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# Anisotropic superconductivity mediated by phonons in layered compounds with weak screening effects

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## Abstract

Anisotropic pairing interactions mediated by phonons are examined in layer systems. It is shown that the screening effects become weaker when the layer spacing increases. Then the anisotropic components of the pairing interactions increase with the screening length since the momentum dependence changes. As a result, various types of anisotropic superconductivity occur depending on the parameter region. For example, $`p`$-wave superconductivity occurs when the short-range part of Coulomb repulsion is strong and the layer spacing is large. Two kinds of inter-layer pairing may occur when the layer spacing is not too large. Although the phonon contribution to the $`d`$-wave pairing interaction is weaker than the $`p`$-wave interaction, it increases with the layer spacing. Relevance of the present results to organic superconductors, high-$`T_\mathrm{c}`$ cuprates, and $`\mathrm{Sr}_2\mathrm{RuO}_4`$ is discussed.

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I. INTRODUCTION

Anisotropy of superconducting order parameter and the mechanism of pairing interactions in layered superconductors are recent subjects of much interest. In particular, high-$`T_\mathrm{c}`$ cuprate superconductors, organic superconductors, and $`\mathrm{Sr}_2\mathrm{RuO}_4`$ compound have been studied by many authors.

There are some evidences that the order parameter has line nodes on Fermi-surface in high-$`T_\mathrm{c}`$ cuprates. For example, an experiment and a theory on Josephson junction gave an evidence of “$`d`$-wave” order parameter in a cuprate superconductor . Linear temperature dependence of the penetration depth was observed at low temperatures .

On the other hand, superconductivity in $`\mathrm{Sr}_2\mathrm{RuO}_4`$ is considered to be due to spin triplet pairing according to the results of a Knight shift measurement  and a $`\mu SR`$ experiment . In the organic superconductor $`(\mathrm{TMTSF})_2\mathrm{PF}_6`$, a Knight shift measurement seems to support spin triplet pairing .

On mechanism of the high transition temperature of the cuprates, pairing interactions of magnetic origin, such as exchange of spin fluctuations  and a super-exchange interaction between nearest neighbor spins, have been discussed by many authors, because of proximity to the antiferromagnetic phase. However, experimental results of isotope effect suggest that there are contributions to the superconductivity from phonon-mediated interactions in many high-$`T_\mathrm{c}`$ cuprates . Absolute values of shifts of $`T_\mathrm{c}`$ are very large (0.2K $``$ 0.7K), but isotope effect exponents $`\alpha `$ are small because of the high transition temperature.

Abrikosov proposed a theory based on weak screening of Coulomb interactions and phonon-mediated pairing interactions in which anisotropic $`s`$-wave order parameter was obtained . In the presence of on-site Coulomb repulsion, extremely anisotropic $`s`$-wave order parameter with nodes was obtained . Bouvier and Bok also calculated an order parameter explicitly, and obtained anisotropic $`s`$-wave in the same model . Recently, it has been shown that $`d`$-wave superconductivity is reproduced in a similar model with antiferromagnetic fluctuations .

We proposed in our previous paper  that triplet pairing superconductivity can be induced by phonon-mediated interactions in ferromagnetic compounds, where singlet pairing is suppressed by Pauli paramagnetic effect.

The origin of the anisotropic components of pairing interactions mediated by phonons is briefly explained as follows. The screening effect limits electron-ion interactions within a range of the order of the screening length. Since the pairing interactions mediated by phonons are obtained by a second order perturbation of the electron-ion interactions, they also have a range of the same order. For example, the screening effect is taken into account as vertex corrections within diagramatic technique . When the screening length increases, the interactions are more localized in the momentum space. Hence, the anisotropic components of the interactions increase with the screening length.

In this paper, we examine layered superconductors with the phonon-mediated pairing interactions, extending it to systems with large layer spacing. The layered structure modifies the screening length and the pairing interactions significantly. It is shown that anisotropic components of the pairing interactions increase with the layer spacing. We argue from this result that some aspects of the layered superconductors, such as $`\mathrm{Sr}_2\mathrm{RuO}_4`$, organics, and cuprates, can be explained in the present model.

We also study an effect of anisotropy of density of states in square lattice systems. Although the effect of the anisotropy must be most remarkable when the Fermi-surface is near the van Hove singularities, we consider a system not necessarily near the van Hove singularity but a system with the density of states anisotropy within the layers. Enhancement of the transition temperature due to the van Hove singularities has been discussed by many authors. In particular, it has often been discussed that the effect is efficient especially for the $`d_{x^2y^2}`$ pairing . In this paper, we concentrate on the anisotropy but do not discuss the value of the density of states. It is shown that superconductivity is enhanced by the anisotropy for pairing of $`d_{x^2y^2}`$ symmetry, but not for those of $`d_{xy}`$, $`p_x`$, and $`p_y`$ symmetries.

In section II, we define the model of the pairing interactions mediated by phonons. We derive expressions of the coupling constants for various types of anisotropic superconductivity. In section III, we examine the dependence on the layer spacing of the screening length and the pairing interactions. In section IV, we consider a situation in which inter-layer coupling is of the order of intra-layer coupling. In section V, we examine an effect of the anisotropy in the electron dispersion in square lattice systems. Section VI is devoted to discussion and summary.

II. SCREENING EFFECT AND PAIRING INTERACTIONS

First, we introduce a model of pairing interactions. Abrikosov examined an effective pairing interaction mediated by phonons of the form

$$V(𝐪)=g(\frac{q_{\mathrm{s}}^{}{}_{}{}^{2}}{q^2+q_{\mathrm{s}}^{}{}_{}{}^{2}})^n\frac{[\omega (𝐪)]^2}{(\xi _𝐤\xi _{𝐤+𝐪})^2[\omega (𝐪)]^2},$$
$`(1)`$
with $`q=|𝐪|`$ and $`q_\mathrm{s}=l_\mathrm{s}^1`$, where $`l_\mathrm{s}`$ denotes the screening length . A similar form corresponding to $`n=1`$ is obtained by taking into account the screening effect in electron-phonon interactions as explained in a text book . If we put $`n=1`$ for simplicity and $`\xi _𝐤\xi _{𝐤+𝐪}=0`$ for the electrons near the Fermi-surface in eq. (1) according to Abrikosov , we obtain a simplified form

$$V(𝐪)=\frac{gq_{\mathrm{s}}^{}{}_{}{}^{2}}{q^2+q_{\mathrm{s}}^{}{}_{}{}^{2}}.$$
$`(2)`$
We examined this model in three dimensions in our previous paper .

In this paper, we consider the layer systems, and define lattice constants $`a`$ within the layers and $`b`$ between the layers. We take $`x`$ and $`y`$-axes in the direction of the lattice vectors within the layers, and $`z`$-axis perpendicular to the layers. In eq. (2), the range of the interaction is $`l_\mathrm{s}/b`$ layers in the $`z`$-direction, while it is $`l_\mathrm{s}/a`$ sites in the layers. Thus, the anisotropy due to the layered structure is partially taken into account for the difference of the lattice constants $`b`$ and $`a`$. This model is qualitatively appropriate for long wave length such as $`\lambda q^1a,b,l_\mathrm{s}`$. However, when $`ba`$, the discrete layered structure in the inter-layer direction must be taken into account for shorter wave length $`\lambda q^1b`$. Therefore we extend eq. (2) in the form

$$V(𝐪)=\frac{gq_{\mathrm{s}}^{}{}_{}{}^{2}}{|𝐪_{}|^2+q_{\mathrm{s}}^{}{}_{}{}^{2}}\frac{g^{}q_{\mathrm{s}}^{}{}_{}{}^{2}}{|𝐪_{}|^2+q_{\mathrm{s}}^{}{}_{}{}^{2}}\mathrm{cos}q_zb$$
$`(3)`$
for layer systems, where $`𝐪_{}`$ is the momentum element in the layers. Here we have truncated the interaction at the nearest layers. The first and second terms correspond to the intra-layer and inter-layer interactions, respectively. The parameter $`q_\mathrm{s}^{}`$ is the inverse of the range of the interactions between electrons on the nearest layers in the $`x`$ and $`y`$-directions.

The gap equation of supercoductivity is written as

$$\mathrm{\Delta }(𝐤)=\frac{1}{N}\underset{𝐤^{}}{}V(𝐤𝐤^{})W(𝐤^{})\mathrm{\Delta }(𝐤^{}),$$
$`(4)`$
where

$$W(𝐤^{})=\frac{\mathrm{tanh}\frac{E(𝐤^{})}{2T}}{2E(𝐤^{})}$$
$`(5)`$
with $`E(𝐤)=\sqrt{ϵ_𝐤^2+[\mathrm{\Delta }(𝐤)]^2}`$ and $`N`$ the number of lattice sites.

We put the gap function

$$\mathrm{\Delta }(𝐤)=\mathrm{\Delta }_{}(𝐤_{})\eta (k_z),$$
$`(6)`$
where $`𝐤_{}=(k_x,k_y)`$ and $`\eta (k_z)`$ is a normalized function of the momentum component $`k_z`$. From eq. (3), the solution of the gap equation (4) at $`T=T_\mathrm{c}`$ has a form with $`\eta (k_z)=1`$, $`\sqrt{2}\mathrm{cos}k_zb`$, or $`\sqrt{2}\mathrm{sin}k_zb`$. Then eq. (4) is written as

$$\mathrm{\Delta }_{}(𝐤_{})=\frac{1}{N_{}}\underset{𝐤_{}^{}}{}V(𝐤_{},𝐤_{}^{})W(𝐤_{}^{})\mathrm{\Delta }_{}(𝐤_{}^{}),$$
$`(7)`$
where $`N_{}`$ denotes the number of sites in a layer, and $`V(𝐤_{},𝐤_{}^{})`$ denotes the averaged pairing interaction defined by

$$V(𝐤_{},𝐤_{}^{})\frac{b^2}{(2\pi )^2}_{\pi /b}^{\pi /b}dk_z_{\pi /b}^{\pi /b}dk_z^{}\eta (k_z)V(𝐤,𝐤^{})\eta (k_z^{}).$$
$`(8)`$
Here we assume that the dispersion in the $`z`$-direction can be neglected in $`ϵ_𝐤`$ in the gap equation.

