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# Combinatorial conditions that imply word-hyperbolicity for 3-manifolds

## 1. Introduction

In this article we show that a class of closed triangulated $`3`$-manifolds can be assigned a metric of non-positive curvature. In addition to proving a conjecture of Thurston, our main result illustrates the way in which the computer program developed by the first and second authors () can be used in conjunction with combinatorial methods to establish non-trivial results about $`3`$-manifolds. The class of triangulations we consider are defined as follows.

###### Definition 1.1 ($`5/6^{}`$-triangulations).

Let $`M`$ be a closed triangulated $`3`$-manifold and recall that the *degree* of an edge is the number of closed tetrahedra which contain it. If every edge in $`M`$ has degree $`5`$ or $`6`$ then this is a *$`5/6`$-triangulation* of $`M`$. The triangulation is called a *$`5/6^{}`$-triangulation* if each $`2`$-cell in $`M`$ contains at most one edge of degree $`5`$.

Thurston conjectured that every closed $`3`$-manifold that admits a $`5/6^{}`$-triangulation has word-hyperbolic fundamental group. We prove a slightly stronger version of this conjecture.

###### Theorem 1.2 (Main Theorem).

Every $`5/6^{}`$-triangulation of a closed $`3`$-manifold $`M`$ admits a piecewise Euclidean metric of non-positive curvature, where the universal cover $`\stackrel{~}{M}`$ contains no isometrically embedded flat planes. As a consequence, $`\pi _1(M)`$ is word-hyperbolic.

Such triangulations are not as special as they might appear. Cooper and Thurston show that every closed $`3`$-manifold can be cellulated so that each $`3`$-cell is a cube and each edge degree is $`3`$, $`4`$, or $`5`$ . Using similar techniques, Noel Brady and the last two authors show that every closed $`3`$-manifold admits a triangulation where each edge degree is $`4`$, $`5`$, or $`6`$ . The dual concept — $`5/6`$-triangulations where $`2`$-cells contain at most one edge of degree $`6`$ — is called a *foam* and is of interest in chemistry (see ).

Structure of the paper: In Sections 2 and 3 we use ideas resembling small cancellation theory to investigate the $`2`$-sphere triangulations that arise as vertex links in $`5/6^{}`$-triangulations of $`3`$-manifolds. In Section 4 we review the general algorithm for determining curvature properties in $`3`$-dimensional metric polyhedral complexes and establish an improved version of this algorithm that uses a lemma of Bowditch to greatly simplify the calculations. We describe the piecewise Euclidean metric we assign to a $`5/6^{}`$-triangulation of a $`3`$-manifold in Section 5, and in Section 6 we compare the computational results for this metric with the combinatorial restrictions proved in Section 3. Their mismatch enables us to establish our main result.

## 2. Diagrams and duals

In this section we recall some standard definitions and introduce soccer diagrams, which are closely associated with $`5/6^{}`$-triangulations of $`3`$-manifolds. For background on disc diagrams see .

###### Definition 2.1 (Disc diagram).

A *disc diagram* $`D`$ is a contractible combinatorial $`2`$-complex together with a specific planar embedding $`D^2`$. If $`D`$ is homeomorphic to a disc, $`D`$ is *non-singular*, otherwise it is *singular*.

###### Definition 2.2 (Internal dual).

Let $`D`$ be a disc diagram in which all vertices of degree $`2`$ lie on the boundary cycle of $`D`$. The *internal dual* of $`D`$ is a subspace of $`D`$ which consists of a $`0`$-cell at the center of each $`2`$-cell of $`D`$, a $`1`$-cell passing through each internal $`1`$-cell of $`D`$ connecting the centers of the $`2`$-cells on either side, and a $`2`$-cell for each interior $`0`$-cell $`v`$. See Figure 4 for an illustration. A similar definition can be given when $`D`$ is a triangulation of a $`2`$-sphere, which results in a *dual cellulation*.

The following lemma records the basic properties of internal duals. See Lemma 5.6 in  for a detailed proof.

###### Lemma 2.3 (Dual properties).

If $`D`$ is a non-singular disc diagram and $`E`$ is its internal dual, then $`E`$ is a contractible, but possibly singular, disc diagram. Moreover, if $`R`$ is a $`2`$-cell in $`D`$ and $`v`$ is the corresponding $`0`$-cell in $`E`$, then the number of components of $`RD`$ equals the number of components of the link of $`v`$.

###### Terminology 2.4 (Paths, loops, vertex degrees).

Throughout this paper, *paths* and *loops* in a cell complex are edge paths and loops. The *degree* of a vertex $`v`$ is the number of edges incident with $`v`$.

###### Definition 2.5 (Sphere triangulation).

If $`M`$ is a $`5/6^{}`$-triangulation of a $`3`$-manifold, the link of a vertex in $`M`$ is a triangulation of a $`2`$-sphere in which each vertex has degree $`5`$ or $`6`$ and no two vertices of degree $`5`$ are connected by an edge. A triangulated $`2`$-sphere with both of these properties is called a *$`5/6^{}`$-triangulation* of a $`2`$-sphere.

###### Definition 2.6 (Soccer diagram).

Let $`D`$ be a $`5/6^{}`$-triangulation of a $`2`$-sphere and let $`E`$ denote its dual cellulation. Since vertices in $`D`$ have degree $`5`$ or $`6`$, the dual consists of pentagons and hexagons; since $`D`$ is a triangulation, every vertex in $`E`$ has degree $`3`$; and since no two vertices degree $`5`$ in $`D`$ are connected by an edge, no two pentagons in $`E`$ share a common side. The cell structure $`E`$ is called a *soccer tiling* of the $`2`$-sphere since the standard tiling of a soccer ball is a simple example with all of these properties. A subcomplex of a soccer tiling of a $`2`$-sphere, which is homeomorphic to a disc, is called a *soccer diagram*. Notice that the embedding of a soccer diagram into the $`2`$-sphere determines a natural planar embedding as well. Thus soccer diagrams are disc diagrams and the definition further implies that they are non-singular.

###### Definition 2.7 (Left/right turn).

Let $`P`$ be an immersed directed path in a soccer tiling. If the sphere is oriented then there is a well-defined notion of a *left/right turn* (the $`2`$-cells are thought of as convex and approximately regular). These are the only possibilities since every vertex has degree $`3`$. The *turn pattern* for $`P`$ is the sequence of left and right turns. For soccer diagrams we define a turn pattern by traversing the boundary cycle counterclockwise in the induced orientation. (Since every vertex in $`D`$ has a connected link and is of degree $`2`$ or $`3`$, the boundary vertices of degree $`2`$ correspond to left turns and those of degree $`3`$ to right turns.) Finally, let $`n_l`$ and $`n_r`$ denote the total number of left and right turns, respectively. The difference $`n_ln_r`$ is the *combinatorial turning angle*.

The combinatorial turning angle is directly related to the number of pentagons $`D`$ contains.

###### Lemma 2.8 (Turns and pentagons).

If $`D`$ is a soccer tiling of a $`2`$-sphere then $`D`$ contains exactly twelve pentagons. Moreover, if $`D`$ is a soccer diagram containing exactly $`p`$ pentagons, the combinatorial turning angle is $`6p`$. Hence $`p6`$ implies $`n_ln_r`$.

###### Proof.

We sketch a proof using the Combinatorial Gauss-Bonnet Theorem: For any angle assignment, the sum of the vertex curvatures plus the sum of the face curvatures is always $`2\pi `$ times the Euler characteristic. (See for example \[8, Section 4\].) If we assign an angle of $`2\pi /3`$ to each corner of each $`2`$-cell, the hexagons have curvature $`0`$, the pentagons have curvature $`\pi /3`$, the internal vertices have curvature $`0`$, the vertices located at left turns have curvature $`\pi /3`$ and the vertices located at right turns have curvature $`\pi /3`$. Thus $`2\pi 2=(\pi /3)p`$ for a soccer tiling, and $`2\pi 1=(\pi /3)(p+n_ln_r)`$ for a soccer diagram. Dividing by $`\pi /3`$ and rearranging yields the results. ∎

###### Remark 2.9 (Limiting pentagons).

If $`P`$ is a simple closed loop embedded in a soccer tiling $`D`$, then it bounds two soccer diagrams $`D_1`$ and $`D_2`$ whose intersection is $`P`$ and whose union is $`D`$. Since $`D`$ contains only twelve pentagons, $`P`$ always bounds some soccer diagram with at most six pentagons.

###### Definition 2.10 (Exposed path).

If $`D`$ is a soccer diagram whose turn pattern contains $`i1`$ consecutive left turns, then $`D`$ contains a $`2`$-cell $`R`$ such that $`R`$ and $`D`$ share a path of length $`i`$. We call this an *exposed path of length $`i`$* and $`R`$ is the $`2`$-cell which is *exposed*.

###### Corollary 2.11 (Alternating turns).

If $`D`$ is a soccer diagram with at most six pentagons, then either $`D`$ contains an exposed path of length $`3`$, or the turn pattern is $`(rl)^i`$ for some $`i`$ and $`D`$ contains exactly six pentagons.

###### Proof.

By Lemma 2.8, $`n_ln_r`$. If $`n_l>n_r`$, two left turns must be adjacent, creating an exposed path of length $`3`$. On the other hand, if $`n_l=n_r`$, then the only way to avoid adjacent left turns is for the left and right turns to alternate. This, in turn, implies exactly six pentagons by Lemma 2.8. ∎

## 3. Small diagrams

In this section we prove a key technical result about soccer diagrams with short boundary cycles, Theorem 3.10. We begin by examining two processes by which soccer diagrams can be decomposed into smaller soccer diagrams: cut paths and double duals.

###### Definition 3.1 (Cut path).

A soccer diagram $`D`$ has a cut path if there are two soccer diagrams $`D_1,D_2`$ such that $`D=D_1D_2`$ and $`D_1D_2`$ is a simple path $`P`$. See Figure 1. If $`D`$ has at least one cut path, then it has a cut path of minimum length; in Figure 1 this minimum is $`2`$.

###### Lemma 3.2 (Cut paths exist).

If $`D`$ is a soccer diagram with at least two $`2`$-cells then $`D`$ has a cut path. If, in addition, $`D`$ has at most six pentagons then $`D`$ has a cut path of length at most $`4`$.

###### Proof.

Choose a $`2`$-cell $`R`$ such that an edge of $`R`$ is contained in $`D`$. Since $`D`$ has more than one $`2`$-cell, $`D`$ and $`R`$ are distinct and there exists a subpath of $`R`$ which starts and ends in $`D`$ and otherwise is contained in the interior of $`D`$. This is a cut path whose length is at most $`5`$. If the shortest cut path has length $`5`$ then every $`2`$-cell containing a edge of $`D`$ must be a hexagon with exactly one edge in $`D`$, but this would imply $`D`$ contains only right turns, contradicting Lemma 2.8. ∎

###### Lemma 3.3 (Small diagrams).

If $`D`$ is a soccer diagram with at most five $`2`$-cells, then $`D`$ contains a cut path of length at most $`2`$. If in addition, $`D`$ does not contain an exposed path of length at least $`4`$, then $`D`$ is one of the two disc diagrams shown in Figure 2.

###### Proof.

Rather than analyze $`D`$ directly, it is easier to analyze its internal dual $`E`$. By Lemma 2.3, $`E`$ is a (possibly singular) disc diagram with at most $`5`$ vertices and all of the possibilities for $`E`$ are shown in Figure 3. Notice that every possibility for $`E`$ contains either a vertex of degree $`1`$, or a triangle with a vertex of degree $`2`$, and these lead to cut paths of length $`1`$ and $`2`$ in $`D`$.

