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# Influence of the Barrier Shape on Resonant Activation

## I Introduction

Nonequilibrium systems driven by noises are known to display plentitude of noise-induced phenomena lef ; kam . Among those, stochastic resonance is manifested when the response of a nonlinear system to a signal is enhanced by the presence of noise. Another resonant phenomenon can be observed for thermally activated surmounting of a potential barrier doe  with a randomly fluctuating shape. For certain values of characteristic parameters of the noise, the transport over the barrier is facilitated, i.e., the mean escape time of a particle exhibits a minimum as a function of the parameters of the barrier fluctuations. Such a problem of thermally activated escape within randomly fluctuating potentials occurs in a wide variety of contexts with examples ranging from molecular dissociation in strongly coupled chemical systems mad  or the model dynamics of the dye laser fox  to selective ion pumps in biological membranes lee . In every case activation happens due to thermal fluctuations and after classical Kramers theory kra  can be expressed by an Arrhenius dependence for the mean lifetime of the metastable state, $`W\mathrm{exp}(\mathrm{\Delta }G/k_BT)`$, where $`\mathrm{\Delta }G`$ stands for the activation energy. The strong effect of the surroundings (“environmental noises”) can be readily understood since even small variations $`\delta G`$ in $`\mathrm{\Delta }G`$ will greatly affect $`W`$ provided $`\delta G>k_BT`$. For a complex nonequilibrium system the potential experienced by the Brownian particle cannot, in general, be regarded as static but rather, as influenced by random fluctuations whose characteristic time scale may be comparable with the duration of the diffusion over the barrier. Random effects of the environment can thus be envisioned as barrier alternating processes goel  that can modulate the escape kinetics in the system. If the barrier fluctuates extremely slowly, the mean first passage time (MFPT) to the top of the barrier is dominated by those realizations for which the barrier starts in a higher position and thus becomes very long. The barrier is then essentially quasistatic throughout the process. At the other extreme, in the case of rapidly fluctuating barrier, the mean first passage time is determined by the “average barrier”. For some particular correlation time of the barrier fluctuations, it can happen however, that the mean kinetic rate of the process exhibits an extremum doe ; iwa ; bork  that is a signature of resonant tuning of the system in response to the external noise.

In this communication we present numerical results for the mean first passage time over a fluctuating barrier for the model system with an arctan potential barrier subject to dichotomous fluctuations. Our model belongs to the class of “on-off” models discussed in a seminal paper by Doering and Gadoua doe  and further analyzed by Boguñá et al. boguna . A distinctive characteristics of this model is that part of the time the barrier is either switched off (i.e. it becomes flat), or the switching is performed between the barrier and a well, so that the particle can essentially roll rather than climb during these times.

Our major goal was to examine variability of the mean first passage time in parameter space, that is, to determine the position of its minimum (cf. Fig. 1) and to study the dependence of depth and width of this minimum on the parameters describing the barrier shape and correlation time of the environmental noise.

In Section II, a brief statement of the “archetypal” resonance activation problem is presented. Section III discusses solutions to the problem posed for the arctan potential, pointing out special symmetry of this function that determines equality of the mean first passage time for convex and concave slopes approximating between the triangular, piecewise-linear and piecewise-constant forms of the potential. Numerical results are obtained and further analyzed to asses how sharp and persistent the resonant region of the mean first passage time can be as a function of the noise correlation time and steepness of the potential slope. We conclude with some final remarks in Section IV.

## II Generic model system

We have considered an overdamped Brownian particle kra  moving in a potential field between absorbing and reflecting boundaries in the presence of noise that modulates the barrier height. The evolution of a state variable $`x(t)`$ is described in terms of the Langevin equation

$`{\displaystyle \frac{dx}{dt}}`$ $`=`$ $`V^{}(x)+\sqrt{2T}\xi (t)+g(x)\eta (t)`$ (1)
$`=`$ $`V_\pm ^{^{}}(x)+\sqrt{2T}\xi (t).`$
Here $`\xi (t)`$ is a Gaussian process with zero mean and correlation $`<\xi (t)\xi (s)>=\delta (ts)`$ (i.e. the Gaussian white noise arising from the heat bath of temperature $`T`$), $`\eta (t)`$ stands for a Markovian dichotomous (not necessarily symmetric) noise taking on one of two possible values $`a_\pm `$ and prime means differentiation over $`x`$. The correlation function of the dichotomous process satisfies $`<\eta (t)\eta (t^{})>=e^{2\gamma |tt^{}|}(a_+a_{})^2/4`$ where $`\gamma `$ stands for the flipping frequency of the barrier fluctuations (i.e. $`\frac{1}{2\gamma }`$ represents the characteristic correlation time of the dichotomous noise). Both noises are assumed to be statistically independent, i.e. $`<\xi (t)\eta (s)>=0`$. Equivalent to eq. (1) is a set of the Fokker-Planck equations describing evolution of the probability density of finding the particle at time $`t`$ at a position $`x`$, subject to the force $`V_\pm ^{^{}}(x)=V^{}(x)+a_\pm g(x)`$

$`_tP(x,a_\pm ,t)`$ $`=`$ $`_x\left[V_\pm ^{^{}}(x)+T_x\right]P(x,a_\pm ,t)`$ (2)
$``$ $`\gamma P(x,a_\pm ,t)+\gamma P(x,a_{},t)`$
In the above equations time has dimension of $`[length]^2/energy`$ due to a friction constant that has been “absorbed” in a time variable. We are assuming a reflecting boundary at $`x=0`$ and an absorbing boundary condition at $`x=L`$

$$P(L,a_\pm ,t)=0$$
(3)
$$\left[V_\pm ^{^{}}(x)+T_x\right]P(x,a_\pm ,t)|_{x=0}=0.$$
(4)
The initial condition

$$P(x,a_+,0)=P(x,a_{},0)=\frac{1}{2}\delta (x)$$
(5)
expresses equal choice to start with any of the two configurations of the barrier. The quantity of interest is the mean first passage time

$`\tau `$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{0}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}}𝑑t{\displaystyle \underset{0}{\overset{L}{}}}\left[P(x,a_+,t)+P(x,a_{},t)\right]𝑑x`$ (6)
$`=`$ $`\tau _+(0)+\tau _{}(0)`$
with $`\tau _+`$ and $`\tau _{}`$ being MFPT for $`(+)`$ and $`()`$ configurations, respectively. MFPTs $`\tau _+`$ and $`\tau _{}`$ fulfill the set of backward Kolmogorov equations goel ; bork

$`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}`$ $`=`$ $`\gamma \tau _\pm (x)+\gamma \tau _{}(x)`$ (7)
$``$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{dV_\pm (x)}{dx}}{\displaystyle \frac{d\tau _\pm (x)}{dx}}+T{\displaystyle \frac{d^2\tau _\pm (x)}{dx^2}}`$
with the boundary conditions (cf. eq. (3) and (4))

$$\tau _\pm ^{^{}}(x)|_{x=0}=0\tau _\pm (x)|_{x=L}=0$$
(8)
Although the solution of (7) is usually unique molenaar , a closed, “ready to use” analytical formula for $`\tau `$ can be obtained only for the simplest cases of the potentials (piecewise linear and piecewise constant). More complex cases, like even piecewise parabolic potential $`V_\pm `$ result in an intricate form of the solution to eq. (7). Other situations require either use of approximation schemes rei , perturbative approach iwa  or direct numerical evaluation methods gam . In order to examine MFPT for various potentials, a modified program musn  applying general shooting methods has been used with part of the mathematical software obtained from the Netlib library.

## III Solution and Results

For $`\gamma =0`$ and $`V_+(x)=V_{}(x)=V(x)`$, eq. (7) describes an overdamped Brownian particle moving in an external static potential (cf. eq. (1) with $`\eta (t)0`$). In this situation a formula for the MFPT reads

$`\tau (0L)`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{T}}{\displaystyle \underset{0}{\overset{L}{}}}𝑑\eta \mathrm{exp}\left({\displaystyle \frac{V(\eta )}{T}}\right){\displaystyle \underset{0}{\overset{\eta }{}}}\mathrm{exp}\left({\displaystyle \frac{V(\xi )}{T}}\right)𝑑\xi `$ (9)
$`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{T}}{\displaystyle \underset{0}{\overset{L}{}}}{\displaystyle \underset{0}{\overset{L}{}}}\mathrm{exp}\left({\displaystyle \frac{V(\eta )V(\xi )}{T}}\right)\theta (\eta \xi )𝑑\eta 𝑑\xi .`$
and does not depend on a constant part of a potential. Another non-trivial property in this case is equality of times

$$\tau (U,0L)=\tau (V,0L),$$
(10)
true for any two potentials $`V(x)`$, $`U(x)`$ that fulfill

$$U(x)=V(Lx)$$
(11)
and are continuous functions mapping $`[0,L][0,]`$. The above property can be simply proven after noticing that the difference

$$\tau (V,0L)\tau (U,0L)=\underset{0}{\overset{L}{}}\underset{0}{\overset{L}{}}f(\eta ,\xi )𝑑\eta 𝑑\xi $$
(12)
with

$`f(\eta ,\xi )`$ $`=`$ $`\left[\mathrm{exp}\left({\displaystyle \frac{V(\eta )V(\xi )}{T}}\right)\mathrm{exp}\left({\displaystyle \frac{U(\eta )U(\xi )}{T}}\right)\right]`$ (13)
$`\times `$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{\theta (\eta \xi )}{T}}`$
vanishes for any points $`(p,q)`$ and $`(p^{},q^{})`$ such that $`(p^{},q^{})`$ is the image of $`(p,q)`$ in the reflection at the line $`\eta =L\xi `$

$$f(p,q)=f(p^{},q^{}).$$
(14)
To capture the features of the mean first passage time as a function of the shape of the barrier and characteristic correlation time of the barrier fluctuations, we have studied the Brownian diffusion problem in the arctan potential fluctuating randomly between two configurations $`V_+(x)`$ and $`V_{}(x)`$

$`V_\pm (x)`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{H_\pm \text{arctan}(\alpha x/L+\beta )}{\text{arctan}(\alpha +\beta )\text{arctan}(\beta )}}`$ (15)
$``$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{H_\pm \text{arctan}(\beta )}{\text{arctan}(\alpha +\beta )\text{arctan}(\beta )}}.`$
Since switching between both configurations is modelled by a Markovian two-state process, the potential experienced by a particle remains in a given configuration for an exponentially distributed time, before flipping to the other state. The change in steepness and shift of the potential slope is controlled by parameters $`\alpha `$ and $`\beta `$. By using this particular form of the potential, we are able to modulate the steepness of the slope when holding the same, constant values of $`V_\pm (x)`$ at the bottom of the potential ($`x=0,V_\pm (0)=0`$) and at the top ($`x=L,V_\pm (L)=H_\pm `$) of the barrier (see Fig. 2). Moreover, as it is clearly seen from eq. (15), for $`\beta =0`$ and $`\beta =\alpha `$, the potential satisfies the property eq. (11) with $`=H_\pm `$

$$V_\pm (x)|_{\beta =0}=H_\pm V_\pm (Lx)|_{\beta =\alpha }.$$
(16)
Thus, under the same type of barrier flipping process, the MFPT results are identical for the convex ($`\beta =0`$) and concave ($`\beta =\alpha `$) potential slopes.

