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# Comparation based bottom-up and top-down filtering model of the hippocampus and its environment

## 1. Introduction

Ever since the discovery of the central role of the hippocampus and its adjacent areas in memory formation \[Sidman et al., 1968, Milner, 1972\], numerous studies and models dealt with the properties and the possible functions of the hippocampus and its environment. The number of new experimental findings is increasing and highlight the complexity of the behavior of memory. Although views are strikingly different, they seem to have their own, experimentally supported merits. The interested reader is referred to the literature for excellent reviews on the hippocampus, e.g., \[Squire, 1992\], or \[Hasselmo and McClelland, 1999\] and \[O’Reilly and Rudy, 1999\]. The majority of the models have been developed to describe one part (mainly the CA3 field) of the hippocampus (see, e.g. \[Levy, 1996, Káli and Dayan, 2000\] and references therein). Some recent models have made attempts to develop an integrating model of the HC \[Rolls, 1989, Hasselmo et al., 1996, Lisman, 1999, Eichenbaum, 2000, Hasselmo et al., 2002\] and see also the collection of theoretical papers \[Gluck, 1996\]. It is known though, that hippocampus is deeply embedded in the neocortical information flow through the entorhinal cortex (EC). This fact explains the emergence of a few EC-HC models like \[McClelland et al., 1995, Myers et al., 1995, Rolls, 2000\]. Embedding is justified in most of them. For example, McClelland et al. (\[McClelland et al., 1995\]) emphasizes the necessity of a dual system for the seemingly contradictory tasks of learning specifications and allowing for generalization.

The computational model that we present here, has its origin in the old standing proposal that the hippocampus and/or its environment serve as a ‘comparator’ \[Grastyán et al., 1959, Sokolov, 1963, Vinogradova, 1975\]. There are more recent works along this subjects. Oftentimes models use somewhat different nomenclature, e.g., the focus is placed on match/mismatch detection \[Ranck Jr., 1973, O’Keefe and Nadel, 1978, Grossberg, 1982\]. Match/mismatch detection is closely related to familarity/novelty detection, another direction of theoretical efforts to describe medial temporal lobe areas \[Otto and Eichenbaum, 1992, Rolls et al., 1993, Wiebe and Saubli, 1999\]. Note that precise distinction between orienting, salient and novel stimuli is not an easy matter \[Rugg, 1995\].

This work is about the merging two comparator based models: the control model of the entorhinal-hippocampal loop \[Lőrincz, 1998\] and the reconstruction network model of the same loop \[Lőrincz and Buzsáki, 2000\]. Both models have their own merits. For example, there is a large body of experimental data supporting the idea that attention shapes (influences, controls) perception. For excellent reviews, see, e.g., \[Duncan, 1999, Posner and DiGirolamo, 2000, LaBerge, 2000\] and references therein. The control model involves the comparator function, because – by construction – control concerns the difference between desired and actual parameters. On the other hand, the reconstruction network is also a comparator: it has a hidden layer, works as an auto-associator, and compares input to the auto-associated reconstructed input. It turns out that the reconstruction network is an appealing structure for experience based optimization of noise filtering \[Lőrincz et al., 2002b\]. We shall merge the two comparator structures and shall map the merged structure to the entorhinal-hippocampal loop and its environment. This merging will enable us to make physiological predictions concerning persistent activities, delay properties, long-term memory and statistic versus one-shot learning.

There are two approaches, which should be mentioned, because both of them find their place in the present model. Gluck and Myers \[Gluck and Myers, 1993\] have designed a model to perform reconstruction and classification together for modeling some properties of the hippocampus. Rao and Ballard \[Rao and Ballard, 1997, Rao, 1999, Rao and Ballard, 1999\] have suggested an integrating model of the visual stream by exploring a Kalman-filter analogy to cope with the input and system uncertainties (treated as noise) and presented a hierarchy for error correction and prediction using top-down inference from higher levels. Kalman-filter is a kind of reconstruction or generative network, which uses an internal representation to generate expected inputs. The mapping of the proposed function onto the anatomical substrate has remained elusive. The Kalman-filter model, which is an approximation to our model, has been criticized because such recurrent loop structures are slow for feedforward processing found in neocortical areas \[Koch and Poggio, 1999\]. Our model resolves this problem.

Mathematical theorems and numerical studies concerning individual components and combinations of those have been presented elsewhere, or have been made available in the form of technical reports. For example, hierarchical reconstruction networks \[Lőrincz et al., 2002b\], the dynamics of the network as well as the order of learning in reconstruction networks \[Lőrincz et al., 2002c\], implicit memory phenomena, such as priming \[Lőrincz et al., 2002c\] and category formation in reconstruction networks \[Kéri et al., 2002\] are provided in the cited papers. Numerical studies concerning the control architecture can be found in \[Szepesvári et al., 1997, Szepesvári and Lőrincz, 1997a, Szepesvári and Lőrincz, 1998\]. Mathematical considerations as well as numerical studies of the control architecture embedded into the reinforcement learning framework have been thoroughly described in \[Szita et al., 2003\]. Connections to reinforcement learning, the key to fast, possibly one-shot memory encoding have been presented in \[Kalmár et al., 1998, Szita et al., 2003\] as well as in \[Szita and Lőrincz, 2003\]. The mathematical considerations have been complemented by some generalization concerning the control architecture in order to meet the requirements posed by the merging of the two architectures. This slight mathematical generalization can be found in the Appendix of a technical report \[Lőrincz, 2003\]. The novelty of the present work is in the merging of the two models and in the description how the two models can be merged. We shall find that stability properties of the controller are improved by the merging: The reconstruction network filters the input noise of the controller. (Considerations on noise sensitivity of the controller can be found in \[Szepesvári and Lőrincz, 1997a\].) Here, the model is described by words and in figures. The interested reader may wish to consult the cited works about the mathematical details.

In what follows, first, the terminology and the preliminaries are reviewed (Section 2). In Section 3, the merging of the control and reconstruction architectures into a single building block of a hierarchical structure is described. The closure of the hierarchy provides the view that the hippocampus plays a double role; it is part of a controller and contributes to a reconstruction network, too. Section 4 deals with the mapping of the control and reconstruction architectures to the entorhinal-hippocampal loop and its environment. Physiological properties captured by the model as well as some falsifying predictions are listed and explained in this section. Conclusions are drawn in Section 5.

## 2. Notations and preliminaries

Notations of the control field and notations of neuron networks differ. In control theory, input-output systems are considered. In graphical form, box denotes the system and arrows denote the system’s input(s) and output(s). Processing occurs in the box (Fig. 1(A)). On the contrary, artificial neural networks consist of computational units, the putative analogs of real neurons. The units, also called neurons, receive (provide) inputs (outputs) through the connection structure, and this internal functioning is drawn explicitly. Neurons execute simple computations, like summing up inputs, thresholding and alike. The main part of the neural network performs distributed computation using the connection structure performing (non-linear) filtering. This distributed filter system, which may connect all neurons, is called the connection system, weights, or synapses. In a neural network architecture, different neural layers are distinguished. Connections between these layers are explicitly drawn in most cases (Fig. 1(B)). Computations of neural networks between their inputs and outputs can be given in the following condensed form:

(1)
$$𝐲=f(\mathrm{𝐖𝐱})$$

where input and output are denoted by $`𝐱^n`$ and $`𝐲^m`$, respectively, linear transformation from $`^n`$ to $`^m`$ is represented by matrix $`𝐖^{m\times n}`$, the connections, and function $`f`$ denotes a component-wise non-linearity. If this function is the identity function, then we have a linear network. Here, a simplified notation will be used: neural layers will be denoted by horizontal thick lines. Any particular set of connections between two layers will be represented by a single arrow. A feedforward linear network is depicted in Fig. 1(C). The graphical form of a network with component-wise non-linearity is shown in Fig. 1(D). Different transformations may exist between two layers. Recurrent connections (also called ‘recurrent collaterals’) target the same layer where they originate from. Equation 1 simplifies to the usual input-output mapping of a single neuron for $`m=1`$.

### 2.1. Preliminaries

### Controller

Our control model is formulated in terms of state dependent directions pointing towards target positions. A mapping which renders direction (change of state, or change of state per unit time, i.e., velocity) to each state is called speed-field. A particular speed-field is given, for example, by the difference vectors between the target state and all other states. An important feature of speed-field is that motion is not specified in time. The control task is defined as moving according to the speed-field at each state. This control task is called speed-field tracking (SFT). For a review on SFT, see, e.g., \[Hwang and Ahuja, 1992\]. The control task of path (also called trajectory) tracking is different from SFT. This difference is illustrated in Fig. 2. One might say that SFT is less stringent and puts more emphasis on the global goal than on the tracking of a prescribed trajectory.

The dynamic equation of a system is a (possibly continuous) set of differential equations. This set of equations determines the change of state per unit time $`\dot{𝐱}\frac{\mathrm{\Delta }𝐱}{\mathrm{\Delta }t}`$ given the state of the plant (also called the system under control) $`𝐱^n`$ and the external forces acting upon the system, including the control action $`𝐮^p`$. Let

(2)
$$\dot{𝐱}=𝐟(𝐱,𝐮)$$

denote the dynamics of the system under control. This is what the system does.

Inverse dynamics works in the opposite way: given the state and (desired) change of state, inverse dynamics provides the control vector. The controller, in turn, maps state and speed to control action. Let $`𝐯(𝐱)^n`$ denote the desired change of state (the desired momentum). Assume that we have an approximate feedforward model of the inverse dynamics:

(3) $`𝐮_{ff}`$ $`=`$ $`𝐮_{ff}(𝐱,𝐯(𝐱))`$
(4) $`=`$ $`𝐀(𝐱)𝐯(𝐱)+𝐛(𝐱)`$
where $`𝐀(𝐱)^{n\times n}`$, $`𝐛(𝐱)^n`$. Equation 3 represents an input-output system receiving the state and the desired momentum, which is denoted by $`𝐯(𝐱)`$ and providing output (the control vector $`𝐮_{ff}:^{n\times n}^p`$). This control vector could be used directly to influence the plant and it is called feedforward controller. If the inverse dynamics is perfect then using this control vector directly, that is inserting this control vector into the dynamic equation $`\dot{𝐱}=𝐟(𝐱,𝐮)`$, the desired change of state is achieved: The perfect feedforward control vector $`𝐮_{ff}^{}`$ makes the plant to produce momentum $`𝐯(𝐱)`$:

(5)
$$𝐯(𝐱)=𝐟(𝐱,𝐮_{ff}^{}(𝐱,𝐯(𝐱)))$$

If the feedforward control vector is imprecise then error (a difference between the desired momentum and the experienced momentum) $`𝐞_c=𝐯(𝐱)\dot{𝐱}`$ appears. To correct this error, the (same or another) model of the inverse dynamics can be used. The error correcting controller is called feedback controller \[Szepesvári et al., 1997\]: The output of the feedback controller $`𝐮_{fb}`$

(6)
$$𝐮_{fb}=𝐮_{ff}(𝐱,𝐯(𝐱))𝐮_{ff}(𝐱,\dot{𝐱})$$

can be temporally integrated

(7)
$$𝐰(t)=_{\mathrm{}}^t\dot{𝐰}𝑑t=_{\mathrm{}}^t\mathrm{\Lambda }𝐮_{fb}𝑑t$$

and the two terms, together:

(8)
$$𝐮^{}=𝐮_{fb}+𝐰$$

provide an globally stable and almost perfect controller \[Szepesvári and Lőrincz, 1997a, Lőrincz, 2003\]. This scheme is depicted in Fig. 3. Note that Eq. 4 allows one to write $`𝐮_{fb}`$ as

(9)
$$𝐮_{fb}=𝐀(𝐱)(𝐯(𝐱)\dot{𝐱})$$

The controller allows for temporal changes of the non-linear terms $`𝐀(𝐱)`$ and $`𝐛(𝐱)`$, a rare property in the control literature. The condition of this property make the working of the architecture strongly non-linear \[Lőrincz et al., 2001\] and will be discussed later. Also, the two feedback controllers of Fig. 3(B) can differ \[Lőrincz, 2003\].

