text:
# Selfconsistent calculations of fission barriers in the Fm region.

## 1 Introduction

Due to the loss of stability, with respect to spontaneous fission, the number of elements is limited to only few more than a hundred and ten. Both the experimental and theoretical studies of spontaneous-fission properties are crucial for understanding the stability properties of the heaviest elements. The abrupt transition that occurs from 254Fm to 258Fm in fission-fragment mass and kinetic-energy distributions, and in the spontaneous fission half-lives of heavy nuclei was found experimentally (see e.g. the review articles ). For 258Fm and heavier isotopes, the spontaneous-fission half-life decreases relative to 256Fm by several orders of magnitude. The mass distribution of fission fragments of 258Fm becomes very narrow with a single peak at symmetrical fission and the kinetic-energy distribution has two peaks: one at high energy (230 MeV) and the second less prominent at lower energy (205 MeV). On the other hand, the 256Fm isotope exhibits a rather strong mass asymmetric distribution $`\overline{A}_L/\overline{A}_H=112/141`$ and only the low energy peak is observed in the kinetic energy distribution. This is a rather puzzling situation as it is not expected, from a macroscopic point of view, a substantial change in the properties of both isotopes. Therefore, the different fission properties of both isotopes have to be attributed to subtle shell effects making its theoretical explanation even more challenging.

The qualitative explanation of all these phenomena by the existence of an additional fission valley in the multidimensional potential energy surface was proposed by Hulet et al. . They assumed a bimodal character of the kinetic-energy and mass distributions to show that for 258Fm there should exist two different fission paths leading to two distinctly different scission configurations. The first one is the conventional scission configuration of two fairly elongated shapes corresponding to the low kinetic-energy peak and the broad mass distribution. The second one leading to compact scission, i.e. configuration of two touching spheres corresponding to the high energy peak in the kinetic energy distribution and the narrow peak in mass distribution at symmetric fission.

After the discovery of bimodal fission in 258Fm , a number of theoretical papers has focused on this problem . All these papers are based on the mean–field single-particle potential and the Strutinsky shell correction method. Most of them deal with the form of the potential energy surface only. These static calculations usually give two fission valleys: one leading to the elongated form of fission fragments (EF) and the second one which corresponds to two nearly spherical fragments, which is usually referred as the compact fission (CF) valley. It has been pointed out by Brosa  and others that this new CF valley is associated with the doubly magic (Z=50, N=82) shell closure in the fission fragments.

The macroscopic–microscopic calculations of the potential energy surface (PES) for 258Fm reported in Ref.  are based on the Woods-Saxon single particle Hamiltonian. The collective potential energy surface $`V(\beta ,\beta _4)`$ was minimised there with respect to the deformation parameters $`\beta _3`$, $`\beta _5`$ and $`\beta _6`$. Two fission valleys were found, bifurcating right after the exit from the fission barrier. It was also shown in  that for the largest values of $`\beta `$ ($`\beta =1.6`$) the EF valley correspond again to symmetric fission $`(\beta _3=\beta _5=0)`$. This theoretical result is in line with the observation of Hulet et al.  where they found symmetric fission only and equal fission half-life times for both fission modes, i.e. for the fragments with the large total kinetic energy (CF valley) and for those with the small total kinetic energy (EF valley).

Contrary to the estimates of Ref. , the results obtained by Moeller et al.  indicate the existence of the second barrier on the EF path. The authors have found even a third switch-back path going from the SF valley via the second saddle to the EF valley. These calculations are based on the finite-range liquid drop model and the folded-Yukawa single particle potential. Additionally, in Refs.  a smaller mass parameter is postulated along the CF path in order to obtain the comparable spontaneous fission half-life time for both fission modes of 258Fm. In Refs.  Moeller et al. tried to find a solution to this problem by making calculations on a 5-dimensional space using a finite range liquid droplet model. They have also found two paths leading to fission, but the low energy mode was presented as an asymmetric one, with mass asymmetry $`M_H/M_L=152.2/105.8`$, which does not agree with the experimental data. It was shown in  that in 258Fm both modes of fission only lead to a symmetric split of the nucleus.

There are also some estimates of fission barriers made within the constrained Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov (HFB) approximation with Gogny or Skyrme effective interactions both at zero spin  and at high spin . Most of these calculations where made for nuclei with $`Z<100`$, where only the traditional fission path (EF) appears in the experimental data. In  calculations for $`Z>100`$ showing the compact fission path (CF) where carried out for both non-relativistic (Skyrme interaction with the SkI4 parameters) and relativistic (in the context of the relativistic mean field with the PL-40 parameterization) frameworks.

Recapitulating we can say that nuclei in the Fm region represent a very wide variety of fission types. The low mass isotopes fission with an asymmetric mass distribution of the fragments. The spontaneous fission half-life ($`T_{sf}`$) increases from about 0.8 ms for 242Fm up to 126 y for 252Fm and then falls down again to 0.36 ms for 258Fm in order to grow again by one order of magnitude for 260Fm. The situation changes especially dramatically when one goes from 256Fm to 258Fm. The fission half-life decreases by 7 orders of magnitude and reaches 0.36 ms and, as was described above, a very narrow symmetric mass distribution appears in the fission yield. Moreover, a similar behavior characterizes heavier nuclei in the neighborhood of 258Fm. Up to now this rapid change of systematics of $`T_{sf}`$ has not been well described theoretically .

The aim of the present investigation is to look at the form of the fission barriers obtained with Gogny forces for the nucleus 256Fm and its neighbors. In particular our aim is to answer the following questions:

* do there exist two fission valleys for nuclei in this region?
* is it possible to reproduce the experimental mass distributions of the fission fragments?
* is it possible to explain the rapid change of the measured fission half-life between 256Fm and 258Fm?

In order to answer the above questions we have performed constrained Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov calculations as described in Sect. 2, where we give a brief outline of the theoretical model as well as the description of the forces and the configuration space. In Sect. 3 we discuss the results obtained. Sect. 4 contains a summary and some concluding remarks.

## 2 Theoretical model

The Gogny density-dependent effective nucleon-nucleon force is taken in the following form :

$`V_{12}`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{i=1}{\overset{2}{}}}(W_i+B_i\widehat{P}_\sigma H_i\widehat{P}_\tau M_i\widehat{P}_\sigma \widehat{P}_\tau )e^{\frac{\left(\stackrel{}{r}_1\stackrel{}{r}_2\right)^2}{\mu _i^2}}`$
$`+`$ $`iW_{\mathrm{LS}}(\stackrel{}{_1_2})\times \delta (\stackrel{}{r}_1\stackrel{}{r}_2)(\stackrel{}{_1_2})(\stackrel{}{\sigma }_1+\stackrel{}{\sigma }_2)`$
$`+`$ $`t_0(1+x_0\widehat{P}_\sigma )\delta (\stackrel{}{r}_1\stackrel{}{r}_2)\left[\rho ({\displaystyle \frac{\stackrel{}{r}_1+\stackrel{}{r}_2}{2}})\right]^\gamma +V_{\mathrm{Coul}},`$
which contains a central finite range interaction, a zero-range spin-orbit term and a zero-range density dependent interaction, respectively. The Coulomb interaction has to be added in the case of protons. The central interaction is a sum of two Gaussian with widths $`\mu _1`$ and $`\mu _2`$. $`\widehat{P}\sigma `$ and $`\widehat{P}\tau `$ denote the spin and isospin exchange operators respectively, and $`\rho `$ is the total density.

We use the D1S  parameterization of the Gogny interaction. The D1S parameters were adjusted  to give a better surface energy term (crucial for a proper description of the fission phenomenon) and their numerical values are given by:

$`W_1=1720.30\mathrm{MeV}`$ $`W_2=\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}\hspace{0.17em}103.639}\mathrm{MeV}`$
$`B_1=\mathrm{\hspace{0.33em}\; \hspace{0.17em}1300.00}\mathrm{MeV}`$ $`B_2=163.483\mathrm{MeV}`$
$`H_1=1813.53\mathrm{MeV}`$ $`H_2=\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}\hspace{0.17em}\hspace{0.17em}\hspace{0.17em}\hspace{0.17em}162.812}\mathrm{MeV}`$
$`M_1=\mathrm{\hspace{0.33em}\; \hspace{0.17em}1397.60}\mathrm{MeV}`$ $`M_2=223.934\mathrm{MeV}`$ (2)
$`\mu _1=0.7\mathrm{fm}`$ $`\mu _2=1.2\mathrm{fm}`$
$`t_0=1390.6\mathrm{MeV}\mathrm{fm}^{3(1+\gamma )}`$ $`x_0=1`$
$`\gamma =1/3`$ $`W_{LS}=130\mathrm{MeV}\mathrm{fm}^5`$
The choice of the Gogny force with the D1S parameterization is based on the fact that whenever this interaction has been used to describe low energy nuclear structure phenomena an, at least, reasonable agreement with experiment has always been obtained. This degree of agreement has been obtained both for calculations at the mean field level and beyond.

In the microscopic HFB calculations we have used the computer code of  where special attention was paid to an accurate computation of the matrix elements of the Gogny interaction for very big bases like the ones used in this paper. The self-consistent equations have been solved by expanding the quasiparticle creation and annihilation operators on finite bases of axially symmetric deformed harmonic oscillator (HO) eigenfunctions. The size of the bases used depend upon two parameters, $`N_0`$ and $`q`$, which are related to the allowed range of the HO quantum numbers trough the relation

$$\frac{1}{q}n_z+(2n_{}+|m|)N_0.$$

Along the perpendicular direction we take $`N_0`$ shells, (i.e. $`2n_{}+|m|=0,\mathrm{},N_0`$) and along the $`z`$ direction we include up to $`qN_0`$ shells depending on the value of $`2n_{}+|m|`$. In the present study we have used $`q=1.5`$, a value which is suited for the elongated shapes along the $`z`$ direction typical of the fission process, and $`N_0=13`$, 15, and 17. The reason to use different values of $`N_0`$ is to study the convergence of our results with the basis size. Another parameters characterizing the HO bases are the oscillator lengths $`b_{}`$ and $`b_z`$. These two quantities have been determined, for each calculated wave function, as to minimize the HFB energy for the $`N_0=13`$ basis. The same values of $`b_{}`$ and $`b_z`$ are then used in subsequent calculations with $`N_0=15`$ and 17 (see below for a discussion of the convergence).

