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# The systemic velocities of four long-period cataclysmic variable stars

## 1 Introduction

Dwarf novae (DN) are a sub-group of cataclysmic variable stars. They consist of a white dwarf (primary) star accreting matter from a red dwarf (hereafter ‘mass donor’) which is in contact with its Roche lobe. The material streams from the mass donor through the inner Lagrangian point into the potential well of the primary, where it impacts onto the outer edge of an accretion disc. Observable features which distinguish DN from other CVs are the outbursts which occur on a regular basis (with a baseline from days to months) and cause the system to increase in brightness by $`m_v25`$ magnitudes.

The mass transfer process in CVs is driven by orbital angular momentum loss. Gravitational radiation is highly effective at short orbital periods, and theoretical calculations reproduce well the observed mass transfer rates in CVs. For longer period systems, with higher mass transfer rates, an alternative mechanism is needed. This is widely accepted to be magnetic braking, a spin-down effect on the mass donor due to a stellar wind that effectively co-rotates with its magnetic field. Due to effective tidal locking in CVs, the mass donor will not slow down, and instead angular momentum is extracted from the binary orbit. However, magnetic braking still remains only a hypothesis, and the level of direct observational support is still low.

In the standard model for the formation and evolution of CVs magnetic braking is only active for donor stars with a radiative core. Hence there is a marked difference between the evolutionary time scale of systems above the period gap ($`P_{\mathrm{orb}}3`$ h) and those below the gap ($`P_{\mathrm{orb}}2`$ h). Kolb & Stehle  used population synthesis methods to confirm this. They determined the age structure of a model population of Galactic CVs, and by convolving this with the observed age-space velocity relation of Wielen et al.  (which is believed to result from the diffusion of stellar orbits due to gravitational interactions with massive objects) obtained the theoretical distribution of systemic, hereafter $`\gamma `$, velocities. They showed that the age of a system in the present CV population is largely determined by the time-scales of the orbital angular-momentum loss mechanisms. In addition, the models showed that the brightness-dependent selection effects which have hitherto plagued comparisons between observations and theory preserve the age differences, thereby providing an opportunity to test directly the magnetic braking model. So, if the standard models are correct, then the CVs having periods longer than the upper limit of the period gap ($`P_{\mathrm{orb}}3`$ hours) should be younger ($`1.5`$Gyr), and therefore have a smaller line-of-sight velocity dispersion according to the empirical age–velocity dispersion relation (predicted value $`15`$ $`\text{km}\text{s}^1`$).

Conversely, those CVs with orbital periods shorter than the lower limit of the period gap, should be older ($``$ 3-4Gyr) and show a larger velocity dispersion (predicted as $`30`$ $`\text{km}\text{s}^1`$).

In a review by van Paradijs, Augusteijn & Stehle , the observed $`\gamma `$ velocities for a sample of CVs were collected from published radial-velocity studies and statistically analysed. They could detect no difference between the velocity dispersions for below-gap and above-gap objects (see section 5). All their data were taken from the literature, and they assumed that there was no significant difference between measurements taken from emission and absorption line measurements in their sample. The problems associated with using values taken from the literature are not negligible. The $`\gamma `$ velocity is a measure of the centre-of-mass radial velocity of the binary star, and can be deduced directly from radial velocity curves. Typically with the emission lines from CVs, a $`\gamma `$-value which is only one tenth the size of the radial velocity variations in the system, and only one hundredth of the total spectral line width, is being measured. The radial velocities obtained from emission lines are well known to be affected by the internal motions in the disc or stream. Therefore, the measurements of $`\gamma `$ obtained from emission lines may not accurately reflect the motion of the white dwarf at all. This will be especially true if the inner disc is distorted in some way, for example, in magnetic CVs where the field on the primary is so strong it disrupts the accretion disc and disrupts the accretion disc near to the surface of the white dwarf. Measuring radial velocities from the absorption lines due to the mass donor helps reduce potential sources of error. However, these absorption lines are not visible in all dwarf novae. They are generally only present in those systems with orbital periods above the period gap.

Many radial-velocity curves for different CV systems have been constructed. However, if the only requirement is a measurement of the radial velocity semi-amplitude, care will not have been taken to ensure that systematic errors do not dominate. It is vital that spectra are adequately sampled, and that a reasonable number of radial velocity standards have been observed. If a lower resolution is used to obtain data, then the probability of the spectral lines being affected by blending is significantly increased.

Here, we present the initial results of a project to deduce reliable $`\gamma `$ velocities for a large sample of longer-period ($`P_{\mathrm{orb}}6`$ hours) non-magnetic CVs. The aim of this initial investigation was to test the methods and procedures described in §III, to see whether they could produce sufficiently accurate absolute $`\gamma `$ velocity values, capable of being used to construct an observed velocity-dispersion relation for Galactic CVs, and thus for comparing directly with the theory.

## 2 Observations

During five nights starting from 19th June 1997, high time-resolution spectroscopy was carried out using the Intermediate Dispersion Spectrograph (IDS), on the 2.5-m Isaac Newton Telescope (INT) on the island of La Palma, on four longer period ($`P_{\mathrm{orb}}>6`$ hours) DN. The objects observed are listed with exposure times and orbital periods in Table 1. Conditions were clear throughout the five nights of observing, and the seeing was approximately 1 arc sec. Spectra of radial-velocity standard stars were also obtained to calibrate the velocities measured from the DN. They were also used to obtain a spectral type for the mass donor in each DN, and so only those with good spectral types were chosen. These were selected from the lists of Marcy, Lindsay & Wilson , Barnes, Moffett & Slovak , Beavers et al. , Duquennoy, Mayor & Halbwachs  and Eggen . The spectra covered the wavelength range from $`62206640`$Å, which includes absorption lines from the mass donor around $`63506500`$Å and the H$`\alpha `$ emission line at 6563Å. All the spectra had a dispersion of 0.4 Å per pixel, resulting in a resolution with the 500-camera of 0.8Å (FWHM). Each DN exposure was of the order of $``$ 200 – 300 seconds, in order to keep sufficient phase resolution that no orbital smearing would be introduced. The DN observed all had orbital periods in the range $`0\stackrel{d}{.}25P_{\mathrm{orb}}0\stackrel{d}{.}29`$, and were tracked for a minimum of 6 hours at one time. The 0.8 arc sec wide slit was rotated in order to capture the spectrum of both the DN and a second star on the slit, to correct for slit losses.

The CCD frames were bias-subtracted and flat-fielded. Variations in the illumination of the slit were corrected using exposures of the twilight sky. The object spectra were extracted using the optimal weighting technique of Horne . Arc calibration spectra were taken approximately every half hour, and with each change of object. They were fitted with fourth-order polynomials, which had an rms scatter of 0.005Å. The spectra were corrected onto a flux scale using a flux standard from Oke & Gunn .

## 3 Methods

The $`\gamma `$ velocities needed to be measured to within 5 $`\text{km}\text{s}^1`$ so that a velocity dispersion of the order 15 $`\text{km}\text{s}^1`$ could be detected. The following process illustrates how this was achieved, and how potential sources of systematic error were minimised.

1. First, the individual spectra of each DN were re-binned onto a logarithmic wavelength scale . Then each individual DN spectrum was cross-correlated with that of a radial-velocity standard (re-binned onto an identical scale), following the method of Tonry & Davis , in order to determine heliocentric radial velocities. Adjustments were made at this stage to allow for the radial-velocity of the standard star. No allowance (at this stage) was made for the rotational broadening of the absorption lines from the mass donor.
2. The radial velocities were then fitted with a circular orbit fit of the form

$$V=\gamma +K\mathrm{sin}\frac{2\pi (tt_0)}{P_{\mathrm{orb}}}$$
(1)
to calculate the radial-velocity semi-amplitude (K), the systemic velocity ($`\gamma `$), and the phase-zero point where phase zero, $`\varphi _0`$, is defined as the phase at which the radial velocity of the mass donor crosses zero moving from negative to positive (see Section 4.1). These initial radial velocity fits were made to allow the orbital motion of the mass donor to be removed from the individual spectra in order to create an average spectrum from which to determine the spectral type.
3. Repeated (ii) using radial-velocity standards artificially broadened to match the widths of the absorption lines seen in the DN. Measurements of the rotational broadening of the absorption lines are discussed in section 4.2.
4. An estimate of the mass donor spectral type could be deduced simply by inspection of the spectra (see North et al., 2000, and section 4.3) An alternative method used is discussed in section 4.3 together with the results obtained.
5. Finally, the cross-correlation was repeated again, using the radial-velocity standard (of best-fitting spectral-type) broadened to the measured rotational velocity of the mass donor.

To avoid introducing errors due to spectral-type mismatch between standard star and DN, steps (i) to (v) were repeated with velocity standards of several different spectral types (ranging from G8V–M6V). The radial velocities obtained for each DN did not differ significantly, implying that this is not a large source of systematic error here.

## 4 Results

In this section, the results obtained using the methods described in section 3 are presented. Section 4.1 describes the radial velocities obtained for each mass donor. This is followed by the results of the rotational broadening measurements (section 4.2), and the mass-donor spectral typing process (section 4.3). The resulting $`\gamma `$ velocities are given in section 4.4. Finally Doppler maps of the H$`\alpha `$ emission are presented in section 4.6.

### 4.1 Mass donor radial velocity curves

To obtain radial velocities, the absorption spectrum from the mass donor, which can be seen in the wavelength region $`\lambda \lambda \mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}6350}6540`$Å was used. The absorption lines from the mass donor are easily distinguished from interstellar features, as they exhibit a sinusoidal variation. The trailed spectra in Fig. 2 show the behaviour of the spectral lines over a full orbital period as observed in each system.

