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# Cooling Flows as a Calorimeter of AGN Mechanical Power

## 1 Introduction

The radiative cooling time of gas in the central parts of rich galaxy clusters is much shorter than the Hubble time. Without an external energy source, the gas must cool below X–ray temperatures forming so-called “cooling flows” (see Fabian 1994 for a review). The fate of the gas, after it has cooled, is not clear and so far no unambiguous evidence for a massive repository of cold gas has been found. An excess photoelectric absorption in the cooling flow clusters derived from ROSAT and ASCA data (e.g. Allen 2000, Allen et al. 2001) can be interpreted as due to accumulation of the cold gas by the cooling flows over their lifetimes. This interpretation however has been questioned by Böhringer et al. (2002) based on the XMM-Newton data. Recent XMM-Newton and Chandra observations suggest that either gas does not cool below $`13`$ keV or it is somehow hidden from us (e.g. Fabian et al. 2001, Böhringer et al. 2001). One possibility, discussed for two decades, is that energy produced by AGN activity in the massive galaxy at the center of a cooling flow balances radiative losses of the X–ray emitting gas (see e.g. Binney & Tabor 1995). Such a picture would require fine tuning of the AGN power used for heating the gas since both too much or too little heating would imply either progressive heating or cooling of the X–ray emitting gas. If, however, such fine tuning is present, then it should be possible to use the X-ray luminosity of the cooling flow to estimate the the central AGN power. The gas in cooling flows is optically thin (at least in the continuum) and the heating efficiency of the gas by AGN radiation (see Ciotti & Ostriker 2001) is rather low. A more efficient source of heat is input from mechanical power, which we consider below.

Since the balance between radiative losses and gas heating by AGN mechanical input requires some feedback mechanism, we consider a simple model with the accretion rate onto a black hole set by the classic Bondi formula. Bondi accretion (Bondi 1952) is a hydrodynamical solution of spherically symmetric gas accretion without angular momentum onto a point mass. A supermassive black hole in an elliptical galaxy containing hot X–ray emitting gas is one site where accretion may actually proceed at the Bondi rate (Fabian & Canizares 1988). The gas density and temperature in these sources can be derived from X–ray observations. Then, if the mass of the black hole is known, the mass accretion rate can be estimated. The observed luminosities of the AGNs in these galaxies however are typically several orders of magnitude short of expected values, calculated using a standard $``$10% conversion efficiency from the rest mass of accreted material to radiation (Fabian & Canizares 1988). It was therefore suggested (e.g. Fabian & Rees 1995, Reynolds et al. 1996) that a hot ion torus forms around a black hole and accretion proceeds as an Advection Dominated Accretion Flow (ADAF; e.g. Narayan & Yi 1994). If the accretion rate is much smaller than the critical Eddington value then the ADAF solution predicts that a very small fraction of energy is radiated away. Recent theoretical developments of radiatively inefficient flows show that outflows can arise (Blandford & Begelman 1999) and/or an outward convective transport of energy may occur (e.g. Narayan, Igumenshchev & Abramowicz 1999; Quataert & Gruzinov 2000). Observations of supermassive black hole in elliptical galaxies in frame of the ADAF model and role of outflow are discussed e.g. by Di Matteo et al. (1999, 2000) and Loewenstein et al. (2001). For many sources, well-collimated jets are observed and (model dependent) estimates of the total mechanical power of the jets are much larger than directly observed luminosities of the AGN and the jet itself (e.g. Pedlar et al. 1990, Owen, Eilek & Kassim 2000).

## 2 Cooling flows heated by mechanical AGN power

According to radio observations (e.g. Burns 1990), a large fraction ($``$71%) of cD galaxies at the centers of cooling flows shows evidence for radio activity. This fraction is much higher than in non-cooling flow galaxies and suggests a possible link between the presence of cooling gas and the activity of a central supermassive black hole. Given that $`10^8`$$`10^{10}M_{}`$ black holes are likely to reside in these elliptical galaxies, one can imagine that these supermassive black holes, accreting matter at a rate well below the critical Eddington value, could provide the necessary amount of energy to offset cooling. Models involving gas heating by an AGN have been extensively discussed in the literature (e.g. Tucker & Rosner 1983, Binney & Tabor 1995, Soker et al. 2001, David et al. 2001, Jones et al. 2001). In the discussion below, we present a qualitative picture based particularly on the ROSAT, Chandra and XMM-Newton data on M87 and NGC 1275 (Böhringer et al. 1993, 1995, 2001, 2002, Fabian et al. 2000, Churazov et al., 2000, 2001).

We assume that most AGN power goes into an outflow and bubbles of hot, high entropy gas are created near the central engine. We further assume that direct microscopic heating (e.g. heating of the cluster gas by the high entropy gas in bubbles via thermal conduction) is inefficient. We are then left with the “mechanical” energy exchange between the bubbles and the cluster gas. The most important question here is what fraction of energy goes into sound waves which can escape the cooling flow region thus reducing the heating efficiency. From simulations of rising bubbles (e.g. Churazov et al. 2001, Brüggen et al. 2002, see also Rizza et al. 2000, Quilis, Bower and Balogh 2001), one can note that the characteristic dimensionless numbers like the Mach number $`M=v/c_s`$ or Froude number $`F=v/\sqrt{gL}`$ (where $`v`$ is the characteristic velocity, $`c_s`$ is the sound velocity, $`g`$ is the gravitational acceleration and $`L`$ is the characteristic length) are not very far from unity. This precludes an immediate conclusion on the character of generated disturbances and on the fate of the deposited energy. On the other hand the same argument suggests that while generation of sound waves certainly occurs during all stages of the lobe evolution, it is unlikely that the great bulk of energy is channelled into sound waves and that these waves carry away most of the energy (unless very special conditions are created).

### 2.1 The Late, Passive Stage of Bubble Evolution

Let us first consider the latest stages of bubble evolution. Buoyancy drives the bubbles upward with a subsonic velocity and the bubbles maintain approximate pressure equilibrium with the ambient gas. Initial energy deposition $`E_0`$ required to (slowly) inflate the bubble is the sum of internal energy of the bubble $`1/(\gamma 1)PV`$ and $`PdV`$ work done by the expanding bubble on the cluster gas, where $`P`$ is the pressure of the cluster gas, $`V`$ is the volume of the bubble and $`\gamma `$ is the adiabatic index of the hot gas inside the bubble. Thus $`E_0=\gamma /(\gamma 1)PV`$. The buoyancy force acting on the bubble is $`F=V\rho \frac{d\varphi }{dr}`$, where $`\rho `$ is the density of the cluster gas and $`\varphi `$ is the gravitational potential. Assuming that the bubble mass is very small the buoyancy force must be equal to the drag exerted on the rising bubble. The integral of the drag force over distance characterizes the mechanical energy exchange between the bubble and the ambient gas. Assuming that the bubble expands adiabatically during slow motion through the cluster atmosphere in hydrostatic equilibrium one can explicitly calculate how much energy was extracted from the bubble:

$`\mathrm{\Delta }E={\displaystyle V\rho \frac{d\varphi }{dr}𝑑r}=E_0{\displaystyle \frac{\gamma }{\gamma 1}}PV=E_0[1\left({\displaystyle \frac{P}{P_0}}\right)^{11/\gamma }],`$ (1)
where $`P_0`$ and $`P`$ are the initial and final pressure in the bubble respectively. Thus during their upward motion, the bubbles deposit their energy when crossing roughly a few scale heights. As an example, for $`\gamma =4/3`$ and a pressure profile derived from the XMM-Newton data (Böhringer et al. 2001, Matsushita et al. 2002) half of the energy is lost by a bubble after reaching a distance of $`20`$ kpc from the its origin.

An approximate estimate of how much energy goes into sound waves during the initial phase of the bubble’s rise can be obtained assuming that the bubble instantly accelerates to a terminal velocity $`v`$ and then maintains this velocity. For a solid sphere, Landau & Lifshitz (1986) give the energy emitted in sound waves as $`E\frac{\pi }{3}\rho R^3v^2`$, where $`\rho `$ is the ambient gas density and $`R`$ is the radius of the sphere. This energy is less than a quarter of the internal energy of the bubble $`E_i\frac{1}{(\gamma 1)\gamma }\frac{4}{3}\pi \rho R^3c_s^2`$, where $`c_s`$ is the sound speed of the gas outside the bubble. After the initial acceleration, the motion of the bubble is subsonic and steady (as seen in the simulations) and we do not expect that the drag is predominantly due to the generation of sound waves and weak shocks. Actual values of the drag estimated from simulations (Churazov et al. 2001) also support this expectation. A large fraction of energy goes instead into the kinetic and potential energy of the entrained gas, turbulence in the wake of the bubbles, and possibly into internal gravity waves.

Given the steep entropy profiles in typical cooling flow clusters (the temperature is rising with radius while the density is deacreasing), large masses of entrained gas (even if accelerated to a fraction of the sound velocity) cannot travel a long distance with the rising bubbles (see Fig.10 in Churazov et al. 2001) and therefore kinetic energy can not efficiently “leak” outside the cooling flow region with the entrained gas.

