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# Spatially Resolved Circumnuclear Dust in Centaurus A

## 1 Introduction

The nearest radio-bright AGN is located at a distance of “only” $`3.5`$ Mpc in the giant elliptical galaxy NGC5128 (Cen A) (vis review by Israel 1998). The central engine powering this galaxy is thought to be a supermassive black hole enshrouded in a region containing dust and gas heated by the central source (Marconi et al. 2001). Multi-wavelength observations of Cen A reveal many complex multi-scale structures, at scales ranging from a sub-pc to hundreds of kpc (eg. Karovska et al. 2002). A radio and X-ray jet powered by the central source extends across the galaxy to a distance of several hundreds of kpc from the nucleus. Optical and near-IR images of Cen A show large spatial scale (several kpc in size) dark bands stretching across the middle of the galaxy and obscuring the central region, probably due to absorption by dust and other cool material. These dust lanes are thought to be a remnant of a merger with a smaller spiral galaxy (Schiminovich et al. 1994). Using mid-infrared and sub-millimeter wavelength observations of the central region of Cen A, Mirabel et al. (1999) detected dust emission from a large scale bisymmetric structure (5kpc in size) resembling a barred spiral galaxy.

Because of its proximity, Cen A provides a unique possibility for high-spatial resolution studies of the circumnuclear environment of AGNs using ground- and space-based large-aperture telescopes (0.1” corresponds to $`1.5`$ pc at the Cen A distance of $``$3.5 Mpc). However, exploring the nuclear region of Cen A at optical wavelengths presents a major challenge because of the high extinction (eg. $`A_V10`$ mags; Alexander et al. 1999) due to heavy obscuration by the dust in the dust lanes.

Although the diffraction limited telescope resolution is significantly lower in the mid-IR when compared to the optical ($``$ 10 times), the spectral range from 8 to 20 $`\mu `$m is, nevertheless, particularly suitable for studying the emission from the region surrounding the nucleus because of at least ten times lower opacity. The lower opacity of astronomical dust at these wavelengths (Draine & Lee 1984) permits penetration of the optically opaque dust lanes. Most of the thermal radiation from dust is in fact emitted at these wavelengths, as seen in the mid-IR ISOCAM spectra of Cen A which show the presence of the characteristic silicate broad absorption feature at 9.8 $`\mu `$m, plus a possible PAH emission line at 11.3 $`\mu `$m. Alexander et al. 1999 suggested that the presence of a very deep 10 $`\mu `$m silicate absorption feature in the ISOCAM spectrum could be due to self-absorption in a dusty circumnuclear region, in addition to the extinction by the dust in the dust lanes (optical depth $`\tau _\nu 1`$ at 10 $`\mu `$m).

We report here results from our mid-IR imaging of Cen A with the MIRAC/BLINC mid-IR camera at Magellan, showing that the nuclear region is resolved at a sub-arcsecond scale. The observations and the techniques for data acquisition and reduction are described in the next section. Results and analysis are presented in section 3, and discussed in relation to other available observations and models in section 4.

## 2 Observations and Data Reduction

During an exploratory observation of Cen A on May 1 and 2, 2002 at the Magellan I (Baade) telescope we detected a compact mid-IR source in the images of the nuclear region at 8.8 $`\mu `$m and in the N band. The Baade Telescope, with a primary aperture of 6.5m equipped with active optics, provides diffraction limited sub-arcsecond images in the 8.8 $`\mu `$m spectral window (Shectman & Johns 2003). The images of Cen A and several reference sources were recorded using the mid-IR camera MIRAC/BLINC. MIRAC/BLINC uses a Boeing HF16 128$`\times `$128 Si:As blocked impurity band detector (Hoffmann et al. 1998).

We obtained images using the MIRAC/BLINC 8.8 $`\mu `$m 10% passband filter and the wide N band filter (from 8.1 to 13.1 $`\mu `$m) centered at 10.3 $`\mu `$m. The total on-source integration time was 1400 s at 8.8 $`\mu `$m and 900 s in the N band. The reference stars $`\gamma `$ Cru and IRC$`+`$10220, observed while transiting at a similar airmass as the source, provide flux and Point Spread Function (PSF) calibration information. To insure similar observing conditions, including similar telescope orientation, airmass and seeing conditions, the observations of Cen A were made close in time (within couple of hours) to the observations of the corresponding reference stars. In addition, we used the Magellan telescope active optics (looking at standard stars in the field of view) to monitor the seeing stability, by checking that the size and the shape of the PSF at the beginning of each observation of Cen A is consistent with those of the corresponding reference.

On the Magellan, MIRAC/BLINC has a plate scale of 0.12 arcsec pix-1, providing a total field of view of $`17^{\prime \prime }\times 17^{\prime \prime }`$. This pixel scale ensures Nyquist sampling of the diffraction-limited PSF. As described below, we obtained further sub-sampling of the PSF by using dithering techniques. We used a standard nodding and chopping technique to remove the background signal, dithering the source on the array to obtain sub-sampling of the PSF. Chopping is carried out through rotation of an internal mirror to mitigate noise due to sky brightness fluctuations. The chop frequency was set to 10 Hz, with a throw of $`8^{\prime \prime }`$ in the North-South direction. The nod throw was also set to $`8^{\prime \prime }`$, but in the East-West direction, in order to have all four chop-nod beams inside the field of view of the array. Each individual nod cycle required 15 s (8.8 $`\mu `$m) or 10 s (N band) on-source integration, and the procedure was repeated for as many cycles as needed to obtain the total integration time at each wavelength.

The data were analyzed by first subtracting the chop-on from the chop-off frames for both nodding beams. The two images thus obtained were then subtracted one from the other, in order to get a single frame in which the source appears in all four beams (two negative and two positive). We then applied a gain matrix, derived from images of the dome (high intensity uniform background) and the sky (low intensity uniform background), to flat field the chop-nodded image. This procedure was repeated for each of the nodding cycles for which the source was observed. A final high signal-to-noise ratio cumulative image was then obtained by co-adding together all the beam frames, each re-centered and shifted on the source centroid. This last co-adding step was performed on a sub-pixel grid, providing a final pixel scale of 0.03 arcsec pix-1. A mask file to block out the effects of bad pixels and field vignetting was also created and applied at each individual frame before their shifting, preventing individual rejected pixels from contributing to the final image. To ensure a uniform treatment of the source and the standard the same observing and reduction procedure was also used for the reference star.

## 3 Results and Analysis

### 3.1 Imaging of the Circumnuclear region

The mid-IR images of the nuclear region of Cen A obtained at 8.8 $`\mu `$m and in the N band are systematically larger then the unresolved reference sources (or the “observed” PSFs) recorded under similar observing conditions and using the same filters. In Figure 1 we show the images of Cen A and the reference star $`\gamma `$ Cru obtained at 8.8 $`\mu `$m. The comparison of image sizes clearly shows that the Cen A image of the nuclear region is larger than the image of the unresolved point-like reference source at this wavelength. We note that the 8.8 $`\mu `$m images of Cen A and the reference have better resolution and are of higher signal-to-noise then the images obtained in the wide N band centered at 10 $`\mu `$m.

The difference in size between the point source and the Cen A nuclear region is shown in Figure 2, which displays the radial profiles of the source and the reference at 8.8 $`\mu `$m normalized at the same peak value. This suggests that the Cen A nuclear region is resolved, with the size near the resolution limit of the Magellan 6.5 m telescope. We estimated the angular size of the Cen A nuclear region by convolving the reference star radial profile with a gaussian, and then fitting to the Cen A data at the corresponding bandpasses. The best fit at 8.8 $`\mu `$m gives a FWHM of 0.17 $`\pm 0.02^{\prime \prime }`$. The N band size estimate is consistent, with larger error bars because of the lower S/N in these data.

At the distance of Cen A, the measured FWHM angular size corresponds to a linear size of $`3`$ pc, or $``$10 Ly. This is in agreement with the predicted size of the dust emitting region based on model fitting of ISOCAM spectra with emission from the dust lanes and from a separate toroidal dust region around the nucleus with a diameter of $`3.6`$ pc (Alexander et al. 1999).

### 3.2 Photometry

We obtained photometry of the nuclear region using Cen A images in the two observed bandpasses by selecting a small aperture centered on the nuclear region. We used an aperture with a diameter of 20 MIRAC/BLINC pixels, corresponding to $`2.4`$ arcsec, which is the minimum aperture size which includes most of the PSF flux. The photometric reference for the 8.8 $`\mu `$m image was $`\gamma `$ Crux, which has a known flux of 1090 Jy at that wavelength, with an estimated uncertainty of 5% (Gezari et al. 1987). For the N band we used the source IRC$`+`$10220 as a reference. We estimated for this star an N band magnitude of $`1.5`$ Jy, with a 30% uncertainty, based on interpolation of the K magnitude of 2.84 ($`45`$ Jy) and the IRAS 12 $`\mu `$m flux of $`4`$ Jy from Gezari et al. (1987) (Table 1).

The photometry of the Cen A nuclear region was calculated separately for the four nod/chop beams at each wavelength, which were then averaged together. This procedure ensured that the variation in the photometry of the four beams was within our error estimate. We also evaluated different sizes of the aperture and of the sky region for residual background subtraction, from 1.5 arcsec to 5 arcsec, finding similar values of the photometry, within our error bars ($`\pm `$1$`\sigma `$). We obtained an average flux of 0.9 Jy at 8.8 $`\mu `$m, with an uncertainty of $`\pm 0.1`$ Jy, and a flux of 1.4 Jy in the N band, with an uncertainty of $`\pm 0.5`$ Jy (Table 1). The significant uncertainties are due to the limited photometric quality of the sky during these observations. Larger aperture photometry (several arcseconds aperture) does not show significant differences within the error bars with the smaller aperture results that we are presenting in this paper.

