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# The flavor-changing rare top decays 𝑡→𝑐𝑉𝑉 in topcolor-assisted technicolor theory

## Abstract

In the framework of topcolor-assisted technicolor (TC2) theory, we calculate the contributions of the scalars( the neutral top-pion $`\pi _t^0`$ and the top-Higgs $`h_t^0`$ ) to the flavor-changing rare top decays $`tcVV`$($`V=W,g`$, $`\gamma `$ or $`Z`$). Our results show that $`h_t^0`$ can enhance the standard model $`B_r^{SM}(tcWW)`$ by several orders of magnitude for most of the parameter space. The peak of the branching ratio resonance emerges when the top-Higgs mass is between $`2m_W`$ and $`m_t`$. The branching ratio $`B_r(tcWW)`$ can reach $`10^3`$ in the narrow range.

The large value of the top quark mass offers the possibility that it plays a special role in current particle physics. Indeed, the properties of the top quark could reveal information on flavor physics, electroweak symmetry breaking(EWSB) as well as new physics beyond the standard model(SM). One of these consequences is that the flavor-changing rare top decays which are very small due to the GIM-suppressed in the SM can be used to detect new physics. This fact has lead to a lot of theoretical activity involving the rare top decays within some specific models beyond the SM.

The strong top dynamical symmetry breaking models, such as topcolor-assisted technicolor(TC2) models and top see-saw models, are attractive because they explain the large top quark mass and provide possible dynamical mechanism for breaking electroweak symmetry. Such type of models generally predict light composite scalars with large Yukawa couplings to the third generation. This induces distinct new flavor mixing phenomena which may be tested at both low and high energies . For example, TC2 theory  predicts the existence of the top-pions$`(\pi _t^\pm ,\pi _t^0)`$ and the neutral CP-even state, called top-Higgs $`h_t^0`$. These new particles are most directly related to the dynamical symmetry breaking mechanism. Thus, studying the possible signatures of these new particles at high energy colliders will be of special interest.

Ref has pointed out that the Yukawa couplings of the scalars to charm and bottom quarks can be large due to a significant mixing of the top and charm quarks. Furthermore, the neutral scalars($`\pi _t^0`$ and $`h_t^0`$) can couple to a pair of gauge bosons through the top quark triangle loop in an isospion violating way. The main difference between the neutral top-pion $`\pi _t^0`$ and top-Higgs $`h_t^0`$ is that $`h_t^0`$ can couple to gauge boson pairs WW and ZZ at tree level, which is similarly to that of the SM Higgs H. Thus, the neutral scalars may have significant contributions to the rare top decays $`tcVV(V=W,g,\gamma `$ or $`Z`$)\[$`tcWW`$ (only for $`h_t^0`$), $`tcgg`$, $`tc\gamma \gamma `$ and $`tcZ\gamma `$\].

The top quark mass has been measured  by reconstructing the decay products of top pairs produced at the Tevatron. The combined measurement from CDF and D0 is $`m_t173.4\pm 5.1`$GeV. This implies that the rare top decay $`tcWW`$ is allowed. However, this process is occurring near threshold and is highly phase space suppressed. Within the SM, the decay channel $`tcWW`$ is also highly GIM-suppressed $`(B_r^{SM}(tcWW)10^{13}\text{[9]})`$, which can not be observed in the future high energy colliders. So, studying such rare top decay will be very useful to detect the effects of new physics.

In this letter, we first calculate the contributions of the top-Higgs $`h_t^0`$ to the rare decay channel $`tcWW`$. We find that the peak of the branching ratio resonance emerges when the top-Higgs mass is between $`2m_W`$ and $`m_t`$. For $`m_{h_t^0}`$ = 165 GeV, the value of $`B_r(tcWW)`$ is $`3\times 10^3`$ for $`\epsilon `$ = 0.01 and $`5.6\times 10^2`$ for $`\epsilon `$ = 0.08. We further estimate the partial widths of the rare top decays $`tcgg`$, $`tc\gamma \gamma `$ and $`tcZ\gamma `$ contributed by the neutral scalars ( $`\pi _t^0`$ and $`h_t^0`$). The new contributions can enhance the SM partial widths by several orders of magnitude. Even so, it is very difficult to detect the possible signatures of the neutral scalars via these flavor-changing processes.

To solve the phenomenological difficulties of traditional TC theory, TC2 theory  was proposed by combing TC interactions with the topcolor interactions for the third generation at the scale of about 1 TeV. In TC2 theory, the TC interactions play a main role in breaking the electroweak symmetry. The ETC interactions give rise to the masses of the ordinary fermions including a very small portion of the top quark mass, namely $`\epsilon m_t`$ with a model dependent parameter $`\epsilon 1`$. The topcolor interactions also make small contributions to the EWSB, and give rise to the main part of the top quark mass, $`(1\epsilon )m_t`$. So, for TC2 theory, there is the following relation:

$$\nu _\pi ^2+F_t^2=\nu _w^2,$$
(1)
where $`\nu _\pi `$ represents the contributions of the TC or other interactions to the EWSB, $`F_t50GeV`$ is decay constant of the scalars predicted by TC2 theory, and $`\nu _w`$ = $`\nu /\sqrt{2}174GeV`$. Thus, the majority of the masses of gauge bosons W and Z come from the technifermion condensate.

