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# GUT Precursors and Non-Trivial Fixed Points in Higher-Dimensional Gauge Theories

## I Introduction

One of the most important theoretical challenges in physics is to determine the nature of fundamental theories. Such fundamental theories include theories of grand unification, quantum gravity, and even strings, with each theory carrying its own intrinsic energy scale.

The traditional view of such theories stipulates that their intrinsic energy scales are exceedingly high. In such cases, experimental evidence in favor of such theories is at best indirect. More recently, however, it has been suggested  that the presence of large extra dimensions might significantly lower the energy scales associated with such theories, perhaps all the way to the TeV range. In such cases, we might hope for direct experimental tests of such theories.

In this paper, we wish to propose a “hybrid” possibility. Specifically, we wish to consider a higher-dimensional scenario in which the fundamental theories of physics retain their traditional high characteristic energy scales, but in which it is nevertheless possible to obtain direct, low-energy evidence of their existence. As we shall see, this will be possible because of the emergence of a non-trivial fixed point which enables a large separation of scales to exist within a single model.

For concreteness, we shall concentrate on the case of grand unification, and consider a scenario in which the unification of gauge couplings retains its traditional logarithmic behavior, with unification occurring near $`M_{\mathrm{GUT}}10^{16}`$ GeV. This unification is therefore precisely as in the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM). However, we shall demonstrate that even within such a scenario, it is possible that certain states associated with the emergence of a grand unified theory (GUT) at this energy scale can actually be extremely light, perhaps even in the TeV range. We shall refer to such states as “GUT precursors.” The appearance of such precursor states would then provide a direct, experimental window into high-scale, fundamental physics.

## II GUT symmetry breaking, orbifolds, and “GUT precursors”

In theories which exhibit a unification of the Standard Model (SM) gauge couplings, it is natural to imagine the emergence of a grand unified theory at the scale of unification. The gauge symmetry group associated with this GUT \[e.g., $`SU(5)`$ or $`SO(10)`$\] must then be large enough to contain the SM gauge symmetry group as a subgroup. In each case, we then find that the corresponding GUT contains not only the usual Standard Model particles, but also additional particles which are directly associated with the GUT. These particles necessarily include the so-called $`X`$ and $`Y`$ gauge bosons associated with the enlarged GUT gauge symmetry, and may also include additional matter particles (such as colored Higgs triplets).

There are two basic methods by which GUT symmetries can be broken below the scale of unification. The first method is intrinsically field-theoretic: one imagines that a certain GUT field obtains a non-vanishing expectation value $`vM_{\mathrm{GUT}}`$ in such a way that the Standard Model fields remain light while the extra GUT fields become heavy. This is the standard Higgs mechanism for breaking a GUT symmetry, and it is characterized by the fact that the masses of the extra GUT fields —the true signatures of the existence of the GUT— are parametrically tied to the GUT scale.

The second method, by contrast, is essentially string-theoretic, and involves truncating the full string Fock space in such a way that the large initial gauge symmetry is broken down to a smaller residual gauge symmetry. This method has a long history in the string literature , and is the method by which large string gauge symmetries such as $`SO(32)`$ or $`E_8\times E_8`$ are broken down to the Standard Model gauge group in various phenomenological string models . This method has often been referred to as “GUT breaking by orbifolds,” and has been discussed within the context of large extra dimensions in Ref.  as well as more recently in Refs. .

This method works as follows. For simplicity, let us first imagine compactification of a single extra dimension on the circle $`S^1`$ defined by identifying $`yy+2\pi R`$ (where $`y`$ is the coordinate along the compact extra dimension). Any field $`\mathrm{\Phi }(x^\mu ,y)`$ on the circle can then be Fourier-decomposed as $`\mathrm{\Phi }=\mathrm{\Phi }_++\mathrm{\Phi }_{}`$ where

$`\mathrm{\Phi }_+(x^\mu ,y)`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{n=0}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}}\mathrm{\Phi }_+^{(n)}(x^\mu )\mathrm{cos}\left({\displaystyle \frac{ny}{R}}\right),`$ (1)
$`\mathrm{\Phi }_{}(x^\mu ,y)`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{n=1}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}}\mathrm{\Phi }_{}^{(n)}(x^\mu )\mathrm{sin}\left({\displaystyle \frac{ny}{R}}\right).`$ (2)
Note that $`\mathrm{\Phi }_+`$ is even under $`yy`$, while $`\mathrm{\Phi }_{}`$ is odd; moreover $`\mathrm{\Phi }_{}`$ lacks a zero mode. The mass of the Kaluza-Klein mode $`\mathrm{\Phi }_\pm ^{(n)}`$ is $`n/R`$. Given this Kaluza-Klein circle decomposition, it is then straightforward to compactify on the orbifold defined by $`S^1/Z_2`$ where the $`Z_2`$ action is $`yy`$: we simply retain only the even or odd modes in the above decomposition. It is this truncation which reduces the Fock space. For example, if $`\mathrm{\Phi }`$ refers to a Standard Model field, we arrange our orbifold so as to retain the even components $`\mathrm{\Phi }_+`$, whereas if $`\mathrm{\Phi }`$ refers to a GUT field which is not present in the Standard Model, we retain the odd components $`\mathrm{\Phi }_{}`$. In this way, the spectrum of zero-modes accessible to the low-energy observer at energies $`ER^1`$ consists of only the Standard Model fields. In other words, the orbifold projection has broken the GUT at low energies.

For our purposes, however, the important feature of this method of GUT symmetry breaking is the energy scale at which the first signatures of the full GUT symmetry appear. Unlike the Higgs breaking mechanism, where masses of the GUT fields beyond the Standard Model are parametrically tied to $`M_{\mathrm{GUT}}`$, in this case the masses of the first Kaluza-Klein modes for these GUT particles are set by the inverse radius of the orbifold! Thus, in cases for which $`R^1<M_{\mathrm{GUT}}`$, we actually begin to observe GUT particles (such as $`X`$ and $`Y`$ gauge bosons) before we detect actual gauge coupling unification. In other words, these low-lying Kaluza-Klein modes of the GUT particles appear as “GUT precursors” , signalling the future emergence of a full gauge coupling unification at an even higher energy scale.

The obvious question, then, is to determine how light these GUT precursors can be. How far below $`M_{\mathrm{GUT}}`$, the scale of gauge coupling unification, can these states sit?

Clearly, the answer to this question depends on the particular model under discussion. In the models of accelerated power-law unification in Ref. , the ratio between the scale of extra dimensions and the scale of accelerated gauge coupling unification is never significantly more than one order of magnitude: $`M_{\mathrm{GUT}}R\stackrel{<}{}20`$. Likewise, in the more recent models of Ref.  for which $`M_{\mathrm{GUT}}`$ takes a high value $`M_{\mathrm{GUT}}>10^{16}`$ GeV, this ratio is somewhat larger: $`M_{\mathrm{GUT}}R100`$. Thus, both classes of models predict the appearance of GUT precursors well in advance of actual gauge coupling unification.

Despite these facts, both classes of models predict the appearance of GUT precursors which are not drastically separated from their corresponding fundamental scales of gauge coupling unification. In other words, neither class of models provides for an extremely large energy range over which the effective theory is higher-dimensional with non-unified gauge couplings.

At first glance, it might appear that we cannot separate these scales too greatly because the GUT precursors themselves will affect the running of the gauge couplings and thereby alter the gauge coupling unification which is responsible for setting the value $`M_{\mathrm{GUT}}`$. Indeed, the cumulative effects of the Kaluza-Klein excitations of Standard Model fields give rise to a power-law running for the gauge couplings which tends to accelerate the scale of gauge coupling unification, thereby tying $`M_{\mathrm{GUT}}`$ closely to the precursor scale $`R^1`$.

However, when the effects of the GUT precursors are also included, it then follows that the states at each excited Kaluza-Klein mass level fall into complete GUT multiplets. As originally noticed in Ref. , this still leads to gauge coupling unification. However, as pointed out in Ref. , the presence of complete GUT multiplets at each excited level implies that the power-law running is universal for each gauge coupling. Thus, the unification of the gauge couplings continues to be logarithmic, occurring just as it does in four dimensions in the absence of Kaluza-Klein states. Indeed, this feature is the hallmark of the models of Ref. , and is one of the reasons why these models can apparently tolerate the larger value $`M_{\mathrm{GUT}}R100`$.

The chief danger inherent in such a unification, however, is that the gauge couplings are each individually still experiencing power-law evolution. Thus, even though the unification of these gauge couplings is completely logarithmic, the gauge couplings themselves might flow towards strong coupling, thereby invalidating the perturbative unification calculation. Indeed, this is the primary feature which ultimately limits the separation between the scale at which the GUT precursors appear and the scale of gauge coupling unification.

## III Power-Law Running and Perturbativity

We shall now demonstrate that this restriction does not arise for models in which all matter is restricted to orbifold fixed points and in which only the Standard Model and GUT gauge bosons propagate in the bulk. In such cases, we shall show that it is possible to separate $`R^1`$, the scale of the GUT precursors, by an arbitrary amount from $`M_{\mathrm{GUT}}`$, at least as far as gauge coupling unification and perturbativity are concerned. We shall defer our discussion of the general interpretation and phenomenological implications of these results to Sects. IV and VII.

In theories with extra dimensions, the evolution of the gauge couplings takes the approximate form

$`\alpha _i^1(\mathrm{\Lambda })`$ $``$ $`\alpha _i^1(M_Z){\displaystyle \frac{b_i}{2\pi }}\mathrm{ln}{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{\Lambda }}{M_Z}}+{\displaystyle \frac{\stackrel{~}{b}_i}{2\pi }}\mathrm{ln}\mathrm{\Lambda }R`$ (4)
$`{\displaystyle \frac{\stackrel{~}{b}_iX_\delta }{2\pi \delta }}\left[(\mathrm{\Lambda }R)^\delta 1\right].`$
The emergence of power-law behavior is expected in a higher-dimensional gauge theory , and can equivalently be viewed as logarithmic running with a beta-function coefficient that continually changes as successive Kaluza-Klein thresholds are crossed. In Eq. (4), $`M_Z`$ is our chosen low-energy reference scale; $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ is an arbitrary high scale (ultimately associated with the cutoff of the higher-dimensional gauge theory); $`\delta `$ is the number of compactified dimensions; $`R`$ is their common radius of compactification; and the normalization factor $`X_\delta `$ is the compactification volume with all radii normalized to unity. For example, for toroidal compactifications we have $`X_\delta \pi ^{\delta /2}/\mathrm{\Gamma }(1+\delta /2)`$ (the volume of a $`\delta `$-dimensional unit sphere). Likewise, $`b_i`$ are the beta-function coefficients of the zero-mode fields (including the contributions of those fields which do not feel extra dimensions altogether, such as those restricted to branes and/or orbifold fixed points), while $`\stackrel{~}{b}_i`$ are the beta-function coefficients associated with the field content at each excited Kaluza-Klein level. Thus, it is the latter beta-function coefficients which govern the intrinsically higher-dimensional power-law evolution of the gauge couplings. Note that in the case of compactification on an orbifold, the $`\stackrel{~}{b}_i`$-dependent contributions in Eq. (2) are generally reduced due to the orbifold projections at the excited Kaluza-Klein levels; with a $`\text{ZZ}_2`$ projection, for example, these terms must be divided by $`2`$. Also note that if the zero-mode fields are those of the MSSM, then the sum of the first two terms on the right side of Eq. (4) is equal to the usual MSSM value of the (inverse) unified gauge coupling when $`\mathrm{\Lambda }=M_{\mathrm{GUT}}2\times 10^{16}`$ GeV.

