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# A Field-Induced Re-Entrant Novel Phase and a Ferroelectric-Magnetic Order Coupling in HoMnO3

## Abstract

A re-entrant novel phase is observed in the hexagonal ferroelectric HoMnO3 in the presence of magnetic fields in the temperature range defined by a plateau of the dielectric constant anomaly. The plateau evolves with fields from a narrow dielectric peak at the Mn-spin rotation transition at 32.8 K in zero field. The anomaly appears both as a function of temperature and as a function of magnetic field without detectable hysteresis. This is attributed to the indirect coupling between the ferroelectric (FE) and antiferromagnetic (AFM) orders, arising from an FE-AFM domain wall effect.

The search for and study of a coupling between the ferroelectric and magnetic orders in ferroelectromagnets, such as the hexagonal manganites, are of both fundamental and applied significance. This is because, by symmetry arguments, such a direct coupling in manganites is highly unlikely. However, it is not inconceivable that, through certain secondary indirect interactions, such a coupling exists and results in a magneto-dielectric effect with an interesting device potential in which the dielectric (magnetic) properties can be modified by the onset of a magnetic (dielectric) transition or the application of a magnetic (electric) field. We have therefore examined the dielectric and magnetic properties of hexagonal HoMnO3 single crystals as functions of temperature and magnetic field. Indeed, in the presence of a magnetic field below 4.1 T, we have detected a new re-entrant phase in HoMnO3 below its zero-field Mn-spin reorientation transition temperature of 32.8 K, indicative of a coupling between the magnetic and ferroelectric orders and introducing an additional dimension into the intriguing magnetic phase diagram of the compound.

The hexagonal manganites, ReMnO3 (Re = Sc, Y, Er, Ho, Tm, Yb, Lu), have attracted attention because of a rich variety of antiferromagnetic (AFM) as well as ferroelectric (FE) phases with high FE Curie temperatures between 590 and 1000 K. The AFM order of the Mn spins and/or the Re moments (e.g. Ho) is stabilized at lower temperature and coexists with the FE polarization. The Mn ions form a triangular lattice in which the moments are coupled antiferromagnetically by superexchange via the in-plane oxygen ions. This gives rise to spin-frustration effects and an AFM spin arrangement with neighboring spins rotated by 120. The magnetic structures have been investigated by neutron scattering and second harmonic generation optical experiments Sugie ; Fiebig1 ; Fiebig2 ; Lonkai ; Munoz .

Hexagonal HoMnO3 is FE below 830 K and its Mn-sublattices exhibit AFM order below $`T_N`$ 76 K. A sharp Mn-spin-reorientation transition from $`P\underset{¯}{6}_3\underset{¯}{c}m`$ to $`P\underset{¯}{6}_3c\underset{¯}{m}`$ magnetic symmetry takes place at $`T_{SR}`$ 33 K together with another Mn-spin-reorientation close to 4 K. In $`P\underset{¯}{6}_3c\underset{¯}{m}`$ symmetry 1/3 of the Mn-spins are aligned with the crystallographic $`a`$-axis, whereas in the $`P\underset{¯}{6}_3\underset{¯}{c}m`$ phase the Mn-spins are rotated in-plane by 90. The compound possesses a very interesting re-entrant magnetic phase diagram Fiebig2 . In addition to the Mn-spin ordering, neutron scattering experiments suggested an AFM ordering of part of the Ho-spins with the principal spin direction along the $`c`$-axis below or close to $`T_{SR}`$ Munoz ; Lonkai . The AFM orders below $`T_N`$ clearly coexist with the FE order. Although the direct coupling between the in-plane staggered magnetization and the polarization is not allowed by symmetry Birss , the indirect coupling via lattice strain or other effects may lead to anomalies in the dielectric constant, $`\epsilon (T)`$, in passing through the magnetic transitions. The first search for the magneto-dielectric coupling detected a small anomaly of $`\epsilon `$ at $`T_N`$ in YMnO3 Huang . Similar anomalies were later found in other hexagonal manganites Iwata ; Sugie ; Katsufuji . Very recently a correlation between the FE and AFM domain walls was shown to exist in YMnO3, providing further evidence of a coupling between the two orders Fiebig3 . Similar coupling is therefore expected to exist in HoMnO3 and to give rise to novel phenomena due to the complex magnetic phase diagram of the compound.

Well-shaped plate-like single crystals of HoMnO3 of 2.5 x 2.5 mm2 in size and between 50 and 300 $`\mu `$m thick were prepared as described elsewhere Litvin . Magnetization measurements were conducted using the MPMS (Quantum Design) with the field parallel and perpendicular to the $`c`$-axis. The capacitance of two crystals (70 and 240 $`\mu `$m thick) with gold pads sputtered onto two parallel faces was measured using the K-3330 and HP-4285A LCZ meters at frequencies between 10 kHz and 1 MHz. The PPMS (Quantum Design) was employed to control temperature and magnetic field up to 7 Tesla.

The $`c`$-axis dielectric constant $`\epsilon (T)`$ of HoMnO3 at zero magnetic field is shown in Fig. 1. The small anomaly of $`\epsilon (T)`$ at $`T_N`$ = 76 K is in agreement with previous reports Sugie ; Iwata . Additionally, a sharp peak (width ¡ 0.6 K, $``$ 5 % of the base-$`\epsilon `$) at 32.8 K is unambiguously detected for the first time. The peak position and its relative magnitude are independent of the measurement frequency, suggesting that the peak is related to a phase transition in the magnetic subsystem. The Mn-spin rotation transition was previously observed in HoMnO3 at a $`T_{SR}`$ varying between 33 and 45 K, depending on the sample quality and the measurement techniques. The recent investigation of the magnetic phase diagram of single-crystalline HoMnO3 Fiebig2  gives a $`T_{SR}`$ = 32.8 K, precisely the temperature at which the $`\epsilon `$-peak is observed by us. We have therefore associated the $`\epsilon `$-peak with the Mn-spin-reorientation transition.

