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# The multimode pulsation of the 𝛿 Scuti star V784 CassiopeaeBased on spectroscopic data obtained at the David Dunlap Observatory, University of Toronto and photometric observations obtained at the Sierra Nevada Observatory, IAA-CSIC

## 1 Introduction

$`\delta `$ Scuti-type variable stars are pulsating variables located in the lower part of the classical instability strip near or slightly above the main-sequence. The characteristic time-scale of the light variation is in the order of 0$`\stackrel{d}{.}`$1, while the observed light curves are usually multiperiodic due to the simultaneously excited radial and/or non-radial modes. Reliable mode identification requires long-term and/or multi-site observing campaigns, which are well-illustrated, e.g. by recent results from the Delta Scuti Network (Breger et al. 1998, Breger 2000), STEPHI program (Alvarez et al. 1998) or the Whole Earth Telescope (Handler et al. 1997). A handbook of reviews and discussion of the astrophysical importance of these variables has been published very recently (Breger & Montgomery 2000). The most complete catalogue of $`\delta `$ Scuti stars has been tailored and analysed by Rodríguez et al. (2000) and Rodríguez & Breger (2001).

The light variation of the short period variable V784 Cas (=HD 13122=BD+59422, P=0.1092 d, $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$V=0$`\stackrel{m}{.}`$06, spectral type F5II, ESA 1997) was discovered by the Hipparcos astrometric satellite. The R00 catalogue (Rodríguez et al. 2000) includes this star listing the parameters derived from the Hipparcos observations. The star lies about 1 NW of the open cluster Stock 2, but it is not associated with this strongly reddened cluster located at 316 pc (Krzemiński & Serkowski 1967). The Hipparcos parallax (9.81$`\pm `$0.75 mas) supports the close proximity of the star (102$`{}_{7}{}^{}{}_{}{}^{+8}`$ pc). A few radial velocity measurements can be found in the literature, they range from $``$6 km s-1 (De Medeiros & Mayor 1999) to $`+20`$ km s-1 (Duflot et al. 1995). $`UBVRI`$ photometry was given by Fernie (1983), while the star was included in the list of bright northern stars with interesting Strömgren indices by Olsen (1980). V784 Cas was also studied in a sample of bright giant stars by Lèbre & De Medeiros (1997), where no emission features, neither time variations or asymmetries of the H$`\alpha `$ line profiles have been detected (this star was observed two times separated by ten months). The measured rotational velocity is 66 km s-1 (De Medeiros & Mayor 1999). Neither of the studies mentioned above dealt with the time-dependent phenomena, only the scatter of the velocity measurements (4 km s-1), as listed in De Medeiros & Mayor (1999), suggested the possible variability. Most recently, Gray et al. (2001) included the star in their large sample of late A-, F- and early G-type stars and determined its spectral type (F0-F2III). They also noted that V784 Cas is a mild A$`m`$ star, the lines of Sr II $`\lambda `$4077 and $`\lambda `$4216 are enhanced. There is no metallicity determination in the literature.

We started a long-term observational project of obtaining follow-up observations of bright, new variable stars discovered by the Hipparcos satellite. We have so far identified a candidate second overtone field RR Lyrae variable (Kiss et al. 1999a), a new high-amplitude $`\delta `$ Scuti star (Kiss et al. 1999b) and revealed the misclassification of a contact binary (Csák et al. 2000). The main aim of this paper is to present an analysis of new photometric and spectroscopic observations of V784 Cas. The paper is organised as follows: the observations are described in Sect. 2, Sect. 3 deals with the period analysis, while radial velocities are discussed in Sect. 4. Finally, the physical parameters are presented in Sect. 5.

## 2 Observations

### 2.1 Photometry

Photoelectric Johnson photometry was carried out on 6 nights in September-December, 1999 using the 0.4-m Cassegrain telescope of Szeged Observatory (Hungary). The detector was a single-channel SSP-5A photoelectric photometer. We made differential photometry with respect to HD 14172 ($`V`$=6$`\stackrel{m}{.}`$96, $`BV`$=+0$`\stackrel{m}{.}`$22, $`UB`$=+0.20, Krzemiński & Serkowski, 1967), which is the bright member of the visual double star BDS 1193. The check star was HD 14173 ($`V`$=7$`\stackrel{m}{.}`$20, $`BV`$=+1$`\stackrel{m}{.}`$00, $`UB`$=+0$`\stackrel{m}{.}`$66, Krzemiński & Serkowski, 1967), the faint member of the system, located at $``$1 from the comparison star. Since the diaphragm of the photometer is 30′′, we could well measure the individual stars. We note, that $`U`$-band observations were carried out only on the last two nights of the observing run.

The Strömgren $`uvby`$ photometric observations were acquired on 4 nights in August and September, 2000 and 12 nights in August and September, 2001 using the 0.9-m telescope of the Sierra Nevada Observatory (Spain) equipped with a four-channel spectrograph photometer. The differential photometric data were obtained using the same comparison and check stars (HD 14172: $`by`$=0$`\stackrel{m}{.}`$154, $`m_1`$=0$`\stackrel{m}{.}`$111, $`c_1`$=1$`\stackrel{m}{.}`$153; HD 14173: $`by`$=0$`\stackrel{m}{.}`$642, $`m_1`$=0$`\stackrel{m}{.}`$257, $`c_1`$=0$`\stackrel{m}{.}`$455, Olsen 1993). The brightness and colour differences of the comparison stars have been found to be constant to $`\pm `$0$`\stackrel{m}{.}`$01 (suggested by the rms of the data). The overall accuracy of the standard transformations is estimated to be about $`\pm `$0$`\stackrel{m}{.}`$01 for the $`V`$ (both from the Johnson and Strömgren data), $`BV`$ and $`by`$ data, $`\pm `$0$`\stackrel{m}{.}`$015 for $`UB`$ and $`m_1`$ and $`\pm `$0.02 for the $`c_1`$ data. Because of the same comparison, the standardized $`V`$ light curves from the Johnson and Strömgren measurements are well comparable (the observed light range – 6$`\stackrel{m}{.}`$60-6$`\stackrel{m}{.}`$70 – was the same for both datasets). The journal of observations is presented in Table 1.

We have obtained 3125 individual $`V`$ points, (512 from $`UBV`$ and 2613 from $`uvby`$), 512 $`BV`$ points, 132 $`UB`$ points and 2613 Strömgren indices 111Individual data are available electronically at the CDS. The whole dataset has been phased with the Hipparcos ephemeris (P=0$`\stackrel{d}{.}`$1092130, E=2448500.0700, ESA 1997) and the resulting phase diagrams are plotted in Fig. 1. The observed behaviour of the colour variations is typical in pulsating stars thus excluding the possibility of other type of variation (e.g. eclipsing or ellipsoidal). However, the light curve showed such cycle-to-cycle changes that the assumption of the monoperiodic nature had to be rejected.

### 2.2 Spectroscopy

The spectroscopic observations were carried out at the David Dunlap Observatory with the Cassegrain spectrograph attached to the 74” telescope on one night in October, 1999 and two nights in October, 2001. The detector and the spectrograph setup were the same as used by Vinkó et al. (1998). The resolving power ($`\lambda /\mathrm{\Delta }\lambda `$) was 11,000 and the signal-to-noise ratio reached 70–100. The spectra in 1999 were centered on 6635 Å, in 2001 on 6550 Å and the wavelength span was 200 Å in both cases. The data were reduced with standard tasks in IRAF222IRAF is distributed by the National Optical Astronomy Observatories, which are operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation., including bias removal, flat-fielding, cosmic ray elimination, aperture extraction (with the task $`doslit`$) and wavelength calibration. For the latter, two FeAr spectral lamp exposures were used, which were obtained before and after every five stellar exposures. Because of the short period of V784 Cas the observing sequence of FeAr-var-var-var-var-var-FeAr was chosen. Careful linear interpolation between the two comparison spectra was applied in order to take into account the sub-pixel shifts of the five stellar spectra caused by the tracking of the telescope. We chose an exposure time of 6 minutes, which corresponds to $``$0.04 phase of the dominant period. The spectra were normalized to the continuum by fitting a cubic spline, omitting the region of H$`\alpha `$.

Besides the telluric features on the blue side of the H$`\alpha `$ line, we could detect a few weak and broad metallic lines. The H$`\alpha `$ profile remained symmetric during the observations excluding the presence of high-amplitude non-radial oscillations. A sample spectrum taken in 1999 is shown in Fig. 2. We have collected 98 individual spectra for V784 Cas.

## 3 Period analysis

The period analysis was performed by means of standard Fourier-analysis with subsequent prewhitening steps. For this we have used Period98 of Sperl (1998) which also includes multifrequency least squares fitting of the parameters.

First we decided to analyse the merged transformed data. As has been mentioned above, the use of the same comparison star suggested a common analysis of the standard $`V`$-band data. The variable has very similar $`BV`$ and $`by`$ indices as the comparison, thus the colour-dependent terms in the standard transformation equations are only small corrections. Either the mean brightness (6$`\stackrel{m}{.}`$65) or the extrema of the light curve are considered, the standard $`V`$ data originated from Johnson-$`BV`$ and Strömgren-$`by`$ measurements agree very well (the difference does not exceed 0$`\stackrel{m}{.}`$005). However, some spurious low-frequency components yielded by the period analysis enforced us to reject this homogeneity assumption. During the prewhitening steps two low-frequency components (at 0.0007 d-1 and 0.5 d-1) appeared suggesting: 1. a possible shift by a few millimagnitudes of the mean brightness from Johnson and Strömgren photometry and 2. possible slow and low-amplitude variation of the comparison star mimicking changes of the mean brightness on a daily basis. A close look at the comparison minus check magnitudes revealed indeed some slight changes of the daily averages with no systematic short-term variations. Therefore, we have adjusted the individual light curves (21 together) by subtracting nightly mean values (the differences are of order of a few millimagnitudes). Although the low-frequency components have been removed, we have to admit that the mean values on some nights are fairly uncertain because of shorter time-spans than mean periods. That is the reason why the most critical subset obtained on JD 2451785 was excluded from the frequency analysis.