Figure 2 clearly shows the sinusoidal behaviour of the absorption lines. Each panel also shows how the emission lines vary approximately 180° out of phase with the absorption lines. The lines at $`6300`$ Å are interstellar absorption. The difference between the trails of the individual systems are apparent in this plot. For example, the absorption lines in AH Her are barely visible, whereas those in SS Cyg are very obvious. All the objects were observed when the system was in or approaching a quiescent disc state. Also, the strength of the absorption lines may vary around the binary orbit if the hemisphere of the mass-donor facing the white dwarf is being irradiated by the accretion disc and boundary layer. This manifests itself as a departure from a circular orbit fit to the radial velocities around phase 0.5 (see Fig. 3). The behaviour of the H$`\alpha `$ line is also seen to differ markedly in each object. This is discussed in section 4.6.

The radial velocities resulting from the cross-correlation procedure were fit with a sine curve, to determine the semi-amplitude, $`K_2`$, phase-zero point, $`\varphi _0`$, and $`\gamma `$ velocity.

The orbital periods are already well-determined for the four observed DN, so we use the values given in the literature (see Table 1 for details).

Figure 3 shows the sinusoidal fits to the radial velocities of each DN. The radial-velocity standard used to obtain each fit was of best-fitting spectral type and artificially broadened to the value obtained in section 4.2.

### 4.2 Projected rotational velocities of the mass donors

The rotational broadening of the absorption lines was determined by artificially broadening the radial velocity standards to values between 0 and 200 $`\text{km}\text{s}^1`$ (using increments of 10 $`\text{km}\text{s}^1`$). The orbital motion of the mass donor was removed from the individual CV spectra, and the results rebinned onto a uniform velocity scale. The resulting spectra were then co-added. The fraction of each broadened standard which best removed the mass-donor lines was then calculated, using an optimisation technique which minimised the scatter between the spectrum of the standard and the DN spectrum. Plotting $`\chi ^2`$ versus the amount of artificial broadening used on the standard produces a minimum in $`\chi ^2`$ at the optimum value of $`v\mathrm{sin}i`$  (see Fig. 4 for examples). This gave a value for the rotational broadening of the mass donor.

In order to check that choosing one spectral type for the mass donor did not introduce a further source of systematic error, we repeated the $`v\mathrm{sin}i`$  measuring technique with all the available standard stars. The standard error on the mean of the sample was $`2\text{km}\text{s}^1`$, implying that the choice of standard used to calculate $`v\mathrm{sin}i`$  was not significant. A value of 0.5 was used for the limb-darkening coefficient for each DN. Changing this value over the range $`01`$ did not alter the deduced values of $`v\mathrm{sin}i`$  by more than 5 $`\text{km}\text{s}^1`$, see North et al.  for details of the method followed. Table 3 shows the measurements of $`v\mathrm{sin}i`$  for each of the observed systems. Horne, Wade & Szkody  calculated a value for the rotational broadening of the mass donor in AH Her of 112$`\pm `$17 $`\text{km}\text{s}^1`$. Our value of 103$`\pm `$2 $`\text{km}\text{s}^1`$ agrees with theirs. Hessman  determines a value for the mass donor of SS Cyg of 87$`\pm `$4 $`\text{km}\text{s}^1`$. Our value of 96$`\pm `$3 $`\text{km}\text{s}^1`$ agrees at the 2$`\sigma `$ level.

### 4.3 Mass donor spectral types

The radial-velocity standard spectra were each artificially broadened to an appropriate value (that determined in section 4.2). Then the fraction of that broadened standard which, when subtracted from the DN spectrum best removed the spectral lines of the mass donor was calculated. The routine used minimised $`\chi ^2`$ between the DN spectrum (with a specific fraction of the chosen standard subtracted) and a smoothed version of itself. The standard producing the lowest value of $`\chi ^2`$ gave an indication of the mass donor spectral type. All the objects observed have mass donors with a spectral type later than K3. AH Her best fitted a K7V mass donor. SS Cyg and V426 Oph were both best-fit using a K5V spectral type. Finally, EM Cyg resulted in a K$`35`$ type mass donor (see North et al. ).

Figure 5a shows the average spectra of the four DN, created by removing the orbital motion of the mass donor from each individual spectrum, re-binning onto a uniform velocity scale and co-adding the results. The absorption lines are obviously broadened (c.f. those of Figure 5b); measured in each case to be $`100\text{km}\text{s}^1`$, see Table 3. Marked on the plot are a few of the spectral lines found most useful in the spectral typing process. The blend at $`\lambda 6495`$ is also marked on the plot. It is a blend of mostly Ca I $`\lambda 6493.8`$ and Fe I $`\lambda \lambda 6495.0,6495.7`$ and $`\lambda 6496.5`$. However, it is the one absorption feature originating from the mass donor which is clearly visible in the trailed spectra of each object. Purely by inspection, there appear to be four reliable indicators of spectral type in this wavelength range (see Fig. 5a). First, there appears to be a relationship between the relative depths of $`\lambda 6439.1`$ and the blend at $`\lambda 6400`$ which changes rapidly over the spectral type range we are interested in here. Secondly, the Fe I lines around $`\lambda 6400`$ begin to change very obviously around spectral type K7. The general shape of the spectrum around 6370Å allows us to deduce whether the mass donor is a K- or M-type star. Finally, the two spectral features just short of the $`\lambda 6495`$ blend vary significantly relative to each other over the spectral range G8–M6. Figure 5b shows a range of typical standard star spectra covering spectral types G8V to M5V for comparison.

### 4.4 Deducing the $`\gamma `$ velocities

There have been many radial-velocity studies on DN which have published $`\gamma `$ velocity values, both for DN in outburst and quiescence. Several of these results do not appear consistent with each other. We believe that this is just a symptom of the data acquisition methods. Obtaining $`\gamma `$ velocities is not the primary aim for many of these studies, and so it is highly probable that the spectra are undersampled and therefore unsuitable for deducing absolute $`\gamma `$ velocity values.

The $`\gamma `$ velocities are calculated at the point in the analysis described previously when the final radial-velocity curves are derived for each object. They are deduced using a sinusoidal fit to the radial velocities around the complete orbit, which have themselves been determined using a standard of the same spectral type as the mass donor, which has been artificially broadened to the measured $`v\mathrm{sin}i`$ . The values calculated at this point are heliocentric, and in order to deduce the velocity dispersion for these measurements, it was necessary to correct for the solar motion. For this we used the dynamical Local Standard of Rest (LSR) as the reference point . Figure 6 shows the range of $`\gamma `$ values obtained for each spectral type of radial-velocity standard, for each DN. It was here that using so many radial-velocity standard stars was most useful. Table 5 shows the best-fitting heliocentric $`\gamma `$ velocity values for each object, and the velocity shift applied (in $`\text{km}\text{s}^1`$) to correct for the solar motion.

Most of the derived $`\gamma `$ velocity values for each dwarf nova are consistent to within the error margin of $`\pm `$2 $`\text{km}\text{s}^1`$.

Considering only the data obtained here, the velocity dispersion, $`\sigma _\gamma `$, appears to be approximately 8 $`\text{km}\text{s}^1`$, smaller than the value of 15 $`\text{km}\text{s}^1`$ predicted by Kolb & Stehle for longer period systems, yet still consistent with it. We calculate a 95 per cent confidence limit on the value of $`\sigma _\gamma `$ to be $`4<\sigma _\gamma <28`$ $`\text{km}\text{s}^1`$, a large range with only 4 systems. If the dispersion we measure is assumed to remain at the same magnitude but the number of measured systems increases to 8 then the 95 per cent confidence limit decreases to $`5<\sigma _\gamma <16`$ $`\text{km}\text{s}^1`$.

In addition system parameters for the four DN were calculated using the derived values of $`v\mathrm{sin}i`$  and $`K_2`$ (see Table 6).

### 4.5 A note on the space velocity of SS Cyg

One of the observed DN (SS Cygni) has had its parallax measured using the Fine Guidance Sensor (FGS) on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) . The parallax measurement of $`6.02\pm 0.46`$mas lead to a new distance for SS Cyg of $`166\pm 12`$pc, almost twice the distance obtained previously. The tangential velocity calculated using this distance is $`93`$$`\text{km}\text{s}^1`$. So, although our radial velocity agrees with theoretical expectations, the total space velocity of $`94`$$`\text{km}\text{s}^1`$ does not.

It is possible that there is a problem with the SS Cyg parallax – for example Schreiber & Gäensicke have shown that the small parallax, and consequent implied luminosity causes problems with the disc instability theory. It causes us problems here too, although even if the distance were only $`100pc`$ the space velocity would still be a relatively high $`56\text{km}\text{s}^1`$. As SS Cyg is only one system, little can be deduced; it is clearly of interest for more parallaxes and proper motions to be measured.

### 4.6 Doppler Tomography

A useful method of imaging the accretion discs in CVs is Doppler tomography . This procedure maps emission from the CV in velocity space, using a coordinate system which co-rotates with the binary star. Due to the synchronous rotation of the mass donor with the binary motion, the shape of the Roche lobe is conserved in velocity space, and can be plotted on the Doppler map. The aim of the observations, to measure accurate absolute $`\gamma `$ velocities, means that these data are ideal for applying Doppler tomography methods, in this case to the H$`\alpha `$ emission line. Figure 7 is a compilation of the Doppler maps of the H$`\alpha `$ emission for the four systems. The uppermost panel shows the observed trailed spectra centred at $`6562.760`$Å, using a velocity scale on the $`x`$-axis with a range of $`\pm 900\text{km}\text{s}^1`$. The middle panel in each column plots the Doppler image. Finally, the lower panel presents the computed trailed spectra, as reconstructed from the Doppler images. The observed data are generally reproduced well, however several asymmetric features exist in the observed data which the software tried to fit and failed.

Starting with the plots for AH Her (column four of Fig. 7), it can be seen in the trailed spectra that there are two obvious ‘S-wave’ components. One of these is from the mass donor (starting at $`100`$ $`\text{km}\text{s}^1`$ at phase $`0.2`$). It manifests itself in the Doppler map at velocities indicating an origin on the irradiated hemisphere (that facing the white-dwarf and boundary layer) of the mass donor. The second ‘S-wave’ feature is travelling in phase with the general trend of the H$`\alpha `$ line, thus following the motion of the accretion disc and white dwarf. It appears in the Doppler map as a smeared blob in the lower-central region. SS Cyg has a similar Doppler map (column three of Fig. 7). There is a prominent contribution from the hemisphere of the mass donor facing the white dwarf. In addition, there is a smeared blob here too, appearing this time in the bottom-to-lower-right quadrant of the Doppler map. The trailed spectra show a second ‘S-wave’ component moving in phase with the emission line, which apparently shifts from negative to positive velocity around phase 0.4/0.5. Both of the Doppler maps (for AH Her and SS Cyg) show emission at lower velocities than the predicted outer disc velocities for an accretion disc with a radius $`0.8R_{L_1}`$ (plotted as dot-dashed circles on the Doppler images), so-called “sub-Keplerian” velocities.

