of the core of 3C 270. In Chiaberge et al. (2002) we have shown that in the framework of synchrotron emission and assuming an intrinsic spectral index $`\alpha =1`$, the nucleus vanishes in the UV image when absorbed by a column density corresponding to $`A_V3`$. On the other hand, through the analysis of the SED of 3C 270 in the framework of the unified models, Capetti et al. (2000) have shown that 3C 270 might be well unified to the low energy peaked BL Lacs (LBL). Therefore, the intrinsic value of $`\alpha `$ for this source might be higher than 1, and this would result in an even lower amount of nuclear absorption.

If we assume galactic gas–to–dust ratio to convert $`N_H`$ to $`A_V`$ ($`A_V^X=5\times 10^{22}N_H`$), our results seem to be in contrast to the value of $`N_H`$ as derived from the analysis of X–ray data. Our value for the X-ray absorption would result in $`A_V=30`$ mag. However, it is rather common to find that the determination of the absorbing column density from X–ray information differs from the results obtained with other methods. Among Seyfert galaxies, the estimate of $`A_V`$ made both using absorption features in the infrared spectrum and evaluating the reddening of optical and infrared emission lines is typically $`0.10.5`$ times $`A_V^X`$ (Maiolino et al., 2001; Granato et al., 1997). A similar result has also been recently found by Marconi et al. (2000) in the case of the closest FR I radio galaxy, Centaurus A, in which absorption towards the nucleus can well be provided by the kpc–scale dust lane. Interestingly, Maiolino, Marconi, & Oliva (2001) have proposed that the excess of X-ray absorption compared to the lower extinction in the optical and infrared can be accounted for by the presence of large grain dust which have small extinction efficiency. Another possible interpretation is that in 3C 270 the absorbing structure is “free” from dust.

Therefore, the observations of 3C 270 fit the scenario in which the nuclei of FR I radio galaxies are not obscured by the presence of optically and geometrically thick tori. The observed (rather small) amount of absorption in 3C 270 can be well provided by the extended dusty disk seen almost edge–on.

## 4 Summary and conclusions

We have analyzed and discussed HST and Chandra data of 3C 270. The HST/STIS UV image shows a jet–like feature (component “A”) originating from the location of the nucleus, at the same position angle as the radio and X–ray jet. The nucleus is clearly visible in the IR and optical images, and it is not detected in the UV. On the other hand, the emission of the jet-like feature is so low, that it cannot be detected in the optical images, due to the higher amount of stellar emission in that band compared to the UV. The color image UV–V shows that the jet is indeed bluer than the underlying stellar emission, while the radio–to–UV spectral index is consistent with other synchrotron jets.

We propose two basic scenarios for the origin of component “A”: i) non-thermal synchrotron emission from a slowly moving (possibly mildly relativistically) component of the relativistic jet; ii) scattered radiation. In case i), this would argue for the presence of mildly relativistic motions in the jet on the scale of tens of pc, in addition to the already achieved evidence for such motions on smaller (VLBI) and larger (VLA and X–rays jets) scales. In case ii) the ultimate origin for the emission may well reside in radiation from the base of the jet, which is scattered into our line of sight, confirming that 3C 270 is indeed a misoriented BL Lac. To test such pictures, co–spatial radio data are needed in order to identify the possible radio counterpart of the UV jet–like feature and thus constrain the broad–band spectral index and the emission mechanism. Another possible test for discriminating between the different scenarios can be provided by optical (and radio) polarimetric observations. In case of scattered radiation we expect the radiation to be polarized perpendicularly to the jet direction. In case of synchrotron emission, the polarization properties must be strictly connected to what is observed in the radio jet.

The X–ray spectrum of the nucleus shows a flat ($`\alpha 0.3`$) power–law component, absorbed by a column density $`N_H=6\times 10^{22}`$ cm-2. The apparent discrepancy between this value and the low amount of absorption estimated in the optical, is however often found in other AGNs, such as Seyfert galaxies. The nuclear structure of 3C 270 appears to be in agreement with that of other FR I radiogalaxies: a standard optically and geometrically thick obscuring torus is not required to account for the observed properties. The origin for the discrepancy between the amount of absorption as estimated through different methods is still to be fully understood. The power–law component in the X–rays is a further indication of the presence of a BL Lac in its nucleus. We confirm that the flat slope observed for such a component can be interpreted as due to inverse Compton emission, analogously to what is observed in low energy–peaked BL Lacs.

The authors wish to thank E. Trussoni, M. Murgia and G. Risaliti for useful comments.


format: text

text:
# Quantum information in base 𝑛 defined by state partitions

## Abstract

We define a “nit” as a radix $`n`$ measure of quantum information which is based on state partitions associated with the outcomes of $`n`$-ary observables and which, for $`n>2`$, is fundamentally irreducible to a binary coding. Properties of this measure for entangled many-particle states are discussed. $`k`$ particles specify $`k`$ nits in such a way that $`k`$ mutually commuting measurements of observables with $`n`$ possible outcomes are sufficient to determine the information.

quantum information theory,quantum measurement theory

The formal concept of information is tied to physics, at least as far as applicability is a concern. There seems to be one issue, which, despite notable exceptions (e.g., (Zeilinger, 1999, Footnote 6) and Muthukrishnan and C. R. Stroud (2000)), has not yet been acknowledged widely: the principal irreducibility of quantum information in base $`n`$. Define a “nit” as a unit of information equal to the amount of information obtained by learning which of $`n`$ equally likely events occurred. An $`n`$-state particle can be prepared in a single one of $`n`$ possible states. Then, this particle carries one nit of information, namely to “be in a single one from $`n`$ different states.” Subsequent measurements may confirm this statement. The most natural code basis for such a configuration is $`n`$, and not a binary one.

Classically, there is no preferred code basis whatsoever. Every classical state is postulated to be determined by a point in phase space. Formally, this amounts to an infinite amount of information in whatever base, since with probability one, all points are random; i.e., algorithmically incompressible Calude (1994). Operationally, only a finite amount of classical information is accessible. Yet, the particular base in which this finite amount of classical information is represented is purely conventional. The same holds true for discrete classical systems, such as $`n`$ modes of vibration on a string, where the restriction to these particular states is rather arbitrary.

