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# What does the Unexpected Detection of Water Vapor in Arcturus’ Atmosphere Tell us?

## 1. OBSERVATIONS

The data we analysed were obtained with the TEXES (Texas Echelon Cross-echelle Spectrograph; see Lacy et al. 2002) mounted on the NASA InfraRed Telescope Facility on Mauna Kea. TEXES is capable of recording truly unique mid-infrared spectra. We used the spectrograph in its high-resolution mode, with $`R80,000`$ covering the regions 806-822 cm-1 (12.2-12.4 $`\mu `$m) and 884-925 cm-1 (10.8-11.3 $`\mu `$m). TEXES is actually a prototype for the EXES spectrometer, which is a PI instrument to be used on the American-German Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) which is scheduled to fly in 2004. One of the largest advantages of flying an observatory above the tropopause at an altitude of 12-14 km compared to a ground-based one, is the smaller interference of telluric water vapor which absorbes heavily in the thermal infrared. SOFIA will be flying above 99% of the telluric water vapor. EXES has a 1 meter long echelon grating and TEXES has a 90 cm grating. The detectors are Si:As $`265\times 265`$ pixels detectors, which are sensitive to mid-infrared light from ca. 4.5 to 28.5 microns.

## 2. MODELLING

We identified the unexpected absorption features in the mid-infrared spectrum of Arcturus as water vapor and OH lines by comparing with sun-spot spectra. Since there does not exist any water-vapor line-lists with wavelengths accurate enough for our high-resolution work, we constructed a new one with wavelengths from recent laboratory measurements by Polyansky et al. (1996, 1997a, & 1997b). The lines studied here are pure rotational transitions of OH of the three first vibrational levels and pure rotational transition of water within the ground vibrational state. Vibration-rotation lines of water vapor lie in the near to mid infrared region and electronic transitions in the UV.

We model our observations with the marcs model atmosphere code. These 1D hydrostatic, spherical model photospheres are computed on the assumptions of Local Thermodynamic Equilibrium (LTE), homogeneity and the conservation of the total flux (radiative plus convective; the convective flux being computed using the mixing length formulation). The radiative field used in the model generation, is calculated with absorption from atoms and molecules by opacity sampling in approximately 84 000 wavelength points over the entire, relevant wavelength range considered for the star ($`2300\text{Å}`$$`20\mu \text{m}`$). The fundamental parameters for our standard model are $`T_{\mathrm{eff}}=4300`$ K, $`\mathrm{log}g=1.5`$ (cgs), \[Fe/H\]$`=0.5`$, and $`\xi _t=1.7`$ km s-1, and use the abundances of carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen given by Decin et al. (1997). Synthetic spectra are subsequently calculated.

The overall spectral shape of a red giant as warm as Arcturus is primarily determined by continuous opacities and metals, but also by a small contribution of CO. Water vapor is, for example, not expected in the spectrum of Arcturus. This is in stark contrast to cooler giants where molecules (such as TiO, VO, H2O, OH, CO, and SiO) are totally dominant, the metals only playing a minor role. The main continuous opacity source in the optical is due to H$`{}_{\mathrm{bound}\mathrm{free}}{}^{}{}_{}{}^{}`$, i.e. ionization and recombination of the H--ion. Further out in the infrared, H$`{}_{\mathrm{free}\mathrm{free}}{}^{}{}_{}{}^{}`$ opacity (i.e. bremsstrahlung and absorption by an electron in the field of a neutral hydrogen atom) is most important. This opacity source grows with wavelength and dominates beyond 1.6 microns. At 1.6 $`\mu `$m there is a minimum in the opacity, which means that the continuum at 1.6 microns is formed relatively far down in the photosphere. As we go further out in the infrared the continuum is formed successively further up in the photosphere. We therefore expect also mid-infrared lines to be formed further out than lines at, say, 1.6 microns.

## 3. PROCEDURE

We start off by testing our model photosphere and the stellar parameters used by calculating a synthetic spectrum of the 1.6 micron region, and confronting it with the observed, high-resolution, high-signal-to-noise spectrum found in the Arcturus Atlas (Hinkle et al. 1995). The OH first overtone lines found in this region are, as was noted above, formed at a deep level in the photosphere where the model assumptions are certainly valid. We are able to model the OH lines well and are thus confident that our parameters are correct.

Next, we turn our attention to the 12 micron region to study the pure rotational lines. The continuum is formed further out at these wavelengths and the cores of moderately strong lines could be formed in shallow layers in the atmosphere where the model assumptions may be erroneous. We find that the OH($`v=11`$) and OH($`v=22`$) lines can be modelled well. However, the model cannot account for the deep cores of the OH($`v=00`$) lines. Furthermore, the model does not predict any water lines at all, which is a large fallacy.

Since we are working with high-resolution data, our lines are resolved, thus providing kinematic information. Based on this piece of information, the line widths, and the excitation temperatures of the lines, we argue that all the lines are formed within the photosphere, and not above the photosphere, for example in a circumstellar envelope (see Ryde et al. 2002).

We therefore construct a semi-empirical model-atmosphere based on our marcs model, by adjusting the temperature profile in the outer most, uncertain, layers of the model photosphere. The model now violates the condition of flux constancy imposed on marcs models. Electron and gas pressures were recalculated assuming hydrostatic equilibrium. The density and standard opacity are also consistently recalculated from this new temperature structure, as are the ionization balance, molecular equilibria, and opacities. New synthetic spectra were calculated assuming, as before, LTE for the molecular equilibrium and the line formation. The revisions to the upper boundary layer made by us were made solely with the aim of fitting observed line profiles.

We are successful in finding a semi-empirical model that predicts the strengths of all the OH lines, the water vapor lines, and also the CO vibration-rotation, 4.6 micron lines, the cores of which are also formed far up in the photosphere. Over most of the modified region, the temperatures are a mere 300 K cooler than the original marcs model. In Figure 1 a few water vapor lines are shown together with the synthetic spectrum based on the original marcs atmosphere and the spectrum based on the semi-empirical model photosphere.

## 4. DISCUSSION

What could cause the detected stellar steam in the disk-averaged spectrum of this K2 giant? The outer layers of the atmosphere seem to be more complicated than the simple assumptions made in our models. What Physics are we missing? We will now discuss a few points related to this.

First, relaxation of the assumptions behind the marcs models may change the atmospheric structure. Even small alterations of the heating or cooling terms in the energy equation (for example due to dynamic processes or uncertainties and errors in the calculations of radiative cooling) may lead to changes in the temperature structure in the outer, tenuous regions of the photosphere where the heat capacity per volume is low. The assumption of LTE is one target of model builders seeking to go beyond the standard assumptions. Atomic – continuous and line – opacity was treated in non-LTE using large model atoms by Short (2002) in spherical geometry, hydrostatic equilibrium, and flux constancy. Introduction of non-LTE in place of LTE lowered the boundary temperature by an amount quite similar to our empirical cooling of the marcs model. This suggests that non-LTE effects in atoms may suffice to account for the surprising presence of H2O molecules in the photosphere.

Second, there are certainly inhomogeneities over the surface of the star. A key assumption made in construction and application of the model atmosphere is that physical conditions are everywhere the same at a given geometrical depth. Such a model is said to be ‘homogeneous’. Arcturus, with its deep convective envelope, is certain to be inhomogeneous; it is likely to exhibit surface granulation which may be crudely characterized as consisting of columns of warm rising and cool sinking gas. The continuum intensity contrast in the mid-infrared will be small. There will, however, most likely be a sharp difference in the H2O column density with the sinking column much richer in the molecules, and, as a result, the surface-averaged spectrum will show stronger H2O lines than the spectrum of the equivalent homogeneous model atmosphere. Unfortunately, inhomogeneous model atmospheres of giant stars are unavailable. Yet, the modest 300 K cooling imposed on the marcs model is surely within the range of temperature differences between rising and sinking granules.

An alternative mechanism for producing inhomogeneities is variously known as ‘a molecular catastrophe’ or ‘temperature bifurcation’. In warm stars, the CO molecular opacity influences the temperature profile predicted by a program like marcs. If the temperature of gas in the boundary layer is perturbed, there may be a runaway to one of two different solutions. Suppose the gas is cooled, more CO molecules form and increase the cooling of the boundary layer. The temperature drop leads to yet more CO molecules and to a runaway to a ‘cool’ boundary layer. Conversely, if the perturbation raises the temperature, CO molecules are dissociated, the cooling rate decreased, and the temperature rise is continued. In cool O-rich stars, where the CO number density is limited by the abundance of carbon, this sensitivity of opacity to temperature is greatly reduced, but other molecules (e.g., SiO or H2O) may act in a similar way.

Third, Arcturus certainly exhibits a chromosphere, which has been modelled by Ayres & Linsky (1975). The chromospheric temperature rise starts at approximately $`\mathrm{log}\tau _{500}=2.7`$ which is deeper down in the photosphere than the on-set of our suggested temperature decline. This bifurcated temperature structure has been found earlier for Arcturus based on CO 4.6 $`\mu `$m data (Wiedemann et al. (1994)) and has also been discussed for the Sun (see, for example, Ayres 2002). Existence of the chromosphere around Arcturus suggests a heating mechanism active in and above the upper photosphere. Cuntz & Muchmore (1989) made a preliminary study of the effects of propagating acoustic waves including molecular line cooling. When the waves lead to weak shocks, a cool atmosphere is formed. On the other hand, strong shocks lead to a temperature inversion, approximately matching an empirical chromospheric model for Arcturus. These calculations incorporating a driving mechanism for temperature bifurcation support the idea of an inhomogeneous upper photosphere and low chromosphere.

Chromospheres are indeed dynamic, and are thought to be a wave-driven phenomenon showing spatially and temporally intermittent structures, see for example the work on the solar chromosphere by Carlsson & Stein (1995). They find that the mean temperature is low, but also that transient, high temperatures give rise to the observed enhance emission in the ultra-violet. In the 3D simulations of the solar chromosphere by Wedemeyer et al. (2002), accoustic shocks are excited by the solar convection zone and form structures with different temperatures caused by interaction of propagating wave fronts. They show that the cool phases lasts for approximately 1 minute, on average, until a new, hot wave front passes by again. Whether the timescales are long enough and the physical and chemical conditions are right for molecular formation and how molecules react to the shocks is not clear. In this context it is interesting to note that our suggested model that accounts for the water-vapor, OH, and CO features also predicts strong TiO features in the optical, which is not observed. The abundance of titanium is more than three orders of magnitude lower than that of oxygen and carbon, perhaps suggesting that TiO may not have time to form between shocks.

## 5. CONCLUDING REMARKS

I have discussed our unexpected discovery of absorption lines of water vapor in the disk-averaged spectrum of Arcturus (Ryde et al. 2002). Based on kinematic information, line widths and excitation temperature, we argue that the water vapor is photospheric and not circumstellar. Until now, H2O has not been expected to exist in photospheres of stars of Arcturus’ effective temperature. This is true unless the outer layers of the model photosphere do not describe these regions properly. By modifying these layers we have succeeded in finding a model which yields a synthetic spectrum matching the observations. We are, however, not claiming that this necessarily is the only and true model. Our exercise simply shows that it is possible to achieve a photospheric spectrum containing water vapor also for early K giants if the outer parts are cooled for some reason. Possible reasons for the unexpected water vapor include photospheric inhomogeneities (such as convective flows, molecular catastrophes, or even star spots) and departures from LTE in the photospheric structure or line formation in the boundary layers. 3D hydrodynamic models of Red giants do not as yet exist, but may be a crucial tool for the understanding of how water vapor can exist on the surface of a warm star such as Arcturus. We strongly encourage model makers to pursue the difficult task of modelling red giants hydrodynamically.

