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# Dome-shaped magnetic phase diagram of thermoelectric layered cobaltites

Present address: \]National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and technology, Ikeda, Osaka 563-8577, Japan.

## Abstract

Using muon spin spectroscopy we have found that, for both NaxCoO2 (0.6 $`x`$ 0.9) and 3- and 4-layer cobaltites, a common low temperature magnetic state (which in some cases is manifest as an incommensurate spin density wave) forms in the CoO2 planes. Here we summarize those results and report a dome-shaped relation between the transition temperature into the low-$`T`$ magnetic state and the composition $`x`$ for NaxCoO2 and/or the high-temperature asymptotic limit of thermopower in the more complex 3- and 4-layer cobaltites. This behavior is explained using the Hubbard model on two-dimensional triangular lattice in the CoO2 plane.

Thermoelectric layered cobaltites, magnetism, muon spin rotation, incommendurate spin density waves  preprint: APS/PRL

Although the widespread current interest in the layered cobaltites NCO\_sc\_1 ; NCO\_sc\_2  was originally due mainly to their unique combination of high thermopower $`S`$ with metallic transport properties, NCO\_1 ; NCO\_2 ; NCO\_3 ; CCO\_1 ; CCO\_2 ; PbCSCO\_1 ; TlSCO\_1 ; HgSCCO\_1 ; BSCO\_1 ; CCCO\_1  which makes them one of the most promising systems for power applications, we have shown that they also display interesting and complex magnetic orderings, directly correlated with the enhanced thermopower. The richness of behavior of the layered cobaltites is due to their intrinsic structure, namely: electrically active triangular plane layers of CoO2, which are separated by a variety of intermediate structures; their relatively strong electronic correlations; and the fact that the structures between the CoO2 layers can be modified in a variety of ways to vary their dimensionality, ionic states, carrier doping in the CoO2 planes and the relevant interaction strengths.

In order to elucidate the magnetism in the CoO2 planes and the mechanism of the good thermoelectric properties, we have carried out positive muon spin rotation and relaxation ($`\mu ^+`$SR) experiments on the layered cobaltites. As a result, we found the transition from a high-temperature paramagnetic to a low-temperature commensurate or incommensurate spin density wave (C- or IC-SDW) state for \[Ca2CoO3\]$`{}_{}{}^{\mathrm{RS}}{}_{0.62}{}^{}`$\[CoO2\] below $``$100 K,muSR\_1 ; muSR\_3  Na0.75CoO2 at 22 K muSR\_2  and \[Ca2Co4/3Cu2/3O4\]$`{}_{}{}^{\mathrm{RS}}{}_{0.62}{}^{}`$\[CoO2\] below $``$200 K,muSR\_4  where RS denotes the rocksalt-type subsystem. The common magnetic ordering is thus not always that of a classic frustrated AF (triangular planar arrangement of spins) system but rather a variety of states including disordered AF and (most common) an incommensurate spin density wave (IC-SDW), n arising in parallel with other effects in the triangular lattice such as effective mass enhancement and the enhanced $`S`$ in the NaxCoO2 case. The more complex cobaltites exhibit, in addition, other magnetic orderings and even higher $`S`$.

Nevertheless, the transition temperature was scattered in the wide temperature range (22–200 K), and there was no clear relationship between $`T_{\mathrm{𝖲𝖣𝖶}}`$ and structural properties and/or carrier concentration of the layered cobaltites. We back therefore to the basic system, NaxCoO2, to investigate the dependence of $`T_{\mathrm{𝖲𝖣𝖶}}`$ on $`x`$ by $`\mu ^+`$SR. Also, for the multilayer systems, we clarify the magnitude of $`T_{\mathrm{𝖲𝖣𝖶}}`$ as a function of the Co valence varied by the change in composition of the rocksalt-type subsystem. PbCSCO\_1 ; TlSCO\_1 ; HgSCCO\_1  For the NaxCoO2 case, we show that a model based on the Hubbard model for a triangular lattice of S=1/2 Co ions with occupancy given by $`x`$ (correlated with band filling)2DTL\_1 ; 2DTL\_2  is able to explain the dome shaped magnetic phase diagram shown below. Similar behavior is observed for the multilayer systems, where the increased two dimensionality due to the extra layers leads to higher $`T_{\mathrm{𝖲𝖣𝖶}}`$ for the IC-SDW state and is correlated with higher $`S`$.

Single-crystal platelets of NaxCoO2 were prepared by a flux method.NCO\_4  Polycrystalline 3- and 4-layer cobaltites listed in Table 1 were synthesized by a solid state reaction technique muSR\_1 ; PbCSCO\_1 ; TlSCO\_1 ; HgSCCO\_1  or a reactive templated grain growth technique.rtgg\_1  The $`\mu ^+`$SR experiments were performed on the M15 and M20 surface muon beam lines at TRIUMF. The experimental setup is described in elsewhere.SDW\_1 ; SDW\_2

Figure 1 shows zero-field (ZF-)$`\mu ^+`$SR time spectra at 1.8 K for single crystal platelets of Na0.9CoO2. The top spectrum was obtained with the initial $`\mu ^+`$ spin direction $`\stackrel{}{𝑺}_\mu (0)`$ perpendicular to the $`c`$-axis and the bottom one with $`\stackrel{}{𝑺}_\mu (0)`$ parallel to $`c`$. A clear oscillation due to quasi-static internal fields is observed only for $`\stackrel{}{𝑺}_\mu (0)`$ perpendicular to $`𝒄`$. The muon signal is fitted best by a zeroth-order Bessel function of the first kind, $`J_0(\omega _\mu t)`$, which describes the evolution of the muon polarization in an IC-SDW field distribution; SDW\_1 ; SDW\_2  we therefore conclude that Na0.9CoO2 undergoes a magnetic transition from a paramagnetic state to an IC-SDW state at $`T_{\mathrm{𝖲𝖣𝖶}}`$=19 K. The absence of a clear oscillation for the $`\stackrel{}{𝑺}_\mu (0)𝒄`$ case indicates that the internal field $`𝑯_{\mathrm{int}}`$ is roughly parallel to the $`c`$-axis. Because of the strong anisotropy, the IC-SDW is most likely to propagate in the $`c`$ plane (i.e. in the CoO2 plane), with oscillating moments directed along the $`c`$-axis.

Figure 2 shows the temperature dependence of the muon precession frequency $`\nu _\mu `$ =$`\omega _\mu /2\pi `$ for the single crystal platelets of Na0.9CoO2. Here $`\nu _\mu `$ is the order parameter of the transition and its $`T`$ dependence is well described by the BCS weak coupling expression for such order parameters, as expected for the IC-SDW state.SDW\_4

The magnetic phase diagram (Fig. 3) of NaxCoO2 can thus be sketched from the $`\mu ^+`$SR results for polycrystalline samples with $`x`$=0.65 and 0.75 muSR\_2  and the present $`x`$=0.6 and 0.9 crystals. Recent compositional and chemical titration analyses indicated that the oxygen deficiency $`\delta `$ in NaxCoO2-δ is negligibly small even for the $`x`$=0.9 sample.NCO\_4  Hence, the average Co valence can be directly calculated from $`x`$. As $`x`$ increases from 0.6 (i.e. the Co valence decreases from 3.4), the magnitude of $`T_{\mathrm{𝖲𝖣𝖶}}`$ increases up to around $`x`$=0.8, then decreases with further increasing $`x`$. As a result, we obtain the dome-shaped relationship of Figure 3, between $`T_{\mathrm{𝖲𝖣𝖶}}`$ and $`x`$, viz. the Co valence for NaxCoO2.

The $`x`$=1 end member of NaxCoO2, that is, a fully occupied NaCoO2 phase, cannot be prepared by conventional solid state reaction and/or flux techniques, whereas the related compound LiCoO2 is easily obtained. The structure of LiCoO2 is isomorphous with $`\alpha `$-NaFeO2 ($`R3m`$), almost the same as that of NaxCoO2, and it is reported to be diamagnetic down to 4.2 K.LCO\_1  This behavior is expected, because the Co3+ ions in LiCoO2 are in a low-spin state $`t_{2g}^6`$, as for NaxCoO2. Therefore, NaxCoO2 is also expected to lack magnetically ordered states.

The occupancy of Co4+ spins (S=1/2) in the two-dimensional triangular lattice (2DTL) increases with decreasing $`x`$. Thus the other end member, Na0CoO2, would be a half filled 2DTL. In other words, every lattice site is occupied by an S=1/2 spin. The Hubbard model within a mean field approximation can be used for explaining the magnetism of such a system, with the Hamiltonian $``$ given by 2DTL\_1 ; 2DTL\_2

$``$ $`=`$ $`t{\displaystyle \underset{<ij>\sigma }{}}c_{i\sigma }^{}c_{j\sigma }+U{\displaystyle \underset{i}{}}n_in_i,`$ (1)
where $`c_{i\sigma }^{}(c_{j\sigma })`$ creates (destroys) an electron with spin $`\sigma `$ on site $`i`$, $`n_{i\sigma }=c_{i\sigma }^{}c_{i\sigma }`$ is the number operator, $`t`$ is the nearest-neighbor hopping amplitude and $`U`$ is the Hubbard on-site repulsion. The electron filling $`n`$ is defined as $`n`$=(1/2$`N`$)$`_i^Nn_i`$, where $`N`$ is the total number of sites.

