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# Neutral hydrogen surveys for high redshift galaxy clusters and proto-clusters

## 1 Introduction

Emission and absorption of electromagnetic radiation due to transitions between the hyperfine states of neutral Hydrogen (HI(Field, 1958) has had a significant impact on our understanding of our galaxy and our immediate cosmic neighbourhood. At present, however, the highest redshift detection of 21cm emission is at $`z0.18`$ (Zwann et al., 2001) and only very shallow surveys $`(z<0.04)`$ of the whole sky have been performed (Zwann et al., 1997; Kilborn et al., 1999; Ryan-Weber et al., 2002; Lang et al., 2003). In this article we would like to point out that it might soon be possible to perform blind unbiased searches for large objects, both virialized and collapsing, using 21cm emission as their tracer.

It has long been speculated that it might be possible to detect the onset of the epoch of reionization using redshifted 21cm emission (Scott & Rees, 1990; Madau et al., 1997) and indeed, spurred on by the claim that the reionization epoch might have been at much higher redshifts ($`z17`$) than previously thought (Spergel et al., 2003), there has been much recent work on this subject (Furlanetto et al., 2003; Zaldarriga et al., 2003; Gnedin & Shaver, 2003). Moreover, it has also been pointed out that the evolution of the spin-temperature, $`T_\mathrm{S}`$, prior to reionization might be such that the large-scale structure can be observed in absorption against the cosmic microwave background (CMB) at very low frequencies ($`3050\mathrm{MHz}`$) enabling accurate determination of a variety of important cosmological parameters (Loeb & Zaldarriaga, 2003). Our motivation is somewhat different: to map the large-scale structure (LSS) once it has developed sufficiently for the spin temperature to be given by the kinetic temperature of the gas $`1000\mathrm{K}`$ and $`T_\mathrm{S}T_{\mathrm{CMB}}`$, that is, using 21cm emission.

For various proposed instruments, our aim is to make conservative estimates of the number of virialized clusters that might be found in the range $`z<1`$, and also collapsing objects with lower overdensities at $`z>1`$. These higher redshift objects are the proto-clusters which would have formed virialized clusters by the present day and in some sense characterize the so called ‘cosmic web’ of LSS observed in cosmological N-body simulations. They are likely to be HI rich, but naively, virialized objects would not necessarily be the most obvious places to look for neutral gas since the process of virialization and the creation of the intracluster medium involves violent gravitational processes which are likely to strip neutral gas from the constituent galaxies by tidal interactions and ram pressure (Gunn & Gott, 1972). However, by virtue of their large overdensity such objects should still contain a substantial neutral component, probably larger at high redshifts than locally, albeit locked up in galaxies. The fiducial detection threshold that we will discuss in this paper will be $`10^{11}M_{}`$ of HI, which we will show could be possible on large patches of the sky; it is worth pointing out that this would only require a cluster to contain 20 gas-rich spirals with HI masses $`5\times 10^9M_{}`$. This is likely to be the case for many clusters.

Most importantly, in the context of this discussion, all the objects we will consider, both virialized and collapsing, will have angular diameters $`5^{}10^{}`$ which will match the resolution of the telescopes and arrays with $`100`$m baselines currently being planned to detect redshifted 21cm emission. This will make them ideal survey targets since they would fill the beam, in contrast to ordinary galaxies at the same redshift whose signal will be substantially diluted and will most likely be below the confusion limit.

Blind surveys for galaxies and galaxy clusters have been performed in the optical waveband for many years. The most recent galaxy redshift surveys (2dFGRS and SDSS) have yielded significant constraints on cosmological parameters via measurements of the power spectrum and redshift space distortions, as well as a wealth of understanding of the properties of the individual galaxies (Peacock, 2003; Tegmark et al., 2003). If deep redshift surveys using HI could be performed they would open up a new window on the universe which could have some technical advantages over optical approaches. In particular, using the flexible spectral resolution of radio receivers, objects can be selected using spectroscopic methods rather than, for example, photometrically from optical plates, making them flux limited over the specific redshift range probed. The structure of the selection function should, therefore, be simple to define. It should also be possible to deduce the redshift and accurate line-widths for individual objects allowing one to probe the underlying mass distribution directly and establish the precise selection criteria a posteriori. This could overcome some of the issues of bias inherent in optical surveys. Moreover, potential confusion with other spectral lines is unlikely in the radio waveband since there a very few strong lines.

A standard line of argument often put forward is that, the optical surveys are sensitive to the sum of all the starlight from the galaxies and could be significantly biased by the non-linearities involved in the star-formation process, while the neutral component is of primordial origin and hence is unbiased. This is unlikely to be completely true since the neutral component is also involved in these processes. However, observing the HI component is more than just another view of the same object. The HI halos of nearby galaxies extend out very much further than their optical counter parts, suggesting that the dynamics of the HI contains extra information.

As with galaxies, the study of clusters has focused on the central region where diffuse hot gas is situated. This emits very strongly in the X-ray waveband and can also lead to fluctuations in the CMB via the Sunyaev-Zeldovich (SZ) effect. However, typically the core radius of the cluster is only about 1/10th of linear size of the object and 1/1000th of the volume. It is likely that the study of these objects using HI as the tracer will lead to new insights in an analogous way to galaxies. In particular many of the HI rich spiral galaxies are likely to be situated away from the core and there is also a possibility of a component of diffuse HI similar to that seen around individual galaxies.

At present radio telescopes which are sufficiently sensitive to map the sky quickly enough to be competitive with optical surveys do not exist. However, the next few years could see the start of development of instruments which are many times more powerful in terms of survey speed than those presently available. The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) (see www.skatelescope.org for details) is the ultimate goal of much technology development currently underway. Although its precise design is still evolving, its projected specification involves a collecting area of $`10^6\mathrm{m}^2`$, sub-arcsecond resolution, a large instantaneous field of view and significant bandwidth in the region where redshifted HI will be detected. Such an instrument will have the ability to perform significant galaxy redshift surveys tracing HI over a wide range of redshifts.

Proto-types are being planned which would be around 1/100th of the full SKA in area. Searches for galaxies at low redshift, extending those currently being performed, would be an obvious possibility for such an instrument. Our aim, here, is to discuss issues related to the design of such an instrument in the context of a blind survey for large objects at intermediate and high redshifts such as virialized galaxy clusters and collapsing proto-clusters which are, as we have already discussed the ideal targets for these surveys in terms of their size; our conclusion being that the planned instruments will be sufficiently sensitive to perform significant surveys.

First, we will discuss different proposed concepts for such instruments and perform a simple sensitivity calculation for the limiting HI mass ($`M_{\mathrm{H}𝙸}^{\mathrm{lim}}`$) of a survey assuming a fixed integration time111We note that all integration times discussed in this paper are ‘on-source’ integration times and do not take into account any practical difficulties required to make the observations. These could vary significantly for different experimental configurations.. We will then discuss the possibility of detecting virialized clusters. In order to make the link with theoretical predictions of the number of dark matter halos, we need to make some assumption as to the HI content of individual dark matter halos. This is a very complicated issue and since we are, at this stage, only trying to make rough estimate of the number of clusters one might find, we will assume that there exists a universal ratio $`f_{\mathrm{H}𝙸}(M,z)=M_{\mathrm{H}𝙸}/M`$ which relates the dark matter mass of a halo, $`M`$, to its neutral gas component at a given redshift. This should be a good approximation in the mass range relevant to clusters, but is unlikely to be so of smaller masses. We will make various arguments in order to estimate this fraction. At each stage we will attempt to make conservative assumptions and therefore our estimate of the number of objects found in a given survey should be a lower bound. Under these assumptions we can then deduce the number of objects that a survey might find using the results of N-body simulations. We then discuss some issues related to the design of the instrument, the survey strategy and confusion due to HI in the field. Finally, we will adapt our calculations to compute the number of objects at turnaround and discuss issues relating to their detection

Throughout this paper, we will assume a cosmological model which is flat, with the densities of matter and the cosmological constant relative to critical given by $`\mathrm{\Omega }_\mathrm{m}=0.3`$ and $`\mathrm{\Omega }_\mathrm{\Lambda }=0.7`$. The Hubble constant used is $`72\mathrm{km}\mathrm{sec}^1\mathrm{Mpc}^1`$ and the power spectrum normalization is assumed to be $`\sigma _8=0.9`$. These values are compatible with a range of observations (Spergel et al., 2003; Contaldi et al., 2003).

## 2 Proposed instruments

A number of different concepts are under discussion which could make observations in the frequency range $`400\mathrm{MHz}<f_{\mathrm{obs}}<1200\mathrm{MHz}`$. The proposed instruments will, in fact, be sensitive to a much wider range of frequencies (up to $`1700\mathrm{MHz}`$), but this is the most sensible range to discuss the detection of large objects since they will be close to, or completely, unresolved. The design features which are of interest to us here are the overall collecting area, $`A`$, the aperture efficiency, $`\eta `$, the instantaneous bandwidth, $`\mathrm{\Delta }f_{\mathrm{inst}}`$, the instantaneous field-of-view (FOV), $`\mathrm{\Omega }_{\mathrm{inst}}`$, the longest baseline, $`d`$, and the system noise temperature of the receivers, $`T_{\mathrm{sys}}^{\mathrm{rec}}`$. The overall system temperature, $`T_{\mathrm{sys}}`$, at frequency $`f`$ can be conservatively estimated by taking into account the CMB and galactic background

$$T_{\mathrm{sys}}T_{\mathrm{sys}}^{\mathrm{rec}}+2.7\mathrm{K}+10\mathrm{K}\left(\frac{f}{408\mathrm{M}\mathrm{H}\mathrm{z}}\right)^3,$$
(1)
in a cold part of the sky.

We will focus on two different concepts which differ in the way they form the instantaneous field of view. Firstly, we will consider a conventional interferometer similar to the Allen Telescope Array (ATA), which comprises $`n_d`$ dishes of diameter $`D`$. In this case $`\mathrm{\Omega }_{\mathrm{inst}}(\lambda /D)^2`$ and $`A=\pi n_\mathrm{d}D^2/4`$ where $`\lambda 1/f_{\mathrm{obs}}`$. The current design of the ATA has $`n_\mathrm{d}350`$, $`D=6.1\mathrm{m}`$ and it is likely that $`\eta 0.6`$, $`d400\mathrm{m}`$ and $`\mathrm{\Delta }f_{\mathrm{inst}}/f_{\mathrm{obs}}0.05`$. The FOV is set by the size of the individual telescopes and the synthesized beam size is set by the longest baseline. Such a configuration would have a synthesized beam with $`\theta _{\mathrm{FWHM}}=3.2^{}`$ at $`f_{\mathrm{obs}}=1000\mathrm{M}\mathrm{H}\mathrm{z}`$ and a corresponding instantaneous FOV of $`13.4\mathrm{deg}^2`$. Note that throughout we assume a circular aperture, that is, $`\theta _{\mathrm{FWHM}}=1.22\lambda /d`$, which should be a reasonable approximation.