V426 Oph has a very peculiar H$`\alpha `$ map (see column two of Fig. 7). The emission appearing near zero velocity doesn’t all fit into the Roche lobe of the mass donor. It appears to be consistent with the velocity of the inner Lagrangian point, but ‘spread out’ in a semi-circular fashion. The trail reconstructed from the Doppler map appears to have more structure than can be clearly seen in the actual data, however the feature seen in the actual data at phase 0.4 isn’t reproduced in the predicted data. There is also an approximately steady emission varying at low velocities near the line centre. This produces the semi-circular emission feature in the Doppler image. The observed data also appear to show an eclipse at phase 0. This has not been observed in V426 Oph before. Not easily seen on the Doppler map is a region of emission at high velocities on the left-hand side. This may be an indication of stream overflow . The emission line behaviour is reminiscent of the emission-line behaviour in the class of Nova-like variables, sometimes called the SW Sex stars .

EM Cyg (in column one) again shows emission on the irradiated hemisphere of the mass donor (see North et al.  for further discussion), and has the most ring-like feature indicative of an accretion disc. However, the peak velocities measured from this are again apparently sub-Keplerian.

## 5 Discussion

Kolb & Stehle  explain that the velocity dispersion ($`\sigma `$) is defined as the rms of the peculiar stellar space velocity, $`v`$ in a local Galactic coordinate system (U,V,W), where U points towards the Galactic centre, V is in the direction of the Galactic rotation, and W is in the direction of the North Galactic pole. Wielen et al.  (introduced by Wielen ) deduced that the total dispersion, $`\sigma _\mathrm{v}`$ is defined by

$$\sigma _\mathrm{v}^2=\sigma _V^2+\sigma _U^2+\sigma _W^2$$
(2)
and obeys this empirical age–velocity relation:

$$\sigma _\mathrm{v}10+21.5\left(\frac{t}{10^9\mathrm{yr}}\right)^{1/2}\text{km}\text{s}^1.$$
(3)
According to more recent studies there is some uncertainty surrounding this relation. For a short discussion on this point see Kolb . In any case, this relation is also expected to hold for binary systems, unless an event occurs during the evolution in which a significant fraction of the total mass of the system is violently, asymmetrically ejected. In the case of CVs, the progenitors do eject a significant fraction of their mass during the common-envelope period, but this occurs on a time scale much longer than the duration of the orbital period, and so can be considered to be symmetric about the rotation axis of the binary. This means that the space velocity of the system is not affected. Kolb & Stehle note that repeated nova eruptions might alter the space velocity of the system. This would in effect increase the velocity dispersion of CVs. In this case, equation 3 would underestimate the total dispersion.

The characteristic velocity observed for the CV population is the velocity of the centre of mass of the binary system. Assuming CVs are isotropically distributed about the Galaxy, the observed $`\gamma `$ velocity dispersion is related to $`\sigma _\mathrm{v}`$ by

$$\sigma _{|\mathrm{v}|}^2=<\gamma ^2>=\frac{1}{3}\sigma _\mathrm{v}^2$$
(4)
It is seen that the CVs above the period gap (young) show a significantly smaller dispersion in $`\gamma `$. What is notable about the $`\sigma _\gamma (P_{\mathrm{orb}})`$ distribution is that it is essentially independent of the selection effects which plague the original distribution, $`n(P_{\mathrm{orb}})`$. The observations described here are a first step towards a statistically meaningful sample of $`\gamma `$ velocity measurements, for objects both above and, eventually, below the period gap in the distribution of CVs.

From the study of van Paradijs, Augusteijn & Stehle , the 47 systems with orbital periods above the period gap have an average $`\gamma `$ velocity $`\overline{\gamma }=4.6\pm 33.1`$ $`\text{km}\text{s}^1`$. They admit that part of the dispersion is due to measurement errors. For the 72 non-magnetic CVs, they determine an uncertainty in $`\gamma `$ of $`19.7`$ $`\text{km}\text{s}^1`$ calculated from the rms average of the standard deviations of the distributions of single $`\gamma `$ measurements of the individual sources. This is too large to measure a theoretical dispersion of $`15`$ $`\text{km}\text{s}^1`$ with any confidence. Assuming that this measurement error and the intrinsic dispersion add in quadrature gives their result, $`\sigma _\gamma =26.6`$ $`\text{km}\text{s}^1`$ for longer period DN (almost twice the predicted value from Kolb & Stehle, 1996).

Figure 8 compares the distribution of $`\gamma `$ velocities as obtained a) in this paper (solid marking) and b) from the literature (hatched lines) for the four DN observed in this pilot study. We can see that the distribution is already appearing much tighter, and the variation in the values obtained from the literature is quite large.

Initial results from the first sample of systems indicate that the behaviour of the longer-period DN does follow closely that predicted from the theory (as presented by Kolb & Stehle, 1996). The initial velocity dispersion value for the sample appears to be $`8\text{km}\text{s}^1`$. We calculated a 95 per cent confidence limit on this result, using the assumption that for a random sample ($`X,S^2`$) from a population ($`\mu ,\sigma ^2`$), the quantity $`NS^2/\sigma `$ can be described by a $`\chi ^2`$ distribution, with $`N1`$ degrees of freedom, where $`N`$ is the number of measurements in the sample. For the 95 per cent confidence interval

$$P\left(\chi _{0.025}^2<\frac{NS^2}{\sigma ^2}<\chi _{0.975}^2\right)=0.95$$
(5)
needed to be solved. Inverting the inequalities gives the 95 per cent confidence interval $`4<\sigma _\gamma <28`$ $`\text{km}\text{s}^1`$. This range includes Kolb & Stehle’s theoretical expectation ($`15`$ $`\text{km}\text{s}^1`$), but it also agrees with van Paradijs et al.’s result. We now need to increase the sample size so as to conclusively reject or confirm the van Paradijs result. As it stands, our result provides support for the theory of Kolb & Stehle .

## 6 Conclusions

Four long period ($`P_{\mathrm{orb}}>5`$ hours) dwarf novae have been observed over a complete orbital period, in order to determine accurate absolute systemic velocities (to within $`\pm 5`$ $`\text{km}\text{s}^1`$). On this initial sample, the aim was to test thoroughly the methods being used to obtain the velocities, to make sure that any possible sources of error were effectively minimised. Sources of systematic error are fairly numerous using these methods, however they are very easy to identify and minimise, and in certain cases to eliminate altogether. A large sample of radial-velocity standard stars were observed, to ensure that so-called ‘template mismatch’ did not introduce any significant error. This enabled us to compile a list of reliable standard stars to use for future observing runs for this project. In addition, because of the high accuracy requirement for measurement of the systemic velocities, accurate measurements of other binary parameters can be made. For example, high quality radial-velocity curves mean that good semi-amplitude measurements can be obtained. Existing orbital periods can also be checked, and a value for the projected rotational velocity of the mass donor can be determined, implying that a value for the mass ratio, $`q`$, can be calculated. This value of $`q`$ is then independent of the semi-amplitude value determined from the emission lines (measurements of which are uncertain and prone to error), and can then be used to determine the component masses. Doppler maps have been constructed from the H$`\alpha `$ line profiles obtained in this study. Due to the coverage of a full orbital period, an orbit-averaged Doppler image has be created for each object. These have proved surprising. Further evidence for the existence of “sub-Keplerian” velocities is seen in the maps, as are peculiar features which may be be attributable to an outflow from the systems. These features may be peculiar to H$`\alpha `$ emission; further investigation is needed.

Our initial results suggest that the observations agree with the theory (as set out by Kolb & Stehle, 1996). The observed velocity dispersion for the sample is $`8\text{km}\text{s}^1`$, which is smaller than the predicted value of $`15\text{km}\text{s}^1`$. If, with further observations, this value does not alter significantly, then we can infer that the longer period systems are a young subgroup, with an average predicted age of $`1.5\mathrm{Gyrs}`$. Once systemic velocities for the longer-period systems have been adequately constrained then our understanding of their kinematics and evolution will be more complete, and we can begin the search for the predicted significant difference between the velocity dispersions of CVs below and above the period gap.

## Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank the referee, Hans Ritter, for drawing our attention to the SS Cyg parallax. RCN acknowledges a studentship from the University of Southampton and a PPARC PDRA during the course of this work. The data reduction and analysis were carried out on the Southampton node of the UK STARLINK computer network. The INT is operated on the island of La Palma by the Isaac Newton Group in the Spanish Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos of the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias.


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# Temperature dependence of the spin and orbital magnetization density in 𝑆𝑚_{1-𝑥}𝐺𝑑_𝑥𝐴𝑙₂ around the spin-orbital compensation point.

## Abstract

Non-resonant ferromagnetic x-ray diffraction has been used to separate the spin and orbital contribution to the magnetization density of the proposed zero-moment ferromagnet $`Sm_{0.982}Gd_{0.018}Al_2`$. The alignment of the spin and orbital moments relative to the net magnetization shows a sign reversal at 84K, the compensation temperature. Below this temperature the orbital moment is larger than the spin moment, and vice versa above it. This result implies that the compensation mechanism is driven by the different temperature dependencies of the $`4f`$ spin and orbital moments. Specific heat data indicate that the system remains ferromagnetically ordered throughout.