Our photometric results are in agreement with the mid-IR observations obtained by Whysong & Antonucci (2002) using the Keck I telescope. They detected emission from a compact unresolved nuclear source (with an upper limit on the size of $`0.3^{\prime \prime }`$) and measured fluxes of 1.6 Jy and 2.3 Jy at 11.7 $`\mu `$m and 17.75 $`\mu `$m, respectively.

Our results are also in agreement within $`3\sigma `$ errors with the ISOCAM CVF spectrum obtained by Mirabel et al. (1999), which gives $`0.7`$ Jy at 8.8 $`\mu `$m. In Figure 3 we plot our photometric results on the ISOCAM CVF spectrum (see Fig. 2 in Mirabel et al. 1999). The spectrum shows a broad silicate absorption feature around 9.8 $`\mu `$m, resulting in a lower flux at 10.3 $`\mu `$m with respect to 8.8 $`\mu `$m.

Given the limited photometric and spectral accuracy of our mid-IR data we cannot discriminate between thermal emission from dust and the emission from late-type stars photospheres, because we essentially have only one color (the 8.8 micron filter is inside the N filter waveband). It is also likely that the eventual stellar radiation in the nuclear region is below our sensitivity limit. We therefore assume that the emission in the circumnuclear region is thermal, originating from dust surrounding the inner hot region.

### 3.3 Dust Temperature

Using the estimated size of the circumnuclear region at 8.8$`\mu `$m and the flux measurements based on our mid-IR observations, we derive an estimate of the temperature of the emitting dust. We assume that the emission is a black body thermal emission, and that there is an absorbing component associated with the dust lanes in front of the central source. For a simple spherical geometry of the emitting region we estimate the dust temperature at 8.8 $`\mu `$m using the following expression derived from the Planck law:

$$T=1440\left[\mathrm{ln}\left(1+1.110^5\frac{R^2e^{\tau _\nu }}{D^2F_\nu }\right)\right]^1$$
(1)
where $`T`$ is the dust temperature in K, $`R`$ is the radius of the region in pc, $`F_\nu `$ is the flux in Jy, and $`\tau _\nu `$ is the optical depth of the dust lanes.

Using a radius of $`1.5`$ pc for the circumnuclear dust region, flux of $`0.9`$ Jy, and $`\tau _\nu 1`$ for the dust lanes optical depth at $`10`$ $`\mu `$m, we estimate the dust temperature at $`160`$ K.

We compare the temperature obtained using this simplified model with the temperature derived from the ISOCAM spectra. The multicomponent spectral fit (see Figure 3 in Alexander et al. 1999) shows that the mid-IR emission from the circumnuclear region peaks at 20 $`\mu `$m, which corresponds to a dust temperature of $`T150`$ K. This is in agreement with the estimated dust temperature of the circumnuclear region based on our mid-IR measurements.

## 4 Conclusions

The results of our mid-IR imaging and photometry of the Cen A nuclear region suggest that the emission originates from a resolved source $``$3 pc in diameter. This emission is likely to be thermal radiation from dust at $``$150 K heated by UV/optical radiation from a “hidden” central AGN source (e.g. Peterson 1997; Whysong & Antonucci 2002). It is possible that we are detecting the external cooler region, possibly surrounding hotter inner dust ($`T1000`$ K), as suggested by the deep silicate absorption feature in the ISO spectra around 10 $`\mu `$m.

Resolving the source of mid-IR emission in the nuclear region of Cen A provides an important key for understanding dust formation processes and the structure of the nuclear region of AGNs and quasars. For example, the current “unified” model of AGNs predicts a dusty torus with a size of $`10`$ Ly surrounding the accretion disk and a black hole central engine (Antonucci and Miller 1985; Krolik and Begelman 1988; Peterson 1997). The predicted size of the torus is of the order of the measured size of the Cen A circumnuclear region using our ‘mid-IR imaging. We note that the estimated size of the Cen A circumnuclear region is also similar to the size of the dusty region ($`3`$ pc) surrounding the central source of NGC 1068, recently resolved AGN using the VLTI observations (ESA Press release 17/03).

The measured size of the mid-IR emitting region is also comparable to the distance from the central source at which dust will condense in an outflowing AGN wind. As recently demonstrated by Elvis et al. (2002), dust can be created from cooling Broad Emission Line clouds in AGN winds, and can survive in the quasar environment due to self shielding. This implies that Cen A could effectively be recycling dust from the host galaxy interstellar medium into IGM while changing the dust size and distribution and the dust-to-gas ratio. The possibility that AGN or quasars can provide an additional path for dust formation has important cosmological implications, since it could explain in a natural way the observed heavy obscuration of distant quasars (Omont et al. 2001; Elvis et al. 2002), and provide a new means of forming dust at early cosmological times.

The current observations do not have enough accuracy to determine the true geometry of the emitting region or to distinguish between different geometries suggested by AGN models. The observations were challenging because of the limited telescope resolution. Further multi-wavelength observations of Cen A with higher spatial resolution are crucial to explore the geometry of the extended nuclear region and derive the physical characteristics and the origin of the emission. Multi band mid-IR observations combined with spectroscopy will allow determination of the characteristics of the circumnuclear dust, including its temperature, and an estimate of the mass and mass loss rate. The results may further constrain the unified AGN model, and models of dust formation in quasar outflows.

We thank the Magellan staff for their outstanding support. We are grateful to Dr. Scott Wolk for valuable suggestions and aid in preparing the manuscript, and to the anonymous referee for useful comments and suggestions. M. K. and M. E. are members of the Chandra X-ray Center, which is operated by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory under contract to NASA NAS8-39073. This research was supported in part by NASA through the American Astronomical Society’s Small Research Grant Program. MIRAC is supported through SAO and NSF grant AST 96-18850. BLINC is supported through the NASA Navigator program.


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# The shell model approach to the rotating turbulence

## 1 Introduction

The influence of rotation on the properties of the hydrodynamical turbulence is of the great importance. This problem appears in the various geophysical and astrophysical applications \[Tabel, \] and it requires special treatment. So far the direct 3D numerical simulations, where implementation of the Coriolis force is trivial, cannot provide a long enough inertial range of spectrum to reveal its scaling laws Frisch , thus different approaches are needed.

Though the possibility of transition from 3D-turbulence state to the two-dimensional turbulence due to rotation was already predicted by Batchelor many years ago Batch , only now is the qualitative description of this processes developing Zeman , Zhou . Having in mind the similar situation in the MHD turbulence Kraich , where the magnetic field plays the same role as the rotation in reducing the dimension of the problem, the authors proposed that the Coriolis force introduces a new characteristic time. This time should be used instead of the characteristic turn-over time based on the Kolmogorov’s estimate. Then, instead of Kolmogorov’s $`5/3`$ slope the spectrum will have a $`2`$ slope. It appears that this approach is in agreement with the direct numerical calculations Hossain  and the experiments Jac . The formal simplicity of this phenomenological approach attracts us to implement it in the more complicated models of turbulence and to check the results for self-consistence. For this aim we use the well-known homogeneous isotropical GOY shell model (see overview in BJPV98 ) and modify it to the case of rotation. The proposed model is tested for the regimes of the free-decay turbulence and for the regime with external forcing. We also consider a situation where a non-zero average helicity is generated. This regime finds its application in the mean-field dynamo problems.

## 2 Basic equations

The evolution of conductive incompressible liquid ($`𝐕=0`$), rotating with the angular velocity $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$, can be described by the Navier-Stokes equation:

$$R_o\left(\frac{𝐕}{t}+\left(𝐕\right)𝐕\right)=P+𝐅+E^2𝐕.$$
(1)
Eq.(1) is scaled with the large scale of the body $`L`$; velocity $`V`$, pressure $`P`$ and time $`t`$ are measured in $`\eta /L`$, $`\rho \eta ^2/L^2`$ and $`L^2/\eta `$, where $`\eta `$ is a magnetic diffusion, $`\rho `$ is density, $`R_o=\eta /2\mathrm{\Omega }L^2`$ and $`E=\nu /2\mathrm{\Omega }L^2`$ are the Rossby and Ekman numbers, respectively and $`\nu `$ is the kinematic viscosity. (This kind of scaling takes its origin in geodyamo problems Jones .) The force $`𝐅=𝐅_𝐜+𝐟`$ includes the Coriolis effect:

$$𝐅_𝐜=\mathrm{𝟏}_z\times 𝐕$$
(2)
and a prescribed part $`𝐟`$. Here $`\mathrm{𝟏}_𝐳`$ is the unit vector along the axis of rotation.

It is worth to note that, in the limit of the vanishing viscosity and absence of the external force ($`𝐟=0`$), equation (1) conserves kinetic energy $`E_k=V^2/2`$. For the two-dimensional flow the other integral of motion is the enstrophy $`E_\mathrm{\Omega }=(\times 𝐕)^2`$ and for 3D case the hydrodynamical helicity $`H=𝐕\left(\times 𝐕\right)`$ is conserved (see for details, e.g., BJPV98 ; Tabel ).