The standard numerical analysis molenaar ; rec  of the MFPT has been performed for various forms of the potential eq. (15) with the slope changing accordingly to $`\alpha =2^i`$, $`i=0,\mathrm{},10`$ and $`\beta =\alpha `$ (Fig. 2 A), $`\beta =\alpha /2`$ (Fig. 2 B) and $`\beta =0`$ (Fig. 2 C). The height of the potential barrier $`H_\pm `$ has been switching between either two symmetric values, $`H_\pm =\pm 8T`$, or “on” and “off” barrier positions, i.e. $`H_+=8T,H_{}=0`$. Numerical analysis reestablishes discussed above equality of the MFPTs for potentials with $`\beta =\alpha `$ and $`\beta =0`$. It means that for this set of parameters, the property eq. (10) observed for static potential, is also recovered for dichotomously fluctuating barriers

$$\tau (U,\gamma )=\tau (V,\gamma )$$
(17)
Therefore, graphical presentation of the results relates arbitrarily to the convex potentials only ($`\beta =0`$), having in mind that the same relationship $`\tau (\gamma )`$ is observed for the concave potentials with $`\beta =\alpha `$ (cf. Fig. 2).

Generally with increasing slope of the barrier, resonant frequencies are shifted to higher values suggesting that more energy has to be pumped into the system in order to facilitate the escape of a Brownian particle over the fluctuating barrier. The minimal (resonant) values of $`\tau `$ increase with $`\alpha `$ for $`V_\pm =\pm V`$ potential and decrease for potentials switching between the “on-off” ($`V_+=V,V_{}=0`$) positions, thus documenting a different character of resonant activation in these two cases, as discussed by Boguñá et al. boguna .

For $`V_\pm =\pm V`$ barriers asymptotic values of MFPT at $`\gamma \mathrm{}`$ do not change with the steepness: they remain the same (Figs. 34) and equal to $`\frac{L^2}{2T}`$, as predicted by analytical results for piecewise linear and piecewise constant potentials doe ; zucher ; boguna . However, they alter for the “on-off” potentials (cf. Figs. 5 and 6) displaying increase for $`\beta =\alpha /2`$ and decrease for $`\beta =0`$ (same for concave potentials $`\beta =\alpha `$). The resonant line (Fig. 1) of the $`\tau (\gamma )`$ dependence displays different features with zero and non-zero shift $`\beta `$. In particular, for $`\beta =0`$ the relative depths of minima measured from either the asymptotic $`\tau `$ value at $`\gamma =0`$ ($`h_0`$), or from the $`\tau `$ asymptote at $`\gamma \mathrm{}`$ ($`h_{\mathrm{}}`$) decrease with increasing $`\alpha `$ (cf. Figs. 4 and 6). For non-zero $`\beta =\alpha /2`$ and both potentials, $`V_\pm =\pm V`$ or $`V_+=V,V_{}=0`$, the relative depth $`h_0`$ increases with $`\alpha `$, as documented in Fig. 7 where the distance between the lines $`\mathrm{log}_{10}[\tau (\gamma _0)T/L^2]`$ and $`\mathrm{log}_{10}[\tau (\gamma _{min})T/L^2]`$ is shown to increase with this parameter. At the same conditions, the depth of the resonant line $`h_{\mathrm{}}`$ measured from the asymptote at $`\gamma \mathrm{}`$ decreases for $`V_\pm =\pm V`$ potentials and increases for the “on-off” potentials $`V_+=V,V_{}=0`$. These findings are summarized in Figs. 7 and 8 where logarithmic values of $`\gamma _{min}`$, $`\tau (\gamma _{min})`$, $`\tau (\gamma _0)`$, $`\tau (\gamma _{\mathrm{}})`$ for the all arctan type potentials are plotted versus varying slope parameter $`\alpha `$.

Moreover, as can be easily seen in Figs. 5 and 6, the resonant width $`\mathrm{\Gamma }/2`$ measured at $`h_{\mathrm{}}/2`$ (cf. Fig. 1) increases significantly for the “on-off” potentials with increasing value of the slope parameter $`\alpha `$. It is thus suggestive of an easier fine-tuning of the system to resonant conditions in this case by switching frequency of the barrier. The effect is also reproducible for $`\beta =0`$, although in this case the relative depth of MFPT minimum decreases, causing observable “flattening” of the resonant line.

The functional dependence $`\tau (\gamma )`$ has a typical character in all cases discussed in this work. In agreement with theoretical considerations doe ; zucher ; pechukas ; rei ; reimann ; schmid ; hanggi , the asymptotic values $`\tau (\gamma _0)`$ and $`\tau (\gamma _{\mathrm{}})`$ for large and small correlation times of the barrier noise are recovered with a minimum located in between those two. For all slopes of barriers this characteristic behavior of the MFPT remains similar although the weakening of the effect, i.e. shift of the resonant $`\gamma _{min}`$ to higher values and shallowing of the resonant line are observed with increasing steepness of the barrier. The effect of attenuation is stronger for $`V_\pm =\pm V`$ potentials with both, $`\beta =\alpha /2`$ or $`\beta =0`$ ($`\beta =\alpha `$). The resonant line flattens and slowly disappears with increasing $`\alpha `$ (i.e with increasing steepness of the barrier slope). The result is documented in Figs. 7 (upper panel) and 8, where the noticeable convergence between the values $`\tau (\gamma _{min})`$ and $`\tau (\gamma _{\mathrm{}})`$ is observed for $`\alpha =1024`$. Numerical estimates of MFPTs for the alternating potential ($`V_\pm =\pm 8T`$) yield $`\tau (\gamma _{min})0.3`$ and $`\tau (\gamma _{\mathrm{}})0.5`$ for $`\alpha =8,\beta =4`$ leading to $`h_{\mathrm{}}0.2`$. This value drops by an order of magnitude to $`h_{\mathrm{}}0.01`$ for $`\alpha =1024,\beta =512`$, that corresponds to by two-order of magnitude higher steepness of the slope estimated as the derivative of the potential at point $`x=L/2`$. Thus, the result suggests a fairly robust character of the resonant activation that disappears, but only for the limiting step-function potentials. An apparent persistence of the phenomenon for $`V_+=8T,V_{}=0`$ and $`\beta =\alpha /2`$ (Figs. 5 and 7, lower panel) is due to a different scenario of the barrier passage. In this particular case, an increasing $`\alpha `$ produces a wall at $`x=L/2`$ which has to be passed by a Brownian particle before being eventually absorbed at $`x=L`$. The particle experiences then a non-zero deterministic force at this point, only.

Potentials of the arctan type (eq. (15) and Fig. 2) produce barriers approximating between triangular and rectangular shapes mostly used for analytical studies of the resonant activation effect doe ; bier ; zucher ; boguna . Although the resonant phenomenon has been detected and analytically proven as a generic property in the case of dichotomously switching piecewise linear potentials doe ; zucher , it has been shown zucher  not to occur in the case of piecewise constant potentials, when the Brownian particle escapes over either the small or the large barrier at all times. In consequence of the latter, barrier crossing events and barrier fluctuations are two independent stochastic processes zucher ; broeck ; reihan  with the mean exit time decreasing monotonically from $`\tau \tau _+`$ for $`\gamma <\tau _+^1`$ to $`\tau \tau _{}`$ for $`\gamma >\tau _{}^1`$. The qualitative behavior of $`\tau `$ is then identical with the behavior of the exit time in so called kinetic models zucher ; broeck ; reimann ; pechukas ; gaveau  which explicitly include the escapes over both high and low barriers at a rate $`W_\pm =\mathrm{exp}(H_\pm /T)`$ and transitions between the two configurations of the potential. As it has been discussed by Bier and Astumian bier , the kinetic description assumes an instantaneous adiabatic adjustment and accordingly leads to the set of equations for the populations $`\pi _\pm `$ of particles that feel the potential $`V_\pm `$ and have not yet escaped over the barrier

$$\frac{d}{dt}\pi _\pm (t)=W_\pm \pi _\pm \gamma \pi _\pm +\gamma \pi _{}$$
(18)
The decay of the survival probability $`\pi (t)=\pi _+(t)+\pi _{}(t)`$ is then determined by an average MFPT