At $`T`$=0 and $`n`$=0.5 (i.e., Na0CoO2), as $`U`$ increases from 0, the system is a paramagnetic metal up to $`U/t`$=3.97 due to geometrical frustration, then changes into a metal with a spiral IC-SDW, and then at $`U/t`$=5.27 a first-order metal-insulator transition occurs.2DTL\_1  The lack of magnetic transitions for NaxCoO2 with $`x`$=0.6 and 0.65 suggests that $`U/t`$3.97. This means that NaxCoO2 is unlikely to be a typical strongly correlated electron system, because $`Ut`$ for such a system. The calculations2DTL\_2  also predict that, as $`n`$ increases from 0, the magnitude of $`U/t`$ at the boundary between the paramagnetic and SDW phases decreases, with increasing slope ($`d(U/t)/dn`$) up to $`n`$=0.75. Even for $`U/t`$=0, the SDW phase is stable at $`n`$=0.75. The value of $`U/t`$ then increases with further increasing $`n`$, with decreasing slope. Therefore, the dome-shaped phase diagram of Fig. 3 is qualitatively explained by the calculations, although the measured maximum of the dome is located around $`x`$=0.8 (i.e. $`n`$=0.9). This is likely due to the simple band structure assumed in the above calculation, while calculations for NaxCoO2 suggest more complicated band structure.NCO\_5

For the related compounds \[Ca2CoO3\]$`{}_{}{}^{\mathrm{RS}}{}_{0.62}{}^{}`$\[CoO2\] and \[Ca2Co4/3Cu2/3O4\]$`{}_{}{}^{\mathrm{RS}}{}_{0.62}{}^{}`$\[CoO2\], (i.e. 3-layer and 4-layer cobaltites, where RS denotes the rocksalt-type susbsystem), the IC-SDW transition was also observed as a common behavior in the CoO2 planes. muSR\_1 ; muSR\_3 ; muSR\_4  We have studied by $`\mu ^+`$SR the dependence of the IC-SDW transition on the Co valence for the variety of layered cobaltites shown in Table 1. It should be noted that the magnetic susceptibility $`\chi (T)`$ curves for the 3- and 4-layer samples lacked a marked change at either the $`T_{\mathrm{𝖲𝖣𝖶}}^{\mathrm{on}}`$ or $`T_{\mathrm{𝖲𝖣𝖶}}^{\mathrm{end}}`$ detected by $`\mu ^+`$SR.

There are two Co sites in these layered cobaltite lattices, one in the rocksalt-type subsystem and the other in the CoO2 plane. Therefore it is difficult to determine the Co valence in the CoO2 plane by $`\chi `$ measurements or chemical titration techniques. Since the Hall coefficients $`R_\mathrm{H}`$ of these cobaltites are reported to depend strongly on temperature,BSCO\_1 ; NCO\_4  it is also difficult to estimate the carrier concentration in the CoO2 plane. On the other hand, the magnitude of $`S`$ in the layered cobaltites is almost independent of $`T`$ above 200 K. CCO\_2 ; PbCSCO\_1 ; TlSCO\_1 ; HgSCCO\_1 ; BSCO\_1 ; CCCO\_1  Therefore, we use the value of $`S`$ at 300 K as an indicator of the Co valence in the CoO2 plane for these cobaltites. The modified Heikes formula gives $`S`$ at the high-temperature limit ($`S_T\mathrm{}`$) as S\_1

$`S_T\mathrm{}`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{k_\mathrm{B}}{e}}\mathrm{ln}\left({\displaystyle \frac{g_3}{g_4}}{\displaystyle \frac{y}{1y}}\right),`$ (2)
where $`k_\mathrm{B}`$ is the Boltzmann constant, $`e`$ is the elementary charge and $`g_3`$ and $`g_4`$ are the numbers of the spin configurations of Co3+ and Co4+ ions, respectively, and $`y`$ is the ratio Co4+/(Co3++Co4+). Since both Co3+ and Co4+ are in the low-spin state ($`t_{2g}^6`$ and $`t_{2g}^5`$) and $`g_3`$=1 and $`g_4`$=6, we can convert $`S`$(300 K) to $`y`$, assuming that $`S`$(300 K)=$`S_T\mathrm{}`$.

Figure 4 shows $`T_{\mathrm{𝖲𝖣𝖶}}^{\mathrm{on}}`$ as a function of $`S`$(300 K) for the all cobaltites listed in Table 1. A clear dome-shaped relation is thus observed for all the available cobaltites with a variable number of layers ($`N`$) between the two adjacent CoO2 planes. As $`N`$ increases from 1, the $`T_{\mathrm{𝖲𝖣𝖶}}^{\mathrm{on}}vs.S`$(300 K) curve shifts towards higher temperature. This is due to the increased two-dimensionality induced by the increase in the interlayer distance between CoO2 planes. Also, the large observed transition widths (50-130 K) are consistent with enhanced two-dimensionality and resulting spin fluctuations. Phenomenologically, the phase diagram is very similar to the well-known relationship between the superconducting $`T_\mathrm{c}`$ and the Cu valence in the high-$`T_\mathrm{c}`$ cuprates. Actually, both SDW and superconducting transitions are induced by an intrinsic instability of an electron system; in other words, as $`T`$ decreases, an energy gap appears at $`T_{\mathrm{𝖲𝖣𝖶}}`$ and/or $`T_\mathrm{c}`$ to minimize the internal energy for both cases. Therefore, it is reasonable to expect a similar relationship between transition temperature and carrier concentration for both the magnetic cobaltites and the superconducting cuprates.

Furthermore, the average Co valence for the maximum $`T_{\mathrm{𝖲𝖣𝖶}}`$ indicates the optimal filling to induce an SDW transition at high temperatures and enhance the effective mass of charge carriers through the AF interaction between spins. In other words, this dome relation provides important guidance in the search for improved thermoelectric properties of the layered cobaltites.

We thank S.R. Kreitzman, B. Hitti, D.J. Arseneau, Y. Seno, K. Dohmae, C. Xia, H. Nozaki, H. Hazama, J. Chakhalian, D. Liu, A. I.-Najafabadi and S. D. LaRoy for help with the $`\mu ^+`$SR experiments. Also, we appreciate R. Asahi, U. Mizutani, H. Ikuta, T. Takeuchi and K. Machida for discussions. This work was supported at Toyota CRDL by joint research and development with International Center for Environmental Technology Transfer in 2002-2004, commissioned by the Ministry of Economy Trade and Industry of Japan, at UBC by the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, and at TRIUMF by the National Research Council of Canada.


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# The 𝐽/𝜓𝐷𝐷^∗ vertex

## Acknowledgments

This work was supported by CNPq and FAPESP.


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# Determination of the calorimetric energy in extensive air showers

## 1 Introduction

In the last years, the quest to unravel the many mysteries related to the cosmic radiation has been intensified, in an attempt to answer open questions  about origin, propagation and chemical composition of the ultra high energy cosmic rays. The Auger  observatory, now under construction, and future experiments like Telescope Array , EUSO  and OWL  will shed light on these questions.

A common feature of these experiments is the use of the fluorescence technique, first explored by the Fly’s Eye group . The fluorescence telescopes use the atmosphere as a calorimeter, making a direct measurement of the longitudinal shower development, which represents the most appropriate technique to determine the energy of the primary particle. This is based on the assumption that the fluorescence yield is proportional to the local energy deposit. Recent measurements  have shown that this is valid for electrons and efforts are being made to improve  and extend the results.

However, a fraction of the primary energy cannot be detected because it is carried away by neutrinos and high energy muons that hit the ground. Corrections for the so called missing energy must be properly applied to the calorimetric energy $`E_{cal}`$ measured, in order to find the primary energy $`E_0`$. The first parameterizations of the missing energy, as a function of the calorimetric energy, was done by J.Linsley  and the Fly’s Eye group . Some years ago, C. Song et al  recalculated it using simulated air showers. The method consisted of first determining the number of charged particles in the shower $`N_{ch}(t)`$, as a function of the atmospheric depth $`t`$, including a correction to take into account particles discarded below the simulation threshold. The track length integral was then evaluated, assuming a mean energy loss rate $`\alpha `$, to find an estimate of the total calorimetric energy:

$$E_{cal}\alpha _0^{\mathrm{}}N_{ch}(t)𝑑t$$

Nowadays, a very detailed simulation of the energy deposited in the atmosphere by air showers  is available in the Monte Carlo program CORSIKA . In this paper, we use it to study the contribution of different components of an air shower to the total energy deposit. This approach is different from the previous one  since we use directly the energy deposited in the atmosphere, by each component of the shower.

With this information, we calculate the amount of missing energy and parameterize the fraction $`E_{cal}/E_0`$ as a function of $`E_{cal}`$. We derive this function for proton and iron primaries and compare it with previous results. Additionally, we investigate the dependence of this parameterization with the zenith angle, high energy hadronic interaction model and observation level.

The outline of this paper is as follows: section 2 gives a brief description of the simulations performed. In section 3 we discuss the concepts of missing energy and energy deposit as ingredients of our calculations to obtain the primary energy. In section 4, we present a summary of the longitudinal profiles of energy deposit generated in the simulations and we discuss the missing energy correction curve obtained. Our final conclusions are presented in section 5.

## 2 Simulation

The CORSIKA simulation code, version 6.30, was used to study the energy balance in the propagation of atmospheric showers. This Monte Carlo package, designed to simulate extensive air showers up to the highest energies, is able to track in great detail almost all particles.

In particular, this program provides tables for the energy dissipated in the atmosphere as a function of the atmospheric depth . For each kind of particle (gamma, electron, muon, hadron and neutrino), the energy lost by ionization in air and by simulation cuts (angle and energy thresholds) are specified. In addition, there is also information about the amount of energy carried by particles hitting the ground.

In this paper, QGSJET01  has been employed for higher energies $`E_{lab}>80GeV`$, and GHEISHA  for lower energies. Optimum  thinning  was applied, so as to reduce CPU time, while keeping the simulation detailed enough for our purposes. We have used a thinning level of $`\epsilon _{th}=10^4`$, with maximum weight limitation set to $`\omega _{max}=10^4E_0/GeV`$ for muons, hadrons and electromagnetic particles. The energy threshold for electromagnetic particles was set to $`E_{thr}^{em}=50keV`$ and, for hadrons and muons, $`E_{thr}^h=E_{thr}^\mu =50MeV`$. Ground was fixed at sea level.

Proton and iron initiated air showers were simulated for three different energies $`10^{18}eV`$, $`10^{19}eV`$ and $`10^{20}eV`$ and four different angles $`0^o`$, $`30^o`$, $`45^o`$ and $`60^o`$. For each combination of these parameters, $`100`$ showers were simulated and the longitudinal profiles of energy deposit were carefully studied.

With the angle fixed at $`45^o`$, we have also simulated proton and iron showers for two different conditions. First, with a different high energy hadronic interaction model (SIBYLL2.1 ). Second, with a different detection level (300m above sea level).