The fundamental difference between classical and quantum information with respect to code bases could be illustrated by the following example. Physically, each nit could be represented by an $`n`$-level system. A single measurement collapses an $`n`$-state superposition and yields only one output, not $`\mathrm{log}_2n`$ outputs. In the nonentangled $`k`$ particle case, the $`k`$ mutually commuting observables could be some physical quantity (e.g., energy levels) associated with each particle. This sets the stage for the more general observables associated with “entangled” states. References Zeilinger (1999) and Donath and Svozil (2002a) discuss examples with Bell states and Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger states for the binary case, respectively.

In what follows, let us always consider a complete system of base states $``$ associated with a unique “context” or “communication frame” $`=\{F_1,F_2,\mathrm{},F_k\}`$, which corresponds to co-measurable observables with $`n`$ outcomes. For $`n=2`$, their explicit form has been enumerated in Donath and Svozil (2002a). In this particular case, the $`F`$’s can be identified with certain projection operators from the set of all possible mutually orthogonal ones, whose two eigenvalues can be identified with the two states. For three or more particles, this is no longer possible.

It should be emphasized that only the case of an entanglement between different particles but not within each particle is considered. If more than one observable could be associated with each particle, then these can become entangled as well, and then $`k`$ $`n`$-ary observables will no longer be sufficient to describe $`k`$ particles.

For a single $`n`$-state particle, the nit can be formalized as a state partition which is fine grained into $`n`$ elements, one state per element. That is, if the set of states is represented by $`\{1,\mathrm{},n\}`$, then the nit is defined by $`\{\{1\},\mathrm{},\{n\}\}.`$ Of course, any labeling would suffice, as long as the structure is preserved. It does not matter whether one calls the states, for instance, “+,” “0” and “-”, or “1,” “2” and “3”, resulting in a trit represented by $`\{\{+\},\{0\},\{\}\}`$ or $`\{\{1\},\{2\},\{3\}\}`$ (here, the term “trit” stands for a nit with $`n=3`$). Thus, nits are defined modulo isomorphisms (i.e., one-to-one translations) of the state labels. To complete the setup of the single particle case, let us recall that any such state set would correspond to an orthonormal basis of $`n`$-dimensional Hilbert space.

Before proceeding to the most general case, we shall consider the case of two particles with three states per particle in all details. We shall adopt an $`n`$-ary search strategy. Assume that the first and the second particle has three orthogonal states labeled by $`a_1,b_1,c_1`$ and $`a_2,b_2,c_2`$, respectively. Then nine product states can be formed and labeled from $`1`$ to $`9`$ in lexicographic order; i.e., $`a_1a_21,\mathrm{},c_1c_29`$. Consider a set of two comeasurable three-valued observables inducing two state partitions of the set of states $`S=\{1,2,\mathrm{},9\}`$ with three partition elements with the properties that (i) the set theoretic intersection of any two elements of the two partitions is a single state, and (ii) the union of all these nine intersections is just the set of state $`S`$. As can be easily checked, an example for such state partitions are

$$\begin{array}{cccccc}F_1\hfill & =\hfill & \{\{1,2,3\},\{4,5,6\},\{7,8,9\}\}\hfill & \hfill & \{\{a_1\},\{b_1\},\{c_1\}\},\hfill & \\ F_2\hfill & =\hfill & \{\{1,4,7\},\{2,5,8\},\{3,6,9\}\}\hfill & \hfill & \{\{a_2\},\{b_2\},\{c_2\}\}.\hfill & \end{array}$$
(1)
Operationally, the trit $`F_1`$ can be obtained by measuring the first particle state: $`\{1,2,3\}`$ is associated with state $`a_1`$, $`\{4,5,6\}`$ is associated with $`b_1`$, and $`\{7,8,9\}`$ is associated with $`c_1`$. The trit $`F_2`$ can be obtained by measuring the state of the second particle: $`\{1,4,7\}`$ is associated with state $`a_2`$, $`\{2,5,8\}`$ is associated with $`b_2`$, and $`\{3,6,9\}`$ is associated with $`c_2`$. This amounts to the operationalization of the trits (1) as state filters. In the above case, the filters are “local” and can be realized on single particles, one trit per particle. In the more general case of rotated “entangled” states (cf. below), the trits (more generally, nits) become inevitably associated with joint properties of ensembles of particles. Measurement of the propositions, “the particle is in state $`\{1,2,3\}`$ and, “the particle is in state $`\{3,6,9\}`$ can be evaluated by taking the set theoretic intersection of the respective sets; i.e., by the proposition, “the particle is in state $`\{1,2,3\}\{3,6,9\}=3`$.” In figure 1, the state partitions are drawn as cells of a two-dimensional square spanned by the single cells of the two three-state particles.

A Hilbert space representation of this setting can be obtained as follows. Define the states in $`S`$ to be one-dimensional linear subspaces of nine-dimensional Hilbert space; e.g., $`1(1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0),\mathrm{},9(0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1).`$ The trit operators are given by (the terms “trit operator,” “observable,” and the corresponding state partition will be used synonymously)

$$\begin{array}{cccc}F_1\hfill & =\hfill & \mathrm{diag}(a,a,a,b,b,b,c,c,c),\hfill & \\ F_2\hfill & =\hfill & \mathrm{diag}(a,b,c,a,b,c,a,b,c),\hfill & \end{array}$$
(2)
for $`a,b,c`$, $`abca`$.

If $`F_2=\mathrm{diag}(d,e,f,d,e,f,d,e,f)`$ and $`a,b,c,d,e,f,`$ are six different prime numbers, then, due to the uniqueness of prime decompositions, the two trit operators can be combined to a single “context” operator

$$C=F_1F_2=F_2F_1=\mathrm{diag}(ad,ae,af,bd,be,bf,cd,ce,cf)$$
(3)
which acts on both particles and has nine different eigenvalues. Just as for the two-particle case Donath and Svozil (2002a), there exist $`3^2!=9!=362880`$ permutations of operators which are all able to separate the nine states. They are obtained by forming a $`(2\times 9)`$-matrix whose rows are the diagonal components of $`F_1`$ and $`F_2`$ from Eq. (2) and permuting all the columns. The resulting new operators $`F_1^{}`$ and $`F_2^{}`$ are also trit operators.

