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# Complete and Simultaneous Spectral Observations of the Black-Hole X-ray Nova XTE J1118+480

## 1 INTRODUCTION

X-ray novae (a.k.a. soft X-ray transients) are a type of X-ray binary that typically remains quiescent for decades before brightening by as much as $`10^7`$ in X-rays in a week. In outburst, the 2-10 keV X-ray spectrum of most X-ray novae is dominated by thermal emission from the inner accretion disk. However, five X-ray novae are now known which have failed to show this soft thermal component during outburst (Brocksopp et al. 2001). One of these five is XTE J1118+480. This source is further distinguished by its strikingly low X-ray-to-optical flux ratio (Hynes et al. 2000).

XTE J1118+480 was discovered on 2000 March 29 (Remillard et al. 2000). During the month of March, RXTE All-Sky Monitor data show that the X-ray intensity of the source increased steadily to $``$ 35 mCrab (2-12 keV). Thereafter, the intensity remained near that level for about three months before declining abruptly. The optical counterpart brightened from quiescence by about 6 mag to V $``$ 13 (Uemura et al. 2000). Optical observations in outburst and quiescence confirm that the orbital period is 4.08 hr (Patterson et al. 2000; Uemura et al. 2000; McClintock et al. 2001; Wagner et al. 2001). A radio counterpart has also been observed (Pooley & Waldram 2000). The most uncommon property of XTE J1118+480 is its exceptionally high galactic latitude, b = +62o, and its correspondingly low reddening: E(B-V) $``$ 0.013 mag (N$`{}_{H}{}^{}7.5\times 10^{19}`$ cm-2; Hynes et al. 2000). XTE J1118+480 is the least reddened of all known X-ray binaries.

Recently, dynamical measurements by two groups have established that XTE J1118+480 has a very large mass function, which sets a hard lower limit of 6 M on the mass of the compact X-ray source (McClintock et al. 2001; Wagner et al. 2001). Since this greatly exceeds the maximum allowed stable mass of a neutron star in general relativity (Rhoades & Ruffini 1974), we refer to the compact primary as a black hole.

The first epoch of an intensive multi-epoch, multiwavelength observing campaign was reported by Hynes et al (2000). Here we report on the second epoch observations, centered on 2000 April 18, which are unique in including a 0.24–7 keV grating spectrum obtained using the Chandra X-ray Observatory (CXO). This spectrum is very important and forces modification of the conclusions reached by Hynes et al. (2000). Our near-simultaneous observations cover $``$ 80% of the electromagnetic spectrum from the infrared to hard X-rays; these multiwavelength data are modeled in a companion paper by Esin et al. (2001).

## 2 NEAR-SIMULTANEOUS OBSERVATIONS

A journal of the near-simultaneous observations that were made on or near April 18 is given in Table 1. The April 18 EUVE data are discussed extensively by Hynes et al. (2000), but they were not used in their spectral energy distribution (SED). The only data in common between the SED presented by Hynes et al. and the SED presented herein is the April 18 UKIRT data. In the following we briefly discuss each data set in turn.

Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) spectra were produced using 128-channel PCA data collected with PCUs 0, 2 and 3, and 64-channel data collected with the HEXTE clusters A and B. Following the suggestions of Jahoda (2000), we have selected only the top layers of each PCU and have combined the data for all three PCUs. A response matrix was generated using version 2.43 of pcarsp, and a background estimate was generated using the 2000 January 31 blank sky model for gain epoch 4 combined with version 2.1e of pcabackest. A 1% systematic error was added to the statistical error estimate and each model was fit between 2.5–25 keV. This systematic error was required because the statistical uncertainty for the PCA is significantly less than the uncertainty in the PCA response matrix, which is estimated to be about 1% (Jahoda 2000). For the HEXTE we used the standard response matrices and modeled the data between 15-200 keV, allowing for a constant normalization between the PCA data and the data from the two HEXTE clusters. No systematic errors were added to these data. The background was estimated using the script hxtback from FTOOLS version 5. The combined PCA and HEXTE data are compatible with a power-law model for the emission. The best-fit photon index was $`\mathrm{\Gamma }=1.782\pm 0.005`$ with a 2–200 keV flux of $`4.2\times 10^9`$ ergs cm-2 s-1 and a $`\chi ^2`$ of 164 for 139 dof. The photon index is consistent with the value measured 10 days earlier: $`\mathrm{\Gamma }=1.8\pm 0.1`$ (Hynes et al. 2000). A Gaussian feature at 6.4 keV was evident in the residuals to the fit ($`\chi ^2=`$152 for 136 dof) with an equivalent width (EW) of 40 eV. This feature is very probably not due to the source for two reasons: First, its strength is consistent with a feature seen in fits to the spectrum of the Crab Nebula, where no Fe-K line is expected; thus it is probably a systematic feature in the response matrices that we used (Jahoda 2000). Second, the feature does not appear in the Chandra grating data described directly below. For an assumed narrow 6.4 keV line, $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$E/E = 0.04, the Chandra data imply a 3 $`\sigma `$ upper limit of EW $`<`$ 24 eV, which strongly rules against the RXTE candidate Fe line. For a broader assumed line width, $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$E/E = 0.10, the Chandra$`\sigma `$ upper limit is EW $`<`$ 38 eV, which marginally rules against the RXTE spectral feature. On the other hand, a very broad line, with a width comparable to the energy resolution of the PCA detector ($`\mathrm{\Delta }`$E/E $`0.2`$) and an EW of 40 eV would have escaped detection by Chandra.

