text:
# First order isotropic - smectic-A transition in liquid crystal-aerosil gels

## I Introduction

The formation of the smectic-A (SmA) phase is intriguing because the resulting one-dimensional density modulation lacks true long-range order Peierls ; L\_and\_L . Much effort has been devoted to experimental characterization and theoretical description of the SmA phase of thermotropic liquid crystals G\_and\_N ; N\_and\_T . More recently, the effects of quenched random disorder on the nematic (N) - SmA transition have been studied. The interplay between the thermal fluctuations which disrupt the long-range order and static fluctuations due to quenched randomness is fascinating. Experimentally, quenched randomness can be introduced via a porous random environment such as aerogel. In order to probe weaker disorder the rigid aerogel has been replaced by a hydrogen-bonded gel of aerosil particles. In both cases the N - SmA transition has been studied using calorimetry Aerogel\_Cp ; Aerosil\_Cp , deuterium NMR Aerogel\_DNMR ; Aerosil\_DNMR  and x-ray diffraction Aerogel\_X ; Aerosil\_X . In addition, results have been presented for the isotropic (I) \- SmA transition for a liquid crystal confined in an aerogel Aerogel\_IA . Here we present a comprehensive x-ray diffraction study for an aerosil gel.

For many liquid crystals the SmA phase forms from the orientationally ordered N phase. There is coupling between the order parameters and fluctuations of the two phases. As the SmA phase becomes more favorable at higher temperatures, due to changes in the molecule or mixture composition, the N-SmA transition occurs while the N order parameter is less and less saturated. The transition into the SmA phase enhances the N order. This coupling between order parameters leads to a tricritical point in the phase diagram dG\_and\_P . As the stability of the SmA phase is further enhanced a triple point occurs in the phase diagram and the N phase ceases to be stable. Beyond this point, orientational order occurs along with positional order in the SmA structure. The pretransitional fluctuations of the SmA order in the I phase occur over a sphere of ordering wave vectors corresponding to the layer spacing. The transition is thought to be first order due to the contribution of these fluctuations as described by Brazovskii Brazovskii ; Anisimov . The observation that the I-SmA transition is strongly first order for 10CB Marynissen ; Thoen\_p  may well be due to the de Gennes coupling between smectic and nematic order parameters in the isotropic phase Gohin .

The cyanobiphenyls are a well-studied family of thermotropic liquid crystals Thoen . These molecules have a flexible aliphatic tail the length of which influences the stability of the SmA phase. Both decylcyanobiphenyl (10CB) and dodecylcyanobiphenyl (12CB) exhibit transitions directly from the I phase to the SmA phase. Since, in establishing the SmA order, both orientational and positional order must be developed, one might expect this transition to be especially strongly perturbed by quenched random disorder. Thixotropic (hydrogen bonded) gels can be created by dispersing fine, hydrophilic aerosil particles in the liquid crystal. These silica nanoparticles hydrogen bond together creating a flexible structure which can substantially perturb the interpenetrating liquid crystal material. The pore volume fractions range from 0.77 to 0.99.

Previous studies of the N-SmA transition in liquid crystal-aerosil gels have implied that the main effect of the aerosils is to pin the phase of the SmA density wave Aerosil\_X ; Germano2 ; Clegg1 . Specifically, both the size of the SmA domains and the detailed wave vector dependence of the x-ray structure factor have been in quantitative agreement with the predictions of a random pinning field model. In this paper we are reporting the results of a study of the random field model at a first-order transition. As first articulated by Imry and Ma, the simplest understanding of the effects of random fields comes from considering a balance between the benefit of aligning with the local random field and the cost of forming a domain wall I\_and\_M . This model predicts differing responses for transitions which break discrete and continuous symmetries. The situation becomes more complicated for first-order transitions due to the possibility of two-phase coexistence I\_and\_W . Domain walls can exist between ordered and disordered regions as well as between ordered domains. A guide to the likelihood of two-phase coexistence is whether the disorder causes a substantial suppression of the phase transition temperature. Should it do so, it is likely that large variations of transition temperatures will occur locally giving two-phase coexistence so that the sharp transition will then be smeared out. Two-phase coexistence will alter the penalty for forming domain walls. Substantial two-phase coexistence results in sharp boundaries between ordered and disordered regions. This has similarities to a transition which breaks a discrete symmetry with random fields. One might speculate that long-range order could be observed for sufficiently weak disorder in $`d=3`$. Without significant two-phase coexistence the domain walls will be broad and the response should correspond to expectations for a transition which breaks a continuous symmetry in the presence of random fields.

In reference Aerogel\_IA  a silica aerogel is used to impose quenched disorder on 10CB, and similar previous studies of the liquid crystal 650BC are also discussed. Both of these materials exhibit transitions directly from the I to the SmA phase. The correlation lengths are observed to increase discontinuously at the transition temperature and to saturate quickly. Meanwhile, the scattering intensity increases only slowly with decreasing temperature. The transition is observed to remain first order under this strong confinement and this is confirmed via optical microscopy of the coexisting phases. It is surprising that the correlation length remains almost constant as the SmA order goes from the two phase coexistence region to the uniform phase region. The transition temperature is found to remain roughly unchanged.

Here we show that the liquid crystal-aerosil gel also retains only short-range SmA order deep into the SmA phase temperature region. In common with previous studies, a range of gel densities have been prepared and characterized using high-resolution x-ray diffraction. The results demonstrate that our quantitative understanding of the N-SmA transition naturally extends to this new class of transition. In Sec. II we outline preliminary details including the differences for x-ray diffraction between the I-SmA transition and the N-SmA transition and the experimental techniques employed. Section III gives the results and analysis. The quantitative comparison between these results and existing theoretical models is discussed in Sec. IV and conclusions are drawn.

## II Preliminary Details

### II.1 X-ray Structure Factor

The x-ray scattering line shape approaching the N-SmA transition Ocko  and deep within the SmA phase Als-Nielsen  have been characterized in great detail. In the former case the data for a wide range of liquid crystalline materials have been found to be described by the structure factor

$$S(𝐪)=\frac{\sigma _0}{1+\xi _{}^2(q_{}q_0)^2+\xi _{}^2q_{}^2+c\xi _{}^4q_{}^4}$$
(1)
where $`q_0=2\pi /d`$ is the wave vector where the SmA peak occurs corresponding to a layer spacing $`d`$. The correlation length $`\xi _{}(\xi _{})`$ and wave vector components $`q_{}(q_{})`$ are parallel (perpendicular) to the nematic director. The susceptibility is $`\sigma _0`$, while $`c`$ ranges between 0.25 and 0 and gives the scale of the fourth-order correction. The second-order $`q_{}`$ contribution to the line shape arises due to the influence of nematic fluctuations on the formation of the SmA state Litster . Far below the N-SmA transition these fluctuations are constrained to be perpendicular to the smectic layers. In the case of finite correlation lengths, $`\xi _{}`$ and $`\xi _{}`$, the structure factor then can be written approximately as

$$S(𝐪)=\frac{\sigma _0}{1+\xi _{}^2(q_{}q_0)^2+\xi _{}^4q_{}^4}$$
(2)
In the case of infinite correlation lengths, the structure factor has been described by Caillé Caille  and varies with $`(q_{}q_0)^{2+\eta }`$ and $`q_{}^{4+2\eta }`$ respectively ($`\eta `$ depends on the elastic constants) Als-Nielsen .

Experimental determination of these structure factors for pure liquid crystals was carried out in an applied magnetic field. In the N phase all regions of the sample become aligned allowing detailed characterization of the pretransitional smectic fluctuations or the algebraic decay within the SmA state. Equivalent studies are not possible for the I-SmA transition since there is no possibility of magnetic field alignment in the N state. Hence, only very preliminary studies have been made of the line shape for 12CB C\_and\_S . In what follows, we analyze our results assuming that the SmA fluctuations are either similar to those in nonylcyanobiphenyl (9CB) as given by Eq.(1) or that the scattering is described by Eq.(2). At the I-SmA transition the orientational order is caused by the formation of the SmA state. As a result, we anticipate that the nematic director will be constrained to lie perpendicular to the smectic layers. By this argument Eq.(2) appears to be a good approximation to the structure factor.

### II.2 Experimental Techniques

The 10CB was synthesized at Kent State University. Type-300 aerosil was supplied by Degussa Degussa  and was dried prior to use. The amount of aerosil in each sample was quantified by the parameter $`\rho _S`$, the mass of aerosil divided by the volume of liquid crystal. X-ray diffraction experiments were carried out at the National Synchrotron Light Source at Brookhaven National Laboratory. The beam lines used were X20A, X20C and X22A. Liquid crystal samples containing dispersed aerosils were in the solid phase following long periods at room temperature and so prior to study were remixed with pure ethanol, sonicated and then dried for several days on a hot plate. The gel samples were placed in 5-mm radius disks which have kapton windows Park . The kapton x-ray diffraction signal has a powder peak outside the range of interest for these experiments. Temperature control is via a PI controller to within $`\pm 0.05`$ K. Each sample was kept in the I phase at a temperature around 30 K above the I-SmA transition for 6 hours after being transferred to the holder. The number of scans for each sample was kept limited to avoid undue x-ray damage.

## III Results and analysis

Figure 1 presents our measurements and analysis of the pretransitional fluctuations in the isotropic phase of 10CB. Pretransitional smectic fluctuations are extremely weak in the pure material and were never evident in the gel samples. Figure 1(a) shows a typical scan; the peak is very broad and the solid line is the result of a fit to Eq.(1) varying $`\sigma _0`$, $`q_0`$, and $`\xi _{}`$ and using the known 9CB characteristics for $`\xi _{}(\xi _{})`$ and $`c(\xi _{})`$. The parameters from such fits are displayed in panels b,c,d of Fig. 1. There is no indication that the susceptibility, $`\sigma _0`$, or the parallel correlation length, $`\xi _{}`$ are about to diverge. The weakness of the fluctuations immediately prior to the transition strongly suggest that this is not a typical fluctuation driven first-order transition. The observed behavior is likely due to the de Gennes coupling between nematic and smectic order parameters.