(10) $`\dot{𝐰}`$ $`=`$ $`\mathrm{\Lambda }𝐀(𝐱)(𝐯(𝐱)\dot{𝐱})`$
(11) $`𝐮^{}`$ $`=`$ $`\widehat{𝐀}(𝐱)(𝐯(𝐱)\dot{𝐱})+𝐰`$
where $`𝐀`$ can be different from $`\widehat{𝐀}`$. Both controllers operate by comparing ‘desired’ and ‘experienced’ quantities. Under certain conditions, global stability is reached by the two controllers. The proof relies on an extension to Ljapunov’s second method \[Szepesvári et al., 1997, Szepesvári and Lőrincz, 1997a, Szepesvári and Lőrincz, 1997b, Lőrincz, 2003\]. The controller architecture of Fig. 3 is called the static and dynamic state feedback controller, or SDS controller, for short.

### Reconstruction network

### Basic reconstruction network

The basic reconstruction network (Fig. 4(A)) has two layers: the reconstruction error layer and the hidden layer. The reconstruction error computes the difference ($`𝐞^r`$) between input ($`𝐱^r`$) and reconstructed input ($`𝐲^r`$): $`𝐞=𝐱𝐲`$. Reconstructed input $`𝐲`$ is produced by the hidden (internal) representation $`𝐡^s`$ via top-down transformation $`𝐐`$ where $`𝐐^{r\times s}`$ and $`rs`$ or $`r>s`$ are both possible at the expense of some mild non-linearities (see, e.g., \[Olshausen and Field, 1997\] and references therein). The hidden representation is corrected by the bottom-up transformed form of the reconstruction error $`𝐞`$ that is by $`\mathrm{𝐖𝐞}`$ (where $`𝐖^{s\times r}`$). The process of correction means that the previous value of the hidden representation is to be maintained and the correcting amount needs to be added. In turn, the hidden representation has a self-excitatory connection set, which maintains the activities. Correction occurs in time and this (continuous or discrete) temporal collection of correcting terms is denoted by $`𝑑t`$. For sustained input $`𝐱`$ the iteration will stop when $`\mathrm{𝐐𝐡}=𝐱`$ or when the bottom-up transformed values of $`\mathrm{𝐐𝐡}`$ and $`𝐱`$ are equal: $`\mathrm{𝐖𝐐𝐡}=\mathrm{𝐖𝐱}`$. In turn, for each input, the hidden representation is determined by top-down transformation $`𝐐`$. The bottom-up transformation can restrict the range of the reconstruction. For example, if $`𝐖`$ projects to a subspace then reconstruction can be executed only within that subspace.

For $`sr`$, we call the network perfectly tuned if $`𝐖=(𝐐^T𝐐)^1𝐐^T`$, i.e., if $`\mathrm{𝐖𝐐}=𝐈`$ ($`𝐈^{s\times s}`$). In this case, activities of the hidden layer become perfect after a single bottom-up processing step and the network works alike to feedforward nets.

### Reconstruction network plus

The simple network of Fig. 4(A) can be extended to support noise filtering. To this purpose, the reconstructed input vector $`𝐲`$ is represented separately. Input vector $`𝐱`$ is compared to the reconstructed input $`𝐲`$ in the error layer: $`𝐞=𝐱𝐲`$. The error is transformed by the bottom-up (BU) transformation matrix $`𝐖`$ and forms the BU transformed error $`𝐬`$. BU transformation maximizes BU information transfer in order to facilitate reconstruction. BU transformed error is passed to the internal representation layer through transformation matrix $`𝐍`$ (the role of this transformation shall be discussed later) and is added to the internal representation $`𝐡`$ of the ‘hidden’ (or model, or internal representation) layer. The activity of the hidden layer is maintained by diagonal elements of recurrent matrix $`𝐌`$, which – beyond temporal integration – can support category formation \[Kéri et al., 2002\] as well as temporal prediction \[Rao and Ballard, 1997\] via its off-diagonal elements.

The network of Fig. 4(B) works as follows. Off-diagonal elements of recurrent matrix $`𝐌`$ of the hidden layer perform pattern completion \[Lőrincz et al., 2002b\] and temporal prediction \[Rao and Ballard, 1997\]. The newly introduced layer denoted by $`𝐬`$ ($`𝐬^r`$) will be called the ICA layer. This ICA layer plays a role in noise filtering. There are two different sets of afferents to the ICA layer: one is carrying the BU transformed error, whereas the other carries information about the reconstructed input $`𝐲`$ via bottom-up transformation $`𝐏`$, followed by a non-linearity that removes noise via thresholding. Thresholding is alike to wavelet denoising \[Mallat, 1998\], with the exception that the filters are not necessarily wavelets but are optimized for the input database experienced by the network. Optimization makes use of independent component analysis (ICA) \[Jutten and Herault, 1991, Comon, 1994, Laheld and Cardoso, 1994, Bell and Sejnowski, 1995, Amari et al., 1996, Karhunen et al., 1997, Amari, 1998\]. ICA makes the assumption that input is generated by statistically independent sources

(12) $`𝐱`$ $`=`$ $`\mathrm{𝐂𝐫}+\nu `$
(13) $`P(r_1,\mathrm{},r_r)`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{k=1}{\overset{r}{}}}P(r_k)`$
where $`\nu ^r`$ denotes additive Gaussian noise, $`𝐫^r`$ denote the original sources and $`𝐂^{r\times r}`$ is called the mixing matrix. The ICA algorithm intends to reproduce the original sources and minimizes mutual information between ICA transformed components. The multiplication of vector $`𝐫`$ by matrix $`𝐂`$, makes the identification of matrix $`𝐂`$ ill posed: The problem becomes well posed, by constraining the variances of the searched components. For example, variances can be constrained to one. In this case, minimization of mutual information is equivalent to maximizing the sum of the negentropies (the non-Gaussian character) of uncorrelated estimates \[Hyvärinen et al., 1999\]. This feature enables the local estimation and local thresholding of noise components \[Hyvärinen et al., 1999, Hyvärinen, 1999\], where locality means that noise of each component of the ICA layer can be thresholded independently of the value of other ICA components. The method is called sparse code shrinkage (SCS) and the process is referred to as sparsification.

Thus, $`𝐬`$ is the ICA transformed and sparsified reconstruction error. Note however, that sparsification concerns the components of the BU transformed reconstructed input: high amplitude components of $`\mathrm{𝐏𝐲}`$ (BU transformed reconstructed input) open the gates of components of the ICA layer and ICA transformed reconstruction error can pass these open gates to correct the internal representation. Low amplitude components of $`𝐏`$ transformed reconstructed input can not open the gates and corrections of these components are rejected, unless the correction themselves are large enough to overcome the sparsification process.

Apart from sparsification, the reconstruction network is a linear network. In what follows, we shall denote this property by the notations sign ‘$``$’. $`A`$ $``$ $`B`$ means that for a well tuned system and up to a scaling constant (or scaling matrix) quantity $`A`$ is approximately equal to quantity $`B`$.

For a well tuned network and if matrix $`𝐌`$ performs temporal integration (i.e., if matrix $`𝐌`$ does not perform temporal prediction), $`𝐬\dot{𝐱}`$ by construction. If matrix $`𝐌`$ performs temporal prediction and the network is perfectly tuned, then $`𝐬\ddot{𝐱}`$. These quantities could be processed and represented at higher layers. For the sake of simplicity of considerations, assume that matrix $`𝐌`$ performs temporal integration and nothing else. Then we can approximate the output of layer $`𝐬`$ as a noise filtered linearly transformed (i.e., filtered and scaled) form of $`\dot{𝐱}`$.<sup>1</sup><sup>1</sup>1Extension to spatio-temporal pattern completion is straightforward. Redefining the state as the concatenation of $`𝐱`$ and $`\dot{𝐱}`$ and speed as the concatenation of $`\dot{𝐱}`$ and $`\ddot{𝐱}`$ gives rise to the same formalism that we are using here \[Szepesvári and Lőrincz, 1997a\]. We shall further simplify the notation. The output of the ICA layer will be denoted by $`\dot{𝐱}`$, where $`\dot{𝐱}`$ means ‘the scaled version’ of $`\dot{𝐱}`$. In a similar vein, internal representation $`𝐡𝐲`$. Also, we shall use the notation $`𝐲𝐱`$, although the former is the noise filtered version of the latter.

Note that considerable reconstruction error can build up, e.g., by top-down influence. Considering longer temporal scales, then – by construction – $`𝐲`$ is equal to the temporal integral of the noise filtered reconstruction error: $`𝐲=𝐞_f𝑑t`$ where $`𝐞_f`$ denotes the noise filtered reconstruction error. This feature will be exploited later.

## 3. The joined model

### 3.1. Controlled reconstruction network

The reconstruction network can be controlled (Fig. 5(B)). Control adds extra contribution to the hidden layer, namely $`𝐁\dot{𝐯}`$. The ‘dot’ on $`𝐯`$ is the consequence of adding the contribution to the internal representation where temporal integration occurs. In turn, the action of the controller is equal to the temporally integrated value of the extra contribution, that is $`\mathrm{𝐁𝐯}`$.

To achieve approximately perfect controlling, we shall make use of the SDS controller. The controller is made of another (‘higher’) reconstruction network, which receives input from the network under controlled (the ‘lower’ network). This input is equal to the output of the ICA layer of the lower network. Control works by subtracting the desired speed from the input of the higher network. That makes the input to the network equal to $`\dot{𝐱}𝐯(𝐱)`$.<sup>2</sup><sup>2</sup>2Note the negative sign of this difference that we shall discuss in the next paragraph By construction, (i) the input is noise filtered and reconstructed at the reconstructed input of the network and (ii) apart from the noise content, the error layer approximates the temporal derivative of the reconstructed input (Fig. 5(B)). These two differences undergo linear transformation and enter the internal representation layer of the lower network, where – by construction – they add up and undergo temporal integration. This is exactly what is needed for the SDS controller. Moreover, noise filtering of the reconstructed input is of particular importance, because noise entering temporal integration seems to be the weakest point of the controller \[Szepesvári and Lőrincz, 1997a\].

