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# Monocular Measurement of the Spectrum of UHE Cosmic Rays by the FADC Detector of the HiRes Experiment

## 1 Introduction

The aim of the High Resolution Fly’s Eye (HiRes) experiment is to study the highest energy cosmic rays using the atmospheric fluorescence technique. In this paper we describe the data collection, analysis, and Monte Carlo calculations used to measure the cosmic ray spectrum with the HiRes experiment’s FADC detector, HiRes-II. We also describe the analysis performed on the data collected by the HiRes-I detector and present the two monocular spectra, covering an energy range from $`2\times 10^{17}`$ eV to over $`10^{20}`$ eV. We perform a statistical test of the combined spectra which gives strong evidence for the presence of the spectral feature known as the “ankle.” We conclude with a fit of our data to a toy model incorporating galactic and extragalactic cosmic ray sources.

The acceleration of cosmic rays to ultra high energies is thought to occur in large regions of high magnetic fields expanding at relativistic velocities. Such structures are rare in the neighborhood of the Milky Way galaxy and many of the cosmic rays that we observe may have traveled cosmological distances to reach us. Hence they are probes of conditions in some of the most violent and interesting objects in the universe.

The highest energy particles from terrestrial particle accelerators have energy $`1\times 10^{12}`$ eV, so the cosmic rays we observe have energies at least five orders of magnitude higher. Since we observe showers in the atmosphere initiated by the cosmic ray particles, we are sensitive to their composition and to the details of their interactions with matter.

Interactions of high energy protons, traveling large distances across the universe, with photons of the cosmic microwave background radiation can excite nucleon resonances which decay to a nucleon plus a $`\pi `$ meson. This is an important energy loss mechanism for the cosmic rays, and results in the Greisen-Zatsepin-Kuzmin (GZK) cutoff, which is often stated as: cosmic rays traveling more than 50 Mpc should have a maximum energy of $`6\times 10^{19}`$ eV, if sources are uniformly distributed. Several events above this energy have been seen by previous experiments, but statistics are low and it is crucial to search for more events above the GZK cutoff.

The spectrum of cosmic rays has few distinguishing features. It consists of regions of power law behavior with breaks in the power law index. There is a steepening from E-2.7 to E-3.0 at about $`3\times 10^{15}`$ eV (called the knee) and a hardening at higher energy (called the ankle). The Fly’s Eye experiment, observing in stereo mode, saw a second knee (or steepening of the spectrum) at $`4\times 10^{17}`$ eV and the ankle at $`3\times 10^{18}`$ eV. The second knee has also been observed by the Akeno experiment. The Haverah Park experiment observed the ankle at about $`4\times 10^{18}`$ eV. The Yakutsk experiment has seen both the second knee and the ankle. The AGASA experiment, which has a large enough aperture to collect events with energies of $`10^{20}`$ eV, observes a higher flux than Fly’s Eye, and the ankle at $`1\times 10^{19}`$ eV. They observe a dip at the GZK threshold, but their spectrum then recovers at higher energies.

The atmospheric fluorescence technique has its basis in the fact that, on average, approximately five UV fluorescence photons will be emitted when a minimum ionizing particle of charge $`e`$ passes through one meter of air. In HiRes, we detect these photons and reconstruct the development of cosmic ray air showers. We collect the fluorescence light with spherical mirrors of area 5.1 m2, and focus it on a $`16\times 16`$ array of photomultiplier tubes, each of which looks at about one degree of the sky. We record the integrated pulse height and trigger time information from each tube, and can reconstruct the geometry of the air shower and the energy of the primary cosmic ray that initiated it.

HiRes consists of two detector sites located on desert hilltops on the U. S. Army’s Dugway Proving Ground in west central Utah. The first site, called HiRes-I, consists of 22 detectors that look between 3 and 17 degrees in elevation and almost 360 degrees in azimuthal angle. This detector uses an integrating ADC readout system which records the photomultiplier tubes’ pulse height and time information.

The second site, called HiRes-II and located 12.6 km away, consists of 42 detectors looking between 3 and 31 degrees in elevation, and has a Flash ADC (FADC) system to save pulse height and time information from its phototubes. The sampling period of the FADC electronics is 100 ns. Cosmic ray air showers with energies near $`10^{20}`$ eV and occurring within a radius of 35 km, can trigger the HiRes detectors and can be reliably reconstructed.

The two detector sites are designed to observe cosmic ray showers steroscopically. This stereo mode observation gives us the best geometric resolution, about 0.6 degrees in pointing angle and 100 m in distance to the shower. In this mode we make two measurements of the particle’s energy and thus can make an empirical determination of our energy resolution. The limitation of stereo mode is a geometrically imposed lower energy threshold of $`10^{18}`$ eV. At this energy the events lie halfway between the two detectors, about 6 km from each.

In monocular mode, the HiRes-II detector can observe events much closer and dimmer than is possible in stereo mode; the energy threshold for this mode is about $`2\times 10^{17}`$ eV. The geometric resolution is still good: about 5 degrees in pointing angle and 300 m in distance. In this paper we describe the operation and data analysis for the HiRes-II detector, briefly describe the differences between HiRes-I and HiRes-II, and present the monocular spectra of the two detectors.

## 2 Calibration Issues

There are two important calibration issues in HiRes: the first is the absolute calibration of the phototubes’ pulse heights in photons. This is accomplished by carrying a standard light source to each of our detectors and illuminating the phototubes with it. This source is absolutely calibrated using NIST calibrated photodiodes to about 10% accuracy and this uncertainty appears in our energy measurements.

Since the atmosphere is both our calorimeter and the medium through which we look, we must correct for the way it absorbs and scatters fluorescence light. The determination of the characteristics of the atmosphere is our second important calibration. Both the molecular and aerosol components of the atmosphere contribute to the scattering. The molecular component is well known, but we must measure the aerosol component’s contribution. Two steerable YAG lasers, one at each site and operating at wavelength $`\lambda =355`$ nm, are used for the aerosol calibration. The scattered light from the laser at one detector is observed by the other detector. In this way we measure the scattering length, angular distribution of the scattering cross section, and vertical aerosol optical depth (VAOD) of aerosol particles in the atmosphere. The aerosol scale height is obtained from the product of horizontal extinction length at ground level times the VAOD.

Figure 1 shows the amount of light detected as a function of scattering angle for one of these laser events. This shot was fired horizontally from the HiRes-II site and passed within 400 meters of the HiRes-I detector. This geometry allows us to observe a wide range of scattering angles. The filled squares show the data, and the open squares are a fit to this data using a four parameter model of the aerosol extinction length and angular distribution. The forward peak seen in this figure is characteristic of aerosol scattering and the relatively flat distribution at backward scattering angles is characteristic of molecular scattering. The horizontal aerosol extinction length measured from this laser event is 23 km. For comparison, the horizontal molecular extinction length at this same wavelength (355 nm) is 18 km. These extinction lengths correspond approximately to the average of atmospheric conditions during our observations at Dugway.

We perform the laser measurement of atmospheric conditions hourly during data collection. For the analysis reported here the average of hourly aerosol scattering lengths and scale heights were used. Since the data has good statistics and the events were collected evenly over the period in question, they will be well described by the average atmospheric conditions , which were: aerosol scattering length of $`22\pm 2`$ km and scale height of 1.1 km. The RMS of the scale height distribution was 0.4 km, and the systematic uncertainty was smaller than this.

## 3 Data Analysis

The FADC data acquisition system records a 10 $`\mu `$s long series of ADC samples (100 samples total) for each active photomultiplier tube (PMT) in an event. The starting time of the series is chosen to have the peak of the signal pulse in the middle of the sample.

The first step in the analysis of the data consists of pattern recognition to choose which hit tubes were on the track of the cosmic ray event. As a cosmic ray shower propagates down through the atmosphere, the mirrors collect the generated photons and focus them onto the arrays of phototubes. The image moves across the array illuminating one or more tubes at a time. Therefore, tubes on the cosmic ray track are near each other in two ways: spatially and temporally. Phototubes must be near each other in both position and time to be included in the track. The top two quarters of Figure 2 show the picture of an event, where one can see that the tubes on the shower form a line. The lower left part of this figure is a time plot: a plot of the light arrival times (in FADC time-bin units) on the vertical axis versus the angle of the tube measured along the track. From these plots, it is clear that the tubes related to the air shower can be separated from those firing from random sky fluctuations. The elevation and azimuthal angles of the PMT’s on the track are fit to determine the plane which contains the shower and the detector.

In a monocular determination of the shower geometry, the angle of the shower within the shower detector plane is determined from the time plot of the active tubes (see the lower left quadrant of Figure 2). One can show that

$$t_i=t_0+\frac{R_p}{c}\mathrm{tan}\left(\frac{\pi \psi \chi _i}{2}\right)$$
(1)
where $`t_i`$ is the arrival time of light from shower segment $`i`$, $`\chi _i`$ is the angle in the plane containing the shower and detector from the ground to segment $`i`$, $`t_0`$ is the earliest possible arrival time, $`R_p`$ is the impact parameter of the shower, and $`\psi `$ is the angle the shower makes with the ground in the shower-detector plane. The geometry of the shower detector plane is shown in Figure 3. We measure $`t_i`$ and $`\chi _i`$, and need to fit for $`t_0`$, $`\psi `$ and $`R_p`$. $`\psi `$ and $`R_p`$ determine the geometry within the shower-detector plane. Since equation 1 is linear in $`R_p`$ and $`t_0`$, we fit for those variables for fixed values of $`\psi `$ from $`5^{}`$ to $`75^{}`$ in $`1^{}`$ steps. The best geometry is chosen by minimizing $`\chi ^2`$, and the uncertainty in $`\psi `$ from the angles which increase the $`\chi ^2`$ by one.

Once the geometry of the shower is known, we can reconstruct the number of charged particles in the shower as a function of the slant depth of atmosphere through which the shower has passed. To do this, we collect the photoelectrons from tubes on the track into successive time bins, which are multiples of the FADC sampling period. Typically several tubes will contribute to each time bin. Systematic errors in calculating the acceptance of individual tubes tend to be offset by correlated errors in neighboring tubes, reducing the overall uncertainty in the acceptance calculation. We then correct for the sum of the acceptance of all the participating PMT’s and for the quantum efficiency of the phototubes, the mirror reflectivity and the transmission of the HiRes UV filter. This yields the flux of photons striking the mirror.

To convert the photon flux at the detector into the number of charged particles at the observed position of the shower, we first correct for the solid angle of the mirror with respect to the shower. We then correct for the amount of light lost due to scattering and absorption in the atmosphere. This includes light scattered by Raleigh scattering from air molecules, Mie scattering from aerosol particles and absorption due to ozone. The first calculation of the attenuation correction is done assuming that all the observed photons come from the fluorescence spectrum given in Bunner. The solid angle and attenuation corrections give the photon flux at the observed portion of the shower. Finally, we calculate the charged particle multiplicity at the shower using the fluorescence yield measurements of Kakimoto et al.

