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# Measuring Distances and Probing the Unresolved Stellar Populations of Galaxies Using Infrared Surface Brightness FluctuationsBased on observations with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, obtained at the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by AURA, Inc., under NASA contract NAS 5-26555.

## 1 Introduction

The techniques for measuring surface brightness fluctuations (SBFs) were developed primarily with the goal of determining extragalactic distances. The optical SBF method has proven to be remarkably useful for estimating distances (see Blakeslee et al. 1999 for a review). The initial motivation for extending ground-based SBF measurements to near-IR wavelengths was to take advantage of intrinsically brighter fluctuations and better atmospheric seeing to reach much greater distances (Jensen et al. 2001, hereafter J2001; Jensen, Tonry, & Luppino 1999; Liu & Graham 2001). With Hubble Space Telescope’s (HST) Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS), the low background and lack of atmospheric seeing offer significant advantages over ground-based IR SBF measurements.

Accurate SBF distance measurements rely on the empirical calibration of absolute fluctuation amplitudes. Several studies have used observations of galaxies with previously-measured distances to determine absolute fluctuation magnitudes, which were found to agree with the predictions of stellar population models. The first IR SBF measurements were made by Luppino & Tonry (1993), who found that M32 has a somewhat brighter ($`0.25`$ mag) $`K`$-band SBF magnitude than the bulge of M31. Pahre & Mould (1994) measured $`K`$-band SBF magnitudes for a sample of Virgo galaxies, and found that two of eight had significantly brighter ($`1`$ mag) fluctuations than the others. Pahre & Mould’s results were confirmed by Jensen, Luppino, & Tonry (1996) in their sample of seven Virgo cluster elliptical galaxies. The IR SBF signal for one of the two anomalous galaxies (NGC 4365) was later found to have been over-estimated due to the contribution of undetected globular clusters (Jensen, Tonry, & Luppino 1998); the other (NGC 4489) still appeared to have brighter fluctuations than the others.

To the 1996 Virgo sample, Jensen et al. (1998) added galaxies in the Fornax and Eridanus clusters. Three of the bluest galaxies in their sample showed $`K`$-band fluctuation magnitudes that were $`0.25`$ mag brighter than the others. Jensen et al. noted that the models implied younger stellar populations in these bluer ellipticals. However, the sample size was small and the range in $`(VI)`$ color was limited; hence, the slope they measured was not statistically significant and they adopted a constant $`K`$-band SBF calibration. The $`K`$-band fluctuations for the bluest galaxy in their sample (NGC 4489) were significantly brighter than the others in the Virgo cluster, but the measurement was not trusted due to its low signal-to-noise ($`S/N`$) ratio. Mei, Silva, & Quinn (2001c) subsequently re-observed this galaxy and found comparably bright $`K`$-band fluctuations.

Recently, a larger sample of $`K`$-band SBF magnitudes for Fornax cluster galaxies has been measured by Liu, Graham, & Charlot (2002). Combined with the previously published data, the resulting sample covered a much larger range of galaxy properties (e.g., color and luminosity). Liu et al. (2002) discovered that the brighter $`K`$-band fluctuations seen in bluer galaxies in their sample and in earlier data sets (Luppino & Tonry 1993; Pahre & Mould 1994; Jensen et al. 1998) were correlated with $`(VI)`$. Liu et al. found the $`K`$-band slope with color to be comparable to that for $`I`$-band SBFs. This relation naturally explained the bright IR SBFs previously measured in M32 (Luppino & Tonry 1993) and NGC 4489 (Mei et al. 2001c). Moreover, a generic prediction of IR SBF models is that IR fluctuations are sensitive to variations in the ages and metallicities of stellar populations. Hence, the discovery of a systematic relation between IR SBFs and galaxy color means that age and metallicity are related in a way that reflects the star formation history of a galaxy. Liu et al. (2002) concluded that early-type galaxies in clusters have a significant spread in age and approximately solar metallicities.

Liu et al. (2002) also reported finding three Fornax cluster galaxies with $`K`$-band fluctuation magnitudes brighter than the other galaxies with similar $`(VI)`$ colors. These galaxies were not included in their calibration fit. They are primarily lower luminosity galaxies, and models suggest the presence of a high-metallicity burst of star formation in the last few Gyr. Mei et al. (2001a) have confirmed that one of the three Fornax galaxies (NGC 1427) has unusually bright $`K`$-band fluctuations.

To calibrate the F160W (1.6 µm) SBF distance scale and better understand the nature of the bluer, low-luminosity elliptical galaxies, we measured F160W SBF magnitudes in a large sample of 65 galaxies spanning a wide range in color ($`(VI)_0`$$`=\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}1.05}`$ to 1.28). All the data presented here were obtained using the NIC2 camera of NICMOS. The data are of uniform image quality, and the $`S/N`$ ratios are large. Many of the galaxy images were collected for other programs and retrieved from the public archive.

Distances to the galaxies in this sample were taken from the growing collection of Cepheid variable star distances measured with the $`HST`$ (Freedman et al. 2001, Ferrarese et al. 2000b; Gibson & Stetson 2001; Saha et al. 2001), and from the extensive $`I`$-band SBF survey (Tonry et al. 2001; Ajhar et al. 1997; Lauer et al. 1998; Tonry et al. 1997). The $`I`$-band SBF distances used here were calibrated using Cepheid distances to the same galaxies; no assumptions about group or cluster membership were made (Tonry et al. 2001). For the current study we shifted the $`I`$-SBF distances published by Tonry et al. by $`0.16`$ mag to the new Cepheid zero point of Freedman et al. (2001), which makes use of the improved Cepheid period-luminosity relations published by Udalski et al. (1999). The distances presented in this paper, whether from Cepheids directly or from $`I`$-band SBFs, are subject to the systematic uncertainties in the Cepheid distance scale (Ferrarese et al. 2000a). We adopted a distance modulus to the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) of 18.50 mag (Freedman et al. 2001; Carretta et al. 2000), and acknowledge that the continuing debate over the LMC distance remains one of the largest sources of systematic uncertainty.

In this paper we present a new calibration of the F160W distance scale and explore its sensitivity to galaxy color. We also compare the absolute fluctuation magnitudes to those predicted by three sets of stellar population models: the widely-used models of Worthey (1994), the Bruzual & Charlot (1993, 2002) models (as published by Liu, Charlot, & Graham 2000 and Liu et al. 2002), and the Vazdekis (1999, 2001) models (as published by Blakeslee, Vazdekis, & Ajhar 2001). SBF ages determined using stellar population models are compared with those measured using the age-sensitive H$`\beta `$ Balmer line strength.

## 2 Observations

### 2.1 F160W SBF Measurements

The observations of galaxies used in this study come from two basic types of NICMOS program, each of which accounts for roughly half the data. The first set of observations came from two programs explicitly designed for SBF measurements. The first of these (NICMOS program ID 7453) targeted galaxies in Virgo, Leo, and Fornax to empirically calibrate the F160W SBF distance scale for more distant measurements. The second (program ID 7458) measured fluctuations in a large sample of Fornax galaxies at multiple wavelengths to better understand stellar populations. A subset of the measurements presented in this paper was published by J2001. The second category of observations is comprised of data taken from the public archive from a variety of programs. Most of these are short, “snapshot” survey images of the centers of galaxies, and have only a minimal number of individual exposures. Observational data are listed in Table 1.

The observations presented in this study were taken with the NIC2 camera (19.2 arcsec field of view) through the F160W filter. F160W NIC2 observations of approximately 300 galaxies with heliocentric redshifts less than 10,000 km s-1 were retrieved from the public archive and examined. A smooth fit to each galaxy was subtracted from the pipeline-reduced image and the residual frame examined. All the galaxies that were judged to be hopelessly dusty were rejected from further consideration. Data for the remaining $`200`$ galaxies were reduced again from the raw data and the SBF analysis completed following the same procedures as described by J2001. The subset of 65 galaxies presented here are those for which reliable distances are known from either Cepheid variable stars or $`I`$-band SBFs.

The methodology for determining F160W fluctuation magnitudes was very similar to that described by J2001, with some simplifications. We used the software developed by the NICMOS GTO team to prepare the images for analysis (Thompson et al. 1999). Dark current was first subtracted from the raw NIC2 F160W images. The multiple reads of each MULTIACCUM sequence were combined and cosmic rays identified and removed. Adjustment of the bias pedestal for each quadrant was performed as described by J2001, although it was unnecessary in most cases. Exposures from individual telescope pointings were flat field corrected and combined. Residual images from cosmic rays were not a significant source of contamination in these high-$`S/N`$ ratio data.

The photometric zero point used by J2001 was determined by M. Rieke and the NICMOS team. Additional standard star measurements combined with a better tie to ground-based photometry has yielded a better zero point for the NIC2 F160W filter. The new photometric zero point that we adopted for this study is 0.033 mag fainter than that used by J2001. The new calibration for NIC2 is $`2.126\times 10^6`$ Jy ADU-1 s-1. The magnitude zero point on the Vega system is 1083 Jy. This new calibration is within the uncertainty in zero point published by J2001. If the current zero point were applied to the J2001 data without any other changes to the calibration, the resulting fluctuation magnitudes would be 0.03 mag fainter, and the Hubble constant would be larger by 1.6%. SBF magnitudes were corrected for Galactic extinction using the measurements of Schlegel, Finkbeiner, & Davis (1998). We adopted $`A_B=\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}4.315}E(BV)`$ and $`A_H=0.132A_B`$ (Schlegel et al 1998).

The galaxies in this sample are much closer than the distant galaxies used by J2001 to determine the Hubble constant (5 included here were taken from the intermediate-distance sample of J2001). The median $`S/N`$ ratio was 16 per pixel for this data set, which, given the large number of pixels sampled, is more than sufficient to achieve a highly-reliable measurement. Most of the data had $`S/N`$ ratios between 10 and 20; the full range includes measurements with $`S/N`$ ratios as low as 5 and as high as 4000. The fluctuation power was determined by fitting the scaled power spectrum of the reference point-spread function (PSF) to the spatial power spectrum of the cleaned and galaxy-subtracted data. The library of empirical PSF stars collected as part of the IR SBF Hubble constant project (J2001) was used to perform the SBF analysis. A full discussion of the techniques for calculating fluctuation magnitudes $`\overline{m}_{\mathrm{F160W}}`$ from NICMOS data is presented by J2001.

We found that correcting the F160W SBF magnitudes for undetected globular clusters or background galaxies was unnecessary for the relatively-nearby galaxies of this study because the stellar SBF signal always dominated over other sources of variance. The final galaxy-subtracted images were masked of visible point sources and dusty regions before proceeding with the SBF analysis. Only the five intermediate-distance galaxies from J2001 required corrections for undetected globular clusters, background galaxies, and residual background patterns (as described by J2001).

The uncertainties in apparent fluctuation magnitudes $`\overline{m}_{\mathrm{F160W}}`$ were typically 0.1 mag or less. The primary components of the uncertainty were the fit to fluctuation power and the PSF normalization (usually 0.05 mag each). The contribution from sky subtraction was much smaller (typically 0.01 mag). Contributions to the uncertainty from undetected globular clusters or background galaxies were negligible ($`<0.01`$ mag), and contaminating power from residual cosmic rays or incomplete bias subtraction were unmeasurable in these high-$`S/N`$ ratio measurements.