The 10CB-aerosil sample compositions studied are listed in Table 1. Measurements were made from a temperature ($`T350`$ K) well above the I-SmA transition ($`T_{IA}=324.5`$ K). However, the SmA line shape for 10CB-aerosil samples only appeared at a pseudotransition temperature with a substantial correlation length already established. Typical scans are presented in Fig. 2. The peaks are all broader than the instrumental resolution. The width increases with increasing gel density but varies little with temperature. Data were taken down to $`T=298`$ K, which is well below the bulk material crystallization temperature BDH  ($`T_K=317.1`$ K). The lines in Fig. 2 corresponds to a model that will be described below. Two samples, $`\rho _S=0.025`$ and $`0.282`$, were measured on beam-line X22A where slightly higher instrumental resolution could be achieved. Typically, the peak position in the SmA phase was $`q_0=0.1776`$ Å<sup>-1</sup>, rising just below the transition and dropping slightly at lower temperatures.

For previous x-ray studies of the N-SmA transition in aerosil gels, the line shape was taken to be composed of two contributions Aerosil\_X ; Clegg1 ; Park ; Clegg2 . The first part is the thermal term, Eq.(1), which is identical to that of the pure material, while the second part is the random-field term, which has the form of the thermal term squared. The total structure factor is

$`S(𝐪)=`$ $`\sigma _1S^T(𝐪)+S^{RF}(𝐪)`$ (3)
$`S^{RF}(𝐪)=`$ $`a_2(\xi _{}\xi _{}^2)[S^T(𝐪)]^2`$
where $`S^T(𝐪)`$ corresponds to Eq.(1) for the N-SmA transition with the numerator set equal to 1 and the denominator of $`S^{RF}(𝐪)`$ is the square of the denominator of $`S^T(𝐪)`$. $`\sigma _1`$ and $`a_2`$ are the amplitudes for the thermal and random-field terms respectively. Since the samples are comprised of a random arrangement of ordered domains this structure factor has to be averaged over all orientations. Prior to comparing the model with the data this spherically averaged line shape must be convoluted with the measured instrumental resolution function. Both the integral over orientations and the convolution were performed numerically using commercially available routines.

Figure 3 shows the results of fits to a typical profile. The dotted and solid lines result from applying Eq.(3) to the 10CB-aerosil data using the form of Eq.(1) for $`S^T(𝐪)`$. Here, as elsewhere Aerosil\_X ; Park ; Clegg1 ; Clegg2 , we take $`\xi _{}`$ as a parameter to be fitted and we assume that $`\xi _{}(\xi _{})`$ and $`c(\xi _{})`$ remain the same as for the pure material Leheny\_p . The behavior of $`\xi _{}`$, $`\xi _{}`$ and $`c`$ for 10CB are not known. The dotted and the solid line in Fig. 3 assume that 8CB behavior and 9CB behavior for $`\xi _{}(\xi _{})`$ and $`c(\xi _{})`$ are followed respectively Ocko\_Thesis . It is evident that either fit gives a reasonable description of the data, with the use of 9CB parameters yielding a somewhat better fit. This model using the 9CB relationships for $`\xi _{}(\xi _{})`$ and $`c(\xi _{})`$ has been used to analyze all of the 10CB-aerosil results. The fit parameters are $`q_0,\sigma _1,a_2`$, and $`\xi _{}`$, whose optimum values are determined using a least-squares fitting procedure. The dashed line in Fig. 3 shows the result of a fit with Eq.(3) to the 10CB-aerosil data using the form of Eq.(2) for $`S^T(𝐪)`$. Again $`\xi _{}(\xi _{})`$ is assumed to remain the same as in bulk 9CB; however in this case the transverse tails of the peak are assumed to have changed. This model also gives a good correspondence to the data. Use of a model based on Eq.(2) for the form of $`S^T(𝐪)`$ systematically modifies the fit parameters compared to those presented here. There is a small shift in favor of the thermal term and the correlation length decreases. The latter feature is returned to in more detail below.

The variation of the two components of the line shape, with temperature and $`\rho _S`$ is shown in Fig. 4. Panels Fig. 4(a & b) are for high temperature and Fig. 4(c & d) are for low temperature. While Fig. 4(a & c) are for low $`\rho _S`$ and Fig. 4(b & d) are for high $`\rho _S`$. The second term in Eq.(3) dominates the scattering for all temperatures studied (dashed line). The full model Eq.(3) using Eq.(1) for $`S^T(𝐪)`$ is the solid line. The peak width varies little with temperature but is seen to be broader than the instrumental resolution (Fig. 4).

Figures 5 and 6 show parameters determined by the fit procedure versus temperature while Figs. 7 and 8 show parameters versus $`\rho _S`$. In the latter case, the results are compared to those from other liquid crystal-aerosil gels at temperatures below the N-SmA transition.

The behavior of the parallel correlation length, $`\xi _{}`$, as a function of temperature is shown for a selection of samples in Fig. 5 (solid symbols). The fact that these are all finite shows that the quasi long-range SmA state has been destroyed by the gel. The pseudotransition to short-range smectic order remains sharp and the correlation length jumps directly to its low temperature value with no pretransitional fluctuations. This behavior strongly suggests that the transition remains first order in the gels. As the gel density is increased the correlation length systematically decreases. The open symbols in Fig. 5 show the values for $`\xi _{}`$ determined using Eq.(3) with Eq.(2) for $`S^T(𝐪)`$. The systematic decrease in $`\xi _{}`$ results from the narrower transverse profile of Eq.(2) for a particular $`\xi _{}`$ value. Since the shifts are approximately equal on a logarithmic scale this result does not modify any of the power law relationships discussed in Sec. IV.

The corresponding temperature dependence of the amplitude of the random-field term, $`a_2`$, is shown in Fig. 6 for three samples. The temperature dependence is consistent with the random field fluctuations increasingly dominating the scattering at low temperatures. In Sec. IV we will discuss the difference between the behaviors of $`a_2(T)`$ and $`\xi _{}(T)`$. In contrast to the correlation length behavior, the growth of this amplitude parameter becomes increasingly more gradual as $`\rho _S`$ increases. As with N-SmA transitions in aerosil gels Park , $`a_2(T)`$ can be compared to an order parameter squared for the pseudotransition. The lines in Fig. 6 are the results of fits with the form $`a_2(T_{IA}^{}T)^x`$. We emphasize that this form, which is normally used at a second-order transition with $`x=2\beta `$, is used here to provide a strictly phenomenological description of the data. The inset in Fig. 6 shows the $`x`$ values, and both they and the resulting pseudotransition temperatures, $`T_{IA}^{}`$, are presented in Table 1. Although there is substantial scatter, the $`x`$ values indicate that $`a_2`$ is growing more gradually with increasing $`\rho _S`$.

Figure 7 shows a log-log plot of the variation of the smectic domain size with the gel density, $`\rho _S`$. The smectic domain size is quantified by an isotropic correlation length $`\overline{\xi }=(\xi _{}\xi _{}^2)^{1/3}`$ and the low-temperature average of this quantity is shown. The line through the 10CB-aerosil data corresponds to $`\overline{\xi }\rho _S^{1/2}`$. Also plotted in Fig. 7 are $`\overline{\xi }`$ results for 8CB-aerosil Aerosil\_X  and 8OCB-aerosil Clegg1  samples, for which $`\overline{\xi }\rho _S^1`$. This contrast will be discussed in Sec. IV.

Figure 8 is a log-log plot of $`a_2/\sigma _1`$ versus the disorder strength as represented by $`\rho _S`$. This ratio gives the strength of the random-field contribution to the scattering and is independent of x-ray intensity normalization. Equivalent values are plotted for 8CB-aerosil Aerosil\_X  and 8OCB-aerosil Clegg1  samples. While the scatter is rather large, the results are consistent with power law behavior with $`a_2/\sigma _1\rho _S^3`$ for N-SmA and $`a_2/\sigma _1\rho _S^{3/2}`$ for the I-SmA. The low temperature values of $`a_2/\sigma _1`$ and $`\xi _{}`$ are included in Table 1. These are the mean values below $`315`$ K.

## IV Discussion and Conclusions

Our results show that an aerosil gel reduces the SmA state to short-range order with random-field characteristics. At first sight, the temperature dependencies in Fig. 5 and 6 are a little surprising. The behavior of the correlation length, $`\xi _{}`$, suggests a first-order transition for all $`\rho _S`$ while the random-field amplitude, $`a_2`$, suggests an increasingly gradual transition with increasing $`\rho _S`$. For pure 10CB the pretransitional fluctuations are very weak and short range, Fig. 1. While the correlation lengths are short the liquid crystal is unlikely to be strongly perturbed by the aerosil gel environment. The perturbation will only become effective when the correlation length grows to length scales comparable with the distance between gel strands. Hence the correlation length grows quickly until the disorder becomes apparent. As $`\rho _S`$ increases and $`\xi _{}`$ decreases, the order parameter behavior changes from rising rapidly at low disorder to developing gradually for high gel densities. The $`x`$ values inset to Fig. 6 are consistent with a gradual crossover from strongly first order to tricritical with increasing aerosil density. As shown in Table 1 the pseudotransition temperature, $`T_{IA}^{}`$, varies little with $`\rho _S`$ for 10CB-aerosil. This suggests that local variations in $`\rho _S`$ are unlikely to lead to two-phase coexistence for this material. Hence the transition is not observed to be substantially smeared. The correlation length, $`\overline{\xi }=(\xi _{}\xi _{}^2)^{1/3}`$, is characterizing short-range SmA domains within a predominantly SmA sample.