The charged particle multiplicity distribution is fit to the Gaisser-Hillas profile function:

$$N(X)=N_{max}(\frac{XX_0}{X_{max}X_0})^{\frac{X_{max}X_0}{\lambda }}\mathrm{exp}(\frac{X_{max}X}{\lambda }),$$
(2)
where $`N(X)`$ is the number of charged particles in the shower at slant depth $`X`$, $`N_{max}`$ is the number of particles at shower maximum, $`X_{max}`$ is the slant depth of the maximum, and $`\lambda `$ is a shower-development parameter. We have seen in previous measurements that the Gaisser-Hillas profile function fits extensive air showers very well. Our fits are very insensitive to $`X_0`$ and $`\lambda `$ and we fix them at -60 and 70 g/cm2, respectively. The $`X_0`$ value is chosen to agree with our fits to Corsika showers (see below).

We calculate the correction for scattered Čerenkov light as follows. We use the fitted Gaisser-Hillas function to simulate the development of the beam of Čerenkov photons accompanying the shower, and calculate the number of these photons scattered into our detector acceptance. The atmospheric attenuation is recalculated for the mixture of fluorescence and scattered Čerenkov photons, and the relative numbers of photoelectrons from fluorescence and Čerenkov sources are found after applying the filter transmission and quantum efficiency corrections using the appropriate spectra. The photoelectrons from Čerenkov photons are subtracted from the signal, and the charged particle multiplicity is recalculated again as described above. This iterative process is continued until stability is achieved. This Čerenkov correction is typically about 15%. The lower right part of Figure 2 shows the development profile of a shower after the correction has been performed, and the Gaisser-Hillas function fit to this profile.

We integrate the final fitted Gaisser-Hillas function over all $`X`$ and multiply by the average energy loss per particle (2.19 MeV/g/cm2) to determine the visible shower energy. The visible energy is then corrected for energy carried off by unobservable particles to give the total shower energy.

Cuts are applied to select well-reconstructed events and to assure good resolution. The cuts used in the determination of the UHE cosmic ray spectrum are listed below:

* Angular speed $`<11^{}\mu s^1`$
* Selected tubes $`7`$
* 0.85 $`<`$ Tubes/degree $`<`$ 3.0
* Photoelectrons/degree $`>`$ 25
* Track length $`>7^{}`$, or $`>10^{}`$ for events extending above $`17^{}`$ elevation
* Zenith angle $`<60^{}`$
* 150 $`<X_{max}<1200\mathrm{g}/\mathrm{cm}^2`$, and is visible in detector
* Average Čerenkov Correction $`<`$ 60%
* Geometry fit $`\chi ^2`$/d.o.f. $`<`$ 10
* Profile fit $`\chi ^2`$/d.o.f. $`<`$ 10

## 4 Development of the Monte Carlo Simulation Program

We calculated the aperture of the detector using two Monte Carlo simulation programs. First we generated a library of cosmic ray showers using the programs CORSIKA and QGSJET. We then use events from the library as input to a second program which calculates the response of the detector and writes out simulated events in the same format as the data. Finally, we analyze the Monte Carlo events using the same programs used for the data.

The shower library consists of 200 showers with proton and 200 showers with iron primaries generated for each combination of five fixed primary energies from $`10^{16}`$ eV to $`10^{20}`$ eV and three fixed zenith angles of the shower axis with a secant of 1.00, 1.25 and 1.50. Each shower is characterized by its depth of first interaction in the atmosphere, energy, zenith angle, type of primary particle, and the four parameters of a Gaisser-Hillas fit to its profile (the Gaisser-Hillas formula fits CORSIKA + QGSJET showers very well).

When we use these events, we must scale their parameters in energy from the (discrete) energies of the shower library to the continuous energy spectrum we throw in the detector-response Monte Carlo program. Figure 4 shows the energy dependence of the four Gaisser-Hillas parameters. In scaling the parameters of a shower we use the slopes shown in the four parts of this figure. Use of a shower library preserves the event-to-event fluctuations and correlations in the CORSIKA events.

Since we change the geometry of the showers at random, one CORSIKA shower can be used over and over to create different events. This allows us to generate approximately 30 times as many events per minute with the shower library as we could directly with CORSIKA.

The detector-response program simulates the generation of fluorescence and Čerenkov light by the shower and the operation of the two HiRes detectors, including optics, trigger, electronics, and data acquisition. To generate an event, the program chooses the primary energy and the primary particle type from the spectrum and composition measured in stereoscopic mode by the Fly’s Eye experiment. The zenith angle and distance to the shower are chosen randomly. An event from the shower library bin whose fixed energy and zenith angle are closest to the chosen values is then used to generate the profile of the shower’s development. We scale each of the four Gaisser-Hillas parameters to the thrown energy. The dependence of the Gaisser-Hillas parameters on zenith angle is quite weak, hence we simply use the three bins in zenith angle.

An accurate simulation of fluorescence and Čerenkov light is performed , including the shower profile, the average $`dE/dx`$ for each part of the shower, and atmospheric pressure, the width of the showers, the energy of particles that fall below the Corsika thresholds (we use 0.1 MeV for electrons and photons, 0.3 GeV for hadrons, and 0.7 GeV for muons), calorimetric energy, and the unobserved energy (mostly neutrinos and muons that strike the ground).

Previous publications describe how we calculate fluorescence and Čerenkov light emission, scattering, and transmission. The fluorescence spectrum is taken from Bunner et al., and the overall normalization from Kakimoto et al. The response due to mirror reflectivity, HiRes filter transmission, and phototube quantum efficiency is included. A complete wavelength-dependent calculation is performed for all these effects in 16 wavelength bins between 290 and 410 nm.

To simulate the exact conditions of the experiment, we created a database of parameters that vary from night to night: live time, trigger logic, trigger gains and thresholds, and specific mirrors in operation. Two parameters which vary with time, but which we treated only in an average way, are the sky noise and atmospheric scattering of fluorescence light.

These parameters are read into the detector response programs individually for each event, allowing us to simulate precisely the detector settings recorded during data collection. Direct comparisons of Monte Carlo events and real data, such as those shown below, give us confidence in our detector response programs and prove that we understand our detectors.

The data that went into the comparison plots shown below were recorded by the HiRes-II-detector from 1 December 1999, through 4 May 2000. There are about 2100 events after cuts. The Monte Carlo sample contains about five times as many events. The first two graphs presented here (see Figures 5 and 6) show two basic geometric quantities: the zenith angle distribution and the distance to the shower mean (found by weighting each PMT that was on the track by the number of observed photoelectrons). The upper panels of the graphs show the data as open squares and histograms and the Monte Carlo as filled squares. The data and MC distributions have been normalized to the same area. In the lower panels, the ratio of data divided by MC and a linear fit to this ratio are shown. It can be seen from Figures 5 and 6 that the distributions of these geometric quantities agree very well. Figure 7 shows the $`\chi ^2`$ of a linear fit to the time plot (such as is shown in the lower left quadrant of Figure 2). The agreement shows that the experimental resolution is well simulated in the Monte Carlo program.

An important non-geometric quantity is the amount of light that is seen by the detector. It can be characterized by the number of photoelectrons we receive per degree of track length. Figure 8 shows that the amount of light we see with our detectors and the amount of light we generate in our MC programs closely agree with each other. Figure 9 shows a histogram of the reconstructed energy of events.

The excellent agreement between the data and Monte Carlo simulation in these plots is characteristic of our Monte Carlo as a whole and demonstrates that the Monte Carlo models the data well.

## 5 The UHE Cosmic Ray Spectrum

Having demonstrated that our MC models the detector accurately, we have confidence in using it to calculate the detector aperture. This aperture is shown in Figure 10.

To make an accurate calculation of the flux of cosmic rays it is important to use a continuous Monte Carlo input spectrum in order to take account of the finite energy resolution of the detector. With this in mind, we define the flux, $`J(E)`$, as follows:

$$J(E)=N_D(E)\frac{N_T(E)}{N_A(E)}\frac{1}{\mathrm{\Delta }EA\mathrm{\Omega }T}$$
(3)
where $`N_D(E)`$ is the number of data events in energy bin $`E`$, $`N_T(E)`$ is the number of thrown MC events in energy bin $`E`$ binned by the thrown energy, $`N_A(E)`$ is the number of accepted MC events in energy bin $`E`$ binned by the reconstructed energy, $`\mathrm{\Delta }E`$ is the width of energy bin $`E`$, $`A`$ is the area into which the MC generated events, $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ is the solid angle into which the MC generated events, and $`T`$ is the total running time of the detector. The MC generated events within a 35 km radius of the detector and with zenith angles from 0 to $`70^{}`$. For the data included in this paper, recorded from 1 December 1999 to 4 May 2000, the detector was live for 144 hours. This includes data only from nights with good weather. This time period represents the first period of stable running for the HiRes-II detector. After this period the trigger was changed considerably, so subsequent data have to be analyzed separately.

An important feature of Equation 3 is that when one has modeled the experimental resolution correctly and put in the correct thrown energy spectrum, $`N_T(E)`$, the ratio $`N_D(E)/N_A(E)`$ becomes a constant independent of energy. In this situation, one makes a first order correction for experimental resolution; the spectrum one calculates has the shape of $`N_T(E)`$. The comparisons between data and Monte Carlo (see especially Figures 7 and 9) show that our modeling is accurate.

The measured spectrum, $`J(E)`$, is shown in Figure 11. The measured spectrum multiplied by $`E^3`$ is shown in Figure 12. For the latter, the average energy of the data events in each bin is used to compute the $`E^3`$ factor.

Panel a of Figure 12) shows the HiRes-II spectrum in comparison with two previous fluorescence experiments, Fly’s Eye (stereo) and HiRes-MIA. The agreement between the three is quite good. Since different methods were used to calibrate the three experiments, one expects slightly different results. The three results are all within the calibration uncertainties of each experiment. Panel b of Figure 12 shows the HiRes-II spectrum in comparison with three ground array experiments, Akeno, Haverah Park and Yakutsk. Differences in energy scale calibration between experiments are accentuated by the $`E^3`$ factor.

The Fly’s Eye experiment, in their stereo analysis, observed the ankle feature at $`3\times 10^{18}`$ eV. To test whether this feature is seen in the HiRes-II data, we fit the HiRes-II spectrum to both a single power law and to a double power law with a floating break point. The single power law fit results in a spectra index, $`\gamma =3.12\pm 0.04`$, with a $`\chi ^2=14.1`$ for 13 degrees of freedom. The double power law fit results in a spectral index, $`\gamma _1=3.16\pm 0.05`$ below the break point, $`\mathrm{log}_{10}E=18.5\pm 0.4`$, and a spectral index, $`\gamma _2=3.0\pm 0.2`$, above the break point. The $`\chi ^2`$ for this fit was 12.0 for 11 degrees of freedom. The $`\chi ^2`$ was reduced by 2.1 while adding 2 parameters. Since the $`\chi ^2`$ did not improve significantly, we cannot claim evidence for the ankle in the HiRes-II monocular data alone.