## 3 Energy Balance

We will use a nomenclature for energy distribution that is similar to that usually seen in analytic solutions of diffusion equations. The number of particles of type $`i`$ at depth $`t`$, with energy in the interval $`[E,E+dE]`$, is $`N_i(E,t)dE`$. Therefore, $`F_i(E,t)dE=EN_i(E,t)dE`$ is the total energy of these particles. The integral form of these distributions is written as $`F_i(E<E_0,t)dt=_0^{E_0}F_i(E,t)𝑑E`$ and so on.

For the shower processes, we define $`i=h`$ (for hadrons), $`\mu `$ (for muons), $`\nu `$ (for neutrinos), $`em`$ (electromagnetic component). For the $`i_{th}`$ component, the energy deposited due to ionization prior to depth $`t`$ is given by $`D_i(t)`$.

Then, at any depth, we can write an expression for the primary energy:

$$E_0=\underset{i=h,\mu ,\nu ,em}{}F_i(E>0,t)+\underset{i=h,\mu ,\nu ,em}{}D_i(t)$$

Now, if we introduce energy thresholds111Even though there are also angular cuts, we write only $`EE_{thr}`$, for simplicity. we have

$$E_0=\underset{i}{}F_i(E>E_{thr}^i,t)+\underset{i}{}F_i(EE_{thr}^i,t)+\underset{i}{}D_i(t)$$

For practical reasons, particles submitted to threshold cuts (both in energy and in angle) are no longer tracked, and this expression is not exact. CORSIKA computes the energy of these particles as dissipated energy. The exact equation must consider the sum of the energies of all particles below the threshold $`F_i^{}(EE_{thr}^i,t)`$, prior do depth $`t`$, and the energy deposited only by particles above the threshold $`D_i^{}(t)`$:

$$E_0=\underset{i}{}F_i(E>E_{thr}^i,t)+\underset{i}{}F_i^{}(EE_{thr}^i,t)+\underset{i}{}D_i^{}(t)$$

Now we can define calorimetric and missing energy for our purposes. We take as calorimetric energy the energy deposited in air by ionization. The amount of energy which does not cause ionization is the missing energy. The energy in the electromagnetic component and a fraction $`f_h^{}`$ of the energy in the hadronic component, no matter the stage of shower development, are also taken as calorimetric. This has to be so, because they are accounted for when evaluating the track length integral.

Besides that, when a particle reaches a threshold, its energy is dropped from the simulation. However, a fraction of this energy would in reality go to ionization. We can take these fractions as constants, for each component, as they are averaged over a large number of low energy particles. Therefore, $`f_iF_i^{}(EE_{thr}^i,t)`$ is the fraction of the sub-threshold particles energy which goes to ionization. The remaining ($`1f_i`$) goes to missing energy. The values of the constants $`f_i`$ and $`f_h^{}`$ will be given later.

From the above equations, we can define the calorimetric energy at depth $`t`$ as:

$`E_{cal}(t)`$ $`=`$ $`F_{em}(E>E_{thr},t)+F_{em}^{}(EE_{thr},t)+`$
$`f_h^{}F_h(E>E_{thr}^h,t)+f_hF_h^{}(EE_{thr}^h,t)+`$
$`f_\mu F_\mu ^{}(EE_{thr}^\mu ,t)+{\displaystyle \underset{i}{}}D_i^{}(t)`$
The remaining terms will add to the missing energy:

$`E_{miss}(t)`$ $`=`$ $`(1f_h^{})F_h(E>E_{thr}^h,t)+(1f_h)F_h^{}(EE_{thr}^h,t)+`$
$`F_\mu (E>E_{thr}^\mu ,t)+(1f_\mu )F_\mu ^{}(EE_{thr}^\mu ,t)+`$
$`F_\nu (E>0,t)`$
We will consider now the fractions going to calorimetric and missing energies for particles submitted to threshold cuts. It is important to know the type of particles contributing and since this information was not available, we modified the CORSIKA code. For each particle dropped from the simulation, its type, kinetic energy and releasable energy were recorded. The releasable energy is the energy that would have been lost had the particle not been dropped from the simulation.

Thus we could calculate the contributions of the different types of particles and their respective energy spectrum. Table 1 shows the mean kinetic energy and the relative contributions calculated from 500 proton showers with $`10^{19}eV`$ and $`45^o`$. The relative contribution is the ratio of the energy deposited by a given type of particle to the total energy deposited by the respective shower component. The thinning level was set to $`10^4`$ without weight limitation. We found similar results for iron induced air shower simulations.

This information was used to further track these sub-threshold particles using the Geant4 code . For each type of particle, 5000 air shower simulations initiated by these low energy particles were performed. The energy spectrum obtained from CORSIKA was used to set the energy of these events and the secondary particles were followed through a sea level standard atmosphere until $`1keV`$. The Geant package allowed us to find out the amount of energy lost by ionization and other processes, and determine the fractions of energy deposited by ionization. These fractions are also shown in table 1. For the low energy electromagnetic particles, we made the assumption that all the energy is deposited ($`f_{em}=1`$). For muons and hadrons, we used the fractions $`f_\mu =0.425`$ and $`f_h=0.739`$.

It is also necessary to consider what happens to the hadrons hitting the ground. They have a significantly different composition and energy spectrum from those hadrons cut in air and we cannot assume that $`f_h^{}=f_h`$. We used the CORSIKA information about particles at detection level to analyze the energy spectrum and relative contributions of different types of hadrons. Table 2 shows the results for the same set of 500 CORSIKA showers. In this case, the average energies are higher and we found the dependence of $`f_h^{}`$ on energy to be a second order effect. Geant4 was then used to simulate 500 showers, for each particle, with energy fixed to its average kinetic energy. We found that $`f_h^{}=0.61`$.

Therefore, the prescription used for calculating the missing energy at ground level is:

$`E_{miss}=0.390F_h(E>E_{thr}^h,grd)`$ $`+`$ $`0.261F_h^{}(EE_{thr}^h,grd)+`$
$`1.000F_\mu (E>E_{thr}^\mu ,grd)`$ $`+`$ $`0.575F_\mu ^{}(EE_{thr}^\mu ,grd)+`$
$`1.000F_\nu (E>0,grd)`$
Since $`E_{cal}/E_0=1E_{miss}/E_0`$, we can calculate the fraction of the primary energy measured with the fluorescence telescopes.

## 4 Results

For the sake of clarity, we present in this section the results from our simulations. In table 3, we show the contribution for the energy deposit from different shower components, as a percentage of the primary energy, for each simulated angle and energy.

Each three lines, corresponding to a fixed choice of angle and energy, refer to three different contributions to the energy deposit, which we called: (ION) ionization in air, (CUT) simulation cuts, and (GRD) particles arriving at ground. Each column gives the contribution from different shower components: gammas, electrons, muons, hadrons and neutrinos. The first value (first/second) refers to proton primaries, while the second refers to iron primaries.

The first line accounts for ionization energy losses in air, consequently we have no contributions from gammas or neutrinos. We considered all contributions from this line as calorimetric energy.

The second line gives the total energy of particles left out of the simulations because of angular or energy cuts. A fraction of this energy will go to ionization, as described in last section. Since neutrinos are not tracked in the simulation, they are dropped as soon as produced and all their energy appears in this line. We considered all their energy as missing energy.

The last line gives the amount of energy carried by particles arriving at the observation level. In this case, we considered all energy from the electromagnetic and a fraction of the hadronic component hitting the ground as calorimetric energy. The energy carried by muons was taken as missing energy.

### 4.1 Missing energy

We have used the data in table 3 to evaluate the mean missing energy for each combination of angle, energy and primary particle as given by equation 3.

In figure 1, the correction factor for the missing energy is shown, plotted as the fraction $`E_{cal}/E_0`$, as a function of $`E_{cal}`$. We can see that the variation in the amount of missing energy is only slightly dependent on the angle and decreases with energy. At $`10^{18}eV`$, the ratio $`E_{cal}/E_0`$ varies between $`90.891.3\%`$ for protons, and between $`86.487.0\%`$ for iron.

On the other hand, the ratio $`E_{cal}/E_0`$ is largely dependent on the primary mass. At a fixed angle, the difference in the amount of missing energy for proton and iron showers decreases with energy. For instance, at $`45^o`$ this difference222In this and in the next section, all differences are relative, e.g., $`(v_1v_2)/\overline{v}`$. is $`4.9\%`$ at $`10^{18}eV`$, $`3.3\%`$ at $`10^{19}eV`$ and $`2.1\%`$ at $`10^{20}eV`$.

A mean parameterization of $`E_{cal}/E_0`$, taken as a mixture of $`50\%`$ proton and $`50\%`$ iron at $`45^o`$, is usually used in the reconstruction routines. In table 4, we give the fitting parameters of the mean missing energy correction function for different simulations conditions. For showers with zenith angle $`45^o`$, we have:

$$\frac{E_{cal}}{E_0}=0.9670.078\left(\frac{E_{cal}}{1EeV}\right)^{0.140}$$
(2)
The systematic error in the value of $`E_{cal}/E_0`$, when calculating the primary energy with the mean parameterization, is less than $`\pm 2.5\%\pm 0.4\%`$ at $`1EeV`$ and decreases with energy. Shower-to-shower fluctuations were evaluated, and found to be independent of energy. The rms value of $`E_{cal}`$ is $`1.1\%`$ of the primary energy for proton showers, and $`0.4\%`$ for iron showers.

Figure 2 shows in detail the mean missing energy correction, calculated for a mixture of 50% proton and 50% iron. As can be noticed, there is a small shift in the curves relative to the previous results by Song  and Linsley . Song’s results are based on Monte Carlo simulations, and the mixed composition is shown. Linsley’s results were calculated based on muon size measurements, and are independent of the primary composition. Results agree to within $`1\%`$, but they were not obtained under the same conditions. In figure 3, we compare, for $`45^o`$, the missing energy correction curves obtained for the ground level set to $`0m`$ and $`300m`$, which is the same used by Song et al. As can be seen, our result does not depend on the observation level.

The dependence on the interaction model is considerable, as shown in figure 4. We compared, for proton and iron at $`45^o`$, the missing energy correction curves obtained with QGSJET01 and SIBYLL2.1 models. The difference is practically constant: around $`1.6\%`$ for proton and $`1.2\%`$ for iron. In all cases, SIBYLL predicts less missing energy than QGSJET.