For TC2 models, the underlying interactions, i.e. topcolor interactions, are non-universal and therefore do not possess a GIM mechanism. When the non-universal interactions are written in the mass eigen-states, it may lead to the flavor changing coupling vertices of the new gauge bosons, such as $`Z^{}tc,Z^{}\mu e,Z^{}\mu \tau `$. Thus, the new gauge boson $`Z^{}`$ have significant contributions to some lepton flavor changing processes. Furthermore, the neutral scalars predicted by this kind of models have the flavor changing scalar coupling vertices. The coupling of the neutral scalars $`S`$ ( $`\pi _t^0`$ or $`h_t^0`$) to the ordinary fermions can be written as:

$$St\overline{t}:\frac{im_t}{\sqrt{2}F_t}\frac{\sqrt{\nu _w^2F_t^2}}{\nu _w}K_{UR}^{tt},S\overline{t}c:\frac{im_t}{\sqrt{2}F_t}\frac{\sqrt{\nu _w^2F_t^2}}{\nu _w}K_{UR}^{tc}.$$
(2)
Ref. has shown that the value of $`K_{UR}^{ij}`$ can be taken as:

$$K_{UR}^{tt}=1\epsilon ,K_{UR}^{tc}\sqrt{2\epsilon \epsilon ^2}.$$
(3)
The couplings of the scalars to the bottom quark can be approximately written as :

$$Sb\overline{b}:\frac{i(m_bm_b^{^{}})}{\sqrt{2}F_t}\frac{\sqrt{\nu _w^2F_t^2}}{\nu _w},$$
(4)
where $`m_b^{^{}}`$ is the ETC generated part of the bottom-quark mass. According to the idea of TC2 theory, the masses of the first and second generation fermions are also generated by ETC interactions. We have $`\epsilon m_t=\frac{m_c}{m_s}m_b^{^{}}`$ . If we take $`m_s`$=0.12GeV and $`m_c`$=1.2GeV, then we have $`m_b^{^{}}=0.1\times \epsilon m_t`$.

The couplings of the neutral scalars to gauge boson pairs $`gg`$, $`\gamma \gamma `$ or $`Z\gamma `$ via the top quark triangle loop are isospin violating. The general form of the effective $`SV_1V_2`$ couplings can be written as :

$$\frac{1}{1+\delta _{V_1V_2}}\frac{\alpha S_{SV_1V_2}}{\pi F_t}Sϵ_{\mu \nu \alpha \beta }(^\mu V_1^\nu )(^\alpha V_2^\beta ),$$
(5)
where $`V_1^\nu `$ and $`V_2^\beta `$ represent the field operators of the gauge bosons. The anomalous factors $`S_{SV_1V_2}`$ are model dependent. They have been given in Refs..

The neutral top-pion $`\pi _t^0`$ can not couple to gauge boson pairs $`WW`$ and $`ZZ`$ at tree level. The couplings of the top-Higgs $`h_t^0`$ to the electroweak gauge bosons at tree level are suppressed by the factor $`F_t/\nu _w`$ with respect to that of the SM Higgs. For the top-Higgs $`h_t^0`$, we have

$$h_t^0WW:\frac{iF_t}{\nu _w}gm_Wg_{\mu \nu },h_t^0ZZ:\frac{iF_t}{\nu _w}\frac{gm_Z}{cos\theta _W}g_{\mu \nu }.$$
(6)
From above discussion, we can see that the top-Higgs $`h_t^0`$ may have significantly contributions to the rare top quark decay channel $`tcWW`$. The relative amplitude is:

$`M(tcWW)`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{m_t}{\sqrt{2}F_t}}{\displaystyle \frac{\sqrt{\nu _w^2F_t^2}}{\nu _w}}K_{UR}^{tc}{\displaystyle \frac{F_tgm_W}{\nu _w}}\overline{u}(p_c)\gamma _5u(p_t)`$ (7)
$`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{K^2m_{h_t^0}^2+im_{h_t^0}\mathrm{\Gamma }_{total}}}\epsilon _\mu (k_1,\lambda _1)g^{\mu \nu }\epsilon _\nu (k_2,\lambda _2),`$
where the four momenta $`K`$ is given by

$$K=P_tP_c=k_1+k_2.$$
(8)
Where $`k_i`$ is the four momenta of the gauge boson $`W`$. For $`150GeVm_{h_t^0}350GeV`$, the total decay width of the top-Higgs $`h_t^0`$ can be written as :

$`\mathrm{\Gamma }_{total}`$ $`=`$ $`\mathrm{\Gamma }(h_t^0b\overline{b})+\mathrm{\Gamma }(h_t^0gg)+\mathrm{\Gamma }(h_t^0\gamma \gamma )`$ (9)
$`+`$ $`\mathrm{\Gamma }(h_t^0Z\gamma )+\mathrm{\Gamma }(h_t^0\overline{t}c)(form_{h_t^0}m_t+m_c)`$
$`+`$ $`\mathrm{\Gamma }(h_t^0WW)(form_{h_t^0}2m_W)`$
$`+`$ $`\mathrm{\Gamma }(h_t^0ZZ)(form_{h_t^0}2m_Z).`$
The branching ratio $`B_r(tcWW)`$ contributed by the top-Higgs $`h_t^0`$ is plotted in Fig.1 as a function of the top-Higgs mass $`m_{h_t^0}`$ for three values of the parameter $`\epsilon `$. In Fig.1 we have assumed that the total top width is dominated by the decay channel $`tWb`$ and taken $`\mathrm{\Gamma }(tWb)=1.56GeV`$. The three-body phase space integral was performed numerically for the parameter values $`m_W=80.4GeV`$, $`m_t=175GeV`$, $`m_c=1.2GeV`$, $`\alpha _e=\frac{1}{128}`$, $`\alpha _s=0.118`$ and $`\mathrm{sin}\theta _w=0.2312`$ . From Fig.1 we can see that the peak of the branching ratio $`B_r(tcWW)`$ resonance emerges when $`m_{h_t^0}`$ is between $`2m_W`$ and $`m_t`$. This is consisted with the results obtained in Ref.. For $`m_{h_t^0}`$=165GeV, the value of the $`B_r(tcWW)`$ is $`3\times 10^3`$ for $`\epsilon `$=0.01 and $`5.6\times 10^2`$ for $`\epsilon `$=0.08. The $`B_r(tcWW)`$ decreases rapidly in the regions $`m_{h_t^0}<2m_W`$ or $`m_{h_t^0}>m_t`$. However, for most of the parameter space of the TC2 theory, the branching ratio is several orders of magnitude larger than the $`B_r^{SM}(tcWW)`$.

