text:
# Information theory in high energy physics (extensive and nonextensive approach)

## 1 Introduction

High energy multiparticle production processes are most naturally described by statistical models (see  for a historical background and  for the most recent developments). Their results are usually interpreted in the thermodynamical sense, with temperature $`T`$ and chemical potential $`\mu `$ entering with their usual meaning. However, it has been recognized that in this branch of physics one very frequently encounters ”thermal-like” form of distributions in some variable $`x`$, say $`\mathrm{exp}(x/T)`$, without system under consideration being in any kind of thermal equilibrium . It is enough that out of the huge number of produced secondaries only some part is registered by detectors, and out of them only one or two are selected for final scrutiny. The averaging emerging this way is then equivalent to the action of some ”heat bath” characterized by parameter $`T`$. Once this is realized it is then obvious that there are situations in which such ”heat bath” is more complicated (for example nonextensive) and needs additional parameter(s) to be described properly . In this way the nonextensive Tsallis statistics characterised by the non-extensivity parameter $`q`$ enters in a natural way . On the other hand, such apparently ”thermal-like” behaviour of some distributions arises very naturally in many physical applications of information theory (MaxEnt)  (with Shannon form of the corresponding information entropy, its nonextensive form uses Tsallis entropy characterised by the same parameter $`q`$ as mentioned above, such that for $`q1`$ one recovers the usual Shannon entropy).

## 2 Results

The usefulness of information theory is most obvious in situations when one has to ”guess” the most probable (and least biased) distribution $`p(x)`$ of some quantity $`x`$ using only limited amount of information given in terms of finite number $`n`$ of some observables: $`R_{k=1,\mathrm{},n}=R_k(x)`$ ($`p(x)`$ is normalized to unity and average $`\mathrm{}`$ is with respect to $`p(x)`$ in extensive and to $`[p(x)]^q`$ in nonextensive approaches, respectively . In high energy multiparticle production processes it allows to find, in a maximally model independent way, the real information content of the experimental data considered . From  we know therefore that: $`(i)`$ \- particles produced in high energy collisions are mostly located in one dimensional phase space, i.e., they have limited transverse (with respect to collision axis) momenta $`p_T`$ ($`p_T`$ is finite) and are fully characterized by their longitudinal momenta $`p_L=\mu _T\mathrm{sinh}y`$ 111Here $`\mu _T=\sqrt{\mu ^2+p_T^2}`$ is the so called transverse mass of particle with mass $`\mu `$ and transverse momentum $`p_T`$ and $`y`$ denotes rapidity of the particle, variable defined in such way that its energy is $`E=\mu _T\mathrm{cosh}y`$.; $`(ii)`$ \- only fraction $`K(0,1)`$ (called inelasticity) of the initially available energy $`W`$ is converted into produced particles. As was shown recently by us  the fact that multiplicity distribution of produced secondaries is no longer of Poissonian type but follows much broader Negative Binomial (NB) form can be accounted for only by using nonextensive approach with $`q`$ given by the parameter $`k`$ of NB, $`q=1+1/k`$, which represents the amount of dynamical fluctuations in the number of produced secondaries .

We are usually interested in single particle rapidity distributions, which in the information theory approach are given by

$$p(y)=\frac{1}{N}\frac{dN}{dy}=\frac{1}{Z_q}\mathrm{exp}_q\left(\beta _q\mu _T\mathrm{cosh}y\right).$$
(1)
This form is identical with that used in statistical models but now $`Z_q`$ and $`\beta _q`$ are no longer free parameters to be fitted when comparing with experimental data but instead are given by the normalization condition and energy conservation constraint,

$$_{Y_m}^{Y_m}𝑑yp(y)=\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}1}\mathrm{and}_{Y_m}^{Y_m}𝑑y\mu _T\mathrm{cosh}y[p(y)]^q=\frac{\kappa _qW}{N}$$
(2)
(where $`\pm Y_m`$ are maximal rapidities available in rest frame of hadronizing source, see  for details). There are therefore two parameters: nonextensivity $`q`$ responsible for dynamical fluctuations and $`q`$-inelasticity $`\kappa _q`$ to be deduced directly from data essentially in a model independent way 222 Here $`\mathrm{exp}_q\left(x/\mathrm{\Lambda }\right)=\left[1+(1q)x/\mathrm{\Lambda }\right]^{1/(1q)}\stackrel{q1}{}\mathrm{exp}(x/\mathrm{\Lambda })`$). Possible question concerning physical meaning of $`\kappa _q`$ for $`q1`$ case is solved by noticing  that the inelasticity parameter in this case, which has physical meaning, is $`K_q=\kappa _q/(32q)`$..

This method works perfectly well for $`pp`$ and $`\overline{p}p`$ collisions , cf. Fig. 1a (where it provides us with the first model independent estimations of energy dependence of the mean inelasticity parameter and with its distribution). Here we show that it works also quite well for similar data on rapidity distributions obtained in $`Au+Au`$ collisions, cf. Fig. 1b. The $`Au+Au`$ data are for the most central events (covering collisions proceeding with impact parameter range $`06\%`$). They can be fitted choosing $`K_q=1`$ and then $`q=1.29`$, $`1.26`$ and $`1.27`$ for energies $`19.6`$, $`130`$ and $`200`$ GeV, respectively (the $`q`$-inelasticity was therefore equal to $`\kappa _q=0.42`$, $`0.48`$ and $`0.46`$)333 Actually data in Fig. 1b. are presented for the so called pseudorapidity $`\eta `$ defind not by energy $`E`$ and longitudinal momentum $`p_L`$ as is the case of rapidity $`y`$ but by total momentum $`p`$ and longitudinal momentum $`p_L`$ instead.. The most interesting are, however, results for $`e^+e^{}`$ annihilations (cf. Fig. 1c) for which, by definition, $`K_q=1`$ (i.e., always all energy of initial leptons is available for the production of secondaries) and which can be fitted only with $`q<1`$ (in our case $`q=0.6`$).

This point deserves closer scrutiny. One could argue that because fit in Fig. 1c is not perfect (there are some discrepances for small rapidities and there is a tail at large values of $`y`$) there is nothing to be said before they are not addressed. But results for $`q=1`$ clearly show that these discrepancies are not connected with the particular value of $`q`$ but rather with some additional mechanisms operating here action of which would, however, change our results only slightly (for example, a possibility of two rather than one source or $`y`$-dependent $`p_T`$, as mentioned already in ). With the above reservations let us then take a closer look at the possible origin of $`q<1`$. We have already encountered similar situation when in  we have fitted single particle distributions assuming implicitely that $`K_q=1`$ and discovering then that one could get fairly good agreement with data for $`q<1`$ only. That was because in this case only $`q<1`$ leads effectively to cutting-off a part of the phase space (once it is taken too big) mimicking therefore action of the inelasticity parameter (cf. ). On the other hand, we know that $`q1`$ signals presence of fluctuations in the system  and is given by normalized variations of these fluctuations, in our case they would be fluctuations of temperature $`T=1/\beta `$ parameter. So far it was widely discussed only for the $`q>1`$ case  but formally it covers the $`q<1`$ case as well, cf. . However, in this case temperature $`T`$ does not reach an equilibrium state because in this case

$$T=T_0(1q)E$$
(3)
instead reamining constant, $`T=T_0`$, as is the case for $`q>1`$. In this case we have a kind of dissipative transfer of energy from the region where (due to fluctuations) the temperature $`T`$ is higher (for example, in our case from the quark ($`q`$) and antiquark ($`\overline{q}`$) jets formed in the first $`e^+e^{}q+\overline{q}`$ to gluons and $`q\overline{q}`$ pairs and later on to finally observed hadrons). It means therefore that $`q<1`$ signals that in the reaction considered, where $`K_q=1`$ and we have to account for the whole energy exactly, conservation laws start to be important and it is not possible for stationary state with constant final temperature to develop but temperature $`T`$ depends on the energy444 Actually, when fluctuations depend on it in the same way the relative variance $`\omega `$ remains constant and $`q=1\omega `$, cf. . and for large energies tends to zero (notice that from eq. (3) one has limitation on the allowed energy of the secondaries: $`ET_0/(1q)`$)555 Notice that analysis of $`p_T`$ distribution in the same process using a kind of $`q`$-version of Hagedorn model  reports $`q>1`$ instead. This is, however, what we call $`q_T`$ in  and this is different from $`q`$ considered here (called $`q_L`$ in , where we compared both $`q`$’s for $`p\overline{p}`$ collisions). The reason for such different behaviour is that $`p_T`$’s considered there are essentially not influenced by conservation laws but, in our language here, reflect instead a kind of stationary state with $`q>1`$ and energy independent $`T`$..

## 3 Summary

We have demonstrated that information theory (know also as MaxEnt method) can play very important role in high energy physics providing simple, highly model independent, estimations of single particle distributions and allowing to reliably estimate the amount of information provided by experimental data. Its nonextensive version extends applicablity range of MaxEnt by including also some intrinsic fluctuations in the hadronizing system visible as broadening of the multiplicity distributions. As was shown here, single particle distribution data on all kinds of collisions, starting form very elementary $`e^+e^{}`$ annihilations, via $`pp`$ and $`\overline{p}p`$ collisions, and ending with the most complicated heavy ion scatterings, can be described by formula (1) depending on very limited number of parameters: inelasticity $`K`$ and nonextensivity parameter $`q`$. Fairly good fits were obtained in all cases. To proceed further one should concentrate now on these parts of the phase space where discrepancies occur and then introduce one-by-one some additional hypothesis and check whether they lead to the better agreement with data (see, for, example ). Such approach allows to avoid assumptions, which whereas looking promising, are not justified.

