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# Massive star clusters in ongoing galaxy interactions – clues to cluster formation 1footnote 11footnote 1Based on observations with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope obtained at the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under NASA contract No. NAS5-26555.

## 1 Introduction

Evidence connecting galaxy interactions to powerful star-forming events has accumulated from observations over a wide range of wavelengths, from the radio continuum to X-rays. This enhancement in star formation does not consist merely of exceptional numbers of normal H II regions. Among the most striking results from early HST observations of interacting and merging systems was the prevalence of luminous, presumably massive super star clusters (SSCs). While a handful are sufficiently bright and isolated to have been picked out from earlier ground-based data (e.g. Schweizer 1982 and Lutz 1991), it was the improved resolution of HST (for an early example, using pre-refurbishment data, see Whitmore et al. 1993) which revealed them as an important population. In particular, their high luminosity allows the possibility that these are in effect young globular clusters, if they have a “normal” initial-mass function continuing to low stellar masses. This would fit with the idea that strongly interacting and merging galaxies today can serve as a useful model for conditions early in galaxy formation, when more isolated galaxies (such as ours) formed similar clusters as well.

As reviewed by Whitmore (2002), much of the focus in relating SSCs to galaxy interactions has been in following the cluster populations during and after major mergers. These studies have shown a general correlation between the ages of the SSCs, as derived from modelling their broadband colors, and the age of the merger from dynamical considerations. Objects seen close to the time of merger - such as infrared-luminous galaxies - can have extensive populations of such clusters in their inner few kiloparsecs. The benchmark for young cluster population has been the Antennae, NGC 4038/9 (Whitmore et al. 1999b). The remnant disks of both galaxies contain rich populations of clusters as bright as $`M_V=14`$, with evidence for distinct star-forming events in various parts of the system. The luminosity function of these clusters is close to a power law with slope $`\alpha =2.1`$, possibly more precisely described as a broken power-law form. The luminosity function of SSCs, and its possible evolution, are important in probing the connection between these young, massive clusters and old globular clusters.

Much of the interest in these cluster populations has centered on the question of whether they are massive enough to be genuine globular clusters, and how this fits with the merging hypothesis for the formation of elliptical galaxies. This has driven many studies of the SSC population to concentrate on merging systems of various dynamical properties (forming a rough age sequence), and a few galaxies seen very strongly interacting. As reviewed by Whitmore (2002), there is a continuous color sequence which follows a plausible fading line from the young clusters in the Antennae to globular clusters in such ellipticals as M87. While this favors the idea that these are similar populations seen at various epochs, and thus that mergers form many elliptical galaxies and important parts of their globular-cluster systems, the luminosity function of SSCs in many systems is well described as a power law, like that of ordinary open clusters in spiral galaxies, and quite different from the approximately Gaussian distribution of the old, “genuine” globular clusters in both spirals and ellipticals. This makes the survival and evolution of the clusters over Gyr timespans crucial in telling whether there really is a continuous sequence all the way to old globular clusters.

In contrast to these consideration of the long-term evolution of these luminous clusters, rather few galaxies in “typical” interactions outside of merging conditions have been surveyed for SSCs, to assess a link between immediate tidal events and star formation in such massive concentration. Such interacting pairs may offer a cleaner view of when and how clusters form, with the dynamical history more easily recovered than in advanced mergers, and different regions still connected to different tidal histories. It would be especially helpful if we see very different star-formation responses in two gas-rich galaxies in a pair, since the timing of encounter is identical. In an effort to specify what kinds of galaxy dynamics and timescales are involved in the formation of SSCs, we have observed the cluster populations in two interacting galaxy pairs in different extremes of the interaction process, both well before merging takes place. Using morphology and $`n`$-body simulations, we selected pairs that are early in a very strong tidal encounter (NGC 6621/2), and that are at a late stage in a weak encounter (NGC 5752/4, which is weak for the larger galaxy at least). One might expect some kind of threshold for formation of these massive clusters, since they are not numerous in undisturbed disks), and may require such special processes as collisions of giant molecular clouds or assembly of massive clouds within a particular time. Larsen (2002) finds that only a fraction $`15`$% of luminous “normal” spirals have any cluster as bright as $`M_V=12.0`$, and that very rich cluster populations are needed to expect such examples for a typical power-law luminosity function. Given this evidence that the cluster populations in interacting systems result from unusual processes, the systems for which we can infer ages and levels of perturbation might then offer clues to where and when the clusters form.

## 2 Observations

### 2.1 Selection and properties of galaxy pairs

We selected candidate pairs starting with the samples observed by Keel et al. (1985) spectroscopically and in H$`\alpha `$ imaging, to select systems with active star formation, so we would be able to ask how much of this star formation occurs in SSCs. We sought pairs with morphologies suggesting a single encounter of only two galaxies, so that their histories could be inferred from comparison with the $`n`$-body atlas results from Howard et al. (1993), and lower redshifts for the highest sensitivity and linear resolution. From these criteria, we settled on the pairs NGC 5752/4 and NGC 6621/2 to represent two extremes of the pair population. The pairs also offer additional contrasts, in that NGC 5752/4 are of very different size and luminosity, and NGC6621 is much more gas-rich than NGC 6622.

NGC 5752/4 is part of the apparent quartet Arp 297. Despite the interestingly close configuration of these galaxies, redshift information breaks this grouping into two separately interacting pairs differing in distance by a factor of two (Fig. 1). The figure also shows the outer tidal structure which aids in reconstructing the dynamical history of the pair, including a faint tail running westward from NGC 5752. The redshift listed for NGC 5752 in NED is somewhat suspicious, being exactly the same as listed for NGC 5754. We have therefore re-examined the low-resolution spectrophotometric data from Keel et al. (1985, where it is listed as Arp 297C), from which we derive a heliocentric velocity $`4325\pm 85`$ km s-1 from H$`\gamma `$, H$`\beta `$, and \[O III\] emission. This agrees well with a newly available archived spectrum from the CfA $`z`$-machine 222http://tdc-www.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/arc/uzcsearch which gives $`4441\pm 24`$ km s-1 from absorption-line cross-correlation. Adopting a value of $`\mathrm{H}_0=70`$ km s-1 Mpc-1 gives a linear scale of 316 pc/arcsecond for this pair.

NGC 5754 exhibits a rich population of disk H II regions, and NGC 5752 shows multiple, very bright H II regions closely packed around its core (Kennicutt et al. 1987), satisfying our requirement for substantial star formation.

NGC 6621/2 (Arp 81, VV 247, CPG 534) is much more strongly disturbed, kinematically as well as morphologically (Reshetnikov & Sil’chenko 1990, Keel 1993, 1996). It is part of the original sequence of candidate merging pairs presented by Toomre (1977). The fainter galaxy in this case is an E/S0 system, whose redshift is (like that of NGC 5752) in some question from published data. Gas from the larger disk galaxy NGC 6621 is so widespread that emission lines putatively seen from NGC 6622 are almost certainly from the extended disk of NGC 6621, based both on the morphology and velocity continuity of the line emission. We therefore measured an absorption-line value to help in interpreting the history of this system (section 4.1). We adopt a linear scale of 430 pc/arcsecond for this pair, based on a mean redshift $`cz=6210`$ km s-1.

### 2.2 HST Imaging

Each galaxy pair was observed with WFPC2 in both $`B`$ (F450W) and $`I`$ (F814W) passbands. As it happened, both were observed within a single 24-hour span, on 14 and 15 March 1999. The filters were selected to provide a wide color baseline coupled with high efficiency and rejection of strong emission lines. The elongated pair NGC 6621/2 was placed in CCDs WF2 and WF3. For NGC 5752/4, the high-surface-brightness companion NGC 5752 was placed on the PC CCD, with NGC 5754 and its tidal arms spreading across all three WF CCDs. This placement turned out to be fortunate because of the crowding of the many luminous clusters found in NGC 5752. Total exposure time in each filter was 2600 seconds, each split into two individual exposures for cosmic-ray rejection. Mosaics of the WFPC2 images are shown in Figs. 2 and 3. Data from the individual CCDs have been rebinned to a common astrometric frame for these figures, but cluster photometry was done on the original data.

