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# Dust Grain-Size Distributions From MRN to MEM

## 1 Introduction

It was suspected as long as 150 years ago that something was blocking the light of stars on its way to Earth, but it wasn’t until the early twentieth century that the work of Barnard and Trumpler confirmed the existence of obscuring clouds of interstellar dust (Whittet 1992 and references therein). Trumpler found that the wavelength dependence of interstellar extinction is proportional to $`\lambda ^1`$ implying submicron size dust grains. Despite these early advances, we, in the early twenty-first century, are still struggling to understand the nature of cosmic dust. The chemical composition of the dust grains has been the most difficult problem to address since the available observational data do not provide strong constraints. Many solids have been suggested including ices, silicates, various carbon compounds, metals and complex organic molecules. Graphite has been a popular grain constituent since it was associated with the 2175 Å extinction bump (Stecher & Donn 1965). Two silicate features in the IR are widely observed providing one of the few firm identifications of a grain material (Woolf, & Ney 1969; Gillett, & Forrest 1973).

The best diagnostic for determing the sizes of interstellar dust grains is the wavelength dependence of extinction (Mathis 2000). A wealth of observational data now exists which characterizes extinction properties from the UV to the IR along sightlines in various dust grain environments. This combined with better constraints on the abundances of elements available for condensation into grains in the interstellar medium makes a study of the distribution of sizes of the dust grains into perhaps a slightly more tractable problem than it previously was. When data on the extinction were only available at visible wavelengths, the proposed size distribution was flat up to some cutoff size (Oort & van de Hulst 1946). The addition of data in the UV and IR wavelength regions in the last 40 years has revolutionized the study of the size distribution of dust grains, putting much more stringent constraints on the upper and lower size cutoffs and on the slope of the size dependence. The modern era of grain modeling was ushered in by Mathis, Rumpl, & Nordsieck (1977 \[MRN\]). Their grain model consisted of power-law size distributions of separate populations of bare spherical silicate and graphite grains. It is a testament to the groundbreaking nature of this work that today, twenty-five years later, it has not been fully superseded by later studies.

MRN-type analyses must make assumptions regarding a particular model of the size-dependence of the dust grains. One is now able to circumvent such issues through a solution of the inverse problem using the Maximum Entropy Method (MEM) (e.g., Kim, Martin, & Hendry 1994). The versatility of this technique allows one to easily include a range of grain models in the analysis: from the simple MRN-like approach to more realistic composite grains which can include the effects of porosity, solid inclusions (silicate, graphite, superparamagnetic etc.), and alignment. In this work, we present some preliminary efforts to extract MEM size distributions of dust grains in the Local Group using “basis sets” of grain cross-sections for several composite grain models, each of which satisfies cosmic abundance constraints.

## 2 History of Grain Size Distributions

Most studies of grain size over the last half century have assumed a size distribution which is either a power law or a power law with exponential decay (PED). In addition, most calculations have used Mie Theory assuming spherical grains. These power laws have been utilized for two reasons. First, they provide a good fit to the observed extinction wavelength dependence with as few as two populations of grains. Second, formation and destruction processes such as shattering and coagulation which modify grain sizes along many sightlines may naturally produce a power law size distribution (Biermann & Harwit 1980; Hayakawa & Hayakawa 1988; O’Donnell & Mathis 1997). This type of study began with Oort & van de Hulst (1946) who fit extinction at visible wavelengths assuming ice grains and a size distribution resembling a PED. Greenberg (1968) greatly expanded this work using spheres, cylinders and spheroids, combined with many different materials and grain orientations limited only by lack of computing power available at the time. Greenberg utilized the Oort & van de Hulst size distribution almost exclusively.

This brings us to MRN who found that a very good fit could be made to the UV and visible extinction using separate populations of bare silicate and graphite grains with a power law distribution of sizes where n(a) $``$ $`a^{3.5}`$. The graphite grains range in size from 0.005 to 1 µm and the silicate grains from 0.025 to 0.25 µm. Mathis & Wallenhorst (1981) expanded on MRN by showing that they could fit various high $`R_V`$111$`R_V`$ is the ratio of total-to-selective extinction and is a crude measure of the average size of the dust grains along a particular line of sight. sightlines with “peculiar” extinctions such as $`\sigma `$ Sco, $`\rho `$ Oph and $`\theta `$ Ori by raising the lower size cutoff to 0.04 µm and sometimes also raising the upper size cutoff. This suggested that small silicates are missing along these lines of sight. Greenberg & Chlewicki (1983) claimed that grains responsible for bump and FUV extinction are two independent populations and that MRN violates this condition. However, Cardelli, Clayton, & Mathis (1989 \[CCM\]) showed that the Greenberg & Chlewicki result is spurious due to having an $`R_V`$ dependence in one ratio and not in the other.

The lack of accurate optical constants for silicates and graphite have cast doubts on the significance of the good fits to extinction data with MRN-type models. In the absence of laboratory data on graphite, MRN adjusted the optical constants to make the bump lie at 2175 A. The situation improved with the work of Draine & Lee (1984) who synthesized dielectric functions for graphite and “astronomical” silicate on the assumptions that MRN is valid. The polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) absorption cross-section was established based on the interstellar 2175 Å bump profile (Li & Draine 2001). As data from the mid- and far-IR became available, it became evident that significant numbers of small grains and large molecules such as PAHs were needed to account for emission features and excess continuum emission from single-photon heating (Draine & Anderson 1985; Desert, Boulanger, & Puget 1990). The IRAS data imply a need to push the lower size cutoff of MRN down to $``$0.0003 µm.

CCM suggested that all populations of grains are subject to the same processes in a systematic way across the whole size distribution. They found that there is an average Milky Way extinction relation, A($`\lambda `$)/A(V), over the wavelength range 0.125 $`\mu `$m to 3.5 $`\mu `$m, which is applicable to a wide range of interstellar dust environments, including lines of sight through diffuse dust, dark cloud dust, and star formation (CCM; Cardelli & Clayton 1991; Mathis & Cardelli 1992). The extinction relation is a function of one parameter, chosen to be RV. The existence of this relation, valid over a large wavelength interval, suggests that the environmental processes which modify the grains are efficient and affect all grains. Mathis & Whiffen (1989) suggested that many grains are composite, perhaps like interplanetary grains with many individual grains of different materials including silicates and amorphous carbon stuck together in grains with significant amounts of vacuum. In their model, small bare graphite grains are still needed to explain the bump and PAHs for the IR.

MRN-type fits and the Draine & Lee optical constants have also been applied to sightlines in the the Magellanic Clouds. Pei (1992) constructed one characteristic curve for each of the Galaxy, LMC and SMC even though large variations are seen from sightline to sightline in the SMC and LMC let alone the Milky Way. He used data from Koornneef (1982, 1983), Rieke & Lebofsky (1985), Morgan & Nandy (1982), Nandy, Morgan, & Houziaux (1984) and Bouchet et al. (1985). This study did not use the best extinction curve data available even at that time. The wavelength dependence of UV extinction in the LMC and SMC are much better characterized now (Gordon & Clayton 1998; Misselt, Clayton, & Gordon 1999; Gordon et al. 2002). Pei (1992) uses the same exponent, and upper and lower cutoffs as MRN then varies the relative abundances of carbon and silicon in the three galaxies to get the best fit. He finds minor differences between the best fits and the measured curves, and suggests that changing the exponent and upper and lower cutoffs wouldn’t improve on the fits presented. Pei finds it,“remarkable that all three parameters are roughly optimized for all three galaxies.” The standard silicate/graphite model appears to account well for all of Pei’s average curves with only the adjustment of the graphite to silicate ratio.

Aannestad (1995) expanded on MRN and extended fitting the extinction curve out to 925 Å using Voyager data. He used both Mie calculations for spheres plus the discrete dipole approximation (DDA) for graphite disks. Large and small silicates and carbon grains, and PAHs were included along with organic refractory mantles (Jenniskens 1993). Aannestad suggests that the very small grains are made up of graphite, amorphous carbon, and diamond. As with previous studies, the higher $`R_V`$ extinction curves are fit by eliminating small grains. He also finds that 2:1 oblate graphite disks are better than spherical graphite for fitting the bump. Aannestad suggests that radiation pressure could be responsible for changing grain size distributions in addition to shattering and coagulation.

Aannestad’s study along with two that followed it (Mathis 1996; Li & Greenberg 1997) represent attempts to update MRN by addressing the complexities of fitting the UV to the far-IR extinction while staying within the constraint of the available abundances of various elements. The latter two studies use a PED for defining the size distribution. Mathis (1996) uses Mie theory but doesn’t attempt to include very small grains. Li & Greenberg (1997) employ finite cylinders for modeling the core-mantle grains. They state that their model uses less carbon than other models and so isn’t so constrained by the carbon abundance.

Dwek et al. (1997) fit dust models to IR emission from 3.5 to 1000 µm using IRAS and COBE data. The IRAS data first showed cirrus emission with an excess at 12 and 25 µm caused by fluctuations in small grains down to 3 Å in size. These may be the same as the PAHs that cause UIR bands. The Dwek et al. model uses bare silicate and graphite grains and PAHs. They make a fit to 14 parameters, 8 fixed and 6 varying, using Mie theory with the Draine & Lee constants. Once the IR emission was fit they calculated the predicted UV extinction for their derived size distribution.

In addition to the many MRN-like studies outlined above, two other methods have been suggested for deriving the dust grain size distribution by solving the inverse problem. Zubko, Krelowski, & Wegner (1996a, 1998) suggest regularization where once a grain model is assumed then a unique size distribution is derived. It is not restricted by any a priori relation such as a power law. However, like most of the other studies above, Zubko et al. use bare spherical grains (astronomical silicate, graphite, AC, SiC and water ice) and Mie theory to calculate the extinction efficiencies. Their best fit models are silicate/graphite/ice mixtures although, as they note, the 3.1 µm ice feature is not seen in diffuse dust. Zubko et al. say the results are essentially different from the MRN power law. His method results in size distributions with more structure than a simple power law. They are qualitatively similar to the results of the MEM method described below. The regularization method has also been applied to the SMC extinction (Zubko 1999).