We consider cylindrically symmetic Fermi-surface from now on. Hence we put $`|𝐤_{}|=|𝐤_{}^{}|=k_\mathrm{F}`$ in the pairing interactions eq. (8) and obtain

$$V(\phi \phi ^{})V(𝐤_{},𝐤_{}^{})=\frac{g(\alpha 1)}{\alpha \mathrm{cos}(\phi \phi ^{})},$$
$`(9)`$
with

$$\alpha =1+\frac{q_{\mathrm{s}}^{}{}_{}{}^{2}}{2k_\mathrm{F}^2},$$
$`(10)`$
for $`\eta (k_z)=1`$. On the other hand, for the order parameters with $`\eta (k_z)=\sqrt{2}\mathrm{cos}k_zb`$ and $`\eta (k_z)=\sqrt{2}\mathrm{sin}k_zb`$, the expression for $`V(\phi \phi ^{})`$ is obtained by replacing $`g`$ and $`\alpha `$ with $`g^{}`$ and $`\alpha ^{}=1+q_{\mathrm{s}}^{}{}_{}{}^{2}/2k_\mathrm{F}^2`$, respectively, in eq. (9).

We expand the averaged interaction $`V(\phi \phi ^{})`$ as

$$\begin{array}{ccc}\hfill V(\phi \phi ^{})& =& \underset{m=0}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}V_mn_m\gamma _m(\phi \phi ^{})\hfill \\ & =& \underset{m=0}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}V_m(\gamma _m(\phi )\gamma _m(\phi ^{})+\overline{\gamma }_m(\phi )\overline{\gamma }_m(\phi ^{})),\hfill \end{array}$$
$`(11)`$
and the gap function $`\mathrm{\Delta }_{}(\phi )=\mathrm{\Delta }_{}(𝐤_{})`$ as

$$\mathrm{\Delta }_{}(\phi )=\underset{m=0}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}[\mathrm{\Delta }_m\gamma _m(\phi )+\overline{\mathrm{\Delta }}_m\overline{\gamma }_m(\phi )],$$
$`(12)`$
where

$$\{\begin{array}{ccc}\hfill \gamma _m(\phi )& =& n_m\mathrm{cos}(m\phi )\hfill \\ \hfill \overline{\gamma }_m(\phi )& =& n_m\mathrm{sin}(m\phi ),\hfill \end{array}$$
$`(13)`$
with normalization factors

$$n_m=\{\begin{array}{cc}1\hfill & \text{ for }m=0\hfill \\ \sqrt{2}\hfill & \text{ for }m0.\hfill \end{array}$$
$`(14)`$
The expansion factor $`V_m`$ is calculated by

$$V_m=\frac{1}{n_m}_0^{2\pi }\frac{\mathrm{d}\theta }{2\pi }\gamma _m(\theta )V(\theta ).$$
$`(15)`$
It is easy to perform the integration in eq. (15). For $`\eta (k_z)=1`$, we obtain dimensionless coupling constants

$$\lambda _m=gN(0)\sqrt{\frac{\alpha 1}{\alpha +1}}\left[\alpha \sqrt{\alpha ^21}\right]^m.$$
$`(16)`$
Then the superconducting transition temperature $`T_\mathrm{c}`$ is obtained by

$$T_\mathrm{c}=1.13\omega _\mathrm{D}\mathrm{e}^{1/\lambda _m},$$
$`(17)`$
with $`\lambda _m=V_mN(0)`$ from eq. (4), where $`N(0)`$ is the density of states per site of a given spin.

For $`\eta (k_z)=\sqrt{2}\mathrm{cos}k_zb`$ and $`\sqrt{2}\mathrm{sin}k_zb`$ we obtain a similar dimensionless coupling constant as

$$\lambda _m^{}=\frac{1}{2}g^{}N(0)\sqrt{\frac{\alpha ^{}1}{\alpha ^{}+1}}\left[\alpha ^{}\sqrt{\alpha _{}^{}{}_{}{}^{2}1}\right]^m,$$
$`(18)`$
for nearest neighbor layer pairings. The expression for $`T_\mathrm{c}`$ is the same as eq. (17).

Here, we note that a contribution from the short-range part of the Coulomb repulsion must be subtracted from $`\lambda _0`$ obtained above. For example in the tight binding model, the on-site Coulomb energy is estimated by

$$U=\mathrm{d}^3𝐫\mathrm{d}^3𝐫^{}|w(𝐫)|^2\frac{e^2}{4\pi ϵ_0|𝐫𝐫^{}|}|w(𝐫^{})|^2,$$
$`(19)`$
where $`w(𝐫)`$ is the Wannier function. It is obvious that the energy $`U`$ is not included in our interaction energy eq. (3), since eq. (19) depends on the profile of the Wannier function. Equation (3) describes the behaviors of pairing interactions of longer wave length, while the energy $`U`$ in eq. (19) is characterized by the local states of electrons on each lattice site.

Therefore we must consider the on-site Coulomb repulsion in addition to the pairing interaction of eq. (3). However, it reduces only the intra-layer $`s`$-wave pairing interaction but not the other anisotropic pairing interactions because of the symmetry. We define a parameter $`\stackrel{~}{U}`$ so that the $`s`$-wave interaction $`\lambda _0`$ is reduced by $`\stackrel{~}{u}\stackrel{~}{U}N(0)`$. The value of the parameter $`\stackrel{~}{U}`$ is not equal to $`U`$, because the retardation and spin fluctuation effects should be taken into account. We consider $`\stackrel{~}{U}`$ as a given parameter without estimating it microscopically.

III. DEPENDENCE ON THE LAYER SPACING OF THE ANISOTROPIC PAIRING INTERACTION

In this section, we calculate anisotropic components of the effective pairing interactions as functions of the layer spacing $`b`$. We concentrate on the case of intra-layer pairing $`\eta (k_z)=1`$ for a while.

The squared inverse of the screening length is

$$q_{\mathrm{s}}^{}{}_{}{}^{2}=\frac{e^2}{ϵ_0}\rho (\mu ),$$
$`(20)`$
in Thomas-Fermi approximation, where $`\rho (\mu )`$ is total density of states of electrons per unit volume at chemical potential $`\mu `$. In layer systems, the total density of states per unit volume $`\rho (\mu )`$ is written in terms of the total density of states per unit area $`\rho _{}^{2\mathrm{D}}(\mu )`$ in each layers as

$$\rho (\mu )=\rho _{}^{2\mathrm{D}}(\mu )/b.$$
$`(21)`$
Here it is found that the screening becomes weaker when the layer spacing increases, because the volume density of electrons which contribute to screening decreases when the layer spacing increases. However, it should be noted that the screening length within a layer changes by the change of the inter-layer spacing $`b`$, even when the lattice constant $`a`$ in the layers is unchanged. Therefore the behavior of the screening length examined is not derived by a simple scale transformation in terms of $`a`$ and $`b`$ as the length scales.

We define a length scale $`b_0`$ as

$$\alpha =1+\frac{q_{\mathrm{s}}^{}{}_{}{}^{2}}{2k_\mathrm{F}^2}1+\frac{b_0}{b},$$
$`(22)`$
from eqs. (20) and (21). In a simple case, the length scale $`b_0`$ is estimated as follows. Assuming non-interacting two dimensional electron gas in $`\rho _{}^{(2\mathrm{D})}(\mu )`$, we obtain

$$b_0=\frac{a^2}{\pi na_\mathrm{H}},$$
$`(23)`$
since $`\rho _{}^{(2\mathrm{D})}(\mu )=m/\pi \mathrm{}^2`$ and $`k_\mathrm{F}a=\sqrt{2\pi n}`$, where $`n`$ is the electron number per site. Here $`a_\mathrm{H}`$ denotes Bohr radius $`a_\mathrm{H}=4\pi ϵ_0\mathrm{}^2/me^2=0.5292\mathrm{\AA }`$. As an example, if $`a4\mathrm{\AA }`$ and $`n1`$ we have $`b_09.6\mathrm{\AA }`$ as a crude estimation.

Since the basic length scale $`a_\mathrm{H}`$ which is independent of the lattice constants $`a`$ and $`b`$ comes in eq. (23), changes not only of the ratio $`b/a`$ but also of the absolute values of $`a`$ and $`b`$ give rise to changes in the qualitative results.

Figure 1 shows the result of $`\lambda _m`$ as a function of the layer spacing $`b`$. It is seen that both $`p`$-wave and $`d`$-wave components of the pairing interactions increase with the layer spacing $`b`$. In particular, it is found that the $`p`$-wave components increase rapidly in the region $`0<b\stackrel{<}{}b_0`$. As the inset shows, the $`s`$-wave component $`\lambda _0/gN(0)`$ is equal to 1 in the limit of $`b=0`$ and decreases with $`b`$. It remains larger than the other anisotropic components, but if the additional short-range Coulomb energy $`U`$ is sufficiently large so that $`\lambda _0\stackrel{~}{u}<\lambda _1`$, $`p`$-wave pairing occurs instead of $`s`$-wave pairing.

Figure 2 is the phase diagram at $`T=0`$ in $`b`$-$`\stackrel{~}{U}`$ plane. It is found that $`p`$-wave superconductivity occurs in the region where the layer spacing $`b`$ is larger and the short-range repulsion expressed by $`\stackrel{~}{U}`$ is stronger. We will discuss the reality of such parameter values in the layered compounds in the last section.

On the other hand, for $`d`$-wave superconductivity to occur, some additional contribution to $`\lambda _2`$ or a negative contribution to $`\lambda _1`$ is needed, so that $`\lambda _2`$ becomes larger than $`\lambda _1`$. We examine an enhancement of $`\lambda _2`$ due to an anisotropy of the density of states later, and briefly discuss a contribution from the antiferromagnetic fluctuations in the last section.

IV. INTER-LAYER PAIRING

In this section we consider a situation in which the inter-layer coupling constant $`g^{}`$ is of the same order as the intra-layer coupling constant $`g`$. The coupling constants would depend on the layer spacing $`b`$, but here we regard them as independent parameters. The condition $`g^{}g`$ would actually be satisfied when $`b`$ is not too large. Then, we must consider the gap function of the form $`\mathrm{\Delta }(𝐤)=\mathrm{\Delta }_{}(𝐤_{})\eta (k_z)`$ with $`\eta (k_z)=\sqrt{2}\mathrm{cos}k_zb`$ or $`\sqrt{2}\mathrm{sin}k_zb`$. The expansion of $`\mathrm{\Delta }_{}(𝐤_{})`$ by eq. (12) holds also in this case.

