text:
# A molecular-line study of clumps with embedded high-mass protostar candidates

## 1 Introduction

In spite of the importance of massive stars for the morphology and evolution of the Galaxy, and galaxies in general, the detailed study of the star formation process has mostly been concentrated on low-mass stars (M$`<`$1 M). The reasons for this are evident: they are more abundant than high-mass stars, and the clouds in which they form are closer by, allowing a more detailed investigation. The study of high-mass (M$`10`$ M) stars in their early evolutionary stages is furthermore complicated by the fact that they reach the ZAMS while still accreting material (and hence still suffering very high visual extinction), after which they rapidly destroy their natal environment.

In recent years however, ever growing efforts have been devoted to the study of the formation of high-mass stars, i.e. early type (O–B) stars with mass in excess of $``$ 10 M. In particular, attention has gradually shifted from the study of Hii regions to that of ultracompact (UC) Hii regions, to that of the molecular clumps in which UC Hii regions are embedded. Going from large, low-density structures to compact dense cores, corresponds to approaching the very earliest stages of the evolution of a massive star. Indeed, one of the goals of this type of research is to identify a massive stellar object in an evolutionary phase prior to the arrival on the main sequence, when most of its luminosity is derived from the release of gravitational energy. Such an object is defined a “protostar”, and would observationally be recognized as an object of Class 0 (see André et al. andre (1994)). These are most likely not to be found near UC Hii regions, because an Hii region rapidly alters (or even disrupts) the molecular cloud in which it forms. To find the initial conditions of star formation, one should therefore be looking for the precursors of UC Hii regions.

## 2 The search for massive protostars

The observational approach followed by our group has been illustrated in a series of papers (Palla et al. palla91 (1991), palla93 (1993); Molinari et al. molinari96 (1996), 1998a , molinari00 (2000)). A sample of 260 objects was selected from the IPSC, based on their FIR emission properties (for details see Palla et al. palla91 (1991)). In particular, the IRAS colour criteria by Richards et al. (richards (1987)) were applied, which identify compact molecular clouds. This sample was then split into two sub-samples, based on their colour indices. The 125 sources with \[25$``$12\] $``$ 0.57 and \[60$``$12\] $``$ 1.3 comply with the Wood & Churchwell (wood (1989)) criteria for identifying UC Hii regions, and are called “High”; the remaining 135 sources are called “Low”.

Based on their IR properties and the H2O maser occurrence frequency, we suggested that the Low sources are in an earlier evolutionary phase than the High sources (Palla et al. palla91 (1991)). We have then performed a series of observations with a twofold goal: to confirm that the High sources are indeed UC Hii regions, and – most importantly – to clarify the nature of the Low sources. This was accomplished by observations in many different tracers: H2O masers (Medicina telescope), NH3(1,1) and (2,2) lines (Effelsberg), continuum maps in the IR (ISO satellite), at centimeter (VLA), and (sub-) millimetre wavelengths (JCMT) (for a flowchart illustrating this process, see Molinari et al. molinari00 (2000), Fig. 1). The main results of these observations can be summarized as follows:

$``$ High and Low sources have luminosities typical of high-mass stars, with the latter being only slightly less luminous than the former;

$``$ H2O masers are much more common towards High than Low sources (detection rates 26% and 9%, respectively);

$``$ NH3 emission is detected towards both samples (with a detection rate of 45% for Low and 80% for High sources), although the temperatures derived from the ratio of the (1,1) and (2,2) lines indicate that Low sources are slightly colder than High;

$``$ Free-free emission is detected towards 43% of the High, but towards only 24% of the Low sources observed with high angular resolution with the VLA (at 2 and 6 cm);

$``$ For 17 out of 30 (57%) of the Low sources mapped with the JCMT, the (sub-) millimeter continuum emission arises from a compact ($``$30″) region around the IRAS source; total core masses are typically 10$``$200 M;

$``$ The continuum spectrum of the Low sources between 0.35 and 2 mm indicates temperatures of $``$30 K, significantly lower than those, measured towards “hot cores”: small ($`0.1`$ pc), dense ($`10^7`$ cm-3), hot ($``$100 K), and luminous (L$`10^4`$ L) molecular condensations, which very likely host high-mass objects that are already on the main sequence, but that are still too young to have developed an UC Hii region;

The main conclusions one can draw are that High sources are UC Hii regions, and that Low sources are associated with massive stars (as suggested by their luminosities), but do not show any of the tracers typical of the molecular cores hiding a main sequence early type star (such as compact free-free emission, high kinetic temperature).

With the aim of establishing an evolutionary sequence for our sources, we have started a mapping survey with the NRAO 12-m at Kitt Peak. Two phenomena often associated with protostars (of all masses) are H2O masers and molecular outflows. The association of CO outflows with UC Hii regions has been well established by Shepherd & Churchwell (shepherd (1996)). However, surveys show that H2O masers can appear slightly before the development of a detectable Hii region (Codella et al. codella96 (1996), codella97 (1997)), and that they are also closely associated with CO outflows (Felli et al. felli (1992); see also Wouterloot et al. jgaw (1995), for a statistical analysis of the correlations between FIR, H2O, and CO emission). From maps of the outflows, one can determine the dynamical timescale, which provides a lower limit to the protostellar age. Combining the presence or absence of H2O maser- and radio continuum emission should provide a rough measure of the age of the source.

Interferometric (mm-continuum, and -lines) are needed to study the envelopes and (possible) disks of the embedded objects. Single-dish observations are important to study the physical and kinematical properties of the molecular cores, in which the candidate protostellar objects are embedded. A study of the kinematic properties is especially important: protostars derive the major part of their luminosity from accretion, and one therefore expects to see signatures of infall towards these sources (see e.g. Myers et al. myers (2000), and references therein). Although high-resolution interferometric observations are needed for a complete investigation, as a first step the resolution provided by a telescope like the IRAM 30-m will suffice to study the physical state of the sources, and to derive a rough estimate for the size and mass of the associated molecular material. Such observations are reported in the present paper.

In Sect. 3 the observations are described; the data are presented in Sect. 4. Individual sources are commented on in Sect. 5, and the results are summarized and compared with those of High sources in Sect. 6.

## 3 Observations

### 3.1 IRAM

Observations were carried out between October 10 – 12, 1997, with the IRAM 30-m telescope at Pico Veleta (Granada, Spain). We used three SIS receivers simultaneously, in combination with the 100 kHz and 1 MHz resolution filterbanks, and the autocorrelator, split into as many as five parts. The observed molecules and frequencies are listed in Table 1, where we also indicate the molecules that were observed simultaneously with the same receiver; this was achieved by tuning the receiver to a frequency intermediate between those of the two transitions.

Focus, calibration, and receiver alignment were checked by observations of Venus; the alignment was within 2″. During the observations of the program sources, pointing and calibration were checked by observations of well-known UC Hii regions and continuum sources; the rms pointing accuracy was found to be 3″, while line intensities were reproducible within 10%–20%. All line intensities in this paper are on a main beam brightness temperature (Tmb) scale.

Our sample of sources is listed in Table 2. Column 1 gives the source number from the list of Molinari et al. (molinari96 (1996)); columns 2 and 3 give the equatorial (B1950) coordinates of the central position of the maps ($``$ the position of the sub-mm peak as found by Molinari et al. molinari00 (2000)); columns 4 and 5 give the galactic coordinates of the IRAS source, the name of which is in column 6 ; column 7 lists the radial velocity of the NH3(1,1) main line (from Molinari et al. molinari96 (1996)). In column 8 we give the kinematic distances (from Molinari et al. molinari00 (2000), molinari96 (1996)), while the luminosity, derived from the IRAS fluxes, and (when available) from (sub-)mm data, is given in column 9. In columns 10 to 12 we present information on the presence/absence of H2O maser emission (from Palla et al. palla91 (1991)), radio continuum (Molinari et al. molinari96 (1996)), and a mm-detected compact core (Molinari et al. molinari00 (2000)).

We started by making small maps around the sub-mm peak position in (simultaneously) HCO+, 13CO, and CS. The initial grid size was 24″, after which we zoomed in on the peak position on a 12″ grid size. The maps were repeated several times, at least in the inner parts, in order to get a good signal-to-noise ratio. Total map extent was always $`<`$100″ in either direction. After having identified the peak position in this way, C18O, C34S, CH3C2H, and CH3CN were observed on a 3$`\times `$3 grid, with step size 12″, around the peak. The peak position itself was observed for up to 60 minutes in CH3C2H and CH3CN. Observations were primarily done in total power mode, with an offset position 1800″ to the W; observations of CH3C2H and CH3CN were done in wobbler mode, where the secondary mirror was offset by 240″.

### 3.2 KOSMA

In April 1999, 6 sources from Table 2 were searched for HCO+(4$``$3) emission ($`\nu `$=356734.253 MHz) with the 3-m KOSMA telescope at Gornergrat. A liquid He-cooled SIS receiver was used, and the AOS backend provided a resolution of 0.14 kms-1. Single-pointing observations were made at the peak positions previously identified at IRAM. The KOSMA beam size was $``$70″$`\times `$78″; the beam efficiency was 0.75. Each position was observed for 15 to 30 minutes, resulting in an rms (Tmb) of 0.05$``$0.08 K. The spectra suffer from standing waves, and are therefore of rather poor quality.

## 4 Presentation of the data

In this section a general presentation of the available data is made, before discussing the individual sources in more detail in Sect. 5. Because of the large amount of data, a selection had to be made. In the following, we try to show a representative sample of the available observations; individual spectra and maps can be made available upon request111Contact J. Brand.

### 4.1 Spectra at the peak positions

The spectra of HCO+, CS, 13CO, C18O and C34S, taken at the peak position, are shown in Figs. 1a$``$k. The relevant parameters of these lines are collected in Table 3. In this table we give the following information: in column 1 the molecular transition; in column 2 the velocity resolution of the spectrum; the rms noise of the spectrum in column 3; in columns 4 and 5 the extreme velocities Vmin, Vmax where the line intensity drops below the 2$`\sigma `$ level; in columns 6, 7, and 8 the peak temperature, the velocity of the peak, and the FWHM line width, respectively. Because of the non-Gaussian nature of many of the line profiles, these values are read off from the spectra (as opposed to being determined from Gaussian fits); in columns 9 and 10 the values of the integral over the line, between Vmin and Vmax (column 9), and between the velocities where Tmb=0 K.

A comparison between the (IRAM) HCO+(1$``$0) and the (KOSMA) HCO+(4$``$3) emission is shown in Figs. 2a, b. The IRAM spectra were convolved to a 70″ beam.

