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# A Ring Shaped Embedded Young Stellar (Proto)Cluster

## 1 Introduction

Star formation is traditionally classified into isolated and clustered modes and the majority of stars that contribute to the galactic field population are thought to form via the clustered mode. Adams & Myers (2001)(Hereafter AM01) have recently demonstrated the importance of distinguishing large clusters (Ex: the Orion Nebula Cluster) from stellar groups and associations . These authors define stellar groups as an independent entity with the number of stars N$``$100 and show that such groups have dynamical relaxation times much smaller than their formation times. Such short dynamical relaxation times imply that small groups form and disperse quickly after the parent cloud gas removal, so the majority of these stellar groups are thought to be overlooked in observational open cluster surveys (see AM01). AM01 also suggest that stellar groups and small clusters with the number of stars N$`<`$100-300 may contribute to 90% of the galactic field population and state that many or most stars form in systems with 10$`<`$N$`<`$100.

In the last few years there has been considerable progress in theoretical models and numerical simulations of multiple-star formation (Klessen et al., 1998; Li & Nakamura, 2002). These simulations predict several physical conditions and parameters that are yet to be observationally verified. In particular, Li & Nakamura (2002)(Hereafter LN02) and Li (2001) predict the formation of ring like structures in magnetically subcritical clouds leading to multiple-star formation. Finding a good example of ring like structures in star-forming regions is difficult because of the high degree of geometrical and projectional symmetry that is needed. Kumar et al. (2002) discovered one such stellar cluster with a high degree of geometrical symmetry around IRAS 22134+5834, a putative massive protostar. In this paper we present infrared photometric observations of this symmetric ring-shaped stellar cluster, which is all the more unique given its “central dark patch”. We shall use these observations to evaluate some general properties of the cluster and estimate the spectral types of the young stellar population.

## 2 Observations and Data Reduction

All observations presented here were made on the nights of June 25/26, 2002 with the 3.8 m United Kingdom Infrared Telescope(UKIRT) on Mauna Kea, Hawaii. J, H and K band observations were made using the facility imager UFTI which is equipped with a 1024$`\times `$1024 HgCdTe Hawaii array. The plate scale was 0.09$`\mathrm{}`$/pixel with a field of view (FOV) of 90$`\mathrm{}`$. The average seeing in the K band was 0.46$`\mathrm{}`$. L images were obtained using UKIRT’s secondary imager IRCAM, which has a 256$`\times `$256 InSb array with a plate scale of 0.08$`\mathrm{}`$/pixel. The chop/dither pattern utilized for the observations resulted in a FOV of 38$`\mathrm{}`$ covering the central region of the cluster. Standard data reduction procedures were followed, involving dark subtraction, division by a flat and subtraction of a sky frame. We used the DAOPHOT package in IRAF to extract J,H,K & L magnitudes from the data. The instrumental magnitudes were calibrated using observations of UKIRT faint standards (FS29,FS35 & FS149) (Hawarden et al., 2001) which were observed at air masses closest to the target observations. The resulting photometric data are in the natural system of the Mauna Kea Consortium Filters (Simons & Tokunaga, 2002). For the purposes of plotting these data in Fig.2 and Fig.3, we have converted them to the Bessell & Brett (1988) (BB) system since the main sequence references are in BB system. The completeness limits of the images were evaluated by adding artificial stars of different magnitudes to the images and determining the fraction of stars recovered in each magnitude bin. The recovery rate was greater than 90% for magnitudes brighter than 18, 17.5, 17 and 12 in the J, H, K and L bands respectively. Our observations are complete(100%) to the level of 16, 15.5, 14 and 11 magnitudes in J,H, K and L respectively.

## 3 IRAS 22134+5834: A ring like star cluster enclosing a dark patch

IRAS22134+5834 is a luminous Far-infrared (FIR) source (1.7$`\times `$103L) that is characterized as a candidate precursor to an ultra-compact HII region (Sridharan et al., 2002). Situated inside a compact molecular cloud at a distance of 2.6 kpc (Sridharan et al., 2002), this source is also known to drive a massive molecular outflow (Dobashi & Uehara, 2001). FIR maps of this region at 450, 850, 1300$`\mu `$m (Chini et al., 2001) and at 1.3mm (Beuther et al., 2002), all reveal extended elliptical flux distributions with a single resolved peak centered on the IRAS source. Figure. 1a shows our K-band image of the target. This reveals a rich, centrally symmetric embedded cluster and a central dark region associated with the FIR/(sub)mm emission. The star symbol in Fig. 1 represents the position of the FIR/(sub)mm peaks and coincides with a star visible at wavelengths longward of 1.6$`\mu `$m. Although the FIR emission encircles the infrared dark region, there are no signatures of any condensations within the extended emission. Note the faint stars that delineate the northern triangular shaped boundary of the dark region. The neat alignment of the stars along this boundary suggests that the central dark region cannot be caused by a foreground object. Assuming that the dark region is an integral part of the cluster implies that the cluster is flattened in a plane perpendicular to the line of sight. A spherically symmetric cluster would have produced an image with several stars seen in projection against the dark patch. Thus, the image in Fig. 1 probably represents the true distribution of stars and cannot result from an arbitrary 3D distribution. The bright stars surrounding the dark patch in the image must be arranged in a true ring-like pattern around the dark patch. However, for comparision with cluster formation models we must also establish whether the dark region is an empty cavity or a molecular core?

It can be seen from the overlay of C18O contours on the H-band image (see Fig. 1b) that the dark region is immersed in the C18O emission; both the C18O emission and the dark region are elongated approximately in an east-west direction with a similar aspect ratio. Dobashi & Uehara (2001) estimated a total mass of 206M for this core and a velocity gradient of 0.9 km s-1pc-1 along the core’s major axis. Richards et al. (1987) detected strong HCO+ emission from this source, confirming the presence of a dense molecular cloud. Sridharan et al. (2002) detected NH3 (J,K)= (1,1) and (2,2) lines and measured a rotation temperature of 18K for this region. However, the peaks of these molecular line emission regions, like the FIR emission peaks, are all centered on IRAS 22134+5834 which is situated on the periphery of the ring of stars. These dust continuum and dense molecular tracers are not centered on the dark patch. These results favour the idea that the dark region is an empty cavity rather than a dense core. There is, however, one fact which suggests that the dark region is a dense core; the faint stars in Fig. 1a which delineate the northern triangular shaped boundary of the dark region are visible only in the K-band and not in the H (Compare Fig. 1a and 1b) or J bands. These stars could therefore be deeply embedded along the boundary of this dark region. Nevertheless, conclusive proof as to whether the dark patch is a cavity or a molecular core can only be obtained from a higher-resolution map of the dense molecular gas in this region.

### 3.1 Photometric Analysis

Inside a 100$`\mathrm{}`$$`\times `$100$`\mathrm{}`$ field centered on IRAS 22134+5834 we found 145 stars in J, 286 stars in H and 357 stars in K, with magnitude errors less than 0.2. Of these, 144 stars are found to be common to all three JHK bands and 270 stars are common to the HK bands only. Note that almost all the stars detected in the J and H bands are also detected in the K-band. Since many of the stars are detected in the K band and not in the J band, the cluster itself must be deeply embedded in the parent molecular cloud. Thus a H-K vs J-H color-color (CC) diagram can not completely identify the embedded young stellar population. However, in Fig. 2 we show a CC diagram for the 144 stars detected in the JHK bands. The solid and broken heavy curves represents the main-sequence dwarf and giant stars, respectively, and the dashed parallel lines are the reddening vectors that enclose reddened main-sequence objects. The dotted line indicates the locus of T-Tauri stars (Meyer et al., 1997). 25 stars lie outside the region of reddened main-sequence objects; these are young stellar objects (YSOs) with intrinsic color excesses . By dereddening the stars (on the CC diagrams) that fell within the reddening vectors encompassing the main sequence stars and giants, we found the visual extinction to each star. We deredenned the stars to the K6-M6 part of the sequence of stars. The individual extinction values range from 0 to 14 magnitudes. From a histogram of these values, we estimate the average foreground extinction to be Av$``$5 mag. Similarly, for sources detected in the H, K and L bands, we constructed an K-L vs H-K CC diagram. Among the 11 stars detected in the H, K and L bands, 7 stars were found to be YSOs with intrinsic color excesses. Four of them show extinctions of Av$``$20-40 mag, indicating that the individual extinctions to the cocoons that contain these stars are much higher than the average extinction through the molecular cloud that hosts the cluster. These four stars are among the bright stars that form the ring around the central dark patch. We note that all the bright stars surrounding the central dark patch in Fig. 1 are also seen in the L image and are found to have an intrinsic infrared excess.