## 5 Conclusions

The energy deposit by atmospheric air showers was studied aiming for a better reconstruction of the primary energy. The new and very detailed energy balance now present in CORSIKA was used.

Our results for the missing energy correction function agree with previous calculations , to within $`1\%`$. The dependence of this function on angle and observation level was found to be less than $`0.7\%`$. Comparing the high energy hadronic interaction models QGSJET and SIBYLL, the results differ by less than $`1.6\%`$. The larger dependence comes from the primary mass, being less than $`5\%`$ at $`10^{18}eV`$, decreasing with energy.

We found a mean parameterization of $`E_{cal}/E_0`$, taken as a mixture of $`50\%`$ proton and $`50\%`$ iron at $`45^o`$, as usually used in the reconstruction routines. Considering the QGSJET model only, we estimate that the total systematic error, introduced by the use of just this parameterization, is below $`3\%`$ at $`1EeV`$, and below $`2\%`$ at $`100EeV`$. This is of the order of shower-to-shower fluctuations. For proton showers, the rms value of $`E_{cal}`$ is $`1.1\%`$ of the primary energy. For iron showers, it is $`0.4\%`$.

The authors would like to thank Bruce Dawson, Chihwa Song, Dieter Heck and Markus Risse for the fruitful discussions. This work was supported by the Brazilian science foundations CNPq and CAPES to which we are grateful. The calculations were done using computational facilities in Campinas funded by FAPESP.


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# Why I don’t like “pure mathematics”

I am a pure mathematician, and I enjoy being one. I just don’t like the adjective “pure” in “pure mathematics”. Is mathematics that has applications somehow “impure”? The English mathematician Godfrey Harold Hardy thought so. In his book A Mathematician’s Apology, he writes:

> A science is said to be useful of its development tends to accentuate the existing inequalities in the distribution of wealth, or more directly promotes the destruction of human life.

His criterion for good mathematics was an entirely aesthetic one:

> The mathematician’s patterns, like the painter’s or the poet’s must be beautiful; the ideas, like the colours or the words must fit together in a harmonious way. Beauty is the first test: there is no permanent place in this world for ugly mathematics.

I tend to agree with the second quote, but not with the first one.

Hardy’s book was written in 1940, when the second world war was raging and the memory of the first one was still fresh. The first world war was the first truly modern war in the sense that science was systematically put to use on the battlefield. Physicists and chemists helped to develop weapons of unheard of lethal power. After that war, nobody could claim anymore that science was mainly the noble pursuit of knowledge: science had an impact on the real world, sometimes a devastating one, and scientist could no longer eschew the moral issues involved. By declaring mathematics — or at least good mathematics — to be without applications, he absolved mathematics, and thus the mathematical community, from being an accomplice of those who waged wars and thrived on social injustice.

The problem with this view is simply that it isn’t true. Mathematicians live in the real world, and their mathematics interacts with the real world in one way or another. I don’t want to say that there is no difference between pure and applied math: someone who uses mathematics to maximize the time an airline’s fleet is actually in the air (thus making money) and not on the ground (thus costing money) is doing applied math whereas someone who proves theorems on the Hochschild cohomology of Banach algebras (I do that, for instance) is doing pure math. In general, pure mathematics has no immediate impact on the real world (and most of it probably never will), but once we omit that adjective, the line begins to blur.

The fundamental theorem of arithmetic was already known to the ancient Greeks: every positive integer has a prime factorization that is unique up to the order of the factors. A proof is given in Euclid’s more than two thousand years old Elements, and there is little doubt that it was known long before it found its way into that book. For centuries, this theorem was the epitomy of beautiful, but otherwise useless mathematics. This changed in the 1970s with the discovery of the RSA algorithm. It is easy to multiply integers on a computer; it is much harder — even though the fundamental theorem says that it can always be done — to determine the prime factorization of a given positive integer. This fact can be used to create codes that are extremely hard to crack. Without them, e-commerce as it exists today would be impossible. Who would want to key his/her credit card number into an online form if he/she had no guarantee that no eavesdropping crook could get hold of it?

Another mathematical ingredient of the RSA algorithm is Fermat’s little theorem (not to be confused with his much more famous last theorem). Pierre de Fermat, a lawyer and civil servant in 17th century France, was doing mathematics in his free time. He did it because he enjoyed the intellectual challenge of it, not because it had any connection with his day job. Here is his little theorem: If $`p`$ is a prime number and $`a`$ is any integer that does not contain $`p`$ as a prime factor, then $`p`$ divides $`a^{p1}1`$. This theorem is not obvious, but also not very hard to prove (it probably is on the syllabus of every undergraduate course in number theory). Fermat proved it out of curiosity. Computers, let alone e-commerce, didn’t exist in his days. Nevertheless, it turned out to be useful more than three hundred years after its creator had died.

At the time of Fermat’s death, Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz was 19 years old. Long after his death, he would be called the last universal genius: he may have been the last person to have a complete grasp of the amassed knowledge of his time. As a mathematician, he was one of the creators of calculus — not a small accomplishment —, and he attempted, but ultimately failed, to build a calculating machine, a forerunner of today’s computers. As a philosopher, he gained fame (or notoriety) through an essay entitled Théodicée — meaning: God’s defense — in which he tried to reconcile the belief in a loving, almighty God with the apparent existence of human suffering: he argued that we do indeed live in the best of all possible worlds. Philosophical and theological considerations led him to discover the binary representation of numbers: instead of expressing a number in the decimal system, e.g., $`113=110^2+110+310^0`$, we can do it equally well in the dual system ($`113=12^6+12^5+12^4+02^3+02^2+02+12^0`$). Since numbers in binary representation are much easier to handle on an electronic computer, Leibniz’ discovery helped to at least facilitate the inception of modern information technology.

Almost three hundred years after Leibniz had died, the mathematician Vaughn Jones was working on the problem of classifying subfactors (I won’t attempt to explain what a subfactor is; it has nothing to do with multiplying numbers). To accomplish this classification, he introduced what is now called the Jones index: with each subfactor a certain number is associated. This index displayed a rather strange behavior: it could be infinity or any real number greater than or equal to $`4`$, but the values it attained under $`4`$ had to be of the form $`4\mathrm{cos}^2(\pi /n)`$ with $`n=3,4,\mathrm{}`$. Jones asked himself why. His research led to the discovery of the Jones polynomial (of course, he didn’t call it that way) for which he was awarded the Fields Medal, the highest honor that can be bestowed upon a (pure) mathematician. This Jones polynomial, in turn, has helped molecular biologists to better understand the ways DNA curls up in a cell’s nucleus.

Most of pure mathematics will probably never impact the world outside the mathematical community, but who can be sure in a particular case? In the last twenty five years, the intellectual climate in most “developed” countries has become increasingly unfavorable towards l’art pour l’art. Granting agencies nowadays demand from researchers to explain what the gains of their research are. In principle, there is nothing wrong with that: taxpayers have a right to know what their money is used for. The problem is the timeframe: the four examples I gave show that research that was done for nothing but curiosity and the sheer pleasure of exploration, turned out to have applications, sometimes with far reaching consequences. To abandon theoretical research just because it doesn’t have any foreseeable application in the near future, is a case of cutting off one’s nose despite the face.

Pure mathematics isn’t pure: neither in the sense that it is removed from the real world, nor in the sense that its practitioners can ultimately avoid the moral questions faced by more applied scientists. It would much better be called “theoretical mathematics”.

P.S. While Hardy wrote his Apology, other British mathematicians worked on and eventually succeeded in breaking the Enigma code used by the German navy. By all likelihood, their work helped shorten the war by months if not years, thus saving millions of lives on both sides.

P.P.S. In 1908, Hardy came up with a law that described how the proportions of dominant and recessive genetic traits are propagated in large populations. He didn’t think much of it, but it has turned out to be of major importance in the study of blood group distributions.

| Address: | Department of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences |
| --- | --- |
|  | University of Alberta |
|  | Edmonton, Alberta |
|  | Canada T6G 2G1 |
| E-mail: | vrunde@ualberta.ca |
| URL: | http://www.math.ualberta.ca/runde/ |


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# Magnetotransport in dilute 2D Si-MOSFET system

## Abstract

The beating pattern of Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations is reproduced in both the crossed and tilted magnetic field configuration and in presence of zero-field valley splitting in Si-MOSFET system. The consequences of IQHE in extremely dilute 2DEG are discussed.

A great deal of interest has been focussed on the anomalous transport behaviorAbrahams  of a wide variety of low-density 2D systems. It has been found that, below some critical density, the cooling causes an increase in resistivity, whereas in the opposite high density case the resistivity decreases. Another unusual property of low-density 2D systems is their response to perpendicular magnetic field. In dilute Si-MOSFET system the spin susceptibility known to be strongly enhanced, therefore results in magnetotransport features associated mostly with spin. Although numerous theories have been put forward to account for these effects, the origin of the above behavior is still the subject of a heated debate. In present paper we investigate the beating pattern of Shubnikov-de Haas(SdH) oscillations caused by zero-field valley splitting in Si-MOSFET system. Then, we analyze the SdH beating pattern for the crossed magnetic field configuration case. Magnetotransport in extremely dilute 2DEG subjected into quantizing magnetic fields is discussed.

In contrast to conventional SdH formalism extensively used to reproduce low-field data we allude to alternative approachCheremisin3  seems to give an overwhelming efforts to resolve magnetotransport problem within both SdH and IQHE regimes. Based on a thermodynamic approach, in Ref.Cheremisin3  has been calculated the magnetoresistivity of a 2D electron gas, assumed nevertheless dissipationless in a strong quantum limit. Standard measurements, with extra current leads, define the magnetoresistivity caused by a combination of Peltier and Seebeck effects.Kirby ,Cheremisin  The current causes heating(cooling) at the first(second) sample contacts, due to the Peltier effect. The contact temperatures are different. The measured voltage is equal to the Peltier effect-induced thermoemf which is linear in current. As a result, the magnetoresistivity is non-zero as $`I0`$. The resistivity found to be a universal function of magnetic field and temperature, expressed in fundamental units $`h/e^2`$.