## 6. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This work was supported by the Swedish Foundation for International Cooperation in Research and Higher Education, Stiftelsen Blanceflor Boncompagni-Ludovisi, née Bildt, and the Robert A. Welch Foundation of Houston, Texas. The construction of the texes spectrograph was supported by grants from the nsf, and observing with texes was supported by usra the Texas Advanced Research Program. NSO/Kitt Peak FTS data used here were produced by NSF/NOAO. We acknowledge the support of the irtf staff.

## References

Ayres, T. R. 2002, ApJ, in press

Ayres, T. R. & Linsky, J. L. 1975, ApJ 201, 212

Carlsson, M. & Stein, R. F. 1995, ApJ, 440, L29

Cuntz, M. & Muchmore, D. 1989, A&A 209, 305

Decin, L., Cohen, M., Eriksson, K., et al. 1997, in A. Heras et al. (eds.), First ISO Workshop on Analytical Spectroscopy, pp 185–192, ESA SP-419

Freytag, B. 2001, in Astronomische Gesellschaft Meeting Abstracts, Vol. 18, p. 18

Hinkle, K., Wallace, L., & Livingston, W. C. 1995, in Infrared atlas of the Arcturus spectrum, 0.9-5.3 microns, San Francisco, Calif. : Astronomical Society of the Pacific

Lacy, J. H., Richter, M. J., Greathouse, T. K., Jaffe, D. T., & Zhu, Q. 2002, PASP 114, 153

Polyansky, O. L., Busler, J. R., Guo, B., Zhang, K., & Bernath, P. F. 1996, J. Mol. Spectrosc. 176, 305

Polyansky, O. L., Tennyson, J., & Bernath, P. F. 1997a, J. Mol. Spectrosc. 186, 213

Polyansky, O. L., Zobov, N. F., Viti, S., et al. 1997b, J. Mol. Spectrosc. 186, 422

Ryde, N., Lambert, D. L., Richter, M. J., & Lacy, J. H. 2002, ApJ, in press

Short, I. 2002 ApJ, submitted

Wedemeyer, S., Freytag, B., Steffen, M., et al. 2002, in prep

Wiedemann, G., Ayres, T. R., Jennings, D. E., & Saar, S. H. 1994, ApJ 423, 806


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# Magnetic properties of an SU(4) spin-orbital chain

## Abstract

In this paper, we study the magnetic properties of the one-dimensional SU(4) spin-orbital model by solving its Bethe ansatz solution numerically. It is found that the magnetic properties of the system for the case of $`g_t=1.0`$ differs from that for the case of $`g_t=0.0`$. The magnetization curve and susceptibility are obtained for a system of 200 sites. For $`0<g_t<g_s`$, the phase diagram depending on the magnetic field and the ratio of Landé factors, $`g_t/g_s`$, is obtained. Four phases with distinct magnetic properties are found.

PACS number:75.30.Kz,75.10.Jm, 02.20.-a

Recently, much attention has been focused on strongly correlated electrons with orbital degrees of freedom  due to progress in experimental studies of transition metal and rare earth compounds such as LaMnO3, CeB6 and TmTe. Examples of spin-orbital systems in one dimension include quasi-one-dimensional tetrahis-dimethylamino-ethylene(TDAE)-C60, artificial quantum dot arrays and degenerate chains in Na2Ti2Sb2O and Na2V2O5 compounds. In these systems, the low-lying electron states have orbital degeneracy in addition to the spin degeneracy. This may result in various interesting properties associated with the orbital degrees of freedom in Mott insulating phases. For example, the magnetic ordering is influenced by the orbital structure which may change with pressure, or the magnetization is a nonlinear function of magnetic field even in the case of an isotropic exchange interaction of $`S_iS_j`$ type

The spin model with orbital degeneracy in a magnetic field was studied by means of effective field theories recently. It has been shown that there exists critical behavior under magnetic field. For a nonperturbative understanding of the magnetic properties of the model, the Bethe-ansatz solution of the SU(4) model is applicable when the exterior magnetic field is applied since the total $`z`$ component of spin and orbital is a good quantum number. Although Ref.  studied the magnetic properties in terms of the Bethe-ansatz method, their result involves only a special case because the Landé factor was not taken into account. In present paper, we study the model in the presence of an exterior field by solving the Bethe-ansatz equation numerically meanwhile taking account of the Landé $`g`$ factor. We obtain a rich phase diagram in comparison to what was obtained in . Our results shed new light on the understanding of more realistic systems. The quantum phase transition(QPT) concluded from such a system is speculated to be found in experiments.

The one-dimensional quantum spin 1/2 system with twofold orbital degeneracy is modelled by

$$=\underset{j=1}{\overset{N}{}}\left[\left(2T_jT_{j+1}+\frac{1}{2}\right)\left(2S_jS_{j+1}+\frac{1}{2}\right)1\right].$$
(1)
where the coupling constant is set to unity. The Hamiltonian (1) has not only SU(2)$`\times `$SU(2) symmetry, but also an enlarged SU(4) symmetry. It was solved by the Bethe-ansatz approach, the obtained secular equation reads :

$`2\pi I_a=`$ $`N\theta _{1/2}(\lambda _a)+{\displaystyle \underset{b=1}{\overset{M}{}}}\theta _1(\lambda _a\lambda _b)`$ (3)
$`+{\displaystyle \underset{c=1}{\overset{M^{}}{}}}\theta _{1/2}(\lambda _a\mu _c),`$
$`2\pi J_a=`$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{b=1}{\overset{M}{}}}\theta _{1/2}(\mu _a\lambda _b)+{\displaystyle \underset{c=1}{\overset{M^{}}{}}}\theta _1(\mu _a\mu _c)`$ (5)
$`+{\displaystyle \underset{d=1}{\overset{M^{\prime \prime }}{}}}\theta _{1/2}(\mu _a\nu _d),`$
$`2\pi K_a=`$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{b=1}{\overset{M^{}}{}}}\theta _{1/2}(\nu _a\mu _b)+{\displaystyle \underset{c=1}{\overset{M^{\prime \prime }}{}}}\theta _1(\nu _a\nu _c).`$ (6)
where $`\theta _\rho (x)=2\mathrm{tan}^1(x/\rho )`$. The quantum numbers $`\{I_a,J_a,K_a\}`$ specify a state in which there are $`NM`$ number of sites in the state $`|\underset{¯}{}`$, $`MM^{}`$ in $`|\overline{}`$, $`M^{}M^{\prime \prime }`$ in $`|\underset{¯}{}`$, and $`M^{\prime \prime }`$ in $`|\overline{}`$. The $`\lambda ,\mu `$ and $`\nu `$ are rapidities related to the three generators of the Cartan subalgebra of the SU(4) Lie algebra. The coupled transcendental equations (6) determine the energy spectrum of present model. To solve the Bethe ansatz equation numerically, one needs to take into account of the following propositions:

* Given a $`N`$, Max$`(M)=3N/4`$, Max$`(M^{})=N/2`$, Max$`(M^{\prime \prime })=N/4`$, and $`NMMM^{}M^{}M^{\prime \prime }M^{\prime \prime }`$;
* $`\{I_a,J_a,K_a\}`$ are consecutive integers (or half integers) arranged symmetrically around the zero, that are integers or half integers depending on whether $`NMM^{},MM^{}M^{\prime \prime },M^{}M^{\prime \prime }`$ are odd or even respectively.

The latter comes from the logarithm and the former is due to the property of the Young tableau. Once Eqs. (6) are solved, the energy in the absence of exterior field is evaluated by

$$E_0(M,M^{},M^{\prime \prime })=\underset{a=1}{\overset{M}{}}\frac{1}{1/4+\lambda _a^2}.$$
(7)
As the $`z`$ component of total spin and that of total orbital are given by $`S_z=N/2M^{}`$ and $`T_z=N/2M+M^{}M^{\prime \prime }`$, the magnetization $`M_z=g_sS_z+g_tT_z`$ reads

$$M_z=\frac{N}{2}(g_s+g_t)Mg_tM^{}(g_sg_t)M^{\prime \prime }g_t,$$
(8)
where $`g_s`$ and $`g_t`$ are Landé $`g`$ factors for spin and orbital, respectively. In the presence of the magnetic field $`H`$ the energy becomes

$$E(H,M,M^{},M^{\prime \prime })=E_0HM_z.$$
(9)
In the absence of a magnetic field, the lowest-energy state is a SU(4) singlet where $`M^{\prime \prime }=N/4`$, $`M^{}=N/2`$ and $`M=3N/2`$. In the presence of a magnetic field, however, level crossing occurs and the state with $`M^{\prime \prime }=N/4`$, $`M^{}=N/2`$ and $`M=3N/2`$ is no longer the ground state. Therefore the values $`M,M^{},M^{\prime \prime }`$ for the lowest state depend on the magnitude of the applied magnetic field $`H`$. By analyzing the level crossing between the lowest-energy state and the others in terms of (9), we are able to calculate the magnetization by Eq. (8).

We set $`g_s=2.0`$ and observe various situations for different values of $`g_t`$. The dependence of magnetization versus the magnetic field $`H`$ is plotted in Fig. 1 for the cases of $`g_t=0.0`$ and $`g_t=1.0`$ respectively. Clearly, the magnetic properties of these two cases are quite different. We find that there exist three critical points in the magnetization process, of which we will give interpretations on the base of symmetry analysis, the evolution of the Young tableau as well as the physics picture by means of the mean-field analysis later on.

For an easier understanding, we first give an explanation by means of the Young tableau for 8-site system. In Table I, we present the whole 15 different multiplets, their energy in the absence of a magnetic field, and the corresponding magnitudes of magnetization. Each multiplet corresponds to a distinct Young tableau.

The application of an exterior field will make each energy level corresponding to a multiplet that carries out a SU(4) irreducible representation split into Zeemann sublevels. If $`g_t=0.0`$, the energy level of an SU(4) singlet labelled by the Young tableau $`[2^4]`$ will cross with the sublevel of the highest weight state labelled by the Young tableau $`[3311]`$ when the applied exterior field reaches the value of $`0.27`$. If the exterior field increases further this state becomes the ground state. The magnitude of magnetization plays the role of the slope of energy curves determined by Eq.(9). When $`H=0.635`$ its energy level will cross with that of the state labelled by Young tableau $`[44]`$. For $`H>0.635`$ the spins are totally polarized and the magnetization is saturated.

When $`g_t=g_s=1`$, the level crossing occurs to the highest weight states labelled by Young tableaux $`[3311]`$, $`[332]`$, $`[422]`$, $`[44]`$, $`[53]`$, $`[62]`$, $`[71]`$, and $`[8]`$ for the 8-site system.

It is clear that the exterior field only breaks the spin SU(2) symmetry and the orbital SU(2) symmetry remains when $`g_t=0`$. The magnetization process is similar to that of traditional Heisenberg model but the intermediate state are those labelled by the Young tableau $`[m_1,m_2,m_3,m_4]`$ with $`m_1=m_2`$ and $`m_3=m_4`$, i.e., $`M^{}=2M^{\prime \prime }`$, $`N+M^{}=2M`$. This implies that the evolution of Young tableau caused by the exterior field is realized by moving a couple of boxes lying in the third and the fourth row to the first and the second row. Unlike in the transitional Heisenberg model where an increasing exterior field flips the down spins to up spins one by one, it always flips a pair of parallel spins that constitutes an orbital singlet. As a result, present spin-orbital model presents larger magnetic susceptibility meanwhile it undergoes two phases (i.e., phase I and III in Fig. 2) versus the exterior field.

