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# Dynamical consequences of CDM merger trees

## 1 Introduction

In cosmology, the inflationary paradigm has not only provided an elegant answer to several disturbing problems of the standard Big Bang such as the horizon and the “flatness” problems, but also provides a mechanism for generating the primordial fluctuations from which we expect astrophysical structures to be formed. In most simple inflationary models, the initial spectrum of these fluctuations is a power law of the scale, and there is total absence of phase correlation among different scales. These properties lead to the hierarchical scenario of structure formation, where small scale objects merge continuously to produce increasingly larger ones as time goes by (e.g. White & Rees 1978; White et al. 1987).

The predictions of this model at large scale have been highly successful in matching the observed universe. N-body simulations of galactic clusters and super clusters match equivalent observed systems remarkably well. However, at galactic and sub-galactic scales considerable debate remains. Is the centrally concentrated dark matter density profile obtained from simulations of galactic dark haloes representative of the constant density cores seen in real galaxies or not (e.g. de Blok & McGaugh 1997; Firmani et al. 2001; Gnedin & Zhao 2002)? Is the level of substructure predicted by simulations at galactic levels compatible with the abundance of satellite systems in large galaxies, or are too many satellites being predicted (e.g. Moore et al. 1999; Ghigna et al. 2000)? Are the sizes of large disk galaxies compatible with the loss of angular momentum which models predict, mostly as a consequence of the extensive merging regime these systems should have been subject to, which should probably have heated the disks beyond observed constraints (e.g. Navarro & Steinmetz 2000)?

It is clear that the assumptions going into the hierarchical model, at galactic and sub-galactic regions, remain subject to serious doubt. This is not surprising, since they result from large extrapolation of the direct analysis of primordial fluctuations performed at a much larger scale range, mostly through the study of the cosmic microwave background.

In this paper we shall examine another of the predictions of the hierarchical clustering scenario at the galactic level, namely the formation of massive elliptical galaxies through the merger of spiral systems. Examples of this proposal can be found in: Kauffmann (1996), Baugh et al. (1996), Somerville et al. (2001), Benson et al. (2002), Steinmetz & Navarro (2002) and Khochfar & Burkert (2003). That spiral galaxies sometimes collide and merge is an observational fact, that the remnant closely resembles an elliptical galaxy, has been proven repeatedly through numerical simulations, nevertheless the above do not constitute proof of the main formation mechanism for elliptical galaxies being through major mergers of spirals.

Through detailed Smooth Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) simulations of the merger of two spirals, we will estimate the relaxation times for the process. Once this has been established, including a study of the variations expected given the extensive parameter space available to such a merger, and once the uncertainties in the initial conditions are considered, a consistency check for the hypothesis is available.

Simulations of galactic mergers have been carried out many times before, but mostly aimed at obtaining very particular information, and rarely situated in a cosmological context, as what we attempt here. For example, Hibbard & Mihos (1995) explore merger remnant morphology and star formation, Barnes (2002) studies the formation of gas disks within merger remnants, Bendo & Barnes (2000) explore the distribution of line of sight velocities in merger remnants and remnant morphologies. Burkert & Naab (2003) study the process of elliptical galaxy formation through the merger of disks, but without including the dissipative gas component, an ingredient which we find here to be of relevance. We deemed it necessary to repeat the experiment, paying particular attention to setting up the initial conditions in a cosmologically justified manner, as well as exploring the explicit dependence of the final relaxation times on the ample configuration parameter space. For example, Ellis (2001) remarks on the necessity of cosmologically motivated merger simulations, to turn close galaxy pair statistics into merger rates.

Merger trees for large ellipticals can be constructed analytically, through the extended Press-Schechter formalism, and hence we have a prediction of the time elapsed between the last major merger and the present, for a galaxy of a given mass. This can be repeated, and given a redshift of observation, the hierarchical merger scenario predicts (on average) how far back in time the last major merger took place. This can be compared to the dynamical estimates of the relaxation time for the mergers. If the latter proves larger then the former, the theory needs revising.

In Section 2 we describe the numerical scheme used to model a collision between spiral galaxies, as well as the different configurations tested. Section 3 gives the results of the different simulations, giving the relaxation time criterion we wanted to establish. In Section 4 we calculate the Press-Schechter merger trees for elliptical galaxies, and compare to the relaxation time criterion of the previous section. Finally, our conclusions are given in Section 5.

## 2 Merger simulations

### 2.1 Numerical modeling

As stated in the introduction, we seek to obtain an estimate of the relaxation timescales for the merger of two spirals to result in a relaxed elliptical galaxy. Wanting to make a stringent comparison with models of structure evolution, we shall model the formation of a high redshift elliptical observed at $`z1.0`$. As we shall see, this implies starting the simulation at $`z1.5`$.

In attempting to model numerically the merger of two spiral galaxies, one must pay close attention to the gaseous component of the disk. It is this gas fraction through which most of the dissipation will take place, the other two components, stars and dark matter, being non-collisional. We hence used the method known as Smooth Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH), developed by Lucy (1977) and Gingold & Monaghan (1977), see Monaghan (1992) for a review. SPH is a Lagrangian method ideally suited for complicated three-dimensional flows, and has been used in a variety of astrophysical applications. We have specifically used the public code GADGET, developed by Springel et al. (2001) for galactic and cosmological simulations. This code allows us to trace shock fronts and other hydrodynamical features of the gas with great accuracy, as well as including an efficient N-body routine, to follow the dynamics of the non-collisional components. Further the code is fully parallelized, allowing it to run on a large number of computers simultaneously, as was done in our case.

In setting up the spiral galaxies which are to collide, the first thing is to construct each galaxy in isolation. We include three components, a dark matter halo, a stellar disk and a gaseous disk, co-planar to the stellar one. In some variants, a stellar bulge was also added.

For the dark matter halo of each galaxy we chose a King sphere (King 1966). This has the advantage of including a fully self consistent distribution function, with the density profile being a solution to a Boltzmann and a Poisson equation. In this way we set up a “live” halo, which will respond to the formation of the disk in its centre and, as the galaxies approach, to tidal effects and all other dynamics of the merger. Although cosmological simulations (e.g. Navarro, Frenk & White 1996, Ghigna et al. 1998) result in dark matter halos which are much more centrally concentrated than King spheres, direct observations of Dwarf Irregulars and low surface brightness (LSB) galaxies seem to imply the existence of constant density cores in the centers of galactic dark matter halos (e.g. Burkert & Silk 1997; de Blok & McGaugh 1997), which are inconsistent with cosmological profiles, even taking into account possible expansions of the core due to efficient ejection of the central baryonic component (Gnedin & Zhao 2002) or observational effects (de Blok et al. 2003). In the dwarf spheroidals of the Milky Way, through velocity dispersion studies, Lokas (2002) finds that a core is statistically preferred to a cusp for the dark matter distribution, the same that results from a detailed galaxy velocity dispersion study in the Coma cluster (Lokas & Mamon 2003). The situation in clusters though, is not as clear as in galaxies, e.g. through strong lensing, Tyson et al. (1998) find that the dark matter halo in CL 0024+1654 is well represented by a structure having a central core, while van der Marel et al. (2000) find that CNOC1 redshift data for several clusters imply velocity dispersions and mass profiles consistent with NFW profiles.

Further, Hernandez & Gilmore (1998) showed that King halos produce rotation curves which are capable of matching both LSB and Dwarf Irregular and normal high surface brightness (HSB) observed rotation curves. Hernandez, Avila–Reese & Firmani (2001) also find strong evidence of a large constant density core in the dark matter halo of the Milky Way, in comparing the results of cosmological simulations of Milky Way formation, to extensive Galactic rotation curve determinations. Binney & Evans (2001) also find that detailed studies of the Milky Way rotation curve rule out an NFW type profile in our galaxy. Even in ellipticals, Romanowsky et al. (2003), through careful stellar kinematics, rule out the presence of dark matter to the extent implied by the cuspy NFW profiles. Since observational evidence in galaxies of all types favours dark halos with cores, it appears reasonable to model our galactic dark halos as King spheres. However, given the lack of a formation scenario to explain this observation, and given that the very successful hierarchical model implies cuspy halos, we included also one simulation using a cuspy NFW type halo.

King halos are defined by 3 parameters: the total mass of the halo, the total potential energy, and a shape parameter.

We take each of the dark haloes as having a velocity dispersion $`\sigma =130`$ km s-1. A central density of $`\rho _0=0.02`$ M pc-3 was assumed, in consistency with current estimates of this quantity obtained over a range of galactic systems (e.g. Firmani et al. 2000, Dalcanton & Hogan 2001, Shapiro & Ilev 2002, Lokas & Mamon 2003). We used a central potential in units of the velocity dispersion $`\mathrm{\Phi }_0/\sigma ^2=8.0`$, shown by Hernandez & Gilmore (1998) to result in optimal rotation curves, from LSB to HSB systems. We obtain a core radius $`r_c=11.8`$ kpc, a tidal radius $`r_{tidal}=68r_c`$ (where the density vanishes) and a total mass $`M_{halo}=1.35\times 10^{12}`$ M. The halos were modeled out to 35 core radii, by which time 94% of the total mass of the halo has been included, and the dynamical times have become comparable to the Hubble time at $`z=1.5`$.

For the stellar component we take a double exponential disk given by:

$$\rho (r,z)=\rho _{}(0)\mathrm{exp}(R/R_{})\mathrm{exp}(|z|/z_{}),$$
(1)
with the scale length, $`R_{}`$ fixed at 3.5 kpc, resulting in a $`\lambda `$ parameter for the total galaxy of $`0.05`$. The vertical velocity dispersion for the stars was initially adjusted to yield a constant scale height of $`z_{}=R_{}/5`$. The normalization for the stellar disk was determined using a mass Tully-Fisher relation having a slope of 3.5, and normalized to the Milky Way (e.g. Giovanelli et al. 1997). When changes in the mass were explored, the disk scale lengths were scaled with the square root of the total disk mass, (e.g. Dalcanton, Spergel & Summers 1996; Avila-Reese, Firmani & Hernandez 1998), and the total disk mass scaled to the rotation velocity in the flat regime through the above mentioned Tully-Fisher relation.

The gas is initially distributed in an exponential disk having the same scale height as the stars, and a scale length equal to twice the stellar scale length, as normal spirals tend to show (e.g. Dalcanton et al. 1996). The normalization of the gas disk is fixed by requiring that $`M_g=F\times M_{}`$ i.e. that the total gas mass is $`F`$ times the total stellar mass. Values of 0.3 and 0.5 were explored for this parameter, representing gas rich disks, as found by Mihos (2001b) to be typical of disk galaxies at $`z1`$ in a $`\mathrm{\Omega }_\mathrm{\Lambda }=0.7,\mathrm{\Omega }_M=0.3`$ universe. Both the stars and gas are given a rotation velocity in the plane of the disk to balance the total gravitational inward pull, over which is added an isotropic velocity dispersion, as required by the vertical scale height criterion mentioned above.