The Si-MOSFET energy spectrum modified with respect to valley and spin splitting yields

$$\epsilon _n=\mathrm{}\omega _c(n+1/2)\pm \frac{\mathrm{\Delta }_s}{2}\pm \frac{\mathrm{\Delta }_v}{2}$$
(1)
where $`n=0,1..`$ is the LL number, $`\omega _c=\frac{eB_{}}{mc}`$ the cyclotron frequency, $`\mathrm{\Delta }_s=g^{}\mu _BB`$ the Zeeman splitting, $`g^{}`$ the effective g-factor, $`B=\sqrt{B_{}^2+B_{}^2}`$ the total magnetic field. Then, $`\mathrm{\Delta }_v`$\[K\]$`=\mathrm{\Delta }_v^0+0.6B_{}`$\[T\] is the density independentPudalov3  valley splitting. In contrast to valley splitting, the spin susceptibility $`\chi =\frac{g^{}m}{2m_0}`$( here, $`m_0`$ is the $`free`$ electron mass ) known to exhibit strong enhancement upon 2D carrier depletion. The latter result is confirmed independently by magnetotransport measurements in tilted magnetic field Fang ,Okamoto , perpendicular fieldKravchenko1  and beating pattern of SdH oscillations Pudalov5  in crossed fields.

Recall that in strong magnetic fields $`\mathrm{}\omega _ckT,\mathrm{}/\tau `$ the electrons can be considered dissipationless, therefore $`\sigma _{xx},\rho _{xx}0`$. Here, $`\tau `$ is the momentum relaxation time. Under current carrying conditions the only reason for finite longitudinal resistivity seems to be thermal correction mechanism discussed in Ref.Kirby . Following Ref.Cheremisin3  one obtains

$$\rho =\rho _{yx}\frac{\alpha ^2}{L}$$
(2)
where $`\alpha `$ is the thermopower, $`\rho _{yx}^1=Nec/B_{}`$ the Hall resistivity, $`N=\left(\frac{\mathrm{\Omega }}{\mu }\right)_T`$ the 2D density, $`\mathrm{\Omega }=kT\mathrm{\Gamma }\underset{n}{}\mathrm{ln}\left(1+\mathrm{exp}\left(\frac{\mu \epsilon _n}{kT}\right)\right)`$ the thermodynamic potential modified with respect to abovementioned energy spectrum, $`\mathrm{\Gamma }=\frac{eB_{}}{hc}`$ the zero-width LL DOS. In actual fact, in strong magnetic fields 2D thermopower is a universal quantityGirvin , proportional to the entropy per electron: $`\alpha =\frac{S}{eN}`$, where $`S=\left(\frac{\mathrm{\Omega }}{T}\right)_\mu `$ is the entropy. Both $`S,N`$, and, thus $`\alpha ,\rho `$ are universal functions of $`\xi `$ and the dimensionless magnetic field $`\mathrm{}\omega _c/\mu =4/\nu `$, where $`\nu =N_0/\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ is the conventional filling factor, $`N_0=\frac{2m\mu }{\pi \mathrm{}^2}`$ is the zero-field density of strongly degenerate 2DEG.

Using Lifshitz-Kosevich formalism, asymptotic formulae can be easily derived for $`N,S`$, and hence for $`\rho _{yx},\rho `$, valid within low temperature, magnetic field limit $`\nu ^1,\xi <1`$:

$`N=N_0\xi F_0(1/\xi )+2\pi \xi N_0{\displaystyle \underset{l=1}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}}{\displaystyle \frac{(1)^l\mathrm{sin}(\frac{\pi l\nu }{2})}{\mathrm{sinh}(r_l)}}R(\nu ),`$ (3)
$`S=S_02\pi ^2\xi kN_0{\displaystyle \underset{l=1}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}}(1)^l\mathrm{\Phi }(r_l)\mathrm{cos}\left({\displaystyle \frac{\pi l\nu }{2}}\right)R(\nu ),`$
where $`S_0=kN_0\frac{d}{d\xi }\left[\xi ^2F_1(1/\xi )\right]`$ is the entropy at $`B_{}=0`$, $`F_n(z)`$ the Fermi integral, $`\mathrm{\Phi }(z)=\frac{1z\mathrm{coth}(z)}{z\mathrm{sinh}(z)}`$, $`r_l=\pi ^2\xi \nu l/2`$ the dimensionless parameter. Then, $`R(\nu )=\mathrm{cos}(\pi ls)\mathrm{cos}(\pi lv)`$ is the form-factor, $`s=\frac{\mathrm{\Delta }_s}{\mathrm{}\omega _c}=\chi \frac{B}{B_{}}`$ the dimensionless Zeeman spin splitting, $`v=\frac{\mathrm{\Delta }_v}{\mathrm{}\omega _c}=\frac{\mathrm{\Delta }_v^0\nu }{4\mu }+0.12`$ the dimensionless valley splitting.

Let us first consider zero-$`B_{}`$ case, when the Zeeman spin splitting is reduced to field-independent constant, i.e. $`s=\chi `$. Then, in low-$`T,B_{}`$ limit the valley splitting $`\mathrm{\Delta }_v^0`$ known to be resolvedPudalov4 , therefore leads to beating of SdH oscillations. For actual first-harmonic case( i.e. $`l=1`$ ), the beating nodes can be observed when $`\mathrm{cos}(\pi v)=0`$, or $`\nu _i^v=\frac{4\mu (i/20.12)}{\mathrm{\Delta }_v^0}`$, where $`i=1,3..`$ is the beating node index. For 2DEG parameters( see Fig.1) reported in Ref.Pudalov4  we estimate $`\nu _1^v=101`$, therefore $`\mathrm{\Delta }_v^0=0.92`$K. The second node is expected to appear at $`\nu _2^v=368`$. However, SdH oscillations are, in fact, resolved when $`\nu 1/\xi =203`$, therefore the second beating node was not observed in experimentPudalov4 . Moreover, the observed disappearance of the first beating node upon 2D carrier depletion $`N<310^{11}`$ cm-2 is governed by the same condition because in this case $`\nu 1/\xi =73`$ being of the order of the first beating node. Note that suppression the beating nodes at higher densities($`N>910^{11}`$ cm-2) reported in Ref.Pudalov4  is, however, unexpected within our simple scenario.

We now analyze the case of low-density 2D system in strong magnetic field with the only lowest LLs occupied. For extremely dilute 2DEG($`N10^{11}`$ cm-2) the energy spectrum( Fig.3, inset) known to be strongly affected by enhanced spin susceptibility. In contrast to high density case with cyclotron minima occur at $`\nu =4,8,12..`$, in dilute 2DEG the only spin minima( $`\nu =2,6,10..`$ ) are observed.Kravchenko2  As expected, the spin (cyclotron) minima fillings are proportional to the odd( even ) numbers multiplied by factor of two due to the valley degeneracy. In stronger fields magnetoresistivity data exhibit $`\nu =1`$ minimum associated with valley splitting. With the help of energy spectrum implied by Eq.(1) one can easily find that the last minima occur when the Fermi level lies between the lowest valley-split LLs, i.e. $`\mu =\mathrm{}\omega _c(1\chi )/2`$. The sequence of minima at $`B=4,2,0.66`$T reported in Ref.Kravchenko2  provides the independent test for spin susceptibility in high-$`B_{}`$ limit. In Fig.2 we represent the magnetoresistivity specified by Eq.2 and then use $`\chi =0.5`$ in order to fit the observed minima sequence. Surprisingly, the value of spin susceptibility is lower than that $`\chi =0.86`$ extracted from crossed-field SdH beating pattern analysisPudalov5 . We attribute the above discrepancy to, for example, the possible magnetic field dependence of spin susceptibility.

Finally, we focus on magnetotransport problem in crossed magnetic field configuration. Following experimentsPudalov4  we further neglect the zero-field valley splitting for actual high density case($`N>910^{11}`$ cm-2). At fixed parallel magnetic field the dimensionless Zeeman splitting yields $`s=\chi \sqrt{1+\nu ^2/\nu _{}^2}`$, where we introduce an auxiliary ”filling factor” $`\nu _{}=\frac{hcN_0}{eB_{}}`$ associated with the parallel field. Within low-$`B_{}`$ limit the parallel field induced spin splitting result in the beating of SdH oscillations as well. One can easily derive the condition for SdH beating nodes as follows $`\mathrm{cos}(\pi s)=0`$ or $`\nu _j^s=\nu _{}\sqrt{(j/2\chi )^21}`$, where $`j=1,3\mathrm{}`$. The sequence of the beating nodes observed in Ref.Pudalov5  allowed the authors to deduce the density dependence of the spin susceptibility. As an example, for 2DEG parametersPudalov5  in Fig.3 we reproduce the magnetoresistivity implied by Eqs.(2),(3). The phase of SdH oscillations remains the same between the adjacent beating nodes, and changes by $`\pi `$ through the node in consistent with experiments.

We now consider 2DEG magnetotransport in tilted configuration with the sample rotated in a constant magnetic field Fang ; Okamoto ; Vitkalov . In this case, the SdH beating pattern known to depend on the spin polarization degree $`p=\frac{\mathrm{\Delta }_s}{2\mu }=\frac{2\chi }{\nu _{tot}}`$, where we introduce the auxiliary ”filling factor” $`\nu _{tot}=\frac{hcN_0}{eB}`$, associated with the total magnetic field. Conventionally, the spin polarization degree is related to parallel field $`B_c`$ required for complete spin polarization, therefore $`p=\frac{B}{B_c}`$. Performing a minor modification in Eq.2, namely that $`s=\chi \frac{\nu }{\nu _{tot}}`$, in Fig.4 we represent the magnetoresistivity as a function of filling factor for 2DEG plane rotated with respect to constant magnetic field B=18T (see Ref.Vitkalov ). For simplicity, we omit zero-field valley splitting. Then, arguing the LLs spreading is neglected within our simple approach, we use somewhat higher temperature compared to that in experimentVitkalov . For spin polarized system SdH oscillations($`p=1.01`$ Fig.4) is caused by the only lowest valley-degenerated spin-up subband. At low temperatures, the valley-splitting associated deep at $`\nu =3`$ found to be resolved. With the help of energy spectrum, specified by Eq.1, the high-filling maxima occur at $`\frac{4(N+1/2)}{1+p}2N+1`$, therefore have a period $`\mathrm{\Delta }\nu =2`$. In contrast, the partially polarized high-density 2DEG case($`p=0.29`$) depicted in Fig.4,b demonstrates rather complicated beating pattern caused by the both spin-up and spin-down subbands. One can easily demonstrate that high-filling maxima occur at $`\frac{4(N+1/2)}{1\pm p}`$ (dots in Fig.4,b ), thus depend on spin polarization degree. The ratio of oscillation frequencies of two spin subbands is $`f^{}/f^{}=\frac{1p}{1+p}`$ being consistent with experiment Vitkalov . At a moment, we, however, cannot explain the puzzling behavior of low-filling magnetoresistivity known(Ref.Okamoto ,Kravchenko2 ) to be insensitive to parallel field component.

