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# On the optical extinction and distance of GRS 1915+105

## 1 GRS 1915+105 and its optical extinction

GRS 1915+105 is a Galactic X-ray binary in the Aquila constellation (l=45.37o, b=-0.22o), discovered on 15 august 1992 by the WATCH all-sky X-ray monitor on board the GRANAT satellite (Castro-Tirado et al. castro1 (1994)).

Based on follow-up observations with the VLA, GRS 1915+105 was shown to be the first Galactic source with apparent superluminal motion (Mirabel & Rodríguez mirabel1 (1994)). Using the proper motion properties of relativistic radio ejecta observed with MERLIN and under the assumption of a symmetric ejection, the more constraining upper limit of the distance was found to 11.2 $`\pm `$ 0.8 kpc (Fender et al. fender2 (1999)).

CO absorption lines in the infrared spectrum clearly identified the donor as a K-M III star (Greiner et al. 2001a ,2001b ). Due to the relative motion of the companion star around the center of mass of the system, these lines were modulated by Doppler effect. The period of the system (33.5 day) and its mass function (9.5 $`\pm `$ 3.0 $`M_{}`$) were obtained. The mass of the compact object was measured to 14 $`\pm `$ 4$`M_{}`$, which unambiguously identify the compact object as a black hole (Greiner et al. 2001b ).

During a monitoring observation of GRS 1915+105 by the Ryle telescope at 15 GHz, quasi-periodic oscillations were found and associated with the soft-X-ray variations on the same time-scale (Pooley & Fender pooley (1997)). Fast infrared oscillations on time-scales of less than an hour as well as radio oscillations were interpreted as small synchrotron emitting ejections of material (Fender et al. fender3 (1997)). Then, X-ray dips on time-scales of minutes have been interpreted as the rapid disappearance and refill of the inner accretion disk (Belloni et al. 1997a ,1997b ). Simultaneous observations revealed ejection of relativistic plasma clouds in the form of synchrotron flares at radio and infrared wavelengths (Mirabel et al. mirabel3 (1998)).

There is currently a strong indication that the infrared emission is related to the jet, although it cannot be ruled out that a significant fraction of the infrared flux could be attributed to the disk (Fender et al. fender3 (1997)). Thus, the infrared magnitudes must be dereddened properly in order to rely the observations to an emission process. For that purpose, the distance and the optical extinction $`A_v`$ should be measured and their limiting uncertainties carefully calculated.

The optical extinction Av to the system is the main parameter used to deredden the optical and infrared fluxes. Based on a measurement of the magnitude in the $`R`$ band, it was first evaluated to $`A_v`$ 30 mag (Mirabel et al. mirabel2 (1994)). This result and the derived $`A_K`$=3.3 mag (using $`\frac{A_v}{A_K}`$ from Rieke & Lebofsky rieke (1985)) as well, are still used for dereddening (e.g. Fender et al. fender3 (1997), Fender & Pooley fender4 (2000)), although the authors pointed out that these results are uncertain (Fender & Pooley fender4 (2000)). The position of GRS 1915+105 is known very accurately since the discovery of the radio counterpart (Mirabel et al. mirabel2 (1994)). These precise coordinates allowed to perform an Hi absorption spectrum during a radio outburst (Rodríguez et al. rodriguez (1995)), as well as a 12CO(J=1-0) spectrum (linked to the column density of molecular hydrogen). A visual extinction of $`A_v`$=26.5 $`\pm `$1 mag was derived. Meanwhile, another team evaluated the optical extinction to GRS 1915+105 to $`A_v`$=18-24 mag (Castro-Tirado, Geballe & Lund castro2 (1996)) with the help of the X-ray hydrogen absorption column density and the pioneering work of Gorenstein (gorenstein (1975)) relating the optical extinction to the total hydrogen column density. Moreover, we have to note that the hydrogen column density derived from Si and Fe edges (X-ray observations with Chandra) is substantially higher than 5 $`\times `$ 1022cm-2 (leading to an extinction of 28 mag) and should imply additional local absorption (Lee et al. lee (2002)) although the Mg and S edges lead to consistent values of $`N_H`$ with the one of Ebisawa et al. (ebisawa (1998)). An overestimate of the extinction would allow higher dereddened fluxes in K bands and flat spectrum from radio to IR (Fuchs et al. fuchs (2003)). Subsequently, the knowledge of the optical extinction of GRS 1915+105 is of prime importance for understanding the nature of the physical processes which are involved in the infrared/optical range. Thus, an accurate estimate of the total extinction toward GRS 1915+105 is needed. In order to understand the origin of these discrepancies, we conducted millimeter observations to estimate the molecular component which represent a significant contribution to the optical extinction.

We describe our observations and method in 2. Our results are reported in 3 and their implications discussed. The conclusions are then summarized in 4.

## 2 Observations and method

### 2.1 Observations

#### 2.1.1 IRAM

Using the autocorrelator as a backend connected to a 3 mm SIS receiver, we performed a high resolution 12CO(J=1-0) velocity spectrum ($``$ 0.2 km.s-1) at 115 GHz along the line of sight of GRS 1915+105 (Figure 1) on 1998 june 7 at the 30 m single dish antenna of IRAM (Spain). The half power beamwidth (FWHM) of the telescope at 115.271 GHz was 27.5”. The main beam efficiency and the forward efficiency were respectively equal to 0.68 and 0.92 while a typical system temperature of $``$380K was observed.

The calibrated spectrum (Figure 1) was fitted with gaussians to evaluate the central LSR velocity. The areas were measured by summing the antenna temperature for each channel associated to a molecular cloud. We gave names to clouds which were simply constructed by beginning it with an MC (like molecular cloud) and ending it with the rough fitted LSR velocity in km s-1. The characteristics of the clouds are reported in Table 1.

#### 2.1.2 SEST

We conducted millimeter observations with the 15 m Swedish-ESO Submillimeter Telescope (SEST) located at La Silla (Chile) on 1999 march 2. Spectra were obtained along the line of sight of GRS 1915+105 (13CO(1-0) line). The FWHM beamwidth of the SEST is 45” at 115.27 GHz and the main beam efficiency is 0.70 at this frequency. After checking that the OFF position ($`\alpha (2000)=19^h07^m59.37^s\delta (2000)=11^o08^{}27.1^{\prime \prime }`$) was free of emission, we observed in position-switching mode. The back end was an acousto-optical spectrometer (AOS) with a frequency bandwidth of 1 GHz and a velocity resolution of 1.8 km.s-1 at 115.27 GHz. The system was calibrated with the chopper wheel method. The system temperature during the observations was $``$ 650 K at 115.27 GHz for G 45.45+0.06 and 690 K at the same frequency for G 45.12+0.13

Spectra along the line of sight of H ii regions close to GRS 1915+105 were also needed to help and resolve the distance ambiguity (see next section). During the same run, we therefore performed 12CO(J=1-0) spectra along the line of sight of two H ii regions: G 45.45+0.06 and G 45.12+0.13 (Figure 2).

### 2.2 Method

We assumed that the Galaxy rotates in a purely circular motion and determined the close and far distances using $`R_0`$ = 8.5 kpc and $`\mathrm{\Theta }_0`$ = 220 km s-1 as standard rotation constants ($`R_0`$, galactocentric distance of the Sun and $`\mathrm{\Theta }_0`$, circular velocity of the Sun), using the rotation curve of Fich et al. (fich (1989)).

Our aim was to collect a maximum of information along the line of sight of H ii regions close to GRS 1915+105 as well as for GRS 1915+105 itself. We gathered Hi informations, CO spectra and absorption lines in order to help and locate the clouds at the most accurate distances.

This method was already used to evaluate the first distance to a soft gamma repeater, i.e. SGR 1806-20 (Corbel et al. corbel1 (1997), Corbel & Eikenberry corbel3 (2003)) and repeated later after the discovery of a new soft gamma repeater, i.e. SGR 1627-41 (Corbel et al. corbel2 (1999)).

In order to convert the results from observations such as the column density of atomic hydrogen and the integrated antenna temperature of a molecular cloud in the 12CO(J=1-0) line into a total hydrogen column density and then to the optical extinction $`A_v`$, we proceed as follows.

(i) Evaluation of the integrated antenna temperature $`T_A^{}𝑑v`$ in the 12CO(J=1-0) line for each molecular cloud in the spectrum of GRS 1915+105 .

(ii) Converting this area into the integrated main beam temperature $`W_{CO}=T_{mb}𝑑v`$. This conversion was done by dividing $`T_A^{}𝑑v`$ by 0.74, which is the conversion factor for IRAM. Indeed, according to the user manual of IRAM, the relation between the main beam brightness temperature $`T_{mb}`$ and the antenna temperature $`T_A^{}`$ is $`T_{mb}=\frac{F_{eff}}{B_{eff}}T_A^{}`$, with $`F_{eff}`$=0.92 and $`B_{eff}`$=0.68 the forward efficiency and the beam efficiency respectively.

(iii) The $`X_{CO}`$ factor is defined as the fraction between the column density of molecular hydrogen to the integrated area of the main beam temperature and can be written as follows:

$`X_{CO}=\frac{N_{H_2}}{W_{CO}}`$

We adopted the value of the $`X_{CO}`$ factor (Strong and Mattox strong (1996)):

$`X_{CO}=\frac{N_{H_2}}{W_{CO}}`$ = (1.9$`\pm `$0.2) $`\times `$ 1020 K-1 km-1 s cm-2

This value was obtained by comparing 12CO(J=1-0) intensity and gamma-ray/EGRET observations.

Why adopting this particular value of the $`X_{CO}`$? Four different methods (Dickman dickman (1975), Thaddeus & Dame thaddeus (1984), Bloemen et al. bloemen (1986), Solomon et al. solomon2 (1987)) have led to similar and consistent values (Solomon & Barrett solomon (1991)). Moreover, the analysis of the gamma-ray data from the COS-B observatory lead to a value of 2 $`\times `$ 1020 K-1 km-1 s cm-2 for the $`X_{CO}`$ factor (Bertsch et al. bertsch (1993)). The most recent data for the Galactic diffuse gamma-ray emission are from EGRET onboard the Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory, which is more sensitive and also has a much higher spatial resolution. Our adopted value of $`X_{CO}`$ ( (1.9$`\pm `$0.2) $`\times `$ 1020 K-1 km-1 s cm-2; Strong & Mattox strong (1996)) has been derived using the EGRET data. This result is consistent with measurement at high galactic latitudes (1.8 $`\times `$ 1020 K-1 km-1 s cm-2; Dame et al. dame2 (2001)). Nevertheless, with the help of another method and the same EGRET data set, a lower $`X_{CO}`$ \- 1.6 $`\times `$ 1020 K-1 km-1 s cm-2 \- was found, which is still consistent with a value of $``$ 2 $`\times `$ 1020 K-1 km-1 s cm-2 (Hunter et al. hunter (1997)). Also, one might wonder about the influence of metallicity, cosmic ray density and the UV radiation field on the evaluation of the $`X_{CO}`$ factor. Indeed, a decrease of the $`X_{CO}`$ factor could be related to a higher metallicity (Arimoto, Sofue & Tsujimoto arimoto (1996); Pilyugin pilyugin (2001); Boselli, Lequeux & Gavazzi boselli (2002)). Furthermore, there are evidences of radial variations of $`X_{CO}`$ (Arimoto, Sofue & Tsujimoto arimoto (1996)). At the longitude of GRS 1915+105 , the galactocentric radii of the molecular clouds on the line of sight lies in the range of 6 to 8.5 kpc (using the rotation curve of Fich et al. fich (1989)). Therefore, if there are radial variations of $`X_{CO}`$, then the expected variation of $`X_{CO}`$ would be low for the line of sight to GRS 1915+105 . Moreover, in this range of galactic radii, the oxygen abundance ( 12 + log(O/H) = 8.9; Arimoto, Sofue & Tsujimoto arimoto (1996)), allows $`X_{CO}`$ = 1.95 $`\times `$ 1020 K-1 km-1 s cm-2, according to the empirical law, log $`X_{CO}`$ = -1.01$`\times `$( 12+log(O/H)) + 29.28 ( Boselli, Lequeux & Gavazzi boselli (2002)). At galactocentric distance of 6 to 8.5 kpc, we are very far from the central region of the Galaxy and their potential problems (Paglione et al. paglione (2001)). Furthermore, our adopted value is the mean of the interval including on one hand, the not-so “standard” value 2.3 $`\times `$ 1020 K-1 km-1 s cm-2 (Strong et al. strong88 (1988)) and, on the other hand, the accurate value from EGRET data set to 1.6 $`\times `$ 1020 K-1 km-1 s cm-2 (Hunter et al. hunter (1997)). At last, we share Solomon & Barrett solomon (1991) point of view : “CO to H2 conversion factor is fairly robust - robust but not perfect”.