The calculated amplitude spectra are presented in Fig. 3, where we show the individual frequency spectra after consecutive prewhitenings. In order to illustrate the difficulty of the whole analysis we also present close-up views of the main peaks. Besides the strong 1/day alias structure the 1/year is also strong. A certain amount of ambiguity cannot be excluded due to the complex spectral window and finite spectral resolution.

The primary peak at $`f_1=9.15650`$ d-1 is in very good agreement with the Hipparcos result (9.15642 d-1). In every step of the prewhitening procedure we allowed all of the parameters to vary to get the “best” Fourier-fit of the light curve. In order to check the reality of the components, we have determined the signal to noise ratios (S/N) following the suggestions of Breger et al. (1993). The calculated S/N for the sixth components is 4.1 so it satisfies the proposed criterion of Breger et al. (S/N(real)$`>`$4) for accepting ambiguous peaks in the frequency spectrum. Therefore, the final set consists of six frequencies ranging from 9.15 c/d to 15.9 c/d and it is summarized in Table 2.

The period analysis has been checked by making use of the Hipparcos Epoch Photometry data consisting of 117 points. They were analysed separately and the calculated frequency spectrum (middle panel in Fig. 4) yields essentially to the same dominant period, that has been used to phase the data (top panel in Fig. 4). After prewhitening with this frequency, no further periodicity can be inferred from these data (bottom panel in Fig. 4). A further consistency check is a comparison of Hipparcos and our dominant frequencies. It is shown in Fig. 5, where a close-up to the main peaks is presented. As Hipparcos has good spectral window (in sense of having only weak and asymmetric sidelobes), the very good agreement of the main peaks supports our frequency analysis (see Jerzykiewicz & Pamyatnykh 2000 for a recent discussion on the use of Hipparcos photometric data).

Since the bulk of the data was obtained in 2001, a separate analysis of the 2001 data was carried out to yield insights into the reality of the six-frequency solution. Furthermore, the noise in the Strömgren $`v`$ data is significantly reduced compared to transformed Johnson $`V`$ magnitudes (i.e. the full amplitude is larger and the photometric accuracy is better through the $`v`$ filter). The prewhitening and simultaneous nonlinear parameter fitting resulted in largely similar frequencies at several 1/year aliases of the finally adopted set (for instance, even the dominant component at 9.15 d-1 is approximately a 1/year alias of the true frequency). That is why we favoured frequencies resulted from the whole two-years long data.

Taking the six frequencies in Table 2, strong interaction between $`f_4`$ and $`f_6`$ is obvious. A visual inspection of the corresponding close-up views in Fig. 3 reveals that the peaks are broader than expected from the length of the data (the horizontal axes in the right column have the same frequency scales). It is suggested that some very close components may exist which are beyond our spectral resolution (approximately $`1.5/\mathrm{\Delta }T`$, Loumos & Deeming 1978). For our data $`\mathrm{\Delta }T`$=729 d, which corresponds to a $`\mathrm{\Delta }f0.002`$ d-1. Most recently, Breger & Bischof (2002) studied close frequency pairs ($`\mathrm{\Delta }f<0.06`$ d-1) in $`\delta `$ Scuti stars. A detailed discussion of the behaviour of BI CMi led these authors to conclude that very close frequency pairs do indeed exist and their presence should be taken into account when planning photometric observations with the best available spectral resolution. We conclude that similar close frequencies might also exist in V784 Cas making difficult to interpret the presently available data. As a result, we kept only four frequencies for further analysis. The observed individual $`V`$ light curves are compared with the four-component harmonic fit in Fig. 6. We turn back to the adopted frequencies in Sect. 5.

## 4 Radial velocity variations

Radial velocity variation of V784 Cas was determined by measuring Doppler-shifts of the H$`\alpha `$ line. This is not an ideal choice because the line forming region of the H$`\alpha `$ line extends to a much wider region than the photosphere, e.g. it may have strong chromospheric component in the line core (Lèbre & De Medeiros 1997 and references therein). However, the observed spectral region does not contain other strong lines, the detected metallic lines are too weak for radial velocity determination. And, as it will be shown below, they are substantially asymmetric suggesting the presence of non-radial oscillation.

Since the H$`\alpha `$ line is symmetric due to its saturation, the radial velocities were determined by fitting a parabola to the lowest points of the line profile. The barycentric corrections were calculated with the IRAF task rvcorr. The observed velocities are presented in Table 3. Their estimated accuracy is about $`\pm `$1 km s-1, which is based on our earlier experiences when using the same equipment for studying other bright variables observed at similar S/N ratios (Kiss et al. 1999ab). As an independent check, we have also determined line bisector velocities at various levels (see Kiss & Vinkó 2000 for an application of this technique in Cepheid variables). The mean difference of the resulting data is $``$0.5 km s-1 with a standard deviation of 1.0 km s-1 (even the most deviant points did not differ more than 2 km s-1 from the line-core velocities).

The light and radial velocity variations have been compared using the light curve fit consisting of four frequencies. The comparison is shown in Fig. 7. It is intended to illustrate the overall characteristics of the correlation between the light and radial velocity variations and the ability of the four-frequency fit to predict light variation both as interpolation (JD 2451480) and extrapolation (JD 2452191 and 2452200). We have estimated the value of $`2K/\mathrm{\Delta }V`$ by taking the full amplitudes of the radial velocity curves and the calculated light curves. The result is 130$`\pm `$30 km s-1 mag-1, being somewhat larger then the mean value of 93 km s-1 mag-1 found by Breger (1979). This ratio depends on the non-adiabatic behaviour of the modes and it is different depending on $`n`$ and $`l`$ values. That is why we do not find exact fit with the photometric solution. A much longer spectroscopic data series is required to draw firm conclusions on the non-radial nature of oscillation.

By a close visual inspection of the individual spectra, we found the metallic lines to show significant and highly variable asymmetries (see Fig. 8). The most straightforward explanation is the line profile distorsion caused by non-radial pulsation. Line profile variations among the multiply periodic $`\delta `$ Scuti stars are found frequently and their analysis is a common method of mode identification (see, e.g., Schrijvers et al. 1997, Telting & Schrijvers 1997 for theory and Mantegazza et al. 2000 for a recent application). Unfortunately, neither the resolution, nor the relatively high noise level allow us to use such spectroscopic methods, but the brightness of V784 Cas makes the star a good target object for further spectroscopic investigations.

As can be seen in Fig. 8, the spectral lines of V784 Cas are significantly broader than those of HD 187691 (for which SIMBAD lists $`v\mathrm{sin}i=3`$ km s-1). Following the work of Solano & Fernley (1997), we have estimated the rotational velocity of the star from the blend-free line Fe I 6677.997 Å. The resulting $`v\mathrm{sin}i=55\pm 10`$ km s-1 is in agreement with the published value 66$`\pm `$10 km s-1 of De Medeiros & Mayor (1999). The most important point is that rapid rotation affecting the photometric parameters (Pérez Hernández et al. 1999) can be excluded.

Finally, we have to discuss the possible binarity, which may also produce asymmetric line profiles when the partially resolved components are of similar brightness. In our case the radial velocity measurements in the literature show quite high scatter that may be associated with long-term orbital motion in an unresolved binary system. We have searched the SIMBAD database for published radial velocities and found the following data: i) Evans (1967) lists $`v_{\mathrm{rad}}`$=+15 km s-1; ii) the catalog of Fehrenbach et al. (1996) gives $`v_{\mathrm{rad}}`$=+20 km s-1; iii) the latter value has been adapted in Duflot et al. (1995); iv) the first high-precision data were published by De Medeiros & Mayor (1999) giving $`v_{\mathrm{rad}}=`$6.09 km s-1 (and it was used in Lèbre & De Medeiros 1997). Our mean value is $`v_{\mathrm{rad}}=6.3`$ km s-1 supporting the latest available data, which were taken in the early 90’s. Although we do not know the uncertainty of the early data, the $``$25 km s-1 difference found seems to be too high to just ignore it. Therefore, subsequent spectroscopy is highly desirable, either the mode identification, or the possible binarity is concerned. We note, that in light of the results presented in the next section, we favour the non-radial pulsation and associate the large velocity difference to the effects of metallic line profile distorsions. Furthermore, the lack of any variable asymmetry in the H$`\alpha `$ profile makes unlikely the presence of a secondary of similar brightness as the primary one producing strong metallic lines and having practically no contribution to the H$`\alpha `$ line. We did not find any change in the systematic velocity between 1999 and 2001, that is why we consider non-radial pulsation to be more likely cause of these asymmetries instead of a peculiar companion.

## 5 Physical parameters

The most important physical parameters of V784 Cas were determined using the mean Strömgren colours and the accurate Hipparcos parallax. Unfortunately, there is no $`\beta `$ measurement for this star in the literature, therefore, we could not follow the “standard” procedures of Strömgren photometric calibrations (e.g. Zhou et al. 2001ab). The parallax is 9.81$`\pm `$0.75 mas (ESA 1997) that corresponds to a distance of 102$`{}_{7}{}^{}{}_{}{}^{+8}`$ pc. Consequently, the reddening can be neglected even in this low galactic latitude region ($`b=1.39^{}`$). The distance and mean $`V`$-brightness result in $`M_\mathrm{V}`$=1$`\stackrel{m}{.}`$61$`\pm `$0$`\stackrel{m}{.}`$15. The spectral type (or, equivalently, the mean $`BV`$=0$`\stackrel{m}{.}`$33) implies a bolometric correction of $`BC=0\stackrel{m}{.}11`$ (Carroll & Ostlie 1996). Thus, the bolometric absolute magnitude is $`M_{\mathrm{bol}}=1\stackrel{m}{.}50\pm `$0$`\stackrel{m}{.}`$15 ($`L/L_{}`$20), which is in accordance with the expected absolute magnitude of an evolved early F-type star. The atmospheric parameters were estimated from the mean Johnson and Strömgren colours ($`by=0\stackrel{m}{.}20`$, $`m_1=0\stackrel{m}{.}17`$, $`c_1=0\stackrel{m}{.}74`$) and synthetic colour grids of Kurucz (1993). (We note, that the observed $`uvby`$ colours are in very good agreement with those of listed in the SIMBAD database: $`by=0\stackrel{m}{.}208`$, $`m_1=0\stackrel{m}{.}204`$, $`c_1=0\stackrel{m}{.}735`$ – Olsen 1983). The results are: $`T_{\mathrm{eff}}`$=7100$`\pm `$100 K and $`\mathrm{log}g`$=3.8$`\pm `$0.1. For the given luminosity and corresponding solar values ($`M_{\mathrm{bol},}`$=4$`\stackrel{m}{.}`$75, $`T_{\mathrm{eff},}`$=5770 K, Allen 1976), the calculated stellar radius is 2.9$`\pm `$0.3 R, while the estimated mass is 2.0$`\pm `$0.8 M. Again, we find such stellar parameters that are typical for evolved main-sequence or giant stars (see, e.g., Appendix E in Carroll & Ostlie 1996). In summary, therefore, we adopt

