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# Causation, existence, and creation in space-times with non-trivial topology

## 1. Introduction

The so-called Kalam Cosmological Argument (e.g. Craig 1979) is a version of the classical cosmological argument based on some medieval Islamic arguments against the infinitude of the past. In modern syllogistic form it can be formulated as follows:

1. Whatever begins to exist has a cause of its existence.
2. The universe began to exist.
3. Therefore, the universe has a cause of its existence.

It has been argued that the first premise is a fundamental metaphysical principle which cannot be intelligibly denied and that the second premise is supported by modern cosmology, in such a way that the conclusion of the argument is true (Craig 1979, Craig & Smith 1993). These contentions have been discussed in recent years by several philosophers, notably Adolf Günbaum, who argued that the Big Bang model does not support the second premise (e.g. Grünbaum 1989, 1990, 1991, 2000, and some replies in Craig 1991 and 1992). The first premise, on the contrary, has not been considered controversial except from the point of view of quantum mechanics (see the discussions in Craig & Smith 1993).

In this paper we shall argue that the validity of the first premise depends on the topology of space-time manifold adopted for the cosmological model. Multiple connected space-times can be compatible with objects that obey all physical laws but violate the first premise of the Kalam Cosmological Argument. Some semantic comments are in order first to clarify the meaning of the expression “to begin to exist”.

## 2. A semantical note

Craig (1992) attributes to Grünbaum the implicit use of the following definition:

$`x`$ begins to exist”$`=`$def. “$`x`$ exists at time $`t`$ and there are instants of time immediately prior to $`t`$ at which $`x`$ does not exist”.

This definition is objected because it is difficult to accept that the existence of $`x`$ at $`t`$ can entail the existence of temporal instants prior to $`t`$. Admittedly, in the context of a relational theory of space-time (e.g. Perez-Bergliaffa, Romero & Vucetich 1998) the requirement of the existence of moments prior to $`t`$ is nothing else than the requirement of the existence of objects other than $`x`$ before $`x`$. Such a definition, then, is not adequate to the discussion of the origin of the system formed by all things, i.e. the universe. Craig, in turn, proposes:

$`x`$ begins to exist”$`=`$def. “$`x`$ exists at time $`t`$ and there are no instants of time immediately prior to $`t`$ at which $`x`$ exists”.

This allows for a beginning of time itself and is apparently apt for a discussion on the beginning of the universe. But it has the problem of demanding a sharp edge for the existence of $`x`$. Anything created by an evolutionary process lasting a finite time interval is excluded. Let us consider, for example, the Mankind. It certainly exists now and it certainly did not exist 50 million years ago, but can we point out an instant $`t`$ at which it did existed and an immediately prior instant at which it did not?. Not only biological counterexamples are possible, but we can think also in most physical systems, like a star or a molecular cloud, which are formed by a slow transition from a previous state.

In order to remove this problem we propose:

$`x`$ begins to exist”$`=`$def. “$`x`$ exists at time $`t`$ and there is a time interval $`\mathrm{\Delta }t0`$ such that there are no instants of time immediately prior to $`t\mathrm{\Delta }t`$ at which $`x`$ exists”.

For $`\mathrm{\Delta }t=0`$ we recover Craig’s definition. In what follows we shall understand “to begin to exist” in the sense of this latter definition.

## 3. Chronology-violating space-times and self-existent objects

A relativistic space-time is represented by a four-dimensional manifold $`M`$ equipped with a Lorentzian metric $`g_{ab}`$. The General Theory of Relativity requires the manifold to be continuous and differentiable but not specific constraints are imposed on the details of its topology. Usually, simply connected manifolds are considered, but multiply connected ones cannot be ruled out only on a priori grounds.

In recent years there has been a sustained interest in multiple connected space-times, also called wormhole space-times, originated in the fact that close timelike curves (CTCs) naturally appear in them (e.g. Morris, Thorne & Yurtsever 1988, Thorne 1992). These curves represent the world lines of any physical system in a temporally orientable space-time that, moving always in the future direction, ends arriving back at some point of its own past. Any space-time with CTCs is called a chronology-violating space-time. Objections to the formation of CTCs in the real universe had been formulated by a number of scientists, most notably by Hawking (1992), but in the absence of a theory of quantum gravity the possibility of wormholes in space-time cannot be ruled out (see the discussions and references in Earman 1995a, Romero & Torres 2001, and Nahin 1999).

One of the most strange implications of chronology-violating space-times is the possibility of an ontology with self-existent objects. These are physical systems “trapped” in CTCs. Romero & Torres (2001), who have discussed these systems in depth, give the following toy-example to illustrate the nature of such objects:

Suppose that, in a space-time where CTCs exist, a time traveler takes a ride on a time machine carrying a book with her. She goes back to the past, forgets the book in -what will be- her laboratory, and returns to the future. The book remains then hidden until the time traveler finds it just before starting her time trip, carrying the book with her.

The book in question is a self-existent object: it exists at a given $`t`$, there exists $`\mathrm{\Delta }t0`$ such that the object does not exist at $`t\mathrm{\Delta }t`$, but, however, there is not an external cause of its existence. The self-existent object is just a feature of space-time itself, it is not either created or destroyed in space-time. Such objects clearly violate the first premise of the Kalam Cosmological Argument.

It is very important to emphasize that, despite that the self-existent objects have not a cause of their existence, they do not violate causality. In fact, since their space-time history is a continuous closed curve, their physical state at every time $`t`$ is casually linked to a previous state. In this way, these objects are not causally created, but they have a finite existence in the sense that they exist during a finite time interval, and their existence does not violate strict causality.

Romero & Torres (2001) have argued against an ontology of self-existent objects invocating a full Principle of Self-Consistency for all laws of nature. This principle, which is used to dissolve the so-called “paradoxes” of time travel (Earman 1995b, Nahin 1999), can be stated as:

The laws of nature are such that any local solution of their equations that represents a feature of the real universe must be extendible to a global solution.

Romero and Torres suggest that this principle is a metanomological statement (see Bunge 1961) that enforces the harmony between local and global affairs in space-time. By including thermodynamics in the consistency analysis of the motion of macroscopic systems through wormhole space-times, they have shown that non-interacting self-existent objects are not possible in the real universe because energy degradation along the CTC results in non-consistent histories.

Notwithstanding these objections, the development of consistent histories remains an open possibility for isolated systems where entropy cannot be defined (e.g. single particles) and for interacting systems where their energy degradation is exactly compensated by external work made upon them (Lossev & Novikov 1992). Hence, if CTCs actually occur in the universe, there seems to be no form to avoid the possibility of at least some types of self-existent objects.

Very recently, J. Richard Gott III and Li-Xin Li (1998) have even proposed that the universe itself could be a self-existent object. Form a philosophical point of view, this would be a violation of both premises of the Kalam Cosmological Argument with a single counterexample. As far as it can be seen, the work by Gott and Li is consistent with the Big Bang paradigm. They only require the existence of a multiply connected space-time with a CTC region beyond the original inflationary state.

A key point for the validity of the first premise of the Kalam Cosmological Argument is that the space-time in the real universe must be described by a simply connected manifold, with no CTCs 111Formally, CTCs are possible even in simply connected space-times, but these kind of solutions of Einstein field equations, like the classical Gödel (1949) rotating universe, are thought to be not applicable to the real world.. Otherwise, the presence of objects that have “began to exist” without external cause but notwithstanding are subject to causality cannot be excluded. We have, then, two possibilities in order to explore the validity of the first premise in the context of its dependency on the underlying topology of space-time: 1) we can try to prove, from basic physical laws, that CTCs cannot be formed in the real universe (i.e. we can try to find out a mechanism to enforce chronology protection), or 2) we can inquire about the observational signatures of wormhole structures in space-time and try to test through observations the hypothesis that natural wormholes actually do exist. The first option requires a full theory of Quantum Gravity, something that is beyond our present knowledge. The second approach is being already explored by some scientists.

## 4. Observational signatures of WEC-violating matter

Macroscopic and static wormhole structures as those necessary to allow the formation of CTCs require that the average null energy condition (ANEC) be violated in the wormhole throat. This condition is part of the so-called energy conditions of Einstein gravity, which are very general hypothesis designed to provide as much information as possible on a wide variety of physical systems without specifying a particular equation of state. These conditions are not proved from basic principles, they are just conjectures, which can be very useful in some contexts. However, many violating systems are known, including the universe itself (see Visser 1996).

The energy conditions violated by traversable wormhole can be put in terms of the stress-energy tensor of the matter threading the wormhole as $`\rho +p0`$, where $`\rho `$ is the energy density and $`p`$ is the total pressure. This implies also a violation of the so-called weak energy condition –WEC– ($`\rho 0\rho +p0`$; see Visser 1996 for details, also Morris and Thorne 1988). Plainly stated, all this means that the matter threading the wormhole must exert gravitational repulsion in order to stay stable against collapse. If natural wormholes exist in the universe (e.g. if the original topology after the Big-Bang was multiply connected), then there should be observable signatures of the interactions between matter with negative energy density with the normal matter.

At astronomical level the most important observational consequence of the existence of natural wormholes is gravitational lensing of background sources (Cramer et al. 1995, Torres et al. 1998; Eiroa et al. 2001, Safonova et al. 2001). There are very specific features produced by chromaticity effects in lensing of extended sources that could be used to differentiate events produced by wormholes from those of other objects (Eiroa et al. 2001). In the wormhole microlensing case there are two intensity peaks during each event separated by an umbra region. On the contrary, in the normal case there is a single, time-symmetric peak. In addition, in the wormhole case it can be shown that there is a spectral break that is not observed in the usual case (Eiroa et al. 2001 for details).

Also, the macrolensing effects upon a background field of galaxies produced by large-scale violations of the energy conditions are observationally distinguishable from the normal macrolensing by either dark or luminous matter concentrations (see Safonova et al. 2001 for complete numerical simulations of macrolensed galaxy fields). In particular, it can be shown that for positive mass we see concentric arcs, whereas for negative energy densities we have filamentary features projected from the center.

The above examples are enough to illustrate the kind of observational effects that can be expected in an universe with multiple connected topology. Whether such space-time wormholes actually exist in our universe is something that has to be found yet.

The mere existence of a multiple connected topology for space-time does not warrant, by itself, the violation of the first premise of the Kalam Cosmological Argument. But it makes possible the formation of CTCs and non-cronal situations in that space-time, hence opening the possibility of an ontology with self-existent objects. This implies that the universality of the premise can be objected even at a macroscopic level, without resorting to quantum considerations.

## 5. Conclusions: Theology meets experiment

The first premise of the Kalam Cosmological Argument, namely that “whatever that begins to exist has a cause of its existence”, is not a self-evident, universally valid statement as it is usually accepted. We have shown that the truth value of the premise is dependent on some basic characteristics of the space-time manifold that represents the real universe. In particular, multiple connected space-times can accommodate objects that exist by themselves, without external cause, but also without any local violation of causality. These objects “begin to exist” in accordance to even the most restrictive definitions given in Section 2.