The spectra of the CH3C2H(6$``$5) and CH3CN(8$``$7) detections are presented in Figs. 3a$``$d and Fig. 4, respectively. Gaussfit parameters of these lines can be found in Tables 4 and 5. When making the Gaussian fits, we fixed the velocity separation of the various K-components, and forced the widths of all K-components in a spectrum to have the same value. In none of the sources the other transitions of CH3CN were detected, nor the CH3OH(vt=1) lines, which happen to lie close to the C34S line.

Density-tracers, such as CS and the rare isotope C34S, have been detected in all sources of our sample, implying that dense cores are indeed present. The C34S lines vary in strength from a few tenths of a K, to more than 1 K; only in Mol 3 was it barely detected.

### 4.2 Distribution of the integrated emission

The distributions of the integrated intensities of the emission of HCO+(1$``$0), 13CO(2$``$1), CS(3$``$2), C18O(2$``$1), C34S(3$``$2) (where strong enough) and CH3C2H(6$``$5) (for Mol 98; the only source where it has been detected at more than one position) are shown in Figs. 5a$``$k. For easy reference we have shown in all maps the location of the IRAS source (not always coinciding with the map center), and the location of the peak position at which longer integrations were made. From these distributions we derived the (beam-corrected) source sizes, and a mass estimate of the molecular cores; the results are collected in Table 6. In this Table, column 1 gives the source name, column 2 the kinematic distance. In columns 3 to 6 we give the core size (in arcseconds and parsec), as determined from the transitions listed in the column headers. The sizes given here are those of the diameter of a circle with the same area as that enclosed by the FWHM contours in Figs. 5a$``$k. If the observed angular diameter is $`\theta _{\mathrm{obs}}`$, and the beam size at FWHP is $`\theta _{\mathrm{beam}}`$, then the beam-corrected size listed in the Table is $`\theta _{\mathrm{cor}}=\sqrt{\theta _{\mathrm{obs}}^2\theta _{\mathrm{beam}}^2}`$. Finally, in column 7 we give a mass estimate of the core, as determined from the 13CO observations. We note that this mass represents all emission above the FWHM contour in Figs. 5a$``$k, regardless of whether all this emission is associated with the embedded YSO. For this latter information, and for the assumptions made in the mass estimate, we refer to Sect. 5. The mass estimates are lower limits, because only emission above the 50% level was used, and the FWHM contour is usually not closed inside the mapped area. The mass range is an order of magnitude, from 130 M (Mol 118) to 2700 M (Mol 3).

The FWHM contour of the 13CO emission extends beyond the limits of the maps in all but two of the observed sources. For the HCO+ emission we find the same, for most sources. Only the CS emission is well within the map boundaries, except for Mol 155, but even there the FWHM contour is almost closed inside the mapped region (Fig. 5j). Unfortunately the maps in C18O and C34S are too small to allow a size determination.

Fig. 5 shows that the peak position of the higher-density tracers does not always coincide with that of the mm-continuum peak (= 0″,0″). However, for those sources for which new SCUBA observations (at 450 $`\mu `$m and/or 850 $`\mu `$m; Molinari et al., in preparation) are available, we find that the correspondence between molecular- and sub-mm-peak is good. The reason is that Molinari et al. (molinari00 (2000)) determined the location of the mm-peak from 5-point cross observations in most cases, rather than from mapping, which may have resulted in a not very accurate determination of the mm-peak in some cases. The IRAS source is usually within a few arcseconds from the mm-peak position, with the exception of Mols 3 (8.′′7), 98 (5.′′9), 155 (11.′′9), and 160 (8″). Considering the sizes of the IRAS point source error ellipses (see e.g. Molinari et al. molinari00 (2000)), these deviations are not significant.

### 4.3 Line shapes

At many positions in the maps, but certainly at the peak positions, the signal-to-noise of the spectra is high enough for a detailed look at the line shapes. The rare isotopomer C34S, with its low abundance and relatively high critical density, is a tracer of the denser regions of molecular clouds. Its line profiles can be fitted with a single Gaussian, with only a few exceptions: Mol 118 and Mol 160, where there are two components (see Sect. 5). In Mol 77 and 98, at low emission levels, there are deviations from a Gaussian on the blue side (perhaps due to outflowing gas). Because of this, the velocity of C34S can be assumed to represent the velocity of the high-density gas, and can be used to identify asymmetries in the line profiles of the other transitions observed here. For this purpose, in Figs. 6a-d we show the spectra of 13CO(2$``$1), HCO+(1$``$0), CS(3$``$2), and C18O(2$``$1) aligned with the C34S(3$``$2) velocity.

Fig. 6a shows that none of the 13CO profiles is a simple Gaussian, except perhaps for Mol 8, although broader emission is visible in the wings on both sides. Several of the profiles show dips, especially Mol 3, 59, and 77, while others (Mol 118, 155, 160) show shoulders. These deviations may be due to the superposition at that location of separate velocity components, or due to self-absorption. The latter can be produced either by an intervening colder cloud at the same velocity, or by a temperature gradient in the cloud itself. Profiles with stronger blue peaks can also be the signature of infalling gas (e.g. Myers et al. myers (2000)), although it is unlikely that such a phenomenon is visible in the present observations, considering the large distances of the sources in our sample, and the relatively large beam sizes involved.

The asymmetry of the profiles can be quantified by looking at the ratio of $`T𝑑v`$ on the blue- and red sides of the lines (where ‘blue’ and ‘red’ are relative to the C34S velocity). The distribution of this ratio for each transition is shown in Fig. 7. The average ratio (indicated in each panel), is $`>`$1 for all tracers, indicating a clear blue asymmetry in the sample. The largest deviations from a Gaussian shape are found for the HCO+ profiles (Fig. 6b). By contrast, the CS spectra are all more or less symmetric with respect to the C34S velocity: deviations from Gaussian profiles are seen in the CS spectra for Mol 3, 77, and 98, which are flat-topped, while there may be a dip in that for Mol 155. Mol 8, 59, 98, and 160 have ratios $``$1. The C18O profiles are also more Gaussian in shape than those of 13CO and HCO+, although less so than those of CS.

The interpretation of these numbers is not straightforward, because most spectra have multiple emission components (see sect. 5), some of which may not be associated with the embedded IRAS sources (about half of the objects under investigation are located in the inner Galaxy). Some general remarks can be made, however. The range in the ratios for the various tracers is an indication for their kinematical behaviour. For instance, the profiles of the tracers of the lower-density gas (like 13CO or C18O) show evidence of a kinematical behaviour different from that of the higher-density gas (as represented by the C34S lines). On the other hand, the higher-density tracers (CS) tend to have narrower profiles, which are more symmetric with respect to the velocity of the high-density gas. The profiles of transitions like 13CO, which sample the more diffuse gas in which the high-density clumps are embedded, are shaped by larger-scale turbulence and by the superposition of various velocity components, that are not directly related to the molecular core in which the YSO is embedded. The HCO+ emission shows the largest average $`T𝑑v`$ blue/red ratio, as well as the largest range; this may be related to the fact that HCO+ is also produced in shocks, causing its kinematics to differ considerably from that of the C34S gas.

The ratio of $`T𝑑v`$ CS/C34S ranges between 4.7 (Mol 98) and 21.6 (Mol 117); the peak temperature ratio varies from 2.2 (Mol 77) to 15.4 (Mol 3). The 32S/34S-value for the local ISM $``$22 (Wilson & Rood wirood (1994)). The difference is likely due to CS being optically thick.

Note that if the Low objects are really representatives of a very early evolutionary stage of high-mass stars, they are expected to be associated with molecular outflows. These will contribute to the broadening of the line profiles discussed above, even though the presence of multiple emission components tends to obscure the visibility of line wings in the spectra.

### 4.4 Boltzmann plots

Fig. 8 shows the Boltzmann plots constructed from the CH3C2H(6–5) observations. From weighted least-squares fits to the data points, temperature and column densities can be derived (see e.g. Kuiper et al. kuiper (1984); Bergin et al bergin (1994)). The resulting rotational temperature Trot, asumed to be equal to the gas kinetic temperature Tkin, and column densities, assuming optically thin emission, are collected in columns 4 and 6 of Table 7, respectively. The uncertainty in Tkin in column 5 is derived from that in the slope of the fit. An uncertainty for the column density N was obtained in two ways: by calculating an Nlow and Nhigh with the extremes in Tkin, and taking the average difference between these two values and the N derived for Tkin (given in column 6); and by calculating the average difference in N as a result of the uncertainty in the slope of the fit. The uncertainties in N derived in these two ways were added in quadrature, and the resulting value is listed in column 7.

We list the parameters obtained from both the high- and the low-resolution spectra, for comparison. Only for Mol 118 is there a significant difference between the two. The derived Tkin are between 20 and 45 K, in agreement with the dust temperatures (Molinari et al. molinari00 (2000)). The low temperatures for these Low sources are in marked contrast with those found for members of the High group such as IRAS20126+4104 (Mol 119), where T$`{}_{\mathrm{kin}}{}^{}200`$ K (Cesaroni et al cesa97 (1997); from CH3CN observations).

The CH3CN(8–7) data for Mol 98 at (24″,0″) yield T$`{}_{\mathrm{kin}}{}^{}`$666 K (425 K$``$1535 K) from the high-resolution spectrum, and 1073 K (577 K$``$7599 K) from the low-resolution spectrum. Though the uncertainties are very large, it does show that the temperature derived from CH3CN is much larger than that, derived from CH3C2H, indicating that the emission of the former originates from deeper in the cloud, i.e. from closer to the embedded heating source (i.e. the YSO).

## 5 Comments on individual sources

In the following subsections we shall discuss the observed sources in some detail. If it helps our understanding of the molecular line data, we shall make use of as yet unpublished observations of 12CO(2–1) and C18O(2–1) \[NRAO 12-m\], 3.6-cm radio continuum \[VLA D-array\], and 450 $`\mu `$m and/or 850 $`\mu `$m \[SCUBA\]. We try to identify the velocity components of the molecular emission which are associated with the Molinari sources, and estimate the masses of these components from the 13CO data. The first step is to derive the column densities of the observed molecule, using the familiar equations (see e.g. Brand & Wouterloot bws151 (1998); Rohlfs & Wilson tools (1996)) with the appropriate constants for the molecule under consideration put in, and assuming the emission is optically thin. The excitation temperature Tex is estimated from the NRAO CO spectra. To get the column density of H2 we have used the relative abundance \[H2\]/\[13CO\] = 5.0$`\times 10^5`$. Masses are estimated from the average H2 column density, using all emission above the FWHM level of the integrated 13CO emission, and correcting the enclosed area for the beam of the observations. A correction for He ($`\times 1.36`$) has been applied as well. Mass estimates are lower limits, because not all emission is used, and the FWHM contour is not always closed within the area mapped with the 30-m. The results are collected in Table 8.