A generalization to $`k`$ particles in $`n`$ states per particle is straightforward. We obtain $`k`$ partitions of the product states with $`n`$ elements per partition in such a way that every single product state is obtained by the set theoretic intersection of $`k`$ elements of all the different partitions.

Every single such partition can be interpreted as a nit. All such sets are generated by permuting the set of states, which amounts to $`n^k!`$ equivalent sets of state partitions. However, since they are mere one-to-one translations, they represent the same nits. This equivalence, however, does not concern the property of (non)entanglement, since the permutations take entangled states into nonentangled ones. We shall give an example below.

Again, the standard orthonormal basis of $`n^k`$-dimensional Hilbert space is identified with the set of states $`S=\{1,2,\mathrm{},n^k\}`$; i.e., (superscript “$`T`$” indicates transposition)

$$\begin{array}{cccc}1\hfill & \hfill & (1,\mathrm{},0)^T1,\mathrm{},1=1\mathrm{}1,\hfill & \\ & \mathrm{}\hfill & & \\ n^k\hfill & \hfill & (0,\mathrm{},1)^Tn,\mathrm{},n=n\mathrm{}n.\hfill & \end{array}$$
(4)
The single-particle states are also labeled by $`1`$ through $`n`$, and the tensor product states are formed and ordered lexicographically ($`0<1`$).

The nit operators are defined via diagonal matrices which contain equal amounts $`n^{k1}`$ of mutually $`n`$ different numbers such as different primes $`q_1,\mathrm{},q_n`$; i.e.,

$$\begin{array}{cccc}F_1\hfill & =\hfill & \mathrm{diag}(\underset{n^0\mathrm{times}}{\underset{}{\underset{n^{k1}\mathrm{times}}{\underset{}{q_1,\mathrm{},q_1}},\mathrm{},\underset{n^{k1}\mathrm{times}}{\underset{}{q_n,\mathrm{},q_n}}}}),\hfill & \\ F_2\hfill & =\hfill & \mathrm{diag}(\underset{n^1\mathrm{times}}{\underset{}{\underset{n^{k2}\mathrm{times}}{\underset{}{q_1,\mathrm{},q_1}},\mathrm{},\underset{n^{k2}\mathrm{times}}{\underset{}{q_n,\mathrm{},q_n}}}}),\hfill & \\ & \mathrm{}\hfill & & \\ F_k\hfill & =\hfill & \mathrm{diag}(\underset{n^{k1}\mathrm{times}}{\underset{}{q_1,\mathrm{},q_n}}).\hfill & \end{array}$$
(5)
The operators implement an $`n`$-ary search strategy, filtering the search space into $`n`$ equal partitions of states, such that a successive applications of all such filters renders a single state.

There exist $`n^k!`$ sets of nit operators, which are are obtained by forming a $`(k\times n^k)`$-matrix whose rows are the diagonal components of $`F_1,\mathrm{},F_k`$ from Eq. (5) and permuting all the columns. The resulting new operators $`F_1^{},\mathrm{},F_k^{}`$ are also nit operators.

All partitions discussed so far are equally weighted and well balanced, as all elements of them contain an equal number of states. In principle, one could also consider nonbalanced partitions. For example, one could take the partition $`\overline{F}_1=\{\{1\},\{2,3\},\{4,5,6,7,8,9\}\}`$ instead of $`F_1`$ in (1), represented the by trit diagonal operator $`\mathrm{diag}(a,b,b,c,c,c,c,c,c)`$. Yet any such attempt would result in a deviation from the optimal $`n`$-ary search strategy, and in an nonoptimal measurement procedures. Another, more principal, disadvantage would be the fact that such a state separation could not reflect the inevitable $`n`$-arity of the quantum choice.

In terms of partitions, entanglement occurs for diagonal or antidiagonal arrangements of states which do not add up to completed blocks. Take, for example, the state partition scheme of Fig. 1, which results in nonentangled states and state measurements. A modified, entangled scheme can be established by just grouping the states into diagonal and counterdiagonal groups as drawn in Fig. 2. The corresponding trits are

$$\begin{array}{cccc}F_1\hfill & =\hfill & \{\{1,5,9\},\{2,6,7\},\{3,4,8\}\},\hfill & \\ F_2\hfill & =\hfill & \{\{1,6,8\},\{2,4,9\},\{3,5,7\}\}.\hfill & \end{array}$$
(6)
We can now introduce new $`2\times 3`$ basis vectors grouped into the two bases $`\{a_1^{},b_1^{},c_1^{}\}`$ and $`\{a_2^{},b_2^{},c_2^{}\}`$ by

$$\begin{array}{cccc}|a_1^{}\hfill & =\hfill & \frac{1}{\sqrt{3}}(|a_1a_2+|b_1b_2+|c_1c_2),\hfill & \\ |b_1^{}\hfill & =\hfill & \frac{1}{\sqrt{3}}(|a_1b_2+|b_1c_2+|c_1a_2),\hfill & \\ |c_1^{}\hfill & =\hfill & \frac{1}{\sqrt{3}}(|a_1c_2+|b_1a_2+|c_1b_2),\hfill & \\ |a_2^{}\hfill & =\hfill & \frac{1}{\sqrt{3}}(|a_1a_2+|b_1c_2+|c_1b_2),\hfill & \\ |b_2^{}\hfill & =\hfill & \frac{1}{\sqrt{3}}(|a_1b_2+|b_1a_2+|c_1c_2),\hfill & \\ |c_2^{}\hfill & =\hfill & \frac{1}{\sqrt{3}}(|a_1c_2+|b_1b_2+|c_1a_2).\hfill & \end{array}$$
(7)
The new orthonormal basis states are “entangled” with respect to the old bases and vice versa. Their tensor products generate a complete set of basis states in a new nine-dimensional Hilbert space. In terms of the new basis states, the trits can be written as $`F_1\{\{a_1^{}\},\{b_1^{}\},\{c_1^{}\}\}`$ and $`F_2\{\{a_2^{}\},\{b_2^{}\},\{c_2^{}\}\}`$. The associated bases will be called diagonal bases. Note that the permutation which produces the entangled case (6) the nonentangled (1) one is $`11`$, $`29`$, $`35`$, $`46`$, $`52`$, $`67`$, $`78`$, $`84`$, $`93`$, or $`(1)(2,9,3,5)(4,6,7,8)`$ in cycle form. A generalization to diagonal bases associated with an arbitrary number of nits is straightforward.

