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# Kinematics of Planetary Nebulae in M51’s Tidal Debris

## 1 Introduction

The “Whirlpool Galaxy,” M51 (NGC 5194, 5195)111Throughout this paper, we use the designation M51 when considering both galaxies as a complete system; when referencing the system’s individual components, we use NGC 5194 and NGC 5195. is probably the most famous of all interacting galaxy systems. As a nearby system ($`d=8.4\pm 0.6`$ Mpc; Feldmeier, Ciardullo, & Jacoby, 1997, hereafter FCJ) with grand-design spiral morphology (Rosse 1845; see Rosse 1880), distorted outer isophotes (Zwicky, 1959; Burkhead, 1978), and an apparent bridge-like feature between the primary, NGC 5194, and the secondary, NGC 5195, M51 has been extensively studied as an example of tidally induced spiral structure (e.g., Tully, 1974; Scoville & Young, 1983; Rots et al., 1990; Zaritsky, Rix, & Rieke, 1993). In fact, the wealth and detail of the observational data has made M51 a favorite target for dynamical modeling, starting with the seminal work of Toomre & Toomre (1972). In the Toomre & Toomre (1972) study, many of the tidal features of the M51 system were explained by a parabolic encounter of two galaxies with mass ratio of 3:1 viewed shortly after the initial collision. Since then, in response to the ever-increasing amount of observational data on the system, a number of alternate scenarios have been proposed (Toomre, 1978; Howard & Byrd, 1990; Hernquist, 1990; Barnes, 1998; Salo & Laurikainen, 2000).

Despite M51’s long history of dynamical modeling, significant uncertainties in the basic description of the system remain. While the original Toomre & Toomre (1972) study proposed a very recent ($`100`$ Myr) collision, the discovery of M51’s long H I tidal tail (Rots et al., 1990) shifted the preferred solution to somewhat later times (several hundred Myr past the initial collision) in order to give the tail more time to develop (Hernquist, 1990). More recently, Salo & Laurikainen (2000) have suggested that a multiple passage model might be more appropriate for the system. Such a scenario appears to do a better job of explaining NGC 5194’s H I velocity field, although the predicted structure for the H I tidal tail is more complex than is observed.

Furthermore, the simulations of Salo & Laurikainen (2000) used rigid halo models, which do not self-consistently follow the orbital evolution of the system. Because the multiple passage model relies on orbital decay to provide the proper second passage, the lack of a self-consistent solution remains a concern for these models. As a result, these models have not followed the full dynamical response of the system (Salo & Laurikainen, 2000). Consequently, no single scenario satisfactorily explains all of the system’s observational data (see the discussion in Barnes, 1998).

One reason for the continuing uncertainty about the M51 system is the lack of kinematic information for the companion galaxy. Unlike NGC 5194, NGC 5195 contains no neutral hydrogen, so the only kinematic data we have on NGC 5195 comes from measurements of the stellar kinematics of the system’s inner disk (Schweizer, 1977). Since tidal kinematics provide strong constraints for dynamical models of interacting galaxies (e.g., Hibbard & Mihos, 1995), this dearth of information at large radii is a significant stumbling block for unraveling the evolutionary history of the system.

In principle, there is another dynamical tracer which can reveal the kinematic structure of M51’s tidal debris — planetary nebulae (PNe). Since PNe are a normal and common phase of stellar evolution, their spatial distribution and kinematics closely follows that of the stellar component as a whole. As a result, surveys for PNe can trace the distribution of stars to lower surface densities than is possible with diffuse light. More importantly, PNe are extremely luminous emission-line sources. At the distance of M51 ($`d=8.4\pm 0.6`$ Mpc; FCJ), PNe surveys with 4-m class telescopes can reach $`2`$ mag down the planetary nebula luminosity function, and the velocity of each PN can be measured to $`10`$ km s-1 accuracy. This makes PNe uniquely useful as a kinematical probe of diffuse tidal structures, such as those found in the M51 system.

In 1997, FCJ surveyed M51 for planetary nebulae in order to obtain a distance to the system via the planetary nebula luminosity function. This survey found a substantial number of PNe directly west-southwest of NGC 5195 in a tidal tail-like structure. At first, this discovery was a bit of a surprise, since the deep broadband images of Burkhead (1978) place the western tail of NGC 5195 more to the northwest, and not at the location of these planetaries. However, numerical models (e.g.,Toomre 1994, as reported by Barnes, 1998; Salo & Laurikainen, 2000) do predict the presence of tidal material from NGC 5194 in the region where the planetaries are located.

In order to study this feature in more detail, and to provide kinematic data on the diffuse tidal structures surrounding M51, we have conducted a radial velocity survey of a significant fraction of the FCJ planetary nebula sample. The ultimate goal of these observations is to provide a more complete description of the kinematics of the M51 system, and test whether the kinematics of NGC 5195’s tidal features are consistent with the extant models. Interestingly, our PN velocities reveal significant kinematic substructure in the diffuse material to the west of NGC 5195; this fact, combined with differences in the spatial distribution of the region’s PNe and diffuse light, implies that the observed tidal tail consists of two distinct but overlapping features. We interpret these data in the light of published models and our own new N-body model.

The outline of our paper is as follows: in §2 we detail the original imaging and follow-up spectroscopic observations. In §3, we describe our data reduction and the determination of the planetary nebula velocities. In §4 and 5, we describe the kinematic structure of M51’s western tidal tail, and compare the data to a new simulation which follows the response of both NGC 5194 and its companion. In §6, we describe two unusual objects whose properties are significantly different from the bulk of the planetaries, and discuss their implications. Finally, in §7, we summarize our results.

## 2 Observations

The detection of M51’s planetary nebula candidates was reported in full in FCJ: here we briefly summarize their results. The original data were taken with the KPNO 4 m telescope and the T2KB detector. PN candidates were defined as point sources detected manually that were present on co-added images taken through a redshifted \[O III\] $`\lambda 5007`$ filter (central wavelength 5017 Å, full-width-half-maximum 31 Å), but not present on similarly co-added frames taken through a broader (275 Å FWHM) off-band filter ($`\lambda _c=5300`$ Å). Thus, at M51’s systemic velocity (463 km s-1; Schweizer, 1977), the survey was sensitive to emission-line objects with $`750<v<1100`$ km s-1. In addition, all PN candidates had to be completely invisible on complementary $`R`$-band and H$`\alpha `$ images; this requirement helped discriminate true PNe from compact H II regions and supernova remnants. A total of 64 PN candidates were detected in the survey; the location of these objects are displayed in the left panel of Figure 1. As the figure indicators, 45 of the candidate PNe project onto a tail-like structure to the west of NGC 5195. These PNe do not simply follow the low-surface brightness features seen in the deep image of Burkhead (1978); the PNe extend much further west of the galaxy. To illustrate this effect, the right panel of Figure 1 shows a logarithmic stretching of the FCJ off-band image, binned $`5\times 5`$ pixels to enhance the faint tidal features.

Also of note in Figure 1 is the paucity of PN candidates in the visible disk of NGC 5194. As noted by FCJ, this is due to the high surface brightness of the spiral arms, and the confusion caused by the system’s many line-emitting H II regions and supernova remnants. However, outside the disk, the FCJ survey is uniform and complete. FCJ confirmed this by adding artificial stars to the M51 onband frame and determining the completeness limit, where the rate of recovery begins to decline. The lack of PN candidates southeast and due west of NGC 5194 is real: there is an absence of stellar material in these regions.

### 2.1 Improved Astrometry of M51’s Planetaries

In FCJ, astrometry of M51’s PN candidates was performed using the positions of stars in the Hubble Space Telescope Guide Star Catalog (GSC; Lasker et al., 1990). Unfortunately, in most cases, the CCD images of these stars were saturated; this forced FCJ to derive their PN coordinates using a set of secondary standards measured on digitized images of the Palomar Sky Survey. Although the formal rms error of this procedure was $`0\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}49`$, a two-step process such as this is clearly susceptible to systematic error.

To reduce this error and maximize the signal-to-noise of our spectroscopy, we re-derived the astrometry for M51’s PN candidates using the more precise and much higher density USNO-A 2.0 astrometric catalog (Monet et al., 1996; Monet, 1998) and the FINDER astrometric package from IRAF222IRAF is distributed by the National Optical Astronomy Observatory, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation.. The new coordinates, as well as the previously measured $`m_{5007}`$ magnitudes, are given in Table 1; the rms error of our astrometry is $`0\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}4`$. Note that our PN positions are significantly different from those given by FCJ: not only is there a systematic offset between the GSC and USNO catalogs ($`3\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}7`$ in right ascension and +$`0\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}3`$ in declination), but there are also noticeable position-dependent terms in the GSC-based astrometry. We attribute this difference to the very small number (13) of GSC stars available for the original astrometric measurements, and the complex spatial distortions of the old KPNO 4 m prime focus corrector (Jacoby et al., 1998).

### 2.2 WIYN Spectroscopic Observations

On UT 16 May 2001 we used the WIYN 3.5 m telescope to measure the radial velocities of 43 of M51’s planetary nebula candidates. The specific instrument configuration consisted of the Hydra fiber positioner with $`2\mathrm{}`$ diameter red-sensitive fibers, the WIYN’s telescope’s bench spectrograph, and a 600 lines mm-1 grating blazed at $`10\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}1`$ in first order. This setup yielded spectra covering the wavelength range between 4400 Å and 7200 Å at 2.8 Å (168 km s-1) resolution with a 1.4 Å pixel-1 dispersion.

Our data were collected in two fiber setups, the first targeted for 29 PNe (plus 3 sky fibers), the second for 27 PNe (plus 3 sky fibers). The exposure times for these setups were 90 min ($`3\times 30`$ min) and 120 min ($`4\times 30`$ min), respectively. To provide a check on the repeatability of our measurements, 14 PN candidates were observed twice through different fibers. Five candidate PNe were not detected in our survey; we expect these were likely missed due to fiber positioning errors, poor astrometry, or low fiber throughput333While it is strictly possible that some of these candidates were spurious detections (eg. cosmic rays), all candidates from FCJ were visually inspected and confirmed to be stellar, making this hypothesis unlikely.. This left us with a total of 37 objects for further analysis.

The wavelength calibration for each spectrum was provided by a CuAr comparison arc taken immediately before each observation. In addition, to test our ability to centroid the weak lines of M51 PNe, we also obtained a set of CuAr arcs at two different exposures, 10 s and 60 s. By comparing measurements of weak arc lines (i.e., lines comparable in strength to the \[O III\] $`\lambda 5007`$ emission feature of M51 PNe) to measurements of the same lines taken at six times the exposure level, we placed a limit on the internal errors associated with our velocity measurements. Our centroiding uncertainty was typically 0.1 to 0.15 pixels, or less than 0.1 of a resolution element. This implies an expected velocity error for our measurements of $`<20`$ km s-1.

