text:
# Comparative study of the two large flares from SGR1900+14 with the BeppoSAX Gamma-Ray Burst Monitor

## 1 Introduction

Soft-Gamma Repeaters (SGRs, see Hurley 2000 and Woods 2003 for reviews) are X–/gamma–ray transient sources that unpredictably undergo periods of bursting activity, separated by sometimes long intervals (from years to decades) of quiescence.

To date, the SGR class includes four sources (SGR0525$``$66, SGR1627$``$41, SGR1806$``$20 and SGR1900+14) plus two candidates, SGR1801$``$23 (only two bursts detected; Cline et al. 2000) and SGR1808$``$20 (one SGR-like burst observed; Lamb et al. 2003). All confirmed SGRs, on the basis of their early determined positions, appeared to be associated with young supernova remnants (SNRs) of ages $`10^4`$ yr. However, basing on more precise locations, in most cases this association has been questioned Lorimer & Xilouris (2000); Hurley et al. 1999a ; Kaplan et al. 2002a  and in some cases attributed to random chance Gaensler et al. (2001). All SGRs appear to be in our galaxy, except for SGR0525-66 which is in the Large Magellanic Cloud.

Typically, bursts from SGRs have short durations($``$0.1 s), recurrence times of seconds to years, energies of $`10^{41}D_{10}^2`$ ergs ($`D=10D_{10}`$ kpc). Their hard X–ray spectra ($`>`$25 keV) are analytically consistent with an Optically Thin Thermal Bremsstrahlung (ottb) with temperatures of 20–40 keV. During quiescence, persistent X-ray emission ($`<`$ 10 keV) has been observed from all of them with luminosities of $`10^{35}`$$`10^{36}D_{10}^2`$ erg s-1 and power-law spectral shapes. In the case of SGR1900+14, an additional blackbody (bb) component ($`kT_{bb}0.5`$ keV) is requested Woods (2003). SGR1806$``$20 and SGR1900+14, during quiescence, show X-ray pulsations with periods in the range from 5 to 8 s and spin-down rates of $`10^{11}10^{10}`$ s/s (see, e.g., Hurley et al. 1999b, Kouveliotou et al. 1999). From these sources, also evidence of X–ray lines has been reported during bursts: an emission line at $`6.4`$ keV from the former source Strohmayer &Ibrahim (2000) and an absorption–like feature at $`5`$ keV from the latter Ibrahim et al. (2002).

Rarely, “giant” flares of hard X–/$`\gamma `$–rays have been observed from SGR0525-66 Mazets et al. (1979) and SGR1900+14 Cline et al. (1998); Feroci et al. (1999); Hurley et al. 1999a ; Mazets et al. 1999b . They show durations of hundreds of seconds, pulsations during most part of the event, and peak luminosities in excess of $`10^{44}D_{10}^2`$ erg/s.

After large bursts fading afterglow emission has been observed. A fading X–ray afterglow, visible for several days, has been discovered after the large flares from SGR1900+14 (i.e., the giant flare of August 1998 and the intermediate flare of April 2001, see below). The X–ray afterglow decays as a power-law ($`F(t)t^\alpha `$) with temporal index $`\alpha 0.7`$ after the August 1998 event Woods et al. (2001) and $`\alpha 0.9`$ after the April 2001 event Feroci et al. (2003). The X-ray afterglow spectrum is the combination of a power-law (pl) and a bb, with the bb not visible at early times when the pl component is predominant, but emerging at later times, when the pl component becomes weaker Woods et al. 1999a ; Feroci et al. (2003), suggesting that the non-thermal component fades more rapidly than the thermal one (see also Lenters et al. 2003, for the X-ray tail that followed the short burst occurred on April 28, 2001). The presence of X–ray afterglow emission from the other SGR sources is still an open question. Radio afterglow has also been observed from SGR1900+14 after the August 1998 event by Frail et al. (1999), who detected a transient radio source with the Very Large Array telescope at the source position following the giant flare. This is the only point-like radio source associated to an SGR to date.

On the basis of their locations and temporal properties and the absence of companion stars, SGRs have been proposed to be young ($`<10^4`$ yrs) isolated neutron stars (NS) with ultra-strong magnetic fields ($`B_{dipole}>10^{14}`$ gauss), a.k.a. “magnetars”. The magnetar model Duncan & Thompson (1992); Thompson & Duncan (1993, 1995) considers a young neutron star with a very strong magnetic field ($`10^{14}10^{15}`$ G), whose decay powers the quiescent X-ray emission through heating of stellar crust, while the low-level seismic activity and the persistent magnetospheric currents Thompson et al. (2002) occasionally cause big crustquakes which trigger short bursts and large flares. In the magnetar scenario, the absorption feature from SGR1806-20 can be interpreted as ion-cyclotron resonance in the huge magnetic field of the NS Ibrahim et al. (2002).

SGRs share some properties (pulse period distribution, spin-down rate, lack of a companion star, quiescent X-ray luminosity) with a peculiar class of neutron stars, the so–called anomalous X-ray pulsars (AXPs, see, e.g., Mereghetti 1999 for a review). Additional evidence for a link between the two classes has been provided by the detection of SGR-like bursting activity also from the AXPs 1E 2259+586 (Kaspi et al. 2002, 2003) and 1E1048.1-5937 (Gavriil et al. 2002), and from the recent discovery of an absorption–like feature at $`8.1`$ keV from the AXP 1RXS J170849$``$400910 Rea et al. (2003).

### 1.1 SGR1900+14

SGR1900+14 was discovered in 1979 following three bursts in two days Mazets et al. (1979). After its discovery, the source was found bursting again in 1992 Kouveliotou et al. (1993) and, after five years of quiescence, in May 1998, when it entered an extremely active bursting period, that reached its maximum with the above mentioned giant flare of August 27, 1998. A precise localization of the source with IPN Hurley et al. 1999c  showed that SGR1900+14 lays just outside a Galactic SNR, G042.8+00.6 and could be associated with it. However, recently Kaplan et al. (2002b) found three new candidate SNRs (G043.5+00.6, G042.0-00.1 and G041.5+00.4), that could be related to SGR1900+14 as well. Observations of the quiescent soft X–ray counterpart Vasisht et al. (1994) have shown a 5.16-s periodicity with a spin-down rate of $`10^{10}`$ s/s Hurley et al. 1999b ; Kouveliotou et al. (1999).

Several measurements of the quiescent spectrum have been performed (e.g., Hurley et al. 1999b, Kouveliotou et al. 1999). An X–ray observation with the BeppoSAX satellite Woods et al. 1999a  shows that the 0.1-10 keV quiescent spectrum can be described by a photoelectrically absorbed ($`N_\mathrm{H}1.8\times 10^{22}`$ cm-2) bb ($`kT_{bb}0.5`$ keV) plus a pl with a photon index $`\mathrm{\Gamma }=1.1\pm 0.2`$.

The source spectrum during the standard bursting activity has been mainly observed in the hard ($`>20`$ keV) X–/gamma–ray band. Results reported by Mazets et al. (1999a) from Konus–Wind observations show that the burst photon spectra can be analytically described by an ottb model ($`I(E)E^1\mathrm{exp}(E/kT)`$) with $`kT2030`$ keV with no significant spectral evolution within a single event or from event to event. Only in the case of a few bursts, discussed by Woods et al. (1999b), the spectrum is better described by the smoothly broken power-law, widely used to describe GRB spectra Band et al. (1993). In these cases also a soft-to-hard spectral evolution has been observed, with hardness/intensity anticorrelation.

The giant flare occurred on 1998 August 27 (here after GF98) was observed with the Konus–Wind spectrometer Cline et al. (1998); Mazets et al. 1999b , the Ulysses burst monitor Hurley et al. 1999a  and the BeppoSAX GRBM Feroci et al. (1999). The 5.16-s periodicity, along with its harmonics (e.g., Feroci et al. 1999 and 2001, hereafter F99 and F01, respectively), was clearly detected during the flare. Mazets et al. (1999b) find the spectrum well described with an ottb model with temperature $`kT`$ evolving rapidly (in about 1 s and in a non-monotonic way) from $`>300`$ keV to $`20`$ keV. Feroci et al. (1999) find a more complex 40–700 keV spectrum (ottb, with $`kT31`$ keV, plus pl with photon index $`\mathrm{\Gamma }1.5`$) in the early part (first 68 s) of the event which evolves to an ottb-like shape ($`kT29`$ keV) at late times (last 128 s). At that time, as pointed out by F99, the response function of the BeppoSAX GRBM was not well known at large instrumental off–axis angles, in the direction of which the source was observed, and thus a systematic error of 10% was tentatively added to the statistical uncertainties. By joining together the BeppoSAX GRBM spectra with the 20–150 keV Ulysses data (F01), also affected by similar systematics, the first 128-s spectrum after the 68 s from the flare onset was fit by two bb, with $`kT_{\mathrm{bb1}}`$ 9 keV and $`kT_{\mathrm{bb2}}`$ 20 keV, plus a pl model with photon index $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ 2.8, while the later 128-s spectrum was better described by an ottb model with $`kT29`$ keV, consistent with the F99 results.

After the giant flare of 1998 August 27 and the recurrent bursting activity prolonged until 1999 Mazets et al. 1999a , the source entered a period of quiescence for more than two years, which ended on 2001 April 18, when another large flare (hereafter IF01) with a shorter duration and intermediate intensity occurred. Due to a simultaneous proton solar burst, both the Ulysses burst monitor and the Konus–Wind spectrometer were overwhelmed by a high count rate. The only instrument which provided high-time resolution data of the event was the BeppoSAX GRBM (Guidorzi et al. 2001a; 2001b).

An improved response function of the BeppoSAX GRBM is now available (see below) for all off–axis angles. In this paper we present the results of the spectral analysis of the 2001 flare, the reanalysis of the spectral data of the 1998 giant flare with the new GRBM response function, and the results of the Power Spectral Density (PSD) estimate of the high-frequency (up to 1 kHz) flux variations of the source during the two flares. Preliminary results of this analysis were reported elsewhere Guidorzi et al. 2003a .

## 2 The BeppoSAX GRBM

The Gamma-Ray Burst Monitor (GRBM; Frontera et al. 1997; Feroci et al. 1997) is one of the instruments on board the BeppoSAX satellite Boella et al. (1997) operative through June 1996 and April 30, 2002. The GRBM consisted of four optically independent CsI(Na) units forming a square box: each unit had a geometric area of $``$ 1136 cm2. GRBM units No. 1 and 3 were co-aligned with the Wide Field Cameras (WFC’s; Jager et al. 1997). The data continuously available from the GRBM included 1-s ratemeters in the 40–700 keV and $`>`$100 keV energy channels, 225–channel spectra in the 40–700 keV band integrated over 128 s and, in the case of burst trigger, 7.8125-ms ratemeters for 96 s and, for 10 s after the trigger, $`0.5`$-ms count rates, both in the 40–700 keV band. From the 1-s ratemeters, it is possible to extract the source 40–100 keV and 100–700 keV count rates under the assumption that the source flux above 700 keV is negligible (see Amati et al. 1999).