Chandra observations were performed using the Low Energy Transmission Grating (LETG) and the ACIS-S detector which yielded a spectrum from 0.24 to 7 keV (1.8–52 Å) with a resolution of about 0.04Å. The “Level 1” data were reduced using custom IDL procedures in several steps: 1) Sky coordinates were transformed to grating coordinates by correcting for spacecraft roll; 2) the location of zeroth order was determined by fitting a pair of 1-D Gaussian profiles; 3) pulse height was converted to energy ($`E_{PH}`$) using preflight gains and then corrected (node-by-node) to match the energies inferred from the dispersion of the LETG; and 4) events were selected using $`r_l<E_{PH}/E_{LETG}<r_h`$, where $`r_l,r_h`$ was \[0.70,1.15\] for +1 events, \[0.80, 1.20\] for -1 events with $`\lambda <30`$ Å, and \[0.65,1.25\] for -1 events with $`\lambda >30`$ Å. These selections net $`>`$99% of the observed counts. All events within 2.5″ of the dispersion line were included, except for the events near detector gaps, which were ignored. Any aperture size between 1.5″ and 3″ would have yielded the same results. No background was subtracted because the background rates were negligible compared to the source rates ($`<`$ 1%), except near the C-K edge where the background rate was up to 5% of the source rate. The events were binned and the effective areas were integrated over the bins. After correcting for the fraction of counts dispersed by the LETG fine support structure, we estimate that the fluxes are accurate to $``$ 5% in the 2-5 keV range. XTE J1118+480 was the brightest source observed with this grating and detector combination, so these data are being used extensively to verify and update the instrumental area, which could still have systematic errors of order 10-20% in the 0.2-1.0 keV band (Marshall 2001). The largest uncertainties are in the 0.3-0.5 keV band. The spectrum was searched at high resolution (0.01Å) for lines and edges with assumed widths comparable to the instrumental resolution. None was found apart from two weak, unidentified lines, 13.24Å (0.936 keV) and 9.36Å (1.325 keV), which were detected at significance levels of 5.6$`\sigma `$ and 4.6$`\sigma `$, respectively; the latter feature was detected only in the third-order spectrum. The probability of finding a feature in one bin at $`4.6\sigma `$ among the 2500 bins searched is only 0.5%. The complete high-resolution spectrum is shown in Figure 1. Given the near absence of spectral features, the data were binned heavily on a logarithmic grid ($`\mathrm{\Delta }`$E/E = 0.02) to provide an accurate measure of the continuum. On time scales $``$ 1 ks, the total X-ray intensity was constant to $``$ 3% during the 27 ks observation. For the energy range 2–7 keV, the power-law photon index was $`\mathrm{\Gamma }=1.77\pm 0.04`$, which is consistent with the RXTE values quoted above.

Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer (EUVE) observations were performed 3 arcmin off-axis to extend the wavelength coverage of the EUVE short wavelength spectrometer (SW) shortward of its normal cutoff (Marshall et al. 1996). Data from the SW spectrometer was binned in 2 Å intervals and was corrected for IS absorption using the compilation of H and He photoionization cross-sections of Rumph, Bowyer & Vennes (1994), with a mixture of neutral hydrogen to neutral and ionized helium in the ratio 1:0.1:0.01. Fortunately, the shape of the extinction curve is largely independent of these details of the gas mix. Flux calibration was achieved using the filter-corrected exposure time and the off-axis effective area curve of H. Marshall et al. (in preparation). An independent analysis of these data is discussed by Hynes et al. (2000); there are no significant differences between their extracted spectrum and the one presented herein.

Hubble Space Telescope (HST) observations were made using the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) and the E140M, E230M, G430L and G750L gratings. An average calibrated spectrum for April 18 was constructed from standard HST pipeline data products. The spectrum exhibits emission lines of H$`\alpha `$ (weak), He ii (1640, 4686 Å), Si iv (1394, 1403 Å) and N V (1239, 1243 Å), as well as Ly$`\alpha `$, higher order Balmer lines, and the Balmer jump in absorption. To identify the continuum spectrum more clearly, and remove near-IR fringing, the spectra were rebinned with the regions dominated by Ly$`\alpha `$ and N V masked out.

The 3.8m United Kingdom InfraRed Telescope (UKIRT) was used to make near–infrared photometric observations at JHKL’M’ with IRCAM/TUFTI. The measured magnitudes and comments on the data analysis can be found in Hynes et al. (2000).

The Ryle Telescope was used to monitor the flux density at 15.2 GHz using techniques similar to those described in Pooley & Fender (1997). The phase calibrator used was J1110+440, and the flux-density scale was established by observations of 3C48 and 3C286.

## 3 SUPPORTING OBSERVATIONS

The intensity of XTE J1118+480 was relatively constant during the 81 ks EUVE observation (Hynes et al. 2000) and during the 27 ks Chandra observation (§2). In addition, the source was very stable on time scales $``$ hours at all wavelengths for weeks before and after our April 18th observing campaign. To illustrate this constancy, Figure 2 shows selected data for a $`7`$ week period around the time of April 18, which is indicated by a dashed line in the figure. Also, indicated by an arrow in Figure 2a is the time of the April 8 observing campaign, which occurred near the end of the rising phase of the outburst (Hynes et al. 2000).