## 6 HiRes-I Analysis

In addition to the monocular data collected by the HiRes-II detector, we have a considerable amount of monocular data collected by HiRes-I. In this section we describe the differences between the two detectors and their analyses, and in the next section present both monocular spectra. For a more complete description of the HiRes-I detector and its analysis see references and.

The most important differences between the HiRes-I and HiRes-II detectors are the time resolution and the number of mirrors. The HiRes-II time resolution is about a factor of two better than that of HiRes-I, and the one ring of mirrors at HiRes-I means that the tracks are shorter. These factors affect the resolution of the time vs. angle plot (a time plot for HiRes-II is shown is the lower left quadrant of Figure 2). A third difference between the two detectors’ data is that in this paper we are reporting data covering four years of running for HiRes-I (from 29 May 1997 to 7 Feb. 2003) and six months for HiRes-II.

In reconstructing the geometry of tracks seen by the HiRes-I detector, we wish to measure $`R_p`$ and $`\psi `$ from the curvature in the time plot (a HiRes-II time plot is displayed in the lower left quadrant of Figure 2). But the shorter tracks means the uncertainty in $`R_p`$ and $`\psi `$ are greater than we would wish for many events. To solve this problem, we add to our fitting procedure a constraint based on the longitudinal energy deposition profile of the event (for a HiRes-II longitudinal profile plot see the lower right quadrant of Figure 2). From previous experiments using fluorescence detectors, and from the HiRes-II analysis reported here, we know that the Gaisser-Hillas formula in Equation 2 fits our events very well. While $`X_{max}`$ varies from event to event and depends logarithmically on the atomic weight of the nucleus and initial energy, the shape of the shower is largely independent of these. Therefore, we use the fact that the shower width does not change with energy or composition to constrain the fit.

The profile-constrained geometry fit proceeds by first calculating a combined $`\chi ^2`$ for the time and profile fits. Each phototube on the track makes one contribution to the time fit and one to the profile fit. A map of $`\chi ^2`$ is made in six steps in $`X_{max}`$ and 180 steps in $`\psi `$. The $`X_{max}`$ values used are 685, 720, 755, 790, 825, and 960 g/cm2. These values span the range of $`X_{max}`$ values expected for our energy range. The $`\psi `$ values range from 1 to 180 degrees. For each of the map points, the fit is performed with the Gaisser-Hillas parameter $`X_0`$ fixed to -60 g/cm2. In the vicinity of the minimum of the $`\chi ^2`$ map a finer search is performed, which includes varying the orientation of the shower-detector plane within bounds of the fired photomultiplier tube apertures. To ensure that the reconstruction process has been accurate, we demand that:

* The Čerenkov light contribution to the observed flux be less than 20%,
* The track length be greater than 7.9 degrees,
* The depth of the first observed point be less than 1000 g/cm2,
* Angular speed $`<3.4^{}\mu s^1`$,
* The average effective mirror area seen by the hit tubes for the event $`>0.9`$ m2,
* $`\psi <120^{}`$.

In a Monte Carlo study of the profile-constrained geometry fit, we find that the method works well. However, it introduces a small bias into the reconstructed energy. The bias is 15% at $`3\times 10^{18}`$ eV and falls to 5% at $`3\times 10^{19}`$ eV. Figure 13 shows the reconstructed energy divided by the Monte Carlo thrown energy at $`3\times 10^{18}`$ eV. The bias is evident from the fact that the peak does not occur at 1. Superimposed upon this plot is a similar plot determined from our stereo data. Here the stereo information was used to precisely determine the geometry of the event, but the energy was reconstructed using only information from HiRes-I. Stereo geometry is like the Monte Carlo in that in both cases the geometry is well known. Thus, it is a good test of geometric effects in reconstruction. The two curves agree very well. The shift was parameterized and a correction applied to the data. In Figure 14, the corrected energy from the profile-constrained geometry fit is compared to the energy calculated using stereo geometry.

Our Monte Carlo describes the HiRes-I data well. As an example, Figure 15 is a comparison between data and Monte Carlo of $`R_p`$, the impact parameter of showers, for events where $`18.4<\mathrm{log}E(eV)<18.6`$. The agreement is excellent.

## 7 Systematic Uncertainties

The largest sources of systematic uncertainty in this experiment are atmospheric modeling, the absolute calibration of the detector in units of photons, the absolute yield of the fluorescence process, and the correction for unobserved energy in the shower.

To test the sensitivity of the flux measurement at HiRes-II to uncertainties in atmospheric conditions we reanalyzed the data and generated new Monte Carlo samples with new conditions: we first changed the aerosol horizontal extinction length from 22 to 20 km, then we changed the aerosol scale height from 1.1 km to 0.7 km. The extinction length change corresponds to one standard deviation. For the scale height change we used the RMS of the scale height distribution, and thus made a conservative estimate of the systematic uncertainty from this source. These two variables are related since the aerosol column depth is equal to their product (for an exponential atmospheric model). Changing the horizontal extinction length had little effect, raising the normalization of $`J(E)`$ by $`(4\pm 6)`$%. The change in aerosol scale height had a larger effect, lowering $`J(E)`$ on average by $`(15\pm 5)`$%. We also raised the scale height and found a symmetric change in $`J(E)`$.

The systematic uncertainties in the HiRes-I data from atmospheric conditions are similar to those for HiRes-II. We found the reconstructed geometries of HiRes-I events above $`10^{18.5}`$ eV to be insensitive to changes in either the aerosol extinction length or the aerosol scale height, and we saw a maximum change in the energy of $`\pm 13`$% at $`10^{20}`$ eV, decreasing to $`\pm 6`$% at $`10^{18.5}`$ eV. Taking the average energy shift, 9%, the systematic uncertainty in flux from atmospheric effects at HiRes-I becomes $`\pm 15`$%.

The systematic uncertainty from the absolute calibration of the detector is equal to 10% and is independent of energy. The absolute uncertainty in the fluorescence yield is 10% and is independent of energy. The uncertainty in the correction for unobserved energy in the shower is 5%. Adding the uncertainties in quadrature yields a net systematic uncertainty on $`J(E)`$, averaged over energy, of 31%.

## 8 Discussion

In Figure 16, the monocular spectra from both the HiRes-I and HiRes-II detectors are shown. In the energy range where both detectors’ data have good statistical power the results agree with each other very well. The highest energy HiRes-I data point corresponds to two events reconstructed at $`1.0`$ and $`1.5\times 10^{20}`$ eV.

We now fit the combined HiRes-I and HiRes-II monocular spectra to both a single power law fit and a double power law fit with a floating break point. The single power law fit results in a spectra index, $`\gamma =3.07\pm 0.02`$, with a $`\chi ^2=67.8`$ for 31 degrees of freedom. This is not an acceptable fit. The double power law fit results in a spectral index, $`\gamma _1=3.17\pm 0.03`$ below the break point, $`\mathrm{log}_{10}E=18.65\pm 0.05`$, and a spectral index, $`\gamma _2=2.89\pm 0.04`$, above the break point. The $`\chi ^2`$ for this fit was 41.1 for 29 degrees of freedom. The large improvement in the $`\chi ^2`$ (26.7 while adding only two parameters) indicates strong evidence for the ankle being present in the combined HiRes monocular data.

The latest results of the AGASA experiment are also shown in this figure. Below about $`1\times 10^{20}`$ eV the AGASA results are consistently a factor of two higher than ours. Above this energy their data points diverge from the trend of our data. Since the vertical axis in Figure 16 is $`E^3\times J(E)`$ a modest change in the energy scale would bring the experiments into considerably better agreement. For example lowering the AGASA energy scale by 30% would bring their points down by a factor of 2, move them to the left by 0.15 in $`\mathrm{log}(E)`$, and reduce the discrepancy between the two experiments. Such a change is within the systematic uncertainties of each experiment.

In the energy range, $`18.7<\mathrm{log}E<19.8`$ the HiRes data is fit by an $`E^{2.8}`$ power law. The three highest-energy data points do not lie along an extension of that power law. Such an extension would predict that 25.3 events would occur above $`\mathrm{log}E=19.8`$ while only 10 were seen. The Poisson statistics probability of observing 10 or fewer events while expecting 25.3 is $`4.9\times 10^4`$.

On the other hand, our data are consistent with the prediction of a GZK cutoff. As an example of what one would expect we have fit the data to a model that consists of two sources for cosmic rays, galactic and extragalactic, which includes the GZK threshold. We use the extragalactic propagation model of Berezinsky, Gazizov, and Grigorieva, modified to take account of discrete energy losses of protons as in the paper by Blanton, Blasi and Olinto, and assume that protons come from sources distributed uniformly following the expansion of the universe, and lose energy by pion and $`e^+e^{}`$ production from the cosmic microwave background radiation, as well as from the expansion of the universe. Since the measured composition changes from heavy to light within our energy range, we approximate the galactic component of cosmic rays as being the fraction of iron. We take this fraction to be 55% at $`10^{17}`$ eV, decreasing linearly with $`\mathrm{log}E`$ to 20% at $`10^{17}`$ eV, then decreasing to zero at $`10^{20}`$ eV. The model includes an end to the extragalactic input spectrum at $`1\times 10^{21}`$ eV. The fitting parameters of the model are the normalization and power law index (at the source) of extragalactic cosmic rays. The power law index in the fit was -2.4. The fit is excellent with $`\chi ^2`$ of 32.6 for 31 degrees of freedom. In this model, the peak at $`\mathrm{log}E`$ of 19.8 is due to fitted $`E^{2.4}`$ input spectrum being cut off at the pion production threshold, the ankle is due to energy losses from $`e^+e^{}`$ production, and the second knee comes from the $`e^+e^{}`$ production threshold.

## 9 Conclusions

We have measured the flux of UHE cosmic rays with the FADC detector of the HiRes experiment. Use of Flash ADC information allowed us to reduce systematic errors in reconstruction of events. We developed our Monte Carlo simulation programs to very accurately model the experiment, and calculated the exposure of the experiment in a way that takes into account the experimental resolution. The result reported here is in good agreement with the cosmic ray flux measurement made with the HiRes-I detector. The latter measurement is based on a largely statistically independent data set, with only a limited number of stereo events in common to both analyses. The result reported here is also consistent with the flux measured by the Fly’s Eye experiment using the stereo reconstruction technique. Above $`10^{20}`$eV our data is significantly different from that of the AGASA experiment. The ankle is not seen in the HiRes-II monocular alone, but is apparent in the combined HiRes-I and HiRes-II data. We have fit our data to a model incorporating both galactic and extragalactic sources of cosmic rays, which includes the GZK cutoff, and find good agreement.