The amplitudes of the rare top decays $`tcgg`$, $`tc\gamma \gamma `$ and $`tcZ\gamma `$ generated by the neutral top-pion $`\pi _t^0`$ can be written as:

$`M(tcVV)`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{m_t}{\sqrt{2}F_t}}{\displaystyle \frac{\sqrt{\nu _w^2F_t^2}}{\nu _w}}K_{UR}^{tc}{\displaystyle \frac{\alpha S_{\pi _t^0V_1V_2}}{2\pi F_t}}`$
$`\overline{u}(P_c)\gamma ^5u(P_t){\displaystyle \frac{1}{K^2m_{\pi _t}^2+im_{\pi _t}\mathrm{\Gamma }}}(P_{V_1\mu }ϵ_{V_1\nu }P_{V_1\nu }ϵ_{V_1\mu })(P_{V_2}^\mu ϵ_{V_2}^\nu P_{V_2}^\nu ϵ_{V_2}^\mu ),`$
where $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ is the total decay widths of the neutral top-pion $`\pi _t^0`$.

The partial decay widths of the rare top decay channels $`tcVV`$ are plotted in Fig.2 as functions of the top-pion mass $`m_{\pi _t}`$ for $`ϵ=0.01`$. In Fig.2, we have taken the cut that the angle between photons or gluons is larger than $`15^{}`$ and the energy of photons or gluons $`E_{\gamma (g)}20GeV`$. From Fig.2 we can see that the partial widths decrease as $`m_{\pi _t}`$ increasing in most of the parameter space. If we assume that the part of the top quark mass generated by the topcolor interactions makes up 99% of $`m_t`$, then we have $`\mathrm{\Gamma }(tcgg)10^9GeV`$, $`\mathrm{\Gamma }(tc\gamma \gamma )10^{10}GeV`$ and $`\mathrm{\Gamma }(tcZ\gamma )10^{10}GeV`$.

Ref. has discussed the rare top decay channel $`tcH`$ in the SM. Their results show that $`B_r(tcH)9\times 10^{14}`$ for $`m_H=100GeV`$. The dominant decay modes of the SM Higgs boson are $`b\overline{b}`$, $`\tau \overline{\tau }`$ and $`c\overline{c}`$. The branching ratios $`B_r^{SM}(HVV)`$ are very small: $`B_r^{SM}(Hgg)5\times 10^2`$, $`Br^{SM}(H\gamma \gamma )10^3`$ and $`B_r^{SM}(HZ\gamma )10^4`$. Thus, the $`B_r(tcVV)`$ contributed by the neutral top-pion $`\pi _t^0`$ is larger than that of the SM by several orders of magnitude.

The contributions of $`h_t^0`$ to the rare top decays $`tcVV`$( $`V=g`$, $`\gamma `$ or $`Z`$ ) are similar to that of $`\pi _t^0`$. Certainly, $`h_t^0`$ can couple to gauge boson pair $`WW`$ and can give contributions to the rare top decays $`tc\gamma \gamma `$ and $`tcZ\gamma `$ via $`W`$ loops. This may enhance the branching ratios $`B_r(tc\gamma \gamma )`$ and $`B_r(tcZ\gamma )`$ relative to that of $`\pi _t^0`$. However, the coupling $`h_t^0WW`$ is suppressed with respect to the case of the SM Higgs boson $`H`$ by a factor $`\frac{F_t}{\nu _w}`$. Thus the enhancement is very small. We can neglect the contributions of $`W`$ loops to the rare top decays $`tc\gamma \gamma `$ and $`tcZ\gamma `$. The decay widths of the decays $`tcVV`$ ( $`V=g`$, $`\gamma `$ or $`Z`$ ) given by the top-Higgs $`h_t^0`$ approximately equal to that of the neutral top-pion $`\pi _t^0`$.

To assess the discovery reach of the rare top quark decays in the future high energy colliders, Ref. has roughly estimated the following sensitivities for $`100fb^1`$ of integrated luminosity :

$$LHC:B_r(tcX)5\times 10^5$$

$$LC:B_r(tcX)5\times 10^4$$

$$TEV33:B_r(tcX)5\times 10^3$$
(11)
Thus, the effects of $`h_t^0`$ on the rare top decay $`tcWW`$ can be detected in the future high energy colliders. If it is not this case, we can conclude that the mass of the top-Higgs $`h_t^0`$ must be larger than 180GeV.