To see the second assertion, notice that a vertex in $`E`$ of degree $`1`$ corresponds to a $`2`$-cell $`R`$ in $`D`$ such that only one edge of $`R`$ lies in the interior of $`D`$, hence the remaining edges form an exposed path of length $`4`$. Similarly, if $`E`$ contains a triangle in which two of its vertices have degree $`2`$, then these vertices correspond to $`2`$-cells in $`D`$, at least one of which must be a hexagon. This hexagon also creates an exposed path of length $`4`$ in $`D`$.

There are only two diagrams in Figure 3 that contain neither vertices of degree $`1`$ nor triangles with two vertices of degree $`2`$ (i.e. the diagrams in the lower left-hand corner and lower right-hand corner). In both cases, the vertices in $`E`$ of degree $`2`$ must correspond to pentagons in $`D`$ in order to avoid exposed paths of length $`4`$, and the remaining vertices must correspond to hexagons since they share sides with the pentagons. Thus there are exactly two possibilities for $`D`$, and these are the ones shown in Figure 2. ∎

The remainder of the section is devoted to showing that soccer diagrams with more than five $`2`$-cells and at most six pentagons have long boundary cycles (Lemma 3.9). The proof of Lemma 3.9 proceeds by induction and the following lemma provides the basis step.

###### Lemma 3.4 (Minimum length).

Let $`D`$ be a soccer diagram with $`k`$ $`2`$-cells and at most six pentagons. For $`k=1,2,3,4,5,6`$, the minimal length of $`D`$ is $`5,9,11,12,14,15`$, respectively.

###### Proof.

In Figure 4 we exhibit soccer diagrams that realize these values, so the only question is whether there are diagrams with smaller boundary cycles. Let $`E`$ be the internal dual of $`D`$. If $`k5`$, then $`E`$ is one of the diagrams listed in Figure 3 and it is straightforward to enumerate all of the possibilities for $`D`$ given a specific $`E`$ and to calculate that the diagrams shown in Figure 4 have minimal length boundary cycles for these values of $`k`$.

Now suppose $`k=6`$. If $`E`$ contains either a vertex of degree $`1`$ or a triangle with a vertex of degree $`2`$, then $`D`$ contains a $`2`$-cell $`R`$ which is separated from the rest of $`D`$ by a cut path of length at most $`2`$. Removing $`R`$ and the exposed portion of $`R`$ from $`D`$ creates a new soccer diagram $`D^{}`$ with exactly five $`2`$-cells, and $`|D^{}|14`$. Since $`R`$ is either a pentagon or a hexagon, reattaching $`R`$ to $`D^{}`$ shows that $`|D|15`$. The only six-vertex simplicial disc diagram $`E`$ that does not contain a vertex of degree $`1`$ or a triangle with a vertex of degree $`2`$ is the one whose $`1`$-skeleton is superimposed on the soccer diagram in the lower left-hand corner of Figure 4. For this $`E`$, the internal vertex must correspond to a pentagon thereby forcing all of the other vertices to correspond to hexagons. In other words, the soccer diagram shown is the only soccer diagram whose internal dual is $`E`$, and the inequality follows. ∎

The second process we investigate is the process of taking double duals.

###### Remark 3.5 (Double duals).

Let $`D`$ be a soccer diagram and let $`D^{}`$ be the internal dual of the internal dual of $`D`$ (i.e. its *double dual*). While it is true that $`D^{}`$ is a subcomplex of $`D`$ (it is essentially $`D`$ minus the open star of its boundary), it is not automatically true that $`D^{}`$ itself is a soccer diagram, since $`D^{}`$ need not be connected and it might be singular. These situations are illustrated in Figures 5 and 6.

###### Lemma 3.6 (Double duals).

Let $`D`$ be a soccer diagram and let $`D^{}`$ be its double dual. If $`D^{}`$ is disconnected, then $`D`$ contains a cut path of length at most $`2`$. If $`D^{}`$ is connected, but singular, then the turn pattern for $`D`$ contains either two consecutive left turns or two consecutive right turns.

###### Proof.

Let $`E`$ denote the dual of $`D`$. If $`D^{}`$ is disconnected, there are triangles in $`E`$ that cannot be connected by a sequence of triangles so that successive triangles share a common side. Since $`E`$ itself is connected (Lemma 2.3), this implies that $`E`$ contains a vertex $`v`$ whose removal disconnects $`E`$ and separates one triangle from another. Let $`R`$ be the $`2`$-cell in $`D`$ corresponding to $`v`$. By Lemma 2.3, $`RD`$ is disconnected. Since vertices have degree at most three, the components of $`RD`$ are non-trivial paths. Thus a portion of $`R`$ creates a cut path of length at most $`2`$.

If $`D^{}`$ is connected but singular, at least one of two situations must occur: $`D^{}`$ contains a vertex of degree $`1`$ (a *spur*) and/or a vertex whose removal disconnects $`D^{}`$ (a *cut vertex*). Both possibilities are illustrated in Figure 6.

If $`v`$ is a spur, then there are two edges of $`DD^{}`$ incident with $`v`$ that form a cut path separating the $`2`$-cell $`R`$ of $`D`$ containing these two edges from the rest of the diagram. Since $`|R|5`$, this creates an exposed path of length $`3`$ and two consecutive left turns in the turn pattern of $`D`$.

Vertices in $`D^{}`$ have degree at most three, and cut vertices have disconnected links, so cut vertices are always incident with an edge that is not in the boundary of a $`2`$-cell of $`D^{}`$. By following a tree of possibilities, we can always find a spur in $`D^{}`$ or a vertex $`v`$ that has a disconnected link and lies in the boundary of a $`2`$-cell of $`D^{}`$. There are two $`2`$-cells in $`DD^{}`$ that contain $`v`$, and these $`2`$-cells must each have $`2`$ edges incident with $`2`$-cells in the ring $`DD^{}`$. Of the two $`2`$-cells of $`DD^{}`$ that contain $`v`$, at least one has $`|RD^{}|3`$. Because vertices have degree at most three, and five edges of $`R`$ are already accounted for, $`R`$ must be a hexagon that shares only one edge with $`D`$ and the vertices of this edge yield two consecutive right turns. ∎

###### Corollary 3.7.

If $`D`$ is a soccer diagram whose turn pattern is $`(rl)^i`$ and whose shortest cut path has length at least $`3`$, then its double dual $`D^{}`$ is a soccer diagram. Moreover, $`|D^{}|=2ip`$ where $`p`$ is the number of pentagons that contain an edge in $`D`$.

###### Proof.

By Lemma 3.6, $`D^{}`$ must be both connected and nonsingular. Thus it is homeomorphic to a disc and consequently a soccer diagram. To prove the second assertion notice that there are exactly $`i`$ $`2`$-cells in the ring of $`2`$-cells removed from $`D`$ to create $`D^{}`$. Moreover, each of these $`2`$-cells has two of its edges in $`D`$ and another two edges are shared with neighboring $`2`$-cells in the ring. Thus each hexagon in the ring contributes two edges to $`D^{}`$ and each pentagon contributes one. ∎

###### Corollary 3.8 (Removing rings).

Let $`D`$ be a soccer diagram with at most six pentagons. If the length of the shortest cut path is $`4`$ then the double dual of $`D`$ is a soccer diagram $`D^{}`$ containing exactly six pentagons and $`|D|=|D^{}|`$.

###### Proof.

If $`D`$ contains an exposed path of length $`3`$ then there would be a cut path of length less than $`4`$. Thus exposed paths of length $`3`$ cannot exist and by Corollary 2.11, the turn pattern for $`D`$ is $`(rl)^i`$ for some $`i`$, and $`D`$ contains exactly six pentagons. As a consequence of the left/right alternation, every $`2`$-cell sharing an edge with $`D`$ actual shares two consecutive edges. Thus pentagons sharing an edge with $`D`$ lead to cut paths of length less than $`4`$ and all of $`2`$-cells touching $`D`$ are hexagons. The result now follows immediately from Corollary 3.7. ∎

Our key technical result about soccer diagrams is that large diagrams have long boundary cycles.

###### Lemma 3.9 (Large implies long).

If $`D`$ is a soccer diagram with at least six $`2`$-cells and at most six pentagons, then $`|D|15`$.

###### Proof.

We induct on the number of $`2`$-cells. By Lemma 3.4 the statement is true for $`k=6`$, so suppose it is true for some $`k6`$ and let $`D`$ be a soccer diagram with exactly $`(k+1)`$ $`2`$-cells. By Lemma 3.2, $`D`$ contains a cut path of length at most $`4`$. Let $`P`$ be a cut path of minimal length and consider the number of $`2`$-cells in $`D_1`$ and $`D_2`$. Without loss of generality assume that $`D_2`$ has at least as many $`2`$-cells as $`D_1`$.

Case $`1`$: If $`D_1`$ has at least three $`2`$-cells, then $`D_2`$ has at least four $`2`$-cells and by Lemma 3.4, $`|D_1|+|D_2|23`$. Since $`|P|4`$ and $`|D|=|D_1|+|D_2|2|P|`$, we conclude $`|D|15`$.

Case $`2`$: If $`D_1`$ has two $`2`$-cells, then $`D_2`$ has at least five, and by Lemma 3.4, $`|D_1|+|D_2|23`$ and as in Case $`1`$, $`|D|15`$.

Case $`3`$: If $`D_1`$ has one $`2`$-cell, then $`D_2`$ has at least six, and by Lemma 3.4, $`|D_1|+|D_2|20`$. If $`|P|2`$, then $`|D|16`$. If $`|P|=4`$, then by Corollary 3.8 $`D`$ has the same length as the boundary of its double dual $`D^{}`$ which is itself a soccer diagram with at least six $`2`$-cells. By induction $`|D^{}|15`$, and the inequality holds. Thus we may assume $`|P|=3`$. If $`|D_1|>5`$ or $`|D_2|>15`$, then $`|D|15`$, so we may also assume $`D_1`$ is a pentagon and $`|D_2|=15`$. This would produce a soccer diagram $`D`$ with $`|D|=14`$. To summarize, the only way for the induction to fail is if there exists a soccer diagram $`D`$ with $`|D|=14`$ whose shortest cut path has length $`3`$ and separates a pentagon from the rest of $`D`$.

If the boundary of this hypothetical diagram contains an exposed path of length $`3`$, then the $`2`$-cell it exposes is a hexagon, since otherwise there is a cut path of length $`2`$. Removing this hexagon does not change the length of the boundary, and it creates a diagram $`D^{}`$ with $`|D^{}|15`$ by induction. Thus exposed paths of length $`3`$ do not occur. By Corollary 2.11 the turn pattern is $`(rl)^i`$, $`D`$ contains exactly six pentagons, and $`i=7`$ since $`|D|=14`$.

Let $`D^{}`$ denote the double dual of $`D`$. By Lemma 3.6, $`D^{}`$ is a soccer diagram with $`|D^{}|13`$ since $`D`$ contains at least one pentagon which shares an edge with $`D`$. By the induction hypothesis $`D^{}`$ has at most five $`2`$-cells and by Lemma 3.4 it actually has at most four. On the other hand, the ring removed from $`D`$ to create $`D^{}`$ only contained seven $`2`$-cells and at most three of these could be pentagons since the pentagons must be non-adjacent. Thus $`D^{}`$ contains at least three pentagons. Finally, the only soccer diagram with at most four $`2`$-cells and at least three pentagons is a hexagon with three pentagons attached to alternate edges. Since it is impossible to reconstruct $`D`$ by attaching a ring containing a pentagon to this $`D^{}`$, we conclude that $`D`$ cannot exist. ∎

Our key result about soccer diagrams follows immediately from Lemmas 3.3 and 3.9.