## 10 Acknowledgements

This work is supported by US NSF grants PHY-9321949, PHY-9322298, PHY-0098826, PHY-0245428, PHY-0305516, PHY-0307098, by the DOE grant FG03-92ER40732, and by the Australian Research Council. We gratefully acknowledge the contributions from the technical staffs of our home institutions. The cooperation of Colonels E. Fischer and G. Harter, the US Army, and the Dugway Proving Ground staff is appreciated.


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# Phase Sensitive Shot Noise in an Andreev Interferometer

## Abstract

We investigate nonequilibrium noise in a diffusive Andreev interferometer, in which currents emerging from two Normal metal/Superconductor (N-S) interfaces can interfere. We observe a modulation of the shot noise when the phase difference between the two N-S interfaces is varied by a magnetic flux. This is the signature of phase-sensitive fluctuations in the normal metal. The effective charge inferred from the shot noise measurement is close to $`q_{eff}=2e`$ but shows phase-dependent deviations from $`2e`$ at finite energy, which we interprete as due to pair correlations. Experimental data are in good agreement with theoretical predictions based on an extended Keldysh Green’s function approach.

Transport in mesoscopic normal metal - superconductor (N-S) structures has attracted great interest recently NSreview  due to the subtle and varied ways in which coherence is exhibited in these systems. Propagation of the superconducting correlations into the normal metal is realized via Andreev reflection Andreev  at the N-S boundary: an electron can cross the N-S boundary from the normal metal only by leaving behind a hole correlated to the electron. This transfers a charge of $`2e`$. The existence of electron-hole correlated pairs in the normal metal is a consequence of the presence of the superconducting reservoir. This proximity effect strongly affects all the properties of the normal metal: its thermodynamics (e.g. the existence of a supercurrent in a normal wire between two S reservoirs), its transport properties (reentrant conductance of an Andreev wire - a diffusive normal wire between N and S reservoirs) and its fluctuations (doubled shot noise in the Andreev wire, a consequence of the charge transfer being $`2e`$NSreview ; doublingexp .

After an Andreev process, the reflected hole carries information about the phase of the superconducting order parameter of the S reservoir at the N-S interface. When two S reservoirs are connected to the same phase-coherent device, a phase gradient develops along the normal metal, resulting in phase-dependent properties. In an Andreev interferometer - a device containing a superconducting loop, all the electronic properties are periodic with the magnetic flux $`\mathrm{\Phi }`$ enclosed by the loop, with a period of the flux quantum, $`\mathrm{\Phi }_0=h/(2e)`$. This has been observed in the supercurrent and in the conductanceloops ; denHartog , but phase-dependent fluctuations have not been reported. Studies of such non-equilibrium noise (shot noise) are of interest to elucidate the correlations of the charge transfer process.

In this work we present the results of measurements and modeling of conductance and non-equilibrium current noise, $`S_I`$, in an Andreev interferometer. $`S_I`$ is the spectral density of the current fluctuations. The effective charge is defined as $`q_{eff}=(3/2)(dS_I/dI)`$. At finite energy, $`q_{eff}`$ is found to be close to its ’standard’ value, $`2e`$, but with a phase sensitive component. This deviation from $`2e`$ is due to the anticorrelated entry of pairs into the normal metal, related to their spatial overlap. This is, to our knowledge, the first experimental proof that electronic fluctuations (noise) can be phase sensitive. The experimental results agree very well with our calculations based on the counting statistics approach Nazarov99 ; Belzig:2001 .

The theoretical calculation of the conductance of Andreev interferometers is based on the mesoscopic proximity effect theory SupLatt ; eilenberger ; Nazarov:1994 ; Nazarov:1996  using the quasiclassical Usadel equation. The resistance exhibits a minimum at an energy of order the Thouless energy, $`E_C=\mathrm{}D/L^2`$ ($`D`$ is the diffusion constant, and $`L`$ here is the length of one arm of our interferometer) Nazarov:1996 ; denHartog . This gives rise to the reentrant behavior of the resistance with temperature $`T`$ ($`Ek_BT`$) or bias voltage $`V`$ ($`E=eV`$).

The noise of the Andreev interferometer can be understood by first considering the Andreev wire. The current spectral density at $`T=0`$ for both systems is $`S_I=(2/3)2eI`$ at energies much smaller and much larger than the Thouless energy, for $`I>0`$ doubling ; doublingexp . This is twice the value for a diffusive normal wire between two normal reservoirs at $`T=0`$. This doubling of the shot noise can be interpreted as the effective charge being $`q_{eff}=2e`$ due to Andreev reflection. The behavior at intermediate energies is more subtle, and was not initially accessible. Recently, methods were developed Belzig:2001  to treat the shot noise at arbitrary energies and obtain the full counting statistics. It was shown for the Andreev wire that the noise in the range $`EE_C`$ has a non-trivial energy dependence Belzig:2001 ; doublingexp . However, the physical interpretation of this behavior was not evident. For interferometers, more complex, phase-dependent behavior is predicted; see below. The ability to vary the phase has allowed us to test separately various aspects of the theory. In particular, we have established in the present work that the non-trivial energy dependence of the shot noise at intermediate energies, seen for Andreev wires and interferometers, arises from correlations between the electron-hole pairs entering the normal metal, and that phase gradients suppress this effect.

Devices were fabricated and measured at Yale University. An SEM picture and a schematic of the device studied are presented in Fig. 1a (two similar devices were studied). The device is a diffusive Au wire, shaped like a ”Y”, in contact with a thick Au reservoir, and in contact with 2 terminals of a large Nb loop. The Nb loop is attached to another Au reservoir. The conductance of the structure is measured between the two Au reservoirs. The phase difference $`\phi `$ between the superconducting terminals is controlled by application of a magnetic field perpendicular to the plane of the superconducting loop; $`\phi =2\pi \mathrm{\Phi }/\mathrm{\Phi }_0`$. The thin Au wire and the thick Au reservoirs were deposited using a double-angle evaporation technique FultonDolan  in a single vacuum pump down. The surface of the Au was then ion-beam cleaned before Nb deposition to ensure a transparent N-S interface. The Au wire is about 10 nm thick and has an almost temperature-independent sheet resistance of $`15\mathrm{\Omega }/\mathrm{}`$, which corresponds to an electron diffusion constant $`D\mathrm{3.3\hspace{0.33em}10}^3`$ m2/s. The Au reservoir is $`70`$ nm thick and has a sheet resistance of $`0.5\mathrm{\Omega }/\mathrm{}`$. The Nb film is $`80`$ nm thick. For our device, we define the Thouless energy $`E_C=\mathrm{}D/L^230\mu `$eV, where $`L270`$nm is the length of each of the 3 sections of the device. Measurements were performed in a dilution refrigerator at a mixing chamber temperature $`T=43`$ mK. At low temperature the electron energy relaxation is dominated by electron-electron interactions Altshuler:1982  and the associated inelastic length $`L_{ee}`$ is larger than $`L`$, so the transport in the device is elastic Lee .

The differential resistance, $`R_{diff}=dV/dI`$ was measured at $`200`$Hz as a function of bias voltage $`V`$ for several values of magnetic flux, using lines carefully filtered with cryogenic low-pass filters. The current fluctuations $`S_I`$ in the sample were measured in a frequency band $`\mathrm{\Delta }f`$ from $`1.25`$ to $`1.75`$GHz using a cryogenic HEMT amplifier. The noise emitted by the sample passes through a cold circulator, to isolate the sample from amplifier emissions, and is then amplified by the cryogenic amplifier and rectified at room temperature after further amplification. The detected power is thus given by $`P_{det}=G\mathrm{\Delta }f(k_BT_{out}+k_BT_A)`$ where $`G`$ is the gain of the amplifier chain, $`T_A6.5`$K is the noise temperature of the amplifier, and $`T_{out}`$ is the effective temperature corresponding to the noise power coming from the sample ($`T_{out}=0.040.6`$K for $`V=0150\mu `$V). We determine $`G\mathrm{\Delta }f`$ and $`T_A`$ by measuring the sample’s Johnson noise vs. temperature at $`V=0`$ and its shot noise at $`eV(k_BT,E_C)`$. We modulate the current through the sample to suppress the contribution of $`T_A`$, and measure $`dP_{det}/dI`$. This gives $`dT_{out}/dI`$. $`T_{out}`$ is given by $`T_{out}=(1\mathrm{\Gamma }^2)T_N+\mathrm{\Gamma }^2T_{in}`$, and $`S_I`$ is given by $`S_I=4k_BT_N/R_{diff}`$. Here $`T_N`$ is the sample’s noise temperature and $`R_{diff}`$ the differential resistance at the measurement frequency noteRdiff , $`\mathrm{\Gamma }^2`$ is the power reflection coefficient of the sample and $`T_{in}`$ the external noise incoming to the sample. In the formula for $`T_{out}`$, the first term on the right represents the noise emitted by the sample which is coupled to the amplifier. The second term represents the external noise the sample reflects. It has a magnitude of a few percent of the first term gamma2 . In the data analysis we take $`\mathrm{\Gamma }^2=0`$, since measurements of the relative variation of $`\mathrm{\Gamma }^2(\mathrm{\Phi },V)`$ show that taking $`\mathrm{\Gamma }^2=0`$ leads to an error of $`<0.01e`$ for the effective charge.

Measurements of $`R_{diff}`$ vs. bias voltage are given in Fig. 2a. $`R_{diff}`$ has a systematic dependence on the magnetic flux. At integer flux, $`\mathrm{\Phi }=n\mathrm{\Phi }_0`$, the reentrant behavior of the differential resistance vs. bias voltage is pronounced. The maximum dip in resistance below the value at large voltage, $`R_N`$, is about $`13`$%. $`R_{diff}(V=0)`$ is lower than its normal state value ($`R_N=67.5\mathrm{\Omega }`$ taken at $`V=400\mu `$eV) possibly because of finite temperature and finite phase coherence. The reentrant behavior is also present at half-integer flux, but the amplitude of the resistance change is smaller, about $`2`$%. The minimum of $`R_{diff}`$ occurs at a voltage $`VE_C/e`$ for $`\mathrm{\Phi }=n\mathrm{\Phi }_0`$ and at a substantially higher bias voltage, $`V3E_C/e`$, for half-integer flux. The magnetic field dependence of the differential resistance at $`V=0`$ is shown in the inset of Fig 2a. The observed magnetic field period is within $`10`$% equal to $`\mathrm{\Phi }_0/A`$, with $`A`$ the inner area of the loop.

We calculated $`R_{diff}`$ using the approach of Ref. Belzig:2001, ; see Fig. 2b. The value of the Thouless energy used in the calculations, $`E_C=30\mu `$eV, is inferred from the sample geometry. The electron temperature is assumed to be $`43`$ mK ($`k_BT=4\mu eV`$), that of the mixing chamber. No fitting parameters were used. Use of a slightly higher temperature would somewhat improve the fit but not change the qualitative behavior. Our calculation does not include the effects of inelastic scattering, imperfect interfaces nor additional heating of the reservoirs at finite voltages. Even so, the conductance of the Andreev interferometer is seen to be well described by theory, in its basic form. This gives us confidence that the sample parameters and geometry are correctly described.