$$\tau \stackrel{~}{T}=_0^{\mathrm{}}t\frac{d\pi (t)}{dt}𝑑t=\frac{2\gamma +(W_++W_{})/2}{W_+W_{}+(W_++W_{})\gamma }$$
(19)
which for slow barrier fluctuations ($`\gamma =0`$) approaches the average of the MFPT for the alternative configurations and in the fast fluctuation limit ($`\gamma \mathrm{}`$ but respecting $`\gamma <<T_s^1`$, where $`T_s^1`$ stands for the frequency of the escape attempts rei ; reimann ; reihan ) coincides with the reciprocal of the average rate over the fluctuating barrier. For fluctuating rectangular potentials with a barrier placed at $`x=L/2`$, the closed expressions for the mean escape time zucher  for $`\gamma =0`$ and $`\gamma \mathrm{}`$ read

$$\tau (\gamma _0)\frac{T}{L^2}=\frac{1}{2}\left[\frac{\tau _++\tau _{}}{2}\right],$$
(20)
$$\tau (\gamma _{\mathrm{}})\frac{T}{L^2}=\frac{1}{2}\left[1+\frac{\tau _+\tau _{}1}{2+\tau _++\tau _{}}\right]$$
(21)
and are perfectly reproduced in numerical MFPT studies in the $`V_\pm =\pm V`$ potential with parameters $`\alpha =1024,\beta =\alpha /2`$ approximating a step-like function $`\theta (xL/2)`$. However, in the case of the “on-off” potential $`V_+=8T,V_{}=0`$ and the same set of parameters $`\alpha `$, $`\beta `$ numerical $`\tau `$ value for $`\gamma \mathrm{}`$ differs from the eq. (21) by four order of magnitude (cf. Figs. 75) displaying a persistent resonant activation vanishing slowly at much steeper barriers which eventually reach the limit of an infinite tangent at $`x=L/2`$. Similarly to the former results zucher , in the limiting case of a piecewise constant potential, the mean exit time approaches $`\tau \tau _+`$ for $`\gamma <\tau _+^1`$ and $`\tau \tau _{}`$ for $`\gamma >\tau _{}^1`$ displaying an inverse proportionality to the rate of the barrier fluctuations for intermediate rates.

## IV Summary

In the foregoing sections we have considered the thermally activated process that occurs in a system coupled to an external noise source. The external stochastic process is responsible for fluctuations of the potential barrier which has been modelled by an arctan function of varying slope. As expected based on previous theoretical studies doe ; rei , the phenomenon of resonant activation occurs typically in the system under broad circumstances of varying shape of the potential barrier and qualities of barrier fluctuations. In general, with increasing barrier steepness the resonance phenomenon becomes less “sharp” with the flat region of flipping frequencies around the resonant one. The time scale of the resonant activation process is fairly insensitive to the potential parameters except in the case of the “on-off” potentials, when broadening of the MFPT resonant line occurs suggesting most efficient tuning of the system to the resonance conditions.

###### Acknowledgements.

The authors express their gratitiude to the Referee whose critical comments have helped to improve the manuscript. This work has been partially supported by the Research Grant (1999-2002) from the Marian Smoluchowski Institute of Physics.


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# Origins of Solar System Dust Beyond Jupiter

## 1 Introduction

Our Solar System as well as other planetary systems is filled with small solid particles, either interstellar survivors of the formation process, or fragments of larger bodies like asteroids, comets, moons, or planets. Commonly referred to as interplanetary dust, these particles carry information about their sources, not only by their chemical signature (Brownlee, 1985; Kissel et al., 1986), but also by the size and shape of their orbits around the Sun. The particles’ chemistry as well as their orbit can best be gauged in situ, that is by dust detectors on board interplanetary spacecraft. While the accretion of interplanetary dust particles by the Earth’s atmosphere allows their mineralogical, chemical, and isotopic analysis in ground-based laboratories after their collection by high-flying aircraft, information on their orbit around the Sun is lost after the atmospheric entry. The orbital properties of Solar System dust inside Jupiter’s orbit has been extensively studied by in situ measurements (McDonnell & Berg, 1975; Grün et al., 1977, 1995a, 1995b; Brownlee et al., 1997). From these measurements Jupiter family short period comets and asteroids have been identified as the dominant dust sources (Liou et al., 1995; Dermott et al., 1992). In the grain size regime below $`1\mu \mathrm{m}`$ a high abundance of interstellar grains was found (Grün et al., 1993). While interstellar impactors can easily be distinguished from detections caused by solar system dust, it is still unclear what the relative contribution of the various interplanetary sources is. Besides this uncertainty, the large number of in situ measurements taken inside Jupiter’s orbit led to a consistent picture of the extend and distribution solar system dust cloud there. The situation beyond Jupiter’s orbit is however vastly different. So far the only in situ dust detectors ever to fly beyond Jupiter are the dust experiments on board the Pioneer 10 and 11 spacecraft (Humes, 1980)111Since 31 December 2000, the Cassini spacecraft is outside Jupiter’s orbit on its way to its final destination Saturn.. Measurements of the plasma instruments on board Voyager 1 and 2 seem to indicate a high concentration of micron-sized particles out to $`50\mathrm{AU}`$ (Gurnett et al., 1997). The Voyager results are however not conclusive because the plasma instruments have never been calibrated to measure dust impacts. From the Pioneer 10 and 11 measurements Humes (1980) found that, taken as an ensemble, the particles have to have a constant spatial concentration as function of the distance from the Sun and move on highly eccentric, randomly oriented orbits. In this report we use the Pioneer 10 and 11 data to identify the source objects of the particles by modelling the sources’ signature in the Pioneer data, and comparing the measurements with the result of the modelling.

## 2 In situ Measurements beyond Jupiter by the Pioneer Missions

The Pioneer instruments consist of panels of 234 pressurised cells, mounted on the back of the spacecraft’s high gain antenna. The cells are divided in two separate electronic channels for redundancy, 108 cells are connected to channel 0 and 126 cells are connected to channel 1. Each cell has a cross section area of $`2.45\times 10^3\mathrm{m}^2`$. The instruments register the time when a particle penetrates the thin wall of the cell that encloses the pressurised gas. Before the penetration the gas acts as an insulator between two electrodes, and as it escapes into the vacuum of space, the electrodes discharge and the resulting electrical signal is registered as a penetration event. The sensitivity of the instrument, that is the minimum impact mass and velocity that causes a penetration, is determined by the thickness of the cell walls. On the Pioneer 10 experiment walls of $`25\mu \mathrm{m}`$ were used, and on Pioneer 11 the cell walls were $`50\mu \mathrm{m}`$ thick. At a typical impact velocity of $`20\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1`$, the Pioneer 10 cells are penetrated by particles with an equivalent diameter larger than $`10\mu \mathrm{m}`$, and the Pioneer 11 cells are penetrated by $`21\mu \mathrm{m}`$ particles (Humes et al., 1974)222Assuming a grain mass density of $`1\mathrm{g}\mathrm{cm}^3`$.. The surfaces of the Pioneer instruments always point nearly opposite to the high gain antenna, away from the Earth. Beyond Jupiter this means the instruments are oriented mainly away from the Sun with an effective field of view of $`1.6\pi \mathrm{sr}`$ ($`240^{}`$ opening angle). The Pioneer 10 instrument took measurements from the launch on 2 March 1972 until it failed on 10 May 1980 due to the low temperatures, $`18\mathrm{AU}`$ from the Sun (for the geometry of the spacecraft trajectories see figure 1).

Pioneer 11 performed dust measurements from launch on 5 April 1973 until it was switched off 25 September 1983. The Pioneer dust instruments successfully detected 225 penetrations altogether, however, they did not work flawlessly. On Pioneer 10 one channel failed completely, and on Pioneer 11 an unexplained discrepancy between the rate of penetrations measured by both channels was observed. The flux measured by one channel of the Pioneer 11 instrument is consistently higher than the flux measured by the other. Because the angular sensitivity of both channels is identical, this discrepancy can only be due to a malfunction of one of the channels. Despite these inconsistencies we consider the Pioneer dust data to be reliable for the following reasons: (a) the rate of detected events increased sharply during the fly-bys of Jupiter and Saturn which is not expected for random noise, and (b) the flux densities measured by Pioneer 10 and 11 at $`1\mathrm{AU}`$ are in accord with measurements by Explorer 23, an Earth orbiting spacecraft that was equipped with similar instruments (Humes, 1976). The discrepancy between the Pioneer 11 channels can be explained by either the loss of cells on one of the channels during the launch of the spacecraft, or by electronic noise in one of the channels. Figures 2a and b show the interplanetary penetration flux333Penetrations per unit area and time, sliding mean over $`4`$ penetration events, penetrations during the fly-bys of the planets have been removed. on the Pioneer dust instruments as a function of time and distance from the Sun. After the launch the dust flux measured by Pioneer 10 is $`2\times 10^5\mathrm{m}^2\mathrm{s}^2`$, continuously decreasing with heliocentric distance to $`3\times 10^6\mathrm{m}^2\mathrm{s}^1`$ at Jupiter distance. After passing Jupiter’s orbit, the flux measured by Pioneer 10 stays almost constant. Due to the lower abundance of large grains the fluxes measured by the less sensitive Pioneer 11 instrument are smaller but they draw a similar picture: decreasing flux from Earth to Jupiter, and an almost constant flux outside Jupiter’s orbit.

