text:
# Rotation and abundance anomalies in blue horizontal-branch stars

## 1. Introduction

Despite extensive observations and detailed theoretical modelling of post-main-sequence stellar evolution, we still cannot fully explain the color distributions and detailed properties of horizontal branch (HB) stars in globular clusters. The relative number of red versus blue HB stars is primarily a function of a cluster’s metallicity, but the wide variety of HB color morphologies found among Galactic GCs with similar metallicities strongly suggests that some other factor, or combination of factors, must also be at work. Cluster age, helium abundance, stellar kinematics, and binarity have all been considered, but a clearly defined “second parameter” has not yet been identified. Furthermore, high-precision photometry and spectrophotometry reveals further anomalies in HB populations: narrow “gaps” in the distribution of stars along the HB locus (Ferraro et al. 1998), and temperature ranges over which stars are consistently “overluminous” (Grundahl et al. 1999), or have unexpectedly low derived surface gravities (Moehler 2001), compared to canonical HB loci. Evidently, our models do not fully account for all of the relevant properties of these stars.

In order to better understand the characteristics of these stars, several research groups have undertaken detailed high-resolution spectroscopic observations of individual HB stars in metal-poor globular clusters and the field halo population. These investigations have discovered significant variation in both the photospheric chemical abundances and the rotation velocities of these stars, correlating with position along the HB. In this paper, I review the observational work that has been reported to date, discuss possible explanations for these rotation and abundance anomalies, and explore their potential implications for stellar evolution and cluster photometry and kinematics.

## 2. Abundance and rotation observations

The pioneering high-resolution spectroscopic studies of HB stars were done by Peterson and collaborators (1983ab, 1985ab, 1995), who observed cooler BHB stars in M3, M4, M5, M13, NGC 288, and the nearby field population. They determined projected rotation velocities ($`v\mathrm{sin}i`$) from the broadening of the metal absorption lines in their spectra, and found several of their target stars spinning as fast as $`40\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1`$. Such fast rotation was unexpected, given that these HB stars had evolved from G dwarfs, which lose most of their initial angular momentum to magnetically-coupled winds over their main-sequence lifetimes. Only a fraction of the stars appeared to be spinning so fast; assuming random orientation of rotation axes, M13 and the metal-poor field BHB population appeared to have a bimodal underlying distribution of actual rotation velocities $`v_{\mathrm{rot}}`$, with roughly one-third of the stars at $`v_{\mathrm{rot}}40\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1`$ and the other two-thirds at $`v_{\mathrm{rot}}15`$$`20\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1`$. The other clusters seemed to possess only the slowly-rotating stars. Cohen & McCarthy (1997) found similar $`v_{\mathrm{rot}}`$ bimodality among the cool BHB stars of M92, and Kinman et al. (2000) enlarged the sample of field BHB stars, confirming the existence of both fast and slow rotators among this population. Extending the observations in M13 to higher $`T_{\mathrm{eff}}`$, Behr et al. (2000a) found that the anomalous fast rotators do not appear above $`T_{\mathrm{eff}}11500\mathrm{K}`$, as all of the hotter BHB stars exhibit very slow rotation, $`v\mathrm{sin}i<8\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1`$. A similar temperature dependence was subsequently found in M15 (Behr et al. 2000b) and NGC 1904 (Recio-Blanco et al. 2002). Recio-Blanco also found additional clusters, NGC 2808 and NGC 6093, which appear to possess only the slowly-rotating BHB stars. Figure 1 shows a representative sample of the BHB rotation measurements reported to date, illustrating the variety of $`v\mathrm{sin}i`$ distributions.

Metallicity differences also appear among HB stars, as first discovered by Glaspey et al. (1989), who analyzed two BHB stars in NGC 6752. Their cooler target, with $`T_{\mathrm{eff}}10000\mathrm{K}`$, had “normal” iron and helium abundances for the cluster, but the hotter star, at $`T_{\mathrm{eff}}16000\mathrm{K}`$, showed an iron abundance 50 times greater than expected, and a helium abundance 40 times lower. More recent observations covering a larger range of $`T_{\mathrm{eff}}`$ in NGC 6752 (Moehler et al. 1999), M13 (Behr et al. 1999), and M15 (Behr et al. 2000b) confirm these abundance deviations, and reveal the presence of an abundance “jump” at $`T_{\mathrm{eff}}11500\mathrm{K}`$, closely coincident with the transition in rotation velocities. Redwards of the jump temperature, stars show normal cluster abundances, but bluewards of the jump, the stars are strongly enhanced in iron and most other metals, and depleted in helium, as illustrated in Figure 2. The magnitude of the metal enhancement varies from element to element: the iron abundance increases by 1.5 to 2.0 dex (30 to 100 times), phosphorus increases by 3.0 to 3.5 dex, while magnesium is almost entirely unchanged, remaining at metal-poor cluster abundance levels over the entire observed temperature range.

## 3. Diffusion mechanisms

Atomic diffusion appears to be the best explanation for the large variations in chemical abundances seen among the hotter BHB stars. To explain the anomalously low helium abundances found among evolved halo stars, Greenstein et al. (1967) proposed that helium atoms sink under the influence of gravity, diffusing from the photosphere into the stellar interior, so that the observed helium abundance is lowered. This mechanism would be effective only if the atmosphere were very stable, since convective or rotational mixing would completely erase the diffusion gradient. Michaud et al. (1983) then pointed out that these same stable atmospheric conditions would also permit levitation of metal atoms. Driven by radiation pressure, atomic species with sufficiently large radiative cross-sections could be lifted from the stellar interior to the photosphere, such that large metal enhancements appear. Recent models of similar diffusion mechanisms in chemically peculiar main-sequence Ap stars, by Richer et al. (2000), show abundance patterns that are qualitatively similar to those we observe: enhancement of iron, even stronger enhancement of phosphorus, no change in magnesium, and depletion of helium. Hopefully, these sorts of models will soon be applied to the specific case of hot BHB stars, to see whether we can quantitatively reproduce the spectroscopic observations, and thus verify that radiative levitation and gravitational settling are responsible for the BHB abundance variations.

We must also explain why the amount of metal enhancement and helium depletion should change so abruptly as a function of position along the HB. One likely possibility is that the disappearance of surface convection at a threshold $`T_{\mathrm{eff}}`$ is the “switch” which regulates the effectiveness of diffusion. BHB atmosphere/envelope models by Sweigart (2001) show that thin regions of convection due to H I and He I lie at (or slightly below) the stellar surface for cooler BHB stars, but when the model $`T_{\mathrm{eff}}`$ exceeds $`12000\mathrm{K}`$, these convection zones disappear, and the atmosphere is fully radiative in its upper layers. Thus, for stars hotter than the threshold temperature, diffusion alters the photospheric abundance pattern, while the stars cooler than threshold remain well-mixed, and no diffusion can take place. It has also been suggested that the abrupt change in stellar rotation characteristics may determine whether diffusion is effective. If a star is rotating very quickly, meridonal circulation currents can indeed provide enough mixing to prevent diffusion, but since we see plenty of slowly-rotating cool BHB stars with normal abundances, rotation is probably not a critical factor in this regime.

Strong metal enhancement and helium depletion of a star’s photosphere will alter the atmospheric opacities and emergent spectral energy distribution, changing the star’s photometric properties. Even before the existence and magnitude of the metallicity jump was fully known, both Caloi (1999) and Grundahl et al. (1999) proposed that the photometric gaps and jumps that appear along the BHB in many clusters might be due to the sudden onset of diffusion-driven metal enhancements, and initial quantitative tests by Grundahl showed that the observed jumps in Stromgren $`u`$-band luminosities could be partially reproduced in synthetic photometry by increasing the model atmosphere metallicities. More comprehensive calculations by Hui-Bon-Hoa et al. (2000), which explicitly included element diffusion and stratification, found that metal-enhanced photospheres are consistently bluer in $`UV`$ and Stromgren $`uy`$ colors than normal metal-poor photospheres, with luminosity jumps similar in size to those observed. The metallicity jump, then, can explain the Stromgren $`u`$-jump and some of the photometric gaps, such as those around $`11000\mathrm{K}`$ in M13 and M80, although cooler gaps like that in M15, and the hotter ones found in NGC 2808, require alternative explanations. The anomalously low $`\mathrm{log}g`$ values measured for hot BHB stars also be partly explained by the metal enhancements, although some degree of helium mixing may be necessary as well (Moehler et al. 2000).