The other competing concept which we will consider is that of a phased array which could potentially have a much larger field of view; the idea being to use very low cost antennae, arranged in $`n_\mathrm{p}`$ patches of size $`P`$, and form $`n_\mathrm{b}`$ individual beams using off-the-shelf computer hardware. Hence, $`\mathrm{\Omega }_{\mathrm{inst}}n_\mathrm{b}(\lambda /d)^2(\lambda /P)^2`$ and $`A=\pi n_\mathrm{p}P^2/4`$ assuming that the patches are circular, from which we can deduce that $`d\sqrt{n_\mathrm{b}}P`$. Such a concept could have more than one instantaneous FOV, possibly allowing for more continuous usage for $`\mathrm{H}𝙸`$ studies. Three possible scenarios for such an instrument are presented in table 1. These range from conservative, setup I, to speculative, setup III. We should note that for $`P4\mathrm{m}`$, none of the above configurations come close to saturating the inequality on $`P`$. The value of $`n_\mathrm{b}`$ should be taken as being a guide figure since extra computing power could increase this close to the maximum FOV set by $`P`$.

The standard formula (Roberts, 1975) relating the HI mass, $`M_{\mathrm{H}𝙸}`$, and the observed flux density, $`S`$, integrated over a velocity width, $`\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{v}`$, in an FRW universe is given by

$$\frac{M_{\mathrm{HI}}}{M_{}}=\frac{2.35\times 10^5}{1+z}\left(\frac{d_\mathrm{L}}{\mathrm{Mpc}}\right)^2\left(\frac{S\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{v}}{\mathrm{Jy}\mathrm{km}\mathrm{sec}^1}\right),$$
(2)
where $`d_\mathrm{L}(z)`$ is the luminosity distance to redshift $`z`$. For a fiducial velocity width of $`\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{v}800\mathrm{km}\mathrm{sec}^1`$ assumed at this stage to be independent of the mass, an object containing $`10^{11}M_{}`$ of HI will have $`S_{800}4,\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}14},\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}42},\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}150},\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}840}\mu \mathrm{Jy}`$ at $`f_{\mathrm{obs}}=400,\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}600},\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}800},\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}1000},\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}1200}\mathrm{MHz}`$ corresponding to $`z=2.55,\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}1.37},\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}0.78},\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}0.42},\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}0.18}`$ respectively.

Assuming that the clusters are unresolved, which will be a good approximation at least for the phased array configurations at intermediate and high redshift (see fig. 1 for virialized objects), then the rate at which one can survey the sky over the instantaneous bandwidth is quantified by

$$_{800}=\frac{2T_{\mathrm{sys}}}{\eta A\sqrt{\mathrm{\Delta }f_{\mathrm{obj}}\mathrm{\Omega }_{\mathrm{inst}}}},$$
(3)
where $`\mathrm{\Delta }f_{\mathrm{obj}}`$ is the frequency interval corresponding to $`\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{v}`$. The noise, $`S_\sigma `$, attainable for a survey with angular coverage, $`\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{\Omega }`$, in integration time, $`t`$, is given by $`S_\sigma =_{800}\sqrt{\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{\Omega }/t}`$. This line of argument should also yield important information even when the object is resolved. Projected values for $`_{800}`$ are presented in table 2 for the ATA and the different phased array setups using $`f_{\mathrm{obs}}=4001200\mathrm{MHz}`$ along with the integration time required to achieve a 5$`\sigma `$ detection $`(S_{800}>5S_\sigma )`$ of $`M_{\mathrm{H}𝙸}^{\mathrm{lim}}10^{11}M_{}`$ of $`\mathrm{H}𝙸`$ in $`\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{v}800\mathrm{km}\mathrm{sec}^1`$ on $`100\mathrm{deg}^2`$. Note that in reality the angular coverage of a given survey is likely to be an integer multiple of the instantaneous FOV. However, this way of presenting the sensitivity makes it possible to compare experiments with different FOVs in a coherent way.

## 3 Detecting galaxy clusters

### 3.1 HI content of galaxy clusters

As is almost always the case, the observed quantity $`M_{\mathrm{H}𝙸}`$ is not theoretically well understood. It is possible to make accurate predictions as to the clustering of dark matter, but the evolution of the gas is much more difficult to predict. Therefore, we will introduce the empirical quantity $`f_{\mathrm{H}𝙸}(M,z)`$ which we will define to be fraction of the HI in a dark matter halo of mass $`M`$ at redshift $`z`$. We anticipate that this quantity is likely have a substantive scatter $`\sigma _{\mathrm{H}𝙸}^2=f_{\mathrm{H}𝙸}^2f_{\mathrm{H}𝙸}^2`$, but we shall assume this is zero since estimating it would be futile due to the small number of the observations available at present, and any scatter is likely to increase the number of objects that are found in a given survey assuming that the mean value is correct. This is because there are typically many more objects just below the mass limit than above it. We will first present a simple order of magnitude estimate for $`f_{\mathrm{H}𝙸}`$ and then go on to discuss the current status of observations.

One can estimate the fraction of HI in clusters, $`f_{\mathrm{H}𝙸}^{\mathrm{clust}}`$, from that in a typical galaxy, by taking into account different mass to luminosity ratios, $`M/L`$, of typical clusters and galaxies, and the fact that only spiral galaxies are $`\mathrm{H}𝙸`$ rich. If $`f_{\mathrm{spiral}}`$ is the fraction of spiral galaxies in a typical cluster then

$$f_{\mathrm{HI}}^{\mathrm{clust}}f_{\mathrm{spiral}}\frac{(M/L)^{\mathrm{gal}}}{(M/L)^{\mathrm{clust}}}f_{\mathrm{HI}}^{\mathrm{gal}}.$$
(4)
By considering the average properties of galaxies (Roberts & Haynes, 1994), the value of $`f_{\mathrm{HI}}^{\mathrm{gal}}`$ is observed to be $`0.06`$ for a typical spiral galaxy at $`z0`$. The value $`M/L`$ of such object is likely to be $`8`$, whereas that for a typical cluster is $`240`$. It is believed that the value of $`f_{\mathrm{spiral}}0.5`$, making $`f_{\mathrm{HI}}^{\mathrm{clust}}10^3`$.

Another approach is to compute the value of $`f_{\mathrm{HI}}`$ for a cluster by summing up the measured values of $`M_{\mathrm{H}𝙸}`$ for the constituent galaxies and computing their line of sight velocity dispersion, $`\sigma `$, and hence their virial mass $`M_{\mathrm{vir}}=3\pi \sigma ^2R_\mathrm{H}/(2G)`$, where $`R_\mathrm{H}`$ is the mean harmonic radius and $`G`$ is the gravitational constant. We should note that this is likely to under-estimate $`f_{\mathrm{HI}}`$ since it ignores the many gas-rich dwarf galaxies which are below the detection threshold of any survey. Moreover, it also ignores, as does the order of magnitude estimate above, the possibility that there exists a diffuse component of HI such as the tidal plumes of HI observed in galaxy groups (Appleton et al., 1981).

The HI content of the Virgo galaxy cluster is the best studied (Hutchmeier & Richter, 1986), but it is well known that this object is not completely relaxed; it being comprised of three interacting sub-clusters, and so the computed value of $`f_{\mathrm{H}𝙸}`$ is likely to be an unreliable statistical indicator of the global value. Studies of the HI content of other clusters are much less detailed. The Abell cluster A3128 has been surveyed for HI (Chengalur et al., 2001). By co-adding the HI at the position of galaxies brighter than an r-magnitude of 16.2, a total HI mass of $`1.3\times 10^{11}M_{}`$ was detected. $`M_{\mathrm{vir}}`$ for this cluster is $`1.5\times 10^{14}M_{}`$ estimated from the velocity dispersion and the angular distribution of the galaxies at an assumed distance of 240Mpc. For the detected galaxies $`M_{\mathrm{H}𝙸}/M_{\mathrm{vir}}0.9\times 10^3`$, compatible with our earlier order of magnitude estimate. A recent sensitive multi-beam study of Centaurus A group has been made (Banks et al., 1999) and this survey was able to detect HI in galaxies over a wide range of luminosities and, therefore, includes at least part of the dwarf galaxy contribution. For this group $`M_{\mathrm{H}𝙸}/M_{\mathrm{vir}}1.1\times 10^3`$.

Many different arguments suggest that $`f_{\mathrm{H}𝙸}`$ should increase with redshift. HI is the basic fuel for star formation and it is believed that for an individual object $`\dot{M}_{}M_{\mathrm{H}𝙸}`$. Since the global star formation rate is known to grow approximately linearly with redshift to a maximum about five times the local value at $`z23`$, it seems likely that $`f_{\mathrm{H}𝙸}^{\mathrm{gal}}(M,z1)5\times f_{\mathrm{H}𝙸}^{\mathrm{gal}}(M,z0)`$; an effect which may be even stronger within clusters. A related, but logically distinct fact is the observation that high redshift clusters contain a larger fraction of blue galaxies when compared to local ones (Butcher & Oemler, 1984) and also that they contain a larger fraction of spirals and a reduced number of S0s (Dressler et al., 1997). Both these observed facts suggest that $`f_{\mathrm{spiral}}`$ also increases with $`z`$. Hence, using the estimate (4) it seems sensible to deduce that using the locally observed $`f_{\mathrm{H}𝙸}^{\mathrm{clust}}`$ is likely to be an under-estimate by a factor of a few.

Various estimates of $`\mathrm{\Omega }_{\mathrm{H}𝙸}`$ appear in the literature and these can be used to gain some further insight into the issues under consideration here. By making observations of damped Lyman-$`\alpha `$ systems in an average redshift range of $`z2.4`$ the CORALS project (Ellison et al., 2001) estimate that $`\mathrm{\Omega }_{\mathrm{H}𝙸}2.6\times 10^3`$. Using the fiducial value of $`\mathrm{\Omega }_\mathrm{m}`$, one can deduce a value of $`f_{\mathrm{H}𝙸}8\times 10^3`$ for the field at this epoch corresponding to a density of $`\rho _{\mathrm{H}𝙸}3.6\times 10^8M_{}\mathrm{Mpc}^3`$. Using the recently published data from the HIPASS survey it has been deduced (Zwann et al., 2003) that for $`z<0.04`$ the value of $`\mathrm{\Omega }_{\mathrm{H}𝙸}`$ is much lower, $`\mathrm{\Omega }_{\mathrm{H}𝙸}3.8\times 10^4`$ from which one can deduce that $`f_{\mathrm{H}𝙸}1.2\times 10^3`$ and $`\rho _{\mathrm{H}𝙸}5.3\times 10^7M_{}\mathrm{Mpc}^3`$. Remarkably this is approximately a factor 6-7 smaller than the estimated value at $`z=2.4`$ and is clearly compatible with our earlier remarks concerning the global star formation rate. Moreover, the estimated value at $`z0`$ is very close to the value we have discussed in the context of clusters. This would tend to suggest that the value of $`f_{\mathrm{H}𝙸}`$ is only marginally lower in clusters (say $`2030\%`$) than in the field. Since the clusters are a substantial $`(100)`$ overdensity in the dark matter they should be clearly observable in HI with an appropriate sized telescope.

### 3.2 Number of virialized dark matter halos

Since we are only trying to compute a lower bound on the number of objects found in a given survey, it is reasonable to assume a value of $`f_{\mathrm{HI}}10^3`$ constant over the range of masses we are considering and independent of redshift. If $`M_{\mathrm{H}𝙸}^{\mathrm{lim}}10^{11}M_{}`$ as discussed earlier for the various planned surveys, then $`M_{\mathrm{lim}}10^{14}M_{}`$ for the dark matter and hence by computing the number of objects greater than this limit will give an estimate of the number of objects likely to be found in a survey.

