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# Exact scaling functions of the multichannel Kondo model

## Abstract

We reinvestigate the large degeneracy solution of the multichannel Kondo problem, and show how in the universal regime the complicated integral equations simplifying the problem can be mapped onto a first order differential equation. This leads to an explicit expression for the full zero-temperature scaling functions at - and away from - the intermediate Non Fermi Liquid fixed point, providing complete analytic information on the universal low - and intermediate - energy properties of the model. These results also apply to the widely-used Non Crossing Approximation of the Anderson model, taken in the Kondo regime. An extension of this formalism for studying finite temperature effects is also proposed and offers a simple approach to solve models of strongly correlated electrons with relevance to the physics of heavy fermion compounds.

Models of quantum impurities constitute a central piece in our understanding of strongly correlated systems, as demonstrated by the importance of these ideas for the physical description of magnetic impurities in metals Hewson (1996) or superconductors Pan et al. (2000); Polkovnikov et al. (2001), the correlation-driven metal to insulator transition Georges et al. (1996), the behavior of heavy fermion compounds Lee et al. (1986); Schröder et al. (2000), and the coherent transport through nanostructures Kouwenhoven and Glazman (2001). Despite of their relative simplicity, one usually has recourse to different techniques in order to fully grasp the complete physics displayed by these localized hamiltonians. Unfortunately, analytical approximation schemes devised to deal with the Kondo problem, like the slave boson method Newns and Read (1987), lead in general to too much simplifications. On the contrary, purely numerical methods Krishna-murthy et al. (1980) or exact techniques Andrei and Destri (1984) provide quantitative results, but often lack the flexibility to solve more interesting cases, like lattice impurity models, or to compute dynamical observables. Conformal field theory (CFT) can also provide interesting insights on this problem Affleck and Ludwig (1993), which is however limited to the elucidation of the critical behavior right at the possible fixed points.

Another way of tackling impurity hamiltonians lies in setting up controlled limits that lead to a simplified solution encompassing all physical aspects of the problem. We will focus here on a large number of channels limit of quantum impurity models that was proposed previously Parcollet et al. (1998); Parcollet and Georges (1997), from which the well-studied Cox and Ruckenstein (1993); Bickers (1987) self-consistent pertubation theory (Non Crossing Approximation or NCA) appears to be a limiting case. However simplified, this alternative approach is known to lead to challenging non-linear integral equations, from which limited analytical information can be gathered Parcollet et al. (1998); Mueller-Hartmann (1984). A numerical solution of these equations is often possible, but is increasingly difficult to obtain at low temperature and for real frequency quantities. Thus little work has been undertaken using this method for the many interesting extensions of the Kondo model, like multi-impurity hamiltonians or the Kondo lattice. This is unfortunate, as this technique offers a concrete opportunity for building a consistent theory for the competition of Kondo screening and magnetism Parcollet and Georges (1997) which lies at the heart of the quantum criticality displayed in heavy fermions compounds.

We will show in this paper that much progress can be made towards both analytic and numerical solutions of the multichannel Kondo model. Indeed we are able for the first time to solve this problem at zero temperature in the universal regime (when the Fermi energy is large compared to frequency). The key step of this solution lies in the mapping of the saddle-point integral equations onto a much simpler non-linear differential equation, that can be solved explicitely. Our calculation follows the well-known analysis by Mueller-Hartmann of the similar NCA equations for the infinite $`U`$ Anderson impurity model Mueller-Hartmann (1984). However the Kondo regime of these equations seems not to have been considered previously in the literature, and constitutes the originality of the present work with respect to Mueller-Hartmann (1984). We are thus able to obtain analytic expressions for the frequency-dependent scaling functions, for the Kondo temperature and for the precise location of the intermediate Non Fermi Liquid fixed point. This offers also new insights on quantum criticality: we introduce below a concept of complex Kondo temperature and describe an interesting crossover phase diagram around the intermediate coupling fixed point. We will finally show how these ideas can be formulated at finite temperature, by deriving non-linear finite difference equations for the Green’s functions, that may be useful to solve numerically more challenging extensions of the present problem.

Considering the Kondo model from now on, we will be interested here in a multichannel version that consists of a SU($`N`$) spin antiferromagnetically coupled to $`K`$ channels of conduction electrons, as expressed by the hamiltonian:

$$H=\underset{k,\sigma ,\alpha }{}ϵ_kc_{k\sigma \alpha }^{}c_{k\sigma \alpha }+\frac{J_K}{N}\underset{kk^{}\sigma \sigma ^{}\alpha }{}S_{\sigma ^{}\sigma }c_{k\sigma \alpha }^{}c_{k^{}\sigma ^{}\alpha }$$
(1)
using a fermionic representation $`S_{\sigma ^{}\sigma }=f_\sigma ^{}^{}f_\sigma q_0\delta _{\sigma \sigma ^{}}`$ of the localized spin, where $`\sigma =1\mathrm{}N`$. The constraint $`_\sigma f_\sigma ^{}f_\sigma =q_0N`$ should also be enforced. Here the parameter $`q_0N`$ may be understood as the size of the quantum spin, and the channel index $`\alpha `$ is taken to run from $`1`$ to $`K`$.

In a previous work Parcollet et al. (1998), Parcollet and Georges have shown how this model could be simplified in the limit where both $`N`$ and $`K`$ are large, keeping $`\gamma =K/N`$ fixed (the fact that the spin size $`q_0N`$ is taken to be large is also an important point in obtaining their solution). Introducing the spinon propagator $`G_f(\tau )=<T_\tau f_\sigma (\tau )f_\sigma ^{}(0)>`$ and the Green’s function $`G_B(\tau )=+<T_\tau B_\alpha (\tau )B_\alpha ^{}(0)>`$ of the channel bosonic field $`B_\alpha (\tau )`$ conjugate to the operator $`_{k\sigma }c_{k\sigma \alpha }^{}f_\sigma `$, the saddle-point equations read (in imaginary time):

$`\mathrm{\Sigma }_f(\tau )`$ $`=`$ $`\gamma G_0(\tau )G_B(\tau )`$ (2)
$`\mathrm{\Sigma }_B(\tau )`$ $`=`$ $`G_0(\tau )G_f(\tau )=G_0(\tau )G_f(\tau )`$ (3)
for a particle-hole symmetric bath Green’s function $`G_0(i\omega )_k1/(i\omega ϵ_k)`$. The self-energies in the previous set of equations are given by the Dyson equations:

$`G_f^1(i\omega _n)`$ $`=`$ $`i\omega _n+\lambda \mathrm{\Sigma }_f(i\omega _n)`$ (4)
$`G_B^1(i\nu _n)`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{J_K}}\mathrm{\Sigma }_B(i\nu _n)`$ (5)
where $`\omega _n`$ ($`\nu _n`$) denotes a fermionic (bosonic) Matsubara frequency. The Lagrange multiplier $`\lambda `$ is used to enforce the constraint related to the spin size, which reads in the large $`N`$ limit:

$$G_f(\tau =0^{})=q_0$$
(6)
The usual NCA equations Cox and Ruckenstein (1993) are obtained when the constraint $`_\sigma f_\sigma ^{}f_\sigma =1`$ is performed exactly, and this amounts to take the $`q_00`$ limit in the saddle-point equations. It is useful to analytically continue equations (2)-(3), and one readily obtains in terms of retarded quantities at zero temperature Florens and Georges (2002):

$`\mathrm{\Sigma }_f(\omega )`$ $`=`$ $`\gamma {\displaystyle _0^+\mathrm{}}{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{d}ϵ}{\pi }}G_0^{\prime \prime }(ϵ)\left[G_B(\omega ϵ)J_K\right]`$ (7)
$`\gamma {\displaystyle _\omega ^+\mathrm{}}{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{d}ϵ}{\pi }}G_0(ϵ)G_B^{\prime \prime }(\omega ϵ)`$
$`\mathrm{\Sigma }_B(\omega )`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle _0^+\mathrm{}}{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{d}ϵ}{\pi }}G_0^{\prime \prime }(ϵ)G_f(\omega ϵ)`$ (8)
$`{\displaystyle _\omega ^+\mathrm{}}{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{d}ϵ}{\pi }}G_0(ϵ)G_f^{\prime \prime }(\omega ϵ)`$
where double primed quantities denote imaginary parts. The subtracted $`J_K`$ in (7) comes from a careful inspection of the short time behavior of $`G_B(\tau )`$. As we are interested in the universal regime where the Fermi energy of the conduction electrons is the biggest energy scale, we follow Mueller-Hartmann (1984) and consider a flat density of states of half-width $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$: $`G_0(\omega )iG_0^{\prime \prime }(\omega )=i\pi \rho _0\theta (\mathrm{\Lambda }^2ϵ^2)`$, with $`\rho _0=1/(2\mathrm{\Lambda })`$ (the real part of $`G_0`$ can be discarded to order $`\mathrm{\Lambda }^1`$). This leads in the previous equations to integrals running from the lower bound $`ϵ_{\mathrm{min}}=\omega \mathrm{\Lambda }`$ that can be replaced by $`ϵ_{\mathrm{min}}\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ for frequency smaller than $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$. This trick allows to obtain simple expressions for the self-energies:

$`\mathrm{\Sigma }_f(\omega )`$ $`=`$ $`\gamma \rho _0{\displaystyle _\mathrm{\Lambda }^\omega }dϵ\left[G_B(ϵ)J_K\right]+i\gamma \rho _0{\displaystyle _\mathrm{\Lambda }^0}dϵG_B^{\prime \prime }(ϵ)`$
$`\mathrm{\Sigma }_B(\omega )`$ $`=`$ $`\rho _0{\displaystyle _\mathrm{\Lambda }^\omega }dϵG_f(ϵ)+i\rho _0{\displaystyle _\mathrm{\Lambda }^0}dϵG_f^{\prime \prime }(ϵ)`$ (9)
that lead by differentiation to the following relations:

$`{\displaystyle \frac{}{\omega }}\mathrm{\Sigma }_f(\omega )`$ $`=`$ $`\gamma \rho _0\left[G_B(\omega )J_K\right]`$ (10)
$`{\displaystyle \frac{}{\omega }}\mathrm{\Sigma }_B(\omega )`$ $`=`$ $`\rho _0G_f(\omega )`$ (11)
Equation (9) imply also the following boundary condition at the lower band edge (for $`\mathrm{\Sigma }_B`$):

$$\mathrm{\Sigma }_B(\mathrm{\Lambda })=i\rho _0_\mathrm{\Lambda }^0dϵG_f^{\prime \prime }(ϵ)$$
(12)
Following Mueller-Hartmann (1984), we now define the inverse propagators $`Y_f(\omega )G_f^1(\omega )`$ and $`Y_B(\omega )G_B^1(\omega )`$. Combining the previous two relations with the Dyson equations (4)-(5) for real frequencies, we easily arrive to:

$`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{Y_f}}{\displaystyle \frac{}{\omega }}Y_f`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1\gamma \rho _0J_K}{\rho _0}}{\displaystyle \frac{}{\omega }}Y_B+\gamma {\displaystyle \frac{1}{Y_B}}{\displaystyle \frac{}{\omega }}Y_B`$ (13)
$`Y_f^1`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{\rho _0}}{\displaystyle \frac{}{\omega }}Y_B`$ (14)
The first equation provides a first constant of motion, that reads:

$$\mathrm{log}\left[Y_f(\omega )\right]+C=\frac{1\gamma \rho _0J_K}{\rho _0}Y_B(\omega )+\gamma \mathrm{log}Y_B(\omega )$$
(15)
where $`C`$ is determined by the boundary condition (12). The crucial difference between the multichannel Kondo model we consider in this paper and previous work Mueller-Hartmann (1984) on the NCA for the infinite $`U`$ Anderson model is that, by inserting relation (14) into (15), we obtain a first order differential equation:

$$\frac{}{\omega }Y_B=\rho _0e^C(Y_B)^\gamma e^{(1\gamma \rho _0J_K)Y_B/\rho _0}$$
(16)
instead of a non-linear second order differential equation. Ultimately, this simplification is due to the disappearance of the high-energy scale associated with charge fluctuations on the impurity. We emphasize however that this result also applies to the usual NCA of the Anderson model, in the Kondo regime.

