format: text

text:
# 𝜀 Indi B: a new benchmark T dwarf Based on data from the SuperCOSMOS Sky Surveys and observations collected with the ESO NTT, La Silla, Chile.

## 1 Introduction

Our knowledge of the solar neighbourhood remains remarkably sketchy. Recent discoveries of very nearby ($`<`$10 pc) early and mid M dwarfs (Scholz, Meusinger, & Jahreiß scholz01 (2001); Reid & Cruz reid02a (2002); Reid, Kilkenny, & Cruz reid02b (2002); Reylé et al. reyle02 (2002); Lépine, Rich, & Shara 2002a ) and late M dwarfs (Delfosse et al. delfosse01 (2001); McCaughrean, Scholz, & Lodieu mccaughrean02 (2002); Lépine et al. 2002b ) appear to vindicate predictions that up to 30% of all stars within 10 pc remain unknown (Henry et al. henry97 (1997)).

The deficiency is even larger at substellar masses. Observational evidence (Reid et al. reid99 (1999)) and theory (Chabrier chabrier02 (2002)) suggest a local space density of $``$0.1 per cubic parsec for brown dwarfs, i.e., twice that for main sequence stars. However, brown dwarfs are much cooler and fainter and thus harder to observe, and as a consequence, only one M9 brown dwarf (Tinney tinney96 (1996), tinney98 (1998)), a handful of L dwarfs, and 10 T dwarfs (see Burgasser et al. burgasser03 (2003) and references therein) are known at less than 10 pc from the Sun, compared to $`>`$300 stars within the same volume.

These sources are important however, as the detailed observation of very nearby stars and brown dwarfs is a key starting point for investigations of the star formation process, the stellar and substellar luminosity function, and the initial mass function. The recently discovered and categorised T dwarfs, with temperatures of $``$ 1500 K or less (Burgasser et al. burgasser02 (2002)) are particularly interesting, as they span a range of masses from just substellar down close to those of giant planets. Some 32 spectrally confirmed T dwarfs have been found to date, most of them in wide-field infrared (2MASS; Burgasser et al. burgasser02 (2002)) and optical (SDSS; Geballe et al. geballe02 (2002)) surveys. However, as substellar brown dwarfs continuously cool and decrease in luminosity throughout their lifetime, it is relatively difficult to determine their distances, ages, and masses. There are two important exceptions, Gl229 B and Gl570 D, both of which are companions to nearby stars for which distances and ages are relatively well known, and these key template objects help underpin studies of brown dwarf evolution, chemistry, and weather. It is crucial that we expand the sample of T dwarfs with well-understood physical properties, and the nearer they are to the Sun, the better, as they can be studied in more detail. In this paper, we describe the discovery of a T dwarf as as a companion to one of the nearest stars in the sky, $`\epsilon `$ Indi.

## 2 Proper motion data and optical photometry

There is ample evidence that surveys for high proper motion objects can successfully contribute to the completion of the census of the solar neighbourhood at the stellar/substellar boundary (Ruiz, Leggett, & Allard ruiz97 (1997); Scholz et al. scholz01 (2001); Reylé et al. reyle02 (2002); Reid & Cruz reid02a (2002); Reid et al. reid02b (2002); Cruz & Reid cruz02 (2002)). We have been using the SuperCOSMOS Sky Survey (hereafter SSS: Hambly et al. 2001a ; 2001b ; 2001c ), a recent scan of the entire southern sky made from UKST and ESO Schmidt plates in three passbands ($`B_J`$, $`R`$, and $`I`$), to identify new, high proper motion objects, including cool white dwarfs, M dwarfs, and L dwarfs (Scholz et al. scholz02a (2002); McCaughrean et al. mccaughrean02 (2002); Lodieu, Scholz, & McCaughrean lodieu02 (2002); Scholz & Meusinger scholz02c (2002)).

Scholz & Meusinger (scholz02c (2002)) showed that all known L dwarfs within 20 pc could be recovered in the SSS data, at least in the $`I`$ band. In addition, it was possible to determine proper motions for them, provided multi-epoch SSS measurements were available. We are now searching for further high proper motion brown dwarf candidates in the SSS data, applying the following selection procedure.

We considered the declination zone $`57^{}30^m<\delta <37^{}30^m`$, where UKST $`B_J`$, $`R`$, and $`I`$, and ESO Schmidt $`R`$ plate data are all available. Starting with the UKST $`I`$ data, we selected stars with $`I`$$`<`$$`\text{17}^\text{m}`$ which could not be identified with an object on the corresponding UKST $`B_J`$ and ESO $`R`$ plates within a search radius of 6 arcsec. These latter plates were normally taken about 10–15 years earlier than the corresponding UKST $`R`$ and $`I`$ plates. We then narrowed down the sample to just red objects with UKST $`RI>`$$`\text{2}^\text{m}.\text{2}`$ and, using 1$`\times `$1 arcmin SSS finding charts, we checked to see if the non-identification on the UKST $`B_J`$ and ESO $`R`$ plates was due to a measurement error, an extremely red colour, or a large proper motion. Objects measured only on the $`I`$ plate and with no clear counterparts in the other passbands were also checked using $`I`$, $`R`$, and $`B_J`$ data from overlapping plates. Finally, suspected extremely red (large $`B_JR`$ or no $`B_J`$ measurement) sources with high proper motions derived from linear fits to the multi-epoch SSS data were examined in the near-infrared using the 2MASS database.

Thus, $`\epsilon `$ Indi B was initially found as a bright $`I`$ band source with a matched object on the UKST $`R`$ plate, but with no identification on the $`B_J`$ or ESO $`R`$ plates. Visual inspection of the finding charts revealed that the UKST $`R`$ measurement was in fact spurious, the diffraction spike of a nearby bright star. However, on an overlapping $`I`$ plate with an epoch difference of just two years, the source had clearly shifted. The huge computed proper motion of 4.7 arcsec/yr led us to check the 2MASS image data, which revealed a very bright infrared source at the expected position.

Finally, through a catalogue search, we ‘discovered’ $`\epsilon `$ Indi (HD 209100, GJ 845; spectral type K5V) about 7 arcmin away and with exactly the same large proper motion (see Figure 1). Thus, it is unequivocal that these two sources are related, i.e., that $`\epsilon `$ Indi B is a wide companion to $`\epsilon `$ Indi, and together they constitute one of the twenty nearest stellar systems in the sky. The primary star has a precise HIPPARCOS parallax yielding a distance of 3.626$`\pm `$0.001 pc (ESA 1997), although for $`\epsilon `$ Indi B the uncertainty is somewhat larger due to the unknown separation between the primary and the companion along the line-of-sight: the separation in the plane of the sky is 402.3 arcsec or 1459 AU (epoch 2000.0), i.e., 0.007 pc.

## 3 Optical and near-infrared photometry

On the SSS plates, $`\epsilon `$ Indi B is seen to be very red, clearly visible in the $`I`$ band, but completely invisible at $`R`$. Examination of the 2MASS survey data for this region confirmed $`\epsilon `$ Indi B to be bright in the near-infrared, but with the rather blue near-infrared colours indicative of a T dwarf, rather than an M or L dwarf.

The star $`\epsilon `$ Indi and its companion $`\epsilon `$ Indi B lie in a region of the 2MASS survey for which only the Quicklook survey data have been released to date, and therefore there are no catalogue magnitudes available. Thus we used standard aperture photometry techniques to measure the flux from $`\epsilon `$ Indi B at $`J`$, $`H`$, and $`K_s`$. The Quicklook data are compressed with a lossy algorithm, potentially damaging any derived photometry. However, the 2MASS team (Carpenter carpenter02 (2002)) have shown that for bright sources such as $`\epsilon `$ Indi B, random photometric errors introduced by the compression are minimal. To check this, we measured $`J`$, $`H`$, and $`K_s`$ magnitudes from Quicklook images for a sample of 7 M dwarfs with roughly equivalent magnitudes and colours to $`\epsilon `$ Indi B, and which also have photometric measurements in the 2MASS catalogues from the uncompressed data. In this way, we confirmed that the Quicklook photometry is certainly good to better than $`\text{0}^\text{m}.\text{1}`$, adequate for present purposes. Finally, we also measured a $`K_s`$ band magnitude from our SOFI spectroscopy acquisition images, yielding a result consistent with the 2MASS value to within $`\text{0}^\text{m}.\text{03}`$. The optical and near-infrared photometry are shown in Table 1.

## 4 Near-infrared classification spectroscopy

We obtained near-infrared (1–2.5$`\mu `$m) classification spectroscopy for $`\epsilon `$ Indi B using the SOFI camera/spectrometer on the ESO 3.5-m New Technology Telescope on La Silla on the night of 16–17 November 2002. The conditions were photometric and the seeing $``$ 1.0 arcsec FWHM. The instrument uses a 1024$`\times `$1024 pixel Rockwell HAWAII array with a pixel size of 0.294 arcsec, and uses long slits for spectroscopy. A slit width of 1 arcsec was used with the two grisms covering the $`J+H`$ (blue) and $`H+K`$ (red) spectral regions respectively, at a spectral resolution of 600. Three dithered on-chip exposures of 120 seconds were obtained for each grism. Similar calibration data were obtained for a nearby bright spectral standard (CD-57 8484, spectral type G5).

The data reduction procedure was standard. Each individual spectral image was flat-fielded using a tungsten-illuminated spectral dome flat, sky-subtracted using the mean of the two other dithered images, and a one-dimensional spectrum optimally extracted. Wavelength calibration was achieved independently for each grism using a xenon arc lamp. Each spectrum was then divided by the spectral standard and multiplied back by a G5 template spectrum smoothed to the resolution of each grism. Finally, the three individual spectra for each grism were averaged and the two spectral regions combined to yield the spectrum seen in Figure 2. The total integration time is 360 seconds.

After reduction, the extracted spectrum was classified in two ways. First, we made a simple morphological comparison with template T dwarf spectra available from Burgasser et al. (burgasser02 (2002)), Leggett et al. (leggett00 (2000)), and Leggett (leggett02b (2002)). This method yielded a classification of T3. Second, we used the spectral classification indices for T dwarfs of Geballe et al. (geballe02 (2002)) and Burgasser et al. (burgasser02 (2002)), yielding mean types of T2.75 and T2.25, respectively (see Table 2). Consequently, we classify $`\epsilon `$ Indi B as spectral type T2.5, with half a subclass error.

## 5 Physical properties

Given the distance to $`\epsilon `$ Indi B, we can determine its absolute near-infrared magnitudes as MJ=$`\text{14}^\text{m}.\text{31}`$, MH=$`\text{13}^\text{m}.\text{79}`$, and M$`_{K_s}`$=$`\text{13}^\text{m}.\text{37}`$, with errors of less than $`\pm `$$`\text{0}^\text{m}.\text{1}`$. In the absence of reliable optical and thermal infrared data, we defer the direct calculation of the bolometric magnitude of $`\epsilon `$ Indi B to a later paper. Here, for a first order luminosity estimate, we must assume a bolometric correction, which is unfortunately not yet well-determined for early T dwarfs. Reid (reid02d (2002)) gives a BC$`_{K_s}`$=$`\text{3}^\text{m}.\text{3}`$ for the slightly earlier T2 dwarf SDSS 1254$``$01 (cf. Dahn et al. dahn02 (2002)), while an approximate interpolation between L8 and T6 in the data of Leggett et al. (leggett02 (2002); their Fig. 3) yields a BC$`_{K_s}`$=$`\text{3}^\text{m}.\text{0}`$$`\text{3}^\text{m}.\text{1}`$ for $`JK`$$``$$`\text{0}^\text{m}.\text{9}`$. Finally, the COND atmospheric models of Baraffe et al. (personal communication) would suggest a BC$`_{K_s}`$$``$$`\text{2}^\text{m}.\text{8}`$$`\text{3}^\text{m}.\text{1}`$ for sources with Teff$``$ 1000–1300 K as appropriate for early T dwarfs. Thus here we assume a BC$`_{K_s}`$=$`\text{3}^\text{m}.\text{0}`$$`\pm `$$`\text{0}^\text{m}.\text{1}`$ for T2.5, which then yields Mbol=$`\text{16}^\text{m}.\text{37}`$ and log L/$`L_{}`$=$`4.67`$ ($`\pm `$20%) for $`\epsilon `$ Indi B, assuming Mbol=$`\text{4}^\text{m}.\text{69}`$ for the Sun.