Because the orbital SU(2) symmetry is also broken for nonvanishing $`g_t`$, the magnetization process becomes complicated when $`0.0<g_t<2.0`$. The whole process undergoes four regimes as long as $`g_t<g_s`$. The first regime consists of strong spin polarization and weak orbital polarization (SSP-WOP) processes, where the level crossing occurs to the states labelled by four-row Young tableaux $`[m_1,m_2,m_3,m_4]`$. The contributions to $`M_z`$ of both spin and orbital are positive in this regime. The second regime corresponds to the level crossing between the state labelled by three-row Young tableaux, i.e., $`m_4=0`$. Because the contribution of spin to $`M_z`$ is positive, but that of orbital to $`M_z`$ is negative, we call it the regime of strong spin polarization and orbital anti-polarization (SSP-OAP) regime. The third regime is related to the level crossing occurring among the states labelled by two-row Young tableaux ($`m_3=m_4=0`$) where spin degree of freedom is frozen and orbital degree of freedom takes part in the polarization process only. We call it the regime of spin frozen and orbital polarization (SF-OP). Eventually, the magnetization reaches saturation and then both the spin and orbital become frozen (SF-OF) which is the phase IV indicated in Fig. 2. For $`g_t=1.0`$ the three critical values of the magnetic field are $`H_1^c=0.31`$, $`H_2^c=0.93`$, and $`H_3^c=4.0`$.

Define $`R=g_t/g_s`$, we plot the phase diagram of $`H`$ and $`R`$ in Fig. 2. The critical lines that separate the aforementioned regimes are plotted in Fig.(2). Both the spin and orbital degree of freedom are frozen in the phase IV. There is a simple relation for the boundary line between SF-OP and SF-OF regimes, $`R=2/H`$, which arises from the competition between the state related to the Young tableau $`[N1,1]`$ and $`[N]`$. The state in SSP-WP regime are quantum liquid of spin-orbital mixture while SF-OP is orbital quantum liquid. If $`R=0.0`$, the state in SSP-WOP has SU(2)$``$U(1) symmetry, while that in SF-OP has SU(2) symmetry . When $`R`$ approaches to unit, however, the third phase SF-OP disappears. the phase SSP-OAP directly transits to phase SF-OF at point $`H^c=2.0`$ then it undergoes only three distinct regimes which will be explained again in the following.

In the above we interpreted the phases with the help of the properties of Young tableaux. It can also be understood on the basis of mean-field analysis. In the presence of magnetic field, at first, the Zeemann term in the Hamiltonian brings about three processes: orbital flipping up, spin flipping up or both spin and orbital flipping up simultaneously, which is the phase I indicated in Fig. 2. When the magnetic field exceeds certain value for $`0<g_t<g_s`$, the three flipping processes, $`|\overline{}|\underset{¯}{}`$, $`|\overline{}|\overline{}`$ and $`|\overline{}|\underset{¯}{}`$ are stopped. In phase II, the following flipping processes take place, $`|\underset{¯}{}|\underset{¯}{}`$, $`|\overline{}|\underset{¯}{}`$ and $`|\underset{¯}{}|\overline{}`$. The last one is a process of spin flipping together with orbital anti-flipping, which suppress the susceptibility (slop of the magnetization curve) in phase II in comparison to that in phase I. As is known  that the ground state of the present model in the absence of exterior field is an SU(4) singlet whose physics picture can be considered as the simultaneous singlet of the spin and orbital, as well as the product of spin and orbital. Starting from the Neél state of the product of spin and orbital, the mean-field analysis tell us that a pair of parallel spins will favor their orbital to be anti-parallel, or vice versa. This makes it easy for us to understand the spin flipping but orbital anti-flipping process in phase II. Increasing the magnetic field will make it cross to the edge of phase II where the spins are completely polarized. Thus in phase III, the orbital start to flip back $`|\overline{}|\underset{¯}{}`$. Once all orbital become completely polarized it goes into phase IV.

If $`g_t=0`$, the phase I transits to phase III directly. Because the orbital SU(2) is not broken, orbital up and down are equivalent and always half were in orbital up and half in orbital down among the spin flipping process in phase I. Increasing the magnetic field until all spins are completely polarized, the orbital liquid state still stay in a liquid state and it will not flip even if increasing the magnetic field further. So it will not go into phase IV. If $`g_t=g_s`$, the pure spin flipping and orbital flipping have the same probability in phase I. In phase II the spin flipping with orbital anti-flipping dose not occur and pure spin flipping and orbital flipping have still the same probability. Thus spin polarization itself will not happen unless spin and orbital are completely polarized simultaneously. Therefore it transits from phase II into phase IV directly.

In summary, we have investigated the magnetic properties of SU(4) spin-orbital chains by numerical solutions of their Bethe-ansatz equations. If the exterior field is decoupled to the orbital degree of freedom, i.e. $`g_t=0`$, we found that there exists a critical point of the quantum phase transition which separates it into two regimes. If the magnetic contribution of the orbital is not neglected, however, there will be three critical points and four regimes that demonstrate different magnetic properties. Though our calculation is made in one dimension, the analysis based on the symmetry and symmetry breaking has no restrictions in dimension. For a high dimensional systems (two or three dimensional), it is speculated to have similar features.

This work is supported by trans-century projects and Cheung Kong projects of the China Education Ministry. Helpful discussions with F.C. Zhang and K. Yang are also acknowledged.


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# On a mechanism for enhancing magnetic activity in tidally interacting binaries

## 1 Introduction

It is widely accepted that most single stars and components of wide binary systems follow well-defined rotation-activity relationships. However some stars - particularly components of close binaries - show larger chromospheric and coronal activity in comparison to similar single stars with the same rotation period. Young and Koniges (1977) have noticed that binary giants with circular orbits have a tendency to show enhanced CaII H and K emission, this stressing the importance of binarity in the phenomenon of enhanced chromospheric emission. Basri et al. (1985) and Simon and Fekel (1987) noticed that subgiants in synchronized binary systems were more active than single stars with the same rotation period. Rutten (1987) attributes this ”overactivity” to a difference in the internal stellar structure and points out that overactive stars do not appear to deviate from the flux-flux relationships, thus suggesting that their atmospheric structure does not differ too much from that of other cool stars. Glebocki and Stawikowski (1988) noticed that MgII h and k fluxes in close binary systems correlate much better with parameters connected to the separation of the components than with rotational parameters.

Schrijver and Zwaan (1991) showed that the chromospheric, transition-region, and coronal emissions from relatively close binaries are enhanced as compared to single dwarfs and giants with the same rotation period. They concluded that a star can be called overactive if the radiative losses from its outer atmosphere are significantly over the level expected from a single cool star with the same mass, chemical composition, age and average surface rotational rate, while these radiative losses do not deviate significantly from the flux-flux relationships defined for the class of single cool stars. Overactivity appears to occur whenever a binary system containing a cool primary or two cool components is sufficiently close to induce strong tidal interaction.

De Medeiros and Mayor (1995) also showed that tidal effects play a direct role in determining the X-ray activity level in binary evolved stars. The circularisation of the orbit was a necessary property for enhanced coronal activity. Dempsey et al. (1993) concluded that synchronous binaries show a slight trend for increasing chromospheric emission with decreasing period, while the asynchronous binaries show abnormally high activity levels for their rotational periods. Recently Gunn et al. (1998) also point out the influence of unknown effects of binarity on the activity levels.

Thus the observations stress the influence of the companion’s gravity on the magnetic activity of stars in relatively close binary systems. In order to explain the phenomenon the mechanism of magnetic activity must be clearly understood. It is widely believed that magnetic activity in the Sun and late type solar-like stars can be explained in the framework of a mean-field dynamo operating in or just below the convective zone (Parker, 1955a, b; Steenbeck et al., 1966; Yoshimura, 1978a, b; Belvedere, 1991). However alternative theories, mainly some kind of hydromagnetic oscillator (or torsional oscillations) have been developed from time to time (Walén, 1949; Cowling, 1953; Piddington, 1971; Layzer et al., 1979; Dicke, 1982; Gough, 1988). Although the mean-field dynamo seems to have captured the essentials of solar activity even if many uncertainties still remain (see, e.g., reviews by Belvedere 1985, 1997; Schmitt 1994, Brandenburg 1994), the enhanced magnetic activity in binaries can be hardly explained by a mean field dynamo, also because dynamo requires large latitudinal or radial angular velocity gradients. In fact observations show small latitudinal gradients, and almost nothing is known about radial ones. Schrijver and Zwaan (1991) suggested a mechanism for the enhancement of dynamo efficiency related to the motion of stars about the system’s centre of gravity, which lies well outside the stars. However no clear physical or mathematical formulations of the influence were developed after this suggestion and the problem remained unsolved. Therefore it is natural to seek the key of the phenomenon in a possibly alternative theory for strong magnetic activity. The main problem of oscillator theories was the absence of an energy source to supply oscillations. If binarity can support torsional oscillations inside the star, then this may lead to a straightforward explanation of enhanced magnetic activity.

In this paper we develop the idea that stellar pulsation induced by the gravitational force of the companion star in tidally interacting binaries may amplify the torsional oscillations of a seed magnetic field, thus leading to enhanced chrmospheric emission. We suggest that the deviation of the star from spherical symmetry due to the gravitational influence of the companion induces stellar pulsation in its fundamental frequency, as it tries to retain its original spherical form. Then we show that the radial pulsation of the star with a dipole-like magnetic field causes amplification of torsional Alfvén waves in the interior. The mechanism of coupling between radial pulsation and torsional Alfvén waves is based on the recently proposed swing wave-wave interaction Zaqarashvili (2001a), which accounts for the coupling between longitudinal and transversal waves. The main physical meaning of the swing interaction is that compressible waves cause periodical variation of both medium density and magnetic field (thus, of the Alfvén speed), affecting the propagation properties of the Alfvén waves. Then the temporal evolution of pure Alfvén waves is governed by Mathieu’s equation and consequently the harmonics with half the frequency of compressible waves grow exponentially in time. That means that the energy of longitudinal waves can be transferred to transversal waves. The coupling between sound and Alfvén waves propagating along the magnetic field (Zaqarashvili, 2001a, b) as well as between fast magnetosonic waves propagating across the magnetic field and Alfvén waves propagating along the field (Zaqarashvili and Roberts, 2002b), is studied in the simplest rectangular case. It is also supposed that stellar radial pulsation can amplify torsional Alfvén waves, which, in certain conditions, may lead to the onset of torsional oscillations of a dipole-like magnetic field (Zaqarashvili and Roberts, 2002a). In the present paper we show in details how the pulsation induced by the tidal distortion of the star can amplify the torsional Alfvén waves.

## 2 Resonant torsional Alfvén waves in the stellar interior

Consider a binary system which is well separated so that mass transfer by Roche-lobe overflow does not occur. Then we can exclude mass transfer as a mechanism for enhanced chromospheric activity. Let the primary be the primary as a main sequence star (or a subgiant) with a convective envelope. The secondary can be a different type of star (if it is also a main sequence or subgiant star, then the same mechanism can be applied to both components of the binary system). We will concentrate on the dynamics of the primary considering the gravity of the companion as an external force.