### 2.2 Distances and Absolute Fluctuation Magnitudes

Computing the absolute fluctuation magnitudes $`\overline{M}_{\mathrm{F160W}}`$ for the galaxies in our sample required independent distance measurements. All the distance moduli used in this study (Table 2) were based, either directly or indirectly, on Cepheid variable star distances. Two classes of distance measurements are presented here: first, a large set of 61 $`I`$-band SBF distances (calibrated using Cepheid distances as described by Tonry et al. 1997), and second, a smaller set of nine Cepheid distances measured using WFPC2 on the HST.

Because only a few of the spiral galaxies with measured Cepheid distances have smooth, dust-free regions appropriate for SBF analysis, the majority of the absolute fluctuation magnitudes presented in this paper were computed using $`I`$-band SBF distances (Tonry et al. 2001). Most of the $`I`$-band SBF distance measurements were made using ground-based telescopes, but five galaxies were observed using WFPC2 (J2001; Lauer et al. 1998; Ajhar et al. 1997). The empirical $`I`$-band SBF calibration (Tonry et al. 1997) adopted for this study used Cepheid and $`I`$-SBF distance measurements to seven galaxies for which both types of measurement are possible. No assumptions about group or cluster membership were made to connect the Cepheid and $`I`$-band SBF distance scales. The original Key Project calibration of the Cepheid distance scale (Ferrarese et al. 2000b, Freedman & Madore 1990) was used for the empirical $`I`$-band SBF calibration presented by Tonry et al. (1997, 2001). For the $`I`$-band SBF distances presented here we have updated the zero point using the greatly-improved period-luminosity relations determined by Udalski et al. (1999) using 650 LMC Cepheids. The new period-luminosity relation results in a shift of $`0.16`$ mag in the distance moduli of all the $`I`$-band SBF galaxies. No metallicity correction to the Cepheid distances is adopted for this study.

The modifications to the period–luminosity relation adopted by Freedman et al. (2001) are distance dependent. The new period–luminosity relation is different for the $`I`$-band, while at $`V`$ it is unchanged (Udalski et al. 1999). The effect is that the new period–luminosity relation predicts higher reddening corrections for redder Cepheids, and therefore smaller distances. The effect is largest in Cepheids with longer periods. Because only the brightest (longest-period) Cepheids are detected in the most distant galaxies, the offset between the previously-published distances and those derived using the new calibration are largest in the most distant galaxies ($`0.2`$ mag, or 10% in distance). The offset to the $`I`$-band SBF calibration due to the new period-luminosity relation is 0.16 mag, or 8% in distance.

Nine galaxies in the F160W NICMOS sample have Cepheid distances measured using HST (Ferrarese et al. 2000b; Freedman et al. 1994, 2001; Gibson & Stetson 2001; Gibson et al. 1999, 2000; Graham et al. 1997; Saha et al. 1996, 2001). A distance modulus to the LMC of 18.50 mag was adopted for the current study and for the Key Project papers (Ferrarese et al. 2000b; Freedman et al. 2001). This distance to the LMC appears justified in light of many recent distance measurements (e.g., Carretta et al. 2000), although significant differences certainly remain between techniques and investigators (Udalski et al. 1999; others). A full discussion of the LMC distance issue is beyond the scope of this paper; future adjustments to the LMC distance modulus of 18.50 should be applied as a constant offset to all the distances used herein and to the resulting F160W SBF calibration. The conclusions of this paper are not affected by an uncertainty of 0.15 mag in the LMC distance.

Freedman et al. (2001) also applied an empirical metallicity correction of $`0.2\pm \mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}0.2}`$ mag dex-1 in metallicity to the Cepheid calibration such that more metal-rich Cepheids are intrinsically brighter (Freedman et al. 2001; Gibson & Stetson 2001; Kennicutt et al. 1998). For comparison, separate distances for the Key Project galaxies are listed in Table 2 using the new period–luminosity relation alone (“new PL”, Freedman et al. 2001; Gibson & Stetson 2001), and using both the new period–luminosity relation and empirical metallicity correction (“new PL+Z”, Freedman et al. 2001). We chose not to adopt the empirical metallicity correction to the Cepheid distances endorsed by Freedman et al. (2001) because it is not yet entirely clear that the metallicity correction is justified. Udalski et al. (2001) find no evidence for a trend in the luminosity of Cepheids with metallicity. Another study based on theoretical models of Cepheid structure predicts a correction to the period–luminosity relation of $`+0.27`$ mag dex-1 in metallicity, which is similar in magnitude but opposite in sign from the empirical relation adopted by Freedman et al. (Caputo, Marconi, & Musella 2002). The apparently better agreement with the reliable maser distance to the galaxy NGC 4258 is offered as evidence that the theoretical relationship is more realistic. Of course a slightly smaller distance modulus to the LMC would also explain the difference, so the maser distance to NGC 4258 cannot be regarded as evidence that the metallicity correction must have a particular sign or magnitude. Given the uncertainty in the metallicity correction at this point, we chose not to adjust the $`I`$-band SBF calibration. In the end, the size of the metallicity correction is not very important provided that the correction is applied consistently through the LMC rung of the distance ladder. We note that the metallicity-corrected Cepheid distances reported by Freedman et al. (2001) are based on Cepheid measurements of LMC Cepheids that have not been corrected for metallicity. Given the similarity in metallicity between Galactic Cepheids and most of the spiral galaxies in which Cepheids have been detected, the effect of a fully-consistent metallicity-corrected Cepheid distance scale and the uncorrected calibration we adopted for this paper is minimal (approximately 0.02 mag). The data plotted in the figures are based on distances that include no metallicity corrections.

The uncertainties in $`\overline{m}_{\mathrm{F160W}}`$ were combined in quadrature with the uncertainties in distance modulus to get the final uncertainties in $`\overline{M}_{\mathrm{F160W}}`$ presented in Table 2. The median uncertainty in $`\overline{M}_{\mathrm{F160W}}`$ was 0.18 mag for this sample. The estimated systematic error in the Cepheid distance scale, which we incur regardless of which distances are used to compute $`\overline{M}_{\mathrm{F160W}}`$, is 0.16 mag (Ferrarese et al. 2000a), but could be larger due to blending or other effects (Gibson & Stetson 2001; Mochejska et al. 2000; Ferrarese et al. 2000c). The dominant sources of systematic uncertainty are the distance to the LMC (0.13 mag) and the WFPC2 photometric zero point (0.09 mag). The systematic uncertainty is not included in the uncertainty in $`\overline{M}_{\mathrm{F160W}}`$ listed in Table 2. It is important to note that the uncertainty in $`\overline{M}_{\mathrm{F160W}}`$ is correlated with the uncertainty in $`(VI)`$ for the values derived from $`I`$-band SBF distances. $`\overline{M}_{\mathrm{F160W}}`$ is a function of the $`I`$-SBF distance modulus, which is a function of $`(VI)`$ color (Tonry et al. 1997).

### 2.3 Galaxy $`(VI)`$ Colors

To calibrate the F160W SBF distance scale, we used the optical $`(VI)_0`$ color corrected for extinction to constrain the fluctuation magnitude dependence on stellar population. Most of the $`(VI)_0`$ color data in Table 2 were taken from the optical $`I`$-band SBF survey (Tonry et al. 2001). Galactic extinction corrections were made using the Schlegel et al. (1998) extinction maps. The data were collected using ground-based telescopes in annular regions that were typically much larger than the central 20-arcsec regions imaged using NIC2. In a few cases we checked the optical colors within the NIC2 field of view to ensure that color gradients within individual galaxies were not significant. For the early-type galaxies in this sample, color gradients do not produce significant color differences between the F160W and $`I`$-band regions. A few galaxies, including the spirals not included in the $`I`$-band SBF survey (Tonry et al. 2001), were re-observed to allow a direct $`(VI)_0`$ color measurement within the NIC2 field of view.

## 3 Using F160W SBF Magnitudes to Measure Distances

The primary motivation for exploring the variation of $`\overline{M}_{\mathrm{F160W}}`$ with stellar population was to better calibrate F160W SBFs as a distance indicator. With the high spatial resolution and low background achieved using NICMOS, J2001 demonstrated that fluctuations could be measured in modest exposures (one or two orbits) to distances beyond 100 Mpc. J2001 utilized a limited subset of the current data set and the Cepheid zero point calibration of Ferrarese et al. (2000b) to empirically calibrate the F160W SBF distance scale. They measured distances to a sample of galaxies reaching redshifts of 10,000 km s-1 for the purpose of determining the Hubble constant. J2001 restricted their calibration to galaxies redder than $`(VI)_0`$$`>\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}1.16}`$ and found no significant slope of $`\overline{M}_{\mathrm{F160W}}`$ with galaxy color.

A constant $`\overline{M}_{\mathrm{F160W}}`$ calibration is inappropriate for the full color range spanned by the galaxies in this sample (Fig. 1). For the full data set, we fitted a slope adopting the maximum likelihood method described by Liu et al. (2002) to account for the correlated uncertainties in $`\overline{M}_{\mathrm{F160W}}`$ and $`(VI)`$. Uncertainties are correlated because $`\overline{M}_{\mathrm{F160W}}`$ depends on $`I`$-band SBF distances, which are in turn computed using the galaxy $`(VI)`$ color. The Liu et al. (2002) method accounts for this non-zero covariance between $`\overline{M}_{\mathrm{F160W}}`$ and $`(VI)`$ in determining the best-fitting slope and intercept. If the covariance were ignored, the slope of the fitted line would be biased (see Liu et al. 2002 for a discussion).

We chose to restrict the sample of galaxies used for calibration purposes to those that show no sign of dust in the NIC2 field of view because clumpy dust makes a galaxy look bumpier, and hence fluctuation magnitudes brighter. Many of the rejected galaxies have well-defined dust lanes that can be masked. The SBF magnitudes are most likely unaffected by the dust, but we exclude them from the calibration fit to be safe. Given the large size of the sample, we can afford to be conservative in excluding dusty galaxies for the purpose of computing the calibration. Fitting the 47 dust-free galaxies gives

$$\overline{M}_{\mathrm{F160W}}=(4.86\pm 0.03)+(5.1\pm 0.5)[(VI)_0\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}1.16}]\mathrm{for}1.05<(VI)_0<\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}1.24}.$$
(1)
The $`\chi ^2`$ per degree of freedom is 1.17, indicating that the uncertainties are reasonable. The slope of $`5.1\pm \mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}0.5}`$ mag per mag in $`(VI)`$ color is steep, and similar to the slope of $`4.5\pm \mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}0.25}`$ measured at $`I`$-band (Tonry et al. 1997). Liu et al. (2002) found a slope of $`3.6\pm \mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}0.8}`$ at $`K`$ (2.2 µm). Stellar population models initially predicted that the slope of IR fluctuation magnitude with color would be opposite that at $`I`$-band (Worthey 1994), but it is now clear that a significant slope of the same sign persists to 2.5 µm. The implications of a positive slope are discussed in Section 4.

