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# Gas Kinematics of Three Hickson Compact Groups: The Data Based on observations collected at the European Southern Observatory, La Silla, Chile and at the Canada-France-Hawaii Observatory, Hawaii, USA

## 1 Introduction

Hickson Compact Groups (Hickson 1982, referred hereafter as HCGs) are collections of three to seven galaxies inside a three-magnitude interval, where the members have a projected separation of the order of the galaxy diameter. The original photometric selection criteria found spectroscopic confirmation for 92% of the group candidates (Hickson et al., 1989). With a low velocity dispersion ($``$ $`200kms^1`$) and a high galaxy density, Hickson Compact Groups are privileged laboratories to study different stages of interactions, from violent interacting systems to systems with no apparent signs of interaction.

We began in 1995 an observing program using a Fabry-Perot instrument to obtain 2D-velocity maps of Hickson compact group galaxies with the aim of investigating the influence of the dense environment on the kinematics and dynamics of their galaxy members. Such a study is the extension of a previous effort in the same lines, in order to determine the influence of the dense environment of galaxy clusters (Amram et al., 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996). We first looked at a few particularly interesting groups in detail, in order to understand the evolution of galaxies in such dense environment. The groups already studied were HCG 16 (Mendes de Oliveira et al., 1998), HCG 90 (Plana et al., 1998), HCG 18 (Plana et al., 2000), HCG 92 (The Stefan’s Quintet, Plana et al. 1999, Mendes de Oliveira et al. 2001) and HCG 79 (The Seyfert Sextet, Plana et al. 2002). These studies revealed that there are large differences in the kinematic behavior of these systems, between galaxy to galaxy within a group and between one group to the other. Combining the kinematics of the galaxies with other data from the literature we were able to classify the groups in different evolutionary stages, from evolved groups, strongly interacting, to unevolved systems (Mendes de Oliveira & Amram, 2000; Amram et al., 2002).

In this paper we present Fabry-Perot data for a set of three Hickson compact groups, HCG 88, HCG 89 and HCG 100. We were able to derive kinematic information for 15 galaxies in these groups.

When available, we also present rotation curves (RCs) from previous studies using long-slit spectroscopy (Rubin et al. 1991, hereafter RHF1991, and Nishiura et al. 2000, hereafter NSOMT2000). A deeper comparison between our results and these previous studies is currently under preparation in a forcoming paper (Mendes de Oliveira et al. 2003 in prep.).

## 2 Observations

Observations were carried out in two runs at the European Southern Observatory 3.6m telescope (ESO 3.6m) in August 1995 and at the Canada-France-Hawaii 3.6m telescope (CFHT 3.6m) in August 1996. During the run at the ESO 3.6m telescope, the Fabry Perot instrument CIGALE was used. It is composed of a focal reducer (bringing the original f/8 focal ratio of the Cassegrain focus to f/2), a scanning Fabry-Perot and an Image Photon Counting System (IPCS). The IPCS with a time sampling of 1/50 second and zero readout noise makes it possible to scan the interferometer rapidly (typically 5 seconds per channel), avoiding sky transparency, air-mass and seeing variation problems during the exposures.

At the CFHT 3.6m, the multi-object spectrograph focal reducer (MOS) in the Fabry-Perot mode was used, attached to the f/8 Cassegrain focus. The CCD was a STIS 2 detector, 2048 $`\times `$ 2048 pixels with a read-out noise of 9.3 e- and a pixel size on the sky of 0.86” after 2x2 binning.

Tables 1 and 2 contain the journal of observations and observational characteristics for both runs. Reduction of the data cubes were performed using the CIGALE/ADHOC software (Boulesteix, 1999). The data reduction procedure has been extensively described in (Amram et al., 1992) and references therein.

Wavelength calibration was obtained by scanning the narrow Ne 6599 Å line under the same conditions as the observations. Velocities measured relative to the systemic velocity are very accurate, with an error of a fraction of a channel width ($`<3\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1`$) over the whole field.

Subtraction of bias, flat fielding of the data and cosmic-ray removal have been performed for each image of the data cube for the CFHT observations. To minimize seeing variation, each scan image was smoothed with a gaussian function of full-width at half maximum equal to the worse-seeing data of the data cube. Transparency and sky foreground fluctuations have also been corrected using field star fluxes and galaxy-free windows for the CFHT observations.

The signal measured along the scanning sequence was separated into two parts: (1) an almost constant level produced by the continuum light in a narrow passband around H$`\alpha `$ (continuum map), and (2) a varying part produced by the H$`\alpha `$ line (H$`\alpha `$ integrated flux map). The continuum level was taken to be the mean of the three faintest channels, to avoid channel noise effects. The H$`\alpha `$ integrated flux map was obtained by integrating the monochromatic profile in each pixel. The velocity sampling was $`11kms^1`$ at CFHT and $`16kms^1`$ at ESO. Profiles were spatially binned to 3$`\times `$3 or 5$`\times `$5 pixels in the outer parts, in order to increase the signal-to-noise ratio. Strong OH night sky lines passing through the filters were subtracted by determining the level of emission from extended regions away from the galaxies (Laval et al., 1987).

The different kinematical parameters have been determined as followed. The position angle (PA) of the kinematical major axis has been determined from the velocity field (VF) doing the average of PA estimation at a given radius from the center . The inclination of the VF has been determined using the method described by Amram et al. (1996), consisting of choosing the inclination minimizing the scattering of velocities at determined radius and at different angles from the axis. The kinematical center also has been determined in order to get the most symmetrical rotation curve (RC) when both sides of the velocity plot are folded. Morphological center corresponds to the maximum of the H$`\alpha `$ continuum emission. Systemic velocities have been determined using both the velocity field and the symmetrization of the RC (see last column of Table 4).

## 3 Description of the individual groups

In this section, we describe the main characteristics of each individual galaxy observed. Table 3 summarizes the general properties of the galaxies and Table 4 gives the different galaxy parameters we derived from the continuum, monochromatic and velocity maps. In Figures 1 to 17, we show the different maps (continuum, monochromatic, velocity), the different rotation curves (RCs) for each group member and, when available, comparison with other authors’ data. Group Distances have been derived using the method described in Paturel et al. (1997): the mean group redshifts come from Palombo et al. (1993) and have been corrected to the centroid of the Local Group and for infall of the Local Group towards Virgo using an infall velocity of $`170kms^1`$. The distance has been computed using a Hubble constant $`75kms^1Mpc^1`$. We found D = 80.6 Mpc for HCG 88, D = 119 Mpc for HCG 89 and D = 71.8 Mpc for HCG 100.

### 3.1 HCG 88

Hickson (1993) described this group as a relatively loose quartet of spiral galaxies with a very small velocity dispersion ($`27kms^1`$). Ribeiro et al. (1998) detects a set of six galaxies at V = $`6074kms^1`$ in the group region and a velocity dispersion of $`72kms^1`$. HCG 88a and b are infrared sources, emitting at 60 and 100 $`\mu `$m (IRAS, Allam et al. (1996)) and HCG 88a and HCG 88d are weak radio sources (Menon, 1995). Weak CO emission has been detected for HCG 88a (the intensity of the CO line is $`1.75Kkms^1`$, as given by Boselli et al. (1996) and $`1.12Kkms^1`$, given by Léon et al. (1998). HCG 88a shows a weak star formation efficiency (0.22 L/M) in comparison with the mean SFE of Léon et al. (1998)’s sample (0.39). Verdes-Montenegro et al. (2001) reported a H i deficiency for the whole group of $`Def_{H\mathrm{I}}`$ = 0.27, but individual galaxies show a rather large spread in the H i deficiency from 0.92 for HCG 88a to -0.11 for HCG 88c. Ponman et al. (1996) gave an upper limit for the X-ray luminosity of the group of 42.18 erg s-1 (using the Ho = 50$`kms^1Mpc^1`$). Ribeiro et al. (1998) found that this group is formed by a total of six members and reinforce the idea that HCG 88 is an isolated compact group.

We present continuum and monochromatic maps and velocity fields for all four group members. Shimada et al. (2000) detected only \[N II\]-line emission and did not detect H$`\alpha `$-line emission in the nucleus of HCG 88a. They classified this galaxy as an AGN. We detect H$`\alpha `$ emission throughout the disk of HCG 88a, in a clumpy distribution. The velocity field of HCG 88a is fairly regular but slightly twisted around the kinematic major axis. RHF1991 and NSOMT2000 published RCs for HCG 88a, obtained from long-slit spectroscopy, along the major axis of the galaxy. In Fig. 3a we compare the three curves (ours, RHF1991 and NSOMT2000). The inclination used to derive these curves is very similar (65, 68 and 64 degrees, respectively). The RC derived by RHF1991 matches that derived by us better than NSOMT2000 does. Nevertheless, even in that case the agreement is not satisfactory. The RC derived in this study is symmetric, i.e. both sides of the curve match, which is not observed in the RC derived by RHF1991. Indeed, the latter displays a flat approaching side and a rising receding side, while in the present paper we find that both sides are rising 111In table 7 of RHF1991, as well as in their Fig. 1, it is indicated that positive radial distances refer to the tabulated position angles. Nevertheless, the two galaxies of this group presented in their paper display an RC reversed with respect to what we derived. We assume that this is a mistake, and reverse the sign of their data, to compare them to ours.. The disagreement between both sides of RHF1991’s RC is probably due to a bad choice of the kinematic center of rotation, as it can be suspected from the strong disagreement between both sides of their RC around the center, within 5 arcsec. The RC derived by NSOMT2000 does not agree with those derived by us and by RHF1991. Moreover, they derive an RC out to 16 arcsec only, while RHF1991 and this paper present RCs which extend out to 32 arcsec (12.5 kpc).