## 4. Possible explanations of the rotation distribution

The observed distributions of stellar rotation velocities are somewhat more difficult to explain than the abundance variations. Several possible mechanisms have been suggested, but there is no compelling theoretical or observational evidence to indicate which (if any) is correct. Any complete explanation of BHB star rotation must explain three main aspects of the observations: (1) what causes the bimodal distribution of rotation velocities among the cooler stars, (2) why does this bimodality appear only among $`{}_{}{}^{1}/_{2}^{}`$ of the clusters observed, and (3) why do the hotter, metal-enhanced stars all rotate at very low $`v_{\mathrm{rot}}`$?

Peterson et al. (1983a) and Pinsonneault et al. (1991) suggested that the magnetic braking of a G-type dwarf might only affect its envelope, while its core continues to spin rapidly, retaining much of the star’s primordial angular momentum. After the star arrives on the HB, the core couples to the envelope, spinning up the surface layers to the observed velocities. Sills & Pinsonneault (2000) subsequently refined this scenario, pointing out that if core-envelope coupling takes an appreciable fraction of the star’s HB lifetime, then this could explain the observed bimodality in surface rotation — the fast-rotating stars are those that have been on the HB longer, and have had more time to spin up. Futhermore, they claim, the gradients in mean molecular weight created by helium settling could delay, or even prevent, the transfer of angular momentum from core to envelope, explaining the slow rotation among the hotter stars. This hypothesis predicts that the fast-rotating stars, having spent more time on the HB, will have evolved to slightly higher luminosities. Initial tests (Behr 2000c; Recio-Blanco et al. 2002) show no such correlation between higher rotation and higer luminosity, although the sample sizes and photometric quality are insufficient to rule out this possibility. Helioseismology results (Corbard et al. 1997; Effdarwich et al. 2002) indicate that fast core rotation is not present in the Sun, although some of the Sills & Pinsonneault models demonstrate that faster internal rotation can develop on the RGB as the core shrinks, even given solid-body rotation on the main sequence, so some degree of internal rotation is still a possibility.

Mass loss on the HB provides another means for creating uniform slow rotation among the hot metal-enhanced stars. Vink & Cassisi (2002) describe models of BHB mass loss and resulting loss in angular momentum, and find that mass loss rate is strongly dependent upon photospheric metallicity. They propose that the large metal enhancements that appear for $`T_{\mathrm{eff}}>11500\mathrm{K}`$ result in a large increase in mass loss, which rapidly removes angular momentum from the star, such that the hotter BHB stars are all slow rotators.

The “excess” angular momentum in the fast-rotating BHB stars could come from an external source, instead of originating within each individual star. Although stellar collisions are quite rare, even in dense cluster centers, close tidal encounters could “spin up” a star, assuming the impact parameter was in the right range. Denser cluster environments do appear to affect the evolution and properties of individual stars, as discussed by Fusi Pecci et al. (1993), Buonanno et al. (1997), and Testa et al. (2001), who note a correlation between higher cluster core densities and the presence of long blue tails in clusters’ CMDs. According to this model, stars in denser environments are more prone to tidal encounters, which enhance mass loss (either via direct tidal stripping, or spin-up), resulting in smaller hydrogen envelopes on the HB, and thus bluer stars.

Alternatively, a stellar companion might provide the additional angular momentum, either through tidal synchronization of the orbital and rotation periods, or via a merger. Stellar mergers are known to happen in GCs, forming fast-rotating blue straggler stars, but the subsequent evolution of these stars would probably not put them on the same HB locus as ordinary single stars. No extended radial velocity monitoring of BHB stars has been performed, so we cannot test for binarity via “Doppler wobble,” but the velocity dispersions of BHB stars closely match those of each cluster population at large (Peterson et al. 1983b), suggesting that large radial velocity variations are not present. Furthermore, BHB stars do not appear to be significantly concentrated towards cluster centers, as many binary star types are. Therefore, stellar binarity does not appear to be common enough to explain the fast rotators.

Smaller companions might still be plausible, however. If a large planet in a close orbit were absorbed by an expanding RGB envelope, it could easily provide sufficient angular momentum to create a fast-rotating BHB star. This scenario was initially suggested by Peterson et al. (1983a), and recent calculations by Soker & Harpaz (2000) and Livio & Soker (2002) show that it is quantitatively plausible. Some “51 Peg-type planets,” with $`a0.05\mathrm{AU}`$, have been found orbiting stars in the solar neighborhood, but they appear to be quite uncommon in globular clusters, according to the 47 Tucanae transit survey of Gilliland et al. (2000). Planets in wider orbits ($`a=0.2`$$`0.5\mathrm{AU}`$) cannot be ruled out, and would still be absorbed by the red giant, so the planet hypothesis remains tenable, but there currently exists no independent evidence that planets are sufficiently common in GCs to create the observed fast-rotating BHB population.

## 5. Summary

Several independent spectroscopic investigations show that photospheric abundances and stellar rotation rates of BHB stars vary significantly as a function of temperature. All BHB stars hotter than $`T_{\mathrm{eff}}11500\mathrm{K}`$ show metal enhancements of 1.5 to 3.5 dex, and helium depletions of $`2`$ dex. These abundance “anomalies” are most likely due to atomic diffusion processes — radiative levitation of the metals, and gravitational settling of helium — in the stable non-convective atmospheres of the hotter stars. The sudden onset of metal enhancements, possibly due to the disappearance of surface convection, can alter the spectrophotometric properties of the star, thus explaining some, but not all, of the photometric gaps and jumps which have been found in cluster CMDs.

The hotter, metal-enhanced BHB stars all appear to rotate slowly, $`v\mathrm{sin}i<8\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1`$, in contrast to the cooler ($`T_{\mathrm{eff}}8000`$$`11500\mathrm{K}`$) BHB stars, which show a range of rotation velocities. In some clusters (and the field population), approximately one-third of the cooler stars are rotating at $`v_{\mathrm{rot}}35`$$`40\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1`$, considerably faster than one would expect for the progeny of slow-rotating main-sequence G stars, while the other two-thirds have more modest rotation rates, $`v_{\mathrm{rot}}15`$$`20\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1`$. In other clusters, only the slower-rotating stars appear. This distribution of rotation rates might be due to the evolution of internal angular momentum within each star, or may instead be the result of dynamical interactions with other stars or substellar objects within the cluster.

Further BHB rotation observations spanning a range in metallicity, cluster concentration, and cluster size will help to explain the observed $`v\mathrm{sin}i`$ distributions. In particular, we need to determine why the presence and peak $`v_{\mathrm{rot}}`$ of a fast-rotating population differs from cluster to cluster; if we can correlate stellar rotation with characteristics of the parent clusters, this would provide additional insights into the origin of the fast rotation. With large samples in individual clusters, we could also look for differences in kinematics and radial distribution between the slow and fast rotators. More extensive studies of the field BHB population are also necessary, as these stars exist in a very different dynamical environment from their cluster analogs. The issue of binarity should be tested more directly, with long-term monitoring for radial velocity variations, especially in light of the large binary fractions found among hot evolved halo stars (Saffer et al. 2000; Maxted et al. 2001) and metal-poor field RGB stars (Carney et al., this volume), and future searches for planets around metal-poor GC stars will let us determine whether swallowing of planetary companions is a plausible source of angular momentum. We look forward to continued refinement of stellar models which track the change in internal angular momentum profile as a result of evolution, binary and tidal interaction, and merger events.

## References

Behr, B. B., Cohen, J. G., McCarthy, J. K., & Djorgovski, S. G. 1999, ApJ, 517, L135

Behr, B. B., Djorgovski, S. G., Cohen, J. G., McCarthy, J. K., Cote, P., Piotto, G., & Zoccali, M. 2000a, ApJ, 528, 849

Behr, B. B., Cohen, J. G., & McCarthy, J. K. 2000b, ApJ, 531, L37

Behr, B. B. 2000c, Ph.D. thesis, California Institute of Technology

Buonanno, R., Corsi, C. E., Bellazzini, M., Ferraro, F. R., & Fusi Pecci, F. 1997, AJ, 113, 706

Caloi, V. 1999, A&A, 343, 904

Cohen, J. G. & McCarthy, J. K. 1997, AJ, 113, 1353

Corbard, T., Barthomieu, G., Morel, P., Provost, J., Schou, J., & Tomczyk, S. 1997, A&A, 324, 298

Ferraro, F. R., Paltrinieri, B., Fusi-Pecci, F., Rood, R. T., Dorman, B. 1998, ApJ, 500, 311

Eff-Darwich, A., Korzennik, S. G., & Jiménez-Reyes, S. J., ApJ, 573, 857

Fusi Pecci, F., Ferraro, F. R., Bellazini, M., Djorgovski, S. G., Piotto, G., & Buonanno, R. 1993, AJ, 105, 1145

