text:
# High-velocity clouds and the Local Group

## 1. Introduction

The presence of high- and intermediate velocity clouds (IVCs and HVCs; gas with velocities deviating by more than $``$40 km s-1 from differential galactic rotation) has been known for four decades (Muller et al. 1963, Blaauw & Tolbert 1966). Some understanding has now been reached about the location and properties of many of these objects. The IVCs appear to have solar metallicity, z-heights of $``$1 kpc, and possibly represent the return flow of a Galactic-Fountain type circulation (see Wakker 2001 and references therein). The Magellanic Stream is a tidal stream extracted from the Small (and maybe also the Large) Magellanic Cloud (Gardiner & Noguchi 1996). One HVC (complex A) lies in the upper Galactic Halo ($`z`$=4.6–6.8 kpc; van Woerden et al. 1999). For several other HVCs the intensity of the detected H$`\alpha `$ emission also suggests similar z-heights (Weiner et al. 2001), though accurate distances remain unknown. HVC complex C clearly consists of gas that has never been part of the Milky Way before – it has low metallicity ($``$0.1 times solar; Wakker et al. 1999, Richter et al. 2001).

Although much progress has been made in the understanding of the HVCs, many questions remain. In particular, there is no consensus about the suggestion that many of the small HVCs represent the neutral gaseous component of dark matter halos distributed throughout the Local Group (Blitz et al. 1999). I will review this model (Sect. 2) and the evidence for and against it (Sect. 3). In Sects. 4 and 5, I will discuss the discovery of high-velocity O VI absorption and its relevance to the connection between HVCs and the Local Group.

## 2. I HVCs and the Local Group

Fairly early in the study of HVCs, it was suggested that they represented protogalaxies with distances on the order of 400 kpc (Verschuur 1969). Based on this suggestion, but using much more data Hulsbosch (1975) calculated the distances implied if the HVCs in his sample were gravitionally bound objects in virial equilibrium:

$$D_{vir}=f\frac{6\alpha \sigma ^2}{0.236SG}\mathrm{kpc},$$
(1)
where $`G`$ is Newton’s constant of gravity, $`S`$ is the integrated flux in Jy kms, 0.236 is a conversion factor to convert flux to mass, $`\sigma `$ is the observed velocity dispersion, $`\alpha `$ is the angular radius of the cloud, and $`f`$ is the ratio $`M`$(H I)/$`M`$(total). Hulsbosch (1975) assumed $`f`$=1, and thus found that the implied “virial distances” were typically 0.5–10 Mpc. He concluded that it was unlikely that the HVCs were gravitationally bound and distant.

Verschuur’s idea was revived by Blitz et al. (1999), who suggested that HVCs represent the neutral baryonic material in a ten times more massive dark matter halo. That is, Blitz et al. (1999) assumed $`f`$=0.1. Using the catalogue of Wakker & van Woerden (1991) they derived that the median distance of a virially stable HVC was reduced to $``$1 Mpc, and the median implied mass was $``$3$`\times `$107 M, with an integrated total mass in the HVCs of 1010 M. They combined these numbers with a basic model of the evolution of the Local Group that predicted the present-day locations and velocities of test particles.

Although Blitz et al. (1999) concluded that the predicted and observed distributions were similar, this conclusion has remained controversial. A major contribution of the Blitz et al. (1999) article was their effort to make testable predictions. These included: a) the HVCs should have subsolar metallicities; b) they should have undetectable H$`\alpha `$ emission; c) analogues should be seen in other groups and/or near other galaxies; d) with higher sensitivity many faint HVCs should be seen in the region around M 31. In the next section I will review the current status of these tests.

Following Blitz et al. (1999), Braun & Burton (1999) suggested that only the small HVCs (which they termed “compact HVCs” or CHVCs”) were distant Local Group objects. They followed this up by several studies, culminating in the series of papers by de Heij et al. (2002a,b,c). In the final version of their model, there were originally some 6000 CHVCs, but most are unstable against disruption by tides or ram pressure. About 1000 survive, but most are too faint to be detected, or have the wrong velocity to be considered an HVC, leaving just $``$150 CHVCs at present. Most lie within 300 kpc of either M 31 or the Milky Way. The total H I mass in these clouds is about 109 M, while the most massive CHVC has M$``$107 M. Thus, in this model, the CHVCs are about 10 times less massive and 5 times closer than in the Blitz et al. (1999) model.

## 3. Observational tests

### 3.1. Metallicities

Local Group HVCs should have subsolar metallicities. Reliable values are known for just two HVCs – complex C and the Magellanic Stream. Fox et al. (2004) summarize the determinations of S/H and O/H in complex C made by Wakker et al. (1999), Gibson et al. (2001), Richter et al. (2001), Collins et al. (2003) and Tripp et al. (2003), bringing them on the same solar abundances scale. (O/H) is 0.14–0.19 times solar, while (S II/H I) varies from 0.09 to 0.46 times solar, with a strong dependence on N(H I) that is clearly due to varying ionization. For the Magellanic Stream Lu et al. (1998) and Gibson et al. (2000) find (SII/HI)= 0.25–0.30 times solar, equal to the value expected for Magellanic gas.

A preliminary analysis of new data from the Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE) shows that HVC complex A ($`l`$$``$150, $`b`$$``$35, $`v`$$``$$``$150 km s-1) probably has Z$``$0.1 solar, complex WB ($`l`$$``$240, $`b`$$``$20, $`v`$$``$+100 km s-1) has Z$``$1 solar, complex WD ($`l`$$``$280, $`b`$$``$+25, $`v`$$``$+100 km s-1) has Z$``$0.1 solar, and cloud WW84 ($`l`$=125, $`b`$=+42, $`v`$=$``$205 km s-1) has Z$``$0.05 solar.

Clearly, some of the HVCs have strongly subsolar metallicities, showing that they are not Galactic clouds. For complex C we also know that the (N/O) ratio is ten times lower than that in the nearby ISM, and that it has relatively high D/H (Sembach et al. 2004). In the Local Group model, nearby low-metallicity HVCs like complex A and C are the gaseous component of a small halo dark-matter halo that has come close to the Milky Way. However, although low metallicities are expected in the Local Group model, it is not sufficient evidence. Complex C (and other HVCs) could be the remnant of a tidally stripped dwarf galaxy, whose stars are no longer recognizable. Or they could be condensations in a hot ($`T`$$`>`$106 K) extended ($`R`$$`>`$50 kpc), tenuous ($`n`$$`<`$10-4 cm-3) gaseous Galactic corona.

### 3.2. H$`\alpha `$ observations

Distant HVCs will only be ionized by the extra-galactic radiation field, which is insufficient to produce observable H$`\alpha `$ emission. However, H$`\alpha `$ emission is detected from many HVCs: Weiner & Williams (1996; the Magellanic Stream), Tufte et al. (1998; complexes A, C and M), Bland-Hawthorn et al. (1998; complex GP), Tufte et al. (2002; four CHVCs), Weiner (2003; complexes L, AC, GCN). Typical intensities lie in the range 0.1–0.3 Rayleigh, with a few limits $`<`$0.1 Rayleigh. The results of these now multitudinous detections of H$`\alpha `$ emission from HVCs imply that most of them must lie no more than several tens of kpc from the Milky Way. However, there are still many candidate Local Group HVCs whose H$`\alpha `$ emission has not yet been observed, so the case is not closed.

Maloney & Putman (2003) looked at this problem from the theoretical side. For CHVCs at distances of $``$1 Mpc, the implied H I volume densities are $``$3$`\times `$10-4 cm-3. With N(H I) a few 1019 cm-3 such clouds will be almost fully ionized by the extragalactic ionizing radiation field (5% neutral fraction). If the CHVCs also have a dark matter to baryon ratio of 10, the observed amounts of H I then imply that CHVCs should dominate the dynamics of the Local Group, and would have line widths much larger than is observed. If the CHVCs lie in the Galactic halo ($`D`$$`<`$200 kpc) their properties give consistent results.

### 3.3. HVCs near other galaxies and galaxy groups

Blitz et al. (1999) argued that searches for HVC analogues near other galaxies and in other galaxy groups were still rather limited and not quite sensitive enough. De Heij et al. (2002c) make the specific prediction that there are 95 CHVCs with mass larger than 3$`\times `$106 M, and 45 with mass $`>`$5$`\times `$106 M, but just 1 with M$``$107 M. If one were to observe the Local Group from a distance, these would be distributed over an area of some 1.5$`\times `$1 Mpc.

Since 1999 much data has appeared, with detection limits that should have been sufficient to find clouds with masses of 106 M. But no free-floating starless clouds have been found. For instance, Pisano et al. (2004) mapped part of two nearby galaxy groups with the VLA and the DRAO telescope with $``$1 arcmin ($``$10 kpc) resolution. The groups (GH 144 and GH 158, at 33 and 45 Mpc distance, with group radii of $``$1.5 Mpc) were found in the catalogue of Geller & Huchra (1983). They are fairly similar to the Local Group. GH 144 has two large spirals and one large elliptical, while there are 4 large spirals and 1 large elliptical in GH 158. Toward the centers of the pointings, the VLA data had a detection limit of 1–1.5$`\times `$106 M, or $``$1018 cm-2. At the group’s distances the VLA primary beam corresponds to $``$400 kpc. The DRAO data were a factor $``$20 less sensitive, but covered a 5 times larger area. For both groups, the VLA fields were centered on an UV-bright AGN, and pass about 450 kpc from the nearest group galaxy. Since these pointings cover $``$5–10% of the group’s area, the de Heij et al. (2002c) model predicts that on the order of 5–10 H I clouds should have been easily detectable. Two H I objects were detected in GH 144. However, inspection of the Digital Sky Survey shows the presence of a faint dwarf galaxy near both of these (see Fig. 1).

Another deep survey of Local Group analogues was done by Zwaan (2001). He did a total of 300 Arecibo pointings on 5 galaxy groups similar to the Local Group, with a detection limit of 7$`\times `$106 M. All detections could be attributed to optical galaxies. From a statistical analysis, he concluded that if $`f`$=0.1 there is room for at most $``$10 clouds with M(H I)$`>`$3$`\times `$107 M. However, if $`f`$=0.02 there could be 500 or more HVCs in the Local Group. A value of $`f`$=0.02 can be achieved if the HVCs consist of 20% H I and 80% H+, but it also implies that virially stable HVCs must be closer than 200 kpc on average.