We emphasize that the data represented in Fig.1-4 differs with respect to those provided by conventional formalism in the following aspects: i) low-field( $`\omega _c\tau 1`$) quantum interference and classical negative magnetoresistivity background is excluded within our approach and ii) in contrast to conventional SdH analysis, our approach determines(at $`\omega _c\tau 1`$) the $`absolute`$ value of magnetoresistivity, and, moreover provides the continuous transition SdH-to-QHE regime($`\mathrm{}\omega _ckT`$). Minor point is that our approach predicts somewhat lower SdH oscillations amplitude compared to that in experiment. However, in IQHE regime the magnitude of magnetoresistivity is well comparable( see Ref.Cheremisin3 ) with experimental values.

In conclusion, we demonstrate the relevance of the approach suggested in Ref.Cheremisin3 ) regarding to low-field beating pattern SdH oscillations in both crossed and tilted magnetic field configuration. Then, we examine the features concerning IQHE in dilute Si-MOSFET system.

This work was supported by RFBR(grant 03-02-17588), and LSF(HPRI-CT-2001-00114, Weizmann Institute)


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# Breaking All the Rules: The Compact Symmetric Object 0402+379

## 1 Introduction

Compact symmetric objects (CSOs) are a recently identified class of radio sources smaller than 1 kpc in size with emission on both sides of the central engine, and are thought to be very young objects ($``$1000 yr, Readhead et al. 1996; Owsianik & Conway 1998). The small linear sizes of CSOs make them valuable for studies of both the evolution of radio galaxies and for testing the “unified scheme” of active galactic nuclei (AGN). CSOs are also extremely valuable as calibrators since they are relatively flux stable, unpolarized, and rarely exhibit any extended emission on kiloparsec scales. For all of these reasons, many recent observational campaigns have been aimed at identifying and better understanding these objects (e.g. Peck & Taylor 2000; Augusto et al. 1998). However, despite the increased interest, many properties of CSOs remain poorly understood. In particular, the origin of these objects’ unique and varied morphologies remains a topic of open debate. One object known to have an especially puzzling morphology is the relatively nearby (z=0.055 - Xu et al. 1994) CSO 0402+379.

The radio galaxy 0402+379 was first observed with the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) and the Very Large Array (VLA)111The National Radio Astronomy Observatory is operated by Associated Universities, Inc., under cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation. as part of the first Caltech-Jodrell Bank Survey (CJ1), but owing to its moderately large extent (50 mas) and absence of a strong compact component, the high resolution image obtained at 5 GHz was quite poor (Xu et al., 1995), and it was not recognized as a CSO. Complimentary VLA observations obtained during this survey showed 0402+379 to possess large scale structure, but this result was not surprising since the CSO morphology was not known. The source was again observed five years later during the VLBA Calibrator Survey (VCS; Beasley et al. 2002), but it earned no special attention. In an analysis of the polarization properties of core jet sources, Pollack et al. (2003) classified 0402+379 as a CSO candidate and suggested further investigation. Reexamination of the VCS images revealed a central core with extended lobes on either side, consistent with the CSO interpretation. However, these images also showed the central core to be offset from a line connecting the two hotspots, which had not been seen in any other previously identified CSO.

In order to directly address the CSO-like morphology of 0402+379, we obtained multi-frequency VLBA observations at 1.3, 5, and 15 GHz. Our observations allow us to classify this object as a CSO. We emphasize, though, that 0402+379 exhibits several peculiar properties that are not typical of CSOs. In particular, the presence of large scale structure in this object is inconsistent with a recent onset of radio activity and has only been seen in one other CSO (0108+388; Baum et al., 1990). Moreover, the parsec-scale structure of 0402+379 is unique in that it possesses two central, compact, flat-spectrum components. Because jet components are not often found to show these features, this result is quite puzzling.

To explore these anomalous features in more detail, we have re-analyzed multi-epoch data for 0402+379 from the Caltech-Jodrell Bank Survey (Britzen et al. 2003, in prep.) and the VLBA Calibrator Survey (Beasley et al., 2002). Our analysis confirms the flat spectrum nature of this source’s two potential nuclei, and reveals appreciable variability in both of these components. We also find significant motion in the northern hotspot of 0402+379 and possible motion in one of the core candidates. In §4, we explore possibilities that could account for the two central, compact, flat spectrum components, as well as the large scale structure and highly redshifted HI discovered in 0402+379. Throughout this discussion, we assume H0=71 km s-1 Mpc-1, $`\mathrm{\Omega }_M`$ = 0.27, and $`\mathrm{\Omega }_{vac}`$= 0.73, resulting in a linear to angular scale ratio of 1.055 kpc arcsecond-1 222Derived using E.L. Wright’s cosmology calculator at http://www.astro.ucla.edu/ wright/CosmoCalc.html..

## 2 Observations

### 2.1 2003 VLBA Observations

VLBA observations were made on 2003 March 02 at 1.348, 4.983, and 15.353 GHz in a single 11 hr observing session. A single IF with a bandwidth of 16 MHz was observed in 256 channels in both R and L circular polarizations, resulting in a frequency resolution of 62.5 kHz, corresponding to a velocity resolution of 15 km s-1. Four-level quantization was employed at all three frequencies. The net integration time on 0402+379 was 651 minutes at 1.3 GHz, 478 minutes at 5 GHz, and 478 minutes at 15 GHz. Standard flagging, amplitude calibration, fringe fitting, bandpass calibration (using 3C 84 for continuum data and 3C 111 for spectral line data), and frequency averaging procedures were followed in the Astronomical Image Processing System (AIPS; van Moorsel et al. 1996). AIPS reduction scripts described in Ulvestad et al. (2001) were used for a large part of the reduction. Spectral line Doppler corrections were also applied in AIPS, and a clean cube was produced using Difmap (Shepherd et al., 1995). All manual editing, imaging, deconvolution, and self-calibration were also done with Difmap.

### 2.2 Archival Observations

We have additionally obtained VLA archival data from 1992 November 06 and from 1982 July 04 at 1.46 and 4.89 GHz, respectively. The 1.46 GHz observation was first presented by Xu et al. (1995) and was taken in the A configuration, whereas the 4.89 GHz observation was taken in the BnA configuration and has not been previously published to our knowledge. Both frequencies were observed during snapshot observations, and both were made using a 50 MHz bandwidth. Further information regarding these observations can be found in Table 1. Standard flagging for these observations as well as amplitude and phase calibration was performed in AIPS, while manual editing, imaging, deconvolution, and self-calibration were done in Difmap.

To further study this source, we obtained fully-calibrated VLBI data taken in 1990 (Xu et al., 1995), in 1996 (VCS; Beasley et al. 2002), and in three epochs (1994, 1996, and 1999) of the CJ Proper Motion Survey (Britzen et al. 2003, in prep.). These data were imaged and modeled in Difmap to aid in analysis of motions, variability, and spectra of 0402+379. Further information regarding these observations can be found in Table 1.

## 3 Results

### 3.1 Radio Continuum

Figure 1 shows naturally weighted 1.3, 5, and 15 GHz images from the 2003 VLBA observations. The overall structure of the source is similar at 5 and 15 GHz, spanning $``$40 mas ($``$40 pc) and consisting of two diametrically-opposed jets, as well as two strong, compact core candidates, one directly between the jets and one also between the jets but offset from the center. At 1.3 GHz, the radio morphology is somewhat different, showing significant extended structure to the north, as well as weak extended structure in the south. We note that the complex morphology of the southern hotspot is suggestive of substantial interaction between the surrounding galactic medium and the southern hotspot.

Results from our VLA observations at 1.4 and 5 GHz are shown in Figure 2. The 1.3 GHz map, initially analyzed by Xu et al. (1995), was the first indication of large scale structure in 0402+379. However, because the CSO morphology of this source was not known at the time, this result was not remarkable. Our VLBA observations, on the other hand, unambiguously reveal the parsec-scale CSO morphology of this source, thereby allowing us to report 0402+379 as only the second known CSO (after 0108+388) to possess structure on a kiloparsec-scale.

Because the detection of large scale structure associated with CSOs is inconsistent with a recent origin for their radio activity, Baum et al. (1990), who discovered and first analyzed the large scale structure in 0108+388, have explored possibilities that could account for extended emission in CSOs. One possibility they consider is that the source is a normal radio galaxy in a dense environment, where the radio plasma cannot currently escape from the nuclear regions. A second possibility they give is that the emission in such a source is recurrent and that the extended radio emission is a relic of activity from a previous period. We will return to these possibilities in §4.

### 3.2 Component Motions and Variability

In order to explore questions pertaining to motion and variability in 0402+379, we obtained fully-calibrated 5 GHz data from the Caltech-Jodrell Bank Proper Motion Survey (Britzen et al. 2003, in prep.). The three epochs included in this set correspond to VLBA observations taken in 1994, 1996, and 1999. Combining this data with our 2003 VLBA observations and the 1990 VLBI observations of Xu et al. (1995), we were able to probe motion and variability in this source over a thirteen year period. Although the first hot spot velocities in CSOs required time baselines of $``$ 15 years (Owsianik & Conway, 1998), we note that time baselines as short as 5 years have also been successfully used to probe motions in CSOs (Giroletti et al., 2003). Therefore, we believe that our time baseline of 13 years should be sufficient to detect component motions in 0402+379, should the motion be similar to that in other CSOs.