Here we are interpreting our results as if two-phase coexistence over a range of temperatures were not an important issue. This is because of the discontinuous behavior of $`\xi _{}(T)`$ at $`T_{IA}^{}`$. By contrast, Bellini and coworkers Aerogel\_IA  interpreted their x-ray results on an 10CB-aerogel sample in terms of coexisting phases - indeed they observed coexistence via optical microscopy. The 10CB-aerogel sample they studied had $`\mathrm{\Phi }0.79`$ and $`\overline{\xi }200`$ Å, roughly comparable with our highest $`\rho _S`$ aerosil sample. The temperature dependence of the peak intensity and correlation lengths are similar. One important and unusual feature of a fluctuation driven first order transition is that the disordered phase remains metastable at all temperatures Brazovskii ; F\_and\_B . It may well be the case that this leads to the observed coexistence. This phenomena is also true of the bulk material and it is unlikely to have given rise to the change in $`a_2(T)`$ with $`\rho _S`$ that we have presented. The ratio of the volume of individual ordered domains to the volume of the complete SmA region is roughly 1:125000 and hence it is no surprise that the remaining I phase plays little role in determining $`\overline{\xi }`$ and only a very small role in the temperature dependence of the intensity.

The observed trend in $`x`$ (Fig. 6) together with previous results on other cyanobiphenyls Aerosil\_Cp ; Park ; Clegg1  suggests that the disorder introduces a systematic change in transition properties. For 8CB-aerosil Aerosil\_Cp ; Park  and other N-SmA transitions the aerosils change the transition characteristics away from an anisotropic critical point and toward 3D-XY behavior. The liquid crystal begins to behave as though the N order parameter is becoming increasingly saturated. Here 10CB-aerosil appears to move toward tricritical properties ($`x0.5`$) as aerosil is added. For the isotropic - nematic - smectic-A phase diagram this change is also equivalent to a shift toward the regime where the N phase is stable. For 8CB-aerosil and 10CB-aerosil the disorder has some effects which are equivalent to shortening the length of the molecule.

Up to this point the response of the I-SmA transition to the aerosil gel is very similar to that of the N-SmA transition in aerosil gels Park ; Clegg1 . However, Figs. 7 and 8 show that there are systematic differences in the $`\rho _S`$ dependence for $`\overline{\xi }`$ and $`a_2/\sigma _1`$ associated with these two transitions. In the case of N-SmA, it was argued that $`\rho _S`$, the mass of aerosil divided by the volume of liquid crystal, corresponds to the variance of the random field Aerosil\_X ; Germano2 . The dependence of $`\overline{\xi }`$ and $`a_2/\sigma _1`$ on the random field variance $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$ has been determined by Aharony and Pytte A\_and\_P ; Germano2

$$\overline{\xi }\mathrm{\Delta }^{\frac{1}{d_{\mathrm{}}d}}$$
(4)
$$a_2/\sigma _1\mathrm{\Delta }^{\frac{3}{d_{\mathrm{}}d}}$$
(5)
where $`d_{\mathrm{}}`$ is the lower marginal dimensionality in the presence of random fields. For transitions which break a continuous symmetry, random fields are found to shift the lower marginal dimensionality to two higher dimensions. For experimentally achievable resolutions the N-SmA transition has 3D-XY characteristics, hence $`d_{\mathrm{}}=4`$. This is in full agreement with results for 8CB-aerosil Aerosil\_X  and 8OCB-aerosil Clegg1  as shown in Figs. 7 and 8. These log-log plots strongly suggest that $`d_{\mathrm{}}=5`$ for 10CB-aerosil. Two-phase coexistence on the scale of the individual ordered domains is predicted to give rise to more abrupt domain walls than occur within an $`n2`$ single-phase sample I\_and\_W . By the Imry-Ma argument I\_and\_M  this would tend to reduce $`d_{\mathrm{}}`$ below 4. This is the opposite trend to our observations.

The observed $`d_{\mathrm{}}=5`$ appears consistent with the absence of the orientationally ordered N phase. The formation of SmA order in 10CB gives rise to nematic order and hence the director is constrained to lie along the layer normal. Director fluctuations no longer influence the range of smectic correlations. As a result the line shape has the form anticipated for the Landau-Peierls instability Eq.(2) albeit with finite-range order. This is consistent with the use of Eq.(2) as the thermal structure factor for Eq.(3) and its square as the random-field term. The lower marginal dimensionality is general for a transition from a uniform phase to one with translational order in a single direction. Golubović and Kulić G\_and\_K  have made a theoretical analysis of a similar random-field problem. They studied a system with a continuous set of energy minima in q-space, having the form of a ring as opposed to the sphere for the I-SmA transition. Following Imry and Ma I\_and\_M  they determined the dimensionalities for which the correlation function for transverse fluctuations of the order parameter would diverge. The lower marginal dimensionality depends on how the inverse susceptibility varies with the wave vector. For the XY model the inverse susceptibility varies quadratically with the wave vector components I\_and\_M . For a ring of energy minima the inverse susceptibility varies quartically with one of the wave vector components and quadratically with the others G\_and\_K . For a sphere of energy minima the inverse susceptibility varies quartically with two of the components and quadratically with the others. For $`dd_{\mathrm{}}`$ the correlation function in the presence of quenched random fields diverges and in these cases $`d_{\mathrm{}}=4,4.5,5`$ respectively I\_and\_M ; G\_and\_K .

The series of studies on 8CB-aerosil Aerosil\_Cp ; Park ; Aerosil\_X ; Germano2 , 8OCB-aerosil Clegg1  and 10CB-aerosil samples provide a detailed picture of the effect of quenched random fields on the formation of the SmA phase. The first two examples relate to the case where an orientationally ordered (N) phase intervenes between the I and the SmA while the results presented here relate to the direct transition from I to SmA. The interaction between nematic fluctuations away from the smectic layer normal and the SmA order results in transverse smectic correlations which die out with $`q_{}^2`$. Our results suggest that, at the I-SmA transition, the molecules are constrained to be perpendicular to the layers and hence the SmA correlations die out with $`q_{}^4`$. There is a concomitant change in the lower marginal dimensionality. We have presented high resolution x-ray diffraction results for 10CB-aerosil samples with a range of gel densities. We have shown that an aerosil gel perturbs the I-SmA transition as though it were a random field pinning the phase of the density wave. The transition remains first order for all gel densities studied while the line shape and correlation length evolve systematically. The line shape analysis reveals reasonable agreement with a Landau-Peierls system with quenched random fields. It would be of very great interest to study the effect of aerosils at the tricritical point close to the boundary between N-SmA and I-SmA regimes.

## V Acknowledgments

Funding in Toronto was provided by the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council. The National Synchrotron Light Source, Brookhaven National Laboratory, is supported by the US Department of Energy under Contract No. DE-AC02-98CH10886.


format: text

text:
# Holography: 2-D or not 2-D?

## Acknowledgments

The author would like to thank M. Visser and D. Martin for helpful conversations. The author also thanks an anonymous referee for pointing out a tactical error in the first version of the manuscript. Research is supported by the Marsden Fund (c/o the New Zealand Royal Society) and by the University Research Fund (c/o Victoria University).


text:
# Casimir-Polder interaction in the presence of parallel walls

## Abstract

Making use of the quantum correlators associated with the Maxwell field vacuum distorted by the presence of plane parallel material surfaces we derive the Casimir-Polder in the presence of plane parallel conducting walls and in the presence of a conducting wall and a magnetically permeable one.

PACS: 11. 10. -z; 12. 20. -m

e-mail: filadelf@if.ufrj.br

e-mail:tort@if.ufrj.br

In 1948, Casimir and Polder  taking into account a suggestion made by experimentalists evaluated the interaction potential between two eletrical polarizable molecules separated by a distance $`r`$ including the effects due to the finiteness of the speed of propagation of the electromagnetic interaction, i.e.: of the retardment. Casimir and Polder showed that the retardment causes the interaction potential to change from a $`r^6`$ power law to a $`r^7`$ power law. In the same paper, Casimir and Polder also analyzed the retarded interaction between an atom and a conducting wall and showed that the interaction potential in this case varies according to a $`r^4`$ power law, where now $`r`$ is the distance between the atom and the wall. For an introduction on these subjects see . Here we wish to show how it is possible with the help of the so called renormalized electromagnetic field correlators, in our case the ones that take into account the presence of the boundary conditions imposed on the fields, to reobtain the piece of Casimir and Polder’s result for the atom-wall interaction that depends on the distortion of the vacuum oscillations of the electromagnetic field caused by the presence of parallel walls. The electromagnetic field correlators for the case of two parallel perfectly conducting surfaces separated by a distance $`a`$ were evaluated in  and in . For the case of a perfectly conducting plane wall and a perfectly permeable plane wall, a setup first introduced by Boyer , they were calculated in . These mathematical objects, closely related to the pertinent electromagnetic Green’s functions, were also employed to obtain an alternative view of the Casimir effect  through the quantum version of the Lorentz force between the walls .

Let us first recall some aspects concerning electrically and magnetically polarizable bodies . From a classical point of view the induced eletrical polarization density $`𝐏`$ can be thought of as a function of the electric and magnetic fields $`𝐄`$ and $`𝐁`$. In many cases only the dependence on the eletric field is relevant. It can be shown that under conditions for which the effects of the retardment (i.e., of the finiteness of the speed of light) must be taken into account it suffices to consider the static eletrical polarizability $`\alpha \left(0\right)`$ only, see for instance  and references therein. If the electric field changes by $`\delta 𝐄`$, the interaction between the polarizable body and the electric field will change according to $`\delta V=𝐏\left[𝐄\right]\delta 𝐄=\alpha \left(0\right)𝐄\delta 𝐄`$. Therefore, if the field changes from zero to a finite value $`𝐄`$, the interaction energy is $`V_E=\alpha \left(0\right)𝐄^2/2`$. In the quantum version of this interaction potential we must replace $`𝐄^2`$ by its vacuum expectation value, $`\widehat{𝐄}^2_0`$. The same arguments hold when we consider the magnetization $`𝐌`$. The quantum interaction potential between a magnetically polarizable atom and the magnetic field is given by $`V_M=\beta \left(0\right)𝐁^2/2_0`$, where $`\beta \left(0\right)`$ is the static magnetic polarizability. In order to proceed we must know the vacuum expectation values of the quantum field operators $`𝐄^2`$ and $`𝐁^2`$. This means to evaluate explicitly the vacuum expectation values of the so called electromagnetic field correlators $`E_i(𝐫,t)E_j(𝐫,t)`$, $`B_i(𝐫,t)B_j(𝐫,t)`$, and $`E_i(𝐫,t)B_j(𝐫,t)`$, in the presence of external conditions, i.e., boundary conditions. A regularization recipe will also be necessary. Fortunately these objects were calculated before and we can limit ourselves to make use of the results.