Since the connectivity of space-time can be probed through astronomical observations (see Anchordoqui et al. 1999 for an example of these observational studies), the validity of the Kalam Cosmological Argument can be tested by the scientific method. Not only the second premise, which uses to be discussed in the light of the Big Bang cosmology, but also the first premise of the argument is susceptible to experimental test. It is in this more extended sense that in the Kalam Cosmological Argument we can say that theology meets experiment.

### Acknowledgments.

I thank Diego F. Torres and Santiago E. Perez-Bergliaffa for many illuminating discussions on space, time, and causality along many years. This work has been supported by the agencies CONICET and ANPCT (PICT 03-04881) as well as by funds granted by Fundación Antorchas.

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Craig, W.L. 1992, Brit. J. Phil. Sci., 43, 233.

Craig, W.L. & Smith, Q. 1993, Theism, Atheism, and Big Bang Cosmology, Clarendon Press, Oxford.

Cramer, J.G., et al. 1995, Phys. Rev. D51, 3117.

Earman, J. 1995a, Erkenntnis, 42, 125.

Earman, J. 1995b, Bangs, Crunches, Whimpers, and Shrieks: Singularities and Acausalities in Relativistic Spacetimes, Oxford University Press, New York.

Eiroa, E., Romero, G.E., & Torres, D.F. 2001, Mod. Phys. Lett. A16, 973.

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Grünbaum, A. 1989, Phil. Sci., 56, 373.

Grünbaum, A. 1990, Nature, 344, 821.

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Grünbaum, A. 2000, Brit. J. Phil. Sci., 51, 1.

Hawking, S. W. 1992, Phys. Rev. D, 46, 603.

Lossev, A. & Novikov, I.D. 1992, Class. Quantum. Grav. 9, 2309

Morris, M. S. & Thorne, K. S. 1988, Am. J. Phys., 56, 395.

Morris, M. S., Thorne, K. S., Yurtsever, U. 1988, Phys. Rev Lett., 61, 1446.

Nahin, P. J. 1999, Time Machines: Time Travel in Physics, Metaphysics and Science Fiction, Springer-Verlag and AIP Press, New York.

Perez-Bergliaffa, S. E., Romero, G. E., Vucetich, H. 1998, Int. J. Theoret. Phys., 37, 2281.

Safonova, M., Torres, D.F., Romero, G.E. 2001, Mod. Phys. Lett A16, 153.

Thorne, K.S. 1992, in General Relativity and Gravitation 1992, Gleiser, J. L., et al. eds., Institute of Physics, Bristol.

Torres, D. F., Romero, G. E., Anchordoqui, L. A. 1998, Phys. Rev. D, 58, 123001.

Visser, M. 1996, Lorentzian Wormholes, AIP Press, New York.


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# Evidence for a large magnetic heat current in insulating cuprates

## Abstract

The in-plane thermal conductivity $`k`$ of the two-dimensional antiferromagnetic monolayer cuprate Sr2CuO2Cl2 is studied. Analysis of the unusual temperature dependence of $`k`$ reveals that at low temperatures the heat is carried by phonons, whereas at high temperatures magnetic excitations contribute significantly. Comparison with other insulating layered cuprates suggests that a large magnetic contribution to the thermal conductivity is an intrinsic property of these materials.

There is growing experimental evidence that spin excitations may contribute significantly to the heat current in low-dimensional spin systems. This seems to be well established for one-dimensional (1D) systems ando98 ; sologubenko00 ; sologubenko01 ; hess01 ; lorenz02 . For example, in the insulating spin-ladder material Sr14-xCaxCu24O41 a large magnetic contribution $`k_m`$ to the thermal conductivity $`k`$ can be derived from a pronounced double-peak structure of $`k`$ along the ladder direction sologubenko00 ; hess01 . The situation is less clear in two-dimensional (2D) spin systems. These are, however, of particular importance due to their relevance for high-temperature superconductivity johnston97 ; kastner98 . A double-peak structure comparable to that in 1D systems is found in the in-plane thermal conductivity of insulating 2D cuprates such as La2CuO4 (LCO) and YBa2Cu3O6 (YBCO) (Ref. nakam91, ; cohn95, ; hessthesis, ). This may indicate a sizable magnetic contribution to the heat current at high temperatures nakam91 . However, the phononic thermal conductivity $`k_{ph}`$ may show a double-peak structure also, as a result of pronounced (resonant) scattering in a narrow temperature range. Such scattering may arise from the presence of local magnetic excitations, as was recently shown for the 2D spin-dimer system SrCu2(BO3)2 (Ref. hofmann01, ), or it may arise from the presence of soft phonon modes cohn95 . The latter was suggested for LCO and YBCO, in which soft modes e.g. associated with tilt distortions of the CuO polyhedra are known to be present cohn95 ; latticeinstability . An additional complication arises from a strong sensitivity of the double-peak structure to light oxygen doping cohn95 .

A material of particular interest in this context is Sr2CuO2Cl2 (SCOC). It is structurally very similar to LCO: It contains $`\mathrm{CuO}_2`$-layers as in LCO, but the out-of-plane oxygen ions at the apices of the CuO6-octahedra are replaced by Cl and La by Sr. The material has several advantages compared to LCO and YBCO (see e.g. Ref. johnston97, ): (1) SCOC does not exhibit any distortion from tetragonal symmetry down to at least 10K so that there is no structural instability associated with soft tilting modes. (2) Because of the absence of tilt distortions the magnetic properties are simpler than those of LCO. For example, there is no Dzyaloshinski-Moriya exchange interaction. Thus, SCOC is believed to represent the best realization of a two-dimensional square-lattice $`S=1/2`$ Heisenberg antiferromagnet. (3) In contrast to LCO and YBCO, SCOC cannot be doped easily with charge carriers.

In this paper we present measurements of the in-plane thermal conductivity $`k`$ of SCOC. We identify a double-peak structure from a pronounced high-temperature shoulder around 230 K. Analysis of these data and a comparison to LCO and YBCO shows that it is very unlikely that the double peak structure arises from anomalous phonon damping due to scattering on soft lattice modes or magnetic excitations. The data indicate instead a large magnetic thermal conductivity at high temperatures as an intrinsic feature of the insulating 2D cuprates.

We studied a single crystal of Sr2CuO2Cl2 of rectangular form ($`1\times 3\times 4`$ mm3) with the short direction along the crystallographic $`c`$ axis. It was grown by the traveling-solvent floating zone method. The thermal conductivity was measured with the heat current within the CuO2 planes by a conventional steady-state method using a differential Chromel-Au+0.07%Fe-thermocouple. Typical temperature gradients were of the order of 0.2 K. The absolute accuracy of our data is restricted by uncertainties in the sample geometry whereas the relative accuracy is of the order of a few $`\%`$.surfacelayer .

We show in Fig. 1 the in-plane thermal conductivity of SCOC as a function of temperature. We identify a maximum at $``$ 30 K and a shoulder at high temperatures around 230K. The pronounced low-temperature maximum of $`k`$ indicates a high crystal quality. We note that $`k`$ is independent of a magnetic field ($`8`$ Tesla) applied within the CuO2 planes perpendicular to the heat current. For comparison we show in Fig. 1 the in-plane thermal conductivity of a single crystal of LCO measured by Nakamura et al. nakam91 . These data also reveal a double-peak structure. The absolute value of $`k`$ at the low-temperature maximum is smaller than in SCOC. One reason may be that LCO is more sensitive to defects, resulting e.g. from excess oxygen, which introduces lattice defects and hole doping and thus reduces the mean free path of the heat-carrying excitations.

Both compounds, SCOC and LCO, are antiferromagnetic insulators. In an insulator the heat is usually carried by phonons. The typical behavior of $`k_{ph}`$ of a crystalline insulator is shown by the solid lines in Fig. 1. These curves represent fits to the low-temperature maximum of $`k`$ (fitted below about 50 K) of SCOC and LCO using the standard Debye model for the thermal conductivity of acoustic phonons hofmann01 ; berma76 :

$$k_{ph}=\frac{k_B^4T^3}{2\pi ^2\mathrm{}^3v_{ph}}\underset{0}{\overset{\mathrm{\Theta }_D/T}{}}\tau (x,T)\frac{x^4e^x}{\left(e^x1\right)^2}𝑑x.$$
(1)
Here $`\mathrm{\Theta }_D`$ is the Debye temperature and $`v_{ph}`$ the sound velocity. Due to the lack of experimental data for SCOC we use for both compounds the values reported for LCO ($`\mathrm{\Theta }_D385`$ K junodginsberg ; $`v_{ph}`$ $`5.210^3`$ m/s suzuki00 ). $`\omega `$ is the phonon frequency, $`x=\mathrm{}\omega /k_BT`$, and $`\tau (x,T)`$ is the phonon relaxation time given by

$`\tau ^1={\displaystyle \frac{v_{ph}}{L}}+D\omega ^2+P\omega ^4+UT\omega ^3\mathrm{exp}\left({\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{\Theta }_D}{uT}}\right).`$
The four terms refer to the scattering rates for boundary scattering, scattering on planar defects, on point defects, and phonon-phonon Umklapp scattering, respectively. $`L1`$mm is the sample length, and $`D`$, $`P`$, $`U`$, and $`u`$ are fitting constants. The low-temperature data are described very well by these fits. The fit parameters are given in the caption of Fig. 1. The decrease of $`k_{ph}`$ at high temperatures is due to phonon-phonon Umklapp scattering.

For several reasons it is very unlikely that the high-temperature increase of $`k`$ is due to conventional heat transport by phonons: (1) The contribution to $`k`$ from acoustic phonons, as described above, decreases at high temperatures. (2) The contribution of optical phonons to the heat current is usually much smaller than that of acoustic phonons, even in compounds with a very large number of atoms in the unit cell lorenz02 ; slack79 , so that heat transport by optical phonons is very unlikely to cause the high-temperature maximum. (3) The out-of-plane thermal conductivity $`k_c`$ of LCO behaves as the in-plane thermal conductivity $`k`$ at low temperatures, but $`k_c`$ shows no indication of a high-temperature maximum nakam91 . Such strongly temperature dependent anisotropy is not expected for purely phononic heat conduction.