The detection units, except for the units 1 and 3 within small off–axis directions Amati et al. (1999), were surrounded, in a complex way, by materials of the BeppoSAX payload. In order to exploit the capabilities of the GRBM units 2 and 4 and those of units 1 and 3 at large off–axis angles, the complete GRBM response function was derived with Monte Carlo methods (Rapisarda et al. 1997, Calura et al. 2000). Recently the complete response has been tested with the Crab Nebula and with several GRBs which were observed, at different instrument off–axis angles, with both the GRBM and the BATSE experiment (e.g., Guidorzi 2002, Guidorzi et al. 2003b, Costa & Frontera 2003), with the limitation of a generally smaller statistical accuracy of the GRBM data, with respect to the BATSE data. The deconvolution results of the GRBs, in terms of derived GRB direction and photon spectrum, are in excellent agreement with those obtained with BATSE. Thus we expect that systematic errors, also for possible terrestrial albedo effects, are similar to those which affect the deconvolution of the BATSE data (e.g., Paciesas et al. 1999). Actually, we must point out that the total counts measured for the brightest GRBs detected with both GRBM and BATSE and used to test the GRBM response function, amount to a few $`10^5`$ cts in the most illuminated GRBM unit (e.g., $`250,000`$ for GRB990123, $`140,000`$ for GRB991216, $`130,000`$ for GRB971110), while about $`8\times 10^5`$ cts were collected in the GRBM unit 1 due to GF98. Due to the smallest statistical uncertainties in the latter case, the systematics could have a major influence on deconvolution results.

## 3 Observations and data analysis

GF98 triggered the GRBM on August 27, 1998 at 10:22:15.7 UT, while IF01 triggered the GRBM on April 18, 2001 at 07:55:11.5 UT. IF01 occurred when the SGR1900+14 line of sight was only $`11^{}`$ off–axis from the detection unit No. 1 (indeed the flare was initially observed also with the WFC No. 1; Guidorzi et al. 2001a, 2001b, Feroci et al. 2003). GF98 occurred when the line of sight to the source was at high off–axis angles: an elevation angle of 48 with respect to the GRBM equatorial plane, an azimuthal angle of 29 with respect to the GRBM unit 1 axis, and 61 with respect to unit 4 axis. All GRBM units detected the event, with the best signal given by unit 1. Our results, except when expressly stated, will be based on the data obtained from this unit.

The background subtracted light curves of both flares are shown in Fig. 1, where the onset time is used as zero time. Details of the observation of the GF98 event can be found in the paper by F01. The time duration of IF01 was 40 s, whereas GF98 lasted about 300 s. The 7.8125-ms ratemeters cover the entire IF01. The 0.5-ms ratemeters are available for the interval 0.69–10.69 s from the flare onset. During IF01, the background level was fairly stable and was evaluated by linear interpolation of the background levels in time intervals \[-50, -10\] s and \[+50,+150\] s, before and after the flare, respectively.

For the spectral analysis of IF01, the available data are two 225–channel 128-s contiguous spectra. The start and end times of these spectra are reported in Table 1. The interval A covers $`97`$% of the flare fluence; the interval B includes little more than the isolated pulse at $`t40`$ s from the flare onset (see Fig. 1).

The available data for the spectral analysis of GF98 are three spectra in three contiguous 128-s intervals (A, B, C) described in Table 1. The A spectrum includes both the initial hard spike and the intermediate smooth decay, whereas the B and C spectra include the 5.16-s pulsation modulated decay (see Fig. 1).

To get the source spectra, we subtracted from the above data a background spectrum of the same duration (128 s) interpolated between those measured before and after the flare.

The spectra were analyzed with the XSPEC software package Arnaud (1996). The quoted errors are given at 90% confidence level (CL) for one parameter ($`\mathrm{\Delta }\chi ^2=2.7`$), except when otherwise specified.

## 4 Results

### 4.1 Light curves

The light curves of both flares are complex and different from each other. As it can be seen from Fig. 1, unlike GF98, IF01 does not shows any initial spike; the time duration of IF01 is much shorter than GF98, ending after about 40 s when a four-peaked repetitive pattern sets up in GF98 (F01). The light curves show measured counts, that do not account for the different effective areas of the two flares: actually, the effective area corresponding to the direction of GF98 was about 1/3 that of IF01.

In order to better compare the time behaviour of IF01 with that of GF98 during the early phase, in Fig. 2 we show the light curves of both events in the first 40 s. Even if some similarities between the two light curves could be found, in the first 8 seconds they are markedly different. Apart from the GF98 initial spike, which is not observed in IF01, in the first 3 seconds, IF01 shows a first weak peak, which does not have a correspondence with any peak of the GF98 light curve. From the two light curves it is also unclear to which phase of the IF01 light curve the GF98 initial spike corresponds. We have considered two possible correspondence cases: i) the GF98 initial spike time corresponds to the fast rise of the IF01 light curve (duration $`\mathrm{\Delta }t_{rise}=0.25\pm 0.05`$ s) at 3 s from the flare onset (Fig. 3), ii) the dips corresponding to the interpulses in both light curves are aligned (see Fig. 4). In the first case (see Fig. 3), we find that all IF01 dips soon after each peak are separated from the assumed main rise at multiple distances of $`5.2`$ s. Using Fourier techniques, after detrending the data stretch by fitting with a trapped-fireball model (see Fig. 19), the best estimate of this periodicity in the time intervals from 2 to 7, is $`P_{01}=5.21\pm 0.05`$ s (negligible barycenter correction), a value which is consistent with that measured from the observation of the X-ray quiescent source soon after the event ($`P_{quiesc}=5.17284268`$ s) Woods et al. (2003). In GF98 the dips have period $`P_{98}`$ circa 5.16 s (F99), but they are out of phase with respect to the initial spike.

In the second case (see Fig. 4), the result is that the GF98 initial spike corresponds to the peak of the weak pulse preceding the first dip (and the main rise) of the IF01 light curve.

In both cases, it is possible to see that, when the pulse peak fades away (slice 7 of Fig. 3 or 4), the corresponding dip is no more visible. The pattern completely changes soon before IF01 ends (slice 8): while the continuum level seems to fade under the GRBM sensitivity, a pulse rises up to a peak count rate of about 160 counts in 31.25 ms, the same level as the early pulse. The pulse does not seem to have properties similar to the preceding regular pulses: it neither occurs in phase with them nor exhibits a similar structure.

The complexity of the GF98 and IF01 light curves and their mutual differences are better apparent in Fig. 6, which, for correspondence case ii), shows them split into 9 panels, each displaying a single pulsation cycle, with 125 ms time resolution. The pulse shape of the IF01 pulsation and its evolution are apparent in the panels from 2 to 7. Two pulses and two dips nearly equally spaced are visible in the pulse shape, with the second pulse stronger and fading later and almost suddenly in panel 7. The pulse shape of the first 40 s of GF98 appears more complex than that of IF01. In the same panels, it exhibits, from phase 0 to $``$ 0.6, a single, broad pulse instead of the pulse and dip exhibited by IF01 in the same phase interval. The difference is more marked in the first two and last two panels.

### 4.2 Precursors

The precursor of GF98, at $`0.4`$ s before the main event, is well established. It was reported by Hurley et al. (1999a) in the 25–150 keV energy band and by Mazets et al (1999b) in the 15–50 keV band. In the 7.8125-ms GRBM data, we also find this precursor in the range 40–700 keV. It also occurs at $`t=0.45`$ s and lasts about 0.1 s (see Fig. 5). The pulse is even better apparent by rebinning the original 7.8125-ms data from all the 4 GRBM units in new 62.5-ms bins, from which an excess of ($`100\pm 23`$ cts) can be established. From the same figure, it is also visible the slow increase in the count rate just before the initial spike, similar to the rise of a typical short burst (see also Mazets et al., 1999a).

In the case of IF01, the nature of the first peak is more difficult to understand. It may be a precursor candidate. However its duration (about 3 s) is much longer than that exhibited by the GF98 precursor, is not separated from the main rise of the flare, and, more important, it shows a much harder spectrum than that of the GF98 precursor. Indeed the latter was not detected by Konus Mazets et al. 1999b  in the energy channels above 50 keV, while the IF01 pulse is detected by the GRBM even above 100 keV (see Fig. 7).

### 4.3 Erratic time variability

A temporal analysis of the 40–700 keV data with Fourier techniques was performed for each of the two flares. In the case of the 1998 flare, we limited the analysis to the first 38 s when the 5.2-s periodicity was not well set up yet. We exploited both available time binnings of 7.8125 ms and, for the first 10 s, $`0.5`$ ms.

Using the longer time binning, for IF01 we estimated the PSD function of the entire light curve in the 0.031–64 Hz frequency range. The resulting PSD, inclusive of the Poissonian variance, is shown in Fig. 8. We adopted the Leahy et al. (1983) normalization, such that the Poissonian noise level has a PSD value of 2. As can be seen from this figure, apart from two apparent peaks at 0.2 and 0.4 Hz due to the $`5.2`$-s periodicity, the main PSD feature is its strong decrease with frequency. It mainly depends on the fact that the light curve we are analyzing is a non-stationary process.

Indeed, in the null hypothesis that the light curve is a non-stationary Poisson process $`x(t)`$ of duration $`T`$ and mean value given by the deterministic function $`\lambda (t)`$, the mean PSD of the process at frequency $`f`$, $`\overline{S}_x(f)`$, is given by Frontera & Fuligni (1979):

$$\overline{S}_x(f)=S_\lambda (f)+2$$
(1)
where $`S_\lambda (f)`$ is the power spectrum of $`\lambda (t)`$ (Leahy et al. 1983 normalization adopted). Actually, the PSD of a non-stationary process can also be influenced by other effects, like the detector dead time ($`\tau =4\mu `$s in our case), and the binning time (coincident with the sampling time). For low frequencies ($`ff_\tau `$ where $`f_\tau =1/(2\pi \tau )`$), as in our case (Nyquist frequency $`f_N=64`$ Hz), the dead time changes the PSD level by a factor $`(1\mu \tau )^2`$, where $`\mu `$ is the average measured count rate (Frontera & Fuligni 1978; see also van der Klis 1989). The dead time effect, consistently with an expected correcting factor of 0.949 (from the mean count rate $`\mu =6412`$ cts/s) is visible in the Poissonian level shown in Fig. 8.

Following the working scheme adopted by Frontera & Fuligni (1979), we have tested the null hypothesis that the measured PSD can be entirely explained in terms of a non-stationary process. Assuming that the average behaviour of the IF01 light curve can be described by an exponential $`\lambda (t)=AU(t)e^{kt}`$, where $`U(t)`$ is the step function (time origin at the main rise of the flare, see discussion above), and $`A`$ and $`k`$ are free parameters, the expected PSD is $`S_\lambda (f)=2A^2/[\mu T(k^2+(2\pi f)^2)]`$. From the fit to the light curve, we derived the best-fit parameters of the exponential and thus the PSD of the function $`S_\lambda (f)`$. After the addition of the Poissonian statistics corrected for the dead time, the expected PSD is shown in Fig. 8 as continuous line. As can be seen from this figure, $`S_\lambda (f)`$ dominates the PSD up to $`10`$ Hz where it achieves the Poissonian level. We have found that the power in excess of $`S_\lambda (f)`$ is negligible even above 10 Hz, with no evidence of a non-Poissonian noise up to 64 Hz. A similar analysis, performed in the first 10 s after the trigger using the high-time resolution binning of $`0.5`$ ms, has also given a negative result up to 1 kHz (see Fig. 9), with the conclusion that up to a frequency of 1 kHz no significant non-Poissonian noise is present in the time variability of IF01.