In summary we have shown that, by adopting an $`n`$-ary search strategy, $`k`$ particles (entangled or not) specify $`k`$ nits in such a way that $`k`$ mutually commuting measurements of independent observables with $`n`$ outcomes are necessary and sufficient to determine the information. This finding is compatible to Zeilinger’s foundational principle for quantum mechanics Zeilinger (1999). In general, the main emphasis in the area of quantum computation has been in the area of binary decision problems. It is suggested that these investigations should be extended to decision problems with $`n`$ alternatives (e.g., (Kleene, 1952, pp. 332-340)), for which quantum information theory seems to be extraordinarily well equipped.


text:
# 1 𝐷⁺→𝐾⁻𝜋⁺𝜇⁺𝜈 signal. (left) The FOCUS right-sign and wrong-sign samples are shown. The wrong-sign-subtracted yield is 31 254 events. (right) A partial sample of 𝐷^{∗+}→𝜋⁰𝐷⁺→𝜋⁰(𝐾̄^{∗0}𝑒⁺𝜈) from CLEO. This is the sample form one of their bins in the 𝐷^∗-𝐷 mass difference.

## 1 Interference in $`D^+K^{}\pi ^+\mu ^+\nu `$

In our attempts to fit for the form factors controlling the decay $`D^+\overline{K}^0\mu ^+\nu `$, we discovered a large, unexpected asymmetry in the $`\mathrm{cos}\theta _\text{v}`$ distribution shown in Fig. 2. This asymmetry was very strong for events with a $`m_{K\pi }`$ mass below the pole and weak for events above the pole.

It was possible to understand the forward-backward asymmetry in $`\mathrm{cos}\theta _\text{v}`$ using the simple model summarized by Eqn. 1. Using the notation of , we write the decay distribution (in the zero charged lepton mass limit) for $`D^+K^{}\pi ^+\mu ^+\nu `$ in terms of the three helicity basis form factors: $`H_+,H_0,H_{}`$. We have taken the standard amplitude and added an interfering s-wave amplitude with a constant modulus and phase ($`A\mathrm{exp}(i\delta )`$) that interferes with the $`\overline{K}^0`$ Breit-Wigner ($`\text{B}_{K^0}`$) in the one place allowed by angular momentum conservation.

$$\frac{d^5\mathrm{\Gamma }}{dm_{K\pi }dq^2d\mathrm{cos}\theta _\text{v}d\mathrm{cos}\theta _{\mathrm{}}d\chi }q^2\left|\begin{array}{c}(1+\mathrm{cos}\theta _{\mathrm{}})\mathrm{sin}\theta _\text{v}e^{i\chi }\text{B}_{K^0}H_+\hfill \\ (1\mathrm{cos}\theta _{\mathrm{}})\mathrm{sin}\theta _\text{v}e^{i\chi }\text{B}_{K^0}H_{}\hfill \\ \mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}2}\mathrm{sin}\theta _{\mathrm{}}(\mathrm{cos}\theta _\text{v}\text{B}_{K^0}+Ae^{i\delta })H_0\hfill \end{array}\right|^2$$
(1)
Assuming the s-wave amplitude is small (or the effect would have been discovered already) it will be primarily observable through three interference terms:
$`8\mathrm{cos}\theta _\text{v}\mathrm{sin}^2\theta _{\mathrm{}}A\mathrm{}\left(e^{i\delta }\text{B}_{K^0}\right)H_0^2`$ , $`4(1+\mathrm{cos}\theta _{\mathrm{}})\mathrm{sin}\theta _{\mathrm{}}\mathrm{sin}\theta _\text{v}A\mathrm{}\left(e^{i(\chi \delta )}\text{B}_{K^0}\right)H_+H_0`$, and $`+4(1\mathrm{cos}\theta _{\mathrm{}})\mathrm{sin}\theta _{\mathrm{}}\mathrm{sin}\theta _\text{v}A\mathrm{}\left(e^{i(\chi +\delta )}\text{B}_{K^0}\right)H_{}H_0`$. Only the first of these terms will survive averaging over the acoplanarity, $`\chi `$. This was the term responsible for creating the $`\mathrm{cos}\theta _\text{v}`$ asymmetry shown in Fig. 2 since it is proportional to $`\mathrm{cos}\theta _\text{v}`$. If we further weight our wrong-sign subtracted, azimuthally averaged data by $`\mathrm{cos}\theta _\text{v}`$ , this is the only term that will survive in the full decay amplitude (given our nearly uniform angular acceptance). It will have a distinct dependence on the $`m_{K\pi }`$ mass: $`\mathrm{}\left(e^{i\delta }\text{B}_{K^0}\right)`$, as well as on $`\mathrm{cos}\theta _{\mathrm{}}`$: ($`1\mathrm{cos}^2\theta _{\mathrm{}}`$).

Figure 3 shows two $`\mathrm{cos}\theta _\text{v}`$-weighted, wrong sign subtracted distributions for $`K\pi \mu \nu `$. The left plot is the asymmetry weighted $`m_{K\pi }`$ distribution which should resemble $`\mathrm{}\left(e^{i\delta }\text{B}_{K^0}\right)`$. For $`\delta =0`$, $`\mathrm{}\left(e^{i\delta }\text{B}_{K^0}\right)`$ is odd function of $`m_{K\pi }`$ \- $`m_{K^0}`$ , while for $`\delta =\pi /2`$ this form is even in $`m_{K\pi }`$ \- $`m_{K^0}`$. The data strongly resembles the expected plot for $`\delta =\pi /4`$. The right half of Fig. 3 is the asymmetry weighted $`\mathrm{cos}\theta _{\mathrm{}}`$ distribution with masses in the region $`0.8<m_{K\pi }<1.0\text{GeV}/c^2`$. It resembles the expected parabola in $`\mathrm{cos}\theta _{\mathrm{}}`$ with some modulation due to acceptance and resolution.