The 2–12 keV X-ray data shown in Figure 2a are consistent with a mean intensity of Ix = 2.89 $`\pm `$ 0.41 counts $`\mathrm{s}^1`$ (rms), which corresponds to a relative intensity of 38 mCrab. Optical photometric data are shown in Figure 2b. For these data we find mean magnitudes of B = 13.02 $`\pm `$ 0.04 (rms) and I = 12.68 $`\pm `$ 0.05 (rms). Figure 2c shows 15.2 GHz radio data with a mean flux density of Sν = 8.68 $`\pm `$ 0.87 mJy (rms). Thus the rms variability of the source during this 7 week interval was 14% in the X-ray, 5% in the optical and 10% in the radio. Moreover, much of this apparent variability is due to measurement error. The typical measurement error for the ASM X-ray detectors was $`\pm 10`$% (Fig. 2a) and for the Ryle Telescope it was $`\pm 5`$% (Fig. 2c). Thus we conclude that for several weeks around April 18, XTE J1118+480 was stable in intensity to better than 10% on time scales of $`1`$ day in the radio, optical and X-ray bands.

Because of the long-term stability of the source, we have summed 16 consecutive RXTE spectra obtained between April 13.39 and May 15.38 in order to improve the counting statistics above 100 keV. We used the analysis techniques described in §2. These 16 observations can all be fit individually by a power-law model with photon indices that range between 1.77 and 1.81. The summed spectrum has a total integration time of 45.9 ks in the PCA and 16.8 ks in the HEXTE (only cluster A was used). A power-law model fit the summed spectrum with $`\mathrm{\Gamma }=1.779\pm 0.003`$ for a $`\chi ^2`$ of 116 for 95 dof. The best-fit power law that includes a simple exponential cutoff at high energies, i.e. N(E) $``$ Ee$`^{E/E_c}`$, yielded a cutoff energy of 940 keV for a $`\chi ^2`$ of 103 for 94 dof. Arbitrarily fixing the cutoff energy at 300 keV produced an unacceptable fit with a $`\chi ^2`$ of 150 for 95 dof. Of course, these results do not rule against an abrupt, breaking cutoff at energies of $`150`$ keV, since these energies are near the limit of HEXTE’s response. Compared to the simple power-law model, a somewhat poorer fit to the data was achieved using a comptonization model (“compTT’ in XSPEC; Arnaud & Dorman 2000; Titarchuk 1994) with an electron temperature of 207 keV and an optical depth of 1.0 for a $`\chi ^2`$ of 125 for 94 dof.

## 4 THE SPECTRAL ENERGY DISTRIBUTION

The most difficult problem in constructing the spectral energy distribution (SED) is in properly correcting the EUV fluxes for IS absorption. It is not possible to obtain a precise measurement of NH, the IS column depth. For example, 21-cm measurements imply N$`{}_{\mathrm{H}}{}^{}=1.34\times 10^{20}`$ cm-2 (Dickey & Lockman 1990). On the other hand, the COBE maps of dust IR emission imply N$`{}_{\mathrm{H}}{}^{}=0.67\times 10^{20}`$ cm-2 (Schlegel, Finkbeiner & Davis 1998). However, neither of these values can be considered secure, since NH can vary by a factor $``$ 2 on much smaller angular scales than those probed by the surveys just mentioned (Faison et al. 1998). A line-of-sight estimate of NH using the Ca II lines implies a high value: N$`{}_{\mathrm{H}}{}^{}=2.8\times 10^{20}`$ cm-2; however, the uncertainty in log(NH) is at least 0.2 (Dubus et al. 2001). The source was too faint to make a 21-cm absorption measurement feasible.

There is an additional complication with the IS absorption in the EUV: A significant fraction of the absorption near 0.1 keV is attributable to neutral and ionized helium; however, there are no existing data on the absorbing columns for this line of sight. Rigorous inclusion of He absorption based on only the neutral hydrogen column would then require knowledge of both the line of sight hydrogen and helium ionization fractions, as well as the abundance of helium relative to hydrogen. Consequently, we estimate the IS absorption, parameterized by NH, by assuming the neutral and ionized He number densities relative to that of neutral hydrogen stated in $`\mathrm{\S }`$2. Given all of these uncertainties, we, like Hynes et al. (2000), chose to estimate NH by examining the SED itself.

In Figure 3 we show four realizations of the SED for four assumed values of NH. Here we have omitted the infrared and radio data. At energies above a few tenths of a keV, the spectrum can be described in terms of a power law with varying spectral index as follows. At the highest energies, the photon index is $`1.78`$ (§2 & §3). At energies below $`2`$ keV, the spectrum becomes harder and the photon index approaches $``$ 1.5. It is possible that the systematic errors discussed in §2 contribute to this hardening of the spectrum; however, it is unlikely that they can account for all of it.

