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# Enhancement of 𝑇_𝑐 by Sr substitution for Ba in Hg-2212 superconductor

## 1 Introduction

The double-Hg-layer superconductor Hg2Ba2YCu2O8-δ (Hg-2212) was discovered in 1994 by Radaelli et al. Radaelli1 . This compound is an insulator. When doped with Ca in Hg2Ba2(Y1-xCax)Cu2O8-δ, it becomes superconducting Radaelli2 ; Radaelli3 . The Tc transition depends on the Ca content. It increases from 40 K for x $``$ 0.15 to 70 K for x $``$ 0.40. The optimal $`T_c`$ in Hg-2212 system is 82-84 K Tokiwa1 ; Toulemonde1 ; Toulemonde2 . This value can only be reached by chemical stabilization of the oxygen-deficient double mercury layer. The oxygen vacancies content in Hg2Ba2YCu2O8-δ is already around $`\delta `$ = 0.4-0.5 and increases by Ca doping, up to its solubility limit x = 0.40. To further rise doping, stabilizing elements like Tl3+ Tokiwa2  or Pb4+ Toulemonde3 ; Toulemonde4  have to be used in substitution of Hg2+: these higher valency elements bring oxygen in the double (Hg/Pb or Tl)2O2-δ layer and then allow to further substitute Y by Ca.

The pressure effect on $`T_c`$ in Hg-2212 is huge, over + 50 K under 20 GPa Acha . The corresponding rate is always positive, independently of the doping state. Below 10 GPa, it decreases from 4.5 K/GPa for underdoped compounds ($`T_c`$ 30-45 K) to 2.7-3 K/GPa when $`T_c`$ 70 K. In optimally doped (Hg,Pb)-2212 ($`T_c`$ 82-84 K) d$`T_c`$/dP $``$ 1 K/GPa below 20 GPa Toulemonde5 . By contrast, chemical pressure, for example when Ba is replaced by a smaller cation (Sr for instance), has a negative effect on $`T_c`$ Wada ; Subramian ; Sin . However, strontium substitution does not reproduce the entire structural changes induced by mechanical pressure in superconducting cuprates Marezio1 ; Marezio2 . Two exceptions have been reported up to now: the (La,Sr)2CuO4 system Cava ; Torrance ; Radaelli4  and the artificially stressed epitaxial (La,Sr)CuO4 films Locquet , where a $`T_c`$ increase is observed induced by a chemical pressure.

In this paper, we have studied Ba substitution by Sr in two Hg-2212 series of two different doping regimes (series I and II). The first one, series I, corresponds to the composition Hg2(Ba1-ySry)2YCu2O8-δ and is built with Y in between the CuO2 superconducting planes. The second one, series II, Hg2(Ba1-ySry)2(Y0.80Ca0.20)Cu2O8-δ, is doped with 20 % of Ca on the Y site. Each sample was synthesized at high pressure - high temperature (HP-HT) for 0 $``$ y $``$ 1.0. The effects of Sr/Ba replacement on superconductivity were analyzed using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy, EDX microanalysis and a.c. susceptibility measurements.

## 2 Experimental

The samples were prepared in a high pressure Conac-type apparatus. The reacting powders of each sample were mixed and compacted into a gold capsule which was submitted to a high pressure (3.5 GPa) - high temperature (1050oC for the Ca free series and 950oC for the Ca doped series) treatment. At this point, it is important to note that the chemical reactions take place into an inert and closed capsule, i.e. into a confined system. Thus, the average composition can not change during the HP-HT process, especially the oxygen content of the sample, then the oxidation state of copper in the final Hg-2212 compound is principally fixed by the initial oxygen content of the starting mixture.

Two synthesis routes were tried, as explained in previous papers Toulemonde4 ; Toulemonde6 . The first one was used for series I (Ca-free). It consists in preparing two precursors, “Ba2YCu2Oz” and “Sr2YCu2Oz”, by reacting Y2O3 (Prolabo, 99.9 %) and CuO (Aldrich, 99 %) with BaO2 (Merck, 95 %) or SrCO3 (Aldrich, 99.9 %) at 850 oC or 950oC respectively during 24 h under oxygen flow, followed by a quench to room temperature. Then, this pre-reacted precursor (a mixture of Y2BaCuO5, BaCuO2, YBa2Cu3O7-δ and YBa3Cu2O6.5+x for the Ba-based precursor) is mixed with HgO (Aldrich, $`>`$ 99 %), inserted into the gold capsule and treated at HP-HT. For Hg2(Ba0.5Sr0.5)2YCu2O8-δ, both precursors were mixed together with HgO in the ratio 1:1:2.

In the second route we attempted to better control the oxidation state of the sample by adjusting the oxygen content of the precursor introduced into the closed capsule to the desired value. This second method, used for series II, allows to control more precisely the oxygen stoichiometry before the HP-HT reaction and then the final doping state of the synthesized Hg-2212 compound. It consists in intimately mixing HgO directly in the right proportion with BaO2, SrCuO2, Y2O3, Ca2CuO3 oxides and metallic Cu (Ventron, 99 %) to have the nominal Hg2(Ba1-ySry)2(Y0.80Ca0.20)Cu2O7.50 composition, with y = 0 - 0.25 by step of 0.05, then 0.40, 0.50, 0.70 and 1.0. For example, in the case of Hg2(Ba0.75Sr0.25)2(Y0.80Ca0.20)Cu2O8-δ, to reach an oxygen content of 7.50, we used the mixture 2 HgO, 1.5 BaO2, 0.5 SrCuO2, 0.4 Y2O3, 0.1 Ca2CuO3 and 1.4 Cu. BaO2 was chosen as the barium source instead of BaCuO2 because it is very difficult to prepare BaCuO2 without any trace of carbon contamination. The 95 % purity of the commercial BaO2, which contains traces of barium carbonate, was also not considered sufficient. Our source of barium peroxide was prepared by precipitation of a solution of barium nitrate (more pure, Aldrich, 99 %) added with oxygenated water. The absence of barium hydroxide, carbonate or oxide hydrate was checked by XRD in the final BaO2 product. SrCuO2 was prepared by firing SrCO3 and CuO under oxygen flow at 950 oC for 48 h followed by a second treatment at 980 oC for 36 h with an intermediate grinding. Ca2CuO3 was synthesized by reacting a mixture of 2 CaCO3 (Aldrich, 99 %) + CuO at 1000 oC under oxygen flow for 15 h. The purity of these two oxides was checked by XRD before their mixing and the HP-HT treatment.

In the first set of syntheses, the obtained samples were multiphasic with mixtures of Hg-2212, Hg-1212 and others impurities Loureiro1 ; Chaillout1 . In this work, the HP-HT conditions (reaction time and temperature) were optimized in both series to avoid the formation of the analogue Hg-1212 phase (which appears for too long reaction time) and obtain the purest possible Hg-2212 samples.

XRD patterns were collected using a powder Siemens D-5000 diffractometer working in transmission mode at the wavelength $`\lambda _{Cu,K\alpha 1}`$ = 1.54056 Å. The microstructure and composition of samples were investigated by scanning electron microscopy on a JEOL-840, equipped with a Kevex system for X-ray energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDX) analysis. A.C. susceptibility measurements were performed at 119 Hz using a home-made apparatus working at low magnetic field of 0.012 Oe, in the range 4.2 – 300 K (LEPES, CNRS, Grenoble, France).

## 3 Results and discussion

### 3.1 Phase purity and structural characterization

Figure 1 shows the XRD patterns of y = 0, 0.5 and 1.0 compounds of the series I. Figure 2 shows a zoom of 20-35o and 45-60o 2$`\theta `$ ranges for y = 0, 0.20, 0.40 and 0.70 compositions of the series II (x = 0.20). In both series the main phase is Hg-2212, without mono-Hg-layer Hg-1212 impurity. For the first time Sr-substituted Hg-2212 compounds are synthesized at HP-HT free of Hg-12(n-1)n type cuprates. Note also that full substitution of Ba for Sr is reached in the Hg-2212 system.

For y = 0.0, traces of HgO or CuO are observed. For y $`>`$ 0, an unknown phase appears in both series, whose amount increases with the Sr nominal content, it contains then Sr. The main XRD peak of this phase is close to 31o 2$`\theta `$ and its proportion increases with the Sr content. EDX microanalyses made systematically on samples of both series (SEM observations) show that this phase contains mainly Hg and Sr. It could also incorporate Cu or Ca in few amounts but the conclusion on this point is not definitive. Nevertheless, the list of its main Bragg peaks (indicated by tick marks in the bottom part of figure 1) corresponds to that of the Ca-Hg-O phase observed as an impurity in Ca-rich (Hg,Pb)-2212 compounds Toulemonde3  and as an intermediate phase in the Hg-1223 formation Bordet1 . A structural model (space group I 4/mmm) and a composition (Ca0.76Hg1.24)O2 were proposed for this new phase Bordet1 . This composition is close to that obtained from our microanalysis where Sr replaces Ca: (Sr0.71Hg1.29)O2. These different observations suggest a common structure for both phases, Ca- or Sr-based, with the same stoichiometry.