Following the same guidelines adopted above for IF01, we performed the PSD estimate of the first 38 s of GF98 after the initial spike. The resulting PSD is shown in Fig. 10 along with the $`S_\lambda (f)`$ (continuous line), obtained from the best-fit of the exponential function $`\lambda (t)`$ to the data, plus the Poissonian level corrected for the dead time. As it can be seen, also in this case $`S_\lambda (f)`$ dominates the measured power spectrum up to $``$ 10 Hz, even if some evidence of an excess power over the non stationary Poissonian noise is visible.

To avoid a contamination of the PSD from the non-stationary component, we focused on the high-frequency domain deriving the PSD of the first 8 s after the spike, with high-time resolution binning ($``$0.5 ms). The resulting PSD is shown in Fig. 11, where it can be seen that, above 20 Hz, $`S_\lambda (f)`$ gives a small contribution to the total power and, above 100 Hz, does not contribute at all (see also the inset in Fig. 11).

The excess power with respect to the non-stationary Poisson model in the 6–1000 Hz for the GRBM unit 1 is shown in Fig. 12. As can be seen, this time a relevant residual power is apparent up to 1 kHz. The non–Poissonian spectrum $`S_{np}(f)`$ in the range 10-1000 Hz is well fit with a power law ($`S_{np}(f)f^\alpha `$) with $`\alpha =0.74\pm 0.18`$. An excess power has also been found in the PSD of the other GRBM units (2, 3, and 4). The cumulative result is shown in Fig. 13. A power-law still gives the best description of the non–Poissonian spectrum with a best-fit power-law index of $`0.75\pm 0.15`$, even though also a flicker noise ($`S_{np}1/f`$) gives an acceptable fit ($`\chi ^2/\mathrm{dof}=10.6/9`$). Using the power-law best-fit values, the total fractional variation (in RMS units) in the range 10–1000 Hz comes out to be around 1%. Concerning IF01, as far as we assume similar fractional variability, we could not detect it because of the worse statistics; therefore, we cannot rule out the presence of similar non–Poissonian noise with comparable power for IF01.

### 4.4 Spectral properties

The two available source count rate spectra (A and B) of IF01 and the three (A, B, and C) source spectra of GF98 are shown in Fig. 14 and Fig. 15, respectively. For GF98, the A spectrum (inclusive of the initial spike) is well determined up to 700 keV, the B spectrum up to $`500`$ keV and the C spectrum up to 200 keV. As far as IF01 is concerned, the spectrum A is well determined up to 700 keV, while the B spectrum can only be estimated up to 100 keV. In the following, we limited our analysis to the energy bands where significant source counts were detected.

Several single, two–component and three–component models were tested to fit these spectra. In the case of the A spectrum of IF01, models like a power-law pl, a cutoff power law (cutoffpl), a single bb, an ottb with or without a power-law pl, are unsatisfactory, even in the 40–300 keV energy band. Up to 300 keV, a bknpl plus either a bb or an ottb give a good fit ($`\chi ^2/\mathrm{dof}=56/65`$ with bb and $`\chi ^2/\mathrm{dof}=61/65`$ with ottb). Also the sum of two bb cannot be ruled out ($`\chi ^2/\mathrm{dof}=72.6/66`$). In the top panel of Fig. 14 we show the fit of the A spectrum with the bb plus bknpl model. Clearly, an excess to the model is apparent in the 300–700 keV band. The best fit of the entire spectrum is obtained when a pl is added to either a bb + bknpl model or an ottb + bknpl model. The best-fit parameters along with the $`\chi ^2`$ values are reported in Table 2, while in Fig. 16 (top) the $`EF(E)`$ spectrum along with one of the best models (bb + bknpl + pl) and the residuals to the model are shown. By adding a pl to the double bb, the fit goodness ($`\chi ^2/\mathrm{dof}=83/74`$) is also acceptable, even though worse than the fit with the two previous models, with the following best-fit parameters: $`kT_{bb1}=13.5_{0.2}^{+0.2}`$ keV, $`kT_{bb2}=33_3^{+2}`$ keV, and $`\mathrm{\Gamma }=1.06_{0.03}^{+0.64}`$.

The B spectrum (derived up to only 100 keV) can be fit with either a bb or an ottb ($`\chi ^2/\mathrm{dof}=17.6/14`$ and $`\chi ^2/\mathrm{dof}=16.7/14`$, respectively). The best-fit parameters are also reported in Table 2, while the $`EF(E)`$ spectrum and its best-fit model are shown in Fig. 16 (bottom panel). The multi-component models adopted for the A spectrum also yield acceptable fits of this spectrum.

As far as the GF98 spectra are concerned, first of all we caution that the results of the fits of the A spectrum can be can be influenced by the dramatic dead-time and pile-up effects due to the hard initial spike contribution, the hardness of which rapidly changes with time (see Mazets et al. 1999b and also F99).

In spite of that, the best fit of the A spectrum is obtained using as input the three–component models which best fit the A spectrum of IF01: either a bb plus bknpl plus pl or an ottb plus bknpl plus pl. The best-fit parameters along with the $`\chi ^2`$ values are also reported in Table 2, while in Fig. 17 (top) the $`EF(E)`$ spectrum along with one of the best models (bb + bknpl + pl) and the residuals to the model are shown. The simple bb + pl or the ottb + pl models, which were found to provide a good fit of the same spectrum with the preliminary GRBM response function and the 10% systematic error adopted by F99, with the improved response function provide unsatisfactory fits ($`\chi ^2/\mathrm{dof}>2`$ with $`\mathrm{dof}=189`$).

The fit of the B spectrum was limited to the 40–500 keV energy band. The best-fit model is obtained with either a bb+bknpl ($`\chi ^2/\mathrm{dof}=50.3/69`$) or an ottb+bknpl ($`\chi ^2/\mathrm{dof}=50.7/69`$). However, in the latter case, the lower limit to the photon index $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_1`$ cannot be constrained (see Table 2). In agreement with the results by F01, we find that the ottb + pl model, the bb + pl and the Band model Band et al. (1993) are definitely unacceptable (e.g., $`\chi ^2/\mathrm{dof}=860/70`$ for the former model). However, we find that also the double bb plus pl model, which was found by F01 to provide the best fit to the GRBM plus Ulysses spectral data, does not provide a good fit to the 40–500 keV GRBM data alone with the improved response function ($`\chi ^2/dof=99/69`$). The best-fit parameters are reported in Table 2, while in Fig. 17 (middle panel) we show the $`EF(E)`$ spectrum with superposed the best-fit bb + bknpl model and the residuals to the model.

The C spectrum could be estimated in an even more restricted energy band (40–200 keV), due to the poor statistics above 200 keV. The fit with a simple bb gives a $`\chi ^2/\mathrm{dof}=52/38`$, with a chance probability of 6.5%. By adding a pl component, the fit improves ($`\chi ^2/\mathrm{dof}=41.3/36`$) even if the photon index cannot be strongly constrained ($`<2.6`$ at 90% CL). However, this component is needed to model the high-energy excess with respect to the bb component. The best-fit parameters of the bb + pl model are reported in Table 2, while the $`EF(E)`$ spectrum along with the best-fit model and the residuals to the model are shown in Fig. 17 (bottom panel).

The 40–700 keV fluence in each of the time intervals is shown in Table 2. For the interval A of GF98 we have estimated only the lower limit of the 40–700 keV fluence due to the high dead-time and pile-up effects during the initial spike.

The contribution to the fluence from the bknpl component is the most relevant in most of the time of the GF98 event and for almost the entire time duration of the IF01 (see Figs. 16 and 17). In the case of GF98, assuming bb as thermal component, the fractional contribution of the bknpl component is 86% in the interval A and 75% in the interval B, while it is 68% in the time interval A of IF01. These values decrease if the bb is replaced by an ottb. Instead the fractional contribution of the high-energy pl component, which is apparent only in the time interval A of both GF98 and IF01 (and, perhaps, in GF98 C as well), is only 2%. It is interesting the fact that this component, which in the case of GF98 could be attributed to the initial spike, is also present even in the case of IF01, which does not exhibit any spike.

The total 40–700 keV fluence of the IF01 event is $`S_{01}=1.2\times 10^4`$ erg cm-2 to be compared with a value $`S_{98}=1\times 10^3`$ erg cm-2 derived for GF98, which must be considered a lower limit of the real fluence as explained above.

### 4.5 Spectral Evolution

Given that only two energy channels are available on 1-s integration time, the only way to investigate how the spectrum evolves with time is the ratio between the counting rates in the 100–700 keV channel and those in the 40–100 keV channel (Hardness Ratio, HR). However, since the two flares occurred at different directions with respect to the BeppoSAX local frame, the differences in the HR might be at least partially ascribed to the different instrumental response. Because of this, in order to compare the absolute hardnesses, we studied the equivalent $`kT`$ of an ottb model, although in principle it does not provide us with an acceptable fit of the time-averaged spectra.

The time behaviour of $`kT`$ for the entire duration of GF98 is already reported (F01). Limiting the $`kT`$ of GF98 to the first 40 s, for a comparison with IF01 (see Fig. 18), we see that the $`kT`$ of IF01 is significantly lower than that of GF98. In addition it does not exhibit any significant variations throughout the event. In particular, there is no clear indication of correlation between $`kT`$ and the modulation observed in the flare profile. However, a slight trend of the $`kT`$ to increase with time and then to decrease before the end of the event is apparent.

## 5 Discussion

The two large flares were classified on the basis of their energetics and durations as giant (GF98) and intermediate (IF01) Kouveliotou et al. (2001). We find this classification appropriate when their 40–700 keV fluence is considered ($`S_{98}>1\times 10^3`$ erg cm-2, $`S_{01}=1.2\times 10^4`$ erg cm-2), which give a ratio of $`>10`$. However, in the next sections we discuss other similarities and distinctive features of the two events on the basis of their spectra and temporal variability.

### 5.1 Light curves

For the duration of IF01 ($`40`$ s), both light curves of GF98 and IF01 are characterized for most part of the time by a $`0.2`$ Hz pulsation, with complex and variable shape of the periodic pulses. The pulse shapes are different in the two cases. Only dips between pulses appear the common feature of both light curves. The most distinguishing feature of the GF98 light curve is the presence of an initial spike, which is not observed in the case of IF01. In fact, given the difficulty of justifying the first weak pulse in the IF01 light curve as a precursor (see Section 4.2), it appears that the initial GF98 spike corresponds to this pulse (if the two events are assumed to be “phased” by their dips). This is one of the most important results of our comparative analysis.

The periodicity found in the IF01 light curve ($`P_{01}=5.21\pm 0.05`$ s) is consistent with that measured during the source quiescence before and soon after the event ($`P_{quiesc}=5.17284268`$ s) Woods et al. (2003).