The behavior of $`R_{diff}`$ seen in Fig. 2 can be understood qualitatively. The dip of $`R_{diff}`$ for $`\mathrm{\Phi }=0`$ at $`EE_C`$ is like that seen for an Andreev wire of length $`2L`$. (For our Y-shaped interferometer, the two right hand arms of length $`L`$ can be taken to be in parallel, see Fig. 1c.) At high energy $`R_{diff}=R_N`$. The dip is due to a competition between the effect of induced, correlated electron-hole pairs at finite energy, which reduce the resistance, and the formation of a gap at yet lower energies, which increases the resistance. For $`\mathrm{\Phi }=\mathrm{\Phi }_0/2`$, point A of the interferometer (Fig. 1d) is driven normal so that the length affected by the superconductor is $`L`$. Thus, the dip occurs at a voltage roughly four times larger. Also, the resistance of those two arms is a fraction, $`1/3`$, of $`R_N`$, so the dip is much smaller than for $`\mathrm{\Phi }=0`$.

From the noise measurements we deduce the effective charge, $`q_{eff}=(3/2)(dS_I/dI)`$; see Fig. 3a. At finite energy ($`E>k_BT`$) the effective charge reflects the charge transferred but also includes the effects of correlations in the transfer process. By considering $`dS_I/dI`$ rather than $`dS_I/dV`$ we eliminate the trivial effect of a non-linear $`I(V)`$ characteristic. The voltage dependence of $`dS_I/dI`$ yields information on energy-dependent correlations between charge transfers. Fig. 3b gives the theory results based on full counting statistics. The inset shows the theory for $`\mathrm{\Phi }=0`$ and $`\mathrm{\Phi }=\mathrm{\Phi }_0/2`$, for $`T=43`$mK and $`T=0`$. The effective charge is seen in the theory to be independent of the phase difference at bias voltages larger than $`100\mu `$V, with significant phase modulation of $`q_{eff}`$ in the bias voltage range $`1080\mu `$V. The maximum magnitude of the observed dip of $`q_{eff}`$ vs. voltage is $`10`$%, and occurs for $`\mathrm{\Phi }\mathrm{\Phi }_0/4`$. There is no dip for $`\mathrm{\Phi }=\mathrm{\Phi }_0/2`$. For $`T=0`$, $`q_{eff}`$ returns to $`2e`$ as $`V0`$. At finite temperature, $`q_{eff}`$ goes to zero for $`eVk_BT`$. This is because $`S_I`$ reduces to Johnson noise at $`V=0`$. Thus, the decrease of $`q_{eff}`$ at very low voltages is not related to Andreev physics. In contrast, the dip near $`E_C`$ is due to the energy dependence of Andreev reflection.

The experimental results are in fairly good agreement with the theoretical predictions. As expected, there is no phase modulation of $`q_{eff}`$ at large energies $`eVE_C`$, and here $`q_{eff}=2e`$. At $`EE_C`$, the effective charge is smaller for integer flux than for half-integer flux. The non-trivial energy/flux dependence predicted (crossings of the different curves) is seen in the experiment, though the agreement is not perfect. The magnitude of the dip of $`q_{eff}`$ in the data is also close to the theoretical prediction.

To understand the origin of the dip of $`S_I`$ seen for $`\mathrm{\Phi }=0`$, we have also solved a generalized Boltzmann-Langevin (BL) equation. In such an approach correlations due to the superconductor enter through the energy- and space-dependent conductivity, which gives $`I(V,\mathrm{\Phi })`$. At $`T=0`$, the BL result for all flux values is simply $`S_I^{BL}=(2/3)2eI(V,\mathrm{\Phi })`$, i.e., $`q_{eff}=2e`$ at all energies. This implies that the deviation of the effective charge from $`2e`$ must be due to fluctuation processes which are not related to single-particle scattering, on which the BL approach is based. We believe that the higher-order process which is responsible for the dip of $`S_I`$ is a two-pair correlation process. At high energies ($`E>E_C`$) the electron-hole pair states have a length $`(\mathrm{}D/E)^{1/2}`$, shorter than $`2L`$. This results in uncorrelated entry of pairs into the normal region. For $`E<E_C`$ the pair size is larger, and the spatial overlap prevents fully random entry, suppressing $`S_I`$. Suppressed shot noise is a signature of anti-correlated charge entry BuBlan . At lower energies (at $`T=0`$) the effective charge is predicted to return to 2e; we do not yet have a physical interpretation of this. In any case, for the case of $`\mathrm{\Phi }=\mathrm{\Phi }_0/2`$, the dip of $`q_{eff}`$ is fully suppressed, according to the theory. This means that the phase gradients destroy the pair correlation effect.

In summary we have understood the energy- and phase dependence of the shot noise of an Andreev interferometer. The correlation of pair entry into the normal metal causes deviations from the effective charge of $`q_{eff}=2e`$. The effects of pair correlations and of phase gradients on other properties will be explored in future experiments.

The authors wish to acknowledge I. Siddiqi, C. Wilson and L. Frunzio for assistance with device fabrication and A. Clerck, M. Devoret and R. Schoelkopf for useful discussions. This work was supported by NSF DMR grant 0072022. The work of W.B. was supported by the Swiss NSF and the NCCR Nanoscience.


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# Light hadron properties with improved staggered quarks

## Acknowledgments

We thank Peter LePage, Junko Shigemitsu and Matt Wingate for straightening out the normalization of $`f_\pi `$. Computations were performed at LANL, NERSC, NCSA, ORNL, PSC and SDSC. This work was supported by the U.S. DOE and NSF.


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# EVOLUTION OF GALAXY MORPHOLOGY

## 1 INTRODUCTION

Theories of galaxy evolution remain speculative and uncertain. However, strong constraints on such theories are becoming available from the marvelous new imaging data on galaxy morphology at various redshifts that have have become available during the last seven years. Such observations show that most star formation in galaxies with $`z<1`$ takes place in disks, whereas stars in objects with $`z>2`$ occurs mainly in luminous “blobs” and chaotic structures. Furthermore the typical galaxy at $`z>2`$ is, at any given time, undergoing a merger, whereas such major mergers are seen to be relatively rare at $`z<1`$. Additionally, late-type galaxies are seen to change their appearance rapidly with increasing redshift, whereas the morphological evolution of early-type galaxies seems to be much slower. Unexpectedly the fraction of barred galaxies is observed to be a steeply decreasing function of redshift, while the fraction of nearby barred galaxies is found to be almost independent of their environment.

## 2 BARRED GALAXIES

Some time ago van den Bergh et al. (1996) noticed that barred galaxies appeared to be much rarer in the Hubble Deep Field than they are in nearby regions of the Universe. Making detailed corrections for band-shift effects, changes in resolution, and the increase of noise in observations of more distant galaxies, van den Bergh et al. (2002) were able to confirm the reality of this effect. As viewed in rest frame blue light, the fraction of barred galaxies appears to decrease from 23% at $`z=0.0`$ to $`4\%`$ at $`z0.7`$. Possibly this decrease in the fraction of barred galaxies with increasing redshift is due to the fact that young, recently formed, spiral galaxies are still too chaotic (dynamically “hot”) to undergo global bar-like instabilities. Another unexpected effect \[see Table 1\] is that the frequency of of bars in disk (S0-Im) galaxies appears to be almost independent of galaxy environment (van den Bergh 2002, and work in preparation).

Among 1103 nearby disk galaxies that have been observed with large reflecting telescopes (Sandage & Tammann 1981), it is found that 26 $`\pm `$ 2% are barred. This value does not appear to differ significantly from 32 $`\pm `$ 5% barred objects among 107 Coma S0-Sc galaxies with $`m<17.0`$. Since the fraction of barred objects depends slightly on Hubble type it is, perhaps, fairest to compare the fraction of barred galaxies of types S0 + S0/a in the entire Shapley-Ames catalog directly with the corresponding fraction in the Coma cluster. For the entire Shapley-Ames catalog 25 $`\pm `$ 4% of 190 S0 + S0/a galaxies are barred, compared to 24 $`\pm `$ 6% of 62.5 such objects among galaxies with $`m<17.0`$ in the Coma cluster. This result suggests that that the process that results in the formation of galactic bars is an internal one that is almost independent of galaxy environment.

## 3 PECULIAR GALAXIES

A galaxy is defined as being “peculiar” if it differs in some significant way from the prototypes used to define the Hubble tuning fork classification system. It is one of the beauties of Hubble’s system that most luminous nearby galaxies fit it so well, and do not need to be ”shoehorned” into the system. One of the most striking results obtained from the imaging of the Hubble Deep Field (Ferguson, Dickinson & Williams 2000) was that such a large fraction of the HDF(N) galaxies had peculiar morphologies. From my own classifications I find that the overall fraction of peculiar galaxies (as viewed in the restframe blue band) increases from 12% at z = 0.0 to 46% at $`z0.7`$. However, these overall figures are a bit misleading because of the difference that is observed between the way in which early-type and late-type galaxies “age”. At $`z0.7`$ only $``$5% of E-S0-Sa galaxies appear to be peculiar. For comparison 69% of Sbc-Sc galaxies are peculiar at $`z0.7`$. Taken at face value this result suggests that late-type galaxies have required a longer time arrive at their present morphology than have systems of early type. Also the nature of the peculiarities seen in early-type galaxies are systematically different from those that are observed in late-type systems. In distant Sa-Sb spirals the arm structure is generally less well-developed than it is among nearby spirals with $`z0`$. On the other hand the peculiarity of late-type spirals at high redshifts is mainly due to the fact that their spiral structure is more chaotic than it is for nearby Sbc and Sc galaxies. A special kind of peculiarity occurs among spirals that are located in dense cluster environments (van den Bergh 1976). As a result of what is nowadays referred to as “galaxy harassment” (Moore et al. 1996) the spiral arms of tidally interacting early-type galaxies (and galaxies in rich clusters) have a “fuzzy” appearance. \[In extreme cases the spiral structure becomes “anemic”.\] On the other hand the spiral arms of late-type interacting spirals take on a “knotty” morphology, which is presumably due to an enhanced formation rate of clusters and associations.

## 4 THE MADAU PLOT

Perhaps the most striking feature of galaxy morphology and star formation is that most stars at $`z<1`$ appear to be forming in disks. On the other hand the majority of stars in objects with $`z>2`$ seem to form in luminous clumps or in chaotic structures. Possibly the change in slope of the Madau (1997) plot near $`z1.5`$ is due to this transition from chaotic/clumpy star formation at high redshifts to star creation in disks among the majority of nearby galaxies.