Internal gravity waves are trapped within the inner region because the buoyancy frequency is a decreasing function of radius in clusters (e.g. Balbus & Soker 1990, Lufkin, Balbus, & Hawley 1995). The buoyancy (Brunt-Väisälä) frequency $`N`$ can be written as

$`N^2={\displaystyle \frac{g}{\gamma }}{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{d}\mathrm{ln}s}{\mathrm{d}r}},`$ (2)
where $`s=P/\rho ^\gamma `$ is the gas entropy, $`r`$ is the radius, $`g`$ is the gravitational acceleration, and $`P`$ is the pressure. For M87, the buoyancy frequency can be estimated directly using the gas temperature and density profiles derived from the XMM-Newton data (Bohringer et al. 2001, Matsushita et al. 2002) under the assumption that the gas is in hydrostatic equilibrium. These estimates give $`N`$ $`1.210^7`$, $`3.510^8`$, $`110^8`$ rad/y at radii of 2, 10 and 50 kpc respectively. Thus, the frequency of the internal waves excited in the inner region is larger than the buoyancy frequency in the outer parts and the waves are reflected back into the central region.

Finally, we note that for subsonic turbulence (created in the wake of a rising bubble), the ratio of the rates of generation of sound waves and dissipation is (Landau & Lifshitz, 1986)

$`{\displaystyle \frac{\epsilon _s}{\epsilon _d}}\left({\displaystyle \frac{v}{c_s}}\right)^51,`$ (3)
where $`v`$ is a characteristic velocity and $`c_s`$ is the sound speed.

Note also that, as pointed out by Pringle (1989), sound waves themselves are focused into the central region due to the decrease in the sound speed at small radii. This effect may enhance the dissipation of the generated sound waves within the central cooling region. In the presence of steep temperature gradients, sound waves traveling at large angles to the radius may even be trapped in the cooling flow region. The condition for trapping requires the ratio of the square of the radius to the temperature, $`r^2/T(r)`$, be a decreasing function of radius. However the observed change of temperature (and associated change of the sound velocity) is rather modest for M87 (see e.g. Böhringer et al. 2001) and the condition for trapping is not satisfied. The effect of focusing is also modest and this mechanism is unlikely to strongly affect the energy balance.

Thus after the gas passes through a phase of complex rearrangements and mixing, a significant fraction of the initial bubble energy is dissipated within the cooling flow region. Although sound waves are inevitably generated during this process, they can carry away only a fraction of the energy comparable to that which is dissipated.

### 2.2 Active, Early Stage of Bubble Formation

At earlier stages of a bubble’s (radio lobes) formation, shocks are likely to occur. If the energy injection occurs in a small region of undisturbed cluster gas then strong shocks will be sent into the medium. Strong shocks are efficient in energy dissipation and there would be direct heating of the gas as it passed through any strong shock. In a spherically symmetric cluster atmosphere, with a density profile typical of a cooling flow ($`\rho 1/r`$), the strength of the shock decreases and it evolves into a sound (compression) wave which can carry away some part of the shock energy. Strong shocks leave behind relatively compact regions of high entropy gas which contain significant fractions of the energy. The numerical value of this energy fraction depends on the gas adiabatic index and the radial profile of the ambient gas parameters. However, an analogy with the Sedov solution for a strong explosion suggests that the fraction of the shock energy deposited is “of the order of several times 10%” (Zeldovich & Raizer 1966). The further transfer of energy from this localized high entropy region to the rest of the cluster gas follows the same processes as already described above.

Weak shocks on the other hand do not dissipate energy efficiently and they may be the major source of energy leakage from the cooling flow region. When the lobe passes through the transonic expansion stage, a significant fraction of the injected energy can escape the cooling flow region. But even during this stage, the fraction of energy which remains in the form of internal energy within the lobe (and potential energy of the displaced gas) is unlikely to be much less than half the total.

The bottom line is that the fraction of mechanical energy deposited by an AGN and dissipated within the cooling flow region is high. For simplicity in the discussion below we assume that it is equal to unity.

## 3 Bondi Accretion and the Cooling Flow Luminosity

The assumption that the whole cooling flow region is in a state of quasi-stationary equilibrium requires the injected mechanical power to match the radiative cooling losses of the thermal gas. Therefore a feedback mechanism is required which must provide global stable equilibrium between heating and cooling. We discuss below a toy model in which the classic Bondi formula regulates the accretion rate onto the black hole and provides a link between the gas parameters and the mechanical power of an AGN.

The rate of spherically symmetric adiabatic gas accretion without angular momentum onto a point mass can be written as (Bondi 1952):

$`\dot{M}=4\pi \lambda (GM)^2c_s^3\rho ,`$ (4)
where $`\lambda `$ is a numerical coefficient, which depends on the gas adiabatic index $`\gamma `$ (for $`\gamma =5/3`$ the maximal valid value of $`\lambda `$ allowing steady spherically symmetric solution is $`\lambda _c=0.25`$), $`G`$ is the gravitational constant, $`M`$ is the mass of the black hole, $`c_s=\sqrt{\gamma \frac{kT_e}{\mu m_p}}`$ is the gas sound speed and $`\rho `$ is the mass density of the gas. Adopting $`\lambda =\lambda _c=0.25`$ and substituting a reasonable set of parameters one can write:

$`\dot{M}_B=10^2\left({\displaystyle \frac{M}{3\times 10^9M_{}}}\right)^2\left({\displaystyle \frac{n_e}{0.1cm^3}}\right)\left({\displaystyle \frac{T_e}{1keV}}\right)^{3/2}M_{}y^1`$ (5)
Here we use parameters appropriate for M87: $`M=3\times 10^9M_{}`$ (Ford et al. 1994, Macchetto et al. 1997), typical (minimal) temperature near the center $`T_e1keV`$ and characteristic central density $`n_e0.1cm^3`$ (Böhringer et al. 2001, Matsushita et al. 2002). Given the angular resolution of XMM-Newton these values correspond to the region of 1-2 kpc in size. A quick check of the Chandra M87 images shows that the X–ray surface brightness is not steeply increasing from $``$1.5 kpc down to 0.3-0.2 kpc, where the emission from the nucleus and the jet start to dominate. This suggests that the XMM-Newton data provide a reasonable estimate of the density and temperature in the core region. The cooling time of the gas with these parameters ($`t_{cool}\frac{3/2P}{n_e^2\mathrm{\Lambda }(T)}10^7`$$`10^8`$ y, where $`P`$ is pressure and $`\mathrm{\Lambda }(T)`$ is a cooling function) is much longer than the characteristic accretion flow time scale ($`t_{flow}\frac{R_B}{c_s}`$ few $`10^5`$ y) near the Bondi radius:

$`R_B=2GM/c_s^2=0.1\left({\displaystyle \frac{M}{3\times 10^9M_{}}}\right)\left({\displaystyle \frac{T_e}{1keV}}\right)^1kpc`$ (6)
Therefore (see e.g. discussion by Nulsen and Fabian 2000) the flow can be treated as nearly adiabatic well outside the Bondi radius thus validating the usage of Bondi formula (4).

The above estimate of the accretion rate is a factor of 150 lower than a similar estimate made by Di Matteo et al. (2000). This is at least partly attributable to a lower density and a higher (adiabatic) sound velocity adopted here.

Assuming that it is Bondi accretion which is actually powering an AGN one can obtain an approximate estimate of the accretion efficiency:

$`\eta ={\displaystyle \frac{L_X}{\dot{M}_Bc^2}}0.05\left({\displaystyle \frac{\dot{M}_B}{0.01M_{}y^1}}\right)^1\left({\displaystyle \frac{L_X}{3\times 10^{43}erg/s}}\right)`$ (7)
Here we adopted the X–ray luminosity of the cooling flow region in M87 of $`3\times 10^{43}`$ ergs s<sup>-1</sup> (Peres et al. 1998). From the above expression one can conclude that if (i) the mass accretion rate is approximately characterized by the Bondi formula and (ii) a large fraction of the energy is carried by an outflow which is eventually dissipated into heat in the cluster gas then a few percent of the rest mass of accreted material has to be channeled into a jet or outflow. If the density at the Bondi radius is a factor of $``$10 higher as suggested by Di Matteo et al. (2000), then the efficiency will be lower, possibly as small as $``$ 1%. Such an efficiency is still very high and simple outflow (Blandford & Begelman 1999) or convection dominated flows (Narayan, Igumenshchev & Abramowicz 1999) where most of the material does not reach the innermost region cannot easily account for such a high energy ejection efficiency (if the accretion rate at the outer boundary is set by the same Bondi rate).

The Bondi accretion rate is proportional to the ratio $`\frac{n_e}{c_s^3}\frac{n_e}{T_2^{3/2}}s^{3/2}`$, where $`s`$ is the entropy of the gas at the Bondi accretion radius. Thus for a given black hole mass and cooling flow luminosity, the entropy of the accreting gas should have a certain value so as to provide the same amount of energy which is emitted in X–rays:

$`s3.5\left({\displaystyle \frac{M}{10^9M_{}}}\right)^{4/3}\left({\displaystyle \frac{\eta }{0.1}}\right)^{2/3}\left({\displaystyle \frac{L_X}{10^{43}erg/s}}\right)^{2/3}kevcm^2`$ (8)
A lower/higher entropy than this value implies too much/little heating to offset gas cooling over the whole cooling flow region. Interestingly (but naturally given that this is just another form of equation (7) ), this value of entropy is close to that found in the cores of cooling flows. Thus energy input is controlled by the minimum value of the gas entropy in the cooling flow region.