To exhibit the exact solution of the multichannel Kondo model, we introduce two functions $`f_\gamma ^\pm (x)`$ defined by the integral (which is easily computed for integer $`\gamma `$):

$$x=_0^{f_\gamma ^\pm (x)}dte^{\pm t}t^\gamma $$
(17)
and thus obtain the following scaling form of the inverse bosonic propagator:

$`Y_B(\omega )`$ $`=`$ $`Af_\gamma ^a(\omega /z_K)`$ (18)
$`\mathrm{where}a`$ $`=`$ $`\mathrm{Sign}(1\gamma \rho _0J_K)`$ (19)
The numerical prefactor in the previous equation is given by $`A\rho _0/|1\gamma \rho _0J_K|`$, and a complex Kondo temperature $`z_K\rho _0^\gamma |1\gamma \rho _0J_K|^{1\gamma }e^C`$ has to be introduced. The fact that the propagators scale with respect to a complex energy scale stems from the presence of a spectral asymmetry for generic values of $`q_0`$ Parcollet et al. (1998).

Equation (18) can be considered to be the complete solution of the large number of channels Kondo model for all energy scales below the high energy cut-off, and constitutes the central result of our paper. In particular, it is valid for frequency below and above the the Kondo temperature, defined as $`T_K|z_K|`$, as long as $`T_K`$ is much smaller than the cut-off $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$. To analyze the properties of this scaling function is first particularly simple right at the Non Fermi Liquid fixed point. Indeed, equation (16) allows to locate the coupling $`J_K^{}=1/(\rho _0\gamma )`$ at which the various propagators exihibit scale invariance:

$$Y_B(\omega )=\left[\rho _0(1+\gamma )e^C\omega \right]^{1/(1+\gamma )}\mathrm{at}J_K=J_K^{}$$
(20)
for all frequencies smaller than the cut-off. We note also that, away from the fixed point $`J_K^{}`$, the behavior (20) still applies, albeit for $`\omega <T_K`$. The power law obtained in equation (20) agrees with previous work Mueller-Hartmann (1984); Parcollet et al. (1998), in which the zero-temperature low-frequency propagator $`G_B(\omega )\omega ^{2\mathrm{\Delta }_B1}`$, with $`2\mathrm{\Delta }_B=\gamma /(1+\gamma )`$, was obtained. For frequencies comparable to $`T_K`$ and away from the fixed point, equation (18) leads to universal corrections to this pure power law behavior, a result that could not be obtained from the low frequency analysis performed in Parcollet et al. (1998). The various regimes observed are expressed graphically in figure 1.

To understand first the universal crossover arising at $`J_K<J_K^{}`$, we consider large frequency above $`T_K`$, and get $`Y_B(\omega )\mathrm{log}|\omega |`$, so that $`G_f(\omega )1/\omega `$ from equation (14). This corresponds to a free moment regime, where the impurity spin is weakly bound to the screening cloud of the conduction electrons. The scaling function $`f_\gamma ^+(x)`$ thus describes the crossover from weak coupling to the fixed point $`J_K^{}`$ Nozières and Blandin (1980). From the same token, $`f_\gamma ^{}(x)`$ is associated to the flow from strong to intermediate coupling; we note however that in the case $`J_K>J_K^{}`$ one has roughly $`T_K\mathrm{\Lambda }/\mathrm{\Gamma }(\gamma +1)`$, so that the condition $`T_K\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ (and hence universality of this regime) is met only for $`\gamma 1`$. This picture of the various crossover regimes that we have obtained is particularly explicit, and illustrates the renormalization flow around the attractive fixed point. To make contact with the theory of quantum critical phenomena Sachdev (2000), we emphasize that $`J_K`$ is for the multichannel Kondo model an irrelevant perturbation around $`J_K^{}`$, so that no phase transition occurs as $`J_K`$ is varied. Therefore the low energy behavior at all $`J_K`$ is controlled by the intermediate fixed point, in contrast to the case of a relevant tuning parameter driving a true quantum phase transition.

Another way to depict the crossovers taking place around $`J_K^{}`$ is to plot the scaling functions $`f_\gamma ^\pm (x)`$, figure 2.

It is also possible to compute the exact value for the Kondo temperature $`T_K`$. We will do this in the limit $`q_00`$, which corresponds actually to the usual Non Crossing Approximation. In this case, the pseudo-particle propagators get maximally asymmetric, and the spectral functions $`G_B^{\prime \prime }(\omega )`$ and $`G_f^{\prime \prime }(\omega )`$ vanish for all $`\omega <0`$. This implies an explicit expression for the boundary condition (12), $`\mathrm{\Sigma }_B(\mathrm{\Lambda })=0`$, and a purely real inverse propagator $`Y_B(\omega )`$ (for negative frequency). The initial condition $`Y_B(\mathrm{\Lambda })=1/J_K`$ gives for $`J_K<J_K^{}`$ the following relation:

$$\frac{T_K}{\mathrm{\Lambda }}=\left[_0^{1/(\rho _0J_K)\gamma }dte^tt^\gamma \right]^1$$
(21)
In the limit of small $`J_K`$, one finds:

$$T_K\mathrm{\Lambda }(\rho _0J_K)^\gamma e^\gamma e^{1/(\rho _0J_K)}$$
(22)
i.e. a vanishingly small Kondo temperature, as expected. When $`J_K`$ approaches the fixed point value $`J_K^{}`$, $`T_K`$ is maximum and Non Fermi Liquid properties apply up to the high energy cutoff.

We now discuss temperature effects. In Parcollet et al. (1998) was shown how to obtain from the large-$`N`$ equations (2-5) the exact finite-temperature low-frequency (i.e. $`\omega T_K`$) scaling functions using CFT arguments. It seems unfortunately impossible to apply this approach to extend our exact scaling function (18), valid for $`T_K\omega \mathrm{\Lambda }`$, to finite temperature. However we can succeed in generalizing the derivation of the linear differential equations (10-11) to the case of non zero temperature. For that purpose we consider the imaginary time saddle-point equations in the scaling regime:

$`\mathrm{\Sigma }_f(i\omega _n)`$ $`=`$ $`\gamma {\displaystyle _0^\beta }𝑑\tau e^{i\omega _n\tau }{\displaystyle \frac{\pi \rho _0}{\beta \mathrm{sin}(\pi \tau /\beta )}}\left[G_B(\tau )J_K\right]`$
$`\mathrm{\Sigma }_B(i\nu _n)`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle _0^\beta }𝑑\tau e^{i\nu _n\tau }{\displaystyle \frac{\pi \rho _0}{\beta \mathrm{sin}(\pi \tau /\beta )}}G_f(\tau )`$ (23)
This gives the idea of writing a finite difference equation for the self-energies, which provides indeed a remarkably simple result:

$`{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{\Sigma }_f(i\nu _n+i\pi /\beta )\mathrm{\Sigma }_f(i\nu _ni\pi /\beta )}{2\pi /\beta }}`$ $`=`$ $`i\gamma \rho _0\left[G_B(i\nu _n)J_K\right]`$
$`{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{\Sigma }_B(i\omega _n+i\pi /\beta )\mathrm{\Sigma }_B(i\omega _ni\pi /\beta )}{2\pi /\beta }}`$ $`=`$ $`i\rho _0G_f(i\omega _n)`$ (24)
Although these relations do not lead to much analytical understanding as compared to their zero temperature counterpart, they offer an economical way of tackling the finite temperature integral equations, which may be of interest for some generalizations of the Kondo model.

We would like to conclude the paper on the possible applications of the formalism discussed in this work. Our main result, the computation of the full zero-temperature scaling functions of the many channel Kondo model, offers perspectives both in the physics of quantum impurities and strongly correlated systems. First, questions that we will address in future work concern the direct comparison of the exact scaling function (18) to the numerical solution of the large-N integral equations (2-5), using both the standard numerical routines with fast Fourier fransforms and the system of finite difference equations (24). In the same direction, it would also be interesting to perform a similar analysis and gain some analytical insight on the multichannel Kondo model in the bosonic representations Parcollet and Georges (1997), a model that allows a richer phase diagram with a transition from over-screening to underscreening.

As was pointed out in the introduction, models of several quantum impurities or lattice versions of the Kondo hamiltonian are of great experimental importance and notoriously difficult to tackle theoretically. We hope that the analytical step undertaken in the present work will allow further progress in this direction.

###### Acknowledgements.

The author thanks A. Georges, A. Rosch and M. Vojta for useful comments on the manuscript.


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# The Ghosts of Galaxies: Tidal Debris in Clusters

## 1. Introduction

Numerous contributions to this symposium have presented exciting research on intergalactic stellar populations in galaxy clusters. These populations contribute a substantial fraction of the total light of a cluster, $`2040\%`$ in a cluster as typical as Virgo (see review by Arnaboldi 2004, this volume). To understand clusters at even a basic level, then, it is necessary to account for the presence of this intergalactic stuff, not only what and how much is there, but how and when did it get there? And how does it affect the continued evolution of the cluster?

A very pretty simulation of cluster formation has been done by Dubinski (1998; mpg versions available at www.cita.utoronto.ca/ dubinski/bigcluster.html). This view of cluster formation involves not only the gathering together of lots of galaxies into close quarters, but the agglomeration of a good many into a single brightest cluster member at the bottom of the global potential. This process requires the disruption, destruction, and recycling of lots of galaxies, giant and dwarf. The intermediate products are distended, low surface brightness splashes of stars across intergalactic space. Fragile, long filamentary plumes and extended pools of stars are quickly extruded and dispersed throughout a cluster, merging into the cD, its extended halo, or the general intergalactic field.

## 2. Hunting for Galaxy Ghosts

Cluster formation continues to the present day, so if the Dubinski simulations are close to the mark, then we should be able to see examples of these ghosts of galaxies: the intermediate, non-equilibrium phases of galaxy disruption and destruction associated with cluster building. One spectacular example is the 100 kpc long, low surface brightness plume in the Coma cluster (Gregg & West 1998). Only 10-15 kpc wide, it contains roughly the luminosity of the LMC and is probably fated to become part of the halo of NGC4874. While this object seemed unique at first, another plume with nearly identical properties was soon reported by Calcáneo–Roldán et al. (2000) in the nearby Centaurus cluster.

One example of something in astronomy is an anomaly, but two is a population, so we combed through the HST archives looking for more examples of galaxy ghosts. A number of interesting examples turned up, especially among X-ray bright clusters; a few are shown in Figure 1. An immediately obvious complication is that very thin tidal plumes can resemble background galaxies gravitationally lensed by the cluster, and vice versa, especially in ground-based imaging. Some clusters exhibit both phenomena; spectroscopic redshifts are needed for positive identification. Tidally disrupting galaxies can be any color: early types contribute old, red stars and globulars to an intracluster population while gas-rich galaxies may experience a fresh burst of star formation when pulled apart in a cluster. Deep multi-band imaging of these tidal features could provide details of the stellar and star cluster populations which are being strewn through intergalactic space.

## 3. WFPC2 Observations of the Centaurus Galaxy Ghost

Analysis of ROSAT images by Churazov et al. (1999) shows that the NGC 4709 and its entourage are violently colliding with the main body of Centaurus, centered on NGC 4696. The velocity difference of the two components is large, $`>1500`$ km/s, so perhaps it is no coincidence that one of the more striking examples of galaxy disruption is found in Centaurus. The long, narrow, low surface brightness plume of material stretches more than 100 kpc across intergalactic space, arcing past NGC4709 (Figure 2, top, from Calcáneo–Roldán et al. 2000).