Figure 3 shows the dimensionless coupling constants $`\lambda _m^{}`$. A set of parameters, $`g^{}=0.8g`$, $`\stackrel{~}{U}=0.4g`$, and $`q_\mathrm{s}^{}=q_\mathrm{s}`$ are taken as an example. For $`b/b_0\stackrel{<}{}0.6`$ and $`b/b_0\stackrel{>}{}2.2`$, intra-layer pairing (of $`s`$-wave and $`p`$-wave in each region, respectively) is favored. On the other hand, for $`0.6\stackrel{<}{}b/b_0\stackrel{<}{}2.2`$, inter-layer pairing with $`m=0`$ is favored. The gap function has a form such as

$$\{\begin{array}{ccc}\hfill \mathrm{\Delta }(𝐤)& =& \mathrm{\Delta }_0\mathrm{sin}k_zb\hfill \\ \hfill \mathrm{\Delta }(𝐤)& =& \mathrm{\Delta }_0\mathrm{cos}k_zb.\hfill \end{array}$$
$`(24)`$
The formar is an order parameter of triplet pairing, while the latter is that of singlet pairing. These gap functions have horizontal line nodes at $`k_z=0,\pm \pi /b`$ and at $`k_z=\pm \pi /2b`$, respectively, but they are isotropic in the layers.

V. EFFECT OF ANISOTROPY IN THE ELECTRON DISPERSION

In this section, we consider the square lattice systems, in which the electron dispersion depends on the direction of the momentum. We will show that the $`d`$-wave coupling constant $`\lambda _2`$ is enhanced for $`d_{x^2y^2}`$ symmetry, but not for $`d_{xy}`$ symmetry, due to the anisotropy of the density of single-particle states. We define an angle-dependent density of states $`\rho (ϵ,\phi )`$ as a density of single-particle states per unit energy and unit angle.

In the square lattice system, the angle-dependent density of states at the Fermi-energy $`\rho (0,\phi )`$ can be approximated by

$$\rho (0,\phi )\rho _0+\rho _4\mathrm{cos}(4\phi ),$$
$`(25)`$
where $`\phi `$ is the angle between a momentum $`𝐩`$ and $`p_x`$-axis. In addition, we regard $`k_\mathrm{F}`$ as being constant, for simplicity.

Figure 4 shows a verification of this simplified model in the square lattice tight binding model with a nearest neighbor hopping energy $`t`$ at $`\mu =t`$. Although the Fermi-surface is nearly isotropic, the density of states $`\rho (0,\phi )`$ varies with the direction $`\phi `$. For example, when $`\mu =t`$, $`\rho _00.142`$ and $`\rho _40.040`$ are estimated.

Regarding eq. (25) as an expansion of $`\rho (\phi ,0)`$, we could extend it into more general forms by adding terms $`\rho _{4n}\mathrm{cos}(4n\phi )`$ with $`n2`$. Then the terms of $`\rho _{4n}`$ mix $`\mathrm{\Delta }_m`$ of a small $`m`$ with $`\mathrm{\Delta }_m^{}`$ of a large $`m^{}=|m\pm 4n|`$. However, since $`V_m`$ decreases rapidly with $`m`$ as seen by eq. (16), $`\mathrm{\Delta }_m^{}`$s of such large $`m^{}`$ are small. Therefore the higher order terms in the expansion of $`\rho (\phi ,0)`$ can be omitted in practice.

In the gap equation, the anisotropic term proportional to $`\rho _4\mathrm{cos}4\phi `$ of the angle-dependent density of states mixes $`\mathrm{\Delta }_m\mathrm{cos}m\phi `$ with $`\mathrm{\Delta }_{|m4|}\mathrm{cos}[(m4)\phi ]`$ and $`\mathrm{\Delta }_{m+4}\mathrm{cos}[(m+4)\phi ]`$, but it does not affect equations for $`\overline{\mathrm{\Delta }}_m\mathrm{sin}m\phi `$. Therefore we only consider equations for $`\mathrm{\Delta }_m`$. For general $`m`$, we can write the gap equation at $`T=T_\mathrm{c}`$ as

$$\begin{array}{ccc}\hfill \mathrm{\Delta }_m& =& \lambda _m^{(0)}\mathrm{log}\frac{2\mathrm{e}^\gamma \omega _\mathrm{D}}{\pi T_\mathrm{c}}\hfill \\ & & \times \left[\mathrm{\Delta }_m+\frac{\rho _4}{2\rho _0}\left\{\frac{n_m}{n_{m+4}}\mathrm{\Delta }_{m+4}+\frac{n_m}{n_{|m4|}}\mathrm{\Delta }_{|m4|}\right\}\right],\hfill \end{array}$$
$`(26)`$
where we define $`\lambda _m^{(0)}V_m\rho _0=V_mN(0)`$ is the dimensionless coupling constant for the isotropic case.

Since $`V_3`$, $`V_4`$, $`V_5`$ $`\mathrm{}`$ are much smaller than $`V_0`$ and $`V_1`$, the terms proportional to $`\rho _4`$ can be neglected in eq. (26) for $`m=0`$ and 1. Hence, $`\lambda _0`$ and $`\lambda _1`$ are not modified by $`\rho _4`$. On the other hand, for $`m=2`$, we cannot omit the term of $`\mathrm{\Delta }_{|m4|}`$ in eq. (26) since $`|m4|=2`$. Neglecting the term of $`\mathrm{\Delta }_{m+4}=\mathrm{\Delta }_6`$ because $`V_6V_2`$, we obtain

$$\begin{array}{ccc}\hfill \mathrm{\Delta }_2& =& \lambda _2^{(0)}\left[1+\frac{\rho _4}{2\rho _0}\right]\mathrm{log}\frac{2\mathrm{e}^\gamma \omega _\mathrm{D}}{\pi T_\mathrm{c}}\mathrm{\Delta }_2\hfill \\ & & \lambda _2\mathrm{log}\frac{2\mathrm{e}^\gamma \omega _\mathrm{D}}{\pi T_\mathrm{c}}\mathrm{\Delta }_2,\hfill \end{array}$$
$`(27)`$
where we define an effective coupling constant $`\lambda _2\lambda _2^{(0)}(1+\rho _4/2\rho _0)`$, which gives $`T_\mathrm{c}`$ by eq. (17).

Therefore, it is found that $`d_{x^2y^2}`$-wave pairing is favored more than $`d_{xy}`$-wave pairing by the enhancement factor $`(1+\rho _4/2\rho _0)`$, since $`\rho _4`$ changes the equation for $`\mathrm{\Delta }_m`$ but does not for $`\overline{\mathrm{\Delta }}_m`$ as mentioned above. The enhancement factor $`1+\rho _4/2\rho _0`$ is estimated to be 1.14 for $`\mu =t`$, and 1.22 for $`\mu =0.5t`$. On the competition with $`p`$-wave pairing, those values are not large enough to change the sign of $`\lambda _2\lambda _1`$. Therefore, another non-phonon contribution seems to be needed for $`d`$-wave pairing to occur.

Figure 5 are phase diagram in the absence of $`p`$-wave superconductivity. It is found that $`d`$-wave superconductivity is favored when the layer spacing $`b`$ is larger and the short-range Coulomb repulsion $`\stackrel{~}{U}`$ is stronger. If there are additional contributions to $`d`$-wave superconductivity mentioned above, the phase boundary is shifted downward.

VI. DISCUSSION AND SUMMARY

We have examined pairing interactions mediated by phonons in the layer systems. The screening of Coulomb interactions becomes weaker when the layer spacing $`b`$ increases. Then anisotropic components of the pairing interactions increase with the layer spacing $`b`$ since the momentum dependence of the interactions changes. In particular, $`p`$-wave superconductivity occurs for large $`b`$ and strong short-range Coulomb repulsion $`\stackrel{~}{U}`$, even in the absence of any additional non-phonon interactions.

It was found that the $`p`$-wave coupling constant $`\lambda _1`$ increases rapidly with the layer spacing $`b`$ in the region $`b\stackrel{<}{}b_0`$, where $`b_0`$ is a length scale defined by eq. (22). For the rapid increase of $`\lambda _1`$, the condition $`\lambda _0\stackrel{~}{u}<\lambda _1`$ is realized more easily in layer systems than in usual three dimensional systems, where $`\lambda _0`$ denotes the $`s`$-wave coupling constant and $`\stackrel{~}{u}`$ is a negative contribution to $`s`$-wave pairing due to the short-range Coulomb repulsion discussed near eq. (19). Hence triplet pairing superconductivity is favored in layered compounds.

We have also examined inter-layer pairing. In some region of the parameter space, for example $`0.6\stackrel{<}{}b/b_0\stackrel{<}{}2.2`$ for the parameters indicated in Fig. 3, the gap function has horizontal line nodes parallel to the layers. In this case, the solutions of singlet pairing and triplet pairing of eq. (24) degenerate. If some effect due to spin fluctuations, ferromagnetic correlations, or spin-orbit coupling removes this degeneracy, inter-layer triplet pairing may occur.

In $`\mathrm{Sr}_2\mathrm{RuO}_4`$ compounds, existence of the line nodes was supported by some experiments such as temperature dependences of specific heat and NMR relaxation rate . However, direction of the line nodes does not seem clear at the present. Line nodes vertical to the layers were indicated by ultrasound attenuation , whereas almost isotropic state was indicated by thermal conductivity . The isotropic state can be consistent with the specific heat and NMR experiments, if the horizontal line nodes are assumed .

In the present theory, inter-layer triplet pairing reproduces the horizontal line nodes, while the intra-layer triplet pairing is a candidate for the vertical line nodes. For the latter pairing, we need some additional mechanism for the vertical line nodes to occur, because isotropic states such as $`p_x+\mathrm{i}p_y`$ have the lowest free energy in the present isotropic system. Consistent explanation of the experimental results within the present theory remains for a future study.