The only appreciable gap in the SED is centered at log($`\nu `$) $`16.0`$, where the ISM is opaque. We now focus on the question of how to connect up the HST data with the EUVE data across this unobserved region. It is apparent from Figure 3 that the dereddened EUVE spectrum is very sensitive to the choice of NH and is consequently very uncertain. Therefore, we first consider the high-quality HST spectrum, which depends weakly on the choice of reddening. We can be confident that the HST spectrum is comprised of substantial thermal emission because the Balmer jump in absorption is apparent at log($`\nu `$) = 14.9. In the following we assume that the UV emission is due chiefly to the accretion disk (see §5).

We therefore consider the simple model spectrum of a steady accretion disk as implemented in XSPEC (Arnaud & Dorman 2000; Mitsuda et al. 1984; Makishima et al. 1986). We do not include a power-law component, which would increase the EUVE model fluxes somewhat. These multicolor disk blackbody spectra are meant to be illustrative; they are not fits to the data. Each disk spectrum shown in Figure 3 is specified by two parameters: (1) the temperature at the inner edge of the disk, Tin, and (2) the normalization, which we arbitrarily take to be the dereddened HST flux at log($`\nu `$) = 15.1. We first consider the SED for N$`{}_{\mathrm{H}}{}^{}=1.6\times 10^{20}`$ cm-2 (Fig. 3d). We find that no simple disk spectrum can match the steeply rising EUVE spectrum, and the mismatch is only worse for higher values of NH. We therefore do not consider values of N$`{}_{\mathrm{H}}{}^{}1.6\times 10^{20}`$ cm-2 further.

We next examine N$`{}_{\mathrm{H}}{}^{}=0.75\times 10^{20}`$ cm-2, which is illustrated in Figure 3a. By considering the EUVE data as part of the nonthermal spectrum (see Hynes et al. 2000), it is possible to accommodate a thermal disk component with kT$`{}_{in}{}^{}12`$ eV. However, the comparison of the model to the data is somewhat unsatisfying for two reasons. First, Hynes et al. made the reasonable assumption that the EUV and hard X-ray fluxes were approximately fitted by the same power law; however, the Chandra data complicate this picture by revealing a wider range of power-law slopes. Second, the structure in the EUVE spectrum is not easily explained, although it may possibly be attributable to the presence of a warm absorbing medium around the source (see Esin et al. 2001). In short, we consider N$`{}_{\mathrm{H}}{}^{}=0.75\times 10^{20}`$ cm-2 a viable choice; however, we do not favor it. Even lower values of NH appear less likely, since at long wavelengths the EUVE spectrum plunges downward (Hynes et al. 2000) and has the wrong inflection to join up with the model disk spectra.

We favor the two remaining spectra shown in Figures 3b & 3c. First consider the case N$`{}_{\mathrm{H}}{}^{}=1.3\times 10^{20}`$ cm-2 (Fig. 2c). This case provides the closest match between one of the model disk spectra (kTin = 24 eV) and the EUVE spectrum. N$`{}_{\mathrm{H}}{}^{}=1.3\times 10^{20}`$ cm-2 probably corresponds to an upper limit on the value of NH, since there may be a significant non-disk component of UV emission at log($`\nu `$) = 15.1 (see §5). In this case, the disk spectra in Figure 3c would need to be renormalized downward, thereby creating some disagreement between the data and the models: i.e. the EUVE data would then rise more steeply than the models (cf. Fig. 3d).

Finally, consider the spectrum for N$`{}_{\mathrm{H}}{}^{}=1.0\times 10^{20}`$ cm-2 (Fig. 3b). At short wavelengths, the EUVE spectrum conforms closely to the model for kTin = 22 eV, whereas at longer wavelengths it straddles the models for kTin = 18-22 eV. If the normalization of the disk models were to be corrected downward (as mentioned above), this model would provide a better description of the data. In short, we conclude that the most probable value of the column density lies in the range N$`{}_{\mathrm{H}}{}^{}=1.01.3\times 10^{20}`$ cm-2. In the following, we adopt N$`{}_{\mathrm{H}}{}^{}=1.3\times 10^{20}`$ cm-2 and the version of the SED shown in Figure 3c. This spectrum, including the infrared and radio data, is reproduced in more detail in Figure 4; see the caption for further details about the individual data sets. The data shown in Figure 4 are available in digital form by request: For the HST data contact C. Haswell or R. Hynes; for the remaining data contact J. McClintock.

## 5 DISCUSSION

Most black-hole X-ray novae in outburst reach the high/soft state (van der Klis 1994) and spend considerable time there; consequently, most X-ray novae are observed in this state. The high/soft state is dominated by a $`1`$ keV blackbody-like spectral component, which is widely attributed to an accretion disk with its inner edge at or near Rin = 3RSchw (RSchw = 2GM/c2), the radius of the innermost stable orbit (Tanaka & Lewin 1995). A very simple and successful model for this thermal disk spectrum is the multicolor disk blackbody model (§3; Mitsuda et al. 1984; Makishima et al. 1986).