Gilliland, R.L., Brown, T.M., Guhathakurta, P., Sarajedini, A., Milone, E.F., Albrow, M.D., Baliber, N.R., Bruntt, H., Burrows, A., Charbonneau, D., Choi, P., Cochran, W.D., Edmonds, P.D., Frandsen, S., Howell, J.H., Lin, D.N., Marcy, G.W., Mayor, M., Naef, D., Sigurdsson, S., Stagg, C.R., VandenBerg, D.A., Vogt, S., & Williams, M.D. 2000, ApJ, 545, 47

Glaspey, J. W., Michaud, G., Moffat, A. F., & Demers, S. 1989, ApJ, 339, 926

Greenstein, G. S., Truran, J. W., & Cameron, A. G. W. 1967, Nature, 213, 871

Grundahl, F., Catelan, M., Landsman, W., Stetson, P. B., & Andersen, M. I. 1999, ApJ, 524, 242

Hui-Bon-Hoa, A., LeBlanc, F., & Hauschildt, P. H., ApJ, 535, L43

Kinman, T., Castelli, F., Cacciari, C., Bragaglia, A., Harmer, D., Valdes, F. 2000, A&A, 364, 102

Livio, M. & Soker, N. 2002, ApJ, 571, L161

Michaud, G., Vauclair, G., & Vauclair, S. 1983, ApJ, 267, 256

Moehler, S., Sweigart, A. V., Landsman, W., Heber, U., & Catelan, M. 1999, A&A, 346, 1

Moehler, S., Sweigart, A. V., Landsman, W., & Heber, U. 2000, A&A, 360, 120

Moehler, S. 2001, PASP, 113, 1162

Peterson, R. C., Tarbell, T.D., & Carney, B.W. 1983a, ApJ, 265, 972

Peterson, R. C. 1983b, ApJ, 275, 737

Peterson, R. C. 1985a, ApJ, 289, 320

Peterson, R. C. 1985b, ApJ, 294, 35

Peterson, R. C., Rood, R. T., & Crocker, D. A. 1995, ApJ, 453, 214

Pinsonneault, M. H., Deliyannis, C.P., & Demarque, P. 1991, ApJ, 367, 239

Recio-Blanco, A., Piotto, G., Aparicio, A., Renzini, A. 2002, ApJ, 572, L71

Richer, J., Michaud, G., & Turcotte, S. 2000, ApJ, 529, 338

Saffer, R. A., Green, E. M., & Bowers, T. P. 2000, astro-ph/0012244

Maxted, P., Heber, U., Marsh, T. R., & North, R. C. 2001, MNRAS, 326, 1391

Sills, A. & Pinsonneault, M.H. 2000, ApJ, 540, 4898

Soker, N. & Harpaz, A. 2000, MNRAS, 317, 861

Sweigart, A. V. 2001, in ASP Conf. Ser., Highlights of Astronomy, Vol. 12, ed. H. Rickman (San Francisco: ASP), in press (astro-ph/0103133)

Testa, V., Corsi, C. E., Andreuzzi, G., Iannicola, G., Marconi, G., Piersimoni, A.M., & Buonanno, R. 2001, AJ, 121, 916

Vink, J. S. & Cassisi, S. 2002, A&A, 392, 553


format: text

text:
# Particle size effects in the antiferromagnetic spinel CoRh2O4

## I Introduction

The nanoparticle spinel ferrites are under the intensive investigation in recent years because of their potential applications in nanoscience and technology as high density magnetic recording media, magnetic carriers in ferro fluids, magnetically guided drug carrier etc. . The theoretical interest for such type of materials are growing up to understand the structural and magnetic modifications taking place in a system when the dimension of the particles (crystal size) are reduced to atomic scale . Several novel phenomena like magnetic quantum tunneling , superparamagnetism, surface spin canting , grain boundary effect , non-equilibrium cation distributions among the inequivalent lattice sites  are attracting the spinel ferrites. In spinel lattices the anions (O2-,S2- ions) form a cubic close packing, in which the interstices are occupied by tetrahedral (form A sites or sublattice) and octahedral (form B sites or sublattice) coordinated cations to the oxygen anions. The competition between various type of superexchange interactions via O-2 ions, i.e., inter-sublattice superexchange interactions (JAB) between ions of both sites and intra-sublattice superexchange interactions (JAA and JBB) between ions of same site, shows a variety of magnetic states like ferrimagnet/ferromagnet, antiferromagnet, superparamagnet and spin glass in spinel oxides . When the particles size are reduced in the nanometer scale a drastically different kind of magnetic behaviour were observed in spinel oxides in comparison with the bulk material . This has been explained in terms of site disorder, i.e., the cations redistribution between A and B sites  and finite size scaling effect .
It is established that for long range ferrimagnetic ordering in spinel oxide, the necessary condition is $`|J_{AB}|>>|J_{BB}|>>|J_{AA}|`$ . However, if we compare the antiferromagnetic ordering temperature (TN) of two typical normal spinel antiferromagnets ZnFe2O4 with TN $``$ 10K (where only JBB exist) and CoRh2O4 with TN $``$ 27K (where only JAA exist) , it can be understood that $`|J_{BB}|>>|J_{AA}|`$ may be true only for long range order ferrimagnetic spinels (where both A and B sites are occupied by magnetic ions) but not for all the cases, particularly, for the spinels with magnetic ion only on A site. Unfortunately, most of the reports deal with the nanoparticle spinels where either B or both A and B sites are occupied by magnetic ions .
It will be very interesting to investigate the particle size effect on antiferromagnetic spinels with magnetic moment only on A sites. Recently, M. Sato et al.  reported the disappearance of antiferromagnetic ordering at 33K of bulk Co3O4 spinel and the appearance of a variety of magnetic phases like ferrimagnet, superparamagnet and spin glass when the particle size is reduced to nano scale. For Co3O4 spinel oxide, the B site is fully occupied by non-magnetic Co3+ (3d6) ions and A site is occupied by magnetic Co2+ ions, which gives rise to long range antiferromagnetic order due to Co2+-O2--Co2+ (JAA) superexchange interactions with JAB = JAA = 0 . CoRh2O4 (structure: (Co2+)A\[Rh3+\]2O4) with TN $``$ 27K is an anlogus of Co3O4 (structure: (Co2+)A\[Co3+\]2O4), where Co3+ is replaced by non-magnetic Rh3+ (4d6) ions .
Recently, a significant research interest is focussing on the geometrically frustrated antiferromagnets (Ising or Heisenberg in nature). The change of degeneracy and topology of the antiferromagnetic ground state (Neel order) of such a system can show various kind of interesting magnetic properties such as quantum disordered ground states , quantum zero -temperature spin fluctuation effect, where the system do not order and remain in a ”collective paramagnetic state” down to zero temperature . The degeneracy of the antiferromagnetic ground states can be reduced by introducing random non-magnetic dilution  or by strain induced positional disorder . Even some authors introduced the concept of ordering in geometrically frustrated system due to disorder while the degeneracy is reduced in the system . Mechanical milling is one of the most convenient method which can introduce the positional disorder in the lattices and simultaneously reduce the particle size of the material.
In this paper, we address the nature of magnetic order as a function of particle size in CoRh2O4 prepared by mechanical milling. The samples are characterized by XRD and magnetization measurements have been performed using SQUID magnetometer.

## II Experimental

We have synthesized nano particles CoRh2O4 spinel oxide by mechanical milling of the bulk material using Fritsch Planetary Mono Mill ”Pulverisette 6”. For bulk material, the stoichiometric mixture of Co3O4(99.5% from Fluka) and Rh2O3 (99.9 % from Johnson Matthey) oxides was taken for CoRh2O4 composition. The mixture was mechanically ground for 2 hours and was pelletized. The pelet was sintered at 10000C for 12 hours and at 12000C for 48 hours. The sample was then cooled to room temperature at 2-30C/minute. A typical crystalline spinel structure was confirmed by X ray diffraction (XRD) spectra using Philips PW1710 diffractometer with Cu Kα radiation. The bulk material was powdered using a 80 ml agate vial with 10 mm agate balls. We intentionally did not use the stainless bowl and balls to avoid any kind of contamination of transition metals (Fe, Cr, Ni). The samples were milled with ball to powder mass ratio 12:1 and at a rotational speed of 300 rpm. Small amount of samples were taken out from the bowl after 12 (mh12 sample), 24 (mh24 sample), 36 (mh36 sample), 48 (mh48 sample) and 60 (mh60 sample) hours of milling for our studies. The dc magnetization measurements were performed using SQUID (quantum design) magnetometer.