### 5.1 Mol~3

An optical image of a 10′$`\times `$10′ region around this object is shown in Fig. 9 (taken from the Digital Sky Survey: DSS). Clearly visible are several nebulous patches, that have been identified by Neckel & Staude (neckel84 (1984)), and which are known as GN0042.0$``$1 and GN0042.0$``$2 (Neckel & Vehrenberg neckel85 (1985)). In Fig. 9 the easternmost cross marks the position of the sub-mm peak (Molinari et al. molinari00 (2000)); the IRAS position is slightly to the NW of this, and almost coincides with the star which is located at the vertex of one of the nebulous patches. Neckel & Staude derive a photometric distance to this star (and to the star in the nebulosity to the SW) of 1.7 kpc, based on a B5 spectral type for both stars, and an assumed luminosity class V. White & Gee (white (1986)) observed both objects with the VLA D-array. GN0042.0$``$1 was not detected (at $`>`$0.3 mJy/beam), while GN0042.0$``$2 was detected at 6 cm. The westernmost cross in Fig. 9 indicates this radio continuum peak. The source has a peak flux density of 0.9 mJy/beam ($`F𝑑\nu `$=3.5 mJy); the spectral type derived from the radio data is B1-2, which is a large discrepancy with the Neckel & Staude optical data (B5). Hence, their photometric distance is uncertain, and we will use the kinematic distance.

GN0042.0$``$1, the collection of nebulosities nearest to Mol 3, was recently observed by Molinari et al. (in preparation) with the VLA D-array at 3.6 cm. They detected 3 faint radio sources, one of which (peak flux density $``$0.19 mJy/beam) is very close to the IRAS source. A second 3.6 cm source, with similar peak flux, lies at the same position as the H2O maser and very close ($``$8″SE) to the 850 $`\mu `$m peak, both measured by Jenness et al. (jenness (1995)). This sub-mm peak lies $``$ $``$5″,$``$19″ from the sub-mm peak given in Molinari et al. (molinari00 (2000); taken as the 0,0 position of the present maps), who noted however that they missed the primary peak in their observations (a 5-point cross near the IRAS position only). Recent, unpublished SCUBA (850 $`\mu `$m) observations by Molinari et al. show that the true sub-mm peak coincides with the Jenness et al. 850 $`\mu `$m peak. In Fig. 5a it is seen that the CS peak is slightly offset to the SE with respect to the communal location of the other molecular peaks, the sub-mm peak, the H2O maser, and one of the radio continuum sources.

A look at Fig. 1a shows, that at the peak position in Mol 3 the 13CO, C18O, and HCO+ spectra are double-peaked, while the CS spectrum is flat-topped. The velocity of the (weak) C34S line falls more or less in between the dip in the line profiles and the peak of the red component. Inspection of all profiles in the map, and of position-velocity plots of the molecular emission shows, that two components can be clearly seen over the whole mapped region; also the CS profiles are double-peaked away from the central position. In Fig. 10 we show the integrated areas over the blue- (at $``$50.85 kms-1; left-hand panels) and the red side of the dip (right-hand panels). The sub-mm peak, the H2O maser, and one of the 3.6 cm sources lie towards the peaks of the gas distribution for both components, although the correspondence with the blue peaks is slightly better (while the red component is more compact). In 13CO, blue component, a separate clump is visible, which may also be present in the HCO+ and CS maps.

### 5.2 Mol~8

The finding chart (at 8000 Å) published by Campbell et al. (campbell (1989)) shows that some very faint diffuse emission is associated with the IRAS source, which coincides with a star-like object. This source has been included in various studies. Ishii et al. (ishii (1998)) measured its NIR ($`1.34.2\mu `$m) spectrum, and found the 3.1 $`\mu `$m absorption feature due to H2O ice. This feature is found in environments protected from UV radiation, i.e. high-density molecular clouds, and is indeed often detected in deeply embedded YSOs (Ishii et al. ishii (1998)). Slysh et al. (slysh (1997)) found a strongly circularly polarized 2.7 Jy OH maser at 1665 MHz. No 6.7 GHz methanol maser was detected by MacLeod et al. (macleod (1998)), nor was this object detected by Harju et al. (harju (1998)) in their search for SiO maser emission.

Although the spectra taken at the peak position (Fig. 1b) seem to show a single emission component, the channel maps in Fig. 11 clearly show the existence of two components, at $``$25.5 and $``$26.5 kms-1 respectively. Although the velocity difference is small, the two components have a different spatial distribution and are therefore easily separated by Gaussian fitting to the line profiles. As an illustration we show in Fig. 12 the distributions of the areas under the blue and red components for 13CO. The redder (northern) component is associated with the embedded object.

Mol 8 is WB89 621 in the catalogue of Wouterloot & Brand (wb89 (1989)), who detected (with the IRAM 30-m) a strong CO(1$``$0) line at the IRAS position, and found evidence for wings. Wings are also visible in the present (13CO, HCO+, CS) spectra. Position-velocity plots show that wing emission occurs primarily in an area within 12″ from map center. The blue and red lobes are centered on the IRAS/sub-mm peak position; the closeness of the peaks of the lobes suggests that the bipolar flow is seen nearly pole-on.

### 5.3 Mol~59

The distance (5.7 kpc) to this object was based on V$`{}_{\mathrm{lsr}}{}^{}[NH_3(1,1)]=93.7`$ kms-1. This line is however very weak (T$`{}_{\mathrm{mb}}{}^{}=0.34\pm 0.09`$ K), and the (2,2) line (0.23$`\pm 0.10`$ K) is found at Vlsr=97.7 kms-1 (Molinari et al. molinari96 (1996)), casting some doubt on the validity of this distance calculation. The lines measured with the 30-m are however detected with reasonable signal-to-noise, and the emission is moreover clearly associated with Mol 59, as can be seen from Fig. 5c. The average velocity of $``$114.5 kms-1, corresponds to dkin=6.6 kpc (using the Brand & Blitz (brand (1993)) rotation curve).

This object lies in the galactic plane, $``$20° from the Galactic Center, and there is emission at various velocities. In the 13CO spectra we also found emission at 67 kms-1 ($``$8 K) for instance. In the NRAO 12CO spectra, which have a larger velocity range, we find emission at practically all velocities between 0 and 170 kms-1. In those spectra, emission is also found at $``$117-128 kms-1; in the 13CO spectra (e.g. Fig. 1c) this is visible too, sometimes as a red shoulder to the line which has its peak at $``$115 kms-1.

The spectra in Fig. 1c show a depression at 114.3 kms-1, at least in HCO+, 13CO, and perhaps even in CS. The C34S line, although weak, peaks more or less at the velocity of this depression, as the CH3C2H and C18O lines seem to do. All HCO+ and most 13CO spectra in the mapped region (30 spectra, covering an area of 60″$`\times `$48″) show this dip (the 13CO spectra at the edge of the map show asymmetries or shoulders), whereas CS has been detected at only a few positions near the peak at (12″,0″). This large area, and the relatively large beams involved in the observations, make self-absorption due to infalling gas an unlikely interpretation, also because there is little consistency between the relative strengths of the blue and red peaks in the profiles of the different tracers. The dip could be due to only a temperature gradient (without infall) in the cloud, or to an intervening colder cloud at the same velocity, but we prefer to interpret the spectra as being due to the superposition of several components, although this does not exclude the presence of self-absorption at the peak position. We integrated the emission over 5 velocity intervals, distinguishing between 5 components: $`101105(comp\mathrm{.\; 1}),105111(comp\mathrm{.\; 2}),111114.3(comp\mathrm{.\; 3}),114.3117(comp\mathrm{.\; 4})`$, and $`117122(comp\mathrm{.\; 5})`$ kms-1. The first component is present mostly in the E part of the map, and appears to have its maximum outside the mapped region. The distribution of the integrated 13CO emission from components (2) to (5) is shown in Fig. 13, together with that of components $`(3)`$ and $`(4)`$ for HCO+ (where the other components are much fainter or absent). Components $`(3)`$ and $`(4)`$ are dominating the spectra, and are referred to as the ‘main line blue’ and ‘main line red’, respectively. Component $`(2)`$ may be outflow emission connected to component $`(3)`$, while $`(5)`$ is most likely not outflowing gas, but emission from (a) separate component(s) (based on inspection of the 12-m 12CO spectrum). From Fig. 1c it is not evident which of the two main lines is associated with the sub-mm peak, but Fig. 13 suggests that it is the red component, which is more compact than the distribution of the blue line, and which has a maximum at the sub-mm peak in both 13CO and HCO+.

### 5.4 Mol~75

Ishii et al. (ishii (1998)) measured the NIR ($`1.34.2\mu `$m) spectrum of this source, and found the 3.1 $`\mu `$m absorption feature due to H2O ice. As for Mol 3, this is an indication of the presence of high-density material associated with this object. No 6.7 GHz methanol maser was detected by MacLeod et al. (macleod (1998)).

Our observations show that the gas around the IRAS source is distributed over several clumps. This is particularly so in 13CO, where lines are found at V$`{}_{\mathrm{lsr}}{}^{}41,49,53,5658`$ and $`5860`$ kms-1. The latter two components are also found in HCO+ and CS, suggesting that one or both of these are the associated components. We note that the NH3(1,1) line is at 56.8 kms-1, and that at the map’s peak position all lines (including CH3C2H) detected with the 30-m, except HCO+, have V$`{}_{\mathrm{lsr}}{}^{}57`$ kms-1. The HCO+ line has a dominant component at $``$60 kms-1, and the dip seen in Fig. 1d is at or close to the velocity where the other lines have their peak (except for CS, which peaks at the velocity of the blue component of the HCO+ emission). Note also that the KOSMA HCO+(4–3) spectrum seems to peak at the dip in the (1–0) spectrum (Fig. 2a), but Fig. 14 suggests the presence of two components.

We separated the two main components by integrating over the appropriate velocity intervals ($`5558.661.5,5557.665`$, and $`5458.262`$ for 13CO, HCO+, and CS, respectively). The resulting distributions of the integrated emission are shown in Fig. 14. From this figure it is seen that the blue component peaks at or near the position of the IRAS source/850 $`\mu `$m peak, while the red component peaks south of that. Because the NH3 and CH3C2H lines have the same velocity as the blue component, we assume that this defines the clump in which the FIR source is embedded.

We note that the HCO+ spectra in the central region of the map show a very broad red wing, up to V$`{}_{\mathrm{lsr}}{}^{}80`$ kms-1 at (0″,0″) (i.e. more than 20 kms-1 from the center of the red component; Fig. 1d). This broad emission is found in all the individual observations (ranging in number from 2 to 8) contributing to the average spectrum, and is therefore unlikely to be an artifact. This is strengthened by the fact that the wing is also present in the HCO+(4–3) spectrum (see Fig. 2). Some extended emision on the red side of the 13CO spectra is also present, although with a much smaller extent in velocity (up to 6 kms-1 from the line center).