In order to discuss the reality of the phonon-mediated anisotropic superconductivity, we crudely estimate the parameters for the $`\mathrm{Sr}_2\mathrm{RuO}_4`$ compound and quasi-one-dimensional organic superconductors from the observed transition temperature $`T_\mathrm{c}1.5\mathrm{K}`$. We assume triplet pairing here, although for the organics it might be rather controversial. The results of the parameter values do not strongly depend on the direction of the line nodes.

Roughly speaking, $`b\stackrel{>}{}b_0`$ is satisfied in both kinds of compounds. Thus we have $`\lambda _10.15\times gN(0)`$ for intra-layer triplet pairing from Fig. 1, while $`\lambda _0^{}0.22\times gN(0)`$ for inter-layer pairing from Fig. 3. On the other hand, if we assume $`\omega _\mathrm{D}1000\mathrm{K}`$ and $`T_\mathrm{c}1.5\mathrm{K}`$, we have $`\lambda _10.151`$ (or $`\lambda _0^{}0.151`$). Therefore, we obtain $`gN(0)1.0`$ and 0.69, respectively. For such choices of parameter values, it is likely that $`s`$-wave pairing is suppressed. For example, for intra-layer pairing, since we obtained $`gN(0)1`$ above, the $`s`$-wave coupling constant is estimated as $`\lambda _00.58\times gN(0)0.58`$ at $`b=b_0`$ by eq. (16). Thus the difference of $`\lambda _0`$ and $`\lambda _1`$ is about 0.42, which corresponds to $`V_0V_10.42/N(0)0.42W`$, where $`W`$ is the band width. Therefore $`s`$-wave pairing is suppressed when the magnitude of the negative contribution $`\stackrel{~}{U}`$ due to the short-range Coulomb repulsion is larger than $`0.42WW/2`$. Although this estimation is crude, the value $`W/2`$ seems realistic as the order of the magnitude.

On the other hand, for $`d`$-wave superconductivity to occur in the present model, it is needed that $`p`$-wave pairing is suppressed for some extra reason as well as $`s`$-wave pairing, or that there are some additional contributions to $`d`$-wave pairing. For this problem, we examined effect of the anisotropy of the electron dispersion. It was found that the $`d`$-wave coupling constant $`\lambda _2`$ is enhanced by the anisotropy for $`d_{x^2y^2}`$ symmetry, while not for $`d_{xy}`$ symmetry and $`p_x`$, $`p_y`$ symmetries. However, the enhancement does not seem to be large enough to realize the $`d`$-wave superconductivity.

This might suggest an existence of a non-phonon contribution to the $`d`$-wave pairing interaction in the cuprates. For example, many authors discussed that antiferromagnetic spin fluctuations may contribute to $`d`$-wave pairing interactions . In particular, such interactions enhance $`d`$-wave pairing efficiently in the presence of the van Hove singularities  in the square lattice systems.

However, even if we assume that a non-phonon contribution is indispensable for high-$`T_\mathrm{c}`$, the present theory suggests that there is a large phonon contribution to the $`d`$-wave pairing interactions especially in layer systems for the weak screening. This result is consistent with the observed large shifts of $`T_\mathrm{c}`$ as absolute values due to the isotope effect .

It was also found that the coupling constant $`\lambda _2`$ increases with the layer spacing $`b`$. This behavior might be a reason why the transition temperature of $`\mathrm{Bi}_2\mathrm{Sr}_2\mathrm{CaCu}_2\mathrm{O}_{8+\delta }`$ is much higher than that of $`\mathrm{La}_{2x}\mathrm{Sr}_x\mathrm{CuO}_4`$. Since $`T_\mathrm{c}`$ is a sensitive function of $`\lambda _m`$, such a slight enhancement of $`\lambda _2`$ may increase $`T_\mathrm{c}`$ considerably.

In conclusion, phonon-mediated pairing interactions include anisotropic components of various symmetries. In particular, they are large when the screening effect is weak due to the layered structure of the system. As a result, the interactions induce various types of anisotropic superconductivity depending on values of the energy parameters and lattice constants. In particular, triplet superconductivity is favored for large layer spacing and strong short-range repulsion. For anisotropic superconductivity, $`T_\mathrm{c}`$ increases with the layer spacing $`b`$. The phonon-mediated pairing interactions may play some essential roles in the anisotropic superconductivity of layered compounds, such as $`\mathrm{Sr}_2\mathrm{RuO}_4`$, the organic superconductors, and the high-$`T_\mathrm{c}`$ cuprates.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors wish to thank Prof. J. Friedel for useful discussions. A part of this work was supported by a grant for Core Research for Evolutionary Science and Technology (CREST) from Japan Science and Technology Corporation (JST).


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# Dynamic Ordering and Transverse Depinning of a Driven Elastic String in a Disordered Media

\[

## Abstract

We examine the dynamics of an elastic string interacting with quenched disorder driven perpendicular and parallel to the string. We show that the string is the most disordered at the depinning transition but with increasing drive partial ordering is regained. For low drives the noise power is high and we observe a $`1/f^2`$ noise signature crossing over to a white noise character with low power at higher drives. For the parallel driven moving string there is a finite transverse critical depinning force with the depinning transition occuring by the formation of running kinks.

\]

The dynamics of driven elastic media interacting with quenched disorder occurs in a wide variety of physical systems which include magnetic domain wall motion , nonequilibrium growth , models of friction , vortex lattice motion in superconductors , and charge density waves . Recently an intense interest in driven elastic media with quenched disorder has been directed at dynamical ordering where at low applied drives the system is in a highly disordered pinned state and at a critical drive a depining into a highly disordered moving state occurs, while at high drives the effect of the disorder is reduced and the system can regain a considerable amount of order. Particular systems where this reordering behavior has been studied extensively experimentally , theoretically , and numerically  include vortices in superconductors as well as charge-density wave (CDW) systems.

In the vortex system if there is no quenched disorder the vortices form an ordered crystalline state; however, in most samples there are defects which attract and pin vortices, disordering the vortex lattice. When a driving force is applied, the initial depinning transition can be plastic, with certain regions of mobile vortices tearing past pinned regions and a large number of defects generated so that the system has only a liquid like structure. For higher drives the vortices regain order; however, the pinning can still affect the structure so the vortices can have a partial anisotropic ordering or smectic structure . An open question is whether the reordering transition is a true transition or a crossover.

An interesting feature of the reordered moving state is that a transverse depinning threshold can exist as originally proposed in Ref. . Here, although the lattice is moving in the longitudinal direction, the effect of the pinning is still present in the transverse direction so that a finite transverse drive must be applied before the lattice will move in the transverse direction. Simulations  and experiments  on vortex lattices as well as simulations for friction models  have found evidence for a finite transverse depinning threshold for the longitudinal moving systems. Other theoretical work contends that at finite $`T`$ no true critical transverse depinning threshold exists; instead, due to the high pinning barriers, a pronounced crossover in the transverse IV curves may appear . In the CDW context the effect of the quasi-particle current flowing perpendicular to the CDW 2$`k_F`$ ordering wavevector was also studied theoretically  and in experiment . An intriguing question is whether the reordering transitions and the transverse barrier seen in the vortex system occur in other types of driven elastic media, such as driven interfaces and polymers interacting with quenched disorder. An ideal way to model these systems in 2D is with a driven elastic string interacting with quenched disorder.

Previous numerical studies of driven elastic strings with disorder  employed drives perpendicular to the string and focused on the dynamics near the depinning threshold. In this case critical behavior is expected, and was observed in the form of broad distributions of avalanche sizes as well as scaling of the velocity near depinning, $`v=(ff_c)^\alpha `$, as proposed by Fisher . The roughness of the string as measured by the roughening coefficient exponent was $`0.9`$ to $`1.1`$ at depinning  and $`0.5`$ at high drives , indicating that some ordering of the string was occurring as the drive increased.

In this work we investigate the continual evolution of the order and noise signatures in driven strings for both parallel and perpendicular drives. We also investigate the transverse depinning for the moving string. In the case of the perpendicular moving string we do not observe a transverse barrier; however, for the parallel driven string a transverse depinning threshold is observed which occurs through the formation of running kinks. For increasing longitudinal drives the transverse barrier decreases. Physical systems relevant to the perpendicular driven string include domain walls and moving interfaces, while systems similar to the parallel driven string include boundaries between sliding surfaces, polymers that are aligned with an applied drive in a random media, or a single stream of fluid flowing down a rough surface.

We model an overdamped elastic string in (1 + 1) dimensions. The string is composed of discrete particles connected by springs. The system has periodic boundary conditions in the $`x`$ and $`y`$-directions and the string is connected periodically in the $`y`$-direction. The equation of motion for each particle on the string is:

$$\gamma \frac{\mathrm{𝐝𝐫}}{dt}=\kappa 𝐟_s+𝐟_p+𝐅_d.$$
(1)
Here $`𝐫`$ is the particle location, $`\gamma =1`$ is the damping term, $`\kappa =5`$ is the string elastic constant, $`𝐟_s=𝐫_{i1}2𝐫_i+𝐫_{i+1}`$. is the spring force from the two neighboring particles, $`𝐟_p`$ is the pinning force and $`𝐅_d`$ is the uniform applied driving force. The pinning is modeled as attractive parabolic traps scattered randomly through the sample. The pinning force is $`𝐟_p=_i^{N_p}(f_p/r_p)(𝐫_i𝐫_k^{(p)})\mathrm{\Theta }(r_p|𝐫_i𝐫_k^{(p)}|),`$ where $`\mathrm{\Theta }`$ is the Heaviside step function, $`𝐫_k^{(p)}`$ is the location of pinning site $`k`$, $`f_p=0.3`$ is the maximum pinning force, and $`r_p=0.25`$ is the pinning radius. The results shown here are for strings containing $`N=500`$ to $`2000`$ particles, interacting with $`N_p=4.6\times 10^5`$ pinning sites in samples of size $`160\times 160`$. We consider two types of initial conditions: one where the string is put down in its unstretched equilibrium position, and a second where the string is annealed at a finite temperature by the addition of a thermal kick. We find that when the applied drive is increased slowly enough, both methods give similar results. We apply a uniform force $`F_d`$ in the $`x`$ direction for perpendicular driving or the $`y`$-direction for parallel driving. We increase the driving force in increments of $`0.001`$ and spend $`30000`$ simulation steps at each increment, measuring the average string velocity $`V_x=_i^{N_i}\widehat{𝐱}𝐯_i`$, and $`V_y=_i^{N_i}\widehat{𝐲}𝐯_i`$. To quantify the order in the string we measure the difference $`\mathrm{\Delta }L`$ in the length of the string compared to the equilibrium length, $`\mathrm{\Delta }L=_i^{N_i}(|𝐫_i𝐫_{i+1}|r_l)`$, where $`r_l`$ is the equilibrium length of each string segment. We also measure the noise in the string velocity: $`S(\omega )=|V_x(t)e^{i2\pi \omega t}𝑑t|^2,`$ and

the noise power in one frequency octave $`S_0=_{\omega _2}^{\omega _1}S(\omega )`$.