Acknowledgments: Partial support of the Polish State Committee for Scientific Research (KBN) (grant 2P03B04123 (ZW) and grants 621/E-78/SPUB/CERN/P-03/DZ4/99 and 3P03B05724 (GW)) is acknowledged.


format: text

text:
# A Multi-Year Photometric Study of IC 348

## 1 Introduction

It is well known that T Tauri stars (TTS) vary on many timescales, both periodicially and irregularly. While a few photometric or spectroscopic observations can give us valuable “snapshot” information about the characteristics of these objects, more extended monitoring is needed to observe their full range of behavior and, ultimately, to understand it. By analyzing changes in light curves over several years, we hope to gain an improved understanding of the physical mechanisms affecting the light of TTS. While this endeavor requires large amounts of telescope time, CCD’s have rendered such monitoring feasible with relatively small telescopes. For over a decade, the 0.6m telescope at Van Vleck Observatory, located on the campus of Wesleyan University, has been used to monitor several nearby extremely young open clusters. This consistent coverage facilitates a detailed study of a significant number of TTS over time. Here we present results based on five years of monitoring the nearby young open cluster IC 348.

IC 348 is an ideal target for a variability study for several reasons. It is both nearby and extremely young. Its distance is 260$`\pm `$25 pc as calculated from *Hipparcos* parallaxes (Scholz et al., 1999) or 316 pc as determined by Herbig (1998) using main sequence fitting. The uncertainty in distance contributes to an uncertainty in age. According to the models of D’Antona & Mazzitelli (1994), the median age of the pre-main sequence stars in IC 348 is between 1.3 and 3 million years. Photometric and spectroscopic observations of this cluster ranging across the electromagnetic spectrum have been amassed over the last decade. These include photometry and spectroscopy in the near-infrared by Lada & Lada (1995) and Luhman et al. (1998, 2003), and in the visual wavelength range by Trullols & Jordi (1997) and Herbig (1998). A wealth of X-ray data has been obtained from *ROSAT* (Preibisch, Zinnecker & Herbig, 1996) and *Chandra* (Preibisch & Zinnecker, 2002). Membership probabilities have been determined by Scholz et al. (1999) from a proper motion survey, and a search for binaries using adaptive optics has been performed by Duchene, Bouvier & Simon (1999).

Results of the first six-month observing season of photometric monitoring of IC 348 at Van Vleck Observatory were presented by Herbst, Maley & Williams (2000). Here we present the results of four additional seasons of monitoring and discuss all of the data, with the aim of clarifying the nature of several different types of TTS variability over this timespan. In addition to identifying new periodic and irregular variables, it is now possible to examine gradual changes in their light curves which may not be detected by observations which range over only one or two years. Also, the determination of periods and phasing of light curves using observations from each season separately allows the first consistent observational investigation of the stability of TTS rotation periods and a search for spot cycles. While Smith (1994) has claimed that TTS may exhibit differential rotation as dramatic as that of the sun, more recent studies, both observational (Johns-Krull, 1996; Bouvier et al., 1995) and theoretical (Kuker & Rudiger, 1997), suggest that TTS rotate essentially as rigid bodies across their surfaces. One of the goals of this study, made possible by its extended duration, is to empirically determine or constrain the degree to which TTS rotate differentially. In addition, our data are useful for characterizing stars as WTTS and CTTS and for probing the distinctions between them. In section 2 we discuss the observations and initial data reduction. In section 3 we identify periodic variables and describe their characteristics. Non-periodic variables, including the unusual eclipsing star HMW 15, are discussed in section 4. In section 5, we summarize our findings and suggest some areas which would be useful for further study.

## 2 Observations and Data Reduction

The observations were obtained between 10 December 1998 and 26 March 2003 with a 1024 $`\times `$ 1024 Photometrics CCD attached to the 0.6m telescope at Van Vleck Observatory, located on the campus of Wesleyan University. Each pixel covers 0.6$`\mathrm{}`$ so our field of view is 10.2$`\mathrm{}`$ on a side. On each clear night, a sequence of 5 one-minute exposures was taken through the Cousins I filter, as well as twilight flats, bias frames, and dark frames. When possible, this sequence was repeated more than once per night. Preliminary reductions were accomplished using standard IRAF tasks, and each set of five images was added together and shifted to the same position to within less than one pixel, creating one combined image with an effective exposure time of five minutes and an increased dynamic range. A log of our observations is presented in Table 1. The sample of 151 stars is the same identified by Herbst, Maley & Williams (2000), but the coordinates given there were erroneous and have been corrected in Table 2.

Before performing differential aperture photometry, all images with seeing worse than the chosen aperture radius of 6 pixels (3.6$`\mathrm{}`$) were rejected. Seeing in the remaining images ranges from 1.5$`\mathrm{}`$ to 3.5$`\mathrm{}`$, with a median value of 2.5$`\mathrm{}`$. Photometry was performed using the APPHOT package in IRAF, and the median level of the sky background was determined using an annulus with inner and outer radii of 10 and 15 pixels respectively. There are some stars in our field whose photometry may be suspect because of their proximity to other stars, and a list of these objects can be found in Herbst, Maley & Williams (2000). They are also noted in Table 2.

Since our observations range over a five year period, it was desirable to determine a set of stable comparison stars which could be used over this entire timespan. The comparison stars used by Herbst, Maley & Williams (2000)) did not fulfill this criterion, as they found that two of their comparison stars actually varied over small ranges. To determine a single, consistent set of comparison stars for the entire observing interval, we began by finding a set of stable comparison stars for one season alone (1999-2000). All stars which could not be measured photometrically on every night of observation were eliminated from the list of potential comparison stars, and an initial reference magnitude was defined by the remaining stars. The remaining stars with the greatest variability were eliminated, and this process was repeated until a final list emerged with nine stars. This procedure was repeated independently for a second season (2001-2002) and the two seasons had six comparison stars in common. These six stars were subjected to our selection method for the remaining three seasons, and fortunately showed the same level of stability. Using this method, which is not biased towards stellar characteristics such as spectral type or cluster membership, we emerged with stars 3, 7, 8, 10, 13, and 17 as our set of comparison stars for all five seasons. While two of the comparison stars (13 and 17) show a slight trend in their magnitudes over the five-year course of the observations, their influence on the resulting differential magnitudes is negligible for two reasons. First, the two stars change magnitudes in opposite directions, both remaining within a range of 0.05 mag. Second, when averaged together with the other four comparison stars, deviations from season to season are diluted to a level of below 0.01 mag. It is unclear whether these drifts are due to real variations of the stars or small changes in the wavelength dependence of the sensitivity function of the telescope, filter, and detection system over time.

All six comparison stars display a standard deviation of under 0.01 magnitudes in each season, and their stability can be understood a posteriori as a result of their physical characteristics. Five of the six stars are cluster members with spectral types earlier then G1, implying that they are on or close to the main sequence and can be expected to be relatively stable photometrically, and the sixth star (17) has been identified as a nonmember by Scholz et al. (1999). This set of comparison stars should, therefore, prove useful for future variability studies in this cluster.

Differential magnitudes on the instrumental system (*i*) were computed for each star on each night relative to the average magnitude of the comparison stars. These were then transformed to a standard I magnitude (*I*) adopting the color term derived by Herbst, Maley & Williams (2000). The adopted transformation is:

$$\text{I}=\text{i}+12.074+0.099(\text{R}\text{I})$$

Average *I* magnitudes over the entire five years of observation are given in table 2, along with the R-I colors used for the transformation. R-I values are taken from Herbig (1998), whose photometric system matches ours best, when available and from Trullols & Jordi (1997) otherwise. For the three stars with known spectral types from the literature but no R-I colors (53, 69, and 88), R-I values were taken as an average of several stars in our sample with similar magnitudes and spectral types. For the remaining 22 stars, R-I was assumed to be 2.00, which (while less than ideal) will suffice as an approximation since most of these stars are relatively faint (*I*$`>`$15.0). Stars with assumed, as opposed to measured, R-I values are indicated by parentheses in table 2. The designations used here are cross-referenced with those used in recent studies by Luhman et al. (1998, 2003).

In addition to the average magnitude, we also give in table 2 the standard deviation ($`\sigma `$) for each star based on its photometric scatter. These values allow us to identify non-periodic variable stars (see section 4), and such objects are signified by the label “var” in the column labeled “Period”. The time series data were also searched for periodicity, as will be described in section 3. When significant periodicity was detected, the period is given in table 2. In the case of stars for which slightly different periods were found in different observing seasons, which will be discussed in detail in section 3, the given period is an average over all five years of observation. Note that periodic stars are easier to detect as variables than stars which vary irregularly because their variations are concentrated in a narrow band in frequency space. Therefore, all stars are searched for periodicity, not just those whose $`\sigma `$ values mark them as variable.

## 3 Periodic Stars

### 3.1 Determination of Periods and Properties of Periodic Stars

To search for periodicity, the periodogram function was calculated for each star in our sample using the method of Scargle (1982), as formulated by Horne & Baliunas (1986). Since our data ranges over a timespan of 4.5 years, this function could be calculated for each observing season separately as well as for the entire duration of the observations. We used the following criteria to assess whether a star should be regarded as periodic. First, it must have a peak in its power spectrum with a power greater than 7.0, corresponding to a false alarm probability (FAP, as defined by Horne & Baliunas (1986)) below 2%. Second, it must possess one or both of the following attributes: i) a well-defined light curve characterized by small scatter and accompanied by a strong peak in the periodogram in at least one season, or ii) the highest peak in the periodogram (exceeding a power of 7.0) recurring in multiple seasons. Based on these criteria, we have detected periods for 28 stars in our sample. Nine of these represent new detections, and the remaining 19 were discovered by Herbst, Maley & Williams (2000).

It is interesting to note that our sample is remarkably unambiguous with respect to periodicity. All stars which were periodic in one season were periodic, with very similar periods, in at least one additional season except for one (star 47, which is discussed in section 4), and half of the periodic stars were so-identified in all five seasons. Fig. 1 shows a histogram of the number of seasons in which a star was detected as periodic. A search was also performed for stars with smaller peaks in their power spectra, falling slightly below our criteria, but which might recur. This was done by multiplying the power spectra from all five seasons at each frequency and searching for peaks in the result. No additional periodic stars were found through this method, supporting our choice of selection criteria for periodicity. It appears that periods of periodic variables in IC 348 are very stable, as is quantified below, and that our procedure for identifying them is effective and efficient.

