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# Globular Cluster Distances and Physical Properties from Double- and Fundamental Mode Variables

## 1. Introduction

RR Lyrae stars have played a very important role in astrophysics since the end of the nineteenth century, when the first photographic plates on the variables of globular cluster M5 were taken by Bailey (1899). One of their best known (and perhaps most frequently utilized) properties is the relatively small spread in their average luminosities. The range of this quantity is about $`0.4`$ mag among cluster variables and remains under $`0.6`$ mag even if we include more metal rich RR Lyrae stars, such as the ones in the Galactic field. In the last decade or so many studies have been made to measure/compute RR Lyrae luminosities more accurately. Although it is true that metallicity plays a significant role in determining the luminosity, evolutionary effects should also be considered together with other unknown parameters, most often referred to as ‘second parameters’.

Several years ago we started a program aimed at deriving relative intrinsic parameters of fundamental mode (RRab) variables from their light curves. This idea has been pursued at various levels from the very early dates of pulsating star studies. The best known among them are the various period–luminosity and period–luminosity–color relations. In a more advanced approach, amplitudes have also been involved (e.g., Sandage 1981). We extended these studies to include quantities representing the shape of the light curve. It turned out that some of these quantities (i.e., certain basic Fourier parameters) significantly improve the regressions to some intrinsic parameters, such as the absolute magnitude $`M_V`$ and iron abundance \[Fe/H\]. Our approach is completely empirical and yields accurate estimates for the relative stellar parameters. In Sect. 2 we give a brief description of the method and summarize the updated formulae.

Considering absolute distances of various stellar systems, we studied double-mode variables which have the distinct advantage of yielding extra constraints on the stellar parameters through their two observed pulsation modes which are identified with two of the first three radial eigenmodes. By using the very recent data sets from the macho and ogle variable star inventories, with the aid of pulsation and stellar atmosphere models we derived the distances of several globular clusters and those of the Magellanic Clouds. Sect. 3 gives a concise description of the method and a summary of the derived distances.

Unfortunately, direct application of the above method to $`\omega `$ Cen is not possible, because of the mysterious lack of double-mode variables in this, otherwise well-populated cluster. Therefore, in Sect. 4 we use relative cluster distances to derive the absolute distance of $`\omega `$ Cen. We also estimate its overall reddening by using two independent data sets. A comparison is made between our distance and the one derived from the analysis of the detached binary OGLEGC17 (Thompson et al. 2000; see also Kaluzny 2002). It is shown that there is a significant difference of $`0.2`$ – $`0.4`$ mag between the two distances, with our method favoring the ‘long distance scale’.

The often quoted peculiar metallicity distribution of this cluster is investigated in Sect. 5. From a representative sample of RRab stars, our derived metallicity distribution shows a fair agreement with the ones obtained from the spectroscopic investigation of the giant population. Furthermore, it is pointed out that there are other clusters too, where we may suspect sufficient metallicity spread based on the light curves of the RRab stars.

## 2. Relative intrinsic quantities and metallicities from RRab stars

The underlying assumption in using the light curves of pulsating stars in calculating stellar parameters is that there exist a ‘reasonably simple’ relation between the Fourier and stellar parameters. Unfortunately, except for a broad understanding of this dependence from hydrodynamical models, there is no precise theoretical prediction on the functional form of this relation. Therefore, we approached the problem by searching for best fitting linear combination of the Fourier parameters. All of our results suggest that although the existence of nonlinear relations cannot be excluded, they might play a role only at a level which is lower than the estimated observational noise.

Since our method has been described in several papers (e.g., Kovács & Jurcsik 1996; 1997; Kovács & Walker 2001, hereafter KW01), here we mention only the most important steps. In the context of globular cluster RRab stars, we consider the relation between the observed average magnitudes and the Fourier parameters of the light curves in the Johnson $`V`$ band. Because we deal with different clusters, it is also necessary to find the best relative (reddened) distance moduli. This is done within the fitting procedure, where the Fourier parameters and the relative distance moduli are fitted simultaneously to the apparent average magnitudes. It was shown in KW01 on the basis of 366 stars in 20 clusters that the optimum fit to the intensity-averaged magnitudes is obtained by the following three-parameter formula

$`M_V=1.876\mathrm{log}P1.158A_1+0.821A_3+const.`$ (1)
Here $`M_V`$ denotes the absolute visual magnitude, $`P`$ is the period (in \[day\]), $`A_1`$ and $`A_3`$ are the Fourier amplitudes (in \[mag\]) of the fundamental and second harmonic components, respectively. This formula (with the corresponding relative distance moduli) fits the above mentioned data set with a standard deviation of $`0.040`$ mag, which is higher than the expected observational noise. As it is discussed in KW01, some part of the dispersion can be accounted for by the reddening variation in front of the clusters. Nevertheless, even if we consider this effect, the estimated overall observational noise of the individual average magnitudes becomes $`0.02`$ mag, which is perhaps still higher than expected. We will have a better understanding of this problem when future precise ccd observations will become available on clusters with low reddenings.

We can suppress the effect of reddening variation by using two-color data, and construct a reddening-free, magnitude-averaged quantity, such as $`W=V3.1(BV)`$ (see Dickens & Saunders 1965). By following the same procedure as for $`M_V`$, with the aid of 172 stars in 15 clusters, KW01 obtained the following formula

$`V_03.1(BV)_0=2.467\mathrm{log}P+const.`$ (2)
We see that for this particular quantity, beside the period, there seems to be no need for any other information on the light curve. As it is described in KW01, this result is in contradiction with our earlier finding, which, however was based on the analysis of a much smaller data set. In addition, when a comparison is made with the regression on the reddening-free color index $`Q=VI1.24(BV)`$ computed from a sample including also Galactic field variables, it turns out that either $`V3.1(BV)`$ or $`V2.5(VI)`$ should contain some dependence on $`\phi _{31}`$ (as it is expected from the metallicity dependence of $`Q`$ and from the $`\phi _{31}`$ dependence of \[Fe/H\] – see Jurcsik & Kovács 1996). None of these quantities, based on cluster variables show this dependence. We explain this contradiction as a result of the relatively high noise and small metallicity range of the available cluster variables.

Eq. (2) (with the computed true, i.e., reddening-free relative distance moduli) fits the data with the standard deviation of $`0.041`$ mag. We see that this is almost the same value as the one obtained in the fit of the average $`V`$ magnitude, although we would expect a smaller one, because individual reddenings are thought to be eliminated in the color combination used. However, there is a ‘price to pay’ for this, namely the observational noise is amplified, which, in the case of cluster variables, yields a rather large contribution to the overall error budget.

With the combination of the magnitude-averaged counterpart of Eqs. (1) (see KW01) and Eq. (2), with the zero point given by Kovács & Jurcsik (1997) we obtain the following expression for the intrinsic color index

$`(BV)_0=0.189\mathrm{log}P0.313A_1+0.293A_3+0.460`$ (3)
With this expression one can easily estimate the reddening without resorting to some more elaborate formulae (e.g., Blanco 1992), which are based on less extended samples and use additional quantities, such as metallicity. If less accurate data are available, one can also use a two-parameter formula with $`P`$ and $`A_1`$ as given in KW01 (of course, in this case the result will be somewhat less accurate).

Finally we quote our earlier result concerning the dependence of \[Fe/H\] on the Fourier parameters. Based on a sample of 81 Galactic RRab stars, Jurcsik & Kovács (1996) found that the published iron abundances, obtained from low-dispersion spectroscopic data, can be fitted within the expected accuracy of the measurements with the following formula

$`[\mathrm{Fe}/\mathrm{H}]=5.394P+1.345\phi _{31}5.038`$ (4)
The standard deviation of the fit is 0.13 dex, and the contribution from the Fourier phase is highly significant. The data span almost the full expected range of RR Lyrae metallicities, i.e., from \[Fe/H\]=$`2.0`$ to $`0.0`$. The fact that the metallicity of RR Lyrae stars depends also on other parameters, beside the period, was first recognized by Preston (1959). Although the period-amplitude diagram is still used for diagnostic purposes by some researchers, it is important to note that Eq. (4) fits the above mentioned data set with a factor of two lower dispersion than the regression employing $`P`$ and $`A`$. Application of Eq. (4) to globular clusters yielded good agreement with the spectroscopic values obtained from giants. At the low-metallicity end, however, our formula predict a somewhat (by $`0.2`$ dex) higher metallicity. Although it is possible that Eq. (4) overestimates the metallicity in the low \[Fe/H\] region, because of the relatively high number of less metal poor variables in the Galactic field, it is important to note that a better comparison would require direct spectroscopic measurements for cluster RR Lyrae stars. However, these data, with a comparable accuracy to that of the Galactic field stars, practically do not exist.

## 3. Absolute stellar parameters from double-mode variables

Due to the current microlensing surveys in the Magellanic Clouds, the number of known double-mode stars (RR Lyrae and $`\delta `$ Cephei stars pulsating in two radial modes simultaneously) has increased considerably. Based on the analysis of 1350 variables, previously classified as first overtone RR Lyrae (RRc) stars, Alcock et al. (1997, 2000) discovered 181 double-mode (RRd) stars in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). From the ‘fall-out’ of the ogle project, now we know 76 double-mode Cepheids in the LMC and 93 ones in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) (Udalski et al. 1999a, Soszyński et al. 2000). While in the case of RRd stars the so far securely identified variables all show pulsations only in the fundamental and first overtone modes, we find variables in great number among Cepheids both in the LMC and SMC which pulsate in the first and second overtones. For the significance of these discoveries, it is enough to mention that prior to the microlensing surveys, it was CO Aur known as the only example for first and second overtone pulsation among Cepheids (Babel & Burki 1987). Now, according to the ogle surveys mentioned above, the number of these variables in the Magellanic Clouds is 127.

The importance of double-mode variables comes from fact that their observed periods are very close to the ones computed from linear, purely radiative pulsation models (i.e., the change in the periods due to nonlinear and convective effects is very small – see Kolláth & Buchler 2001). Therefore, the periods are easily comparable with large number of models, and the stellar parameters can be strongly constrained. Since the radial normal mode periods depend mainly on four parameters (mass, luminosity $`L`$, effective temperature $`T_{\mathrm{eff}}`$, and heavy element abundance \[M/H\]), the two periods yield the following expression for the luminosity

$`\mathrm{log}L=f(P_0,P_1,\mathrm{log}T_{\mathrm{eff}},[\mathrm{M}/\mathrm{H}])`$ (5)
Here $`f`$ is a smoothly varying function, usually not computed explicitly, but obtained from pulsation model grids through some interpolation method. Mass is derived in a similar manner.