## 3 Sources of Dust Beyond Jupiter

What are the sources of the particles that penetrated the cells of the Pioneer dust instruments? The interstellar dust stream that was discovered by the dust instrument on board Ulysses causes an approximately constant dust concentration around the Sun, which potentially explains the constant penetration rate of the Pioneer instrument. However, from the extrapolation of the flux-mass distribution of interstellar dust measured by Ulysses to the Pioneer 10 threshold mass, it follows that less than $`10^8\mathrm{m}^2\mathrm{s}^1`$ interstellar penetrations of Pioneer 10 cells can be expected (Landgraf et al., 2000), less than one percent of the measured flux. We are thus left with interplanetary particles as the cause for the penetrations detected by the Pioneer dust experiments. Since the abundance of interplanetary particles decreases steeply with their size (Grün et al., 1985), we can assume that the penetrations were caused mainly by particles with sizes just above the detection threshold of the instruments, i.e., with diameters in the order of $`10\mu \mathrm{m}`$. Particles in this size regime move approximately on Keplerian orbits, because their dynamics are dominated by solar gravity. Over long time scales the orbits evolve under Poynting-Robertson (PR) and solar wind drag. This drag force is caused by the relativistic aberration of the sunlight and solar wind particles (Burns et al., 1979). The effect of PR and solar wind drag is to remove energy from the particle’s orbit causing a slow inward directed spiral motion of the particles. The aphelion of a source object of a particle must therefore be equal or larger than the particle’s distance from the Sun. Consequently, the sources of the constant flux of particles measured by Pioneer outside Jupiter must lie beyond Jupiter’s orbit. We distinguish 3 dynamic families that we consider as potential dust sources: 1P/Halley-type comets (HTC, short period Oort cloud comets), 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann-1-type comets (SW1TC, short period Jupiter family comets with perihelion close to Jupiter’s orbit), and Edgeworth-Kuiper belt objects (EKBOs). Both, 1P/Halley as well as 29P/Schwassmann Wachmann 1 have been reported to be prolific sources of dust (Kissel et al., 1986; Fulle, 1992) as they disintegrate due to solar heating. For EKBOs it is proposed that they release dust due to mutual collisions (Backman et al., 1995; Stern, 1996) and due to impacts by interstellar particles (Yamamoto & Mukai, 1998). Another potential source of dust outside Jupiter are Centaur objects that orbit the Sun between Saturn and Uranus. They are however not considered strong sources, because their number is too small to cause frequent collisions, and dust particles released by them are likely to be ejected from the solar system due to their highly eccentric orbits that cross the orbits of several giant planets. They are also too far from the Sun to exhibit a strong cometary activity (Brown & Luu, 1998). The dynamic families of source objects described above are defined by their interaction with the major planets. Comets are considered a HTC if their perihelion is inside Jupiter’s, their aphelion outside Neptune’s orbit, and their inclination between $`160^{}`$ and $`180^{}`$. SW1TCs have their perihelion close to Jupiter’s orbit, an eccentricity below $`0.1`$, and an inclination below $`10^{}`$. Finally members of the EKBO family have perihelia beyond Neptune, eccentricities below $`0.1`$, and inclinations below $`20^{}`$, which includes classical as well as scattered members of the Edgeworth-Kuiper belt (Brown, 2001).

## 4 Dust Distribution by Orbital Evolution

What is the signature of particles from HTCs, SW1TCs, and EKBOs in the Pioneer data? The particles’ equilibrium distribution in the solar system is determined by their initial orbit after they have been released from the source object444Or equivalently from $`\mathrm{cm}`$-sized fragments that form the source object’s trail along its orbit., and by their orbital evolution under PR and solar wind drag, as well as under gravitational perturbations by the planets. The effect of the planet’s gravity on the grains is strongest when the orbital period of the planet and the particle have an integer ratio, that is when the particle is in a mean motion resonance (MMR) with the planet. An MMR is described by the ratio $`p:q`$, where $`q`$ is the number of orbits the particle completes in the time the planet orbits the Sun $`p`$ times. The effect of exterior MMRs, for which $`p>q`$, as well as on the spatial distribution and orbits of dust particles in the solar system has been predicted (Jackson & Zook, 1989) and observed (Dermott et al., 1994). When a particle is in an exterior MMR, it’s Sun-ward motion is temporarily halted, because the energy loss due to PR and solar wind drag is compensated by the resonant interaction with the planet’s gravity field. But then the eccentricity of the particle’s orbit increases until a close encounter with the resonant or a neighbouring planet ejects the particle from the resonance. Depending on the planet’s mass and the proximity of other strong perturbers, the exterior MMRs cause a circumsolar dust ring to form. The equilibrium distribution is achieved when the dust production by the sources is equalised by the particle sinks, which are evaporation close to the Sun and ejection from the solar system by close encounters with the giant planets, mainly Jupiter and Saturn. Due to the long time scales of orbital evolution, the equilibrium distribution is reached after $`10^5`$ to $`10^6`$ years555For dust particles with sizes in the order of $`10\mu \mathrm{m}`$.. This means that not a single comet, the lifetime of which is typically $`10^3`$ to $`10^4`$ years, but only a whole class of comets with similar orbital characteristics can sustain a equilibrium distribution. For particles originating from HTCs, it was found (Liou et al., 1999) that they mainly occupy $`p:1`$ MMRs with Jupiter, where $`p`$ ranges from $`2`$ to $`12`$. When they leave the Jupiter resonances, they continue Sun-ward until they evaporate. Unlike HTC particles, dust particles released by SW1TCs are not concentrated in exterior Jupiter MMRs. This is caused by their unstable initial orbits which bring them close to Jupiter within the first few centuries after their release from the parent comet. Jupiter perturbs SW1TC particles out to Neptune’s orbit with the maximum spatial concentration at $`5`$ to $`6\mathrm{AU}`$. Particles originating from EKBOs approach the planets’ orbits from the outside and consequently are found mainly in the $`2:1`$, $`3:2`$, or $`4:3`$ resonance with Neptune (Liou & Zook, 1999). After they are ejected from the exterior Neptune MMRs, they continue to spiral toward the Jupiter/Saturn region, where $`80\%`$ of them are ejected from the solar system by close encounters with one of the giant planets. The other $`20\%`$ continue to spiral Sun-ward where they evaporate at a solar distance that depends on their composition. Figure 2a shows the radial profile of the spatial particle concentration in the solar system for particles from HTCs, SW1TCs, and EKBOs.

We have simulated the Pioneer 10 and 11 measurements along the spacecraft’s orbits by calculating the flux of dust particles from a given source on the target surface of the dust detector at the spacecraft location, given the spacecraft attitude and velocity vector, and the local dust concentration and velocity vector. Figures 2a and b show the predicted and the measured dust fluxes on the Pioneer 10 and 11 instruments, respectively. Because the average dust production rates of the source objects is unknown, we treated the the total amount of dust, that is the normalisation of the radial concentration profile, as a free parameter that was established by a least-square fit of the predictions to the measured values. On both spacecraft the penetration flux initially decreased due to the lower dust concentration at larger heliocentric distances. The peak in the penetration flux measured by Pioneer 10 end-1974 at $`6\mathrm{AU}`$ is well explained with penetrations caused by particles from HTCs and SW1TCs. The peak appears to be even stronger than expected from our calculations. At heliocentric distances of $`7\mathrm{AU}`$ and beyond, the constant penetration flux of $`2\times 10^6\mathrm{m}^2\mathrm{s}^1`$ can only be explained if we include a substantial contribution from EKBO particles. At $`18\mathrm{AU}`$ the flux of EKBO particles dominates the other two sources by an order of magnitude. Because the Pioneer 11 dust instrument did not provide much data beyond the Jupiter-Saturn region, the signature from EKBO particles is less dominant. Between Jupiter and Saturn, as well as between Saturn’s orbit and a heliocentric distance of $`11\mathrm{AU}`$, the contributions from all three sources are comparable.

## 5 Dust Production Rates

The comparison of the measured fluxes with the calculated radial profiles gives us a direct determination of the dust particle production rates. In order to provide the penetration fluxes shown in figure 2a, HTCs have to produce $`6\times 10^{11}`$ , SW1TCs $`3\times 10^{11}`$, and EKBOs $`2\times 10^{14}`$ dust particles of size $`10\mu \mathrm{m}`$ and larger per second. The production rate in terms of dust mass is given by the integral of the production rate over the grain mass distribution. The integration covers grain masses from the lower sensitivity limit of the Pioneer 10 instrument of $`10^9\mathrm{g}`$ to an upper limit of $`0.1\mathrm{g}`$. The lower mass limit of HTC grains is $`10^7\mathrm{g}`$, because the high eccentricity of the source object and solar radiation pressure cause them to leave the Solar System if they have smaller masses. The upper limit is determined by the requirement that the grains have to be distributed by orbital evolution over a large volume in order to contribute to the interplanetary dust flux measured by Pioneer. Only grains with masses of less than $`0.1\mathrm{g}`$ move away from their parent body’s orbits on times scales shorter than the age of the Solar System. Assuming a generic collision-type grain mass distribution (Dohnanyi, 1972), we find dust mass production rates of $`3\times 10^5\mathrm{g}\mathrm{s}^1`$ for HTCs, $`8\times 10^4\mathrm{g}\mathrm{s}^1`$ for SW1TCs, and $`5\times 10^7\mathrm{g}\mathrm{s}^1`$ for EKBOs.

## 6 Discussion

From in situ measurements (Mazets et al., 1987) as well as remote sensing experiments (Thomas & Keller, 1991) close to the comet’s perihelion it was found that 1P/Halley’s dust production rate during its active phase was $`10^7\mathrm{g}\mathrm{s}^1`$. Keeping in mind that comet 1P/Halley has an active period that covers less than $`1\%`$ of its orbital period, we find that Halley itself produces on average less than $`10^5\mathrm{g}\mathrm{s}^1`$. This means that, unless HTCs have been much more active in the past, there must be a significant contribution from other sources, like short period Jupiter family comets, in order to sustain the dust concentration observed by Pioneer 10 between $`2`$ and $`5\mathrm{AU}`$. The measurements by Pioneer 10 at heliocentric distances larger than $`6\mathrm{AU}`$ provide better constraints on the dust production rate of SW1TCs than on the dust production by HTCs. The high penetration flux measured between $`6`$ and $`7\mathrm{AU}`$ can not be explained with a contribution from HTCs or short period Jupiter family comets. From the Pioneer 10 measurements we find that, on average, $`8\times 10^4\mathrm{g}\mathrm{s}^1`$ of dust have to be generated by SW1TCs. This is considerably lower than the value of $`(6\pm 3)\times 10^5\mathrm{g}\mathrm{s}^1`$ for the current dust production rate found by Fulle (1992) for 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 1 itself. This confirms that, due to the proximity of the strong perturber Jupiter, the dwell time of SW1TCs in their peculiar orbits is small compared to their lifetimes. This also means that 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 1 itself is able to provide a major fraction of solar system dust that is currently found between $`6`$ and $`8\mathrm{AU}`$.