It should be stressed that although observed amounts of cold gas and star formation rates in the cD galaxies are lower than the values expected for the mass deposition rate inferred from the X-ray data, they are clearly enhanced in the central cooling flow galaxies. This suggests that some fraction of the gas is able to cool down, well below X-ray temperatures. The presence of cold gas in the central region may invalidate our simple estimates of the Bondi accretion rate based on the X-ray determined density and temperature of the gas.

## 4 Discussion

We speculate below on the implications of the assumptions made in the previous two sections:

* A The time averaged mechanical power of an AGN is approximately equal to the radiative losses of the whole cooling flow region.
* B The accretion rate given by the Bondi formulae can be used as an (outer) boundary condition near the Bondi radius.

### 4.1 Efficiency of Accretion

Comparison of the accretion rate at the Bondi radius (eq. 5) and the observed cooling flow luminosities implies (at least for M87) a high accretion efficiency – of the order of a few percent of the rest mass (see eq. 7). Therefore accretion should proceed with a rate $`\dot{M}const\dot{M}_B`$ from the Bondi capture radius $`R_B`$ down to a few gravitational radii. An outflow therefore should start very close to the black hole. This in turn can be considered as an indirect argument in favour of an outflow in the form of a jet. Interestingly, estimates of jet mechanical power in some well studied cases (like M87 or NGC1275) give very high values (e.g. Pedlar et al. 1990, Owen, Eilek & Kassim 2000) comparable to the total X–ray luminosity of the cooling flow region. Pushing this speculative argument to the limit, we can conclude that since our assumptions A and B mean that the mechanical power of the AGN should adjust to the radiative losses, then the jet power depends on the accretion rate and therefore accretion is the major source of a jet’s power in these objects. An alternative possibility is that accretion serves as a trigger for jet formation and the time averaged power is regulated through the duty cycle of the AGN.

Numerical simulations of cluster formation (e.g. Frenk et al., 1999) suggest that successive mergers may lead to gas bulk motions with typical kinetic energies at the level of $`15`$% of the gas thermal energy even for relatively relaxed clusters. The presence of bulk motions in the cooling flow region implies that gas has angular momentum. If the gas captured at the Bondi radius has small, but nonzero angular momentum, then at smaller radii the character of the accretion flow may change significantly from the spherically symmetric Bondi solution. The behavior of the flow in this region would depend on the effective viscosity and the angular momentum transport and the flow may settle on the geometrically thin (cold) or geometrically thick (hot) solutions. Although the mechanical power, required by our assumption A is large, the observed luminosities (e.g. from M87 or NGC 1275) are much lower than the standard $`0.1\dot{M}c^2`$. Therefore an ADAF-like solution is needed in this picture (at least in the inner region) and the standard geometrically thin disk solutions (Shakura & Sunyaev 1973) extending down to the marginally stable orbit can be definitely excluded (Fabian & Canizares 1988, Fabian & Rees 1995). We note here that this problem is not only a consequence of our assumptions, but directly follows from the the comparison of jet power estimated by Pedlar et al. (1990) or Owen, Eilek & Kassim (2000) and observed luminosities of the central objects in M87 or NGC1275.

### 4.2 Global Stability

In the absence of a heat source, the total luminosity of the cooling flow region is defined by the conditions (density and temperature) at the cooling radius, i.e., at the radius where the cooling time approximately equals the lifetime of the cluster. If the mechanical power of the AGN fed via Bondi accretion is indeed the source of energy which balances the cooling of the gas, then the actual AGN power depends on the entropy of the gas near the Bondi capture radius, i.e. at a distance of $`0.1`$ kpc from the central black hole. On dynamical time scales, the cooling flow region adjusts to have the lowest entropy gas at the bottom of the potential well. Too low values of the entropy would increase the mechanical power of the AGN above the radiative losses of the whole region and eventually will increase the minimum entropy present in the system up to an equilibrium value. Too high values of the entropy would mean that the power of the AGN is too low to offset global radiative losses and eventually low entropy gas will appear in the central region and the power of the AGN will increase.

### 4.3 Quasi-continuous Injection

In the model discussed above, the time averaged AGN power is fixed by the cooling flow luminosity. However the appearance of the central region of the cooling flow may depend on the amplitude of the AGN power variations. For example, for very powerful but rare flares, strong shocks are driven into the cluster gas and large bubbles should be formed with a distinct envelope of hot, compressed gas (e.g. Heinz, Reynolds & Begelman 1998). Recent Chandra and XMM-Newton data, however, do not show widespread evidence for shocks in the cooling flow region (e.g., Fabian et al. 2000, McNamara et al. 2000, Böhringer et al. 2001, 2002, David et al. 2001). These results rather favour a scenario with more quasi-continuous injection of energy. In this case (at least for spherical geometry), strong shocks should be confined to spatially smaller regions. There are, however, examples where the observed properties are best explained by strong shocks driven by a powerful outburst – the most spectacular one is perhaps NGC 4636 (Jones et al. 2001) in which both the surface brightness morphology and the temperature structure suggest a strong shock. With further observations of a large sample of objects it should be possible to decide on whether sporadic or quasi-continuous energy injection dominates.

### 4.4 Sketch of the Cooling Flow Region

Based on the above discussion, it is possible to outline the basic properties of a cooling flow heated by buoyant bubbles, which are quasi-continuously generated by an AGN. Bubbles are created in the innermost region and are assumed to be filled with a hot, radio emitting plasma. The size of a typical bubble is set by injection power, gravity, and parameters of the cluster gas in such a way that the lifetime of a bubble due to buoyancy is comparable with the expansion time of the bubble due to injection power. For M87 and NGC1275 this corresponds to a size in the range of few – 10 kpc. The bubbles have much larger entropy than the ambient gas and they rise through the whole cooling flow region. Perhaps the most important process operating in the innermost region is not a net heating, but entrainment which continuously removes the low entropy gas from the central region (Churazov et al. 2001, Nulsen et al. 2001). If initial bubbles are created along some preferred direction, then bubble induced gas motion may resemble the motion of air in the room with a heater: the higher entropy gas rises along one direction while lower entropy gas accretes along others. This means that the radial entropy profile of a cooling flow does not necessarily develop a flat core.

When crossing a few scale heights, the bubbles i) lose their energy through drag forces and ii) decrease in radio brightness significantly. At this stage, bubbles can be identified as X–ray surface brightness “holes” that are not associated with strong radio emission (Churazov et al. 2000, Fabian et al. 2000, McNamara et al. 2001). The dissipation of energy extracted from the bubbles is distributed spatially with no obvious “heating” features e.g. shock waves. As seen from the simulations of the bubbles in M87, the velocity with which the bubbles rise is smaller than the sound velocity of the cooling flow gas, but not by a large factor. Therefore the bubbles pass through the cooling flow during time interval only slighly longer than a sound crossing time $`t_s`$. This is at least an order of magnitude shorter than a typical gas cooling time $`t_c`$. An assumption that radiative losses of the gas is compensated by the (efficient) dissipation of the bubbles energy then implies that the total volume of the bubbles created during one cooling time of the gas is approximately equal to the cooling flow volume (or in other words the total energy of the bubbles is equal to the total energy of the cooling flow). Therefore a volume filling factor of the bubbles within the cooling flow region is approximately $`t_s/t_c1`$.

Thermal instabilities can take place on a background of extensive convective motions. Overdense (cool) lumps of thermal gas, entrained by the bubbles and rising from (or falling back to) the central region might produce filamentary structures, stretching radially from the galaxy. One possible example of such a filament may be found in A1795 (Cowie et al. 1983, Fabian et al. 2001).

## 5 Conclusion

We show that even in the absence of strong shocks a significant fraction of the energy of radio lobes inflated by an AGN is dissipated in the cooling flow region. Only a comparable (but not overwhelmingly dominant) fraction of the mechanical power of an AGN may escape the cooling flow region in the form of sound waves.

If the the radiative cooling of the gas in the centers of galaxy clusters is balanced by energy input from a central supermassive black hole, then the observed X–ray luminosity of the cooling flow region sets a lower limit on the AGN mechanical power. The required power is much larger than the observed luminosity of these AGNs, but is consistent with (model dependent) estimates of jets power in some objects.

We describe a toy model with the AGN power determined by Bondi accretion for spherically symmetric accretion. Comparison of the accretion rate predicted by the Bondi formula with the luminosity of the cooling flow region in M87 suggests a high transformation efficiency of rest mass of accreted material into the mechanical power of an outflow at the level of a few percent.

## 6 Acknowledgements

WRF acknowledges support from NASA contract NAS8-39073. We are grateful to the referee for important comments and suggestions. EC acknowledges useful discussions with Marcus Brüggen, Marat Gilfanov, Sebastian Heinz, Hans-Thomas Janka and Alexey Vikhlinin.