We followed the photometric procedures of Whitmore et al. (1999b) as closely as the greater distance our targets would allow, to be able to compare the cluster populations most directly with the well-observed Antennae system NGC 4038/9. Cluster candidates were identified using the IRAF 333IRAF is distributed by the National Optical Astronomy Observatories, which are operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation. implementation of DAOFIND, and measured using aperture photometry (radius 0.2” and curve-of growth aperture correction of 0.70 magnitude) with a local background. For simplicity of analysis, we adopt a uniform flux threshold for candidate clusters across each galaxy, set by experiments with the number of false detections at a given detection threshold, and removing a few spurious detections produced by the greater Poisson noise near the center of NGC 5754. As in similar studies, cluster colors are almost completely independent of aperture effects, with only 2-7% changes in the fraction of encircled energy within the 0.2” aperture expected across our wavelength baseline. We followed Holtzman et al. (1995) in assuming an aperture of radius 0.5” to encompass 90% of the energy. Between 0.2” and 0.5”, we find that the brightest clusters show a curve of growth similar to the point-source prediction (specifically, the brightest ones in NGC 5754 give a correction 0.23 magnitude, compared to a calculated value of 0.17 from the WFPC2 handbook). Residual photometric errors due to geometric distortion within the WFPC2 optics, which exist because the flat-field correction is set up to properly correct surface brightness rather than point-source intensity, should be less than 2% for the regions spanned by these galaxies. The role of foreground extinction should be quite modest for these pairs; the Schlegel, Finkbeiner, & Davis (1998) prescription gives $`A_B=0.20,A_I=0.09`$ for NGC 6621/2 at $`b=23^{}`$, and $`A_B=0.05,A_I=0.02`$ for NGC 5752/4 at $`b=+63^{}`$. We fold these values into the respective photometric zero points. Charge-transfer effects are not very important even for the NGC 5752 data, taken in the PC CCD with relatively low background. We follow the prescription of Dolphin (2000) in evaluating these, recognizing that the complex brightness distribution makes these corrections approximate. For the faintest clusters we measure, at the highest instrumental $`y`$ coordinates, the correction is only 0.025 magnitude in $`B`$, with a differential $`BI`$ correction of $`0.006`$ magnitude. Using the prescription from Whitmore et al. (1999a) gives slightly higher values, 0.04 magnitude in $`B`$, but these effects are still swallowed up in the other photometric errors for these clusters.

Near the bright nucleus of NGC 5754, some nonexistent objects appeared in the original source list simply due to the greater Poisson noise and amplitude of local image structure. We rejected these based on a median-windowed image, which removed most of the effects of a strong brightness gradient on the object-finding routine.

At the distance of either galaxy pair, genuine SSCs should be at most marginally resolved by WFPC2. However, since some of the detections in nearby systems such as NGC 4038/9 have dimensions of a few hundred parsecs, being perhaps better described as superassociations, we did not require candidate clusters to be completely stellar in structure for inclusion. This may also include some blended sets of clusters, which can sometimes be distinguished by image structure. At these distances and our magnitude limit, confusion between candidate clusters and supergiant stars will not be an issue, since B=26 at the distance of NGC 6621/2 corresponds to $`M_B=8.6`$. As found for the Antennae by Whitmore et al. (1999b), the contribution of the brightest stars is important only fainter than $`M_V=8`$ and negligible for $`M_V>9`$, so even the bluest of these will not be significant contaminants in our $`B`$ data. Likewise, to these magnitudes, background galaxies are not major sources of contamination.

We deal with two subsets of cluster candidates for each pair - a large sample selected for $`4\sigma `$ significance in $`B`$, and one culled for color accuracy, with $`\sigma (BI)<0.2`$. Photometric errors are based on photon statistics for aperture photometry, and fitting errors for PSF-fitting measures. The color samples have effective limits near $`B=26`$, somewhat depending on local background intensity. For NGC 5752, we removed about 40 faint cluster candidates (all fainter than $`B=23.5`$ and most fainter than $`B=25`$) if their peak surface brightness was no higher than found in an extended background region. This was to reduce false detections produced by clear patches between the prominent dust lanes.

### 2.3 Fiber-array kinematic data

To help understand the kinematics and interaction history of NGC 6621/2, we measured the velocity field in H$`\alpha `$ and \[N II\] emission using the 3.5m WIYN telescope and Dense-Pak fiber array. As described by Barden, Sawyer, & Honeycutt (1998), the array includes a $`7\times 13`$ configuration of fibers in a roughly hexagonal packing covering a $`35\times 45`$” region, rotated for these observations to PA 114, to put the long axis approximately parallel to the galaxy separation in this pair. Four outlying fibers allow sky subtraction far from the galaxy centers. During 19/20 June 2000, four 25-minute exposures were obtained in each of two regions, roughly centered on NGC 6621 and 6622. Each of these sets was dithered in a parallelogram pattern, with each leg offset by about 2”, to fill the gaps between 3” fiber apertures. The instrumental resolution with these fibers was 1.6 Å , well sampled by the 0.68-Å pixel scale. The spectral range observed was 6000-7400 Å . Velocity maps were produced from the H$`\alpha `$ and \[N II\] $`\lambda 6583`$ measures; for each observation, emission was detected in 43–57 fibers, for a total of 402 velocity measures. The velocity maps were constructed on a 1” grid, with overlapping aperture data averaged at each pixel and numerical 0.1” subpixels used to track aperture outlines until the final averaging. Registration to the direct images used reconstruction of continuum and H$`\alpha `$ images from the spectral measurements, giving positions of the galaxy nuclei and the bright cluster of H II regions between the two.

The resulting velocity field is shown in Fig. 4. The long-slit velocity slice from Keel (1996) is also plotted for comparison, preserving somewhat better spatial resolution across the star-forming complex between the two galaxies. The rotation curve is sufficiently asymmetric that this pair (also known as CPG 534) was used in that paper as the type example for how different ways of measuring redshifts from rotation curve can differ for disturbed galaxies. In fact, we differ in our conclusions with the study by Reshetnikov & Sil’chenko (1990) as to the sense of the encounter. They derive a low radial velocity for NGC 6622 and conclude that the encounter is retrograde, noting that the inner disk gas is rotating in the same sense as the outer tidal features. We have no good explanation for this velocity discrepancy. In retrospect, they may have been unlucky in selection of spectroscopic position angles for analysis; our velocity data are in reasonable agreement for regions in common. Furthermore, the velocity field may be so strongly disturbed as to make a set of tilted circular ring orbits an inappropriate model in this system.

We use the WIYN spectra to address the redshift of NGC 6622. Because there is strong line emission around it which is associated with the distorted disk of NGC 6621, and shows continuous velocity behavior across the center of NGC 6622, it is unclear whether previously published redshift values, especially from emission lines, actually reflect the stellar component in NGC 6622. While the red region we observed for gas kinematics is not ideal for absorption-line redshifts, it includes the Na D lines at this redshift and several weaker features such as the red Ca features near 6450 Å . Summing the four fiber spectra best centered on NGC 6622, we can measure and resolve the Na lines (giving a Gaussian velocity dispersion of about $`\sigma _v=315`$ km s-1). The Na D equivalent widths, 1.7 and 1.6 Å , are not much larger than predicted from stellar population models, so that interstellar absorption from foreground material does not dominate their measured wavelengths. We also see weak emission in \[N II\] and filling of expected H$`\alpha `$ absorption at the nucleus, close to the stellar radial velocity. The mean redshift from the sodium lines, $`cz=6224\pm 10`$ km s-1 in the heliocentric frame (within 1 km s-1 of the observed frame for this galaxy within $`2.2^{}`$ of the ecliptic pole), agrees well with the value $`cz=6241\pm 10`$ km s-1 that we derive by cross-correlation of the NGC 6622 spectrum, excluding the region near the Na D lines, against a spectrum of M32 obtained with the same instrument in December 2000. This is in contrast to a substantially lower velocity of $`5870\pm 100`$ km s-1 reported by Reshetnikov & Sil’chenko (1990). The sign of the relative velocity is important in understanding the pair’s dynamics; our measurement indicates a direct encounter, which fits with the pair’s overall morphology.

### 2.4 Ground-based H$`\alpha `$ imaging

To illustrate the surroundings of these pairs, and provide complementary emission-line data on candidate clusters, we use ground-based $`R`$ and H$`\alpha `$ imagery obtained at the prime focus of the 4m Mayall telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory, using a $`2048\times 2048`$ Tektronix CCD. H$`\alpha `$ and \[N II\] emission were isolated using a filter nominally centered at 6709 Å , shifted to about 6690 Å in the converging $`f/2.8`$ beam, with a FWHM of 71 Å . We used $`R`$-band images for continuum subtraction, noting the requisite flux correction factor based on the ratio of filter widths in deriving the H$`\alpha `$+\[N II\] fluxes. At 0.42”/pixel, the field includes wide areas around each pair, which proved helpful in reducing problems from a reflection of the telescope pupil by keeping the galaxies inside the central “hole” in this reflection. Surface-brightness calibration was carried out in $`R`$ using the NGC 7006 standard field as observed by Odewahn, Bryja, & Humphreys (1992). The narrow-band image of NGC 6621/2 suffered from poor focus. The $`R`$-band image was convolved with a differential point-spread function (PSF) to match the narrow-band image before continuum subtraction. This still leaves significant residuals near the nucleus of NGC 6622, as seen by comparison to the residuals near similarly bright stars.