A few X-ray novae have been observed only in the low/hard state: e.g. V404 Cyg, GRO J0422+32 and GS1354-64 in 1997 (Brocksopp et al. 2001). A number of canonical X-ray novae (e.g. Nova Mus 1991 and GS2000+25) and Cyg X-1 have also been observed in the low/hard state (Tanaka & Lewin 1995). For the sources observed in this state, the non-stellar optical/UV spectrum has provided evidence for the presence of an outer accretion disk. However, for these sources it has not been possible to determine directly the properties of their inner disks, which emit in the EUV and soft X-ray bands, due to the high IS column depths: N$`{}_{\mathrm{H}}{}^{}10^{21}`$ cm-2. Observations of XTE J1118+480 with N$`{}_{\mathrm{H}}{}^{}1.3\times 10^{20}`$ cm-2 provide the first detection of radiation from the inner accretion disk for an X-ray nova in the low/hard state.

A simple explanation for the low thermal temperature in XTE J1118+480 is that the inner edge of the accretion disk is quite far out compared to R$`{}_{in}{}^{}=3`$RSchw. This is the expected state of affairs in some models of the low/hard state (e.g. Esin, McClintock & Narayan 1997). Moreover, there is good indirect evidence based on Compton reflection models that such large, cool disks do exist in the low/hard state of several systems (e.g., see Gierlinski et al. 1997; Miller et al. 2001).

Based on our adopted value of NH (§4) and a distance of 1.8 kpc (McClintock et al. 2001; Wagner et al. 2001), we can make a rough estimate of the inner disk radius for kT$`{}_{in}{}^{}=24`$ eV (Fig. 3c) as follows. For an intensity of 38 mCrab and a photon spectral index of 1.78 (§3), the 1–160 keV X-ray luminosity is L$`{}_{x}{}^{}1.2\times 10^{36}`$ ergs s-1. For an assumed value of the accretion efficiency, $`ϵ`$, the X-ray luminosity determines the mass accretion rate, Ṁ = Lx/$`ϵ`$c2, and hence the inner radius of a steady-state disk: Rin = (3GMxṀ/8$`\pi \sigma `$T$`{}_{}{}^{4}{}_{in}{}^{}`$)1/3 (e.g. Frank, King & Raine 1992). For a canonical efficiency of 10%, we find R$`{}_{in}{}^{}=60`$RSchw, and for advection-dominated flow with an assumed efficiency of 0.1% we find R$`{}_{in}{}^{}=285`$RSchw. A comparable value for Rin can be obtained by using the normalization constant determined for the multicolor disk blackbody model, which depends only on the solid angle subtended by the inner disk and the inclination of the disk (Arnaud & Dorman 2000). Assuming that the flux at log($`\nu `$) = 15.1 is due solely to the disk (see below) and assuming a high inclination, i = $`80^\mathrm{o}`$ (Wagner et al. 2001), we find R$`{}_{in}{}^{}=34`$RSchw for the model with kT = 24 eV shown in Figure 3c.

We note that the radio/IR data and the HST data below the Balmer jump can all be reasonably well fit by a single power law, $`\nu `$F$`{}_{\nu }{}^{}\nu ^{1.10}`$, which steepens at longer radio wavelengths (Hynes et al. 2000). Thus, in the IR/radio band there is an additional component of emission above that expected for a multicolor disk blackbody spectrum (Hynes et al. 2000; Esin et al. 2001). This component may be associated with an outflow from the system (Esin et al. 2001; Fender 2001).

Could this IR/radio component affect our earlier conclusions on the temperature of the thermal accretion disk component? In §4 we assumed that the UV flux is dominated by the spectrum of the accretion disk. This assumption is supported by the presence of a $`0.09`$ mag Balmer jump in the spectrum. Unfortunately, the strength of the Balmer jump in absorption cannot be used to determine quantitatively the fraction of the total flux that is due to the accretion disk. In a disk there are several conditions that can reduce or even eliminate the Balmer jump: e.g. high inclination and X-ray heating (la Dous 1989). Indeed, Balmer jumps are often absent or appear in emission in the spectra of dwarf novae (la Dous 1989; Williams 1983) and one was not detected in the spectrum of X-ray Nova Mus 1991 during outburst (Cheng et al. 1992). In short, we cannot rule out the hypothesis that the IR/radio component contributes to the UV spectrum of XTE 1118+480. However, the presence of a significant Balmer jump argues for appreciable disk emission. In this work, we assume that the disk flux is dominant in the UV band.

In conclusion, the global spectrum consists of three components: (1) a $``$ 24 eV thermal component due to the accretion disk with a large inner radius ($`35`$RSchw); (2) a quasi power-law component, which extends from $`0.4`$ keV to at least 160 keV; and (3) a third component that dominates the spectrum at wavelengths greater than several microns. A model for the first two components and a discussion of the third one are presented in a companion paper by Esin et al. (2001).