In cases where the $`\stackrel{~}{b}_i`$ are unequal, we see from Eq. (4) that the power-law evolution of the gauge couplings is different for each gauge coupling. This implies that the relative differences between the gauge couplings also evolve with power-law behavior. However, when the $`\stackrel{~}{b}_i`$ are all equal, we see from Eq. (4) that this power-law behavior is universal for all gauge couplings. The relative differences of gauge couplings then evolve purely logarithmically, exactly as in four dimensions. Indeed, even the $`\stackrel{~}{b}_i`$-dependent logarithmic contributions in Eq. (4) are universal, and do not affect the unification of the couplings. Thus, we find that when the $`\stackrel{~}{b}_i`$ are all equal, we retain exactly the same logarithmic gauge coupling unification that arises in four dimensions.

Despite this fact, it is still important to verify that the individual gauge couplings themselves remain perturbative over the entire energy range from $`R^1`$ to $`\mathrm{\Lambda }M_{\mathrm{GUT}}`$. Otherwise, the use of the one-loop result in Eq. (4) is no longer valid. Towards this end, let us assume that $`\stackrel{~}{b}_i\stackrel{~}{b}<0`$ for all $`i`$. Since $`\stackrel{~}{b}<0`$, the power-law contributions to the gauge couplings push the couplings towards extremely weak values. Indeed, in the limit where $`\mathrm{\Lambda }R1`$, we find from Eq. (4) that each of the gauge couplings scales in the ultraviolet as

$$\alpha (\mathrm{\Lambda })\frac{2\pi \delta }{\stackrel{~}{b}X_\delta }(\mathrm{\Lambda }R)^\delta .$$
(5)
However, even though these couplings are extremely weak, the true loop expansion parameter in such a situation is $`\alpha _{\mathrm{eff}}N\alpha `$ where $`NX_\delta (\mathrm{\Lambda }R)^\delta `$ is the number of Kaluza-Klein levels that have been crossed. Indeed, $`\alpha _{\mathrm{eff}}`$ describes the effective strength of the gauge interaction, since it characterizes the coupling of each individual Kaluza-Klein mode multiplied by the multiplicity of these modes. Thus, for true perturbativity, we must demand $`\alpha _{\mathrm{eff}}4\pi `$.

Remarkably, this constraint is satisfied no matter how large $`\mathrm{\Lambda }R`$ becomes. Indeed, we find that $`\alpha _{\mathrm{eff}}2\pi \delta /\stackrel{~}{b}`$ as $`\mathrm{\Lambda }R\mathrm{}`$, so that the condition for perturbativity becomes $`\delta /(2\stackrel{~}{b})1`$. Thus, as long as $`\stackrel{~}{b}`$ is sufficiently large and negative, this condition can be satisfied even if $`\mathrm{\Lambda }R1`$.

As an example, let us consider a scenario in which, as discussed above, the zero-mode fields are those of the MSSM and only the GUT gauge bosons sit in the bulk. For simplicity, we shall take our unified gauge group to be $`SU(5)`$, and we shall also assume that $`\delta =1`$. Since our low-energy theory is $`𝒩=1`$ supersymmetric, the bulk fields necessarily fall into $`𝒩=2`$ supermultiplets. Our bulk fields therefore consist of $`𝒩=2`$ vector multiplets transforming in the adjoint of $`SU(5)`$, leading to $`\stackrel{~}{b}_i=\stackrel{~}{b}=10`$ for all $`i`$. We then find that the effective gauge interaction strength at unification is $`\alpha _{\mathrm{eff}}0.63`$, which is considerably less than $`4\pi `$. Note that this remains true even if $`\mathrm{\Lambda }R10^{13}`$. Thus it is possible for the GUT precursors to appear at the TeV scale even though the (logarithmic) gauge coupling unification does not occur until the usual scale $`M_{\mathrm{GUT}}10^{16}`$ GeV.

This behavior is illustrated in Fig. 1, where we plot the value of the effective unified coupling $`\alpha _{\mathrm{eff}}`$ at $`M_{\mathrm{GUT}}`$ as a function of $`R`$, holding $`M_{\mathrm{GUT}}`$ fixed at its usual four-dimensional value $`2\times 10^{16}`$ GeV. We have taken $`\delta =1`$ and $`\stackrel{~}{b}=10`$, as discussed above. It is clear that the effective coupling remains perturbative for arbitrarily large values of $`M_{\mathrm{GUT}}R`$, saturating at its asymptotic value as early as $`M_{\mathrm{GUT}}R100`$. Thus, the scale at which our GUT precursors appear can be separated by an arbitrary amount from the scale at which the gauge couplings unify.

Note that this scenario requires beta-function coefficients $`\stackrel{~}{b}_i`$ which are universal and negative. Ordinarily, it might seem impossible to arrange $`\stackrel{~}{b}_i`$ negative for each gauge group simultaneously, since in most scenarios (such as the MSSM) the hypercharge coupling typically becomes stronger with increasing energy. However, $`\stackrel{~}{b}_i`$ is negative in our scenario precisely as a result of the GUT precursors. Indeed, in order to obtain a negative hypercharge beta-function coefficient, the $`X`$ and $`Y`$ gauge bosons are just what we require: spacetime vector bosons with non-trivial hypercharge assignments. Thus, it is the GUT precursors which permit the theory to remain perturbative even as $`\mathrm{\Lambda }R1`$.

One might worry that two-loop effects might be significant in such a scenario. However, two-loop effects essentially vanish in the $`\mathrm{\Lambda }R\mathrm{}`$ limit, since the presence of $`𝒩=2`$ supersymmetry in the bulk ensures that the higher-loop power-law effects are suppressed by a factor of $`1/\mathrm{\Lambda }R`$ relative to the one-loop effects . Even when $`\mathrm{\Lambda }R`$ remains finite, it is straightforward to verify that two- and higher-loop corrections do not substantially alter the logarithmic unification which emerges at one-loop order . Likewise, we remark in this context that the potentially damaging brane surface kinetic terms discussed in Ref.  become vanishingly small in this context, since the volume of the bulk becomes $`10^{13}`$ as large as the volume on the brane. Thus, the unification of the gauge couplings is maintained.

It is also important to understand what happens if $`\stackrel{~}{b}>0`$. In this case, the gauge couplings become stronger rather than weaker as we evolve upwards in energy, ultimately hitting a Landau pole where $`\alpha ^1(\mathrm{\Lambda })=0`$. We emphasize that this Landau pole is completely physical, since it is induced by the cumulative effects of the Kaluza-Klein thresholds as we evolve upwards in energy. \[Even if we interpret Eq. (4) as a threshold correction rather than as a renormalization group “running,” when $`\stackrel{~}{b}>0`$ this “correction” can push $`\alpha ^1`$ to negative values, which is clearly unacceptable.\] In such cases, depending on the specific value of $`\stackrel{~}{b}`$, there is therefore a maximum allowed value of $`M_{\mathrm{GUT}}R`$ which can be tolerated if we imagine varying $`R`$ while holding $`M_{\mathrm{GUT}}`$ fixed. For example, in some of the “minimal” models of Ref. , the bulk contains not only the $`SU(5)`$ gauge bosons, but also two $`\mathrm{𝟓}`$ representations (for the Higgses) and four $`\mathrm{𝟏𝟎}`$ representations (for the first two generations). Since these are all $`𝒩=2`$ supermultiplets, this leads to a value $`\stackrel{~}{b}=+4`$. (In general, with $`n_5`$ multiplets transforming in the 5 representation and $`n_{10}`$ multiplets in the 10 representation, one obtains $`\stackrel{~}{b}=10+n_5+3n_{10}`$.) We then find that perturbativity in such models requires a maximum value $`M_{\mathrm{GUT}}R\stackrel{<}{}44`$ in order to avoid a Landau pole (or equivalently, to avoid negative inverse gauge couplings). Since some of the models in Ref.  require $`M_{\mathrm{GUT}}R100`$, it is unclear how the perturbative logarithmic unification prediction is maintained in such models.

## IV Power-Law Running and <br>Non-Trivial Ultraviolet Fixed Points

In the setup described in the previous section, the asymptotic ultraviolet power-law scaling of gauge couplings towards weak values is exactly compensated by the asymptotic power-law growth of the number of degrees of freedom in the theory in such a way that the product of these two quantities remains a constant. Thus, the effective strength of the gauge interactions appears to approach a non-trivial fixed point in the ultraviolet. Such behavior for gauge couplings with $`\stackrel{~}{b}<0`$ was also observed previously in Ref. . Of course, in our particular scenario we do not need to approach the truly asymptotic limit $`\mathrm{\Lambda }R\mathrm{}`$ because the logarithmic terms in Eq. (4) eventually induce a unification at $`\mathrm{\Lambda }M_{\mathrm{GUT}}`$; we therefore can take this as a cutoff for the higher-dimensional running. Nevertheless, it is intriguing to consider the formal limit in which we disregard issues of unification and take $`\mathrm{\Lambda }R\mathrm{}`$.

It is already apparent from Fig. 1 that as long as $`\mathrm{\Lambda }R\stackrel{>}{}100`$, our theory essentially becomes “scale invariant” in the sense that the ultraviolet physics becomes independent of the low-energy scale $`R^1`$ at which the GUT precursors appear. We may also rephrase this observation directly in terms of the effective couplings $`\alpha _{\mathrm{eff},i}N\alpha _i`$ where $`NX_\delta (\mathrm{\Lambda }R)^\delta `$. Given the evolution equations for the couplings $`\alpha _i`$ in Eq. (4), it is straightforward to show that the effective couplings $`\alpha _{\mathrm{eff},i}`$ evolve according to

$`\mathrm{\Lambda }{\displaystyle \frac{d\alpha _{\mathrm{eff},i}^1}{d\mathrm{\Lambda }}}`$ $`=`$ $`\left(\delta \alpha _{\mathrm{eff},i}^1+{\displaystyle \frac{\stackrel{~}{b}_i}{2\pi }}\right)+\left({\displaystyle \frac{\stackrel{~}{b}_ib_i}{2\pi X_\delta }}\right)(\mathrm{\Lambda }R)^\delta `$ (7)
$`+{\displaystyle \frac{c_i}{2\pi }}{\displaystyle \frac{\alpha _{\mathrm{eff},i}}{4\pi }}(\mathrm{\Lambda }R)^\delta +\mathrm{},`$
where in the second line we have written the dominant two-loop contributions arising from the bulk and boundary fields running in the loops (with $`c_i`$ representing a two-loop beta-function coefficient). Thus, even though the individual gauge couplings $`\alpha _i`$ themselves evolve with power-law behavior, we see from Eq. (7) that for $`\mathrm{\Lambda }R1`$, the effective gauge couplings $`\alpha _{\mathrm{eff},i}`$ each approach an ultraviolet fixed point at $`\alpha _{\mathrm{eff},i}=2\pi \delta /\stackrel{~}{b}_i`$. Moreover, if $`\stackrel{~}{b}_i\stackrel{~}{b}`$ for all $`i`$, we see that even though the differences of the gauge couplings continue to evolve logarithmically, the fixed-point values of the effective gauge couplings all become equal. Thus, in this sense, we see that the effective strengths of the gauge interactions in this theory each flow to a common fixed point in the ultraviolet. Note that two- and higher-loop effects merely contribute additional power-law terms in Eq. (7) which again vanish in the $`\mathrm{\Lambda }R\mathrm{}`$ limit. Such contributions therefore do not alter the ultraviolet fixed-point structure of these theories.

