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# Relation between dry granular flow regimes and morphology of deposits: formation of levées in pyroclastic deposits

## I Introduction

Flows of grains are encountered in many natural situations: sand dunes, debris flows, landslides, turbidity currents, avalanches… These flows involve complex interactions between grains, and sometimes a fluid. For example, the dynamics of pyroclastic flows can follow every possible combination between two end-members, depending on relative intensities of particle-particle, and gas-particle interactions: dilute suspensions (only gas-particle interactions), and granular flows (only particle-particle interactions). If large volume pyroclastic flows are related to gravity currents (dense or dilute) fisher ; dade ; Branney , small volume flows behave as granular flows, produced either by dome or by eruptive column collapse Calder ; Nairn ; Ui ; Yamamoto ; colima ; Cole2002 . Many models have been proposed (reviews in freundt ; legros ), ranging from dilute turbulent suspension flows dominated by fluid-particle interactions fisher ; dade ; bursik ; Woods94 ; Sparks93 ; huppert , to dense gravity currents (concentrated suspensions) with fluidization effects and some particle-particle interactions sparks ; wilsonmodel ; roche ; burgisser ; Ishida ; takahashi , and to flows controlled by particle collisions takahashi . But, to our knowledge, there is no study involving frictional interactions between particles.

In this paper, we focus on dense dry granular flows. They are defined as a flowing layer of grains, in which air-grain interactions are negligible (consequently, heat exchanges do not influence processes). For dense granular flows, interactions between grains are dominated by friction GDR ; olivierchevoir  and not by collisions, as it is the case for rapid granular flows Campbell90 ; drake ; Azanza . Moreover, if the flow is said “dry” all cohesive forces between the grains are assumed negligible. Their dynamics is different from those of gravity currents which obey fluid mechanics, and in which grains are, at least partly, suspended by the vertical component of the fluid velocity. Gravity currents loose particles by sedimentation, and get dilute, unlike dense granular flows whose volume fraction of grains remains close to 60% GDR . Some pyroclastic flows have intermediate dynamics (a granular layer flow below a gravity current), and pyroclastic granular flows are surrounded by a suspension of ash. The aim of this paper is to obtain laws for the dynamics of the ‘dense granular flows’ end-member, and quantitative relations between their dynamics and the morphological characteristics of their deposits. In that way, it should be possible to get quantitative information about flow velocities from pyroclastic deposit measurements.

The assumption about the occurence of dense pyroclastic granular flows, or their dense granular basal part, is mainly supported by deposit observations: segregation features (fig. 1), erosion due to the friction between clasts Grunewald , and erosion of the subtratum due to the dense character of the flow Calder ; erosionlascar . Moreover, there are no pyroclastic deposits on high slopes although they appear when slope decreases davies ; Yamamoto ; Calder . When not laterally confined in valleys, the deposits display a particular morphology: the lobes have high parallel lateral levées (about 1 m high) enriched in large blocks while the central channel is lower and mainly composed of smaller particles davies ; Rowley ; wilson ; Yamamoto ; Miller ; Ui ; Calder ; colima ; Cole2002 ; cole98 ; Rodriguez ; Beget89 ; Nairn . The fronts have rounded bulbous shapes and steep margins (fig. 1) Nairn ; Rowley ; erosionlascar . Lobes deposited on the lowest slopes exhibit similar shapes. Various hypothesis have been proposed to explain the levée/channel morphology: lateral static zones linked to a Bingham rheology wilson ; davies ; Yamamoto , drainage of the central part of the deposit with static levées Rowley , differential deflation after emplacement Rowley  and differential fluidization of borders during emplacement wilson , both due to the heterogeneity in the spatial distribution of particle sizes. This includes interaction of the borders with ambiant air creating differential flotation and segregation wilson , and rafts of pumice clasts stranded on the sides of the flow Calder . One aim of this paper is to know which part of these morphology and segregation features is due to the dense flow of dry granular matter.

Most experimental studies of dry granular flows concern confined flows; these flows are either confined in narrow channels savagesegregation ; Azanza ; ancey ; jean ; bonamy , or in a wide geometry set-up where friction at lateral walls is negligible olivier . The width of the flow is imposed by the width of the experimental set-up: the flow and deposit morphologies are strongly affected by confinement (in a similar way, except a few studies on snow avalanches Beghin , experiments on gravity currents have been done in channels, in which the transverse morphology of the deposit is impossible to study). Some studies focus on the spreading of a finite mass of granular matter on a wide slope Savage ; oliviercalotte , but no steady state regime is reached, and the deposit morphology is strongly influenced by its initial shape, or deformed by local changes of the slope gray . Experiments involving the destabilisation of a bump of material, irregularly fed during about a quarter of the flow duration, show that the levée/channel morphology can develop McDonald . But, to our knowledge there is no data on dynamics of unconfined dry granular flows on inclines, that are fed with a constant flux for a long duration. Models based on kinetic theory drake ; Azanza ; Savage  are valid for rapid collisional flows, although depth-averaging equations with a basal friction seem more appropriate for dense frictional flows olivier  (review in olivierchevoir ). All these studies show that there is no layer with a zero vertical gradient of the horizontal velocity at the surface of the flow, eliminating a Bingham rheology.

In this study, laboratory experiments involving dense granular flows have been performed in order to relate possible flow regimes and associated deposit morphologies. The input flux is constant such that the flow reaches a steady state. The flow is never as wide as the set-up, and its width is free to adapt to the dynamical conditions. Precise experiments have been carried out to understand the mechanism of formation of the levée/channel morphology and to quantitatively link information on the flow dynamics and measurements of the deposit morphology.

## II Experimental apparatus

The flows are created by release of microbeads on an inclined plane (fig. 2). The plane (80 cm wide, 2 m long) is made rough by gluing 425-600 $`\mu `$m beads on it. The slope is chosen such that the flow is dominated by frictional interactions between the beads, and between the beads and the plane, and not by collisions Campbell90 ; yoelrouleaux . Two feeding systems are used: (1) A funnel with a variable aperture allows control of the flux imposed by a point source producing unconfined finger-shaped flows. (2) A box with a 40 cm gate is used to create sheet flows, rapidly becoming laterally confined, i.e. 80 cm wide flows.

Particles are 2.5 g/cm3 density glass beads. Their diameter is either in a narrow (but not monodisperse), or in a wider (named ‘polydisperse’ here) range of sizes. The humidity in the laboratory is held between 50% and 55% to avoid electrostatic effects or capillary bridges between particles, which are cohesive effects Fraysse .

The morphologies of flows and associated deposits are measured by projecting several laser sheets on the plane, perpendicularly to the flow direction (fig. 2, bottom). The deviation of each line is proportional to the thickness of granular material on the plane. A reference allows the scaling of the transverse profiles.

For each set of experimental conditions, the width $`L`$ and the thickness $`h`$ of the flow as well as the deposit morphology are measured. The propagation of the flow is followed in time, giving the front velocity $`v`$, that corresponds to the mean flow velocity.

## III The levée/channel morphology and others

First, the mode of formation of levées in granular flow deposits is presented. Then, the observed flow regimes are described and related to the morphology of the associated deposits. Finally, we show how it is possible to get quantitative information on the flow dynamics, using only measurements of the deposit morphology.

### III.1 Formation of levées and channel

Particles constituting the flows are in a narrow range of sizes (typically 300-400 $`\mu `$m). The flow develops from the point source. When moving downwards, it spreads laterally until it reaches a constant width. Once its stable width reached, the position of the front varies linearly with time: the velocity is constant (fig. 3). The flux being constant, the thickness of flowing material is also constant and the flow reaches a steady state regime (partial derivatives of velocity, width, height, with respect to time are equal to 0). When fully developed, the flow is finger-shaped with parallel borders and a curved bulbous front (fig. 2, top, left), corresponding to the shape of deposits in the field wilson .

The evolution with time of the flow morphology has been followed at a distance chosen such that the flow has reached its stable configuration. A ‘small’ flux (see section III.3) is used for technical reasons. Three distinct phases occur (fig. 4):
\- First, the front of the flow arrives at the chosen distance: the height and the width of the cross-section increase until a stable profile is reached.
\- Second, the profile does not evolve. After a small decrease of the height corresponding to a slight longitudinal convex shape of the front, width and height are constant with time, at the chosen distance. They are also constant along the flow direction. We observe lateral static zones on each border of the flow: pictures of the laser lines taken with a long exposure time are blurred where beads are moving, and not blurred where there is no surface motion (limits drawn in fig. 4). The static zones can also be seen when a line of dark particles is poured instantaneously on the surface of the flow (inset). The line, initially perpendicular to the flow direction, evolves showing the surface velocity profile: the dark line is deviated neither on the plane, nor on the lateral borders of the flow.

A small volume of colored particles was also suddenly released from the funnel and their trajectories were followed on the flow surface. Roughly, particles reaching the center of the front are re-injected into its rear, while particles reaching the lateral borders of the front become static, building the levées (fig. 5). Thus, the composition of the static zones records, down along the slope, the temporal evolution of the composition of the front.

A thin line of colored particles was also placed on the plane, on the future path of the flow. These particles reappeared on the surface of the flow, at the rear of the front, showing that the recycling process involves the whole thickness of the flow, and that the basal part of the flow is not static.
\- Finally, as the supply stops, the height in the channel decreases due to the downward flow (fig. 4), while the height of the static borders remains unchanged. Consequently, the central channel becomes lower than the borders, leading to the levée/channel morphology. More accurately, the static borders partly collapse into the channel when it empties. The summits of the levées are slightly less high than the maximum height of static zones, and also a little further apart than the limits of static zones. The levées record the maximum height reached by the flow at the future location of their summits. They are thus linked to the height of lateral static zones just behind the front, and consequently linked to the front height. Here, we can associate the height of levées with the height of the flow, because the longitudinal convex shape of the front is small. But, when the front has a stronger convexity (case of some polydisperse media), it would be more accurate to associate the height of levées and the maximal thickness of the front.