Chaty et al. (chaty (1996)) used $`X_{CO}`$ = 3.6 $`\times `$1020 K-1 km-1 s cm-2 (Sanders, Solomon & Scoville sanders (1984)) and $`T_A^{}`$ instead of Tmb. We calculated the integrated antenna temperature in the 12CO(J=1-0) line for each molecular cloud for which we considered 25 percent uncertainty of the estimated value. These results are summarized in table 1.

(iv) Inferred from a Hi absorption spectrum of GRS 1915+105 during an outburst, we used the total atomic hydrogen column density $`N_{HI}=1.73`$$`\times `$$`10^{22}\frac{T_s}{100K}`$cm-2 (Rodríguez et al. rodriguez (1995)), where $`T_s`$ is the spin temperature. The total column density of hydrogen should then be evaluated, taking into account the atomic and molecular components by the calculation

$`N_H`$ = $`N_{HI}`$ \+ 2 $`N_{H_2}`$

(v) Predehl & Schmitt (predehl (1995)) reevaluated the proportionality factor relying empirically the visual extinction and the total column density of hydrogen to $`\frac{N_H}{A_v}`$ = 1.79 1021 cm2 mag-1 after the pionnering work of Gorenstein (gorenstein (1975)). The optical extinction should then be derived from the total column density of hydrogen by the simple relation.

$`A_v=\frac{N_H}{\mathrm{1.79\; 10}^{21}}`$ mag

## 3 Results

### 3.1 Extinction along the line of sight of GRS 1915+105

Our first goal is to calculate the maximum value of the total column density of hydrogen. For that purpose, we need to use all the available atomic and molecular matter along the line of sight of GRS 1915+105 . Following the procedure described in the previous section, the results of our observations, i.e. velocity, distance, integrated antenna temperature and $`N_{H_2}`$ of each cloud, are summarized in table 1. We calculated the total column density of molecular hydrogen

$`N_{H_2}`$ = (8.8$`\pm `$1.4) $`\times `$ 1021 cm-2

The value of Chaty et al. (chaty (1996)) would be consistent with this one, using the same $`X_{CO}`$.

The total column density of hydrogen becomes

$`N_H`$ = (3.5$`\pm `$0.3) $`\times `$ 1022 cm-2

taking into account the Hi column density value of (Rodriguez et al. rodriguez (1995)). This value is consistent with the one of Ebisawa et al. (ebisawa (1998)) derived from ASCA X-ray observations of GRS 1915+105 , which is the most accurate to date: $`N_H`$ = (3.8$`\pm `$0.3) $`\times `$ 1022 cm-2. Subsequently, it is not necessary to locate each cloud accurately, since all the absorbing matter lies between the system and us. Any possible additional absorption seen in the X-ray spectra should then have a local origin. According to the proportionality factor relying empirically the visual extinction and the total column density of hydrogen (Predehl & Schmitt predehl (1995)), we finally found

Av = 19.6$`\pm `$1.7 mag.

This estimate is $``$ 7 mag lower than 26.5 (Chaty et al. chaty (1996)), which was based on an overevaluated $`X_{CO}`$ by a factor of $``$2. The visual extinction is still consistent with the high observed reddening of the source in the infrared and consistent with the suggested value of $``$20 mag (Mahoney et al. mahoney (1997)) and with the interval 18-24 calculated earlier (Castro-Tirado, Geballe & Lund castro2 (1996)). Our value implies that the previous dereddeneding of infrared data processed with Av from 26.5 to 30 are uncorrect.

We note that a possible negligible excess around 2 km.s-1 can be seen on Figure 1, which effects are negligible on $`N_{H_2}`$ and therefore on $`A_v`$. Its velocity, confirmed by a Hi difference spectrum (Dhawan et al. dhawan (2000)), would suggest either a solar component or a close to GRS 1915+105 component.

### 3.2 Is it possible to constrain the distance to GRS 1915+105 ?

Using the rotation curve of the Galaxy (Fich et al. fich (1989)) and the observed 12CO(J=1-0) luminosities, we estimate the far and near kinematic distances of each molecular cloud. These values are reported into the table 1 for the line of sight of GRS 1915+105 (Figure 1). Since all the available atomic and molecular matter is taken into account and is consistent with the value derived from X-ray observations (i.e., $`N_H`$=(3.8$`\pm `$ 0.3) $`\times `$ 1022 cm-2, Ebisawa et al. ebisawa (1998)), it is not necessary to locate the molecular cloud accurately along the line of sight in order to discuss whether GRS 1915+105 is closer or beyond each of them. We just have to identify the farthest cloud and to evaluate its kinematic distance accurately. This would then be the lower limit of the distance to GRS 1915+105 .

G 45.45+0.06 and G 45.12+0.13 are two H ii regions, respectively 18 arcmin and 26 arcmin away from GRS 1915+105 . The spectrum of G 45.45+0.06 reveals molecular clouds around 10, 25 km.s-1 and a complex between 50 to 70 km.s-1 as well (Figure 2) - FWHM$``$10 km s-1-. This large complex -  - was still reported as associated to four H ii regions (Dame et al. dame (1986)). Among them, the two H ii regions close to GRS 1915+105 are noted in the map Fig.5 of Dame et al. (dame (1986)). The FWHM distribution spreading for the largest galactic molecular clouds lies typically in the range 4-15 km s-1 and peaks around 10 km s -1. Along the line of sight of GRS 1915+105 , MC27 is at the near distance (Dame et al. dame (1986)), cf. table 1. Surprisingly, no molecular matter is seen close to the 41 km.s-1 velocity in both spectra of G 45.45+0.06 and G 45.12+0.13 (Figure 2) although the line of sight to GRS 1915+105 exhibits additionnal Hi absorption at 41$`\pm `$ 6 km.s-1 relative to the line of sight to G 45.45+0.06 (Rodriguez et al. rodriguez (1995)). It was therefore claimed that the additionnal Hi absorption was farther than G 45.45+0.06 (Rodriguez et al. rodriguez (1995)), so that GRS 1915+105 was beyond G 45.45+0.06 and then behind a cloud located at the kinematic distance of 9.4 $`\pm `$ 0.5 kpc, which we consistently located at 9.1 kpc (cf. table 1). This is no longer an evidence if we assume, as Rodríguez et al. (rodriguez (1995)) did, that the CO feature and the Hi additional absorption onto GRS 1915+105 come from the same cloud, i.e. MC41. We suggest that the complex along the line of sight of GRS 1915+105 , for which velocities are seen from 50 to 70 km.s-1, is an extension of the one seen along both lines of sight of the two H ii regions (Figure 2). Thus, its location should be the tangent point. It has a large contribution to the extinction to GRS 1915+105 ($``$ 6 mag), so that it could not be possible to explain the $`A_v`$ without its contribution. This is confirmed by Hi observations which allowed to put a lower distance to GRS 1915+105 beyond the tangent point (Rodriguez et al. rodriguez (1995)). GRS 1915+105 is then behind this complex and therefore, the closest lower limit is the distance to the tangent point, i.e., the distance to this complex, namely 6.0 kpc.

Due to their non negligible contributions to the extinction (cf table 1), MC41 and MC47 have to be taken into account in order to describe the extinction properly. We point out that the optical extinction should be 2 mag lower (i.e. 17.5 mag) if MC41 and MC47 are behind GRS 1915+105 . The implied hydrogen column density ($`3.1`$$`\times `$$`10^{22}`$cm-2) is still consistent with the most accurate X-ray measurement in a two sigma confidence level (Ebisawa et al. ebisawa (1998)), although it is at the far end of the interval and that it could mean that we need at least the contribution of one or both MC41 and MC47 to be consistent with measurements with a higher confidence level.

During 1997 October/November, multiple relativistic ejections from GRS 1915+105 were observed in radio range with MERLIN and an upper limit of the distance to GRS 1915+105 was deduced to 11.2$`\pm `$0.8 kpc (Fender et al. fender2 (1999)), which is about 1 kpc lower than the upper pionnering value of Mirabel & Rodríguez (mirabel1 (1994)) inferred from a similar discussion. This upper limit is consistent with Hi emission spectra in this direction of the sky (Radhakrishnan et al. radha (1972)) because of a lack of absorption at negative LSR radial velocities (Rodriguez et al. rodriguez (1995), Dhawan, Goss & Rodriguez dhawan (2000)).

Thus, the distance of GRS 1915+105 should be greater than 6.0 and less than 12.0 kpc, using a one sigma allowed interval on the upper limit of Fender et al. (fender2 (1999)). We then put GRS 1915+105 at 9.0$`\pm `$3.0 kpc. Note carefully that the 3 kpc interval is not a one sigma confidence level. We consider this expression as an interval and not as an evaluation of the distance at a one sigma significance. The consequence of that result, enforced by the lower $`A_v`$ we found, is that GRS 1915+105 is less luminous than expected in the optical and infrared ranges.

### 3.3 A metal rich local dust absorption?

Assuming solar abundances, Chandra spectral observation leaded to an H column density derived from silicon and iron K-edges ((8.4$`{}_{0.2}{}^{}{}_{}{}^{+0.1}`$) $`\times `$$`10^{22}`$cm-2 and (9.3$`{}_{1.3}{}^{}{}_{}{}^{+1.6}`$) $`\times `$$`10^{22}`$cm-2 respectively) substantially higher than the values derived from sulphur and magnesium K-edges ((3.2$`{}_{0.6}{}^{}{}_{}{}^{+0.1}`$) $`\times `$$`10^{22}`$cm-2 and (3.1$`{}_{0.3}{}^{}{}_{}{}^{+0.3}`$) $`\times `$$`10^{22}`$cm-2 repectively)(Lee et al. lee (2002)). The last two values are both consistent with our calculated $`N_H`$ as well as the one from ASCA (Ebisawa et al. ebisawa (1998)). Based on the values of $`N_H`$ inferred from Si and Fe edges, it was suggested that either a highly unusual supernova or external supernova activity local to the binary could explain the overabundance in iron and silicon (Lee et al. lee (2002)). Indeed, it seems that a 1052erg kinetic energy SNe with high mixing, helped by a small mass cut and/or asphericity in explosion can provide high amounts of ejected $`{}_{}{}^{56}Ni`$, and thus ejected iron after $`{}_{}{}^{56}Ni`$ decay (Nomoto et al. nomoto (2003)). Could this metal rich component be a relic of the SNR now diluted in the ISM?

We would like to note several alternative explanations since such values of the $`N_H`$ are inconsistent with our measurement of the total content along the line of sight. We propose that a Si/Fe enriched component should be either along the line of sight or local to GRS 1915+105 . The matter could come from a bright star (ISOGAL-PJ191511.2+105622) seen in the ISOGAL survey (Felli et al. felli (2000)), 18” away to the line of sight of GRS 1915+105 and classified as an AGB star (Fuchs et al. fuchs (2003)) after a dereddening with $`A_v`$=20 mag. Although the photosphere is thought to be originally solar in composition, some extremely metal poor post AGB stars (A to F stars) are depleted in elements such as Fe, Ca, Si, Cr (two orders of magnitude below solar) and with solar photospheric abundances of C, N, O, S and Zn (Mathis & Lamers mathis (1992)). The missing elements should be incorporated into grains that were separated from atmosphere. If this AGB is at the same distance than GRS 1915+105 , only little material can account to the anomalous abundances of Si/Fe (Fuchs et al. fuchs (2003)). On the other hand, if this AGB star is much closer to the Earth than GRS 1915+105 , its surrounding nebula could likely have contaminate the line of sight of GRS 1915+105 and enriched it in heavy elements. Using the Draine extinction law (draine (1989)) and the same $`A_v`$=20 mag as for GRS 1915+105 , the ISOGAL-PJ191511.2+105622 spectrum exhibits a bump at 9.7$`\mu `$m. Therefore, the extinction to ISOGAL-PJ191511.2+105622 would be overestimated, and then the distance closer. In order to give some solidity to this hypothesis, using the rough value of 10 mag, the bump disappears in the spectrum which becomes more likely the one of a star in this range of energy than the previous one (Fuchs, private communication). The derived dereddened 7$`\mu `$m and 15 $`\mu `$m magnitudes are respectively equal to = 7.60 mag and = 7.04 mag. The - - diagram (Felli et al. felli (2000), Figure 1.) reenforces the AGB association. Although the value of $``$10 mag is a rough estimate of its optical extinction, it implies however that this AGB lies in front of the big complex located at the tangent point, and therefore with an upper limit of its distance of 6.0 kpc. The angular separation between GRS 1915+105 and the line of sight of this AGB is 18”. At a distance of 6 kpc, this is converted to a projected distance on the plane of the sky of 0.5 pc. Moreover, it is known that an AGB star can eject material on distances as far as 1 pc. We thus claim that the surrounding dust of this AGB type star, closer to the Earth and with a lower extinction than GRS 1915+105 , could contaminate significantly the line of sight of GRS 1915+105 and contribute to the anomalous metallicity observed in the X-rays with Chandra (Lee et al. lee (2002)) which cannot be taken into account with our millimiter and radio determinations of $`N_H`$ and $`A_v`$.