It is natural to interpret these results as indicating the emergence of a non-trivial (interacting) ultraviolet fixed point corresponding to a supersymmetric, higher-dimensional, unified gauge theory. Indeed, such higher-dimensional fixed-point gauge theories are known to exist in uncompactified five  and six  dimensions. Since we expect the ultraviolet (short-distance) limit of our compactified theory to reproduce the physics of an uncompactified higher-dimensional theory, it is tempting to identify the ultraviolet limit of our theory as one of the interacting fixed-point theories discussed in Refs. .

As an example, let us consider the case of $`SU(N)`$ gauge theory in five dimensions. If the only matter consists of $`n_f`$ “quarks” transforming in the fundamental representation, then the necessary and sufficient condition  for the existence of an interacting ultraviolet fixed point is $`n_f2N`$. This is equivalent to our requirement that $`\stackrel{~}{b}0`$.

It is important to stress that for unitary groups, the conditions for the existence of such non-trivial fixed points are generally stronger than merely demanding $`\stackrel{~}{b}<0`$. For example, if we also introduce bulk matter which transforms in the antisymmetric tensor representation \[e.g., the 10 representation of $`SU(5)`$\], then further restrictions on the number of fundamental representations must be imposed in order to guarantee the fixed-point behavior of the theory in the ultraviolet . These conditions are consistent with $`\stackrel{~}{b}0`$, but provide further constraints on the precise matter content. However, our main point is that we can always ensure that our theory flows to a non-trivial fixed point in the ultraviolet by choosing the bulk field content appropriately. This then guarantees the self-consistency of our scenario and the large separation in energy scales that it contains.

One important by-product of this analysis is that it essentially furnishes us with an alternative, four-dimensional “Kaluza-Klein” realization of these fixed-point theories. In such a realization, the effective higher-dimensional gauge coupling at the fixed point asymptotically emerges in the ultraviolet as the product $`\alpha _{\mathrm{eff}}=N\alpha `$. \[Note that the dimensionful gauge coupling in higher dimensions is $`\alpha _{4+\delta }(\mathrm{\Lambda })=\mathrm{\Lambda }^\delta \alpha _{\mathrm{eff}}(\mathrm{\Lambda })`$.\] Moreover, the existence of such “Kaluza-Klein” realizations for these higher-dimensional fixed points may provide a new tool for studying the properties of these fixed points under compactification, orbifold projection, GUT symmetry breaking, and even supersymmetry breaking. These are precisely the issues that must be addressed if such higher-dimensional fixed-point gauge theories are to have phenomenologically relevant compactifications to four dimensions. Thus, these four-dimensional “Kaluza-Klein” realizations of these interacting fixed points may provide a new approach which can be used when studying how these theories behave under phenomenologically relevant compactifications, and when calculating the subleading corrections that such compactifications introduce.

## V Deconstruction and UV/IR Fixed-Point Matching

Recently, a new four-dimensional ultraviolet completion of Kaluza-Klein theories was proposed . When generalized to a supersymmetric context , this “deconstruction” proposal embeds the Kaluza-Klein theory into a four-dimensional asymptotically free theory based on the gauge group $`SU(N_c)^{N+1}`$. The model can also be described by a “moose” (or quiver) diagram with $`N+1`$ sites and links. At each site on the moose diagram, there is an $`𝒩=1`$ supersymmetric $`SU(N_c)`$ gauge theory; likewise, the links represent chiral multiplets $`\mathrm{\Phi }_I`$ which transform in the bifundamental representation of the two adjacent $`SU(N_c)`$ gauge groups. Each site therefore contains $`N_f=N_c`$ flavors transforming in the fundamental representation of the $`SU(N_c)_i`$ gauge group. At the deconstruction scale, the scalar components $`\varphi _I`$ within the chiral supermultiplets $`\mathrm{\Phi }_I`$ each accrue equal vacuum expectation values $`\varphi _I=v`$ which in turn break the gauge group to the diagonal: $`SU(N_c)^{N+1}SU(N_c)`$. In the energy range $`gv/N<\mu <gv`$, the resulting spectrum is then similar to that of a pure $`𝒩=2`$ supersymmetric $`SU(N_c)`$ Yang-Mills theory compactified on a circle.

Deconstruction naturally provides a renormalizable context for analyzing the ultraviolet fixed points discussed in this paper. Note, first of all, that the effective coupling $`\alpha _{\mathrm{eff}}`$ which approaches the ultraviolet fixed-point value represents in the deconstruction scheme the gauge coupling of gauge groups at each site at the deconstruction scale. Moreover, the fact that $`\alpha _{\mathrm{eff}}`$ is independent of $`N`$ is natural from the deconstruction viewpoint.

However, when embedding these ultraviolet fixed points into a deconstructed theory at even higher energy scales, it is important to maintain the ultraviolet insensitivity of low-energy observables. Otherwise, the underlying fixed-point structure will be destroyed by the deconstruction. Thus, in order to preserve this ultraviolet insensitivity, we see that the ultraviolet fixed points from the Kaluza-Klein perspective must somehow be identified with (or matched with) infrared fixed points of the theory above the deconstruction scale.

The obvious candidates for these infrared fixed points are the four-dimensional fixed points proposed in connection with the conjectured $`𝒩=1`$ Seiberg duality . For $`SU(N_c)`$ gauge groups, it was argued in Ref.  that infrared fixed points exist only when the number $`N_f`$ of flavors satisfies $`3N_c/2<N_f<3N_c`$. Thus, in building our deconstructed theory, we are led to introduce an additional $`n_f>N_c/2`$ flavors of chiral multiplets $`Q_i,\stackrel{~}{Q}_i`$ at each site. The total number of flavors at each site is therefore $`N_f=N_c+n_f`$. For our purposes we will not need a full superconformal field theory in the infrared limit of our deconstructed theory, and it suffices merely to impose the existence of an infrared fixed point for the gauge couplings. In our case, the exact beta-function becomes

$$\beta (g)=\frac{g^3}{16\pi ^2}\frac{b^{}}{1N_cg^2/8\pi ^2}$$
(8)
where the coefficient $`b^{}`$ is given by

$$b^{}=2N_c+n_f\frac{N_c}{2}(\gamma _\mathrm{\Phi }^{I1}+\gamma _\mathrm{\Phi }^I)\frac{n_f}{2}(\gamma _Q^I+\gamma _{\stackrel{~}{Q}}^I)$$
(9)
and where the one-loop anomalous dimensions of the fields at each site/link $`I`$ are given by

$`\gamma _\mathrm{\Phi }`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{8\pi ^2}}\left(2{\displaystyle \frac{N_c^21}{N_c}}g^2n_f\lambda ^2\right),`$ (10)
$`\gamma _Q=\gamma _{\stackrel{~}{Q}}`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{8\pi ^2}}\left({\displaystyle \frac{N_c^21}{N_c}}g^2N_c\lambda ^2\right).`$ (11)
The superpotential describing the deconstructed theory is given by

$$W=\underset{i,I}{}(\sqrt{2}\lambda \stackrel{~}{Q}_{i,I}\mathrm{\Phi }_IQ_{i,I+1}m\stackrel{~}{Q}_{i,I}Q_{i,I}),$$
(12)
whereupon we see that the Kaluza-Klein spectrum for the $`n_f`$ hypermultiplets is recovered by setting $`m=\sqrt{2}g^2v/\lambda `$. In addition, the zero mode of the hypermultiplets has a mass $`m_0^2=2v^2(g^2\lambda ^2)^2/\lambda ^2`$. Since no site is singled out, we have taken $`\gamma _\mathrm{\Phi }^I\gamma _\mathrm{\Phi }`$ for all $`I`$ in Eq. (11). We then find that requiring $`\beta (g)=0`$ defines a curve of fixed points in the $`(g,\lambda )`$ plane.

Let us now consider how to match the ultraviolet fixed point of the five-dimensional theory with the infrared fixed point of the deconstructed theory. First, we must take $`\lambda =g`$ in our deconstructed theory in order to guarantee that the interactions below the deconstruction scale respect $`𝒩=2`$ supersymmetry. Second, since our theory below the deconstruction scale has $`SU(N_c)`$ gauge symmetry with $`n_f`$ flavors, we see that $`\stackrel{~}{b}=2N_c+n_f`$. Thus, our Kaluza-Klein theory has $`g_{\mathrm{eff}}^2=8\pi ^2/(2N_cn_f)`$.

In order to match the ultraviolet and infrared fixed points, we now require solutions for $`\beta (g)=0`$ to occur at $`g=g_{\mathrm{eff}}`$. Setting $`b^{}=0`$ and requiring $`g=g_{\mathrm{eff}}`$, we obtain the constraint

$$(2N_cn_f)(n_fN_c)=2+\frac{n_f}{N_c}.$$
(13)
In the large-$`N_c`$ limit, this has two solutions: $`n_f=N_c`$ and $`n_f=2N_c`$. We can reject the second solution because it implies $`\stackrel{~}{b}=0`$, or $`g_{\mathrm{eff}}\mathrm{}`$. (Equivalently, taking $`n_f=2N_c`$ violates the infrared fixed-point constraint $`N_f<3N_c`$ in the original deconstructed theory.) However, the solution with $`n_f=N_c`$ yields $`N_c\alpha _{\mathrm{eff}}=2\pi `$, which is finite and semi-perturbative. Of course, we must be slightly more careful because this value for $`g_{\mathrm{eff}}`$ causes the denominator in Eq. (8) to diverge. However, for any large but finite value of $`N_c`$, there exists an exact solution for $`n_f/N_c`$ in Eq. (13) which is only slightly larger than $`1`$. For this exact solution, we find that $`b^{}=0`$ and consequently $`\beta (g)=0`$. Note that higher-loop contributions in Eq. (11) are suppressed by the small gauge coupling and thus provide only a small correction to the exact solution for $`n_f/N_c`$ in Eq. (13).