## III Results and Discussion

### A Structural properties

The X ray diffraction spectra (Fig.1) show that the crystalline nature of bulk CoRh2O4 decreases with increasing milling time. It should be noted that the crystalline peaks of milled samples, as shown for 311 line (Fig. 1b), shows small shift to higher scattering angle (2$`\theta `$) with respect to the bulk sample. However, there is no extra lines in XRD spectra for as milled samples in comparison with bulk sample. This suggests that small amount of lattice disorder or lattice strain is introduced in the system as the particle size is reduced by mechanical milling but without changing the crystal symmetry of spinel structure . The decrease of lattice parameter (see Table 1) suggest that it is related with the decrease of particle size as a function of milling time . The transmission electron micrographs (TEM) confirm the decrease of particle size from 70 nm (12 hours milling) to 16 nm (60 hours milling) (see Table 1). The broad lines in XRD spectra is due to this decrease of particle size, where the thermal fluctuation of the small coherent (crystalline) zones broaden the peaks . The XRD peak shift of the milled samples suggest that the non-uniform microstrain developed at the lattice sites during mechanical process may also contribute such type of peak broadening . In literature the small shift of XRD peak is very often neglected. But a critical observation of this type of shift is very important in correlating the physical properties with mechanical strain induced change in a sample .

### B Magnetic properties

The inset of Fig. 2 (left scale) shows the zero field cooled (ZFC) and field cooled (FC) magnetization data for CoRh2O4 bulk sample, measured at 100 Oe dc magnetic field. The bulk sample shows antiferromagnetic ordering at TN $``$ 27.5K$`\pm `$0.5K and magnetic irreversibility between ZFC and FC magnetization below TN. The ZFC magnetization data at T$`>50K`$ are well fitted with Curie-Weiss law (Fig.2 inset, right scale)

$$\chi =\frac{C}{T\theta _A}$$
(1)
The Curie constant (C = N$`\mu _{eff}^2`$/3k, N is the number of CoRh2O4 formula unit per gram of the sample) gives the effective magnetic moment ($`\mu _{eff}`$) = 4.60$`\pm `$0.10 $`\mu _B`$) per formula unit for the bulk sample. The asymptotic Curie temperature ($`\theta _A`$) is $``$ -(45$`\pm `$ 2)K. These values are consistent with the reported values $`\mu _{eff}`$ = 4.55 $`\mu _B`$) and -30K for bulk CoRh2O4 spinel . The negative value of $`\theta _A`$ indicate that on lowering the temperature the antiferromagnetic ordering is saturated at TN $``$ 27.5K and the system shows strong antiferromagnetic ordering below 27.5K. This indicate the magnetic phase of our bulk CoRh2O4 sample is consistent with the reported one. Interestingly, all the milled samples (with smallest particle size $``$ 16 nm) are showing (Fig.2, log-log scale) antiferromagnetic ordering at TN $``$ (27.5$`\pm `$0.5)K with magnetic irreversibility between ZFC and FC magnetization when temperature decreases below TN. The larger value of FC magnetization than ZFC magnetization below TN suggests the field induced metastable magnetic state during field cooling process of the samples . It is also found that the ZFC magnetization data at T $`>`$ 50K fit with Curie-Weiss law (Fig.2 inset, right scale), as an example shown for mh60 sample, for all the milled samples. The effective magnetic moment ($`\mu _{eff}`$) and $`\theta _A`$ values are shown in Table 1. We see that the effective magnetic moment value is increasing with decreasing the particle size. Similar kind of magnetic enhancement was observed by F. Liu et at.  and was attributed as a function of the reduction of coordination number of the surface spins when the dimensionality of feromagnetic particles were reduced. The ratio of $`\theta _A`$ and TN is always greater than 1. According to ref. , if this ratio quantify the degree of magnetic frustration in a geometrically frustrated antiferromagnet, then we can say that geometrical frustration and the instability of antiferromagnetic ordering is increasing with decreasing the particle size by mechanical milling of bulk CoRh2O4 spinel. The main characteristic feature is that both the ZFC and FC magnetization are increasing at T$`<<T_N`$, which is very similar to paramagnetic or superparamagnetic  or ferrimagnetic contribution  in the samples. Even, the increase in the magnitude of magnetization below TN can be assigned due to the increasing number of uncompensated/frustrated spins  as the particle size decreases. However, the temperature dependence of inverse of zero field cooled susceptibility (H/MZFC) at T $`<T_N`$ shows downward curvature in Fig.3. Interestingly, inset of Fig.3 shows that H/MZFC $``$ Tα below 10K and the constant value $`\alpha `$ increases with decreasing particle size. This indicates that the magnetization below TN are something different from a typical paramagnet or superparamagnetic behaviour, where inverse of susceptibility should be linear with temperature and $`\alpha `$ should be 1. M. Sato et al.  suggested similar kind of magnetic behaviour below TN due to the appearance of ferrimagnetic phase when the particle size of the antiferromagnetic spinel Co3O4 was reduced to 15 nm.
The most important feature in Fig.4 is that the excess amount of zero field cooled magnetization of milled samples $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$Mmb (= M$`{}_{zfc}{}^{}{}_{}{}^{milled}`$-M$`{}_{zfc}{}^{}{}_{}{}^{bulk}`$) over the bulk sample not only increases at T $`<`$ TN, but also depend on the particle size. We have found in Fig.4 inset that $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$Mmb vs T follows a scaling law at T$`<<T_N`$ in the form

$$\mathrm{\Delta }M_{mb}=(\mathrm{\Delta }M_{mb})_0T^{(0.937\pm 0.002)}$$
(2)
where the constant ($`\mathrm{\Delta }`$Mmb)0 depends on the particle size and linearly increases as 8.952$`\times `$10-3, 1.475$`\times `$10-2, 2.111$`\times `$10-2, 2.821$`\times `$10-2 and 3.576$`\times `$10-2 (in emu/g unit) for mh12, mh24, mh36, mh48 and mh60 samples, respectively.
The excess in of FC magnetization over the ZFC magnetization (Fig.5a) ,i.e., $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$MFZ = MFC-MZFC increases below TN in a typical manner which has similar character as the uncompensated interfacial antiferromagnetic spins exhibit in Ni81Fe19/CoO bilayers . In case of spinel oxides, the surface cations have various number of next nearest neighbours on both A and sites. When the particle size are reduced to nanometer range, some of the exchange bonds are broken and coordination number to oxygen ions are also decreased. This results a distribution of net exchange fields, which controll the surface magnetism of the particle . This exchange field is proportional to the spin density of the uncompensated antiferromagnetic spins at the surface . The magnitude of $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$MFZ will depend on the number of uncompensated spins and also the exchange interactions between field aligned (uncompensated surface) spins and the antiferromagnetic core spins. This argument invokes the core/shell picture  for our samples, where the shell thickness, consisting of uncompensated spins, is increasing with decreasing the particle size by decreasing the core volume.
The zero field cooled magnetization at 100 Oe, 1 kOe and 1 Tesla field for rh48 sample (particle size $``$ 19 nm) (Fig.5b) do not show any appreciable change of TN with fields. This suggests that dominant antiferromagnetic order (LRAO) still exists for the nano particle samples. However, it is the fact that long range antiferromagnetic ordering is proportional to the divergence of magnetization at TN. Qualitatively, we can say, LRAO is proportional to the difference between peak magnetization (M$`{}_{ZFC}{}^{}{}_{}{}^{peak}`$) at TN and minimum of magnetization (M$`{}_{ZFC}{}^{}{}_{}{}^{min}`$) below TN. Following this argument, we see (Fig.5a, inset) the difference between peak magnetization and minimum magnetization below TN, i.e., $`\mathrm{\Delta }M_{pm}`$ = (M$`{}_{ZFC}{}^{}{}_{}{}^{peak}`$-M$`{}_{ZFC}{}^{}{}_{}{}^{min}`$)/M$`{}_{ZFC}{}^{}{}_{}{}^{peak}`$, reduces from 27% (for bulk sample) to 0.5% (for mh60 sample). This confirm that although antiferromagnetic ordering is still observed below TN, the magnetic disorder is increasing when the particle size decreases by mechanical milling .
Fig.6 shows the zero field cooled magnetization as a function of magnetic field at 5K for all the samples. The straight line nature of M vs H plot for H = -3T to +7T range shows a typical antiferromagnetic bulk sample. The antiferromagnetic nature is still very prominent for mh12 sample. But the down ward curvature of the M vs H curve (see for mh36 and mh60 samples) in the positive field range suggests that some magnetic contribution is increasing as the particle size decreases. From the Arrot plot (M2 vs H/M),we have found no spontaneous magnetization for any samples, where as the linear extrapolation of the data (for H$``$ 4 Tesla) to the M axis gives some finite values of M0T for all milled samples. The M(H) data, therefore, confirm that there is no ferromagnetic ordering in system. The magnetic contribution arising in decreasing the particle size can be attributed as disorder and dilution effect in antiferromagnetic spinel . The increase of M0T (Fig.6 inset) with increasing the milling time indicates that although the samples does not show any ferromagnetic spontaneous magnetization but field induced magnetic ordering is possible for antiferromagnetic nano particles . Fig.7 shows the M vs H data at different temperatures for the 48 hours milled sample. The linear extrapolation of M for H$``$ 4T to H= 0T axis shows (Fig. 7 inset) that the magnetization (M0T) first decreases with increasing temperature down to $``$ 16K and then increases upto 27K. The temperature dependence of M0T is very similar to the temperature dependence of magnetization at T$`<T_N`$ 27.5K for the same sample. This type of magnetic behaviour suggests that there is certainly a competition between antiferromagnetic order and magnetic order due to disorder effect in the nano particle samples . Further, it can be suggested that the disorder effect will dominate as the temperature is well below of TN.