## 4 Conclusions

The column density of hydrogen along the line of sight of GRS 1915+105 is found to $`N_H`$ = (3.5$`\pm `$0.3) $`\times `$ 1022 cm-2. This value is consistent with the X-ray observations of ASCA (Ebisawa et al. ebisawa (1998)) constraining the column density of hydrogen to ($`3.8\pm 0.3`$) $`\times `$ 1022 cm-2 .

The visual extinction inferred from molecular spectra and Hi absorption spectrum is $`A_v`$ = 19.6$`\pm `$1.7 mag, consistent with the guess of Castro-Tirado, Geballe & Lund (castro2 (1996)) who found the likely range of 18-24 mag. Our value of the optical extinction is then still consistent with a high reddening of the source. Based on Cardelli et al. (cardelli (1989)) relations between $`A_v`$ and $`A_\lambda `$, we deduce $`A_\lambda `$ from U to L bands (Table 2). In order to evaluate the uncertainty on $`A_\lambda `$, we took into account the uncertainty on $`A_v`$ as well as the spreading of the values of Cardelli et al. (cardelli (1989)) as uncertainty on the proportionnality factor between $`A_v`$ and $`A_\lambda `$. The consequence is that all dereddening using extinctions of $`A_K`$=3.0 mag or more (Chaty et al. chaty (1996), Fender & Pooley fender4 (2000)) should be reprocessed and their results reevaluated.

With the help of the rotation galactic rotation description (Fich et al. fich (1989)), the properties of close to GRS 1915+105 H ii regions, 12CO(J=1-0) spectra along the line of sight of GRS 1915+105 and two close H ii regions as well as the most recent upper limit of distance (Fender et al. fender2 (1999)), we reevaluated the distance to GRS 1915+105 at 9.0$`\pm `$3.0 kpc. It is important to notice that no molecular cloud is seen at a velocity close to 40 km.s-1 in both line of sights of the two close to GRS 1915+105 H ii regions, i.e. G 45.45+0.06 and G 45.12+0.13 .

###### Acknowledgements.

We acknowledge Y. Fuchs and S. Chaty for valuable discussion. We warmfully thank S. Shore for his relevant comments on the paper. We are grateful to S. Leon for conducting the IRAM observations. This research has made use of the SIMBAD database, operated at CDS, Strasbourg, France and of NASA’s Astrophysics Data System Abstract Service.


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# Expansion of Bose-Einstein condensates in lower dimensions

## I Introduction

The properties of Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs) in lower-dimensional geometries, when the particles motion is tightly confined to zero point oscillations in one or two directions, have attracted much attention Bongs01 -PS03  because of specific coherence properties of degenerate Bose gases in lower dimensions and possible experimental realization of quantum gases beyond mean field approach. In order to realize a one-dimensional (1D) condensate, optical dipole traps have been used to achieve necessary asymmetry between the trapping frequencies (see, e.g. Bongs01 ). Two-dimensional (2D) condensates have been created in an array of pancake-shaped traps formed by the periodic potential of a 1D optical lattice Morsch02 . For large lattice potential depths, the motion along the direction of the array is frozen and the condensate is effectively split up into several smaller independent condensates confined in the individual lattice wells.

Much experimental information on BECs in three-dimensional confining traps has been provided by imaging the density of the atomic cloud after switching off the trap potential. In the mean-field approximation, evolution of BECs in diluted gases is described by the time-dependent Gross-Pitaevskii (GP) equation PS03

$$i\mathrm{}\frac{\psi }{t}=\frac{\mathrm{}^2}{2m}\mathrm{\Delta }\psi +V_{ext}(𝐫)\psi +g|\psi |^2\psi ,$$
(1)
where

$$V_{ext}(𝐫)=\frac{1}{2}m(\omega _x^2x^2+\omega _y^2y^2+\omega _z^2z^2)$$
(2)
is the external trap potential, $`g=4\pi \mathrm{}^2a_s/m`$ is the nonlinear interaction constant $`a_s`$ being the $`s`$-wave scattering length of the interacting atoms, and the condensate wave function $`\psi `$ is normalized to the number of atoms

$$|\psi |^2𝑑𝐫=N.$$
(3)
If the number of atoms is large enough, the GP equation can be reduced to the hydrodynamic equations, which admit simple self-similar solutions describing as oscillations of BEC in the parabolic trap potential, so its free 3D expansion after switching off the trap potential CastinDum96 -Dalfovo97 . This theory shows excellent agreement with the experiment.

In the recent experiments the free expansion of BEC has been investigated in 1D waveguides Bongs01  and in the array of 2D pancake BECs Morsch02 , and this line of investigations looks very promising. In SZ02  expansion of BEC in a waveguide has been considered for quasi-1D case but without taking into account the quantum pressure in transverse direction. In Plaja02  the effects of the quantum pressure have been calculated for stationary states with account of two transverse modes and expansion dynamic has been studied numerically. In Das02-2  stationary states of BEC in cigar-shaped and pancake traps have been considered by means of proper variational approach without discussion of free expansion dynamics. The aim of this article is to give analytic treatment of the lower dimensional expansion of BEC. To this end, under conditions that 3D GP equation can be reduced to its lower dimensional counterparts, in Section II we solve these reduced equations in their hydrodynamic approximations with initial conditions corresponding to the equilibrium states of a confined in the parabolic trap BEC with positive scattering length ($`a_s>0`$). Free expansion of BEC takes place either in longitudinal direction of the 1D waveguide, or in transverse direction of the 2D pancake trap. If the conditions of lower dimensional reductions of GP equation are not fulfilled, then effects of 3D hydrodynamic flow can be estimated with the use of variational approach what is done in Section III. Section IV is devoted to comparison of the theory with experiment.

## II Free 1D and 2D expansion of BEC

The GP equations admits formulation in the form of the Hamilton least action principle with the action functional

$$S=L𝑑t,L=𝑑𝐫,$$
(4)
where the Lagrangian density is given by

$$=\frac{i\mathrm{}}{2}(\psi _t^{}\psi \psi _t\psi ^{})+\frac{\mathrm{}^2}{2m}|\psi |^2+V_{ext}|\psi |^2+\frac{1}{2}g|\psi |^4,$$
(5)
so that the corresponding Lagrange equation coincides with the GP equation (1). In cigar-shaped or pancake configurations it is not difficult to determine conditions when the tightly confined degrees of freedom become irrelevant (“frozen”) and the GP equation reduces to the effective 1D or 2D equation. This problem has been considered in many papers (see, e.g. PS03 , Chapter 17, and references therein) and we shall present here only the main points with the aim to define the relevant parameters and to formulate the applicability conditions.

### II.1 One-dimensional expansion

If the axial frequency $`\omega _z`$ of the axially symmetric trap is much less than its transverse frequency $`\omega _{}`$,

$$\lambda =\frac{\omega _z}{\omega _{}}1,$$
(6)
and characteristic energy of zero-point transverse motion is much greater than the nonlinear energy, then the transverse motion reduces to the ground state of quantum oscillations in the radial trap potential. Characteristic radius of this motion is equal to $`a_{}=(\mathrm{}/m\omega _{})^{1/2}`$, and if we denote by $`Z_0`$ the characteristic axial size of the BEC, then with account of the estimate $`N|\psi |^2a_{}^2Z_0`$ (see Eq. (3)) the corresponding condition can be written in the form (see, e.g. Menotti02 )

$$\frac{Na_s}{Z_0}1.$$
(7)
If this condition is fulfilled, then we can factorize the condensate wave function

$$\psi (𝐫,t)=\varphi (x,y)\mathrm{\Psi }(z,t),$$
(8)
where

$$\varphi (x,y)=\frac{1}{\sqrt{\pi }a_{}}\mathrm{exp}\left(\frac{x^2+y^2}{2a_{}^2}\right),$$
(9)
is the ground state wave function of the transverse motion. Substitution of (8),(9) into (4),(5) and subsequent integration over transverse cross section lead to the expression for the action in terms of effective 1D Lagrangian density

$$_{1D}=\frac{i\mathrm{}}{2}(\mathrm{\Psi }_t^{}\mathrm{\Psi }\mathrm{\Psi }_t\mathrm{\Psi }^{})+\frac{\mathrm{}^2}{2m}|\mathrm{\Psi }_z|^2+\frac{1}{2}m\omega _z^2z^2|\mathrm{\Psi }|^2+\frac{g}{4\pi a_{}^2}|\mathrm{\Psi }|^4$$
(10)
(irrelevant constant term has been omitted). Now the evolution of $`\mathrm{\Psi }(z,t)`$ is governed by Lagrange equation which yields the 1D GP equation

$$i\mathrm{}\mathrm{\Psi }_t=\frac{\mathrm{}^2}{2m}\mathrm{\Psi }_{zz}+\frac{1}{2}m\omega _z^2z^2\mathrm{\Psi }+g_{1D}|\mathrm{\Psi }|^2\mathrm{\Psi },$$
(11)
where

$$g_{1D}=\frac{g}{2\pi a_{}^2}=\frac{2\mathrm{}^2a_s}{ma_{}^2}$$
(12)
is effective 1D nonlinear coupling constant and $`\mathrm{\Psi }`$ is normalized according to

$$|\mathrm{\Psi }|^2𝑑z=N.$$
(13)
Equation (11) governs 1D longitudinal dynamics of the BEC in cigar-shaped trap.

By means of well-known substitution

$$\mathrm{\Psi }(z,t)=\sqrt{\rho (z,t)}\mathrm{exp}\left(\frac{im}{\mathrm{}}^zv(z^{},t)𝑑z^{}\right)$$
(14)
equation (11) transforms to the system

$$\rho _t+(\rho v)_z=0,$$
(15)
$$v_t+vv_z+\frac{g_{1D}}{m}\rho _z+\omega _z^2z+\frac{\mathrm{}^2}{2m^2}\left(\frac{\rho _z^2}{4\rho ^2}\frac{\rho _{zz}}{2\rho }\right)_z=0.$$
(16)
The last term in Eq. (16) called “quantum pressure” can be neglected, if it is much less than the nonlinear one proportional to $`g_{1D}`$, that is the condition

$$\frac{a_{}}{Z_0}\frac{Na_s}{a_{}}$$
(17)
is fulfilled. Then Eq. (16) reduces to

$$v_t+vv_z+\frac{g_{1D}}{m}\rho _z+\omega _z^2z=0$$
(18)
which together with Eq. (15) provides the hydrodynamic approximation to description of BEC dynamics in parabolic trap potential.