We use the ideal magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) equations:

$$\frac{\rho }{t}+(\rho 𝐯)=0,$$
(1)
$$\rho \frac{𝐯}{t}+\rho (𝐯)𝐯=p+𝐣\times 𝐁\rho \varphi ,$$
(2)
$$\times 𝐁=\mu 𝐣,$$
(3)
$$\frac{𝐁}{t}=\times (𝐯\times 𝐁),$$
(4)
$$^2\varphi =4\pi G\rho ,$$
(5)
$$p=p_0\left(\frac{\rho }{\rho _0}\right)^\gamma ,$$
(6)
where $`\rho `$ is the medium density, $`p`$ is the pressure, $`𝐯`$ is the velocity, $`𝐁`$ is the magnetic field, $`𝐣`$ is the current, G is the gravitational constant, $`\varphi `$ is the gravitational potential, $`\mu `$ is the magnetic permeability and $`\gamma `$ is the ratio of specific heats. We consider a medium with zero viscosity, infinite conductivity and negligible displacement current. We argue that the coupling between pulsation and torsional waves occurs below the convection zone, therefore we do not consider convective effects and consequently the $`\alpha `$-term in the induction equation. Here and in remaining part of the paper we also neglect the rotational effects and consider a spherically symmetric density distribution. The gravitational influence exerted by the companion is also neglected in the equations, because we are interested to the companion’s gravity only as a source for the initial deviation from the equilibrium. Its action during the further processes studied here is not relevant, so it is neglected for simplicity.

We consider an unperturbed dipole-like seed magnetic field in the stellar interior. The existence of such stable large-scale configuration in the interior is an open question. A wide class of magnetic field topologies that are either purely toroidal or purely poloidal have been shown to be dynamically unstable (Tayler, 1973; Wright, 1973; Markey and Tayler, 1973). However special stable configurations with poloidal and toroidal field of similar strength might exist (Tayler, 1980; Mestel, 1984). The magnetic fields of magnetic A stars and the magnetic white dwarfs, which do not change on long time scales, are the observational evidence of stable configurations (Spruit, 1999). In general it may be stated that curl-free magnetic configurations are stable while electrical currents leads to instability. All magnetic configurations studied by Tayler are current carrying, so they automatically lead to instability due to the Lorentz force. However if the magnetic field inside a star originates from the interstellar field during the gravitational contraction, then the Lorentz force acting on the induced currents during the contraction may redistribute the magnetic field leading to a minimum potential energy state (force-free configurations) which is relatively stable (see also Taylor (1986) for a similar phenomenon). But the process of large-scale magnetic field formation is beyond the scope of this paper and therefore for simplicity we consider a purely poloidal magnetic field which in spherical coordinates ($`r,\theta ,\varphi `$) in the equatorial regions may be written as

$$𝐁=(0,B_\theta (r),0).$$
(7)
It must be mentioned that all the results obtained in the paper are similar also for a purely toroidal unperturbed magnetic field, therefore the physical meaning of the phenomenon does not depend on the magnetic configuration.

We also consider a relatively weak magnetic field, so that $`𝐌/𝚼1`$, where $`𝐌`$ is the magnetic and $`𝚼`$ is gravitational potential energy. Then the star can be considered to be in hydrostatic equilibrium (if we neglect the companion’s gravity) so that its own gravity is balanced by the pressure gradient.

The slight deviation from the equilibrium leads to stellar pulsation which may be studied by the linear perturbation theory. The stellar adiabatic oscillations (without the magnetic field) can be divided into two classes (Cox, 1980; Gautschy and Saio, 1995): high-frequency p-modes or pressure modes, the restoring force of which is the pressure gradient, and low-frequency g-modes, where buoyancy acts as the restoring force. There are also intermediate oscillations sometimes called f-modes (Cowling, 1941).

Any external action on the bounded system leads to oscillation in the first eigenfrequency which is also called the fundamental frequency of the system. The mechanical analog of the fundamental oscillation is the tuning fork in the case of an impulsive force and the musical trumpet in the case of a continuous force. Additionally a periodic external force leads to resonance when its frequency equals one of the system eigenfrequencies.

The oscillation of the star in the fundamental mode yields a wavelength comparable with the stellar radius. Therefore the fundamental frequency will be of order of $`\sqrt{GM/R^3}`$, where $`R`$ and $`M`$ are the radius and the mass of star (Cowling, 1952) (for the Sun the oscillation period is about 2 hours). A purely radial pressure mode ($`l=0`$, where $`l`$ is the spherical degree of a mode) with one velocity node at the centre, and one antinode at the surface will have a frequency of the order of $`c_0/R`$ ($`\sqrt{GM/R^3}c_0/R`$ because of the equilibrium between pressure gradient and gravity), where $`c_0`$ is the mean sound speed in the interior. A large-scale magnetic field inside the star probably causes the frequency splitting corresponding to fast and slow MHD waves (Roberts and Soward, 1983). If the magnetic field is relatively weak then the frequency corresponding to fast waves remains almost the same $`c_0/R`$, while the frequency corresponding to slow MHD waves will be of order of $`v_A/R`$, where $`v_A`$ is the mean Alfvén speed in the interior.

### 2.1 Oscillation of the primary induced by tidal distortion

The tidal force exerted by the companion leads to the deviation of the star from equilibrium. In synchronous binaries the deformation is always in the direction of the companion, because of the same value of the rotational and orbital period. Then for circular orbits a new equilibrium may be established where the tidal force plays a significant role. This is a stationary tide. However in asynchronous binaries the tidal bulk will change location permanently and a stationary state can be hardly established even for circular orbits. This is a dynamical tide. Now the tidal bulk will be ”retarded” with respect to the companion. This retarded tide may lead to stellar oscillation when the star tries to return to its spherically symmetric form (due to this retarded tide exerted from the Moon, the Earth’s rotation period is supposed to be increasing). Like the musical trumpet (or the tuning fork) which oscillates in its fundamental frequency under the action of an external force, the primary probably will oscillate in its fundamental mode. The stronger is the tidal action of the companion, the stronger is the oscillation.

If the reciprocal of the orbital period is close to the eigenfrequencies of the free oscillations of the star, then resonance can lead to significant enhancement of the oscillation (Cowling, 1941; Zahn, 1970; Smeyers et al., 1998). But the resonant conditions can be fulfilled only for low-frequency g-modes. Moreover, the observational evidence of tidally excited resonant oscillations is not well established, possibly due to the absence of any systematic study (Willems and Aerts, 2002). However, a retarded tidal bulk in asynchronous binaries may lead to the oscillation of the primary star in the fundamental frequency which is higher than the orbital angular frequency.

In any case, it may be supposed that the star under consideration in tidally interacting binaries oscillates either in its fundamental frequency or in a low frequency g-mode which is in resonance with the tidal force. For simplicity (and avoiding the uncertainty connected with the velocity polarization of the waves) we consider a coupling between purely radial axisymmetric pulsation and purely torsional Alfvén waves, thus we take $`/\varphi =0`$. Of course, realistic conditions are much more complicated (tidally induced oscillations probably depends on $`\varphi `$), however for a better understanding of the coupling mechanism it is worth looking at the simplest case.

Then the linearized equations (1)-(6) can be split into radial and toroidal components, where the radial component corresponds to pulsations and the toroidal component to torsional waves.

The radial part of the equations is

$$\frac{b_\theta }{t}=B_\theta \frac{u_r}{r}\frac{B_\theta }{r}u_r\frac{B_\theta }{r}u_r,$$
(8)
$$\frac{\delta \rho }{t}=\rho _0\frac{u_r}{r}\frac{\rho _0}{r}u_r2\frac{\rho _0}{r}u_r,$$
(9)
$$\rho _0\frac{u_r}{t}=\frac{}{r}\left[\delta p+\frac{B_\theta b_\theta }{\mu }\right]\frac{2B_\theta b_\theta }{\mu r}\delta \rho \frac{\varphi }{r},$$
(10)
$$\frac{\delta p}{t}+u_r\frac{p_0}{r}=c_0^2\left(\frac{\delta \rho }{t}+u_r\frac{\rho _0}{r}\right),$$
(11)
where $`c_0=\sqrt{\gamma p_0/\rho _0}`$ is the sound speed, while the toroidal part is

$$\frac{b_\varphi }{t}=\frac{B_\theta }{r}\frac{u_\varphi }{\theta },$$
(12)
$$\rho _0\frac{u_\varphi }{t}=\frac{B_\theta }{\mu r}\frac{b_\varphi }{\theta }.$$
(13)
$`u_r,u_\varphi ,b_\theta ,b_\varphi ,\delta \rho `$ and $`\delta p`$ are the velocity, magnetic field, density and pressure pertubations respectively. Equations (8)-(11) govern the radial pulsation of the star, while equations (12)-(13) describe the torsional Alfvén waves. It must be noticed that if an unperturbed purely poloidal magnetic field (7) is replaced by a purely toroidal field $`𝐁=(0,0,B_\varphi (r))`$, equations (8)-(13) remain unchanged. The Alfvén waves now will be described by $`b_\theta ,u_\theta `$ instead of $`b_\varphi ,u_\varphi `$. Therefore the phenomenon does not depend on the particular magnetic field configuration.

In general, stellar radial adiabatic pulsation can be represented as a standing spherical wave (Cox, 1980; Biront et al., 1982; Roberts and Soward, 1983; Christensen-Dalsgaard, 1988), with a linear radial velocity field

$$u_r=\alpha F(r)\mathrm{sin}(\omega _nt),$$
(14)
where $`\omega _n`$ is the eigenfrequency, $`F(r)`$ is the eigenfunction and $`\alpha `$ is the pulsation amplitude. The expression of the eigenfunction $`F(r)`$ depends on the spatial profiles of the unperturbed values and may be represented by some combination of spherical Bessel functions. However, here we are not interested in specific pulsation functional forms, but our aim is to show that pulsation in general leads to amplification of torsional Alfvén waves. Therefore we retain its general form $`F(r)`$, which then may be specified by choosing the spatial distribution of pressure, density and magnetic field throughout the star. However it must be mentioned that equations (8)-(11) govern only the fast mode of pulsation, because the velocity is strictly across the field lines. The equations governing the slow mode of pulsation must also concern the radial component of the magnetic field $`B_r`$, which significantly complicates the problem. Therefore we describe only the coupling between the fast mode of pulsation and the torsional Alfvén waves, keeping in mind that a similar physical process occurs for the slow mode too.

Using expression (14) we find the density and magnetic field perturbations from the linearized continuity and induction equations (8)-(9):

$$\delta \rho =\frac{\alpha }{\omega _n}\mathrm{cos}(\omega _nt)F_\rho (r),$$
(15)
$$b_\theta =\frac{\alpha }{\omega _n}\mathrm{cos}(\omega _nt)F_b(r),$$
(16)
where

$$F_\rho (r)=\rho _0(r)\frac{F(r)}{r}+\left(\frac{\rho _0(r)}{r}+\frac{2\rho _0(r)}{r}\right)F(r),$$
(17)
$$F_b(r)=B_\theta (r)\frac{F(r)}{r}+\left(\frac{B_\theta (r)}{r}+\frac{B_\theta (r)}{r}\right)F(r).$$
(18)
Equations (15)-(16) show that the radial pulsation leads to local periodical variation of density and magnetic field throughout the star. It must be mentioned that the fundamental mode of pulsation can be interpreted as a standing wave with one velocity node at the stellar centre and one antinode at the surface, which imposes the corresponding boundary conditions on the eigenfunction $`F(r)`$.

The variation of magnetic field and density due to pulsation leads to periodical variation of the Alfvén speed at each level $`r`$. In next section we show that it determines exponential amplification of torsional Alfvén waves with half the frequency of pulsation.

### 2.2 Swing amplification of torsional Alfvén waves due to the radial pulsation of the star

The good mechanical analogue of swing coupling between longitudinal and transversal waves is a mathematical pendulum with a stiffness spring (Zaqarashvili and Roberts, 2002b). The system includes two kinds of oscillations: the pendulum transversal oscillations due to gravity and the spring oscillation along the pendulum axis due to stiffness force. The oscillations are coupled and it is shown that in certain conditions, when the frequency of spring oscillations is twice as large as that of pendulum transversal oscillations, the energy of spring oscillations along the pendulum axis is transferred to transversal oscillations and vice versa.