The other derivation of the size distribution is through the Maximum Entropy Method (MEM). Kim et al. (1994) use the MEM method with MRN-type bare spherical silicate, graphite and amorphous carbon particles for two cases with $`R_V`$ = 3.1 and 5.3. The main constraint applied is the wavelength dependence of interstellar extinction. A second constraint is the abundance of various elements. This is combined with an assumed gas-to-dust ratio, $`N_H/A_V`$. Their results are similar to MRN but the resulting size distribution has more structure. The upper size cutoff in MRN was a subjective choice. MEM results show a smooth decrease starting at 0.2 µm. The amounts of carbon and silicon used are similar to MRN. Solar abundances as defined by Grevesse & Anders (1989) were used to constrain their models. Kim & Martin (1996) expanded the MEM work to a wider range of $`R_V`$ values. They fit $`R_V`$ = 2.7 to 5.3, while trying to minimize amount of carbon used. They limited the mass to that used by $`R_V`$=3.1. They also found that fitting the extinction curve for $`\rho `$ Oph needs more large particles in a bimodal distribution.

Recently, Weingartner & Draine (2001) expanded on MRN by establishing a multifunctional form of the grain sizes including two log-normal size distributions, PEDs and curvature terms. It involves 6 adjustable parameters for carbon grains and five for silicates. The fits are also constrained by $`R_V`$ and the available carbon abundance. They fit extinction curves by varying the powers, the curvature parameters, the transition sizes, the upper cutoff parameters and the total volume per H atom in both the carbon and silicate grain distributions, respectively. They include sufficient numbers of small grains to account for observations of IR emission. They find carbon and silicate grain size distributions that can account for both the UV to IR extinction and the IR emission.

## 3 Elemental Abundances in the ISM

An important constraint on the composition of interstellar grains is the cosmic abundance of various elements. A proposed grain constituent cannot use more of any element than is available in the interstellar medium. So a set of reference abundances, that represent the typical ISM in a given galaxy, is needed. This set represents the total abundance of elements in the gas and dust. If these reference values are known, then a measurement of the gas phase abundances will reveal how much is missing, i.e., how much has condensed to form dust grains. In the last few years, new data have put much more stringent constraints on the reference abundances in the interstellar medium of the Galaxy (e.g., Spitzer & Fitzpatrick 1993; Cardelli et al. 1993, 1994; Sofia, Cardelli, & Savage 1994; Snow & Witt 1996). In particular, there was a move away from the use of solar abundances. This was motivated by the fact that solar abundances implied more oxygen than could be accounted for by the gas and solid phases of the ISM. As a result, it was suggested that all abundances may be about 60% of Solar. Other abundance sources such as B stars have been used instead. One impact of this has been the so-called “carbon crisis”, in which there may be less carbon available than is needed for various models of the interstellar extinction including MRN. In fact, Mathis (1996) shows this paucity of carbon would likely play a large role in constructing and validating grain models. Recently, however, it has become apparent that that the “crisis” may be due to problems with the solar abundances. The measurements of the abundance of oxygen in the Sun have been dropping and now stand at about two thirds of its former value (Sofia & Meyer 2001). There is now no good argument for adopting a reference that is two-thirds the solar abundance (Sofia & Meyer 2001). Therefore, Solar abundances have been adopted as the standard for the the Galactic sightlines in this study. See Table 1.

In the Magellanic Clouds, the relative abundances between the elements are similar to those found in the local ISM (Russell & Dopita 1992; Welty et al. 1997; Venn 1999). However, the metallicities in the LMC and SMC are 0.3 and 0.6 – 0.7 dex lower, respectively, than in the local ISM in the Galaxy (Welty et al. 2001). Metallicity and the gas-to-dust ratio are correlated, so the amount of dust per hydrogen column is lower in the Magellanic Clouds.

The observed gas-phase abundances of various elements in the ISM should be just the reference abundance minus any depletion into dust grains. In the Galaxy, several depletion patterns have been associated with different environments (Savage & Sembach 1996; Welty et al. 2001). For example, the depletions range from -0.8 \[Mg, Si/Zn\] and -1.8 \[Fe, Ni/Zn\] to - 0.2 \[Mg, Si/Zn\] and -0.5 \[Fe, Ni/Zn\] for cold dense clouds and the Galactic halo, respectively, with the warm diffuse ISM depletions lying in between. The relative gas-phase abundances in the Magellanic clouds resemble those in the Galactic halo implying that the depletion patterns in the ISM of those galaxies may be similar to those in the Galaxy despite the known differences in gas-to-dust ratio and metallicity (Welty et al. 2001). However, for at least three SMC sightlines, the depletion pattern shows one important difference. Silicon appears to be almost undepleted ($`<`$ 0.2 dex). Almost every grain model for the ISM from MRN to the present time includes silicates as an in important constituent. In particular, grain models of the SMC have emphasized the importance of silicates since the role of carbon seems to be less important as measured by the strength of the 2175 Å feature (Pei 1992; Zubko 1999; Weingartner & Draine 2001). So, if silicon is indeed relatively undepleted in the SMC, the grain models will have to be reassessed (Welty et al. 2001).

## 4 Extinction Curves

Low dispersion short and long wavelength IUE spectra, combined with BVJHK photometry were used to construct the extinction curves in this study. The spectra were downloaded from the MAST IUE archive. The archive spectra were reduced using NEWSIPS and then were recalibrated using the method developed by Massa & Fitzpatrick (2000). The short and long wavelength spectra for each star were co-added, binned to the instrumental resolution ($``$5 Å) and merged at the maximum wavelength of the short wavelength spectrum. Extinction curves were constructed using the standard pair method (e.g., Massa, Savage & Fitzpatrick 1983). Uncertainties in the extinction curves contain terms that depend both on the broadband photometric uncertainties as well as those in the IUE fluxes, which are calculated directly in NEWSIPS. Our error analysis is described in detail in Gordon & Clayton (1998). The sample includes early-type supergiants which may be used with the same accuracy as main sequence stars in calculating extinction (Cardelli, Sembach, & Mathis 1992). Table 2 lists the sightlines being analyzed for this study.

The extinction curves have been fitted using the Fitzpatrick & Massa (1990, hereafter FM) parameterization. FM have developed an analytical representation of the shape of the extinction curves using a small number of parameters. This was done using linear combinations of a Drude bump profile, $`D(x;\gamma ,x_o)`$, a linear background and a far-UV curvature function, $`F(x)`$, where $`x=\lambda ^1`$. There are 6 parameters determined in the fit: The strength, central wavelength, and width of the bump, $`c_3`$, $`x_o`$, and $`\gamma `$, the slope and intercept of the linear background, $`c_1`$ and $`c_2`$, and the strength of the far-UV curvature, $`c_4`$. The FM best fit parameters to the sightlines are given in Table 3.

Extinction data have been obtained from the literature for the LMC, SMC and some Galactic sightlines (Gordon & Clayton 1998; Misselt et al. 1999; Clayton, Gordon, & Wolff 2000). Various “average” curves have been calculated which generally represent extinction characteristics of groups of sightlines. In the SMC, only four suitable early-type stars have been observed that are significantly reddened and also had well matched comparison stars (Gordon & Clayton 1998). Three stars lie in the SMC Bar, and the line of sight for each of them passes through regions of recent star formation. The fourth star belongs to the SMC Wing and its line-of-sight passes though a much more quiescent region. In the LMC, the sample contains 12 stars in the 30 Dor region and 7 stars outside 30 Dor (Misselt et al. 1999). While the extinction properties of the 30 Dor and non-30 Dor samples as defined are both inhomogeneous, a group of stars with similar reddenings and bump strengths were found lying in or near the region occupied by the supergiant shell (LMC 2). The average extinction curves inside and outside LMC 2 show a very significant difference in 2175 Å bump strength, but the far-UV extinctions are very similar.

An “average” extinction curve for the Galaxy is included in Tables 2 and 3. It is representative of a typical diffuse interstellar sightline. It has been constructed by making an FM fit to a CCM curve with $`R_V`$=3.1 (Misselt et al. 1999). Another average curve is included which represents dust characteristics along extremely long path length, low-density sightlines in the Galaxy from the sample of Sembach & Danks (1994, SD region) (Clayton et al. 2000). In addition, several individual sightlines are included in this study which are representative of the range of extinction characteristics seen in the Galaxy. They are listed in Table 2. These extinction curves have been constructed as described above (Valencic et al. 2003). Extinction curves have been presented for these stars previously: HD 29647, HD 62542 (Cardelli & Savage 1988); HD 37022, HD 147889, HD 204827 (Fitzpatrick & Massa 1990); HD 147165 (Clayton & Hanson 1993); HD 210121 (Larson, Whittet, & Hough 1996); and the SD region (Clayton et al. 2000). These sightlines comprise values RV from 2.1 to 5.5. The sample includes the “standard” CCM curve ($`R_V`$ = 3.1) as well as those with steep (HD 210121, SD Region, HD 204827) and flat (HD 37022, HD 147165, HD 147889) UV rises, normal and weak (HD 29647, HD 62542) bumps. These sightlines represent all the physical environments accessible to UV observations including dense clouds, star-forming regions and the diffuse ISM. In addition, we include average sightlines for the two extinction-curve types seen in each of the SMC and LMC.

## 5 Maximum Entropy Method

We employ a (slightly) modified version of the MEM extinction fitting algorithm developed by Kim et al. (1994, and references within). Instead of using the number of grains as a constraint, the algorithm employs the mass distribution: m(a) da = mass of dust grains per H atom in the size interval a to a+da. Thus, the traditional MRN-type model becomes $`m(a)a^{0.5}`$. We use a PED as the template function for each component. The data are examined at 34 wavelengths and the grain cross sections are computed over the range 0.0025-2.7 µm with 50 logarithmically-spaced bins. The shape of the mass distribution is strongly constrained only for data over the region 0.04-1 µm. Below 0.04 µm, the Rayleigh scattering behavior constrains only total mass; above 1 µm, the “gray” nature of the dust opacity also forces the MEM algorithm to simply adjust the total mass, using the shape of the template function to specify the size-dependence of the distribution.

The total mass of dust is constrained using both the gas-to-dust ratio and “cosmic” abundances (i.e., we try not to use more carbon or silicon than is available); see Table 1. As a first step, we consider only three-component models of homogeneous, spherical grains: modified “astronomical silicate” (Weingartner & Draine 2001), amorphous carbon (Zubko et al. 1996b), and graphite (Laor & Draine 1993).