The relation in Equation 1 is based on $`I`$-band SBF distances calibrated using the improved Cepheid period-luminosity relation of Udalski et al. (1999). The Cepheid distances from Freedman et al. (2001) without metallicity corrections were adopted, and we used the same LMC distance modulus of 18.50 mag as Freedman et al. In Figure 1 symbols of three sizes are plotted, with the largest symbols for galaxies with uncertainties less than 0.2 mag and the smallest for measurements with uncertainties greater than 0.3 mag. Median uncertainties in each bin are plotted. Three galaxies in the “dust-free” sub-sample also have Cepheid variable star distances. They were not included in the fit because they are not independent of the $`I`$-band SBF measurements, and their uncertainties arise from different sources. They are, however, plotted in Figure 1 to show that the calibration derived using $`I`$-band SBF distances agrees with direct Cepheid distance measurements.

The value of $`(VI)_0`$$`=\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}1.16}`$ marks the color at which the strong slope observed in the bluer galaxies makes way to an apparent flattening at the red end. Fits restricted to galaxies with $`(VI)_0`$$`>\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}1.16}`$ are consistent with a slope of zero, as found by J2001 using a smaller calibration sample. The sloping fit over the entire color range spanned by the sample, however, is statistically robust. The brightest cluster galaxies observed by J2001 are all redder than $`(VI)_0`$$`=\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}1.16}`$, and the use of a constant $`\overline{M}_{\mathrm{F160W}}`$ by J2001 was justified. The stellar population models presented in the following sections suggest that the steep slope shown in Figure 1 cannot continue to arbitrarily red values of $`(VI)`$because galaxies cannot be made of arbitrarily old stars. We therefore adopt the relation between $`\overline{M}_{\mathrm{F160W}}`$ and $`(VI)_0`$ given in equation 1 and emphasize that it is only applicable to galaxies with $`(VI)`$ colors between 1.05 and 1.24.

The small statistical uncertainty in the zero point and the value of $`\chi ^2`$ close to 1 suggests that the “cosmic scatter”, or the variation in $`\overline{M}_{\mathrm{F160W}}`$ not accounted for with the single $`(VI)`$ parameter, is small. The calibration presented here suggests that relative distances to galaxies with $`(VI)`$ colors typical of elliptical galaxies can be measured with 10% accuracy or better provided that the uncertainty in $`(VI)_0`$ is 0.035 mag or smaller, and that the photometric zero point is known to 0.05 mag or better. This estimate of the statistical uncertainty does not include the systematic uncertainty in the distance scale zero point, which includes the uncertainties in the Cepheid distance scale and the distance to the LMC. The scatter increases significantly when dusty galaxies are included. The scatter below the best-fit line in Figure 1 appears larger than above it. This could be caused by the F160W SBF amplitude being under-estimated, or the $`I`$-band SBF amplitude being over-estimated (and the distances under-estimated). The uncertainties in the $`I`$-band SBF magnitudes are larger than 0.2 mag for most of the outlying points, but there is no obvious sign of a systematic problem with the $`I`$-band SBF measurements. The fit has been appropriately weighted by the uncertainties, and is consistent with the most accurate measurements. Excluding them would not significantly change the relation in Equation 1.

J2001 used a constant fluctuation magnitude $`\overline{M}_{\mathrm{F160W}}`$$`=4.86`$ in their determination of the Hubble constant. It is fair to ask what effect the new sloping calibration and revised Cepheid calibration would have if they had been adopted instead. To address this issue, we selected the five galaxies from the J2001 sample that fall within the valid color range $`(VI)_0`$$`<\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}1.24}`$ of the current distance calibration and calculated the Hubble constant for the preferred flow models using exactly the same techniques used by J2001. The increase in the Hubble constant that results from the changes in the zero point and slope of the calibration is not sensitive to the exact flow model adopted or rejection of low-$`S/N`$ ratio observations (see J2001 for a discussion of these effects). Because the new Cepheid calibration and NIC2 zero point result in a significantly fainter calibration zero point, the value of the Hubble constant would increase by 10% from 76 or 77 to 85 km s-1 Mpc-1. If the new calibration is applied to only the most distant galaxies from J2001, the Hubble constant would increase from 72 km s-1 Mpc-1 to 79. Only a small fraction (1.5% of the 10%) of the change is due to the slope of the calibration; the 0.16 mag change in the Cepheid zero point resulting from the adoption of the improved period-luminosity relation is the dominant factor. If we had adopted the metallicity corrections endorsed by Freedman et al. (2001), the increase in the Hubble constant would have been only 5% (corresponding to a zero point shift of 0.06 mag instead of 0.16 mag). All the changes described happen to affect the calibration in the same direction, i.e., reducing the absolute brightness of the fluctuations and decreasing the implied distances.

## 4 Stellar Population Models

Infrared SBF magnitudes provide important new constraints on theoretical and semi-empirical stellar population models. The models provide insight into why fluctuation magnitudes vary with color the way they do. Each single-burst, constant-metallicity model is constructed by adopting an initial mass function and uniform composition for an ensemble of theoretical stars. These stars are then allowed to evolve according to the constraints and assumptions of the particular model. At each time step, the luminosity function of the ensemble of stars is integrated to determine observable values, including broad-band colors, line indices, and fluctuation magnitudes. Luminosity fluctuations in a galaxy are proportional to the second moment of the luminosity function (Tonry & Schneider, 1988), and can be computed from the model luminosity function at each time step. Because fluctuations are weighted to the most luminous stars in the population, SBFs provide a way to better measure the contributions of luminous first-ascent red giants and asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars in unresolved stellar populations.

The first detailed models to successfully predict SBF magnitudes were those of Worthey (1994). SBF predictions from the models of Bruzual & Charlot (Liu et al. 2000, 2002) and Vazdekis (Blakeslee et al. 2001) have recently been published. In this paper, we compare empirical F160W fluctuation magnitudes $`\overline{M}_{\mathrm{F160W}}`$ to the three sets of models to learn more about the relative ages and metallicities of the galaxies in our sample. These three sets of models are the most successful models in common use today for which SBF magnitudes have been published. We also compare the model predictions to the measured fluctuation color $`(\overline{m}_I\overline{m}_{\mathrm{F160W}})`$, which is independent of the distance measurements. Agreement between observed fluctuation magnitudes and stellar population model predictions can therefore be used to simultaneously confirm the reliability of SBF distance measurements and reinforce the age and metallicity interpretations.

### 4.1 The Bruzual & Charlot Models

Absolute F160W fluctuation magnitudes are plotted as a function of extinction-corrected $`(VI)_0`$ color in the top panel of Figure 2. Data for all 65 galaxies are plotted, including galaxies containing dust that were excluded from the calibration fits. Points for galaxies with Cepheid distances are included as well. In the lower panel of Figure 2 we plotted the fluctuation color $`(\overline{m}_I\overline{m}_{\mathrm{F160W}})`$ as a function of galaxy $`(VI)`$ color. The fluctuation color is independent of distance, and therefore provides additional insight into the stellar populations of the galaxies without being subject to the systematic uncertainties of the distance measurements.

Theoretical fluctuation magnitudes and colors from Liu et al. (2000, 2002) are shown in Figure 2 as dashed (constant age) and dotted (constant metallicity) lines. The Liu et al. (2002) SBF predictions were based on the single-burst population synthesis models of Bruzual & Charlot (1993, 2002), originally described by Liu et al. (2000), and then slightly improved by Liu et al. (2002). The models provide several choices for the input evolutionary tracks and spectral libraries; a detailed comparison of the various options is given by Liu et al. (2000). We use their preferred set of inputs: the Padova evolutionary tracks of Bertelli et al. (1994), semi-empirical spectral energy distributions from Lejeune, Cuisinier, & Buser (1997), and a Salpeter initial mass function.

The Bruzual & Charlot models (Liu et al. 2002) imply that the trend towards brighter fluctuations in bluer galaxies is consistent with younger stellar population models with high metallicities. The redder galaxies appear older and more metal-poor than the bluer ones (model ages are relative to the age of the Universe, thus a model age of 17 Gyr does not imply that a population formed before the Universe was born). A similar trend has been seen in $`K`$-band fluctuations (Jensen et al. 1998; Mei, Quinn, & Silva 2001b; Liu et al. 2002). It is interesting to note that there are no fluctuation magnitudes among the bluer galaxies that are consistent with stellar population models older than about 5 Gyr. None of the galaxies appear to have metallicities lower than approximately \[Fe/H\]$`=0.7`$. The spread in fluctuation magnitudes with color traces a line of models with nearly constant metallicity down to $`(VI)_0`$$`=\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}1.15}`$; bluer galaxies appear more metal-rich than those with $`(VI)_0`$$`>\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}1.15}`$.

The distance-independent plot of fluctuation colors in the lower panel of Figure 2 leads to the same conclusion about the relative ages of galaxies with different colors. The absolute metallicities implied by the $`(\overline{m}_I\overline{m}_{\mathrm{F160W}})`$ models are very similar to those in the upper panel. The bluer galaxies have the same fluctuation magnitudes as stellar population models with significantly younger ages and slightly higher metallicities than redder galaxies. Agreement between the $`\overline{M}_{\mathrm{F160W}}`$ and the distance-independent $`(\overline{m}_I\overline{m}_{\mathrm{F160W}})`$ models suggests that the total systematic error in the distance scale calibration is likely to be of order 0.1 mag.

### 4.2 The Vazdekis Models

In Figure 3 we compare our data to the F160W SBF magnitudes and $`(VI)_0`$ colors computed for the Vazdekis models (Blakeslee et al. 2001; Vazdekis 2001). Additional models for populations younger than 4 Gyr were retrieved from http://www.iac.es/galeria /vazdekis/col\_lick.html. The Blakeslee et al. models make use of the new Padova isochrones of Girardi et al. (2000), which are transformed to the observable plane using the empirical stellar libraries of Alonso, Arribas, & Martinez-Roger (1996, 1999) and Lejeune et al. (1997, 1998). The Blakeslee et al. (2001) SBF models were computed for the $`H`$-filter, so it is necessary to shift the models to F160W. We adopted an empirical correction to the absolute fluctuation magnitudes of

$$\overline{M}_{\mathrm{F160W}}=\overline{M}_H+0.10(\overline{M}_J\overline{M}_K)$$
(2)
based on photometry of red main sequence stars (Stephens et al. 2000). This correction, which is typically 0.17 mag for most models, has the effect of shifting the model lines in Figure 3 down with respect to the points. We also computed the offset between $`H`$ and F160W by convolving the filter profiles with synthetic spectra of red giant stars (B. Plez, private communication; see also Bessell, Castelli, & Plez 1998). The resulting relation

$$\overline{M}_{\mathrm{F160W}}=\overline{M}_H+0.116(\overline{M}_J\overline{M}_K)+0.026$$
(3)
is very close to that derived from the Stephens et al. (2000) data and has no effect on the interpretation, so we adopted the empirical correction in Equation 2.