The SBb galaxy HCG 88b presents a very clumpy monochromatic map, with a strong asymmetric emission in an arm-like feature in the northeastern side and a less strong emission region in the southern region. In contrast, on the northwestern side of the galaxy, almost no emission can be seen. Due to the presence of a bar in this galaxy (SBb), the continuum image shows an asymmetric and irregular shape, rotating from 34o within 10 arcsec to 160o at a radius of 30 arcsec. At large radius (50 arsec) the galaxy is rather round. The velocity field shows a large scale twist and a clear signature of a bar in the inner regions. The RC derived in this study is completely asymmetric, with a total extension of 40 arcsec (15.6 kpc). Approaching and receding sides match well in the inner 5 arcsec and they disagree farther out. The maximum discrepancy happens at a radius of 20 arcsec (7.8 kpc), where the approaching side has velocities $`80kms^1`$ lower than that in the receding side. Fig. 3b shows our data together with that from NSOMT2000. The RC obtained by NSOMT2000 is plotted with a PA = $`31^o`$, which is orthogonal with respect to the PA = $`160^o`$ we derived for the major axis of this galaxy. This obviously leads to very different results, which cannot be directly compared. However, even if we use NSOMT2000’s kinematic parameters (inclination and PA) and simulate a long slit in our data, we cannot reproduce their RC, specially for the receding side (Mendes de Oliveira et al.2003, in prep.).

HCG 88c shows a rather symmetric gas distribution of what could be a three-arm system. The brightest $`H\alpha `$ knot coincides with the continuum center. The continuum image shows an arm-like structure on the southeastern side of the galaxy and an asymmetric feature (the eastern isophotes are stretched as compared to the western isophotes). The velocity field is regular even if a twist can be seen (less strong than for HCG 88b). The RC of HCG 88c, slightly rising from 4 arcsec (1.6 kpc) to 25 arcsec (9.8 kpc), displays a good match between the receding and approaching sides (Fig. 4b). The RC reaches 35 arcsec (13.7 kpc, 0.9 R25) at a velocity of $`120kms^1`$. Fig. 6a plots the RC derived in this study together with those derived by NSOMT2000 and RHF1991. NSOMT2000 seems to have used a wrong PA for the major axis (31o instead of 160o used by RHF1991).

The RC derived by RHF1991 extends to 20” (7.8 kpc) and agrees quite well to our except the part after -20” on the receding side and the two extreme points respectively at 24” (9.5 kpc) and at 28” (11.8 kpc) on the approaching side (see Fig. 6a).

The edge-on Sc galaxy HCG 88d shows an asymmetric continuum image with respect to the line of nodes, due to a dust lane. The monochromatic image shows a clumpy structure exhibiting five rather strong H$`\alpha `$ knots. The velocity field is regular. The RC derived in this study is symmetric and rising till 60 arcsec (23.4 kpc) for a rotational velocity of $`260kms^1`$ (Fig. 5b). The solid-body shape is probably a result of absorption effects due to the high-inclination of the galaxy (85o). The agreement between NSOMT2000 and our data (Fig. 6b) is acceptable for the overall shape of the curves but not in the details, specially between 10 and 20 arcsec, where NSOMT2000 find a flat RC. Moreover, the RCs derived by NSOMT2000 ends around a radius of 21 arcsec in the in the southwestern region and of 26 arcsec in the northeastern part. NSOMT2000 noted that HCG 88b and 88d have lower rotational velocities than field spiral galaxies with similar Hubble types and luminosities; this is obviously due to the small extension of the RC they derived.

### 3.2 HCG 89

This group is one of the most distant ones in our sample (119 Mpc). It is formed by four spiral galaxies. Allam et al. (1996) gave possible detections of galaxies HCG 89c and HCG 89d and upper limits of HCG 89a and 89b, at 60 $`\mu `$m ( $`<`$ 0.18 Jy for HCG 89a, $`<`$ 0.16 Jy for HCG 89b and a value of 0.31 Jy for HGC 89 cd, together). CO emission has only been detected for HCG 89c (Léon et al., 1998) with an intensity of $`0.56Kkms^1`$, which is the lowest value for Léon et al. (1998)’s sample. Verdes-Montenegro et al. (2001) showed that this group exhibits almost no H I deficit ($`Def_{H\mathrm{I}}=0.04`$). Ponman et al. (1996) listed an upper limit for the X-ray luminosity ($`<42.30ergs^1`$, using Ho = $`50kms^1`$ Mpc-1). Shimada et al. (2000) reported nuclear emission in several lines (H$`\alpha `$, \[NII\]6584 Å and \[NII\]6548 Å) for HCG 89a and classified it as having an H i activity type.

We derived maps for the four members. We also found a new (non-catalogued) member near HCG 89a. The monochromatic map and continuum image of HCG 89a show that the galaxy has an arm-like structure with almost no emission in its center. A very bright knot can be seen on the southwestern side of the disk of HCG 89a. This was noted by RHF1991, who suspected that this knot was a tidal dwarf candidate. The brightest part of the H$`\alpha `$ knot is very round and a velocity gradient of $`60kms^1`$ can be measured from one side to the other. This very bright giant H ii region will perhaps become a tidal dwarf galaxy. However, what we can say is that, in the present, its velocity gradient matches perfectly the grand design velocity field of the galaxy.

At about 37 arcsec (21.3 kpc) south of HCG 89a, a bright emission region is visible in the H$`\alpha `$ monochromatic map, we called HCG 89x on Fig. 7a. At very low intensity level (not shown here), our continuum image shows that this isolated region is in fact weakly linked (by a stellar bridge) to the main body of HCG 89a. We do not know the absolute velocity of this object since we have no absolute measurement of it, but only relative velocities subject to a shift of the free spectral range of the interferometer ($`265kms^1`$). The range of possible velocities is provided by the limits of the interference filter (computed at 20 per cent of the maximum transmission), i.e. in a range between 7870 and $`10145kms^1`$. Eight values for the systemic velocity of this region are possible: $`9190\pm n\times 265kms^1`$ where $`1<n<4`$). This giant H$`\alpha `$ knot, which has a size around 7 arcsec (4 kpc), shows a clear velocity gradient of $`84kms^1`$ ($`\pm 42kms^1`$) decoupled from the velocity field of the main body of the galaxy. This object is not in counter-rotation with respect to the main body (the position of its major axis is 80o while the one of the main body is 54o). Moreover, it does not show any geometrical or velocity continuity with the main velocity field. A fairly regular RC has been plotted for this object (Fig. 11b). Both sides agree and reach a maximum rotational velocity around $`70kms^1`$ (for an inclination of 50$`\pm `$6o). This provides a mass which is high enough for the galaxy to be self-graviting. In conclusion, the emission-line system south of galaxy HCG 89a is, in fact, an excellent tidal dwarf candidate.

The kinematic and stellar major-axis position angles of HCG 89a differ by 10o (see table 4). The velocity field of HCG 89a shows no major twisted isovelocities at large radii, which is confirmed by the symmetric RC for radii larger than 8 arcsec (4.6 kpc). The southeastern bright extension of the velocity field is described below. In the inner region of the galaxy, a very steep velocity gradient is observed to the northeast (receding side), up to 4 arcsec (2.3 kpc, $`170kms^1`$), followed by a decrease of $`40kms^1`$ to 8 arcsec (4.6 kpc, $`130kms^1`$). Farther out, the two sides of the galaxy match. Note that this high-velocity spot does not present any morphological counter part neither in the H$`\alpha `$ map nor in the continuum image. In the northwestern side of the galaxy, the velocities rise regularly. This non-bulgy galaxy is not classified as a barred galaxy. In fact, the asymmetric signature of the velocity field could not be due to a bar perturbation since that would give rise to a symmetric feature. The RC of HCG 89a extends up to 30 arcsec (17.3 kpc) for a velocity of $`215kms^1`$. RHF1991 and NSOMT2000 published RCs for this galaxy, which can be compared to that derived here. The RC derived by RHF1991 is symmetric and reaches 25 arcsec (14.4 kpc), where the receding and approaching sides match well except for the high velocity spot and the depression discussed before. The shape of both RCs is quite similar (we also can notice the presence of the high velocity region at -5”) except for the approaching part when, our RC decreases and their has a flat shape. The main difference between our data and their (Fig. 9a), comes from the velocity amplitude ($`210kms^1`$ and $`130kms^1`$ respectively). This difference is due to the kinematic inclination we deduced from the velocity field (45o) and the inclination deduced from the photometry by RHF1991 (60o). Indeed, the velocity dispersion observed at each radius for different azimuthal angles reaches a minimum for an inclination of 45$`\pm 5^o`$, (see Amram et al. (1996) for more details on the method we used to determine the inclination). On the other hand, the morphological inclination is indeed the value used by RHF1991 (60o), if one excludes the southeastern knot discussed above. As this knot is visible in the continuum image and as we argued that this knot belongs to the main body of the galaxy, there is no reason to exclude it to determine the inclination of the galaxy. Including this knot, the morphological inclination becomes compatible with the kinematic one (45$`\pm 5^o`$). The RC determined by NSOMT2000 is more irregular than that of RHF1991 and ours, emphasizing the high velocity region. In addition, it does not reach as far out as the other RC’s do (only out to 20”). The velocity amplitudes derived by NSOMT2000 agree better with ours because the inclination adopted (51o) is more similar to the inclination derived by us.