The scalars predicted by the TC2 theory have large Yukawa couplings to the third family fermions and induce the new flavor changing scalar couplings including the $`tc`$ transitions for the neutral scalars. Thus, the neutral scalars have significant contributions to the rare top decay channels $`tcVV`$. If the mass of the top-Higgs lies in the narrow range $`160GeVm_{h_t^0}180GeV`$, the rare top decay $`tcWW`$ may be used to detect the signatures of the top-Higgs $`h_t^0`$. For the neutral top-pion $`\pi _t^0`$, we have to use other processes to detect its possible signatures.

Figure captions

The branching ratio $`B_r(tcWW)`$ as a function of the top-Higgs mass $`m_{h_t}`$ for the parameter $`ϵ=0.01`$ (solid line), $`0.05`$(dotted line) and $`0.08`$(dashed line).

The partial decay widths $`\mathrm{\Gamma }(tcVV)`$ versus the mass $`m_{\pi _t}`$ for $`ϵ=0.01`$.


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# Infrared Observations and Modeling of one of the Coolest T Dwarfs, Gl 570D

## 1 Introduction

Brown dwarfs with effective temperatures of 1800–3000 K have spectra closely resembling those of red dwarf stars at similar temperatures, and the two types of objects share the same classification scheme, either as M-types in roughly the upper two-thirds of this range or as early L-types in the lower one-third. The later L-types (with Teff below about 1800 K) are solely the domain of brown dwarfs, but the visible and short wavelength IR spectra of these objects are a steady continuation of the trends seen in the spectra of early L-types, with alkali metal lines, metal hydride bands, and water vapor bands strengthening with decreasing temperature. As the surface of a brown dwarf cools below approximately 1300–1500 K, however, an important chemical change occurs as methane (CH4) attains a large abundance at the expense of carbon monoxide (CO). The many strong infrared absorption bands of CH4 and the disappearance of condensates (which significantly affect the spectra of L-types) below the photosphere substantially alter the spectral appearance of the brown dwarf, the former making it totally unlike any stellar object. Once this happens it is thought that dramatic changes in the short wavelength infrared spectrum do not occur again until water vapor begins to condense, at temperatures of about 400 K.

Nakajima et al. (1995) and Oppenheimer et al. (1995) used near-infrared imaging and spectroscopy to discover Gliese 229B, the first brown dwarf for which absorption bands of methane and water dominate the 1-2.5 $`\mu `$m region. Since early 1999 roughly a dozen additional brown dwarfs with 1–2.5 $`\mu `$m spectra similar to Gl 229B have been reported (e.g., Strauss et al. 1999; Burgasser et al. 1999; Cuby et al. 1999; Tsvetanov et al. 2000; Burgasser, Kirkpatrick, & Brown 2001), largely by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) and the Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS), and are currently known as T dwarfs. The similarity of these spectra attests to the expected slow evolution of the short wavelength infrared spectrum of a T dwarf with decreasing temperature, once methane has become the dominant reservoir of carbon. Recently dwarfs in the L-T transition region near T$`{}_{eff}{}^{}`$ 1500 K, with detectable CO and CH4 in the 1.5-2.5 $`\mu `$m region, also have been identified (Leggett et al. 2000; Geballe et al., in preparation) and absorption by the fundamental band of CH4 near 3.3 $`\mu `$m has been found in mid to late L-type dwarfs by Noll et al. (2000).

The discovery of brown dwarfs with temperatures much lower than Gl 229B is made difficult by their lower luminosities and the eventual shift with lower temperatures of the bulk of their emissions toward longer wavelengths, where ground-based observations are more difficult. However, a few brown dwarfs found by 2MASS have temperatures and luminosities significantly below those of Gl 229B - type dwarfs. One of these is Gliese 570D, discovered by Burgasser et al. (2000) and estimated by them to have an effective temperature of 750$`\pm `$50 K and luminosity of (2.8$`\pm `$0.3)$`\times `$10-6 L. We have obtained a medium resolution 0.8–2.5 $`\mu `$m spectrum of this object, which represents a substantial increase in resolving power, wavelength coverage, and signal-to noise ratio over that reported by Burgasser et al. (2000). Here we present this spectrum and new photometry, along with a detailed analysis which yields improved values for temperature, luminosity and surface gravity.

## 2 Observations and data reduction

### 2.1 Photometry

JHK infrared photometry was obtained for Gl 570D on UT 2000 February 1 with the UFTI camera on the 3.8 m United Kingdom Infrared Telescope (UKIRT) on Mauna Kea. L photometry was obtained on 2000 May 15 with IRCAM, also on UKIRT. Weather conditions were photometric on both nights. No color term is needed to convert the L data to the established “UKIRT” L system; however, the J, H and K photometric systems are different from the “UKIRT” system due to significant differences in the filter set. The new photometric system is referred to as the “MKO–NIR” system, as the recently specified Mauna Kea–Near Infrared filter set defines the system. Transformations between the established UKIRT system and the new MKO–NIR system are presented in Hawarden et al. (2000).

### 2.2 Spectroscopy

Spectra of Gl 570D were acquired at UKIRT on UT 2000 March 13-15, utilizing the facility 1-5$`\mu `$m 2D array spectrometer, CGS4 (Mountain et al. 1990). An observing log is provided in Table 1. Sky conditions were excellent. The observations employed CGS4’s 40 lines/mm grating in second order shortward of 1.4 $`\mu `$m and in first order longward of that wavelength, and a 2-pixel (1.2$`\mathrm{}`$) wide, 80$`\mathrm{}`$ long slit. Observations were obtained in the stare: nod-along-slit mode, with a nod of 7.32$`\mathrm{}`$ (12 rows on the array). Prior to observing in each waveband the spectrum of the nearby F5V star, HD 126819 was measured for the purpose of flux calibration and removal of telluric absorption lines. Spectra of argon and krypton arc lamps were obtained for wavelength calibration.