The shift of the peaks towards higher 2$`\theta `$ values shows the shrinkage of the lattice due to the smaller Sr. It is particulary obvious on figure 2 for (107), (110) and (200) reflections. It proves that the Sr substitution on Ba site is effective. EDX microanalyses also show the Sr substitution and suggest that it reaches the nominal content, i.e. the measured Sr/(Sr+Ba) ratio is close to the nominal Sr stoichiometry. From EDX, the Ca doping is under-stoichiometric, in the 15-20 % range with respect to nominal stoichiometry (20 %). Lattice parameters were calculated by least square method (tables 1 and 2). In both series a decrease of the lattice parameters is observed, with a similar rate, i.e. $``$ 1.4-1.6 % along the a-axis and $``$ 2.6-2.8 % along the c-axis, as shown on figure 3. The lattice contraction is then not completely isotropic, it is larger for c-axis due to a larger compressibility along this direction than in the basal plane (i.e. the CuO2 superconducting plane) which contains rather rigid bonds of O-Cu-O type. The shrinkage of the a-axis is similar to that observed for the equivalent axis in Y-123 or Y-124 compounds Licci ; Karpinski . The c-axis compression is around 0.76-0.82 Å for full substitution. This value is only slightly smaller than that predicted on considering the replacement of Ba by Sr in the four Ba-O planes of the structure and the difference of ionic radius between Ba and Sr (in coordination number 9). The full substitution would give a contraction of 1.28 Å. The a-axis for the two fully Sr-substituted samples is around 3.80-3.81 Å, which is typical of superconducting compounds containing only Sr, like Bi-based cuprates Hazen1 ; Tarascon1 . Moreover, no accident is visible on the variation of a-axis (and c-axis) which could indicate a brutal change of stoichiometry, on the oxygen composition for example. We can conclude that the variations of a and c lattice parameters are exclusively due to the Sr substitution for Ba.

### 3.2 Comparison of chemical pressure and mechanical pressure

Chemical pressure (by Sr) and mechanical pressure effects on lattice parameters are compared in figure 4. These data are reproduced from a previous high pressure experiment performed in a diamond anvil cell on the ID-09 beamline at the european synchrotron ESRF (Grenoble, France) with a Hg2Ba2(Y0.85Ca0.15)Cu2O8-δ compound Loureiro1 ; Bordet2 . The scale of both X-coordinates (nominal Sr content and mechanical pressure) was chosen to have approximatively the same decrease for a-axis in both cases.

We observe on the c-axis variations that the effect of mechanical pressure is not fully comparable with that of Sr chemical pressure. The pressure necessary to obtain the same shrinkage of the lattice corresponding to the full substitution Sr/Ba is not the same if one considers a-axis or c-axis. Along the a-axis it requires the application of an equivalent pressure of $``$ 7 GPa whereas this value is higher along the c-axis, $``$ 10 GPa. The difference is larger than experimental errors. In Y-123 and Y-124 systems, the complete substitution of Ba with Sr would induce a variation of the lattice parameters equivalent to the application of an external pressure of about 10-9.3 GPa Licci ; Karpinski . This extrapolated value is consistent with what is observed here for the Hg-2212 system.

According to Acha et al. Acha , a pressure of 10 GPa should increase $`T_c`$ by 30-45 K, depending on the doping state of the Hg-2212 compound. We will compare this value to the increase of $`T_c`$ obtained by chemical pressure of Sr in both series in the next paragraph.

### 3.3 Superconducting properties

The critical temperature $`T_c`$ was determined by a.c. susceptibility on fine powders which is a rather good method to determine the superconducting volume fraction (at 119 Hz with a low field of 0.012 Oe). Figures 5 and 6 show the measurements for series I and II. All the samples were superconducting, except the one for y = 0.0. The observed superconducting volume fractions (up to 70 %) do not correspond to the entire volume of the samples but are sufficient to attribute the transition to Hg-2212 which is the only cuprate detected by XRD.

The first compound of series I, Hg2Ba2YCu2O8-δ, was not superconducting. This result is in agreement with previous measurements made by Radaelli et al. who did not observed superconductivity for this composition Radaelli1 ; Radaelli3 . They showed that Ca doping on the Y site was necessary to induce superconductivity in Hg-2212. We show here, for the first time, that Ca doping on Y site is not necessary to reach the superconducting state. Indeed Hg2(Ba0.5Sr0.5)2YCu2O8-δ and Hg2Sr2YCu2O8-δ are already superconducting without Ca doping, respectively at 32 K and 42 K (table 1). As a result of series I, $`T_{conset}`$ increases regularly from 0 K (y = 0) to 42 K (y = 1) with the Sr content. In series II, the Hg2Ba2(Y0.80Ca0.20)Cu2O8-δ compound, is superconducting at 21 K. This value is consistent with those reported previously. As for the previous case (table 2), the Ba replacement by Sr in series II also increases $`T_c`$ continuously with the Sr content from 21 K (y = 0) to 60-58 K (y = 0.7-1.0).

To summarize, a 40 K increase is observed in Hg2(Ba1-ySry)2(Y1-xCax)Cu2O8-δ (0 $``$ y $``$ 1.0; x = 0, x = 0.2), contrarily to other Sr-substituted families (Y-123 or Hg-12(n-1)n) where a decrease of $`T_c`$ is shown Wada ; Subramian ; Sin . This is a remarkable case where the Sr-chemical pressure has a positive effect on $`T_c`$. This increase of 40 K is in the same order of magnitude than that obtained by applying a mechanical pressure of about 10 GPa in the Ba-based Hg-2212 compound Acha . In addition, the rate of $`T_c`$ enhancement with Sr/Ba substitution is similar in both series, as illustrated in figure 7. As a consequence, it does not seem to be dependent of the doping level. Nevertheless, is the doping level constant among both series, i.e. equal to the doping regime of the y = 0 compound ? This point is discussed in the next paragraph.

### 3.4 Discussion

Both EDX and lattice parameters variations agree to show that Sr substitutes to Ba nearly at the nominal content. A first consequence is that Y3+ is not substituted by Sr2+. This is discussed more carefully below.

If Sr2+ would substitute Y3+ on its site, then it would affect the hole doping of the CuO2 planes. This does not happen for different reasons. First, the EDX results show that Sr and Ba contents vary in opposite way: the Sr content increases regularly when the Ba content decreases, and more precisely, the ratio of contents Sr/(Sr+Ba) determined by EDX is close to the nominal Sr content in all samples. Secondly, the $`T_c`$ rise is regular and continuous. If Sr2+/Y3+ site substitution would have been involved in this $`T_c`$ rise, this would have resulted in an over-stoichiometry of Sr. Moreover, this over-stoichiometry should have increased regularly to explain the $`T_c`$ increase. None of those phenomena is observed. Thirdly, if one assumes that Sr2+ goes on the Y3+ site and that its occupancy factor increases, for steric considerations one would observe an increase of the c-axis (the ionic radius of Sr2+ being larger than Y3+ in the eight-fold coordination), or at least a levelling of the shrinkage of the c-axis. This is neither observed.

As a consequence, because the substitution of Ba2+ to Sr2+ is isoelectronic, the doping is not changed in both series when the Sr content varies from y = 0 to 1.0. Probably the oxygen content in the Hg-2212 phase does not change significantly neither. This point is clearer in the series II, where the oxygen control was more accurate (mixture of oxides and metallic Cu with a total oxygen content of O 7.50) than in series I (mixture of HgO with precursors whose oxygen content is not well defined).

If the doping state is not changed and if the origin of this $`T_c`$ enhancement is structural, other experiments are necessary to precise its structural origin. We have performed neutron powder diffraction on both series to know exactly the changes induced locally into the 2212 structure. Refinements are underway and the corresponding results will be published elsewhere Toulemonde7 . One significant result concerns the oxygen content determined from Rietveld refinements: it is almost constant in the whole range of Sr substitution for Ba Toulemonde5 . It means that the $`T_c`$ enhancement observed in both series is not related to hypothetical oxygen content changes, but more likely a consequence of the Ba replacement by Sr.

## 4 Conclusion

The effects of chemical pressure were investigated in two Hg-2212 series: one based on yttrium, Hg2(Ba1-ySry)2YCu2O8-δ (series I), and the second one doped with 20 % of Ca, Hg2(Ba1-ySry)2(Y0.80Ca0.20)Cu2O8-δ (series II). For the first time, Sr-substituted Hg-2212 superconductors were synthesized at high pressure - high temperature free from other analogue cuprate phases, i.e. members of the mono-Hg-layer family Hg-12(n-1)n.

We have shown that doping is not required to induce superconductivity in Hg-2212 system: Hg2(Ba0.5Sr0.5)2YCu2O8-δ and the full Sr-substituted Hg2Sr2YCu2O8-δ compounds of series I are already superconducting without Ca doping. In series II the Sr substitution enhances superconductivity that is already present in the Sr-free Hg2Ba2(Y0.80Ca0.20)Cu2O8-δ compound.

In both series $`T_c`$ increases continuously from 0 K (y = 0) to 42 K (y = 1.0) for the first series and from 21 K to 60 K in the second one. In conclusion, contrarily to most superconducting cuprates, the Sr-chemical pressure has a positive effect on $`T_c`$ in the Hg-2212 system.