The monochromatic and continuum images of HCG 89b show well a spiral structure. In addition, the monochromatic image shows large emission complexes, the largest being a region to the northeast of the galaxy. As for HCG 89a, weak emission is visible in its center. The gas and stellar major-axis position angles of this galaxy differ by 10o. HCG 89b was morphologically classified as a barred galaxy, an SBc (Hickson, 1993) and, indeed, a weak bar signature can be seen through the tilt of its central isovelocities. The regular RC shows a continuous increase of the rotational velocity up to $`130kms^1`$ at a radius of 6 arcsec (3.5 kpc), after which a plateau is reached. After 16 arcsec (9.2 kpc), the trend of the receding side decreases, while the approaching side slowly rises, out to a radius of 25 arcsec (14.4 kpc), up to a velocity of $`175kms^1`$. The RC derived by RHF1991’s shows a solid body rotation continuously rising from -10 arcsec to 22 arcsec. The main difference between the RC derived by RHF1991 and that derived by us (Fig. 9b) comes from the different values of our derived inclination and theirs ($`49^o`$ and $`63^o`$). Even if we use our continuum map to derive a photometric inclination (which is presumably what they used), the value we find is 56o (see table 4), still lower than the value of inclination used by RHF1991 to derive the RC of HCG 89b. Simulating a long slit on our VF and using RHF1991’s parameters, we can nevertheless derive a rotation curve matching better RHF1991 curve (Mendes de Oliveira et al. 2003, in prep.).

A bright H$`\alpha `$ emission region is seen at about 38” to the southwest of the center of HCG 89b. Its size is approximately 9 arcsec (5.2 kpc). Contrary to the giant H$`\alpha `$ knot seen close to HCG 89a, this region presents a very small velocity gradient, of the order of its velocity dispersion ($`15kms^1`$). We, therefore, cannot assess if this objet is a tidal dwarf candidate or not. In Fig.7a, this object is labelled HCG 89x.

HCG 89c and HCG 89d are separated by only 32” and were, therefore, imaged in one single exposure. HCG 89c is one and a half times larger than HCG 89d (maximum radius of 24 and 15 arcsec respectively) and it has a maximum rotational velocity almost three times as high as that for HCG 89d (180 and $`70kms^1`$ respectively). In both cases, the agreement between both sides of the RC is good in the central regions but diverge somewhat in the external regions. Both galaxies have a clumpy monochromatic map, but HCG 89d is brighter than HCG 89c in H$`\alpha `$, showing clearly three bright knots in emission. The velocity field of HCG 89c is regular in the inner part but the external isovelocities are peculiar. The velocity field of HCG 89d presents an U-shape twist around the major axis which can explain the peculiarity of the RC. Moreover, HCG 89d shows an extension to the south toward the direction of HCG 89c. This extension could maybe be explained by an interaction between the two galaxies even if the velocity difference is rather large between the extension of HCG 89d ($`8740kms^1`$) and the northern part of the velocity field of HCG 89c ($`8920kms^1`$).

### 3.3 HCG 100

This quartet, formed by four late-type galaxies, shows a bright central Sb galaxy with strong infra-red emission. Allam et al. (1996) give IRAS fluxes for HCG 100a (F$`{}_{60}{}^{}\mu `$m = 1.75 Jy, F$`{}_{100}{}^{}\mu `$m = 4.33 Jy) and upper limits for the remaining galaxies in the group (F$`{}_{60}{}^{}\mu `$m $`<`$ 0.17 Jy, F$`{}_{100}{}^{}\mu `$m $`<`$ 0.71 Jy). Only an upper limit has been determined for the X-Ray luminosity of this group, by Ponman et al. (1996). Verdes-Montenegro et al. (2001) give an H i deficit $`Def_{H\mathrm{I}}=0.5`$ for the whole group, higher than the mean value for their sample. Léon et al. (1998) have detected CO gas for HCG 100a only, and derived an SFE of 0.72 L$``$/M$``$, a value above the mean for their sample. Although HCG 100d has no measured redshift, we know it is a member of the group because we were able to detect gas emission from it. It has, therefore, a velocity within the velocity range of our inference filter (within $`265kms^1`$). We also detected a new point-like source (not previously catalogued) east of HCG 100b. We could derive maps for all four members and for the new object as well.

The monochromatic image of HCG 100a shows bipolar emission regions but no emission is seen at the position of the continuum center, as mentioned by Vilchez et al. (1998). The general morphology of the monochromatic map derived by Vilchez et al. (1998) is similar to that derived by us. Their map reaches an extension of 31”, if we include the emission spot to the east of their map. This spot can also be seen on our map, at the same location and distance from the center (a radius of $``$ 19” along the major axis). Our continuum map shows a regular distribution of light, with an elliptical shape, and without any detected spiral pattern. The velocity map shows that the extension to the east does not have a velocity gradient but, instead, it corresponds to a single isovelocity. We note that there is a variation of the position angle of the major axis along the radius of the galaxy. We also note three isovelocities which are inconsistent with the rest of the velocity field, located northwest and southeast of the galaxy. The RC for H100a is not symmetric, showing a flat part beyond a radius of 8 arcsec (2.8 kpc) on the receding side and a constantly rising velocity in the approaching side. We compare the RC with that derived by RHF1991 (Fig. 16a). They used an inclination of 60o and a PA = 85o, compared to 50o and 78o for our data. The agreement between the two RCs is good for the receding side but for the approaching side the velocity amplitudes given by RFH1991 are larger than those derived by us.

HCG 100b has been classified as an Sm galaxy by (Hickson, 1993), but our data (and the velocity field in particular) suggests that this object is more likely irregular. The extension of the monochromatic image of this galaxy is $``$ 22”, comparable to what was derived by Vilchez et al. (1998). We can clearly see the central emission and the tail-like feature in the southeast direction. We also note, by comparing the monochromatic and continuum maps, that there is a difference of 25o degrees between the PA of the two major axes. The velocity field appears to be disturbed, with a strong variation of the position angle along the radius. In addition, some isovelosities are inconsistent with those measured over the whole map. The RC of HCG 100b is obviously asymmetric: there is no match between the two sides of the galaxy. In fact, the RC is so peculiar that it does not have an approaching side. The rotation of this object is not consistent with a disk-like rotator.

HCG 100c is a late-type barred spiral galaxy. The monochromatic map shows strong central emission with an extension out to a radius of 35”. Vilchez et al. (1998) show an H$`\alpha `$ image of the central part of the galaxy only. The PA of the major axis obtained in the continuum map is slightly different from the monochromatic map (stellar and kinematic axes differ by 20o). The velocity map clearly shows the presence of the bar, with the central $`5425kms^1`$ isovelocity. The velocity field also shows the strong variation of the major axis along the radius and presents inconsistent isovelocities to the northeast. The RC of HCG 100c shows pretty good agreement between both sides out to a radius of 13 arcsec (4.5 kpc). Further out, the receding side continues to rise out to 14 arcsec (4.9 kpc) and then reach a plateau. The approaching side has dropping velocities for radii between 13 arcsec to 20 arcsec (7 kpc). This drop corresponds to the inconsistent isovelocities to the northeast of the velocity field. We compare the RC derived in this study with that derived by RFH1991 (Fig. 16b). There is good agreement only in the center.

HCG 100d is a late-type edge-on spiral galaxy. No redshift information is available for this object but, due to the narrow FHWM of our interference filter (17 Å = $`777kms^1`$), the probability for this object to be part of the group is high. The monochromatic image of the galaxy shows a clumpy structure, consistent with the image produced by Vilchez et al. (1998). The continuum map is regular, but with a knot to the northeast. The knot corresponds to an excess emission on the monochromatic map. The velocity field if fairly regular but also shows a variation of the isovelocities along the radius. The RC of HCG 100d is continuously rising, both sides agree well within 8 arcsec (2.8 kpc) and further out the discrepancy between both sides increases with radius. The velocity amplitudes reach $`240kms^1`$ and $`170kms^1`$ for the approaching and receding sides respectively at a radius of 30 arcsec (10.4 kpc).

HCG 100x is an extragalactic emission object located 30” east of HCG 100b. We did not find any mention of this object in the literature. This object has an H$`\alpha `$ extension of 20” and a very compact and intense nucleus of 5” radius. Line emission and continuum emission are concentrated in the nucleus but we observed a shift of 2 arcsec between both maxima. The velocity map is not axisymmetric, as can be seen also in the RC. The approaching and receding sides of the RC disagree completely.