## IV Summary

The bulk CoRh2O4 spinel is an antiferromagnet with ordering temperature TN $``$ 27.5K. When the particles size of CoRh2O4 are reduced by mechanical milling, the signature of antiferromagnetic order at $``$ 27.5K are still observed upto particle size $``$ 16 nm. In case of nano particles, the magnetization below TN is enhanced with respect to the bulk sample, which is followed by a scaling law. Since the antiferromagnetic ordering temperature at TN is unchanged, the enhancement in magnetization can not be attributed due to the site exchange  between Co2+ and Rh3+ ions when the particle size decreases by mechanical milling. Under this circumstances, the tetrahedral (A) sites occupy magnetic Co2+ ions and octahedral (B) sites occupy non-magnetic Rh3+ ions and excludes the possibility of convensional ferrimagnetic contribution in this system. The temperature dependence of the inverse suseptibility below 10K also suggest that the enhancement of magnetization is not due to typical superparamagnetic contribution of the nano particles.
Therefore, we are introducing the core-shell structure of the nano particles . The core consists of antiferromagnetic spins and shell consists of few layers of surface spins. The surface spins are coupled by superexchange interactions (via O2- ions) to the core spins. In case of bulk sample the length scale of antiferromagnetic interactions can span upto many particles. When the particle size is reduced to nanometer scale by mechanical milling, some of the A-O-A superexchange bonds are broken and become frustrated. These frustrated bonds (surface spins) will create exchange anisotropy field at the interfacial surface . This type of anisotropy field will give rise a preferential magnetic ordering of the loosely bound shell spins, whereas the tightly bound core spins will remained as antiferromagnetically aligned.

## V Conclusions

Based on our dc magnetic measurements, it can be concluded that the total magnetization of the nanoparticle M = Mcore +Mshell, where Mcore is magnetic contribution from core spins and Mshell is magnetic contribution from shell spins. The competition between magnetic ordering of shell spins and the antiferromagnetic ordering of core spins guide the magnetic behaviour of our samples. The shell thickness is increasing in-expense of core volume when the particle size decreases. This is related to the decrease of coordination number of the surface (shell) spins and increase of magnetized state of the surface spins due to increasing random exchange fields, as the size of the particle decreases. Consequently, the magnetic momemt will be enhanced in nano particles. This is called disorder induced magnetic ordering in antiferromagnetic nano particle. Acknowledgement: One of the authors RNB thanks Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR, India) for providing fellowship \[F.No.9/489(30)/98-EMR-I \].

Table 1. Particle size (from TEM photographs), Lattice parameter ($`\AA `$) (from XRD data), 311 peak position (from XRD data), effective magnetic moment ($`\mu _{eff}`$) (from M vs T data), Asymptotic Curie temperature ($`\theta _A`$) (from M vs T data) as a function of milling hours.
sample milling time particle size a($`\AA `$) 2$`\theta `$ (deg) $`\mu _{eff}`$ ($`\mu _B`$ unit) $`\theta _A`$ (K)    bulk 0h few $`\mu `$m 8.465$`\pm `$0.002 35.47 4.599 -44.23  mh12 12h 70 $`\pm `$1 nm 8.485$`\pm `$0.002 35.56 4.603 -42.80  mh24 24h 50 $`\pm `$1 nm 8.427$`\pm `$0.002 35.75 4.609 -42.05  mh36 36h 32 $`\pm `$1 nm 8.449$`\pm `$0.002 35.71 4.627 -41.84  mh48 48h 19 $`\pm `$1 nm 8.468$`\pm `$0.002 35.67 4.653 -43.81  mh60 60h 16 $`\pm `$1 nm 8.459$`\pm `$0.002 35.64 4.755 -51.00


text:
# 1. The Fear of 𝑤<-1: Horror Vacui Redux

## 1. The Fear of $`w<1`$: Horror Vacui Redux

There is now strong evidence \[see for example \] that our Universe is pervaded by some kind of “dark energy” with negative pressure. The real nature of this substance is quite unknown, and there is no justification whatever for assuming that it resembles known forms of matter or energy. One should therefore be very cautious about imposing on it one’s prejudices as to how respectable forms of matter ought to behave.

At this point, essentially all available evidence is consistent with the possibility that $`w`$, the ratio of the dark energy pressure to its energy density, is equal to $`1`$, as predicted by a true cosmological constant. Obviously, therefore, all available evidence is consistent with the possibility that $`w`$ is slightly less than $`1`$. This fact was first emphasised by Caldwell . However, the idea appears to have encountered opposition, usually expressed covertly by brutal amputations of the data contours in the $`w\mathrm{\Omega }_m`$ plane. A gratifying exception is provided by , which shows very clearly that $`w<1`$ is a real possibility. The opposition is apparently motivated by a nebulous feeling that $`w<1`$ is somehow ruled out by some basic principle. Let us consider what that principle might be.

A true equation of state, expressing a generally valid functional relationship between pressure and density, can be used to compute the speed of sound; and there is a natural reluctance to accept the possibility that the speed of sound might exceed that of light. \[Actually, some authors  are willing to accept this, but we shall not do so here.\] But if the magnitude of the pressure can exceed the density of the dark energy, then it seems that we run just this risk. In response to this we take note of two points. The first is that the “cosmological equation of state” is not a true equation of state: it only expresses the relationship between pressure and density in the cosmological context – that is, in a situation which is perfectly isotropic. Thus, spatial variations in the pressure and density are ruled out by fiat, and so the speed of sound cannot be reliably computed in this way. For example, the speed of sound in quintessence is always precisely equal to the speed of light, no matter what $`w`$ may be. Secondly, as in the case of quintessence, there is no guarantee that $`w`$ is independent of time, and so the elementary computation of the speed of sound \[in terms of $`\frac{dp}{d\rho }`$\] is not to be trusted in any case. Of course, this is not to say that caution in this regard should be thrown to the winds – certainly, we must be very careful if we are indeed assuming that $`w<1`$ is a constant – but it does mean that $`w<1`$ does not necessarily imply a violation of local causality.

A more sophisticated version of the causality objection is that a theorem of Hawking and Ellis \[discussed in \] states that if the stress-tensor $`T`$ satisfies the Dominant Energy Condition \[which forbids the absolute value of the pressure to exceed the density\] and if $`T`$ vanishes on a closed achronal set $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$, then $`T`$ must also vanish on the domain of dependence of $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$. Thus $`w1`$ does indeed keep us safe from invasions of our domain of dependence. \[Notice however that the Dominant Energy Condition does not protect us from all unwelcome behaviour – in particular, the Gödel spacetime has positive pressure equal to its density, so it satisfies the DEC.\] However, this theorem does not have a converse – if it did, then Anti-deSitter space, beloved of string theorists, which violates the DEC, would also allow invasions of domains of dependence. That is not the case, as the Penrose diagram immediately shows. Hence, once again, while we should be cautious in allowing $`w<1`$, we should not be over-cautious: this range is not forbidden by causality.

An altogether different reason for viewing $`w<1`$ with distaste is that, quite often, it leads to a truly bizarre prediction as to the way the world ends: not with a Crunch but with a Smash. That is, the cosmological scale factor $`a(t)`$ tends to infinity in a finite time. Thus, the world comes to an end not through excessive contraction but rather through excessive expansion. It is hard to say precisely what this would mean in reality, when local inhomogeneities are taken into account; perhaps the Universe would shatter into small gravitationally bound domains with “singular boundaries” \[hence the term “Big Smash”\]. The principal objection to this, apart from its sheer bizarrerie, is that there is little hope of resolving such a singularity using quantum-mechanical effects. \[On the other hand, the Big Smash is surely the most natural way, granted that the expansion is indeed accelerating, of bringing the Universe to an end in a finite time; and that might ultimately prove the simplest explanation of the “coincidence problem” – it is not very surprising that we find ourselves close to the onset of acceleration if the Universe comes to an end soon thereafter.\] In any case,however, the Big Smash only follows from $`w<1`$ if we assume that $`w`$ is constant. An explicit example of an infinitely long-lived cosmology with non-constant $`w<1`$ has been given in \[see below\]; thus, once again, we see that it is not necessarily the case that $`w<1`$ leads to anything unpleasant.