A slightly different approach was taken by Miller et al. (2003), who made deep (detection limit $``$5$`\times `$105 M) H I maps of a $``$100$`\times `$100 kpc region around M 51 and M 83. M 51 has undergone a tidal interaction with NGC 5195 and lots of debris clouds are found around it (see Fig. 2). M 83 on the other hand is isolated and no HVCs are found away from the main disk, although there is gas with anomalous velocities up to 100 km s-1 projected on the disk of M 83.

In summary, although the low metallicities found for several HVCs are consistent with the Local Group hypothesis, the other tests proposed by Blitz et al. (1999) seem to fail. HVCs are usually detected in H$`\alpha `$. 107 M analogues are not found in other galaxy groups. Theoretical considerations about their state of ionization show that to get the observed H I column densities, the ensemble of distant and massive HVCs would be more massive than the Milky Way and M 31 combined. On the other hand, the limits set from H$`\alpha `$ and from observing other galaxy groups still allow for a population of clouds within $``$200 kpc from the Milky Way. The comparison with the M 51/M 83 H I maps suggests that if such a population exists, it might be related to tidal effects.

## 4. Highly ionized HVCs

A new angle on the possible relationship between HVCs and the Local Group has been provided by O VI absorption line data obtained using the Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE). This satellite was launched on 24 June 1999, and takes spectra between 912 and 1187 Å, with a velocity resolution of $``$20 km s-1 (Moos et al. 2000; Sahnow et al. 2000). This wavelength range includes the lines of O+5 at 1031.926 and 1031.617 Å. O+5 is a good tracer of gas with temperatures of a few 105 K, as it is difficult to create by photo-ionization. A survey of the O VI absorption toward 100 UV-bright extragalactic targets was completed in 2003 (Wakker et al. 2003; Savage et al. 2003, Sembach et al. 2003). In 59 of the sightlines a total of 84 high-velocity O VI components were detected, with velocities $`|v_{\mathrm{LSR}}|`$ between 100 and 450 km s-1. In the 18 months since the survey cut-off date this sample has grown to 117 high-velocity O VI components in 83 out of 138 sightlines. Figure 3 shows several examples of O VI spectra containing high-velocity O VI components.

Sembach et al. (2003) distinguished several different kinds of high-velocity O VI. Based on their velocities, six high-velocity O VI components can be identified as absorption in four nearby galaxies (M 31, M 32, M 33, M 101). Another three seem to be associated with extended halos of slightly more distant galaxies. Many are in or near directions where high-velocity H I is also found at the same velocity, particularly toward complexes A, C, WD, the Outer Arm and the Magellanic Stream. A detailed analysis of the available O VI, N V and C IV absorption for the complex C sightlines by Fox et al. (2004) suggests that the most likely explanation for the presence of hot gas associated with complex C is that this HVC is embedded in a $`T`$$`>`$106 K hot gaseous corona. A similar origin seems likely for the other associations between H I HVCs and O VI HVCs, although a detailed analysis of the physical conditions in these high-velocity O VI components is still lacking. Since the Magellanic Stream is about 50 kpc distant, the extent of the $`T`$$`>`$106 K corona must be at least 60 kpc.

Of the remaining sightlines with high-velocity O VI, four pass over the Galactic Center. Possibly this indicates the presence of an outflow, but much more study is needed. For nine high-velocity O VI components no obvious association with H I HVCs or galaxies can be found.

Of the remaining 48 high-velocity O VI features, 24 occur at high negative velocity, all at $`b`$$`<`$0, with $`l`$ between 15 and 140. Another 24 occur at high positive velocity, all at $`b`$$`>`$0, with $`l`$ between 170 and 310. There are several possible explanations for these absorption components.

A) Since about 2/3rds of the high-positive velocity O VI components show up as an extended wing on the lower-velocity Milky Way absorption, it is possible that these absorptions originate in outflowing hot gas, associated with a Galactic Fountain flow. This does not explain the high-negative velocities seen in the southern sky, however.

B) The velocity pattern of these components also reflects that of the Magellanic Stream. However, in the southern sky the H I velocities (as well as the predicted velocities for Stream gas) are much more negative than the velocities of these O VI absorptions. In fact, in many southern directions two high-velocity O VI components are seen, one of which has velocities similar to those expected

Figure 3. Examples of high-velocity O VI seen in FUSE spectra. The dotted vertical lines indicate the identified components. The thick black bars identify the high-velocity O VI: “C/WB/WD”= complex C/WB/WD. “MS”= Magellanic Stream, “LG”= possible Local Group gas, “EP”= extreme-positive velocity HVC.

and observed for the Stream. In the northern sky this separation is not as clear. The high-positive velocity H I in the Leading Arm of the Magellanic Stream extends to $`b`$$``$30, where only three sightlines are known. However, many (though not all) of the high-positive velocity O VI lies along the expected orbit of Stream gas.

C) It is notable that most Local Group galaxies in the southern sky have negative velocities, while in the northern sky most Local Group galaxies are observed at positive velocities. Therefore, the high-velocity O VI may originate in a hot gaseous filament extending between the Milky Way and M 31, through which the Milky Way is moving. Such an explanation fits very well with current hydrodynamical simulations of the universe (Cen & Ostriker 1999, Davé et al. 2001).

It remains unclear which of these three explanations is correct. More analysis is necessary.

## 5. Hot Local Group gas?

Observations relevant to this question are provided by the detection of O VII and O VIII absorption at X-ray wavelengths toward three targets (Nicastro et al. 2002, Fang et al. 2003, Rasmussen et al. 2003). Nicastro et al. (2003) claim that the high-velocity O VI absorptions have Local-Group like kinematics, as well as that the O VI, O VII, and O VIII absorption occur in the same 106-7 K hot gas. According to them the O VII, and O VIII must originate in very tenuous gas, implying a Mpc size scale. We now consider these claims in more detail.

We have done a more thorough analysis of the kinematics of HVCs (Wakker et al., in preparation), and show that the HVC kinematics indicate that they form a non-rotating population. Beyond that, it is not possible to determine with confidence whether they are concentrated within 200 kpc from the Milky Way or whether they are more distant. Blitz et al. (1999) and de Heij et al. (2002c) compare the average velocity and the velocity dispersion of the HVC sample to that of models. Nicastro et al. (2003) calculate an average velocity vector by decomposing the observed radial velocities into three spatial components and then averaging those. We show that the derived velocities (especially the average velocity of the cloud ensemble) strongly depend on the selection criteria used to define the HVC sample, making any detailed comparison between data and model relatively unreliable.

VII and O VIII have been detected toward several objects with Chandra (resolution 660 km s-1) and XMM (resolution 300 km s-1). In all cases the lines are not resolved, and a $`b`$-value must be assumed to derive columm densities. If collisional ionization equilibrium is assumed, then the ratio N(O VII)/N(O VI)= 250–450 for $`T`$ in the range 106-7 K, while N(O VIII)/N(O VI) is a much more sensitive temperature indicator.

Fang et al. (2003) measure N(O VII)=1.8$`{}_{0.7}{}^{}{}_{}{}^{+0.2}`$$`\times `$1016cm-2 in the direction of 3C 273, using Chandra. They assume that $`b`$$`>`$100km s-1, which is about the extent of the O VI high-velocity wing. They further argue that $`b`$ must be large because other O VII transitions are not detected. Rasmussen et al. (2003) derive N(O VII)$`>`$0.8$`\times `$1016cm-2, using XMM. The O VI HVC in this direction has N(O VI)=3.9$`\times `$1013cm-2, implying O VII/O VI$``$200–450. If both originate in the same gas, this ratio implies $`T`$=106-7 K. For a pathlength $`L`$=1 Mpc, N(O VII) implies a density $`n=\frac{N}{LA(\mathrm{O})f(OVII)}`$. For log $`A`$(O)=$``$4.24 (0.1 solar) and $`T`$=106-7 K this gives the rather high value of $`n`$$``$10-3–1 cm-3, showing that the O VI and O VII probably do not originate in a homogeneous Local Group medium that is in collisional ionization equilibrium.

Nicastro et al. (2002) observed PKS 2155$``$304 with Chandra and derive N(O VII)=4$`{}_{2.1}{}^{}{}_{}{}^{+2.6}`$$`\times `$1015cm-2 and N(O VIII)=5.2$`{}_{3.9}{}^{}{}_{}{}^{+4.3}`$$`\times `$1015cm-2. From XMM Rasmussen et al. (2003) find N(O VII)$`>`$4.5$`\times `$1015cm-2 toward PKS 2155$``$304. This assumes $`b`$=200km s-1, which is the total width of the O VI absorption in this direction. However, if the O VII is only associated with the high-velocity O VI, $`b`$$``$100km s-1, and the implied N(O VII) is a factor 2 higher. Since N(O VI, HVC)=1.1$`\times `$1014cm-2, O VII/O VI=35–70 and OVIII/O VI=50–100. As Nicastro et al. (2002) note, these ratios imply that the O VI, O VII and O VIII cannot originate in a single absorber at constant temperature. They then go on to make photo-ionization models and conclude that these can explain the ionic ratios if the gas is tenuous, and thus has a large pathlength. However, the implied parameters are inconsistent with those derived for the same HVC based on the measured C IV and C III column densities (Sembach et al. 1999). Clearly more analysis is needed, and the location of this absorber remains uncertain.

Finally, with XMM Rasmussen et al. (2003) detect O VII and O VIII toward Mrk 421, with N(O VII)$`>`$4.8$`\times `$1015cm-2. The O VI HVC in this direction has N(O VI)=2.3$`\times `$1013cm-2, giving a ratio of $``$200, compatible with $`T`$=106 K.

Clearly, it is possible that some of the high-velocity O VI originates in the same hot gas that also produces O VII and O VIII absorption. However, the evidence for this remains circumstantial and a more complete analysis that includes the other ions (N V, C IV, C III, Si III, etc.) is required. Also, the assumption of collisional ionization equilibrium is easily violated. Pure photo-ionization models may or may not be more appropriate. What is clearly needed are resolved O VII and O VIII profiles.