### 5.5 Mol~77

The 13CO spectrum at (0″,0″) is double-peaked (Fig. 1e). All spectra of this molecule show either two peaks, or a shoulder (blue or red). The dip (or the start of the shoulder) is at the velocity of the C34S line, which is also the velocity of the peak of the C18O and CH3C2H lines, and that of the NH3(1,1) and (2,2) lines (Molinari et al. molinari96 (1996)). At all observed positions, the HCO+ spectrum shows only very weak emission on the red side of this dip. In Fig. 15 we compare the spectra of 13CO and HCO+ with the 12CO spectra we obtained with the NRAO 12-m (beam FWHP $``$29″). From this comparison it seems likely that the 13CO line profiles are the result of the superposition of two components, rather than being due to self-absorption. In the HCO+ spectra, the bluer component clearly is the dominant one. The 12CO spectra show broad emission at velocities $`>`$80 kms-1, some of which is also seen in 13CO (see Fig. 16a), and is probably the result of additional emission components. On the blue side however (V$`{}_{\mathrm{lsr}}{}^{}74`$ kms-1), the 12CO spectra are much steeper. At these velocities some emission is also present in the spectra of the molecules observed at IRAM (see Fig. 1e, and Fig. 16), and may be outflow emission associated with the component on the blue side of the dip; an eventual red component of this outflow is obscured by the emission of the other components redward of the dip.

To isolate the various components, we have integrated the line profiles over appropriately chosen velocity intervals; the results are shown in Fig. 16. From the dominance of the 75 kms-1 component of HCO+, and the fact that it peaks at or very near the IRAS source and sub-mm peak, we conclude that the emission in the interval $`7476`$ kms-1 is likely to represent the associated component. However, also the emission between 76 and 80 kms-1 peaks at that location, most clearly seen in the distribution for the density tracers C18O and CS (Fig. 16c), as does the emission between 71 and 74 kms-1.

### 5.6 Mol~98

Towards this region we found an H2O maser (Palla et al. palla91 (1991)), while a 6.7 GHz methanol maser was detected by MacLeod et al. (macleod (1998)). As they mention, methanol masers are unique indicators of massive star-forming regions, because unlike water- and hydroxyl masers, methanol masers have not been found towards stars of spectral type later than B2. These latter authors also detected circularly polarized 1665 MHz OH maser emission. Molinari et al. (1998a ) found no 2 and 6-cm radio continuum emission associated with this IRAS source. However, in recent VLA-D observations at 3.6-cm (Molinari et al., in preparation) continuum emission with a peak flux density $``$1 mJy/beam was detected at $``$(+10″,+14″) from the present map center. Recent SCUBA observations (Molinari et al., in preparation) at 450 $`\mu `$m show a sub-mm peak at $``$(+30″,+3″) from the present map center. We note that this is quite different from the offset of the sub-mm peak as given in Molinari et al. (molinari00 (2000)) ($``$10″,$``$10″ from the IRAS position, i.e. $``$4″,$``$10″ from the map center), which was however only based on a 5-point cross observation, and hence less trustworthy.

The present molecular observations show a quite compact core, even in 13CO, with a peak $``$25″ E of the IRAS source (Fig. 5f). The sum of all 13CO spectra of this source shows two absorption dips, at V$`{}_{\mathrm{lsr}}{}^{}62`$ kms-1 and $`70`$ kms-1, indicating that here the offset position ($`\mathrm{\Delta }\alpha ,\mathrm{\Delta }\delta =1800`$″,0″ from the center of the map) was not far enough from the molecular cloud in which the object is embedded. We have tried to correct for this by summing all 13CO spectra with narrow (V$`{}_{\mathrm{lsr}}{}^{}60`$ kms-1) emission, fitting Gaussians to the dips (which have a strength of $`11.5`$ K), and adding those components to all 13CO spectra in the map. Unfortunately this does not correct for any absorption that might be present in the main line, but inspection of the spectra taken at positions without 13CO emission ($`\mathrm{\Delta }\alpha `$= 96″) indicates that any such absorption will be $``$2.4 K ($`2\sigma _{\mathrm{rms}}`$ in the individual spectra at those positions).

The channel maps for this source indicate that there is only one emission component associated with the object (the 12CO spectra in the NRAO 12-m map, that covers an area of about 300″$`\times `$300″, show many emission components, but near Mol 98 the dominating one is that between $`5060`$ kms-1); the non-Gaussian profiles seen in Fig. 1f (flat top or shoulder) may be caused by saturation or self-absorption.

The spectra in Fig. 1f show non-Gaussian wings to all profiles, even that of C34S. In Fig. 17 we show the distribution of the integrated emission over the line wings. Note that HCO+ has a relatively strong blue wing, which extends up to 15 kms-1 from the velocity of the bulk of the molecular material. The outflow is bipolar in all 3 lines shown, and has the center of the line connecting the lobes at offset $``$(30″,5″), which puts it at the location of the 450 $`\mu `$m peak.

### 5.7 Mol~117

On the DSS some faint diffuse emission is visible at the location of this object. Rather weak NH3(1,1) emission was detected (Molinari et al. molinari96 (1996)) at V$`{}_{\mathrm{lsr}}{}^{}36.4`$ kms-1, which is also the velocity at which HCO+(4–3) (see Fig. 2) is found. No 6.7 GHz methanol maser was detected by MacLeod et al. (macleod (1998)). The molecules observed at IRAM have their peak emission at V$`{}_{\mathrm{lsr}}{}^{}35.7`$ kms-1 (Fig. 1g and Table 3). Our C18O(2–1) NRAO 12-m data show (at position 0″,0″, and with a 29″ beam) a double-peaked profile, with components at $``$37.9 and $``$35.9 kms-1, and a dip at V$`{}_{\mathrm{lsr}}{}^{}37`$ kms-1; the redder component therefore coincides with the velocities of the peak emission found at IRAM, while the NH3 velocity lies closer to the dip in the NRAO C18O(2–1) spectrum. However, also the IRAM spectra show double-peaked profiles, as illustrated by the 13CO line at ($``$12″,0″) in Fig. 1g. In fact, at most positions we find that the line profiles have shoulders or double peaks, with the dip always at the same velocity. We therefore analyze the data in terms of the superposition of two emission components. The components are separated by integrating between $``$40 and $``$36.9 kms-1 (blue) and $``$36.9 and $``$33 kms-1 (red) for 13CO and HCO+, and $``$39.5 and $``$36.3 kms-1 (blue) and $``$36.3 and $``$33 kms-1 (red) for CS. The distributions of the integrated emission are shown in Fig. 18. Because the red peak seems to be the dominant one, we assume this is the associated component.

### 5.8 Mol~118

This is the object with the smallest kinematical distance (1.6 kpc) in the sample. The (0,0) position of the maps, and the IRAS source (at offset $``$3.′′7,0″) are located in a dark cloud, which is surrounded by diffuse emission. No 6.7 GHz methanol maser was detected by MacLeod et al. (macleod (1998)).

The spectra shown in Fig. 1h are non-Gaussian, and as evidenced by the C34S spectrum, and the superimposed 13CO and C18O spectra at offset (12″, 12″), this is due to the presence of two velocity components. In addition, emission in the wings of the profiles is visible, which may be due to outflow, or to additional components. These wings are also visible in the NRAO CO(2–1) spectra. We separate the two main (‘blue’ and ‘red’) components by integrating over the following velocity intervals: 6.5–8.5–9.4 kms-1 (13CO); 6.5–8.4–9.4 kms-1 (HCO+); 6.8–8.2–9.2 kms-1 (CS). These integration limits omit the wing emission. The distribution of the emission in each component is shown in Fig. 19. The NH3 velocity is 7.8 kms-1, that of CH3C2H is 7.9, and thus coinciding with the (more intense) blue component, which we will take as the associated one.

### 5.9 Mol~136

Inspection of the data reveal that there is only one emission component detected towards this source. The line profiles are non-Gaussian, being skewed towards the blue (see Fig. 1i). This is also seen in the 12CO(1–0) line profile (Wouterloot & Brand wb89 (1989); source WB89 93). Low-level emission is also seen extending over a few kms-1 from the central line velocity; the distribution of the integrated emission in these wings is shown in Fig. 20. The blue emission peaks near the IRAS source position (which is also the peak of the sub-mm emission), while the red component has its maximum more to the West.

Although Molinari et al. (1998a ) did not detect associated radio continuum emission (VLA, 2 and 6-cm), deeper observations at 3.6-cm with the VLA D-array by Molinari et al. (in preparation), reveal diffuse emission (peak flux density $``$6.2 mJy/beam) just NE of the IRAS source.

### 5.10 Mol~155

The emission of especially 13CO and HCO+ is quite extended in this source (see Fig. 5j). The line profiles are similar to those in Mol 77 (cf. Figs. 1e and j): The profiles of 13CO and HCO+ show a dip or a shoulder everywhere, while for the latter molecule the blue component is much stronger than the red one at every observed position. The dip or shoulder is at V$`{}_{\mathrm{lsr}}{}^{}51.1,50.7`$ and $`51.0`$ kms-1 for 13CO, HCO+,and CS, respectively. The velocity of the NH3(1,1) line is at $``$51.5 kms-1, thus in the velocity range of the blue component. We separate the two emission components by integrating blue- and redwards of the dip. The resulting distributions of the integrated emission are shown in Fig. 21. The dominance of the HCO+ blue component is clearly visible there. We note that towards this source observations of SiO(2–1) (Harju et al. harju (1998)) have yielded no detections.

### 5.11 Mol~160

This source has been observed and discussed extensively by Molinari et al. (1998b ), who concluded that this is a very good candidate massive Class 0 object. Inspection of the line profiles at the peak position (Fig. 1k; especially C18O) strongly suggests the presence of two velocity components. Individual 13CO spectra indicate that there might be more than two components; we also note that the dip, or shoulder, in these spectra is not always at the same velocity. This may be an indication of the presence of a velocity gradient in the 13CO emission, and separating the contribution of the various components by integrating over fixed velocity intervals is hazardous. We have therefore performed Gaussian fits to the profiles of 13CO, HCO+, and CS (even though for the latter two we do not see a shift in the position of the dip (if at all) with position). Based on the Vlsr of the NH3(1,1) and CH3C2H(6–5) lines ($`50.0`$ and $`50.45`$ kms-1 respectively), we identify the main emission component. After subtraction of the other Gaussian components, we integrated the spectra; the resulting distributions of the emission are shown in Fig. 22. The emission peaks lie close to the 3.4-mm continuum peak found with OVRO by Molinari et al. (1998b ).