Figure. 3 shows a H-K vs K color-magnitude (CM) diagram for all the sources detected in the H & K bands. YSOs found from the CC diagram (Fig. 2) are shown as star symbols. However, it is important to note that even those stars not shown with a star symbol may also be YSOs with an intrinsic color excess. The vertical solid lines (from left to right) represent the main-sequence curve reddened by 0, 20 and 40 magnitudes respectively. We have assumed a distance of 2.6 kpc and an Av$``$5 mag to the source to reproduce the main sequence data on this plot. The CM diagram is a useful tool for estimating the nature of the stellar population within the cluster in the absence of any spectroscopic data. However, it can be highly misleading if the sources have intrinsic color excesses. In the pretext of this work, it is of interest to obtain a census of massive stars in the region. The horizontal slanting lines in Fig. 3 trace the reddening zones for each spectral type. Since the sources we are interested in have intrinsic infrared excesses, the spectral type estimation will be misleading. We therefore considered the candidate massive protostar (FIR source) IRAS 22134+5834, as the reference point on the CM diagram (marked in Fig. 2) to identify other massive stars. It can be seen that there are 6-8 points lying either above or in the same range as IRAS 22134+5834. These stars are identified on the K-band image (Fig. 1a) and are found to constitute the ring of bright stars. This suggests that there are at least four stars (appearing more massive than IRAS 22134+5834) and two stars (similar to IRAS 22134+5834) that are all situated in a ring enclosing the central dark patch. We also estimated the spectral types of the same sources on a J-H vs H CM diagram and obtained similar results thus verifying the consistency. Table. 1 lists the positions, individual extinctions, fluxes in the K and L bands and corresponding flux ratios indicating approximate colors. The candidate massive protostar IRAS 22134+5834 is also situated along the periphery of the ring and is estimated to be of spectral type B3. The luminosity of this FIR point source (logL = 3.23) indicates a luminosity equal to that of a Zero Age Main Sequence (ZAMS) star of B2-B3 (Panagia, 1973).

## 4 Discussion

The results of sections 2 and 3 show that IRAS 22134+5834 represents an embedded young star cluster associated with a luminous FIR source but not with an HII region. The K-band image reveals 208 stars in the central 1 pc region (slightly larger than the area displayed in Fig. 1). If we consider incompleteness in sampling, and volume filling factors, this cluster represents an upper limit example of a cluster with a number of stars N$`<`$100-300, which, according to AM01 is a small cluster, a type that contributes to the majority of the galactic field population. The embedded nature, flattened appearance of the cluster and the ring of bright stars, together with the lack of a significant HII region, demonstrates the extreme youth of this small cluster. It thus makes an excellent target for verifying predictions of the theories of cluster formation. The standard scenario for the formation of isolated low-mass stars involves an axisymmetric cloud evolution leading to a single dense core. Recently LN02 presented calculations of the non-axisymmetric evolution of a magnetically subcritical molecular cloud under thin-disk approximation (flattened cloud) fragmenting into multiple magnetically super-critical cores. Such calculations are believed to be fundamental to the formation of all varieties of star formation including singles, binaries, multiples and clusters. These authors predict that the supercritical cores resulting from fragmentation are arranged in a ring shape because the magnetic field tension prohibits the formation of a central singularity. The observations presented here tend to support their predictions since the flattened cluster of IRAS 22134+5834 shows a ring of young massive stars which has not yet formed an HII region. Further, the central dark patch appears to be a cavity rather than a core (§. 3), as predicted by LN02. Indeed, the K-band image of Fig. 1 is strikingly similar to the numerical simulations of LN02 for an arbitrary case of a perturbation with mode m=5 (Fig. 3c of LN02). Rings of stars at the center of a molecular cloud containing several jeans masses can also be seen in the numerical simulations of Klessen et al. (1998). The estimated average foreground extinction to the cluster is Av$``$5 mag and the individual extinctions to the stars are as high as Av$``$20-40 mag. This indicates that the massive stars composing the ring in Fig. 1 are surrounded by independent cocoons that may represent individual dense cores.

While the CM diagram estimates demonstrate that there are at least five stars in the cluster with masses similar to IRAS 22134+5834, there is no significant HII region associated with this source. The intrinsic colors of massive stars are not well understood and a CM diagram takes into account only reddening and not intrinsic colors. Thus any star with intrinsic color would move not only along the reddening line on a CM diagram but also upwards (along the y-axis) resulting in an overestimation of the mass. To evaluate the magnitude of such an overestimation we placed the candidate low mass protostars in Taurus on CM diagram by taking the K and H-K data from Park & Kenyon (2002). These Class I or Class 0 low mass protostellar sources were found to be distributed between spectral types G5 and B5. We find that a 1-2 M star can be mistaken for a 6 M star. Exactly how this behaviour transforms at higher masses can not be judged with this simple exercise. We would need a detailed understanding of the intrinsic colors of the massive young stars and some identification of their exact protostellar phases. In the present context we can only state that there are at least 5 stars with similar or higher masses than the candidate protostar IRAS 22134+5834. While the candidate protostar is bright at FIR wavelengths and not at NIR wavelengths, the remaining 4 stars are bright at 2$`\mu `$m. Weak radio free-free emission is detected at 3.6 cm centered within 1$`\mathrm{}`$ of the FIR source ( Kurtz, S. Pvt Communication); this is also evident in the NRAO VLA Sky Survey data. In the light of the above results, it is surprising that even this weak radio emission is centered on the FIR source and not on the other bright stars which are estimated to have masses greater than the FIR source. Further investigations to establish the clear association of these bright stars with the molecular gas, and spectroscopic studies to infer the exact spectral types of the stars, can resolve the issue. We summarize this work by noting that the cluster is associated with a ring of candidate massive young stars. While rings of massive stars are not a new phenomenon (ex: W49A Welch et al. (1987)) , a ring of candidate massive young stars devoid of ionized regions is relatively unique. IRAS 22134+5834 thus represents an early phase in massive star formation when the associated cluster is in one of the dynamically least relaxed states known.

## 5 Summary

Infrared photometric studies of an embedded young stellar cluster associated with IRAS 22134+5834 are presented. 1) The cluster is centrally symmetric, flattened and encloses a central dark region that appears to be an empty cavity. This dark region is surrounded by a ring of bright stars. 2) The ring of bright stars are estimated to be composed of four stars likely to be more massive than the FIR source IRAS 22134+5834 and two stars with similar masses to that of IRAS 22134+5834. However, the cluster does not have any associated HII region, implying its extreme youth. While an average foreground extinction to the cluster is estimated to be Av$``$5 mag, extinction to the individual bright stars in the ring are as much as Av$``$40 mag indicating cocoons of dense gas surrounding each star. 3) The results are consistent with the calculations of LN02 who present a star formation scenario in a magnetically subcritical cloud fragmenting into multiple magnetically supercritical cores leading to the formation of small stellar groups. The central dark patch in IRAS 22134+5834 and the surrounding ring of massive stars display striking similarity to the numerical simulations presented by these authors.

We thank Mario Tafalla for useful comments and K. Dobashi for providing the original C18O data.


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# How to SYN in seven easy steps

## 1 Introduction

The solar spectrum can be calculated by (numerically) solving the radiative transfer equation:

$$\mu \frac{dI_\lambda }{d\tau _\lambda }=I_\lambda S_\lambda $$
(1)
If we know the source function $`S_\lambda `$, then finding the emergent spectrum is straightforward. With a model solar atmosphere, we have the LTE source function, $`S_\lambda (z)=B_\lambda (z)`$, the Planck radiation function, as a function of physical depth. Unfortunately, it is not sufficient to know $`S_\lambda `$ as a function of physical depth $`z`$; we must convert the physical depth scale to an optical depth scale:

$$\tau _\lambda (z)=_z^{\mathrm{}}\rho (z^{})\kappa _\lambda (z^{})𝑑z^{}$$
(2)
This requires calculation of the opacity $`\kappa _\lambda `$; this is the core task of a spectral synthesis program. The opacity can be considered to consist of a continuous opacity, and opacity due to atomic line transitions. The main contribution to the continuous opacity is due to bound-free and free-free H- transitions; other major sources (H$`{}_{}{}^{+}{}_{2}{}^{}`$ molecule, photoionisation of metals) also need to be considered. The line opacity can be found from the line strength and line profile for each line in the spectral region of interest.

## 2 Model atmospheres

The solar atmosphere is highly stratified; its physical properties vary strongly with height within the photosphere. Thus, the photosphere can be well represented by a plane-parallel *model atmosphere*. Many model atmospheres are available, with those by Holweger and Müller  and Kurucz  being commonly used.

A model atmosphere tabulates temperature, pressure, electron pressure, density, and opacity at 5000 Å.

With this data, and assuming LTE conditions, then the source function is simply equal to the Planck radiation function:

$`S_\lambda (z)`$ $`=`$ $`B_\lambda (T(z))`$ (3)
$`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{2hc^2}{\lambda ^5}}(\mathrm{exp}(hc/\lambda kT)1)^1`$
## 3 The continuous opacity

The continuous opacity (maximum at 8200 Å) is dominated by the H- ion, due to its large interaction cross-section. We can also consider other abundant absorbers. If we are only considering a small spectral region, we can assume that the continuous opacity is uniform. In general, we use approximation formulae and table lookup .

The H- opacity is due to both bound-free ($`\mathrm{H}^{}+\mathrm{photon}\mathrm{H}+e^{}`$) and free-free ($`\mathrm{H}+e^{}+\mathrm{photon}\mathrm{H}+e^{}`$) processes. Approximation formulae for both processes are given by Gingerich

Due to its high abundance, we should also consider bound-free and free-free absorption due to neutral hydrogen, which depend on the Gaunt factors $`g_{\mathrm{II}}`$ and $`g_{\mathrm{III}}`$. Approximation formulae for $`g_{\mathrm{II}}`$ and $`g_{\mathrm{III}}`$ are given by Mihalas .

Other sources of opacity which can be considered include the H$`{}_{}{}^{+}{}_{2}{}^{}`$ molecule, for which cross-sections have been calculated; a convenient tabulation for interpolation is available in . The abundances of heavier elements much lower than that of hydrogen, and they contribute far less to the opacity. Only the most abundant species need be considered, Mg and Si being the most important. Calculations by Peach  can be used for interpolation.

## 4 Line opacities

The opacity due to a spectral line depends strongly on the wavelength—which is why it’s a line—which makes it necessary to calculate the line opacity on a sufficiently dense grid of wavelength points. For a single (not too strong) line, a total wavelength range of $``$ 1 Å is enough; a few hundred wavelength points will be sufficient. The use of a non-uniform grid of wavelength points can greatly speed up line opacity calculation, at the cost of a greater effort to implement.