In Fig. 1(a-d) we show a series of snapshots of a perpendicular driven string. In Fig. 1(a) at a driving force $`F_d/F_{dp}=1.1`$ very close to the depinning transition $`F_{dp}=0.09`$, the string is highly disordered. Above depinning, the motion of the string is jerky, occurring in pulses or avalanches, with portions of the string immobile while other portions are moving as can be seen from the instantaneous velocity of individual beads. In Fig. 1(b) and (c) for $`F_d/F_{dp}=1.25`$ and $`1.75`$, the string becomes less winding. Finally in Fig. 1(d), for $`F_d/F_{dp}=4.0`$ the string is almost completely ordered again.

To quantify the evolution of the driven string from Fig. 1, we plot in Fig. 2(a) $`F_d`$ versus $`<V_x>`$ showing that the string is pinned for $`F_d<0.09`$. In this case the string was initially placed in its equilibrium position. In Fig. 2(b) we plot $`\mathrm{\Delta }L`$ which shows that the string is aligned for $`F_d=0`$ but gradually disorders as $`F_{dp}`$ is approached from below. $`\mathrm{\Delta }L`$ reaches a maximum at depinning. For increasing $`F_d>F_{dp}`$, $`\mathrm{\Delta }L`$ gradually decreases as the string orders. In Fig. 2(c) the reordering can also be seen in the noise power $`S_0`$ which is maximum at depinning and again decreases for increasing $`F_d`$. The decay of $`S_0`$ fits well to an exponential form where for $`F_d>F_{dp}`$, $`S_0(F_d)\mathrm{exp}((F_dF_{dp}))`$. We have also conducted simulations where we decrease $`F_d`$ after a ramp up, and we do not observe any hysteresis in the ordering $`\mathrm{\Delta }L`$ or the noise power $`S_0`$.

In Fig. 3 we show noise spectra for the same system. Right above depinning, at $`F_d/F_{dp}=1.1`$, $`S(\omega )`$ shows a $`1/f^2`$ characteristic, as seen in Fig. 3(a). For increasing drives, the string begins to move continuously and reorder. As a result, a characteristic time scale forms, the $`1/f^2`$ shape is lost and the higher frequencies are reduced in power, as shown in Fig. 3(b) for $`F_d/F_{dp}=4.4`$. Noise

spectra for vortices have shown similar features in both experiments  and simulations . In the vortex simulations the $`1/f^2`$ high noise region corresponds to the disordered plastic flow state and the low noise power region corresponds to the reordered elastic flow state.

We have repeated the same type of simulations shown in Figs. 1-3 for the parallel driven string and observe the same general features. For the parallel driven string, the depinning threshold is lower and we observe a clear washboard signal for the high drive case. We have carried out a series of simulations for varied $`f_p`$, $`\kappa `$, and $`N_p`$. In each case, the depinning threshold changes; however, the same general features of the reordering are observed.

To test the predictions in Ref.  of a critical transverse threshold for the driven string, we have conducted a series of simulations where we fix the driving force at a constant value after the string is in motion. We then slowly apply an additional driving force in the direction transverse to the initial longitudinal motion. For the perpendicular driven string the applied transverse drive is along the string and for the parallel driven string the applied transverse drive is perpendicular to the string. For the perpendicular driven string we do not observe a transverse barrier for the moving string. For a parallel driven string, in Fig. 4(a) we show the transverse driving force versus the transverse string velocity indicating that for the case of the parallel moving string there is a finite transverse pinning threshold. We note that for the moving vortex systems a finite transverse barrier occurs only when the vortices are moving in well defined channels and the transverse drive is perpendicular to these

channels. The parallel moving string may be viewed as a single moving channel. In Fig. 4(b) we show that the transverse barrier decreases with increasing longitudinal velocity. In the vortex system as the longitudinal drive increases the channels straighten out and the transverse barrier decreases. In the parallel moving string the decrease in the transverse pinning threshold also corresponds to the string reordering for the higher longitudinal drives. Above the parallel depinning transition, $`F_d>F_{dp}`$, the data follows a power law form, $`F_{dp}^T(F_dF_{dp})^{2/3}`$. In a CDW system an exponential decay would be expected , but for the driven string system a power law decay is predicted instead .

We have also investigated the dynamics of the transverse depinning for the parallel driven string, as indicated in Fig. 5, which shows a series of snapshots of the string just above the transverse depinning threshold. The transverse depinning transition is very distinct from the longitudinal depinning of the perpendicular driven string shown in Fig. 1. The transversely driven parallel moving string does not become more disordered as observed at the depinning transition of the strictly perpendicular driven string. Instead, the transverse depinning occurs through the formation of a running kink that moves in the direction of the longitudinal drive as seen in Fig. 5. Although one might expect a kink and an anti-kink to form, we observed that below the kink the string is positioned at a slight angle. The kink moves along the string through the periodic boundary conditions. As the transverse drive is increased more kinks appear and the kinks begin to move more rapidly. Similar kink motion has been observed in interfaces in sliding friction systems . The moving kinks themselves can show intricate dynamics. We have observed that these kinks can become pinned, and that another kink can form elsewhere and later collide with the pinned kink to form a larger kink.

In conclusion we have numerically investigated the dynamics of perpendicular and parallel driven strings in

quenched disorder. We find that the string is most disordered at the depinning transition but recovers order for increasing drive as measured by the difference between the length of the string and the equilibrium length. This reordering is observable in the noise characteristic. Broad $`1/f^2`$ noise is observed at depinning, with a gradual reduction in the noise power for increasing drive and a shift to a whiter noise characteristic. For the parallel driven moving string we find that there is a finite transverse critical depinning threshold $`F_{dp}^T`$, indicating that the theory of Ref.  regarding the transverse barrier in a very different system still appears to apply to this system. We see a decrease of $`F_{dp}^T`$ with increasing longitudinal drive, as predicted in Ref.  for CDW’s, and find that the decrease follows a power-law form as predicted . The transverse depinning occurs by the formation of longitudinal kinks. We do not observe a transverse depinning threshold for the perpendicular driven string. Possible experimental systems in which to investigate the predications in this work include noise measurements and domain wall imaging for magnetic domains driven at increasing magnetic field sweep rates, as well as varied moving contact line speeds over a rough surface for increased drive. Our prediction for the reordering and the transverse barrier for the parallel driven string may be observable in polymers aligned with the drive in disordered media or a single stream of liquid flowing over a rough surface at various longitudinal and transverse tilt angles.

We thank M. Chertkov, T. Germann, L. Radzihovsky, and G. Zimányi for useful discussions. This work was supported by the US Department of Energy under contract W-7405-ENG-36.


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# Comparative Analysis of GALLEX-GNO Solar Neutrino Data and SOHO/MDI Helioseismology Data; Further Evidence for Rotational Modulation of the Solar Neutrino Flux

## 1 Introduction

There has for some time been great interest in the possibility that the solar neutrino flux is variable. Early tests focused on the possibility that the flux varies with the solar cycle. This period (11 years) is so long that power spectrum analysis is not feasible. Hence the preferred test for variability was an indirect one, namely, the search for a correlation between the solar neutrino flux and an index of solar variability such as the Wolf sunspot number (Bahcall, Field & Press 1987; Bahcall & Press 1991; Bieber et al. 1990; Dorman & Wolfendale 1991), the surface magnetic field strength (Massetti & Storini 1993; Oakley et al. 1994), the intensity of the green-line corona (Massetti & Storini 1996), or the solar wind flux (McNutt 1995). Walther (1997) has criticized such claims—specifically the claim that the neutrino flux is anti-correlated with the sunspot number—on the grounds that the authors used smoothed data and then applied tests that are appropriate only if data points are independent. Snodgrass and Oakley (1999) have in turn criticized Walther’s article, and Walther (1999) has responded to that criticism. The implications of correlation analyses remain in doubt.

Although the overall duration of solar neutrino data (24 years for the Homestake experiment) is not long enough to permit a definitive spectrum analysis for oscillations as slow as the solar cycle, the duration is adequate for a search for oscillations of shorter period. Haubold and Gerth (1990) have used spectrum analysis to search for evidence of oscillations with period of order one year. More recently, Haubold (1998) has used wavelet analysis for this purpose.

It is well known that indices such as sunspot number, surface magnetic field strength, coronal brightness, etc., are strongly influenced by solar rotation. They display oscillations with a basic synodic period of about 27 days and harmonics of this frequency. These oscillations arise from the fact that the solar magnetic field is highly inhomogeneous, and that some components of this field last for several or many solar rotations. Neugebauer et al. (2000) have recently presented evidence of a rotational pattern in the solar wind that lasts for more than three solar cycles. Compared with the duration of neutrino experiments, the solar rotation period is short enough that it is quite reasonable to search for the influence of rotation by means of time-series spectrum analysis.