Comparing the detections in H$`\alpha `$ and in the high-resolution HST continuum images is important in constraining the ages of clusters, and in giving hints as to how we should interpret a similar census of H II regions in other galaxies from ground-based images. The surface-brightness sensitivity of the $`R`$ images is also helpful in finding faint outer tidal features, as in Fig. 1. Minor-axis diffuse H$`\alpha `$ structure in NGC 5752 may indicate a starburst-driven wind.

The ionizing clusters are well enough separated in NGC 5754 that we could derive H$`\alpha `$ equivalent widths for most of the HST detections, fitting PSFs derived from star images and constrained to lie at the locations measured with WFPC2. For H II regions that are not strongly decentered from the starlight, this will give improved accuracy in deblending partially overlapping images. To do this, we resampled the KPNO images to match the coordinate systems of WFPC2 mosaics, with object coordinates transformed from individual CCDs to the same mosaicked pixel space. The IRAF implementation of the DAOPHOT NSTAR routine was used to fit the fluxes of clusters in both $`R`$ and H$`\alpha `$+\[N II\]. This process does not account for all the H$`\alpha `$ emission; some is associated with clusters which are fainter than our error cutoff near $`B=26`$, some may be associated with optically obscured ionizing sources, and some of the arm emission may be truly diffuse. Cluster crowding in NGC 6621/2 means that we can derive H$`\alpha `$ equivalent widths only for larger groupings of clusters, and show evidence that some of the nuclear H$`\alpha `$ concentration arises in an outflow.

The $`R`$ images, with wide field and deep surface-brightness sensitivity, are also useful in estimating luminosity ratios of the systems, particularly NGC 5752/4. Here, we assume symmetry across the overlap regions, and derive an $`R`$-band intensity ratio of 5.1 for the two galaxies, within an isophotal level corresponding to a mean radius of 90”.

## 3 NGC 5752/4 - one with a starburst, one without

### 3.1 Dynamics and Interaction History

The kinds of tidal structures seen in galaxy pairs can often show important facets of their dynamical history. Some of the patterns seen in $`n`$-body simulations are robust to such parameters as halo/disk ratio and disk thickness. In general, higher orbital inclinations of the companion with respect to the target galaxy’s disk plane yield more asymmetric tidal structure, and direct encounters produce larger-scale and more coherent tidal responses than do retrograde encounters. We use the results from the simulation survey by Howard et al. (1993) to deduce the kinds of encounter involved in these two pairs, and estimate the time since strongest perturbation. Their models incorporated 180,000 “star” particles and 20,000 “gas” particles, distinguished by initial velocity dispersion, and tracked their in-plane motions (while allowing the point-mass companion to move and respond in three dimensions). Halo/disk ratios of 1 and 10 were considered, modelled as inert Mestel disk distributions; the difference generally amounts to having stronger fine structure in the low-halo case, as disk self-gravity becomes more important. This model matching will be less exact than attempts to simulate a single system in detail, but we can exclude large parts of parameter space and derive bounds on possible values of orbital inclination, mass ratio, and impact parameter.

NGC 5754 shows a rich variety of structures which can be compared to simulations, well shown in the wide-field depiction of Fig. 1 and highlighted with our orbital reconstruction in Fig. 5. An inner two-armed grand-design spiral pattern twists around more than $`360^{}`$, with a single tidal narrow arm, not clearly extending the inner pattern, wrapping $`270^{}`$ around the side projected toward the companion NGC 5752. One of the inner arms has a prominent kink northeast of the core, where several luminous clusters and H II regions occur. A fan-shaped feature (“spur”) extends outward from one of the arms on the northwest and northern sides of the inner disk, with a more diffuse counterpart to the south and southeast. NGC 5752 shows a long tidal tail stretching away from NGC 5754; a similar feature stretching inward would be lost against the bright disk of the larger galaxy. The WFPC2 image shows a sheet of dust in NGC 5752 tracing a well-defined plane seen nearly edge-on, along the projected major axis, which suggests that it, too, is a disk system.

We find the best overall fit to the structure of NGC 5754 from an encounter inclined $`60^{}`$ to its disk plane, with halo/disk mass ratio of 1, from a low-mass companion passing just outside the disk. The mass ratio derived this way, certainly between 0.1 and 0.5, is comparable to the $`R`$-band flux ratio of the galaxies, 0.20. Fig. 5 illustrates the model structure two disk-edge rotations after the initial close passage. This model reproduces the asymmetric (if not quite one-sided) outer tidal arm, as well as the inner grand-design pattern and fan-shaped disk structures. It also gives a change in pitch angle for the northern arm at about the observed location. The uncertainly in inclination is $`\pm 15^{}`$, since there are no good fits for $`30^{}`$ or polar encounters. The mass ratio could be 0.1-0.4, somewhat degenerate with perigalactic distance, constrained to be from 1-2 radii of the initial disk (which itself corresponds closely to the extent of the current grand-design pattern, based on comparison of the model and image). The time scale can be set from the simulation, given kinematic information on the system, since the orbital period at the edge of the initial Mestel disk was set to $`100\pi `$ timesteps. This radial location corresponds to 36” (11.3 kpc) based on the structural match in Fig. 5. We derive a circular velocity 285 km s-1 from the H I profile parameters given by Haynes & Giovanelli (1991), noting that their orientation estimate of $`25^{}`$ from face-on is close to the $`27^{}`$ that we estimate from comparison with the face-on model. These values give a rotation period at this radius of 220 Myr, and a timestep of 0.70 Myr. The best-fit model is seen 350 timesteps after perigalacticon (which iccurs at time step 100 in the simulation shown in Fig. 5), so this pair represents a relatively weak perturbation which has developed through $`2.5\times 10^8`$ years. The fit is distinctly worse for models $`\pm 50`$ timesteps from this, so 50 steps or 35 Myr is a reasonable error estimate.

Tidal distortions in the morphology and radial profile of NGC 5752 add clues to its orbital history. As discussed by Johnston (1998) and references therein, tidal disruption of a small companion galaxy results in stars becoming unbound and preferentially streaming in tails oriented roughly along the orbit. Nearby examples include the Magellanic Stream and the recently-identified tidal debris from the globular cluster Pal 5 (Rockosi et al. 2002). As shown in Fig. 1, NGC 5752 has a long, low-surface-brightness tail extending outward in projection from NGC 5754; any such feature in the opposite direction would be lost against the much brighter structure in the larger galaxy’s disk. An isophotal twist occurs between the inner disk of NGC 5752 and this tail, accompanied by a break in the slope of the surface-brightness profile and a change in the image ellipticity. These are shown in Fig. 6, from the results of using the STSDAS ellipse task to fit the KPNO $`R`$-band image, excluding the regions toward NGC 5754 where spiral structure is bright and difficult to model easily. Such a set of signatures appears in models for the disruption of companion galaxies presented by Johnston, Choi, & Guhathakurtha (2002) and Choi, Johnston, & Guhathakurtha (2002). They show that the morphology of tidal debris depends on orbital eccentricity, phase, and viewing direction, and suggest ways to distinguish whether the dominant mechanism for loss of stars is tidal stripping (in near-circular orbits) or heating (for more eccentric paths). If the break in the intensity profile occurs at the same radius as the change in shape and orientation of the fitted ellipses ($`r_{break}r_{distort}`$ in their terminology), heating is dominant and the orbit has high eccentricity. For near-circular orbits or near the apses of eccentric orbits, stripping dominates, so that isophotal twisting which can be important well within the break radius ($`r_{break}>r_{distort}`$). From Fig. 6, $`r_{break}=25`$ arcsec in this case, while distortion begins well inward of this, $`r_{distort}16`$”. The photometric profile is thus consistent , although not uniquely so, with our $`n`$-body interpretation, in which the initial path is parabolic (before energy exchange at the first encounter). The direction of the tidal debris also gives a hint at the orbital orientation, in the sense that the rotation of position angles between the galaxy’s disk and tidal debris should go toward the direction of the orbit (as shown, for example, by Johnston et al. 2002). Even the inner parts of NGC 5752 might be significantly prolate from tidal effects, although the dust structure shows that disk symmetry is still dominant. While the mass ratio in this pair makes the tidal impulse seen by NGC 5754 relatively weak, NGC 5752 has undergone a much stronger perturbation, although there is a smaller radial distance over which it could operate.