Recently, it was proposed that the Laves phase compound $`Sm_{1x}Gd_xAl_2`$ exhibits a spin-orbital compensation point at $`85K`$ when x = 0.0185 adachi:99 . Magnetometery showed that the net moment dipped to zero at this temperature, but was finite either side in the magnetically ordered phase (the Curie temperature is 128K). At the compensation temperature, magnetic Compton scattering shows a net spin moment, indicating that the system consists of a ferromagnetically ordered spin sublatticeadachi:01 . For the net moment to be zero, this spin moment must be exactly compensated by the orbital moment. Although it is thought that this may be driven by the different temperature dependencies of the Sm $`4f`$ spin and orbital moments, this had not yet been investigated. An understanding of the compensation mechanism may be gained by studying the temperature dependence of the spin and orbital moments near the compensation point, which requires direct measurement of the spin and orbital magnetization. Such an x-ray diffraction study is reported here for the first time. Our result conclusively proves that the compensation point is driven by the different temperature dependence of the spin and the orbital moments. Our specific heat data indicate that the system remains magnetically ordered.

The magnetism of Sm and its compounds has been the focus of many investigations as a result of the importance of the conduction electron polarization and the complex crystalline electric field (CEF) in the materialstewart:72 . The spin and orbital contribution to the $`Sm^{3+}`$ $`4f`$ moment are of similar size and aligned antiparallel, and the polarized conduction electron spin moment is thought to align parallel with the $`4f`$ spin momentadachi:97r . The three components to the site magnetization almost cancel, leaving a small net local moment. Interestingly, the temperature dependencies of the spin and orbital components are not identical due to a complex thermal admixture of nearly degenerate J multiplets in which the $`Sm^{3+}`$ ion exists in (the ground state $`5/2`$ muliplet is 1500K from first excited state $`7/2`$). The admixture arises from the CEF effect on the degeneracy of the J states and has long been an explanation of the magnetism in Sm compounds malik:71 .

A solid solution of $`Gd^{3+}`$, introduces a large (7.6 $`\mu _B`$) spin moment onto the Sm site in $`Sm_{1x}Gd_xAl_2`$ and the small induced lattice distortion alters the CEF deformation potential. It also critically affects the RKKY exchange interaction due to the increase in conduction electron polarization. These factors have a considerable influence on the temperature dependence of the Sm site moment, as the thermal admixture of J states is re-normalized. The result is to change the temperature dependencies of the $`4f`$ spin and orbital moments. In the undoped compound the moments are $`M_l4.3\mu _B`$ and $`M_s3.8\mu _B`$ adachi:99a  respectively. The change in the CEF allows the Sm orbital and Gd/Sm spin contributions to cancel each other completely at a distinct temperature below $`T_C`$: at this point the material has no net moment, and is referred to as compensated. This effect in itself is not unusual in some ferrimagnetic systems, where two sublattice magnetizations become equal and opposite at a particular temperature. However in this case the magnetism exists only on the rare earth site (a solid solution of Sm / Gd ions). A naive picture of the temperature dependence has three order parameters, $`4f`$ orbital magnetism, $`4f`$ spin magnetism, and conduction electron spin polarization with the latter probably having the same temperature dependence as that of the $`4f`$ spin. If the order parameters are of opposite sign, with non-identical temperature dependence the system can become compensated. Previous work has concentrated on the bulk magnetization and the type of magnetic ordering at the compensation point. However the mechanism of compensation in $`Sm_{1x}Gd_xAl_2`$ has not been investigated.

In this letter we report the use of non-resonant x-ray diffraction to investigate the magnetization density of $`Sm_{0.98}Gd_{0.012}Al_2`$ as a function of temperature through the spin-orbital compensation point by monitoring a Bragg reflection. The technique has the advantage of allowing the separation of the spin and orbital form factors by changing the experimental geometry. At the wave-vector sampled, the conduction electron moment makes no contribution to the form factor, therefore the technique gives direct access to the temperature dependence of the spin and orbital components of the $`4f`$ moment.

This is the first direct observation of the temperature dependence of the $`4f`$ spin and orbital form factors. From our investigation it is clear that the conduction electron polarization is a critical factor in the compensation process as, at $`T>T_{comp}`$, the $`4f`$ moments remain almost compensated. From our own investigation of the bulk properties of the material, in particular the magnetic contribution to the specific heat, presented later, it is clear that at the compensation point the material exhibits no change in entropy, and therefore does not exhibit any sign of a magnetic transition. This is due, in part, to the high anisotropy in the system.

The technique of non-resonant x-ray diffraction has recently been developed as a convenient method of studying the spin density in ferromagnetic materials using elliptically polarized synchrotron radiation.

It is particularly useful for materials where the neutron technique is not viable due to the high neutron absorption cross section. The technique also gives a convenient method of separating the spin and the orbital contribution to the total magnetic form factor by changing the experimental geometry (see fig 1). Essentially the technique makes use of the suppression of Thompson charge scattering at a scattering angle of $`90^{}`$ for radiation linearly polarized in the scattering plane. When elliptically polarized photons are incident, the charge and magnetic Bragg intensities interfere. This leads to modulation of the signal with reversal of the sign of magnetic component, this can be achieved by either flipping the sample magnetization vector (in the scattering plane), or by flipping the helicity of the incident beam polarization. When the pure charge scattering is a minimum, the signal modulation, resulting from the magnetic scattering cross section, tends to a maximum, which facilitates the measurement of a flipping ratio.

The fractional change in intensity upon reversal of the sample magnetization or the photon helicity is related to the orbital ($`F_L`$), spin ($`F_S`$) and charge($`F_C`$) form factors as:

$$R(\alpha )=\frac{I_{}I_{}}{I_{}+I_{}}=gf_p\frac{2F_S(\text{k})sin\alpha +F_L(\text{k})(sin\alpha +cos\alpha )}{F_C(\text{k})}$$
(1)
where $`g=\mathrm{}\omega /m_ec^2`$, $`f_p=P_c/(1P_l)`$, $`P_c`$ and $`P_l`$ are parameters for the circular and linear component of the beam, and thus describe the degree of ellipticity of the incident photons.

The orbital and spin contributions to the form factor are defined in terms of $`\alpha `$ the angle between the B field and the incident beam (see fig 1):

$$R(\alpha =0)=2gf_p\frac{F_L}{F_C}$$
(2)
$$R(\alpha =90^{})=2gf_p\frac{F_S+F_L}{F_C}$$
(3)
In the past most experiments have made use of a polychromatic incident beam of x-rays, in order to collect data on a number of Bragg peaks simultaneously, using energy dispersive Ge detectors. However, the white beam method suffers from multiple diffraction which corrupts the signal and is difficult to model. In this investigation a monochromatic beam was used to avoid these uncertainties. However the principle remains identical to that described previously for white beam experimentscollins:93 ,laundy:98 .

A single crystal sample of $`Sm_{1x}Gd_xAl_2`$ with $`x=0.018`$ was produced by the Bridgemann method, with the polycrystalline boule sealed in a Ta can to maintain stoichiometry. The structure of the resulting crystal was verified as the $`C_{15}`$ Laves phase using Laue photography.

The non resonant magnetic diffraction experiment was performed on the XMaS beamlinexmas:01  at ESRF. Elliptically polarized radiation was extracted by viewing the bending magnet source at a angle of $``$ 0.3mrad from the plane of the synchrotron: the optimum position in terms of signal to noise. The sample was mounted in a Be shrouded closed cycle He cryostat. An incident energy of 5.736keV was selected using the double bounce Si monochromator, such that the 333 reflection was in the Bragg condition with a scattering angle of 90 in the plane of the synchrotron (see fig 1). The calculated polarization of the beam at the incident energy used was $`P_l=0.99470`$ and $`P_c=0.02937`$ laudny:prog , yielding a polarization factor, $`f_p`$, of -5.5. The diffracted beam was detected using a fast NaI scintillator with an average count rate of $``$ 85000cps at the diffraction peak. The magnetic field was applied using a 1T electromagnet, which was flipped at intervals of 20s in order to average over the beam position fluctuations inherent with the bending magnet source. In this configuration a single flipping ratio was acquired over an integration time of 2hours. The flipping ratios of the 333 reflection were measured as a function of temperature, in the total (eq 3) moment configuration and the orbital only (eq 2) configuration, in both heating and cooling cycles to ensure reproducibility of the data. At $`sin\theta /\lambda `$ = 0.32$`\AA ^1`$ on the form factor curve only the $`4f`$ moments contribute to the magnetic signal.

A comprehensive investigation of the magnetic properties of the sample was performed at Warwick University using SQUID and VSM magnetometery, specific heat measurements and AC susceptibility, in order to check sample quality and to investigate the complex magnetic properties of the sample comprehensively.

For reflections of the type $`hhh`$ where h is odd, only the $`4f`$ site contributes to the phase factor. The temperature dependence of the orbital, spin and total form factor curve at $`sin\theta /\lambda `$ = 0.32$`\AA ^1`$ is shown in fig 2. It is clear that below the compensation temperature the orbital contribution is positive (fig 2 A), and thus the derived spin contribution is negative (fig 2 B), with a smaller magnitude as expected, since at this wave vector the conduction electron polarization is not measured. The spin-only form factor result is in good agreement with that measured previously for the un-doped sampleadachi:01a . Above the compensation temperature the spin and orbital contributions are reversed, with approximately equal magnitudes. The total form factor (fig 2 C) is positive below the compensation temperature, as expected, since the total magnetization will follow the large orbital contribution. Interestingly above $`T_{comp}`$ the total form factor is negligible. It is clear that both the orbital and the spin component to the form factor have a complex temperature dependence, furthermore both components flip sign at $`T_{comp}`$, with the total form factor tending to zero at $`T_{comp}`$. This result implies that the systems exhibits no ferro-magnetic character at $`T_{comp}`$. This does not mean that the system becomes paramagnetic however, or that the orbital, or spin magnetizations disappear at the compensation point, for the following reasons.

The orbital and spin components to the magnetization have different temperature dependence and an anti-parallel arrangement. The net moment in the system will always align with the field, (when the field is large i.e. 1T see next section). At low temperature this results in a positive contribution to the magnetization density arising from the orbital moment and a negative contribution arising from the spin moment, with a net positive magnetization density where L$`>`$S. When the system becomes compensated the orbital and spin components are in effect antiferro-magnetically aligned. However the orbital and the spin components should still be finite. Our data show a definite sign reversal of the spin and the orbital components. The change of sign results from the spin component becoming dominant above $`T_{comp}`$, hence the net moment is re-aligned with respect to the field.