For the case of two parallel conducting walls separated by a fixed distance $`a`$ we have

$`E_i(𝐫,t)E_j(𝐫,t)_0`$ $`=`$ $`\left({\displaystyle \frac{\pi }{a}}\right)^4{\displaystyle \frac{2}{3\pi }}\left[\left(\delta ^{}+\delta ^{}\right)_{ij}{\displaystyle \frac{1}{120}}+\delta _{ij}F(\xi )\right],`$ (1)
where $`\delta _{ij}^{}:=\delta _{ix}\delta _{jx}+\delta _{iy}\delta _{jy}`$ and $`\delta _{ij}^{}:=\delta _{iz}\delta _{jz}`$. The function $`F\left(\xi \right)`$ with $`\xi :=\pi z/a`$ is defined by

$$F\left(\xi \right):=\frac{1}{8}\frac{d^3}{d\xi ^3}\frac{1}{2}\mathrm{cot}\left(\xi \right),$$
(2)
and its expansion about $`\xi =0`$ is given by

$$F\left(\xi \right)\frac{3}{8}\xi ^4+\frac{1}{120}+O\left(\xi ^2\right).$$
(3)
Near $`\xi =\pi `$ (which corresponds to $`z=a`$) we make the replacement $`\xi \xi \pi `$. Notice that due to the behavior of $`F\left(\xi \right)`$ near $`\xi =0,\pi `$, divergences control the behavior of the correlators near the plates.

The magnetic field correlators are

$$B_i(𝐫,t)B_j(𝐫,t)_0=\left(\frac{\pi }{a}\right)^4\frac{2}{3\pi }\left[\left(\delta ^{}+\delta ^{}\right)_{ij}\frac{1}{120}\delta _{ij}F(\xi )\right].$$
(4)
A direct evaluation shows that the correlators $`<E_i(𝐫,t)B_j(𝐫,t)_0`$ are zero.

For the case of perfectly conducting plane wall and a magnetically permeable one results are

$$\widehat{E}_i(𝐫,t)\widehat{E}_j(𝐫,t)_0=\left(\frac{\pi }{a}\right)^4\frac{2}{3\pi }\left[\left(\frac{7}{8}\right)\frac{\left(\delta ^{}+\delta ^{}\right)_{ij}}{120}+\delta _{ij}G\left(\xi \right)\right],$$
(5)
and

$$\widehat{B}_i(𝐫,t)\widehat{B}_j(𝐫,t)_0=\left(\frac{\pi }{a}\right)^4\frac{2}{3\pi }\left[\left(\frac{7}{8}\right)\frac{\left(\delta ^{}+\delta ^{}\right)_{ij}}{120}\delta _{ij}G\left(\xi \right)\right].$$
(6)
Observe that near $`\xi =0`$ the function $`G\left(\xi \right)`$ behaves as

$$G\left(\xi \right)=\frac{3}{8}\xi ^4\frac{7}{8}\frac{1}{120}+O\left(\xi ^2\right),$$
(7)
near $`\xi =\pi `$, however, its behavior is slightly different

$$G\left(\xi \right)=\frac{3}{8}\left(\xi \pi \right)^4+\frac{7}{8}\frac{1}{120}+O\left[\left(\xi \pi \right)^2\right].$$
(8)
Again, a direct calculation shows that $`\widehat{E}_i(𝐫,t)\widehat{B}_j(𝐫,t)_0=0`$ for this case also. As before the divergent behavior of the correlators near the plates we are interested in is an effect of the distortions of the electromagnetic oscillations with respect to a situation where the plates are not present. The correlators given by (1), (4), (5), and (6) allow us to obtain in a straightforward way expressions for the interaction potential energy between an electrically or magnetically polarizable atom placed between the walls and the walls.

Let us consider first the case of an electrically polarizable atom or molecule placed between two perfectly conducting parallel walls. Suppose that the atom is placed at a distance $`z`$ from the conducting wall placed at $`z=0`$. The interaction potential between the atom and the walls is given by

$$V_E\left(z\right)=\frac{1}{2}\alpha \left(0\right)\widehat{𝐄}^2\left(z\right)_0,$$
(9)
where $`\alpha \left(0\right)`$ is the static polarizability of the molecule. Making use of (1) we can evaluate $`\widehat{𝐄}^2\left(z\right)_0`$ and using the above equation we obtain

$$V_E\left(z\right)=\frac{\alpha \left(0\right)\pi ^3}{3a^4}\left[3F\left(\frac{\pi z}{a}\right)\frac{1}{120}\right].$$
(10)
Making use of (3) and taking the limit $`a\mathrm{}`$ we obtain the single wall limit of the interaction potential between an electrically polarizable atom and a conducting wall,

$$V_E\left(z\right)=\frac{3\alpha \left(0\right)}{8\pi z^4},$$
(11)
in agreement with ; see also . Consider now a magnetically polarizable atom or molecule placed between the two conducting walls. The interaction potential in this case will be given by

$$V_M\left(z\right)=+\frac{\beta \left(0\right)\pi ^3}{3a^4}\left[3F\left(\frac{\pi z}{a}\right)+\frac{1}{120}\right],$$
(12)
where we made use of (4). If the atom or molecule is simultaneously electrically and magnetically polarizable the interaction potential will be simply $`V\left(z\right)=V_E\left(z\right)+V_M\left(z\right)`$, that is

$$V\left(z\right)=\left(\alpha \left(0\right)\beta \left(0\right)\right)\frac{\pi ^3}{a^4}F\left(\frac{\pi z}{a}\right)+\left(\alpha \left(0\right)+\beta \left(0\right)\right)\frac{\pi ^3}{360a^4}.$$
(13)
The single conducting wall limit $`(a\mathrm{})`$ of (13) is easily obtained with the help of (3). The result is:

$$V\left(z\right)\frac{3}{8\pi z^4}\left(\alpha \left(0\right)\beta \left(0\right)\right),$$
(14)
which is in agreement with .

The polarizable atom or molecule can be also placed between a conducting plate at $`z=0`$ and a permeable one at $`z=a`$. In this case, making use of (5) e (6) a straightforward calculation leads to the following result

$$V\left(z\right)=\left(\alpha \left(0\right)\beta \left(0\right)\right)\frac{\pi ^3}{a^4}G\left(\frac{\pi z}{a}\right)+\left(\alpha \left(0\right)+\beta \left(0\right)\right)\left(\frac{7}{8}\right)\frac{\pi ^3}{360a^4}.$$
(15)
There are now two single walls limits to be considered. Near the conducting plate at $`z=0`$ the potential is given by (14), but near the perfectly permeable plate at $`z=a`$, the potential is repulsive and given by

$$V\left(z\right)+\frac{3}{8\pi \left(za\right)^4}\left(\alpha \left(0\right)\beta \left(0\right)\right),$$
(16)
where we made use of (8). These last results are to our knowledge new.

It is important to keep in mind that, as mentioned before, we have dealt with a part of the interaction between an atom and two or one walls. The contribution of the interaction between the electric/magnetic dipole moment and its images was utterly neglected. Therefore, the results refer only to the contribution of the quantum vacuum distorted by one or two walls to the total interaction potential. With this proviso we can state that the Casimir-Polder interaction shows certain aspects of the quantum structure of the vacuum confined between the plane surfaces in question. The atom acts as a probe of the confined quantum vacuum, particularly near the walls.


text:
# H𝛼 variability of the recurrent nova T Coronae Borealisbased on observations obtained at Rozhen National Astronomical Observatory, Bulgaria

## 1 Introduction

T Coronae Borealis is a well known recurrent nova with an orbital period of 227$`\stackrel{d}{.}`$57 (Kenyon & Garcia kg (1986); Fekel et al. fek (2000)). The system contains a M4.5 III giant (Murset & Schmid mur (1999)), which fills its Roche lobe and transfers mass toward a hot component (HC). The optical spectrum of T~CrB is dominated by the red giant (RG) with superimposed Balmer emission lines, which are thought to originate in an accretion disc (AD) around the HC (Selvelli et al. 1992; hereafter SCG ). The high excitation He ii$`\lambda `$4686 emission line is sometimes also visible (Iijima iij (1990)). The H$`\alpha `$ emission line is well visible all the time and shows variability with the orbital period as well as large variations on a time scale of years (Anupama & Prabhu anu (1991); Zamanov & Marti zm (2001)). The photometric variability in the long wavelength range is dominated by the ellipsoidal variability of the RG (Shahbaz et al. sha (1997); Belczynski & Mikolajewska bm (1998); Yudin & Munari yum (1993)). At short wavelengths T~CrB shows strong flickering activity, with the same parameters as those of normal cataclysmic variables, in spite of the large difference in the size of the AD (Zamanov & Bruch zam (1998)). Apart from the recurrent nova outbursts, T~CrB shows other periods of enhanced luminosity. The amplitude of these variations increases toward the shorter wavelengths and reaches $`2`$ mag in the $`U`$-band (Zamanov & Zamanova zz (1997); Hric et al. hric (1998)). The equivalent width of the line H$`\alpha `$ (EW(H$`\alpha `$)) also greatly increases and reaches $`3035`$ Å (Anupama & Prabhu anu (1991); Zamanov & Marti zm (2001)). This activity is not well understood.