The top panel in Figure 3 reveals very good agreement between the models as corrected using Equation 2 and the data calibrated using the distances based on the Freedman et al. (2001) Cepheid calibration without metallicity corrections. Uncertainties in the distance calibration are avoided when we compare the fluctuation color $`(\overline{m}_I\overline{m}_{\mathrm{F160W}})`$ to the models. The ages and metallicities implied by the $`(\overline{m}_I\overline{m}_{\mathrm{F160W}})`$ models are in very good agreement with those of the $`\overline{M}_{\mathrm{F160W}}`$ models and with the Liu et al. (2002) models. Once again, a change in the distance scale zero point of more than approximately 0.1 mag would compromise the compatibility between the models.

The Vazdekis models show a compression in $`\overline{M}_{\mathrm{F160W}}`$ of the higher-metallicity and younger-age tracks compared to the Liu et al. (2000, 2002) models. This is partly due to the fact that the maximum metallicity shown for the Blakeslee et al. (2001) models is 0.2, while that of Liu et al. is 0.4. It is also partly due to the difference in slope between the youngest populations. While there are many differences in the details of the Vazdekis and Bruzual & Charlot models, the choice of isochrones is perhaps the most significant for the current study. If we apply the newer evolutionary tracks (Girardi et al. 2000) adopted by Blakeslee et al. (2001) to the Bruzual & Charlot models (Liu et al. 2000, 2002), we find that the resulting age tracks are nearly horizontal and lie midway between the two sets of models shown in Figures 2 and 3.

### 4.3 The Worthey Models

Figure 4 shows the F160W data plotted with the Worthey (1994) models. Worthey models are currently available via the web at http://astro.wsu.edu/worthey/dial/dial\_a\_model.html. F160W models were constructed by convolving the basic “vanilla” model spectral energy distributions at each age and metallicity with the filter profile of the NIC2 F160W filter (G. Worthey, private communication). The default Worthey models use a Salpeter initial mass function and a helium fraction of $`\mathrm{Y}=\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}0.228}+\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}2.7}\mathrm{Z}`$. There are differences in detail between the Worthey models and those presented in the previous sections. In particular, the Worthey models imply older ages for galaxies of a given color, and unreasonably large ages for the reddest galaxies. Note that the calibration changes to the Freedman et al. (2001) Cepheid zero point without metallicity corrections makes the comparisons to the Worthey $`\overline{M}_{\mathrm{F160W}}`$ models worse than they would have been using the previous Key Project calibration (Ferrarese et al. 2002b, J2001). The comparison of the distance-independent $`(\overline{m}_I\overline{m}_{\mathrm{F160W}})`$ models to the data yields ages and metallicities in excellent agreement with the conclusions of the previously-considered models. The redder galaxies have slightly sub-solar metallicities and old ages, while the bluer galaxies appear to have higher metallicities and significantly younger ages. It appears that the Worthey (1994) models may have an offset in absolute magnitude, but the relative brightnesses of the models at different wavelengths are reliable.

### 4.4 Composite Stellar Population Models

Fluctuation magnitudes are dominated by the youngest stars in a population. Statistically, measured SBFs are the ratio of the second moment of the stellar luminosity function to the first, and therefore are very sensitive to the brightest stars. When comparison of SBF magnitudes to the models suggests the presence of young or intermediate-age populations ($`<5`$ Gyr), only a fraction of the stars would have to be young for the fluctuation amplitude to be high; the majority of the stars may be much older.

Tonry, Ajhar, & Luppino (1990) were the first to attempt to use composite stellar population models to explain optical SBF observations, but the inadequacy of their model isochrones and colors led Worthey (1993) to question the validity of their results. More recently, Blakeslee et al. (2001) and Liu et al. (2002) have compared composite stellar population models to observational SBF data. Blakeslee et al. found that a 3-component model that includes a $`10\%`$ metal-poor component reproduces the observed $`I`$-band SBF slope and agrees with the IR SBF results presented here.

In Figure 5 we compare our fluctuation magnitudes to the composite stellar population models of Liu et al. (2002) re-calculated for the F160W filter. In the three scenarios shown in Figure 5, 20% of the final mass formed six Gyr after the principal population. Composite populations with smaller mass fractions and smaller age differences would fall between the tracks shown in Figure 5; these models are meant to be representative and are shown for comparison with those published by Liu et al. (2002). The total time since formation is indicated in Figure 5 on each evolutionary track, thus the 7 Gyr point marks the magnitude and color of a population where 80% of the stars by mass are 7 Gyr old and the other 20% formed 1 Gyr ago. The top line is for a burst with higher metallicity (\[Fe/H\]$`=+0.4`$) than the original solar-metallicity population. The middle track is for a burst population of solar metallicity, and the lowest track is for a burst with lower-than-solar metallicity (\[Fe/H\]$`=0.7`$). In all three cases the majority of the stars (80% of the final mass) formed from solar-metallicity gas.

Figure 5 shows that the bright fluctuations in bluer galaxies may be the result of a recent burst of star formation within the last $``$2 Gyr with a total mass fraction of $`20`$%. Liu et al. (2002) came to the same conclusion comparing $`K`$-band SBF data to the composite models. The F160W data in Figure 5 suggest that the burst took place in previously-enriched gas. If recent episodes of star formation are triggered by mergers with dwarf galaxies with lower than solar metallicity, the star formation must take place in gas previously enriched in the larger galaxy. Figure 5 suggests that as time goes on, bursts of star formation take place in increasingly metal-rich gas.

The bottom panel of Figure 5 shows the comparison of fluctuation color $`(\overline{m}_I\overline{m}_{\mathrm{F160W}})`$ to the composite models. The $`(\overline{m}_I\overline{m}_{\mathrm{F160W}})`$ models imply slightly lower absolute metallicities for galaxies at the blue end of the color distribution than the $`\overline{M}_{\mathrm{F160W}}`$ models do. None of the points in the lower panel fall much above the solar metallicity $`(\overline{m}_I\overline{m}_{\mathrm{F160W}})`$ track, in contrast to the data in the top panel. The metallicities implied for the redder galaxies are the same in both panels. The metallicities implied by the $`(\overline{m}_I\overline{m}_{\mathrm{F160W}})`$ models support the conclusion that more-recent star formation takes place in progressively higher-metallicity gas.

### 4.5 Comparing Fluctuations to the H$`\beta `$ Index

The well-known age-metallicity degeneracy makes it difficult to use broad-band optical colors to distinguish old, metal-poor populations from younger, metal-rich ones (e.g., Worthey 1994). One currently popular technique for determining ages and metallicities, particularly in young populations ($`t<5`$ Gyr), is to compare the age-sensitive H$`\beta `$ absorption line strength to a metal line that is sensitive to metallicity. IR SBFs also break the age-metallicity degeneracy and allow one to distinguish young, blue populations from older, metal-poor populations (Liu et al. 2000; Blakeslee et al. 2001). SBFs are dominated by the brightest stars in a galaxy, which in relatively young and intermediate-age populations ($`1<t<\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}5}`$ Gyr) are evolved red giant and AGB stars. The populations we are considering are not actively forming stars, and are not so young as to contain massive luminous OB stars or emission nebulae. In contrast to SBFs, the H$`\beta `$ absorption arises from main sequence stars near the main sequence turn-off. Because H$`\beta `$ and SBF measurements arise from completely different groups of stars, and are measured using completely different techniques, the F160W SBF measurements presented here provide an important independent confirmation that H$`\beta `$ absorption is truly revealing differences in the ages of stellar populations. F160W fluctuation magnitudes and H$`\beta `$ absorption are both sensitive probes of young stellar populations. The fact that the two techniques agree for individual galaxies in this sample is significant.

In Figure 6 we compare the age-sensitive $`\overline{M}_{\mathrm{F160W}}`$ to H$`\beta `$ and use the Bruzual & Charlot models of Liu et al. (2002) to infer relative ages and metallicities. We collected high-quality H$`\beta `$ measurements on the Lick/IDS system from three recent studies (Kuntschner et al. 2000; Kuntschner 2000; Trager et al. 2000). These measurements include a sample of 14 galaxies in the Fornax cluster and 10 others, including some in the Local Group, Virgo, Leo clusters. The three studies measured H$`\beta `$ values in apertures of different sizes. Kuntschner (2000) used a single aperture size for the Fornax cluster galaxies. Kuntschner et al. (2000) scaled their measurements by distance to a common physical scale. The Trager et al. (2000) data are measured in an aperture scaled to the size of the galaxy ($`r_e/8`$). It is unnecessary to adjust the measurements to a common system since Kuntschner et al. (2000) found that H$`\beta `$ does not change significantly with radius from the galaxy center. The Kuntschner and Trager studies apply a slightly different correction for H$`\beta `$ emission; we applied a small correction of 0.1 times \[OIII\]$`\lambda 5007`$ to the Trager et al. data to match the correction used in the Kuntschner papers. The H$`\beta `$ measurements are listed in Table 1. Two galaxies were measured by both teams: H$`\beta `$ measurements for NGC 3379 are presented in all three papers, and data for NGC 4472 are published in two. The H$`\beta `$ values listed in Table 1 are averages of all measurements, and the uncertainties were added in quadrature. The standard deviation of the different measurements was less than or equal to the total uncertainties in both cases.

The trend seen in Figure 6 shows that the galaxies span a wide range in age, both as determined using H$`\beta `$ and $`\overline{M}_{\mathrm{F160W}}`$. There is clearly a correlation between $`\overline{M}_{\mathrm{F160W}}`$ and H$`\beta `$. The stellar population models (Liu et al. 2002) have lines of constant age perpendicular to the correlation between $`\overline{M}_{\mathrm{F160W}}`$ and H$`\beta `$ seen in Figure 6, indicating that both are sensitive to young and intermediate-age populations (even though they sense very different components of the young populations). The fact that both techniques lead to the same conclusion that early-type galaxies often contain young stellar populations strengthens the conclusion considerably. The stellar population models become somewhat more compressed for ages greater than 8 Gyr, when the A stars responsible for H$`\beta `$ absorption have evolved off the main sequence, and the red giant and AGB stars responsible for the fluctuations are intrinsically fainter and more uniform in brightness (the model ages are best interpreted in a relative sense; observations that agree with the oldest models do not imply ages older than the Universe).

The absolute metallicities implied by Figure 6 are only marginally higher than those seen in the previous comparisons, and the trend with age is consistent. In the lower panel of Figure 6 the H$`\beta `$ values are compared to the fluctuation color $`(\overline{m}_I\overline{m}_{\mathrm{F160W}})`$, which is distance independent. The $`\overline{M}_{\mathrm{F160W}}`$ and $`(\overline{m}_I\overline{m}_{\mathrm{F160W}})`$ models disagree slightly. The fluctuation color models suggest somewhat lower metallicities than the $`\overline{M}_{\mathrm{F160W}}`$ models, in agreement with the other model comparisons.