The opacity of a single line depends on

1. population of the absorber,
2. intrinsic strength of the transition,
3. and the line profile.

The populations of absorbers depend on the atomic abundances and the equilibrium between the atomic species, the rest of the atmosphere, and the radiation field. We can simplify this greatly by assuming LTE.

The strength of the transition—the oscillator strength, or $`f`$-value can be obtained from a suitable source of data such as the NIST Atomic Spectra Database at http://physics.nist.gov/cgi-bin/AtData/main\_asd or the Vienna Atomic Line Database (VALD) at http://www.astro.univie.ac.at/~vald/.

### 4.1 The line profile

The line profile function of a stationary atom is the Lorentz profile:

$$\varphi (\lambda )=\frac{\mathrm{\Delta }\lambda /2\pi }{(\lambda \lambda _0)^2+(\mathrm{\Delta }\lambda /2)^2}$$
(4)
Thermal motions will produce a profile that is the convolution of the Lorentz profile and the Maxwellian Doppler shift profile, giving the Voigt profile:

$`\varphi (\lambda )`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{a}{\pi ^{3/2}}}{\displaystyle _{\mathrm{}}^{\mathrm{}}}{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{exp}(x^2)}{(\nu x)^2+a^2}}𝑑x`$ (5)
$`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{\sqrt{\pi }}}H(a,\nu )`$
where $`a=\mathrm{\Delta }\lambda _L/2\mathrm{\Delta }\lambda _D`$ and $`\nu =(\lambda \lambda _0)/\mathrm{\Delta }\lambda _D`$, where $`\mathrm{\Delta }\lambda _L`$ is the natural (Lorentzian) line width, and $`\mathrm{\Delta }\lambda _D`$ is the Doppler shift due to the most probable speed.

We can expect a spectral synthesis code to spend a major part of the execution time repeatedly calculating the Voigt function. Various methods are available . Fast methods usually use asymptotic methods where possible (since the Voigt profile approaches the Lorentz and Maxwell profiles in the limit), and other approximate (eg power series) methods elsewhere. Alternately, the Voigt profile can be calculated by convolution of the Lorentz and Maxwell Doppler profiles, using Fourier transformation methods for speed.

But, first, we must find the Lorentzian – the natural line width and damping – and Maxwellian widths – thermal and other motion.

### 4.2 Damping

The most important contribution to damping is collisions with neutral hydrogen (almost all of which is in the ground state). Damping due to electrons is 50 times smaller, or even less, and damping due to helium about 30 times smaller. Other sources can be neglected.

The line broadening theory developed by Anstee and O’Mara  has been shown to be accurate. Collisions with hydrogen atoms in the photosphere are fast; the impact approximation can be used. The line width (HWHM) is

$$\mathrm{\Delta }\lambda _{\mathrm{coll}}=N_0^{\mathrm{}}vf(v)\sigma (v)𝑑v$$
(6)
where $`\sigma `$ is the line broadening cross section, and $`f(v)`$ is the Maxwellian velocity distribution.

Data calculated using this theory is available , and code to calculate broadening has been developed  (available at http://www.astro.uu.se/~barklem) which can be used either for stand-alone calculation, or can be incorporated into a spectral synthesis program. This code calculates the linewidth per unit hydrogen atom density for a given temperature.

The total Lorentzian width is the sum of the collisional damping width, the natural line width, and the stimulated absorption/emission width. Only the collisional damping width will be important in the photosphere.

### 4.3 Small-scale mass motion

We can expect small-scale turbulent motion to have a Gaussian velocity distribution (Kolmogorov turbulence). The effect will be the same as that of thermal motion, and the two can be combined. The average photospheric microturbulence is 0.845 km/s. We can simply use this average value as a uniform microturbulence, or a depth-dependent value can be used.

### 4.4 Intermediate-scale mass motion

Larger scale mass motion, that cannot be treated as Gaussian turbulence, will occur. A full treatment would require knowledge of the fluid flow on length scales of $`10`$ – 100km, and extremely difficult problem. In general, such motion will act so as to Doppler shift the opacity; this will produce broadening if it varies with depth.

## 5 Integrating the radiative transfer equation

All of the processes that affect the opacity have been considered. The radiative transfer equation (1) can be integrated. The radiative transfer equation (1) is well behaved, provided we solve it in a reasonable manner. In order to avoid the growth of errors, we integrate

$$I_\lambda (\tau =0)=_0^{\mathrm{}}S_\lambda (\tau _\lambda )\mathrm{exp}(\tau _\lambda /\mu )\frac{1}{\mu }𝑑\tau _\lambda .$$
(7)
In practice, we step through the layers of our model atmosphere, from the top to the bottom, with the step size for the numerical integration being determined by the spacing in the model atmosphere. By the time the bottom of the model atmosphere is reached, the contributions to the emergent intensity are negligible.

## 6 Large-scale mass motion—beyond the plane-parallel approximation

Large-scale flows prevent the photosphere from being strictly plane-parallel. Further effects must be considered as corrections to the simple plane-parallel model. The simplest method is to assume that such motions have a Gaussian distribution, and will only act to broaden the emergent spectrum (as opposed to the microturbulence, which will broaden the line profile at all depths). This, however, is an unsatisfactory solution. The main motion at this scale is that due to the granulation. A granular cell is typically about 1000km across, consisting of a hot, slowly rising, central region, and a cooler, more rapidly falling outer region.

Even a simple model of granulation can greatly improve the results of spectral synthesis . If we divide the granule into three regions: the rising core, the falling outer region, and a transition region between the two, we can treat each region as purely plane-parallel. We can assume that the flow velocity in each region varies with height $`h`$ as

$$V=V_0\mathrm{exp}(h/V_s),$$
(8)
where $`V_s`$ is the velocity scale height. We can expect the microturbulence, since it is driven by the large scale flow, to have the same depth dependence. A macroturbulent velocity can also be associated with each region to model inter-granular variation. A suitable granular model is shown in table 1. Using this granular model, calculated spectral lines closely match observed spectral lines in width and asymmetry.

## 7 Spectral synthesis

If we follow the steps outlined here, we can calculate the emergent spectrum of the sun. The matching of observed and calculated line profiles allows us to investigate the processes responsible for the strength and shape of the line—abundance, damping, granulation, etc. Spectral synthesis, a valuable tool for studying the atmospheres of the sun and other stars, can be readily implemented on a typical PC. A number of spectral synthesis codes are available .


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# Interaction Effects at Crossings of Spin-Polarised One-Dimensional Subbands

## Abstract

We report conductance measurements of ballistic one-dimensional (1D) wires defined in GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructures in an in-plane magnetic field, $`B`$. When the Zeeman energy is equal to the 1D subband energy spacing, the spin-split subband $`N`$ intersects $`(N+1)`$, where $`N`$ is the index of the spin-degenerate 1D subband. At the crossing of $`N=1`$ and $`N=2`$ subbands, there is a spontaneous splitting giving rise to an additional conductance structure evolving from the $`1.5(2e^2/h)`$ plateau. With further increase in $`B`$, the structure develops into a plateau and lowers to $`2e^2/h`$. With increasing temperature and magnetic field the structure shows characteristics of the 0.7 structure. Our results suggest that at low densities a spontaneous spin splitting occurs whenever two 1D subbands of opposite spins cross.

preprint: x

Studies of ballistic transport in one dimension (1D) have shown that a spontaneous spin splitting may occur at zero magnetic field, as indicated by a conductance structure at $`0.7(2e^2/h)`$, which drops to $`0.5(2e^2/h)`$ in an in-plane magnetic fieldThomas et al. (1996). This so-called 0.7 structure is widely reported in various types of ballistic 1D wires defined in GaAsThomas et al. (1996); Kristensen et al. (1998); Reilly et al. (2001); Cronenwett et al. (2002)and Si heterostructuresBagraev et al. (2002). In some cases, at very low electron densities a structure has been observed at $`0.5(2e^2/h)`$ at zero magnetic field which strengthened with in-plane magnetic fieldThomas et al. (2000), indicating a complete spin polarisationGold and Calmels (1996); Wang and Berggren (1996).

By studying Zeeman splitting of 1D subbands, it was shown that the 0.7 structure is accompanied by an enhancement of the Lande $`g`$-value as the 1D subbands are depopulated, and the energy difference between the spin-split 1D subbands tends to a finite value at zero magnetic fieldThomas et al. (1996). The conductance plateau at $`0.5(2e^2/h)`$, either observed in zero magnetic field or induced by Zeeman effect, rises to $`0.6(2e^2/h)`$ with increasing temperatureThomas et al. (2002). None of these characteristics can be explained within a single particle model. As the situation is dynamic, for short ballistic 1D wires, zero-field spin splitting may not be in conflict with the theorem of Lieb and MattisLieb and Mattis (1962).

The discovery of the 0.7 structure in ballistic 1D wires has stimulated much theoretical work in one-dimension, some of which focused on zero-field spin polarisationSpivak and Zhou (2000); Bruus et al. (2001); Starikov et al. (2003), spin density wave formationReimann et al. (1999), pairing of electronsFlambaum and Kuchiev (2000), singlet-triplet formationRejec et al. (2000), Kondo-like interactionsLindelof (2001); Cronenwett et al. (2002); Meir et al. (2002), and electron-phonon effectsSeelig and Matveev (2002). Experimental studiesThomas et al. (1996); Kristensen et al. (1998); Reilly et al. (2001) of the 0.7 structure have, in general, indicated that due to a spin splitting at zero magnetic field, a complex many-body state may exist in a ballistic 1D constriction. In order to further study the role of spin, a strong magnetic field is applied parallel to a quantum wire to produce large Zeeman splitting and induce crossings between spin-split 1D subbandsDaneshvar et al. (1997). In this work, we show that at the crossing of Zeeman-split 1D subbands of opposite spins and different spatial wavefunctions, a spontaneous splitting sets in, giving rise to new conductance structures exhibiting characteristics of the 0.7 structure; we call this new structure a 0.7 analogue. We have observed such 0.7 analogues in eight samples, with magnetic field applied in both in-plane directions.