$`M_\mathrm{V}=1\stackrel{m}{.}61\pm 0\stackrel{m}{.}15`$

$`M_{\mathrm{bol}}=1\stackrel{m}{.}50\pm 0\stackrel{m}{.}15`$

$`L/L_{}=20\pm 3`$

$`T_{\mathrm{eff}}=7100\pm 100`$ K

$`\mathrm{log}g=3.8\pm 0.1`$ dex

$`R/R_{}=2.9\pm 0.3`$

$`M/M_{}=2.0\pm 0.8`$

We can draw some constraints on the stellar mass and age using the evolutionary tracks from Claret (1995) for solar abundances. They are plotted in Fig. 9 with the corresponding position of V784 Cas in the $`\mathrm{log}T_{\mathrm{eff}}\mathrm{log}L`$ plane. Two models with $`\mathrm{log}M[M_{}]=0.250.30`$ are closest to the stellar error box and they result in an evolutionary mass of $`1.89\pm 0.11M_{}`$. The corresponding ages range from 1.03 to 1.65 Gyr.

The given parameters permit calculation of the pulsational constants of the determined frequencies. The equation

$$\mathrm{log}Q=6.456+\mathrm{log}P+0.5\mathrm{log}g+0.1M_{\mathrm{bol}}+\mathrm{log}T_{\mathrm{eff}}$$

was used in terms of four observables (Breger et al. 1993). For the adopted set of four frequencies we have calculated the pulsational constants listed in Table 4 (assuming 20% uncertainty). We have also determined amplitude and phase relations for the given frequencies utilizing Strömgren data obtained in 2001. By fixing the frequencies but allowing their amplitudes and phases to vary for different wavebands, we could draw some contraints on the pulsation modes (see a description of the discrimination procedure in Garrido et al. 1990). For the given parameters, it seems to be clearly established the radial character of $`f_1`$ and the non-radial character of $`f_5`$ (possibly $`l`$=2). We can say nothing definitive for $`f_2`$ and $`f_3`$ because errors are higher than values, but the small values seem to indicate $`l`$=1 modes. We note, that when the rotation is high enough the mode identification becomes unclear (see Daszyńska-Daszkiewicz et al. 2002).

The parameters and pulsation pattern outlined above suggest V784 Cas to be an evolved $`\delta `$ Scuti-type variable star with a mixture of radial plus non-radial modes. The star is presently about 1.4 mag brighter than main sequence stars of the same spectral type (e.g. Carroll & Ostlie 1996) and its position above the main-sequence does not contradict the luminosity class III determined by Gray et al. (2001). The star is located on the HR diagram about halfway between the theoretical Blue Edge for radial overtones and the empirical Red Edge (see Fig. 1 in Breger & Pamyatnykh 1998). Furthermore, comparing V784 Cas with the evolved A$`m`$ stars in Fig. 5 of Rodríguez & Breger (2001), its position is also in agreement with the weak A$`m`$ nature suggested spectroscopically by Gray et al.(2001). The temperature, surface gravity, mass and luminosity give a consistent picture compared with the standard evolutionary models used by Breger & Pamyatnykh (1998). The determined physical parameters place V784 Cas in that region where no fast evolutionary period changes are expected. Therefore, the slight phase shift of $`0.1`$ between the Hipparcos data and our observations (see Fig. 1) may indicate either more and yet undetected pulsational frequencies or non-evolutionary period change due to, for instance, light-time effect in a binary system (Kiss & Szatmáry 1995).

## 6 Conclusions

In this paper, we presented an analysis of photometric and spectroscopic observations of the recently discovered $`\delta `$ Scuti variable V784 Cas. The $`UBV`$ photometry was carried out at Szeged Observatory (Hungary), while the simultaneous $`uvby`$ data were obtained at Sierra Nevada Observatory (Spain) in three consecutive years (1999-2001). Medium-resolution spectroscopy in the H$`\alpha `$ region was carried out at the David Dunlap Observatory (Canada) in 1999 and 2001. These data were used to determine the frequency content and to estimate physical parameters of the star. The main results can be summarized as follows:

1. Multicolor data consisting of more than 3000 individual points were analyzed with the standard Fourier-analysis. The multiperiodic nature of the star is revealed unambiguously. Besides the dominant period listed also in the Hipparcos catalog, we could detect three more frequencies in the 9.46-15.9 d-1 range. There is a suggestion for more, unresolved frequency components.

2. We have obtained almost 100 radial velocity measurements using the H$`\alpha `$ line. The measured radial velocity curves also show the multiperiodic nature and a close correlation with the four-component light curve fit. Spectra obtained in 1999 covered a few weak metallic lines and the varying asymmetric line profiles suggest the presence of non-radial pulsation, too.

3. Physical parameters of the star are determined from the mean Strömgren indices and synthetic colour grids. The resulting parameters give a consistent picture of an evolved $`\delta `$ Scuti star. Evolutionary mass ($`1.89\pm 0.11M_{}`$) and age ($`1.3\pm 0.3`$ Gyr) is derived.

4. Possible mode identification was discussed based on the Strömgren photometric behaviour (amplitude and phase relations). We identify $`f_1`$ with the radial fundamental mode, while the remaining frequencies correspond to low-order ($`l`$=1 or 2) non-radial modes, although some ambiguity may arise from the moderate rotation of the star.

Further observations (photometric, as well as spectroscopic) of this variable star are expected to extend the data baseline yielding to a better resolution of the pulsational pattern, mode identification and detection of time-dependent phenomena (e.g. amplitude and/or frequency modulation).

###### Acknowledgements.

This work has been supported by the MTA-CSIC Joint Project No. 15/1998, OTKA Grants #T032258, #T030743 and #T034615, the “Bolyai János” Research Scholarship to LLK from the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, the Hungarian Eötvös Fellowship to LLK, FKFP Grant 0010/2001, Pro Renovanda Cultura Hungariae Grant DCS 2001/ápr/6. and Szeged Observatory Foundation. Fruitful discussions with J. Vinkó are acknowledged. The NASA ADS Abstract Service was used to access data and references. This research has made use of the SIMBAD database, operated at CDS-Strasbourg, France.


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# Efficient generation of tunable photon pairs at 0.8 and 1.6 𝜇m

## Abstract

We demonstrate efficient generation of collinearly propagating, highly nondegenerate photon pairs in a periodically-poled lithium niobate cw parametric downconverter with an inferred pair generation rate of $`1.4\times 10^7`$/s/mW of pump power. Detection of an 800-nm signal photon triggers a thermoelectrically-cooled 20%-efficient InGaAs avalanche photodiode for the detection of the 1600-nm conjugate idler photon. Using single-mode fibers as spatial mode filters, we obtain a signal-conditioned idler-detection probability of $``$3.1%.

Efficient generation of entangled photons is essential for realizing practical quantum information processing applications such as quantum cryptography and quantum teleportation. Entangled photons are routinely generated by spontaneous parametric downconversion (SPDC) in a nonlinear crystal Kwiat95 . More recently, nonlinear waveguides have been used for photon pair generation with high efficiency Gisin ; Sanaka ; Walmsley  and better control of the spatial modes. So far, these entangled photon sources have large bandwidths. Recently, a narrowband application has been suggested in a singlet-based quantum teleportation system Shapiro\_protocol  in which narrowband (tens of MHz) polarization-entangled photons are needed for loading quantum memories that are composed of trapped Rb in optical cavities LloydShahriarShapiroHemmer . Such a narrowband source is most conveniently produced with a resonant cavity such as an optical parametric amplifier (OPA) ShapiroWong . In addition to being narrowband, the OPA outputs have well-defined spatial modes that allow efficient coupling into trapped-Rb cavities. The requirements for efficient generation in an OPA and SPDC are different. In an OPA, collinearly propagating signal and idler beams are necessary to minimize walkoff and intracavity losses must be small compared with the cavity’s output coupling. A desirable configuration consists of a long crystal with light propagation along one of its principal axes. In contrast, a nonlinear waveguide is an excellent choice for SPDC but is ill suited for intracavity use because of high waveguide propagation losses.

As a precursor to an OPA configuration, we have studied the generation of collinearly propagating tunable outputs at $``$800 and $``$1600 nm in a quasi-phase matched periodically-poled lithium niobate (PPLN) parametric downconverter. Unlike most other SPDC sources, our PPLN source utilizes a long bulk crystal, which results in a small bandwidth, and the two output wavelengths are widely separated. The choice of wavelengths is designed for loading local Rb-based quantum memories at 795 nm and for low-loss fiber-optic transmission of the conjugate photons at $``$1.6 $`\mu `$m. The 1600-nm photon can be upconverted via quantum frequency translation KumarExpt  for remote quantum memory loading. For the current work, we have constructed a compact all-solid-state InGaAs single-photon counter for detecting the 1.6-$`\mu `$m photons.