Now, let us compute the number of objects with mass greater than some limiting mass $`M_{\mathrm{lim}}`$ between $`z\mathrm{\Delta }z/2`$ and $`z+\mathrm{\Delta }z/2`$ in a solid angle $`\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{\Omega }`$,

$$N(M>M_{lim})=\mathrm{\Delta }z\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{\Omega }\frac{dV}{dzd\mathrm{\Omega }}_{M_{\mathrm{lim}}}^{\mathrm{}}\frac{dn}{dM}𝑑M,$$
(5)
where

$$\mathrm{\Delta }z=(1+z)d\mathrm{v}=(1+z)\mathrm{\Delta }f_{\mathrm{inst}}/f_{\mathrm{obs}},$$
(6)
is assumed to be small, $`dV/(dzd\mathrm{\Omega })`$ is the comoving volume element and $`dn/dM`$ is the comoving number density of objects.

We will use an expression for the comoving number density which is derived from numerical simulations carried out by the VIRGO consortium (Evrard et al., 2002)

$$\frac{dn}{dM}(z,M)=0.22\frac{\rho _\mathrm{m}(t_0)}{M\sigma _M}\frac{d\sigma _\mathrm{M}}{dM}\mathrm{exp}\{|A(z,m)|^{3.86}\},$$
(7)
where $`A(z,M)=0.73\mathrm{log}[D(z)\sigma _M]`$, $`\rho _\mathrm{m}(t_0)`$ is the matter density at the present day, $`\sigma _M`$ is the overdensity in a virialized region of mass $`M`$ and $`D(z)`$ is the normalized growth factor. Here, the mass is defined to be $`M_{200}`$, that inside a region with an approximately spherical overdensity $`\mathrm{\Delta }_\mathrm{c}=200`$. This can be related to the virial mass, $`M_{\mathrm{vir}}`$ if we assume an NFW function for the cluster profile (Navarro et al., 1997). In all the subsequent discussion we have made this correction using a concentration parameter of $`c=5`$, in which case that from $`M_{200}`$ to $`M_{\mathrm{vir}}`$ is typically very small.

In Fig. 2, we plot $`N(M>M_{\mathrm{lim}})`$ per $`\mathrm{deg}^2`$ per $`1\%`$ bandwidth against $`M_{\mathrm{vir}}`$ for five different redshifts (z=2.55, 1.37, 0.78, 0.42, 0.18) corresponding to frequencies $`f_{\mathrm{obs}}=400\mathrm{MHz}`$, $`600\mathrm{MHz}`$, $`800\mathrm{MHz}`$, $`1000\mathrm{MHz}`$ and $`1200\mathrm{MHz}`$ respectively. We see that there are $`0.5`$ dark matter halos with $`M_{\mathrm{vir}}10^{14}M_{}`$ per $`\mathrm{deg}^2`$ per $`1\%`$ bandwidth for $`600\mathrm{MHz}<f_{\mathrm{obs}}<1200\mathrm{MHz}`$. There are very few objects with $`M_{\mathrm{vir}}>2\times 10^{13}M_{}`$ for $`f_{\mathrm{obs}}=400\mathrm{MHz}`$. Larger objects with $`M_{\mathrm{vir}}3\times 10^{14}M_{}`$ are much more rare for $`f_{\mathrm{obs}}=600\mathrm{MHz}`$, but for higher frequencies there would still be many objects above this limiting mass. Using the fiducial value of $`M_{\mathrm{lim}}=10^{14}M_{}`$ at $`f_{\mathrm{obs}}=1000\mathrm{MHz}`$, by referring back to table 2, we see that it would be possible to cover $`10000\mathrm{deg}^2`$ in $`400`$ days using setup II. Such a survey would find $`15000`$ objects above this mass limit since there are $`0.3`$ objects per $`\mathrm{deg}^2`$ per $`1\%`$ bandwidth. We note that a similar survey would take only 90 days with setup III and there would be twice as many objects found since it has a larger bandwidth. For the same integration time one could cover only about $`1000\mathrm{deg}^2`$ at $`f_{\mathrm{obs}}=800\mathrm{MHz}`$ and would find $`1000`$ objects with with setup II. At $`f_{\mathrm{obs}}=1200\mathrm{MHz}`$ one would be able to cover more area, but there are less objects objects since the comoving volume is decreasing, and things are likely to be somewhat more complicated since $`10^{14}M_{}`$ objects would be resolved at this frequency. Much less area could be covered to the same depth at $`f_{\mathrm{obs}}=600\mathrm{MHz}`$ and as we will discuss it might be that such objects are difficult to detect against the background since the beamsize increases with decreasing frequency. Clearly, there is no point in searching for virialized objects at $`f_{\mathrm{obs}}=400\mathrm{MHz}`$.

We have also computed the same quantity as a function of $`f_{\mathrm{obs}}`$ in fig. 3 for different values of $`M_{\mathrm{lim}}`$. We see that there are very few virialized objects accessible to observations with $`f_{\mathrm{obs}}<600\mathrm{MHz}`$ again suggesting that surveys which are intending to search for such objects are unlikely to find anything significant for $`z>1.4`$. However, we also see that for the fiducial value of $`M_{\mathrm{lim}}10^{14}M_{}`$ which we have been using, there are a wide range of frequencies for which one will find more than one object per $`10\mathrm{deg}^2`$ in a $`1\%`$ bandwidth. Many smaller objects ($`M_{\mathrm{vir}}3\times 10^{12}M_{}10^{13}M_{}`$) are accessible at lower frequencies due to the evolution of structure.

### 3.3 Optimal design and survey strategy

One can attempt to gain some understanding of the optimal design of an instrument and survey strategy by substituting into (5) for $`\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{\Omega }`$ from (3), for $`\mathrm{\Delta }z`$ from (6), and using $`S_\sigma \mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{v}M_{\mathrm{H}𝙸}/d_L^2`$. One finds that $`Nt(M_{\mathrm{H}𝙸}^2/\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{v})`$ where

$$\frac{\eta ^2A^2\mathrm{\Omega }_{\mathrm{inst}}\mathrm{\Delta }f_{\mathrm{inst}}}{T_{\mathrm{sys}}^2},$$
(8)
can be thought of as the instrumental figure of merit which clearly has sensible dependences on the relevant parameters. This effectively quantifies how many objects one would find in a survey ignoring any potential systematics. Alternatively, the integration time required to find a fixed number of objects is $`^1`$. It is clear that similar arguments can be made for a galaxy redshift survey and this would, therefore, also apply to the SKA and other similar instruments. This formula should also yield important information when applied to surveys for other kinds of objects.

The value of $`27`$ for the ATA configuration discussed earlier and its value is presented in table 1 for the phased arrays. This figure of merit has been normalized to the theoretical sensitivity of the Parkes multi-beam (PM) receiver (Barnes et al., 2001), although we note that this instrument can only observe in a narrow frequency range around 21cm. We have also computed this quantity for the Lovell Telescope multi-beam receiver and the Green Bank Telescope (single beam); they are $`0.34`$ and 0.21 respectively. Note that we have used the frequency independent $`T_{\mathrm{sys}}^{\mathrm{rec}}`$ to compute this quantity.

We see that the setup I is about a factor of 5 more powerful than the PM, while both the presented ATA configuration and setup II improve on this substantially. Setup III is more than 500 times more powerful than the PM. For a phased array configuration $`\mathrm{\Omega }_{\mathrm{inst}}n_\mathrm{b}d^2`$ and hence $`\eta _\mathrm{F}=A/d^2`$ which represents the filling factor of the array. It is clear that, at least for unresolved detections and ignoring the issue of confusion, which we will discuss below, a totally filled array $`(\eta _\mathrm{F}=1)`$ will perform the best in terms of having the largest number of objects above the detection threshold. This is because an array with $`\eta _\mathrm{F}1`$ has a much lower sensitivity to surface brightness temperature, than one with $`\eta _\mathrm{F}1`$. Such an array would be likely to have poor resolution particularly at low frequencies and would, therefore, make it difficult to make any sub-selection within the sample to cut down on systematics. It is possible that low resolution arrays could also suffer from confusion related issues (see below).

Assuming a virialized halo $`\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{v}\sigma M_{\mathrm{vir}}^{1/3}`$ ($`\sigma `$ is the velocity dispersion of the object) and if $`f_{\mathrm{H}𝙸}`$ is independent of $`M_{\mathrm{vir}}`$, then the multiplicative factor $`M_{\mathrm{H}𝙸}^2/\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{v}M_{\mathrm{vir}}^{5/3}`$. Since the integral in (5) is a decaying function of $`M_{\mathrm{vir}}`$ with negative power law $`nn(M_{\mathrm{vir}})`$, the optimal observing strategy would be to set the noise so that $`M_{\mathrm{lim}}`$ is that for which $`n=5/3`$, that is $`M_{\mathrm{lim}}2\times 10^{14}M_{}`$, $`10^{14}M_{}`$, $`4\times 10^{13}M_{}`$, $`1.5\times 10^{13}M_{}`$ and $`10^{12}M_{}`$ for $`f_{\mathrm{obs}}=1200\mathrm{MHz}`$, $`1000\mathrm{MHz}`$, $`800\mathrm{MHz}`$, $`600\mathrm{MHz}`$ and $`400\mathrm{MHz}`$ respectively, this being a simple consequence of the evolution of structure. We have presented this power law $`n=d(\mathrm{log}N)/d(\mathrm{log}M)`$ as a function of $`M_{\mathrm{vir}}`$ in fig. 4. We see that under these assumptions $`M_{\mathrm{lim}}10^{14}M_{}`$ should be close to the optimal mass limit for $`f_{\mathrm{obs}}=1000\mathrm{MHz}`$ and that lower limits, requiring deeper surveys and hence less angular coverage for a fixed integration time, are needed to be optimal at lower frequencies. We should caution that this is heavily predicated on the assumption that $`f_{\mathrm{H}𝙸}`$ is independent of $`M`$ which we have already argued is unlikely to be the case and this would have to be taken into account before relying on such a calculation to set the depth of an actual observational strategy. If $`f_{\mathrm{H}𝙸}`$ decreases with $`M`$ then this would mean one should perform a deeper survey than one would if it were independent of $`M`$. Suffice to say, if one has some idea as to the dependence of $`f_{\mathrm{H}𝙸}`$ on $`M`$, the method would remain the same, but with a different value of $`n`$.

### 3.4 Confusion noise

Observations using spectral lines are not typically effected by issues of confusion as can often be the case for continuum sources. However, in the current situation we are dealing with very large amounts of $`\mathrm{H}𝙸`$ and very large beams. One has, therefore, to be careful to avoid making the beam size so large that a typical beam contains an amount of HI comparable to the detection threshold. This becomes more and more important as one makes deeper and deeper surveys, particularly at high redshift. As we shall see this is very sensitive to the small scale distribution of HI, but in order to make a simple estimate let us note that the comoving volume enclosed by a beam of $`10^{}`$ and a velocity width of $`800\mathrm{km}\mathrm{sec}^1`$ at $`z1`$ is $`1000\mathrm{Mpc}^3`$. Since the comoving matter density is $`4\times 10^{10}M_{}\mathrm{Mpc}^3`$, this means that a typical beam volume contains about $`4\times 10^{13}M_{}`$ of dark matter and using our estimate for $`f_{\mathrm{H}𝙸}`$, about $`4\times 10^{10}M_{}`$ of $`\mathrm{H}𝙸`$. Clearly this mitigates our earlier assertion that $`\eta _\mathrm{F}1`$ would be the best situation for unresolved detections. Making $`\theta _{\mathrm{FWHM}}`$ sufficiently small as to avoid this issue is clearly another important design criterion.