Split-gate devices were defined by electron beam lithography on a Hall bar etched from a high mobility GaAs/AlxGa1-xAs heterostructure. Samples A and B used in this work have a length 0.4 $`\mu `$m and widths 0.6 $`\mu `$m and 0.5 $`\mu `$m. The two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) formed $`292`$nm below the surface has a mobility of $`1.1\times 10^6`$cm2/Vs and a carrier density of $`1.15\times 10^{11}`$cm-2. Conductance measurements were performed in a dilution refrigerator using an excitation voltage of 10 $`\mu `$V at 77 Hz. The samples were mounted with the magnetic field, $`B_{}`$, parallel to the current direction. By monitoring the Hall voltage, the out-of-plane misalignment was measured to be less than $`0.5^{}`$.

Figure 1 shows differential conductance $`G=\frac{dI}{dV}`$ traces, measured as a function of split-gate voltage $`V_g`$ at fixed magnetic fields, $`B_{}`$. The inset shows a schematic illustration of linear Zeeman splitting of 1D energy subbands for a parabolic potential confinement. The left trace of the main figure shows conductance plateaus quantised at $`N(2e^2/h)`$ and the 0.7 structure at $`B_{}`$=0. As $`B_{}`$ is incremented to 15.6 T (right trace), the overall conductance characteristics undergo three major changes. These correspond to P, Q and R in Fig. 1 inset. Firstly, each spin-degenerate 1D subband $`N`$ splits into two, $`N`$ and $`N`$ (see P in the inset), and new conductance plateaus appear at half-integer values of $`2e^2/h`$. Secondly, with further increase of $`B_{}`$, the half-integer plateaus strengthen and integer plateaus weaken. When the Zeeman energy, $`g\mu _BB_{}`$, is equal to the subband energy spacing, $`\mathrm{\Delta }E_{N,N+1}`$, integer plateaus disappear. This happens when the split levels, for example, $`N`$ and $`(N+1)`$ converge and pass through a crossing point (see Q in the inset). Finally, with further increase of $`B_{}`$, half-integer plateaus weaken and integer plateaus reappear as the $`N`$ and $`(N+1)`$ diverge again after the crossing (see R in the inset). For example, the plateau at $`1.5(2e^2/h)`$ weakens and the $`2e^2/h`$ plateau reappears for $`B_{}>8`$ T. However, this is accompanied by the evolution of a weak structure from the edge of the $`1.5(2e^2/h)`$ plateau, which gradually lowers to $`2e^2/h`$ and develops into a plateau. This resembles the evolution of the 0.7 structure to $`0.5(2e^2/h)`$ with increasing $`B_{}`$. For this reason, we call the structure at the crossing a 0.7 analogue. It may be noted that the reappearing $`2e^2/h`$ plateau now carries the opposite spin to that before crossing. The lowest subband 1$``$, however, does not encounter a crossing; therefore the plateau at $`0.5(2e^2/h)`$ is intact, and does not change its spin.

The evolution of conductance characteristics with the splitting of 1D subbands in $`B_{}`$ can be clearly represented in a grey-scale plot of the transconductance $`dG/dV_g`$, obtained by numerical differentiation of $`G(V_g)`$ characteristics. Figure 2(a) shows $`dG/dV_g`$ plots of sample B as a function of $`B_{}`$ and $`V_g`$. White regions represent low transconductance (plateaus in $`G(V_g)`$) and the dark thick lines correspond to high transconductance (transitions between plateaus). Each dark line splits into two as $`B_{}`$ increases. This can be interpreted as the splitting of each 1D subband into two subbands of opposite spins as shown by P in the Fig. 1 inset. On the left of Fig. 2(a), for $`N=1`$, there are two distinct dark lines at $`B_{}=0`$. The white region between these two dark lines represents the 0.7 structure, marked by $`\alpha _0`$. As the gap between the $`N=1`$ and $`N=1`$ widens with $`B_{}`$, the 0.7 structure evolves into a plateau at $`0.5(2e^2/h)`$ and the white region ($`\alpha _0`$) in Fig.2(a) broadens. At $`B_{}11`$ T, dark lines corresponding to $`N=1`$ and $`N=2`$ subbands cross. After the crossing, the line $`N=1`$ shows a discontinuous shift of $`\delta V_g=23`$ mV from the crossing point, marked by $`\alpha _1`$. This discontinuity in the dark line $`N=1`$ corresponds to the appearance of the 0.7 analogue. Figure 2(b) shows $`G(V_g)`$ traces horizontally) in the vicinity of $`\alpha _1`$ from a different cool-down of the sample, highlighting the evolution of the 0.7 analogue from the edge of $`1.5(2e^2/h)`$ plateau to $`2e^2/h`$ with increasing $`B_{}`$. It is observed that the $`1.5(2e^2/h)`$ plateau, though weakening, remains visible when the 0.7 analogue evolves.

The discontinuous evolution of the right-moving dark lines ($``$-spin subbands) can also be observed at the crossing of $`N=2`$ with $`N=3`$ lines marked by $`\beta `$, and at the second crossing of $`N=1`$ with $`N=3`$ line, marked by $`\alpha _2`$. Figure 2(c) and (d) show results of sample A in a different cool-down from that of Fig.1. In addition to the splittings at the crossing of peaks as observed in sample B, in this case there is also a splitting just before the crossing of $`N=1`$ and $`N=2`$ peaks, marked by an asterisk in Fig.2(c). In one of the cool-downs, sample B also showed a weak splitting before the crossing. It is not clear whether this splitting marked by asterisk is related to $`\alpha _1`$, the 0.7 analogue. It may be observed that this corresponds to a slower rate of suppression of the $`2e^2/h`$ plateau (1$``$-subband) in sample A with $`B_{}`$ as shown in Fig. 2(d), compared to sample B in Fig. 2(b).

In the following, we suggest that the main features of our observations arise from strong electron-electron interactions. To clarify this, we first describe the expected behaviour in the case of non-interacting electrons. In particular, we show that the diamagnetic shifts of the subband energies in an in-plane magnetic field have only a very limited influence on the most important features of our observations.

Figure 3(a) shows a greyscale plot of sample B with many occupied 1D subbands, part of which is shown in Fig. 2(a). Figure. 3(b) shows the positions of the calculated transconductance peaks as a function of electron density and $`B_{}`$ for a model of non-interacting electrons in an infinite 1D wire. This model includes the diamagnetic effects with $`B_{}`$, assuming parabolic confinement in the transverse and vertical (quantum well) directions with subband spacings of 1.85 meV and 15 meV Ando (1982) respectively. A $`g`$-value of 1.9 is used in this model in accordance with the value measured at low $`B_{}`$ in our samples.

If one assumes that the electron density in the wire is linearly related to $`V_g`$, then Figs. 3(a) and (b) can be compared directly. Clearly the model of non-interacting electrons accounts well for the general trends in the evolution of the transconductance peaks with $`V_g`$ and $`B_{}`$. However, the model cannot capture the appearance of discontinuities in the positions of the transconducance peaks at the crossings, $`\alpha _1`$, $`\alpha _2`$, and $`\beta `$ in Fig. 2. As we have described above, these are the regions where the conductance displays the 0.7 analogues.

Figure 4 shows the temperature dependence of the 0.7 analogue at the first crossing of 1$``$ and 2$``$ subbands. A defining characteristic of the 0.7 structure is its unusual temperature dependence. In addition, at low temperatures, the 0.7 structure becomes well-defined only at low electron densitiesThomas et al. (2000). For a higher 1D density, a higher temperature (typically, $`T1`$ K in GaAs split-gate devicesThomas et al. (1996)) is required to induce the 0.7 structureKristensen et al. (1998). At high $`B_{}`$, it is well-known that the 0.7 structure develops into a plateau at $`0.5(2e^2/h)`$; however with an increase in $`T`$, the plateau rises to $`0.6(2e^2/h)`$Thomas et al. (2002). These trends in the temperature dependence of the 0.7 structure and $`0.5(2e^2/h)`$ plateau are also observed in the new 0.7 analogue structure at $`B_{}=10`$ T and $`2e^2/h`$ plateau at $`B_{}=13`$ T. Figure 4 shows that, at $`B_{}=10`$ T, the 0.7 analogue present just below $`1.5(2e^2/h)`$ (shown by a down-arrow) drops as $`T`$ rises; but at $`B_{}=13`$ T, the plateau at $`2e^2/h`$ (shown by an up-arrow) rises with increasing $`T`$. In the inset of Fig. 4, conductance of the 0.7 analogue is plotted as a function of $`B_{}`$ for a range of temperatures. This data compares well to the temperature dependence of the 0.7 structure Thomas et al. (2002), showing the crossover of $`G`$ as a function of $`T`$ at a characteristic $`B_{}`$.

Non-quantised conductance structures can be due to a change in the transmission probability caused by scattering or a many-body effect in the 1D channel. We have observed 0.7 analogues in eight samples, and they are independent of cool-downs, and occur only at the crossing of spin-split subbands of opposite spins. Due to the high reproducibility of the 0.7 analogues, a disorder-induced scattering effect can be discounted.