In a magnetic field $`H`$ parallel to the $`c`$-axis the $`\epsilon `$-anomaly broadens and evolves into a plateau-like structure with a sharp increase at $`T_1(H)`$ and a quick drop at $`T_2(H)`$. The $`\epsilon (T)`$’s at different magnetic fields are shown in Fig. 2 with their vertical axes shifted for clarity. While the overall $`\epsilon `$-anomaly decreases and both $`T_1`$ and $`T_2`$ move toward lower $`T`$ with $`H`$, the $`\epsilon (T)`$ outside the peak is not affected at all by $`H`$. The values of $`\epsilon (T)`$ on both sides of the peaks are the same for all data sets and coincide with curve 5 in Fig. 2. At higher fields a second $`\epsilon `$-plateau develops at lower T as demonstrated by the 3.3 Tesla data (curve 3 in Fig. 2a). With further increasing $`H`$ the two plateaus move toward one another and merge at 3.5 Tesla, forming one single broad feature with a width of 15 K (curve 4 at 3.7 Tesla). The anomaly disappears completely above 4.1 Tesla (curve 5). All measurements were done with increasing as well as decreasing T and no hysteresis was detected. The results are summarized as open circles in Fig. 3, showing $`T_1`$ and $`T_2`$ as function of $`H`$. Both $`T_2`$ and $`T_1`$ exhibit re-entrance and disappear at fields exceeding 3.5 and 4.1 T, respectively. They separate the novel phase (I-phase) from the $`P\underset{¯}{6}_3\underset{¯}{c}m`$ and the $`P\underset{¯}{6}_3c\underset{¯}{m}`$ phases. The $`\epsilon `$-value of the I-phase, characterized by the $`\epsilon `$-plateau, decreases smoothly with T as $`(T_cT)^n`$ with $`n=0.01`$ and $`T_c=32.8K`$ (see inset of Fig. 2). The $`T_1(H)`$ and $`T_2(H)`$ curves are similar to the phase boundary between the AFM (B1) and the AFM (B2) in Ref. Fiebig2  above 8 K, the present experimental limit for our dielectric measurements. The reentrant field in Ref. Fiebig2  is $``$ 3.8 T, falling in between the 3.5 and 4.1 T observed by us. This makes it difficult to assign the phase boundary in Ref. Fiebig2  to $`T_1`$ or $`T_2`$.

To verify the data of Fig. 3 and to support our conclusion about the existence of an intermediate phase, we have conducted isothermal measurements of $`\epsilon (H)`$ that should show similar anomalies as the phase boundaries are crossed. $`\epsilon (H)`$ is displayed in Fig. 4 for three temperatures. Each isothermal $`\epsilon (H)`$ shows the expected enhancement in the I-phase with only one pronounced plateau-like structure. The $`H`$ dependence of $`\epsilon `$ within each phase ($`P\underset{¯}{6}_3\underset{¯}{c}m`$, I-phase, and $`P\underset{¯}{6}_3c\underset{¯}{m}`$) is weak, as already suggested from the data of Fig. 2. The two transitions at $`H_2`$ (low field edge) and $`H_1`$ (high field edge) are included as solid circles in Fig. 3 and they are in perfect agreement with the results obtained from $`\epsilon (T)`$ at constant $`H`$. The data show no hysteresis at the transitions with increasing and decreasing $`H`$.

In an attempt to determine the origin of the dielectric anomaly associated with the I-phase, we examined the magnetic ordering of the Ho- and Mn-ions. An AFM order of the Ho-spins along the $`c`$-axis was detected in neutron scattering experiments below 25 K Munoz , as well as below 32.5 K Lonkai . The details of this AFM order of the Ho spins are not resolved yet. Ref. Munoz  suggested that only 2/3 of the Ho moments participate in this ordering, leaving 1/3 of Ho spins disordered with a large paramagnetic contribution to the dc susceptibility, as observed in magnetic measurements Munoz ; Sugie . It is also not clear how the Ho-spin ordering is correlated with the Mn-spin rotation transition that stretches between 32.5 and 42 K in the neutron scattering studies of polycrystalline samples Lonkai , in contrast to the results from single crystals in which the spin rotation transition is very sharp in zero field and appears close to 32.8 K Fiebig2 . Ho-spin ordering is expected to affect the $`c`$-axis magnetic susceptibility, $`\chi _c`$. We have therefore conducted magnetization measurements on our HoMnO3 single crystals with the external magnetic field parallel and perpendicular to the $`c`$-axis. Indeed, for the first time, we found a small but distinct leveling-off of $`\chi _c`$ over a narrow temperature range (¡ 1 K), as indicated by the arrow in Fig. 5 (enlarged in the lower inset). The anomaly is very sharp (as shown by $`d\chi _c/dT`$, upper inset in Fig. 5) and appears at exactly the same temperature (32.8 K) as the peak of $`\epsilon (T)`$ at zero field. When an external field is applied, $`d\chi _c/dT`$ reveals additional anomalies that define $`T_1`$ and $`T_2`$, similar to $`\epsilon `$. The transition temperatures so obtained are also shown in Fig. 3 as solid stars. No anomaly was observed in the in-plane ($`H`$ $``$ $`c`$-axis) susceptibility at these temperatures. Therefore, we conclude that the $`\chi _c`$ signals the onset of the AFM ordering of Ho moments oriented along the $`c`$-axis and the corresponding transition temperature coincides with the $`T_{SR}`$ of the Mn3+. The two magnetic subsystems (Ho3+ and Mn3+) are obviously correlated and one may speculate that the onset of the Ho spin ordering triggers the spin rotation of the Mn moments.

A direct coupling between the polarization and the in-plane magnetization of the Mn sublattice in both phases, $`P\underset{¯}{6}_3\underset{¯}{c}m`$ and $`P\underset{¯}{6}_3c\underset{¯}{m}`$, is not allowed by symmetry Birss . For the I-phase we tentatively assume that its magnetic structure is characterized by a Mn-spin order in which the moments rotate to an angle between 0 and 90 with respect to the $`a`$-axis. The resulting magnetic symmetry is $`P\underset{¯}{6}_3`$. This symmetry has been observed over a wider temperature range in LuMnO3 and ScMnO3 in zero magnetic field Fiebig1 . However, even in the reduced symmetry $`P\underset{¯}{6}_3`$ a direct coupling between the polarization and an in-plane magnetic moment is not allowed. The only magnetic space groups that can account for this type of coupling are $`\underset{¯}{2}`$, $`m`$, $`\underset{¯}{2}/m`$, $`1`$, and $`\underset{¯}{1}`$ Birss  but until now there is no evidence for such a low symmetry from previous reports. The situation changes if the Mn moments tilt out-of-plane with a component along the $`c`$-axis, which is allowed in $`P\underset{¯}{6}_3c\underset{¯}{m}`$ (low-T phase) and $`P\underset{¯}{6}_3`$ (I-phase), but not in $`P\underset{¯}{6}_3\underset{¯}{c}m`$ (high-T phase). The $`c`$-axis magnetic moment can couple directly to the polarization. Our observations can be explained if we assume that the Mn magnetic moment tilts out-of-plane in the I-phase ($`P\underset{¯}{6}_3`$) and that canting toward the $`c`$-axis causes the enhancement of the dielectric constant via a $`zz`$ coupling of magnetization and polarization. However, no definite conclusion for or against this possible scenario can be drawn at this time.