The data reduction employed Figaro routines to extract source spectra from the spectral images produced by the CGS4 array, wavelength-calibrate them, ratio them, and perform an initial flux calibration. It was found that where the spectral segments overlapped or adjoined one another (at 1.0–1.1 $`\mu `$m, 1.3–1.5$`\mu `$m, and 1.9–2.1 $`\mu `$m) they did not match perfectly; typical disagreements were 10 percent. The mismatches are probably due to variations in guiding accuracy and in seeing during the observations, as well as probable inaccuracies in the IR magnitudes of the calibration star used in the reduction. The spectral segments were scaled by small factors in order to adjoin to one another smoothly and to match the photometry as well as possible, which they do to $`\pm `$5%.

## 3 Results

Table 2 gives the JHKL values in the “MKO–NIR” system as well as in the “UKIRT” system. The latter has been calculated by convolving the flux-calibrated energy distribution with the old filter profiles. These show Gl 570D to be considerably bluer at $`JK`$ than reported by Burgasser et al. (2000) and indeed bluer than all but one T dwarf reported to date. For example, for the T dwarfs Gl 229B, SDSS 1346, and SDSS 1624, $`JK`$ is in the range $`0.4JK0.1`$ (Leggett et al. 1999, 2000) whereas for Gl 570D $`JK`$ is -0.51$`\pm `$0.07 (both in the UKIRT system). This increasing blueness continues the trend that has been found from the latest L-types through the earliest T-types and on to the classical T dwarfs such as Gl 229B (Leggett et al. 2000). Furthermore Stephens et al. (2001) and Marley et al. (2001) find that $`KL^{}`$ increases monotonically through the L and T sequence. Stephens et al. find SDSS 1624 to have the reddest $`KL^{}`$ of five T dwarfs observed at $`2.54\pm 0.08`$, while we find Gl 570D has $`KL^{}=3.54\pm 0.05`$, again suggesting that Gl 570D is quite cool.

The 0.83–2.52 $`\mu `$m spectrum of Gl 570D (continuous apart from a gap at 1.36–1.44 $`\mu `$m and slightly smoothed) is shown in Fig. 1. The figure also contains a spectrum of Gl 229B (Geballe et al. 1996, flux-calibrated by Leggett et al. 1999) for comparison. The only atomic feature observed in the spectrum of Gl 570D is the potassium doublet near 1.25 $`\mu `$m, which is considerably weaker than the doublet in Gl 229B and is only just discernable. The strong absorption bands of CH4 and H2O define the overall shapes of the two spectra, which are quite similar. However, the bands are deeper and in some cases broader in Gl 570D than Gl 229B. The increasing blueness at $`JK`$ with decreasing temperature is thus seen to be a consequence of the relative degrees of strengthening of the (already very strong) absorption bands of water and methane. It also is due in part to the increased opacities of the broad (and blended) H2 pressure-induced 1-0 S(1), S(0) and Q(1) absorptions at 2.12 $`\mu `$m, 2.22 $`\mu `$m, and 2.41 $`\mu `$m (e.g., Borysow, J$`\varphi `$rgensen, & Zheng 1996).

## 4 Modeling of Gl 570D

The following analysis is based on the brown dwarf atmospheric models described in Burrows et al. (1997) and Saumon et al. (2000) and on the 0.8-2.5 $`\mu `$m spectroscopy and photometry presented here. Briefly, the atmospheres are in radiative/convective equilibrium and the molecular opacities are treated with the k-coefficient method (Goody et al. 1989; Lacis & Oinas 1991). Chemical equilibrium is treated as in Burrows et al. (1997). Gas-phase opacities include Rayleigh scattering, the collision-induced opacity of H2 and the molecular opacities of H2O, CH4, NH3, H2S, PH3, CO, VO, and FeH as well as the continuum opacities of H- and H$`{}_{}{}^{}{}_{2}{}^{}`$. The present models also include the line opacities of Na, K, and Cs as described in Burrows, Marley, & Sharp (2000). It appears that condensates do not play a significant role in shaping the spectrum of the cooler T dwarfs (Burrows et al. 2000; however, see Tsuji, Ohnaka, & Aoki 1999). The opacities of condensation clouds are not included in the present models, although the chemical equilibrium calculation takes into account the formation of condensates. Particulates are assumed to fall below the spectroscopically accessible region of the atmosphere. The equation of radiative transfer is solved including scattering, following Toon (1989).

Compared to the T dwarf Gl 229B, Gl 570D offers the advantage that the primary star of the system is fairly well studied. The metallicity of Gl 570A was determined by Hearnshaw (1976) and Feltzing & Gustafsson (1998) to be \[Fe/H\]=0.01 and $`0.00\pm 0.12`$, respectively. We adopt the solar abundances of Anders & Grevesse (1989) for modeling Gl 570D.

Using the same monochromatic opacities used to compute the k-coefficients, high-resolution synthetic spectra were generated from the atmospheric structures by solving the radiative transfer equation with the Feautrier method (Mihalas 1978) on a frequency grid with $`\mathrm{\Delta }\nu =1`$cm-1. The synthetic spectra were convolved with a Gaussian filter to match the resolution of the observations.