In the case of a star, the pulsation corresponds to the spring oscillation and the torsional Alfvén waves correspond to the transversal oscillations. The torsional Alfvén waves are the result of the magnetic tension force action against the fluid inertia. On the other hand, the pulsation makes the work against the tension force during each compression and thus may lead to amplification of the transversal oscillations with half the frequency of the pulsation (Zaqarashvili and Roberts, 2002a, b).

In order to study the influence of pulsations on Alfvén waves we must retain the expressions of $`u_r`$, $`\delta \rho `$ and $`b_\theta `$ in equations (12)-(13) which now take the form

$$\frac{b_\varphi }{t}=\frac{B_\theta +b_\theta }{r}\frac{u_\varphi }{\theta }\frac{u_r}{r}b_\varphi \frac{u_r}{r}b_\varphi ,$$
(19)
$$(\rho _0+\delta \rho )\frac{u_\varphi }{t}+(\rho _0+\delta \rho )\frac{u_r}{r}u_\varphi =\frac{B_\theta +b_\theta }{\mu r}\frac{b_\varphi }{\theta }.$$
(20)
From these equations we derive the Hill type second order differential equation with periodical coefficients

$$\frac{^2u_\varphi }{t^2}+\left(\frac{u_r}{r}+\frac{2u_r}{r}+\frac{1}{\rho _0+\delta \rho }\frac{\delta \rho }{t}\frac{1}{B_\theta +b_\theta }\frac{b_\theta }{t}\right)\frac{u_\varphi }{t}$$

$$\left[\frac{(B_\theta +b_\theta )^2}{\mu (\rho _0\delta \rho )r^2}\frac{^2}{\theta ^2}+\frac{1}{r}\frac{u_r}{t}+\frac{1}{B_\theta +b_\theta }\frac{u_r}{r}\frac{b_\theta }{t}\frac{1}{\rho _0+\delta \rho }\frac{u_r}{r}\frac{\delta \rho }{t}\frac{u_r}{r}\frac{u_r}{r}\frac{u_r^2}{r^2}\right]u_\varphi =0.$$
(21)
Using the well known transformation

$$u_\varphi =u(t)\mathrm{exp}\left(\frac{1}{2}\left[\frac{u_r}{r}+\frac{2u_r}{r}+\frac{1}{\rho _0+\delta \rho }\frac{\delta \rho }{t}\frac{1}{B_\theta +b_\theta }\frac{b_\theta }{t}\right]𝑑t\right)$$
(22)
leads to elimination of the first time derivative and after neglecting terms of order $`\alpha ^2`$ we have

$$\frac{^2u}{t^2}\frac{V_A^2(r)}{r^2}\left[1+\frac{\alpha }{\omega _n}\left(2\frac{F_b(r)}{B_\theta (r)}\frac{F_\rho (r)}{\rho _0(r)}\right)\mathrm{cos}(\omega _nt)\right]\frac{^2u}{\theta ^2}+$$

$$+\frac{\alpha \omega _n}{2}\left[\frac{F(r)}{r}+\frac{F_\rho (r)}{\rho _0(r)}\frac{F_b(r)}{B_\theta (r)}\right]\mathrm{cos}(\omega _nt)u=0,$$
(23)
where

$$V_A(r)=\frac{B_\theta (r)}{\sqrt{\mu \rho _0(r)}}$$
(24)
is the Alfvén speed. Equation (23) has time-dependent coefficients while the radial coordinate $`r`$ stands as a parameter. Then we can perform a Fourier transform with $`\theta `$ dependence

$$u=\widehat{u}(l,t)e^{il\theta }𝑑l,$$
(25)
which leads to Mathieu’s equation

$$\frac{^2\widehat{u}}{t^2}+\left[V_A^2(r)\frac{l^2}{r^2}+\alpha \mathrm{\Psi }(r)\mathrm{cos}(\omega _nt)\right]\widehat{u}=0,$$
(26)
where

$$\mathrm{\Psi }(r)=\frac{V_A^2(r)l^2}{\omega _nr^2}\left(2\frac{F_b(r)}{B_\theta (r)}\frac{F_\rho (r)}{\rho _0(r)}\right)\frac{\omega _n}{2}\left(\frac{F(r)}{r}\frac{F_\rho (r)}{\rho _0(r)}+\frac{F_b(r)}{B_\theta (r)}\right).$$
(27)
This equation is well studied and its main resonant solution occurs when the frequency of the Alfvén waves is half that of the external force

$$\omega _A=\frac{B_\theta (r)l}{r\sqrt{\mu \rho _0(r)}}=\frac{\omega _n}{2}.$$
(28)
In this case equation (26) has the exponentially growing solution (Landau and Lifshitz, 1988)

$$\widehat{u}(t)=\widehat{u}_0e^{\frac{\left|\alpha \mathrm{\Psi }(r)\right|}{2\omega _n}t}\left[\mathrm{cos}\frac{\omega _n}{2}t\mathrm{sin}\frac{\omega _n}{2}t\right],$$
(29)
where $`\widehat{u}_0=\widehat{u}(0)`$ and the phase sign depends on $`\alpha \mathrm{\Psi }(r)`$; it is $`+`$ for negative $`\alpha \mathrm{\Psi }(r)`$ and $``$ for positive $`\alpha \mathrm{\Psi }(r)`$. Note that the solution has a resonant character within the frequency interval

$$\left|\omega _A\frac{\omega _n}{2}\right|<\left|\frac{\alpha \mathrm{\Psi }}{\omega _n}\right|.$$
(30)
Thus pulsation leads to exponential amplification of torsional Alfvén waves at half frequency $`\frac{1}{2}\omega _n`$. The growth rate depends on the amplitude $`\alpha `$ and spatial structure of the pulsation eigenfunction $`F(r)`$, which in turn depends on the radial structure of density $`\rho _0`$ and magnetic field $`B_\theta `$. The resonant condition (28) imposes a restriction on the wave number $`l`$ at each distance $`r`$ from the stellar center. In other words, the pulsation ”picks up” the harmonics of torsional Alfvén waves with a certain wavelength at each distance $`r`$. It gives the idea that at some distances from the stellar center, where the conditions for the onset of standing waves are satisfied

$$l=\frac{\omega _n}{2}\frac{r\sqrt{\mu \rho _0(r)}}{B_\theta (r)}=1,2,3\mathrm{},$$
(31)
the amplified Alfvén waves may lead to the setup of torsional oscillations. In these regions the pulsation energy can be dramatically ”absorbed” by transversal oscillations.

It is clear that the energy transferred into torsional Alfvén waves is to be extracted from pulsation. In fact the term $`b_\varphi ^2/\mu r(b_\varphi ^2/2\mu )/r`$ (or ponderomotive force), which describes the back reaction of Alfvén waves on pulsation, should be added in the righthand-side of the equation (10). At the initial stage, this term is of second order strength, however it becomes significant after some time because of the exponential growth of $`b_\varphi `$ and leads to the damping of pulsation. This process is clearly seen in the rectangular case (Zaqarashvili and Roberts, 2002b).

## 3 Discussion

Observations show enhanced chromospheric and coronal activity in relatively close binaries (Schrijver and Zwaan, 1991). The binary systems considered in that paper are well separated so that mass transfer by Roche-lobe overflow does not occur. The chromospheric, transition-region and coronal emissions from the binaries are enhanced in comparison to single stars with the same mass, chemical composition, age and mean surface rotation rate. This is somehow a strange phenomenon, because in the framework of dynamo theory the magnetic activity does not depend on whether the star is single or component of a binary system.

It is clear however that tidal interaction somehow causes the enhancement of magnetic activity. It leads to the idea that some mechanism, other than classical dynamo, may generate in the stellar interior the magnetic fields that give rise to the strong activity observed in the considered binary systems.Several alternative mechanisms were supposed to explain magnetic activity in the Sun and late type stars (see the review of Belvedere (1985)). Most of them are connected to the hydromagnetic oscillation of a seed magnetic field either in the core (Dicke, 1982; Gough, 1988) or in the radiative layers (Walén, 1949; Cowling, 1953; Piddington, 1971; Layzer et al., 1979; Zaqarashvili, 1997). However, a drawback of these mechanisms is the absence of an energy source to support the oscillations. The recently suggested mechanism (Zaqarashvili and Roberts, 2002a) of transformation of pulsation energy into energy of torsional oscillations is the first step towards this direction. If this is the case, then any energy source able to support the pulsation can be also considered as the source of torsional oscillations.

Indeed, here we suggest that torsional oscillations, amplified by tidally induced pulsation, may be responsible for enhanced magnetic activity in tidally interacting binaries. The proposed mechanism is alternative to the mean field dynamo, therefore the presence of a dynamo field is not considered. It is also clear that in our paper we suggest a self-consistent mechanism which assumes a seed field in the radiative interior, but operates differently from the alternative mechanisms suggested by the authors quoted above which, on the other hand, refer only to the Sun.
We suppose that the deviation of the star from spherical symmetry due to tidal interaction sets up its pulsation in the fundamental mode like a tuning fork. The companion’s gravity may induce stellar pulsation either due to resonance between a dynamic tide and g-mode oscillations (Cowling, 1941; Zahn, 1970; Smeyers et al., 1998; Willems and Aerts, 2002) or to an unstable retarded tide in asynchronous systems. The conditions required for resonance between the periodic tidal force and the stellar free oscillations can be fulfilled only for low-frequency g-modes. The fundamental frequency of pulsation is usually higher (for the Sun, it corresponds to a few hours) than the orbital angular frequency of binary systems. Although observational evidence of tidally excited resonant oscillations is not well established, possibly due to the absence of any systematic study (Willems and Aerts, 2002), on the other hand, a retarded tide in asynchronous binaries will be unstable and may lead to stellar pulsation in the fundamental mode.

However the existence of asynchronous orbits in relatively close binary systems is under question. The tidal theory (Zahn, 1977) predicts that spin-orbit synchronization of a component of a late-type close binary system occurs before the orbit becomes circular, unless the spin angular momentum is comparable to the orbital one (Hut, 1980; Savonije and Papaloizou, 1984). However, several binary systems TZ For, $`\lambda `$ And, AY Cet and $`\alpha `$ Aur include asynchronously rotating giants in circular orbits (Anderson et al., 1984; Hall, 1986). A very interesting RS CVn-type system is $`\lambda `$ And, which is asynchronous and shows enhanced activity (Donati et al., 1995). For instance, Habets and Zwaan (1989) try to explain asynchronous rotation in close binary systems with circular orbits, however the problem still remains.

Thus we suggest that the tidal force exerted by the companion on the primary in binaries may induce stellar radial pulsation either due to resonance or due to a retarded tide. The next question is how pulsation may affect magnetic activity.