Learning to control in the SDS scheme is relatively simple. Roughly speaking, learning is sufficient if the signs of the components of the control vector and the domains where these components should not change sign have been determined. This is why the negative negative sign of $`\dot{𝐱}𝐯(𝐱)`$ (instead of $`𝐯(𝐱)\dot{𝐱}`$) does not count: signs of components of matrix $`𝐁`$ need to be determined by learning. SDS warrants that if the signs of the control components are proper, then control will be globally stable and approximately perfect. Mathematical details of sign-properness can be found elsewhere \[Szepesvári et al., 1997, Szepesvári and Lőrincz, 1997a, Lőrincz, 2003\]. Numerical demonstrations using coarsely tuned but sign-proper controllers have been provided in \[Lőrincz et al., 2001\].

The hierarchy is highly non-linear because of several reasons. The higher the reconstruction network in the hierarchy, the higher the order of the dynamic properties of the environment that are learned and represented by it. Also, the condition of robust control concerns the shattering of the space to sign-proper domains and the dynamic contribution of the controller can be highly non-linear within sign-proper domains. Switching between domain is highly non-linear, too. Lastly, sparsification is another source of non-linear processing.

Another note concerns the result of controlling. The SDS controller warrants that the desired quantity is closely approximated under the condition that the system is controllable. Until this point control concerned a lower reconstruction network, which may receive input from the environment (Fig. 5(B)). Conditions of the SDS controller are not fulfilled unless control action also concerns this input, or if this input is zero. In the former case, control of the environment needs to be included into the architecture. The latter case corresponds to the absence of external inputs, such as pattern completion or dreaming.

The perfectly tuned architecture behaves as a bottom-up feedforward network, which is biased by top-down influence. Consider the lower reconstruction network of Fig. 5(B). The bias will modify the internal representation of the lower reconstruction network, which may or may not fit the input from the environment. If it fits, then any reconstruction error disappears quickly. In case if it does not fit, large reconstruction error at the reconstruction error layer may build up, but only a small portion of this error can pass the sparsification process at the ICA layer. This is because sparsification is ruled by the internal representation generated reconstructed input. That is, information that matches the context of the higher reconstruction network will be able to pass sparsification, whereas other information will be filtered out, or attenuated by the bottom-up sparsification process. In turn, top-down influence ‘paves the way’ of some of the components. The process of filtering out certain components of information and paving the way of the others can be seen as attention is paid to the latter components.

### 3.2. Closing the loops of the hierarchy

The top of the hierarchy has a special role. At the top, the sensory bottom-up information flow should be turned into context like top-down information, which can enforce, shape, or influence (say, control) lower representations. This reversal of the direction of information flow becomes possible if the reconstruction error feeds the internal representation of a lower reconstruction network. In this case, we shall have a network with a reconstruction error layer and an internal representation, which when put together, make up a reconstruction network. On the other hand, we have also a controller, because error at a higher level guides the internal representation of a lower level. The idea is illustrated in Fig. 6(A). The figure uses the same gray coding that Fig. 5: dark and light gray areas correspond to reconstruction and control networks, respectively. There are two dark and two light areas. All of the components are depicted, but some of them are denoted by lighter dashed lines. These connectivity structures and neural layers are missing at the top. Notation corresponds to the cortical layers. Layers $`𝐱`$, $`𝐲`$, $`𝐬`$, and $`𝐡`$ represent superficial layers II, III, granular layer IV, and deep layers V-VI, respectively. The highest layer is denoted by HC, the short for hippocampus. The upper control layer is denoted by EC, the short for the entorhinal cortex.

The following differences are to be noted. First, there is no top-down connection from EC layers II and III to EC the deep layers. In turn, these layers can not exert control action onto the corresponding internal representation. Instead, the HC is in the position to exert control action: it receives the reconstruction error from the lower layer and acts upon the hidden representation of that reconstruction network. On the other hand, consider the connectivity of the deep layers of the EC, the superficial layers of the EC and the HC. These structures, together, form a reconstruction network. It can be easily verified by shifting the deep layers of the EC next to the HC in Fig. 6(A). In turn, the HC and its environment has a double role, it is a control network and a reconstruction network. The control network acts upon a lower internal representation that reverses the bottom-up flow of sensory information into top-town control making use of the context of higher reconstruction networks. Using the concepts of the controller hierarchy, higher order dynamical information corrects lower order approximations.

Note that information flow from the lowest layers ($`𝐬`$ and $`𝐡`$ passes through the ladder of two reconstruction error layers (superficial layer II). This feature can not be explained within the framework of the model. It allows us to pin-point to the limitations of our modelling efforts. The functional model can not explain the recurrent collaterals of the superficial layers, a prominent structure of neocortical regions. This connectivity is thought as the extension of the associative cortices (see, e.g., \[Diamond, 1979\] and references therein). Our model suggests that two of such layers can be seen as a single but larger layer, which is in agreement with the functionality suggested by Diamond.

Detailed description of the HC has been provided elsewhere \[Lőrincz and Buzsáki, 2000, Lőrincz et al., 2002b\] and will be reviewed in the next section.

## 4. Discussion

Our first note concerns Adaptive Resonance Theory (ART) pioneered by Grossberg and colleagues \[Grossberg, 1980, Carpenter and Grossberg, 1987, Raizada and Grossberg, 2003\]. ART proposes that sensory processing is two-folded: It is made of bottom-up filtering as well as of top-down template matching. The underlying mechanism of ART – namely, the resonant circuitry – differs from the two-folded comparator function embodied by our architecture. Mapping to the neurobiological substrate \[Grossberg and Carpenter, 1993, Raizada and Grossberg, 2003\] is, in turn, different from ours that we shall present below.

Our modelling efforts have certain particular properties: We have started from functional hypothesis about the importance of control and noise filtering and have introduced a hierarchical system, which should be capable to do both. At each step, mathematical tools were used to restrict our freedom. Possible solutions, which were untractable from the point of view of stability and noise filtering, or, alternatively, which could not be mapped to the anatomical structure, or did not fit known physiological properties and known results of computational neuroscience were dropped \[Lőrincz et al., 2000\]. We call this function based, structure constrained and mathematics supported effort, Ockham’s modelling \[Lőrincz et al., 2001, Lőrincz et al., 2002a\]. ART does the same. Our comparator model is different, because it starts from control principles control principles and assumes the universality of the comparator hypothesis. For a control network, comparison between desired and experienced quantities seems reasonable.

The model offers falsifying predictions; i.e., predictions which could constrain or defeat the model. These predictions will be listed below. First, we shall provide the mapping to the substrate, a most crucial constraint for us. The mapping of the reconstruction network has been elaborated before \[Lőrincz et al., 2002b\]. It is reviewed here for the sake of completeness.

### 4.1. Matching the anatomy

The neocortex is made of six sub-layers (Fig. 7). The figure depicts the most prominent connections between these sub-layers \[Lund, 1988\]. Input typically arrives at layer IV. Layer IV neurons send messages to layer II and layer III (not shown). Furthermore, layer IV neurons send messages also to layer VI. Superficial neurons provide output down to layer V and VI. There are connections between neurons of layer V and layer VI. Neurons of layer II and III are also strongly connected. Layer V provide feedback to layers II and III. The main output to higher cortical layers emerges from layers II and III. The main feedback to lower layers is provided by layer V. (For a review see, e.g., \[Callaway, 2000\].)

The theoretical model and the anatomical structure can be matched by assuming that reconstruction networks are laid between neocortical layers as it was denoted by the dark gray areas in Fig. 6(A) \[Lőrincz et al., 2002b\]. According to this figure, superficial layers of the lower cortical layer and deep layers of the higher cortical layer form one functional unit, the reconstruction network.

The novel anatomical suggestion of this paper is the mapping of a robust controller to the cortical layers (denoted by light gray boxes of Fig. 6(A)). The reconstruction error and the noise filtered temporal integral of this error, that is the reconstructed input exerts control action on lower reconstruction networks that corresponds to the information sent from superficial layers to deep layers. Experienced quantities correspond to the information propagating into the other direction, i.e., experienced quantities are sent to superficial layers by layers IV and V.

Mapping of the top to the EC-HC loop is shown in Fig 6(B). Independent component analysis is executed in two steps: (i) whitening (CA3 subfield of HC) and (ii) separation (CA1 subfield of HC). Reconstruction error and reconstructed input are computed in EC layer II and EC layer III, respectively. Internal (hidden) representation is encompassed by EC layers V and VI. These deep layers perform the pattern completion task. The EC afferents of the CA1 subfield can release the gates of the CA1 outputs and denoised signals can pass. The recurrent collaterals of the CA3 subfield replay learned sequences. Blind source deconvolution (BSD) is the putative role of the dentate gyrus. BSD removes temporal correlations cumulated by temporal integration of not-yet tuned lower reconstruction networks. BSD is necessary for proper ICA analysis. However, the number of neurons of a BSD structure can be very large. It is assumed that this computation can be afforded only at the top of the hierarchy. In turn, the dentate gyrus plays an unique role in our model. The assumption gains further support from top-down controlling: control can accelerate reconstruction \[Lőrincz, 1998\]. In turn, BSD at lower networks may not be necessary. This point deserves further investigations. More details can be found elsewhere \[Lőrincz and Buzsáki, 2000\].

### 4.2. Predictions of the model

Lőrincz and colleagues have shown previously that some memory effects, such as repetition suppression and priming \[Lőrincz et al., 2002c\] as well as the particular properties found for Alzheimer patients in a classic prototype learning paradigm (see, e.g., \[Knowlton, 1999\] and references therein about ‘9 dot’ experiments) can be explained by the reconstruction network model \[Kéri et al., 2002\].

A crucial prediction of our model is that temporal convolutions should be removed before ICA occurs. Given that ICA is the putative role of the CA3 and CA1 subfields, only the dentate gyrus can be responsible for this task. In turn, long and tunable delay lines should exist in the dentate gyrus. This prediction has been reinforced recently \[Henze et al., 2002\].

Another falsifying prediction of the model concerns the internal representation layer, which has to maintain its own activities in order to enable additive corrections and temporal integration. Persistent activities in the deep layers but not in the superficial layers of the EC have been found experimentally \[Egorov et al., 2002\].

An intriguing and falsifying prediction of the joined model, alike to its previous versions \[Lőrincz and Buzsáki, 2000\], is that top-down connections of reconstruction networks can be interpreted as long-term memories (LTMs), because these connections are responsible for the relaxed activities of the hidden layers. Given our mapping, the LTM corresponds to feedback connections between neocortical areas. These connections are generally more numerous than the feedforward connections between the same areas but the activity flow along these connections is relatively low and suggests a weak functional role (see, e.g., \[Callaway, 2000\] and references therein). This apparent discrepancy may be resolved by noting that different interpretations may coexist in the brain as it has been made evident in the animal experiments on binocular rivalry (see, e.g., \[Leopold and Logothetis, 1999\] and references therein) and in experiments with several possible visual interpretations (see, e.g., \[Leopold, 2003, Parker and Krug, 2003\] and the cited references). If reconstruction concerns a single interpretation then feedback activity flow should be small. This possibility can not be excluded because of the following reasons. There are evidences that activities in V4 (responsible for conscious detection of colors) and V5 (responsible for conscious detection of fast motion) in the monkey are uncorrelated. According to the arguments put forth by Zeki \[Zeki, 2003\], uncorrelated activities indicate that conscious experiences propagate downwards along parallel channels. Moreover, the conscious binding of the result of the individual conscious experiences seems to be delayed \[Bartels and Zeki, 2002\]. In turn, it is possible that only one interpretation is communicated downwards at a time. Another point concerns the suggested function, that the internal representation is under top-down control. This controlled representation will then propagate downwards to form the reconstructed input and also directly to real control networks \[Diamond, 1979\]. Given the long delays of processing, a well tuned control system should not interact oftentimes. In turn, the assumed function involves relatively sparse information flow.