Within the magnetar model scenario (see F01, Thompson & Duncan 2001), the 1998 giant flare is triggered by a distortion of the internal magnetic field in the neutron star core, that induces large-scale fractures in the crust and strong magnetic shears in the magnetosphere, that drive reconnection and conversion to Alfv́en waves. According to this view, the initial spike is the signature of a relativistic outflow with a very low baryon load, as also suggested by the radio transient observed by Frail et al. (1999) and corroborated by the highly structured temporal profile of the spike, with peaks as narrow as $`10^2`$ s Mazets et al. 1999b , whereas the pulsating tail would be due to the fraction (about 50%) of energy trapped in the magnetosphere in the form of a photon-pair plasma. A similar scenario for the IF01 time profile is clearly problematic: we do not see the spike. The spike absence could be explained in several ways. We focus on three possibilities: first, no huge energy release comparable to that of GF98 occurred; second, the spiking event occurred, but the beamed outflow was not directed toward our line of sight; third, a comparable or slightly less energetic release really occurred, but the permanent changes undergone by the magnetosphere after the global reconfiguration further to GF98 Woods et al. (2001) are responsible for the unusual time profile of IF01. The first explanation seems the most natural, since it easily accounts for the lower X– and $`\gamma `$-ray fluence of IF01 and seems to agree with the minor changes observed in the trend of the pulsation profile after the flare against what occurred after GF98 Göğüş et al. (2002); Woods et al. (2003). However the light curve of IF01 shows some similarities (e.g., dips at the same phase in the correspondence case of Fig. 4) to the initial stage of GF98. Furthermore, the pulse profile during IF01 appears far more complex than it appeared at the later stages of GF98 Mazets et al. 1999b  and than that of the quiescent pulsar after 1998 Göğüş et al. (2002); Woods et al. (2003). This suggests that a transient reconfiguration of the magnetic field took place related to this event, that caused the complex pulse profile evolution during the burst. In addition, the detection of a non-thermal X-ray afterglow after this event raises the issue of a possible GRB-like mechanism for explaining this emission Feroci et al. (2003); Ioka (2001), that in turn would imply an outflow of relativistic particles (whose signature is missing in IF01, however).

In the context of the magnetar model, F01 pointed out that the envelope of the light curve can give an important clue about the radiation emission mechanisms and/or the geometry during the flares. Thompson and Duncan (2001), assuming that the emitted luminosity is the result of a cooling fireball trapped on the closed magnetic field lines of a neutron star, expect that it varies as a power of the remaining fireball energy $`E^a`$. As a consequence the fading law of the radiation is expected to vary as $`L(t)=L(0)(1t/t_{evap})^{a/(1a)}`$, where $`t_{evap}`$ is the time at which the fireball evaporates and its radius shrinks to zero, while $`a`$ depends on the trapped fireball geometry and temperature distribution ($`a=2/3`$ or $`a=1/2`$ in the case of spherical or cylindrical geometry, respectively). F01 found, for GF98, $`t_{evap}=(501\pm 13)`$ s and $`a=0.828\pm 0.005`$ in the 40–100 keV range, and $`t_{evap}=(545\pm 62)`$ s and $`a=0.85\pm 0.01`$ in the 100–700 keV band. We find for the 40–700 keV the result shown in Fig. 19 with the following best fit parameters: $`t_{evap}=(35.25\pm 0.11)`$ s, $`a=0.413\pm 0.004`$. This result shows that, in contrast to the spherical-like geometry of GF98, the trapped fireball responsible for the pulsating tail of IF01 had probably a cylinder-like geometry ($`a1/2`$), with a non uniform temperature distribution (that has the effect of decreasing the value of the fireball index $`a`$).

### 5.2 Erratic time variability

From the PSD estimates, it clearly emerges that GF98 has time properties which are not observed in the case of IF01. A significant power above the Poissonian level is apparent up to 1 kHz in the PSD of GF98, with a power-law shape (index $`\alpha =0.75\pm 0.15`$) with frequency. Even if the 10–1000 Hz fractional variation (in RMS units) is only 1%, the PSD shows the clear presence of a flicker–like noise, similar to that observed in many accreting compact X–ray sources.

Barat et al. (1983) found evidence of timing noise in the X-ray decay of the March 5 burst from SGR0526-66, although in that case it was identified as due to $`23`$ ms quasi-periodic oscillations. An interpretation of the flicker–like noise in the light of the magnetar model is needed, although it could be possibly explained invoking the mechanisms described by Duncan (1998) and by Ioka (2001): they account for the ms quasi-periodicity as due to the excitation of global seismic oscillations of the crust coupling strongly to Alfv́en modes in the lower magnetosphere.

A possible phenomenological interpretation of the detected noise is in terms of clustering of elementary pulses. In this case the noise dependence on frequency is determined by the distribution of waiting times between subsequent pulses and, possibly, by the distribution of the pulse intensity. There is a big variety of mechanisms that, in principle, may generate power-law noise with $`\alpha 1`$: see, e.g., Kaulakys & Mes̆kauskas (1998) and references therein. Davidsen & Schuster (2002) propose a simple mechanism for generating pulse sequences with $`S(f)f^\alpha `$ in systems whose dynamics is driven by a variable threshold, like for earthquakes. This kind of mechanism is also known as an integrate-and-fire (IAF) model. It requires a threshold $`C(t)`$ evolving with time according to a Brownian motion with diffusion constant $`D`$ within a defined interval $`C_l<C(t)<C_u`$. Assuming a function $`V(t)`$ which linearly increases with time, as soon as $`V(t)`$ matches the threshold $`C(t)`$, it is reset to a starting value $`V_0`$ and a single pulse is produced, leaving $`C(t)`$ unaltered. Under proper choices of the threshold boundaries, diffusion constant and reset value, the PSD of the resulting pulse train is characterized by a PSD with a power-law shape with index $`\alpha `$, which is typically between 0.5 and 1.1. The similarity of the high-frequency noise with that of earthquakes was also discussed by Cheng et al. (1996), who showed that for a set of bursts from SGR1806-20 the distribution of size and cumulative waiting times are similar to those of earthquakes. These properties have also been verified for the SGR1900+14 short bursts Göğüş et al. (1999).

In the light of the magnetar model, the observed noise could be the consequence of the dramatic energy release during the initial spike. Likely, the engine which powered the spike is far from equilibrium and the magnetic field lines probably undergo rapid and complex variations. If a threshold-controlled mechanism, like that above described, is at work, unstable fireballs could be created, that burst whenever a particular threshold is exceeded, that might depend on quantities like energy density, magnetic field and its twist. In this scenario, the observed high-frequency noise might be suggestive of how fractures in the crust propagate with time.

### 5.3 Energy spectra

At first glance, we notice that the GF98 spectrum of the first 40 s is significantly harder than that of IF01, as shown by the comparison of the equivalent temperatures of an ottb model. However, unlike the discussed differences between the two events, the spectral properties of GF98 and IF01 show striking similarities. In the time interval A, which covers most of the IF01 light curve and during the first 68 s of the GF98 light curve, both 40–700 keV spectra are best fit with the same three-component models (bb + bknpl + pl or ottb + bknpl + pl; see Table 2). Assuming the former of these models, both the bb temperatures and break energies of the bknpl model are similar: $`kT_{bb}^{98}=19_3^{+4}`$ keV and $`E_{break}^{98}=75_2^{+1}`$ keV, $`kT_{bb}^{01}=14.4_{0.8}^{+1.2}`$ keV and $`E_{break}^{01}=73_2^{+2}`$ keV, respectively. However the centroids of the bknpl indices are only marginally consistent at 90% CL, and we remind that the A spectrum of GF98 is likely distorted by dramatic dead-time and pile-up effects suffered during the initial spike.

The bb + bknpl (+pl) model better agrees with the trapped fireball+corona scenario Thompson & Duncan (2001), at least in the case of GF98: the bb flux remains almost constant throughout the flare, whereas the bknpl and pl fade exhibiting a small spectral evolution. This is confirmed also by the temporal evolution of the equivalent $`kT`$: while GF98 exhibits a slow decrease during the first 40 s, after which it softens even more slowly, IF01 shows a mild increase followed at the end by a small drop, with no strong spectral evolution. In this scenario, the bb component is due to the outer layer of a trapped fireball, while the bknpl can partially come from the surrounding corona, and, probably, from the reprocessing of the radiation coming from the inner fireball. Indeed such component, although it decreases, does not disappear in the time interval B of GF98, where the corona should already have evaporated. The bb temperature value in both GF98 and IF01 are above the minimum photospheric temperature of a trapped fireball expected in $`B>B_{\text{QED}}`$ magnetic fields (eq. 133 from Thompson & Duncan 1995).

While a possible interpretation can be given for the bknpl, the origin of the high-energy ($`>300`$ keV) power-law component, with positive index at least for the A spectra of both events, is more mysterious.

### 5.4 The last isolated pulse of IF01

The 1.5-s long isolated pulse of IF01 has a shape apparently different from that of the previous pulses. It is narrower and is not in phase with the previous ones. Thus, we are led to think about a different origin for it. A possibility is that, unlike the periodic light curve before it, whose likely origin is in the outer layer of the transient corona, the last pulse could originate in the nearby of the neutron star surface and/or with the same mechanism of typical short bursts. We note that, the occurrence of short bursts during the tail of bright bursts was noted also in the tail of the August 29 event Palmer (2002). Actually, its average energy spectrum does not appear significantly different from the A spectrum, and Fig. 18 shows that its $`kT`$ is consistent with general behaviour at previous times. Thus, the last pulse mainly differs from the first part of the flare for its temporal properties rather than for its energy spectrum.

Actually, if we compare this pulse with the peculiar burst of August 29, 1998 Ibrahim et al. (2001), also detected with the GRBM (see Fig. 20), we find a similar light curve, even if the fluence of the IF01 last pulse ($`5\times 10^6`$ erg cm-2) is about twice as high as that of the August 29 burst fluence in the 40–700 keV band. Curiously, the duration of the subpulse of the August 29 burst is similar to that of the last pulse of IF01. This similarity could suggest a common origin of the last pulse of IF01 with some of the brightest short bursts recorded from SGR1900+14.

## 6 Conclusions

The BeppoSAX GRBM was the only instrument that in the same 40–700 keV energy band allowed a detailed study of the two large X–/gamma–ray flares from SGR1900+14 occurred on 1998 August 27 and 2001 April 18. In this paper we have compared the spectral and temporal properties of both flares to study their similarities and distinctive features. Apart from the different time durations of the two flares ($`40`$ s for IF01 and $`300`$ s for GF98) and a higher ($`>10`$) 40–700 keV fluence of GF98, other distinctive features have also been derived from our analysis. The light curve of IF01 does not show the initial spike exhibited by GF98, and shows a periodicity ($`5.21\pm 0.05`$ s) consistent with the value measured for the quiescent X-ray source soon after IF01 Woods et al. (2003), with no evidence for a glitch like in the case of GF98 Woods et al. 1999c . Moreover, it does not show the high-frequency (10–1000 Hz) erratic variability which is detected from GF98, although this might be due to lower counting statistics. However the two flares show also similar spectral properties. The photon spectrum of IF01 and the corresponding spectrum of GF98 during the first 40 s (corresponding to the time duration of IF01) are both best fit with a three–component (bb + bknpl + pl) model, with similar bb temperature ($`15`$ keV) and break energy ($`E_{break}73`$ keV) of the bknpl model. However, the power-law indices of the bknpl are different, resulting higher (and the spectrum softer) for IF01. The highest energy sections of the spectra ($`>300`$ keV) are both well fit with a power-law with marginally similar positive photon indices. This power-law component contributes, in both cases, to $`2`$% of the 40–700 keV fluence of the two flares.