When two energy levels are brought together, an anticrossing may occur. However, this depends on the symmetry of the two wavefunctions. In our case, the two 1D levels that cross in $`B_{}`$ have different spins and subband indices; therefore such anticrossings should be very weak. Experimentally, we do not observe anticrossings of 1D subbands, rather a gap forms abruptly after the crossing. As in the case of the 0.7 structure, we believe that the new 0.7 analogue is a consequence of strong exchange interactions. In the former case, there is a lifting of the zero-field spin-degeneracy, whereas in the latter case, the degeneracy at the crossing point is lifted. We can quantify the strength of the exchange interactions by measuring the gate voltage splitting at $`\alpha _1`$. From dc source-drain bias calibrationPatel et al. (1991), $`\alpha _1`$ is measured to be 0.5 meV, which is a third of the subband spacing ($`\mathrm{\Delta }E_{1,2}=1.6`$ meV) at zero magnetic field.

Given the strong similarity between the 0.7 analogue and the 0.7 structure, we consider whether theories for the 0.7 structure could apply to our results. A recently proposed electron-phonon scattering mechanism for the 0.7 structureSeelig and Matveev (2002) cannot account for the observed 0.7 analogue. Consider Fig. 2(b): if the strong 0.7 analogue in these traces were the result of a conductance suppression caused by electron-phonon scattering, then one should expect at least as strong a suppression below the spin-polarised $`0.5(2e^2/h)`$ plateau; there is no such indication.

The behaviour of the 0.7 analogue does not seem to be consistent with the most simple extension of a proposed “Kondo model” for the 0.7 structureMeir et al. (2002) to the present situation – in which a Kondo impurity forms from quasibound states of the 1$``$ and 2$``$ levels which become degenerate at some non-zero $`B_{}`$. In this model, one would expect the 0.7 analogue feature to fall onto the $`2e^2/h`$ plateau as $`B_{}`$ is increased or decreased away from the point of degeneracy in either direction. In contrast, the 0.7 analogue evolves asymmetrically about the midpoint of the crossing. A detailed analysis within the Kondo model will be considered in a later publication.

To conclude, we have observed the crossings of spin-split 1D subbands of different spins and spatial wavefunctions in a 1D electron gas. At crossings, there is a spontaneous splitting giving rise to new conductance structures. There are no indications of anticrossings, but an energy splitting may occur whenever two 1D subbands of opposite spin are nearly degenerate. The magnetic field and temperature dependences show that the new structures strongly resemble the zero-field 0.7 structure. We believe that these 0.7 analogue structures may provide the key to a fuller understanding of the role of electron-electron interactions in ballistic 1D wires.

We thank J. T. Nicholls, D. Khmelnitskii, V. Tripathi, and C. J. B. Ford for useful discussions. This work was supported by EPSRC, UK. KJT acknowledges support from the Royal Society.

Current address: University of New South Wales, School of Physics, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia.


text:
# Classical Cepheid Pulsation Models: IX. New Input Physics

## 1 Introduction

The EOS and the opacity are fundamental physical ingredients for both evolutionary and pulsation models. In particular, hydrodynamical models of variable stars, when compared with static stellar structures, do require additional derivatives of thermodynamic quantities (Christy 1969; Stellingwerf 1974, 1982, and references therein). As a consequence, the EOS, the opacities, and the numerical methods adopted to estimate physical quantities such as pressure, temperature, internal energy, molecular weight, and their derivatives, are crucial to properly compute the physical structure of stellar envelopes (Dorman, Irwin, and Pedersen, 1991). Recent helioseismic data uncorked several theoretical investigations aimed at improving the accuracy of input physics currently adopted to construct both solar and stellar models (see e.g. Christensen-Dalsgaard et al. 1996; Degl’Innocenti et al. 1997; Castellani et al. 2002). The EOS is typically provided in tabular form, where thermodynamic quantities are provided for each given chemical composition as a function of temperature and density. The most popular ones are the so-called Mihalas-Däppen-Hummer (MHD) EOS (Mihalas, Däppen, and Hummer, 1988; Däppen et al., 1988; Däppen, Anderson, and Mihalas, 1987) and the OPAL EOS developed at Livermore (Rogers 1986; Iglesias and Rogers 1995; Rogers, Swenson, and Iglesias 1996) and recently improved in the treatment of input physics (Rogers, 2000, 2001; Rogers and Nayfonov, 2002).

To overcome the problems introduced by the interpolation across the tables, new EOSs have also been developed in the form of in-line analytical formulae that allow the estimate of thermodynamic quantities as a function of temperature, density, and chemical composition. The most recent ones are: EFF (Eggleton, Faulkner, and Flannery, 1973), CEFF (Christensen-Dalsgaard and Däppen, 1992), Swenson-Irwin-Rogers-Eggleton-Faulkner-Flannery (SIREFF; see, e.g., Guzik and Swenson 1997), and the recent in-line EOS developed by Irwin111See also ftp://astroftp.phys.uvic.ca/pub/irwin/eos (Cassisi, Salaris, and Irwin 2003; Irwin et al. 2003). The reader interested in a detailed discussion concerning pros and cons of the different physical assumptions adopted to derive these EOSs is referred to the reviews by Däppen, Keady, and Rogers (1991), Rogers and Iglesias (1998), and by Däppen and Guzik (2000).

Detailed numerical experiments concerning the dependence of pulsation predictions on the EOS were performed by Kanbur (1991, 1992). He found that both linear and nonlinear radiative Bump Cepheid models constructed by adopting either the MHD EOS or the canonical Saha EOS present negligible differences. However, more recent EOS calculations, when compared with previous ones, do include a more detailed treatment of heavy elements and of the most important Hydrogen molecules. As a consequence, we decided to investigate the dependence of current pulsation predictions for classical Cepheids on the input physics, and in particular on the EOS by taking advantage of the analytical EOS developed by Irwin. Moreover, recent theoretical investigations bring forward that the Mass-Luminosity (ML) relation might play a fundamental role to account for actual properties of variable stars (Bono, Castellani, and Marconi, 2002; Bono et al., 2002). Therefore, we also plan to test the dependence on this key ingredient as well as on the spatial resolution across the H and the He ionization regions. The theoretical framework adopted for constructing linear radiative and nonlinear, convective models has already been described in a series of papers (Bono and Stellingwerf 1994; Bono, Marconi, and Stellingwerf 1999, hereinafter BMS99; BCM00, and references therein). The treatment of the EOS is described in Stellingwerf (1975, 1982), while the treatment of the opacities is discussed in Bono, Incerpi, and Marconi (1996).

In section 2 we present the method adopted for handling the opacity tables together with the comparison between the old EOS by Stellingwerf and the new one by Irwin. In section 3 and 4 we present detailed theoretical investigations aimed at testing the dependence of theoretical observables predicted by hydrodynamical models for Galactic Cepheids on the input physics. To investigate the linear pulsation behavior we constructed a set of nonadiabatic radiative models. The linear observables, namely period and blue boundary of the instability strip, are widely discussed in section 3.1 and 3.2. We also constructed nonlinear and time-dependent convective Cepheid models to assess the modal stability and, in turn, to evaluate both the boundaries of the strip as well as the amplitude and the morphology of light and velocity curves (section 4.1 and 4.2). Theoretical predictions are also compared with observational data available in the literature. Finally, section 4.3 is focused on the Hertzsprung-Progression (HP). A summary of the results is given in section 5 together with a brief discussion concerning future plans.

## 2 Input physics

### 2.1 The opacity

The pulsation models are constructed by adopting radiative opacities (OPAL; Rogers and Iglesias 1992, Iglesias and Rogers 1996) for temperatures higher than $`6000`$ K and molecular opacities (Alexander and Ferguson 1994, hereinafter AF) at lower temperatures. The method adopted to handle the opacity tables, and to evaluate the opacity derivatives with respect to temperature and density, is a revised version of the method described by Bono, Incerpi, and Marconi (1996). It relies on bicubic interpolating functions with analytical derivatives whose coefficients are computed from the functions and the derivatives at grid points (Seaton, 1993). In the previous approach, for each given chemical composition, two distinct programs were developed to compute a finer opacity table by interpolating the original OPAL and AF tables. Together with the opacity, the opacity derivatives with respect to temperature and density were also calculated and stored. The previous tables were matched together for a temperature equal to 10,000 K. Finally, the opacity and its derivatives were computed by means of a bilinear interpolation on the finer big table.

The revised method only relies on bicubic spline interpolations. The original two sets of opacity tables (OPAL and AF) are first matched together, then the bicubic spline and its derivatives are computed directly inside the pulsation codes, for the entire range of temperature and density covered by the original table. The temperature value we adopted to match the two sets of opacities is $`T=6300`$ K (VandenBerg et al., 2000), since in this temperature range the opacity variations are smooth. Moreover, at lower temperatures, the density range has been extended from $`\mathrm{log}R=1.0`$ up to $`\mathrm{log}R=7.0`$, where $`R=\rho /T_{6}^{}{}_{}{}^{3}`$, $`T_6=10^6`$ $`T`$, and $`\rho `$ is the density. The new method allowed us to decrease by approximately a factor of ten the CPU time required to construct nonlinear models.

