text:
# Unconventional magnetic transition and transport behavior in Na0.75CoO2

(Received 16 December 2002 )

## Abstract

Here we report an unconventional magnetic and transport phenomenon in a layered cobalt oxide, NaxCoO2. Only for $`x`$ = 0.75, a magnetic transition of the second order was clearly detected at $`T_m`$ $``$ 22 K where an apparent specific-heat jump, an onset of extremely small spontaneous magnetization, and a kink in resistivity came in. Moreover large positive magnetoresistance effect was observed below $`T_m`$. These features of the transition strongly indicate the appearance of an unusual electronic state that may be attributed to the strongly-correlated electrons in Na0.75CoO2.

preprint: to appear in Phys. Rev. B

Since the discovery of the first high-$`T_c`$ superconducting copper oxide, tremendous amount of research has been conducted on $`3d`$ transition metal oxides to search for novel functions of the strongly-correlated electron system. In such correlated-electron systems, spin-charge-orbital interactions are in a subtle balance such that various different electronic states could be stabilized depending on the thermodynamic conditions. As a consequence, unexpectedly large response could be induced against a slight change in, e.g., the carrier density and/or lattice distortions: as an example of the former serves the hole doping into insulating CuO2 planes of layered copper oxides, which induces high-$`T_c`$ superconductivity Ginsberg89a , and as an example of the latter the isovalent rare-earth (RE) substitution at the (RE,Sr) site in (RE,Sr)MnO3, which controls the colossal magnetoresistance phenomenon Tokura99a . It is thus probable that highly precise control on the chemical composition in a variety of correlated-electron-system materials yields unconventional electronic states accompanied by unexpected electronic/magnetic phase transitions.

Layered cobalt oxides of the NaxCoO2 system have been known as thermoelectric materials since Terasaki et al. Terasaki97a  reported that some of them showed simultaneously large thermoelectric power ($`S`$) and low electrical resistivity ($`\rho `$). The large value reported for thermoelectric power of Na0.5CoO2, i.e. $`S`$ $`>`$ 50 $`\mu `$V / K at 300 K, is hardly understood within the framework of the conventional one-electron picture. It has been suggested Terasaki00a  that both the strong electron correlation and the cobalt spin state play a crucially important role in facilitating such a high value of thermoelectric power. The crystal structure of NaxCoO2 consists of a single atomic layer of Na ions sandwiched by two CoO2 layers. The CoO2-layer block is constructed with a two-dimensional triangular lattice of cobalt ions. For NaxCoO2, paramagnetic behavior was reported Tanaka94a ; Ray99a ; Ono01a  in the whole temperature range studied (4.2 - 300 K) without any distinct magnetic orderings. Recently, we established a sample-preparation method named “rapid heat-up” technique that has enabled us to precisely control the Na content in NaxCoO2 samples Motohashi01a . For thus prepared samples of Na0.75CoO2, we detected a magnetic ordering below 22 K.

In this article, we report the magnetic transition observed only for samples with the solubility-limit Na content, i.e. $`x`$ = 0.75, in the layered-cobalt-oxide system, NaxCoO2. A magnetic transition of the second order was clearly confirmed at $`T_m`$ = 22 K, being accompanied by an apparent specific-heat jump, a small spontaneous magnetization, a kink in the $`\rho T`$ curve, and a drastic enhancement in the positive magnetoresistance. In NaxCoO2, any long-range ordering of spins is likely to be suppressed by the cobalt triangular lattice that tends to possess geometrical frustration amongst the competing interactions. The magnetism of unusual characteristics observed in the present work in our Na0.75CoO2 samples could be an example of the recently high-lighted phenomena coming out of the frustration systems Diep94a  upon being triggered by a tiny stimulation only, i.e. in the present case by a precise control of the Na nonstoichiometry.

The Na0.75CoO2 samples were synthesized employing the “rapid heat-up” technique Motohashi01a . By x-ray powder diffraction, the pellet samples were confirmed to be single phase of the hexagonal $`\gamma `$-NaxCoO2 Fouassier73a ; Jansen74a  without any traces of impurity phases. Careful high-resolution TEM and ED investigations revealed that the samples were homogeneous and contained no anomalous nano-scale clusterings Motohashi02a . Magnetization was measured by a SQUID magnetometer (Quantum Design; MPMS-XL). Magnetotransport measurements were performed using a four-point-probe apparatus (Quantum Design; PPMS) in a transverse-field condition, i.e. under a magnetic field normal to the applied current. For every kind of characterization, multiple number of specimens were measured to confirm reproducibility. Heat capacity was measured using a home-made adiabatic calorimeter. Measurements were carried out between 8 and 330 K for a powder sample of $``$ 6 g prepared at 900C by the rapid heat-up technique. More detailed descriptions of the present method for heat capacity measurements are given elsewhere Tanaka94b .

Figure 6 shows the dependences of specific heat ($`C_p`$), magnetic susceptibility ($`M/H`$), and electrical resistivity ($`\rho `$) of Na0.75CoO2 on temperature ($`T`$). A sharp jump at 21.8 K in the $`C_pT`$ curve (Fig. 6(a)) represents the magnetic transition temperature ($`T_m`$). The jump exhibits a shape typical for the second-order phase transition. Below $`T_m`$, magnetic susceptibility rapidly increases under an applied magnetic field of 1 to 100 Oe, exhibiting a distinct hysteresis between the zero-field-cooled (ZFC) and field-cooled (FC) curves (Fig. 6(b)). Moreover, the resistivity gradually decreases in the lower temperature region, yielding a kink around $`T_m`$ in the $`\rho T`$ curve (Fig. 6(c)). Note that the $`\rho T`$ curve has a steeper slope below $`T_m`$ and decreases toward a very low residual resistivity ($`\rho _r`$) of $``$ 15 $`\mu \mathrm{\Omega }`$ cm. As clearly shown in Fig. 6, all of these anomalies occur at the same temperature, i.e. at $`T_m`$.

In order to estimate the baseline about the specific-heat jump in Fig. 6(a), the $`C_pT`$ curve was fitted using the following formula:

$$C_p(T)=f_D(T/\mathrm{\Theta }_D)+\gamma T,$$

where $`\mathrm{\Theta }_D`$, $`\gamma `$, and $`f_D`$ denote respectively, the Debye temperature, the electronic specific-heat coefficient, and Debye’s formula for which the degree of freedom was assumed to be 3 per atom. Based on least-square calculations, the values of $`\mathrm{\Theta }_D`$ and $`\gamma `$ were determined to be 553 K and 25.9 mJ / K2 mol, respectively. The present value of $`\mathrm{\Theta }_D`$ is larger than those reported for (Na,Ca)Co2O4 samples by Ando et al., i.e. 350-390 K Ando99a , but the $`\gamma `$ value is in good agreement with those for the same samples, i.e. 52-56 mJ / K2 mol \[(Na,Ca)Co2O4\]. After subtracting the baseline (shown by the solid line in Fig. 6(a)), the enthalpy and entropy changes were calculated at $`\mathrm{\Delta }H`$ = 0.975 J / mol and $`\mathrm{\Delta }S`$ = 0.0481 J / K mol, respectively.

Figure 6 shows the inverse susceptibility ($`\chi ^1`$) vs temperature plot at $`H`$ = 10 Oe. The plot follows the Curie-Weiss law above $`T_m`$: $`\chi =C/(T\mathrm{\Theta })`$, where $`C`$ and $`\mathrm{\Theta }`$ denote the Curie constant and the Weiss temperature, respectively. The values for $`C`$ and $`\mathrm{\Theta }`$ were determined to be 0.234 emu K/mole Oe and $`166.4`$ K, respectively. The negative value of $`\mathrm{\Theta }`$ suggests an antiferromagnetic interaction (some negative values were also reported for $`\mathrm{\Theta }`$’s of NaxCoO2 in previous works Ray99a ; Ono01a ). This value for $`C`$ yields an effective moment ($`\mu _{eff}`$) of (1) 1.37 $`\mu _B`$ / Co site if all the cobalt atoms are assumed equivalent, and (2) 2.74 $`\mu _B`$ / Co4+ if only Co4+ spins contribute (and all other Co3+ are in the low spin state, i.e. $`S`$ = 0). At least the latter case is unlikely since the theoretical “spin-only” value of Co4+ in the low spin state is 1.73 $`\mu _B`$ which is much less than 2.74 $`\mu _B`$. Nonetheless there are no other evidences to possitively support $`\mu _{eff}`$ = 1.37 $`\mu _B`$ for the former model.

Figure 6 shows the magnetization ($`M`$) as a function of the applied field ($`H`$) at various temperatures; 2, 5, 10, 20, and 50 K. In the $`MH`$ loop at 2 K, non-linear increase in magnetization and a narrow hysteresis are observed in the low field region. A non-linear $`MH`$ relation is also seen at 5 and 10 K, though the distinct hysteresis is hardly seen. On the other hand, at 20 K (just below $`T_m`$) and 50 K (above $`T_m`$), the magnetization is linearly proportional to the applied field, indicating the absence of long-range order at these temperatures. Spontaneous magnetization, $`M_s`$, was estimated at $`H`$ = 0 through linearly extrapolating the $`MH`$ curve and plotted in Fig. 6 as a function of temperature. The magnitude of $`M_s`$ increases rapidly as temperature is lowered. However, it is as small as 10-4 $`\mu _B`$ / Co site even at 2 K: this value is extraordinarily small in comparison with those of conventional ferromagnetic compounds.

One of the most characteristic features of the present compound is large positive magnetoresistance (MR) effect seen in the magnetically ordered state. Figure 6 shows the dependence on temperature of the degree of MR effect, as defined by $`\mathrm{\Delta }\rho _H/\rho _0(\rho _H\rho _0)/\rho _0`$, where $`\rho _H`$ is the resistivity in an applied field of $`H`$. The magnitude of MR effect was below the detection limit ($``$ 0.1%) at temperatures higher than 25 K. With decreasing temperature, on the other hand, the $`\mathrm{\Delta }\rho _H/\rho _0`$ value at 7 T abruptly increases and reaches up to $``$ 0.3 at 2 K. The onset temperature of the MR effect is in good agreement with $`T_m`$ = 22 K, which clearly indicates that the positive MR effect is triggered by the magnetic transition. As shown in the inset of Fig. 6, the degree of MR effect also depends on the applied magnetic field such that: $`\mathrm{\Delta }\rho _H/\rho _0H^2`$.