## 3 Data Reduction and Analysis

The individual Hydra images were first pre-processed (bias subtracted and flat-fielded) with the DOHYDRA routine within IRAF, and then averaged together with SCOMBINE. A dispersion relation for each spectrum was then obtained by fitting 14 bright spectral lines on the CuAr arc spectrum with a 4-th order spline; the resulting solution had a 0.02 Å rms error. Once this was done, the spectra of our three sky fibers were averaged and then subtracted from those of our program objects to create a sky-subtracted spectrum for each planetary. Finally, the spectra of the 14 objects observed with both setups were combined to increase their signal-to-noise.

After completing these reduction procedures, we examined each spectrum for the presence of an unresolved emission line at the approximate location of \[O III\] $`\lambda 5007`$ at the redshift of the galaxies. Of the 42 PN candidates observed, 36 had this feature, and $`23`$ also showed evidence for the weaker \[O III\] line at $`\lambda 4959`$. In addition, one PN candidate (observed with both setups) exhibited a single, broad ($`350`$ km s-1 FWHM) emission feature; this object is probably a background object and is discussed in §6.1. Figure 2 displays the PN spectra in the wavelength region about \[O III\] $`\lambda 5007`$.

Velocities were determined for the PN candidates by assuming the unresolved emission line near 5015 Å is, indeed, redshifted \[O III\] $`\lambda 5007`$, and centroiding the line with the SPLOT routine in IRAF. To avoid degrading the signal-to-noise, these measurements were carried out on the spectra prior to sky subtraction; this makes absolutely no difference to the analysis, as the sky around 5000 Å in our spectra is completely negligible, and velocities derived before and after sky subtraction showed no measurable difference. The PN velocities, corrected for the Earth’s motion about the Sun, are listed in Table 1. Table 1 also notes those PN candidates that were not detected in our survey. Note that the tabulated velocities are based entirely on the emission line at \[O III\] $`\lambda 5007`$. Although the weaker lines of \[O III\] $`\lambda 4959`$ and H$`\alpha `$ were detected in a number of spectra, the signal-to-noise of these lines were too low for an accurate velocity measurement.

To confirm our identification of the $`\lambda 5015`$ emission line as redshifted \[O III\] $`\lambda 5007`$, we used the velocities of Table 1 to shift each spectrum back into its rest frame. We then scaled the spectra so that all the putative $`\lambda 5007`$ lines had the same weight, and summed the data to create one single composite spectrum. This spectrum is displayed in Figure 3. The left-hand panel of the figure clearly shows both \[O III\] $`\lambda 5007`$ and \[O III\] $`\lambda 4959`$. Despite the fact that the system throughput is decreasing rapidly shortward of 5000 Å, the ratio of the two oxygen lines (3.2:1) is nearly identical to that expected from atomic physics (2.98; Storey & Zeippen, 2000). This ratio confirms that virtually all the observed objects are emission line objects associated with M51 (see Freeman et al. 2000 for a similar analysis on Virgo cluster PN spectra). The presence of H$`\alpha `$ and \[N II\] $`\lambda \lambda 6548,6584`$ in the right hand panel of Figure 3 provides additional evidence for this interpretation. The relatively strong \[N II\] to H$`\alpha `$ ratio ($``$ 0.7) may suggest a fairly high abundance in the stars associated with the PNe in M51, as was seen in M32 (Stasinska, Richer & McCall, 1998).

To estimate the random uncertainty associated with our velocity measurements, we used the sub-sample of PNe observed with both Hydra setups. Fourteen PN were observed twice. Of these, 12 had their \[O III\] $`\lambda 5007`$ emission detected in both setups, one was detected only in Setup 2, and one had a broad, asymmetrical emission line that was unsuitable for the experiment. A comparison of the velocities derived from the individual spectra of the 12 objects appears in Table 2. In general, the agreement between the two setups is excellent: if we ignore the highly discrepant velocity difference for PN 11, the mean difference between Setup 1 and Setup 2 is $`0\pm 4`$ km s-1, and the dispersion is 12 km s-1. Thus the velocity error in a single spectrum is 8 km s-1 if the measurements are completely uncorrelated; however, we expect this is not quite the case, and the true error will lie between 8 km s-1 and 12 km s-1. We have adopted the upper limit of 12 km s-1 as the measurement error of our derived velocities.

Figure 4 shows the locations of the spectroscopically-measured PNe overlaid on the \[O III\] image of FCJ. The PN velocities are denoted by color. The most striking feature of the figure is the velocity structure of the low surface-brightness tail just west of NGC 5195. As the histogram of Figure 5 indicates, the distribution is distinctly bimodal. Two thirds of the PNe in this region have radial velocities greater than the systemic velocity of either galaxy in the interaction (463 km s-1 for NGC 5194; 600 km s-1 for NGC 5195; Schweizer, 1977). Conversely, the velocities of the remaining PNe are at or below systemic velocity of NGC 5194. This bimodal behavior contrasts with the broad but generally unimodal velocity distribution exhibited by the PNe east of NGC 5195 and in the outer disk of NGC 5194; these objects generally have velocities somewhere between the two systemic velocities. Since no H I is present in the western tidal tail of M51, the bimodal distribution of Figure 5 is the first measurement of velocity substructure in the region.

## 4 The Kinematic Structure of the Western Tail

The velocity field of the PNe of M51 is complex. This is particularly apparent in the western tail of NGC 5195, where one sees a multi-modal distribution of velocities. Figure 6 illustrates the velocity structure by displaying the distribution of PN velocities north of NGC 5194, along an east-west swath across the face of NGC 5195. Two things stand out in this figure. First, the velocity spread at any position is highly clumped; this implies that we are not simply viewing a single, kinematically hot component (i.e., a galaxy halo). Instead the data suggest the existence of multiple kinematically cold components which likely arise from different parent populations. The second feature of Figure 6 is the presence of a significant gradient in the PN velocities. Since this gradient is in the same sense as that observed for the stars in the inner disk of NGC 5195 (Schweizer, 1977), the data suggest that the bulk of the observable PNe in this region come from NGC 5195 itself, rather than being captured or tidal debris from NGC 5194.

Comparing the spatial distribution and kinematics of M51’s PNe to published dynamical models is somewhat difficult, because these studies either did not model the detailed response of the companion (e.g., Hernquist, 1990, hereafter H90) or employed simple N-body models which did not capture the full dynamical evolution of the system (Toomre, 1978; Salo & Laurikainen, 2000). However, we can make some qualitative inferences based on the published models. Two broad classes of models exist: single passage models, like the original Toomre & Toomre (1972) model (later refined by H90), and multiple encounter models, like the one recently proposed by Salo & Laurikainen (2000, hereafter SL00). Both models can reproduce the overall morphology of the M51 system fairly well; the multiple passage model better describes some of the detailed HI kinematics of NGC 5194, but predicts a more complicated structure for the long HI tidal tail than is actually observed.

In terms of the PN population west of NGC 5195, both classes of models predict that material from NGC 5194’s disk will be dispersed in this region.444While this material was not evident in the H90 simulations, that is likely due to the relatively small particle numbers used in the study. In the multiple passage model, this material has been perturbed in the very recent ($`10^8`$ yr) past by the second passage of NGC 5195. As a result, the model predicts a higher radial velocity for the material than is produced by corresponding single passage models (for example, see Figure 4 in SL00). In second passage models, the velocities of the region range from 400 to 525 km s-1, while in single passage models, the velocities are between 385 and 425 km s-1.

Since the PN velocities west of NGC 5195 (315-480 km s-1) lie between these two ranges, we cannot reliably discriminate between the two models. There is some hint of a blueward gradient towards the west in our PN data, and this is more consistent with the SL00 multiple passage model than a single passage model, but the small number of velocities makes this result tentative at best. Furthermore, it should be re-emphasized that the PN kinematics in the western tail of the system are truly bimodal: there is a complete 140 km s-1 gap between two kinematic components. While SL00 did not show the kinematic structure of the companion’s tidal debris, it is hard to understand how the galaxy could undergo several close passages with NGC 5194 and still have its material exhibit such discrete segregation in velocity space.

## 5 Modeling the Kinematics of the Planetary Nebulae

Our PN observations do not explicitly rule out either class of model, but, as SL00 point out, there are a number of features which argue for a multiple passage model for M51. First, the kinematics of NGC 5194’s H I tail and the apparent tidal bridge between NGC 5194 and 5195 are better fit by a multiple passage model than a single passage model. Second, single passage models imply that a long time has elapsed since perigalacticon; it is not clear whether the strength of NGC 5195’s tidal features is consistent with this prediction. Finally, many single passage models have trouble reproducing the morphology of NGC 5194’s northwestern tidal plume (which gives rise to the blueshifted PNe component in the system’s western tail). For example, in the SL00 models, this tail extends to the northwest of NGC 5195 (see their Figure 1), while in the models of Toomre (1994, as reported by Barnes 1998), the tail has the correct orientation, but the mass ratio of the galaxy pair is a hefty 1:1. These various inconsistencies make it interesting to re-investigate the single passage scenario to see if we can construct a model that better matches the spatial and kinematical distribution of the tidal debris. We can do this by revisiting the H90 single passage simulation and explicitly including the response of the companion.

We began the simulation process by first defining the structure of each galaxy. The galaxies were constructed in the manner described by Hernquist (1993), and consisted of an exponential stellar disk, a central bulge, and a truncated isothermal halo. The mass ratio of the components was $`M_d:M_b:M_h=1:0.33:5.8`$. The companion was identical to the primary, except scaled down in mass by a factor of $`f=1/2`$. The size and circular velocity of the model was scaled by $`f^{\frac{1}{2}}`$ and $`f^{\frac{1}{4}}`$ respectively, which preserved disk surface density between the two models and provided a Tully-Fisher- like $`MV_c^4`$ scaling of the model. The simulations were then evolved in a self-consistent manner using TREECODE (Hernquist, 1987), using a total of $`N=55,296`$ particles for the models which survey parameter space, and with a total of $`N=425,984`$ particles ($`N_{disk}`$=131,072; $`N_{bulge}`$=16,384; $`N_{halo}`$=65,536 in each galaxy) for the final model. The simulations surveying parameter space were run using a parallel processing Beowulf cluster.