Consequently, the formation of levées is associated with the existence of lateral static zones and the partial emptying of the central portion of the flow. This is compatible with the precise observations and interpretation given by Rowley .

When supply stops, the flow continues to propagate on a short distance, using the flux coming from the partial emptying of the back of the deposit. The deposit exhibits a smooth transition between a rounded front and the levée/channel morphology at the back, of which the deposit mainly consists (fig. 6, right). This morphology is comparable to those observed in the field Rowley . It has also been experimentally observed in the failure of a bump of sand McDonald .

### III.2 Evolution of the levée/channel morphology

#### III.2.1 Evolution with the angle of the slope

The morphological aspect ratio varies when the inclination of the plane $`\theta `$ changes (fig. 8, top). Because both levées height, $`h_{lev\stackrel{´}{e}e}`$, and channel thickness, $`h_{channel}`$ decrease with $`\theta `$, $`h_{channel}`$ being inferior to $`h_{lev\stackrel{´}{e}e}`$, the morphology is enhanced for steep slopes, as observed in the field wilson . Simultaneously, width and velocity increase with $`\theta `$ (fig. 7).

The dynamics of confined dense granular flows down rough inclines show that in a range of inclinations ($`\theta _1`$, $`\theta _2`$), a uniform layer of deposit remains after a flow has passed olivier ; douady . The deposit thickness, named $`h_{stop}`$, is independent of the velocity and of the thickness of the flow $`h`$, but depends on $`\theta `$ (fig. 9). The thickness $`h_{stop}`$ is interpreted as a characteristic length on which stresses generated by the friction with the substratum are transmitted in the granular matter. It is linked to the precise characteristics of the plane roughness and of the particle size celine . $`h_{stop}`$ is one possible vertical length scale for the system olivier .

Previous authors found that there is also a maximum thickness of material which can stay on an inclined plane without moving, $`h_{start}`$ oliviercalotte ; douady ; $`h_{start}`$ depends on $`\theta `$, generating a similar curve, shifted towards large angles ($`h_{start}>h_{stop}`$). A layer of granular matter with a thickness smaller than $`h_{stop}`$ is stable and never flows. If its thickness (or $`\theta `$) increases and reaches $`h_{start}(\theta )`$, the layer destabilises and flows; the produced deposit having the $`h_{stop}`$ thickness. For a thickness between $`h_{stop}`$ and $`h_{start}`$, the granular layer can be stable or unstable depending on the initial conditions (hysteresis).

The solid line in the figure 9 is a fit for $`h_{stop}(\theta )`$ established by Pouliquen olivier  where $`C`$ is an adaptable parameter and $`d`$ the size of the beads:

$$\mathrm{tan}\theta =\mathrm{tan}\theta _1+\left(\mathrm{tan}\theta _2\mathrm{tan}\theta _1\right)\mathrm{exp}\left(\frac{h_{stop}}{Cd}\right).$$
(1)
In our experiments, $`h_{channel}`$ and $`h_{lev\stackrel{´}{e}e}`$ show a decreasing trend compatible with a ‘$`h_{stop}(\theta )`$’ type curve, although $`h_{lev\stackrel{´}{e}e}`$ could be an ‘$`h_{stop}(\theta )+constant`$’ type curve (fig. 9). However, we do not have enough data to check that point. This shows that the thickness of deposit in the channel is linked to the stopping process, and is independent of height and velocity of the flow.

To confirm that $`h_{channel}`$ corresponds to the $`h_{stop}`$ parameter defined by Pouliquen olivier , we measured the thickness of our material lying on our plane after a wide confined flow has passed. The flows were made using the 40 cm gate, sufficiently opened to obtain a thick sheet flow, which rapidly reaches the edges of the plane, giving a confined flow and a flat deposit. The measurements are less precise because the scale cannot be on the same picture as the deposit. Nevertheless, data on both thicknesses are in good agreement (fig. 9).

In the field, the levée/channel morphology has been described by the ratio $`h_{channel}`$/$`h_{lev\stackrel{´}{e}e}`$. This ratio is sensitive to errors: we fit both sets of data, and calculate the ratio of each fit (fig. 9). The decrease of the ratio with $`\theta `$ is compatible with observations on pyroclastic deposits: a ratio of 0.9 for ‘low’ slopes, and of 0.5 for ‘steep’ slopes on 1980 Mount St. Helens deposits wilson . Moreover, the morphology adapts very rapidly to a local variation of the slope, leading to a local deformation of the deposit (fig. 6, left), which has been observed in the field wilson .

#### III.2.2 Evolution of the morphology with the flux

A flux increase induces an increase of the flow velocity and width (fig. 3). At the same time, the thickness adapts. Figure 8 (bottom) shows a comparison of flow and deposit cross-sections for different fluxes. First, except for very narrow flows, the morphology of flow and deposit is mainly flat. This is appropriate to define $`h`$ as the thickness of flow and $`h_{channel}`$ as the thickness of deposit in the channel. For narrow flows (fig. 4), $`h`$ is taken as the maximum thickness of the flow, and $`h_{channel}`$ as the minimum deposit thickness. Second, the width of the levées is almost the same, independently of the width of the flow, i.e. independently of the flux. Consequently, the aspect ratio changes as the flux varies. This morphological change is different from those induced by a slope variation (fig. 8, top), giving a way of differentiating the effects of flux and of topography in the field.

### III.3 Flow regimes and associated deposit morphologies

The second step of this study consists in linking the flow dynamics and the deposit morphology. A qualitative link is presented first, then a quantitative relation is determined for one regime and, finally, the influence of polydispersity of materials is discussed.

#### III.3.1 Description of the regimes

This study is focused on dense frictional flows. The collisional regime has not been studied, although it is observed for higher slopes. Several flow regimes happen depending on flux and inclination of the plane. The volume fraction of beads is between a random loose and a random close packing of beads (0.56-0.64%) onoda , and if there is any difference between the regimes, they would be to small to be measured. Each type of flow has its own dynamics, and produces a particular type of deposit (figs. 2 and 10). Three regimes can be defined, depending on values of slope and flux (fig. 11). In this section, experiments involve particles with narrow size distributions (215-224, 150-250 or 300-400 $`\mu `$m), on 425-600 $`\mu `$m roughness. This has been done to obtain various values of the flux. Results are consistent even if beads of different sizes are used on the same substratum, because the size changes only slightly. A few test experiments have been done with rough painted beads, and with other bead sizes. They show a dependency of the limits of the regime fields on the characteristics of the particles.

-First, for low flux and/or low slope, an intermittent flow regime is observed (figs. 10, left and 11). A rounded shaped flow spreads down the slope, then stops. As it is continuously supplied with granular matter at the back, a second flow starts a few seconds later from the accumulation zone, and covers the previous one, propagating the whole deposit a little further, and then it stops again. In the figure 10 (top, left), the front is static, while the back is moving ahead (blurred area). The flow is consequently intermittent, with a front velocity alternating between 0 and a positive value, which might be similar to features observed during Montserrat eruptions cole98 . No measurement of frequency has been done, which seems to depend on both flux and slope. When the deposit is long enough, several successive avalanches can propagate simultaneously. The deposit has a rounded shape (fig. 10, bottom, left). Sometimes, when the feeding has been stopped early, it exhibits a step, the provided volume being not large enough for a total covering.
-Second, for a given intermediate range of flux and inclination, a steady state flow is observed (figs. 2, 11 and section III.1). The flow is finger-shaped, with constant width, height, and velocity. The deposit displays the levée/channel morphology. For this regime, a ‘small’ flux corresponds to conditions close to the limit between intermittent and steady state regimes.
-Finally, for high flux and slope, a roll-wave regime occurs (figs. 10, right and 11). The flows are thin and finger-shaped with parallel lateral borders which are not very-well defined. Small waves develop at the surface of the flow and rapidly reach its front. The deposit is either flat and as thin as 1-2 layers of beads, or non-existent.

These three regimes are closely related to those observed for wide confined flows olivier ; yoel , when making an equivalence between the flux and the flow thickness: for low angle and/or thickness, no flow occurs; for intermediate values, flows are in a steady state regime; for high angle and thickness, instabilities appear, which are predicted by the theory shyam ; yoel . Using sand, these waves appear as soon as there is a flow yoel , and could be associated with the levée/channel morphology McDonald .

These regimes obey different dynamics. It is important to know in which regime the flow responsible for a deposit has propagated, before any attempt to calculate its velocity. Fortunately, the deposits have different morphologies, and the flow regime can be deduced from qualitative observations of the deposit. Note that the determination of the regime is clear when the levée/channel morphology is observed. But when the deposit is rounded, it can be either the result of an intermittent regime, or the result of the propagation of the flow within the steady state regime, the observation being made too close to the front to see the emptying of the back of the deposit (fig. 6, right).

#### III.3.2 Interpretation using the thickness $`h_{stop}(\theta )`$

It is possible to interpret the regimes using the thickness $`h_{stop}(\theta )`$ remaining after a wide confined flow has passed (fig. 9 and eq. 1). Two angles are involved: for $`\theta _1`$, $`h_{stop}`$ tends towards infinity, while above $`\theta _2`$, it is equal to zero. This means that below $`\theta _1`$, no uniform layer of granular matter can be thick enough to flow, and that above $`\theta _2`$, no deposit remains (even if some matter may rest on a slope slightly above $`\theta _2`$, when placed in a static state on the plane). The dashed curve (fig. 11) comes from the $`h_{stop}(\theta )`$ of the figure 9, assuming that the flux and $`h_{stop}`$ are linked by a linear relation. That shows that the limit between steady state and intermittent regimes, and the $`h_{stop}(\theta )`$ curve both go through a compatible range of angles ($`\theta _1`$, $`\theta _2`$).
-Under the $`h_{stop}(\theta )`$ curve, a wide confined granular layer does not flow olivier . When granular matter is released from a funnel, it cannot initiate a flowing layer with a local constant thickness, either because the slope is below $`\theta _1`$, or because the flux is too low to feed a flow thicker than $`h_{stop}`$. It constitutes a heap till its free surface reaches an angle above the stability angle. Then, the heap collapses and the granular matter flows in a non-symmetrical way on the slope. The intermittent regime is the result of successive avalanches building a ‘pile’ on a steep slope, because a uniform layer would not flow.
-Above the $`h_{stop}(\theta )`$ curve, the amount of released matter is sufficient to feed a layer which is locally thicker than $`h_{stop}`$: thus the steady state regime occurs.
-For angles slightly above $`\theta _2`$, the deposit consists of two levées aside an empty channel, because for every angle, the thickness of the levées is larger than those of the channel (fig. 9).
-Above $`\theta _2`$, the particles flow down and no deposit stays on the plane. Extrapolating our results, it seems that both the steady state and roll-wave regime can occur. It is also very likely that the collisional regime occurs.