In the absence of the s-wave interference, all acoplanarity dependent terms in the $`D^+\overline{K}^0\mu ^+\nu `$ decay intensity are functions of $`\mathrm{cos}\chi `$ and $`\mathrm{cos}2\chi `$. The s-wave interference includes additional acoplanarity dependent s-wave terms of the form:
$`+4(1\mathrm{cos}\theta _{\mathrm{}})\mathrm{sin}\theta _{\mathrm{}}\mathrm{sin}\theta _\text{v}A\mathrm{}\left(e^{i(\chi +\delta )}\text{B}_{K^0}\right)H_{}H_0`$ which brings in a $`\mathrm{sin}\chi `$ dependence thereby breaking $`\chi \chi `$ symmetry. Figure 4 shows the wrong-sign subtracted $`\chi `$ distribution separately for $`D^+`$ and $`D^{}`$ events in the range $`0.8<m_{K\pi }<1.0\text{GeV}/c^2`$ Initially we were surprised by the inconsistency between the $`D^+`$ and $`D^{}`$ acoplanarity until we realized that there is a sign change in the $`\chi `$ convention between the particle and antiparticle. After applying the correct convention, the $`D^+`$ and $`D^{}`$ distributions become consistent, and the odd $`\chi `$ contributions brought in through the s-wave interference become very evident.

Why has the s-wave interference in $`D^+\overline{K}^0\mathrm{}^+\nu _{\mathrm{}}`$ never been reported before, given that it has been a process studied for nearly twenty years by several experiments? One answer is that an amplitude of this strength and form creates a very minor modulation to the $`m_{K\pi }`$ spectrum as shown in Figure 4. Another reason is that this effect is much more evident when one divides the data above and below the $`\overline{K}^0`$pole. Finally, the FOCUS data set has significantly more clean $`D^+K^{}\pi ^+\mu ^+\nu `$ events than previously published data.

## 2 New Measurements of $`\frac{\mathrm{\Gamma }(D^+\overline{K}^0\mathrm{}^+\nu _{\mathrm{}})}{\mathrm{\Gamma }(D^+K^{}\pi ^+\pi ^+)}`$

The CLEO Collaboration has made a new measurement of $`\frac{\mathrm{\Gamma }(D^+\overline{K}^0\mathrm{}^+\nu _{\mathrm{}})}{\mathrm{\Gamma }(D^+K^{}\pi ^+\pi ^+)}=0.74\pm 0.04\pm 0.05`$ that is somewhat higher than previous measurements and significantly higher than the previous high precision measurement by E691 as shown in Fig. 5. The new CLEO measurement can be interpreted as helping to resolve an old problem with theory theory over-predicting the $`\mathrm{\Gamma }\left(D^+\overline{K}^0\mathrm{}^+\nu _{\mathrm{}}\right)`$ by a rough factor of two.

FOCUS is in the process of making a new measurement of $`D^+\overline{K}^0\mu ^+\nu `$ using a Monte Carlo that includes the s-wave interference described above. Our preliminary number is $`\frac{\mathrm{\Gamma }(D^+\overline{K}^0\mathrm{}^+\nu _{\mathrm{}})}{\mathrm{\Gamma }(D^+K^{}\pi ^+\pi ^+)}=0.60\pm 0.01`$ with a systematic error expected to be roughly twice the statistical error. After multiplying this relative muon branching ratio by 1.05 to compare to the electron branching ratio, our preliminary number lies about 1.6 $`\sigma `$ below the new CLEO number.

To summarize: I presented evidence for an s-wave interference with the dominant $`D^+\overline{K}^0\mu ^+\nu `$ contribution to $`D^+K^{}\pi ^+\mu ^+\nu `$ decay. This interference creates a strong ($`20\%`$) forward-backward asymmetry in the $`\overline{K}^0`$ decay angular distribution, but creates very minimal distortion to the $`K^{}\pi ^+`$ mass distribution. The dependence of the asymmetry on the $`m_{K\pi }`$ suggests that it has a phase of $`45^o`$ near the $`\overline{K}^0`$ pole and amplitude that is roughly 7% of the Breit-Wigner amplitude at the pole mass in the $`H_0`$ helicity contribution.

CLEO recently published branching ratio of $`D^+\overline{K}^0\mathrm{}^+\nu _{\mathrm{}}`$ relative to $`D^+K^{}\pi ^+\pi ^+`$ that was somewhat higher than the previous world average and would help resolve a discrepancy with theoretical predictions. A preliminary number from FOCUS with better precision than previously reported is 1.6 $`\sigma `$ lower than this CLEO number.

We can look forward to new measurements of the $`D^+\overline{K}^0\mu ^+\nu `$ form factors, the $`D_s^+\varphi \mu \nu /\varphi \pi `$ and their form factors, studies of the $`q^2`$ dependence of the $`D^0K^{}\mu ^+\nu `$ form factor, and Cabibbo suppressed ratios such as $`D^+\rho \mu \nu /\overline{K}^0\mu \nu `$ and $`D^0\pi ^{}\mu ^+\nu /K^{}\mu ^+\nu `$.