It should be pointed out that the occurrence of magnetic ordering was theoretically predicted for NaxCoO2 at $`x`$ = 0.5 by Singh Singh00a . He predicted that this compound possesses a large density of state at $`E_F`$ and therefore an inherent electronic instability yielding an itinerant ferromagnetism. However, the magnetic behavior of the present Na0.75CoO2 sample is difficult to be ascribed to conventional itinerant ferromagnetism. Reasons for this are as follows. (1) It was found that Arrott plots \[$`M^2`$ vs $`H/M`$ relation\] Wohlfarth77a  do not to form a straight line nor passes the origin at $`T_m`$. (2) The Weiss temperature ($`\mathrm{\Theta }`$) is negative, being in contrast to positive $`\mathrm{\Theta }`$ values for conventional ferromagnets. (3) The $`M_s`$ value does not rapidly increase starting at $`T_m`$ as temperature is lowered. Taking into account these facts as well as the distinct thermomagnetic irreversibility below $`T_m`$ (see Fig. 6(b)), it is considered that in the present compound a ferromagnetic interaction starts to develop at $`T_m`$, and eventually forms a long-range order among the magnetic moments at lower temperatures comment2 .

Tsukada et al. Tsukada01a  found a ferromagnetic ordering below 3.2 K with small $`M_s`$ and large negative MR in single-crystal samples of a Pb-doped Bi-Sr-Co-O misfit-layer compound. However, the magnetism in Na0.75CoO2 should be different from that of the (Bi,Pb)-Sr-Co-O compound, because signs of MR are opposite between the two compounds. Therefore, the key to understand the electronic state of Na0.75CoO2 must be lying in the nature of the positive MR effect. Recently, a similar positive MR effect was reported in a weak-ferromagnetic Co-doped FeSi alloy, and it was attributed to some quantum interference effects Manyala00a . For Na0.75CoO2, however, the MR characteristics were much different from those of the (Fe,Co)Si alloy in terms of the dependences on temperature and field. We also drew a scaling plot as that given in Ref. Manyala00a  and confirmed that our plot for Na0.75CoO2 does not form a single universal relation, implying totally different mechanisms for the two cases. In conventional metals the MR effect arises from the “bending” of electron trajectory by the Lorentz force such that Kohler’s plot, i.e. $`\mathrm{\Delta }\rho _H/\rho _0`$ vs $`(H/\rho _0)^2`$, forms a single universal relation that is independent of temperature Ziman63a . In Fig. 6, shown are the MR data collected for the present Na0.75CoO2 sample at various temperatures below $`T_m`$. Obviously, all the data points in the temperature range of 2 - 15 K follow more or less a universal relation, i.e. the present MR data obey Kohler’s rule. Therefore, we conclude that the positive MR effect of Na0.75CoO2 is most likely originated from the conventional orbital motion of carriers. Since it is known that in such a situation the degree of MR effect is proportional to the square of carrier mobility, the large magnitude of MR effect is considered to be caused by a drastic enhancement in carrier mobility in the magnetically ordered state.

It is noteworthy that the observed entropy change at $`T_m`$, i.e. $`\mathrm{\Delta }S`$ = 0.0481 J / K mol, is exceedingly small, corresponding to only $``$ 1% of the theoretical value, i.e. $`R\mathrm{ln}2`$ = 5.76 J / K mol for the state in which $`F`$ (degree of freedom) = 1 and $`S`$ (spin quantum number) = 1/2, and spins are all perfectly ordered. On the other hand, as seen in Fig.6(c), the resistivity slope, i.e. $`d\rho /dT`$, is enhanced by a factor of 2 below 22 K, implying that the Drude weight, $`n/m^{}`$ (where $`n`$ is the carrier concentration and $`m^{}`$ the carrier effective mass), has been significantly reduced. Such a reduction in Drude weight is considered to be caused by a (pseudo) gap opening. As a possible ordered state accompanied by the tiny entropy change and an open pseudogap, either a charge-density-wave (CDW) or a spin-density-wave (SDW) state is inferred. Upon assuming a state with an open pseudogap at temperatures below $`T_m`$, both the resistivity drop towards an extremely low residual resistivity and the large positive MR effect can be consistently explained. The strong dependence of resistivity on temperature (Fig. 6(c)) implies that the electrical conduction is mainly influenced by the electron-electron scattering. In such a situation, the total carrier-mobility is expected to be enhanced if one of the Fermi surfaces that yields the lower-mobility carriers disappears, as resistivity is inversely proportional to the total scattering time averaged over the whole Fermi surfaces. It is considered that below $`T_m`$ the Fermi surface for the lower-mobility carriers vanishes upon a CDW or SDW formation, whereas the other for the higher-mobility carriers still survives comment1 . Note that this view is consistent with the calculated band picture by Singh Singh00a  who predicted that in Na0.5CoO2 there exist two Fermi surfaces of different natures: one is a cylindrical/hexagonal hole-surface originated from the localized $`a_{1g}`$ band, and the other a hole-like section with the itinerant $`a_{1g}+e_g`$ character. It is plausible that the localized $`a_{1g}`$ and itinerant $`a_{1g}+e_g`$ bands correspond respectively to the low-mobility and to the high-mobility carriers in our present model.

The simultaneous onsets of thermomagnetic irreversibility, finite entropy jump, resistivity drop, and large positive MR effect imply that the magnetism of Na0.75CoO2 is unusual in comparison with any cases of classical magnetic states. In fact, the simultaneous enhancement in magnetization is difficult to understand by assuming a CDW/SDW state below $`T_m`$: this is the most mysterious feature of the present “unconventional” magnetic transition in Na0.75CoO2. To solve this difficulty, two distinct ordered states may be required to coexist below $`T_m`$: one is a CDW or SDW state, and the other is a magnetically ordered state which alone is mainly responsible for the magnetization anomaly. In such a case, cobalt species in the two different states are required to coexist. A previous NMR study Ray99a  suggested two inequivalent cobalt sites in a NaxCoO2 sample with $`x`$ = 0.5. On the other hand, judging from the magnitude of spontaneous magnetization of Na0.75CoO2, the magnetically ordered state should arise from a very small number of cobalt species, which may be difficult to be confirmed by any existing site-specific spectroscopy techniques. A similar behavior was reported for a Cu-substituted NaxCoO2 in which an SDW-like transition was induced by the Cu-for-Co substitution Terasaki02a . Similarity of the two cases suggests that spatial inhomogeneity in the cobalt state does not drastically modify the pristine electronic structure: the existence of inequivalent cobalt species itself is not an intrinsic feature of the present magnetic transition.

Finally, we comment on our successful observation of this unconventional magnetism in Na0.75CoO2. The key technique to have an NaxCoO2 sample exhibit the magnetic transition is to precisely control the Na nonstoichiometry. It is known that Na-rich NaxCoO2 samples are difficult to be synthesized with a conventional solid-state reaction method, as a large deficiency results in the Na content inevitably Kawata99a . Using various NaxCoO2 samples with $`x`$ = 0.65 - 0.75 prepared with both our RH technique and a conventional method, only the $`x`$ = 0.75 RH sample showed the low-temperature second order transition. Very recently, Takeuchi et al. Takeuchi02a  studied the magnetic properties of their NaxCoO2 samples with a nominal composition of $`x`$ = 0.75 and found an irreversible magnetic behavior below 13 K, suggesting a short-range ferromagnetic coupling. However, the samples showed no indication of spontaneous magnetization down to 2 K, though an SG-like anomaly was seen at 3 K. This result implies that the magnetic property of NaxCoO2 is highly sensitive to the Na nonstoichiometry. The reasons why no magnetic transitions were detected for various NaxCoO2 samples of previous works were: (1) samples with high enough Na contents had not been synthesized, that is, in previous works even the starting compositions were rather Na-poor, e.g. $`x`$ = 0.50 and $`x`$ = 0.55 for Refs. Tanaka94a ; Ray99a  and Ando99a , respectively, and (2) conventional powder methods that most likely resulted in Na losses were employed.

In summary, we have confirmed the existence of an unconventional magnetic and transport phenomenon in NaxCoO2 with a precisely controlled Na content, $`x`$ = 0.75. The magnetic transition with $`T_m`$ = 22 K was of the second order, being accompanied with a specific-heat jump. At the same temperature, $`T_m`$, weak spontaneous magnetization ($`M_s`$ = 1.2$`\times `$10-4 $`\mu _B`$ / Co site at 2 K), rapid resistivity drop towards an extremely low residual resistivity ($`\rho _r`$ $``$ 15 $`\mu \mathrm{\Omega }`$ cm), and large positive magnetoresistance effect ($`\mathrm{\Delta }\rho _{7\mathrm{T}}/\rho _0`$ $``$ 0.3 at 2 K) were found to occur simultaneously. All these strongly indicate the appearance of an unconventional electronic state stemmed from the strong correlation of electrons.

We thanks Dr. Taniyama for his fruitful discussion on the magnetism. The present work was supported by a Grant-in-aid for Scientific Research (Contract No. 11305002) from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan.


format: text

text:
# Computer simulation of structural properties of dilute aqueous solutions of argon at supercritical conditions.

## I  Introduction

The problem of solubility of non polar solutes in water has become of large interest for the applications in many chemical processes in industrial technology and biochemistry. shaw ; debenedetti  At ambient conditions the solubility of non polar gases in water is some order of magnitude lower than in other solvent like liquid hydrocarbons, for this reason they are usually considered as hydrophobic solutes. The solubility however increases steeply above the water critical point, $`T_c=647.13`$ K and $`P_c=220.55`$ bar. Most applications involve the use of water at supercritical conditions, where it becomes a good solvent for several non polar materials. eckert

In fact the curve of solubility of non polar gases at increasing temperature shows a very peculiar behaviour, starting from room temperature it decreases and reaches a minimum, then it sharply increases toward water supercritical temperature, where complete miscibility is reached for some system. crovetto  It is also been observed that the solubility of rare gases is larger for larger size of the solute. guillot ; lynden-bell  The behaviour is determined by the interplay between energetic and entropic contributions to the free energy of solvation. According to the simulation work done by Guillot and Guissani guillot  with the simple point charge extended (SPC/E) model spce  for water the energetic term favors the solubility of larger solutes while the entropic term depresses the solubility at increasing size.

The size of the solute seems also to be connected to the different behaviour of the mixtures of water and noble gases at high pressure at the gas-gas critical point. schouten ; schneider

Structural and computer simulation guillot ; tani  studies on aqueous solutions of rare gases indicate that at ambient conditions strong modifications of the water structure are induced by the solutes with the formation of hydration cages around the gas atom. Guillot and Guissani guillot  found that at increasing temperature the solute tends to disrupt the cage. The entropic contribution is dominated by the reorientation of the water molecules in the first shell of hydration, where only the repulsive part of the water-solute interaction plays a role.