Another objection to $`w<1`$ is that it puts an end to all of the familiar energy conditions of General Relativity. “All known forms of energy satisfy…..” runs the familiar incantation, followed by some stricture on the relative sizes of the pressure and the density. It is difficult to see the relevance of this philosophy to our present predicament. For surely if there is one property of dark energy on which all are agreed, it is that the dark energy is not a “known form of energy”. Just why it should be expected to obey any of the energy conditions is, therefore, not easy to understand. Most theorists are quite happy to accept Anti-deSitter space, which violates the Weak and Dominant Energy Conditions, preserving only the Strong and the Null. The SEC is satisfied by “all known forms of energy” – but not by dark energy. As for the NEC: a cynic might be moved to suggest that it enjoys its current vogue primarily because one likes to have something agreeable to say about AdS. It is safe to predict that the NEC will be abandoned, if need be, without unduly incommoding many theorists.

## 2. The View From String Theory

What does string/M theory have to say about this matter, however? In such a theory, energy conditions must not be postulated independently: if they are valid, they must follow from the basic principles of the theory. In general, we certainly cannot hope to derive the Dominant Energy Condition from string theory. For, as is well known, string theory works very well on Anti-deSitter space, which, as we have emphasised, strongly violates the DEC. However, one could certainly imagine that while string theory tolerates violations of the DEC in general, perhaps it enforces the DEC in the special context of cosmology.

In order to investigate this, the author constructed  a DEC-violating cosmology which is asymptotically deSitter both to the future and the past. The metric is

$$g(\gamma ,A,L)=dtdt+A^2\mathrm{cosh}^{\left(\frac{4}{\gamma }\right)}\left(\frac{\gamma t}{2L}\right)(d\theta _1d\theta _1+d\theta _2d\theta _2+d\theta _3d\theta _3),$$

where $`\gamma `$ is a parameter which measures the extent of DEC-violation, where $`3/L^2`$ is the asymptotic cosmological constant, and where the spatial sections are cubic flat tori with minimum side length $`\pi A`$. Unfortunately, it is not known precisely how to do string theory in such necessarily non-supersymmetric backgrounds, but Strominger  and many others have proposed to circumvent this difficulty by postulating the existence of a “dS/CFT correspondence”, which is to be analogous to its celebrated AdS counterpart. \[There is already a voluminous literature on this theme; the reader is asked to consult the list of papers citing and cited by ; the authors in those lists are asked to forgive my failure to cite them here.\] Thus one tries to deduce at least the gross features of the spacetime from the behaviour of conformal field theories inhabiting conformal infinity – in the infinite future and past. In particular, the flow of time itself is interpreted  as the dS/CFT counterpart of a renormalization group flow in the boundary CFT. When one applies these ideas, at least naively, to the above spacetime, one seems to find that time flows towards $`t=0`$, from both positive and negative values of $`t`$. That does not make much sense physically, and so one has a piece of evidence that, in the cosmological context, string theory does not approve of violations of the DEC. However, it must be said that this evidence is rather weak: it is beginning to appear that, if indeed there is a dS/CFT correspondence, then the conformal field theories at infinity behave in a very unconventional way . In particular, the renormalization group flow may not behave in the usual manner. Thus the possibility that the above spacetime still makes sense in the dS/CFT context cannot be altogether ruled out. Meanwhile there remains the very difficult task of relating the dS/CFT correspondence to string theory in a convincing manner.

Regrettably, therefore, we have to conclude that string theory does not yet tell us anything very definite about the possibility that $`w<1`$. However, it is not inconceivable that further investigations of the dS/CFT correspondence will ultimately lead to a concrete prediction that $`w1`$. On the other hand, Frampton  has recently argued that “stringy” matter actually requires $`w<1`$. In either case, string theory will have made a prediction which can perhaps be put to the test in the relatively near future: for if indeed $`w1`$, this may well be easier to demonstrate if $`w<1`$ than if $`w>1`$.


text:
# CNO at the surface of low and intermediate MS stars1

## 1. Introduction

In this review I will discuss CNO abundances of main-sequence (MS) stars with masses between 0.5 and 2 solar masses. Such stars have convective envelopes, which means that any pollution of the stellar atmosphere caused by accretion of interstellar gas will be diluted by mixing in the envelope. The convective envelope is, on the other hand, not deep enough to bring up products from nuclear reactions to the surface of the star, except in the case of Li and Be, which elements may be destroyed by proton reactions at the bottom of the convective zone in the less massive stars. Hence, it seems rather safe to assume, that CNO at the surface of low and intermediate MS stars can be used as a tracer of CNO abundances in the interstellar gas and dust out of which the stars were formed. By deriving abundances of MS stars with different ages and belonging to different populations we may then obtain important information about the nucleosynthesis and Galactic evolution of the CNO elements.

The assumption of undisturbed chemical composition in the atmospheres of cooler MS stars should, however, be carefully checked. As shown by Lebreton et al. (1999), a comparison of CM diagrams based on Hipparcos parallaxes of nearby, unevolved stars with stellar model computations, suggests a mild depletion of heavier elements due to microscopic diffusion at the bottom of the convective envelope. According to the computations of Morel & Baglin (1999), the effect is of the order of 0.10 dex for metal-poor stars with ages of 10 Gyr. It is likely, however, that the corresponding effect on abundance ratios such as C/O and N/C is considerably smaller and may be neglected in comparison with other possible systematic errors arizing from analysis of spectral lines.

In the following, we will first take a look at the recent controversy about the trend of \[O/Fe\] vs. \[Fe/H\]. Then follows some new results on the \[C/O\] \- \[O/H\] relation compared to previous results and a discussion of the \[N/C\] \- \[Fe/H\] relation stressing the need for new high resolution studies of nitrogen abundances in cooler MS stars. In particular, I will emphasize the large granulation effects on the temperature and pressure structure of metal-poor stellar atmospheres, which have to be taken into account when deriving abundances from spectral lines or molecular bands.

## 2. Oxygen

According to standard nucleosynthesis models, oxygen is exclusively made by supernovae of Type II, whereas iron is also produced by Type Ia SN when they start to occur after a time delay of 0.5 - 1 Gyr. Hence, the O/Fe ratio can be used as a chemical clock to date the star formation process. If $`\text{[O/Fe]}+0.4`$ the major star formation episodes must mave occurred within a time interval of $`<0.5`$ Gyr; if $`\text{[O/Fe]}0.0`$ the time interval of star formation has been $`>1`$ Gyr. Par example, standard models of the chemical evolution of the Galaxy predicts a near constant $`\text{[O/Fe]}+0.4`$ for metallicities below $`\text{[Fe/H]}1.0`$, perhaps with an increase of \[O/Fe\] below $`\text{[Fe/H]}=2.0`$ due to a higher O/Fe yield ratio in the most massive supernovae (Chiappini et al. 1999).

Extensive studies of the forbidden oxygen lines in K giants have resulted in a near-constant $`\text{[O/Fe]}+0.4`$ for halo stars with $`2.5<\text{[Fe/H]}<1.0`$ (e.g. Barbuy 1988, Kraft et al. 1992). More recently, Sneden & Primas (2001) have confirmed this; \[O/Fe\] is not higher that +0.5 dex at $`\text{[Fe/H]}=3.0`$. Israelian et al. (1998, 2001) and Boesgaard et al. (1999), on the other hand, find a linear rize of \[O/Fe\] with decreasing \[Fe/H\] when oxygen abundances are derived from the near-UV OH lines in spectra of MS stars using 1D model atmospheres. At $`\text{[Fe/H]}=3.0`$ \[O/Fe\] reaches values of 1.0 to 1.2 dex. The view has been expressed that the \[O i\]-based results for the giants are in error on two accounts: (i) oxygen is reduced in the atmospheres of giants because the convective envelope has mixed oxygen-poor material to the surface from the ON-cycled interior, and (ii) the \[O i\] lines are partially filled in by chromospheric emission. These explanations seem, however, unlikely: (i) the strong nitrogen enhancement resulting from the ON cycle has not been seen, and (ii) no asymmetries of the \[O i\] lines have been detected.