According to “standard physics,” one would not expect the solar neutrino flux to vary. However, it has been realized for some time that neutrino processes may be governed by “nonstandard physics” (see, for instance, Raffelt 1996). It appears that the currently most popular candidate for the solution of the solar neutrino deficit (see, for instance, Bahcall, Krastev & Smirnov 1998) is the MSW effect (Mikheyev & Smirnov 1986a, 1986b, 1986c; Wolfenstein 1978, 1979), whereby electron neutrinos may be converted into either muon or tau neutrinos as they propagate through matter in the solar interior. The possibility that neutrino magnetic moment may have something to do with the neutrino deficit was first advanced by Cisneros (1971), who considered propagation through magnetic field in the core of the Sun. This leads to spin precession (see also Fujikawa & Schrock 1980), which converts some of the left-handed electron neutrinos, that are produced by nuclear reactions in the core, into sterile right-hand neutrinos which are not detectable. At a later date, Voloshin, Vysotskii, and Okun (1986a, 1986b) and Barbieri and Fiorentini (1988) examined the possible variation of the solar neutrino flux due to propagation through the solar convection zone, taking account of the effect of matter as well as magnetic field. They found that matter tends to suppress spin precession, although spin precession is still possible if the product of the magnetic moment times the magnetic field strength is large enough. This is now known as the “VVO” effect. Schechter and Valle (1981, 1982) considered the effect of a possible flavor-off-diagonal (transition) magnetic moment, and found that this could lead to the simultaneous precession of both spin and flavor (“spin-flavor precession” or “SFP” if neutrinos propagate through a magnetic field. Akhmedov (1988a,b) and Lim & Marciano (1988) analyzed the propagation of neutrinos through matter permeated by magnetic field , with application to propagation through the solar convection zone. They found that, for a given neutrino energy, there is a certain density at which a resonant process occurs, enhancing spin-flavor precession. This is now known as “resonant spin-flavor precession” (RSFP). The implications of RSFP for solar neutrinos have been reviewed more recently by Akhmedov (1997) and Pulido & Akhmedov (2000).

Much of the above analysis was stimulated by the possibility that the solar neutrino flux may vary in the course of the solar cycle, although Voloshin, Vysotskii, & Okun (1986a, 1986b) also drew attention to the possibility that the flux may vary in the course of a year, due to a possible latitude-dependence of the internal magnetic field and to the inclination of the Sun’s rotation axis to the ecliptic. These issues remain important but, for reasons given above, we have become more interested in the possibility that the flux may vary with the solar rotation frequency. Such an effect is most likely to show up if the Sun contains strong, extensive and long-lived magnetic structures, especially if they are situated where the Sun exhibits something close to rigid rotation.

The solar interior is divided into two sharply different region by the “tachocline,” located at about $`r=0.7`$. (Here and elsewhere the radius is normalized to that of the photosphere.) Nuclear burning occurs near the center: 80% of the burning occurs within $`r=0.15`$ (see, for instance, Bahcall 1989, p. 147). Between the nuclear-burning core and the tachocline is the radiative zone. According to data derived from helioseismology (Schou et al. 1998), the core and radiative zone are in substantially rigid rotation with a sidereal rotation rate in the range $`13.75\pm 0.25\mathrm{y}^1`$. We find it convenient to measure frequencies in cycles per year, since this leads to a simple relationship between the sidereal and synodic values:

$$\nu (\mathrm{synodic})=\nu (\mathrm{sidereal})1.$$
(1.1)
At the tachocline, the sidereal rotation rate jumps from about $`13.75\mathrm{y}^1`$ at $`r=0.66`$ to about $`14.53\mathrm{y}^1`$ at $`r=0.74`$. Above the tachocline, in the convection zone which extends to the photosphere, the rotation rate varies with radius and latitude, from a minimum of about $`8.68\mathrm{y}^1`$ at $`r=1`$ at the poles to a maximum of about $`14.84\mathrm{y}^1`$ at $`r=0.93`$ at the equator. Early in our research, these considerations led us to focus our attention on the radiative zone since this is larger than the convection zone, contains gas of higher pressure that could contain stronger magnetic field, and is believed to rotate effectively like a rigid body.

In searching for evidence for rotational modulation of the solar neutrino flux by examining radiochemical data, one is faced with the serious difficulty that the timing of the data acquisition is comparable with the period of oscillations one is looking for. These data have been acquired in runs, each lasting two to four weeks, the runs being spaced at intervals of two to four weeks. Aware of this difficulty, we nevertheless proceeded to search for an oscillation in the Homestake data with a frequency comparable with the synodic rotation frequency of the radiative zone ($`12.75\pm 0.25\mathrm{y}^1`$), using a maximum-likelihood procedure (Sturrock et al. 1997). We found a strong peak at $`12.85\mathrm{y}^1`$. We have also found some evidence that the solar neutrino flux, as measured by the Homestake experiment, exhibits modulation related to heliographic latitude (Sturrock et al. 1998).

The GALLEX (Anselmann et al. 1993, 1995; Hampel et al. 1996, 1997) and GNO (Altman et al. 2000) consortia, working with the same gallium experiment, have also acquired extensive radiochemical measurements of the solar neutrino flux. We have published a preliminary spectrum analysis of the GALLEX data (Sturrock et al. 1999), based on a least-squares procedure (Knight, Schatten, & Sturrock 1979), which shows some evidence of a periodicity that may be related to solar rotation.

As an independent investigation of the question of variability, we have recently studied the histogram of GALLEX-GNO data (Sturrock & Scargle 2001). This histogram certainly appears to be bimodal, but this claim needs further investigation. A bimodal histogram would be incompatible with a stationary time series but could be compatible with a neutrino flux with a large-amplitude oscillation with a period of order a few weeks.

The timing of the radiochemical experiments is (fortunately) not completely regular. Bretthorst (1988) has shown by Bayesian analysis that the Lomb-Scargle technique of spectrum analysis (Lomb 1976, Scargle 1982) is the optimum procedure to apply to irregularly spaced data. He has shown that irregular timing, far from being a drawback, is in fact a great asset, permitting finer frequency resolution and mitigating the adverse effect of aliasing. We present a Lomb-Scargle spectrum analysis of the GALLEX-GNO data in Section 2. We do not find a single dominant peak in the band of frequencies that may be associated with the radiative zone. However, we do find more than one peak in the frequency band associated with the convection zone.

In Section 3, we consider the solar interior on a point-by-point basis, introducing a statistic that measures the degree of resonance between the oscillation of the neutrino-flux measurements and the local rotation. If one were to assume that the oscillation is real and is due to modulation by a magnetic structure (or structures) in the solar interior, this map would indicate the probable location of the structure. We find, from examination of the map, that the modulation (if real) probably occurs in the low-latitude region of the lower half of the convection zone. This finding is compatible with our theoretical expectation that modulation should occur near the equator since, as we discuss in Section 4, neutrinos detected on Earth must have passed through the convection zone in a small band of latitudes.

In Section 4, we carry out a statistical evaluation of the significance of the above result. By integrating the point-by-point resonance statistic over the equatorial section of the convection zone, we form an “integral resonance statistic” that is a measure of the correlation between the structure of the power spectrum and the distribution of rotation rates in the entire convection zone. We compare the actual value of this statistic with the distribution of values found from simulated (“shuffled” data obtained by randomly reassigning the measurements among runs. Of 10,000 simulations, only 16 have values larger than the actual value, indicating that the correspondence between the power spectrum and rotation in the convection zone is significant at the 0.2% level.

For comparison with the above result, we present in Section 5 a similar comparative analysis of the GALLEX-GNO spectrum and the rotation profile of the radiative zone. The shuffle test shows no evidence that the solar neutrino flux is modulated by a structure or structures embedded in the radiative zone.

In Section 6, we comment upon the findings of this article and indicate some of the follow-up research that will be required.

## 2 Lomb-Scargle Analysis

We here present the results of a Lomb-Scargle spectrum analysis of the GALLEX-GNO data. This analysis will be discussed in more detail in a later article, where we will evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the procedure as applied to neutrino data, and compare of spectra obtained from GALLEX-GNO data and from Homestake data.

Most of the runs last about four weeks but, on the other hand, the half-life of the capture product $`{}_{}{}^{71}\mathrm{Ge}`$ is only 11.43 days (Bahcall 1989, p. 343). The survival probability of a germanium nucleus produced on the first day of a run is only 18%. Hence the measurement of each run is weighted towards captures late in the run. We shall show in our forthcoming article that, when we calculate the amplitude of the oscillation of the flux measurements caused by a sinusoidal modulation of the neutrino flux with periods of order four weeks, the measurement of each run is even more heavily weighted in favor of events late in the run. For this reason, we can obtain a satisfactory estimate of the spectrum of the neutrino flux by assigning the measurement made during each run to the end time of that run. This is not to minimize the challenge posed by the goal of extracting the power spectrum of the neutrino flux from measurements acquired from runs lasting three or four weeks. These difficulties will be discussed in our later article. As Bretthorst (1988) has shown, it is a distinct advantage that the timing of data we are analyzing has not been completely regular (although we could have wished the timing to have been more irregular than it actually is).

The result of our Lomb-Scargle analysis of the GALLEX-GNO data is shown in Figure 1, for frequencies in the range 10 to $`20\mathrm{y}^1`$. If modulation were occurring in the radiative zone, we might expect a fairly well defined peak, since that region is believed to be in rigid rotation. According to helioseismology data (Schou et al. 1998), the rotation rate of the radiative zone is in the range 12.5 to $`13.0\mathrm{y}^1`$, and probably in the range 12.6 to $`12.9\mathrm{y}^1`$. We see from Figure 1 that there is no significant peak in this range. There is an interesting peak with $`S=4.5`$ at $`\nu =13.04\mathrm{y}^1`$ which, if real, may be related to the tachocline.

The rotation rate of the equatorial section of the convection zone is in the range 14.3 to $`14.8\mathrm{y}^1`$ sidereal or 13.3 to $`13.8\mathrm{y}^1`$ synodic. This band represents a combination of uncertainty in the measurements and a real variation of the rotation rate with radius. We see, in Figure 1, that there is a prominent double peak in this band, each peak having power of about $`S=4.5`$. For a given frequency, the probability of finding a peak of power $`S`$ or more is $`e^S`$ (Scargle 1982). If there are indeed two independent peaks, the combined significance would be notable.

## 3 Map of Resonance Statistic

Our goal is to examine the relationship between the variability of the neutrino flux and internal rotation. It is convenient to begin by introducing a visual display of this relationship. Schou et al. (1998) have tabulated the rotation rate $`\nu _h(r,\lambda )`$ and the error estimate $`\sigma _h(r,\lambda )`$ for 101 values of the radius $`r`$ and 25 values of the latitude $`\lambda `$ These data determine a probability distribution function (PDF) of the rotation frequency for each pair of values $`r,\lambda `$:

$$P(\nu |r,\lambda )=(2\pi )^{1/2}\sigma _h^1\mathrm{exp}\left[\frac{(\nu \nu _h)^2}{2\sigma _h^2}\right].$$
(3.1)
Since we wish to compare the rotation frequencies with the neutrino-flux variability as measured on Earth, it is appropriate to inspect the synodic rotation rates rather than the sidereal rates.