Both panels in Figure 6 show a relationship between IR fluctuations and H$`\beta `$. The models suggest that both elliptical and S0 galaxies span a very wide range in age and a relatively narrow range of metallicity. This result disagrees somewhat with the conclusion of Kuntschner (2000), who found that only the S0 galaxies in Fornax have a wide spread in age. Kuntschner’s limited sample of Fornax ellipticals appear uniformly old and span a range in metallicity. Our results are consistent with the conclusions of Trager et al. (2000), who found a wide age spread among a sample of ellipticals drawn from a variety of environments.

### 4.6 Common Ground

In detail, there are significant differences between the different models in predicted fluctuation magnitudes. Differences have also been noted at other wavelengths (Blakeslee et al. 2001, Liu et al. 2002, Mei et al. 2001b). In general, however, the comparison of empirical fluctuation magnitudes to the models yields a broadly consistent picture. Fluctuation amplitudes in galaxies redder than $`(VI)_0`$$`>\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}1.16}`$ are all consistent with stellar populations older than approximately 8 Gyr and of slightly sub-solar metallicity. Galaxies on the bluer end of the color range all appear consistent with the youngest (2 to 5 Gyr) models in both absolute fluctuation magnitude and fluctuation color. Regardless of which model is considered, these blue, lower-luminosity galaxies appear to be more metal-rich than the redder ellipticals. None of the bluer galaxies in this sample have fluctuation magnitudes that are consistent with old ($`>5`$ Gyr) single-burst stellar population models with low metallicities. The majority of stars in the blue galaxies may still be old, as the fluctuation magnitudes are dominated by young stars in a population. Composite stellar population models reinforce the conclusions of the single-age stellar population models.

The conclusion that bluer early-type galaxies are younger and more metal-rich seems to contradict the observed relationship between mass and metallicity in giant ellipticals where less massive (bluer) systems retain less enriched gas, and should therefore have lower metallicities than the massive ellipticals. The SBF magnitudes are dominated by the brightest and youngest stars in a galaxy, however, so our conclusion regarding metallicity may be consistent with the mass–metallicity relation if the bluer ellipticals have lower metallicities overall and some small fraction of their stars formed relatively recently from more metal-rich gas. The uncertainty in the assumed luminosity evolution of the AGB stars in the youngest population models also serves to minimize the importance of the apparent contradiction. A modest excess in the real AGB population over the models would result in enhanced SBF magnitudes that would appear the same as enhanced metallicities.

The differences between models indicate that the details of the evolutionary tracks that are used in the models deserve further attention. Furthermore, the Padova evolutionary tracks are not computed beyond the onset of the thermally-pulsating stage of the AGB, and the modelers have employed a synthetic parameterization of the evolution of AGB stars to attempt to reproduce the luminosity function of realistic populations. The data presented here can provide feedback that should result in improved understanding of the luminosities and lifetimes of luminous AGB stars. It is also clear that real galaxies are not composed of coeval populations of stars of constant metallicity.

The excellent agreement between the data and the models for both the $`\overline{M}_{\mathrm{F160W}}`$ and the distance-independent $`(\overline{m}_I\overline{m}_{\mathrm{F160W}})`$ models suggests that the Cepheid distances are probably reliable to better than 10%. For the current study we adopted the new Cepheid period-luminosity relations of Udalski et al. (1999), no metallicity corrections, and a distance modulus to the LMC of 18.50 mag.

## 5 Galaxy Morphologies and SBF Magnitudes

Figure 7 shows the absolute fluctuation magnitudes separated into bins by morphological type. Galaxy morphology classifications were taken from de Vaucouleurs et al. (1991, RC3). Absolute fluctuation magnitudes and the projected ellipticities of the galaxies on the sky are plotted in Figure 8 (RC3). The shapes of the symbols in Figure 8 are the same as the optical shapes of the galaxies measured well outside the NICMOS field of view. Morphological types and ellipticities from RC3 are listed in Table 1.

As a group, lenticular S0 galaxies are bluer than the elliptical population; nevertheless, the overlap between elliptical and S0 galaxies covers almost the entire range in color covered by this sample. The bulges of spiral galaxies also span the full range of color and $`\overline{M}_{\mathrm{F160W}}`$ spanned by the elliptical galaxies. Some dusty spiral bulges have fluctuation magnitudes that are significantly brighter than the early-type galaxies of the same color, most likely because the fluctuation amplitude is enhanced by the presence of clumpy dust. Some galaxies of all types included in our sample (T$`=6`$ to $`+4`$) apparently contain bluer and brighter intermediate-age populations near their centers. While most of the galaxies are found in clusters or groups, the sample covers a range of environment from dense, compact clusters like Fornax, to lower-density groups and clusters (Leo, Virgo, and Ursa Major). Thirteen galaxies are not associated with any obvious group or cluster (as defined by Faber et al. 1989).

## 6 Summary

1. Using F160W SBF magnitudes to accurately determine extragalactic distances requires that the color of the galaxy be known. The best calibration fit is given in Equation 1. To achieve an accuracy of $`10`$% or better, the uncertainty in $`(VI)_0`$ color should be less than $`0.035`$ mag. Applying the new calibration to the distant F160W SBF data of J2001 would result in a value of the Hubble constant that is 10% larger than that published previously; almost all of the difference (8%) is due to the improved Cepheid period-luminosity relation of Udalski et al. (1999).

2. The reddest, most-massive ellipticals appear older (when compared to theoretical stellar population models) than the less-luminous bluer galaxies. There are no galaxies in the blue half of our sample that have fainter fluctuation magnitudes consistent with very low metallicity (\[Fe/H\]$`<0.7`$) and old age ($`t>5`$ Gyr) stellar population models. Comparison with stellar population models suggests that the youngest galaxies have somewhat higher metallicities than the older ellipticals. None of the galaxies have fluctuation magnitudes that are too bright to be accommodated by the young, metal-rich models.

3. Composite stellar population models composed of $`20`$% younger stars by mass are also consistent with the brighter fluctuation magnitudes in bluer galaxies, provided the younger stars formed from gas of equal or higher metallicity than the gas that formed the older stellar population.

4. The H$`\beta `$ line index and fluctuation magnitude $`\overline{M}_{\mathrm{F160W}}`$ are both sensitive to young and intermediate-age stellar populations with ages between one and a few Gyr. Age estimates from the two techniques are consistent. The agreement is significant because the two types of measurements make use of completely different techniques and are sensitive to different populations of stars.

5. Comparison of fluctuation magnitudes and distance-independent fluctuation colors to the predictions of stellar population models provides an independent check on the distance scale calibration. If the models are correct, at least in the relative brightnesses between the $`I`$ and F160W bands, then the total systematic error in the Cepheid distance scale is possibly $`0.1`$ mag.

6. The S0 galaxies and dust-free spiral bulges in this sample have fluctuation magnitudes that are indistinguishable from those of the elliptical galaxies of the same color. Young and intermediate-age populations of relatively high metallicity must therefore be present in all galaxy types on the blue end of the color distribution. While there is a greater fraction of S0 galaxies among the bluer galaxies, galaxies of all types are found across the entire color range.

This study benefited greatly from NICMOS data collected as part of several programs, and we thank those who worked to acquire that data. In particular, we are grateful to those who helped ensure that the data would be appropriate for SBF analysis and assisted with the data reductions (D. Geisler, J. Elias, J. R. Graham, and S. Charlot). We greatly appreciated the helpful comments of L. Ferrarese, T. Lauer, M. Postman, and R. Weymann. This study made use of data collected by the Optical SBF team (J. Tonry, J. Blakeslee, E. Ajhar, and A. Dressler), and we thank them for providing color photometry and $`I`$-band SBF data. Finally, we wish to thank S. Charlot, A. Vazdekis, and G. Worthey for constructing the SBF stellar population models. This research was supported in part by NASA grant GO-07453.0196A. The NICMOS GTO team was supported by NASA grant NAG 5-3042. J. Jensen acknowledges the support of the Gemini Observatory, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., on behalf of the international Gemini partnership of Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America. M. Liu acknowledges the support of a Beatrice Watson Parrent Fellowship.


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# Counting the occurrences of generalized patterns in words generated by a morphism

## Abstract

We count the number of occurrences of certain patterns in given words. We choose these words to be the set of all finite approximations of a sequence generated by a morphism with certain restrictions. The patterns in our considerations are either classical patterns $`1\text{-}2`$, $`2\text{-}1`$, $`1\text{-}1\text{-}\mathrm{}\text{-}1`$, or arbitrary generalized patterns without internal dashes, in which repetitions of letters are allowed. In particular, we find the number of occurrences of the patterns $`1\text{-}2`$, $`2\text{-}1`$, $`12`$, $`21`$, $`123`$ and $`1\text{-}1\text{-}\mathrm{}\text{-}1`$ in the words obtained by iterations of the morphism $`1123`$, $`213`$, $`32`$, which is a classical example of a morphism generating a nonrepetitive sequence.

## 1. Introduction and Background

We write permutations as words $`\pi =a_1a_2\mathrm{}a_n`$, whose letters are distinct and usually consist of the integers $`1,2,\mathrm{},n`$.

An occurrence of a pattern $`p`$ in a permutation $`\pi `$ is “classically” defined as a subsequence in $`\pi `$ (of the same length as the length of $`p`$) whose letters are in the same relative order as those in $`p`$. Formally speaking, for $`rn`$, we say that a permutation $`\sigma `$ in the symmetric group $`𝒮_n`$ has an occurrence of the pattern $`p𝒮_r`$ if there exist $`1i_1<i_2<\mathrm{}<i_rn`$ such that $`p=\sigma (i_1)\sigma (i_2)\mathrm{}\sigma (i_r)`$ in reduced form. The reduced form of a permutation $`\sigma `$ on a set $`\{j_1,j_2,\mathrm{},j_r\}`$, where $`j_1<j_2<\mathrm{}<j_r`$, is a permutation $`\sigma _1`$ obtained by renaming the letters of the permutation $`\sigma `$ so that $`j_i`$ is renamed $`i`$ for all $`i\{1,\mathrm{},r\}`$. For example, the reduced form of the permutation 3651 is 2431. The first case of classical patterns studied was that of permutations avoiding a pattern of length 3 in $`\mathrm{SS}_3`$. Knuth \[Knuth\] found that, for any $`\tau \mathrm{SS}_3`$, the number $`|\mathrm{SS}_n(\tau )|`$ of $`n`$-permutations avoiding $`\tau `$ is $`C_n`$, the $`n`$th Catalan number. Later, Simion and Schmidt \[SimSch\] determined the number $`|\mathrm{SS}_n(P)|`$ of permutations in $`\mathrm{SS}_n`$ simultaneously avoiding any given set of patterns $`P\mathrm{SS}_3`$.

In \[BabStein\] Babson and Steingrímsson introduced generalised permutation patterns that allow the requirement that two adjacent letters in a pattern must be adjacent in the permutation. In order to avoid confusion we write a ”classical” pattern, say $`231`$, as $`2`$-$`3`$-$`1`$, and if we write, say $`2`$-$`31`$, then we mean that if this pattern occurs in the permutation, then the letters in the permutation that correspond to $`3`$ and $`1`$ are adjacent. For example, the permutation $`\pi =516423`$ has only one occurrence of the pattern $`2`$-$`31`$, namely the subword 564, whereas the pattern $`2`$-$`3`$-$`1`$ occurs, in addition, in the subwords 562 and 563. A motivation for introducing these patterns in \[BabStein\] was the study of Mahonian statistics. A number of interesting results on generalised patterns were obtained in \[Claes\]. Relations to several well studied combinatorial structures, such as set partitions, Dyck paths, Motzkin paths and involutions, were shown there.