Additional phonon scattering, active in a narrow temperature range close to the minimum of $`k`$, may in principle cause a double-peak structure. However, resonant scattering on local magnetic excitations as in SrCu2(BO3)2 (Ref. hofmann01, ) cannot be the correct explanation in the present case: In the 2D square-lattice cuprates the dispersion of magnetic excitations ranges from $`0`$ to $`2J/k_B2000`$ K ($`J`$ is the in-plane exchange constant) so that there is no reason that scattering on magnetic excitations should be most pronounced in a narrow temperature interval around 100 K.hofmann01 ; sales02  Note, in particular, that in the 2D cuprates scattering on magnetic excitations should not disappear above the Néel-temperature $`T_N`$, because the relevant energy scale is set by $`JT_N`$ (see below). Additional phonon damping from scattering on soft lattice modes as suggested in Ref. cohn95,  is also unlikely as a cause of the double peak: (1) There are no lattice instabilities in SCOC, rendering this mechanism unimportant for this material. (2) The double-peak structure is also present in the tetragonal low-temperature phase of Eu-doped LCO, in which no soft tilting modes should be present either hessthesis . (3) The absence of a double-peak structure of $`k_c`$ in LCO (Ref. nakam91, ) implies that anomalous phonon scattering would have to be active only for $`k`$. Such strong anisotropy of the phonon-phonon scattering is not expected. Finally, note that the finding $`k_c<k`$ in LCO (Ref. nakam91, ) provides evidence against any scattering scenario as a cause of the double peak structure: for such scattering, if active only for $`k`$, but absent for $`k_c`$, implies $`k<k_c`$, in contradiction to the experimental results.

The data of Fig. 1 (in particular $`k>k_c`$) are most naturally explained, if an additional channel of heat transport for the in-plane thermal conductivity is present. In an undoped insulating 2D Heisenberg antiferromagnet with an electronic gap $`1.5`$ eV, the only candidate for heat transport next to phonons are magnetic excitations. Their thermal conductivity $`k_m`$ adds to that of the phonons, i.e. $`k=k_{ph}+k_m`$. In order to extract $`k_m`$ from the data we subtract $`k_{ph}`$ as obtained from the fit of the low-temperature maximum. Note that $`k_m`$ cannot be obtained at $`T100`$K in this way, because Eq. 1 was fitted to the total $`k`$ below 50 K. Remarkably, $`k_m`$ is of comparable magnitude (roughly of the order 10 W/Km) in both compounds (see inset Fig. 1). The maximum of $`k_m`$ is at $``$ 245 K in SCOC and at $``$ 285 K in LCO.

Is a magnetic contribution of this size reasonable? We estimate $`k_m`$ using the kinetic equation in 2D berma76 :

$$k_m=\frac{1}{2}c_mv_m\mathrm{}_m.$$
(2)
Here $`c_m`$ is the magnetic specific heat and $`\mathrm{}_m`$ the mean free path of the magnetic excitations. The velocity $`v_m`$ of long-wavelength spin waves is $`v_m^{\mathrm{SCOC}}1.0610^5`$ m/s and $`v_m^{\mathrm{LCO}}1.1610^5`$ m/s, which is obtained from $`v_m=\sqrt{8}SZ_cJa/\mathrm{}`$. Here $`Z_c`$ is the Oguchi correction.oguchi  Values of $`J`$ for various 2D cuprates are given in Table I. Note that $`v_m`$ is much larger than $`v_{ph}`$, as a result of $`Jk_B\mathrm{\Theta }_D`$. For the specific heat $`c_m`$ we use the theoretical result shown in the inset of Fig. 2, which comes from the extrapolation of the high-temperature series for the partition sum (see appendix). The maximum is $`c_{\mathrm{max}}=0.4612(5)Nk_B`$ at $`k_BT_{\mathrm{max}}=0.5956(1)J`$. Given $`v_m`$, $`c_m`$, and using $`k_m`$ as shown in Fig. 1 we obtain an estimate of $`\mathrm{}_m(T)`$ using Eq. (2). $`\mathrm{}_m`$ decreases strongly with increasing temperature (Fig. 2). At room temperature, $`\mathrm{}_m/a30`$ for SCOC and $`75`$ for LCO. These values are not excessively large – much larger values of $`\mathrm{}_m`$ have been found in one-dimensional spin systems sologubenko00 ; sologubenko01 ; hess01  – rendering a magnetic contribution to the heat current in SCOC and LCO very plausible.

For a better understanding of $`k_m`$ it is instructive to discuss the magnetic correlations in the quasi-2D cuprates, in particular, the in-plane magnetic correlation length $`\xi _m(T)`$. In a 2D antiferromagnet long-range order with $`\xi _m=\mathrm{}`$ is restricted to $`T`$=0. With increasing temperature spin-flips (or magnons) are excited, which reduce $`\xi _m`$ by breaking the long-range correlation. In the quasi-2D materials considered here, the finite magnetic ordering temperature $`T_N`$ is determined by the inter-plane interaction johnston97 ; kastner98 , which is much weaker than the in-plane exchange interaction $`J`$, so that $`k_BT_NJ`$ (see Tab. I). In the ordered state at $`T<T_N`$, $`\xi _m=\mathrm{}`$. For $`T>T_N`$, $`\xi _m`$ is still large because of the large $`J`$. We show $`\xi _m(T)`$ of SCOC and LCO as inferred from magnetic neutron scattering kastner98  in Fig. 2. Above $`T_N`$, $`\xi _m`$ is indeed much larger than the lattice constant. However, $`\xi _m`$ decreases strongly with increasing temperature, approximately according to kastner98  $`\xi _m(T)\mathrm{exp}(2\pi J/k_BT)`$.

From these considerations we may draw several conclusions for the magnetic heat current: (1) We expect that $`k_m`$ is determined by the large in-plane exchange interaction $`J`$ and not by the inter-plane interactions. Therefore, no significant anomaly of $`k_m`$ is expected at $`T_N`$. (2) At least above $`T_N`$ the heat-carrying magnetic excitations are not the familiar collective excitations of a magnetically ordered state (i.e. conventional magnons), but rather magnetic excitations (of triplet character) in a spin-liquid state. Note, however, that also at $`T<T_N`$ the nature of the magnetic excitations of the 2D cuprates is under intensive debate grueninger00 ; ho01 ; aeppli99 ; sandvik01 ; laughlin97 . (3) The strong, exponential decrease of $`\xi _m`$ above $`T_N`$ suggests a similar decrease of $`\mathrm{}_m(T)`$. This would explain, why the maximum of $`k_m`$ occurs at a temperature much lower than that of $`c_m`$: the increase of $`c_m(T<T_{max})`$ is overcompensated by the strong decrease of $`\mathrm{}_m(T)`$. Note, however, that the results on Sr14-xCaxCu24O41 show that in a spin-liquid $`\mathrm{}_m`$ may be significantly larger than $`\xi _m`$.sologubenko00 ; hess01

A double-peak structure of $`k`$ has also been reported for the insulating bilayer compound YBa2Cu3O6.cohn95  As in LCO one observes pronounced anisotropy, i.e. $`k_c`$ does not show a high-temperature maximum. Given the existence of a large $`k_m`$ in the monolayer cuprates LCO and SCOC, the high-temperature maximum of YBCO is also likely to be of magnetic origin. This is consistent with the systematic variation of the temperature $`T_H`$ of the high-temperature maximum of $`k`$ with $`J`$ for the three different insulating cuprates as shown in Tab. 1.

The data in Fig. 1 show that the high-temperature maximum is more pronounced in LCO than in SCOC. A related observation is the weak high-temperature anomaly of $`k`$ in Pr2CuO4.Sologubenko99b  In view of their rather similar magnetic properties one would expect a similar behavior of $`k_m`$ in these compounds.DMinteraction  However, doping with mobile charge carriers cohn95 ; hessthesis  or static impurities taldenkov96 ; hessthesis  influences the high-temperature maximum strongly. In particular, the high-temperature maximum in YBCO depends in a non-monotonic way on the oxygen concentration cohn95 . Thus the different behavior of $`k_m`$ might result from the fact that LCO and YBCO can easily be doped with charge carriers via variation of the oxygen content, whereas this is not possible in SCOC. Further experiments with a detailed control of the charge-carrier concentration could clarify this issue.

In summary, the in-plane thermal conductivity of Sr2CuO2Cl2 shows an unusual temperature dependence with a pronounced shoulder at high temperatures, similar to the behavior found for La2CuO4 nakam91  and YBa2Cu3O6.cohn95  There is no structural instability in Sr2CuO2Cl2. Moreover, scattering on magnetic excitations is not restricted to a narrow temperature interval around the minimum of $`k`$ in these compounds. It is therefore unlikely that the double peak structure arises from strong damping of the phononic heat current by resonant scattering on soft lattice modes or magnetic excitations. The data rather indicate a large magnetic contribution to the heat current as an intrinsic property of the 2D cuprates.

We acknowledge useful discussions with M. Braden, W. Hardy, A.P. Kampf, V. Kataev, D.I. Khomskii, and G.A. Sawatzky. This work was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft in SFB 608 and in SP 1073. A.F. acknowledges support by the VolkswagenStiftung.

APPENDIX

To deduce $`c(T)`$ from the high-temperature series U2  this series is converted in a series for the entropy $`s`$ in the energy per site $`e`$ (Ref. U3, ). The extrapolations are stabilized by information on the ground state energy $`e_0=0.669437(5)`$ (Ref. U4, ), the maximum entropy $`s=\mathrm{ln}2`$, and the expected low-energy power law $`s(e)(ee_0)^{2/3}`$. For the latter, Padé approximants are applied to $`s^{}(e)/s(e)2/(3(ee_0))`$ (Dlog Padé approximation). Very good results are obtained (reliable error estimate $`10^2`$ from comparing diagonal to non-diagonal Padé approximants). The result shown in the inset of Fig. 2 (error $`10^3`$) is obtained by approximating

$$\left[\frac{(ee_0)s^{}(e)}{s(e)}\frac{2}{3}\right]\mathrm{ln}\left(\frac{ee_0}{1e_0}\right),$$
(3)
which allows for multiplicative logarithmic corrections, yielding $`c(T)T^2(A+\mathrm{ln}^\gamma (1/T))`$ with $`A=0`$ and $`\gamma =1.05(5)`$. We do not, however, exclude a small finite value of $`A`$ as found in spin-wave theory.


text:
# A Radio Flare from GRB 020405: Evidence for a Uniform Medium Around a Massive Stellar Progenitor

## 1 Introduction

Over the past few years several indirect lines of evidence have emerged in favor of massive stars as the progenitors of long-duration gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). These include the distribution of offsets of GRBs from their host centers (Bloom, Kulkarni & Djorgovski, 2002), the absence of optical afterglows from dark GRBs (Djorgovski et al., 2001; Piro et al., 2002), high column densities toward several GRBs (Galama & Wijers, 2001), and the inference of very high star formation rates in several GRB host galaxies (Berger, Kulkarni & Frail, 2001; Frail et al., 2002; Berger et al., 2002).