Consequently, the potential occurrence of the different types of deposits can be located in comparison with the $`h_{stop}(\theta )`$ curve (fig. 12).
-For slopes smaller than $`\theta _1`$, the deposit is thick and rounded in shape.
-For slopes between $`\theta _1`$ and $`\theta _2`$, the three regimes can occur. The deposit displays the levée/channel morphology except close to the front, or except if the flux is too low or too high. Very close to $`\theta _2`$, only a few particles stay on the plane ($`h_{stop}<d`$), corresponding to lag deposits observed on steep slopes Rowley .
-For slopes greater than $`\theta _2`$, there is no deposit (at least in the channel), as it is observed in the field davies ; Yamamoto ; Calder . For angles slightly above $`\theta _2`$, the “levées with empty channel” morphology exists (fig. 12, right inset).

We conclude from these results that if the levée/channel morphology is observed on a deposit, there is no doubt that the associated flow was in a steady state frictional regime, and that the angle of the slope was between $`\theta _1`$ and $`\theta _2`$. We made observations on the south-east lobes of the Lascar (Chile) 1993 deposits, which gives approximate values for $`\theta _1`$ and $`\theta _2`$ of 6 and 14. These values correspond to erosion/deposition behaviors observed for slopes respectively equal to 14-16 and 4-6 at Montserrat cole98 . Both angles are small, probably due to the large values of the ratio between substratum roughness and particle sizes celine .

Note that, for a given erupted volume, knowing $`h_{stop}(\theta )`$ is not enough to calculate the longitudinal deposit extension (except, if the flow in confined in a valley): it could be long and narrow (small flux) or short and wide (large flux).

### III.4 From deposit morphology to quantitative information on flow dynamics

There is a good analogy between confined and unconfined flows, confirmed by the existence of analogous regimes yoel  and we are confident to try successful methods used for dynamics of confined flows for the interpretation of dynamics of unconfined flows. The challenge is to obtain some quantitative values for the dynamics (flux, velocity, height of the flow) only from measurements performed on the deposit.

We focus on the levée/channel morphology because the particular shape of the deposit can be related without ambiguity to the flow regime. In this regime, the influence of the flux has been tested. It appears that the larger the flux, the faster the front of the flow and the wider the flow (and the deposit) (fig. 13). As expected olivier ; douady , $`h_{channel}`$ contains no information on dynamics, which is not the case for $`h_{lev\stackrel{´}{e}e}`$ and $`h`$ (fig. 13). Note that the variation of $`h_{lev\stackrel{´}{e}e}`$ with the flux is incompatible with a 2-dimensional calculation of the dynamics of an infinite layer of fluid having a Bingham rheology, which would predict that the thickness of the static zone is determined by the yield stress and should depend only on the slope.

The levée height is linked to $`h`$, through the formation of lateral static zones, and to $`h_{channel}`$, through the partial collapse. Because the $`h_{channel}`$ thickness is constant (or very slightly decreasing) with the flux, the increase of $`h`$ and $`h_{lev\stackrel{´}{e}e}`$ with the flux are similar. More accurately, the slightly larger value of $`h_{channel}`$ for small flux may be due to an arching process between the static borders during the collapse ammi ; Mills ; Luding . Because the associated flow is narrow, the short distance between the static zones prevents the complete emptying until the $`h_{stop}`$ thickness of a wide flow deposit is reached. It would have been more accurate to keep the notation ‘$`h_{stop}`$’ for deposit produced by a wide flow, and to say that the thickness in the channel, $`h_{channel}`$ tends to $`h_{stop}`$ when $`L`$ tends towards infinity. But, except for very narrow flows, $`h_{channel}=h_{stop}`$, and we chose not to distinguish between these 2 variables. The morphology of the deposit then contains parameters linked to the flux ($`h_{lev\stackrel{´}{e}e}`$, $`L`$) and parameters independent of the dynamics ($`h_{stop}`$).

For wide laterally confined flows down rough inclines, Pouliquen olivier  first established a relation between the mean flow velocity $`v`$ and the flow thickness $`h`$ (eq. 2). As previously, $`h_{stop}`$ is the thickness of the uniform deposited layer. It is the vertical length scale of the system and used to normalize the flow thickness:

$$\frac{v}{\sqrt{gh}}=\beta \frac{h}{h_{stop}},$$
(2)
$`g`$ is the gravity, and $`\beta `$ a constant equal to 0.136 for glass beads flowing down a plane made rough by gluing other glass beads. Due to the normalization by $`h_{stop}`$, all flows composed of different sizes of glass beads, on different planes of this type, follow the same law. This type of correlation is also verified in our experiments on unconfined flows, giving a similar value for $`\beta `$.

Figure 14 shows the correlation obtained in the case of our experimental flows by using $`h_{lev\stackrel{´}{e}e}`$ instead of $`h`$, and $`h_{channel}`$ for $`h_{stop}`$. As expected, the value of the constant $`\beta `$ is different from those previously obtained, being equal to $`\beta `$=0.5 (fig. 14). The correlation exists, although the slope is high, showing that the correlation is of the same order of magnitude than the data variability. Unfortunately, due to the finite length of the experimental set-up, it was not possible to study the steady state regime for higher fluxes, and consequently to accurately determine this correlation. Nevertheless, we deduce a relation allowing an estimate of the flow velocity only using deposit morphology:

$$\frac{v}{\sqrt{gh_{lev\stackrel{´}{e}e}}}=\beta \frac{h_{lev\stackrel{´}{e}e}h_{stop}}{h_{stop}}.$$
(3)
Its extension to natural systems is not direct since the value of the constant $`\beta `$ for volcanic granular material is unknown and probably different (experiments using sand give $`\beta `$=0.65 yoel ). We are also aware of the deflation of the deposits, which is low in most cases (0.3-1% for St Helens deposits Rowley  or 2-6% for Unzen deposits unzen ), but can also be important (30-50% for St Helens deposits Rowley ) and from which the deposit measurements should be corrected before using this relation. Each deposit have to be corrected in a different way and it is not possible to obtain a general equation including the deflation effect. The deflation is not calculated in this paper, since, to our knowledge, no precise morphological natural data are available. Moreover, natural materials have a wide size distribution inducing segregation processes that are not taken into account in relation 3, and whose influence will be shown in the next section.

### III.5 Flows with a wide particle size distribution

During experiments involving wider size distributions, segregation features have been observed on flow and deposit. The large particles rapidly reach the surface of the flow and consequently accumulate at the front and in the static borders. In the deposit, the levées and the front are enriched in large particles while the channel contains mainly small particles, as observed in the field (figs. 1, 15 and Calder ).

Segregation is also responsible for fingering of the flows observed in the laboratory as well as in the field (black arrow in fig. 15, bottom). The jamming of a large particle when it reaches the substratum at the front of the flow induces the flow to separate into two distinct lobes olivierdigit .

The influence of the size distribution on the velocity of the front and on the morphology of the deposit was also tested. It results from two processes: (1) contacts between particles in the flow are modified, i.e. the rheology changes; (2) the basal friction is strongly modified depending on which particle size is in contact with the plane. The friction depends on the size ratio between particles and substratum roughness. For monodisperse roughness and grain sizes, it has been shown that the friction is smaller for high and small ratios, than for ratios close to 1 celine . For that reason, $`h`$ in equation (2) needs a normalization by $`h_{stop}`$. Because of segregation, fine particles accumulate in the basal part of the flow, and eventually, fill the holes, smoothing the roughness. The plane thus becomes smoother for a large particle, but could be more rough for a small one. The friction between flow and substratum is mainly the result of the interaction between these small beads and the plane and could be reduced or enhanced depending on which system it is compared to (pure flow of small particles or pure flow of large ones), and depending on the ratios of particles and roughness sizes.

#### III.5.1 Bidisperse media

The influence of fine particles has been observed in bidisperse flows involving a small fraction (respectively 5 and 10 weight%) of 45-90 $`\mu `$m beads in 300-400 $`\mu `$m beads. For such sizes, the fines fill the holes of the plane constituted of 425-600 $`\mu `$m glued beads. The velocity increases compared to the flow of pure large particles (by a factor of, respectively, 1.4 and 1.9), and the morphology is strongly enhanced: the channel is almost empty between two high levées (see fig. 12, right inset).

On the same plane, each particle size is associated with a different quasi-parallel $`h_{stop}(\theta )`$ curve celine . For these sizes and roughness, a model celine  predicts that the $`h_{stop}(\theta )`$ curve of the fines is shifted to small angles compared to the $`h_{stop}(\theta )`$ curve of the large ones. In bidisperse mixtures, segregation puts the fine particles at the bottom of the flow, and the thickness of the deposit in the channel is mainly imposed by the $`h_{stop}(\theta )`$ curve of the fine particles. But, pure large particle flow and mixture particle flow would roughly lead to similar levées height, levées being built at the rear of the front, mainly constituted of large particles in both cases. At the present angle (27), small particles fill in the channel during the flow, but the channel deposit is almost empty, because the slope is close to $`\theta _2`$ of the fines particles. On the contrary, the channel contains some matter for a flow of pure large particles, the present angle being far under $`\theta _2`$ of the large particles. Moreover, a small value of $`h_{stop}`$ corresponds to a low basal friction: the velocity of the bidisperse flow is higher than the velocity of a pure large particle flow. The shift of the $`h_{stop}(\theta )`$ curve for the small particles is responsible for enlarging the range of angles where the “levées with empty channel” morphology occurs. This morphology has been observed at least from 25 to 30, and the associated levées are not necessarily small, which is not the case of monodisperse flows.