An alternative explanation of the magneto-electric coupling leading to dielectric anomalies as observed in our experiments is related to the physics of domain walls. Although our sample is ferroelectrically ordered, it is not a single domain. FE domain walls play a crucial role in the dielectric properties at low T. $`\epsilon `$ is affected by the electric-field-induced movement of the FE domain walls. It was recently proposed Sakano  and experimentally proven Fiebig3  that in the low-$`T`$ $`P\underset{¯}{6}_3c\underset{¯}{m}`$ magnetic phase of YMnO3 the FE domain wall forces the magnetic order parameter to change sign, i.e. each FE domain wall coincides with an AFM domain wall (although magnetic domain walls may exist solely within a single FE domain). An unambiguous explanation for this unusual effect is not yet available, but it has been speculated that the lattice strain in a FE domain wall couples to the Mn magnetic moment resulting in a decrease of free energy whenever the magnetic order parameter changes sign across the FE domain wall Fiebig3 . The ”pinning” of the AFM domain wall to the FE wall will reduce the dielectric constant since the external electric field shifting the FE domain wall also has to move the correlated magnetic domain wall and this costs extra energy. In fact, all hexagonal rare-earth manganites show a slight decrease of $`\epsilon (T)`$ in passing through $`T_N`$ into the AFM phase. If we assume that this pinning is effective in both high symmetry ($`P\underset{¯}{6}_3\underset{¯}{c}m`$ and $`P\underset{¯}{6}_3c\underset{¯}{m}`$) magnetic phases of HoMnO3, but not in the intermediate phase the relative enhancement of $`\epsilon (T)`$ in the I-phase as observed in our experiments could be explained. In this way the dielectric anomalies are caused by a domain wall pinning effect and $`\epsilon `$ serves as a sensitive probe to distinguish between the different magnetic symmetries and phases in HoMnO3. More experimental and theoretical work is needed, however, to unambiguously identify the physical mechanisms leading to the interesting observations reported here. In particular, calculations of the domain wall contributions to the free energy based on microscopic models including the magnetic superexchange interactions as well as the lattice distortions due to the FE order could lead to a better understanding of the magneto-electric coupling in the rare-earth hexagonal manganites.

###### Acknowledgements.

The authors thank M. Iliev for stimulating discussions. This work is supported in part by NSF Grant No. DMR-9804325, the T.L.L. Temple Foundation, the John J. and Rebecca Moores Endowment, and the State of Texas through TCSAM and at Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory by the Director, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Division of Materials Sciences and Engineering of the U.S. Department of Energy under Contract No. DE-AC03-76SF00098. The work of M. M. G. is supported by the Bulgarian Science Fund, Grant No. F 1207.


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# Localization lengths of ultrathin disordered gold and silver nanowires

## Abstract

The localization lengths of ultrathin disordered Au and Ag nanowires are estimated by calculating the wire conductances as functions of wire lengths. We study Ag and Au monoatomic linear chains, and thicker Ag wires with very small cross sections. For the monoatomic chains we consider two types of disorder: bounded random fluctuations of the interatomic distances, and the presence of random substitutional impurities. The effect of impurity atoms on the nanowire conductance is much stronger. Our results show that electrical transport in ultrathin disordered wires may occur in the strong localization regime, and with relatively small amounts of disorder the localization lengths may be rather small. The localization length dependence on wire thickness is investigated for Ag nanowires with different impurity concentrations.

Ultrathin metallic nanowires with decreasing diameters have been fabricated by ingenious methods HDai . Wires with average cross sections containing just a few atoms have been reported recently Hong . One extreme case is the remarkable manipulation of single add-atoms on surfaces using a scanning tunneling microscope, which allows wires to be built with atomic control of its composition WHo . These ultrathin nanowires are very important for nanoelectronics. Not only they provide metallic contacts of nanoscopic dimensions, but the electronic confinement in one dimension substantially modifies the electrical characteristics, and offers exciting perspectives for both basic and applied physics.

Most of the currently available techniques for manufacturing ultrathin metallic nanowires produce structures with considerable amount of inhomogeneities. Disorder effects in such systems strongly influences the electrical transport, and may lead to localization. Under certain circumstances, they can reduce the average conductance $`\overline{g}`$ very effectively, making it fall off exponentially with the wire length $`\mathrm{}`$, for sufficiently long wires. The localization length $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ is determined by the asymptotic decaying rate of $`\overline{g}`$ with $`\mathrm{}`$; more precisely, $`\mathrm{\Lambda }^1=\overline{g}^1\overline{g}/\mathrm{}`$ for large values of $`\mathrm{}`$. There are at least two additional characteristic lengths, relevant for discussing electrical transport in ultrathin nanowires, the electronic mean free path $`\lambda `$, and the average wire thickness or cross section diameter $`\overline{d}`$. For relatively short nanowires with $`\mathrm{}\lambda `$, the transport is ballistic, whereas for sufficiently long wires with $`\mathrm{}\mathrm{\Lambda }`$, it becomes strongly localized. Clearly, both $`\lambda `$ and $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ depend upon the amount and type of inhomogeneities present in the system, and they also vary with $`\overline{d}`$.

Electrical transport through ordinary metallic structures are usually far from the localization regime. On the other hand, non-interacting disordered low-dimensional systems (with dimensionality $``$ 2) in the thermodynamic limit have localized states only. They are, strictly speaking, insulators at zero temperature Lee ; Thouless . Localization effects were observed in very thin and short gold nanowires gold\_nanow , and a remarkably small localization length ($`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ 40 Å) was estimated in such experiments. Electrical conductance through nanocontacts between various metallic systems, however, exhibits ballistic behavior onishi ; tamura ; garcia . Although some degree of disorder is clearly present in these highly constricted junctions, it is mainly effective on a relatively short length scale (of the order of a few nanometers). Even when disorder is sufficiently strong for localization to take place, the localization length needs to be compared with the dimensions of the disordered system, especially when the latter are relatively small. The observation of ballistic transport across those nanocontacts indicates that either the disorder is rather weak, or the localization length is much larger than the junction sizes.