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# Stochastic Growth in One Dimension and Gaussian Multi-Matrix Models

## 1 Introduction

There is a huge variety of stochastic growth processes and we refer to the recent monographs by Barabási, Stanley and Meakin. Amongst them the KPZ (Kardar, Parisi, Zhang) growth models enjoy a particular popularity in theoretical circles. Prototypes are the Eden growth, where each perimeter site of the current cluster is filled after an exponentially distributed waiting time, and ballistic deposition, where there is a low intensity random flux of incoming particles which then attach to the current surface profile. Thus in broad terms KPZ growth is characterised by being stochastic with a

* local growth rule,
* smoothening mechanism.

The list of experiments well described in terms of KPZ is rather short, see Mylls et al. for recent experiments on slow combustion fronts. But one obvious reason for its popularity is that KPZ growth is rather close to the stochastic dynamics commonly studied in Statistical Mechanics with the fine twist that it does not satisfy detailed balance (KPZ growth is not stochastically reversible). There is a second reason, however: through a Cole-Hopf type transformation KPZ growth maps to directed first passage percolation. Thereby techniques and insights from the theory of disordered systems come into play. In fact, there are some rather close analogies, one example being the rigorous discussion of the overlap for directed polymers.

Just before the previous ICMP congress it came as a total surprise that KPZ growth in one spatial dimension (the surface is the graph of a function over $``$) is linked to Gaussian random matrices. For example, the height, $`h(\tau )`$, at time $`\tau `$ above a given reference point grows at constant speed $`v_0`$ with some random fluctuations,

$$h(\tau )=v_0\tau +\tau ^{1/3}\xi $$
(1)
for large $`\tau `$. If at the reference point the macroscopic profile has a non-zero curvature, then $`\xi `$ has the same distribution function as the largest eigenvalue of a GUE random matrix, which in the community is known as the Tracy-Widom distribution function $`F_2`$, $`(\xi x)=F_2(x)`$. $`F_2`$ is related to the Hastings-McLeod solution of the Painlevé II differential equation. The scaling exponent $`1/3`$ and the random amplitude $`\xi `$ in (1) are expected to be valid for all one-dimensional KPZ growth models.

The purpose of our contribution is to explain how this connection arises. The rough indication can be given already now: For some very particular growth models in the KPZ class, there is a determinantal process in the background. Its structure has some similarity to the determinantal process appearing in the context of Gaussian multi-matrix models. Since the relevant information is linked to edge scaling, in the scaling limit the GUE edge distribution arises.

## 2 GUE, Dyson’s Brownian motion, and the Airy process

Dyson considers an Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process, $`A(t)`$, $`t`$, on the space of $`N\times N`$ Hermitian matrices. Its transition probability is given through a Mehler type formula as

$$(A(t)dA^{}|A(0)=A)=\frac{1}{Z}\mathrm{exp}[\frac{1}{N}\text{Tr}(A^{}qA)^2/(1q^2)]dA^{}$$
(2)
with $`q=e^t`$. In particular, for $`t\mathrm{}`$ the process converges to the GUE ensemble given by

$$Z^1\mathrm{exp}[\frac{1}{N}\mathrm{Tr}A^2]dA.$$
(3)
For the joint distribution of the stationary process at times ordered as $`t_0<t_1<\mathrm{}<t_m`$ one obtains therefore

$`(\{A(t_j)dA_j,j=0,1,\mathrm{},m\})`$
$`={\displaystyle \frac{1}{Z}}\mathrm{exp}\left[{\displaystyle \frac{1}{N}}\left({\displaystyle \underset{j=1}{\overset{m}{}}}\text{Tr}(A_jq_jA_{j1})^2/(1q_j^2)+\text{Tr}A_0^2\right)\right]{\displaystyle \underset{j=0}{\overset{m}{}}}dA_j`$ (4)
with $`q_j=\mathrm{exp}[(t_jt_{j1})]`$. (2) is the Gaussian multi-matrix model of the title.

The process $`A(t)`$ induces a process on the eigenvalues $`\lambda _N(t)\mathrm{}\lambda _1(t)`$ of $`A(t)`$. It is stationary by construction and happens to be again Markov. In fact, it satisfies the set of stochastic differential equations

$$d\lambda _j(t)=\left(\frac{1}{N}\lambda _j(t)+(\beta /2)\underset{i=1,ij}{\overset{N}{}}\left(\lambda _j(t)\lambda _i(t)\right)^1\right)dt+db_j(t),j=1,\mathrm{},N,$$
(5)
with $`\{b_j(t),j=1,\mathrm{},N\}`$ a collection of $`N`$ independent standard Brownian motions. In case of Hermitian random matrices $`\beta =2`$. The repulsive drift ensures that $`\lambda _{j+1}(t)<\lambda _j(t)`$ for all $`t`$, any $`j`$. Clearly (5) has the unique stationary distribution

$$\frac{1}{Z}\mathrm{exp}\left[\frac{1}{N}\underset{j=1}{\overset{N}{}}\lambda _j^2\right]\underset{1i<jN}{}|\lambda _i\lambda _j|^\beta \underset{j=1}{\overset{N}{}}d\lambda _j.$$
(6)
There is a way to rewrite (5) which turns out to be computationally very powerful. We define a random field $`\varphi _N`$ over $`^2`$ through

$$\varphi _N(x,t)=\underset{j=1}{\overset{N}{}}\delta (x\lambda _j(t)).$$
(7)
Then $`\varphi _N`$ is determinantal in the sense that its moments (correlation functions) have a determinantal structure of the form

$$\underset{j=1}{\overset{m}{}}\varphi _N(x_j,t_j)=det\{R_N(x_i,t_i;x_j,t_j)\}_{i,j=1}^m$$
(8)
for distinct times $`t_1,\mathrm{},t_m`$. The defining kernel $`R_N`$ can be written in terms of the harmonic oscillator Hamiltonian

$$H_N=\frac{1}{2}_x^2+\frac{1}{2N^2}x^2,$$
(9)
which has eigenvalues $`E_n=n/N`$, $`n=1,2,\mathrm{}`$ . Let $`K_N`$ be the Hermite kernel which is the spectral projection onto $`\{H_N1\}`$. Then

$$R_N(x,t;x^{},t^{})=\left(e^{tH_N}\left(K_N\text{1l}\mathrm{\Theta }(tt^{})\right)e^{t^{}H_N}\right)(x,x^{})$$
(10)
with $`\mathrm{\Theta }(t)=1`$ for $`t>0`$ and $`\mathrm{\Theta }(t)=0`$ for $`t0`$. In particular, at $`t=0`$ (or any other time by stationarity)

$$\underset{j=1}{\overset{m}{}}\varphi (x_j,0)=det\{K_N(x_i,x_j)\}_{i,j=1}^m,$$
(11)
as well known from the random matrix bible by Mehta.

A natural question is to study the statistics of lines close to the, say upper, edge. In our units the top line fluctuates at level $`\sqrt{2}N`$, as can be seen by equating the Fermi energy $`E_\text{F}`$, $`E_\text{F}=1`$, with the energy of the confining potential of (9). Thus we shift our attention to $`x=\sqrt{2}N`$ and linearise there the potential, a procedure which should be accurate for large $`N`$. Then the imaginary time Schrödinger equation for (9) goes over to

$$_t\psi =(\frac{1}{2}_x^2+\frac{1}{N}\sqrt{2}x)\psi .$$
(12)
It becomes $`N`$-independent under the scaling $`tN^{2/3}t`$, $`xN^{1/3}x/\sqrt{2}`$, resulting in the Schrödinger equation with Airy Hamiltonian

$$_t\psi =H\psi ,H=_x^2+x.$$
(13)
We have identified the edge scaling and conclude that, in the sense of convergence of moments,

$$\underset{N\mathrm{}}{lim}\frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}N^{1/3}\varphi _N(\sqrt{2}N+\frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}N^{1/3}x,N^{2/3}t)=\varphi (x,t).$$
(14)
The prefactor comes from the spatial volume element when integrating both sides in (14) over a compactly supported test function. $`\varphi `$ is called the Airy random field. Since $`\varphi _N`$ is determinantal, so must be its limit. Hence, for distinct times $`t_1,\mathrm{},t_m`$,

$$\underset{j=1}{\overset{m}{}}\varphi (x_j,t_j)=det\{R(x_i,t_i;x_j,t_j)\}_{i,j=1}^m,$$
(15)
compare with (8). The defining kernel is now given through

$`R(x,t;x^{},t^{})`$ $`=`$ $`\left(e^{tH}\left(K\text{1l}\mathrm{\Theta }(tt^{})\right)e^{t^{}H}\right)(x,x^{})`$
$`=`$ $`\text{sign}(t^{}t){\displaystyle 𝑑\lambda \mathrm{\Theta }(\lambda (tt^{}))e^{\lambda (t^{}t)}\text{Ai}(x\lambda )\text{Ai}(x^{}\lambda )},`$
where sign$`(t)=1`$ for $`t0`$ and sign$`(t)=1`$ for $`t<0`$, Ai the Airy function, and $`K`$ the spectral projection onto $`\{H0\}`$. $`K`$ is known as Airy kernel. For fixed $`t`$ the limit is studied by Forrester, and Tracy, Widom. Some aspects of the multi-matrix model are discussed by Eynard.

The top line of the Airy random field is called the Airy process, denoted by $`𝒜(t)`$. Its joint distributions can be written in a concise way. Let $`t_1<\mathrm{}<t_m`$ and let us define the operator, $`R^{(m)}`$, on $`L^2(\times \{1,\mathrm{},m\},dx)`$ through the integral kernel $`R(x,t_i;x^{},t_j)\chi (\{x>\xi _i\})\chi (\{x^{}>\xi _j\})`$, $`i,j=1,\mathrm{},m`$. Then $`R^{(m)}`$ is trace class and

$`(\{𝒜(t_1)\xi _1,\mathrm{},𝒜(t_m)\xi _m\})`$ $`=`$ $`(\{\varphi (x,t_j)=0\text{for}x>\xi _j,j=1,\mathrm{},m\})`$ (17)
$`=`$ $`det(1R^{(m)}).`$
The Airy process has continuous sample paths and is stationary, by construction. Some more explicit expressions for joint distributions are given in . In particular, $`𝒜(0)^2=0.81325\mathrm{}`$, $`(𝒜(0)𝒜(t))^2=2|t|`$ for small $`t`$, and $`𝒜(0)𝒜(t)𝒜(0)^2=t^2+𝒪(t^4)`$ for large $`t`$.