Of course, a fully non-perturbative solution for the ultraviolet/infrared fixed-point matching might also exist. In particular, if we demand that the infrared limit of our deconstructed theory is actually superconformal, then it may be possible to achieve non-perturbative solutions to the constraint $`b^{}=0`$ if the full, non-perturbative, anomalous dimensions satisfy

$$\gamma _\mathrm{\Phi }=2,\gamma _Q+\gamma _{\stackrel{~}{Q}}=2.$$
(14)
The non-perturbative solution to these equations should therefore match the ultraviolet fixed point of our Kaluza-Klein theory in order to preserve the ultraviolet insensitivity of the low-energy theory.

Thus, we conclude that it is possible, in principle, to deconstruct our ultraviolet fixed points while maintaining their ultraviolet insensitivity. Note that the embedding into a deconstructed theory also ensures that there are no other non-renormalizable operators which could appear in the ultraviolet theory and cause difficulties when extrapolated down to lower energies.

## VI Orbifold Choices and Non-Universal Logarithms

Thus far, we have presented a general GUT scenario in which GUT precursor states can be extremely light compared with the scale of gauge coupling unification. Our purpose has been to illustrate the emergence and utilization of non-trivial fixed points as a means of incorporating widely separated energy scales within a single model. However, in order to build a fully consistent model, we must choose an explicit orbifold and take into account certain additional contributions that arise .

Let us first consider the case of the five-dimensional $`SU(5)`$ theory compactified on the $`S_1/\text{ZZ}_2`$ orbifold presented in Sect. II. Under the $`\text{ZZ}_2`$ action, Standard-Model gauge supermultiplets are even while GUT supermultiplets such as the $`X`$ and $`Y`$ gauge supermultiplets are odd. However, since this is a five-dimensional theory, the $`X`$ and $`Y`$ supermultiplets also have fifth components $`X_5`$ and $`Y_5`$, and consistency of the $`\text{ZZ}_2`$ orbifold requires that these components be even. The zero modes of such fields then produce additional non-universal logarithmic contributions to the runnings of the gauge couplings, with coefficients $`(b_1,b_2,b_3)=(5,3,2)`$. However, it is easy to verify that taking $`R^1`$ TeV still leads to an approximate unification at $`M_{\mathrm{GUT}}2\times 10^{13}`$ GeV which, although not as precise as the MSSM unification, is nevertheless more precise than the unification in the Standard Model. Remarkably, as we shall discuss in Sect. VII, such an extra dimension also lowers the fundamental Planck scale to this new unification scale. Of course, at a phenomenological level, it still remains necessary to find a mechanism to give masses to these $`X_5`$ and $`Y_5`$ zero modes, since they represent colored and fractionally charged scalars.

Another option is to compactify our theory on an $`S_1/(\text{ZZ}_2\times \text{ZZ}_2^{})`$ orbifold with two distinct $`\text{ZZ}_2`$ discrete actions  associated with $`yy`$ and $`y\pi Ry`$. Under the $`(\text{ZZ}_2,\text{ZZ}_2^{})`$ orbifold actions, the Standard-Model gauge fields $`A_\mu `$ have $`(+,+)`$ eigenvalues \[with corresponding cosine modings as in Eq. (2) with $`n2\text{ZZ}`$ only\], while $`A_5`$ has $`(,)`$ eigenvalues (resulting in sine modings with $`n2\text{ZZ}`$). Likewise, the GUT precursors $`X_\mu `$ and $`Y_\mu `$ have $`(,+)`$ eigenvalues (resulting in sine modings with $`n2\text{ZZ}+1`$), while $`X_5`$ and $`Y_5`$ have $`(+,)`$ eigenvalues (resulting in cosine modings with $`n2\text{ZZ}+1`$). With this orbifold choice, only the Standard Model fields have zero modes, but this occurs at the expense of splitting the complete GUT multiplets at each Kaluza-Klein level into a subset at even levels, with beta-function coefficients $`(\stackrel{~}{b}_1,\stackrel{~}{b}_2,\stackrel{~}{b}_3)=(0,4,6)`$, and a subset at odd levels, with $`(\stackrel{~}{b}_1^{},\stackrel{~}{b}_2^{},\stackrel{~}{b}_3^{})=(10,6,4)`$. This results in a staggered, “zig-zag” running for the gauge couplings which averages to a universal power-law running with an effective radius $`R/2`$, along with a non-universal logarithmic correction. Specifically, the gauge couplings now run according to

$`\alpha _i^1(\mathrm{\Lambda })`$ $``$ $`\alpha _i^1(M_Z){\displaystyle \frac{b_i}{2\pi }}\mathrm{ln}{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{\Lambda }}{M_Z}}+{\displaystyle \frac{\stackrel{~}{b}}{4\pi }}\mathrm{ln}{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{\Lambda }R}{2}}`$ (16)
$`{\displaystyle \frac{\stackrel{~}{b}}{2\pi }}\left[\left({\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{\Lambda }R}{2}}\right)1\right]{\displaystyle \frac{\stackrel{~}{b}_i^{}}{2\pi }}Y`$
where $`\stackrel{~}{b}\stackrel{~}{b}_i+\stackrel{~}{b}_i^{}=10`$ for all $`i`$, where we have neglected various universal additive constants, and where the non-universal logarithm is given by

$$Y\underset{n=0}{\overset{(\mathrm{\Lambda }R2)/2}{}}\mathrm{ln}\frac{2n+2}{2n+1}\frac{1}{2}\mathrm{ln}\frac{\pi \mathrm{\Lambda }R}{2}$$
(17)
with the last approximation holding in the $`\mathrm{\Lambda }R1`$ limit. Given this running, we then find that the three gauge couplings continue to experience an approximate unification. With $`R^1`$ TeV, the unification scale is unfortunately quite high ($`M_{\mathrm{GUT}}10^{21}`$ GeV), but increasing $`R^1`$ not only improves the accuracy of the resulting unification but also lowers the unification scale. Asymptotically, with $`R^110^{15}`$ GeV, we obtain an essentially exact unification at $`M_{\mathrm{GUT}}10^{17}`$ GeV. Although this resembles the energy scales in the scenario in Ref. , we stress that the bulk theory here contains only gauge fields, and our gauge couplings become weak rather than strong in the ultraviolet limit. Of course, one can also place additional matter in the bulk or on the brane so as to increase the accuracy of the unification and lower the unification scale .

A final option is to place a single Higgs five-plet in the bulk. After compactifying on the $`S_1/(\text{ZZ}_2\times \text{ZZ}_2^{})`$ orbifold, the bulk Higgs doublets (triplets) are at even (odd) Kaluza-Klein levels. We thus have $`\stackrel{~}{b}=9`$, $`(\stackrel{~}{b}_1,\stackrel{~}{b}_2,\stackrel{~}{b}_3)=(3/5,3,6)`$, and $`(\stackrel{~}{b}_1^{},\stackrel{~}{b}_2^{},\stackrel{~}{b}_3^{})=(48/5,6,3)`$. Note that these values of $`\stackrel{~}{b}_i`$ are the same as those of Ref. . This yields a unification of gauge couplings which is similar to (and approximately as accurate as) the case with only gauge bulk fields discussed above; in each case, small (few-percent) threshold corrections at the unification scale are sufficient to render the unification exact for all values of $`R^1`$. Of course, in each case one must place the remaining Higgs field(s) on a Standard-Model brane lacking the GUT symmetry in order to avoid the doublet/triplet problem.

## VII Discussion

In this paper, we have shown that it is possible for certain “GUT precursor” states to appear with masses that are significantly below the scale at which grand unification occurs. As we have seen, the fixed-point structure which makes this possible can be viewed as a general tool which permits the construction of generalized “hybrid” models in which widely separated energy scales can coexist in a natural way.

Needless to say, these observations prompt a number of important questions, both phenomenological and theoretical. Among the most important phenomenological questions is the issue of proton decay. Ordinarily, light $`X`$ and $`Y`$ gauge boson precursors will mediate rapid proton decay. However, as in all low-scale extensions to the Standard Model, this problem may be cured through the use of split fermions on the branes  or through the introduction of extra discrete symmetries . Likewise, other phenomenological issues include doublet/triplet splitting and general issues of flavor physics. Although we have not attempted to make a complete GUT model that accommodates these phenomena, one could imagine doing so following the lines of Refs.  except that we now have the interesting option of extending the energy scales of such models into the TeV range. Moreover, we are also free to introduce further matter into the bulk beyond what we have discussed here, provided we ensure that $`\stackrel{~}{b}`$ remains sufficiently large and negative and provided the conditions  for an ultraviolet fixed point are maintained. Indeed, the presence of two widely separated scales in such models suggests that we might even try to use the GUT precursors to trigger electroweak symmetry breaking and/or supersymmetry breaking. Of course, we have not speculated on the unknown dynamics which might ultimately be responsible for generating and stabilizing such a large radius; ideas along these lines can be found, e.g., in Ref. .

Our results in this paper also raise a number of theoretical issues. The most important concerns the ultraviolet limit of our theory. Although we have shown that the evolution of the gauge couplings is consistent with perturbativity even when the effective higher-dimensional energy interval is large, one must actually verify that all correlation functions in the theory remain finite and under control over this large energy range. This is clearly connected with the over-riding question discussed in Sect. IV concerning the manner in which we approach a scale-invariant fixed point in the ultraviolet. By counting Kaluza-Klein states and vertex factors in diagrams with arbitrary numbers of loops and external legs, it is straightforward to demonstrate that all diagrams in this theory necessarily scale as $`(N\alpha )^k\sqrt{\alpha }^{\mathrm{}}`$ where $`k`$ and $`\mathrm{}`$ are non-negative integers. Thus, in the ultraviolet limit, such diagrams either vanish (if $`\mathrm{}0`$) or approach a fixed finite value (if $`\mathrm{}=0`$). Indeed, even though the number of states in this theory is diverging at higher energies, the individual gauge couplings are falling to zero in an exactly compensatory manner.

For example, the four-fermion amplitude for tree-level Kaluza-Klein exchange in the $`\delta =1`$ case becomes

$`A(s)`$ $``$ $`\alpha (s){\displaystyle \underset{n}{}}{\displaystyle \frac{1}{sn^2/R^2}}{\displaystyle \frac{\alpha (s)}{\sqrt{s}}}R\mathrm{cot}(\pi R\sqrt{s})`$ (19)
$`{\displaystyle \frac{\alpha _{\mathrm{eff}}}{s}}\mathrm{cot}(\pi R\sqrt{s})`$
where we have taken the limit $`sR^21`$ and identified $`\alpha _{\mathrm{eff}}(R\sqrt{s})\alpha (s)`$ as $`s\mathrm{}`$. Thus, since $`A(s)`$ continues to have the asymptotic energy dependence $`1/s`$, no unitarity bounds are violated in the ultraviolet. (The divergence when $`R\sqrt{s}\text{ZZ}`$ merely reflects a fine-tuned Kaluza-Klein resonant pole.) Moreover, as we have already noted, the presence of $`𝒩=2`$ supersymmetry in the bulk ensures the vanishing of many diagrams which would otherwise lead to large and potentially uncontrollable corrections. It will therefore be interesting to explore the ultraviolet self-consistency of this theory further . We stress, however, that amplitudes such as those in Eq. (19) will remain consistent with unitarity bounds only as long as the growing number of Kaluza-Klein states is offset by the power-law running of the gauge couplings. If there are more than two extra dimensions, the power-law running for the gauge couplings will be cancelled by the $`𝒩=4`$ supersymmetry that would be required in the bulk. In such cases, the theory will remain unitary only up to the scale at which these extra dimensions become apparent.