#### III.5.2 Continuous polydisperse media

Continuous polydisperse granular media have also been used. Successive mixtures (table I) have been made, corresponding to a progressive increase in the width of the size distribution.

Morphologies of flows and deposits are enhanced when the size distribution is wider (fig. 16). This trend quickly appears and is linked to the segregation process combined with the shift of $`h_{stop}`$ curves when changing the smallest and the largest sizes in the distribution. Observations on deposits show that when the size distribution is increased, the particles of the channel become smaller and the particles of the levées larger.

Consequently, a variation of the height of the levées, or of the thickness of the channel can be explained either by a variation of the flow composition (fig. 17) or by a variation of the flow dynamics (fig. 13).

The normalized relation between velocity and deposit morphology (eq. 3) has to be extended for polydisperse media before being used to quantitatively relate the dynamics and morphology in the field.

On the other hand, the velocity increases only very slightly with the degree of polydispersity (fig. 17). This is surprising since it increases less (maximum 1.16) than in the case of the bidisperse media having similar fraction of fines and size range. We assume that the beads are vertically sorted in the flow: the smallest beads at the bottom, and progressively larger particles are located higher in the layer, the largest ones being at the top. In that hypothesis, the basal smoothing process looses efficiency when not applied directly to the largest particles, as for the case of a bidisperse media. This velocity variation has to be compared to the velocity variation induced by the flux variation. The range of fluxes and degrees of polydispersity used in our experiments are valuable to be compared because they both induce a similar variation of height. The influence of the flux (fig. 13) and of the polydispersity degree (fig. 17) allows a comparison of the sensitivity of the three variables ($`h`$, $`v`$, $`L`$) with the two parameters (flux, polydispersity). Compared to flux-induced variation, the influence of polydispersity is negligible and velocity could be considered as constant. In the same way, the width of the flow is constant (varying less than its fluctuations) with the polydispersity, and depends only on the flux, i.e. on the dynamics. In conclusion, width and velocity vary only slightly with polydispersity, and might be used to establish a relation which is independent of the polydispersity.

The width $`L`$ seems to be more promising than $`h_{lev\stackrel{´}{e}e}`$ for making a link between the morphology of the deposit and the dynamics of the flow, which can be transposed further to the natural case. However, we will have to look for the horizontal length scale of the system, which will be the relevant parameter to normalize $`L`$, in the same manner that $`h`$ can be normalized by $`h_{stop}`$.

## IV Conclusions

Good accordance between field observations and our experiments shows that some small volume pyroclastic flows behave as dense granular flows. For these dense granular flows down rough inclines, several flow regimes have been shown to occur depending on the inclination of the plane and on the flux imposed by the source. In each regime, the flow obeys different dynamics and is linked to a particular deposit morphology. The qualitative observation of the deposit allows the determination of the flow regime. The determination of the regime fields for a natural system could even be a step towards the establishment of an equivalence between volcanic particles flowing on a natural substratum and some laboratory granular flow conditions. In fact, one limits between regimes corresponds to the $`h_{stop}(\theta )`$ curve used in laboratory to normalize the equations of dense granular flow dynamics.

In the steady state frictional regime, the flow propagates with a constant height, width, and mean velocity. The associated deposit displays the levée/channel morphology often observed in the field for unconfined small pyroclastic flows. This morphology is without doubt the signature of the steady state frictional regime. This morphology results from static lateral zones and a partial emptying of the central part of the flow. The formation of the morphology shows that the height of levées is linked to the thickness of the flow, and it is possible to quantitatively relate the flow velocity and the morphological parameters of the deposit. The method is very promising for future modeling of dense pyroclastic flows because quantitative information about the flow can be extracted only from deposit measurements. A relation has been established in the case of the experimental data, for the steady state regime associated to the levée/channel morphology. The forthcoming step could be considered in two different ways. First, the relation established in the laboratory for a small range of particle sizes could be extended to the case of a highly polydisperse material. Second, width and velocity could be directly linked, because they seem to depend on dynamics of the flow, and not on polydispersity. However, we need a relevant parameter to normalize the width in order to extend the relation to the case of pyroclastic flows. The experimental study of the dynamics of granular flows and of the formation of the associated deposits morphology could be a way to indirectly infer data about the dynamics of small pyroclastic flows.
Acknowledgments. This work has been supported by the CNRS program on Natural Hazards. We thank K. Kelfoun for the Lascar global view, and A. Daerr, S. Douady, and B. Andreotti for the image analysis software.


text:
# Kolmogorov Complexity, Cosmic Background Radiation and Irreversibility

## 1 Introduction

In the process of the study of the Nature we are dealing not with photons, atoms, planets, galaxies and so on, but with the information that we are obtaining on them. If one can succeed to get a ’complete’ information (in bits) on a given object, then, in principle, one can recover that object. Obviously, the main problem is whether one can define a universal device, so that the coding and decoding of the information will be independent on the device. The complexity or algorithmic information  carries this idea, i.e. invariant description of an object with respect to a universal computer. The existence of a universal computer was proven by Kolmogorov.

Invariant descriptors have always been of outstanding importance in any research. One can recall the discovered by De Moivre, Laplace and Gauss independence of the behavior of errors on the phenomena, among the latter, the coin tossing, human birth rates and observations of planetary motions.

In the present article we apply the concepts of algorithmic information theory in the studies of the properties of the Universe, via the analysis of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) radiation data.

CMB provides one of the key windows to the early history of the Universe. In accordance with the currently held views, the expanding and cooling Universe at certain moment of time after the Big Bang at redshifts $`z1100`$, becomes transparent for photons which we detect now, at $`z=0`$, as CMB with highly isotropic temperature and accurate Planckian spectrum. The discovery of the quadruple anisotropy of the CMB by Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) satellite in 1992 marked an important phase for cosmological studies. The next generation of experiments, Boomerang, Maxima, DASI, CPI, measured the peaks of the power spectrum (angular autocorrelation function). Existence of such peaks was predicted decades ago as a consequence of the interplay of the periods of the compression waves and the decoupling time at the epoch of the last scattering. On the one hand, this supports the basic paradigms of the Big Bang cosmology, on the other hand, the existence of over 10 free parameters shows the necessity of extreme care in the determination of unambiguous values of the key cosmological parameters. Among the latter parameters which are evaluated only in combination with others, is the curvature of the Universe. Such degeneracy makes hard to get an empirical prove of the precise flatness of the Universe.

CMB sky maps, i.e. the distribution of the temperature anisotropies over the sky, have been studied via various descriptors mainly to trace possible departures of the noise from the Gaussian one. The use of Kolmogorov complexity to extract cosmological information from the CMB maps has been proposed in . It was motivated by the possibility of tracing of the geometry of the Universe by means of the effect of geodesic mixing. The effect of geodesic mixing, which is absent at precisely flat and positively curved spaces, can therefore open a way to distinguish the curvature.

Our broader aim here however, is to illustrate the efficiency and universality of complexity in the analysis of profound astrophysical problems. We complete our discussion with consideration of even older problem, the irreversibility and arrows of time.

We start with a brief account of the effect of geodesic mixing, definition and properties of complexity and then move to the description of algorithm of computations for CMB maps, with subsequent application to the Boomerang data .

## 2 Geodesics

Let us first inquire, when the geodesic defined on a $`4`$–dimensional manifold $`W`$ with Lorentzian metric $`{}_{}{}^{4}𝐠`$ which is oriented and time–oriented, will be a geodesic of a $`3`$–dimensional manifold $`M`$ of Riemannian metric $`{}_{}{}^{3}𝐡`$ with respect to the operation of projection.

The projection $`\pi `$ is defined uniquely as

$$\begin{array}{cc}\begin{array}{ccc}\hfill W& \stackrel{ȷ^1}{}& M\times R\hfill \\ & & \pi _M\hfill \\ & \stackrel{\pi }{}& M\hfill \end{array}& \pi =\pi _Mȷ^1,\end{array}$$

where

$$\pi _M:M\times RM:(x,t)x.$$

This reduces the curve $`\gamma `$ in $`W`$ to a curve $`c`$ in $`UM`$ as represented below

$$\begin{array}{cc}\begin{array}{ccc}\hfill W& \stackrel{\pi }{}& M\hfill \\ \hfill \gamma & \stackrel{}{\varphi }& c\hfill \\ \hfill R& \stackrel{}{\sigma }& R\hfill \end{array}& \begin{array}{cc}& \sigma =\varphi \gamma :RR\text{ is a diffeomorphism}\hfill \\ & c=\pi \gamma \sigma ^1:RM:\lambda c(\lambda ).\hfill \end{array}\end{array}$$

The search of the conditions to be satisfied in order the projection of any null geodesic on $`W`$ to be a geodesic on $`M`$ in general case is a complicated problem. For homogeneous-isotropic spaces this can be traced via the problem of “internal time” considered initially in  where the corresponding sufficient conditions have been obtained. For any null geodesics on $`W`$ to be a geodesic on $`M`$ the conditions include

$`𝐠=a^2(t)𝐡,`$ (1)
$`\varphi (x,t)=\varphi _0+{\displaystyle _{t_0}^t}a^1(s)𝑑s,`$ (2)
$`\lambda (t)={\displaystyle _{t_0}^t}a^1(s)𝑑s=\eta (t)\eta (t_0),`$ (3)
where $`{}_{}{}^{3}𝐡`$ is one of the metrics of maximally symmetric $`3`$–dimensional manifold.