### 4.1 Luminosity, effective temperature and gravity

Because the present spectrum samples more than half of the flux emitted by Gl 570D, and because the distance is known to be 5.91$`\pm `$0.06 pc (Perryman et al. 1997), we can tightly constrain the possible solutions for the surface parameters of Gl 570D by using both synthetic spectra and evolution calculations. We use a method similar to the one applied to Gl 229B by Saumon et al. (2000). The solar-metallicity evolution sequence for cooling brown dwarfs of Burrows et al. (1997) specifies uniquely the bolometric luminosity $`L_{\mathrm{bol}}`$ of a brown dwarf in terms of the effective temperature $`T_{\mathrm{eff}}`$ and the surface gravity $`g`$. This defines a surface $`L_{\mathrm{bol}}(T_{\mathrm{eff}},g)`$.

Our spectrum samples the energy distribution of Gl 570D from 0.83 to 2.52$`\mu `$m. The integral of the observed flux over wavelength, $`L_\mathrm{s}=1.581\times 10^{15}`$W/m2, allows us to estimate $`L_{\mathrm{bol}}`$. We obtain the bolometric correction factor from our synthetic spectra by taking the ratio of the flux integrated over the observed wavelength range to the total emergent flux ($`\sigma T_{\mathrm{eff}}^4`$). This synthetic correction is a function of the spectrum parameters, $`T_{\mathrm{eff}}`$ and $`g`$, and is found to vary between 1.6 and 1.9 in the parameter range of interest here. By applying the bolometric correction to the empirically-determined flux, we obtain another relation for the bolometric luminosity, $`L_{\mathrm{bol}}(T_{\mathrm{eff}},g)`$. The intersection of the two $`L_{\mathrm{bol}}`$ surfaces gives a curve $`T_{\mathrm{eff}}(g)`$ which represents the allowed parameters for Gl 570D. For a given gravity, this curve and the cooling sequence give $`T_{\mathrm{eff}}`$, $`L_{\mathrm{bol}}`$, the mass, the radius, and the age of the brown dwarf. The results are given in Table 3 for three representative gravities.

There are three sources of uncertainty in our determination of $`L_{\mathrm{bol}}`$. The distance to Gl 570D is known to a precision of $`\pm 1`$% and the absolute calibration of our spectrum has an uncertainty of $`\pm 5`$%. Finally, the synthetic bolometric correction depends on the reliability of our synthetic spectra. As discussed below (Section 4.2), there are systematic differences between the synthetic and observed spectra of T dwarfs. Fortunately, these tend to cancel out when calculating integrated fluxes for the bolometric correction. For example, varying the abundance of the main absorber, H2O, by 0.1 dex affects the bolometric correction by only 2%. A consistency check can be made with the L measurement, which we did not include in the computation of the bolometric correction. The synthetic $`L^{}`$ magnitude is 14.32, or 0.2 mag fainter than the observed value. However, only 7.6% of the total flux of Gl 570D is in the L band so the resulting error in the bolometric correction is $`1.5`$%. Other modifications of the synthetic spectrum calculations all indicate that the bolometric correction is correct to within $`\pm 2`$%. The uncertainties in $`L_{\mathrm{bol}}`$ and $`T_{\mathrm{eff}}`$ are thus $`\pm 6`$% ($`\pm 0.03`$ dex) and $`\pm 12`$K, respectively.

Figure 2 shows the models listed in Table 3 superimposed on brown dwarf cooling curves. The nearly vertical band running through the center is a constant luminosity curve with the luminosity of model B ($`\mathrm{log}L/L_{}=5.526\pm 0.03`$). Since all three models A, B, and C have nearly the same luminosity (see Table 3), models A and C also fall within that band. We find that for a given, assumed gravity, Gl 570D is about 160 K cooler than Gl 229B.

#### 4.1.1 The age of the Gl 570 system

So far, we have greatly reduced the allowed space for the physical parameters of Gl 570D (Fig. 2). However, while $`T_{\mathrm{eff}}`$ is between 700 and 870 K, and the well-determined luminosity can range from $`\mathrm{log}L/L_{}=5.55`$ to $`5.50`$, the gravity remains largely unconstrained, and, with it, the mass and age of Gl 570D. We can reduce the possible range of gravities by determining the age of the system. Fortunately, the primary star, Gl 570A, is a well-observed K4 V star to which we can apply several age indicators. The Gl 570 system contains a spectroscopic binary, Gl 570BC. Based on the projected separation of the A–BC system ($`147`$AU), the mass of the primary ($`0.7M_{}`$), and the mass of the BC pair ($`0.976M_{}`$), the orbital period of the A–BC system is of the order of 1400 years (Forveille et al. 1999). By comparison, the rotation period of Gl 570A is only 40 days (Cumming, Marcy, & Butler 1999). We can safely assume that there has been no spin-up of the primary star due to tidal interaction with the BC pair and that we can use stellar activity indicators as if Gl 570A were an isolated star.

The X-ray luminosity of Gl 570A is $`\mathrm{log}L_X(\mathrm{erg}/\mathrm{s})=27.72`$ (Schmitt & Kahabka 1995) or $`5`$ times lower than Hyads of the same spectral type (Stern, Schmitt, & Kahabka 1995), clearly indicating that Gl 570A is older than the Hyades cluster. Gl 570A has old disk kinematics (Leggett 1992), and thus is older than $`1.5`$Gyr (Eggen 1989). The BC pair has a combined spectral type of M1 V, with individual masses of $`0.586M_{}`$ and $`0.390M_{}`$, respectively (Forveille et al. 1999). The lack of Hα emission from the BC pair indicates that it is older than $`2`$Gyr (Soderblom, Duncan, & Johnson 1991; Hawley, Gizis, & Reid 1996). Thus these indicators suggest a lower bound of $`2`$Gyr for the age of the Gl 570 system.