The fact that our orbital data tend to zero smoothly at $`T_{comp}`$ rather than exhibiting a sharp step-like transition, is a statistical artefact produced from a combination of unwanted beam movements, from the synchrotron bending magnet source, and temperature fluctuations in the cryostat due to reversing the applied field. If one assumes that the temperature is only stable to within $`\pm 0.5K`$ one may easily reach a point whereby the sample is driven from one side of $`T_{comp}`$ to the other, by the eddy current heating effect, throughout the period of the measurement, thereby measuring zero.

Above $`T_{comp}`$ the measured form factor is negligible. This means that the $`4f`$ components to the magnetization are of a similar size, which in turn implies that the conduction electron spin component (not measured by the diffraction experiment) is of critical importance. Our diffraction data provide clear evidence that the spin and the orbital contributions to the $`4f`$ magnetization density cancel at the compensation point, and that the compensation point occurs as a result of the different temperature dependence of the spin and orbital form factor.

This diffraction result will now be discussed in the context of the bulk properties of the system. Firstly the magnetization data observed for the sample as a function of temperature (fig 3:A). The bulk magnetization data clearly show that, at the compensation point, the net moment in the sample is zero. However the magnetic behavior below $`T_{comp}`$ drastically alters, depending on whether the sample is field cooled or zero field cooled. On cooling in a small $`10^2`$T field the magnetization shows a large diamagnetic effect below $`T_{comp}`$ (fig 3:A, triangles). The size of the diamagnetic effect can be altered by changing the magnitude of the applied field (fig 3:A, $`0.1`$T (circles) and $`1`$T (squares)). If the system in first field cooled and then warmed through $`T_{comp}`$ in the remnant field the system again shows some diamagnetic effect.

This is an effect of the large anisotropy within the system. The Sm $`4f`$ moment can be thought of as a single site ferri-magnet, with the spin and orbital contributions having different temperature dependencies if the size of each contribution is reversed either side of $`T_{comp}`$ the system must overcome the magnetocrystalline anisotropy energy (MAE) to realign the net moment with the applied (or remnant) field as is observed in the diffraction experiment. It follows that if $`\mu .B<MAE`$ the system exhibits a large diamagnetic effect. The strong MAE effect in this system is demonstrated by the temperature dependence of the coercive field (fig 3:B) which clearly shows maxima above and below $`T_{comp}`$. When considered with the diffraction data the behavior of the magnetic system is clarified. The diffraction data were taken in an applied field of 1T, which is large enough to overcome the large MAE and hence realign the net moment in the system. The closed hysteresis loop at $`T_{comp}`$ (fig 3:C) is verification that the system is compensated and indicating a strongly correlated quasi anti-ferromagnetic behavior

The specific heat capacity (fig 3:D) shows a large $`\lambda `$-type anomaly associated with the Curie temperature at $`T_c`$=128K, however there is no effect in the specific heat data at a temperature corresponding to $`T_{comp}`$ which indicates that there is no transition at that temperature.

It is obvious that the conduction electron moment is an important factor in the magnetization in this material. The alloying of $`2\%`$ Gd will certainly affect the RKKY polarization in the system due to the lattice distortion and also the large size of the Gd moment. It is also clear that the $`4f`$ contributions above $`T_{comp}`$ appear, from our data to be equal. Thus it is reasonable to assume that the net magnetization observed above $`T_{comp}`$ (fig 3:A) results almost exclusively from the conduction electron moment in the system, the temperature dependence of which is unknown (although it is reasonable to assume it is similar to the $`4f`$ spin moment) Such a measurement is planned using the magnetic Compton scattering technique, which directly samples the polarization of all spin polarized electrons.

In conclusion, our data show that the total $`4f`$ magnetization density is zero at the compensation temperature. We have demonstrated that the compensation mechanism is driven by the temperature dependence of the spin and orbital moments in the system. We have shown that the unusual temperature dependence of the bulk magnetization is driven by the reversal of the dominant $`4f`$ component at the compensation temperature, i.e. $`T<T_{comp}`$:L$`>`$S and $`T>T_{comp}`$:S$`>`$L. The fact the bulk measurement of specific heat shows no anomaly at the $`T_{comp}`$ implies that magnetic system remains ordered, as one may expect due to the high magnetocrystalline anisotropy energy.

This work was performed on the EPSRC funded beamline XMaS at ESRF. The authors thank Dr D. Fort of the University of Birmingham for growing the single crystal sample used in this investigation, and Dr D. Mannix and other beamline staff for their assistance. The authors thank EPSRC(UK) for funding.


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# Quasi-one-dimensional organic conductors: dimensional crossover and some puzzles

## I Introduction and scope of the paper

The nature of the metallic phase of interacting electron systems depends strongly on dimensionality. The interplay between interactions and dimensionality is an important issue for a large number of materials, ranging from cuprate superconductors to low-dimensional organic conductors . For quasi-one dimensional conductors (such as the Bechgaard salts, which will be the main subject of this paper), these issues become crucial. Indeed in three dimensions, Fermi liquid (FL) theory applies, whereas in one dimension a different kind of low-energy fixed point known as a Luttinger liquid (LL) is found, with physical properties quite different from that of a FL. By varying the anisotropy of the system, or the energy scale at which it is probed, one can thus expect drastic changes in the physical properties.

This is even more true when the filling of the system is commensurate. In that case, interactions can lead to an insulating behavior via the Mott transition. This phenomenon occurs in all dimensions but the one-dimensional case is particularly favorable . In quasi one-dimensional (Q1D) systems, interchain hopping can induce a (deconfinement) transition from the Mott insulating (MI) state to a metallic state, and crossovers between different metallic behaviors. Understanding how such a deconfinement transition can take place and what are the properties of the metallic phases is a particularly challenging problem, for reasons explained below.

This paper is organized as follows:

* In Sec. II, some physical properties of the TMTSF and TMTTF organic compounds will be briefly reviewed , with an emphasis on those related to the above issues. As described there, these compounds are three dimensional stacks of quarter- filled chains, which makes them wonderful laboratories, in which all the questions above can be addressed. Along the way, we shall point out some open questions and puzzles associated with the physics of these materials.
* In Sec. III, we turn to theoretical models, and explain why non-perturbative methods are required to deal with interchain hopping. We shall review an extension of the dynamical mean-field approach  designed to deal with this problem (chain-DMFT), and describe its recent application to coupled Hubbard chains  and its bearing on the above issues.

## II Quasi one-dimensional organic conductors: some physical properties

The Bechgaard salts TMTSF2X were the first organic compounds to exhibit superconductivity, and have thus been the focus of intense experimental and theoretical studies. In addition to the superconducting phase, these materials have a remarkably rich phase diagram (cf. Fig. 1) and exhibit a host of remarkable properties (e.g non-FL metallic behaviour, quantized Hall conductance, Fröhlich conductivity), many of which are still poorly understood.

Reviewing all these properties goes far beyond the scope of this lecture: we shall restrict ourselves to a discussion of the crossovers observed in the high-temperature regime, above the ordered phases. For more extensive reviews of the physical properties of quasi one-dimensional organics, see e.g .

### A Structure

The basic building block of the Bechgaard salts (Fig. 2) is the flat molecule TMTSF (tetramethyltetraselenafulvalene), which contains four selenium atoms, surrounded by four methyl groups in a fulvalene type double ring structure.

Also shown in Fig. 2 are the orbitals giving rise to the double bonds between the carbon atoms and the $`\pi `$ orbitals of the selenium atoms. In the TMTTF compounds (Fabre salts), the selenium atoms are replaced by sulphur ones.

All these compounds crystallize in stacks of TM (short for TMTSF or TMTTF) molecules separated by the counter-ions X (for example PF6 or ClO4). The counter-ions are here to provide the charge neutrality, as in a standard salt. The transfer of charge between the ion and the TM stacks is total. Since there is one ion for two TM molecules, the chains are quarter filled. In addition the chains are slightly dimerized. This raises the important question whether these systems should be considered as half-filled, rather than quarter-filled, to which we shall come back in section II B. It is important to note that the commensurate filling is fixed by the chemistry of the compound, and so far it has not been possible to move away from such a commensurate filling. No doubt that if this could be done (through e.g. a field effect transistor geometry ), this would prove very interesting.

The overlap of the $`\pi `$\- orbitals of the selenium or sulfur atoms leads to a high mobility of electrons along the stacking direction; the hopping integrals in the perpendicular directions are indeed smaller by more than one order of magnitude. Estimated values of the hopping integrals along the stack direction (a-axis) and the two perpendicular axes pointing towards neighboring stacks (b-axis) and towards the anions (c-axis) respectively are: $`t_a:t_b:t_c=1000K:100K:30K`$. Therefore one can think of these materials as one-dimensional chains coupled by small inter-chain hoppings. Given the hierarchy of transverse coupling the system is first expected to become two dimensional and then three dimensional at low temperatures. At very low temperatures the system has various ordered phases (spin-Peierls (SP), antiferromagnetic (AF), spin-density wave(SDW)) and superconducting (SC)). The nature of the molecule (TMTTF vs TMTSF) or of the ions slightly changes the interchain hopping and the dimerization. Such changes can also be induced by applying pressure to the system. This modifies the relative importance of the kinetic energy and Coulomb interation and leads to a very rich phase diagram. The chemical and pressure changes have similar effects, which can be summarised by the unified phase diagram of Fig. 1.

### B Mott insulators and Luttinger liquids

At ambient pressure, the (TMTTF)2PF6 compound displays insulating behavior (MI) . Upon increasing pressure, a transition to a metallic phase is found, and the properties of the TMTTF compounds evolve toward those of the compounds of the TMTSF family, which are good conductors. This evolution is clear from the a-axis resistivity measurements in Fig. 3.