We modeled all the individual and average sightlines for the Galaxy and the Magellanic Clouds listed in Table 2. The results are presented in Figures 1-3. For each sightline, two plots have been produced. The first shows the amount of extinction provided by each of the three materials, the total extinction of the model compared to the measured extinction curve. The fraction of the adopted abundance available for each material (Table 1) which is needed for the best model fit, is also listed. The second plot shows the resultant mass distribution for different sizes of grains of each material relative to the mass of hydrogen.

Figures 1 and 2 present the three-component models for a selection of Galactic sightlines including the “standard” curve ($`R_V`$ = 3.1). Figure 3 presents three-component models for the SMC and LMC curves described above.

## 6 Discussion

The MEM fits to all of the sightlines considered here show the same general behavior with the dust grain mass distributed across a wide range of sizes up to some upper size cutoff. As described above, the MEM model is not well constrained for very large and very small grains. One would naively think that as $`R_V`$ gets larger and the UV extinction gets flatter that the relative amount of mass in small grains would go down and large grains would go up; for steeper curves, the opposite would happen. These effects are seen in Figures 1-3 but no simple correlation with $`R_V`$ or far-UV steepness is seen. Similarly, sightlines with weak bumps use relatively less mass in the likely bump grains. One trend is that sightlines with higher than average gas-to-dust ratios lie below the average Galactic curve at all grain sizes. This is just due to the fact that the the masses in the figures are normalized to the mass of hydrogen.

The fraction of the available silicon and carbon used in the MEM fits to the various sightlines covers a very wide range. Three general factors determine the fraction of silicon and carbon that any individual sightline will use. First, the higher the gas-to-dust ratio is, the more metals are available in the gas phase. Second, the higher the abundances of metals are, the more material is available. Finally, high values of $`R_V`$ imply a greater than average mass fraction in larger grains. The extinction due to large grains is not as efficient per unit mass as smaller grains since the mass goes as $`a^3`$ while the surface area goes as $`a^2`$. HD 37022 which has normal Galactic abundances and gas-to-dust ratio but the highest value of $`R_V`$ in our sample, requires more than 100% of the available silicon and carbon. Similarly, the other high $`R_V`$ sightlines, HD 147889, HD 147165 and HD 29647 all require large fractions of the available metals. The SMC Wing which has a low gas-to-dust ratio and low abundances also uses more than 100% of the available silicon and carbon. On the other hand, the SD region with a high gas-to-dust ratio, normal abundances and a low $`R_V`$ uses less than half of the silicon and carbon. The LMC2 and the SMC Bar regions both have low abundances and high gas-to-dust ratios. Both use 50% or less of the available silicon and 60-80% of the carbon. The SMC Bar uses a larger fraction of both elements because of its higher normalized extinction, requiring more dust grains. The relationship between elemental fraction used and the gas-to-dust ratio is illustrated in Figure 4.

All extinction models rely heavily on silicates, yet recent observations suggest that silicon is relatively undepleted in the SMC Bar (Welty et al. 2001). It should be noted that the sightlines investigated by Welty et al. do not have extinction curves due to their small reddenings. However, MEM model fits to the average SMC Bar extinction indicate that the curve cannot be fit with carbon grains alone. Since there is almost no bump in the SMC Bar extinction that may also imply the presence of fewer graphite grains. Carbon grains are responsible for most of the visible extinction and silicon grains for most of the UV extinction. So, in general, both species of grains are needed along any sightline to get a good fit to the extinction curve. At least, the MEM fit for the SMC Bar requires a smaller fraction of silicon and carbon than almost any other sightline modeled.

A quick look at the figures shows that the HD 210121 and SMC Bar sightlines are the most unusual in their grain size distributions. Both differ strongly from the CCM curve. These two sightlines also have the steepest far-UV extinction. The model fits show a deficit of large silicate and amorphous carbon grains for both sightlines. The HD 210121 sightline which, unlike the SMC Bar, has a significant bump, shows a slightly larger size cutoff for graphite grains. The next steepest sightlines, in the LMC and in the SD region in the Galaxy do not show much difference from the average curve once the gas-to-dust ratio differences are taken into account. The importance of small grains in the steep UV rise for several sightlines (including HD 204827) is also quite evident. Larson et al. (2000) also did MEM modeling for HD 210121 with similar results. The largest $`R_V`$ sightline, toward HD 37022, also shows large deviations from the average Galactic curve. The MEM fit to the HD 37022 sightline shows a large deficit of small graphite and silicate grains. Kim et al. (1994) found that extinction with $`R_V`$=5.3 requires a similar dust mass to extinction with $`R_V`$=3.1. There is a great reduction in the number of grains with sizes less than 0.1 µm and some increase in larger particles for the model with the larger value of $`R_V`$. Among the fits to other large $`R_V`$ sightlines, HD 147165 shows trends similar to the HD 37022 fit while the fit to HD 147889 is not significantly different from the average Galactic fit. The mass distributions, found in this study, show significant departures from power-law (and even PED) behavior. This is an important distinction to make in light of the work by Pei (1992), which extends MRN to the same environments by changing only the end points of the grain size range.

As an interesting exercise, we constructed a composite model along the lines of Mathis (1998). However, given our interest in increasing the cross section per unit volume while also minimizing the amounts of Si and C used, we chose to explore the use of pyroxene and oxides. In other words, by freeing up some of the \[Fe,Mg\] normally used in olivine-like astronomical silicate, one is able to form oxides without consuming any additional cosmic Fe or Mg (as compared to olivine). Briefly, our composite grain component consists of (by volume) 28.5% pyroxene ($`[Fe_{0.6}Mg_{0.4}]SiO_3`$), 16.5% amorphous carbon, 5% oxide ($`[Fe_{0.4}Mg_{0.6}]O`$), and 50% vacuum. The elemental budget for this component is \[C/H\] = 1.05e-4 and \[Si/H\] = 2.9e-5. Defining a “molecule” of this material to have 1 Si atom, one derives a molecular weight of 213 and density of 1.45 g/cm3. The dust mass densities used in this study are $`\rho _{sil}`$= 3.3 g $`cm^3`$, $`\rho _{gra}`$= 2.3 g $`cm^3`$ and $`\rho _{amc}`$= 1.8 g $`cm^3`$. We included small silicates and small carbon (graphite) grains in our composite model, in addition to the composite grain component itself.

Following the lead of Mathis (1998), we computed the optical properties using a geometric mean of two effective medium mixing rules: Bruggeman and an extension by Ossenkopf (1991). The dielectric functions for the individual components were taken from the following sources: amorphous carbon - Be form of Zubko et al. (1996b); oxide - Henning et al. (1995), and pyroxene - Dorschner et al. (1995). Unfortunately, the latter two are limited to wavelengths above 0.22 µm (we discarded the 0.2 µm point). For the purpose of this exercise, we assumed that the UV behvior of the materials will be similar to that of astronomical silicates (i.e., the Fe component is dominant in this regime). So, we extended the dielectric function to the 0.08-0.2 µm region by scaling the imaginary component ($`k`$) of astronomical silicates to match smoothly with that of each material at 0.22 µm. We then computed the real component ($`n`$) using a subtractive Kramers-Kronig (SKK) algorithm, implementation kindly supplied by Kelly Snook (Snook 1999; see also Warren 1984). The fixed-point value of $`n`$ needed for the SKK calculations is adopted from the visible measurements of each material at a wavelength of 0.5 µm. The model fits are shown in Figure 5. This result is intriguing as it indicates that the composite grains may require a smaller fraction of the available silicon and carbon.

Weingartner & Draine (2001) note that Kim et al. (1994) make more efficient use of the grain volume by using MEM to construct more complicated size distributions. They find this “fine-tuning unappealing.” However, their own models have trouble staying within the standard abundance/depletion limits. Weingartner & Draine suggest that it is more likely that the abundance constraints are too stringent and the real Galactic abundances are higher than solar. As can be seen in Figures 1 and 3 of this paper, the MEM model fits sometimes require 100% or more of the available silicon and carbon assuming the “new” old solar abundances. Weingartner & Draine fit the Galactic average extinction curve as well as the average LMC, LMC2 and SMC Bar sightlines. A comparison of their results with ours shows significant differences, in particular, in the upper size cutoffs of silicate and carbon grains. For example, Weingartner & Draine also fit the HD 210121 sightline. Their two-component fit has upper size cutoffs of $``$0.3 µm for the silicates and $``$1 µm for carbonaceous grains. In our three-component fit, we find the opposite, $``$0.3 µm for amorphous carbon and $``$1 µm for silicate grains. We also include graphite with an upper cutoff of $``$0.3 µm. Dwek et al. (1997) used IR emission at mid-IR wavelengths to constrain the size distribution and then predicted the UV extinction. They find a size distribution for silicates not too different from MRN and include two power laws for graphite. Their predicted UV extinction curve is steeper in the UV than the $`R_V`$=3.1 extinction curve. The cirrus, modeled by Dwek et al. (1997), is located at high latitude so may have extinction more like that seen toward HD 210121. The differences among these studies reinforce the fact that while the model results are useful, they are not unique. Li & Greenberg (1998) fit the extinction curve of HD 210121 using both an MRN power-law with silicates and graphite, and a core-mantle model.

Most previous papers that calculate the size distributions assume just one “average” extinction curve to fit (i.e., Mathis 1996). In this paper, we present a uniform set of MEM model fits, all using the same grain materials, optical constants and abundance constraints. In addition, we are taking advantage of improved UV and IR data and better estimates of the gas-to-dust ratio. The model fits cover the entire range of extinction properties that have been seen in the Galaxy and the Magellanic Clouds.

Clearly, more work needs to be done: The derived mass distributions will need to be tested in other observational regimes, such as thermal IR and linear polarization. More sophisticated cross sections need to be included, both in terms of grain topology and composition. The next step will include composite grains, as well as both aligned and randomly-oriented spheroids. In addition, more extensive Galactic studies need to be undertaken. Specifically, attempts to tie sightline characteristics such as depletion patterns, molecular abundances, etc. to specific extinction features (i.e., steep UV rise, weak bump).