In order to advance on this oxygen problem, Nissen et al. (2002) have recently studied the faint \[O i\] 6300 Å line in metal-poor MS star spectra obtained with the VLT/UVES instrument. The spectra have resolutions of 60 000 to 120 000 and a very high S/N of 300 - 600. Equivalent widths as small as 0.5 mÅ could be measured with an error of $`\pm 0.2`$ mÅ. Iron abundances were derived from a number of weak Fe ii lines. The data were first analyzed with 1D MARCS models (Asplund et al. 1997) using $`T_{\mathrm{eff}}`$ values determined from $`by`$ and $`VK`$, and gravities derived via Hipparcos parallaxes and/or the Strömgren $`c_1`$ index. An important point is that the derived \[O/Fe\] ratio is only weakly dependent on possible errors in $`T_{\mathrm{eff}}`$ and practically independent of errors in the gravity.

In the analysis of the \[O i\] 6300 Å line, Nissen et al. included the effect of a blending Ni i line, which recently was shown by Allende Prieto, Lambert & Asplund (2001) to decrease the derived solar oxygen abundance by 0.13 dex. As this Ni i line has nearly disappeared when $`\text{[Fe/H]}<1.5`$ , the net effect is to increase the derived \[O/Fe\] by about 0.1 dex for metal-poor halo stars. Furthermore, a study of the influence of stellar granulation was undertaken by applying the new generation of 3D, time-dependent hydrodynamical model atmospheres (Asplund et al. 1999, 2000). Due to the expansion of rising granulation elements and the lack of radiative heating in metal-poor stellar atmospheres they have much lower temperature and electron pressure in the upper layers than classical 1D models in radiative equilibrium. The \[O i\] 6300 Å line is formed high up in the atmosphere and are stronger in 3D models than in 1D, whereas the Fe ii lines are formed deeper and are computed to be slightly weaker in 3D. The net 3D effect is a decrease of \[O/Fe\] ranging from 0.1 dex at $`\text{[Fe/H]}=1.0`$ to about 0.2 dex at $`\text{[Fe/H]}=2.5`$.

Fig. 1 shows the derived \[O/Fe\] values after having applied the 3D corrections. The figure also includes disk stars from Nissen & Edvardsson (1992) with their \[O/Fe\] values corrected for the presence of the Ni i blend. As seen there is a rather sharp rize of \[O/Fe\] around $`\text{[Fe/H]}0.5`$ to a constant level of $`\text{[O/Fe]}0.3`$ in the range $`2.0<\text{[Fe/H]}<0.7`$. The two subgiants, HD 140283 and BD +23 3130, give a hint of an increase of \[O/Fe\] below $`\text{[Fe/H]}=2.0`$ but this has to be confirmed by more data. Hence, the new results for MS and subgiant stars essentially agree with previous results from the forbidden oxygen lines in giant star spectra.

As shown by Asplund & García Pérez (2001) the 3D effects on oxygen abundances derived from near-UV OH lines are as large as $`0.6`$ dex for turnoff stars with $`\text{[Fe/H]}3.0`$ due to the fact that molecule lines are very sensitive to the temperature structure of the stellar atmosphere. This explains the high \[O/Fe\] values derived by Israelian et al. (1998, 2001) and Boesgaard et al. (1999) on the basis of a classical 1D model atmosphere analysis. All problems are, however, not solved. As discussed by Nissen et al. (2002) oxygen abundances in MS stars derived from the O i 7774 Å triplet tend to be higher than abundances from the forbidden line even when non-LTE and 3D corrections are applied. It also remains to be seen if oxygen abundances derived from the OH IR lines (Balachandran, Carr & Carney 2001; Meléndez, Barbuy, & Spite 2001; Meléndez & Barbuy 2002) and the forbidden lines in giants will agree with the trend shown in Fig. 1 when 3D effects are taken into account.

A further problem is that the trend of \[O/Fe\] with \[Fe/H\] may not be universal. In Fig. 1 there are several stars in the halo-disk transition region ($`1.0<\text{[Fe/H]}<0.5`$) that deviate 2 - 3 sigma from the mean trend. Furthermore, Nissen & Schuster (1997) have clearly shown that a group of six halo stars with $`1.0<\text{[Fe/H]}<0.7`$ have lower $`\alpha `$-element/Fe ratios (including O/Fe) than thick disk stars and other metal-poor halo stars in the same metallicity range. The six halo stars move in large Galactic orbits and might have been accreted from dwarf galaxies or have been formed in low-density regions in the outer halo with a chemical evolution that has proceeded more slowly than in the inner halo and the thick disk (Matteucci & François 1992).

## 3. Carbon

The most accurate carbon abundances of lower MS stars are obtained from the weak forbidden C i line at 8727 Å. Recently, Allende Prieto, Lambert & Asplund (2002) determined the solar C abundance from this line and obtained log$`ϵ`$(C) = 8.39 $`\pm 0.04`$ dex taking into account 3D model atmosphere effects and a revised $`gf`$ value of the line. In combination with their solar oxygen abundance log$`ϵ`$(O) = 8.69 $`\pm 0.05`$ dex (Allende Prieto et al. 2001) the solar atmospheric C and O abundances now agree well with C and O abundances in early-type MS stars and in the local ISM.

The \[C i\] 8727 Å line was observed in disk stars by Anderson & Edvardsson (1994) and Gustafsson et al. (1999). \[C/Fe\] as derived from 1D models shows an increase of about 0.2 dex when going from solar metallicity to $`\text{[Fe/H]}1`$. In view of the differential 3D model atmosphere corrections to be expected some of this encrease may, however, be spurious. It is probably more safe to compare the derived C abundance with the O abundance derived from the \[O i\] 6300 Å line. Both lines arise from low excitation levels and are formed in the same layers of stellar atmospheres. Hence, the derived C/O ratio is insensitive to errors in $`T_{\mathrm{eff}}`$ and surface gravity, and the 3D corrections for C and O are expected to be nearly the same. This is confirmed for the Sun; Allende Prieto et al. (2001, 2002) find a 3D correction of $`0.08`$ dex for both elements. I have therefore combined the carbon abundances from Anderson & Edvardsson (1994) and Gustafsson et al. (1999) with oxygen abundances determined from the \[O i\] $`\lambda 6300`$ line as measured by Nissen & Edvardsson (1992) including corrections for the Ni i blend discussed in Sect. 2. The derived \[C/O\] values are shown in Fig. 4.

The \[C i\] 8727 Å line is too weak to be measured in halo MS stars with $`\text{[Fe/H]}<1`$. Instead one may use four high excitation C i lines around 9100 Å and the O i triplet at 7774 Å to derive C/O. This technique was first applied by Tomkin et al. (1992), who correctly emphasized that the derived abundance ratio is insensitive to errors in stellar atmospheric parameters and the $`T,P`$ structure of the model atmosphere, i.e. 3D hydrodynamical effects. Furthermore, non-LTE corrections are relatively small and go in the same direction for the C i and O i lines. As seen from their Fig. 10, \[C/O\] is nearly constant at the level of $`0.5`$ dex in the range $`2.5<\text{[Fe/H]}<1.0`$.

In order to test and expand the C/O results of Tomkin et al. (1992), I have derived C and O abundances from near-IR VLT/UVES spectra originally obtained together with M. Asplund and M. Pettini to determine sulphur abundances from the S i 9212 - 9237 Å triplet. The spectra have $`R=\mathrm{60\hspace{0.17em}000}`$ and $`S/N`$ 200 to 300. The equivalent widths of the O i triplet can be very accurately determined (see Fig. 3), whereas the C i lines around 9100 Å fall in a spectral region with many strong telluric H2O lines. As seen from Fig. 2, these lines may, however, be removed by dividing with a spectrum of a hot star, and Fig. 3 shows that the C i line at 9094 Å can be clearly observed down to metallicities of about $`3`$ in halo turnoff stars.