In this respect the change in the structural properties of water approaching the supercritical states with the modification of the hydrogen bond network posto1 ; posto2 ; tromp  could be very relevant in determining the strong increase of the solubility of apolar gases with temperature. Recent neutron diffraction studies performed at supercritical conditions in mixtures of rare gases at low concentration in water found that the structure of water is modified and compressed by the presence of the apolar solutes. exper

Simple pair potential used in computer simulation of water based on parameters fitted to the properties at ambient conditions like TIP4P tip4p  and SPC/E spce  do not agree with the experimental results of neutron diffraction in predicting the structural changes in water at increasing temperatures. chialvo1 ; chialvo2 ; kalinichev  Due to the interest in supercritical water several polarizable potentials have been recently developed with the aim of reproducing the properties of water around and above the critical point. bsv ; chialvo3 ; dang  According to a recent detailed analysis jedlo2  performed by comparing the simulation with the more recent neutron diffraction data bruni ; soper ; botti1  the polarizable models give pair correlation functions which agree with the experimental data in the supercritical region much better than the nonpolarizable models. On the other hand the nonpolarizable models reproduce better the temperature dependence of some thermodynamical quantities jedlo2  and the SPC/E potential for instance predicts a critical point for water in agreement with the experiments guissani , while some polarizable models do not reproduce well the coexistence curve. kiyohara  Polarizable models however are generally more accurate in describing the modifications of the structure of water at increasing temperature and pressure above the critical point. jedlo2 ; jedlo1

In this paper we present a comparison of the pair correlation functions of mixtures of argon and water at supercritical conditions obtained from computer simulation with the recent experimental data quoted above. exper  In the numerical calculations water is simulated with the SPC/E potential and the polarizable potential model proposed originally by Ruocco and Sampoli r+s1  and further developed by Brodholt, Sampoli and Vallauri (BSV). bsv  This model is based on the TIP4P geometry with a polarizable point dipole placed in the center of mass. This potential has been checked in computer simulation of pure water and found to produce pair correlation functions which are in good agreement with the experiment at supercritical conditions. jedlo2 ; jedlo1  In the next section we give some detail of our simulation. In Sec. 3 we present the results and compare them with recent experimental data. Sec. 4 is devoted to conclusions.

## II  Computer simulation of aqueous solutions

We performed the computer simulations of a mixture of $`256`$ water molecules and rare gas atoms at the concentration of one atom for 40 molecules of solvent, the same used in the neutron diffraction experiment quoted above. The interaction of the water molecules has been described by the polarizable BSV model bsv  and, for comparison, by the SPC/E model. spce  In both the cases the simulations have been performed in the microcanonical ensemble with the minimum image convention and a cut-off of the interactions at half of the box length. The reaction field has been used to take into account the long range part of the electrostatic interactions. The system with the SPC/E water has been simulated with the DLPoly package in the version 2.10, see reference dlpoly  for further details.

The BSV potential has the same geometry as the TIP4P potential tip4p  with a polarizable dipole moment placed on the center of mass of the molecule. The two positive charges, the parameters of the Lennard-Jones potential on the oxygen and the position of the negative charge are adjusted to reproduce some of the properties of water at ambient conditions (see model 4 in ref. bsv ). The induced dipole $`p_i=\alpha E_i`$ is calculated from the local electric field $`E_i`$ with an iterative procedure by assuming an isotropic polarizability fixed to the value for water molecules $`\alpha =1.44`$ Å3r+s1  The long range part of the electrostatic interactions were taken into account by the reaction field method. allen  Details of the extension of the reaction field method to include polarization effects can be found in references r+s1 ; r+s2 .

We used a time step of $`10^{15}`$ s and the structural quantities have been calculated by averaging over $`210^5`$ configurations. We carried out the simulations for mixtures of water with Ar and Ne. Here we focus mostly on the results of the simulation of water with argon atoms, for which we can compare with recent experiments. exper  The interaction of the water with the noble gas atoms has been modeled with a Lennard-Jones potential between the oxygen of the water molecules and the solute. The parameters of the Lennard-Jones potential of argon are assumed as $`ϵ_{Ar}/k_B=125`$ K, $`\sigma _{Ar}=3.415`$ Å and for neon $`ϵ_{Ne}/k_B=18.56`$ K and $`\sigma _{Ne}=3.035`$ Å. guillot  The parameters of the oxygen-solute potential have been derived from the Lorentz-Berthelot rules.

We explored a range of temperature and density from ambient conditions to the values in the supercritical region where the experiment has been performed, as indicated in Table 1. The calculations were performed below $`T=673`$ at the points which correspond to the liquid branch of the coexistence curve of the SPC/E model. guissani  The point at $`T=673`$ K corresponds to the conditions of temperature and density ($`0.499`$ g/cm3) of the experiment.

## III Solute-solvent structure

In Fig. 1 we report the pair correlation functions argon-oxygen $`g_{OAr}(r)`$ at the different thermodynamical points indicated in Table 1 obtained by the BSV and the SPC/E models. At ambient conditions in both the models the $`g_{OAr}(r)`$ show well defined first peak slightly different in the position due to the different value of the Lennard-Jones parameter. The argon-hydrogen pair correlation functions $`g_{HAr}(r)`$ (Fig. 2) show a first peak at the same position as $`g_{OAr}(r)`$ indicating that the solute is located interstitially in the hydrogen bond network equidistant on the average from the oxygens and hydrogens.

The shoulder around $`3.8`$ Å in the $`g_{HAr}(r)`$ indicates however that some of the O-H bonds point radially toward the second shell. Comparing the positions of the second peak of the $`g_{OAr}(r)`$ with the one of the $`g_{HAr}(r)`$ it is evident that the in the second shell the water molecules are preferentially oriented with the oxygen atoms towards the solute and the hydrogen atoms towards the bulk. Similar trends were already found by Guillot and Guissani on rare gases in SPC/E water guillot  and explained in terms of the formation of an hydration cage around the solute (see guillot  for more details). We can conclude that the same effect is predicted by the polarizable BSV model at ambient conditions.

On increasing temperature the first and second peak of the $`g_{OAr}(r)`$ decrease and the second hydration shell tends to disappear. In the $`g_{HAr}(r)`$ only the shoulder remains at the supercritical conditions indicating that the solute tends to expel the water molecules which are in its solvation shell. As it appears from Fig. 1 and 2 the BSV model confirms the prediction of the SPC/E model and the microscopic scenario described in ref. guillot , but it shows a more drastic reduction of the peaks in going from ambient temperature to the point at $`T=373`$ K.

In the supercritical state at $`T=673`$ K the BSV potential, which is more attractive with respect to the SPC/E model, predicts a more structured $`g_{OAr}(r)`$ . We can infer that in the process of expelling the solvent the depth of the solute-solvent potential well plays an important role in agreement with the conclusions of computer simulations guillot  and previous theoretical predictions deben1 ; deben2  on the relevance of the solute-solvent interaction as compared with the solvent-solvent.

In Fig. 3-4 the argon-water radial distribution functions obtained from our simulation are compared with the experimental results exper . In both $`g_{OAr}(r)`$ and $`g_{HAr}(r)`$ the use of BSV model improves substantially the agreement with the experiment. The solute-solvent effective interaction results to be more attractive in the polarizable model with respect to SPC/E as evident from the comparison of the height of the first peak of the radial distribution functions.

This trend is confirmed by calculations of the coordination numbers of the water molecules around the argon atoms. The deficit of water molecules around the solute can be estimated by calculating the quantity $`h_w(r)=\left[n_{OAr}(r)/n_u(r)\right]1`$ where

$$n_{OAr}(r)=4\pi \rho _0^rg_{OAr}(r^{})r^2𝑑r^{}$$
(1)
and the coordination number for a homogeneous fluid is given by

$$n_u(r)=\frac{4}{3}\pi \rho \left(r^3\sigma ^3\right)$$
(2)
$`\rho `$ is the water density and $`\sigma `$ is the minimum approach distance between argon and oxygen. The results are shown in Fig. 5 compared with the quantity $`h_w(r)`$ obtained from the experiments. The negative values indicate a repulsive behaviour of the solute, but the repulsion is overestimated by the SPC/E model particularly in the region of the first peak of the $`g_{OAr}(r)`$.

In Fig. 6 we report together the radial distribution functions $`g_{OO}(r)`$, $`g_{OAr}(r)`$ and $`g_{HAr}(r)`$ for the water-argon mixture. On the right side there are the results of the BSV, on the left the experimental findings and the inset shows the SPC/E results. Both the models reproduce correctly how the solute penetrates the shells of the water molecules. The $`g_{OAr}(r)`$ does not penetrate beyond the second shell, while the minimum approach distance in the $`g_{HAr}(r)`$ is shorter than that observed in the $`g_{OO}(r)`$.

In Fig. 7 we show the solute-oxygen radial distribution functions of the water-argon and water-neon mixtures together with the $`g_{OO}(r)`$ of the argon-water mixture as obtained from the BSV model. The calculations for the water-neon mixture were performed at the same density and concentration of the water-argon mixture, which correspond, as stated above, to the experimental conditions. The $`g_{OO}(r)`$ of the two mixtures are very similar and any of them could be chosen for the comparison. It is evident the role of the size of the apolar solute. The Ne atoms almost penetrate the first shell of water molecules. The distance of minimum approach of Ne shifts to a lower value and roughly coincides with the minimum approach distance of the $`g_{OO}(r)`$. The maximum of the $`g_{ONe}(r)`$ is at the same position of the maximum of the $`g_{OO}(r)`$. In Fig. 8 it is shown that the $`g_{HS}(r)`$ of each solute have a minimum approach shorter than that of the $`g_{OS}(r)`$. Our trend with the size of the solute is in agreement with the one found in the experiment.

## IV Conclusions

We performed a computer simulation of a solution of argon atoms in water at the same conditions of a recent neutron diffraction experiment exper . We compared the results obtained by using the SPC/E model spce  and the BSV polarizable potential. bsv  For both the models we determined the solute-solvent radial distribution functions from ambient to supercritical conditions. The local structure of the solvent is perturbed by the presence of the solute with the formation of a cage of hydration around the non polar atoms. At increasing temperatures the solute tends to expel the water which resides in the solvation shell. Both the models reproduce this trend, at supercritical conditions however the BSV potential predicts a more structured $`g_{OAr}(r)`$ with respect to SPC/E as a consequence of a more attractive solute-solvent interaction. The argon-water radial distribution functions are well reproduced at the experimental conditions by the polarizable model. The SPC/E model overestimating the solute-solvent repulsion gives the effect of collapsing the argon-water structure. The polarizable model predicts much better the solvent-solute correlation at supercritical conditions. This supports the idea that the BSV model works quite well at high temperatures. jedlo1

## V acknowledgments

The authors thanks M. A. Ricci for providing the experimental results prior to publication and for useful stimulating discussions. The authors also thank M. Sampoli for providing the computer code of the BSV Molecular Dynamics for bulk water.


text:
# The Probability Distribution of the Double Neutron Star Coalescence Rate and Predictions for More Detections

## 1. Introduction

The detection of the double neutron star (NS–NS) prototype PSR B1913+16 as a binary pulsar (Hulse & Taylor 1975) and its orbital decay due to emission of gravitational waves have inspired a number of quantitative estimates of the coalescence rate, $``$, of NS–NS binaries (Clark et al. 1979; Narayan et al. 1991; Phinney 1991; Curran & Lorimer 1995). Significant interest derives from their importance as gravitational-wave sources for the upcoming ground-based laser interferometers (such as LIGO).