## 3 Polynuclear growth, its determinantal random field, and edge scaling

For the polynuclear growth (PNG) model the height function at time $`\tau `$ takes integer values, $`h(x,\tau ),x,\tau 0`$. $`xh(x,\tau )`$ has jumps of unit size only. Upward steps move, in the $`x`$ direction, with velocity $`1`$ and downward steps with velocity 1. They annihilate each other upon collision, which is the required smoothening mechanism. The surface grows through nucleation. At such an event, say $`(x_1,\tau _1)`$, the height $`h(x,\tau _1)`$ is increased by one unit at $`x_1`$, thereby creating an upward and downward step, which move apart immediately under the deterministic part of the dynamics. The nucleation events are Poisson in space-time with intensity 2. We consider the droplet geometry which is enforced by allowing nucleations only in the space interval $`[\tau ,\tau ]`$. Initially $`h(x,0)=0`$ and, by assumption, $`h(x,\tau )=0`$ for $`|x|>\tau `$. Obviously, according to our criteria of the Introduction, the PNG model is in the KPZ class.

For PNG, as just described, there is no determinantal process in sight. The miracle happens through the RSK (Robinson, Schensted, Knuth) construction. The idea is to extend the model with additional lines which record the information lost in annihilation events. Thus we introduce the lines $`h_j(x,\tau )`$, $`j=0,1,2,\mathrm{},`$ and set $`h_0(x,\tau )=h(x,\tau )`$. Initially $`h_j(x,0)=j`$. $`h_0`$ evolves according to the PNG specified above. Given $`h_0(x,\tau )`$ all lower lying lines have a deterministic dynamics. The steps of line $`h_j`$, $`j1`$, move with velocity $`\pm 1`$, as before. A nucleation, say at space-time point $`(x,\tau )`$, takes place whenever in line $`j+1`$ an upward and downward step annihilate each other at $`(x,\tau )`$. Thus $`xh_j(x,\tau )`$ has jumps of unit size only, $`h_j(x,\tau )=j`$ for $`|x|>\tau `$, and $`h_j(x,\tau )>h_{j1}(x,\tau )`$. Furthermore there is a random index $`j_0`$ such that, for $`jj_0`$, $`h_j(x,\tau )=j`$ for all $`x`$. Let us set, at fixed time $`\tau `$,

$$\eta _\tau (j,t)=\{\begin{array}{cc}1\hfill & \text{if there is a height line passing through}(j,t),\hfill \\ 0\hfill & \text{if there is no such line\hspace{0.17em},}\hfill \end{array}$$
(18)
with $`j`$, $`t[\tau ,\tau ]`$. $`\eta _\tau (j,t)`$ is a determinantal random field over $`\times [\tau ,\tau ]`$. Its top line is the object of interest, since it coincides with PNG.

To write down the defining kernel for $`\eta _\tau `$ we set, as operators on $`l_2=l_2()`$,

$`H_\text{d}\psi (j)`$ $`=`$ $`\psi (j1)\psi (j+1),`$ (19)
$`H_\tau \psi (j)`$ $`=`$ $`\psi (j1)\psi (j+1)+{\displaystyle \frac{j}{\tau }}\psi (j),`$ (20)
and $`B_\tau `$ the spectral projection on $`\{H_\tau 0\}`$. $`B_\tau `$ is known as discrete Bessel kernel. Then

$$R_\tau (j,t;j^{},t^{})=\left(e^{tH_\text{d}}\left(B_\tau \text{1l}\mathrm{\Theta }(tt^{})\right)e^{t^{}H_\text{d}}\right)_{jj^{}}.$$
(21)
The moments of $`\eta _\tau (j,t)`$ are given by the formula analogous to (8). For large $`\tau `$, $`h_0(x,\tau )2\sqrt{\tau ^2x^2}`$, $`|x|<\tau `$. Thus $`\eta _\tau (x,t)`$ is not stationary in $`t`$, which is reflected in (21) by the fact that $`H_\text{d}H_\tau `$.

The correct edge scaling can be guessed as for Dyson’s Brownian motion, where in spirit $`\tau `$ is equated with $`N`$. We focus our attention on a space-time window of width $`\tau ^{2/3}`$ and height $`\tau ^{1/3}`$ centred at $`t=0`$ and $`j=2\tau `$. Properly rescaled, compare with (12), $`H_\tau `$ becomes

$$H_\tau \psi (x)=\tau ^{2/3}\left(\psi (x\tau ^{1/3})\psi (x+\tau ^{1/3})+2\psi (x)+\tau ^{1/3}(x/\tau )\psi (x)\right),$$
(22)
which converges to the Airy operator $`H`$ as $`\tau \mathrm{}`$. This argument overlooks that even in rescaled coordinates the lines have still a systematic curvature. The correct limit is thus, $`[]`$ denoting integer part,

$$\underset{\tau \mathrm{}}{lim}\tau ^{1/3}\eta _\tau ([2\tau +\tau ^{1/3}(xt^2)],\tau ^{2/3}t)=\varphi (x,t)$$
(23)
with $`\varphi `$ the Airy random field. In particular, the top line converges to the Airy process $`𝒜(t)`$.

We summarise our discussion as

###### Theorem 3.1.

Let $`h(x,\tau )`$ be the PNG model in the droplet geometry. Then, in the sense of weak convergence of finite-dimensional distributions,

$$\underset{\tau \mathrm{}}{lim}\tau ^{1/3}\left(h(t\tau ^{2/3},\tau )2\tau \right)=𝒜(t)t^2.$$
(24)
###### Proof.

For $`t=0`$ this is the celebrated result of Baik, Deift, Johansson on the length of the longest increasing subsequence of a random permutation. They use orthogonal polynomials and Riemann-Hilbert techniques in their asymptotic analysis. Johansson develops an approach through Fredholm determinants, which is also the basis of the proof by Prähofer, Spohn for the time-extended case. ∎

Theorem 3.1 is stated for the reference point $`x=0`$. An analogous limit holds for any other reference point $`x=a\tau `$, $`|a|<1`$.

For a space-time discrete version of the PNG droplet Johansson proves the analogue of Theorem 3.1 including tightness. While the details are long, it is likely that Theorem 3.1 can be strengthed to weak convergence of path measures. As established by Johansson, for the Aztec diamond the border between the frozen and disordered zones is also governed by the Airy process.

## 4 Extensions

What is so special about the droplet? From the point of view of growth processes other initial conditions look more natural, e.g. the initially flat surface $`h(x,0)=0`$. The RSK dynamics can be implemented for any choice of initial data and set of nucleation events. However the determinantal property of the resulting line ensemble is fragile.

We illustrate our point by three examples.
(i) half droplet. In a discrete space-time setting this problem is studied recently by Sasamoto and Imamura. The rule is to simply suppress all nucleation events for $`x<0`$. In addition there is a source at $`x=0`$ with rate $`\gamma `$. For $`0\gamma <1`$ the additional mass is incorporated in the bulk with no change in the macroscopic profile. The height fluctuations at $`x=0`$ satisfy (1) with $`F_2`$ replaced by $`F_4`$, i.e. the distribution function of the largest eigenvalue of a GSE random matrix in the limit of large $`N`$ . $`\gamma =1`$ is critical and $`F_2`$ in (1) is replaced by $`F_1`$ , i.e. the distribution function of the largest eigenvalue of a GOE random matrix. For $`\gamma >1`$ the macroscopic profile develops a linear portion, starting at $`x=0`$, at height $`(\gamma +\gamma ^1)\tau `$ and joining tangentially the profile for $`\gamma =0`$. The height fluctuations are then of order $`\sqrt{\tau }`$ and Gaussian. The RSK dynamics results in a line ensemble, which for fixed $`\tau `$ has the following weight. At $`x=\tau `$ the boundary condition is $`h_j(\tau ,\tau )=j`$. The lines have jump size one and are not allowed to cross. Under these constraints the jump points are uniformly Lebesgue distributed. If this construction would be extended to $`x=\tau `$ with the boundary condition $`h_j(\tau ,\tau )=j`$, the resulting line ensemble is the one of the PNG droplet. For the half-droplet the lines end at $`x=0`$ and there is an extra weight from the source at the origin, which reads

$$\mathrm{exp}[(\mathrm{log}\gamma )\underset{j=\mathrm{}}{\overset{0}{}}\left(h_{2j}(0,\tau )h_{2j1}(0,\tau )1\right)].$$
(25)
For $`\gamma =1`$ the extra weight (25) equals $`1`$ and the weight for the line ensemble can be written as a product of determinants. However, the correlation functions are not determinantal because of the free boundary at $`x=0`$. By an identity of de Bruijn, gap probabilities are square roots of determinants, thus yielding GOE edge statistics at $`x=0`$ in the scaling limit. For $`\gamma =0`$ the lines at $`x=0`$ are constrained as $`h_{2j}(0,\tau )h_{2j1}(0,\tau )=1`$, which resembles Kramers degeneracy, thus GSE. An asymptotic analysis is available only for $`\gamma =0,1`$  with the result that $`\tau ^{2/3}`$ close to the origin the height statistics is governed by the largest eigenvalue of the transition ensemble governing the crossover from GOE, resp. GSE, at $`x=0`$ to GUE in the bulk. For $`\gamma >1`$, at $`x=0`$ the top line separates the distance $`(\gamma +\gamma ^12)\tau `$ from $`h_1(0,\tau )`$ which remains located roughly at $`2\tau `$, as for $`\gamma 1`$. This explains the Gaussian fluctuations for $`\gamma >1`$.
(ii) stationary PNG. If initially the upward steps are Poisson distributed with density $`\rho _+`$ and the downward steps with density $`\rho _{}`$, then PNG on the whole real line is a space-time stationary growth process, provided $`\rho _+\rho _{}=1`$. To determine $`h(0,\tau )`$ it suffices to know the nucleation events in the backward light cone $`\{(x,t)|0t\tau ,|x|\tau t\}`$. In fact it also suffices to only know the nucleation events in the forward light cone of the origin, $`\{(x,t)|0t\tau ,|x|\tau \}`$. The reason is that for stationary PNG model the intersection points of the diagonals $`\{x=\pm t\}`$ with the world lines for steps are again Poisson distributed. Thus we arrive at a set-up rather similar to the PNG droplet. The additional feature is that there are sources of nucleation events at the boundaries $`\pm \tau `$. The sources are Poisson in time with rates $`\alpha _+`$, resp. $`\alpha _{}`$, $`\alpha _+0`$, $`\alpha _{}0`$, stationarity being equivalent to $`\alpha _+\alpha _{}=1`$. As before, a line ensemble is generated through the RSK dynamics. At time $`\tau `$, the boundary conditions $`h_j(\pm \tau ,\tau )=j`$, $`j=1,2,\mathrm{},`$ hold. However, $`h_0(\pm \tau ,\tau )`$ can now take arbitrary positive integer values. They have geometric weight, i.e. the weight