## 3 Shell model equations

The idea of the shell model approach is to mimic the original equation (1) by a dynamical system with $`n_{max}`$ complex variables $`u_1,u_2,\mathrm{},u_{n_{max}}`$ which represent the typical magnitude of the velocity on a certain length scale. The Fourier space is divided into $`n_{max}`$ shells and each shell $`k_n`$ consists of a set of wave vectors $`𝐤`$ such that $`k_02^n<|𝐤|<k_02^{n+1}`$, and thus each shell corresponds to an octave of the wave numbers. Variable $`u_n`$ is the velocity difference over length $`1/k_n`$, so that there is one degree of freedom per shell. The coupling between shells is considered to preserve the main symmetries and properties of equation (1). Of course, the shell model is a simplified form of the description of the turbulence, nevertheless, it is a reasonable tool in the studies of turbulence. Here and after we will refer to the GOY model BJPV98 , which has the form:

$$\begin{array}{c}R_o\frac{du_\mathrm{n}}{dt}=R_oik_\mathrm{n}\left(u_{n+1}^{}u_{\mathrm{n}+2}^{}\frac{ϵ}{2}u_{\mathrm{n}1}^{}u_{\mathrm{n}+1}^{}\frac{1ϵ}{4}u_{\mathrm{n}2}^{}u_{\mathrm{n}1}^{}\right)\hfill \\ Ek_\mathrm{n}^2u_\mathrm{n}+F_\mathrm{n},\hfill \end{array}$$
(3)
where $`ϵ`$ is a free parameter,  is the complex conjugate.

In the inviscid limit ($`E0`$) and free forcing ($`F=0`$) equation (3) has two integrals. The first integral is the kinetic energy

$$E_k=\underset{n}{}|u_n|^2.$$
(4)
The other integral is the so-called generalized enstrophy

$$\widehat{H}=\underset{n}{}[\mathrm{sgn}(ϵ1)]^nk_\mathrm{n}^{\alpha (ϵ)}|u_n|^2,$$
(5)
with $`\alpha (ϵ)=\mathrm{log}_2(|ϵ1|/2)`$. For $`ϵ>1`$ $`\widehat{H}`$ is always positive

$$\widehat{H}=H=\underset{n}{}nk_\mathrm{n}^{\alpha (ϵ)}|u_n|^2.$$
(6)
For $`ϵ=5/4`$ its dimension coincides with dimension of the enstrophy, which is an integral of motion in 2D problem. That is the reason why $`ϵ=5/4`$ usually is associated with the two-dimensional space. Cases with $`ϵ<1`$ correspond closer to the helicity integral and can have different sign. In the case of $`ϵ=1/2`$ the dimension of $`\widehat{H}`$ is equal to the dimension of the hydrodynamical helicity, so this case corresponds to 3D space. It is known that the 3D shell model can reproduce Kolmogorov’s spectrum $`k^{5/3}`$. The situation in 2D space ($`ϵ=5/4`$) is more complicated. Application of an external force at some wave number $`k_f`$ gives rise to two spectral regimes: for $`k>k_f`$ the direct spectrum for the enstrophy, and the spectrum for the inverse energy cascade with the slope similar to Kolmogorov’s $`5/3`$ for $`k<k_f`$. The slope of the inverse cascade spectrum for enstrophy depends on $`ϵ`$ and can change its value from $`3`$ for $`ϵ=5/4`$ to $`5/3`$ for $`ϵ10`$ FR95 . Here and after we will consider only the direct cascades in the 3D case with $`ϵ=1/2`$.

To introduce effect of rotation in the GOY model we propose that the Coriolis force can be written in the form:

$$F_\mathrm{c}=iC_\mathrm{r}u,$$
(7)
where the constant real coefficient $`C_\mathrm{r}`$ is introduced for convenience. It is easy to see that the work of the Coriolis force (7) is zero ($`u_n^{}F_{\mathrm{c}}^{}{}_{\mathrm{n}}{}^{}+u_\mathrm{n}F_{\mathrm{c}}^{}{}_{\mathrm{n}}{}^{}=0`$) and no additional energy is introduced into the system (3) at any scale. This property of the force (7) coincides with the property of the Coriolis force in 3D space (1).

Having in mind that in derivation of the shell model equations (3) all external potential forces, as well as pressure, were already excluded using condition of incompressibility ($`𝐕=0`$), $`F_\mathrm{c}`$ corresponds to the curl part of the Coriolis force. We will return to this point when the case with the several forces will be considered in section 5.

In the following sections we will consider the applications of the shell model (3, 7) to the free decay turbulence (section 4) and to the regime with the external forcing (section 5). Special attention will be paid to the helicity generation produced in such models (section 6).

## 4 Free decay hydrodynamic turbulence

To analize behaviour of the hydrodynamical turbulence without forcing we start from the free decay regime ($`f=0`$). After some intermediate regime for the case without rotation ($`F_\mathrm{c}=0`$) the Kolmogorov’s spectrum ($`5/3`$) recovers, see figures 1, 2. The sharp breaks in the spectra at the large wave numbers correspond to the Kolmogorov’s diffusion scale $`k_\mathrm{d}`$. The estimate based on the balance of the inertial $`R_\mathrm{o}k_\mathrm{n}u_\mathrm{n}^2`$ and diffusion $`Ek_\mathrm{n}^2u_\mathrm{n}`$ terms leads to $`k_\mathrm{d}\frac{R_\mathrm{o}}{E}u_\mathrm{n}`$.

As was predicted in Zeman , Zhou , introduction of rotation ($`F_\mathrm{c}0`$) gives rise to a new time scale $`\tau _\mathrm{d}\mathrm{\Omega }^1`$. For $`R_\mathrm{o}1`$, $`\tau _\mathrm{d}`$ is already shorter then the characteristic time in the Kolmogorov’s regime $`\tau _{\mathrm{d}}^{}{}_{\mathrm{n}}{}^{}k_\mathrm{n}^{2/3}`$. A simple dimensional analysis leads to the estimate of the rate of the energy dissipation

$$\epsilon \tau (k)k^4E^2(k),$$
(8)
where $`\tau `$ is the characteristic time and $`E(k)`$ is the spectral energy density. In the case of the Kolmogorov’s turbulence $`\tau \left(k^3E\right)^{1/2}`$ and

$$E(k)\epsilon ^{2/3}k^{5/3}.$$
(9)
If the effect of rotation is sufficient, then substitution of $`\tau \mathrm{\Omega }^1`$ into (8) leads to the rotation spectrum law Zhou :

$$E(k)\left(\mathrm{\Omega }\epsilon \right)^{1/2}k^2.$$
(10)
Starting simulations from the initial field obtained in the non-rotating regime, after a short time period the original Kolmogorov’s spectrum splits into two parts with two different slopes, see Fig. 1, 2. The change in the slope ($`n_\mathrm{\Omega }[10,19]`$ and $`k_\mathrm{n}=2^n`$) corresponds to $`k_\mathrm{\Omega }=\frac{C_\mathrm{\Omega }^2}{R_\mathrm{o}u_{n_\mathrm{\Omega }}}`$, where $`C_\mathrm{\Omega }=1.22÷1.87`$ Zhou . This estimate can be obtained from balancing the inertial term and the Coriolis force. If for the large scales the Coriolis term is larger then the non-linear term, the spectrum decays as $`k^2`$. In this case non-linear term do not depend on $`k`$ and the Coriolis term decays as $`k^{1/2}`$. The further behaviour depends on how long the spectrum is and where the Kolmogorov’s wave number $`k_\mathrm{d}`$ lies. If $`k_\mathrm{\Omega }>k_\mathrm{d}`$, then the whole spectrum decays as $`k^2`$. In the other case ($`k_\mathrm{\Omega }<k_\mathrm{d}`$) the Kolmogorov’s spectrum $`5/3`$ for $`k>k_\mathrm{\Omega }`$ reappears. This situation is demonstrated in the figures 1, 2. As the whole kinetic energy of the system decays in time, the $`k_\mathrm{\Omega }`$ moves in to the region of the large wave numbers. Note that the situation can be complicated by the high order effects, as the decay rates of the both spectra are different.

## 5 Convection with external forcing

To consider the evolution of the system for time periods longer than the characteristic decay time one needs to provide some source of energy to the system or to introduce an external force $`f`$. Similar to the case with the Coriolis force, $`f`$ in (3) corresponds to the curl part of the force.

The results of simulations of the system (3) over the time period $`t=10^3`$ with a prescribed force $`f=10^2(1+i)`$ at $`k_0=1`$ without rotation are presented in Fig. 3. Starting from an arbitrary initial velocity field, the system (3) comes to the statistically stable state with Kolmogorov’s energy distribution, similar to the free decay case for the moment where the energy is comparable.

As was already mentioned above, the direct introduction of rotation setting $`C_\mathrm{r}=1`$ in (7) is contradictive to the physics of the problem and to the original equation (1). It is easy to see that for the regime of the fast rotation ($`R_\mathrm{o}1`$) in the original Navier-Stokes equation (1), when $`V<R_\mathrm{o}`$, the balance between the pressure and the potential parts of the forces $`f`$ and $`F_\mathrm{c}`$ holds. Such a balance of the pressure and the Coriolis force, which takes place, e.g., in the Earth’s liquid core ($`E=10^{15},R_o=410^7`$), is called the geostrophic balance (in the present dimensionless units regime the Earth’s core situation corresponds to $`R_\mathrm{o}V<10^3`$). Exclusion of the pressure requires exclusion of the potential parts of all the forces, too. Then, the remaining curl parts of the forces are already of the same order as the inertial term and it is these parts which are in the r. h. s. of (3). These considerations can be formulated as follows:

$$\{\begin{array}{cc}C_{\mathrm{r}}^{}{}_{n}{}^{}=R_\mathrm{o}k_\mathrm{n}|u_\mathrm{n}|,\hfill & R_\mathrm{o}k_\mathrm{n}|u_\mathrm{n}|^2<|u_\mathrm{n}|\hfill \\ C_{\mathrm{r}}^{}{}_{n}{}^{}=1,\hfill & R_\mathrm{o}k_\mathrm{n}|u_\mathrm{n}|^2>|u_\mathrm{n}|\text{.}\hfill \end{array}$$
(11)
In other words, condition (11) means that for all wave numbers where the Coriolis force is larger then the non-linear term it must be compensated by the pressure, and its curl part ($`F_\mathrm{c}`$) must be of the same order as the non-linear term. (An example of violation of the condition (11) will be also considered below.) The suggestion (11) is also supported by the recent paper Constantin , where the scaling law $`k^2`$ for the geostrophycal balance was derived.