To investigate the Centaurus plume in finer detail, we have obtained WFPC2 $`V`$ (F606W) and $`I`$ (F814W) band images of a portion (Figure 2); the enhanced surface brightness of the plume is clearly visible in the WFPC2 data (Figure 3). These images reveal that the plume is not a completely smooth, low surface brightness feature, but contains dozens of distinct objects. Star clusters and dwarf galaxies are known to form from tidal debris plumes in field galaxies (Duc & Mirabel 1994; Duc et al. 2000; Whitmore & Schweizer 1995; Charlton et al. 2000), often accompanied by new star formation. In Centaurus, a similar process appears to be at work generating intracluster populations of stars, globulars, and perhaps even new dwarf galaxies.

### 3.1. Identification of Plume Objects

An object catalog was produced using sextractor (Bertin & Arnouts 1996) on the summed $`V+I`$ image. The numbers of objects as a function of vertical column (along the plume in Figure 3) is statistically consistent with a constant distribution, but the distribution as a function of horizontal row (perpendicular to the plume) is very peaked (Figure 4), differing from constant with high significance, $`>99.999\%`$ in a $`\chi ^2`$ test. The median filtered rows and columns of the images (Figure 4, lower panel) shows that the diffuse low surface brightness light reflects the peak and shape of the object distribution, confirming the association between the excess numbers and the plume feature. A mild gradient from the outer halo of NGC4709 has been removed from the median-filtered row plot.

### 3.2. Luminosity Function and Color Magnitude Diagram

The Luminosity function of objects in the plume (Figure 4) compared to adjacent fields (scaled to an equivalent area) shows that the excess is mainly in the luminosity range $`M_V7`$ to $`9`$, but there are extra objects as bright as $`M_V12`$. (We adopt $`Mm=33.4`$, 47 Mpc, for Centaurus.) These luminosities are in the range of globular clusters and faint dwarf galaxies; the excess consists of both extended objects and point sources. If these objects are bound and can survive the disruption event, then we are witnessing ongoing creation of dwarf galaxies from the shards of a larger object and the injection of old globular star clusters into intergalactic space.

There are 91 objects in the plume, and only $`50`$ in the area-scaled field. A ’Median-Delta’ test shows that the difference of the two is not random at a significance level of 0.0004. These numbers predict that the entire plume (extending far to the east of our WFPC2 field) contains $`80100`$ objects.

A comparison of the color-magnitude relations for objects in and out of the plume (Figure 5) shows no discernable difference in color distributions. Ordinary globular clusters in these bands have $`VI0.95`$ (e.g. Kavelaars et al. 2000), consistent with the distribution of plume (and non-plume) object colors. The plume is in the outer halo of NGC4709; perhaps many of the non-plume objects are also globular clusters and faint Centaurus dwarfs. Most of the objects are consistent with being point sources, so some could be individual supergiants, which would imply recent star formation.

## 4. Discussion and Summary

* In the Centaurus plume, we are witnessing the present-epoch creation of intergalactic objects in a rich cluster. The stripped material, now floating in the general cluster potential, will eventually disperse throughout the core of Centaurus, augmenting the halos of giant ellipticals and the intergalactic populations of stars, star clusters, and dwarf galaxies.
* Any interstellar gas and dust associated with these objects is added to the hot intracluster medium, already bright in the X-ray.
* The tidal generation of new dwarf galaxies can explain the observed association of excess faint galaxies with dynamically turbulent clusters (e.g. Lopez-Cruz et al. 1997).
* Disruption of infalling galaxies and the liberation of tidal debris is an important driver of the evolution of member galaxies the cluster as a whole.
* Objects such as the tidal plume in Centaurus provide a glimpse of a more chaotic era when today’s rich galaxy clusters were beginning to form.

#### Acknowledgments.

This work is based on observations made with the Hubble Space Telescope; support was provided by NASA through grant GO-8644 from the Space Telescope Science Institute, operated by AURA, Inc., under NASA contract NAS5-26555. Part of this work was performed under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy by University of California Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory under contract No. W-7405-Eng-48.

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Charlton, J., Knierman, K., Hunsberger, S., Gallagher, S., Whitmore, B., Kundu, A., & Hibbard, J., astro-ph/0009196

Churazov, E., Gilfanov, M., Forman, W., & Jones, C. 1999, ApJ, 520, 105

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# Chandra Phase-Resolved X-ray Spectroscopy of the Crab Pulsar

## 1 Introduction

The Crab Nebula and Pulsar constitute an intricate system, observed throughout the electromagnetic spectrum. Due to the complex X-ray structure of the inner nebula and pulsar, the unprecedented angular resolution of the Chandra X-ray Observatory has proven invaluable in probing the nature of this region. In Weisskopf et al. (2000), we presented a HETGS (High-Energy Transmission Grating Spectrometer) zeroth-order image showing the complex morphology of the inner nebula, revealing the previously undiscovered X-ray inner ring between the pulsar and the X-ray torus. In Tennant et al. (2001), our phase-resolved analysis of an LETGS (Low-Energy Transmission Grating Spectrometer) zeroth-order image discovered significant X-ray emission from the pulsar in its “off” phase. Here we report our analysis of an LETGS dispersed image, to obtain phase-resolved X-ray spectroscopy of the Crab Pulsar.

After briefly describing the observation and data reduction (§2), we discuss the analysis of the measured spectrum (§3). In particular, we address photoelectric absorption and interstellar abundances (§3.1), impacts on the spectroscopy after allowing for scattering and various abundances and cross-sections (§3.2), comparison of our results with certain other measurements (§3.3), variation of the nonthermal spectrum with pulse phase (§3.4), and constraints on the temperature of the underlying neutron star (§3.5). Finally, we briefly summarize the results (§4).

## 2 Observation and Data Reduction

On 2000 February 2, we obtained a nominally 50-ks observation (ObsID 759) of the Crab Pulsar, with Chandra’s Low-Energy Transmission Grating (LETG) and High-Resolution Camera spectroscopy detector (HRC-S) — the LETGS. We examined the data after Chandra X-ray Center (CXC) pipeline processing and sorted events into an image binned in HRC pixels. Using LEXTRCT (developed by one of us, AFT) we extracted the pulsar’s dispersed spectrum from the image. The extraction uses a 29-pixel-wide (cross-dispersive) band centered on the pulsar, in 2-pixel (dispersive) increments. For the LETG’s 0.9912-$`\mu `$m grating period and 8.638-m Rowland-circle radius, the LETGS dispersion is 1.148 Å/mm. Consequently, the spectral resolution of the binned data (two 6.4294-$`\mu `$m HRC-S pixels) is 0.01476 Å. We combined positive and negative orders.

For estimating background, we similarly extracted reduced data from two 100-pixel-wide bands, starting 30 pixels to either side of the pulsar’s dispersed image (Fig. 2). We restricted all spectral analysis to the (first-order) energy range 0.3-to-4.2 $`\mathrm{ke}\mathrm{V}`$. The upper spectral limit avoids contamination from the zeroth-order nebular image; the lower limit minimizes contamination from higher orders.

## 3 Analysis and Results

We analyzed the data using the XSPEC (v.11.2) spectral-fitting package (Arnaud 1996). To ensure applicability of the $`\chi ^2`$ statistic, we merged spectral bins as needed to obtain at least 100 counts per fitting bin (before background subtraction). The merging results in no change in spectral resolution for the data above 0.67 keV and the merging of no more than three bins for the data above 0.5 keV. We utilized an effective area (Fig. 3) that includes the LETG energy-dependent efficiency to 10 spectral orders (Jeremy Drake, private communication; see also http://asc.harvard.edu/cal/Letg/).

### 3.1 Broadband Spectrum — Initial Analysis

We first used XSPEC to fit the spectral data, independent of pulse phase, in the 0.3–4.2-$`\mathrm{ke}\mathrm{V}`$ band, using a power-law model with abundances angr (from Anders & Grevesse 1989) and absorption cross-sections bcmc (from Baluncinska-Church & McCammon 1992, with He cross-section from Yan, Sagdeghpour, & Dalgarno 1998). Previous analyses of X-ray spectra — including the recent analysis of XMM-Newton EPIC-MOS observations of the Crab (Willingale et al. 2001) — use this combination (XSPEC angr & bcmc), which we denote as “Model 1”. The fit of the Chandra LETGS data to Model 1 (Fig. 1; Table 1 entry 1) is statistically unacceptable, yielding $`\chi ^2`$ = 1722 on 1553 degrees of freedom.

Recognizing that the Model-1 residuals are largest near the $`\mathrm{O}_\mathrm{K}`$ edge (0.532 $`\mathrm{ke}\mathrm{V}`$), we thawed the relative abundance of oxygen, holding fixed that of the remaining elements. This “Model 2” (XSPEC angr & bcmc, with thawed O abundance) leads to a statistically acceptable fit (Fig. 2; Table 1 entry 2) — $`\chi ^2`$ = 1546 on 1552 degrees of freedom. Table 1 lists the best-fit parameters and associated (1-$`\sigma `$) statistical errors, determined from extrema on single-parameter confidence contours. Because statistical parameter estimation is valid only if the null hypothesis is true, we omit “best-fit” parameters and errors for poor fits.

The Model-2 best-fit power-law photon index for the pulsar — $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_\mathrm{P}=1.596\pm 0.020`$ — is less (i.e., harder) than for the nebula and similar to previous measurements ($`\mathrm{\Gamma }_\mathrm{P}=1.5\pm 0.1`$, Toor & Seward 1974, 1977; $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_\mathrm{P}=1.60\pm 0.02`$, Massaro et al. 2000) of the Crab Pulsar spectrum. Before comparing in more detail (§3.3) our results with those of other observations, we first examine (§ 3.2) the influence on spectral fits of using different cross-section and absorption models within XSPEC and of including effects due to scattering by interstellar grains.

### 3.2 Broadband Spectrum — Further Analysis

Beyond the initial analysis (§3.1), we investigated effects on model fits and parameters using various combinations of cross-section and abundance models available within XSPEC. Besides the abundance model angr3.1), we considered wilm (Wilms, Allen, & McCray 2000). Besides the cross-section model bcmc3.1), we considered obcm (Baluncinska-Church & McCammon 1992, with old He cross-section), vern (Verner et al. 1996), and tbvarabs (Wilms et al. 2000). Wilms et al. (2000) employ updated abundances (Snow & Witt 1996; Cardelli et al. 1996; Meyer et al. 1997, 1998) and recent theoretical results for elemental absorption cross-sections (Band et al. 1990; Yan et al. 1998; Verner et al. 1993; Verner & Yakovlev 1995) and for molecular hydrogen (Yan et al. 1998). In addition, their cross-section models (XSPEC’s tbabs and tbvarabs) include effects on interstellar absorption due to condensation into grains, which becomes important for grains sufficiently large to be opaque at a given energy.

Owing to the small effective aperture of our observation, we deemed it prudent also to consider effects of (diffractive) scattering by grains upon interstellar extinction. Such scattering produces a wavelength-dependent X-ray scattering halo (Overbeck 1965; Mauche & Gorenstein 1986), related to the diffractive (half-power) angle $`\vartheta _{\mathrm{HP}}70\mathrm{}/[(a/\mu \mathrm{m})(E/\mathrm{ke}\mathrm{V})]`$. Consequently, for energies of interest here, all but the largest grains scatter outside the source extraction aperture, thus contributing to extinction. (See Takei et al. 2002 for another example of this effect.) Following Mauche & Gorenstein (1986), we calculate this scattering in the Rayleigh–Gans approximation (van der Hulst 1957; Overbeck 1965; Hayakawa 1970), valid when the phase shift through a grain diameter is small. This condition limits applicability to grains with radii

$$a<<(0.5\mu \mathrm{m})\left(\frac{E}{\mathrm{ke}\mathrm{V}}\right)\left(\frac{\rho _{\mathrm{grain}}}{\mathrm{g}\mathrm{cm}^3}\right)^1\left(\frac{2ZF(E)}{M}\right)^1,$$
(1)
with $`\rho _{\mathrm{grain}}`$ the mass density of a dust grain and $`Z`$ and $`M`$ the summed atomic number and weight, respectively, of a grain-material molecule. The near-unity function $`F(E)|_iN_if_i(E)|/(_iN_iZ_i)`$, with $`f_i(E)`$ the (complex) atomic scattering factor of atomic species $`i`$, $`N_i`$ the number of species-$`i`$ atoms per molecule, and $`Z_i`$ the species-$`i`$ atomic number.