For more than 30 years the HC in T~CrB has been considered as a main sequence star (Kraft kraft (1958); Kenyon & Garcia kg (1986)). Investigations over the last 10 years, however, suggest that the accreting object must be a white dwarf (WD). First, SCG  analyzed long-term ultraviolet (UV) spectral observations of T~CrB and concluded that the HC is a WD. Belczynski & Mikolajewska (bm (1998)) analyzed the ellipsoidal variability of the RG and suggested the presence of a WD. In a study of recurrent novae with giant secondaries, Anupama & Mikolajewska (am (1999)) also found that the HCs in these systems are WDs embedded in the dense wind of the RG. Finally, Hachisu & Kato (kato (2001)) successfully modeled recurrent novae outbursts as thermonuclear runaway on a massive WD. However, no system parameters determination based on the radial velocities (RVs) of the two components has been published since Kraft (kraft (1958)). Recently, Hric et al. (hric (1998)) re-analyzed the RVs of Kraft (kraft (1958)) and concluded that the hot component in T~CrB is a WD. However their analysis is still based on Kraft’s seven measurements of the HC RV.

In this paper we present an analysis of spectral H$`\alpha `$ and photoelectric $`UBV`$ observations of T~CrB obtained during the last decade. This is the first investigation of this object where the RG contribution is subtracted and the ”cleaned” H$`\alpha `$ profile is measured. Based on our H$`\alpha `$ radial velocity measurements we obtain a new orbital solution. We also discuss the long-term variability of T~CrB.

## 2 Observations and spectra processing

The star T~CrB was observed during 64 nights between February 1993 and September 2001 with the Coudé spectrograph of the 2.0 m RCC telescope of the Bulgarian National Astronomical Observatory ”Rozhen”. The spectra cover $`100`$ Å or $`200`$ Å around H$`\alpha `$, with resolution of $`0.2`$ Å pixel-1. In some nights we have also obtained spectra covering the He ii$`\lambda `$4686 emission line. Usually 2 or 3 exposures, of 15-20 minutes each, were taken to improve the sensitivity and to avoid problems with cosmic ray hits. The spectra were reduced in the standard way including bias removal, flat-field correction, wavelength calibration and correction for the Earth’s motion. The spectra obtained within each observational season (with a typical duration of 2-4 days) were averaged to improve the signal-to-noise ratio. 38 mean H$`\alpha `$ spectra were obtained. They are plotted in the left panels of Fig. 1. We have also obtained new photoelectric $`UBV`$ observations with the 60-cm telescope at Rozhen Observatory (Zamanov et al. 2004, in preparation).

The main source of the continuum around H$`\alpha `$ is the RG and the contribution of the HC is rather small, of the order of 5-15%. Because of this and since the H$`\alpha `$ emission line is usually weak, the profile is strongly affected by the absorption lines of the RG. Therefore, to measure the RVs of the H$`\alpha `$ emission line accurately one should first subtract the spectrum of the giant. To do this we used the following procedure. The M4 III star HD134807 (Buscombe mk1 (1999)) was observed with the same instrumental setup as T~CrB and served as a template. The template was continuum-normalized and shifted to zero RV. Once H$`\alpha `$ was masked, the RVs of the giant were obtained by convolving the T~CrB spectra with the template (Tonry & Davis tonry (1979)). The template was then shifted to the RV of each spectrum, multiplied by a number $`f`$ between 0 and 1 and subtracted from the T~CrB spectra. $`f`$ was chosen to minimize the scatter of the residuals. The width of the absorption lines in the spectra of both T~CrB and the template is dominated by the spectral resolution rather than the rotational broadening. As a result the absorption lines have almost equal widths; however, in some cases the line widths are different. In those cases the average absorption line widths in the template and T~CrB spectra were estimated by an autocorrelation function. Before the subtraction, the template or the spectrum was broadened by convolving it with a Gaussian to equalize the line widths. The ”cleaned” H$`\alpha `$ emission line profiles and the factors $`f`$ used are shown in the right panels of Fig. 1 and in Table 1, respectively.

## 3 Radial velocities

The radial velocities of the H$`\alpha `$ emission line were measured by fitting the line wings with a Gaussian function. We fitted only the outer parts of the line which are not contaminated by the central asymmetry/dip. Figure 1 shows that even after subtraction of the giant’s spectrum the H$`\alpha `$ line is double-peaked. When possible, the RV of the dip was also measured. A simple fitting with two Gaussian functions was used – one broad with a positive amplitude for the emission line and another narrow with a negative amplitude for the dip. Figure 2 shows the RVs of the giant, H$`\alpha `$ emission line and the dip folded with the ephemeris of Fekel et al. (fek (2000)) $`T_0=JD2447918.62+227\stackrel{d}{.}5687E`$. The RVs were fitted with the function $`V_\mathrm{r}=\gamma +K\mathrm{cos}[2\pi (\varphi \varphi _0)]`$ and the obtained parameters are given in Table 2.

The RV of the giant follows the ephemeris of Fekel et al. (fek (2000)) very well. The RV of the H$`\alpha `$ wings changes in anti-phase with that of the giant. This suggests that the location of the emission is on the line connecting the two stars, on the side of the mass center which is opposite to the giant. Most likely, the region where H$`\alpha `$ emission line is formed is centered close to the HC. The observed ellipsoidal variability (Shahbaz et al. sha (1997); Yudin & Munari yum (1993); Belczynski & Mikolajewska bm (1998)) suggests that the giant fills its Roche lobe, which provides a possibility for mass flow through the inner Lagrangian point and an AD formation. In this case the most plausible assumption is that the bulk of the H$`\alpha `$ flux is emitted by the outer part of the AD. There is also other indirect evidence for the presence of an AD in this system (SCG ; Anupama & Mikolajewska am (1999); Hachusu & Kato kato (2001)). Since the AD orbits around the mass center of the system together with the HC, the RVs of the emission line wings are likely to trace the motion of the HC. We will then use the radial velocity curves to estimate the component masses. Note, however, the small difference in the $`\gamma `$ velocity of the HC and RG, and that $`\varphi _0`$ of the HC RVs is not exactly 0.5. This is likely to be a result of the presence of additional emission components which most probably arise in the ionized parts of the giant’s wind. Such emission components can be easily seen in Fig. 1 (the panels for 960608, 970618 and 980811).

If the double-peaked shape of H$`\alpha `$ is a result of emission from an AD seen under moderate-to-high inclination, then the RV of the central dip should be in phase with that of the line wings. Figure 2 shows that the RV of the dip is modulated with the orbital period but follows more closely that of the giant, which argues against the AD origin. The central dip in the emission profiles of the symbiotic stars is thought to originate mainly in the giant’s wind. In the symbiotic star EG And the RV of the dip also changes in phase with that of the giant (Munari mun (1993)). Thus, the central dip in the H$`\alpha `$ emission profile of T~CrB originates most probably in the giant’s wind.

## 4 Orbital solution

Having the RV amplitudes of the two components we can estimate their masses. The velocity amplitude of the giant in T~CrB was accurately determined by Kenyon & Garcia (kg (1986)) – $`K_{\mathrm{RG}}=23.32\pm 0.16`$ km s-1 and was also recently revised to $`K_{\mathrm{RG}}=23.89\pm 0.17`$ km s-1 by Fekel et al. (fek (2000)). Our giant’s velocity data are in full agreement with the results of these authors. But since our measurements are noisier, they lead to larger uncertainty of $`K_{\mathrm{RG}}`$. Thus, for determination of the system’s parameters we prefer to use $`K_{\mathrm{RG}}`$ of Fekel et al. (fek (2000)). Assuming a zero eccentricity we obtain the following parameters: $`M_{\mathrm{HC}}\mathrm{sin}^3i=1.06\pm 0.10M_{}`$ and $`M_{\mathrm{RG}}\mathrm{sin}^3i=0.87\pm 0.18M_{}`$.

The masses of the two components as a function of the system inclination are shown in Fig. 3. Our HC velocities allow solutions with $`M_{\mathrm{HC}}`$ below the Chandrasekhar limit when the inclination is $`i65^{}`$. To obtain a more precise estimation of the masses a tighter constraint on the inclination is needed. The HC contributes little in the visible wavelengths but it gives almost the whole UV flux. Therefore, if the HC was eclipsed this would be best observed in the UV. The UV data, however, does not show any hint of eclipse (SCG ) and it can provide an upper limit. We assume that the giant fills its Roche lobe. We have then numerically calculated the projection of the RG in the orbital plane at zero phase for several values of $`i`$ between 60 and 80, and component mass ratio $`q=M_{\mathrm{RG}}/M_{\mathrm{HC}}=K_{\mathrm{HC}}/K_{\mathrm{RG}}=0.82\pm 0.10`$. We found that the center of the HC is not eclipsed when $`i70^{}`$. The upper limit depends also on the size of the UV emitting region. Its size, however, should be very small compared to the radius of the HC’s Roche lobe because the most likely UV emitting region is the WD and the inner part of the AD (SCG ). Thus, we conclude that the upper limit of the inclination is $`70^{}`$. The dotted lines in Fig. 3 mark the limits of the inclination and $`\pm 1\sigma `$ of the HC mass. Recently, Hachisu & Kato (kato (2001)) have modeled the outburst light curve of T~CrB and obtained the WD mass $`M_{\mathrm{WD}}1.37\pm 0.01M_{}`$. In terms of our orbital solution this corresponds to $`i67^{}`$ and for this inclination we have $`M_{\mathrm{WD}}1.37\pm 0.13M_{}`$ and $`M_{\mathrm{RG}}1.12\pm 0.23M_{}`$.