The results of simulations with rotation and $`C_\mathrm{r}`$ defined by (11) are presented in Fig. 3. As in the free decay case we observe two regimes with slopes $`k^2`$ for the small wave numbers and the Kolmogorov’s regime $`k^{5/3}`$ for the wave numbers $`k>k_\mathrm{\Omega }`$. It is easy to see that in this model the non-linear term has a white spectrum for $`k<k_\mathrm{\Omega }`$. Due to the condition (11), the curl part of Coriolis term $`F_c`$ has the same distribution in the wave space. This state of equipartition was observed after averaging. Analysis of the phases of the non-linear term and the Coriolis term reveals the existence of anticorrelation. This is the reason why the spectrum of the rotating turbulence decreases faster then Kolmogorov’s one. In fact, the Coriolis force partially locks the energy transfer from large to small scales. Moreover, the Coriolis force blocks the applied external force, so that $`F_{\mathrm{c}}^{}{}_{0}{}^{}=f_{\mathrm{c}}^{}{}_{0}{}^{}`$ and suppresses injection of the energy into the system (3, 7, 11).

To demonstrate this phenomenon we present calculations with $`C_\mathrm{r}`$ ten times larger then was predicted by (11) (dotted line in Fig. 3). This regime shows very strong blocking. Our calculations show that the further increase of the Coriolis term leads to a degeneration of the spectrum at all. The solution then has a singular spectrum and the whole energy is concentrated at the wave number $`k_0`$ where the force $`f`$ is applied.

We also present results of calculations with a prescribed force of the form $`f_0=0.1(1+i)/u_0^{}`$ which allows us to define the exact amount of energy injected into the system. It appears that the introduction of rotation leads to an increase of the total energy of the system due to a decrease of the energy dissipation in the cascade, see Fig. 4. Note that the similar effect in 3D numerical simulations Hossain , where the external force was applied at some intermediate scale, was caused by the inverse cascade.

## 6 Helicity generation

As follows from (5) in 3D case ($`ϵ=1/2`$) the explicit form for helicity is

$$H=\underset{n}{}(1)^nk_\mathrm{n}|u_n|^2.$$
(12)
However, the direct application of formula (12) for the estimation of helicity or the calculation of $`\alpha `$-effect can lead to misleading results. Additional assumptions on the physics of the process are required. To understand the nature of the problem we will recall some basics of the mean-field dynamo theory, where the models of helicity for the rotating bodies were extensively studied.

According to Krause , the mean helicity in the rotating body is defined as $`𝐇=<𝐕\left(\times 𝐕\right)>`$, provided that the gradient of the density exists ($`<\mathrm{}>`$ means mean average). This problem reflects the statistical inequality of the left-side and right-side rotating curls. In its turn, such inequality is caused by existence of the selected direction ($`𝐳`$), which is related to the global rotation of the considered body. In absence of rotation the generated helicity has stochastic temporal behavior and zero mean level. Moreover, in the case of the Kolmogorov’s turbulence with $`E(k)k^{5/3}`$, the helicity $`H`$ has an increasing spectrum $`k^{1/3}`$ and its amplitude will be defined by the velocity field near the Kolmogorov’s cut-off wave number $`k_d`$ 111 Note that for the dynamo applications the maximal wave number in the sum (12) is limited by the condition $`r_\mathrm{m}1`$, where $`r_\mathrm{m}`$ is the micro-scale magnetic Reynolds number.. The temporal behaviour of the helicity for the case of the non-rotating homogeneous turbulence (with all other parameters are equal to the case with forcing in section 5 and summation in (12) is over the whole range of wave numbers) is presented in Fig. 5a. We observe high frequency oscillations with the negligible mean level ($`\overline{H}10^2`$). This case can hardly describe the helicity observed in astrophysical and geophysical bodies with a stable sign over time periods much longer then the characteristic convective times Zeldovich .

Application of the Coriolis force in the form (7) does not change the situation essentially. In Fig. 5b we present calculations of $`H`$ for the previously considered regime with rotation (Fig. 1). Even now, when the helicity spectrum is white ($`k^0`$) and correspondingly contributions of the high harmonics are smaller then in the Kolmogorov’s turbulence, the helicity behavior exhibits strong oscillations with asymptotically zero mean level ($`\overline{H}10^1`$).

To estimate which part of helicity is produced in the rotational part of the spectrum ($`k<k_\mathrm{\Omega }`$) we limit the cut-off wave number in (12) to $`k_{MAX}=k_\mathrm{\Omega }`$, see Fig. 5c. This filtering decreases the dispersion of the helicity, but still does not change its mean level ($`\overline{H}10^1`$).

To overcome the problem of zero mean level of helicity we have to introduce an additional asymmetry in the system (3,7). So far in our homogeneous incompresible shell model the gradient of the density is absent, so we have to include the missing effect in the Coriolis force:

$$F_\mathrm{c}=iC_\mathrm{r}u(1+C_1(1)^n),$$
(13)
where $`C_1`$ is a real constant. The results of simulations with $`C_1=4`$, $`k_{MAX}=k_\mathrm{\Omega }`$ are presented in Fig. 5d. In this case $`\overline{H}140`$ and is comparable with the amplitude of the oscillations. The corresponding spectrum for this regime has the same behavior as in the case when the Coriolis force was defined by (7), see Fig. 3.

## 7 Conclusions

The proposed shell model approach description to the rotating hydrodynamical turbulence demonstrates the principal possibility to reproduce the scaling law $`k^2`$ predicted in Zeman , Zhou . This deviation from the homogeneous Kolmogorov’s turbulence represents the reduction of the 3D space problem toward 2D space, where the direct cascade of enstrophy already has $`k^3`$ slope. In terms of the shell models one can solve the Cauchy problem for evaluating rotating turbulence and mimic its dynamical behavior in time. As was mentioned, the problem of rotating turbulence has applications to the liquid core of th Earth. The estimate of the Reynolds number based on the west drift velocity and molecular viscosity gives $`Re10^9`$, which is out of reach of any modern supercomputers in 3D direct numerical simulations. The situation in many other astrophysical bodies is even more dramatic where the estimates of the Reynolds number give $`Re10^{10}`$ Zeldovich . This Reynolds number is no problem in the shell model, where the wide range of scales can be covered by a few harmonics. That is why the proposed application of the shell model to the fast rotation regime is a very promising step in its development. We also realize that the mechanism of helicity generation proposed by Krause  is not the only one and some forms of helicity generation different from (13) are possible. The present approach was dictated by its popularity in the mean-field dynamo model of the $`\alpha `$-effect. We plan to use the shell model developed for the computation of the subgrid processes in the 3D large-scale thermal convection problem similar to FRS .

## Acknowledgements

RM is grateful to Central Institute for Applied Mathematics (ZAM) of Forshungszentrum in J$`\ddot{\mathrm{u}}`$ulich for hospitality. This work was supported by the Russian Foundation of Basic Research (grant 03-05-64074). RM express his gratitude to Peter Frick for discussions.


text:
# 1 Introduction

## 1 Introduction

There exists an enormous body of evidence in the favor of cold dark matter. This evidence includes observations of galactic clusters and large scale structure , supernovae  and the cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropies . Recently, WMAP has provided the most detailed information on the CMB to date, quoting a total matter density of $`\mathrm{\Omega }_\mathrm{m}h^2=0.135_{0.009}^{+0.008}`$ . Furthermore, data from WMAP and other prior experiments indicate a considerably smaller quantity of baryonic matter . At the 2-$`\sigma `$ confidence level, the density of non-baryonic, and cold dark matter is now known to be $`\mathrm{\Omega }_{\mathrm{CDM}}h^2=0.113_{0.018}^{+0.016}`$ .

Many methods have been proposed to search for evidence of particle dark matter. In addition to accelerator searches, direct and indirect dark matter detection experiments have been performed. Direct dark matter searches attempt to measure the recoil of dark matter particles scattering elastically off of the detector material . Indirect dark matter searches have been proposed  to observe the products of dark matter annihilation including gamma-rays , positrons , anti-protons  and neutrinos .

Each of these methods has its advantages and disadvantages. Direct detection is most suited for WIMPs with relatively large elastic scattering cross sections with nucleons. Indirect detection using gamma-rays is often studied in the context of observing annihiltions in the galactic center region, which depends dramatically on the dark matter profile used. Alternatively, dark matter substructure could be studied with this method. This would still depend on poorly known dark matter distributions, however . Measurements of the local anti-proton or positron cosmic-ray spectrum depends critically on the location of, and amount of, dark matter substructure within tens of kiloparsecs and a few kiloparsecs, respectively. Also, positrons and anti-protons do not point towards their sources making an unambiguous separation from backgrounds very difficult.

WIMPs which scatter elastically in the Sun or Earth may become gravitationally bound in these gravitational wells. Over the age of the solar system, they may accumulate in substantial numbers in these objects, greatly enhancing their annihilation rate. Although gamma-rays, positrons and anti-protons produced in these annihilations do not escape the Sun or Earth, neutrinos often can. Also, unlike other indirect dark matter searches this method does not depend strongly on our galaxy’s dark matter halo profile or on the distribution of dark matter substructure. In this article, we review this method of indirect dark matter detection, and discuss the prospects for such observations in existing and planned experiments.