The minimum of the resistivity (followed by an activated law as temperature is lowered) defines the onset of the MI regime in Fig. 1. Such an insulating behavior in a quarter (or half filled) system suggests that it is due to the interactions and that the TMTTF family is a Mott-Hubbard insulator. It is thus clear that the interactions play a crucial role in the TMTTF family even at relatively high energies. For the TMTSF the question is more subtle in view of the metallic behavior at ambiant pressure and it was even suggested that such compounds could be described by a FL behavior with weak interactions . Another important question is of course the reason for such a difference between the very close families TMTTF and TMTSF, for which the various characteristics (bandwidth, dimerization, interactions) vary relatively little.

A blatant proof of the importance of interactions for both the TF and SF compounds is provided by the optical conductivity , as shown in Fig. 4.

The optical conductivity clearly shows that the high energy structure is the one of a Mott insulator, with a decreasing gap (of the order of 2000 cm-1 for the TMTTF2(PF6) to 200 cm-1 for TMTSF2(PF6). Nearly all (99%) of the spectral weight is in this high energy structure. In the metallic compounds there is in addition a very narrow Drude peak. The optical conductivity shows thus clearly that these compounds are very far from simple Fermi liquids. In addition one can compare the optical data with the theoretical predictions  for a LL. The data above the gap fits very well the power law LL behavior and thus shows quite convincingly that these compounds are indeed well described by a LL theory down to a scale of a few hundred Kelvin (temperature or frequency). This is also consistent  with the optical data along the c-axis , depicted in Fig. 6. These measurements directly probe the density of excited states in the $`ab`$ plane. We note however that, although clearly revealing that electrons are confined in the chains above $`100K`$, the measurements of dc transport along the c-axis  (see Fig. 5) are not yet fully understood theoretically from a LL picture (see  for a discussion).

The a-axis optical measurements described above even allow for a quantitative determination  of the LL parameter $`K_\rho `$, yielding $`K_\rho 0.23`$, indicating very strong electron interactions ***We use the conventions of Ref. , see also section III below. $`K_\rho =1`$ corresponds to non-interacting electrons.. This estimate of the LL parameter agrees reasonably well with measurements of the longitudinal resistivity in the range $`100300K`$ . Photoemission data  are also consistent with this value.

In addition to providing strong evidence for the Luttinger liquid behavior, the optical data and its comparison to the theoretical predictions force one to reinvestigate the standard interpretation for the difference between TMTTF and TMTSF compounds. Indeed the commonly accepted point of view since the pioneering work of Ref.  was that the insulating behaviour of the TMTTF family is due to the stronger dimerization of these compounds, which effectively changes the band filling. As mentioned above, on average two TMTSF or TMTTF molecules donate one electron to the (monovalent) anion, so that the conduction band is nominally a quarter filled hole band. However, the dimerization between neighboring molecules opens a dimerization gap in the middle of the band. When this dimerization is large, the system might best be thought of as half-filled (TMTTF) rather than quarter-filled (TMTSF). From this point of view the Mott insulating behavior comes from the half filled nature of the system.

However the optical data are inconsistent with a half filled description in the SF family . A more satisfactory explanation is thus to consider both series of compounds as quarter-filled, and the Mott insulator to be due to the quarter filled commensurability . Increasing pressure or changing the chemistry reduces the relative strength of Coulomb interactions with respect to hopping, hence suppressing Mott localization. For this interpretation to be tenable, these compounds must be very close to the Mott transition point, which is indeed supported by the measured values of the LL parameter (indeed, $`K_\rho ^c=0.25`$ is the critical value for the opening of a Mott gap in a quarter-filled chain).

### C Dimensional crossover and deconfinement

Due to the interchain hopping a dimensional crossover will take place at low energy between decoupled chains and a higher- dimensional behavior. Since the isolated chains would be insulators (because $`K_\rho `$ is so small), the interchain hopping can induce a deconfinement transition provided that it becomes larger than the Mott gap. The system will thus crossover from a regime where one has essentially uncoupled (insulating) chains to that of metallic planes. Understanding the characteristics of such a transition (energy scale, critical values of the hopping, physical nature of the various phases) is one of the most challenging questions on these systems, on which we shall focus in the following.

A dimensional crossover is indeed observed in the transport along the $`c`$ axis shown in Fig. 5.

From this experiment, we see that the dimensional crossover takes place around $`100K`$ in (TMTSF)2PF6. This is in agreement with the change of behavior from $`T`$ (LL behavior) to $`T^2`$ observed in dc transport along the $`a`$ axis , and with the change of behavior in the transverse optical conductivity (see Fig. 6.)

The interpretation that the change of behavior between the insulating and metallic regimes is indeed due to such deconfinement transition  can be strengthened by the optical data (see Fig. 7). A measure of the gap extracted from the optical conductivity shows that the change of nature occurs when the observed gap is roughly of the order of magnitude of the interchain hopping .

### D Summary of some open issues and questions

To summarize the experimental situation, here are some key questions raised by the physical properties of the TM family:

1. Are TMTSF strongly correlated systems ? What is the strength of interactions ?
2. What causes the difference between the various members of the organic families (TMTSF and TMTTF) ?
3. Is the high temperature metallic regime a Luttinger liquid ?
4. At what energy scale does the dimensional crossover take place ?
5. What is the nature of the metallic state of the TMTSF series in the temperature range from $`10`$ to $`100K`$ ?
6. What are the physical properties of the low-T (Fermi-liquid ?) metallic regime ?

As we have seen, one is now in a position to have satisfactory answers to questions 1-4. In doing so one had to reexamine most of the commonly accepted point of views. The optical data shows that the dimerization plays little role and that the Mott insulating behavior is due to the quarter filled nature of the compounds . The estimate of the crossover scale of $`100K`$ questions early interpretations of measurements of the NMR relaxation time  $`T_1`$ on (TMTSF)2ClO4. These showed the Korringa law typical of FL behavior $`1/(T_1T)=\text{const}`$ at very low temperatures. However, strong deviations from the Korringa law are observed already around $`10K`$, which is considerably smaller than the onset of FL behavior estimated from optics and transport. This makes question 5) particularly puzzling, since the NMR is anomalous in a temperature range for which one now knows that the compounds are not in a one-dimensional regime.

## III Modeling quasi-one-dimensional systems

### A Non-perturbative effects of inter-chain hopping

We now turn to simplified models in which one-dimensional chains of interacting electrons are coupled by an inter-chain hopping $`t_{}`$. Later on we shall concentrate on the simplest case of the Hubbard model, but at this stage we would like to make some remarks with a broader degree of validity.

Let us consider first the case of a commensurate filling. For a single chain, strong enough interactions will then open a Mott gap, leading to an insulating state in which the electrons are confined on the chains. Technically, this is due to umklapp scattering processes being relevant. This will actually happen for arbitrarily small repulsive interactions in the half-filled Hubbard model, while at quarter-filling a strong enough nearest-neighbour interaction is needed, in addition to a local Hubbard term. (This is one of the reasons why a simple Hubbard model is insufficient to describe the organic compounds, another one being the small values of $`K_\rho `$ needed to fit the data). The interchain hopping will tend to delocalise the electrons, resulting in an insulator to metal transition at zero-temperature for a critical value of the inter-chain hopping. The generic situation is depicted on the schematic phase diagram of Fig. 8.

In addition to the $`T=0`$ insulator to metal (“deconfinement”) transition, finite-temperature crossovers have been depicted on this diagram. For temperatures smaller than the one-dimensional bandwidth (i.e the high-energy cutoff of the problem), but higher than the crossover scales depicted in the figure, the system is essentially insensitive to the interchain hopping. In this regime, the system is expected to behave as a Luttinger liquid (LL), which is the generic state for interacting one-dimensional electrons. However, one should bear in mind that, at least for small $`t_{}`$, the Luttinger liquid parameter $`K_\rho `$ will be gradually renormalized downwards by the (relevant) umklapp scattering as temperature is reduced. The temperature scale at which the effective $`K_\rho `$ approaches zero signals the low-T Mott insulating regime: this is the first crossover line depicted in the figure. To the right of the $`T=0`$ deconfinement transition, we expect a crossover from a high-T Luttinger liquid regime into a low-T Fermi liquid regime (FL). The crossover separates a high-T regime in which thermal fluctuations destroy coherent interchain transport from a low-T regime in which interchain coherence sets in. At incommensurate fillings, the situation is somewhat simpler: no Mott insulating state exists, and the decoupled chain is always in the metallic LL regime. Only the LL to FL crossover survives. Since for reasonable values of $`K_\rho `$ the interchain hopping is a relevant perturbation , this crossover line starts at a $`T=0,t_{}=0`$ and the ground-state is a FL for arbitrarily small but finite $`t_{}`$.

Of course, this discussion and Fig. 8 will be complicated at very low temperatures by the intervening of phases with long-range order. This will depend however on the details of the specific model, in particular on the degree of deviation from perfect nesting. We do not address these issues here, being interested in compounds for which ordering temperatures are significantly smaller than the crossovers described above.

It is quite tempting to compare the schematic crossover diagram in Fig. 8 to the physical properties of quasi one-dimensional organic compounds described in the previous section and summarized by the unified phase diagram of Fig. 1. Indeed, it has been advocated  that the change from insulating to metallic behavior observed in Bechgaard salts by increasing pressure or when going from the TMTTF to the TMTSF family, is associated with a deconfinement transition. Obviously, increasing pressure does not only affect interchain hopping in these compounds, but the deconfinement transition may be of a similar nature than the one induced by increasing $`t_{}`$ in a simplified model. The first crossover would then correspond to the opening of the Mott gap (upturn of the resistivity in the TMTTF compounds), while the second one would correspond to the onset of interchain coherence observed in the TMTSF family. For these reasons, the study of these crossovers within simple models is of great importance for understanding the physics of quasi one-dimensional organic conductors.