An interferometer or phased array would not, in fact, be sensitive to this smooth mass distribution, but rather to the fluctuations in it, which are typically smaller. Therefore, the discussion above yields an over-estimate of the possible effects of confusion. The clusters have overdensities of $`100`$ in the dark matter and we have already pointed out that, so far as current observations can tell, the value of $`f_{\mathrm{H}𝙸}`$ in the field is only marginally larger than that in a cluster, for example, in A3128. Even if the overdensity in HI were to be diluted to only $`20`$, one should not have any problem in picking them out from the background with a telescope whose beam is approximately the same size as the object. Velocity structure can only help in this respect. The problem is that for a given telescope the resolution degrades very rapidly as redshift increases. Hence, if a telescope were to be ideally suited to detection of clusters at $`z0.5`$ then by $`z1`$ this would lead to a dilution of the overdensity by factor of $`4`$.

One can make an estimate of the rms fluctuation in the mass in a volume defined by the beam area and the velocity width $`\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{v}=800\mathrm{km}\mathrm{sec}^1`$ by computing

$$M_{\mathrm{H}𝙸}^2=\mathrm{\Delta }z\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{\Omega }\frac{dV}{dzd\mathrm{\Omega }}_{M_{\mathrm{lim}}}^{\mathrm{}}[f_{\mathrm{H}𝙸}(M,z)]^2M^2\frac{dn}{dM}𝑑M,$$
(9)
where $`\mathrm{\Delta }z=(1+z)d\mathrm{v}=(1+z)f_{\mathrm{obj}}/f_{\mathrm{obs}}`$ is the velocity width of the object and $`\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{\Omega }\theta _{\mathrm{FWHM}}^2`$ is the beam area. We see that in order to estimate the confusion noise $`M_{\mathrm{H}𝙸}^2^{1/2}`$ one needs to know $`f_{\mathrm{H}𝙸}(M,z)`$ for all $`M`$ at the particular redshift in question, that is, we need to extrapolate our argument for $`f_{\mathrm{H}𝙸}`$ down to the galactic scale and below, which is beyond the scope of this paper. We present the results for an experimental configuration similar to setup II, that is, $`z0.42`$ ($`\theta _{\mathrm{FWHM}}5^{}`$) and $`z1.37`$ ($`\theta _{\mathrm{FWHM}}8.4^{}`$) using the fixed value of $`f_{\mathrm{H}𝙸}10^3`$ in fig. 5, along with some attempt to interpolate between $`f_{\mathrm{H}𝙸}10^2`$ expected for lower mass objects and that which we have argued applies to larger objects, $`f_{\mathrm{H}𝙸}10^3`$. We do this in an ad hoc way using the function

$$f_{\mathrm{H}𝙸}(M,z)=\frac{10^3(M/M_{})+10^{12}}{(M/M_{})+10^{14}},$$
(10)
to gain some insight into what the possible effects could be. We stress that we are not claiming that this expression has any physical origin, apart from the fact that it models the correct kind of behaviour. For $`M10^{10}M_{}`$ this function yields $`f_{\mathrm{H}𝙸}10^3`$ and for $`M10^{10}M_{}`$, it yields $`f_{\mathrm{H}𝙸}=10^2`$. We note that in such a model the overall HI content of the universe is larger than in one with the fixed value of $`f_{\mathrm{H}𝙸}=10^3`$.

We see that even when using (10) observations for setup II at $`f_{\mathrm{obs}}=1000\mathrm{MHz}`$, one would have a confusion noise which is much lower than the thermal noise mass limit if $`M_{\mathrm{H}𝙸}^{\mathrm{lim}}>2\times 10^{10}M_{}`$. Using the constant value of $`f_{\mathrm{H}𝙸}=10^3`$ the restriction is even weaker. Therefore, we can conclude that the confusion noise would be very much lower than the thermal noise value for the fiducial value of $`M_{\mathrm{H}𝙸}^{\mathrm{lim}}=10^{11}M_{}`$ used throughout this paper. As one might expect things are more restrictive at $`f_{\mathrm{obs}}=600\mathrm{MHz}`$. For the fixed value of $`f_{\mathrm{H}𝙸}`$ one would be restricted to $`M_{\mathrm{H}𝙸}^{\mathrm{lim}}>3\times 10^{10}M_{}`$ and if (10) were to be true the confusion noise would be comparable to the thermal noise at $`M_{\mathrm{H}𝙸}^{\mathrm{lim}}=10^{11}M_{}`$. One would be more likely to be effected by confusion noise for setup I due its large beam and less for setup III and the ATA since they have smaller beams.

## 4 Detecting proto-clusters

### 4.1 Number of dark matter halos at turnaround

The majority of our discussion to date has focused on the possibility of detecting virialized objects. However, we have noted that such objects are likely to have had their HI content depleted relative to the field by at least $`2030\%`$ during the process of virialization. It should also be possible to detect objects which are just beginning collapse, at turnaround, when they are just decoupling from the Hubble flow. This could be more efficient at high redshift where there are likely to be very few virialized objects with $`M_{\mathrm{vir}}>10^{14}M_{}`$ and virialized objects could become confused if the beam is too large. At turnaround $`\mathrm{\Delta }_\mathrm{c}5`$ and by virtue of the fact that virialization has not yet taken place, it should be possible to use, with some confidence, the value of $`f_{\mathrm{H}𝙸}`$ for the field at that time. Assuming a linear rate of star formation between $`z=0`$ and $`z=2.4`$, one can deduce that

$$f_{\mathrm{H}𝙸}^{\mathrm{field}}(z)(1.2+2.8z)\times 10^3,$$
(11)
for the field.

Moreover it is possible that the velocity dispersion of such objects is much less than the fiducial value of $`\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{v}=800\mathrm{km}\mathrm{sec}^1`$ used in the earlier parts of the paper for virialized objects. If this is so, the signal to noise for a fixed integration time on a source would increase. This is because the signal is $`(\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{v})^1`$ for a fixed HI mass and the noise is $`(\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{v})^{1/2}`$. The typical value of $`\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{v}`$ for such a object is unknown. Formally, the point of turnaround is defined to be that when the average velocity is zero, but the velocity dispersion need not be so. It will be governed by that of the virialized objects within the region which are in the process of merging to build up the cluster. In the subsequent discussion we will allow for $`\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{v}`$ to be a modelling parameter, but it is worth discussing various possible values that it might take. If the object at turnaround just comprises of two large objects which are collapsing together then the value of $`\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{v}`$ will be close to the fiducial value of $`800\mathrm{km}\mathrm{sec}^1`$. It is possible that such an object contains $`10^{14}M_{}`$ of dark matter and is comprised of $`100`$ smaller galactic-scale objects in the process of infall with masses of $`10^{12}M_{}`$. In this case $`\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{v}100200\mathrm{km}\mathrm{sec}^1`$. Or it could be that there are many more smaller objects with, say, $`\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{v}2050\mathrm{km}\mathrm{sec}^1`$. These possibilities are worth remembering in the subsequent discussion.

We should note that the collapsing objects at $`z12`$ are the proto-clusters which would have virialized by $`z0.51`$. If $`R_{\mathrm{ta}}`$, is the radius of the object at turnaround then the radius of that object once it has virialized is given by $`R_{\mathrm{vir}}=R_{\mathrm{ta}}/2`$ assuming a completely matter-dominated universe (Partridge & Peebles, 1967; Gunn & Gott, 1972). Corrections can be made to include a cosmological constant (Lahav et al., 1991) and also dark energy (Wang & Steinhardt, 1998; Battye & Weller, 2003). Similar relations can be derived relating the time at turnaround $`t_{\mathrm{ta}}`$ and that at virialization $`t_{\mathrm{vir}}=2t_{\mathrm{ta}}`$, and the corresponding redshifts, $`1+z_{\mathrm{ta}}=2^{2/3}(1+z_{\mathrm{vir}})`$. Liddle & Lyth (2000) give a detailed exposition of this model.

The formula (7) applies to objects with an overdensity, $`\mathrm{\Delta }_\mathrm{c}=200`$. If one assumes an NFW profile function for the objects with $`c=5`$, one can show that $`M_{200}M_5/2`$; this relation is approximately true for a wide range of concentration parameters. Taking the fiducial value of $`M_{\mathrm{H}𝙸}^{\mathrm{lim}}=10^{11}M_{}`$ and $`f_{\mathrm{H}𝙸}5\times 10^3`$ for $`f_{\mathrm{obs}}=600\mathrm{MHz}`$, we see that $`M_5^{\mathrm{lim}}2\times 10^{13}M_{}`$ and the corresponding value of $`M_{200}10^{13}M_{}`$ which can be used in conjunction with figs. 2, 3 and 4 to deduce the number of collapsing objects that would be found in a given survey, if one ignores the smaller correction from $`M_{200}`$ to $`M_{\mathrm{vir}}`$. We see that there are $`20`$ objects of this size per $`\mathrm{deg}^2`$ per $`1\%`$ bandwidth. For $`f_{\mathrm{obs}}=400\mathrm{MHz}`$ the value of $`f_{\mathrm{H}𝙸}`$ is higher and hence there are about the same number of objects; the increase in $`f_{\mathrm{H}𝙸}`$ offsetting the smaller number of objects for a given $`M_{\mathrm{vir}}`$. With this large number of objects and the large beams likely at this observing frequency, one might think that one would be close to confusion limited ($`1`$ object per beam area), but the extra information provided by the velocity information should help avoid this possibility.

Given the larger value of $`f_{\mathrm{H}𝙸}`$ likely for objects which have not virialized, it might be sensible to also consider the possibility of $`M_{\mathrm{H}𝙸}^{\mathrm{lim}}=10^{12}M_{}`$, for which the corresponding values of $`M_5^{\mathrm{lim}}`$ and $`M_{200}^{\mathrm{lim}}`$ are 10 times larger. We see that there are still numerous objects ($`0.1`$ per $`\mathrm{deg}^2`$ per $`1\%`$ bandwidth) of this size for $`f_{\mathrm{obs}}=600\mathrm{MHz}`$, although there are markedly less for lower values of $`f_{\mathrm{obs}}`$ even taking into account the larger value of $`f_{\mathrm{H}𝙸}`$. Achieving this larger limiting mass at $`600\mathrm{MHz}`$ should be possible in a fraction of the time required for $`10^{11}M_{}`$.

We should note that at any given redshift the objects at turnaround will be larger than those which are virialized, but have the same overall mass. Fig. 6 shows the angular diameter size of object with a variety of masses at turnaround. We see that these objects are larger than virialized objects of the same mass at the same redshift. At the high redshifts we are considering here, the objects still have a angular diameter less than $`5^{}`$ and hence they are likely to unresolved by the instruments under discussion. At lower redshifts such objects would be resolved and it should be more efficient to detect virialized objects.