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# Untitled Document

On the “equivalence” of the Maxwell and Dirac equations

André Gsponer111Independent Scientific Research Institute, Box 30, CH-1211 Geneva-12, Switzerland.
isri@vtx.ch

Document ISRI-01-07 published in  *Int. J. Theor. Phys.* 41 (2002) 689–694

*It is shown that Maxwell’s equation cannot be put into a spinor form that is equivalent to Dirac’s equation. First of all, the spinor $`𝛙`$ in the representation $`\stackrel{}{F}=𝛙\stackrel{}{u}\overline{𝛙}`$ of the electromagnetic field bivector depends on only three independent complex components whereas the Dirac spinor depends on four. Second, Dirac’s equation implies a complex structure specific to spin 1/2 particles that has no counterpart in Maxwell’s equation. This complex structure makes fermions essentially different from bosons and therefore insures that there is no physically meaningful way to transform Maxwell’s and Dirac’s equations into each other.*

Key words: Maxwell equation; Dirac equation; Lanczos equation; fermion; boson.

1. INTRODUCTION

The conventional view is that spin 1 and spin 1/2 particles belong to distinct irreducible representations of the Poincar group, so that there should be no connection between the Maxwell and Dirac equations describing the dynamics of these particles.

However, it is well known that Maxwell’s and Dirac’s equations can be written in a number of different forms, and that in some of them these equations look very similar (e.g., Fushchich and Nikitin, 1987; Good, 1957; Kobe 1999; Moses, 1959; Rodrigues and Capelas de Oliviera, 1990; Sachs and Schwebel, 1962). This has lead to speculations on the possibility that these similarities could stem from a relationship that would be not merely formal but more profound (Campolattaro, 1990, 1997), or that in some sense Maxwell’s and Dirac’s equations could even be “equivalent” (Rodrigues and Vaz, 1998; Vaz and Rodrigues, 1993, 1997).

The purpose of this paper is to investigate these possibilities and to give some arguments confirming that these formal similarities cannot lead to a physically meaningful identification of Maxwell’s and Dirac’s equations. To facilitate this investigation, and to make all calculations explicit, Lanczos’s biquaternionic formulation of Maxwells’ and Dirac’s equations will be used (Gsponer and Hurni, 1998, 2001; Lanczos, 1929). The mathematical advantages of this formalism (which uses only complex numbers and the quaternion algebra) is that it is irreducible in the sense that, compared to formulations using larger Clifford algebras, the number of explicit components, symbols, and operations is minimal. Moreover, like all formulations based on Clifford algebras, most calculations are in general simpler than with the standard formulations based on tensors, spinors, and matrices.

2. THE ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELD AND MAXWELL’S EQUATION IN SPINOR FORM

The starting point of Campolattaro’s and Rodrigues’s formulations of Maxwell’s equation is to write the electromagnetic field in spinor form using the standard $`\gamma `$-matrices formalism (Campolattaro, 1990)

$$F^{\mu \nu }\overline{\mathrm{\Psi }}S^{\mu \nu }\mathrm{\Psi },$$
$`(1)`$
or the Clifford bundle formalism of (Vaz and Rodrigues, 1993, 1997)

$$\psi \gamma _{21}\psi ^{}$$
$`(2)`$
where the involution $`()^{}`$ is the reversion operation in the Clifford algebra.

Maxwell’s first and second equations are then written

$$_\mu \overline{\mathrm{\Psi }}\gamma ^5S^{\mu \nu }\mathrm{\Psi }=0,_\mu \overline{\mathrm{\Psi }}S^{\mu \nu }\mathrm{\Psi }=j^\mu ,$$
$`(3)`$
or, respectively,

$$\mathbf{}\psi \gamma _{21}\psi ^{}(\mathbf{}\psi \gamma _{21}\psi ^{})^{}=0,\mathbf{}\psi \gamma _{21}\psi ^{}+(\mathbf{}\psi \gamma _{21}\psi ^{})^{}=2𝒥.$$
$`(4)`$
Equations (3) and (4) are strictly equivalent to Maxwell’s equations. However, the spinors $`\mathrm{\Psi }`$ or $`\psi `$ are not equivalent to a Dirac spinor because they have only six independent real components while the Dirac spinor has eight. To see this explicitly, we rewrite (2) in the biquaternion formalism

$$\stackrel{}{F}=\stackrel{}{E}+i\stackrel{}{B}𝝍\stackrel{}{u}\overline{𝝍}=\rho e^{i\beta }\stackrel{}{u}\overline{}$$
$`(5)`$
where $`\stackrel{}{u}`$ is a constant unit vector, $``$ a unit biquaternion, and the complex factor $`\rho e^{i\beta }`$ corresponds to a duality transformation (Rainich, 1925). This representation is general because any non-null electromagnetic field can always be obtained by means of a duality transformation and of a Lorentz transformation $`()\overline{}`$ from a reference frame in which the electric and magnetic field vectors are parallel (Landau and Lifshitz, 1985, see Sections 24 and 25; Misner *et al.*, 1970, see Exercise 20.7).

However, expressions (1), (2) and (5) are invariant under any gauge transformation of $`\mathrm{\Psi }`$, $`\psi `$, or $`𝝍`$ which commutes with $`S^{\mu \nu }`$, $`\gamma _{21}`$, or $`\stackrel{}{u}`$. For instance, the substitution $`\mathrm{exp}(c\stackrel{}{u})`$ with $`c`$ leaves (5) invariant. Therefore, the effective Lorentz transformation in (5) depends not on six but just on four parameters. This can be seen explicitly by solving (5) for $``$. It comes

$$=\frac{\stackrel{}{f}+\stackrel{}{u}}{\sqrt{2(1+\stackrel{}{f}\stackrel{}{u})}}$$
$`(6)`$
where $`\stackrel{}{f}`$ is the unit vector such that $`\stackrel{}{F}=\rho e^{i\beta }\stackrel{}{f}`$. This expression, which was first derived by G rsey (1956, p. 167), confirms that the spinor $`𝝍=\sqrt{\rho }e^{i\beta /2}`$ associated with an electromagnetic field has three complex components, and not four like a Dirac spinor.

3. MAXWELL’S EQUATION IN DIRAC-LIKE FORM

By a number of lengthy tensor manipulations Campolattaro (1990) succeeded in reducing equations (2) to a single nonlinear equation in which the four-gradient of the spinor $`\mathrm{\Psi }`$ appears on one side, and in which the nonlinearity appears on the other side as a complicated variable factor that would be the mass if $`\mathrm{\Psi }`$ was a Dirac field. The same calculation was repeated by Vaz and Rodrigues (1993) who confirmed the power of the Clifford number formalism by deriving an equivalent equation in a very straightforward manner. In the formalism of Rodrigues (1997, 1998), Maxwell’s equations (4) are equivalent to the nonlinear equation

$$\mathbf{}\psi \gamma _{21}=\frac{\mathrm{exp}(\gamma _5\beta )}{\rho }\left[\frac{1}{2}𝒥+(j+\gamma _5g)\right]\psi $$
$`(7)`$
where $`j=\gamma ^\mu (_\mu \psi )\gamma _{21}\psi ^{}`$ and $`g=\gamma ^\mu (_\mu \psi )\gamma _5\gamma _{21}\psi ^{}`$. In the case where $`𝒥=0`$, and provided that $`\rho `$, $`\beta `$, $`j`$ and $`g`$ are constants, this expression would be similar to Dirac’s equation, which in Rodrigues’s formalism is

$$\mathbf{}\psi _D\gamma _{21}=m\psi _D.$$
$`(8)`$
However, since $`\psi `$ in (7) has only six real functions in its components, it cannot be made equivalent to (8) in the general case where the Dirac spinor $`\psi _D`$ has eight independent components. For the same reason, contrary to what Campolattaro and Rodrigues tried to do, it is not possible to find non-trivial cases in which the mass term in Maxwell’s equation in spinor form becomes a constant. In particular, it is not possible to use constraints such as $`\mathbf{}j=0`$ and $`\mathbf{}g=0`$ because they reduce the number of independent real components from six to four.

4. INTRINSIC DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MAXWELL’S AND DIRAC’S EQUATIONS

Let us translate equations (4) and (8) into the biquaternion formalism (Gsponer and Hurni, 1998, 2001). Maxwell’s equations are then

$$\stackrel{}{F}\stackrel{}{F}^{}=0,\stackrel{}{F}+\stackrel{}{F}^{}=2J,$$
$`(9)`$
and Dirac’s equation becomes the *Dirac-Lanczos equation* (Lanczos, 1929)

$$\overline{}\psi _D=im\psi _D^{}\stackrel{}{u}.$$
$`(10)`$
Both equations are of first order, which is why the question of their possible “equivalence” can arise. However, there is one essential difference: Dirac’s equation relates the field $`\psi _D`$ to its complex conjugate $`\psi _D^{}`$, while Maxwell’s equation (as well as Proca’s equation for a massive spin 1 particle) do not. This complex conjugation operation arises naturally when the spin 1/2 and spin 1 field equations are consistently derived from Lanczos’s fundamental equation (Gsponer and Hurni, 1998, 2001), and it is intimately connected to the fact that fermions are essentially different from bosons (Gsponer and Hurni, 1994). Indeed, by studying the time-reversal transformation of (10), one finds $`T^2=1`$, which implies the Pauli exclusion principle and Fermi statistics (Feynman, 1987; Weinberg, 1998, p. 80).