Our calculations show that the interplanetary dust environment outside Saturn is dominated by particles originating from EKBOs, unless there is an unexpected significant contribution from Centaur objects or unknown sources. If there were a significant amount of dust from Centaur objects, its spatial density would decrease steeply with increasing heliocentric distances due to the high eccentricity of the Centaurs’ orbits. Such a radial distribution would not explain the nearly constant flux observed by Pioneer 10 outside Saturn’s orbit. In order to fit the Pioneer 10 detections outside $`10\mathrm{AU}`$, dust has to be produced in the Edgeworth-Kuiper belt at a rate of $`5\times 10^7\mathrm{g}\mathrm{s}^1`$. Because we assume an equilibrium dust distribution, this value represents the average over the typical dust particle lifetime of $`10^7\mathrm{years}`$. Estimates of the collisional dust production (Stern, 1996), that include up to kilometre-sized fragments, give values of $`10^9`$ to $`10^{11}\mathrm{g}\mathrm{s}^1`$. However, the orbits of these large fragments do not evolve under PR drag into the $`10`$ to $`18\mathrm{AU}`$ region. Translating the collisional production rate into the mass range between $`10^9`$ and $`0.1\mathrm{g}`$ gives a value between $`9\times 10^5`$ and $`3\times 10^8\mathrm{g}\mathrm{s}^1`$, depending on the surface properties of EKBOs. In addition to the collisional dust production, the production of particles by impacts of interstellar dust grains onto EKBOs was found to be between $`3\times 10^5`$ and $`3\times 10^7\mathrm{g}\mathrm{s}^1`$ (Yamamoto & Mukai, 1998). Thus, the EKBO dust production rate derived from the Pioneer 10 measurements is on the high side of the source models, but well within the theoretical uncertainties, which include the size distribution of Edgeworth-Kuiper belt objects, the impactor flux, and the source objects’ surface properties.

## 7 Conclusion

The discussion above shows that we have been able to identify a set of observable dust sources for the Pioneer dust measurements. Unlike the interpretation by Humes (1980), we have used a set of 3 dynamical families of source objects. The sum of these sources provides the right spatial and local velocity distribution that explains the penetration fluxes measured by Pioneer. We found the calculated signature of the source families in the data to be independent, that is dominant for different heliocentric distances, so that dust production rates for the individual sources could be derived separately from the data. Especially the data collected by the spacecraft outside Saturn’s orbit is very valuable, because with increasing heliocentric distance the number of possible contributors to the interplanetary dust cloud decreases. The only known source of interplanetary dust outside Saturn is the Edgeworth-Kuiper belt. This gives us the opportunity to unambiguously determine the amount of dust released by the objects of the belt. According to the Pioneer 10 measurements, the density of interplanetary dust generated by the Edgeworth-Kuiper belt is high enough so that this dust cloud is the second brightest feature of the solar system when observed from afar (Liou & Zook, 1999). Thus the Edgeworth-Kuiper belt and the distribution of dust particles it produces can act as a model for detecting other planetary systems around mid-age main sequence stars. Interplanetary dust in the region between Jupiter and Saturn gives us information about the dynamical properties of this interesting region. Since a fly-by of Jupiter on 31 December 2000 the Cassini spacecraft is on-route to Saturn, carrying a highly sensitive dust instrument. It will provide data on the mass, velocity, and chemical composition of the smaller sized dust particles.

## 8 Acknowledgements

Sadly our dear colleague Herbert A. Zook passed away on 14th March 2001. The support by D. H. Humes in various discussions is gratefully acknowledged. ML thanks D. P. Hamilton for valuable discussions and M. Khan for improving the clarity of the manuscript. We also acknowledge the support by the National Space Science Data Center (NSSDC) which provided a copy of the original Pioneer data. ML was supported by the National Research Council while the presented work was performed.


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# Discovery of a new Transient X-Ray Pulsar in the Small Magellanic Cloud

## 1 Introduction

Observations of the SMC by RXTE, ASCA & SAX have detected an increasing number of new transient X-ray pulsars over the last few years, e.g. Haberl & Sasaki (hs00 (2000)), Yokogawa et al (Yokogawa00 (2000)). With no sign of a decline in this trend, the picture emerging from this flurry of new identifications and rediscoveries of sources seen by Einstein and ROSAT is that the SMC contains a large population of X-ray binary systems, of which only a small fraction are active at any one time. The SMC provides the closest available approximation to a luminosity-limited sample of X-ray pulsars due to its low extinction and small size. The depth of the SMC is small relative to its distance from us, placing all of the pulsars at effectively the same distance. RXTE’s proportional counter array is well suited to studying this population since its field of view, sensitivity and timing resolution allow simultaneous monitoring of all sources in a significant fraction of the SMC.

Observational data from across the spectrum has provided a coherent classification of X-ray binaries, both in the Galaxy and Magellanic clouds. The principal distinction is between high and low mass stellar counterparts, forming a distinction that is also generally coincident with that between sources exhibiting coherent X-ray pulsations, and those that do not. In high mass X-ray binary (HMXB) systems the optical emission is dominated by the star, while in the latter low mass (LMXB) case, emission from an accretion disk around the compact object dominates. The HMXBs fall into only two subclasses on the basis of their optical classification, those with an OB supergiant (SG) optical counterpart and those involving a Be emission-line star, which account for the majority of HMXBs. These two subgroups broadly coincide with two distinct modes of X-ray behaviour, persistent and transient sources.

Systems containing a supergiant are persistent sources of X-rays which are usually modulated by eclipses due to the short orbital period and correspondingly small size of the system. In very short period systems the primary overfills its Roche-lobe and the overflowing matter is forced by its high angular momentum into a stable accretion disk around the neutron star. In more widely separated systems, persistent emission arises by accretion from a roughly spherically symmetric stellar wind. Pulse-timing measurements suggest that long-term stable accretion disks do not form in these systems, although short-lived torque-reversals observed in many systems (Bildsten et al Bildsten97 (1997)) imply the formation of transient accretion disks.

Transient X-ray sources account for the majority of HMXBs. The neutron star’s (NS) optical companion is generally a Be III-V star exhibiting a strong infrared flux excess. Long term monitoring of these systems has resulted in a ‘standard model’ in which the Be star, rotating close to its breakup speed, is surrounded by a dense equatorial disk of cool material. This disk is prone to successive phases of building and ejection on timescales of 1-3 years (Coe Coe00a (2000)). The neutron star, in a wide (few 10s - 100s of solar radii) eccentric orbit around the Be star, periodically intercepts the ejected material leading to the formation of an accretion disk and X-ray emission. This general model explains the regular X-ray outbursts of Be/NS systems, which are modulated at the orbital period and normally occur close to periastron passage of the neutron star. The situation is complicated by changes in the circumstellar disk which alter the density of material being encountered by the neutron star. This leads to long epochs (several orbital periods) of heightened X-ray activity often accompanied by strong torque reversals and prolonged periods of spin-up. Over the long-term, such activity leads ultimately to a dynamic equilibrium between the orbital and neutron star spin periods since the pulsar experiences negative as well as positive torques. The equilibrium is manifested observationally in the PPulse vs POrbit diagram (Corbet et al Corbet99 (1999)). See also Corbet (Corbet86 (1986)), Stella et al (Stella86 (1986)) and Bildsten et al (Bildsten97 (1997)) for detailed explanations.

With the addition of recent discoveries there are now 25 X-ray pulsars known in the SMC. Of these X-ray sources, the majority have been identified as belonging to Be systems rather than supergiant systems (Haberl & Sasaki hs00 (2000)). Comparing these figures to the population in the Galaxy in which about 70 HMXBs are known, 31 identified with Be optical companions, the SMC emerges as containing a particularly dense population of Be X-ray binaries. Furthermore of the 14 supernova remnants (SNR) identified in the SMC none is Crab-like (Yokogawa et al Yokogawa00 (2000)). Since Crab-like SNR are believed to form from the explosion of a single massive star it is likely that the evolutionary history of the SMC has resulted in a large ratio of massive binary stars to isolated massive stars. When the comparison is scaled by relative masses of the SMC and Galaxy it is clear that the population density of HMXBs in the SMC is higher even than the Galaxy’s most populous regions. Many authors e.g. Stavely-Smith et al (Stavelysmith97 (1997)) and Popov et al (Popov98 (1998)) have proposed an evolutionary scenario for the SMC in which an extremely active epoch of star formation occurred relatively recently (within 5 Myr), leading to the large proportion of young, massive stars. In support of this theory are 4 key observations: (1) Large number of supernova remnants approximately 5 Myr old; (2) The large number of HMXBs; (3) Apparent absence of low mass systems which would represent an older stellar population. (These still remain elusive despite the current generation of satellites’ ability to detect them if they are similar to galactic LMXBs); (4) The ratio of Be/B type stars in the SMC is 0.39 (Maeder et al mgm99 (1999)) compared to 0.16 in the Galaxy, implying a younger population.

## 2 The RXTE Observations

The RXTE Proportional Counter Array (PCA) (Jahoda et al Jahoda96 (1996)) consists of 5 collimated, Xenon filled, proportional counter units (PCU), each with a collecting area of 1300 cm2. The field of view of the PCA is approximately 2°FWZI with a triangular collimator response as a function of off-axis viewing angle. The PCA has 3 detector-anode layers, this arrangement greatly increases the signal/noise by physically separating the detection of low, medium and high energy X-rays. In certain data modes (Good Xenon and Standard 2) this separation is maintained in the telemetry, allowing data from each layer and PCU to be analysed independently. The highest timing and spectral resolution are obtained in Good Xenon mode, in which the energy and arrival time of of every detector event is registered with 1$`\mu `$s timing accuracy and 256 channel energy resolution. Standard 2 mode provides time-binned data with 16s resolution and 129 energy channels. Both of these data modes were used in our analysis, as explained in Section 3.