In the Raleigh-Gans approximation, the scattering depth is (Mauche & Gorenstein 1986)

$$\tau _{\mathrm{scat}}(E)\tau _{\mathrm{s1}}\left(\frac{F(E)}{F(1\mathrm{ke}\mathrm{V})}\right)^2\left(\frac{E}{\mathrm{ke}\mathrm{V}}\right)^2,$$
(2)
with $`\tau _{\mathrm{s1}}`$ the dust scattering depth at 1 $`\mathrm{ke}\mathrm{V}`$. For computations, we calculate $`F(E)`$ for the dust composition implied by the abundances and dust depletion factors given in Table 2 of Wilms et al. (2000), using atomic scattering factors from Henke et al. (1993). For the relevant case, which is extraction-aperture limited, a suitable fitting function, $`N_E(E)`$, for an power-law photon index spectrum is

$$N_E(E)=\mathrm{constant}\times E^\alpha \mathrm{exp}(\tau _{\mathrm{abs}}(E))\mathrm{exp}(\tau _{\mathrm{scat}}(E)),$$
(3)
with $`\tau _{\mathrm{abs}}(E)`$ the photoelectric absorption depth and $`\tau _{\mathrm{scat}}(E)`$ the scattering depth (Eq. 2).

For purposes of this study, we set $`\tau _{\mathrm{s1}}=0.15`$ and assume validity of the Rayleigh-Gans approximation, consistent with measurements of the Crab scattering halo (Mauche & Gorenstein 1989; Predehl & Schmitt 1995). We did not investigate more sophisticated grain-scattering models, because using the simple scattering model (Eq. 2) or ignoring scattering completely didn’t affect the quality of the fits, most of which were statistically acceptable. Table 1 lists best-fit parameters and statistical errors (where the fit was statistically acceptable) for models ignoring and those including extinction due to scattering by interstellar grains. The first two table entries are Model 1 (Fig. 1) and Model 2 (Fig. 2) of the initial analysis (§3.1). The last entry is Model 3 (Fig. 3) which we consider to be astrophysically most accurate and thus adopt in subsequent analyses (§3.4 and §3.5).

Inspection of Table 1 allows an assessment of the influence of the model upon the determination of the relevant parameters. In particular, we note the following:

1. Independent of the cross-section model, it is impossible to fit the data using the abundances of Anders & Grevesse (1989).
2. Models invoking the Anders & Grevesse (1989) abundances will fit the data if the oxygen is underabundant with a fractional abundance of $`0.41\pm 0.07`$.
3. If abundances recommended by Wilms et al. (2000) are used, the fits become acceptable independent of the various cross-sections used.
4. In all cases with statistically acceptable fits, the best-fit relative oxygen abundance is basically the same.
5. Using the Wilms et al. (2000) abundances with oxygen somewhat underabundant consistently gives a better fit than if the abundance is fixed at the nominal value.
6. Including extinction by dust scattering does not appreciably alter the quality of the fit; thus, while such extinction is expected, these spectral data do not require it.
7. Including dust scattering consistently modifies the best-fit parameters in an understandable way — the resulting photon index $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_\mathrm{P}`$ is slightly flatter and the hydrogen column $`N_\mathrm{H}`$ and relative oxygen abundance \[O/H\] are slightly lower.
8. The range of best-fit values for $`N_\mathrm{H}`$ substantially exceeds the statistical error of that parameter, demonstrating the importance of systematic uncertainties produced by using different cross-sections and/or abundances.

### 3.3 Broadband Spectrum — Comparison with Certain Previous Observations

Here we compare our measurements of the broadband spectrum with certain previous measurements — those taken with the Einstein Focal-Plane Crystal Spectrometer (FPCS) by Schattenburg & Canizares (1986), with the Beppo-SAX Low-Energy Concentrator Spectrometer (LECS) by Massaro et al. (2000), and with the XMM-Newton European Photon Imaging Camera (EPIC) by Willingale et al. (2001).

#### 3.3.1 The Einstein measurements

Using the Einstein FPCS, Schattenburg & Canizares (1986) measured the spectrum of the Crab Nebula and its the pulsar, finding $`N_\mathrm{H}=(3.45\pm 0.42)\times 10^{21}\mathrm{cm}^2`$ and $`N_\mathrm{O}=(2.78\pm 0.42)\times 10^{18}\mathrm{cm}^2`$, giving a relative oxygen abundance $`[O/H]=(8.1\pm 1.6)\times 10^4`$. Because the measurements included all flux in a $`6\mathrm{}`$ field of view, they did did not resolve the pulsar from the nebula. Their analysis did allow for the impact of flux scattered outside of the spectrometer’s 6′-diameter aperture upon the overall normalization. The model fitting of the Einstein data froze the nebula’s power-law index at $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_\mathrm{N}=2.1`$ and used cross-sections and abundances from Morrison & McCammon (1983), but did not report the goodness of the fit.

If the quality of the fit were poor, statistical uncertainties in $`N_H`$ and $`N_O`$ may be underestimated, although the authors noted that they deliberately inflated the statistical errors in the data above 0.7 $`\mathrm{ke}\mathrm{V}`$ in their spectral fitting, perhaps to avoid this problem. In what follows, we shall first assume that the uncertainties are not underestimated. Before comparing results we note that their freezing the spectral index lowers the uncertainty relative to a fit with the spectral index left as a free parameter, but the differences may not be very large and their choice of spectral index (2.1) appears to be a very accurate value for the nebula-averaged index at low X-ray energies (see the discussion in §3.3.3). Similarly, we find for the Chandra data, e.g., that the uncertainty in $`N_\mathrm{H}`$ and $`N_\mathrm{O}`$ change by less than 10% depending on whether $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ is left as a free parameter or fixed at the best-fit value. Thus, if we compare the Einstein-derived values for the hydrogen column and the relative oxygen abundance with our measurements, we see that the values for $`N_H`$ are similar within the errors, essentially independent of which cross-sections and abundances we used, whereas there appears to be a statistically significant discrepancy in the relative oxygen abundance. We shall see shortly (§ 3.3.2 & § 3.3.3) that this discrepancy is with all the more recent measurements. Moreover, Willingale et al. (2001) find that the column is rather uniform across the nebula (see §3.3.3), thus eliminating variations in the column as a possible reason for the discrepancy.

In order to try to understand the source of this discrepancy, we also compared the measured optical depths at the oxygen edge, which are directly related to the data independent of any models for abundance and cross-section.

Following Schattenburg & Canizares (1986), we omitted 2 of the 6 FPCS data points that lie closest to the oxygen edge as outliers, which they note are perhaps biased by neutral-oxygen $`\mathrm{K}_\alpha `$ absorption and by the K edge of singly ionized oxygen. Scaling their quoted uncertainty in the fractional abundance of oxygen, we find $`\tau _\mathrm{O}=1.6\pm 0.3`$. If we include all 6 FPCS data points in the analysis, we find $`\tau _\mathrm{O}=0.8`$, with a very poor fit ($`\chi ^2=15`$ for 3 degrees of freedom). This leads us to conclude that had they included these points the value would have been smaller and the uncertainty in the optical depth larger. By way of comparison, we find for the Chandra-LETGS data that $`\tau _\mathrm{O}=0.64\pm 0.06`$ in the direction of the pulsar. We also see no reason as to why the systematic errors that Schattenburg & Canizares (1986) applied to the data above 0.7 keV do not also apply below 0.7 keV. This would surely increase the uncertainty. As we have shown the FPCS result is sensitive to precisely which data is included in the fit, and, we suspect, to the precise modelling of the details of the spectral structure. We can only conclude that either the Einstein-FPCS uncertainties in the measured oxygen column (relative oxygen abundance) are underestimated or some systematic effect in the response has escaped detection.

#### 3.3.2 The Beppo-SAX measurement

Massaro et al. (2000) used various Beppo-SAX instruments to measure the spectrum of the nebula and pulsar, which are spatially unresolved even using the Beppo-SAX X-ray concentrators. Of relevance to our measurements, the Low-Energy Concentrator Spectrometer (LECS) obtained a phase-resolved 0.1–4.0-$`\mathrm{ke}\mathrm{V}`$ spectrum of the nebula and pulsar. By analyzing the spectrum from the “low-pulse” phases, they minimize the pulsar contribution relative to the nebula.

T. Mineo kindly re-analyzed the Beppo-SAX LECS data, finding that underabundant oxygen substantially improved the fit ($`\mathrm{\Delta }\chi ^2=48`$ for 1 additional parameter) using the XSPEC angr abundances and bcmc cross-sections (cf. the second model of Table 1). This new fit gives $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_\mathrm{N}=2.06\pm 0.08`$, $`N_\mathrm{H}=(3.54\pm 0.07)\times 10^{21}\mathrm{cm}^2`$, and $`[O/H]=(6.25\pm 0.33)\times 10^4`$; moreover, the fit was now marginally statistically acceptable with $`\chi ^2=428`$ on 359 degrees of freedom. Thus, re-analysis of the Beppo-SAX data also indicates that oxygen in the Crab line of sight to be underabundant with respect to Anders &Grevesse (1989) abundances, however, not as much as our results.

#### 3.3.3 The XMM-Newton measurement

Our final comparison is with the XMM-Newton observations reported by Willingale et al. (2001). Their analysis used 0.4–3.0-$`\mathrm{ke}\mathrm{V}`$ MOS-1 and -2 data, including data from the trailed (“out of time”) image, to fit five different data sets. The selected data sets isolated various Crab spatial structures — including the jet, the nebula as a whole, and the pulsar. The joint spectral fits to these data sets employed different power-law indices for each region but the same column density, with cross-sections from Balucinska-Church & McCammom (1992) plus newer He cross-section (Yan et al. 1998) and with abundances from Anders & Grevesse (1989).

Willingale et al. (2001) found statistically unacceptable fits before thawing both oxygen and iron abundances. Under the assumption that O and Fe have the same fractional abundance relative to solar, they determined the fractional abundance to be $`0.63\pm 0.01`$ times solar (Anders & Grevesse 1989). These authors noted that the conclusion that oxygen may be underabundant is in agreement with earlier inferences from Copernicus data (e.g. Keenan, Hibbert, and Dufton 1985 and references therein). The best-fit parameters were $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_\mathrm{N}=2.108\pm 0.006`$, $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_\mathrm{P}=1.63\pm 0.09`$, $`N_\mathrm{H}=(3.45\pm 0.02)\times 10^{21}\mathrm{cm}^2`$, and $`[O/H]=(5.36\pm 0.10)\times 10^4`$, with a $`\chi ^2=4007`$ on $`\nu =3853`$ degrees of freedom. In addition, by sampling $`20\mathrm{}\times 20\mathrm{}`$ regions, Willingale et al. determined that column-density variations across the nebula are small.

We examined our data to determine whether we could confirm an underabundance of iron. Using our preferred model (Model 3, Table 1), we thawed 5 XSPEC parameters — the power-law index, its normalization, the hydrogen column density, the fractional abundance of O, and individually the fractional abundance of He, C, N, Na, Mg, Al, Si, Cl, Ar, Ca, Cr, Fe, and Co. Here the fractional abundance is the ratio of the abundance of a given element to its standard (default) abundance. For nearly all these elements, the Chandra-LETGS spectroscopy was insensitive up to a fractional abundance from Wilms et al.(2000) of at least 2. The exceptions with regards to the sensitivity were helium and iron with fractional abundances of $`1.07\pm 0.20`$ and $`0.77\pm 0.18`$, respectively. These to be compared with an oxygen fractional abundance of $`0.68\pm 0.05`$ already discussed. Therefore, in all cases, except for the oxygen, our results were consistent with normal abundances relative to the reference. The uncertainty and the trend in the relative iron abundance is consistent with it being either normal (with respect to Wilms et al. 2000) or low, and tied to that of oxygen. We therefore conclude that our results are qualitatively consistent with those of Willingale et al. (2001), although we disagree as to the degree of the oxygen underabundance. There are no easy ways to account for the discrepancy. Both analyses agree within statistical errors on the hydrogen column, when the same models for cross sections and abundances are used. Willingale et al. (2001) did not account for scattering by the ISM which tends to lower the estimated relative oxygen abundance (see Table 1) but it is difficult to see that this would be a very large factor, especially since the XMM-Newton beam is so much larger than that of Chandra. A significant difference between the two experiments is the spectral resolution, in that Willingale et al. (2001) used CCDs. It is possible that the better Chandra-LETGS spectral resolution, especially with regards to details of the oxygen edge, might account for the discrepancy. It is of course possible that the Chandra response is in error, but the good fit of the pulsar spectrum to the powerlaw model seems to indicate that the model is correct. We note that the LETGS response was not calibrated using the Crab. Future experiments that deal with the accuracy of the calibration of the instruments will be necessary to clarify the details.