## 4 General discussion and Conclusions

### 4.1 A census of the interaction-related properties of the galaxies

One of the main reasons why it is important to have the full kinematic information for each compact-group member is to have some insight about the possible interaction history of the galaxy. Mendes de Oliveira et al. (1998) described several interaction indicators and listed those present in the galaxies studied by them. Similarly, in Table 5, we list different indicators for all the galaxies studied here. Different interaction scenarios, depending on the strength of the encounter and the morphological types of the interacting systems, will leave different signatures on the velocity fields of the galaxies. As discussed in Mendes de Oliveira et al. (1998), indicators like highly disturbed velocity field, double nuclei and double kinematic gas component are used to show strong evidences for merger. Other indicators such as warping, stellar and gas major axis misalignment, tidal tail, high IR luminosity and central activity are used to show indications of collisions which do not lead to merging.

### 4.2 The interaction history of each galaxy

The data presented in this paper support the existence of regular gaseous rotating disks in the centers of all studied galaxies, except for HCG 100b. Based on the interaction indicators for each galaxy listed in Table 5 and in the context of the various models of galaxy interactions (Barnes (1989), Barnes & Hernquist (1992, 1996)) we suggest the following histories for the 12 giant galaxies studied here.

Galaxies HCG 88c, HCG 88d and HCG 100d seem to be undisturbed galaxies, with no signs of interaction. However, HCG 88d and HCG 100d may be in unfavorable inclinations to see any signs of interaction in their velocity fields. Although we have small number statistics, this small sample of undisturbed galaxies is composed of the faintest members of their respective groups.

Galaxies HCG 88a, HCG 88b, HCG 89a, HCG 89b, HCG 89c and HCG 89d seem to have suffered mild interaction. HCG 89a has a strong kinematic peculiarity only in its center. HCG 89c has a peculiar velocity field but no other sign of strong interaction. The remaining galaxies show evidence for mild interaction histories.

Galaxies HCG 100a, HCG 100b and HCG 100c are galaxies which show strong interaction. These are all in one single group, suggesting that in this group strong encounters have happened in the past. This group must be, therefore, in an advanced stage of evolution. HCG 100a may have also suffered a major accretion event, given its very peculiar velocity field.

### 4.3 The evolutionary stage of each group

Based on the description above, our summary for the evolutionary history of the three groups is the following.

HCG 88 does not display many indicators of having suffered interaction and it displays no indicators of merging. HCG 88c and HCG 88d do not show any interaction signature at all. We should note, however, that the RC for HCG 88d is difficult to obtain because of the high inclination of the disk. HCG 88b has the most disturbed velocity field for this group and it has the least regular RC of the four galaxies of the group. However, it cannot be classified as “highly disturbed”, as other galaxies in group HCG 100 are. HCG 88a is an active galaxy but there is no evidence in its velocity field, that this galaxy has suffered interactions in the recent past. This is not an unexpected result, since it is well known that although active galaxies often appear to be in interaction, it is not always the case. In conclusion, HCG 88 may be an unevolved group, which has recently formed, with low level of interaction. This is in agreement with the conclusion from the H i kinematic study of this group (Verdes-Montenegro et al., 2001).

The list of Table 5 shows that the galaxies in HCG 89 have more positive indicators than those in HCG 88. HCG 89c seems to have the most disturbed velocity field. HCG 89b, HCG 89c and HCG 89d show mildly disturbed rotation curves. HCG 89a has a large disturbance in its center, perhaps because of the canibalism of a small galaxy, or perhaps due to an interaction with the bright emission blob present in the eastern part of the galaxy. The difference of systemic velocities between HCG 89c and HCG 89d is only $`40kms^1`$ and the projected distance is 30 arcsec. It is tempting to say that these two objects may be in interaction. The velocity field of HCG 89d shows an extension to the south, towards HCG 89c, but the velocity difference between the two galaxies is $`180kms^1`$, which is too large for a scenario of gas exchange between the two objects. This distant group does not have a lot of ISM material but HCG 89d clearly shows an excess of warm gas in comparison with HCG 89c. We conclude that this group is in an intermediate evolutionary phase, not as unevolved as HCG 88 but also not as evolved as HCG 100.

HCG 100 shows many signs of interactions. Three of the four giant galaxies of the group have a highly disturbed velocity field and no member has a RC which is completely regular and axisymetric (however we should note that the peculiarity for HCG 100d is small but difficult to detect due to its high inclination). Change of PA of the major axis along the radius is also present for three galaxies in this group. However, no central activity has been found for any group member. The most disturbed group member is HCG 100b. This object may be the product of a merger. In conclusion, HCG 100 is the most evolved group of the three studied here.

H.P. would like to thank the Brazilian PRONEX program, for financial help to attend the conference “Galaxies: The Third Dimension” in Cozumel (Mexico), Dec. 3-7 2001 and the Marseille Observatory Scientific Council for financial help during his stay at the Marseille Observatory in May/June 2002. H.P. also acknowledges the financial support of Brazilian Cnpq under contract 150089/98-8. CMdO acknowledges financial support from PRONEX and FAPESP. The authors thank J.L. Gach for helping during the observations. The NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database (NED) is operated by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under contract with NASA.


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# Spectra from a magnetic reconnection-heated corona in AGN

## 1 Introduction

It is commonly believed that the hard X-ray radiation of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) or galactic black hole candidates (GBHCs) arises from hot gas around accreting black holes, either in forms of hot accretion flow or accretion-disk corona (e.g. Liang & Nolan 1984; Mushotzsky, Done, & Pounds 1993; Narayan, Mahadevan, & Quataert 1998). The structure of hot accretion flows, such as advection-dominated accretion flow (ADAF), has been extensively investigated based on the vertically one-zone approximation (Kato, Fukue, & Mineshige 1998 and references therein). The ADAF model (Ichimaru 1977; Narayan, Yi & Mahadevan 1995; see also Blandford & Begelman 1999; Igumenshchev & Abramowicz 2000 for modifications) can reasonably fit the observed spectra of low luminosity AGNs and X-ray novae in quiescence. Nevertheless, spectral features observed in ordinary AGNs, the big blue bump, the soft X-ray excess and hard X-ray continuum, and the 6.4 keV fluorescent iron lines, show strong observational evidence for hot gas coexisting with cool gas in the vicinity of accreting black hole (e.g., Mushotzky et al. 1993), which is presumably a corona lying above an accretion disk. In disk-corona models, the cold disk is embedded in the hot corona in a plane-parallel slab. Except for the ion-illuminated disk (Deufel & Spruit 2000; Deufel, Dullemond, & Spruit 2002), previous disk corona models for AGNs or GBHCs (Haardt & Maraschi 1991; 1993; Nakamura & Osaki 1993; Svensson & Zdziarski 1994; Dove et al. 1997; Kawaguchi, Shimura, & Mineshige 2001) need to assume a large fraction of accretion energy to be released in the corona though the details of the coronal heating mechanism remain unclear.

Detailed investigation on the interaction between an accretion disk and a friction-heated corona (Liu et al. 2002b) shows that the energy deposit in the corona is not enough to keep itself hot above the disk against strong Compton cooling in AGN systems. Other heating besides the viscous one is required to maintain such a hot corona lying above the disk and to produce the observed X-ray luminosity. Comparison of the thermal energy capacity in the corona and observed power of AGNs also shows energy shortage in the corona (Merloni & Fabian 2001). One promising mechanism to heat the corona may be the magnetic reconnection (e.g. Di Matteo 1998; Di Matteo, Celotti, & Fabian 1999; Miller & Stone 2000; Machida, Hayashi & Matsumoto 2000) as a result of magnetorotational instabilities in the disk and the buoyancy of the magnetic field (Tout & Pringle 1992; Miller & Stone 2000). Despite of the complex radiation and energy interaction between the disk main body and the corona, magnetic fields seem to play essential role in producing time variations and spatial inhomogeneity (e.g. Kawaguchi et al. 2000).

In a recent study (Liu, Mineshige, & Shibata 2002a, hereafter Paper I), we show that, the magnetic reconnection can indeed heat the corona to a temperature around $`10^9`$K and produce the observed X-ray luminosity. In the present paper, we describe the model in a more consistent way (Sect.2), and then calculate the spectra from the corona and disk by Monte Carlo simulations. The computational results on the coronal properties and emergent spectra are presented in Sect.3. Discussion on spectra is presented in Sect.4 and our conclusions in Sect.5.

## 2 The model

In our disk-corona model (Paper I), the disk is assumed to be a classical Shakura & Sunyaev (1973) disk. The corona is a plane-parallel corona which is tightly coupled with the underlying disk. In the disk, magnetic fields are continuously generated by dynamo action. Owing to the buoyancy magnetic flux loops emerge into the corona and reconnect with other loops. Thereby, the magnetic energy carried from the disk is released in the corona as thermal energy. If the density of corona is not high enough, heat is conducted by electrons from the corona to the chromosphere, resulting in mass evaporation. Once the density of corona reaches a certain value, Compton scattering becomes dominant in cooling, and eventually an equilibrium is established between the reconnection heating and Compton cooling, a stationary corona is built up. The equations describing these processes in the corona and at the interface of disk and corona are (see Paper I),

$$\frac{B^2}{4\pi }V_A\frac{4kT}{m_ec^2}\tau ^{}cU_{\mathrm{rad}},$$
(1)
$$\frac{k_0T^{\frac{7}{2}}}{\mathrm{}}\frac{\gamma }{\gamma 1}nkT\left(\frac{kT}{m_H}\right)^{\frac{1}{2}}.$$
(2)
In stead of $`\tau `$ in Paper I, we introduce effective optical depth, $`\tau ^{}`$, which includes the isotropic incident photons undergoing up-scattering in a plane-parallel corona,

$$\tau ^{}\lambda _\tau \tau =\lambda _\tau n\sigma _T\mathrm{}$$
(3)
with $`\lambda _\tau `$ being order of unit.