Next, using the Mbol–radius relation derived by Dahn et al. (dahn02 (2002)) from theoretical models and renormalised by Reid (reid02d (2002))

$$R/\text{ }R_{}=0.0970.00077(M_{\mathrm{bol}}16.2)^{2.9},$$

we obtain a radius of 0.097$`R_{}`$ for $`\epsilon `$ Indi B ($``$ 1 Jupiter radius, as is roughly true for all very late type stars, brown dwarfs, and gas giant planets supported by electron degeneracy pressure). Then, using $`\mathrm{L}_{\mathrm{bol}}r^2\mathrm{T}_{\mathrm{eff}}`$ and adopting $`\mathrm{T}_{\mathrm{eff}}`$=5771 K for the sun, we calculate an effective temperature of $``$1260 K ($`\pm `$ 60 K) for $`\epsilon `$ Indi B, consistent with a spectral type of T2.5 (Burgasser et al. burgasser02 (2002)).

To estimate the mass of $`\epsilon `$ Indi B, we need an estimate of its age, as objects below the hydrogen fusion limit continuously cool and grow dimmer over their lifetimes. Fortunately, as it is a companion to a well-studied bright star, we can use age determinations for the latter as a proxy. Lachaume et al. (lachaume99 (1999)) examined several possible age dating techniques for nearby main sequence stars, and for $`\epsilon `$ Indi settled on a an age range of 0.8–2 Gyr, based on its rotational properties.

Using the model isochrones of Burrows et al. (burrows97 (1997)), we find that for a luminosity of log L/$`L_{}`$=$`4.67`$, an age range of 0.8–2 Gyr corresponds to a mass range of 40–60$`M_{\mathrm{Jup}}`$, with the median age of 1.3 Gyr quoted by Lachaume et al. (lachaume99 (1999)) yielding a mass of 50$`M_{\mathrm{Jup}}`$. As the mass estimate is essentially unaffected by the errors in our luminosity determination for $`\epsilon `$ Indi B, it appears to be a genuine brown dwarf, as expected. In addition, consistency in the suite of derived parameters is confirmed using the 1 Gyr models of Chabrier et al. (chabrier00 (2000)), where our luminosity estimate implies R=0.097$`R_{}`$, $`\mathrm{T}_{\mathrm{eff}}`$=1270 K, and M $``$ 43$`M_{\mathrm{Jup}}`$.

Finally, it is worth noting that Endl et al. (endl02 (2002)) have monitored $`\epsilon `$ Indi for radial velocity changes indicative of a planetary companion. They found no periodic signal in their data, but did draw attention to a long-term trend which they suggested might be due to a low-mass stellar or brown dwarf companion. Given the parameters we have determined for $`\epsilon `$ Indi B, it is clear that it is not the source of this long-term velocity change, but it remains possible that the $`\epsilon `$ Indi system is a hierarchical multiple, similar to the Gl570 ABCD system (Burgasser et al. burgasser00 (2000)). Planned HST direct imaging observations of $`\epsilon `$ Indi could have located close brown dwarf or giant planet companions, but unfortunately failed due to guide star acquisition problems (Schroeder et al. schroeder00 (2000)).

## 6 Conclusions

Through a survey for high proper motion objects, we have identified $`\epsilon `$ Indi B, a T2.5 dwarf, the brightest object in the T spectral class, and the nearest bona fide brown dwarf to the Sun. In combination with its accurately known distance, relatively well-known age, and large separation from its primary star, these characteristics make $`\epsilon `$ Indi B a new benchmark in the study of substellar objects, amenable to a wide range of detailed atmospheric and chemical observations. Urgently needed, however, are more accurate near-infrared photometry, including measurements out to the $`L`$ band, and spectral model fitting to derive an explicit bolometric magnitude for $`\epsilon `$ Indi B, and thus help calibrate the presently poorly-understand L-T dwarf boundary.

###### Acknowledgements.

We would like to thank Lutz Wisotzki for helping arrange the taking of near-infrared classification spectra during an unrelated NTT run on very short notice. This discovery is based on the excellent data of the SuperCOSMOS Sky Surveys at the Wide-Field Astronomy Unit of the Institute for Astronomy, University of Edinburgh and we would like to thank Nigel Hambly for his advice on the use of SSS data. We also thank the referee for some helpful comments. We have made use of data products from the Two Micron All Sky Survey, a joint project of the University of Massachusetts and IPAC, funded by NASA and the NSF, and of the VizieR catalogue access tool, CDS, Strasbourg. NL thanks the EC Research Training Network “The Formation and Evolution of Young Stellar Clusters” (HPRN-CT-2000-00155) for financial support.


text:
# Measuring the linear polarization of 𝛾s in 20 - 170 GeV range

## I Introduction

The pair conversion in a thin crystal was proposed in the 1960s as a polarization measurement method for $`\gamma `$s in the few-GeV range barbiellini . The fact that both the pair production cross section and the sensitivity to $`\gamma `$ polarization increase with increasing $`\gamma `$ energy makes this method superior to others, such as the pair production and photonuclear methods, for present and future $`\gamma `$ beamlines. The Na59 collaboration utilized it to map the polarization of its $`\gamma `$ beam.

A convenient way of creating a $`\gamma `$ beam with a predictable linear polarization spectrum is using the Coherent Bremsstrahlung (CB) cbdef  radiation from unpolarized electrons. If the electron beam interacts coherently with the atoms in different planes in the crystal, thus satisfying the Laue condition, bremsstrahlung photons emerge with peaked energy values corresponding to selected vectors of the reciprocal lattice. The energy and intensity of these peaks are tunable by carefully aligning the lattice planes with respect to the beam. In CB, the maximum of the polarization degree coincides with the maximum of the intensity peak and polarizations up to 70% have already been observed 6gev  for 6 GeV electrons, and up to 60% for higher energies omega .

The Na59 collaboration used 1.5cm thick Si single crystal with the electron beam making an angle of 5$`m`$rad from the $`<`$001$`>`$ crystallographic axis and about 70$`\mu `$rad from the (110) plane. This choice yields a $`\gamma `$ beam with a maximum polarization of about 55% in the vicinity of 70 GeV, as can be seen from Figure 2. This Monte Carlo calculation took into account the divergence (48$`\mu `$rad horizontally and 33$`\mu `$rad vertically) of the electron beam as well as its energy uncertainty of 1%. The notation used is Stoke’s polarization decomposition with Landau convention:

$$P_{\text{linear}}=\sqrt{\eta _1^2+\eta _3^2}P_{\text{circular}}=\sqrt{\eta _2^2}P_{\text{total}}=\sqrt{P_{\text{linear}}^2+P_{\text{circular}}^2}.$$
(1)
With the Na59 angular settings, the photon polarization was solely created in the $`\eta _3`$ direction. We therefore made two distinct measurements, one of $`\eta _3`$ to find the expected polarization, and another of $`\eta _1`$ to show that it was consistent with zero. The method for these two measurements is based on the birefringence properties of the crystals. Since the imaginary part of the refraction index is proportional to the pair production probability, we defined $`\sigma _{}`$ ($`\sigma _{}`$) as the pair production cross section when the selected crystallographic plane on the analyzer was parallel (perpendicular) to the photon polarization. The experimentally relevant quantity is the asymmetry between these two cross sections and it gives the $`\gamma `$ polarization, $`𝒫`$, through

$$a\frac{\sigma _{}\sigma _{}}{\sigma _{}+\sigma _{}}=A\times 𝒫,$$
(2)
where $`A`$ is the so called “analyzing power” of the crystal, and it represents the asymmetry for a 100% polarized beam. A way of increasing the analyzing power which can be computed accurately by MC techniques, is to select the “quasisymmetrical” pairs ycut  in which the $`e^{}`$ and $`e^+`$ share the $`\gamma `$ energy almost equally. Figure 2 shows the analyzing power with and without this selection (y cut) for two different analyzer crystal choices. This cut also reduces the relative statistical error on the asymmetry measured through the number of pair events in parallel ($`N_{}`$) and perpendicular ($`N_{}`$) configurations :

$$\frac{\delta a}{a}=\sqrt{\frac{1a^2}{a^2(N_{}+N_{})}}.$$
(3)
## II Experimental Setup and Analysis

The schematic view of the Na59 experimental setup is given in Figure 3. A tertiary 180 GeV electron beam from CERN SPS was sent onto the radiator crystal aligned with a goniometer of 2 $`\mu `$rad precision. Three upstream tracking chambers defined the entrance and exit angles of the electron beam. The scattered electron beam is deflected toward the beam dump with a dipole magnet, and passed through a tracking chamber to measure its remaining energy. The $`\gamma `$ beam is assumed to follow the direction of the incoming electrons impinged on the crystal target called the analyzer.

The momenta of the pairs produced in the analyzer crystal are measured with a magnetic spectrometer consisting of a dipole magnet, two drift chambers (dch) downstream and one drift chamber upstream of it for the Ge target. For the case of the multi-tile synthetic diamond target luderitz , a second dch (dch05) was added right after it to improve the tracking. The dch tracked charged particles with a resolution of 100$`\mu m`$. The total radiated energy was recorded with a 12 segment leadglass calorimeter with a resolution of $`\frac{\sigma }{E}=11.5\%/\sqrt{E}`$.

In the offline analysis, after applying beam quality cuts, the $`e^{}`$ beam trajectory was found and the impact point on both radiator and analyzer crystals were determined for fiducial volume requirements. To reconstruct the photon energy in the pair spectrometer, an optimizing algorithm compensating for chamber inefficiencies and limited geometrical acceptances was employed swpap . The vertex reconstruction on the diamond analyzer allowed veto of the inter-tile events as well as the ones coming from a misaligned tile luderitz .

## III Results and Conclusions

To measure a polarization component, the asymmetry in Equation 2 was experimentally constructed by taking data at two perpendicular analyzer crystal angular orientations. After the mapping of both crystals was done, the data recording time for each pair of angles was two hours at the Na59 $`e^{}`$ rate of 20KHz. To minimize the systematics, two measurements were performed with the analyzer 180 degrees apart. The measurement shown in Figure 5 ensures that there is no “false” asymmetry introduced due to analyzer crystal angular setting. The zero asymmetry in Figure 5 shows that all linear polarization was in $`\eta _3`$ direction as expected. Figures 7 and 7 show the measured asymmetries with and without the y cut for different analyzer crystals. The asymmetries are in good agreement with theoretical predictions in both cases. In all Figures, the shaded region is the statistical error band for the increase in asymmetry ($`\mathrm{\Delta }`$asy) due to quasisymmetrical pair selection and it confirms the non statistical nature of the effect. Comparing Figures 7 and 7, we conclude that multi-tile synthetic diamond is a better choice than Ge as an analyzer, since for the same $`\gamma `$ polarization it yields a bigger asymmetry thus an easier measurement.

These results show that Na59 setup measures the polarization of high energy photons with good accuracy. This measurement capability was used in other studies newpaps  in Na59 research program, and will be reported elsewhere. We believe the presently investigated crystal polarimetry technique is also applicable in future high energy photon beamlines as a fast monitoring tool.


text:
# Rapidity Dependence of Net–protons at √𝑠_{𝑁𝑁}=200 GeV

## 1 INTRODUCTION

In his article from 1983 , Bjorken proposed a scenario for the evolution of the central rapidity region in ultra relativistic heavy ion collisions. Two of his assumptions were motivated by what had been observed in nucleon-nucleon collisions . First, the collision has to be transparent, meaning that the net–baryon \[$`N(B)N(\overline{B})`$\] content ends up at forward rapidities after the collision. The second assumption is the existence of a central rapidity plateau with uniform particle production i.e., the invariant yields $`dN/dy`$ are constant as a function of rapidity (boost invariance). These assumptions allow this region to be described as many identical thermal sources with different longitudinal velocities undergoing only 1–dimensional longitudinal hydrodynamical evolution. In this scenario the initial energy density can be related in a simple way to the final particle production (used in fx. ).

At AGS and SPS where the degree of transparency is low, the original baryons are stopped in the initial collisions and the mid–rapidity region contains most of the net–baryons. The measured ratio of anti–protons to protons at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) at $`\sqrt{s_{NN}}=200`$ GeV, $`N(\overline{p})/N(p)0.75`$ ($`y=0`$) , indicates that particle production in the central rapidity region is dominated by pair production.