Fig. 23 shows a series of Right Ascension versus Vlsr plots for the 13CO line, at the Declination offsets labeled in each panel. Especially at positive Declination offsets the distribution of the emission is suggestive of a velocity gradient, with velocity increasing (becoming redder) from E to W. The gradient is of the order of 1.4 kms-1pc-1. The HCO+ data for the main component indicate a gradient of $``$0.8 kms-1pc-1; no clear velocity gradient is present in the CS data.

The line profiles in Fig. 1k show some low-level emission in the wings. For HCO+ and CS we show the integrated wing emission in Fig. 24. As was found on a much smaller scale in our OVRO observations of HCO+ and SiO (Molinari et al. 1998b ), the blue and red lobes almost overlap, and we are seeing the outflow nearly pole-on.

Finally we note that, although Molinari et al. (1998a ) found no radio continuum emission (at 2 and 6-cm) towards this object, there is an 11-cm radio continuum source (F3R 3484; integrated flux density 0.16 Jy, peak flux density 130 mJy) at this location (Fürst et al. fuerst (1990)). Deep VLA-D array observations at 3.6-cm (Molinari et al., in preparation) reveal a double-lobed emission structure. The extent of the lobes (at a level of $``$5% of the peak value) is $``$93″$`\times `$127″ for the W lobe ($`F𝑑\nu `$60 mJy), and $``$50″ for the E lobe $`F𝑑\nu `$17 mJy). The 3.4-mm continuum source (Molinari et al. 1998b ) lies at the sharp E edge of the larger, westernmost radio lobe, at $`21`$″ to the NE from its peak. The general location of the radio lobes coincides with the diffuse emission seen in the 15$`\mu `$m ISOCAM map (see Molinari et al. 1998b ), although the extent of the radio continuum emission is larger. It is unclear whether this radio emission is associated with the embedded object.

## 6 Discussion and conclusions

The most direct result of this work is that all of the observed sources are clearly associated with well-defined molecular clumps. It must be stressed that such clumps are seen in various molecular tracers and are hence real physical entities. The main goal of our observations was to obtain a picture of the molecular environment associated with Low sources and look for any evidence supporting the hypothesis that Low sources are the precursors of High sources. In this scenario, the former correspond to YSOs still accreting mass from the surrounding environment, whereas the latter are ZAMS early type stars still deeply embedded in their natal cores. The most direct way to verify this is to make high-angular resolution observations of the Low objects to study their structure and physical parameters, and indeed we are already performing this type of investigation on a limited number of objects selected on the basis of the present study. However, it is also possible to draw some tentative conclusions by comparing our sample with a sample of High sources studied by Cesaroni et al. (cesa99 (1999)) with the same telescope and in the same lines. For this purpose, we have collected in Table 9 all the parameters derived from both studies: for each quantity we give the minimum, maximum, and mean values. We note that sources Sh-2 233 and NGC 2024 from the Cesaroni et al. (cesa99 (1999)) sample have not been considered here, as they satisfy neither the requirements of the High-, nor of the Low sources.

In Table 9, $`\mathrm{\Theta }`$ is the angular diameter of the clumps after deconvolution of the beam, $`D`$ is the corresponding linear diameter, Tmb(K) and Tb(K) are the main beam and intrinsic (after correcting for the beam filling factor) brightness temperatures, FWZI the line full width at zero intensity, FWHM the line full width at half maximum, Mvir the virial mass, and MCD the mass obtained by integrating the line emission over the line profile and over the whole emitting region. For the latter estimate we have assumed LTE at 30 K and abundances of $`1.1\times 10^6`$, $`10^9`$, $`10^8`$, $`4.5\times 10^{10}`$ respectively for 13CO, HCO+, CS, and C34S (Irvine et al. irvine (1987)). Note that the 13CO abundance is what was used by Cesaroni et al. (cesa99 (1999)), and is slightly smaller (by a factor of 1.8) than what we used in Sect. 5. In only four Low sources (Mol 8, 77, 98, and 160) the C34S(3–2) emission was strong enough to be mapped; sizes, masses, and intrinsic brightness temperature derived from this molecule, reported in Table 9 are derived from these four objects only, and may not be representative.

Inspection of Table 9 reveals a few interesting differences between the two samples in spite of the similar bolometric luminosities. Relative to the clumps associated with High sources, those around the Low sources are more massive (2–4 times; except for C34S), larger ($``$3 times), less bright (1–3 times), have smaller line widths ($``$1.5 times). The Low sources also appear to be less dynamically stable than the High sources since they typically have a smaller ratio $`\mathrm{M}_{\mathrm{vir}}/\mathrm{M}_{\mathrm{CD}}`$, which is a measure of the balance between gravitation and turbulence: the smaller it is, the weaker is the support against collapse. The results are therefore consistent with Low sources representing an evolutionary phase prior to that of High sources. In fact, the larger diameters of the Low clumps suggest that they should still undergo substantial contraction, as indicated by the lower densities. Moreover, the lower brightness temperatures may be considered an indication of lower temperatures and/or optical depths, both expected in an early phase of the evolution. Finally, the broader lines in the High sample might be related to the existence of a larger number of molecular outflows and hence of YSOs already formed: such outflows could support the surrounding clump from collapse by injecting high velocity gas, thus accounting for the higher ratio $`\mathrm{M}_{\mathrm{vir}}/\mathrm{M}_{\mathrm{CD}}`$.

We note that the clump mass as reported in Table 8 increases with the Lfir of the IRAS source (see Fig. 25a; a least-squares fit to mass versus luminosity gives a slope of $`1.17\pm 0.22`$ and a corr. coeff. of $``$0.57). Then, assuming that each clump contains a single protostellar object, we can obtain an estimate of the mass of the central object from the known value of Lfir. Using the models of Palla & Stahler (palsta (1992)) for an accretion rate of $`10^4`$ M /year, we compute the mass of a protostar that produces a luminosity, Lproto, equal to the observed Lfir. Note that Lproto includes a component from accretion and one due to gravitational contraction. For the range of luminosities considered here, the latter term dominates. The resulting protostellar masses are plotted against clump masses in Fig. 25b. The highest mass that the models of Palla & Stahler (palsta (1992)) can give is $``$17 M, hence the two lower limits for two of the objects (Mol 3 and 8). The lowest protostellar mass is for Mol 118 and amounts to 7.4 M. From Fig. 25b we see that there is a weak dependence on clump mass. A fit to the data points shows that $`\mathrm{M}_{\mathrm{proto}}\mathrm{M}_{\mathrm{clump}}^{0.30\pm 0.07}`$. Note that the slope of this relation is similar to that found by Larson (larson (1982)) in his study of young stars and molecular clouds, who found that the maximum mass of stars is related to the mass of the cloud as $`\mathrm{M}_{\mathrm{star}}\mathrm{M}_{\mathrm{cloud}}^{0.43}`$.

In conclusion, we believe that our results lend support to the evolutionary scenario previously proposed by us (Palla et al. palla91 (1991); Molinari et al. molinari96 (1996); Molinari et al. 1998a ), according to which the majority of Low sources will eventually evolve into High sources.

###### Acknowledgements.

We thank Jan Wouterloot for the KOSMA observations. The KOSMA radio telescope at Gornergrat-Süd Observatory is operated by the University of Köln, and supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft through grant SFB-301, as well as by special funding from the Land Nordrhein-Westfalen. The Observatory is administered by the Internationale Stiftung Hochalpine Forschungsstationen Jungfraujoch und Gornergrat, Bern, Switzerland.


format: text

text:
# The “square kagome” quantum antiferromagnet and the eight vertex model

\[

## Abstract

We introduce a two dimensional network of corner-sharing triangles with square lattice symmetry. Properties of magnetic systems here should be similar to those on the kagome lattice. Focusing on the spin half Heisenberg quantum antiferromagnet, we generalise the spin symmetry group from SU(2) to SU($`N`$). In the large $`N`$ limit, we map the model exactly to the eight vertex model, solved by Baxter. We predict an exponential number of low-lying singlet states, a triplet gap, and a two-peak specific heat. In addition, the large $`N`$ limit suggests a finite temperature phase transition into a phase with ordered “resonance loops” and broken translational symmetry.

\]

Frustrated magnetic systems have been attracting a lot of attention in recent years. One of the more interesting examples is the spin half Heisenberg quantum antiferromagnet (QAF) on the kagome lattice, a two dimensional network of corner-sharing triangles with hexagonal voids. From numerical studies  it is known that this model has a gap to magnetic excitations, but this gap is filled with a continuum of singlet excitations. The number of these excitations is estimated to scale exponentially in the number of lattice sites $`N_s`$, as $`1.15^{N_s}`$, and therefore there is a significant low temperature entropy in the thermodynamic limit. It is believed that the low-temperature physics would be well described by a resonating valence bond (RVB) picture.

Some insight into this has been gained by generalising the symmetry group to SU($`N`$) and going to the large $`N`$ limit with a particle-hole symmetric fermion representation of the spins. It was proved by Rokhsar  that for most common lattices, any “fully dimerised” state (in which every site is part of a dimer pair with another site) is a ground-state of the $`N=\mathrm{}`$ model. The ground-state is thus macroscopically degenerate in this limit . Marston and Zeng  applied this picture to the kagome lattice. For the physical SU(2) system, superpositions of all such states, with dimers being interpreted as singlet pairings between the respective spins, would be good candidates for the low-lying singlet states. However, it is clear that a further selection of states occurs when going from $`N=\mathrm{}`$ to $`N=2`$ since the number of dimer coverings rises with system size as $`1.26^{N_s}`$  rather than the observed $`1.15^{N_s}`$.

In this paper we introduce a lattice  (figure 1) with square lattice symmetry, on which, we believe, magnetic properties should be similar to those of the kagome lattice. This, too, is a two dimensional network of corner sharing triangles, but the voids in between are alternately squares and octagons, rather than hexagons. We therefore name it the “square kagome” (or “squagome”) lattice. Using the large-$`N`$ limit as a guidance, we are able to make precise statements on the Heisenberg QAF on this lattice. At $`N=\mathrm{}`$, the ground-state is again exponentially degenerate, corresponding to dimer coverings. We demonstrate that, to next order in the $`1/N`$ expansion, an exact mapping can be made to the classical eight-vertex model on the square lattice, with an additional two-fold degeneracy per vertex. As a result, a finite-temperature phase transition is found corresponding to the breaking of a discrete symmetry and to the dominance of specific dimer patterns in the low-temperature phase. The ground-state degeneracy is partially lifted to this order, leading to exponentially many excited singlet states below the triplet gap. Further lifting of the ground-state degeneracy is expected to occur at higher orders in the $`1/N`$ expansion. We fully expect that at least some of these features will persist in the SU($`2`$) model, which will thus have an exponential number of low-lying singlet excitations, a triplet gap, and RVB-like low temperature states, just as in the kagome lattice. Whether a finite-temperature phase transition also applies to the SU($`2`$) case is an intriguing possibility which deserves further investigations.