The distribution of periods in our sample is shown in Fig. 2 along with the period distributions of the Orion Nebula Cluster (ONC) from Herbst et al. (2002) and Taurus (Bouvier, 1990). The distributions shown are, in all cases, for stars with masses above 0.25 M, a criterion fulfilled by all the stars in our sample except for one (star 42). The significance of this division, which is equivalent to a spectral type of M2 according to the models of D’Antona & Mazzitelli (1994), is that in the ONC stars below this mass have shorter periods and show a unimodal rather than a bimodal period distribution (Herbst et al., 2000). While the number of periodic stars in IC 348 and Taurus-Auriga are too small to be clearly distinguishable as unimodal or bimodal, the IC 348 distribution shares three characteristics with the ONC and Taurus samples. These are: i) an absence of periods shorter than one day, ii) a relative deficiency of periods between four and five days, and iii) a small number of periods greater than ten days. More quantitatively, a two-sided Kolmogorov-Smirnov test (Press et al., 1992) reveals that there is a 65% chance that the period distributions of IC 348 and the ONC came from the same parent population, and a 53% chance for IC 348 and Taurus. Given the dramatic differences between the environments of the ONC, the Taurus-Auriga association, and IC 348, this similarity in period distributions has an interesting implication. It appears that environmental factors such as stellar density or the presence of hot stars and ionized gas have little or no effect on the distribution of rotation periods for pre-main sequence stars with masses above 0.25 M.

In Fig. 3 we show the full range of variability for the periodic stars as a function of spectral type. It is clear that most of the periodic stars have spectral classes from K to early M, which is typical of TTS in general. The absence of later-type periodic stars is a selection effect. They are too faint for us to obtain sufficiently reliable photometry at Wesleyan to find periods. The relatively small number of G-type periodic variables and their small amplitudes is in basic agreement with what is found for PMS variability in general (Herbst et al., 1994).

In Fig. 4 we show that there is an interesting correlation between rotation period (or frequency = 1/P) and spectral type in the sense that more massive stars rotate faster. Herbst, Maley & Williams (2000) suggested a possible correlation between mass and rotation period, which is equivalent to a correlation between spectral type and rotation period. While the sample may be too small to be definitive, it is nonetheless a striking correlation. A non-parametric (Spearman) rank-order test (Press et al., 1992) indicates that spectral type is correlated with rotation in these data at a significance level of 99.7%. Herbst et al. (2001) showed that in the ONC, stars with spectral types later than M2 also rotate faster, as a group, than the mid-K to M2 stars. It appears, therefore, that mid-K and early M stars define a minimum in rotation rate among PMS stars of ONC and IC 348 age. Both G stars and stars later than M2 (at least in the ONC) appear to spin faster, on the whole, although a wide range in spin rate certainly exists among PMS stars of all spectral classes. Since disk-locking (Kon̈igl, 1991; Ostriker & Shu, 1995) is widely regarded as the braking mechanism for PMS stars, it appears that it is most effective in the mid-K to early M spectral regime, i.e. for masses $``$0.5 M.

### 3.2 Evolution of Light Curve Shapes

Since our data extend over 4.5 years, it is possible to examine how the light curves of periodic variables evolve on that timescale. Very little work has been done with regard to this question, a notable exception being the WTTS V410 Tau (Vrba, Herbst & Booth, 1988; Herbst, 1989; Grankin, 1999; Stelzer et al., 2003). One might expect both evolution of light curve shapes and changes in period, assuming TTS have some differential rotation. Light curve shapes should evolve as the spots change size, shape, temperature, or location, and a latitudinal migration of spots could cause changes in period. It would, of course, be very interesting to find any cyclic pattern which could be interpreted as evidence for a magnetic cycle. For these reasons, we have carefully examined the data on our 28 periodic variables with respect to changes in period and light curve shape.

We began the analysis by searching for a single period which could be used to phase the entire data set for each star. This was done by evaluating a single periodogram for each star based on all five observing seasons. As noted above, we found that, in most cases, there was not a single strong peak at one frequency but several closely-spaced smaller peaks. In no case could we find a period that produced a single convincing light curve when used to phase the data over the entire time span. Evidently, the spots on all of these stars evolve on timescales of less than a few years, affecting either the period or the phase of minimum light or both. In every case, we found that light curves phased using periods determined from individual seasons independently were clearly superior to any combined light curve spanning all five seasons. For this reason, we present the data as individual light curves for each season, plotted with the best period (as indicated by the periodogram) for that season. If a star did not have a peak in its periodogram meeting our criteria in a particular season, a period from another season was used to phase the light curve, and that period is given in parentheses in the figures. Light curves for 10 of the 28 periodic stars in our sample are shown in Fig. 5. We have chosen to show the most well defined or otherwise interesting light curves. The full set of data may be obtained electronically by anonymous ftp to ftp.www.astro.wesleyan.edu. The files are in the directory bill/ic348/.

Considering the most stable stars first, we note that 4 of the 28 periodic stars in our sample (16, 49, 69, and 134) had identical periods detected in all five seasons. However, even these variables have light curves which show changes in shape, amplitude, and average magnitude between observing seasons. Star 16 is the best example of stability in our sample (see Fig. 5), and even in its case there are obvious changes in the shape of the light curve and the phase of minimum light from season to season which no refinement in the period can eliminate. Not a single star showed a precisely repeating light curve even from one season to the next, implying that the longest time that a given starspot configuration can remain stable enough to produce a completely coherent light curve is between $``$0.5-1.0 years. For some stars, periods are detected in some seasons but not in others (e.g. star 12 in Fig. 5). In these cases, the spot patterns on the stars evidently do not always remain stable for even the length of an observing season. The stars most likely remain spotted, but the spot pattern must evolve such that a single period cannot be determined over six consecutive months of observation. It is clear from these data that spots evolve in terms of size, shape or distribution on typical timescales of weeks to months ($``$few to tens of rotation periods), and we will now analyze the changes in starspot configuration in more detail.

### 3.3 Spot Cycles?

The changes in the light curves of the periodic stars in our sample can be accounted for by changes in starspot coverage and/or configuration, and one aspect of this phenomenon which remains relatively unexplored is cyclic behavior. Since the sun displays cycles of magnetic activity on multiple timescales, the occurence or lack of occurence of such a phenomenon on pre-main sequence stars may shed some light on the physical mechanisms operating within these young solar analogs. To investigate the extent to which spots on periodic TTS might exhibit cyclic behavior, the average magnitude was compared with the amplitude of each periodic star in each season in Fig. 6. The movement of stars in the range-$``$I$``$ plane can be used to address the question of whether the total area covered by spots changes with time, as in the solar cycle, or whether spot redistribution is more important in changing amplitude. In general, the paths of the periodic stars over five observing seasons on Fig. 6 are horizontal. This stability of average magnitude from season to season most likely indicates that spots on TTS tend to redistribute themselves and undergo changes in size, temperature and location rather than appear or disappear *en masse*. If the spot coverage were dramatically different from season to season we would expect the mean magnitude of the stars to fluctuate more than is observed.

There are two stars, 12 and 30, which display potentially cyclic behavior based on their light curves and their movement in the range-$``$I$``$ plane. Their paths in Fig. 6 are shown in bold, and the possible cyclical behavior is also evident in their light curves (see Fig. 5). In both cases, there is a gradual decrease in amplitude of variations, and in the case of star 12, there is no detectable period in the 2000-2001 season before its periodic variations return in the remaining two seasons. Interestingly, when star 12 loses its periodicity, it remains stable at the fainter end of its magnitude range, not the brighter portion as would be expected based on a disappearance of cool spots. It is possible, of course, that this could also be due to a redistribution of spots. Star 30 exhibits the greatest change in range in our sample, although this is primarily caused by only two observations in the 2001-2002 season. As with star 12, its range variations make sense when viewed in the context of its light curves. However, having seen only one episode of spot disappearance and reappearance in each of these cases, neither constitutes solid evidence for a repeating cycle. Although it is entirely possible that spot cycles on WTTS are either too long or too short to be detectable in our data set, our findings are consistent with those of Kuker & Rudiger (1997), whose models of rotating T Tauri stars were not capable of producing the type of magnetic dynamo which would generate cyclical changes in spot configuration. Since the sun exhibits spot cycles on multiple timescales, the shortest of which lasts approximately eleven years, continued monitoring will be useful to confirm and extend these results.

### 3.4 Stability of Periods

As discussed previously, it was not possible to find a single period to coherently phase together all the data of any star in our sample. In all but four cases, we found that different periods in different seasons were definitely required (in the other four cases one need only adjust the phase of the light curves, not the period). On this basis we may claim to have detected real changes in periods for most of these stars. However, as is now discussed, the size of these changes is very small and, in fact, on the edge of what can be considered significant. We cannot rule out the possibility that changes in light curve shapes during a season cause most or all of the apparent changes in period detected. The uncertainty in period for any season may be estimated using the method of Kovacs (1981). He relates the error in angular frequency, $`\delta \omega `$, to the amplitude (*A*), the standard deviation of the noise ($`\sigma _N`$), the number of observations (*N*) and the timespan over which the observations were made (*T*) by:

$$\delta \omega =\frac{3\pi \sigma _N}{2T(N)^{1/2}A}$$

Application of this formula to our data suggests that our periods are accurate to between 0.0029 days and 0.26 days, or between 0.13% and 1.58%. The changes in period seen between seasons range from 0 to 2.4% and their cumulative distribution is shown in Fig. 7. While the two largest changes in period would be considered significant based on the error calculated using Kovacs’ formula, we are not entirely convinced that we have detected any real period changes. Examination of the light curves suggests that it is possible that phase changes are responsible for apparent changes in period.

It is well known that, on the sun, the rotation period changes by $``$20% from the equator to the poles. The median observed period change for TTS in our sample is less than 0.8%, suggesting that, unless the latitudes of the spots are confined to a very small range, TTS are significantly more rigid rotators than the sun. This is in agreement with suggestions by Kuker & Rudiger (1997), whose models of rotating TTS displayed differential rotation of under 1%, as well as observational studies by Johns-Krull (1996) and Rice and Strassmeier (1996). Considering this evidence, it seems at least possible, if not likely, that during an observing season, spot configurations can change such that the period which best fits a series of observations shifts very slightly, causing a small shift in the peak seen in the power spectrum. We conclude that there is not yet any incontrovertible evidence for a period change in any TTS. On the contrary, periods appear to be remarkably stable on times of $``$5 yr.