GADGET uses an ideal gas equation of state, $`P=\rho u(\gamma 1)`$, where $`u`$ is the internal energy per unit mass, and $`\rho `$ is the mass density. One can in principle introduce an atomic cooling law, and trace the detailed thermal evolution of the gas component. However, this results in catastrophic cooling and clumping of the gas. The above result is natural, when one considers that the energy content of gas in a galactic disk is heavily determined by the turbulent regime it is in. Once energy is found at the atomic thermal level, it is radiated away, for all practical purposes instantaneously. However, an extended “waiting phase” is implied by the large scale turbulence, which is also the phase into which much of the heating processes feed into. Supernova explosions deposit a large fraction of their energy into pushing and blowing the inter stellar medium around, rather than representing a coherent thermal heating mechanism (e.g. Mac Low & Ferrara 1999; Mori, Ferrara & Madau 2002).

With this in mind, one can try to model the turbulence, star formation, supernova explosions, and feedback mechanism between the above, to model the gaseous component of a galaxy. This not only very expensive computationally, but will probably also yield a wrong answer, given the lack of a detailed microphysics for star formation and turbulence. Theoretical models and direct observations of galactic disks suggest the existence of efficient feedback regulation mechanisms between star formation and turbulent dissipation, capable of maintaining the turbulent gas at the threshold for gravitational instability. Examples of the above can be found in Firmani, Hernandez & Gallagher (1996), Martin & Kennicutt (2001), and Silk (2001). In this sense, it appears reasonable to model the gas component of our galaxies through isothermal equations of state, assumed to be representative of the turbulent phase of the interstellar medium. Indeed, several authors have taken this approach in the modeling of gaseous components of galaxies (e.g. Barnes 2002; Athanassoula & Bureau 1999).

We have thus chosen to use an isothermal equation of state, $`P=c_s^2\rho `$, where $`c_s`$ is the sound speed. We incorporated the necessary changes to the code to make use of this, with $`c_s=20`$ km s-1 for most runs, and exploring the changes of this value on our final results.

We are hence assuming that heating processes, mainly shocks and supernova explosions at all times and at all places, exactly balance heat losses through viscous and turbulent dissipation. The above is well justified in isolated disks, were the gas naturally oscillates around the threshold of gravitational instability. In the more dynamic case of interacting and merging galaxies, the assumption breaks down whenever dynamical times become shorter than the 10 Myrs typical of the lifetimes of massive stars. This in effect sets a time resolution for our simulations, below which the details of our modeled mergers are probably unreliable. However, as our main aim is to obtain the timescale for the completion of the merger, this detail becomes of little relevance.

### 2.2 Initial conditions

Each of the galaxies which are to collide is set up as indicated in the previous subsection, with the stellar and gaseous disks introduced inside the equilibrium dark halo. This allows the dark halo to adjust to the presence of the disks, and it reacts by increasing the concentration of the inner regions slightly. The above initial disk conditions were chosen to guarantee also that the disks should be, in isolation, stable in terms of Toomre’s criterion, this was checked explicitly by evolving an isolated galaxy for 5 Gyr, no changes of any type were observed.

Figure 1 shows the radial profile of one of our galactic models at the start of the simulation. The vertical axis gives the actual rotation velocity in km/s, shown by the thin dotted curve, and the contribution to it of the dark matter halo given by the thin dashed line. The contribution of the exponential stellar disk is given by the solid curve, and that of the gas by the thick dashed one. This is seen to match inferences for the Milky Way quite well, outwards of about 3.5 kpc, (e.g. Kuijken & Gilmore 1989; Wilkinson & Evans 1999; Sakamoto et al. 2003). The inclusion of a stellar bulge component, would in fact yield a much better agreement. In any case, our modeled galaxy is seen to reproduce observed systems quite well in having soft core dark halos, as commented in the previous subsection.

Once the disks are fully formed, the initial conditions for the dynamical evolution are established, and the merger is allowed to proceed. These initial conditions consist of a definition of the orbital plane for the encounter, an initial separation, an impact parameter, and the angular momentum vectors for the spins of the disks, defined in relation to the orbital plane.

The merger is clearly defined in a parameter space having several dimensions, the particular problem we are studying limits some of these, the remaining we shall explore by varying the relevant parameters.

In comparing with Press-Schechter merger trees, we have to define the start of the merger as the moment when the two galactic halos form part of a single bound structure. In this sense, it will be when the centers of both galaxies are four virial radii apart. This is based on the result (Padmanabhan 1995) of the turnaround radius of a fluctuation being equal to twice the virial radius, at any redshift.

Hence initially the galaxies, together with their corresponding DM haloes, are placed at a distance $`r_i=4r_{virial}`$, where $`r_{virial}`$ is computed for a single galaxy from:

$$\frac{3}{4\pi r_{virial}^3}_0^{r_{virial}}\rho 𝑑V=200\rho (z_1),$$
(2)
where $`\rho (z_1)=\rho _0(1+z_1)^3`$ is the critical density of the universe at redshift $`z_1`$ (a generic redshift at which the merger starts) and $`\rho _0=3\mathrm{\Omega }_MH_0^2/(8\pi G)`$ is its present value. $`r_{virial}`$ is always smaller than the tidal radius of the halos, hence, the halos are fully sampled. We take $`z=1.5`$ and ($`\mathrm{\Omega }_M=0.3`$, $`\mathrm{\Omega }_\mathrm{\Lambda }=0.7`$ and $`H_0=65`$ km s-1 Mpc-1), a present standard set of numbers to define our cosmological scenario.

The above defines the initial separations, as a function of the galaxies used. If one of the galaxies is taken at a different mass, the initial separation is adjusted so that the dark halos start off touching each other, in terms of their turnaround radii.

The orbital plane is arbitrarily taken as the XY plane, with the galaxies staring off with zero radial relative velocities. We are assuming they have just detached from the Hubble expansion, and only as they begin to feel each other gravitationally will they develop an infall radial velocity. The tangential velocity is specified through the total $`\lambda `$ parameter for the full system, where:

$$\lambda =\frac{L\left|E\right|^{1/2}}{GM^{5/2}}$$
(3)
Here $`L`$ is the total angular momentum, $`E`$ the total potential energy of the system, and $`M`$ the total mass. Given the cosmic distribution of $`\lambda `$ parameters:

$$P(\lambda )=\frac{1}{\sigma _\lambda (2\pi )^{1/2}}\mathrm{exp}\left[\frac{\mathrm{ln}^2(\lambda /<\lambda >)}{2\sigma _\lambda ^2}\right]\frac{d\lambda }{\lambda },$$
(4)
with $`<\lambda >=0.05`$ and $`\sigma _\lambda =1.0`$, (e.g. Dalcanton et al. (1996) and references therein), we expect the total system to have been spun up by the surrounding tidal fields much to the same degree as individual galaxies have. Most of the simulations were run with an orbital $`\lambda `$ of 0.05, with one test at 0.025 being included.

The remaining degrees of freedom in setting up the merger are related to the orientation of the disks with respect to the orbital plane. We could perhaps expect both disks to co-rotate with the orbit, as each was spun up by a similar tidal field in the surroundings of the forming binary system. However, the large stochastic nature of the acquisition of angular momentum in galaxies (e.g. Catelan & Theuns 1996) suggests that one is probably well advised not to assume any a priori orientations. We have tested 6 different configurations, specified by the arrows in the second column of Table 1, where the orbital angular momentum is up.

All other initial conditions of the runs are also summarized in Table 1. Run C0 corresponds to a configuration where the spin of both disks is aligned with the overall orbital motion. The orbital part of the dimensionless parameter $`\lambda `$ is close to 0.05, as is that of all other runs, except for run C$`\lambda `$, which is close to 0.025. The deviations from these two numbers are due to the different orientation of the individual spins, which however make up only a fraction of the orbital angular momentum. In runs C0 to C5 we have changed only the relative orientations of the two disks, with respect to the orbital plane, with the following 12 runs being variations of run C0 with changes in impact parameter, disk scale radii of the galaxies, the presence and mass of a bulge, the resolution of the simulation, the ratio of the masses of both systems, the gas fraction of the disks, the temperature of the gas disks, total mass of each galaxy, redshift at which the merger begins and adopted density profile for the DM halo.

## 3 Results

We now examine in detail a series of merger simulations, representative of the many cases we explored. Figure 2 gives temporal snapshots (vertical sequence) of the evolution of simulations C0, C1 and C3, on the first, second and third columns, respectively. The times on the horizontal rows are the same, in all cases 3.53, 4.12, 4.7 and 5.3 Gyr. The dots show the stellar component of both disks, and the line contours give projected gas density plots, with the much more extended dark halo particles not being shown. The physical scale is 300 kpc on each side.

The uppermost frame in Figure 2 shows the onset of the collision, the first 3.5 Gyr are spent by the disks in falling into each other, from the initial condition at $`z=1.5`$. In case C0 both disks co-rotate with the orbital spin, and hence are seen face on, as all frames show the galaxies on the orbital plane. The third column also shows the galaxies face on, as in this case both disks are counter-rotating with the orbit, evolution up until the disks interact is hence identical to case C0. The central column shows a simulation in which one of the disks spins perpendicular to the orbital plane, which is seen clearly in its first frame, where one of them is seen edge on.

By the second row the first encounter has taken place, and both disks are seen at maximum separation after the initial impact. At this stage the morphology of the interacting systems is heavily dependent on the initial conditions, with the large angular momentum of the disks in simulation C0 giving rise to two well defined tidal tails, both in the gaseous component (line contours) and in the stars (dots). The large degree of incoherence in the angular momenta of the two disks in the other two simulations shown leads to a significant canceling of this component, and both gas and stars form two tight knots.

By the third row significant dissipation has taken place, especially in the gaseous component where strong shocks and tidally induced features develop. This now forms a dense bar in the central regions of the remnant, no longer characterized by the double nucleus morphology seen previously. A small tidal arm is seen in case C1, formed by gaseous and stellar material formerly associated to the co-rotating galaxy. By this time the differences between the three cases are beginning to fade. The final row shows the state of the remnants at the time when the temporal fluctuations in both total potential energies, total kinetic energies and isophote geometry disappear, and a final stable configuration is found. It is important to note that the total time for this to happen is the same for the three cases shown (see below).

Figure 3 is totally analogous to Figure 2, but shows the result of simulations C5, Cb and B, on the first, second and third columns, respectively. This explores the dependence of our results on yet another different orientation, both disks perpendicular to the orbital plane (C5). The other two examples use the relative orientation of case C0, but include the presence of a stellar bulge component in both galaxies, middle column, Cb, and a significantly different gas fraction of 0.3, in the third row, case B.