The ability to fabricate thinner and longer disordered nanowires naturally brings up the issue of localization. Here we address the following questions: what is the order of magnitude of the localization length in disordered Ag and Au nanowires? How does the localization length vary with the type and degree of disorder that occur or may be introduced in these systems, and how does it depend upon the wire average diameter? Such estimates are particularly important when one considers the possibility of using these ultrathin metallic wires in devices, and exploiting the quantum character of electronic transport in such systems. In fact, disorder may be purposefully introduced to produce a desired effect. It has been recently shown, for example, that electrical current flowing through nanowires made of ferromagnetic disordered alloys can become highly spin-polarized sf . Behind this theoretical proposition, however, lies the hypothesis that the spin diffusion length in such wires can be much larger than $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$. Is this reasonable? In order to answer some of these questions we have calculated the conductances of disordered Au and Ag ultrathin wires, as functions of wire lengths. We start with monoatomic chains, and consider two types of disorder: bounded random fluctuations of the interatomic distances, and the presence of random substitutional impurities. The conductance is calculated within linear response theory, with the use of Kubo’s formula. A multi-orbital tight-binding Hamiltonian with nine bands (the five d-bands and the 4sp complex) is employed to describe the wire electronic structure. The tight-binding parameters were obtained by least-square fitting of first principles full potential linearized argument plane-wave (FLAPW) band structure calculations of pure Au and Ag one dimensional wires. They reproduce the lowest six FLAPW bands extremely well.

For an arbitrary wire it is useful to divide it in unit cells along the wire axial direction, and express the conductance $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ in terms of the one-electron propagators connecting those cells. In units of the quantum of conductance $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_0=\frac{2e^2}{h}`$ we may write

$$\mathrm{\Gamma }=\mathrm{ReTr}(\stackrel{~}{G}_{00}t_{01}\stackrel{~}{G}_{11}t_{10}t_{01}\stackrel{~}{G}_{10}t_{01}\stackrel{~}{G}_{10}),$$
(1)
where $`\stackrel{~}{G}_{ij}`$ represents the difference between retarded and advanced one-electron propagator matrices, evaluated at the Fermi energy, connecting cells $`i`$ and $`j`$; $`0`$ and $`1`$ labels two adjacent cells (the choice is arbitrary due to current conservation), and $`t_{01}`$ is the tight-binding hopping matrix between such cells. ReTr stands for the real part of the trace over all orbitals and sites within an unit cell. For 1-atom thick chains, the unit cell obviously contains a single atom.

We consider infinite wires with disorder restricted to a sector of length $`\mathrm{}`$ along the wire axis. This is equivalent to assuming the current is injected into and collected from the disordered nanowire by semi-infinite perfect leads. The average wire conductance is calculated by taking into account 4,000 random configurations of the disordered sector. The required one-electron propagators are obtained as follows: first the tip Green functions of the semi-infinite perfect leads are generated by numerical methods that are, by now, well established and efficient umersky ; lsancho . Then, the cells of the disordered wire sector are placed, one by one, atop the injector lead. This is carried out by using Dyson’s equation to switch on the hopping matrix between the added cell and the substratum. Finally, the whole structure is connected, by the same procedure, to the collector lead.

We shall start by examining disordered monoatomic chains in which the interatomic distances $`d`$ vary randomly, within pre-established bounds, around the bulk equilibrium value $`d_0`$. If the variations $`\mathrm{\Delta }d`$ are not excessively large, they may be modeled by scaling the hopping integrals. Within certain limits, the two center integrals $`\gamma `$ approximately follow power laws of the type $`\gamma (d)=(d/d_0)^n\gamma (d_0)`$, where $`n`$ depends upon the pair of orbitals involved. We have adopted two different sets of exponents: one proposed by Harrison harrison , and another by Papaconstantopoulos papaconst . More comprehensive scaling laws are presently available papa2 , but those two prescriptions suffice for the kind of estimate we wish to make. Figure 1 depicts our results for the conductances of Au and Ag disordered wires, calculated as functions of wire lengths for different values of interatomic distance variation bounds $`\alpha =d_m/d_0`$; $`d_m`$ represents the maximum atomic separation. The exponential decaying behavior of $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ with $`\mathrm{}`$, clearly shows that this type of disorder induces localization. The localization lengths $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ deduced from the corresponding decaying rates are plotted against $`\alpha `$ in the inset. Our results show that $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ is rather large for relatively low values of $`\alpha `$. For instance, we found $`\mathrm{\Lambda }100`$nm for $`\alpha =0.05`$ with the use of Harrison’s scaling exponents. Qualitatively, both prescriptions give similar results: $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ decreases with $`\alpha `$ approximately following a power law $`\mathrm{\Lambda }\mathrm{\Lambda }_0\alpha ^2`$, with $`\mathrm{\Lambda }_00.62`$nm and $`0.25`$nm, for the Harrison and Papaconstantopoulos scaling rules, respectively. Much larger bond length variations, corresponding to $`\alpha 0.3`$, have been observed in stretched Au nanowires. However, there are strong indications that some of those apparently very large values of $`d`$ are due to the presence of impurities Edison ; Ugarte .

Disorder caused by impurities leads to much stronger localization effects. In order to illustrate and investigate the role played by impurities in the conductance characteristics of these nanowires, we consider substitutional Pt atoms randomly distributed along the system. Pt in a noble metal matrix represents a relatively weak scattering impurity potential. We simulate its presence simply by modifying the atomic energy at the impurity site so as to guarantee local charge neutrality. More elaborate ways of describing the impurity potential are certainly possible, but we recall that our main interest here is just to estimate the order of magnitude of the localization length induced by it. Hence, such an approximate treatment of the impurity suffices for our purposes.

In figure 2 we show results for the conductances of monoatomic chains of PtxAu1-x and PtxAg1-x disordered alloys, calculated as functions of $`\mathrm{}`$, for different Pt concentrations x. We note in the inset that $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ decreases rapidly with x, as expected from the one-dimensional character of the disordered wire. We found $`\mathrm{\Lambda }16`$nm for just 1% of Pt impurities in Au-based nanowires. It is also noteworthy that $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ becomes rather low for sufficiently large x, reaching values of the same order of magnitude as that reported in ref. gold\_nanow .