## 4 Non-Periodic Variables

Several classes of non-periodic PMS variability have been identified by various investigators over the years, including FUors, EXors, type II and type III (UXors) variations (Herbig, 1977, 1989; Herbst et al., 1994; Herbst & Shevchenko, 1999). In some cases the time scales for these variations are quite long — years or even decades. In addition, we might expect to find at least some examples of eclipsing variables in a PMS sample, and it would be very important to identify them because of their potential to yield a great deal of otherwise unknowable information including basic stellar parameters such as mass and radius. In this section we describe a search for non-periodic variables in our sample and discuss the properties of those discovered. Most are “normal” (i.e. Type II) irregular variables, typical of CTTS. A couple of possible UXors are also found but no FUor or EXor candidates. Two unusual variable stars (15 and 47) have been discovered which merit particular attention and are discussed separately in what follows.

### 4.1 Identifying Non-Periodic Variables

To characterize the degree of variability of the stars in our sample, we have used the standard deviation $`\sigma _{var}`$ measured over the entire timespan of our data. In Fig. 8 we show log ($`\sigma `$) as a function of brightness. Following Herbst, Maley & Williams (2000) we identify two regions on this diagram. Stars brighter than *I*$``$14 have a constant minimum error ($``$0.007 mag) dominated by systematic effects which are probably related to the flat-fielding process. Fainter stars have an increasing minimum error due to the random effect of photon statistics. The solid line represents a fit to the minimum errors taken from Herbst, Maley & Williams (2000), which also describes our expanded data set well. Four of the bright comparison stars fall below the minimum error line because their differential magnitudes are slightly correlated with their measured brightness on each night.

To identify real variables we have adopted the criterion that a star must vary by more than three times the minimum $`\sigma `$. This condition is shown on Fig. 8 as a dashed line. We regard stars above the line as likely to be real variables. Stars below it, especially fainter ones, may of course also be variables, but we do not have sufficient precision to distingiush them as such, unless they happen to be periodic variables. In that case, they will have already been detected as variables by the more sensitive periodogram technique discussed above. In all, there are 26 stars above the line, of which 10 are periodic variables, leaving 16 “irregular” variables, whose variations are discussed in this section. These stars are identified in Table 2 by a “var” in the column labeled “Period”. A couple of light curves of special interest will be displayed here; all of the data are available through anonymous ftp from ftp.astro.wesleyan.edu, as noted above.

A large majority (11/16) of the irregular variables identified in IC 348 by this study have the spectral characteristics of CTTS (Herbig, 1998). Only 2 are classified as WTTS by Herbig (1998), one is not yet classified and 2 are of G-type. One of the G-type irregular stars (18) is only barely above the line, but the other (15) is extraordinary and discussed in a separate section below. The two WTTS (56 and 101) clearly behave in somewhat anomalous fashion given their spectra; all of the other WTTS above the variability line are periodic variables. We have no explanation for the anomaly and simply note that these two stars may be worth looking at more closely in the future. Finally, one of the periodic TTS (47) shows large amplitude irregular variability as well. First we discuss the common type of variability (CTTS) and then the behavior of the more exotic stars 23 and 47. Finally, we briefly describe the amazing star 15, which has been the subject of a separate contribution (Cohen, Herbst & Williams, 2003).

### 4.2 Typical CTTS behavior: Type II variables

Irregular variability was a defining characteristic of TTS (now CTTS) as originally described by Joy (1942,1945, 1947). Our study strongly supports the perhaps now canonical view that unsteady accretion, presumably from a circumstellar disk, drives these variations. Of the 13 known TTS in our field which could definitely be identified as irregular variables, 11 are CTTS. This is a clear confirmation of the correspondence which exists between an indicator of active accretion (H$`\alpha `$ equivalent width) and irregular variability. For the brighter end of our sample (I $`<`$ 14.3), where we can be reasonably certain that we have identified all of the variable stars present in the field, there are 5 CTTS and every one of them is an irregular variable. The observed correspondence between the spectroscopic signature of a CTTS (equivalent width of H$`\alpha `$ $`>`$ 10 Å) and irregular photometric variability is clear and compelling in this cluster.

Infrared excess emission is also commonly used as an indicator of the presence of a disk and might also, therefore, be expected to correlate with irregular variability. Infrared photometry of IC 348 stars is given by Lada & Lada (1995) in the *J*,*H* and *K* bands. These data can be used in combination with the long-term photometric data which we have amassed to calculate a measure of infrared excess, following Hillenbrand et al. (1998):

$$\mathrm{\Delta }(IK)=(IK)(IK)_00.5A_V$$

The observed *I-K* color is computed from our average *I* magnitudes (taken over all five observing seasons) and the *K* magnitudes of Lada & Lada (1995). The intrinsic *I-K* color is taken from Kenyon & Hartmann (1995) based on the spectral types given by Herbig (1998) or Luhman et al. (1998). The extinction is calculated based on the *V-I* color excess determined using the *V* magnitudes of Herbig (1998) or Trullols & Jordi (1997) otherwise. Again, the calibrations of Kenyon & Hartmann (1995) were used, and the extinction law adopted by Hillenbrand (1997) was used. Infrared excesses were calculated for all stars in our sample which had a spectral type determined by Herbig (1998) or Luhman et al. (1998).

Fig. 9 shows variability, as characterized by $`\sigma `$, versus infrared excess, for all the TTS in our sample, as well as for only the TTS brighter than *I*=14.3, where our identification of irregular variables may be regarded as complete. The large scatter in these plots, including the non-physical phenomenon of infrared deficiencies represented by negative values of $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$(I-K), may result primarily from the non-simultaneity of the optical and infrared measurements. Despite the scatter, additional causes of which will be mentioned below, some weak trends are visible in the full data set. Of the six stars with $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$(I-K)$`>`$0.5, five are CTTS, as one might have expected. Within the cluster as a whole, our data indicate that the CTTS are more variable than the WTTS. These facts are consistent with the canonical view that CTTS variability is due at least partially to unsteady accretion from a circumstellar disk. This becomes more evident when considering only the magnitude-limited sample. In that case, all of the stars with $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$(I-K)$`>`$0.5 are CTTS. It is interesting to note that the periodic WTTS cluster around $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$(I-K)=0. They also appear to be somewhat less variable than the non-periodic WTTS and less likely to have derived infrared excesses below zero. However, these latter two distinctions can be understood as selection effects due to the difficulty in detecting periods in fainter stars, as discussed above.

In general, the correspondence between infrared excess and variability is weak and stands in contrast to the results for H$`\alpha `$ equivalent width described above. This led us to examine whether the two supposed disk indicators, H$`\alpha `$ equivalent width and infrared excess were in fact correlated with each other in this sample. Fig. 10 shows the log of the H$`\alpha `$ equivalent width, as measured by Herbig (1998) versus the infrared excesses which we have computed for all the TTS in our sample with the neccessary spectral information. While there is a fairly clear division between CTTS and WTTS, the correlation between infrared excess and hydrogen emission is weak at best and actually almost non-existent. Variability obviously correlates much better with H$`\alpha `$ equivalent width than infrared excess, perhaps because it is more a measure of current accretion activity or perhaps because it can be determined with better precision. In any event, in this sample, there is almost a one-to-one correspondence between irregular variability and CTTS status based on H$`\alpha `$ equivalent width and only weak correspondence between infrared excess emission and irregular variability (or H$`\alpha `$ equivalent width).

It is also possible that the large degree of scatter in the infrared excesses shown in Figs. 9 and 10 can be attributed to the causes discussed by Hillenbrand et al. (1998), which include disk inclination effects, inner holes in disks, and excess K-band radiation from large cool spots. However, there is another complicating factor in this case, namely the fact that the photometric measurements used to compute the infrared excess were not observed simultaneously or, in the case of K, very recently. The infrared observations of Lada & Lada (1995) were made in September 1991, and the photometric magnitudes of Herbig (1998), needed for the extinction computation, were calculated as an average of three observations between November 1993 and October 1996. Based on the light curves of the CTTS in our sample it is clear that the photometric characteristics of a star can change from day to day and from year to year. It is entirely possible that the general variability of the stars coupled with the non-simultaneity of the observations is a principle cause of the large scatter in the infrared excess measurement which then masks any correspondence with variability. Only continued monitoring simultaneously in the optical and infrared could determine if this is the case.

### 4.3 Some Unusual Stars

#### 4.3.1 Star 23: an UXor?

This K6 CTTS was noted in Paper I as the most extreme variable star in our sample and that has continued to prove true. Its variations (see Fig. 11), which approach 2 mag in amplitude, are also more reminiscent of UXor behavior than of typical CTTS behavior. In particular, the star tends to be near the bright end of its range most of the time and exhibits relatively brief, non-periodic excursions to fainter levels, as opposed to the more random sorts of fluctuations characteristic of Type II variables. On the other hand, most UXors are of earlier spectral type and do not have such strong H$`\alpha `$ emission. The star may be some sort of transition object or perhaps a close binary (or both). It clearly warrants further study as a potential UXor with interesting properties. Multi-color photometry and simultaneous spectral monitoring would be useful in elucidating its nature.

#### 4.3.2 Star 47: Periodic and Irregular

Star 47, a K8 WTTS, is the only example of a star in our sample which could be classified as both a periodic and an irregular variable (of substantial amplitude) at different times. It was periodic in the 1998-99 season with a period of 8.38 days (see Fig. 5), but in the following seasons there are no peaks in its power spectra meeting our criteria for periodicity. Between 2000 and 2002, its light curve is punctuated by several dramatic minima of increasing depth, the deepest occuring at JD 2452310 (see Fig. 12). The star fades by about one magnitude in one day, and four days later it has returned to its normal brightness. As in the case of star 23, this kind of variation is much more characteristic of UXor behavior than of typical CTTS (or WTTS) variability. Again, it may be some sort of transition object or a binary and clearly warrants follow-up study. It is possible that this star, and star 23, are additional (to star 15, see below) examples of objects whose variability is caused by transient occultation events from dust clouds along the line of sight (and probably circumstellar or circumbinary).