To investigate whether the method adopted to interpolate the opacity tables affects the structure of pulsating models, we performed several numerical experiments across the instability strip. Figure 1 shows the relative difference in opacity between the old and the new interpolation method for three Cepheid models at solar chemical composition, namely $`Y=0.28`$, and $`Z=0.02`$. The adopted stellar mass ranges from 5 $`M_{\mathrm{}}`$ to 13 $`M_{\mathrm{}}`$, while the effective temperature ranges from $`T_e=5600`$ K to $`T_e=3800`$ K. The difference is on average smaller than 1 % and approaches 2 % at $`\mathrm{log}T3.84.0`$ K, i.e. the region where the radiative (OPAL) and the molecular (AF) opacity tables were matched together (6300 vs 10,000 K). This indicates that the two methods approach the accuracy of opacity tables that is typically of the order of 2 % (Seaton, 1993). Note that to avoid spurious wiggles in the comparison between the two interpolation methods due to small changes in the zoning of the models (Guzik and Swenson 1997), we computed at first the models with the old method and then we used the same values of temperature and density of the individual models to interpolate the opacity tables with the new method. The marginal difference between the two interpolation methods is further supported by the fact that two independent sets of linear models constructed by adopting the old and the new interpolation method present a negligible difference both in the pulsation period and in the growth rate (see data listed in the top of Table 1).

### 2.2 The equation of state

Pulsation models constructed by our group rely on the equation of state developed by Stellingwerf (1975, 1982). It treats equilibrium mixture of $`H`$, $`H^+`$, $`He`$, $`He^+`$, $`He^{++}`$, $`M`$, and $`M^+`$, where $`M`$ designates a fictional metal with fixed ionization potential, number abundance, atomic weight, and degeneracy ratio. These parameters were chosen by fitting the electron pressure at cool temperatures given by an exact solution of King IVa ($`Y=0.28`$, $`Z=0.02`$) chemical composition (Cox, King, and Tabor, 1973). This fictional element was included to account for the ionization of $`Mg`$, $`Fe`$, and $`Si`$ in cooler Cepheid envelopes (Stellingwerf, 1982).

The accuracy in opacity and EOS derivatives is a key feature to construct accurate pulsation models, since the driving mechanisms are connected with envelope regions where the temperature and the density gradients present sudden changes. Therefore, we decided to improve our hydrodynamical codes by adopting the analytical EOS developed by Irwin, since it is based on approximately the same physics adopted in recent EOS such as MHD and OPAL, and it is quite flexible. We adopted the option suggested by Irwin (EOS1) that was constrained by fitting the OPAL and the SCVH (Saumon, Chabrier, and van Horn, 1995) EOSs. The high numerical complexity typical of in-line routines was partially overcome, by selecting some input parameters that allow a sound compromise between speed and accuracy. The flexibility is the main advantage in using an analytical EOS, since it can cope with variations in chemical composition and in elemental mixture. Moreover, an analytical EOS provides smooth high-order derivatives of physical quantities and it can also be easily modified to compute additional thermodynamic quantities. On the other hand, the tabular EOS requires a limited amount of CPU time to interpolate the physical quantities when compared with the in-line EOS. Although, the tabular EOS might be limited in the $`\mathrm{log}T`$ vs $`\mathrm{log}\rho `$ coverage as well as in chemical compositions, and does not include high-order derivatives of thermodynamic quantities (Guzik and Swenson 1997; Däppen and Guzik 2000). The latter problem is generally overcome by computing numerical derivatives.

Keeping in mind these problems, we decided to investigate the key features of EOSs available in the literature. The Irwin EOS includes neutral and positive ions of the 20 most abundant atoms, namely: $`H`$, $`He`$, $`C`$, $`N`$, $`O`$, $`Ne`$, $`Na`$, $`Mg`$, $`Al`$, $`Si`$, $`P`$, $`S`$, $`Cl`$, $`A`$, $`Ca`$, $`Ti`$, $`Cr`$, $`Mn`$, $`Fe`$, $`Ni`$. On the other hand, the tabular EOS by MHD and OPAL only include the elements $`H`$, $`He`$, $`C`$, $`N`$, $`O`$, and $`Ne`$, with the last one that is considered as representative of heavier elements (Rogers, Swenson, and Iglesias, 1996; Rogers and Nayfonov, 2002). The Irwin EOS allows the use of different solar element mixtures, and therefore the possibility to use the same mixture adopted in the calculation of opacity tables. Note that an EOS that accounts for molecular species might play an important role in constructing pulsation models for long-period-variables such as Semi-Regular, Miras and long-period Cepheids. The OPAL project recently provided new EOS tables that include $`H_2`$, $`H_2^+`$ as well as $`H^{}`$, $`He_2^+`$, and $`HeH^+`$ (Rogers and Nayfonov, 2002), while the Irwin EOS only includes the hydrogen molecules. However, previous authors222See also http://www-phys.llnl.gov/Research/OPAL/index.html found that in physical regimes where the EOS shows rapid changes, and the density is lower than $`\mathrm{log}\rho <8`$, typical of Cepheid envelopes at temperatures cooler than 60,000 K, first order properties, such as pressure and internal energy, might be off by as much as a few percents, while second order properties such as specific heat and adiabatic exponents might be off by as much as 10 %.

In this context, it is worth noting that the main difference in dealing with linear and nonlinear pulsation models is that the latter ones require the second derivatives of total pressure (see eq. A21-A23 in Stellingwerf 1982). These quantities are not generally included in tabular EOSs, and to compute them it is necessary to perform numerical derivatives across the tables. This means that the second derivatives are likely less accurate than the other thermodynamic quantities. To compromise between accuracy and numerical complexity, we decided to use the Irwin EOS to compute several tabular EOS at fixed chemical composition but with different grid spacings. The resolution in temperature and density of the tabular EOS need to be cautiously treated, since the interpolation across the tables or the estimate of numerical derivatives might be affected by systematic uncertainties if the grid resolution is too coarse (Dorman, Irwin, and Pedersen, 1991). We performed several numerical experiments to overcome this problem, and we found that EOS tables with a step ranging from $`0.05`$ dex to $`0.1`$ dex in $`\mathrm{log}T`$ and 0.5 dex in $`\mathrm{log}R`$ works quite well. Figure 2 shows the relative difference in four physical quantities between the analytical and the tabular EOS by Irwin for a 9 $`M_{\mathrm{}}`$ model with $`T_e=4800`$ K. From top to bottom the figure shows the relative difference in the adiabatic exponent $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_1`$ (Cox and Giuli, 1968), internal energy $`E`$, mean molecular weight per particle $`\mu `$, and specific heat at constant pressure $`C_p`$. Data plotted in this figure suggest that the difference is typically smaller than 1 %, while for $`C_p`$ it attains the 2 % across the Hydrogen Ionization Region (HIR). Note that, to perform the difference, we constructed at first the linear model using the tabular EOS and then we used the same values of temperature and density to estimate with the analytical EOS the same physical quantities. Current finding is further supported by the fact that the difference in pulsation periods and growth rates between linear Cepheid models constructed by adopting the analytical EOS and the tabular EOS is at most of the order of a few thousandths (0.003, see data listed in the middle of Table 1).

We performed the same test using a wide range of stellar input parameters and the outcome was the same. This means that the current approach allow us to derive thermodynamic quantities and their derivatives with an accuracy that is on average better than 2 %. The method adopted for interpolating tabular EOS and to derive high-order derivatives is the same adopted for the opacity tables (see Section 2.1). Note that current method uses bicubic splines that provide the opportunity to derive analytical first and second order derivatives instead of estimating them numerically. As a matter of fact, we computed with the analytical Irwin EOS the first derivatives of pressure with respect to temperature and density, then the interpolation with the bicubic splines allowed us to derive analytically the three second-derivatives of pressure. At the same time, we computed with the analytical EOS the specific heat at constant pressure and the interpolation provided the analytical first-derivatives with respect to temperature and density.

## 3 Linear results

### 3.1 Dependence on the EOS

To investigate the dependence of pulsation properties on the EOS, we constructed a survey of linear, nonadiabatic models at solar chemical composition, namely $`Y=0.28`$, $`Z=0.02`$. The luminosity of Cepheid envelope models was fixed according to the ML relation recently derived by Bono et al. (2000). This relation relies on several sets of evolutionary models and agrees quite well with similar prescriptions available in the literature. The difference between the current ML relation and the ML relation provided by Alibert et al. (1999) and by Castellani, Chieffi, and Straniero (1992) is, at fixed stellar mass, on average smaller than 0.1 dex. To constrain the effect of the EOS, we selected three Cepheid models that cover a substantial portion of the instability strip. In particular, the model with 5 $`M_{\mathrm{}}`$ is located close to the fundamental blue edge ($`T_e=5600`$ K), the 9 $`M_{\mathrm{}}`$ model is approximately located in the middle of the strip ($`T_e=4800`$ K), while the 13 $`M_{\mathrm{}}`$ model is close to the red edge ($`T_e=3800`$ K).

Current numerical experiments show that the relative difference in $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_1`$ and in $`C_p`$ is generally smaller than the uncertainties due to the interpolation scheme (see Fig. 2). However toward lower temperatures, the difference between the two EOSs increases and becomes of the order of 15 % ($`\mathrm{\Gamma }_1`$) and 30 % ($`C_p`$) close to the surface of these envelope structures. The relative difference in the mean molecular weight, $`\mu `$, presents a systematic trend but it is vanishing (smaller than 1 %) throughout the entire envelope. On the other hand, the difference in the internal energy attains vanishing values (smaller than 1 %) over a substantial portion of the envelope, it undergoes a sudden increase in the outermost regions ($`T10,000`$ K), and approaches a difference of the order of 50-60 % close to the surface. Note that to avoid spurious wiggles in the comparison between the two EOSs, we constructed at first the models with the analytical Stellingwerf EOS and then we used the same values of temperature and density to interpolate the tabular Irwin EOS.