One may rightfully argue that the effect of impurities is being overestimated in those monoatomic linear chains, and that such systems are not so easy to realize in practice. Moreover, it is rather difficult to observe localization effects in systems with higher dimensionalities. Therefore, it is important to investigate the dependence of the localization length on the wire thickness Thouless . Some kind of crossover from a localized to a non-localized regime may occur as the wire cross section increases, for a fixed impurity type and concentration. A particularly useful information is the range of thicknesses in which a finite disordered wire is expected to be found in the regime of strong localization. To gain some insight about this matter, we have calculated the conductance of thicker PtxAg1-x disordered wires as functions of $`\mathrm{}`$, for several values of x. We consider wires with cross sections containing four and eight atoms, as schematically shown in figures 3a and b, respectively. The tight-binding parameters for the 4-atoms-thick Ag wire were obtained by a crude fitting of the band structure calculation reported in reference Hong, , whereas for the 8-atoms-thick one we simply used bulk Ag parameters. It is worth to mention that our results should not be much sensitive to details of the electronic structure, since impurity-related effects are expected to be much stronger than small variations in the hopping integrals.

Our results depicted in figure 5 show that the localization lengths in these thicker (but still ultrathin) disordered wires may be rather short for moderately low impurity concentrations. In both cases, the localization lengths vary with the degree of disorder, apparently following a power law. Even more intense localization effects are expected for impurities which are associated with stronger scattering potentials as shown in figure 4. The most important information, however, is the fact that those thicker wires also display localization on a nanometric length scale for sufficiently large degree of disorder. These results support our previous hypotesis that the localization length in ultrathin wires made of ferromagnetic metallic alloys may be much smaller than the spin diffusion length. With the increasing ability to control the dimensions and composition of nanowires, we envisage the possibility of using localization as an useful parameter to tailor electrical characteristics in devices of nanoscopic dimensions. Disorered nanowires form a rich laboratory for testing some very nice physical ideas developed on extensive work following the classical article by Abrahams et al. Gang\_4 .

To summarize, we have calculated the conductance of disordered Ag and Au nanowires using realistic band structures. Our results show that electrical transport flowing through such systems may occur in a strong localization regime. The localization lengths in monoatomic linear chains can be remarkably small for moderately low impurity concentrations. Localization persists in thicker disordered wires, which also exhibit rather small localization lengths for modest amounts of disorder. We hope our findings will stimulate further investigation on these systems. If $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ is comparable to the wire length, to the electronic phase breaking or to the spin coherence lengths, localization effects will be of primary importance in the determination of the electronic behavior of such systems.

Enlightening discussions with D.L. Mills are gratefully acknowledged. A.T.C. and R.B.M acknowledge financial support from CNPq and the Milenium Institute for Nanoscience (Brazil). A.T.C also acknowledges financial support from FAPEMIG (Brazil).


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# 1 Introduction

## 1 Introduction

Neutron stars (NSs) are among the main candidates for detection by new $`\gamma `$-ray missions, including AGILE (see eg Grenier, Perrot 2001 and Grenier these proceedings). Researchers usually resort to population synthesis modeling to derive estimates for the number of sources observable at present in a given energy band, and $`\gamma `$-rays are no exception (eg Gonthier et al. 2002 and Gonthier this volume). Up to now most such studies were based (directly or indirectly) on the assumption that radio pulsars are representative of the entire Galactic NS population. During the last decade, however, growing evidence gathered in favor of the existence of radiosilent NSs, i.e. neutron stars which are not active radio emitters. Today the possibility that a significant fraction of NSs never pass through the stage of radio pulsars is regarded as highly plausible, as already stressed several years ago by Caraveo et al. (1996). This implies that a complete picture of NSs evolution can be obtained only by taking into account also radioquiet objects. The existence of a NS population with properties quite distinct from those of ordinary radio pulsars is of importance in connection with $`\gamma `$-ray sources studies, since radioquiet NSs can be bright at high energies, or can have evolutionary links with other $`\gamma `$-ray sources (like AXPs or SGRs).

In the following we will address two main issues, the first concerning the paucity of detected X-ray emission from INSs, the second regarding the nature of a particular subclass of close-by INSs. The best known types of INSs like radio pulsars and active magnetars (AXPs and SGRs) are left out of the present discussion. In particular we will try to answer the two questions:

* why are INSs during all their evolution so dim? Especially, why there are yet no discovered old INSs powered by the accretion of the interstellar gas?
* What is the origin of the “Magnificent seven”, seven dim X-ray sources which are associated with close-by INSs?

It is useful to recall at this point the four basic stages which characterize the interaction of an INSs with the ambient medium. They play a crucial role in fixing the observational properties of INSs and are discussed in some more detail below: ejector, georotator, propeller and accretor (see Lipunov 1992). In addition, as it is usually done, we term coolers those young NSs for which the surface temperature is high enough ($`T10^510^7`$ K) to make the star shine in the (soft) X-rays. We stress that while the four stages mentioned above mutually exclude each other, this is not necessarily true for the cooler phase. A cooler, for example, may be at the same time an ejector.

During the ejector stage the strong outflowing momentum flux produced by the spinning magnetized NS prevents the surrounding material to cross the light cylinder radius, $`R_l=c/\omega `$. The torque exerted by the incoming matter makes the NS to spin down. Usually, it is assumed that the magneto-dipole formula describes the rate of period increase

$$PP_0+3\times 10^4\mu _{30}t_{yrs}^{1/2}\mathrm{s};$$
(1)
here $`\mu =\mu _{30}\times 10^{30}`$ G cm3 is the magnetic moment of the NS and $`P_0`$ the initial period. The end of this stage occurs when the period reaches a critical value

$$P_E10n^{1/4}\mu _{30}^{1/2}v_6^{1/2}\mathrm{s}$$
(2)
where $`v=v_6\times 10^6`$ cm s-1 is the NS velocity and $`n`$ the interstellar medium (ISM) number density. The critical period corresponds to the gravitational capture radius $`R_G`$ being equal to the stopping radius $`R_{Sh}`$, where

$`R_G`$ $`=`$ $`(2GM)/v^2`$ (3)
$`R_{Sh}`$ $`=`$ $`\left[{\displaystyle \frac{2\mu ^2(GM)^2\omega ^4}{\dot{M}v^5c^4}}\right]^{1/2}.`$ (4)
In the previous expressions $`M`$ is the star mass and $`\dot{M}`$ is the accretion rate. The stopping radius is determined by the equality of the ram pressure of the surrounding plasma ($`\rho v^2/2`$) to the internal pressure of the relativistic wind \[$`(\mu ^2\omega ^4)/(4\pi r^2c^4)`$\]. This expression is valid for $`R_l<R_G`$, which is true for all INSs which can leave the ejector stage (see details in Lipunov 1992). In deriving the second of eqs. (3) we assumed that the accretion rate is given by the Bondi formula

$$\dot{M}=\frac{2\pi (GM)^2m_pn}{v^3}10^{11}\frac{n}{v_{6}^{}{}_{}{}^{3}}\mathrm{gs}^1.$$
(5)
We would like to stress that the physics governing both the spin-down rate and the critical period is not yet completely understood, and this has substantial influence on the outcome of population synthesis calculations.