Therefore, since the spinor representation of the electromagnetic field (5) involves $`𝝍`$ and $`\overline{𝝍}`$, not $`𝝍`$ and $`\overline{𝝍^{}}`$, it is impossible to transform Maxwell’s equations (9) by any algebraic manipulation to get a Dirac equation for the spinor $`𝝍`$, even if we accept a nonlinear variable mass term.

The complex conjugation operation that is explicit in (10) has a counterpart in any formulation of Dirac’s equation. Its absence in the standard $`\gamma `$-matrices formulation or in other Clifford formulations of Dirac’s equation, e.g. (8), needs therefore to be explained. The reason is that these formulations either use a larger algebra, so that the complex conjugation in (10) can be avoided, or a “complex structure” (or “complex geometry”) by which operations on complex numbers are replaced by algebraic operations on real numbers (De Leo, 2001; This is a recent example in which ordinary complex numbers are replaced by linear functions of real quaternions).

For example, in the standard $`\gamma `$-matrices formulation the Dirac algebra $`𝔻_4()`$ is used instead of the biquaternion algebra $`𝔹_2()`$. Then, the complex conjugate of the Dirac matrices is given by $`\gamma _{\mu }^{}{}_{}{}^{}=\gamma _0\gamma _{\mu }^{}{}_{}{}^{t}\gamma _0`$ where $`()^t`$ denotes transposition, and the “Dirac adjoint” $`\overline{\mathrm{\Psi }}\mathrm{\Psi }^{}\gamma _0`$ is required instead of $`\mathrm{\Psi }^{}`$ in scalar products (see, e.g., Weinberg, 1998). Similarly, Lanczos’s “complex” formulation of Dirac’s equation (10) can be transformed into the “real” formulation of Hestenes (1966, see sections 7 and 13) by using the identification $`D^{}=\gamma _0D\gamma _0`$ to replace the symbolic complex conjugation operator $`()^{}`$ by the linear function $`\gamma _0()\gamma _0`$ (see, in particular, Fauser, 2001, where it is shown that this function provides a link between seemingly inequivalent formulations of Dirac’s equation).

5. CONCLUSION

By various algebraic transformations it is possible to put Maxwell’s equation into a form that is very similar to Dirac’s equation. Similarly, it is also possible to replace the complex conjugation operator that is explicit in the Dirac-Lanczos equation (10) by an algebraic operation that effectively implements this complex conjugation. However, the transformed Maxwell equation will still depend on only six real functions while Dirac’s equation requires eight, and the complex structure which makes a Dirac particle a fermion rather than a boson will remain an essential feature of Dirac’s equation.

Indeed, the complex structure inherent to Dirac’s equation corresponds to the fact that the Dirac field is only meaningful in the context of quantum mechanics where complex numbers are essential. On the other hand, such a complex structure is absent in Maxwell’s equation so that Maxwell’s field has a consistent interpretation in the context of classical electrodynamics where complex numbers are not essential.

There are of course other fundamental differences between the Maxwell and Dirac equations and their interpretations that are not discussed in this paper. See, e.g., (Good, 1957).

Finally, while practical calculations are made most easily using a formulation such as the standard $`\gamma `$-matrices, it is important to stress that the Dirac-Lanczos equation (10) has the considerable didactical advantage to make manifest the fermionic complex structure that is hidden in Dirac’s original formulation, as well as in most other ones, e.g., Rodrigues’s (8), or Hestenes’s (Hestenes, 1966).

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The author is indebted to Prof. W. A. Rodrigues Jr. and to Dr. J. Vaz for extensive correspondence, to Prof. W. E. Baylis for several useful remarks, and to Dr. J.-P. Hurni for illuminating discussions.

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# Measurement of Superluminal optical tunneling times in double-barrier photonic bandgaps

## I Introduction

Tunneling of a particle through a potential barrier is one of the most intriguing phenomena in quantum mechanics, that continues to attract a great attention both theoretically and experimentally. The reason thereof stems from the fact that some questions related to the dynamics of tunneling, such as the definition and measure of tunneling transit times , have not get a general acceptance yet. In addition, tunneling hides some amazing time-domain phenomena, the most notable one being Superluminal propagation (for related experiments see, e.g.,  and references therein). In case of opaque barriers, it is known that the tunneling time becomes independent of the barrier width (Hartman effect ; see also ) and can become so short to imply apparent Superluminal motion, which has been the subject of a lively debate in recent years . Since tunneling time measurements for electrons are usually difficult to achieve and of uncertain interpretation, experimental validation of the Hartman effect and direct measurements of Superluminal tunneling times have been successfully obtained for the closely-related problem of tunneling of photons through photonic barriers in a series of famous experiments performed at either microwave  and optical wavelengths . In particular, in Refs. one-dimensional photonic bandgaps were used as photonic barriers, realizing the optical analogue of electron Bragg scattering in the Krönig-Penney model of solid-state physics. A different but related issue is that of particle tunneling through a double-barrier (DB) potential structure, such as electron tunneling in semiconductor superlattice structures. In this case, the resonant behavior of tunneling escape versus energy  is a clear manifestation of the wave nature of electrons and is of major importance for ultrahigh-speed resonant-tunneling devices . Exploiting the analogy between electron and photon tunneling , resonant tunneling phenomena have been also studied and observed in connection with microwave propagation in undersized waveguides and in periodic layered structures , and general relations have been derived between the traversal time at resonances and the lifetime of the resonant states . Besides of realizing resonance tunneling, it has been theoretically recognized that DB structures are also of interest to study off-resonance tunneling times . In this case, for opaque barriers it turns out that the transit time to traverse the DB structure is independent not only of the barrier width, but even of the length of the intermediate (classically allowed) region that separates the barriers. So far, measurements of Superluminal tunneling in DB structures have been performed by G. Nimtz and coworkers in a series of microwave transmission experiments ; however, no experimental study on off-resonant tunneling times in DB photonic structures at optical wavelengths has been reported yet. In recent works , some of the present authors have shown that fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) can provide versatile tools for the study of tunneling phenomena. Besides for their potential relevance in applications to optical communications, the use of FBGs as photonic barriers is very appealing from an experimental viewpoint because the tunneling times in FBG structures fall in the tens of picoseconds time scale, which can be easily and precisely detected by standard optoelectronic means.
In this work we report on measurement of tunneling delay times in DB photonic structures at the 1.5 $`\mu `$m wavelength of optical communications. Our results represent an extension at optical wavelenghts of similar experimental achievements previously reported at microwaves  and provide a clear experimental evidence that, for opaque barriers, the traversal time is independent of barrier distance (generalized Hartman effect). The paper is organized as follows. In Sec.II, the basic model of tunneling in a DB rectangular FBG is reviewed and the quantum-mechanical analogy of electron tunneling is outlined. In Sec.III the experimental measurements of tunneling times are presented. Finally, in Sec.IV the main conclusions are outlined.

## II Optical tunneling in a DB FBG: basic equations and quantum-mechanical analogy

We consider tunneling of optical pulses through a DB photonic structure achieved in a monomode optical fiber by writing onto it two periodic Bragg gratings, each of width $`L_0`$, separated by a distance $`L`$, which realize a weak modulation of the refractive index $`n`$ along the fiber axis $`z`$ according to $`n(z)=n_0\left[1+2V(z)\mathrm{cos}(2\pi z/\mathrm{\Lambda })\right]`$, where $`n_0`$ is the average refractive index of the structure, $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ is the Bragg modulation period, and $`V(z)`$ is profiled to simulate a symmetric rectangular DB structure, i.e. $`V(z)=V_0`$ constant for $`0<z<L_0`$ and for $`L+L_0<z<L+2L_0`$, and $`V(z)=0`$ otherwise (see Fig.1). For such a structure, Bragg scattering of counterpropagating waves at a frequency $`\omega `$ close to the Bragg resonance $`\omega _Bc_0\pi /(n_0\mathrm{\Lambda })`$ ($`c_0`$ is the speed of light in vacuum) occurs in the grating regions, whereas multiple wave interference between the two barriers leads to Fabry-Perot resonances in the transmission spectrum. The tunneling problem in the DB FBG structure bears a close connection to that of non-relativistic electrons through a symmetric rectangular DB potential, which has been widely investigated in literature (see, for instance, ). The analogy is summarized in Table I, where the basic equations and the expressions for barrier transmission and group delay are given in the two cases . In the electromagnetic case, a monochromatic field $`E(z,t)`$ at an optical frequency $`\omega `$ close to the Bragg frequency $`\omega _B`$ propagating inside the fiber can be written as a superposition of counter-propagating waves, $`E(z,t)=u(z)\mathrm{exp}(i\omega t+ik_Bz)+v(z)\mathrm{exp}(i\omega tik_Bz)+c.c.`$, where $`k_B=\pi /\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ is the Bragg wavenumber; for a small index modulation ($`V_01`$), the envelopes $`u,v`$ of counterpropagating waves satisfy the following coupled-mode equations :