###### Theorem 3.10.

If $`D`$ is a soccer diagram with $`|D|14`$, at most six pentagons, and no exposed path of length $`4`$, then $`D`$ is one of the disc diagrams shown in Figure 2.

## 4. Algorithm

In this section we review and improve (via a result of Bowditch) the algorithm for testing the curvature properties of finite piecewise Euclidean $`3`$-complexes given in . For background on non-positive curvature and piecewise Euclidean complexes, see .

A geodesic in a geodesic metric space is *short* if its length is strictly less than $`2\pi `$ and *very short* if strictly less than $`\pi `$. The original algorithm is based on the standard link condition for piecewise Euclidean complexes.

###### Theorem 4.1 (Link Condition).

A piecewise Euclidean complex is non-positively curved if and only if the link of each cell has no short closed geodesic.

Thus deciding whether or not a piecewise Euclidean complex is non-positively curved depends on checking piecewise spherical complexes for short geodesics. Geodesics of this type determine complexes we call “circular galleries”. Rather than give a full technical definition of a circular gallery, we give a rough definition and an example. The reader is referred to  and  for precise details.

###### Definition 4.2 (Galleries).

If $`\gamma `$ is a geodesic in a piecewise spherical complex then the ordered list of closed simplices through which $`\gamma `$ passes encodes a linear gallery determined by $`\gamma `$. If $`\gamma `$ is a closed geodesic, this list is given a cyclic rather than a linear ordering and the result is called the *circular gallery determined by $`\gamma `$*. Linear and circular galleries can also be determined by paths which are merely close to geodesics.

###### Example 4.3.

Let $`K`$ be the $`2`$-dimensional piecewise spherical complex formed by attaching the boundaries of two regular spherical tetrahedra along a $`1`$-cell. The complex $`K`$ is shown on the left of Figure 7 (where the spherical nature of the $`2`$-cells has been left to the reader’s imagination). Let $`\gamma `$ be the geodesic shown, which starts at $`x`$ travels across the front of $`K`$, around the back, over the top, and ends at $`y`$. The linear gallery determined by $`\gamma `$ is shown on the right.

In  the first two authors prove that given any finite piecewise Euclidean complex there exists an algorithm to decide if it is non-positively curved. In dimension $`3`$ a second, more geometric algorithm is available, which has been implemented as a computer program cat.g written in GAP .

The current version of the program is designed to be used with Euclidean tetrahedra whose edge lengths are square-roots of rationals. This restriction enables the use of exact arithmetic since all of the calculations can be carried out in an algebraic number field. The program examines the circular galleries that can occur in the the link of a vertex. The links of other cells in $`3`$-complexes are easy to check without a computer. There are four types of $`2`$-dimensional piecewise spherical circular galleries which need to be considered. If the geodesic passes through a vertex, the gallery is made up of vertex-to-vertex segments called beads, which join together to form a necklace. If it does not pass through a vertex, the gallery it determines is either a disc, an annulus, or a Möbius band. Since disc galleries containing short closed geodesics can only exist in complexes in which the edge links contain short closed geodesics, these need not be considered.

The number of spherical triangles in a circular gallery containing a short closed geodesic can be bounded ahead of time using only the list of Euclidean tetrahedra. Roughly speaking the computer program proceeds by enumerating every feasible annular or Möbius gallery and every bead up to this bound, cuts them open and develops them onto the $`2`$-sphere calculating explicit coordinates as it goes. Then it uses elementary linear algebra to check each for the existence of a short closed geodesic. Details on the algorithm can be found in ; the program is available from the authors’ web-pages. The cutting open and developing process is illustrated in Figure 8.

In the remainder of this section we show how the computations described in  can be simplified using a result by Brian Bowditch . Throughout the remainder of the section let $`S`$ denote a locally $`\text{CAT}(1)`$ space.

###### Definition 4.4 (Unshrinkable).

A closed geodesic $`\gamma `$ in $`S`$ is *shrinkable* if there is a homotopy starting at $`\gamma `$ such that the length of the closed curve is non-increasing as a function of time and ends at a curve whose length is strictly less than its initial length. Notice that only the initial curve is required to be a geodesic, so the equator on a standard metric $`2`$-sphere is shrinkable. A closed geodesic that is not shrinkable is *unshrinkable*. Even if a closed geodesic is not shrinkable, there may exist a homotopy such that the length of the closed curve is unchanging as a function of time. In this case we say that the curves at either end are *equivalent*.

In this terminology, Bowditch’s result can be restated as follows:

###### Lemma 4.5 (Unshrinkable).

If $`S`$ is a locally $`\text{CAT}(1)`$ space that is not globally $`\text{CAT}(1)`$, then the length of the shortest closed geodesic is the same as the length of the shortest unshrinkable closed geodesic.

This leads immediately to the following refinement of the link condition.

###### Corollary 4.6 (Link condition).

If $`S`$ is a locally $`\text{CAT}(1)`$ space that does not contain a short unshrinkable closed geodesic, then $`S`$ is globally $`\text{CAT}(1)`$. As a consequence, a piecewise Euclidean complex is non-positively curved if and only if the link of each cell has no short unshrinkable closed geodesic.

As the next three lemmas show, restricting to unshrinkable geodesics reduces the number of galleries one needs to inspect.

###### Lemma 4.7 (Shrinking annular galleries).

Let $`\gamma `$ be a closed geodesic in a $`2`$-dimensional locally $`\text{CAT}(1)`$ piecewise spherical complex $`S`$. If $`\gamma `$ determines an annular gallery $`𝒢`$, then $`\gamma `$ is shrinkable.

###### Proof.

When $`𝒢`$ is cut open and developed, $`\gamma `$ is sent to part of a great circle on the $`2`$-sphere. The homotopy which pushes this path through different lines of latitude shrinks its length and corresponds in $`𝒢`$ to a shorter closed path. Thus $`\gamma `$ is shrinkable. See the left-hand side of Figure 9 for an illustration. ∎

###### Lemma 4.8 (Shrinking Möbius galleries).

Let $`\gamma `$ be a closed geodesic in a $`2`$-dimensional locally $`\text{CAT}(1)`$ piecewise spherical complex $`S`$. If $`\gamma `$ determines a Möbius gallery and the length of $`\gamma `$ is at least $`\pi `$, then $`\gamma `$ is shrinkable.

###### Proof.

When $`𝒢`$ is cut open and developed, $`\gamma `$ is sent to path $`\gamma ^{}`$ in a great circle on the $`2`$-sphere of length at least $`\pi `$. Let $`u`$ and $`v`$ be points in $`\gamma ^{}`$ that are antipodal. The portion of $`\gamma ^{}`$ between $`u`$ and $`v`$ can be homotoped (in a non-length-changing way) to another geodesic length $`\pi `$ connecting them without having the image leave the image of the cut open Möbius gallery. This new path is not locally geodesic at $`u`$ or $`v`$ and can be shortened at either end to produce a strictly shorter path. Thus $`\gamma `$ is shrinkable. See the right-hand side of Figure 9 for an illustration. ∎

###### Lemma 4.9 (Tipping Beads).

Let $`\gamma `$ be a closed geodesic in a $`2`$-dimensional locally $`\text{CAT}(1)`$ piecewise spherical complex $`S`$. If $`\gamma `$ determines a necklace gallery $`𝒢`$ such that a single bead contains a portion of $`\gamma `$ of length strictly more than $`\pi `$, then $`\gamma `$ is shrinkable. Moreover, if $`\gamma `$ determines a necklace gallery $`𝒢`$ that contains a single bead containing a portion of $`\gamma `$ of length exactly $`\pi `$, then $`\gamma `$ is equivalent to a path $`\gamma ^{}`$ which determines a necklace gallery in which all beads contain strictly less than $`\pi `$ of $`\gamma ^{}`$.

###### Proof.

If there is a bead containing more than $`\pi `$ of $`\gamma `$, then we can pick $`u`$ and $`v`$ in the interior of the bead which are connected by a portion of $`\gamma `$ of length exactly $`\pi `$. The rest of the proof mimics the proof of Lemma 4.8. If there is a bead containing a portion of $`\gamma `$ of length exactly $`\pi `$, then we pick the vertices at either end through which $`\gamma `$ passes as our $`u`$ and $`v`$ and proceed to tip the portion of $`\gamma `$ between them. Because the link of $`u`$ may have excess curvature, we do not know that $`\gamma `$ can be locally shortened after $`\gamma `$ has been tipped. On the other hand, we can continue tipping the portion of $`\gamma `$ between $`u`$ and $`v`$ until the path hits the boundary cycle of the bead. Because this boundary cycle is a piecewise geodesic path, the portion of its boundary included in the tipped path must include a new vertex of $`𝒢`$. Since $`\gamma `$ is assumed to be short, there is only one bead of length $`\pi `$, and in this equivalent path this one long bead has been broken up into at least two shorter ones. ∎

The original program searched for all annular and Möbius galleries that contain short closed geodesics and all beads which contain geodesics of length less than $`2\pi `$, which are then strung together to form necklaces. By the last three lemmas we do not need to search for annular galleries at all, or for the longer types of beads and Möbius galleries. To appreciate the magnitude of this simplification see Remark 5.7.

## 5. Metric and output

We begin this section by defining the shapes used to give $`5/6^{}`$-triangulated $`3`$-manifolds piecewise Euclidean structures.

###### Definition 5.1 (The metric).

Let $`M`$ be a $`5/6^{}`$-triangulated, closed $`3`$-manifold. We make $`M`$ a *metric $`5/6^{}`$-triangulated $`3`$-manifold* by assigning a length of $`\sqrt{3}`$ to each edge of degree $`6`$, a length of $`2`$ to each edge of degree $`5`$, and metrics of the unique Euclidean simplices whose edge lengths match those assigned to their $`1`$-skeletons to the triangles and tetrahedra.

###### Definition 5.2 (The tetrahedra).

The fact that edges of degree $`5`$ cannot belong to the same $`2`$-cell means that there are only three equivalence classes of metric tetrahedra in $`M`$: those with $`0,1`$ or $`2`$ edges of degree $`5`$. See Figure 10. Notice that the first tetrahedron is regular and the third one is a Coxeter shape with dihedral angles $`\pi /2`$ and $`\pi /3`$ around the edges of degree $`5`$ and $`6`$, respectively. We refer to these three metric tetrahedra as *regular*, *mixed* and *Coxeter* tetrahedra.

Straightforward computations show:

###### Lemma 5.3 (Dihedral angles).

Let $`M`$ be a closed $`3`$-manifold with a metric $`5/6^{}`$-triangulation and let $`e`$ be an edge in a tetrahedra $`T`$ in $`M`$. If $`e`$ has degree $`5`$, then the dihedral angle in $`T`$ at $`e`$ is more than $`2\pi /5`$ and at most $`\pi /2`$. If $`e`$ has degree $`6`$, then the dihedral angle in $`T`$ at $`e`$ is at least $`\pi /3`$, strictly less than $`\pi /2`$, and equal to $`\pi /3`$ only if $`T`$ is Coxeter. As a consequence, the links of edges in $`M`$ are metric circles of length at least $`2\pi `$ and exactly $`2\pi `$ if and only if $`e`$ has degree $`6`$ and is surrounded by six Coxeter tetrahedra.