As we mentioned earlier, coolers do not represent a separate evolutionary stage, although they have quite distinct observational properties. Normally they are ejectors still hot enough to be visible in soft X-rays as dim sources. Young ($`<1`$ Myr) NSs can have surface temperatures $`T10^510^6`$ K and luminosities $`L10^{30}10^{32}`$ erg s-1 (for a review see Yakovlev et al. 1999). Such sources can be observed if they are relatively close ($`<1`$ kpc) or if they are located in particular sites, typically young supernova remnants (SNRs), which can be targeted with deep pointings.

When the propeller stage is reached matter can penetrate inside the light cylinder, but the fast rotating magnetosphere does not allow fall-down onto the NS surface and the infalling gas is centrifugally driven away from the star. As the NS spins down the centrifugal barrier disappears when the period becomes less than

$$P_A300\mu _{30}^{6/7}v_6^{9/7}n^{3/7}\mathrm{s}.$$
(6)
After $`P_A`$ is crossed, the material can reach the star surface and the NS finally becomes an accretor. The release of potential energy heats the gas and produces mainly X-rays. (However, matter can accumulate around the magnetosphere if the plasma cooling rate is slow in comparison with heating. This intermediate stage is called subsonic propeller (Davies, Pringle 1981).)

The georotator stage in some sense is similar to the accretor one, although the NS spatial velocity is so high that matter is not gravitationally bound at the magnetospheric boundary. This happens whenever the star velocity exceeds the critical value

$$v_{geo}470\mu _{30}^{1/5}n^{1/10}\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1.$$
(7)
## 2 Detectability of INSs in different stages

### 2.1 Coolers

According to recent theoretical investigations of NS thermal evolution, young INSs are expected to stay hot for a relatively long time ($`1`$ Myr) if they are low-mass ($`M<1.4M_{}`$). More massive NS cool faster. We used cooling curves by Yakovlev et al. (1999; see fig. 1) to perform a population synthesis calculation and derive the Log N – Log S distribution of close-by coolers. The results were then compared with observations. An important new twist of our model is the inclusion of INSs born in the Gould Belt in addition to those originating in the Galactic disk. The Gould Belt (see eg Grenier, Perrot 2001) is a collection of stellar associations rich in young, massive stars. The Sun itself is embedded in the Belt which extends in a disk-like structure for $`1`$ kpc, centered at about 100 pc from the Sun. Due to the presence of the Belt, the rate of SNs in the Solar vicinity (a region a few hundred parsecs wide) during the past $`10^7`$ yrs has been higher than in an average location in the Galactic disk at the same distance from the Galactic center. Since cooling curves are strongly mass-dependent (see again fig. 1), different mass spectra for NSs has been tested. The number of NSs was evaluated from available observations of SN progenitors in the solar proximity and accounting for recent calculations of SN rates.

The main results of our calculations are summarized in fig. 2. As it can be seen comparing the two theoretical curves, the contribution of NSs born in the Gould Belt is essential in reproducing the observed Log N – Log S of INSs.

The sample of thermally emitting INSs our model was confronted with (see table 1) comprises both active pulsars and radioquiet NSs. In particular it contains the seven soft, thermal X-ray radiosilent sources discovered in ROSAT pointings and known as ROSAT INSs or the “Magnificent Seven”. These sources have remarkably similar properties that make them peculiar with respect to other X-ray bright INSs, like PSRs. What is special about the ”Magnificent seven”? The most likely explanation for these objects is that they are young cooling INSs, as supported by our population synthesis model (Popov et al. 2000b, 2003). For some reason all of them are radioquiet, meaning that no radio emission has yet been detected, although the possibility that the radio beams miss the Earth can not been excluded. Four objects have a measured spin period in the 10-20 s range quite larger than that of PSRs (see table 1). Moreover, none of them exhibits the hard (non-thermal) tail which is typically seen in other INSs. Does this mean that the seven represent a distinct subpopulation of NSs?

At present no definite answer can be given to this question. We just note that the seven ROSAT INSs are likely to be relatively low-massive for their temperature to be $`10^6`$ K after a relatively long time ($`1`$ Myr, their putative age). According to the cooling model we used this implies $`M<1.35M_{}`$, so “The Magnificent seven” should be representative of the lighter part of the NS mass spectrum. We stress that while mass variations in the range 1-2 $`M_{}`$ have little influence on other NS parameters (eg spin, accretion rate) they are very important for the cooling history and the internal structure. Correlations between the star mass and the initial magnetic field and/or spin period may arise soon after the proto neutron star has formed, eg in the fallback process. This can translate into a correlation between the temperature (the cooling history is determined by mass) and magnetic field and spin period later in the star evolution. On the other hand, a comparable number of NSs should be born with a mass above or below the critical value for fast cooling, $`M<1.35M_{}`$, so the “Magnificent seven” are not expected to be unique objects.

To conclude this subsection: the ”Magnificent seven” can be young coolers from the Gould Belt. We predict that not more than several tens of young INSs in future can be identified in ROSAT data at low galactic latitudes and some of them can also be among EGRET unidentified sources. There is a possibility, that due to processes accompaning NS birth there is a correlation between mass of compact object and its initial magnetic and spin period.