For the computation of $`T_{\mathrm{eff}}`$ we can use the observed dereddened color index and convert it to $`T_{\mathrm{eff}}`$ with the aid of some current calibration using infrared flux method or other, least model-dependent methods (see, e.g., Blackwell & Lynas-Gray 1994; Alonso, Arribas & Martínez-Roger 1999; Sekiguchi & Fukugita 2000). In our approach we used these more empirical methods to fix the zero point of the temperature scale, but the actual functional dependence of $`T_{\mathrm{eff}}`$ on color index, $`\mathrm{log}g`$ and \[M/H\] is obtained from grids of model atmospheres (Castelli, Gratton & Kurucz 1997). Metallicity \[M/H\] is usually identified with the iron abundance \[Fe/H\] and obtained either from independent estimates or from the RRab population of the host cluster as described in Sect. 2.

Various types of variables have been used to test the above method in deriving distances to nearby globular clusters and to the LMC. In the case of RRd stars we used $`BV`$, whereas for Cepheids we employed $`VI`$ color indices, because they were the ones which were most numerous in the corresponding publications. For the $`T_{\mathrm{eff}}`$ zero points we used the calibration of Blackwell & Lynas-Gray (1994). A large number of purely radiative linear pulsation models were computed in the standard way. We used the opal opacities as given by Iglesias & Rogers (1996). Additional details of the databases and model fitting can be found in Kovács (2000a, b) and references therein.

By using relative distances derived from the RRab populations as described in Sect. 2 and $`DM_{LMC}DM_{SMC}=0.51`$ as given by Udalski et al. (1999b), we converted the cluster distances to the distance modulus of the LMC. The result is shown in Table 1. The the near agreement of the distances derived from diverse stellar populations is very comforting and shows that: (i) the photometric data used from various sources have consistent zero points; (ii) relative distances are well-calibrated; (iii) overall metal abundances (which are at the same time in agreement with the generally accepted cluster or population averages) are properly selected — double-mode masses and luminosities are sensitive functions of the metal abundance; (iv) models yield consistent results for very different double-mode pulsators (RR Lyrae, first overtone/fundamental and first overtone/second overtone Cepheids).

Although the method is affected by various errors, most of them cause changes in the derived distances at a level of several hundredths of a magnitude. Statistical errors are especially small, because of the large number of objects available for us from the microlensing surveys and also because of the notable accuracy of the globular cluster data. Certain systematic errors (e.g., the ones due to photometry, and metal abundance) must also yield a rather small contribution to the total error budget, because otherwise we would get larger differences among the distances derived from various stellar populations. However, there is one source of error which affects all distances in almost the same way, and thereby should be considered as the major ambiguity of the method. This is the choice of the zero point of the color index $`T_{\mathrm{eff}}`$ calibration. In our studies we took the temperature scale based on the infrared flux method as given by Blackwell & Lynas-Gray (1994). We chose their zero point because we found their result and the adjacent data published by Clementini et al. (1995) to be most easily used in fixing the zero points of the relative $`T_{\mathrm{eff}}`$ values of the atmosphere models of Castelli et al. (1997). By using the zero points of other recent calibrations (e.g., Alonso et al. 1999; Sekiguchi & Fukugita 2000) the distances shown in Table 1 change by amounts less than $`0.10`$ mag. This puts a lower limit of $`18.4`$ mag for the true distance modulus of the LMC. This is significantly different from the distance derived from, e.g., binary stars (Guinan et al. 1998) and red clump stars (Udalski et al. 1999b), but in agreement with the distance obtained from the Baade-Wesselink analysis of Cepheids (Gieren, Fouqué & Gómez 1998) and evolution models of Cepheids and RR Lyrae stars (Alibert et al. 1999; De Santis & Cassisi 1999; VandenBerg et al. 2000). We will return to the distance problem in the next section.

The average physical parameters of the RRd stars obtained from the above analyses show that the main difference between the variables hosted by low- and high-metallicity clusters is that the high-metallicity stars have slightly higher temperatures than the low-metallicity ones. Differences between the luminosities and masses are insignificant. For example, for IC 4499 and M 68 we get $`0.755\pm 0.021`$, $`1.708\pm 0.017`$, $`3.830\pm 0.004`$ and $`0.756\pm 0.016`$, $`1.728\pm 0.013`$, $`3.820\pm 0.004`$, for the average $`M/M_{}`$, $`\mathrm{log}L/L_{}`$ and $`\mathrm{log}T_{\mathrm{eff}}`$ values, respectively. The errors listed are the standard deviations calculated from the values of the individual variables (i.e., they are not the errors of the averages, those are about a factor of three smaller). It follows from this result that the observed trend/spread in the $`P_0P_1/P_0`$ diagram in the LMC, Sculptor and Sagittarius dwarf galaxies (Alcock et al. 2000; Kovács 2001; Cseresnjes 2001), is most probably due to a spread in the metallicity rather than in the mass of the RRd populations of these systems. Although the above stellar parameters were derived by using solar-type element ratios for the heavy elements, we think that the relative parameters will remain unchanged even if, e.g., oxygen enhancement is included. This is because in the metallicity range of $`(2.2,1.3)`$, relevant for RRd stars, the enhancement ratio does not change significantly (e.g., Clementini et al. 1995). Unfortunately, without the availability of detailed abundance analyses on RRd stars, we cannot make a more quantitative statement on the affect of the various element enhancements. Nevertheless, the agreement with the distance moduli obtained from Cepheids, which have scaled solar heavy element mixtures, implies that enhancement of some components (other than iron) in the total heavy element content $`Z`$ do not play a significant role in the finally derived physical parameters.

## 4. The distance and reddening of $`\omega `$ Cen

First we compute the relative distance of $`\omega `$ Cen. In order to do so, we need multicolor photometry which is extended and accurate enough to allow us a reliable computation of the average colors and Fourier parameters. Unfortunately, among the publicly available data sets, the quite recent ccd observations of Kaluzny et al. (1997) (hereafter K97) were made only in $`V`$ color. Therefore, it was necessary to employ other, less contemporary data sets. Nevertheless, we will see that these older data yield consistent and accurate estimates on the average distances and reddenings.

The two data sets used are those of Dickens & Saunders (1965) (hereafter DS65) and Butler, Dickens & Epps (1978) (hereafter B78). Both of these papers contain data on the intensity mean averages (i.e., magnitude averages computed from the mean of the intensity transformed light curves). Because the distance modulus and reddening formulae (Eqs. (2), (3)) refer to magnitude mean averages (i.e., averages of the standard magnitude values), it is necessary first to convert the published intensity averages $`V`$, $`B`$ to magnitude averages $`\overline{V}`$, $`\overline{B}`$. This is done for variables common with the sample of K97 by using the Fourier parameters of the accurate $`V`$ light curves of K97.

To derive the relations between the two types of averages, we used the $`V`$ Fourier parameters and the corresponding $`V`$ and $`B`$ averages of 150 stars compiled by Kovács & Jurcsik (1997) and KW01. By experimenting with various number of parameters and polynomial dependence, we obtained the following result. Higher parameter linear combinations do not improve significantly the quality of the single parameter fit obtained with the first Fourier amplitude $`A_1`$

$`\overline{V}V=0.039+0.238A_1,\sigma =0.0037`$ (6)
where $`\sigma `$ means the standard deviation of the fit in \[mag\]. Fig. 1 shows that the correct relation must include significant nonlinear term(s). Indeed, the best single parameter quadratic fit takes care of most of the nonlinearity and yields a considerably lower standard deviation

$`\overline{V}V=0.0020.040A_1+0.437A_1^2,\sigma =0.0021`$ (7)
Finally, when the number of parameters is increased to two in a quadratic fit, containing all parameter combinations up to second order, we end up with the following expression

$`\overline{V}V=0.0020.002A_10.078A_3`$
$`+0.198A_1^2+0.695A_1A_30.131A_3^2,\sigma =0.0011`$ (8)
where $`A_3`$ denotes the Fourier amplitude of the second harmonics (the $`2\omega `$ component). As it is shown in Fig. 1, indeed, the above regression yields an excellent fit to the data, leaving no trace of systematic effects, except maybe for a slight increase of dispersion in the high amplitude regime, where the differences between the two types of means become larger. Even this small dispersion can be further decreased by employing a three-parameter quadratic fit. Although tests made on much larger data sets show that this high-parameter fit yields statistically significant improvement compared to the two-parameter one, for the practical purpose in the present context the two-parameter quadratic formula is quite satisfactory.

In the next step we repeat the above procedure for the $`B`$ averages defined on the same data set. We get the following formulae

$`\overline{B}B`$ $`=`$ $`0.067+0.418A_1,\sigma =0.0081`$ (9)
$`=`$ $`0.0030.058A_1+0.752A_1^2,\sigma =0.0061`$
$`=`$ $`0.0120.134A_1+0.056A_2`$
$`+0.475A_1^2+0.794A_1A_20.175A_2^2,\sigma =0.0045`$ (11)
It is noted that nonlinearity plays a significant role also in this color. We see that the dispersions are higher than for $`V`$. This is because we use the Fourier parameters of the $`V`$ light curves also in this case. Nevertheless, even this larger dispersion corresponds to a rather tight regression if we compare it with the total range of $`\overline{B}B`$, which is $`0.13`$ mag. The fit becomes much better if the Fourier decompositions of the $`B`$ light curves are used. However, our purpose is to use the available accurate $`V`$ light curves to compute the necessary corrections. Observational errors are much larger in the data sets we use in this paper than the errors introduced by the lower accuracy of the fit of the $`B`$ data.