The stationary solution of the hydrodynamic equations gives the well-known Thomas-Fermi (TF) distribution of density for 1D BEC:

$$\rho (z)=\frac{3N}{4Z_0}\left(1\frac{z^2}{Z_0^2}\right),v=0,$$
(19)
where the integration constant $`Z_0`$ has a meaning of the axial half-length of the condensate and can be expressed in terms of the number of atoms $`N`$,

$$Z_0=(3Na_sa_{}^2\lambda ^2)^{1/3}.$$
(20)
Conditions (7) and (17) of applicability of 1D hydrodynamic approximation can be written upon substitution of (20) as (see Menotti02 )

$$\sqrt{\lambda }\frac{Na_s}{a_{}}\frac{1}{\lambda }.$$
(21)
Now we suppose that the axial trap is turned off, so that BEC expands freely in the axial direction. At the same time it remains being confined in the transverse direction, that is the radial motion is still “frozen” to the quantum ground state (9). Hence, this expansion is governed by the hydrodynamic equations (15) and (18) with the initial conditions (19). Similar problems were studied in nonlinear optics Talanov  for the opposite sign of the pressure term $`\rho _z`$ in (18) and for description of free 3D expansion of BEC CastinDum96 ; Kagan96-1 ; Kagan96-2 ; Dalfovo97 . Here we use the same approach to the 1D expansion of BEC in a “waveguide”. We look for the solution of Eqs. (15),(18) in the form

$$\rho (z,t)=\frac{3N}{4Z_0}\frac{1}{b_z(t)}\left(1\frac{z^2}{Z_0^2b_z^2(t)}\right),v(z,t)=z\alpha _z(t),$$
(22)
where $`b_z(t)`$ and $`\alpha _z(t)`$ must satisfy the initial conditions

$$b_z(0)=1,\alpha _z(0)=0.$$
(23)
Substitution of (22) into (15),(18) yields the relation

$$\alpha _z(t)=\dot{b}_z(t)/b_z(t)$$
(24)
and the equation for $`b_z(t)`$

$$\ddot{b}_z=\omega _z^2/b_z^2$$
(25)
which can be integrated at once to give (see BKK , where this solution was applied to the description of the initial quasi-1D stage of expansion of pancake BEC in axial direction)

$$\sqrt{2}\omega _zt=\sqrt{b_z(b_z1)}+\frac{1}{2}\mathrm{ln}\left[2b_z1+2\sqrt{b_z(b_z1)}\right].$$
(26)
This formula determines implicitly $`b_z`$ as a function of time $`t`$. The function $`\alpha (t)`$ can be easily expressed in terms of $`b_z(t)`$, so that velocity field is given by

$$v(z,t)=\frac{\sqrt{2}\omega _zz}{b_z(t)}\sqrt{1\frac{1}{b_z(t)}}.$$
(27)
The edge point of the density distribution moves according to the law

$$z_{max}(t)=Z_0b_z(t)$$
(28)
with the maximal velocity

$$v_{max}(t)=\frac{dz_{max}}{dt}=\sqrt{2}Z_0\omega _z\sqrt{1\frac{1}{b_z(t)}}.$$
(29)
In the limit of large $`t\omega _z^1`$ we find

$$b_z(t)\sqrt{2}\omega _zt,t\omega _z^1,$$
(30)
so that distributions of density and velocity fields get simple form

$$\rho (z,t)\frac{3N}{4v_{max}}\frac{1}{t}\left(1\frac{z^2}{v_{max}^2t^2}\right),v(z,t)\frac{z}{t},t\omega _z^1,$$
(31)
and maximal velocity becomes constant

$$v_{max}\sqrt{2}Z_0\omega _z,t\omega _z^1.$$
(32)
These formulae describe a hydrodynamic flow “by inertia” when the density becomes so small that the nonlinear pressure does not accelerate the gas anymore. The formula (32) is convenient for comparison with experiment since the asymptotic value of the maximal velocity is expressed in terms of two experimentally measurable parameters—the axial frequency $`\omega _z`$ of the trap initially confining the BEC and the initial half-width $`Z_0`$ of the axial TF distribution.

From (31) we find the asymptotic distribution function of velocities

$$\rho (v)dv=\frac{3N}{4v_{max}}\left(1\frac{v^2}{v_{max}^2}\right)dv,|v|v_{max}.$$
(33)
The mean kinetic energy (“release” energy) is given by

$$\overline{E}=\frac{m}{2N}v^2\rho (v)𝑑v=\frac{1}{5}E_{max},E_{max}=\frac{1}{2}mv_{max}^2.$$
(34)
### II.2 Two-dimensional expansion

We can achieve 2D dynamics of BEC, if the axial frequency $`\omega _z`$ of the trap is much greater than its radial frequency $`\omega _{}`$, that is the inequality (6) is replaced by the inverse one,

$$\lambda =\frac{\omega _z}{\omega _{}}1.$$
(35)
In this case we assume that the axial motion along the $`z`$ axis is “frozen”, that is the energy of its zero point oscillatory motion with the quantum amplitude $`a_z=(\mathrm{}/m\omega _z)^{1/2}`$ is much greater than the nonlinear energy. This condition with the use of an estimate $`N|\psi |^2R_0^2a_z`$, where $`R_0`$ denotes a characteristic radius of the density distribution in the pancake $`(x,y)`$ plane, leads to the inequality

$$\frac{Na_s}{a_z}\left(\frac{R_0}{a_z}\right)^2.$$
(36)
If this condition is fulfilled, then we can again factorize the condensate wave function:

$$\psi (𝐫,t)=\varphi (z)\mathrm{\Psi }(x,y,t),$$
(37)
where

$$\varphi (z)=\frac{1}{\pi ^{1/4}a_z^{1/2}}\mathrm{exp}\left(\frac{z^2}{2a_z^2}\right)$$
(38)
is the ground state wave function of the axial motion. Substitution of (37),(38) into (4), (5) and integration over longitudinal coordinate lead to the expression for the action in terms of the effective 2D Lagrangian density

$$_{2D}=\frac{i\mathrm{}}{2}(\mathrm{\Psi }_t^{}\mathrm{\Psi }\mathrm{\Psi }_t\mathrm{\Psi }^{})+\frac{\mathrm{}^2}{2m}(|\mathrm{\Psi }_x|^2+|\mathrm{\Psi }_y|^2)+\frac{1}{2}m\omega _{}^2(x^2+y^2)|\mathrm{\Psi }|^2+\frac{g}{2\sqrt{2\pi }a_z}|\mathrm{\Psi }|^4.$$
(39)
The corresponding Lagrange equation yields the 2D GP equation

$$i\mathrm{}\mathrm{\Psi }_t=\frac{\mathrm{}^2}{2m}\mathrm{\Delta }_{}\mathrm{\Psi }+\frac{1}{2}m\omega _{}^2(x^2+y^2)\mathrm{\Psi }+g_{2D}|\mathrm{\Psi }|^2\mathrm{\Psi },$$
(40)
where $`\mathrm{\Delta }_{}=_x^2+_y^2`$ is the transverse Laplace operator, $`g_{2D}`$ is the effective nonlinear interaction constant,

$$g_{2D}=\frac{g}{\sqrt{2\pi }a_z}=\frac{2\sqrt{2\pi }\mathrm{}^2a_s}{ma_z},$$
(41)
and $`\mathrm{\Psi }`$ is normalized according to

$$|\mathrm{\Psi }|^2𝑑x𝑑y=N.$$
(42)
The NLS equation (40) governs 2D transverse dynamics of the BEC in a pancake trap.

By means of a substitution

$$\mathrm{\Psi }(𝐫_{},t)=\sqrt{\rho (𝐫_{},t)}\mathrm{exp}\left(\frac{im}{\mathrm{}}^𝐫_{}𝐯(𝐫_{}^{},t)𝑑𝐫^{}\right),$$
(43)
where $`𝐫_{}=(x,y)`$ and velocity $`𝐯=(v_x,v_y)`$ has components only in the transverse plane, the equation (40) transforms to the system

$$\rho _t+_{}(\rho 𝐯)=0,$$
(44)
$$𝐯_t+(𝐯_{})𝐯+\frac{g_{2D}}{m}_{}\rho +\omega _{}^2𝐫+\frac{\mathrm{}^2}{2m^2}_{}\left[\frac{(_{}\rho )^2}{4\rho ^2}\frac{\mathrm{\Delta }_{}\rho }{2\rho }\right]=0,$$
(45)
where $`_{}=(_x,_y)`$ is the transverse gradient operator.

The quantum pressure term can be neglected if it is much less than the nonlinear term what leads to the condition

$$1\frac{Na_s}{a_z}.$$
(46)
Then Eq. (45) takes the form of the hydrodynamic equation

$$𝐯_t+(𝐯_{})𝐯+\frac{g_{2D}}{m}_{}\rho +\omega _{}^2𝐫=0.$$
(47)
The stationary solution of hydrodynamic equations corresponds to 2D TF approximation

$$\rho (r)=\frac{2N}{\pi R_0^2}\left(1\frac{r^2}{R_0^2}\right),𝐯=0,$$
(48)
where $`r^2=x^2+y^2`$ and the radius $`R_0`$ of the density distribution is determined by the number of atoms $`N`$:

$$R_0=\left(\frac{16}{\sqrt{2\pi }}Na_sa_z^3\lambda ^2\right)^{1/4}.$$
(49)
It permits one to transform the inequality (36) to more convenient form, so that the applicability conditions of 2D approximation in the TF limit become

$$1\frac{Na_s}{a_z}\lambda ^2.$$
(50)
When the radial trap is turned off, the BEC expands in the radial direction, but remains confined in the axial one. This radial expansion is described by the hydrodynamic equations (44) and (47) with the initial condition (48). Now we look for the solution in the form

$$\rho (r,t)=\frac{2N}{\pi R_0^2}\frac{1}{b_{}^2(t)}\left(1\frac{r^2}{R_0^2b_{}^2(t)}\right),v(r,t)=r\alpha _{}(t),$$
(51)
where $`v`$ is the radial component of velocity, and $`b_{}(t)`$ and $`\alpha _{}(t)`$ must satisfy the initial conditions

$$b_{}(0)=1,\alpha _{}(0)=0.$$
(52)
Substitution of (51) into (44),(47) leads to the relation $`\alpha _{}=\dot{b}_{}/b_{}`$ between $`b_{}(t)`$ and $`\alpha _{}(t)`$ and to the differential equation for $`b_{}(t)`$:

$$\ddot{b}_{}=\omega _{}^2/b_{}^3.$$
(53)
Its integration with the initial conditions $`b_{}(0)=1`$, $`\dot{b}_{}(0)=b_{}(0)\alpha _{}(0)=0`$ gives

$$b_{}(t)=\sqrt{1+\omega _{}^2t^2},$$
(54)
and hence $`\alpha _{}(t)=\dot{b}_{}/b_{}=\omega _{}^2t/(1+\omega _{}^2t^2)`$. Thus we obtain simple formulae for radial distributions of density and velocity fields:

$$\rho (r,t)=\frac{2N}{\pi R_0^2}\frac{1}{1+\omega _{}^2t^2}\left(1\frac{r^2}{R_0^2(1+\omega _{}^2t^2)}\right),v(r,t)=\frac{\omega _{}^2rt}{1+\omega _{}^2t^2}.$$
(55)
The edge point of the radial density distribution moves according to the law

$$r_{max}(t)=R_0\sqrt{1+\omega _{}^2t^2}$$
(56)
with maximal velocity

$$v_{max}(t)=\frac{dr_{max}}{dt}=\frac{R_0\omega _{}^2t}{\sqrt{1+\omega _{}^2t^2}}.$$
(57)
In the limit of asymptotically large time $`t\omega _{}^1`$ we find

$$\rho (r,t)\frac{2N}{\pi v_{max}}\frac{1}{t^2}\left(1\frac{r^2}{v_{max}^2t^2}\right),v(r,t)\frac{r}{t},$$
(58)
where

$$v_{max}R_0\omega _{},t\omega _{}^1.$$
(59)
As analogous formulae in 1D case, these formulae describe a flow “by inertia”. Again the maximal velocity is expressed in terms of two experimentally measurable parameters—the initial radial frequency $`\omega _{}`$ of the trap before its switching off and the initial radius $`R_0`$ of the TF distribution.

The asymptotic distribution of velocities is given by

$$\rho (v)dv=\frac{4N}{v_{max}^2}\left(1\frac{v^2}{v_{max}^2}\right)vdv,$$
(60)
and the release energy is equal to

$$\overline{E}=\frac{1}{3}E_{max},E_{max}=\frac{1}{2}mv_{max}^2.$$
(61)
## III Effects of 3D flow: Variational approach

When conditions (7) or (36) are not fulfilled, the motion along the shortest size of the condensate cannot be considered as frozen one and we have to include into consideration the radial (for cigar-shaped trap) or axial (for pancake trap) flow. As was shown in Perez96 , it can be done by means of simple variational approach. However, in our case of strongly asymmetrical traps it is more natural for large enough number of atoms to assume the TF rather than Gaussian distribution along longer direction of the condensate, as it was done for static equilibrium case in Das02-2 . Here we apply similar approach to dynamics of BEC.