Eq.(1) and Eq.(2) determine the temperature and density in the corona as function of energy densities of magnetic field and radiation field.

The magnetic field strength $`B`$ is derived by assuming equipartition of gas energy and magnetic energy in the disk,

$$\beta \frac{n_{\mathrm{disk}}kT_{\mathrm{disk}}}{\frac{B^2}{8\pi }}1.$$
(4)
For a radiation pressure-dominated disk,

$$B=1.47\times 10^3\alpha _{0.1}^{\frac{5}{8}}\beta _1^{\frac{1}{2}}m_8^{\frac{5}{8}}\left[\dot{m}_{0.1}\varphi \left(1f\right)\right]^1r_{10}^{\frac{9}{16}}G;$$
(5)
For a gas pressure-dominated disk,

$$B=7.18\times 10^4\alpha _{0.1}^{\frac{9}{20}}\beta _1^{\frac{1}{2}}m_8^{\frac{9}{20}}\left[\dot{m}_{0.1}\varphi \left(1f\right)\right]^{\frac{2}{5}}r_{10}^{\frac{51}{40}}G,$$
(6)
where $`f`$ is the energy fraction dissipated in the corona; $`\varphi 1\sqrt{\frac{R_{}}{R}}`$ and $`R_{}`$ is taken to be the last stable orbit $`3R_\mathrm{S}`$; $`m_8`$, $`\dot{m}_{0.1}`$, $`r_{10}`$, $`\alpha _{0.1}`$, $`\beta _1`$ are the mass of black hole, the accretion rate, the distance, the viscous coefficient, and the equipartition factor in units of $`10^8M_{}`$, $`0.1\dot{M}_{\mathrm{Edd}}`$, $`10R_\mathrm{S}`$, 0.1, and 1, respectively.

The energy density of soft photon field, $`U_{\mathrm{rad}}`$, is contributed from both intrinsic disk radiation $`U_{\mathrm{rad}}^{\mathrm{in}}`$ and reprocessed radiation $`U_{\mathrm{rad}}^{\mathrm{re}}`$ of backward Compton emission from the corona

$$\begin{array}{cc}U_{\mathrm{rad}}^{\mathrm{in}}\hfill & =aT_{\mathrm{eff}}^4=\frac{4}{c}\frac{3GM\dot{M}\left(1f\right)\varphi }{8\pi R^3}\hfill \\ & =1.14\times 10^5m_8^1\dot{m}_{0.1}\varphi (1f)r_{10}^3\mathrm{ergs}\mathrm{cm}^3,\hfill \end{array}$$
(7)
$$U_{\mathrm{rad}}^{\mathrm{re}}=0.4\lambda _uU_\mathrm{B}.$$
(8)
In Eq.(8), a new factor $`\lambda _u`$ is added to the evaluation of seed field in Haardt & Maraschi (1991; 1993), which includes two effects on the soft photon energy, i.e. the dependence on the coronal temperature and optical depth, and the ratio of Alfvén speed to the light speed since the magnetic reconnection releases energy at Alfvén speed while this energy is radiated away at light speed.

Now we are allowed to derive two sets of coronal solutions, corresponding to a radiation pressure-dominated disk and a gas pressure-dominated disk, respectively. From Eqs.(1), (2), (5), and (7), we derive a coronal solution above a radiation pressure-dominated disk,

$$T_1=1.36\times 10^9\alpha _{0.1}^{\frac{15}{32}}\beta _1^{\frac{3}{8}}\lambda _\tau ^{\frac{1}{4}}m_8^{\frac{3}{32}}\left[\dot{m}_{0.1}\varphi (1f)\right]^1r_{10}^{\frac{75}{64}}\mathrm{}_{10}^{\frac{1}{8}}K,$$
(9)
$$n_1=2.01\times 10^9\alpha _{0.1}^{\frac{15}{16}}\beta _1^{\frac{3}{4}}\lambda _\tau ^{\frac{1}{2}}m_8^{\frac{19}{16}}\left[\dot{m}_{0.1}\varphi (1f)\right]^2r_{10}^{\frac{75}{32}}\mathrm{}_{10}^{\frac{3}{4}}\mathrm{cm}^3,$$
(10)
where the length of the magnetic loop $`\mathrm{}_{10}`$ is in unit of $`10R_\mathrm{S}`$.

From Eqs.(1), (2), (6), and (8), we get a coronal solution above a gas pressure-dominated disk,

$$T_2=4.86\times 10^9\alpha _{0.1}^{\frac{9}{80}}\beta _1^{\frac{1}{8}}\lambda _\tau ^{\frac{1}{4}}\lambda _u^{\frac{1}{4}}m_8^{\frac{1}{80}}\left[\dot{m}_{0.1}\varphi (1f)\right]^{\frac{1}{10}}r_{10}^{\frac{51}{160}}\mathrm{}_{10}^{\frac{1}{8}}K,$$
(11)
$$n_2=2.55\times 10^{10}\alpha _{0.1}^{\frac{9}{40}}\beta _1^{\frac{1}{4}}\lambda _\tau ^{\frac{1}{2}}\lambda _u^{\frac{1}{2}}m_8^{\frac{39}{40}}\left[\dot{m}_{0.1}\varphi (1f)\right]^{\frac{1}{5}}r_{10}^{\frac{51}{80}}\mathrm{}_{10}^{\frac{3}{4}}\mathrm{cm}^3.$$
(12)
The fraction of gravitational energy dissipated in the corona can be deduced from its definition (Paper I),

$$f\frac{F_{\mathrm{cor}}}{F_{\mathrm{tot}}}=\left(\frac{B^2}{4\pi }V_A\right)\left(\frac{3GM\dot{M}\varphi }{8\pi R^3}\right)^1.$$
(13)
Replacing $`B`$ and $`n`$ by Eqs.(5) and (10), we obtain an equation concerning $`f`$ for a radiation pressure-dominated disk,

$$f=1.45(1f)^2\alpha _{0.1}^{\frac{45}{32}}\beta _1^{\frac{9}{8}}\lambda _\tau ^{\frac{1}{4}}m_8^{\frac{9}{32}}(\dot{m}_{0.1}\varphi )^3r_{10}^{\frac{225}{64}}\mathrm{}_{10}^{\frac{3}{8}}c_1(1f)^2.$$
(14)
Replacing $`B`$ and $`n`$ by Eqs.(6) and (12), we get an equation for a gas pressure-dominated disk,

$$f=4.70\times 10^4(1f)^{\frac{11}{10}}\alpha _{0.1}^{\frac{99}{80}}\beta _1^{\frac{11}{8}}\lambda _\tau ^{\frac{1}{4}}\lambda _u^{\frac{1}{4}}m_8^{\frac{11}{80}}(\dot{m}_{0.1}\varphi )^{\frac{1}{10}}r_{10}^{\frac{81}{160}}\mathrm{}_{10}^{\frac{3}{8}}.$$
(15)
Eq.(15) has solutions for any accretion rate; while Eq.(14) has solutions only if $`c_1<4/27`$, which gives,

$$\frac{\dot{M}}{\dot{M}_{\mathrm{Edd}}}>0.21\alpha _{0.1}^{\frac{15}{32}}\beta _1^{\frac{3}{8}}\lambda _\tau ^{\frac{1}{12}}m_8^{\frac{3}{32}}\varphi ^1r_{10}^{\frac{75}{64}}\mathrm{}_{10}^{\frac{1}{8}}.$$
(16)
This is to say, at high accretion rate, the corona can coexist with a radiation pressure-dominated disk or a gas pressure-dominated disk; while at low accretion rate, the corona can coexist only with the gas pressure-dominated disk. The value of critical accretion rate is related to the distances. For $`\alpha =0.3`$, $`\beta =1`$, $`\lambda _\tau =2.7`$ (see next section), and $`M=10^8M_{}`$, a radiation pressure-dominated disk exists around distance $`R6R_\mathrm{S}`$ if $`\dot{M}0.3\dot{M}_{\mathrm{Edd}}`$; extends to $`50R_\mathrm{S}`$ if $`\dot{M}1.2\dot{M}_{\mathrm{Edd}}`$. We will see in the following section that the spectra from a radiation pressure-dominated disk + corona and from a gas pressure-dominated disk + corona are of much difference.

Solving Eq.(14) (or Eq.(15)) for $`f`$ for a given black hole mass and accretion rate, we determine the coronal quantities from Eqs.(9) and (10) (or Eqs.(11) and (12)). The disk quantities can also be determined. We are now ready to calculate the spectrum.