Perhaps the most convincing evidence comes from the detection of late-time ($`t20`$ days) red bumps dominating the optical emission from several afterglows (e.g. Bloom et al. 1999). While several interpretations of these bumps have been suggested (Esin & Blandford, 2000; Waxman & Draine, 2000; Ramirez-Ruiz et al., 2001; Reichart, 2001), the preponderance of spectral and temporal evidence (e.g. Bloom et al. 2002; Garnavich et al. 2002) indicates that these bumps are due to radioactive Nickel emission from supernovae (SNe) accompanying the bursts. These observations lend support to the collapsar model (Woosley, 1993; MacFadyen & Woosley, 1999), in which the core of a massive star collapses to a black hole, which then accretes matter and powers the GRB, while the rest of the star produces a supernova.

A seemingly unavoidable consequence of this scenario is that the GRB ejecta should expand into a medium modified by mass loss from the progenitor star. To first order, the expected density profile is $`\rho r^2`$, arising from constant mass loss rate and wind velocity. Extensive efforts have been made to find evidence for such a density profile based on broad-band observations of the afterglow emission (e.g. Chevalier & Li 2000; Berger et al. 2000; Panaitescu & Kumar 2002). Unfortunately, these studies have been inconclusive in distinguishing between a wind density profile and a medium with uniform density, due in part to the lack of early observations (particularly in the radio and submillimeter bands) and the degeneracy between dust extinction and the intrinsic spectral slope in the optical and near-IR bands. Thus, the signature of stellar mass loss remains the elusive missing link in the association of GRBs and massive stars.

To date, the single exception to this disappointing trend is GRB 011121, which provides strong evidence for a circumburst medium shaped by a stellar wind (Price et al., 2002), and an accompanying SN (Bloom et al., 2002; Garnavich et al., 2002). The reason for these unambiguous results is the combination of exquisite Hubble Space Telescope (HST) observations, extensive near-IR data, and dual-band radio data.

More recently, Price et al. (2002) presented the $`\gamma `$-ray properties and redshift ($`z=0.695\pm 0.005`$) of GRB 020405, along with multi-band ground-based and HST optical observations. The observations between 15 and 65 days after the burst reveal a red bump (with a spectrum $`F_\nu \nu ^{3.9}`$) brighter than an extrapolation of the early data. Price et al. (2002) interpret this emission as coming from a SN accompanying the burst, but note that the statistical significance of this result depends on the degree of collimation of the GRB ejecta. This is because a more collimated outflow results in an earlier steepening of the afterglow lightcurves, and hence a more significant deviation at late time.

In this paper we present radio observations of GRB 020405, which point to a uniform density circumburst medium. We also show that the radio, optical, and X-ray data require an early jet break, which significantly strengthens the SN interpretation for the late-time emission. Combining these two results we conclude that a $`\rho r^2`$ density profile is not a required signature of a massive stellar progenitor.

## 2 Radio Observations

Very Large Array (VLA111The VLA is operated by the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, a facility of the National Science Foundation operated under cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc.) observations were initiated 1.2 days after the burst using the standard continuum mode with $`2\times 50`$ MHz contiguous bands. A log of all observations is given in Table 1. We used the extra-galactic source 3C 286 (J1331+305) for flux calibration, while the phase was monitored using J1356$``$343. The data were reduced and analyzed using the Astronomical Image Processing System (Fomalont, 1981).

## 3 Reverse Shock Emission in the Radio Band

In Figure 1 we plot the 8.46 GHz lightcurve of GRB 020405, as well as the radio spectrum between 1.43 and 8.46 GHz on day 3.3. The early emission is characterized by two important features. First, it is brightest ($`F_\nu 0.5`$ mJy) during the first observation ($`t1.2`$ days), and rapidly fades, $`F_\nu t^{1.2\pm 0.4}`$, between $`1.2`$ and $`5`$ days. Second, the spectral index between 1.43 and 8.46 at $`t3.3`$ days is $`\beta _{\mathrm{rad}}0.3\pm 0.3`$, and similarly at $`t1.2`$ days $`\beta _{\mathrm{rad}}<0.5`$ based on the 8.46 and 22.5 GHz data.

The rapid fading and negative spectral slope are atypical for emission from the forward shock on the timescale of 1 day. In fact, for typical parameters, the radio band, $`\nu _{\mathrm{rad}}`$, lies well below the peak of the synchrotron spectrum at early time, $`\nu _m260ϵ_{B,2}^{1/2}ϵ_{e,1}^2E_{52}^{1/2}t_d^{3/2}`$ GHz (Sari & Esin, 2001); here $`ϵ_B=0.01ϵ_{B,2}`$ and $`ϵ_e=0.1ϵ_{e,1}`$ are the fractions of shock energy carried by the magnetic fields and electrons, respectively, and $`E=10^{52}E_{52}`$ is the afterglow kinetic energy. In this regime, the spectrum is $`F_\nu \nu ^{1/3}`$ (or $`F_\nu \nu ^2`$ if $`\nu _{\mathrm{rad}}<\nu _a`$, the synchrotron self-absorption frequency; Sari, Piran & Narayan 1998). As a result, the early radio flux is expected to either increase, as $`t^{1/2}`$ or $`t^1`$ (Sari, Piran & Narayan, 1998; Chevalier & Li, 2000), be flat (Chevalier & Li, 2000), or decay as $`t^{1/3}`$ (Sari, Piran & Halpern, 1999), followed by a steep decline as $`t^1`$ to $`t^2`$ when $`\nu _m`$ crosses the radio band. This behavior is observed in the most radio afterglows (e.g. Berger et al. 2000). Since the early radio emission from GRB 020405 does not follow this general trend, we conclude that it did not arise from the forward shock.

Instead, we interpret the observed emission as coming from a reverse shock (Meszaros & Rees, 1997; Sari & Piran, 1999) plowing back into the relativisitic ejecta. Similar “radio flares” have been observed in several afterglows (Kulkarni et al., 1999; Frail et al., 2000; Djorgovski et al., 2001), in particular from GRB 990123 where the flare was shown to be the low-energy tail of the $`V9`$ mag optical flash observed at $`t50`$ s (Kulkarni et al., 1999; Sari & Piran, 1999). In all cases in which a radio flare has been observed, the emission had similar properties to that from GRB 020405, namely a bright ($`F_\nu 0.5`$ mJy) flux measured at early time ($`t1`$ day) followed by a rapid decline.

Hydrodynamical studies of the reverse shock (e.g. Kobayashi & Sari 2000) have shown that the radio emission depends on the properties of the ejecta and circumburst medium. In particular, the main implication of the radio flare from GRB 020405 is that it effectively rules out a circumburst medium with a density profile $`\rho r^2`$ (hereafter, Wind). Chevalier & Li (2000) have shown that in a Wind environment, with typical afterglow parameters, the cooling frequency of the reverse shock, $`\nu _{c,\mathrm{RS}}4\times 10^8t_{\mathrm{sec}}`$ Hz, is significantly lower than its characteristic frequency, $`\nu _{m,\mathrm{RS}}10^{19}t_{\mathrm{sec}}^1`$ Hz. Thus, the emission peaks at $`\nu _{c,\mathrm{RS}}`$, with a flux, $`F_{\nu ,p}16`$ Jy, independent of time until the reverse shock crosses the shell at $`t_{\mathrm{cr}}=5(1+z)\mathrm{\Delta }_{10}`$ s (Chevalier & Li, 2000); here $`\mathrm{\Delta }=10\mathrm{\Delta }_{10}`$ light seconds is the initial width of the shell. Following the shell crossing, electrons are no longer accelerated, and since the reverse shock is highly radiative ($`\nu _{c,\mathrm{RS}}\nu _{m,\mathrm{RS}}`$) the emission decays exponentially. Thus, strong emission from the reverse shock at $`t12`$ days is not expected in a Wind environment, indicating that the early radio emission from GRB 020405 requires a circumburst medium with uniform density (hereafter, ISM).

In addition, based on the flat spectral slope between $`1.4`$ and $`8.5`$ GHz measured at $`t=3.3`$ days, we conclude that for both the reverse and forward shocks $`\nu _a1.4`$ GHz. Otherwise, the emission from the reverse shock would be severely attenuated over this frequency range by the forward shock, $`F_{\nu ,\mathrm{obs}}=F_{\nu ,\mathrm{em}}e^{\tau _\nu }`$, resulting in a significantly steeper spectrum; here $`\tau _\nu `$ is the synchrotron optical depth.

## 4 Uniform Density Models for the Afterglow Emission

Using the conditions inferred in §3 we model the radio, optical, and X-ray data with a model describing self-consistently the time evolution of the forward and reverse shocks in a uniform density medium. We consider the optical data only at $`t<10`$ days since the emission at later times is dominated by a much redder component, possibly a SN (Price et al., 2002). We return to this point in §5.

The time evolution of the reverse shock spectrum ($`F_\nu \nu ^{1/3}`$ for $`\nu <\nu _{m,\mathrm{RS}}`$ and $`F_\nu \nu ^{(p1)/2}`$ for $`\nu >\nu _{m,\mathrm{RS}}`$) is described by $`\nu _{m,\mathrm{RS}}t^{3(8+5g)/7(1+2g)}`$, $`F_{\nu ,0,\mathrm{RS}}t^{(12+11g)/7(1+2g)}`$, and the time of peak emission, $`t_p=\mathrm{max}[t_{\mathrm{dur}}/(1+z),t_{\mathrm{dec}}]`$ (Kobayashi & Sari, 2000); here $`t_{\mathrm{dur}}=60`$ s is the duration of GRB 020405 (Price et al., 2002), $`t_{\mathrm{dec}}=(3E/32\pi \mathrm{\Gamma }_0^8n_0m_pc^2)^{1/3}`$, $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_0`$ is the initial Lorentz factor, and $`n_0`$ is the circumburst density. The parameter $`3/2g7/2`$ describes the evolution of the reverse shock Lorentz factor, $`\mathrm{\Gamma }r^g`$, and the limits correspond to adiabatic expansion ($`g=3/2`$) and pressure equilibrium between the forward and reverse shocks ($`g=7/2`$). To evaluate $`t_p`$, $`\nu _{m,\mathrm{RS}}(t_p)`$, and $`F_{\nu ,0,\mathrm{RS}}(t_p)`$ we use the physical parameters of the ejecta and circumburst medium as inferred from the forward shock emission (see below and Table 2), in conjunction with equations 7–9 of Kobayashi (2000) for the thick shell case (i.e. when the reverse shock is relativistic and effectively decelerates the shell), and equations 15–17 for the thin shell case (i.e. when the reverse shock cannot decelerate the shell effectively). We set the nominal values of $`g=3/2`$ and $`7/2`$ for the thin and thick shell cases, respectively. Thus, the only free parameter of the reverse shock emission is $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_0`$.