We present a newly developed statistical analysis that allows the calculation of statistical confidence levels associated with rate estimates. The method can be applied to any radio pulsar population. Here, we consider PSR B1913+16 (Hulse & Taylor 1975) and PSR B1534+12 (Wolszczan 1991). For different assumed distributions of pulsar properties (luminosities, Galactic positions), we derive the probability distribution function of the total Galactic coalescence rate weighted by the two observed binary systems. The method involves the simulation of selection effects inherent in all relevant radio pulsar surveys and a Bayesian statistical analysis for the probability distribution of $``$. The small-number bias and the effect of the faint-end of the luminosity function, previously identified as the main sources of uncertainty in rate estimates (Kalogera et al. 2001) are implicitly included in this analysis. We extrapolate the Galactic rate to cover the detection volume of LIGO and estimate the most likely detection rates of NS–NS inspiral events for the initial and advanced LIGO. Details of this work are given in Kim et al. (2003; hereafter KKL).

In the second part of this paper, we modify our statistical method in a way that allows us to calculate the probability distribution for the number of pulsars that could be detected by the Parkes Multibeam survey (hereafter PMB survey; Lyne et al. 2000; Manchester et al. 2001) PMB, when the effects of Doppler smearing due to orbital motions are corrected with acceleration searches.

## 2. Pulsar Survey Selection Effects

For a model pulsar population with a given spatial and luminosity distribution, we determine the fraction of the total population which are actually detectable by current large-scale pulsar surveys. In order to do this, we calculate the effective signal-to-noise ratio for each model pulsar in each survey, and compare this with the corresponding detection threshold. Only those pulsars which are nominally above the threshold count as being detectable. After performing this process on the entire model pulsar population of size $`N_{\mathrm{tot}}`$, we are left with a sample of $`N_{\mathrm{obs}}`$ pulsars that are nominally detectable by the surveys. By repeating this process many times, we can determine the probability distribution of $`N_{\mathrm{obs}}`$, which we then use to constrain the population and coalescence rate of NS–NS binaries. More details are given in § 2 of Lorimer et al. (1993) and in KKL.

Here we discuss in a some detail the the Doppler smearing effect which is significant for recent surveys with relatively long exposures. For binary pulsars, we need to take account of the reduction in signal-to-noise ratio due to the Doppler shift in period during an observation. For observations of NS–NS binaries, where the orbital periods are of the order of 10 hours or less, the apparent pulse period can change significantly during a search observation causing the received power to be spread over a number of frequency bins in the Fourier domain. As all the surveys considered in this analysis search for periodicities in the amplitude spectrum of the Fourier transform of the time series, a signal spread over several bins can result in a loss of signal-to-noise ratio $`\sigma `$. To take account of this effect in our survey simulations, we need to multiply the apparent flux density of each model pulsar by a “degradation factor”, $`F=\sigma _{\mathrm{binary}}/\sigma _{\mathrm{control}}`$. Significant degradation occurs, when $`F1`$. Using an analysis method described in Camilo et al. (2000), we calculate the degradation factor for the two pulsars we consider in this work. As expected, we find that surveys with the longest integration times are most affected by Doppler smearing. For the PMB survey, which has an integration time of 35 min, mean values of $`F`$ are 0.7 and 0.3 for PSR B1913+16 and PSR B1534+12 respectively. The greater degradation for PSR B1534+12 is due to its mildly eccentric orbit ($`e0.3`$ versus 0.6 for PSR B1913+16) which results in a much more persistent change in apparent pulse period when averaged over the entire orbit. In order to improve on the sensitivity to binary pulsars, the PMB survey data are now being reprocessed using various algorithms designed to account for binary motion during the integration time (Faulkner et al.; these proceedings). For the Jodrell Bank and Swinburne surveys (Nicastro et al. 1995; Edwards et al. 2001), which both have integration times of order 5 min, we find $`F0.9`$ for both systems. For all other surveys, which have significantly shorter integration times, no significant degradation is seen, and we take $`F=1`$.

## 3. Probability Distribution of Double Neutron Star Coalescence Rates

### 3.1. Statistical Method

As already mentioned, we generate large numbers of “observed” pulsar samples by modeling the survey selection effects and applying them to model populations of PSR B1913+16–like and PSR B1534+12–like pulsars, separately. For a fixed value of $`N_{\mathrm{tot}}`$, we use these “observed” samples to calculate their distribution, which we find to be very well described by a Poisson distribution:

$$P(N_{\mathrm{obs}};\lambda )=\frac{\lambda ^{N_{\mathrm{obs}}}e^\lambda }{N_{\mathrm{obs}}!},$$
(1)
where $`\lambda <N_{\mathrm{obs}}>`$. With our Monte Carlo simulations we calculate $`\lambda `$ and find it to linearly correlate with $`N_{\mathrm{tot}}`$ (for values in the range $`1010^4`$):

$$\lambda =\alpha N_{\mathrm{tot}},$$
(2)
where $`\alpha `$ is a constant that depends on the properties (space and luminosity distributions and pulse period and width) of the Galactic pulsar population.

For a given $`N_{\mathrm{tot}}`$, we calculate the rate using estimates of the associated pulsar beaming correction factor $`f_\mathrm{b}`$ and lifetime $`\tau _{\mathrm{life}}`$: $`=\frac{N_{\mathrm{tot}}}{\tau _{\mathrm{life}}}f_\mathrm{b}`$. We adopt values discussed in Kalogera et al. (2001): 5.72 and $`3.65\times 10^8`$ yr for PSR B1913+16, and 6.45 and $`2.9\times 10^9`$ yr for PSR B1534+12.

Using Bayes’ theorem and the best-fit Poisson distributions, we can calculate the probability distribution of the total number $`N_{\mathrm{tot}}`$ of pulsars in the Galaxy. Further, using estimates of the associated pulsar beaming correction factor $`f_\mathrm{b}`$ and lifetime $`\tau _{\mathrm{life}}`$, we can calculate the distribution function of pulsar rates: $`=\frac{N_{\mathrm{tot}}}{\tau _{\mathrm{life}}}f_\mathrm{b}`$. We adopt values discussed in Kalogera et al. (2001): 5.72 and $`3.65\times 10^8`$ yr for PSR B1913+16, and 6.45 and $`2.9\times 10^9`$ yr for PSR B1534+12. The probability functions of coalescence rates of pulsars similar to each of the observed one are then given by:

$$P()=\left(\frac{\alpha \tau _{\mathrm{life}}}{f_\mathrm{b}}\right)^2e^{\left(\frac{\alpha \tau _{\mathrm{life}}}{f_\mathrm{b}}\right)}.$$
(3)
We use appropriate variable transformations to then calculate the total rate probability distribution:

$$P(_{\mathrm{tot}})=\left(\frac{AB}{BA}\right)^2\left[_{\mathrm{tot}}\left(e^{A_{\mathrm{tot}}}+e^{B_{\mathrm{tot}}}\right)\left(\frac{2}{BA}\right)\left(e^{A_{\mathrm{tot}}}e^{B_{\mathrm{tot}}}\right)\right],$$
(4)
where A and B are defined as follows:

$$A\left(\frac{\alpha \tau _{\mathrm{life}}}{f_\mathrm{b}}\right)_{1913}\mathrm{and}B\left(\frac{\alpha \tau _{\mathrm{life}}}{f_\mathrm{b}}\right)_{1534}.$$
(5)
Having calculated the probability distribution of the Galactic coalescence rate, we can take one step further and also calculate ranges of values for the rate $`_{\mathrm{tot}}`$ at various confidence levels (CL). The lower ($`_\mathrm{a}`$) and upper ($`_\mathrm{b}`$) limits to these ranges are determined by the following conditions:

$$__\mathrm{a}^_\mathrm{b}P(_{\mathrm{tot}})𝑑_{\mathrm{tot}}=\mathrm{CL}\mathrm{and}P(_\mathrm{a})=P(_\mathrm{b}).$$
(6)
Finally, we can calculate the detection rate for LIGO, $`_{\mathrm{det}}`$, defined by

$$_{\mathrm{det}}=ϵ_{\mathrm{tot}}V_{\mathrm{det}},$$
(7)
where $`ϵ`$ is the scaling factor (based on the blue luminosity density of the nearby universe) derived to be $`10^2`$ Mpc-3 (for details see Kalogera et al. 2001). $`V_{\mathrm{det}}`$ is the detection volume defined as a sphere with a radius equals to the maximum detection distance Dmax for the initial ($`20`$ Mpc) and advanced LIGO ($`350`$ Mpc; Finn 2001).

### 3.2. Results

We have chosen one of our pulsar population models to be our reference model based on the results presented by Cordes & Chernoff (1997). For this model, we find the most likely value of $`N_{\mathrm{tot}}`$, to be $`390`$ pulsars for the “PSR B1913+16-like” population, and $`350`$ pulsars for the “PSR B1534+12-like” population. Using eq. (4–5), we evaluate the total Galactic coalescence rate of NS–NS binaries for this reference case. The most likely value of the coalescence rate is $`_{\mathrm{peak}}`$$`8`$ Myr-1 and the ranges at different statistical confidence levels are: $`320`$ Myr-1 at 68%, $`130`$ Myr-1 at 95%, and $`0.740`$ Myr-1 at 99%. Also, the most likely values of detection rates, which correspond to $`_{\mathrm{peak}}`$ are $`3\times 10^3`$ yr-1 and $`18`$ yr-1, for the initial and advanced LIGO.

In Fig. 1, $`P(_{\mathrm{tot}})`$ along with $`P(_{1913})`$ and $`P(_{1534})`$ are shown for the reference model. It is evident that the total rate distribution is dominated by that of PSR B1913+16. This is due to the fact that we calculate the two rate contributions having relaxed the constraint that pulsars have luminosities equal to that of the observed pulsar, and instead allowing for the full range in luminosity. In this case any differences in the two separate rate contributions depend only on differences in pulse periods, and widths. Given that the latter are rather small, it makes sense that, for example, the most likely values of $`N_{\mathrm{tot}}`$ for the two pulsars come out to be very similar (e.g. $`390`$ and $`350`$, for PSR B1913+16 and PSR B1534+12, respectively, in the reference model). Consequently any difference in the rate contributions from the two populations is due to the difference in lifetimes (about a factor of 10) for the two observed pulsars (note that the two do not only have similar $`N_{\mathrm{tot}}`$ estimates, but also similar beaming correction factors). Since the lifetime estimate for PSR B1913+16 is much smaller, the total rate distribution is dominated by its contribution.