### 3.2 Star clusters and H II regions

The WFPC2 data reveal a rich population of clusters in each galaxy, with very distinct properties. These offer an interesting comparison, especially in regard to the different levels of tidal perturbation encountered by the major and minor partners in the interaction, as well as clues to when and where cluster formation can be triggered. An overview of these populations is shown in Fig. 7, where the spatial distribution of clusters is coded by their $`B`$ magnitudes.

#### 3.2.1 A starburst in NGC 5752

NGC 5752 hosts numerous bright clusters, with a nearly flat differential luminosity function from $`B=21.626`$. At the faint end, crowding is clearly an issue - the configuration is so small in projection that there is little room for faint sources to be detected. The clusters span a broad color range $`BI=0.62.2`$, with no particular evidence of color-magnitude relation. Our criterion for useful color measurements of $`\sigma _{BI}<0.2`$ retains 139 clusters out of 306 detected to $`B=26`$, with the errors dominated by background noise from adjacent objects in the “sky” annuli. Confusion between genuine clusters and fine structure in the dust may set in, but only fainter than about $`M_B=11`$, an effect whose correction would accentuate the true degree of weighting toward bright clusters that we observe.

A more important issue is the crowding effect of such a dense collection of star clusters, in both object detection and photometry. We removed candidates with overlapping photometric radii, retaining only the brightest of each potential set. This leads to progressively more severe undercounting of fainter clusters, as more of the available area is already taken up by brighter clusters. We estimate the effect of this crowding in two extremes. The minimum correction assumes that the faint clusters are spread uniformly across the well-populated part of NGC 5752 on the near side of the disk, about 27 square arcseconds. The maximum correction assumes that they are concentrated to the central region as strongly as the bright clusters, half of which occur within a single region of 6.0 square arcseconds. The estimated fraction of undercounting at a given flux is the ratio of total area considered to the sum of the aperture areas for all brighter clusters. For the faintest clusters with useful colors ($`B24.8`$), the correction is a factor 1.4 for the minimum case, up to 3.0 for the maximum case. Even the maximal correction leaves the luminosity function unusually flat in comparison to most other systems.

The color-magnitude distributions and luminosity function of these clusters are displayed in Fig. 8. Both stand in contrast to the same diagrams for NGC 5754 (section 3.2). The distribution of magnitudes is flatter, and extends brighter, in NGC 5752. The diagram includes the luminosity function after applying the “minimal” amd “maximal” crowding corrections above.

An interesting paradox is that the cluster population is also redder. While NGC 5752 is visibly dusty, it is interesting that only 5% of this rich cluster population is as blue as the peak in the color distribution of the “normal” disk clusters in its neighbor NGC 5754, which would require an extensive dust distribution in addition to the obvious filaments.

The H$`\alpha `$ emission does not appear to be associated with individual clusters, lacking peaks near bright clusters. Instead, there is strong but diffuse emission following the disk of NGC 5752, plus extended plumes along the minor axis (Fig. 9). More precisely stated, any peaks associated with the brightest clusters are too weak to stand out against the large-scale emission at 1” resolution. Comparison with the WFPC2 $`I`$ image blurred to the same resolution shows that there may be a distinct peak corresponding to the two bright clusters at the left end of the central region in Fig. 9, but the match to the overall cluster distribution is not close. The ridge line of H$`\alpha `$ is offset northward from the bright central clusters, and the emission includes a significant component extending along the projected minor axis, most prominent on the south side. Both these points are accounted for by dust absorption in the disk plane, strnogly obscuring minor-axis structure on the far side). This appearance is reminiscent of the filamentary emission from global winds in such starburst systems as M82 and NGC 3628 (Shopbell & Bland-Hawthorn 1998; Fabbiano, Heckman, & Keel 1990). Since such winds may have ionization arising from shocks as well as from photoionization by the galaxy’s overall OB star population, H$`\alpha `$ will not necessarily give a reliable measure of the ionizing luminosity of stars in this galaxy. Virtually all the line emission is contained within a radius of 10”, and indeed we see a monotonic decline in H$`\alpha `$+\[N II\] equivalent width with increasing aperture radius, from 54 Å at 5” to 28 at 12”. These encompass the value of $`43\pm 5`$ Å listed by Kennicutt et al. (1987). Both the star formation, as traced by bright clusters, and the ionized gas are more concentrated than the red starlight, strongly enough that the central H$`\alpha `$ equivalent width within 5” indicates a burst of star formation unless most of the line emission is powered mechanically rather than by photoionization. Even in that case, such energy input must reflect a transient event, so we have made a long-winded argument supporting what is clear from the presence of any luminous clusters in a low-luminosity galaxy - the interaction has triggered a burst of star formation.

Some of the clusters’ color spread is certainly due to dust reddening. Several of the brightest clusters with $`BI>2`$ lie on the side of NGC 5752 where the dusty disk is in the foreground. In addition, the average color of clusters in the inner 2” concentration is redder than found in the surroundings, 1.9 versus 1.5. The full cluster population is certainly richer than we see at these wavelengths, with additional examples hidden behind the dusty filaments in the disk plane.

#### 3.2.2 Normal disk clusters in NGC 5754

In contrast, the clusters in NGC 5754 are fainter, and spread throughout the disk and spiral pattern. Only one of these clusters would appear among the fifty brightest (at $`B`$) in the smaller companion system NGC 5752. The brightest clusters in NGC 5754 are in the inner spiral pattern, just off the tips of the small bar. There are no bright clusters inside the inner ring which surrounds the bar, as is often found for H II regions in spirals with bars and rings (Crocker, Baugus, & Buta 1996). The cluster population is well concentrated to the spiral arms, a “beads-on-a-string” trend which is strongest for the brighter clusters. This is illustrated by overlaying the cluster positions on an $`I`$ image (Fig. 7). Of the clusters bright enough to pass our $`\sigma _{BI}<0.2`$ criterion, 85$ fall within the continuum spiral arms. Looking at the entire cluster sample, interarm clusters are as a group fainter than average, but faint enough that we cannot tell whether they are also redder, as would be expected if they are aging clusters which have moved outside the arm ridges where they were formed. A handful of faint, very red clusters within the ring may be genuine old globular clusters.

The color and magnitude statistics are summarized in Fig. 10, which combines the color-magnitude diagram with histograms in $`B`$ magnitude and color. All these distributions are quite distinct from the bright, redder cluster population found in the companion galaxy NGC 5752. The color span runs as blue as the bluest unreddened value $`BI=0.3`$ expected for a cluster formed instantaneously, with most clusters bluer than $`BI=0.7`$. This suggests that most of these clusters are younger than $`7\times 10^7`$ years, based on the Starburst99 models. The luminosity function in this galaxy is strongly weighted to faint clusters, again in contrast to the flatter distribution in NGC 5752, where our maximum crowding correction gives $`\alpha =1.7`$.

The luminosity function of clusters can often be expressed in a simple power-law form. As noted by Larsen (2002), a power-law function in luminosity $`N(L)dL=\beta L^\alpha `$ implies linear behavior in number per unit magnitude $`N(M)=b+aM`$ where $`\alpha =(2.5a+1)`$. For clusters brighter than $`B=25`$, a least-squares fit to the binned luminosity function (for bins with $`n>1`$, using Poisson weights) has $`a=0.69`$, yielding $`\alpha =2.7\pm 0.4`$. This is not unusual for a “normal” spiral disk; Larsen (2002) finds undisturbed spirals with $`\alpha =2.02.5`$. Larsen also shows that a constant star-formation rate gives a similar value $`\alpha =2.7`$. However, for cluster age ranges comparable to the dynamical timescales of many interactions, the slope of the cluster luminosity function is fairly constant; Whitmore et al. (1999b) find that the bright clusters in NGC 4038/9 exhibit $`\alpha =2.6\pm 0.2`$ in $`V`$, with younger clusters showing some evidence of a flatter slope (as in their Fig. 18). In contrast, for the range of crowding corrections used for NGC 5752, its cluster system has $`\alpha >1.7`$.