By applying Eqs. (8) and (11), we transformed the intensity mean values of those stars in the DS65 and B87 samples which have also been observed by K97. Then, Eq. (2) can be used directly on these data to compute relative distance moduli. For better illustration, in Fig. 2 we plot the result of the direct fit of the $`\omega `$ Cen data to the corresponding data set of KW01. The few data points on M4 have been omitted, in order to be consistent with a subsequent fit of $`V`$. (The cluster M4 has a rather large and inhomogeneous reddening, therefore, most of its stars show up as outlying points in the fit of $`V`$.) We see that both data sets yield the same relative distance moduli, in spite of the large scatter of these unedited samples. With the same method (or by using the corresponding formula of KW01 for the magnitude mean $`V_0`$), we can get the following reddened relative distance moduli: $`\stackrel{~}{d}_V(\omega `$ Cen$`)\stackrel{~}{d}_V`$ (IC 4499)$`=3.05`$ and $`\stackrel{~}{d}_V(\omega `$ Cen$`)\stackrel{~}{d}_V`$ (M 68)$`=1.06`$ for the 18 variables of DS65 and $`3.04`$, $`1.05`$ for the 20 variables of B78. We note that in KW01 we obtained reddened, relative distance moduli of $`2.99`$ and $`1.01`$. The consistency of the DS65 and B78 distance moduli indicates that there is a zero point error of about $`0.03`$$`0.06`$ mag in the K97 data (meaning fainter magnitudes for the variables of K97).

In calculating the absolute distance modulus, we simply add to the above relative distance moduli the absolute distance moduli of IC 4499 and M 68, derived from their RRd populations. The distances of these two clusters can be computed according to Kovács (2000b) (see also Kovács & Walker 1999). We get $`16.47`$ and $`15.07`$ mag for the true distance moduli of IC 4499 and M 68, respectively. Finally, with the above derived relative distance moduli we get 13.83 mag for the true distance modulus of $`\omega `$ Cen.

Reddening can be computed by simply applying Eq. (3) to the Fourier decompositions of the light curves of K97 and compare the calculated intrinsic color indices with the observed ones (after applying the above transformation to get magnitude averages). For the above sample of DS65 we get $`E_{BV}=0.092\pm 0.029`$, wheras for that of B78, we obtain $`E_{BV}=0.095\pm 0.029`$. Here the errors denote the standard deviations of the reddening values of the individual variables. The statistical error of the averages is $`0.007`$ mag. Although in Kovács & Jurcsik (1997) we used a reasonably large number of stars from the Galactic field and globular clusters to fix the zero point of the reddening scale, there might be also a systematic error in the above derived values, but this should not exceed $`\pm `$(0.01–0.02) mag.

It is worthwhile to compare this distance with the one derived by Thompson et al. (2001) (hereafter T01, see also Kaluzny et al. (2002)). Their distance estimate is based on the analysis of the detached binary OGLEGC17. This method is similar to ours in the sense that in the calculation of the luminosity it is essential to adopt some color index$`T_{\mathrm{eff}}`$ calibration. For this reason we employ the $`T_{\mathrm{eff}}`$ scale of Sekiguchi & Fukugita (2000), which is the same as the one used by T01. Furthermore, as in all of our previous computations, we use the more customary value of $`M_{}^{bol}=4.75`$ instead of $`4.70`$, used by T01. By considering only the primary component, with $`E_{BV}=0.13`$, $`(BV)=0.66`$, $`V=17.46`$, \[Fe/H\]=$`1.74`$, $`R=1.882`$ $`R_{}`$, $`B.C.=0.22`$, $`T_{\mathrm{eff}}`$(Sun)$`=5780`$ K, we get 13.38 mag for the true (dereddened) distance modulus $`DM`$. By repeating the above computation with $`E_{BV}=0.09`$, we get almost the same result of $`DM=13.41`$, because the reddening correction (with the standard extinction coefficient $`R_V=3.1`$) nearly cancels the change in the absolute magnitude due to the change in the effective temperature as computed from the dereddened color index. We note that using higher metallicity of $`1.33`$ for the primary component results in an increase of $`0.05`$ mag in the distance modulus.

When the above temperature scale is applied in computing the distance with the aid of RRd stars, we get $`DM=13.76`$. This is lower than the above quoted value, because the zero point of the $`T_{\mathrm{eff}}`$ scale of Sekiguchi & Fukugita (2000) is lower by $`\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{log}T_{\mathrm{eff}}=0.0044`$ than the one used in our studies.

The difference of $`0.30`$ – $`0.38`$ mag (depending on the assumed \[Fe/H\] and $`E_{BV}`$ of OGLEGC17) between the RRd and binary distances is very large and indicates that some basic problems may exist in one or both of these methods. However, we would like to mention that we get almost a factor of two smaller differences between the distance moduli, if we use the surface brightness formula given by T01 and used in the derivation of their preferred distance. With $`E_{BV}=0.13`$, T01 give a value of $`(VK)_0=1.400`$ for the infrared color index of the primary component. With this, and with the above quoted radius value one gets an absolute visual magnitude of $`3.35`$ mag. This yields a true distance modulus of $`13.71`$. If we use a lower reddening of $`0.09`$, we end up basically with the same figure, i.e., with $`13.69`$. In order to apply the surface brightness method based on the $`VK`$ color index to our data set of the RRd stars with $`BV`$ index, we computed corresponding $`VK`$ indices by requiring that the two indices yield the same $`T_{\mathrm{eff}}`$. (We note that this procedure is independent of the temperature zero point.) In this way we derived a distance modulus of $`13.88`$ mag. This is still larger that the one obtained from the binary method, but the difference is only $`0.19`$ mag (if we compare the results obtained with the same reddening). We suspect that the larger difference between the the distances derived from the surface brightness and $`(BV)_0T_{\mathrm{eff}}`$ calibration in the binary method indicates that there might be some error in the color indices derived for the components by T01.

## 5. The metallicity distribution of the RRab stars in $`\omega `$ Cen

Individual metallicity values of RRab stars in $`\omega `$ Cen were calculated by employing Eq. (4) on the sample used by KW01. The variable V137 was omitted because of its somewhat discordant light curve. For the remaining 43 stars we have an average \[Fe/H\] of $`1.48`$ with a standard deviation of $`0.18`$. (Please note that we use a metallicity scale tied to the one defined by the high dispersion spectroscopic measurements — see Jurcsik 1995; Clementini et al. 1995.) The distribution of the \[Fe/H\] values are displayed in Fig. 3. For comparison, we also show the metallicity distribution of 39 RRab stars in M 5. We used the data set of KW01, after omitting 4 variables (V6, V29, V77, V963), which were left out of this test for various resons (e.g., strange shape of light curve, high noise, etc.).

The average of \[Fe/H\] for M 5 is $`1.19`$, with a standard deviation of $`0.18`$, which is the same as that of the $`\omega `$ Cen variables. This, and the distribution functions show that the two clusters are fairly similar from this respect, although for $`\omega `$ Cen the distribution seems to be more skewed, in a similar way as the distribution obtained from the spectroscopic observations of giant stars by Suntzeff & Kraft (1996). On the other hand, our \[Fe/H\] values seem to be even more narrowly distributed than those of the giants. We note that direct $`\mathrm{\Delta }S`$ measurements of Butler et al. (1978) yielded a very wide distribution. Although the metallicity dispersion obtained from multicolor photometry by Rey et al. (2000) is narrower, it is still broader than ours, and does not show the asymmetric pattern visible in the distribution of the giants. It is suspected that the direct estimates obtained from photometry is still suffering from a considerable amount of noise.

The bulk of the distribution of \[Fe/H\] for M 5 is about $`0.2`$ dex wider than the one obtained from the direct spectroscopic data on giants by Ivans et al. (2001). It is not known what is the reason of this difference. Although care was taken to avoid variables with amlitude changes or large scatter, some part of the larger \[Fe/H\] range might originate from hidden Blazhko variables not revealed by the limited data available for most of the stars. Nevertheless, it is interesting to note that the RRab variables of the two clusters show the same amount of metallicity dispersion, although only $`\omega `$ Cen is considered in general as an example for a globular cluster with measurable metallicity spread. We refer to KW01 for metallicity estimates obtained from the light curves of the RRab stars in additional globular clusters.

## 6. Conclusions

In this paper we summarized the method of determination of the physical parameters of RR Lyrae stars based on the Fourier analysis of the light curves of fundamental mode variables and on the pulsation study of double-mode pulsators. The method is applied to the variables of $`\omega `$ Cen. The following results were obtained:

* The overall reddening determined from two independent data sets yielded basically the same result $`E_{BV}=0.09`$ mag with a standard deviation of $`0.03`$ mag. Considering both samples together, the statistical error of the above mean is $`0.005`$ mag. The zero point ambiguity of this reddening value is estimated to be less than $`\pm (0.01`$$`0.02)`$ mag.
* By using the above two data sets, we determined the relative distance modulus of $`\omega `$ Cen from globular clusters with known absolute distance moduli computed from their double-mode variables. The derived distances were consistent within $`0.02`$ mag and yielded a mean true (dereddened) distance modulus of $`13.83`$ mag with a statistical error lower than $`0.01`$ mag. The largest systematic error comes from the color index $`T_{\mathrm{eff}}`$ calibration, which (based on the differences between the currently available $`T_{\mathrm{eff}}`$ calibrations), does not exceed $`0.1`$ mag.
* A comparison was made between the above distance modulus and the one derived by Thompson et al. (2001) from a detached binary of this cluster. By using the same temperature calibration, we found our distance to be larger by $`0.3`$ – $`0.4`$ mag, depending on the assumed reddening and metallicity of the binary. By using a surface brightness method as a substitute for the temperature calibration, the difference decreased to $`0.2`$ mag, with both methods giving longer distances.

### Acknowledgments.

This work has been supported by the following grants: otka t$``$026031, t$``$030954 and t$``$038437.

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text:
# 1 Superconducting drops above 𝑇_c and above 𝐻_c2. 𝐷=𝜉(𝑇)=𝜉(0)(𝑇/𝑇_c-1)^{-1/2}; ℎ=𝜉_z=(Φ₀/2𝜋(𝐻-𝐻_c2))^{1/2}; 𝑑=𝜉_R≈(Φ₀/𝐻)^{1/2}

Reported at the NATO Advanced Study Institute on Physics and Materials Science of Vortex States, Flux Pinning and Dynamics, Kusadasi, Turkey, July 26 - August 8, 1998, published by Kluwer Academic Publishers, R. Kossowski at al., eds. p.609-629, 1999

WHAT IS THE VORTEX LATTICE MELTING, REALITY OR FICTION?

A.V.NIKULOV

Institute of Microelectronics Technology and High Purity Materials, Russian Academy of Sciences, 142432 Chernogolovka, Moscow Region, Russia.