The \[C/O\] ratios derived from a 1D, LTE model atmosphere analysis of the UVES spectra are shown in Fig. 4 together with data from Tomkin et al. (1992) and the disk star results discussed above. The disk star analysis of the forbidden C and O lines was made differentially with respect to the Sun; hence the adopted solar abundances do not matter. In the analysis of the UVES spectra of the high excitation permitted C i and O i lines the new solar C and O abundances of Allende Prieto et al. (2001, 2002), log$`ϵ`$(C) = 8.39 and log$`ϵ`$(O) = 8.69, were adopted. Tomkin et al. (1992), on the other hand, used the older values of Grevesse et al. (1991), log$`ϵ`$(C) = 8.60 and log$`ϵ`$(O) = 8.92. The solar C/O ratio is, however, practically the same, so no offset in \[C/O\] is present. None of the data have been corrected for non-LTE or 3D effects, because these effects are expected to cancel in the C/O ratio as explained above. As seen from Fig. 4 \[C/O\] is nearly constant at the level of $`0.5`$ dex among the halo stars perhaps with a slight decrease when going from $`\text{[O/H]}=2.0`$ to $`\text{[O/H]}=0.5`$. Around $`\text{[O/H]}=0.3`$, \[C/O\] is rising steeply to the solar abundance ratio. It will be interesting to see how well Galactic chemical evolution models can explain this upturn of \[C/O\] in terms of metal-enhanced production of carbon in massive stars (Maeder 1992) and/or delayed production of carbon in intermediate mass stars. In this connection, one should note the peculiar position of HD 7424 in Fig. 4, an oxygen rich but carbon poor star with halo kinematics, which gives a first hint of a dichotomy in the evolution of \[C/O\] between the Galactic halo and the disk.

## 4. Nitrogen

Nitrogen abundances of intermediate and low main-sequence stars are more difficult to determine than C and O abundances. The forbidden N lines are very weak and have not been detected even in the solar spectrum. Weak high excitation N i lines can be measured in spectra of disk stars. The studies of Clegg, Lambert & Tomkin (1981) and Shi, Zhao & Chen (2002) suggest that N follows Fe, i.e. $`\text{[N/Fe]}0.0`$ in the metallicity range $`0.8<\text{[Fe/H]}<+0.1`$, but the dispersion is quite large, which may be caused by errors in the observations of the weak lines.

In the case of halo stars the high excitation N i lines cannot be detected and molecular lines of NH or CN have to be applied for the determination of N abundances. In order to be independent of the carbon abundance determination the best choice is the NH band at 3360 Å. Bessell & Norris (1982) were the first to make a high-resolution survey and spectrum synthesis analysis of this feature. Among 25 halo dwarfs they discovered two stars (HD 74000 and HD 160617) with very high N abundances, i.e. $`\text{[N/Fe]}1.7`$ \- 2.0. Tomkin & Lambert (1984) made a careful high resolution study of the $`\lambda 3360`$ NH band relative to the $`\lambda 4300`$ CH band in spectra of 14 halo and disk stars with $`2.3<\text{[Fe/H]}<0.3`$. They noted that the CH and NH hydrides have almost identical dissociation energies; hence the circumstances of CH and NH line formation are similar and the derived N/C abundance ratio is insensitive to atmospheric parameters and structure. As an important result they found $`\text{[N/C]}0.0`$ and concluded that nitrogen behaves like a primary element with respect to carbon down to a metallicity of $`\text{[Fe/H]}2`$. This conclusion is, however, based on only five halo stars.

More extensive studies of N abundances in lower MS stars have been carried out by Laird (1985) and Carbon et al. (1987), in both cases based on intermediate resolution spectra of the NH $`\lambda `$ 3360 band and a 1D model atmosphere synthesis. The conclusion is that N tend to follow Fe, i.e. $`\text{[N/Fe]}constant`$ except for a small decline of \[N/Fe\] for \[Fe/H\] below $`1.5`$ in the work of Carbon et al. The two studies are, however, puzzling in some respects. Laird’s data have an unexplained offset $`\mathrm{\Delta }\text{[N/Fe]}0.6`$ with respect to Carbon et al., and in both studies there is a clear dependence of the derived \[N/Fe\] on $`T_{\mathrm{eff}}`$. Furthermore, one can expect large downward 3D corrections of the N abundances derived from the NH band like in the case of oxygen abundances derived from the OH lines.

## 5. Conclusions

Progress has been made in understanding recent discrepancies on the \[O/Fe\] \- \[Fe/H\] relation. It looks like \[O/Fe\] values derived from a 1D model atmosphere analysis of the near-UV OH lines are much too high (Asplund & García Pérez 2001). From a 3D analysis of the \[O i\] $`\lambda `$ 6300 line in MS stars \[O/Fe\] seems to be near constant at a level of $`\text{[O/Fe]}0.3`$ for halo stars with $`2<\text{[Fe/H]}<1`$ (Nissen et al. 2002). It remains, however, to be seen if oxygen abundances derived for subgiant and giant stars from the O i triplet and the IR OH lines will be in agreement, and the trend of \[O/Fe\] below $`\text{[Fe/H]}2`$ has to be studied in detail.

New results for the C/O ratio show an interesting trend of \[C/O\] vs. \[O/H\] with a strong upturn of \[C/O\] at $`\text{[O/H]}0.3`$. More data should be obtained especially for stars in the halo-disk transition region to look for a possible dichotomy in the evolution of C/O in the Galactic halo and the disk.

Nitrogen appears to have the least reliable abundances of the CNO elements. Existing data for \[N/Fe\] are affected by unexplained systematic errors, and large downward 3D corrections of N abundances from the NH $`\lambda `$ 3360 band are to be expected for stars at low metallicities. Hence, we very much need a new high resolution study of the NH $`\lambda `$ 3360 lines in Galactic halo stars coupled with a careful 3D model atmosphere study. The recent discovery of large variations of N/O ratios among oxygen poor damped Lyman $`\alpha `$ systems (e.g. Pettini et al. 2002) accentuates the need for more reliable data and hence a better understanding of the nucleosynthesis of nitrogen.

## References

Allende Prieto, C., Lambert, D.L., & Asplund, M. 2001, ApJ, 556, L63

Allende Prieto, C., Lambert, D.L., & Asplund, M. 2002, ApJ, 573, L137

Anderson, H., & Edvardsson, B. 1994, A&A, 290, 590

Asplund M., Gustafsson B., Kiselman D., & Eriksson K. 1997, A&A, 318, 521

Asplund M., Nordlund Å., Trampedach R., & Stein R.F. 1999, A&A, 346, L17

Asplund, M., Ludwig, H.-G., Nordlund, Å., & Stein, R.F. 2000, A&A, 359, 669

Asplund M., & García Pérez A.E. 2001, A&A, 372, 601

Balachandran, S.C., Carr, J.S., & Carney, B.W. 2001, New Astronomy Rev., 45, 529

Barbuy, B. 1988, A&A, 191, 121

Bessell, M.S., & Norris, J. 1982, ApJ, 263, L29

Boesgaard, A.M., King, J.R., Deliyannis, C.P., & Vogt, S.S. 1999, AJ 117, 492

Carbon, D.F., Barbuy, B., Kraft, R.P. et al. 1987, PASP, 99, 335

Chiappini, C., Matteucci, F., Beers, T.C., & Nomoto, K. 1999, ApJ, 515, 226

Clegg, R.E.S., Lambert, D.L., & Tomkin, J. 1981, ApJ, 250, 262

Grevesse, N., Lambert, D.L., Sauval et al. 1991, A&A, 242, 488

Gustafsson, B., Karlsson, T., Olsson, E., Edvardsson, B., & Ryde, N. 1999, A&A, 342, 426

Israelian, G., García Lopez, R.J., & Rebolo, R. 1998, ApJ, 507, 805

Israelian G., Rebolo, R., García Lopez R.J., et al. 2001 , ApJ, 551, 833

Kraft, R.P., Sneden, C., Langer, G.E., & Prosser, C.F. 1992, AJ, 104, 64

Laird, J.B. 1987, ApJ, 289, 556

Lebreton, Y., Perrin, M.-N., Cayrel, R., Baglin, A., & Fernandes, J. 1999, A&A, 350, 587

Maeder, A. 1992, A&A, 264, 105

Matteucci, F., & François, P. 1992, A&A, 262, L1

Meléndez, J., & Barbuy, B. 2002, ApJ, 575, 474

Meléndez, J., Barbuy, B., & Spite, M. 2001, ApJ, 556, 858

Morel, P., & Baglin, A. 1999, A&A, 345, 156

Nissen, P.E., & Edvardsson, B. 1992, A&A, 261, 255

Nissen P.E., & Schuster W.J. 1997, A&A, 326, 751

Nissen P.E., Primas F., Asplund M., & Lambert D.L. 2002, A&A, 390, 235

Pettini, M., Ellison, S.L., Bergeron, J., & Petitjean, P. 2002, A&A 391, 2002

Shi, J.R., Zhao, G., & Chen, Y.Q. 2002, A&A, 381, 982

Sneden, C., & Primas, F. 2001, New Astronomy Rev., 45, 513

Tomkin, J., & Lambert, D.L. 1984, ApJ, 279, 220

Tomkin, J., Lemke, M., Lambert, D.L., & Sneden, C. 1992, AJ, 104, 1568