It is important to note that in the original control model of the EC-HC loop \[Lőrincz, 1998\] the dentate gyrus was suggested as the source of temporal integration. Only the making of the reconstruction network model \[Lőrincz and Buzsáki, 2000, Chrobak et al., 2000\] revealed that temporal integration has to be executed at the hidden layer and not at the dentate gyrus, whereas temporal convolutions produced by temporal integrations accomplished in lower networks can be removed by means of the BSD algorithm at the dentate gyrus.

According to recent measurements, awareness and attention needs to be distinguished (for an excellent review, see \[Lamme, 2003\]). Attention increases neuronal activities responsible for the processing of the attended stimuli \[Desimone and Duncan, 1995\]. Most probably, endogenous attention facilitates the pathways that should be used by the attended stimuli \[Egeth and Yantis, 1997\]. In our model, facilitation can manifest itself through control action within cortical layers. On the other hand, awareness involves recurrent interactions between areas and can be suppressed by backward masking (see \[Lamme, 2003\] and references therein). This recurrent interaction required for awareness is our candidate function of the feedback connections between cortical areas.

Another note concerns top-down pattern completion: The controller network combines bottom-up information from different columns, areas and modalities and develops the context for lower level internal representation. Control action then corresponds to context based pattern completion. The efficiency of strong top-down control, such as overwriting, has been the subject of computer studies \[Lőrincz et al., 2002b\].

The merging of the two kinds of comparator networks solves the noise sensitivity of the controller. This noise filtering is fast and optimal, and it is an emerging property in the joined architecture.

According to the model, the EC deep layer to EC superficial layer synapses form the long-term memory of the EC-HC loop. On the other hand, the HC plays a particular, though not unique role. The HC is the top comparator that turns reconstruction error into control signal. This control signal excite the neurons of the EC deep layers. This is a unique position to encode inputs into the synapses between EC superficial and deep layers by Hebbian means. Similar roles can be played by all top-down control signals at other levels. These control signals target the deep layers and similarly to the HC output, they may enable (or facilitate) Hebbian learning of the LTM. Moreover, the control signal may propagate from the higher reconstruction networks to lower ones and encoding at higher reconstruction networks may influence encoding at lower ones, too.

Our model, alike to its previous versions \[Lőrincz, 1998, Lőrincz and Buzsáki, 2000, Lőrincz et al., 2002b\] is neither a model for episodic learning, nor a model for incremental learning and does not fit such traditional distinctions (see, e.g., \[Gluck et al., 2003\]). On the one hand, when information maximization is not modulated by behavioral relevance, the model is an incremental model engaged in the maximization of information transfer, noise filtering and pattern completion using information theoretic algorithms in Hebbian forms \[Lőrincz et al., 2002b\]. On the other hand, the controller is a top-down tool, which can facilitate learning and could make learning instantaneous, if behavioral relevance requires: For a given input, and by activating a unit of the hidden layer, Hebbian learning will make that unit of the hidden layer to represent (encode) the actual input by means of its top-down synapses. Such mechanism can shortcut statistical analysis and may imprint the input into the internal representation. According to our model, the increased learning rate in deep layer afferents of the superficial layers corresponds to the supervisory instruction for the activated deep layer unit(s): Remember to the actual input!

The joined model offered no role for the recurrent collaterals of the superficial layers. We believe, that our continuous model can not uncover the role of these connectivity structures. Another missing feature of the neocortical structure is its columnar organization. The continuous comparator model does not seem to offer any clue here.

Finally, we note that the forming of invariant place cells from retinal input irrespective of the motion of eyes, head and body and their learned and optimized joined or disjoined motion patterns corresponds to a plant of very high order. Our rate code model justifies that invariant representations of place cells, the behaviorally important components of problem solving in mazes, are represented the hippocampus in rats and that the information of different modalities are associated here. (For a review, see, \[Redish, 1999\]).

## 5. Conclusions

There is a large body of experimental data supporting the idea that attention shapes (influences, controls) perception. For excellent reviews, see, e.g., \[Duncan, 1999, Posner and DiGirolamo, 2000, LaBerge, 2000\] and references therein. We have presented a unified model that optimizes bottom-up information transfer and filters (attenuates, prohibits) the propagation of structureless noise. The model also influences top-down processes, by comparing desired and experienced parameters in sensory information processing. The unification of the control model \[Lőrincz, 1998\] and the reconstruction architecture model \[Lőrincz and Buzsáki, 2000\] leads to falsifying predictions. Some of those predictions have gained experimental support recently. For example, the model predicts persistent activities in the deep layers of the entorhinal cortex that have been found in the experiments \[Egorov et al., 2002\]. Another falsifying prediction, that the circuitry of the dentate gyrus should support long delays, has also been reinforced \[Henze et al., 2002\]. A most intriguing prediction of the model is that the long-term memory of neocortical visual areas corresponds to the feedback connections between areas. These feedback connections are more numerous than the bottom-up connections between areas. However, these feedback connections are relatively quiet. The model allowed us to distinguish between attention and awareness, two delicate and intertwined concepts. Known features of awareness allowed us to argue about the relative quietness of feedback connections between areas: there should be only one available representation for awareness, whereas multiple interpretations should coexist in representations not directly related to awareness. We have argued that this interpretation fits recent physiological findings.

## Acknowledgements

This work was partially supported by Hungarian National Science Foundation (Grant No. OTKA T-32487). Special thanks are due to György Buzsáki for his enlightening and continuous support during the long-course of our model construction. Careful reading of the manuscript and helpful suggestions are gratefully acknowledged to György Hévízi and to Gábor Szirtes. I should thank the enlightening critical notes of Peter Dayan that have helped me in improving the presentation.


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# Strongly Enhanced Magnetic Fluctuations in a Heavy-mass Layered Ruthenate

## Abstract

We have studied the magnetic excitations in $`\mathrm{Ca}_{2\mathrm{x}}\mathrm{Sr}_\mathrm{x}\mathrm{RuO}_4`$, x=0.52 and 0.62, which exhibit an anomalous high susceptibility and heavy mass Fermi liquid behavior. Our inelastic neutron scattering experiments reveal strongly enhanced magnetic fluctuations around an incommensurate wave vector (0.22,0,0) pointing to a magnetic instability. The magnetic fluctuations show no correlation in c-direction and also along the RuO2-planes the signal is extremely broad, $`\mathrm{\Delta }q=0.45`$ Å-1. These fluctuations can quantitatively account for the high specific heat coefficient and relate to the high macroscopic susceptibility. The magnetic scattering is attributed to the $`\gamma `$-band, the active band for spin triplet superconductivity in $`\mathrm{Sr}_2\mathrm{RuO}_4`$.

The interest in ruthenates initiated by the discovery of the unconventional superconductivity in $`\mathrm{Sr}_2\mathrm{RuO}_4`$ Maeno94  has revealed a rich variety of physical phenomena. Inelastic neutron scattering (INS) finds dominating incommensurate (almost antiferromagnetic) fluctuations arising from strong nesting in the one-dimensional bands of $`\mathrm{d}_{\mathrm{xz}}`$\- and $`\mathrm{d}_{\mathrm{yz}}`$-character Sidis99 ; Servant02 ; Braden03 . However, there is evidence, that superconductivity in $`\mathrm{Sr}_2\mathrm{RuO}_4`$ is originating mainly in the two-dimensional band of $`\mathrm{d}_{\mathrm{xy}}`$-character review . This band exhibits a van-Hove singularity only 50 meV above the Fermi-level Singh , which may be related to the tendency of the perovskite ruthenates towards ferromagnetism.

The substitution of Sr by Ca yields a very complex $`\mathrm{Ca}_{2\mathrm{x}}\mathrm{Sr}_\mathrm{x}\mathrm{RuO}_4`$-phase diagram Nakatsuji00 ; Nakatsuji0300 . Due to the smaller ionic radius of Ca compared to that of Sr, the structure first exhibits a rotation around the c-axis, 1.5$`>`$x$`>`$0.5 Friedt01  followed by a tilt distortion for 0.5$`>`$x$`>`$0.2 Friedt01 ; Nakatsuji00 ; Nakatsuji0300 . For the highest Ca-concentration, x$`<`$0.2, Mott localization sets in ending in the antiferromagnetic insulator $`\mathrm{Ca}_2\mathrm{RuO}_4`$ Braden98 . The different structural distortions are reflected in the magnetic properties which could semi-quantitatively be explained through LDA band structure calculations Fang01 .

Particularly interesting behavior is found in the concentration range next to localization but still in the metallic phases Nakatsuji0300 , 0.5$`>`$x$`>`$0.2, where partial localization has been proposed Anisimov . $`\mathrm{Ca}_{1.5}\mathrm{Sr}_{0.5}\mathrm{RuO}_4`$ exhibits the largest macroscopic magnetic susceptibility, $`\chi _{\mathrm{mac}}`$, at low temperature, a factor of 200 higher than the one of pure $`\mathrm{Sr}_2\mathrm{RuO}_4`$ Nakatsuji0300 . Furthermore, Nakatsuji et al. observed magnetic hysteresis Nakatsuji03  and an exceptionally large linear coefficient of the specific heat of 255 mJ/mol-RuK2. This puts $`\mathrm{Ca}_{1.5}\mathrm{Sr}_{0.5}\mathrm{RuO}_4`$ well in the range of typical heavy fermion compounds and there is only one other transition metal oxide known with a comparable specific heat coefficient Kondo97 .

When searching for the so far undetected ferromagnetic fluctuations, $`\mathrm{Ca}_{1.5}\mathrm{Sr}_{0.5}\mathrm{RuO}_4`$ seems to be favorable due to its large magnetic susceptibility. We have studied this material by INS and find indeed strongly enhanced magnetic fluctuations around the two-dimensional zone center, which furthermore may account for the high specific heat ratio.

Several single crystals were obtained with a floating zone technique Nakatsuji01 . We have studied two compositions, x=0.52 and 0.62, with volumes of 140 and 350 mm3, respectively. INS experiments were performed on the thermal triple axis spectrometer 1T at the Orphée reactor using double focusing monochromator and analyzer crystals (pyrolithic graphite (002)). Since the scattered intensity was rather low and since it turned out that the magnetic scattering is little modulated in q-space, we relaxed the diaphragms defining the scattered beam. INS measures the imaginary part of the dynamical susceptibility as function of energy and $`𝐐`$:

$$\frac{d^2\sigma }{d\mathrm{\Omega }d\omega }=\frac{k_f}{k_i}r_0^2\frac{2F^2(𝐐)}{\pi g^2\mu _B^2}\frac{\chi ^{\prime \prime }(𝐐,\mathrm{}\omega )}{1\mathrm{exp}(\mathrm{}\omega /k_BT)}$$
(1)
where $`r_0^2=0.292`$ barn, $`g2`$ is the Landé factor, $`𝐤_i`$ and $`𝐤_f`$ are the incident and final neutron wave vectors, and $`F(𝐐)`$ is the magnetic form factor.