The qualitative discussion above already hints at the fact that perturbation theory in the interchain hopping $`t_{}`$ is only of limited use for the study of the crossovers. Let us make this statement more precise, and assess how far perturbative treatments can take us, starting with the simpler case of an incommensurate filling. In the non-interacting case, the dimensional crossover will occur when the energy (e.g the thermal energy $`kT`$, or the energy $`\mathrm{}\omega `$ associated with probing the system at a given frequency) is of the order of the warping of the Fermi surface due to interchain hopping. Hence the crossover scale will simply be $`kT^{},\mathrm{}\omega ^{}t_{}`$. In the interacting case, the situation is more complicated: the decoupled chains are Luttinger liquids, and $`t_{}`$ is a relevant perturbation. A perturbative RG treatment will indicate that this effective inter-chain hopping grows as the energy scale is reduced: the crossover will occur when this running coupling reaches $`kT`$. This leads to the following estimate  of the crossover scale $`E^{}kT^{},\mathrm{}\omega ^{}`$:

$$E^{}t_{}(t_{}/t)^{\alpha /(1\alpha )}$$
(1)
where $`\alpha =\frac{1}{4}(K_\rho +1/K_\rho )\frac{1}{2}`$ is the exponent associated with the one-electron Green’s function in the LL state. The important physical content of this expression is that interactions can significantly reduce the crossover scale , as compared to the non-interacting estimate $`t_{}`$. We note that (see Sec. II) for the TMTSF Bechgaard salts, $`\alpha `$ appears to be close to $`1/2`$. Since $`t_b300\text{K}`$ and $`t_a/t_b10`$, this would place $`E^{}`$ in the 10-30 K range according to the above RG estimate. Experimentally however, interchain coherence appears to set in at a significantly higher temperature, in the 100 K range: this is one of the puzzles in the field.

While this perturbative RG analysis allows to estimate a scale for the dimensional crossover, it breaks down for $`T<E^{}`$ since the effective $`t_{}`$ flows to large values. In particular, it does not provide informations on the detailed nature of the low-T Fermi liquid regime. Thus, a proper handling of the dimensional crossover in quasi one-dimensional systems has to resort to techniques which are not perturbative in $`t_{}`$. This is even clearer in the case of a commensurate filling. If one starts from the 1D Mott insulator fixed point, the deconfinement transition is clearly a non-perturbative phenomenon since the inter-chain hopping is an irrelevant perturbation at this fixed point. If, on the other hand, one starts with the LL fixed point associated with the high-T regime, then one has to deal simultaneously with two relevant perturbations: the umklapp scattering (responsible for Mott physics) and the interchain hopping. The competition between these two relevant perturbations will determine the crossovers described above.

Non-perturbative studies are thus needed to investigate both the deconfinement transition and the dimensional crossover. Several authors have developed such methods in the case of a finite number of coupled chains. Below, we present a recently developed approach designed to handle an infinite array of coupled chains in a non-perturbative manner.

### B The chain- Dynamical Mean Field Theory approach

This non-perturbative method is inspired by the success of dynamical mean field theory (DMFT) in the description of lattice models of correlated fermions . Ordinary DMFT maps a lattice model of interacting fermions onto a single site model in an effective time-dependent mean field, which has to be determined self-consistently. Thus the problem becomes equivalent to an Anderson impurity model in a self-consistent bath. It can be shown that in the limit of an infinite coordination number of the lattice, all quantum fluctuations become local and the dynamical mean field description is exact.

Very anisotropic systems of coupled one-dimensional chains lend themselves to a very natural extension of this approach (dubbed “chain-DMFT”), in which the array of chains is replaced by an effective chain in a self-consistent bath. It is crucial to retain a one-dimensional geometry of the effective problem, if the limit of decoupled chains (and hence 1D physics) is to be treated properly. The self-consistent bath describes the influence of all neighboring chains on the ”impurity chain”, thus freezing all quantum fluctuations that are non-local in the transverse direction, but retaining spatial and dynamical fluctuations along the chains. By the same arguments as in ordinary DMFT, the chain-DMFT approach becomes exact in the limit of an infinite transverse coordination number of the array. In the limit of decoupled chains chain-DMFT reduces to the single chain problem, which is solved numerically exactly.

Consider a system of coupled chains described by the Hamiltonian

$$H=\underset{m}{}H_{1D}^{(m)}\underset{m,m^{}}{}t_{}^{mm^{}}\underset{i\sigma }{}(c_{im\sigma }^+c_{im^{}\sigma }+\text{h.c})$$
(2)
where $`H_{1D}^{(m)}`$ is the Hamiltonian for a single isolated chain and the sum in the second term runs over neighboring chains $`m,m^{}`$, which are coupled by the transverse hopping $`t_{}^{mm^{}}`$. Chain-DMFT maps this system onto a single-chain system described by the effective action

$`S_{\mathrm{eff}}=`$ $`{\displaystyle _0^\beta 𝑑\tau 𝑑\tau ^{}\underset{ij,\sigma }{}c_{i\sigma }^+(\tau )𝒢_0^1(ij,\tau \tau ^{})c_{j\sigma }(\tau ^{})}`$ (4)
$`+{\displaystyle _0^\beta }𝑑\tau H_{1D}^{int}[\{c_{i\sigma },c_{i\sigma }^+\}]`$
where $`H_{1D}^{int}`$ is the interacting part of the on-chain Hamiltonian. $`𝒢_0`$ is the effective propagator describing hopping processes, that destroy a fermion on site $`j`$ at time $`\tau ^{}`$ and create one at site $`i`$ at time $`\tau `$. In analogy to usual DMFT $`𝒢_0`$ has to be determined from a self-consistency condition that imposes that the Green’s function $`G(ij,\tau \tau ^{})c(i,\tau )c^+(j,\tau ^{})_{\mathrm{eff}}`$ calculated from $`S_{\mathrm{eff}}`$ coincides with the on-chain Green’s function of the original problem. Since the self-energy is $`\mathrm{\Sigma }=𝒢_0^1G^1`$, this condition reads:

$$G(k,i\omega _n)=𝑑ϵ_{}\frac{D(ϵ_{})}{i\omega _n+\mu ϵ_k\mathrm{\Sigma }(k,i\omega _n)ϵ_{}}$$
(5)
where $`ϵ_{}(k_{})`$ denotes the Fourier transform of the inter-chain hopping $`t_{}^{mm^{}}`$, $`D(ϵ_{})=_k\delta [ϵ_{}ϵ_{}(k_{})]`$ the corresponding density of states, $`k`$ the momentum in chain direction and $`\omega _n`$ the Matsubara frequencies. The chain-DMFT equations (4,5) fully determine the self-energy and Green’s function of the coupled chains. In particular, once $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ has been calculated, the full Green’s function for the coupled chains is obtained from: $`G(k,k_{},i\omega _n)^1=i\omega _n+\mu ϵ_kϵ_{}(k_{})\mathrm{\Sigma }(k,i\omega _n)`$. We note that a key approximation of this approach is that the self-energy is considered to be independent of the transverse component of the momentum. In the following we specialize the discussion to a model of Hubbard chains coupled by a perpendicular hopping $`t_{}`$. Then the Hamiltonian is of the form (2) with $`t_{}^{mm^{}}=t_{}`$ and $`H_{1D}^{(m)}`$ being the Hamiltonian of the one-dimensional Hubbard model.

Different choices of the lattice are possible. Choosing a semi-circular density of states

$$D(ϵ)=\frac{1}{2\pi t^2}\sqrt{ϵ^24t^2}$$
(6)
in Eq. (5) corresponds to a Bethe lattice with infinite coordination number, in which each lattice site is replaced by a one-dimensional chain and hopping between the chains follows the topology of the Bethe lattice. This choice is particularly appealing, since the chain-DMFT formalism is exact in this case.

Another possibility is to consider a two dimensional array of chains with the square lattice geometry. In this case, each chain has exactly two nearest neighbors and chain-DMFT must be viewed as an approximation. The transverse dispersion becomes:

$$ϵ_{}(k_{})=2t_{}\mathrm{cos}k_{}$$
(7)
and the corresponding density of states is the one of a one-dimensional lattice:

$$D(ϵ)=\frac{1}{\pi }\frac{1}{\sqrt{ϵ^24t^2}}.$$
(8)
As for the Bethe lattice, the self-consistency condition simplifies in the 2D geometry in such a way that the Weiss field can directly be written in terms of the Green’s function:

$$𝒢_0^1(k,i\omega _n)=i\omega _n+\mu +G^1(k,i\omega _n)\sqrt{G^2(k,i\omega _n)+4t_{}^2}.$$
(9)
This model does not provide a controlled limit, in which chain-DMFT becomes exact. Still, from a conceptual point of view, a two-dimensional picture seems more appealing if one aims at a comparison with the experimental situation in the Bechgaard salts. Therefore the calculations presented below were performed for this choice of the model. We stress, however that in practice, the specific choice of the transverse dispersion does not have a significant qualitative influence (as long as one does not address long-range ordering).

A practical implementation of the chain-DMFT approach requires to solve the effective one-dimensional interacting problem described above. This is a rather formidable task, and numerical methods are required. Even though other techniques are conceivable, we have chosen to use a Quantum Monte Carlo algorithm, which is a straightforward generalization of the Hirsch-Fye algorithm used in single-site DMFT . It relies on a Trotter discretization of the effective action in imaginary time, and on a discrete Hirsch transformation of the interaction term:

$`e^{\mathrm{\Delta }\tau Un_in_i}={\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}{\displaystyle \underset{s=\pm 1}{}}e^{\lambda s\left(n_in_i\right)\frac{\mathrm{\Delta }\tau U}{2}\left(n_i+n_i\right)}`$ (10)
with $`\lambda =\text{arccosh}\left(e^{\frac{\mathrm{\Delta }\tau U}{2}}\right)`$. An Ising field $`s`$ is introduced at each time slice and each site of the chain. Monte Carlo sampling of the Ising fields then allows for the direct calculation of the on-chain Green’s function and on-chain correlation functions. In practice, chains of 16 to 32 sites with periodic boundary conditions are sufficient to access the 1d Luttinger Liquid regime.

In the following we will present numerical evidence for the deconfinement transition at half filling and the dimensional crossover as a function of temperature in the doped case.