We can define a measure of the degree of resonance of the neutrino flux with internal rotation by forming the following “resonance statistic,”

$$\mathrm{\Xi }(r,\lambda )=\underset{\nu _a}{\overset{\nu _b}{}}d\nu S(\nu )P(\nu |r,\lambda ),$$
(3.2)
where $`S`$ is the Lomb-Scargle spectrum computed in Section 2. In this integral, we need to select limits of integration that are sufficiently wide to cover all significant contributions from the PDF. We have adopted $`\nu _a=0`$ and $`\nu _b=20`$, but a much smaller range would have been satisfactory. A map of $`\mathrm{\Xi }`$ as a function of radius and latitude is presented in Figure 2.

This figure is essentially a mapping of the power spectrum of the solar-neutrino time series onto the solar interior. Where the map is colored yellow or red, $`\mathrm{\Xi }`$ is large compared with its average value of unity. This denotes a “resonance” between the neutrino flux and the local solar rotation in the sense that the two “oscillations” (flux variability and rotation) have the same frequency. When the color is blue, there is no such resonance. If two regions of the solar interior have the same rotation rate, they will tend to have the same value of the statistic $`\mathrm{\Xi }`$.

Another way of looking at this figure, which is perhaps physically more significant, is the following:- Let us assume that there is a well-defined oscillation in the neutrino flux, and let us assume that this oscillation is due to modulation of the flux by a structure (such as a magnetic structure) in the solar interior. Then we can attempt to locate that structure by finding the location (or locations) where the rotation rate has just the correct value to account for the dominant oscillation of the neutrino flux. The map shown in Figure 2 may now be viewed as a PDF for the location of the modulating structure.

We see from the map that, if the neutrino flux is variable, and if the variability is due to modulation by some internal solar structure, then that structure is probably in the lower part of the convection zone and (as we would expect) near the equator. The map offers no evidence that such modulation is occurring in the core or in the radiative zone.

## 4 Significance of the Apparent Convection-Zone Modulation

We now need a statistical evaluation of the significance of the modulation of the neutrino flux by a structure or structures within the convection zone that is suggested by Figure 2.

Most neutrinos detected by the GALLEX-GNO experiment are produced by pp (proton-proton) reactions, and 80% of the pp reactions occur within a radius of 0.15 of the center of the Sun (see, for instance, Bahcall 1989, p. 147). Near the surface of the Sun, this corresponds to a range $`\pm 8.5`$ degrees of heliographic latitude. We also note that the Sun’s axis is tilted at about 7.25 degrees with respect to the ecliptic. Hence most of the neutrinos detected by GALLEX-GNO have passed well within 16 degrees of the solar equator in penetrating the surface of the Sun. Over the maximum range of 16 degrees, the rotation rate varies by less than 1 percent within the convection zone. This variation is not insignificant, and we will examine this effect further in a later article, but we choose to ignore it in the present analysis. We therefore choose, for present purposes, to restrict our attention to the profile of the rotation rate in the equatorial section of the Sun.

It is now necessary to introduce a PDF characterizing the distribution of rotation rates over the entire equatorial section of the convection zone (CZ). This may be formed from the PDF of equation (3.1) as follows:

$$P(\nu |CZ)=\frac{1}{r_ur_l}\underset{r_l}{\overset{r_u}{}}drP(\nu |r,0).$$
(4.1)
We may verify that

$$\underset{\nu _a}{\overset{\nu _b}{}}d\nu P(\nu |CZ)=1.$$
(4.2)
We denote by $`r_l`$ and $`r_u`$ the lower and upper limits of the convection zone. The former is set by the upper limit of the tachocline, so $`r_l=0.74`$, and the latter by the photosphere, so $`r_u=1`$. Over this range the minimum sidereal frequency is $`14.27\mathrm{y}^1`$, and the maximum is $`14.83\mathrm{y}^1`$, a range of almost 4%. The resulting PDF is shown in Figure 3.

We now form the “integral resonance statistic”

$$\mathrm{\Gamma }=\underset{\nu _a}{\overset{\nu _b}{}}d\nu S(\nu )P(\nu |CZ),$$
(4.3)
where $`S(\nu )`$ is the power spectrum computed by the Lomb-Scargle process in Section 2. \[This procedure is known in Bayesian parlance (see, for instance, Bretthorst 1988) as an integration over a “nuisance parameter.”\] We denote by $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_d`$ the actual value of $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ derived from the data, and we find that $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_d=2.762`$. We now need to assess the significance of this value.

We adopt the method introduced by Bahcall and Press (1991) in their study of the apparent anticorrelation between Homestake measurements and the sunspot number. The procedure is to “shuffle” the data many times, reassigning the flux measurements among runs. We have carried out 10,000 shuffles of the data and the results are shown in Figure 4. We find that, of the 10,000 random simulations, only 16 have values $`\mathrm{\Gamma }>\mathrm{\Gamma }_d`$. From this analysis, we infer that there is a probability of less than 0.2% of obtaining the actual value of $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ by chance. We conclude that the modulation of the neutrino flux, as measured by the GALLEX-GNO experiment, in the frequency band corresponding to the solar convection zone, is significant at the 0.2% level.

## 5 Test of Possible Radiative-Zone Modulation

We have repeated the calculations made in Section 4, applying them to the radiative zone (RZ). We use equation (4.1) to calculate $`P(\nu |RZ)`$, except that we now adopt $`r_l=0.30`$ and $`r_u=0.66`$. The resulting PDF is shown in Figure 5.

When we calculate the resonance statistic $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$, using equation (4.3), we obtain the value $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_d=1.140`$. We have carried out 1,000 shuffles of the data, and the results are shown in Figure 6. We see that, of the 1,000 random simulations, almost 300 have values $`\mathrm{\Gamma }>\mathrm{\Gamma }_d`$. From this analysis, we infer that there is no significant resonance between oscillations of the solar neutrino flux and rotation of the radiative zone.

## 6 Discussion

We shall continue to examine the evidence for rotational or other modulation of the solar neutrino flux using independent tests and, as far as this is possible, independent data sets. We will certainly repeat the resonance-statistic analysis for the Homestake (Davis & Cox 1991; Lande et al. 1992; Cleveland et al. 1995, 1998) and SAGE (Abdurashitov et al. 1999) data, since these data sets are publicly available. We will also carry out a similar analysis of the SNO (Sudbury Neutrino Observatory) data when in due course those data become available, and of the Kamiokande and/or Super-Kamiokande data in the happy event that those data are one day released to the public. Since the GONG (Global Oscillations Network, National Solar Observatory) consortium has recently carried out a new analysis of solar internal rotation, we plan to repeat the previous calculation using the results of that analysis.

As we mentioned in the introduction, spectrum analysis of radiochemical data requires great care. We believe that the Lomb-Scargle analysis as used in this article is trustworthy, but this is not to say that other procedures may not yield superior information. To this end, we plan to develop a modification of the Lomb-Scargle procedure that takes account of the data acquisition process, including the exponential decay of capture products, inherent in radiochemical experiments. This will be similar to, but probably not identical to, the maximum-likelihood procedure that we used to analyze the Homestake data (Sturrock et al. 1997).

In view of the results of this article, it will be interesting to review the claimed correlations between neutrino measurements and familiar solar indices such as sunspot number, surface magnetic field strength, etc., which we discussed in Section 1. If the rotational modulation of the neutrino flux is real, as it now appears to be, this could provide an explanation of these correlations, since almost every solar index also displays such a modulation. If Homestake data were the basis of an earlier study , we will repeat the analysis using GALLEX-GNO data. If it is possible to use an alternative and independent source of data for a solar index, we shall do so. If a new study shows evidence of a significant correlation between the solar neutrino flux and another solar index, we will test to see if that correlation is due partly or completely to the fact that they are both influenced by rotational modulation.

If we accept the evidence that modulation of the solar neutrino flux, as measured by the GALLEX-GNO experiment, occurs in the low convection zone, and if we assume that the modulation is due to a known mechanism such as the VVO or RSFP process, we can begin to estimate the neutrino parameters and magnetic field strength required to explain this result. Once these parameters are estimated, we should be in a position to predict whether or not similar modulation should be detectable by high-energy experiments such as Kamiokande, Super-Kamiokande, and SNO.

## 7 Acknowledgments

This article is based on work supported in part by NAS grants NSS 8-37334 and NAG5-4038, and NSF grant ATM-9910215. It is a pleasure to acknowledge the interest of and helpful suggestions from Evgeni Akhmedov, Blas Cabrera, Sasha Kosovichev, John Leibacher, Joao Pulido, Jeff Scargle, Guenther Walther, and Mike Wheatland.


text:
# Properties of the circumnuclear medium in Active Galactic Nuclei

## 1. Introduction

The properties of the circumnuclear gas in Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs) have important consequences on their classification (Antonucci 1993). Usually AGNs are, optically–wise, divided into type 1 AGNs, showing broad permitted emission lines, and type 2 AGNs, which only show narrow emission lines. The Unified Model assumes that AGNs of both classes host the same kind of nuclear engine and ascribes their differences solely to orientation effects of a gaseous–dusty torus surrounding the nucleus. For those lines of sights intercepting the obscuring torus, both the Broad Line Region (BLR, $`<1`$ pc in size) and the nuclear engine are obscured and only the much more extended Narrow Line Region (NLR) can be observed. This model has gained success from a large number of observational tests (see Antonucci 1993 for a review). In particular, X–ray observations have supported the unified scenario by discovering large columns of absorbing gas in type 2 AGNs (e.g. Awaki et al. 1991; Risaliti et al. 1999). Also, spectroscopic observations in the infrared, where dust absorption is greatly reduced, detected broad permitted lines in several AGNs which are classified as type 2 in the optical.