As in  we use a particle-hole symmetric fermionic representation of SU($`N`$) spins, corresponding to the local constraint $`_\alpha f_{i\alpha }^{}f_{i\alpha }=N/2`$ at each lattice site. The Hamiltonian reads:

$$H=\frac{J}{N}\underset{ij}{}f_{i\alpha }^{}f_{i\alpha ^{}}f_{j\alpha ^{}}^{}f_{j\alpha }$$
(1)
where $`\alpha `$, $`\alpha ^{}`$ range from 1 to $`N`$, and summations over repeated indices are implied. Introducing a Hubbard-Stratonovich field $`Q_{ij}(\tau )`$ on each bond, conjugate to $`_\alpha f_{i\alpha }^{}f_{j\alpha }`$, and implementing the constraint using a Lagrange multiplier $`\lambda _i(\tau )`$ on each site leads to the following imaginary-time effective action, after integrating out the fermions :

$`S_{\mathrm{eff}}/N`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle _0^\beta }d\tau [{\displaystyle \frac{1}{J}}{\displaystyle \underset{ij}{}}|Q_{ij}|^2{\displaystyle \underset{i}{}}\lambda _i`$ (3)
$`\text{Tr}\mathrm{ln}(_\tau \delta _{ij}+\lambda _i\delta _{ij}+Q_{ij})]`$
At $`N=\mathrm{}`$, one has to search for saddle-points of this effective action. There are exponentially many saddle points with the lowest energy (as in ), given by all “dimer coverings” in which every site is paired uniquely with one of its nearest-neighbour and $`Q_{ij}`$ $`=`$ $`Q`$ ($`=J/2`$ at $`T=0`$) on dimer bonds and zero otherwise. The $`\lambda _i`$’s are zero at the saddle point. The physical interpretation of a dimer is the formation of a singlet bond between the two sites.

When studying dimer coverings on the squagome lattice, it is useful to look at individual plaquettes of four triangles enclosing a square. The entire lattice can be viewed as a network of such plaquettes joined at corners. One can convince oneself that if each corner of the internal square is to be part of a dimer, then the number of external corners which are parts of dimers in this plaquette will always be even. Moreover, in two such plaquettes joined at a corner, that corner must be part of a dimer in one plaquette and not another plaquette. A consistent scheme for representing this is to draw an arrow pointing out of the plaquette when that corner is part of a dimer, and into the plaquette when the corner is not part of a dimer. It turns out that there are exactly sixteen allowed configurations per plaquette, as illustrated in figure 2.

The remarkable fact is that when we picture the system thus in terms of arrows, what we have is precisely the eight vertex model on the square lattice which was solved exactly by Baxter in the 1970s, and discussed in detail in his book . There are, however, two possible dimer configurations per vertex, which introduces an extra twofold degeneracy for the original model. In the infinite $`N`$ limit (zeroth order in the large $`N`$ expansion), all vertices have equal weight; the energy is of order $`NJ`$ and so is the “triplet gap”. We now consider the first order corrections to this infinite $`N`$ picture, which we expect to lift the degeneracy between different vertices. Read and Sachdev  showed that the first correction beyond $`N=\mathrm{}`$ lowers the energy of configurations in which two dimers sit on the same square plaquette. This leads for example to a columnar dimer order on the square lattice. In the squagome lattice, we find that the same reasoning leads to a lowering of the energy of vertex 8 compared to the others (fig. 2). To reach this conclusion, we follow  and expand around a dimerised saddle-point: $`Q_{ij}=QD_{ij}+\delta Q_{ij}`$. $`D_{ij}`$ specifies the dimer pattern ($`=1`$ if bond $`(ij)`$ has a dimer, $`=0`$ otherwise) and $`\delta Q_{ij}(\tau )`$ is a fluctuation. Expanding the effective action to quadratic order in the fluctuations, one finds two types of terms: bond-diagonal terms involving $`Q^2D_{ij}^2\delta Q_{ij}^2`$ and off-diagonal terms of the form: $`Q^2\delta Q_{ij}D_{jk}\delta Q_{kl}D_{li}`$. The latter can be non-zero only on a square-plaquette configuration where a pair of opposite sides has dimer bonds and the other two bonds have fluctuations. This first order correction is of order $`1`$ in energy, and can be thought of as a ‘resonance’ of the two possible dimer configurations on a square. Only the off-diagonal contributions change the relative energies in our vertex model, hence the lowering of vertex 8 associated with square patterns.

To second and higher order, too, the only off-diagonal contributions come from loops. Thus, the hexagonal dimer configurations in vertices 1–6 will also have a lowering of energy, of order $`J/N`$, as pointed out by Marston and Zeng  for the kagome lattice. The resonance of an octagonal loop in vertex 7 is at still higher order. So both these can be ignored in the first order approximation. In addition, second order corrections will lift the degeneracy between the two dimer configurations on a square plaquette, favouring a resonating combination. The comparison to the SU(2) case is instructive: for a loop with an even number of sites, the two possible dimerised states are not eigenstates, but superpositions of such states have lower energy expectation values than the pure dimerised states; the energy gain decreases exponentially with increasing loop length. This is the idea behind the “quantum dimer” approach . The $`1/N`$ expansion is another approach to an expansion in the size of increasingly long resonance loops.

So we have an 8 vertex model with vertex 8 having an energy, of say $`2ϵ`$, and all other vertices having zero energy. But with periodic boundary conditions, vertices 7 and 8 must occur in equal numbers (because they are respectively “sources” and “sinks”); so it causes no error to assign them equal energies of $`ϵ`$ each. In this way we have mapped our system to an eight vertex model, with weights of unity for all vertices satisfying the “ice rule” and higher weights for the remaining two vertices, and with an additional “internal” degeneracy of 2 per vertex. Since vertices 7 and 8 occur in pairs and together contain two defective triangles in eight, and all other vertices contain exactly one defective triangle in four, the total number of defective triangles is always $`1/4`$ the total number of triangles—just as in the kagome case .

We now draw some conclusions on the physics of the squagome QAF, using the mapping on the eight vertex model. Three properties of the vertex model play an important role in the following. First, its ground state is two-fold degenerate, with the configuration consisting of an alternation of vertices 7 and 8. Second, there are no gapless excitations, but there is a minimum gap of order $`ϵ`$ between any two levels. Excited levels are, in general, degenerate. Third, the vertex model undergoes a phase transition from an ordered state to a disordered, “paramagnetic” state. One should bear in mind, however, that the underlying dimer model has an additional 2-fold degeneracy per plaquette (figure 2). So the ground state has, to this order, a degeneracy of order $`2^{N_p}`$ with $`N_p`$ the number of plaquettes, and each excited level has at least this degeneracy too. The spacing between levels is of order $`ϵJ`$, which is much smaller than the triplet gap which is of order $`NJ`$. So already we have a picture of an exponential number of singlet states below the triplet gap. We expect that the degeneracy $`2^{N_p}`$ of each excited level will be lifted with further $`1/N`$ corrections. For finite $`N`$, each level could then broaden into a band. The exponential ground-state degeneracy (associated with the local twofold degeneracy present at first order) will also be lifted at higher order. So in the SU(2) case, our picture based on this simple mapping is that of a system with a triplet gap and an exponential number of singlet excitations of order $`2^{N_p}`$ $``$ $`1.12^{N_s}`$ since $`N_p=N_s/6`$. This compares well with the commonly accepted picture of the Heisenberg antiferromagnet on the kagome lattice, where the number of singlet states is of the order of $`1.15^{N_s}`$.

A somewhat different physical picture for this number was recently proposed by Mambrini and Mila , who take as a starting point a lattice of decoupled up-pointing triangles (with internal coupling $`J_1`$), and show that the degenerate ground state broadens into a band as the inter-triangle coupling $`J_2`$ is turned on. However, in any dimer covering of the kagome lattice, exactly $`1/4`$ of the triangles are left without any dimerised side, and it is not clear that when $`J_2`$ equals $`J_1`$, it is a good approximation to assume that all these “defective” triangles belong to one sub-lattice—even though that assumption yields the desired number of singlet states. Work on simpler models  suggests that, quantitatively, this approximation is not in fact very accurate. The approach has its merits, however, and can also be applied to the squagome lattice; the results, we believe, will be similar.

Using our mapping and Baxter’s results , we can approximate the thermodynamics of the squagome QAF at low temperatures (below the triplet gap). Fig. 3 displays the calculated correlation length and specific heat as a function of temperature. The latter displays a sharp peak near the transition, which takes place on a scale $`ϵ`$ much smaller than the triplet gap. This is reminiscent of the lowest specific-heat peak reported in quantum dimer model based studies of the kagome antiferromagnet . Since the triplet excitations will also contribute a peak at higher energy, we see that this system, too, shows the two-peak feature which was noticed early in the kagome QAF .

An intriguing feature of our results is a hidden ordering in the ground state. At first order beyond $`N=\mathrm{}`$, this ordering corresponds to a staggered pattern in which every other plaquette is in one of the two configurations corresponding to vertex 7, and its neighbors in one of the two configurations corresponding to vertex 8. At higher order, the picture of two equal-energy configurations per vertex will not persist: such configurations will in general mix, leading to a splitting of energies. If the ordering still exists, it would then correspond to a staggered ordering of plaquettes in which the resonating dimers live on the squares on every other plaquette, and on the star-shaped boundary on the neighbouring plaquettes (figure 4). Such an ordering in a real system may manifest itself as an additional electron density along the resonant squares (and octagon stars), much as happens with the hexagonal ring in benzene. This may be detectable via STM experiments. But it is not clear whether this ordering would actually persist in the SU(2) system, or be washed out by further $`1/N`$ corrections. Since the ordering consists of alternate plaquettes having dimer pairs in their central squares, a possible order parameter could be the quantity $`(𝐒_1`$ $`+`$ $`𝐒_2`$ $`+`$ $`𝐒_3`$ $`+`$ $`𝐒_4)^2`$ where these are the four spins on the square; this is minimised when two opposite sides are paired as singlets. This is not the true SU(2) ground state, but it is possible that such states will dominate a true RVB-like ground state. It is also not clear whether a sharp phase transition will persist in the SU(2) case, but we note that this ordering is not ruled out at finite temperatures by the Mermin-Wagner theorem since it originates from the breaking of a discrete translational symmetry. So the intriguing possibility of such a phase transition in a 2D Heisenberg system exists.