Even though some physical quantities present a sizable difference between the Stellingwerf and the Irwin EOS, the impact of this difference on linear observables such as pulsation periods and growth rates is negligible. The difference in the linear periods (fundamental, first, and second overtone) is at most a few hundredths (see data listed in the bottom of Table 1). The same outcome applies for the growth rates. The negligible difference between the two sets of models is due to the marginal effect that the outermost layers have on the pulsation properties.

### 3.2 Blue boundaries

To investigate the dependence of the blue (hot) edges of the Cepheid instability strip on the EOS, we constructed several sequences of models with stellar masses ranging from 5 to 13 $`M_{\mathrm{}}`$. As in previous investigations (BMS99), the adopted effective temperature step is 100 K. Current ML relation predicts, for each given stellar mass, a luminosity level that is on average lower than adopted by BMS99 and by BCM00. The difference in luminosity is vanishing in the low-mass range but increases when moving toward higher stellar masses. The main intrinsic properties of hydrostatic envelopes and the basic assumption on the numerical approximations adopted for constructing the models have already been discussed in a series of previous papers (see, e.g., Bono and Stellingwerf 1994; BMS99; BCM00). The new models, when compared with the old ones, present a finer spatial resolution in the region located between the first Helium Ionization Region (HeIR, $`T2.1\times 10^4`$ K) and the surface. The number of zones in this region is typically 35, i.e. $`\mathrm{\Delta }T450520`$ K, while in the old ones was $`25`$, i.e. $`\mathrm{\Delta }T600680`$ K. The inner boundary condition was fixed in such a way that the base of the envelope is located at a distance $`r_0=r/R_{ph}=0.030.04`$ from the star center, where $`R_{ph}`$ is the equilibrium photospheric radius, while in the old models it was fixed at $`r_0=r/R_{ph}0.1`$. The envelope mass ranges from 65 % to 40 % of the total mass when moving from hotter (5 $`M_{\mathrm{}}`$) to cooler (13 $`M_{\mathrm{}}`$) Cepheid models.

To investigate the dependence of the blue edges on the equation of state, we constructed two independent sets of linear models according to the Stellingwerf and the Irwin EOSs. Current numerical experiments show that the location of fundamental (F) and first-overtone (FO) linear blue boundaries mildly depend on the adopted EOS. The F edges based on the Irwin EOS either are identical, in the low-mass regime, to the edges based on the Stellingwerf EOS or they present a difference at most of 200 K for $`M/M_{\mathrm{}}=9`$. The difference for FO edges is even smaller and at most of $`100`$ K. However, it turns out that the spatial resolution and the ML relation affect the linear blue boundaries more than the EOS. In fact, the new F blue edge is on average 200 K hotter than predicted by BMS99, and the difference becomes $`400`$ K for stellar masses ranging from 7 to 9 $`M_{\mathrm{}}`$. Note that the difference in the predicted luminosity for $`M/M_{\mathrm{}}=5`$ between Bono et al. (2000) and BMS99 ML relations is vanishing. Therefore, the difference of 300 K between new and old F and FO blue edges is due to the increase in the spatial resolution of the new models.

## 4 Nonlinear results

### 4.1 The instability strip

Nonlinear and time-dependent convective hydrodynamical models supply the unique opportunity to estimate both the blue and the red edge of the instability strip as well as to provide robust predictions concerning the pulsation amplitudes, and the shape of light and velocity curves along the pulsation cycle. This means that observables predicted by nonlinear models can be soundly compared with actual properties of variable stars. To supply a new homogeneous scenario, we constructed six new sequences of nonlinear models with stellar masses ranging from 5 to 13 $`M_{\mathrm{}}`$. The nonlinear analysis was performed by perturbing the linear F and FO radial eigenfunctions with a velocity amplitude of 5 Km s-1. Table 2 summarizes the input parameters as well as the nonlinear pulsation properties of the entire set of models. The observables listed in this table have been estimated at full amplitude, i.e. after that the perturbed envelopes approached the nonlinear limit cycle stability (see BMS99 for more details).

To investigate the dependence of nonlinear pulsation models on the EOS we also computed six sequences of pulsation models by adopting the same assumptions and input parameters of the models listed in Table 2, but by adopting the Stellingwerf EOS. The observables predicted by these models are given in Table 3333This Table is only available in the on-line edition of the manuscript.. The top panel of Figure 3 shows the comparison between nonlinear F and FO edges predicted by models that use the Stellingwerf (triangles) or the Irwin (circles) EOSs. Once again data plotted in this panel disclose that the difference is smaller than 100 K. The same outcome applies for the temperature width, and indeed it decreases by 200 K for stellar masses across the so-called Hertzsprung Progression444In the period range from 6 to 16 days classical Cepheids present a well-defined Bump along both the luminosity and the radial velocity curve. For periods shorter than $`9`$ days the Bump is located along the decreasing branch, while toward longer periods it takes place along the rising branch. (HP), i.e. $`M6.55,7M_{\mathrm{}}`$, while for the other mass values the difference is $`100`$ K. Moreover, data listed in Tables 2 and 3 show that the relative difference in periods between models constructed by adopting the Stellingwerf EOS and the models based on the Irwin tabular EOS is smaller than 1 % across the entire instability strip. These findings, together with the results obtained for the linear blue edges, indicate that the EOS has a marginal effect on the topology of the Cepheid instability strip.

To single out the effect of the ML relation on pulsation properties we also constructed a new sequence of nonlinear models for $`M=11M_{\mathrm{}}`$ and $`\mathrm{log}L/L_{\mathrm{}}=4.40`$ (see Table 4). These models when compared with the sequence of models for $`M=11M_{\mathrm{}}`$ listed in Table 2, only differ in the luminosity level (4.40 \[BCM00\] vs 4.21 \[Bono et al. 2000\]). The comparison between the observables given in Table 2 and 4 shows that the dependence of the instability strip on the ML relation is mild. The shift in temperature of the new edges is typically smaller than 200 K, while the pulsation amplitudes attain quite similar values.

To investigate the dependence of the pulsation behavior on the spatial resolution across the HIR, we constructed a new sequence of nonlinear models for $`M=11M_{\mathrm{}}`$ by adopting the same input parameters of models listed in Table 2, but a coarse zoning (see Table 5). Data listed in Tables 2 and 5 disclose that the spatial resolution affects the modal stability, and indeed the F edges shift by $`200`$ K toward hotter effective temperatures. This finding is also supported by the set of models for $`M=5M_{\mathrm{}}`$ listed in Table 3. These models and the set of models for $`M=5M_{\mathrm{}}`$ constructed by BCM00 present the same luminosity, but the comparison displays a shift of $`200300`$ K in the F edges. Moreover, finer models present an increase in the temperature width of the instability region, namely 1000 vs 600 K for the $`M=5M_{\mathrm{}}`$ models and 900 vs 700 K for the $`M=11M_{\mathrm{}}`$ models. At the same time, the region where FO are pulsationally unstable increases (500 vs 300 K), while the difference in the temperature width for F pulsators is marginal (600 vs 500 K). Note that the increase in the spatial resolution also affects the pulsation amplitudes, and indeed the fine zoning models present, at fixed distance from the blue edge, bolometric amplitudes that are 10 % larger than the coarse zoning models. This difference is even greater ($`25\%`$) for the $`M=5M_{\mathrm{}}`$ FO models.

The bottom panel of Figure 3 shows the comparison between the new F and FO edges (circles) and the edges predicted by BCM00 (pluses). A glance at the data plotted in this panel shows that the topology of the instability strip predicted by old and new models is quite similar.

Figures 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 display both light and velocity curves as a function of phase over two consecutive pulsation cycles for the entire set of models555The figures 4, 7, 8, and 9, as well as figures 12 and 13 are only available in the on-line edition of the manuscript.. The comparison between these figures and predictions obtained for the set of models listed in Table 3 further strengthens the evidence that the EOS also marginal affects the morphology of light and velocity curves.

### 4.2 Pulsational amplitudes

Nonlinear models also predict the luminosity amplitude, that is a key parameter to study the pulsational properties of classical Cepheids. In particular the Bailey Diagram, i.e. luminosity amplitude versus period, is only marginally affected by reddening and distance uncertainties. Therefore, the comparison between theory and observations in this plane supplies independent constraints on the intrinsic Cepheid parameters to be compared with evolutionary prescriptions. The top panel of Figure 6 shows predicted bolometric amplitudes of Cepheid models constructed by adopting the new (solid line) and the old (dotted line) EOS as a function of period. The agreement between the two sets of models is very good over the entire mass range. The first overtone models for $`M=5M_{\mathrm{}}`$ and the fundamental models across the HP present a mild difference on the EOS close to the edges of the instability region. Data plotted in the middle panel show the dependence of bolometric amplitudes on ML relation and spatial resolution when the Stellingwerf EOS is adopted in the computations. As a whole, the bottom panel displays the comparison between new predictions and old results by BCM00. The predicted luminosity amplitudes show a hook shape when moving from the blue to the red edge of the instability region, while the models located across the HP present the typical double-peaked distribution of Bump Cepheids (Bono, Marconi, and Stellingwerf 2000, hereinafter BMS00). This trend supports the empirical evidence for Galactic Cepheids originally brought forward by Sandage and Tammann (1971) and by Cogan (1980). They found that in the period range from $`\mathrm{log}P0.40`$ to 0.86 and for $`\mathrm{log}P>1.1`$-1.3 the largest luminosity amplitudes are attained close to the blue edge, while across the HP ($`0.85\mathrm{log}P1.1`$-1.3) the maximum is attained close to the red edge (BCM00, BMS00).