The BRAHMS experiment at RHIC consists of two magnetic spectrometers with small solid angle coverage. The Mid Rapidity Spectrometer (MRS) ($`30^{}<\theta <95^{}`$) uses Time-Of-Flight (TOF) for particle identification (PID). In the Forward Spectrometer (FS) ($`2.3^{}<\theta <30^{}`$) only the Ring Imaging Cherenkov (RICH) is used in this analysis. The experiment is described in full detail in . By combining many different magnet and angle settings, BRAHMS has a wide rapidity coverage for pions, kaons, and protons, that allows the study of boost invariance and transparency at RHIC.

## 2 RESULTS

For all the data presented here, an event centrality cut of 0–10% ($`b4.4`$ fm) was applied. In the MRS, protons and anti–protons are identified using cuts in the mass squared $`m^2`$ calculated from TOF and momentum $`p`$. In the FS, the RICH cannot directly identify protons with momentum $`p<15`$ GeV/c. Most of the protons in the settings used here ($`y2.9`$) are below that threshold. Instead, the RICH is used to veto pions and kaons. The PID and data selection is described more thoroughly in .

For each magnet and angle setting the geometrical acceptance is calculated using a Monte Carlo simulation of the BRAHMS detector. The corrections for multiple scattering and absorption have been calculated in the same simulation framework. Tracking efficiencies for each chamber have been calculated from the data by comparing the number of identified track segments in the chamber to the number of reference tracks determined by other detectors disregarding the chamber under consideration. For the spectrometers the total tracking efficiencies are $`92`$% in the MRS and $`60`$% in the FS in the settings used here. After all the corrections have been applied to the data the differential yields are finally projected to the $`m_T`$-axis in a narrow rapidity range. Figure 1 shows transverse mass spectra for $`p`$ and $`\overline{p}`$ at $`y=0.0,0.8,2.9`$.

To find the yields $`dN/dy`$, the data is fitted with an exponential function (Eq. 1). The fit is used to extrapolate the yields to the regions where there is no data (mainly low $`m_T`$).

$$\frac{1}{N_{ev}}\frac{d^2N}{2\pi m_Tdydm_T}=\frac{1}{2\pi }\frac{dN}{dy}\frac{1}{T(T+m_p)}\mathrm{exp}\left(\frac{m_Tm_p}{T}\right),$$
(1)
where $`m_p`$ is the proton mass, $`m_T=\sqrt{p_T^2+m_p^2}`$ is the transverse mass, and $`T`$ is the effective temperature (inverse slope).

The fit to the data are shown in Fig. 1. The $`\chi ^2/DOF`$ is $``$ 3–4 for the mid–rapidity data, and $``$ 0.75–1.6 at the two forward rapidities. The effective temperature from the fits are the same for protons and anti–protons within 30 MeV. Fig. 3 shows the rapidity dependence of the effective temperature for positive pions, kaons, and protons (pions and kaons are from ). The mass dependence of the effective temperature is due to strong transverse flow which has a stronger effect on heavier particles. The fact that the effective temperature drops moderately as a function of rapidity indicates that there is strong longitudinal flow, whereas in a thermal isotropic fireball picture the effective temperature drops as $`T(y)=T(y=0)/\mathrm{cosh}(y)`$. This would decrease the effective temperature by 90% from $`y=0`$ to $`y=2.9`$ compared with $`1020`$% observed. The effective temperature obtained from the fit is very sensitive to the fit–range used and have a systematic error of 10–15%.

The rapidity dependence of the extrapolated yields, $`dN/dy`$, for protons, anti–protons, and net–protons are presented in Fig. 3. The width of the proton distribution is wider than the anti–proton distribution and decreases less than 20% from mid–rapidity to rapidity $`y=3`$, whereas pions decrease by 50% . The net–proton distribution increases at forward rapidities where the original baryon content is recovered.

The current systematic errors on the yields are estimated to be 15% in the MRS ($`y<1`$) and 20% in the FS. The largest contribution comes from the extrapolation to the yield $`dN/dy`$. This effect should not change the shape of the distribution, only the overall level. The systematic error from point to point in rapidity is 10%.

## 3 DISCUSSION

The yields of pions, kaons, and protons drop less than 10% over the first unit of rapidity. Because of the systematic error, it is premature to rule out or confirm that there is a boost invariant plateau of width $`\mathrm{\Delta }y`$ 2–3 rapidity units around mid–rapidity. From the charge conjugate ratios  it is clear that it cannot be broader.

Assuming that the anti–proton yields decrease smoothly between rapidity 1 and 3, we can deduce from measurements of the rapidity dependence of $`N(\overline{p})/N(p)`$ ratio  that the proton distribution behaves smoothly in the same interval, so the net–proton distribution does not peak for $`y<3`$ i.e., the bulk part of the net–protons is found far from mid–rapidity.

When compared to SPS data ($`\sqrt{s_{NN}}=17`$ GeV) in Fig. 4, it is clear that the net–proton yield at RHIC is significantly lower (60–70%). At SPS most of the protons at mid–rapidity are net–protons, while at RHIC the pair production mechanism dominates the proton production in the central region and the bulk of the net–protons are found at forward rapidities.

The BRAHMS results shows that the longitudinal flow in the collisions is strong. The proton and anti–proton yields exhibit little variation over at least the 2 central units of rapidity. The BRAHMS data suggest the onset of a boost invariant like plateau around mid–rapidity. The net–proton content of the central rapidity region is much lower than what was observed at lower beam energies, indicating that at RHIC collisions are highly transparent.


text:
# Statistical approach of the modulational instability of the discrete self-trapping equation

## 1 Introduction

The discrete self-trapping (DST) equation

$$i\frac{da_n}{dt}\omega _0a_n+\lambda (a_{n+1}+a_{n1})+\mu |a_n|^2a_n=0$$
(1)
is a typical equation for a system of harmonically coupled nonlinear oscillations ,  relevant for several physical problems. We mention here only Davydov’s model of energy transport in $`\alpha `$-helix structures in proteins , , , where (1) appears as a certain approximation of the model. In (1) $`a_n`$ is the complex classical dimensionless amplitude of the oscillator of frequency $`\omega _0`$ in the $`n`$-th molecule, and $`\lambda ,\mu `$ (of dimension of frequency) are the coupling constants between nearest neighbour oscillators and the one-site nonlinearity respectively. It is well known that depending upon of the parameters and the chosen initial condition the equation (1) can lead either to self-trapping (i.e. local modes or solitons), or to chaos, or to a mixture of the above two behaviours , , . Instead of (1) we shall consider the equation

$$i\frac{da_n}{dt}+\lambda (a_{n+1}+a_{n1})+\mu |a_n|^2a_n=0$$
(2)
which is obtained if $`a_na_ne^{i\omega _0t}.`$ This equation admits plane wave solutions with constant amplitude

$$a_n=ae^{i(kn\omega t)}$$

(the lattice constant is taken equal with unity) but with an amplitude depending dispersion relation

$$\omega (k)=2\lambda \mathrm{cos}k\mu |a|^2$$

This is a Stokes wave solution and it is well known to be unstable at small modulation of the amplitude (Benjamin-Feir or modulational instability) -. The aim of this note is to study the modulational instability of equation (2) from a statistical point of view, considering $`a_n`$ as a random variable. In doing this we shall follow the procedure used by several authors to discuss the effects of randomness on the stability of weakly nonlinear waves, especially in hydrodynamics , .

In the next section a kinetic equation for a two-point correlation function will be obtained. Using a Wigner-Moyal transform the equation is written in a mixed configuration-wave vector space. The linear stability around a homogeneous basic solution is discussed in section 3. An integral stability equation is derived, very similar with the dispersion relation of the linearized Vlasov equation in ionized plasmas. Two forms for the spectrum of the initial unperturbed condition will be considered, namely a Gaussian and a Lorentzian form and in the limit of vanishingly small bands widths the increment of the modulational instability is calculated. Comparison with the continuum limit, when (1) transforms into the nonlinear Schrödinger equation is done. Few concluding remarks are also presented.

## 2 Kinetic equation for two-point correlation function

Introducing the displacement operator by $`a_{n\pm 1}=e^\frac{}{n}a_n`$ the equation (2) becomes

$$i\frac{a_n}{t}+2\lambda \mathrm{cosh}\frac{}{n}a_n+\mu |a_n|^2a_n=0.$$
(3)
In order to find a kinetic equation we write (3) for $`n=n_1,`$ multiply it by $`a_{n_2}^{},`$ add it to the complex conjugated of (3) for $`n=n_2`$ multiplied by $`a_{n_1}`$ and finally take an ensemble average. One obtains

$$i\frac{}{t}<a_{n_1}a_{n_2}^{}>+2\lambda (\mathrm{cosh}\frac{}{n_1}\mathrm{cosh}\frac{}{n_2})<a_{n_1}a_{n_2}^{}>+$$

$$\mu (<a_{n_1}a_{n_1}^{}a_{n_1}a_{n_2}^{}><a_{n_2}a_{n_2}^{}a_{n_1}a_{n_2}^{}>)=0$$

which beside the two point correlation function $`\rho (n_1,n_2,t)=<a_{n_1}(t)a_{n_2}^{}(t)>`$ contains also four-point correlation functions. If $`a_n`$ corresponds to a Gaussian process, and this property is retained during the evolution, a four-point correlation function factorizes exactly in products of two-point correlation functions

$$<a_{n_1}a_{n_1}^{}a_{n_1}a_{n_2}^{}>=2<a_{n_1}a_{n_2}^{}><a_{n_1}a_{n_1}^{}>=2\rho (n_1,n_2)\overline{a^2}(n_1)$$
(4)
where $`\overline{a^2}(n)=<a_na_n^{}>`$ is the ensemble average of the mean square amplitude. Although the factorization (4) is true only for a Gaussian process we shall assume to be at least approximately valid also for processes slightly different from a Gaussian one, and it represents the main approximation of the present analysis.

It is convenient to use a Wigner-Moyal transform . One introduce the new variables

$$M=\frac{n_1+n_2}{2},m=n_1n_2.$$
(5)
Then the equation (2) becomes

$$i\frac{\rho }{t}+4\lambda \mathrm{sinh}\frac{1}{2}\frac{}{M}\mathrm{sinh}\frac{\rho }{m}+2\mu (\overline{a^2}(M+\frac{m}{2})\overline{a^2}(M\frac{m}{2}))\rho =0$$
(6)
We consider a chain of $`N`$ molecules and impose cyclic boundary conditions. The Fourier transform of the two-point correlation function is defined by

$$F(k,M,t)=\underset{m}{}e^{ikm}\rho (M+\frac{m}{2},M\frac{m}{2},t)$$
(7)
where $`k`$ takes values in the first Brillouin zone (BZ), $`k(\pi ,\pi ).`$ The inverse formula is

$$\rho (M+\frac{m}{2},M\frac{m}{2},t)=\frac{1}{M}\underset{k}{\overset{BZ}{}}e^{ikm}F(k,M,t)=\frac{1}{2\pi }_\pi ^\pi e^{ikm}F(k,M,t)𝑑k.$$
(8)
For $`m=0`$ one obtains

$$\overline{a^2}(N,t)=\frac{1}{N}\underset{k}{\overset{BZ}{}}F(k,M,t)=\frac{1}{2\pi }_\pi ^\pi F(k,M,t)𝑑k.$$
(9)
Now Fourier transforming equation (6) we get

$$\frac{F}{t}+4\lambda \mathrm{sin}k\mathrm{sinh}\frac{1}{2}\frac{}{M}F+$$

$$4\mu \underset{j=1}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}\frac{(1)^{j\pm 1}}{(2j1)!2^{2j1}}\left(\frac{^{2j1}}{M^{2j1}}\overline{a^2}(M)\right)\left(\frac{^{2j1}}{k^{2j1}}F(k,M)\right)=0$$
(10)
which is the expected nonlinear evolution equation for $`F(k,M,t)`$ in a mixed configuration-wave number space $`(M,k).`$ Using the definition (7) we see that $`F(k,M,t)`$ is a periodic function in the reciprocal space, $`F(k+2\pi )=F(k).`$