RXTE observations were obtained in the course of our regular pulsar search program of the SMC. Approximately every week, 3 ksec observations were made centred on one of 4 partially overlapping positions (See Table 1 and Figure 1) in the ‘bar’ and ‘wing’ regions of the SMC where young objects are expected to be found (Kahabka & Pietsch 1996) This program began in January 1999 and has allowed detailed monitoring of the long-term behaviour of pulsars in the vicinity of SMC X-3 (Lochner et al Lochner96 (1999)). At the time of the observations presented here, all four pointing positions were being routinely observed, with about three quarters of the time concentrated on the region around SMC X-3 (position 1). However since early 2000 our strategy has changed to allow us to observe the single position centred on SMC X-3 with much greater regularity, since most of the pulsars seen during this program and by ASCA (Haberl & Sasaki hs00 (2000)) have been visible in this position.

Two observations of position 1 taken seven days apart during March 1999 revealed the existence of a transient X-ray pulsar (XTE SMC95) whose 95s pulse period and pulse profile we were able to determine. The next position 1 observation two weeks later revealed weak pulsations, after which the source faded from view.

Although individual pointed detections of a transient source are unable to constrain its position, the only impact of this positional uncertainty on PCA data analysis is uncertainty in absolute flux determination. Given the high timing resolution and S/N typically obtainable for SMC pulsars, this limitation is unimportant in the identification of new sources and the study of pulse profiles and pulse-frequency evolution, which are the primary aims of this program.

## 3 Data Reduction

Good Xenon mode data from the PCA were used to construct lightcurves and spectra. 4 PCUs were active during the observations presented here. In order to maximise signal-to-noise ratio, only events from the top anode layer of each active proportional counter unit (PCU) were included and the analysis was restricted to the 3-25 keV energy range. The PCA is sensitive to X-rays between 2-60 keV, although for faint sources its spectral response seems unreliable below 3 keV. The X-ray flux from pulsars falls off rapidly above 10 keV.

Additional filtering criteria were applied to exclude data collected during periods of high background occurring shortly after SAA passage and short data segments coinciding with start and finish of pointing slews. Background subtraction was performed using the L7 PCA faint background models (gain epochs 3 and 4) provided by the RXTE Guest Observer Facility. These models use the Standard 2 mode PCA data to determine various parameters used in estimating the background count-rates and spectra in the specific PCU and anode-layer configuration being used for each observation. Background corrected lightcurves were then constructed at 100 ms timing resolution, with bin times corrected to the solar-system barycentre and the count-rates normalised to counts PCU-1s-1. A detailed description of the L7 background model is given by Edelson & Nandra (EN99 (1999)).

## 4 Timing Analysis

In order to search for pulsars in the datasets, we calculated power spectra covering a period range 0.1-1000 seconds at a resolution of 0.1 mHz. Coherent pulsations were initially detected in observation 3 and power spectra showing the positive detection of XTE SMC95 are shown in Figures 23. These power spectra show several harmonics of the fundamental spin frequency, whose relative strengths changed between the two observations. The fundamental and harmonic frequencies were weighted by their spectral power to obtain a best fit to the true period. The uncertainty in the period was calculated by propagating the error (FFT resolution) from each harmonic. Two harmonics were used to establish the period in observation 3, Three in observation 4 (see Figures 23).

After determining the pulse period and associated observational errors, average pulse profiles were created for each of the observations. The profiles are shown in Figure 4, while key observational parameters derived from them are given in Table 2. The mean fluxes have formal uncertainties of 0.03 counts PCU-1s-1 before taking into account contribution from interfering sources and uncertainties in the background model. Using observations for our monitoring program in which no pulsations were detected, an estimate was made of the contribution from unpulsed X-ray sources in the field, such as supernova remnants. The mean background corrected 3-10 keV flux averaged over it 3 lowest values for observations of Position 1 is 0.98$`\pm `$0.05 Count PCU-1s-1 with an excess variance in the count rates of 13% over the expected Poisson level. Thus the true 3-10 keV pulse fraction in observation 3 (See Figure 4) was $``$0.8.

A weak 95s pulsation was detected in observation 6, however the flux was dominated by 91s pulsations from the nearby pulsar AX J0051-722. Due to the closeness of the two pulse periods, direct measurement of the pulse amplitude of SMC95 was not possible. Instead simulated data sets were created using the pulse profile obtained in observation 4 as a template and varying its pulse amplitude. These simulated data were used to estimate the pulse amplitude required to recreate the 95s peak seen in the observation 6 PDS. The resulting upper limit (See Table 2) is approximately one third the amplitude seen in obs.4 and is found to be nearly 10 times the amplitude required if the modulation were sinusoidal, a possibility supported by the lack of harmonics in the PDS. Considering the mean count-rate in the observations, it is clear that most of the flux in observation 6 was due to AXJ0051-722. Thus the brightness of SMC95 is constrained to be in the lower end of the range determined from the timing alone.

## 5 Spectrum analysis

PCA spectra were obtained from the first two observations containing XTE SMC95, the spectra are well represented by an absorbed power-law typical of Be/X-ray binary pulsars (e.g. White, Swank & Holt White83 (1983)). The fitted model parameters are given in Table 3 for the two observations and are in agreement to within errors. Figure 5 shows the spectrum from observation 4, along with the fitted model and residuals. Uncertainties in the fitted parameters represent the limits of the 90 % confidence interval. The unabsorbed source fluxes were obtained from the fitted spectral models. Uncertainties in the absolute flux are dominated by the unknown source position and hence collimator response. Since both observations were made with the same pointing, the uncertainty is systematic.

## 6 Source Location

PCA slew data were used to constrain the source position. The PCA detectors are often on and accumulating data as the spacecraft is manoeuvered on-source during the start of an observation. As the source moves through the collimator field of view, it samples different values of the collimator response function, which modulates the detected count rate. Given a trial position and intensity for the source, a model light curve can be constructed using a tabulated response function, and compared to the observed light curve. The position and intensity are then varied iteratively using least squares fitting until the best-fit parameters are obtained. Ideally, two scans completely over the source are needed, in orthogonal directions, to constrain the source position with the highest precision. When, as in this case, the scans are not complete, and not at right angles, the error box will be larger and asymmetric.

Light curves for XTE SMC95 were extracted from the 16-second Standard2 data in the 2–10 keV band (PCA top layer only) for observations 3 and 4. The light curves included approximately 200 seconds of slewing and on-source time each. The model included a term for the PCA background, which was fixed at the value determined from the PCABACKEST model for faint sources. The intrinsic variability of the pulsar can be confused with variations of source position. To compensate for this, the light curve error bars were increased proportionately by 30% (this number was also scaled according to the collimator response at each time sample). The value of 30% was determined by fitting a constant intensity during the pointed portion of the observation, and forcing $`\chi _\nu ^2=1`$, and represents the effective fractional r.m.s. variation of the pulsar on 16 second timescales.

The best fitting position was $`\alpha =13.36^{}`$, $`\delta =72.821^{}`$ (J2000), with a reduced chi-square value of 1.02. The position uncertainty is a thin strip shown in Figure 6. Confidence contours were estimated by taking $`\mathrm{\Delta }\chi ^2=6.2,9.2,11.8,18.4`$, which formally represent confidence levels of $`2\sigma `$, 99%, $`3\sigma `$, and 99.99% respectively, for two parameters. However, because the variability of the pulsar is non-statistical and non-trivial to model, we favor assigning the $`3\sigma `$ contour as the smallest reasonable error box. The semi-minor and semi-major axes of the error box are 5 arcmin and 41 arcmin respectively. Since the source was not detected in PCA observations at pointing positions number 2 and 4, which are east and south of pointing position number 1, respectively, it is more likely that the source is located to the northwest of the best-fit position.

The true intensity of the source depends on its position within the PCA collimator response function. At the best-fit position, the collimator response is $`60`$%, implying that the source is $`65\%`$ brighter than implied by the counting rate observed by the PCA at pointing position number 1. Given the full error box described above, the collimator response could potentially be in the range of 10%–75%. If the source is northwest of the best-fit position, the collimator response is in a more restricted range of 60%–75%, and then it is likely that the observed rate is close to the actual source flux , within a factor of $`2`$.

## 7 Duration of the Outburst

As Table 1 shows, XTE SMC95 was not detected in observations made before and after those presented here. The closest before and after observations were made at pointing positions 2 & 3 respectively, one week either side of the detected outburst. As Figure 1 shows, these observations provide no useful information due to their limited overlap, other than possibly constraining XTE SMC95 to lie towards the west in the position 1 field of view. The closest position 1 observations occurred within two weeks of the outburst. Analysis of power spectra obtained in these bracketing observations allow us to place upper limits on the X-ray flux during apparent quiescence. From this analysis we find that XTE SMC95 pulse amplitude was below our approximate 3$`\sigma `$ detection threshold of 0.25 counts PCU-1s-1 in observations 1 and 7, where this figure is directly comparable with the measured fluxes in observations 3 & 4.

## 8 Discussion

Most galactic Be/X-ray binaries increase in luminosity by a factor of $``$100 during normal outburst (Negueruela Negueruela98 (1998)) reaching luminosities around 1037erg s-1. Taking the distance to the SMC as 63 kpc (Groenewegen et al Groenewegen00 (2000)), the fluxes given in Table 3 imply a 2-10 keV luminosity for XTE SMC95 of at least 2$`\times `$1037 erg s-1. Thus during this outburst the X-ray luminosity of XTE SMC95 was comparable to that of Galactic Be/NS systems. The photon indices obtained from our spectral fits are slightly steeper than those normally seen in Galactic Be/NS HMXBs, values $``$ 1.0 being typical in the 10-20 keV range (White et al White83 (1983)). Softer (steeper) spectra have been associated with less luminous sources based on studies in the Galaxy (White et al White83 (1983)). Comparing our results (Table 3) to the recent outburst of SMC X-2 which was both more luminous and had a harder spectrum: luminosity $``$1038ergs s-1, spectral index 0.7-1.0 (Corbet et al Corbet01 (2001)) this trend looks likely to hold in the SMC.