The combination of age and mass effects has made interpreting the luminosity function alone of clusters (or H II regions) ambiguous. An important role for age is suggested by the reddening of mean colors for fainter objects in NGC 5754 (as in Fig. 10). However, potential selection effects make it difficult to make such a case from the WFPC2 data alone, since extreme colors will drive up the $`BI`$ error and drop clusters from the sample, and systematic behavior of reddening with location across spiral arms could mimic age behavior as well. Multiple continuum colors can improve the situation, as can emission-line information. We can further examine the history of cluster formation in NGC 5754 by comparing continuum colors with H$`\alpha `$ equivalent widths, using a hybrid data set of HST aperture photometry and KPNO H$`\alpha `$ data. The H$`\alpha `$ fluxes and associated $`R`$ continuum fluxes were measured by PSF fitting on the KPNO images, at cluster locations fixed from the HST identifications. As shown in an overlay of the H$`\alpha `$ image over the WFPC2 B data (Fig 11), much of the line emission is associated with identified clusters. By the same token, most of the bright clusters have H$`\alpha `$ counterparts, which immediately shows that they are bright because of youth rather than extreme mass. The line emission reflects young, massive stars, type B0 and hotter, so its strength changes dramatically with age over timespans that leave $`BI`$ nearly constant. The comparison is thus sensitive to the ages of clusters and the distribution of ages in the sample. These data (Fig. 12) show an envelope of decreasing H$`\alpha `$ EW for redder clusters, indicating that age is a more important factor in the color spread of this cluster population than is reddening. If these clusters are single-burst systems formed over less than a few million years, the youngest we see is about $`8\times 10^6`$ yr old, with many at ages up to about $`1.5\times 10^7`$ yr. If each cluster we see incorporates stars formed over a span of a few $`10^6`$ yr, the derived ages are smaller, since the $`BI`$ color will reflect significant contributions from the first stars to form red supergiants while the H$`\alpha `$ equivalent width is dominated by younger, hotter members. Durations of a few million years for each star-forming event (cluster) would account for the maximum observed H$`\alpha `$ equivalent width near 200 Å and the distribution of observed colors and equivalent width for the cluster population.

### 3.3 History of Cluster Formation

The NGC 5752/4 system provides a striking contrast between disks which underwent dramatically different levels of tidal perturbation at the same time. Nothing very unusual seems to happened in NGC 5754; its cluster population is comparable to other similarly luminous spirals such as NGC 6946 and NGC 4258 from Larsen (2002). In contrast, NGC 5752 has hosted a starburst with a rich population of very luminous clusters. This is consistent with the idea that there is a minimum level of tidal influence needed to trigger the formation of these massive clusters.

The clusters in NGC 5752 are unusually red and have a wide color range, which fits with the observed dust structure in suggesting substantial reddening. None of the clusters in NGC 5752 is as blue as the population in NGC 5754 over the same magnitude ranges. The least reddening that we can assign without multicolor data assumes the clusters to be concentrated in age so as to populate the reddest excursion in predicted colors, around $`1.2\times 10^7`$ years. Most clusters would have to fall in this range, however, and about one third of them still require foreground dust. Combining dust and age fading, this population of clusters must have been even more spectacular a few times $`10^7`$ years ago.

In this instance, much of the cluster formation must have been confined to this short span. The evidence for an outflow raises the possibility that cluster formation has been terminated by loss of dense gas, which might be related to the flat (or even peaked) luminosity function of these clusters. Such a distribution is particularly interesting as a possible step toward the narrow Gaussian luminosity function of globular clusters. By analogy with formation of stars in such regions as the Eagle Nebula, we might speculate that lower-mass clusters would suffer first as a wind develops.

## 4 NGC 6621/2 - rapid response to a strong perturbation

### 4.1 Dynamics and Interaction History

The major tidal feature in NGC 6621 is the extensive one-sided tidal arm wrapping to its north. Additional starlight and H II regions span the region between the galaxy nuclei, and continue past the core of NGC 6622. A dust lane in front of NGC 6622 shows a helical twist, which indicates that it is close enough in three dimensions to be strongly accelerated by the smaller galaxy’s potential. As in the case of NGC 1409/10 (Keel 2001), such twists may be a signature of pairs favorable for mass transfer between members. NGC 6622 shows a narrow edge-on disklike structure spanning the inner 7” and a dust feature spanning about 1.5” (Fig. 3), inclined by about 30 to the apparent stellar disk and not obviously connected to the extensive dust in NGC 6621. This is the only disturbed feature of NGC 6622. The emission-line velocity field (Fig. 4), and new redshift measure for NGC 6622, confirm the directions of relative motion as being a direct encounter for NGC 6621 and nearly polar one for NGC 6622.

The extensive tidal disruption in NGC 6621/2 immediately suggests a mass ratio near unity, and a small impact parameter. Indeed, we find the best morphological match for equal-mass galaxies, closest approach near the disk edge and much less than two disk radii, unit halo/disk ratio, and an early time. We are then seeing this system within half an initial disk-edge rotation period of closest approach, corresponding to a time since perigalacticon of about $`1.0\times 10^8`$ years using the inner symmetric rotation curve in Fig. 4. As shown in Fig. 13, this model reproduces the extensive splash of material between the galaxies, the strongly curved tidal arm on the opposite side, and even the presence (though not the distribution) of material diverging from a close approach to NGC 6622. The behavior of such material depends strongly on the perigalacticon distance, mass distribution and precise location of NGC 6622. In this pair, NGC 6621 is undergoing a strong perturbation, and we view it shortly after closest approach and maximum tidal stress. Since our target pairs were selected from tidal morphology, it is no coincidence that the best match in each case is for a direct encounter.

Seeing NGC 6621/2 early in a strong encounter may allow us a close look at where the clusters form, since there has been little time for clusters triggered by the interaction to diffuse very far from their formation sites, either as considered within the rotating disk of NGC 6621 or in the context of the overall tidal structure.

### 4.2 Cluster Population

NGC 6621 has a very rich population of luminous star clusters. They are found near its nucleus, in the inner disk largely toward NGC 6622, in a prominent star-forming complex between the two nuclei, and in the opposing tidal arm (Fig. 14). Their color and magnitude distributions are shown in Fig. 15. Clusters extend as bright as $`M_B=14.6`$ and as blue as the youngest modelled populations from the Starburst99 code. The color distribution peaks near $`BI=0.8`$, bluer than we see in the clusters of NGC 5752. The circled points in this plot show clusters in the complex between the nuclei, discussed in the following section.

As in the case of NGC 5754, we can fit a power law to the luminosity function at bright levels where incompleteness is not an issue. Here we derive the logarithmic slope of the magnitude distribution as $`a=0.50\pm 0.05`$ implying a power-law index in luminosity $`\alpha =2.25\pm 0.12`$, again in the range found for both normal and starburst galaxies.

There is an asymmetry in number of clusters between “inner” and “outer” halves of NGC 6621, seen in both the HST continuum results and the H$`\alpha `$ structure (Fig. 16). This fits generally with tidal triggering of cluster formation, since the tidal stress has been much stronger in the region between nuclei, where we see more clusters. As a result, perturbations of the velocity field have been stronger (as shown in Fig. 4), which must logically precede disturbances in gas density or cloud separation.

Clusters, with and without strong H$`\alpha `$ emission, are seen in the prominent tidal arms or tail to the northeast. Cloud collapse is still going on in this region, as has been noted in NGC 4676 by de Grijs et al. (2002). Indeed, the existence of H II regions in the tidal tails of NGC 4676 and 4038/9 has long shown that star formation can continue for several times $`10^8`$ years in gas launched well away from interacting systems into tidal features. This was reflected in the relatively strong H$`\alpha `$ emission measured in the tails of the Mice by Stockton (1974) and in the Antennae by Schweizer (1978) and Mirabel et al. (1992). At its extreme, such processes may be symptoms of the existence of massive and self-bound clumps in the tails, such as would form tidal dwarf galaxies (although the dynamics of their formation may require a role for dark matter, as discussed by Hibbard et al. 2001).

The broad color distribution indicates that many of the clusters in NGC 6621 are significantly reddened and dimmed. From the reddest excursion of the colors in the Starburst99 models, clusters are present with at least $`A_{BI}=0.7`$, and as large as 2.0 if other models with a less pronounced redward loop are accurate. This makes the cluster population intrinsically even more impressive, especially since the second brightest cluster at $`B`$ must be reddened by at least $`E_{BI}=0.9`$ which means that its corrected absolute magnitude at least as bright as $`M_B=16.3`$. Several additional clusters would likewise stand only about 0.5 magnitude fainter with this minimum reddening correction. Cluster masses must range up to at least $`6\times 10^5`$ solar masses using the Starburst99 tracks. The bluest clusters give a minimum age, requiring that they be less that $`10^7`$ years old.

### 4.3 A Massive Disk Star-forming Region

One of the most striking features of NGC 6621/2 is the very luminous star-forming region found along the line between the nuclei, at a projected distance of 26” or 11 kpc from the center of NGC 6621. A long-slit spectrum (Keel 1996) shows interesting kinematics in this region, with the slope of the rotation curve reversing in sign for about 2 kpc. The WFPC2 images break this region up into over 40 individual clusters, which are among the bluest to be found in the whole system. They are marked as circled data points in Fig. 15. Most of the disk H$`\alpha `$ emission comes from this area as well, also marking this as a current site of extraordinary star formation. The projected dimensions of this region are $`2.6\times 5.5`$” or $`1.1\times 2.3`$ kpc, with the direction of elongation indicating that it is likely to be as narrow as it looks but quite possible longer; simply projection in the plane at an inclination of $`70^{}`$ would make it $`1.1\times 6`$ kpc, so that seen face-on this might appear a very bright piece of the spiral structure.