We have found that there are strong correlations between the peak value of the total Galactic coalescence rate, $`_{\mathrm{peak}}`$, and the cut-off luminosity, $`L_{\mathrm{min}}`$, and its power index, $`p`$. As seen in the Fig. 2, $`_{\mathrm{peak}}`$ increases rapidly with decreasing $`L_{\mathrm{min}}`$ (left panel) or with increasing p (right panel). The peak rate does not show any strong dependence on scale lengths of the spatial distribution (either $`R_0`$ or $`Z_0`$), except for rather extreme cases (e.g. $`R_03`$ kpc).Hence, the most important model parameter seems to be the slope and low-end cut-off of the luminosity function. We find that the most likely values for the rates are in the range $``$ 3-22 Myr-1 for all models with luminosity-function parameters consistent with pulsar observations at 68% confidence level (Cordes & Chernoff 1997).

## 4. Probability Distribution of $`N_{\mathrm{obs}}`$ for Parkes Multibeam Survey

### 4.1. Statistical Method

As mentioned in §2.1, because of the long integration time, the signal-to-noise ratio for the PMB survey is severely reduced by Doppler smearing due to the pulsars’ orbital motion. Acceleration searches in the reanalysis by Faulkner et al. (these proceedings) promise to alleviate this reduction in the near future. Here we calculate the probability distribution of the number of pulsars $`N_{\mathrm{obs}}`$ that could be detected with the PMB survey, assuming that the reduction in flux due to Doppler smearing is corrected perfectly. Using this distribution P($`N_{\mathrm{obs}}`$), we calculate the average value of $`N_{\mathrm{obs}}`$, $`<N_{\mathrm{obs}}>_{\mathrm{PMB}}`$, for the PMB survey.

We first calculate $`N_{\mathrm{obs}}`$ (detected by PMB survey) for a range of total number of pulsars in our model galaxy and determine the slope, $`\alpha _{\mathrm{PMB}}`$ using eq. (2)(§3.1). We then use $`P(N_{\mathrm{tot}})`$ (in practice $`P(\lambda )`$) derived in § 3, to calculate $`P(N_{\mathrm{obs}})`$, for each type of pulsar:

$$P(N_{\mathrm{obs}})=P(N_{\mathrm{obs}};\lambda _{\mathrm{PMB}})P(\lambda _{\mathrm{PMB}})𝑑\lambda _{\mathrm{PMB}},$$
(8)
where $`P(N_{\mathrm{obs}};\lambda _{\mathrm{PMB}})`$ is given in eq. (1). Defining $`\beta =\frac{\alpha }{\alpha _{\mathrm{PMB}}}`$, P($`\lambda _{\mathrm{PMB}}`$) can be derived from P($`N_{\mathrm{tot}}`$):

$$P(\lambda _{\mathrm{PMB}})=\beta ^2\lambda _{\mathrm{PMB}}e^{\beta \lambda _{\mathrm{PMB}}}.$$
(9)
Since $`\alpha `$’s are different for each type of pulsar, $`\beta `$ is determined for each pulsar, separately. The normalized probability distribution of $`N_{\mathrm{obs}}`$ for each type of pulsar, P($`N_{\mathrm{obs}}`$), is then calculated as:

$$P(N_{\mathrm{obs}})=\frac{\beta ^2}{(1+\beta )^2}\frac{(N_{\mathrm{obs}}+1)}{(1+\beta )^{N_{\mathrm{obs}}}},$$
(10)
Once we have P($`N_{\mathrm{obs}}`$)1913 and P(Nobs)1534, we can calculate the combined $`P(N_{\mathrm{obs},1913}+N_{\mathrm{obs},1534})`$. We define $`N_+=N_{\mathrm{obs},1913}+N_{\mathrm{obs},1534}`$ and $`N_{}=N_{\mathrm{obs},1913}N_{\mathrm{obs},1534}`$, where all variables are integers. The joint probability distribution function for observing either PSR B1913+16-like or PSR B1534+12-like pulsar, P($`N_+`$,$`N_{}`$) is given by:

$$P(N_+,N_{})=\left[\frac{\beta _1\beta _2}{2(1+\beta _1)(1+\beta _2)}\right]^2\frac{(N_++N_{}+2)(N_+N_{}+2)}{(1+\beta _1)^{(N_++N_{})/2}(1+\beta _2)^{(N_+N_{})/2}}.$$
(11)
Finally, we calculate $`P(N_+)`$ by the summation of P($`N_+`$,$`N_{}`$) over $`N_{}`$.

$$P(N_+)=\underset{\mathrm{N}_{}}{}P(N_+,N_{}),$$
(12)
where $`N_{}`$ lies in the range \[$`N_+`$,$`N_+`$\] with an increment of 2.

### 4.2. Results

In Fig. 3, we show the distribution function P($`N_+`$) that could be detected by the PMB survey for our reference pulsar population model. We have calculated the distributions and average predicted values, for other models with different cut-off luminosity $`L_{\mathrm{min}}`$ and the power index of the luminosity function, $`p`$ (KKL). For 7 different models with luminosity-function parameters within a 68% confidence level (Cordes & Chernoff 1997), we find values of $`<N_+>`$ in the range 1.35–1.5 (1.4 for our reference model). We conclude that, if orbital motion does not affect the signal-to-noise ratio, then the PMB survey could be expected to detect 1-2 new binary pulsars with pulse profile and orbital properties similar to either PSR B1913+16 or PSR B1534+12 in the PMB survey.

## 5. Discussion

We have recently developed a new method for estimating the total number of pulsars in our Galaxy and have applied it to the calculation of the coalescence rate of double neutron star systems in the Galactic field (for more details see KKL). Here, we extend this method to obtain a prediction for the average number of observed pulsars that the PMB survey could detect when acceleration searches are used to correct for the Doppler smearing due to orbital motions. The modeling of pulsar survey selection effects is formulated in a “forward” way, by populating the Galaxy with model pulsar populations and calculating the likelihood of the real observed sample. This is in contrast to the “inverse” way of the calculation of scale factors used in previous studies.

We note that this method could be further extended to account for distributions of pulsar populations in pulse periods, widths, and orbital periods. It is important to note that both our rate estimates and the predictions for detections from the PMB survey do not apply to binary pulsars that are significantly different from with such properties that are significantly different PSRs B1913+16 and B1534+12 in terms of pulse shapes and orbital properties.

Most importantly the method can be applied to any type of pulsar population with appropriate modifications of the modeling of survey selection effects. Currently we are working on assessing the contribution of double neutron stars formed in globular clusters as well as the formation rate of binary pulsars with white dwarf companions that are important for gravitational-wave detection by LISA, the space-based interferometer planned by NASA and ESA for the end of this decade.

#### Acknowledgments.

This work is partially supported by NSF grant PHY-0121420 and a Packard Science and Engineering Fellowship to VK. DRL is a University Research Fellow funded by the Royal Society. DRL is also grateful for the hospitality and support of the Theoretical Astrophysics Group at Northwestern U.

## References

F. Camilo et al. 2000, ApJ, 535, 975

J. P. A. Clark, E. P. J. van den Heuvel, and W. Sutantyo 1979, A&A, 72, 120

J. M. Cordes, and D. F. Chernoff 1997, ApJ, 482, 971

S. J. Curran, and D. R. Lorimer 1995, MNRAS, 276, 347

R. T. Edwards et al. 2001, MNRAS, 326, 358

A. J. Faulkner, et al., these proceedings

L. S. Finn 2001, in Proc. AIP conf., 575, 92, Melvill, New York

R. A. Hulse, and J. H. Taylor 1975, ApJ, 195, L51

V. Kalogera, R. Narayan, D. N. Spergel, & J. H. Taylor 2001, ApJ, 556, 340

C. Kim, V. Kalogera, D. R. Lorimer 2003, ApJ, in press \[astro-ph/0207408\] (KKL)

D. R. Lorimer et al. 1993, MNRAS, 263, 403

A. G. Lyne et al. 2000, MNRAS, 312, 698

R. N. Manchester et al. 2001, MNRAS, 328, 17

R. Narayan, T. Piran, and A. Shemi 1991, ApJ, 379, L17

L. Nicastro et al. 1995, MNRAS, 273, L68

E. S. Phinney 1991, ApJ, 380, L17

A. Wolszczan 1991, Nature, 350, 688


text:
# Characterization of the Hilbert ball by its Automorphisms

## 1. Introduction

The primary goal of this article is to establish the following theorem, which gives a full generalization, to a separable Hilbert space of infinite dimension, of the Wong-Rosay Theorem of finite dimension.

###### Theorem 1.1.

If a domain $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ in a separable Hilbert space $``$ admits a $`C^2`$ strongly pseudoconvex boundary point at which a holomorphic automorphism orbit accumulates, then $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ is biholomorphic to the open unit ball in $``$.

Since there are many subtleties in setting up the necessary terminology in the infinite dimensions, we shall present the precise definitions in the next section.

There have been several important contributions by several authors concerning this line of research. Chronologically speaking, Wong \[WON\] proved in 1977 the above theorem in $`^n`$ with the assumption that the domain $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ is bounded and strongly pseudoconvex at every boundary point. Then, Rosay \[ROS\] improved it in 1979, using holomorphic peak functions, that the theorem holds if the domain is bounded and an automorphism orbit accumulation point is strongly pseudoconvex. Much later in 1995, Efimov \[EFI\] removed the boundedness assumption from $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$. That argument is now well set up using Sibony’s analysis of plurisubharmonic peak functions. See \[BER\], \[GAU\] and \[BGK\], for details. For the infinite dimension, Kim and Krantz \[KIK\] in 2000 proved the above theorem with an extra assumption that $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ is bounded and convex. They needed convexity since they were relying upon a weak-normal family argument which they developed. Then, developing an infinite dimensional version of Sibony’s analysis on plurisubharmonic peak functions, Byun, Gaussier and Kim (\[BGK\] in 2002) removed the boundedness assumption from the theorem of Kim and Krantz. In this article, we remove the convexity assumption from the theorem of Byun-Gaussier-Kim, thus arriving at the optimal version of the theorem of this type. The crux of the proof uses a new method, which concerns a principle of strong convergence for certain holomorphic mappings of the infinite dimensional Hilbert space. This new convergence argument seems worth exploring further, with a separate interest. Finally, it is worth noting that a manifold version of Wong-Rosay theorem have been studied also. See \[MAK\] for instance. Now the most general version is known, and is due to Gaussier, Kim and Krantz (\[GKK\]). We also present the Hilbert manifold version in this article.

The rest of the paper is organized as follows. Since the proof uses the ideas developed by Kim and Krantz \[KIK\] and then the localization methods introduced in \[BGK\], we shall introduce the outline of their methods shortly after the notation and basic terminology are introduced. Then we shall present our methods leading to the strong convergence of the scaling sequence in the separable Hilbert space and to the proof of the main theorem.