In the magnetar model scenario, the entire 2001 flare and the intermediate stage of GF98 (before the pulsation is set up clearly) could be both interpreted as radiation coming from a transient pair-dominated corona surrounding a trapped fireball anchored to the neutron star surface, although other interpretations can be possible. The high-frequency noise, detected during the intermediate stage of GF98, could directly trace the evolution of fractures propagating throughout the neutron star crust soon after the dramatic spike. The PSD of the non–Poissonian noise is in agreement with the expectations of the “Integrate And Fire” (IAF) model Davidsen & Schuster (2002), according to which, similarly to earthquakes, discrete energy releases occur when a variable threshold is exceeded.

The appearance of a last isolated pulse at the end of IF01 might point to a different origin from what caused the flare: its peculiar time profile is similar to that of short bursts from the same source. While the main time profile of IF01 could have come from the outer layer of the pair corona, the last pulse might have originated close to the surface.

###### Acknowledgements.

We thank Sandro Mereghetti for carefully reading this manuscript and for his comments. This research is supported by the Italian Space Agency (ASI) and Ministry of University and Scientific Research of Italy. We wish to thank the Mission Director L. Salotti and the teams of the BeppoSAX Operation Control Center, Science Operation Center and Scientific Data Center for their support.


format: text

text:
# Geometrical optics in nonlinear media and integrable equations

## Abstract

It is shown that the geometrical optics limit of the Maxwell equations for certain nonlinear media with slow variation along one axis and particular dependence of dielectric constant on the frequency and fields gives rise to the dispersionless Veselov-Novikov equation for refractive index. It is demonstrated that the last one is amenable to the quasiclassical $`\overline{}`$-dressing method. A connection is noted between geometrical optics phenomena under consideration and quasiconformal mappings on the plane.

PACS numbers: 02.30.Ik; 42.15.Dp

Great variety of nonlinear phenomena from various fields of physics, applied physics, mathematics and applied mathematics can be modeled by nonlinear integrable equations -. A subclass of such equations , the so-called dispersionless integrable equations, has attracted a particular interest during the last decade -.

In this letter, we will show that the propagation of electromagnetic waves of high frequency in certain nonlinear media is governed by the dispersionless Veselov-Novikov (dVN) equation. Namely, we will demonstrate that the Maxwell equations describing the propagation of waves in media characterized by slow variation along the axis $`z`$ and particular dependence of dielectric constant on frequency and fields in the limit of geometrical optics give rise to the dVN equations for refractive index. These equations provide us with integrable deformations of the plane eikonal equation which preserve, in particular, the total “plane” squared refractive index $`n^2𝑑x𝑑y`$. Under more special conditions one gets the dispersionless Kadomtsev-Petviashvili (dKP) equation. We will show that the dNV equations are treatable by the quasiclassical $`\overline{}`$-dressing method developed recently in -. The quasiclassical $`\overline{}`$-dressing method reveals also a connection between the geometrical optics phenomena under consideration and the theory of quasiconformal mappings on the plane.

We start with the Maxwell equations in the absence of sources (we put the velocity of the light $`c=1`$)

$`𝐇\dot{}D=0𝐃=0`$
$`𝐄+\dot{}B=0𝐁=0`$ (1)
and the material equations of a medium

$$𝐃=ϵ𝐄,𝐁=\mu 𝐇.$$
(2)
Here and below $`=(_x,_y,_z)`$, while $``$ and $``$ denote the scalar and vector product respectively.

We will study a propagation of electromagnetic waves of the fixed, high frequency $`\omega `$, i.e. we will look for the solutions of the Maxwell equations of the form

$`𝐄(x,y,z,t)=𝐄_0(x,y,z)e^{i\omega t+i\omega S(x,y,z)}`$
$`𝐇(x,y,z,t)=𝐇_0(x,y,z)e^{i\omega t+i\omega S(x,y,z)},`$ (3)
where $`𝐄_0`$, $`𝐇_0`$ and the phase $`S(x,y,z)`$ are certain functions.
In addition we assume that the nonlinear medium is characterized 1) by the independence of the magnetic permeability $`\mu (x,y,z)`$ on the frequency $`\omega `$; 2) by the Cole-Cole dependence

$$ϵ=ϵ_0+\frac{\stackrel{~}{ϵ}}{1+\left(i\omega \tau _0\right)^{2\nu }},0<\nu <\frac{1}{2}$$
(4)
of the dielectric constant $`ϵ`$ on $`\omega `$ (where $`ϵ_0(x,y,z)`$ and $`\tau _0`$ are independent on $`\omega `$ and $`\stackrel{~}{ϵ}`$ is a function of coordinates and fields); 3) by slow variation of all quantities along the axis $`z`$ such that $`\frac{}{z}=\omega ^\nu \frac{}{\xi }`$, where $`\xi `$ is a “slow” variable defined by $`z=\omega ^\nu \xi `$, i.e.

$`S`$ $`=`$ $`S(x,y,\xi )`$
$`𝐄_0`$ $`=`$ $`𝐄_0(x,y,\omega ^\nu \xi )`$
$`𝐇_0`$ $`=`$ $`𝐇_0(x,y,\omega ^\nu \xi ).`$ (5)
Now, rewriting equations (Geometrical optics in nonlinear media and integrable equations) and (2) as the second order differential equations for the electric and magnetic fields, respectively, using (Geometrical optics in nonlinear media and integrable equations) and (Geometrical optics in nonlinear media and integrable equations) and taking into account that at $`\omega \mathrm{}`$

$$ϵ=ϵ_0+\frac{ϵ_1}{\omega ^{2\nu }}$$
(6)
where $`ϵ_1=\left(i\tau _0\right)^{2\nu }\stackrel{~}{ϵ}`$, one gets in the leading $`\omega ^2`$ order

$$S_x^2+S_y^2=\mu ϵ_0$$
(7)
while, in the next $`\omega ^{22\nu }`$ order, one obtains

$$S_\xi =\left(\mu ϵ_1\right)^{\frac{1}{2}}.$$
(8)
Equation (7) is the standard eikonal equation on the $`x,y`$ plane with the refractive index $`n(x,y,\xi )=\left(\mu ϵ_0\right)^{\frac{1}{2}}`$. Slow variation of $`S`$ along $`z`$-axis is defined by equation (8), where $`\mu ϵ_1`$ depends both on coordinates $`x,y,\xi `$ and fields. We also assume that the absorption effects are negligible, so $`\mu ϵ`$ can be taken as real one . We would like to note that the first two features of the medium mentioned above are quite generic and they are valid for a variety of dielectric media -, while the particular type of slow variations along $`z`$-axis given by (8), seems, did not attract attention before.

Since the function $`ϵ_1`$ is determined by the geometrical optics limit $`\omega \mathrm{}`$ and the time translation symmetry $`tt+const`$ of the Maxwell equations for the solutions of the type (Geometrical optics in nonlinear media and integrable equations) is equivalent to the symmetry under transformations $`SS+const`$, one concludes that the function $`ϵ_1`$ for nonlinear media may depend on the coordinates $`x,y,\xi `$ and only on $`S_x`$ and $`S_y`$. Thus, the geometrical optics limit of the Maxwell equations in nonlinear media under consideration is governed by the equations

$`S_x^2+S_y^2=n^2(x,y,\xi ),`$ (9)
$`S_\xi =\phi (x,y,\xi ;S_x,S_y)`$ (10)
where $`\phi `$ is some real-valued function. Introducing the variables $`z=x+iy`$, $`\overline{z}=xiy`$ (please, do not confuse it with the variable used in equation (Geometrical optics in nonlinear media and integrable equations)), one rewrites these equations as follows

$`S_zS_{\overline{z}}=u(z,\overline{z},\xi )`$ (11)
$`S_\xi =\phi (z,\overline{z};\xi ,S_z,S_{\overline{z}}),`$ (12)
where $`u=4n^2`$.
The compatibility of equations (9) and (10) (or (11), (12)) imposes constraints on the possible forms of the function $`\phi `$, namely

$$S_{\overline{z}}\frac{\phi }{z}+S_z\frac{\phi }{\overline{z}}+u_z\phi ^{}+u_{\overline{z}}\phi ^{\prime \prime }=u_\xi ,$$
(13)
where

$$\phi ^{}=\frac{\phi }{S_z}(z,\overline{z};S_z,S_{\overline{z}}),\phi ^{\prime \prime }=\frac{\phi }{S_{\overline{z}}}(z,\overline{z};S_z,S_{\overline{z}}).$$
(14)
Here we restrict ourself by functions $`\phi `$ which are polynomial in $`S_z`$, $`S_{\overline{z}}`$ and compatible with real-valuedness of $`S`$ and $`u`$. For the simplest choice $`\phi =\alpha _0(z,\overline{z},\xi )`$, equation (13) obviously gives $`\alpha _0=const`$, i.e. $`u_\xi =0,S=\alpha _0\xi +\stackrel{~}{S}(z,\overline{z})`$. For the linear function $`\phi =\alpha S_z+\overline{\alpha }S_{\overline{z}}+\beta +\overline{\beta }`$, one gets $`\alpha =\alpha (z),\beta =const`$, and

$$u_\xi =\left(\alpha u\right)_z+\left(\overline{\alpha }u\right)_{\overline{z}}.$$
(15)
For the quadratic $`\phi =\alpha S_z^2+\overline{\alpha }S_{\overline{z}}^2+\beta S_z+\overline{\beta }S_{\overline{z}}+\gamma +\overline{\gamma }`$, equations (13) and (11) imply $`\alpha =0`$, $`\beta =\beta (z)`$ and $`\gamma =const`$, i.e. one gets the previous linear case.

The cubic $`\phi =\alpha S_z^3+\overline{\alpha }S_{\overline{z}}^3+\beta S_z^2+\overline{\beta }S_{\overline{z}}^2+\gamma S_z+\overline{\gamma }S_{\overline{z}}+\delta +\overline{\delta }`$ obeys equations (13) and (11) if

$`\alpha =\alpha (z),\beta =0,`$
$`\gamma _{\overline{z}}=\alpha _zu3\alpha u_z,`$
$`\delta =const,`$ (16)
and one gets

$$u_\xi =\left(\gamma u\right)_z+\left(\overline{\gamma }u\right)_{\overline{z}}.$$
(17)
In the particular case $`\alpha =1`$ and, consequently $`\gamma _{\overline{z}}=3u_z`$, equation (17) is nothing but the dispersionless Veselov-Novikov (dVN) equation introduced in .