To study triaxiality effects in the first fission barrier we have also carried out calculations where the axial symmetry requirement was released but the left-right symmetry was imposed. As these calculations are much more time consuming than the axially symmetric ones we had to restrict them to the $`N_0=13`$ case but, as it will be discussed later, this is not a limitation in the region of interest.

In order to study the different paths to fission we have used in our calculations the following constraints: the axial quadrupole ($`Q_2`$), octupole ($`Q_3`$) and hexadecapole ($`Q_4`$) moments as well as the number of nucleons in the neck region ($`Q_N`$). The corresponding operators are given by:

$$\widehat{Q}_\lambda =r^\lambda P_\lambda (\mathrm{cos}(\theta ))\mathrm{and}\widehat{Q}_N=\mathrm{exp}\left(\frac{z^2}{a_N^2}\right),$$
(3)
with $`a_N`$=1 fm.

In the minimization process neither the two body kinetic energy correction nor the Coulomb and spin orbit pairing energies have been taken into account. Additionally, the Coulomb exchange energy has been treated in the Slater approximation . The reasons are the following: First, the calculation of the Coulomb exchange and pairing energies is extremely time consuming  and its inclusion would prevent the large scale calculations presented in this paper. From  we know that Coulomb pairing can be very important for collective masses but has little influence in the energy landscape. On the other hand, the Slater approximation to the Coulomb exchange energy works fairly well in all the cases (spherical or deformed nuclei) and is an affordable and reliable approximation. Concerning the spin-orbit pairing its contribution to the pairing field is very small, specially at zero spin, and can be safely neglected. Finally, the two body kinetic energy correction (2b-KEC) is not included in the variation process because, for heavy nuclei, it remains almost constant for most of the physical configurations. As this term was included in the fitting of the force, we have to include its contribution at the end of the calculation in order to obtain reasonable binding energies.

We have also subtracted from the HFB energy the rotational energy (REC) corrections stemming from the restoration of the rotational symmetry. This correction has a considerable influence on the energy landscape (and therefore on the height of the fission barriers) as is somehow proportional to the degree of symmetry breaking and therefore proportional to the quadrupole moment. A full calculation of the REC would imply an angular momentum projection  which is only feasible for light nuclei. In order to estimate the REC we have followed the usual recipe  of subtracting to the HFB energy the quantity $`\mathrm{\Delta }\stackrel{}{J}^2/(2𝒥_Y)`$, where $`\mathrm{\Delta }\stackrel{}{J}^2`$ is the fluctuation associated with the angular momentum operators in the HFB wave function and $`𝒥_Y`$ is the Yoccoz moment of inertia . This moment of inertia has been computed using the “cranking” approximation in which the full linear response matrix appearing in its expression is replaced by the zero order approximation. The effect of the “cranking approximation” in the Yoccoz moment of inertia was analyzed with the Gogny interaction for heavy nuclei in  by comparing it with the one extracted from an angular momentum projected calculation (see also  for a comparison in light nuclei). The conclusion is that the exact REC is a factor 0.7 smaller than the one computed with the “cranking” approximation to the Yoccoz moment of inertia for strongly deformed configurations (a similar behavior has been observed for the Thouless-Valatin moment of inertia in ). We have taken this phenomenological factor into account in our calculation of the REC.

In the last section we analyze the spontaneous fission half life of several Fm isotopes. The analysis was carried out in the standard WKB framework where $`T_{\mathrm{sf}}`$ is given (in seconds) by

$$T_{\mathrm{sf}}=2.8610^{21}(1+\mathrm{exp}(2S)).$$
(4)
In this expression $`S`$ is the action along the $`Q_2`$ constrained path which is given by

$$S=_a^b𝑑Q_2\sqrt{2B(Q_2)(V(Q_2)E_0)}.$$
(5)
For the collective quadrupole inertia $`B(Q_2)`$ we have used the ATDHFB expression computed again in the “cranking” approximation and given by

$$B_{ATDHFB}(Q_2)=\frac{M_3(Q_2)}{M_1^2(Q_2)},$$
(6)
with

$$M_n(Q_2)=\underset{\mu \nu }{}\frac{|Q_{\mu \nu }^{20}|^2}{(E_\mu +E_\nu )^n}.$$
(7)
Here $`Q_{\mu \nu }^{20}`$ is the 20 component of the quadrupole operator $`\widehat{Q}_2`$ in the quasiparticle representation  and $`E_\mu `$ are the quasiparticle energies obtained in the solution of the HFB equation.

In the expression for the action the collective potential $`V(Q_2)`$ is given by the HFB energy (with the 2b-KEC and REC corrections) minus the zero point energy (ZPE) correction $`ϵ_0(Q_2)`$ associated with the quadrupole motion. This ZPE correction is given by

$$ϵ_0(Q_2)=\frac{1}{2}G(Q_2)B_{ATDHFB}^1(Q_2),$$
(8)
where

$$G(Q_2)=\frac{M_2(Q_2)}{2M_1^2(Q_2)}.$$
(9)
Finally, in the expression for the action and additional parameter $`E_0`$ is introduced. This parameter can be taken as the HFB energy of the (metastable) ground state. However, it is argued that in a quantal treatment of the problem the ground state energy is given by the HFB energy plus the zero point energy associated to the collective motion. To account for this fact, the usual recipe is to add an estimation of the zero point energy to the HFB energy in order to obtain $`E_0`$. In our calculations we have taken a zero point energy of 0.5 MeV for all the isotopes considered.

### 2.1 Convergence of the calculations

In our calculations bases with $`N_0=13,15`$ or 17 were used in order to check the convergence of the results. As an example of these tests we display in Fig. 1 the HFB energies corresponding to the CF path of 256Fm as a function of $`Q_2`$ for different values of $`N_0`$. A comparison of the $`N_0=13`$ and the $`N_0=15`$ results show that $`N_0=13`$ is enough in the region around the first barrier but this is not the case in the region of the superdeformed minimum, around $`Q_2=100`$ b, where a 4 MeV shift is observed in going from $`N_0=13`$ to $`N_0=15`$.

Using $`N_0=17`$ we obtain rather stable results as compared with the $`N_0=15`$ calculations. That is, for most of the $`Q_2`$ range the difference between the $`N_0=17`$ and $`N_0=15`$ energies is almost independent for $`Q_2`$. The difference becomes visible only for $`Q_2>200`$ b, but this region is irrelevant to our investigation as it corresponds to solutions with well separated fragments. This behavior is typical for all paths and nuclei presented in this paper and from the above considerations, one can conclude that $`N_0=15`$ is sufficient for the planned HFB calculations. We have also checked that this fast convergence with the basis size is a consequence of the optimization of the oscillator lengths carried out for each quadrupole deformation. The oscillator length parameters were chosen as to minimize the HFB energies in the $`N_0=13`$ calculations.

### 2.2 Two body kinetic energy and rotational energy corrections

The influence of the two-body kinetic energy (2b-KEC) and the rotational energy (REC) corrections on the binding energy and the fission barrier of 256Fm is shown in Fig. 2. It is seen in the figure that the 2b-KEC shifts up the binding energy by around 13 MeV with respect the HFB estimate, while the REC is negative and its magnitude grows from 0 for the spherical configuration to about 5 MeV in the region of the second barrier (see inset). The plateau observed in the REC starting in $`Q_2=140`$b is due to the fact that from there on the solution correspond to two separated spherical fragments. In this case both the moment of inertia and the fluctuation of the angular momentum operators are proportional to the square of the distance between the fragments. As a consequence of the behaviour of the REC as a function of the quadrupole moment, its inclusion decreases the second barrier by a few MeV and that has an important influence on the systematics of the spontaneous fission life-times of heavy Fm isotopes as it will be seen in the next section. All potential energy surfaces (PES) presented in this paper contain both the 2b-KEC and REC corrections described above.

## 3 Results

All nuclei considered here have similar barrier shapes exhibiting two humps. The ground state minimum is at approximately $`Q_2`$=15 b, which corresponds to the deformation parameter $`\beta _20.25`$. The first fission barrier is, in our axially symmetric calculations, about 10 MeV high but it is decreased by a few MeV when triaxial shapes are included in the analysis what is in agreement with results of other authors (consult e.g. Refs. ). The lowering of the fission barrier due to triaxiality comes together with an increase of the collective mass and therefore the effect of triaxiality on the fission half-lives is rather small. This is in agreement with the results of Ref.  where it was found that the least action trajectory, or in other words the dynamical path to fission, leads only through the axially symmetric shapes of fissioning nucleus. Finally, a superdeformed minimum at an energy similar to the ground state energy appears at $`Q_250`$ b. It is separated from the scission point by a small second barrier that, as we will see in the next section, plays a fundamental role in the fission half-lives.

### 3.1 Nuclear Properties along the fission paths

In this section the potential energy $`E`$, the octupole $`Q_3`$ and hexadecapole $`Q_4`$ moments as well as the neck parameter $`Q_N`$ are investigated along the fission paths for the nuclei 256,258Fm, 258No and 260Rf.