### 3.4 Spectral Variation with Pulse Phase

In principle, repeating the previous analysis for the time-tagged data (appropriately arranged by pulse phase) provides a phase-resolved measurement of the pulsar’s spectral parameters. However, a HRC-S timing error assigns to each event the time of the previous event, thus complicating the analysis for this bright source because telemetry saturation omits events from the telemetry stream. In Tennant et al. (2001), we discussed this problem and a method for maintaining timing accuracy — albeit at significantly reduced (here, by a factor of 15) data-collection efficiency. This method filters the data accepting only telemetered events separated by no more than 2 ms, guaranteeing a timing accuracy never worse than 2 ms and typically much better. Jodrell Bank (Lyne, Pritchard, & Smith 1993) routinely observes the Crab Pulsar (Wong, Backer,& Lyne 2001); providing a period ephemeris (http://www.jb.man.ac.uk/$``$pulsar/crab.html). Roberts & Kramer (2000, private communication) kindly prepared an ephemeris matched to our observation times. Applying the 2-ms filter and folding the data according to the radio ephemeris we found that the X-ray flux peaks at phase 0.984 as discussed in Tennant et al. (2001).

In performing the phase-resolved spectral analysis, we used interstellar absorption and dust scattering parameters of our preferred XSPEC model (Model 3, last entry of Table 1and Figure 3). Table 2 and Figure 3.4 summarize the results for the pulsar’s phase-resolved photon index $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_\mathrm{P}`$. Note that for each phase range, the power-law fit is statistically acceptable without requiring an additional spectral component.

Based upon a $`\chi ^2`$ analysis of the distribution of best-fit photon indices (Table 2), we reject (albeit at only 85% confidence) the hypothesis that the spectral index is constant with phase. (The error-weighted average of the spectral indices was 1.58 and the value of $`\chi ^2`$ was 16.8 on 12 degrees of freedom.) The apparent variation of spectral index between pulse phases -0.1 and 0.5 is qualitatively similar in Chandra, Beppo-SAX (Massaro et al. 2000), and Rossi-XTE (Pravdo, Angelini, & Harding 1997) measurements, with the index increasing (becoming softer) through the two pulse maxima and decreasing (becoming harder) in the bridge between the pulses. However, only Chandra provides the angular resolution needed to isolate the pulsar from the nebula in order to measure the spectral index for the pulse-phase range 0.5–0.9. Our analysis is consistent with an apparent continuation of the increase (softening) of the spectral index until just before the onset of the primary pulse; however, the data do not require this. Due to the HRC time-tag problem, the efficiency of the Chandra observation was low (5.5%); hence, the spectral-index uncertainty near pulse minimum is large. We have proposed a much more efficient approach for collecting Chandra-LETGS data from the Crab Pulsar, which would significantly reduce statistical uncertainties without expending inordinate observing time. These future observations would directly challenge theoretical models for pulsar emission (e.g., Zhang & Chen 2002).

### 3.5 Temperature of the Neutron Star

Here we investigate adding a blackbody component to the spectral fits in order to set an upper limit to the temperature of the underlying neutron star. Ideally, data taken at pulse minimum would provide the most stringent upper limit. In practice, however, the phase-averaged data (which do not require time-interval filtering) yield the best limit due to their much better photon statistics. Figure 3.5 shows a portion of the confidence contours of the blackbody normalization $`(\theta _{\mathrm{}}^2)`$ versus blackbody temperature ($`kT_{\mathrm{}}`$) using the preferred model (wilm and tbvrabs) with $`\tau _{\mathrm{s1}}=0.15`$, but $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_\mathrm{P}`$, $`N_\mathrm{H}`$, and \[O/H\] thawed. Here $`\theta _{\mathrm{}}`$ is the angular size determined by a distant observer, in XSPEC units — $`\theta _{\mathrm{}}=(R_{\mathrm{}}/D_{10})`$, with $`R_{\mathrm{}}`$ the stellar radius in km units and $`D_{10}`$ the source distance in 10-kpc units.

The best fit (not shown in the figure) gave $`kT=187`$ $`\mathrm{ke}\mathrm{V}`$ and $`\theta _{\mathrm{}}^2=0.0018,[\mathrm{km}/(10\mathrm{kpc})]^2=[8.5\mathrm{m}/(2\mathrm{kpc})]^2`$, with $`\chi ^2=1537`$ on 1550 degrees of freedom. Clearly, the best-fit parameters — corresponding to a radius of less than 10 meters — cannot represent thermal emission from the entire surface of a neutron star, although they might indicate a very small, very hot spot on the surface. It is more reasonable, however, that the best-fit high temperature and low normalization are indicative of the absence of any thermal component. Figure 3.5 shows the upper portions of the “banana” plot for contours consistent with blackbody emission from the entire neutron-star surface. To utilize these contours, we assume the properties (equation of state, mass, radii, etc.) for a 1.358-$`M_{}`$ neutron star with $`R_{\mathrm{}}`$ = 15.6 km — appropriate for models that assume neutron-star cores with moderately stiff equations of state and containing strong proton superfluidity (e.g., Kaminker, Haensel, & Yakovlev 2001; Kaminker, Yakovlev, & Gnedin 2002 and references therein). For a Crab distance of 2 kpc, the contours (Fig. 3.5) imply a (2-$`\sigma `$, 3-$`\sigma `$) upper limit to the (gravitationally-redshifted) blackbody surface temperature viewed at infinity of $`T_{\mathrm{}}<(1.85,1.97)`$ MK \[$`\mathrm{log}T_{\mathrm{}}<(6.27,6.30)`$\]. This upper limit is slightly less than the one we (Tennant et al. 2001) previously obtained using only the zero-order counting rate — no spectral data — from a longer observation. More difficult to quantify are consequences of departures from uniform, isotropic, blackbody emission (e.g., Pavlov et al. 1994; Zavlin et al. 1995; Pavlov 2000; Becker & Pavlov 2001). Hence, we regard $`T_{\mathrm{}}`$ as a representative and indicative upper limit.

## 4 Summary

We have computed and compared the measurements of the phase-averaged spectrum of the Crab Pulsar using a variety of cross-sections and abundances. We have shown that results are somewhat sensitive to the abundances and cross-sections used in the analysis. This is especially true for the hydrogen column and emphasizes the importance of specifying which cross-sections and abundances are assumed in the data analysis. We have also compared our results with a number of previous observations. Although we confirm the results first derived from Copernicus data (Keenan, Hibbets, & Dufton 1985 and references therein) and more recently of Willingale et al. (2001) that the Crab line-of-sight is underabundant in oxygen, our analysis of the Chandra-LETGS data suggests a somewhat greater hydrogen column and a smaller (factor of 0.6) relative oxygen abundance than this previous analysis. The increased hydrogen column we measure is primarily due to the choice of cross-sections and abundances, whereas the lower relative oxygen abundance we attribute to the better spectral resolution and calibration accuracy of the Chandra LETGS. In addition, we have measured for the first time the spectrum of the Crab Pulsar as a function of pulse phase at all pulse phases. We find marginal evidence for variation of the power law spectral index, but the statistics at and near pulse minimum are limited. Future, more precise, measurments are needed. In all our analyses, we have accounted for the contribution of scattering by interstellar dust to the extinction of X rays in an aperture-limited measurement — a consideration in spectral analysis of point sources observed with Chandra’s exceptional angular resolution. Finally, we used the spectral data to obtain a new and better upper limit to the temperature of the neutron star of $`\mathrm{log}T_{\mathrm{}}<6.30`$($`3\sigma `$).

We thank the referee for detailed and insightful comments. We also acknowledge a tremendous debt to Leon Van Speybroeck for his remarkable contributions to the development of the Chandra optics. His untimely death has touched us all.


text:
# Left-Handed-Material-like behavior revealed by arrays of dielectric cylinders

(October 22, 2003)

## Abstract

We investigate the electromagnetic propagation in two-dimensional photonic crystals, formed by parallel dielectric cylinders embedded a uniform medium. The transmission of electromagnetic waves through prism structures are calculated by the standard multiple scattering theory. The results demonstrate that in certain frequency regimes and when the propagation inside the scattering media is not considered, the transmission behavior mimics that expected for a left-handed material. Such feature may illusively lead to the conclusion that a left-handed material is fabricated and it obeys Snell’s law of negative refraction. We also discuss possible ambiguities that may be involved in previous experimental evidence of left-handed materials.

The concept of the so called Left Handed Material (LHM) or Negative Refraction Index Material (NRIM) was first proposed by Veselago many years ago Ves . In the year 2000, Pendry proposed that a lens made of LHM can overcome the traditional limitation on the optical resolution and therefore make “perfect” images Pendry . Since then, the search for LHM and the study of the properties of LHM have been skyrocketing, signified by the rapid growth of the related literatures.

An earlier realization of LHM consisted of composite resonator structures of metallic wires and rings operated in the regime of microwaves exp . The measurements involved refraction of microwaves by a prism. As pointed out in Chuang , however, while this work is revolutionary, there are a few unaddressed questions. These include problems associated with such as near field effects due to either rapid dispersion along the propagation direction Valanju  or smaller amount of attenuation on the shorter side of the prism Garcia . Moreover, the experiment had only measured a single angled prism; this is sufficient only if the a priori assumption that the material is refractive is valid. These shortcomings allow for alternative interpretation of the reported experimental data, as discussed in Ref. Valanju ; Garcia .

Ever since its inception, theoreticians have questioned the concept of LHM and the perfect lenses made of LHM. Such a challenge can be classified into two categories. First, scientists have questioned whether left-handed materials are genuinely possible. Second, even if they existed, whether LHM would really make perfect lenses is also debatable Efros ; Hooft ; comm ; Ye . The principle behind the first inquiry is that although peculiar phenomena observed for some artificial materials may be in conflict with our immediate intuition, if they can be still explained in the framework of current knowledge, the resort to negative refraction or LHM is at least not a definite necessity.

Recently, new sets of experimental measurements have been reported to provide affirmative evidences on LHM. For instance, Houck et al. Chuang  measured two dimensional profiles of collimated microwave beams transmitted through composite wire and split-ring resonator prisms. The authors used two angled prisms, in an attempt to refute alternatives posed in the criticisms on earlier measurements, to obtain a rather consistent negative refractive index. The data appeared to obey Snell’s law. The experimental setup in Ref. Chuang  represents a common method of deducing the refractive index of LHM. Based upon our rigorous simulations, however, we believe that these experimental results are not conclusive. They may not be sufficient to confirm the existence of LHM. As a matter of fact, we found that the apparent abnormal refraction that has been thought to be the negative refraction may be well explained in the context of the partial-gap effects or the related Bragg scattering, which are common for all kinds of wave propagation in periodic structures. In this Letter, we present some key simulation results to support our claim.

Here we consider the transmission of electromagnetic (EM) waves in photonic crystals. To make it easy to reproduce our results, we will use the photonic crystal structures that have been commonly used in previous simulations, such as those in PRB . The systems are two dimensional photonic crystals made of arrays of parallel dielectric cylinders placed in a unform medium, which we assume to be air. The solution for the wave scattering and propagation in such systems can be obtained by the multiple scattering theory. This theory is exact and was first formulated systematically by Twersky Twersky , then has been reformulated and applied successfully to optical, sonic and water wave problems JOSA ; Chen ; Yue . The results show that an apparent ‘negative’ refraction is indeed possible, in line with the experimental observation Chuang . But, such a negative refraction is not sufficient in proving that the materials are left handed.