$$\mathrm{exp}[(\mathrm{log}\alpha _\pm )h_0(\pm \tau ,\tau )].$$
(26)
The step points are Lebesgue distributed, constrained by non-crossing and the boundary conditions at $`\pm \tau `$. Let $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ be the collection of all such lines. By running RSK backwards in time, one will end up with $`h_j(0,\tau )=j`$ and $`h_0(0,\tau )=n`$ for $`\tau >0`$ but sufficiently small. $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ decomposes accordingly as $`\mathrm{\Omega }=_{n0}\mathrm{\Omega }_n`$. $`\mathrm{\Omega }_n`$ has the total weight $`(\alpha _+\alpha _{})^nZ_0`$, $`Z_0=\mathrm{exp}[t(\alpha _+\alpha _+^1)+t(\alpha _{}\alpha _{}^1)]`$. Stationary growth corresponds to the sector $`\mathrm{\Omega }_0`$ carrying weight $`𝕎_0`$ and probability $`_0=𝕎_0/Z_0`$ for the lines. However, only the line ensemble with weight $`𝕎`$ on $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ is determinantal. Fortunately, one has the simple relationship

$`_0(\{h_0(0,\tau )=k\})`$ $`=`$ $`Z_0^1𝕎_0(\{h_0(0,\tau )=k\})`$
$`=`$ $`Z_0^1\left(𝕎(\{h_0(0,\tau )=k\})\alpha _+\alpha _{}𝕎(\{h_0(0,\tau )=k1\})\right).`$
Stationary PNG is described by the spatial derivative of a determinantal process. (4) serves as a starting point for an asymptotic analysis, see Baik, Rains and Prähofer, Spohn.
(iii) flat initial conditions. One sets $`h(x,0)=0`$ and allows for nucleation events on the entire real line. For the RSK construction it is necessary to first restrict to the periodic box $`[\mathrm{},\mathrm{}]`$. Then $`h_j(\mathrm{},\tau )=h_j(\mathrm{},\tau )`$. As before, the lines are constrained on non-crossing and unit jumps. In addition they have to satisfy

$$\underset{|x|\mathrm{}}{\mathrm{min}}\left(h_j(x,\tau )h_{j1}(x,\tau )\right)=1.$$
(28)
An asymptotic analysis of the line ensemble with these constraints is not available. By completely different methods Baik, Rains prove that, first taking $`\mathrm{}\mathrm{}`$, the height fluctuations at $`x=0`$ are distributed as the largest GOE eigenvalue, i.e. $`F_1`$ replaces $`F_2`$ in (1). On this basis, a possible guess for the full height statistics, in the limit $`\tau \mathrm{}`$, is Dyson’s Brownian motion at $`\beta =1`$. We will have to wait for the next ICMP congress for a confirmation (or a counter argument).


text:
# Attractive Potential around a Thermionically Emitting Microparticle

## Abstract

We present a simulation study of the charging of a dust grain immersed in a plasma, considering the effect of thermionic electron emission from the grain. It is shown that the OML theory is no longer reliable when electron emission becomes large: screening can no longer be treated within the Debye-Huckel approach and an attractive potential well can form, leading to the possibility of attractive forces on other grains with the same polarity. We suggest to perform laboratory experiments where emitting dust grains could be used to create non-conventional dust crystals or macro-molecules.

Introduction: The study of the charging of objects immersed in a plasma is a classic problem of plasma physics with many applications shukla , ranging from space problems to dusty plasmas to probe theory for plasma diagnostics. Recently, the link between condensed matter or high energy-density plasma and strongly coupled dusty plasmas morfil  has renewed the interest in the process of charging and shielding of dust in plasmas.

The interaction between a plasma and an object is due to the plasma particles that hit the object surface and are captured. In absence of other processes, the higher mobility of the electrons leads to more electron captures by the object, which tends to charge negatively. However, in certain conditions, other processes need to be considered. For example, if the object immersed in the plasma is sufficiently warm, a significant number of electrons can be emitted by thermionic effect, altering the balance between electron and ion captures, reducing the negative charge on the object, or even reversing its sign. An example of this process is given by small objects entering the Earth’s atmosphere (meteoroids). Recent work has shown that the heating of the meteoroids, due to their interaction with the atmosphere, can produce a considerable thermionic emission which can lead to positively charged meteoroids Sorasio .

In the present work, we will consider how electron emission changes the process of charging of an object immersed in a plasma, considering self-consistently charge collection on the object and the screening by the surrounding plasma. We focus particularly on the process of thermionic emission, but the results also apply to the similar cases of photoemission and secondary emission that create a current of electrons emitted by the object. Two primary conclusions are reached. First, the process of electron emission by the object reduces the charges as expected by the orbit motion limited (OML) theory shukla . However, the quantitative effect of the thermionic emission predicted by the OML theory is accurate only for small objects. We find that, for objects larger than the Debye length, the OML becomes grossly inaccurate. Second, in the presence of thermionic emission when the object is charged positively, the screening potential develops an attractive well. In contrast with the typical monotonic behavior predicted by the Debye-Huckel theory, we observe a potential well due to the presence of an excess of electron charge trapped around the emitting object.

Looking at the literature, we have found experimental evidence that heated emissive probes can determine a non-monotonic behaviour of the plasma potential intrator . This is commonly called the virtual cathode, namely a region of zero electric field associated with a local excess of negative charges. However, as far as we know, the importance of this mechanism on the charging process occurring in a dusty plasma and its implications have not yet been recognized. The consequences of this behaviour of the shielding potential can be considerable since potential wells can provide regions of attraction for other objects with the same sign of charge. Although the present mechanism is not the only instance when particles of the same charge immersed in a plasma can attract each other (see nambu ; shukla1  and references therein), the mechanism presented here can be tested experimentally. For example photoemission could be used instead of thermionic emission in existing experiments. Such experiments would be best conducted in microgravity (e.g. on the Alpha space station) where other attractive mechanisms (e.g. wake field nambu ; shukla1 , ion flow alignment lapenta03 ) may be less important.

Charging in Presence of Thermionic Emission: We consider a spherical, isolated dust grain of radius $`a`$ immersed in a neutral, unmagnetized plasma consisting of electrons and singly charged ions. The grain is stationary, located at $`r=0`$. Ion and electron collisions with the neutral gas background are neglected. Electrons and ions have different masses, $`m_e`$ and $`m_i`$, and temperatures, $`T_e`$ and $`T_i`$, respectively. The grain has a surface temperature $`T_d`$ and can emit thermionic electrons ($`W`$ being its work function). The characteristic lengths of the system are the electron Debye length $`\lambda _{\mathrm{De}}`$, the ion Debye length $`\lambda _{\mathrm{Di}}`$ and the linearized Debye length $`\lambda _{\mathrm{Dlin}}`$, defined as $`1/\lambda _{\mathrm{Dlin}}^2=1/\lambda _{\mathrm{De}}^2+1/\lambda _{\mathrm{Di}}^2`$.

In the simplest model, neglecting any emissions from the dust particle surface, the grain is charged by the surrounding plasma (primary charging). Initially, electrons are more mobile than ions and charge the grain negatively by hitting its surface. Hence, the grain acquires a negative potential and creates an electric field that repels electrons and attracts ions. A dynamical equilibrium is eventually reached when the electron current to the dust is equal to the ion current. The OML theory shukla  provides a description of the mechanism, and gives the floating potential on the dust, $`\varphi (a)`$, as a function of the plasma properties. Once $`\varphi (a)`$ is known, the electric charge on the dust is determined by $`Q_{\mathrm{OML}}=4\pi \epsilon _0a\left(1+a/\lambda _{\mathrm{Dlin}}\right)\varphi (a)`$ if one considers a Debye-Huckel potential around the dust with screening length given by $`\lambda _{\mathrm{Dlin}}`$. Indeed, the OML theory is a good approximation for thick sheaths where $`a\lambda _D`$, but breaks down for $`a\lambda _D`$ lapenta2 ; Daugherty .

The presence of electron emission from the dust (either photoelectric or thermionic) affects crucially the potential distribution around the dust. In this letter we focus on thermionic emission. The starting point for a theoretical analysis of the thermionic current is the Sommerfeld model of a metal where the energy states are uniformly distributed and the free electrons have a Fermi distribution of probability to occupy a certain energy state. We have to distinguish between positively and negatively charged dust grains. In fact, when the dust grain is negatively charged, any electron with energy $`1/2m_ev_r^2>\psi `$ ($`\psi `$ being the minumum energy required to overcome the surface barrier) will be emitted, leading to the following thermionic current Sodha

$$I_{\mathrm{th}}=\frac{16\pi ^2a^2em_ek^2T_d^2}{h^3}\mathrm{exp}\left(\frac{W}{kT_d}\right),$$
(1)
known as the Richardson-Dushman expression. When the grain is positively charged, the situation is slightly different as the electrons have to overcome the floating potential as well as the surface barrier. The thermionic current for a positively charged grain is Sodha :

$$I_{\mathrm{th}}=\frac{16\pi ^2a^2em_ek^2T_d^2}{h^3}\left(1+\frac{e\varphi (a)}{kT_d}\right)\mathrm{exp}\left(\frac{W+e\varphi (a)}{kT_d}\right).$$
(2)
When thermionic emission is added to the OML framework, the equilibrium floating potential is established by balancing the ion and electron currents from the surrounding plasma with the thermionic current emitted by the dust.