The obvious question at this point is whether such a study can be made of the kagome lattice too. This lattice can be decomposed into star-shaped plaquettes of hexagons bordered by triangles, which sit at the sites of a triangular lattice (figure 5). In each such plaquette, again, the requirement that each internal site must be part of a dimer pair implies that of the six external sites, an even number must be parts of dimers. But to progress beyond that is difficult, for several reasons. First, the underlying lattice is a triangular lattice, with a high coordination number. Second, each vertex has six (rather than four) arms, and the even-number restriction still leads us to 32 kinds of vertices—each being again two-fold degenerate. There is thus no hope of an exact solution. Estimating vertex weights is possible in principle but requires us in this case to go to second order in the $`1/N`$ expansion. As noted before , hexagons with three dimerised sides will be preferred. This only fixes the weight of one of the 32 vertices, and since every vertex is now a source or a sink, it is impossible to use this statement to fix the weight of any other vertex. Nevertheless, if we assume that such “perfect hexagons” will dominate, one should be able to maximise their number by forming a regular lattice of them, and they can be detected by an order parameter which is the total spin on the six sites of the hexagon, in analogy to the square plaquette order parameter above. Note that there is still a hidden degeneracy of 2 per plaquette which gives rise to $`2^{N_p}`$ $``$ $`1.08^{N_s}`$ states, since in this case the number of sites $`N_s`$ $`=`$ $`9N_p`$. The observed number of low-energy singlets, $`1.15^{N_s}`$, suggests a significant additional degeneracy from the number of allowed vertex configurations. So even in a large $`N`$ limit, the kagome ground state may not be as highly ordered as the squagome.

If a hidden ordering does exist in the kagome case, it may correspond to a pattern of hexagon-shaped resonances. However, as described above, our other conclusions about the squagome lattice are very well corroborated by what is known about the kagome lattice, and in general we expect these systems to behave very similarly.

In conclusion, we have displayed a lattice, which we call the squagome lattice, which is conceptually very similar to the kagome lattice, but with square-lattice symmetry. We have argued that physical properties of spin systems should be very similar on this lattice to properties on the usual kagome lattice. We have shown that, to next to leading order in a $`1/N`$ expansion, an exact mapping exists between the SU($`N`$) QAF on this lattice and the classical eight-vertex model. This allows to draw several conclusions on the physics of this QAF at large-N, some of which are likely to extend to the physical SU($`2`$) case. In particular, we point out the intriguing possibility of a finite-temperature long-range ordering of the resonance loops. Perhaps most notably, we have connected the field of frustrated quantum systems to a classic exactly solved problem of statistical mechanics.

We acknowledge useful discussions with C. Lhuillier, R. Moessner and D. Sen. The LPT-ENS is “Unité Mixte de Recherche CNRS UMR-8549, associée à l’Ecole Normale Supérieure”. The LPS-Orsay is “Unité Mixte de Recherche CNRS UMR-8501, associée à l’Université Paris-Sud”.


text:
# Landau Level Crossings and Extended-State Mapping in Magnetic Two-dimensional Electron Gases

## Abstract

We present longitudinal and Hall magneto-resistance measurements of a “magnetic” two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) formed in modulation-doped Zn1-x-yCdxMnySe quantum wells. The electron spin splitting is temperature and magnetic field dependent, resulting in striking features as Landau levels of opposite spin cross near the Fermi level. Magnetization measurements on the same sample probe the total density of states and Fermi energy, allowing us to fit the transport data using a model involving extended states centered at each Landau level and two-channel conduction for spin-up and spin-down electrons. A mapping of the extended states over the whole quantum Hall effect regime shows no floating of extended states as Landau levels cross near the Fermi level.

PACS:73.20, 78.66.-w, 79.60.Jv

When a perpendicular magnetic field is applied to a two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG), the electron energy levels become quantized into highly degenerate Landau levels (LLs) that are broadened by the presence of disorder. Each broadened LL has a “mobility edge” separating localized states in the tail regions from extended states in the central region of the LL. The interplay between the extended and localized states in this simple physical system has given rise to rich physics, ranging from the integer quantum Hall effect (IQHE)  to the magnetic field induced metal-insulator transition. The location of the mobility edges within the density of states (DOS) for each LL is still a subject of research and speculation. Particularly interesting aspects of 2DEG physics are anticipated when circumstances allow for the overlap of different LLs and their possible mixing. For instance, calculations predict that LL mixing at vanishing magnetic fields may be responsible for a “floating” of extended states to higher energies, hence offering a possible resolution to the magnetic-field induced insulator-to-metal transition in 2DEGs. However, clean experimental studies of the consequences of LL mixing at small magnetic fields are problematic since the existence of LLs requires finite magnetic fields. This has motivated investigations of 2DEGs in which LL crossings are purposely engineered away from zero magnetic fields in the regime of quantum transport.

Here, we use a “magnetic” 2DEG system (modulation-doped $`\mathrm{Zn}_{1\mathrm{x}\mathrm{y}}\mathrm{Cd}_\mathrm{x}\mathrm{Mn}_\mathrm{y}\mathrm{Se}`$ quantum wells) to create finite field crossings between opposite spin states of LLs with different orbital quantum number. We observe striking anomalies in the magnetic field- and temperature-dependence of the sheet and Hall resistance ($`\rho _{xx}`$ and $`\rho _{xy},`$ respectively), including a negative differential Hall resistance. Surprisingly, the data can be explained in detail using a simple model of the extended states at the center of each disorder broadened LL, without resorting to explicit LL mixing of the opposite spin states. Further, by combining magnetization, optical and transport measurements on samples from the same wafer, we map out the extended states in the LLs of the 2DEG, providing for the first time a means to determine the form of the extended states well away from a quantum Hall plateau. Our measurements indicate that, at least in the present 2D system, LL crossings at finite fields do not result in a floating of extended states.

Samples used in this study are grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) and consist of a modulation-doped $`\mathrm{Zn}_{1\mathrm{x}\mathrm{y}}\mathrm{Cd}_\mathrm{x}\mathrm{Mn}_\mathrm{y}\mathrm{Se}`$ quantum well located between ZnSe barriers. In these “magnetic” 2DEGs, the $`sd`$ exchange interaction between confined electrons and local moments (Mn2+ ) results in a temperature- and magnetic field-dependent amplification of the “bare” Zeeman energy.  The ensuing LL fan diagram has an unusual structure in which the dominance of the spin-splitting ($`\mathrm{\Delta }E_S`$) over the Fermi energy ($`E_F`$) and the cyclotron splitting can result in a highly spin-polarized 2DEG even at low magnetic fields. Earlier studies of low density samples (where $`\mathrm{\Delta }E_SE_F`$) have shown how these can serve as model examples of a “spinless” 2D fermion gas because all the LLs below $`E_F`$ are in the same spin state.    The samples studied here belong to a qualitatively different regime in which $`\mathrm{\Delta }E_SE_F`$, resulting in discrete points where Landau levels of opposite spin cross near $`E_F`$.

In order to allow for complementary magnetometry measurements on the same sample (reported in more depth elsewhere ), an MBE-grown (100) GaAs/GaAlAs heterostructure is used as a substrate. This paper focuses on a sample in which the active 2DEG layer is deposited on a 1 $`\mu `$m thick ZnSe buffer layer and consists of a modulation-doped 10.5 nm ($`35`$ monolayers) quantum well region in which $`1/16`$ monolayer of MnSe is inserted every 7 monolayers of $`\mathrm{Zn}_{1\mathrm{x}}\mathrm{Cd}_\mathrm{x}\mathrm{Se}`$ (giving an average Mn composition of about 0.9 percent). The doping is provided by 20 nm of n-doped ZnSe:Cl separated by 12 nm of undoped ZnSe on either side of the quantum well. We note that the data shown here is qualitatively similar to that seen in other samples with similar composition.

Magneto-resistance measurements are carried out using standard dc techniques (excitation current $`<30`$ nA) on mesa-etched Hall bars ($`1600\times 400\mu `$ m) at low temperature (330 mK $``$ 7 K) in a pumped helium-3 cryostat in magnetic fields up to 8T. Electrical contacts to the 2DEG are made by first removing the oxide from the surface with an etch of $`\mathrm{Na}_2\mathrm{HSO}_3`$ and using diffused indium contacts annealed in a forming gas atmosphere for 15 minutes. Electron density in the 2DEG is varied electrostatically with an evaporated gold gate, separated by $`1\mu `$m of spun-on insulator (benzocyclobutene). Additional measurements carried out at lower temperatures in a dilution fridge confirm that the data does not change in any qualitative manner at temperatures below 300 mK. Magnetization is measured over a comparable range of temperature and magnetic field using cantilevers fabricated out of the same wafer. Finally, magneto-photoluminescence measurements are used to deduce the spin splitting of conduction band states.

Figures 1 (a) and (b) show the magnetic field- and temperature-dependence of $`\rho _{xx}`$ and $`\rho _{xy}`$ at zero gate voltage. We see a strong positive magneto-resistance at low fields which is larger for low temperature and low carrier concentration, as is generally seen in diluted magnetic semiconductors. SdH oscillations are visible above $`0.7`$ T in (a), while $`\rho _{xy}`$ (b) shows oscillations at moderate fields before showing properly quantized Hall plateaus for the lowest temperature (0.35 K - solid line). Deriving the electron concentration $`n`$ from the slope of $`\rho _{xy}`$ at low field ($`n2.8\times 10^{11}\mathrm{cm}^2`$), we assign filling factors $`\nu =\frac{hn}{eB_\nu }`$ to the minima of the $`\rho _{xx}`$ oscillations occurring at a field $`B_\nu `$, and find that $`\nu `$ increments by approximately 1 between each oscillation, indicating that the spin degeneracy of the Landau levels has been lifted. However the SdH oscillations are not periodic in $`1/B`$; in other words assigning integral values to $`\nu `$ makes the product $`\nu B_\nu `$ vary with magnetic field. Furthermore, Fig. 1(a) also shows that the SdH minima shift to lower magnetic fields with increasing temperature (bottom to top), as highlighted with arrows in the figure. We emphasize that the magnetic field dependence of $`\rho _{xy}`$ is linear before the onset of the quantum Hall effect, indicating that the carrier density does not change with magnetic field. We do note that $`n`$ determined from the slope of the low-field $`\rho _{xy}`$ is generally less than that used in the model developed later, and increases slightly as temperature increases. We attribute this discrepancy in part to the anomalous Hall effect ($`\rho _{xy}=R_HB+R_{Anom}M`$, where $`M`$ is the magnetization) and also to the presence of some parallel conduction above 2.5 K; neither of these affect the positions of the SdH oscillations.