Suppose the star has large-scale dipole-like seed magnetic field in the interior. As we already discussed, the various magnetic configurations, mostly purely toroidal or purely poloidal, were found to be dynamically unstable (Tayler, 1973; Wright, 1973; Markey and Tayler, 1973). However special stable configurations with poloidal and toroidal field of similar strength might exist (Tayler, 1980; Mestel, 1984). Also plasma relaxation theory (Taylor, 1986) yields that instabilities may lead to a particular minimum-energy state (mainly force-free), which is relatively stable. Therefore for simplicity we consider the magnetic field to be purely poloidal. Notice that a purely toroidal magnetic field in the equatorial regions leads to the same equations, which indicates that the physics of the phenomenon does not depend on the particular field configuration. The strength of the unperturbed magnetic field in the interior cannot be evaluated since the analysis is linear. However, let us try to give an estimate of the energy which can be transferred to magnetic oscillations due to tidal interaction, and of the mean magnetic field strength. Let the binary system components have mass $`M`$ and radius $`R`$ of the order of the solar ones. The energy of tidal interaction is $`GM^2R/d^2`$, where $`d`$ is the orbital separation. Then, for an orbital separation $`d100R`$, this energy is of the order of $`10^{45}`$ ergs. The total magnetic field energy is expressed by: $`B^2/2\mu (4/3)\pi R^3`$. If we assume that all the tidal interaction energy goes into magnetic field energy, we get a mean equipartition magnetic field $`B10^6`$ G, but this is clearly an upper limit. Indeed this result is obtained in the ideal case that the whole tidal interaction energy is converted into the magnetic one. For a more realistic situation let us suppose that, due to viscous and ohmic dissipation, the conversion efficiency be only $`1\%`$. Even with this low efficiency, the magnetic field strength can attain values as high as $`>10^5`$ G, which are comparable with those commonly believed to exist at the base of the convection zone of the Sun and active stars. These values are not very different from the surface fields measured in very active stars that may reach $`10^4`$ G or more.

In the presence of a large-scale magnetic field, pulsation induces a periodical variation of the local Alfvén speed at each distance from the stellar centre, which in turn leads to a crucial influence on the dynamics of torsional Alfvén waves. We found that the time behaviour of torsional Alfvén waves is governed by Mathieu’s equation (26), therefore the harmonics with half the frequency of pulsation grow exponentially in time. The growth rate of torsional Alfvén waves depends on the amplitude of pulsation (see also Zaqarashvili and Roberts (2002a)). This is a very important result, because pulsations can be easily excited by any non-electromagnetic force. Then the torsional oscillations may have a number of energy sources, which can be of importance for the study of stellar activity in general. However the discussion of these situations is beyond the scope of this paper, therefore we only consider magnetic activity in binary stars. Gravitational energy in binary systems is much larger than the energy involved in magnetic activity. Unfortunately, it is not possible to evaluate the amount of energy transferred to torsional oscillations, because the theory is basically linear. However, it is reasonable to consider the back-reaction of amplified Alfvén waves on pulsation itself. Energy conservation yields that the amount of the energy transferred into Alfvén waves must be extracted from pulsation itself. Indeed, this is the case, as can be easily shown in rectangular geometry (Zaqarashvili and Roberts, 2002b). However, if pulsation has a continuous energy source (in our case, the companion’s gravity), then Alfvén waves will grow until their amplitudes exceed a certain value, after which magnetic buoyancy probably leads to eruption of magnetic tubes at the surface. There, they may release their energy, this leading to enhanced chromospheric and coronal activity.

In our model, we expect chromospheric and coronal activity to be stronger in asynchronous binaries. Some observations seem to indicate it (Dempsey et al., 1993), however future establishment of a better link between theory and observations is needed.

Another interesting point is that the unperturbed magnetic field in the stellar interior causes the splitting of the fundamental frequency of adiabatic pulsation into a fast and a slow mode. Both modes can be interpreted as spherical standing waves with one node in the center and one antinode at the surface. The fast mode corresponds to fast magnetosonic waves, and, for weak magnetic field, their frequency is of the order of $`c_0/R`$. The slow mode corresponds to slow magnetosonic waves, and their frequency is of the order of $`v_A/R`$. The difference between these frequencies depends on the ratio of hydrodynamic and magnetic pressures and can be very large for weak magnetic fields. So a star with an even weak magnetic field should have two pulsation timescales. This means that resonant Alfvén waves must also have two timescales, which correspond to fast and slow modes. In this paper we consider the coupling between the fast mode of pulsation and torsional waves, because the description of the fast mode is relatively easy, while the slow mode of pulsation requires more complicated mathematical formulation. However, the physical meaning of the coupling is similar, therefore we may argue about the coupling between the slow mode of pulsation and torsional waves without giving detailed calculations (however it is essential to study the details of their coupling in future). The particular characteristic of the coupling between the slow mode and torsional Alfvén waves is that the latter have spatial scales comparable to the stellar radius, because Alfvén and slow magnetosonic waves have similar phase velocities in the case of a weak magnetic field. Therefore they may lead to the onset of large-scale torsional oscillations.

## 4 Conclusion

In conclusion we summarize the process which gives rise to enhanced chromospheric and coronal activity in tidally interacting binaries in the three steps:

I - tidal interaction causes deviation of the star from spherical symmetry, which leads to stellar pulsation in its fundamental frequency;

II - pulsation amplifies torsional Alfvén waves through the mechanism of swing wave-wave interaction which leads to onset of torsional oscillations in the radiative interior;

III - magnetic flux tubes erupted at the surface by magnetic buoyancy enhance chromospheric and coronal emission.

However, the proposed mechanism needs future study. The details of the mechanism of amplified pulsation due to tidal interaction should be specified. It is also essential to give a detailed mathematical formulation of the coupling between the slow mode of pulsation and torsional Alfvén waves, which may lead to large-scale torsional oscillations of a dipole-like magnetic field.

The authors are grateful to B. Roberts and A. F. Lanza for useful discussions. This work was supported by NATO Collaborative Linkage grant PST CLG.976557. TZ was also supported by the Department of Physics and Astronomy, Astrophysics Section of Catania University and by the Royal Society/NATO Postdoctoral Fellowship programme. The authors are indebted to an anonymous referee for positive and valuable suggestions.


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# Measurement of the neutral pion cross section in proton-proton collisions at √𝑠=200 GeV with PHENIX

## 1 Introduction

A detailed understanding of hadron production in proton-proton collisions is essential to both the heavy-ion and spin physics programs at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider(RHIC). For the heavy-ion program, proton-proton data provide the reference to which hadron production in heavy-ion collisions can be compared so that novel phenomena, such as jet energy loss or suppression, can be distinguished from the proton-proton results. In the spin physics program, hadron production is a key probe of transverse and longitudinal spin structure functions and thus an understanding of the unpolarized cross section with next-to-leading order(NLO) perturbative QCD calculations provides the theoretical underpinnings for the physics interpretation of the polarized data.

## 2 Experimental Setup

The PHENIX detector consists of two central arm spectrometers, two muon arm spectrometers, and other detectors for triggering. This work used the electromagnetic calorimeters (EMCal) in the central arms, each of which have an azimuthal coverage of $`90^{}`$ and pseudo-rapidity coverage of $`\pm 0.35`$. This detector consists of 6 lead scintillator sampling calorimeter (PbSc) sectors and 2 lead glass (PbGl) sectors. In this paper, we will report only the measurement done with the 5 PbSc sectors, which have a nominal energy resolution of $`8.2\%/\sqrt{E(\mathrm{GeV})}1.9\%`$ and a position resolution of $`5.7\mathrm{mm}/\sqrt{E(\mathrm{GeV})}1.6\mathrm{mm}`$.

The data were collected during the proton-proton run in 2001–2002 at RHIC using the minimum bias (MB) and the newly installed EMCal triggers. The MB trigger was made with beam–beam counters (BBC) which covered pesudo-rapidity range from 3.0 to 3.9. The analysis imposed a cut of $`\pm 30\mathrm{cm}`$ on the vertex. The EMCal trigger was essential to enhance the sample of neutral pions at high $`p_T`$. This trigger consisted of two types: 2x2 non-overwrapping tower sum (0.8 GeV threshold), and 4x4 overwrapping tower sum (2 and 3 GeV thresholds). For higher $`p_T`$, this work is based upon the data collected via the 2x2 trigger whose rejection factor was 90.

## 3 Analysis Procedure

The cross sections for the two trigger samples were computed as the ratio of the $`\pi ^0`$ yield corrected for efficiency, acceptance, and smearing ($`𝒩_{\pi ^0}^{MB}`$,$`𝒩_{\pi ^0}^{2\times 2}`$) to the integrated effective luminosity ($`^{MB}`$,$`^{2\times 2}`$) which were computed as:

$`𝒩_{\pi ^0}^{MB}={\displaystyle \frac{N_{\pi ^0}^{MB}(p_T)C_{\pi ^0}^{reco}(p_T)}{\epsilon _{\pi ^0}^{MB}(p_T)}}{\displaystyle \frac{1}{^{MB}}}=\sigma ^{pp}\times {\displaystyle \frac{\epsilon _{trig}^{MB}}{N_{trig}^{MB}}}`$
$`𝒩_{\pi ^0}^{2\times 2}={\displaystyle \frac{N_{\pi ^0}^{2\times 2}(p_T)C_{\pi ^0}^{reco}(p_T)}{\epsilon _{\pi ^0}^{MB}(p_T)\epsilon _{\pi ^0}^{2\times 2}(p_T)}}{\displaystyle \frac{1}{^{2\times 2}}}={\displaystyle \frac{1}{^{MB}}}\times {\displaystyle \frac{N_{trig}^{MB\&2\times 2}}{N_{trig}^{2\times 2}}}`$
Figure 2 shows sample invariant mass spectra for two photons. Above a $`p_T`$ of $`3\mathrm{GeV}/\mathrm{c}`$, the ratio of the combinatorial background to the signal was $`10`$%. To extract the number of $`\pi ^0`$ \[$`N_{\pi ^0}^{MB}(p_T)`$ & $`N_{\pi ^0}^{2\times 2}(p_T)`$\] in each $`p_T`$ bin, several functions – including a gaussian and some order of polynomial – were used to fit to the combinatorial background over a variety of fit ranges. The systematic error was estimated from the variation in these fits and the run-to-run stability of the yield.

The acceptance, efficiency, and smearing correction \[$`C_{\pi ^0}^{reco}(p_T)`$\] was obtained by a Monte Carlo simulation which was tuned using results from the test beam measurements and the data itself. Figure 2 compares the measured $`\pi ^0`$ mass and width against the Monte Carlo simulations with different parameter sets. The systematic error was estimated from the change in the correction factor when the parameters were varied within their errors.

Using the MB data, the $`\pi ^0`$ efficiency of the 2x2 trigger \[$`\epsilon _{\pi ^0}^{2\times 2}(p_T)`$\] was determined to plateau at 80% above a $`p_T\mathrm{of}3\mathrm{GeV}/\mathrm{c}`$. A systematic error of 10% was assigned to this quantity by comparing it to the result from a Monte Carlo simulation which included the measured efficiencies for the tiles in the trigger. The bias for $`\pi ^0`$ detection arising from the MB trigger condition \[$`\epsilon _{\pi ^0}^{MB}(p_T)`$\] was measured to be 75%, independent of $`p_T`$ up to a $`p_T\mathrm{of}5\mathrm{GeV}/\mathrm{c}`$ using the data sample collected with a 4x4 trigger which, unlike the 2x2 trigger, did not impose the MB requirement. This value was consistent with an estimate from a PYTHIA+GEANT simulation and thus also used to correct the data at higher $`p_T`$. All of the systematic errors are summarized in Table 1.

The MB trigger efficiency \[$`\epsilon _{trig}^{MB}`$\] of 51% was obtained from a PYTHIA+GEANT simulation. We assigned a normalization error of 30% based on the difference between the cross section measurement from a van der Meer/vernier scan and the total (elastic+inelastic) $`p+p`$ cross section.

## 4 Results and Discussion

Figure 4 shows the measured cross sections for the MB and the 2x2 trigger samples along with the $`p_T`$ dependent systematic error. The results from the two samples are consistent within the error. The UA1 collaboration measured the $`(h^++h^{})/2`$ production cross section in the $`p\overline{p}`$ collisions at $`\sqrt{s}=200\mathrm{GeV}`$ in the $`\pm 2.5`$ rapidity range. When scaled to our rapidity range and corrected for the particle composition using ISR results, our measurement is consistent with the UA1 measurement over their measured $`p_T`$ range of 1 to 6 GeV/c.