Motion and variability studies were performed by fitting 8 elliptical Gaussian components in Difmap to the 1996 visibility data. The 1996 epoch was chosen for the preliminary fit since data from this epoch showed a similar morphology to the other epochs but appeared to be somewhat less complicated in the southern hotspot, making it easier to fit with a small number of components. In this model, a large elliptical component was used to pick up the northern jet’s diffuse emission; compact components were used to describe the two core components, the southern hotspot, and the hotspot in the northern jet. We used our 1996 model to fit the 5 GHz data corresponding to the 1990, 1994, 1999, and 2003 epochs. During this process, we let only position and flux density vary; all other fitting parameters were held fixed at the 1996 values. Results from our fits are listed in Table 2, and regions describing each Gaussian component are labeled in Figure 1.

To study component variability in 0402+379, we compared the flux for components C1, C2, the sum of the southern components (S1, S2, S3, and S4), and the sum of the northern components (N1 and N2) over each of our five VLBI epochs. The above regions were chosen based primarily on their isolation relative to other components in the source. Errors for each region were then computed based on the rms noise and our estimated absolute flux calibration errors ($``$ 20% for the 1990 and 1994 Mk 2 epochs and $``$ 5% for the 1996, 1999, and 2003 VLBA epochs). The resulting fractional variation lightcurves are shown in Figure 3. These lightcurves were created by dividing each region’s flux at each frequency by the the mean region flux found from averaging all observed frequencies. To aid in readability of our graph, the offset core component (C2), the southern lobe, and the northern lobe are displaced on the y-axis by 1, 2, and 3 units, respectively. From Figure 3 and Table 2, we find that component C1 (the offset core candidate) substantially increases in flux over our thirteen-year baseline, starting from 18 mJy in 1990 and increasing in brightness to 60 mJy in 2003. If C1 is the core, we find a relatively high 5 GHz core fraction of 7%, compared with the typical CSO 5 GHz core fraction of $``$ 3% (Taylor et al., 1996). We also find that component C2 is variable, ranging from $`<`$10 mJy in 1990 to 25 mJy in 1996. Because our 1990 epoch was observed with Mk 2 VLBI, this apparent variability could, in part, be attributed to poor data quality. We see, however, that the measured flux for all other components in 1990 is quite consistent with our later epochs, suggesting that our calculated upper-limit for component C2’s flux in 1990 is reliable and that the observed variability in C2 is significant. However, this result is strongly dependent on our 1990 epoch, and further observations are needed to confirm the variable nature of C2.

Core components in CSOs are known to be variable at $`<`$23% on timescales of several months (Fassnacht & Taylor, 2001), significantly less than both C1 and C2 have proven to be on a timescale of thirteen years. Our time sampling is not dense enough to determine the variability over a period of months in these components, but since the trend is gradual (with the exception of the change in C2 between 1990 and 1994), our results seem consistent with Fassnacht & Taylor (2001). We therefore believe that the variability we detect in component C1 and C2 is reasonable for core components in CSOs. We will further discuss the implications of these results in §4.

To calculate the advance velocity for our Gaussian components, we chose component C1 as our reference component, based on its isolation relative to other components in the source, and compared the model-fit for each epoch by fitting a line to each component’s position as a function of time and then fitting a second line to each component’s velocity as a function of time. Results of this fitting process are listed in Table 3, plotted in Figure 4, and shown schematically in Figure 5. Position errors at individual epochs were estimated based on the scatter exhibited in component fits where no motion is detected. Using our least squares fits shown in Table 3, our results indicate a $`4\sigma `$ (0.0398 $`\pm `$ 0.010 mas yr-1 or 0.137 $`\pm `$ 0.034 c) detection of motion in the northern hotspot (N2) as well a $`2\sigma `$ (0.0468 $`\pm `$ 0.019 mas yr-1 or 0.16 $`\pm `$ 0.065 c) detection in the aligned core candidate (C2). Although it is somewhat surprising that no motion is detected in the southern hotspot (S2), we emphasize that the southern hotspot is substantially more complicated than the northern hotspot (N2) and core candidates (C1 and C2). Therefore, it may be that component S2 is moving as fast as our other components with detected motion (N2 and C2) but that our modelfitting-based technique does not allow detection of this motion.

Using our velocity result for component N2 given in Table 3 and our position result for this component given in Table 2, we derive an approximate age for component N2 of 502 $`\pm `$ 129 years. Assuming we have detected the majority of parsec-scale emission in this source, this component age is consistent with that of other expected component ages for CSOs (e.g., Readhead et al. 1996; Owsianik & Conway 1998).

Finally, we emphasize that our detection of motion for component C2 is extremely tentative, since it is only a $`2\sigma `$ result. Moreover, due primarily to the non-detection of component C2 in 1990 as well as the poor quality of data in 1994, the goodness-of-fit for component C2 is much worse than that for component N2. We also note that had we chosen component C2 as stationary, our motion results would indicate that component N2 is moving somewhat more northwardly than it is currently moving and at roughly twice its current speed, whereas component C1 would be moving toward the northern hotspot at the speed currently attributed to component C2. We will see in §4, however, that the component we choose as a reference is not crucial to our interpretation, since the only important results are that component N2 is moving northward and that components C1 and C2 are possibly moving relative to each other.

### 3.3 Radio Continuum Spectra

By appropriately tapering our 15 GHz 2003 image, we obtained an image resolution matched to our 5 GHz continuum image. These two images were then combined to generate an image of the spectral index distribution across the source (Figure 6). In both hotspots of the source, a steep spectrum is found, whereas in both core candidates, the spectrum is quite flat. Because only core components in CSOs are generally found to be flat spectrum (Taylor et al., 1996), we were somewhat surprised by this result.

To further explore this puzzling feature, we measured the peak flux of each component using images generated from calibrated data obtained in the VLBA Calibrator Survey (2 and 8 GHz; 1996 epoch), as well as from our 2003 epoch at 1.3, 5, and 15 GHz. These flux densities are listed in Table 4. Continuum spectra generated from these flux densities are shown in Figure 7. We emphasize that because components C1 and C2 are variable (§3.2), our points at 2 and 8 GHz for these components are highly uncertain. However, the hotspots in 0402+379 (components N2 and S2) do not appear to be variable, and we therefore believe that the measured peak fluxes for these components at 2 and 8 GHz provide a good estimate of the flux we would have found at these frequencies had we obtained 2003 observations. We see that our results are consistent with this supposition since our spectra for components S2 and N2 appear to vary continuously and because our results obtained for these components are similar to those obtained from our spectral index map. Using results from our continuum spectrum, we find spectral indices between 5 and 15 GHz for the northern hotspot (N2), the southern hotspot (S2), the offset core candidate (C1), and the aligned core candidate (C2) of $``$1.38, $``$1.60, 0.20, and 0.35, respectively.

### 3.4 HI Absorption

Spectral line observations at 1.348 GHz were also made during the 2003 VLBA observations. Figure 8 shows the 1.3 GHz continuum emission from this observation overlaid by spectra from five regions of the source, while Figure 9 shows a gradient in HI opacity over the source. A broad (540 km s-1) line is discovered along the eastern edge of the southern hotspot. Measurements for this line are given in Table 5. We note that no velocity gradient was found across the HI absorbing region.

We determine the central velocity of the HI absorption to be 17,115 $`\pm `$ 23 km s-1, corresponding to a redshift of 0.0571 $`\pm `$ 0.0001. From the reported redshift for 0402+379, as measured from optical emission lines (Xu et al., 1994), we find that our observed line is redshifted by 1012 $`\pm `$ 300 km s-1 from the systemic velocity of the source. Most of this error comes from the uncertainty in redshift given by Xu et al. (1994). Although lines redshifted greater than 500 km s-1 are not typical in CSOs, they are not unprecedented. Vermeulen et al. (2003), for example, recently surveyed 57 low-redshift CSS/GPS sources and found that the majority of their detected lines were redshifted and were observed at displaced velocities ranging from several hundred km s-1 to sometimes greater than 1000 km s-1. Vermeulen et al. (2003) speculate that in many of their sources, interaction between the radio jets and the surrounding galactic medium in the central kpc lead to significant motions in the HI absorbing gas and, thus, result in absorption lines that are greatly displaced from the systemic velocity. This hypothesis was also used to explain the highly blueshifted line found in IC 5063 (Oosterloo et al., 2000). Because the morphology of 0402+379 in the HI absorbing region of the southern hotspot is highly suggestive of substantial interaction between the radio jets and the galactic medium (as previously discussed in §3.1), a similar explanation could be used to explain our substantially redshifted line. We note that while this hypothesis may appear to be in conflict with our nondetection of motion in the southern hotspot (§3.2), as we have already discussed, component S2 is too complicated for proper motions less than 0.3c to be detected. We further note that assuming this hypothesis is correct may also suggest that the southern jet is on the receding side with respect to our line-of-sight, since the absorption line is redshifted from the systemic velocity. This is consistent with the considerably weaker emission in the southern extension of the source than in the northern extension in the continuum maps at 1.3 GHz with the VLBA and at 5 GHz with the VLA. A problem with this hypothesis is how to sweep up enough neutral material in the shock driven into the cloud (Bicknell et al., 1998).

As an alternative hypothesis, it may be possible that the highly redshifted HI in 0402+379 is due to a recent merger. In this case, the observed HI redshift of $``$ 1000 km s-1 would be attributed to the velocity difference between the two merging galaxies, or to infall of gas that has been dispersed during the merger.

## 4 Discussion

Although the clearly symmetric morphology of the lobes in 0402+379 allows us to classify it as a CSO, 0402+379 exhibits several peculiar properties that are not typical of CSOs. In particular, 0402+379 has been shown to have large scale structure, making it only the second known CSO to possess such a feature. In addition, 0402+379 contains two central, compact, flat spectrum, variable components, a feature which has not been observed in any other compact source. While we are unable to fully explain these anomalous properties at present, in the following sections, we discuss several physical situations that could account for one or more of the observed features.

### 4.1 Background Source

To explain the two central compact, flat spectrum components observed in VLBI images of 0402+379, we first considered the possibility that component C1 is not actually associated with 0402+379 but is instead a foreground or background radio source. However, from our angular separation distance for the two core candidates (7 mas), we find the probability that component C1 is an unassociated background source to be $``$10-11(Condon, 1984). Moreover, our 5 GHz map shows a 6$`\sigma `$ detection of radio emission connecting components C1 and C2 (e.g. Figure 6). We therefore eliminate the background source theory as a likely explanation for the two central compact, flat spectrum components observed in 0402+379.