## 2. Terminology

We introduce in this section the concepts of smoothness of mappings of infinite dimensional spaces and the strong pseudoconvexity. Further details in great generality can be found in the books of Mujica \[MUJ\] and Dineen \[DIN\], for instance.

Let $`𝔼`$ and $`𝔽`$ be Banach spaces and let $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ be an open subset of $`𝔼`$. Let $`u:\mathrm{\Omega }𝔽`$ be a $`C^{\mathrm{}}`$ smooth mapping. Then for each point $`p\mathrm{\Omega }`$ and vectors $`v_1,\mathrm{},v_k𝔼`$, we may define inductively the derivative $`d^ku`$ of order $`k`$ as follows:

$`du(p;v_1)`$ $`=`$ $`\underset{r0}{lim}{\displaystyle \frac{1}{r}}(u(p+rv_1)u(p))`$
$`d^2u(p;v_1,v_2)`$ $`=`$ $`\underset{r0}{lim}{\displaystyle \frac{1}{r}}(du(p+rv_2;v_1)du(p;v_1))`$
$`\mathrm{}`$
$$\begin{array}{c}d^ku(p;v_1,\mathrm{},v_k)=\hfill \\ \hfill \underset{r0}{lim}\frac{1}{r}(d^{k1}u(p+rv_k;v_1,\mathrm{},v_{k1})d^{k1}u(p;v_1,\mathrm{},v_{k1}))\end{array}$$

Notice that these derivatives are symmetric multi-linear over $``$. If one so prefer, these formulae can be used to define $`C^k`$ smoothness, requiring in that case that the corresponding derivatives are continuous multi-linear tensors.

Then the complex differentials can be defined accordingly:

$`u(p;v)`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}(du(q;v)idu(q;iv))`$
$`\overline{}u(p;v)`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}(du(q;v)+idu(q;iv)).`$
We are now able to introduce the concept of holomorphic maps and the remaining terminology thereof. First, by a holomorphic mapping we mean a $`C^1`$ smooth map that is annihilated by the $`\overline{}`$ operator. See \[MUJ\] for equivalent definitions.

A domain in this article is an open connected subset of a Banach space. An automorphism of a domain $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ is a bijective holomorphic mapping of $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ with its inverse holomorphic. The automorphism group $`\text{Aut}(\mathrm{\Omega })`$ of a domain $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ is the group of all automorphisms of $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$. An automorphism orbit is a set of the form $`Aut(\mathrm{\Omega })q=\{\phi (q)\phi \text{Aut}(\mathrm{\Omega })\}`$, where $`q\mathrm{\Omega }`$. Thus, a boundary point $`p`$ of $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ is said to be an orbit accumulation point, if $`p`$ is an accumulation point of an automorphism orbit, i.e., if there is a sequence $`\{\phi _j\}\text{Aut}(\mathrm{\Omega })`$ and a point $`q\mathrm{\Omega }`$ such that $`\underset{j\mathrm{}}{lim}\phi _j(q)p=0`$.

We now introduce the concept of strong pseudoconvexity. Let $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ be a domain in a Banach space $`𝔼`$. We say that $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ is strongly pseudoconvex at a boundary point $`p\mathrm{\Omega }`$ if there is an open neighborhood $`U`$ of $`p`$ and a $`C^2`$ smooth local defining function $`\rho :U`$ satisfying the following properties:

* $`\mathrm{\Omega }U=\{zU\rho (z)<0\}`$.
* $`\mathrm{\Omega }U=\{zU\rho (z)=0\}`$.
* $`d\rho (q;)`$ is a non-zero functional for every $`q\mathrm{\Omega }U`$.
* There exists a constant $`C>0`$ such that $`\overline{}\rho (p;v,v)Cv^2`$ for every $`v𝔼`$ satisfying $`\rho (p;v)=0`$.

As in the finite dimensional case, we call $`\overline{}\rho `$ the Levi form of $`\rho `$.

## 3. Localization and Pluri-subharmonic Peak Functions

Let $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ be a domain in a Banach space $`𝔼`$, and let $`p\mathrm{\Omega }`$. A continuous function $`\psi :\mathrm{\Omega }`$ is said to be pluri-subharmonic if it is subharmonic along every complex affine line in $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$. A pluri-subharmonic peak function at $`p`$ of $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ is a pluri-subharmonic function $`\psi _p:U`$ defined on an open neighborhood $`U`$ of the closure $`\overline{\mathrm{\Omega }}`$ of $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ satisfying the following two conditions:

* $`h(p)=0`$, and $`h(z)<0`$ for every $`z\overline{\mathrm{\Omega }}\{p\}`$.
* The sets $`V_m:=\{z\overline{\mathrm{\Omega }}h(z)>1/m\}`$, where $`m=1,2,\mathrm{}`$, form a neighborhood basis at $`p`$ in $`\overline{\mathrm{\Omega }}`$.

Unlike the finite dimensional cases, the second condition is essential for the definition in the infinite dimensions. On the other hand, notice that every strongly pseudoconvex boundary point admits a pluri-subharmonic peak function for $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$.

Following the work of Sibony \[SIB\], several investigations from the articles of Efimov \[EFI\], Berteloot \[BER\], Gaussier \[GAU\] and Byun- Gaussier-Kim \[BGK\] have been made. We exploit some of them which pertain to the localization and hyperbolicity.

###### Theorem 3.1.

(cf. p. 588, \[BGK\]) Let $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ be a domain in a Banach space $`𝔼`$ with a $`C^2`$ smooth strongly pseudoconvex boundary point at which an automorphism orbit accumulates. Then, $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ is Kobayashi hyperbolic.

###### Theorem 3.2.

(cf. p. 588, \[BGK\]) Let $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ be a domin in a Banach space $`𝔼`$ with a $`C^2`$ smooth strongly pseudoconvex boundary point $`p`$ which admits a sequence $`\phi _j\text{Aut}(\mathrm{\Omega })`$ of automorphisms and a point $`q\mathrm{\Omega }`$ such that $`lim_j\mathrm{}\phi _j(q)=p`$. Then, for every Kobayashi distance ball $`B_\mathrm{\Omega }^K(x;r)`$ of radius $`r`$ centered at $`x\mathrm{\Omega }`$ and for every open neighborhood $`U`$ of $`p`$ there exists $`N>0`$ such that $`\phi _j(B_\mathrm{\Omega }^K(x;r))U`$ for every $`j>N`$.

We choose not to include any details of the proofs, in order to avoid an excessive repetition with the references cited above. However, we consider it appropriate to point out that the localization method using pluri-subharmonic peak functions initiated by Sibony seems indeed more effective than the traditional localization arguments relying upon holomorphic peak functions and normal family arguments.

## 4. Scaling Maps and Weak Normal Family

The contents of this section are mostly from the article of Kim and Krantz \[KIK\]. The scaling method introduced here has its finite dimensional origin in the work of Pinchuk \[PIN\], Frankel \[FRA\], Kim \[KIM\] and others. Some other details are in \[BGK\].

### 4.1. Pinchuk’s scaling sequence

Here, we introduce Pinchuk’s scaling sequence. We begin with some notation. We choose an orthonormal basis $`e_1,e_2,\mathrm{}`$ for a separable Hilbert space $``$. Then for each $`z`$, we write

$$z=\underset{m=1}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}z_me_m,$$

and

$$z^{}=\underset{m=2}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}z_me_m.$$

Let $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ be a domain in a separable Hilbert space $``$ with a $`C^2`$ strongly pseudoconvex boundary point $`p`$. Then, there exist an open neighborhood $`U`$ of $`p`$ in $``$ and an injective holomorphic mapping $`G:UG(U)`$ such that the following hold:

* $`G(p)=0`$.
* The domain $`\mathrm{\Omega }_U:=G(\mathrm{\Omega }U)=\{zG(U)\text{Re}z_1>\psi (\text{Im}z_1,z^{})\}`$ is strictly convex. Moreover, the function $`\psi `$ is strongly convex and vanishes precisely to the second order at the origin.

Now, as in the hypothesis of Theorem 1.1, we work with the assumption that there exist $`q\mathrm{\Omega }`$ and a sequence $`\phi _j\text{Aut}(\mathrm{\Omega })`$ such that $`\underset{j\mathrm{}}{lim}\phi _j(q)p=0`$. We may choose a subsequence if necessary so that we have $`\phi _j(q)U`$ for every $`j=1,2,\mathrm{}`$. Let $`q_j=G(\phi _j(q))`$. Choose now for each $`j`$ the point $`p_j\mathrm{\Omega }_U`$ such that $`p_jq_j=r_je_1`$ for some $`r_j>0`$. Note that $`p_j^{}=q_j^{}`$. Let us denote by $`p_{j1}=p_j,e_1`$. Then we consider a complex affine linear isomorphism $`H_j::zw`$ defined by

$`w_1`$ $`=`$ $`e^{\theta _j}(z_1p_{j1})+T_j(z^{}p^{})`$
$`w^{}`$ $`=`$ $`z^{}p^{}`$
where the bounded linear functional $`T_j:(e_1)^{}`$ is chosen for each $`j`$ to satisfy the following properties:

* $`H_j(\mathrm{\Omega }_U)`$ is supported by the real hyperplane defined by $`\text{Re}w_1=0`$ at the origin of $``$.
* $`0T_j(\mathrm{\Omega }_U)`$.
* $`T_j(q_j)=e^{\theta _j}r_j`$.

Note also that $`e^{\theta _j}`$ can be chosen so that it converges to 1 as $`j\mathrm{}`$. See \[KIK\] for an explicit choice for these maps and the values for $`\theta _j`$.

Now we define the Pinchuk scaling sequence. Define the linear map $`L_j:`$ by

$$L_j(w)=\frac{w_1}{r_j}e_1+\frac{1}{\sqrt{r_j}}w^{}.$$

Then the Pinchuk scaling sequence is defined by the composition

$$\omega _j=L_jH_jG\phi _j.$$

This map is not well-defined on $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$. However, the localization theorems in Section 3 implies that there exists an increasing and exhausting sequence of Kobayashi distance open balls $`B_\mathrm{\Omega }^K(q,R_k)`$ ($`k=1,2,\mathrm{};R_1<R_2<\mathrm{}`$) so that $`\omega _j`$ is a well-defined map of $`B_\mathrm{\Omega }^K(q,R_k)`$ whenever $`jk`$.

### 4.2. Weak Normal Family Theorems

In the finite dimensions, the Pinchuk scaling sequence $`\omega _j`$ defines a normal family whose subsequential limits are holomorphic embeddings of $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ into the ambient Euclidean space. However, it is not the case in the infinite dimensions. In this section, we introduce the concept of weak convergence of holomorphic mappings that produces holomorphic limits. This is again from \[KIK\] and \[BGK\].