I am grateful to the FOCUS Collaboration and organizers of this excellent conference.


text:
# Collapse of a Rotating Supermassive Star to a Supermassive Black Hole: Fully Relativistic Simulations

## 1 Introduction

Recent observations provide increasingly strong evidence that supermassive black holes (SMBHs) of mass $`10^610^{10}M_{}`$ exist and that they are the central engines that power active galactic nuclei (AGNs) and quasars (Rees 1998, 2001). The dynamical formation of SMBHs, as well as the inspiral, collision and merger of binary SMBHs, are promising sources of long-wavelength gravitational waves for the proposed Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) (Thorne 1995; Schutz 2001). However, the actual scenario(s) by which SMBHs form is(are) still uncertain. Viable stellar dynamical and hydrodynamical routes leading to the formation of SMBHs have been proposed (e.g., Begelman & Rees 1978, Rees 1984, Shapiro & Teukolsky 1985, Quinlan & Shapiro 1990, Rees 1998, 2001; Balberg & Shapiro 2002). In typical hydrodynamical scenarios, a supermassive gas cloud is build up from the multiple collisions of stars or small gas clouds in stellar clusters to form a supermassive star (SMS) (Begelman & Rees 1978). A supermassive gas cloud might be formed from scattered gas in the bulge that falls into the central region due to radiation drag (Umemura 2001). SMSs ultimately collapse to black holes following quasi-stationary cooling and contraction to the onset of radial instability (Zel’dovich & Novikov 1971; Shapiro & Teukolsky 1983). This scenario for forming a SMBH following SMS collapse was investigated in the 1960s and 1970s, but the studies treated nonrotating configurations and assumed spherical symmetry, or employed approximate analytical models (see, e.g., Baumgarte & Shapiro 1999 for a review and references).

However, SMSs are likely to be rapidly rotating (see, e.g., Loeb & Rasio 1994). Baumgarte & Shapiro (1999) recently performed a detailed numerical analysis of the structure and stability of a rapidly rotating SMS in equilibrium. Assuming the viscous or magnetic braking timescale for angular momentum transfer is shorter than the evolution timescale of a typical SMS (Zel’dovich & Novikov 1971; see New and Shapiro 2001 for an alternative), the star will settle into rigid rotation and evolve to the mass-shedding limit following cooling and contraction. (At mass-shedding, the angular velocity of gas at the equator equals the Kepler velocity). They found that all stars at the onset of quasi-radial collapse have an equatorial radius $`R640GM/c^2`$ and a nondimensional spin parameter $`qcJ/GM^20.97`$. Here $`J`$, $`M`$, $`c`$, and $`G`$ are spin, gravitational mass, light velocity and gravitational constant. (Hereafter we adopt gravitational units and set $`c=G=1`$). Because of the large value of $`q`$, it is uncertain whether the rotating SMS collapses directly to a black hole or forms a disk. Saijo et al. (2002) investigated the collapse of a rotating SMS in a post-Newtonian (PN) approximation, and concluded that effects of rotation do not halt the collapse and that a SMBH is likely to be formed. However, a PN calculation cannot follow collapse into the strong-field regime and cannot rigorously address the possibility of black hole formation and growth, and the final outcome.

To clarify whether a SMBH forms as the endpoint of rapidly rotating SMS collapse and, if it does, to determine the final hole parameters, we performed a fully general relativistic numerical simulation of the collapse in axisymmetry. We demonstrate that the collapse indeed leads directly to a SMBH of moderately rapid rotation, with $`q0.75`$.

## 2 Computational Set-Up

Simulations were performed using an axisymmetric code in full general relativity (Shibata 2000). This code was constructed from a 3D code (Shibata 1999b) using the so-called “cartoon method” in numerical relativity (Alcubierre et al. 2001): We solve the Einstein field equations in Cartesian coordinates with a grid of size $`(N,3,N)`$ in $`(x,y,z)`$, covering a computational domain $`0x,zL`$ and $`\mathrm{\Delta }yy\mathrm{\Delta }y`$. Here $`N`$ is a constant ($`1`$), $`L`$ the location of the outer boundary and $`\mathrm{\Delta }y`$ is the grid spacing in the $`y`$-direction, with an an axisymmetric boundary condition imposed at $`y=\pm \mathrm{\Delta }y`$; the spin axis is along $`z`$. We solve the hydrodynamic equations with an axisymmetric code in cylindrical coordinates. This hydrodynamical code was calibrated by numerous test calculations, including spherical collapse of dust, the stability of spherical stars, mode analysis of spherical stars, and the evolution of rotating stars (Shibata 1999b). We adopt maximal time slicing and approximate minimal distortion as coordinate gauge conditions throughout the simulation (Shibata 1999a, b). Formation of a black hole is determined by finding an apparent horizon.

Violations of the Hamiltonian constraint and conservation of mass and angular momentum are monitored as numerical accuracy check during the simulation. Total angular momentum $`J`$ and total baryon rest-mass $`M_{}`$ should be strictly conserved in axisymmetry. The gravitational mass $`M`$ is not conserved, due to the emission of gravitational radiation, but the decrease in $`M`$ is very small.

Since the SMS spins up during the collapse, a nonaxisymmetric instability could arise. However, the PN study by Saijo et al. (2002) indicates that such an instability is not excited, at least when the equatorial radius of the collapsing star exceeds $`10M`$. By restricting our analysis to axisymmetry, we can improve our resolution of the strong-field, central region where the black hole forms by a factor of $`>10`$.

To model the initial equilibrium SMS, we adopt a polytropic equation of state with the adiabatic index $`\mathrm{\Gamma }=4/3`$, setting $`P=K\rho ^{4/3}`$, where $`P`$ and $`\rho `$ are the pressure and rest-mass density. This prescription is appropriate for a radiation-dominated SMS equation of state. Here $`K`$ is a constant whose value determines the mass; we scale out the mass by setting $`K=1`$ (Baumgarte & Shapiro 1999).

Although a spherical SMS with the adopted equation of state is unconditionally unstable to collapse, rotation can stabilize the star. We focus only on a rigidly rotating SMS at the mass-shedding limit. According to Baumgarte & Shapiro (1999), rotating SMSs with equatorial radii $`R<640M`$ are unstable against collapse. At $`R640M`$, the ratio of the rotational kinetic energy to the gravitational binding energy $`T/W`$ is about $`0.009`$ and $`q0.97`$.

We chose a SMS with $`R620M`$, a star which is located just beyond the critical point of instability. In this case, we have $`T/W0.0088`$ and $`q0.96`$, values which are nearly equal to those of the critical configuration (see Table 1). A second simulation was performed for a more compact star with $`R570M`$, but our results were essentially unchanged. To accelerate the collapse, we depleted the pressure by 1% initially. During the evolution, we adopted a $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$-law equations of state according to $`P=(\mathrm{\Gamma }1)\rho \epsilon `$ where $`\epsilon `$ denotes the specific internal energy of the fluid, thereby treating the gas as an ideal, adiabatic fluid in which cooling can be ignored on a dynamical timescale (Linke et al. 2001).