Most experiments were done with the $`\mathrm{Ca}_{1.38}\mathrm{Sr}_{0.62}\mathrm{RuO}_4`$-crystal due to its larger volume. Near the $`𝐪`$-position $`𝐪_{\mathrm{𝐢𝐜}\mathrm{𝐚𝐟}}`$=(0.3,0.3,$`q_l`$) note-q  where strong incommensurate scattering is observed in pure $`\mathrm{Sr}_2\mathrm{RuO}_4`$ Sidis99  we find only weak scattering Friedtup , but there is strong scattering around $`𝐐`$=(1,0,0), which is not a zone-center in the three-dimensional space with the body-centered stacking of the planes. However, due to the weak inter-layer electronic coupling, magnetism should have little dependence on the $`q_z`$-component and we may consider (1,0,0) as the two-dimensional zone center. Fig. 1 shows a map of the scattering observed around (1,0,0) at the energy of 4.1 meV. In contrast to pure $`\mathrm{Sr}_2\mathrm{RuO}_4`$, the magnetic fluctuations exhibit a broad plateau around the position expected for ferromagnetism. However, they are still not peaking at the zone center but remain incommensurate with a very broad maximum at the finite q-value of $`𝐪_{\mathrm{𝐢𝐜}\mathrm{𝐟𝐦}}`$=(0.22,0,0).

We have verified the magnetic nature of the $`𝐪_{\mathrm{𝐢𝐜}\mathrm{𝐟𝐦}}`$-scattering by similar studies around the (3,0,0) and (2,1,0) lattice points (near (1,1,0) or (2,0,0) phonon scattering is too strong). At the first positions no similar signal could be detected in agreement with the expected decrease of a magnetic signal due to the form-factor. In contrast any phononic signal should get enhanced at these larger Q-positions. We know, that around (1,0,0) or equivalent no phonon scattering can appear at energies below 8 meV Braden0198 .

The magnetic scattering in $`\mathrm{Ca}_{1.38}\mathrm{Sr}_{0.62}\mathrm{RuO}_4`$ is not well defined in $`𝐐`$-space leading to sizeable overlap of the four symmetrically equivalent contributions from ($`\pm `$0.22,0,0) and (0,$`\pm `$0.22,0). The map as, well as all the scans presented below, can be described by the superposition of four Gaussians isotropic in q-space :

$$I(𝐐,\mathrm{}\omega )=BG+\underset{i=1,\mathrm{},4}{}I_ie^{\frac{1}{2}(\frac{|𝐐𝐐_𝐢|}{\sigma })^2}$$
(2)
This description allows to analyze the scattering quantitatively, even though it might be more complex. In the related compound $`\mathrm{Sr}_3\mathrm{Ru}_2\mathrm{O}_7`$, for example, a multiple peak structure was observed capogna , which we may not rule out in our case. Figure 2 shows the results of constant energy scans across $`𝐆`$=(1,0,0) passing through the two maxima at (1,$`\pm `$0.22,0) with fits according to Eq. (2). We may follow the incommensurate scattering corresponding to $`𝐪_{\mathrm{𝐢𝐜}\mathrm{𝐟𝐦}}`$ up to 8 meV, at higher energy the contamination with phonon scattering is too strong. The position of the scattering is independent of the energy transfer, as expected for a Fermi-surface feature in the paramagnetic phase.

For the energy of 4.1 meV at 12 K we obtain a $`𝐪`$-width (full width at half maximum) isotropic in the x,y-plane of 0.45 Å-1, which is more than three times larger than the width of the incommensurate fluctuations in $`\mathrm{Sr}_2\mathrm{RuO}_4`$ Sidis99 . Thus, even at this low temperature the fluctuations in $`\mathrm{Ca}_{1.38}\mathrm{Sr}_{0.62}\mathrm{RuO}_4`$ exhibit a very short correlation length of only about 5 Å, but we may not exclude that the broadening arises from a multiple peak structure. We have also studied the $`q_l`$-dependence of this scattering and did not find any dependency besides the decrease in intensity with increasing $`q_l`$ due to the magnetic $`\mathrm{Ru}^+`$ form factor. The magnetic fluctuations around $`𝐪_{\mathrm{𝐢𝐜}\mathrm{𝐟𝐦}}`$ are thus not correlated in the $`c`$-direction similar to the incommensurate scattering in $`\mathrm{Sr}_2\mathrm{RuO}_4`$ Servant02 . We find only a weak increase in the in-plane peak width for decreasing energies at 1.6 K, but at higher temperatures, there is significant additional energy dependent broadening. Astonishingly, the low energy fluctuations get broadened approximatively when $`k_BT`$ exceeds their energy Friedtup .

The left part of Fig. 3 gives the energy dependence of the $`𝐪_{\mathrm{𝐢𝐜}\mathrm{𝐟𝐦}}`$-scattering at 1.6 K which may be described with a single relaxor fit :

$$\chi ^{\prime \prime }(𝐪_{\mathrm{𝐢𝐜}\mathrm{𝐟𝐦}},\omega )=\chi ^{}(𝐪_{\mathrm{𝐢𝐜}\mathrm{𝐟𝐦}},0)\frac{\mathrm{\Gamma }\omega }{\mathrm{\Gamma }^2+\omega ^2}$$
(3)
relating the imaginary part $`\chi ^{\prime \prime }(𝐪_{\mathrm{𝐢𝐜}\mathrm{𝐟𝐦}},\omega )`$ of the generalized dynamical susceptibility with the corresponding real part $`\chi ^{}(𝐪_{\mathrm{𝐢𝐜}\mathrm{𝐟𝐦}},0)`$ at $`\omega =0`$. For the characteristic damping energy we find $`\mathrm{\Gamma }=2.5\pm 0.2`$ meV at T=1.6 K, which is much less than the value of 7.5 meV reported for the incommensurate spin fluctuations in $`\mathrm{Sr}_2\mathrm{RuO}_4`$ Braden03 . We conclude that $`\mathrm{Ca}_{1.38}\mathrm{Sr}_{0.62}\mathrm{RuO}_4`$ is close to a magnetic instability, in spite of the rather broad $`𝐐`$-width of the peaks. For the amplitude we obtain $`\chi ^{}(𝐪_{\mathrm{𝐢𝐜}\mathrm{𝐟𝐦}},0)=454\mu _B^2eV^1`$, which is much higher than that of the incommensurate scattering in $`\mathrm{Sr}_2\mathrm{RuO}_4`$, which is indicated in the simulated map in Fig. 1. Upon heating the amplitude of the spectrum at $`𝐪_{\mathrm{𝐢𝐜}\mathrm{𝐟𝐦}}`$ decreases and the characteristic energy shifts to higher values, see Fig. 3 b)-d). All these observations support the interpretation that $`\mathrm{Ca}_{1.38}\mathrm{Sr}_{0.62}\mathrm{RuO}_4`$ approaches a magnetic instability at low temperature.

In Fig. 4 we compare the scattering near $`𝐪_{\mathrm{𝐢𝐜}\mathrm{𝐟𝐦}}`$ for pure $`\mathrm{Sr}_2\mathrm{RuO}_4`$, $`\mathrm{Ca}_{1.38}\mathrm{Sr}_{0.62}\mathrm{RuO}_4`$ and $`\mathrm{Ca}_{1.48}\mathrm{Sr}_{0.52}\mathrm{RuO}_4`$. The quasi-ferromagnetic signal is absent in the pure compound but is even stronger in $`\mathrm{Ca}_{1.48}\mathrm{Sr}_{0.52}\mathrm{RuO}_4`$, following the behavior of $`\chi _{\mathrm{mac}}`$Nakatsuji0300 .

The strength of the scattering observed here implies its relevance for the anomalous physical properties reported for compositions around $`\mathrm{Ca}_{1.5}\mathrm{Sr}_{0.5}\mathrm{RuO}_4`$. The high macroscopic susceptibility relates to the scattering around $`𝐪_{\mathrm{𝐢𝐜}\mathrm{𝐟𝐦}}`$, since, its strong broadening implies a significant overlap to the ferromagnetic position $`𝐪`$=(000). However the temperature dependence of $`\chi _{\mathrm{mac}}`$ and $`\chi ^{\prime \prime }(q_{icfm},\omega )`$ or $`\chi ^{}(q_{icfm},\omega =0)`$ are only qualitatively similar, see Fig. 3. $`\chi _{\mathrm{mac}}`$ exhibits a steeper increase at low temperature where it exceeds $`\chi ^{\prime \prime }(q_{icfm},\omega )`$ by more than a factor five. We conclude that the anomalously high macroscopic susceptibility evolves from the little correlated magnetic fluctuations observed here, but the details of the crossover require further studies at low temperature and energy. $`\mathrm{Ca}_{1.5}\mathrm{Sr}_{0.5}\mathrm{RuO}_4`$ further exhibits an extremely high linear coefficient in the specific heat, but it differs from typical heavy fermion compounds by the strong temperature dependence of both specific heat coefficient and magnetic susceptibility, and by the large Wilson ratio of about 40 in the ruthenate Nakatsuji03 . There are similarities with the only other known transition metal compound with comparable C/T-ratio, $`\mathrm{LiV}_2\mathrm{O}_4`$, where a magnetic instability and anomalous low temperature properties were reported Kondo97 ; Lee01 . The strongly enhanced fluctuations in $`\mathrm{Ca}_{1.38}\mathrm{Sr}_{0.62}\mathrm{RuO}_4`$ can quantitatively account for the specific heat ratio. Following reference hayden , one may relate the specific heat coefficient with the inverse of the characteristic energy averaged over the Brillouin-zone: $`\gamma =\frac{\pi k_B^2}{\mathrm{}}\frac{1}{\mathrm{\Gamma }(𝐐)}_{BZ}`$. For $`\mathrm{Ca}_{1.38}\mathrm{Sr}_{0.62}\mathrm{RuO}_4`$, the resulting specific heat coefficient is large due to the low characteristic energy of 2.5 meV and due to the broad q-range of the fluctuations. Taking $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ to be constant within a cylinder of radius 0.225 Å-1 and neglecting any other contribution we obtain $`\gamma `$=250 mJ/mol-RuK2 in agreement with the direct measurement. The heavy mass behavior seems thus to arise from the over-damped magnetic excitations. It is interesting to perform the same analysis for $`\mathrm{Sr}_2\mathrm{RuO}_4`$: the incommensurate scattering can account only for about a quarter of the observed $`\gamma `$-coefficient suggesting an additional source of excitations as it has also been deduced from the comparison with NMR results Sidis99 ; Braden03 . It is tempting to assume that parts of the magnetic fluctuations dominating in $`\mathrm{Ca}_{1.38}\mathrm{Sr}_{0.62}\mathrm{RuO}_4`$, still play a role for the superconductivity of $`\mathrm{Sr}_2\mathrm{RuO}_4`$where the $`\gamma `$-band is considered to drive the unconventional superconductivity review .

At temperatures below 1 K a ferromagnetic ordering has been reported Nakatsuji03 , but the ordered moment per Ru appears to be rather small, of the order of 0.01 $`\mu _B`$, in view of the sizeable magnetic fluctuations seen in our experiment. It is unclear whether the weak ferromagnetic order reflects the main magnetic contribution, or whether it arises from some disorder. We have searched for magnetic ordering in $`\mathrm{Ca}_{1.48}\mathrm{Sr}_{0.52}\mathrm{RuO}_4`$ down to 0.3 K. There is no magnetic ordering corresponding to $`𝐪_{\mathrm{𝐢𝐜}\mathrm{𝐟𝐦}}`$, $`𝐪_{\mathrm{𝐢𝐜}\mathrm{𝐚𝐟}}`$ or to antiferromagnetism with an ordered moment higher than 0.03 $`\mu _B`$.