In a similar manner one can construct nonlinear equations which correspond to higher degree polynomials $`\phi `$. These higher degree cases apparently become physically relevant for the phenomena with large values of $`S_x`$ and $`S_y`$. Thus, if we formally admit all possible degrees of $`S_z`$ and $`S_{\overline{z}}`$ in the right hand side of equation (12), then one has an infinite family of nonlinear equations, which may govern the $`\xi `$-variations of the wave fronts and “refractive index” $`u`$. Since equation (12) should respects the symmetry $`SS`$ of the eikonal equation (11), one readily concludes that only polynomials $`\phi `$ of the form $`_{n=1}^Nu_nS_z^{2n1}+_{n=1}^N\overline{u}_nS_{\overline{z}}^{2n1}`$ , are admissible (the constant terms which have appeared in the cases (15), (17) discussed above are, in fact, irrelevant). In the case $`u_N=1`$ one gets the dVN equation mentioned above ($`N=2`$) and the so-called dVN hierarchy of nonlinear equations. The dVN equation has been introduced in  as the dispersionless limit of the VN equation, which is the $`2+1`$-dimensional integrable generalization of the famous Korteweg-de-Vries (KdV) equation -,.

Let us consider a more specific situation in which the propagation of electromagnetic waves in the media discussed above exhibits also a slow variation along the axis $`y`$, namely $`_y=ϵ_\eta `$, where $`\eta `$ is a slow variable defined by $`y=\frac{\eta }{ϵ}`$ and $`ϵ`$ is a small parameter. If one assumes that the functions $`S`$ and $`u`$ in the eikonal equation (9) have the following behavior at small $`ϵ`$

$`S={\displaystyle \frac{y}{2ϵ}}\stackrel{~}{S}(x,\eta ,\xi )`$
$`u(x,{\displaystyle \frac{\eta }{ϵ}},\xi )={\displaystyle \frac{1}{4ϵ^2}}q(x,\eta ,\xi )`$ (18)
and the polynomial $`\phi (x,\frac{\eta }{ϵ},\xi ;S_x,ϵS_\eta )`$ has an appropriate behavior as $`ϵ0`$, then in this limit, equations (9) and (10) are reduced to

$`\stackrel{~}{S}_\eta =\stackrel{~}{S}_x^2+q`$
$`\stackrel{~}{S}_\xi =\stackrel{~}{\phi }(x,\eta ,\xi ;\stackrel{~}{S}_x)`$ (19)
where $`\stackrel{~}{\phi }`$ is an odd order polynomial in $`\stackrel{~}{S}_x`$. Equations (Geometrical optics in nonlinear media and integrable equations) describe propagation of the quasi-plane wave fronts $`y=const`$ in a medium with very large refractive index. Compatibility of equations (Geometrical optics in nonlinear media and integrable equations) gives rise to the well known dispersionless Kadomtsev-Petviashvili (dKP) equation $`q_\xi =\frac{3}{2}qq_x+\frac{3}{4}_x^1q_{\eta \eta }`$ and the whole dKP hierarchy. The dKP equation is rather well studied (see e.g.  and reference therein). The KP equation itself represents the most known 2+1-dimensional integrable generalization of the KdV equation.

The dVN and the dKP equations being relevant in particular situations of propagation of waves in certain nonlinear media have an advantage to be solvable. Various methods have been applied to solve the dKP equation, including the quasiclassical $`\overline{}`$-dressing method -. Here we will demonstrate that the dVN equation is amenable to this method too.
The quasiclassical $`\overline{}`$-dressing method is based on the nonlinear Beltrami equation -

$$S_{\overline{\lambda }}=W(\lambda ,\overline{\lambda };S_\lambda ),$$
(20)
where $`\lambda `$ is the complex variable, $`S_\lambda =\frac{S}{\lambda }`$ and $`W`$ is a certain function ($`\overline{}`$-data). To construct integrable equations one has to specify the domain $`G`$ (in the complex plane $``$) of support for the function $`W`$ ($`W=0`$, $`\lambda G`$) and look for solution of (20) in the form $`S=S_0+\stackrel{~}{S}`$, where the function $`S_0`$ is analytic inside $`G`$, while $`\stackrel{~}{S}`$ is analytic outside $`G`$ -. To get the dVN equation and the whole dVN hierarchy, we choose $`G`$ as the ring $`𝒟=\{\lambda :\frac{1}{a}<|\lambda |<a\}`$, where $`a`$ is an arbitrary real number ($`a>1`$), and the function $`S_0`$ in the form

$$S_0=\underset{n=1}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}x_n\lambda ^{2n1}+\underset{n=1}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}\overline{x}_n\lambda ^{2n+1}.$$
(21)
We also assume that

$$\stackrel{~}{S}=\underset{n=0}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}\frac{S_{2n+1}^{(\mathrm{})}}{\lambda ^{2n+1}};\lambda \mathrm{}$$
(22)
“normalization” and

$$\stackrel{~}{S}=\underset{n=0}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}\lambda ^{2n+1}S_{2n+1}^{(0)};\lambda 0.$$
(23)
Note that a function $`S(\lambda ,\overline{\lambda },x_n,\overline{x}_n)`$ has the properties (21-23) if it obeys the constraints

$`S(\lambda ,\overline{\lambda })=S(\lambda ,\overline{\lambda }),`$ (24)
$`\overline{S}(\lambda ,\overline{\lambda })=S({\displaystyle \frac{1}{\overline{\lambda }}},{\displaystyle \frac{1}{\lambda }}).`$ (25)
The constraint (25) also implies that

$$S_{2n+1}^{(\mathrm{})}=\overline{S}_{2n+1}^{(0)}.$$

An important property of the nonlinear $`\overline{}`$-problem (20) is that the derivatives of $`S`$ with respect to any independent variable $`x_n`$ obeys the linear Beltrami equation

$$\left(\frac{S}{x_n}\right)_{\overline{\lambda }}=W^{}(\lambda ,\overline{\lambda };S_\lambda )\left(\frac{S}{x_n}\right)_\lambda ,$$
(26)
where $`W^{}(\lambda ,\overline{\lambda };\varphi )=\frac{W}{\varphi }(\lambda ,\overline{\lambda };\varphi )`$. Equations (26) has two basic properties, namely, 1) any differentiable function of a solution is again a solution; 2) under certain mild conditions on $`W^{}`$, a solution which is equal to zero at certain point $`\lambda _0`$, vanishes identically (Vekua’s theorem) . The use of these two properties allows us to construct algebraic equations of the form $`\mathrm{\Omega }(x_n,\overline{x_n},S_{x_n},S_{\overline{x}_n})=0`$.

Denoting $`x_1=z`$, choosing $`x_2=\overline{x}_2=\xi `$, taking into account that $`S_z=\lambda +\stackrel{~}{S}_z`$, $`S_{\overline{z}}=\lambda ^1+\stackrel{~}{S}_{\overline{z}}`$, $`S_\xi =\left(\lambda ^3+\frac{1}{\lambda ^3}\right)+\stackrel{~}{S}_\xi `$, and using the properties of the linear Beltrami equation (26) mentioned above, one gets

$`S_zS_{\overline{z}}=u,`$ (27)
$`S_\xi =S_z^3+S_{\overline{z}}^3+VS_z+\overline{V}S_{\overline{z}},`$ (28)
where

$$u(z,\overline{z},\xi )=1+S_{1\overline{z}}^{(\mathrm{})},V=3S_{1z}^{(\mathrm{})}=3_{\overline{z}}^1u_z.$$
(29)
Evaluating the terms of the order $`\frac{1}{\lambda }`$ in the both sides of equation (28), one gets the dVN equation

$$u_\xi =3\left(u_{\overline{z}}^1u_z\right)_z3\left(u_z^1u_{\overline{z}}\right)_{\overline{z}}.$$
(30)
Considering higher “times” $`x_3,x_4,\mathrm{}`$ such that $`x_n=\overline{x}_n`$, one obtains the equations

$$S_{x_n}=\underset{m=1}{\overset{n}{}}\left(u_mS_z^{2m1}+\overline{u}_mS_{\overline{z}}^{2m1}\right),n=3,4,\mathrm{}$$
(31)
Equations (31) together with (27) and (28) provides us with the infinite dVN hierarchy of equations.

Thus, the quasiclassical $`\overline{}`$-dressing method allows us to treat the eikonal equation (27), equations (28) and (31) which describe its deformations and the corresponding dVN hierarchy for $`u`$, in a way similar to the dKP and d2DTL hierarchies -. These integrable dVN deformations of the eikonal equation (27) are quite special. In particular, they are characterized by the existence of an infinite set of integral quantities (integrals of motion for dVN equation), which are preserved by these deformations. The simplest of them, for $`u`$ such that $`u0`$ as $`|z|\mathrm{}`$, is given by the total squared refractive index $`C_1=u(z,\overline{z},\xi )𝑑zd\overline{z}`$ ($`C_{1\xi }=0`$).

Constraint (25) guarantees that the refractive index $`u`$ is a real one. Indeed, taking the complex conjugation of equation (27), using the differential consequences (with respect to $`z`$ and $`\overline{z}`$), of the above constraint and taking into account the independence of the l.h.s. of equation (27) on $`\lambda `$,$`\overline{\lambda }`$, one gets

$$\overline{u}\left(x_n\right)=\overline{S_z(\lambda ,\overline{\lambda },x_n)}\overline{S_{\overline{z}}(\lambda ,\overline{\lambda },x_n)}=S_{\overline{z}}(\frac{1}{\overline{\lambda }},\frac{1}{\lambda },x_n)S_z(\frac{1}{\overline{\lambda }},\frac{1}{\lambda },x_n)=u\left(x_n\right).$$
(32)
Moreover, this constraint implies that the function $`S`$ is real-valued on the unit circle $`\left|\lambda \right|=1`$ ($`\overline{S}(\lambda ,\overline{\lambda })=S(\lambda ,\overline{\lambda })`$, $`|\lambda |=1`$).
Thus, the approach proposed provides us with the real-valued refractive index $`u\left(x_n\right)`$ and the phase function $`S`$ together with their slow variations in the direction orthogonal to the plane $`x,y`$. Note that the refractive index $`u=4n^2`$ not necessary should be positive. For certain media the product $`\mu ϵ_0`$ can be negative as well .
The quasiclassical $`\overline{}`$-dressing method provides also an effective method to construct exact solutions of the dVN equations as in the dKP case -. Exact solutions of the dVN equation and their applications in geometrical optics will be discussed in a separate paper.

Finally we would like to note that solutions of the nonlinear Beltrami equation (20) represent themself the so-called quasiconformal mappings (for dKP equation see ). In the our case we have quasiconformal mappings of the ring $`𝒟`$, given by the function $`S(\lambda ,\overline{\lambda },x_n)`$, with the boundary conditions (22) and (23) and constraints (24) and (25). Thus the quasiclassical $`\overline{}`$-dressing approach to the eikonal equation (27) and its deformations by dVN hierarchy establishes a connection between the geometrical optics and the theory of the quasiconformal mappings on the plane .

Acknowledgment
This work is supported in part by the COFIN PRIN ‘Sintesi’ 2002.


text:
# The Future of High Angular Resolution Star and Planet Formation Science in the Optical/Infrared

## 1. Introduction

The quest to understand the formation of stars and planets, especially exo-solar planetary systems showing some resemblance to our own Sun and solar system, is a fundamental goal of modern astrophysics. Star and planet formation studies make use of all observational techniques at all wavelengths ranging from x-ray to radio bands. This presentation focuses on optical/infrared questions and capabilities involving high spatial resolution techniques.