Since the equatorial radius decreases by a factor of $`1000`$ (from $`600M`$ to $`<M`$), using a fixed uniform grid with sufficient resolution for all epochs would be computationally prohibitive. Instead, we adopted a uniform grid with decreasing grid spacing and increasing grid number as the collapse proceeded in order to guarantee adequate resolution up to the formation of an apparent horizon. For the early stages, where the radius at the equatorial surface $`R_m`$ exceeds $`150M`$, we used $`N=300`$ grid points in the $`x`$ and $`z`$ directions. Here, we identify $`R_m`$ as the radius at which $`\rho =10^6\rho _{\mathrm{max}}`$, where $`\rho _{\mathrm{max}}`$ is the maximum interior density. Initially, the grid covers the equator with about 200 grid points. The outer boundaries along the $`x`$ and $`z`$ axes are located at $`L930M`$.

Since $`T/W`$ is small and $`\mathrm{\Gamma }=4/3`$, the collapse proceeds in a homologous manner in the central regions during the early stages (Shapiro & Teukolsky 1979; Goldreich & Weber 1980; Saijo et al. 2002). Taking advantage of this behavior, we rezoned by moving the outer boundary inward and decreasing the grid spacing, keeping $`N(=300)`$ fixed. All quantities in the new grid are calculated using cubic interpolation. We discarded the outermost computational domain, but the discarded baryon rest-mass is very small (less than $`10^4`$ of the total) when $`R_m>150M`$. We repeated this procedure twice until homology breaks down at $`R_m<150M`$. After this stage, the collapse timescale in the central region is much shorter than in the envelope. Consequently, we increased the grid number $`N`$ and decreased $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$, monitoring the lapse function at the center $`\alpha _0`$. Specifically, we set $`N`$ and $`L`$ as follows: for $`\alpha _00.90`$, we set $`N=600`$ and $`L233M`$; for $`0.70\alpha _00.90`$, we set $`N=900`$ and $`L155M`$; and for $`0.30\alpha _00.70`$, we set $`N=1200`$ and $`L116M`$. With this treatment, the discarded fraction of the baryon rest-mass is only $`0.15\%`$ down to $`\alpha _0=0.3`$.

For $`\alpha _0<0.3`$, the central density profile becomes very steep. To see its dependence on grid resolution during black hole formation, we carried out simulations using different combinations of $`N`$ and $`L`$ to refine the grid, with the restriction that $`N2400`$. The set-up of each simulation was as follows: (A) for $`\alpha _00.30`$, we took $`N=1200`$ and $`L116M`$, with no regridding at $`\alpha _0=0.3`$; (B) for $`\alpha _00.30`$, we took $`N=1200`$ and $`L58M`$, regridding once at $`\alpha _0=0.3`$; (C) for $`0.05\alpha _00.30`$, we took $`N=1200`$ and $`L58M`$ and for $`\alpha _00.05`$, we took $`N=1200`$ and $`L29M`$; (D) for $`0.05\alpha _00.30`$, we took $`N=1200`$ and $`L58M`$ and for $`\alpha _00.05`$, we took $`N=2400`$ and $`L58M`$. For cases (C) and (D), we carried out regridding at $`\alpha _0=0.3`$ and 0.05. The minimum grid spacings for cases (A)–(D) were $`0.097M`$, $`0.048M`$, $`0.024M`$ and $`0.024M`$, respectively. The results for case (D) are the most reliable, but the results for the four cases do not differ significantly.

For cases (B)–(D), the outer boundaries reside deep inside the stellar surface. Hence, the fluid at large equatorial radius is discarded. When we allow $`L58M(29M)`$, the loss of total baryon rest-mass becomes $`2\%(4\%)`$. Since the outer envelope has larger specific angular momentum, setting $`L58M(29M)`$ implies that $`8\%(18\%)`$ of the total angular momentum is lost. As shown below, however, discarding some mass in the outer region is a tiny effect on the formation and evolution of a SMBH in the central region.

## 3 Numerical Results

In Fig. 1, we display snapshots of density contours and velocity vectors in the $`x`$ \- $`z`$ plane at selected times. Here, the velocity field is defined as $`u^i/u^t`$ where $`u^\mu `$ is the four velocity. The collapse proceeds nearly homologously in the central region during the early stages. However, for $`R_m<150M`$, the effects of rotation and general relativity modify this property, when the collapse near the central region accelerates significantly.

In Fig. 2, we show the time evolution of the central conformal factor ($`\psi _0[\mathrm{det}(\gamma _{ij})]^{1/12}`$ at $`r=0`$ where $`\gamma _{ij}`$ denotes the three-dimensional spatial metric) and $`\alpha _0`$ for cases (A)–(D). We find that the collapse proceeds in a runaway manner in the final stages, although the time development depends somewhat on our adopted choice of time slicing.

Since $`\psi ^2\mathrm{\Delta }`$ measures the proper physical length of the grid spacing, maintaining the resolution requires changing $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$ as $`\mathrm{\Delta }\psi ^2`$ (i.e, $`N\psi ^2`$). However, $`\psi `$ diverges very sharply at late times, so increasing $`N`$ by a factor of a few does not improve the resolution much. Accordingly, we terminated the simulation when the conservation of $`M`$ was violated by $`10\%`$ at $`t/M30636`$.

There are two reasons for this runaway behavior at the center. One is that the equation of state is very soft, which produces stars with very centrally condensed structures. The collapse timescale in the central region is then much shorter than that in the outer region. The other reason is our choice of a coordinate (shift) condition, for which the resolution near the center deteriorates ( “grid sucking”; see Shibata 1999b). Integrating to a final equilibrium state evidently requires different time and/or spatial gauge conditions.