## 3 Stability analysis

As the unperturbed problem we shall consider a basic solution $`F_0(k)`$ independent of $`M`$ and $`t.`$ This is the random counterpart of the Stokes wave in a deterministic approach. A small perturbation around this homogeneous background is considered, namely

$$F(k,M,t)=F_0(k)+ϵF_1(k,M,t)$$
(11)
According to (9) we have also

$$\overline{a^2}(M,t)=\overline{a_0^2}+ϵ\overline{a_1^2}(M,t)$$
(12)
where

$$\overline{a_0^2}=\frac{1}{2\pi }_\pi ^\pi F_0(k)𝑑k$$

$$\overline{a_1^2}(M,t)=\frac{1}{2\pi }_\pi ^\pi F_1(k,M,t)𝑑k$$
(13)
When (11) is introduced into (10), neglecting terms of order $`ϵ^2,`$ the following linear evolution equation for $`F_1`$ is obtained

$$\frac{F_1}{t}+4\lambda \mathrm{sin}k\mathrm{sinh}\frac{1}{2}\frac{}{M}F+$$

$$4\mu \underset{j=1}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}\frac{(1)^{j+1}}{(2j1)!2^{2j1}}\frac{^{2j1}F_0}{k^{2j1}}\frac{^{2j1}\overline{a_1^2}(M)}{M^{2j1}}=0$$
(14)
Looking for a plane wave solution

$$F_1(k,M,t)=f_1(k)e^{i(KM\mathrm{\Omega }t)}$$

after little algebra the following stability integral equation is found

$$1+\frac{\mu }{4\pi \lambda \mathrm{sin}\frac{K}{2}}_\pi ^\pi \frac{F_0(k+\frac{K}{2})F_0(k\frac{K}{2})}{\mathrm{sin}k\frac{\mathrm{\Omega }}{4\lambda \mathrm{sin}\frac{K}{2}}}𝑑k=0$$
(15)
The modulational instability is related to $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ complex with a positive imaginary part, $`Im\mathrm{\Omega }>0.`$ It is convenient to compare (15) with the similar result for the continuum case of the nonlinear Schrödinger equation

$$1+\frac{\mu }{K\omega _2}_{\mathrm{}}^{\mathrm{}}\frac{F_0(k+\frac{K}{2})F_0(k\frac{K}{2})}{k\frac{\mathrm{\Omega }}{2K\omega _2}}𝑑k=0$$
(16)
Although there are significant differences between the two expressions, when the width of the spectrum $`F_0(k)`$ is vanishingly small, the final results will look very similar.

3a. Gaussian spectrum

As a first example let us assume $`F_0(k)`$ to be a Gaussian function

$$F_0(k)=\frac{\sqrt{2\pi }}{\sigma }\overline{a_0^2}e^{\frac{k^2}{2\sigma ^2}}.$$
(17)
This expression doesn’t satisfy the periodicity condition but for $`\sigma `$ vanishingly small the errors introduced are negligible. Also the relation (13) is satisfied up to exponentially small terms.

It is convenient to introduce the new integration variable $`t=\frac{1}{\sqrt{2}\sigma }(k\pm \frac{K}{2})`$ and the notations

$$z_\pm =\frac{1}{\sqrt{2}\sigma }\left(\frac{\mathrm{\Omega }}{2\lambda \mathrm{sin}K}\pm \mathrm{tan}\frac{K}{2}\right)$$
(18)
$$f_\pm (t)=\frac{1}{\sqrt{2}\sigma }\left(\mathrm{sin}\sqrt{2}\sigma t\pm \mathrm{tan}\frac{K}{2}(1\mathrm{cos}\sqrt{2}\sigma t)\right).$$

Then (15) becomes

$$\frac{\overline{a_0^2}}{\sqrt{2\pi }\sigma }\frac{\mu }{\lambda \mathrm{sin}K}_{\frac{\pi }{\sqrt{2}\sigma }}^{\frac{\pi }{\sqrt{2}\sigma }}e^{t^2}\left(\frac{1}{z_+f_+}\frac{1}{z_{}f_{}}\right)𝑑t=1.$$
(19)
In leading order in $`\sigma `$ the integral (19) can be evaluated using the steepest descent method . Denoting $`G_\pm (t)=t^2+ln(z_\pm f_\pm (t)),t_\pm `$ the zeros of the first derivatives $`\frac{dG_\pm (t)}{dt}=0,A_\pm =\frac{1}{2}\frac{d^2G_\pm }{dt^2}`$ for $`t=t_\pm ,`$ and extending the integration limits to infinity the integral is given by

$$\sqrt{\pi }\left(\frac{1}{\sqrt{A_+}}e^{G_+(t_+)}\frac{1}{\sqrt{A_{}}}e^{G_{}(t_{})}\right).$$
(20)
In the limit $`\sigma 1`$ we have approximatively
$`t_\pm \frac{1}{2z_\pm }=\sqrt{\frac{\sigma }{2}}\frac{1}{\frac{\mathrm{\Omega }}{2\lambda \mathrm{sin}K}\pm \mathrm{tan}\frac{K}{2}},e^{G_\pm (t_\pm )}\frac{1}{z_\pm }`$ and $`A_\pm 1.`$
Then the integral becomes

$$\frac{2\sqrt{2\pi }\sigma \mathrm{tan}\frac{K}{2}}{(\frac{\mathrm{\Omega }}{2\lambda \mathrm{sin}K})^2(\mathrm{tan}\frac{K}{2})^2}.$$

Considering $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ purely imaginary, $`\mathrm{\Omega }=i\mathrm{\Omega }_i,`$ we finally get

$$\mathrm{\Omega }_i=4\lambda \mathrm{sin}\frac{K}{2}\sqrt{\overline{a_0^2}\frac{\mu }{\lambda }\mathrm{sin}^2\frac{K}{2}}$$
(21)
and an instability is obtained $`(\mathrm{\Omega }_i>0)`$ if $`\mu `$ and $`\lambda >0`$ and if $`\mathrm{sin}^2\frac{K}{2}<\overline{a_0^2}\frac{\mu }{\lambda }.`$

3b. Lorentzian spectrum

A simpler example is a Lorentzian form for $`F_0(k)`$

$$F_0(k)=\overline{a_0^2}\frac{p\sqrt{1+p^2}}{\mathrm{sin}\frac{K^2}{2}+p^2}.$$
(22)
It satisfies the periodicity condition and relation (13). The unperturbed two-point correlation function is easily calculated using (20) in the definition relation (18). Straightforward calculations give

$$\rho _0(m)=\frac{\overline{a_0^2}}{[1+2p(\sqrt{1+p^2}+p)]^m}$$
(23)
representing an exponentially decreasing law. For $`p1`$ we have $`\rho _0(m)\overline{a_0^2}e^{2pm}.`$

In order to calculate the integral (15) it is convenient to introduce the new integration variable $`t=\mathrm{tan}\frac{K}{2}.`$ Then the integral is over the whole real axis and can be done in the $`t`$-complex plane. In the new variable $`F_0(k\pm \frac{K}{2})`$ writes

$$F_0(k\pm \frac{K}{2})\frac{\overline{a_0^2}2p\sqrt{1+p^2}(1+t^2)}{(1+\mathrm{cos}\frac{K}{2}+2p^2)t^2\pm 2(\mathrm{sin}\frac{K}{2})t+(1\mathrm{cos}\frac{K}{2}+2p^2)}$$
(24)
having poles at

$$t_{1,2}^+=a\pm ibt_{1,2}^{}=a\pm ib$$

where

$$a=\frac{\mathrm{sin}\frac{K}{2}}{1+\mathrm{cos}\frac{K}{2}+2p^2},b=\frac{2p\sqrt{1+p^2}}{1+\mathrm{cos}\frac{K}{2}+2p^2}.$$
(25)
Considering $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ purely imaginary, $`\mathrm{\Omega }=i\mathrm{\Omega }_i`$ and denoting $`z=\frac{\mathrm{\Omega }_i}{4\lambda \mathrm{sin}\frac{K}{2}}`$ we have also

$$\frac{1}{\frac{\mathrm{\Omega }}{4\lambda \mathrm{sin}\frac{K}{2}}\mathrm{sin}k}i\frac{1+t^2}{zt^2+2it+z}$$

having poles at

$$t_3=i\frac{\sqrt{1+z^2}1}{z}t_4=i\frac{\sqrt{1+z^2}+1}{z}$$

We shall consider $`z`$ as a small quantity and consequently $`t_41.`$ Closing the contour in the lower complex half-plane $`t`$ its contribution can be neglected in the first order. Therefore we shall take into account only the poles $`t_2^{(\pm )}`$ and after straightforward calculations the relation (15) becomes

$$1=\frac{\mu \overline{a_0^2}}{\lambda \mathrm{sin}\frac{K}{2}}\frac{MA+MX}{X^2+M^2}$$
(26)
where

$`A=1+a^2b^2,`$ $`B=2ab`$
$`X=zA+2b,`$ $`M=2azB.`$ (27)
When $`p1`$ we approximate

$$a\frac{\mathrm{sin}\frac{K}{2}}{1+\mathrm{cos}\frac{K}{2}},b\frac{2p}{1+\mathrm{cos}\frac{K}{2}}$$
(28)
terms of order $`p^2`$ being neglected. Then (26) can be considerably simplified and finally give us

$$\mathrm{\Omega }_i=4\lambda \mathrm{sin}\frac{K}{2}\left(\sqrt{\frac{\mu }{\lambda }\overline{a_0^2}\mathrm{sin}^2\frac{K}{2}}2p\frac{1+\mathrm{cos}\frac{K}{2}+\mathrm{cos}k}{1+\mathrm{cos}\frac{K}{2}}\right).$$
(29)
Modulational instability occurs for $`\lambda `$ and $`\mu >0,`$ $`\mathrm{sin}^2\frac{K}{2}<\frac{\mu }{\lambda \overline{a_0^2}}`$ and if $`p`$ is smaller than a critical value. This result is similar with a previous one  obtained with a simplified Lorentzian form for $`F_0(k).`$ Both results (21) and (29) can be compared with the similar results obtained in the NLS case .

$`\mathrm{\Omega }_i^{(G)}=2K\omega _2\sqrt{{\displaystyle \frac{\mu }{\omega _1}}\overline{a_0^2}{\displaystyle \frac{K^2}{4}}}`$
$`\mathrm{\Omega }_i^{(L)}=2K\omega _2\left(\sqrt{{\displaystyle \frac{\mu }{\omega _1}}\overline{a_0^2}{\displaystyle \frac{K^2}{4}}}p\right)`$ (30)
where the superscript $`G/L`$ refers to Gaussian/Lorentzian form of $`F_0(k).`$ It is easily seen that (3) are obtained in a long wave limit $`(K1).`$ In the Lorentzian case both relations (29) and (3) show a behaviour similar with the well known phenomena of Landau damping in plasma physics ,  namely with increasing of $`p`$ the imaginary part $`\mathrm{\Omega }_i`$ can become negative and no instability develops.

In conclusion a complete discrete discussion of the randomness effects on the MI of the self trapping equation was done and the discrete effects are easily seen in the final results, compared with the similar ones found for the NLS equation.

Helpful discussions with Dr. A.S. Cârstea are kindly acknowledged. This research was supported under the contract 66, CERES Program, with the Ministry of Education and Research.


text:
# Experimental Observation of Quantum Reflection in the High Energy Limit

## Abstract

We present first experimental data on the high energy behavior of helium atoms quantum reflecting from the nanoscopically disordered surface of an $`\alpha `$-quartz crystal. The use of the light, stable and inert He atom not only opens the unique possibility of measuring quantum reflectivity in the thusfar inaccessible limit of high energies, but also allows the determination of the gas-solid interaction potential. The specularly reflected intensity from the rough surface shows a change of 5 orders of magnitude within an incident angular range of less than $`6^{}`$. By separating out the influence of surface disorder the quantum reflection coefficient for the smooth surface is deduced. Firstly, the data confirm the high energy asymptotic behavior of the reflection, defined by the non-retarded attractive van der Waals potential $`C_3/r^3`$. The experiment shows very good agreement with our calculations covering the entire energy region, in which also Casimir forces play a role. Parameters for the gas-solid interaction perfectly match those reported in literature in the vicinity of the potential minimum.

Surprising quantum phenomena may occur when the wave nature of an atom becomes dominant with respect to its classical, particle-like behavior.An example is the above-barrier reflection of a slow atom, which’ kinetic energy exceeds the barrier height Pokrovskii et al. (1958a); Maitra and Heller (1996). Interestingly, for this to happen the barrier does not necessarily need to be repulsive Henkel et al. (1996). In the quantum regime, reflection also takes place from a purely attractive potential, which falls off with distance $`r`$ faster than $`r^2`$. This was predicted in Carraro and Cole (1998); Côté et al. (1997); Friedrich et al. (2002) for the attractive interaction potential between a neutral atom and the surface of a solid and recently elegantly demonstrated in an experiment by Shimizu Shimizu (2001). It is not only of fundamental interest, but also has the practical prospective of using the surface of a solid as an efficient mirror for ultracold atoms. Quantum mechanically, the reflection coefficient, defined as the ratio between the reflected beam intensity and the incident one, grows to unity in the limit of very low impinging energy.