Again we see that the transition morphologies are highly sensitive to the initial conditions, with strong tidal arms developing in any component which co-rotates with the orbit, and falling rapidly towards the centre when this is not the case. However, the final relaxation times are again in excellent agreement with what was seen in the three cases shown in Figure 2, equilibrium configurations are attained by 5.3 Gyr in all cases. Other initial orientations listed in Table 1 give analogous results.

Inspection of the frames in Figures 2 and 3 reveals that the system has relaxed by approximately 5.2 Gyr. We proceeded to make a more thorough estimate of this timescale by analyzing the time evolution of various quantities for each simulation (all of them relating to the stellar component only). The first of these involves the eigenvalues of the inertia tensor. More specifically, we computed the square root of the ratios of these eigenvalues ($`R_1`$, $`R_2`$, $`R_3`$), shown for runs C0, C1 and C5 in Figure 4. This ratio is clearly a measure of the relative lengths of the principal axes of the mass distribution, and as such provides a good measurement of the overall shape of the system. The time variation clearly shows that the strongest fluctuations occur at the time of the first collision, with the geometry settling down at around 5.0 Gyr. The degree of oblateness or prolateness is seen to depend on the initial conditions, particularly on whether the individual galaxies co-rotate with the infall orbit. We estimated a relaxation time from this information by defining $`\tau _1`$ as the time by which the fluctuations in the ratios $`R_i`$ (sampled at intervals of 0.2 Gyr) had dropped below 5%.

The second quantity which we analyzed was the gravitational potential energy. Figure 5 shows its time evolution, both for the total value (bottom panel) and for the gas component only (top panel), for runs C0, C1, C3, C5 and Cb, the first five of the cases shown in Figures (2) and (3). We note that an equivalent plot for the stellar components is very similar (albeit at a different absolute scale) than what is shown for the gas value. It can be seen that the details of the first maximum/minimum in the energies vary slightly from case to case, but that in all cases no temporal oscillations remain beyond 5.3 Gyr. From the upper panel, it is clear that the dynamical relaxation timescales we adopt are representative of the process being modeled, and always fall within a narrow range of values, close to 4.8 Gyr. The sharp dip seen in the lower panel close to 4 Gyr shows the first collision, also seen as a sharp dip in the upper panel. However, the strong dissipation associated with breaking up the disks leads to a very strong loss of potential energy (particularly in the gaseous component) as the disks merge, not seen in the graph for the total energy, dominated by the massive dark halos, which essentially show a rebound.

In complete analogy with the determination of $`\tau _1`$ described above, we defined $`\tau _2`$ as the time by which fluctuations in the gravitational potential of stars had dropped below 5%, also sampled at intervals of 0.2 Gyr. Taken together, these quantities estimate both a dynamical relaxation ($`\tau _2`$), and something closely corresponding to an “optical relaxation”, $`\tau _1`$. The global relaxation time was finally defined as $`\tau =\mathrm{max}(\tau _1,\tau _2)`$.

The relaxation times we find depend only weakly on the initial orientation of the disks, the details of the disk structure, and the physical conditions within them. This suggests that our final relaxation times are merely a dynamical result, expected to be a function only of the free-fall times at the initial conditions. This suggests a scaling with $`\tau (1+z_1)^{3/2}`$. We included simulation Cz to test this hypothesis, a case totally analogous to C0, but set up at $`z=2.5`$. The results confirmed the scaling we expected, as did cases Cm (half the total mass at $`z=1.5`$) and Cmz (half the total mass at $`z=2.5`$). This allows us to express the total relaxation times of cosmologically constructed spiral galactic mergers as:

$$\tau _R=\frac{20.6\pm 1.86}{(1+z_1)^{3/2}}\mathrm{Gyr}$$
(5)
where $`z_1`$ is the redshift at which the merger begins, and the range given shows a $`1\sigma `$ variation which results from the range of values we found in the many experiments performed. We note that at the standard redshift $`z=1.5`$, equation (5) gives $`\tau =5.2\pm 0.47\mathrm{Gyr}`$

Although no explicit star formation has been introduced, in the interest of avoiding the introduction of free parameters pertaining to unknown physics, we do assume implicitly a certain degree of star formation, to justify the use of a constant gas temperature. Case Cc (where the speed of sound is $`c_s=15`$ km s-1) explores the sensitivity of our results to the actual value used for the gas temperature, and although intermediary morphologies are slightly affected, total relaxation times are not. Case C$`\lambda `$ was calculated to explore the effect of changing the impact parameter, in this case reduced by taking the orbital part of the $`\lambda `$ parameter for the system at 0.025. Again, intermediary morphologies are affected, but final relaxation times are only slightly reduced, within the range of equation (5), as is the case with changes in gas and stellar disk scale radii (case CR) and mass ratio of the two galaxies (case Cq). Finally, case CN was a re-run of case C0, but at double the numerical resolution for the gas and stellar components. No differences were observed with respect to case C0, showing that our results are robust with respect to numerical effects. Additionally, one extra simulation, CbM tested whether including a very massive bulge made a substantial difference. In this case, 70% of the mass in stars was included in the bulge, rather than in the more extended stellar disc. Thus in practice this simulation contained a rather massive, compact stellar core. our determinations of $`\tau `$ were not affected beyond the values already established with the rest of the calculations.

Given that cosmological N-Body simulations yield dark matter halos having a much steeper central density profile than the king halos we used in most of our simulations (e.g. Navarro et al. 1996, Ghigna et al. 1998 ), we explore also the possible effects such a change in the dark halo might have on our results. Case H0 is completely analogous to case C0 , but was calculated assuming a Hernquist profile (Hernquist 1990), having the same total mass. The scale parameter of the halo was adjusted so as to leave the rotation curves largely unchanged. Although the central dark matter densities in these cases were significantly larger than in the corresponding King halo ones, as the collisions get under way, first external and progressively more internal regions of the haloes begin to interact and merge. This implies disturbing the orbits of dark matter particles which make up the cusp, which is in turn dissolved fairly quickly. What we find is that this change produces only a marginal effect on the total relaxation times, which for case H0 fall within the distribution of relaxation times of the King halo cases, and indeed far from the extremes, which are due to extreme orientations of the disks, and values of the orbital $`\lambda `$ parameter.

## 4 Comparison with Hierarchical merger trees

### 4.1 Analytical formulation of the problem

In the previous section the relaxation timescale of a merger has been established through dynamical simulations and cosmologically motivated starting conditions, as a function of the merger redshift. We now require an estimate of the formation timescale within the hierarchical clustering scenario. This will be done in a rigorous fashion by constructing merger trees within the extended Press-Schechter formalism, including all the cosmological details. However, before doing this it is convenient to derive an approximate analytical solution, valid only in the simple $`\mathrm{\Omega }_M=1,\mathrm{\Omega }_\mathrm{\Lambda }=0.0`$ scenario, and subject to numerous simplifying assumptions. This is done to obtain a clear understanding of the physics of the problem, and to provide an order of magnitude estimate to the trends and values one should expect in the more rigorous numerical experiments.

The mass function of progenitors of an object existing at $`z=z_o`$ with mass $`M_o`$, viewed at $`z=z_1`$ will be given by:

$$P(M_1)=\frac{M_0}{(2\pi )^{1/2}}\frac{\delta _c(z_1z_0)}{(S_1S_0)^{3/2}}exp\left[\frac{\delta _c^2(z_1z_0)^2}{2(S_1S_0)}\right]\left|\frac{dS_1}{dM_1}\right|$$
(6)
In the above equation $`P(M_1)`$ is the probability of finding a progenitor of mass $`M_1`$, at $`z=z_1`$, where clearly $`z_1>z_0`$ (e.g. Lacey & Cole (1993); Nusser & Sheth (1999); Hernandez & Ferrara (2001)). $`\sqrt{S_i}`$ is the rms density fluctuation in a top hat window function of radius $`(3M_i/4\pi \rho _0)^{1/3}`$ and $`\delta _c`$ the critical over-density for collapse, with $`\rho _0=3\mathrm{\Omega }_MH_0^2/8\pi G`$ being the present mean mass density of the universe.

As an example, Figure 6 shows the mass function which results from having “factored out” an observed object of mass $`M=10^{12}M_{},z_0=1.9`$, amongst its progenitors at various higher redshifts, $`z=z_1`$. This figure was calculated within a full $`\mathrm{\Lambda }CDM`$ scenario, the results for a simplified cosmology being qualitatively identical. We see that as $`z_1`$ approaches $`z_0`$, the mass function of progenitors tends to a delta function at $`M_1=M_0`$, as was to be expected. At progressively higher redshifts, the mass functions are characterized by very well defined maxima, which shift to progressively lower masses (note the logarithmic scales on both axes). In this way, we see that for the above case, in going to redshifts $`3.9`$ (dashed curve), the chance of finding a progenitor with a mass comparable to, say, $`M_0/3`$, sharply drops.

For the analytical calculation, we shall take a fixed $`\delta _c=1.7`$ and $`\mathrm{\Omega }_M=1.0`$, as well as:

$$S(M_i)=S_8M_i^{1/3},$$
(7)
valid for an effective spectral index in the galactic region of $`n=2`$, where $`S_8`$ is a normalizing factor to be fixed later (e.g. Padmanabhan 1995).

The idea now is to identify the redshift $`z_{1Max}`$ which corresponds to $`dP(M_1)/dM_1=0`$ evaluated at $`M_1=M_0/2`$, as the redshift interval previous to $`z_0`$, during which a major merger might have formed the object ($`M_0,z_0`$), as further back in the past of this redshift, the chances of finding a progenitor having half the mass of the observed object drop abruptly.

Substituting the power law dependence for $`S(M_i)`$ in the rather cumbersome expression for $`dP(M_1)/dM_1=0`$, evaluated at $`M_1=M_0/2`$ yields:

$$(z_1z_0)=\frac{1}{\delta _c}\left(\frac{S_8}{M_0^{1/3}}\right)^{1/2}$$
(8)
We can now evaluate $`S_8`$ from $`S_8M_8^{1/3}=1`$, with:

$$M_8=\frac{4\pi }{3}(8\times 10^3\mathrm{kpc})^3\rho _c,$$
(9)
yielding:

$$S_8=8\times 10^4\mathrm{\Omega }_M^{1/3}.$$
(10)
i.e., a $`\sigma _8=1`$ normalization for the spectrum.

Substituting this last result, and the numerical value for $`\delta _c`$ into equation (8) yields,

$$\mathrm{\Delta }z_M=166\left(\frac{\mathrm{\Omega }_M}{M_0}\right)^{1/6}$$
(11)
The above expression gives the redshift interval, backwards of a redshift of observation, $`z_0`$, beyond which it is unlikely that a major merger could have occurred, resulting in the observed object of mass $`M_0`$, and defines the merger timescale. It is interesting that in the simplified cosmology taken for this calculation, no explicit dependence on $`z_0`$ remains.