#### 4.3.3 Star 15: a Three-Year Eclipse?

Within our sample, star 15 is the only example of a star which exhibits coherent behavior over 4.5 years of observation on a time scale longer than a single observing season. This remarkable object apparently undergoes an eclipse lasting $``$3.5 years, the longest known astronomical eclipse ever detected, in which it gradually fades by 0.66 mag in *I* and subsequently recovers to its out-of-eclipse magnitude. Such an amazing and unexpected behavior clearly deserves special attention in the literature and was given it by Cohen, Herbst & Williams (2003), to which the reader is referred for more detail. Here we present a brief summary of that work and some supplementary material. Table 3 gives our photometry for the star.

Luhman et al. (2003) have classified star 15 as G8-K6 based on near-infrared spectroscopy. It lacks infrared excess and hydrogen emission but is almost certainly a cluster member based on its locations on the sky and CM diagram. The light curve of the star, based on our data and some from the literature, is shown in Fig. 13. The shape, consisting of a gradual ingress, a stable minimum, and a gradual egress, resembles that of an eclipsing binary with the obvious exception of its duration. Observations in the *R* band during minimum light show that the system became redder as it faded, although not as much as would be expected based on in interstellar reddening law. Cohen, Herbst & Williams (2003) argue that the star may be a binary system in which one member is occulted by a dust cloud, presumably of circumstellar or circumbinary origin. As Fig. 13 suggests, the eclipse may be recurrent on a time scale as short as 4 years. Obviously this is a star which should continue to be monitored photometrically and high resolution spectroscopy obtained near a brightness maximum should reveal whether it is, in fact, a binary system.

## 5 Summary and Discussion

Five years of monitoring stars in IC 348 has yielded a set of 28 periodic variables, almost all of which are WTTS, and 16 irregular variables, the large majority of which are CTTS. Our sample of variables is likely to be complete for stars brighter than I = 14.3. Of the 42 stars fulfilling that criteria (which includes 25 variable stars), 10 are of earlier spectral class than G and none of those 10 was detected as a variable. One is a late-type non-member and it was also not detected as a variable. Four of the remaining stars have no spectral information: one of these is a periodic variable and three are non-variable. That leaves 27 G, K or M-type PMS members of the cluster within our field which are brighter than I=14.3, and 24 of them (i.e. $``$90%) were detected as variable stars in this study. We believe this nicely illustrates the power and value of variability work for identifying PMS stars in young clusters.

It is furthermore interesting that, where our sample is complete (I $`<`$ 14.3), every one of the 5 CTTS was identified as an irregular variable, and 14 of the 16 K and M-type WTTS were identified as periodic variables. In addition, 3 out of the 6 bright G-type PMS stars showed periodic variations and 2 of the remaining 3 showed irregular variations (including the unusual variable star 15). Not only are variability studies excellent at identifying PMS stars, they are also apparently capable of distinguishing CTTS from WTTS with rather good precision. All of these results are quite similar, both qualitatively and quantitatively to what is found for the set of bright TTS in Tau/Aur, Orion, Sco/Cen and other well known associations analyzed by Herbst et al. (1994).

One particular fact worth noting is that not one of the 20 known CTTS in our monitored sample revealed periodic variability during five seasons of monitoring. By contrast, 23 of the 64 known WTTS in the same area were detected as periodic and we probably would have found many more periodic variables among them if we had deeper images. This means that rotation studies based on periods determined by photometric monitoring are probably strongly biased against stars which are currently actively accreting. Since disk-locking is thought to be a primary controlling factor in the rotational evolution of PMS stars, and since actively accreting stars (CTTS) are, one might suppose, the ones most likely to be currently locked to their disks, this bias is important to consider when analyzing rotation data on clusters. In principle, one could use v sin i measurements to ascertain whether the rotational properties of CTTS differ from WTTS. Rhode, Herbst & Mathieu (2001) found no significant difference between their periodic and non-periodic stars samples in the Orion Nebula Cluster, but they did not examine separately the definite irregular variables. A v sin i study of IC 348 could be extremely useful in addressing this issue.

We thank G. Herbig and C. Jordi for providing us with unpublished data on HMW 15. We also thank the large number of Wesleyan students who contributed to this project over the years by obtaining the data on our campus telescope. This investigation was supported by grants from the NASA-Origins program.


text:
# Sharp lines in the absorption edge of EuTe and Pb0.1Eu0.9Te in high magnetic fields

## I Introduction

Europium chalcogenides are prospective candidates to serve as ’spin-filters’ in prototype spintronic devices divincenzo  and novel magneto-optical devices (tunable lasers, detectors and modulators) heissapl , where the principal source of the interesting physical properties is the d-f exchange interaction between band-edge electrons and localized Eu2+ spins. The optical properties of europium chalcogenides have already been investigated some 20-30 years ago, and it was established that the band-edge absorption spectrum is associated with a $`4f^74f^65d`$ electronic transition (surveys are given in Refs. kasuyarmp ; wachter ; mauger ; schoenes ). The experiments were performed on powders wachterSSC70 , polycrystalline thin layers wachterCRSSS  and bulk crystals pidgeon ; akimotoJPSJ , whereby the $`4f^74f^65d\left(t_{2g}\right)`$ absorption spectrum is characterized by a very broad band - full width at half maximum of almost $``$1 eV. This absorption band was analyzed by some researchers kasuyarmp ; kasuyajmmm  in terms of an excitonic transition extending mainly in the nearest neighbor Eu sites, with an exciton binding energy dependence on external fields and temperature that is governed by the d-f exchange interaction between the electron and the Eu2+ spins in the lattice (the magnetic exciton model). The large breadth of the absorption line, however, has remained unexplained kasuyajmmm , and it has lead some researches to propose, instead, that the absorption spectrum is associated with a transition to extended conduction band states wachter ; pidgeon ; mauger . The photoluminescence of europium chalcogenides was also studied, and it is described by a broad line (full width at half maximum FWHM=150 meV in EuTe) with a large Stokes shift (photon energy $`h\nu =1.48`$ eV in EuTe) akimotoJPSJ .

Recently, molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) was used to produce EuTe, which has lead to the observation of a much narrower photoluminescence line (full width at half maximum FWHM=10 meV), and at a much photon higher energy ($`h\nu =1.92`$ eV) heissapl ; heiss  than in previous investigations. The photoluminescence line displays a giant red shift (34 meV/T) when a magnetic field is applied. This sensitivity was interpreted in the framework of the magnetic exciton model kasuyarmp ; kasuyajmmm . The theory relies on such basic parameters as the d-f exchange interaction energy and effective Bohr radius, whose accepted values vary within a large interval. For example, the d-f exchange interaction energy, $`J_{df}S`$ in EuTe, has been estimated to be (a) 0.35 eV, based on measurements on the temperature dependence of the optical absorption edge wachter ; umehara95 , (b) 0.11 eV from the red shift of the Faraday rotation spectrum, and also of the optical band-edge, when a high magnetic field is applied schoenes79 , (c) 0.17 eV from theoretical calculations cho ; umehara02 .

In this work we studied the $`4f^74f^65d\left(t_{2g}\right)`$ optical absorption of epitaxial layers of EuTe grown by MBE, using circularly polarized light and high magnetic fields. At zero magnetic field, the optical absorption spectrum is described by a sharp threshold around 2.25 eV. When the intensity of the applied magnetic field is increased above 6 T, a very sharp symmetric absorption line (full width at half maximum of 41 meV) appears at the low energy side of the absorption onset in one of the photon polarizations ($`\sigma ^{}`$). With increasing magnetic field this absorption line displays a huge red shift, which saturates when the Eu2+ spins in the crystal arrange ferromagnetically. The peak position dependence on the magnetic field fits very well into the model of a localized excitation whose energy is tunable through the d-f exchange interaction. From the absorption line shift with magnetic field we obtained an estimate of the d-f exchange interaction energy, $`J_{df}S=0.15`$ eV, with an uncertainty less than 10%.

The optical absorption dependence on magnetical field was also studied for a Pb0.1Eu0.9Te sample. The optcial absorption of Pb1-xEuxTe for $`x>0.6`$ is EuTe-like, i.e. it is associated with an $`4f^74f^65d`$ electronic transition, whose energy is pinned at 2.3 eV for $`x>0.8`$bauer . In the Pb0.1Eu0.9Te sample, the same absorption line seen in EuTe was detected in high magnetic fields (above 6 T), however, the maximum red shift of the line was smaller, due to a smaller concentration on Eu2+in the lattice. In addition, the width of the absorption line (43 meV) was larger than in EuTe (41 meV). Assuming that the increase in the breadth of the line is due to alloy disorder, the radius of localization of the excitation is estimated to be $``$10Å.

Recent investigations of the photoluminescence spectrum of EuTe grown by MBE have discovered almost the same red shift of the optical line (34 meV/T) when a magnetic field is applied, as in this work. It should be pointed out, however, that the physical mechanisms involved in the photoluminescence could be much more complex than in the optical absorption. According to the Franck-Condon principle condon , whereas absorption occurs when the crystal lattice is undistorted, emission occurs when the atoms surrounding the excitation move to their new equilibrium positions, and in EuTe a large distortion occurs due to the a large charge transfer from to excited Eu2+ to the surrounding atoms kasuyarmp ; in addition to the mechanical distortion, an alignment of the Eu2+ spins inside the excitation radius (forming a magnetic exciton), would also contribute to reduce the energy of the excitation. The amount by which energy is reduced could be dependent on the intensity of the magnetic field applied, due to a changing size of the excitation, making the magnetic field induced red shift seen in the PL much more complex than the red shift of the absorption spectrum reported in this work, in which the positions of the atoms in the lattice, and their spin orientations, are fixed at the unperturbed crystal state.