We thank the CXO Director H. Tananbaum for granting Director’s Discretionary Time, the entire Chandra team for their superb effort and enthusiasm, and NASA for providing support for J.E.M., M.R.G., and J.J.D. through grant DD0-1003X and contract NAS8-39073. The EUVE observations were made possible by a generous grant of Director’s Discretionary Time by EUVE Project Manager R. Malina, the efforts of EUVE Science Planner M. Eckert, the staff of the EUVE Science Operations Center at CEA, and the Flight Operations Team at Goddard Space Flight Center. This work includes observations with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, obtained at the Space Telescope Science Institute, operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc. under NASA contract No. NAS5-26555. We would like to thank the HST and RXTE support staff for ongoing efficient support. UKIRT is operated by the Joint Astronomy Centre on behalf of the U.K. Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council. C.A.H., R.I.H. and S.C. acknowledge support from grant F/00-180/A from the Leverhulme Trust. J.E.M. acknowledges helpful discussions with A. Siemiginowska and N. Brickhouse. We thank an anonymous referee for several constructive comments.

| TABLE 1 | | | | | |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| OBSERVATIONS ON OR NEAR 2000 APRIL 18 UT | | | | | |
|  |  |  |  |  | Net Obs. |
| Observatory | Instrument | Bandpass | log($`\nu `$) | Observation Interval (UT) | Time (ks) |
| RXTE | HEXTE | 15–200 keV | 18.56-19.68 | 18 Apr 19:28–18 Apr 23:00 | 1.1 |
|  | PCA | 2.5–25 keV | 17.78-18.78 | 18 Apr 19:28–18 Apr 23:00 | 2.8 |
| Chandra | LETG/ACIS-S | 0.24–7 keV | 16.76-18.23 | 18 Apr 18:16–19 Apr 02:16 | 27.2 |
| EUVE | SW | 0.10–0.17 keV | 16.38-16.61 | 16 Apr 21:34–19 Apr 14:28 | 81.1 |
| HST | STIS | 1155–10250Å | 14.47-15.41 | 18 Apr 13:40–18 Apr 17:44 | 6.2 |
| UKIRT | IRCAM/TUFTI | 1-5 $`\mu `$ | 13.78-14.48 | 18 Apr 12:00 | 0.01–0.06 |
| Ryle Telescope | 15.2 GHz receiver | $`2.0`$ cm | 10.18 | 18Apr 17:11–18 Apr 18:36 | 5.1 |


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# S-, P- and D-wave resonances in positronium-sodium and positronium-potassium scattering

## Abstract

Scattering of positronium (Ps) by sodium and potassium atoms has been investigated employing a three-Ps-state coupled-channel model with Ps(1s,2s,2p) states using a time-reversal-symmetric regularized electron-exchange model potential fitted to reproduce accurate theoretical results for PsNa and PsK binding energies. We find a narrow S-wave singlet resonance at 4.58 eV of width 0.002 eV in the Ps-Na system and at 4.77 eV of width 0.003 eV in the Ps-K system. Singlet P-wave resonances in both systems are found at 5.07 eV of width 0.3 eV. Singlet D-wave structures are found at 5.3 eV in both systems. We also report results for elastic and Ps-excitation cross sections for Ps scattering by Na and K.

PACS Number(s): 34.10.+x, 36.10.Dr

Recent successful high precision measurements of positronium (Ps) scattering by H2, N2, He, Ne, Ar, C4H10, and C5H12  have enhanced theoretical activities  in this subject. We suggested  a regularized, symmetric, nonlocal electron-exchange model potential and used it in the successful study of Ps scattering by H , He , Ne , Ar , H2  and Li . Our results were in agreement with experimental total cross sections , specially at low energies for He, Ne, Ar and H2. Moreover, these studies yielded correct results for resonance and binding energies for the S wave electronic singlet state of Ps-H  and Ps-Li  systems in addition to experimental pick-off quenching rate in Ps-He  scattering.

In the present work we use the above exchange potential to study Ps-Na and Ps-K scattering using the three-Ps-state coupled channel method. We find resonances in the singlet channel at low energies in S, P and D waves of both systems near the Ps(2) excitation threshold. We also report angle-integrated elastic and Ps-excitation cross sections for both systems.

The appearance of resonances in electron-atom  and positron-atom  scattering, and in other atomic processes in general, is of great interest. Several resonances in the electron-hydrogen system have been found in the close-coupling calculation and later reconfirmed in the variational calculation . Resonances have also been found in the close-coupling calculation of electron scattering by Li, Na and K . These resonances provide the necessary testing ground for a theoretical formulation, which can eventually be detected experimentally. Detailed dynamical description of the important degrees of freedom in a theoretical formulation is necessary for the appearance of these resonances. The ability of the present exchange potential to reproduce the resonances in diverse Ps-atom systems  assures its realistic nature.

The theory for the coupled-channel study of Ps scattering with the regularized model potential has already appeared in the literature  and we quote the relevant working equations here. For target-elastic scattering we solve the following Lippmann-Schwinger scattering integral equation in momentum space

$`f_{\nu ^{},\nu }^\pm (𝐤^{},𝐤)`$ $`=`$ $`_{\nu ^{},\nu }^\pm (𝐤^{},𝐤)`$ (1)
$``$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{\nu ^{\prime \prime }}{}}{\displaystyle \frac{\text{d}𝐤^{\prime \prime }}{2\pi ^2}\frac{_{\nu ^{},\nu ^{\prime \prime }}^\pm (𝐤^{},𝐤^{\prime \prime })f_{\nu ^{\prime \prime },\nu }^\pm (𝐤^{\prime \prime },𝐤)}{k_{\nu ^{\prime \prime }}^2/4k^{\prime \prime 2}/4+\text{i}0}}`$ (2)
where the singlet (+) and triplet ($``$) “Born” amplitudes, $`^\pm `$, are given by $`_{\nu ^{},\nu }^\pm (𝐤^{},𝐤)=g_{\nu ^{},\nu }^D(𝐤^{},𝐤)\pm g_{\nu ^{},\nu }^E(𝐤^{},𝐤),`$ where $`g^D`$ and $`g^E`$ represent the direct and exchange Born amplitudes and the $`f^\pm `$ are the singlet and triplet scattering amplitudes, respectively. The quantum states are labeled by the indices $`\nu `$, referring to the Ps atom. The variables $`𝐤`$, $`𝐤^{}`$, $`𝐤^{\prime \prime }`$ etc denote the appropriate momentum states of Ps; $`𝐤_{\nu ^{\prime \prime }}`$ is the on-shell relative momentum of Ps in the channel $`\nu ^{\prime \prime }`$. We use atomic unit (a.u.) where $`\mathrm{}=m=1`$ with $`m`$ is the electron mass.