Note that the presence of a large, scale-invariant energy interval in our model is reminiscent of previous models  in which “conformality” is invoked to solve the technical hierarchy problem. These models also share certain features with GUT orbifold models formulated in warped backgrounds , as well as with string models in which physics at all scales conspires to eliminate the quantum-mechanical sensitivity between light and heavy energy scales .

Another important theoretical issue for our models concerns gravity. In this paper we have merely proposed a model of gauge interactions, and as such, any value of $`R`$ for the GUT precursors is permitted. However, if we wish to incorporate gravity, further complications arise. Since our large extra dimension is presumably also felt by gravity, Kaluza-Klein gravitons will induce Newton’s constant to run more quickly. The standard Gauss-law arguments of Ref.  then imply that taking $`R^1𝒪`$(TeV) lowers the effective higher-dimensional Planck scale $`M_{}`$ to approximately $`10^{14}`$ GeV. Although this is comfortably within all experimental constraints, this value is slightly below $`M_{\mathrm{GUT}}10^{16}`$ GeV. This indicates that we reach a region of strong gravity before our gauge couplings unify.

There are two ways in which this situation might be avoided. Within the context of the $`S_1/\text{ZZ}_2`$ orbifold discussed in Sect. VI, we have seen that the additional non-universal logarithmic contributions actually lower the unification scale to approximately $`10^{13}`$ GeV. Thus, for the $`S_1/\text{ZZ}_2`$ orbifold, there is no difficulty. On the other hand, for the $`S_1/(\text{ZZ}_2\times \text{ZZ}_2^{})`$ orbifold, we have seen in Sect. VI that the unification scale generally exceeds $`10^{16}`$ GeV. One possible solution is then to restrict the GUT precursor scale to the range $`R^1\stackrel{>}{}10^{10}`$ GeV; this ensures that $`M_{}\stackrel{>}{}M_{\mathrm{GUT}}`$. Such GUT precursors would still be significantly lighter than the unification scale, although no longer accessible to upcoming collider experiments. Another solution, however, is to lower the value of $`M_{\mathrm{GUT}}`$ to $`10^{14}`$ GeV by introducing further states with appropriate gauge quantum numbers into the theory. Such states would not spoil the universal power-law behavior of this theory if they are restricted to the orbifold fixed points. Gauge coupling unification in such a scenario would then continue to be logarithmic, as desired.

A similar issue arises if we attempt to embed this scenario into string theory. Let us first consider the case of the perturbative heterotic string. In general, the heterotic string scale is related to the Planck scale through the unified gauge coupling: $`M_{\mathrm{string}}=g_{\mathrm{GUT}}M_{\mathrm{Planck}}`$. However, as a result of the asymptotic power-law running of the gauge couplings, we know that $`\alpha _{\mathrm{GUT}}^1(M_{\mathrm{string}}R)^\delta `$. (In writing this relation, we are imagining an ultimate identification of $`M_{\mathrm{string}}`$ with $`M_{\mathrm{GUT}}`$.) However, combining these results and neglecting all numerical factors, we find that $`M_{\mathrm{string}}M_{}`$ where $`M_{}^{2+\delta }M_{\mathrm{Planck}}^2/R^\delta `$ is the higher-dimensional Planck scale at which gravitational effects become significant. Thus, for the heterotic string, the power-law scaling of the gauge coupling implies that it is not possible to separate the scales at which both gravitational and string-theoretic effects become significant. Note that this result persists regardless of the value of the underlying (perturbative) string coupling.

Within the context of Type I strings, however, this situation is somewhat different. For Type I strings, the relation between the string and Planck scales is modified: $`M_{\mathrm{string}}=g_{\mathrm{GUT}}\sqrt{g_{\mathrm{string}}}M_{\mathrm{Planck}}`$, where $`g_{\mathrm{string}}`$ is the underlying string coupling. Again taking $`\alpha _{\mathrm{GUT}}^1(M_{\mathrm{string}}R)^\delta `$, we now find the relation

$$M_{\mathrm{string}}^{2+\delta }g_{\mathrm{string}}M_{}^{2+\delta }.$$
(20)
Thus, since $`M_{}\stackrel{<}{}10^{14}`$ GeV (with the maximum value for $`M_{}`$ occurring for $`\delta =1`$), we see that we can indeed take $`M_{\mathrm{string}}M_{\mathrm{GUT}}`$ if we have a large string coupling $`g_{\mathrm{string}}1`$. This suggests that embedding our scenario within the context of Type I strings necessarily involves strong couplings and non-perturbative physics. Moreover, since the Type I string coupling is given by $`g_{\mathrm{string}}\alpha _{\mathrm{GUT}}V_6M_{\mathrm{string}}^6`$ where $`V_6`$ is the total six-dimensional compactification volume, we see that taking $`g_{\mathrm{string}}1`$ requires $`M_{\mathrm{string}}^6V_6M_{\mathrm{string}}^\delta V_\delta `$ where $`V_\delta `$ is that portion of the compactification volume which produces power-law running for $`\alpha _{\mathrm{GUT}}`$.

Thus, to summarize, we have shown that it is possible for “GUT precursor” states to appear with masses that are extremely light compared with the scale of gauge coupling unification. This suggests a possible new TeV-scale direction for orbifold GUT models. Indeed, more generally, we have seen that ultraviolet embeddings into fixed-point theories can be used to provide a new method for maintaining or stabilizing a wide separation of energy scales within a single model. Using this technique, “hybrid” models with coexisting high and low energy scales can therefore be constructed in a variety of contexts. Equally importantly, however, our four-dimensional “Kaluza-Klein” realization of such fixed points should also provide a new technique for the study of such theories and their properties under various compactifications, both with and without supersymmetry breaking and gauge symmetry breaking. These and other directions await exploration.

## Acknowledgments

KRD was supported in part by the National Science Foundation under Grant PHY-0071054, and by a Research Innovation Award from Research Corporation. ED was supported in part by the RTN European Program HPRN-CT-2000-00148. We wish to thank C. Grojean, K. Intriligator, G.D. Kribs, J. Mourad, M.J. Strassler and especially E. Poppitz for discussions. KRD and TG wish to acknowledge the hospitality of the Aspen Center for Physics where this work was initiated, and KRD and ED wish to acknowledge the hospitality of the Theoretical Physics Institute at the University of Minnesota where this work was completed.


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# Spectroscopic Study of Blue Compact Galaxies II. Spectral Analysis and Correlations

## 1 Introduction

Blue compact galaxies (BCGs) are characterized by their very blue color, compact appearance, high gas content, strong nebular emission lines, and low chemical abundances (Kunth & Östlin 2000; Östlin et al. 2001). These properties are typical of unevolved systems, thus suggesting that BCGs should have suffered very few bursts of star formation during their lives and that some of them are probably experiencing their first burst. In a recent review, Kunth & Östlin (2000) argued that, despite a few remaining young galaxy candidates (like I Zw 18, SBS 0335-052), in most BCGs an old underlying stellar population does exist, revealing at least another burst of star formation (SF) prior to the present one (Papaderos et al. 1996; Kong & Cheng 2002). In addition, these properties make BCGs represent an extreme environment for star formation that differs from that in the Milky Way and in other quiescent nearby galaxies (Izotov & Thuan 1999; Izotov et al. 2001). Detailed studies of BCGs are important not only for understanding their intrinsic properties, but also for understanding of the chemical evolution of galaxies, for constraining models of stellar nucleosynthesis, for understanding star formation processes and galaxy evolution in different environments.

To measure the current star formation rates, stellar components, metallicities, and star formation histories and evolution of BCGs, we have prepared an atlas of optical spectra of the central regions of 97 blue compact galaxies in the first paper of this series (Kong & Cheng 2002; Paper I). Because we want to combine the optical spectra we obtained with H i data to constrain simultaneously the stellar and gas contents of BCGs, we selected most of our sample from H i surveys by Gordon & Gottesman (1981). The spectra were obtained at the 2.16 m telescope at the XingLong Station of the Beijing Astronomical Observatory (BAO) in China. A 300 line mm<sup>-1</sup> grating was used to achieve coverage in the wavelength region from 3580 to 7400 Å with about 10Å resolution.

In the present paper, we provide measurements of emission line equivalent widths and fluxes, equivalent widths of absorption lines, 4000 Å Balmer break index, as well as fluxes at several points of the continuum for our BCGs sample. We explore the trends in emission line fluxes and equivalent widths in the integrated spectra of SFGs in the sample. The absorption features and the continuum colors will be used to study the stellar population components and star formation history of blue compact galaxies. The emission line equivalent widths and fluxes will be used to determine the physical parameters of blue compact galaxies.

The paper is organized as follows. In Section 2, we classify spectra according to their emission lines. Emission line equivalent widths and fluxes measurements are presented in Section 3. Section 4 describes the continuum determination and the measurements of stellar absorption equivalent widths. In Section 5 we present an analysis of the emission line equivalent widths, line ratios and blue magnitudes of BCGs. Section 6 summarizes our conclusions.

## 2 Spectral Classification

Most of our BCGs sample was selected from the previous neutral hydrogen studies of blue compact galaxies by Gordon & Gottesman (1981). This study has focused on the Haro, Markarian, and Zwicky lists of galaxies and hence objects were selected on the basis of a blue color, UV-excess or compactness, but not on the basis of emission line strength (Smoker et al. 2000). The optical spectral observations of these galaxies show a range in spectral properties; from galaxies with absorption line spectra to narrow emission line objects classified as SFGs.

In order to study our sample galaxies in detail, we use emission lines to classify the sample spectra into three types: non-emission line galaxy (non-ELG), low-luminosity active galactic nuclei (AGN) and star-forming galaxy (SFG). Our classification scheme is outlined below.

Because the H$`\alpha `$ recombination line is easily detected in optical spectrum and only weakly affected by dust and underlying stellar absorption, we first separated the spectra into two broad categories, emission line galaxy and non-emission line galaxy, using the H$`\alpha `$ recombination line. When H$`\alpha `$ is detected in emission, we classified the galaxy as an emission line galaxy, otherwise as a non emission line galaxy. 13 of 97 BCGs spectra have no H$`\alpha `$ recombination emission lines, and were classified as non-ELGs. Stellar H$`\alpha `$ absorption lines are, in fact, prominent in all of these spectra.