Given that the initial conditions for the merger occurring at $`z=z_1`$ require that the two galaxies be placed at a separation of a multiple of their current virial radii, the relaxation timescale, $`\tau _R`$ will be estimated here as a multiple $`\alpha `$ of order unity of the free fall timescale for a system having 200 times the background density of the universe. hence,

$$\tau _R=\left(\frac{3\pi \alpha }{32}\right)^{1/2}\left(\frac{1}{200\rho _0G}\right)^{1/2}(1+z_1)^{3/2}$$
(12)
Introducing numerical values, and using $`t_H=(2/3)H_0^1`$ for the present age of the universe gives:

$$\tau _R=0.17\alpha \frac{t_H}{(1+z_1)^{3/2}\mathrm{\Omega }_M^{1/2}}$$
(13)
Before comparing the above relation to the merger timescales of equation(11), we shall use:

$$1+z_i=t_H^{2/3}t_i^{2/3}$$
(14)
to arrive at:

$$166\left(\frac{\mathrm{\Omega }_M}{M_{Lim}(z_0)}\right)^{1/6}=(1+z_0)\left[\left(1+\frac{0.17\alpha }{\mathrm{\Omega }_M^{1/2}}\right)^{2/3}1\right],$$
(15)
for the mass $`M_{Lim}(z_0)`$ which at $`z=z_0`$ has a merger timescale equal to the relaxation timescale at the point at which the merger began. Introducing $`\mathrm{\Omega }_M=0.3`$ and $`\alpha =1.6`$ yields:

$$M_{Lim}(z_0)=6.4\times 10^{15}(1+z_0)^6M_{}.$$
(16)
The above equation implies that at each redshift $`z_0`$, there should be a maximum limit mass above which an observed system could not possibly look like a relaxed elliptical galaxy, as then the relaxation timescale becomes longer than the merger timescale, and the object should look like an interacting system. One can note that this holds even at $`z=0`$, however, at a fairly large total mass of $`6.4\times 10^{15}M_{}`$, which should be divided by a factor of about 20 to obtain stellar masses. Still, this limit mass is seen to fall very rapidly as $`(1+z_0)^6`$, and for example, for $`M=2\times 10^{12}`$ —in the range of estimates for the mass of our Galaxy (e.g. Wilkinson & Evans 1999)— we arrive at $`z_0=2.8`$ as the limit beyond which elliptical galaxies of that mass cannot be explained as having originated in a major merger. The choice of $`\alpha `$ was motivated by the results of the simulations performed here, and that of $`\mathrm{\Omega }_M`$ by an attempt to come closer to a more realistic $`\mathrm{\Lambda }CDM`$ scenario. This last choice introduces a degree on inconsistency in the above calculation, which is only valid for $`\mathrm{\Omega }_M=1`$. However, as this is only intended as a conceptual guide, the result is probably a good first approximation.

### 4.2 Full $`\mathrm{\Lambda }CDM`$ comparisons

We shall now turn to more precise numerical calculations, the results of which can be understood more clearly by using the above results as a conceptual guide, and an order of magnitude estimate.

The lower panel of Figure 6 gives the mass functions of progenitors of an object of total mass $`10^{12}M_{}`$, observed at $`z_0=1.9`$, at various higher redshifts $`z_1=`$2.4, 2.9 and 3.3 (solid curves), 3.9 (dashed curve), and 4.5 and 5.1 (dotted curves). This time the calculation was performed numerically evaluating equation (6) using a full $`\mathrm{\Lambda }CDM`$ scenario, with a fluctuation spectrum taken from Percival & Miller (1999). These curves are characterized by a maximum located at a value of the fragment mass which is a monotonically decreasing function of redshift. In this way, if the redshift at which the mass function of progenitors is calculated is close to the redshift of observation, the mass function becomes increasingly dominated by an object having a mass very close to that which the object has at $`z=z_0`$.

At redshifts much higher than the observation redshift, the mass function becomes dominated by progenitors having only a few hundredths of the mass of the observed object, e.g. the dotted curves for $`z_1=4.5,5.1`$. It is clear that if we want to form the $`10^{12}M_{}`$, observed at $`z_0=1.9`$ from a major merger, this cannot have taken place at such high redshifts. The solid curves show that this hypothetical major merger could well have taken place at a redshift of 2.4, 2.9 or 3.3, as at these values the mass function of progenitors for our $`10^{12}M_{}`$, $`z_0=1.9`$ object includes a high probability of finding objects in the $`(0.31.0)\times 10^{12}M_{}`$ range. This is clearly seen in the top panel, where curves corresponding to those of the bottom one give the integrals of the mass functions, normalized to 1.0, and hence the functions to be sampled if the progenitors of our test object are to be obtained, at any of the previous redshifts shown.

Although the mass functions at $`z_1`$ of 2.4, 2.9 or 3.3 do imply a high probability of finding progenitors in the “major merger” range, we cannot say that if the object $`10^{12}M_{}`$, $`z_0=1.9`$ is an elliptical galaxy it was formed by a major merger having occurred in this redshift range. This is because in this redshift range, equation (5) implies that the relaxation timescale for such a merger, $`\tau _R(z_1)`$, is larger than the time intervals between any of those redshifts and $`z_0=1.9`$. This shows that if a major merger occurred between $`z_1=1.9`$ and $`z_1=3.3`$, the result at $`z_0=1.9`$ would be an interacting system, and not a relaxed elliptical galaxy. In fact, for this system, only just at the redshift $`z_1=3.9`$, corresponding to the dashed curve, does the relaxation timescale become equal to the time interval $`z_0z_1`$. This redshift $`z_1=3.9`$ also corresponds to the maximum redshift out to which there is some chance of obtaining a progenitor in the major merger range, defined as at least a 5% chance of obtaining one progenitor with a mass upwards of 0.3 times the mass at the observation redshift. This condition defines the merger timescale, $`\mathrm{\Delta }t_M`$, which in this case is equal to $`\tau _R`$.

In this way, we identify the observation redshift of $`z_0=1.9`$ as the maximum redshift at which an elliptical galaxy of mass $`10^{12}M_{}`$ can be observed, if it is to be thought of as having been formed by a major merger. Smaller observation redshifts at this mass result in cases where $`\tau _R<\mathrm{\Delta }t_M`$, and hence suitable candidates for a major merger origin, if they are elliptical galaxies. On the other hand, larger observation redshifts at this mass satisfy the condition $`\tau _R>\mathrm{\Delta }t_M`$, and would therefore look like interacting systems, if formed by a major merger.

We can now repeat the calculation, and look for the limit observation redshift, $`z_{0lim}(M)`$ above which the major merger scenario fails for elliptical galaxies, as a function of total mass. This was done in constructing Figure 7, which shows $`z_{0lim}(M)`$, as a function of mass, solid curve. The dotted curves represent our intrinsic uncertainty range for this quantity, given the variety of relaxation timescales we obtained, for the large range of orientations, dark matter profiles, orbital $`\lambda s`$ and disk physics considered. Benson et al. (2002) reach a simplified version of our criteria, in requiring more than 10 relaxation timescales to have elapsed between the formation and observation of high redshift elliptical systems, for colour and colour gradients data to be consistent with the hierarchical scenario.

## 5 Conclusions and Discussion

In considering our results of Figure 7 we firstly note that the expected scaling obtained for the simple analytic case is found only at high masses, where the curve of $`z_{0lim}(M)`$ does indeed tend to a $`M^{1/6}`$ scaling. However, the slight curvature found in the more realistic power spectrum, together with the high structure formation redshift in the $`\mathrm{\Lambda }CDM`$ scenario, result in a downturn at lower masses for this curve. This is interesting, as it establishes a maximum redshift of $`z_0=2.5`$ above which any observed elliptical galaxy, whatever its mass, falls above the $`z_0=z_{0lim}(M)`$ curve, i.e. in the $`\tau _R>\mathrm{\Delta }t_M`$ region. Any such elliptical galaxy would look like an interacting system, if it had formed as the result of a major merger.

Secondly we note that the region below the curve, where $`\tau _R<\mathrm{\Delta }t_M`$, encompasses the majority of observed elliptical galaxies, which can hence be thought of as having been formed by the merger mechanism. However, the downturn at lower masses identifies a local maximum mass of $`1.3\times 10^{10}M_{}`$ ($`6.3\times 10^8M_{}`$ in baryons), below which any observed ellipticals at any observation redshift $`z_0>1.0`$, must be though of as having arisen through some mechanism distinct to the mayor merger hypothesis. The corresponding limit at $`z_0=0`$ becomes $`3\times 10^9M_{}`$ ($`1.6\times 10^8M_{}`$ in baryons), comparable to the baryonic mass of many local dwarf ellipticals and larger than the few $`\times 10^7M_{}`$ in baryons inferred for the dwarf spheroidal satellites of the Milky Way.

Again, we note the existence of a maximum redshift of $`z=2.15\pm 0.25`$ beyond which all galaxies fall in the $`\tau _R>\mathrm{\Delta }t_M`$ region.A number of recent studies have shown the existence of observed ellipticals in this region, inferred to be relaxed normal ellipticals though multi-wavelength studies of their stellar populations, or the normal appearance of their spectra. Studies of colours, luminosity function evolution, evolution (or lack thereof) of the fundamental plane zero point and clustering properties of high redshift ellipticals ($`1<z<3`$) have shown that little evolution is seen to have occurred through merging over that period in field elipticals, and that, at those high redshifts, most systems ($`70\%`$) are allready relaxed normal ellipticals, even considering problems related to dust obscuration, often at odds with the details of what the standard hierarchical scenario predicts e.g. Im et al. (1996), Moriondo et al. (2000), Daddi et al. (2000), Brinchmann & Ellis (2000), Daddi et al. (2001), Daddi et al (2002), Cimatti et al (2002), Im et al. (2002), and Miyazaki et al. (2002).

This last point forms our strongest conclusion. There is direct observational evidence for the existence of elliptical galaxies for which the condition $`\tau _R>\mathrm{\Delta }t_M`$ is met, and which within the hierarchical scenario of structure formation, in the observationally constrained $`\mathrm{\Lambda }CDM`$ scenario, (within the assumption of ellipticals forming in major mergers of spirals) should look like interacting systems, and not like relaxed elliptical galaxies at all.

It must be noted that we have used essentially present day galaxies and present day galactic scalings to model each of the spirals in the merger simulations. This is not entirely consistent, as our merger simulations take place at redshifts of 1.5 and 2.5. There is considerable evidence, both theoretical, within the framework of hierarchical structure formation models (e.g. Avila-Reese et al. 1998) and observational (e.g. Vogt 2001; Vogt & Phillips 2002) which implies very little or indeed no evolution of the mass Tully-Fisher relation with redshift. In this respect, the use of local values for this important structural relation for our high redshift galaxies is well justified.