#### 3.1.1 256Fm.

In Fig. 3, the results of the calculations for the nucleus 256Fm are plotted for the CF path (solid lines) and the EF path (dashed lines). In panel (a) we show the potential energy surfaces as a function of the quadrupole moment for both paths. Along with the energy curve we have also plotted the real shape of the nucleus for relevant values of the quadrupole moment. The reduction of the first barrier by approximately 4 MeV due to the triaxial degrees of freedom ($`\gamma `$ is typically in the range between 0 and 8 degrees) is marked by the dotted line. We observe that after tunnelling through the first barrier the nucleus goes into the superdeformed region. In fact there are two superdeformed minima, one at $`Q_2=`$50 and another at 70 b separated by a tiny barrier. The deeper minimum at $`Q_2=70`$ b is situated 2 MeV below the ground state energy. However, it is only separated from the scission point at $`Q_2=130`$ by a barrier which is only 2 MeV high and therefore it is rather unlikely that this superdeformed (ground state) minimum can live long enought as to be considered a metastable state. The fission products corresponding to this path are identical and spherical, in fact, the fragments are two spherical 128Sn nuclei. Such type of fission path (solid line in Fig. 3) was called in Ref.  the compact fission (CF) path. It was also shown in  that the octupole moment along such a path is equal to zero what is in line with our results, see panel (b) of Fig. 3. After passing the scission point the potential energy (the Coulomb energy in fact) of this fissioning system decreases rapidly with growing quadrupole moment. The other path, called elongated fission (EF) path, begins at $`Q_2`$=70 b. This path plays a crucial role in the fission process of this nucleus. It corresponds to the reflection asymmetric shapes with $`Q_30`$ as one can observe in panel (b) of Fig. 3. Both fission paths differ also significantly in the hexadecapole moments, panel (c), and in the number of nucleons in the neck region, panel (d). For quadrupole moments larger than 120 eb one finds that the EF path has a gentler slope than the CF path.

In order to understand the shapes of the EF path for this nucleus and the heavier isotopes considered we have plotted in panel (a) of Fig. 4 the shape of 256Fm at the deformation $`Q_2=200`$ b. On the left-right asymmetric shape distribution of the fissioning nucleus one can distinguish two fragments connected by a neck. One of the fragments is close to a sphere and the other one has a rather large quadrupole deformation. In order to study the mass contents of both fragments we have plotted in panel (b) the quantity

$$N(z)=2\pi _{\mathrm{}}^z𝑑z^{}_0^{\mathrm{}}𝑑r_{}\rho (r_{}z^{})$$

for both protons and neutrons. The number of particles corresponding to the magic numbers 50 and 82 are marked in the panel (b) with horizontal dotted lines. From this plot we learn that both fragments have roughly the same mass and they correspond to Sn isotopes close to the doubly magic 132Sn. The fact that an strongly left-right asymmetric mass distribution leads to two fragments with roughly the same mass is a remarkable result that will be commented later. Finally, no significant lowering of the density is observed in the neck region (panel (c) of Fig. 4).

The transition from the CF to the EF path take place first at $`Q_2=90`$ b because, for smaller quadrupole moments, the paths are separated by a 5 MeV high ridge as can be seen in Fig. 5, where cross sections of the potential energy surface for various quadrupole moments are plotted as a function of the neck parameter $`Q_N`$. When the barrier between both valleys disappears the nucleus continues fission along the EF path. Such a behavior, referred to by other authors a ”switchback path”  seems to be energetically most preferable. From $`Q_2`$=100 b up to 130 b the minimum corresponding to the CF valley becomes a shoulder as it is seen in Fig. 5. This means that 256Fm can not continue fissioning along this mode and will proceed through the EF path explaining the low kinetic energy distribution of the fission fragments of this nucleus. The minimum corresponding to the CF valley appears again at $`Q_2`$=140 b but at such a large quadrupole moments both fragments are already separated. At $`Q_2`$=140 b the fission valleys CF and EF are separated by a 4 MeV high barrier.

The fragments which are created in the EF process of 256Fm have different deformations but nearly equal masses as seen in Fig. 4. This is inconsistent with the experimental mass distribution which shows a mass asymmetry $`A_H/A_L141/112`$ . Our static calculations are based only on the PES of the fissioning nucleus and it seems that dynamical effects could play a certain role in the fission of 256Fm. It could also happens, but this is rather less probable, that we are not able to find such a mass asymmetric path in our calculation. Apart from the two valleys described above a few others paths were found. All of them are localized much above the CF and EF paths so it is rather improbable that the fissioning nucleus will follow one of them.

#### 3.1.2 258Fm.

It was found experimentally in Ref.  that the nucleus 258Fm exhibits bimodal fission. Both modes have similar abundance and symmetric mass distribution. In panel (a) of Fig. 6 the CF (solid line) and EF (dashed line) fission barriers are shown. The octupole, hexadecapole moments and the number of nucleons in the neck region $`Q_N`$ corresponding to both paths are presented in panels (b-d) of Fig. 6. Generally speaking the picture is very similar to the one of 256Fm, but there are some important differences which cause changes in the fission yield of 258Fm.

The first distinction between this nucleus and 256Fm is the fact that the second hump of the fission barrier on the CF path (at $`Q_2`$=120 b) has practically disappeared and rises only 0.5 MeV above the superdeformed minimum. Additionally the top of the second barrier is placed a few MeV below the ground state energy.

The second difference with respect to 256Fm is the relation between the two paths leading to fission. As it is seen in Fig. 7, the minima corresponding to the CF and EF coexist along the fission path, i.e., the ridge between them does not disappear along the whole way to fission. Its height always exceeds 1.5 MeV. It means that the nucleus could fission via the CF valley or change the path and proceed with the elongated fission (EF) fragment path starting from $`Q_2`$ 90 b. At higher quadrupole moments the transfer from the CF to the EF path is also possible but it is less probable as the ridge between the paths in the region of the second hump rises up to 3 MeV. Such a configuration of the EF and CF paths seems to ensure (because we do not account here for dynamical effects) that both modes are fed with similar intensity. This result is in agreement with conclusions of Refs. , where comparable abundance of both modes was found.

We can identify the CF path with the high total kinetic energy (TKE) mode in the fission of 258Fm and the EF path with the low TKE mode. In the CF path the nucleus splits into two identical, spherical parts which are two 129Sn nuclei. At the scission point, the distance between the centers of masses of these spherical fission fragments is relatively small what gives a strong Coulomb repulsion and in consequence a high mean value of the TKE of the fragments. The fissioning nucleus passing through the second EF path has a similar elongated shape as the one described for 256Fm in Fig. 4. The distance between the mass centers of the two born fragments is much larger than the one for the CF path. It causes a weaker Coulomb repulsion between fragments and in consequence a smaller mean TKE of the fragments.

We have got also some arguments in favor of the hypothesis that in the fission of 258Fm one deals with a kind of cluster fission , both in the CF and in the EF paths. Looking at the proton and neutron density distribution along both valleys we have found that the nucleus 258Fm splits into two parts with equal masses. Each fragment has around 50 protons and 79 neutrons. The only difference is that one of the 129Sn fragments born in the EF path is highly deformed with $`\beta _2=0.6`$ whereas is spherical in the CF path. As the different TKE of the two paths could be explained in terms of the energy difference between the spherical and the superdeformed fragment, we have performed additional $`Q_2`$-constrained HFB calculations for a few Sn isotopes. The results for 126-132Sn even–even isotopes are presented in Fig. 8. A shoulder (or even flat minimum for 130Sn) is seen for all isotopes at $`Q_2`$=10 to 14 b. This superdeformed second minimum for 130Sn corresponds to $`Q_2`$=12 b (or $`\beta _2=0.6`$) and it is located around 23 MeV above the ground state. This superdeformed state can be identified as the deformed 129Sn fragment meaning that the 23 MeV accumulated in the superdeformed state will be taken away by post–fission neutrons or $`\gamma `$–rays and will not be converted to kinetic energy of the fragments. Therefore, we expect that the TKE of the fragments for the EF path to be of the order of 23 MeV smaller than for the CF path, in good agreement with experiment.

#### 3.1.3 258No and 260Rf.

Figs. 9 and 10 (Figs. 11 and 12) show the PES and its cross sections for the fissioning 258No (260Rf) nucleus. In these nuclei, the second hump of the potential barrier disappears completely. After tunneling through the first barrier they fission directly.

In the nuclei 258No (Fig. 9) and 260Rf (Fig. 11), as in 258Fm, the CF and EF paths are also found. The transition between both valleys is possible at $`Q_2`$=90 b, as it can be seen in Figs. 10 and 12, where there is no ridge separating them. Here, similarly to the case of 256Fm, the minimum corresponding to the CF path turns into a shoulder at about $`Q_2`$=100 b, but it appears again at $`Q_2`$=120 to 130 b. It makes possible the come-back to the CF path, although the probability for such a process is relatively small. This effect explains the experimentally observed low abundance of the high TKE mode: 5% for 258No and even less for 260Rf.

In configurations close to scission another third path corresponding to two compact fragments (marked by the dotted lines in Figs. 9 and 11) will appear. In contrast to the above considered Fm isotopes, the two fragments have a small asymmetry in mass with a rate of $`M_H/M_L`$=132.5/125.5 for 258No and $`M_H/M_L`$=136/124 for 260Rf. In both cases the number of protons is the same in both fragments. This asymmetry is in line with the experimental results for these nuclei .

### 3.2 Spontaneous fission half-lives

For heavy Fm isotopes the spontaneous fission half-lives ($`T_{sf}`$) decrease rapidly with mass. This fall off has up to now (see e.g. ) not found a satisfactory explanation.