Burstein \[Burstein\] considered words instead of permutations. In particular, he found the number $`|[k]^n(P)|`$ of words of length $`n`$ in $`k`$-letter alphabet that avoid each pattern from a set $`P\mathrm{SS}_3`$ simultaneously. Burstein and Mansour \[BurMans1\] (resp. \[BurMans2, BurMans3\]) considered forbidden patterns (resp. generalized patterns) with repeated letters.

The most attention, in the papers on classical or generalized patterns, is paid to counting exact formulas and/or generating functions for the number of words or permutations avoiding, or having $`k`$ occurrences of, certain pattern. In this paper we suggest another problem, namely counting the number of occurrences of a particular pattern $`\tau `$ in given words. We choose these words to be a set of all finite approximations (to be defined below) of a sequence generated by a morphism with certain restrictions. A motivation for such a choice is big interest in studying classes of sequences and words that are defined by iterative schemes \[Lothaire, Salomaa\]. The pattern $`\tau `$ in our considerations is either a classical pattern from the set $`\{1\text{-}2,2\text{-}1,1\text{-}1\text{-}\mathrm{}\text{-}1\}`$, or an arbitrary generalized pattern without internal dashes, in which repetitions of letters are allowed. In particular, we find that there are $`(34^{n1}+2^n)`$ occurrences of the pattern $`1\text{-}2`$ in the $`n`$-th finite approximation of the sequence $`w`$ defined below, which is a classical example of a nonrepetitive sequence.

Let $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ be an alphabet and $`\mathrm{\Sigma }^{}`$ be the set of all words of $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$. A map $`\phi :\mathrm{\Sigma }^{}\mathrm{\Sigma }^{}`$ is called a morphism, if we have $`\phi (uv)=\phi (u)\phi (v)`$ for any $`u,v\mathrm{\Sigma }^{}`$. It is easy to see that a morphism $`\phi `$ can be defined by defining $`\phi (i)`$ for each $`i\mathrm{\Sigma }`$. The set of all rules $`i\phi (i)`$ is called a substitution system. We create words by starting with a letter from the alphabet $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ and iterating the substitution system. Such a substitution system is called a D0L (Deterministic, with no context Lindenmayer) system \[LindRoz\]. D0L systems are classical objects of formal language theory. They are interesting from mathematical point of view \[Frid\], but also have applications in theoretical biology \[Lind\]. Let $`|X|`$ denote the length of a word $`X`$, that is the number of letters in $`X`$.

Suppose a word $`\phi (a)`$ begins with $`a`$ for some $`a\mathrm{\Sigma }`$, and that the length of $`\phi ^k(a)`$ increases without bound. The symbolic sequence $`\underset{k\mathrm{}}{lim}\phi ^k(a)`$ is said to be generated by the morphism $`\phi `$. In particular, $`\underset{k\mathrm{}}{lim}\phi ^k(a)`$ is a fixed point of $`\phi `$. However, in this paper we are only interesting in the finite approximations of $`\underset{k\mathrm{}}{lim}\phi ^k(a)`$, that is in the words $`\phi ^k(a)`$ for $`k=1,2,\mathrm{}`$.

An example of a sequence generated by a morphism can be the following sequence $`w`$. We create words by starting with the letter 1 and iterating the substitution system $`\varphi _w`$: $`1123`$, $`213`$, $`32`$. Thus, the initial letters of $`w`$ are 123132123213…. This sequence was constructed in connection with the problem of constructing a nonrepetitive sequence on a 3-letter alphabet, that is, a sequence that does not contain any subwords of the type $`XX=X^2`$, where $`X`$ is any non-empty word over a 3-letter alphabet. The sequence $`w`$ has that property. The question of the existence of such a sequence, as well as the questions of the existence of sequences avoiding other kinds of repetitions, were studied in algebra \[Adian, Justin, Kol\], discrete analysis \[Carpi, Dekk, Evdok, Ker, Pleas\] and in dynamical systems \[MorseHedl\]. In Examples 2.22.6 and 3.3 we give the number of occurrences of the patterns $`1\text{-}2`$, $`2\text{-}1`$, $`1\text{-}1\text{-}\mathrm{}\text{-}1`$, $`12`$, $`123`$ and $`21`$ in the finite approximations of $`w`$.

To proceed further, we need the following definitions. Let $`N_\varphi ^\tau (n)`$ denote the number of occurrences of the pattern $`\tau `$ in a word generated by some morphism $`\varphi `$ after $`n`$ iterations. We say that an occurrence of $`\tau `$ is external for a pair of words $`(X,Y)`$, if this occurrence starts in $`X`$ and ends in $`Y`$. Also, an occurrence of $`\tau `$ for a word $`X`$ is internal, if this occurrence starts and ends in this $`X`$.

## 2. Patterns 1-2, 2-1 and 1-1-…-1

###### Theorem 2.1.

Let $`𝒜`$ $`=\{1,2,\mathrm{},k\}`$ be an alphabet, where $`k2`$ and a pattern $`\tau \{1\text{-}2,2\text{-}1\}`$. Let $`X_1`$ begins with the letter 1 and consists of $`\mathrm{}`$ copies of each letter $`i𝒜`$ ($`\mathrm{}1`$). Let a morphism $`\varphi `$ be such that

$$1X_1,2X_2,3X_3,\mathrm{},kX_k,$$

where we allow $`X_i`$ to be the empty word $`ϵ`$ for $`i=2,3,\mathrm{},k`$ (that is, $`\varphi `$ may be an erasing morphism), $`{\displaystyle \underset{i=2}{\overset{k}{}}}|X_i|=kd`$, and each letter from $`𝒜`$ appears in the word $`X_2X_3\mathrm{}X_k`$ exactly $`d`$ times. Besides, let $`e_{i,j}`$ (resp. $`e_i`$) be the number of external occurrences of $`\tau `$ for $`(X_i,X_j)`$ (resp. $`(X_i,X_i)`$), where $`ij`$. Let $`s_i`$ be the number of internal occurrences of $`\tau `$ in $`X_i`$. In particular, $`s_i=e_i=e_{i,j}=e_{j,i}=0`$, whenever $`X_i=ϵ`$; also, $`e_i=|X_i|(|X_i|1)/2`$, whenever there are no repetitive letters in $`X_i`$. Then $`N_\varphi ^\tau (1)=s_1`$ and for $`n2`$, $`N_\varphi ^\tau (n)`$ is given by

$$(d+\mathrm{})^{n2}\underset{i=1}{\overset{k}{}}s_i+\left(\genfrac{}{}{0pt}{}{(d+\mathrm{})^{n2}}{2}\right)\underset{i=1}{\overset{k}{}}e_i+(d+\mathrm{})^{2n4}\underset{1i<jk}{}e_{i,j}.$$

###### Proof.

We assume that $`\tau =1\text{-}2`$. All the considerations for this $`\tau `$ remain the same for the case $`\tau =2\text{-}1`$.

If $`n=1`$ then the statement is trivial.

Suppose $`n2`$. Using the fact that $`X_1X_2X_3\mathrm{}X_k`$, has exactly $`d+\mathrm{}`$ occurrences of each letter $`i`$, $`i=1,2,\mathrm{},k`$, one can prove by induction on $`n`$, that the word $`\varphi ^n(1)`$ is a permutation of $`(d+\mathrm{})^{n2}`$ copies of each word $`X_i`$, where $`i=1,2,\mathrm{},k`$. This implies, in particular, that $`|\varphi ^n(1)|=k(d+\mathrm{})^{n1}`$.

An occurrence of $`\tau `$ in $`\varphi ^n(1)`$ can be either internal, that is when $`\tau `$ occurs inside a word $`X_i`$, or external, which means that $`\tau `$ begins in a word $`X_i`$ and ends in another word $`X_j`$. In the first of these cases, since there are $`(d+\mathrm{})^{n2}`$ copies of each $`X_i`$, we have $`(d+\mathrm{})^{n2}_{i=1}^ks_i`$ possibilities. In the second case, either $`i=j`$, which gives $`\left(\genfrac{}{}{0pt}{}{(d+\mathrm{})^{n2}}{2}\right)_{i=1}^ke_i`$ possibilities, or $`ij`$, in which case there are $`(d+\mathrm{})^{n2}`$ possibilities to choose $`X_i`$ (resp. $`X_j`$) among $`(d+\mathrm{})^{n2}`$ copies of $`X_i`$ (resp. $`X_j`$), and using the fact that $`e_{i,j}=e_{j,i}`$ (the order in which the words $`X_i`$ and $`X_j`$ occur in $`\varphi ^n(1)`$ is unimportant), we have $`(d+\mathrm{})^{2n4}_{1i<jk}e_{i,j}`$ possibilities. Summing all the possibilities, we finish the proof. ∎

Let $`s`$ (resp. $`e`$) denote the vector $`(s_1,s_2,\mathrm{},s_k)`$ (resp. $`(e_1,e_2,\mathrm{},e_k)`$), where $`s_i`$ and $`e_j`$ are defined in Theorem 2.1. All of the following examples are corollaries to Theorem 2.1.

###### Example 2.2.

If we consider the morphism $`\varphi _w`$ defined in Section 1 and the pattern $`\tau =1\text{-}2`$ then $`d=\mathrm{}=1`$, $`s=(3,1,0)`$, $`e=(3,1,0)`$ and $`e_{1,2}=e_{2,1}=2`$, $`e_{1,3}=e_{3,1}=1`$, $`e_{2,3}=e_{3,2}=1`$. Hence, the number of occurrences of $`\tau `$ is given by $`N_{\varphi _w}^{1\text{-}2}(1)=3`$ and, for $`n2`$, $`N_{\varphi _w}^{1\text{-}2}(n)=(34^{n1}+2^n)/2`$. If $`\tau =2\text{-}1`$ then $`s=(0,0,0)`$, $`e=(3,1,0)`$ and $`e_{1,2}=e_{2,1}=2`$, $`e_{1,3}=e_{3,1}=1`$, $`e_{2,3}=e_{3,2}=1`$. Hence, $`N_{\varphi _w}^{2\text{-}1}(1)=0`$ and, for $`n2`$, $`N_{\varphi _w}^{2\text{-}1}(n)=(34^{n1}2^n)/2`$.

###### Example 2.3.

If we consider the morphism $`\varphi `$: $`11324`$, $`2ϵ`$, $`314`$, and $`423`$ then for the pattern $`\tau =1\text{-}2`$, we have $`d=\mathrm{}=1`$, $`s=(5,0,1,1)`$, $`e=(6,0,1,1)`$, and $`e_{i,j}`$, for $`ij`$, are elements of the matrix

$$\left(\begin{array}{cccc}& 0& 3& 3\\ 0& & 0& 0\\ 3& 0& & 2\\ 3& 0& 2& \end{array}\right).$$

Hence, $`N_\varphi ^{1\text{-}2}(1)=5`$ and, for $`n2`$, $`N_\varphi ^{1\text{-}2}(n)=34^{n1}+112^{n2}`$.