The use of local disk scale length vs. disk mass relation however, is a different matter. Again both theoretical and observational studies of the redshift evolution of this scaling agree, giving a strong reduction in the disk scale length, in going to higher redshifts. This last point was not considered in most of our the simulations, because including it would only lead to longer relaxation timescales, $`\tau _R`$, and hence more dramatic, lower values of $`z_{0lim}(M)`$, at all masses. This is clear if one considers that in reducing the typical sizes of disks, one is limiting the action and effects of the tidal forces which bring about dissipation and relaxation in the merging galaxies, as these dynamical effects scale with the size of the objects upon which they act. In a limiting case, one can imagine very small and compact disks which could be treated as point masses, the “merger” would not be more than the formation of a binary system in mutual orbit. Indeed, this effect starts to appear once the typical disk sizes become smaller than the distances of closest approach, relaxation times get longer and eventually tend to infinity, as the components become smaller. An analogous way of viewing this effect is to consider the typical density of the components. From a simplified classical tidal criterion, one can expect components to survive if their characteristic densities are higher than the average densities within their orbits. Indeed, our runs with shorter disk scale lengths yielded somewhat larger relaxation timescales.

It is hence clear that the use of local scaling laws leads to a conservative estimate of $`z_{0lim}(M)`$, with results for a fully self consistent hierarchical scenario of structure formation yielding much more restrictive and lower values of $`z_{0lim}(M)`$, at all masses. The same can be said of the lack of a specific recipe for star formation, the introduction of which would result in the conversion of gas into stars i.e. of a dissipative component into a non-collisional ingredient, hence lengthening the relaxation times. This last effect would be enhanced in the case of a starburst regime triggered by the pile up of gas in the central regions, and the subsequent loss of gas trough a galactic wind, also increasing the fraction of the non-collisional stellar component.

Finally, we note that the arguments presented here are not the only objections that have been raised against the idea of all ellipticals being the result of major mergers. An early example mentioning many of the principal objections can be found in Ostriker (1980), who noted that the tight colour-magnitude and metallicity-magnitude relations seen in ellipticals would be hard to justify in a scenario dominated by the random assemblage of smaller spirals. He also pointed to the deeper potential wells found in ellipticals than in spirals, and the dissipationless nature of gravitational processes as a difficulty to this scenario, which also would have a hard time explaining the smaller physical scale lengths of ellipticals over spirals, since dissipationless mergers would tend to increase the scale of a system. Many of these objections have been stated again since in more careful terms, some examples follow.

Wyse (1998) has pointed out that the high phase-space density seen in elliptical galaxies and early bulges is incompatible with the formation of these systems out of the dissipational merger of stellar disks. This last point can be alleviated by the introduction of a dissipational component, such as the gaseous disk, coupled gravitationally to the stellar component. However, the very red colours of elliptical galaxies at high redshift limits the amount of gas that can be included in such a merger, the details depending on the efficiency with which a galactic wind could subsequently clear the merger of gas. Mihos (2001) finds that ellipticals which fall into anomalous places in the central parameter relationship invariably appear as merger remnants, and concludes that if mergers are the formation mechanisms for elliptical galaxies, these must have taken place at very high redshift. Interacting and starburst systems seen at moderate redshifts cannot form a significant fraction of the local elliptical population.

Mihos & Hernquist (1996) raise the problem of what happens to the gas in merging spirals, and point out that the extreme infall towards the centre seen in some simulations, if accompanied by in situ star formation, would result in light profiles for ellipticals which would be too centrally cusped to accommodate observed de Vaucouleur’s type profiles. Ellis et al. (2001b) find that the relative colours of bulges and ellipticals in the redshift range $`0.6<z<1.0`$ are at odds with the predictions of the hierarchical scenario, suggesting very early formation epochs for ellipticals, or substantial “rejuvenation” of spiral bulges. Pozzetti et al. (2003) in fact, find that a careful study of the evolution of the K-band luminosity function agrees more with simple passive evolution models than with cosmologically motivated hierarchical clustering scenario of Kauffmann (1999). Firth et al. (2002) conclude that the Las Campanas redshift survey rules out models where only passive evolution plays a part, but also that data are inconsistent with the low formation epochs of field ellipticals predicted in hierarchical scenarios. Birchmann & Ellis (2000) also note that the space densities of both large ellipticals and large spirals change very little out to $`z1`$, making it unlikely that large spirals are merging to form large ellipticals.

In going to spiral galaxies, studies of the velocity dispersion tensor in the Milky Way and other late type spirals e.g. Binney (2001) show that the lack of strong discontinuities in the vertical velocity of stars as a function of age appear to contradict the merger scenario, with dynamical heating by spiral arms being sufficient to account for the observations. Labbe et al. (2003) obtained deep imaging in the IR of HDFS objects, and found that 50% of the brightest objects, which in the optical show up as knotty mergers, are actually normal, relaxed large disks at $`1.4<z<3.0`$

There seems to be mounting evidence pointing to a high formation redshift for ellipticals (and possibly also spirals), the results of our present study offering new support and being in accordance with the conclusions of a variety of independent studies centering on widely different aspects of the physics of the problem. If large ellipticals did not form out of the merger of comparably sized spirals, might they have formed out of the merger of comparably sized ellipticals? The relaxation timescales would be much longer than for the spiral mergers, as ellipticals lack the dissipative gaseous component, and have smaller sizes which make tides less relevant, making the problem we have pointed out in this paper worse. As alternatives we might think of many small spirals/ellipticals being swallowed by a growing elliptical system over a few Gyr period, provided most of the action ended before $`z2`$. It is perhaps time to consider what modifications are needed in the present galactic assemblage scenario in order to make it compatible with a high formation redshift for elliptical galaxies.

## Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank T. Padmanabhan and C. Firmani for helpful discussion, the Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge for its hospitality during the final phases of this work and the referee, Fabio Governato, for a detailed revision and helpful corrections which improved the final version. Support for this work was provided by CONACyT (27987E) and (I39181-E) and DGAPA–UNAM (IN-110600).


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# Measurement of the Charge Form Factor of the Neutron 𝐺_𝐸^𝑛from 𝑑⃗(𝑒⃗,𝑒'𝑛)𝑝 at 𝑄²=0.5 and 1.0(𝐺𝑒𝑉/𝑐)²

## 1 Introduction

In a non-relativistic picture, the charge form-factor of the neutron $`G_E^n`$is related to the charge distribution in the neutron and thus is important for our understanding of electromagnetic structure of nucleons. Despite a great effort focused on its determination, $`G_E^n`$remains poorly known. Two major difficulties faced by experimenters in their studies of $`G_E^n`$are its small magnitude and the lack of a free neutron target. Unpolarized cross-section measurements, from which $`G_E^n`$was extracted until 1990’s, were incapable of overcoming these difficulties and yielded inconsistent or model-dependent results.

Recent technological advances in high duty factor accelerators, polarized sources, polarized targets and recoil polarimetry made possible double polarization methods of determining $`G_E^n`$. These methods use asymmetries rather than cross-sections and thus reduce sensitivity to systematic errors.

In the experiment described here a longitudinally polarized electron beam was scattered off a polarized deuterated ammonia target. The polarized electron-neutron scattering cross section consists of helicity-independent and helicity-flip terms. The helicity induced asymmetry, given by the ratio of these two terms, depends on $`G_E^n`$. For a general orientation of the target polarization this dependence is complex. In order to minimize the influence of the magnetic form factor $`G_M^n`$and maximize the sensitivity to $`G_E^n`$, the direction of the target polarization was chosen to be perpendicular to the three-momentum transfer $`\stackrel{}{q}`$ and to lie in the scattering plane. For this case the expression for the electron-neutron asymmetry $`A_{en}`$ simplifies to the following:

$$A_{en}=\frac{2\sqrt{\tau (1+\tau )}G_M^nG_E^n}{(G_E^n)^2+\tau (1+2(1+\tau )\mathrm{tan}^2(\theta _e/2))(G_M^n)^2},$$

where $`\tau =\frac{Q^2}{4M^2}`$, $`M`$ is the neutron mass, and $`\theta _e`$ is the electron scattering angle.

Since neutrons in deuterium are not free, the measured electron-deuteron asymmetry $`A_{ed}^V`$ differs from $`A_{en}`$ due to reaction mechanisms such as final state interactions and meson exchange currents. These reaction mechanisms were taken into account in theoretical calculations used for extraction of $`G_E^n`$Arenhövel et al. (1988).

## 2 Experimental setup

The experiment E93-026 was conducted in Hall C of Thomas Jefferson Accelerator Facility (Jefferson Lab) in 1998 and 2001. The measurements were taken at two points, $`Q^2=0.5`$ and $`1.0(GeV/c)^2`$.

The beam polarization was measured using a Moeller polarimeter. The average beam polarization during the experiment was 75%. The beam current was limited to $`100nA`$ to avoid excessive thermal and radiation damage to the target polarization. A system of raster magnets was used to distribute these stresses uniformly over the full target cell. The readings of the raster magnets were also used by the reconstruction algorithm to determine the horizontal and vertical position of the interaction point.

The solid polarized target Crabb et al. (1995) was developed by University of Virginia and was successfully used in two experiments prior to being used in E93-026. The basic components of the polarized target include a superconducting magnet operated at 5 Tesla, a $`{}_{}{}^{4}He`$ evaporation refrigerator, a pumping system, a high power microwave tube operating at frequencies around 140 GHz and an NMR system for measuring the target polarization. The target material was polarized using the principle of dynamic nuclear polarization. Target polarization was determined by measuring the impedance change of the series resonant LCR circuit due to the nuclear magnetic moment. The conversion constants between the area of the NMR signal and the target polarization were obtained by a series of thermal equilibrium measurements. The target polarization typically varied between 15% and 35% and averaged to 22%.

After interaction in the target material, the scattered electrons were detected in the High Momentum Spectrometer of Hall C. Recoil nucleons were detected in the neutron detector which consisted of six planes of thick scintillators and two planes of thin scintillators. The latter were used for particle identification. The detector was set along the direction of the three-momentum transfer and was enclosed in a concrete hut open towards the target. The neutron vertical position was determined by the segmentation of the detector while the horizontal position was determined from the time difference of the phototubes.

## 3 Analysis and results

The electrons in the HMS were reconstructed using the standard HMS reconstruction code extended for the effects of beam raster and target magnetic field. On the neutron detector side a custom tracking algorithm was developed for proper particle identification. Neutrons were defined as events with no hits in the paddles along the track to the target, within a narrow time interval and within a 100 MeV range of invariant mass around the nucleon mass. A number of other cuts was applied to optimize the dilution factor and limit the recoil momentum to values where nuclear corrections are small.