To avoid complication of calculating exchange potential with a many-electron wave function, we consider a frozen-core one-electron approximation for the targets Na and K. Such wave functions have been successfully used for scattering of alkali metal atoms in other contexts and also for positronium scattering by Li . The Na(3s) and K(4s) frozen-core hydrogen-atom-like wave functions are taken as

$`\varphi _{\text{Na}}(𝐫)={\displaystyle \frac{1}{9\sqrt{3}\sqrt{4\pi \overline{a}_0^3}}}(66\rho +\rho ^2)e^{\rho /2}`$ (3)
$`\varphi _\text{K}(𝐫)={\displaystyle \frac{1}{96\sqrt{4\pi \overline{a}_0^3}}}(2436\rho +12\rho ^2\rho ^3)e^{\rho /2}`$ (4)
where $`\rho =2r\alpha `$ with $`\alpha =1/(n\overline{a}_0)`$. Here $`n=3`$ for Na and = 4 for K and $`\overline{a}_0=(2n^2E_i)^1a_0`$ with $`E_i`$ the ionization energy of the target in a.u. and $`a_0`$ the Bohr radius of H. Here we use the following experimental values for ionization energies for Na and K, respectively: 5.138 eV and 4.341 eV .

The direct Born amplitude of Ps scattering is given by

$`g_{\nu ^{},\nu }^D(𝐤_𝐟,𝐤_𝐢)`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{4}{Q^2}}{\displaystyle }\varphi ^{}(𝐫)[1\mathrm{exp}(\text{i}𝐐.𝐫)]\varphi (𝐫)\text{d}𝐫`$ (5)
$`\times `$ $`{\displaystyle }\chi _\nu ^{}^{}(𝐭)2\text{i}\mathrm{sin}(𝐐.𝐭/2)\chi _\nu (𝐭)\text{d}𝐭,`$ (6)
where $`\varphi (𝐫)`$ is the target wave function and $`\chi (𝐭)`$ is the Ps wave function. The exchange amplitude corresponding to the model potential is given by

$`g_{\nu ^{},\nu }^E(𝐤_𝐟,𝐤_𝐢)`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{4(1)^{l+l^{}}}{D}}{\displaystyle }\varphi ^{}(𝐫)\mathrm{exp}(\text{i}𝐐.𝐫)\varphi (𝐫)\text{d}𝐫`$ (7)
$`\times `$ $`{\displaystyle }\chi _\nu ^{}^{}(𝐭)\mathrm{exp}(\text{i}𝐐.𝐭/2)\chi _\nu (𝐭)\text{d}𝐭`$ (8)
with

$$D=(k_i^2+k_f^2)/8+C^2[\alpha ^2+(\beta _\nu ^2+\beta _\nu ^{}^2)/2]$$
(9)
where $`l`$ and $`l^{}`$ are the angular momenta of the initial and final Ps states and $`C`$ is the only parameter of the exchange potential. The initial and final Ps momenta are $`𝐤_𝐢`$ and $`𝐤_𝐟`$, $`𝐐=𝐤_𝐢𝐤_𝐟`$, and $`\beta _\nu ^2`$ and $`\beta _\nu ^{}^2`$ are the binding energies of the initial and final states of Ps in a.u., respectively. It has been demonstrated for the Ps-H system that at high energies the model-exchange amplitude (7) reduces to  the Born-Oppenheimer exchange amplitude . This exchange potential for Ps scattering is considered  to be a generalization of the Ochkur-Rudge exchange potential for electron scattering .

After a partial-wave projection, the system of coupled equations (2) is solved by the method of matrix inversion. Forty Gauss-Legendre quadrature points are used in the discretization of each momentum-space integral. The calculation is performed with the exact Ps wave functions and frozen-core orbitals (3) and (4) for Na and K ground state. We consider Ps-Na and Ps-K scattering using the three-Ps-state model that includes the following states: Ps(1s)Na(3s), Ps(2s)Na(3s), Ps(2p)Na(3s), and Ps(1s)K(4s), Ps(2s)K(4s), Ps(2p)K(4s), for Na and K, respectively. The parameter $`C`$ of the potential given by (7) and (9) was adjusted to fit the accurate theoretical results  for PsNa and PsK binding energies which are 0.005892 a.u. and 0.003275 a.u., respectively. We find that $`C=0.785`$ fits both binding energies well in the three-Ps-state model and this value of $`C`$ is used in all calculations reported here. The proper strength of the model potential is obtained by fitting the binding energies of the Ps-Na and Ps-K systems, and it is expected that this choice of $`C`$ would lead to a good overall description of scattering in these systems. We recall that this value of $`C`$ also reproduced the accurate variational result of PsH resonance energy in a recent five-state model for Ps-H scattering . A similar variation of the parameter $`C`$ from unity also led to a good overall description of the total scattering cross section in agreement with experiment  in the Ps-He system in the energy range 0 eV to 70 eV .