On the other hand, Gl 570A is chromospherically active with a Ca II H and K emission index of $`\mathrm{log}R_{\mathrm{HK}}^{}=4.49`$ (Henry et al. 1996). This is 0.15 less than Hyads of the same spectral type, indicating that Gl 570A is older than the Hyades, in complete agreement with our lower bound for the age. For comparison, the Sun varies from $`\mathrm{log}R_{\mathrm{HK}}^{}=5.10`$ to $`4.75`$ during the solar cycle and is considered inactive. Using the age-emission index relation of Donahue (1993; given in Henry et al. 1996), we obtain an age of 0.8 Gyr for Gl 570A. However, if we assume that Gl 570A was observed during a maximum phase of activity and that its emission index varies with the same amplitude as the Sun’s, then the emission index of Gl 570A might be as low as $`\mathrm{log}R_{\mathrm{HK}}^{}=4.84`$, with a corresponding age of 3.1 Gyr. Figure 10 of Soderblom et al. (1991) shows the data used to derive a similar age-emission index relation. If we consider the stars showing the most extreme scatter toward older ages for a given value of $`\mathrm{log}R_{\mathrm{HK}}^{}`$, including the error bars on the age determinations, we find that to be older than the Sun, Gl 570A would have to have an emission index of less than -4.95, which is extremely unlikely. We conclude that the chromospheric activity of Gl 570A indicates relative youth and a very conservative upper bound of 5 Gyr for its age.

#### 4.1.2 Optimal parameters

Figure 2 shows isochrones for our adopted age range for the Gl 570 system. The allowed range of gravities for Gl 570D is now considerably reduced to 5.00 $``$ $`\mathrm{log}g(\mathrm{cms}^2)`$ 5.27. These extremes correspond to $`T_{\mathrm{eff}}(\mathrm{K})=784`$ (824), $`\mathrm{log}L/L_{}=5.53`$ ($`5.54`$), and $`M/M_J=34`$ (52), respectively. Our values for the physical parameters of Gl 570D agree very well with the estimates of Burgasser et al. (2000). The midpoints of these ranges are $`\mathrm{log}g=5.13`$, $`T_{\mathrm{eff}}=804\pm 12`$K, and $`L=2.93\pm 0.18\times 10^6L_{}`$. The last is less than half the luminosity of Gl 229B. A meaningful comparison of the masses of Gl 570D and Gl 229B is not possible since the mass of the latter is poorly constrained.

We derived the physical parameters simply from the observed integrated flux, the distance to Gl 570D, synthetic bolometric corrections, and cooling tracks for brown dwarfs. As for Gl 229B (Saumon et al. 2000), it was not necessary to fit the observed spectrum with models to derive $`T_{\mathrm{eff}}`$ and the gravity. While the synthetic spectra of T dwarfs are fairly successful at reproducing the observations, there are known problems which affect a few spectral regions (see below). Fitting the spectrum over a wide range of wavelengths remains an imprecise exercise and our method is far more reliable. By relying only on wavelength-integrated fluxes, most of the errors in the synthetic spectrum cancel one another. Our procedure also uses cooling calculations for the $`L(T_{\mathrm{eff}},g)`$ relation, which is rather insensitive to the details of the atmospheric surface boundary condition. Further improvements in the modeling of brown dwarf atmospheres, principally by the inclusion of condensation clouds, will have a very modest effect on this relation.

### 4.2 Synthetic spectrum

We have computed synthetic spectra for the models in Table 3. The flux received at Earth is simply obtained from the radius of each model and the distance to Gl 570D. The resulting spectra are compared to our 0.83–2.52$`\mu `$m spectrum in Fig. 3. We emphasize that no fitting of the spectra has been performed, although spectrum B is a generally better fit to the observations than either A or C. The overall agreement of the model with the data is remarkable. This demonstrates both the power and the internal consistency of our method of analysis and that the overall spectral energy distribution is well-modeled. Nevertheless, all three models show particular deviations from the observed spectrum, most of which are also seen in models for Gl 229B (Allard et al. 1996; Marley et al. 1996; Saumon et al. 2000).

As discussed by Saumon et al. (2000), the CH4 opacity line list becomes increasingly incomplete at temperatures above 300 K. Since Gl 570D is about 160 K cooler than Gl 229B, we expect to obtain a better agreement with the observed spectrum in the CH4 bands. Indeed, the 2.3$`\mu `$m CH4 band, which is formed at a level where $`T600`$K, matches the data extremely well. The 1.6$`\mu `$m band is formed at $`T800`$K, and its overall strength also matches well. The edge of the band appears at longer wavelengths in the model and the features in the 1.63–1.72$`\mu `$m region have a much larger amplitude than in the data, however. This also occurs in models of Gl 229B and shows the limitation of the CH4 opacity data base.

The H2O bands in the model are too strong, notably in the 1.1–1.2$`\mu `$m, 1.3–1.6$`\mu `$m, and 1.8–2.1$`\mu `$m regions. This problem also has plagued cloudless models of Gl 229B and cannot be resolved by simply invoking a lower abundance of H2O. Its persistence suggests that condensates are present in the atmosphere (Tsuji et al. 1999; Ackerman & Marley, 2001) and that they have a small but detectable effect on the spectrum.