We would like to thank Kelly Snook for her help with this project. This work was suported by NASA ATP grant NAG5-9203.


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# Thermoelectric effect in molecular electronics

## I Introduction

Electrical conduction through individual molecules chemically bound to gold contacts has recently been measured using STM Donhauser et al. (2001); Hong et al. (2000), break junctions Reichert et al. (2002) and nanopores Chen and Reed (2002). Theoretical calculations of the current-voltage (I-V) characteristics have also been reported, see for example Ref. Damle et al. (2002); Stokbro et al. (2003); Di Ventra et al. (2000); Palacios et al. (2002). However, a detailed quantitative comparison of theoretical and experimental results is made difficult by two factors. Firstly, the low bias conductance depends strongly on the quality of the metal-molecule contacts Stokbro et al. (2003), which is ill controlled and poorly characterized experimentally. Secondly, the conductance gap is determined by the location of the Fermi energy relative to the molecular levels - a factor that is poorly understood and controversial Paulsson et al. (2002); Ghosh et al. . This is particularly unfortunate since the location of the Fermi energy is a central factor in determining the nature of conduction (n- or p-type).

The purpose of this paper is to show that a measurement of the thermoelectric voltage (see Fig. 1) can provide new insights into electron transport and allows us to estimate the location of the Fermi energy relative to the molecular levels. Analogous to the hot point probe measurements commonly used to establish the p- or n-character of semi-conductors (see for example Ref. Pierret (1996)), the thermoelectric voltage yield valuable information regarding the location of the Fermi energy. In contrast to the I-V, the thermoelectric voltage is an equilibrium property which is easy to interpret. What makes it particularly useful is that unlike the low-bias conductance, it is relatively insensitive to the quality of the contacts.

In this paper we estimate the thermoelectric current and voltage over a Phenyldithiol (PDT) molecule, see Fig. 1. We show that the thermoelectric voltage is (1) easy to analyze, (2) insensitive to the contacts and (3) large enough to be measured. In fact, Poler et al. Poler et al. (1995) measured the thermoelectric voltage (with a $`20`$ K temperature difference) over a monolayer of Guanine molecules with an STM. In this paper we also show that the thermoelectric voltage provide information on where the Fermi energy is relative to the molecular levels, e.g., the sign of the thermoelectric voltage over the Guanine molecule indicate p-type conduction.

## II Method

The electrical transport through small conjugated molecules chemically bound to at least one of the contacts can be described by the Landauer formula in terms of the transmission ($`𝒯(E)`$) Büttiker et al. (1985):

$$I=\frac{e}{\pi \mathrm{}}\underset{\mathrm{}}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}𝒯(E)\left(f_1(E)f_2(E)\right)\text{d}E$$
(1)
assuming that the electronic states in the contacts are filled according to the Fermi distribution of the reservoirs ($`f_1`$, $`f_2`$). If the transmission is not constant (as a function of energy), a difference in the Fermi distributions due to a temperature difference ($`\mathrm{\Delta }T=T_1T_2`$) will drive a thermoelectric current at zero bias ($`V=0`$) (also see footnote 111In addition to the current given by the slope of the transmission, the chemical potentials of the contacts shifts slightly. However, this effect is negligible for most metals Ashcroft and Mermin (1976).). For molecules the transmission is often smooth (compared to the thermal energy) which allows us to use the Sommerfeld expansion Butcher (1990):

$$I=\frac{e^2}{\pi \mathrm{}}𝒯(E_f)V+\frac{e}{\pi \mathrm{}}\frac{\pi ^2k_B^2T}{3}\frac{𝒯(E)}{\text{E}}|_{E=E_f}\mathrm{\Delta }T$$
(2)
where $`T`$ is the mean temperature of the contacts ($`(T_1+T_2)/2`$). Similar expressions are available for heat transport Butcher (1990).

The thermoelectric current is usually small enough that we can use a linear equivalent circuit as shown in Fig. 1 b. The current source (see Eq. 2) has a resistance that is the inverse of the low bias conductance:

$$G=\frac{e^2}{\pi \mathrm{}}𝒯(E_f)$$
(3)
Alternatively we could represent the effect in terms of a voltage source ($`V=I/G`$) with a series resistance as shown in Fig. 1 c:

$$V|_{I=0}=\frac{\pi ^2k_B^2T}{3e}\frac{\mathrm{ln}\left(𝒯(E)\right)}{E}|_{E=E_f}\mathrm{\Delta }T$$
(4)
As we will see below, this open circuit voltage can be large enough to measure and is relatively insensitive to the coupling to the contacts.

To obtain estimates of the low bias conductance and the thermoelectric voltage we need to calculate the transmission as a function of energy for a molecule connected to metallic contacts. Here we calculate the transmission using the Non Equilibrium Green’s Function (NEGF) formalism using Extended Hückel (EH) theory (see footnote 222To compare energy levels with experimental quantities, e.g., work-functions, the EH levels should be shifted (towards positive energies) by approximately $`4.6`$ eV since electron-electron interactions are neglected.) as described in Ref. Zahid et al. (2002). This is a simple but sufficient approximation if we take $`E_f`$ as an adjustable parameter (see footnote 333In reality the Fermi-energy of the contacts is fixed but charging effects shift the molecular levels. Here we keep the molecular levels fixed and treat the Fermi-energy of the contacts as a parameter.) to be determined from experiments since the qualitative features of the transmission, in our experience, is not very sensitive to the method (Hückel, EH or Ab-initio) used.

## III An illustrative example

We choose to estimate the thermoelectric voltage across a phenyl-dithiol (PDT) molecule (Fig. 1a) since it has been studied extensively after the experiment by Reed et al. Reed et al. (1997). In any case, our objective is to provide a reasonable qualitative estimate rather than an accurate quantitative value for a specific molecule. On gold surfaces, PDT chemisorbs forming a bond between the sulfur and gold. The strength of this bond is difficult to estimate since the precise experimental geometry is unknown. For an STM measurement the contact with the tip is also weaker than the substrate bond. We therefore calculate the transmission through the PDT molecule perfectly bound to the gold contacts (see molecule 1 in Fig. 1 a) and through a PDT molecule chemisorbed on only one contact with different distances between the molecule and contact 1 (see molecule 2 in Fig. 1a).

Fig. 2 shows the transmission through the PDT molecule for perfect contacts on both sides (solid line) and one weak contact (dashed line). The position of the Fermi energy ($`E_f`$) relative to the Highest Occupied Molecular Orbital (HOMO) and Lowest Unoccupied Molecular Orbital (LUMO) levels is one of the main parameters affecting the current-voltage characteristics Paulsson et al. (2002). As pointed out in the introduction, the position of $`E_f`$ is difficult to estimate. The suggested positions of $`E_f`$ range from (1) closer to the HOMO level Damle et al. (2002); Emberly and Kirczenow (1998); Yaliraki et al. (1999); Stokbro et al. (2003), (2) mid gap and (3) closer to the LUMO level Di Ventra et al. (2000), see Fig. 2. Since the thermoelectric effect depends on the slope of the transmission at $`E_f`$ (Eq. 4), the sign of the thermoelectric voltage and current will be determined by where $`E_f`$ is located relative to the molecular levels.

The thermoelectric voltage calculated from Eqs. 4, 5 is shown in Fig. 3 for a $`10`$ K temperature difference at room temperature ($`T_1=300`$ K, $`T_2=310`$ K). Note that the thermoelectric voltage was calculated from a transmission fitted to Lorentzian peaks (see Fig. 2), this removes the magnification (by taking the derivative) of small numerical errors. Unless $`E_f`$ is located very close to the middle of the HOMO-LUMO gap the size of the thermoelectric voltage is of the order $`0.50.1`$ mV. Since the thermoelectric voltage is proportional to $`\mathrm{\Delta }T`$ (Eq. 4), even smaller temperature differences will give a measurable thermoelectric voltage.

The measured conductance of the PDT molecules Reed et al. (1997) is smaller than the theoretical estimates by two to three orders of magnitude Stokbro et al. (2003). This discrepancy indicate that the interaction strength between molecule and contacts is smaller than that assumed in the models (for STM measurements this is obviously true). It is plausible to believe that the molecule form a strong bond with one of the contacts and only interacts weakly with the second contact (also see footnote 444Emberly and Kirczenow have pointed out that the symmetric I-V curves obtained in measurements on PDT are consistent with a geometry where two weakly interacting molecules are attach to the two different contacts Emberly and Kirczenow (2001). We have omitted this case in this paper since the thermoelectric voltage calculated in this geometry is qualitatively the same as for one PDT molecule weakly coupled to one contact.). However, the calculated thermoelectric voltage with one weak contact (Fig. 3 dashed line) has almost the same magnitude as the perfectly bound molecule (solid line) and is slightly larger close to the transmission peaks.

To understand why the thermoelectric voltage is unaffected by weak contacts it is instructive to fit the transmission (Fig. 2) to Lorentzian transmission peaks:

$$𝒯(E)=\underset{i=1}{\overset{2}{}}\frac{\mathrm{\Gamma }_1\mathrm{\Gamma }_2}{\left(Eϵ_i\right)^2+\left(\mathrm{\Gamma }_1+\mathrm{\Gamma }_2\right)^2/4}$$
(5)
where $`ϵ_i`$ is the energy of the two levels and $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_1,\mathrm{\Gamma }_2`$ the broadening by contact $`1`$ and $`2`$. This approximation is useful for the PDT molecule since the transmission around the HOMO-LUMO gap of PDT is mainly determined by two levels that couple approximately equally to the contacts (see footnote 555The transmission peaks actually correspond to the HOMO and LUMO+1 levels since the LUMO level is localized to the benzene ring and give zero transmission.). Fitting the transmission to Eq. 5 using a least square fit (of $`\mathrm{ln}(𝒯)`$) gives: $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_1=\mathrm{\Gamma }_2=0.11`$ eV, $`ϵ_1=11.86`$ eV and $`ϵ_2=7.91`$ eV. For the weakly coupled PDT molecule (with a Au-H distance of $`2.9`$ Å) the least squares fit gives ($`\mathrm{\Gamma }_2=0.11`$ eV): $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_1=0.0042`$ eV, $`ϵ_1=11.80`$ eV, $`ϵ_2=7.85`$ eV. These fits give good approximations to the calculated transmission (see Fig. 2), other Au-H distances (not shown in figure) in the range $`15`$ Å also fit the transmission well.