The Ps-Na and Ps-K systems have an effective attractive interaction in the electronic singlet channel as in Ps-H  and Ps-Li  systems. The targets of these systems have one active electron outside a closed shell. In the present three-Ps-state calculation we find resonances in the singlet channel in both systems. No resonances appear in the triplet channel possibly because of a predominantly repulsive interaction in this channel. For the resonances to appear, the inclusion of the excited states of Ps is fundamental in a coupled-channel calculation. The static-exchange model with both the target and Ps in the ground state does not lead to these resonances. A detailed study of these resonances in coupled-channel study of Ps-H  and Ps-Li  systems in the singlet channel has appeared in the literature.

Here to study the resonances, first we calculate the S-, P- and D-wave elastic phase shifts and cross sections in the singlet channel of the Ps-Na and Ps-K systems using the 3-Ps-state model. In figure 1 we show the low-energy singlet S-wave cross sections. The singlet S-wave phase shifts near the resonance energies are shown in the off-set of figure 1. The Ps-Na system has a resonance at 4.58 eV of width 0.002 eV. The resonance in the Ps-K system appears at 4.77 eV and has a width 0.003 eV. The phase shift curves clearly show the resonances where the phase shifts jump by $`\pi `$.

In figure 2 we show the singlet P-wave Ps-Na and Ps-K elastic phase shifts; the corresponding singlet P-wave cross sections are shown in the off-set. Both systems possess resonances at 5.07 eV of width of 0.3 eV. The cross sections clearly exhibit these resonances. In figure 3 we plot the D-wave singlet elastic cross sections for Ps-Na and Ps-K systems at low energies. There is a structure in both systems at 5.3 eV which is more diffuse than in S and P waves.

Next we calculate the different partial cross sections of Ps-Na and Ps-K scattering. The convergence of the cross sections with respect to partial waves is slower in this case than in the case of Ps-H scattering. At a incident Ps energy of 50 eV, 40 partial waves were used to achieve convergence of the partial-wave scheme. In figures 4 and 5 we plot different angle-integrated partial cross sections of Ps-Na and Ps-K scattering, respectively. Specifically, we plot the elastic, Ps(2s) and Ps(2p) excitation cross sections using the three-Ps-state model. For comparison we also plot the elastic cross section obtained with the static-exchange model. The elastic cross section is large at low energies in both systems. The effect of the inclusion of highly polarizable Ps(2) states in the coupling scheme could be considerable, specially at low energies. The local minima in the three-Ps-state elastic cross section for both systems at about $`45`$ eV are manifestations of the P- and D-wave resonances in this energy region. Similar minima found in electron scattering by alkali-metal atoms are also consequences of resonances .

To summarize, we have performed a three-Ps-state coupled-channel calculation of Ps-Na and Ps-K scattering at low energies using a regularized symmetric nonlocal electron-exchange model potential  successfully used  previously in different Ps scattering problems. The only parameter of the model potential was adjusted to fit accurate theoretical result for PsNa and PsK binding . We present the results of angle-integrated partial cross sections at different Ps energies. We find resonances in S, P and D waves near the Ps(2) excitation threshold. In this study we have used a three-Ps-state model. Similar resonances have been observed in the coupled-channel study of electron-H , electron-Na, electron-K , positron-hydrogen , Ps-H  and Ps-Li  systems. In most cases, a more complete calculation and (in some cases) experiments have reconfirmed these resonances. Hence we do not believe that the appearance of resonances in the present three-state calculation to be so peculiar as to have no general validity. On the contrary, in view of the correlation found between resonance and binding energies in the singlet Ps-H system , it is expected that the reproduction of correct binding energies of the Ps-Na and Ps-K systems in the present model should lead to correct resonance energies in these systems. However, the resonance energies might change slightly after a more complete calculation (with accurate many-body wave functions of the target and including the excited states of the target) and it would be intersting to study the present resonances using more complete theoretical models in the future in addition to compare the present results with future experiments.

The work is supported in part by the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento - Científico e Tecnológico, Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo, and Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos of Brazil.

Figure Caption:

1. Singlet S-wave elastic cross sections at different Ps energies for Ps-Na (dashed line) and Ps-K (full line) scattering. The corresponding phase shifts near resonance are shown in the off-set.

2. Singlet P-wave elastic phase shifts at different Ps energies for Ps-Na (dashed line) and Ps-K (full line) scattering. The corresponding cross sections are shown in the off-set.

3. Singlet D-wave elastic cross sections at different Ps energies for Ps-Na (dashed line) and Ps-K (full line) scattering.

4. Partial cross sections for Ps-Na scattering at different Ps energies: three-Ps-state elastic (full line), three-Ps-state Ps(2s) (dashed-dotted line), three-Ps-state Ps(2p) (short-dashed line), static-exchange elastic (long-dashed line).

5. Same as in figure 4 for Ps-K scattering.