## 5 Long-term variability

In Fig. 4 we show our observations of T~CrB along with those published. Figure 4$`a`$ shows our EW(H$`\alpha `$) measurements (dots) and those of Anupama & Prabhu (anu (1991)) (open circles). Figures 4$`b`$ and $`c`$ show the total UV flux between 1250 and 3200 Å ($`F_{\mathrm{UV}}`$; taken from SCG ) and EW(H$`\alpha `$) measured from our spectra after the subtraction of the RG contribution (hereafter EW(H$`\alpha `$-gM)), respectively. In the photometry panels (Figs. 4$`df`$) the dots show the standard $`UBV`$ magnitudes (Raikova & Antov ra (1986); Lines et al. lines (1988); Hric et al. hric (1998); Sherrington & Jameson sj (1983); Zamanov & Zamanova zz (1997); our new data) and the open circles the instrumental ones (Oskanian osk (1983); Luthardt luth (1992)). The data of Luthardt were presented only in graphical form as a difference between T~CrB and the comparison star which was not specified. We estimated the magnitudes of T~CrB from the figure of Luthardt (luth (1992)) in the following way. On the computer screen we pointed with the cursor on each data point and read its coordinates. These ”computer screen” coordinates were converted to Julian Dates and magnitudes by applying the necessary transformations. Then, the data were shifted to the scale of the standard magnitudes by using the intervals when they overlap with the $`UBV`$ observations. We have also obtained an estimation of the H$`\alpha `$ flux by using the measured EW(H$`\alpha `$) and the published $`R`$-band magnitudes. We assume that the $`R`$-band flux represents the continuum flux at the position of H$`\alpha `$ and that the variations in $`R`$ are entirely due to the ellipsoidal variability. We fitted the $`R`$ data of Mikolajewski et al. (mik (1997)) and Hric et al. (hric (1998)) with a function consisting of three sines with periods of $`P_{\mathrm{orb}}`$, $`P_{\mathrm{orb}}/2`$ and $`P_{\mathrm{orb}}/3`$. With the coefficients obtained we have calculated the $`R`$ magnitudes at the moments of the spectral observations. Then, Bessell’s (bess (1979)) calibration of the $`R`$-band was used to calculate the H$`\alpha `$ flux. Because the H$`\alpha `$ flux variations repeat very closely those of EW(H$`\alpha `$), the H$`\alpha `$ flux is given only in Table 1 (only for our spectra). We note that the assumption that the $`R`$-band flux represents the flux in the continuum around H$`\alpha `$ introduces the largest uncertainty in the calculated H$`\alpha `$ flux. The reason is that the $`R`$ filter covers several strong molecular bands, and is placed where the flux in the RG spectrum increases strongly toward the long wavelengths.

As seen from Fig. 4 our observations cover an interval when both the photometric data and EW(H$`\alpha `$) vary greatly. The long-term variability has amplitude $`2.0`$, 1.0 and 0.3 mag in $`U`$, $`B`$ and $`V`$ bands, respectively. EW(H$`\alpha `$) increased from $`5`$ Å to $`30`$ Å. EW(H$`\alpha `$-gM) also increased, but its maximum is delayed with respect to the maximum of EW(H$`\alpha `$) and appears at JD2450950. It is seen from Figs. 4$`d`$ and $`e`$ that the maximum of EW(H$`\alpha `$-gM) coincides with the rapid decrease of the $`U`$ and $`B`$-band fluxes. This might explain the observed peculiarity. It is also seen from Fig. 4 that most of the UV observations have been obtained when T~CrB was in a high state. It is quite evident, however, that during the observations around JD2444000 and JD2447700 T~CrB was in a low state. The average increase of $`F_{\mathrm{UV}}`$ is $`3.3`$ and the corresponding increase of the $`U`$-band flux is $`2.6`$ ($`1`$ mag).

Anupama & Mikolajewska (am (1999)) noticed that the increase of EW(H$`\alpha `$) in the late 1980s correlated with the increase of UV and $`U`$ fluxes. Our new observations also show similar behavior. To verify the strong visual impression for correlation of the data shown in Fig. 4 we performed a correlation analysis. The small number of UV observations required interpolation when calculating the correlations involving $`F_{\mathrm{UV}}`$. For the correlation between H$`\alpha `$ and $`U`$-band fluxes we used yearly averaged values. (EW(H$`\alpha `$-gM) was not used here). The computed Pearson’s correlation coefficient and Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient are in all cases larger than 0.7 with the significance of the correlation always higher than 99%. The correlation analysis confirmed that all the data in Fig. 4 are indeed strongly correlated. As an example we show H$`\alpha `$ vs. $`U`$-band flux in Fig. 5. Our data and those of Anupama & Prabhu (anu (1991)) follow different tracks, but the correlation is apparent.

The correlated variations in the continuum can be also seen in Fig. 6 where we present the UV-optical-IR spectral energy distribution (SED) of T~CrB in low and high states. The points are a compilation (average) from the photometric data of Shahbaz et al. (sha (1997)), Kamath & Ashok (ka (1999)), Yudin & Munari (yum (1993)), Munari et al. (mun1 (1992)), Hric et al. (hric (1998)), Mikolajewski et al. (mik (1997)), Zamanov & Zamanova (zz (1997)) and our measurements. A representative high-state UV spectrum of T~CrB was obtained by averaging the low-resolution spectra taken by the International Ultraviolet Explorer ($`IUE`$) between JD2444300 and JD2447300 when the system was in high state. The rest of the $`IUE`$ spectra were used to obtain the average low-state UV spectrum. All fluxes were corrected for interstellar reddening of $`E_{BV}=0.15`$ (Cassatella et al. cas (1982)) using O’Donnell’s (red (1994)) interstellar extinction law and $`R_V=3.1`$.

The data in Figs. 4$`b`$ and 6 show that the bolometric luminosity of the hot component varies greatly on time scale of about 200 days, which is not a typical feature of objects whose activity is powered by thermonuclear runaways. Moreover, SCG  demonstrated that the bolometric luminosity of the hot component is low ($`100L_{}`$) compared to some other symbiotic systems (e.g., AG Peg, AG Dra, Z And ) whose activity is supposed to be due to hydrogen burning and that even in the high state most of the hot component’s light is emitted in the UV. All these characteristics suggest that the system is accretion powered and the hot component is most probably the innermost part of an optically thick accretion disc and/or the boundary layer between the disc and the WD’s surface as was already proposed by SCG . This idea supports our previous assumption based on the behavior of the H$`\alpha `$ radial velocity (Sect. 3) that the bulk of the energy of this line is probably emitted by the outer part of an AD.

According to the AD theory (e.g., Warner cvs (1995)), there exists a critical value $`\dot{M}_{\mathrm{cr}}`$ of the mass accretion rate $`\dot{M}`$, so that if $`\dot{M}>\dot{M}_{\mathrm{cr}}`$ the disc is in a steady state, being hot and optically thick with effective temperature $`T_{\mathrm{eff},\mathrm{hot}}\dot{M}^{1/4}M_{\mathrm{WD}}^{1/4}r^{3/4}`$ ($`T_{\mathrm{eff},\mathrm{hot}}>10^4`$ K). Here $`r`$ is the distance to the WD. If $`\dot{M}<\dot{M}_{\mathrm{cr}}`$ the disc is cool and optically thin with $`T_{\mathrm{eff},\mathrm{cool}}56\times 10^3`$ K. With the parameters of T~CrB $`\dot{M}10^8M_{}`$ yr-1 (SCG ) and $`M_{\mathrm{WD}}1.37`$, only the inner part of the disc with radius $`1R_{}`$ is in the hot state, while the rest of the disc is cool. In the case of accretion at a high rate onto a very massive WD, as in T~CrB, the temperature of the innermost part of the disc should be $`12\times 10^5`$ K. It will thus emit mostly in the UV and can be the HC. In this case variations of $`\dot{M}`$ can easily account for its observed variability.

The symbiotic systems containing a hot compact object change their energy distribution appreciably during active phase because of the variation of the temperature of the compact object. Figure 6 shows that the UV energy distribution of T CrB tends not to vary during its transition from low to high states. SCG  notice a correlation of the slope of the continuum with the total UV flux. However, using the values given in their Table 1, we found that the correlation, if any, is very weak. Thus, the modeling of the continuum requires nearly the same temperature of the hot component in low and high states. We tried to model the continuum of T CrB assuming the presence of an optically thick AD. The IR region was fitted with synthetic fluxes of a model spectrum of a red giant with $`T_{\mathrm{eff}}=3500`$ K, $`M=1M_{}`$ (P. Hauschildt, private communication) and $`R=75R_{}`$, filling its Roche lobe. The UV and visual regions were fitted with an emission of an AD and gas environment. We adopted an electron temperature of 10000 K according to SCG . Thus, the only free parameters are the mass accretion rate and the relative scaling between the three components.

To determine the nebular continuum, the ionization state of helium has to be known. The dominant state of ionization can be estimated from the ratio of the emission measures of the neutral and ionized helium based on the fluxes of some lines of He i and the He ii$`\lambda `$4686 line. Since the electron temperature of 10000 K is comparatively low we assumed that He i lines are determined only by recombination. Our observations of the He ii$`\lambda `$4686 line show that most of the time this line was absent and only occasionally appeared very weak. The line was also not presented in the spectrum in July 1986, as can be seen in Fig. 2 of SCG . According to Iijima (1990) in the period 1981-1987 T CrB has had prominent emission lines of He i whereas its He ii$`\lambda `$4686 line was only temporarily observed. In the spectra taken in Apr–May 1997 during the recent high state, Anupama & Mikolajewska (am (1999)) detected the He ii$`\lambda `$4686 line, but it was by a factor of 2 weaker than the He i lines. At an electron temperature of 10000 K and electron density of $`10^6`$ cm-3 if the number of He+ and He++ ions is the same, the intensity of the He ii$`\lambda `$4686 line exceeds the intensities of the He i lines by one order of magnitude (e.g. Pottasch pot (1984)). This was probably not the case during the period of Iijima’s observations. Thus, we accepted the dominant helium ionization state He ii in all occasions and assumed that the nebular continuum is mostly continuum emission of hydrogen and neutral helium. We adopted a helium abundance of 0.1 (Nussbaumer & Vogel nv (1989)) and distance to the system of 1.3 kpc (Patterson pat (1984)).