Acknowledgements

P. Toulemonde thanks CNRS for financial support during his PhD research. The authors are grateful to Dr J. L. Tholence (LEPES, CNRS, Grenoble, France) for his help in the a.c. susceptibility measurements, to Dr P. Bordet for providing us the ESRF high pressure diffraction data, and to Dr S. Le Floch for her help in the use of the Conac press. The authors acknowledge also R. Argoud, C. Brachet and R. Bruyère for technical assistance in HP-HT experiments.


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# The number of edge-disjoint transitive triples in a tournament

## 1 Introduction

All graphs and digraphs considered here are finite and have no loops or multiple edges. For the standard terminology used the reader is referred to . A tournament on $`n`$ vertices is an orientation of $`K_n`$. Thus, for every two distinct vertices $`x`$ and $`y`$, either $`(x,y)`$ or $`(y,x)`$ is an edge, but not both.

Let $`TT_k`$ denote the unique transitive tournament on $`k`$ vertices. $`TT_3`$ is also called a transitive triple as it consists of some triple $`\{(x,y),(x,z),(y,z)\}`$. A $`TT_k`$-packing of a directed graph $`D`$ is a set of edge-disjoint copies of $`TT_k`$ subgraphs of $`D`$. The $`TT_k`$-packing number of $`D`$, denoted $`P_k(D)`$, is the maximum size of a $`TT_k`$-packing of $`D`$. The $`TT_3`$-packing number of $`D_n`$, the complete digraph with $`n`$ vertices and $`n(n1)`$ edges, has been extensively studied. See, e.g., .

In this paper we consider only $`TT_k`$-packings of tournaments. Let $`f_k(n)`$ denote the minimum possible value of $`P_k(T_n)`$, where $`T_n`$ ranges over all possible $`n`$-vertex tournaments. For simplicity, put $`f(n)=f_3(n)`$ and $`P(T_n)=P_3(T_n)`$. Trivially, $`P_k(T_n)n(n1)/(k(k1))`$, and in particular $`f(n)n(n1)/6<0.167n^2(1+o(1))`$. In fact, it is not difficult to show that $`f(n)n(n1)/6n/3`$ (see Section 4 for this and also for a general way to construct an upper bound for $`f_k(n)`$). We conjecture the following:

###### Conjecture 1.1

$`f(n)=n(n1)/6n/3`$.

This conjecture was verified for all $`n8`$. Our main result is the following lower bound for $`f(n)`$.

###### Theorem 1.2

$`f(n)>0.13n^2(1+o(1))`$.

We prove Theorem 1.2 in Section 2. In section 3 we show that if $`T_n`$ is the random tournament on $`n`$ vertices then $`P(T_n)\frac{1}{6}n^2(1o(1))`$ almost surely. In fact, we show that $`P_k(T_n)\frac{1}{k(k1)}n^2(1o(1))`$ almost surely. The final section contains some concluding remarks.

## 2 Proof of the main result

From here on we assume that the vertex set of a tournament with $`k`$ vertices is $`[k]=\{1,\mathrm{},k\}`$. Let $`T_k`$ be any $`k`$-vertex tournament. For $`v[k]`$, let $`d^+(v)`$ denote the out-degree of $`v`$ in $`T_k`$. Let $`a(T_k)`$ denote the total number of transitive triples in $`T_k`$, and let $`t(T_k)`$ denote the total number of directed triangles in $`T_k`$. Clearly, $`a(T_k)+t(T_k)=\left(\genfrac{}{}{0pt}{}{k}{3}\right)`$. We shall also make use of the obvious inequality, which follows from the fact that in a transitive triple there is one source and one sink.

$$a(T_k)=\underset{i=1}{\overset{k}{}}\frac{1}{2}\left(\left(\genfrac{}{}{0pt}{}{d^+(v)}{2}\right)+\left(\genfrac{}{}{0pt}{}{k1d^+(v)}{2}\right)\right)\frac{k(k1)(k3)}{8}.$$
(1)
In the proof of Theorem 1.2 we need the following (special) case of Wilson’s Theorem .

###### Lemma 2.1

There exists a positive integer $`N`$ such that for all $`n>N`$, if $`n1mod42`$ then $`K_n`$ decomposes into $`\left(\genfrac{}{}{0pt}{}{n}{2}\right)/21`$ edge-disjoint copies of $`K_7`$.

The next lemma quantifies the fact that if $`t(T_7)`$ is relatively small then $`P(T_7)`$ is relatively large.

###### Lemma 2.2

If $`t(T_7)4`$ then $`P(T_7)=7`$. If $`t(T_7)11`$ then $`P(T_7)6`$. If $`t(T_7)12`$ then $`P(T_7)5`$.

Proof Clearly, the expected number of directed triangles in a random Steiner triple system of $`T_7`$ is $`7\frac{t(T_7)}{t(T_7)+a(T_7)}=\frac{7}{35}t(T_7)`$. Hence, if $`t(T_7)<5`$ then this expectation is less than $`1`$. Thus, there is a Steiner triple system with no directed triangle. Namely, $`P(T_7)=7`$ in this case. Similarly, by 1, we always have $`a(T_7)21`$ and so $`t(T_7)14`$. Therefore, the expectation above is always at most $`14\frac{7}{35}2.8`$. Thus, there is always a Steiner triple system with at most two directed triangles. Namely, $`P(T_7)5`$ always.

We remain with the case where $`t(T_7)11`$. Notice that we may assume $`t(T_7)=11`$ or $`t(T_7)=10`$ since otherwise the above expectation argument yields $`P(T_7)6`$. Assume first that $`t(T_7)=11`$. Hence $`a(T_7)=24`$ and by (1) the only possible scores (sorted out-degree sequence) of such a $`T_7`$ are $`(4,4,4,3,2,2,2)`$, $`(5,3,3,3,3,2,2)`$ and $`(4,4,3,3,3,3,1)`$. The last two scores are complementary (namely, reversing the edges of a $`T_7`$ with one of these scores yields a tournament with the other score) and the first score is self-complementary. Hence, one needs only to check the first two scores.

There are precisely 18 non-isomorphic tournaments with the score $`(4,4,4,3,2,2,2)`$, and each can be checked to have at least 6 edge-disjoint transitive triples. A convenient way to enumerate these 18 non-isomorphic tournaments is as follows. Let $`A_i`$ be the set of vertices with out-degree $`i`$, $`i=2,3,4`$. $`|A_2|=|A_4|=3`$, $`|A_3|=1`$. First case: The subgraph induced by $`A_2`$ is a directed triangle and the subgraph induced by $`A_4`$ is also a directed triangle. There are four non-isomorphic tournaments with this restriction. Second case: The subgraph induced by $`A_2`$ is a directed triangle and the subgraph induced by $`A_4`$ is a transitive triple. There are four non-isomorphic tournaments with this restriction. Third case: The subgraph induced by $`A_2`$ is a transitive triple and the subgraph induced by $`A_4`$ is a directed triangle. There are four non-isomorphic tournaments with this restriction. Fourth case: Both $`A_2`$ and $`A_4`$ induce a transitive triple. There are six non-isomorphic tournaments with this restriction. Altogether there are $`4+4+4+6=18`$ possibilities.

There are precisely 15 non-isomorphic tournaments with the score $`(5,3,3,3,3,2,2)`$, and each can be checked to have at least 6 edge-disjoint transitive triples. A convenient way to enumerate these 18 non-isomorphic tournaments is as follows. Let $`A_i`$ be the set of three vertices with out-degree $`i`$, $`i=2,3,5`$. $`A_2=\{a,b\}`$ $`A_5=\{c\}`$, $`A_3=\{d,e,f,g\}`$. We may assume the edge inside $`A_2`$ is $`(a,b)`$. First case: $`(a,c)`$ is an edge. There is a unique tournament with this restriction. Second case: $`(c,a)`$, $`(a,d)`$ and $`(d,c)`$ are edges. There are four non-isomorphic tournaments. Third case: $`(c,a)`$, $`(a,d)`$ $`(c,d)`$ and $`(b,d)`$ are edges. There are three non-isomorphic tournaments. Fourth case: $`(c,a)`$, $`(a,d)`$ $`(c,d)`$ and $`(d,b)`$ are edges. There are 7 non-isomorphic tournaments. Altogether there are $`1+4+3+7=15`$ possibilities.

In case $`t(T_7)=10`$ the expected number of directed triangles in a random Steiner triple system is precisely 2. However, the distribution is easily seen to be non-constant (e.g., the variance is positive). Thus, there is a Steiner triple system with less than two directed triangles. Namely, $`P(T_7)6`$ in this case.

Fix $`T_n`$, and let $`3mn`$. Let $`T_m`$ be a randomly chosen $`m`$-vertex induced subgraph of $`T_n`$. Let $`X=a(T_m)`$ denote the random variable corresponding to the number of transitive triples of $`T_m`$, and let $`E[X]`$ denote the expectation of $`X`$.

###### Proposition 2.3

$`E[X]\frac{3}{4}\frac{n3}{n2}\left(\genfrac{}{}{0pt}{}{m}{3}\right)`$.