Assuming the Fermi energy to be situated in between the HOMO and LUMO levels and far from the levels ($`|E_fϵ_{1,2}|>>|\mathrm{\Gamma }_1+\mathrm{\Gamma }_2|`$) we can Taylor expand Eq. 4 in the energy around the midpoint of the HOMO-LUMO gap ($`E=\frac{ϵ_1+ϵ_2}{2}`$):

$$V|_{I=0}=\frac{8\pi ^2k_B^2T}{e}\frac{1}{\left(ϵ_1ϵ_2\right)^2}\left(E_f\frac{ϵ_1+ϵ_2}{2}\right)\mathrm{\Delta }T$$
(6)
This shows that the thermoelectric voltage is, to first order, independent of the strength of the interaction with the contacts, see thin dotted line in Fig. 3. This result is not limited to the PDT molecule but valid for most conjugated molecules (see footnote 666 From the NEGF formalism Paulsson et al. (2002), $`𝒯=\text{Tr}(G\mathrm{\Gamma }_1G^{}\mathrm{\Gamma }_2)`$. If a weak coupling only scales $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_1`$ by a constant, it is easy to show that the transmission scales by the same constant when the energy is far from any resonances (due to the molecular energy levels) in $`G`$.).

To experimentally measure the thermoelectric voltage, the thermoelectric current has to be larger than any leakage currents. The thermoelectric current (Eq. 2) through the PDT molecule is shown in the inset of Fig. 3. Since the thermoelectric current is proportional to the transmission ($`𝒯`$), the magnitude of the current is strongly dependent on the strength of the interactions between molecule and contacts. It is also important to realize that for very weak coupling to both contacts, i.e., in the Coulomb blockade regime, the simple decomposition of the transmission into HOMO and LUMO peaks (see Fig. 2) might not be enough to describe the thermoelectric effect. However, even for a molecule which is relatively weakly connected to one contact (but chemically bound to the other contact) should give a thermoelectric current of the order of $`1100`$ pA, see inset in Fig. 3.

## IV Summary and discussion

The position of the Fermi energy is one important ingredient in understanding electrical transport through molecules. It is also interesting since shifting the Fermi energy by, (1) doping, (2) addition of side-groups, (3) gate field or (4) use of different contact material, can be used to optimize the molecular properties. Phenomena of this type can be probed and evaluated through a measurement of the thermoelectric voltage (coupled with I-V measurements).

In this study we have only considered a single molecule between the two contacts. However, unless the local structure of each molecule is different, the thermoelectric effect should only be affected trivially. It is possible that the detailed structure of the gold atoms bonding to the molecule affect the charge transfer to the molecule and thus the position of the Fermi energy. If this is the case, the variations could be mapped by STM measurements on different molecules on a single substrate. Another simplification in our work is that we only focus on the PDT molecule. Due to its simple structure the transmission is almost symmetric around the middle of the HOMO-LUMO gap. For other molecules this need not be true. In this case, the interpretation of the thermoelectric voltage still provides an estimate of the Fermi energy even though it is less straight forward.

To our knowledge the only reported measurement of the thermoelectric voltage over a molecule was performed by Poler et al. Poler et al. (1995). Using an STM tip they measured the thermoelectric voltage over Guanine molecules on a graphite substrate. A detailed analysis of the measurement is not possible since the I-V characteristic was not measured in this experiment. However, the sign of the thermoelectric voltage indicates that the electrical transport is conducted through the HOMO level and the measured thermoelectric voltage was similar in magnitude to the value estimated here for PDT ($`0.5\pm 0.01`$ mV at $`\mathrm{\Delta }T=26.5`$ K).

An intriguing possibility is to use the thermoelectric effect over a molecular SAM as a thermoelectric element. Applications of these elements include thermoelectric coolers (Peltier effect) and power generators. We have performed preliminary calculations on the efficiency of such elements. However, the efficiency is limited (and largely determined) by the lattice thermal conductivities of the SAM. We therefore believe that until there are reliable estimates of the thermal conductivity any speculations on the efficiency of such elements are premature.

In summary, we have shown that a measurement of the thermoelectric voltage over a molecule is (1) simple to analyze, (2) insensitive to the contacts, (3) feasible and (4) should give valuable information, which is not readily accessible through other experiments, on the location of the Fermi energy relative to the molecular levels.


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# 1 The LHC / LC Study Group

## 1 The LHC / LC Study Group

The aim of the LHC / LC Study Group is to investigate a possible cross-talk between the LHC and a future Linear Collider (LC) and to study in how far analyses carried out at one of the machines could profit from results obtained at the other machine. Mutual benefits could occur both at the level of a combined interpretation of Hadron Collider and Linear Collider data and at the level of combined analyses of the data, where results obtained at one machine could directly influence the way analyses are carried out the other machine.

Topics under study comprise the physics of weak and strong electroweak symmetry breaking, Supersymmetric models, new gauge theories, models with extra dimensions, and electroweak and QCD precision physics. For these studies it is assumed that the LC comes into operation about half a decade after the start of the LHC. During simultaneous running of both machines there is obviously the highest flexibility for adapting analyses carried out at one machine according to the results obtained at the other machine. The LC results could in this context also serve as an input for a second phase of LHC running concerning different possible upgrade options.

To mention just one example of studies carried out in the working group, the determination of masses of Supersymmetric particles at the LHC could profit from the precise measurement of the lightest Supersymmetric particle (LSP) at the LC. As a trivial illustration of the possible benefits of a precise measurement of the LSP mass at the LC, Fig. 1 shows the relative accuracy of the determination of the mass of the next-to-lightest neutralino at the LHC, which is highly correlated with the accuracy of the LSP mass determination . The prospective accuracy of the LSP mass measurement at the LC is indicated by a narrow band, which obviously leads to a drastic improvement of the mass determination of the next-to-lightest neutralino at the LHC.

The LHC / LC Study Group has been forming over the last months and is still further expanding. Currently there are about 140 working group members (members of ATLAS, CMS, LC working groups, a Tevatron contact person, and theorists). Further information about the working group can be obtained from rohini.godbole@cern.ch, paige@bnl.gov, Georg.Weiglein@durham.ac.uk or from the LHC / LC Study Group web page www.ippp.dur.ac.uk/$``$georg/lhclc.

## 2 The Snowmass Points and Slopes (SPS)

In the unconstrained version of the Minimal Supersymmetric extension of the Standard Model (MSSM) no particular Supersymmetry (SUSY) breaking mechanism is assumed, but rather a parameterisation of all possible soft SUSY breaking terms is used. This leads to more than a hundred parameters (masses, mixing angles, phases) in this model in addition to the ones of the Standard Model. For performing detailed simulations of experimental signatures within detectors of high-energy physics experiments it is clearly not practicable to scan over a multi-dimensional parameter space. One thus often concentrates on certain “typical” benchmark scenarios.

The Snowmass Points and Slopes (SPS)  are a set of benchmark scenarios in the MSSM parameter space which was agreed upon at the 2001 “Snowmass Workshop on the Future of Particle Physics” as a consensus based on different existing proposals . The SPS consist of model lines (“slopes”), i.e. continuous sets of parameters depending on one dimensionful parameter and specific benchmark points, where each model line goes through one of the benchmark points. The SPS should be regarded as a recommendation for future studies of SUSY phenomenology, but of course are not meant as an exclusive and for all purposes sufficient collection of SUSY models. They mainly focus on “typical” scenarios within the three currently most prominent SUSY-breaking mechanisms, i.e. minimal supergravity (mSUGRA) , gauge-mediated SUSY breaking (GMSB) , and anomaly-mediated SUSY breaking (AMSB) . Furthermore they contain examples of “more extreme” scenarios, e.g. a “focus point” scenario  with a rather heavy SUSY spectrum, indicating in this way different possibilities for SUSY phenomenology that can be realised within the most commonly used SUSY breaking scenarios.

The SPS comprise ten benchmark points, from which six correspond to an mSUGRA scenario, one is an mSUGRA-like scenario with non-unified gaugino masses, two refer to the GMSB scenario, and one to the AMSB scenario. Seven of these benchmark points are attached to model lines, while the remaining three are supplied as isolated points. In studying the benchmark scenarios the model lines should prove useful in performing more general analyses of typical SUSY signatures, while the specific points indicated on the lines are proposed to be chosen as the first sample points for very detailed (and thus time-consuming) analyses. The concept of a model line means of course that more than just one point should be studied on each line. Results along the model lines can often then be roughly estimated by interpolation.

The SUSY-breaking scenarios mentioned above are characterised by a few input parameters (in the mSUGRA scenario, for instance, these are the scalar mass parameter $`m_0`$, the gaugino mass parameter $`m_{1/2}`$, the trilinear coupling $`A_0`$, the ratio of the Higgs vacuum expectation values, $`\mathrm{tan}\beta `$, and the sign of the Supersymmetric Higgs mass parameter, $`\mu `$). The mass spectra of the SUSY particles in the mSUGRA, GMSB and AMSB scenarios are obtained via renormalisation group running from the scale of the high-energy parameters of the SUSY-breaking scenario to the weak scale. The low-energy parameters obtained in this way are then used as input for calculating the predictions for the production cross sections and for the decay branching ratios of the SUSY particles.

An important aspect in the philosophy behind the benchmark scenarios is that the low-energy MSSM parameters are defined to be the actual benchmark rather than the high-energy input parameters $`m_0`$, $`m_{1/2}`$, etc. A specification of the benchmark scenarios in terms of the latter parameters is merely understood as an abbreviation for the low-energy phenomenology (it also depends on the particular program used for relating the high-energy input parameters to the low-energy MSSM parameters).

While certain sets of low-energy MSSM parameters have been fixed as benchmarks in the SPS by definition (which in principle could have been done without resorting at all to scenarios like mSUGRA, GMSB and AMSB), the evaluation of the mass spectra and decay branching ratios from the MSSM benchmark parameters should be carried out with the tools and at the level of sophistication being most appropriate for the particular application one is interested in. If detailed comparisons between different experiments or different colliders are carried out, it would clearly be advantageous to use the same results for the mass spectra and the branching ratios.