There are a number of problems in star and planet formation that would benefit substantially from improved spatial resolution over current capabilities in the optical and infrared. Here, I focus on three.

The initial mass function (IMF) The initial mass function, or spectrum of stellar/sub-stellar masses produced in the process of molecular cloud fragmentation is one of the most fundamental products of the star formation process. Rigorous observational effort over the last decade has provided insight into the form and detailed shape of the IMF at the point of “birth” of stellar clusters, all the way from the most massive stars through to sub-stellar mass objects. While the IMF rises with an approximately Salpeter slope from $`>`$100 M to $`<`$2 M there is now ample evidence for a change in slope between 0.5-2 M and another more dramatic change below 0.5 $`M_{}`$. A function in which the slope is continually changing with mass, such as the log-normal form, probably best describes the data in hand. Outstanding IMF issues include the maximum and minimum masses formed by the star formation process; the variation (or lack thereof) in dN/dM as a function of metallicity, temperature/pressure, or local stellar density; and the binary frequency and binary mass ratio (q = M2/M1) as a function of primary star mass and as a function of companion separation. Are (and if so, how are) companion mass ratio statistics related to the mass distribution of single stars?

For studies of stellar populations in young clusters, the need for spatial resolution is dictated by crowding which limits one’s ability first to identify cluster members and then to obtain photometry at the requisite level of accuracy ($`<`$2-5%). These issues are particularly prescient in the sub-stellar mass regime where the objects of interest are 10-20 magnitudes fainter than the massive stars which cohabitate the cluster. Why might one choose to work in such difficult (due to point source crowding and high nebular backgrounds) regions? The reason is, simply, that the IMF statistics per unit angular area are far superior in regions like the Orion Nebula Cluster, NGC 3603, or R 136 than in less observationally complicated regions like Taurus, Ophiuchus, Lupus, or Chamaeleon.

For studies of fundamental binary properties, in particular determination of fundamental stellar masses, the need for spatial resolution is dictated by the semi-major axis regime one wants to probe. For G stars the peak in the stellar companion separation distribution occurs around 30 AU, within the bounds of our own planetary system, which is $``$0.2 arc sec at the distance of the nearest star-forming regions. The current generation of large apertures (8-10 m) when used with adaptive optics enabling diffraction limited imaging can resolve equal-mass systems with separation $`>`$7-9 AU. Of particular interest is the spatial resolution of known spectroscopic binaries for which combined radial velocity and astrometric orbital monitoring leads to fundamentally determined stellar masses. In addition to the interesting science of understanding the orbital (a, e) and mass ratio parameter space occupied at young ages, and hence the observations binary formation theories must reproduce, these systems are critical for the observational calibration of pre-main sequence evolutionary tracks which are often used “blindly” in IMF studies of star clusters.

Circumstellar Disks The topic of disks and planet formation within disks has received a lot of attention at this meeting. The need for high angular resolution in this area is to obtain spatially resolved direct images of disks at various evolutionary stages. Measurement of disk size versus wavelength in combination with flux versus wavelength (the spectral energy distribution) is needed in order to correctly model these systems using absorption/re-emission and scattering codes. Some of the larger and brighter disk/envelope systems have been imaged in scattered light with various HST instruments (ACS, WFPC2, NICMOS) as well as with Keck and VLT. In particular we would like to image the innermost regions of accretion disks which serve both as the conduit linking material inflowing through the disk to the star, and as the launching point for the ubiquitous jets and outflows seen most prominently at the earliest evolutionary stages. Thus far several interferometric studies have made inroads into this heretofore elusive disk region, potentially resolving inner holes or rims/walls in disks. Imaging of the fine structure in disks, for example gaps, warps, and other features predicted to be a consequence of planet formation, is also high on the agenda. Finally, information on disk composition gradients requires spatially resolved dust and gas spectroscopy. We should be mindful of the time domain when thinking about high spatial resolution imaging; inner disk and outflow regions are known to be time-variable as might be expected given the short dynamical time scales involved on small geometric scales. Extended sources in which surface brightness variability has been observed include several disks and many jets. Temporally resolved and spatially resolved data on these regions are the likely path to understanding their physics.

Planet detection The detection of exo-solar planets is one of the great triumphs of the latter part of the 20’th century. After nearly a decade of discovery, our questions in this area have become more refined and consequently more challenging in terms of the observations needed to address them. Future planet detection, characterization, and statistical analyses can be accomplished through several means including direct (coronographic) imaging, continuation of the successful radial velocity surveys, astrometric techniques, and transit photometry. I mention these techniques here since while several of them are already considered high angular resolution astronomy (coronographic imaging and high precision astrometry), others are in fact proxies for high angular resolution (high spectral dispersion a.k.a. high velocity resolution, and high photometric precision both of which when done as time series sample short dynamical time scales) since they are capable of sampling planetary system size scales on planetary system time scales. These techniques offer the potential to detect planets directly (high contrast imaging, in/out of transit spectroscopy) or indirectly (velocity wobble, astrometric wobble, inference of planet-induced gaps in disks).

## 2. Paths to the Future at High Angular Resolution

As we discuss the present observational capabilities and compare them with those available in the future, it is useful to recall that the angular and corresponding linear scales at the distance of the nearest star-forming regions (140 pc) are: 1” = 140 AU, 0.1” = 14 AU, 10 mas = 1.4 AU, and 1 mas = 0.14 AU. All of these scales are of interest in studies of circumstellar disk physics and planet formation, and are useful in studies of the initial mass function and companion star statistics. The diffraction limit at 2 $`\mu `$m of the current generation of premier optical/infrared ground-based facilities is $``$50 mas which will improve to $``$16 mas when the next generation of 30 m technology is realized. Interferometric capabilities are currently better than 5 mas fringe spacing with the smaller facilities and 3-10 mas with the higher sensitivity Keck and VLT Interferometers; visibility measurements enable inference of source sizes $`<`$1 mas. Of note is the difference in field of view between the single apertures (several to tens of arc minutes) and the interferometers ($`<`$0.1 - 1 arc seconds). For high dispersion spectroscopy as a proxy for high angular resolution, under the keplerian assumption disk kinematics can be probed (with the right emission or absorption line) at a radius inversely proportional to velocity resolution squared. Even higher resolution, R $`>`$ 105, is needed to discern finer structure in disks, such as gaps due to recent planet formation. The high precision photometric monitoring proxy for high angular resolution in principle offers infinitely small angular resolution.

So what does the future hold for the optical/infrared at high angular resolution? I have chosen to break up the discussion into several time-delimited segments, depending on the wait for the capability at hand to emerge for main stream science usage. My apologies to anyone whose mission or mission concept I do not mention. The number of relevant facilities is impressive but also daunting, and I can not possibly describe them all in the time/space allotted.

### 2.1. Near-term Future Capabilities

My near-term discussion encompasses everything from those facilities just coming on line to those happening within the decade, 5-7 years out.

Ground-Based Interferometers: KI, VLTI, and LBTI.  Separate papers in these proceedings discuss the recently commissioned Keck Interferometer (KI) and Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI). Fringes with the two 10 m Kecks (85 m baseline) on Mauna Kea were first obtained at 2 $`\mu `$m in 2001, March but operation of the full array including four 1.8 m outrigger telescopes is as yet uncertain. The interferometer will operate in V2 mode (standard fringe constrast) at 2 $`\mu `$m and in nulling mode (utilizing phase inversion in one arm to effectively null the central star) at 10 $`\mu `$m. Full-array imaging resolution is expected to be $``$5 mas with 10-30 $`\mu `$as astrometric accuracy. The VLTI at Paranal saw first fringes with two Unit telescopes at 10 $`\mu `$m in July 2002 and at 2 $`\mu `$m in July 2003. It is scheduled to operate with all four 8 m Unit telescopes and 5 auxiliary telescopes (for a total of 28 baselines). Imaging size is 4 mas and astrometric accuracy 10 $`\mu `$as. The Large Binocular Telescope Interferometer (LBTI) is a mid-infrared nulling interferometer being built for operations in 2006 on Mt Graham. Important science goals of these interferometers include measurement of the sizes of the warm inner ($`<`$0.1 AU) regions of circumstellar disks, study of exo-zodiacal ($``$1 AU) dust via 10 $`\mu `$m nulling, direct detection of brown dwarfs and Jupiter-mass planets on close orbits to young and old stars, indirect detection of Uranus mass planets, and study of pre-main sequence binary orbits for the purpose of determining fundamental stellar masses.

Space-Based Interferometers: SIM and Gaia.  In addition to their ground-based pursuits, both the United States and the European nations are planning interferometric missions in space. ESA’s Gaia consists of three 1.4 m telescopes, two of which are used for astrometry and one of which is for spectrophotometric data acquisition. Launch is scheduled for 2010 into an L2 orbit with an expected 5 year lifetime of all-sky scanning. Gaia’s main goals are proper motions and parallaxes for 109 stars with 4 $`\mu `$as precision that will connect us to the inertial reference frame. A planet search is a by-product of the Gaia program with main operations revealing any Jupiter-mass or larger planet/brown-dwarf/star companions having orbital periods between one-third and twice the mission lifetime. NASA’s Space Interferometry Mission (SIM) consists of 3 collinear Michelson interferometers over a 10 m baseline operating at visible wavelengths. Astrometric accuracy will be 1 $`\mu `$as (narrow-angle) to 4 $`\mu `$as (wide-angle). Launch will be in 2009 into an Earth-trailing orbit with operations lasting 5-10 years. SIM is a pointed mission, surveying 2000 nearby stars, including about 150 young stars where orbital migration might be observed amongst the sample, for astrometric signatures of massive planetary companions (Jupiter’s pull on the Sun is 500 $`\mu `$as at 10 pc) and 250 nearby stars for terrestrial-mass planets (Earth’s pull on the Sun is 0.3 $`\mu `$as at 10 pc). While radial velocity surveys can detect massive Jupiters, astrometry is required in order to find Earths. Additional general science of the space interferometers includes improved accuracy in stellar positions, distances, proper motions, measurement of star cluster dynamics, and study of Galactic disk and bulge kinematics.

Transit Missions: MOST, COROT, Kepler, and Eddington.  Continuing the planet-finding theme, a number of space-based efforts are underway to find planets through high precision photometric monitoring. This search method is also being pursued from the ground by a large number of groups. As noted above, high precision photometric monitoring is a form of high spatial resolution given the small size scales probed. The photometric accuracy required to detect Jupiters is 1%, to detect Uranus or Neptune analogs 0.1%, and to detect Earths 0.01%; these constraints limit the targets to 6-16’th magnitude stars. The space missions all operate at optical wavelengths and include CSA’s MOST launched in 2003, France’s COROT scheduled for 2005, NASA’s Kepler in development for 2007, and ESA’s Eddington scheduled for 2008. Mission goals for these spacecraft include transit detection (hundreds of thousands of stars searched) and asteroseismology (tens of thousands of stars searched) with studies of stellar rotation, stellar activity, and particular classes of binary stars important ancillary science. The capabilities of this suite of missions are complementary.