### 2.2 Ejectors and Georotators

According to the simulations by Popov et al (2000a) the large majority of INSs (about 90 %) never leave the ejectors stage if the star magnetic field is $`10^{12}`$ G (or lower) and does not decay. Those calculations referred to a NS population with average velocity $`200300`$ km s-1; since $`P_E`$ scales as $`v^{1/2}`$ (see eq. ), for higher mean velocities the fraction of ejectors is even higher. We draw the reader’s attention to the fact that the number of observable accreting INS is very low for high star velocities not because the accretion rate (and hence the luminosity) is low, but simply because INSs cannot reach the stage of accretion. There has been some confusion in literature about this point. Many investigators attributed the lack of observed accretors in ROSAT data, in contradiction with the initial predictions by Treves, Colpi (1991) and others, to the low accretion luminosity of fast-moving NSs. This would imply that the Galaxy is filled with very dim accretors, which is not the case ! Even leaving aside further effects that can influence the duration and/or the efficiency of accretion (eg a long subsonic propeller stage, a below-Bondi rate; see discussion in section 2.4) the number of accretors (of all luminosities !) goes below a few percent if the average velocity is higher than $`200`$ km s-1. In this case, the number of accreting INSs is about two orders of magnitude below the original prediction by Treves, Colpi (1991).

Let us very briefly touch some difficulties in describing ejectors in population synthesis models. Most population synthesis studies of INSs are based on some simple model assumptions which can be a significant oversimplification. For example, transition from ejector stage to propeller or georotator stage is assumed to appear when surrounding plasma can penetrate inside the light cylinder (see Lipunov 1992). However the reality can be more complicated (see for example discussion in Michel 2003), and not $`R_l`$ can be the most important scale. Also we actually do not understand well enough the mechanism of energy losses on the ejector stage, we do not know how the braking index $`n`$ evolves, we do not know if magnetic and spin axis align or contr-align (see for example Beskin et al. 1993 and Regimbau, de Freitas Pacheco 2001), we do not know if the magnetic field significicantly decay during the ejector stage and how it is connected with spin evolution (see Konenkov, Geppert 2001). To summarize: we do not know how do ejectors live and die… So, the building of the population synthesis of INSs, which starts with the ejector stage, has not very solid basis!

We stress once more that the ejector phase does not necessarily coincide with a NS being an active radio pulsar. Ejectors comprise, in fact, also a) pulsars that already crossed the death valley and, b), NSs which never become radio loud. This means that the vast majority of Galactic NSs is at present inaccessible to observations. There has been several proposals aiming at the detection of these high-velocity INSs. Rutledge (2001) developed the idea by Harding, Leventhal (1992) that INSs in the georotator stage during which full-fledged accretion can not occur because the magnetospheric radius is larger than the gravitational capture radius) can still accrete warm matter from the ISM. However, the scenario proposed by Rutledge requires ultra-high ($`>10^{15}`$ G) magnetic fields during the entire lifetime of a NS which sounds a rather doubtful assumption. Field decay will make this stage (called MAGAC – magnetically accreting) very short. Toropina et al. (2001) and Romanova et al. (2001) proposed that activity in a long magnetospheric “tail” can lead to observable consequences due to reconnection of the magnetic field lines, as observed in numerical experiments.

We note that the astrophysics of high-velocity magnetized INSs is far from being completely understood. Up to very recent times, the detection of such dim, high-energy sources was simply bejond imagination. The role of the star velocity in shaping the magnetosphere is definitely a very important issue in establishing their observational properites. “Mixed” stages, in which the relevant lenghtscales (eg the Alfvèn radius) up-stream and down-stream are different because of the highly non-symmetric interaction with the ISM, as discussed in Toropina et al. (2001) and Romanova et al. (2001) deserves a more thorough investigation.

### 2.3 Propellers

As discussed in the previous section, the number of propellers is very low just because virtually all NSs are ejectors for a non-decaying magnetic field. If the field decays, however, the situation can be the opposite (eg Colpi et al. 1998; Livio et al. 1998; Popov et al. 2000a; Popov, Prokhorov 2000). INSs can enter the region of the parameter space where the magnetic field is low enough to make the spin evolution very slow, and, at the same time, the period is not too long to allow accretion. For example, if field decay freezes at about $`10^810^{10}`$ G, and the decay time-scale is $`10^8`$ yrs, a NS with initial field $`10^{12}`$ G never reaches a stage where $`R_A=R_{co}`$ (see Popov, Prokhorov 2000).

The star enters the propeller stage with $`P=P_E`$ and starts to spin down intensively. In a relatively short time ($`10^6`$ yrs for $`B10^{12}`$ G) the spin period increases up to $`P=P_A`$. At that moment $`R_A=R_{co}`$ and if matter can penetrate the magnetosphere, it can fall down onto the star surface. However, even if $`R_A<R_{co}`$ a NS can avoid the accretion stage if cooling in the atmosphere above $`R_A`$ is not effective. Under such conditions, in fact, no instabilities can set in the hot plasma preventing matter to enter the magnetosphere (Davies, Pringle 1981). It is the so called subsonic propeller stage. Recently Ikhsanov (2003) re-investigated this issue in connection with INSs. His main conclusion is that in a realistic situation an INS spends a significant part of its life ($`>10^9`$ yrs) in this stage during which only a small amount of matter can diffuse inwards and reach the star surface. If this situation is realized in nature than even low-velocity INSs may never become bright accretors.

One can try to investigate the existence of subsonic propeller using X-ray binaries (probably, Be/X-ray systems are the closest analogue to accreting INSs). However, in X-ray binaries the plasma density is higher than in INSs and results cannot be applied directly. In fig. 3 we show data for X-ray pulsars in binary systems with known spin periods and luminosities. We used also long period pulsars in Be systems, so they are expected to be far from spin equilibrium (see Lipunov 1992 for details). As it can be seen, data are in better agreement with the “normal” critical period, than with the subsonic one (the reason could be the higher plasma density in these systems). Cases when one can suspect X-ray systems to be at the propeller stage (filled diamonds in the figure) lie much below the others.

If the subsonic propeller stage is taking place then accreting INSs should have very long spin periods, probably absence of periodic pulsations can be a signature of an accretor (on spin period of INSs at the stage of accretion see Prokhorov et al. 2002). We note, that an INS can be an accreting object with period about 10 seconds only if its field significantly decayed (Konenkov, Popov 1997; Wang 1997). However, at least for one of the seven ROSAT INSs spin-down implying a field $`B26\times 10^{13}`$ G was measured. This provides further support, in addtion to the large measured spatial velocities for same of them, to reject the idea that the seven are powered by accretion (see a review of recent observational data in Haberl 2003).