The software cat.g returns a list of $`4`$ trivial beads, $`71`$ non-trivial beads and $`144`$ Möbius galleries, for these three tetrahedra. Because we are interested in triangulated $`3`$-manifolds, and Möbius strips cannot be immersed into $`2`$-spheres, the Möbius strips in the output can be safely ignored.

###### Definition 5.4 (Bead types).

Combinatorially all $`75`$ metric beads of length less than $`\pi `$ in the output look like the one of the three non-metric beads shown in Figure 11. The differences come from the metrics. Specifically there are $`4`$ different metric edges, $`26`$ metric beads consisting of two triangles, and $`45`$ metric beads consisting of four triangles. We refer to these underlying combinatorial structures as beads of *type $`A`$*, *type $`B`$* and *type $`C`$* respectively. In each case, the geodesic contained in the bead starts at the leftmost vertex and ends at the rightmost vertex.

Similarly, the *type of a necklace*, refers to its underlying combinatorial structure, rather than its metric. A necklace containing at least one non-trivial bead is called a *thick necklace* while those consisting solely of trivial beads are called *thin necklaces*.

The following estimates on the lengths of geodesics in each of the three bead types immediately implies Corollary 5.6.

###### Lemma 5.5 (Lower bounds).

The length of a geodesic in a bead of type $`A`$, $`B`$ or $`C`$ is bounded below by $`.304\pi `$, $`.5\pi `$, and $`.832\pi `$, respectively.

###### Corollary 5.6 (Necklaces).

There are $`28`$ types of necklaces consisting of short beads that might contain a closed geodesic of length less than $`2\pi `$. These $`28`$ possibilities are $`A`$, $`A^2`$, $`A^3`$, $`A^4`$, $`A^5`$, $`A^6`$, $`B`$, $`AB`$, $`A^2B`$, $`A^3B`$, $`A^4B`$, $`B^2`$, $`AB^2`$, $`A^2B^2`$, $`ABAB`$, $`A^3B^2`$, $`A^2BAB`$, $`C`$, $`AC`$, $`A^2C`$, $`A^3C`$, $`BC`$, $`ABC`$, $`A^2BC`$, $`ABAC`$, $`B^2C`$, $`C^2`$, and $`AC^2`$.

###### Remark 5.7 (Speed).

The entire computation took less than one hour to complete on a 850MHz PC running GAP under Linux. It tested approximately $`110`$ thousand galleries and yielded the $`75`$ beads described above. As an indication of the benefits of the simplification described in Section 4, we note that an earlier computer search — using the original algorithm — took more than $`2`$ months to complete, tested approximately $`300`$ million galleries and yielded $`\mathrm{12\hspace{0.17em}000}`$ beads. Moreover, instead of the three combinatorial types shown in Figure 11, there were more than $`100`$ combinatorial types. In other words, the restriction to unshrinkable geodesics not only improved the length of the computation, it also greatly simplified the output.

## 6. Main result

Throughout this section let $`M`$ be a metric $`5/6^{}`$-triangulation of a $`3`$-manifold, let $`S`$ be the link of a $`0`$-cell in $`M`$, and let $`\gamma `$ be a closed geodesic contained in $`S`$ which determines a necklace gallery $`𝒢`$ consisting of short beads.

###### Definition 6.1 (Barbells).

Let $`𝒢`$ be a thick necklace gallery. The linear gallery consisting of a (possibly empty) sequence of trivial beads with a single triangle on either end is called a *barbell*. See Figure 12. Notice that a barbell containing $`i1`$ trivial beads contains exactly $`i`$ cut vertices. Also note that the transition between two non-trivial beads leads to a barbell consisting of two triangles joined at a vertex.

###### Definition 6.2 (Good perturbations).

If $`\gamma `$ is perturbed slightly so that it avoids all of the vertices in $`S`$, then the circular gallery determined by the new path is an annular gallery. In order to maintain control over the combinatorial properties of the annular gallery which results, we define a *good perturbation* of $`\gamma `$ as follows. If $`𝒢`$ is a thin necklace, then $`\gamma ^{}`$ is the boundary curve of an $`ϵ`$-neighborhood of $`\gamma `$ in $`S`$ that passes through the minimum number of triangles. If both boundary curves pass through the same number of triangles, both boundary curves are good perturbations. If $`𝒢`$ is a thick necklace, then define $`\gamma ^{}`$ one barbell at a time. In each barbell we consistently push the path $`\gamma ^{}`$ to the left of all the cut vertices or to the right of all the cut vertices, whichever minimizes the number of triangles through which it passes. See Example 6.3.

###### Example 6.3.

Figure 13 shows a barbell in which the good perturbation lies above the three cut vertices. Since we are only interested in the gallery determined by the perturbed path (and not the path itself), the jagged line connecting the centers of the triangles is a perfectly good representative of the perturbed path.

We need two technical lemmas about the paths determined by good perturbations; one for thin necklaces and one for thick necklaces.

###### Lemma 6.4 (Thin necklaces).

Let $`\gamma `$ be a geodesic of length at most $`2\pi `$ which determines a thin necklace, let $`\gamma ^{}`$ be a good perturbation of $`\gamma `$ and let $`P`$ be the closed immersed path that is the internal dual of the annular gallery determined by $`\gamma ^{}`$. If $`c`$ is the absolute value of the combinatorial turning angle for $`P`$, then $`|P|+c12`$. Moreover, the turn pattern for $`P`$ does not contain three consecutive left turns or three consecutive right turns.

###### Proof.

Since $`𝒢`$ is thin it has type $`A^i`$ for some $`i`$ and by Lemma 5.5, $`i6`$. Notice that $`i`$ is also the number of vertices in $`\gamma `$. For each vertex $`v`$ in $`\gamma `$, the two boundary curves of an $`ϵ`$-neighborhood of $`\gamma `$ pass through five or six corners of triangles. The triangles on either side of the trivial beads of $`\gamma `$ are double counted in the sense that the boundary curves traverse two corners of these triangles in a row before moving on to a new triangle. They cannot traverse three corners in a row since this would require $`\gamma `$ to traverse two sides of the triangle consecutively, and this is prohibited by the size of the dihedral angles (Lemma 5.3) and the fact that $`\gamma `$ is a local geodesic. Thus the two paths together determine annular galleries that contain at most $`4i`$ triangles combined, and one annular gallery has at most $`2i`$ triangles.

Without loss of generality assume that the good perturbation is the one to the left of $`\gamma `$ as $`\gamma `$ is traversed. Let $`R`$ be a triangle that contains a portion of $`\gamma ^{}`$ and notice that $`R`$ corresponds to a vertex in $`P`$ corresponding to a left turn if and only if $`R`$ contains an edge of $`\gamma `$. This implies that the turn pattern for $`P`$ contains exactly $`i`$ left turns and that $`|P|+c=(n_l+n_r)+(n_ln_r)=2n_l=2i12`$.

Suppose $`P`$ contains three consecutive right turns. The three triangles corresponding to these turns, plus the triangle immediately before and after (as traced out by $`\gamma ^{}`$), all contain a common vertex $`v`$ in their boundaries. Since $`v`$ has degree at most $`6`$, the path $`\gamma `$ would have to make a sharp turn at $`v`$ and $`\gamma `$ would not be a local geodesic. If $`P`$ contains three consecutive left turns, then there are three consecutive edges in $`\gamma `$ (with separating vertices $`u`$ and $`v`$) such that all three triangles to the left of these edges contain a common apex. In order for $`\gamma `$ to be a local geodesic at $`u`$ and $`v`$, by Lemma 5.3 both vertices would need to have degree $`5`$, which is forbidden. ∎

###### Lemma 6.5 (Thick necklaces).

Let $`\gamma `$ be a short unshrinkable geodesic which determines a thick necklace consisting of short beads, let $`\gamma ^{}`$ be a good perturbation of $`\gamma `$, and let $`P`$ be the closed immersed path that is the internal dual of the annular gallery determined by $`\gamma ^{}`$. If $`c`$ is the absolute value of the combinatorial turning angle for $`P`$, then $`|P|+c14`$. Moreover, the turn pattern for $`P`$ does not contain three consecutive left turns or three consecutive right turns.

###### Proof.

The proof is similar to Lemma 6.4, but it proceeds one barbell at a time. Consider a barbell in $`𝒢`$ with $`i`$ cut vertices. For each cut vertex $`v`$ in the barbell, the two possible perturbations of $`\gamma `$ pass through five or six corners of triangles. As before the triangles on either side of the trivial beads are double counted in the sense that the boundary curves traverse two corners of these triangles in a row before moving on to a new triangle. They cannot traverse three corners in a row since this would require $`\gamma `$ to traverse two sides of the triangle consecutively, which is prohibited by the size of the dihedral angles (Lemma 5.3) and the fact that $`\gamma `$ is a local geodesic. Since the triangles at either end already existed, the two possible perturbations pass through at most $`6i2(i1)2=4i`$ new triangles. In particular, one of them passes through at most $`2i`$ new triangles.

Without loss of generality assume that the good perturbation is the one to the left of the portion of $`\gamma `$ in this barbell as $`\gamma `$ is traversed. Let $`R`$ be a triangle which is traversed by this portion of $`\gamma ^{}`$ and notice that $`R`$ corresponds to a vertex in $`P`$ which is a left turn if and only if $`R`$ contains an trivial bead of $`\gamma `$ or $`R`$ is one of the original two triangles in the barbell. This implies that this portion of the turn pattern for $`P`$ contains exactly $`i`$ left turns. As above, the number of vertices in this portion of $`P`$ plus the absolute value of the combinatorial turning angle for this portion is twice the number of left turns for this portion, which is $`2i`$. Finally, notice that the only portions of $`P`$ that are not contained in some barbell are the portions corresponding to the two interior triangles in a bead of type $`C`$. Since these two triangles become vertices in $`P`$ which turn in opposite directions, they contribute to the length of $`P`$ but not to $`c`$. It is now routine to calculate that $`14`$ is an upper bound for $`|P|+c`$ for each of the $`22`$ thick cases listed in Corollary 5.6. Finally, the arguments that $`P`$ has no three consecutive left \[right\] turns is identical to the one given above and is omitted. ∎

It is now relatively easy to show that the paths that good perturbations determine are in fact simple.

###### Lemma 6.6 (Simple).

Let $`\gamma `$ be either a geodesic of length at most $`2\pi `$ which determines a thin necklace or a short geodesic which determines a thick necklace consisting of short beads. If $`P`$ is the closed immersed path which is the internal dual of the annular gallery determined by a good perturbation of $`\gamma `$, then $`P`$ is a simple closed path.

###### Proof.

Suppose $`P`$ is a not embedded and let $`Q`$ be a closed subpath of $`P`$ of minimal length. Since $`|P|14`$ by Lemma 6.4 and Lemma 6.5, $`|Q|7`$. Since $`Q`$ itself is embedded it divides the soccer tiling into two soccer diagrams $`D_1`$ and $`D_2`$, one of which, say $`D_1`$, has fewer than six pentagons. By Lemma 3.4, $`D_1`$ consists of a single $`2`$-cell and thus $`P`$ contains at least four consecutive left \[right\] turns, contradicting Lemma 6.4 or Lemma 6.5. ∎

We can now show that our hypothetical short closed unshrinkable geodesic $`\gamma `$ does not exist.