## II Experimental

EuTe and Pb0.1Eu0.9Te epitaxial layers ($`1.1\mu `$m thick) were grown by molecular beam epitaxy (Riber 32P MBE) onto freshly cleaved (111) BaF2 substrates. In the case of EuTe, the constituents (Eu and Te) were sublimated from elemental sources, while a PbTe source was used for the Pb0.1Eu0.9Te growth. Pb1-xEuxTe crystallizes in the rock salt structure, and its lattice mismatch to the BaF2 substrate (fluoride structure) varies from 4 to 6%, with increasing Eu content in the ternary compound. In addition, the thermal expansion coefficient of BaF2 is well matched to those of PbTe and EuTe, thus preventing the build up of high thermal strains when cooling the samples to cryogenic temperatures. The Eu content values in the Pb0.1Eu0.9Te sample was determined by magnetization SQUID measurements, with an estimated uncertainty of less than one percent. The crystalline quality was investigated by measuring the x-ray rocking curve of the (222) Bragg reflection of the samples. The peak position corresponded to the bulk lattice parameter of 6.600Å, and the full width at half maximum of the EuTe diffraction peak was about 400 arcsec, which is indicative of a good structural quality (for Pb0.1Eu0.9Te the FWHM of the peak was larger than in EuTe by about 100 arcsec, due to alloy disorder). PL measurements at T=2K were made, using the 488nm line of an Ar laser, and the sharp luminescence (FWHM$``$10 meV) at 1.922 eV was detected, demonstrating the high optical quality of the samples heissapl ; heiss . The optical absorption spectra of EuTe samples and Pb0.1Eu0.9Te were measured at 1.8K, using left and right circularly polarized light, in magnetic fields of intensity up to 17 Teslas. The sample (square shaped, of side length 2.5 mm), was immersed in superfluid helium, and light was conveyed to the sample, and collected from the sample, in the Faraday configuration, using optical fibers coupled to in situ miniature focusing optics and circular polarizers.

## III Results

The absorption spectrum taken at zero field shows the characteristic absorption onset at $``$2.3 eV (see Fig.1), which is associated with the $`4f^74f^65d\left(t_{2g}\right)`$ transition wachter ; mauger . In the transparency region, the absorption coefficient shows weak oscillations, due to the effect of Fabri-Perot interference in the thin epitaxial film.

When a magnetic field is applied, the absorption edges taken in both polarizations show remarkably different behaviours. In the $`\sigma ^+`$ polarization there is simply a red shift of the absorption edge, which saturates when the applied field, $`B_\mathrm{a}`$, reaches 8.3 T. In the $`\sigma ^{}`$ polarization, however, the absorption spectrum does not red shift as a whole, but develops a new sharp absorption peak that emerges from the main absorption edge. With increasing magnetic field the new absorption peak gains intensity, and it red shifts, until saturation is reached at $`B_\mathrm{a}`$=8.3 T. The same absorption spectra were measured for a number of EuTe samples of various thickness in the range of 1-3$`\mu `$m, some of which contained a BaF2 protective layer, some of which did not. The position and width of the peak was the same in all samples, and the optical density of the sharp absorption peak was proportional to the thickness of the EuTe epitaxial layer, demonstrating that the absorption line is originated in the bulk of EuTe.

For our sample geometry (a thin layer of EuTe subject to a perpendicular magnetic field), the internal field will be given by $`B_{\mathrm{int}}=B_\mathrm{a}\mu _0M`$, where $`M`$ is the magnetization of the sample, and $`\mu _0M`$ varies linearly with $`B_\mathrm{a}`$ and saturates to $`1.1`$ T at $`B_{\mathrm{int}}=7.2`$ T oliveira , meaning that $`B_\mathrm{a}`$=8.3 T corresponds to an internal field equal to the well known critical field value of 7.2 T for EuTe. We have employed fields as large as 17 T, but no further changes were seen in the absorption spectra. The absorption spectra at $`B_\mathrm{a}`$=9.6 T in both polarizations are shown in Figure 1.

To show the evolution of the absorption spectra taken in the $`\sigma ^+`$ and $`\sigma ^{}`$ polarizations when the applied magnetic field is increased from zero, a contour plot of the absorption spectra is shown in Figure 2. This figure shows that in the $`\sigma ^+`$ polarization the absorption edge red shifts almost linearly with the field intensity, until saturation is reached. In contrast, the evolution of the absorption spectrum in the $`\sigma ^{}`$ polarization does not show a linear red shift of the absorption edge, but rather the changes in the spectrum are described by the emergence of a sharp absorption line at the low energy side of the spectrum. When $`B`$ is less than the saturation value, the strength of the sharp absorption line increases with $`B`$, and it red shifts, leading to a completely resolved line at the highest fields. The red shift of the sharp peak is described by a huge value of 35 meV/T, which is about the same value seen in the shift of excitonic PL heissapl ; heiss . Notice also that the main absorption edge remains nearly in the same place as at $`B=0`$.

The peak position and full width at half maximum of the sharp absorption peak seen in the $`\sigma ^{}`$ polarization at fields above 8.3 T were obtained from a fit of the absorption spectrum with a linear combination of a Gaussian curve and a straight line (see Fig.3). For EuTe, the maximum occurs at 2.169 eV (the peak is shifted by $`0.22`$ eV from the main $`4f^74f^65d\left(t_{2g}\right)`$ absorption), and the full width at half maximum (FWHM) equals to 41 meV. The Pb0.1Eu0.9Te sample showed the same qualitative behavior as seen in EuTe, but the low energy side peak was broader than for EuTe, and centered at a higher energy, as shown in the right panel of Fig.1. The absorption maximum is seen at 2.181 eV, i.e. an energy 12 meV greater than for EuTe, and the FWHM=43 meV, greater by 2 meV compared to the same value for EuTe (see right panel in Fig.3).

## IV Discussion

The magnetic field dependence of the newly discovered absorption line will be discussed in the framework of the $`df`$ exchange interaction. The $`df`$ exchange interaction energy operator is given by kasuyarmp

$$H_{df}=J_{df}\underset{n\mu \nu }{}a_{n\mu }^{}a_{n\nu }𝑺_n𝝈_{\mu \nu }$$

where $`J_{df}`$ is the $`df`$ exchange interaction constant, $`a_{n\mu }^{}`$ is the creation operator of a Wannier function centered at the $`n`$th Eu2+ with spin $`\mu `$, $`𝝈`$ is a Pauli spin operator, and $`𝑺_n`$ the spin of the $`n`$th Eu2+. We treat $`H_{df}`$ as a perturbation over a photoexcited electron in a $`d`$band with definite spin, whose wave function is given by $`\mathrm{\Psi }=_nc_na_{n\chi }^{}|0`$. The spin of the photoexcited electron is subject to the constraint that it must be parallel to the Eu2+ spin at the site where the excitation occurred kasuyarmp ; umehara95 . We assume that the wave function describing the excited state encloses a large number of Eu2+ sites, hence at zero magnetic field (T=0K), when the arrangement of the Eu ions is antiferromagnetic, (the Eu spins lie in the (111) plane oliveira ), the $`df`$ interaction energy of the photoexcited electron averages out to zero. As the magnetic field applied normal to the (111) increases, the Eu2+ spins cant in the magnetic field direction, the d-f exchange interaction energy increases and at arbitrary field it will be given by

$$\mathrm{\Delta }E_{df}=J_{df}S\mathrm{cos}^2\theta $$
(1)
where $`2\theta `$ is the angle between the sublattice spin directions, determined by pidgeon

$$\mathrm{cos}\theta =\{\begin{array}{cc}\frac{B_{\mathrm{int}}}{B_{\mathrm{Sat}}}& \text{if }B_{\mathrm{int}}<B_{\mathrm{Sat}}\\ 1& \text{if }B_{\mathrm{int}}>B_{\mathrm{Sat}}\end{array}$$

where $`B_{\mathrm{Sat}}=7.22T`$ is the saturation field for EuTe oliveira .

Fig.4 shows the measured position of the side peak as a function of applied magnetic field both for EuTe and Pb0.1Eu0.9Te. The same peak position dependence on magnetic field as for the EuTe sample shown in figure 4 was obtained for a second EuTe sample, whose epitaxial layer thickness was 1.75$`\mu `$m. The solid lines in Fig.4 were obtained by a simultaneous fit of all of the experimental values shown to the equation

$$E=E_0+x\mathrm{\Delta }E_{df}$$
(2)
where $`E_0`$ is the position of the excitonic line at $`B=0`$, $`x`$ is the molar fraction of Eu in the Pb1-xEuxTe sample, and $`\mathrm{\Delta }E_{df}`$ is given by Eq.(1). Equation (2) should be valid in the range $`x>0.8`$, where the Pb1-xEuxTe gap is EuTe-like and nearly constant bauer . In the fitting procedure, the spin of the Eu2+ was fixed at $`S=\frac{7}{2}`$, and the $`df`$ exchange interaction constant, $`J_{df}`$, and $`E_0`$ were the fitting parameters, leading to the best fit values of $`E_0`$=2.321 eV and $`J_{df}S=0.15\pm 0.01`$ eV.

For Pb0.1Eu0.9Te, the energy position of the side peak is greater than in EuTe, which is due to a lower density of spins in the lattice. Then, assuming that in going from EuTe to Pb0.1Eu0.9Te, the increase in the full width at half maximum (FWHM) of the side peak is due to inhomogeneous broadening, caused by random fluctuations in the local Eu concentration, the number of Eu2+ spins inside the exciton radius can be estimated through

$$N=\frac{8x(1x)\left(\mathrm{\Delta }E_{\mathrm{max}}/\mathrm{\Delta }x\right)^2\mathrm{ln}2}{\left(\mathrm{FWHM}_{\mathrm{Pb}_{1x}\mathrm{Eu}_x\mathrm{Te}}\right)^2\left(\mathrm{FWHM}_{\mathrm{EuTe}}\right)^2}$$

where $`\mathrm{\Delta }E_{\mathrm{max}}`$ and $`\mathrm{\Delta }x`$ are the shift in the position of the maximum of the excitonic line and the change in Eu molar fraction on going from EuTe to Pb1-xEuxTe, respectively. Using the results obtained for EuTe and Pb0.1Eu0.9Te, we find $`N=42`$, which justifies the assumption made above that the exciton is large, and means that the exciton sphere encloses about 10 conventional unit cells of the fcc structure. This estimate puts the exciton diameter at approximately 18Å.