### 2.4 Accretors

The first ideas about INSs accreting from the ISM appeared in the early 70’s (eg. Ostriker et al. 1970; Shvartsman 1971). At that time, however, it went nearly unnoticed since no detector was available to verify this idea. It was only 20 years later that, thanks to ROSAT sensitivity, that it became possible to detect such dim, soft sources. This prompted new interest and Treves and Colpi (1991) were the first to estimate the number of accreting INSs detectable with ROSAT. Their calculations predicted that a large number of accreting INSs should be visible in ROSAT exposures, basing on three main assumptions

* a large fraction of low velocity objects
* Bondi accretion rate
* most of NSs spend a large part of their lives as accretors.

Up to now no strong candidates for this class of sources have been found. The reasons for explaining the paucity of accreting INSs boils down to essentially to two: a) there are almost no accretors, and b) the accretion luminosity is much lower than what implied by the Bondi formula, using conventional efficiency for conversion of gravitational potential energy into radiation ($`\eta GM/Rc^2`$). As we discussed above, there are good reasons to believe that not all INSs become accretors, and that even those that do so spend most of their lives in earlier stages (ejector, propeller). The NS velocity distribution alone is enough to explain the lack of bright ($`>0.1`$ ROSAT cts s-1) accretors. The possibility that the propeller stage is long (longer than a few Myrs as assumed, for example, in Popov et al. 2000a,b) makes the statement above even stronger.

In addition, recent investigations strongly support the idea that the Bondi rate is just an upper limit which is rarely realized in nature. There are three main reasons for which $`\dot{M}\dot{M}_{Bondi}`$: pre-heating, magnetic effects and a low-efficiency accretion flow. As noted by Blaes et al. (1995) the UV/X-ray flux coming form the star surface will heat the incoming matter producing an increase of the gas temperature and hence of the local sound speed $`c_S`$. If the star velocity is lower than $`c_S`$ the latter is governing the accretion rate and accretion is reduced. This effect is important for slow INSs and can reach 1.5 orders of magnitude for $`v=20`$ km s-1. Recent 2D MHD simulations have shown that accretion onto a rotating dipole is substantially different from that onto an unmagnetized star (Romanova et al. 2003; Toropina et al. 2003) Magnetic effects scales with the magnetic field strenght. For lower field they are less pronounced. If the field decays significantly, these effects are not so serious, otherwise the accretion rate is reduced by more than one order of magnitude. Finally, recent 2D and 3D simulations of accretion flows show that convection can reduce the accretion rate by orders of magnitude (see Perna et al. 2003 and references therein). However, when applied to INSs the formula

$$\dot{M}\left(\frac{R_{in}}{R_{out}}\right)^p\dot{M}_{Bondi},p1/2,$$
(8)
which is obtained in the case of black hole accretion, does not provide a strong constraint since $`R_{in}R_A`$ and $`R_{out}R_G`$, so, typically, $`(R_A/R_G)^{1/2}`$ is only about 0.1. We note also that in binaries where a NS is the accreting compact object (at accretion rates $`>10^{15}`$ g s-1) the Bondi formula seem to work. All the data on luminosity are in good correnspondence with estimates of $`\dot{M}_{Bondi}`$, as derived from the wind parameters and geometry of these systems.

There is a hope to observe isolated accretors at specific sites. for example in globular clusters (GCs). It was suggested by Pfahl and Rappaport (2001) that some dim X-ray sources detected by Chandra in GCs can be old INSs accreting ISM. Simple evolutionary calculations (Popov, Prokhorov 2002) support this idea. A cluster with mass $`10^5M_{}`$ can have one accreting INS. However, this is strongly dependent on the amount and the properties of the ISM in GCs which are not well constrained at present. Additionly, young INSs can be accreting due to so called remnant (or fall-back) discs (for example Chatterjee et al. 2000, Alpar 2003). We will not discuss this possibility further here.

## 3 Conclusion

When Baade and Zwicky (1934) proposed the idea of neutron stars there were not many hopes to observe these objects. It was realized since the very beginning that the very small radius would make them very dim thermal emitters, unless their temperature is extremely large. It was only more than 30 years later that the existence of radio pulsars was recognized and this paved the way to the discovery of a large number of INSs. However, if an INS is radioquiet (or its radio beam misses the Earth), than the original conclusion still holds: isolated NSs are very faint objects, if they emit at all. Young INSs (ie coolers) are, by far, the most numerous class of known radioquiet INSs (including also the central sources in SNRs). These objects are doomed to fade in a very short time ($`10^5`$ yrs) if their masses are larger than some critical value which is about $`1.35M_{}`$. Anyway, they will cool below the detection limit in a few million years. Old INSs can be resurrected due to accretion. So the only possibility to observe an old INSs is to see it as an accretor. Otherwise they are extremely dim old ejectors with negligible spin-down losses, propellers or georotators from which there are not much hopes for any observable activity. Here we summarize the main reasons for which INSs older than $`10^610^7`$ yrs are expected to be substantially undetectable.

1) The high spatial velocity: a) if the magnetic field is constant with value typical of normal radio pulsars, then INSs with $`v>100`$ km s-1 spend all their lives as ejectors; b) for a decaying field there can be realistic values of the parameters for which INSs freeze at the propeller stage (see section 2.3); c) for fast decay or very low initial field, when the magnetospheric barrier does not exist, accretion rate is too low for high velocity INSs to produce an observable object (see section 2.4).

2) The long propeller stage: a NS can spend nearly all its life as a propeller due to magnetic field decay. Also, there is the possibility that a NS can spend billions of years at the so-called subsonic propeller stage until it spins down to very long periods. This stage too is expected to be a very dim one.

3) The low accretion efficiency: even if a NS comes to the stage of accretion there are many reasons to expect a very low luminosity. Among these are: a) a very low accretion rate realistic average velocity of the NS population; b) preheating, which decreases the accretion rate; c) MHD effects which prevent material to reach the star surface; d) low accretion rate due to turbulence.

Anyway, at least several radioquiet INSs are already observed (the ”Magnificent seven”, Geminga and 3EG J1835+59, plus compact X-ray sources in SNRs and some others), and their number will grow in future also thanks to new $`\gamma `$-ray missions like AGILE and GLAST. As can be seen from fig. 4 there are about $`(23)\times 10^4`$ per cubic parsec around the Sun, so there are still a lot of objects to discover.

## Acknowledgements

SP wants to thank Mikhail Prokhorov for discussions and collaboration.