Proof A specific triple of $`T_n`$ belongs to precisely $`\left(\genfrac{}{}{0pt}{}{n3}{m3}\right)`$ induced subgraphs on $`m`$ vertices. Thus, by (1),

$$E[X]=\frac{a(T_n)\left(\genfrac{}{}{0pt}{}{n3}{m3}\right)}{\left(\genfrac{}{}{0pt}{}{n}{m}\right)}=a(T_n)\frac{m(m1)(m2)}{n(n1)(n2)}\frac{3}{4}\frac{n3}{n2}\left(\genfrac{}{}{0pt}{}{m}{3}\right).$$

Proof of Theorem 1.2: Let $`n>N+41`$ where $`N`$ is the constant from lemma 2.1. Let $`T_n`$ be a fixed $`n`$-vertex tournament. We may assume that $`n1mod42`$, since otherwise we may delete at most $`41`$ vertices, apply the theorem on the smaller graph, and this will not affect the claimed asymptotic number of transitive triples in the original graph. By Proposition 2.3, the expected number of transitive triples in a random $`T_7`$ of $`T_n`$ is at least $`26.25(n3)/(n2)=26.25(1o_n(1))`$. Hence, the expected number of directed triangles is at most $`8.75(1+o_n(1))`$.

Let $`p_1`$ denote the probability that a random $`T_7`$ has $`t(T_7)4`$. Let $`p_2`$ denote the probability that a random $`T_7`$ has $`5t(T_7)11`$. Let$`p_3`$ denote the probability that a random $`T_7`$ has $`t(T_7)12`$. Clearly, $`p_1+p_2+p3=1`$ and

$$5p_2+12p_38.75(1+o_n(1)).$$

Let $`Y`$ denote the random variable corresponding to $`P(T_7)`$. By definition of $`p_1,p_2,p_3`$ and by Lemma 2.2 we have

$$E[Y]7p_1+6p_2+5p_3.$$

Minimizing $`E[Y]`$ subject to $`p_1+p_2+p_3=1`$, $`p_i0`$ and $`5p_2+12p_38.75(1+o_n(1))`$. yields $`p_1=0`$, $`p_2=13/28(1o_n(1))`$, $`p_3=15/28(1+o_n(1))`$ and $`E[Y]\frac{153}{28}(1o_n(1))`$.

Let $`S`$ be a fixed $`K_7`$-decomposition of $`K_n`$ into $`\left(\genfrac{}{}{0pt}{}{n}{2}\right)/21`$ edge-disjoint copies of $`K_7`$. By Lemma 2.1 such an $`S`$ exists. Each $`sS`$ corresponds to a $`7set`$ of $`[n]`$. Let $`\sigma `$ be a random permutation of $`[n]`$ and let $`S_\sigma `$ denote the $`T_7`$-decomposition of $`T_n`$ corresponding to $`S`$ and $`\sigma `$. Namely, for each $`sS`$ the corresponding $`T_7`$-subgraph of $`T_n`$, denoted $`s_\sigma `$, consists of the 7 vertices $`\{\sigma (i):is\}`$. Notice that since $`\sigma `$ is a random permutation, $`s_\sigma `$ is a random $`T_7`$ of $`T_n`$. Thus, the expected number of edge-disjoint transitive triples of $`s_\sigma `$ is at least $`\frac{153}{28}(1o_n(1))`$. By linearity of expectation we get that

$$P(T_n)\frac{\left(\genfrac{}{}{0pt}{}{n}{2}\right)}{21}\frac{153}{28}(1o_n(1))=\frac{51}{392}n^2(1+o_n(1))>0.13n^2(1+o_n(1)).$$

## 3 Edge-disjoint transitive triples in a random tournament

A random tournament with $`n`$ vertices is obtained by selecting the orientation of each edge by flipping an unbiased coin, where all $`\left(\genfrac{}{}{0pt}{}{n}{2}\right)`$ choices are independent. Assume, therefore, that $`T_n`$ is a random tournament.

###### Proposition 3.1

$$\mathrm{Prob}\left[P_k(T_n)\frac{1}{k(k1)}n^2(1o_n(1))\right]1o_n(1).$$

Proof Let $`(x,y)`$ be any edge of $`T_n`$. Clearly, each $`K_k`$ containing $`(x,y)`$ induces a $`TT_k`$ with probability $`k!/2^{\left(\genfrac{}{}{0pt}{}{k}{2}\right)}`$. Hence, letting $`n(x,y)`$ denote the number of transitive $`k`$-vertex tournaments containing $`(x,y)`$, we have $`E[n(x,y)]=\left(\genfrac{}{}{0pt}{}{n2}{k2}\right)k!/2^{\left(\genfrac{}{}{0pt}{}{k}{2}\right)}`$. As any two $`k`$-vertex tournaments containing $`(x,y)`$ share at most $`k3`$ vertices (other than $`x`$ and $`y`$) there is limited dependence between the tournaments containing $`(x,y)`$ (in fact, for $`k=3`$ there is complete independence). Hence, standard large deviation arguments for limited dependence yield that for every $`0.5>ϵ>0`$,

$$\mathrm{Prob}\left[\left|n(x,y)\left(\genfrac{}{}{0pt}{}{n2}{k2}\right)\frac{k!}{2^{\left(\genfrac{}{}{0pt}{}{k}{2}\right)}}\right|>n^{k2ϵ}\right]=o(n^2).$$

Thus, with probability $`1o_n(1)`$, all edges of $`T_n`$ lie on at least $`(k(k1)/2^{\left(\genfrac{}{}{0pt}{}{k}{2}\right)})n^{k2}(1o_n(1))`$ copies of $`TT_k`$ and at most $`(k(k1)/2^{\left(\genfrac{}{}{0pt}{}{k}{2}\right)})n^{k2}(1+o_n(1))`$ copies of $`TT_k`$.

Consider the $`\left(\genfrac{}{}{0pt}{}{k}{2}\right)`$-uniform hypergraph $`H`$ whose $`N=\left(\genfrac{}{}{0pt}{}{n}{2}\right)`$ vertices are the edges of $`T_n`$ and whose edges are the (edge sets of) $`TT_k`$ copies of $`T_n`$. The degree of all the vertices in this hypergraph is $`(k(k1)/2^{\left(\genfrac{}{}{0pt}{}{k}{2}\right)})n^{k2}(1\pm o_n(1))=2^{k/21k(k1)/2}k(k1)N^{k/21}(1\pm o_n(1))`$, (i.e. the hypergraph is almost regular). Furthermore, the co-degree of any two vertices in this hypergraph is at most $`O(n^{k3})=O(N^{k/21.5})=o(N^{k/21})`$. By the result of Frankl and Rödl , this hypergraph has a matching that covers all but at most $`N(1o_N(1))`$ vertices. Such a matching corresponds to a set of $`\frac{1}{k(k1)}n^2(1o_n(1))`$ edge-disjoint copies of $`TT_k`$ in $`T_n`$.

## 4 Concluding remarks

* Whenever $`P(T_n)=n(n1)/6`$ we say that $`T_n`$ has a transitive Steiner triple system. Clearly, this may occur only if $`K_n`$ has a Steiner triple system, namely, when $`n1,3mod6`$. It would be interesting to characterize the tournaments that have a transitive Steiner triple system.
* Conjecture 1.1, if true, would be best possible. We show $`f(n)n(n1)/6n/3`$. Let $`T_3(n)`$ be the complete $`3`$-partite Turán graph with $`n`$ vertices. It is well-known that $`T_3(n)`$ has $`\left(\genfrac{}{}{0pt}{}{n}{2}\right)n(n1)/6n/3`$ edges. Denote the partite classes by $`V_1,V_2,V_3`$. Orient all edges between $`V_1`$ and $`V_2`$ from $`V_1`$ to $`V_2`$. Orient all edges between $`V_2`$ and $`V_3`$ from $`V_1`$ to $`V_2`$. Orient all edges between $`V_1`$ and $`V_3`$ from $`V_3`$ to $`V_1`$. Complete this oriented graph to a tournament $`T_n`$ by adding directed edges between any two vertices in the same partite class in any arbitrary way. Notice that each transitive triple in $`T_n`$ contains at least one edge with both endpoints in the same vertex class. Hence, $`P(T_n)n(n1)/6n/3`$.
* Conjecture 1.1 has been verified for $`n8`$. The values $`f(1)=f(2)=f(3)=0`$ and $`f(4)=1`$ are trivial. The values $`f(5)=2`$, $`f(6)=3`$ are easy exercises. The value $`f(7)5`$ is a consequence of Lemma 2.2, and thus $`f(7)=5`$ by the above Turań graph argument. The value $`f(8)7`$ (and hence $`f(8)=7`$) is computer verified.
* Conjecture 1.1 claims, in particular, that one can cover almost all edges of $`T_n`$ with edge-disjoint transitive triples. Proposition 3.1 asserts that this is true for the random tournament and that, in fact, the random tournament can be covered almost completely with edge-disjoint copies of $`TT_k`$ for every fixed $`k`$. However, for $`k4`$ there are constructions showing that a significant amount of edges must be uncovered by any set of edge-disjoint $`TT_k`$. Consider $`TT_4`$. It is well-known (cf. ) that there is a unique $`T_7`$ with no $`TT_4`$. Consider the complete $`7`$-partite digraph with $`n`$ vertices obtained by blowing up each vertex of this unique $`T_7`$ with $`n/7`$ vertices. Add arbitrary directed edges connecting two vertices in the same vertex class to obtain a $`T_n`$. Clearly, any $`TT_4`$ of this $`T_n`$ must contain an edge with both endpoints in the same vertex class. Hence, $`f_4(n)P_4(T_n)7\left(\genfrac{}{}{0pt}{}{n/7}{2}\right)=O(\frac{1}{14}n^2)`$. Hence at least $`\left(\genfrac{}{}{0pt}{}{n}{2}\right)6f_4(T_n)\frac{1}{14}n^2(1+o(1))`$ must be uncovered. Similar constructions exist for all $`k4`$, where the fraction of covered edges tends to zero as $`k`$ increases.
* It is possible to slightly improve the constant appearing in Theorem 1.2. Recall that the proof of Theorem 1.2 assumed a worst case of $`p_10`$, where $`p_1`$ is the probability that a random $`T_7`$ has at most four directed triangles. However, it is very easy to prove that for $`n`$ sufficiently large, $`p_1>c>0`$ where $`c`$ is some (small) absolute constant. This follows from the fact that every $`T_{54}`$ contains a $`TT_7`$ . Thus there exists a positive constant $`c^{}`$ such that for $`n`$ sufficiently large, $`T_n`$ has at least $`c^{}n^7`$ copies of $`TT_7`$. Hence, a random induced $`7`$-vertex subgraph of $`T_n`$ is a $`TT_7`$ with constant positive probability. This improvement for $`p_1`$ immediately implies a (very small) improvement for the constant appearing in Theorem 1.2.