The shape of the potential barrier is one of the most important factors which determines the fission half-life of nuclei. The fission barriers for 254Fm, 256Fm and 258Fm (for the CF path only) are plotted in Fig. 13. All curves are shifted in order to get the ground state minimum in the same position. One can see in Fig. 13 that the first hump of the barrier is practically the same for all these nuclei. In fact, the almost 10 MeV high fission barriers are reduced by a few MeV when including the effect of triaxiality (see in Figs. 3 and 6). However, as already mentioned, it was shown in Ref.  that the dynamical effects prevents the fissioning nucleus to take axially non symmetric forms, so we have decided to perform the estimates of $`T_{sf}`$ for the both (axial and nonaxial) cases.

The main difference between these three isotopes is in the location of the second hump with respect to the ground state minimum. In 256Fm the second barrier is at the ground state level and in 258Fm a few MeV lower than that. In these nuclei only the first hump will influence the fission half-life time. The fission barrier of 254Fm has a completely different shape. Although, the shift up of the second hump with respect to 256Fm is not larger than the corresponding shift in 256Fm with respect to 258Fm, this small shift causes that the whole second barrier is now above the ground state. This effect influences the theoretical estimates for fission half-lives in a dramatical way. The half-life for 254Fm is in our estimates 11 orders of magnitude larger than that for 256Fm when the symmetric (CF) path (solid line in Fig. 3) is taken into account (open symbols in Fig. 14). It becomes much shorter (full symbols in Fig. 14), and almost equal to the experimental one, when the reduction of the fission barrier due to the left-right asymmetry degrees of freedom is included. It has obviously to do with the fact that the size of the fission barrier to be tunneled in 254Fm reduces slightly if one switches to the EF valley at $`Q_2`$90 b. The estimates done assuming the axially symmetric form of fissioning nucleus are marked in Fig. 14 by the circles, while these for the nonaxial case are denoted by the triangles. It is seen that the inclusion of the nonaxial degrees of freedom decreases the values of $`T_{sf}`$ obtained in our one dimensional calculation (i.e. without the dynamical effects of Ref. ) by about one order of magnitude.

In Fig. 14 we compare our estimates for the spontaneous fission half-lives ($`T_{sf}`$) with the experimental data and also with the results of dynamical calculations on the basis of the Saxon–Woods potential made in Ref. . It is seen that we have qualitatively explained its decrease for heavy Fm isotopes. It is due to the fact that the second hump goes below the ground state level in 256-258Fm. In fact, we did not reproduce well enough the half-life time for 256Fm which is in our calculations 3 orders of magnitude shorter than the measured value and therefore, the abrupt change in the systematics of the fission life-times appears 2 mass units too early.

## 4 Conclusions

In this paper we have discussed some properties of the potential energy surfaces of fissioning even-even nuclei in the 258Fm region. All discussed nuclei exhibit two-hump fission barriers. There is always one of the fission trajectories which leads to compact fission. Another path, leading to an alternative mode corresponding to a spherical and an elongated fission fragment, has been found for all these nuclei. The shape of the second hump of the potential barrier and the relation between the two fission paths in the potential energy surface are crucial for the way in which fission occurs in these nuclei.

In 256Fm fission follows only the elongated fission path but we are unable, in our static calculation, to reproduce properly the mass asymmetry of the fission products of 256Fm. Similarly to the experimental situation the theoretical approach yields only a low TKE mode in the fission yields was found theoretically. In contrast to this, the isotope 258Fm may fission along the CF or EF valleys and bimodal fission take place there. The observed experimental difference of the TKE between both modes is well reproduced by our model. The mechanism of bimodal fission of 258Fm and the heavier even-even nuclei has been described properly.

We also explained the decrease of the half-life times for the heavy Fm isotopes. In the case of 254Fm, the second hump on the fission barrier is located above the ground state. In heavier isotopes it goes down by a few MeV below the ground state minimum and therefore does not give any contribution to the half-life times of these nuclei.

Contrary to the majority of papers describing bimodal fission of 258Fm we have found a strong left-right asymmetry in the shape of fissioning nucleus which nevertheless corresponds to a symmetric mass split. This is a new phenomenon which could be discovered only in the HFB type of calculations with the Gogny or $`\delta `$–pairing forces which distinguish between orbitals in different fragments.

Acknowledgments:

Two of the authors (K. P. and M. W.) gratefully acknowledge the warm hospitality extended to them by the Departamento de Física Teórica of the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid as well as grants from the Spanish Interministerial Commission of Science and Technology, Ref. SB99-BA6182184 (M. W.) and of the Spanish Foreign Ministry (K. P.).

This work is partly sponsored by DGICyT, Spain under Project PB97-0023 and the Polish Committee of Scientific Research, grant No. 2P 03B 115 19.

The critical reading of the manuscript and the comments done by Johann Bartel is also acknowledged.


format: text

text:
# The spectroscopic orbits and the geometrical configuration of the symbiotic binary AR PavonisBased on observations taken at Complejo Astronómico El Leoncito (CASLEO), operated under an agreement between the Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas de la República Argentina, the Secretaría de Ciencia y Tecnología de la Nación and the National Universities of La Plata, Córdoba and San Juan

## 1 Introduction

The symbiotic star AR Pavonis was discovered by Mayall (mayall37 (1937)) as an eclipsing binary with a period of 605 days. The eclipsed object is highly variable in both brightness and size (Andrews a74 (1974)). Thackeray & Hutchings (th74 (1974), hereafter TH74) based on extensive analysis of spectroscopic data spanning several orbital cycles proposed a binary model for AR Pav with the M3 III secondary filling its Roche lobe. They found that the eclipsed primary shows an emission O-type spectrum and density and excitation in the eclipsed region increasing towards the central primary light source. TH74 derived masses of order $`2.5\mathrm{M}_{\mathrm{}}`$ and $`1.2\mathrm{M}_{\mathrm{}}`$, for the primary and secondary, respectively. Their estimate was based on analysis of the eclipse shape, and the primary mass function derived from radial velocities of almost exclusively He i emission lines. In particular, they did not measure radial velocities for the cool giant. TH74 also found periodic changes in radial velocities of forbidden lines and cF-type absorption lines, which they attributed to a stream and a region where the stream falls on a ring/disk surrounding the primary. Kenyon & Webbink (kenyon84 (1984)) revised this model involving an accretion disk around a main sequence star as the primary light source.

Bruch et al. (bruch94 (1994)) observed dramatic variations in the visual light curve between eclipses which are not easily explained by the TH74 model. They suggested variations in the mass transfer rate from the red giant to the hot component as the most satisfying explanation. Skopal et al. (2000a ) noted that the AR Pav light curve has a characteristic shape similar to those of dwarf novae in quiescent phase; whereas during the active phases the profile of the light curve changes considerably.

The first orbital solution for the cool giant has been recently obtained by Schild et al. (schild01 (2001), hereafter S01). They also measured the rotation velocity of the giant, and, assuming co-rotation, its radius. Based on this radius combined with the known spectral type of the giant and the corresponding effective temperature S01 estimated the giant’s luminosity and distance to AR Pav, as well as from the position in the HR diagram the giant’s mass. Their binary mass function then resulted in masses of $`2\mathrm{M}_{\mathrm{}}`$ and $`0.75\mathrm{M}_{\mathrm{}}`$ for the cool giant and its hot companion, respectively.

In this paper we present new radial velocity data for the cool giant and the emission lines collected between 1990 and 2000. From this we derive new spectroscopic orbits for both components, and discuss the velocity patterns in various emission lines.

## 2 Observations

Spectroscopic observations were performed with the 2.15 m telescope of Complejo Astronómico el Leoncito, CASLEO (San Juan, Argentina). During 1990 and 1991 medium-low resolution spectra were taken with a Boller & Chivens Cassegrain spectrograph using a photon-counting Reticon, called Z-Machine ($`\lambda /\mathrm{\Delta }\lambda `$=4100 and 2700 in the filters blue and red respectively), and a Thompson CCD of 384x576 pixels ($`\lambda /\mathrm{\Delta }\lambda `$=2600) in 1992. Since 1995, high resolution spectra were obtained with a REOSC echelle spectrograph using a Tek CCD 1024x1024 pixels ($`\lambda /\mathrm{\Delta }\lambda `$=15000), except in May 1998 when a spectrograph Boller & Chivens was used. Table 1 shows a log of the observations.

Barbá et al. (barba92 (1992)) describe details of the Z-Machine, acquiring and reducing data procedures. The CCD data were reduced with IRAF111IRAF is distributed by the National Optical Astronomy Observatories, which is operated by the association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, INC., under contract to the National Science Foundation packages, CCDRED and ECHELLE and all the spectra were measured using the SPLOT task within IRAF.

To obtain the flux calibration, standard stars from Stone & Baldwin (stone83 (1983)) and Baldwin & Stone (baldwin84 (1984)) were observed each night. A comparison of the spectra of the standards suggests that the flux calibration errors are about 15 per cent for the Z-Machine and 20 per cent in the central part of each order for the REOSC echelle images.

In the determination of the hot component orbit, we have included the H$`\alpha `$ and He II$`\lambda `$4686 profiles measurements from a spectrum taken by Van Winckel (winckel93 (1993)), in July 1988 and corresponding to phase $`\varphi =0.72`$.

## 3 Analysis and discussion

### 3.1 Emission line profiles

The left panel of Fig. 1 shows the H$`\alpha `$ emission line profiles of AR Pav ordered with their orbital phase, although they are collected from more than one cycle. H$`\alpha `$ is strongest in phase 0.54, when the hot component is in front. The profiles are double-peaked with broad, $`\mathrm{FW}1600\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1`$, wings. The red peak is stronger than the blue one in all phases. This can not be explained by motions in an optically thin medium. In such situation the profile of the second quadrature would be reversed relative to the first quadrature. The profiles are apparently affected by self- absorption. The largest blue to red peak intensity ratio is observed around phases 0.13 and 0.27, respectively, whereas the smallest value of this ratio corresponds to phase 0.77. The double-peaked profiles have an average separation of $`148\pm 3\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1`$. The average radial velocity of the central absorption is $`96\pm 1\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1`$. In eclipse, H$`\alpha `$ profiles are considerably narrower than out of eclipse (Fig. 2). This suggest that the broad H$`\alpha `$ wings are formed near to the hot component.