Figure 4 shows a comparison with an NLO pQCD calculation using the formalism of F. Adversa et al. with the CTEQ5M parton distribution functions and the PKK fragmentation functions. The data for the lower $`p_T`$ range is shown from the MB trigger samples to avoid the larger systematic error of the 2x2 trigger samples. Over the full $`p_T`$ range, this calculation is consistent with our measurement within the systematic errors.

## 5 Conclusion

The NLO pQCD calculation with a set of parton distribution and fragmentation function is consistent with our measurement over the full $`p_T`$ range of 1-13 GeV/c within the systematic error and the scale selection. This measurement provides a baseline for high $`p_T`$ heavy-ion physics.


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# Counterions at charge-modulated substrates

## Abstract

We consider counterions in the presence of a single planar surface with a spatially inhomogeneous charge distribution using Monte-Carlo simulations and strong-coupling theory. For high surface charges, multivalent counterions, or pronounced substrate charge modulation the counterions are laterally correlated with the surface charges and their density profile deviates strongly from the limit of a smeared-out substrate charge distribution, in particular exhibiting a much increased laterally averaged density at the surface.

The recently revived interest in charged soft-condensed matter systems reflects that there are still many open questions, despite the enormous amount of work available in this field. One example of high experimental relevance is the discrete nature of charged surface groups, or, more generally, the inhomogeneity of substrate charge distributions, and how it affects various thermodynamic properties in an aqueous environment such as forces between charged particles or the counterion distribution. The importance of the discreteness of charged surface groups has been experimentally established in colloidal flocculation and deposition studies and was recently reviewed. On a much larger length scale, chemically micropatterned substrates with charged and neutral patches can be used for controlled colloidal deposition and DNA immobilization. Theoretically, charge-modulated surfaces have been studied by various mean-field approximations, liquid state theory, as well as computer simulations. In these studies, the importance of inhomogeneous surface charge distributions has been recognized, and for a number of different charge-distribution models and parameters the ionic distribution functions as well as forces between charged surfaces have been calculated. In this paper we use a simple model for a charge-modulated surface which depends on a single geometric parameter and includes as limiting cases both smeared-out and delta-peaked charge distributions. We study the distribution of counterions without added salt at a single charged surface for all different values of the electrostatic coupling parameter (depending on temperature and counterion valence) and for different degrees of surface charge modulation, both using Monte-Carlo (MC) simulation methods and the recently introduced strong-coupling (SC) theory. Our study therefore encompasses different experimental situations such as mono/multivalent ions at surfaces with discrete charged chemical groups, as well as charged colloids at microscopically charge-modulated surfaces.

As we will demonstrate, the assumption of smeared-out charges dramatically breaks down when the charge-modulation at the surface is pronounced, but also for moderate substrate-charge modulation when the electrostatic coupling is large (i.e. for highly charged surfaces, low temperatures, or multivalent counterions): in both cases the counterions become highly correlated with the surface charges and tend to form a two-dimensional, laterally ordered layer close to the surface. A convenient measure for the effects of substrate charge modulation is the counterion contact density, i.e., the laterally averaged counter-ion density at the substrate surface, since it is known exactly in the smeared-out case and can be easily determined from simulations. We find that the contact density for charge-modulated substrates can be much larger than for the smeared-out case, which is in agreement with recent experimental measurements on highly charged surfactant monolayers. Quite surprisingly, substrate charge modulation tends to have a more drastic effect on the counter-ion distribution than fluctuations and correlations, which have been the subject of numerous recent studies (see  and references therein). As our numerical results show, the SC theory describes the counterion distributions quantitatively in the SC limit and in particular in the limit of pronounced surface-charge modulation. We also consider a dielectric-constant jump at the substrate, as relevant for charged biological and colloidal surfaces. In contrast to the mean-field Poisson-Boltzmann (PB) approach, which severely fails even in the smeared-out case, our SC approach compares well with numerical results and helps to understand the intricate interplay of dielectric-jump and charge-modulation effects.

The substrate charge distribution is modeled, for simplicity, by point charges distributed on a square lattice with lattice constant $`a`$. The point-like oppositely charged counterions are confined to the positive half-space with $`z>0`$, the minimal distance between surface charges and counterions is given by $`D`$, as shown in Fig. 1a. The dielectric constant of the positive half-space $`\epsilon _>`$ is allowed to be different from $`\epsilon _<`$. The system is globally neutral, and only the fixed surface charges and counterions are present, i.e., no salt is added. In principle, one could interpret $`D`$ as the sum of the surface-ion and counterion hard-core radii. In our model, however, we use the ratio $`D/a`$ more generally to control the degree of substrate-charge modulation, which allows to describe a variety of experimental situations and systems by a single parameter. The limit $`D/a\mathrm{}`$ is equivalent to a smeared-out surface-charge distribution, while $`D/a0`$ corresponds to a delta-peaked distribution.

The typical height of the counterion layer in the smeared-out limit defines the Gouy-Chapman length $`\mu =1/(2\pi q\mathrm{}_B\sigma _s)`$, where $`\sigma _s=Q/a^2`$ is the number charge density at the wall, $`q`$ and $`Q`$ are the valences of counterions and surface ions, and $`\mathrm{}_B=e^2/4\pi \epsilon _>\epsilon _0k_BT`$ is the Bjerrum length (the distance at which two elementary charges interact with thermal energy, $`k_BT`$). In the following, we will rescale all lengths by $`\mu `$ according to $`\stackrel{~}{r}r/\mu `$. For the simple double layer (smeared out charges at the surface and no dielectric jump) the coupling parameter $`\mathrm{\Xi }=q^2\mathrm{}_B/\mu =2\pi q^3\mathrm{}_B^2\sigma _s`$ is the only parameter in the problem. In the limit $`\mathrm{\Xi }0`$ (weakly charged surfaces, low-valence counterions, or high temperatures) the PB theory is asymptotically exact, while in the opposite limit $`\mathrm{\Xi }\mathrm{}`$ (highly charged surfaces, high-valence counterions, or low temperatures) the SC theory is exact. The present model is in addition characterized by $`D/a`$, the dielectric-constant ratio $`\mathrm{\Delta }=(\epsilon _>\epsilon _<)/(\epsilon _>+\epsilon _<)`$ and the valence ratio $`q/Q`$ between counterions and surface charges.

The Coulomb interaction in the presence of dielectric discontinuities is given by the solution of the Poisson equation with the appropriate boundary conditions. For a single dielectric jump located at $`z=0`$ as shown in Fig.1a, the electrostatic energy reads

$$\begin{array}{c}\frac{}{k_BT}=\mathrm{\Xi }\underset{i>j}{}\left\{\frac{1}{|\stackrel{~}{𝐫}_i\stackrel{~}{𝐫}_j|}+\frac{\mathrm{\Delta }}{\sqrt{[\stackrel{~}{𝐫}_i\stackrel{~}{𝐫}_j]^2+4\stackrel{~}{z}_i\stackrel{~}{z}_j}}\right\}\mathrm{\Xi }(1+\mathrm{\Delta })\frac{Q}{q}\underset{i,\alpha }{}\frac{1}{|\stackrel{~}{𝐫}_i\stackrel{~}{𝐑}_\alpha |}+\underset{i=1}{\overset{N}{}}\frac{\mathrm{\Xi }\mathrm{\Delta }}{4\stackrel{~}{z}_i}.\hfill \end{array}$$
(1)
The first sum corresponds to the interaction between pairs of counterions at positions $`𝐫_i`$ (taking into account the so-called “image charges” through the term proportional to $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$), the second sum is the interaction between counterions and fixed surface charges (the sum over $`\alpha `$ corresponds to all surface-ion lattice vectors $`\stackrel{~}{𝐑}_\alpha `$) and the third sum is the interaction between counterions and their “images.” In our MC simulations we use Eq. (1) for a typical number of $`100`$ counterions in conjunction with periodic boundary conditions (implemented by the Lekner-Sperb technique) in order to minimize finite size effects; the results reported here are always taken from runs with $`10^6`$ Monte Carlo steps per particle. In Fig.1b we show the effects of varying surface-charge modulation: For a ratio $`D/a=0.24`$ (to the right) the counterion snapshot shows a rather irregular configuration, with no or little visible correlation between surface charges (located beneath the nodes of the square lattice) and counter ions. For a ratio $`D/a=0.06`$ (to the left), on the other hand, the counterions are strongly correlated with the square lattice of the surface ions (two counterions obviously have, driven by thermal fluctuations, escaped from their assigned lattice positions). This is reflected by the normalized lateral counterion distribution $`\stackrel{~}{\rho }_{yz}(\stackrel{~}{x})`$, which for $`D/a=0.24`$ oscillates weakly around its mean value of unity, while for $`D/a=0.06`$ this distribution function is strongly peaked at the positions of the surface ions.

Before we present the density profiles as a function of the distance from the substrate, we quickly recapitulate the SC theory. At leading order of an expansion in inverse powers of the coupling strength $`\mathrm{\Xi }`$, which is equivalent to a virial expansion, the normalized counterion density distribution is given by

$$\stackrel{~}{\rho }(\stackrel{~}{𝐫})=\frac{\rho (\stackrel{~}{𝐫})}{2\pi \mathrm{}_B\sigma _s^2}=\mathrm{\Lambda }\mathrm{e}^{\stackrel{~}{u}(\stackrel{~}{𝐫})}+𝒪(\mathrm{\Xi }^1).$$
(2)
The factor $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ is the fugacity of counterions, determined by the normalization condition $`d\stackrel{~}{𝐫}\stackrel{~}{\rho }(\stackrel{~}{𝐫})/\stackrel{~}{L}^2=1`$, where $`\stackrel{~}{L}`$ is the lateral system size, equivalent to the condition of global electroneutrality. The function $`\stackrel{~}{u}`$, given by

$$\stackrel{~}{u}(\stackrel{~}{𝐫})=\mathrm{\Xi }(1+\mathrm{\Delta })\frac{Q}{q}\underset{\alpha }{}\frac{1}{|\stackrel{~}{𝐫}\stackrel{~}{𝐑}_\alpha |}+\frac{\mathrm{\Xi }\mathrm{\Delta }}{4\stackrel{~}{z}},$$
(3)
is the electrostatic potential created at position $`\stackrel{~}{𝐫}`$ by the surface ions at lattice positions $`\stackrel{~}{𝐑}_\alpha `$ (with $`\stackrel{~}{Z}_\alpha =\stackrel{~}{D}`$) plus the counterion–image interaction. In previous studies we demonstrated that the SC approach becomes quantitatively accurate for coupling strengths larger than $`\mathrm{\Xi }100`$. The discreteness of surface charges tends to decouple different counterions from each other, as witnessed by the snapshots shown in Fig.1b. One would therefore expect corrections to the leading term of the systematic expansion in Eq.(2), which come from correlations between counterions, to be weakened and the SC approach to perform even better in the presence of modulated surface charges, as indeed borne out by our data. In the limit $`D/a\mathrm{}`$, the smeared-out case, Eq. (3) reduces to $`\stackrel{~}{u}(\stackrel{~}{𝐫})=(1+\mathrm{\Delta })\stackrel{~}{z}+\mathrm{\Xi }\mathrm{\Delta }/(4\stackrel{~}{z})`$.