### 4.2 Detection related issues

We can adapt the earlier sensitivity calculation to an arbitrary value of $`\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{v}`$ and $`M_{\mathrm{H}𝙸}^{\mathrm{lim}}`$. In particular one can compute the $`_{\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{v}}`$, $`S_{\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{v}}`$ and $`t_{\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{v}}`$ from $`_{800}`$, $`S_{800}`$ and $`t_{800}`$. We see that the survey rate is given by

$$_{\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{v}}=_{800}\left(\frac{800\mathrm{km}\mathrm{sec}^1}{\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{v}}\right)^{1/2}.$$
(12)
For an HI mass of $`M_{\mathrm{H}𝙸}^{\mathrm{lim}}`$ the required flux density is

$$S_{\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{v}}=S_{800}\left(\frac{800\mathrm{km}\mathrm{sec}^1}{\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{v}}\right)\left(\frac{M_{\mathrm{H}𝙸}^{\mathrm{lim}}}{10^{11}M_{}}\right),$$
(13)
and the actual integration time required to achieve a $`5\sigma `$ detection of such an object on an area $`100\mathrm{deg}^2`$ is

$$t_{\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{v}}=t_{800}\left(\frac{\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{v}}{800\mathrm{km}\mathrm{sec}^1}\right)\left(\frac{10^{11}M_{}}{M_{\mathrm{H}𝙸}^{\mathrm{lim}}}\right)^2.$$
(14)
If we assume that $`\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{v}=100\mathrm{km}\mathrm{sec}^1`$ then we see that it would be possible to cover close to $`260\mathrm{deg}^2`$ in a day of integration $`M_{\mathrm{H}𝙸}^{\mathrm{lim}}=10^{12}M_{}`$ using setup II at $`f_{\mathrm{obs}}=600\mathrm{MHz}`$. Since there are $`0.15`$ objects per $`\mathrm{deg}^2`$ per $`1\%`$ bandwidth above the corresponding mass limit then one would hope to find around 200 collapsing objects. It would take around 10 times as long to do a similar survey at $`f_{\mathrm{obs}}=400\mathrm{MHz}`$ and one would find approximately 10 times fewer objects taking into account the larger value of $`f_{\mathrm{H}𝙸}`$ and the very much reduced number of objects with a given mass. Nonetheless, $`20`$ objects in 10 days of integration time is definitely worthwhile.

Neither of the above survey parameters are optimal. If we assume that $`\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{v}`$ is either weakly dependent on $`M_5`$ or not at all, then the optimal mass limit would correspond to the value of $`M_{200}`$ for which $`n=2`$ in contrast to the virialized case. Assuming that $`M_{200}M_{\mathrm{vir}}`$, we see from fig. 4 that the optimal values of $`M_{200}`$ are $`3\times 10^{13}M_{}`$ and $`2\times 10^{12}M_{}`$ for $`f_{\mathrm{obs}}=600\mathrm{MHz}`$ and $`400\mathrm{MHz}`$ respectively. The corresponding HI mass limits are $`M_{\mathrm{H}𝙸}^{\mathrm{lim}}=3\times 10^{11}M_{}`$ and $`3\times 10^{10}M_{}`$. For $`f_{\mathrm{obs}}=600\mathrm{MHz}`$, it would require 4.3 days of integration time to achieve this optimum depth on $`100\mathrm{deg}^2`$. There are $`2.3`$ objects per $`\mathrm{deg}^2`$ per $`1\%`$ bandwidth and hence such a survey would find $`1150`$ objects (which is more than the $`860`$ that would be found by mapping $`1110\mathrm{deg}^2`$ in 4.3 days with a limit of $`10^{12}M_{}`$ as suggested above).

## 5 Conclusions

To summarise, we have shown that instruments likely to be built within the next few years have a realistic chance of detecting large objects, both virialized and collapsing, using $`\mathrm{H}𝙸`$ emission as their tracer opening a new window on the universe. If a detection threshold of $`M_{\mathrm{H}𝙸}^{\mathrm{lim}}10^{11}M_{}`$ can be achieved at around $`z0.4`$ then it should be possible to find a surprizingly large number of virialised objects. Similarly, it should be possible to detect many objects at turnaround with $`z>1`$. We have also made comments as to the optimal design of an instrument and the survey strategy for these applications. Clearly, more sophisticated simulations of the large-scale distribution of HI are required, but we believe that the basic picture we have put forward is likely to remain.

It is clear that the detection of the large number of objects, both virialized and collapsing, predicted in this paper could have a significant impact on our understanding of the universe. In the regime where one can optimally detect virialized clusters ($`z<1`$) it should be possible, using the extra velocity information, to accurately compute the dark matter mass of each of the objects which are detected and establish the selection function. Since the number of virialized objects is sensitive to cosmological parameters, accurate estimates of $`\mathrm{\Omega }_\mathrm{m}`$ and $`\sigma _8`$ should be possible. Moreover, the properties of the dark energy may also be accessible to such an analysis. The nature of the collapsing structures for $`(z>1)`$ is also of significant interest. We have used all the available information to make estimates of the number of objects which would be found. However, we have also noted that these are somewhat uncertain, particularly the velocity structure. Clearly the detection of a large number of objects will have a significant impact on our understanding of the distribution of HI at high redshifts and the on-going process galaxy formation.

## Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Martin Rees, Martin Haehnelt, Ian Browne and Peter Wilkinson for extremely helpful comments and suggestions. RAB is funded by PPARC and JW in part by Kings College.


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# Off-Center Carbon Ignition in Rapidly Rotating, Accreting Carbon-Oxygen White Dwarfs

## 1 Introduction

Mass accretion onto a white dwarf, which may occur in a close binary system, plays an important role in its evolution. If the accretion rate is sufficiently high, heating of the outer layers of the accreting star leads to the ignition of nuclear burning. A C-O white dwarf accretes CO-rich matter if the companion is also a C-O white dwarf (i.e., double C-O white dwarf system). Whether the carbon is ignited in the stellar center or in the envelope of an accreting C-O white dwarf is crucial for the star’s fate. If the ignition occurs at the center, it leads to a SN Ia explosion. If carbon burning is ignited in the envelope, on the other hand, the flame propagates inward to the center converting the C-O white dwarf to an O-Ne-Mg white dwarf (Saio & Nomoto, 1985, 1998; Timmes et al., 1994) that is expected to eventually collapse to a neutron star (Nomoto, 1984, 1987; Nomoto & Kondo, 1991). Nomoto & Iben (1985) and Kawai et al. (1987) have shown that carbon-ignition occurs in an outer layer if the C-O white dwarf accretes matter more rapidly than $`2.7\times 10^6M_{}\mathrm{y}^1`$.

When a double C-O white-dwarf system coalesces due to angular momentum loss by gravitational wave radiation and/or by a magnetic field, the less massive white dwarf is disrupted to become a thick disk around the more massive white dwarf (Iben & Tutukov, 1984; Webbink, 1984; Benz et al., 1990; Rasio & Shapiro, 1995). If the thick disk is turbulent, which is likely, the timescale of viscous angular momentum transport is very short (Mochkovitch & Livio, 1990) so that the more massive white dwarf is expected to accrete CO-rich matter at a rate close to the Eddington limit from the thick disk. Therefore, when a double C-O white-dwarf system coalesces, carbon burning is ignited in the envelope of the more massive white dwarf to transform it to an O-Ne-Mg white dwarf, thus preventing the occurrence of the SN Ia explosion postulated by Iben & Tutukov (1984) and Webbink (1984). In the previous investigations on the carbon ignition, however, the effect of rotation was neglected despite the fact that the accreted matter should bring angular momentum to the white dwarf. It is important to see whether the above conclusion on the fate of a double white dwarf merger is unchanged when the effect of rotation is included.

Recently, Piersanti et al. (2003a) investigated the effect of rotation on the evolution of white dwarfs that accrete CO-rich matter. They assumed that all the angular momentum associated with the accreted matter was brought into the white dwarf. They claim that the combined effects of accretion and rotation induce expansion to make the surface zone gravitationally unbound and hence suppresses further accretion in the double white dwarf merger. They argued that the above effect makes the accretion rate smaller than the critical value for the occurrence of the off-center carbon ignition, and hence the white dwarf can grow up to the Chandrasekhar mass to become a SN Ia. In addition to the above assumption Piersanti et al. (2003b) took into account the angular momentum loss via gravitational wave radiation, and obtained an evolutionary model leading to a central carbon ignition.

In contrast to their assumption, Paczyński (1991) and Popham & Narayan (1991) had shown that when the surface rotation rate is nearly critical, angular momentum is transported from the star back to the accretion disk (see also Fujimoto (1995)) and the star can continue to accrete matter as long as matter exists around the star. This indicates that we should let matter accrete onto the white dwarf keeping the surface rotation velocity nearly critical. Those results were obtained by considering a central star at contact with a thin disk, in contrast of a thick disk expected in the case of a merging two white dwarfs. Although the physics of thick disk accretion is poorly known, we expect that the thick disk is turbulent and the angular momentum would be exchanged as fast as in a thin disk. Therefore, it is likely that the results of Paczyński (1991) and Popham & Narayan (1991) are applicable also to thick disk accretion. Based on this consideration, we assume that even after the accreting star is spun up close to the Keplerian velocity at the surface, the star accretes matter at the initial rate while the surface velocity remains equal to the Keplerian velocity. We note that under this assumption the total angular momentum of the accreting white dwarf can even decrease.

Recently, Yoon & Langer (2004) computed white-dwarf models accreting CO-rich matter, taking into account the effect of rotation. The accretion rates they considered are lower than those adopted in our calculations. Their assumption at the surface of the accreting white dwarf is somewhat different from ours. They assumed that the matter accretes onto the white dwarf without bringing angular momentum when the rotation velocity at the surface of the white dwarf exceeds the Keplerian velocity. Under their assumption the total angular momentum of the white dwarf never decreases and is higher than that of our models for a given mass.

## 2 Models

The initial models, carbon-oxygen white dwarfs of $`0.8M_{}`$ and $`1M_{}`$, were obtained from zero-age helium main-sequence models by artificially suppressing nuclear reactions and converting chemical compositions to $`(X_\mathrm{C},X_\mathrm{O},X_\mathrm{h})=(0.48,0.50,0.02)`$, where $`X_\mathrm{h}`$ denotes the mass fraction of the elements heavier than oxygen, and by letting cool until the central temperature became $`10^7`$K. Table 1 lists physical characteristics of the initial models. Adopted input physics are mostly the same as those used in Saio & Nomoto(1998): OPAL opacity tables (Iglesias & Rogers, 1996), neutrino emission rates by Itoh et al. (1989), and carbon-burning reaction rates by Caughlan & Fowler (1988).

Keeping our evolutionary models spherical symmetric, we have included the effect of rotation only in the equation of hydrostatic equilibrium as

$$\frac{1}{\rho }\frac{dP}{dr}=\frac{GM_r}{r^2}+\frac{2}{3}r\mathrm{\Omega }^2,$$
(1)
where $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ is the angular velocity of rotation. The factor $`2/3`$ comes from taking the mean of the radial component of the centrifugal force on a sphere (Kippenhahn et al., 1970). Spatial and time variation of $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ is determined by solving the conservation equation of angular momentum

$$\left[\frac{(r^2\mathrm{\Omega })}{t}\right]_{M_r}=\frac{}{M_r}\left[(4\pi \rho r^3)^2\nu \frac{\mathrm{\Omega }}{M_r}\right],$$
(2)
where $`\nu `$ stands for turbulent viscosity. The outer boundary condition $`\mathrm{\Omega }=\mathrm{\Omega }_\mathrm{K}`$ was imposed at the photosphere, where $`\mathrm{\Omega }_\mathrm{K}=\sqrt{GM/R^3}`$ is the Keplerian angular velocity at the stellar radius $`R`$. We have neglected the rotation of the initial models.