In conclusion, we have studied the optical band-edge absorption in EuTe and Pb0.1Eu0.9Te grown by MBE at low temperatures and high magnetic fields. Under $`\sigma ^{}`$ polarization, we detect a well-resolved sharp peak (full width 0.041 eV). The sharp absorption line displays a huge red shift of about 35 meV/T when the magnetic field increases, and its separation from the main absorption band reaches $``$ 0.2 eV at the saturation field. In Pb0.1Eu0.9Te, the same absorption line was also detected, but it is broader, which is an indication of a localized excitation. The displacement of the absorption line with magnetic field fits very well into a model of a localized excitation whose energy is tuned by the d-f exchange interaction. From a fit of the experimental points to the theory we obtain a direct estimate of the d-f exchange interaction energy, $`J_{df}S`$=0.15$`\pm `$0.01 eV.

## V Acknowledgements

We are greatful to Prof. F. Ikawa for help with the photoluminescence measurements, done at UNICAMP. L.K.H. acknowledges support from FAPESP (grant No. 02/00720-9). This work was supported by grants CNPq-306335/88-3 and FAPESP-99/10359-7.

## FIGURE CAPTIONS

Fig. 1 Absorption spectra of EuTe for B=0T (dotted line) and B=9.6T (full curves), in the latter case the polarization corresponding to each curve ($`\sigma ^+`$ or $`\sigma ^{}`$) is indicated.

Fig. 2 Contour plot for the absorption spectrum dependence on the magnetic field intensity (a) $`\sigma ^{}`$; (b) $`\sigma ^+`$.

Fig. 3 Dots represent the $`\sigma ^{}`$ absorption spectrum of EuTe (left) and Pb0.1Eu0.9Te (right) measured at B=9.6T. Full lines are fitting curves to the measured spectra.

Fig. 4 Magnetic field dependence of the energy position of the maximum in the $`4f^74f^65d\left(t_{2g}\right)`$ excitonic absorption measured in $`\sigma ^{}`$ polarization.

Manuscript by Henriques et al, Figure 1

Manuscript by Henriques et al, Figure 2

Manuscript by Henriques et al, Figure 3

Manuscript by Henriques et al, Figure 4


text:
# References

SPACETIME OR SPACE AND THE PROBLEM OF TIME

E. Anderson111I acknowledge PPARC studentship.

Astronomy Unit, Department of Mathematics, Queen Mary, London

In GR one may choose to use the spacetime action or its rearrangement222Here $`h_{ij}`$ is the induced metric of a 3-space with determinant $`h`$, Ricci 3-scalar $`R`$ and conjugate momentum $`p^{ij}`$ with trace $`p`$. In moving between nearby 3-spaces, the lapse $`\alpha `$ is the time elapsed and the shift $`\beta _i`$ is the ammount of stretching of the 3-space coordinate grid.

$$\text{I}=\text{d}t\text{d}^3x(p\dot{h}\alpha H\beta ^iH_i)$$

$$H\frac{1}{\sqrt{h}}\left(p_{ij}p^{ij}\frac{p^2}{2}\right)\sqrt{h}R=0,\text{ },\text{ }H_i2D_jp_{i}^{}{}_{}{}^{j}=0,$$

that corresponds to slicing spacetime into a sequence of 3-spaces. $`H`$ and $`H_i`$ are the Hamiltonian and momentum constraints. Their presence indicates redundancy in the $`(h_{ij},p^{ij})`$ description of GR. $`H_i`$ just indicates that the physically relevant information is not in whichever 3-space coordinate grid is used, but rather in the shape of the 3-space itself (its 3-geometry). Thus GR may be interpreted as a theory of evolving 3-geometries (‘geometrodynamics’). $`H`$ corresponds to GR spacetime being invariant under changes of slicing (corresponding to different choices of time w.r.t which this dynamics is understood to occur). Within any particular slicing this invariance is hidden, and we do not know if or how dynamics can be disentangled from the choice of time: one has a Problem of Time (POT) in geometrodynamics. This contributes much to rendering quantum geometrodynamics intractable.

So $`H`$ is central to geometrodynamics. Wheeler asked whether its form could be accounted for not from rearranging GR but rather from “plausible first principles”. By allowing embeddability into spacetime to dictate the constraint algebra, the form of $`H`$ was explained using the algebra of (true and mere grid-stretching) deformations as plausible first principles.

However, recently 3-space – rather than spacetime – principles were proposed. These develop Machian relationalism: physical laws whose validity exends to the universe as a whole should depend on relative quantites alone and contain no overall notion of time. In particle mechanics, these respectively involve distances and angles alone being meaningful, and the use of the time-label reparametrization-invariant (RI) Jacobi principle (which takes the form $`\text{I}=\text{d}t\sqrt{\text{potential term}\times \text{kinetic term}}`$ for the kinetic term homogeneous quadratic in its velocities). Moreover, an indirect choice \[‘best matching’ (BM)\] is made for the former: the action is not written in terms of relative quantities, but rather auxiliaries associated with absolute (rather than relative) motion are adjoined as corrections to the velocities. Then auxiliary-variation gives constraints which renders all absolute motion redundant. Now, it turns out that GR is indeed of this form. The absolute structure naïvely in the 3-space coordinate grids is redundant by the shift-corrections to the velocities which variationally-encode $`H_i`$. And upon algebraic elimination of the lapse, GR admits the RI BM action:

$$\text{I}=\text{d}\lambda \text{d}^3x\sqrt{h}\sqrt{RT},$$
(1)
$$T=(h^{ik}h^{jl}h^{ij}h^{kl})(\dot{h}_{ij}\mathrm{\pounds }_\xi h_{ij})(\dot{h}_{kl}\mathrm{\pounds }_\xi h_{kl}),$$
(2)
Thus in this sense GR is a perfectly Machian theory. Note now that $`H`$ arises ‘by Pythagoras’ as a primary constraint.

The idea is to consider a large class of BM RI actions in place of (1). In each case $`H_i`$ is guaranteed from the inbuilt, entirely spatial shift-variation, and a candidate $`H^{}`$ arises ‘by Pythagoras’. Now, applying Dirac’s procedure to $`H`$

$$(1X)sD_i(N^2D^ip)=0,$$
(3)
is required for consistency, where $`X`$ represents the departure from –1 of the relative coefficients in the first factor of (2) and the potential $`sR+\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ (const.) is in use (other potentials tried are all inconsistent). The $`X=1`$ case is a derivation of relativity via obtaining embeddability into spacetime. But this arises in conjunction with two other cases which do not  have spacetime structure. First, strong gravities ($`s=0`$), which generalize the strong-coupled limit of GR applicable near the Big Bang. Second, conformal theories in which maximal ($`p=0`$) or constant mean curvature (CMC) ($`\frac{p}{h}=`$ spatial constant) slicings are privileged; these include our conformal gravity), and are closely tied to the GR initial value problem (IVP).

We next seek inclusion of fundamental matter to test the plausibility of our 3-space first principles. We then discover  that via the Dirac procedure GR forces simple matter fields to share its null cone, and that electromagnetism and Yang–Mills theories arise. I play down claims about the unique selection of these theories in, but argue that Dirac theory and all the interaction terms of particle physics can be included. This follows from Kuchař’s spacetime split formalism guaranteeing consistency. Although naïvely this would usually require spacetime tilt and derivative-coupling kinematics in addition to BM, I show that the entirely-spatial BM kinematics alone suffices to build an action for GR coupled to all of the above matter fields.

The 3-space – as opposed to spacetime – ontology, attempts to restore the centrality in dynamics of the configuration space of instants rather than the spacetime arena. This moves toward attempting a naïve Schrödinger interpretation (NSR) resolution of the POT. Alas, the geodesic principle idea from the analogy with Jacobi is of no aid. Also, spacetime does not always emerge in the 3-space approach. It does not in the conformal theories, which have nevertheless a number of orthodox features such as locally-Lorentzian physics and IVP’s similar to GR. I elect to explain here how these and the quantum-cosmologically-relevant strong gravity theories avoid some of GR’s pitfalls in a number of POT strategies.

In GR, use of ($`h_{ij}`$, $`p^{ij}`$) variables and imposing $`H`$ after quantization gives the Wheeler–DeWitt equation for which the Schrödinger i.p is indefinite and so not probabilistic. If one proceeds by analogy with Klein–Gordon, one is then floored by the indefinite sign of the general $`R`$-potential. But for conformal gravity, and a range of other conformal and strong gravities the Schrödinger i.p itself works, whereas for the other strong gravities the potential $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ is of definite sign.

Were one able to produce a mythical canonical transformation in GR to pass to separate embedding and dynamical variables (an approach with spacetime ontology connotations), by construction one would be equipped with a satisfactory i.p. In fact the York IVP method furbishes such a mythical transformation (corresponding to a CMC internal time), but this is unuseble because it involves the implicit solution of the Lichnerowicz PDE (conformalization of $`H`$) which is only tractable numerically. But for strong gravity theories the absence of $`R`$ renders algebraic the corresponding equation, thus opening up this route.

Were I to show that any of our alternatives explain the very early universe or even all of nature, then the corresponding differences above would become directly important. In the absence of this, what I am doing is assessing which features of the GR POT obstructions are robust to changes of gravitational theory. These issues are work in progress.


text:
# KH 15D: Gradual Occultation of a Pre–Main-Sequence Binary

## 1 Introduction

While monitoring stars in the young cluster NGC 2264, Kearns & Herbst (1998) noticed that star #15 in field D of their sample had a bizarre light curve. This object, known as KH 15D, undergoes periodic eclipses ($`P=48.35`$ days) that are remarkable for their depth (3.5 mag) and duration (currently $``$24 days). There is consensus that the eclipses are caused by circumstellar material, but not on the composition or spatial distribution of that material. Theories include an edge-on circumstellar disk (Hamilton et al. 2001, Herbst et al. 2002, Agol et al. 2003, Winn et al. 2003), an orbiting vortex of solid particles (Barge & Viton 2003), and an asymmetric common envelope (Grinin & Tambovtseva 2002). The system has attracted the attention of numerous observers because the fortuitous alignment may allow unique studies of circumstellar (or even protoplanetary) processes, and because the occulting edge can be used as a “natural coronagraph” to map out the environment of the underlying T Tauri star (Hamilton et al. 2003; Agol et al. 2003; Deming, Charbonneau, & Harrington 2003).