XTE SMC95 exhibited varying structure in its pulse profile. Pulse profiles obtained in two separate energy bands 3-10 keV and 10-20 keV shown in Figure 4 indicate the pulse-shape changed between the two observations (3 & 4), with the second pulse peak weakening relative to the first, accompanied by a decrease in pulsed flux. The significant shift in relative strength of the first and second power spectrum harmonics between the two observations (see Figures 23) confirms that the profile change is real and not an artifact of an incorrect profile-folding period.

A small decrease in the pulse period was detected between the two observations of XTE SMC95 one week apart, implying a pulse period derivative (8.6 $`\pm `$ 5.5) $`\times `$10-7 s s-1. This change is attributed to an unknown combination of spin up and orbital motion depending on the inclination of the system.

For Be/NS systems with Ppulse around 95s, the Corbet diagram (Corbet Corbet86 (1986)) suggests likely orbital periods in the 50-100d range. XTE SMC95 was detected for three weeks, only a small fraction of its likely orbital period. Whether this outburst was related to orbital motion or long-term changes (disk-loss events) in a circumstellar disk may be determined by continued monitoring.

A search of the ROSAT source catalogue (Haberl et al hfp00 (2000)) reveals 4 sources within the 3$`\sigma `$ confidence region (See Figure 6). Of these sources, RX J0053.8-7252 is classified as a candidate X-ray binary and RX J0052.6-7247 a background AGN the other sources are a foreground star and a Supersoft X-ray source. A similar search for known Be stars was made in the same region. Searching the AzV (Azzopardi & Vigneau azv82 (1982)) & LIN (Lindsay lin (1961)) catalogues for spectral types: O8-B2, I-V, gave 7 stars within the 3$`\sigma `$ contour. This range of spectral types was chosen to match the known distribution for optical counterparts to HMXBs (Negueruela Negueruela98 (1998)). The AzV catalogue is 80% complete to limiting magnitude B=14.3, considering the distance to the SMC the sample is strongly biased toward early-type giants. Thus main sequence Be stars (Luminosity class IV-V) are likely to be under represented in the sample. The catalogue of H$`\alpha `$ emission-line objects of Meyssonnier & Azzopardi (ma93 (1993)) lists 69 stars within the 3$`\sigma `$ contour. From the argument given above, the majority of these are likely to be O/Be stars.

###### Acknowledgements.

We thank the referee, W. Heindl for constructive comments. This research has made use of the SIMBAD database, operated at CDS, Strasbourg, France. SL is supported by a PPARC studentship.


text:
# Unified order-disorder vortex phase transition in high-Tc superconductors

## Abstract

The diversity of vortex melting and solid-solid transition lines measured in different high-Tc superconductors is explained, postulating a unified order-disorder phase transition driven by both thermally- and disorder-induced fluctuations. The temperature dependence of the transition line and the nature of the disordered phase (solid, liquid, or pinned liquid) are determined by the relative contributions of these fluctuations and by the pinning mechanism. By varying the pinning mechanism and the pinning strength one obtains a spectrum of monotonic and non-monotonic transition lines similar to those measured in Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8, YBa2Cu3O7-δ, Nd1.85Ce0.15CuO4-δ, Bi1.6Pb0.4Sr2CaCu2O8+δ and (La0.937Sr0.063)2CuO4.

Vortex matter phase transitions have been under close scrutiny in recent years. Both experimental and theoretical works have indicated the existence of two order-disorder phase transitions: A transition from a quasi-ordered solid phase to a liquid phase driven by thermal fluctuations, and a transition to a disordered solid phase driven by disorder-induced fluctuations. In magnetization experiments, the melting transition is signified by a jump in the reversible magnetization, whereas the solid-solid transition is associated with the appearance of a second magnetization peak (‘fishtail’). A variety of experiments indicate that the melting as well as the solid-solid transition  are of first order.

While melting lines measured in different samples exhibit qualitatively similar behavior, with the melting field decreasing monotonically as temperature is increased, the solid-solid transition lines measured in different samples differ markedly: A flat transition line in underdoped Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8(BSSCO), which terminates at intermediate temperatures; a flat transition line followed by a monotonic convex decrease toward Tc in Bi1.8Pb0.8Sr2CaCu2O8+δ and Nd1.85Ce0.15CuO4-δ (NCCO); a steep concave decrease throughout the whole temperature range in (La0.937Sr0.063)2CuO4 (LaSCO) and some YBa2Cu3O7-δ(YBCO) samples; and a non-monotonous behavior exhibiting a peak in YBCO, BSCCO  and Bi1.6Pb0.4Sr2CaCu2O8+δ (Pb-BSCCO). The diverse temperature dependence of the vortex solid-solid transition line is illustrated in Fig. 1 for YBCO, NCCO  and LaSCO samples measured in our laboratory.

Both the melting and the solid-solid transitions may be observed in the same sample in different temperature regimes. The melting line, appearing in the high temperature region, terminates at a “critical” point and a second line, associated with the solid-solid transition, emerges. Recent experiments demonstrated that the two transition lines are in fact a single line along which order is destroyed; the melting of the quasi ordered solid into a liquid at high temperatures changes its character into a solid-solid transition at low temperatures due to slower dynamics. Striking evidence for the unified nature of these two lines was recently found in vortex “shaking” experiments which show that by enhancing relaxation effects, the second peak anomaly is transformed into a jump in reversible magnetization, demonstrating that the melting and the solid-solid transition lines are different manifestations of the same phenomenon, i.e. a transition from an ordered phase to a disordered phase.

Motivated by the above results, and based on a recent theoretical model , we present in this paper a unified approach to the vortex order-disorder phase transition, postulating that this transition is driven by both thermal and disorder-induced fluctuations . Our simplified analysis is capable of reproducing the markedly different behavior of the transition lines observed experimentally in different samples. A spectrum of different transition lines, with monotonic or non-monotonic behavior, is obtained by tuning the pinning strength incorporated into different pinning mechanisms.

A recent model  applies the Lindemann criterion to define a transition from an ordered state to a disordered one. Previous approaches to this model (e.g. ) commonly dealt with the melting and the solid-solid transitions separately, postulating that the former is driven by thermal fluctuations and the latter by disorder-induced fluctuations. Accordingly, the melting line $`B_m(T)`$ was determined  by a competition between the vortex lattice elastic energy and the thermal energy, whereas the solid-solid transition line $`B_{ss}(T)`$ was determined by a competition between the elastic energy and the pinning energy. Following this approach one encounters several difficulties. For example, one cannot explain the effect of point defects on the melting line observed experimentally. In addition, this approach cannot explain the wide spectrum of qualitatively different solid-solid transition lines obtained in different materials, and even in different samples of the same material. In particular, contrary to the predictions of the model, which dictates a temperature independent $`B_{ss}\left(T\right)`$ at low temperatures, a wide spectrum of temperature dependences is observed experimentally.

The above difficulties are resolved by considering the effect of both thermal fluctuations and disorder-induced fluctuations in destroying the vortex lattice. The basic premise of our analysis is that an order-disorder transition occurs when the sum of the average thermal and the disorder-induced displacements of the flux line, $`u_T^2`$ and $`u_{dis}^2`$, respectively, exceeds a certain fraction of the vortex lattice constant $`a_o`$. A more accurate analysis should involve the averaged total displacement of the flux line, which is not necessarily the sum of $`u_T^2`$ and $`u_{dis}^2`$. Yet, our simplified approach yields a qualitative description, and provides important insight. Utilizing the Lindemann criterion for the destruction of order, the transition line, $`B_{OD}(T)`$, will obey the expression:

$`u_T^2(L_o,0)+u_{dis}^2(L_o,0)=c_L^2a_o^2`$ (1)
where $`u_T^2(L_o,0)=L_okT/\left(2ϵ_o\epsilon ^2\right)`$ is the transverse excursion caused by thermal agitation and $`u_{dis}^2(L_o,0)=\left(\xi ^2/2\right)\left(L_o/L_c\right)^{6/5}`$ is the disorder-induced fluctuation. Here, $`L_o=2\epsilon a_o`$ is the characteristic length for the longitudinal fluctuations, $`L_c=(\epsilon ^4ϵ_o^2\xi ^2/\gamma )^{1/3}`$ is the size of the coherently pinned segment of the vortex , $`ϵ_o=(\varphi _o/4\pi \lambda )^2`$ is the vortex line tension, $`\epsilon =\sqrt{m_a/m_c}`$ is the anisotropy ratio, $`c_L`$ is the Lindemann number, $`a_o=\sqrt{\varphi _o/B}`$ is the Abrikosov lattice constant, $`\varphi _o2.07\times 10^7`$ $`Gcm^2`$ is the flux quantum, and $`\gamma `$ is the pinning strength.

The transition line $`B_{OD}(T)`$ can also be derived  by considering the energy balance at the transition: The transition occurs when the sum of pinning energy and thermal energy exceeds the elastic energy barrier:

$`E_{el}=E_{pin}+kT`$ (2)
where $`E_{el}=\epsilon ϵ_oc_L^2a_o`$ is the elastic energy near the transition line, $`E_{pin}=U_{dp}\left(L_o/L_c\right)^{1/5}`$ is the pinning energy of a single vortex, and $`U_{dp}=(\gamma \epsilon ^2ϵ_o\xi ^4)^{1/3}`$ is the single vortex depinning energy. Both approaches Eq. (1) and (2), yield the same expression for $`B_{OD}(T)`$.