## Acknowledgment

The author thanks Noga Alon for useful comments.


text:
# Generalization of the 𝑁_𝑝𝑁_𝑛 scheme to non-yrast levels of even-even nuclei

## Abstract

In this paper we present the systematics of excitation energies for even-even nuclei in two regions: the 50$`<`$Z$``$66, 82$`<`$N$``$104 region, and the 66$`<`$Z$`<`$82, 82$`<`$N$``$104 region. Using the $`N_pN_n`$ scheme, we obtain compact trajectories for the ground band as well as quasi-$`\beta `$ and quasi-$`\gamma `$ bands. This suggests that the $`N_pN_n`$ scheme is useful even if one extends it to non-yrast levels, and thus can serve as a general tool to disclose new types of structural evolution for higher excitations, besides the yrast states which have been investigated extensively. It is highlighted that deformations in non-yrast quasibands of nuclei with $`Z80`$ and $`N104`$ are often very different from those in the ground bands.

The importance of the residual valence p-n interaction in the development of collectivity, phase/shape transitions and deformation has been stressed and discussed by many authors, such as deShalit and Goldhaber , Talmi , and Federman and Pittel . This idea was further simplified by Casten : Suppose that a simple product of valence proton number and valence neutron number, $`N_pN_n`$, is a reasonable estimate to gauge this interaction. Then there must be some correlations between the collective observables (such as excited energies, deformations, etc.) and $`N_pN_n`$.

The $`N_pN_n`$ plots helped a lot in the past decades for the classification and a better understanding of the increasingly rich of data . However, almost all the plots based on the $`N_pN_n`$ scheme were applied to the ground or yrast bands. One curious question is whether these simple and naive plots are helpful in any ways for the non-yrast levels. In this paper we shall find that the $`N_pN_n`$ plots are actually applicable to these higher excited states.

The clue lies in a concept–“quasiband”, which was proposed by M. Sakai  in 1967 – for nearly spherical and/or transitional nuclei. It might be inadequate to use the terms such as $`\beta `$ or $`\gamma `$ band(s) for levels of nuclei near closed shell nuclei, because the physical content of bands in transitional and nearly spherical nuclei is different from those of deformed nuclei. Nevertheless, for the sake of convenience, one may introduce terms such as quasi-ground, quasi-$`\beta `$ and quasi-$`\gamma `$ bands in spherical and transitional nuclei, which are regarded as the counterparts of collective bands in deformed regions. The quasi-ground bands and quasi-$`\beta `$ bands thus have spin sequences $`0^+`$, $`2^+`$, $`4^+`$, $`6^+`$, etc., and the quasi-$`\gamma `$ bands have spin sequences $`2^+`$, $`3^+`$, $`4^+`$, $`5^+`$, etc. The data for even-even nuclei using “quasi”-bands have been compiled and revised many times , and have been used extensively by many authors.

The question relevant to this paper is: when we go from spherical regions with vibrational motion to the transition regions with complicated modes, and finally to deformed regions with ground rotational and $`\beta `$\- and $`\gamma `$-vibrational bands, do the excited energies of non-yrast levels evolve smoothly with their $`N_pN_n`$ values? Even if the evolution is smooth, those data versus $`N_pN_n`$ might be very scattered and not so useful, because the behaviors of these non-yrast levels are $`\mathrm{𝑛𝑜𝑡}`$ necessarily the same as those of the yrast band.

It is therefore interesting to investigate whether the excitations based on these “band” heads evolves similarly as the yrast band, and whether the $`N_pN_n`$ scheme is relevant to classify the levels for non-yrast quasi bands, in particular, whether the $`N_pN_n`$ scheme is able to highlight some anomalies which reflect some interesting mechanism in the relevant levels.

We first look at the situation for the yrast levels. We focus on two regions which were studied extensively: $`50Z68`$, $`84N104`$ and $`68<Z80`$, $`84N104`$. For the former region, we use the effective numbers of valence protons for nuclei which are affected by the $`Z=64`$ subshell. The effective numbers were tabulated in a recent Letter by a fit of ground state deformations using the $`N_pN_n`$ scheme . For the latter region no effective numbers are used but the nuclei with $`Z78`$ were found to exhibit anomalies of ground-state deformations which are maximized around $`N=104`$ , and their $`E_{2_1^+}`$’s are also abnormal in the $`N_pN_n`$ plots. We thus discriminate the $`Z>76`$ and $`Z76`$ cases in the $`68<Z80`$, $`84N104`$ region: We use solid squares for $`Z76`$ and open squares for $`Z>76`$.

All the data used in this paper are taken from Ref. . Fig. 1 shows the systematics of $`E_{2_1^+}`$ versus $`N_pN_n`$. We see that there exists a very strong correlation between the $`E_{2_1^+}`$’s and the $`N_nN_p`$ values, if we reasonably offset the subshell effect and exclude the anomalies of $`Z78`$ and $`N104`$.

For non-yrast states, we define $`E_{3^+}^{}(\gamma _1)=E_{3^+}(\gamma _1)E_{2^+}(\gamma _1)`$, and $`E_{2^+}^{}(\beta _1)=E_{2^+}(\beta _1)E_{0^+}(\beta _1)`$. It is noted that some authors would not use the above appellation of “$`\beta _1`$ band” (which may imply a very specific structure that may not be true in $`any`$ given nucleus), but would use the term of the “lowest excited $`K`$=0 band”. However, we keep to Sakai’s notation for short in this paper. The behavior of these $`E^{}`$ values is then assumed to reflect the structural evolution of the non-yrast states.

Fig. 2 plots $`E_{3^+}^{}(\gamma _1)`$ and $`E_{2^+}^{}(\beta _1)`$ versus their $`N_pN_n`$ values. Here the same $`N_nN_p`$ numbers as in the Fig. 1 are used. Despite of the fact that the behaviors of excited states in the ground band may be different from those in non-yrast bands (say, the $`\beta _1`$ or $`\gamma _1`$ band here), very interestingly, the $`N_nN_p`$ scheme continues to work very well. A strong correlation between the $`E_{3^+}^{}(\gamma _1)`$ or $`E_{2^+}^{}(\beta _1)`$ values and their corresponding $`N_nN_p`$ is easily seen.

The above $`N_pN_n`$ plots not only provide a naive correlation between the excited energies of non-yrast levels and their $`N_pN_n`$ values, but also provide more insights into their structural evolution. For the ground band, nuclei with $`Z=78`$ and 80 are much more deformed than they “should” be, with $`N104`$ nuclei deviating furthest from the correlation, which was shown in . Fig. 1 (b) highlights the same anomalies in their $`2_1^+`$ energy levels. Therefore, one would easily have the intuition that the non-yrast levels of these nuclei deviate from the correlation in a similar manner. However, Fig. 2(d) shows that the $`E_{3^+}^{}(\gamma _1)`$ values of $`Z=78`$ and $`N=102`$, 104 are quite “normal”. If it is assumed that a large deformation is associated with smaller excitation energies within a band, as is well known in the ground band, the present observation indicates a very drastic change in deformation when we go from the ground band to the $`\gamma _1`$ band for the nuclei $`{}_{}{}^{180}{}_{78}{}^{}`$Pt102 and $`{}_{}{}^{182}{}_{78}{}^{}`$Pt104. It would be very interesting to check the data for $`E_{3^+}^{}(\gamma _1)`$ for the Hg isotopes with $`N104`$ when they will be available in the future. The deformation of $`{}_{}{}^{184}{}_{80}{}^{}`$Hg104 in the $`2^+(\beta _1)`$ state in the $`\beta _1`$ band, as discussed above, is suggested to be quite close to that of the ground state, while the deformation of $`{}_{}{}^{182}{}_{78}{}^{}`$Pt104 in the $`2^+(\beta _1)`$ state is substantially smaller than in the ground state. Therefore, based on the $`N_pN_n`$ plots of this paper and assuming a correlation between the values of deformation and excited energies in the quasi-bands discussed in , we suggest that the deformations of non-yrast levels of nuclei with $`N104`$ and $`Z78`$ are complicated, and very state- or band-dependent even in the low-lying and low-spin states.