Abstract

The concept of the transition into the Abrikosov state as the appearance of long-range phase coherence is considered. It is shown that the famous Abrikosov solution gives qualitatively incorrect result. The transition into the Abrikosov state should be first order in ideal (without disorder) superconductor. Such a transition is observed only in bulk superconductors with weak disorders. The absence of a sharp transition in thin films with weak disorder is interpreted as the absence of long-range phase coherence down to a very low magnetic field. The observed smooth phase coherence appearance in superconductors with strong disorder is explained by the increase of the effective dimensionality. It is claimed that no experimental evidence of the vortex lattice melting exists now. It is shown that this popular concept has appeared on a consequence of incorrect conception about the Abrikosov state and incorrect definition of the phase coherence.

1. Introduction

The concept of vortex lattice melting has become very popular after the discovery of high-Tc superconductors (HTSC). Hundreds of papers have appeared in the last ten years in which the vortex lattice melting is considered. Some papers with titles ”Evidence of the vortex lattice melting ….” were published in last years. Different features in different superconductors were interpreted as the vortex lattice melting. But the reality of the vortex lattice melting is not evident at present.

A feature can be interpreted as a universal transition if it is observed in all superconductors. The vortex lattice melting is a universal transition. No peculiarity of HTSC or low-Tc (conventional) superconductors (LTSC) is considered in the theories of the vortex lattice melting . Therefore, if this transition exist it must be observed both in HTSC and in LTSC. The position difference of the transition in HTSC and in LTSC should correspond to the scaling law . Three-dimensional (bulk) and two-dimensional superconductors ought to be distinguish at the comparison of the investigation results of HTSC and LTSC. Layered superconductors (both HTSC and LTSC) ought to be considered as an intermediate case between three- and two-dimensional superconductors.

The comparison of the investigation results of HTSC and LTSC shows that the sharp change of the resistive properties observed in bulk superconductors with weak disorder only can be interpreted as an universal transition. This feature is observed both in conventional superconductors  and in YBa2Cu3O7-x . The position difference of this transition in these superconductors conforms to the scaling law . I have denoted  the position of this transition as Hc4.

This transition was interpreted in the paper  as the vortex lattice melting, but in the work , in which it was observed first, it was interpreted as a transition from the mixed state without phase coherence (called as ”one-dimensional” state in this paper) into the Abrikosov state, considered as the mixed state with long-range phase coherence. It is contended in the present paper that the interpretation  is right and the interpretation  can not be right.

The concept of vortex lattice melting has become popular in consequence of some no enough correct conception about the Abrikosov state. Therefore this knowledge is defined more exactly in the Section 2. The knowledge about the mixed state of most scientists was formed by the influence of results of the mean field approximation. Results obtained in the mean field approximation and in the fluctuation theory are compared in the Section 3. It is shown that according to the fluctuation theory the transition into the Abrikosov state of an ideal superconductor must be first order. Results of experimental investigation of the transition into the Abrikosov state in bulk superconductors with weak disorders, in thin films (two-dimensional superconductors) and in superconductors with strong disorder are considered in the Section 4. Theories of the vortex lattice melting and of the vortex liquid solidification are reviewed briefly in the Section 5.

2. The Abrikosov State is the Mixed State with Long-Range Phase Coherence.

According to a popular point of view  the pinning effect can be in the vortex lattice only. The process of the vortex pinning is very different for vortex liquids or solids. In the case of a vortex solid, a few pinning centers can hold the entire lattice because it is stiff. But it is impossible to hold a vortex liquid in place with the help of a few pinning centers. Under the influence of this point of view the absence of the vortex pinning in wide region below Hc2 in HTSC was interpreted by many researchers as consequence of the vortex lattice melting.

The point of view  became popular in a consequence of the wide spread opinion that the Abrikosov state is the flux line lattice (FLL)  like an atom lattice, or a lattice of long molecules  and the Abrikosov vortex is magnetic flux. The transport properties were connected with the motion of the magnetic flux structures (or FLL) induced by the Lorentz force .

Therefore it is important to emphasize that the Abrikosov state is the mixed state with long-range phase coherence, vortices are singularities in this state but no magnetic flux and that the resistivity in the Abrikosov state is caused by the vortex flow but not by the magnetic flux flow.

2.1. THE ABRIKOSOV VORTICES ARE SINGULARITIES IN THE MIXED STATE WITH LONG-RANGE PHASE COHERENCE

Superconductivity is a macroscopic quantum effect. The phase $`\phi `$ of the wave function $`\mathrm{\Psi }`$= $`|\mathrm{\Psi }|`$exp(i$`\phi `$) of superconducting electrons can cohere all over the volume of a superconductor. According to the relation for the velocity of the superconducting electrons (see for example ) the relation for the superconducting current js = nsevs

$$\underset{l}{}𝑑l\lambda _L^2j_s=\frac{\mathrm{\Phi }_0}{2\pi }\underset{l}{}𝑑l\phi \mathrm{\Phi }$$
(1)
is valid in the region where the phase coherence exists. Here A is the vector potential; $`\mathrm{\Phi }_0`$ = hc/2e is the flux quantum; ns is the superconducting electron density; $`\lambda _\mathrm{L}`$ = (mc/e2ns)0.5 is the London penetration depth; l is a closed path of integration; $`\mathrm{\Phi }=\underset{l}{}𝑑lA`$ is the magnetic flux contained within the closed path of integration l.

If a singularity is absent, then $`\underset{l}{}𝑑l\phi =0`$. In this case the relation (1) is the equation postulated by F. and H.London for the explanation of the Meissner effect (see ). The magnetic flux can not penetrate in this case inside a superconductor with long-rang phase coherence.

Consequently, a magnetic field can penetrate into a superconductor only if: 1) superconductivity is destroyed, or 2) singularities appears, or 3) the phase coherence is absent. The first is observed in type I superconductors. The second case is observed in the Abrikosov state of type II superconductors. The singularities are the Abrikosov vortices in this case. $`\frac{1}{2\pi }\underset{l}{}𝑑l\phi =n`$ is the number of the Abrikosov vortices contained within the closed path of integration; n = $`\mathrm{\Phi }`$/$`\mathrm{\Phi }_0`$ if l is large. These two cases are widely known. The third case is not so well known. It is observed in fluctuation superconductivity region, for example above the second critical field, Hc2, in type II superconductors (see below).

Consequently, the Abrikosov vortices are no flux lines but are singularities in the mixed state with phase coherence. These singularities allow the magnetic flux to penetrate into a superconductor. A singularity can not exist without a medium. Consequently the existence of the vortices is an evidence of the existence of the phase coherence.

2.2. THE VORTEX FLOW RESISTIVITY

According to the Josephson relation (see for example ), a electric voltage in the Abrikosov state is caused by the vortex flow. The phase difference $`\phi `$ between two points changes by 2$`\pi `$ when it crosses a line connecting these points. Consequently, the macroscopic voltage in the Abrikosov state is equal to $`E=(v_{\mathrm{vor}}\times n_{\mathrm{vor}}\mathrm{\Phi }_0)/c`$. Where $`v_{\mathrm{vor}}`$ is the velocity of the vortex flow, $`n_{\mathrm{vor}}`$ is the density of the vortices.

This result coincides nominally with the one obtained by the Faraday’s law $`E=(v_{\mathrm{vor}}\times B)/c`$, because $`B=n_{\mathrm{vor}}\mathrm{\Phi }_0`$ in the Abrikosov state. Therefore, it became possible that the resistivity in the Abrikosov state is considered as a consequence of flux flow in all textbooks (see for example ) and majority of papers, although it is obvious that the magnetic flux does not flow in a superconductors in this case. It is obvious also that the Lorentz force can not be the driving force on an Abrikosov vortex . The notation ”flux flow resistance” is not quite correct. I will use the more correct notation ”vortex flow resistivity” instead of ”flux flow resistivity”.

2.3. THE VORTEX PINNING

The resistivity can be equal zero in the Abrikosov state if the pinning force prevents from the vortex flow . The vortex pinning is a consequence of superconductor disorders. Because the vortexes are singularities in the mixed state with the long-rang phase coherence, the vortex pinning is a consequence of the phase coherence also. The vortex pinning can not exist in a state without the phase coherence.

Thus, the Abrikosov state is the mixed state with long-range phase coherence. Changes of the resistive properties should be observed first of all at the transition into the Abrikosov state, because a transition from the paraconductivity regime to the vortex flow regime must occur and the vortex pinning can appear at the appearance of the long-range phase coherence.

3. Transition into the Abrikosov State in the Mean Field Approximation and in the Fluctuation Theory.

Thermodynamic average values are calculated in the fluctuation theory. The thermodynamic average of any quality, for example superconducting electron density

$$<|\mathrm{\Psi }|^2>=\frac{|\mathrm{\Psi }|^2\mathrm{exp}(F_{GL}/k_BT)}{\mathrm{exp}(F_{GL}/k_BT)}$$
(2)
can be calculated in different approximation in different real cases. We can write the relation of the Ginzburg-Landau free energy to $`k_\mathrm{B}T`$ in a dimensionless unit system

$$\frac{F_{GL}}{k_BT}=\underset{k}{}(\epsilon _n+q_z^2)|\mathrm{\Psi }_k|^2+\frac{1}{2V}\underset{k_i}{}V_{k_1k_2k_3k_4}\mathrm{\Psi }_{k_1}^{}\mathrm{\Psi }_{k_2}^{}\mathrm{\Psi }_{k_3}\mathrm{\Psi }_{k_4}$$
(3)
Here the wave function $`\mathrm{\Psi }`$(r) of superconducting electrons is expanded by the eigen functions $`\phi _\mathrm{k}(r)`$: $`\mathrm{\Psi }(r)=V^{1/2}\underset{k}{}\mathrm{\Psi }_k\phi _k(r)`$; $`k=(n,l,q_\mathrm{z})`$; $`n`$ is the number of the Landau level; $`l`$ is the index of the Landau level functions; $`q_\mathrm{z}`$ is the longitudinal (along magnetic field) wavevector; $`V`$ is the superconductor volume; $`\epsilon _\mathrm{n}=(t1+h+2nh)/Gi_\mathrm{H}=(hh_{\mathrm{c2}}+2nh)/Gi_\mathrm{H}`$; $`Gi_\mathrm{H}=Gi^{1/3}(th)^{2/3}`$ is the Ginzburg number in magnetic field; $`Gi=(k_\mathrm{B}T_\mathrm{c}/H_\mathrm{c}(0)\xi ^3(0))^2`$ is the Ginzburg number; $`t=T/T_\mathrm{c}`$; $`h=H/H_{\mathrm{c2}}(0)`$; $`V_{k_1k_2k_3k_4}=V^1\underset{V}{}d^3r\phi _{k_1}^{}\phi _{k_2}^{}\phi _{k_3}\phi _{k_4}`$.