### 4.2 Gravitational Lensing

A second possibility that could account for the two, central compact components we observe in 0402+379 is that our source is gravitationally lensed. Starting in the late 1980’s, a number of gravitationally-lensed radio sources have been observed and documented (e.g., Soucail et al. 1987). The smallest known lens is 0218+357, with a separation of 330 mas (O’Dea et al., 1992). In response to the moderate lens separations of O’Dea et al. (1992) and others, Wilkinson et al. (2001) surveyed three hundred compact radio sources in search of lensing (with an expected lensing mass of $``$$`10^7\mathrm{M}_{\mathrm{}}`$) and found none that were gravitationally lensed. Therefore, if 0402+379 were lensed, it would be the first in its class to be identified as such. Moreover, we note that while the morphology and spectrum of 0402+379 are highly supportive of the lensing hypothesis, we see that the lightcurves of components C1 and C2 (the two core candidates) are very different (see Figure 3). Although the lightcurves for a lensed source are not required to be identical, we would expect them to be proportional, with a short time delay. In addition, because 0402+379 is nearby (z=0.055), the lensing mass would likely be obvious if 0402+379 were lensed. Therefore, based on the known rarity of compact, lensed sources, the significant difference in the lightcurves of components C1 and C2, and the close proximity of 0402+379, we eliminate lensing as a potential mechanism to describe the observed parsec-scale morphology.

### 4.3 Dense Medium Theory

First analyzed by Baum et al. (1990), 0108+388 was the first CSO found to possess large scale structure. Because the presence of kpc-scale emission associated with CSOs is inconsistent with a recent origin for their radio activity, Baum et al. (1990) have presented several theories that could reconcile this apparent contradiction. One possibility they present is that 0108+388 is a CSO333Baum et al. (1990) actually referred to 0108+388 as a compact double (CD) since the classification of CSO was not in existence at the time of their work. However, 0108+388 has since been classified as a CSO (Readhead et al., 1996), so in all discussions of this source, we will refer to it as such., but that the radio emission is not a recent event. Baum et al. (1990) speculate, then, that 0108+388 could be a more evolved galaxy but that the radio plasma cannot currently escape from the nuclear regions. They propose that this situation might arise because the host galaxy has recently swallowed a gas rich companion, thereby smothering the source. Since 0402+379 is similar to 0108+388 as a CSO with large scale structure, we consider this possibility in some detail.

Because exotic jet morphologies are often attributed to substantial interaction with the external medium, the medium-interaction theory presented by Baum et al. (1990) could explain the puzzling pc-scale emission seen in 0402+379. In this case, the offset-core candidate (component C1) would be classified as the core, whereas the aligned-core candidate (component C2) would be classified as a knot in the southern jet. The southern hotspot morphology, the presence of greatly redshifted HI, and the lack of significant motion in the southern hotspot all appear to support this theory, since they all suggest substantial interaction between the ISM and the southern hotspot. Moreover, although the inverted spectrum of component C2 is difficult to explain using our “dense medium” hypothesis, the non-detection of component C2 in 1990 could suggest that substantial interactions with a dense surrounding medium have led to shocks in component C2, causing it to brighten significantly, as well as to appear compact and flat-spectrum. However, our derived HI column density of 1.8 $`\times 10^{20}`$ cm-2 in the southern hotspot is inconsistent with the slow jet, dense medium model for CSOs presented by Readhead et al. (1996) by three orders of magnitude. It could be argued that this discrepency is due to our assumed spin temperature of 100 K, which was used in deriving the column density. We note, though, that while this assumed temperature may be underestimated, the column density derived assuming a spin temperature of 104 K is still too small to be consistent with the dense medium model presented by Readhead et al. (1996). If our dense medium theory is correct, then our HI opacity results require an anomalously large density gradient between component C2 and the southern hotspot. Our detection of significant motion in the northern hotspot, as well as the fact that we see no morphological evidence for substantial interaction between the northern jet and the surrounding medium also weakens our dense medium theory, since we would expect the medium to be distributed isotropically about the source. The relative motion of $``$0.16 c between C1 and C2 is plausible if C2 is a knot moving down a curved jet. Finally, as Baum et al. (1990) suggest, if the parsec-scale structure in our source is smothered by a dense medium, we might suppose that this density arises due to a merger between the host galaxy and a gas rich companion. If this were the case, we might expect to see some evidence for the interaction such as a disturbed optical morphology, or peculiar optical emission lines (e.g., Bartel et al. 1984). However, 0402+379 has a typical LINER spectrum (Ho et al., 1997) and does not contain any unusual features (Stickel et al., 1993). The digital sky survey images show nothing unusual in the bright elliptical host galaxy with a magnitude of 17.2 (Xu et al., 1994).

### 4.4 Supermassive Binary Black Holes

A final possibility that could account for several of the observed features in 0402+379 is that the two observed flat-spectrum, compact components are part of a supermassive black hole binary system formed from a recent merger. In this case, components C1 and C2 (the two core candidates) would both be interpreted as active nuclei, with the northern and southern hotspots belonging to component C2 (the aligned core candidate). The morphology and the spectrum are highly supportive of this hypothesis. In this picture, the high velocity of the HI absorption could be attributed to infalling gas from a merger.

Readhead et al. (1996) remarked on the commonality of an “S-shaped” morphology in CSOs and suggested that it could be the result of precession due to a binary black hole system in the nucleus. We note that 0108+388, the only other CSO known to have large scale structure, has S-symmetry. Because the extended strucuture we see in 0108+388 and in 0402+379 is quite anomalous in CSOs, it is reasonable to suppose that these objects are part of similar systems and were formed via similar mechanisms. Baum et al. (1990) have suggested that the large scale structure observed in 0108+388 is a relic of a previous period of activity. Given the possibility that both 0108+388 and 0402+379 harbor binary black holes in their centers, the previous period of activity may have been linked to a recent merger. We note, however, that we do not see an S-shaped morphology in the jets of 0402+379, which detracts from this argument.

Although the claim by Readhead et al. (1996) that the S-shaped morphologies in the jets of CSOs is indicative of a binary black hole system was speculative, more recent studies have provided substantial evidence that such systems do exist. For example, Sudou et al. (2003) have recently used high precision astrometry with the VLBA to observe an elliptical orbit in the core of the radio galaxy 3C 66B, providing strong evidence for a supermassive black hole companion. Moreover, it has been theorized that a small fraction of bright elliptical galaxies should harbor binary black holes at their center (Haehnelt & Kauffmann, 2002). It is not surprising that binary systems with a linear separation on the same scale at which we observe the core candidates in 0402+379 have not previously been imaged, since these objects are likely quite rare and since it is not required that either or both of the black holes be active.

We note, however, that our 2$`\sigma `$ result that component C2 is moving relative to component C1 may weaken our binary black hole hypothesis. Assuming typical supermassive black hole masses of $``$$`10^8M_{\mathrm{}}`$ for the binary system and using the radial separation derived from our 2003 maps (7 pc), we find from Kepler’s laws that the period of rotation for a binary supermassive black hole system such as ours should be on the on the order of $``$$`10^4`$ years. This period corresponds to an orbital velocity between components C1 and C2 of $``$0.001c, which is two orders of magnitude slower than our measured relative velocity of $``$0.16 c (see Table 3). Given the total merger time expected for galactic collisions (Haehnelt & Kauffmann, 2002), it is improbable that we would observe binary black holes in 0402+379 at the measured separation distance between components C1 and C2 if the black holes were not in a stable orbit. We emphasize, though, that the above calculation assumes a stable, Keplerian orbit, which might be a poor assumption. Moreover, the detection of relative motion between components C1 and C2 is only a 2$`\sigma `$ result, so C1 and C2 may not be moving significantly with respect to each other. We therefore believe that our motion results do not yet rule out the binary black holes explanation.

## 5 Conclusion

We have identified two plausible explanations for the anomalous features observed in 0402+379: (1) interactions with an unusually dense and complex circumnuclear medium; and (2) a binary black hole system. However, we find some features from our observations that neither theory can adequately explain. Namely, from our continuum maps, our motion results, and our HI measurements, we find that the medium surrounding 0402+379 does not appear to be dense enough to support the “dense medium theory.” In addition, the relative motion we detect between our two core candidates may be too great to support a theory that both central, compact, flat-spectrum components in our source are binary active nuclei, since the probability of detecting the system in an unstable orbit is quite low.

Because 0402+379 possesses several unusual, anomalous features, constraining the theories we use to describe it is absolutely necessary if we are to better understand CSOs in the unified scheme of AGN. Future observations could significantly help in this process. Obtaining another epoch in 2005 at 5 and 15 GHz would allow us to better probe the motion in 0402+379 and potentially allow us to test the supermassive binary black holes theory. Low frequency (i.e. 90 cm) VLBA observations at 50 mas resolution would also be helpful because they would allow us to search for a connection between our current VLA and VLBA observations, thereby providing more information regarding the large scale structure in 0402+379. In addition, high frequency VLBA observations at 22 and 43 GHz would allow us to search for a spectral turnover in the two core candidates, which would be very helpful in identifying the true core in this object if only one of our components is a nucleus. Finally, multi-wavelength observations could constrain theories describing this object. Although the host galaxy of 0402+379 is fairly bright with a magnitude of 17.2 (Xu et al., 1994), it has not been imaged in detail. Particularly useful, then, would be to image this source at high resolution in order to look for optical evidence of a merger or disturbances in the nucleus.

The authors are grateful to S. Britzen and R.C. Vermeulen for supplying the 1994, 1996, and 1999 data in advance of publication. H.M. is also thankful to Ylva Pihlström for her guidance and help on this project and to the REU program at NSF and the National Radio Astronomy Observatory for funding this research. In addition, R.T.Z. gratefully acknowledges support from a predoctoral fellowship from NRAO and from the New Mexico Alliance for Graduate Education and the Professiorate through NSF grant HRD-0086701, and A.B.P. thanks NRAO for hospitality during part of this project. The authors are grateful to an anonymous referee for several insightful suggestions.