## 2 Particle Dark Matter Candidates

Numerous particles have been discussed in the literature as dark matter candidates. It would be impossible, and undesirable, for us to attempt to review them all here. Instead, we will focus on two examples which arise in popular particle physics scenarios: supersymmetry and models with universal extra dimensions.

### 2.1 Supersymmetry

In models with supersymmetry, each fermion has a bosonic partner (and vice versa) which exactly cancels all quadratic divergences to the Higgs mass, thus naturally solving one of the major problems associated with the standard model. Furthermore, the lightest supersymmetric particle (LSP), is stable in most viable models due to the conservation of R-parity . In many supersymmetric models, the LSP is the lightest neutralino, a mixture of the superpartners of the photon, Z and neutral higgs bosons, and is electrically neutral, colorless and a viable dark matter candidate .

If such a particle were in equilibrium with photons in the early universe, as the temperature decreased, a freeze-out would occur, leaving a thermal relic density. The temperature at which this occurs, and the density which remains, depends on the annihilation cross section and mass of the lightest neutralino. It is natural for supersymmetry to provide a dark matter candidate with a present abundance similar to those favored by the WMAP experiment.

The details of any SUSY model are subject to the way supersymmetry is broken (i.e. how masses are given to the superpartners). Most often, the LSP is predominantly-gaugino, although it is possible to have a substantial higgsino fraction in some cases.

### 2.2 Universal Extra Dimensions

Models with extra dimensions appearing at or near the TeV scale have become very popular in recent years. One class of these models are those in which all of the fields of the standard model propagate in “universal” extra dimensions . In these models, Kaluza-Klein (KK) excitations appear as particles with masses of the scale of the extra dimension. Due to conservation of momentum in the higher dimensions, a symmetry called KK-parity can arise which can, in some cases, make the Lightest KK Particle (LKP) stable . KK-parity functions in a way which is analagous to R-parity in supersymmetric models, making it possible for the LKP to be a viable dark matter candidate .

The identity of the LKP depends on the mass spectrum of the first KK level. The LKP is, most naturally, the first KK excitation of the $`B^1`$. The KK spectrum to one-loop level is given in Ref. . Using this spectrum, the relic density of the LKP can be calculated as a function of its mass. It has been found that the appropriate density is predicted when the mass is moderately heavy, between $`600`$ to $`1200`$ GeV , somewhat heavier than the range favored in the case of supersymmetry. This range of the LKP mass depends on the details of the coannihilations of LKPs with heavier KK particles.

Another difference between dark matter particles in universal extra dimensions and supersymmetry is that unlike in the case of a neutralino LSP, the bosonic nature of the LKP means there is no chirality suppression of the annihilation signal into fermions. The annihilation rate of the LKP is therefore roughly proportional to the hypercharge4 of the final state, leading to a large rate into leptons, including neutrinos. The annihilation and coannihilation cross sections are determined by Standard Model couplings and the mass spectrum of the first KK level.

## 3 Capture and Annihilation in the Sun

In order to provide an observable flux of neutrinos, dark matter particles must be gathered in high concentrations. Deep gravitational wells such as the Sun, Earth or galactic center are examples of regions where such concentrations may be present. In the following calculation, we will focus on the Sun, as its prospects are the most promising.

The rate at which WIMPs are captured in the Sun depends on the nature of the interaction the WIMP undergoes with nucleons in the Sun. For spin-dependent interactions, the capture rate is given by

$$C_{\mathrm{SD}}^{}3.35\times 10^{20}\mathrm{s}^1\left(\frac{\rho _{\mathrm{local}}}{0.3\mathrm{GeV}/\mathrm{cm}^3}\right)\left(\frac{270\mathrm{km}/\mathrm{s}}{\overline{v}_{\mathrm{local}}}\right)^3\left(\frac{\sigma _{\mathrm{H},\mathrm{SD}}}{10^6\mathrm{pb}}\right)\left(\frac{100\mathrm{GeV}}{m_{\mathrm{DM}}}\right)^2$$
(1)
where $`\rho _{\mathrm{local}}`$ is the local dark matter density, $`\sigma _{\mathrm{H},\mathrm{SD}}`$ is the spin-dependent, WIMP-on-proton (hydrogen) elastic scattering cross section, $`\overline{v}_{\mathrm{local}}`$ is the local rms velocity of halo dark matter particles and $`m_{\mathrm{DM}}`$ is our dark matter candidate. The analogous formula for the capture rate from spin-independent (scalar) scattering is

$$C_{\mathrm{SI}}^{}1.24\times 10^{20}\mathrm{s}^1\left(\frac{\rho _{\mathrm{local}}}{0.3\mathrm{GeV}/\mathrm{cm}^3}\right)\left(\frac{270\mathrm{km}/\mathrm{s}}{\overline{v}_{\mathrm{local}}}\right)^3\left(\frac{2.6\sigma _{\mathrm{H},\mathrm{SI}}+0.175\sigma _{\mathrm{He},\mathrm{SI}}}{10^6\mathrm{pb}}\right)\left(\frac{100\mathrm{GeV}}{m_{\mathrm{DM}}}\right)^2.$$
(2)
Here, $`\sigma _{\mathrm{H},\mathrm{SI}}`$ is the spin-independent, WIMP-on-proton elastic scattering cross section and $`\sigma _{\mathrm{He},\mathrm{SI}}`$ is the spin-independent, WIMP-on-helium elastic scattering cross section. Typically, $`\sigma _{\mathrm{He},\mathrm{SI}}16.0\sigma _{\mathrm{H},\mathrm{SI}}`$. The factors of $`2.6`$ and $`0.175`$ include information on the solar abundances of elements, dynamical factors and form factor suppression.

Although these two rates appear to be comparable in magnitude, the spin-dependent and spin-independent cross sections can differ radically. For example, with Kaluza-Klein dark matter, the spin-dependent cross section is typically three to four orders of magnitude larger than the spin-independent cross section  and solar accretion by spin-dependent scattering dominates.

If the capture rates and annihilation cross sections are sufficiently high, the Sun will reach equilibrium between these processes. For $`N`$ (number of) WIMPs in the Sun, the rate of change of this number is given by

$$\dot{N}=C^{}A^{}N^2,$$
(3)
where $`C^{}`$ is the capture rate and $`A^{}`$ is the annihilation cross section times the relative WIMP velocity per volume. $`C^{}`$ was given in (1), while $`A^{}`$ is

$$A^{}=\frac{\sigma v}{V_{\mathrm{eff}}}$$
(4)
where $`V_{\mathrm{eff}}`$ is the effective volume of the core of the Sun determined roughly by matching the core temperature with the gravitational potential energy of a single WIMP at the core radius. This was found in Ref.  to be

$$V_{\mathrm{eff}}=5.7\times 10^{27}\mathrm{cm}^3\left(\frac{100\mathrm{GeV}}{m_{\mathrm{DM}}}\right)^{3/2}.$$
(5)
The present WIMP annihilation rate is

$$\mathrm{\Gamma }=\frac{1}{2}A^{}N^2=\frac{1}{2}C^{}\mathrm{tanh}^2\left(\sqrt{C^{}A^{}}t_{}\right)$$
(6)
where $`t_{}4.5`$ billion years is the age of the solar system. The annihilation rate is maximized when it reaches equilibrium with the capture rate. This occurs when

$$\sqrt{C^{}A^{}}t_{}1.$$
(7)
For the majority of particle physics models which are most often considered (most supersymmetry or Kaluza-Klein models, for example), the WIMP capture and annihilation rates reach, or nearly reach equilibrium in the Sun. This is often not the case for the Earth. This is true for two reasons. First, the Earth is less massive than the Sun and, therefore, provides fewer targets for WIMP scattering and a less deep gravitational well for capture. Second, the Earth accretes WIMPs only by scalar (spin-independent) interactions. For these reasons, it is unlikely that the Earth will provide any observable neutrino signals from WIMP annihilations in any planned experiments.

If very high densities of dark matter are present in the galactic center, such as would be expected for very cuspy halo profiles  or density spikes , sizable neutrino fluxes could be produced. For most particle dark matter candidates, however, very large fluxes of gamma-rays would accompany such neutrinos and it would be unlikely that neutrinos would be observed in the absence of a gamma-ray signal. Neutrino experiments could, however, help confirm that a gamma-ray signal was the result of dark matter annihilations rather than a more traditional astrophysical source.

## 4 Neutrinos and Their Detection

The rate of neutrinos produced in WIMP annihilations is highly model dependent as the annihilation fractions to various products can vary a great deal from model to model. We will attempt to be as general in our discussion as possible while still considering some specific cases.

In supersymmetry, there are no tree level diagrams for direct neutralino annihilation to neutrinos. Many indirect channels exist, however. These include neutrinos from heavy quarks, gauge bosons, tau leptons and higgs bosons. These processes result in a broad spectrum of neutrinos, but with typical energies of 1/2 to 1/3 of the neutralino mass. For experimental energy thresholds of 10-100 GeV, lighter WIMPs can be very difficult or impossible to detect for this reason.

For neutralinos lighter than the $`W^\pm `$ mass ($`80.4`$GeV), annihilation to $`b\overline{b}`$ typically dominates, with a small admixture of $`\tau ^+\tau ^{}`$ as well. In these cases, neutrinos with less than about 30 GeV energy are produced and detection is difficult. For heavier neutralinos, annihilation into gauge bosons, top quarks and higgs bosons are important in addition to $`b\overline{b}`$ and $`\tau ^+\tau ^{}`$. In particular, gauge bosons can undergo two body decay ($`Z\nu \nu `$ or $`W^\pm l^\pm \nu `$) producing neutrinos with an energy of about half of the WIMP mass. Neutralinos with substantial higgsino components often annihilate mostly into gauge bosons.