Thus the geodesic flow $`W=U\times R`$ be ($`3+1`$)–dimensional manifold with Robertson–Walker metric can be reduced to a geodesic flow on three–dimensional closed manifold $`M=U`$ with metric $`a_0^2𝐡`$ and affine parameter $`\lambda `$ (for details see ).

If the Friedmann-Robertson-Walker universe has a negative curvature, the flow of null geodesics which describes the free motion of photons, represents an Anosov system  (locally, if $`U`$ is not compact), a class of dynamical systems with maximally strong statistical properties. Anosov systems are characterized by exponential divergence of initially close trajectories, positive KS-entropy, countable Lebesgue spectrum, exponential decay of time correlation functions and K-mixing.

One of the significant properties of Anosov systems is the structural stability (coarseness) as proved by Anosov in 1967, roughly, the robustness of properties with respect to perturbations. This is a crucial property also in our context, since we live not in a FRW Universe with strongly constant curvature but with small perturbations of metric, and moreover, we know the magnitude of their smallness from the same CMB measurements.

The deviation of two geodesics in $`3`$–manifold implies that

$$l(\lambda )=l(0)\mathrm{exp}(\chi \lambda ),$$
(4)
where Lyapunov exponent $`\chi =a_0^1`$ and $`\chi =0`$ when $`k=0`$ or $`k=+1`$. Hence

$$\lambda _c^l=\frac{1}{\chi }.$$

For the geodesic flows in $`W`$ we have

$$L(t)=L(t_0)\frac{a(t)}{a(t_0)}\mathrm{exp}(\chi \lambda (t)).$$
(5)
The time correlation function of those geodesic flows for $`d=3`$

$$b_{A_1,A_2}(\lambda )=_{SM}A_1f^\lambda A_2𝑑\mu _{SM}A_1𝑑\mu _{SM}A_2𝑑\mu ,$$

decreases by exponential law, i.e., $`c>0`$ such that for all $`A_1,A_2L^2(SM)`$ but a finite-dimensional space in $`L^2(SM)`$

$$\left|b_{A_1,A_2}(\lambda )\right|cA_1A_2e^{h\lambda },$$
(6)
where $`d\mu `$ is the Liouville measure, $`h`$ is the KS-entropy of the geodesic flow $`\{f^\lambda \}`$, and

$$A=\left[_{SM}A^2𝑑\mu \right]^{1/2}.$$

One may readily see that if

$$A_1(u)=T(u),$$

and

$$A_2(u)=\chi _{𝒦(v)}(u),$$

where $`T`$ is the temperature of sky at $`u`$, $`𝒦(v)`$ is a Cartesian product of $`3D`$ ball and $`2D`$ rigid angle at the point $`v`$, and $`\chi _{𝒦(v)}`$ is the characteristic function of the set $`𝒦(v)`$, then

$$T_\lambda (u)=\frac{1}{\mu (𝒦(u))}_{𝒦(u)}Tf^\lambda 𝑑\mu $$
(7)
and

$$T_\lambda (u)\overline{T}=\frac{1}{\mu (𝒦(u))}b_{A_1,A_2}(\lambda ),$$

where

$$\overline{T}=_{SM}T𝑑\mu .$$

Therefore

$$\left|\frac{T_\lambda (u)}{\overline{T}}1\right|\frac{c}{[\mu (𝒦(u))]^{1/2}}e^{h\lambda }.$$
(8)
In particular, for any $`u`$ we have

$$\underset{\lambda \mathrm{}}{lim}T_\lambda (u)=\overline{T},$$

i.e. the isotropic state is the final state.

Thus the non-zero negative curvature will lead to the decrease of perturbations of the geodesic flows, i.e. of the amplitude of anisotropy of CMB, while the strong statistical properties of Anosov systems will lead to the complexity of the anisotropy areas .

## 3 Kolmogorov Complexity

A crucial concept for definition of the complexity is that of the universal computer. A computer is considered universal, if for any computer $`C`$ there exists a constant $`S_C`$ which can be added to any program $`p`$, so that $`S_Cp`$ should execute the same operation on computer $`U`$ as the program $`p`$ on computer $`C`$. The computer is a device performing only deterministic operations, so that the Turing machine can be considered as an example of universal computer, as well as the probabilistic computers of Shennon, which are using the random rules to reduce the time of computation for problems with unique solution.

The algorithm is the set of instructions defining which operations have to be executed by the computer and when. Since the computer must halt, the program cannot be a prefix for some other program; a word $`a`$ is called prefix for a word $`b`$ if $`b=ac`$ with some other word $`c`$. Hence, the set of accessible programs should be prefix-free.

The complexity $`K_U(x)`$ of the sequence $`x`$ with respect to a universal computer $`U`$ is defined as the length in bits of the smallest algorithm $`p`$ by which the computer $`U`$ starting with some initial fixed state calculates the object $`x`$ as its only output, and halts. The complexity was introduced by Kolmogorov, Solomonoff and Chaitin ,. The sequence is called complex if its complexity is comparable with its length. Note, that the time of calculation is not entering this definition.

The complexity is related with another basic concept, random sequences. The most general definition by Martin-Löf  is formalizing the idea of Kolmogorov that random sequences have very small number of rules comparing to its length; the rule is defined as an algorithmically testable and rare property of a sequence. Though correlated for typical objects, the properties of complexity and randomness are not identical, however.

Chaotic system which are non-compressible, therefore possess higher complexity than a regular one which are compressible. As shown by Martin-Löf, the complexity of finite sequences varies between $`N`$ and $`Nlog_2N`$, since even random sequences can have extended non-random subsets. In such cases the specific complexity introduced by Alekseev

$$k(A)=\frac{K_A}{|A|},$$
(9)
enables to distinguish the random sequences and hence algorithmically complex systems, i.e. when at large N a finite limit does exist

$$k(N)k0,$$

from the non-random sequences when this limit is zero. Random sequences are indistinguishable (for all practical purposes) from the ones generated by the proper stochastic process .

In certain trivial cases low-complexity objects can be distinguished easily, for example, (0,…,0) or (1,…,1). In some other cases, the object could have a complex binary representation, such as $`\pi `$, though actually being again of low-complexity. In general case, however, the situation is much less simple. Moreover, it is proved that there is no a short algorithm to decide whether a given complex-looking sequence is really complex ,. Fortunately, though in general the shortest program cannot be reached, i.e. the exact complexity cannot be calculated, in certain problems the obtained results cannot be too far from that value.

If the length of a sequence $`x`$ is $`N`$ then the obvious upper limit can be established 111Note that, if $`x`$ is the binary representation of some integer $`N_0`$, then $`N\mathrm{log}_2N_0`$.

$$K_U(x)<N.$$
(10)
Let us estimate the fraction of such sequences among all N-bit sequences, for which

$$K_U(x)<Nm.$$

This means that there exists a program of length $`Nm`$ which computes $`x`$. The total number of programs of such a length cannot be larger than $`2^{Nm+1}`$; this is the upper limit without taking into account the prefix-free condition. Thus, we have the following upper limit

$$(2^{Nm+1}1)/2^N2^{m+1}.$$

This value is small if $`m`$ is sufficiently large. Thus a more general relation than (10) can be established

$$K_U(x)c(x)N,c(x)1$$
(11)
Thus, the calculation of relative complexity of an object and of a perturbed object via given computer and developed code (though the latter cannot be proved to be the shortest possible), has to reflect the complexity introduced by the perturbation. Since in our problem the complexity is a result of propagation of photons after the last scattering surface (if k=-1), one can thus ’measure the perturbation’ caused by the curvature of the space as it was performed while measuring the elongation of the CMB anisotropy areas in .

The complexity of a dynamical system can be determined by means of the representation of the trajectory via a symbolic language . Then a trajectory of the considered dynamical system can be viewed as a sequence of symbols which can be translated into the language of bits. The dynamics can be called chaotic (for fixed initial conditions) if the corresponding symbolic sequence is algorithmically complex. Note that the partition should be detailed enough because algorithmic complexity is well-defined only for sufficiently long sequences of symbols. The CMB digitized maps when given values of averaged temperature are assigned to the pixels covering a region of sky is a proper example for symbolic dynamics, and hence can be linked not only with complexity but also random sequences.

Below we describe an algorithm of estimation of the complexity for anisotropy areas of computer-imitated CMB maps. Similarly, one can formulate the problem for definition and study of the random sequences of CMB maps.

## 4 The Complexity Algorithm

Strictly speaking we can estimate only the upper limit of $`K`$ corresponding to a given algorithm. By algorithm we will understand the computer program in PASCAL , along with the data file, describing the coordinates of the pixel of the anisotropy area (spot). Namely the data file includes compressed information about the string of digits. The program is a sequence of commands performing reconstruction of the string and calculations of the corresponding lengths. Since at the analysis of various areas we use the same code, the only change will be in the data files. Hence the complexity of the figure will be attributed to the file containing the information on the position of the pixels.

The code describing the area works as follows. As an initial pixel we fix the upper left pixel of the area and move clockwise along its boundary. Each step – a ’local step’ – is a movement from a current pixel to the next one in above given direction. This procedure is rigorously defining the ’previous’ and ’next’ pixels. Two cases are possible. First, when the next pixel (or several pixel areas) after the initial one is in the same row: we write down the number of pixels in such ’horizontal step’. The second case is, when the next pixel is in vertical direction; then we perform the local steps in vertical direction (’vertical step’) and record the number of corresponding pixels. Via a sequence of horizontal and vertical steps we, obviously, return to the initial pixel, thus defining the entire figure via a resulting data file.