The solution of either Eq. (1) or (2) yields transition lines of different temperature dependence, depending on the pinning parameter $`\gamma `$ and on the anisotropy $`\epsilon `$. To demonstrate this variety of behaviors, we present numerical solutions for $`B_{OD}\left(T\right)`$, fixing $`\epsilon `$ so that $`16\pi ^2\lambda _o^2k/\varphi _o^{5/2}\epsilon c_L^2=1`$  and varying $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_o=\left(2\xi _o^6\epsilon ^2/c_L^2k^4\right)^{1/5}\gamma _o^{2/5}`$, i.e. controlling the pinning strength $`\gamma _o`$. In the calculations we use the explicit temperature dependences of the coherence length $`\xi =\xi _o\left(1\left(T/T_c\right)^4\right)^{1/2}`$and the penetration depth $`\lambda =\lambda _o\left(1\left(T/T_c\right)^4\right)^{1/2}`$. We also consider two pinning mechanisms: Either “$`\delta T_c`$ pinning”, caused by spatial fluctuations of the transition temperature Tc, or “$`\delta l`$ pinning”, caused by fluctuations of the charge carrier mean free path near a lattice defect. In the former case the pinning parameter is $`\gamma =\gamma _o^T\left(1\left(T/T_c\right)^4\right)^2`$ and in the latter $`\gamma =\gamma _o^l\left(1\left(T/T_c\right)^4\right)^4`$ (Ref. ), where either $`\gamma _o^T`$ or $`\gamma _o^l`$ replace $`\gamma _o`$ in the expression for $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_o`$.

Fig. 2 shows the calculated order-disorder transition line $`B_{OD}\left(T\right)`$ (solid curve in the figure), and the irreversibility line $`B_{irr}(T)`$ (dashed curve) estimated by $`E_{pin}=kT`$, for three different values of $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_o`$, assuming $`\delta T_c`$-pinning mechanism. For comparison we also show in Fig. 2 the ‘pure’ solid-solid transition line $`B_{ss}(T)`$ (dash-dotted) and ‘pure’ melting line $`B_m(T)`$ (dotted). $`B_{ss}(T)`$ is derived from $`E_{el}=E_{pin}`$, which neglects the thermal energy, therefore it is independent of temperature in intermediate temperature range and descends towards $`T_c`$ as a result of the temperature dependences of the superconducting parameters. $`B_m(T)`$ is a solution to $`E_{el}=kT`$, which neglects the pinning energy, therefore it is unaffected by changes in pinning strength. We maintain that the experimentally measured transition line - identified by either a jump in reversible magnetization or the appearance of a second peak in the irreversible magnetization - corresponds to the $`B_{OD}(T)`$ curve. Since the order-disorder transition is driven by both pinning and thermal fluctuations, $`B_{OD}(T)`$ will lie below both $`B_m(T)`$ and $`B_{ss}\left(T\right)`$, both of which utilize only one mechanism for the destruction of the quasi-ordered vortex lattice. The crossing point between $`B_{irr}(T)`$ and $`B_{OD}(T)`$ is the “critical point” dividing the $`B_{OD}(T)`$ line into two segments: The one lying above the irreversibility line will be manifested by a jump in the reversible magnetization and identified experimentally as a melting line; the other segment lying below the irreversibility line will be evinced as a second magnetization peak and identified experimentally as a solid-solid transition line.

For $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_o=1`$ (i.e. relatively small pinning parameter), the effect of pinning on the order-disorder transition is minor, therefore $`B_{OD}(T)`$ lies very close to the ‘pure’ melting line $`B_m(T)`$ and retains its concave shape (Fig. 2a). $`B_{OD}(T)`$ crosses the irreversibility line at extremely low temperatures, so that throughout most of the temperature range the transition will be manifested as a jump in the reversible magnetization, as measured in high purity YBCO .

For $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_o=10^6`$ (relatively large pinning) the effect of temperature is small, therefore the order-disorder transition line lies near the ‘pure’ solid-solid transition line $`B_{ss}(T)`$ and adopts its convex shape (see Fig. 2c), as observed in NCCO (see Fig. 1). In this case, the intersection of $`B_{OD}\left(T\right)`$ with the irreversibility line is close to Tc, so that throughout most of the temperature range the transition will be evinced as a second magnetization peak.

For $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_o=500`$ (intermediate pinning strength) the deviation of $`B_{OD}(T)`$ from both $`B_m(T)`$ and $`B_{ss}\left(T\right)`$ is marked (see Fig. 2b). The shape of the order-disorder transition line $`B_{OD}\left(T\right)`$ retains the concave shape of $`B_m(T)`$ but since most of the transition line lies below the irreversibility line, the transition will be manifested as a second magnetization peak. This kind of behavior of $`B_{OD}\left(T\right)`$ was observed in LaSCO (see Fig. 1).

A non-monotonous behavior can be obtained by invoking $`\delta l`$-pinning mechanism, as depicted in Figure 3. In this case, $`B_{ss}(T)`$ is independent of temperature at intermediate temperatures, increases with temperature and diverges near Tc. For $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_o=10^7`$ (relatively large pinning), the incorporation of thermal fluctuations curbs this ascent, and results in a peak in $`B_{OD}\left(T\right)`$ as depicted in Fig. 3a. This peak may signify an inverse-melting effect as observed experimentally in BSCCO, YBCO, and Pb-BSCCO. An alternative explanation  to the peak in the transition line attributes this phenomenon to the depinning of the vortices by strong thermal fluctuations, which smear the pinning potential above the depinning temperature, $`T_{dp}`$. This effect was introduced into the expression for the solid-solid transition through an exponential increase of the Larkin length above the depinning temperature . Our analysis predicts a peak in $`B_{OD}\left(T\right)`$ irrespective of the value of $`T_{dp}`$.

For $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_o=10^5`$ (lower pinning strength, see Fig. 3b), two phenomena are observed: The inverse-melting peak is depressed, and the critical point moves to lower temperatures. This explains the data of Khaykovich et al. and Nishizaki et al., showing that by repeatedly irradiating a crystal the peak in the transition line is enhanced, and the critical point shifts systematically to higher temperatures. Furthermore, a dip in the order-disorder transition line becomes noticeable at intermediate temperatures. Such a dip was previously reported for YBCO (see Fig. 1) and for Pb-BSCCO, and was attributed to Bean-Livingston barriers or to masking of the fishtail onset by the field of full penetration. Our analysis shows that this dip is due to the combined effect of thermally- and disorder-induced fluctuations in materials where $`\delta l`$-pinning is the dominant pinning mechanism. At low temperatures the elastic and pinning energies are virtually temperature independent, and $`B_{ss}\left(T\right)`$ is flat. Thermal fluctuations, however, become stronger as the temperature is increased causing a deviation of $`B_{OD}\left(T\right)`$ from $`B_{ss}\left(T\right)`$. The two lines (Fig. 3b) merge at low temperature, but as the temperature is increased, thermal fluctuations allow the vortices to displace and adjust to the pinning landscape and thereby induce the order-disorder transition at lower fields. This effect competes with the thermal dependence of the pinning energy, which stems from the temperature dependence of the superconducting parameters and causes $`B_{ss}\left(T\right)`$ to rise and diverge. At higher temperatures the latter effect wins, and the transition line $`B_{OD}\left(T\right)`$ increases. Further decrease of the pinning strength to $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_o=1`$ results in a monotonously decreasing order-disorder transition line (Fig. 3c).

In conclusion, we have described an order-disorder vortex phase transition driven by both thermal fluctuations and disorder-induced fluctuations. By varying the pinning strength a wide spectrum of transition lines is obtained, resembling those measured in various high-Tc superconductors. The intersection between the transition line and the irreversibility line defines a ”critical point“ which divides the transition line into two segments: One associated with the jump in the reversible magnetization and identified experimentally as a melting line, and the other associated with the ‘fishtail’ and identified experimentally as a solid-solid transition line. For $`\delta T_c`$-pinning, different pinning strengths yield monotonous transition lines similar to those obtained in clean untwinned YBCO , LaSCO and NCCO. For $`\delta l`$-pinning non-monotonous transition lines are obtained, with a characteristic peak as observed in YBCO, BSCCO and Pb-BSCCO. In addition, a decrease at low temperature, similar to that observed in YBCO  and Pb-BSCCO, can also be reproduced. The nature of the disordered phase may be characterized as a liquid, pinned-liquid, or entangled solid state, depending on the relative contribution of thermal and disordered induced fluctuations. When thermal (disordered-induced) fluctuations dominate, the disordered phase exhibits liquid (disordered solid) characteristics. When both fluctuations are comparable, the disordered phase behaves as a ‘pinned-liquid’.

Acknowledgments. This manuscript is part of Y.R.’s PhD thesis. Important and stimulating comments from E. Zeldov are acknowledged. Y. R. acknowledges financial support from Mifal Hapayis - Michael Landau Foundation. Y. Y. acknowledges support from the US-Israel Binational Science Foundation. A. S. acknowledges support from the Israel Science Foundation. This research was supported by The Israel Science Foundation - Center of Excellence Program, and by the Heinrich Hertz Minerva Center for High Temperature Superconductivity.

Figure Captions

Figure 1: Vortex solid-solid transition lines measured in YBCO (triangles), NCCO (squares) and LaSCO (circles), exhibit different qualitative behavior. Transition field is normalized to its value at lowest temperature 20.5 kOe, 260 G, 11.8 kOe respectively; temperature is normalized by Tc= 93, 26, 32 K respectively.

Figure 2: Calculated order-disorder transition line, $`B_{OD}\left(T\right)`$ (solid curve), irreversibility line $`B_{irr}(T)`$ (dashed), ‘pure’ melting line $`B_m(T)`$ (dotted) and ‘pure’ solid-solid transition line $`B_{ss}(T)`$ (dashed-dotted), for three different values of pinning strength assuming $`\delta T_c`$-pinning mechanism. Stars mark critical points.

Figure 3: Same as Fig. 2 assuming $`\delta l`$-pinning mechanism.