For Kaluza-Klein dark matter, the picture is somewhat different. The LKP annihilates directly to a pair of neutrinos about 3-4% of the time . Although this fraction is small, the neutrinos are of higher energy and are, therefore, easier to detect. The more frequent annihilation channels for Kaluza-Klein dark matter are charged leptons (60-70%) and up-type quarks (20-30%). Of these, the $`\tau ^+\tau ^{}`$ mode contributes the most to the neutrino flux. Unlike in supersymmetry, a large fraction of LKPs annihilate into long lived particles, such as up quarks, electrons and muons, which lose their energy in the Sun long before decaying. Bottom and charm quarks lose some energy before decaying, but not as dramatically.

Neutrinos which are produced lose energy as they travel through the Sun . The probability of a neutrino escaping the sun without interaction is given by

$$P=e^{E_\nu /E_k}$$
(8)
where $`E_k`$ is $`130`$ GeV for $`\nu _\mu `$, $`160`$ GeV for $`\nu _\tau `$, $`200`$ GeV for $`\overline{\nu _\mu }`$ and $`230`$ GeV for $`\overline{\nu _\tau }`$. Thus we see that neutrinos above a couple of hundred GeV are especially depleted, although those which escape are also more easily detected. For a useful parameterization of solar effects, see Ref. . Note that neutrino oscillations can also play an important role in calculating the flux of muon neutrinos in a detector .

A small fraction of the muon neutrinos which reach the detector are converted to muons through charged current interactions . These muons then propagate through the Cerenkov medium of the detector, where they are detected by photo-multiplier tubes distributed through the effective volume. For a review of high-energy neutrino astronomy, see Ref. .

As a muon propagates, it loses energy at the rate

$$\frac{dE}{dX}=\alpha \beta E$$
(9)
where $`\alpha =2.0\mathrm{MeV}\mathrm{cm}^2/\mathrm{g}`$ and $`\beta =4.2\times 10^6\mathrm{cm}^2/\mathrm{g}`$. The distance a muon travels before dropping below the threshold energy, called the muon range, is then given by Ref.

$$R_\mu \frac{1}{\rho \beta }\mathrm{ln}\left[\frac{\alpha +\beta E_\mu }{\alpha +\beta E_{\mathrm{thr}}}\right]$$
(10)
where $`\rho `$ is the density of the detector medium, $`\alpha 2.0`$ MeV cm2/g and $`\beta 4.2\times 10^6`$ cm2/g. $`E_\mu ^{\mathrm{thr}}`$ is the energy threshold of the detector, typically 10-100 GeV for deep ice or water detectors. The effective volume in which a muon producing interaction can occur and be observed is simply the muon range times the effective area of the detector.

Currently, the AMANDA experiment is taking data at the South Pole . With an effective area of 50,000 square meters and a muon energy threshold of about 30 GeV, AMANDA is currently the largest volume high-energy neutrino telescope. Due to the “soda can” geometry of AMANDA B-10, it was not very sensitive in the direction of the Sun (the horizon), and could only place useful limits on neutrinos from the center of the Earth. As we said before, the rate of dark matter annihilations in the Earth is much smaller than in the Sun, making detections unlikely. The current version of this experiment, AMANDA-II, does not have this problem, however, and is sensitive to neutrinos from both the Sun and Earth.

ANTARES , now under construction in the Mediterranean, will have a similar effective area as AMANDA-II, but with a lower energy threshold (10 GeV). ANTARES may be an important dark matter experiment, especially if WIMPs are rather light. Also, unlike neutrino telescopes at the South Pole, ANTARES will also be sensitive to neutrinos from the galactic center.

IceCube , under construction at the South Pole, will have a full square kilometer of effective area, but with a somewhat higher energy threshold (50-100 GeV).

The background for this class of experiments consists of atmospheric neutrinos  and neutrinos generated in cosmic ray interactions in the Sun’s corona . In the direction of the Sun (up to the angular resolution of a neutrino telescope), tens of events above 100 GeV and on the order of 1 event per year above 1 TeV per square kilometer are expected from the atmospheric neutrino flux. Fortunately, for a very large volume detector with sufficient statistics, this background is expected to be significantly reduced, and possibly eliminated. Furthermore, this rate could be estimated based on the rate from atmospheric neutrinos, a level of about a few events per year. The final background is then further reduced by selecting on judiciously chosen angular and/or energy bins. Neutrinos generated by cosmic ray interactions in the Sun’s corona, however, cannot be reduced in this way. This irreducible background is predicted to be less than a few events per year per square kilometer above 100 GeV.

## 5 Prospects

The current limits on dark matter annihilation from AMANDA and other similar experiments are not very strong. Experiments with lower energy thresholds (ANTARES), larger effective areas (IceCube) and which can observe in the direction of the Sun (ANTARES and IceCube) will greatly enhance this sensitivity in coming years.

The sensitivity of a square kilometer neutrino detector with a moderate muon energy threshold (50 GeV) to supersymmetric dark matter is shown in Fig. 1. From this figure, it is clear that high-energy neutrinos will be an observable signature in only a small fraction of possible supersymmetry models, although such experiments are still certainly an important probe.

For Kaluza-Klein dark matter, the prospects for detection via high-energy neutrinos are substantially better. This is largely because of which annihilation modes dominate. The spectrum of muons in a detector on Earth due to LKP annihilations in the Sun is shown in Fig. 2 for various annihilation channels and for two choices of LKP mass. Unlike in the case of supersymmetry, annihilation to neutrinos and taus dominate the neutrino spectrum. In supersymmetry, b quarks and gauge bosons dominate, producing fewer observable neutrinos.

In Fig. 3, the event rates in a square kilometer detector are shown (using a threshold of 50 GeV). Each of the three lines corresponds to a different value of the next-to-lightest KK particle’s mass. The expected size of the one-loop radiative corrections predicts $`0.1<r_{q_R^1}<0.2`$, where $`r_{q_R^1}`$ is the mass splitting of the LKP and the next-to-LKP over the LKP mass. For this range, a kilometer scale neutrino telescope would be sensitive to a LKP with mass up to about 1 TeV. The relic density of the LKP varies from low to high values from left to right in the graph. The range of mass of the LKP that gives the appropriate relic density was estimated from Ref.  and is shown in the figure by the solid sections of the lines. Combining the expected size of the one-loop radiative corrections with a relic density appropriate for dark matter, we see that IceCube should see between a few to tens of events per year.

For detectors with smaller effective areas one simply has to scale the curves down by a factor $`A/(1\mathrm{km}^2)`$ to obtain the event rate. In particular, for the first generation neutrino telescopes including AMANDA, ANTARES, and NESTOR, with effective areas of order $`0.1`$ km2, the event rate could be as high as a few events per year for a LKP mass at the lower end of the solid line region.

## Acknowledgments

DH is supported by the Leverhulme trust.


text:
# Magnetostriction Measurements with Atomic Force Microscopy: A Novel Approach

## Abstract

In this study we present a new method of measuring magnetostriction with an atomic force microscope adapted for the application magnetic fields. The experiment allows us to visualise, in an elegant and educational way how the lateral magnetoelastic shape changes take place on the sample surface when a magnetic field is applied. We have, furthermore, used this technique to observe magnetically induced strains as small as $`510^8`$, and have measured Ni, permalloy and commercial Cu wires and films, as well as pure Cu and Pt wires, where results are in agreement with other methods of measurement. The applications are, moreover, relevant to studies of ballistic magnetoresistance, where we can draw conclusions involving the effect of the magnetically induced strains on magnetoresistance measured at the same time as magnestostriction.

PACS:68.37.Ps;75.50.-y;75.80.+q

Keywords:Atomic Force Microscopy;Ferromagnetic materials;magnetostriction

* corresponding author

email: nicolas.garcia@fsp.csic.es

Tel: 34-91-561 88 06

Fax: 34-91-563 15 60

Magnetostriction is the phenomenon whereby the shape of a ferromagnetic specimen changes during the process of magnetization. The deformation $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$l/l resulting from this change is usually in the 10-5 to 10-6 range. Magnetostriction can be positive or negative depending if the material expands or contracts along the measured direction. Many ways exist for measuring this field-induced deformation, including the strain gauge and capacitance methods. The development of local surface probes (scanning tunnelling microcopy (STM), scanning force microscopy (SFM), magnetic field microscopy (MFM) and others) , however, has introduced new ways to visualize the structure and topology of the surfaces with high spatial resolution. These surface characterization techniques can easily visualize variations of the surface structure as well as local surface behaviour such as those resulting from induced strains on the measured specimen. Takata $`et`$ $`al`$, in particular, have reported strain imaging of magnetic recording material. By their definition, however, strain imaging involves detecting strains generated by any modulation including an alternating magnetic field. In the case of Ref. 8, the strain is driven in the z-direction by the alternating B-field. Up to now, and according to our knowledge, there have never been applications of local probe techniques to observe and measure $`lateral`$ changes of the shape of a specimen under an applied magnetic field $`without`$ $`modulation`$. Given the vast applications of magnetic materials, the need for magnetic characterization methods of greater resolution is paramount. We, therefore, believe that carefully set-up experiments of this nature should provide very valuable information.