To begin the interaction modeling, we used the parameters of the self- consistent simulation of H90 as our starting point. These parameters include an NGC 5194/NGC 5195 mass ratio of 2:1, an initially parabolic orbit with a perigalacticon distance of 6 disk scale lengths, and a disk geometry for NGC 5194 of ($`i_1`$,$`\omega _1`$)= ($``$70,$``$45), where $`i`$ and $`\omega `$ are the orientation angles as defined by Toomre & Toomre (1972). After surveying simulations with varying $`\omega _1`$ we settled on a value of $`\omega _1=0`$, which resulted in a longer and thinner tidal tail for NGC 5194 (as perigalacticon occurs in NGC 5194’s disk plane) and kept the companion closer to NGC 5194 in projection while still preserving a fairly high projected velocity difference between the two galaxies.

With the parameters of NGC 5194’s disk and relative orbit set in this manner, we next ran a grid of simulations covering the range of possible orientations $`(i_2,\omega _2)`$ for NGC 5195. To quickly narrow down the list of possible geometries, we examined the simulations to select those which gave the closest morphological match to the M51 system. In doing this, we paid particular attention to the tidal plumes northeast and southwest of NGC 5195. We were constrained in viewing geometry by the need to match the projected position and relative velocity of the galaxy pair, and by the observed $`20^{}`$ inclination of NGC 5194’s disk (Tully, 1974). NGC 5195’s observed inclination also provided a constraint to the simulations. Based on the ellipticity of NGC 5195’s isophotes, Schweizer (1977) inferred an inclination angle of $`48^{}`$ for the system. Although this estimate may be affected by tidal deformation, the galaxy’s appreciable velocity gradient ($`120`$ km s-1; Schweizer, 1977) requires that it not be too face-on. The final constraint on the models came from NGC 5195’s rotation, which is east to west in the inner portions of the galaxy (Schweizer, 1977). The models which best matched these morphological and kinematic requirements had geometries for the companion in the range of $`(i_2,\omega _2)=(105\pm 15,30\pm 15)`$, with our favored model having $`(i_2,\omega _2)=(110,30)`$.

An evolutionary sequence of our model is shown in Figure 7. The initial passage occurred 280 Myr ago, similar to H90’s best match time of $``$ 300 Myrs past perigalacticon. At the present time (T=0), the galaxies are widely separated ($`\mathrm{\Delta }R`$ 50 kpc) and moving apart from one another quite rapidly ($`\mathrm{\Delta }V`$ 150 km/s; in other words, since NGC 5195 is behind NGC 5194 in our model, the observed radial velocity difference closely reflects the separation velocity). This is quite unlike the simulation of SL00, which favors a much closer true separation and an orbit which has carried the companion just past a second disk passage.

The model above plausibly reproduces the main morphological and kinematic properties of the M51 system, including the sharp northwestern tidal tail of NGC 5195. We now compare the tidal kinematics in the model against the kinematics of the planetary nebulae. To do this, we examined the projected velocity distribution of the model in the four regions of the system which contain the majority of our planetary nebulae. These regions are illustrated in Figure 8. Note that a strict comparison between the PNe and the model is not possible, since the selection criteria for the two datasets are very different: while the simulation samples velocities weighted by mass, the observational data suffer from constraints imposed by our non-random target selection and fiber crowding. Therefore, in order to compare the model to the PN velocities, our approach was to look more for similar patterns of kinematic substructure, rather than to perform a detailed one-to-one matching.

Field 1, which is immediately west of NGC 5195, has the most interesting velocity field. The stellar kinematics in this region are distinctly bimodal: there is a velocity peak at $`v_r250`$ km s-1 which corresponds to the tidal plume from NGC 5195, and a second peak around $`v_r50`$ km s-1, which comes from material pulled out of NGC 5194. This echoes the distribution of PN velocities, and explains the existence of three blue-shifted PNe (relative to NGC 5195 systemic) just west of the body of NGC 5195: it is here that NGC 5194’s tidal plume projects across the face of NGC 5195. The three other blue-shifted PNe further west and south of NGC 5195 are either with NGC 5194’s plume or with the diffuse extension of the NGC 5194’s disk. In either case, their velocities more closely reflect NGC 5194’s systemic velocity rather than that of NGC 5195’s tail. The model also has a clear gap in velocity between the two components; this results from the fact that these two tidal features are spatially distinct and kinematically cold.

Field 2 is east of the apparent tidal bridge which links NGC 5194 and NGC 5195. Like Field 1, this region, too, shows a multimodal velocity pattern, which arises from the discrete populations of NGC 5194’s bridge and NGC 5195’s eastern tidal tail. Unfortunately, our model for Field 2 does not match the PN velocity distribution very well: although there is a cluster of PNe near the predicted velocity of NGC 5195’s tail, there are no blue-shifted PNe in our sample. Instead, the region contains two unexplained red-shifted PNe. This discrepancy is somewhat disturbing, but it hard to make a strong statement about the quality of the agreement based on only 5 objects. This is particularly true since our models do not account for the presence of kinematically hot populations (see §6.2 for further discussion on this point).

Fields 3 and 4 are much more straightforward to interpret. Field 3 covers the southwestern portion of NGC 5194’s disk, and Field 4 includes the northeastern portion of NGC 5195. In both fields, the model velocity distribution is single-peaked, and representative of the large scale velocity field of the superposed galaxy. The match with the PN velocities in Field 3 is excellent: both the velocity mean and the dispersion agree with the predictions of the model. The agreement of Field 4 is slightly worse, since the PNe there have slightly larger velocities than predicted. Of course, the prior constraints on the model – that the southern portion of M51 and the eastern portion of NGC 5195 both be blueshifted relative to their systemic velocities – practically ensures that the match between the model and the mean of the PN velocity distribution is close. However, the velocity dispersion of each field is also reproduced well by the model, which is not guaranteed by these velocity constraints.

While our model reproduces many of the morphological and kinematic features of the M51 system, there are still some discrepancies. Morphologically, NGC 5195’s eastern tail seems to tilt slightly more south than it does in our model, and the apparent bridge between the modeled galaxies shows more curvature than is actually observed. Also, as the data of Field 1 and 4 indicate, our model predicts too large of a velocity gradient across NGC 5195. There are a number of ways to fix this problem, such as changing the orientation of NGC 5195’s disk ($`i_2,\omega _2`$) so that the system is observed more face-on, or reducing NGC 5195’s mass (i.e., by using a 3:1 mass ratio for the system) and thus decreasing the galaxy’s rotation velocity. However, our main goal here is to see whether a classic single passage model can reproduce the global morphology and kinematics of the tidal features of M51; clearly, this model presents such a solution.

Nevertheless, we leave with a cautionary note. Parameter space is wide, and the parameters describing the interaction are all tightly coupled. The morphology of tidal debris depends on the encounter geometry, the orbital parameters, the viewing angle and time, and the structural properties of the galaxies. For example, the dark matter distributions of NGC 5194 and NGC 5195 at large radius have a profound impact on the orbital evolution of the system. Since the viewing angle is constrained by the projected separation and velocity of the galaxy pair, the best-fitting value for this parameter will change if the dark matter distributions are modified. A different viewing angle will then alter the observed morphology of the system and the projected distribution of the tidal debris. Because of this degenerate coupling of parameters, iterating one parameter while holding the others fixed can be a misleading exercise and lead one to a “local minimum” in parameter space that ignores the much wider parameter space available. Simulations such as the one presented here should be viewed as caricatures of the real system, with broad uncertainties and lingering concerns about uniqueness.

With this in mind, we have no illusions that our model is the last word on the M51 solution. We have focused mainly on a comparison of the morphology, global kinematics, and PNe velocity field. Further revisions – and perhaps very different solutions – may be possible based on more detailed matching of the velocity field. Indeed, the multiple passage models of SL00 argue for a more tightly bound “second passage” encounter based on the detailed HI kinematics of the system, and may do an equally good job of modeling the PNe kinematics. However, it is unclear whether these second passage models can reproduce the bimodality and kinematic coldness of the distinct tidal features which comprise the western tail. Self- consistent simulations and detailed kinematics for these second passage models will be useful in testing these models; unfortunately, the uniqueness of these solutions will be even more questionable since they rely on the interplay between the (largely unconstrained) dark matter halos, dynamical friction, and orbital decay to obtain the best match for the M51 system.

## 6 Unusual Objects

There are two PNe candidates, PN 52 and PN 27 that are in clear disagreement with the dynamical model we have adopted. We now discuss these objects and attempt to determine their true nature.

### 6.1 PN 52 - A Ly$`\alpha `$ galaxy?

Figure 9 compares the optical spectrum of PN 52 to that of another PN in the survey. Photometrically, both objects are similar, with $`\lambda 5007`$ fluxes of $`1.1\times 10^{16}`$ ergs cm-2 s-1. However, as the figure illustrates, the two sources are different spectroscopically. First, PN 52 has no detectable \[O III\] $`\lambda 4959`$ line – true planetary nebulae must have this line, and, as the comparison spectrum demonstrates, this line should have been seen. It was not555Although there is a hint of emission near $`\lambda 4959`$, its centroid is 4 Å too blue for it to be the \[O III\] line., and, in fact, no other lines have been reliably detected in this spectrum. Second, the line profile of PN 52 is anomalously broad and asymmetric. The width of the object’s lone emission line is approximately 6 Å (FWHM); for comparison, the spectrograph’s instrumental profile is 3.0 Å(FWHM). No other PN in the sample has a resolved line. Finally, if we identify the emission line as \[O III\] $`\lambda 5007`$, then the heliocentric velocity of the object is $`176`$ km s-1, or $`640`$ km s-1 systemic. Such an object cannot be gravitationally bound to M51.

The most likely explanation for PN 52 is that it is not a planetary nebula at all, but a higher redshift source whose emission line has been red-shifted into FCJ’s \[O III\] $`\lambda 5007`$ filter. This is quite plausible: in a deep blank-field survey far away from any galaxy or cluster, Ciardullo et al. (2002) found a population of extragalactic sources that mimic the properties of planetary nebulae. If we scale the results of this survey to the area and depth of the M51 survey (256 arcmin2, $`m_{lim}=26.3`$) and the width of the narrow band filter, we should expect $`0.8\pm 0.5`$ contaminating sources to be present in the FCJ sample.

PN 52 is not the first contaminating source to be found in a deep \[O III\] $`\lambda 5007`$ planetary nebula survey. Some intracluster PN candidates in Virgo have turned out to be high-redshift objects (Kudritzki et al., 2000; Freeman et al., 2000). Also, in a recent PN survey of NGC 4697, Méndez et al. (2001) reported that three of his 535 PN candidates were interlopers. Based on these data, it is clear that some amount of contamination will be present in all \[O III\] $`\lambda 5007`$ observations fainter than $`m_{5007}=26.0`$. Future radial velocity surveys of PNe in external galaxies need to take this effect into account.