Simulation Method: To study the charging of a thermionically emitting dust particle, we have developed a PIC code Birdsall  for a spherical plasma with the stationary grain at the center and an outer radius $`R`$. The problem under investigation requires special boundary conditions. At the outer boundary some particles leave the system while others must be injected to represent an infinite plasma medium outside the simulation domain. The algorithm used to inject the particles is the same widely used in the literature Birdsall . At the inner boundary, the plasma particles reaching the grain surface are removed from the simulation and their charge is accumulated to the central dust grain, affecting its floating potential. The same injection method used for the outer boundary can be applied also to the thermionic emission at the inner boundary, but using the dust temperature and not the plasma electron temperature to evaluate the distribution function of the emitted electrons. In PIC simulations, the emitted electrons are followed accurately and the electrons that cannot overcome the dust attraction return to the dust; it follows that the emission current must always be computed with Eq. (1), to avoid counting the retarding potential twice.

We have chosen the parameters of the system according to typical experimental conditions. In particular, we consider a Maxwellian plasma with electron temperature $`T_e=1`$ eV, ion temperature $`T_i=0.2`$ eV ($`T_e/T_i=5`$) and an outer radius of the system $`R=500`$ $`\mu `$m. Moreover, the plasma far away from the dust grain is Maxwellian at rest, with density $`n_{\mathrm{}}=610^{15}`$ part/m3. These parameters correspond to the electron Debye length $`\lambda _{\mathrm{De}}=96.0`$ $`\mu `$m, the ion Debye length $`\lambda _{\mathrm{Di}}=42.9`$ $`\mu `$m and the electron plasma frequency $`\omega _{\mathrm{pe}}=4.3710^9s^1`$. The linearized Debye length is $`\lambda _{\mathrm{Dlin}}=39.1`$ $`\mu `$m. The electron mass is chosen with its physical value, but the ion mass is only 100 times larger. This unphysical choice is common in the literature and is required to keep the cost of the simulation manageable. All the simulations are made with an initial number of particles $`N_e=N_i=200000`$, located on a uniform computational grid with $`N_g=200`$ cells. The time step is chosen to satisfy the CFL condition, $`\mathrm{\Delta }t=10^{11}`$ s. The radial position and two velocity components (radial and tangential) are stored for each particle during the simulation.

In the simulations, we start from a uniform Maxwellian plasma and let the system relax self-consistently until the charge on the dust grain and the shielding potential around it reach a steady state. At equilibrium, the dust charge fluctuates due to collection of plasma particles and we consider the mean value defined as an average over a time interval of $`70\omega _{pe}^1`$ s, which is a sufficiently large multiple of the dust charging time to provide a filter of the high frequency fluctuations. Hereafter, ”time average” will imply an average over the last $`70\omega _{pe}^1`$ of the simulation, when the steady state is fully reached.

Note that all the results presented in the paper are obtained in absence of collisions between plasma particles and neutrals. Thus our results should be reliable when the mean free path for collisions, $`\lambda _{\mathrm{coll}}`$, is much greater than the electron Debye length, $`\lambda _{\mathrm{De}}`$. This requirement is well met for example for weakly ionized plasmas: a glow discharge with pressure $`p10`$ mtorr, degree of ionization $`\chi 10^5`$, density of neutrals $`n_g10^{20}`$ m-3, plasma density $`n10^{15}`$ m-3, leads to $`\lambda _{\mathrm{coll}}/\lambda _{\mathrm{De}}65`$.

Results: To validate our simulation tool, we consider first the charging of a dust particle in absence of any emission. We consider a dust of radius $`a=10`$ $`\mu `$m. Since $`a/\lambda _{\mathrm{Dlin}}0.2`$, the OML theory should be a good approximation and we expect our code to agree with theoretical predictions. This is indeed true, the time average floating charge is $`Q_d=1.5410^{15}`$ C, while the one predicted by the OML theory is $`Q_{\mathrm{OML}}=1.6410^{15}`$ C. The relative difference is defined as $`|Q_dQ_{\mathrm{OML}}|/\mathrm{max}(Q_d,Q_{\mathrm{OML}})=6\%`$. At dynamical equilibrium, the floating potential is $`\varphi _d=1.1386`$ V, in good agreement with the one given by the OML theory, $`\varphi _{\mathrm{OML}}=1.1776`$ V (relative difference $`3\%`$). Furthermore, the shielding potential follows closely the Debye-Huckel expression with a screening length equal to the linearized Debye length $`\lambda _{\mathrm{Dlin}}`$.

We have also considered the primary charging mechanism for a dust of radius $`a=80`$ $`\mu `$m. Since $`a/\lambda _{\mathrm{Dlin}}2`$, we expect the OML theory to be unreliable. In fact, our code gives $`Q_d=2.0410^{14}`$ C while $`Q_{\mathrm{OML}}=3.1910^{14}`$ C with a relative difference of $`36\%`$. On the other hand, the value of the floating charge defined by $`Q_{\mathrm{De}}=4\pi \epsilon _0a\left(1+a/\lambda _{\mathrm{De}}\right)\varphi (a)`$ is a good estimate of $`Q_d`$ ($`Q_{\mathrm{De}}=1.9210^{14}`$ C). This is a consequence of the fact that when the dust radius grows, the screening length is determined by the electrons Daugherty . The profile of the time average shielding potential follows the Debye-Huckel expression but now with a screening length equal to the electron Debye length $`\lambda _{\mathrm{De}}`$, as predicted in Ref. Daugherty . The time average floating potential obtained by the simulation is $`\varphi _d=1.2044`$ V and the relative difference with respect to $`\varphi _{\mathrm{OML}}=1.1776`$ V is $`2\%`$. Thus, the OML theory gives a good estimate also when $`a/\lambda _{\mathrm{Dlin}}2`$, provided that the screening length is determined by the electrons. The value of $`\varphi _d`$ in the present case is more negative than in the case of $`a=10`$ $`\mu `$m due to the development of an absorption barrier that diminishes the ion current to the dust. Furthermore, the sheath is wider, of the order of several linearized Debye lengths. In summary, our code has confirmed all the theoretical predictions from the OML theory regarding non emitting dust particles.

Next, we include thermionic emissions. We consider a dust at $`T_d=0.1`$ eV and with work function $`W=2.2`$ eV (representative of some metallic oxides). These parameters lead to a positively charged grain. We have performed a number of simulations varying the dust radius $`a`$. Here we focus on the case $`a=80`$ $`\mu `$m to point out the most relevant aspects of the role of thermionic emission in the charging mechanism. The dynamical equilibrium is reached in approximately 2 electron plasma periods, being determined essentially by the electron and thermionic currents. (The ion dynamics is relevant on a longer time scale, creating the non-monotonic behaviour of the ion density explained below.) The equilibrium charge is: $`Q_d=8.5110^{15}`$ C, where the OML theory predicts $`Q_{\mathrm{OML}}=5.1710^{15}`$ C (based on expression (2) and $`\lambda _{\mathrm{Dlin}}`$) or $`Q_{\mathrm{De}}=3.1210^{15}`$ C (based on expression (2) and $`\lambda _{\mathrm{De}}`$). However, when the thermionic effect is taken into account a comparison of the floating charge of the simulation and of the OML theory is no longer correct. In fact, the numerical factor that defines the floating charge from the floating potential depends on the potential distribution around the dust which, when thermionic emission is present, is not well represented by the Debye-Huckel potential (either with $`\lambda _{\mathrm{Dlin}}`$ or $`\lambda _{\mathrm{De}}`$). Focusing on the floating potential, we find $`\varphi _d=0.1016`$ V while $`\varphi _{\mathrm{OML}}=0.1911`$ V. Interestingly, when the thermionic effect is present, the OML theory does not produce an accurate estimate of the charging mechanism of large grains (also in cases when, in absence of thermionic emission, its predictions are acceptable). Moreover, we have checked that, for small objects, the OML theory is still reliable when electron emission is included.

Figure 1 (left panel) shows the shielding potential at $`5`$ different times of the simulation. A potential well is present. The presence of such well is of considerable interest since it can lead to attractive forces on another dust particle, even when it has the same charge. On the right panel of Fig. 1 one can see the time average shielding potential (solid line) and the potential well is clearly visible. We have also shown the time average shielding potential obtained by two simulations with $`T_d=0.01`$ eV (dotted line) and $`T_d=0.2`$ eV (dash-dotted line).

Discussion: How can a potential well form around the dust? The explanation comes from the comparison with the case of absence of thermionic emission.

In presence of sufficient thermionic emission (which is the case considered above) the dust is positively charged. The resulting electric field attracts electrons and repels ions. As a consequence, the electrons emitted from the dust are slowed down in a region very close to the dust. The more energetic electrons can escape and contribute to the thermionic current emitted from the dust but the rest of the thermionic electrons form an electron cloud. The electron cloud determines an excess of negative charge and leads to an (equilibrium) potential well.

To support this explanation, Fig. 2 shows a comparison of the time average ion and electron density for the case with only primary charging (left two panels) and with thermionic emission (right two panels). The densities are normalized with respect to the unperturbed ion density, $`\rho _{i,\mathrm{}}`$. For the primary charging case, the densities are perturbed roughly to a distance of $`4`$ $`\lambda _{\mathrm{Dlin}}`$ from the dust grain; the electron density decreases while the ion density increases towards the grain. The last result is due to spherical geometry and to the ion angular momentum Daugherty . In fact, there are many ions with high angular momentum that do not strike the grain, thus leading to an increment of ion density in the sheath with respect to the equilibrium value. Consider next the case with thermionic effect (right panels). The electron density increases close to the grain both due to thermionic emission and to the attractive potential on the dust. On the other hand, since the grain is positively charged, the ion density diminishes approaching it. It can be noticed that the ion density increases from the dust grain somewhat up to $`4`$ $`\lambda _{\mathrm{Dlin}}`$, reaches a maximum and decreases to the value at rest. Clearly, Fig. 2 shows the excess of electrons needed for the formation of the attractive well observed above.