###### Theorem 4.1.

(Theorem 4.4 of \[BGK\]) Let $`𝔼`$ be a separable Banach space, and let $`𝔽`$ a reflexive Banach space. Let $`\mathrm{\Omega }_1`$ and $`\mathrm{\Omega }_2`$ be domains in $`𝔼`$ and $`𝔽`$, respectively. Assume further that $`\mathrm{\Omega }_2`$ is bounded. Then, for every sequence $`h_j:\mathrm{\Omega }_1\mathrm{\Omega }_2`$ of holomorphic mappings, there exist a subsequence $`h_{j_k}`$ and a holomorphic mapping $`\widehat{h}:\mathrm{\Omega }_1𝔽`$ such that, for each $`x\mathrm{\Omega }_1`$, the sequence $`h_{j_k}(x)`$ converges weakly to $`\widehat{h}(x)`$.

Unlike the finite dimensions, this theorem is not so effective. The weak limit $`\widehat{h}`$ is holomorphic, but not in general injective. Also, it is not even guaranteed at this point that $`\widehat{h}(\mathrm{\Omega }_1)`$ is contained in $`\mathrm{\Omega }_2`$. (Although, we do have that $`\widehat{h}(\mathrm{\Omega }_1)`$ is contained in the closed convex hull of $`\mathrm{\Omega }_2`$ due to the reflexivity of $`𝔽`$.) Nonetheless, this is about the best one can obtain from the general theory.

Before proceeding further, we point out that one can modify the Pinchuk scaling sequence $`\omega _j`$ so that the range becomes bounded. In \[KIK\], a method is described in detail to modify $`\omega _j`$ by composing with an explicit linear fractional transformation $`\mathrm{\Psi }`$ so that the map $`\mathrm{\Psi }\omega _j`$ has its image in $`(1+ϵ_j)𝔹`$ for each $`j`$. Moreover, the sequence of positive numbers $`ϵ_j`$ converges monotonically to zero.

From here on, we shall denote the map $`\mathrm{\Psi }\omega _j`$ by $`\tau _j`$ for $`j=1,2,\mathrm{}`$.

### 4.3. Calibration of Derivatives and Kim-Krantz Scaling Sequence

In \[KIK\], a new method of modifying the scaling sequence has been introduced. The goal is to have a strong convergence of the derivatives $`d\tau _j(q;)`$, as $`j\mathrm{}`$. In order to do this, Kim and Krantz have used Hilbert isometries to calibrate each differential $`d\tau _j(q;)`$ as follows: first they consider the new basis $`d\tau _j(q;e_m)`$ ($`m=1,2,\mathrm{}`$) for the separable Hilbert space $``$. Then they apply the Gram-Schmidt process to these vectors such as

$$f_{jm}:=d\tau _j(q;e_m)\underset{k=1}{\overset{m1}{}}\frac{d\tau _j(q;e_k),f_{jk}}{f_{jk},f_{jk}}f_{jk}.$$

It turns out that the vectors $`f_{jm}`$ have their norms uniformly bounded away from zero by a constant independent of $`j`$ and $`m`$. Then they define the Hilbert space isometries $`S_j:`$ arising from the condition $`S_j(f_{jm}/f_{jm})=e_m`$ for every $`j,m=1,2,\mathrm{}`$. Finally, the Kim/Krantz scaling sequence

$$\sigma _j:=S_j\tau _j:B_\mathrm{\Omega }^K(q;R_j)(1+ϵ_j)𝔹$$

is introduced.

If we use the notation $`\mathrm{\Sigma }_n=e_1\mathrm{}e_n`$, we can observe at this point immediately that $`d\sigma _j(q;\mathrm{\Sigma }_n)=\mathrm{\Sigma }_n`$ for every positive integer $`n`$. Moreover the sequences $`d\sigma _j(q;)`$ and $`d\sigma _j(q;)^1`$ are both uniformly bounded. (See Section 7 of \[KIK\] for details.)

In summary, one obtains the following:

###### Proposition 4.2.

Let $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ be a domain in a separable Hilbert space $``$ with a $`C^2`$ smooth, strongly pseudoconvex boundary point $`p`$ at which an automorphism orbit accumulates. Then, there exist a point $`q\mathrm{\Omega }`$, a decreasing sequence $`ϵ_j`$ of positive numbers tending to zero, an increasing sequence $`R_j`$ tending to infinity, and a sequence of holomorphic mappings $`\sigma _j:B_\mathrm{\Omega }^K(q;R_j)(1+ϵ_j)𝔹`$ such that

* $`\sigma _j`$ converges weakly to a holomorphic mapping $`\sigma `$ at every point of $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$;
* $`\sigma _j(q)=0`$ and $`\sigma (q)=0`$;
* $`d\sigma _j(q)`$ and $`d\sigma (q)`$ are calibrated in the sense that they map the flag subspace $`\mathrm{\Sigma }_n=e_1\mathrm{}e_n`$ into $`\mathrm{\Sigma }_n`$ for each positive integer $`n`$;

and
* $`d\sigma _j(q)`$ converges to $`d\sigma (q)`$ on every $`\mathrm{\Sigma }_n`$.

Notice that the arguments up to this point are sufficient to prove the main theorem of \[KIK\]. The main theorem of \[BGK\] is also in the same line but uses more modifications for the convergence of the sequence of $`\sigma _j^1`$ since $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ may be convex but still unbounded. We would like to remark that our proof, as one can see in the subsequent section, goes around such difficulties establishing directly the two facts: (1) $`\sigma `$ is injective, and (2) $`\sigma (\mathrm{\Omega }_1)=\mathrm{\Omega }_2`$.

## 5. Strong Convergence of the Scaling Sequence

### 5.1. Techniques for Strong Convergence Arguments

We now demonstrate a new method of strong normal families in the infinite dimensional Hilbert space. We begin with an estimate on the Kobayashi metric and distance. From here on, $`d_M`$ and $`k_M`$ will denote the Kobayashi distance and metric of the complex manifold $`M`$, respectively. Let $`u:[0,1)[0,\mathrm{})`$ be defined by $`u(t)=(1/2)\mathrm{ln}[(1+t)/(1t)]`$, so that $`u(t)=d_\mathrm{\Delta }(0,t)`$ and $`u^1(s)=\mathrm{tanh}s`$.

###### Lemma 5.1.

Let $`\mathrm{\Omega }H`$ be a Kobayashi hyperbolic domain. For $`q,x\mathrm{\Omega }`$, denote by $`a=d_\mathrm{\Omega }(x,q)`$. If $`\mathrm{\Omega }^{}`$ is a subdomain of $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ such that $`\mathrm{\Omega }^{}\{y\mathrm{\Omega }:d_\mathrm{\Omega }(y,q)<b\}`$, where $`b>a`$, then $`d_\mathrm{\Omega }^{}(x,q)a/\mathrm{tanh}(ba)`$, $`k_\mathrm{\Omega }^{}(x,v)k_\mathrm{\Omega }(x,v)/\mathrm{tanh}(ba)`$ for $`vH`$.

###### Proof.

We first prove the second inequality. Let $`s=\mathrm{tanh}(ba)`$ and $`ϵ>0`$. Then, there exists a holomorphic map $`f:\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{\Omega }`$ such that $`f(0)=x`$ and $`f^{}(0)=v/(k_\mathrm{\Omega }(x,v)+ϵ)`$. If $`\zeta \mathrm{\Delta }(0,s)`$, then

$`d_\mathrm{\Omega }(q,f(\zeta ))`$ $``$ $`d_\mathrm{\Omega }(q,x)+d_\mathrm{\Omega }(x,f(\zeta ))`$
$`=`$ $`a+d_\mathrm{\Omega }(f(0),f(\zeta ))`$
$``$ $`a+d_\mathrm{\Delta }(0,\zeta )`$
$`<`$ $`a+(ba)=b.`$
So $`f(\mathrm{\Delta }(0,s))\mathrm{\Omega }^{}`$. Define $`g:\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{\Omega }^{}`$ by $`g(\zeta )=f(s\zeta )`$. Then we have $`g(0)=x`$ and $`g^{}(0)=sf^{}(0)=sv/(k_\mathrm{\Omega }(x,v)+ϵ)`$. Thus, it holds that $`k_\mathrm{\Omega }^{}(x,v)(k_\mathrm{\Omega }(x,v)+ϵ)/s`$. Since $`ϵ`$ can be arbitrarily small, we obtain that $`k_\mathrm{\Omega }^{}(x,v)k_\mathrm{\Omega }(x,v)/s`$.

We now prove the first inequality. Let $`ϵ(0,ba)`$. There exists a $`C^1`$ curve $`z:[0,1]\mathrm{\Omega }`$ such that $`z(0)=q`$, $`z(1)=x`$, and $`_0^1k_\mathrm{\Omega }(z(t),z^{}(t))𝑑t<a+ϵ`$. It follows that $`d_\mathrm{\Omega }(q,z(t))<a+ϵ<b`$ and $`z(t)\mathrm{\Omega }^{}`$ for each $`t[0,1]`$. By the inequality that we proved in the preceding paragraph, $`k_\mathrm{\Omega }^{}(z(t),z^{}(t))k_\mathrm{\Omega }(z(t),z^{}(t))/\mathrm{tanh}(baϵ)`$. Therefore,

$`d_\mathrm{\Omega }^{}(x,q)`$ $``$ $`{\displaystyle _0^1}k_\mathrm{\Omega }^{}(z(t),z^{}(t))𝑑t`$
$``$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{\mathrm{tanh}(baϵ)}}{\displaystyle _0^1}k_\mathrm{\Omega }(z(t),z^{}(t))𝑑t.`$
So we see that $`d_\mathrm{\Omega }^{}(x,q)<(a+ϵ)/\mathrm{tanh}(baϵ)`$. Allowing $`ϵ`$ tend to $`0`$, we obtain the desired conclusion. ∎

The next lemma follows immediately by a standard normal family argument.

###### Lemma 5.2.

For each positive number $`ϵ<1`$ there exists a constant $`\delta >0`$ such that for each holomorphic function $`f:\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{\Delta }`$ with $`f(0)=0`$ and $`f^{}(0)>1\delta `$ it holds that

$$|f(z)z|<ϵ,\text{whenever}|z|1ϵ.$$

We now present a crucial lemma, which establishes the strong uniform convergence on exhausting open subsets for the Kim/Krantz scaling sequence introduced in Section 4.3. We begin with some notation. For bounded linear operators $`S`$ and $`T`$ of the Hilbert space $``$, we use the standard notation $`ST`$ (or $`TS`$, equivalently) which means that $`(TS)x,x0`$ for each $`x`$. We also use two more standard notation: $`I`$ for the identity map of $``$, and the notation $`𝔹`$ for the open unit ball in $``$.