What is the true identity of PN 52? In order to be listed as a PN candidate by FCJ, the emission equivalent width must be extremely large, $`100`$ Å. This, along with the object’s asymmetric line profile, suggests that the source is a Ly$`\alpha `$ galaxy at redshift $`z3.12`$. We caution that this interpretation is not conclusive: Stern et al. (2000) have shown that lower redshift objects can masquerade as high-$`z`$ Ly$`\alpha `$ emitters. To conclusively confirm the identity of this object, deeper spectroscopy is needed, to either detect the Lyman decrement or find additional emission lines in the spectrum.

### 6.2 PN 27 - A highly blueshifted PN

Spectroscopically, PN 27 is very similar to the other PNe surveyed in this program: its \[O III\] $`\lambda 5007`$ emission line is strong and unresolved, and the weaker \[O III\] $`\lambda 4959`$ line is present at roughly $`1/3`$ the strength of $`\lambda 5007`$. However, in terms of location and motion, the object is unique. PN 27 sits SSE of M51 well away from any extended tidal plume (see Figure 1, left), and it has a radial velocity of 194 km s-1. In other words, PN 27 is blue-shifted by 269 km s-1 relative to NGC 5194, and 406 km s-1 relative to NGC 5195. This remarkable velocity is not due to measurement error. PN 27 was observed twice: in both cases, both lines of \[O III\] were detected. The velocity difference between the two measurements is only 3 km s-1.

If PN 27 belongs to NGC 5194, then it is moving at $`269`$ km s-1 with respect to NGC 5194. What can cause this motion? One possibility is that PN 27 belongs to the stellar halo of the galaxy. In the Milky Way, such high-velocity objects do exist, as the vertical velocity dispersion in the spheroidal component is $`100`$ km s-1 (Mihalas & Binney, 1981). If the stellar halo of NGC 5194 is similar to that of the Milky Way, then it is at least conceivable that a high velocity PNe could have been observed.

We can estimate how likely the halo PN explanation is by using the bulge/disk parameters for NGC 5194 given by Baggett, Baggett, & Anderson (1998). As column (4) of Table 1 demonstrates, the FCJ survey of NGC 5194 was restricted to galactocentric radii $`2\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}8R_{\mathrm{iso}}8\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}0`$. If we extrapolate the Baggett et al. $`r^{1/4}`$-law to these radii, adopt the FCJ distance of $`8.4`$ Mpc, and apply the bolometric correction of an old population ($`0.8`$; Jacoby, Ciardullo, & Ford, 1990), then we obtain a value of $`L_{\mathrm{bol}}2\times 10^9L_{}`$ for the amount of spheroid (bulge$`+`$halo) luminosity contained in the FCJ survey field. To translate this into an expected number of PNe, we assume old stellar populations produce $`20\times 10^9`$ PNe (within 2.5 mag of the luminosity function cutoff, $`M^{}`$) per unit bolometric luminosity (Ciardullo, 1995). When we scale this to the FCJ survey depth (1.2 mag down the PN luminosity function), we get a value of $`14`$ for the number of spheroid PNe that could have been detected. Since we obtained spectroscopy for roughly half of the FCJ planetary nebula candidates, the result is that we might expect $`7`$ spheroid PNe to be present in our sample.

Of course, not all halo objects have large vertical velocities. For example, of the 95 probable Milky Way halo RR Lyrae stars studied by Layden (1995), only two have a vertical velocity as great as 269 km s-1. If the spheroidal component of M51 is similar to that of the Milky Way, then the probability of finding a high-velocity PN in our sample is small, $`0.1`$. This number is highly uncertain, as it is derived from a rather large photometric extrapolation and an assumed ‘maximal’ $`r^{1/4}`$ spheroid. Nevertheless, it does demonstrate that the presence of halo PNe in our sample is possible.666As suggested in §5, a small number of our PN have velocities that do not agree with the model predictions. It is possible that these objects are also halo PNe. Such a ‘hot’ population was not explicitly included in our models.

An alternative explanation for the high velocity of PN 27 is that it is a ‘runaway star’, where the ejected planetary obtained a high velocity from either the tidal interaction (e.g., Byrd, 1979), or from some other dynamical process. However, we believe this hypothesis to be less likely – our dynamical models show no evidence for an extremely blueshifted population, and none of the hypothesized models for high-velocity neutron stars (e.g., Cordes & Chernoff, 1998), or O & B stars seem relevant in this case.

The best way to distinguish between these two scenarios is through deeper PN spectroscopy. If the halo hypothesis is correct, we might expect PN 27 (and a few other objects) to have a sub-solar oxygen abundance and perhaps enhanced ratios of C/O and N/O; such properties have been observed for halo PNe in the Milky Way (Howard, Henry, & McCartney, 1997). Deeper spectroscopy is also desirable for an improved kinematic model of the system. If the metallicities of the PNe could be derived, this information could be used to constrain the place of origin of individual objects.

## 7 Summary

We have presented the velocities of 36 PNe in the interacting galaxy system M51. The planetaries have a velocity structure that is clearly multi-modal and complex, especially in the tidal debris west of the companion galaxy NGC 5195. In this region, we find two distinct kinematic components, consistent with the idea that we are viewing two tidal features – one from each galaxy – cospatially in projection. Such features have been predicted by numerical simulations (e.g., Salo & Laurikainen, 2000), but the component from NGC 5194 has remained undetected until now. The PN kinematics do not yet discriminate between the various dynamical scenarios for the M51 system: both single- and multiple-passage models predict multiple kinematic features in this region. We do, however, note that the kinematic coldness of these features may be difficult to reproduce in a multiple passage scenario, where the galaxies have experienced several perturbative events. Self-consistent dynamical models of the multiple passage scenario are needed to test this effect. We expand on the previous simulation of Hernquist (1990) and present a new single-passage model that reasonably reproduces the morphology and kinematics of the system’s tidal debris.

How can we better constrain the dynamical evolution of the M51 system? Observationally, the FCJ survey of M51 probed only the first 1.2 mag of the planetary nebulae luminosity function. The sample of 64 PNe found in this survey could easily be increased by a factor of $`3`$ by going deeper with current 4 m and 8 m class telescopes. There are roughly 10 PNe in an 18 arcmin-2 area in the FCJ sample of the northwestern tidal tail. Assuming roughly $`20\times 10^9`$ PNe per bolometric solar luminosity (2.5 mag down the PNLF) for a stellar population (e.g., Ciardullo, 1995), and a distance of 8.4 Mpc, this PNe density translates to a stellar surface brightness of $`\mu _V24.5`$ mag arcsec-2. Allowing for a 3-fold increase in the number of PNe detected in deeper surveys, and adopting a (conservative) minimum of 10 PNe in a given region to derive useful kinematic information, PNe could be used to probe surface brightnesses as faint as $`\mu _V26`$ mag arcsec-2. The kinematics of such low-surface brightness features cannot be measured in any other way.

In addition to a deeper M51 PNe survey, more information on the secondary, NGC 5195, would be extremely helpful. In particular, integral-field spectroscopy (e.g., Andersen & Bershady, 1999) of the galaxy’s stellar component could dramatically improve our constraints on galactic rotation and inclination angle. Finally, better theoretical models are needed to predict the detailed tidal kinematics probed by the PNe. This is particularly true for the multiple-passage models, for which no fully self-consistent solution has yet been developed.

We thank the observing staff at the WIYN telescope, especially Di Harmer, for assisting us in obtaining excellent data. We also thank Paul Harding for useful discussions. This work was supported by the NSF through grants AST-9876143 (JCM) and AST 0071238 (RC) and through a Research Corporation Cottrell Scholarship (JCM).


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# The Central Parsecs of the Bright Quasar PKS 1921–293

## 1 Introduction

PKS 1921–293 (OV–236) is identified with a 17.5 V-magnitude quasar. At a redshift of 0.352 (Wills & Wills 1981), PKS 1921$``$293 is one of the closest members of its class. An angular resolution of 1 mas corresponds to a linear resolution of 4.6 pc (assuming H0 = 65 km s-1 Mpc-1 and q0 = 0.5).

PKS 1921–293 is one of the strongest and most compact extragalactic radio sources known, which makes it a prime candidate for high-resolution VLBI observations. PKS 1921–293, together with 3C 273B and 3C 279, is currently among the brightest extragalactic sources in the sky at millimeter wavelengths, having a flux density at 3 mm greater than 5 Jy since 1990 with a peak of 15.3 Jy in April 1994 (Tornikoski et al. 1996). Its compactness, implied by its flat radio spectrum, has been confirmed by space VLBI (VSOP) observations (Shen et al. 1999). On projected space-ground baselines of 25,000 km (about three times longer than the longest ground baselines), PKS 1921–293 had a correlated flux density of 1.0 Jy (1.6 GHz), and a derived core brightness temperature limit of 3.0$`\times 10^{12}`$ K (in the rest frame of the quasar).

## 2 Observations and Imaging

The new observations of PKS 1921–293 were made with the NRAO111The National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) is operated by Associated Universities, Inc., under cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation. VLBA at four frequencies (5, 12, 15, and 43 GHz) over a period of six years from 1994 to 2000. The data were correlated at the VLBA correlator in Socorro, New Mexico, USA. Standard VLBI data calibrations and corrections for residual delays and rates were done in AIPS. At 43 GHz, the atmospheric opacity correction was also performed in addition to a priori amplitude calibration. The final image processing was carried out using AIPS and DIFMAP.

In general, the source morphologies obtained at various centimeter wavelengths (i.e., 5, 12 and 15 GHz) are very similar and consistent with the past observations. However, their overall structural orientation shows a significant difference from that observed at 43 GHz. Figure 1 shows two images observed simultaneously at 5 and 43 GHz in September 2000. At centimeter wavelengths all of the VLBA images are characterized by a diffuse emission region (cm-jet) extended about 10 mas along a position angle (P.A.) of 30 as well as a very compact, bright core at the center. At 43 GHz, our six-epoch VLBA images reveal an even more compact core emission region plus the jet emission (mm-jet). The mm-jet has a varying P.A. with time, but is oriented toward the north-west. The core brightness temperature derived from 43 GHz images has a lower limit between 1011 to 1012 K.

## 3 Curvature

One of the important results of the analysis of the multi-epoch, multi-frequency VLBA images of PKS 1921–293 is its strongly curved jet emission. The difference in P.A. between the cm-jet and the mm-jet is at least 51 – 67, as determined by the simultaneous two-frequency (5 and 43 GHz) observations made both in February 1996 and in September 2000 (see Figure 1). Such a large bending is not unexpected for a jet that is beamed close to the observer’s line of sight, for which small changes in angle can be amplified by projection effects.

The 43 GHz VLBA observations of the mm-jet and its motions (see section 4 below) suggest a curved trajectory within the central few parsecs, while the trajectory of the cm-jet appears to be constant at larger core separations (seen at lower frequencies). Figure 2 is a schematic diagram showing a single smoothly bent path connecting the mm-jet and the cm-jet through an inner jet component detected by the VSOP observations (Shen et al. 1999).