In the following we want to discuss a possible origin of the incommensurate scattering around $`𝐪_{\mathrm{𝐢𝐜}\mathrm{𝐟𝐦}}`$. A polarized neutron diffraction study in $`\mathrm{Ca}_{1.5}\mathrm{Sr}_{0.5}\mathrm{RuO}_4`$ has found predominant $`\mathrm{d}_{\mathrm{xy}}`$-character suggesting that the quasi-ferromagnetic instability is associated with the $`\gamma `$-band Gukasov02 . In the right part of Fig. 4 we show the cylindrical $`\gamma `$ Fermi-surface of pure $`\mathrm{Sr}_2\mathrm{RuO}_4`$ where the van Hove singularity lies near $`M`$=(0.5 0 0). There has been considerable controversy whether the van Hove singularity is occupied or not in $`\mathrm{Sr}_2\mathrm{RuO}_4`$ since the initial ARPES experiments did not agree with LDA calculations and de Haas van Alphen measurements. The disagreement was solved when a surface reconstruction has been found by LEED measurements Matzdorf : in the surface layers, $`\mathrm{Sr}_2\mathrm{RuO}_4`$ exhibits the same octahedron rotation around the $`c`$-axis as the bulk in the samples studied here, rotation angle of 8.5° compared to the value of 12° found in the bulk of $`\mathrm{Ca}_{1.5}\mathrm{Sr}_{0.5}\mathrm{RuO}_4`$ Friedt01 . The structural surface reconstruction induces an electronic surface state which one may relate to a shift of the van-Hove singularity below the Fermi-level Matzdorf . Since the rotation distortion is even stronger in $`\mathrm{Ca}_{1.5}\mathrm{Sr}_{0.5}\mathrm{RuO}_4`$ a similar effect may occur changing the $`\gamma `$-band from electron-like into hole-like. Hall effect measurements support this interpretation Galvin01 . Using the tight binding parameters of reference Singh  but with a down shift of the $`\gamma `$-band by 100 meV taken from the LDA calculation in Ref. Fang01  one obtains the Fermi-surface presented in the inset of Fig. 4 and indeed one may find a nesting-like vector near (0.2,0,0) connecting the two ends of hole-like pockets across the $`M`$-point. More detailed calculations are required to confirm such interpretation; in particular the role of band folding induced by the rotational distortion should be explored. A Dzyaloshinski-Moriya interaction might also cause a shift of magnetic fluctuations from the ferromagnetic to an incommensurate position; however, a rather strong interaction would be needed to explain the observed $`𝐪_{\mathrm{𝐢𝐜}\mathrm{𝐟𝐦}}`$.

In summary we have observed strongly enhanced magnetic excitations in the heavy mass material $`\mathrm{Ca}_{2\mathrm{x}}\mathrm{Sr}_\mathrm{x}\mathrm{RuO}_4`$, x=0.52 and 0.62. In contrast to pure $`\mathrm{Sr}_2\mathrm{RuO}_4`$, dominant scattering is found around the zone-center, indicating a quasi-ferromagnetic instability, though the wave-vector is still finite, $`𝐪_{\mathrm{𝐢𝐜}\mathrm{𝐟𝐦}}`$=(0.22,0, 0). A description with four symmetrically equivalent broad peaks at ($`\pm `$0.22,0,0) and (0,$`\pm `$0.22,0) yields overlap with strong weight at the zone center corresponding to the ferromagnetic instability. The enhanced low temperature magnetic susceptibility in $`\mathrm{Ca}_{1.5}\mathrm{Sr}_{0.5}\mathrm{RuO}_4`$ is thus related with this magnetic instability. Quantitatively, the strongly enhanced fluctuations account for the exceptionally high specific heat C/T-ratio. These results shed further light on the possible role of the $`\gamma `$-band in ferromagnetism and in the pairing mechanism of $`\mathrm{Sr}_2\mathrm{RuO}_4`$.

We acknowledge discussions with P. Pfeuty. This work was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft through the Sonderforschungsbereich 608.


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# RAPID NH CHANGES IN NGC 4151

## 1 Introduction

The geometry of the obscuring matter in Active Galactic Nuclei, predicted by unified models , is still unclear. The study of variability of the absorbing column density (NH) in these objects, provides invaluable informations on the size and location of the absorber. Recently, Risaliti et al.  found NH variability on time scales from $`2`$ month to $``$ 5 years in nearly all the objects belonging to a sample of bright, Compton-thin Seyfert 2 galaxies with multiple X-ray observations. This variability suggests that the absorber could be much closer to the nucleus than usually assumed.

To further investigate this issue, we have analyzed two BeppoSAX long observations of the brightest Seyfert galaxy, NGC 4151, and present here some preliminary results.

## 2 Light curves analysis

The two BeppoSAX observations were performed on 2001 December, 18 and 1996 July, 6 with the Narrow Field Instruments: LECS (0.1-10 keV), MECS (1.3-10 keV), and PDS (13-200 keV).

The total absorbing column density measured in NGC4151 by HEAO1, EXOSAT, Ginga, ROSAT and ASCA  ranges from a few $`10^{22}`$ cm-2 to a few $`10^{23}`$ cm-2. Since the corresponding photoelectric cut-off lies in the 2-4 keV energy range, we have chosen to analyze the light curves of the count rate in the bands 2-4 keV (MECS), 6-10 keV (MECS) and of their softness ratio (see Figures 1 and 2), to investigate whether NH variations might have occurred within each observation. We also analyzed the light curve of the count rate in the 15-200 keV band (PDS) to monitor the continuum. From the analysis of these light curves we have selected some time intervals where we find indications that NH might have undergone significant changes. These intervals are shown and labelled in figures 1 and 2. To quantify the spectral variations we have then performed a detailed spectral analysis of these stretches of data.

## 3 Spectral analysis

Standard data reduction was performed using the SAXDAS software package version 2.0 following Fiore, Guainazzi & Grandi . Spectral fits were performed using the XSPEC 11.2.0 software package and public response matrices as from the 1999 December release. The PDS data were reduced using the “variable risetime threshold” technique to reject particle background . LECS and MECS spectra were rebinned following two criteria:a) to sample the energy resolution of the detectors with three channels at all energies whenever possible, and to obtain at least 20 counts per energy channel. Constant factors have been introduced in the fitting models in order to take into account the intercalibration systematics between the instruments . The model adopted for the analysis has the following components:

1. A power-law with an exponential high-energy cut-off;
2. a neutral Compton reflection component (modelled with PEXRAV );
3. a narrow iron Kα emission line with energy set to 6.38 keV in the observer frame;
4. two components for the soft excess emission: a thermal component, and a power law, reflection component.
5. two components for the intrinsic absorber, both assumed neutral: $`N_{H_1}`$ which covers the nucleus totally; $`N_{H_2}`$ which covers the nucleus only in part, with a covering factor CV . The absorber is completed with the line of sight column density through the Galaxy (N$`_{H_{gal}}`$$`=`$2.17$`\times 10^{20}`$ cm-2).

Figures 3 and 4 illustrate the results for the two observations. In the 2001 December, 18 observation, we find that from A to B to C, both absorbers and the photon index do not show statistically significative changes. From C to M the two absorbers N$`_{H_1}`$ and N$`_{H_2}`$ change at a confidence level $`90\%`$ by a factor of 2 and 3.3 respectively, while the photon index is constant at a confidence level $`99\%`$. If the covering factor CV is kept constant throughout the fit the amplitude of the variations of N$`_{H_1}`$ and N$`_{H_2}`$ is reduced to a factor 1.4 and 2 respectively. The variations occur on a timescale of 100-150 ksec.

In the 1996 July, 6 observation, we find that from A to B both absorbers undergo changes at a confidence level $`90\%`$, while from A to C the absorbers change at a confidence level $`>99\%`$. From A to B to C, the photon index is again statistically consistent with a constant. The amplitude of the variation of N$`_{H_1}`$ and N$`_{H_2}`$ is a factor 6 and 5 respectively. If the covering factor CV is kept constant throughout the fit the amplitude of the variations of N$`_{H_1}`$ and N$`_{H_2}`$ is reduced to a factor 4 and 3 respectively. The variations occur on a timescale of $`30`$ ksec from A to B and $`200`$ ksec from A to C.

## 4 Conclusion

We have performed a detailed time-resolved spectral study of two long BeppoSAX observations of the Seyfert galaxy NGC4151. We find strong evidences for spectral variability which we model in terms of variations of two absorbing screens. The timescales of these variations are between 40 ksec and 200 ksec, 10-100 times shorter than the typical timescales found by Risaliti et al. in a sample of Compton thin Seyfert 2 galaxies. If we associate these timescales to a crossing time, the resulting linear size would be of about one light day, which is the size of the innermost part of the Broad Line Region, as inferred from reverberation mapping in NGC 4151. This interpretation is supported by the argument, used by Risaliti et al., which assume that the absorbing medium might be made up of spherical clouds moving with Keplerian velocities around the central black hole. This requires that the cloud gas density is of the order of 109 cm-3, typical of Broad Line Region clouds .


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# Wave Modes in Collapsar Jets

## 1 Introduction

The close association between GRB030329 and SN2003dh proves that a subset of “long” GRBs is associated with core collapse supernovae . The light curve of GRB030329 steepens over time. Price et al.  interpret this as a broadening of a jet-like outflow from the GRB source. Multiwavelength observations by Uemura et al.  along with those from GRB021004  strengthen the case for a variable jet outflow from the central engine.

These observations support the prompt (Type I) collapsar model of GRBs . In this model, a progenitor star with mass $`>`$ 30 $`\mathrm{M}_{}`$ fails to eject its envelope after the core collapses into a black hole. Accretion of free falling material may drive a relativistic jet of gas that may break through the stellar envelope. At issue is whether hydrodynamic instabilities within the jet will grow so that the radial profile of jet velocity becomes time and space dependent. Such information could offer insight into the production of gamma rays as well as prompt optical afterglows of GRBs.

## 2 Dispersion Relations for Collapsar Jets

Analyses of collapsar jet models have shown that the jet is unstable as it propagates through its progenitors atmosphere. Axisymmetric, relativistic hydrodynamic simulations by Aloy et al. (2000)  show evidence of pinch-body modes triggered by recollimation shocks.

We studied the simulations that Aloy et al. (2000)  made using the author’s GENESIS code. In the radial direction, the energy deposition region extends from the inner grid boundary located at 200 km to a radius of 600 km (2-6 x 107 cm) . We studied two of their jets with constant energy deposition rates of dE/dt = 1050 (C50) and 1051 ergs s-1 (C51). Our approach to analyzing the space-dependent structures is to use the linearized relativistic fluid equations to find the Kelvin-Helmholtz modes that may be triggered by recollimation shocks within the jet. Space-dependent perturbations propagate with a dispersion relation given in the appendix of Hardee, Clarke & Rosen (1997) . This dispersion relation assumes uniform conditions inside and outside a jet with sharp discontinuity at the jet surface.