The shape of H$`\beta `$ profile is similar to that of H$`\alpha `$, but the blue to red peak intensity ratio is smaller than the same ratio for H$`\alpha `$, except for phases 0.98 to 0.13, when the relative intensities are similar. The wings are also narrower during eclipse. The double-peaked profiles have a average separation of $`117\pm 3\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1`$, and the average radial velocity of the central absorption is $`90\pm 2\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1`$.

We have H$`\gamma `$ profiles only in phases near to both conjunctions. The intensity of the blue peak relative to the red one is smaller than for H$`\beta `$, except during eclipse. It seems to behave in the same way as H$`\alpha `$ and H$`\beta `$. The average radial velocity of the central absorption is $`87\pm 3\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1`$. The absorption components of the Balmer lines seem to show a positive progression from H$`\alpha `$ to H$`\gamma `$. Similar positive progression in radial velocities of the central absorption component of Balmer emission lines is often observed in symbiotic stars. Since the absorption lines have slower decrement than the emission lines the positive progression may be due to the decreasing effect of the emission border.

The second panel of Fig. 1 shows the He ii $`\lambda \mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}4686}`$ emission lines profiles. The line profile is double-peaked during eclipse and in phase 0.85. During eclipse the blue peak is slightly stronger than the red one. In phase 0.85 the red peak is stronger than the blue one. In the rest of the orbital phases they present asymmetric profiles. The asymmetry is reversed in the first quadrature relative to second one. However, in phase 0.13 the shape of the asymmetry is almost identical to phase 0.77. The largest asymmetry occurs in phase 0.54.

Fig. 1 also shows the \[O iii\] $`\lambda \mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}5007}`$ emission line region. The permitted lines of He i $`\lambda \mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}5016}`$ and Fe ii $`\lambda \mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}5018}`$ are narrow and more or less symmetric, with FW $`100150\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1`$. The forbidden \[O iii\] lines display FW $`200\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1`$ and may have double peak structure with peak-to-peak separation of $`\mathrm{\Delta }v40\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1`$, and the blue to red peak intensity ratio of $`1`$. This structure is visible in our profiles at phases 0.54 and 0.89 for which we estimate $`\mathrm{\Delta }v40`$ and $`50\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1`$, respectively (Fig. 1), as well as in the profiles presented by van Winckel et al. (winckel93 (1993)) and S01.

In the high resolution spectra, also some Fe ii emission lines appear as double-peaked and/or asymmetric at most orbital phases (the right panel of Fig. 1). In particular, the profiles are clearly double-peaked near the first quadrature, and asymmetric (with a very weak central absorption occasionally present) at the second quadrature. The profiles seem symmetric and the central reversal is missing during the eclipse whereas at $`\varphi 0.54`$ a very faint blue peak (hardly discernible from the noise) can be present. The double-peaked Fe ii profiles have separations between 47 to 65 $`\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1`$. In the spectra of June 1995, the He i emission lines $`\lambda \lambda `$ 4922, 5876 and 6678 show also a double-peaked profile with an mean separation of $`34\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1`$, whereas the He i $`\lambda \mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}5016}`$ and the Fe ii $`\lambda \mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}5018}`$ profiles published by van Winckel et al. (winckel93 (1993)) show a reversal at $`93`$ and $`86\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1`$, respectively. It is remarkable that in both conjunctions the intensity of Fe ii $`\lambda \mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}4923}`$ and $`\lambda \mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}5018}`$ emission lines are comparable with the intensities of He i $`\lambda \mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}4921}`$ and $`\lambda \mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}5015}`$, respectively. In other phases the ratio Fe/He is very small.

### 3.2 Radial velocities

To obtain the radial velocities of the red giant and the hot component, we have measured spectral features associated with each one.

For the cool component, we have used M-type absorption lines corresponding to Fe i, Ti i, Ni i, Si i, O i, Zr i, Co i, V i, Mg i and Gd ii. At some phases we have also identified and measured the blue cF-type absorption lines corresponding to Cr ii, Fe ii, Ti ii and Y ii which are believed to be linked to the hot companion (TH74; S01). The individual radial velocities were obtained by a Gaussian fit of the line profile, and a mean value was calculated for each spectrum. The resulting mean heliocentric velocities together with their standard errors and the number of lines used are given in Table 2.

In addition, for the study of the hot component we have determined the radial velocities from the wings of H$`\alpha `$, H$`\beta `$ and He II$`\lambda \mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}4686}`$ profiles. They would reflect the motion of the hot component if they are formed in the inner region of the accretion disk or near to the hot component. In this way we have used a method outlined by Schneider & Young (schneider80 (1980)) and Shafter (shafter83 (1983)), which was very successful in studies of cataclysmic binaries. This method consists of convolving the data ($`S`$) with two identical Gaussian bandpasses ($`G`$) whose centers have a separation of $`2b`$. The wavelength, $`\lambda `$, of an emission line in a spectrum $`S(\mathrm{\Lambda })`$ is given by solving the equation

$$_{\mathrm{}}^+\mathrm{}S(\mathrm{\Lambda })G(\lambda \mathrm{\Lambda })𝑑\mathrm{\Lambda }=0$$

where

$$G(x)=\mathrm{exp}[(xb)^2/2\sigma ^2]\mathrm{exp}[(x+b)^2/2\sigma ^2].$$

The choice of the parameters $`b`$ and $`\sigma `$ depend on the characteristic of the spectra being analyzed, namely the emission line width and the signal-to-noise ratio of the data. We refer to Shafter (shafter83 (1983)) for a more detailed discussion of the influence of the choice of $`b`$ and $`\sigma `$ on the obtained orbital solution. In any case they found that varying these parameters has no significant effect on the resulting value of the system velocity, $`\gamma `$, whereas the semi-amplitude of the radial velocity, $`K`$, significantly depends on the choice of $`b`$. The resulting velocities are given in Table 2.

In order to reduce the noise in the extreme line wings, we have added all spectra taken in the same observing run. Fig. 1 and Fig. 2 show the H$`\alpha `$ emission line profiles and wings, respectively, of AR Pav ordered with their orbital phase. We have experimented with a range of values for $`b`$, and $`\sigma `$ fixed at 7 Å, for which we have obtained the circular orbit solutions (see below). Fig. 3 illustrates the dependence of the semi-amplitude, $`K`$, and its standard error, $`\sigma _\mathrm{K}`$ on $`b`$ in the case of H$`\alpha `$. It is noticeable that $`\sigma _\mathrm{K}`$ increases sharply for $`b`$ larger than $`10`$ Å. We can attribute these large standard errors to the velocity measurements dominated by the noise in the continuum rather than by the extreme high velocity wings of the line profile. We have therefore adopted $`b=10`$ Å(460 $`\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1`$) as the best value in the case of H$`\alpha `$. A similar analysis led us to choose $`b=7`$ Å ($`430\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1`$) and $`\sigma =5`$ Å for H$`\beta `$, and $`b=5`$ Å ($`320\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1`$) and $`\sigma =3`$ Å for He ii $`\lambda \mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}4686}`$, respectively.

We have also obtained the radial velocities of He i $`\lambda \lambda `$ 4009, 4026, 4121, 4144, 4388, 4471, 4713, 4922, 5016, 5048, 5876, 6678, 7065, 7281; \[O iii\] $`\lambda \lambda \mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}4363}`$, 4959, 5007; \[N ii\] $`\lambda \mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}6584}`$ and occasionally also $`\lambda \mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}5755}`$ emission lines as well as numerous Fe ii emission lines by a Gaussian fit. Faint \[Fe ii\] though present at some phases have not been measured. Table 2 shows the average heliocentric radial velocities, their errors and number of lines used for each spectrum. The singlet and triplet series of He i lines are shown separately. In the case of double-peaked lines (see above) of Fe II the center velocity were used to derive the values in Table 2.

### 3.3 Spectroscopic orbits

All radial velocities in Table 2 except the central absorption of H i vary with the 605-day period. Fig. 4 shows our radial velocity data corresponding to the M giant absorption lines, the H i and He ii emission wings, and He i, Fe ii, \[O iii\] and \[N ii\] emission lines, respectively, phased with the photometric ephemeris given by Bruch et al. (bruch94 (1994))

$$\mathrm{JDMin}=\mathrm{2\hspace{0.17em}420\hspace{0.17em}331.3}+604.5E.$$

Our radial velocity curve for the M giant is practically indistinguishable from that given by the data from S01 (and also plotted in Fig. 4), and it strongly suggests a circular orbit. It is also obvious from Fig. 4 that the cF absorption system, H i and He ii emission wings and the permitted (He i and Fe ii) emission lines are in antiphase with the M giant absorptions.