3.1. THE ABRIKOSOV SOLUTION

States corresponded to minimum value of the free-energy (3) are considered only in the mean field approximation. At $`H_{\mathrm{c2}}/3<H<H_{\mathrm{c2}}`$ a contribution by the lowest (n=0) Landau level (LLL) only can decrease the free energy value because $`\epsilon _{\mathrm{n}=0}<0`$ and $`\epsilon _{\mathrm{n}=1}>0`$ in this region. The states with $`q_\mathrm{z}=0`$ correspond to the minimum value of the free energy. Therefore the lowest Landau level and zero-dimensional case is considered in the mean field approximation. The Ginzburg-Landau free energy can be written as

$$\frac{F_{GL}}{k_BT}=V(\epsilon \overline{|\mathrm{\Psi }|^2}+\frac{\beta _a}{2}\overline{|\mathrm{\Psi }|^2}^2)$$
(4)
in this case. Here $`\epsilon =\epsilon _{\mathrm{n}=0}=(hh_{\mathrm{c2}})/Gi_\mathrm{H}`$; $`\overline{|\mathrm{\Psi }|^2}=V^1\underset{V}{}d^3r|\mathrm{\Psi }(r)|^2`$ is the spatial average density of superconducting electrons; $`\beta _a=\overline{|\mathrm{\Psi }|^4}/\overline{|\mathrm{\Psi }|^2}^2`$ is the Abrikosov parameter; $`\overline{|\mathrm{\Psi }|^4}=V^1\underset{V}{}d^3r|\mathrm{\Psi }(r)|^4`$. The values $`\beta _\mathrm{a}=\beta _\mathrm{A}`$ and $`|\mathrm{\Psi }|^2=\epsilon /\beta _\mathrm{A}`$ correspond to the minimum of the Ginzburg-Landau free-energy, where $`\beta _\mathrm{A}`$ is a minimum possible value of $`\beta _\mathrm{a}`$. The minimum value $`\beta _\mathrm{A}1.16`$ corresponds to the triangular vortex lattice  if $`\mathrm{\Psi }(r)`$ are the functions of the lowest Landau level. This state is known as the Abrikosov state, although he considered the square vortex lattice with $`\beta _\mathrm{A}1.18`$ . According to the Abrikosov solution  a finite density of superconducting electrons, long-rang phase coherence and the vortex lattice appear simultaneously at $`H=H_{\mathrm{c2}}`$. This transition was considered as second order phase transition .

3.2. THE MIXED STATE WITHOUT PHASE COHERENCE.

The long-rang phase coherence is not connected directly with the density of the superconducting electrons in the fluctuation theory. Therefore a mixed state without phase coherence can exist according to this theory. Because the Abrikosov state is the mixed state with long-range phase coherence the transition into the Abrikosov state is an appearance of long-range phase coherence.

This transition is not connected with Hc2 where a crossover from low to high density of the superconducting electrons occurs. This means that the ”jump” of the specific heat and the fracture of the magnetization dependence at $`H_{\mathrm{c2}}`$ are not connected with the transition into the Abrikosov state because these thermodynamic properties depend on the spatial average density of the superconducting electrons only.

3.3. REDACTION OF THE EFFECTIVE DIMENSIONALITY OF THE FLUCTUATION ON TWO IN A MAGNETIC FIELD

The mixed state without the phase coherence differs qualitatively from the fluctuation state above $`T_\mathrm{c}`$ because the effective dimensionality of the fluctuation decreases on two near $`H_{\mathrm{c2}}`$ . This means that only an longitudinal (along magnetic field direction) component, $`\xi _\mathrm{z}`$, of the length of the phase coherence increases near $`H_{\mathrm{c2}}`$. Whereas all components of the coherence length, i.e. $`\xi _\mathrm{x}`$, $`\xi _\mathrm{y}`$, $`\xi _\mathrm{z}`$, increase up to the infinity at $`T_\mathrm{c}`$ (see Fig.1). Therefore the second order phase transition takes place at $`T_\mathrm{c}`$ and an phase transition at $`H_{\mathrm{c2}}`$ is absent. The second order phase transition can not take place in the one-dimensional system. Thus, the transition into the Abrikosov state differs qualitatively from the transition into the superconducting state in zero magnetic field.

3.4. TRANSITION INTO THE ABRIKOSOV STATE OF IDEAL SUPERCONDUCTOR MUST BE FIRST ORDER

The length of the phase coherence in the mixed state without long-range phase coherence can be defined from the correlation function (see ). In a high magnetic field (in the LLL region) in the linear approximation the longitudinal component is equal $`\xi _\mathrm{z}=(\mathrm{\Phi }_0/2\pi (HH_{\mathrm{c2}}))^{1/2}`$ and transversal component is equal $`\xi _\mathrm{R}=(2\mathrm{\Phi }_0/\pi H)^{1/2}`$. The relation $`\xi _\mathrm{z}=(\mathrm{\Phi }_0/2\pi (HH_{\mathrm{c2}}))^{1/2}`$can be valid in the linear approximation only and must be renormalized near $`H_{\mathrm{c2}}`$. Whereas the transversal component changes little near $`H_{\mathrm{c2}}`$ and $`\xi _\mathrm{R}`$ value is close to $`(\mathrm{\Phi }_0/H)^{1/2}`$ in the whole LLL region.

Thus, if we define the phase coherence by the correlation function we can conclude that the long-rang phase coherence can not be in the mixed state of type II superconductors. On other hand we know that the Abrikosov state is the mixed state with long-rang phase coherence. Consequently, the definition of the phase coherence by the correlation function is unsuited for the mixed state. It must follow from a right definition that the existence of the singularities (the Abrikosov vortexes) is evidence of the phase coherence.

We can use the relation (1) for the definition of the phase coherence: the phase coherence exists in some region if the relation (1) is valid for any closed path in this region. It is obvious that according to this definition the long-rang phase coherence exists both in the Meissner and Abrikosov states.

Because in the mixed state without the phase coherence the transversal length of the phase coherence $`\xi _\mathrm{R}=(\mathrm{\Phi }_0/H)^{1/2}`$ changes little near $`H_{\mathrm{c2}}`$ two characteristic lengths only ($`(\mathrm{\Phi }_0/H)^{1/2}`$ and sample size $`L`$) are across magnetic field direction in a superconductor without disorder. Consequently, the length of the phase coherence changes by jump from $`(\mathrm{\Phi }_0/H)^{1/2}`$ to $`L`$ at the transition into the Abrikosov state. Thus, the result obtained in the fluctuation theory differs qualitatively from the one obtained in the mean field approximation. The transition into the Abrikosov state can not be second order phase transition. It must be first order phase transition in ideal superconductors without disorder.

3.5 MAKI-TAKAYAMA RESULT

According to the mean field approximation  the Abrikosov state is the mixed state with long-range order and the vortex lattice. Consequently, if the mean field approximation is valid in the thermodynamic limit, then two long-range orders exist in the Abrikosov state: phase coherence and crystalline long-range order of the vortex lattice. The mean field approximation is valid if the fluctuation correction is small.

Eilenberger  has proposed a method of the calculation of the fluctuation correction to the Abrikosov solution. Using this method Maki and Takayama  have shown that the fluctuation correction $`\mathrm{\Delta }n_{\mathrm{s},\mathrm{fl}}`$ to the Abrikosov solution calculated in the linear approximation depends on superconductor size $`L`$ across magnetic field direction: $`\mathrm{\Delta }n_{\mathrm{s},\mathrm{fl}}`$ is proportional $`\mathrm{ln}(L/\xi )`$ in three-dimensional superconductor and $`\mathrm{\Delta }n_{\mathrm{s},\mathrm{fl}}`$ is proportiona $`(L/\xi )^2`$ in two-dimensional superconductor.

The Maki-Takayama result  seems very queer for most scientists, because they think that it contradicts to the direct observation  of the vortex lattice. But the direct observation  of the vortex lattice is not evidence of the crystalline long-range order. If we lay along a fishing net with help of stakes it will look as a lattice. But from this direct observation we can not draw a conclusion that the fishing net is a lattice which can melt. Larkin  has shown that the crystalline long-rang order of the vortex lattice is unstable against the introduction of random pinning. Consequently, we can not contend on base of direct observation  that the Abrikosov state is the vortex lattice which can melt because it can be a structure like the fishing net.

Almost nobody has believed in a reality of the Maki-Takayama result, even author. Maki (with Thompson) attempted to correct this result in . In spite of the opinion of many scientists (see ) I claim that the Maki-Takayama result  is right because it is confirmed by experimental results .

3.6. SCALING LAW IN LOWEST LANDAU LEVEL APPROXIMATION

According to (2) and (3), in the lowest Landau level (LLL) approximation the thermodynamic average value of superconducting electron density, $`n_\mathrm{s}`$, is function of temperature, magnetic field and superconductor parameters through the $`\epsilon `$ value only. Consequently, a quantity depended on the $`n_\mathrm{s}`$ value only, for example specific heat and magnetization, must be a universal function of $`\epsilon =(t1+h)/Gi_\mathrm{H}`$ in the region $`hGi`$, $`hh_{\mathrm{c2}}2h`$, $`h>h_{\mathrm{c2}}/3`$, where the LLL approximation is valid. Transport properties, for example the resistivity, depend not only on the $`n_\mathrm{s}`$ value but also on the length of phase coherence. Therefore they can follow to the scaling law in the mixed state without phase coherence only.

If a transition takes place at $`\epsilon _{\mathrm{c4}}`$ its position $`h_{\mathrm{c2}}h_{\mathrm{c4}}`$ must be a universal function of the temperature and superconductor parameters. The scaling law is general consequence of the fluctuation Ginzburg-Landau theory. Consequently, all theories obtained on base of the fluctuation Ginzburg-Landau theory must predict the same $`h_{\mathrm{c2}}h_{\mathrm{c4}}`$ dependence on the temperature and superconductor parameters in the LLL approximation region.