After event reconstruction and event selection, charge and dead-time normalized yields were produced for each beam helicity state, $`N^+`$ and $`N^{}`$. From these yields the raw asymmetry $`ϵ`$ was calculated:

$$ϵ=\frac{N^+N^{}}{N^++N^{}}=P_BP_TfA_{ed}^V.$$

In order to obtain $`A_{ed}^V`$ from the raw asymmetry $`ϵ`$, one needs the knowledge of dilution factor $`f`$ (due to scattering from unpolarized materials) in addition to beam and target polarizations $`P_B`$ and $`P_t`$. Dilution factor was calculated using montecarlo simulations. Finally, $`A_{ed}^V`$ was corrected for accidental background and radiative effects.

The $`G_E^n`$was extracted by comparing the corrected experimental asymmetry to the theoretical asymmetry averaged over the experimental acceptance under different assumptions about the size of the $`G_E^n`$. Preliminary results are consistent with the Galster parametrization. The systematic error is expected to be dominated by uncertainty in target polarization (3-5%) and dilution factor ($`3\%`$).


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# Analyzing Single Crystal Time-of-Flight Neutron Data - NOBUGS2002/030

## I Introduction

The single crystal diffractometer (SCD) at the intense pulsed neutron source (IPNS) was the among first of its kind when it was built. It uses a four circle Huber diffractometer with the chi angle fixed at 45 degrees and a single anger camera at 90 degrees from the direct beam at $``$30 cm from the sample. The detector has 85 x 85 pixels in an active area of 30 cm x 30 cm. schul;taca82  This has been the instrument configuration, with minor adjustments, ever since. SCD is currently going through a major upgrade, replacing its original detector with two higher resolution anger cameras that each have an active area of 15 cm x 15 cm at a distance of $``$20 cm from the sample. In addition, the data acquisition system (DAS) for the SCD is also being upgraded. Not surprisingly the entire instrument upgrade is making it necessary to update much of the analysis software.

The Integrated Spectral Analysis Workbench (ISAW) is a general purpose data analysis and visualization package which can read the raw data of any IPNS instrument, including the upgraded SCD. ISAW also has an extendible system for performing calculations and operations on the data well suited to developing new analysis methods. This paper will describe the new data analysis package. Its early versions use much of the old software while implementing new methods of data visualization.

## II Current Software

The intention of all measurements on SCD is to collect up to $`2\pi `$ steradians of diffraction data from a single crystal sample. The raw data is then reduced to Bragg intensities consisting of the $`(hkl)`$ index, integrated intensity, and uncertainty in the integrated intensity. This information is then used to determine the contents of the unit cell. To measure the full $`2\pi `$ steradians up to 44 crystal orientations need to be measured. For many crystals this is unnecessary and far fewer orientations are measured to reveal all of the unique reflections.

An example of this is quartz, with a hexagonal crystal structure, which only needs 13 crystal orientations measured to collect all of the unique reflections.

The original analysis software was written using FORTRAN77 to run in a batch mode on the VAX. The analysis steps are outlined in Fig. 1. After the analysis is completed the list of reflections, frequently called peaks, are then converted to a format appropriate for the modeling software used. PEAKS determines the location of the brightest points in time and pixel space which is converted to position and wavelength. This is normally run once for each crystal orientation and all reflections are collected in the same file. Then BLIND is run repetitively with between 10 and 17 reflections to determine lattice parameters ($`a`$, $`b`$, $`c`$, $`\alpha `$, $`\beta `$, $`\gamma `$) and an orientation matrix ($`UB`$) which are satisfactory. giaco;bk92 ; busin;ac67  SCALAR transforms the symmetry of the $`UB`$ matrix found with BLIND to be more appropriate. For the quartz example mentioned above the $`UB`$ matrix determined by BLIND will frequently make $`b`$ the long axis, SCALAR performs the rotation to make $`c`$ the long axis consistent with convention. INDEX takes the orientation matrix from SCALAR and determines as many of the $`(hkl)`$ indexes as possible. Then LSQRS uses the indexed peaks to refine the lattice parameters and the $`UB`$ matrix, which is then used to run INDEX again to get $`(hkl)`$ for more peaks. After a few iterations of INDEX and LSQRS almost all peaks are indexed and the lattice parameters and $`UB`$ matrix are well established. The lattice parameters and $`UB`$ matrix are then used one more time to INTEGRATE all possible reflection locations in the data and write a new peaks file with the integrated intensity.

## III New Analysis Package

With the upgraded instrument comes two main concerns: the file format is being changed and most of the algorithms assume that there is only one detector. The first problem is dealt with by using ISAW which can already read the files from the new DAS. The first and last steps in the analysis, PEAKS and INTEGRATE respectively, are the only times that access to the raw data is necessary. For this reason they are the only ones that need to be modified to deal with the changing file format. This is accomplished by porting the FORTRAN code to Java. The other steps in the analysis can be wrapped so ISAW can have a straightforward method of stepping through the analysis. Wrapping the software allows for rapid development of the new analysis package and providing more time for dealing with the more difficult problem of a second detector. The process of wrapping and testing software is made significantly simpler through ISAW’s operator mechanism. An operator is similar to a subroutine in most programming languages. Each operator is intended to be a single step in the analysis which can be executed in an orderly fashion. For this reason each of the steps outlined in the previous section becomes an operator. Then the operators can be linked together with a script in a very straightforward manner. At the time of publication the migration to ISAW has been completed through LSQRS, and porting INTEGRATE is expected to happen early in 2003.

## IV New Methods of Data Visualization

Another feature of ISAW is a set of interactive and highly correlated viewers. Since the time when the original data visualization software was written for SCD there has been many improvements in computing. For this reason the new visualization software can show the data in ways that were previously not possible. In Fig. 2 a traditional raster plot created by ISAW is shown. To the right of the plot is a set of readouts that give information about the pixel being pointed at with the mouse.

Included in this is the momentum transfer, $`\stackrel{}{Q}`$, and the index, $`(hkl)`$, which are both calculated while the user is interactively exploring the data. Future viewers planed include:

* Terrain view which is similar to the raster plot, but with the intensities plotted as height as well as color.
* Volume render which produces an overview of the full 3D data by accumulating and attenuating intensity values along rays through the data.
* Slicer that displays a set of three orthogonal intersecting planes that cut through the data. For example, three planes $`(h_0,k,l)`$, $`(h,k_0,l)`$, and $`(h,k,l_0)`$ where the values of $`h_0`$, $`k_0`$, and $`l_0`$ are controlled interactively by the user.

Another view in its early development is a splatter plot which collects all points in $`\stackrel{}{Q}`$-space with an intensity above a threshold then plots them. This 3D view can be provides zooming and rotations to better explore the symmetry of the reflections.

###### Acknowledgements.

PFP would like to thank M. Miller for information concerning the upgraded SCD configuration. This work was supported by the National Science Foundation through Grant Number DMR-0218882. Summer support for this work has benefitted through Department of Educational Programs and the Summer Faculty Research Program. Argonne National Laboratory is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, BES-Materials Science, under Contract W-31-109-ENG-38.


text:
# References

to appear in *Physica A*

Reply to the paper
E.G.D. Cohen, L. Rondoni: *Particles, Maps and Irreversible Thermodynamics I.*
*Physica* A 306 (2002) 117

In CohRon02  Cohen and Rondoni severely question the physical relevance of studies of transport by means of multibaker (MB) maps. The aim of MB studies (as well as of other work on low-dimensional chaotic models for transport) is to improve the understanding of irreversible macroscopic behavior in transport processes along one spatial dimension. These studies provide an attempt to establish a macroscopic description consistent with irreversible thermodynamics (IT) in systems with an *explicit* microscopic dynamics. In this class of analytically accessible model systems the properties of the microscopic and macroscopic motion are fully understood such that their mutual relation can be studied in detail. We believe that it is admissible to abandon the use of certain concepts of traditional approaches in order to highlight the general features of irreversible processes.

The fundamental interest in MB studies lies in identifying minimal assumptions on the dynamics and on the form of entropy functionals that lead to a description of the evolution of macroscopic fields according to the laws of IT — in particular, to the transport equations and to the local entropy balance. From this perspective the arguments of Cohen and Rondoni concerning the assumptions adopted in the setup of multibaker models are contradictory and part of them do not hold:

* Rondoni and Cohen (CohRon02, , Sect IV) proclaim that ’it is the lack of real particles that makes local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE) impossible’. We disagree with this statement since LTE only ascertains that the thermodynamic description of an equilibrium system applies *locally* in sufficiently small volumes of a non-equilibrium system. Since thermodynamics is a phenomenological theory, however, it does not involve the concept of particles. By definition of its basic objects the notion of particles can not be needed for its foundation. Hamiltonian equations of motion or kinetic theory can be used to underpin it in certain (dilute gas) limits, but IT is more general and can even describe the evolution of systems with a different underlying dynamics.

Similar to the Lorentz gas the time evolution of an ensemble of trajectories in a multibaker map can be interpreted as an assembly of non-interacting particles. By adopting a Boltzmann-Grad type limit one can then concentrate on the evolution of fields characterizing the state of the system. The characterization of these fields forms the prime objective of studies on multibaker maps. In the absence of coarse-graining the fields typically develop structures on ever refining scales as times evolves. Since their evolution is reversible and they never stop evolving, the fields are viewed as characteristics of a microscopic motion. On the other hand, the averages of the fields over MB cells of linear extension $`a`$ in the transport direction (called coarse-grained quantities in what follows) are thermodynamically well behaved. Appropriate averages can be interpreted as density $`\varrho `$, temperature $`T`$, and hydrodynamic velocity $`v`$. They are considered as local thermodynamic variables, since in a well-defined continuum limit their time evolution *exactly* follows the transport equations (the advection-diffusion equation, the heat conduction equation, and the Navier-Stokes equation of strongly viscous fluids) of IT. Consequently, the cell size $`a`$ is considered as the mesoscopic scale addressed by LTE, below which macroscopic concepts do not apply.