We have performed another simulation where we have kept the potential on the dust fixed at the same potential observed in the simulation described above, in presence of thermionic emission. In the present case, we impose the dust potential and we are not allowing any thermionic emission: only the primary charging is in effect. Note that this simulation is actually a description of the well known Langmuir probe used in experimental plasma diagnostics. For this case, Fig. 3 shows the potential distribution at different times (left panel) and the time average shielding potential (right panel). One can see that the time average potential around the dust is a decreasing monotonic function of radius and vanishes asymptotically. Clearly, this confirms that the excess of electrons seen in Fig. 2 depends on the thermionic electrons.

Finally, we have found the dust temperature critical for the well formation, as shown in Fig. 1 (right). When $`T_d=0.01`$ eV, the thermionic current is sufficiently small so that the grain is negatively charged and the shielding potential is an increasing monotonic function of radius (as for the primary charging case). When the dust temperature grows, for example up to $`T_d=0.1`$ eV, an electron cloud forms around the dust and causes a potential well. However, if $`T_d`$ is increased further (for example $`T_d=0.2`$ eV), more thermionic electrons have enough kinetic energy to escape the dust attraction. At this high dust temperature, the local excess of electrons is reduced, the potential well disappears and the shielding potential becomes a monotonically decreasing function of radius.

Acknowledgments: Work partially supported by the IGPP-LANL grant number 03-1217 and by DOE grant DEFG03-97ER54444. G.L.D. thanks Gianfranco Sorasio for many stimulating discussions and for his suggestions.


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# The X-ray Background and AGNs

## 1 Introduction

In recent years the extragalactic X–ray background in the 0.1-10 keV band has almost completely been resolved into discrete sources with the deepest ROSAT, Chandra and XMM-Newton observations . Optical identification programmes with Keck ) and VLT  find predominantly unobscured AGN-1 at X-ray fluxes $`S_X>10^{14}`$ erg cm-2 s$`1`$, and a mixture of unobscured and obscured AGN-2 at fluxes $`10^{14}>S_X>10^{15.5}`$ erg cm-2 s-1 with ever fainter and redder optical counterparts, while at even lower X-ray fluxes a new population of star forming galaxies emerges . At optical magnitudes R$`>`$24 all these surveys suffer, however, from spectroscopic incompleteness, so that photometric redshift techniques have to be applied here .

After having understood the basic contributions to the X-ray background, the interest is now focusing on understanding the physical nature of these sources, the cosmological evolution of their properties, and their role in models of galaxy evolution. The X-ray observations have been roughly consistent with X-ray background population synthesis assuming a mixture of absorbed and unabsorbed AGN, folded with the corresponding luminosity function and cosmological evolution, e.g.. However, inputs to these models are still rather uncertain, like e.g. the cosmological evolution of low-luminosity AGN or the fraction of type-1 to type-2 AGN as a function of redshift and intrinsic luminosity, and a wide range of different assumptions has been invoked for these parameters , see also . Finally, the source statistics and optical incompleteness are rather poor at high redhifts.

The deep Chandra and XMM surveys, but also wider ASCA surveys have already provided important new constraints. Several examples of the long-sought class of high redshift, radio quiet type-2 QSO have been detected in deep fields . These allow for the first time to constrain the fraction of type-2 AGN as a function of X–ray luminosity. At low luminosities a type-2 fraction of 75-80% is found, consistent with local optically selected Seyfert galaxies, while at high luminosities the type-2 fraction is significantly smaller . The redshift distribution of Chandra deep survey sources peaks at z$``$0.7. This is related to the finding of a much slower cosmic evolution for Seyferts compared to QSOs . And finally, significant spikes are found in the redshift distributions , indicating that AGN prefer to live in sheets of large-scale structure.

In this review I show preliminary results on an ultradeep XMM-Newton observation in the Lockman Hole and compare the optical identification work in the two deepest Chandra fields, the Chandra Deep Field South and the Hubble Deep Field North.

## 2 XMM-Newton Ultradeep Survey of the Lockman Hole

The Lockman Hole (LH) is the area with the absolutely lowest column density of interstellar absorption and was selected for the location of the deepest ROSAT surveys , as well as the first XMM-Newton deep survey, observed in the performance verification phase of the satellite . In AO2 a 200 ksec observation of the LH was awarded to X. Barcons, but due to high background conditions, unfortunately only about 50 ksec of good exposure time could be secured. In AO3, our XMM LH team, including X. Barcons and A. Fabian, has been awarded an XMM exposure time of 665 ksec in the Lockman Hole. Due to a scheduling error, the step width of the mini raster survey specified in order to reduce the imprint of the CCD chip gaps on the exposure map, has been set erroneously to 15 arcminutes instead of 1 arcmin, so that a significant part of the exposure ($`>`$ 300 ksec net) was spent in a wider raster pattern. While unfortunate for the primary goal of our deep survey, this turned out to be very useful, because it provided a wider area coverage with an exposure time of almost 100 ksec. Finally, the XMM-Newton observatory reimbursed the 300 ksec exposure lost for the central pointing, so that the total net integrated XMM-Newton exposure in the Lockman Hole is about 800 ksec (see Figure 1).

Figure 1 shows the colour composite XMM-Newton image of the Lockman Hole. North is up and East is to the left. This was constructed by combining images, smoothed with a Gaussian with $`\sigma `$=2” in three bands (0.5-2 keV, 2-4.5 keV, 4.5-10 keV). Blue sources are those undetected in the soft (0.5-2 keV) band, most likely due to intrinsic absorption from neutral hydrogen with column densities $`N_H>10^{22}cm^2`$. Very soft sources appear red.

### 2.1 X-ray spectroscopy

The large throughput and the unprecedented hard X-ray sensitivity of the telescopes aboard the XMM-Newton observatory allow for the first time to determine X-ray spectra of the faintest X-ray source population and constrain the evolution of their physical properties, in particular the X-ray absorption. In the first deep survey taken with XMM-Newton in the Lockman Hole, it was possible to determine coarse X-ray spectra of about 50 X-ray sources with more than 100 photons detected in the XMM observation, representing a largely complete, optically identified subsample . While type-1 QSOs have the typical blue colours, type-2 sources follow much redder optical colour tracks expected for their host galaxy because the optical nucleus is obscured. X-ray spectrophotometry with XMM finds the expected strong correlation between X-ray absorption and optical obscuration . However, there are two high redshift type-1 QSOs which are optically unobscured and X-ray absorbed, indicating possible differences in the dust properties of these sources, e.g. . However, the existing samples are too small to make population studies. A 400 ksec XMM-Newton observation of the Chandra Deep Field South (see below) is providing additional X-ray spectroscopy samples . In the new 800 ksec XMM observation 330 sources have more than 200 counts and 104 have $`>`$ 1000 counts allowing to study emission and absorption properties of rather distant sources in great detail. The spectral diagnostics of high-redshift is in particular helped by the extremely low neutral hydrogen column density towards the LH.

Figure 2 shows examples of unfolded X-ray spectra from three sources in the 800 ksec observation of the LH, combining the data from the two MOS CCD and the pn-CCD camera of XMM-Newton. Panel 2a shows the spectrum of ROSAT Deep Survey (RDS) source #32A, a type-1 QSO at z=1.117, which can be fit to first order by a single power law model with photon index $`2.18\pm 0.02`$ and galactic absorption. A detailed look at the residuals of this fit, however, reveals excesses at soft energies (below 0.8 keV in the QSO restframe), which could be associated with a soft excess. At high energies (above 8 keV in the QSO rest frame) there seems to be an excess, which is likely associated to Compton reflection. No strong Fe line is apparent in this spectrum. Panel 2b shows the spectrum of ROSAT Ultradeep Survey (UDS) source #901A, a relatively nearby Seyfert-2 galaxy at z=0.204. Its X-ray spectrum can be fit with a heavily obscured power law with $`N_H=40\pm 51022`$ cm-2 and photon index $`1.9`$ and a superposed, broad Fe emission line, plus an additional unabsorbed soft thermal spectrum with a temperature of $`0.60\pm 0.06`$ keV, which, however does not show any emission lines.

The spectrum of RDS source #12A, a Seyfert-2 galaxy at z=0.99, is shown in panels 2c and 2d. It can be fit either with two heavily absorbed power law spectra with a ’standard’ photon index $`2`$ and two absorber thicknesses of $`N_H=2.310^{22}`$ and $`2.610^{23}`$ cm-2. This can be either interpreted (2c) as one AGN with partial covering absorption with a covering factor of roughly 80%, or even as a pair of AGN in the same galaxy, similar to the case recently discoverd in NGC 6240 . Alternatively it can be interpreted (2d) as a single, intrinsically absorbed power law with a rather flat photon index $`1.3`$ and a superposed broad Fe emission line.

### 2.2 Time variability

One possibility to distinguish between different spectral model interpretations is to study the temporal variability of these very faint X-ray sources. The Lockman Hole is ideally suited for this purpose, because it has been a deep Survey reference field for every imaging X-ray satellite following ROSAT, i.e. ASCA, BeppoSAX, Chandra, and finally XMM-Newton, covering a time base of about 13 years . Figure 3 shows the light curves for two of the sources for which spectra are presented in Figure 2, the Seyfert-2 galaxy ROSAT #12A and the QSO #32A. The black points with error bars (almost invisible for #32A) give the 0.5-2 keV flux as a function of time, based on ROSAT PSPC, ROSAT HRI, Chandra HRC and XMM-Newton EPIC data. It is surprising to see, that both the absorbed and the unabsorbed AGN show long-term time variations of up to a factor of five. The red data points connected with dashed lines show the corresponding 2-10 keV flux (based only on XMM-Newton) for both sources, which varies significantly hand in hand with the soft X-ray flux. The second XMM-Newton data point of #12A, however, seems to deviate from this correspondence, which may indeed indicate that we are seeing two separate components varying independently. It would definitely be interesting to further monitor this source and to look for other, similar examples of spectral and timing complexity.

The Lockman Hole contains a double-lobed high-redshift cluster of galaxies (see Figure 1 in the North-East of the image) which was expected to lie around a redshift of 1.26 . The new XMM-Newton data now allowed for the first time to determine an X-ray redshift of z=1.13 from the Fe K$`\alpha `$ line of both lobes of the cluster. This is significantly different from the original redshift, which was based on a Keck NIR spectrum of a single central galaxy , but has later been confirmed by Keck spectroscopy of two fainter cluster galaxies. The XMM-Newton data can also constrain the chemical abundances of the intergalactic medium of the cluster, for the first time at such a high redshift and rather low luminosity .