It should be emphasized that whether the curvature in the jet emission is responsible for the non-detection of the $`\gamma `$–ray emission by the EGRET (Fichtel et al. 1994) is not clear, as some larger bending angles have also been seen in other $`\gamma `$–ray bright sources (Britzen et al. 2001).

## 4 Motion

For the large scale cm-jet emission, we obtained the proper motion from the position of the brightest component at 5 GHz that has a mean P.A. of 28$`\pm `$2. The fitted proper motion over the past 7.5 years is 0.15$`\pm `$0.08 mas yr-1, corresponding to a superluminal velocity of 3.0$`\pm `$1.6 c. The proper motion (apparent superluminal velocity) within the mm-jet is estimated to be 0.16$`\pm `$0.01 mas yr-1 (3.2$`\pm `$0.2 c), along a position angle of 28$`\pm `$3 with regard to a reference position at epoch 1994.32 of 0.54 mas and P.A. = $`47^{}`$ (from the origin). The P.A. of the cm-jet emission region relative to this reference mm-jet component is about 34$`\pm `$3. Note that the error bars are derived from the statistical uncertainties only. Therefore, the jet components in PKS 1921–293 seem to move along a straight path from about 2.5 pc to about 25 pc (as depicted in Figure 2). The P.A. of the reference mm-jet emission is roughly perpendicular to the derived direction of its superluminal motion. This may further suggest that the jet emission observed so far is part of a curved trajectory that undergoes a sharply bending ($`\mathrm{\Delta }`$PA $``$ 90) phase within the central 2 pc region.

## 5 The Innermost ($`<`$ 1 pc) Region

An important question is how the jet moves in the innermost region of the central engine where the relativistic plasma is accelerated and collimated. Our six epoch 7 mm VLBA observations found consistently that the central parsec region ($`\begin{array}{c}<\\ \end{array}`$ 1 pc) consists of two equally compact components (labelled as C1 and C2 in Figure 1). The fitted sizes for both C1 and C2 are 0.1 mas or less. Away from the central parsec region, the jet emission gradually decreased in flux density as it was moving away. The scenario in the central 1 pc region, however, is quite different. The flux density of component C1 appears not to change, compared to the rapid variation in the total flux densities observed at 90 and 230 GHz by SEST (Tornikoski 2001, private communication). On the other hand, component C2 undergoes a significant ($``$200%) variation in flux density which seems to correlate with the total flux density variation.

The dramatic variability seen in component C2 may argue that C2 is related to the central activity, though the observed superluminal motion suggests that the component C1, at the eastern end, is the location of the core.

Over about 6.5 yrs of six epoch 43 GHz VLBA observations, the relative position between C1 and C2 of 0.2 mas (i.e., $`\begin{array}{c}<\\ \end{array}`$ 1 pc) along a P.A. of $``$50 remains unchanged within an uncertainty of 0.05 mas. High resolution VSOP observations at 5 GHz have also suggested the existence of such a compact double structure, but with a larger separation of $``$0.4 mas at a similar P.A. (Shen et al. 2000). The difference in the separation may be due to the opacity effects, i.e., the frequency-dependent shift of the synchrotron self-absorbed core at longer wavelength. PKS 1921–293 becomes optically thick at centimeter wavelengths

Some possible explanations are: 1) C2 is just a stationary knot that is located at the turning point of the bent path and its emission is amplified by relativistic beaming; 2) C2 is a trailing shock following the steady, fast superluminal motion at the front as seen in the radio galaxy 3C 120 (Gómez et al. 2001); 3) this may infer the existence of a binary system within the central parsec region of PKS 1921–293, which could be associated with a massive black hole binary. A supermassive binary in an AGN will result in the precession of the jet ejection axis, which may explain the observed large bend (Begelman, Blandford & Rees 1980). New high-resolution VLBI imaging observations at both 86 and 43 GHz are underway to investigate the binary hypothesis as well as the above-mentioned possibilities.

## References

Begelman, M. C., Blandford, R. D. & Rees, M. J. 1980, Nature, 287, 307

Britzen, S., Vermeulen, R. C., Taylor, G. B., Campbell, R. M., Browne, I. W., Wilkinson, P., Pearson, T. J. & Readhead, A. C. S. 2001, in Galaxies and Their Constituents at the Highest Angular Resolution (IAU Symp. 205), ASP Conf. Series Vol. 205, eds. R. T. Schilizzi, S. Vogel, F. Paresce & W. Elvis, (San Francisco: ASP), 106

Fichtel, C. E., Bertsch, D. L., Chiang, J., Dingus, B. L., Esposito, J. A., Fierro, J. M., Hartman, R. C., Hunter, S. D., Kanbach, G., Kniffen, D. A., Kwok, P. W., Lin, Y. C., Mattox, J. R., Mayer-Hasselwander, H. A., McDonald, L., Michelson, P. F., von Montigny, C., Nolan, P. L., Pinkau, K., Radecke, H.-D., Rothermel, H., Sreekumar, P., Sommer, M., Schneid, E. J., Thompson, D. J. & Willis, T. 1994, ApJS, 94, 551

Gómez, J.-L., Marscher, A. P., Alberdi, A., Jorstad, S. J. & Agudó, I. 2001, ApJL, 561, L161

Shen, Z.-Q., Edwards, P. G., Lovell, J. E. J., & Kameno, S. 2000, in Astrophysical Phenomena Revealed by Space VLBI, eds. H. Hirabayashi, P. G. Edwards & D. W. Murphy, (Sagamihara, ISAS), 155.

Shen, Z.-Q., Edwards, P. G., Lovell, J. E. J., Fujisawa, K., Kameno, S. & Inoue, M. 1999 PASJ, 51, 513

Tornikoski, M., Valtaoja, E., Teräsranta, H., Karlamaa, K., Lainela, M., Nilsson, K., Kotilainen, J., Laine, S., Lähteenmäki, A., Knee, L. B. G. & Botti, L. C. L. 1996, A&AS, 116, 157

Wills, D. & Wills. B. J. 1981, Nature, 289, 384


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# Lifting chains of prime ideals

## Abstract.

We give an elementary proof that for a ring homomorphism $`AB`$ satisfying the property that every ideal in $`A`$ is contracted from $`B`$ the following property holds: for every chain of prime ideals $`𝔭_0\mathrm{}𝔭_r`$ in $`A`$ there exists a chain of prime ideals $`𝔮_0\mathrm{}𝔮_r`$ in $`B`$ such that $`𝔮_iA=𝔭_i`$.

Mathematical Subject Classification (1991): 13B24.

Let $`A`$ and $`B`$ be commutative rings and let $`\phi :AB`$ be a ring homomorphism. This induces a continouus mapping $`\phi ^{}:\mathrm{Spec}B\mathrm{Spec}A`$ by sending a prime ideal $`𝔮B`$ to $`\phi ^1(𝔮)`$. Properties of the ring homomorphism are then often reflected by topological properties of $`\phi ^{}`$. For example, if $`AB`$ is integral, then “going up” holds, and if $`AB`$ is flat, then “going down” holds (see \[4, Proposition 4.15 and Lemma 10.11\]. If moreover $`\phi ^{}:\mathrm{Spec}B\mathrm{Spec}A`$ is surjective and going up or going down holds, then also the following property holds: for every given chain of prime ideals $`𝔭_0\mathrm{}𝔭_r`$ in $`A`$ there exists a chain of prime ideals $`𝔮_0\mathrm{}𝔮_r`$ in $`B`$ lying over it.

In this note we give a direct and elementary proof showing that this chain lifting property holds also under the condition that every ideal in $`A`$ is contracted from $`B`$, i.e. $`I=\phi ^1(IB)`$ holds for every ideal $`IA`$. This result can be found for pure homomorphisms in Picavet’s paper (see \[Proposition 60 and Theorem 37\]) and is proved using valuation theory. Our direct method allows to find explicitely chains of prime ideals and characterizes which prime ideals $`𝔮_0`$ over $`𝔭_0`$ may be extended to a chain. We start with the following lemma.

###### Lemma 1.

Let $`B`$ be a commutative ring, let $`𝔞_0,\mathrm{},𝔞_r`$ be ideals and $`F_0,\mathrm{},F_r`$ multiplicatively closed systems. Define inductively (set $`S_{r+1}=\{1\}`$) for $`i=r,\mathrm{},0`$ the following multiplicatively closed sets

$$S_i=\{sB:(s,𝔞_i)F_iS_{i+1}\mathrm{}\}.$$

Then the following are equivalent.

1. $`0S_0`$.
2. $`𝔞_iF_iS_{i+1}=\mathrm{}`$ for $`i=0,\mathrm{},r`$.
3. There exists a chain of prime ideals $`𝔮_0\mathrm{}𝔮_r`$ such that $`𝔞_i𝔮_i`$ and $`𝔮_iF_iS_{i+1}=\mathrm{}`$.
4. There exists a chain of prime ideals $`𝔮_0\mathrm{}𝔮_r`$ such that $`𝔞_i𝔮_i`$ and $`𝔮_iF_i=\mathrm{}`$.

###### Proof.

It is clear that the $`S_i`$ are multiplicatively closed and that $`S_{i+1}S_i`$. (i) $``$ (ii). If $`0S_0`$, then $`𝔞_0F_0S_{i+1}\mathrm{}`$, and if $`𝔞_iF_iS_{i+1}\mathrm{}`$ for some $`i`$, then $`0S_i`$ and thus also $`0S_0`$.

We show (ii) $``$ (iii) by induction. Since $`𝔞_0F_0S_1=\mathrm{}`$, there exists (\[2, Ch.2 §5, Corollary 2\]) a prime ideal $`𝔮_0`$ such that $`𝔞_0𝔮_0`$ and $`𝔮_0F_0S_1=\mathrm{}`$.

Thus suppose that the chain $`𝔮_0\mathrm{}𝔮_i`$ is already constructed. We have to look for a prime ideal $`𝔮_{i+1}`$ which includes both $`𝔮_i`$ and $`𝔞_{i+1}`$ and which is disjoint to $`F_{i+1}S_{i+2}`$. If such a prime ideal would not exist, then $`(𝔮_i+𝔞_{i+1})F_{i+1}S_{i+2}\mathrm{}`$, say $`q+a=fs`$, where $`q𝔮_i`$, $`a𝔞_{i+1}`$, $`fF_{i+1}`$ and $`sS_{i+2}`$. Then by definition $`qS_{i+1}`$ contradicting the induction assumption.