## 5 MERGERS

On deep exposures with the HST the surface density of galaxies is high. As a result many galaxies are members of optical, i.e. nonphysical pairs. One can try to circumvent this problem by only accepting those objects which either (1) exhibit (tidal) distortions, or (2) galaxies with physically overlapping main bodies as merger candidates. Adopting this definition it is found that only $``$5% of the galaxies in the HDF(N) +HDF(S) that have $`z<1.2`$ are merger candidates. On the other hand it turns out that $``$57% of the objects with $`z>2`$.0 are merger candidates. In other words most galaxies at $`z>2`$ are, at any given time, involved in a merger with a luminous (massive) companion, whereas nearby galaxies are typically single. It is noted in passing that only 1.5% of the galaxies with $`m<17.0`$ in the Coma cluster appear to be merging (or have double or multiple cores). Presumably this low merger frequency is a direct consequence of the very high (1038 $`\pm `$ 60 km/s, Colless & Dunn 1996) velocity dispersion in the Coma cluster.

## 6 CONCLUSIONS

Perhaps the most important insight that has been obtained in recent times is that galaxy morphology depends strongly on both the environment and on the redshifts of galaxies. The Hubble tuning fork classification system is strictly applicable only to nearby galaxies with $`z<0.5`$, with bars apparently becoming ever less frequent with increasing redshift. Furthermore The Hubble system becomes degenerate in very dense environments where the majority of galaxies are of Hubble types E, S0 and SB0.


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# A search for Symbiotic Stars in the Local Group

## 1. Introduction

The Local Group Census (LGC) is a narrow- and broad-band survey of all the galaxies of the Local Group (LG) above $`\delta =30^{}`$ (http://www.ing.iac.es/ WFS/LGC/). It is carried out as part of the Isaac Newton Group’s Wide Field Survey program and its observations are being obtained with the Wide Field Camera at the 2.5m Isaac Newton telescope, equipped with a 4-CCD mosaic covering a field of view of $`34^{}\times 34^{}`$.

The LG galaxies have been observed through narrow-band filters (\[O iii$`\lambda `$5007Å, H$`\alpha `$, He ii $`\lambda `$4686Å, and \[S ii$`\lambda `$6725Å) and broad band filters (Sloan $`g^{}`$, $`r^{}`$, $`i^{}`$, and Strömgren $`y`$). One of the goals of the LGC is the search for symbiotic star candidates in galactic systems other than the Milky Way, using the broad-band color index $`g^{}`$$`i^{}`$ to detect the red giants and the narrow-band H$`\alpha `$ filter to select those with a strong emission from circumbinary gas.

## 2. Diagnostic diagrams to identify symbiotic stars

The images taken for the Local Group Census are quite deep and complete including observations of most of the northern LG galaxies. Our aim is to find simple diagnostic diagrams allowing to detect symbiotic star candidates using only the information provided by our survey. The nebulae around symbiotic systems are often similar to PNe in terms of excitation conditions and chemical abundances, in particular those around symbiotic Miras. The spectrum of some of the latter in the region 4000 to 7000 Å is in fact quite indistinguishable from that of planetary nebulae.

Using data from the recent multi-epoch spectrophotometric atlas of symbiotic stars by Munari & Zwitter (2002), we have built and evaluated two diagnostic diagrams which should be useful in distinguishing between symbiotic stars and PNe on the base of the photometric filters used in our survey. The presence of a cool giant is easily revealed by comparing $`i^{}`$ and Strömgren $`y`$, the circumstellar material stands up well by comparing H$`\alpha `$ and Strömgren $`y`$ and the high electronic density conditions characterizing symbiotic stars affects the relation between \[O iii\] and Strömgren $`y`$.

## 3.  How far can a symbiotic star be detected in our Survey?

To estimate the sensitivity in distance of our survey, we have picked out several prototype symbiotic stars from the atlas of Munari & Zwitter (2002), namely: carbon symbiotic stars, symbiotic novae in outburst, classical symbiotic stars in outburst, quiescent yellow and normal symbiotics, symbiotic Miras. With filter band profiles taken from Moro & Munari (2000), we have derived via synthetic photometry the flux in each filter and corrected for the symbiotic star distance estimated via infrared spectrophotometric parallax of the cool giant. We did not correct for reddening to account for typical reddening conditions encountered in the LG. The scaled fluxes (H$`\alpha `$, \[O iii\], Strömgren $`y`$ and $`i^{}`$) of the stars in the sample span a relatively narrow range, and this allows to consider the median value of the fluxes in each filter in computing the greatest distance to detect a typical symbiotic star with the LGC survey.

Using the WFC at the prime focus of the Isaac Newton telescope (2.5m) and the exposure times set by the LGC (3600 s through the H$`\alpha `$ and \[O iii\] filters, 1800 s through the Strömgren $`y`$ filter and 1200 s through the $`i^{}`$ filter), a typical symbiotic star can be observed with a signal to noise of 5 at the distance of approximately 0.5 Mpc through the H$`\alpha `$ filter, of 0.2 Mpc through the \[O iii\] filter, 0.1 Mpc through the Strömgren $`y`$ filter and 0.6 Mpc through the $`i^{}`$. The brightest symbiotic star of our sample can be observed at the distance of 1.6 Mpc (H$`\alpha `$), of 1.4 Mpc (\[O iii\]), of 0.8 Mpc (Strömgren $`y`$) and of 1.6 Mpc ($`i^{}`$). These limits suggest that in the closer LG galaxies we can detect symbiotic stars over a large range of intrinsic luminosity, while for the farthest LG sample only the brightest objects will be reveal with a useful S/N ratio.

## 4. How many symbiotic stars could be detected in each LC galaxy?

Few symbiotic stars are known in external galaxies: 8 in the LMC, 6 in the SMC and 1 in Draco (Belczyński et al. 2000). No one of these surveys is complete and so they cannot give information about the number of the expected symbiotic stars in each LG galaxy. A total number of $`3\times 10^5`$ symbiotic star is estimated in our Galaxy by Munari & Renzini (1992), $`3\times 10^4`$ by Kenyon et al. (1992) and $`3\times 10^3`$ by Allen (1984). So far only $`200`$ have been discovered.

We considered a qualitative way to estimate the approximate expected number of symbiotic stars in each galaxy. From the $`K`$ and $`B`$ magnitudes (LEDA Lyon-Meudon Extragalactic Database, http:// leda.univ-lyon1.fr/ and Fioc & Rocca-Volmerange 1999), the distances (van den Bergh 2000), the contribution in near infrared light of young stars (Chiosi & Vallenari 1996), a rough estimate of the red giant population in each galaxy can be computed. A typical luminosity of 100 L for a cool giant is taken in computing the number of red giants per galaxy. The number of symbiotic stars can be taken to be 0.5% of the total number of red giants. Only a fraction of them can be observed in the “active” phase, i.e. with a typical spectrum containing bright emission line. From Table 1 it can be noted that the number of expected symbiotic stars is quite dependent on the mass of the galaxy. For several irregular galaxies the number of symbiotic stars estimated in this way is not reliable due the greater amount of $`B`$ light respect to $`K`$ light.

## References

Allen, D.A. 1984, Proc. A.S.A., 5, 369

Belczyński K., Mikolajewska J., Munari U., Ivison R.J. & Friedjung M. 2000, A&AS, 146, 407

van den Bergh S. 2000, in The Galaxies of the Local Group, Cambridge U.P.

Chiosi C. & Vallenari A. 1996 in Spiral Galaxies in the Near-IR, Proceedings of the ESO/MPA Workshop , Garching 1995, Eds. D. Minniti & H. Rix, p.63

Fioc, M., Rocca-Volmerange, B. 1999, A&A, 351, 869

Kenyon, S.J., Livio, M., Mikolajewska, J., Tout, C.A. 1993, ApJ, 407, L81

Magrini L., Corradi R. L. M., Mampaso A., Perinotto M. 2000, A&A, 355, 713

Magrini L., Perinotto M., Corradi R. L. M., Mampaso, A. 2001, A&A, 379, 90

Moro D., Munari U. 2000, A&AS, 147, 361

Munari U. & Renzini A. 1992, AJ, 397, 87

Munari U. & Zwitter T. 2002, A&A, 383, 188


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# Spin Waves in Random Spin Chains

## Abstract

We study quantum spin-1/2 Heisenberg ferromagnetic chains with dilute, random antiferromagnetic impurity bonds with modified spin-wave theory. By describing thermal excitations in the language of spin waves, we successfully observe a low-temperature Curie susceptibility due to formation of large spin clusters first predicted by the real-space renormalization-group approach, as well as a crossover to a pure ferromagnetic spin chain behavior at intermediate and high temperatures. We compare our results of the modified spin-wave theory to quantum Monte Carlo simulations.

One-dimensional (1D) quantum Heisenberg systems with random ferromagnetic-antiferromagnetic (FM-AFM) couplings are of interest due to the interplay between quantum fluctuations and disorder. An archetypical system is Sr3CuPt1-xIrxO6nguyen96  alloy of the pure compounds Sr3CuPtO6 (antiferromagnet) and Sr3CuIrO6 (ferromagnet). Another example is organic radical alloy ($`p`$-CDpOV)1-x($`p`$-BDpOV)xmukai99  These systems are often refered to as quasi-1D random spin chains since the interchain coupling cannot be neglected at low temperatures where three-dimensional (3D) ordering dominates. irons00  Curie-like magnetic susceptibility with impurity-concentration dependent Curie constant has been reported for these systems. nguyen96 ; mukai99

Theoretically, random spin chains have been studied by high-temperature series expansions, furusaki94 ; furusaki95  quantum transfer matrix method, furusaki94 ; furusaki95  quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) simulations, frischmuth97 ; frischmuth99 ; ammon99  density matrix renormalization group method, hida97 ; hikihara99  and most noticeably, the real-space renormalization-group (RSRG) method. westerberg95 ; westerberg97  In a simple RSRG picture, the Curie-like susceptibility occurs because ferromagnetic couplings lead to spin correlations that form spin clusters whose average size ($`\overline{N}`$) and effective spin ($`\overline{S}_{eff}`$) grow stochastically ($`\overline{N}=A\overline{S}_{eff}^2`$) at low temperatures. The coefficient $`A`$ depends on the distribution of random couplings, and, in general, increases with concentration of ferromagnetic couplings. Therefore, the magnetic susceptibility per spin ($`\chi `$) varies with temperature ($`T`$) as

$$\chi =\frac{1}{3T}\frac{\overline{S}_{eff}^2}{\overline{N}}\frac{1}{T},$$
(1)
i.e. Curie-like, in the low-$`T`$ limit. Here, we assume $`\mu =k_B=1`$ for convenience.