The heavily pressure-broadened K I resonance doublet at 0.77$`\mu `$m is mostly responsible for the very weak flux at 0.8–1.0$`\mu `$m (Tsuji et al. 1999; Burrows et al. 2000). In this model, the opacity of the doublet is significant up to 1.1$`\mu `$m, yet the flux is overestimated on the blue side of the 1.08 $`\mu `$m peak. Most of this mismatch is due to an underabundance of neutral K in the cooler part of the atmosphere.

The potassium abundance at levels where $`T<1400`$K depends on the overall treatment of condensates and can be modeled in two ways. One is to consider that condensates form and remain in local equilibrium with the gas. This means that existing high temperature (primary) condensates can react with the gas at lower temperatures and secondary condensates form via gas-solid reactions in the upper, cooler part of the atmosphere. This is the case described as “no rainout” by Burrows & Sharp (1999) and Burrows et al. (2000) and is the one used in the present analysis. However, this scenario for condensate formation may be relevant only for low-gravity environments such as the solar nebula and stellar outflows and thus may be unlikely for brown dwarf atmospheres.

A second approach to condensate formation, more applicable for low-mass stars and brown dwarfs, is the “condensation cloud formation” model, also described as “rainout” by Burrows & Sharp (1999) and Burrows et al. (2000). Primary condensates form directly from the gas and are sequestered in a condensate cloud of finite vertical extent because of the gravity field. This prevents the formation of secondary condensates by gas-solid reactions at lower temperatures (above the cloud) that deplete the abundance of gaseous potassium in the former case of “no rainout.” The condensation cloud formation model predicts a higher abundance of gaseous potassium in the upper part of the atmospheres of T dwarfs (compare Figs. 2 and 3 of Burrows et al. 2000). In Fig. 4, we compare the spectrum computed with the K I abundance from our calculation without “rainout” (solid curve, Burrows & Sharp 1999) and with the condensation cloud formation model (dotted curve, Lodders 1999). The latter agrees much better with the observed spectrum in the region dominated by the K I resonance doublet. This further strengthens the case for the formation of condensate clouds in the atmospheres of T dwarfs as argued by Fegley & Lodders (1996) and Lodders (1999).

The K I doublet at 1.2432 and 1.2522$`\mu `$m is weak but detected in our spectrum, while the model predicts very strong lines. Decreasing $`T_{\mathrm{eff}}`$, increasing $`g`$, and decreasing the potassium abundance could all reduce the strength of the lines in the model. The magnitude of the changes required in these parameters is unreasonable in view of the other constraints, however. The two lines of the doublet share the same lower level of K I (about 1.6 eV above the ground state) and are quite sensitive to temperature. In Gl 570D, this doublet is formed at the level where $`T1600`$K. The strength of the doublet decreases rapidly at lower temperatures. The larger than observed strength of the computed K I doublet may be due to remaining uncertainties in the $`(T,P)`$ profile in the atmosphere model (perhaps due to the effects of condensates deep in the atmosphere). If this is the case, the 1.25$`\mu `$m doublet of K I could become a powerful probe of the temperature profile in T dwarf atmospheres.

A better fit to the spectrum of Gl 570D could be obtained with a more detailed study. While the deviations we find could be due to residual uncertainties in the $`(T,P)`$ profile of the atmosphere or the presence of a warm dust layer, compositional variations from a solar mixture of heavy elements may play a role. Feltzing & Gustafsson (1998) found that the abundances of individual elements in Gl 570A are scattered around the solar values by $`\pm 0.4`$ dex. In particular, they find \[O/H\]=0.16, \[Na/H\]=0.06, and \[Ca/H\]$`=0.11`$ with uncertainties of $`\pm 0.10.2`$ dex. If the abundances of several other key elements (C, N, O, K, Si, and Mg, for example) also deviate appreciably from their solar values, and if we assume that Gl 570D shares the same atmospheric composition as the primary star, the modeled spectrum would be altered. Such refinements go beyond the scope of the present study.

## 5 Summary

New and improved spectra and photometry of Gl 570D, one of the coolest and least luminous brown dwarfs known, have been analyzed by spectral modeling to yield more accurate estimates of luminosity, effective temperature, and surface gravity. The observations demonstrate that the increasing blueness at $`JK`$ of T dwarfs with decreasing temperature continues down to objects with effective temperatures of at least 800 K. Comparison of model spectra with the observed spectra provides some evidence for rainout of condensates and suggests that the K I doublet at 1.25 $`\mu `$m may be a sensitive indicator of the temperature profile in T dwarfs.

We thank A. Burrows for sharing his table of alkali metal abundances, R. A. Donahue for a useful discussion, J.W. Liebert for an important suggestion, and an anonymous referee for several helpful comments. T.G.’s research was supported by the Gemini Observatory, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under a cooperative agreement with the NSF on behalf of the Gemini partnership : the National Science Foundation (United States), the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council (United Kingdom), the National Research Council (Canada), the Australian Research Council (Australia), CNPq (Brazil) and CONICET (Argentina).D.S. acknowledges support from NASA through grant NAG5-4988. G.K. thanks NASA for support via grant NSG5-6734. Work by K.L. was supported by NSF grant AST-0086487. Work by MM was supported by NSF CAREER grant AST 96-24878 and NASA grant NAG5-8919. The United Kingdom Infrared Telescope is operated by the Joint Astronomy Centre on behalf of the U. K. Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council. We thank the staff of UKIRT for its support of these observations and the UKIRT Service Program for providing the L photometry.

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