(iii) $``$ (iv) and (iii) $``$ (ii) are clear, so we have to show (iv) $``$ (iii). We show this by descending induction, the beginning for $`i=r`$ is clear. Suppose that $`𝔮_{i1}F_{i1}S_i\mathrm{}`$, and let $`q=fs`$ be an element in the intersection, $`q𝔮_{i1}`$, $`fF_{i1}`$, $`sS_i`$. Since $`F_{i1}`$ is disjoined to the prime ideal $`𝔮_{i1}`$, it follows that $`s𝔮_{i1}`$. On the other hand, since $`sS_i`$ we have an equation $`bs+q^{}=f^{}s^{}`$, where $`bB`$, $`q^{}𝔮_i`$, $`f^{}F_i`$, $`s^{}S_{i+1}`$, and this contradicts the induction hypothesis. ∎

###### Remark 2.

The referee (whom I thank for his careful reading) pointed out that there exists a similar and more general result in a preprint of G. Bergman (see ). Bergman studies for a partially ordered set $`I`$ and ideals $`𝔞_i`$ and multiplicatively closed subsets $`S_i`$ in a commutative ring the existence of prime ideals $`𝔭_i`$, $`𝔞_i𝔭_i`$, $`𝔭_iS_i=\mathrm{}`$ such that $`𝔭_i𝔭_j`$ holds for $`ij`$. \[1, Proposition 9\] gives a characterization for the existence of such prime ideals for a tree order $`I`$ in terms of an inductively defined system of equations which is related to our characterization in Lemma 1(ii). It is possible that using Bergman’s result one may obtain a stronger version of the following theorem.

###### Theorem 3.

Let $`A`$ and $`B`$ be commutative rings and let $`\phi :AB`$ be a ring homomorphism such that $`I=\phi ^1(IB)`$ holds for every ideal $`IA`$. Then for every chain of prime ideals $`𝔭_0\mathrm{}𝔭_r`$ in $`\mathrm{Spec}A`$ there exists a chain of prime ideals $`𝔮_0\mathrm{}𝔮_r`$ in $`B`$ such that $`𝔭_i=𝔮_iA`$ for $`i=0,\mathrm{},r`$.

###### Proof.

Let a chain of prime ideals $`𝔭_0\mathrm{}𝔭_r`$ in $`A`$ be given. We shall apply the preceeding lemma to the ideals $`𝔞_i=𝔭_iB`$ and the multiplicatively closed sets $`F_i=A𝔭_iB`$. Note that the fiber over $`𝔭`$ consists of the prime ideals $`𝔮`$ for which $`𝔭B𝔮`$ and $`𝔮\phi (A𝔭)=\mathrm{}`$ hold. Define $`S_iB`$ as before and suppose that $`0S_0`$. This means that there exists an element $`a_0𝔞_0`$ such that $`a_0=f_0s_1`$, where $`f_0F_0`$, $`s_1S_1`$. This means by definition that we have an equation

$$b_1s_1+a_1=f_1s_2,\text{ where }b_1B,a_1𝔞_1,f_1F_1\text{ and }s_2S_2.$$

Going on recursively we find equations

$$b_js_j+a_j=f_js_{j+1},\text{ where }b_jB,a_j𝔞_j,f_jF_j\text{ and }s_{j+1}S_{j+1},$$

and eventually

$$b_rs_r+a_r=f_r,\text{ where }b_r,s_rS_r,a_r𝔞_r,f_rF_r.$$

We multiply the last equation by $`f_{r1}\mathrm{}f_0`$ and get

$$b_r(s_rf_{r1})f_{r2}\mathrm{}f_0+a_rf_{r1}\mathrm{}f_0=f_rf_{r1}\mathrm{}f_0.$$

We may replace $`b_r(s_rf_{r1})f_{r2}\mathrm{}f_0`$ by

$$b_r(b_{r1}s_{r1}+a_{r1})f_{r2}\mathrm{}f_0=b_rb_{r1}(s_{r1}f_{r2})\mathrm{}f_0+b_ra_{r1}f_{r2}\mathrm{}f_0,$$

and so going on we find that $`f_r\mathrm{}f_0=`$

$$b_r\mathrm{}b_1a_0+b_r\mathrm{}b_2a_1f_0+b_r\mathrm{}b_3a_2f_1f_0+\mathrm{}+b_ra_{r1}f_{r2}\mathrm{}f_0+a_rf_{r1}\mathrm{}f_0.$$

This equation shows that

$$f_r\mathrm{}f_0(𝔭_0+𝔭_1f_0+𝔭_2f_1f_0+\mathrm{}+𝔭_{r1}f_{r2}\mathrm{}f_0+𝔭_rf_{r1}\mathrm{}f_0)B$$

and this yields an equation in $`A`$ (here we apply the condition that every ideal is contracted),

$$p_0+p_1f_0+p_2f_1f_0+\mathrm{}+p_{r1}f_{r2}\mathrm{}f_0+p_rf_{r1}\mathrm{}f_0f_r\mathrm{}f_0=0,$$

where $`p_i𝔭_i`$. We may write this as

$$p_0=f_0(p_1+p_2f_1+\mathrm{}+p_{r1}f_{r2}\mathrm{}f_1+p_rf_{r1}\mathrm{}f_1f_r\mathrm{}f_1)$$

and therefore $`p_1+p_2f_1+\mathrm{}+p_{r1}f_{r2}\mathrm{}f_1+p_rf_{r1}\mathrm{}f_1f_r\mathrm{}f_1𝔭_0𝔭_1`$. Then again we may multiply out $`f_1`$ and so on until we find $`p_{r1}+p_rf_{r1}f_rf_{r1}𝔭_{r2}𝔭_{r1}`$ and then $`p_rf_{r1}f_rf_{r1}𝔭_{r1}`$, hence $`p_rf_r𝔭_{r1}`$ and $`f_r𝔭_r`$, which is a contradiction. ∎

###### Remarks 4.

The condition that every ideal is contracted is fulfilled for example if $`\phi :AB`$ is a pure homomorphism. This means that for every $`A`$-module $`M`$ the natural mapping $`MM_AB`$ is injective. If $`B`$ contains $`A`$ as a direct summand, then $`AB`$ is pure. Direct summands arise often in invariant theory: if a linearly reductive group acts on a ring $`B`$, then the ring of invariants $`A=B^G`$ is a direct summand in $`B`$, see \[8, Ch.1, §1\]. Example 7 below shows that for a direct summand neither going up nor going down hold in general.

G. Picavet studies in  the property of a ring homomorphism that over every chain of prime ideals $`𝔭𝔮`$ there lies a chain of prime ideals above. He calls a ring homomorphism with this property subtrusif and shows that a homomorphism $`\phi :AB`$ is universally subtrusif if and only if for every valuation domain $`AV`$ the corresponding homomorphism $`VB_AV`$ is pure.

Picavet proved the theorem for universally subtrusive morphisms \[11, Proposition 60 in connection with Theorem 37\] using several facts from valuation theory: that for a chain of prime ideals $`𝔭_0\mathrm{}𝔭_r`$ in a domain $`A`$ there exists a valuation ring $`AVQ(A)`$ and a chain of prime ideals $`𝔯_0\mathrm{}𝔯_r`$ in $`V`$ with $`𝔯_iA=𝔭_i`$, see \[5, Corollary 19.7\] (see also  and  for recent developments in the lifting of chains to valuation rings), and that a valuation domain is a Bezout domain and hence a torsion free module over it is flat, see \[7, Theorem 63\] and \[2, Ch.1, §4, Proposition 3\].

###### Corollary 5.

Let $`A`$ and $`B`$ be commutative rings and let $`\phi :AB`$ be a ring homomorphism such that $`I=\phi ^1(IB)`$ holds for every ideal $`IA`$. Then $`dimBdimA`$.

###### Proof.

This is clear from the Theorem. ∎

###### Corollary 6.

Let $`A`$ be a commutative Noetherian ring and let $`B`$ be an $`A`$-Algebra of finite type such that every ideal of $`A`$ is contracted from $`B`$. Then $`g:\mathrm{Spec}B\mathrm{Spec}A`$ is submersive, i.e. $`\mathrm{Spec}A`$ carries the quotient topology.

###### Proof.

We have to show that a subset $`W\mathrm{Spec}A`$ is open if its preimage is open. Since $`g`$ is surjective, we know that $`W=g(g^1(W))`$, hence $`W`$ is constructible by \[9, Théorème 7.1.4\]. For the openess it is therefore enough to show that it is closed under generalization, and this follows directly from our property: let $`𝔭^{}W`$ and let $`𝔭𝔭^{}`$ be a generalization. Let $`𝔮𝔮^{}`$ be prime ideals lying over them. Then $`𝔮^{}g^1(W)`$ and since $`g^1(W)`$ is open it is closed under generalization, hence $`𝔮g^1(W)`$, and this means $`𝔭W`$. ∎

It is easy to give an example of a direct summand such that $`\mathrm{Spec}B\mathrm{Spec}A`$ fulfills neither the going down nor the going up property.

###### Example 7.

Let $`K`$ be a field and let the polynomial ring $`B=K[X,Y,Z]`$ be $``$-graded by $`\mathrm{deg}X=\mathrm{deg}Y=1`$, $`\mathrm{deg}Z=1`$. Then the ring of degree zero is

$$A=B_0=K[XZ,YZ]K[U,V].$$

$`A`$ is a direct summand in $`B`$, hence the chain lifting property holds.

We consider the chain $`(XZ)(XZ,YZ)`$ in $`A`$. The principal prime ideal $`ZB`$ maps to $`(XZ,YZ)`$, but no prime ideal $`ZB`$ maps to $`(XZ)`$, hence going down does not hold.

The prime ideal $`(X,Y^2Z1)B`$ maps to $`(XY)`$. But a prime ideal lying over $`(XZ,YZ)`$ must contain either $`ZB`$ or $`(X,Y)B`$, hence also going up fails to hold.

###### Remark 8.

A surjective (even bijective) mapping between affine varieties may not fulfill the chain lifting property, since there exist bijective mappings which are not homeomorphisms.


text:
# Marginally Stable Topologically Non-Trivial Solitons in the Gross-Neveu Model

(13 September 2002)

## Abstract

We show that a kink and a topologically trivial soliton in the Gross-Neveu model form, in the large-$`N`$ limit, a marginally stable static configuration, which is bound at threshold. The energy of the resulting composite system does not depend on the separation of its solitonic constituents, which serves as a modulus governing the profile of the compound soliton. Thus, in the large-$`N`$ limit, a kink and a non-topological soliton exert no force on each other.

preprint: YITP-02-55

The problem of finding the particle spectrum (e.g., bound states) of quantum field theory is a major objective of nonperturbative studies thereof. This issue may be addressed quantitatively in model field theories in $`1+1`$ space-time dimensions such as the Gross-Neveu (GN) model gn , in the large $`N`$ limit. The GN model (and other similar models) are particularly appealing, since they exhibit, among other things, asymptotic freedom and dynamical mass generation, like more realistic four dimensional models.