###### Lemma 6.7 (Vertex links).

If $`S`$ is the link of a vertex in a metric $`5/6^{}`$-triangulated, closed $`3`$-manifold, then it does not contain any short closed unshrinkable geodesics. In addition, $`S`$ does not contain any closed geodesics of length $`2\pi `$ in its $`1`$-skeleton.

###### Proof.

If $`S`$ contains a short closed unshrinkable geodesic, then by Lemma 4.9 it also contains a short closed unshrinkable geodesic which determines a necklace consisting of short beads. Let $`\gamma `$ be either a closed geodesic in $`S`$ of length at most $`2\pi `$ which determines a thin necklace or a short closed geodesic in $`S`$ which determines a thick necklace consisting of short beads. By Lemmas 6.46.5, and 6.6 there is a perturbation of $`\gamma `$ that determines an annular gallery whose internal dual is a simple closed path $`P`$ in the dual soccer tiling. Moreover, if $`c`$ denotes the absolute value of the combinatorial turning angle for $`P`$, then $`|P|+c14`$ and the turn pattern for $`P`$ does not contain three consecutive left turns or three consecutive right turns. Since $`P`$ is embedded it divides the soccer tiling into two soccer diagrams $`D_1`$ and $`D_2`$, one of which, say $`D_1`$, has fewer than six pentagons. Since $`P`$, with the appropriate orientation is $`D_1`$, Theorem 3.10 implies that $`D_1`$ is one of the two soccer diagrams in Figure 2. Since both diagrams have $`c=4`$ and $`|D|+c>14`$, we have a contradiction. ∎

The final property that we need to establish is the following.

###### Lemma 6.8 (No flat planes).

If $`M`$ is a closed $`3`$-manifold with a metric $`5/6^{}`$-triangulation, then the universal cover $`\stackrel{~}{M}`$ does not contain any isometrically embedded flat planes.

###### Proof.

Let $`\varphi :^2\stackrel{~}{M}`$ be an isometric embedding of a flat plane and let $`F=\varphi (^2)`$. If $`F`$ is transverse to an edge $`e`$ in $`\stackrel{~}{M}`$ and $`x`$ is the unique point in $`eF`$, then the link of $`x`$ in $`F`$ is a closed geodesic loop $`\gamma `$ of length $`2\pi `$ in the space of directions of $`x`$ in $`\stackrel{~}{M}`$. Since the space of directions of $`x`$ is an orthogonal join of $`𝕊^0`$ with the metric circle which is the link of $`e`$ in $`\stackrel{~}{M}`$, the space of directions of $`x`$ is either a standard $`2`$-sphere (when the link of $`e`$ has length exactly $`2\pi `$) or a branched cover of $`𝕊^2`$ around antipodal points (when the link of $`e`$ has length greater than $`2\pi `$). Notice that in either case the loop $`\gamma `$ must avoid the points corresponding to the edge $`e`$ since $`F`$ is transverse to $`e`$. In the branched case this is impossible and in the non-branched case, we can assume (Lemma 5.3) that $`e`$ has degree $`6`$ and is surrounded by six Coxeter tetrahedra. This shows that $`F`$ cannot cross any edge of degree $`5`$. Figure 14 shows an edge $`e`$ of degree $`6`$ surrounded by six Coxeter tetrahedra. Regardless of the location of the point $`x`$ in $`e`$, there does not exist a portion of a flat plane through $`x`$ which does not extend through one of the six edges of degree $`5`$. The key observation is that there are three edges of degree $`5`$ extending down from the top of $`e`$, another three edges of degree $`5`$ extending up from the bottom of $`e`$, and these six edges interleave. In other words, the edges of degree $`5`$ form a cage from which a portion of a flat plane cannot escape.

The remaining possibility is that $`F`$ is completely contained in the $`2`$-skeleton of $`\stackrel{~}{M}`$. If $`v`$ is a vertex of $`\stackrel{~}{M}`$ contained in $`F`$, then the link of $`v`$ in $`F`$ corresponds to a closed geodesic loop of length $`2\pi `$ in the $`1`$-skeleton of the link of $`v`$ in $`\stackrel{~}{M}`$. By Lemma 6.7 this is also impossible. ∎

###### Theorem 1.2 (Main Theorem).

Every $`5/6^{}`$-triangulation of a closed $`3`$-manifold $`M`$ admits a piecewise Euclidean metric of non-positive curvature, where the universal cover $`\stackrel{~}{M}`$ contains no isometrically embedded flat planes. As a consequence, $`\pi _1(M)`$ is word-hyperbolic.

###### Proof.

Let $`M`$ be such a piecewise Euclidean $`3`$-manifold. By Theorem 4.1 it is sufficient to show that the links of the cells in $`M`$ do not contain short geodesic loops. This is trivially true for the links of $`3`$-cells and $`2`$-cells (whose links are empty and discrete), and it is also true for links of $`1`$-cells and $`0`$-cells by Lemma 5.3 and Lemma 6.7. Thus $`M`$ is non-positively curved. Since there are no isometrically embedded flat planes in $`\stackrel{~}{M}`$ by Lemma 6.8, the final assertion follows immediately from Theorem III.$`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$.3.1 in . ∎


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# The Chandra Observation of the IP TX Col

## 1. Introduction

TX Col is a 15-th mag object discovered by HEAO-1 (Wood et al. 1984) and recognized as an intermediate polar in 1985/6 (Buckley et al. 1985; Tuohy et al. 1986). Its orbital period is 20,592 sec with a spin period of $``$1910 sec (Tuohy et al 1986; Mhlahlo et al., these proceedings).

## 2. Chandra Observation

TX Col was observed by Chandra on 2000 July 26/27 for $``$53 ksec (observation identification number 914); the target was the cluster of galaxies Cl J0542.8-4100 to measure the X-ray temperature function of clusters (e.g., Ikebe et al. 2002). The cluster was within 1 of the aimpoint, placing TX Col $``$6.7 arcmin off-axis on CCD 1 of the ‘imaging’ portion of the ACIS detector. Figure 1 shows the Chandra field-of-view showing that 5 ACIS CCDs were active during the observation. TX Col and the galaxy cluster are indicated.

The estimated count rate was $``$0.57 counts s-1 with a background rate of 0.006 counts s-1. Both values were obtained by extracting the counts in circles of radii 0.3 and 1 arcmin, respectively. The background circle was displaced from the position of TX Col by $``$2 because TX Col falls sufficiently close to the edge of the CCD that $``$half of an annulus centered on TX Col’s position would have extended beyond the chip’s edge. A narrow rectangular region was excluded from the outer portions of the TX Col extraction to eliminate the presence of the frame transfer events.

The off-axis angle reduces the effects of event pileup (Davis 2001). The streak caused by the frame transfer determines the position of TX Col along the CCD columns. We adopted the peak number of events on that line as the center of the observed point spread function. We extracted a radial profile using 21 elliptical annuli spread across $``$21 pixels ($``$10′′.5); a theoretical point spread function was generated from the Chandra PSF library at the observed off-axis angle. The two functions agreed to better than 5% in the core of the profile and indicated that pileup is at most a minor component of the TX Col observation.

## 3. Light Curves

We filtered the events into three energy bands: 0.5-1.5, 1.5-4, and 4-8 keV in an effort to separate the high energy source emission and the low-energy absorption. The middle band served simply to permit defining a color. We extracted the events and binned them into 20 bins folded on the spin period of 1910 sec. We arbitrarily adopted the time of the first Chandra event as the starting point for the phasing for this preliminary analysis. Figure 2 shows the result. The zero point is incorrect by $``$0.5 in phase (depending upon how one defines the ‘peak’). The soft band shows a humped behavior approximately symmetric about the maximum. The medium band shows a steeper rise to maximum with a gradual fall. The hard band is flattened with perhaps a steep rise just after phase 0.0.

Figure 3 (top) shows the complete ACIS light curve, $``$52 ksec or $``$26 spin cycles in length. We can easily count the spin cycles, but note that the envelope of the amplitudes changes significantly across the observation. Figure 3 (bottom) expands a portion of the full light curve to show the significant changes in amplitude among individual spin cycles.

## 4. Power Spectra

Power spectra were computed in the three energy bands for the entire observation as well as across the entire ACIS bandpass for subsets of the observation. There are insufficient events to examine power spectra of energy-filtered subsets.

The power spectra illustrate differences in amplitudes of the various components as a function of energy. The spin frequency is the dominant component in the soft and medium bands, but at the highest energies, the $`\omega \mathrm{\Omega }`$ component dominates. Also visible is significant power at the half-integer frequencies, particularly near 8.2$`\times `$10-4 Hz, suggesting the presence of a 2$`\omega \frac{9}{2}\mathrm{\Omega }`$ component.

If we split the observation into two ‘orbits’ at precisely the orbital period (the first 20592 sec and the second), and Fourier transform the data, we obtain the power spectra shown in Figure 5. Note that the $`\omega \mathrm{\Omega }`$ component is essentially missing from the second orbit.

Table 1 shows a history of the detected periods from ASCA and ROSAT (Norton et al. 1997), and the Chandra observation. Additional periods may be uncovered in the Chandra observation as the analyses of the data are refined. Table 1 represents the primary results to date; quantitative measurements will be included in the final paper describing the Chandra observation; that paper is expected to be submitted for publication in early spring 2003. At this point, the power spectra imply the soft X-rays are disk-fed because the amplitude of the $`\omega \mathrm{\Omega }`$ component is approximately equal to the amplitude of the $`\omega +\mathrm{\Omega }`$. Our goal with this observation is the Fourier decomposition of the light curve (Warner 1986; Norton et al. 1996).

### Acknowledgments.

Support for AS was provided by the US National Science Foundation through the Research Experience for Undergraduates program. The research of EMS was supported by NASA Contract NAS8-39073 to SAO for the Chandra Observatory.

## References

Buckley, D. A. H. et al. 1985, PASAu, 6, 147

Davis, J. E. 2001, ApJ, 562, 575

Ikebe, Y. et al. 2002, A&A, 383, 773

Norton, A. J. et al. 1997, MNRAS, 289, 362

Norton, A. J. et al. 1996, MNRAS, 280, 937

Tuohy, I. R. et al. 1986, ApJ, 311, 275

Warner, B. 1986, MNRAS, 219, 347

Wood, K. S. et al. 1984, ApJS, 56, 507


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# Is There a Disc in the Superluminal Quasars?

## 1 INTRODUCTION

Attempts to incorporate all AGN (active galactic nuclei) activity within some framework (“Unified Schemes”) have focused on the importance of the orientation of the observer with respect to the source, in three separate ways. (i) The most dramatic effect is relativistic Doppler-beaming in a jet of radio-emitting plasma aligned close to the line of sight. Amplification of the apparent brightness of the source and apparent superluminal motions are then expected (Rees 1966; Lind & Blandford 1985; Ghisellini et al.  1993; Urry & Padovani 1995). This effect explains the existence of “blazars”, objects dominated by a polarised and highly variable continuum, as well as one sided radio jets and other phenomena. This is the most well established orientation effect, but only applies to the minority of radio-loud objects. (ii) The second effect is that of absorption or obscuration, most probably by an equatorial disc or torus, invoked to account for the dissimilarities between type 1 and type 2 Seyfert galaxies (Lawrence & Elvis 1982, Antonucci & Miller 1985, Antonucci 1993). (iii) Finally a third orientation effect is associated with an accretion disc geometry: (a) a simple optically thick, geometrically thin disc viewed inclined will appear fainter than when it is viewed pole on. However relativistic effects in the vicinity of the accreting black hole make edge-on discs brighter (Cunningham 1975). (b) If the emission lines share the same geometry they will have a broad velocity width at low latitude. (c) The polarization of the disc radiation will increase with the inclination (e.g. Rees 1975).