The length of the horizontal step cannot exceed the number of columns, i.e. $`N`$, while the vertical step cannot exceed $`M`$, requiring $`log_2M`$ and $`log_2N`$ bits of information, correspondingly. For the configurations we are interested in, the lengths of the horizontal and vertical steps, however, are much less than $`log_2M`$ and $`log_2N`$ and therefore we need a convenient code for definition of the length of those steps. The code realized in  was for $`M=N=256`$; apparently for each value of $`M`$ and $`N`$ one has to choose the most efficient code.

Thus, after each step, either horizontal or vertical, certain amount of bits of information is stored. The first two bits will contain information on the following bits defining the length of the given step in a manner given in Table 1.

The case when the first two bits are zero, denotes: if the following digit is zero than the length of the step is $`l_s=0`$, and hence no digits of the same step do exist; if the next digit is $`1`$, than 8 bits are following, thus defining the length of the step. If $`l_s=1`$, than after the combination $`\mathrm{0\hspace{0.17em}1}`$ the following digit will be either $`0`$ or $`1`$ depending whether the step is continued to the left or to the right with respect to the direction of the previous step.

Thus, the complexity is a calculable quantity for CMB digitized sky maps . Its values correlate also with the values of the fractal dimension of the areas.

## 5 Cosmic Background Maps

The available CMB maps such as of COBE and even Boomerang, are not enough accurate for the meaningful calculation of the Kolmogorov complexity, however, its simplified descriptor can be used for those maps, namely, the mean elongation-ellipticity of the anisotropy spots. This aim also needs the development of special algorithms and careful runs to distinguish correlations from the foreground effects.

We now briefly describe the special purpose adaptive software MAP08 , which was used for the analysis of the Boomerang data. The code enabled to reveal the hot and cold anisotropy areas, determine their coordinates, sizes in pixel numbers, analysis of their shapes, of the spatial correlation functions, etc. The software runs in interactive regime with two input datasets A and B obtained at measurements at two channels, via the sum and difference maps, as well as Gaussian and any simulated map.

After the definition of the temperature threshold interval, for example, from -2000 $`\mu K`$ up to +2000 $`\mu K`$, with step 25 $`\mu K`$, the choice of the minimal and maximal number of pixels per area (e.g. 3-200), of the step of the input matrix (e.g. 1 arc min), the mode SkyMap enables the visualization of the map and a creation of a matrix MM containing the pixel data for positive (negative) thresholds of areas of equal or higher (lower) the given threshold. For parameters of the Boomerang data, the following choice was efficient: 1 Pix $`2\times 2`$ pixels, Sqw - a square of $`8^{}\times 8^{}`$ (approximately), Dia - a circle of diameter 11.2’.

The matrix MM \[x, y\] of a unit step and given size, e.g. $`1692\times 1296`$ cells for Boomerang data of $`1^{}`$ cell size, defined by the following formula

$$X=round(60.0(XY[n,1]237.11))$$

$$Y=round(60.0(XY[n,2]+41.61));MM[x,y]=1,$$

is determining the anisotropy areas via the choice of pixels with temperatures equal and higher/lower of the given threshold. The non-equal size of the pixels and some other input inhomogeneities are taken into account here, while using both Cartesian or curvilinear coordinates. The scheme of the regularization can be performed for each coordinate frame, with the subsequent check of its efficiency by means of the least number of the abandoned (non-regularized) pixels.

The matrix MM is then scanned, e.g. a field of $`\pm 11`$ pixels in vertical and horizontal directions at a step $`1^{}`$, and $`\pm 1`$ cell with a step $`7.5^{}`$ (in both cases within a field $`22^{}\times 22^{}`$) with the center in $`x_0`$ and $`y_0`$. The points of the array with a given code and current coordinates $`x_t`$ and $`y_t`$ are chosen and the determination of the center and other characteristics of the revealed (anisotropy) areas can be performed readily. For example, the condition $`r_t<=rw`$ has to be checked for its each pixel, where $`r_t`$ is the distance between the current point and the central one, and $`r_w=9^{}`$, while the parameters and the definition of assignment of a point to a given area can be modified if necessary.

Thus upon fixing the modes of operation and the CMB temperature threshold range and the step, the geometrical descriptors of the sum, difference, Gaussian or other simulated map can be estimated. All input parameters, auxiliary and temporary data e.g. the numbers of pixels in any given area, and extreme and average values of various parameters can be displayed.

## 6 Boomerang maps

The experiment BOOMERanG - Balloon Observations Of Millimetric Extragalactic Radiation and Geomagnetism - measured temperature fluctuations of the Cosmic Microwave Background at multipole numbers corresponding to the range of the predicted so-called acoustic oscillations at the epoch of the last scattering . The measurements have been performed by means of a millimetric telescope with bolometric detectors located on a balloon borne platform. It was flown in Antarctica in 1998/99 and produced maps covering 4$`\%`$ of the sky with high resolution, $`10^{}`$, at four bands from 90 to 410 GHz. The rms fluctuation of the anisotropy areas was $`80\mu K`$. The detected fluctuations were spectrally consistent with the derivative of a 2.735 K blackbody. Masi et al.  had shown that contamination from local foregrounds was negligible in the maps at 90, 150 and 240 GHz, and that the 410 GHz channel is a good monitor for dust emission. The maps have been obtained from the time ordered data using an iterative procedure, which properly takes into account the system noise and produces a maximum likelihood map. Structures larger than 10o have been removed, to avoid the dominating effects of instrument drifts and 1/f noise. The map has also been convolved with a Gaussian kernel to obtain a final FWHM resolution of 22.5 arcmin.

The study of the Boomerang maps at 150 GHz covering around 1% of the sky have been performed by means of the MAP08 code together with P.De Bernardis and the Boomerang team .

The anisotropy areas have been revealed at each temperature threshold. MAP08 enabled the analysis of the properties of various subsets of areas, with given number of pixels, within given interval of pixel numbers, e.g. from 3 to 200 pixel ones, the distribution of the areas vs number of pixels, etc. The mean ellipticity of the areas has been estimated via a procedure of double averaging, first, over the areas at given temperature threshold, then, over the threshold interval. The dependence of the mean ellipticity of the anisotropy areas vs the temperature threshold obtained during that study are shown in Figures 1 and 2.

The presence of a threshold interval where the ellipticity is independent on the threshold is seen from Figure 1. Such behavior was shown to be robust with respect to the pointing reconstruction procedure accuracy. The ellipticity due to the noise on the other hand, has to depend on the threshold. Therefore this indicates correlations existing in the sky signal. Similar elongation has been detected also for COBE-DMR 4-year maps. The mean elongation for COBE data was around 1.9 , for Boomerang data it is close to 2.2 . This is remarkable since COBE-DMR and Boomerang data are quite different by their angular resolution and noise level.

The described CMB ellipticity (see Figure 3), in principle, can arise due to still unknown processes. However, if such correlations in the sky signal are due to geodesic mixing, as was predicted, than this can be interpreted as model-independent indication of two effects, of negative curvature and the non-Friedmannian expansion of the Universe .

The further work on simulated maps and especially the search of this effect at forthcoming more accurate experiments is of particular interest.

## 7 Arrows of Time

Let us mention another aspect of the effect of geodesic mixing which may provide a condition necessary for emergence of the thermodynamic arrow of time. This mechanism can also explain why CMB contains the major fraction of the entropy of the Universe.

The thermodynamical arrow for a statistical system can be formulated as a consequence of the following conditions (see e.g. , , , ):

1) Decorrelated (special) initial conditions;

2) No memory dynamics.

It should be emphasized that both these conditions are necessary and they appear already in the Boltzmann’s derivation of his kinetic equation, though not explicitly. They can be traced clearly in Zwanzig’s derivation of master-equation  or Jaynes’ information-theoretical approach to irreversibility . A usual discussion about possible relations between cosmological and thermodynamical arrows of time concentrates mainly on the first condition , , . However, one can show  that this is not sufficient, since special initial conditions alone can generate only a thermodynamical pre-arrow of time.

We then point out that, along with the initial conditions the second ingredient of the thermodynamical arrow can have a cosmological context as well, due to mixing of null trajectories in hyperbolic spaces.

If this is indeed the mechanism of the origin of the thermodynamic arrow, then the thermodynamics in a flat and positively curved universes not necessarily to be strongly time asymmetric, and the latter is observed since we happened to live in a Universe with negative curvature. In other words, the symmetry of the Newtonian mechanics, electrodynamics, quantum mechanics might purely survive in some universes. On the other hand, a recent activity devoted to the foundations of thermodynamics allows to disentangle time-asymmetric elements from the remained basis.

In this context the essence of thermodynamical arrow must be understood as not the mere increase of entropy of an almost closed system, but the fact that this arrow has the universal direction in the entire Universe (see ). In the light of the suggested explanation of the emergence of this arrow, it follows that the negative curvature is the very mechanism unifying all local thermodynamical arrows. While in the flat or positively curved universes, i.e. at the absence of a global unification mechanism, there can be local thermodynamical arrows with various directions.

This enabled us to formulate the curvature anthropic principle, to reflect the difference of conditions for life in the hyperbolic Universe and hence with unified arrows, and in flat or positively curved spaces, i.e. at the absence of such unification mechanism .

Often the thermodynamical arrow of time is identified with the second law of thermodynamics, and the appearance of Gibbs distribution. We show  that the second law, and the Gibbs distribution can be obtained from purely time-symmetric arguments, and need not be consequences of the thermodynamical arrow.

Thus CMB has to carry the direct signature of the thermodynamical and cosmological arrows.

## 8 Conclusion

We showed that the algorithmic information approach can enable not only qualitative but also quantitative study of astrophysical problems. The estimation of the Kolmogorov complexity for computer-generated CMB maps and detection of threshold independent ellipticity in the COBE and Boomerang sum maps, geodesic mixing and possible model-independent indication of the non-zero negative curvature and the accelerated expansion of the Universe, show the efficiency of the approach.