###### Example 2.4.

If we consider the morphism $`\varphi `$: $`113542`$, $`2423`$, $`3ϵ`$, $`45115`$, and $`5234`$ then for the pattern $`\tau =1\text{-}2`$, we have $`\mathrm{}=1`$, $`d=2`$, $`s=(6,1,0,2,3)`$, $`e=(10,3,0,4,3)`$, and $`e_{i,j}`$, for $`ij`$, are elements of the matrix

$$\left(\begin{array}{ccccc}& 6& 0& 8& 6\\ 6& & 0& 6& 3\\ 0& 0& & 0& 0\\ 8& 6& 0& & 6\\ 6& 3& 0& 6& \end{array}\right).$$

Hence, $`N_\varphi ^{1\text{-}2}(1)=6`$ and, for $`n2`$, $`N_\varphi ^{1\text{-}2}(n)=59^{n1}+23^{n2}`$.

Using the proof of Theorem 2.1, we have the following.

###### Theorem 2.5.

Let a morphism $`\varphi `$ satisfy all the conditions in the statement of Theorem 2.1 and the pattern $`\tau =\underset{r\text{ times}}{\underset{}{1\text{-}1\text{-}\mathrm{}\text{-}1}}`$. Then, for $`n2`$, the number of occurrences of $`\tau `$ in $`\varphi ^n(1)`$ is given by $`k\left(\genfrac{}{}{0pt}{}{(d+\mathrm{})^{n1}}{r}\right)`$, whereas for $`n=1`$, by $`k\left(\genfrac{}{}{0pt}{}{\mathrm{}}{r}\right)`$.

###### Proof.

From the proof of Theorem 2.1, we have that if $`n2`$ (resp. $`n=1`$) then $`\varphi ^n(1)`$ has exactly $`(d+\mathrm{})^{n1}`$ (resp. $`\mathrm{}`$) copies of each letter from $`𝒜`$. We can choose $`r`$ of them in $`\left(\genfrac{}{}{0pt}{}{(d+\mathrm{})^{n1}}{r}\right)`$ (resp. $`\left(\genfrac{}{}{0pt}{}{\mathrm{}}{r}\right)`$) ways to form the pattern $`\tau `$. The rest is clear. ∎

The following example is a corollary to Theorem 2.5.

###### Example 2.6.

If we consider the morphism $`\varphi _w`$ defined in Section 1 and the pattern $`\tau =1\text{-}1\text{-}1\text{-}1`$ then $`d=\mathrm{}=1`$, $`r=4`$, hence the number of occurrences of $`\tau `$ in $`\varphi ^n(1)`$ is 0, whenever $`n=1`$ or $`n=2`$, and $`3\left(\genfrac{}{}{0pt}{}{2^{n1}}{4}\right)`$ otherwise.

## 3. Patterns without internal dashes

In what follows we need to extend the notion of an external occurrence of a pattern. Suppose $`W=AXBYC`$, where $`A`$, $`X`$, $`B`$, $`Y`$ and $`C`$ are some subwords. We say that an occurrence of $`\tau `$ in $`W`$ is external for a pair of words $`(X,Y)`$, if this occurrence starts in $`X`$, ends in $`Y`$ and is allowed to have some of its letters in $`B`$. For instance, if $`W=12324245`$, where $`A=1`$, $`X=23`$, $`B=2`$ and $`Y=424`$ then an occurrence of the generalized pattern $`213`$, namely the subword $`324`$ is an external occurrence for $`(X,Y)`$.

###### Theorem 3.1.

Let $`𝒜`$ $`=\{1,2,\mathrm{},k\}`$ be an alphabet and a generalized pattern $`\tau `$ has no internal dashes. Let $`X_1`$ begins with the letter 1 and consists of $`\mathrm{}`$ copies of each letter $`i𝒜`$ ($`\mathrm{}1`$). Let a morphism $`\varphi `$ be such that

$$1X_1,2X_2,3X_3,\mathrm{},kX_k,$$

where we allow $`X_i`$ to be the empty word $`ϵ`$ for $`i=2,3,\mathrm{},k`$ (that is, $`\varphi `$ may be an erasing morphism), $`{\displaystyle \underset{i=2}{\overset{k}{}}}|X_i|=kd`$, and each letter from $`𝒜`$ appears in the word $`X_2X_3\mathrm{}X_k`$ exactly $`d`$ times. Besides, we assume that there are no external occurrences of $`\tau `$ in $`\varphi ^n(1)`$ for the pair $`(X_i,X_j)`$ for each $`i`$ and $`j`$. Let $`s_i`$ be the number of internal occurrences of $`\tau `$ in $`X_i`$. In particular, $`s_i=0`$, whenever $`X_i=ϵ`$. Then $`N_\varphi ^\tau (1)=s_1`$ and for $`n2`$, $`N_\varphi ^\tau (n)=(d+\mathrm{})^{n2}_{i=1}^ks_i`$.

###### Proof.

The theorem is straightforward to prove by observing that for $`n2`$, $`\varphi ^n(1)`$ has $`(d+\mathrm{})^{n2}`$ occurrences of each word $`X_i`$ (see the proof of Theorem 2.1). ∎

###### Remark 3.2.

In order to use Theorem 3.1, we need to control the absence of external occurrences of a pattern $`\tau `$ for given $`\tau `$ (without internal dashes) and a morphism $`\varphi `$. To do this, we need, for any pair $`(X_i,X_j)`$, to consider all the words $`X_iWX_j`$, where $`|W|<|\tau |1`$, and $`W`$ is a permutation of a number of words from the set $`\{X_1,X_2,\mathrm{},X_k\}`$.

The following examples are corollaries to Theorem 3.1.

###### Example 3.3.

If we consider the morphism $`\varphi _w`$ defined in Section 1 and the pattern $`\tau =12`$ then all the conditions of Theorems 3.1 hold. In this case $`d=\mathrm{}=1`$ and $`s=(2,1,0)`$. Hence, the number of occurrences of the patterns $`12`$, that is the number of rises, is given by $`N_{\varphi _w}^{12}(1)=2`$ and, for $`n2`$, $`N_{\varphi _w}^{12}(n)=32^{n2}`$. If $`\tau =123`$ then we can apply the theorem to get that for $`n2`$, $`N_{\varphi _w}^{123}(n)=2^{n2}`$.

If we want to count the number of occurrences of the pattern $`\tau =21`$, that is the number of descents, then we cannot apply Theorem 2.1, since for instance, the pair $`(X_1,X_2)=(123,13)`$ has an external occurrence of $`\tau `$. However, it is obvious that the number of descents in $`\varphi ^n(1)`$ is equal to $`|\varphi ^n(1)|N_{\varphi _w}^{12}(1)1=32^{n2}1`$.

###### Example 3.4.

If we consider the morphism $`\varphi `$: $`11243`$, $`23`$, $`3ϵ`$, and $`4124`$ then for the pattern $`\tau =123`$, all the conditions of Theorems 3.1 hold. In this case $`d=\mathrm{}=1`$, $`s=(1,0,0,1)`$. Hence, for $`n1`$, $`N_\varphi ^{123}(n)=2^{n1}`$. For $`\tau =321`$ we cannot apply Theorem 3.1, since the pair $`(X_4,X_1)`$ has an external occurrence of $`\tau `$ (look at $`X_4X_2X_1=12\mathrm{𝟒𝟑𝟏}243`$). Consideration of the words $`X_4X_2`$ and $`X_4X_1`$ implies that the theorem cannot be apply for the patterns $`132`$ and $`231`$ respectively. However, we can apply the theorem to the pattern $`213`$ to prove that it does not occur in $`\varphi ^n(1)`$ for any $`n`$.

Acknowledgement: The final version of this paper was written during the second author’s (T.M.) stay at Haifa University, Haifa 31905, Israel. T.M. wants to express his gratitude to Haifa University for the support.


text:
# Resistivity of dilute 2D electrons in an undoped GaAs heterostructure

## Abstract

We report resistivity measurements from 0.03 K to 10 K in a dilute high mobility 2D electron system. Using an undoped GaAs/AlGaAs heterojunction in a gated field-effect transistor geometry, a wide range of densities, $`0.16\times 10^{10}\text{cm}^2`$ to $`7.5\times 10^{10}\text{cm}^2`$, are explored. For high densities, the results are quantitatively shown to be due to scattering by acoustic phonons and impurities. In an intermediate range of densities, a peak in the resistivity is observed for temperatures below 1 K. This non-monotonic resistivity can be understood by considering the known scattering mechanisms of phonons, bulk and interface ionized impurities. Still lower densities appear insulating to the lowest temperature measured.

The resistivity of 2D electrons at zero magnetic field has been used to probe scattering and quantum processes for many years. Interest in the conducting behavior of 2D electrons and holes was further heightened in 1994 when Kravchenko and coworkers discovered an apparent metal-insulator transition of 2D electrons in Si MOSFETsmetal:si . While 2D systems are expected to exhibit insulating behavior (weak or strong localization) at sufficiently low temperatures and/or densities, the metallic side of the metal-insulator transition is more puzzling. A true metal conducts at $`T=0`$, however here we use the term “metallic” as referring to $`d\rho /dT0`$ at low temperature, where $`\rho `$ is the resistivity. Metallic behavior has been seen in a number of different material systems, including electrons in Si MOSFETsmetal:si , holes in GaAsmetal:pgaas1 ; metal:pgaas2 ; metal:pgaas3  and electrons in GaAsmetal:ngaas1 ; metal:ngaas2  provided the carrier density is reasonably low (but not so low that the system is in the insulating phase) and the mobility relatively high. While all of these experimental systems exhibit metallic behavior in certain regimes of density ($`n`$) and temperature, the quantitative behavior varies widely. As the temperature is lowered, $`\rho `$ can decrease by a factor of 10 in Si MOSFETsmetal:si  compared to only a few percent for electrons in GaAsmetal:ngaas1 . The drop in resistivity is typically observed when the dimensionless parameter $`r_s`$ (ratio of Coulomb to kinetic energy, $`n^{1/2}`$) is much larger than 1, suggesting that electron-electron interactions may be important. The issue here is understanding the physical mechanisms underlying the metallic behavior and elucidating the roles of disorder and interaction.