## 3 Spectra calculated from Monte Carlo simulations

### 3.1 The method of Monte Carlo simulations

We use the Monte Carlo simulations to calculate the emergent spectrum. Our model consists of a cold disk, which produces blackbody radiation at each radius with temperature $`T_R`$,

$$\sigma T_R^4=\frac{3GM\dot{M}\varphi (1f)}{8\pi R^3}+\frac{c}{4}U_{\mathrm{rad}}^{\mathrm{re}}\mathrm{max}(\frac{3GM\dot{M}\varphi (1f)}{8\pi R^3},\frac{c}{4}U_{\mathrm{rad}}^{\mathrm{re}}).$$
(17)
The hot corona lying above the disk is approximated as an optically thin slab with definite electron temperature and scattering optical depth for each radius. The blackbody photons emitted from the cold disk go into the corona, some of them pass through without being scattered, some of them are Compton up-scattered. By tracing the photon’s motion in the corona, we separately record the photons emerging from upper and lower boundaries of the slab corona: the former are the ones to be observed and the latter impinge the disk and are reprocessed as blackbody emissions. Since the accretion disk is sufficiently dense, the albedo is neglected in our simulations. The spectra from different radii are added up as the total emergent spectrum.

The method of the Monte Carlo simulation is based on Pozdnyakov, Sobol’ & Sunyaev (1978). We restrict our consideration to a thermal corona where the electrons have a Maxwellian distribution, and the Compton scattering is the main cooling process. Since the electron-scattering optical depth in the corona is less than one, we introduce the weight $`w`$ as described by Pozdnyakov et al. (1978) in order to efficiently calculate the effects of multiple scattering. We first set $`w_0=1`$ for a given soft photon, then calculate the escape probability $`P_0`$ of passing through the slab. The quantity of $`w_0P_0`$ are the transmitted portion and is recorded to calculate the penetrated spectrum or reprocessed photons according to the escape direction of the photon. The remaining weight $`w_1=w_0(1P_0)`$ is the portion that undergoes at least one scattering. If we write the escape probability after the $`n`$-th scattering as $`P_n`$, the quantity $`w_nP_n`$ is the transmitted portion of photons after the $`n`$-th scattering, and is recorded as upward or downward transmitted spectrum. The remaining portion $`w_n(1P_n)`$ undergoes the $`(n+1)`$-th scattering. This calculation is continued until the weight $`w`$ becomes sufficiently small. The whole process is simulated by the Monte Carlo method.

### 3.2 Iterative computations for consistency

Once the coronal temperature, the optical depth and the seed soft photons are given, the Mento Carlo simulation can be performed and the Compton scattering spectrum and luminosity coming out from both upside and downside of the corona are obtained. The questions arise, does the upward-outcoming luminosity equal to the gravitation energy released by the accretion? does the energy density of downward-outgoing photon plus intrinsic disk radiation equal to the presumed energy density of seed soft photons? If the seed photon energy and the effective optical depth are correctly chosen in deriving the corona temperature, density and optical depth, the answers should be affirmative. A consistent model should correctly describe the nature of corona, i.e., the temperature, density, optical depth, etc. so that the simulations give consistent results.

In Paper I, we did not introduce $`\lambda _\tau `$ and $`\lambda _u`$, which implies $`\lambda _\tau =1`$ and $`\lambda _u=1`$. This is to say, it is assumed that the reprocessed seed field has energy density $`U_{\mathrm{rad}}^{\mathrm{re}}=0.4B^2/8\pi `$ and the effective optical depth is the vertical scattering optical depth $`\tau =n\sigma _T\mathrm{}`$. However, unlike in a spheric geometry, in a plane geometry the actual optical depth (we called it the effective optical depth) should be larger than the vertical one, since the incident photons are isotropic and undergo longer path than $`\mathrm{}`$ if their directions are not normal to the corona plane. Furthermore, $`\lambda _\tau `$ is expected to be independent on the system parameters (e.g. accretion rate) since it is only a geometric effect. The energy density of seed photon field contributed from the reprocessed photons, $`U_{\mathrm{rad}}^{\mathrm{re}}=0.4B^2/8\pi `$, is estimated for specific range of parameters (e.g. Haardt & Maraschi 1993). The precise value depends on the temperature and optical depth. In order to get consistent results, we need to adjust the presumed energy density of soft photons and the effective optical depth of the scattering medium. This is why we introduce the coefficients $`\lambda _\tau `$ and $`\lambda _u`$ in this study. For simplicity, we set $`\lambda _u`$ the same value at all distances though the temperature and density of the corona change a little along the distance as shown in Paper I. This is reasonable since the reprocessed photons are not required to get out of the disk at the same distance where they impinge.

For a given mass of black hole and accretion rate, we first perform the computations for the case of gas pressure-dominated disk. As the first step, we start the computation with initial values $`\lambda _\tau =2`$ and $`\lambda _u=1`$. For one grid point of radius $`R`$, we solve Eq.(15) numerically and obtain a solution for $`f`$; then calculate the corresponding temperature $`T`$ and density in the corona from Eqs.(11) and (12) and hence the scattering optical depth $`\tau `$, and the radiation temperature $`T_R`$ of seed photon field by combining Eqs.(8) and (6). With $`T`$, $`\tau `$, and $`T_R`$, we perform the Monte Carlo simulation, record the local upwards luminosity and downwards luminosity. Then we change $`R`$ to the next grid point and repeat the calculation for $`f`$, then for $`T`$, $`\tau `$ and $`T_R`$, and then Monte Carlo simulation. Finally all the local outgoing photons are added up and the integrated upward luminosity $`L_{\mathrm{up}}`$ and downward luminosity $`L_{\mathrm{down}}`$ are obtained. Meanwhile, the integrated soft photon energy $`L_{\mathrm{soft}}=_{3R_\mathrm{S}}^{50R_\mathrm{S}}2\pi R\sigma T_R^4𝑑R`$ and the released gravitational energy $`L_\mathrm{G}=_{3R_\mathrm{S}}^{50R_\mathrm{S}}2\pi R(3GM\dot{M}\varphi /8\pi R^3)𝑑R`$ are also calculated. The second step is to check the consistency, i.e. $`L_{\mathrm{down}}L_{\mathrm{soft}}`$ and $`L_{\mathrm{up}}L_\mathrm{G}`$? If yes, we find the correct $`\lambda _\tau `$ and $`\lambda _u`$ and hence the consistent solution for the corona, and stop the computation; if no, set new values for the $`(n+1)`$-th $`\lambda _\tau `$ and $`\lambda _u`$ from the $`n`$-th results: $`\lambda _{u,n+1}=(L_{\mathrm{down},n}/L_{\mathrm{soft},n})\lambda _{u,n}`$ and $`\lambda _{\tau ,n+1}=(L_{\mathrm{up},n}/L_\mathrm{G})\lambda _{\tau ,n}`$, then repeat the computation from the first step until the consistent conditions $`L_{\mathrm{down}}L_{\mathrm{soft}}`$ and $`L_{\mathrm{up}}L_\mathrm{G}`$ are fulfilled.

In the case of radiation pressure-dominated disk, We solve $`f`$ from Eq.(14) and then the temperature and density from Eqs.(9) and Eqs.(10). The iteration procedure is similar to the case of gas pressure-dominated disk. The difference is in that we only need to check whether $`L_{\mathrm{up}}L_\mathrm{G}`$ is fulfilled or not, since the contribution to the seed photons from the reprocessed photons are not so important as the intrinsic disk radiations. Thus, $`\lambda _u`$ is simply set to unity and is not adjusted during the iteration.

### 3.3 The self-consistent coronal structure

For given parameters, $`M=10^8M_{}`$, $`\alpha =0.3`$, $`\mathrm{}=10R_\mathrm{S}`$, $`\beta =1`$, we perform computations for a series of accretion rates. As we discussed in Sect.2, computations show that, for low accretion rates ($`\dot{M}0.3\dot{M}_{\mathrm{Edd}}`$) there is only gas pressure-dominated solution; for high mass accretion rates there are both gas pressure-dominated and radiation pressure-dominated solutions (say, $`\dot{M}=2\dot{M}_{\mathrm{Edd}}`$); for middle accretion rates (say, $`\dot{M}=0.5\dot{M}_{\mathrm{Edd}}`$), the gas pressure-dominated solution exists at all distances, while the radiation pressure-dominated solution only exists at small distances. As an example for low accretion rate system, Fig.1 shows how much accretion energy is dissipated in the corona and in the disk for $`\dot{M}=0.1\dot{M}_{\mathrm{Edd}}`$. It is shown that almost all the accretion energy is dissipated in the corona; less than one thousandth is dissipated in the disk. The corresponding coronal structure is plotted in Fig.3. The temperature is $`10^9`$K and the density $`10^9`$cm<sup>-3</sup>, which are a little lower than that in Paper I since here we take into account the effective optical depth and consistent seed photon field. The effect optical depth is around 0.7 and Compton y-parameter 0.6.