The overall H$`\alpha `$ equivalent width in this region is the highest found in the entire system, at 285 Å averaged on 2” scales. This corresponds to ages $`67\times 10^6`$ years in the Starburst99 models. Star formation in this area is a recent phenomenon in comparison to the interaction timescale. Significant older populations would decrease the H$`\alpha `$ equivalent with, and the observed distribution in $`BI`$ does not allow any of the detected clusters to be older than $`10^8`$ years even neglecting reddening. Obvious dust clouds near the “intergalactic” complex suggest that extinction may be important in some of these cluster colors, though it would have to exceed $`A_B=1`$ to hide luminous clusters from detection. Thus some of the cluster colors are likely to be even bluer than we measure.

## 5 Analysis

### 5.1 Formation mechanisms for massive clusters

Multiple mechanisms have been suggested as drivers for the enhanced star formation during galaxy encounters. The locations of star formation, especially in massive clusters, during the encounters we have observed may help refine the list, since some kinds of dynamical processes will operate preferentially in certain parts of the galaxies or timespans. Our own results can be supplemented with those for other well-observed and reasonably well-modelled interacting systems. The best-known is NGC 4038/9, one of the pairs whose striking tidal features inspired the original Toomre & Toomre (1972) investigation using restricted 3-body calculations. Their rough orbital history has been substantially refined by successive $`n`$-body models of increasing sophistication and accordingly better matches to the observed velocity field as well as morphology. We adopt the orbital parameters used by Barnes (1988) and Mihos et al. (1993). This puts our present view about $`2.1\times 10^8`$ years after the initial close passage between the galaxies, whose equal-mass disks had radii about 10 kpc and with a smallest nuclear separation of 13 kpc. They are now well into the second approach of a rapidly decaying mutual orbit, with the next merging passage to come in about $`10^8`$ years. Both disks see a passage inclined by about $`60^{}`$. Since this situation is more complex than the single dominant close passage we deal with in the other systems, and the systems remain nearly in disk contact, we take this system as representing the results of an interaction seen in mid-encounter.

For NGC 2207/IC 2163, we use the model described by Elmegreen et al. (2000) with refinements provided by C. Struck. These galaxies have approached on a highly eccentric relative path, with their disks grazing about $`4\times 10^7`$ years before our current view. The relative path is inclined by $`25^{}`$ to the disk of NGC 2207, which is the more massive galaxy by a factor close to 3. The properties of the four systems we compare are given in Table 1, including statistics of their brightest star clusters.

Collisions between molecular clouds are an obvious mechanism for driving up the star-formation rate during galaxy encounters, and offer an attractive way to compress the large amounts of gas needed to make SSCs. We can rule out a necessary role for collisions between clouds from different disks by the fact that we see a rich population of SSCs in NGC 6621 whose companion is apparently an S0 system and of small radius by comparison, and in NGC 5752, which has remained well beyond the gas-rich regions of NGC 5754 during the encounter. In fact, each of these galaxies has more of the brightest clusters ($`M_B<12`$) than NGC 4038/9.

Cloud collisions for clouds originating in the same disk should be tracked for an in-plane encounter by the locations of orbit crossing for the clouds. However, the loci of clusters in NGC 6621/2 do not match the expected sites of orbit crossings. For example, the simulation by Klarić & Byrd (1990) shows the orbital streamlines for a similar encounter, in which crossing occurs predominantly on the leading edge of the bridge structure between the nuclei. The Howard et al. (1993) results give a similar picture, though in less detail because velocity information was not saved and can be only partially derived from cloud locations in successive snapshots. The star formation, as seen from both the cluster locations and H$`\alpha `$ mapping, is concentrated near the center of the bridge region, between the nuclei, and in the opposite tidal arm. Similarly, the few luminous clusters in IC 2163 are not found in the tidal arm, shown by the Elmegreen et al. (2000) model to have rapid crossing of disk orbits from material initially in different parts of the disk. (We note that some pairs do show extensive star formation in roughly the regions expected for orbit crossing; a good example is NGC 6745).

Another dynamical mechanism may be at work here, suggested by the flattening (and indeed local reversal) of the rotation curve near the luminous star-forming complex. Toomre (1964) presented a stability criterion for the velocity dispersion of gas in rotationally supported disks,

$$\sigma _v>3.36G\mu /\kappa $$
$`(1),`$
where $`G`$ is the gravitational constant, $`\mu `$ is the disk surface density at the relevant point, and $`\kappa `$ is the epicyclic frequency for perturbations about a circular orbit, which may be expressed in terms of the angular velocity $`\mathrm{\Omega }(R)`$ as

$$\kappa =[R\frac{d\mathrm{\Omega }^2}{dR}+4\mathrm{\Omega }^2]^{1/2}$$
$`(2)`$
(e.g. Binney & Tremaine 1987). This criterion is violated within radii interestingly close to the outermost star formation in many disks (Kennicutt 1989), which has been interpreted as meaning that this instability influences the overall dynamics of the interstellar medium. In a strong interaction, as seen in NGC 6621/2, the local velocity structure can be dramatically changed, and a large enough ripple in rotation velocity (and associated effective potential) can drop the epicyclic frequency $`\kappa `$ over regions large enough to allow substantial gas masses to go unstable. Numerical simulations (e.g. Klarić 1993) show that this instability is strong enough to allow a wide range of linear scales to become unstable on comparable timescales. This may also help explain the very large gas concentrations found by McCain (1997) in spiral/elliptical pairs, in which enough gaseous mass accumulates to alter the local disk kinematics (see also Bransford et al. 1999). The result may appear in NGC 6621 as a complex like the “interface” cloud in NGC 4038/9, but with less extinction. This is the most active star-forming site in the system, and the uniformly blue cluster colors suggest that it may have begun only recently.

It is noteworthy that the SSC populations in NGC 6621 and NGC 2207 concentrate on one side of the disks, the one toward the companion. The question of whether star-forming regions in interacting galaxies favor the (current) direction of the companion goes back at least to a debate between Arp (1973) and Hodge (1975) on the brightest H II complexes in disturbed galaxies. Arp’s sample suggested that they occur preferentially between the two nuclei, while Hodge’s analysis indicated that they fell opposite the companion nucleus as often as between the two. More detailed study has been hampered by projection effects; we do not always know which side of each galaxy as we see it is closer to the other one in space. Even crude matches to numerical simulations can be useful in telling which pairs we can understand well enough to recognize inner and outer sides in. If indeed SSCs are seen preferentially between the galaxies, this says that the formation trigger operates quickly and gravitationally, since it must track the current location of the other galaxy. For penetrating encounters such as NGC 4038/9, cloud collisions can act in this way, but for more distant encounters as in NGC 6621/2 and NGC 2207/IC 2163, a less direct process must be at work.

### 5.2 Timing and Duration of Cluster Formation

Most well-studied SSC populations are in currently merging systems and aging merger remnants. Our data bear on the processes happening before mergers, and in more distant encounters which happen well before the final merging approach. The color behavior of SSCs in the older, post-merger systems shows a general match with the dynamical ages of these objects, so that the cluster formation is roughly coeval with merging. Looking at galaxies in earlier stages can tell more precisely when, and over what interval, cluster formation is triggered.

The bluest cluster colors in each of these galaxies show that cluster formation is continuing, extending so blue as to require cluster formation within the last $`10^7`$ years. This is less than the time since strongest tidal perturbation for each interaction (although the components of NGC 4038/9 are so close that it is fair to characterize this interaction as “ongoing”). Cluster formation continues for a long time after the perturbation begins and peaks, and may be delayed.

Barton et al. (2000) have found that the integrated rate of star formation in galaxy pairs, as traced from H$`\alpha `$ emission, correlates with projected linear separation and velocity difference so as to suggest that there is a delay of a few times $`10^7`$ years between perigalactic passage and the onset of enhanced star formation, which lasts $`10^8`$ years. Such a delay makes sense for any sort of kinematic trigger, since the velocity perturbation which responds immediately to changes in the potential much precede morphological disturbance, including changes in the distribution both stars and gas. This is consistent with the patterns we see in luminous clusters, a tracer which is detectable longer than the H$`\alpha `$ emission. In some regions, such as the young group of clusters and H II regions in NGC 6621/2, the star formation must have set in very recently, as the cluster color distribution and overall H$`\alpha `$ equivalent width do not allow a long history of star formation. The association of H II regions with so many luminous clusters shows that active star formation continues well after the closest approach.