3.7. CHANGE OF THE RESISTIVE PROPERTIES AT THE TRANSITION INTO THE ABRIKOSOV STATE

According to the mean field approximation the transition to the vortex flow regime occurs at $`H_{\mathrm{c2}}`$. According to this approximation the vortex flow resistivity, $`\rho _\mathrm{f}`$, near $`H_{\mathrm{c2}}`$ can be described by the relation

$$\frac{\rho _f}{\rho _n}=\gamma (1\frac{H}{H_{c2}})$$
(5)
$`\rho _\mathrm{n}`$ is the resistivity in the normal state. The coefficient $`\gamma `$ was calculated in many works (see ).

According to (4) the resistivity of ideal superconductor does not change at the long-rang phase coherence appearance in $`H_{\mathrm{c2}}`$. But it takes place in real (with disorders) superconductors in the consequence of the vortex pinning. The resistivity changes from $`\rho _\mathrm{n}`$ down to zero at enough low measuring current (at $`j<j_\mathrm{c}`$) at $`H_{\mathrm{c2}}`$ according to the mean field approximation.

The fluctuations change qualitatively the resistivity dependence. The fluctuation decreases the vortex flow resistivity as well as the resistivity above the transition into the Abrikosov state . The fluctuation value increases near the transition. Therefore, a feature ought be expected at the transition from the paraconducting regime to the vortex flow regime. Because the appearance of phase coherence is not connected with the change of the $`n_\mathrm{s}`$ value, a position of this feature (and the pinning appearance) differs from the $`H_{\mathrm{c2}}`$.

4. Results of Experimental Investigation of Transition into the Abrikosov State

According to the fluctuation theory the sharp changes of the resistive properties should be observed at the transition into the Abrikosov state of an ideal superconductor. But the sharp change of the resistive properties is observed in few bulk samples with weak disorder  only. No sharp change is observed both in thin films with weak disorder  and in all samples with strong disorder. The transition into the Abrikosov state becomes smooth with increasing of disorder amount . The absence of the sharp change of the resistive properties means that the transition into the Abrikosov state in thin films and in superconductors with strong disorder is absent or differs from the ideal case.

4.1. TRANSITION INTO THE ABRIKOSOV STATE IN BULK SUPERCONDUCTORS WITH WEAK DISORDERS.

The sharp change of the resistive properties was observed first in the paper . This sharp change, observed at $`H_{\mathrm{c4}}<H_{\mathrm{c2}}`$, was interpreted in  as the transition into the Abrikosov state. The result of  means that this transition in bulk superconductors with weak disorder can be close to the one in a ideal superconductor. The length of the phase coherence changes abruptly from $`(\mathrm{\Phi }_0/H)^{1/2}=10^510^6`$ cm to a sample size $`L=0.011`$ cm in real cases.

The appearance of the vortex pinning (the current-voltage characteristics become non-Ohmic)  and the sharp decrease of the vortex flow resistivity  (Fig.2) are observed in enough homogeneous bulk superconductors at $`H_{\mathrm{c4}}`$. Below the transition the resistivity can be equal zero at $`j<j_\mathrm{c}`$ and the $`\rho _\mathrm{f}(H)`$ dependence has a minimum  or a step (see Fig.3). Such $`\rho _\mathrm{f}(H)`$ dependence differs qualitatively from the one (4) predicted by the mean-field approximation .

Some authors  state that the feature of the $`\rho _\mathrm{f}(H)`$ dependencies coincide with the peak effect in the critical current. But this is not right. Our investigations  have shown that this feature is observed in all enough homogeneous bulk samples both with and without the peak effect (see Fig.3). And only in no enough homogeneous samples the ”classical” flux flow resistivity dependence (see ) is observed. Therefore this feature ought be considered as universal for homogeneous bulk superconductors. It is explained in  by fluctuation influence.

The sharp change of the resistive properties was observed in YBa2Cu3O7-x also  (see.Fig2). The difference of the $`H_{\mathrm{c2}}H_{\mathrm{c4}}`$ values in these superconductors corresponds to the LLL scaling law . According to the LLL scaling law : $`H_{\mathrm{c2}}H_{\mathrm{c4}}=\epsilon _{\mathrm{c4}}H_{\mathrm{c2}}(0)Gi^{1/3}(H_{\mathrm{c2}}/H_{\mathrm{c2}}(0))^{2/3}(T/T_\mathrm{c})^{2/3}`$. The experimental value $`\epsilon _{\mathrm{c4}}1`$ for superconductors with different $`Gi`$ and $`H_{\mathrm{c2}}(0)`$ values: $`Nb_{94.3}Mo_{5.7}`$, $`Gi=10^9`$, $`H_{\mathrm{c2}}`$(0) = 0.8 T; $`V_3Ge`$, $`Gi=10^6`$, $`H_{\mathrm{c2}}(0)`$ = 12 T; YBa2Cu3O7-x, $`Gi=10^2`$, $`H_{\mathrm{c2}}`$(0) = 200 T. Consequently, the transition from the mixed state without the phase coherence into the Abrikosov state is observed both in  and in . Result of  shows that this transition in bulk superconductors with weak disorder can be first order indeed.

4.2. ABSENCE OF THE TRANSITION INTO THE ABRIKOSOV STATE IN TWO-DIMENSIONAL SUPERCONDUCTORS WITH WEAK DISORDER DOWN TO VERY LOW MAGNETIC FIELD.

The absence of any features of the resistive dependence of amorphous $`Nb_{1\mathrm{x}}O_\mathrm{x}`$ films was interpreted in our paper  as the absence of the transition into the Abrikosov state down to very low magnetic fields. The vortex pinning appearance can not be observed if the measuring current is extremely high in comparison to the critical current. But the feature of the vortex flow resistivity can be observed at a high measuring current. The absence of the long-rang phase coherence below $`H_{\mathrm{c2}}`$ in these films is confirmed by a investigation of the nonlocal resistivity .

The feature of the vortex flow resistivity are observed in the $`aNbGe`$ films with an intermediate strength of disorder . This feature are observed below the field value where the vortex pinning appears, as well as in bulk superconductors . Consequently, the phase coherence appearance occurs in films with an intermediate strength of disorder. Comparison of the results of  and  shows that the phase coherence appearance in thin film is not universal, but that it depends on the amount of disorder. The dependence of the position of the transition into the Abrikosov state of two-dimensional superconductors on the amount of disorder is predicted by results of the work .

4.3 PHASE COHERENCE APPEARANCE IN SUPERCONDUCTORS WITH STRONG DISORDERS. RETURN TO THE MENDELSSOHN MODEL

It is obvious that the long-rang phase coherence is appeared in superconductors with strong and intermediate strength of disorder, because the pinning effect is observed in these cases. But the phase coherence appearance in these cases differs from the ideal case. The length of the phase coherence does not change by jump but increases gradually with the magnetic field (or the temperature) decreasing.

The smooth transition observed in most samples can be connected with an increase of the effective dimensionality of the fluctuation (from zero to one in film) in samples with strong disorder. The limit case of strong disorder is the Mendelssohn’s ”sponge” (see ). The Mendelssohn’s ”sponge” is a model proposed in 1935 year for explanation of the magnetic properties of some superconductors (now we call these superconductors as type II superconductors). Mendelssohn has assumed that the magnetic field can penetrate inside superconducting region because this region is superconducting sponge.

The Abrikosov state in thin film is similar to the two-dimensional Mendelssohn sponge. The main difference is that the Abrikosov vortex destroys superconductivity near itself (in a region with $`r<\xi `$) in the Abrikosov model whereas in the Mendelssohn model it occupies a nonsuperconducting region. We may consider real superconductors with disorder as intermediate cases between the Mendelssohn’s and Abrikosov’s models. A thin film with strong disorder can be considered as a Mendelssohn sponge with a variable width of superconducting threads .

The length of phase coherence increases smoothly with temperature decreasing in a Mendelssohn sponge as well as a one-dimensional superconductor . In consequence of this the resistive dependence is smooth also both in a Mendelssohn sponge and in a one-dimensional superconductor.

The length on the phase coherence in superconductor with strong disorders can begin to increase already above $`H_{\mathrm{c2}}`$ . At a value of the magnetic field $`<H_{\mathrm{c2}}`$ a crossover to the vortex creep regime takes place. This crossover can be interpreted as a consequence of the increasing of the phase coherence length up to sample size.

5.Theories of the Vortex Lattice Melting and Theories of the Vortex Liquid Solidification

It is proposed in vortex lattice melting theories (see ) that the Abrikosov state is the vortex lattice. This opinion is based on the Abrikosov solution . But according to the Maki-Takayama result  this solution is not valid in thermodynamic limit. Consequently, the vortex lattice melting theories are unsatisfactory in principle, since they start from the state in which the translation symmetry has been broken by hand . Therefore, some theorists consider no the vortex lattice melting but the solidification transition of vortexes (see for example ). They do not propose the Abrikosov state existence, but try to find the transition to it.

The phase coherence is defined by the correlation function in the solidification theory. This definition is logical contradictory because according to this definition the long-rang phase coherence can not exist without the crystalline long-rang order of the vortex lattice. It is claimed in some works  that the phase coherence can remain short-ranged even in the vortex solid phase. Therefore the solidification theories try to find the transition into the Abrikosov state as the vortex lattice but no as the mixed state with long-rang phase coherence. Most authors find this transition (see for example ). And few authors (see for example ) only state that this transition is absent. I agree with few authors . But the absence of the solidification transition does not mean that the transition into the Abrikosov state is absent, because the definition of the phase coherence by the correlation function is unsuited for the mixed state. According to the right definition of the phase coherence the Abrikosov state is the mixed state with long-rang phase coherence but no the vortex lattice.

6. Conclusions

Because the appearance of the vortex pinning and the feature of the vortex flow resistivity should be observed at the appearance of long-rang phase coherence it is obvious that the interpretation proposed in  is right. The sharp change of the resistive observed in bulk superconductors with weak disorders at a field $`H_{\mathrm{c4}}<H_{\mathrm{c2}}`$ is the transition from the mixed state without phase coherence into the Abrikosov state.