We tested three fiber-pigtailed InGaAs avalanche photodiodes (APDs) from JDS Uniphase (EPM239BA) as passively quenched, gated single-photon counters GisinRarity . The APD was mounted in a small copper block that was attached to a 4-stage thermoelectric (TE) cooler, which in turn was in contact with a brass heat sink. We placed this TE-cooled APD assembly in a sealed box mounted on top of four additional TE coolers for improved temperature control of the APD box. Using this all-solid-state cooling apparatus, we were able to adjust the APD temperature down to $`60^{}`$C without the use of liquid nitrogen. Typically we biased the APD at 0.2–1.0 V below the breakdown voltage of the selected APD device, and we applied a gating pulse of 2–4 V to overbias the APD for single-photon detection. The gate pulses had rise and fall times of 3–4 ns with sub-ns timing jitters, and the adjustable pulse length was set at 20 ns. The avalanche output pulses were then amplified by 40 dB with resultant pulse amplitudes of 1–2 V and rise times of less than 2 ns.

In general, dark counts increase exponentially with increasing device temperatures and hence a lower operating temperature is preferred. However, afterpulsing due to trapped charge carriers increases with lower temperatures and also with longer gate durations and higher gate repetition rates. We have found that at an operating temperature of $`50^{}`$C there was negligible afterpulsing for gating frequencies of 100 kHz or less and the dark counts were low enough to yield a high signal-to-noise ratio (see Fig. 3). Figure 1 shows the quantum efficiencies (solid circles) and dark count rates (open squares) of one of the three APDs at an operating temperature of $`50^{}`$C as a function of the overbias voltage. We measured the quantum efficiency of the APD device using a 1.56-$`\mu `$m fiber-pigtailed cw laser. The laser power was attenuated with variable fiber-optic attenuators to 0.13 photon per 20-ns gate ($``$0.85 pW) and the power was monitored with the use of fiber-optic tap couplers and a high-accuracy optical power meter with a large dynamic range. For our coincidence measurements, we chose the best of the three APDs and operated it at $`50^{}`$C with an overbias of 3.7 V. Under these operating conditions, we achieved a quantum efficiency of $``$20% with negligible afterpulses and a dark count probability of $`1.1\times 10^3`$ per 20-ns gate.

We fabricated a 20-mm-long, 0.5-mm-thick PPLN crystal with a grating period of 21.6 $`\mu `$m for type-I third-order quasi-phase matching (QPM). The PPLN was anti-reflection coated on both facets at 800 and 1600 nm (with $``$8% reflection per surface at 532 nm), and was housed in a temperature-stabilized oven with a stability of $`\pm `$0.1C. We first characterized the PPLN by performing difference frequency generation (DFG) with a strong pump at 532 nm and a weak tunable (1580–1610 nm) external-cavity diode laser. We also used a distributed feedback laser at 1559 nm to generate DFG light at 808 nm. Tunable outputs were achieved by changing the oven temperature between 140–185C with a measured tuning coefficient of $``$1.3 nm/C. At a fixed temperature the DFG bandwidth in the probe wavelength was 1.26 nm ($``$150 GHz), in good agreement with the expected value for a 20-mm-long PPLN. From the DFG output powers we estimate that the effective nonlinear coefficient was 3.8 pm/V for the third-order QPM, which is lower than expected due to nonuniformity and suboptimal duty cycle of the PPLN grating and also due to pump-probe mode mismatch.

For coincidence measurements, we set the PPLN oven at 142C, which centered the signal and idler outputs at 808 and 1559 nm, respectively. The cw pump at 532 nm was focused at the center of the crystal with a waist of $``$90 $`\mu `$m. The co-polarized, collinearly propagating SPDC outputs were spatially separated with a prism at Brewster angle for detection by a commercial Si single-photon counting module (SPCM) for the 808-nm signal photons and by the InGaAs APD single-photon counter for the 1559-nm idler photons. The Si SPCM (Perkin Elmer SPCM-AQR-14) had a quantum efficiency of $``$54% at 800 nm with a dark count rate below 100/s. We first measured the singles rate by collecting the freely propagating signal photons to obtain an inferred pair generation rate of $`1.4\times 10^7`$/s/mW of pump power. The signal was also tuned to other wavelengths within the temperature tuning range and we obtained similar singles rates. With the $``$150-GHz signal bandwidth, the spectral brightness of the output was $`9.3\times 10^4`$ pairs/s/GHz/mW of pump power, indicating that the long bulk PPLN crystal was very efficient even though only third-order QPM was used.

Spatial mode matching between the signal and idler is a problem with SPDC because of its spontaneous nature and hence its lack of spatial mode selection. Often an interference filter and a small aperture are used to select a narrow spectral width and a small number of spatial modes of a multimode field to yield high fidelity in a Hong-Ou-Mandel interferometric measurement. Even SPDC in a waveguide does not necessarily eliminate the spatial mode matching problem Walmsley . We took a different approach by coupling the SPDC outputs into single mode fibers Kurtsiefer  without interference filters. By using a probe laser we measured a fiber coupling efficiency of a well-defined single transverse mode to be $``$50%. For the SPDC signal at 808 nm we measured a singles rate of $`3\times 10^4`$/s/mW of pump power (typical pump powers of 1–2 mW were used). For a measured propagation efficiency of $``$85%, a Si detector efficiency of $``$54%, and a fiber coupling efficiency of $``$50%, we obtain an inferred generation rate of $``$$`1.3\times 10^5`$/s/mW for the single-mode signal photons, which is a factor of 100 smaller than that inferred from our multimode free-space detection rate. The challenge in our coincidence measurements was to match the single spatial modes of the highly nondegenerate signal and idler into their respective fibers.

Figure 2 shows the experimental setup for signal-idler coincidence measurements. The signal photon was coupled into a 800-nm single-mode optical fiber and was detected by the Si SPCM, whose electrical output pulse was used to trigger the gate for the InGaAs detector. We set up the idler collection optics to select the spatial mode that was conjugate to the fiber-coupled signal mode. This idler mode was coupled into a 70-m-long 1550-nm single-mode fiber that provided a 345-ns time delay to allow the gating pulse to turn the InGaAs detector on shortly before the arrival of the idler photon. We limited the maximum trigger and detection rate to 10 kHz to avoid any afterpulsing effect. The outputs of the two detectors were recorded on a 2-channel digitizing oscilloscope and stored for analysis. Figure 3 shows a histogram of the conditional detection probability $`\eta _c`$ of a 1609-nm photon per detected 808-nm photon. It clearly shows that the dark count noise was quite small and the photon pairs were time coincident within a 4-ns window. The timing accuracy was limited by the 2-ns digitizing time bin and the rise time of the InGaAs detector output pulse ($``$2 ns). We measured $`\eta _c`$ 3.1%, limited by the InGaAs detector quantum efficiency of 20%, propagation efficiency of 85%, and the single-mode fiber-coupling and the signal-idler mode-matching efficiency which we infer to be $``$18%. From this inferred coupling and mode-matching efficiency of 18% and our single-mode fiber-coupling efficiency of $``$50% of a probe laser, it suggests that the signal-idler mode matching was $``$36%.

In comparison, Banaszek et al. Walmsley  reported a measured $`\eta _c`$ of 18.5% for a waveguide SPDC and signal photon collection (at $``$700 nm) with a multimode fiber. If we adjust our results to assume a Si-type detection efficiency of $``$70% and no propagation losses, we infer $`\eta _c12.8`$% for our single-mode fiber collection system. Kurtsiefer et al. Kurtsiefer  used single-mode fibers for collecting the degenerate outputs of a type-II phase-matched SPDC and obtained an impressive $`\eta _c`$ of 28.6%. Our lower $`\eta _c`$ was probably a result of sub-optimal collection optics, made more difficult by the widely different signal and idler wavelengths.

In summary, we have demonstrated an efficient cw source of highly nondegenerate photon pairs at $``$800 and $``$1600 nm using a long bulk PPLN crystal. Coincidence measurements were made using a home-built all-solid-state InGaAs single-photon counter for 1.6-$`\mu `$m detection. Bidirectional pumping and judicious combining of the outputs ShapiroWong  should allow us to efficiently generate nondegenerate polarization-entangled photons. Efforts are also under way to use the PPLN crystal in an OPA cavity configuration for generating high-flux narrowband photon pairs.

This work was supported by the DoD Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative (MURI) program administered by the Army Research Office under Grant DAAD-19-00-1-0177, and by the National Reconnaissance Office. M. Albota acknowledges the support of the MIT Lincoln Scholars Program. F. Wong thanks D. S. Bethune for fruitful discussion on detector bias circuitry.


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# References

COMMISSIONS 27 AND 42 OF THE IAU

INFORMATION BULLETIN ON VARIABLE STARS

Number xxxx

Konkoly Observatory Budapest xx July 2002 HU ISSN 0374 – 0676

NSV 10934: AN UNUSUAL ROSAT-SELECTED DWARF NOVA:

AN ANALOGOUS OBJECT TO HT Cam?

KATO, TAICHI1, STUBBINGS, ROD2, YAMAOKA, HITOSHI3, NELSON, PETER4,
MONARD, BERTO5, PEARCE, ANDREW6, GARRADD, GORDON7

1 Dept. of Astronomy, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8502, Japan,
e-mail: tkato@kusastro.kyoto-u.ac.jp

2 19 Greenland Drive, Drouin 3818, Victoria, Australia, e-mail: stubbo@sympac.com.au

3 Faculty of Science, Kyushu University, Fukuoka 810-8560, Japan, e-mail: yamaoka@rc.kyushu-u.ac.jp

4 RMB 2493, Ellinbank 3820, Australia, e-mail: pnelson@dcsi.net.au

5 Bronberg Observatory, PO Box 11426, Tiegerpoort 0056, South Africa, e-mail: LAGMonar@csir.co.za

6 32 Monash Ave, Nedlands, WA 6009, Australia, e-mail: apearce@ozemail.com.au

7 PO Box 157, NSW 2340, Australia, e-mail: loomberah@ozemail.com.au

NSV 10934 was discovered as a large-amplitude suspected variable star of unknown classification. The cataloged range of variability was 11.2 to \[15.0 p. We noticed that the object can be identified with a bright ROSAT X-ray source (1RXS J184050.3-834305). Since a combination of a large-amplitude variation and the strong X-ray emission suggests a cataclysmic variable, we started systematic monitoring of this NSV object through the VSNET Collaboration (vsnet-chat 3340).111 http://www.kusastro.kyoto-u.ac.jp/vsnet/Mail/chat3000/msg00340.html  The first outburst was detected on 2001 March 13 by RS (vsnet-alert 5778).222 http://www.kusastro.kyoto-u.ac.jp/vsnet/Mail/alert5000/msg00778.html  Three additional outbursts have been recorded since 2002 July. The well-observed most recent two outbursts have been characterized by a sudden rise (more than 1.3 mag within 1 d), which established the dwarf nova-type variability. Table 1 lists the observed outbursts. Although the rising phase was not covered by observations, the observed maximum magnitudes suggest that the first two outbursts were detected close to their maxima. Figure 1 depicts the long-term light curve based on visual observations by the authors (RS, NP, PA) and snapshot CCD observations. The accuracy of the visual observations is 0.2–0.3 mag, which will not affect the following discussion. The shortest interval of the observed outbursts is 46 d.