The multiple scattering theory (MST) used in our simulation can be summarized as follows. Consider an arbitrary array of dielectric cylinders in a uniform medium. The cylinders are impinged by an optical source. In response to the incident wave from the transmitting source and the scattered waves from other scatterers, each scatterer will scatter repeatedly waves and thus scattered waves can be expressed in terms of a modal series of partial waves. Regarding these scattered waves as the incident wave to other scatterers, a set of coupled equations can be formulated and computed rigorously. The total wave at any spatial point is the summation of the direct wave from the source and the scattered waves from all scatterers. The intensity of the waves is represented by the modulus of the wave field. The details about MST can be found in Ref. JAP .

For brevity, we only consider the E-polarized waves, that is, the electric field is kept parallel to the cylinders. The following parameters are used in the simulation. (1) The dielectric constant of the cylinders is 14, and the cylinders are arranged in air to form a square lattice. (2) The lattice constant is $`a`$ and the radius of the cylinders is 0.3$`a`$; in the computation, all lengths are scaled by the lattice constant, so all the lengths are dimensionless. (3) A variety of the outer shapes of the arrays is considered, including the prism structures and the slab.

First we consider the propagation of EM waves through the prism structures of arrays of dielectric cylinders, by analogy with those shown in Chuang . Two sizes of the prisms are considered and illustrated by Fig. 1. We have used two types of sources in the simulations: (1) plane waves; (2) collimated waves by guiding the wave propagation through a window before incidence on the prisms, mimicking most experiments; (3) a line source. The results from these three scenarios are similar. In this Letter, we only show the results from the line source which is located at some distance beneath the prisms. We note here that when using a plane wave, effects from the prism edges play a role and should be removed.

We have plotted the transmitted intensity fields. The results are presented in Fig. 1. Here the incident waves are transmitted vertically from the bottom. The impinging frequency is 0.192$`2\pi c/a`$; the frequency has been scaled to be non-dimensional in the same way as in Ref. PRB . We note that at this frequency, the wave length is about five times of the lattice constant, nearly the same as that used in the experimental of Chuang . The incidence is along the \[$`\mathrm{cos}22.5^o`$, $`\mathrm{sin}67.5^o`$\] direction, that is, the incidence makes an equal angle of 22.5o with regard to the  and  directions of the square lattice; the reason why we choose this direction will become clear from later discussions. Moreover, on purpose, the intensity imaging is plotted for the fields inside and outside the prisms on separate graphs which have been scripted by ‘1’ and ‘2’ respectively.

Without looking at the fields inside the prisms, purely from Fig. 1 (a1) and (b1) we are able to calculate the main paths of the transmitted intensities. The geometries of the transmission are indicated in the diagrams. The tilt angles of the prisms are denoted by $`\varphi `$, whereas the angles made by the outgoing intensities relative to the normals of the titled interfaces are represented by $`\theta `$. According to the prescription outlined in Ref. Chuang , once $`\varphi `$ and $`\theta `$ are determined, Snell’s law is applied to determine the effective refractive index: $`n\mathrm{sin}\varphi =\mathrm{sin}\theta `$. If the angle $`\theta `$ is towards the higher side of the prisms with reference to the normal, the angle is considered positive. Otherwise, it is regarded as negative. In light of these considerations, the apparent ‘negative refractions’, similar to the experimental observations, indeed appear and are indicated by the black arrows in the graphs. After invoking Snell’s law, the negative refraction results are deduced. From (a1) and (b1), we obtain the negative refractive indices as $`0.84\pm 0.17`$ and $`0.87\pm 0.21`$ for the two prisms respectively. The inconsistency between the two values is less than 4%, which is close to that estimated in the experiment Chuang . The overall uncertainty in the present simulation (up to 24%) is less than that in the experiment (up to 36%) Chuang . Therefore, a consistent negative refractive index may be claimed from the measurements shown in Fig. 1 (a1) and (b1). This would have been regarded as an evidence showing that the photonic structures described by Fig. 1 are left-handed materials, at least for the frequency considered. By the same token, we even found that with certain adjustments such as rotating the arrays or varying the filling factor, thus obtained index can be close to the perfect -1.

Though tempting, there are ambiguities in the above explanation of the transmission in the context of negative refraction that has led to the negative refraction index. This can be discerned by taking into consideration the wave propagation inside the prisms. As shown clearly by Fig. 1 (a2) and (b2), the transmission inside the prisms has already been bent at the incidence interfaces, referring to the two white arrowed lines in (a2) and (b2). If Snell’s law were valid at the outgoing interfaces, it should also be applicable at the incident boundaries. Then with the zero incidence angle and a finite refraction angle, Snell’s law would lead to the absurd result of an infinite refractive index for the surrounding medium which is taken as air. Besides, when taking into account the bending inside the prism, the incident angle at the outgoing or the tilted surface is not $`\theta `$ any more. Therefore the index value obtained above cannot be correct. These ambiguities cannot be excluded from the current experiments that have been claimed to support LHM using Snell’s law Chuang ; Parazzoli . In the experiments of Ref. Chuang , for example, the transmission fields inside the prisms are not shown. The authors also stated clearly that the negative index behavior can be only achieved by some adjustments, implying that the experimentally observed negative index behavior is not robust. We have checked this point by rotating the orientation of the arrays of the cylinders. The apparent ‘negative refraction’ may disappear, depending on the relative geometries between the incident direction and the orientation of the lattice.

In search for the cause of the apparent ‘negative refraction’ shown in Fig. 1, we have carried out further simulations. For example, in Fig. 2, we plot the EM wave transmission across two slabs of photonic crystals with two different lattice orientations: one is along the diagonal direction, i. e. the  direction, and the other is along the direction making an equal angle to the  and  directions. The incident frequency is again 0.192 $`2\pi c/a`$. Here, we see that when the incident wave is along the  direction, the transmission follows a straight path inside the slab. For the second case, the propagation direction is bent inside the slab: the major lobe tends to follow the  direction, and a minor lobe of transmission appears to make an perpendicular angle with regard to the  direction, that is the \[-11\] direction. As aforementioned, if Snell’s law were used to obtain the refraction index, the absurd number of infinity would be deduced only ambiguously.

Fig. 2 clearly indicates that there are some favorable directions for waves to travel. This phenomenon is not uncommon for wave propagation in periodically structured media. It is well-known that periodic structures can modulate dramatically the wave propagation due to Bragg scattering, a feature fundamental to the X-ray imaging. In some situations, the systems reveal complete band gaps, referring to the frequency regime where waves cannot propagate in any direction. In some other occasions, partial band gaps may appear so that waves may be allowed to travel in some directions but not in some other directions. More often, the periodic structures lead to anisotropic dispersions in wave propagation. The whole realm of these phenomena has been well represented by the band structures calculated from Bloch’s theorem. The preferable directions for wave propagation are associated with the properties of band structures. In fact, the above abnormal ‘negative refraction’ phenomenon may be explained in the frameworks of the band structures calculated for the crystal structures considered.

Fig. 3 shows the band structure calculated for the square lattices used in the above simulations. A complete band gap is shown between frequencies of 0.22 and 0.28. Just below the complete gap, there is a regime of the partial band gap, in which waves are not allowed to travel along the  direction. The frequency 0.192$`2\pi c/a`$ we have chosen for simulation lies within this partial gap area. Within this gap, waves are prohibited from transmission along the  direction. As a result, when incident along an angle that lies between the  and  direction, waves will incline to the  direction. This observation explains the abnormal refraction observed above. Due to the symmetry, the waves are also allowed to travel in the directions which are perpendicular to . This explains why we have also seen an intensity lobe along \[-11\] from Fig. 2. We found that these results are also qualitatively similar for other frequencies within the partial band gap. Furthermore, we have checked other frequencies at which although there is no partial band gap, the dispersion is highly anisotropic, similar features may also be possible.

The phenomenon of the band structures may help discuss the abnormal transmission that has been interpreted as the onset of the negative index behavior in the experiments Chuang . Up to date, all the claimed left-handed materials are artificially made periodic composite structures, in which the negative permittivity and permeability are obtained near a resonance frequency. From our experiences, near such a resonance frequency, either complete band gaps or partial band gaps are likely to appear. In other words, the wave propagation largely depends on the periodic structures. Without taking this fact into account, the transmission may be regarded as unconventional, and then the artifact conclusion that a LHM has been realized and observed may be resorted to. Due to the limited information available from the experiments, we cannot yet definitely come to the conclusion that the apparent ‘negative refractions’ observed in experiments are due to partial band gaps, highly anisotropic dispersions, or inhomogeneities. The present simulations, however, at least indicate that some of these effects must be addressed in order to be able to interpret the experimental data correctly.

Lastly, we would like to make a comment on the permittivity and permeability of composite materials. It is well-known that these quantities are only meaningful in the sense of the effective medium theory. A basic assumption is that the wave propagation should not be sensitive to details of the supporting media. Otherwise, whether the definitions of the permittivity and permeability are still meaningful is itself doubtful. If measurements of the two parameters could not be justified accordingly, it could be misleading to deliberately interpret wave propagation in terms of negative or positive refraction. In the above cases, although the wave length is much larger than the lattice constant, the wave propagation is obviously still sensitive to the lattice arrangements. Therefore, the flow of energy should be interpreted as mainly controlled by Bragg scattering processes, rather than as a propagation in an effective medium. In other words, the media act as a device that can bend the flow of optical energies, rather than as an effective refracting-medium.

In summary, we have simulated wave transmission through prism structures. The results have shown some ambiguities in interpreting the apparent abnormal behavior in the transmission as the onset of the negative refraction index behavior. It is suggested that periodic structures can give rise to peculiar phenomena which need not be regarded as a negative index behavior.

Acknowledgments The work received support from NSC and NCU.


text:
# 𝑆-Matrix Elements in General Renormalization Schemes

## Abstract

Starting from the Lehmann-Symanzik-Zimmermann reduction theorem, we provide a general procedure to extract $`S`$-matrix elements from Green functions in arbitrary renormalization schemes.

preprint:

In the framework of quantum field theories, renormalization is a necessity. The bare parameters in the Lagrangian are infinite and cannot be used conveniently in physical predictions. A re-parametrization of the theory in terms of finite variables is required. To obtain finite Green functions, quantum fields themselves should be renormalized also. Different re-parameterizations constitute different renormalization schemes. For some physical processes, one scheme could be more convenient than others though all schemes are equivalent. It is hard to argue that there is a universally best scheme for all purposes. To discuss different physical processes consistently, such as in a global analysis of high precision electroweak experiments , all calculations need to be performed in one scheme.

One of the most frequently used schemes in the electroweak theory is the so-called on-shell scheme , in which physical masses of particles are used to parametrize the theory, coupling constants are defined in terms of certain scattering cross-sections at given energy scales, and quantum fields are renormalized to give the two-point functions a residue of unity on the mass-poles. One big advantage of this scheme is that $`S`$-matrix elements can be trivially obtained from the corresponding Green functions. However, the Green functions are themselves complicated by the implementation of renormalization conditions. More so, in theories such as softly-broken supersymmetric ones, the on-shell scheme cannot be realized for all fields, due to over-constraints from symmetries.

It is thus expedient and sometimes necessary to introduce more general renormalization schemes. In a general renormalization scheme, the theory is parametrized by intermediate quantities that are not necessary physical observables and renormalized fields are not required to give any particular value of residues on the mass-poles. For example, in the modified minimal subtraction ($`\overline{MS}`$) scheme, one introduces the so-called $`\overline{MS}`$ parameters and renormalized fields, which are obtained by subtracting the infinities and related $`\mathrm{log}(4\pi )\gamma `$ terms from the corresponding bare quantities . In these schemes, Green functions assume simpler forms. However, care should be taken to obtain $`S`$-matrix elements. In this note, we outline a general procedure to extract $`S`$-matrix elements from Green functions in arbitrary renormalization schemes, based upon the Lehmann-Symanzik-Zimmermann reduction theorem .