We have adopted two kinds of formulas for the turbulent viscosity; one from Fujimoto (1993) and another from Zahn (1992). The turbulent viscosity formulated by Fujimoto (1993) includes the effect of baroclinic instability as well as shear instability. We will refer this case as case A; the viscosity is given by

$$\nu _\mathrm{A}=\nu _{\mathrm{KH}}+\nu _{\mathrm{BC}},$$
(3)
where

$$\nu _{\mathrm{KH}}=\{\begin{array}{ccc}\frac{1}{2Ri^{1/2}}(14Ri)^{1/2}H_p^2N\hfill & \mathrm{for}\hfill & Ri<1/4\hfill \\ 0\hfill & \mathrm{for}\hfill & Ri1/4;\hfill \end{array}$$
(4)
$$\nu _{\mathrm{BC}}=\{\begin{array}{ccc}\frac{1}{3Ri^{1/2}}H_p^2\mathrm{\Omega }\hfill & \mathrm{for}\hfill & RiRi_{\mathrm{BC}}\hfill \\ \frac{1}{3Ri^{3/2}}H_p^2\mathrm{\Omega }\hfill & \mathrm{for}\hfill & Ri>Ri_{\mathrm{BC}},\hfill \end{array}$$
(5)
$$Ri=N^2\left(\frac{d\mathrm{\Omega }}{d\mathrm{ln}r}\right)^2,Ri_{\mathrm{BC}}=4\left(\frac{r}{H_p}\right)^2\frac{\mathrm{\Omega }^2}{N^2}$$
(6)
with $`N`$ being Brunt-Väisälä frequency defined as $`N^2=g(\mathrm{\Gamma }_1^1d\mathrm{ln}P/drd\mathrm{ln}\rho /dr)`$ and $`H_p`$ the pressure scale height.

For the second case, which is referred to as case B, we have included turbulent viscosity due to vertical shear instability formulated by Zahn (1992) but neglected the effect of meridional circulation; we have used the following equation,

$$\nu _\mathrm{B}=\frac{2}{45}\frac{K}{N^2}\left(\frac{d\mathrm{\Omega }}{d\mathrm{ln}r}\right)^2,$$
(7)
where $`K`$ is the thermal diffusivity defined by $`K=4acT^3/(3\kappa \rho ^2C_p)`$. As we will see in the next section, the viscosity in case A is so efficient in transporting the angular momentum that the rotation becomes nearly uniform in the white-dwarf interior. In case B, on the other hand, the angular momentum is slowly transported into the deep interior. We assume that the two models for the transport of angular momentum bracket what occurs in a real star.

## 3 Numerical Results

Figure 1 shows the evolution of radius as a function of the total mass for C-O white-dwarfs that accrete CO-rich matter at rates of $`10^5`$ and $`5\times 10^6M_{}`$y-1 from the beginning of accretion to the off-center carbon ignition. The initial mass of the models is $`1M_{}`$. Wiggles seen in this figure are numerical artifacts. The dotted lines show the evolution of non-rotating models, the solid lines for rotating models in case A, and the dashed lines for rotating models in case B.

In the early phase of accretion the radius of the white dwarf increases rapidly. This is caused by the fact that its envelope is heated by the accretion, and the centrifugal force of rotation lifts the envelope. The initial rapid expansion in case A models slows down when the angular momentum begins to be transferred back to the accretion disk (Fig.6 below). Such transition to a slower evolution did not occur in the models of Piersanti et al. (2003b), because they did not consider the possibility of transferring the angular momentum back to the disk, but did reduce the accretion rate. In later phase of accretion, the radius begins to decrease. The decrease in radius is caused by the increase of the white-dwarf mass. During this phase the total angular momentum is nearly constant or increases gradually. The lifting effect of rotation makes the radius of a rotating model larger than that of the non-rotating model with the same mass and the accretion rate.

A short vertical increase in radius at the end of each evolution track indicates the occurrence of the off-center carbon ignition. For a given accretion rate, the off-center carbon ignition occurs later in a rotating model than in the non-rotating model; i.e., the mass of the rotating white dwarf at the carbon ignition is larger than that for the corresponding non-rotating model.

Figure 2 shows the temperature versus $`M_r`$ in the interior of models close to the off-center carbon ignition. These models have evolved from the initial model of $`1M_{}`$ with an accretion rate of $`10^5M_{}`$y-1. The solid and dashed lines are for rotating models, and the dotted line for the non-rotating model. The outer layers consisting of accreted matter ($`M_r>1M_{}`$) have high temperatures heated by the gravitational energy release. The heat is conducted into the layers of the original white dwarf. The heat-conduction front, however, has not advanced much during the time between the start of accretion and the off-center ignition ($`10^4`$y). Rotating models have broader temperature peaks than the non-rotating model, because they accrete more mass and hence the time from the start of accretion to the carbon ignition is longer. The core temperature has increased from the initial value $`\mathrm{log}T=7.08`$ due to compression.

Table 2 lists the total mass $`M_{\mathrm{ig}}`$ and the central density $`\rho _\mathrm{c}`$ of the model in which off-center carbon-ignition occurs, and the mass interior to the ignition layer $`M_r(\mathrm{ig})`$ for each case computed, where the values of masses are given in units of $`M_{}`$, $`\dot{M}`$ means accretion rate in units of $`M_{}`$y-1, and $`M_\mathrm{i}`$ stands for the initial mass. The difference in $`M_{\mathrm{ig}}`$ between a rotating and the non-rotating model for a given accretion rate can be as large as $`0.1M_{}`$. The value of $`M_r(\mathrm{ig})`$ is also larger in the rotating model. Rotation delays the carbon ignition because the centrifugal force reduces the effective gravity to lift the outer layers and reduce the temperature there (Piersanti et al., 2003a). The lifting effect of rotation appears also in the central density, $`\rho _c`$, which is lower in the rotating model than in the non-rotating model with a similar mass. The case A models with $`\dot{M}=3\times 10^6M_{}`$y-1 did not ignite carbon. They began to expand before the maximum temperature in the outer layer reaches to the ignition temperature.

Table 2 shows that the results hardly depend on the initial mass of the white dwarf. The results confirm essentially the conclusion of the previous work done without including the effect of rotation that carbon is ignited in the outer layer of a C-O white dwarf if the accretion rate is fast enough.

## 4 Discussion

Figure 3 shows runs of the ratio of angular velocity to its local critical value, $`\mathrm{\Omega }/\mathrm{\Omega }_{\mathrm{K},r}`$, in the models at evolutionary stages around the carbon ignition for $`\dot{M}=10^5`$, $`5\times 10^6`$ and $`3\times 10^6M_{}\mathrm{y}^1`$. (For the case A of $`\dot{M}=3\times 10^6M_{}\mathrm{y}^1`$, $`\mathrm{\Omega }/\mathrm{\Omega }_{\mathrm{K},r}`$ in the last model computed is shown.) Here $`\mathrm{\Omega }_{\mathrm{K},r}=\sqrt{GM_r/r^3}`$ is the local Keplerian velocity. In all cases, $`\mathrm{\Omega }/\mathrm{\Omega }_{\mathrm{K},r}`$ increases rapidly toward the surface in the very superficial layer, which is due to a rapid increase in the radius of mass shell toward the surface. In case A the viscous transport of angular momentum is very efficient so that the rotation becomes nearly uniform (Figs. 4,5). Therefore, the solid curves in Figure 3 are almost parallel to the runs of $`r^{3/2}M_r^{1/2}`$. An exception is the outermost layer of the case A model for $`\dot{M}=3\times 10^6M_{}\mathrm{y}^1`$. Since the radius of the model is rapidly increasing and hence the surface angular velocity (= Keplerian velocity) is rapidly decreasing, there is a steep outward decrease in the angular velocity of rotation in the outermost layer (Fig.4 below).

In case B the angular momentum is hardly transported into the original white dwarf ($`M_r1M_{}`$). Thus, the angular velocity at $`M_r1M_{}`$ in the case B model of $`\dot{M}=10^5M_{}\mathrm{y}^1`$ is considerably larger than in the corresponding case A model. This account for the result that $`M_{\mathrm{ig}}`$ and $`M_r(\mathrm{ig})`$ in case B with $`\dot{M}=10^5M_{}\mathrm{y}^1`$ are slightly larger than those for case A. In other cases, however, the effect of rotation is generally stronger in case A models than in case B models.

Figure 4 shows runs of angular velocity of rotation $`\mathrm{\Omega }(M_r)`$ in the interior of models at selected phases of evolution for $`\dot{M}=3\times 10^6M_{}`$y-1 ($`M_\mathrm{i}=1M_{}`$). Figure 5 shows the same information for $`\dot{M}=1\times 10^5`$ (lower panel) and $`5\times 10^6M_{}\mathrm{y}^1`$ (upper panel). Obviously, the angular momentum transport by the turbulent viscosity in case A is so efficient that $`\mathrm{\Omega }(M_r)`$ is nearly constant in the interior. In the case A model with $`\dot{M}=3\times 10^6M_{}`$y-1, $`\mathrm{\Omega }(M_r)`$ varies steeply in the very superficial layer when the total mass is larger than $`1.35M_{}`$ (Fig. 4). Since $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ at the stellar surface is always set to be the critical frequency $`\mathrm{\Omega }_K`$ ($`M^{1/2}R^{3/2}`$), a steep increase in $`\mathrm{\Omega }(M_r)`$ toward the surface indicates the star is rapidly contracting, and a steep decrease indicates a rapid expansion. The surface angular velocity changes so rapidly that the transport of angular momentum is not efficient enough to keep the angular velocity of rotation in the interior close to the surface value. The model contracts first and then expands rapidly.

In the interior of a case B model there is a peak in $`\mathrm{\Omega }(M_r)`$, which is produced by compression. The angular velocity at the peak is higher than that at the surface of the model. Although $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ decreases steeply outward near the surface, the specific angular momentum $`r^2\mathrm{\Omega }`$ increases outward there because the distance from the center of a mass shell increases outward steeply near the surface. In early phases of accretion, there is a narrow layer where the specific angular momentum decreases outward just outside of the peak in $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ at $`M_r1.0M_{}`$. But, the structure is always stable to the Solberg-Høiland instability, because the temperature gradient is positive there and hence the stabilizing effect of buoyancy exceeds the destabilizing effect of the negative gradient of the specific angular momentum distribution.

Figure 6 shows the evolution of the total angular momentum of the models accreting matter at $`\dot{M}=10^5`$, $`5\times 10^6`$ and $`3\times 10^6M_{}\mathrm{y}^1`$. The higher the accretion rate, the lower the total angular momentum at a given total mass. In case A models (solid lines) the total angular momentum, $`J`$, increases rapidly until a mass of $`0.01M_{}`$ is accreted. After the total angular momentum attains a peak, (when the angular velocity in the interior becomes almost constant), it decreases as the total mass increases to $`1.1M_{}`$, returning part of the accumulated angular momentum to the disk. For $`M1.1M_{}`$, $`J`$ increases but very slowly. In this phase most of the angular momentum associated with the accreted matter is returned to the disk.