As an example for high accretion rate, Fig.2 and Fig.4 show the energy fraction and coronal structure for an accretion rate of $`2\dot{M}_{\mathrm{Edd}}`$. For a gas pressure-dominated disk, the coronal temperature and density are almost the same as that for low accretion rates. Only the magnetic field and Alfvén speed increase with accretion rates. This feature is the nature of gas-pressure solutions because $`f`$ depends on $`\dot{M}`$ very weakly (see Eq.(15)), so are the temperature (see Eq.(11)) and density (see Eq.(12)). In other words, the coronal structures with a gas pressure-dominated disk underneath are quite uniform. Higher accretion rate only results in faster energy transfer and dissipation in the corona. Such features can be understood as follows. A corona coupled with the disk through the magnetic field and radiation field can self-adjust to an equilibrium at a certain temperature. The magnetic field transports almost all the accretion energy to the corona and releases the energy there through reconnection. At the beginning of reconnection, the electrons are suddenly heated to a very high temperature. Even though there is no many seed photons to be scattered, the Compton cooling power is still quite strong due to the very high temperature. Thus, the seed photon’s energy is greatly amplified. Some fraction of the scattered photons get out of the corona from the backside and are reprocessed in the disk as blackbody radiation. Then the seed photon field is strengthened and the electron temperature decreases due to efficient Compton cooling. The equilibrium is finally reached when the heating by the magnetic reconnection balances the Compton cooling. Such an approach to the equilibrium can be clearly seen from our iterative computations: when $`\lambda _u`$ is set to be a small value, the temperature derived from the model is high. With this high $`T`$ we then obtain high backward-scattered photon luminosity (by the Monte Carlo simulation). Taking this high luminosity as the seed soft photon luminosity, the newly derived $`T`$ becomes low and hence the soft-photon field contributed from the backward Compton radiation is closer to the true value. By repeating this procedure, the backward-scattered luminosity quickly converges to the seed soft luminosity, and a stationary state is reached.

In table 1 we list for a gas pressure-dominated disk the coefficients $`\lambda _u`$, $`\lambda _\tau `$, the emergent luminosity $`L_{\mathrm{up}}`$, the seed soft photon luminosity $`L_{\mathrm{soft}}`$, and the amplification factor $`A(L_{\mathrm{up}}+L_{\mathrm{down}})/L_{\mathrm{soft}}`$, where $`L_{\mathrm{down}}`$ is the downward/backward Compton luminosity. We find that the Compton amplification factors for different accretion rate are almost the same, $`A2.3`$. Soft photons are scattered in the corona, gain energy by a factor of $`A11.3`$ and escape from both sides of the corona. The upward-escaped photons carry a little more energy ($`L_{\mathrm{up}}`$) than the downward-escaped photons ($`L_{\mathrm{soft}}`$), the latter is reprocessed as seed photons. The coefficient $`\lambda _u`$ for the seed photon field increases with increasing accretion rate. Comparing $`\lambda _u`$ and Alfvén speed, we find that $`\lambda _u/V_A`$ does not change with $`\dot{M}`$. This indicates that the reprocessed photon field is actually proportional to the $`U_\mathrm{B}(V_A/c)`$, the factor $`V_A/c`$ is due to the lag of magnetic heating (at a speed of $`V_A`$) to radiation cooling (at a speed of $`c`$). We also find $`\lambda _\tau 2.7`$, independent on $`\dot{M}`$. This is to say, the effective optical depth caused by the slab geometry is as 2.7 times large as the vertical optical depth.

In contrast, for a radiation pressure-dominated disk, a large fraction of the accretion energy dissipates in the disk (see Fig.2), the corona is quite weak with temperature being a few $`10^8K`$ and density $`10^8\mathrm{cm}^3`$ (see Fig.4). The seed photons are mainly from the intrinsic disk radiation. The disk and corona are not coupled at the same way as that for a gas pressure-dominated disk. In such a strong disk + weak corona system, the Compton scattering in the corona is quite weak, $`\lambda _\tau 1`$ and $`A1`$. We note that, the energy fraction dissipated in the corona decreases with increasing accretion rate, the temperature and density in the corona also decrease with $`\dot{M}`$. This implies that the corona above a radiation pressure-dominated disk is weak at luminous systems.

### 3.4 The emergent spectrum

In last section we show that there are two types of solution for the disk and corona structure. When the accretion disk is presumed to be gas pressure-dominated, we get a solution $`f1`$, indicating that most of the gravitational energy is transferred to the corona by strong magnetic field and fast reconnection. The disk is quite cool, with midplane temperature of a few $`10^4`$K. The corona is heated up to a temperature $`T10^9`$K by the magnetic reconnection, and the density becomes $`10^9`$cm<sup>-3</sup> through efficient mass evaporation at the interface between the disk and the corona. The dissipated energy in the corona is emitted away by Compton scattering. Part of the seed photons are upward scattered as the emergent spectrum, and part of them are scattered backward, which are reprocessed in the disk surface layer and are emitted as blackbody spectra. Here we assume that the irradiation by the backward Compton radiation does not largely influence the internal structure of a radiative disk but only changes the temperature of the surface layer (for details see Tuchman, Mineshige, & Wheeler 1990). Therefore, the magnetic energy determined by the equipartition in the disk midplane is not affected by the irradiation. Such a highly heated corona produces strong hard X-ray emission. The corona and disk are similar to the “two phases” discussed by Haardt and Maraschi (1993). We call this solution as hard state since its spectrum is hard. Fig.5 shows the spectral energy distribution of hard state for different accretion rates corresponding to different luminosities. \[Here we need to point out that the energy conversion coefficient $`\eta `$ by accretion is not exactly 0.1 in our case. For given accretion rate we integrate the gravitational energy by $`L_\mathrm{G}=_R^{}^{50R_\mathrm{S}}2\pi R(3GM\dot{M}\varphi /8\pi R^3)𝑑R`$. The total luminosity from both side of the disk and corona should be $`2L_\mathrm{G}`$. For $`R^{}=3R_\mathrm{S}`$, $`\eta =2L_\mathrm{G}/\dot{M}c^20.07`$. Thus, even for $`\dot{M}=\dot{M}_{\mathrm{Edd}}L_{\mathrm{Edd}}/0.1c^2`$, the luminosity is less than the Eddington luminosity.\] From the figure we see that for different $`\dot{M}`$ the spectral shapes in the hard state are very similar. The hard X-ray spectral index is around 1.1, which is a little steeper than that observed in Seyfert galaxies.

The “constant” spectral index is caused by the “uniform” corona. As we show in Sect.3.3, the coronal structure at hard state is nearly independent on the accretion rate and the Compton $`y`$-parameter ($`(4kT/m_ec^2)\tau `$) hardly changes with $`\dot{M}`$. Our computational data show that the radial distributions of $`y`$-parameter are indeed the same for different $`\dot{M}`$; $`y`$ reaches the maximum of $`y0.6`$ in the inner region and decreases with distances (see Fig.3). Therefore, the hard-state spectra have similar spectral shapes.

On the other hand, if the disk is presumed to be radiation pressure-dominated, there exists no solution for $`f`$ at low accretion rate. At high accretion rate, the solution for $`f`$ is far less than 1, indicating that magnetic buoyancy does not transfer much energy from the disk to the corona, and there is only a weak corona above the disk with low temperature and low density compared to those in the hard state. The gravitational energy is dominantly released in the disk as multi-color blackbody radiation. These photons go through the very weak corona, almost all of them penetrate the corona without being scattered. The spectral energy ($`\nu L_\nu `$) peaks at around UV to soft X-rays, dropping steeply at high frequency. We call this solution as the soft state. Fig.6 shows typical spectrum of the soft state for $`\dot{M}=2\dot{M}_{\mathrm{Edd}}`$ (corresponding to $`L=1.4L_{\mathrm{Edd}}`$). The soft-state spectrum is not much different from pure-disk spectrum. For comparison the hard-state spectrum for the same $`\dot{M}`$ is also shown in the figure. Obviously, the spectral distributions at soft and hard state are very much different. One may question whether the Bremsstrahlung emissions contribute more to the hard X-rays in this state. Our estimation shows that the Bremsstrahlung emission power is about 5 order of magnitude less than Compton radiation because the density in the soft-state corona is so low.

Furthermore, there are composite solutions, in which the disk is composed of an inner radiation pressure-dominated region and an outer gas pressure-dominated region with a weak inner corona and a strong outer corona above. Whether such a discontinuous disk + corona can dynamically exist is to be studied. Nevertheless, the spectra from such a composite corona + disk show moderate UV-X-ray spectral indices. In Fig.7 we plot such a spectrum for $`\dot{M}=0.5\dot{M}_{\mathrm{Edd}}`$ (corresponding to $`L=0.35L_{\mathrm{Edd}}`$). It is shown that the inner region produces soft spectra dominated by the disk radiation and the outer region produces typical hard-state spectra dominated by the corona radiation. Thus, the composed spectrum is moderate: its hard X-ray spectrum has the same spectral index as that of hard state; while the ratio of UV and X-ray luminosity, or rather, the UV-X-ray spectral index, is larger than that of hard state. With $`\dot{M}`$ increases, the inner radiation pressure-dominated region extends outwards and the outer gas-pressure dominated region shrinks. The overall spectrum then becomes softer.