In earlier theoretical works, Cole and Brenig Carraro and Cole (1998); Böheim and Brenig (1982) establish an extremely low critical normal kinetic energy required for observing quantum reflection from surfaces, on the order of $`10^6`$ of the interaction potential depth. Their value is based on a coarse criterion for the break down of the WKB approximation ( $`|d\lambda _{dB}(r)/dr|1`$ ) and therefore represents merely a rough and rather conservative estimate of the critical energy. Shimizu’s data, the only relevant experimental data on quantum reflection (QR) so far, were obtained in an energy regime below this and are thus no test for this criterion. A more accurate theory on quantum reflection, developed by Côté and Friedrich Côté et al. (1997); Friedrich et al. (2002), predicts a much more gradual transition from the classical into the quantum regime.
In this Letter we present the first experimental evidence for QR in a high energy range (up to $`10^3`$ of the interaction potential well depth), therewith mapping out this transition precisely.

In addition, the exact gas-surface potential parameters are deduced, providing information on the surface properties. The exact location within the interaction potential at which QR takes place strongly depends on the kinetic energy of the incident particle. The center of this reflection region is situated approximately at some distance $`r_0`$, where the kinetic energy equals the potential one Friedrich et al. (2002); Böheim and Brenig (1982). In order to observe reflection from the attractive branch of a hard wall potential it follows that the kinetic energy of the atom must be smaller than the potential depth $`V_0`$. For realistic systems there is an additional effect: soft repulsive interaction alters the form of the well near the minimum to be flatter than $`r^3`$, which leads to a decrease of the critical energy below $`V_0`$. When reducing the incident kinetic energy, the reflection region moves towards larger distances, i.e. away from the surface, and the reflection amplitude increases. By varying the incident energy the entire attractive part of the interaction potential range can thus be sensitively probed.

In the limit of high impinging energies (close to $`V_0`$) the reflection coefficient shows asymptotic behavior. This was analytically calculated by Pokrovskii et al. Pokrovskii et al. (1958a, b) for above-barrier reflection in the general case, and by Friedrich et al. for the attractive atom-surface interaction Friedrich et al. (2002). The reflection coefficient from a homogeneous attractive potential $`C_n/r^n=\frac{\mathrm{}^2}{2m}\times (\beta _n)^{n2}/r^n`$, which is a function of the distance $`r`$ from the surface, takes the asymptotic form:

$$R_n^{asymp}=\mathrm{exp}[2B_n(k_i\beta _n)^{1\frac{2}{n}}],$$
(1)
where the constant $`B_n`$ depends on the power $`n`$ of the potential. The primary normal kinetic energy $`E_i`$ of the incident atom with mass $`m`$ and the strength of the homogeneous potential are expressed in terms of the wave number $`k_i=((2m/\mathrm{}^2)\times E_i)^{1/2}`$ and the length parameter $`\beta _n=((2m/\mathrm{}^2)\times C_n)^{1/(n2)}`$, respectively, so that the product $`k_i\beta _n`$ is dimensionless. The parameters of the reflecting potential can thus be determined by measuring the asymptote (1) as a function of the normal incident kinetic energy.

The long range attractive part of the interaction potential between a neutral atom and the surface of a solid is in general not homogeneous, but predicted to be well described by the Casimir-van der Waals potential Shimizu (2001); Friedrich et al. (2002):

$$V(r)=\frac{C_4}{r^3(r+l)},$$
(2)
where $`l`$ is the transition length between the two homogeneous parts of the potential: the van der Waals potential $`C_3/r^3`$ at the distance $`rl`$, and the retarded potential $`C_4/r^4=C_3l/r^4`$ at $`rl`$ due to the Casimir effect Casimir and Polder (1948).

This inhomogeneous potential yields two separate reflection coefficient asymptotes of the form (1), determined by the $`r^4`$ and $`r^3`$ parts, each one having its own validity range:

$$\{\begin{array}{cc}R_4^{asymp}(k_i)\hfill & \text{ for }G_4k_i\beta _4\rho ^2,(3)\hfill \\ R_3^{asymp}(k_i)\hfill & \text{ for }\rho ^3k_i\beta _3<(\frac{\beta _3}{a})^{\frac{3}{2}}.(4)\hfill \end{array}$$

The distance $`a`$ denotes the position of the potential minimum and the constants $`B_n`$, which enter in (1), are calculated to amount $`B_4=1.69443`$ and $`B_3=2.24050`$. The lower limit $`G_4=0.35`$ 111$`G_4`$, given for a general case in Pokrovskii et al. (1958a), is calculated here explicitly for atom-surface interactions. In Friedrich et al. (2002) this lower limit was taken to be unity. for $`k_i\beta _4`$ defines the region of high energies, $`E_i(2m/\mathrm{}^2)^2\times G_4/C_4`$, where the reflection coefficient takes the analytic form (1).

The dimensionless parameter

$$\rho =\frac{\beta _3}{\beta _4}=\sqrt{\frac{2m}{\mathrm{}^2}}\frac{C_3}{\sqrt{C_4}}$$
(5)
is characteristic for the atom-surface system in general and determines the asymptotic behavior of the reflectivity: at $`\rho ^2\beta _3/aG_4`$ only the asymptote (3) can be observed, whereas when $`\rho ^2\gg ̸G_4`$ the asymptotic behavior (4) dominates.

In order to measure the asymptote (4), determined by the non-retarded van der Waals potential only, the incident atom should have a normal incident energy $`E_iC_3^4/C_4^3=C_3/l^3`$. In the entire validity range of (3) and (4) for high energy QR, the incident atom is reflected relatively close to the surface. In the recent experiment by Shimizu Shimizu (2001) exactly this asymptotic region was not accessible, because the metastable Ne atoms they used decay at the distance of some nm from the surface.

In this Letter, we report on the first observation of QR of neutral helium atoms from an $`\alpha `$-quartz crystaline surface in the high energy limit. In this system the asymptotic behavior of the reflection coefficient is determined by the non-retarded van der Waals potential only.

The experimental results presented here are obtained on an apparatus designed for surface studies, using the novel atomic beam spin echo technique DeKieviet et al. (1995). In this machine, the nuclear magnetic moments of 3He atoms are manipulated, so as to obtain detailed information on changes in the particle’s energy before and after scattering DeKieviet et al. (1997). For the data here, however, the actual spin echo part of the 3He spectrometer is of importance only in as much as it allows us to determine the velocity distribution in the beam precisely. The atomic 3He beam is produced in a 500 $`\mu `$m diameter nozzle source, cooled by a 4.2 K 4He bath cryostat, and detected in a commercial mass spectrometer with a saturation rate of 2 MHz. The target crystal is mounted in the scattering chamber, half way between source and detector, and can be manipulated around the 3 Cartesian axes for incident angle $`\theta _i`$, in-plane and azimuthal orientation. The detector can be rotated in the horizontal plane to include a total scattering angle $`90^{}(\theta _i+\theta _f)180^{}`$ with the incident beam 222Incident ($`\theta _i`$) and reflected ($`\theta _f`$) angles are measured with respect to the surface normal.. Since the rotation axes of incident and scattering angle are aligned to coincide, the specularly reflected He atoms can be followed directly in a so-called ($`\theta 2\theta `$)-scan, with an angular resolution of $`\mathrm{\Delta }\theta _f0.17^{}`$. Further details on the 3He spectrometer will be presented elsewhere DeKieviet et al. (2002).

The QR experiment is performed on an $`\alpha `$-quartz single crystal having a diameter of $`25`$ mm, a thickness of $`1`$ mm and a polish on both sides. The 3He-beam average kinetic energy $`E_0=0.63`$ meV amounts to approximately 10 % of the He-quartz interaction potential well depth $`V_0=9.6`$ meV, reported in literature Kunc and Shemansky (1985). The atomic beam has a wavelength distribution with a relative width of circa 20 $`\%`$ at an average de Broglie wavelength of 6 Å. AFM measurements, performed prior to chemical etching of the quartz sample, indicate a randomly stepped surface structure. The terrace width is of the order of hundred nm and their height is Gaussian distributed with width $`12`$ Å. Because of an atomic roughness within the terraces, there is no specular reflection from the repulsive potential wall. Indeed, when scattering electrons (LEED), 4He or 3He atoms close to normal incidence from the surface, no reflectivity could be detected. However, upon incrementing $`\theta _i`$ beyond $`84^{}`$ a rapidly growing 3He specular intensity is measured. By increasing the impinging angle, the incident kinetic energy of the atom perpendicular to the surface $`E_i=E_0\mathrm{cos}^2\theta _i`$ is decreased. For $`\theta _i`$ ranging from $`84^{}`$ to $`89.73^{}`$, this means a reduction of the average normal energy from $`6.9\mu `$eV down to 14 neV, corresponding to $`10^3`$, respectively $`10^6`$ of $`V_0`$. The angular width of the reflected peak at this grazing incidence is machine limited. No broadening of the specular peak, as measured for classical reflection from stepped surfaces Comsa and Poelsema (1992), is observed. The coherence length (or transfer width) for specular reflection, $`\omega =\lambda _{dB}/(\mathrm{\Delta }\theta _i\times \mathrm{cos}\theta _i)`$, is 0.2 $`\mu `$m at normal incidence, and ranges from 2 $`\mu `$m up to 42 $`\mu `$m for the angular range in which QR is measured. The surface area illuminated by the atomic beam and the fraction of atoms actually involved in the scattering experiment depend on the incident angle. This was determined in an independent measurement and taken into consideration when analyzing the data.

Fig. 1 shows the resulting reflection coefficient as a function of the dimensionless average normal wave number $`k_ia=2\pi \mathrm{cos}\theta _i(a/\lambda _{dB})`$, with $`a=2.65`$ Å being the position of the potential minimum Kunc and Shemansky (1985). For a constant energy beam, the normal wave number is varied by changing the incident angle $`\theta _i`$. Open circles in the figure represent the experimental data from the randomly stepped surface. Since the step height distribution is Gaussian with width $`\sigma 12`$ Å, the terraces are wide and the illuminated surface area consists of a large number of them, the reflection coefficient of the rough surface (open circles) can be related to that of a smooth one (full circles), through

$$R_{rough}(k_i)=e^{4\sigma ^2k_i^2}\frac{_0^{}^\theta f(\theta )𝑑\theta }{_0^{}^{90^{}}f(\theta )𝑑\theta }R_{smooth}(k_i).$$
(6)
The first term quantifies the reduction of the reflection coefficient due to dephasing of the wave function upon scattering from terraces at different heights. This effect is more pronounced at higher energy, because then the de Broglie wavelength normal to the surface, $`\lambda _{dB}/\mathrm{cos}\theta _i`$, becomes comparable to $`\sigma `$. The second factor in (6) takes into account the loss of atoms hitting the steps from the side and becomes noticeable only at grazing incidence. Here, $`\theta =(90^{}\theta _i)`$ and $`f(\theta )=(L/\sigma )/\sqrt{2\pi }\times \mathrm{exp}((L\mathrm{tan}\theta /\sigma )^2/2)`$ describes the probability, that a step has height $`L\mathrm{tan}\theta `$. In Fig. 1, the average terrace width $`L`$ is taken to be $`L=75`$ nm and $`\sigma =(10\pm 2)`$ Å.
The error bars on the corrected data (full circles) contain both the statistical experimental error and the uncertainty in $`\sigma `$.

We can now directly compare the corrected experimental data with a computer simulation for QR from a smooth surface (solid line). Our calculation is based on the method suggested in Côté et al. (1997) for an attractive potential of the form (2) and shows very good agreement with the data. This method matches the WKB wave function to the exact solution of the Schrödinger equation in every point of the interaction. We have seen no significant difference when including the entire wavelength distribution (as determined using the spin echo technique) in the simulation instead of just the average value of $`\lambda _{dB}`$.