The main qualitative difference between the SPS (and also the recent proposals for post-LEP benchmarks in Ref. ) and the benchmarks used previously for investigating SUSY searches at the LHC, the Tevatron and a future Linear Collider is that scenarios with small values of $`\mathrm{tan}\beta `$, i.e. $`\mathrm{tan}\beta \stackrel{<}{}\mathrm{\hspace{0.33em}3}`$, are disfavoured as a result of the Higgs exclusion bounds obtained at LEP. Consequently, there is more focus now on scenarios with larger values of $`\mathrm{tan}\beta `$ than in previous studies. Concerning the SUSY phenomenology, intermediate and large values of $`\mathrm{tan}\beta `$, $`\mathrm{tan}\beta \stackrel{>}{}\mathrm{\hspace{0.33em}5}`$, have the important consequence that there is in general a non-negligible mixing between the two staus (and an even more pronounced mixing in the sbottom sector), leading to a significant mass splitting between the two staus so that the lighter stau becomes the lightest slepton. Neutralinos and charginos therefore decay predominantly into staus and taus, which is experimentally more challenging than the dilepton signal resulting for instance from the decay of the second lightest neutralino into the lightest neutralino and a pair of leptons of the first or the second generation.

Large values of $`\mathrm{tan}\beta `$ can furthermore have important consequences for the phenomenology in the Higgs sector, as the couplings of the heavy Higgs bosons $`H`$, $`A`$ to down-type fermions are in general enhanced. For sizable values of $`\mu `$ and $`m_{\stackrel{~}{g}}`$ the $`hb\overline{b}`$ coupling receives large radiative corrections from gluino loop corrections, which in particular affect the branching ratio BR($`h\tau ^+\tau ^{}`$).

The main features of the SPS benchmarks are listed in the following:

This scenario consists of a “typical” mSUGRA point with an intermediate value of $`\mathrm{tan}\beta `$ and a model line attached to it (SPS 1a) and of a “typical” mSUGRA point with relatively high $`\mathrm{tan}\beta `$ (SPS 1b). The two-points lie in the “bulk” of the cosmological region where the lightest SUSY particle (LSP) gives rise to an acceptable dark matter density. For the collider phenomenology in particular the $`\tau `$-rich neutralino and chargino decays are important.

The benchmark point chosen for SPS 2 lies in the “focus point” region, where a too large relic abundance is avoided by an enhanced annihilation cross section of the LSP due to a sizable higgsino component. This scenario features relatively heavy squarks and sleptons, while the charginos and the neutralinos are fairly light and the gluino is lighter than the squarks.

The model line of this scenario is directed into the “coannihilation region”, where a sufficiently low relic abundance can arise from a rapid coannihilation between the LSP and the (almost mass degenerate) next-to-lightest SUSY particle (NLSP), which is usually the lighter $`\stackrel{~}{\tau }`$. Accordingly, an important feature in the collider phenomenology of this scenario is the very small slepton–neutralino mass difference.

The large value of $`\mathrm{tan}\beta `$ in this scenario has an important impact on the phenomenology in the Higgs sector. The couplings of $`A,H`$ to $`b\overline{b}`$ and $`\tau ^+\tau ^{}`$ as well as the $`H^\pm t\overline{b}`$ couplings are significantly enhanced in this scenario, resulting in particular in large associated production cross sections for the heavy Higgs bosons.

This scenario is characterised by a large negative value of $`A_0`$, which allows consistency of the relatively low value of $`\mathrm{tan}\beta `$ with the constraints from the Higgs search at LEP, see Ref. .

In this scenario, the bino mass parameter $`M_1`$ is larger than in the usual mSUGRA models by a factor of $`1.6`$. While a bino-like neutralino is still the LSP, the mass difference between the lightest chargino and the lightest two neutralinos and the sleptons is significantly reduced compared to the typical mSUGRA case. Neutralino, chargino and slepton decays will feature less-energetic jets and leptons as a consequence.

The NLSP in this GMSB scenario is the lighter stau, with allowed three body decays of right-handed selectrons and smuons into it. The decay of the NLSP into the Gravitino and the $`\tau `$ in this scenario can be chosen to be prompt, delayed or quasi-stable.

The NLSP in this scenario is the lightest neutralino. The second lightest neutralino has a significant branching ratio into $`h`$ when kinematically allowed. The decay of the NLSP into the Gravitino (and a photon or a $`Z`$ boson) in this scenario can be chosen to be prompt, delayed or quasi-stable.

This scenario features a very small neutralino–chargino mass difference, which is typical for AMSB scenarios. Accordingly, the LSP is a neutral wino and the NLSP a nearly degenerate charged wino. The NLSP decays to the LSP and a soft pion with a macroscopic decay length, as much as 10 cm.

As an example, below the benchmark values (i.e. the low-energy MSSM parameters) are given for the benchmark point of SPS 1a. All mass parameters are given in GeV. The value of the top-quark mass for all SPS benchmarks is chosen to be $`m_\mathrm{t}=175`$ GeV.

All mass parameters for the benchmark point of SPS 1a are to be understood as defined in the $`\overline{\mathrm{DR}}`$ scheme at the scale $`Q=454.7`$ GeV.
The gluino mass $`M_{\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{g}}}`$, the Supersymmetric Higgs mass parameter $`\mu `$, the mass of the $`𝒞𝒫`$-odd Higgs boson $`M_\mathrm{A}`$, the ratio of the vacuum expectation values of the two Higgs doublets $`\mathrm{tan}\beta `$, and the electroweak gaugino mass parameters $`M_1`$ and $`M_2`$ have the following values:

$$M_{\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{g}}}=595.2,\mu =352.4,M_\mathrm{A}=393.6,\mathrm{tan}\beta =10,M_1=99.1,M_2=192.7.$$
(1)
The soft SUSY-breaking parameters in the diagonal entries of the squark and slepton mass matrices have been chosen to be the same for the first and second generation. They have the following values (these parameters are approximately equal to the sfermion masses; the off-diagonal entries have been neglected for the first two generations; the index $`i`$ in $`M_{\stackrel{~}{q}i_L}`$ refers to the generation):

$$M_{\stackrel{~}{q}1_L}=M_{\stackrel{~}{q}2_L}=539.9,M_{\stackrel{~}{d}_R}=519.5,M_{\stackrel{~}{u}_R}=521.7,M_{\stackrel{~}{e}_L}=196.6,M_{\stackrel{~}{e}_R}=136.2.$$
(2)
The soft SUSY-breaking parameters in the diagonal entries of the squark and slepton mass matrices of the third generation have the following values,

$$M_{\stackrel{~}{q}3_L}=495.9,M_{\stackrel{~}{b}_R}=516.9,M_{\stackrel{~}{t}_R}=424.8,M_{\stackrel{~}{\tau }_L}=195.8,M_{\stackrel{~}{\tau }_R}=133.6,$$
(3)
while the trilinear couplings of the third generation read

$$A_t=510.0,A_b=772.7,A_\tau =254.2.$$
(4)
The corresponding SUSY particle spectrum as obtained with ISAJET 7.58  is shown in Fig. 2.

The benchmark values for the other SPS can be found at www.ippp.dur.ac.uk/$``$georg/sps, see also Ref. .

### Acknowledgements

The author thanks the members of the LHC / LC Study Group and the authors of hep-ph/0202233 for their collaboration. I am grateful to the organisers of SUSY02 for the invitation and the very pleasant atmosphere at the conference.


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# The Spin-Up Rate of the White Dwarf of GK Per

## 1. Introduction

GK Per is an extraordinary cataclysmic variable: the first nova of the last century (Nova Per 1901), it contains a magnetic white dwarf, a large truncated accretion disk, and an evolved secondary; it is surrounded by a nova shell visible in the radio, optical, and X-ray wavebands; and it suffers large-amplitude ($`\mathrm{\Delta }V3`$), long ($`\delta t60`$ days), but infrequent ($`\mathrm{\Delta }t900`$ day) dwarf nova outbursts (Šimon 2002). On the strength of proposals submitted to the XMM and Chandra Guest Observer programs, we were granted target-of-opportunity XMM and Chandra (C. Mauche, PI) and RXTE (K. Mukai, PI) observations of GK Per during its 2002 March–April outburst with the goals of monitoring the X-ray light curve, pulse profile, and spectrum and obtaining the first grating spectra of GK Per to determine the nature of its complex X-ray spectrum (Şen & Osborne 1998; Ezuka & Ishida 1999). The number and dates of the observations were constrained by the small and decreasing angle between GK Per and the Sun, but we were fortunate to obtain RXTE monitoring observations every few days throughout the outburst, an XMM observation on March 9 during the early rise to maximum, and Chandra HETG observations on March 27 and April 9 during the late rise and peak of the outburst. The XMM MOS and Chandra HETG confirm that the Fe 6.4 keV fluorescent emission line is the strongest of the three Fe K-shell emission features, and the XMM RGS and Chandra HETG spectrometers reveal emission lines of H-like C; H- and He-like N, O, Ne, Mg, Si, and S; and possibly He-like Al (see Mukai et al. 2003 for a plot of the Chandra HETG spectrum). At least two sources of X-ray emission are implied by (1) the strong absorption of the continuum (which diminishes to zero for $`\lambda >\mathrm{\hspace{0.25em}6}`$ Å), (2) the presence of emission lines down to $`\lambda 30`$ Å, and (3) the fact that the short-wavelength ($`\lambda =1`$–6 Å) flux is modulated at the spin period of the white dwarf, while the long-wavelength ($`\lambda =6`$–26 Å) flux is steady.