The redder cluster population in NGC 5752, and the evidence for a global wind seen in H$`\alpha `$ emission, raise the question of whether its starburst has been recently quenched as the wind removes gas from the inner regions. We certainly expect this to happen in mergers, and extension to single disturbed galaxies could be relevant to stellar population in I0 galaxies and the E+A or K+A galaxies seen in a variety of environments.

## 6 Summary

We have studied the star-cluster populations of galaxies in the interacting pairs NGC 5752/4 and NGC 6621/2 using WFPC2 images and dynamical models. These pairs were selected to include a range of interaction age and strength of tidal perturbation, so as to help isolate the parameters that are most important in triggering the formation of massive super star clusters (SSCs). NGC 5752/4 is seen about $`2.5\times 10^8`$ years after closest approach in a system with a mass ratio near 0.2, while NGC 6621/2 is a system about $`10^8`$ years after a near-grazing encounter of roughly equal-mass galaxies. Their star-formation responses are correspondingly varied. NGC 5754 saw a mild, if prolonged, perturbation, and has a normal population of disk clusters. Its companion, which saw a proportionally stronger tidal impulse, has a rich and red population of SSCs, concentrated to the center and with a flat luminosity function. Cluster formation may have been interrupted by a starburst wind seen in H$`\alpha `$. NGC 6621 has a very rich population of SSCs, with young clusters concentrated in a small region between the galaxy nuclei.

This would fit with the frequent location of the brightest star-forming in pairs between the two nuclei, suggesting a nearly instantaneous trigger, and favor star formation in different locations than a cloud-collision trigger.

We have compared the SSC populations in these pairs to those of two additional pairs undergoing current interactions, and for which dynamical modelling gives a fairly accurate timescale, NGC 2207/IC 2163 and the Antennae, NGC 4038/9. This comparison demonstrates several points which are important in understanding the formation of massive star clusters. Rich cluster populations do not require direct contact between the stellar disks of the galaxies, and seem to require some minimum level of tidal disturbance regardless of the time allowed for its impact to develop within a disk. Furthermore, the cluster distributions do not match predictions for the locations of orbit crossing within a single perturbed disk. The major collection of SSCs and H II regions in NGC 6621 lies in an area where the slope of the velocity field reverses, leading us to explore the idea that gravitational disturbance of a disk may allow gas to become instable by the Toomre criterion over previous stable regions, a process which could act quickly mediated solely by the perturber’s gravitational influence. This would fit with the frequent location of the brightest star-forming in pairs between the two nuclei, suggesting a nearly instantaneous trigger, and favor star formation in different locations than a cloud-collision trigger.

In some regions, extensive star formation has begun only recently compared to the interaction timescale, consistent with evidence for a delayed onset of enhanced star formation in interacting galaxies found from global measures. In one case, the cluster colors and H$`\alpha `$ morphology suggest that a starburst wind has quenched the formation of new clusters. This object, NGC 5752, also shows a flatter cluster luminosity function, which might be related to the difference between power-law forms seen for young clusters in most galaxies and the near-Gaussian form for old globular clusters.

The HST archive is now rich in imagery suitable for surveying the brightest clusters in interacting pairs, and prospects are promising for improved understanding through additional studies involving dynamical modelling and supporting ground-based H$`\alpha `$ data.

This work was supported by NASA through STScI grants GO-07467.01-96A,B. Thanks to Di Harmer and Gillian Rosenstein for helping make efficient use of a 4-hour break in the clouds while working at the WIYN telescope. Martha Holmes helped with the imaging at Kitt Peak, as part of an NSF Research Experiences for Undergraduates program. We thank Brad Whitmore for providing data on NGC 4-038/9 in advance of publication, and Gene Byrd for conversations on the art of reconstructing interactions. We acknowledge the public service provided by Claus Leitherer and coworkers in providing the Starburst99 code and its results for general use. Likewise, we acknowledge the value of the $`z`$-machine data archive recently made available by the Center for Astrophysics. Curt Struck provided his most recent model parameters for the NGC 2207/IC 2163 in advance of publication. Eija Laurikainen first mentioned the potential role of the Toomre instability to us several years ago. We thank the referee for useful comments, particularly in evaluating the role of crowding in NGC 5752.


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# Dispersion of Magnetic Excitations in Superconducting Optimally Doped 𝑌𝐵𝑎₂𝐶𝑢₃𝑂_6.95

## Abstract

Detailed neutron scattering measurements of $`YBa_2Cu_3O_{6.95}`$ found that the resonance peak and incommensurate magnetic scattering induced by superconductivity represent the same physical phenomenon: two dispersive branches that converge near 41 meV and the in-plane wave-vector qaf=($`\pi `$/a, $`\pi `$/a) to form the resonance peak. One branch has a circular symmetry around qaf and quadratic downward dispersion from $``$41 meV to the spin gap of 33$`\pm `$1meV. The other, of lower intensity, disperses from $``$41 meV to at least 55 meV. Our results exclude a quartet of vertical incommensurate rods in q-$`\omega `$ space expected from spin waves produced by dynamical charge stripes as an origin of the observed incommensurate scattering in optimally-doped YBCO.

The magnetic resonance peak observed by inelastic neutron scattering (INS) is one of the most striking features of high-Tc superconductors \[1-7\]. It corresponds to an unusual enhancement of spin fluctuations in the SC state at the planar antiferromagnetic (AF) wave vector qaf = ($`\pi `$/a, $`\pi `$/a) at an energy Er, which is found experimentally to scale with Tc as a function of hole doping. First discovered in optimally doped $`\mathrm{YBa}_2\mathrm{Cu}_3\mathrm{O}_{6+\mathrm{x}}`$ rossat , its observation has then been extended to other systems such as $`\mathrm{Tl}_2\mathrm{Ba}_2\mathrm{CuO}_{6+\mathrm{x}}`$ he02  and $`\mathrm{Bi}_2\mathrm{Sr}_2\mathrm{CaCu}_2\mathrm{O}_{8+\mathrm{x}}`$ fong99 . The role of the magnetic resonance in measured changes of the fermionic properties of cuprates below Tc is hotly debated abanov02 ; eschrig03 ; kee02 .

In underdoped $`\mathrm{YBa}_2\mathrm{Cu}_3\mathrm{O}_{6+\mathrm{x}}`$ (x=0.6 mook98 , x=0.7 fong00 ; arai99 , x=0.85 bourges00 ), INS measurements revealed additional incommensurate (IC) spin fluctuations at energies below Er at low temperature. They may appear as reminiscent mook98  of a quartet of peaks at planar wave vectors qab = ($`\pi `$/a(1$`\pm \delta `$), $`\pi `$/a) and ($`\pi `$/a, $`\pi `$/a(1$`\pm \delta `$)) observed in both the SC and normal state of $`\mathrm{La}_{2\mathrm{x}}\mathrm{Sr}_\mathrm{x}\mathrm{CuO}_4`$ cheong91 . These are sometimes interpreted as spin waves originating from stripe fluctuations (fluctuating hole poor AF domains in anti-phase separated by fluctuating lines of holes running along a\* or b\* tranquada96 ). However in weakly underdoped $`\mathrm{YBa}_2\mathrm{Cu}_3\mathrm{O}_{6.85}`$ bourges00 , both energy and temperature dependencies of the incommensurability indicate that IC fluctuations and the magnetic resonance peak are part of a downward dispersing magnetic collective mode that exists in the SC state only. Presently, the origin of the IC magnetic fluctuations, their interplay with the magnetic resonance peak and their evolution with hole doping are still controversial issues.

The current study of $`\mathrm{YBa}_2\mathrm{Cu}_3\mathrm{O}_{6.95}`$ focuses on the search for magnetic signatures of dynamical stripes and on the dispersion of the magnetic excitations at optimum doping. Throughout this article the wavevector Q (H,K,L) is indexed in reciprocal lattice units ($`2\pi /a,2\pi /b,2\pi /c`$).