Astrometry of NSV 10934 was performed on CCD images taken by PN (2002 June 5.423 UT) and BM (2002 July 21.024 UT), both of which were taken during the rapid decline stage from outbursts. The variability of the object has been confirmed by a comparison between the two images. An average of measurements of two images (UCAC1 system, 182 and 71 reference stars respectingly; internal dispersion of the measurements was $``$0′′.1) has yielded a position of 18h 40m 52s.52, $``$83 43 09′′.84 (J2000.0). The position agrees with the USNO$``$A2.0 star at 18h 40m 52s.28, $``$83 43 09′′.2 (epoch 1983.040 and magnitudes $`r`$ = 15.6, $`b`$ = 16.5), or the GSC-2.2.1 star with position end figures of 52s.420 and 09′′.74 (epoch 1993.767 and magnitudes $`r`$ = 15.11, $`b`$ = 17.06), which is most likely the quiescent counterpart of NSV 10934 (Figure 2). This identification has confirmed the previously proposed identification by Lopez, Girard (1990) better than an accuracy of 1′′.

Figure 3 shows the enlarged light curve of the best observed outbursts. All the recorded outbursts rather quickly faded. The most recent two outbursts faded more than 1 mag within 3 d of the outburst maximum. Linear fits to the best-observed decline stages of the first two outbursts have yielded decline rates of 0.71$`\pm `$0.06 mag d-1 and 0.71$`\pm `$0.03 mag d-1, respectively. Rather fragmentary data of the recent two outbursts further suggest an even higher value close to the termination of the outbursts: the object faded by 1.5 mag in 0.90 d (between JD 2452430.02 and 2452430.92) and by 3.2 mag in 2.59 d (between JD 2452473.93 and 2452476.52).

The combination of relatively strong and relatively hard (hardness ratios: HR1 = 1.00, HR2 = 0.50) X-ray detection and short optical outbursts either suggests the possibility of an intermediate polar (IP) with dwarf nova-like outbursts, a non-magnetic HT Cas-like unusual dwarf nova with rather irregularly spaced short outbursts (Kato et al., 2002; Mukai et al., 1997; Wood et al., 1995), or a system resembling an unusual dwarf nova BZ UMa with short outbursts and quasi-periodic oscillations (Kato, 1999; Wenzel, 1982; Ringwald, Thorstensen, 1990; Jurcevic et al., 1994).

The precipitous fading (1.5 mag in 0.90 d) recorded during the terminal stage of the outbursts is unlike usual dwarf novae. The sequence of a more slowly fading plateau phase near outburst maxima and a subsequent rapid fading more resembles the behavior of an outburst in the recently discovered IP, HT Cam (Ishioka et al., 2002). The X-ray hardness ratios are also similar (Table 2). HT Cam showed a gradual decline for the first 0.5 d, followed by a dramatic decline by more than 4 mag d-1 (Ishioka et al., 2002). Since the time-evolution of the light curve is slightly slower in NSV 10934, the orbital period of NSV 10934 is expected to be slightly longer than that of HT Cam (86 min), if NSV 10934 indeed turns out to be a HT Cam-like object.

In any case, NSV 10934 is an unusual dwarf nova which deserves further attention.

This work is partly supported by a grant-in aid \[13640239 (TK), 14740131 (HY)\] from the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. The CCD operation of the Bronberg Observatory is partly sponsored by the Center for Backyard Astrophysics. The CCD operation by Peter Nelson is on loan from the AAVSO, funded by the Curry Foundation. This research has made use of the Digitized Sky Survey producted by STScI, the ESO Skycat tool, and the VizieR catalogue access tool.


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# Wetting to Non-wetting Transition in Sodium-Coated C60

## Abstract

Based on ab initio and density-functional theory calculations, an empirical potential is proposed to model the interaction between a fullerene molecule and many sodium atoms. This model predicts homogeneous coverage of C60 below 8 Na atoms, and a progressive droplet formation above this size. The effects of ionization, temperature, and external electric field indicate that the various, and apparently contradictory, experimental results can indeed be put into agreement.

Fullerene molecules are now commonly used as building blocks of complex materials having unusual physical and chemical properties c60review . The possibilities offered by molecules such as C60 or C70 in terms of electric or optical devices have laid ground for the rapidly expanding nanotechnology area. The interaction between fullerenes and alkali atoms has attracted a lot of attention after the discovery of superconductivity in the K3C60 solid hebard . Sodium-C60 compounds have also received much attention na4c60 ; na2c60 . More recently, several groups investigated experimentally the gas phase properties of exohedral alkali-C60 compounds wang ; martin ; palpant , to further predict the solid state of alkali-doped fullerite.

Using mass spectrometry, Martin and coworkers martin  inferred from the most stable “magic numbers” that sodium covers the C60 molecule in a continuous and homogeneous fashion, and that metallic bonding starts above 6 metal atoms. Palpant and coworkers palpant  deduced from photoelectron spectroscopy measurements that coating proceeds by trimers units rather than single atoms. They also estimated that metallic bonding only appears at $`n=13`$ sodium atoms. Very recently, Dugourd and coworkers dugourd  measured the electric polarizability of NanC60 clusters in the range $`1n34`$. They concluded that a sodium droplet is formed on the surface of the fullerene. These apparent contradictory results are surprising, as far as they rely on similar experimental conditions but different interpretations.

The situation is in fact even more intricate due to the variety of theoretical conclusions on the very same systems rubio ; hira1 ; hira2 ; hamamoto . With the exception of the study by Rubio and coworkers rubio , which assumes complete wetting of C60 by sodium in a continuous two-shell jellium description, the electronic structure calculations by Hira and Ray hira1 ; hira2 , and by Hamamoto et al. hamamoto  reach different conclusions as to whether the Na2 molecule remains as a dimer or dissociates into atoms, which locate on opposite sides of C60. At the unrestricted Hartree-Fock level, Hira and Ray find that charge transfer is negligible in NaC60, in apparent contradiction with experiments palpant ; dugourd , and also that Na2 remains as a dimer loosely bound to C60. On the other hand, the more realistic density-functional theory (DFT) calculations performed by Hamamoto and coworkers hamamoto  at the local density approximation level tend to favor regular coating, preferentially by trimers, in agreement with the picture of Palpant et al. palpant . However, all these ab initio investigations could only focus on very limited sets of chosen geometries, simply because global optimization on such complex energy landscapes is far beyond the current possibilities of fully quantum mechanical approaches. In addition, statistical and temperature effects still remain a major limitation in large scale simulations based on first principles.

To overcome the above difficulties, we have constructed an empirical, ab initio based atomistic model allowing systematic static and dynamical investigations in a large size range. Briefly, given the geometry $`𝐑=\{𝐫_i,𝐫_j^{}\}`$ of the NanC60Q system, with $`𝐫_i`$ Nan and $`𝐫_j^{}`$ C60, the total potential energy is written as

$$V(𝐑)=V_{\mathrm{Na}_n}(𝐫_i)+V_{\mathrm{C}_{60}}(𝐫_j^{})+V_{\mathrm{inter}}(𝐑)+V_{\mathrm{Coul}}(𝐑),$$
(1)
where $`V_{\mathrm{Na}_n}`$, $`V_{\mathrm{C}_{60}}`$, $`V_{\mathrm{inter}}`$, and $`V_{\mathrm{Coul}}`$ are the energies of sodium, C60, covalent interactions between Na and C60, and Coulomb interactions, respectively. Metallic forces in sodium are described by a simple many-body potential in the second-moment approximation of the electronic density of states in the tight-binding theory sma . Covalent forces in C60 were most often neglected, as the temperatures of interest are low enough ($`<300`$ K) to keep the fullerene rigid. We occasionaly checked the rigidity of C60 in some optimal structures with the Tersoff potential tersoff . The covalent interaction between sodium and carbon atoms was modelled as a pairwise repulsion term taken from ab initio calculations of the $`{}_{}{}^{4}\mathrm{\Pi }`$ state of the NaC molecule, and expressed as $`V_{\mathrm{NaC}}^{\mathrm{covalent}}(r)=D\mathrm{exp}(\alpha r)`$. To account for charge transfer, and to quantify the extent of ionic interaction in the system, fluctuating charges $`Q=\{q_i,q_j^{}\}`$, with $`q_i`$ Nan and $`q_j^{}`$ C60, were added to all atoms in the system. For any geometry $`𝐑`$, the charges are determined in order to minimize the global Coulomb interaction $`V_{\mathrm{Coul}}`$, which is equivalent to equalizing the effective electronegativities in the sense of Sanderson sanderson :

$`V_Q(𝐑)`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{i}{}}\epsilon _{\mathrm{Na}}q_i+{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}H_{\mathrm{Na}}q_i^2+{\displaystyle \underset{j}{}}\epsilon _\mathrm{C}q_j^{}+{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}H_\mathrm{C}q_{j}^{}{}_{}{}^{2}`$ (2)
$`+{\displaystyle \underset{i<i^{}}{}}J_{ii^{}}q_iq_i^{}+{\displaystyle \underset{j<j^{}}{}}J_{jj^{}}q_j^{}q_j^{}^{}`$
$`+{\displaystyle \underset{i,j}{}}J_{ij}q_iq_j^{}+\lambda \left({\displaystyle \underset{i}{}}q_i+{\displaystyle \underset{j}{}}q_j^{}Q\right).`$
In this equation, $`i`$ and $`j`$ label sodium and carbon atoms, respectively. $`\epsilon _{\mathrm{Na}}`$ and $`\epsilon _\mathrm{C}`$ are the respective electronegativities of sodium and carbon, $`H_{\mathrm{Na}}`$ and $`H_\mathrm{C}`$ their ‘hardnesses’, $`J_{ij}`$ the Coulomb interactions. The hardnesses parameters correspond to the on-site repulsion in the Hubbard model. The latter quantities were extracted from ab initio calculations of the Coulomb integrals. Due to the finite delocalization of the electrons, $`J_{ij}`$ does not diverge at short distances. We have used the simple expression $`J_{ij}(r)=\left[r^2+H_{ij}^2\mathrm{exp}(\gamma _{ij}r^2)\right]^{1/2}`$ to model the Coulomb parts of the Na–Na, C–C, and Na–C interactions. The hardnesses parameters $`H_{\mathrm{Na}}`$ and $`H_\mathrm{C}`$ are the $`r0`$ limits of $`J_{\mathrm{Na}\mathrm{Na}}`$ and $`J_{\mathrm{C}\mathrm{C}}`$. Finally, the Lagrange multiplier $`\lambda `$ in (2) ensures that the system carries a global charge $`Q`$. This electrostatic model was further improved by including 90 fixed charges, 60 on each carbon site with value $`\delta q`$, 30 on the middle of each C=C bond with value $`2\delta q`$. This was previously used by Schelkacheva Tareyeva in a study of bulk C60 fixedq .