The jets in the simulations have velocity profiles in the transverse direction. In order to identify modes in the simulation we must determine typical sound speeds in the jet and the external medium. To calculate the value of the relevant parameters in the jet and the external medium, we define the jet radius $`R_j`$ wherever $`\mathrm{\Gamma }v_r/c=0.5\mathrm{\Gamma }^{}v_r^{}/c`$. Here $`v_r`$ is the radial velocity, $`\mathrm{\Gamma }=1/\sqrt{1v_r^2/c^2}`$ is the Lorentz factor, $`v_r^{}`$ is the maximum value for the jet velocity at a given cross section and $`\mathrm{\Gamma }^{}`$ the corresponding Lorentz value. Figure 1 shows the angular cross sections of pressure, density and velocity for the jet C50 near its base and near the head of the jet. We calculate the weighted average for jet speed and sound speed in the region $`RR_j`$ and sound speed in the interval $`R_jR3R_j`$. The local sound speed for a relativistic gas is defined by

$$a_s\left\{\frac{\widehat{\gamma }p}{\rho +[\widehat{\gamma }/(\widehat{\gamma }1)]p/c^2}\right\}^{\frac{1}{2}}$$
(1)
where $`\widehat{\gamma }`$ is the adiabatic index ($`4/3`$ for a relativistic gas), $`p`$ is the pressure, $`\rho `$ is the density, and $`c`$ is the speed of light. From the average of the jet speed typical values of $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ range from 1-5; however, the C51 jet late in the evolution near the jet head reaches a $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ 20.

## 3 The Stages of Jet Evolution

We identify two distinct stages of jet evolution: downstream from the inlet and upstream from the breakout. The inlet region corresponds to where the jet is injected. In the C50 jet simulation at time t=3.35 s, we can study the stability downstream from the inlet near its base ($`r10^8cm`$). Breakout through the Helium shell of the progenitor occurs at $`r`$ 1011cm. Here the stability can be studied in the region immediately upstream from the jet head ($`r10^{10}cm`$). The dynamics of these two regions are comparable to the same jet at a later time and for the C51 simulation. Figure 2 shows the result of our stability analysis for these two regions with our calculated values for normalized wavelength and frequency for the fundamental, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd pinch body modes.

Once the jet has penetrated the He shell, it enters a hydrogen medium where it will be overpressured. The jet will expand adiabaticaly in the perpendicular direction to the jet axis at $`c/\sqrt{3}`$ in the reference frame of the fluid . Recollimation shocks below the He-H boundary shell destroy all upstream perturbations. At the same time they can trigger pinch modes downstream. We are most interested in perturbations just upstream of the jet head after it has crossed the He layer at 1011cm. It is at this point that the jet becomes a causally disconnected wind where density and velocity perturbations “freeze” in the base of the wind.

## 4 Conclusion

We solved the dispersion relations in Hardee, Clarke, & Rosen 1997  for $`k(\omega )`$ with the appropriate parameters from each cut of the jets. We found the solutions for the fundamental and the first three body modes for both jets. Figure 2 shows the solutions for C50 just downstream from the inlet and upstream from breakout at $`t`$=3.35s. We compute the wavelengths at the maximum growth rate $`\lambda ^{}=2\pi v_w^{}/\omega ^{}`$ (where $`v_w^{}`$ and $`\omega ^{}`$ are the wave speed and frequency at maximum growth) and the minimum growth length $`\mathrm{}^{}=(k_I^{})^1`$ (where $`k_I^{}`$ is the imaginary wave number). The growth time $`\tau =\mathrm{}/v_w`$ for any given solution is calculated from,

$$v_w=\frac{\omega k_R}{k_R^2+k_I^2}$$
(2)
where $`k_R`$ is the real wave number. We find that our solutions depend on the distance from the inlet $`r`$. The range for maximum growth wavelength $`\lambda ^{}`$ for the body modes near the jet inlet is 0.1$`r`$ to $`r`$, and the range upstream from breakout is 0.06$`r`$ to 0.6$`r`$. The range for the growth length $`\mathrm{}^{}`$ is 0.5$`r`$ to $`r`$ near the inlet, and for near breakout the range is 0.2$`r`$ to 2$`r`$. Near breakout the growth time $`\tau `$ ranges from 0.3 $`r/c`$ to 3 $`r/c`$ or 1 to 10 seconds at the distance of the He shell.

Our numerical analysis of jet stability assumes a sharp lateral boundary between the jet and the external medium. The analytical approach of Aloy et al. (2002)  for the same jet asumes an extended shear layer. For Lorentz factors of order 10, they predict a growth time $`\tau 0.01r/c`$ which is one order of magnitude smaller than our method; however, the characteristic order of $`\lambda ^{}0.1r0.5r`$ is also what we predict.

One objective of our study was to find if there were wave modes that would not show up in the simulation because their length scale would be smaller than the computational grid scale. Aloy et al. (2000) use a logarithmic grid scaling so that the jet is better resolved at the base than at the head of the jet . For the jet downstream from the inlet, grid scaling is $``$ 0.1 $`R_j`$ and this is sufficient to resolve wave modes. Near the jet head the grid scaling is $`R_j`$ and this can suppress the pinch body modes numerically. Since this region will be the most relevant to the evolution of the jet flow at breakout, simulations with greater grid resolution need to be done.

E. A. G. wishes to acknowledge the funding of this study through the Alabama Space Grant Consortium project. The authors would like to thank Miguel Angel Aloy for his generosity in sharing his simulation results and his comments.

## Index


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# Possible Evidence for MeV Dark Matter In Dwarf Spheroidals

## I Introduction

Although particle dark matter is generally thought to be in the 10 GeV-1 TeV mass range , it has been shown that a 1-100 MeV candidate is, in fact, possible . Recent observations of a bright 511 keV $`\gamma `$-ray line from the Galactic bulge may be the first experimental evidence for light (1-100 MeV) annihilating dark matter particles .

Such particles could annihilate throughout the Galactic bulge and inner halo into positrons (and electrons) which, after losing energy, annihilate into 511 keV gamma-rays. The observations of 511 keV emission from the Galactic bulge, made by INTEGRAL (INTErnational Gamma-Ray Astrophysics Laboratory) , and previously by CGRO (Compton Gamma Ray Observatory) , could possibly be explained by a wide variety of astrophysical scenarios. Proposed sources include neutron stars or black holes , radioactive nuclei from supernovae, novae, red giants or Wolf-Rayet stars , cosmic ray interactions with the interstellar medium , pulsars  and stellar flares.

A popular class of possible sources is type Ia supernovae. The frequency of such events required to produce a sufficient number of positrons is $`.6`$ per century (assuming an escape fraction of 4% ), however, well above the prediction of current models (0.03 per century within a factor of 3) . Alternatively, massive Wolf-Rayet stars (hypernovae) of the SN2003dh type , exploding in the Galactic Center are possible candidates , but their rate is unknown. Also, even if a very large flux of positrons were injected into the galactic center, it is not likely that the whole Galactic bulge could be filled, even if a bipolar galactic wind is produced by star bursts . If a “galactic positron fountain” were to exist , the annihilation rate at high altitude is too low, due to the small density of the wind, to explain the extension of the 511 keV source .

Despite these arguments, it is difficult to be confident that none of these more standard astrophysical explanations are responsible for the observed 511 keV line from the Galactic bulge. To more strongly motivate the light dark matter annihilation scenario, further evidence is needed.

Dwarf spheroidal galaxies are environments in which high densities of dark matter are known to be present. Thus, large dark matter annihilation rates and related gamma-ray fluxes are predicted from these regions . Unlike the Galactic Center, the dwarf spheroidals are dark matter dominated and do not contain substantial amounts of gas or stars. Therefore, observation of bright 511 keV emission from one or more dwarf spheroidals would provide strong evidence for light annihilating dark matter.

In this paper, we consider the prospects for the observation of 511 keV gamma-ray emission from the two closest dwarf spheroidals galaxies, Sagittarius and Draco. We find that the flux predicted from Sagittarius may be above the sensitivity of INTEGRAL/SPI. Therefore, analysis of the (existing) INTEGRAL/SPI data from this region will yield a positive signal if light dark matter particles are responsible for the observed 511 keV flux from the Galactic bulge.

## II Halo Models

We parameterize spherical cusped halo profiles  by :

$$\rho (r)=\frac{A}{(r/a)^\gamma [1+(r/a)^\alpha ]^{(\beta \gamma )/\alpha }}$$
(1)
where $`\alpha `$, $`\beta `$ and $`\gamma `$ are unitless parameters, $`a`$ is the distance from the center of the dwarf spheroidal at which the power law breaks and $`A`$ is a normalization constant.

Alternatively, spherical cored halo models can be parameterized by

$$\rho (r)=\frac{v_a^2a^\alpha \mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}3}r^2+a^2(1\alpha )}{4\pi G(r^2+a^2)^{2+\alpha /2}}$$
(2)
where $`\alpha `$ is a unitless parameter, $`a`$ is the core radius and $`v_a`$ is the velocity scale. Within the radius $`a`$, the halo has a nearly constant density core.

The velocity dispersion of the dwarf spheroidals is largely controlled by the dark matter density distribution and only weakly affected by tidal forces (even in the case of the disrupting Sagittarius) . So, the observational data can be used to constrain the free parameters in the dark halo profiles . For Draco, the behaviour of the velocity dispersion with distance is known . Retaining $`\gamma `$ (for the cusped models) and $`\alpha `$ (for the cored models) as arbitrary, the remaining parameters are fixed by requiring that the velocity dispersion profile of Draco be reproduced. For Sagittarius, the velocity data are less complete and the morphological structure more complicated. However, the central line of sight velocity dispersion of Sagittarius is similar to that of Draco. Therefore, we assume that the shape of the halo of Sagittarius is similar to that of Draco . This simple assumption may be questionable because tidal disruption has probably distended Sagittarius’ dark matter halo  and is relaxed below.

The effect of the dark matter distribution on the annihilation rate can be described by a single quantity:

$$\overline{J}(\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{\Omega })\times \mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{\Omega }=_{\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{\Omega }}J(\mathrm{\Psi })𝑑\mathrm{\Omega }$$
(3)
where $`\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{\Omega }`$ is the solid angle observed, $`\mathrm{\Psi }`$ is the angle from the center of the halo and $`J(\mathrm{\Psi })`$ is given by

$$J(\mathrm{\Psi })=\left(\frac{1}{0.3\mathrm{GeV}/\mathrm{cm}^3}\right)^2\frac{1}{8.5\mathrm{kpc}}_{\mathrm{los}}\rho (r)^2𝑑s$$
(4)
where $`\rho (r)`$ is the dark matter density at a distance $`r`$ from the dwarf spheroidal’s center and the integral is performed over the line of sight of the observation. The rate of annihilations in an angular region is proportional to $`\overline{J}(\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{\Omega })\times \mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{\Omega }`$ and is otherwise independent of the properties of the halo.