To compare the evolutionary $`MJ`$ relations with those of simpler models, we have computed uniformly and critically rotating steady models, in which the rate of entropy change $`(s/t)_{M_r}`$ is replaced with $`(s/\mathrm{ln}q)_t\dot{M}/M`$ where $`q=M_r/M`$ (e.g., Kawai et al. (1987)), and the nuclear reactions are artificially suppressed. The $`MJ`$ relation of the steady model for each accretion rate is shown by a dash-dotted line in Fig 6. (Detailed properties of the steady models will be presented in a future paper.) This figure shows that the gradual increase of $`J`$ with a increase in mass in the range $`M1.1M_{}`$ occurs along the $`MJ`$ relation of the steady model with the same accretion rate, indicating the evolution in this phase occurs nearly homologously.

The total angular momentum in a case B model is smaller than the case A model with the same mass and accretion rate. Since the angular momentum transport in the case B models is less efficient then in the case A models, more angular momentum is returned to the accretion disk in the former case.

The total angular momentum of a case A model is smaller than that of the uniformly and critically rotating white dwarf of the same mass without accretion (Uenishi, Nomoto, Hachisu 2003). The difference is attributed to the fact that the critical angular velocity of rotation for the the accreting white dwarf is lower than that of the white dwarf without accretion, because the radius of the former is larger.

When the mass of the white dwarf becomes larger than $`1.36M_{}`$, the total angular momentum $`J`$ of the case A model of $`\dot{M}=3\times 10^6M_{}`$y-1 begins to decrease due to a rapid decrease in radius. The commencement of the rapid contraction roughly corresponds to the phase when the mass of the white dwarf exceeds the maximum mass of the steady model for the same accretion rate. At $`M1.39M_{}`$ the radius and the total angular momentum become minimum and carbon burning is almost ignited at $`M_r=1.38M_{}`$. However, at this point the model begins to expand and the total angular momentum begins to increase. Due to the expansion, the maximum temperature in the interior decreases, and carbon ignition does not occur in this model. Further computation became too difficult to continue. We note however that if the viscosity is switched to the case B viscosity, we can continue the calculation to have a massive (say $`2M_{}`$) model having a high angular momentum, in which $`\mathrm{\Omega }(M_r)`$ has a broad peak similar to those shown in Yoon & Langer (2004).

Finally, we note that the ratio of the rotational kinetic energy to the absolute value of the gravitational potential energy defined as

$$\frac{T}{|W|}=\frac{1}{2}_0^Mr^2\mathrm{\Omega }^2𝑑M_r\left[_0^M\frac{GM_r}{r}𝑑M_r\right]^1$$
(8)
is always less than $`0.03`$ in our models. For such a small ratio, no dynamical instability occurs unless a very strong differential rotation in the deep interior of the star exists (Shibata et al., 2003). The ratios $`T/|W|`$ of our models are smaller than the corresponding ratio denoted by $`\gamma `$ in Piersanti et al. (2003b) for the critically rotating model with a similar accretion rate, where $`\gamma `$ is defined as

$$\gamma =\frac{1}{2}_0^Mr^2\mathrm{\Omega }^2𝑑M_r\left[\frac{1}{2}\frac{GM^2}{R}\right]^1.$$
(9)
A rotating and accreting white dwarf has a large radius because the outer envelope (in which only a small fraction of mass resides) is expanded, while the inner layers contribute to the gravitational energy. Therefore, $`|W|`$ is generally larger than $`\frac{1}{2}GM^2/R`$ for the rotating and accreting models. In fact, $`|W|`$ of our models can be as large as $`1.6\times GM^2/R`$, which makes $`T/|W|`$ as small as $`\gamma /3`$. Even if $`\gamma `$ defined by equation (9) reached $`0.14`$, $`T/|W|`$ can be as small as $`0.05`$. Since $`T/|W|`$ should be used for the stability criterion rather than $`\gamma `$, our models should be stable. We also note that the $`T/|W|`$ ratios of the models in Yoon & Langer (2004) are larger than those of our models. This is attributed to the fact that in the interior of their models there exist a broad peak of the angular velocity.

## 5 Conclusion

Taking into account the centrifugal force of rotation, we computed models of CO-white dwarfs that accrete CO-rich matter up to the carbon-ignition. We assumed that the surface angular velocity of rotation is equal to the Keplerian angular velocity. We have found that carbon is ignited in an outer layer if the accretion rate is greater than $`3\times 10^6M_{}\mathrm{y}^1`$. The rotation delays the ignition. The difference in the total mass at the ignition between rotating and non-rotating models can be as large as $`0.1M_{}`$, depending on the assumed turbulent viscosity and the accretion rate (see Uenishi et al. (2003) for the 2D models).

When the double white dwarfs coalesce, the more massive white dwarf is expected to accrete CO-rich matter at a rate close to the Eddington limit ($`10^5M_{}`$yr-1). We have found in this paper that such a high accretion rate leads to an off-center carbon ignition even if the effect of rapid rotation is included. Once the ignition occurs, the carbon flame propagates through the interior to the stellar center due to conduction and the C-O white dwarf is converted to an O-Ne-Mg white dwarf peacefully (Saio & Nomoto, 1985, 1998; Timmes et al., 1994). The result of our computation including the effect of rotation supports our previous conclusion that a double C-O white dwarf merger would not yield a SN Ia.

We are grateful to the referee for the constructive comments. This work has been supported in part by the grant-in-Aid for COE Scientific Research (15204010, 16042201, 16540229) of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Science, Sports, and Technology in Japan.


text:
# Vanishing Hall Resistance at High Magnetic Field in a Double Layer Two-Dimensional Electron System

## Abstract

At total Landau level filling factor $`\nu _{tot}=1`$ a double layer two-dimensional electron system with small interlayer separation supports a collective state possessing spontaneous interlayer phase coherence. This state exhibits the quantized Hall effect when equal electrical currents flow in parallel through the two layers. In contrast, if the currents in the two layers are equal, but oppositely directed, both the longitudinal and Hall resistances of each layer vanish in the low temperature limit. This finding supports the prediction that the ground state at $`\nu _{tot}=1`$ is an excitonic superfluid.

The Hall effect is possibly the most widely observed phenomenon in solid state physicsHall . Owing to the Lorentz force, an ordinary current-carrying conductor in a magnetic field develops a voltage drop $`V_H`$ transverse to both the current $`I`$ and the field. This Hall voltage is directly proportional to the magnetic field and offers a useful measure of the concentration and sign of the constituent particles responsible for conduction in the material. In more exotic systems the Hall resistance $`R_H=V_H/I`$ can deviate strongly from this simple dependence. For example, in two-dimensional electron systems (2DES) $`R_H`$ exhibits ranges of magnetic field over which it is constant and precisely equal to the quantum of resistance $`h/e^2`$ divided by either an integerklitzing  or certain rational fractionstsui . These quantized Hall effects (QHE) reflect the presence of an energy gap in the system, due either to Landau quantization of the cyclotron orbits of the electrons or to the strong interactions between electrons in a partially filled Landau band. In superconductors, where a coherent collective electronic state is present, the Hall resistance vanishes altogethersupercon .

In this paper we report low temperature measurements of the Hall and longitudinal resistances of a double layer 2DES in a strong perpendicular magnetic field $`B`$. Our focus is on the situation in which the total electron density $`N_{tot}`$ of the double layer system is equal to the degeneracy $`eB/h`$ of a single spin-resolved Landau level produced by the magnetic field. It is well knownperspectives  that in this $`\nu _{tot}=hN_{tot}/eB=1`$ case the system possesses an unusual strongly correlated phase when the separation between the two layers is less than a critical value. Owing to interlayer Coulomb interactions the critical layer separation remains non-zero even in the limit of arbitrarily weak tunneling between the layers. In this zero tunneling limit the electron system exhibits a quantized Hall effectmurphy  with $`R_H=h/e^2`$, a dramatically enhanced and sharply resonant zero bias tunneling conductancespielman1 , and exact quantization of the Hall component of Coulomb drag between the layerskellogg1 . It is well-established theoretically that the many-electron state responsible for these phenomena possesses an unusual broken symmetry: spontaneous interlayer phase coherence. This collective phase may be viewed in several equivalent ways, including as a Bose condensate of interlayer excitonsmacd1  or a pseudospin ferromagnetyang . In addition to the fascinating phenomena already observed in this collective phase, there remains the prediction that the system should possess counterflow superfluidity: equal but oppositely directed currents in the two layers should produce no dissipation (in linear response) at low temperatureswenzee ; moon ; ezawa ; stern . Dissipationless transport is, of course, a hallmark of the ordinary QHE. However, in that case the longitudinal conductivity vanishes along with the resistivity owing to the large Hall resistance. In contrast, in the $`\nu _{tot}=1`$ interlayer coherent phase, the longitudinal conductivity in counterflow is expected to be infinite. At high magnetic field this can only happen if both the longitudinal and Hall resistances in counterflow vanish. It is this effect which we report here.

The sample used in these experiments is a conventional GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructure. Two 18nm GaAs quantum wells are separated by a 10nm $`\mathrm{Al}_{0.9}\mathrm{Ga}_{0.1}\mathrm{As}`$ barrier layer. Each well contains, in the sample’s as-grown state, a 2DES with carrier density $`N_1N_25.4\times 10^{10}\mathrm{cm}^2`$ and a low-temperature mobility of about $`1\times 10^6\mathrm{cm}^2/\mathrm{Vs}`$. The 2DES is confined to a bar-shaped mesa, shown schematically in Fig. 1, whose central region is $`160\mu \mathrm{m}`$ wide and $`320\mu \mathrm{m}`$ long. At each end of this bar the width narrows down to $`80\mu \mathrm{m}`$ before branching into two separate pathways. The resulting four arms (labeled 1, 2, 3, 4 in the figure) are used to inject and withdraw current from the two 2DES layers in the sample. Three voltage probe arms (labeled 5, 6, 7) extend away from the central bar and allow measurements of the Hall and longitudinal voltages. Diffused AuNiGe contacts are placed at the ends of each of the arms. Though not shown in the figure, gate electrodes on the front and back of the thinned sample cross these arms and enable separate electrical contact to the individual 2DES layersjpe1 . Front and back gate electrodes, also not shown, cover the central bar and allow for independent control of the densities of the two 2DESs.

Resistance measurements are performed using 0.5 nA, 2.3Hz excitation and standard lock-in detection. The excitation current is first injected into one layer and then withdrawn from it before being redirected into the second layer. The redirection may be done at room temperature where the choice between parallel and counterflow transport is made by selecting the appropriate mesa arm for injecting the current into the second layer. By comparing the current injected into the first layer with the amount available for redirection into the second, we can determine how much current tunnels from one layer to the other inside the sample. For the data presented here this leakage never exceeds 1% of the total transport current, even deep inside the $`\nu _{tot}=1`$ interlayer coherent phase where interlayer tunneling is strongly enhancedspielman1 . This experimental configuration assures that the magnitudes of the currents in the two layers are essentially identical in counterflow, even if leakage leaves them slightly less than the total current injected into the sample. Finally, we emphasize that the longitudinal and Hall voltage drops in the system are measured in one of the two layers, typically the top layer. This is done to avoid creating current shunts between the layers at the location of the voltage probes. Although quantitative differences between the layer voltages are observed, they are small and do not alter any of the conclusions of this work.