In the RSRG treatment, one decimates the spins that are coupled by the strongest coupling in the system, and renormalizes the couplings among the remaining spins perturbatively. This procedure generates effective spins with effective (in general weaker) couplings, so that excitations at lower and lower energy scale can be probed. It becomes obvious that an initial broad distribution of spin couplings ensures the quick approach to the asymptotic renormalization-group (RG) behavior. However, it is not the case for a Heisenberg spin chain with nearest-neighboring exchanges $`+J`$ or $`J`$ with certain probabilities (a minimal model for real systems). In fact, an RSRG study of random spin chains westerberg97  has suggested the possibility of having a crossover region spanning more than five orders of magnitude in $`T`$ before the true RSRG scaling regime can be reached. This suggests that the crossover physics may be more relevant to experimental findings.

In this paper, we model a random spin chain ($`S=1/2`$) by the following Heisenberg Hamiltonian

$$H=\underset{i}{}J_i𝐒_i𝐒_{i+1},$$
(2)
where the coupling strength $`J_i`$ is randomly chosen between $`J_{AF}`$ (AFM) with probibility $`p`$ and $`J_F`$ (FM) with probability $`1p`$ (see Fig. 1). We are primarily interested in the dilute doping regime, i.e. $`p1`$, where RG-predicted Curie behavior is expected to occur at lower $`T`$ with decreasing $`p`$. In the absence of AFM couplings ($`J_{AF}=0`$), the system is a collection of independent FM spin segments with exponentially distributed numbers of spins. For small $`p`$, the static magnetic susceptibility $`\chi `$ of the isolated spin segments shows a crossover from an ordinary Curie behavior at high temperatures ($`T>J_F`$) to a characteristic $`\chi 1/T^2`$. This FM-chain behavior has been revealed by the modified spin-wave theory. takahashi85  Finite amount of $`J_{AF}`$ introduces correlations between FM segments, which form spin clusters that grow, in a random walk fashion, both in size and total spin at decreasing $`T`$. Statistical analysis shows that the RG-predicted Curie susceptibility

$$\chi _{RG}=\frac{S^2}{3T}\frac{1p}{p}$$
(3)
is expected at low $`T`$. Therefore, for dilute and not-too-weak AFM couplings, two crossover between distinctive $`T`$-dependence can be observed in this system.

Unfortunately, by generating effective couplings perturbatively, the RSRG method keeps discarding high-energy excitations and, thus, is not expected to describe correct physics well before the onset of the true RG behavior. To address these higher energy scales (at intermediate and high temperatures), we have generalized the modified spin-wave theory (MSW) to random spin systems, with dominating ferromagnetic couplings, to study the crossover behavior from high-temperature, short-distance physics to low-temperature, long-distance physics. Our data suggests an unambiguous crossover from FM spin-chain to random spin-chain behavior, which becomes wider for smaller $`p`$. Comparing with our QMC simulations using continuous time loop cluster algorithm, beard96  we discuss the limitations of the MSW method.

The technical details of the application of the MSW theory in random spin chains have been presented elsewhere. wan02  We summarize the MSW approach below. The main idea of the MSW theory is to introduce a chemical potential (equivalent to a uniform magnetic field) for the spin-wave excitations to ensure zero-magnetization of a FM spin chain at finite temperatures, so that the number of spin waves no longer diverges in low dimensions. takahashi86  The introduction of the chemical potential leads to a surprisingly good quantitative description of the thermodynamics of the FM spin chain at both low and high $`T`$. In the case of random spin chains, we introduce, as illustrated in Fig. 1(c), one such chemical potential per FM segment, determined self-consistently by the zero-magnetization constraint of each individual FM segment. We apply a periodic boundary condition to each FM segment, so that zero-magnetization of a segment implies zero-magnetization for every spin. With the physical significance of restoring the rotational symmetry broken during the introduction of spin waves, these zero-magnetization constraints ensure not only the finite number of spin waves at finite $`T`$, but the appropriate correlations between spin waves in different FM segments as well. A bosonic version of the generalized Bogoliubov transformation has been developed for this approach.

Figure 2 (left panel) shows the static magnetic susceptibility per spin $`\chi `$ for a random Heisenberg spin chain of 600 spins, distributed in 30 FM segments of average length 10 spins, i.e. $`p=0.1`$, coupled by 59 AFM couplings with $`J_{AF}=0.5J_F`$. Three distinctive temperature regimes can be identified in the curve. For $`T/J_F>3`$, $`\chi `$ can be fit to an ordinary Curie law of independent spins. (We neglect this regime in later plots.) For $`0.2<T/J_F<3`$, $`\chi `$ rises with decreasing $`T`$, following the trend of a infinitely-long, pure FM spin-1/2 spin, takahashi85

$$\chi _{FM}=\frac{1}{4}\left[\frac{0.1667J_F}{T^2}+\frac{0.581J_F^{1/2}}{T^{3/2}}+\frac{0.68}{T}+\mathrm{}\right].$$
(4)
This implies that spins start to correlate, forming independent FM segments. The AFM couplings are still too weak to affect thermodynamics of the random spin chain at $`T>0.2J_F`$. Below $`T=0.2J_F`$, $`\chi `$ is in good agreement with the low-$`T`$, RG-predicted Curie behavior (Eq. 3 for $`p=0.1`$). It is worth pointing out that we can identify the crossover temperature from the FM spin-chain physics to random spin-chain physics as the cross point of Eq. 3 and 4. In the dilute doping limit (small $`p`$), we have

$$\frac{T_X}{J_F}=\frac{p}{1p}\left[0.50+3.04\sqrt{\frac{p}{1p}}+O\left(\frac{p}{1p}\right)\right].$$
(5)
For $`p=0.1`$, $`T_X=0.17J_F`$. The right panel in Fig. 2 shows averaged $`\chi `$ for 7 random realizations of 300 spins in 30 segments with $`J_{AF}=0.5J_F`$. In this study, we require that the total magnetization of the corresponding classical ground state be zero, so $`\chi `$ vanishes at low-$`T`$ limit. This is responsible for the drop below $`T<0.02`$, where there are no more segments to carry out RSRG to lower $`T`$. Nevertheless, the crossover in the vicinity of $`T_X=0.17J_F`$ is clearly visible.

We compare, in Fig. 3, results of $`\chi `$ averaged over different random realizations, obtained from both the MSW theory (14 samples) and QMC simulations (28 samples). For a system of 360 spins in 30 FM segments ($`p=1/12`$) with AFM couplings ($`J_{AF}=0.5J_F`$) between neighboring segments, we plot $`\chi `$ on both linear scale and log-log scale (inset). On the log-log scale, we can easily identify the crossover from the FM spin-chain physics to random spin-chain physics around $`T_x=0.13J_F`$. The two methods are in good agreement, suggesting that the MSW theory can be generalized to a certain class of random spin chains. Near the crossover, the MSW method overestimates $`\chi `$, according to the QMC simulations. The MSW theory is not exact even in pure FM segments; up to 5% error can be observed for a 12-spin FM segment near this crossover temperature. In addition, by enforcing a periodic boundary condition for each FM segment, we add an extra FM coupling per segment, which can enhance the FM behavior of the system. We require that $`\chi `$ drop to zero at $`T0`$; the MSW method seems to feature a faster drop for such a short chain, compared to the QMC simulations.

The modified spin-wave theory to random spin chains has been applied to one-dimensional Heisenberg ferrimagnets. yamamoto98  In this case, two constraints corresponding to zero-magnetization on each of the two sublattices should be applied simultaneously, similar to the multiple zero-magnetization constraints on all FM segments in random spin chains. The linear combinations of the two chemical potentials (local fields), in our terminology, have the physical interpretations of uniform magnetic field and staggered magnetic field, which ensure both magnetization and staggered magnetization be zero. The MSW study on ferrimagnetic chains yamamoto98  revealed that the zero-staggered-magnetization constraint keeps number of spin waves finite at both high-$`T`$ and low-$`T`$ limit, while the zero-magnetization constraint does only at the low-$`T`$ limit. We point out that the two chemical potentials are equivalent to the two kinds of Lagrangian multipliers in the Schwinger-boson mean-field study of the ferrimagnetic chains. wu99

This work was supported by NSF grants No. DMR-9971541 (XW and KY), No. DMR-9809483 (CZ and RNB), the State of Florida (XW), and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation (KY). Three of us (XW, KY and RNB) thank the Aspen Center for Physics for hospitality when this work has been written up.


text:
# References

Solar supergranulation
as a wavelike phenomenon

L. Gizon, T. L. Duvall Jr., and J. Schou W. W. Hansen Experimental Physics Laboratory, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
Laboratory for Astronomy and Solar Physics, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA

Supergranulation on the surface of the Sun is an organized cellular flow pattern with a characteristic scale of 30 Mm. It is superficially similar to the well understood granulation that operates at the 1.5 Mm natural scale of convection, which has led to the conventional view that supergranulation has its origin in the convective motion of cells of gas, though this does not explain the observation that the supergranulation pattern appears to move faster around the Sun than the bulk of its surface. A wave origin has been proposed for supergranulation that may explain the superrotation, but it has never had much support. Here we report that the supergranulation pattern has oscillatory components with periods of 5-10 days, for which the best explanation is a spectrum of traveling waves. We show that there is excess power in the prograde and equatorward directions, which explains the observation of superrotation.

To study supergranulation, we use a 60-day sequence of line-of-sight Doppler velocity images of the Sun’s surface, obtained by the Michelson Doppler Imager on board the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO). We apply the technique of time-distance helioseismology to obtain maps of the horizontal divergence of the flows just below the solar surface. Unlike raw Doppler images, the divergence signal has uniform sensitivity across the solar disk and has few systematic problems. Every 6 hr, an 8 hr section of data is used to obtain a divergence map. This is done by measuring the time it takes for surface gravity waves (f modes) to propagate horizontally between a given point on the solar surface and a concentric annulus with radius 8 Mm. The difference in travel times between inward and outward propagating waves is a proxy for the horizontal divergence of the flow field in the first 2 Mm beneath the surface. The details of this analysis are described elsewhere. Supergranules appear as cellular patterns of horizontal outward flow in the divergence maps.

We considered five latitude bands, 90 in longitude by $`10^{}`$ in latitude, centered at latitudes $`0^{}`$, $`\pm 15^{}`$, and $`\pm 30^{}`$. For each latitude band, the divergence signal is Fourier transformed in three dimensions to make power spectra as a function of angular frequency, $`\omega `$, and horizontal wavevector, $`𝐤`$. Figure 1 shows a cylindrical cut in a power spectrum at a constant wavenumber, $`k=𝐤`$, typical of the supergranulation. The power peaks at a non zero frequency implying that the supergranular divergence field oscillates from positive to negative values. This observation alone argues against a simple model of convection. Figure 1 is characteristic of waves propagating in all directions at a well defined frequency. The variation of power with the direction of propagation, $`\varphi `$, indicates a strong anisotropy. We thus suggest that we are observing a superposition of traveling waves, and show below that this hypothesis provides a solution to the superrotation puzzle.