One may expect the further use of algorithmic information concepts not only in fundamental problems but also in various applications. The seeds of such developments are seen already now, considered as fiction several decades ago. For example, instead of sending a letter by post, now it is enough to send a binary coded signal which then is transfered to a hardcopy. The same is true for a color image, music, movie. In principal the same operation can be performed, say with an apple, via sending the relevant complete information. One may think, that in future even human beings can travel via transfer of information, thus realizing the speed-of-light travels.

I am grateful to many colleagues. Thus, many of the mentioned results have been obtained together with my collaborators A.Kocharyan, A.Allahverdyan and A.Kashin. The Boomerang data have been analyzed together with P.de Bernardis and the Boomerang team. Numerous discussions with R.Penrose were of particular importance.

DISCUSSION ON THE REPORT BY V. G. GURZADYAN

Chairman: A. Bohm

L. Reichl: Do you have a result? Does the universe have negative curvature?

V. G. Gurzadyan: We have seen an effect in cosmic background radiation maps from the analysis of experimental data of COBE and Boomerang without any model dependent approach. It is not a fitting of data by a curve of a given model. The recent models contain 11-13 free parameters describing the content of the matter in the universe, of the dark matter, the initial fluctuation spectrum, etc. To fit an empirical curve by a model with so many free parameters is not as difficult. The problem is to prove that this is the only possible model. Our approach is model independent. We can say that we have a new effect, which would exist in non-flat universe. Therefore either we have a new physical effect or this effect is due to non-zero curvature of the universe.

I. M. Khalatnikoff: Non zero, negative or positive?

V. G. Gurzadyan: Negative.

I. M. Khalatnikoff: Closed or open?

V. G. Gurzadyan: I prefer not to use the words “closed” or “open” because Einstein equations define the geometry but not the topology of the universe. For example, at zero curvature one can have a sheet, a cylinder, a torus. We can speak only on the negative curvature $`k=1`$, but topologically the universe can be both compact (closed) or non-compact (open).

L. Stodolsky: The usual opinion in astrophysical circles is that the curvature is equal to zero. So, you have found it different?

V. G. Gurzadyan: Yes, at present flat models are preferred, in part as inflationary motivated, though there are claims for other models as well. Precise flatness cannot be proved however, not only due to the observational errors, but due to the degeneracy and dependence on a number of free parameters.

M. Courbage: Does the complexity depend on the stage of the evolution of the universe?

V. G. Gurzadyan: Of course. I have shown a formula where the complexity depends on the time from last scattering epoch. The effect of geodesic mixing could be observed, in principle, from quasars. But there is no enough time (distance) for photons from quasars to feel the geometry. Cosmic background photons are moving too long. The problem comes to the numerical measurement of the tiny effect, whether it is possible or no. It appears that it can be possible.

I. M. Khalatnikoff: You have shown us different geometry of spots. Have you concluded about the curvature from the analysis of these spots?

V. G. Gurzadyan: The analysis was motivated by the predicted effect and we have found its signature. It may be a signature of another effect.

P. Stamp: It is a way of calculation of multiple correlations between the densities of radiation and matter. This was calculated since 1962. Can you, from these correlation functions, which you can simply extract from measurements, deduce the curvature $`k`$?

V. G. Gurzadyan: If you mean the correlations in the angular power spectrum, the acoustic peaks, they were indeed predicted long time ago, most clearly by Doroshkevich, Sunyaev and Zeldovich in 1978. They are now measured by Boomerang and at other experiments. The autocorrelation function indeed depends on the curvature but also on many other parameters and though provides important constraints on the curvature, the deduction of the precise value of $`k`$ is not as simple. Here I discussed correlations in the sky maps.


text:
# Plane waves and wave packets in particle oscillations

## Abstract

Manipulation with ill-defined notions creates an illusion of a simple derivation of the standard phase of neutrino oscillations in hep-ph/0311241 and hep-ph/0312180.

Recent remark  on a too simple (one page) derivation  of the standard formula for neutrino oscillations has been criticized in .

Let us remind that the derivation in  is based on ”the plane wave approach, in which the massive neutrino states evolve in space and time as plane waves $`|\nu _k(x,t)>=e^{iE_kt+ip_kx}|\nu _k>`$”.

The plane wave approach describes free particle. This is confirmed by equation $`E_k^2=p_k^2+m_k^2`$ explicitly written out on the same page in . As is well known, this is the standard definition of the plane wave approach, used e.g. in the description of kaon oscillations.

Let us add that ”the plane wave approach” is confronted with ”the wave packet treatment” in the first sentence on the page 3 of ref.. Moreover, in the concluding paragraph of ref. it is stressed that the plane wave approach presented in ref. ”is rather attractive because it is simple, avoiding wave packet complications, and uses a minimum of well-motivated assumptions”.

In spite of that on the first page of ref. it is written that in ref. we did not notice that according to  it is necessary to treat massive neutrinos as wave packets. It was exactly our target: to separate plane waves from wave packets. For that purpose we have considered only that part of ref. where plane wave is used. Not a single symbol representing wave packet can be found in that part of ref..

Another assumption in ref. is that $`tx=L`$, which actually is replaced by the strict equality $`t=x=L`$. This strict equality is needed, according to , to get the standard phase. In the same paragraph one can find $`tx(1+\overline{m^2}/2E^2)`$, where $`\overline{m^2}`$ is introduced in ref.: ”$`\overline{m^2}`$ is the average of the squared neutrino masses”. However, ”it is clear” to the author of ref. ”that the correction $`x\overline{m}^2/2E^2`$ to $`t=x`$ can be neglected”. As emphasized in ref., such corrections are of the same order as the standard oscillation phase and as such are used from time to time in the literature to modify the standard phase by the notorious factor of 2. On the other hand, the strict light-like equality $`t=x`$ is obviously incompatible with the standard plane wave of a massive particle.

Thus ref. and ref. operate in a fanciful way with the notion of plane wave approach and create illusion of a simple derivation of the standard phase of neutrino oscillation.

As for the equal energy condition for clockless experiments mentioned by us in ref. , we will discuss this in detail in a forthcoming paper.

Acknowledgments

We are grateful to H. Lipkin and L. Stodolsky for useful comments.


text:
# On the hydrogen emission from the Type Ia supernova 2002ic1footnote 11footnote 1Based on Observations Collected at the European Southern Observatory

## 1 Introduction

SN 2002ic (Hamuy et al., 2003; Wood-Vasey et al., 2002, 2003) is an important supernova (SN). Spectroscopy shows that it is a Type Ia SN with strong hydrogen emission arising from the ejecta-circumstellar interaction. Hamuy et al. (2003) point out that SN 2002ic bears a strong spectroscopic similarity to SN 1997cy, previously identified as a Type IIn (Germany et al., 2000; Turatto et al., 2000).

We present in this Letter spectropolarimetry observations of SN 2002ic obtained nearly a year after the explosion. This is the latest epoch for which spectropolarimetry has been obtained for any SN. We discuss the nature of the polarization and the structure of the circumstellar environment surrounding SN 2002ic.

## 2 Observations

We observed SN 2002ic on 2003 July 8.4 (UT), July 29.4 (UT), Jul 31.3 (UT), and Sept 29 (UT) using the Very Large Telescope (VLT) of the European Southern Observatory (ESO) with the FORS1 instrument in spectropolarimetry mode. The conditions during the July 8.4 observations were photometric, and the seeing was around 0.7.$`\mathrm{}`$ The slit width used in these observation was 1.$`\mathrm{}`$ Four separate exposures each of 30 minutes were obtained with the retarder waveplate at position angles of 0, 45, 22.5, and 67.5 degrees. The July 8.4 (UT) data provide both reliable spectropolarimetry and spectrophotometry. The conditions for July 29.4 (UT) and 31.3 (UT) were less ideal. Only exposures at waveplate position angles of 0, 45, and 22.5 degrees were obtained on July 29.4 (UT), but all four position angles were again observed on July 31.3 (UT). The July 29.4 (UT) and July 31.3 (UT) data were combined to produce the spectropolarimetric results. The flux calibrations of the July 29.4 (UT), 31.3 (UT) and Sept. 28 (UT) data are less reliable but not by more than 10% as found from the scatter of the final reduced data set of each individual exposure. The spectral profiles show little evolution during these observations. Figure 1 shows the spectroscopic data derived from the July 8.4 (UT) observations together with the spectra of SN 1997cy (Turatto et al., 2000) and SN 1999E (Rigon el al., 2003) at comparable dates. The most prominent spectral line is the broad sharply-peaked H$`\alpha `$ emission that is typical of a Type IIn SN. SN 2002ic remains strikingly similar to SN 1997cy and SN 1999E at later epochs (Hamuy et al., 2003).

### 2.1 Time Evolution and Comparisons to Other Type IIn Supernovae

The H$`\alpha `$ line in our observations is broader than measured in earlier observations (Hamuy et al., 2003). The full width at zero intensity (FWZI) can be traced to about 20,000 km s-1 compared to an earlier value of about 4000 km s-1. The $`H\alpha `$ line profile shows a strong central peak and is significantly different from that of the broad Mg I\] 457.1 nm line. Several lines from neutral helium and doubly ionized oxygen were also detected. The FWZI of these lines are typically around 5,000 km s-1. The profiles of these lines are actually very similar to the central peak of the H$`\alpha `$ line. The broad wings, if present, may not be detectable because of line blending and the faintness of these lines.

The flux of the H$`\alpha `$ line increased by a factor of more than 6 compared to that of 2002 Nov 11 to 2003 Jan 9. The light curve of the H$`\alpha `$ line is shown in Figure 2, together with those of SN 1997cy (Turatto et al., 2000) and SN 1999E (Rigon el al., 2003) for comparison. The H$`\alpha `$ fluxes derived from our spectra are 2.2, 1.9, 1.8 and 1.7 in units of $`\times `$10-14 ergs cm-2 s-1 for observations of July 8.4 (UT), July 29.4 (UT), July 31.3 (UT), and Sept 28 (UT), respectively. The brightening of the H$`\alpha `$ line after optical maximum is not unique to SN 2002ic, but is also observed for similar events such as SN 1988Z (Turatto et al., 1993), SN 1997cy (Turatto et al., 2000), and SN 1999E (Rigon el al., 2003). The spectroscopic data show no remarkable evolution during these observations.