### 4.3 Hertzsprung Progression

The top panel of Figure 7 shows the comparison between predicted V-band amplitudes and empirical data for Galactic Cepheids collected by Fernie et al. (1995), while the bottom panel displays the comparison between predicted and empirical radial velocities. Theory is in reasonable agreement with observations. The models across the HP deserve a more detailed discussion. According to BMS00 the secondary minimum in the luminosity and in the velocity amplitude of classical Cepheids located at $`\mathrm{log}P1`$ can be adopted to fix the period of the HP center ($`P_{HP}`$). They found that for LMC Cepheids $`P_{HP}=11.24\pm 0.46`$ days, while current models for Galactic Cepheids suggest that it is located between $`P_{HP}9.65`$ days ($`M=6.55M_{\mathrm{}}`$, $`T_e=5100`$ K) and $`P_{HP}9.84`$ days ($`M=7M_{\mathrm{}}`$, $`T_e=5300`$ K). Current estimates are in good agreement with empirical data, and indeed Moskalik, Buchler, and Marom (1992) found that the minimum in the Fourier parameters of Galactic Cepheid light curves is roughly equal to $`P_{HP}=10.0\pm 0.5`$ days, and in reasonable agreement with Moskalik et al. (2000) who found $`P_{HP}=9.95\pm 0.05`$ days using radial velocity curves of 131 Cepheids. This finding confirms the results obtained by BMS00, i.e. an increase in the metal content causes a shift of the HP center toward shorter periods. In fact, for SMC ($`Z0.004`$) and LMC ($`Z0.008`$) Bump Cepheids, it is located at $`11.0\pm 0.5`$ and $`10.5\pm 0.5`$ days respectively (Beaulieu, 1998). Moreover, predicted luminosity and velocity curves plotted in Figures 4 and 5 also disclose that the bump along the light curves crosses the luminosity maximum at shorter periods when compared with the velocity curves. A similar feature was already found by BMS00 for LMC Cepheids. Light and velocity curves displayed in Figure 12 refer to models constructed by adopting the same input parameters of models in Figure 4 ($`M=6.55M_{\mathrm{}}`$, $`\mathrm{log}L/L_{\mathrm{}}=3.46`$), but the Stellingwerf EOS. Data plotted in this figure, together with data listed in Table 3, show that the EOS also has a marginal effect on Bump Cepheids, and indeed the changes along the pulsation cycle as well as in the HP between the two sets of models are quite small.

To constrain the effect of the ML relation and of the spatial resolution on the HP we computed a new sequence of models for $`M=6.55M_{\mathrm{}}`$ by adopting the same input physics and parameters of the models by BCM00 (see Table 6 and Figure 13).

Data plotted in Figure 12 and 13 are both based on the Stellingwerf EOS, but differ for the luminosity level ($`\mathrm{log}L/L_{\mathrm{}}=3.46`$ \[Bono et al. 2000\] vs 3.48 \[BCM00\]) and for the spatial resolution, since models in Figure 13 are characterized by a coarse zoning across the ionization regions. Interestingly enough, the comparison between these two figures discloses that models constructed by adopting the same input physics, a quite similar luminosity level, but a different zoning causes a shift of the HP center toward longer periods, and in turn a better agreement with empirical data. A glance at the data displayed in Figure 13 shows that for $`M=6.55M_{\mathrm{}}`$ the HP center is, indeed, located at $`P_{HP}9.16`$ days ($`T_e5250`$). Note that for $`M=7M_{\mathrm{}}`$ the models constructed by BCM00 do not show the HP (see their Fig. 11j in the on-line edition).

Qualitative arguments concerning the shape of the fundamental light curves indicate that also the new models for $`M=5M_{\mathrm{}}`$ show a well-defined bump across the instability region. To assess on a quantitative basis whether theoretical models account for the HP that has been detected among short-period Galactic Cepheids, it is necessary to implement current models with new ones that cover the low-mass range (Bono et al. 2002).

## 5 Summary and final remarks

We performed several numerical experiments aimed at testing the dependence of pulsation observables predicted by both linear and nonlinear models on input physics. We found that the physical structure of linear models is marginally affected by the interpolation methods, based on bicubic splines, we are currently using to estimate the opacity and its derivatives. Interestingly enough, we also found that both linear and nonlinear convective models are also marginally affected by the adopted EOS. We constructed several sequences of pulsation models at solar chemical composition ($`Y=0.28`$, and $`Z=0.02`$) using the analytical EOS developed by Stellingwerf and the recent one developed by Irwin. The comparison suggests that the difference in the pulsation amplitudes as well as in the topology of the instability strip is negligible.

We selected the Irwin EOS, since it is available in analytical form and it allows us to change the chemical composition as well as the abundance of individual elements. To compromise between accuracy and numerical complexity we computed with the analytical EOS several tabular EOS by changing the grid resolution in temperature and density. The comparison between models constructed with analytical and with the tabular EOS suggests that the difference is marginal once the step ranges from 0.05 to 0.1 dex in $`\mathrm{log}T`$ and it is equal to 0.5 dex in $`\mathrm{log}R`$. Note that the use of bicubic spline interpolations both for opacity and EOS tables provides the unique opportunity to avoid the calculation of numerical derivatives. The EOS first and second order derivatives are estimated by means of the analytical EOS or by means of analytical derivatives of the interpolating function. The opacity first order derivatives are evaluated by means of analytical derivatives of the interpolating function.

According to recent theoretical investigations we performed several tests to single out the dependence of pulsation predictions on the ML relation as well as on the spatial resolution across the H and the He partial ionization regions. We found that nonlinear models are marginally affected by ML relations available in the literature. Note that current ML relations rely on evolutionary prescriptions (CCS; ABHA; Bono et al. 2000) that neglect convective core overshooting, mass loss, and rotation. Both the location and the temperature width of the nonlinear instability strip present differences on average smaller than 200 K; while the pulsation amplitudes attain quite similar values. Otherwise, the increase in the spatial resolution across the partial ionization regions somehow affects the pulsation properties of Cepheids. In fact, the instability strip based on finer models moves by approximately 200-300 K toward cooler effective temperatures when compared with models based on a coarse zoning. Moreover, fine zoning models present bolometric amplitudes that are 25 % larger than the coarse zoning models.

As a whole, the differences between current models with new input physics and parameters, and predictions by BCM00 marginally affect the overall trend inside the instability strip, since the slopes of both blue and red edges predicted by the two sets of models are quite similar. This finding is strongly supported by the evidence that the Period-Radius (PR) relation predicted by current models at solar chemical composition is the following:

$$\mathrm{log}R=1.173(\pm \mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}0.008})+0.676(\pm \mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}0.006})\mathrm{log}P;$$

while the models constructed by BCM00 supply

$$\mathrm{log}R=1.191(\pm \mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}0.006})+0.654(\pm \mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}0.005})\mathrm{log}P,$$

where the radius $`R`$ is in solar units and the period $`P`$ in days. The difference between these two relations is quite small and ranges from 0.005 to 0.002 dex when moving from $`\mathrm{log}P=0.5`$ to $`\mathrm{log}P=1.0`$.

Moreover and even more importantly, we found that spatial resolution also affects $`P_{HP}`$, i.e. the pulsation period at the center of the Hertzsprung Progression. The new models show that $`P_{HP}`$ ranges from 9.65 for $`M=6.55M_{\mathrm{}}`$ to 9.84 days for $`M=7M_{\mathrm{}}`$. These estimates, when compared with models constructed by BCM00, agree reasonable well with empirical estimates based on light curves ($`P_{HP}=10.0\pm 0.5`$ days, Moskalik, Buchler, and Marom 1992) as well as on radial velocity curves ($`P_{HP}=9.95\pm 0.05`$ days, Moskalik et al. 2000). Preliminary qualitative results indicate that the new models might also account for the HP that has been detected in the short-period range (Kienzle et al. 1999, and references therein). Current models do account for the shift of $`P_{HP}`$ toward shorter periods when moving toward more metal-rich stellar systems (BCM00, BMS00). However, more detailed calculations are required to figure out whether current nonlinear pulsation models do account for the double-peaked distribution disclosed by Galactic and Magellanic Bump Cepheids in the amplitude vs period plane.

To further constrain the zoning effect, we computed several linear and nonlinear models across the instability strip by increasing the spatial resolution from 35 to $`50`$, i.e. $`\mathrm{\Delta }T400`$ K. We found that the difference between these two sets of models is negligible, and indeed the difference among linear periods and growth rates is smaller than 0.5-1 % across the instability strip. The relative difference among nonlinear observables is even smaller, in particular the shift in temperature of the instability strip is smaller than 100 K, while the change in luminosity and velocity amplitudes is smaller than $`0.1\%`$.

The extension of current theoretical framework to Magellanic Cepheids seems quite promising not only for the intrinsic properties of variable stars but also to figure out whether the input physics, and/or the spatial resolution of pulsation models do affect the topology of the instability strip, and in turn predictions concerning the PL and the PLC relations. At the same time, we are also interested in performing a more quantitative comparison between predicted and empirical light curves using both the Fourier technique (Ngeow et al. 2003) and the principal component analysis (Kanbur et al. 2002). The main goal of this project is to constrain the accuracy of current pulsation models, and in turn to figure out whether the decomposition parameters can be safely adopted to estimate intrinsic parameters of classical Cepheids.

It is a pleasure to thank A. W. Irwin for detailed information and enlightening suggestions concerning the use of the analytical EOS he developed. We are also grateful to V. Castellani for several enlightening discussions and for a critical reading of an early draft of this manuscript. We wish to warmly thank an anonymous referee for several comments and suggestions that improved the content and the readability of the paper. This work was supported by MIUR/COFIN 2002 under the project (#028935): ”Stellar Populations in Local Group Galaxies”.