### III.1 Cigar-shaped trap

For cigar-shaped trap with TF distribution of density along the axial $`z`$ direction we take the variational trial function in the form

$$\psi =A\mathrm{exp}\left(\frac{r^2}{2w_{}^2}\right)\sqrt{1\frac{z^2}{w_z^2}}\mathrm{exp}\left[\frac{i}{2}(\alpha _{}^2r^2+\alpha _z^2z^2)\right],$$
(62)
where $`A,w_{},w_z,\alpha _{},\alpha _z`$ are assumed to be functions of time. It is supposed that $`Na_s/Z_01`$, that is in the radial direction the TF distribution is not achieved yet and therefore the radial wavefunction can be approximated well enough by the Gaussian function. The variable $`A`$ is connected with widths $`w_{}`$, $`w_z`$ by the normalization condition (3) which yields

$$A=\left(\frac{3N}{4\pi w_{}^2w_z}\right)^{1/2}.$$
(63)
Substitution of (62) into (4),(5) yields after integration the averaged Lagrangian

$$\begin{array}{c}\hfill \frac{L}{N}=\left[\frac{\mathrm{}^2}{2}\frac{d\alpha _{}}{dt}+\frac{\mathrm{}^2}{2m}\left(\frac{1}{w_{}^4}+\alpha _{}^2\right)+\frac{1}{2}m\omega _{}^2\right]w_{}^2\\ \hfill +\left(\frac{\mathrm{}^2}{2}\frac{d\alpha _z}{dt}+\frac{\mathrm{}^2}{2m}\alpha _z^2+\frac{1}{2}m\omega _{}^2\lambda ^2\right)\frac{w_z^2}{5}+\frac{3Na_s\mathrm{}^2}{5m}\frac{1}{w_{}^2w_z},\end{array}$$
(64)
where we have neglected the term $`1/w_z^4`$ compared with $`\alpha _z^2`$ since according to the estimates $`w_zZ_0`$, $`\alpha _z(m/\mathrm{})\dot{w}_z/w_zm\omega _z/\mathrm{}\lambda /a_{}^2`$ the condition $`1/w_z^2\alpha _z`$ coincides exactly with the condition $`\lambda ^{1/2}Na_s/a_{}`$ of applicability of the TF approximation in the axial direction (see (21)).

The Lagrangian (64) leads to well-known formulas

$$\alpha _{}=\frac{m}{\mathrm{}}\frac{1}{w_{}}\frac{dw_{}}{dt},\alpha _z=\frac{m}{\mathrm{}}\frac{1}{w_z}\frac{dw_z}{dt},$$
(65)
and to equations of motion for widths:

$$\ddot{w}_{}+\omega _{}^2w_{}=\frac{\mathrm{}^2}{m^2w_{}^3}+\frac{6Na_s\mathrm{}^2}{5m^2}\frac{1}{w_{}^3w_z}$$
(66)
$$\ddot{w}_z+\lambda ^2\omega _{}^2w_z=\frac{3Na_s\mathrm{}^2}{m^2}\frac{1}{w_{}^2w_z^2}.$$
(67)
These equations differ from those in Perez96  by numerical factors due to use of the TF distribution in the axial direction and by absence of the “quantum pressure” term in Eq. (67) which inclusion would be illegal in our approximation. In dimensionless variables

$$b_{}=\frac{w_{}}{a_{}},b_z=\frac{w_z}{Z_0},\tau =\omega _{}t$$
(68)
Eqs. (66),(67) take the form

$$\frac{d^2b_{}}{d\tau ^2}+b_{}=\frac{1}{b_{}^3}+\frac{2q}{5}\frac{1}{b_{}^3b_z},$$
(69)
$$\frac{d^2b_z}{d\tau ^2}+\lambda ^2b_z=\frac{\lambda ^2}{b_{}^2b_z^2},$$
(70)
where the parameter

$$q=\left(\frac{\lambda Z_0}{a_{}}\right)^2$$
(71)
measures the strength of the nonlinear pressure in the radial direction. If $`q1`$, then we can neglect the second term in the right-hand side of (69) and obtain the stationary solution $`b_0=b_{z0}=1`$ which corresponds to 1D approximation of Section II. It is easy to see that in this case Eq. (70) reduces, for the case of free axial expansion, to (25).

The equilibrium values of $`b_{}`$ and $`b_z`$ are determined by the equations

$$b_0=b_{z0}^{3/2},\frac{1}{b_{z0}^6}=1+\frac{2q}{5}\frac{1}{b_{z0}},$$
(72)
which differ from similar equations of Das02-1  only through the notation. They determine the state of BEC before expansion.

Expansion of BEC after switching off the axial trap is described by the equations

$$\frac{d^2b_{}}{d\tau ^2}+b_{}=\frac{1}{b_{}^3}+\frac{2q}{5}\frac{1}{b_{}^3b_z},\frac{d^2b_z}{d\tau ^2}=\frac{\lambda ^2}{b_{}^2b_z^2},$$
(73)
which can be easily solved numerically with the initial conditions

$$b_{}(0)=b_0,\dot{b}_{}(0)=0,b_z(0)=b_{z0},\dot{b}_z(0)=0,$$
(74)
where $`b_0`$ and $`b_{z0}`$ are determined by Eqs. (72). Dependence of $`b_{}=w_{}/a_{}`$ and $`z_{max}=Z_0b_z(t)=Zb_z(t)/b_{z0}`$, where $`Z=Z_0b_{z0}`$ is the initial half-length of the condensate, is shown in Fig. 1 for different values of the number of atoms $`N`$.

For $`\sqrt{\lambda }a_{}/a_sNa_{}/(\lambda a_s)`$ we return to the analytical solution of Section 2. For $`N>a_{}/(\lambda a_s)`$ evolution starts from radial width greater than the quantum oscillator length $`a_{}`$ and $`b_{}1`$ for $`\tau \mathrm{}`$. The axial expansion for $`\tau 1`$ tends to the motion by inertia with constant velocities of atoms. It is easy to find the value of maximal velocity with the use of conservation law of Eqs. (73):

$$\frac{1}{2}\left(\frac{db_z}{d\tau }\right)^2+\frac{5\lambda ^2}{2q}\left[\left(\frac{db_{}}{d\tau }\right)^2+b_{}^2+\frac{1}{b_{}^2}\right]+\frac{\lambda ^2}{b_{}^2b_z}=\mathrm{const}.$$
(75)
For $`\tau =0`$ we have the initial values (74) and for $`\tau \mathrm{}`$ we have $`db_z/d\tau \dot{b}_{z,max}`$, $`b_{}1,`$ $`b_z\mathrm{}`$, hence

$$\dot{b}_{z,max}=\lambda \sqrt{\frac{2}{b_0^2b_{z0}}+\frac{5}{q}\left(b_0\frac{1}{b_0}\right)^2}.$$
(76)
Then with the help of Eqs. (72) we find

$$v_{max}=\frac{dz_{max}}{dt}|_t\mathrm{}=\frac{2Z\omega _zb_0}{\sqrt{1+b_0^2}}.$$
(77)
For $`q1`$, when $`b_0=1`$, $`Z=Z_0`$, we return to the 1D formula (32), and for $`q1`$, when $`b_01`$, we obtain $`v_{max}2\omega _zZ`$. Thus, with increase of the number of atoms not only longitudinal size $`Z`$ increases, but also the coefficient of proportionality between $`v_{max}`$ and $`\omega _zR`$ increases from $`\sqrt{2}`$ to $`2`$.

Asymptotic distribution of velocities as well as the expression for the release energy hold their form (33),(34), where $`v_{max}`$ is given by (77). Dependence of the release energy on the number of atoms $`N`$ is shown in Fig. 2.

### III.2 Pancake trap

For pancake trap with TF distribution of density in the transverse direction, we take the variational trial function in the form

$$\psi =A\sqrt{1\frac{r^2}{w_{}^2}}\mathrm{exp}\left(\frac{z^2}{2w_z^2}\right)\mathrm{exp}\left[\frac{i}{2}(\alpha _{}^2r^2+\alpha _z^2z^2)\right],$$
(78)
where the time-dependent parameters $`A,`$ $`w_{},`$ $`w_z,`$ $`\alpha _{},`$ $`\alpha _z`$ are connected due to the normalization condition (3) by the relation

$$A=\left(\frac{2N}{\pi ^{3/2}}\frac{1}{w_{}^2w_z}\right)^{1/2}.$$
(79)
Substitution of (78) into (4),(5) yields after integration the averaged Lagrangian

$$\begin{array}{c}\hfill \frac{L}{N}=\left(\frac{\mathrm{}^2}{2}\frac{d\alpha _{}}{dt}+\frac{\mathrm{}^2}{2m}\alpha _{}^2+\frac{1}{2}m\omega _{}^2\right)\frac{w_{}^2}{3}\\ \hfill +\left[\frac{\mathrm{}^2}{2}\frac{d\alpha _z}{dt}+\frac{\mathrm{}^2}{2m}\left(\frac{1}{w_z^4}+\alpha _z^2\right)+\frac{1}{2}m\omega _{}^2\lambda ^2\right]\frac{w_z^2}{2}+\frac{8}{3\sqrt{2\pi }}\frac{Na_s\mathrm{}^2}{m}\frac{1}{w_{}^2w_z},\end{array}$$
(80)
where we have neglected the term $`1/w_{}^4`$ which is much less than $`\alpha _{}^2`$ due to the condition $`Na_s/a_z1`$ of applicability of the TF approximation in the radial direction.

The Lagrangian (80) leads to the relations (65) and to equations of motion for widths:

$$\ddot{w}_{}+\omega _{}^2w_{}=\frac{16}{\sqrt{2\pi }}\frac{Na_s\mathrm{}^2}{m^2}\frac{1}{w_{}^3w_z},$$
(81)
$$\ddot{w}_z+\lambda ^2\omega _{}^2w_z=\frac{\mathrm{}^2}{m^2w_z^3}+\frac{16}{\sqrt{2\pi }}\frac{Na_s\mathrm{}^2}{m^2}\frac{1}{w_{}^2w_z^2},$$
(82)
which in dimensionless variables

$$b_{}=\frac{w_{}}{R_0},b_z=\frac{w_z}{a_z},\tau =\omega _{}t,$$
(83)
where $`a_z=a_{}/\sqrt{\lambda }`$, take the form

$$\frac{d^2b_{}}{d\tau ^2}+b_{}=\frac{1}{b_{}^3b_z},$$
(84)
$$\frac{d^2b_z}{d\tau ^2}+\lambda ^2b_z=\frac{\lambda ^2}{b_z^3}+\frac{\lambda ^2q}{3}\frac{1}{b_{}^2b_z^2}.$$
(85)
The parameter

$$q=\left(\frac{R_0}{\lambda a_z}\right)^2$$
(86)
measures the strength of the nonlinear pressure in the axial direction. If $`q1`$, then we can neglect the second term in the right-hand side of (85) and obtain the stationary solution $`b_{}=b_z=1`$ which corresponds to 2D approximation of Section II. It is easy to see that in this case Eq. (84) reduces for the case of free axial expansion to (53).

The equilibrium values of $`b_{}`$ and $`b_z`$ are determined by the equations

$$b_{z0}=b_0^4,\frac{1}{b_0^{16}}=1+\frac{q}{3}\frac{1}{b_0^6},$$
(87)
which again coincide with equations of Das02-1  up to the notation. They determine the state of BEC before expansion. Expansion of BEC after switching off the radial trap is described by the equations

$$\frac{d^2b_{}}{d\tau ^2}=\frac{1}{b_{}^3b_z},\frac{d^2b_z}{d\tau ^2}+\lambda ^2b_z=\frac{\lambda ^2}{b_z^3}+\frac{\lambda ^2q}{3}\frac{1}{b_{}^2b_z^2},$$
(88)
which can be solved numerically with the initial conditions (74), where $`b_0`$ and $`b_{z0}`$ are determined by eqs. (87). The dependence of $`R_{max}=Rb_{}(t)/b_0`$ and $`b_z=w_z/a_z`$, where $`R=R_0b_0`$ is the initial radius of the condensate, is shown in Fig. 3 for different values of the number of atoms $`N`$.

For $`a_z/a_sNa_z\lambda ^2/a_s`$ we return to the analytical solution of Section 2. For $`N>a_z\lambda ^2/a_s`$ the evolution starts from axial width $`w_{z0}`$ greater than the quantum oscillator length $`a_z`$ (i.e. $`b_{z0}>1`$) and $`b_z1`$ for $`\tau \mathrm{}`$. The radial expansion for $`\tau 1`$ tends to the motion by inertia with constant velocities of atoms. The maximal radial velocity can be found with the use of conservation law of Eqs. (88),

$$\left(\frac{db_{}}{d\tau }\right)^2+\frac{3}{\lambda ^2q}\left[\frac{1}{2}\left(\frac{db_z}{d\tau }\right)^2+\frac{\lambda ^2}{2}\left(b_z^2+\frac{1}{b_z^2}\right)\right]+\frac{1}{b_{}^2b_z}=\mathrm{const}.$$
(89)
which yields

$$\dot{b}_{,max}=\sqrt{\frac{1}{b_0^2b_{z0}}+\frac{3}{2q}\left(b_{z0}\frac{1}{b_{z0}}\right)^2}.$$
(90)
Then for maximal velocity we obtain

$$v_{max}=\frac{dR_{max}}{dt}|_t\mathrm{}=\omega _{}R\sqrt{\frac{1+3b_{z0}^2}{2(1+b_{z0}^2)}}.$$
(91)
For $`q1`$, when $`b_{z0}=1`$, $`R=R_0`$, we return to the 2D formula (59), and for $`q1`$, when $`b_{z0}1`$, we obtain $`v_{max}\sqrt{3/2}\omega _{}R`$. Asymptotic distribution of velocities as well as the expression for the release energy hold their form (60),(61), where $`v_{max}`$ is given by (91). Dependence of the release energy on the number of atoms $`N`$ is shown in Fig. 4.