### C Luttinger-liquid to Fermi-liquid crossover

We summarize some of our QMC results for an array of coupled Hubbard chains in the chain-DMFT approach, starting with the doped (incommensurate) case. At high temperature, the model is expected to display LL behaviour. In order to measure numerically the LL parameter $`K_\rho `$, we have computed the local spin-spin correlation:

$$\chi _s(\tau )=S^z(j,0)S^z(j,\tau )=\underset{k,k}{}\chi _s(k,k_{},\tau )$$
(11)
In a LL, the asymptotic behavior of this quantity reads, in imaginary time:

$$\chi _s(\tau )=\chi _s(\beta /2)\left(\frac{1}{\mathrm{sin}\pi \tau /\beta }\right)^{1+K_\rho },$$
(12)
valid for $`\beta `$, $`\tau `$ and $`\beta \tau `$ larger than the inverse of the high-energy cutoff (i.e in some range around $`\tau =\beta /2`$). We emphasize that this is a much better manner of accessing $`K_\rho `$ in a QMC simulation than by looking at the single-electron Green’s function, whose asymptotics involves the exponent $`\alpha =(K_\rho +1/K_\rho )/41/2`$ which is never very large for the Hubbard model. This makes it very hard numerically to distinguish LL from FL behavior at the level of one-electron Green’s functions.

In Fig. 9, the effective value of $`K_\rho `$ obtained by fitting the local spin correlation function to the above asymptotic form is plotted as a function of temperature We give all energies in units of the longitudinal band width $`W=4t`$., for $`U/W=1`$, a filling $`n0.8`$ and $`t_{}/W=0.14`$. This plot clearly reveals the expected dimensional crossover from a high-T LL regime with $`K_\rho <1`$ to a low-T FL regime with $`K_\rho =1`$. The numerically measured value $`K_\rho 0.7`$ in the LL regime is in very good agreement with the exact value known from analytical (Bethe ansatz) calculations on the one-dimensional Hubbard model, for that value of $`U/W`$ .

Our results for the crossover scale are consistent with $`T^{}Ct_{}/\pi `$ with $`C0.5`$. We cannot meaningfully test the RG prediction $`T^{}=\frac{t_{}}{\pi }C(t_{}/t)^{\alpha /(1\alpha )}`$ for the reduction of this scale due to interactions , because of the very small value of $`\alpha 0.03`$ for the present model. As discussed in the last section, extensions of our calculations to models with smaller values of $`K_\rho `$ are required both for their theoretical interest and for a meaningful comparison to organics.

### D Deconfinement transition

We now turn to the half-filled case. In Fig.10, we display the effective $`K_\rho `$ (determined as above) as a function of interchain hopping, for $`U/W=0.65`$ and at a rather low temperature $`T/W=0.025`$.

For small $`t_{}/W`$, the value $`K_\rho =0`$ indicating a Mott insulating behaviour (with a decay of the spin-spin correlation similar to that of a Heisenberg spin chain). In that regime, the calculated charge correlation function (not shown) clearly displays the exponential decay associated with a finite charge gap. Beyond a critical value of $`t_{}/W`$, we find $`K_\rho 1`$, signalling a FL regime (and a corresponding behavior for the charge correlation function). Hence, the expected deconfinement transition (Fig.8) is clearly revealed by our calculations. In principle, it should be possible to identify first a Luttinger Liquid phase and then, with increasing interchain coupling, a Fermi Liquid phase. However, in this parameter range the Luttinger Liquid phase is too narrow to become visible. The location of the deconfinement transition is in reasonable agreement with the naive criterion $`\mathrm{\Delta }_{1D}t_{}^{eff}`$, with $`t_{}^{eff}`$ the renormalised inter-chain hopping. .

### E Interchain optical conductivity

Inter-chain optical conductivities within chain-DMFT can be obtained from the one-particle Green’s functions. Vertex corrections drop out for analogous reasons as in single-site DMFT, and therefore:

$`\text{Re}\sigma _{}(\omega ,T)`$ $`t_{}^2{\displaystyle \frac{dk_{}}{2\pi }\mathrm{sin}^2k_{}\frac{dk}{2\pi }𝑑\omega ^{}A(ϵ_{},k,\omega ^{})}`$ (14)
$`\times A(ϵ_{},k,\omega +\omega ^{}){\displaystyle \frac{f(\omega ^{})f(\omega ^{}+\omega )}{\omega }}`$
where $`A(ϵ_{},k,\omega )=\frac{1}{\pi }\text{Im}G(ϵ_{},k,\omega )`$ is the single-particle spectral function of the coupled chains system. Note that we have taken into account the $`k_{}`$\- dependence of the current vertex in this formula.

Fig. 11 shows the inter-chain optical conductivity at half-filling for $`U=0.65W`$, $`\beta =40/W`$ and $`t_{}=0.14`$ and $`0.07`$ (solid and dashed lines) and for $`U=1.0W`$, $`\beta =40/W`$ and $`t_{}=0.`$ (dotted line). As expected, in the case of uncoupled chains ($`t_{}=0.`$) the system exhibits a Mott gap, followed by an onset of absorption starting at approximately the gap and extending up to a scale of order U, where a broad second peak is apparent. As the insulator to metal transition is crossed, a low-frequency Drude peak develops. Close to the transition the weight of the Drude peak is small, while the Hubbard band feature is still visible and carries a significant part of the spectral weight.

To make comparison to the Bechgaard salts, where the Drude peak was shown to carry less than $`2\%`$ of the spectral weight with $`98\%`$ of the weight being contained in the Hubbard features, more realistic models should be considered. In particular, those should allow for stronger effects of the interactions, that is smaller values of $`K_\rho `$. We note, however, that the general tendency of coexistence of a small Drude peak with strong Hubbard bands is already visible in the Hubbard model.

### F The low-temperature Fermi Liquid regime

At strong enough transverse coupling the system becomes a FL. In our numerical simulations, the onset of the FL regime is identified from the behavior of $`K_\rho `$ (see Fig. 10) and from a linear behavior of the imaginary part of the self-energy in Matsubara space: $`\mathrm{\Sigma }(k,i\omega )i\omega `$. The equation defining the Fermi surface $`\mu ϵ_k\mathrm{\Sigma }(k,0)ϵ_{}=0`$ then yields a relation $`k_{}(k)`$ for the points $`(k,k_{})`$ that lie on the Fermi surface. These are visualized in Fig. 12 for the half-filled case. For the uncoupled (1d) system the Fermi surface consists of straight lines (dashed lines in the figure); the transverse hopping induces some cosine-like modulation but does not change the topology drastically. Indeed, the Fermi surface of the interacting coupled system (circles in Fig. 12) is very close to the one of non-interacting ($`U=0`$.) coupled chains (dotted line in Fig. 12).

This is in striking contrast with predictions of an RPA approach, as pointed out in . The RPA consists of replacing the self-energy of an interacting coupled system by the self-energy of a 1d chain. Since the 1d chain is a Mott insulator at half-filling, $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ diverges at low frequency for $`k=\pi /2`$ and the above equation has no solution for this $`k`$-value. Thus, within the RPA the Fermi surface cannot cross the points $`(\pm \pi /2,\pm \pi /2)`$ but consists of disconnected pockets as depicted schematically in Fig. 12 (solid lines). The feedback of the effects of the interchain hopping on the self-energy, which is taken into account by chain-DMFT, regularizes the behavior of the self-energy near these points, leading to an open Fermi surface.

The QP residue $`Z_k_{}`$ calculated within chain-DMFT depends only very weakly on the Fermi surface point (Table I).

Again, this shows that the regularization by interchain hopping feedback effects is very efficient: a nearly divergent self-energy as could be imagined to result from an only slightly regularized 1d self-energy would lead to very small $`Z(k_{})`$ close to $`\pm \pi /2`$. Therefore approximations based on the 1D self-energy are likely to predict “hot spots” at those FS points corresponding to a vanishing inter-chain kinetic energy. Our results, in agreement with those of Arrigoni , do not support such a picture. Rather, the $`k_{}`$-dependence of $`Z(k_{})`$ is very weak, with very shallow minima at $`k_{}\pm \pi /2`$. This small variation is however on the scale of our error bars.

## IV Outlook

In these lecture notes, we have reviewed a few of the fascinating physical properties of quasi one-dimensional organic conductors. Our point of view has been that a unified description of both the TMTTF and TMTSF compounds is possible, as strongly interacting quarter-filled chains with weak interchain couplings. In that picture, the physical changes under pressure (or from TMTTF to TMTSF) are viewed as a deconfinement transition from a Mott insulating regime to a metallic regime . Still, we have emphasized that it is hardly possible to understand these compounds using a purely one-dimensional picture. Inter-chain coherence sets in at low energy in the metallic compounds, and this leaves us with a quite difficult theoretical problem, which cannot be handled by perturbative techniques in the inter-chain hopping.

We have reviewed the recently developed chain-DMFT approach which is in our opinion a promising route to handle these issues. QMC calculations on weakly coupled Hubbard chains have clearly demonstrated that this method is able to reproduce both the deconfinement transition and the dimensional crossover from a LL to a FL as the energy scale is reduced. We have also emphasized that a purely local Hubbard interaction is not appropriate for modelling quasi one-dimensional organics. Indeed, the phenomenology requires i) the possibility of a Mott insulating state at quarter filling and ii) rather small values of $`K_\rho `$ ($`0.23`$) which cannot be reached in the Hubbard model. A minimal theoretical model obeying these requirements is that of weakly coupled quarter-filled chains with both an on-site and a nearest-neighbour interaction. We hope to be able to deal with this model in the chain-DMFT framework in the near future.

Many outstanding questions on the physics of organics remain unanswered at this stage. We have tried to emphasize some of these puzzles in this paper.

## V Acknowledgements

We acknowledge many discussions with D. Jerome, as well as P. Auban-Senzier, J. Moser, P. Wzietek and C. Pasquier, and with L. Degiorgi and G. Grüner on the physics of quasi one-dimensional organic conductors. This research is partially supported by a Marie Curie Fellowship of the European Community Programm “Improving Human Potential” under contract number MCFI-2000804 and a grant of supercomputing time at NIC Jülich.