“Finder” Missions: SIRTF, SOFIA, Astro-F/IRIS, and WISE.  While our focus here has been on high angular resolution, we should not forget to mention the suite of new low angular resolution capabilities that in part serve as the “finder” telescopes that will produce the targets to be pursued with the next generation of high angular resolution missions.

SIRTF (Space InfaRared Telescope Facility) was launched by NASA in 2003, as this manuscript was being written in fact. SIRTF is a 0.85 m telescope in a heliocentric Earth-trailing orbit which feeds three instruments covering 3-180 $`\mu `$m in eight photometric bands and the 5-40 $`\mu `$m range with R=100/600 spectroscopy. SIRTF’s mission will last 2.5-5 years. SOFIA (Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy) is US-German venture consisting of a 2.7 m telescope mounted in an airborne 747SP flying at 39,000-45,000 feet. The telescope is optimized for mid- to far-infrared operations (diffraction-limited beyond 10-15 $`\mu `$m) and the instrument suite covers the full spectral range from 0.3-1600 $`\mu `$m at a variety of imaging bands and with varied spectral resolution from R=1000 to $`>`$10,000. First light is expected in 2005 with a 20-25 year lifetime. SOFIA’s sensitivity is intermediate between those of IRAS and SIRTF, but with spatial resolution a factor of 3-5 better than SIRTF. Goals common to both SIRTF and SOFIA include studies of star-forming regions, searches for young super-planets and brown dwarfs, detailed study of proto-planetary and debris disks, and assessment of the dust and gas disk frequency with age. Particularly exciting on these missions are the spectroscopic capabilities which will give us a detailed look at the mineralogy and rich chemistry in disks.

Japan’s Astro-F or IRIS (InfraRed Imaging Surveyor) is a 0.7 m telescope in a polar orbit planned for around 2006. Over 2.5-5 years, with one instrument it will conduct a low-resolution, 30-50”, all-sky survey at 50 and 200 $`\mu `$m while with a second instrument it will obtain pointed observations at higher resolution, 2”, through filters ranging from 2-26 $`\mu `$m. WISE (Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer) or NGSS as it was formerly known, is a proposed 4-band 3.5-23 $`\mu `$m all-sky survey at 5-10” resolution for launch by NASA in 2008 to a polar orbit. On a 6-12 month mission this 0.5 m telescope will reach all-sky sensitivities in the mid-infrared comparable to those of the optical SDSS.

SIRTF and SOFIA are pointed observatories while Astro-F and WISE are all-sky surveys. Collectively, these relatively low spatial resolution infrared missions will provide a wealth of targets for follow-up study with the next generation of high angular resolution facilities where, for example, newly found companions to Sun-like stars can be characterized and newly discovered disks can have their composition and structure as a function of disk radius understood.

### 2.2. Mid-term Future Capabilities

These are the beneficiaries of the aforementioned “finder” missions. I have only one space-based mission and some interesting prospects for the ground to discuss in this category of 8-15 years hence facilities.

The next generation space telescope (NGST) has been re-named JWST and is presently a 5.6 m segmented mirror telescope. JWST will be passively cooled at its L2 orbit, feeding three instruments that will obtain photometry and (multi-object) spectroscopy at resolution several hundred to several thousand. Covering 1-28 $`\mu `$m the near-infrared field of view is 5’ and the mid-infrared 1.5’. Launch is presently scheduled for 2011 with a 5-10 year mission anticipated. The detectors will suffer backgrounds 6 orders of magnitude lower in the thermal infrared compared to ground-based facilities and will achieve nano-Jansky (1-3 $`\mu `$m near-infrared) to better than micro-Jansky (10-20 $`\mu `$m) sensitivities. JWST’s objectives are to detect the “first (near-infrared) light” from primordial stars and galaxies and to measure the creation of the first heavy elements. However, it will also have a strong program of general astrophysics related to star and planet formation including measurement of the stellar/sub-stellar mass function in extreme star-forming environments, determination of the minimum mass that can freely fragment from a molecular cloud, and studies of gas and dust disks around young stars. JWST is a NASA, ESA, and CSA partnership.

Now what about the ground? Our premier large-aperture ground-based facilities (Keck I and II at 10m, Subaru at 8m, Very Large Telescopes 1-4 and Gemini North and South all at 8m, and the forthcoming South African Large Telescope at 11 m) are envisioned to lead to a next generation of telescopes that may be 15-20 m (e.g. the single aperture LAT and VLOT or the multiple aperture 20-20 concepts) to 30 m (CELT or GSMT) or even larger 50-100 m (Euro50 or OWL) in size. Of great amusement is the comparison of one of these behemoths to a modern day sports stadium where the aperture and supporting structure takes up the majority of a rugby, soccer, or football field and the telescope enclosure is nearly the size of the entire stadium. We have quite a bit of technology development and ingenious engineering on the large telescope design and development agenda.

Speaking more seriously now about the comparative advantages of the ground and of space, it is important to note that there are complementary roles to be played by a 20-30 m ground-based facility and a 5-6 m space-based facility. For imaging, while the near-infrared (1-2.5 $`\mu `$m) sensitivities of, as examples, a 30 m ground-based telescope and a 6 m space-based telescope are similar in the background-limited case, with diffraction-limited performance the 30 m has better spatial resolution by the ratio of the aperture sizes, or approximately a factor of 5. Since we will always build bigger light buckets on the ground than we send into space, this advantage should be maintained. In the mid-infrared ($`>`$3 $`\mu `$m) ground-based sensitivity is not competitive with that available from space. However, as mentioned above, the ground-based spatial resolution will always be better in the diffraction-limited case. Further, other capabilities such as high dispersion mid-infrared spectroscopy may become available only from the ground. For near-infrared spectroscopy, at moderate spectral resolution R$``$4000, the “air glow” due mainly to OH emission lines is suppressed in the red optical and near-infrared which means that traditional backgrounds are reduced (by a factor of $``$30) making the ground competitive with space. Further, truly high dispersion spectrographs or other specialized capabilities such as integral field units are unlikely to be built as space instruments, defining yet other niches for the ground. These trades between wavelength and spectral resolution have been quantified by the CELT and GSMT projects. Great complementarity is expected between the next generation of 30 m ground and 5-6 m space facilities from 1-25 $`\mu `$m.

### 2.3. Far-term Future Capabilities

It is never too early to plan for the future according to some financial advisors, and the same may be said for big-ticket space facilities paid for with public money. In the era of longterm strategic planning that is presently fashionable in science, there is always an identified horizon filled with the necessary as well as the exotica. Mission concepts which have emerged thus far in the $`>`$15-20 year time frame are a combination of both.

NASA’s Terrestrial Planet Finder (TPF) and ESA’s Darwin mission both have as their primary goal the discovery and characterization of Earth-like, potentially habitable planets. TPF is being studied as either an infrared (7-20 $`\mu `$m) separated spacecraft interferometer achieving nulling to one part in 106 and detecting planets via their thermal emission, or an optical wavelength coronograph expecting starlight suppression to one part in 109 and detecting planets via reflected light from the central star. TPF is aiming for 2015 launch into either L2 or an Earth-trailing orbit. Darwin is cast as a six-element infrared interferometer plus central beam combiner planned for 2015 or later and also located at L2. The potential for collaboration between these missions is to be encouraged, given their great expense and vast scientific overlap. Achieving the first of their goals means that a statistically significant number of stars must be surveyed and the observations must be capable of discovering Earths located in the “habitable zone” of liquid water existence. The second goal, characterization of Earth-like planets requires a search for atmospheres, habitability, and perhaps even biosignatures through indicators such as CO2, H2O, N2O, O2, O3, and CH4; these molecules in particular were all seen by the Mars Express Mission as it looked back and took a spectrum of Earth just before this meeting (July 2003). For more general astrophysics purposes, it should be appreciated that these missions will have spatial resolution 10-100 times that of JWST and are thus capable of far more star and planet formation science than just their articulated primary goals.

At short wavelengths, the Space UltraViolet Optical (SUVO) telescope is a conceived successor to Hubble (HST) operating in the ultraviolet and visible range. While focusing on the evolution of the first galaxies, quasars, and stars, this observatory would also provide substantial high spatial resolution ($`<`$30 mas) capability for star and planet formation studies over the needed wide fields ($`>`$10’). A 4-8m (deployable optics) aperture is envisioned with launch hoped for by the end of next decade.

At long wavelengths, the Single Aperture Far-InfraRed (SAFIR) observatory and the Submillimeter Probe of Early Cosmological Structure (SPECS) offer our first chance for truly high spatial resolution in the far infrared. SAFIR is a follow-on to NGST, SIRTF/Herschel, and SOFIA, an 8-10 m telescope operating from $``$20-500$`+\mu `$m (diffraction-limited beyond 40 $`\mu `$m) with both imaging and R$``$1000 spectroscopy. Both filled and sparse-aperture mirrors are being explored. The facility is expected to be limited only by astrophysical backgrounds (zodiacal light, galactic cirrus, and the cosmic microwave background) and thus will achieve heretofore unrealized sensitivity in the mid- and far-infrared. Launch is contemplated for the 2015-2020 time frame to L2. SPECS intends to operate several 1 km baselines and achieve HST-like resolution (50 mas) in the far-infrared, a truly remarkable capability, if realized. Science goals of SAFIR and SPECS include study of the interstellar medium in star-forming regions, protostellar objects, and the more evolved proto-planetary and debris disks.

### 2.4. Dreamland

There are a few concepts even further afield than the somewhat mature but still developing and evolving mission concepts outlined above. Planet Imager and Life Finder are two in the NASA long term plan, with launch dates approaching 2050. Planet Imager hopes to obtain spatially resolved images of planets orbiting other stars while Life Finder is a spectroscopy mission geared towards finding signatures of life (biomarkers).

## 3. Concluding Remarks

As reviewed in this talk, there are a variety of high angular resolution techniques or proxies thereof under development, or just coming online now, that are of interest for star and planet formation studies. Direct imaging with large apertures, interferometry, high dispersion spectroscopy, and transit photometry are among the maturing technologies. A series of ground-based telescope concepts and space mission concepts are waiting in line over the next several decades for their turn to implement these technologies and techniques. How do we decide as a community what capabilities to pursue? In order to secure either public or private funding at the scale needed to carry out our current plans and dreams there must exist an alignment of the following four concepts:

* important science questions
* technological readiness
* cost
* correspondence with strategic goals

We astronomers are fortunate to live in a time when this is not only possible, but desired and expected by the science-consuming public at large. Complementary science will be done from the ground and from space with the next generation facilities. Another general conclusion from the present survey of the future is that L2 has the potential to become quite crowded by about 2020!

#### Acknowledgments.

I am grateful to the following for providing some of the slide material used in this talk: Mike Devirian, Mark McCaughrean, Richard Ellis, Alycia Weinberger and of course the WWW at large. I also wish to commend Hans Zinnecker for his statement during the conference summary talk about a talk not being a paper; in this instance even a conference talk proceedings is not a comprehensive paper on the topic at hand! Finally, my gratitude to the conference organizers for the invitation to experience Oz.