## IV Discussion

Here we compare the theory with available experimental data.

Expansion of the condensate in quasi-1D waveguide was studied experimentally in Bongs01 . In this experiment, the half-length of the condensate axial size was $`Z100\mu `$m, and the time of transition to expansion by inertia was about $`20`$ms which gives $`\omega _z50`$s<sup>-1</sup>. Then formula (32) gives the value of the maximal velocity

$$v_{max}\sqrt{2}Z\omega _z7\mathrm{mm}/\mathrm{s}$$

which, in view of our approximate estimates of relevant parameters, agrees very well with the experimental value $`v_{max}5.9`$mm/s.

Free expansion of BEC in an array of 2D traps has been investigated in Morsch02 . It is clearly seen in Fig. 2 of this paper that no axial expansion is observed what means that the condensate is effectively split into several independent condensates confined in the individual lattice wells. Therefore we can apply 2D theory to description of free radial expansion of each separate condensate. From Fig. 2 of Morsch02  we find that maximal radial velocity is equal to $`v_{max}1.51.7`$mm/s, the initial radius is $`R13\mu `$m, and the radial trap frequency is $`\omega _{}132\mathrm{s}^1`$. Then formula (59) gives

$$v_{max}R\omega _{}1.7\mathrm{mm}/\mathrm{s}$$

in excellent agreement with the above experimental value. Thus, as we see, the theory agrees with experimental data. Experimentally observed deviations from theoretical predictions could serve as indications on realization of non-mean-field regimes of BEC behavior.

In conclusion, we have considered in detail the theory of one- and two-dimensional expansion of BEC. Three-dimensional effects have been estimated with the use of variational approach. Good agreement with the available experimental data is found.

### Acknowledgements

I am grateful to F.Kh. Abdullaev, V.A. Brazhnyi, A. Gammal, V.V. Konotop, R.A. Kraenkel, and L. Tomio for valuable discussions. I thank also the staff of Instituto de Física Teórica for kind hospitality. This work was supported by FAPESP (Brazil).


text:
# Measuring Global Galaxy Metallicities Using Emission Line Equivalent Widths

## 1 Introduction

Abundances of chemical elements in galaxies are commonly measured using the emission lines emitted by astrophysical nebulae (e.g., see Osterbrock 1989). Recombination lines of hydrogen (e.g., the Balmer series) or helium and forbidden lines of singly and doubly ionized carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, neon, and sulfur are among the strongest observable lines in the visible and ultraviolet spectrum. The relative strengths of each emission line, combined with some knowledge of the temperature and density of the nebulae, provide information about the relative and absolute abundances of each ion. Chemical analyses of individual nebulae have been used to test nucleosynthesis models of stars, the chemical evolutionary history of galaxies, and nucleosynthesis in the big bang (review by Aller 1990; Pagel 1998). Even integrated spectra of entire galaxies may be used to estimate the overall degree of chemical enrichment of a galaxy (Kobulnicky, Kennicutt, & Pizagno 1998).

Observational techniques sometimes permit the relative fluxes of emission lines from galaxies to be measured with a high degree of precision. However, in the current generation of wide-field galaxy surveys on multi-object spectrographs, flux calibration is frequently problematic due to unfavorable observing conditions or instrumental effects such as a variation in system response over the field of view. In addition, the traditional line ratio for reddening determination is $`H\alpha /H\beta `$, but for redshifts greater than $`z0.3`$ the $`H\alpha `$ line is not available, and these galaxies rarely have sufficient signal-to-noise in their spectra to attempt a reddening derivation from the higher-order Balmer lines. For such surveys, it is still desirable to extract chemical information from the data, where possible.

In this paper we explore the possibility of estimating mean gas-phase oxygen abundances for galaxies based the equivalent widths (rather than fluxes) of strong Balmer $`H\beta `$ recombination line and forbidden \[O II\] and \[O III\] emission lines. This method essentially uses the underlying stellar continuum as a crude flux calibrator, and has the advantage that any reddening affecting the stars and gas equally will be automatically removed. While we would not expect the equivalent-width method to be as accurate as the traditional method, particularly for individual objects, we find that it works sufficiently well to enable us to measure approximate oxygen abundances in relatively faint, intermediate-redshift galaxies.

Our approach is to develop the method from basic principles, and to test and empirically calibrate it using three spectroscopic galaxy datasets, and in the end compare the oxygen abundance indicator $`R_{23}`$ to the quantity $`EWR_{23}`$ derived from traditional line fluxes and flux ratios to results using only the equivalent widths and equivalent width ratios. The thesis of this paper is that even when the dereddened line flux ratio $`R_{23}`$ is not available, a corresponding ratio of equivalent widths can still provide an estimate of the oxygen abundance.

This new method is applied to the study of abundances in a set of intermediate-redshift galaxies observed as part of the Deep Extragalactic Evolutionary Probe (DEEP) spectroscopic survey in the Groth Strip (DGSS) presented in a companion paper, Kobulnicky et al. (2003; Ke03).

## 2 Gas-phase Oxygen Abundance Measurements from Emission Lines

Standard techniques for measuring chemical abundances in astrophysical nebulae from the fluxes and flux ratios of nebular emission lines are reviewed in Osterbrock (1989). The most direct and reliable techniques involve measuring a suite of temperature-sensitive and density-sensitive line ratios to determine the physical conditions of the plasma. In the absence of high signal-to-noise data measuring temperature–sensitive line ratios (e.g., \[O III\] $`\lambda `$4363/\[O III\] $`\lambda `$5007), the default diagnostic for measuring the oxygen abundance of ionized nebulae has become the ratio of strong oxygen emission lines $`R_{23}(I_{3727}+I_{4959}+I_{5007})/I_{H\beta }`$ (Pagel et al. 1979). Subsequently, many authors have developed formulations relating this strong line ratio to the gas-phase oxygen abundance (e.g., Edmunds & Pagel 1984; McCall, Rybski & Shields 1985; Dopita & Evans 1986; McGaugh 1991). Most modern calibrations relating $`R_{23}`$ to oxygen abundance include a measure of the ionization parameter, such as $`O_{32}(I_{4959}+I_{5007})/I_{3727}I_{[OIII]}/I_{[OII]}`$ as a second parameter (e.g., McGaugh 1991; Pilyugin 2001).

While the $`R_{23}`$ method was developed primarily for individual HII regions, Kobulnicky, Kennicutt, & Pizagno (1998; KKP) have shown that this approach is valid even when applied to the integrated spectra of galaxies as a means of estimating an average O/H abundance for the galaxy as a whole. Even when the signal to noise ratio of these lines is as low as 8:1 or when a spectroscopic observation encompasses a range of metallicities and ionization conditions within a galaxy, this ratio provides a rough, but reliable, estimate of the mean gas-phase oxygen abundance when used in conjunction with the appropriate calibration relating $`R_{23}`$ to $`O/H`$. At this signal-to-noise ratio, the associated uncertainty on the oxygen abundance due to line measurement error is typically comparable to the uncertainty due to the calibration of the $`R_{23}`$ vs. O/H relationship: $`0.15`$ dex. In this paper we show that the uncertainty introduced by substituting emission line equivalent widths is less than these other sources of uncertainty, and thereby establish a new method for measuring interstellar medium oxygen abundances.

## 3 Justification of the Equivalent Width Method

The original $`R_{23}`$ method involves line ratios, so we consider the effects of using equivalent width ratios in place of flux ratios. For generality, we include the effects of reddening in the discussion, assuming the traditional “screen” model. The equivalent width111We adopt the sign convention that emission line equivalent widths are positive. can be written as

$$W_\lambda =\frac{F_{\lambda 1}}{F_{C\lambda 1}},$$
(1)
where $`F_\lambda `$ represents the line flux and $`F_{C\lambda }`$ is the underlying continuum flux. The fluxes do not need to be calibrated, since the calibration affects both quantities equally. The dereddened, calibrated flux value for a line, $`I_\lambda `$, or continuum, $`F_\lambda ^0`$, is given by

$$I_\lambda =F_\lambda ^0=F_\lambda \times 10^{c(1+f(\lambda ))},$$
(2)
where $`c`$ is the logarithmic attenuation at $`H\beta `$ and $`f(\lambda )`$ is a function describing the reddening curve (see Seaton 1979). Combining these leads to a general line ratio formulation of

$$\frac{I_{\lambda 1}}{I_{\lambda 2}}=\frac{W_{\lambda 1}}{W_{\lambda 2}}\frac{F_{C\lambda 1}}{F_{C\lambda 2}}10^{c(f(\lambda 1)f(\lambda 2))}=\frac{W_{\lambda 1}}{W_{\lambda 2}}\alpha ,$$
(3)
where we group all the continuum and reddening terms into the factor $`\alpha `$. Note that the continuum will be attenuated by an amount characterized by $`c^{}`$, and reddened by (presumably) the same reddening law. Thus,

$$\alpha =\frac{F_{C\lambda 1}^0}{F_{C\lambda 2}^0}10^{(cc^{})(f(\lambda 1)f(\lambda 2))}.$$
(4)
The factor $`\alpha `$ contains two unknowns, the ratio of the non-reddened continuum fluxes, which depends on the underlying stellar population, and the difference in the attenuation of the emitting gas and the continuum light. Note that values of $`c`$ can range from zero to quite large for individual HII regions, although large values are severely deweighted in the average over an entire galaxy. Typical derived values are in the range 0 to 1, with a median value around 0.3 (McCall et al. 1985; Olofsson 1995). Values of $`c^{}`$ can be estimated from the relation $`c^{}=1.47E_{BV}`$ from Seaton. For $`E_{BV}`$ in a typical range of 0–0.2, $`c^{}`$ 0–0.3. In physically realistic situations, we would expect some correlation of $`c`$ and $`c^{}`$, and also that ($`cc^{}`$) $``$ 0.

Let us now consider the specific line ratios of interest for the $`R_{23}`$ method. The first is $`I_{[OIII]}/I_{H\beta }`$. For the purposes of reddening correction, we adopt the wavelength of the stronger \[O III\] $`\lambda `$5007 line. The value of $`\alpha `$ in this case is

$$\alpha _{\beta 3}=\frac{F_{C5007}^0}{F_{C4861}^0}10^{(cc^{})(0.034)}.$$
(5)
Due to the proximity of these emission lines in wavelength, we expect the flux ratios of the underlying stellar population to be very close to unity. Similarly, for realistic $`0<(cc^{})<1`$, the reddening factor will be between unity and 0.92. Thus, for this line ratio, $`\alpha 1`$, and we will ignore it in further discussion. To a very good approximation,

$$\frac{I_{[OIII]}}{I_{H\beta }}\frac{W_{[OIII]}}{W_{H\beta }}.$$
(6)
The second ratio, $`I_{[OII]}/I_{H\beta }`$, is more problematic; for these lines,

$$\alpha _{2\beta }=\frac{F_{C3727}^0}{F_{C4861}^0}10^{(cc^{})(0.255)}.$$
(7)
In principle, we could estimate $`\alpha _{2\beta }`$ from a detailed spectral analysis of the flux-calibrated, integrated stellar spectrum and Balmer line ratios, but for faint, galaxies with redshifts $`z>0.3`$ we will have neither the signal-to-noise nor access to the H$`\alpha `$ line in order to do this. In practice, we need to adopt an appropriate average value of $`\alpha _{2\beta }`$ determined by other means.

Galaxy light tends to be dominated by A main sequence and G and K giants (e.g., Morgan & Mayall 1957; Pritchet 1977; Kobulnicky & Gebhardt 2000), and assuming an underlying stellar spectrum composed of a linear combination of these two spectral types implies that the dereddened flux ratio of the continuum ranges from $``$1 for late-B stars to $``$0.4 for mid-G giants to $``$0.2 for early-K giants (although galaxies whose $`\lambda `$3727 flux is dominated by K stars is unlikely to have any line emission from star formation). Examining the spectra in Kennicutt (1992b) shows the $`\lambda `$3727-to-$`\lambda `$4861 ratio of the continuum fluxes in galaxies with obvious emission lines ranging from $``$0.4–1.0; if these were dereddened the range would shift upwards and might possibly narrow somewhat.