For the forward shock we use the time evolution of the synchrotron spectrum in the appropriate regime (i.e. spherical ISM for $`t<t_j`$: Sari, Piran & Narayan 1998, and an expanding jet for $`t>t_j`$: Sari, Piran & Halpern 1999); here $`t_j`$, the jet break time, is the epoch at which $`\mathrm{\Gamma }\theta _j^1`$, and $`\theta _j`$ is the half opening angle of the jet. To account for possible extinction within the host galaxy, $`A_V^{\mathrm{host}}`$, we use the parametric extinction curves of Cardelli, Clayton & Mathis (1989) and Fitzpatrick & Massa (1988), along with the interpolation calculated by Reichart (2001).

The results of the two models (thin and thick shell cases) are shown in Figures 1 and 2, and summarized in Table 2. We find that both models provide an equally adequate fit (with $`\chi _{\mathrm{min}}^21`$ per degree of freedom), but $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_0`$ is not well constrained, $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_0605\times 10^3`$ (Figure 3).

More importantly, both models require collimated ejecta with $`t_j0.95`$ day (hereafter, Jet). Models with a significantly wider collimation angle have $`\chi _{\mathrm{min}}^210`$ per degree of freedom, primarily because they underestimate the flux in the X-ray band by a factor of about $`20`$, and cannot explain the radio and optical emission simultaneously.

At the same time, the Jet models underestimate the radio flux at $`t15`$ days by about $`4\sigma `$ on day 16.3, and about $`2.5\sigma `$ on day 32. This is due to an apparent brightening of the radio emission on this timescale. Since in the radio band $`F_\nu n_0^{1/2}`$, one possible explanation for the brightening is that the forward shock encounters a density enhancement; a density increase by a factor of ten is required. The flux in the optical bands would remain largely unaffected since $`\nu _{\mathrm{opt}}<\nu _c`$ (see Table 2), in which case the flux is independent of density.

Using the parameters of the forward shock emission we calculate $`E2\times 10^{51}`$ erg, $`ϵ_e0.1`$, $`ϵ_B0.5`$, and $`n_010^2`$ cm-3 using equations 4.13–4.16 of Sari & Esin (2001). The opening angle of the jet is $`\theta _j0.1`$ (Frail et al., 2001). Using this value we find a beaming corrected $`\gamma `$-ray emergy, $`E_\gamma 3.7\times 10^{50}`$ erg (Price et al., 2002), typical for long-duration GRBs (Frail et al., 2001), and a beaming corrected kinetic energy, $`E_K10^{49}`$ erg, lower than the typical inferred values of $`10^{50}`$ to $`3\times 10^{51}`$ erg (Panaitescu & Kumar, 2002).

## 5 Implications for the Progenitor of GRB 020405 and GRB Circumburst Environments

In the previous section we did not consider the optical emission at $`t10`$ days since it has a distinct spectrum, $`F_\nu \beta ^{3.9\pm 0.1}`$, compared to $`F_\nu \beta ^{1.15\pm 0.07}`$ for the early afterglow data. Moreover, the predicted brightness of the afterglow at late time is lower by a factor of about $`35`$ in the $`R`$ and $`I`$ bands compared to the flux measured with HST (Figure 2). These two observations indicate that the late-time emission comes from a separate component.

Price et al. (2002) interpreted this emission as coming from a supernova that occured at about the same time as the burst. However, they note that the significance of this conclusion depends sensitively on the time of the jet break. Based solely on the optical data, these authors were unable to significantly constrain $`t_j`$. However, our combined radio, optical, and X-ray model with $`t_j0.95`$ day indicates that the SN interpretation is secure.

We gain further confidence about this interpretation by comparing the late-time emission to the optical emission from the Type Ic SN 1998bw (Galama et al., 1998). In Figure 2 we plot the combined emission from the afterglow of GRB 020405 and SN 1998bw redshifted to $`z=0.695`$. We correct the SN lightcurves for Galactic extinction, $`E(BV)=0.054`$ mag (Schlegel, Finkbeiner & Davis, 1998), as well as extinction within the host galaxy as determined in §4. While SN 1998bw does not provide a perfect fit to the data, the level of agreement is remarkable given that there are other effects at play (e.g. an earlier decay for a fainter luminosity; Iwamoto et al. 1998).

The conclusion that GRB 020405 was accompanied by a supernova indicates that the progenitor must have been a massive star. However, we also demonstrated that the circumburst density profile is uniform, at least in the range $`r10^{15}`$ to $`10^{17}`$ cm. This is the first case in which a massive progenitor and a uniform ambient medium have been associated directly, leading us to conclude that a strong density gradient, $`\rho r^2`$, on the lengthscales probed by the afterglow is not a required signature of a massive stellar progenitor. In fact, this may explain why the signature of stellar mass loss has not been observed in the majority of afterglows.

The uniform medium around the progenitor of GRB 020405 does not imply that the progenitor did not lose mass. In fact, it has been previously suggested that a relatively uniform medium can occur downstream from the wind termination shock (Ramirez-Ruiz et al., 2001). This region can extend out to $`10^{18}`$ cm. In addition, a density enhancement is expected at the termination shock, which can explain the increased radio flux at $`t15`$ days compared to the Jet model predictions (§4).

## 6 Conclusions

We showed that the early radio emission from GRB 020405 was dominated by the reverse shock, and that this directly implies a uniform circumburst medium. The same conclusion holds for all bursts in which radio flares have been detected on the timescale of $`1`$ day. The broad-band data indicate that the ejecta underwent a jet break at $`t0.95`$ day (i.e. $`\theta _j6^{}`$), resulting in a significant deviation of the late-time optical emission measured with HST from an extrapolation of the model. Combined with the spectral properties of the late emission, and a reasonable agreement with the optical emission of SN 1998bw, this indicates that GRB 020405 was accompanied by a supernova. Thus, the progenitor of this burst was a massive star.

The association of a massive stellar progenitor with a uniform circumburst medium indicates that the tedious search for a $`\rho r^2`$ density profile may have been partly in vain. It appears that a Wind profile does not necessarily accompany every GRB, and in fact may not be the case for the majority of bursts. This result, in conjunction with the inferred Wind medium for GRB 011121 which was also accompanied by a supernova, indicates that the circumburst environments of GRBs are more diverse than the simple assumption of constant mass loss rate and wind velocity; the interaction of the wind with the local environment may play a significant role. Deeper insight into the structure of the circumburst medium requires rapid localizations and dense, multi-band follow-up.

EB thanks R. Chevalier and R. Sari for valuable discussions. We acknowledge support from NSF and NASA grants.


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# Parameters for Very Light Jets of cD Galaxies

## 1 Introduction

Radio galaxies are traditionally known by their radio emission, which arises from magnetised jet plasma, accelerated to large velocities in the active nucleus, and expelled up to Mpc distances. During their growth, they displace and compress the ambient gas. In the central and dominant cluster galaxies (cDGs), this gas is usually dense enough to be seen in the X-ray regime by bremsstrahlung. The Chandra observatory can now resolve these centers of galaxy clusters with unprecedented resolution. The displaced hot gas ($`10^7`$ K) has been detected in several cases (e.g. Soker et al., 2002, and references therein). An exceptional case is the Cygnus cluster with its famous FR II radio galaxy Cygnus A. This is the only nearby (redshift z=0.06) powerful jet source. In Cygnus A, the leading bow shock can be found on the X-ray image (Smith et al., 2002, also compare Chandra homepage). The identification is easy: It closely engulfs and follows the radio lobes in vicinity of the hotspots, and forms an almost spherical bubble around the radio emission. It also reproduces the armlength asymmetry. From this data, the axis ratio of the bow shock can be determined to 1.2. Comparison with the radio data gives a bow-shock-to-cocoon width of 3.8. In the symmetry plane, X-ray bright filaments are present, next to and within the radio lobe. Such excellent data demands detailed modelling. We have simulated a jet with the conditions assumed to be present in Cygnus A (sec. 2). The simulation is bipolar in order to take into account interactions of the backflows of the jets. Because it fails to reproduce the data, quantitatively, we present a parameter study in sec. 3. Finally, we present a modified jet model for Cygnus A in sec. 4 and discuss the application to comparable jet sources.

## 2 Bipolar 3D Simulation

Using the code Nirvana (Ziegler and Yorke, 1997), we simulated (Krause, 2002) a bipolar jet in 3D and cylindrical coordinates with the parameters of the Cygnus A jet, estimated by Carilli and Barthel (1996): beam radius $`r_\mathrm{j}=550`$ pc, velocity $`v_\mathrm{j}=0.4c`$, power $`L_\mathrm{j}=10^{46}`$ erg/s, and external density profile $`\rho (r)=10^{25}[1+(r/35\mathrm{k}\mathrm{p}\mathrm{c})^2]^{9/8}`$ g/cm3. The density contrast $`\eta `$ is $`6\times 10^3`$ at the inlet and the Mach number is $`M=10`$.

A slice through the computational volume at a time of 1.6 Myr is shown in Fig. 1. Some basic features of such a jet are: Initially, the bow shock forms a spherical bubble. Then it first elongates the bubble, and after some time it produces cigar shaped extensions. The aspect ratio of the bow shock is monotonically increasing for the whole simulation. At the time shown, one jet arm is longer than the other one by $`10\%`$. The background is slightly asymmetrically perturbed, with the higher density on the side of the longer jet. This shows that the asymmetry is caused by the action of KHIs on the jet beam. The central part of the bow shock is pressure driven and its width turns out to scale as $`t^{0.6}`$, for the whole simulation time.

The observed jet in Cygnus A has basically the same features as the simulated one. The bow shock is a big bubble with a cigar shaped extension on one side. The armlength asymmetry is $`10\%`$. But the bow-shock-to-cocoon width $`1.3`$ and the axis ratio of the bow shock ($`>3`$) is far-off the observed values. Hence, the assumed parameters wer not a good choice.

## 3 Parameter Study

In order to find out, what parameters differ and in which direction, we performed an axisymmetric study with constant background, density contrasts $`\eta [10^5;10^2]`$, and Mach numbers of 3, 8, and 26 (Krause, 2003).

Fig. 2 shows that the trend found in classical parameter studies (Norman, 1993, cocoon radius $`r_\mathrm{c}M\eta ^{1/4}`$) is also confirmed here: the lighter jets show fatter cocoons. However, the cocoons of the $`\eta =10^4`$ jets are still under-expanded, which may be the reason for the independence of $`r_\mathrm{c}`$ on $`M`$. The bow shocks are spherical at the beginning, because the pressure inside the jet bubble drives them faster than the thrust at the jet head. The relevant equation is the force balance at the bow shock, which can be transformed into the following integral equation

$$_0^r𝐌(r)r𝑑r=2_0^t𝑑t_1_0^{t_1}E(t_2)𝑑t_2$$
(1)
that relates the mass $`𝐌`$ inside the radius $`r`$ to the energy $`E`$, injected during the time t. For constant energy injection rate and constant density profile, one obtains the solution of Castor et al. (1975): $`r=\left(5L/4\pi \rho _0\right)^{0.2}t^{0.6}`$. The critical radius for the first deviation from spherical symmetry is given by: $`r_1/r_\mathrm{j}=0.5\eta ^{1/4}`$which can be checked in the simulations. All the simulated jets show a high cocoon pressure, which decreases in time, as expected for a blastwave with constant energy input. The jet beam does not react by compression or expansion, but by adjusting its own pressure via oblique shock waves. The result is approximate pressure equilibrium, besides the hot spot.