The result of the modeling is shown in Fig. 6. To determine the level of the UV continuum of T CrB is a complicated task – the spectrum is dominated by humps caused by blended emission lines. We fitted the bottoms of the troughs between those humps. The largest discrepancies between the fit and the spectrum are in the short-wavelength region and around 2200 Å where the sensitivity of $`IUE`$ is low. It is seen, however, that the shape of the fit to the UV spectrum in the two states is nearly the same. The observed optical fluxes in both states are systematically higher than the fit. This indicates the presence of component(s) which are not taken onto account in our model. This additional light might be due to density and temperature inhomogeneities in the outer disc or/and in the other nebular formations in the system.

The modeling gave an accretion rate of $`4\times 10^9M_{}`$ yr-1 for the low state and $`3\times 10^8M_{}`$ yr-1 for the high state in agreement with SCG . Note also that at these accretion rates the disc temperature exceeds 105 K. At such temperatures the scope of the UV continuum is nearly constant.

We obtained appreciable emission measures of $`2.7\times 10^{59}`$ cm-3 and $`7.4\times 10^{59}`$ cm-3 for the low and high states, determined from strong nebular UV and optical continuum. On the other hand the Balmer emission lines are weak (H$`\alpha `$ exceeds the level of the continuum by a factor of not greater than 5-6). The symbiotic systems with an extended surrounding nebula (AG Dra, Z And) have prominent Balmer emission lines exceeding the continuum by a factor of up to 40-50, together with their intensive nebular continuous spectrum. In the case of T CrB the weakness of the Balmer emission lines can be understood if they are assumed to be formed in a gas medium with a great optical depth, which absorbs the dominant part of the photons. The optical depth is great when the column density of the emitting gas is high. Anupama & Mikolajewska (am (1999)) came to the conclusion that the hot component of the symbiotic recurrent novae is most probably a white dwarf $`+`$ accretion disc embedded in an optically thick envelope formed by the wind of the M giant secondary. This model provides high column density and contains an AD as well. So, the weak Balmer lines of T CrB can be qualitatively explained by the assumption of an origin in a binary system containing an AD. The investigation of the RV of the H$`\alpha `$ line showed that the bulk of its energy is emitted by an area around the hot component – probably the outer part of an AD. This model is supported also by our suggestion for the explanation of the weak Balmer emission lines of T CrB. The modeling of T CrB’s SED suggests that the UV spectrum appears flat mostly because of the strong nebular contribution. However, it is also possible that this is partly a result of seeing the AD at a relatively high inclination as suggested by SCG .

The evidence for an AD and high $`\dot{M}`$ provides good conditions for formation of intensive high-speed wind emerging from the innermost hot parts of the disc (see Mauche & Raymond wind (1997) for a discussion of disc wind in the case of cataclysmic variables). Consequently the nebular spectrum of the system may appear also in the winds of the disc and the cool giant in addition of the disc itself. Shore & Aufdenberg (sho (1993)) showed that the giant’s wind is variable. Further evidence for this can be found in the variations of the central dip of the H$`\alpha `$ emission line – most of the time the dip is well pronounced, but sometimes it is highly variable and is almost absent (Fig. 1).

If an AD is present in T CrB system, its activity may be a result of variation of the accretion rate $`\dot{M}`$. There are two ways to increase $`\dot{M}`$: (1) to increase the mass transfer rate $`\dot{M}_{\mathrm{tr}}`$ from the giant and (2) to increase temporarily the mass flow through the AD. The former may be a result of the magnetic activity of the giant as suggested by Soker (sok (2002)). The later mechanism corresponds to the outbursts observed in the dwarf novae and is related to the so-called disc instability. In the context of symbiotic stars the disc instability was studied by Duschl (dus (1986)), but assuming that the accreting object is an $`1M_{}`$ main-sequence star rather than a WD. Briefly, in disc the instability model $`\dot{M}_{\mathrm{tr}}`$ is constant and less than $`\dot{M}_{\mathrm{cr}}`$, i.e. the disc is in the cool state most of the time. Outburst is observed when $`\dot{M}`$ (locally in the disc) increases above $`\dot{M}_{\mathrm{cr}}`$ and the AD rapidly approaches the hot state (for more details see Warner cvs (1995)). In both cases the disc luminosity increases because of the dependence of the temperature on the mass accretion rate: $`T_{\mathrm{eff},\mathrm{hot}}\dot{M}^{1/4}`$.

## 6 Summary and conclusions

The radial velocities of the H$`\alpha `$ emission line of the recurrent nova T~CrB were precisely measured after subtraction of the red giant spectrum, thus obtaining the unbiased H$`\alpha `$ profile. Based on our 38 new radial velocity measurements we obtain a new solution for the system parameters. The solution indicates that at a system inclination $`i>65^{}`$ the mass of the hot component is below the Chandrasekhar limit and thus the hot component in T~CrB is most likely a massive white dwarf. The most likely values of the system inclination and the component masses are $`i67^{}`$, $`M_{\mathrm{WD}}1.37\pm 0.13M_{}`$ and $`M_{\mathrm{RG}}1.12\pm 0.23M_{}`$.

The radial velocity of the central dip of the H$`\alpha `$ emission line profile changes almost in phase with that of the red giant. This suggests that the central dip originates from the giant’s wind.

During our observations T~CrB showed a period of activity when the system brightness increased by $`2.0`$, 1.0 and 0.3 mag in $`U`$, $`B`$ and $`V`$ bands, respectively. The H$`\alpha `$ equivalent width also increased by a factor of $`6`$ reaching $`30`$ Å and the line had a complex multi-component structure. The phasing of the modulation of H$`\alpha `$ emission line radial velocity shows that the emitting region is gravitationally connected to the hot component of the system and most probably related to the outer part of an accretion disc. We argue that a number of other characteristics of T~CrB are also in support of this supposition. The long-term variability is then assumed to be caused by variations of the mass accretion rate, possibly due to changes of the mass transfer rate from the companion or disc instability. This is also supported by our success in modeling the UV-optical-IR SED of T CrB with a three-component model: an optically thick accretion disc, a nebular continuum and a red giant. However, to construct a consistent picture and to understand the underlying physical processes in T~CrB better, simultaneous UV and optical spectral observations during future active phases are needed. Space observatories offering simultaneous optical/UV spectroscopic capabilities like Kronos (Peterson et al. pet (2001)) and WSO/UV (Wamsteker & Ponz wam (2001)) would be a good solution.


text:
# Snell’s law for surface electrons: Refraction of an electron gas imaged in real space

## Abstract

On NaCl(100)/Cu(111) an interface state band is observed that descends from the surface-state band of the clean copper surface. This band exhibits a Moiré-pattern-induced one-dimensional band gap, which is accompanied by strong standing-wave patterns, as revealed in low-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy images. At NaCl island step edges, one can directly see the refraction of these standing waves, which obey Snell’s refraction law.

Ever since the mapping of standing waves of a two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) on the close-packed Cu(111) surface by means of low-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy (LT-STM) Crommie93 ; Hasegawa93 , the 2DEG turned out to be an ideal playground for a variety of LT-STM experiments Buergi98 ; Ji03 ; Manoharan01 ; Kliewer01a ; Suzuki01 ; Bendounan03 ; Diekhoener03 ; Kliewer01b ; Park00 ; Repp00 . In the STM images the surface electrons reveal their wave-like behavior, often discussed in analogy to light. This analogy has been addressed directly in experiments such as the confinement of a 2DEG between two parallel step edges, considered as a counterpart of the optical Fabry-Perot resonator Buergi98 , the striking experiment of an electronic Mach-Zehnder interferometer Ji03 , and the spectacular quantum mirage experiment Manoharan01 . However, despite this strong analogy, the counterpart of optical refraction has not yet been observed for surface electrons.

Such an experiment has to comply with several requirements. First of all, two different media are necessary. For surface electronic states, two regions having different dispersions may act as the media and be realized by a partial coverage of the surface with an adlayer that modifies the dispersion, as was observed for various thin metal films on Cu(111) Kliewer01a ; Suzuki01 ; Bendounan03 ; Diekhoener03  as well as for Xe/Cu(111) Park00 . Second—in terms of optics—the interface between the two media has to be transparent. It was reported that step edges of metals exhibit a transmission close to zero for surface electrons, i.e., that the wave patterns on the two sides of a step edge are not related to each other Buergi98 . However, in the case of an insulator adsorbed on a metal surface, this may be different: An insulator does not contribute to the electronic states, therefore the electrons are still confined to the surface of the metal underneath, and thus may better overlap with the electrons of the clean surface. Third, in addition to being inherently transparent, the interface between the two media also has to be very smooth. This means that a perfect step edge is needed to observe refraction of surface electrons.

As NaCl/Cu(111) meets the above requirements, we are able to report here the first observation of the refraction of surface electronic waves at island step edges by means of LT-STM. Moreover, we show that natural Moiré patterns, inherent in incommensurate growth, generate a band gap within a two-dimensional (2D) interface state band. Thereby the textbook band-structure model of nearly free electrons (NFE) is exploited and visualized in real space.

Our experiments were performed with a LT-STM Meyer96  operated at 9 K. The sample was cleaned by several sputtering and annealing cycles. NaCl was evaporated thermally, while the sample temperature was kept at 320 K. Bias voltages refer to the sample voltage with respect to the tip, and we used electrochemically etched tungsten wire as STM tips.

NaCl forms (100)-terminated islands that are up to several microns in diameter Bennewitz99  (see Fig. 1). The NaCl islands start with a double-layer thickness and perfect nonpolar step edges, in which the anions and the cations alternate. On top of the initial double layer, islands of additional layers are formed. Substrate defect steps are smoothly overgrown in the so-called carpet-like growth Schwennicke93 . Because of the different symmetries of NaCl(100) and Cu(111), the growth is incommensurate. In the case of only a few layers of NaCl, the nonvanishing tail of charge density from the metal that extends through the insulator is sufficient to take STM images without crashing the tip. In atomically resolved STM images, only the Cl ions are imaged as protrusions Hebenstreit99 ; Repp01 ; Olsson .