As discussed in Sect.3.3, the hard-state solution can exist in both low- and high-luminosity objects; while a soft-state corona extending to 50$`R_\mathrm{S}`$ can only appear at high accretion rate, $`\dot{M}1.2\dot{M}_{\mathrm{Edd}}`$ (or $`L0.8L_{\mathrm{Edd}}`$). Systems accreting at a rate $`0.3\dot{M}_{\mathrm{Edd}}\dot{M}1.2\dot{M}_{\mathrm{Edd}}`$ (or $`0.2L_{\mathrm{Edd}}L0.8L_{\mathrm{Edd}}`$) can be in a state between hard and soft with UV-X-ray indices varying with accretion rates. Therefore, our model predicts that, two spectral states are possible for accretion rate above $`1.2\dot{M}_{\mathrm{Edd}}`$; below $`0.3\dot{M}_{\mathrm{Edd}}`$ only hard state. These features of hard and soft states are summarized in Table 2.

The parameters in our model are the mass of black hole $`M`$, the accretion rate $`\dot{M}`$, the thickness of corona $`\mathrm{}`$ (equivalent of averaged length of magnetic loops), and the equipartition coefficient $`\beta `$. Above study shows the corona structure and spectra in dependence on $`\dot{M}`$ for given parameters $`M=10^8M_{}`$ and $`\mathrm{}=10R_\mathrm{S}`$ in the region from 3$`R_\mathrm{S}`$ to 50$`R_\mathrm{S}`$. From the equation concerning $`f`$ and the solutions of T and $`\tau (n\mathrm{})`$, we know $`f`$, $`T`$ and $`\tau `$ and hence the spectra only very weakly depend on $`\mathrm{}`$, especially at the hard state. In Fig.8 we plot the hard-state spectra for $`\mathrm{}=10R_\mathrm{S}`$ and $`\mathrm{}=20R_\mathrm{S}`$. The two curves overlap. Similarly, the spectra have weak dependence on the mass of black hole. But, considering large change of black-hole mass over a few orders of magnitude, the spectra may be somewhat different. In Fig.8 an example of hard state for $`M=10^5M_{}`$ is shown. Compared to the case for $`M=10^8M_{}`$, the disk component shifts towards high frequency, whereas no obvious difference in the shape of hard X-ray spectra contributed by the corona. For a $`10M_{}`$ black hole we expect similar hard X-ray spectra except for the low-frequency component which peaks at soft X-rays due to high effective temperature in the disk. The dependence on $`\beta `$ seems large because it directly determines how much of the accretion energy transferred to the corona through magnetic field. Owing to poor knowledge on the equipartition coefficient, we don’t discuss this issue here.

## 4 Discussion on the spectra

The observed spectrum in X-ray 2-20 keV is close to a power law, with an averaged spectral index $`0.7\pm 0.15`$ for Seyfert galaxies (Mushotzky 1984; Turner & Pounds 1989). Taking into account the deconvolution of the Compton reflection hump around $``$30keV (George & Fabian 1991; Williams et al. 1992; Mushotzski et al. 1993; Petrocci et al. 2000), the spectral index of the underlying power law for Seyfert galaxies is 0.9 to 1.0 (e.g. Nandra & Pounds 1994; Pounds et al. 1990). The X-ray spectral index for radio-quiet QSOs is slightly higher, $`\alpha _X1.0`$ (e.g. George et al. 2000). The observed broad band spectral index measured between 2500$`\AA `$ and 2keV is 1.25 for Seyferts (Walter & Fink 1993) and 1.5 for QSOs (Yuan et al. 1998). Our model shows that at hard state the X-ray spectral indices between 2-20keV are around 1.1. The spectral indices between the hump (around UV) and 2keV, $`\alpha _{\mathrm{px}}`$, are around 1.4. The hard-state spectra are roughly in agreement with the observed spectra of Seyfert galaxies and QSOs.

The composite spectrum, which occurs only at relative high accretion rates and becomes more and more close to the soft spectrum with increase of $`\dot{M}`$, may explain the diversity of spectra observed in narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxies (NLS1s). NLS1 is a subgroup of Seyfert 1 galaxies, but is characterized by large soft X-ray excess (see Fig.1 in Boller 2000). It has been proposed that black hole masses are systematically smaller, while luminosities are comparable to those of other Seyfert 1s, leading to large $`L/L_{\mathrm{Edd}}`$ in NLS1s (Osterbrock & Pogge 1985; Boller, Brandt, & Fink 1996; Mineshige et al. 2000). Our composite soft spectra may correspond for various spectra observed in NLS1s. Furthermore, a small fraction of QSOs with optical-X-ray spectral index $`\alpha _{\mathrm{oX}}2`$ are observed (Yuan et al. 1998), which may be interpreted by our composite soft spectra. Comparison with GBHCs are another interesting, outstanding issue but is beyond the present investigation.

Compared with the excellent work of Haardt & Maraschi (1993, hereafter HM93), our hard-state results are quite similar to theirs. This is easy to understand, since our study on the interaction between the disk and corona shows $`f1`$, which is a basic assumption in HM93. We also find soft-state spectra, where the corona is not coupled with the disk in the same way as that in HM93. Therefore, the spectra are different from HM93. Despite of the complexity, the basic differences can be briefly described as follows. HM93 consider the coupling between the disk and the corona through seed photons, which gives a relation between the soft radiation temperature $`T_R`$, the corona temperature $`T`$, and the optical depth $`\tau `$, i.e. $`F_1(T_R,T,\tau )=C_1`$. They find for $`5eV<T_R<50eV`$ and $`0.01<\tau <1`$, the relation can be approximated as $`(16\mathrm{\Theta }^2+4\mathrm{\Theta })\tau =0.6`$ (where $`\mathrm{\Theta }kT/m_ec^2`$). For given $`T_R`$ and $`\tau `$, $`T`$ is determined by this approximation, and then the spectrum is obtained from the Monte Carlo simulations. By changing $`T_R`$ and $`\tau `$ within the limited range, they got somewhat similar spectral indices. In our model, we also consider the energy coupling between the disk and corona through the soft photons, i.e. $`F_1(T_R,T,\tau )=C_1`$. In addition, we consider the coupling by the magnetic field and get the second relation, $`F_2(T_R,T,\tau )=C_2(M,\dot{M},f)`$. Supplemented by the mass evaporation, we have the third relation, $`F_3(T,\tau )=C_3`$. Therefore, we uniquely determine $`T_R,T,`$ and $`\tau `$ for given $`f`$, $`M`$, and $`\dot{M}`$. Then, we perform the Monte Carlo simulation and obtain the spectrum and upward luminosity $`L(M,\dot{M},f)`$. Using the fourth relation of that the luminosity equals to the accretion energy, i.e., $`L(M,\dot{M},f)=L_G(M,\dot{M})`$, we can also determine $`f`$. HM93 also take into account other factors like anisotropy of the seed photons. Here we concentrate on the underlying physics in order to determine the corona variables.

## 5 Conclusion

We improved our simple model presented in Paper I by introducing adjustable coefficients for the energy density of the coupled seed photons and for the optical depth of plane-parallel corona. For given mass of black hole, accretion rate, and presumed coefficients, the model can determine the energy fraction dissipated in the corona and hence determine the structure of both the corona and disk. Then, we perform Monte Carlo simulations to trace the motion of photons in the corona and record the upward photons (emergent luminosity) and the backward photons. By comparing the presumed seed photon energy and the sum of intrinsic disk radiation and backward radiation energy, we adjust the coefficient of soft photon field and; by comparing the total accretion energy and the simulating emergent luminosity, we modify the effective optical depth in the slab geometry. Repeating this procedure, we finally obtain the self-consistent solutions for the corona and also for the disk, both of which are coupled by the magnetic field and the radiation field.

We find two types of solutions for the disk and corona structure, corresponding for the hard-state and soft-state spectra. In the hard-state solution, the accretion disk is gas pressure-dominated. Most of the accretion energy is transferred to the corona by the magnetic field, and the intrinsic disk radiation is very weak. The corona and disk are tightly coupled through the radiation field and, consequently, the hard X-ray spectral indices are almost fixed at $`\alpha 1.1`$. In the soft-state solution, most of the accretion energy is dissipated in the disk and thus the disk is radiation pressure-dominated. The corona is weak, characterized by lower temperature and density, and is no longer strongly coupled with the disk through seed photons. The emergent spectral energy comes mainly from the un-scattered intrinsic disk radiation, peaking at UV and soft X-rays. The soft states appear at only very high luminosity; while hard states appear at both high and low luminosities. A state between soft and hard, composed of an inner soft-sate solution and an outer hard-state solution, is also possible for a moderately luminous system. Our model predicts that the spectra is hard from low-luminosity objects with $`L0.2L_{\mathrm{Edd}}`$; While the spectra can be either hard or soft from high-luminosity objects with $`L0.8L_{\mathrm{Edd}}`$. Spectra from objects with luminosity $`0.2L_{\mathrm{Edd}}L0.8L_{\mathrm{Edd}}`$ can be hard, and can also be moderately soft, which is softer at higher luminosity.

We would like to thank R. Matsumoto for providing part of the simulation code. We are grateful to the anonymous referee for his/her detailed and helpful comments. BFL thanks for support by Japan Society for the Promotion of Science. This work is partially supported by the Grants-in Aid of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan (P.01020 to B.F.L; 13640238 and 14079205 to S.M.).