## 4 Discussion

The 3D simulation has falsified the assumed parameters for Cygnus A. The observed cocoon and bow shock is wider than in the simulation. This points to a more extreme density contrast. It turns out from the parameter study that $`\eta 10^4`$ is needed in order to get the observed values. This agrees well with the extrapolations of Rosen et al. (1999) concerning the cocoon width. Equation 1 can be used to infer the average jet power ($`L=8\times 10^{46}`$ erg/s), and the age ($`t=27`$ Myr), which agrees with estimates in the literature. The simulations have shown that the pressure has the same order of magnitude in the whole system. The external pressure in the cluster gas is (Smith et al., 2002): $`p_{\mathrm{ext}}3\times 10^{10}`$ erg/cm3. The magnetic energy density in the hot spots is $`u_{\mathrm{mag},\mathrm{HS}}=9\times 10^{10}`$ erg/cm3 or higher (Wilson et al., 2000), assuming self-synchrotron-Compton origin of the X-ray emission. This is roughly the equipartition value. Since the magnetic field in the hot spots is probably shock-amplified, this implies a similar value of the internal energy in the jet and the cluster gas, as predicted by the above model. Given the density contrast of $`\eta =10^4`$ and taking into account a possibly relativistic jet (compare Scheck et al., 2002), we estimate: $`\mathrm{\Gamma }^2h\rho _\mathrm{j}c^210^8`$ erg/cm3 ($`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$: bulk Lorentz factor, $`h`$: specific relativistic enthalpy, $`\rho _j`$: mass density). Consequently, the kinetic power of the jet is: $`L_{\mathrm{kin}}=2\pi r_\mathrm{j}^2\rho _\mathrm{j}\mathrm{\Gamma }(\mathrm{\Gamma }h1)\beta c^3=5\times 10^{45}(11/\mathrm{\Gamma }h)`$ erg/s. ($`\beta =v_\mathrm{j}/c`$) Since this falls short of the value derived above, the energy has to be in the magnetic power: $`L_\mathrm{B}=r_\mathrm{j}^2\mathrm{\Gamma }^2\beta cB^2/4=5\times 10^{44}(u_{\mathrm{mag},\mathrm{j}}/u_{\mathrm{mag},\mathrm{HS}})^2\mathrm{\Gamma }^2`$. It follows, that $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ has to be roughly 20. The mass flux in the jet is then given by: $`\dot{M}=\pi r_\mathrm{j}^2\rho _\mathrm{j}\mathrm{\Gamma }\beta c=3\times 10^3h^1M_{}`$/yr. Appl and Camenzind (1988) estimate the mass flux needed in order to produce the observed luminosity in the Cygnus A hotspots downstream of a MHD shock: $`\dot{M}=5\times 10^4ϵ_{\mathrm{rel}}^1M_{}`$/yr ($`ϵ_{\mathrm{rel}}`$: energy fraction in relativistic electrons). This does not preclude protons in the jet, and places $`h`$ in the regime of a few.

The 3D simulation shows that the KHI is strongest in the symmetry plane, drawing fingers of shocked external cluster gas into the radio cocoon. We propose that some of the X-ray enhancements inside the cocoon could be due to this process. Outer X-ray enhancements may be caused by waves that the KHIs excite in the shocked cluster gas.

Some cDGs show similar features like Cygnus A. For example, the X-ray structure of 3C 317 (Blanton et al., 2001) (two elliptical rings, elongated in the same direction) can be explained as a bubble with a cigar shaped extension, seen at an inclination of $`37^{}`$.

This work was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (Sonderforschungsbereich 437).


text:
# White Dwarf Rotation: Observations and Theory

## 1. Introduction

Despite a flurry of interest, mainly from theorists, in the 1960s, applicable methods to observe rotation in single white dwarfs largely eluded astronomers until the 1970s. As relatively simple structures whose mechanics are dominated by the degenerate equation of state of the electrons, the influence of rotation on their structure can, in principle, be computed analytically using the theory of rotating polytropes. Rotation could provide another “force” that could support the star, increasing the maximum mass for an electron degenerate configuration. Thus the hope was, in part, that by finding white dwarfs rotating at sufficiently high velocities, physics at the interface between classical and modern could be tested. One of the earliest efforts to explore this connection was by Ian Roxburgh (Roxburgh 1965), who showed that the maximum mass of a white dwarf could be increased by about 5% if rotating at near critical velocity of over 2000 km/s. As limits on rotation velocities of single white dwarfs began to be measured in the 1970s, it became apparent that they were rotating at much smaller velocities than that. Still, measuring the rate of rotation of white dwarfs can allow us to probe the evolution of stars in their late stages – the rotation that we do see is a remnant of the initial angular momentum, processed by several stages of stellar evolution.

## 2. Expectations from Scaling Arguments - Fast versus Slow

One curiosity instantly arises in the study of white dwarfs rotation – that is, what should be considered a “fast” rotation velocity, and what is a “slow” rotation rate? As we will see below, measured white dwarf rotation rates seem to cluster around once per day. The literature contains examples of papers that talk about such rates as being fast, and others that refer to them as slow. This ambiguity stems from the two extreme cases of angular momentum redistribution that bracket what actually happens in stars. Assuming that local angular momentum (hereafter “$`j`$”) is conserved through evolution results in an estimate of rotation at a rate of several hundred km/s. Alternatively, assuming that stars always rotate as solid bodies leads to an estimate of very long rotation periods (following loss of the extended AGB envelope). The view that even small magnetic fields can enforce solid–body rotation in all phases of evolution (i.e. Spruit 1998) leads directly to this sort of result.

Let’s see more quantitatively what these two extreme cases imply. Assume that a 0.6$`M_{}`$ white dwarf star begins its life on the main sequence with a total mass of 3$`M_{}`$ and total angular momentum consistent with the Kraft relation (i.e. Kawaler 1987 and references therein). Thus the initial rotation period is approximately 10 hours.

If $`j`$ is retained throughout the evolution, internal differential rotation must develop, as parts of the star expand or shrink through evolution. By ignoring the rotational instabilities that should result from such angular velocity gradients, we can obtain an upper limit to the rotation rate of white dwarfs. The central 0.6$`M_{}`$ of a 3$`M_{}`$ main–sequence star collapse by a factor of about 20 by the time the star eventually reaches white dwarf dimensions. Thus it will spin up by approximately a factor of 400, have a rotation period of about 100 seconds, and a surface equatorial rotation velocity of 680 km/s. Under this assumption, then, anything slower than many hundreds of km/s for a rotation velocity would be considered slow rotation.

If the white dwarf evolves from a lower mass progenitor, that the rotation velocity could be much lower even in this case. Stars of main–sequence spectral class of late F or later can lose up to 99% of their angular momentum before and on the main sequence. If they conserve $`j`$, their rotation rates as white dwarfs could be as small as about 10 km/s. But, given the demographics of white dwarfs (a mean mass of about 0.6$`M_{}`$ and Population I kinematics) suggest that most that we see are derived from stars above the break in the Kraft curve, and therefore should have rotation velocities of hundreds of km/s if they are described by the assumption of locally conserved angular momentum.

Next, consider a star that forever rotates as a solid body. When it reaches the AGB, its radius will have swelled to 90 times its main–sequence radius. It will then be rotating at a rate that is roughly 7500 times slower than its main–sequence rate, with nearly all of the angular momentum seated in the outer layers at large radius. The rotation period is 8.5 years. Upon loss of the envelope and exposure of the central 0.6$`M_{}`$ white dwarf, the rotation period may shorten by a factor of 4 as the remnant contracts, leaving a white dwarf with a rotation period of about 2 years and a vanishingly small equatorial rotation velocity of about 1 meter per second. This assumption gives an upper limit to the rotation velocity, as stars must lose angular momentum as they lose mass on the AGB. Thus, under the assumption of perpetual solid–body rotation, any measurable rotation in a white dwarf should be considered fast rotation!

The fact that some white dwarfs are seen to rotate argues that some other mechanism is needed to be invoked to impart angular momentum to the remnant (e.g. Spruit 1998) in this extreme. Spruit (1998) points out that even small magnetic fields should enforce solid–body rotation in all phases of evolution – and that they should show therefore no measurable rotation. The fact that they are indeed seen to rotate suggests a different origin entirely outside of the primordial angular momentum. He argues that some white dwarfs may in fact rotate because of asymmetric mass loss on the AGB phase, and during the final superwind phase. Though this is possible, we outline below another origin for the observed angular velocities in white dwarfs.

## 3. Observations of White Dwarf Rotation

Traditional measurements of rotation rates for stars – photometric variations from spots and rotational broadening of otherwise narrow absorption lines – fail for white dwarfs. White dwarfs are spotless stars – photometric time series do not show evidence of rotational modulation by spots. With very high gravities producing lines that are 10 nm wide or more, natural broadening mechanisms swamp rotational broadening – even for velocities close to breakup. However, discovery of sharp cores in the spectral lines of some DA white dwarfs, and of nonradial pulsations that are influenced in a predictable way by rotation, have produced a handful of useful (single) white dwarf rotation velocities. Magnetic white dwarfs, with magnetic fields in excess of 100 kG, show evidence of time–variability (and in some cases periodicity) of the magnetic features, providing a measurement of their rotation velocities. Given that such magnetic white dwarfs are rare (approximately 1% of white dwarfs) and that the magnetic fields can influence the rotational evolution, we do not discuss them further in this review – but see the excellent review by Wickramasinghe & Ferrario (2000) for more on these fascinating objects.

### 3.1. Spectroscopic Measurements of $`v\mathrm{sin}i`$ in White Dwarfs

It was not until the early 1970s that Greenstein and Petersen (1973) reported the detection of narrow cores within the hydrogen lines of DA white dwarfs. Modeling these narrow cores, via NLTE effects convolved with rotational broadening, allowed the possibility of measuring $`v\mathrm{sin}i`$. FIrst results using these cores, from Greenstein and Petersen (1973), Greenstein et al. (1977) and Pilachowski & Milkey (1984, 1987) all showed rotation velocities at and below about 50 km/s – which was seen largely as slow rotation under the prevailing assumption of conservation of $`j`$. More recent high–resolution spectroscopy of white dwarfs by Heber et al. (1997) and Koester et al. (1998) produced more accurate measurements than the earlier work, but have not altered the conclusions drawn. Heber et al. (1997) report upper limits to rotation velocities to single non–magnetic white dwarfs. and Koester et al. (1998) report rotation velocities for only a handful of non–magnetic DA white dwarfs, including three ZZ Ceti stars.