One version of writing the action of the $`1+1`$ dimensional GN model is

$$S=d^2x\left\{\underset{a=1}{\overset{N}{}}\overline{\psi }_a\left(i\text{/}\sigma \right)\psi _a\frac{1}{2g^2}\sigma ^2\right\},$$
(1)
where the $`\psi _a(a=1,\mathrm{},N)`$ are $`N`$ flavors of massless Dirac fermions, with Yukawa coupling to the scalar auxiliary field $`\sigma (x)`$. This action is evidently symmetric under the simultaneous transformations $`\sigma \sigma `$ and $`\psi \gamma _5\psi `$, which generate the so-called discrete (or $`𝐙𝐙_2`$) chiral symmetry of the GN model. The GN action has also flavor symmetry $`O(2N)`$, which can be seen by breaking the $`N`$ Dirac spinors into $`2N`$ Majorana spinors. Related to this is the fact that the model is also invariant under charge-conjugation dhn . Thus, focusing on bound states of the Dirac equation

$$\left[i\text{/}\sigma (x)\right]\psi =0$$
(2)
associated with the GN action, if $`\psi _b(x,t)=e^{i\omega _bt}u_b(x)`$ (with $`0\omega _b^2<m^2`$) is a bound state solution of (2), so is its charge conjugate spinor $`\psi _b^c(x,t)=e^{+i\omega _bt}u_b^c(x)`$, so that bound state frequencies come in pairs: $`\pm \omega _b`$. If, however, (2) has a bound state at $`\omega _b=0`$, it is of course unpaired, i.e., self-charge-conjugate.

Performing functional integration over the grassmannian variables in the GN action leads to the partition function $`𝒵=𝒟\sigma \mathrm{exp}\{iS_{eff}[\sigma ]\}`$ where the bare effective action is

$$S_{eff}[\sigma ]=\frac{1}{2g^2}d^2x\sigma ^2iN\mathrm{Tr}\mathrm{log}\left(i\text{/}\sigma \right)$$
(3)
and the trace is taken over both functional and Dirac indices.

The theory (3) has been studied in the limit $`N\mathrm{}`$ with $`Ng^2`$ held fixedgn . In this limit the partition function $`𝒵`$ is governed by saddle points of (3) and the small fluctuations around them. (In this Letter, as in dhn , we will consider only the leading term in the $`1/N`$ expansion, and thus will not compute the effect of the fluctuations around the saddle points.) The most general saddle point condition reads

$$\frac{\delta S_{eff}}{\delta \sigma (x,t)}=\frac{\sigma (x,t)}{g^2}+iN\mathrm{tr}\left[x,t|\frac{1}{i\text{/}\sigma }|x,t\right]=0.$$
(4)
In particular, the non-perturbative vacuum of the GN model is governed by the simplest saddle point of the path integral associated with it, where the composite scalar operator $`\overline{\psi }\psi `$ develops a space-time independent expectation value, signaling the dynamical breakdown of the discrete chiral symmetry by the non-perturbative vacuum. Thus, the fermions acquire mass $`m`$ dynamically.

Associated with this breakdown of the discrete symmetry is a topological soliton, the so called Callan-Coleman-Gross-Zee (CCGZ) kink ccgz ; dhn ; josh1 , $`\sigma (x)=m\mathrm{tanh}(mx)`$, with mass $`M_{kink}=\frac{Nm}{\pi }`$ ($`m`$ is the dynamically generated fermion mass). It is topology which insures the stability of these kinks: they are the lightest topologically non-trivial solitons in the GN model. The Dirac equation (2) in the kink background has a single self-charge-conjugate bound state at $`\omega _b=0`$, which can populate at most $`N`$ valence fermions. Thus, it gives rise to a multiplet of $`2^N`$ degenerate states, with mass equal to $`M_{kink}`$, which can be identified as the (reducible) spinor representation of $`O(2N)`$ witten ; jr . The expectation value of the fermion number operator $`N_F`$ in a state in which the kink traps $`n`$ valence fermions is $`n\frac{N}{2}`$, where the subtracted piece is the so-called “fractional part” of the fermion number witten ; jr , due to fluctuations of the fermion field in the topologically nontrivial background. Thus, in the kink multiplet $`\frac{N}{2}N_F\frac{N}{2}`$.

The GN model bears also non-topological solitons, which were discovered by Dashen, Hasslacher and Neveu (DHN) dhn  (after the work of ccgz ). Henceforth, we shall refer to them as “DHN solitons”. These non-topological solitons are stabilized dynamically, by trapping fermions and releasing binding energy. In dhn , DHN used inverse scattering analysis faddeev  to find static soliton solutions to the large-$`N`$ saddle point equations of the GN model. (DHN also found in dhn  oscillatory, time dependent solutions of the saddle point equations, which we will not disucss in this Letter.) The remarkable discovery DHN made was that all the physically admissible static, space-dependent solutions of (4), i.e., the static bag configurations in the GN model (the CCGZ kink being a non-trivial example of which) were reflectionless. That is, the static $`\sigma (x)`$’s that solve the saddle point equations of the GN model (subjected to the obvious boundary condition $`\sigma (\pm \mathrm{})=\pm m`$) are such that the reflection coefficient of the Dirac equation (2) associated with the GN action, vanishes identically.

The Dirac equation (2) in a DHN soliton background has a pair of charge conjugate bound states at $`\pm \omega _b`$. The $`O(2N)`$ flavor symmetry mixes particles and antiparticles. At the level of the Dirac equation (2) this means that we have to consider the pair $`\pm \omega _b`$ of bound state eigenfrequencies together in the following way: Due to Pauli’s principle, we can populate each of the bound states $`\pm \omega _b`$ with up to $`N`$ (non-interacting) fermions. Then all the multi-particle states in which the negative frequency state is populated by $`Nh`$ fermions (i.e., has $`h`$ holes) and the positive frequency state contains $`p`$ fermions, with $`h+p=n`$ fixed are degenerate in energy, and thus form a $`C_{2N}^n=(2N)!/n!(2Nn)!`$ dimensional irreducible $`O(2N)`$ multiplet, namely, an antisymmetric tensor of rank $`n`$ dhn . Superficially, $`0n2N`$, in accordance with Pauli’s principle. However, for dynamical reasons, as explained in Section 3 of periodic , only solitons with $`0<n<N`$ are realized. The expectation value of the fermion number operator $`N_F`$ in a state in which the DHN soliton traps $`p`$ particles and $`h`$ holes is simply $`N_F=ph=2pn`$, i.e., purely the naive valence contribution. (There is no fracional contribution due to the trivial topology.) Thus, in the DHN soliton multiplet $`nN_Fn`$. DHN found that in this case $`\omega _b=m\mathrm{cos}\left(\frac{\pi n}{2N}\right)`$. The mass of such a soliton is $`M_n=\frac{2Nm}{\pi }\mathrm{sin}\left(\frac{\pi n}{2N}\right)`$ and its profile is $`\sigma (x)=\sigma (\mathrm{})+\kappa \mathrm{tanh}\left[\kappa (xx_0)\right]\kappa \mathrm{tanh}\left[\kappa \left(xx_0\right)+\frac{1}{2}\mathrm{log}\left(\frac{m+\kappa }{m\kappa }\right)\right],`$ where $`\sigma (\mathrm{})=\sigma (\mathrm{})=\pm m`$, $`\kappa =m\mathrm{sin}\left(\frac{\pi n}{2N}\right)=\sqrt{m^2\omega _b^2}`$, and $`x_0`$ is a translational collective mode. Note that both $`M_n`$ and $`M_{kink}`$ are of order $`N\frac{1}{g^2}`$, as typical of soliton masses in weakly interacting QFT. The binding energy $`B_n=nmM_n`$ of the DHN soliton (as well as the binding energy per-fermion, $`B_n/n`$) increase with the number $`n`$ of trapped valence fermions (this is the so-called “mattress effect” in the physics of fermion bags). Thus, a DHN soliton is stable against decaying into a bunch of non-interacting fundamental fermions. It is also stable against decaying into lighter DHN bags, because any such presumed process can be shown to violate either energy or fermion number conservation. Thus, DHN solitons are stable. Note that $`M_{n=N}=\frac{2Nm}{\pi }=2M_{kink}`$, and more over, that as $`nN`$ (i.e., $`\kappa m`$ and $`\omega _b0`$), the profile $`\sigma (x)`$ tends to $`\sigma (\mathrm{})+m\mathrm{tanh}(mx)m\mathrm{tanh}[m(x+R)],R\mathrm{}.`$ Thus, the configuration at $`n=N`$ is that of infinitely separated CCGZ kink and anti-kink bound at threshold. This singular behavior occurs because a DHN soliton, being a topologically trivial configuration, cannot support a normalizable zero mode, as explained below.

The soliton solutions (both topological and non-topological) in the GN model serve as concrete calculable examples of fermion-bag sphericalbag ; shellbag  formation. Furthermore, these “multi-quark”bound states of the GN model are analogous to baryons in QCD in the limit of large number of colors wittenlargeN . Since the work of DHN, these fermion bags were discussed in the literature several other times, using alternative methods others . For a recent review on these and related matters, see thies .

In this Letter, we show that the spectrum of the GN model contains, in the large-$`N`$ limit, a composite, marginally stable topological soliton, which may be interpreted as a kink and a non-topological soliton bound at threshold. Furthermore, the energy of this system does not depend on the intersoliton distance, which thus serves as a modulus controlling the shape of the corresponding static solution of the large-$`N`$ saddle point equation.

It is a general feature of the Dirac equation (2) in the background of a static topologically non-trivial $`\sigma (x)`$ configurations, that the spectrum contains an unpaired bound state at $`\omega =0`$. For example, for kink boundary conditions ($`\sigma (\mathrm{})=\sigma (\mathrm{})=m`$), such a normalizable zero-mode is given by $`u_0\mathrm{exp}^x\sigma (y)𝑑y`$, where $`i\gamma ^1u_0=u_0`$.