The $`C_4`$ coefficient for the inhomogeneous interaction potential (2) entering into the computer simulation, can be written as Dzyaloshinskii et al. (1961); Shimizu (2001)

$$C_4=\frac{1}{4\pi \epsilon _0}\frac{3\mathrm{}c\alpha }{8\pi }\varphi (\epsilon )\frac{\epsilon 1}{\epsilon +1}=23.6\mathrm{eV}\mathrm{\AA }^4.$$
(7)
Herein, $`\alpha =2.3\times 10^{41}`$ Fm2 denotes the polarizability of the incident He atom and $`\epsilon =4.5`$ is the dielectric constant of the $`\alpha `$-quartz crystal Tab (1979-1980). The terms containing $`\epsilon `$ in expression (7) correct the interaction with a dielectric surface for that with a conductive one, whereby $`\varphi (\epsilon )`$ is found in Dzyaloshinskii et al. (1961). The transition length $`l`$, the only adjustable parameter in the simulation, is determined to be

$$l=(10\pm 1)\mathrm{nm}$$
(8)
in order to give best agreement with experiment. This value is in perfect agreement with the wavelength $`\lambda /(2\pi )=9.4`$ nm corresponding to the atomic transition between the electronic ground and the first excited state in helium. In addition, the important dimensionless parameter $`\rho `$ characterizing our system and defined in (5) then becomes

$$\rho =1.9\pm 0.2.$$
(9)
$`\rho `$ being so small, the asymptotic behavior of the reflection coefficient is expected to be determined entirely by the non-retarded interaction potential $`C_3/r^3`$. That is, from the two high energy asymptotes only the higher one (4) should be observed. For our system this lies at incident energies $`E_i710^6\times V_0=69`$ neV, corresponding to incident angles $`\theta _i89.40^{}`$. Our experimental data acquired at non-grazing incidence are expected to get very close to this asymptote.

Replotting the reflection coefficient on a $`\mathrm{ln}(\mathrm{ln})`$-scale as a function of $`\mathrm{ln}(k_ia)`$ turns the asymptotic behavior (1) into a straight line, as shown in Fig. 2. From $`\mathrm{ln}(\mathrm{ln}(R))=\mathrm{ln}(2B_n(\beta _n/a)^{12/n})+(12/n)\times \mathrm{ln}(k_ia)`$ full information on the homogeneous part of the reflecting potential can be obtained: the slope gives the potential power $`n`$ and the ordinate axis intercept yields the length parameter $`\beta _n`$ (and therewith $`C_n`$).
The high energy asymptote for the non-retarded branch ($`n=3`$) in Fig. 2 results in a van der Waals coefficient $`C_3=236`$ meV Å3.

Kunc et al. Kunc and Shemansky (1985) calculate the potential power $`n`$ to vary from 3.8 to 6 within the distance $`r<50`$ Å. Their potential follows (2) with the given parameters only at the distances $`10`$ Å from the surface. This is perfectly consistent with the authors not including retardation in their model. As an independent check of the resulting attractive potential the parameters for the potential minimum with and without retardation are calculated. The latter show agreement within $`3\%`$ with the values given in Kunc and Shemansky (1985).

In contrast, potential parameters can principally not be derived from the near-threshold $`E_i0`$ asymptote Friedrich et al. (2002) on a ln(-ln)-scale (the lower-left straight line in Fig. 2) in a single experiment only. This straight line always has slope one, independent on the order $`n`$ of the interaction. Moreover, its ordinate axis intercept is a function of $`\rho `$ 333In a recent experiment Shimizu and Fujita (2002), Shimizu et al. investigate a single system, but vary $`C_3`$ by changing the surface density. In this case, it is in fact possible to extract information on the potential and to confirm Friedrich’s theory on the low energy asymptote..

In conclusion, ground state 3He atoms allow experimental access to the high energy behavior of quantum reflection from the attractive potential they sense from an $`\alpha `$-quartz surface. We confirm the high energy asymptotic expression given by (1) and show that it is determined by the non-retarded van der Waals potential only. Deviation of the experimental data from this asymptote shows that the interaction potential near the surface falls off steeper than a pure van der Waals potential. This is due to the influence of Casimir forces even at the distance of 30 Å above the surface. Our analysis, based on the complete theory on QR and covering the entire energy range, shows excellent agreement with the experimental data for the potential coefficients $`C_4=23.6`$ eVÅ4 and $`l=(10\pm 1)`$ nm. The interaction potential compares well to the one calculated by Kunc et al. Kunc and Shemansky (1985) in the vicinity of the potential minimum. Moreover, $`l`$ perfectly matches the transition wavelength from the electronic ground to the first excited state of He .

The limited saturation rate of the detector and the relatively large value of $`\sigma `$ prevented us from measuring the reflection at energies $`>10^3V_0`$. We are currently using a highly efficient mass spectrometer detector DeKieviet et al. (2000b), in order to explore an even higher energy range for QR where the influence of the repulsive wall becomes visible.

###### Acknowledgements.

We are grateful to the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung fellowship for supporting the work of V.D.


text:
# 1 Introduction

## 1 Introduction

A number of modified Newtonian potentials of various forms are available in literature which accurately approximate some general relativistic effects important to study accretion discs around a Schwarzschild black hole. Such potentials may be called ‘pseudo-Schwarzschild’ potentials because they nicely mimic the space-time around non-rotating/slowly rotating compact astrophysical bodies. Recently we have shown that1 (Das & Sarkar, 2001, hereafter PI) though the potentials discussed in this paper were originally proposed to mimic the relativistic effects manifested in disc accretion, it is quite reasonable to use most of these potentials in studying various dynamical as well as thermodynamic quantities also for spherical Bondi-type2 accretion of adiabatic fluid onto Schwarzschild black holes. In PI, the space variation of various dynamical and thermodynamic quantities had been studied for a two parameter adiabatic accretion and wind system i.e., flow parametrized by the specific energy and the polytropic constant of the flow. In this paper, we would like to continue our investigation of spherical accretion for the same set of pseudo potentials used in PI but for isothermal accretion (wind) which may be characterized by a single parameter, i.e., the flow temperature which can be approximated by the proton temperature for an one-temperature fluid system.
Owing to the fact that, close to a spherically accreting Schwarzscild black hole, the ratio of electron number density to the photon number density is proportional to $`\sqrt{r}`$ (where $`r`$ is the radial distance measured from the central accretor in units of Schwarzschild radius $`r_g=\frac{2GM_{BH}}{C^2}`$), a lesser number of electrons would available per photon with decrease of $`r`$, and close to the accretor, momentum transfer by photons on the accreting fluid (or wind) might be an efficient process which may keep the flow temperature roughly constant (at least upto the sonic point) and hence isothermality may not be an entirely unjustified assumption3. However, this efficiency for momentum transfer falls of for large $`r`$ and far away from the black hole isothermality assumption may brake down.

## 2 Governing equations

We take the following pseudo potentials:

$$\mathrm{\Phi }_1=\frac{1}{2(r1)},\mathrm{\Phi }_2=\frac{1}{2r}\left[1\frac{3}{2r}+12\left(\frac{1}{2r}\right)^2\right]$$

$$\mathrm{\Phi }_3=1+\left(1\frac{1}{r}\right)^{\frac{1}{2}},\mathrm{\Phi }_4=\frac{1}{2}ln\left(1\frac{1}{r}\right)$$
$`(1)`$
to study the flow. Whereas $`\mathrm{\Phi }_1`$ and $`\mathrm{\Phi }_2`$ had been proposed by Paczyński and Wiita4 (1980) and Nowak and Wagoner5 (1991) respectively, $`\mathrm{\Phi }_3`$ and $`\mathrm{\Phi }_4`$ are suggested by Artemova et. al.6 (1996) (see  and PI for detail discussion about these potentials). Hereafter, we will denote any $`i`$th potential as $`\mathrm{\Phi }_i`$ where $`\left\{i=1,2,3,4\right\}`$ corresponds to $`\{\mathrm{\Phi }_1,\mathrm{\Phi }_2,\mathrm{\Phi }_3,\mathrm{\Phi }_4\}`$ respectively.
For isothermal equation of state,

$$P=\frac{R\rho T}{\mu }=C_s^2\rho $$
$`(2)`$
where $`P,\rho ,T`$ and $`C_s`$ are the pressure, density, constant temperature and the constant isothermal sound speed of the flow respectively; $`R`$ and $`\mu `$ being universal gas constant and the mean molecular weight. $`C_s`$ and $`T`$ can be related as,

$$C_s^2=\mathrm{\Theta }T$$
$`(3)`$
Where $`\mathrm{\Theta }=\frac{\kappa }{\mu m_H}`$, a constant, $`m_Hm_p`$ being the mass of the Hydrogen atom. Integrating the radial momentum conservation equation

$$\frac{u}{t}+u\frac{u}{r}+\frac{1}{\rho }\frac{P}{r}+\mathrm{\Phi }_{i}^{}{}_{}{}^{^{}}=0$$

and the equation of continuity

$$\frac{\rho }{t}+\frac{1}{r^2}\frac{}{r}\left(\rho ur^2\right)=0$$

using eqn. (2) and (3), we obtain two conservation equations for our flow as (in system of units used in PI):

$$\frac{u_i^2}{2}+\mathrm{\Theta }Tln\rho _i+\mathrm{\Phi }_i=𝐂$$
$`(4a)`$
$$\dot{M}=4\pi \rho _iu_ir^2$$
$`(4b)`$
Where $`𝐂`$ is a constant, $`u`$ and $`\dot{M}`$ being the dynamical flow velocity and the mass accretion rate respectively. Subscript $`i`$ indicates that respective quantities are measured for a particular $`\mathrm{\Phi }_i`$. The space rate of change of dynamical velocity can be written as:

$$\frac{du_i}{dr}=\frac{\frac{2\mathrm{\Theta }T}{r}\mathrm{\Phi }_{i}^{}{}_{}{}^{^{}}}{u_i\frac{\mathrm{\Theta }T}{u_i}}$$
$`(4c)`$
where $`\mathrm{\Phi }_i^{^{}}=\frac{d\mathrm{\Phi }_i}{dr}`$. From eqn. (4b), one can easily obtain the sonic point conditions as,

$$u_i=\sqrt{\frac{r_c^i\mathrm{\Phi }_{i}^{}{}_{}{}^{^{}}|_c}{2}}=C_s=\mathrm{\Theta }T$$
$`(4d)`$
where $`\mathrm{\Phi }_{i}^{}{}_{}{}^{^{}}|_c`$ is the value of $`\frac{d\mathrm{\Phi }_i}{dr}`$ at the corresponding sonic point $`r_c^i`$. $`\frac{du_i}{dr}`$ at the sonic point may be obtained by solving the following equation

$$\left(\frac{du}{dr}\right)_{}^{2}{}_{c_,i}{}^{}+0.25\left(\mathrm{\Phi }_{i}^{}{}_{}{}^{^{}}|_c\right)^2\mathrm{\Theta }^1T^1+0.5\mathrm{\Phi }_{i}^{}{}_{}{}^{^{\prime \prime }}|_c=0$$
$`(4e)`$
where $`\mathrm{\Phi }_{i}^{}{}_{}{}^{^{\prime \prime }}|_c`$ is the value of $`\frac{d^2\mathrm{\Phi }_i}{dr^2}`$ at sonic point. Mach number of the flow $`M_i`$ for a given $`T`$ and $`\mathrm{\Phi }_i`$ can be expressed as,

$$M_i=u_i\mathrm{\Theta }^{0.5}T^{0.5}=$$

$$\sqrt{T\dot{M}\rho _{i}^{}{}_{}{}^{2}r^2+2\mathrm{\Phi }_i\mathrm{\Theta }^1T^1+\left(2T^21\right)ln\rho _i}$$
$`(5)`$
where $`\dot{M}`$ is the mass accretion rate defined in eqn. (4b).