In this Letter, we present the temperature dependence of the resistivity of a dilute 2D electron gas (2DEG) in GaAs. Electron-electron interactions can be extremely important in this system at low temperatures due to the low amount of disorder present in GaAs heterostructures. In the sample discussed here, the density can be continuously tuned from $`0.16\times 10^{10}`$ cm-2 ($`r_s=13.7`$) to $`7.5\times 10^{10}`$ cm-2 ($`r_s=2.0`$). With the ability to achieve very high $`r_s`$ in low disorder samples, these resistivity measurements provide a test of the importance of Coulomb interactions in the metallic regime. In particular, the $`r_s`$ ($`\stackrel{>}{_{}}10`$) values of our 2DEGs are very comparable to those in the best Si MOSFETs whereas the effective disorder in our sample (as measured by $`k_F\mathrm{}`$, $`k_F`$ is the Fermi wavevector and $`\mathrm{}`$ the mean free path) is more than two orders of magnitude lower. Earlier experimental studies of the metallic behavior in 2D electrons in GaAs systems were restricted to higher densities and lower mobilities, and the drop in resistivity was much weaker than the 20% drop observed here. Finally, the wide range of $`n`$ and $`T`$ reported here allow several scattering regimes to be identified.

We find that our measured temperature dependence of the resistivity can be qualitatively well understood solely within the framework of Fermi liquid theory. At high density, the resistivity is linear with temperature, and the slope agrees both with previous measurementsphonons:exp1 ; phonons:exp2  and established theory for acoustic phonon scatteringphonons:sds . For intermediate densities a low temperature peak in the resistance is observed. The non-monotonic resistivity agrees qualitatively with the predicted temperature dependence of ionized impurity scattering (screening at low $`T`$ and the transition from a degenerate Fermi gas to a classical system at high $`T`$).

The sample used in this study is a high mobility 2DEG confined at the interface of a GaAs/Al0.3Ga0.7As heterojunction. The interface (see Fig. 1 inset) is separated by undoped AlGaAs from a bulk doped GaAs cap that serves as an integrated top gate. A $`2\times 2`$ mm2 square with 16 NiGeAu ohmic contacts is fabricated in a field-effect transistor geometrykane . The ohmic contacts are self-aligned to the top gate, and carriers are drawn into the channel by applying voltage between the gate and contacts. Once present, the density of the 2DEG is linearly proportional to the gate voltage. A calibration of the density is determined using Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations for a number of gate voltages. Although using undoped heterostructures requires complicated processing, an ultra-low density can be achieved without the penalty of a substantial fixed disorder potential arising from remote delta-doping.

The mobility, $`\mu =1/ne\rho `$, is determined at $`T=30`$ mK where we empirically observe that the resistivity no longer changes with temperature. The mobility is extremely high throughout the entire density range, as is shown in Fig. 1. At the highest density for this sample the mobility is $`8.2\times 10^6`$ cm2/Vs ($`k_F\mathrm{}=2500`$). In other devices that operate at higher density, we have measured a mobility of $`1.4\times 10^7`$ cm2/Vs at a density of $`2.5\times 10^{11}`$ cm-2, a value to which the data in Fig. 1 extrapolate. Since the mobility continues to increase at high density, interface roughness scattering is not relevant for data presented hereir\_scattering .

The temperature dependence of the resistivity for a number of different densities is shown in Fig. 2. The locus of Fermi temperatures is indicated with a dotted line. Three regimes can be identified. First, at high density ($`n>1.0\times 10^{10}`$ cm-2) the resistivity is constant at low temperature and then increases as $`T`$ increases. For intermediate densities ($`0.29`$ to $`1.0\times 10^{10}\text{cm}^2`$) the resistivity is non-monotonic with temperature. As $`T`$ increases, $`\rho `$ is initially constant (see Fig. 3), then increases and decreases to form a local maximum below $`T=1`$ K. The third regime occurs at the lowest densities, with the resistivity decreasing as the temperature increases in the experimentally accessible temperature range.

The phonon contribution to the resistivity at high density is better shown in the inset of Fig. 2, where $`\mu ^1=ne\rho `$ is plotted for $`n=0.68`$ to $`3.36\times 10^{10}`$ cm-2. The inverse mobility for $`T\stackrel{>}{_{}}2`$ K is linear, and each density has roughly the same slope of $`3.2\times 10^8`$ Vs/Kcm2). Acoustic phonon scattering with both piezoelectric and deformation potential coupling leads to a linear dependence of $`\mu ^1`$ above the Bloch-Grüneisen temperature ($`kT_{BG}=2k_Fc\mathrm{}`$, $`c`$ is the phonon speed of sound). Previously reported experimentalphonons:exp1 ; phonons:exp2  and theoreticalphonons:sds  studies of higher density 2DEGs in conventional GaAs heterostructures quantitatively agree with slope found here. This demonstrates that the resistivity of the high density 2DEG is accurately captured using well known scattering mechanisms. Note that the high temperature resistivity of the low density data in the inset of Fig. 2 remains consistent with phonon scattering even as the non-monotonic features begin to appear at low temperatures.

As the density is lowered below $`n=1\times 10^{10}`$ cm-2, the resistivity becomes non-monotonic. A peak in $`\rho `$ appears for $`T<T_F`$, and the position of the peak shifts to lower temperature for lower densities. The resistivity at the maximum can be up to 23% larger than the low temperature ($`T=30`$ mK) value of the resistivity. The non-monotonic peak occurs for $`T<T_{BG}`$, where phonon scattering is strongly suppressed. In this regime of $`n`$ and $`T`$ the temperature dependence of ionized impurity scattering must be considered. Screening leads to $`\rho (T)T`$ for $`TT_F`$sds\_ionized , and the crossover from a degenerate Fermi gas to a classical system leads to $`\rho (T)1/T`$ for $`T>T_F`$sds\_ionized . Competition between these effects will lead to a low $`T`$ resistivity peak. Detailed calculations including both ionized impurity and acoustic phonon scattering are presented below (Fig. 4).

For the lowest density that can be attained in our samples $`\rho `$ decreases monotonically as $`T`$ increases. While it appears that the 2D electron system is insulating for these densities, comparison to the non-monotonic resistivities indicates a different interpretation is possible. Clearly, if the data were only taken to 0.2 K, some of the non-monotonic curves at higher density would also appear insulating. Similarly, it is possible that the low $`n`$ insulating behavior could become non-monotonic if the electron temperature were lowered further. From the results in Fig. 2, it is clear that a separatrix cannot be identified in this system. The functional form of the “insulating” temperature dependence for $`n0.23\times 10^{10}\text{cm}^2`$ is more consistent with a power law dependence than an activated or Mott variable range hopping behavior.

In performing $`\rho `$ measurements at low $`n`$ great care must be taken to insure that features do not arise as a result of inhomogeneities in the current flow. The temperature dependence of the resistances is shown in Fig. 3. Two resistances, $`R_A`$ and $`R_B`$, are measured for current flowing, on average, in orthogonal directions. A constant current of 0.3 nA (for the lowest density) to 20 nA (for the highest density) is used in a standard lock-in amplifier measurement at a frequency of 7 Hz. At these currents, transport measurements (e.g. quantum Hall minima) indicate that the electrons cool below $``$ 50 mK. The resistivity is determined from the resistances using a procedure prescribed by Van der Pauwvdp . At high density ($`n=1.57\times 10^{10}`$ cm-2, Fig. 3a), the curves $`R_A(T)`$ and $`R_B(T)`$ almost lie on top of each other and the temperature dependence is due to phonon scattering. At lower density (Fig. 3b,c), non-monotonic features appear in both $`R_A`$ and $`R_B`$, but the resistances are no longer identical. Here we observe $`R_A/R_B`$ can be as large as 1.6. Earlier designs of undoped samples exhibited a severe ratio; $`R_A/R_B`$ approached 30. This effect originates in the sample fabrication, with the higher resistance always related to the location of the metallic gate contact. We speculate that the gate contact created a locally strained region above the square 2DEG causing inhomogeneous current flow. After redesigning the sample geometry to make the gate contact far from the square measurement region, $`R_A/R_B`$ was reduced by more than a factor of 10. While this effect is still visible in Fig. 3b and c, the remaining ratio has a very small ($`<`$ 10%) impact on the resistivityvdp . Both $`R_A`$ and $`R_B`$ are non-monotonic, with resistance peaks located at nearly the same temperature. The qualitative nature of the non-monotonic resistivity is due to the underlying physics of ionized impurity scattering and not inhomogeneous current flow.

To understand the low temperature ($`T<1`$ K) data, where the phonons contribute little to the resistivity as the system enters the Bloch-Grüneisen regime, we have carried out a microscopic transport calculation using the Boltzmann theory, where we include effects of charged impurity scattering on the electronic resistivity. Our calculation includes the following effects: (1) scattering by ionized charged impurities in the bulk GaAs layer and at the GaAs/AlGaAs interface; (2) temperature dependent screening, where the electron-charged impurity scattering is taken to be the temperature dependent statically screened Coulomb interaction with the screening calculated within the finite wavevector random phase approximation; (3) acoustic phonon scattering including both deformation potential and piezoelectric coupling; (4) the quasi-2D nature of the system through subband form-factors calculated in the Fang-Howard-Stern variational scheme. This approach is valid for $`k_F\mathrm{}>1`$.

We show our calculated results in Fig. 4 for several experimental intermediate and high densities. Reasonable values are chosen for bulk and interface impurities to allow a comparison of the calculated results to the experimental data shown in Fig. 2. Note that the overall resistivity scale depends on the unknown impurity densities, but the qualitative trends in $`\rho (T,n)`$ are real and arise from very basic aspects of the underlying scattering mechanisms. The rise in $`\rho `$ with increasing $`T`$ at low temperatures is a direct effect of the thermal weakening of screening. The non-monotonicity of $`\rho (T)`$ at the intermediate temperatures arises from the competition among temperature dependent screening, quantum-classical crossover and phonon scattering. The rise at higher $`T`$ is a phonon effect.

Quantitative understanding requires a more sophisticated theory which includes higher order electron-electron interactions and disorder induced localization corrections. Recently, electron-electron interaction corrections have been considered by Zala and coworkerszala . They find that for a range of temperature, $`\mathrm{}/\tau TT_F`$ where $`\tau `$ is the transport relaxation time, $`\rho (T)`$ is expected to be linear. From the slope, the Fermi liquid parameter $`F^0`$ can be determined. In the data presented here there is no significant range over which linear $`\rho `$ is observed for $`TT_F`$ (except for the phonon effect at higher $`T`$), and therefore we do not attempt to determine $`F_0`$.

In conclusion, we have made resistivity measurements on low disorder gatable 2DEGs over a wide range of densities and temperatures. The resistivity data of high density 2DEGs agree quantitatively with both experimental and theoretical accounts of acoustic phonon scattering in GaAs. For the lowest densities, insulating behavior is observed. At intermediate densities, the resistivity becomes non-monotonic, with a peak appearing for $`T<T_F`$. At low temperature the competition between screening ($`T`$) and a crossover from a degenerate Fermi system to a classical 2D gas ($`\rho T^1`$) leads to the formation of a peak. Theoretical scattering calculations including both ionized impurities and acoustic phonons in GaAs show excellent qualitative agreement with the data. This agreement between experiment and theory suggests that the underlying physics involved is conventional Fermi liquid physics.

We acknowledge outstanding technical assistance from W. Baca and R. Dunn. This work has been supported by the Division of Materials Sciences and Engineering, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, US Department of Energy. Sandia is a multiprogram laboratory operated by Sandia Corporation, a Lockheed Martin Company, for the United States Department of Energy under contract DE-AC04-94AL85000.