Some authors have searched for evidence of this third class of orientation dependent effects, generally by using the ratio of core radio luminosity to extended radio luminosity (e.g. Orr & Browne 1982; Wills & Browne 1986; Browne & Murphy 1987; Jackson et al.  1989; Jackson & Browne 1991b; Corbin 1997). This ratio is an orientation indicator (see for instance Ghisellini et al. 1993, Wills & Brotherton 1995) and these studies have been consistent with the widespread presence of optical beaming in radio loud quasars in general (as opposed to simply in blazars, e.g. Browne & Murphy 1987) and a flattened geometry for the emission lines (e.g. Wills & Browne 1986, Corbin 1997). The amount of optical beaming seen is far less than seen in the radio regime, indicating that it might be due to to relativistic beamed continuum seen in low contrast against less anisotropic disc emission (e.g. Browne & Murphy 1987; Wills 1991; Wills et al. 1992). The idea of this paper is to use superluminal sources for which we can derive an actual viewing angle rather than an indirect orientation indicator, and so directly test for the quantitative effects of accretion disc surface brightness and emission line velocity projection (see also Wills & Brotherton 1995).

In this paper, we study the H$`\alpha `$ emission of a sample of 22 superluminal sources. This line was chosen because it is the strongest low ionization emission line (LIL, e.g. hydrogen Balmer, Mg II etc.) for which, there are both observational (e.g. Wills & Browne 1986) and theoretical (e.g. Collin-Souffrin 1987) suggestions that its velocity field is anisotropic, likely in a rotational disc structure. In addition, H$`\alpha `$ line is less affected by absorption or blended optical Fe II multiplet emission than H$`\beta `$ . Line width is used to study velocity projection, and equivalent width to indicate the brightness of the underlying continuum. The viewing angle is derived from published SL motions, radio and X-ray fluxes, and angular sizes, using the method of Ghisellini et al.  (1993). For eight sources we use published H$`\alpha `$ data, but for the majority we have obtained new data. Most superluminal sources are at moderately large redshifts, so this has required obtaining IR spectra, which we report in this paper.

In Section 2 we summarise the technique used to derive viewing angle. In Section 3, we describe the SL sample giving relevant data and the parameters derived by the Inverse Compton model. In Section 4, we present the new UKIRT observations, with detailed source notes in Section 5. In Section 6 we present the statistical results which are discussed in Section 7 and summarised in Section 8. The cosmological model assumed in this paper is $`H_\mathrm{o}`$= 75 km s-1 Mpc-1 and $`q_\mathrm{o}`$=0.5.

## 2 METHOD of DERIVING VIEWING ANGLE

Derivation of the viewing angle relies on two effects - superluminal motion, and Doppler boosting. We follow the method of Ghisellini et al.  (1993) which we now summarise briefly.

Apparent Super-Luminal (SL) motions of individual radio structures (measured with VLBI  experiments, see for instance Zensus & Pearson 1987) have been observed in extragalactic radio sources for more than 20 years. These motions are usually modelled by one or more radiating “blobs” moving at relativistic velocity $`\beta `$ (in units of c) away from a stationary “core”. If the viewing angle is $`\theta `$, the apparent transverse velocity is

$$\beta _\mathrm{a}=\frac{\beta \mathrm{sin}\theta }{1\beta \mathrm{cos}\theta }$$
(1)
and can exceed the true speed and even that of light if the direction of the motion is close to the line of sight. The observed SL velocity therefore gives a combination of the Lorentz factor $`\gamma `$, and jet viewing angle $`\theta `$ . The radiating material is brightened by the Doppler beaming factor $`\delta `$ , which also provides a combination of $`\gamma `$ and $`\theta `$ ($`\delta `$ $`=[\gamma (1\beta cos\theta )]^1`$). If $`\delta `$ can be separately estimated, then, following Appendix B of Ghisellini et al.  (1993), $`\gamma `$ and $`\theta `$ are given by

$$\gamma =\frac{\beta _\mathrm{a}^2+\delta ^2+1}{2\delta }$$
(2)
and

$$\mathrm{tan}\theta =\frac{2\beta _\mathrm{a}}{\beta _\mathrm{a}^2+\delta ^21}$$
(3)
The value of $`\delta `$ is estimated from observations of the flat spectrum radio core, assumed to be made up of multiple self-absorbed components, by requiring that the Inverse Compton flux of the component peaking at the observed radio frequency is less than the observed X-ray flux (see equation 1 of Ghisellini et al. ). This also requires the angular size of the source, from VLBI  measurements, and an assumption for the underlying synchrotron spectral slope, taken to be $`\alpha =0.75`$.

We summarise uncertainties in the estimate of $`\theta `$. (i) The value of $`\delta `$ estimated from the X-ray flux is a lower limit, and so the derived $`\theta `$ is an upper limit. However the value is very insensitive to this effect - $`\delta `$ $`F_x^{0.22}`$. So if the true $`F_x`$ is actually lower by a factor 10, 100, or 1000, the value of $`\delta `$ is larger by a factor 1.5, 2.3, and 3.5 respectively. This factor might increase by up to 30 % if the source is not spherical as assumed, but a continuous jet (see equation 2 of Ghisellini et al. ) (ii) Radio flux and angular size errors may also introduce uncertainties on $`\theta `$, but in most cases these are not large. (iii) Another possibility is that the superluminal velocities represent a pattern velocity which is different than the bulk velocity (Lind & Blandford 1985; Vermeulen & Cohen 1994). (iv) Finally the observed value of $`\beta _\mathrm{a}`$and thus $`\theta `$ depends on the assumed Hubble constant, but we take that to be understood (Freedman et al.  2001). If $`H_\mathrm{o}`$ is smaller than the assumed value, $`\theta `$ is smaller in most cases. In section 6 we provide arguments that $`\delta `$ cannot be wrong by a very large factor, but also illustrate the effect on derived values of $`\theta `$ of assuming that $`\delta `$ is wrong by a factor of a few.

## 3 THE SAMPLE

The sample of the SL sources was selected from the list of Vermeulen & Cohen, 1994 (VC94). The final sample used in this paper is the superset of those for which we were able to obtain good quality IR spectra at UKIRT , plus those with published (optical) data on H$`\alpha `$ . This sample represents more than the one third of the known SL extragalactic sources. It is listed in Table 1. Columns (1), (2), (4), (5), and (6) list names, redshift, the fastest measured apparent velocity, and the core-to-lobe flux ratio $`R`$ at 5 GHz as given in VC94. Column (3) divides the objects into three classes depending on radio core dominance and optical polarization. Core dominated sources with low polarization are shown as “CD” and those with high polarization ($`P>3\%`$) as “CDP”. Lobe dominated sources are shown as “LD”. The limit between CD and LD was taken as log $`R`$ =–0.02.

Columns (7)-(10) give the observed radio core flux and angular size ($`\theta _d=\sqrt{ab}`$ where $`a`$ and $`b`$ are the major and minor axes in mas) at a given frequency, together with the reference. Finally the two last columns give the observed X-ray flux at 1 keV together with the reference. The radio and X-ray data were then used to estimate $`\delta `$ , and thus $`\theta `$, and $`\gamma `$, as explained in the section above. For 3C 395 we have not found any X-ray measurement published, and we have used optical data instead. Table 2 shows the result, with sources listed in order of increasing $`\theta `$, which can be seen to correlate clearly with $`\delta `$ but not with $`\gamma `$, as expected in the beaming model.

## 4 UKIRT  spectra

### 4.1 Observations and Data reduction

From the VC94 sample only objects between RA 05h and 19h and Dec. lower than 60 were observed, due respectively to the time of year of the observations and the declination limit of the telescope. Finally we selected sources at redshifts that would place H$`\alpha `$ well inside one of the $`J,H`$, or $`K`$ atmospheric windows. This gave 14 sources which are listed in Table 3. 3C 286 (not known as superluminal) was also observed during an RA gap in the run and is likewise listed in Table 3.

The spectra were obtained with the common-user Cooled Grating Spectrometer CGS4 at the f/36 focus of the 3.9-m UKIRT on Mauna Kea, on three consecutive photometric nights starting on UT date 1994 March 27. The instrument was equipped at this time with a 62$`\times `$58 InSb array detector at the focal plane of a 150-mm camera with a slit of width equal to 3 arcsec, stepped perpendicular to the dispersion. The detector was stepped in increments of one-third of a resolution element in order to properly sample the instrumental profile. Different gratings and orders used, depending on the redshift of the source, and exposure times, are given in Table 3.

For most of the $`J`$ and $`H`$ band observations, a 75 line mm-1 grating in second order was used. This gave a resolving power of 383 and 0.2 $`\mu `$m spectral coverage. For one case in the $`J`$ band, the 150 line mm-1 grating was used in third order, giving a resolving power of 1000 and a wavelength coverage 0.1 $`\mu `$m. For observations in the $`K`$band the 75 mm-1 grating was used in first order, giving a resolving power of 337 and 0.4 $`\mu `$m spectral coverage.

Standard nodding procedures were followed to subtract the sky background, with the slit oriented east-west on the sky. While observing, we nodded on to the detector so that we could integrate on the object while obtaining frames for sky subtraction. Bias frames were subtracted and the observation images were then flat-fielded. An argon lamp and vacuum wavelengths are used here for the wavelength calibration. Correction for atmospheric extinction was applied by observing a spectral standard star at a similar airmass to the object. Flux calibration was achieved by extrapolating $`J`$, $`H`$ and $`K`$ magnitudes from observed $`V`$ magnitudes of flux standards according to known spectral type using the model of Koorneef (1983).

We note that the measured counts in the “sky” frames were not always consistent with those in the “object” frames. From examination of the photometric consistency of the data we are led to conclude that any flux measurements have an uncertainty at the level of 10% (except for 3C 380 in which the uncertainty is $``$20%). Data reduction was carried out using the CGS4DR package at the QMW and Edinburgh Starlink nodes.

Figure 1 shows the observed spectra. The 14 SL sources are presented in RA order. The spectra of 3C 286 and the three serendipitous sources are given at the end. Note that there are only three SL sources where H$`\alpha `$ was not detected. These are 3C 216, 4C 29.45, and 4C 56.27. In a further two sources, H$`\alpha `$ is detected but is rather weak (3C 279 and B2 1308+32). In the remaining 9 a strong line was detected. Together with the 8 additional published sources that we use, this produces three sub-samples that we refer to : SL sources ( 22 objects), a sample of 19 SL sources with detected H$`\alpha `$ emission, and a sample of 16 strong-EW sources.

### 4.2 Emission line parameters

Emission line measurements were performed using the DIPSO package on the ROE Starlink node. In Table 4 we present the observed H$`\alpha `$ flux, rest frame EW and FWHM of the flux calibrated spectra. From these data both line and continuum luminosities ($`L_{H\alpha }`$ and $`L_o`$) can be derived. The largest source of error comes from uncertainties in setting the local continuum (fitted by a first order polynomial). To minimize these errors each line was measured on at least three different occasions. In most cases the uncertainties are less than 10%. Experimentation with deblending the narrow lines (H$`\alpha `$ , \[NII\], \[SII\]) suggests that in most objects its presence does not introduce more than a 3% error into the flux of H$`\alpha `$ . This maybe due to our inability to resolve and exclude the narrow lines from either sides of H$`\alpha `$ . When the narrow H$`\alpha `$ emission line is visible however, its contribution can change substantially FWHM. In these cases the measurements are corrected from narrow line contribution.