$`{\displaystyle \frac{du}{dz}}`$ $`=`$ $`i\delta u+ik_BV(z)u`$ (2)
$`{\displaystyle \frac{dv}{dz}}`$ $`=`$ $`i\delta vik_BV(z)v`$ (3)
where $`\delta kk_B=n_0(\omega \omega _B)/c_0`$ is the detuning parameter between wavenumber $`k=n_0\omega /c_0`$ of counterpropagating waves and Bragg wavenumber $`k_B`$. The wave envelopes $`u`$ and $`v`$ are oscillatory (propagative) in the region $`L_0<z<L_0+L`$, whereas they are exponential (evanescent) inside the gratings when $`|\delta |<k_BV_0`$. The spectral transmission of the structure, given by $`t(\omega )=[u(L)/u(0)]_{v(L)=0}`$, can be analytically determined by standard transfer matrix methods . As an estimate of the tunneling time for a wavepacket crossing the structure, we use the group delay (or phase time) as calculated by the method of stationary phase, which is given by  $`\tau =\mathrm{Im}\left\{\mathrm{ln}(t)/\omega \right\}`$. A typical behavior of power transmission $`T=|t|^2`$ and group delay $`\tau `$ versus frequency detuning $`\nu =(\omega \omega _B)/(2\pi )`$, computed for one of the DB structures used in the experiments, is shown in Fig.2. Notice that, far from the sharp Fabry-Perot resonances, the group delay is shorter than that for free propagation from input to output planes, implying Superluminal propagation. At the center of the bandgap ($`\delta =0`$), simple analytical expressions for the power transmission and group delay can be derived and read:

$$T=\frac{1}{\mathrm{cosh}^2(2k_BV_0L_0)}$$
(4)
$$\tau =\tau _1+\tau _2$$
(5)
where:

$`\tau _1`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{n_0}{c_0k_BV_0}}\mathrm{tanh}(2k_BV_0L_0)=\sqrt{1T}{\displaystyle \frac{n_0}{c_0k_BV_0}}`$ (7)
$`\tau _2`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{n_0L}{c_0}}{\displaystyle \frac{1}{\mathrm{cosh}(2k_BV_0L_0)}}=\sqrt{T}{\displaystyle \frac{n_0L}{c_0}}`$ (8)
Equations (3) and (4) clearly show that two distinct contributions are involved in the expression for the group delay. The former term, $`\tau _1`$, is independent of the barrier separation, and coincides with the tunneling time of a single barrier of width $`2L_0`$. For an opaque barrier ($`L_0V_0k_B1`$), $`\tau _1`$ becomes independent of barrier width and saturates to the value $`\tau _1n_0/(c_0k_BV_0)`$ (Hartman effect). Conversely, the latter contribution, $`\tau _2`$, is always shorter than the free-propagation time over a length $`L`$ and goes to zero for an opaque barrier, implying that the tunneling time becomes independent of barrier distance (generalized Hartman effect). Similar results are obtained for off-resonance tunneling of a non-relativistic electron through a rectangular DB potential $`V(z)`$ assuming that the incident wavepacket has a below-barrier mean energy $`E`$ half the barrier width $`V_0`$; the corresponding expressions for barrier transmission and group delay in this case are given in Table I (for details, see, e.g., ). The tunneling through a DB FBG structure can hence be used as an experimental verifiable model for the quantum-mechanical case.

## III Tunneling time measurements

We performed a series of tunneling time measurements through DB FBG structures operating at around 1.5 $`\mu `$m in order to assess the independence of the peak pulse transit times with barrier distance $`L`$. The FBGs used for the experiments were manufactured by using standard writing techniques, with an exposure time to UV laser beam and phase mask length such as to realize a grating with sharp fall-off edges of length $`L_08.5`$ mm and with a refractive index modulation $`V_00.9\times 10^4`$. For such a refractive index modulation, a minimum power transmission $`T0.8\%`$ at antiresonance is achieved for a DB structure, which is low enough to get the opaque barrier limit but yet large enough to perform time delay measurements at reasonable power levels. The period of the phase mask was chosen to achieve Bragg resonance at around 1550 nm wavelength. Five different DB structures were realized with grating separation $`L`$ of 18, 27, 35, 42 and 47 mm. For such structures, both transmission spectra and group delays were measured using a phase shift technique  with a spectral resolution of $`2`$ pm; an example of measured transmission spectrum and group delay versus frequency for the 42-mm separation DB FBG is shown in Fig.2. Notice that, according to the theoretical curve shown in the same figure, far from the Fabry-Perot resonances the group delay is Superluminal, with expected time advancement of the order of 240–250 ps. Notice also that the sharp Fabry-Perot resonances are not fully resolved in the experimental curves due to bandwidth limitations ($`2`$ pm) of the measurement apparatus.
Direct time-domain measurements of tunneling delay times were performed in transmission experiments using probing optical pulse with $``$1.3 ns duration, corresponding to a spectral pulse bandwidth which is less than the frequency separation of Fabry-Perot resonances for all the five DB structures. Since both transmission and group delay are slowly varying functions of frequency far from Fabry-Perot resonances (see Fig.2), weak pulse distortions are thus expected for off-resonance pulse transmission. The experimental set-up for delay time measurements is shown in Fig.3. A pulse train, at a repetition frequency $`f_m=300`$ MHz, was generated by external modulation of a single-frequency continuous-wave tunable laser diode (Santec mod. ECL-200/210), equipped with both a coarse and a fine (thermal) tuning control of frequency emission with a resolution of $`100`$ MHz. The fiber-coupled $`10`$ mW output power emitted by the laser diode was amplified using a high-power erbium-doped fiber amplifier (IPG Mod. EAD-2-PM; EDFA1 in Fig.3), and then sent to a $`\mathrm{LiNbO}_3`$-based Mach-Zehnder modulator, sinusoidally driven at a frequency $`f_m=300`$ MHz by a low-noise radio-frequency (RF) synthetizer. The bias point of the modulator and the RF modulation power level were chosen to generate a train with a pulse duration (FWHM) of $``$ 1.3 ns; the measured average output power of the pulse train available for the transmission experiments was $``$ 130 mW. The pulse train was sent to the DB FBG through a three-port optical circulator, that enables both transmitted and reflected signals to be simultaneously detected. The signal transmitted through the DB FBG was sent to a low-noise erbium-doped fiber amplifier (OptoCom Mod. OI LNPA; EDFA2 in Fig.3) with a low saturation power ($``$ 30 $`\mu `$W at 1550 nm) that maintains the average power level of the output optical signal at a constant level ($``$ 18 mW). In this way, the power levels transmitted through the DB FBG, for the laser emission tuned either at Fabry-Perot resonances or anti-resonances of the structure or outside the stopband, were comparable. The transmitted pulse train was detected in the time domain by a fast sampling oscilloscope (Agilent Mod. 86100A), with a low jitter noise and an impulsive response of $``$ 15 ps; a portion of the sinusoidal RF signal that drives the Mach-Zehnder modulator was used as an external trigger for the oscilloscope, thus providing precise synchronism among successive pulses. Off-resonance tunneling was achieved by a careful tuning control of the laser spectrum which was detected by monitoring the reflected signal, available at port three of the optical circulator, using both an optical spectrum analyzer (Anritsu Mod. MS9710B) with a resolution of 0.07 nm, and a plane-plane scanning Fabry-Perot interferometer (Burleigh Model RC1101R) with a free-spectral range of $``$50 GHz and a measured finesse of $``$ 180, which permits to resolve the Fabry-Perot resonances of the DB FBG structures. The reflectivity spectrum of the DB FBG was first measured by the Fabry-Perot interferometer and recorded on a digital oscilloscope by disconnecting the laser diode from the input port of EDFA1 and sending to the DB FBG the broadband amplified-spontaneous emission signal of the optical amplifier. This trace is then used as a reference to tune the pulse spectrum at the center of the off-resonance plateau between the two central Fabry-Perot resonances of the recorded DB FBG structure.
Figure 4 shows a typical trace \[curve (1)\], averaged over 64 acquisitions, of the tunneled optical pulses under off-resonance tuning condition, as measured on the sampling oscilloscope, for the 42-mm separation DB FBG structure, and compared to the corresponding trace \[curve (2)\] recorded when the laser was detuned apart by $`200`$ GHz, i.e. far away from the stopband of the DB FBG structure. A comparison of the two traces clearly shows that tunneled pulses are almost undistorted with a peak pulse advancement of $``$ 248 ps; repeated measurements showed that the measured pulse peak advancement is accurate within $`\pm `$ 15 ps, the main uncertainty in the measure being determined by the achievement of the optimal tuning condition. We checked that propagation through EDFA2 does not introduce any appreciable pulse distortion nor any measurable time delay dependence on the amplification level. Time delay measurements were repeated for the five DB FBG structures, and the experimental results are summarized in Fig.5 and compared with the theoretical predictions of tunneling time as given by Eqs.(3) and (4). The dashed line in the figure shows the theoretical transit time, from input ($`z=0`$) to output ($`z=2L_0+L`$) planes, versus barrier separation $`L`$ for pulses tuned far away from the bandgap of FBG; in this case, the transit time is given merely by the time spent by a pulse traveling along the fiber for a distance $`L+2L_0`$ with a velocity $`c_0/n_0`$. The solid line is, in turn, the expected transit time for off-resonance tunneling of pulses, according to the phase time analysis \[see Eqs.(3) and (4)\]\], which shows that the transit time does not substantially increase as the barrier separation is increased (generalized Hartman effect). The points in the figure are obtained by subtracting to the dashed curve the measured pulse peak advancements for the five DB FBGs, thus providing an experimental estimate of the tunneling transit time. Notice that, within the experimental errors, the agreement between measured and predicted transit times is rather satisfactory. For each of the five DB FBG structures, the measured transit times are Superluminal; it is remarkable that, for the longest barrier separation used, the transit time leads to a Superluminal velocity of about 5$`c_0`$, the largest one measured in tunneling experiments at optical wavelengths . These paradoxically small transit times do not represent, however, a genuine violation of Einstein causality , and may be qualitatively explained as the result of two simultaneous effects that are a signature of the wave nature of the tunneling processes . On the one hand, following Refs., peak pulse advancement occurs at each of the two barriers as a result of a reshaping phenomenon in which the trailing edge of the pulse is preferentially attenuated than the leading one; on the other hand, the independence of tunneling time on the barrier distance can be explained, following Ref., as an effective “acceleration” of the forward traveling waves in the intermediate classically-allowed region that arises in consequence of the destructive interference between the two barriers.