The dynamical use of the full potential energy function is greatly facilitated by considering an extended Lagrangian where the fluctuating charges are treated as independent variables rick , in a way similar to the Car-Parrinello scheme carpar . This empirical model has 15 parameters, namely the 5 parameters of the SMA potential, the 2 parameters of the covalent Na–C interaction, the electronegativity difference $`\epsilon _\mathrm{C}\epsilon _{\mathrm{Na}}`$, the 6 parameters of the Coulomb interactions (including hardnesses), and the fixed charge $`\delta q`$. These parameters were obtained by minimizing an error function $`\chi ^2`$ to reproduce several properties independently evaluated by ab initio and DFT calculations roques  with the B3LYP nonlocal functional b3lyp . These properties are the charge transferred from sodium (0.87e) and the electric dipole (14.5 D) in NaC60, the energy difference between the two Na2C60 isomers with sodium atoms on adjacent or opposite hexagonal sites ($`\mathrm{\Delta }E=0.35`$ eV), and the binding energy and equilibrium distance in Na2 (resp. $`D_e=`$0.73 eV and $`R_e=`$3.08 Å). It should be noticed that these theoretical values agree well with the experimental data available dugourd . We also added to the error function a penalty term to reproduce the experimental electric polarizability of the C60 molecule (76.5 Å3 polarc60 ).

The lowest energy structures of NanC60 clusters were determined using a variant of the basin-hopping, or Monte Carlo + minimization algorithm bh , in which each sodium atom is offered a probability to rotate freely over the C60 surface, in addition to the usual random displacements moves. Some of the optimal structures are represented in Fig. 1 for

the sizes $`n=4`$, 7, 8, 12, and 20. Up to seven sodium atoms, the empirical model predicts “wetted” structures, where each alkali atom stays over an hexagonal site. In this regime, the Coulomb repulsion between the positive charges carried by the sodium atoms is minimized by keeping the atoms as far away as possible from each other. At the stage of 7 atoms, there is only little space left on the C60 surface to add an extra eighth isolated atom, and the energy gained in creating Na–Na bonds gets larger than the electrostatic penalty. This embryonic droplet further grows as new sodium atoms are incorporated, and progressively spreads over the C60 surface. Growth occasionally proceeds by removing one of the remaining isolated atoms on the side opposite to the droplet, and may eventually end in a single, big droplet. The largest system considered here, Na30C60, however, still shows one main droplet and two isolated atoms.

To provide a more complete interpretation of the experiments, we have considered the separate effects of temperature, ionization, and a possible external electric field on the transition between coated and segregated morphologies. Equilibrium dynamics at constant temperature was achieved by supplementing the extended Lagrangian with two sets of Nosé-Hoover chain thermostats nose , one set at the desired ionic temperature $`T`$, one set to keep the average kinetic energy of the charges to a low value $`T^{}=T/100`$. Thermostating the charges also prevents the fictitious dynamics to diverge too much from the adiabatic, Born-Oppenheimer type dynamics sprik . Diffusion constants were estimated from the slopes of the average mean square atomic displacements versus time in a set of 500 simulations at various temperatures in the range 25 K$`T`$300 K, with increments 25 K. In Fig. 2, these diffusion constants are represented for the sizes 4, 8, 12, and 20 as a function of $`1/T`$ in an Arrhenius plot. These plots provide us with estimates of the corresponding activation barriers, for which we find $`A400`$ K for all four sizes. At room temperature, sodium atoms thus show a significant mobility over the C60 surface. This agrees with the recent experimental findings on KC60 kc60 . To quantify the effect of temperature on the morphology in NanC60, we have calculated the average size of the largest sodium fragment. A fragment is here defined as a set of connected atoms, i.e. having at least one neighbor at a distance shorter than 8 bohr. The same geometrical observable was also computed at $`T=0`$ for neutral or singly charged molecules. In the case of charged systems, global optimization of NanC60+ and NanC60- without electric field was performed for sizes near the crossover, $`n12`$.

Lastly, we have compared the results without electric field and those with a homogeneous field of magnitude $`E=2.55\times 10^8`$ V.m-1 relevant to the experiments of Dugourd et al. dugourd , and at zero temperature. The corresponding data were averaged on 30 different orientations of the field, relative to the C60 geometry. Global optimization was carried out for each of these orientations. The variations of the largest fragment size $`N`$ against the total number of sodium atoms $`n`$ are plotted in Fig. 3. The rise of $`N`$ at the crossover size $`n^{}`$ marks the onset of droplet formation. As temperature increases, isolated atoms are more likely to meet either with each other or with the preexisting droplet. This lowers $`n^{}`$ by a visible amount. However, 300 K is a relatively high temperature for sodium clusters lying usually above their melting points haberland . Thus, external bonds are often broken in the course of the dynamics, which results in lowering $`N`$ at larger $`n`$. Ionizing the cluster can also strongly affect the crossover size $`n^{}`$: negatively charged molecules are more stable in segregated form due to a much lower Coulomb repulsion of the alkali atoms, and positively charged molecules are less stable and remain homogeneously coated up to $`n=10`$.

At the experimental value, a finite electric field disfavors regular location of the charges over the nearly spherical C60 surface. This yields more frequent metallic bonds. In addition, the lowest energy structures found for all field directions can also change significantly. For instance, as seen in Fig. 1, two sodium atoms get closer to one another, yet they still do not form a bond at 0 K.

Electric susceptibilities $`\chi `$ have been estimated with the present model using the high-temperature approximation to the Langevin theory for rigid dipoles undergoing orientational thermal fluctuations: $`\chi =\alpha +\mu ^2/3k_\mathrm{B}T`$. In this formula $`\alpha `$ is the static polarizability, $`k_\mathrm{B}`$ is the Boltzmann constant, and $`\mu `$ the electric dipole. The variations of $`\chi `$ with cluster size $`n`$ are shown in Fig. 4.

They qualitatively resemble the experimental data of Dugourd et al. dugourd , but lie somewhat lower than the actual measured values. This may first come from the parameterization. We tested this hypothesis by comparing the predictions of the present empirical model to single-point DFT calculations performed at the same geometry. The electric dipoles given in the inset of Fig. 4 show good agreement between the empirical and electronic structure estimates. We also note that the strong variations in the dipole reflect the changes in the molecular symmetry. It is also worth pointing out that the model predicts an energetical ordering of the isomers essentially similar to that found by Hamamoto et al. hamamoto  for the very restricted set of structures considered by these authors. Therefore, the quantitative difference between our results and the experimental data more likely comes from the Langevin formula, strictly valid for rigid dipoles. This approximation may be insufficient to describe the dipole fluctuations associated with the floppy character of the metal droplet. However, regarding the difference between the present results and the data obtained in Ref. dugourd, , adding several isolated atoms on the opposite side of the growing droplet decreases the dipole moment, hence the susceptibility. A fully dynamical simulation would probably be required to get a more quantitative agreement.

The present investigation shows that the appearance of metallic bonding corresponds to seeding a droplet, which progressively grows and captures remaining isolated atoms. This picture partly reconciles the apparently contradictory experimental interpretations martin ; palpant ; dugourd . The empirical potential was fitted to reproduce electronic structure calculations as well as some experimental data. By allowing large scale simulations and structural sampling unaccessible to quantum mechanical studies, we could estimate the crossover size between wetted and nonwetted morphologies to be located near 8 atoms. This is also the size range where the metallic transition can be estimated to occur. We have also been able to investigate how the crossover size depends on various effects such as charge or temperature.

The current limitations of the present empirical model are mostly due to the lack of an explicit account of electronic structure. Even though Coulomb repulsion should play an important role when only few sodium atoms are effectively charged but close to each other, shell closing can enhance stability in a local way. In particular, this could help in explaining why charged trimers remain stable. Such quantum effects are obviously beyond the fluctuating charges model, especially with its current training on purely neutral molecules. A next step could be a simple quantum tight-binding approach, which would include both covalent and charge transfer effects. However, a realistic tight-binding Hamiltonian for the NanC60 system would require $`240+n`$ electronic states (4 $`s+p`$ electrons for each carbon atom, 1 $`s`$ valence for each sodium atom). This is still too heavy for exhaustive sampling and large scale simulations. In addition, precise quantum effects are essentially expected at small sizes, and the role of a single charge on the structure and stability should decrease as the sodium droplet grows.

For large sizes, it would be interesting to study in more details how the physical and chemical properties of the sodium droplet are modified by the interaction with the C60 molecule. The influence of the C60 deformation and vibration on the metal cluster dynamics could also be an important issue. Use of the present model to treat other metals could help in understanding the differences observed in the experiments palpant ; dugourd ; antoine . Further extensions, including the treatment of endohedral or exohedral fullerenes, nanotubes or surfaces with materials possibly other than metals c60f48 ; stuart , could also be carried out.