However, the properties of the absorbing medium seem to be more complex, as suggested by the observed mismatch between the optical and the X–ray classification of some AGNs. Indeed, most of the blue QSOs showing Broad Absorption Lines (BALs) in their UV spectra are underluminous in the X–rays, and recently this feature has been ascribed to absorption in the X–rays (Brandt et al. 2000). Also, a significant fraction of hard X–ray selected AGNs with very hard X–ray spectra (i.e. probably absorbed) have been subsequently identified with type 1 AGNs (Fiore et al. 2000; Akiyama et al. 2000). Finally, a study of bright QSOs with the ASCA satellite has found evidence for X–ray absorption in several of them (Reeves & Turner 2000). These findings suggest a mismatch between optical dust absorption and X–ray gaseous absorption. In this work we will present evidence for a population of AGNs with low $`A_\mathrm{V}/N_\mathrm{H}`$ values. We will also point out that different regions of the $`A_\mathrm{V}N_\mathrm{H}`$ plane are populated by changing the selection criteria.

## 2. AGN classification in the $`A_\mathrm{V}N_\mathrm{H}`$ plane

In Fig. 1 $`(left)`$ we propose a simple classification scheme for AGNs based on the absorption effects produced by dust (measured in the optical as $`A_\mathrm{V}`$) and that produced by metals (both in gas and dust and measured in the X–ray band as $`N_\mathrm{H}`$). For a dust–to–gas ratio typical of the diffuse interstellar medium (ISM) of our Galaxy $`A_\mathrm{V}(mag)=5\times 10^{22}N_\mathrm{H}(\mathrm{cm}^2)`$; this relation is represented by the dashed line in Fig. 1. AGNs should be distributed along this line if their circumnuclear gas has the same properties of the Galactic ISM. The bottom region of the diagram is populated by objects selected by means of their blue colours (i.e. low $`A_\mathrm{V}`$) in optical surveys (QSOs and BALs). In this diagram BAL QSOs are differentiated by “normal” blue QSOs due to their large $`N_\mathrm{H}`$ inferred from the X rays. Selection in the soft X–rays with ROSAT has revealed a population of sources with optical colors sufficiently red to be missed by color based surveys (Kim & Elvis, 1998). These objects, showing an $`A_\mathrm{V}/N_\mathrm{H}`$ ratio in agreement with the Galactic one, are referred to in Fig. 1 $`(left)`$ as “ROSAT red QSOs”. In the next Sections we will present evidence for objects having an $`A_\mathrm{V}/N_\mathrm{H}`$ value significantly lower than Galactic and populating the regions labelled as “line selected red QSOs” and “intermediate AGNs” in Fig. 1 $`(left)`$.

## 3. Line selected red QSOs

We considered a sample of grism–selected AGNs and correlated it with X–ray observations. Selection on the basis of the optical emission lines should include also reddened objects which would have been missed in color based surveys. We therefore considered the Hamburg Quasars Sample (HS; Engels et al. 1998), whose selection criterion is based on the detection of optical/UV broad lines, though a loose color pre–selection is also used. The HS sample is composed of objects having absolute magnitude $`M_\mathrm{B}<23`$ and therefore any contribution from the host galaxies to the overall luminosity is negligible. The HS sample was correlated with the WGACAT X–ray source catalog derived from ROSAT PSPC pointings.111http://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/W3Browse/all/wgacat.html We found that 85 sources of the HS are in the WGACAT fields. Upper limits on the X–ray emission of undetected sources were calculated according to the exposure time and corrected for vignetting and PSF. To avoid the extrapolation to the UV for objects at different redshifts, we calculated an optical to X–ray index defined as follows, rather than using the standard $`\alpha _{ox}`$ index (Avni & Tananbaum 1986):

$$I_{\mathrm{OX}}=\mathrm{log}\frac{10^{(20m_B)/2.5}}{f_x(\mathrm{cts}/\mathrm{s})},$$

where $`m_B`$ is the B magnitude and $`f_x`$ is the 0.24–2 keV count rate. A detailed description of the sample selection and catalogue cross correlation is found in Risaliti et al. (2001). We compared the $`I_{\mathrm{OX}}`$ distribution of our sample with the same distribution calculated for the color selected blue QSOs in the Palomar Green sample (Schmidt & Green, 1983). We found that the $`I_{\mathrm{OX}}`$ distribution for the HS sample and the PG sample are significantly different, the HS distribution being shifted towards higher values of $`I_{\mathrm{OX}}`$ (i.e. lower X–ray emission relative to the optical luminosity; see Fig. 1 $`right`$). We investigated the relation of the O–E ($``$ B–R) optical color versus redshift for the AGNs in our sample, finding that about 25% of the HS QSOs have red O–E colors corresponding to $`A_\mathrm{V}1`$ (with a maximum $`A_\mathrm{V}`$ of about 2).

Therefore, they would have been missed in color based surveys such as the PG survey. When comparing the $`I_{\mathrm{OX}}`$ distribution for the HS QSOs with $`A_\mathrm{V}1`$ (hereafter “line selected red QSOs”) with that of PG QSOs it is found that they are completely different. Line selected red QSOs have high $`I_{\mathrm{OX}}`$ indices, suggesting that absorption is playing a major role in these objects. Furthermore, the high values of $`I_{\mathrm{OX}}`$ indicate that absorption is much more effective in the X–rays than in the optical, suggesting a low $`A_\mathrm{V}/N_\mathrm{H}`$ ratio. Therefore, these objects should be populating the region labelled as “line selected red QSOs” in Fig. 1 $`(left)`$.

## 4. Intermediate AGNs

We have defined a sample of AGNs whose X–ray spectrum shows evidence for cold absorption (hence a measure of the gaseous column density NH along the line of sight) and whose optical and/or IR spectrum show at least two broad lines that are not completely absorbed by the dust associated to the X–ray absorber. This sample includes intermediate type (1.8–1.9) Seyferts, type 2 Seyferts with broad lines in the near–IR, and a few type 1–1.5 Sy characterized by cold absorption in the X–rays. The gaseous NH along the line of sight is derived directly by the photoelectric cutoff in the X–ray spectrum. Ratios between broad components of the hydrogen lines compared to their intrinsic values give the amount of dust reddening affecting the BLR. However, radiative transport and collisional excitation effects in the extreme conditions of the BLR clouds ($`\mathrm{n}10^9\mathrm{cm}^3`$) can affect the standard hydrogen line ratios expected in case B recombination. For instance, BLR models expect the H$`\alpha `$/H$`\beta `$ Balmer decrement to range from the case B value of 3.1 up to a factor of 3 higher (e.g. Mushotzky & Ferland 1984). Nonetheless, the H$`\alpha `$/H$`\beta `$ ratio observed in Sy1s and QSOs is often consistent with the standard case B value. Should the intrinsic ratio be higher, the observed H$`\alpha `$/H$`\beta `$ compared to the case B value provides at least an upper limit to the reddening. To determine the reddening EB-V from the broad line ratios we assumed the “standard” Galactic extinction curve (Savage & Mathis 1979). As shown in Fig. 2 $`(left)`$, in “classical” AGNs with $`\mathrm{L}_\mathrm{X}>10^{42}\mathrm{erg}\mathrm{s}^1`$ the $`E_{\mathrm{B}\mathrm{V}}/N_\mathrm{H}`$ ratio is significantly lower than the Galactic standard value, by a factor ranging from a few to $``$100. The markedly different behavior of Low Luminosity AGNs ($`\mathrm{L}_\mathrm{X}<10^{42}\mathrm{erg}\mathrm{s}^1`$), having $`E_{\mathrm{B}\mathrm{V}}/N_\mathrm{H}`$ ratios higher than the Galactic value, might reflect intrinsically different physical processes in these objects with respect to “classical” AGNs (e.g. Ho 1999). If $`A_\mathrm{V}/E_{\mathrm{B}\mathrm{V}}=3.1`$ (larger grains have larger ratios, however) the observed $`E_{\mathrm{B}\mathrm{V}}`$ implies that AGNs with luminosities higher than $`10^{42}\mathrm{erg}\mathrm{s}^1`$ have $`A_\mathrm{V}=24`$ and therefore populate the “intermediate AGNs” region in Fig. 1 $`(left)`$.

The low $`A_\mathrm{V}/N_\mathrm{H}`$ values observed in many AGNs could suggest dust properties different from those observed in our Galaxy rather than a dust–free gas. The large densities of the gas in the vicinity of the nucleus could favor the formation of large grains (Maiolino et al. 2001a). This hypothesis can be tested by looking at spectral features produced by small dust grains such as the absorption dip at 2175Å observed in the diffuse interstellar medium and commonly ascribed to small graphite grains with radii $`100200`$Å. In Fig. 2 $`(right)`$ we show the UV spectra of five slightly reddened type 1 AGNs for which we could retrieve HST archival spectra. The thin dashed line shows the template of type 1 AGNs obtained by Francis et al. (1991) reddened by an $`E_{\mathrm{B}\mathrm{V}}`$ consistent with that measured from the broad line ratios assuming a standard Galactic extinction curve. The most important result is that the Galactic extinction curve sistematically predicts a deep feature around 2175Å which is undetected or much weaker in the observed spectra, suggesting that small grains are depleted (Maiolino et al. 2001b). A dust grain distribution biased in favor of large grains would make the extinction curve flatter and featureless (Laor & Draine 1993). If the bias for large grains is due to coagulation, this would also explain the observed low $`E_{\mathrm{B}\mathrm{V}}/N_\mathrm{H}`$ and $`A_\mathrm{V}/N_\mathrm{H}`$ ratios (Kim & Martin 1996).

## 5. A structure for absorbers in AGNs

We suggest that a layered structure of the absorbing medium in AGNs can account for the AGN classification in the $`A_\mathrm{V}N_\mathrm{H}`$ plane. This is illustrated in Fig. 3, which is the analogous of Fig. 2 $`(left)`$ with an additional dimension represented by the distance R from the nucleus. When R is a few kpc, the density of the absorbing medium is similar to that of the interstellar medium of the Galaxy, and accordingly the $`A_\mathrm{V}/N_\mathrm{H}`$ value should be similar to the Galactic one. As the density of the absorber increases moving towards the nucleus (i.e. moving from the outer to the inner torus), the formation of large grains is favored and the $`A_\mathrm{V}/N_\mathrm{H}`$ value departs from the Galactic value. A further departure could be produced within the Broad Line Region, where the equilibrium temperature is higher than the sublimation temperature of the dust and the absorption is therefore provided by dust–free gas. The relative importance of the different absorbing layers should then be responsible for the distribution of AGNs in the $`A_\mathrm{V}N_\mathrm{H}`$ plane.

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