Table 1 includes a representative sample of the upper limits and measurements of $`v\mathrm{sin}i`$ for white dwarfs. Note that except for the DAV (ZZ Ceti) stars, only GD140 shows a rotation velocity that is not consistent with zero, and that the uncertainties in the measurements are all of order 10 km/s. This is difficult spectroscopy - high resolution spectra are needed, and accurate and reliable NLTE model atmospheres are essential for the analysis.

### 3.2. Asteroseismology

With few rotation velocities through spectroscopy, we must rely on a relatively new technique to provide data to constrain models of angular momentum evolution in highly evolved stars. This new technique exploits the observed nonradial $`g`$mode pulsations of white dwarfs in several distinct bands in the H–R diagram. We see multimode nonradial pulsations in DA white dwarfs with effective temperatures at about 12,000K, in DB white dwarfs at about 25,000K, and in helium–poor C/O rich hot pre white dwarfs between 170,000K and 75,000K. Comprehensive review of the many results for pulsating white dwarfs can be found in many volumes (two personal favorites are Kawaler 2000 and Kawaler 1996, but see also Fontaine 2002). Other papers in this volume (i.e. Christiansen–Dalsgaard, and Matthews) describe the effect of slow rotation on the observed nonradial pulsation frequencies, so I only briefly review a basic asymptotic result as it has been applied to pulsating white dwarfs.

Nonradial modes of a given degree $`\mathrm{}`$ and radial overtone $`n`$ will have the same pulsation frequency, independent of $`m`$, in a spherically symmetric star. Rotation can break this degeneracy. For uniform rotation in white dwarfs that are pulsating in $`g`$modes,

$$\nu _{n\mathrm{}m}=\nu _{n\mathrm{}0}+\frac{m}{P_{\mathrm{rot}}}\left[1\frac{1}{\mathrm{}(\mathrm{}+1)}\right],$$

which is a limiting case where the pulsation motion in the horizontal direction is much larger than the vertical direction. So, if modes with all values of $`m`$ are excited, the pulsation modes should be split into triplets for $`\mathrm{}=1`$, into quintuplets for $`\mathrm{}=2`$, etc. Also, the splitting of these multiplets should be different for different values of $`\mathrm{}`$. In one star, PG 1159, Winget et al. (1991) show that these two effects are present: a sequence of triplet modes are split by equal amounts, and are nearly exactly 0.6 times the splitting seen in several quintuplets. The theory works quite well.

Rotational splitting has been seen in several white dwarfs (see Table 1). Asteroseismology clearly produces rotation frequencies of much higher precision (especially at smaller rotation rates) than is possible through spectroscopy. Oddly, those three DAV stars that have rotation determinations via spectroscopy show large discrepancies between the spectroscopic and asteroseismic values. Given the uncertainties in the spectroscopic values as mentioned above, and the multiple determination of rotational splitting within individual stars, the asteroseimsic values are probably more representative. We speculate that the broadening of the NLTE spectral line cores measured by Koester et al. (1998) may be due to some other photospheric motions related to the pulsation.

Is it possible that the interior of white dwarfs, where the pulsation frequencies are determined, rotates much slower than the surface? Kawaler, Sekii, & Gough (1999), explored the effects of differential rotation within DOV and DBV white dwarfs. They concluded that the surface layers dominate the computed value of the rotational splitting in these stars. The cooler DAV stars are even more heavily influenced by the surface layers. Therefore the seismological rotation rates should be similar to the surface rotational broadening component of spectral lines. (Though Winget et al. (1994) suggested that the DBV GD358 showed evidence of differential rotation, Kawaler et al. (1999) showed that the variation in rotational splitting with $`n`$ could not be explained by a simple internal angular velocity gradient.)

The conclusion that we draw about measured rotation rates for white dwarfs, principally through asteroseismology, is that they rotate with periods of about once per day, with a range from a few hours to a few days. This is strikingly similar to the average rotation rate measured in magnetic white dwarfs, as reported by Wickramasinghe & Ferrario (2000). So, white dwarfs rotate slowly (or is that quickly?).

## 4. Evolutionary Models Using a Limiting Case for $`j`$ Redistribution

With a bit of effort, evolutionary models that take us from the ZAMS through the AGB phase can make more specific predictions about what the rotation rate for white dwarfs might be. Through helioseismology, we now know that the interior of the Sun rotates as a solid body in the outer layers. This (along with “common wisdom”) suggests that we should force convective regions within stellar models to rotate as solid bodies, with the total angular momentum within the convection zone as a conserved quantity. As the convection zone grows to incorporate more of the star, the angular momentum “dredged up” is distributed through the convection zone. For a growing surface convection zone, which is the dominant effect for AGB models, this results in a draining of angular momentum from inner regions to outer layers. A retreating convection zone releases the newly radiative regions to rotate with conserved local angular momentum.

To do this, we started with evolutionary sequences, begun on the ZAMS and evolved through several thermal pulses on the AGB (Kawaler et al. 2002). We then extracted the cores of these AGB models and evolved them into the white dwarf domain. Throughout the calculation, we kept track of angular momentum within the models using the prescription described above: conservation of $`j`$ in radiative regions, but solid body rotation within convective regions.

A sample “seed model” on the AGB is shown in Figure 1. This model is recovering from a recent thermal pulse. Convective helium burning has produced a marked plateau in the helium abundance profile at about 0.620$`M_{}`$ from the center. The transition zone from hydrogen to helium at 0.626$`M_{}`$ is the location of the recovering hydrogen burning shell, which lies just below the extensive convective envelope. The angular velocity profile through this region reflects the flat rotation curve in the convection zone. The small rotational velocity inversion at the hydrogen shell caused by its contraction that followed its release by the convective envelope, and the rise in angular velocity within and below the helium burning shell and into the compact C/O core.

If a star such as this leaves the AGB at this stage, it could produce a hydrogen–rich planetary nebula (PN) central star should mass loss leave a layer of approximately $`10^4M_{}`$ of hydrogen at the top of the core. The core would then contract to white dwarf dimensions, with the outer layers spinning up. The resulting DA white dwarf would then have a rotation profile resembling that shown in Figure 2, which is the 0.626$`M_{}`$ white dwarf remnant from the model shown in Figure 1. Figure 2 plots quantities versus the log of the surface mass fraction to expand features around the composition transition zones.

The situation for DB white dwarfs or PG 1159 stars is less desperate. Figures 1 and 2, suggest that loss of mass into the plateau of the helium profile ($`10^2`$ $`M_{}`$ below the surface) will expose material with a much larger rotation velocity. Figure 3 shows a hot PG 1159 white dwarf model that represents the remnant of the model in Figure 1 should mass loss reach to the base of the plateau region. The rotation rate in the surface layers is quite close to the observed values.

These conclusions do depend on the initial angular momentum (and initial main sequence mass). We did not include any form of diffusive angular momentum transport, which could allow angular momentum to leak out of the core and spin up the surface layers. This would happen on time scales that are much longer than the time scales for evolution of hot white dwarfs. Typical angular momentum diffusion time scales are of order $`10^7`$ years, which is 100 times longer than the time between thermal pulses; therefore, the angular momentum distribution within AGB stars is dominated by the convective envelope motion and convection within the thermally pulsing shells. Once a white dwarf is formed, takes much less than $`10^6`$ years to cross the H–R diagram and evolve down the top of the white dwarf cooling track.

Note that the observed rotation rates in pulsating white dwarfs, $`\mathrm{log}v=0.6`$ or $`\mathrm{log}\mathrm{\Omega }=4.3`$, are much faster than the model. Spectroscopic upper limits of 10 km/s are orders of magnitude larger than this model predicts.

Stars reach the DAV instability strip about $`10^8`$ years past the AGB; by then angular momentum diffusion may act to spin up the outer layers of DA white dwarfs. Langer et al. (1999) computed models up the AGB that included rotation and angular momentum redistribution. Though concentrating on rotationally induced mixing and its influence on nucleosynthesis, they extrapolate their results into the white dwarf phase to suggest that white dwarf rotation velocities of about 25 km/s might be expected. This conclusion does depend on the precise mass of the remnant (as indicated in our simpler models above), and is is clearly faster than seen in the pulsating DA white dwarfs.

## 5. Conclusions, and Speculations

Spectroscopic measurements of $`v\mathrm{sin}i`$ in single white dwarfs provide weak constraints on their rotation. Asteroseismology provides an accurate measurement, though only for those that are observed to pulsate. As the pulsators are representative of the class of stars, seismic rotation velocities can give some insight into the angular momentum evolution during the late stages of stellar evolution.

Reasonable assumptions about angular momentum transport within evolving stellar interiors points to several preliminary conclusions. Clearly, $`j`$ is drained from the outer core into the convective envelope on the AGB. As a result, DA white dwarfs are left with material with relatively low $`j`$, as their layers are repeatedly coupled to the stellar surface by convection. Thus they should (initially) rotate with periods much longer than one day. DB (and DO) white dwarfs have surfaces that were deeper than the deepest extent of the AGB envelope, and therefore retain higher $`j`$ – and should be rotating (initially) significantly faster than DA white dwarfs. Future work will concentrate on models of white dwarfs that include these angular velocity profiles, testing to see if the differential rotation can produce the observed changes in rotational splitting with overtone $`n`$ – in the manner described by Kawaler et al. (1999).

Finally, we point out that the rapid evolution along the AGB drives steep angular velocity gradients at the core/envelope boundary. Such steep gradients can perhaps drive a magnetic dynamo, and produce a shaping mechanism for planetary nebulae. This possibility has been investigated by several groups (see, for example, Blackman et al. 2001).

#### Acknowledgments.

This work was supported, in part, by NASA ATP Grant NAG5-8352 to Iowa State University. Shelbi Hostler was instrumental in carrying out many of the calculations reported here, and Hugh Van Horn provided the stimulus and encouragement to look into this problem.

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text:
# Regularities of vector–meson electroproduction: transitory effects or early asymptotics?

## Introduction

Besides the studies of the structure function $`F_2`$ in DIS at low $`x`$ the important measurements of the cross–sections of elastic vector meson production were performed in the experiments H1 and ZEUS at HERA .

As it follows from this data the integral cross section of the elastic vector meson production $`\sigma _{\gamma ^{}p}^V(W^2,Q^2)`$ increases with energy in a way similar to the $`\sigma _{\gamma ^{}p}^{tot}(W^2,Q^2)`$ dependence on $`W^2`$ . It appeared also that the growth of the vector–meson electroproduction cross–section with energy is steeper for heavier vector mesons. Similar effect takes also place when the virtuality $`Q^2`$ increases.