Figure 2a shows the magnetic field dependence of the longitudinal and Hall resistances, $`R_{xx}^{}`$ and $`R_{xy}^{}`$ respectively, at $`T`$ = 50 mK with equal currents flowing in parallel through the two layers. These resistances are computed by dividing the appropriate voltages by the current flowing in the individual layers. For the data in the figure, the densities of the individual 2DESs have been reduced to $`N_1=N_2=2.54\times 10^{10}\mathrm{cm}^2`$ using the front and back center gates. At this density the ratio of the center-to-center separation of the quantum wells, $`d`$ = 28 nm, to the magnetic length $`\mathrm{}=(\mathrm{}/eB)^{1/2}`$ at $`\nu _{tot}=1`$ is $`d/\mathrm{}=1.58`$. This value is small enough that the double layer 2DES at $`\nu _{tot}=1`$ should be well within the QHE phasekellogg2 . This is confirmed by the well-developed minimum in $`R_{xx}^{}`$ and the flat plateau in $`R_{xy}^{}`$ around $`\nu _{tot}=1`$ at $`B=2.1\mathrm{T}`$ in the figure. Since the tunnel-induced splitting between the lowest symmetric and antisymmetric double well eigenstates in this sample is estimated to be only about $`\mathrm{\Delta }_{SAS}0.1`$ mK, while the mean inter-electron Coulomb energies are roughly $`10^6`$ times larger, this $`\nu _{tot}=1`$ QHE state should be well-approximated by the spontaneously interlayer phase coherent excitonic (or pseudo-ferromagnetic) model.

Note that the $`\nu _{tot}=1`$ Hall plateau in Fig. 2a occurs at $`R_{xy}^{}`$ = $`2h/e^2`$. This is twice the value mentioned above simply because we define the resistance as the voltage divided by the current flowing in a single layer, not the net current flowing through the bilayer. In addition to this intrinsically bilayer QHE, numerous single layer QHE states, e.g. at $`\nu _{tot}`$ = 2, 4, 6, etc., are also evident in the data.

Figure 2b illustrates our main result. The data in this figure were taken under the same conditions as that in Fig. 2a, except that the currents in the two layers flow in opposite directions. In this counterflow configuration much of the data appears very similar to that obtained in the parallel configuration. For example, at low magnetic fields and around the single layer QHE states at $`\nu _{tot}`$ = 2, 4, 6, etc., the counterflow resistances $`R_{xx}^{CF}`$ and $`R_{xy}^{CF}`$ are very similar to the parallel flow resistances $`R_{xx}^{}`$ and $`R_{xy}^{}`$. At $`\nu _{tot}=1`$ this similarity persists in the case of the longitudinal resistances $`R_{xx}^{}`$ and $`R_{xx}^{CF}`$; both exhibit a deep minimum near $`B`$ = 2.1T. In contrast, however, the Hall resistances are dramatically different. While $`R_{xy}^{}`$ is quantized at $`2h/e^2`$, the counterflow Hall resistance $`R_{xy}^{CF}`$ exhibits a deep local minimum. We reiterate that this Hall resistance is measured with voltage probes connected to only one of the 2D layers in the system; the small value of $`R_{xy}^{CF}`$ does not result from a cancellation of opposite sign Hall effects in two layers shorted together at the voltage contacts.

Figure 3a demonstrates that the minimum in the counterflow Hall resistance at $`\nu _{tot}=1`$ develops rapidly as the effective layer separation $`d/\mathrm{}`$ is reduced below about $`d/\mathrm{}1.8`$. This is not surprising since previous tunneling spielman1  and Coulomb drag kellogg1  measurements on samples taken from the same semiconductor wafer as the present one have established that the critical point separating the strongly-coupled excitonic $`\nu _{tot}=1`$ QHE state from a weakly-coupled non-QHE phase occurs very close to this value. As $`d/\mathrm{}`$ is decreased further the minimum in $`R_{xy}^{CF}`$ at $`\nu _{tot}=1`$ deepens, falling to essentially zero by $`d/\mathrm{}=1.48`$. Figure 3b shows that this remarkable transport feature weakens as the temperature is increased, becoming only a shallow local minimum by $`T`$ = 500 mK.

Figure 4 summarizes our measurements of the temperature dependences of all four relevant resistances, $`R_{xx}^{}`$, $`R_{xy}^{}`$, $`R_{xx}^{CF}`$, and $`R_{xy}^{CF}`$, at $`\nu _{tot}=1`$ and $`d/\mathrm{}=1.48`$. Figure 4a shows the measured temperature dependences of $`R_{xx}^{}`$ and $`R_{xy}^{}`$ from $`T`$ = 400 mK down to about 35 mK. Over this range the Hall resistance remains nearly constant at $`R_{xy}^{}`$ = $`2h/e^2`$ while the longitudinal resistance vanishes in a thermally activated fashion: $`R_{xx}^{}`$ $`R_0e^{\mathrm{\Delta }/2T}`$ with the energy gap $`\mathrm{\Delta }0.5\mathrm{K}`$. Thus, the behavior of the parallel flow transport at $`\nu _{tot}=1`$ is qualitatively the same as that of any ordinary QHE state.

Figure 4b displays the temperature dependence of the counterflow resistances $`R_{xx}^{CF}`$ and $`R_{xy}^{CF}`$. Both quantities appear to vanish in the low temperature limit. The two resistances are surprisingly similar in magnitude over most of the temperature range. The general temperature dependence of each is less clearly thermally activated than $`R_{xx}^{}`$. $`R_{xy}^{CF}`$, in particular, shows significant curvature on the Arrhenius plot in the figure. We note in passing that quantitative variations in the various resistances were encountered. We attribute these to the disorder in the sample which has been observed to change upon thermal cycling and repeated strong gating of the 2DES densities. Indeed, as Fig. 2 makes clear, the $`\nu _{tot}=1`$ QHE state occurs amidst an otherwise rapid approach to an insulating state at high magnetic field. This and other indications suggest that disorder is quite important in these samples.

The data described above vividly demonstrate that it is possible for both the longitudinal and Hall components of the resistivity tensor of a bilayer 2DES to vanish at high magnetic field when oppositely directed currents flow in the two layers. This result is consistent with the expectation that the $`\nu _{tot}=1`$ bilayer QHE state is an excitonic superfluid. This unusual quantum fluid is believed to possess two distinct dissipationless transport mechanisms. First, in parallel transport current is carried through the sample by charged quasiparticle excitations lying near the edges of the sample. This mode of transport is dissipationless, but only in the conventional QHE sense: both the longitudinal resistance $`R_{xx}^{}`$ and the conductivity $`\sigma _{xx}^{}`$ vanish as $`T0`$. Second, the $`\nu _{tot}=1`$ excitonic state is also expected to possesses a coherent transport mechanism within its condensate. This mechanism may be viewed as dissipationless transport of charge neutral excitons or, equivalently, counterflowing charge currents in the individual layers. Not surprisingly, neutral excitons feel no Lorentz force and thus $`R_{xy}^{CF}`$ is expected to vanish along with $`R_{xx}^{CF}`$. The expectation is that the longitudinal conductivity in counterflow, $`\sigma _{xx}^{CF}`$, should be infinite.

Figure 4c shows the parallel and counterflow conductivities, $`\sigma _{xx}^{}`$ and $`\sigma _{xx}^{CF}`$, computed by inverting the resistivity tensor constructed from the data in Figs. 4a and 4bsquares . The computed parallel longitudinal conductivity $`\sigma _{xx}^{}`$ falls with decreasing temperature, mirroring the behavior of $`R_{xx}^{}`$. In contrast, $`\sigma _{xx}^{CF}`$ increases steadily as the temperature falls. At $`T`$ = 35 mK $`\sigma _{xx}^{CF}`$ exceeds $`\sigma _{xx}^{}`$ by more than 6 orders of magnitude. In fact, $`\sigma _{xx}^{CF}`$ at these low temperatures substantially exceeds both $`e^2/h`$ and the conductivity of the 2DES at zero magnetic field.

These results support the prediction that the $`\nu _{tot}=1`$ bilayer QHE state is a new kind of superfluid. Our data strongly suggest that counterflow electrical transport is dissipationless in the $`T0`$ limit and that the longitudinal conductivity becomes very large in the same limit. However, our findings do not completely agree with the prevailing theory of counterflow transport at $`\nu _{tot}=1`$. In the zero tunneling limit theory predicts that the $`\nu _{tot}=1`$ state undergoes a Kosterlitz-Thouless transition at $`T=T_{KT}`$. For $`T<T_{KT}`$ counterflow transport is expected to exhibit a strongly non-linear current dependence and, in the limit of zero current, be dissipationless. Although $`T_{KT}`$ is estimated to be roughly 0.5K, and the onset temperature of the strong tunneling, Coulomb drag, and now counterflow anomalies at $`\nu _{tot}=1`$ are consistent with this, we find no evidence of non-linearity of the observed counterflow longitudinal and Hall voltages at any temperature or excitation current thus far examined. The origin of this discrepancy with theory is unknown, but we can speculate on some possibilities.

From a theoretical perspective the observation of finite dissipation below the KT transition suggests that unpinned free vortices are present in the disordered 2DES. Such a possibility has already been raised by Fertig in connection with the finite interlayer tunneling conductance fertig . Sheng, Balents and Wang have predicted that a new gauge-glass phase may exist in disordered bilayer 2DES systems at $`\nu _{tot}=1`$ sheng . This new phase is expected to exhibit zero counterflow resistances, but only in the $`T0`$ limit. It will be interesting to see how improvements in sample quality affect the experimentally observed dissipation in counterflow.

The experimental counterflow setup we employ ensures only that the total current flowing in the two layers are equal and oppositely directed. It does not eliminate the possibility of local regions where the two currents are not precisely equal. If this occurs there will be a local parallel component of the transport which will be dissipative. Such a possibility might result from the inevitable inhomogeneities in the electron densities or a global effect associated with the geometry of the sample. The Hall bar was designed to reduce such effects, but nonetheless the current pathways for the two layers are not identical, especially near the ends of the bar where current is injected and withdrawn. Whether the excitonic superfluid would “short-out” regions of imperfect counterflow is an interesting question.

In conclusion, we have presented strong evidence that the strongly-coupled $`\nu _{tot}=1`$ QHE phase in bilayer 2D electron systems is a counterflow superfluid. The most dramatic aspect of our results is the vanishing of the Hall resistance at $`\nu _{tot}=1`$ when oppositely directed currents flow in the two layers. This observation is consistent with the theory of excitonic (or pseudospin) superfluidity at $`\nu _{tot}=1`$. The origin of the excess dissipation we observe, which appears to vanish only as $`T0`$, is an important unresolved question.

We thank A.H. MacDonald, S.M. Girvin, Z. Wang, and D.N. Sheng for enlightening conversations. This work was supported by the NSF under Grant No. DMR-0242946 and the DOE under Grant No. DE-FG03-99ER45766.