But this transition observed in YBa2Cu3O7-x was interpreted in  and other papers as the vortex lattice melting. This interpretation is very popular, but it can not be right. The vortex liquid is the mixed state with long-rang phase coherence, because the existence of the vortexes is evidence of the long-rang phase coherence. Consequently, the first order phase transition from the vortex liquid into the mixed state without the phase coherence must be observed above the vortex lattice melting in superconductors with weak disorders. The sharp change of the resistive properties must be observed at this transition. But no sharp change is observed above $`H_{\mathrm{c4}}`$ both in conventional superconductors  and in YBa2Cu3O7-x .

The sharp transition into the Abrikosov state predicted by the fluctuation theory in ideal case is observed in bulk superconductors with weak disorder  only. No sharp transition is observed in thin films with weak disorder . This difference from bulk superconductor can be explained by difference of the fluctuation value in three- and two-dimensional superconductors . The nature of the step in the magnetization dependence of layered HTSC  is some questionable because no sharp transition is observed in thin film of conventional superconductors . This step can not be interpreted as a universal transition in three- or two-dimensional superconductor. It is most probably a consequence of a transition from two- to three dimensional behavior in layered HTSC. Such interpretation was proposed in some papers.

The second critical field $`H_{\mathrm{c2}}`$ is not a critical point not only in superconductors with weak disorder but also in superconductors with strong disorder. The phase coherence appears below $`H_{\mathrm{c2}}`$ in superconductors with weak disorder  and above $`H_{\mathrm{c2}}`$ in superconductors with strong disorder .

The smooth phase coherence appearance in superconductors with strong disorder can be explained qualitatively by the increasing of the effective dimensionality of the fluctuation.

Acknowledgement

I thank the International Association for the Promotion of Co-operation with Scientists from the New Independent States (Project INTAS-96-0452) and the National Scientific Council on ”Superconductivity” of SSTP ”ADPCM” (Project 98013) for financial support.

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text:
# On Graphic Bernstein Type Results in Higher Codimension

## 1 Introduction

The well-known Bernstein theorem asserts any complete minimal surface that can be written as the graph of a function on $`^2`$ must be a plane. This result has been generalized to $`^n`$, for $`n7`$ and general dimension under various growth condition, see  and the reference therein for the codimension one case. In this note, we study the higher codimension case, i.e. minimal submanifolds in $`^{n+m}`$ that can be written as graphs of vector-valued functions $`f:^n^m`$.

For higher codimension Bernstein type problems, there are general results of ,  and . The idea in these papers is to find a subharmonic function whose vanishing implies $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ is totally geodesic. Under the assumption that $`f`$ is of bounded gradient, one can perform blow down analysis to reduce to minimal cone case. Maximum principle together with Allard regularity theorem then complete the argument. A fundamental fact is the Gauss map of a minimal submanifold is a harmonic map, so any convex function on the Grassmannian renders a subharmonic function. The work in , , and  consists of delicate analysis of the geometry of Grassmannian in order to locate the maximal region where a convex function exists . The condition for Bernstein type reuslts is in terms of the function

$$\mathrm{\Omega }_1=\frac{1}{\sqrt{det(I+(df)^tdf)}}$$

This can be considered as the inner product of the tangent space of $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ and the domain $`^n`$. In particular, in  and , it was shown,

$$\mathrm{\Omega }_1K^{}>\mathrm{cos}^p(\frac{\pi }{2\sqrt{2}p})$$

where $`p=\mathrm{min}(n,m)`$ implies $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ is an affine subspace. This bound is later improved in  to

$$\mathrm{\Omega }_1K^{\prime \prime }>\frac{1}{2}$$

We adopt a direct approach to calculate explicitly the Laplacian of $`\mathrm{ln}\mathrm{\Omega }`$. The calculation first appeared to us in  in the context of mean curvature flow. The formula determines precisely when $`\mathrm{ln}\mathrm{\Omega }`$ is a superharmonic function.

Theorem A Let $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ be a minimal submanifold of $`^{n+m}`$. Suppose $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ can be written as the graph of a smooth map $`f:^n^m`$. Denote the singular values of $`df`$ by $`\lambda _i,i=1,\mathrm{},n`$. If there exist $`\delta ,K>0`$ such that $`|\lambda _i\lambda _j|1\delta `$ for any $`ij`$ and $`\mathrm{\Omega }_1=\frac{1}{\sqrt{det(I+(df)^tdf)}}K`$, then $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ is an affine subspace.

Notice that $`K`$ is not necessarily bounded from below. At the end of §3, we discuss how Theorem A implies the results in ,  or .

We remark Theorem A also holds for submanifolds with parallel mean curvature vector. This condition for minimal submanifolds is not the optimal one. We state it first because it is simple to apply and seems natural ( see the remark at the end of the introduction on the geometric meaning). The optimal condition, which is in terms of $`\lambda _i`$ again, is somewhat more complicate. It will be described explicitly in §2.

Theorem B Under the assumption of Theorem A. There exists an optimal condition in terms of the singular values of $`df`$ such that $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ is an affine subspace whenever $`f`$ satisfies this optimal condition

Theorem B also implies the result of  and  that any three-dimensional minimal cone is flat and thus is sharper than Theorem A.

The higher codimension Bernstein type result is not expected to be true in the most generality due to the counterexample of Lawson-Ossermann .

Notice that in codimension one case, any graphic minimal hypersurface is stable. It is thus natural to impose stable assumption in higher codimension. A special category of minimal submanifolds are calibrated submanifolds studied by Harvey and Lawson . They are volume minimizing and thus stable. These include holomorphic submanifolds, special Lagrangian submanifolds, assoicative, coassociative, and Cayley submanifold. The special Lagrangian case is studied in ,  , and . The Lagrangian condition implies the existence of a potential function $`F`$ such that $`f=F`$. In terms of PDE, the Bernstein type problem asks when an entire solution of

$$Im(det(I+\sqrt{1}D^2F))=constant$$
(1.1)
is a quadratic polynomial. In this case, the condition of Theorem A or B can be stated in terms of the eigenvalues of $`D^2F`$.

We remark that conditions on the singular values of $`df`$ or eigenvalues of $`D^2F`$ depend on the choice of a subspace (usually a calibrated one) over which $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ is written as a graph. Such conditions correspond to regions in the relevant Grassmannian. A more invariant description is to require the image of the Gauss map lies in the orbit of one of these regions under the respective holonomy group actions.

To demonstrate, let us compare the condition $`|\lambda _1\lambda _2|<1`$ and $`(1+\lambda _1^2)(1+\lambda _2^2)<4`$ (or $`\mathrm{\Omega }_1=\frac{1}{\sqrt{(1+\lambda _1^2)(1+\lambda _2^2)}}>\frac{1}{2}`$) when $`n=m=2`$. It is clear the former condition is weaker than the latter one. In this case, $`G(2,4)=S^2(\frac{1}{\sqrt{2}})\times S^2(\frac{1}{\sqrt{2}})`$. In $`f:^2^2`$, denote the coordinates on the domain $`^2`$ by $`x^1,x^2`$ and the coordinates on the target $`^2`$ by $`y^1,y^2`$. Then the forms $`\omega _1,\omega _2`$

$$\omega _1=\frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}(dx^1dx^2dy^1dy^2)$$

$$\omega _1=\frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}(dx^1dx^2+dy^1dy^2)$$

serve as coordinate functions on $`G(2,4)`$, see for example section 3 in . We may consider them as the height function on each of the two $`S^2(\frac{1}{\sqrt{2}})`$. The condition $`|\lambda _1\lambda _2|<1`$ corresponds to $`\omega _1>0`$ and $`\omega _2>0`$, which means the image of the Gauss map lies in the product of the two hemispheres. These are natural geometric condition. It is shown in  that under this assumption, the maximum principle not only works in the elliptic case but also in the parabolic one.

Contrary to the codimension one case, the equation of the second fundamental form has not been used in higher codimension to our knowledge . We expect a complete classification theorem of graphic calibrated submanifolds will rely on such estimate.

The author wish to thank Professor D. H. Phong and Professor S.-T. Yau for their encouragement and support. He also thanks Mao-Pei Tsui for useful discussions.

## 2  General results

We first recall a formula whose parabolic version was derived in . To apply the formula in  to the current situation, we note that a minimal submanifold corresponds to stationary phase of mean curvature flow.

Let $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ be an $`n`$-dimensional submanifold of $`^{n+m}`$ and $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ a parallel $`n`$ form on $`^{n+m}`$. Around any point $`p\mathrm{\Sigma }`$, we choose any orthonormal frames $`\{e_i\}_{i=1\mathrm{}n}`$ for $`T_p\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ and $`\{e_\alpha \}_{\alpha =n+1,\mathrm{},n+m}`$ for $`N_p\mathrm{\Sigma }`$, the normal bundle of $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ . The convention that $`i,j,k,\mathrm{}`$ denote tangent indexes and $`\alpha ,\beta ,\gamma \mathrm{}`$ denote normal indexes is followed.

The second fundamental form of $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ is denoted by $`h_{\alpha ij}=<_{e_i}e_j,e_\alpha >`$.

If we assume $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ has parallel mean curvature vector, then $`\mathrm{\Omega }=\mathrm{\Omega }(e_1,\mathrm{},e_n)`$ satisfies (see Proposition 3.1 in )

$$\begin{array}{cc}& \mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{\Omega }+\mathrm{\Omega }(\underset{\alpha ,l,k}{}h_{\alpha lk}^2)\hfill \\ & 2\underset{\alpha ,\beta ,k}{}[\mathrm{\Omega }_{\alpha \beta 3\mathrm{}n}h_{\alpha 1k}h_{\beta 2k}+\mathrm{\Omega }_{\alpha 2\beta \mathrm{},n}h_{\alpha 1k}h_{\beta 3k}+\mathrm{}+\mathrm{\Omega }_{1\mathrm{}(n2)\alpha \beta }h_{\alpha (n1)k}h_{\beta nk}]=0\hfill \end{array}$$
(2.1)
$$(\mathrm{\Omega })_k=\underset{\alpha }{}\mathrm{\Omega }_{\alpha 2\mathrm{}n}h_{\alpha 1k}+\mathrm{}+\mathrm{\Omega }_{1\mathrm{}n1\alpha }h_{\alpha nk}$$
(2.2)
where $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$ is the Laplace operator of the induced metric on $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ and $`\mathrm{\Omega }_{\alpha \beta 3\mathrm{}n}=\mathrm{\Omega }(e_\alpha ,e_\beta ,e_3,\mathrm{},e_n)`$.