All INS experiments were performed on the 1T double focusing triple-axis spectrometer at the ORPHEE reactor. The 1.5 cm3 sample with mosaic spread of 2.2 was made up of 3 coaligned high quality twinned single crystals of $`\mathrm{YBa}_2\mathrm{Cu}_3\mathrm{O}_{6+\mathrm{x}}`$ (Tc=93K). Lattice constants precisely measured by high resolution neutron diffraction were: a=3.816 Å, b=3.886 Å, c=11.682 Å. By comparison with Ref. jorgensen90 , the unit cell volume as well as the a-b anisotropy indicate x=1, the c-axis lattice constant gives x=0.92, while the Tc is consistent with x=0.95. A different very precise study of oxygen content vs. lattice parameters in single crystals produced higher oxygen contents for the same c-axis lattice parameters schweiss , so we conclude that our sample had x=0.95$`\pm `$0.02. The c-axis was aligned close to vertical in order to access the entire Brillouin zone adjacent to Q=(3/2, 1/2, 1.7). Relaxed vertical resolution in this orientation maximizes magnetic intensity, which is broad in the c-direction. The tilt of the sample changed during the scans to achieve the desired component of q perpendicular to the ab-plane (qc). A PG filter minimized contamination from higher order neutrons. PG002 monochromator and analyzer fixed at the final energy of 14.8 meV was chosen for the study at 35meV (Figs. 1a and 2c). For the scans between 35 and 55 meV (Fig. 2a) we used a Cu111 monochromator and PG002 analyzer fixed at 30.5 meV. We also found an experimental condition that dramatically improved spectrometer resolution over all previous measurements (energy resolution of $``$2.2 meV FWHM; the longitudinal and transverse q-resolution of $``$0.11 Å-1 and $``$0.2 Å-1 respectively) and allowed looking at the resonance peak in a ”magnifying glass”. (Fig. 2b) Here we used a Cu220 monochromator and a PG002 analyzer fixed at 15.2 meV. At energies far above the resonance peak only a limited part of q-space was measured because the kinematics of the neutron allow access to only a small part of the Brillouin zone. Using an unpolarized neutron beam, we relied on the standard technique of using temperature dependence to distinguish magnetic and nuclear scattering fong95 ; bourges96 .

Constant energy scans taken at E=41meV and T=100K showed only a flat background in agreement with previous results for this composition fong95 ; bourges96 . However, rather strong features with q-dependence expected from magnetic scattering persisted to 100K at E=44meV and above. Further heating to 300K did not make them disappear entirely. Therefore, their magnetic origin needs to be confirmed by further measurements. In the following, our analysis is based on intensity differences between 10K and 100K, which are confidently assigned to magnetic scattering.

In order to search for evidence of dynamical stripes in optimally-doped YBCO we mapped in Q-space the scattering intensity at 35 meV, which is just above the measured spin gap of 33$`\pm `$0.5meV (data not shown in figures) and well below Er ($``$41meV). High resolution scans at 10K and 100K shown in figure 2f clearly show the extra IC magnetic scattering appearing at 10K on top of a broad feature originating from phonons. The contour plot of the intensity difference between 10K and 100K at 35 meV (Fig. 1a) measured with lower resolution also clearly shows IC magnetic signal. However, the data show strong asymmetry around qaf, a high symmetry point of the nearly tetragonal YBCO reciprocal lattice. This apparent anomaly can be easily explained by the tilt of the resolution ellipsoid in q-$`\omega `$ space that breaks the symmetry in the experiment and results in well-understood focusing/defocusing effects. In fact a spectral function S(q,$`\omega `$) that is dispersive and circularly symmetric around qaf results in an intensity distribution that closely matches the data (Figs. 1b, 2c). On the other hand, the spin wave model for the stripe picture that gives a good description of the magnetic response of stripes in the nickelates bourges03  should produce a quartet of peaks as calculated in tranquada04 . After convolution with the calculated spectrometer resolution the model prediction differs from the data far beyond the experimental uncertainty even if a finite correlation length of the stripes is assumed (Fig. 1c). So we can rule out the ”spin waves due to stripes” model, though the excitation spectrum of the stripe phase of $`\mathrm{La}_{1.875}\mathrm{Ba}_{0.125}\mathrm{CuO}_4`$ tranquada04  is not consistent with such a model either.

Further measurements (Fig. 2a) revealed that the magnetic signal at 35 meV arises from a branch that disperses to lower energies from Er and cuts off at the spin gap. We also found another branch that disperses upward above Er persisting above 55 meV. This upper branch has not been previously observed because its peak intensity at energies where it is well separated from the lower branch is much smaller than at Er. The raw data at 47meV and 10K (not shown in figures) were consistent with circular symmetry and not with four IC peaks, though they do not rule out a more complex q-space lineshape. Figure 2e shows temperature dependence at three energies with q fixed at the maximum of the intensity change between 10K and 100K at each energy. The intensities at 40.5 and 47 meV increase and then saturate with decreasing temperature below Tc. At 35meV the intensity peaks at $``$70K as observed in $`\mathrm{YBa}_2\mathrm{Cu}_3\mathrm{O}_{6.85}`$ bourges00  hinting at a nontrivial temperature dependence, which needs to be investigated further. Along L the upper branch has a broad maximum at L=1.7, thus it is odd in the bilayer as is the resonance peak (Fig. 2g).

We then utilized the high resolution condition to focus on the dispersion of the two branches where they converge to 41 meV and qaf. The constant q scan through qaf (Fig. 2d) shows the well-known resonance peak at 41meV, but the scattering has considerable broadening in q-space at energies away from 41meV (Fig. 2b). However the q-integrated S(q,$`\omega `$), S($`\omega `$), is roughly the same at all energies in Fig. 2b because of the broadening of S(q,$`\omega `$) along both H and K.

To get a more quantitative estimate of S($`\omega `$) we modelled the data (Fig. 2) with the following dispersions (solid lines in Fig. 3c):

For 33meV$`<\omega <\omega _1`$: $`\omega `$ = -a$`\text{q}\text{q}_{af}^2`$+$`\omega _0`$;

For $`\omega >\omega _2`$: $`\omega `$ = b$`\text{q}\text{q}_{af}^2`$+$`\omega _0`$;

where $`\omega _0`$ = 41.2meV, a = 191 meVÅ2, b = 75 meVÅ2 (Values of b up to $``$ 100 give a good fit as well). The low-energy cutoff at 33meV represents the experimentally determined spin gap. An infinitely sharp ($`\delta `$ function of the above dispersions) S(q,$`\omega `$) gives a reasonably good agreement with the data (red lines in Fig. 2) in the lower branch, but is too narrow for the upper one. In order to better fit the data, isotropic Lorenzian broadening in q and $`\omega `$ was applied to include a finite correlation length of 55Å and an energy width of 2.2meV FWHM (blue lines in Fig. 2). The ratio of the amplitudes of the upper and lower branch is found to be 0.65 to best agree with the data.

Experimental uncertainty allows slightly different values of $`\omega _0`$, a, and b. There also may be a gap of less than 1meV between the branches or one or both branches may not ”close” at qaf (dashed line in Fig. 3c).

Fitting the scattering intensity at different energy transfers with the same amplitude places stringent constraints on the dispersion relation exponent. Higher powers than 2 would flatten the dispersion manifold near $`\omega _0`$ and strongly enhance the predicted scattering intensity there whereas powers lower than 2 would suppress it relative to the expectations of quadratic dispersion. Neither such enhancement or suppression is observed experimentally, which means that the quadratic terms dominate the dispersion relation. This also implies flat S($`\omega `$) in each branch (Fig. 3a). The important caveat is that the differences between the data and the model at 51 and 55 meV hint at a more complex behavior there. Convergence of S(q,$`\omega `$) to qaf at $`E_r`$ (Fig. 3b) can account for all intensity in the resonance peak (Refs. rossat ; fong95 ) as demonstrated by the excellent agreement between the model and the data in figure 2d.

Somewhat similar q-$`\omega `$ dispersions, though with a different temperature dependence, was reported for $`\mathrm{YBa}_2\mathrm{Cu}_3\mathrm{O}_{6.7}`$ arai99  and more recently for the stripe phase of $`\mathrm{La}_{1.875}\mathrm{Ba}_{0.125}\mathrm{CuO}_4`$ tranquada04 .

A number of theories predict or assume dispersive magnetic branches in copper oxide superconductors. A 2D metal with strong antiferromagnetic correlations in the d-wave SC state is characterized by dispersive magnetic collective modes onufrieva02 . The phenomenological spin-fermion model assumes an upward-dispersing branch similar to the observed one though it does not predict the downward-dispersing one morr98 . A recent calculation based on the t-t’-J model yielded results somewhat similar to ours sega03 . An RPA calculation based on the Fermi liquid scenario predicts an incommensurate-commensurate-incommensurate evolution of the magnetic signal with energy levin00 ; norman01 . A more quantitative comparison is required to understand the relevance of these models. Most importantly, many theories have to be reevaluated in light of the finding that most spectral weight of magnetic excitations appears at energies above and below the resonance peak even at optimum doping.

The crystal growth was supported by the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) as Collaborative Research and Development of Fundamental Technologies for Superconductivity Applications.

To whom correspondence should be addressed; E-mail: reznik@llb.saclay.cea.fr