In order to obtain the orbital parameters of AR Pav we have assumed a circular orbit as did S01, and adopted the very precise photometric ephemeris of Bruch et al. (bruch94 (1994)). The semi-amplitude of the respective radial velocity curve has been then fitted by a least squares method. In some cases we have also calculated elliptical orbital solutions with the orbital period forced to the photometric period of 604.5 d. Table 3 lists the resulting orbital solutions. The symbols have their usual meaning: $`\gamma `$ is the system velocity, $`K`$ is the orbital semi-amplitude, $`e`$ is the eccentricity, $`\omega `$ is the longitude of periastron, $`T_0`$ is the time of periastron passage, $`f(M)`$ is the mass function, $`A\mathrm{sin}i`$ is the fractional semi-major axis in astronomical units (AU), and $`\mathrm{\Delta }T`$ is the time difference between orbital conjunction and photometric eclipse. For the M giant, we have obtained both solutions using only our radial velocities as well as for our radial velocities combined with the S01 data. Although an elliptical orbit fits the measured velocities slightly better than a circular one, the obtained eccentricity $`e=0.12\pm 0.04`$ is only a $`3\sigma `$ result, and observations covering several more orbital periods would be necessary to confirm the reality of such an orbit. Following the arguments given by S01 we believe that a circular orbit provides a better description of the data, and such an orbit is also in agreement with the tidal theory.

Both the broad emission line wings, and the cF-type absorption lines show the highest (and practically the same) amplitude and the mean velocity almost identical with the red giant systemic velocity. The solutions for the broad emission wings of H i and He ii, respectively, agree within their respective errors which suggests that both they are formed in the same region near the hot component. An A- or F-type absorption system with radial velocity varying in antiphase with the M giant absorption lines, similar to that identified in AR Pav, was seen during outbursts of two other symbiotic systems AX Per and BX Mon, and associated with the hot component (Mikołajewska & Kenyon 1992a , Dumm et al. dumm98 (1998)). This combined with the fact that the wings narrow during the hot component eclipse strongly suggests that both the broad emission wings and the blue (cF) absorption system trace the orbit of the hot component. The only problem is that any orbital solution for the cF absorption system leads to significant eccentricity (Table 3; TH74; S01) whereas the red giant orbit requires a circular (or nearly circular) orbit for the hot companion. Our orbital solution for the broad emission line wings, on the other hand, is consistent with a circular orbit.

To analyze the cF absorption system we have combined our measurements with the TH74 data. Since our measurements are a factor of 2-4 more accurate then those of TH74, we have applied a weight 4 to our data, and weights 1-3 to the TH74 data (same as in their Table 1), respectively. We have re-calculated the orbital solution for the combined data and found practically the same eccentricity, $`e=0.45\pm 0.07`$, as $`e0.45`$ and 0.42 given by TH74 and S01, respectively, and $`\gamma =66.5\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1`$, closer to the red giant systemic velocity than earlier solutions. The spectroscopic conjunction occurs 34 days after the photometric eclipse. S01 suggested that the cF absorption system only traces the hot component’s motion whilst it is in front of the giant. At other orbital phases, the cF absorption lines are affected by additional absorption due to this wind and/or a flow of material towards the hot companion, and the resulting radial velocities mimics an elliptical orbit. S01 have also demonstrated that a circular orbit that is almost exactly in antiphase with the red giant results if only the radial velocity measurements between phase 0.25 and 0.75 ( the hot component in front) are employed. Unfortunately, our new measurements, in particular 2 points almost coincident at phase $`0.5`$ do not fit this restricted orbital solution of S01. Instead we have found that the cF absorptions may be affected by the hot component activity. This is illustrated in Fig. 5. In particular, all data points that force an elliptical orbit – the TH74 points between phase $`0`$ and 0.2 as well as our two points near phase $`0.5`$ – were obtained when AR Pav was very active (TH74; Skopal et al. 2000b ). It is interesting that an orbital solution omitting the TH74 data from the 1954 outburst as well as our measurements obtained prior to JD $`\mathrm{2\hspace{0.17em}451\hspace{0.17em}000}`$ (when according to Skopal et al. (2000b ) AR Pav was very active) results in a much lower eccentricity, $`e=0.21\pm 0.07`$ and the spectroscopic conjunction at the time of the photometric eclipse. Both these fits, however, match the data rather poorly, and the residuals for some points are larger then their measurement accuracy. This illustrates difficulties with interpretation of the radial velocity curve of the blue absorption system.

We note here that similar complications with the blue absorption system occurred for a few other active symbiotic systems. In the case of symbiotic recurrent nova RS Oph, Dobrzycka & Kenyon (dk94 (1994)) found the A-type absorption features $`0.4P`$ out of phase with the orbit of the giant. Mikołajewska & Kenyon (mk96 (1996)) failed to derive any radial velocity curve and orbital solution for the blue absorption system in Z And, whereas in CI Cyg the radial velocities of the F-type absorption system suggest formation region in material streaming from the giant near the hot component (Mikołajewska & Mikołajewski mm88 (1988)).

Such problems are also common in the case of W Ser stars (or hyperactive Algols), in which the accreting primary is embedded in an optically thick shell with an A/F-type spectrum, and strong emission from circumstellar plasma is also present. We recall here that the radial velocity curves for the shell spectra in W Ser stars show often significant departure from that expected for a circular orbit required by the orbital solutions for their secondary components (Andersen et al. andersen88 (1988)). It has been also found that such significant departures can be expected if the shell lines used to measure the radial velocity curve are formed in the outer $`1020\%`$ of the disk (e.g. Andersen et al. andersen88 (1988)). In particular, the distorted radial velocity curve of the shell in SX Cas (Fig. 1 of Andersen et al. andersen88 (1988)) is very similar to the radial velocity curve of the blue absorption system in AR Pav.

The possible correlation between AR Pav’s activity and the departures of the cF absorption velocities from the circular orbit suggests that this absorption system may be also affected by material streaming towards the hot component presumably in a region where the stream encounters an accretion disk or an extended envelope around the hot component. The outer disk and the stream impact region can be highly unstable and asymmetric. For example, the trailing side of the disk, where the gas stream adds to the disk, can be brighter whereas the leading side is more extended. Such asymmetry may, at least qualitatively, account for the deviations of the cF absorption velocity curve from the sinusoid expected for a circular orbit as well as for the behaviour of the optical light curves of AR Pav, which show relatively stable profile of eclipses during quiescence in contrast to very unstable profiles and changes in the position of the minima during activity (Andrews a74 (1974); Bruch et al. bruch94 (1994); Skopal et al. 2000a ).

Unfortunately, a detailed and proper treatment of the cF shell radial velocity curve is beyond the scope of our paper. This would require knowledge of the temperature and density profile in the shell/disk which is not available. The situation is further complicated by significant cycle-to-cycle variations of the cF spectrum. In particular, spectroscopic observations a few orbital cycles and of good phase coverage in each cycle are necessary to distinguish between the cycle-to-cycle changes of the radial velocity curve and distortions due to other effects (e.g. contribution from stream, formation in outer disk, etc.).

The solutions for the broad emission line wings are free from such complications and they are not affected by the system activity. We thus believe that the broad wings are formed very close to the hot star (in the inner disk or in a hot wind) and they directly trace the hot component’s orbit.

Combing the semi-amplitudes of the M giant and the H i+He ii emission line wings for the circular orbit (Table 3) gives a mass ratio $`q=2.5\pm 0.3`$, and component masses of $`M_\mathrm{g}\mathrm{sin}^3i=2.5\pm 0.6\mathrm{M}_{\mathrm{}}`$ and $`M_\mathrm{h}\mathrm{sin}^3i=1.0\pm 0.2\mathrm{M}_{\mathrm{}}`$, with the errors given by the errors of the $`K_\mathrm{h}`$ and $`K_\mathrm{g}`$ values, respectively. These values are somewhat larger than $`M_\mathrm{g}\mathrm{sin}^3i=1.9\mathrm{M}_{\mathrm{}}`$ and $`M_\mathrm{h}\mathrm{sin}^3i=0.75\mathrm{M}_{\mathrm{}}`$ derived by S01 mostly because our semi-amplitude for the M giant, $`K_\mathrm{g}=10.8\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1`$, is larger than the value $`K_\mathrm{g}=9.6\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1`$ calculated by S01. We, however, note that our radial velocity curve (Figure 4) has better coverage at both quadratures.

The radial velocities of the central absorption component of H i Balmer lines do not follow the orbital phase, and are blueshifted by $`30\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1`$ relative to the system velocity. The absorption is presumably formed in the neutral portion of the cool component’s wind. Moreover, it remains strong and practically constant over whole orbital cycle, which indicates that the nebula in AR Pav is probably bounded on all sides by significant amount of neutral material at least near the orbital plane. It is interesting that most symbiotic systems with double-peaked H$`\alpha `$ profiles have the main reversal on the blue side of the line center, strongly supporting the idea that this structure arises from self-absorption in the cool giant’s wind (Ivison et al. ivison94 (1994)).

For a weak, unsaturated absorption the relationship between column density, $`N_\mathrm{i}`$, and the measured equivalent width, $`EW`$, is

$$N_\mathrm{i}=\frac{1.13\times 10^{20}EW}{\lambda ^2f_{\mathrm{ij}}}\mathrm{cm}^2,$$

where $`f_{\mathrm{ij}}`$ is the oscillator strength of the transition $`ij`$, and wavelength $`\lambda `$ and $`EW`$ are given in Å. From the measured $`EW(\mathrm{H}\alpha )=1.17\pm 0.03\mathrm{\AA }`$, we estimate the lower limit for $`N(H\text{i},n=2)4.4\times 10^{12}`$, and from $`EW(\mathrm{H}\beta )=0.66\pm 0.06\mathrm{\AA }`$ we obtain $`N(H\text{i},n=2)3\times 10^{13}\mathrm{cm}^2`$, respectively. To estimate the total hydrogen column density, $`N(\mathrm{H})`$, the concentration of hydrogen atoms at the second excitation level has to be adopted which requires detailed knowledge on physical conditions in the gas. Assuming local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE) and a temperature, $`6000\mathrm{K}`$, we obtain (from the Saha-Boltzman relation) $`N(H\text{i},n=2)/N(\mathrm{H})10^8`$, and the total hydrogen column density $`N(\mathrm{H})\mathrm{a}\mathrm{few}\times 10^{21}\mathrm{cm}^2`$. Despite of all uncertainties involved in this estimate, the resulting hydrogen column density is consistent with the behavior of the shortwavelength IUE spectra of AR Pav. These spectra show characteristic attenuation of the continuum flux for $`\lambda 1500`$ Å at any phase – including SWP 5828 and SWP 13956 taken at orbital phases 0.27 and 0.37, respectively – which can be accounted for by Rayleigh scattering in the neutral material surrounding the binary system. It has been shown that to produce a noticeable effect column densities in the range $`N(H\text{i})10^{20}10^{24}\mathrm{cm}^2`$ are required (e.g. Schmid schmid97 (1997)). We thus conclude that both the strength of the central absorption in H i Balmer lines and the behavior of the IUE SWP spectra are consistent with significant amounts of neutral material bounding the nebula in the orbital plane.