### 2.2 Spectropolarimetry

To investigate the details of the polarization spectral variation, it is necessary to identify the dominant axis of asymmetry in the plot of Stokes parameters, Q versus U, and to decompose the data into components along the dominant axis (Pd, hereafter) and the axis orthogonal to the dominant axis, or the secondary axis (Po, hereafter) (Wang et al., 2001, 2003). The advantage of identifying the dominant axis is that the spectral features of Pd will not be sensitive to the uncertainties of interstellar polarization (ISP) if the majority of the polarization is produced by a global asphericity of the emitting region. A weighted $`\chi ^2`$ fit of the data points on the Q-U plot binned to 10 nm shows that the dominant axis is at a position angle of $`10^\mathrm{o}\pm 2.`$

The polarization due to Galactic dust particles in the field of SN 2002ic should be less than 0.15% (Heiles, 2000) and cannot be the cause of the polarization. Dust scattering in the host galaxy may contribute. To determine the amount of host interstellar dust polarization, we assume that the observed polarization of the central, narrow peak of the H$`\alpha `$ line (from 6553 - 6573 Å) is due completely to interstellar dust. This assumption is justified because line photons seen in the H-peak are produced by recombination and, thus, are intrinsically unpolarized (in the absence of large magnetic fields). In addition, the narrow-line photons, unlike the broad-lines photons, are not polarized by Thosmson scattering in the circumstellar disk because they emerge predominantly from regions with negligible electron-scattering (the thermal velocity of electrons is sufficiently high that the scattered photons are shifted to the broad wings of the H$`\alpha `$ profile). We thus take the ISP to be that corresponding to the central 20 Åof the H$`\alpha `$ emission peak. This gives an estimate of the ISP of about 1.6 percent with components $`Q=0.9\%`$ and $`U=1.3\%`$. With this ISP we determine the net polarization to be about 1 percent for wavelength regions outside the narrow H$`\alpha `$ emission peak. The dominant and secondary polarization components after correcting for ISP are shown in Figure 3. It can be seen that across the H$`\alpha `$ line center the dominant component Pd is indeed different than that of other wavelength regions.

The polarization is different from what was found in other SN Ia such as SN2001el (Wang et al., 2003) which shows a strong feature at 615 nm corresponding to the strong line of Si II. The polarization in SN 2002ic is likely to be related to the circumstellar medium (CSM) rather than to the explosion process itself.

## 3 The Circumstellar Matter Disk

### 3.1 Constraints from H$`\alpha `$ Emission Line

At the dates of these observations, SN 2002ic is powered by the high energy photons from the ejecta-CSM shock. The velocity of the ejecta-CSM shock is found to be around 11,500 km s-1 from the width of the emission lines associated with the ejecta, such as the Mg I\] 457.1 nm line and the Ca II IR triplet. As noted above, the H$`\alpha `$ line has a remarkably different profile than the Mg I\] line, suggesting different origins of these emission lines. Also, the He I and the \[O III\] lines are typically narrower than the MgI\] line with profiles similar to the central peak of the H$`\alpha `$. This is important evidence that the narrow component of the H$`\alpha `$ and the He I lines are produced in the CSM and that the composition of the SN ejecta, as reflected in the Mg and Ca lines, is consistent with that of a typical Type Ia.

If the CSM is due to a stellar wind, the luminosity of the H$`\alpha `$ from the unshocked wind is $`4.4\times 10^{39}\mathrm{r}_{\mathrm{sh},16}^{}{}_{}{}^{1}\dot{M}_{3}^{}{}_{}{}^{2}\mathrm{u}_1^2`$ $`\mathrm{erg}\mathrm{s}^1`$, where $`\mathrm{r}_{\mathrm{sh},16}`$ is the radius of the shock in units of $`10^{16}`$ cm and we have taken the emissivity for Case B recombination at a temperature of $``$ 10,000 K. The emissivity is a weak function of temperature and changes slightly with H$`\alpha `$ opacity (Xu et al., 1992). This is a decreasing function of time and cannot explain the rise of the H$`\alpha `$ flux. If the CSM were dense enough, the shocked CSM may become radiative and produce enough H$`\alpha `$ emission to account for the observed flux; however, the line profile from a thin shell of material moving at the shock speed of 11,500 km s-1 would be flat-topped and hence inconsistent with the observed H$`\alpha `$ line profile. The mass of hydrogen required to produce the observed H$`\alpha `$ luminosity is $``$ 6M$`{}_{}{}^{}\frac{\mathrm{n}_\mathrm{e}}{10^8\mathrm{cm}^3}`$. More realistic modeling of H$`\alpha `$ emission may alter this estimate but is unlikely to change the qualitative conclusion that a few solar masses of dense hydrogen-rich matter is required to explain the H$`\alpha `$ luminosity.

### 3.2 Constraints of the Spectropolarimetry

The configuration we encounter here is different from those for normal SN Ia where the polarization is produced by electron scattering from an aspherical photosphere(Höflich, 1991). Mass loss from AGB stars is known to be highly asymmetric and predominantly on the equatorial plane. The polarization is due to scattering by the dense CSM of photons originate from the SN at the center. Such systems have been studied in great detail in models of polarizations of Be stars. In these models the opening angle of the scattering CSM has the shape of disk with openning angles typically of the order a few degrees in order to repoduce an observed polarization of order 0.5 - 1% (McDavid, 2001; Melgarejo el al., 2001). Such a geometry is in good agreement with the required several solar masses of hydrogen with densities above 108 cm-3 that contributes to the H$`\alpha `$ emission. The dense CSM must have a small volume filling factor.

## 4 Ejecta-CSM Interaction and the H$`\alpha `$ Line Profile

If the mass loss during the AGB phase were predominantly in the equatorial plane, we would expect the shock of the ejecta-CSM interaction to be hour-glass shaped. The disk of unshocked CSM could be ionized by the hard photons from the ejecta-CSM interaction and give rise to the central peak of the H$`\alpha `$ emission whereas the shocked CSM could be radiative and give rise to the broad H$`\alpha `$ wings. Detailed calculations are needed to see if this scenario can account for the observed line profile and the increase of H$`\alpha `$ luminosity while the overall luminosity decreases.

Another possibility is that broad wings of H$`\alpha `$ are formed by scattering, rather than emission from shocked matter. If the CSM is optically thick to electron scattering, electron scattering can effectively broaden the H$`\alpha `$ line and produce a center-peaked profile (Chugai, 2003). An example of such a profile is shown in Figure 2. For this simple model spherical symmetry and a temperature of 30,000 K, presumably produced by the flash ionization of the CSM, are assumed. Note that this model can produce the smooth line profile with both the narrow peak and the broad wings whereas such an agreement would require careful tuning of a model where the broad wings were shock-accelerated material and the narrow core were from nearly stationary CSM. In this model, photons that remain within the core have not been scattered and is thus unpolarized.

It is likely that the flattened CSM is not uniform, but clumpy so that the H$`\alpha `$ line is dominated by emission from the densest clumps. The clumps may have densities of about $`10^810^9`$ cm-3 with sizes of about $`5\times 10^{16}`$ cm at which point they would be marginally optically thick to Thompson scattering and hence provide the sort of line profiles illustrated by the simple model in Figure 2. As noted above, about 1 M of matter is needed in the clumps/disk to reproduce the observed H$`\alpha `$ luminosity.

If the disk and dense clumps extend to $``$ 200 light days, $`3\times 10^{17}`$ cm, the rising flux of H$`\alpha `$ could be the result of the time delay effect. At early times, only a small fraction of the dense clumps would be visible and only at around day 200 when these observations were made would the majority of the CSM clumps be observed, therefore giving rise to the increased H$`\alpha `$ luminosity. In the mean time, the emission from the ejecta-CSM interaction should show a constant decrease of luminosity after reaching maximum a few weeks past explosion, as observed.

## 5 Conclusions

The strong growth in the H$`\alpha `$ luminosity, the H$`\alpha `$ line profile, and the polarization we observe for SN 2002ic are consistent with several solar masses of clumpy material arrayed to distances of $`3\times 10^{17}`$ cm in a manner that is globally asymmetric. The CSM may be related to the dense disks or rings observed in some proto-planetary nebulae (Zijlstra et al., 2001; Slijkhuis, de Jong, & Hu, 1991; Su et al., 1998). The mass loss was found to be highly asymmetric at this stage. For example, IRAS 16342-3814 (Zijlstra et al., 2001) shows a dense torus with mass 0.1 M and density of $`10^8\mathrm{cm}^3`$. Alternatively, a similar configuration may be produced during the binary evolution leading to the thermonuclear explosion. During a phase of rapid expansion of the donor star very high mass loss may be channeled through the outer Langrange points. Wind interaction (Kwok, 1993) can create dense shells or rings that may naturally explain the observed structure (Kwok, 1993; Young et al., 2003).

The star that exploded as SN 2002ic could be either the dying post AGB star (Swartz et al., 1991) or a pre-existing white dwarf companion around it. The large radial extent of the disk seems to be incompatible with a model in which the hydrogen represents an expelled common envelope at a distance of $`10^{15}`$ cm (Livio & Riess, 2003). The proto-planetary nebula phase lasts only for a few hundred years. This may account for the rarity of events like SN 2002ic, but raises questions of how the SN is timed to precisely this phase. Alternatively, a structure with similar properties may be produced during the binary evolution leading to the explosion, although questions of the phasing remain. In any case, events such as SN 2002ic suggest that SN Ia can occur in a wide range of CSM environments.

We are grateful to ESO for the generous allocation of observing times. We are indebted to Massimo Turatto for providing data of SN 1997cf and SN 1999E in digital format.