Next we classify the remaining 84 emission line spectra into active galactic nuclei and star-forming galaxies based on the next 3 steps:

1. Because of their very large permitted line widths, Seyfert 1 galaxies are easily recognizable. We classify 5 galaxies (Mrk 335, Mrk 352, Mrk 6, I Zw 26, and Mrk 50) with broad emission lines in their spectra as Seyfert 1 galaxies.
2. To discriminate the Seyfert 2 from star-forming galaxies, we consider the intensity ratio (corrected for reddening, see Sec. 3.4) $`R_{23}=(\text{[O }\text{ii}\text{]}3727+\text{[O }\text{iii}\text{]}4959,5007)/\text{H}\beta `$ (Dessauges - Zavadsky et al. 2000) to the remaining 78 galaxies except for VII Zw 631. Dessauges - Zavadsky et al. (2000) showed empirically that galaxies with log $`R_{23}1.1`$ are mostly Seyfert 2. Based on this diagnostic, we classify 4 galaxies, Mrk 1, Mrk 622, Mrk 198, Mrk 270, as Seyfert 2. The classification of Seyfert 1 and Seyfert 2 agrees with the results of Véron-Cetty & Véron (2001).
3. When neither \[O ii\]3727 nor \[O iii\]4959,5007 are available, we use the flux ratio of H$`\alpha `$ and \[N ii\]6583 to identify an AGN (Carter et al. 2001). If $`\mathrm{log}`$($`\text{[N }\text{ii}\text{]}6583/\text{H}\alpha `$) $`<`$ $`0.25`$, the galaxy is classified as a star-forming galaxy (SFG, H ii-like); otherwise it is classified as an AGN. This allows us to classify VII Zw 631, which has $`\mathrm{log}`$($`\text{[N }\text{ii}\text{]}6583/\text{H}\alpha `$)= $`0.07`$, as an AGN.

To summarize, our sample consists of 13 non-ELGs; 10 AGNs; and 74 SFGs.

## 3 Emission line measurements

### 3.1 Measurements

The prominent spectral features of SFGs and AGNs include some commonly found strong emission lines, such as \[O ii\]3727, H$`\beta `$4861, \[O iii\]4959,5007, H$`\alpha `$6563, \[N ii\]6583, \[S ii\]6716, 6731, and some less common emission lines, such as H$`\gamma `$4340, \[O iii\]4363, He i5876, and \[O i\]6300.

The rest-frame equivalent widths, $`EWs`$, and integrated fluxes, $`F`$, of the emission lines were measured by direct numerical integration, using the SPLOT program in IRAF. The continuum levels and integration limits for the lines were set interactively, with repeat measurements made in difficult case. For single emission lines such as H$`\beta `$4861, \[O iii\]5007, direct integral methods were used. This method allows the measurement of lines with asymmetric shapes (i.e. with deviations from Gaussian profiles). For blended lines such as H$`\alpha `$, \[N ii\]6548,6583, and the \[S ii\]6716, 6731 doublet, we used the Gaussian deblending program of SPLOT. In Figure 1, as an example, we show the three narrow Gaussian components to fit of H$`\alpha `$, \[N ii\]6548,6583 of III Zw 43. Note that in these blended cases, the lines are only partly blended. The interactive method allows us to control by eye the level of the continuum, taking into account defects that may be present around the line measured. It does not have the objectivity of automatic measurements, but it does allow us to obtain reliable, accurate measurements.

The equivalent widths of various emission lines are listed in Table 1, for all SFGs and active galactic nuclei. The objects are ordered by increasing right ascension at the epoch 2000 ($`\alpha _{2000}`$). Column (1) lists the galaxy name (same as Table 1 of Paper I). Columns (2) – (9) list the equivalent widths of the commonly found emission lines. Columns (10) – (13) list the equivalent widths of less commonly found emission lines. The second line for each entry lists an estimate of the error (see in Sec 3.2). We use the convention that positive equivalent widths denote emission to conserve space and improve readability. A dash in the table indicates either that the corresponding segment of the spectrum is lacking or that the spectrum was too noisy in the region to give a reliable value of equivalent widths. We have chosen an equivalent width of 1.0 Å as the lower limit for true detection. The observed emission line fluxes (the Galactic foreground reddening were corrected, see Kong & Cheng 2002) are listed in Table 2.

### 3.2 Standard deviations

For measurements of emission lines and absorption lines where the slope and curvature of the continuum are well defined, the main sources of random errors in the flux and equivalent width measurements are the uncertainty of the overall height of the continuum level, the individual intensity points within the interval of integration, the signal-to-noise ratio of the continuum, and the uncertainty in the choice of the best-fitting profile parameter. To estimate $`1\sigma `$ standard deviations of emission lines, we followed the method outlined in Tresse et al. (1999), based on the formulae of propagation of errors and Poisson statistics. The derivation of error formulae can also be found in Longhetti et al. (1998).

The error $`\sigma _F`$ in the flux $`F`$ of an emission line can be expressed as (Tresse et al. 1999):

$$\sigma _F=\sigma _cD\sqrt{2N_{pix}+EW/D}$$
(1)
The error $`\sigma _{EW}`$ with equivalent width $`EW`$ of the line can be expressed as:

$$\sigma _{EW}=\frac{EW}{F}\sigma _cD\sqrt{EW/D+2N_{pix}+(EW/D)^2/N_{pix}}$$
(2)
where $`\sigma _c`$ is the mean standard deviation per pixel of the continuum on each side of the line, $`D`$ is the spectral dispersion in Å per pixel (for our spectral sample, D=4.8) and $`N_{pix}`$ is the number of pixels covered by the line. Because the signal-to-noise ratio for each pixel was estimated by scaling the continuum variance according to Poisson statistics, these are not exactly the formal statistical $`1\sigma `$ errors of $`F`$ or $`EW`$. Our approximation slightly overestimates the errors, but in our analysis, we are mainly interested in the consistency of the estimation of errors.

In Figure 2, we plot a logarithm of the detection level of equivalent widths, log ($`EW/\sigma (EW)`$), versus log $`EW`$ for 4 commonly found emission lines, \[O ii\]3727, H$`\beta `$, \[O iii\]5007, and H$`\alpha `$ with equivalent widths above 1.5Å. The result shows our equivalent widths limit is at a $`3\sigma `$ confidence level for those commonly found emission lines, and the typical uncertainty in these measurements is less than 10%. For those less common lines, such as H$`\gamma `$4340, \[O i\]6300, the measurements typically have confidence levels $`2\sigma `$, and the typical uncertainty in these measurements is about 20%.

### 3.3 Stellar absorption correction

Fluxes of emission lines will be used to determine the internal reddening of emission line regions, the star formation rate, and the element abundance of galaxies. It is known that the measurements are an underestimate of the real flux of the spectral lines, because of the underlying absorption component. To correct the underlying stellar absorption, some authors (such as Popescu & Hopp 2000) adopt a constant equivalent width ($`1.52`$ Å) for all the hydrogen absorption lines. Because the real value of the absorption equivalent width is uncertain and dependent on the age of star formation burst and star formation history (Izotov et al. 1994; González Delgado et al. 1999), the other usual correction for the contamination by stellar absorption lines assumes absorption equivalent widths, and iterates until the color excesses derived from H$`\alpha `$/H$`\beta `$, H$`\beta `$/H$`\gamma `$, and H$`\beta `$/H$`\delta `$ ratios converge to the same value (Izotov et al. 1994).

To derive the absorption equivalent width for hydrogen lines, we have applied an empirical population synthesis method, which uses observed properties of star clusters as a base (Cid Fernandes et al. 2001), to our BCG spectra. This empirical population synthesis method can give the synthetic stellar population spectrum, so we can measure these underlying stellar absorption features for hydrogen lines. A full description of this application and equivalent widths of underlying stellar absorption lines will be presented in a forthcoming paper.

Emission line fluxes of H$`\alpha `$, H$`\beta `$, and H$`\gamma `$ are corrected for this underlying absorption effect as follows:

$$F_{\mathrm{line}}^{\mathrm{cor}}=F_{\mathrm{line}}^{\mathrm{obs}}(1+EW_{\mathrm{line}}^{\mathrm{abs}}/EW_{\mathrm{line}}^{\mathrm{obs}}),$$
(3)
where $`F_{\mathrm{line}}^{\mathrm{cor}}`$ and $`F_{\mathrm{line}}^{\mathrm{obs}}`$ (see in Table 2, were corrected for Galactic extinction) are respectively the absorption corrected and the observed emission line fluxes, and $`EW_{\mathrm{line}}^{\mathrm{abs}}`$ and $`EW_{\mathrm{line}}^{\mathrm{obs}}`$ (see in Table 1) are, respectively, the equivalent widths of the underlying stellar absorption line and of the observed emission line.

### 3.4 Dust attenuation corrections

The extinction of interstellar dust in SFGs modifies the spectra of these objects. It is necessary to correct all observed line fluxes for this internal reddening. The most widely method used to correct the emission line spectra for the presence of dust is based on the relative strengths of low order Balmer lines. In order to have an internally consistent sample, we applied this method to each of our objects, using only the ratio of the two strongest Balmer lines, H$`\alpha `$$`/`$H$`\beta `$.

We used the effective absorption curve $`\tau _\lambda =\tau _V(\lambda /5500\mathrm{\AA })^{0.7}`$, which was introduced by Charlot & Fall (2000). The color excess arising from attenuation by dust in a galaxy, $`E_{BV}^{int}`$, can be written:

$$E_{BV}^{int}=A_V/R_V=1.086\tau _V/R_V,$$
(4)
$$\tau _V=\frac{\mathrm{ln}[F(\text{H}\alpha )/F(\text{H}\beta )]\mathrm{ln}[I(\text{H}\alpha )/I(\text{H}\beta )]}{[(\lambda _{\mathrm{H}\alpha }/5500)^{0.7}(\lambda _{\mathrm{H}\beta }/5500)^{0.7}]}$$
(5)
where $`I(\text{H}\alpha )/I(\text{H}\beta )`$ is the intrinsic Balmer flux ratio, $`F(\text{H}\alpha )/F(\text{H}\beta )`$ is the observed Balmer flux ratio (were corrected for Galactic extinction and underlying stellar absorption), $`\tau _V`$ is the effective $`V`$-band optical depth. $`\lambda _{\mathrm{H}\alpha }=6563\mathrm{\AA }`$, $`\lambda _{\mathrm{H}\beta }=4861\mathrm{\AA }`$, , and $`R_V=3.1`$. We adopted $`I(\text{H}\alpha )/I(\text{H}\beta )`$ = 2.87 for SFGs , and $`I(\text{H}\alpha )/I(\text{H}\beta )`$ = 3.10 for the AGN-like objects (Dessauges - Zavadsky et al 2000). For 4 galaxies, I Zw 18, Haro 43, II Zw 70, and, I Zw 123, their observed flux ratio, F(H$`\alpha `$)/F(H$`\beta `$), are less than the theoretical flux ratio 2.87, we set $`E_{BV}^{int}`$ to be zero. The results of color excesses $`E_{BV}^{int}`$ are listed in the last column of Table 3.