On the other hand, the reddening correction ranges from 1 to 1.8 for realistic values $`0(cc^{})1`$, with a typical likely difference $`(cc^{})0.3`$ giving a reddening factor of $``$1.2. Combining the reddening and stellar population factors leads to an expected value of $`\alpha _{2\beta }0.84\pm 0.3`$. This expected average value for $`\alpha _{2\beta }`$ differs from unity by less than 0.1 dex.

We find the $`R_{23}`$ measure can now be expressed

$$R_{23}=\mathrm{log}\frac{I_{[OII]}+I_{[OIII]}}{I_{H\beta }}=\mathrm{log}\frac{\alpha _{2\beta }W_{[OII]}+W_{[OIII]}}{W_{H\beta }}.$$
(8)
Not surprisingly, the $`R_{23}`$ measured using equivalent widths and an adopted average value for $`\alpha _{2\beta }`$ will be most in error when \[O II\] dominates \[O III\].

The final line ratio of interest is the ionization parameter, and it is easy to see that

$$\frac{I_{[OIII]}}{I_{[OII]}}\frac{W_{[OIII]}}{\alpha _{23}W_{[OII]}}.$$
(9)
The value $`\alpha _{23}\alpha _{2\beta }`$ to a very good approximation, so at this point we will drop the subscripts and simply refer to “$`\alpha `$” for either of these quantities. Comparing the ratios above is probably the easiest means to empirically estimate an average value for $`\alpha `$. While it would be equally valid to estimate $`\alpha `$ from the \[O II\] and H$`\beta `$ ratios, the H$`\beta `$ equivalent width can be contaminated by underlying stellar absorption.

## 4 Data Selection and Analysis

In order to empirically measure an average value of $`\alpha `$ and to confirm the validity of using equivalent width line ratios in estimating $`R_{23}`$, we compiled three sets of emission-line spectra of nearby galaxies. The first set consists of 16 objects with spatially-integrated spectra from the 55-object spectroscopic galaxy atlas of Kennicutt (1992a,b; K92) plus six additional emission-line objects from KKP. We refer to this sample as the K92+ sample. The K92+ spectra are produced by drifting a longslit across each galaxy and have spectral resolutions of 5-7 Å (K92) and 3 Å (KKP). The 16 K92 galaxies in our subsample are the strongest emission-line objects where global metallicity measurements are possible. The full set of K92 galaxies represents a range of morphological types from Sa to Im, but it includes only the bright galaxies of each type. The KKP galaxies are all underluminous, dwarf emission-line galaxies. For a second local sample, we examined the 198-galaxy Nearby Field Galaxy Survey (Jansen et al. 2000a,b; NFGS), which is selected from the CfA redshift catalog (Huchra et al. 1983). From this spatially-integrated spectroscopic survey, we culled 98 objects with measurable $`H\beta `$, \[O III\] and \[O II\] emission lines. These spectra have a resolution of 6 Å and include a larger range of luminosity ($`14<M_B<22`$) and surface brightnesses than K92+ while spanning morphological types. The K92+ objects have a higher fraction of star-forming galaxies (objects with strong emission lines) compared to the NFGS sample. As a third local sample, we used emission-line selected galaxies in the Kitt Peak National Observatory Spectroscopic Survey (KISS; Salzer et al. 2000). KISS is a large-area objective prism survey of local ($`z<0.09`$) galaxies selected by strong $`H\alpha `$ emission, and thus, preferentially contains objects with active star formation. While high-quality slit spectroscopy has been obtained for $``$519 KISS galaxies (Melbourne & Salzer 2002), 396 galaxies lack \[O II\] measurements, leaving 123 galaxies. These remaining spectra have 5–8 Å resolution, and are analyzed in Salzer et al. (2003).

In summary, the 22 K92+, 98 NFGS, and 123 KISS galaxies were selected from their larger parent samples because of strong emission lines suitable for nebular metallicity measurement. Following KKP, we chose only galaxies with detectable \[O II\]$`\lambda `$3727, \[O III\]$`\lambda `$4959, \[O III\]$`\lambda `$5007, and H$`\beta `$ emission lines. Only galaxies where all four emission lines were measured with a S/N of 8:1 or greater were retained. This selection criterion preferentially includes galaxies with high equivalent width lines, but it also includes galaxies with low equivalent width lines where the continuum is smooth and well-measured.

For each galaxy in the K92+ sample we measured the emission-line fluxes and equivalent widths manually using Gaussian fits. For the NFGS and KISS surveys, we adopted the published emission-line fluxes and equivalent widths. Dereddened emission-line fluxes were computed for all three samples by comparing the observed $`F_{H\alpha }/F_{H\beta }`$ ratios to theoretical ratios.222 $`I_{H\alpha }/I_{H\beta }`$ = 2.75-2.86 for wide temperature range, e.g., (Hummer & Storey 1987). Here we assumed fixed electron temperature of 12,000 K so that $`I_{H\alpha }/I_{H\beta }`$ = 2.85. The line fluxes are dereddened using the law of Seaton (1979) as parameterized by Howarth (1983) and as described in Kobulnicky & Skillman (1996). We did not correct the Balmer emission lines for underlying stellar absorption. The effects of Balmer absorption by the stellar population are discussed in Section 5.3

While the K92+KKP sample consists entirely of starforming galaxies, several low-level AGN are known to exist in the NFGS. These four objects are not included in the our subsample. The 123 KISS galaxies included here do not contain any AGN, as they were selected to be conventional starforming galaxies based on analysis high-quality spectroscopic observations (Salzer 2003). In any case, the presence of AGN among the samples would not have a significant bearing on the results of this paper since we are interested in comparing observable properties of emission lines rather than deriving physical quantities such as density or metallicity which are sensitive to the nature of the ionizing source.

## 5 Analysis of Emission Line Quantities

### 5.1 \[O II\] and \[O III\] Equivalent Widths versus Fluxes

Figure 1 compares the oxygen and hydrogen emission-line flux ratios to equivalent width ratios as a function of emission line strength and $`BV`$ color for the K92+ and NFGS samples. Solid symbols denote the Nearby Field Galaxy Sample while crosses denote the K92+ galaxies. The upper left panel compares the ratio of dereddened \[O II\] to $`H\beta `$ fluxes, $`I_{[OII]}/I_{H\beta }`$, versus the ratio of \[O II\] to $`H\beta `$ equivalent widths, $`W_{[OII]}/W_{H\beta }`$. A solid line marks the 1-to-1 correspondence. There is a good correlation between the two quantities, indicating that strong-line equivalent widths are a good surrogate for dereddened line fluxes. The RMS deviation from the 1-to-1 correspondence is $`\sigma (\mathrm{log}[W_{[OII]}/W_{H\beta }])=0.11`$ dex for the combined K92+NFGS samples. Similarly, the panel at top right shows the $`I_{[OIII]}/I_{H\beta }`$ versus $`W_{[OIII]}/W_{H\beta }`$ ratios and indicates that these equivalent width ratios are an excellent substitute for dereddened line fluxes, as expected. The RMS deviation from the 1-to-1 correspondence is $`\sigma (\mathrm{log}[W_{[OIII]}/W_{H\beta }])=0.05`$ dex for the combined K92+NFGS samples.

The lower panels of Figure 1 show residuals from the 1-to-1 line as functions of $`W_{H\beta }`$, $`W_{[OII]}`$, the ratio $`W_{[OIII]}/W_{[OII]}`$ and galaxy color. The K92+ and NFGS galaxies have very small residuals in the right column which compares \[O III\] to $`H\beta `$ ratios. Although small, the NFGS residuals are slightly systematic, with an offset of 0.07 dex. The excellent correspondence of \[O III\] fluxes to equivalent widths may be easily understood since the \[O III\] $`\lambda \lambda `$4959,5007 lines are close in wavelength to H$`\beta `$ so that neither changes in the underlying galaxy continuum light nor relative extinction will alter this ratio. The same data is shown for the \[O II\] to $`H\beta `$ ratios in the left column. Here, the K92+ and NFGS galaxies have small, slightly-systematic residuals, particularly as a function of color. In these cases, $`\alpha `$ is unlikely to be quite near to unity. There seems to be a systematic offset between the NFGS and K92+ sample, possibly caused by a systematic overestimate of the reddening correction to the \[O II\] $`\lambda `$3727 flux due to low spectral resolution in the K92 atlas. Within the NFGS sample, the largest residuals are seen in the reddest galaxies, consistent with expectations that the reddest galaxies will have the smallest value of $`\alpha `$ (see Equation 9). The systematic trend seen in the residuals with respect to $`W_{H\beta }`$ is most likely a reflection of a correlation between $`W_{H\beta }`$ and color, i.e., redder galaxies have relatively less star formation and hence relatively weaker $`W_{H\beta }`$. These same galaxies with low $`W_{H\beta }`$ will also be the most affected by lack of correction for underlying stellar absorption. Nevertheless, the bulk of the residuals are near zero, indicating that $`\alpha `$ has a typical value near unity.

Figure 2 shows the same comparison as Figure 1 but now for the KISS and K92+ samples. There appear to be somewhat more scatter in the KISS sample than in NFGS, and here the RMS deviation from the 1-to-1 correspondence is $`\sigma (\mathrm{log}[W_{[OII]}/W_{H\beta }])=0.15`$ dex and $`\sigma (\mathrm{log}[W_{[OIII]}/W_{H\beta }])=0.04`$ dex for the combined K92+KISS samples.

The lower panels of Figure 2 show residuals from the 1-to-1 line as a function of equivalent width and galaxy color. The right column shows very small and non-systematic residuals, indicating excellent correspondence between \[O III\] equivalent widths and fluxes for all KISS galaxy colors and line ratios. However, the left column shows significant dispersion of 0.15 dex between $`\mathrm{log}[W_{[OII]}/W_{H\beta }]`$ and $`\mathrm{log}[I_{[OII]}/I_{H\beta }]`$. The residuals are not correlated with galaxy color or equivalent width, suggesting that measurement errors and/or uncertainties in the reddening correction are responsible for the dispersion. The \[O II\]/H$`\beta `$ residuals appear slightly offset from the zero line, indicating $`\alpha `$ slightly above unity on the average.

### 5.2 The Ionization Parameter \[O III\]/\[O II\]

We consider next the ratio of the \[O II\] and \[O III\] lines, as this was shown to be the most direct way to estimate the unknown value $`\alpha `$. In addition, the quantity $`I_{[OIII]}/I_{[OII]}`$ is a measure of the hardness” of the ionizing photons, and is used in the $`R_{23}`$ to O/H conversion. Modern calibrations relating $`R_{23}`$ to oxygen abundance include a measure of the ionization parameter, usually $`O_{32}(I_{4959}+I_{5007})/I_{3727}=I_{[OIII]}/I_{[OII]}`$ as a second parameter (e.g., McGaugh 1991; Pilyugin 2001).

In Figure 3, we compare the equivalent width and flux ratios for the K92+ galaxies (crosses) and NFGS galaxies (solid symbols). For completeness sake, on the left we plot $`W_{[OIII]}/W_{[OII]}`$ against the observed $`F_{[OIII]}/F_{[OII]}`$ ratio; there is a clear correlation, but the points are scattered mostly below the 1-to-1 correlation (shown by the line), consistent with the lack of reddening correction. Residuals to the 1-to-1 line are shown in the lower panels, plotted against other galaxy parameters The strongest correlation is seen against color, which is completely expected: the ratio $`(W_{[OIII]}/W_{[OII]})/(F_{[OIII]}/F_{[OII]})`$ is identical to the ratio of the continua, $`F_{C\lambda 3727}/F_{C\lambda 4959,5007}`$, which will be strongly correlated with $`BV`$. Most of the other systematic trends in the residuals can be explained as correlations of the other parameters with $`BV`$.

The right column shows a comparison of equivalent width ratios to the dereddened line ratios. This is of considerable interest, since the ratio $`(W_{[OIII]}/W_{[OII]})/(I_{[OIII]}/I_{[OII]})`$ is a direct measure of $`\alpha `$ (see Equation 9). Here there is a much tighter correlation, although there are still some systematic trends in the residuals, again most strongly connected to color. We note, however, $`W_{[OIII]}/W_{[OII]}`$ is actually very close to $`I_{[OIII]}/I_{[OII]}`$, which confirms that $`\alpha `$ is near unity on the average. We also note that there appears to be a systematic offset between the NFGS and K92+ galaxies, perhaps related to the offset seen in the NFGS \[O III\] data (Figure 1, middle column). While we might try to define a color-dependent term for $`\alpha `$, it is unclear how much of the systematic trend is due to the offset between samples. Without any color-dependent term, the scatter in $`\alpha `$ about unity is only $`\sigma =0.12`$ dex.