Upon adsorption of NaCl, the Cu(111) surface state band survives and forms an interface state band that is confined to the insulator/metal interface and has a larger Fermi wavelength of $`\lambda _F=3.8`$ nm (clean Cu: $`\lambda _F=3.0`$ nm). To measure the dispersion of this modified 2D interface state band, differential conductance (d$`I`$/d$`V`$) images were taken at various bias voltages, as shown in Figs. 2(a)-(d). By extracting the wavelength of the wave patterns seen in these images constantcurrent , the dispersion relation can be established (see Fig. 2(e)), as was done for the clean Cu surface Crommie93 ; Hasegawa93 ; Horm94 . The band minimum $`E_0`$ was obtained by recording the d$`I`$/d$`V`$ signal at a fixed position as a function of energy Horm94 ; Li98  (crosses in Fig. 2(e)) and is shifted upward in energy by $`(230\pm 30)`$ meV in the case of the adsorption of an insulating NaCl overlayer. The resulting parabolic dispersion $`E=E_0+(\mathrm{}k)^2/2m^{}`$ is slightly wider, i.e., the effective mass $`m^{}`$ has increased from $`(0.40\pm 0.02)m_e`$ to $`(0.46\pm 0.04)m_e`$, where $`m_e`$ denotes the free electron mass.

The energy shift can be qualitatively understood within the one-dimensional (1D) phase-accumulation model Smith85 ; Hotzel99 . In this analysis, the wave function $`\mathrm{\Psi }`$ of surface electrons is found by matching the wave-function phase of the analytical solution inside the copper crystal Forstmann70  to the one of the numerical solution for the outside region, obtained by integrating the Schrödinger equation Smith85 . For the latter an electrostatic potential had to be assumed: For the clean Cu surface, this is given by the image potential potential . For NaCl/Cu(111) we considered the modified image potential Hotzel99 ; potential  as well as the lowering of the work function upon NaCl adsorption Bennewitz99 .

This model yields an upward shift of the dispersion of $`\mathrm{\Delta }E300`$ meV, in qualitative agreement with our experiment. Even more relevant, it reveals that the wave functions of the surface electrons are barely modified upon adsorption of NaCl (see Fig. 2(f)) and thus render a high transmission through NaCl step edges promising. Moreover, it justifies an even simpler understanding of the upward shift in the dispersion within first-order perturbation theory, $`\mathrm{\Delta }E=\mathrm{\Psi }|\mathrm{\Delta }V|\mathrm{\Psi }`$. Owing to the exponentially decaying wave function $`\mathrm{\Psi }`$ outside the Cu substrate, the perturbation potential $`\mathrm{\Delta }V`$, i.e., the potential difference with and without NaCl, is only relevant for the energy shift $`\mathrm{\Delta }E`$ in immediate proximity of the copper surface. The upward shift thus results from the positive perturbation potential at the interface given by the weaker image potential potential  due to the polarization of the adsorbed dielectric. The work-function change Bennewitz99  as well as the image potential at the insulator-to-vacuum interface are negligible for $`\mathrm{\Delta }E`$. Consequently, the dispersion for three layers of NaCl does not differ from that for two layers, which was verified in the experiment.

The above results show that for interface states of an insulator/metal system, as described here, the main contribution of the electronic wavefunctions resides within the substrate (see Fig. 2(f)). Therefore, the effective mass of the shifted interface state will mainly be determined by the metal. For copper an upward shift of the surface state is expected to be correlated with a slight increase of the effective mass as discussed in Ref. Smith85 , in good agreement with the present experiment. The energetic shift of the band for other insulator/metal systems will depend critically on the structure of the interface. However, the adsorption of an insulator that does not strongly affect the metal surface but weaken its image potential will in general result in an upward shift of the surface state band. These findings explain that in a previous experiment on Xe/Cu(111) Park00  a similar upward shift and effective mass increase were observed.

Another condition for the observation of the electron refraction at island edges is the presence of standing waves. Continuous waves lead to a uniform probability distribution and thus prevent the observation of refraction in the STM images, even if the refraction took place. In the case of NaCl/Cu(111), strong electronic plane waves are already inherent in the system: The incommensurate growth gives rise to various Moiré patterns pattern , which can be seen in atomically resolved STM images (Fig. 3(a)). The Moiré patterns will be associated with displacements of the charged ions and are thus accompanied by a modulation of the electrostatic potential seen by the surface electrons. One general conclusion of the NFE model Ashcroft  is that any periodic potential modulation will give rise to a band gap. Just below and just above the band gap, the electronic wave functions are expected to be standing waves, and the probability distributions $`|\mathrm{\Psi }|^2`$ will have a phase shift of $`\pi `$ with respect to each other, as illustrated in Fig. 3(c). For the case discussed here, this physics textbook statement can be imaged in real space. As a first indication, STM images such as that in Fig. 3(b) show strong standing plane waves that correspond to this particular Moiré pattern in terms of wavelength and direction (dotted lines in Fig. 3(a) and (b)).

For a more precise analysis, we recorded an d$`I`$/d$`V`$ image in constant-height mode, but whereas we scanned within one scan line perpendicular to the plane waves (as indicated by the solid line in Fig. 3(b)), we did not move the tip in the other direction. Instead, we changed the bias voltage after each scan line. The resulting STM image in Fig. 3(d) thus reflects a map of the probability distribution $`|\mathrm{\Psi }|^2`$ in space and energy. As expected, the image shows a region of reduced intensity, which represents the band-gap region. Just above and just below this region, there are strong standing-wave patterns shifted by $`\pi `$ to each other.

The standing-wave pattern caused by a periodic scattering potential contains only the wavelength components of this potential modulation. Thus in Fig. 3(d), the standing-wave pattern is given by the Moiré pattern’s periodicity and does not change with energy. The position in energy of the band gap can vary between 20 and 400 meV above the Fermi level from one rotational domain to the next. In all cases, this energy position can be linked to the Moiré patterns in such a way that the wave vector at the band gap corresponds to half of the wave vector of the potential modulation, in agreement with the NFE model. In the particular case shown in Fig. 3 the Moiré pattern has a periodicity of $`1.62`$ nm corresponding to $`k=2\pi /16.2`$ Å-1, $`k_{\mathrm{gap}}=0.194`$ Å-1, and thus $`E_{\mathrm{gap}}81`$ meV. As this condition is met only in one direction, we have a 1D band gap in a 2D electron gas, i.e., a pseudo gap. For some rotational domains, the condition was not met in the experimentally accessible energy range, and no band gap was observed, as in the case of the dispersion shown in Fig. 2(e).

The standing-wave pattern persists far above the band gap because of the one-dimensionality of the band gap. This is also one of the reasons for the remaining low intensity within the band gap. In addition, the finite lifetime of the interface states Kliewer01b  gives rise to an energetic broadening of the states, which further “smears out” the bandgap and may also lead to interference effects.

To observe the refraction, we took advantage of the strong standing plane waves just below the band gap by applying a corresponding bias voltage of $`V=55`$ meV. Figure 4 shows the refraction of the surface electrons in a differential conductance (d$`I`$/d$`V`$) image of an island edge of NaCl/Cu(111). The region on the NaCl island (to the left) shows a strong standing plane-wave pattern that is due to the formation of a band gap. Reflection induces an additional modulation of the pattern parallel to the step edge. More importantly, the image clearly reveals standing plane waves on the clean copper surface (to the right). These patterns at the island step edge obey Snell’s refraction law, $`\mathrm{sin}(\alpha )/\mathrm{sin}(\beta )=\lambda _1/\lambda _2`$. Note that $`\beta `$ and $`\lambda _2`$ are given by the geometry of this particular Moiré pattern, $`\lambda _1`$ is the electron wavelength on the clean Cu surface corresponding to $`E=E_F+55`$ meV, and $`\alpha `$ is given by Snell’s law. This law follows directly from the conservation of the component of the momentum (and wavelength) parallel to the step. In other words, the patterns on both sides have a fixed phase correlation at the step edge, which is directly evident in the images and follows from the postulation of continuous wave functions in quantum mechanics.

In everyday life, optical refraction manifests itself in the bending of light rays, and we cannot observe the wave fronts directly. In Fig. 4 we do not observe the bending of rays, but directly image the wave fronts, visualizing the refraction model. Another difference to optics is evident: In optics the refraction is usually determined by one term only, namely, the refractive index of the medium. In the case of electron refraction, the band minimum as well as the effective mass of the electrons may change and thus contribute to the refraction in different ways.

The observed band-gap formation due to Moiré patterns is similar to the superlattice concept Esaki70 ; Dingle75  based on the idea of creating artificial, tunable 1D band gaps by growing a vertical lattice of alternating semiconductors. Whereas in semiconductor superlattices the band gaps can be tuned by the layer thicknesses during growth, Moiré-pattern-induced band gaps can be tuned by the choice of lattice constant mismatch. This phenomenon shows a new way to tailor the properties of a 2DEG for future applications. These possibilities can be further extended by controlled sequential growth of different dielectric materials. In contrast to surface states, interface states are inherently protected by the dielectric adlayer and can even be studied under ambient conditions.

In summary, we observed the formation of a 1D band gap in the 2D electron gas of the NaCl/Cu(111) interface state band. The band gap is due to the Moiré patterns of the incommensurate growth and was observed in an STM image displaying the electron-probability distribution in space and energy. At NaCl island edges, the refraction of standing waves could be observed, obeying Snell’s refraction law.

###### Acknowledgements.

We thank Frank Forstmann and Rolf Allenspach for fruitful discussions, and acknowledge partial funding by the EU-TMR projects “AMMIST” and “NANOSPECTRA” and the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft Project No. RI 472/3-2.