To summarize, compact trajectories of excitation energies of both the ground band and the quasi-$`\beta `$ and quasi-$`\gamma `$ bands for even-even nuclei have been obtained in the $`N_pN_n`$ plots, showing that the $`N_pN_n`$ scheme is also useful for non-yrast states, despite of the fact that the behavior of the quasi-$`\beta `$ and quasi-$`\gamma `$ bands might be different from that of the yrast one. These plots highlight the anomalies of both the ground band and higher excited bands. We suggest, using this simple scheme, that the deformations of non-yrast (but very low) levels of nuclei with $`N104`$ and $`Z78`$ are very state- or band-dependent. The $`N_pN_n`$ scheme is thus very useful to disclose anomalies of structural evolution, especially for those nuclei without rich data.

The authors would like to thank Professors Rick F. Casten and Stuart Pittel for their discussions and constructive comments. This work is supported in part by the Japan Society of Promotion of Science (Contract No. P01021).

Captions:

FIG. 1. The $`E_{2_1^+}`$ versus $`N_pN_n`$ for nuclei with a) 50$`<`$Z$``$66 and 82$`<`$N$``$104; b) 66$`<`$Z$`<`$82 and 82$`<`$N$``$104. In a) effective numbers of valence protons are taken from . In b) the nuclei with $`Z=78`$ and 80 are labeled with open squares. See the text for details.

FIG. 2. The excited energy values of quasi-$`\beta `$ and quasi-$`\gamma `$ bands versus $`N_pN_n`$. In a) and b) $`50<Z68`$, $`84N104`$. In c) and d) $`68<Z80`$, $`84N104`$. The $`E_{2_1^+}^{}(\beta _1)`$ are given in a) and c) and $`E_{3_1^+}^{}(\gamma _1)`$ are given in b) and d), respectively.


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# Chapter 1 The Status of VHE Astronomy

## Chapter 1 The Status of VHE Astronomy

### Abstract

This paper summarizes the status of very high-energy (VHE) astronomy, as of early 2003. It concentrates on observations made by $`\gamma `$-ray telescopes operating at energies above 10 GeV. This field is an exciting one to be working in, with a growing and varied list of established sources that includes plerions, supernova remnants, and active galactic nuclei. Some of these sources are believed to be well understood theoretically, but others are much more puzzling. New results include the discovery of the first unidentified source at very high energies and the detection of $`\gamma `$-rays from a nearby starburst galaxy (NGC 253). The arrival of a new generation of telescopes, both on the ground and in space, argues that we can anticipate a wealth of exciting results in the near future.

### 1. Introduction

This review is based on the summary talk given at a major VHE $`\gamma `$-ray meeting and on the papers presented at that meeting . The review is imperfect for a number of reasons. First, it is not comprehensive, but is rather a selective summary of the most interesting recent results. Second, the review is largely confined to the experimental and observational picture. For a summary of the theoretical perspective, see the talk by Takahara .

VHE $`\gamma `$-ray astronomy came of age in the 1990’s . The first solid detections of a galactic source (Crab Nebula) and an extragalactic one (Markarian 421) came in the early part of the decade. The latter part of the decade was marked by an increasing number of confirmed VHE sources and an increasing variety of source type. More importantly, it was marked by steady improvements in the quantity and quality of data. The year 1997 was an exciting one in which dramatic flares from Markarian 501 were detected and studied by a panoply of telescopes around the world. By the end of the decade, detailed measurements of energy spectra and flux variability were routine for the stronger sources.

The 1990’s also saw great progress in experimental capabilities, with atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes leading the way. Arrays of multiple telescopes using higher resolution cameras demonstrated the power of the Cherenkov technique and sparked a world-wide effort to develop the next generation of instruments. Much of the discussion on future ground-based $`\gamma `$-ray telescopes took place in a series of meetings entitled Towards a Major Atmospheric Cherenkov Detector. These meetings were held at Palaiseau (1992), Calgary (1993), Tokyo (1994), Padova (1995), Kruger Park (1997), and Snowbird (1999). The Kashiwa symposium is in the spirit of these past meetings, and this summary considers trends in the field that have taken place since the meeting at Snowbird. For additional information, see the excellent summary from the 27th International Cosmic Ray Conference by Pohl .

### 2. Big Themes

There are a number of broad themes underlying the progression of the field during the last few years. I discuss the following three themes, chosen somewhat arbitrarily:

* Steadily increasing source count.
* Multi-wavelength approaches.
* New telescopes and new instrumentation.

#### 2.1. VHE Source Count

The current VHE sky map is shown in Figure 1. Since the Snowbird meeting, six new sources have been discovered by atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes. Of these new sources, perhaps the most exciting one is the first unidentified VHE source - TeV J2032+4131 - detected by the HEGRA telescope. The other new sources are the blazars H1426+428 and 1ES 1959+650, the supernova remnants Cassiopeia-A and RXJ 1713-3846, and the starburst galaxy NGC 253.

Sources are detected with varying degrees of confidence by a varying number of groups. We can divide the sources into three categories based on a somewhat arbitrary measure of our confidence in their detection:

* Confirmed Sources (A): Six sources have been detected by multiple experiments at high significance levels: Crab, Markarian 421, Markarian 501, PSR 1706-443, H1426+428, and 1ES 1959+650.
* Probable Sources (B): Eight sources have been detected at a high significance level by at least one group: Vela, 1ES 2344+514, SN1006, Cassiopeia-A, RXJ 1713-3846, TeV J2032, PKS 2155-304, and NGC 253.
* Possible Sources (C): Two other sources have been claimed: Centaurus X-3, and 3C66A.

Considering the confirmed and probable sources together, we now have a catalog of fourteen objects, classified in the following way: 3 pulsar nebulae, 3 supernova remnants, 1 starburst galaxy, 6 AGN, and 1 unknown. All AGN are of the BL-Lac type, and all confirmed AGN detections have so far been made in the northern hemisphere. With the advent of the new HESS and CANGAROO-III telescopes in the south, we can expect the southern hemisphere to become a more important part of the overall picture.

#### 2.2. Multi-Wavelength Approaches

VHE $`\gamma `$-ray astronomy does not exist in a vacuum and contact with other wavebands is essential to understanding the detailed astrophysics of the sources. In particular, the connection to X-rays is very important for this field because of the similar non-thermal processes probed and because of the wealth of new data from the current generation of X-ray satellite experiments: RXTE, Chandra, XMM/Newton, and INTEGRAL. Overview talks on our understanding of supernova remnants (SNR’s) were presented by Berezhko, Slane, and Tanimori. They reminded us about how important it is to understand the broadband spectral energy distribution (SED) in SNR’s and plerions. For SN 1006, the basic model of synchrotron emission from a non-thermal electron distribution and an inverse-Compton component appears to well describe the observed data X-ray and $`\gamma `$-ray data. By contrast, the picture for RX J1713-3846 is not clear at all, as discussed below.

The general AGN landscape was covered by Coppi and Mukherjee. Here, in broad terms, the X-ray and TeV $`\gamma `$-ray data show correlation in their SED’s and in their temporal behavior. One is tempted to develop a unified picture to explain or describe these correlations (see, for example, ). Such schemes have merit, but things get more complicated when one looks at these sources in detail. For example, it now appears clear that the TeV (and GeV) blazars have discrete flare states – i.e. one sees flares that last for long periods of time (weeks/months), and then the source quiets down. This situation is hard to explain in the context of a single blob model. Among other things, we would like to understand: 1) the acceleration energy spectrum of the primary electrons, 2) whether the high-energy cutoff in some objects is intrinsic or simply due to photon-photon pair-production (in the source or in intergalactic space), and 3) the source of the seed photons for Compton up-scattering.

Turning to the GeV sky, Pohl reminded us of the main questions left from the EGRET mission. EGRET detected a significant excess in the GeV $`\gamma `$-ray signal at high latitudes that is not understood. In addition, the majority of the point sources detected by EGRET are not identified. Probably a large fraction of these are galactic in origin, but only minor fraction appear to be SNR’s or pulsars. Thus it is likely that a new high-energy galactic source class exists. Are these two problems (the GeV excess and the unknown nature of most EGRET sources) related? We do not know the answer to this question. TeV observations can shed light on this puzzle, even before the launch of GLAST.

#### 2.3. New Telescopes and Instrumentation

There were many interesting talks on new detector techniques at this meeting. Most talks were related to the atmospheric Cherenkov technique, and they described details of the instrumentation for individual telescopes or for new detector concepts. The most important development is the great progress made on the construction of the next generation of telescopes: CANGAROO (Ohishi et al.), HESS (Hofmann et al.), MAGIC (Lorenz et al.), and VERITAS (Ong et al.). Some images of the instrumentation being built for these four telescopes are shown in Figure 2.