The value of the color excess was then applied to the observed spectrum, and the final, intrinsic line fluxes relative to H$`\beta `$ for each galaxy can be expressed as:

$$\frac{I(\lambda )}{I(H\beta )}=\frac{F(\lambda )}{F(H\beta )}\mathrm{e}^{\tau _V[(\lambda /5500)^{0.7}(\lambda _{\mathrm{H}\beta }/5500)^{0.7}]},$$
(6)
where $`F(\lambda )`$ and $`I(\lambda )`$ are the dust-obscured (observed) and intrinsic line fluxes, respectively. The attenuation-corrected line intensities relative to H$`\beta `$ are given in Table 3 for each star forming galaxy and AGN. The objects are ordered by increasing right ascension at the epoch 2000 ($`\alpha _{2000}`$). Column (1) lists the galaxy name, columns (2) – (12) list the line intensities relative to H$`\beta `$, column (13) list the intrinsic flux of H$`\beta `$, which was corrected for both internal and Galactic extinction, and underlying stellar absorption. Column (14) lists the color excesses $`E_{BV}^{int}`$ for each galaxy.

### 3.5 Comparison with previous studies

Seven galaxies in our BCG sample — III Zw 43 (0211+038), II Zw 40 (0553+033), Mrk 5 (0635+756), I Zw 18 (0930+554), Haro 4 (1102+294), Haro 29 (1223+487), I Zw 123 (1535+554) — have been observed previously by Izotov, Thuan & Lipovetsky (1997, ITL97), Izotov & Thuan (1998, IT98), and Guseva, Izotov, & Thuan (2000, GIT00), with the Ritchey-Chretien spectrograph at the Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO) 4 m telescope, and with the GoldCam spectrograph at the 2.1 m KPNO telescope. These high signal-to-noise ratio spectrophotometric observations allow us to test the quality of our data. We perform a detailed comparison of these previous studies in this subsection.

In III Zw 43, GIT00 did not detect \[O iii\]4363 line, the \[S ii\]6731 line intensity ratio is about 10% higher, and the other emission line ratios are in good agreement with ours. For II Zw 40 in GIT00, Haro 29 in ITL97, our data are in fairly good agreement with these studies. In Mrk 5, our \[O i\]6300 and \[S ii\]6717 line intensities are about 25% higher, and \[O ii\] is $``$ 13% lower than that in IT98. In I Zw 18, our H$`\gamma `$, \[O iii\]4363, \[S ii\] line intensities are stronger, but He i5876 is weaker. In Haro 4, some less strong lines are not good agreement with IT98. Finally for I Zw 123, the agreement is not good as the other galaxies, our $`I(\lambda )/I(\text{H}\beta )`$ data have large differences with ITL97, but the $`F(\lambda )/F(\text{H}\beta )`$ are in good agreement with ITL97.

We now display this comparison in a more visible form in Figure 3. The horizontal axis represent different spectral lines, the vertical axis shows the differences between our line intensities ($`[I(\lambda )/I(\text{H}\beta )]_{\mathrm{OUR}}`$ ) and the values of GIT00, IT98 and ITL97 ($`[I(\lambda )/I(\text{H}\beta )]_{\mathrm{IT}}`$). We found, our line intensity ratios are in good agreement with these previous studies for most spectral lines of most galaxies, the difference between our sample and these studies is less than 10% for those strong emission lines, and less than 15% for those less strong lines, such as H$`\gamma `$4340,\[O iii\]4363,\[O i\]6300 of most galaxies.

The observed fluxes of H$`\beta `$ in our data are larger than those in previous studies, the explanation could be: 1) the data in these previous studies were not corrected for the Galactic extinction; 2) Our slit width is larger than that of previous studies; 3) the position angle of slit is different between ours and those previous studies. We will discuss the slit effect and derive an aperture correction for each galaxy in a future paper.

## 4 Continuum and absorption line measurements

The equivalent widths of absorption lines and the continuum colors provide information about the stellar populations and physical parameters of galaxies. One of our goals is to study the star formation history and chemical evolution of BCGs. To this end, we also determined a pseudocontinuum at selected pivot points and measured the equivalent widths of 7 absorption features, integrating the flux within each window between the pseudocontinuum and the spectrum. The absorption features and continuum points are chosen based on the population synthesis method (Cid Fernandes et al. 2001) that will be used in a forthcoming paper.

### 4.1 Continuum measurements

In order to derive a continuum, we have measured the flux values at 9 pivot points, 3660, 4020, 4510, 4630, 5313, 5500, 6080, 6630, 7043 Å which were chosen to avoid regions of strong emission or absorption features (Bica 1988, Kong & Cheng 1999, Saraiva et al. 2001). The corresponding fluxes were determined as averages in 20Å bins centered in the listed wavelengths. The determination of the continuum has been checked interactively, taking into account the flux level, the noise and minor wavelength calibration uncertainties as well as anomalies due to the presence of emission lines. The excellent quality of the spectra allowed a precise determination of the continuum in the majority of cases.

In addition, 3 point flux values (3784, 3814, 3918 Å) were measured, which were necessary for the determination of the continuum in galaxies with strong contribution of late B to F stars which present several high-order Balmer absorption lines in this region (Bica et al. 1994). Due to the crowding of the absorption lines, it is difficult to make automatic measurements. We thus selected the highest value of $`\lambda `$3784, $`\lambda `$3814 and $`\lambda `$3918 Å fluxes to represent the continuum in these spectral regions.

Figure 4 illustrates the application of the method to two of the sample spectra. The spectrum in Fig. 4a corresponds to the nucleus of the non-emission line galaxy II Zw 82. The spectrum is purely stellar, so it is straightforward to measure the pseudocontinuum. Fig. 4b shows the nuclear spectrum of Haro 1, a star-forming galaxy. The continuum is also well defined. Overall, we find that the method works well for most spectra, with the exception of the nuclear regions of AGNs (see end of this Section).

The specific continuum wavelengths and corresponding fluxes for the non-ELGs and SFGs are shown in Table 4. The second line for each galaxy entry lists the errors with continuum measurements, calculated as the rms deviation from the average continuum flux.

### 4.2 Absorption line measurements

The spectrum of a galaxy is produced by the sum of the spectral characteristics of its stellar content (Weiss et al. 1995). Observations of the integrated spectra of galaxies can be used to determine the distribution in age and metal abundance of the stellar population in these systems and hence to determine their epoch of formation and subsequent star formation history (Arimoto & Yoshii 1986). To this aim, some strong, easily identifiable absorption features in our observed spectral range are measured, which include some age and metallicity sensitive absorption features. The absorption line names and adopted spectral wavelength windows are shown in Table 5.

The rest-frame equivalent widths of these absorption features were automatically computed by summing the observed fluxes below the continuum level, which itself is estimated by fitting a straight line to the fluxes in the above continuum regions. The equivalent widths of the absorption features for these non-ELGs and SFGs are presented in Table 6. The second line for each galaxy entry lists the errors on equivalent widths, which are computed from equation (2) in this paper. Figure 5 shows that logarithm of the detection level of $`EW`$ versus log $`EW`$ for 4 absorption lines, such as Ca K, Ca H, H$`\delta `$ and MgI$`+`$MgH when its $`EW>1.5`$Å. Our absorption feature $`EW`$ limit is at a $`3\sigma `$ confidence level for the absorption lines of most galaxies. The mean uncertainty in these measurements is about 10% for those non-ELGs and about 15% for those SFGs.

### 4.3 4000 Å Balmer break index measurements

As well as the absorption features, we also measured the 4000 Å Balmer break. It is the strongest discontinuity in the optical spectrum of a galaxy and arises because of the accumulation of a large number of spectral lines in a narrow wavelength region (Bruzual 1983). The main contribution to the opacity comes from ionized metals. In hot stars, the elements are multiple ionized and the opacity decreases, so the 4000 Å break will be small for young stellar populations and large for old, metal-rich galaxies (Kauffmann et al. 2002).

We use the definition using narrower continuum bands than Bruzual’s, which was introduced by Balogh et al (1999). The principal advantage of the narrow definition is that the index is considerably less sensitive to reddening effects. It is defined as the ratio of the average fluxes (for frequency unit) measured in the spectral ranges 4000–4100Å and 3850–3950Å: D4000vn=F<sub>ν</sub>\[4000–4100Å\]$`/`$F<sub>ν</sub>\[3850–3950Å\]. The D4000vn index is simply a flux ratio and, hence the error is determined from standard propagation techniques. The D4000vn index value and its error for these non-ELGs and SFGs are presented in the last column of Table 6.

While for non-ELGs and SFGs the placement of the continuum is straightforward, this is not the case in the nuclear regions of most AGNs, where the numerous broad lines and intense non-stellar continuum complicate the analysis. The continuum points are impossible to determine accurately, and the equivalent widths of the absorption lines cannot be measured accurately. Therefore, for 10 AGNs, we only measured the integrated fluxes, $`F`$, and rest-frame equivalent widths, $`EWs`$, of the emission lines. We did not measure the continuum fluxes and equivalent widths of the absorption lines for those AGNs.

## 5 Emission line analysis for SFGs

The main goal of this series of papers is to measure the current star formation rates, stellar components, metallicities, and star formation histories and evolution of BCGs. For this purpose, we are mostly interested in the SFGs. Therefore, in present section, we do not consider the galaxies with Seyfert nuclei and the non-emission line galaxies in our BCG sample. In the following, the sample will refer to the 74 SFGs. We investigate the emission line trends in spectra of those SFGs in this section.

### 5.1 Equivalent widths of emission lines

#### 5.1.1 $`EWs`$ versus $`M_B`$

It is interesting to explore how the equivalent widths of emission lines depend on the galaxy absolute blue magnitude $`M_B`$ (Column 6 of Table 1 in Paper I). The equivalent widths of \[O ii\]3727, H$`\beta `$, and H$`\alpha `$ are well correlated with $`M_B`$, the other emission lines are also correlated with $`M_B`$, but the spread in equivalent widths at a given luminosity is large. Lower luminosity systems tend to have larger equivalent widths for most of emission lines, except for \[N ii\]6583.

In the top panel of Figure 6, we plot the H$`\alpha `$ emission equivalent width as a function of $`M_B`$ for the SFGs in our sample. A pronounced trend towards larger equivalent widths at lower luminosities can be found, galaxies with the strongest H$`\alpha `$ lines are of low luminosity. $`EW`$(H$`\alpha `$) is the ratio of the flux originating from UV photoionization photons ($`<912`$ Å) to the flux from the old stellar population emitted in the rest-frame $`R`$ passband, which forms the continuum at H$`\alpha `$. Thus, a large equivalent widths is due either to a large UV flux (or $`B`$ absolute magnitude since they are correlated), or to a low continuum from old stars. In either case, this implies a blue continuum color. Hence, the observed trend of larger $`EW`$(H$`\alpha `$) for fainter galaxies implies that the faint SFG population is dominated by blue galaxies, while the bright SFG population is dominated by redder galaxies.

In the bottom panel of Figure 6, we plot the \[N ii\]6583 emission line equivalent width as a function of $`M_B`$ for the SFGs in our sample. Its equivalent width behaves in the opposite way, lower luminosity systems tend to have smaller equivalent widths. Such a trend has also been found in other studies of nearby galaxies (Jansen et al. 2000). The global behavior of \[N ii\]6583 $`EW`$ reflects intrinsic differences in the nitrogen abundance in BCGs, on average luminous BCGs are likely to be enhanced in nitrogen abundance. This suggests that, in faint, low-mass, BCGs, nitrogen is a primary element, whereas in brighter, more massive BCGs it comes from a secondary source.