## 3 Results

For a given flow temperature $`T`$, one can solve eqn. (4d) to find out the sonic point $`r_c^i`$ for any particular $`i`$th potential $`\mathrm{\Phi }_i`$. In figure 1 we show the variation of sonic points (for $`\mathrm{\Phi }_{i=14}`$) with constant flow temperature. We observe that for all $`\mathrm{\Phi }_{i=14}`$’s, sonic point anticorrelates with $`T`$ non-linearly and monotonically. This is obvious because as sound speed $`C_s`$ is constant throughout isothermal flow, it is only the dynamical velocity $`u`$ whose change would control the change of Mach number, and as $`C_s`$ is proportional to $`\sqrt{T}`$, the more will be the flow temperature, the more will be $`C_s`$ and the less will be the Mach number $`M`$ ($`M=\frac{u}{C_s}`$) for a particular radial distance and the less will be the location of $`r_c`$ where $`u`$ becomes equal to $`C_s`$, i.e., $`M`$ becomes unity. It is evident from the figure that for a given flow temperature (fixed $`T`$):

$$r_c^1>r_c^4>r_c^3>r_c^2$$
$`(6)`$
For a fixed $`T`$, it is now quite straightforward to simultaneously solve eqn. (4a-4e) and eqn. 5 to get the integral curves of motion for all $`\mathrm{\Phi }_{i=14}`$’s to study the transonicity of the flow. In figure 2, for $`T=5\times 10^{10}{}_{}{}^{o}K`$, we plot all the integral curves of motion for accretion as well as for all $`\mathrm{\Phi }_{i=14}`$’s described in §1. For a given flow temperature and for a particular distance $`r=r_o`$, if we define $`M_o^i`$ to be the Mach number attained at $`r_o`$ for a specific $`\mathrm{\Phi }_i`$, it is clear from the figure that

$$M_o^1>M_o^4>M_o^3>M_o^2$$
$`(7)`$
while the sequence is just reversed for the wind. As velocity profile for the isothermal flow is identical in nature of its Mach number profile with a scale shift of $`\left(\mathrm{\Theta }T\right)^{0.5}`$, one can conclude that $`\mathrm{\Phi }_1`$ produces the steepest velocity gradient for accretion and flattest velocity gradient for wind. Combining eqn. (6) with (7), one can interpret that for isothermal accretion, Paczyński and Wiita4 (1980) potential $`\mathrm{\Phi }_1`$ would produce the maximum spatial rate of change of kinetic energy of the accretion for a given $`T`$ while the same is produced by potential proposed by Nowak and Wagoner5 (1991), i.e., $`\mathrm{\Phi }_2`$, for wind. Similarly, if for any $`\mathrm{\Phi }_i`$, one defines the spatial gradient of Mach number to be $`\frac{dM^i}{dr}`$, which might be regarded as the measure of the ‘transonicity’ of the flow (because more will be the value of $`\frac{dM^i}{dr}`$, the faster the flow will become supersonic, i.e., the further will be the sonic point away from the black hole), we find that for accretion branch, $`\left|\frac{dM^i}{dr}\right|`$, e.g., the absolute value of $`\frac{dM^i}{dr}`$, increases non-linearly and monotonically as the flow moves towards the black hole and sequence for $`\left|\frac{dM^i}{dr}\right|`$ follows the same trend shown in eqn. (7). However, for wind branch, $`\left|\frac{dM^i}{dr}\right|`$ does not monotonically increase as the flow moves away from the accretor rather $`\left|\frac{dM^i}{dr}\right|`$ attains a maximum value in the subsonic part of the wind and then starts falling non-linearly, see figure 3. The location of the maxima can be obtained by solving the following non-trivial equation for $`r_p`$ (the location of the peak):

$$\left(r_p^i\right)^2𝚿_𝐩^𝐢(r_p,u_p)+r_p^i𝛀_𝐩^𝐢(r_p,u_p)2\mathrm{\Theta }T=0$$
$`(8)`$
Where $`𝚿^𝐢(r,u)`$ and $`𝛀^𝐢(r,u)`$ are two complicated functions of $`r`$ and $`u`$ defined as:

$$𝚿^𝐢(r,u)=\frac{1}{u_i^2}\frac{du_i}{dr}\left(\frac{u_i^2+\mathrm{\Theta }T}{u_i^2\mathrm{\Theta }T}\right)\mathrm{\Phi }_i\mathrm{\Phi }_i^{^{\prime \prime }}$$

$$𝛀^𝐢(r,u)=\frac{2}{u^2}\frac{du_i}{dr}\left(\frac{u_i^2+\mathrm{\Theta }T}{u_i^2\mathrm{\Theta }T}\right)\mathrm{\Theta }T$$

The superscript $`i`$ indicates the value obtained for a particular $`i`$th potential. Also we obtain that the location of the peak maintains the following sequence:

$$r_p^1<r_p^4<r_p^3<r_p^2$$
$`(9)`$
Thus we successfully analyze various aspects of transonic behaviour of the spherically symmetric, isothermal accretion characterized by its flow temperature $`T`$.
Acknowledgements
We are thankful to Prof. I. D. Novikov and Prof. P. J. Wiita for useful discussions.

Figure Captions

1. Fig. 1: Variation of sonic point with flow temperature for various $`\mathrm{\Phi }_{i=14}`$’s. While flow temperature $`T`$ (in units of $`T_{10}=10^{10}{}_{}{}^{o}K`$) is plotted (in logarithmic scale) along x axis, sonic point $`r_c^i`$ (in logarithmic scale) is plotted along y axis.
2. Fig. 2: The integral curves of motion drawn for various $`\mathrm{\Phi }_{i=14}`$. While the radial distance from the black hole (in units of $`r_g`$) is plotted along x axis in logarithmic scale, Mach number $`M`$ of the flow is plotted along y axis. The sonic points for various $`\mathrm{\Phi }_{i=14}`$’s are obtained as $`\{r_c^1,r_c^2,r_c^3,r_c^4\}=\{28.05,23.14,26.6,27.09\}r_g`$ respectively.
3. Fig. 3: Variation of gradient of Mach number for a given $`T`$ with respect to spatial distance. While the radial distance from the accretor (in units of $`r_g`$) is plotted along x axis in logarithmic scale, the spatial rate of change of Mach number $`\left(\frac{dM}{dr}\right)`$ is plotted along y axis. It is clear that the curves obtained for all $`\mathrm{\Phi }_{i=14}`$ produces a ‘peak’ location of which is designated as $`r_p`$ in eqn. (8). $`r_p`$ is different for different $`\mathrm{\Phi }_i`$’s for a particular given flow temperature $`T`$.


text:
# Effects of Boron Purity, Mg Stoichiometry and Carbon Substitution on Properties of Polycrystalline MgB2

## 1 Introduction

Since the discovery of superconductivity in the compound MgB2 by Akimitsu and co-workers , considerable progress has been made in the understanding of the fundamental properties of this material. Within weeks of the announcement of this discovery, it was established that high purity, very low residual resistivity samples of MgB2 could be synthesized by exposing boron powder or filaments to Mg vapor at temperatures at or near $`950^{}C`$ for as little as two hours . Samples with residual resistivity ratio \[$`RRR=R(300K)/R(42K)`$\] values in excess of 20 and residual resistivities as low as 0.4 $`\mu \mathrm{\Omega }cm`$ were synthesized by this method. Such a low resistivity in an intermetallic compound with a superconducting critical temperature, $`T_c`$, near $`40K`$ was of profound physical, as well as engineering, interest. The implications of this high $`RRR`$ and low $`\rho _0`$ ranged from large magneto-resistances to questions of how a material with such an apparently large electron-phonon coupling could have such a small normal state resistivity. On the applied side, a normal state resistivity of 0.4 $`\mu \mathrm{\Omega }cm`$ for temperatures just above $`T_c`$ means that MgB2 wires would be able to handle a quench with much greater ease than, for example, Nb3Sn wires which have a $`\rho _0`$ that is over an order of magnitude larger for $`T20K`$ . Unfortunately, other techniques of synthesizing MgB2 had difficulties in achieving such high $`RRR`$ or low $`\rho _0`$ values . In some cases, the authors of these papers have concluded that the resistivity of their samples must be the intrinsic resistivity and that higher $`RRR`$ values or lower residual resistivity values must somehow be extrinsic. In order to address these concerns and in order to shed some light on how low resistivity samples can be grown, we have studied the effects of boron purity and magnesium stoichiometry on sintered pellet samples. Based on these measurements, we conclude that the purity of the boron used to make the MgB2 is a dominant factor in determining the ultimate, low temperature, normal state resistivity of the sample, and that $`RRR`$ values as high as 20 and residual resistivities as low as 0.4 $`\mu \mathrm{\Omega }cm`$ are intrinsic materials properties of high purity MgB2 .

Once reproducible synthesis of high purity, single phase, MgB2 is understood and believed to be somewhat controllable, the next question to be addressed is: can MgB2 be doped in a reliable manner? Whereas the effects of Al substitution for Mg were addressed very early on , substitutions on the boron site have been somewhat more difficult. There have been some attempts to substitute carbon for boron  with results varying from very little effect on $`T_c`$  to shift of $`T_c`$ down to $`35K`$  or $`32K`$  depending upon the nominal carbon concentration as well as the sample synthesis route. By far the most appealing route to producing carbon doped MgB2 is to start with the carbon mixed with the boron on the length scale of a unit cell. Starting with a boron rich compound such as B4C appears to offer just such a route . In order to determine how to synthesize as close to a single phase sample as possible we have measured powder X-ray diffraction spectra as well as temperature dependent magnetic susceptibility and electrical transport on a series of samples synthesized at different temperatures.

## 2 Sample synthesis

Samples of MgB2 for this study were made in the form of sintered pellets. The sintered pellets were made by sealing stoichiometric amounts of Mg($`99.9\%`$) and B into Ta tubes, placing these tubes (sealed in quartz) into furnaces heated to $`950^{}C`$ for 3 hours, and then quenched to room temperature . For the initial studies of the effects of boron purity, stoichiometric MgB2 was synthesized and the quality of the boron was varied. For the studies of magnesium stoichiometry, nominal stoichiometries that ranged from Mg0.811B2 to Mg1.211B2 were used and samples were synthesized with 99.95% pure, isotopically enriched 11B .

Given that our synthesis technique involves a reaction between solid boron and Mg vapor we felt that any attempt at boron site substitution required that the dopant and the boron be mixed at an atomic level before exposure to Mg vapor. The compound B4C is ideal given that it is boron rich and includes carbon - a likely dopant. Earlier work  indicated this may be a viable route, but also appeared to be somewhat preliminary. The carbon doped MgB2 sintered pellets were made by sealing lumps of Mg ($`99.9\%`$) and B4C ($`99\%`$ \- Alfa Aesar) into Ta tubes, following same procedure for the pure MgB2, and heating to a variety of temperatures. For this work, the samples were heated for 24 hours to four different temperatures: ($`750^{}C`$, $`950^{}C`$, $`1100^{}C`$, $`1200^{}C`$). In order to compare our samples with the initial studies using B4C as starting reagent (Mickelson et al. ), we also prepared samples by heating to $`600^{}C`$ for 2 hours and then $`700^{}C`$ for 2 more hours. The initial stoichiometric ratio in all these procedures was 5:2 of Mg:B4C giving a nominal composition of Mg(B0.8C0.2)2.

A.C. electrical resistance measurements were made using Quantum Design MPMS and PPMS units. Platinum wires for standard four-probe configuration were connected to the samples with Epotek H20E silver epoxy. LR 400 and LR 700 A.C. resistance bridges were used to measure the resistance when the MPMS units were used to provide the temperature environment. Powder X-ray diffraction measurements were made using a Cu $`K_\alpha `$ radiation in a Scintag diffractometer and a Si standard was used for all runs. The Si lines have been removed from the X-ray diffraction data, leading to apparent gaps in the powder X-ray spectra.

## 3 Effects of Boron Purity

Figure 1 presents powder X-ray diffraction spectra for three samples with varying nominal boron purities: 90% purity, 99.99% purity, and the 99.95% purity, isotopically pure 11B. By comparing the two upper panels to the bottom panel it can be seen that the strongest MgB2 lines are present in all three samples. The spectrum shown in the upper panel, the data taken on the sample made from boron with only a 90% nominal purity, also has weak Mg and MgO lines present. This is not inconsistent with the fact that the primary impurity in the 90% boron is associated with Mg.

Figure 2 displays the normalized resistance, $`R(T)/R(300K)`$, of MgB2 pellets that were made using the five different types of boron powderas described in Table 1. Each curve is the average of three resistance curves taken on different pieces broken off of each pellet. Figure 2 demonstrates that $`RRR`$ values can range from as low as 4 to as high as 20 depending upon what source of boron is used. Among the natural boron samples examined there is a steady increase in $`RRR`$ as the purity of the source boron is improved. The MgB2 synthesized from the isotopically pure boron appears to have the best $`RRR`$, although it’s nominal purity is somewhat less than that of the 99.99% pure natural boron, but those skilled in the art will realize that claims of purity from different companies can vary dramatically. In addition, it is likely that the isotopically pure boron was prepared in a somewhat different manner from the other boron powders used (very likely using a boron fluoride or boric acid or any of its complexes as an intermediate phase, in order to achieve isotopic separation). The primary point that figure 2 establishes is that the purity of the boron used can make a profound difference on the normal state transport properties.