We first discuss our results in the absence of a dielectric jump ($`\mathrm{\Delta }=0`$) and identical valences of surface and counterions ($`Q=q`$). In Fig. 2a we fix $`\mathrm{\Xi }=10`$ while $`D/a`$ is varied; in Fig. 2b we fix $`D/a=0.12`$ while $`\mathrm{\Xi }`$ is varied. Clearly, the counterion density profiles $`\stackrel{~}{\rho }_{xy}(\stackrel{~}{z})`$ (which are averaged in the $`xy`$–plane) are very sensitive to both the coupling constant $`\mathrm{\Xi }`$ and the ratio $`D/a`$. For $`\mathrm{\Xi }=10`$ and $`D/a=0.24`$ (crosses in Fig. 2a) the discretization has a small effect, as the data almost coincide with the MC results for the smeared-out case $`D/a\mathrm{}`$ (circles). With the rescaling of Fig.2a, the difference between the smeared-out SC and PB profiles (dotted and broken lines, respectively) is in fact rather small compared to the effects of surface-charge modulation, and the smeared-out data (circles) are somewhat in between the SC and PB predictions, demonstrating that $`\mathrm{\Xi }=10`$ is in the crossover regime between strong and weak coupling. For $`D/a=\mathrm{}`$ and $`\mathrm{\Delta }=0`$ the contact-value theorem predicts a rescaled contact density of unity, $`\stackrel{~}{\rho }_{xy}(\stackrel{~}{z}=0)=1`$, as confirmed by simulations at various values of $`\mathrm{\Xi }`$. However, as $`D/a`$ becomes smaller there is a greater accumulation of counterions in the immediate vicinity of the charged surface, and the laterally averaged contact density can be several times larger than unity. This is reflected by a high lateral correlation between counterions and the surface charges, see Fig. 1b. As $`D/a`$ becomes smaller, the SC predictions as defined in Eqs. (2) and (3) (solid lines in Fig. 2a) show progressively better agreement with the MC results. Similarly, in Fig. 2b for fixed $`D/a=0.12`$, the contact density rises while the agreement between MC data and SC predictions becomes quantitative as $`\mathrm{\Xi }`$ is increased.

These results are summarized in Fig. 3, where contour plots of constant contact density $`\stackrel{~}{\rho }_{xy}(\stackrel{~}{z}=0)`$ are shown as a function of $`\mathrm{\Xi }`$ and $`D/a`$. The lines were obtained from the SC theory via Eq. (2) and agree well with the MC results (open circles), obtained from density profiles via extrapolation. In the limit $`D/a0`$ and finite coupling $`\mathrm{\Xi }`$ the counterions collapse onto the surface charges and the density at contact diverges, while for fixed $`D/a`$ and in the limit $`\mathrm{\Xi }\mathrm{}`$ the contact density saturates at a finite value. As $`D/a`$ grows (or $`\mathrm{\Xi }`$ becomes smaller), the smeared-out assumption becomes valid and $`\stackrel{~}{\rho }_{xy}(0)`$ approaches unity.

We finally lift the restriction to symmetric surface/counterion valences ($`q=Q`$) and to vanishing dielectric jump ($`\mathrm{\Delta }=0`$). In Fig. 4a we show density profiles for $`\mathrm{\Xi }Q^3/q^3=10`$, $`D/a=0.12`$, $`\mathrm{\Delta }=0`$ with varying valence ratios of $`q/Q=1`$ (plus symbols, already featured in Fig.2), $`q/Q=2`$ (stars), $`q/Q=4`$ (triangles) and $`q/Q=16`$ (squares). The inhomogeneity of the surface charge distribution becomes more important as the counterion valence increases. The SC results (solid lines) capture this trend and quantitatively agree with simulation data. The contact density $`\stackrel{~}{\rho }_{xy}(0)`$ saturates at a constant value as $`q/Q\mathrm{}`$ (see inset). For the case where a dielectric jump is present, we choose $`\epsilon _>=80`$ and $`\epsilon _<=2`$, leading to $`\mathrm{\Delta }=0.95`$ and corresponding to a charged hydrocarbon substrate in contact with water. Since $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$ is positive, the interaction between the counterions and their images is repulsive and competes with the attractive interaction due to the surface charges, see Eq. (1). Consequently, the single-ion potential $`\stackrel{~}{u}(\stackrel{~}{𝐫})`$, Eq.(3), exhibits a minimum at a finite distance from the wall, and one expects the maximum in the density profile to be displaced from the wall, in agreement with previous results (however, one should note that the resulting density profile depends strongly on details of the geometry and position of the dielectric boundary). Fig. 4b shows the counterion density profile for $`\mathrm{\Xi }=10`$, $`q=Q`$, $`\mathrm{\Delta }=0.95`$ and the same values of $`D/a`$ as in Fig. 2a, namely $`D/a=0.06`$, $`0.12`$ and $`0.24`$. The corresponding SC predictions (shown as solid lines) locate correctly the position of the maximum in the density, though the agreement is not as good as without the dielectric jump for the larger values of $`D/a`$. The data for the smeared-out case, $`D/a=\mathrm{}`$ (open circles) exhibit a maximum close to $`\stackrel{~}{z}=\sqrt{\mathrm{\Xi }\mathrm{\Delta }/(4(1+\mathrm{\Delta }))}`$, the SC prediction, although the SC profile for this case (dotted line) overestimates the amount of counterions close to the wall. Obviously, the SC theory does not take into account the repulsion felt by a counterion due to the presence of the images of other counterions, which explains why SC theory performs at the same value of $`\mathrm{\Xi }`$ better in the absence of a dielectric jump (compare Fig.2). Higher order corrections to the asymptotic SC theory would therefore be needed to quantitatively match the data. As is well-known, PB theory (shown as a broken line) is insensitive to the presence of a dielectric jump in the smeared-out limit $`D/a\mathrm{}`$ and completely misses the shape of the density profile.

To conclude, we have studied both analytically and numerically the distribution of counterions close to an inhomogeneously charged surface. The charge inhomogeneity affects the counterion distribution strongly for pronounced charge modulation as well as when the coupling constant $`\mathrm{\Xi }`$ is large. As summarized in Fig. 3 in the absence of a dielectric discontinuity ($`\mathrm{\Delta }=0`$), the laterally averaged counterion contact density is much larger than the smeared-out value at decreasing $`D/a`$ (equivalent to a strongly charge-modulated substrate) and at increasing coupling constant $`\mathrm{\Xi }`$, and counterions become strongly correlated with the surface charges. The same effect is reflected in the counterion density profiles, which under such conditions decay faster to zero as one moves away from the substrate, see Fig.2.

This has direct experimental consequences: Very recently the counterion density profile (measured using ellipsometry) at a surfactant monolayer with a high surface charge density (determined via second-harmonic generation) could be described by PB profiles only by assuming a fraction of counterions to be bound to the monolayer, similar to what we find. Our results suggest to reconsider the traditional picture of a Stern layer, where the counterion surface concentration is subject to electrostatic and specific surface attraction and packing constraints, but where the influence of lateral surface charge modulation (which is always present experimentally and leads to sizable effects as shown here) is typically neglected. One should emphasize the experimental relevance of our parameters: for a system with $`\sigma _s1/257`$ Å<sup>-2</sup> and divalent counterions in water (which at room temperature leads to $`\mathrm{\Xi }=10`$), the surface ions are on average at a distance $`a16`$ Å from each other. For a minimal distance between surface ions and counterions of $`D2`$ Å (noting that at close contact the hydrated water shell is stripped off) the ratio $`D/a=0.12`$ is obtained; as our results demonstrate, the inhomogeneous character of the surface charges leads to pronounced deviations from the smeared-out case.

Other relevant factors, which we will consider in future work, include the possibility of the counterions to actually penetrate between the surface ions, different surface charge patterns (annealed and various quenched geometries), and additional interactions between surface groups and counterions (like van der Waals or solvation forces) and between counterions themselves (most importantly hard core interactions, which to leading order within the SC approach simply shift the density profile away from the surface). The advantage of the currently employed model, though being quite crude and neglecting a number of important effects, is that its simplicity allows for a global analysis, encompassing different and limiting values of the coupling strength and the degree of substrate charge modulation. In a complementary study, similar numerical calculations have been recently analyzed within a modified PB approach.

\***

We thank H. Motschmann and R. Teppner for useful discussions. AGM acknowledges financial support from the DFG Schwerpunkt Polyelektrolyte.


text:
# Numerical Simulations of the pulsed Jet of MWC 560

## 1. The Observations

The observational data revealed highly variable absorption structures which could be used to determine the velocity and acceleration structure of the jet. There exists a stable component with a radial velocity of $`1100\pm 200`$ km s-1 which represents the jet outflow at a larger distance. In addition, strong high velocity components with radial velocities up to $`2500`$ km s-1 appear repeatedly on time scales of a few days and decay within several days. At the same time, the absorption between the absorption trough and the emission line with radial velocities of $`900`$ to $`400`$ km s-1 disappears which is an indication for an acceleration process near the jet source (see dynamical spectra in Schmid et al. 2001).

## 2. The Models

Due to the enormous computational costs, only 2D-models with the assumption of axisymmetry (2.5D) have been calculated yet. Therefore the companion became physically a Red Giant “Ring”. First, we started a purely hydrodynamical model without cooling. The parameters of this pulsed jet model are listed in Table 1. The influence of the stellar wind to the surrounding medium was simulated with an 1/$`r^2`$ law. The gravitational potential of the Red Giant and the Jet source was taken into account. The jet pulses were simulated by an enhancement of the jet velocity in the nozzle to $`2000`$ km s-1 occurring every seventh day and lasting one day. Thereby also the jet density was varied to 0.25 or 2 times the normal density.

In a second simulation, a cooling mechanism was implemented. According to Sutherland & Dopita (1993), three species (electrons, protons and hydrogen atoms) were considered and the heavier elements were simulated with a general cooling curve. In a third – again purely hydrodynamical – simulation, the number density of the jet pulse was increased to eight times the value of the first two models.

## 3. Results

While the complete hydrodynamical simulation (450 days) took two weeks on a workstation, after nine weeks on a NEC SX5 vector computer only 74 days of the simulation with cooling were calculated. These computational expenses are caused by the unique parameter choice, especially the high densities, resulting in a small cooling time step. These are the first simulations in this parameter region including cooling.

Comparing the logarithm of the total density for the same time step, one realizes the effects of cooling: due to smaller pressures in the jet the radial extension of the jet, the cross section and the resistance exerted by the external medium are lessened and therefore the cooled jet propagates faster (Fig. 1).

Using the density and velocity data, theoretical line profiles can be calculated, assuming the absorption $`I=I_0\text{e}^\tau `$ for each grid cell with

$$\tau _\lambda =\frac{\pi e^2}{m_ec}\lambda N_jf_{jk}.$$
(1)
With the increased number density of the jet pulse, the third simulation is able to reproduce the measured absorption of the fast pulse components (Fig. 2).

## 4. Discussion

In the purely hydrodynamical model the high velocity component decays much faster than in the observations – on time scales of one day. Taking into account the effects of cooling, it should decay slower which would be in agreement with the observational data. Due to the increasing propagation velocity of the jet and the decreasing resistance, the faster component should be able to exist longer. As this simulation is just at its beginning – and the jet has not yet reached its quasi-stationary phase, the results are still preliminary. But one first result could be the importance of cooling effects for modeling the jet correctly.

A parameter study varying further the density and the injection velocity during the outbursts should bring deeper insights into the real mass loss rate and jet energy in this system.

## References

Sutherland, R. S., & Dopita, M. A. 1993, ApJS, 88, 253

Ziegler, U., & Yorke, H. 1997, Comp. Phys. Comm., 101, 54

Thiele, M. 2000, PhD Thesis, University of Heidelberg

Schmid, H. M., Kaufer, A., Camenzind, M., Rivinius, Th., Stahl, O., Szeifert, T., Tubbesing, S., Wolf, B. 2001, A&A, 377, 206