The CANGAROO-III array is being constructed in Woomera, Australia (31.1S, 137.8E, 160 m a.s.l.). The array will comprise four $`10`$m diameter telescopes, each having an imaging camera of $`430`$ pixels covering a field of view of 4. The optical reflectors are parabolic in shape, with mirror facets made of glass fiber reinforced plastic. The camera consists of conventional photomultiplier tubes (PMT’s) with each tube covering a full angle of 0.17 on the sky. The electronics are largely conventional VME-based modules. Two telescopes of the array are already in place at Woomera and are being commissioned. The construction of the third and fourth telescopes is scheduled for 2003. Observations with all four telescopes are expected to start in 2004.

The HESS array is well underway at a site in the Gamsberg area of Namibia (23.3S, 16.5, 1800 m a.s.l.). HESS will consist of four 12 m diameter telescopes, each with an imaging camera of 960 pixels covering a 5 field of view. The optical reflectors use the Davies-Cotton design with a focal length of $`15`$m. The mirror segments are made of ground glass that are then aluminized and quartz coated. The camera is a fully integrated and modular assembly, comprising PMT’s and electronics (CPU, trigger, and readout) in the camera body. The readout is accomplished by the Analog Ring Sampler (ARS) device which samples the PMT signal at high rate to provide a measure of the charge integrated over a 16 ns window. HESS presented initial data from two complete telescopes. The construction of the third and fourth telescopes is scheduled for 2003, with four-telescope observations starting in 2004.

The MAGIC telescope is under construction on the island of La Palma (28.8N, 17.8W, 2225 m a.s.l.). The telescope comprises a number of advanced technologies in the design of the mirror, the camera, and the readout electronics. The large 17 m diameter reflector has a parabolic profile, and the individual mirror segments are made from diamond-turned aluminum blanks. The camera uses 574 PMT’s covering a 4 field of view. Camera readout is accomplished by signal transmission through analog optical fibers to a 300 MHz Flash-ADC (FADC) system. Much of MAGIC is already in place, and completion of the full mirror and camera are set for spring 2003, with first observations to follow later in 2003.

VERITAS is an array of telescopes to be constructed near the base camp of Mt. Hopkins in Arizona, USA (31.7N, 110.9W, 1300 m a.s.l.). The first phase of the project, VERITAS-4, will consist of four 12 m diameter telescopes, each with a 499 pixel camera covering a field of view of 3.5. In the second phase, three more telescopes will be added. The optical reflectors use the Davies-Cotton design with a focal length of $`12`$m. Mirror facets are made of ground glass that has been aluminized and anodized. PMT signals are amplified in the base of the phototube and transmitted via high-bandwidth cable to a system of custom-built 500 MHz FADC’s. Construction on the first VERITAS telescope is underway, with initial operation scheduled for late 2003. Current plans call for a four-telescope array to be operational in late 2005.

In space, there are a number of existing or planned instruments that can probe the high-energy gamma-ray regime. Chief among these is GLAST , scheduled for launch in the fall of 2006. GLAST will have a substantially larger collection area, a wider field of view, and a smaller dead time than EGRET on the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory. In comparison with EGRET, GLAST will also have superior angular resolution and a wider spectral range (up to 100 GeV and beyond). Other planned instruments include AGILE, AMS, and SWIFT.

### 3. New Results

There have been many nice results reported in the last year. I have selected a number of them to discuss in this summary:

1. TeV J2032+4131: the first unidentified TeV $`\gamma `$-ray source,
2. the mystery of SNR RX J1713-3946,
3. VHE sky surveys,
4. new AGN results,
5. NGC 253: a starburst galaxy source of VHE emission, and
6. spectral measurements between 50 and 250 GeV.

#### 3.1. The First Unidentified TeV Source: TeV J2032+4131

HEGRA presented evidence for the first unidentified $`\gamma `$-ray source at TeV energies (Rowell, see also ). The source was spotted in scans of the region near the famous Cygnus X-3. After accounting for trials factors, the detection has a statistical significance of 4.6$`\sigma `$. The source is weak, but it appears to be steady with an integral flux of $`30`$mCrab.

This new source has several interesting properties. Chief among them is that it is not clearly identified with any EGRET source or any known X-ray source. As shown in Figure 3, the source is relatively far away from Cygnus X-3, but it is close to the Cygnus OB2 complex and at the edge of the error box of the EGRET source 3EG J2033+4118. A second interesting feature of the source is its hard spectrum with a differential index $`\alpha 2`$. A third feature is that the source appears to be somewhat extended (approximately 6 arc-minutes across). Newer data from HEGRA taken in 2002 appear to confirm the source detection and spectrum.

There are a number of factors that argue for a galactic origin for TeV J2032+4131, but the basic fact is that we just cannot yet make a firm identification. There is the exciting possibility that this source is a new type of object not seen at other wavelengths. In any case, the catalog of unidentified TeV sources has been started.

#### 3.2. The Mystery of RX J1713-3946

The CANGAROO group reported the detection of VHE $`\gamma `$rays from the supernova remnant RX J1713-3946 (SNR G347-0.5) from data taken with the original 3.8 m telescope and with the newer 7 m telescope (Kawachi, see also ). The group argues that the observed TeV spectrum is not consistent with that expected from inverse-Compton scattering from accelerated electrons, but rather is consistent with that expected from $`\pi ^{}`$-decay (where the $`\pi ^{}`$’s are produced when accelerated protons collide with ambient material). Thus, the detection of this SNR can be seen as evidence for the acceleration of very high-energy cosmic rays.

Unfortunately, the interpretation of this source may not be straightforward. Reimer and Pohl present the case that the pion-decay spectrum that fits the TeV data is inconsistent with the EGRET data at GeV energies . Even though EGRET did not detect this object, the EGRET sky map in its vicinity (in particular, near the unidentified source 3EG J1714-3857) provides an upper limit on the GeV flux at the source location. This upper limit appears to be below the expected flux from the pion-decay model (see also ).

At this meeting, Slane showed that inverse-Compton models could fit the GeV and TeV data if one assumed a relatively large value for the magnetic field (B $`50\mu `$G) with a relatively small filling factor. This might be a reasonable picture for a supernova remnant that is evolving towards a molecular cloud.

In the mind of this reviewer, the origin for the TeV radiation from this source has not been clearly established. In general, supernova remnants will have both an electron inverse-Compton component and a proton pion-decay component. Separating and identifying these two components is challenging. Clearly, the new, more powerful Cherenkov telescopes in the southern hemisphere (HESS and CANGAROO-III) will soon be able to shed light on the question of cosmic-ray acceleration in SNR’s.

#### 3.3. VHE Sky Surveys

Our knowledge of the VHE sky is still very incomplete. Atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes have achieved excellent point source sensitivity, but have so far surveyed only a small fraction of the overhead sky. This fraction is steadily increasing, and HEGRA presented preliminary results from analysis of archival data covering 0.4 sr (3.5% of the sky). In this study, two different approaches to flat-fielded the data by using contemporaneous background observations were used. The two approaches generally gave similar results. The HEGRA data showed a handful of sky locations having a statistical significance in the excess event count greater than four standard deviations (Puehlhofer). The strongest significances can be identified with known objects (Cassiopeia-A, H1426+428, and TeV J2032+4131), and there is no evidence for any new strong sources in this search.

Much larger fractions of the sky can be surveyed by air shower detectors. These detectors have wide fields of view and high duty-cycle operation, but weaker sensitivity relative to Cherenkov telescopes. New results were presented from the Tibet air shower array (Sakata) and from the Milagro experiment (Sinnis). Both experiments have surveyed the northern hemisphere sky at $`\gamma `$-ray threshold energies above 3-4 TeV. The results from the two experiments are similar, namely that there are few, if any, sources that have a time-averaged VHE $`\gamma `$-ray flux brighter than the Crab Nebula. The Milagro sky map for one year of data is shown in Figure 4. It would be valuable to compare the sky maps reported by the Tibet and Milagro experiments to search for possible correlations - the results from such a comparison were not reported.

#### 3.4. New AGN Results

In the last two years, two new AGN have been detected in VHE $`\gamma `$rays. The first of these, H1426+428, is an X-ray selected BL-Lac object that is the most distant source yet detected at very high energies ($`z=0.129`$). The source was monitored over several years because of the high synchrotron peak frequency (E$`>100`$ keV) seen in the X-rays, and detections were reported by the VERITAS (Krennrich, see also ), HEGRA (Horns, see also ), and CAT  collaborations. H1426+428 is weak at TeV energies and measurements indicate a very soft spectrum (differential index $`\alpha 3.0`$), as shown in Figure 5. The spectral shape generally supports the idea that the VHE $`\gamma `$-ray signal is heavily attenuated from absorption by the extragalactic background light (EBL). The HEGRA group has attempted to constrain the EBL spectral energy distribution (SED) by starting with an intrinsic source spectrum and fitting to the observed spectrum. This technique yields a reasonable shape and normalization for the EBL SED.

The other newly detected AGN is 1ES 1959+650. This source is an X-ray selected BL-Lac object at a redshift $`z=0.048`$. It is a weak EGRET source that exhibits a high degree of variability in X-rays. Early evidence for this source was reported by the Telescope Array  and by HEGRA . In May 2002, the source went into a flaring state and strong VHE $`\gamma `$ray emission was reported by HEGRA. Initial results on the spectra and light curve for this source were presented by HEGRA (Horns) and VERITAS (Holder) at this meeting. VERITAS sees a spectral index similar to that for the Crab and strong night-to-night variability . On one night, a doubling time scale of $`7`$ hr was observed. HEGRA sees a softer spectral index relative to the Crab, strong variability, and evidence for spectral hardening. The last result is very interesting; in the low state, the source spectra appears to be well fit by a power law of differential index $`\alpha 3.3`$, but in the high state, a simple power law is a poor fit to the data and a curved spectral shape is required. Analyses of multi-wavelength observations of 1ES 1959+650 are in progress.