In some effective theories, it could be convenient to keep non-canonical kinetic terms in the Lagrangian, as the conversion to canonical forms may complicate other parts of the Lagrangian greatly. Our procedure can be trivially extended to accommodate these cases. On the other hand, some calculations start by defining auxiliary quantities such as mixing angles between different fields. These quantities are only well-defined at tree-level and not gauge invariant in general. In our procedure, these quantities do not show up explicitly. So they can be avoided in principle, though it might be convenient for them to be introduced for phenomenological purposes.

To define $`S`$-matrix elements properly, we separate the full Hamiltonian $`H`$ into two parts, a free Hamiltonian $`H_0`$ and an interaction $`H_{int}`$, $`H=H_0+H_{int},`$ in such a way that $`H`$ and $`H_0`$ have the same eigenvalue spectrum. For each eigenstate $`|\mathrm{\Phi }_\alpha ^{(0)}`$ of $`H_0`$ with eigenvalue $`E_\alpha `$, one defines corresponding “in” and “out” states as eigenstates of $`H`$

$`H|\mathrm{\Phi }_\alpha ^\pm =E_\alpha |\mathrm{\Phi }_\alpha ^\pm ,`$ (1)
which satisfy the asymptotic condition

$`exp(iHt){\displaystyle 𝑑\alpha g(\alpha )|\mathrm{\Phi }_\alpha ^\pm }exp(iH_0t){\displaystyle 𝑑\alpha g(\alpha )|\mathrm{\Phi }_\alpha ^{(0)}},`$ (2)
for $`t\mathrm{}`$ and $`t+\mathrm{}`$, respectively. Here $`g(\alpha )`$ is an arbitrary function but smoothly varying and non-zero over some finite range $`\mathrm{\Delta }E`$ of energy. An $`S`$-matrix element is defined to be the transition probability amplitude from an in-state $`|\mathrm{\Phi }_\alpha ^+`$ to an out-state $`|\mathrm{\Phi }_\beta ^{}`$

$$S_{\beta \alpha }=\mathrm{\Phi }_\beta ^{}|\mathrm{\Phi }_\alpha ^+.$$
(3)
Following , we define an arbitrary Green function in momentum-space

$$G(q_1q_2\mathrm{})=_{FT}\mathrm{\Phi }_0|T\left\{A_1(x_1)A_2(x_2)\mathrm{}A_n(x_n)\right\}|\mathrm{\Phi }_0,$$
(4)
where the $`A`$’s are Heisenberg-picture operators of arbitrary Lorentz type, $`\mathrm{\Phi }_0`$ is the true vacuum, and $`_{FT}`$ denotes integrations for Fourier transformations

$`{\displaystyle _{FT}}={\displaystyle d^4x_1\mathrm{}d^4x_ne^{iq_1x_1}\mathrm{}e^{iq_nx_n}}.`$ (5)
If the $`A`$’s are ordinary fields appearing in the Lagrangian, then $`G`$ is a sum of terms calculated using the ordinary Feynman rules, for all graphs with external lines corresponding to the fields $`A`$’s, carrying off-shell four-momenta $`q`$’s into the graph. We assume that the theory can be properly regularized and renormalized, so $`G`$ is well-defined. It can be shown that $`G`$ has a pole at $`\overline{s}=m^2iϵ`$, where $`m`$ is the mass of any one-particle state $`\mathrm{\Psi }_{\stackrel{}{q}\sigma }`$ that has non-vanishing matrix elements with states $`A_1^{}\mathrm{\Phi }_0`$ and $`A_2A_3\mathrm{}\mathrm{\Phi }_0`$, $`ϵ`$ is a positive infinitesimal, and the residue is given by***Our normalization condition for one-particle states is $`_\sigma \frac{d^3p}{(2\pi )^3}\frac{1}{\sqrt{2p^0}}|\mathrm{\Phi }_{\stackrel{}{p},\sigma }\mathrm{\Phi }_{\stackrel{}{p},\sigma }|=1,`$ ($`p^0=\sqrt{\stackrel{}{p}^2+m^2}`$), instead of $`_\sigma d^3p|\mathrm{\Phi }_{\stackrel{}{p},\sigma }\mathrm{\Phi }_{\stackrel{}{p},\sigma }|=1,`$ as that in .

$$G\frac{i}{q^2\overline{s}}\underset{\sigma }{}\mathrm{\Phi }_0|A_1(0)|\mathrm{\Phi }_{\stackrel{}{q}\sigma }_{FT}\mathrm{\Phi }_{\stackrel{}{q}\sigma }|T\left\{A_2(x_2)\mathrm{}\right\}|\mathrm{\Phi }_0,$$
(6)
where the sum is over all spin states of the particle of mass $`m`$. Depending upon the physics problem, $`\mathrm{\Psi }_{\stackrel{}{q}\sigma }`$ can correspond to either an in-state or an out-state. If the particle is unstable and can decay into lighter particles of total decay width $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$, the pole is displaced from the real axis by a finite amount, $`\overline{s}=m^2im\mathrm{\Gamma }`$.

If $`A_1`$ has the Lorentz transformation properties of free field $`\mathrm{\Psi }_l`$ belonging to an irreducible representation of the homogeneous Lorentz group, as labeled by the subscript $`l`$, we can use Lorentz invariance to write

$$\mathrm{\Phi }_0|A_1(0)|\mathrm{\Phi }_{\stackrel{}{q}\sigma }=Nu_l(q,\sigma )$$
(7)
where $`u_l(q,\sigma )`$ is the coefficient function appearing in the free field $`\psi _l`$ and $`N`$ is a constant. Define a truncated matrix element $`M_l`$ by

$$_{FT}\mathrm{\Phi }_{\stackrel{}{q}\sigma }|T\left\{A_2(x_2)\mathrm{}\right\}|\mathrm{\Phi }_0=\underset{\sigma }{}u_l^{}(q,\sigma )M_l(q_2\mathrm{}).$$
(8)
Then as $`q^2\overline{s}`$

$$GN\frac{i}{q^2\overline{s}}\underset{\sigma ,m}{}u_l(q,\sigma )u_m^{}(q,\sigma )M_m(q_2\mathrm{}).$$
(9)
The quantity multiplying $`M_m`$ in Eq. (9) is the momentum space matrix propagator $`\mathrm{\Delta }_{l,m}(q)`$ for the free field with the Lorentz transformation properties of $`A_1`$, so $`M_l`$ is the sum of all graphs with external lines carrying momenta $`q_1,q_2,\mathrm{}`$, corresponding to the operators $`A_1,A_2,\mathrm{}`$, but with the final propagator for the $`A_1`$ line stripped away. Thus, to calculate the matrix for emission of a particle from the sum of Feynman diagrams, one strips away the particle propagator and contracts with the usual external line factor $`u^{}`$. This provides an alternative proof of the Lehmann-Symanzik-Zimmermann reduction theorem, which is applicable to cases of arbitrary spin.

If a theory has $`N`$ fields $`\mathrm{\Psi }_l^i`$, which have the same Lorentz transformation properties and other conserved quantum numbers as $`\mathrm{\Psi }_l`$, the two point functions between these fields are in general non-vanishing,

$$(2\pi )^4\delta ^4(q_i+q_j)G_{lm}^{ij}(q_i)=_{FT}\mathrm{\Phi }_0|T\left\{\mathrm{\Psi }_l^i(x_i)\mathrm{\Psi }_m^j(x_j)\right\}|\mathrm{\Phi }_0.$$
(10)
Use the Lorentz invariance to write

$$\mathrm{\Phi }_0|\mathrm{\Psi }_l^i(0)|\mathrm{\Phi }_{\stackrel{}{q}\sigma }=N_iu_l(q,\sigma ).$$
(11)
As $`q^2\overline{s}`$, Eq. (6) givesWe assume that there is no degeneracy in mass for the same type of particles. In case there is a degeneracy in mass, the particles will be distinguished by their other quantum numbers and can be easily separated. If there are particles with the same mass and other quantum numbers, they can obviously be described by one quantum field.

$$G_{lm}^{ij}(q)N_iN_j^{}\frac{i}{q^2\overline{s}}\underset{\sigma }{}u_l(q,\sigma )u_m^{}(q,\sigma ).$$
(12)
On the other hand, an inspection of the structure of Feynman diagrams yields (Figure 1),

$$G=\underset{jm}{}G_{lm}^{ij}(q)\mathrm{\Gamma }_m^j(q\mathrm{}),$$
(13)
where $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_m^j`$ is the sum of all Feynman diagrams by stripping away the particle propagator $`G_{lm}^{ij}(q)`$. As an intermediate step, we define a new truncated matrix element

$$\underset{jm}{}N_j^{}u_m^{}(q,\sigma )\mathrm{\Gamma }_m^j(q\mathrm{}).$$
(14)
By repeating the process for all operators in $`G`$ and defining corresponding truncated matrix elements at each step, one finally gets the $`S`$-matrix element up to an (irrelevant) overall phase factor. This procedure has the salient feature which is independent of renormalization schemes. In the on-shell scheme, one effectively defines a linear combination of $`\mathrm{\Psi }_l^i`$ such that only one of the $`N_i`$’s is unity while all others vanish on each mass-pole. Obviously this can only be performed recursively and is potentially tedious in practice. Note that mixing angles between different fields do not show up in Eq. (14) explicitly and can be avoided in principle.

We now express the $`N`$’s in terms of one-particle-irreducible (1PI) two-point functions. To proceed, we need to be specific. The 1PI two-point functions for scalar fields can be expressed as

$$\mathrm{\Gamma }_{ij}^B(p^2)=p^2Z_{ij}m_{ij}^2\mathrm{\Sigma }_{ij}(p^2),$$
(15)
where $`Z_{ij}`$ and $`m_{ij}^2`$ are coefficients of kinetic terms in the Lagrangian and $`\mathrm{\Sigma }_{ij}`$ are due to quantum loop contributions. When normalized canonically, $`Z`$ is a unit matrix and $`m^2`$ is diagonal, which are not required in our formalism. Define $`\gamma _{ij}^B`$ as the residual matrix of $`\mathrm{\Gamma }^B`$ by crossing out its $`j`$-th row and the $`i`$-th column. Denote $`\mathrm{\Delta }^B(p^2)=Det\left[\mathrm{\Gamma }^B(p^2)\right]`$ and $`\mathrm{\Delta }_{ij}^B(p^2)=()^{i+j}Det\left[\gamma _{ij}^B(p^2)\right]`$. The inverse of $`\mathrm{\Gamma }^B`$ yields two-point functions of scalar fields up to a factor of $`i`$,

$$S_{ij}^B=\frac{i\mathrm{\Delta }_{ij}^B(p^2)}{\mathrm{\Delta }^B(p^2)}.$$
(16)
$`\overline{s}`$ are determined from the equation $`\mathrm{\Delta }^B(p^2)=0`$, its real part gives the mass-square of the particle and the imaginary part the total decay width. The residue of $`S_{ij}^B`$ on the pole gives

$$N_iN_j^{}=\underset{p^2\overline{s}}{lim}\left[\frac{d\mathrm{\Delta }^B(p^2)}{dp^2}\right]^1\mathrm{\Delta }_{ij}^B(p^2),$$
(17)
from which the $`N_i`$’s are determined up to an (irrelevant) overall phase factor. An application of Eqs. (14) and (17) to the Higgs sector in the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model readily yields results in the literature .