The radial velocity curves for He i and Fe ii emission lines are in antiphase with the cool giant, which suggests a possible association of these lines with the hot component. However, their semi-amplitude, $`15`$ and $`18\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1`$ for He i and Fe ii, respectively, are a factor of $`2`$ lower than that of the hot component, and their mean velocities are redshifted by $`5\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1`$ with respect to the system velocity. Such discrepant amplitudes can be explained by a contribution from material between the two stars and in the neighborhood of the red giant which can both reduce the amplitude and shift the mean velocity (see also discussion in S01). We have not found any significant difference between the K values as well as $`\gamma `$ velocity derived for the singlet and triplet He i emission series, respectively. There is also no difference between our radial velocity curve and the data from TH74, which means that the He i formation region was the same at the two epoches.

The radial velocities of the forbidden lines show a more complicated pattern (Fig. 4, bottom). The \[O iii\] emission lines do not trace any of the two stellar components. Our radial velocity data show a deep minimum around the phase $`0.7`$ and another less marked minimum around the phase $`0.2`$, and the mean velocity, $`68\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1`$, very close to our red giant $`\gamma `$ velocity. A small amplitude periodic RV changes are also present in TH74 data. S01 suggested that the variability may be due to variable relative size of the blue and red peaks causing the line center of unresolved \[O iii\] lines (such as \[O iii\] $`\lambda \mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}4363}`$ in TH74) to move bluewards and redwards. However, we have found the same RV values and changes by measuring the line centers and the wings, respectively, which in our opinion suggests that the changes are due to true motions.

Finally, the \[N ii\] emission lines show a small periodic changes roughly in phase with the hot component and the mean velocity blueshifted by $`16\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1`$.

### 3.4 The M giant, the hot companion and the geometry of AR Pav system

AR Pav is well-established eclipsing system. The eclipses are however not total as indicated by relatively blue colours during mid-eclipse, $`BV0.6`$, much different from $`BV1.5`$ expected for an M5 giant, and variable $`UBV`$ magnitudes during minimum which increase with the magnitudes outside eclipse (Andrews a74 (1974); Hutchings et al. hutchings83 (1983)). Similarly, the UV continuum flux measured from IUE spectra (cf. Fig. 5 of S01) shows a significant reduction near $`\varphi =0`$, the continuum is, however, not fully eclipsed, and the shape of the light curve is asymmetric and complex. S01 estimated a limit $`i79^{}`$ from the observed exit from eclipse for a point-like source and using the red giant radius derived from its rotational velocity.

An independent estimate of the orbital inclination can be made by comparing the apparent red giant radius inferred from eclipses, $`R_{\mathrm{g},\mathrm{ecl}}`$, with its mean tidal radius, $`R_\mathrm{t}`$, defined as the radius of a sphere with a volume equal to the Roche lobe volume. The inclination is

$$\mathrm{cos}i\sqrt{(R_\mathrm{t}/A)^2(R_{\mathrm{g},\mathrm{ecl}}/A)^2}.$$

Skopal et al. (2000a ) obtained $`R_{\mathrm{g},\mathrm{ecl}}/A=0.30\pm 0.02`$222Note that this estimate is based only on the shape of light curve and it is independent of the model adopted in their paper., while $`R_\mathrm{t}/A=0.46\pm 0.01`$ for $`q=2.5\pm 0.3`$ (Paczyński bep71 (1971)). If the giant actually fills its tidal lobe, the orbital inclination is $`i=70^\mathrm{°}\pm 2^\mathrm{°}`$, so $`M_\mathrm{g}3\mathrm{M}_{\mathrm{}}`$ and $`M_\mathrm{h}1.2\mathrm{M}_{\mathrm{}}`$. Otherwise these estimates give a strong lower limit for $`i`$ and upper limits for the binary component masses.

Our orbital solution yields a binary separation of $`A\mathrm{sin}i=457\pm 35\mathrm{R}_{\mathrm{}}`$. For $`i=90^{}`$, the giant radius derived from eclipses is then $`0.3A=137\pm 20\mathrm{R}_{\mathrm{}}`$, very close to the value $`130\pm 25\mathrm{R}_{\mathrm{}}`$ derived by S01 from rotational velocity. The red giant radius extends to $`65\%`$ of the mean Roche lobe radius333The ratio of the observed red giant’s radius to the mean tidal radius, $`R_\mathrm{t}`$ is a better measure of the Roche lobe filling factor than the ratio of the giant’s radius to the distance of the inner Lagrange point from the giant’s center adopted by S01. with the lower limit set by $`i=90^{}`$. Based on similar estimate for the Roche lobe filling factor S01 concluded that the giant in AR Pav does not fill its tidal lobe. In our opinion, however, this result does not settle the problem.

Recently, Orosz & Hauschildt (oh00 (2000)) have shown that rotational broadening kernels for Roche lobe filling (or nearly filling) giants can be significantly different from analytic kernels due to a combination of the nonspherical shape of the giant and the radical departure from a simple limb darkening law. As a result, geometrical information inferred from $`v\mathrm{sin}i`$ measurements of cool giants in binary systems, and in particular in symbiotic stars, are likely biased and must be treated with caution. In particular, among symbiotic systems with measured $`v\mathrm{sin}i`$ and accurate orbits, three of them, T CrB, CI Cyg and BF Cyg, seem to contain tidally distorted giants as indicated by their red/near-IR light curves with evident ellipsoidal changes (Belczyński & Mikołajewska bm98 (1998); Mikołajewska mik01 (2001); Mikołajewska et al. mik01g (2002)). In CI Cyg, the rotational velocity of the giant is consistent with a synchronously rotating Roche lobe filling giant (Kenyon et al. km91 (1991)). In T CrB, however, the observed $`v\mathrm{sin}i`$ is by $`2030`$ % lower than expected for such a giant (Belczyński & Mikołajewska bm98 (1998)). A very low $`v\mathrm{sin}i=4.5\pm 2\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1`$ has been also measured for the red giant in BF Cyg (Fekel et al. fekel01 (2001)). The problem is further complicated by the fact that the ellipsoidal variations can be hardly visible only in quiescent visual light curves, whereas systematic searches for such changes in the red and near-IR range where the cool giant dominates the continuum light are missing (Mikołajewska mik01 (2001)). In fact, a secondary minimum is also visible in the quiescent optical light curves of AR Pav (Fig.1 of Skopal et al. 2000a ). Observations in the red and near-IR range are, however, necessary to confirm whether this minimum is due to ellipsoidal changes of tidally distorted red giant.

Based on near IR TiO band depths, Mürset & Schmid (murset99 (1999)) estimated a spectral type M5 III for the giant, whereas Allen (allen80 (1980)) deduced M6 III from the 2.3-$`\mu \mathrm{m}`$ CO band. If the giant is similar to normal giants, then its effective temperature should be between $`T_{eff}(\mathrm{M5}\mathrm{III})=3355`$ K and $`T_{eff}(\mathrm{M6}\mathrm{III})=3240`$ K (Richichi et al. rich99 (1999)), and luminosity, $`L_\mathrm{g}18004700\mathrm{L}_{\mathrm{}}`$, for $`R_\mathrm{g}=130\mathrm{R}_{\mathrm{}}`$ and $`R_\mathrm{g}=R_\mathrm{t}=210\mathrm{R}_{\mathrm{}}`$, respectively. Comparing the position of the red giant in the HR diagram with the evolutionary tracks for RGB/AGB stars, we find the red giant’s mass range of $`2\mathrm{M}_{\mathrm{}}M5\mathrm{M}_{\mathrm{}}`$ (e.g. Vassiliadis & Wood vassi93 (1993); Schaller et al. schaller92 (1992); Bessel et al. bessel89 (1989)), consistent with our dynamical mass estimate.

The radial velocity curve of the F-type absorption lines suggest that the shell spectrum is formed in the outermost accretion disk and/or the region where the stream encounters the inner accretion disk or an extended envelope around the hot component. The broad emission wings could be then formed in the inner accretion disk or the extended envelope around the hot source. TH74 came to similar conclusion based on the radial velocity behavior and the fact that the Balmer continuum served as a strong background for the cF absorption lines. We can place some limit on the size of the inner disk radius assuming Keplerian rotation. Then we have

$$R_\mathrm{d}/\mathrm{R}_{\mathrm{}}19\times (M_\mathrm{h}/\mathrm{M}_{\mathrm{}})(v_\mathrm{d}/100\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1)^2\mathrm{sin}^2i.$$

In particular, the H$`\alpha `$ line wings follow the hot companion’s orbit down to at least $`\pm 270\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1`$ ($`b6\mathrm{\AA }`$; Fig. 3), which corresponds to a Keplerian disk radius of $`2.6`$ and $`2.8\mathrm{R}_{\mathrm{}}`$, for $`i=90^\mathrm{°}`$ and $`70^\mathrm{°}`$, respectively. These values are much lower than the radius of the eclipsed object, $`R_{\mathrm{h},\mathrm{ecl}}0.1A(46\mathrm{R}_{\mathrm{}})`$, derived from optical eclipses (Skopal et al. 2000a ; Andrews a74 (1974)). Unfortunately, our method does not allow to measure accurately the wing positions for $`b6\mathrm{\AA }`$ because of the presence of strong central absorption. We also note, that the projected Keplerian velocity at an outer disk rim with $`R_\mathrm{d}46\mathrm{R}_{\mathrm{}}`$ is $`128\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1`$, very close to the average peak-to-peak separation in Balmer lines, $`148`$ for H$`\alpha `$ and $`117\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1`$ for H$`\beta `$, respectively. However neither the two peaks nor the central absorption trace the hot component orbital motion (see also Sec. 3.3). Thus we do not believe that the observed double-peaked structure originates in an outer accretion disk.