To make our point, we have to find a topologically non-trivial static solution of (4), which in a certain limit appears as well separated kink and a DHN soliton. Thus, we must find a reflectionless $`\sigma (x)`$ configuration, such that (2) has a bound state at $`\omega =0`$, as required by topology, and a pair of charge conjugate bound states at some $`\pm \omega _b0`$, with $`\omega _b`$ considered a free parameter. To this end, we apply the machinery of faddeev  (see also rosner ) and find the most general such reflectionless background as

$`\sigma (x)`$ $`=`$ $`m+{\displaystyle \frac{2\kappa }{1+\frac{m+\kappa }{m\kappa }e^{2\kappa (xy_0)}}}`$ (5)
$``$ $`2(m+\kappa ){\displaystyle \frac{1+\frac{m+\kappa }{(m\kappa )^2}\kappa e^{2m(xx_0)}+\frac{m+\kappa }{(m\kappa )^2}me^{2\kappa (xy_0)}}{1+\left(\frac{m+\kappa }{m\kappa }\right)^2e^{2m(xx_0)}+\left(\frac{m+\kappa }{m\kappa }\right)^2e^{2\kappa (xy_0)}+\left(\frac{m+\kappa }{m\kappa }\right)^2e^{2m(xx_0)+2\kappa (xy_0)}}}=`$
$``$ $`\kappa \mathrm{tanh}\left[\kappa (xy_0+R)\right]`$
$`+`$ $`\omega _b{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{sinh}\left[m(xx_0)+\kappa (xy_0)+2\kappa R\right]+\mathrm{sinh}\left[m(xx_0)\kappa (xy_0)\right]}{e^{\kappa R}\mathrm{cosh}\left[m(xx_0)+\kappa (xy_0)+2\kappa R\right]+e^{\kappa R}\mathrm{cosh}\left[m(xx_0)\kappa (xy_0)\right]}}`$
where $`\kappa =\sqrt{m^2\omega _b^2}`$, $`\kappa R=\frac{1}{2}\mathrm{log}\frac{m+\kappa }{m\kappa }`$, and where $`x_0`$ and $`y_0`$ are arbitrary real parameters. The latter two quantities arise in the inverse scattering formalism as arbitrary parameters, independent of the parameter $`\omega _b`$, which determine the coefficients in front of the asymptotic exponentially decaying normalized bound state wave functions. Thus, the normalized bound state at $`\omega =0`$ behaves asymptotically as $`\sqrt{2m}\mathrm{exp}m(xx_0)`$, and the normalized bound states at $`\pm \omega _b`$ behave asymptotically as $`\sqrt{2\kappa }\mathrm{exp}\kappa (xy_0)`$, as $`x\mathrm{}`$. Here, of course, $`x_0`$ and $`y_0`$ are translational collective coordinates of the soliton $`\sigma (x)`$. Note that $`\sigma (x)`$ in (5) satisfies kink boundary conditions: $`\sigma (\mathrm{})=m`$ and $`\sigma (\mathrm{})=m+2\kappa 2(\kappa +m)=m`$. Similarly, $`\sigma (x)`$ is the desired extremal configuration with boundary conditions of an anti-kink.

The effective action $`S_{eff}`$ in (3), evaluated at the background (5), is an ordinary function $`S_{eff}(\omega _b,y_0x_0)`$ of the parameters which determine the shape of (5), where we have invoked translational invariance of (3). (With no loss of generality, we can always set one of these collective coordinates, say $`x_0`$, to zero.) Minus the value of $`S_{eff}(\omega _b,y_0x_0)`$ per unit time is the rest energy, or mass $`M(\omega _b,y_0x_0)`$, of the static inhomogeneous condensate (5). We still have to extremize $`M(\omega _b,y_0x_0)`$ with respect to $`\omega _b`$. As in the case of the DHN soliton, the extremal value is determined by the number $`n`$ of valence particles and antiparticles which are trapped in the bound states $`\pm \omega _b`$. Following the same technique used by DHN in dhn  to calculate the mass of the DHN soliton, we find that the extremal value is again $`\omega _b=m\mathrm{cos}\left(\frac{\pi n}{2N}\right)`$, and that the mass of (5), which we will refer to as the “heavier topological soliton” (HTS), is

$$M_{HTS,n}=\frac{Nm}{\pi }+\frac{2Nm}{\pi }\mathrm{sin}\left(\frac{\pi n}{2N}\right).$$
(6)
Thus, $`M_{HTS,n}`$ coincides with the sum of masses of a CCGZ kink and a DHN soliton trapping $`n`$ valence fermions. Clearly, the $`O(2N)`$ quantum numbers of the HTS are those of the direct product of the $`2^N`$ dimensional spinorial representation and the antisymmetric tensor representation of rank $`n`$. More details of the construction of (5) and the associated extremum condition on $`\omega _b`$ will be given elsewhere periodic .

Note that $`M_{HTS,n}`$ is independent of the remaining collective coordinate $`y_0`$. By varying $`y_0`$ (while keeping $`\omega _b`$ fixed at its extremal value), we can modify the shape of $`\sigma (x)`$ in (5) without affecting the mass of the soliton. The translational collective coordinate $`y_0`$ is thus a flat direction of the energy functional, or a modulus. In the following we will show that the modulus $`y_0`$ is essentially the separation between a CCGZ kink and a DHN soliton which we interpret as the loosely bound constituents of the HTS. Thus, the fact that $`M_{HTS,n}/y_0=0`$, means that these solitons exert no force on each other, whatever their separation is.

This is a somewhat surprising result, since one would normally expect soliton-soliton interactions to be of the order $`\frac{1}{g^2}N`$ in a weakly interacting field theory, which is consistent, of course, with what one should expect from general $`\frac{1}{N}`$ counting rules. Indeed, drawing further the analogy between the solitons discussed in this Letter and baryons in QCD with large $`N_{color}`$, the HTS would correspond to a dibaryon. From the general $`\frac{1}{N}`$ counting rules wittenlargeN , the baryon-baryon interaction is expected to be of order $`N`$. Yet, due to dynamical reasons which ellude us at this point, the solitonic constituents of the HTS avoid these general considerations and do not exert force on each other.

It is straightforward to obtain the asymptotic behavior of (5) for large $`|y_0|`$ (and $`x_0=0`$). In the limit $`y_0\mathrm{}`$, the shape of (5) is that of a CCGZ kink, with a little “DHN bump”, centered on its left wing at $`x_{\mathrm{bump}}=y_0+(3/4\kappa )\mathrm{log}\left(\frac{m\kappa }{m+\kappa }\right)y_0`$, of width $`1/2\kappa `$ and maximum value of $`m2\omega _b`$. Its shape is given approximately by $`\sigma (x_{\mathrm{bump}}+z)m+2\kappa ^2/(m+\omega _b\mathrm{cosh}2\kappa z)`$. In the other limit, $`y_0+\mathrm{}`$, (5) has the shape of a CCGZ kink, with a little “DHN dip”, centered on its right wing at $`x_{\mathrm{dip}}=y_0+(1/4\kappa )\mathrm{log}\left(\frac{m\kappa }{m+\kappa }\right)y_0`$, of width $`1/2\kappa `$ and minimum value of $`m2\kappa (m+\kappa \omega _b)/(m+\kappa +\omega _b)`$. Its shape is given approximately by $`\sigma (x_{\mathrm{dip}}+z)m2\kappa (m+\kappa )/(m+\kappa +\omega _b\mathrm{exp}2\kappa z)+2\kappa \omega _b/(\omega _b+(m+\kappa )\mathrm{exp}2\kappa z)`$. For $`y_0`$ in the range such that $`\kappa |y_0|1`$, the “DHN disturbance” and the kink partly overlap. These statements are demonstrated in the figures, for the case $`m=2\kappa =1`$.

The limit $`nN`$ is of some interest. Strictly speaking, there is no $`HTS`$ with $`n=N`$, since at $`n=N`$ the pair of bound states at $`\pm \omega _b`$ of the Dirac equation (2) would coincide with the bound state at $`\omega =0`$, which already exists due to non-trivial topology. Clearly, such a degeneracy cannot occur in the spectrum in one spatial dimension. (For more details see Sections 3.1.2 and B.3.2 in periodic .) However, it is possible to study HTS’s with $`n`$ arbitrarily close to $`N`$. In this case, $`\kappa m`$, with $`R\mathrm{}`$ in (5). Thus, for $`|x|,|x_0|,|y_0|<<R`$, (5) tends in this limit to

$$\sigma (x)=m\frac{1e^{2m(xy_0)}e^{2m(xx_0)}}{1+e^{2m(xy_0)}+e^{2m(xx_0)}}$$
(7)
(where for clarity of presentation we have reinstated the parameter $`x_0`$ into the expression for $`\sigma (x)`$). In the asymptotic region $`1<<m|x_0y_0|(<<mR)`$ (7) simplifies further, and appears as a kink $`m\mathrm{tanh}[m(xx_{\mathrm{max}})]`$, located at $`x_{\mathrm{max}}=\mathrm{max}\{x_0,y_0\}`$. This clearly has mass $`M_{kink}=\frac{Nm}{\pi }`$, but according to (6), $`M_{HTS,nN}`$ should tend to $`\frac{3Nm}{\pi }=3M_{kink}`$. The extra mass $`2M_{kink}`$ corresponds, of course, to the kink-anti-kink pair which receded to spatial infinity.

Finally, we must settle the important issue of stability of the HTS. Due to conservation of the topological charge $`q=(\sigma (\mathrm{})\sigma (\mathrm{}))/2m`$, the final static configuration will obey the same kink boundary conditions as (5). The HTS is too light to decay into a configuration of CCGZ kink-kink-antikink (see (6)). Thus, it can only decay into a CCGZ kink plus a bunch of lighter DHN bags and/or free fermions. The binding energy $`B_n=nm+M_{kink}M_{HTS,n}`$ of the HTS coincides with that of a DHN bag with the same quantum number $`n`$. Thus, similarly to the latter, the HTS is stable against evaporation into a CCGZ kink and a cloud of non interacting fermions. Decay of the HTS (with $`O(2N)`$ quantum number $`n`$ ) into a CCGZ kink and a DHN bag (of quantum number $`n^{}`$) is almost totally forbidden: Energy conservation obviously requires $`0<n^{}n`$. Fermion number conservation, on the other hand, requires (see periodic  for more details) $`nn^{}<N`$, i.e., the complimentary set of the possible range $`(0,N)`$ for $`n^{}`$. The two conservation laws are compatible only at $`n^{}=n`$. Thus, the mass of the decay products equals the mass of the parent HTS, and the allowed channel in this case has no phase space. Finally, one can show, using elementary considerations as above, that energy conservation and fermion number conservation strictly forbid decay of the HTS into a lighter HTS and a DHN soliton, or into a CCGZ kink plus any number of DHN solitons, or into any final state containing the time dependent solitons discovered by DHN in dhn . Since the only allowed channel has no phase space, the HTS is marginally stable. This must be a manifestation of the fact that the translational collective coordinate $`y_0`$ is a flat direction of the energy functional.

###### Acknowledgements.

I am happy to thank Y. Frishman, M. Karliner, M. Moshe and R. Sasaki for useful discussions, and N. Andrei for correspondence. Also, I thank the members of the high energy theory group at the Yukawa institute, where this work was completed, for their cordial hospitality. This work has been supported in part by the Israeli Science Foundation.