Information-theoretic arguments are evoked to work out the entropy balance for a coarse-grained entropy $`S`$ taking the form

$$S=k_B\varrho \mathrm{ln}\left(\varrho T^\gamma \right),$$
(1)
where $`k_B`$ is the Boltzmann constant, and $`\gamma `$ is a positive constant playing the role of a dimensionless specific heat. We have shown for a series of transport problems (electric EarlyWork  and heat conduction, cross effects Matyas , and viscous flows MTV:PRE01 ) that the local entropy balance of this $`S`$ is exactly of the form known from IT. In view of this, (1) can be interpreted as an equation of state, which holds in *every cell* in spite of the spatial and temporal evolution of $`\varrho `$ and $`T`$. This is in our interpretation the analog of LTE. It has nothing to do with the concept of particles and their collisions.
* We agree with Cohen and Rondoni that the expression (1) adopted for the coarse-grained entropy is not obvious, and that it is also not clear a priori how one can identify *heat* for a model lacking the concept of work and particles. In our early papers EarlyWork ; Matyas  we therefore avoided the use of the term heat, and spoke mainly of entropy and entropy production. In the visco-thermal MB, on the other hand, a clear relation emerged MTV:PRE01 . After coarse graining, the energy balance condition leads to the temperature equation

$$\nu \varrho _xT=\lambda _x^2T+Q$$

with

$$Q=\nu \varrho (_xv)^2,$$

where $`\nu `$ is the kinematic viscosity (a unique expression of the MB parameters) which coincides in the model with the heat diffusion coefficient, and $`\lambda =\nu \varrho \gamma `$ represents the heat conductivity. The source term $`Q=\nu \varrho (_xv)^2`$ turns out to be the same as the contribution to the entropy production due to viscosity multiplied by the temperature. The full entropy production takes the form

$$\sigma ^{(irr)}=\lambda \left(\frac{_xT}{T}\right)^2+\frac{\nu \varrho }{T}(_xv)^2.$$

This strong analogy with IT encouraged us to call $`Q`$ the viscous heating term, since it indeed raises the temperature due to the local hydrodynamic momentum exchange of neighboring fluid layers, modelled by neighboring MB cells.
* Concerning the purely diffusive dynamics of the Lorentz gas or an isothermal MB, which can both be considered as particle models of transport, Rondoni and Cohen state that their entropy production only *formally* agrees (in an appropriate limit) with the thermodynamic expression

$$\sigma ^{(irr)}=D\frac{(\varrho )^2}{\varrho }$$

since the entropy production cannot be related to any heating process in the absence of interacting particles (in their words ’… in IT the entropy production $`\sigma _s^{IT}>0`$ is due to heat, which involves randomization, …’). We mention that IT does not predict $`\sigma ^{(irr)}`$ to be a source term of heat in the temperature equation. Rather \[see dGM  chapter XI, eq. (235)\], there is no heat source at all in this equation, and local changes of the temperature are due to the Dufour effect. The assumtion of constant temperature in the diffusive multibaker only implies a vanishing Dufour coefficient. The entropy production $`\sigma ^{(irr)}`$ is in this case fully due to mixing entropy induced by the gradient of the macroscopic density (phase-space density in the particle picture), which is also present in microscopic models of non-interacting particles.
* The studies of MB models provide a self-consistent framework for the description of transport based on a reversible dynamics. In our eyes they clearly show that the coarse graining carried out over the underlying chaotic and mixing MB dynamics unavoidably leads to information loss, which appears to be the basic ingredient of irreversible entropy production *and* viscous heating. In contrast to the main assertion of CohRon02  they therefore provide a valuable alternative approach to study the foundations of IT.

Finally, we would like to point out that our interpretation of LTE is fully consistent with the definition given by the authors of CohRon02 , who say:
The validity of LTE can only be justified *a posteriori*, on the grounds of the conclusions derived from it.
We consider the recovery of the relations of IT from such a simple model as the MB map as a clear justification for considering the cell-averaged, coarse-grained fields as hallmarks of LTE, and therefore reject the criticism by Cohen and Rondoni.

| László Mátyás Max-Planck-Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems Nöthnitzer Str. 38 01187 Dresden Germany | Tamás Tél Institute for Theoretical Physics Eötvös University P. O. Box 32 H-1518 Budapest Hungary | Jürgen Vollmer Max-Planck-Institute for Polymer Research Ackermannweg 10 55128 Mainz Germany |
| --- | --- | --- |


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# Discovery of a Tight Brown Dwarf Companion to the Low Mass Star LHS 2397a1

## 1 Introduction

Radial velocity surveys have now probed on the order of 2000 nearby Sun-like FGKM main-sequence stars and found upwards of 100 planetary companions (Marcy et al., 2002). However, there exists a distinct lack of brown dwarf companion detections at small separations to these stars (the “brown dwarf desert”) even though their larger reflex motion would be easier to detect than for planets. Marcy et al. (2002) estimate that $`0.5\%\pm 0.2\%`$ of Sun-like stars have brown dwarf companions ($`M=1080M_{Jupiter}`$) within 3AU.

At the same time $`13\pm 3\%`$ of G stars (Mazeh et al., 1992) and $`8.1\%`$ of M stars (Fischer & Marcy, 1992) have stellar companions within 3AU. This dramatic dichotomy indicates that perhaps the formation of brown dwarf and stellar companions involves very different mechanisms.

Direct imaging surveys have also probed larger separation spaces ($`30`$ AU) around Sun-like stars and found that a significant fraction may have very wide brown dwarf companions (eg. Gizis et al., 2001). Aside from the recent brown dwarf companion imaged around a G1V star at 14 AU (Liu et al., 2002), separations of 5-30 AU remain largely unexplored.

Does this same trend in brown dwarf companion frequency with separation extend to lower mass (later than M8) primary stars? Studies sensitive to large binary separations have come up empty handed; a surprising 0% of low mass stars and brown dwarfs appear to have brown dwarf companions at separations greater than $`20`$ AU (eg. Martín et al., 2000; Oppenheimer et al., 2001).

Only with adaptive optics (AO) or space-based imaging can separations significantly less than $`20`$ AU around low mass objects be successfuly investigated. Several recent and ongoing studies have employed these methods and each has found that the binary frequency of low mass primaries (M8-M9/L/T) is $`20\%`$ for $`a3`$AU (Reid et al., 2001; Close et al., 2002b; Burgasser et al., 2003). Furthermore, the companions tend to cluster around 4-5 AU and no companions have been found at separations larger than 20 AU.

Here we present the discovery of a brown dwarf companion orbiting within 4 AU of the nearby UKIRT faint standard M8 star, LHS 2397a (FS 129)111Note that the ’a’ in LHS 2397a does not indicate that it is a binary, simply that it lies between LHS 2397 and LHS 2398 in Luyten (1979)’s original catalog. It was considered a single star until this work. and discuss its implications. This is the first clear example of a brown dwarf companion to a low mass star (later than M2) within 4 AU. Given the small separation of this system, dynamical masses can be determined in a relatively short period of time ($`5`$ yr), which will help calibrate mass-luminosity isochrone models and the bottom of the main sequence.

## 2 Observations

These observations were taken as part of a larger survey for companions to late M stars (M8-L0). See Close et al. (2002a, b) for a detailed discussion of this survey as well as the observing methods used. Taking advantage of the extremely sensitive curvature wavefront sensor on the now-retired AO system, Hokupa’a (Graves et al., 1998), at Gemini-North, we were able to directly guide on our very faint primary targets in the visible. For LHS 2397a, with V=19.6 (Martín, Rebolo, & Magazzú, 1994), this meant resolutions of $`0.13^{\prime \prime }`$ at K, $`0.17^{\prime \prime }`$ at H, and $`0.22^{\prime \prime }`$ at J. Using the Quick Infrared Camera (QUIRC) and its near-IR 1024x1024 detector with $`0.0199^{\prime \prime }\pm 0.0002`$ pixels (Hodapp et al., 1996), we obtained J, H, and K images of LHS 2397a on 2002 February 7, UT with a three point dither pattern. For each dither position we obtained 5 x 5s exposures in the J & H bands for a total exposure time of 75s and 5 x 3s exposures in the K band for a total exposure time of 45s. The limiting magnitudes for wide separation companions in these images were J=22.5, H=22.8, and K=21.2 for a $`5\sigma `$ result.

We also obtained two images of LHS 2397a from the HST public archival database, which were taken as part of a study by Kirkpatrick & Henry (1997). The images consist of a 2s (unsaturated) and 300s (saturated) exposure made with HST/WFPC2 on 1997 April 12, UT using the F814W (CWL=0.82 µm) filter. These images have a resolution of $`0.1^{\prime \prime }`$ with a platescale of $`0.050^{\prime \prime }`$/pixel.

## 3 Astrometry and Photometry

The AO data were reduced using a pipeline data reduction program as described in Close et al. (2002a) in detail. The program employs standard AO near-IR data reduction techniques to produce final images with a FOV of 30x30′′ and North up ($`\pm 0.3\mathrm{°}`$). Figure 1 shows images of LHS 2397a and its companion for each of the four observed bands.

In order to determine the differential magnitudes ($`\mathrm{\Delta }mags`$) and astrometry of the components of LHS 2397a in each of our three observed bands, we employed the use of the DAOPHOT (Stetson, 1987) package in IRAF . For the K band, the point spread function (PSF) fitting photometry package DAOPHOT successfully split the two components and determined an accurate $`\mathrm{\Delta }K^{}`$ as well as accurate positions for the two components. A single star (2MASSI J1024099+1815) observed the same night, with a similar airmass, spectral type, and visible magnitude was used as the PSF star. Two different rotation angles of the PSF star were used to calculate the $`\mathrm{\Delta }K^{}`$ of the binary system. Since the rotator was on during the exposures, a rotation in the PSF may have occurred. Therefore, by using both a non-rotated and rotated version of the PSF, we could assign an error to the photometry. The average and difference of these values were taken as the best determination of $`\mathrm{\Delta }K^{}`$ and its error respectively. The separation and position angle as determined from the non-rotated PSF were used along with the typical errors of these values for the entire survey.

For the J & H bands, where DAOPHOT could not separate the two components, the annulus photometry task PHOT was used on the images with the low spatial frequencies removed. This technique gave reliable $`\mathrm{\Delta }mags`$ and was verified on images with known magnitudes.

The standard STSDAS pipeline data products were used for the HST/WFPC2 F814W images. To obtain a deep, unsaturated image, the saturated pixels in the long (300s) exposure were replaced with a scaled version of those unsaturated pixels in the short (2s) exposure. DAOPHOT was then run on the final, deep image to obtain $`\mathrm{\Delta }F814W`$ and the positions of the two components. Short (2s) images of other single stars (LHS 2243 & LP 412-31) taken from the same proposed data set were used as PSF stars. Values and errors for $`\mathrm{\Delta }F814W`$ and positions were taken as the mean and difference of results obtained for the two different PSF stars.

The $`\mathrm{\Delta }mags`$ determined above were used in conjunction with the known integrated magnitudes of LHS 2397a (see Table 1) to solve for the individual magnitudes of the two components of the binary. In order to calculate the individual magnitudes, we assumed that $`\mathrm{\Delta }I_c\mathrm{\Delta }F814W+0.06`$ and $`\mathrm{\Delta }Ks\mathrm{\Delta }K^{}`$. The 0.06 correction was calculating by performing synthetic photometry on a sample of late M and L dwarf spectra (Kirkpatrick et al., 1999a, b; Gizis et al., 2000; Kirkpatrick et al., 2000; Reid et al., 2000; Kirkpatrick et al., 2001; Wilson et al., 2001). It was assumed that the primary was an M8, as spectroscopically determined by several studies (eg. Leggett et al., 2002), and the secondary was an M8-L9. The error in this correction was 0.09 and was incorporated into the error of $`\mathrm{\Delta }I_c`$ appropriately. The latter assumption is correct to 0.02 magnitudes according to Chabrier et al. (2000)’s DUSTY models of late L and M stars. Absolute magnitudes were calculated using the trigonometric parallax of LHS 2397a ($`\pi =70.0\pm 2.1`$ mas/yr; $`d=14.3\pm 0.4`$ pc) as measured by van Altena et al. (1995). See Table 2 for a summary of derived positions and photometry of the data.