#### 5.1.2 $`EW`$(\[N ii\])/$`EW`$(H$`\alpha `$) versus $`EW`$(H$`\alpha `$\+ \[N ii\])

In deep large optical surveys, low-resolution spectroscopy or narrowband H$`\alpha `$ imaging is often used. H$`\alpha `$ and \[N ii\]6548, 6583 lines are often blended, so it is important to recover the flux solely in H$`\alpha `$ to measure for instance the H$`\alpha `$ luminosity function, hence to derive a star formation rate. Figure 7a shows that the \[N ii\]6583/H$`\alpha `$ $`EW`$ ratio decreases as a function of $`EW`$(H$`\alpha `$). All the spectra in this figure have $`EW`$(\[N ii\]) and $`EW`$(H$`\alpha `$) $`>`$ 10 Å, which can be measured very accurately. The \[N ii\]6583/H$`\alpha `$ equivalent widths ratio is strongly correlated with $`EW`$(H$`\alpha `$). A least-squares fit of this relation yields: log $`EW`$(\[N ii\]6583)$`/EW`$(H$`\alpha `$) = $`(1.01\pm 0.14)(0.85\pm 0.07)`$ log $`EW`$(H$`\alpha `$).

Since $`EW(\text{[N }\text{ii}\text{]}6583)=3EW(\text{[N }\text{ii}\text{]}6548)`$, we also plot the relation 1.33 $`EW(\text{[N }\text{ii}\text{]}6583)`$/ $`EW(\text{H}\alpha )`$ versus $`EW(\text{H}\alpha )+1.33EW(\text{[N }\text{ii}\text{]}6583)`$ in Figure 7b. The trend is similar to that in Fig. 7a, log $`1.33EW(\text{[N }\text{ii}\text{]}6583)/EW(\text{H}\alpha )`$ = $`(1.36\pm 0.20)(0.91\pm 0.09)`$ log $`(EW(\text{H}\alpha )+1.33EW(\text{[N }\text{ii}\text{]}6583))`$. Thus we can predict which value is expected for the ratio when observing the blend H$`\alpha `$ \+ \[N ii\]6548, 6583. For instance, if this latter, EW(H$`\alpha `$) + 1.33EW(\[N ii\]6583), is $`100`$ Å, the ratio 1.33 $`EW(\text{[N }\text{ii}\text{]}6583)`$ / $`EW(\text{H}\alpha )`$ should be $`0.35`$. The value of the ratio \[N ii\]6548,6583 / H$`\alpha `$, as determined by Kennicutt (1992), is usually taken to be 0.5 to remove the contribution of \[N ii\] to (H$`\alpha `$\+ \[N ii\]) blended emission. This is slightly larger than the typical value for our star-forming galaxy sample trend, presumably because Kennicutt’s sample contains a large fraction of early-type galaxies, which have systematically higher ratios (Tresse et al. 1999).

### 5.2 Fluxes of emission lines

Emission line fluxes are primary traces of the star formation rate (SFR) in galaxies (Kennicutt 1998). For star-forming galaxies, the Balmer emission line luminosities scale directly with the ionizing fluxes of the embedded young stars, and this makes it possible to use the Balmer lines to derive SFRs in galaxies. H$`\alpha `$ is the best line for such applications, but beyond $`z0.20.3`$, this line is redshifted into the near infrared. To find other tracers of SFR we analyze the fluxes of other emission lines as a function of the intrinsic H$`\alpha `$ flux.

Since the various prominent emission lines correlate with each other, any of them is likely to be a first order ranking indicator of SFR of star-forming galaxies, but the strongest correlations are found between \[O ii\]3727, H$`\gamma `$4340, H$`\beta `$ and H$`\alpha `$. \[O ii\]3727 is the most useful star formation tracer in the blue. In Figure 8a, we show the flux of \[O ii\]3727 as a function of the intrinsic H$`\alpha `$ flux. We found, as expected, these two lines have a strong correlation.

From purely astrophysical considerations, the most reliable star formation tracers in the blue should be the higher order Balmer lines, since the fluxes of these lines scale directly with the massive star formation and are nearly independent of the temperature and ionization level of the emitting gas. Figure 8b shows the relation between the fluxes of H$`\alpha `$ and H$`\gamma `$. A strong, roughly linear correlation between H$`\alpha `$ and H$`\gamma `$ is apparent. This correlation confirms that the H$`\gamma `$ line can serve as a reliable star formation tracer in strong emission line galaxies, such as the SFGs in our BCG sample. In addition, the correlation between the intrinsic fluxes of H$`\alpha `$ and H$`\beta `$ is stronger than that between the fluxes of H$`\alpha `$ and H$`\gamma `$, H$`\beta `$ is another good star formation tracer for SFGs.

Recently, Charlot & Longhetti (2001) quantified the uncertainties in these SFR estimators. They found SFR estimates based purely on one of emission line luminosity of galaxies could be in error by more than an order of magnitude. On the other hand, with the help of other emission lines, these errors can be substantially reduced. Based on our high quality spectrophotometric data, we can derive star formation rate for each galaxy, using these different star formation rate estimators.

### 5.3 Line ratios and metallicity

Numerous studies have claimed the existence of a metallicity-luminosity relation in a variety of classes of galaxies: dynamically hot galaxies, i.e. ellipticals, bulges, and dwarf spheroidals, dwarf H ii galaxies, irregular galaxies and spirals (Lequeux et al. 1979; Skillman, Kennicutt, & Hodge 1989; Stasińska & Sodré 2001). In Figure 9a–9c, we show the various metallicity indices, $`R_{23}`$=(\[O ii\]3727+\[O iii\]4959, 5007)/H$`\beta `$ (Pagel et al. 1979), \[N ii\]6583/H$`\alpha `$ (van Zee et al. 1998) and \[N ii\]6583/\[O ii\]3727 (Dopita et al. 2000) as a function of the total absolute blue magnitude $`M_B`$. The line flux ratios were corrected for both internal (using the value of $`E_{BV}^{int}`$) and Galactic extinction, and underlying stellar absorption. Since the reddening correction becomes more uncertain for galaxies with small $`EW`$(H$`\alpha `$) and $`EW`$(H$`\beta `$), we only use those objects that have $`EW`$(H$`\beta `$) $`>`$ 5 Å and thus the most reliable reddening corrections. We do find a good correlation between $`M_B`$ and the metallicity indices \[N ii\]6583/H$`\alpha `$ and $`R_{23}`$. The correlation of the \[N ii\]6583/\[O ii\]3727 index with $`M_B`$ is statistically significant, but at a rather low level. These metallicity indices show clear trends with galaxy absolute magnitude, confirming that indeed there is a relation in blue compact galaxies between the overall metallicity of the star forming regions and the galaxy luminosity. The higher the galaxy absolute magnitude, the higher the heavy element content. This relation suggests that the metallicity of faint, low mass BCGs is low.

We now examine whether there is a relation between the color excesses due to internal extinction, $`E_{BV}^{int}`$, and the overall metallicity of the galaxies. So far, there have been contradictory claims in this respect. Zaritsky et al. (1994) found no evidence for a systematic dependence between reddening and abundance in a sample of 39 disk galaxies. In other contexts, Stasińska & Sodré(2001) found that the nebular extinction as derived from the Balmer decrement strongly correlates with the effective metallicity of the emission line regions of spiral galaxies.

Figure 9d shows $`E_{BV}^{int}`$ as a function of the metallicity indicator \[N ii\]6583/H$`\alpha `$, which is less affected by the reddening correction. We find there is a clear correlation, $`\mathrm{log}(I_{[\mathrm{NII}]6583}/I_{\mathrm{H}\alpha })_{cor}=(1.06\pm 0.07)+(0.92\pm 0.17)E_{BV}^{int}`$. \[N ii\]6583/H$`\alpha `$ tends to be larger for larger values of $`E_{BV}^{int}`$, when $`E_{BV}^{int}>0.1`$. Internal extinction indeed correlates with the overall metallicity of BCGs, especially among the galaxies with large $`E_{BV}^{int}`$. Since the metallicity indices correlate with $`M_B`$, the correction between $`I_{[\mathrm{NII}]6583}/I_{\mathrm{H}\alpha }`$ and $`E_{BV}^{int}`$ also suggest the internal extinction of brighter, more massive BCGs is higher.

## 6 Summary

In this paper, we have measured the fluxes and equivalent widths of emission lines, the fluxes at several points of the continuum, the 4000 Å Balmer break index, and the equivalent widths of absorption lines for our BCGs sample. Then we have analyzed the fluxes and equivalent widths of emission lines for the star-forming galaxy subsample.

Our main results are:

1. We have measured the fluxes and equivalent widths of emission lines for BCGs, and estimated their errors. The typical uncertainties of the measurements are less than 10% for the brightest H$`\alpha `$6563, H$`\beta `$4861, \[O ii\]3727, \[O iii\]4959,5007, \[N ii\]6583, \[S ii\]6717,6731 lines and less than 20% for the weaker H$`\gamma `$4340, He i5876, \[O i\]6300 and \[O iii\]4363 lines. Our line intensity ratios are in good agreement with those of previous studies. The color excesses due to internal extinction was calculated based on the flux ratio of H$`\alpha `$/H$`\beta `$.
2. The equivalent widths of absorption features, the continuum colors and the 4000 Å Balmer break indices of BCGs were measured. The mean certainty in these measurements is better than 15%.
3. The equivalent width of H$`\alpha `$ emission line is correlated with $`M_B`$; lower luminosity systems tend to have larger equivalent widths. This can be explained by assuming blue galaxies dominate the faint SFG population, while redder galaxies dominate the bright SFG population.
4. On average, luminous BCGs are likely to be enhanced in nitrogen abundance. This suggests that in faint, low-mass, BCGs nitrogen is a primary element, whereas in brighter, more massive BCGs nitrogen comes from a secondary source.
5. A correlation is found between most of emission lines, the strongest correlations are found between \[O ii\]3727, H$`\gamma `$, H$`\beta `$ and H$`\alpha `$. Besides \[O ii\]3727, H$`\gamma `$ and H$`\beta `$ lines can serve as a reliable star formation tracers for strong emission line galaxies.
6. Metallicity indices show clear trends with galaxy absolute magnitude, confirming that there is a relation in galaxies between the overall metallicity of the star forming regions and the galaxy luminosity. Faint, low-mass BCGs have lower metallicity and internal extinction.

We thank the referee Dr. Y. I. Izotov for his valuable comments, constructive suggestions on the manuscript. This work is based on observations made with the 2.16m telescope of the Beijing Astronomical Observatory(BAO) and supported by the Chinese National Natural Science Foundation (CNNSF 10073009). S.C. thanks the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, and the Programme for Investment in the Future (ZIP) of the German Government for support. X.K. has been financed by the Special Funds for Major State Basic Research Projects of China and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation of Germany.

Tables 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 are only available in electronic form at the CDS via anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or via http://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/