## 2. Spin Period of the White Dwarf

To determine the spin period of the white dwarf of GK Per, we used data from the two 32 ks Chandra observations separated by 13.2 days. Specifically, we created a count rate light curve of the Chandra HETG first-order $`\lambda =1`$–6 Å event data with 351.3/5=70 s bins, subtracted the mean of the two observations, and padded the interval between the two observations with zeros. The power spectrum of the resulting light curve is shown in Figure 1, with peaks at $`\nu =5.68`$, 2.85, 0.59, and 0.18 mHz, corresponding to periods $`P=176`$, 351, 1700, and 5520 s; the 351 s period is the spin period of the white dwarf $`P`$, the 176 s period is its first harmonic $`P/2`$, and the 5520 s period is the quasi-periodic oscillation discussed by Morales-Rueda, Still, & Roche (1999). Based solely on the power spectrum, the spin period of the white dwarf can be constrained only to lie in the range $`P=349`$–353 s, but by phasing the two Chandra HETG light curves, the number of cycles between the two observations is constrained to be 3250 $`\pm `$ a few, corresponding to periods $`P=351.332`$ s $`\pm `$ multiples of 0.105 s. This ambiguity is resolved by the light curves of the two intervening RXTE PCA observations, which phase consistently with the two Chandra HETG light curves only for $`P=351.332\pm 0.002`$ s (see Fig. 2).

## 3. Spin-Up Rate of the White Dwarf

The pulse period of GK Per has been measured previously in X-rays by Einstein (Eracleous, Patterson, & Halpern 1991) and EXOSAT (Watson, King, & Osborne 1985; Norton, Watson, & King 1988) and in the optical by Patterson (1991), who provides an excellent discussion of the measurements and uncertainties of the various determinations of this quantity. Patterson finds that the 1980 Einstein data are consistent with pulse periods $`P=351.3423`$ s $`\pm `$ multiples of 0.002 s, the 1983–85 EXOSAT data are consistent with pulse periods $`P=351.3372`$, 351.3409, or 351.3446 ($`\pm 0.0007`$) s, and the 1989–91 optical data are consistent with a pulse period $`P=351.3355\pm 0.0004`$ s; these data are plotted in Fig. 3. Assuming that the pulse period at the epoch of the EXOSAT observations was 351.3409 s, Patterson proposed a spin-up rate $`\dot{P}=0.0008\mathrm{s}\mathrm{yr}^1`$ (the dotted line in Fig. 3) for the white dwarf of GK Per, but cautioned that the result should be regarded as tentative, as there is an uncertainty in the cycle count. As shown in Figure 3, our determination of the pulse period of GK Per in 2002 is not consistent with a linear extrapolation of the spin-up rate proposed by Patterson, but is consistent with a spin-up rate $`\dot{P}=0.00027\pm 0.00005\mathrm{s}\mathrm{yr}^1`$ (the solid line in Fig. 3).

## 4. Spin Ephemeris of the White Dwarf

Given the results from the previous sections, the spin ephemeris of the white dwarf of GK Per is fully determined by specifying the date of some feature in the light curve. Following Watson, King, & Osborne (1985), we define phase zero to occur at pulse maximum, which, guided by the power spectrum, we determined by fitting a function $`a+b\mathrm{sin}[2\pi (\varphi \varphi _1)]+c\mathrm{sin}[4\pi (\varphi \varphi _2)]`$ to the mean phase-folded light curve. By this method, we find that X-ray pulse maximum of GK Per follows the ephemeris $`T_{\mathrm{max}}=\mathrm{HEJD}\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}2452360.9113}(\pm 0.0001)+0.00406634(\pm 0.00000002)E(3.5\pm 0.6)\times 10^{14}E^2.`$ This ephemeris includes only the second secure determination of the spin period of the white dwarf of GK Per and the first secure determination of its spin-up rate.

### Acknowledgments.

This work benefited from discussions with J. Patterson, K. Mukai, and A. Norton. We thank J. Swank and H. Tananbaum for the grants of Director’s Discretionary Time which made the RXTE and Chandra observations possible. Support for this work was provided in part by NASA through Chandra Award Number DD2-3014X issued by the Chandra X-Ray Observatory Center, which is operated by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory for and on behalf of NASA under contract NAS8-39073. This work was performed under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy by University of California Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory under contract No. W-7405-Eng-48.

## References

Eracleous, M., Patterson, J., & Halpern, J. 1991, ApJ, 370, 330

Ezuka, H., & Ishida, M. 1999, ApJS, 120, 277

Morales-Rueda, L., Still, M. D., & Roche, P. 1999, MNRAS, 306, 753

Mukai, K., et al. 2003, ApJ, in press (astro-ph/0301557)

Norton, A. J., Watson, M. G., & King, A. R. 1988, MNRAS, 231, 783

Patterson, J. 1991, PASP, 103, 1149

Şen, G., & Osborne, J. P. 1998, in Wild Stars in the Old West, ed. S. Howell, E. Kuulkers, & C. Woodward (San Francisco: ASP), 463

Šimon, V. 2002, A&A, 382, 910

Watson, M. G., King, A. R., & Osborne, J. 1985, MNRAS, 212, 917


text:
# Thermally induced spin flips above an atom chip

## Abstract

We describe an experiment in which Bose-Einstein condensates and cold atom clouds are held by a microscopic magnetic trap near a room temperature metal wire 500 $`\mu `$m in diameter. The ensemble of atoms breaks into fragments when it is brought close to the ceramic-coated aluminum surface of the wire, showing that fragmentation is not peculiar to copper surfaces. The lifetime for atoms to remain in the microtrap is measured over a range of distances down to $`27\mu `$m from the surface of the metal. We observe the loss of atoms from the microtrap due to spin flips. These are induced by radio-frequency thermal fluctuations of the magnetic field near the surface, as predicted but not previously observed.

The ability to control cold atom clouds in microscopic magnetic traps weinstein95 ; vuletic98 ; fortagh98  and waveguides mueller99 ; dekker00 ; key00  has created the new field of miniaturized atom optics hindsreview99 ; folmanreview02 . With the use of microstructured surfaces (atom chips) it becomes possible to control cold atoms on the $`\mu `$m length scale and to anticipate the construction of integrated atom interferometers hinds01 ; haensel01 ; andersson02 . Ultimately there is the possibility of controlling the quantum coherences within arrays of individual atoms for use in quantum information processing calarco00 ; horak02 . For these kinds of applications it is important to avoid fluctuating or inhomogeneous perturbations, which tend to destroy the quantum coherences.

Clouds within 100 $`\mu `$m of a current-carrying wire and cooled below a few $`\mu `$K have recently revealed three surface-related decoherence effects. First, the clouds break into fragments along the length of the wire as a result of a corrugated trapping potential fortagh02 ; leanhardt02 . The corrugations are caused by a small spatially alternating magnetic field parallel to the wire kraft02 , which is presumably due to a small transverse component of the current. The second effect is heating of the cloud haensel01 ; fortagh02  due to audiofrequency technical noise in the currents that form the microtrap, which cause it to shake. Finally, trapped atoms are lost haensel01 ; fortagh02  through spin flips induced by radio frequency technical noise in the wire currents. Some of these effects have recently been elucidated by Leanhardt et al. through a comparison of magnetic and optical traps near a surface leanhardt02a .

In addition to these essentially technical decoherence effects, there is a more fundamental limitation associated with the thermal fluctuations of the magnetic field. When the cold atoms are far from any surfaces in their room-temperature environment, they interact with the blackbody radiation field. This has very little power at the resonance frequencies of the atoms, making the thermalization times exceedingly long and the decoherence effects correspondingly small. However, atoms trapped some tens of $`\mu `$m above a metal interact with the thermally fluctuating near field of the surface, whose spectrum is very different from the blackbody spectrum. Recent calculations henkel99  have shown that spin flips induced by this near field can cause atoms to be ejected from a magnetic trap in less than a second. In this letter we present measurements of this fundamental effect, which, in the presence of technical losses, has not previously been accessible fortagh02 ; leanhardt02a .

A diagram of the atom chip used to form our microtrap is shown in figure 1. The main wire is a 500 $`\mu `$m diameter guide wire along the z-direction. It consists of a central core of copper with $`185\mu `$m radius, a $`55\mu `$m thick aluminum layer and a $`10\mu `$m thick ceramic sheath. This wire is glued by high-vacuum epoxy (Bylapox 7285) into the $`200\mu `$m-deep channel formed by a glass substrate and two glass cover slips. Below the guide wire there are four transverse wires, $`800\mu `$m in diameter. The cover slips are coated with 60 nm of gold so that they reflect 780 nm light. In order to make a Bose-Einstein condensate in the microtrap we first collect 87Rb atoms using a magneto-optical trap whose beams are reflected from the gold surface. This MOT collects $`1\times \mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}10}^8`$ atoms at a height of 4 mm above the surface and cools them to $`50\mu `$K. The MOT is pulled down to a height of 1.3 mm by passing a current of 3.2 A through the guide wire and adding a uniform magnetic field $`B_x`$ of 6 G along the x-direction. This compresses the cloud into a cylindrical shape and increases the phase space density of the atoms to $`2\times 10^6`$ jones02 .

The light and the anti-Helmholtz coils of the MOT are then switched off and the atoms are optically pumped into the $`|F,m=|2,2`$ state. We collect $`2\times \mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}10}^7`$ of these atoms in the magnetic guide formed by the guide wire (8 A along z), and the transverse bias field $`B_x`$ (10 G along x). Axial confinement is provided by the inner transverse wires (15 A each along -x ), and the outer transverse wires (15 A each along x ). The field at the center of this trap is partly cancelled by an axial bias field $`B_z`$ ($`6`$G along z). Next, the trap is adiabatically compressed over 0.5 s by increasing $`B_x`$ and $`B_z`$ to $`29`$G and $`11`$G respectively, and reducing the guide current to $`6.9`$A. This brings the trap to a distance of 225 $`\mu `$m from the wire and raises the radial and axial trap frequencies to 840 Hz and 26 Hz. The elastic collision rate is now $`54`$ s-1, which is high enough for forced rf evaporative cooling to be efficient. We sweep the rf frequency logarithmically over 12.5 s from 13 MHz to a final frequency near 600 kHz. This cools the cloud down to well below the 380 nK critical temperature for Bose-Einstein condensation and produces up to $`5\times 10^4`$ atoms in the condensate jones02 .

We find that the number of atoms in the microtrap decays exceedingly slowly with time. We cannot leave the trap on long enough to measure the decay precisely because the vacuum feedthroughs that carry the trap currents overheat, causing a sudden increase of pressure after $`20`$ s. However, the lifetime is well in excess of 100 s. For many of our measurements we stop the evaporation after 6 s at a temperature in the range of $`15\mu `$K. These thermal clouds also have lifetimes well over 100 s.