## 4 Spectral Type

To determine the spectral types of the two components, we compared our calculated absolute magnitudes, in all four bands, with the absolute magnitude vs. spectral type relationships derived by Dahn et al. (2002) (see Figure 2). However, in order to avoid the errors associated with converting from Ks to K magnitudes, we used the Ks magnitudes as determined by the second incremental 2MASS data release along with Dahn et al. (2002)’s parallaxes for as many of the stars as possible to derive a $`M_{Ks}`$ vs. spectral type relationship. For every observed bandpass, we confirm that the primary is an M8 and the secondary is consistent with an L7.5. Spectral types later than L4.5 are predicted to consist entirely of substellar objects (Kirkpatrick et al., 2000). Therefore, we conclude that the companion is a brown dwarf.

## 5 Space and Orbital Motions

Our AO observations were taken nearly 5 years after the HST images, which allows us to verify that the binary components have common proper motion as well as observe significant orbital motion.

Originally cataloged by Luyten (1979) in his high proper motion catalog, LHS 2397a has a large proper motion of $`\mu _A=513.4\pm 7.8`$ mas/yr at a position angle of $`\theta _A=263.8\mathrm{°}\pm 0.9\mathrm{°}`$ (Tinney, 1996). The observed proper motion of the secondary is $`\mu _B=555.1\pm 8.2`$ mas/yr at $`\theta _B=259.6\mathrm{°}\pm 0.9\mathrm{°}`$. Taking into account the properties of the system as well as the known space density of L dwarfs (Gizis et al., 2001), we find the probability that such an L dwarf would lie within $`0.27^{\prime \prime }`$ of the line-of-sight of LHS 2397a and have a similar proper motion is a negligible $`10^{18}`$.

As a result, taking into account orbital motion, these two objects form a common proper motion pair and are, therefore, physically associated. We denote the two components as LHS 2397aA and LHS 2397aB.

We can roughly estimate the period of the orbit to be 25 yr by assuming the fraction of the period observed is equal to the change in position angle of the secondary between the two observed dates. This period is not inconsistent with a substellar object orbiting LHS 2397aA. While two epochs of an orbit are insufficient to give a dynamical mass, we should be able to do so in about another 5 years. With such a short period, LHS 2397aB should be one of the first late L dwarfs to have a dynamical mass. Note that the dynamical mass of the companion to 2MASSW J0920122+351742 (Reid et al., 2001) could be determined first.

## 6 Age

Martín, Rebolo, & Magazzú (1994) have recorded a lithium non-detection of LHS 2397aA, giving $`\mathrm{log}N(Li)1.0`$. Comparing this non-detection to the Chabrier et al. (2000) DUSTY models yields a minimum age of $`0.1`$ Gyr. Unfortunately, the short-lived nature of Li gives little constraint on the age of the system. The fact that LHS 2397a is known to be a flare star (Bessell, 1991) and has recorded H$`\alpha `$ values between 15.3Å and 47.3Å (Tinney & Reid, 1998; Gizis et al., 2000) suggests an older age for the system (given that it is a late M star (Gizis et al., 2001)).

Since the total three-dimensional space velocity of LHS 2397a is known, we can determine a kinematic minimum age of the system. To do this we adopt Tinney & Reid (1998)’s heliocentric space motions for the system $`(U_H,V_H,W_H)=(30.0\pm 2.1,40.7\pm 1.3,8.6\pm 1.4)`$km/s and Dehnen & Binney (1998)’s solar velocity with respect to the local standard of rest (LSR) $`(U_{\mathrm{}},V_{\mathrm{}},W_{\mathrm{}})=(10.00\pm 0.36,5.25\pm 0.62,7.17\pm 0.38)`$km/s. Therefore, our derived space velocity with respect to the LSR is $`(U,V,W)=(40.0\pm 2.1,46.0\pm 1.4,1.4\pm 1.5)`$km/s. Using the method described by Lachaume et al. (1999), this translates into a statistical minimum age of 7.2 Gyr.

However, since the kinematic age is only statistical in nature (only true for $`67\%`$ of stars), we conservatively choose the minimum age as 2 Gyr; that seen for stars in the solar neighborhood with similar space motions (Caloi et al., 1999). We denote the maximum age of the system as the maximum age of the solar neighborhood (12 Gyr) (Binney, Dehnen, & Bertelli, 2000). So our estimated age range for LHS 2397a is 2-12 Gyr with a best guess age of 7.2 Gyr.

## 7 Mass and Temperature

Comparing the absolute Ks magnitudes of LHS 2397aA and LHS 2397aB to Chabrier et al. (2000)’s DUSTY models, we can estimate the masses of the two components (see Figure 3). We adopt a solar metallicity (\[m/H\]=0) as derived by Leggett et al. (1998). The implied masses from these models are $`0.090M_{\mathrm{}}(0.0890.094)`$ for the primary and $`0.068M_{\mathrm{}}(0.0610.069)`$ for the secondary as summarized in Table 3. This gives a mass ratio for the system of q $`=0.76`$. We also find temperatures for the two components to be $`T_A=2630K(25902660)`$ and $`T_B=1470K(14001500)`$ for the primary and secondary respectively. These temperatures are consistent with the independently derived relationships by Dahn et al. (2002). Note that the errors quoted for the mass and temperature only take into account observational errors and do not include virtually unquantifiable modelling errors.

Given these masses and assuming the semi-major axis of the orbit to be 3.86 AU, we derive a period of the system of 19 yr, which is consistent with the characteristic period calculated in section 5.

For the full range of $`M_{Ks}`$ and age values, we find that the primary is a star and the secondary is unambiguously a brown dwarf.

## 8 Implications

LHS 2397aB appears to be the first clear example of a brown dwarf companion in a tight orbit around a low mass star. As part of the same survey of 39 M8-L0 stars, two additional possible brown dwarf companions were both found at 4.0 AU from their respective primaries and images taken of the previously known binary 2MASSW J0746425+200032 (Reid et al., 2001) have determined the secondary to be a possible brown dwarf at 2.7 AU (Close et al., 2002b, c). Therefore, taking into account the entire survey, this brings the brown dwarf companion frequency around low mass stars up to $`310\%`$ at separations of 2-4 AU. This is 5-21 times the observed brown dwarf frequency around Sun-like stars within 3 AU ($`0.5\%`$). It is important to note that we are insensitive to secondaries less than $`60M_{Jupiter}`$ at 2-4 AU and likely all within 2 AU. Given the apparent fact that low mass binaries tend to be tight, we may be missing a large number of brown dwarf companions. Therefore this frequency estimate is only a lower limit to the true frequency.

The relatively high observed brown dwarf companion frequency ($`310\%`$) to low mass stars as opposed to the very low frequency for Sun-like stars ($`0.5\%`$) may hint that the “brown dwarf desert” does not apply to low mass primaries. In addition, the dearth of brown dwarf companions to low mass stars at large separations is possibly in contrast to what is observed for Sun-like stars.

Several groups have proposed theories explaining why the “brown dwarf desert” exists. Armitage & Bonnell (2002) propose that orbital migration due to a protoplanetary disk “dragging” low mass objects into the primary could result in the so-called desert. Since the disk would be more massive at smaller separations, it would be in a better position to pull low mass objects into the central star. The objects being “dragged” must be comparable to (or smaller than) the disk’s characteristic mass for the disk to have a migratory effect. The close separation of LHS 2397aB is consistent with this theory since lower mass primaries are expected to form with lower mass protoplanetary disks, which would not be massive enough to “drag” a brown dwarf. While this theory does explain the existence of companions at small separations well, it is difficult to envision how it could produce a lack of binaries at large separations around low mass primaries if they are formed by a cloud fragmentation mechanism.

If the formation mechanism is disk fragmentation, the lack of wide-separation binaries could easily be attributed to a lack of material at large separations. However, this scenario tends to form higher mass ratio binaries than those observed. The maximum mass that can produce a stable disk around a star can be represented by the maximum solar nebula, which is given by $`M_{disk}0.31M_{star}`$ (Shu et al., 1990). Assuming the extreme case that all the disk material is used, the lowest mass ratio system that could be formed has $`q=0.31`$. In contrast, the observed low mass binary population produces components that are nearly equal mass ($`q>0.6`$). Therefore, cloud fragmentation is generally the favored formation scenario for low mass binaries. In this case, the separation of the companion from its primary is independent of the circumstellar disk size.

In another formation mechanism, Reipurth & Clarke (2001) postulate that brown dwarfs are simply ejected stellar embryos that could not accrete enough matter to become stars. Failing to compete with their larger counterparts, these “low mass embryos” are kicked out of the system to become free-floating objects. In this scenario the existence of brown dwarfs close to large Sun-like stars is very unlikely, hence the “brown dwarf desert”. When a low mass binary is ejected, brown dwarf companions at large separations from low mass stars are stripped from the binary—so no wide low mass binaries should be observed. Tight low mass binaries should also be rare, but not impossible; a hydrodynamical star formation simulation by Bate, Bonnell, & Bromm (2002) finds a binary brown dwarf frequency of $`5\%`$. The binary frequency of brown dwarfs to M8-L0 stars we observe is consistent with this prediction. However, other observations including a larger range of primary and secondary masses find that $`20\%`$ of low mass primaries have companions, which is larger than the theoretical predictions.

We are indebted to I.Baraffe & her collaborators for kindly providing us with custom DUSTY models. We are also grateful to E.Mamajek for enlightening discussions on ages, M.Meyer for helpful advice, J.Liebert for insightful comments, and P.Butler, G.Marcy, S.Shaklan, S.Unwin, D.Queloz, I.N.Reid, and V.Caloi for various useful information. Also thanks to the anonymous referee whose comments led to an improved version of this paper. We acknowledge support from the AFOSR under F49620-01-1-0383 and NASA Origins of Solar Systems grant NAG5-12086. This paper is based on observations obtained with the Adaptive Optics System Hokupa’a/Quirc, developed and operated by the University of Hawaii Adaptive Optics Group, with support from the National Science Foundation. These results were based on observations obtained at the Gemini Observatory, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under a cooperative agreement with the NSF on behalf of the Gemini partnership: the National Science Foundation (United States), the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council (United Kingdom), the National Research Council (Canada), CONICYT (Chile), the Australian Research Council (Australia), CNPq (Brazil) and CONICET (Argentina). This publication makes use of data products from the Two Micron All Sky Survey, which is a joint project of the University of Massachusetts and the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center/California Institute of Technology, funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the National Science Foundation.