Now take $`\mathrm{\Omega }=dx^1\mathrm{}dx^n`$, i.e the volume form of $`^n`$. In this case $`\mathrm{\Omega }=\mathrm{\Omega }(e_1,\mathrm{},e_n)`$ is exactly the Jacobian of the projection from $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ to $`^n`$. A similar formula in this case appeared in Fischer-Colbrie’s paper  (Lemma 1.1).

When $`m=1`$, i.e. the codimension one case, $`_i=\frac{}{x^i}+\frac{f}{x^i}\frac{}{x^{n+1}}`$ forms a basis for $`T_p\mathrm{\Sigma }`$. Then

$$\mathrm{\Omega }=\frac{\mathrm{\Omega }(_1,\mathrm{},_n)}{\sqrt{det(_i,_j)}}$$

It is not hard to compute that $`\mathrm{\Omega }=\frac{1}{\sqrt{1+|df|^2}}`$, i.e. the angle made by the normal vector of $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ and the $`x_{n+1}`$ axis. Thus formula (2.1) reduces to the classical formula for nonparametric minimal surfaces.

$$\mathrm{\Delta }\frac{1}{\sqrt{1+|df|^2}}+\frac{1}{\sqrt{1+|df|^2}}|A|^2=0$$

A standard argument will imply the Bernstein type result for bounded $`|df|`$. In fact, this equation coupled with Simon’s identity gives the optimal results in codimension one case, see .

In the general dimensional case, we choose a particular basis to represent formula (2.1) for $`\mathrm{\Omega }=dx^1\mathrm{}dx^n`$. Given any $`p`$ then the differential of $`f`$ is a linear map from $`^n`$ to $`^m`$. We can use singular value decomposition to find orthonormal bases $`\{a_i\}_{i=1\mathrm{}n}`$ for $`^n`$ and $`\{a_\alpha \}_{\alpha =n+1,\mathrm{},n+m}`$ for $`^m`$ such that

$$df(a_i)=\lambda _ia_{n+i}$$

for $`i=1\mathrm{}n`$. Notice that $`\lambda _i=0`$ if $`i>\mathrm{min}\{n,m\}`$.

Now $`\{e_i=\frac{1}{\sqrt{1+\lambda _i^2}}(a_i+\lambda _ia_{n+i})\}_{i=1,\mathrm{},n}`$ forms an orthonormal basis for $`T_p\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ and $`\{e_\alpha =\frac{1}{\sqrt{1+\lambda _{\alpha n}^2}}(a_\alpha \lambda _{\alpha n}a_{\alpha n})\}_{\alpha =n+1,\mathrm{},n+m}`$ an orthonormal basis for $`N_p\mathrm{\Sigma }`$.

It is not hard to see $`\mathrm{\Omega }=\frac{1}{\sqrt{_{i=1}^n(1+\lambda _i^2)}}`$. Apply these bases to equation (2.1).

###### Proposition 2.1

Let $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ be the graph of a smooth map $`f:^n^m`$ and $`\{\lambda _i\}_{i=1\mathrm{}n}`$ be the singular values of $`df`$. If the mean curvature vector of $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ is parallel, then $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ satisfies the following equation.

$$\begin{array}{cc}& \mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{\Omega }=\mathrm{\Omega }\{\underset{\alpha ,l,k}{}h_{\alpha lk}^22\underset{k,i<j}{}\lambda _i\lambda _jh_{n+i,ik}h_{n+j,jk}+2\underset{k,i<j}{}\lambda _i\lambda _jh_{n+j,ik}h_{n+i,jk}\}\hfill \end{array}$$
(2.3)
where $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$ is the Laplace operator of the induced metric on $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$. The indexes $`i,j`$ range between $`1`$ and $`\mathrm{min}\{n,m\}`$.

Proof of Theorem A.

We shall calculate

$$\mathrm{\Delta }(\mathrm{ln}\mathrm{\Omega })=\frac{\mathrm{\Omega }\mathrm{\Delta }(\mathrm{\Omega })|\mathrm{\Omega }|^2}{|\mathrm{\Omega }|^2}$$
(2.4)
By formula (2.2), the covariant derivative of $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ is .

$$(\mathrm{\Omega })_k=\mathrm{\Omega }(\underset{i}{}\lambda _ih_{n+i,ik})$$

Plug this and equation (2.1) into equation (2.4) and we obtain

$$\mathrm{\Delta }(\mathrm{ln}\mathrm{\Omega })=\{\underset{\alpha ,l,k}{}h_{\alpha lk}^2+\underset{k,i}{}\lambda _i^2h_{n+i,ik}^2+2\underset{k,i<j}{}\lambda _i\lambda _jh_{n+i,jk}h_{n+j,ik}\}$$
(2.5)
From the assumption of the theorem, it is obvious that $`\mathrm{\Delta }(\mathrm{ln}\mathrm{\Omega })\delta _1|A|^2`$ by completing square. The condition $`\frac{1}{\sqrt{det(I+(df)^tdf)}}K`$ means $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ is the graph of a vector-valued function with bounded gradient. Therefore we can perform blow down to get a minimal cone. Notice that these conditions are invariant under scaling. We can apply maximum principle to conclude the minimal cone is flat and then Allard regularity theorem forces $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ to be an affine space.

$`\mathrm{}`$

Proof of Theorem B. The optimal condition can be found by considering

$$F(h_{\alpha lk})=\underset{\alpha ,l,k}{}h_{\alpha lk}^2+\underset{k,i}{}\lambda _i^2h_{n+i,ik}^2+2\underset{k,i<j}{}\lambda _i\lambda _jh_{n+i,jk}h_{n+j,ik}$$

as a quadratic form define on the space of all possible $`h_{\alpha lk}`$ with $`h_{\alpha lk}=h_{\alpha kl}`$ and $`_kh_{\alpha kk}=0`$ for each $`\alpha `$. Now the problem is reduced to determine conditions on $`\lambda _i\lambda _j`$ to guarantee $`F`$ is a positive quadratic form with $`F(h_{\alpha lk})ϵh_{\alpha lk}^2`$ for some $`ϵ>0`$. It is computable, yet it seems hard to find a simple description. At the end of next section, we show how this gives the optimal result when $`n=2`$.

$`\mathrm{}`$

The condition in Theorem A or B depends on the choice a subspace over which $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ is written a graph. Since being minimal is invariant under the isometry action of $`O(n+m)`$, a slightly more general condition is the following.

###### Corollary 2.1

If $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ is the graph of $`f:^n^m`$. Denote $`A=df`$ as an $`n\times m`$ matrix . If there exists an element $`gO(n+m)`$ of the block form $`g=\left[\begin{array}{cc}P& Q\\ R& S\end{array}\right]`$ such that $`P+AR`$ is invertible and the singular values of $`(P+AR)^1(Q+AS)`$ satisfy the optimal condition in Theorem B , then $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ is an affine subspace.

Proof The tangent space of $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ is represented by $`\left[\begin{array}{cc}I& A\end{array}\right]`$. Under the action of $`g`$ on $`^{n+m}`$, the tangent space of $`g(\mathrm{\Sigma })`$ becomes $`\left[\begin{array}{cc}P+AR& Q+AS\end{array}\right]`$. If $`P+AR`$ is invertible, then $`g(\mathrm{\Sigma })`$ is still the graph of some $`\overline{f}`$ over $`^n`$. Now $`d\overline{f}=(P+AR)^1(Q+AS)`$. $`\mathrm{}`$

When $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ is a Lagrangian submanifold defined as the graph of $`F:^n^n`$. Let $`A=D^2F`$. Note being minimal Lagrangian is invariant under $`U(n)`$. An element $`g`$ in $`U(n)`$ can be expressed as a $`2n\times 2n`$ block matrix of the form

$$\left[\begin{array}{cc}P& Q\\ Q& P\end{array}\right]$$

with

$$PP^t+QQ^t=I,PQ^t+QP^t=0$$

where the first $`n`$ components correspond to the real $`x^i`$ and the last $`n`$ components the imaginary $`y^i`$.

Rotate $`^n`$ by this element $`g`$, the tangent space becomes $`\left[\begin{array}{cc}P+AQ& Q+AP\end{array}\right]`$ If we require $`P+AQ`$ is invertible then the condition is determined by the eigenvalues of the symmetric matrix $`(P+AQ)^1(Q+AP)`$. Please see  for the optimal condition in this case.

## 3 Applications

In the last section, we show how our theorems imply all known general graphic Bernstein type results in higher codimension. In Theorem 1 of , the authors proved a Bernstein type theorem in terms of a bound on

$$\mathrm{\Delta }_f=\{det(\delta _{\alpha \beta }+\underset{i}{}f_{x_\alpha }^i(x)f_{x_\beta }^i(x))\}^{\frac{1}{2}}<2$$

This result improves those in  and . This quantities of course is our $`\frac{1}{\mathrm{\Omega }}=\sqrt{_{i=1}^n(1+\lambda _i^2)}`$.

It is not hard to check that $`_{i=1}^n(1+\lambda _i^2)<4`$ implies $`|\lambda _i\lambda _j|<1`$ for $`ij`$. Therefore, Theorem A implies the result in .

As was mentioned above, Theorem A only assumes $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ is of parallel mean curvature vector. The condition is weakened if we further assume $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ is minimal, i.e $`_kh_{\alpha kk}=0`$. We demonstrate how it works in two-dimension. Write out the right hand side of equation (2.5) when $`n=2`$.

$$|A|^2+\lambda _1^2(h_{n+1,1,1}^2+h_{n+1,1,2}^2)+\lambda _2^2(h_{n+2,2,1}^2+h_{n+2,2,2}^2)+2\lambda _1\lambda _2(h_{n+1,2,1}h_{n+2,1,1}+h_{n+1,2,2}h_{n+2,1,2})$$
(3.1)
Since $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ is minimal, $`h_{n+1,1,1}=h_{n+1,2,2}`$ and $`h_{n+2,2,2}=h_{n+2,1,1}`$. This can be completed square and becomes

$$|A|^2+(\lambda _1h_{n+1,2,2}+\lambda _2h_{n+2,1,2})^2+(\lambda _1h_{n+1,1,2}+\lambda _2h_{n+2,1,1})^2$$

This in fact applies to three dimensional minimal cone because the second fundamental form vanishes in one direction and the right hand side of equation (2.5) reduces to the two-dimensional case. This recovers the result of Barbosa  and Fischer-Colbrie .