Figure 4 shows the same comparison for the KISS and K92+ samples. Here, the tight relationship between $`BV`$ and the residuals to $`(W_{[OIII]}/W_{[OII]})/(F_{[OIII]}/F_{[OII]})`$ is surprisingly lacking. Since we are effectively comparing $`F_{C\lambda 3727}/F_{C\lambda 4959,5007}`$, measured spectroscopically, with the $`BV`$ color determined from images, this suggests considerable scatter in the continuum measurements. Since the KISS data span a redshift range up to $`0<z<0.1`$, it is possible that some of the scatter is due to \[O III\] contamination of the $`V`$ broadband flux, but this would tend to reduce the $`BV`$ colors of those objects with high $`W_{[OIII]}`$ at higher $`z`$. When we correct for this in a reasonable fashion, we do not see a significant reduction in the scatter, so we must assume the scatter due to some other reason. The cause is almost certainly that the KISS spectroscopy is not integrated across the galaxy, so the spectra tend to be dominated by the nuclear regions, whereas the $`BV`$ colors are from the integrated galaxy light.

Looking at the dereddened line ratios in these data, we do not find any trend in $`\alpha `$ with color, although such a trend might be obscured by the scatter. Nevertheless, the scatter about unity is only $`\sigma =0.14`$ dex, and again a value of $`\alpha `$ near unity is indicated.

In summary, the local data empirically confirm that adopting $`\alpha =1`$ is a reasonable approximation, with errors around 35%, and therefore the ratio $`W_{[OIII]}/W_{[OII]}`$ is a reasonable substitute for the ionization parameter, $`I_{[OIII]}/I_{[OII]}`$.

### 5.3 $`EWR_{23}`$ versus $`R_{23}`$

The previous sections suggest that the equivalent width ratios can be simply substituted into the $`R_{23}`$ formula, and here we provide a direct test of that. We define the measure

$$EWR_{23}\frac{W_{[OII]\lambda 3727}+W_{[OIII]\lambda 4959}+W_{[OIII]\lambda 5007}}{W_{H\beta }}.$$
(10)
which should be approximately equivalent to $`R_{23}`$. For completeness, we will compare $`EWR_{23}`$ against both the reddening-corrected $`R_{23}`$ and the analogous measure formed with non-corrected line fluxes, $`R_{23}^{}`$. Figure 5 (upper left panel) shows the comparison between $`R_{23}^{}`$ and $`EWR_{23}`$ for K92+ and NFGS galaxies constructed from the raw fluxes and equivalent widths. A solid line illustrates a 1-to-1 correspondence. The lower rows in the left column of Figure 5 show residuals from the 1-to-1 correspondence as a function of $`W_{H\beta }`$, $`W_{[OII]}`$, $`W_{[OIII]}/W_{[OII]}`$ and galaxy $`BV`$ color. The correlation between $`R_{23}^{}`$ and $`EWR_{23}`$ is strong but has considerable scatter. Formally, the RMS dispersion from the 1-to-1 relation is $`\sigma (\mathrm{log}[R_{23}^{}])=0.12`$ dex for the combined K92+NFGS samples.

The correlation is strongest for objects in the K92+ sample and for objects with large values of $`R_{23}^{}`$. Deviations from 1-to-1 are greatest for objects in the NFGS sample which have low $`W_{H\beta }`$, high $`W_{[OIII]}/W_{[OII]}`$ ratios, and red colors. These systematic residuals may be understood as a consequence of the lack of corrections for extinction. \[O II\] $`\lambda `$3727 is significantly affected by extinction compared to the H$`\beta `$ and \[O III\] lines. The measured \[O II\] flux is a lower limit to the true unextincted intensity whereas the measured \[O II\] equivalent width should be unaffected by extinction provided that the extinction toward the gas and stars are similar (but see Calzetti, Kinney & Storchi-Bergmann 1994 for evidence that this assumption is sometimes invalid). The strong systematic residuals with $`BV`$ color seen in the lower left panel is a most likely a consequence uncorrected extinction, since redder galaxies are often those with greater extinction.

In the right column of Figure 5 we show a similar comparison of $`EWR_{23}`$ with $`R_{23}`$, where $`R_{23}`$ has been corrected for reddening using the theoretical Balmer decrement. Here the correlation is much stronger. The strong correlation between galaxy color and residuals seen in left column is now mostly gone, suggesting that the \[O II\] line fluxes have been successfully corrected for reddening. The RMS dispersion from the 1-to-1 relation is $`\sigma (\mathrm{log}[R_{23}])=0.07`$ dex for the combined K92+NFGS samples. The ratio of equivalent widths is a good substitute for the reddening-corrected $`R_{23}`$ ratio. Use of equivalent widths will be superior to line ratios if the reddening corrections are not known, as in the case of galaxies for which the H$`\alpha `$/H$`\beta `$ ratio is not available (typically true for redshifts $`z>0.3`$). The residuals in the lower panels of column 2 are mostly symmetric about zero, with the largest scatter again occurring for objects with very low values of $`W_{H\beta }`$. Some of the systematic residuals are probably also caused by varying continuum shapes, especially among the NFGS, which affect the equivalent widths of the \[O II\] lines in a systematic manner which is related to galaxy color and the average age of the stellar population. In any case, the RMS of 0.07 dex in $`R_{23}`$ will often be on the same order as, or even less than the statistical measurement uncertainties on the strong line equivalent widths in high-redshift spectroscopic surveys, even when the signal-to-noise of the emission line equivalent widths is as low as 8:1.

Figure 6 shows a comparison of $`EWR_{23}`$ with $`R_{23}^{}`$ and $`R_{23}`$ for the K92+ and KISS galaxy samples. The left column shows the comparison of $`EWR_{23}`$ with $`R_{23}^{}`$ and the associated residuals from the 1-to-1 correspondence. There is a good correlation between $`EWR_{23}`$ with $`R_{23}^{}`$ in the upper left panel. The RMS dispersion from the 1-to-1 relation is $`\sigma (\mathrm{log}[R_{23}^{}])=0.11`$ dex for the combined K92+KISS samples. The left column shows systematic residuals with galaxy color and line strength indicating that reddening is significant for some galaxies. The right column again shows the comparison of $`EWR_{23}`$ with $`R_{23}`$ and the associated residuals as a function of equivalent width and galaxy color. The residuals for the KISS galaxies are now slightly smaller and much less systematic after application of a reddening correction. The RMS dispersion from the 1-to-1 relation is $`\sigma (\mathrm{log}[R_{23}])=0.09`$ dex for the combined K92+KISS samples. The residuals are larger than for the K92+ and NFGS objects, and the KISS galaxies do not show the systematics with galaxy color or line strengths and ratios which the NFGS galaxies exhibit. The lack of systematics with color is attributable to slit-vs-integrated light issues, but this does not explain the larger scatter or lack of systematics with pure line measures. This latter is possibly a result of the relative homogeneity of the KISS sample, as KISS galaxies have stronger emission lines and do no include the diversity of more quiescent galaxies with older stellar populations found in the NFGS.

#### 5.3.1 Effects of Stellar Balmer Absorption

Ideally, the quantity $`R_{23}`$ from which a metallicity is derived should be computed using an $`H\beta `$ line strength which has been corrected for both interstellar reddening and absorption by atmospheres of the underlying stellar population. In practice, the amount of underlying absorption is difficult to measure even under ideal circumstances with high signal-to-noise data. Spectra of distant galaxies frequently lack the signal-to-noise necessary to measure multiple Balmer lines and correct simultaneously for extinction and Balmer absorption in a self-consistent fashion. For galaxies with strong emission lines due to active star formation (i.e., $`W_{H\beta }>25`$ Å), a correction of a few Å to the $`H\beta `$ line will have a small impact on the derived $`R_{23}`$ or $`EWR_{23}`$. However, in galaxies dominated by older stellar populations with weak emission lines, $`R_{23}`$ or $`EWR_{23}`$ will depend sensitively on the correction for Balmer absorption.

Until this point in the analysis, we have not made any corrections for stellar Balmer absorption. The effect of underlying Balmer absorption (specifically the amount of absorption in the H$`\beta `$ line, $`W_{H\beta }(abs)`$ will depress the measured $`F_{H\beta }`$ and $`W_{H\beta }`$. This leads to systematically large $`R_{23}`$ or $`EWR_{23}`$, and systematically low oxygen abundances for objects on the upper (metal-rich) branch of the empirical calibrations.

The impact of stellar absorption can be assessed using Figure 7. Using the K92+ galaxy spectra, we measured several Balmer lines and performed a self-consistent reddening and stellar absorption solution for each galaxy (see Kobulnicky & Skillman, 1996, for additional details). The results indicated a range in underlying $`H\beta `$ absorption of $``$1–3 Å with an average value near 2 Å. From these data we calculate a quantity $`R_{23}^+`$ which includes the corrections for reddening and stellar absorption calculated for each galaxy. The upper left panel of Figure 7 compares the “raw” $`EWR_{23}`$ ratio with the quantity $`R_{23}^+`$; the correlation is modest, with a dispersion of $`\sigma (R_{23}^+)=0.14`$ dex and a systematic offset of 0.06 dex. The lower panels illustrate the nature of the residuals as a function of galaxy color and line strengths. As might be expected, galaxies with the lowest $`W_{H\beta }`$ are the most deviant, while galaxies with $`W_{H\beta }>20`$ show a much smaller dispersion. A more logical approach is also to add a correction to $`W_{H\beta }`$ for the underlying stellar absorption, forming a new quantity $`EWR_{23}^+`$. A 2 Å correction to $`W_{H\beta }`$ was chosen because it was the mean correction needed to produce $`R_{23}^+`$, and is consistent with mean corrections found for other galaxies (e.g., McCall et al. 1985; Olofsson 1995). The right top panel shows $`EWR_{23}^+`$ plotted against $`R_{23}^+`$. The residuals are now much smaller with $`\sigma (R_{23}^+)=0.08`$ dex and a systematic offset of less than 0.01 dex. In the absence of direct measurements of the Balmer absorption due to stellar populations, application of a 2 Å blanket correction to $`W_{H\beta }`$ appears to be prudent for the types of starforming galaxies in the K92+, DGSS and KISS samples. Samples including galaxies with older stellar populations may require larger corrections.

## 6 Discussion and Conclusions

The ratios of the equivalent widths of strong oxygen and hydrogen emission lines from the ionized component of distant galaxies can be used as a measure of the global ISM metallicity via the substitution of $`EWR_{23}`$ for $`R_{23}`$. We recommend the use of $`EWR_{23}^+`$ where the $`W_{H\beta }`$ has been corrected for stellar Balmer absorption assuming a mean correction of 2 Å. The typical dispersion from the 1-to-1 relation between either $`EWR_{23}`$ or $`EWR_{23}^+`$ and the canonical reddening and absorption-corrected $`R_{23}`$ ratio is $`\sigma (R_{23})=0.08`$ dex. Residuals are somewhat smaller ($`\sigma =0.05`$ dex) for galaxies with the largest emission-line equivalent widths (i.e., those having the largest rates of star formation per unit luminosity). The translation of these errors into errors in oxygen abundance will depend on the value of $`R_{23}`$, but for the upper-metallicity branch away from the “turnaround” point, the slope of log(O/H) vs log($`R_{23}`$) is $``$1.4 (Pilyugin 2001), so the addition error in log(O/H) would be $``$0.11 dex. Thus, the additional uncertainty introduced by translating a set of measured equivalent widths into the traditional $`R_{23}`$ flux ratio diagnostic is comparable to or less than the typical observational line measurement uncertainties and systematic errors in the $`R_{23}`$ to O/H calibration which run 0.15 dex in O/H (e.g., Kobulnicky, Kennicutt & Pizagno 1999 for a more detailed discussion of the error budget). We anticipate that the method tested here will be useful for performing rough chemical abundance estimates in large high-redshift galaxy samples. The approach described here will be most useful in a statistical sense when large numbers of objects are available for study. Possible applications include understanding the overall chemical evolution of star forming galaxies over large intervals of cosmic time (Kobulnicky et al. 2003) or assessing the impact of cluster environment and the intracluster medium on the chemical properties of the ISM within galaxies (e.g., Skillman et al. 1996).

John Salzer helped make this paper possible by providing the KISS data in tabulated form and by commenting on the manuscript. Detailed comments by an anonymous referee greatly improved the manuscript. We thank Sheila Kannappan for a helpful discussion about the NFGS. H. A. K. was supported by NASA through grant #HF-01090.01-97A awarded by the Space Telescope Science Institute which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc. for NASA under contract NAS 5-26555. This work was also made possible by funding from the National Science Foundation through grant AST-9529098, and NASA through NRA-00-01-LTSA-052. A. C. P. would like to dedicate this paper to Gary Grasdalen, an early mentor, with thanks.