The density functional calculations were performed using the GAUSSIAN98 software package gaussian . We thank CALMIP for a generous allocation of computer resources.


text: # 1 Selection 1. ϕ_(𝛾,𝑗𝑒𝑡)=180^∘±15^∘. UA1 algorithm. 𝐿_{𝑖𝑛𝑡}=3𝑓𝑏⁻¹


text:
# References

## Captions

Fig. 1: Current spin polarization (upper plots) and interface resistance (lower plots) of Fe/ZnSe(001) (left panel) and Fe/GaAs(001) (right panel), as functions of the Schottky barrier thickness. The solid curves refer to the cases of Zn and Ga termination, and the dashed to Se and As termination at the interface. The values are obtained by an integration over the whole SBZ. Note the different scales in the $`y`$ axes.

Fig. 2: Local DOS of the Fe/ZnSe(001) at $`𝐤_{}=0`$ with a Zn (upper plot) and a Se (lower plot) terminated interface. The filled gray lines denote the DOS of bulk Fe, the solid lines the DOS for the interface Fe layer, and the dashed lines the DOS of the first ML of ZnSe (Zn ML for the upper plot and Se ML for the lower). The vertical lines indicate the gap region in the ZnSe and in between is the position of the Fermi level. In this plot, the potential is in the ground state position with no Schottky barrier inserted.


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# Untitled Document

IFUP-TH 2002-26

Gravitational deflection of light

and helicity asymmetry

E. GUADAGNINI

Dipartimento di Fisica Enrico Fermi dell’Università di Pisa

and INFN Sezione di Pisa

Via F. Buonarroti, 2. 56100 - PISA - Italy

Abstract. The helicity modification of light polarization which is induced by the gravitational deflection from a classical heavy rotating body, like a star or a planet, is considered. The expression of the helicity asymmetry is derived; this asymmetry signals the gravitationally induced spin transfer from the rotating body to the scattered photons.

E-Mail: guada@df.unipi.it

1. The asymmetry. Gyroscopic effects in gravity, like the Lens-Thirring  and the Skrotskii effect  have been the subject of considerable research . In this article I shall consider a related issue; namely, the helicity modification of the light polarization which is induced by the gravitational deflection from a classical heavy rotating source, like a star or a planet. The transition amplitude of the gravitational scattering for the different polarization states of the photons will be computed. It turns out that, because of the nonvanishing angular momentum of the classical source, the transition probabilities which are associated with the two helicity states of the deflected photons may differ. As a result, even if the incoming radiation is not polarized, the deflected photons may have a nontrivial elliptic polarization corresponding to a nonvanishing total intrinsic spin. In order to illustrate this phenomenon, let us consider for instance the light deflected from the Sun. As shown in Figure 1, suppose that the incoming flux of unpolarized photons is directed as the angular momentum vector of the Sun.

do{

Figure 1. Light deflection.

Let $`n_+(\theta )`$ ($`n_{}(\theta )`$) be the number of deflected photons with helicity $`+1`$ ($`1`$) at the scattering angle $`\theta `$. Then, the prediction for the helicity asymmetry $`\chi (\theta )`$ is

$$\chi (\theta )\frac{n_+(\theta )n_{}(\theta )}{n_+(\theta )+n_{}(\theta )}\mathrm{\hspace{0.33em}2}\pi \frac{J\theta ^2}{Mc\lambda },$$
$`(1)`$
where $`J`$ denotes the magnitude of the angular momentum of the Sun, $`M`$ represents its mass, and $`\lambda `$ is the wave length of the electromagnetic radiation. By inserting the values $`J10^{40}`$ kg m2/s , $`\theta 4\times 10^6`$, $`\lambda 5\times 10^7`$ m , one finds

$$\chi \mathrm{\hspace{0.33em}0.33}\%,$$
$`(2)`$
which appears to be suitable for an experimental verification. The derivation of equation (1) and a few comments on its possible applications are in order.

2. The computation. Let us consider effective quantum gravity , which provides the natural quantum field theory interpretation of Einstein’s theory of gravitation. Effective quantum gravity is a phenomenological theory which can be understood as the gravitational analogue of the Fermi theory of the beta decay for weak interactions. The spacetime metric $`g_{\mu \nu }(x)`$ of general relativity is written as $`g_{\mu \nu }(x)=\eta _{\mu \nu }+h_{\mu \nu }(x)`$, where $`\eta _{\mu \nu }`$ represents the Minkowski metric of flat spacetime; in cartesian coordinates $`\{x^\mu =(x^0,\stackrel{}{x})\}`$, $`\eta _{\mu \nu }`$ takes the standard diagonal form $`\mathrm{diag}.(\eta _{\mu \nu })=(+1,1,1,1)`$. The effective quantum field theory description of gravity is based on a perturbative expansion in powers of $`h_{\mu \nu }`$. In the following computation, the standard conventions $`\mathrm{}=c=1`$ will be adopted.

$``$ Gravitational couplings. In the large distance limit and to first order in $`v/c`$, the coupling of the fluctuation field $`h_{\mu \nu }(x)`$ with a classical heavy rotating body, which is subject to stationary conditions and is placed in position $`\stackrel{}{r}`$, is given by the action term

$$\begin{array}{cc}\hfill S_{(1)}& =\frac{1}{2}d^4x\mathrm{\Theta }^{\mu \nu }(\stackrel{}{x})h_{\mu \nu }(x)\hfill \\ & =\frac{1}{2}d^4x\left[Mh_{00}(x)+ϵ^{ijk}J_i_jh_{0k}(x)\right]\delta ^3(\stackrel{}{x}\stackrel{}{r}),\hfill \end{array}$$
$`(3)`$
where $`M`$ denotes the mass of the body and $`\{J_i\}`$ are the components of its total angular momentum. The interaction of the metric fluctuation $`h_{\mu \nu }(x)`$ with photons is described by the energy-momentum coupling

$$S_{(2)}=\frac{1}{2}d^4yT^{\mu \nu }(y)h_{\mu \nu }(y),$$
$`(4)`$
with

$$T^{\mu \nu }(y)=F^{\mu \sigma }(y)F_\sigma ^\nu (y)+\frac{1}{4}\eta ^{\mu \nu }F_{\lambda \sigma }(y)F^{\lambda \sigma }(y).$$
$`(5)`$
$``$ Gravitational scattering. The gravitational scattering of one photon from a classical heavy rotating body is quite similar to the Rutherford scattering of one electron from a fixed Coulomb potential in electrodynamics. Suppose that, in the initial state, the photon has momentum $`\stackrel{}{p}`$ and polarization $`\alpha `$; $`|\mathrm{in}=|\stackrel{}{p},\alpha =a^+(\stackrel{}{p},\alpha )|0`$ where $`a^+(\stackrel{}{p},\alpha )`$ is the creation operator of the photon. Let $`\stackrel{}{k}`$ and $`\beta `$ be the final momentum and polarization of the photon. At the tree-level, the amplitude $`A`$ of this particular “newtonian scattering” is given by

$$A=\frac{i^2}{4}d^4xd^4y\mathrm{\Theta }^{\lambda \sigma }(\stackrel{}{x})\begin{array}{c}\text{ }\text{ }\text{ }\text{ }\hfill \\ h_{\lambda \sigma }(x)h\hfill \end{array}_{\mu \nu }(y)\stackrel{}{k},\beta |T^{\mu \nu }(y)|\stackrel{}{p},\alpha .$$
$`(6)`$
By using the Einstein-Hilbert action for the metric field $`g_{\mu \nu }(x)=\eta _{\mu \nu }+h_{\mu \nu }(x)`$, one can derive the expression of the graviton propagator which, in Feynman gauge, takes the form

$$\begin{array}{c}\text{ }\text{ }\text{ }\text{ }\hfill \\ h^{\mu \nu }(x)h\hfill \end{array}_{\tau \sigma }(y)=i(16\pi G)\frac{d^4p}{(2\pi )^4}\frac{e^{ip(xy)}}{p^2+iϵ}\left(\delta _\tau ^\mu \delta _\sigma ^\nu +\delta _\sigma ^\mu \delta _\tau ^\nu \eta ^{\mu \nu }\eta _{\tau \sigma }\right).$$
$`(7)`$
$``$ Transition amplitude. Because of the invariance under time translations, energy is conserved and then $`|\stackrel{}{k}|=|\stackrel{}{p}|=p`$. The momentum transfer of the diffusion process is described by the vector $`(\stackrel{}{k}\stackrel{}{p})`$ which has magnitude $`|\stackrel{}{k}\stackrel{}{p}|=2p\mathrm{sin}\theta /2`$ where $`\theta `$ denotes the scattering angle. Let $`\stackrel{}{\epsilon }_\alpha `$ and $`\stackrel{}{\epsilon }_\beta `$ be the polarization vectors of the incoming and outcoming photon respectively. The transition amplitude (6) can be written as

$$A=\frac{iGM\delta (|\stackrel{}{k}||\stackrel{}{p}|)}{\pi p|\stackrel{}{k}\stackrel{}{p}|^2}\left(B_1+B_2\right),$$
$`(8)`$
where

$$B_1=\frac{1}{2}|\stackrel{}{k}+\stackrel{}{p}|^2\left(\stackrel{}{\epsilon }_\beta ^{}\stackrel{}{\epsilon }_\alpha \right)\left(\stackrel{}{p}\stackrel{}{\epsilon }_\beta ^{}\right)\left(\stackrel{}{k}\stackrel{}{\epsilon }_\alpha \right),$$
$`(9)`$
$$B_2=\frac{ip}{M}ϵ^{ijk}J_i\left(\stackrel{}{k}\stackrel{}{p}\right)_j\left[\left(\stackrel{}{k}+\stackrel{}{p}\right)_k\left(\stackrel{}{\epsilon }_\beta ^{}\stackrel{}{\epsilon }_\alpha \right)(\stackrel{}{\epsilon }_\alpha )_k\left(\stackrel{}{p}\stackrel{}{\epsilon }_\beta ^{}\right)(\stackrel{}{\epsilon }_\beta ^{})_k\left(\stackrel{}{k}\stackrel{}{\epsilon }_\alpha \right)\right].$$
$`(10)`$
Let us introduce a basis of linear polarizations for the photons. The scattering plane can be identified with the $`xy`$-plane; more precisely, the components of the initial and final momenta are taken to be $`\stackrel{}{p}=(p,0,0)`$ and $`\stackrel{}{k}=(p\mathrm{cos}\theta ,p\mathrm{sin}\theta ,0)`$. Thus, one can put

$$\stackrel{}{\epsilon }_\alpha (1)=(0,1,0),\stackrel{}{\epsilon }_\alpha (2)=(0,0,1),\stackrel{}{\epsilon }_\beta (1)=(\mathrm{sin}\theta ,\mathrm{cos}\theta ,0),\stackrel{}{\epsilon }_\beta (2)=(0,0,1).$$