For vector fields, only gauge theories are known to be consistent. Gauge fields are either massless or acquire masses via spontaneously symmetry breaking, which can be realized in one way by introducing non-vanishing vacuum expectation values of scalars. The 1PI two-point functions for the transverse components of vector fields are in general

$$\mathrm{\Gamma }_{ij}^{\mu \nu }(p^2)=g^{\mu \nu }\mathrm{\Gamma }_{ij}^V(p^2)+\mathrm{},$$
(18)
from which the $`N`$’s can be obtained in the same manner as that of scalar fields. For their longitudinal components $`V_L^{i\mu }`$, the situation is more subtle. They have non-physical poles which are gauge dependent. Fortunately, these non-physical poles are canceled exactly by the same ones from the would-be Goldstone bosons due to BRST invariance , so they decouple from the $`S`$-matrix elements. Accordingly, the Higgs boson masses can be selected from the whole set of scalar field poles by excluding the would-be Goldstone bosons, which are identical to the ones of $`V_L^{i\mu }`$’s. However, the correlation functions between $`V_L^{i\mu }`$’s and scalar fields need to be included in calculating the $`S`$-matrix elements of Higgs bosons.

For Dirac fields without parity violation, one gets by Lorentz invariance,

$`\mathrm{\Gamma }_{ij}^D(p)`$ $`=`$ $`\mathit{}Z_{ij}m_{ij}\mathit{}\mathrm{\Sigma }_{ij}^{(1)}(p^2)\mathrm{\Sigma }_{ij}^{(2)}(p^2)=\mathit{}\mathrm{\Pi }_{ij}(p^2)\mathrm{\Sigma }_{ij}(p^2)`$ (19)
Define $`\overline{\mathrm{\Gamma }}=p^2\mathrm{\Pi }\mathrm{\Sigma }\mathrm{\Pi }^1\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ and its residual matrix $`\overline{\gamma }_{ij}`$ by crossing out its $`j`$-th row and $`i`$-th column. Denote $`\overline{\mathrm{\Delta }}(p^2)=Det\left[\overline{\mathrm{\Gamma }}(p^2)\right]`$ and $`\overline{\mathrm{\Delta }}_{ij}(p^2)=()^{i+j}Det\left[\overline{\gamma }_{ij}(p^2)\right]`$. The inverse of $`\mathrm{\Gamma }^D`$ yields two-point functions of Dirac fields up to a factor of $`i`$,

$$S_{ij}^D=\frac{i}{\overline{\mathrm{\Delta }}}\left[\mathit{}\overline{\mathrm{\Delta }}_{ij}+(\mathrm{\Pi }^1\mathrm{\Sigma })_{ik}\overline{\mathrm{\Delta }}_{kj}\right]$$
(20)
The pole position $`\overline{s}`$ is determined from the equation $`\overline{\mathrm{\Delta }}(p^2)=0`$ and the residue of $`S_{ij}^D`$ on the pole gives

$$N_iN_j^{}=\underset{p^2\overline{s}}{lim}\left[\frac{d\overline{\mathrm{\Delta }}}{dp^2}\right]^1\overline{\mathrm{\Delta }}_{ij}.$$
(21)
For Dirac fields with parity violation,

$`\mathrm{\Gamma }_{ij}^F(p)`$ $`=`$ $`\left[\mathit{}Z_{ij}^Lm_{ij}^L\mathit{}\mathrm{\Sigma }_{ij}^{L(1)}(p^2)\mathrm{\Sigma }_{ij}^{L(2)}(p^2)\right]P_L+\left[\mathit{}Z_{ij}^Rm_{ij}^R\mathit{}\mathrm{\Sigma }_{ij}^{R(1)}(p^2)\mathrm{\Sigma }_{ij}^{R(2)}(p^2)\right]P_R`$ (22)
$`=`$ $`\left[\mathit{}\mathrm{\Pi }_{ij}^L(p^2)\mathrm{\Sigma }_{ij}^L(p^2)\right]P_L+\left[\mathit{}\mathrm{\Pi }_{ij}^R(p^2)\mathrm{\Sigma }_{ij}^R(p^2)\right]P_R`$ (23)
where $`P_{L,R}=(1\gamma _5)/2`$ are the projection matrices. Define $`\mathrm{\Gamma }^{R,L}=p^2\mathrm{\Pi }^{R,L}\mathrm{\Sigma }^{L,R}(\mathrm{\Pi }^{L,R})^1\mathrm{\Sigma }^{R,L}`$ and their residual matrices $`\gamma _{ij}^{R,L}`$ by crossing out their $`j`$-th rows and $`i`$-th columns. Denote $`\mathrm{\Delta }^{L,R}(p^2)=Det\left[\mathrm{\Gamma }^{L,R}(p^2)\right]`$ and $`\mathrm{\Delta }_{ij}^{L,R}(p^2)=()^{i+j}Det\left[\gamma _{ij}^{L,R}(p^2)\right]`$. The two-point functions are again the inverse of $`\mathrm{\Gamma }^F`$ up to a factor $`i`$,

$`S_{ij}^F`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{i}{\mathrm{\Delta }^R}}\left\{\mathit{}\mathrm{\Delta }_{ij}^R+\left[(\mathrm{\Pi }^L)^1\mathrm{\Sigma }^R\right]_{ik}\mathrm{\Delta }_{kj}^R\right\}P_L+{\displaystyle \frac{i}{\mathrm{\Delta }^L}}\left\{\mathit{}\mathrm{\Delta }_{ij}^L+\left[(\mathrm{\Pi }^R)^1\mathrm{\Sigma }^L\right]_{ik}\mathrm{\Delta }_{kj}^L\right\}P_R`$ (24)
From $`\mathrm{\Delta }^R(p^2)=0`$ and $`\mathrm{\Delta }^L(p^2)=0`$, one gets the same set of pole positions. From the correspondence of pole positions, one identifies the left- and right- handed components of Dirac fermions. Define $`N_{iL,R}`$

$$\mathrm{\Phi }_0|\psi _{iL,R}(0)|\mathrm{\Phi }_{\stackrel{}{q}L,R}=N_{iL,R}u_{L,R}(q)$$
(25)
The residue of $`S_{ij}^F`$ on the pole gives

$`N_{iL,R}N_{jL,R}^{}`$ $`=`$ $`\underset{p^2\overline{s}}{lim}\left[{\displaystyle \frac{d\mathrm{\Delta }^{L,R}(p^2)}{dp^2}}\right]^1\mathrm{\Delta }_{ij}^{L,R}(p^2),`$ (26)
from which we determine the $`N`$’s up to an overall phase factor for left- and right-handed fermions, respectively. These results also apply for Majorana fields, for which $`\mathrm{\Pi }^L=\left(\mathrm{\Pi }^R\right)^{}`$ and $`\mathrm{\Sigma }^L=\left(\mathrm{\Sigma }^R\right)^{}`$, so $`N_{jL}=N_{jR}^{}`$.

In summary, we have in Eqs. (12) and (14) provided a general procedure to extract $`S`$-matrix elements from Green functions in arbitrary renormalization schemes. Furthermore, we have determined the normalization coefficients $`N`$ for scalar, vector, and various types of spin-1/2 fermion fields. The analysis can be readily extend to cases of arbitrary spin and our formalism is applicable to calculations in arbitrary quantum field theories. It should be, in particular, useful for sophisticated theories such as softly-broken supersymmetric ones, where a full realization of the on-shell scheme is complicated if not impossible.

Acknowledgments: We would like to thank W. Hollik for valuable discussions and to acknowledge the hospitality of Max Plank Institut fur Physik (Werner Heisenberg Institut). This work was supported in part by CNSF-90103009 and a fund for Trans-Century Talents.


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# From Young to Old: Spectral Models for Star Cluster Systems

## 1. Motivation

GCs are among the oldest objects known, their ages being used to constrain the age of the Universe and the Hubble constant. HST detections of rich systems of bright, blue, young and compact star clusters in numerous interacting and starburst galaxies came as a surprise raising the question if at all, and eventually how many of those young compact clusters could be progenitors of old GCs. This motivated us to calculate a new set of evolutionary synthesis models for the spectral and photometric evolution of star clusters from the very youngest to very old ages and extend them to star cluster systems – to be complemented by dynamical models for evolution, survival and destruction of clusters in galactic potentials.

## 2. Modelling Star Clusters and Star Cluster Systems

Our evolutionary synthesis models using Padova stellar isochrones including the thermal-pulsing AGB phase, model atmosphere spectra, and gaseous emission (lines and continuum) for star clusters of different metallicities provide the time evolution of spectra, luminosities (U, …, K), M/L-ratios and colors in many filter systems. Including the TP-AGB phase is important for age-dating clusters on the basis of $`\mathrm{V}\mathrm{I}`$ (Schulz et al. 2002). Gaseous emission gives important contributions to broad band fluxes (up to 65 %) at young ages ($`620`$ Myr, depending on metallicity) (Anders & Fritze - v. A. 2003). Theoretical calibrations colors $``$ \[Fe/H\] agree well with empirical calibrations for $`12`$ Gyr old Milky Way GCs with $`[\mathrm{Fe}/\mathrm{H}]0.5`$, get significantly non-linear beyond $`[\mathrm{Fe}/\mathrm{H}]=0.5`$ and change completely for clusters younger than 12 Gyr.
The age-metallicity-extinction degeneracy – worst for optical colors with optical-NIR colors better splitting up in metallicity and UV-optical colors better splitting up in extinction – requires a multi-wavelength analysis to disentangle individual star cluster properties. An ASTROVIRTEL project (PI R. de Grijs, CoIs UFvA, G. Gilmore) provides us with this kind of data. They are compared to a grid of model Spectral Energy Distributions for 5 metallicities $`1.7[\mathrm{Fe}/\mathrm{H}]`$ $`+0.4`$, ages from 4 Myr through 14 Gyr, and extinction values $`0\mathrm{E}(\mathrm{B}\mathrm{V})1`$ by means of a dedicated analysis tool (Anders et al. 2003a) to yield individual cluster ages, metallicities, E(B$``$V), masses, and their $`1\sigma `$ uncertainties (e.g. Anders et al. 2003b). Extensive tests with artificial clusters and varying numbers of filters show that 1) a priori assumptions can be very misleading and 2) a long wavelength baseline and good photometric accuracy are essential, and 3) there are good and bad passband combinations: the U-band is important for ages, extinctions and metallicities of young clusters and the NIR for metallicities of old clusters (cf. Anders et al. this volume). Under the simplifying assumptions that a secondary GC population has comparable richness and intrinsic widths of its color distributions (=CDs) and luminosity functions (=LFs) to those of the uniform blue peak GC population in E/S0 galaxies or the Milky Way halo we investigate for which combinations of ages and metallicities CDs and LFs show detectable bimodality and look similar to what is seen in E/S0 galaxies (Fritze - v. Alvensleben, submitted). We find that 1) it is not clear a priori if the red peak GCs are older or more metal-rich than the blue peak clusters, and 2) many combinations (age/metallicity), ranging from (age $`=`$ 13 Gyr, \[Fe/H\]$`=0.4`$) through (age $`=`$ 2.5 Gyr, \[Fe/H\]$`=+0.4`$), can explain the peak $`\mathrm{V}\mathrm{I}_{\mathrm{red}}=1.2`$ observed e.g. in NGC 4472, NGC 4486, NGC 4649 (Larsen et al. 2001) with, however, significantly different $`\mathrm{V}\mathrm{K}=3.1`$ for the former and $`\mathrm{V}\mathrm{K}=3.6`$ for the latter. Hence, K-band observations will tell the difference and giving decisive clues to the galaxies’ (violent) formation histories.

### Acknowledgments.

We gratefully acknowledge support by ASTROVIRTEL, funded by the European Commission under HPRI-CT-1999-00081.
UFvA & PA gratefully acknowledge partial travel support from IAU and DFG.

## References

Anders, P., Fritze - v. Alvensleben, U., 2003, A&A, 401, 1063

Anders, P., Bissantz, N., Fritze - v. Alvensleben, U., de Grijs, R. 2003a, MNRAS, in press, astro-ph/0309356

Anders, P., de Grijs, R., Fritze - v. Alvensleben, U., Bissantz, N. 2003b, MNRAS, in press, astro-ph/0309153

Larsen, S. S. et al. 2001, AJ, 121, 2974

Schulz, J., Fritze - v. Alvensleben, U., Möller, C., Fricke, K. 2002, A&A, 392, 1