With the new XMM catalogue in the Lockman Hole we already have been awarded one night of spectroscopy with the powerful DEIMOS wide-field spectrograph, in cooperation with P. Henry (IfA). The observations were taken in March 2003 and reduced by I. Lehmann (MPE). A total of more than 100 spectra could be secured. However, due to the extremely faint optical counterparts only 25 new redshift identifications were obtained, raising the number of identified sources to about 135 in the LH. Further spectroscopy at 4-10m class telescopes is necessary to complete the optical spectroscopy in the Lockman Hole. However, for statistical studies a sample, which is rather complete for 0.5-2 keV fluxes down to $`10^{15}`$ erg cm-2 s-1 can be defined currently.

## 3 The deepest Chandra Fields

The Chandra X-ray Observatory has performed deep X-ray surveys in a number of fields with ever increasing exposure times  and has completed a 1 Msec exposure in the Chandra Deep Field South (CDF-S)  and a 2 Msec exposure in the Hubble Deep Field North (HDF-N) .

The CDF-S was also observed with XMM-Newton for a net exposure of 400 ksec in July 2001 and January 2002 (PI: J. Bergeron, see ). The EPIC cameras have a larger field-of-view than ACIS, and a number of new diffuse sources are detected just outside the Chandra image. Similar to the LH, X-ray spectroscopy of a large number of sources will ultimately be very powerful with XMM-Newton .

### 3.1 VLT optical spectroscopy

Optical spectroscopy in the CDF-S has been carried out in 11 nights with the ESO Very Large Telescope (VLT) in the time frame April 2000 - December 2001, using deep optical imaging and low resolution multiobject spectroscopy with the FORS instruments with individual exposure times ranging from 1-5 hours. Some preliminary results including the VLT optical spectroscopy have already been presented . The complete optical spectroscopy is published in .

Redshifts could be obtained so far for 169 of the 346 sources in the CDF-S, of which 144 are very reliable (high quality spectra with 2 or more spectral features), while the remaining optical spectra contain only a single emission line, or are of lower S/N. For objects fainter than R=24 reliable redshifts can be obtained if the spectra contain strong emission lines. For the remaining optically faint objects, and those not covered by the multiobject spectroscopy, we have to resort to photometric redshift techniques . For a subsample at off-axis angles smaller than 10 arcmin we obtain a spectroscopic completeness of about 50%. Including photometric redshifts this completeness increases to $``$ 96%.

### 3.2 X-ray/optical classification

Following  we show in Figure 4 left the hardness ratio as a function of the luminosity in the 0.5-10 keV band for 169 sources for which we have optical spectra and rather secure classification in the CDF-S  (large symbols) and about 170 objects with photometric redshifts  (small symbols). The X-ray luminosities are not corrected for internal absorption and are computed in a ’consensus cosmology’ with $`H_0`$ = 70 km s-1 Mpc-1, $`\mathrm{\Omega }_m=0.3`$ and $`\mathrm{\Omega }_\mathrm{\Lambda }=0.7`$. Different source types are clearly segregated in this plane. Type-1 AGNs (black diamonds) have luminosities typically above $`10^{42}`$ erg s-1, with hardness ratios in a narrow range around HR$``$-0.5. Type-2 AGN are skewed towards significantly higher hardness ratios (HR$`>`$0), with (absorbed) luminosities in the range $`10^{4144}`$ erg s-1. Direct spectral fits of the XMM-Newton and Chandra spectra clearly indicate that these harder spectra are due to neutral gas absorption and not due to a flatter intrinsic slope (see ). Therefore the unabsorbed, intrinsic luminosities of type-2 AGN would fall in the same range as those of type-1’s.

In Figure 4 we also indicate the type-2 QSOs (asterisks), the first one of which was discovered in the CDF-S . In the meantime, more examples have been found in the CDF-S and elsewhere . It is interesting to note that no high-luminosity, very hard sources exist in this diagram. This is a selection effect of the pencil beam surveys: due to the small solid angle, the rare high luminosity sources are only sampled at high redshifts, where the absorption cut-off of type-2 AGN is redshifted to softer X-ray energies. Indeed, the type-2 QSOs in this sample are the objects at $`L_X>10^{44}`$ erg s-1 and HR$`>`$-0.2. The type-1 QSO in this region of the diagram is a BAL QSO with significant intrinsic absorption.

About 10% of the objects have optical spectra of normal galaxies (marked with triangles), luminosities below $`10^{42}`$ erg s-1 and very soft X-ray spectra (several with HR=-1), as expected in the case of starbursts or thermal halos. In these galaxies the X-ray emission is likely due to a mixture of hot, thermal gas and a population of low mass X-ray binaries , plus possibly some low level AGN activity . Therefore the deep Chandra and XMM-Newton surveys detect for the first time the population of normal starburst galaxies out to intermediate redshifts . These galaxies might become an important means to study the star formation history in the universe completely independently from optical/UV, sub-mm or radio observations .

Figure 4 (right) shows the same diagram for the spectroscopic and photometric identifications in the 1Msec catalogue of the HDF-N . While the authors give only purely optical classification information for the X-ray counterparts (basically ”galaxy” or ”broad line object”), we have applied the above X-ray/optical classification scheme also to their catalogue. The corresponding diagram shows basically the same features: the X-rays show that type-1 (mainly broad-line) AGN cluster around HR$``$-0.5 and break the degeneracy between type-2 Seyferts and normal galaxies.

The CDF-S identification catalogue  includes 8 type-2 QSOs at redshifts above 2 (see figure 3 left), which all are characterised by strong and narrow UV emission lines (Lyman-$`\alpha `$, CIV etc.) with almost absent continuum. Additionally, there are three objects with photometric redshifts, luminosities and hardness ratios consistent with type-2 QSOs., The corresponding HDF-N catalogue  lists only two possible type-2 QSOs at such high redshifts and one additional photometric candidate . A closer look at Figure 5 and the optical magnitudes of the CDF-S type-2 QSO shows that these objects are predominantly detected at optical magnitudes R$`>`$ 24. One reason for the relative absence of this population in the HDF-N could be that a smaller number of identifications at R$`>24`$ exist in this survey compared to the CDF-S. However, a true field to field variation (cosmic variance) or statistical fluctuation cannot be ruled out.

## 4 Redshift and luminosity distributions for different AGN types

The current spectroscopic/photometric completeness of the CDF-S and HDF-N identifications allows to compare the observed redshift distribution with predictions from X–ray background population synthesis models, which, due to the saturation of the QSO evolution predict a maximum at redshifts around z=1.5. Figure 6 shows two predictions of the redshift distribution from the Gilli et al. model  for a flux limit of $`2.3\times 10^{16}`$ erg cm-2 s-1 in the 0.5-2 keV band with different assumptions for the high-redshift evolution of the QSO space density. The model curves have been normalized to fit the observed distribution in the redshift range 2-2.4.

The actually observed redshift distribution of AGN selected from the HDF-N and CDF-S Chandra deep survey samples at off-axis angles below 10 arcmin and in the 0.5-2 keV band is shown in Fig. 5 (left) as histogram and data points (solid circles). In the redshift range below 1.5 it is radically different from the prediction, with a peak at redshift z$``$0.7. This low redshift peak is dominated by Seyfert galaxies with X-ray luminosities in the range $`L_X=10^{4244}`$ erg s-1. This figure also shows, that the redshift distributions separated into type-1 AGN (crosses) and type-2 AGN (crosses with open circles) both peak significantly below z=1, which is not consistent with some recent population models, where the low redshift peak was assumed to be mainly in the type-2 AGN population .

Since the peak in the observed redshift distribution is expected at the redshift, where the strong positive evolution of AGN terminates, we can conclude that the evolution of Seyfert galaxies is significantly different from that of QSOs, with their evolution saturating around a redshift of 0.7, compared to the much earlier evolution of QSOs which saturates at z$``$1.5 . The statistics of the two samples is now sufficient to rule out the constant space density model at redshifts above 3, clearly indicating a decline of the X-ray selected QSO population at high redshift consistent with the optical findings.

Figure 6 (right) shows the ratio of type-2 AGN to all AGN selected in the 2-10 keV band for both the CDF-S and HDF-N (spectroscopic as well as photometric redshifts) as a function of the 2-10 keV luminosity. As already indicated by Ueda et al.  and confirmed by Szokoly et al.  there is a strong dependence of the fraction of type-2 AGN, i.e. the ratio of type-2 over all AGN as a function of luminosity. While the type-2 fraction at low luminosities is consistent with the local ratio of optically selected Seyfert galaxies  of about 4:5, at high luminosities the ratio is 1:3. This indicates a breakdown of the ’strong unification’ model, where the covering factor is independent of luminosity and redshift. A possible explanation of this trend may be, that high luminosity objects are able to ’clean out’ their environment by ionizing the circumnuclear matter and/or producing strong outflows, while low luminosity objects are largely surrounded by the circumnuclear starburst region they are feeding from (see e.g. ).

These, still preliminary, new results paint a dramatically different evolutionary picture for low-luminosity AGN compared to the high-luminosity QSOs. While the rare, high-luminosity objects can form and feed very efficiently rather early in the universe, the bulk of the AGN has to wait much longer to grow. This could indicate two modes of accretion and black hole growth with different accretion efficiency, as e.g. proposed in . The late evolution of the low-luminosity Seyfert population is very similar to that which is required to fit the Mid-infrared source counts and background (see e.g. ), however, contrary to what has been assumed by Franceschini et al., this evolution applies to all low-luminosity AGN (type-1 and type-2).

These results, however, have still to be taken with a grain of salt. First, the spectroscopic incompleteness in the Chandra samples is still substantial and before a formal publication of all spectroscopic and photometric redshifts is available, it is too early to draw final conclusions.

## Acknowledgments

I thank my colleagues in the the Chandra Deep Field South team and the Lockman Hole team, but in particular X. Barcons, J. Bergeron, H. Böhringer, A. Fabian, R. Giacconi, R. Gilli, P. Henry, I. Lehmann, V. Mainieri, C. Norman, P. Rosati, M. Schmidt, G. Szokoly, W. Zheng, for the good cooperation and the permission to use some data in advance of publication.