To bring the atoms closer to the surface, we smoothly reduce the current flowing in the guide wire during the last $`1`$s of evaporation. The arrival of the atoms at the desired height coincides with the end of the evaporation ramp. The cloud is then viewed on a ccd camera using absorption imaging with the probe beam propagating along the x-direction. At distances above $`100\mu `$m from the surface the axial profile of the cloud (i.e. along the z-direction) is Gaussian, as shown in figure 2. However, as the cloud approaches the surface of the wire, it breaks into fragments, similar to those observed by other groups close to copper wire fortagh02 ; leanhardt02 . At a height of $`27\mu `$m, the potential wells responsible for the fragmentation shown in figure 2 are $`1\mu `$K deep and are due to a magnetic field parallel to the wire kraft02  that alternates between $`\pm 10`$mG. Relative to the expected field of the wire this anomalous part is $`3\times 10^4`$. The depth of these wells increases strongly as the cloud approaches the aluminum surface, even though it is still almost $`100\mu `$m away from the copper. This suggests that fragmentation is not peculiar to copper but applies equally to currents flowing in aluminum. Compared with references fortagh02 ; leanhardt02 , the current density in our wire is much lower, making it unlikely that the fragmentation is a result of current instability at high density, as has been suggested kraft02 . It remains an open question whether this phenomenon is due to some fundamental physics, such as arrangement of the spins in the conduction electrons fortagh02 ; kraft02 , or simply to imperfections in the geometry of the wire.

Figure 3 shows the total number of atoms in the (fragmented) microtrap versus time, measured at a height of 29(4) $`\mu `$m above the aluminum surface of the wire. A small number of atoms is used in order to avoid the unnecessary complication of 3-body loss from the trap. This curve yields a lifetime of 5.1(0.3) s - very much shorter than the lifetime far from the wire. The increased loss rate is due to spin flip transitions $`|2,2|2,1|2,0`$ driven by thermal fluctuations of the magnetic field close to the wire. The resonant frequency $`f_0`$ for this spin flip transition is $`\frac{1}{2}\mu _BB_0/h`$, where $`\mu _B`$ is the Bohr magneton, $`h`$ is Planck’s constant, and $`B_0`$ is the magnetic field at the center of the trap, where the cold atoms reside. This field is produced by the combination of the transverse wires and the axial bias field $`B_z`$, and it is controlled by adjusting $`B_z`$.

Since the evaporative cooling uses these same spin flip transitions, we are able to determine the transition frequency $`f_0`$ by making several evaporations with different values of the final rf frequency. The final temperature, as measured by the mean square length of the thermal cloud, is linearly related to this final frequency. Extrapolation to zero cloud length yields the spin flip frequency $`f_0`$ of atoms at the center of the trap. The measurements shown in figure 3 were taken with $`f_0=1.8`$MHz, corresponding to a field of $`B_0=2.6`$G.

Figure 4 shows the lifetimes measured by similar decay curves at a variety of distances from the wire. There are two series of measurements using two different values of the spin-flip frequency: $`f_0=1.8(1)`$MHz (circles), and $`f_0=560(10)`$kHz (squares). The contribution of the transverse wires to $`B_0`$ varies slightly with height, but we have measured this and have compensated for for it by adjusting $`B_z`$ so as to maintain constant $`f_0`$. In each series, the lifetime for atoms to remain in the trap exhibits a strong dependence on the distance from the surface, decreasing by an order of magnitude as the distance is reduced from $`80\mu `$m to $`30\mu `$m. We note that the radial trap frequency is by contrast almost constant over this height range ($`735865`$Hz for the larger $`f_0`$ and $`12701560`$Hz for the smaller) because it is inversely proportional to the distance $`r`$ from the center of the wire. At a given height, atoms with a lower spin flip frequency have a shorter lifetime. The factor of three in $`f_0`$ produces a factor of $`5`$ in lifetime far from the surface. This ratio decreases closer to the surface, reaching $`1\frac{1}{2}`$ at a distance of $`30\mu `$m.

The solid (dashed) curve in figure 4 shows the expected thermal spin-flip lifetime $`\tau `$ for rubidium atoms in the $`|2,2`$ state above a thick plane slab of aluminum note1  with $`f_0=560`$kHz ($`f_0=1.8`$MHz). We have calculated these curves following Henkel et al. henkel99 , whose equation (35) gives the spin flip rate for a spin-$`\frac{1}{2}`$ atom. For our case, the rate-limiting transition is $`|2,2|2,1`$, which has a smaller matrix element by a factor of $`1/\sqrt{5}`$. Neglecting an insignificant height-independent part, $`\tau `$ is proportional to $`f_0(h/\delta )(2h^3+3\delta ^3)`$, where $`h`$ is the height above the surface and $`\delta `$ is the skin depth of the aluminum at the frequency $`f_0`$ of the spin flip transition. The skin depth sets a natural length scale of $`110\mu `$m ($`61\mu `$m) for $`f_0=560`$kHz ($`f_0=1.8`$MHz). Close to the surface ($`h\delta `$), $`\tau h`$ and there is no dependence on $`f_0`$ because $`\delta ^21/f_0`$. By contrast, when $`h\delta `$, the lifetime is sensitive to $`f_0`$ and varies as $`h^4f_0^{3/2}`$. There are some points of striking similarity between our data taken above the cylindrical wire and this theory for a thick aluminum slab. First, the lifetimes we observe above the aluminum wire are slightly longer than those predicted above a plane aluminum slab. This is what one would expect, since the wire may be viewed as a slab with some of its more distant parts removed. Second, the lifetime above the wire increases a little more rapidly than the corresponding lifetime above a slab. This is a natural consequence of the additional length scale introduced by the $`250\mu `$m radius of the wire. Third, the variation with height in the ratio of lifetimes for the two different values of $`f_0`$ is echoed in the predicted behavior above a slab. We interpret these similarities as confirmation that the loss we observe is indeed due to spin flips induced by thermal fluctuations of the magnetic field above the wire.

This result has been achieved after taking considerable care to control technical noise in the currents being carried by the wires. In the bandwidth $`20`$Hz - $`300`$kHz, our current regulation circuits have rms noise below $`20\mu `$A, corresponding to a part per million of the dc current. At present, however, the reference voltages that control $`B_x`$ and the guide wire current are provided by waveform generators whose outputs do not have this level of stability. They increase the total noise current at audio frequencies by a factor of $`100`$. We observe a heating rate in the range $`0.10.5\mu `$K/s that is thought to be the consequence of this. To look for rf technical noise close to the spin flip frequency we initially used the antenna that drives the evaporative cooling as a receiver to search for stray fields. A spectrum analyzer revealed some very weak rf signals that were removed after paying attention to ground loops and shielding. The atoms themselves then proved to be much more sensitive spectrum analyzers. With the atoms at $`225\mu `$m above the wire, a scan of $`f_0`$ revealed a resonant dip in the lifetime at approximately $`1`$MHz. This was found to be from a parasitic oscillation in the optical shutter drivers that appeared while the shutters were closed. Once it was removed, no other rf radiation could be detected. If there were any residual rf current in the guide wire, the resulting field would vary as $`1/r`$, giving a lifetime proportional to $`r^2`$, as verified by leanhardt02a . This power law is indicated by the dotted line in figure 4, arbitrarily placed to pass through one of our data points. Clearly the height dependence we observe is much stronger than that. Spin flips induced by rf pickup cause a loss rate proportional to the rf power at the spin flip frequency $`f_0`$. This leads to a constant ratio of lifetimes, not the height-dependent ratio that we observe.

For the short-range points presented in figure 4 we checked that the lifetime did not change when the size of the cloud was increased by raising the temperature to $`5\mu K`$. We are therefore confident that the lifetimes presented here are not influenced at all by atoms hitting the surface, despite its close proximity. Presumably the BEC provides reliable spin flip data at shorter distances than the $`27\mu `$m presented here because it has a smaller radius than thermal cloud, typically $`12\mu `$m. However, we do not present any shorter range data here because we have no way other than changing the cloud size to distinguish surface loss from spin flip loss.

Atom chips aim to control quantum superposition and entanglement in neutral atoms. From this point of view, it is very undesirable that thermal fluctuations relax the atomic spins over a few seconds at a distance of $`30\mu `$m from the surface. This problem can be reduced if the metallic parts of the chip surface are restricted to being thin films. Many atom chips are made by covering a substrate with a $`35\mu `$m thick metal layer, which is then patterned lithographically. Since the fields radiated by thermal current fluctuations must propagate through the conductor to reach the atoms, we can consider that the current fluctuations of interest in a thick slab are localized within a skin depth of the surface, i.e. in a layer $`100\mu `$m thick. Hence, metal layers that are $`35\mu `$m thick generate $`2030`$ times less noise power at these frequencies and produces a correspondingly lower spin flip loss rate. Recently we have used a different apparatus to hold rubidium atoms in a magnetic trap $`30\mu `$m away from a $`200`$nm-thick gold film. We find that the thin gold film does indeed produce a much lower spin flip rate retter02  than we see here at a distance of $`30\mu `$m from the wire. Leanhardt et al., leanhardt02a  have also observed long lifetimes at $`70\mu `$m from a $`5\mu `$m copper film.

Even so, the coupling between the atoms and the substrate poses an important technical difficulty for atom chips if the atoms are to approach the surface much more closely than $`10\mu `$m. One method could be to cool the chip to suppress the thermal fluctuations, and to use superconducting wire to avoid dissipating heat. An alternative is to avoid current-carrying wires altogether on the surface of the chip by using permanent magnets to produce the required microscopic structures. Videotape provides a simple way of making structures down to $`5\mu `$m in size hindsreview99 . In our laboratory we have loaded atoms into microtraps formed above sinusoidally magnetized videotape, where they can readily be cooled by evaporation and manipulated by externally applied magnetic fields retter02 ; retter03 . In order to reach an even smaller length scale, we are now exploring the use of magneto-optical films for making magnetic traps. These are metallic, but can be as thin as $`30`$nm and still produce traps several mK deep a few $`\mu `$m away from the surface.

We are indebted to Alan Butler for expert technical assistance. We also acknowledge valuable discussions with Gabriel Barton and Jozsef Fortagh. This work was supported by the EPSRC and PPARC research councils of the UK and by the ACQUIRE and FASTNET networks of the European Union.