The amplitude can then be written in matrix form with respect to the polarization states

$$\left[\begin{array}{cc}(1)_\alpha (1)_\beta & (1)_\alpha (2)_\beta \\ (2)_\alpha (1)_\beta & (2)_\alpha (2)_\beta \end{array}\right].$$

One finds

$$A=\frac{iGM\delta (|\stackrel{}{k}||\stackrel{}{p}|)\mathrm{cos}\theta /2}{2\pi p\mathrm{sin}^2\theta /2}\left[\begin{array}{cc}\mathrm{cos}\theta /2i\frac{2pJ_3}{M}\mathrm{sin}\theta /2& i\frac{2p\stackrel{~}{J}}{M}\mathrm{sin}^2\theta /2\\ i\frac{2p\stackrel{~}{J}}{M}\mathrm{sin}^2\theta /2& \mathrm{cos}\theta /2i\frac{2pJ_3}{M}\mathrm{sin}\theta /2\end{array}\right]$$
$`(11)`$
where $`J_3`$ is the component of the angular momentum of the source which is orthogonal to the scattering plane whereas $`\stackrel{~}{J}`$, given by

$$\stackrel{~}{J}=J_1\mathrm{cos}\theta /2+J_2\mathrm{sin}\theta /2,$$
$`(12)`$
is the component of the angular momentum which belongs to the scattering plane and is orthogonal to $`(\stackrel{}{k}\stackrel{}{p})`$. Note that the $`J_3`$-contribution to the amplitude is proportional to the identity matrix; so, the component $`J_3`$ does not modify the polarization state of the photons.

Now, the newtonian scattering we wish to analyze is similar but not equal to the Coulomb scattering of electrons. In the gravitational deflection of light from a star or a planet, the typical wavelength of the photon is very small if compared to the distance of the photon from the source or the size of the source. In practice, the wave packet associated with the orbital state of the photon moves in an “almost constant” gravitational potential. In the limiting case of an “exactly constant” external potential, the momentum transfer would vanish. Consequently, in order to extract from expression (11) the part $`A_{\mathrm{rel}}`$ of the transition amplitude which is relevant for light deflection, one must consider the $`(\stackrel{}{k}\stackrel{}{p})0`$ limit. The vector $`(\stackrel{}{k}\stackrel{}{p})`$ has magnitude $`|\stackrel{}{k}\stackrel{}{p}|=2p\mathrm{sin}\theta /2`$; since energy is fixed, $`p`$ is fixed and thus the $`(\stackrel{}{k}\stackrel{}{p})0`$ limit is equivalent to the $`\theta 0`$ limit. The leading term of each matrix element of the amplitude (11) in the formal $`\theta 0`$ limit gives

$$A_{\mathrm{rel}}=\frac{i\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}4}GM\delta (|\stackrel{}{k}||\stackrel{}{p}|)}{2\pi p\theta ^2}\left[\begin{array}{cc}1& iJ_1p\theta ^2/2M\\ iJ_1p\theta ^2/2M& 1\end{array}\right].$$
$`(13)`$
It will now be assumed that expression (13) represents the relevant transition amplitude for the gravitational deflection of light. The component $`J_1`$ of angular momentum which enters equation (13) simply denotes the component of angular momentum which is parallel to the incoming momentum $`\stackrel{}{p}`$. Thus, one really has $`J_1=(\stackrel{}{J}\stackrel{}{p})/|\stackrel{}{p}|`$.

As a first check, let us consider the differential cross section; in the $`\theta 0`$ limit, equation (13) implies

$$\frac{d\sigma }{d\mathrm{\Omega }}=\frac{16G^2M^2}{\theta ^4}.$$
$`(14)`$
On the other hand, in the semiclassical limit the cross section takes the form

$$\frac{d\sigma }{d\mathrm{\Omega }}\frac{b}{\theta }\left|\frac{db}{d\theta }\right|,$$
$`(15)`$
where $`b`$ is the impact parameter. By comparing expressions (14) and (15), one finds

$$\theta \frac{4GM}{b},$$
$`(16)`$
which is in agreement with the prediction based on classical arguments .

$``$ Helicity states. Let us now concentrate on photon polarizations. According to the result (13), if the polarization state of the incoming photon is described by $`\stackrel{}{\epsilon }_\alpha (1)=(0,1,0)`$ then, in the $`\theta 0`$ limit, the polarization vector $`\stackrel{}{\epsilon }`$ of the deflected photon is

$$\stackrel{}{\epsilon }\stackrel{}{\epsilon }_\beta (1)+i\left(\stackrel{}{J}\stackrel{}{p}\theta ^2/2M\right)\stackrel{}{\epsilon }_\beta (2),$$
$`(17)`$
which corresponds to elliptic polarization. This phenomenon differs from the Skrotskii effect which only concerns the rotation angle of the transported electric field direction. For the outcoming photons, let us introduce the polarization vectors $`\stackrel{}{\epsilon }_\beta (\pm )`$ corresponding to polarization states with $`\pm 1`$ helicity

$$\stackrel{}{\epsilon }_\beta (\pm )=\frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}\left(\stackrel{}{\epsilon }_\beta (1)\pm i\stackrel{}{\epsilon }_\beta (2)\right).$$
$`(18)`$
Then relation (17) takes the form

$$\stackrel{}{\epsilon }\frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}\left[\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}1}+\left(\stackrel{}{J}\stackrel{}{p}\theta ^2/2M\right)\right]\stackrel{}{\epsilon }_\beta (+)+\frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}\left[1\left(\stackrel{}{J}\stackrel{}{p}\theta ^2/2M\right)\right]\stackrel{}{\epsilon }_\beta ().$$
$`(19)`$
Assuming $`\left(\stackrel{}{J}\stackrel{}{p}\theta ^2/2M\right)1`$, the probability $`w(\pm )`$ of detecting a scattered photon with helicity $`\pm 1`$ is

$$w(\pm )\frac{1}{2}\pm \left(\stackrel{}{J}\stackrel{}{p}\theta ^2/2M\right).$$
$`(20)`$
Consequently, when the initial polarization is described by $`\stackrel{}{\epsilon }_\alpha (1)`$, one has

$$w(+)w()\left(\stackrel{}{J}\stackrel{}{p}\theta ^2/M\right).$$
$`(21)`$
It is easy to verify that, when the initial polarization is described by $`\stackrel{}{\epsilon }_\alpha (2)=(0,0,1)`$, equation (21) is still valid. This concludes the derivation of the helicity asymmetry expression (1) for the gravitational deflection of light.

3. Gravitational spin transfer. The helicity asymmetry is originated by a nontrivial angular momentum of the deflecting body. A simple argument explains the structure of expression (1). Consider the coupling (3) of the classical source with the metric fluctuation $`h_{\mu \nu }`$. With respect to the gravitational mass term $`Mh_{00}`$, which does not induce helicity modifications, the angular momentum term $`ϵ^{ijk}J_i_jh_{0k}`$ has strength $`J/M`$ times the magnitude $`p\theta `$ of the momentum transfer which corresponds to the spatial derivative acting on $`h_{0k}`$. In standard $`\mathrm{}=c=1`$ units, the value $`p`$ of the momentum of the photon equals $`\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}2}\pi /\lambda `$. Consequently, the non-diagonal matrix elements of the transition amplitude must be of order $`\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}2}\pi J\theta /M\lambda `$ (at least) with respect to the diagonal elements. The actual computation shows that non-diagonal matrix elements contain an extra multiplicative $`\theta `$ factor. Because of the spatial derivative acting on $`h_{0k}`$, the contribution of the lagrangian term $`ϵ^{ijk}J_i_jh_{0k}`$ to the transition amplitude must contain the imaginary unit $`i=\sqrt{1}`$ with respect to the remaining part, and this implies the occurrence of helicity flips during the scattering. Finally, the sign of the asymmetry is fixed by consistency; in agreement with the results of the computations, the spin excess of the deflected photons must be directed as the angular momentum vector of the source.

The phenomenon associated with equation (1) can be understood as a gravitationally induced spin transfer from a classical rotating body to the scattered photons. Even if expression (1) does not contain $`\mathrm{}`$, it is not obvious how to explain this spin transfer in purely classical terms. Formula (1) has been obtained by using the simplest modelling of the gravitational scattering and can be improved by taking into account the particular details of real macroscopic bodies. Finally, it is important to note that the asymmetry (1) corresponds to the vacuum optical activity; in practice, ordinary electromagnetic effects must also be considered.

In principle, the gravitationally induced spin transfer from a classical rotating body to photons appears to be one of the simplest tests of the existence of gyroscopic effects in gravity. This does not necessarily mean that the actual experimental verification of this phenomenon will be an easy task. For example, electromagnetic contributions to the helicity asymmetry should be clearly identified. In the context of gravitational lensing, the gravitational helicity asymmetry could be used to determine the magnitude of the angular momentum of rotating galaxies.

Aspects of the light propagation in various spacetimes have been discussed for instance by L. Blanchet, S. Kopeikin and G. Schafer, M.P. Haung and C. Lammerzahl, and Wei-Tou Ni in ref.; additional material can be found in \[8,-,11\] and referenced quoted therein. Recently, classical gravitomagnetic effects have been considered also in .

I wish to thank Steven Shore for useful discussions.

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