On another note, ever since preliminary experiments showing large ballistic magnetoresistance (BMR) effects in atomic nanocontacts have been reproduced in other cases, there have been observations of BMR values of 700%, 3000% and practically infinity. The latter are observed when Ni contacts of nanometer size are electrodeposited in the gap region of Ni wires. In addition, BMR values of over 50000% have been observed when using permalloy Fe21Ni79 wires, and values not as large (a few hundred percent)  were measured in commercial Cu wires. From the above, a very legitimate question can be posed: $`What`$ $`is`$ $`the`$ $`effect`$ $`of`$ $`the`$ $`magnetostriction`$ $`deformation`$ $`of`$ $`the`$ $`nanocontacts`$ $`on`$ $`the`$ $`BMR\mathrm{?}`$ $`In`$ $`other`$ $`words,`$ $`is`$ $`the`$ $`BMR`$ $`due`$ $`to`$ $`the`$ $`magnetoelastic`$ $`deformations\mathrm{?}`$

In this paper we present a new method of measuring magnetostriction with the use of atomic force microscopy (AFM). With the AFM we are able to visualize in an illustrative and educational manner the strains of a ferromagnetic sample’s micro and nanostructure under an applied magnetic field. In our technique, the field is unidirectional for each application with the intended value applied near-instantly and removed in the same manner after a period of influence lasting several seconds (and scan lines). There is no field modulation, and the lateral shift is measured directly from the scan. Lateral strains as small as $`510^8`$ have been thus measured, although this resolution could be improved under more stringent scanning conditions. Sample size, however, is not an issue as long as a topographic image can be attained. Thus, the technique is easily applicable to samples whose length is of the order 100 $`\mu `$m as well as larger specimens. The wires measured in this study included Ni, permalloy, commercial and pure Cu as well as Pt. In addition, applications of this method are performed to answer the question posed above by measuring BMR of nanocontacts formed via electrodeposition on wires. From our results: we do not see a direct relation between magnetostrictive strains and large BMR.

The experiment was conducted with a Dimension 3100 Scanning probe Microscope (SPM), with a Nanoscope IV Controller. Figure 1(a) shows a diagram of the experimental set-up during measurements. The U-shaped electromagnet (constructed in the laboratory for this purpose) was comprised of a ZnMn ferrite powder core, wrapped with Cu wire on one end. The magnet was, furthermore, supported so the poles could be accurately placed on either side of the sample (without coming into contact with the latter), with the desired stability during scanning. This configuration provided a maximum field of about 250 Oe (measured with a DTM-133 Teslameter at the sample plane) for these measurements. By controlling the current of the 75 W, DC power supply, the magnetic field strength could be varied to within $`<`$2 Oe.

The metal wires used were Ni, permalloy Fe21Ni79, Cu (both commercial wire and that of 99.999% purity) and Pt. With the exception of Ni, with a diameter d = 0.25 mm, all the metal wires were of d = 0.5 mm. Fig.1(b) shows, in diagrammatic form, how the wires were attached to their base (made of circuit-board material) for both the cases of free wires and wires in a “T”-configured contact formation (upper and lower diagrams of fig. 1(b) respectively). Cyanoacrylic commercial glue was the preferred sample clamping method, used successfully in all cases. The glue was applied to a length l2 at one end of the wire, leaving a predetermined length l1 free. The distances from the glue boundary to the AFM tip for each wire were measured using an OLYMPUS BX50 optical microscope in combination with the built-in optical microscope camera of the Dimension 3100 SPM.

Figure 1(c), shows a side-view close-up of the scanning process. Contact mode AFM was always used, with short (100 $`\mu `$m) cantilevers with a force constant of 0.58 N/m being preferred. Fig. 1(c) schematically depicts the case of a free wire measured under a field direction parallel to its length. The scan direction was always along the length of the wire, whereupon changes in the length were easily detected as shifts in the x-direction of the scan image.

$`Ni`$ $`free`$ $`wires`$ $`and`$ $`\mathrm{`}\mathrm{`}T\mathrm{"}configured`$ $`contacts`$: Our first measurements were conducted on Ni, a ferromagnetic material with well-known magnetoelastic properties. Wires were measured in two configurations: a) single free wires and b) two wires forming a “T” configuration (fig. 1(b), lower portion). Results are depicted in fig. 2. Specifically, the upper portion of fig. 2 shows two typical scans of the Ni wire surface (left and center) using contact mode AFM, and an optical microscope close-up image of the measured “T”-configured contact (right). The two scans are both 300 nm in range with the positive x-direction toward the right of each scan. In the case of the far left scan the magnetic field (H= 80 Oe) was consecutively applied and removed five times. The scan direction (as indicated by the vertical arrow) was from the bottom to the top of the image, and the first application of the field (toward the bottom of the scan), including the direction of strain, is depicted by the black arrow pointing left (indicating contraction). In contrast, the bottom portion of the figure shows the arrow pointing right, which is indicative of the field being turned off (re-expansion to original length). As can be easily seen in the far left-hand scan of fig. 2, the shift is nearly instantaneous whether the field is applied or removed, i.e., there are no distortions of the scan image during magnetic field transitions. The distance of the shift was easily measurable using available SPM software, and the repeatability of the effect is easily demonstrated by the identical multiple shifts in the scan. Another important result is that when the field is removed the wire returns to precisely its original position as indicated by the topographic continuity observable in the far left image between field applications. The contrast between the far left-hand scan and that at the upper middle of Fig. 2, where no field is applied is obvious, although the scans do not show identical topographic features (scan windows are within 1 m of each other on the surface). Even with images with a great degree of noise, the effects of magnetoelastic strain are easily distinguishable from the former at least for strains down to $`510^8`$.

The bottom portion of fig.2 depicts the results of various measurements of different configurations of Ni wires under the influence of both parallel and transversal fields, where changes in field intensity reach 250 Oe. The upper portion of the graph (fig. 2(a)) depicts the changes in length of a 6 mm free wire during the indicated field application when field direction is transversal to the length of the wire, while the lower portion (fig. 2(b)) shows the magnetostiction of a 6mm free wire when the same field values are applied in the direction parallel to the wire’s length. The extra data points on the right-hand side of both plots represent singular values of wire deformation measured under different sample mounting and field direction conditions. The plot (represented with inverted solid triangles) in fig.2 (b), represents the deformation of the “T”-configured Ni contact vs. increasing field strength. First, the plots of the deformation of the free wire vs. field strength for magnetic field directions both parallel and transversal to the wire lengths have been presented elsewhere,  and are in agreement with previous findings for the magnetoelastic deformation of Ni wires under a field direction parallel to their length. Second, the question whether the glue itself provides adequate clamping to prevent movement of the wire as a whole when under a magnetic field, and thus eliminates the strain effects caused by the total magnetization of the specimen was addressed by first measuring the strain on a wire where the glued portion was five times the length of the free (1 mm) wire. We found the deformation to be twice that of a wire with only 25% of its total length glued (such as the wires used in the plots of Fig. 2 (a) and (b)). We then eliminated the strain contribution of the glued portion by measuring the magnetostriction at two points on the free wire, and applying the formula $`\left(\mathrm{\Delta }l_2\mathrm{\Delta }l_1\right)/\left(l_2l_1\right)`$, where $`l_2`$ and $`l_1`$ are the free wire lengths corresponding to the two positions. Results deviated only 5% from the case of the wires glued along 25% of their total length, and could be improved with a smaller percentage of the total wire length glued. For a more detailed explanation see Ref. 15.

Our measurements continued with the magnetostriction of a 6 mm free Ni wire (only 2mm glued) in a “T”-configured contact formation, with a contact area measured at 30 m. The upper right-hand portion of figure 2 shows a 600 m Dimension 3100 optical microscope picture of the “T” contact area. The scans were performed 200 $`\mu `$m from the contact itself. With these measurements along with those on permalloy wire we attempt to shed some light on the relationship between magnetoelastic deformation in “T”-configured contacts and BMR. For this reason, the resistance was monitored over the contact throughout all the magnetic field applications involving “T”-configured contacts. The value of this resistance was measured at 1.5 $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$¸, which represents the effective conductive portion of the contact. From previous studies we have found this particular value to correspond to conducting contact of 30 nm, in contrast with the total contact geometry (30 $`\mu `$m diameter area). Most of the total contact area is actually comprised of non-conductive oxides.

In fig. 2(b) the upper curve represents the deformation values of the “T”-contact vs. increasing magnetic field, up to 250 Oe in a direction parallel to its length. The observed deformation at 250 Oe is about half the value of the free wire (-16 nm/mm) when the field is parallel, and about 2.5 nm/mm when it is transversal to the wire’s length (represented by the hollow upright triangle in fig. 2(a)). In the case of the parallel field direction in particular, it would be expected that a 100 nm contraction (over the 6 mm free length) would break the contact. In fact, the monitored resistance remained stable during multiple consecutive field applications. In other words, magnetoelastic strain does not alter the resistance across the contact, and more importantly does not automatically imply large magnetoresistance. It is most likely that both wires of the “T”-configuration in the contact area deform together when the field is applied. In other words, we must consider the contact connecting the two wires as a single system extending to the second wire.

It is known that 10% of the contact samples exhibit magnetoresistance in the 100% range and only 2% of the samples show BMR values over 1000% . All ferromagnetic materials exhibit some degree of magnetoelastic deformation, including those exhibiting BMR. Although it is evident that magnetostriction does not necessarily imply BMR, we can draw no conclusions involving the reverse from the available data on Ni. But there is no evidence that the contacts are modified as indicated from our resitance and magnetostriction data. In other words, based on the above results, we cannot say one way or the other if BMR induces magnetoelastic strain.