## IV Conclusions

In this paper off-resonant tunneling of optical pulses has been experimentally investigated in fiber Bragg photonic barriers. Tunneling time measurements have been shown to be in good agreement with theoretical predictions based on phase time analysis and have unambiguously confirmed that, for opaque barriers, the tunneling time is independent not only of the barrier width, as previously shown in Ref., but even of the barrier separation. Our results extend to the optical region previous experimental achievements performed at microwaves  and may be of interest in the field of optical tunneling and related issue of Superluminal propagation.

###### Acknowledgements.

The authors acknowledge M. Marano for his help in the experimental measurements, and F. Fontana and G. Salesi for many useful discussions.

Figure Captions.

Fig.1. Schematic of tunneling through a rectangular DB photonic structure.
Fig.2. Spectral power transmission (left) and group delay (right) for a DB FBG structure for $`L_0=8.5`$ mm, $`L=42`$ mm, $`V_0=0.9\times 10^4`$, $`n_0=1.452`$, and $`\omega _B=1.261\times 10^{15}`$ rad/s. Upper and lower figures refer to measured and predicted spectral curves, respectively.
Fig.3. Schematic of the experimental setup. LD: tunable laser diode; MZM: Mach-Zehnder waveguide modulator; OC: optical circulator; EDFA1 and EDFA2: erbium-doped fiber amplifiers; RF: radio-frequency synthetizer.
Fig.4. Pulse traces recorded on the sampling oscilloscope corresponding to the transmitted pulse for off-resonance tunneling (curve 1) and reference pulse propagating outside the stopband of the structure (curve 2) for the 42-mm separation DB FBG.
Fig.5. Off-resonance tunneling time versus barrier separation $`L`$ for a rectangular symmetric DB FBG structure. The solid line is the theoretical prediction based on group delay calculations (Table I); dots are the experimental points as obtained by time delay measurements; the dashed curve is the transit time from input ($`z=0`$) to output ($`z=L+2L_0`$) planes for a pulse tuned far away from the stopband of the FBGs.


text:
# The Assembly of the First Galaxies

## 1 Introduction

Recent measurements of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) temperature anisotropies, determinations of the luminosity distance to distant type Ia Supernovae (SNe), and other observations have led to the emergence of a robust “best–fit” cosmological model with energy densities in cold dark matter (CDM) and “dark energy” of $`(\mathrm{\Omega }_\mathrm{M},\mathrm{\Omega }_\mathrm{\Lambda })(0.3,0.7)`$. The growth of density fluctuations, and their evolution into non–linear dark matter structures can be followed in detail from first principles by semi–analytic methods 13 ; 14  and N–body simulations 15 . Structure formation is “bottom–up”, with low–mass halos condensing first. Halos with the masses of globular clusters, $`10^{56}\mathrm{M}_{}`$, are predicted to have condensed as early as $``$1% of the current age of the universe, or redshift $`z25`$. It is natural to identify these condensations as the sites where the first astrophysical objects, such as stars, or quasars, were born.

## 2 Current Evidence for High Redshift Galaxies

Current observations directly probe the universe out to redshift $`z6`$, with the record–holder quasar at $`z=6.28`$ 16 , and the history of star–formation and of quasar activity mapped out to $`z5`$ 17 . However, there is convincing observational evidence that an additional, yet undiscovered population of low–mass galaxies exists at these redshifts and beyond.

### 2.1 Reionization of a Clumpy Universe

The lack of a Gunn–Peterson trough in the spectra of all quasars to date, except for the record holder quasar at $`z=6.28`$, imply that the universe is highly ionized prior to redshift $`z6`$ (perhaps near $`z6.3`$). An early population of stars or quasars could have photoionized the IGM, if they produced at least one ionizing photon per hydrogen atom in the universe. A naive extrapolation of the luminosity density of bright quasars towards $`z=6`$ reveals that these sources fall short of this requirement. Extrapolating the known population of Lyman Break Galaxies (LBGs) towards $`z=6`$ comes closer: assuming that 15$`\%`$ of the ionizing radiation from LBGs escapes into the IGM (on average, relative to the escape fraction at 1500Å), a naive extrapolation shows that LBGs emitted $``$ one ionizing photon per hydrogen atom prior to $`z=6`$ 1 . Although this would be sufficient to ionize every H atom once, the required photon budget exceeds this value. The earliest ionizing sources are likely surrounded by numerous “minihalos” that had collapsed earlier, but had failed to cool and form any stars or quasars111If minihalos are themselves the sources of ionizing radiation, and their gas is photo–evaporated “inside–out”, then the required photon budget is likely to be even higher.. This is illustrated in Figure 1. The minihalos have typical masses below $`10^7\mathrm{M}_{}`$, and represent a population of dense clumps that is currently unresolved in large three–dimensional cosmological simulations. The UV radiation incident on the minihalos heats their gas to $`T10^4`$K, causing it to photo–evaporate 19 ; 12 . The mean free path of ionizing photons, before they are absorbed by an evaporating minihalo, is about $`1`$ (comoving) Mpc. As a result, the typical fate of an ionizing photon, emitted at $`z\begin{array}{c}>\hfill \\ \hfill \end{array}6`$, is to be absorbed by a minihalo within a small fraction of the Hubble distance – before it could contribute to the reionization of the bulk of the IGM. A simple model of the photoevaporation process 1 , summed over the expected population of minihalos, reveals that on average, an H atom in the universe recombines $`\begin{array}{c}>\hfill \\ \hfill \end{array}10`$ times before redshift $`z=6`$. The implication is that the ionizing emissivity at $`z>6`$ was $`10`$ times higher than provided by a straightforward extrapolation back in time of known quasar and galaxy populations.

### 2.2 Metal Enrichment of the Intergalactic Medium

Recent detections of CIV and SIV absorption associated with low column density Ly$`\alpha `$ absorption lines in the spectra of distant quasars imply that the universe was enriched by metals to a mean level of $`10^3Z_{}`$ prior to redshift $`z3`$. These absorbers, whose HI column densities are as low as $`10^{14.2}\mathrm{cm}^2`$ 20 , are identified in cosmological hydrodynamical simulations as regions with typical densities only a few times above that of the mean IGM. This low density rules out “in–situ” metal enrichment, and raises the question: where did these metals come from? LBGs discovered at redshifts $`z=34`$ would be natural candidates for producing and dispersing heavy elements in galactic winds 7 . In order for a significant fraction of the volume to be enriched within a Hubble time, the winds need to move heavy elements at mean speeds close to $`1000`$ km/s (the typical separation of LBGs is a few Mpc). While outflows at such high speeds are known to occur, it is unclear whether this scenario can be reconciled with the observed line–widths of the absorbers, which are as narrow as $`20`$ km/s, when the cooling time in the low–density IGM is exceedingly long at $`z3`$. An alternative possibility is early enrichment by much more numerous low–mass systems, with typical separations of $`<0.1`$Mpc, which can drive outflows at their escape velocities of a few$`\times 10`$ km/s (see also 2 ). In Figure 2, we show the maximum masses of halos (using the halo mass function from 15 ) whose mean separation is small enough so that their distance can be crossed in the age of the universe (at each redshift) at speeds of 10, 100, or 1000 km/s. In all three cases, the shaded regions correspond to requiring that the dispersed metals fill 3-100% of the volume. The figure reveals that at $`z34`$, systems with $`M10^{12}\mathrm{M}_{}`$ are sparse, and require speeds of $`1000`$km/s. Only systems with masses as low as $`M10^{67}\mathrm{M}_{}`$ (lowest shaded curve) are sufficiently abundant to widely disperse metals with outflow speeds of a few $`\times 10`$ km/s. However, such low–mass systems have velocity dispersions below $`\sigma =10`$km/s, and are unlikely to have formed metals in the presence of the post–reionization UV background (the horizontal solid curve shows the halo mass corresponding to $`\sigma =10`$km/s). The natural conclusion is that the metals had to be produced and dispersed by low–mass systems, $`M10^6\mathrm{M}_{}`$, prior to reionization at $`z\begin{array}{c}>\hfill \\ \hfill \end{array}6.3`$.