In addition to our new data, Table 5 gives the H$`\alpha `$ emission line parameters of 8 SL sources with published H$`\alpha `$ spectra. These data are less homogeneous than the UKIRT spectra. We have searched for total line fluxes and EW (including also NLR), but corrected FWHM (from NLR) values (references are given in Table 5).

## 5 Comments on individual objects

DA 193. The measured line flux and rest EW of the H$`\beta `$ emission line in this source are 1.7 10-14 erg cm-2 s-1and 40 Å respectively. The total \[OIII\] flux is estimated as 9 10-15 erg cm-2 s-1. The two spectra obtained of this source show an increase of the continuum flux at shorter wavelengths.

4C 39.25. In the field of 4C 39.25 we have detected what appears to be an extended object (it occupies two detector rows) about 12 arcsec west of our source. We can identify this in the Schmidt plate as a point source which is brighter in the blue. From this and the spectrum (shown in Fig. 1) we conclude that it is a high redshift galaxy.

3C 279. The broad feature at 1.1 $`\mu `$ of the spectrum is most likely due to the non-fully corrected absorption feature of the spectral standard.

3C 334. The high resolution spectrum obtained in this source (see Fig 1) shows a structured H$`\alpha `$ emission line profile but it has also a low signal-to-noise ratio. It is also likely not resolved in the continuum, and is arbritarily multiplied in flux for comparison with the lower resolution H$`\alpha `$ spectrum.

3C 395. Two other objects, most likely stars, were detected in the slit at 3” east and at 15” west of the source. Their spectra are shown in Fig. 1.

## 6 Statistical Results

We have applied the Spearman rank correlation test (Press et al.  1988) to a set of nine parameters - to three emission line parameters (FWHM, EW, and $`L_{\mathrm{H}\alpha }`$), to the optical luminosity at the H$`\alpha `$ wavelength ($`L_\mathrm{o}`$), to three orientation indicators ($`R`$, $`\beta _\mathrm{a}`$ and $`\delta `$ ), to $`\theta `$, and finally, to the Lorentz factor, $`\gamma `$. The resulting matrix of the correlation coefficient $`r_s`$, and the two sided significance level of its deviation from zero, $`p`$, is shown in Table 6. The test was applied both to the sub-sample with detected H$`\alpha `$ lines (N=19) and to the subsample with strong lines, divided at EW$`158\AA `$ (N=16).

The strongest trend is seen between the H$`\alpha `$ line and continuum luminosity ($`L_{\mathrm{H}\alpha }`$ and $`L_\mathrm{o}`$ respectively), especially when only the strong-EW sources are considered. This is however a selection effect, the result of plotting two quantities both multiplied by the same function of redshift. This trend is shown in Fig 2a where the three classes of objects CDP, CD, and LD are shown with separate symbols. (The three objects with H$`\alpha `$ upper limits are also shown here). The strong- and weak-EW objects are very clearly distinct (see Fig 2b). The weak-EW objects have an EW at least a factor five less than the weakest strong-EW object. Note that the range of luminosities $`L_{\mathrm{H}\alpha }`$ is not very different in the strong- and weak-EW objects. As we shall see below, the FWHM does not show any such clear discontinuity, so that the two distinct trends in Fig 2 is almost certainly due to a difference in the continuum, not in the line. It is also striking that all the weak-EW objects are polarised. It seems then extremely likely that the weak-EW objects have a continuum enhanced by relativistic beaming. Very likely there are two continuum components, the first of which is weak in the strong-EW objects, but is boosted to dominance in the weak-EW objects. The object 3C 345 with the largest EW amongst the CDP objects, looks like a good intermediate case, with significant but not dominant relativistic beaming. Broad band polarization and flux density spectra for this object do show the presence of two emission components (Wills 1991): one polarized, likely synchrotron jet radiation, and a second unpolarized possibly from a disc. Optical and Near-IR polarimetric and photometric monitoring also support the two continuum emission components in this source (Smith et al. 1986).

In all our subsequent plots, we reclassify objects as simply strong-EW or weak-EW. The weak-EW class is identical with the CDP class except for 3C 345, which has been classed as strong-EW. Within the strong-EW objects, we maintain a distinction between LD and CD objects.

Equivalent width EW is correlated with the various orientation indicators, as indicated in Table 6 and Fig. 3, which collects these correlations graphically. (Note the inverted abscissa for the graphs versus $`\delta `$ , $`R`$, and $`\beta _\mathrm{a}`$, chosen so that these can be easily compared with the correlation with $`\theta `$.) Amongst the strong-EW objects, the strongest correlations are with $`\delta `$ and with $`\theta `$, in that order. The excellent correlation with $`\delta `$ is as expected, as this indicates the amount of Doppler beaming. The fact that it is significantly better, with much less scatter, than the correlation with the indirect orientation indicator $`R`$ , indicates that despite the uncertainties, stressed in Section 2, the derived values of $`\delta `$ must be quite close to the correct values. The correlation with $`R`$ is striking in a special respect as $`R`$ is a kind of direct analogue of EW. While EW changes by only a factor of a few, $`R`$ changes by a factor of several hundred. There is an anisotropy connected with the radio beaming, but it cannot be the same jet beaming effect (at least for the LD objects), but rather a second “weak beaming” effect. There is a very strong positive correlation between the line EW and the outflow angle of the radio jet in the whole sample, but this is dominated by the cliff at small angles where the jet beaming sets in. The trend slightly weakens in the strong-EW sources and indicates grossly an increase of the EW by a factor of $``$3 when the viewing angle turns from 5 to 40 degrees.

Next we look at the correlations of FWHM, which are collected in Fig 4. FWHM is correlated with all the orientation indicators, indicating a decrease of the emission line velocity field with increasing beaming. The direct correlation with $`\theta `$ is suggestive of axisymmetric motions for the BLR. The most significant correlation seen is with viewing angle $`\theta `$, as shown in Table 6. This is an indication that in deriving $`\theta `$ we have done something meaningful. As further support for the reality of the $`\theta `$ correlation, note that Table 6 shows no correlation between FWHM and the jet Lorentz factor $`\gamma `$. The weak-EW objects fit well into the same trend as the strong-EW objects, being simply at one end of the trend, namely at small viewing angle. The trends weaken somewhat when considering the strong-EW sample, which is however in a reduced range of $`\theta `$.

## 7 Discussion

Our main aim has been to compare H$`\alpha `$ emission properties with observer viewing angle. The most exciting result is that both velocity and equivalent width do indeed correlate with orientation. The actual $`\theta `$ derived from the SL motion plus Inverse Compton limit seems more reliable than the various indirect orientation indicators, as it gives stronger trends, and is physical.

The FWHM vs $`\theta `$ correlation is suggestive of a flattened structure for the line emitting material. Fig 5a tests this quantitatively, plotting $`V=V_0\mathrm{sin}\theta `$ with normalised line velocity of $`V_0=13,000`$ km s-1 at $`\theta `$=90 . This is the disc fit of Wills & Browne 1986 to the H$`\beta `$ in a larger AGN sample, extended to larger jet viewing angles. The figure also shows the effect of an isotropic component with $`V=2,000`$ km s-1 (see for instance Brotherton et al. 1994, Corbin 1997) added in quadrature to the axisymmetric component. The agreement is good. The scatter is considerable, but we should certainly of course expect some dispersion in $`V_0`$. How sensitive is this agreement with the predictions of an axisymmetric structure to the possible errors in $`\theta `$? As described in section 2, the value of $`\theta `$ is strictly an upper limit, as the derived value of $`\delta `$ is a lower limit. However, as argued there, $`\delta `$ is very insensitive to the true Inverse Compton flux, and the correlations discussed in the previous section confirm that $`\delta `$ is unlikely to be in error by more than a factor of a few. We illustrate this sensitivity in Fig 6a by deriving the $`\theta `$ values for each source with $`\delta `$ increased by a factor three. It can be seen that the effect is still clear but the quantitative fit is not as good. It is also possible that the bulk speed is smaller than the pattern speed responsible for observed SL velocity. We do not illustrate the effect of this explicitly, but note that the net effect is similar to the $`\delta `$ effect shown here.

An important implication of a flattened structure for the broad line emitting region (BLR) concerns the mass $`M`$ , of the black hole when this is determined from the line velocity width assuming gravitational dynamics and isotropically-oriented motions (e.g. Wandel, Peterson & Malkan 1999, Kaspi et al. 2000). In a thin Keplerian BLR of inclination angle equal to $`\theta `$ the mass fit of a given line width is $`(\mathrm{sin}^2\theta \sqrt{\mathrm{cos}\theta })^1`$ which is $`1/\mathrm{sin}^2\theta `$ at low $`\theta `$ (Rokaki & Boisson, 1999). The inclination therefore may cause a systematic underestimate of $`M`$ , theoretically up to infinity. In more realistic orbital shape of the BLR, involving an aspect ratio of its flattening, the inclination may cause a systematic underestimate of mass by a factor up to $`100`$ (Krolik 2001). It is statistically implausible that the mass of the quasars is underestimated by such a large factor (this would happen if all sources are observed with $`\theta `$=0) but it could be important for sources found accreting at super-Eddington rates (see Collin et al. 2002). The FWHM vs $`\theta `$ correlation therefore, supports estimates of the black hole mass in which an orientation dependence of the line width is applied (e.g. Lacy et al. 2001, McLury & Dunlop 2002).

The EW correlation shows the presence of two separate beaming effects - a strong effect presumably connected with relativistic beaming in the jet, and a second weaker effect, producing a factor $`3`$ change for $`\theta `$ range from 5 to 40 degrees. It is tempting to identify this second effect with the $`cos\theta `$ surface brightness effect expected from a flat accretion disc. Fig 5b examines this possibility quantitatively. The dot-dashed curve shows the expected effect of Doppler enhancement for a jet with $`\gamma =30`$ (imposed mainly from the objects with large $`\beta _\mathrm{a}`$). This can explain the difference between CDP objects and the rest, but not the general trend. The dotted line combines an isotropic continuum with a second separate jet-beamed continuum. This also does not fit the overall pattern. The dashed line shows the predicted effect for a flat accretion disc, with standard limb darkening, where we should find $`EW=EW_0[1/3\mathrm{cos}\theta (1+2\mathrm{cos}\theta )]^1`$. Fig 5b plots this with $`EW_0=300\AA `$. Note that apart from the normalisation there is no further degree of freedom. The solid line combines this disc-beamed continuum with a second separate jet-beamed continuum. The overall fit is good.

In Fig 6b, we indicate the effect on $`\theta `$ of changing $`\delta `$ by a factor of three, as explained in the FWHM discussion. The qualitative trend is still clear, but the quantitative fit is not as good. Given this uncertainty, we cannot hope, for example, to distinguish classes of accretion disc models such as flat discs, thick discs and flared discs. It is possible to restrict the range of $`\theta `$ in the sample ( e.g. by decreasing $`H_\mathrm{o}`$), more than in Fig 6b. In this case a jet model with a broad distribution of $`\gamma `$ could possibly account for the observed correlation, but requiring small $`\gamma `$ ($`<`$5) for lobe dominated objects (not seen in Table 2).