Waves that propagate horizontally through a moving fluid have a dispersion relation of the form $`\omega =\omega _0(k)+𝐤𝐯`$, where $`\omega _0`$ is the wave frequency in the co-moving frame of reference and $`𝐯`$ is the advection velocity. At fixed wavenumber, we thus interpret the sinusoidal variation of the frequency with $`\varphi `$ to be due to a horizontal flow (Fig. 1). This technique for measuring material flows is equivalent to the ring-diagram technique used in helioseismology. Figure 2 shows the inferred rotation and meridional circulation, both similar to that of the small magnetic features. The rotation corresponds to the helioseismic value at a depth of 20 Mm, suggesting that the waves probe the region of increased rotation just beneath the solar surface. Correlation tracking of the supergranulation pattern, on the other hand, gives a larger rotation rate, larger that the rotation of the plasma measured at any depth in the solar interior, as well as a puzzling equatorward meridional motion (Fig. 2).

The anomalous results from correlation tracking can be understood as a consequence of the pronounced anisotropy of wave power (Fig. 3). The flow velocities inferred from the correlation tracking are effectively a power-weighted average of the true advection velocity, v, and the wave propagation speed (about 65 m s<sup>-1</sup>). The supergranulation pattern appears to superrotate because wave power in the prograde direction is almost twice as large as in the retrograde direction. Since the change in the rotation over the outer 50 Mm is a significant fraction of the phase speed, a buried source of excitation could introduce an anisotropy. Note also that a model of standing-wave oscillatory convection advected by a flow would fail to reproduce the anisotropy in wave power.

We have shown that the power spectrum of the divergence field of the supergranultion is consistent with an anisotropic spectrum of traveling waves. One possibility for the nature of the waves is that they are driven by the Coriolis force, analogous to the oceanic Rossby waves and perhaps related to the recently observed solar r modes. However, wave periods are found to be significantly smaller than the rotation period (Fig. 4) and we found no evidence for a latitudinal variation in the dispersion relation. Another possibility is traveling-wave oscillatory convection. For example, numerical simulations of turbulent convection in oblique magnetic fields  exhibit solutions that take the form of traveling waves, where the tilt of the convection cells, their wave speed, and direction depend on the field strength and obliquity. Finally, we note that the anisotropy in wave power is important as it could provide a mechanism of angular momentum transport in the upper convection zone, that could help explain the variation of rotation with latitude.

Acknowledgments
We thank J. G. Beck, P. Milford, P. H. Scherrer, C. J. Schrijver, and N. O. Weiss for useful discussions. SOHO is a mission of international cooperation between the European Space Agency and NASA. MDI is supported by the Office of Space Sciences of NASA.

Competing interests statement
The authors declare that they have no competing financial interests.

Correspondence and requests for material should be addressed to L.G.
(e-mail: lgizon@solar.stanford.edu).


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# Speculative generalization of black hole uniqueness to higher dimensions

## I Introduction

The celebrated uniqueness theorem states that 4d black holes with regular horizons are determined uniquely by their mass $`M`$ and angular momentum $`J,|J|/M^21`$ in pure gravity and by their electric (and possibly magnetic) charge when a Maxwell field is present, with important contributions by Israel, Carter, Hawking, Robinson, Mazur, Bunting and Masood Ul Alam and others. See for example  and for a thorough reference list see the reviews  and references therein.

Recently two cases were studied in which a straightforward generalization of black hole uniqueness to more than four dimensions fails. The first is the black-string to black-hole transition which takes place on any compactification background the simplest being $`𝐑^{\mathrm{𝟑},\mathrm{𝟏}}\times 𝐒^\mathrm{𝟏}`$ background – $`3+1`$ extended dimensions and a fifth compact dimension of radius $`L`$, which is denoted here by the $`z`$ coordinate. Black objects with Schwarzschild radius much smaller than $`L`$ are expected to closely resemble a 5d Schwarzschild black hole (BH) with a nearly round $`𝐒^3`$ horizon topology, while very massive black objects, will have a horizon size much larger than $`L`$ and will be extended over the $`z`$ axis wrapping it completely. Such objects will have $`𝐒^2\times 𝐒^1`$ horizon topology and will be referred to as “black strings”. One type of black string is the 4d Schwarzschild solution with the $`z`$ coordinate added in as a spectator and it will be called here a “uniform string”, while another type of solution may be $`z`$ dependent, namely, a “non-uniform string”. Gregory and Laflamme discovered an onset of tachyonic instability  when the uniform black string becomes so thin that its Schwarzschild radius is of the same order as $`L`$. Following the claimed existence of a stable non-uniform solution  Gubser performed a higher order analysis of the Greogory-Laflamme (GL) critical point and found that the non-uniform solution which must emerge there (as the GL mode is marginally tachyonic) is unstable and its mass is larger than the critical GL mass .

Later an analysis of the phase diagram of the whole process, supplemented by a local demonstration of topology change near the cone over $`𝐒^2\times 𝐒^2`$ produced the following phase diagram (figure 1) . In this diagram it was not possible to accommodate the stable non-uniform string without creating some other serious problem. The violation of uniqueness is apparent for a range of masses above the GL critical mass, where three solutions are present: the uniform string, the 5d black hole and an unstable (unlike the previous two) and non-uniform string. Closer to the merger point probably there are even more phases but with more unstable modes as well.

The second example is the 5 dimensional rotating black object (in uncompactified pure gravity). Here there are two kinds of solutions, a black hole with horizon topology $`𝐒^3`$  and the recently discovered rotating ring with horizon $`𝐒^2\times 𝐒^1`$ . For given mass $`M`$ the black hole exists for an angular momentum range $`|J|J_2`$ for some $`J_2`$, while the ring exists for $`JJ_1`$ for some $`J_1<J_2`$. As can be seen in figure (2) uniqueness is violated in the range $`J_1<J<J_2`$ (as noted by the authors) where three solutions exist: two rings and one black hole. The stability/ instability of either of these solutions is not known at this time. Moreover, in 5d there are two parameters of angular momentum $`a_1,a_2`$ and this picture emerged for $`a_2=0`$ but it is not known yet how it generalizes to $`a_20`$.

Following  uniqueness in higher dimensions was reexamined and the straightforward generalization was found to hold for the static ($`J=0`$) uncompactified case and also when some scalar fields are included . Other relatively recent related works include .

Here a different approach will be taken, and rather than trying to map the set of cases where straightforward uniqueness holds and where it does not, I will speculate on an appropriate generalization of uniqueness that may hold without exception, hoping such a generalization exists since considering the fundamental importance of the uniqueness theorem in 4d it would be a shame if it simply disappeared in higher dimensions.

The uniqueness theorem can be thought as being made out of two steps - the counting of parameters of black holes (“no hair”) and the impossibility of bifurcations or disconnected solution families. The parameter counting is the fundamental physical property, related to the amount of required boundary conditions, and it is not violated in higher dimensions. Actually, once the counting is done for small black holes with small angular momenta, it is bound to hold always including for black holes in the presence of a compactification or a cosmological constant. Thus we are left to examine bifurcations and disconnected components, which rely on a different principle for proof – the positive energy theorems.

Guided by the phenomenology, namely the two cases described above, it is seen that bifurcations do occur, and two criteria suggest themselves to me. The first is that the horizon topology should be added to the list of (continuous) characterizing parameters such as mass etc. Yet in both cases this is not enough to uniquely specify a solution. Thus the second criterion of stability is suggested. Actually this is better thought to be a raised question, namely does uniqueness hold if solutions (with identical horizon topologies) are limited to be stable? This condition is physically attractive since unstable solutions cannot be attained anyway (due to noise).

The other possibility is that there is no generalization of uniqueness to higher dimensions and phase diagrams with several phases are common without any simple constraints on the number or type of phases.

## II Horizon topology

In 4 dimensions the only possible topology for a horizon is $`𝐒^2`$ (forgetting the light-like direction $`𝐑`$) . However, the examples above show that in higher dimensions the horizon topology is not unique. Since any discussion of uniqueness of time independent solutions starts with a dimensional reduction along Killing vectors and analysis of the boundary conditions, where the boundary is composed of asymptotic infinity and the event horizon, it is clear that the horizon topology must be specified as one of these boundary conditions.

One may ask what are the possible horizon topologies in higher dimensions. From the examples it is seen that in 5d both $`𝐒^3`$ and $`𝐒^2\times 𝐒^1`$ are possible. By considering toroidal compactifications a generalized black string in $`d`$ dimensions could have any $`𝐒^k\times 𝐓^{d2k}`$ topology where $`𝐓^n(𝐒^1)^n`$ is the $`n`$-dimensional torus, and $`k2`$.

More generally we may consider compactification over an arbitrary Ricci flat manifold, and consider the changes in topology of a small black hole as its mass is being increased. The possible topologies are not known, other than the obvious restriction that they should be cobordant with the topology at asymptotic infinity (and the cobordism type may be constrained in certain theories). A possible guide for topologies could be the change in topology of the equipotential lines of a (scalar) point source on the compactification manifold as one goes away from the source. It would be interesting to find a simple characterization of these topologies, if one exists.

## III Stability

In both of the cases studied here horizon topology is not enough to specify a solution in the parameter range of coexistence. Thus I am led to wonder whether adding a stability requirement would do. In the case of the black-hole black-string transition there are two overlapping black-string solutions but the non-uniform one is unstable  and so the “generalized uniqueness” holds. Note that if the latter is indeed correct that would constitute another argument against the existence of the stable non-uniform string of , at least in the range of parameters where the uniform string is stable.

For the rotating ring there are again three solutions in the overlap region. Suppose we start with the black hole solution at $`J=J_1`$, trace out the solution line (for fixed $`M`$), and denote by region I the black hole solutions with $`J`$ going from $`J_1`$ to $`J_2`$, by region II the black ring solutions going from $`J_2`$ to $`J_1`$ and finally by region III the black ring going from $`J_1`$ to $`J_2`$. Since a stability analysis is not available at this time, it is possible to provide a concrete test for the stability criterion – namely that the black ring solutions in region II (on the right in figure 2) are unstable (actually it would be enough if regions II and III have instability domains which together cover the region $`J_1JJ_2`$.

But why is there any reason to believe that the stability criterion would be correct? The main tool so far in proving uniqueness has been the positive energy theorems which may be thought to be a strong generalization of the Green identity for the Laplace equation, which is used to prove uniqueness for the boundary value problem (either Dirichlet or Neumann). However, this tool makes no reference to stability and so it must fail in cases where several solutions exist. A possible direction is to consider the phase transitions in the system. If there were two stable phases with the same horizon topology then when one of them would decay to the other, it could do so without a topology change and so presumably without going through an explosive singularity . It is conceivable that such a mild phase transition is forbidden by some “censorship”.

Acknowledgments

It is a pleasure to thank G. Gibbons for comments.

Work supported by DOE under grant no. DE-FG02-90ER40542, and by a Raymond and Beverly Sackler Fellowship.