The most recent data of ZEUS Collaboration evidently demonstrated an energy independence of the ratio of the cross section of exclusive $`\rho `$ electroproduction to the total cross section . Such behaviour of this ratio is at variance with perturbative QCD results , Regge and dipole approaches . Recent review of the related problems and successes of the various theoretical approaches can be found in .

Of course, the energy range of the available data is limited and the above mentioned contradiction could probably be avoided due to fine tuning of the appropriate models. But this is merely a general statement and it needs to be checked in each particular case. Meanwhile, it would be interesting to pay an attention to a model where such an energy independence is an inherent one. To be more specific this energy independence was obtained in the approach based on the off-shell extension of the $`s`$–channel unitarity . It is worth to note also that the approach developed in  and its application to the elastic vector meson production processes $`\gamma ^{}pVp`$ leads to mass dependence of the corresponding cross–sections which is in a good agreement with the experiment  and it allows us to make predictions for the explicit mass dependence of the ratio $`r_V=\sigma _{\gamma ^{}p}^V(W^2,Q^2)/\sigma _{\gamma ^{}p}^{tot}(W^2,Q^2)`$.

## Vector–meson electroproduction

There is no universal, generally accepted method to obey unitarity of the scattering matrix. However, long time ago arguments based on analytical properties of the scattering amplitude were put forward  in favor of the rational form of unitarization. Unitarity relations can be written for both real and virtual external particles scattering amplitudes. However, implications of unitarity are different for the scattering of real and virtual particles. The extension of the $`U`$–matrix unitarization scheme (rational form of unitarization) for the off-shell scattering was considered in . It was supposed as usual that the virtual photon fluctuates into a quark–antiquark pair $`q\overline{q}`$ and this pair can be treated as an effective virtual vector meson state. There were considered limitations the unitarity provides for the $`\gamma ^{}p`$–total cross-sections and geometrical effects in the energy dependence of $`\sigma _{\gamma ^{}p}^{tot}`$. It was shown that the solution of the extended unitarity equations augmented by an assumption of the $`Q^2`$–dependent constituent quark interaction radius results in the following dependence at high energies:

$$\sigma _{\gamma ^{}p}^{tot}(W^2)^{\lambda (Q^2)},$$
(1)
where $`\lambda (Q^2)`$ is saturated at large values of $`Q^2`$ and reaches unity. However, off–shell unitarity does not require transformation of this power-like dependence into a logarithmic one at asymptotical energies. Thus, power–like behaviour of the cross–sections with exponent dependent on virtuality could be of an asymptotical nature and have a physical ground. It should not be regarded merely as a transitory behaviour or a convenient way to represent the data.

The extended unitarity for the off–mass–shell amplitudes $`F^{}`$ and $`F^{}`$ has a structure similar to the equation for the on–shell amplitude $`F`$ but in the former case it relates the different amplitudes111We denoted that way the amplitudes when both initial and final mesons are off mass shell, only initial meson is off mass shell and both mesons are on mass shell, respectively. Note that $`\sigma _{\gamma ^{}p}^{tot}`$ is determined by the imaginary part of the amplitude $`F^{}`$, whereas $`\sigma _{\gamma ^{}p}^V`$ is determined by the square of another amplitude $`F^{}`$.. The important point in the solution of the extended unitarity is the factorization in the impact parameter representation at the level of the input dynamical quantity — $`U`$–matrix:

$$U^{}(s,b,Q^2)U(s,b)[U^{}(s,b,Q^2)]^2=0.$$
(2)
Eq. (2) reflects universality of the initial and final state interactions when transition between on– and off–mass shell states occurs. Despite that such factorization does not survive at the level of the amplitudes $`F^{}(s,t,Q^2)`$, $`F^{}(s,t,Q^2)`$ and $`F(s,t)`$ (i.e. after unitarity equations are solved and Fourier-Bessel transform is performed), it is essential for the energy independence of the ratio of the exclusive $`\rho `$ electroproduction cross section to the total cross section.

The above result (1) is valid when the interaction radius of the virtual constituent quark is rising with virtuality $`Q^2`$. The dependence of the interaction radius

$$r_Q^{}=\xi (Q^2)/m_Q.$$
(3)
on $`Q^2`$ comes through the dependence of the factor $`\xi (Q^2)`$ (in the on-shell limit $`\xi (Q^2)\xi `$). The origin of the rising interaction radius of the virtual constituent quark with virtuality $`Q^2`$ might be of a dynamical nature and it would steam from the emission of the additional $`q\overline{q}`$–pairs in the nonperturbative structure of a constituent quark. Available experimental data are consistent with the $`\mathrm{ln}Q^2`$–dependence of the radius :

$$\xi (Q^2)=\xi +a\mathrm{ln}\left(1+\frac{Q^2}{Q_0^2}\right).$$

The introduction of the $`Q^2`$ dependent interaction radius of a constituent quark, which in this approach consists of a current quark surrounded by the cloud of quark–antiquark pairs of different flavors , is the main issue of the off–shell extension of the model, which provides at large values of $`W^2`$

$$\sigma _{\gamma ^{}p}^{tot}(W^2,Q^2)G(Q^2)\left(\frac{W^2}{m_Q^2}\right)^{\lambda (Q^2)}\mathrm{ln}\frac{W^2}{m_Q^2},$$
(4)
where

$$\lambda (Q^2)=\frac{\xi (Q^2)\xi }{\xi (Q^2)}.$$
(5)
The value of parameter $`\xi `$ in the model is determined by the slope of the differential cross–section of elastic scattering at large $`t`$ region  and it follows from the $`pp`$-experimental data that $`\xi =2`$.

Inclusion of heavy vector meson production into this scheme is straightforward: the virtual photon fluctuates before the interaction with proton into the heavy quark–antiquark pair which constitutes the virtual heavy vector meson state. After interaction with a proton this state turns out into a real heavy vector meson.

Integral exclusive (elastic) cross–section of vector meson production in the process $`\gamma ^{}pVp`$ when the vector meson in the final state contains not necessarily light quarks can be calculated directly:

$$\sigma _{\gamma ^{}p}^V(W^2,Q^2)G_V(Q^2)\left(\frac{W^2}{m_{Q}^{}{}_{}{}^{2}}\right)^{\lambda _V(Q^2)}\mathrm{ln}\frac{W^2}{m_{Q}^{}{}_{}{}^{2}},$$
(6)
where

$$\lambda _V(Q^2)=\lambda (Q^2)\frac{\stackrel{~}{m}_Q}{m_Q}.$$
(7)
In Eq. (7) $`\stackrel{~}{m}_Q`$ denotes the mass of the constituent quarks from the vector meson and $`m_Q`$ is the mean constituent quark mass of the vector meson and proton system. Of course, for the on–shell scattering ($`Q^2=0`$) we have a standard Froissart–like asymptotic energy dependence.

It is evident from Eqs. (4) and (6) that $`\lambda _V(Q^2)=\lambda (Q^2)`$ for the light vector mesons, i.e. the ratio

$$r_V=\sigma _{\gamma ^{}p}^V(W^2,Q^2)/\sigma _{\gamma ^{}p}^{tot}(W^2,Q^2)$$
(8)
does not depend on energy for $`V=\rho ,\omega `$. For the case of the heavy vector meson production $`J/\mathrm{\Psi }`$ and $`\mathrm{{\rm Y}}`$ the respective cross–section rises about two times faster than the total cross–section; Eq. (7) results in

$$\lambda _{J/\mathrm{\Psi }}(Q^2)2\lambda (Q^2),\lambda _\mathrm{{\rm Y}}(Q^2)2.2\lambda (Q^2),$$

i.e.

$$r_{J/\mathrm{\Psi }}(W^2)^{\lambda (Q^2)},r_\mathrm{{\rm Y}}(W^2)^{1.2\lambda (Q^2)}.$$

Corresponding relations for the $`\phi `$–meson production are the following

$$\lambda _\phi (Q^2)1.3\lambda (Q^2),r_\phi (W^2)^{0.3\lambda (Q^2)}.$$

In the limiting case when the vector meson is very heavy, i.e. $`\stackrel{~}{m}_Qm_Q`$ the relation between exponents is

$$\lambda _V(Q^2)=\frac{5}{2}\lambda (Q^2).$$

The quantitative agreement of Eq. (6) with experiment was demonstrated in . This agreement is in favor of relation (7) which provides explicit mass dependence of the exponent in the power–like energy dependence of cross–sections. Thus, the power-like parameterization of the ratio $`r_V`$

$$r_V(W^2)^{\lambda (Q^2)(\stackrel{~}{m}_Qm_Q)/m_Q}$$

with $`m_Q`$ and $`Q^2`$–dependent exponent could also have a physical ground. It would be interested therefore to check experimentally the predicted energy dependence of the ratio $`r_V`$.

The dependence of the constituent quark interaction radius $`r_Q^{}=\xi (Q^2)/m_Q`$ on its mass and virtuality gets an experimental support and the non–universal energy asymptotical dependence Eqs. (6) and (7) and predicted in  does not contradict to the high–energy experimental data on elastic vector–meson electroproduction. Of course, as it was already mentioned in the Introduction, the limited energy range of the available experimental data allows other parameterizations, e. g. universal asymptotical Regge–type behavior with $`Q^2`$–independent trajectories (cf. ), to treat the observed experimental regularities as transitory effects.

It seems, however, that the scattering of virtual particles reaches the asymptotics much faster than the scattering of the real particles and the $`Q^2`$–dependent exponent $`\lambda (Q^2)`$ reflects asymptotical dependence and not the ”effective” preasymptotical one. Despite that the relation between $`\xi (Q^2)`$ and $`\lambda (Q^2)`$ implies a saturation of the $`Q^2`$-dependence of $`\lambda (Q^2)`$ at large values of $`Q^2`$, the power–like energy dependence itself will survive at asymptotical energy values. The early asymptotics of virtual particle scattering is correlated with the peripheral impact parameter behavior of the scattering amplitude for the virtual particles. The respective profiles of the amplitudes $`F^{}`$ and $`F^{}`$ are peripheral when $`\xi (Q^2)`$ increases with $`Q^2`$ .

The energy independence of the ratio $`r_\rho =\sigma _{\gamma ^{}p}^\rho /\sigma _{\gamma ^{}p}^{tot}`$ reflects universality of the initial and final state interactions responsible for the transition between the on– and off–mass shell states. This universality is a quite natural assumption leading to factorization Eq. (2) at the level of the $`U`$–matrix . Thus, the off–shell unitarity is the principal origin of the observed energy independence of the ratio $`r_\rho `$.

## Acnowledgement

We are grateful to V. Petrov and E. Martynov for the interesting discussions.