###### Lemma 5.3.

Let $`\{a_j\}`$ be a sequence of positive numbers with $`a_j0`$ and let $`g_j:𝔹𝔹`$ be a sequence of holomorphic mappings such that $`g_j(0)=0`$ and $`dg_j(0)(1a_j)I`$. Then the sequence $`g_j`$ converges to $`I`$ uniformly on each $`r𝔹`$ with $`0<r<1`$.

###### Proof.

Fix $`0<r<1`$ and $`0<ϵ<1/8`$. Let $`\zeta `$ be a unit vector in the Hilbert space $``$. Define a function $`f_j:\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{\Delta }`$ by $`f_j(z)=g_j(z\zeta ),\zeta `$. Then $`f_j^{}(0)=dg_j(0)\zeta ,\zeta 1a_j`$. By Lemma 5.2, there is a positive integer $`k=k(r,ϵ)`$ such that $`|f_j(z)z|<ϵ`$ whenever $`jk`$ and $`|z|r`$. Let $`h_j(z):=g_j(z\zeta )f_j(z)\zeta `$. Then $`h_j(z),\zeta =0`$. By Schwarz’s Lemma, we have $`|z|^2g_j(z\zeta )^2`$. This implies that

$$|z|^2|f_j(z)|^2+h_j(z)^2(|z|ϵ)^2+h_j(z)^2.$$

Consequently, we obtain $`h_j(z)^2<2ϵϵ^2`$ and

$$|g_j(z\zeta )z\zeta |^2=h_j(z)^2+f_j(z)\zeta z\zeta ^2(2ϵϵ^2)+ϵ^2=2ϵ$$

for $`jk`$ and $`|z|r`$. Therefore, we see immediately that the sequence $`g_j`$ converges to $`I`$ uniformly on each $`r𝔹`$. ∎

We introduce one more technical lemma before we present the proof of our main theorem.

###### Lemma 5.4.

Let $`\psi _j:𝔹𝔹`$ be a sequence of holomorphic mappings such that the sequence $`\psi _j`$ converges to $`I`$ uniformly on $`r𝔹`$ for every $`0<r<1`$. Then for each $`0<r<1`$ there exists a $`k1`$ such that $`\psi _j`$ is injective on $`r𝔹`$ and $`\psi _j(𝔹)r𝔹`$ whenever $`jk`$.

###### Proof.

By the Cauchy estimates, we can deduce that $`d\psi _j`$ converges to $`I`$ uniformly on each $`r𝔹`$. Thus, for fixed constants $`r>0`$ and $`ϵ<1`$, it holds that

$$\psi _j(x)\psi _j(y)(xy)<ϵxy$$

for any $`x,yrB`$ and any sufficiently large $`j`$. Observe that the injectivity of $`\psi _j`$ on $`r𝔹`$ follows from this inequality immediately.

Now, let $`0<r<1`$. Choose $`0<ϵ<1/8`$ so that $`(1+2ϵ)r<1`$. Let $`j`$ be sufficiently large so that $`\psi =\psi _j`$ satisfies $`d\psi I<ϵ`$ on $`(1+2ϵ)r𝔹`$. Fix $`xr𝔹`$. Let $`y_0=x`$ and let $`y_k=x+y_{k1}\psi (y_{k1})`$ for $`k=1,2,\mathrm{}`$. Then we see that

$`\psi (y_k)x`$ $`=`$ $`\psi (y_k)\psi (y_{k1})(y_ky_{k1})`$
$``$ $`ϵy_ky_{k1}`$
$`=`$ $`ϵ\psi (y_{k1})x.`$
It follows that $`y_{k+1}y_k=\psi (y_k)xϵ^ky_1y_0`$. Thus $`\psi (y_k)x0`$ and $`\{y_k\}`$ is a Cauchy sequence. The completeness of $``$ implies that $`y_k`$ converges to a certain $`y`$. Moreover, it is obvious now that $`\psi (y)=x`$. The remaining assertion follows immediately. ∎

### 5.2. Proof of Theorem 1.1

By the hypothesis, we are given a point $`q\mathrm{\Omega }`$ such that the $`Aut(\mathrm{\Omega })`$-orbit of $`q\mathrm{\Omega }`$ accumulates at a strongly pseudoconvex boundary point $`p`$.

For $`j=2,3,\mathrm{}`$ let $`b_j=u(11/j)=(1/2)\mathrm{ln}(2j1)`$. Recall that the following have been proved in \[BGK\] (Also see Proposition 4.2 of this article):

* $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ is hyperbolic.
* There exist subdomains $`\mathrm{\Omega }_j\mathrm{\Omega }`$, injective holomorphic mappings $`\sigma _j:\mathrm{\Omega }_j`$ ($`j=2,3,\mathrm{}`$), and a holomorphic mapping $`\sigma :\mathrm{\Omega }`$, satisfying the following.

+ $`{\displaystyle \underset{j=1}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}}\mathrm{\Omega }_j=\mathrm{\Omega }`$;
    + $`\mathrm{\Omega }_j\{x\mathrm{\Omega }:d_\mathrm{\Omega }(x,q)<b_j\}`$;
    + $`\sigma _j(q)=0`$, $`\sigma (q)=0`$;
    + $`d\sigma _j(q)`$ and $`d\sigma (q)`$ are calibrated in the sense that they map the flag subspace $`\mathrm{\Sigma }_n=e_1\mathrm{}e_n`$ into $`\mathrm{\Sigma }_n`$ for each positive integer $`n`$;
    + $`(11/j)𝔹\sigma _j(\mathrm{\Omega }_j)(1+1/j)𝔹`$ and $`\sigma (\mathrm{\Omega })\overline{𝔹}`$;
    + $`\sigma _j`$ converges weakly to $`\sigma `$ at every point of $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$;

    and
    + $`d\sigma _j(q)`$ converges to $`d\sigma (q)`$ on every $`\mathrm{\Sigma }_n`$.

Our present goal is to show that $`\sigma `$ is a biholomorphic mapping onto the open unit ball $`𝔹`$ of the separable Hilbert space $``$.

First we observe that $`\sigma (\mathrm{\Omega })𝔹`$ by the maximum modulus principle. It follows by (b), (e) and Lemma 5.1 that, for every $`v`$,

(1)
$$(11/j)k_\mathrm{\Omega }(q,v)d\sigma _j(q)(v)(1+1/j)(11/j)^1k_\mathrm{\Omega }(q,v).$$

With (g) and the fact that $`d\sigma _j(q)`$ are uniformly bounded, we see that $`d\sigma _j(q)(v)d\sigma (q)(v)`$ for every $`v`$, as $`j\mathrm{}`$. It follows now that

(2)
$$d\sigma (q)(v)=k_\mathrm{\Omega }(q,v).$$

Consider $`\sigma _j^1:(11/j)𝔹\mathrm{\Omega }`$. By (1) and (2), it follows that

$$d(\sigma \sigma _j^1)(0)(v)(11/j)(1+1/j)^1v.$$

Let $`d(\sigma \sigma _j^1)(0)=P_jU_j`$ be the polar decomposition of the invertible operator $`d(\sigma \sigma _j^1)(0)`$, where $`P_j`$ is positive and $`U_j`$ unitary. Define a map $`\tau _j:𝔹\mathrm{\Omega }`$ by $`\tau _j(x)=\sigma _j^1((11/j)U_j^1x)`$. Then $`\sigma \tau _j:𝔹𝔹`$, $`\sigma \tau _j(0)=0`$. Moreover, the positive operator $`d(\sigma \tau _j)(0)=(11/j)P_j`$ satisfies

$$d(\sigma \tau _j)(0)(v)c_jv,$$

where $`c_j=(11/j)^2(1+1/j)^1`$. It follows that $`d(\sigma \tau _j)(0)c_jI`$, and that $`c_j1`$. By Lemma 5.3, $`\sigma \tau _j`$ converges to $`I`$ uniformly on $`r𝔹`$ for every $`0<r<1`$.

Fix $`0<r<1`$. By Lemma 5.4, $`\sigma \tau _j(𝔹)r𝔹`$ for sufficiently large $`j`$. Hence $`\sigma (\mathrm{\Omega })r𝔹`$. Since this is true for each $`0<r<1`$, we see that $`\sigma (\mathrm{\Omega })=𝔹`$.

Fix $`a>0`$ and consider $`Q_a=\{x\mathrm{\Omega }:d_\mathrm{\Omega }(x,q)<a\}`$. Let $`r=(1+\mathrm{tanh}(a))/2`$ and $`t_j=\mathrm{tanh}(a/\mathrm{tanh}(b_ja))`$. If $`j`$ is sufficiently large, then $`b_j>a`$ and $`t_j(1+1/j)(11/j)^1<r`$. By Lemma 5.1, $`Q_a\{x\mathrm{\Omega }_j:d_{\mathrm{\Omega }_j}(x,q)<a/\mathrm{tanh}(b_ja)\}`$. This, together with $`\sigma _j(\mathrm{\Omega }_j)(1+1/j)𝔹`$, implies that $`\sigma _j(Q_a)t_j(1+1/j)𝔹`$. It follows that

$$\tau _j(r𝔹)\tau _j(t_j(1+1/j)(11/j)^1𝔹)=\sigma _j^1(t_j(1+1/j)𝔹)Q_a.$$

For sufficiently large $`j`$, $`\sigma \tau _j`$ is injective on $`r𝔹`$, hence $`\sigma `$ is injective on $`\tau _j(r𝔹)Q_a`$. Since $`\sigma `$ is injective on $`Q_a`$ for every $`a>0`$, it must be injective on $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$. Therefore, $`\sigma `$ is an injective holomorphic mapping from $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ onto $`𝔹`$. It follows that $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ is biholomorphic to $`𝔹`$. ∎

## 6. Concluding Remarks

Recall that the localization theorem is obtained from the existence of pluri-subharmonic peak functions. Since the pluri-subharmonic functions are extremely flexible as far as the extension properties are concerned, the whole argument of this article is valid for the domains in a separable Hilbert manifold. More precisely our main theorem extends to the following.

###### Theorem 6.1.

Let $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ be a domain in a separable Hilbert manifold $`X`$. If $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ admits an automorphism orbit accumulating at a strongly pseudoconvex boundary point, then it is biholomorphic to the unit ball in a separable Hilbert space $``$.

Notice that this is the infinite dimensional version of the main theorem of \[GKK\].

The Wong-Rosay theorem in $`^n`$ has been generalized to several other domains that are not necessarily strongly pseudoconvex. Better known theorems include \[BEP\], \[KIM\], \[KIP\] and \[KKS\]. They characterized the Thullen domains and the polydiscs from Wong type conditions on existence of boundary accumulating orbits. However, the authors do not know at this time of writing as how to generalize these theorems to infinite dimensions. Thus we close this article posing the following question.

###### Problem 6.2.

Formulate and prove the Wong-Rosay type characterization of the unit ball in the space $`c_0`$ of complex sequences converging to zero, or in the space $`\mathrm{}^{\mathrm{}}`$ of bounded complex sequences.