$`Permalloy`$ $`Fe_{21}Ni_{79}`$ $`wires`$: Similar measurements were conducted on permalloy Fe21Ni79, although only for the cases of the free wire and ”T”-configured contact both under the influence of an applied field parallel to the wire lengths. Figure 3 shows a similar configuration as that of fig. 2, this time of the permalloy “T”-configured contact. The top portion of the figure shows two scans of 450 nm of the wire surface, about 200 $`\mu `$m from the contact tip. The left-hand scan involves magnetic field applications, and the subsequent respective topographic shifts in the image, while the right-hand scan represents the surface without any magnetic field applied. Below these images is a graph showing the changes in length of a 10 mm permalloy Fe21Ni79 wire when increasing field values are applied in the parallel direction. Our measured contraction of permalloy wire with increasing field strength is approximately equal to that indicated in the literature, where $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$l/l approaches -2 nm per mm length of wire at higher field values (H $``$80 Oe). To examine the case for BMR applications, an additional data point (hollow circle) was added. This represents the measured contraction of the permalloy wire under an 80 Oe parallel field, when forming a contact (in a ”T”-configuration as with Ni). The permalloy contact also remained intact with a stable resistance during deformation. The obtained value for the permalloy contact was, furthermore, practically identical to that of the free permalloy wire. In the case of permalloy Fe21Ni79, however, the movement is too small to meet resistance from the glue or transversal wire. It is most likely for this reason that we do not observe any decrease in the magnetostriction values of permalloy when comparing the field induced strain of the ”T”-configured contact with that of the free wire.

$`Copper`$ $`and`$ $`Platinum`$ $`wires`$: We conducted measurements on three paramagnetic wires, each 10 mm long with applied fields in directions parallel to their respective lengths, and have provided some interesting results. Commercial Cu was measured first, initially as a reference sample to the Ni and permalloy wires. Despite the fact that Cu is a paramagnetic material, there was magnetostrictive strain that increased with increasing magnetic field strength, although in a more linear manner than Ni and permalloy. The changes in length measured in the commercial Cu sample, moreover, were of the same order as permalloy wires under a parallel field. Figure 4 (top left) shows a case where a field is applied to commercial Cu with the evident shift (in the same manner as the previous ferromagnetic samples under parallel fields). The top right part of the figure depicts the plot of the contraction of the commercial Cu wire with increasing field strength, as described above. Our commercial sample was analysed by EDAX where the presence of 3% Co, Ni and Fe impurities was detected. It is evident from this analysis that even minute amounts of impurities cause appreciable changes in the values of magnetoelastic strain in a paramagnetic material such as Cu. To compare we have attempted to measure magnetostriction in pure (99.999%) Cu, as well as Pt wires (not shown here), and the scans do not exhibit any observable change under the same applied field (250 Oe). I.e. there is a complete absence of the characteristic topographic displacement in the x-scan direction present in measurements of ferromagnetic specimens. It should be noted that pure Cu actually exhibits a magnetostriction deformation of 10-9, which for a 10 mm of Cu wire implies a displacement of 0.01nm (0.1 Å) . At the bottom right-hand of the figure is a scanning electron micrograph (SEM) of a Cu film with a 10 $`\mu `$m gap, bridged by electrodeposited permalloy, where we measured for BMR and magnetostriction. While close to 100% BMR was measured here, (repeatable through several hundred trials), there was no observable magnetostriction under applied fields up to 250 Oe. The lack of displacement described for the pure Cu and Pt samples is clearly shown in the 200 nm scan of the aforementioned contact (fig.4, bottom left), where repetitive field applications were performed while scanning under the AFM. It is no surprise, regarding the above information, that a pure Cu film shows no magnetostriction. The permalloy deposite should, however, also be taken into consideration. As we have described, permalloy Fe21Ni79 exhibits a magnetostrictive strain around 10-6, which implies a strain of 0.01 nm (0.1 Å) for a 10 $`\mu `$m length of the material. We have attempted to see this displacement with an ex-situ STM, but resolution was in the Angstrom range, and no topographic shifting was detected. It is noteworthy that even a displacement below what is the minimum detectable causes a disturbance in the scan that manifests as a horizontal line through the image at the point the field is applied. Whether, however, this 0.1Å displacement of the contact can influence the BMR response can be understood as follows: Our 1-10 Ohm contacts correspond to sections of contacts of 103 to 104 atoms- taking one atom to be one conductance unit for a good conductor (for a bad one the section is larger still). In order to obtain the observed changes of 200% such as those described in the case below, we would need to change the section by a factor of 3. This, according to all simulations regarding the pulling of nanowires, is not possible for a shift of 0.1 Å.

We thought it relevant to conclude this report with a brief description of our most recent magnetostriction data (not shown here), involving the measurement of a contact formed by the electrodeposition of permalloy to bridge the 30 $`\mu `$m gap between two pure Cu wires aligned tip-to-tip . The applied field strength in this case was H = 850 Oe, and no shift was observed in the scan upon field application, meaning that if there was a strain present it was $`<`$$`510^8`$. As described in the former paragraph, such a strain cannot correspond to the measured $`BMR`$ $`of`$ $`200\%`$ in this system. From the very fact that we did observe BMR in at least these two latter cases, we may conclude that not only does magnetostriction not imply BMR, but that also the presence of BMR does not mean observable magnetostriction is present. The two effects are thus not related to each other.

In this report a new method of measuring the magnetostriction of metallic wires has been presented, which utilizes atomic force microscopy (AFM), and the (near-instantaneous) application of a magnetic field at the sample plane. The strains are observed laterally, relative to the sample plane, in the direction of the scan in progress. This technique eliminates the contribution of strains due to magnetization of the total specimen, and the lack of modulation guarantees the absence of electromagnetic effects due to eddy currents caused by the effects of the oscillating magnetic field on the sample. We have measured strains as small as $`510^8`$ in sample areas in scan ranges as small as 200 nm. The experiment shows in a dramatic visual manner how the magnetoelastic strains of the sample take place when the magnetic field is applied. For wires exhibiting magnetostriction, the shift is instantaneous and is clearly depicted in the scanned images presented in this study. Applications of this method have been made to wires of Ni, permalloy, commercial Cu wire, pure Cu, and pure Pt, as well as “T”-configured contacts of Ni and permalloy Fe21Ni79. These applications are relevant in examining the effect of magnetoelastic strains on magnetoresistance, measured at the same time as the magnestostriction. From the data presented, there is no evidence that magnetostriction automatically implies magnetoresitance. While large magnetostriction is seen for all Ni samples, magnetoresitance is only seen for the 10% of the samples and only 2% for BMR larger than 1000%. This happens for Ni and permalloy samples even if the deformations of the latter are 30 times smaller than those of the former. We speculate, as discussed above, that the contact moves rigidly with the magnetoelastic motion of the wires (as if the contact and second wire are a continuation of the first). Further measurements on permalloy contacts deposited on pure Cu films and wires, which have exhibited up to 200% BMR have shown no observable magnetostriction. We, therefore, conclude that BMR and magnetostriction are not causally linked, i.e. one effect does not imply the other.

Acknowledgements

We would like to extend our thanks to Prof. A. del Moral for his most valuable advice and discussions, and also to N. D. Nikolic and H. Cheng for their invaluable assistence in performing this experiment. This work has been supported by the DGICyT.

$`References:`$

$`Figure`$ $`Captions`$:

Figure 1: Schematic depicting the experimental set-up with (a) a top-view diagram of the Dimension 3100 SPM with the sample holding system placed between the poles of the electromagnet inserted under the scanner (shown transparent). (b) Top-views of free wire and contact configurations, and (c) a side-view schematic of the placement of the AFM tip as it scans the wire.

Figure 2: top-left and center: Two scans of the Ni free wire with a magnetic field, applied multiple times throughout the scan, (left) and without any field applied (right). In both cases the scan range is 300 nm, while the scan direction is indicated by the red and black arrows in the corresponding figures; (top right): Dimension 3100 optical microscope image of Ni ”T”-configured contact after parallel field applications. Scale is in m. Contact area has been measured at 30 $`\mu `$m. (Bottom): Graphs of the measured change in wire length $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$l/l x106 vs. the strength H (in Oe) of the applied field when (a) the field direction is transversal and (b), when it is parallel to the wire’s length. Upper plot of (b) refers to Ni contact and the lower graph to the free wire. Additional data points mark cases of magnetostriction for a contact under a transversal field (upright hollow triangle), and the case of a 1mm free wire under a parallel field (filled circle).

Figure 3: Top: two 450 nm contact AFM scans of permalloy Fe21Ni79 wire in ”T”- contact formation, with free length l = 10mm. Left scan shows the application of a magnetic field, while right scan depicts the same topography without any field applied. Bottom: Graph of $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$l/l x106 vs. H with applied parallel field onto 10 mm free wire. Extra data point at H = 80 Oe (enlarged hollow circle) represents permalloy ”T”-contact deformation at this field strength.

Figure 4: Top row (left): 200 nm scan of a commercial Cu wire with a free (unclamped) length of 10 mm with an applied filed of H = 250 Oe. Topographic displacement to the left upon field application is obvious. Top row (right): graph of $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$l/l x107 vs. H (in Oe), with various field strengths applied in the parallel direction. Bottom left: 200 nm scan of permalloy electrodeposited over a 10 m gap in a pure Cu film. The scan was taken at a distance of ~200 $`\mu `$m from the center of the gap. Even with multiple applications of a 250 Oe field, there was no magnetostriction evident. Bottom right: SEM photo of the latter surface showing a close-up of the contact area formed by electrodeposited permalloy. The 5 $`\mu `$m scale-bar is placed vertically to the right of the contact. This specimen, while showing no magnetoelastic response did exhibit a 100% BMR (both were measured at the same time).