In Fig. 3 the same resistance data is plotted, but instead of simply normalizing the data at room temperature the data is normalized to the temperature derivative at room temperature. This is done to see if the resistance curves differ only by a temperature independent residual resistivity term: i.e. this normalization is based upon the assumption that the slope of the temperature dependent resistivity at room temperature should be dominated by phonon scattering, and therefore be the same for each of these samples. As can be seen, this seems to be the case, at least to the first order. By using higher purity boron we are able to diminish the additive, residual resistance by a factor of approximately five.

The insets to figs. 2 and 3 indicate that there is a monotonic improvement in $`T_c`$ as the boron purity (or $`RRR`$ value) is increased. $`T_c`$ values vary from just below $`38K`$ to just above $`39K`$ depending upon which boron is used. It should be noted that similar behavior have been seen in other polycrystalline samples with poor $`RRR`$ values .

Based upon these results, we choose the isotopically pure 11B for the further study of the effects of Mg stoichiometry on MgB2 pellet samples. But before we proceed to the next section, it is worth noting that one of the difficulties associated with the samples made by other research groups may well be due to the use of boron with less than the highest purity. In addition, to our knowledge very few other groups have been using the Eagle-Picher isotopically pure boron in the samples for electrical transport measurements. It should be noted though that recent measurements have reproduced these results using Eagle-Picher 11B.

## 4 Effects of Magnesium Stoichiometry

In order to study the effect of magnesium stoichiometry on the transport properties of Mg11B2, a series of Mgx11B2 ($`0.8x1.2`$) samples were synthesized. Figure 4 presents powder X-ray diffraction patterns for the extreme members of the series (top and bottom panels) as well as for the stoichiometric Mg11B2 (middle panel). In all cases the lines associated with the Mg11B2 phase are present. For the Mg0.811B2 sample, there is a weak line seen at $`2\theta =35.8^{}`$ that is associated with MgB4 (marked with a +). This is consistent with the fact that there was insufficient Mg present to form single phase Mg11B2. For the Mg1.211B2 sample there are strong diffraction lines associated with Mg (marked with \*). This too is consistent with the stoichiometry of the sample: Mg11B2 is the most Mg-rich member of the binary phase diagram, therefore any excess Mg will end up as unreacted Mg. The X-ray diffraction pattern for the stoichiometric Mg11B2 shows much smaller peaks associated with a small amount of both MgB4 and Mg phases. This pattern is different from the one shown in Fig. 2 in that this sample was reacted for 3 hours, whereas the sample used in Fig. 1 was reacted for 4 hours. Given that all of the samples used for the Mg-stoichiometry study were reacted for 3 hours, it is appropriate to show this powder diffraction set along with the other members of the series. It should be noted that there is continuous change in the nature of the second phases in the samples. For Mg deficient samples there is only MgB4 as a second phase. For the stoichiometric Mg11B2 samples there are either no second phases or very small amounts of both MgB4 and Mg (depending upon reaction times), and for the excess Mg samples there is no MgB4, but clear evidence of excess Mg.

Figure 5 presents normalized resistance data for five representative Mgx11B2 pellets. In each case the curve plotted is the average of three or more samples cut from the same pellet. There is far less variation between the different pellets in this case than there was for the case of boron purity (Fig. 2). This is most clearly illustrated by the fact that the values of the $`R(T)`$ collapse almost completely onto a single manifold as viewed on full scale. Figure 6 plots the $`RRR`$ values for each of the individual samples (shown as the smaller symbols) as well as the $`RRR`$ of the average curve. As can be seen, the $`RRR`$ values increase slowly from $`14`$ for Mg0.811B2 to $`18`$ for Mg11B2. This is followed by an increase in $`RRR`$ values for excess Mg, with Mg1.211B2 having an $`RRR`$ value of $`24`$. The important point to note is that even, for the most Mg deficient sample, the lowest measured $`RRR`$ value is significantly greater than 10. At no point in this series we find samples with $`RRR`$ values of 3, 6, or 10, even when a clear MgB4 second phase is present. For samples ranging from Mg0.911B2 to Mg1.111B2 (dotted box in figure 6) the average $`RRR`$ values cluster around $`RRR=18\pm 3`$. These data indicate that, for sintered pellets, $`RRR`$ values of 18 can be associated with stoichiometric Mg11B2 in pellet form.

Whereas the effects of excess Mg are relatively minor in these samples (given their low intrinsic resistivities), these effects can still be clearly seen. In addition to the increase in the $`RRR`$ value, there is a change in the form of the temperature dependence of the resistance. This can be best seen in Fig. 7, in which the resistance data have been normalized to its room temperature slope. The data for all $`x`$ values less than 1.0 are similar (to within small differences in residual resistivity) and can be collapsed onto a single curve. On the other hand, the resistance data for the $`x=1.1`$ and $`x=1.2`$ are qualitatively different. They start out with somewhat higher normalized resistance data than the stoichiometric sample, and then below $`100K`$ cross below the stoichiometric sample. This is shown in Fig. 7 by representing the data for $`x=1.2`$ as a dashed line and can also be seen in the inset (stars). This change in behavior is very likely due to the increasing effects of having Mg in parallel (and series) with the MgB2 grains. As can be seen in Fig. 7, this effect becomes larger as the amount of excess Mg is increased. This deviation from the MgB2 resistance curve may actually serve as a diagnostic for the detection of excess Mg.

For further details about the effects of boron purity, Mg stoichiometry or the results of our studies on MgB2 wires segments see reference .

## 5 Carbon doping

Figure 8 presents the powder X-ray diffraction patterns for nominal Mg(B0.8C0.2)2 samples reacted for 24 hours at temperature of 750, 950, 1100 and $`1200^{}C`$. The top pattern is from a sample that was reacted for 2 hours at $`600^{}C`$ and then reacted for 2 more hours at $`700^{}C`$. This sample was made using the temperature / time schedule outlined in reference  and serves as a point of comparison. There is a clear decrease in the signal coming from impurity phases in the material as the reaction temperature is increased. The reactions carried out at either 1100 or $`1200^{}C`$ appear to be approaching single phase.

The temperature dependent magnetic susceptibility and electrical resistance for these samples are presented in Figs. 9 and 10 respectively. As the phase purity of the material is improving the onset temperature (see insets) decreases and the transition sharpens. The sample synthesized at $`1200^{}C`$ for 24 hours has $`T_c=22.7K`$ based on zero resistance criterion and $`T_c=21.9K`$ based on an onset of diamagnetism criterion. It should be noted that, based on the magnetization data, for the sample synthesized at $`950^{}C`$ the majority of the sample appears to have a $`T_c16K`$, well below the onset temperature of $`23.5K`$. This, as well as the other transition temperatures found for samples reacted at $`750^{}C`$ or lower temperature may well be associated with inhomogeneities in these samples and may indicate that even further carbon doping levels are possible. In addition, there is still a slight increase in $`T_c`$ when the reaction temperature is increased from $`1100^{}C`$ to $`1200^{}C`$. This may indicate that a further increase in reaction time or temperature will yield some further (slight) increase in $`T_c`$. These data represent a first step in the optimization and study of carbon doped MgB2 with the nominal composition of Mg(B0.8C0.2)2. A more detailed study is part of an ongoing research project.

## 6 Conclusion

In summary, through the synthesis of various MgB2 samples with different nominal boron purities we found values of $`RRR`$ from 4 to 20, which covers almost all values found in literature. To obtain high values of $`RRR`$, high purity reagents are necessary. With the isotopically pure boron we obtained the highest $`RRR`$ 20 for the stoichiometric compound. We also investigated Mgx11B2 samples with 0.8 $`<x<`$ 1.2. These have shown that from the most Mg deficient samples we observe inclusions of the MgB4 phase, and no evidence of Mg. For samples with excess Mg we do not observe any MgB4. For the range Mg0.811B2 up to Mg1.211B2 we found average values of $`RRR`$ between 14 and 24. For smaller variations in stoichiometry ($`x=1\pm 0.1`$) $`RRR=18\pm 3`$. All of our data point to the conclusion that high $`RRR`$ ($`20`$) and low $`\rho _0`$ ($`0.4\mu \mathrm{\Omega }cm`$) are intrinsic materials properties associated with high purity MgB2 .

Our initial work on optimizing the formation of carbon doped MgB2 via the use of B4C indicates that nearly single phase material can be formed by reaction of nominal Mg(B0.8C0.2)2 for 24 hours at $`1200^{}C`$. The $`T_c`$ for this composition is between $`21.9K`$ and $`22.7K`$ (depending on criterion for $`T_c`$ used). Further work on the optimization and characterization of this compound is ongoing, but it appears that Mg(B0.8C0.2)2 may offer a very useful window on the rather novel physics associated with MgB2.

Acknowledgements

Ames Laboratory is operated for the US Department of Energy by Iowa State University under Contract No. W-7405-Eng-82. This work was supported by the Director for Energy Research, Office of Basic Energy Sciences. The authors would like to thank N. Kelson for drawing our attention to earlier research on the properties of MgB2 , M. A. Avila, D. K. Finnemore and N.E. Anderson, Jr. for helpful assistance and many fruitful discussions.

Table

Table 1: Boron form and purity (as provided by the seller).

Figures

Figure 1: Powder X-ray (Cu $`K_\alpha `$ radiation) diffraction spectra of stoichiometric MgB2 (with $`h,k,l`$) for 3 different boron qualities (a) 90% pure natural boron; (b) 99.99% pure natural boron and (c) 99.95% pure isotopic enriched 11B. Samples (a) and (b) were synthesized for $`3h/950^{}C`$, and sample (c) for $`4h/950^{}C`$. The data gaps are due to the removal of the Si peaks.

Figure 2: Variation of the normalized zero-field resistance as a function of temperature for MgB2 pellets with different boron purities. Inset: expanded scale near $`T_c`$.

Figure 3: Resistance curves normalized by their temperature derivative at room temperature, for different boron purities. Inset: expanded scale near $`T_c`$.

Figure 4: X-ray spectra for 3 different nominal compositions of Mgx11B2 for $`x=`$ 0.8, 1.0, 1.2.

Figure 5: Temperature dependence of the normalized resistance for representative samples with nominal composition Mgx11B2 ($`0.8<x<1.2`$). Inset: expanded scale near $`T_c`$.

Figure 6: Residual resistance ratio of Mgx11B2 ($`0.8<x<1.2`$). The open symbols represent different pieces selected from the same batch. The solid symbols are the average. The dotted box delimits the smaller variation ($`x=1\pm 0.1`$).

Figure 7: Resistance curves normalized by temperature derivative at room temperature, for Mgx11B2 ($`x=`$ 0.8, 0.9, 1.0, 1.1 and 1.2). $`x=1.2`$ data shown as dashed curve as discussed in the text. Inset: expanded scale near $`T_c`$.

Figure 8: Powder X-ray diffraction spectra of Mg(B0.8C0.2)2 (with $`h,k,l`$) for samples that were synthesized for (a) 2 hours at $`600^{}C`$ and then 2 hours at $`700^{}C`$; (b) 24 hours at $`750^{}C`$; (c) 24 hours at $`950^{}C`$; (d) 24 hours at $`1100^{}C`$ and (d) 24 hours at $`1200^{}C`$. The data gaps are due to the removal of the Si peaks. Symbols: $`+=`$ B4C, $`=`$ MgB2C2 and $`\mathrm{\#}=`$ Mg2C3, as indicated in figure.

Figure 9: Temperature dependent magnetic susceptibility for representative Mg(B0.8C0.2)2 samples taken in $`H=50Oe`$ applied field: ZFC - warming. Inset: expanded temperature range near $`T_c`$.

Figure 10: Normalized resistance as a function of temperature for Mg(B0.8C0.2)2 samples synthesized at different reaction temperatures. Inset: expanded temperature range near $`T_c`$.

Table 1

| Purity | Form | Source | Main Impurities |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 90% | Amorphous  (325 mesh) | Alfa Aesar | Mg  5% |
| 95% | Amorphous  ($`<`$ 5 mesh) | Alfa Aesar | Mg  1% |
| 98% | Crystalline  (325 mesh) | Alfa Aesar | C  0.55% |
| 99.95% | Isotopically pure 11B  Crystalline (325 mesh) | Eagle-Picher | Si  0.04% |
| 99.99% | Amorphous  (325 mesh) | Alfa Aesar | Metallic Impurities  0.005% |