We find an apparent horizon forms for $`t/M>30630`$. In Fig. 3, we show the mass of the apparent horizon as a function of time. The mass is defined as $`M_{\mathrm{AH}}\sqrt{A/16\pi }`$ where $`A`$ denotes the area of the apparent horizon (e.g., Cook & York, 1990). In addition to $`M_{\mathrm{AH}}`$, we plot the total baryon rest-mass inside the apparent horizon $`M_{\mathrm{AH}}`$ for case (D) (dotted curve), which agrees approximately with $`M_{\mathrm{AH}}`$. Figure 3 indicates that at the end of the simulation about 60 % of the total rest-mass already has been swallowed into the black hole. Clearly, collapse of a rapidly and uniformly rotating SMS leads to formation of a SMBH. However, our final snapshot is not the final state, because $`M_{\mathrm{AH}}`$ is still increasing.

It is possible to estimate what the final mass and spin of the black hole will be once it settles into equilibrium. Define the specific angular momentum according to $`jhu_\phi `$, where $`h(=1+\epsilon +P/\rho )`$ is the specific enthalpy. In an axisymmetric system, the integrated baryon rest-mass of all fluid elements with $`j`$ less than a given value $`j_0`$, $`m_{}(j_0)`$ (the angular momentum spectrum), is conserved in the absence of viscosity (Stark & Piran 1987):

$$m_{}(j_0)=_{j<j_0}\rho \alpha u^t\psi ^6d^3x.$$
(1)
Consider the innermost stable circular orbit (ISCO) around the growing black hole at the center. If $`j`$ of a fluid element is less than the value at the ISCO $`(j_{\mathrm{ISCO}})`$, the element will fall into the black hole eventually. Now the possibility exists that some fluid can be captured even for $`j>j_{\mathrm{ISCO}}`$, if it is in a noncircular orbit. Ignoring these trajectories yields the minimum amount of mass that will fall into the black hole at each moment. The value of $`j_{\mathrm{ISCO}}`$ changes as the black hole grows. If $`j_{\mathrm{ISCO}}`$ increases, additional mass will fall into the black hole. However, if $`j_{\mathrm{ISCO}}`$ decreases, ambient fluid will no longer be captured. This expectation implies that when $`j_{\mathrm{ISCO}}`$ reaches a maximum value, the dynamical growth of the black hole will terminate.

To analyze the growth of the black hole mass, we generate Figs. 4 and 5. In Fig. 4, we show the angular momentum spectrum at $`t=0`$. To verify that the spectrum is well preserved during the simulation, we also plot the spectrum at the time when the apparent horizon is first formed. In Fig. 5 (a), we plot $`q_{}J(j)/m_{}(j)^2`$ as a function of $`m_{}(j)/M_{}`$. Here, $`J(j)`$ denotes the total angular momentum with the specific angular momentum $`j`$ less than a given value $`j_0`$ and is defined according to

$`J(j_0)={\displaystyle _{j<j_0}}\rho \alpha u^t\psi ^6hu_\phi d^3x.`$ (2)
Now, $`J(j_{\mathrm{ISCO}})/m_{}(j_{\mathrm{ISCO}})^2`$ and $`m_{}(j_{\mathrm{ISCO}})`$ may be approximately regarded as the instantaneous spin parameter and mass of a black hole. Therefore, the dotted curve in Fig. 5(a), derivable from the initial stellar profile, may be interpreted as an approximate evolutionary track for the angular momentum parameter of the growing black hole. The numerical results for various resolutions indicate that this is close to the actual track followed by the hole. Thus, we can assume that our assumptions made in this analysis are adequate. The solid curve in Fig. 5(a) shows that with the increase of the black hole mass, the spin parameter also increases.

If we assume that $`m_{}(j)`$ and $`q_{}`$ are the mass and spin parameter of the black hole and that the spacetime can be approximated instantaneously by a Kerr metric, we can compute $`j_{\mathrm{ISCO}}`$ (see, e.g., chapter 12 of Shapiro & Teukolsky, 1983). In Fig. 5(b), we show $`j_{\mathrm{ISCO}}[m_{}(j),q_{}(j)]`$ as a function of $`m_{}(j)`$. For $`m_{}(j)<0.9M_{}`$, $`j_{\mathrm{ISCO}}`$ is an increasing function of the mass. This implies that the mass of the black hole should increase to $`0.9M_{}`$. However, at $`m_{}(j)/M_{}0.9`$, $`j_{\mathrm{ISCO}}`$ reaches a maximum, as $`j_{\mathrm{ISCO}}/m_{}(j)`$ steeply decreases above this mass fraction. Thus, once the black hole reaches this point, it will stop growing dynamically. Figure 5(a) shows that at this stage, $`q_{}0.75`$. Therefore, at the end of this collapse, (1) about 90% of the total mass will form a SMBH and (2) the spin parameter of the Kerr hole at the end of the collapse will be $`0.75`$.

## 4 Summary

We performed a fully relativistic numerical simulation in axisymmetry of the collapse of a uniformly rotating, marginally unstable SMS. Our simulation terminates when roughly 60% of the mass has been swallowed by the SMBH. We estimate that about 90% of the total mass of the system will be consumed by the end of the collapse. The spin parameter $`q`$ of the final Kerr SMBH is likely to be $`0.75`$ at the end of the dynamical collapse phase. Most of the remaining gas will reside in an ambient disk about the central hole.

To follow black hole growth to a final equilibrium state will require different coordinate gauge choices for the lapse and shift functions. It may also require the use of an “horizon excision” boundary condition (Unruh, unpublished; Thornburg 1987; Seidel & Suen 1992). To simultaneously follow the extended disk may necessitate employing a nested grid or adaptive mesh refinement. These issues are ripe for future exploration.

###### Acknowledgements.

We are grateful to T. Baumgarte, Y. Eriguchi, H. Shinkai, H. Susa, M. Umemura, and K. Uryu for discussion. Numerical computation was performed on FACOM VPP5000 in the data processing center of National Astronomical Observatory of Japan. This work was in part supported by a Japanese Monbu-Kagaku-sho Grant (No. 13740143) and by NSF Grant PHY-0090310 and NASA Grants NAG5-8418 and NAG5-10781 at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.