Table I shows the values of $`\overline{J}(\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{\Omega })\times \mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{\Omega }`$ for Sagittarius and Draco calculated for several choices of halo profile, using $`\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{\Omega }=`$ 0.0038, consistent with the $`2^{}`$ angular resolution of SPI. These quantities were computed following Ref. . Although the details of these calculations is beyond the scope of this letter, rough comparisons of these values can be estimated with simple scaling relationships. Comparing the fluxes from a dwarf spheroidal and from the galactic bulge, we estimate

$$\frac{\mathrm{\Phi }_{\mathrm{ds}}}{\mathrm{\Phi }_{\mathrm{gb}}}=\frac{\overline{J}(\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{\Omega })_{\mathrm{ds}}\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{\Omega }_{\mathrm{ds}}}{\overline{J}(\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{\Omega })_{\mathrm{gb}}\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{\Omega }_{\mathrm{gb}}}\left(\frac{M_{\mathrm{ds}}}{M_{\mathrm{gb}}}\right)^2\left(\frac{r_{\mathrm{gb}}}{r_{\mathrm{ds}}}\right)^3\left(\frac{d_{\mathrm{gb}}}{d_{\mathrm{ds}}}\right)^2,$$
(5)
where $`M`$’s are the masses within a radius $`r`$, $`d`$’s are the distances from Earth and ds and gb denote a dwarf spheroidal and the galactic bulge, respectively. In this estimate, we have assumed a fairly flat density within a radius $`r`$. Using the quantities $`r_{\mathrm{gb}}\mathrm{kpc}`$, $`r_{\mathrm{ds}}0.25\mathrm{kpc}`$, $`M_{\mathrm{gb}}(r<\mathrm{kpc})10^9\mathrm{M}_{}`$, $`M_{\mathrm{ds}}(r<0.25\mathrm{kpc})10^8\mathrm{M}_{}`$, $`d_{\mathrm{gb}}8.5\mathrm{kpc}`$ and $`d_{\mathrm{ds}}25\mathrm{kpc}`$, we very roughly estimate $`\mathrm{\Phi }_{\mathrm{ds}}0.1\mathrm{\Phi }_{\mathrm{gb}}`$.

The numbers in Table I are reasonably certain for Draco, but can plausibly be either an order of magnitude larger or smaller for Sagittarius. Tidal disruption is likely to have distended the Sagittarius dark halo by a factor of $`10`$. For the same light profile, this causes the values for Sagittarius in Table I to be increased by a factor of $`30`$.

## III Annihilation and Positron Propagation

If dark matter particles of $``$1-100 MeV mass annihilate into electron-positron pairs, the resulting positrons then travel, gradually slowing by ionisation losses. This energy loss rate is approximately given by

$$\frac{dE}{dt}2\times 10^{12}\left(\frac{N_H}{10^2\mathrm{m}^3}\right)(\mathrm{ln}\mathrm{\Gamma }+6.6)\mathrm{eV}/\mathrm{s}.$$
(6)
where $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ is the positron’s Lorentz factor and $`N_H`$ is the number density of target atoms. In the Galactic bulge, where we estimate $`N_H10^5\mathrm{m}^3`$, this rate can yield stopping distances of $`10^{24}`$ and $`10^{26}`$ cm for positrons of MeV and 100 MeV energy, respectively. No gas has ever been detected in any of the Local Group dwarf spheroidals. So, the stopping distance is likely to be significantly longer.

Although no magnetic fields have been measured in Sagittarius or Draco, low surface brightness galaxies, which are somewhat similar, indicate that fields of 2-4 microgauss may be expected . For microgauss scale magnetic fields, a positron’s Larmour radius is on the order of $`10^{11}`$ or $`10^9`$ cm for energies of 100 MeV and 1 MeV, respectively. Considering a simple random walk, the positrons are roughly confined to a distance of $`\sqrt{R_{\mathrm{stop}}\times R_{\mathrm{Larm}}}`$. Even if we conservatively estimate magnetic fields with 0.01 microgauss strength and $`10^2`$ atoms per cubic meter, we find that positrons are stopped within 100 parsecs or less of their generation, a distance much smaller than could be resolved, given the angular resolution of SPI ($`2^{}`$).

The energy loss rate (6) leads to a thermalization time for positrons, as a function of energy, of

$$t(E)10^9\mathrm{yr}\left(\frac{\mathrm{E}}{\mathrm{MeV}}\right)\left(\frac{10^2\mathrm{m}^3}{\mathrm{N}_\mathrm{e}}\right)\left(\frac{0.5}{\mathrm{f}_\mathrm{g}}\right),$$
(7)
where $`N_e`$ is the electron density and $`f_g`$ is the dust fraction. Multiplying this by the speed of light, we see that a positron’s stopping distance is typically shorter than its mean free path. Annihilations are, therefore, expected to occur primarily for thermalized positrons, producing a 511 keV line. If the dark matter particles are heavier than 50 MeV, or so, the annihilation time for the positrons produced may exceed the age of the dwarf spheroid and equilibrium may not be reached, diminishing the 511 keV emission, but probably by less than a factor of 2, or so.

If the electron temperatures are too low, positronium formation may dominate, resulting in a narrow line (25% of the time) or 3-photon continuum (75% of the time), depending on the spin state of the positronium. Although positronium formation dominates in the galactic bulge, as OSSE and INTEGRAL data suggests , this may not be the case in a dwarf spheriodal. It is likely, for example, that the Draco dwarf galaxy is pervaded by diffuse galactic halo gas at $`T10^6\mathrm{K}`$ and $`N_e10^2(10^6\mathrm{K}/\mathrm{T})\mathrm{m}^3,`$ as inferred from FUSE observations of high velocity OVI absorption . At this temperature, direct annihilations are important. If dust is present at even half of the standard interstellar gas-to-grain ratio, the annihilation line remains narrow (less than about 2 keV for a grain fraction greater than one tenth of the local interstellar medium value) . Hence the 511 keV line flux should be approximately 4 times greater than in the case of annihilation through positronium formation, as in the case of the galactic bulge where the dominant component of the diffuse interstellar gas is assumed to be at $`T10^4\mathrm{K}`$.

Given that each annihilating pair of dark matter particles form a single positron which eventually annihilates producing two 511 keV gamma-rays, the flux of this gamma-ray line is given by

$$\mathrm{\Phi }5.6\times 2\times P\left(\frac{\sigma v}{\mathrm{pb}}\right)\left(\frac{1\mathrm{MeV}}{m_{\mathrm{dm}}}\right)^2\overline{J}(\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{\Omega })\times \mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{\Omega }\mathrm{cm}^2\mathrm{s}^1,$$
(8)
where $`m_{\mathrm{dm}}`$ is the mass of the dark matter particle, $`\sigma v`$ is the annihilation cross section multiplied by the relative velocity in units of $`c`$. The quantity $`P`$ is equal to 0.25 for the galactic bulge (positronium formation) and 1 for dwarf spheroidals (direct annihilation).

In Ref. , it was shown that to explain the angular distribution of events, as observed by INTEGRAL/SPI, the Galactic halo is best fit to a mildly cusped profile ($`\gamma 0.6`$) in the inner kiloparsecs. The full width, half maximum of the observed INTEGRAL/SPI signal is $`9.0_3^{+9}`$ degrees, with 2-$`\sigma `$ confidence intervals . This corresponds to a value of $`\overline{J}(\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{\Omega })=37.6_{18.2}^{+42.1}`$ for $`\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{\Omega }0.02`$, the angular extent of INTEGRAL’s detection. Combining this with the previous equation, and using the flux of $`9.9\times 10^4\mathrm{ph}\mathrm{cm}^2\mathrm{s}^1`$, as seen by INTEGRAL, we see that

$$\left(\frac{\sigma v}{\mathrm{pb}}\right)\left(\frac{1\mathrm{MeV}}{m_{\mathrm{dm}}}\right)^24.8_{2.4}^{+4.4}\times 10^4,$$
(9)
again with 2-$`\sigma `$ confidence intervals. We can now combine this result with values of $`\overline{J}(\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{\Omega })\times \mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{\Omega }`$ for specific dwarf spheroidals to calculate the flux predicted from such sources.

Considering the range of values for $`\overline{J}(\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{\Omega })\times \mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{\Omega }`$ for Sagittarius shown in table I (0.029 to 0.063, for $`\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{\Omega }=0.0038`$ sr), we can estimate the flux of 511 keV emission from this region:

$$\mathrm{\Phi }3.4_{1.7}^{+3.1}\times 10^4\mathrm{to}\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}\hspace{0.17em}1.6}_{0.8}^{+1.5}\times 10^4\mathrm{cm}^2\mathrm{s}^1.$$
(10)
The flux from Draco is approximately a factor of ten smaller. Sagittarius is also near the Galactic plane, and within the region of the sky which has been extensively surveyed by INTEGRAL/SPI. For a $`3\sigma `$ detection after an exposure of $`10^6`$ seconds, the sensitivity of this experiment to 511 keV line emission in this region is estimated to be $`4\times 10^5\mathrm{cm}^2\mathrm{s}^1`$ , below our predicted range of fluxes. We can, therefore, conclude that if the $`10^3\mathrm{cm}^2\mathrm{s}^1`$ flux of 511 keV gamma-rays observed from the Galactic bulge is the result of light dark matter annihilations, then analysis of INTEGRAL/SPI’s data from the Sagittarius region of the sky will reveal an observable signal of 511 keV emission. If no such signal is observed, we should consider other sources for the observed emission from the bulge.

Of course, other potential sources may exist. For example, M31 may produce a signal similar to that observed from the Galactic bulge. As M31 is a factor of $`100`$ further away than the Galactic Center, however, we expect fluxes $`500`$ times smaller than from Sagittarius.

## IV Conclusions

If light (1-100 MeV) dark matter particles, annihilating to electron-positron pairs, are responsible for the observed 511 keV gamma-ray emission from the Galactic bulge, then we expect that potentially observable fluxes of 511 keV emission would also be produced in other regions with high dark matter density, particularly the nearby dwarf spheroidals such as Sagittarius and Draco. Furthermore, alternative explanations of the Galactic bulge emission involve exotic stellar objects (hypernovae, etc.), which are minimal in the directions towards the dwarf spheroidals. Thus observation of 511 keV emission from such an object would provide a “smoking gun” for annihilating light dark matter scenarios.

We find that if the observed 511 keV emission from the Galactic bulge is the product of light annihilating dark matter, then the Sagittarius dwarf galaxy may provide a 511 keV gamma-ray flux of $`\mathrm{\Phi }3.4_{1.7}^{+3.1}\times 10^4\mathrm{to}\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}\hspace{0.17em}1.6}_{0.8}^{+1.5}\times 10^4\mathrm{cm}^2\mathrm{s}^1`$. If the dark halo of the Sagittarius has been distended by tidal forces, then these numbers could be larger by a factor of $`30`$. Such a flux is above the sensitivity of INTEGRAL/SPI. If such a signal is seen upon analysis of the (existing) INTEGRAL/SPI data, it would favor the existence of light scalar dark matter. The absence of such a signal would suggest that the 511 keV emission observed from the galactic bulge is not likely to be related to particle dark matter annihilations.

Very recently, a new candidate dwarf spheroidal in the direction of Canis Major has been suggested. Its mass and tidal radius have been estimated to be similar to that of the Sagittarius dwarf ($`5\times 10^8M_{}`$ and 2.5 kpc) , however, it is considerably closer and may produce a flux an order of magnitude larger than Sagittarius.

Acknowledgements: We would like to thank Subir Sarkar for useful contributions. D. Hooper and F. Ferrer are supported by the Leverhulme trust. C. Boehm is supported by an individual PPARC fellowship.