In this Letter we present the first quantitative model that accounts for all the observed properties of the system. Our main inspiration was the discovery by Johnson & Winn (2004) that in 1970, the eclipses appeared to be diluted by the light of a second star. Building on the demonstration by Herbst et al. (2002) that the ingress and egress light curves can be reproduced by a knife edge crossing the face of a star, we show that the entire archival and modern light curves can be reproduced by a knife edge crossing the orbit of a pair of pre–main-sequence stars.

In § 2 we review the peculiar phenomenology of KH 15D and describe how it emerges naturally from the model. In § 3 we determine quantitative fits to the data. Finally, in § 4 we discuss the physical interpretation of the model and predict the results of future investigations into this intriguing system.

## 2 Qualitative description of the model

We would like to understand the following characteristics of KH 15D. Every $`48.35\pm 0.02`$ days, it decreases in brightness from $`I=14.47`$ to $``$18 (Hamilton et al. 2001 and Herbst et al. 2002, hereafter H01 and H02). Currently, the faint state (“eclipse”) lasts for approximately half of the photometric period, and the eclipse duration is increasing by about 1 day year-1 (H02). During eclipses, the flux has been observed to rise and fall abruptly. In 1995-96, these “re-brightenings” briefly returned the system to its uneclipsed flux, or even brighter. Since 1997, the maximum flux during these events has decreased monotonically (H01, H02).

Archival observations from 1913 to 1950 show that the system spent $``$20% of the time $`>`$1 mag fainter than its modern bright state (Winn et al. 2003). Between 1967 and 1982, the system alternated from bright to faint with the same period as observed today, but the fractional variation was smaller ($`\mathrm{\Delta }I=0.67\pm 0.07`$) and the bright state was $`0.90\pm 0.15`$ magnitude brighter (Johnson & Winn 2004, hereafter JW04). There appears to be a phase shift of $``$180$`\mathrm{°}`$ between the 1967-82 light curve and the modern light curve, i.e., the modern bright states have nearly the same phase as the previous faint states (JW04).

All these properties are straightforward consequences of the following model. Consider two stars, A and B, with a projected orbit depicted in Figure 1. An opaque screen with a sharp edge oriented vertically (along the $`y`$-axis) gradually covers the system, moving from left to right (increasing $`x`$). Whenever the orbital motion of a star carries it to the left of the edge ($`x_{\mathrm{star}}<x_{\mathrm{screen}}`$), the starlight is blocked.

Before 1960, both stellar orbits were fully exposed, and no eclipses were seen, in compliance with the archival observations. In 1970, the screen covered the left end of B’s orbit, but A remained unobscured. As a result, diluted eclipses of star B were observed. By 2002, the screen covered B’s entire orbit and a significant fraction of A’s orbit, causing today’s periodic, long-lasting, total eclipses. The eclipses grow in duration as the screen continues to advance. The re-brightenings occurred during the time span around 1995, when B’s orbit had not yet been completely covered, allowing B to peek out briefly from behind the screen while A was eclipsed. Because the eclipses in 1970 were of star B, whereas the modern eclipses are of star A, this model produces the phase shift that was tentatively identified by JW04.

## 3 Quantitative determination of parameters

Rather than fitting the model to the voluminous photometric data, we attempted to match some key derived quantities: the eclipse duration in 1967-70, the eclipse duration and its rate of increase from 1997 to 2003, and the ingress and egress durations of 2002 (see Table 1). We also fitted the radial velocity difference of $`3.3\pm 0.6`$ km s-1 that Hamilton et al. (2003) measured near the start and end of a particular eclipse in 2001.

We assumed the orbital period is $`P=48.35`$ days and star A has mass $`0.6M_{}`$ and radius $`1.3R_{}`$ (H01). The orbit was specified by the mass ratio, eccentricity, and sequential rotations $`\theta _z`$, $`\theta _y`$, and $`\theta _x`$ about the Cartesian axes defined in Figure 1. By using Cartesian axes, rather than traditional orbital elements, we could capitalize on certain degeneracies of the model. Rotation about the $`x`$-axis does not affect the light curve. Rotation about the $`y`$-axis affects the projected size of the orbits, but not the projected size of the (spherical) stellar surfaces. Thus, $`\theta _y`$ controls the time scale of changes in eclipse duration relative to the time scales of partial-eclipse phenomena: ingress, egress, and the suppression of re-brightening events.

For a given orbit, we produced a model light curve as follows. The speed of the occulting edge relative to the center of mass was determined by requiring the edge to cross B’s orbit between 1963 and 1997. (The actual starting year of the eclipses is unknown.) We computed the positions of the screen and stars with a time sampling of $`P/100`$. We assumed $`L_B/L_A=1.3`$ (the best fit to the JW04 light curve) and added a time-independent flux of $`0.04L_A`$ to represent scattered light. Whenever $`x_{\mathrm{star}}<x_{\mathrm{screen}}R_{\mathrm{star}}`$, that star made no contribution to the light curve. When the screen covered only part of a stellar surface, we used the same limb-darkening law as H02 ($`\mu =0.3`$) to compute the flux from that star.

First, we optimized $`M_B`$, $`e`$ and $`\theta _z`$, by fitting the eclipse durations and the ratio of durations of ingress and egress. We searched a 3-d grid of models with $`0.5<M_B/M_A<2.0`$, $`0.05<e<0.95`$, and $`90\mathrm{°}<\theta _z<90\mathrm{°}`$. The best-fitting solution had $`\chi ^2/N_{\mathrm{D}.\mathrm{O}.\mathrm{F}.}=0.7`$. Next, we adjusted $`\theta _y`$ to increase the ingress and egress durations to the observed values. Due to symmetry, there were two solutions, differing only in sign. We refer to these as Model 1 and Model 2. For each model, we forced agreement with the radial velocity measurements by tuning $`\theta _x`$ and the heliocentric radial velocity of the center of mass. Finally, the radius of star B was tailored to match the ingress and egress durations in 1967-70, and the time scale over which the re-brightening events decreased in intensity.

The parameters of Models 1 and 2, after translating into traditional orbital elements, are given in Table 2. These models produce identical light curves, but have different three-dimensional orbits and radial velocity curves. (Two additional solutions are obtained by reflecting Models 1 and 2 in the $`xz`$-plane.) The orbit of Model 1 is depicted in Figure 1. Figure 2 shows the time evolution of eclipse durations and ingress/egress ratio. Figure 3 compares the model to the archival light curves. The agreement is excellent within the overall uncertainties in zero point and phase of the archival data. Figure 4 shows the disappearance of the re-brightenings between 1995 and 1998, and compares the model with the 2001-02 light curve. Figure 5 shows the two possible solutions for the radial velocity curve.

## 4 Discussion

We have shown it is possible to find reasonable stellar and orbital parameters that bring the model into quantitative agreement with the modern and archival light curves, and the available radial velocity data. Certainly we do not claim that our model parameters are exactly correct. The fitted parameters are subject to our assumptions about the mass and radius of star A, the year the eclipses began, and the constancy of the screen speed, among other things. Nevertheless, we can use the generic properties of the model to make some inferences and predictions about the system.

The speed of the screen relative to the center of mass of the binary is only $`v_x=13`$ m s-1, a scale set by the $``$35 year crossing time of star B’s projected orbit. This speed seems too small for the screen to be an unrelated foreground cloud, as has been proposed for the central object of planetary nebula NGC 2346 (Schaefer 1985, Mendez et al. 1985, Roth et al. 1984). Rather, the screen is probably physically associated with the binary, as also suggested by the small angle between the screen’s edge and the orbital plane of the binary. A circular orbit with speed 13 m s-1 around a total mass of 1.0$`M_{}`$ would have a radius of 25 parsecs, which is too large to remain bound to the system. The speed must represent a phenomenon slower than orbital motion, such as orbital precession.

Hence our hypothesis is that the screen is a precessing circumbinary disk. As a feasibility test, we numerically integrated the motion of test particles in a circular, circumbinary orbit around the binary system of Model 1. For orbits of radius 2.6 A.U. that are inclined by $``$20° relative to the plane of the binary, the line of nodes regresses at $`6.3\times 10^3`$ rad year-1, corresponding to a projected velocity of 14 m s-1 normal to the plane of the binary. Furthermore, given the mass ratio and eccentricity of the binary, test particles at 2.6 A.U. are long-term dynamically stable against ejection (Holman & Wiegert 1999).

One difference between the model and the 2001-02 light curve is that the start of ingress, and end of egress, are too abrupt in the model. This is probably due to the assumption of a perfectly sharp and straight edge. Likewise, we did not attempt to model temporal variations in the scattered light during eclipses, which could be due to the spatial distribution of dust in the plane of the binary, or ahead of the occulting edge.

Radial velocity predictions are given in Figure 5, subject to the uncertainty in the total stellar mass, and possible contamination of the H02 measurements by scattered light. Soderblom et al. (1999) found a median radial velocity of $`+21.2\pm 1.8`$ km s-1 for 18 probable members of NGC 2264, favoring Model 1 ($`+15.5`$ km s-1) over Model 2 ($`+5.7`$ km s-1). In either case, the peak-to-peak variations outside of eclipses should be $``$10 km s-1. Larger variations occur during eclipses, when the star’s photosphere is hidden.

We can also predict the results of future archival studies and monitoring campaigns. Prior to about 1960, no photometric variations were seen, apart from any intrinsic variations of the stars. The eclipse duration grew between 1970 and 1985, at which point the light curve became more complex due to eclipses of both stars. In the future the eclipse duration will continue to grow, and by about 2012 the system will be completely covered. When the system will come back into view depends on the unknown extent of the obscuring screen.

We are very grateful to Cesare Barbieri, Scott Gaudi, Catrina Hamilton, Bill Herbst, Marc Kuchner, Lucas Laursen, Francesca Rampazzi, Dimitar Sasselov, Brad Schaefer, and Martin Winn, for helpful discussions and assistance. This work was supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 0104347.