Another worry is that we have implicitly assumed that the continuum light has a surface brightness effect with $`\theta `$, but that the line emission does not. If the BLR is however axisymmetric, as the FWHM effect seems to show, then H$`\alpha `$ emission may come from the surface of the disc, and suffer a very similar effect with $`\theta `$, removing the EW vs $`\theta `$ effect. The effect would be the same as the dotted line in Fig 5b, showing isotropic continuum, which clearly does not fit the data. However, a likely scenario is that the line emitting material is in an axisymmetric structure but is not from the surface of an optically thick disc, being rather in a flattened system of clouds. Even if the lines are emitted from the surface of a disc, they will not necessarily suffer the same limb darkening law.

If the observed optical continuum of the strong line class is emitted from a disc, it is not likely that it is markedly influenced by relativistic effects such as the gravitational redshift and lensing. These effects are stronger when the disc is viewed in the equatorial plane (and in the Kerr metric, Cunningham 1975), which is not the case for the SL objects.

## 8 Conclusions

In this paper we have investigated the relation of the H$`\alpha `$ emission line with radio beaming and outflow angle in a sample of SL sources. Most of the H$`\alpha `$ spectra were observed by us at the UKIRT and are reported here.

The sample is divided into two classes: 6 weak-EW and 16 strong-EW quasars. The weak-EW class must have a relativistically beamed continuum, since it has also high radio core dominance and high optical polarization. The strong-EW class shows a clear beaming effect, but one that cannot be relativistic beaming alone, since the line EW changes only by a factor of a few. The correlation with the actual viewing angle derived from the superluminal motions is very clear and nicely consistent with this weak beaming being due to the surface brightness effect expected from tilting a flat accretion disc. We also find that the FWHM of H$`\alpha `$ is correlated with the viewing angle in a manner quantitatively consistent with the idea that the line emitting material is an axisymmetric rotating structure. However, the line emission cannot come from the surface of an optically thick disc, otherwise the line beaming would cancel the continuum beaming. Overall it seems most likely that the optical continuum comes from a flat accretion disc whereas the line emission is from an axisymmetric system of clouds.

## Acknowledgments

We are grateful to the UKIRT  team for their help in the observations. We thank Suzy Collin for helpful discussion, and Anne-Marie Dumont, Catherine Boisson and Maria Kontizas for help in this work. We also thank the referee, Bev Wills, for critical comments which improved this work. ER acknowledges a UK PPARC and a Greek IKY fellowship.

## 9 FIGURE CAPTIONS

Figure 1 The observed flux calibrated spectra obtained with CGS4  at UKIRT . The 14 SL sources are presented in RA order. The spectra of 3C 286 and the three serendipitous sources are given at the end. Note that there are only three SL sources where H$`\alpha `$ was not detected (the expected wavelength is indicated in 3C 216, 4C 29.45, and 4C 56.27).

Figure 2 (a): The H$`\alpha `$ line versus continuum luminosity of the SL sample. (b): The EW versus the continuum luminosity. CDP, CD and LD objects are shown with cross, X and star symbols respectively. Small filled circle symbols show the UKIRT data. Upper limits are noted.

Figure 3 The H$`\alpha `$ EW versus $`R`$ , $`\beta _\mathrm{a}`$, $`\delta `$ , and $`\theta `$, (in a,b,c and d respectively) of the 22 SL objects. In these and all subsequent figures, circles designate the strong-EW objects (open and filled symbols are core and lobe dominated sources respectively). Note the inverted abscissa for the graphs versus $`\delta `$ , $`R`$, and $`\beta _\mathrm{a}`$, chosen so that these can be easily compared with the correlation with $`\theta `$.

Figure 4 The H$`\alpha `$ FWHM versus the orientation indicators as in Fig 3, for the 19 objects with detected line emission.

Figure 5 (a): FWHM versus $`\theta `$ compared with models. The dashed curve shows an axisymmetric component ($`V=13,000\mathrm{sin}\theta `$ km s-1) and the solid curve gives its quadrature sum with an isotropic one ($`V`$=2,000 km s-1, the dotted curve). (b): EW versus $`\theta `$ compared with models. Note the inverted EW axis indicating the brightness of the underlying continuum. The dot-dashed curve shows the expected effect of Doppler enhancement for a jet with $`\gamma `$=30. The dashed curve shows the predicted effect for a flat accretion disc with a standard limb darkening, and the solid curve combines disc and beamed component. The dotted curve combines an isotropic and a beamed component.

Figure 6 Same as Fig 5, but with $`\theta `$ recalculated using $`\delta `$ bigger by factor three to show sensitivity to errors.


text:
# Dark Matter Spikes and Indirect Detection

## 1 The Adiabatic Growth Model

If a black hole grows at the center of a collisionless fluid, the density around it also grows as the black hole’s gravity causes the surrounding orbits to shrink. The result is simplest to compute under the “adiabatic” approximation in which the growth time is long compared with orbital periods; this is reasonable in the case of SBHs at galactic centers, whose growth time is thought to be $`10^8`$ yr compared with orbital periods of $`10^6`$ yr. The resulting density profile depends somewhat on the initial state. One possibility is a constant-density, isothermal core; the resulting spike is a power law, $`\rho r^{1.5}`$, $`r\mathrm{}<r_hGM_{}/\sigma ^2`$, with $`M_{}`$ the final black hole mass and $`\sigma `$ the 1D particle velocity dispersion before the appearance of the black hole.

A more reasonable guess for the initial profile is a power law, $`\rho r^{\gamma _0}`$; power-law central profiles are generic outcomes of hierarchical structure formation simulations, although the index of the power law is debated. Adiabatic growth in a power law gives a final profile that is also a power law near the black hole but with steeper index:

$$\rho _f(r)r^\gamma ,\gamma =2+\frac{1}{4\gamma _0}(0<\gamma _0<2).$$
(1)
The final index is almost independent of the initial index: $`2.25<\gamma <2.5`$ (Figure 1). Other reasonable initial profiles can be found that generate final profiles which fill the gap between the power laws and the isothermal sphere. Hence in the absence of detailed knowledge about the initial state, the adiabatic growth model predicts density profiles such that

$$\rho _f(r)r^\gamma ,1.5\mathrm{}<\gamma \mathrm{}<2.5.$$
(2)
Even slopes at the low end of this range should not be ruled out since the latest simulations suggest that $`\gamma _0`$ may decline monotonically toward the center. Essentially nothing is known about the structure of CDM halos on the very small ($`\mathrm{}<100`$ pc) scales relevant to the formation of a spike.

## 2 Stellar Density Profiles

The predictions of the adiabatic growth model can be tested against stellar luminosity profiles in galactic nuclei. The time scales for both physical collisions and gravitational near-encounters exceed a Hubble time for the stars in most nuclei; in the absence of ongoing star formation, nuclei should have retained whatever density profiles were set up when the SBH gained its current size. Observed profiles are indeed well described as power laws within the SBH’s sphere of influence, but with slopes that vary systematically as a function of galaxy luminosity. Faint ellipticals and bulges, $`M_V\mathrm{}>20`$, exhibit roughly the range of slopes predicted by the adiabatic growth model, $`1.5\mathrm{}<\gamma \mathrm{}<2.5`$. However bright galaxies have shallower inner profiles, $`0\mathrm{}<\gamma \mathrm{}<1.5`$.

There are problems with identifying even the steep profiles in faint galaxies with the adiabatic growth picture. Spikes produced by adiabatic growth almost always exhibit an inflection at $`rr_h`$ (Figure 1); the logarithmic slope increases inwards. In real galaxies, the slope decreases inwards; inflections are virtually never seen, except at much smaller radii where they are associated with point-like or non-thermal nuclei. Avoiding an inflection requires fine-tuning of the initial conditions: either the initial profile has to be steep, $`\gamma _02`$, which obviates the need for adiabatic growth; or the SBH has to be just the right size that the pre-existing slope at $`rr_h`$ matches the final slope $`\gamma `$.

The rapid rotation, high densities and disky isophotes of low-luminosity ellipticals and bulges imply that gas dynamics played a dominant role in their formation. The steep stellar density spike at the center of the Milky Way, $`\rho _{}r^2`$, may be the result of sustained star formation from a reservoir of dense molecular gas. Semi-analytic models of galaxy formation suggest that galaxies fainter than $`M_V20`$ were formed from gas-rich progenitors. These arguments suggest that the structure of nuclei in faint elliptical galaxies and bulges is a combined result of SBH growth and gas dynamics. For this reason, faint galaxies are not ideal testing grounds for the adiabatic growth model.

A cleaner test of the model comes from bright elliptical galaxies, and here the model clearly fails: nuclear profiles in bright galaxies are almost always flatter than the minimum slope allowed by adiabatic growth, $`\gamma 1.5`$. Profiles are sometimes so flat that they are best described as “cores,” regions of nearly-constant density; indeed central minima have been claimed in a handful of galaxies. Core radii can be $`10^2`$ pc or more. Something other than adiabatic SBH growth is required to explain this structure.

## 3 The Binary Black Hole Model

A natural way to explain the low central densities of bright galaxies is mergers. A SBH is effective at tidally disrupting the density cusp of an infalling galaxy. If the latter also contains a SBH, a binary SBH will form, which ejects passing stars or dark matter particles via the “gravitational slingshot.” A binary SBH ejects of order its own mass before either coalescing in a burst of gravitational radiation, or, if the supply of ejectable matter runs out, stalling at a separation of $`0.011`$ pc.

The binary black hole model does a credible job of explaining the central density profiles of bright galaxies. Figure 2 plots the mass deficit:

$$M_{def}4\pi _0^{r_b}\left[\rho _{}(r_b)\left(\frac{r}{r_b}\right)^{\gamma _0}\rho _{}(r)\right]r^2𝑑r,$$
(3)
the difference in the integrated mass between the observed density profile, and a $`\rho _{}(r)r^{\gamma _0}`$ profile extrapolated inward from the turnover radius $`r_b`$. There is a good correlation of $`M_{def}`$ with $`M_{}`$, although the constant of proportionality can lie anywhere between $`1`$ and $`10`$ depending on the choice of $`\gamma _0`$. Larger ratios would be consistent with a picture in which galaxies form through a succession of mergers.

Interestingly, another class of stellar system exhibits both spikes and cores: the globular clusters. Globular clusters may contain “intermediate mass” ($`M_{}10^3M_{}`$) black holes, although the evidence is not compelling. However they almost certainly contained an early population of $`10M_{}`$ black holes, remnants of the first generation of stars, which would have spiralled to the center and displaced the lighter stars before ejecting themselves via the gravitational slingshot. This mechanism appears capable of creating the cores. The steep central spikes seen in some globular clusters are probably a consequence of collisional relaxation.

## 4 Implications for Dark Matter Spikes

A dark matter spike could have survived at the center of the Milky Way if no mergers occurred since the era of SBH formation. But the formation of the SBH was itself probably triggered by a major merger which channeled gas into the central regions; indeed a binary SBH may have played a crucial role in the channeling. It is hard to see how a dark matter spike could have survived such an event, and in fact the quasi-stationary conditions critical for the formation of the spike may never have existed. These arguments suggest that a dark matter spike is unlikely at the center of the Galaxy, even if the Milky Way disk has not suffered a major merger in the last $`12`$ Gyr. A conservative upper limit on the density of neutralinos at the Galactic center would be that given by CDM models of structure formation, ignoring the SBHs. Spike-free density profiles might still allow testing of significant portions of MSSM parameter space.

## Acknowledgments

This work was supported by NSF grants AST 00-71099 and AST 02-06031, by NASA grants NAG5-6037 and NAG5-9046, and by grant HST-AR-08759 from STScI.