In addition to detecting new AGN at very high energies, we are continuing to learn more about the now well-known TeV sources Markarian 421 and Markarian 501. Mrk 421 exhibited dramatic flaring activity in 2001, and the large flux variations permitted detailed spectral measurements to be made as a function of flux level. These measurements clearly show spectral variability, where the spectrum hardens as the flux level increases. This behavior could be expected in a model where the synchrotron peak gets shifted to higher energy during the flaring activity. Similar results on the spectral variability of Mrk 421 were presented by VERITAS (Krennrich) and HEGRA (Horns). As shown in Figure 6, the differential spectral index varies from $`\alpha 3.0`$ at relatively low flux values to $`\alpha 2.0`$ at the highest recorded flux levels. Spectral variability is also observed on short time scales ($`0.5`$hr), but there is a lot of scatter in the data. HEGRA also reported a possible diurnal spectral variability indicating some sort of hysteresis-like effect. We are reminded that these blazar systems are quite complicated and that more data of this quality are needed to fully understand these sources.

#### 3.5. New Source: NGC 253

At this meeting, the CANGAROO collaboration reported the detection of VHE $`\gamma `$rays from the starburst galaxy NGC 253 (Itoh, see also ). The group also presented evidence for possible $`\gamma `$ray emission from the galactic center (Tsuchiya) and from two supernova remnants: RCW86 (Watanabe) and RX J0852-4622 (Katagiri).

At a distance of $`2.5`$Mpc, NGC 253 is one of the closest starburst galaxies. The galaxy is known to have a very high star formation rate, at the level of 0.1-0.3 SN/year. Although EGRET did not detect this source at GeV $`\gamma `$ray energies, a large and bright synchrotron halo is seen in the radio band. Recent Chandra data from the core region indicates a heavily absorbed source of hard X-rays that may possibly signal a weak active nucleus . It is argued (Voelk) that the high star formation rate in NGC 253 will lead to an enhanced rate of cosmic ray production (factor of 10-100 times greater than the Milky Way) and thus a substantial level of diffuse $`\gamma `$ray emission.

CANGAROO made observations of NGC 253 totalling $`75`$hr over a two year period. The distribution of the image orientation parameter $`\alpha `$ is shown for these data in Figure 7. An excess of events is observed at low values of $`\alpha `$, corresponding to a raw significance of $`11.1\sigma `$ and a detection rate of 0.56 $`\gamma `$rays/min. The source appears to be spatially extended in comparison with the Crab control data. A simple power-law fit to the energy spectrum does not adequately describe the data, and a strong turn-over below 1 TeV is needed. The multi-waveband spectrum of NGC 253, shown in Figure 7, indicates that the hard X-ray and TeV $`\gamma `$ray data cannot be described by a simple model of inverse-Compton emission from a single source of electrons. The TeV $`\gamma `$rays may possibly originate from the extended halo and the X-rays from the central region. Further observations of this source will be important to understanding its high-energy cosmic ray environment.

#### 3.6. Spectral Measurements Between 50 and 250 GeV

The atmospheric Cherenkov technique has been a powerful technique for detecting sources and measuring their spectra at energies above several hundred GeV. Very recently, this technique has been successfully applied by solar array telescopes at energies between 50 to 250 GeV. These telescopes give us the first source measurements in this unexplored waveband. Both CELESTE and STACEE presented results from recent observations.

CELESTE reported results from a spectral analysis of Crab Nebula and Markarian 421 data (Piron). An energy resolution of $`20`$% was achieved. The CELESTE data provide spectral measurements near the peak of the putative inverse-Compton component, and the measured spectra are observed to connect well with higher energy results from the CAT telescope. Future work is needed to reduce the systematic uncertainties due to varying atmospheric conditions. CELESTE has also made low-threshold observations to search for the Crab Pulsar. Although the pulsar has not yet been detected by a ground-based $`\gamma `$ray telescope, CELESTE is the first to explore the very interesting region below 50 GeV.

STACEE reported results from detailed observations made on Markarian 421 during the 2001 flare (Hanna, see also ). The light curve showed night-to-night flux variations and peak detection rates exceeded 1000 $`\gamma `$rays/hr. The average flux measured by STACEE generally agrees with an extrapolation from the VERITAS spectrum recorded on the same nights. Moreover, a good correlation is observed between the STACEE and VERITAS flux measurements on a daily time scale. Weaker correlation is seen between the STACEE and RXTE light curves. STACEE also reported on observations made of the AGN sources W Comae ($`z=0.102`$) and H1426+428. Neither of these sources were detected, but the limits are interesting and constrain the spectral behavior in the waveband centered on 100 GeV.

### 4. Summary

VHE astronomy continues to be an exciting area to work in. The catalog of known sources is growing, and our knowledge of specific source properties has significantly increased over the last few years. We are discovering new types of sources and measuring their spectral, temporal, and multi-wavelength behavior with greater accuracy. With the advent of a new generation of ground-based Cherenkov telescopes, we are entering a new era. VHE astronomy is observationally driven, and the new telescopes will soon be providing lots of results to be understood by the theorists.

It is very gratifying to see the great progress made on the construction of the CANGAROO, HESS, MAGIC, and VERITAS telescopes. It has taken ten years to reach the “Major Atmospheric Cherenkov Detector” but we are almost there! Of course, nothing stands still, and work is already well underway towards a future generation of instruments, possibly Cherenkov telescopes at high altitude with very wide fields of view. New technology in optics, photodetectors, and electronics will be essential for moving the field forward.

### 5. Acknowledgements

I wish to acknowledge organizers of this symposium, Ryoji Enomoto, Masaki Mori, and Shohei Yanagita, for inviting me to give this review. Many thanks are due to all the speakers who gave me materials before, during, and after the meeting, especially Ryoji Enomoto, Dieter Horns, Frank Krennrich, Gavin Rowell, and Gus Sinnis. Dirk Petry kindly provided me with a template for the sky map. Any inaccuracies in the presentation of results are my responsibility.

Considerable gratitude is owed to Tadashi Kifune, one of the pioneers in the field of using ground-based telescopes to study VHE astrophysics. Tadashi has been a key figure in the exploration of the southern hemisphere sky. With the advent of new telescope arrays, we can rightfully expect to see an explosion in the number of VHE $`\gamma `$ray sources, as predicted by Tadashi.

### 6. References

1. Symposium entitled: The Universe Viewed in Gamma-Rays, 25-28 Sep 2003, Kashiwa, Japan, published by Universal Academy Press, Inc. (Tokyo), ed. R. Enomoto. References to papers presented at this meeting are given in the body of the text by listing the presenter’s name.

2. For reviews of the field, see, for example: R.A. Ong 1998, Phys. Rep. 305, 93; Weekes, T.C. 2000, Proc. High Energy Gamma-Ray Astronomy (Heidelberg), American Institute of Physics Conf. Proc. 558 (ed. F.A. Aharonian and H.J. Voelk), p. 15.

3. Pohl, M. 2001, Proc. 27th Int. Cosmic Ray Conf. (Hamburg), Copernicus Gesellschaft, Invited and Rapporteur Talks, astro-ph/0111552.

4. Donato, D., Ghisellini, G., Tagliaferri, G., and Fossati, G. 2001, A&A 375, 739.

5. Kniffen, D.A. et al. 2000, Proc. of GeV-TeV Gamma-Ray Astrophysics Workshop, Towards a Major Atmospheric Cherenkov Detector VI (Snowbird), American Institute of Physics Conf. Proc. 515, (ed. B.L. Dingus, M.H. Salamon, and D.B. Kieda), p. 492.

6. Aharonian, F. et al. 2002, A&A 393, L37.

7. Enomoto, R. et al. 2002, Nature 416, 823.

8. Reimer, O. and Pohl, M. 2002, A&A 390, L43.

9. Butt, Y.M. et al. 2002, Nature 418, 499.

10. Costamante, L. and Ghisellini, G. 2002, A&A 384, 56.

11. Horan, D. et al. 2002, ApJ 517, 753.

12. Aharonian, F. et al. 2002, A&A 384, L23.

13. Djannati-Atai, A. et al. 2002, A&A 391, L25.

14. Petry, D. et al. 2002, ApJ 580, 104.

15. Nishiyama, T. et al. 1999, Proc. 26th Int. Cosmic Ray Conf. (Salt Lake City) 3, p. 370.

16. Konopelko, A. 2002, American Physical Society (APS) April Meeting and American Astrophysical Society (AAS) HEAD Meeting, Albuquerque, NM, 20-23 Apr 2002 (unpublished).

17. Holder, J. et al. 2003, ApJ 583, L9.

18. Itoh, C. et al. 2002, A&A 396, L1.

19. Weaver, K.A. et al. 2002, ApJ 576, L19.

20. Boone, L. et al. 2002, ApJ 579, L5.