### 2.3 The Growth of Supermassive Black Holes

A third line of evidence for high–redshift activity comes from the sheer size of supermassive black holes (BHs) required to power the recently discovered bright quasars near $`z6`$. Assuming that these quasars are shining at their Eddington limit, and are not beamed or lensed222Strong lensing or beaming would contradict the large proximity effect around these quasars 21 ., their BH masses are inferred to be $`M_{\mathrm{bh}}4\times 10^9\mathrm{M}_{}`$. The Eddington–limited growth of these supermassive BHs by gas accretion onto stellar–mass seed holes, with a radiative efficiency of $`ϵL/\dot{m}c^210\%`$, requires $`20`$ e–foldings on a timescale of $`t_\mathrm{E}4\times 10^7(ϵ/0.1)`$ years. While the age of the universe leaves just enough time ($`\begin{array}{c}<\hfill \\ \hfill \end{array}10^9`$ years) to accomplish this growth by redshift $`z=6`$, it does mean that accretion has to start early, and the seeds for the accretion have to be present at ultra–high redshifts: $`z\begin{array}{c}>\hfill \\ \hfill \end{array}15(20)`$ for an initial seed mass of $`100(10)\mathrm{M}_{}`$. Furthermore, the radiative efficiency cannot be much higher than $`ϵ10\%`$ 22 ; 23 . Since an individual quasar BH could have accreted exceptionally fast (exceeding the Eddington limit), it will be important to apply this argument to a larger sample of high–redshift quasars. Nevertheless, we note that a comparison of the light output of quasars at the peak of their activity ($`z2.5`$) and the total masses of their remnant BHs at $`z=0`$ shows that during the growth of most of the BH mass the radiative efficiency cannot be much smaller than $`10\%`$, and hence any ’super-Eddington’ phase must be typically restricted to building only a small fraction of the final BH mass.

## 3 The Assembly of the First Galaxies

While the formation of non–linear dark matter halos can be followed from first–principles, the formation of stars or BHs in these halos is much more difficult to model ab–initio. Nevertheless, we may identify three important mass–scales, which collapse at successively smaller redshifts,

1. Gas can only condense in dark halos above the cosmological Jeans mass, $`M_\mathrm{J}10^4\mathrm{M}_{}[(1+\mathrm{z})/11]^{3/2}`$, so that the gravity of dark matter can overwhelm gas pressure in the IGM.
2. Gas that condensed into Jeans–unstable halos can cool and contract further in halos with masses above $`M_{\mathrm{H2}}\begin{array}{c}>\hfill \\ \hfill \end{array}10^5\mathrm{M}_{}[(1+\mathrm{z})/11]^{3/2}`$ (virial temperatures of $`T_{\mathrm{vir}}\begin{array}{c}>\hfill \\ \hfill \end{array}10^2`$K), provided there is a sufficient abundance of $`\mathrm{H}_2`$ molecules (at a level of at least $`n_{\mathrm{H2}}/n_\mathrm{H}10^3`$).
3. In halos with masses above $`M_\mathrm{H}\begin{array}{c}>\hfill \\ \hfill \end{array}10^8\mathrm{M}_{}[(1+\mathrm{z})/11]^{3/2}`$ (virial temperatures of $`T_{\mathrm{vir}}\begin{array}{c}>\hfill \\ \hfill \end{array}10^4`$K), gas can cool and contract via excitation of atomic Ly$`\alpha `$, even in the absence of any $`\mathrm{H}_2`$.

The first stars or BHs likely formed in gas that cooled and condensed via excitations of roto-vibrational levels of $`\mathrm{H}_2`$ molecules in dark matter condensations with $`M10^5\mathrm{M}_{}`$ at redshift $`z25`$ (corresponding to $``$3$`\sigma `$ peaks in the primordial density field) 5 ; 6 . Unless the first rare objects were significant sources of X–ray photons with energies $`E\begin{array}{c}>\hfill \\ \hfill \end{array}1`$keV, their soft UV radiation, permeating the distant universe at photon energies $`E<13.6`$eV, caused a negative feedback, strongly suppressing $`\mathrm{H}_2`$ cooling and star–formation in clumps that collapsed subsequently 3 ; 8 . Efficient and widespread star (and/or BH) formation, capable of reionizing the universe, had to then await the collapse of halos with $`T_{\mathrm{vir}}>10^4`$K, or $`M_{\mathrm{halo}}>10^8[(1+z)/11]^{3/2}\mathrm{M}_{}`$.

The evolution of halos with $`T_{\mathrm{vir}}>10^4`$K differs from their less massive counterparts 4 . Efficient atomic line radiation allows rapid cooling to $`8000`$ K; subsequently the gas can contract to high densities nearly isothermally at this temperature. In the absence of $`\mathrm{H}_2`$ molecules, the gas would likely settle into a locally stable disk and only disks with unusually low spin would be unstable. However, the initial atomic line cooling leaves a large, out–of–equilibrium residual free electron fraction. This allows the molecular fraction to build up to a universal value of $`x_{\mathrm{H}_2}10^3`$, almost independently of initial density and temperature (this is a non–equilibrium freeze–out value that can be understood in terms of timescale arguments 4 ).

Unlike in less massive halos, $`\mathrm{H}_2`$ formation and cooling is much less susceptible to feedback from external UV fields. This is because the high densities $`n`$ that can be reached via atomic cooling. The $`\mathrm{H}_2`$ abundance that can build up in the presence of a UV radiation field $`J_{21}`$, and hence the temperature to which the gas will cool, is controlled by the ratio $`J_{21}/n`$. For example, in order for a parcel of gas to cool down to a temperature of 500K, this ratio has to be less than $`10^3`$ (where $`J_{21}`$ has units of $`10^{21}\mathrm{erg}\mathrm{s}^1\mathrm{cm}^2\mathrm{Hz}^1\mathrm{sr}^1`$, and $`n`$ has units of $`\mathrm{cm}^3`$). In Figure 3, we show, as a function of the external UV radiation field $`J_{21}`$, the mass fraction of gas which is able to cool to a temperature $`T`$ in $`T_{\mathrm{vir}}<10^4`$K halos (the gas is assumed to be in hydrostatic equilibrium within an NFW halo 25 ), and $`T_{\mathrm{vir}}>10^4`$K halos (the gas is assumed to have cooled via atomic Ly$`\alpha `$ to a $`10^4`$K, rotationally supported disk 26 ).

The figure reveals that flux levels well below that required to fully reionize the universe strongly suppresses the cold gas fraction in $`T_{\mathrm{vir}}<10^4`$K halos. By comparison, the UV flux has nearly negligible impact on $`\mathrm{H}_2`$ formation and cooling in $`T_{\mathrm{vir}}>10^4`$K halos, where all of the gas is able to cool to $`T=500`$K. Indeed, under realistic assumptions, the newly formed molecules in the dense disk can cool the gas to $`100`$ K, and allow the gas to fragment on scales of a few $`\times 100`$ M. Various feedback effects, such as $`\mathrm{H}_2`$ photodissociation from internal UV fields, and radiation pressure due to Ly$`\alpha `$ photon trapping, are then likely to regulate the eventual efficiency of star formation in these systems.

## 4 Future Observational Signatures

Although the first generation of galaxies are distant, and intrinsically faint objects, they should be within reach of NGST. If $`10\%`$ of the gas turns into stars in a $`10^8\mathrm{M}_{}`$ halo, it should be detectable in the $`15\mu `$m band with NGST out to redshifts beyond $`z=10`$ in a $`10^4`$ second integration. A $`10^5\mathrm{M}_{}`$ black hole, forming out of $`1\%`$ of the gas in such a halo, and shining at its Eddington limit, would be detectable to a similar redshift. Simple “semi–analytical” models 24 ; 18  predict that NGST will either detect a significant number of ultra–high redshift sources, or else it will severely constraint any early model of early structure formation. Similarly optimistic conclusions can be drawn about detecting recombinant line emission from high–redshift sources: star formation rates as small as $`1\mathrm{M}_{}`$/yr, or BHs as small as $`10^5\mathrm{M}_{}`$ translate into detectable H$`\alpha `$ and He line fluxes beyond $`z=10`$, as long as the escape fraction of H– and He–ionizing radiation from these sources is low 11 . Finally, as the baryons cool and contract inside high–redshift halos with virial temperatures $`T\begin{array}{c}>\hfill \\ \hfill \end{array}10^4`$K, they likely channel a significant fraction of their gravitational binding energy into the Ly$`\alpha `$ line. At the limiting line flux $`10^{19}\mathrm{erg}\mathrm{s}^1\mathrm{cm}^2\mathrm{asec}^2`$ of the NGST, several sufficiently massive halos, with velocity dispersions $`\sigma \begin{array}{c}>\hfill \\ \hfill \end{array}120\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1`$, would be visible per $`4^{}\times 4^{}`$ field. The halos would have characteristic angular sizes of $`10`$˝, and could be detectable in a broad–band survey out to $`z68`$ (but not beyond the reionization redshift, where Ly$`\alpha `$ photons are be resonantly scattered). Their detection would provide a novel and direct probe of galaxies caught in the process of their formation 9 ; 10  – possibly before the first stars or quasars even lit up.

I thank the organizers of this workshop for their kind invitation, and Peng Oh for many recent fruitful discussions, and for permission to draw on our joint work. I acknowledge support from NASA through a Hubble Fellowship.