In Fig. 1(a), we have circled a small oscillation around 3.2 T ($`\nu =4`$), preceded by a large peak and accompanied by a distortion of the plateau in $`\rho _{xy}`$ at 3 T. The minimum in $`\rho _{xx}`$ at 3.2 T is seen up to higher temperatures (4.2 K), while the large minimum at 3.7 T disappears as temperature is increased. A reduction in carrier density (and hence $`E_F`$) using electrostatic gating rapidly destroys the small oscillation (Fig. 2), and makes the SdH oscillations more regular while also dramatically increasing the low field positive and high field negative magneto-resistance. The aperiodicity in inverse magnetic field and shifts with temperature observed in the SdH oscillations are also seen in de Haas – van Alphen (dHvA) oscillations measured using cantilever magnetometry (as shown in Fig. 3(a)).

In order to understand these phenomena, we develop a model based on the LL energy spectrum. In a magnetic 2DEG, the energy of an electron in a LL with spin up (+) or down (-) is given by:

$$E_\mathrm{}\pm =\left(\mathrm{}+\frac{1}{2}\right)\mathrm{}\omega _c\pm \frac{1}{2}\mathrm{\Delta }E_S,$$
(1)
where $`\mathrm{}=0,1,2,\mathrm{}`$ is the level index, $`\omega _c`$ is the cyclotron frequency, and $`\mathrm{\Delta }E_S`$ is the spin splitting which follows the empirical form:

$$\mathrm{\Delta }E_S=\mathrm{\Delta }E_{S_{MAX}}B_{5/2}\left[\frac{5\mu _BB}{k_B(T+T_0)}\right].$$
(2)
Here, $`\mathrm{\Delta }E_{S_{MAX}}`$ is the saturation value of the spin splitting, $`B_{5/2}`$ is the spin-5/2 Brillouin function and $`T+T_0`$ is an effective temperature. The Fermi energy is set by the constant number of electrons in the quantum well $`n`$ and is calculated by integrating the DOS $`g(\epsilon ,B,T)`$ with the Fermi-Dirac distribution function $`f(\epsilon ,T)`$, and is calculated by numerically integrating

$$n=_{\mathrm{}}^{\mathrm{}}g(\epsilon ,B,T)f(\epsilon ,T)𝑑\epsilon .$$
(3)
We model the DOS for electrons in the 2DEG using the energy levels of Eq.1 with a broadening due to disorder of width $`\mathrm{\Gamma }(B)`$. This model is used to fit the magnetization of the 2DEG, which is proportional to the derivative of the free energy with respect to $`B`$, and thus is sensitive to the DOS. The best fit parameters at 320 mK (Fig. 3(a)) of $`\mathrm{\Delta }E_{S_{\mathrm{MAX}}}=7.7`$ meV, $`T_0=1.55`$ K and $`n=2.94\times 10^{11}`$ cm-2 are in good agreement with magneto-photoluminescence measurements and low field Hall measurements. The broadening is assumed to be a gaussian, and fit with a width of $`\mathrm{\Gamma }=0.36B^{1/2}`$ meV. An example of the resulting DOS (at T = 0.32 K) is shown as a gray-scale plot in Fig. 3(b). Figures 3(c) and (d) show how the LL energy diagram changes with temperature. Remarkably, as shown for a single temperature in Fig. 3(a) and shown in extensive detail elsewhere, this simple form reproduces the features of the field- and temperature-dependence of the magnetization without any additional parameters.

The extension of this calculation to simulate the magneto-resistance requires choosing a specific form for the density of extended states $`g_{ext}^\mathrm{}s(\epsilon ,B,T)`$. We model this density by assuming a LL of index $`\mathrm{}`$ and spin $`s`$ has, at its center, a region of extended states given by a gaussian of width $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_{ext}^s`$ (independent of $`B`$ ). This form phenomenologically accounts for a finite energy spread of the extended states and variable-range hopping conductivity through localized states.  The resistivity of each electron spin channel is then calculated independently and is given by

$`\rho _{xx}^s(B,T)`$ $`=`$ $`\rho _0{\displaystyle _{\mathrm{}}^{\mathrm{}}}{\displaystyle \underset{\mathrm{}}{}}g_{ext}^s\mathrm{}(\epsilon ,B,T){\displaystyle \frac{f}{\epsilon }}(\epsilon ,T)d\epsilon `$
$`\rho _{xy}^s(B,T)`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{h}{\nu e^2}}`$ (5)
$`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{B}{e{\displaystyle _{\mathrm{}}^{\mathrm{}}}{\displaystyle \underset{\mathrm{}}{}}g_{ext}^s\mathrm{}(\epsilon ,B,T)f(\epsilon ,T)d\epsilon }}`$
where $`f`$ is the Fermi function and the total DOS and $`E_F`$ are determined from the magnetization measurements. The sheet resistance $`\rho _{xx}`$ includes a prefactor $`\rho _0`$ which is assumed independent of the LL index $`\mathrm{}`$ and the spin $`s`$. This model makes no attempt to account microscopically for the strong positive (at low field) and negative (at higher field) background magneto-resistance seen in all II-VI magnetic semiconductors and attributed to bound magnetic polarons  and exchange-enhanced electron-electron interaction effects. The Hall resistance $`\rho _{xy}`$ is essentially calculated by counting the number of LLs below $`E_F`$ and multiplying by the quantum of conductance. The resistance $`\rho `$ is determined by adding the conductances $`\sigma `$ through each spin channel $`s`$ obtained by inverting the resistance tensor. By using this form for the resistance, we implicitly assume that LL mixing and floating of the extended states are unimportant in this regime, which will be justified by the close agreement of the data to the model. Figures 1(c) and (d) show the simulated $`\rho _{xx}`$and $`\rho _{xy}`$at various temperatures using $`\mathrm{\Delta }E_{S_{MAX}}`$= 7.2 meV, $`T_0`$= 1.55 K, $`n=2.9\times 10^{11}`$cm-2, and $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$= 0.36 meV T-1/2 – all in good agreement with the parameters used for the magnetization. These parameters model the data well over the whole temperature range, without changing any other parameter. The model also provides a physical basis for understanding the various anomalies observed in the transport data. First, the unusual aperiodicity of the SdH oscillations arises simply from the variable overlap of the extended states as LLs for spin up and down electrons cross; the temperature-dependent shift of the SdH extrema can be traced to the temperature variation of the spin splitting (Eq. 2) which changes the LL spectrum. The negative differential Hall resistance seen at low magnetic fields is a consequence of the addition of conductivities of the two spin channels for conduction. The oscillation at 3.2 T is due to the $`|0,>`$ LL crossing $`E_F`$ near the field where $`|3,>`$ LL also crosses. As temperature is increased, the spin up level crosses at a higher field due to the decreased spin splitting, allowing the oscillation to be more easily resolved (see Figs. 3(c) and(d)). This oscillation is much smaller than those due to spin down LLs because there are fewer spin up LL s below $`E_F`$, causing $`\rho _{xy}^{}`$ to be large (Eq. 5). Hence, the spin up LLs contribute less to the overall conductivity than spin down LLs. This effect also explains why the spin up LLs crossing $`E_F`$ at lower field produce only a slight modulation of the SdH oscillations. The width of the extended states is best fit using widths of $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_{ext}^{}0.25`$meV for spin down electrons and $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_{ext}^{}0.05`$meV for spin up electrons. This difference suggests that the minority spin electrons are more localized than the majority spin electrons and this may influence the low-field positive and high field negative magneto-resistance. Decreasing the sheet density $`n`$ using the electrostatic gate lowers $`E_F`$away from the region of the energy diagram where LL crossings occur. Hence, the anomaly at $``$3 T disappears and the overlap between LLs is decreased overall, leading to more regular SdH oscillations.

The complementary measurements of magnetization and transport in this study provide a powerful means to determine the shape of the distribution of the extended states. In the preceding discussion, we assumed a specific analytic form $`g_{ext}`$ for the extended states; however, we can use the resistivity to approximately map out the conducting states directly. In the regime where a spin down LL $`|\mathrm{},>`$ crosses $`E_F`$, the total resistance approximates the spin down channel resistance ($`\rho _{xx}(B)\rho _{xx}^{}(B)`$) and is proportional to the density of conducting states convolved with the derivative of the Fermi function (Eq.4). Using the knowledge of $`E_F`$ and the LL spectrum obtained from the magnetization, we transform $`\rho _{xx}(B)`$ into $`\rho _{xx}(E)`$, where $`E=E_FE_{|\mathrm{},>}`$ is the energy separation of the center of the LL from $`E_F`$ . Thus, the combination of data from the two experiments allows a spectroscopy of the conducting states as $`E_F`$ passes through a LL. Figure 4 shows the temperature dependence of $`\rho _{xx}`$ through the $`|2,>`$ LL (about 4.5 T). As the temperature is increased, the $`|0,>`$ LL drops below $`E_F`$ in this region, leading to a displacement of the shoulder on this peak from low to high energy. The vertical line in each plot indicates the position of the $`|0,>`$ level, i.e. $`E_{|0,>}E_F`$at the point where $`E_F=E_{|2,>}`$, and clearly corresponds to the shoulder seen in the $`\rho _{xx}`$ peak. As $`|0,>`$ and $`|2,>`$ become degenerate near $`E_F`$, no shifting of the $`\rho _{xx}`$ peak is seen from zero energy. Such a shift would be evidence for floating of the extended states. The derivative of the Fermi function for each temperature is plotted for comparison, showing the resolution with which this floating of the extended states is excluded. This simple crossing of two LLs of opposite spin, well separated from others, is quite different than the case at low field where all LLs overlap.

Figure 4 also shows that – at low temperatures – a simple delta function for the extended states is not sufficient to explain the data, nor is a finite width to the extended states alone enough to reproduce the data. Variable-range hopping, which gives an exponential form to the conductivity away from the LL center, must be included to give the peaks sufficient width with a shape which matches the data. This justifies the phenomenological gaussian form for $`g_{ext}^\mathrm{}s(\epsilon ,B,T)`$ used earlier. In a sample whose LL structure does not change with temperature (such as a GaAs/AlGaAs modulation doped quantum well), this method should allow the determination of the full form of the conduction through variable range hopping and extended state transport in the QHE regime.

In summary, measurements of the magneto-resistance and Hall effect in 2DEGs where the spin splitting is comparable to the Fermi level show the effects of accidental degeneracies as LLs cross near the Fermi level. The resulting anomalous SdH oscillations are well described using a model involving extended states centered at each Landau level and two-channel conduction for spin-up and spin-down electrons. The complementary measurement of magnetization and transport measurements on the same sample allow us to probe the location of the extended states away from the SdH minima. The crossing of the LLs at large field does not induce a shifting of the positions of the extended states – which one might expect for “floating” states.

We thank K. D. Maranowski and A. C. Gossard for growth of the GaAs/GaAlAs heterostructure, J. Gupta and I. Malajovich for taking the optical data and S. A. Crooker for help with numerical modeling. This work was supported by NSF grants NSF DMR-0071888 and -0071977, ONR N00014-99-1-0077 and -0071, and AFOSR #F49620-99-1-0033.