The maximum velocity in the H$`\alpha `$ line profile, $`800\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1`$, is consistent with a Keplerian velocity at a distance of $`0.3\mathrm{R}_{\mathrm{}}`$, which sets an upper limit for the radius of the hot component. Although this value is an order of magnitude larger than the expected radius of a $`1\mathrm{M}_{\mathrm{}}`$ white dwarf, it falls in the range of the observed hot component radii in classical symbiotic systems (e.g. Mürset et al. mnsv91 (1991)). This result also rules out the presence of a main-sequence accretor in AR Pav.

The permanent presence of the strong central absorption in H i Balmer emission lines, stationary with respect to the orbital motion, indicates that the nebula is bounded on all sides by significant amount of neutral material (see Sec. 3.3). On the other hand, the strong double-peaked \[O iii\] lines require an extended low-density ionized region. A plausible solution to this apparent inconsistency is a bipolar ionization structure of the nebula, with a lower density towards the poles than in the orbital plane. We note here that similar strong \[O iii\] lines together with strong central absorption in H i emission lines were observed during late outburst phases and decline in CI Cyg and AX Per. Moreover, in AR Pav, the eclipses in H i and He ii lines are narrow with well-defined eclipse contacts (TH74; Quiroga et al., in preparation) likewise the eclipses in CI Cyg and AX Per during the outburst and its decline (Mikołajewska & Kenyon 1992a ; 1992b ) which indicates that they may arise in a non-spherical, perhaps bipolar, nebula or flow. Such a geometry is also consistent with the recent radio observations of CI Cyg (Mikołajewska & Ivison mi01 (2001)). These bipolar structures could be associated with the presence of an accretion disk in AR Pav and related symbiotic systems at least during their active phases.

Even if the giant does not fill its Roche lobe, its wind is likely focused towards the secondary and/or towards the orbital plane (Mastrodemos & Morris mm98 (1998, 1999); Gawryszczak, Mikołajewska & Różyczka gmr01 (2002)). In particular, 3-D hydrodynamic model calculations show that, in a system with orbital parameters similar to those of AR Pav, gravitational interaction of the cool giant’s with the secondary all alone can produce an equatorial to polar density contrast as large as 100-1000 giving rise to a bipolar geometry of the circumstellar nebula even in the absence of an accretion disk.

A bipolar geometry of the nebula of AR Pav can also account for the orbital phase-dependent changes of the \[O iii\] and \[N ii\] emission lines. In particular, such variations can be expected if these lines are formed in the hot component wind confined by the asymmetric dense wind from the red giant or in the wind-wind interaction zone (e.g. Walder & Follini wf01 (2000)). The radial velocity curves for the \[O iii\] and \[N ii\] emission lines, respectively, are not in phase, presumably because the two ions probe different regions, in particular with different density (note that the forbidden line emission is the most effective if the electron density is near to the respective critical density).

## 4 Concluding remarks

We have obtained the circular orbits for both components of AR Pav from direct radial velocity measurements of the M-giant and the hot component. In particular, we have found that the hot component orbital motion can be successfully traced by radial velocities derived from the broad emission wings of H i Balmer lines and He ii lines. Similar result has been recently obtained by Ikeda & Tamura (ikeda00 (2000); also Fekel et al. fekel01 (2001)) for V1329 Cyg, in which the H i and He ii broad wings appear to follow the hot component orbit. With both radial velocity curves, we have obtained the orbital parameters and dynamical masses for each component. The masses obtained are $`M_g\mathrm{sin}^3i=2.5\pm 0.6\mathrm{M}_{}`$ and $`M_h\mathrm{sin}^3i=1.0\pm 0.2\mathrm{M}_{}`$ for the red giant and the hot component respectively.

Our M-giant orbit is in good agreement with that given by S01. We believe that the somewhat higher semi-amplitude derived from combined our and S01 velocity data results from a better coverage of the final radial velocity curve near its minimum and maximum. Our improved mass function, $`f(M_\mathrm{g})=0.079\mathrm{M}_{\mathrm{}}`$, combined with the red giant’s mass, $`M_\mathrm{g}=2.0\mathrm{M}_{\mathrm{}}`$, derived by S01 from evolutionary tracks yields $`M_\mathrm{h}=0.87\mathrm{M}_{\mathrm{}}`$, in agreement with our dynamical mass estimate. As in S01, our final component masses are very different from earlier published values (TH74; Skopal et al. 2000a ). In particular, our upper limit for the hot component mass, $`M_\mathrm{h}1.2\mathrm{M}_{\mathrm{}}`$, is much lower than the $`2.5\mathrm{M}_{\mathrm{}}`$ and $`4.5\mathrm{M}_{\mathrm{}}`$ values found by TH74 and Skopal et al., respectively, and it does not require the presence of a main-sequence companion to the M giant.Moreover, our analysis (Sec. 3.4) practically rules out such possibility. Instead, we find that the hot component, like in most symbiotic stars, resembles central stars of planetary nebulae. However, we must stress that the hot component of AR Pav seems to be one of the most massive among thusfar studied symbiotic systems.

AR Pav is also one of the most active symbiotic systems. In particular, its optical light curve in addition to eclipses shows strong cycle-to-cycle variability (e.g. Andrews a74 (1974); Bruch et al. bruch94 (1994); Skopal et al. 2000a ) which is related to the presence and strength of the cF absorption spectrum and a blue continuum (TH74; Hutchings et al. hutchings83 (1983)). Such a blue A/F-type shell spectrum is typical for symbiotic systems during outbursts (active phases), in particular for those with multiple Z And-type eruptions, and it seems to be associated with the hot component (Mikołajewska & Kenyon 1992a , 1992b ). Usually, the blue shell component disappears during a few years after the visual maximum, and a typical symbiotic system spends more time in quiescence than in activity (Mikołajewska & Kenyon 1992a ). In the case of AR Pav however the F-type component remained visible, although weakened following the decline of the optical brightness, throughout all the period 1953-1973 covered by the observations of TH74, as well as during our observations in 1990-2000. Moreover, a warm blue continuum was also present in 1980-1982 (e.g. Hutchings et al. hutchings83 (1983)); unfortunately there are not published optical spectra which could confirm the presence of any blue absorption system. Thus, the hot component of AR Pav, unlike the hot components in typical symbiotic systems, seems to remain active most of time. There is also rather no doubt that this high activity is somehow related to variable accretion processes.

Finally, AR Pav shares many properties with W Ser stars (or hyperactive Algols). In particular, both seem to have the accreting star embedded in an optically thick shell with an A/F-type spectrum, and strong emission from circumstellar plasma. In the case of W Ser stars, there is strong evidence that the shell spectrum is formed mainly in a geometrically and optically thick accretion disk seen nearly edge-on and in a gas stream (e.g. Andersen et al. andersen88 (1988) and references therein). Kenyon & Webbink (kenyon84 (1984)) propose the same interpretation for the A/F- type shell spectrum observed in AR Pav, CI Cyg and a few other symbiotic systems during their active phases. Our analysis of radial velocity patterns in the F-type shell absorption as well as various emission lines in AR Pav supports such interpretation. The main difference between these symbiotic systems and W Ser stars is that the He ii recombination lines, such as $`\lambda \mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}1640}`$ Å and $`\lambda \mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}4686}`$ Å are absent in W Ser stars whereas they are strong in AR Pav, CI Cyg and other related symbiotic stars (except during the maximum of the strongest optical outbursts). This seems to be related to different nature of the accretor hidden inside the disk, which in W Ser stars seems to be a main-sequence B-type star whereas in AR Pav and other symbiotics the accretor is less massive, $`M_\mathrm{h}1\mathrm{M}_{\mathrm{}}`$, much hotter, and perhaps more compact. Both AR Pav and W Ser stars also have very complex and variable light curves, which can be accounted for by instabilities of a luminous disk component, and/or variations in mass transfer and circumstellar gas in the system. A complex circumstellar envelope is also suggested by variable polarization in both AR Pav and W Ser stars (Brandi et al. brandi00 (2000) and Plavec plavec80 (1980), respectively).

Although it is very premature to claim that all symbiotic systems with multiple outburst activity do have tidally distorted giants, and – at least during active phase – accretion disks, whereas the non-eruptive systems do not, the former seems be the case for CI Cyg, YY Her, and a few other active systems. The latter is also true in the case of two non-eruptive systems, V443 Her and RW Hya, which do not show any evidence for ellipsoidal variability in their near-IR light curves, and their near-IR magnitudes show only small fluctuations with the observational errors (Mikołajewska et al. mik01g (2002)).

AR Pav certainly deserves further studies. For example, near infrared monitoring can provide important information about the process of mass transfer and accretion by confirming or excluding a tidally distorted giant. The structure of the nebula and the hot continuum source may be reconstructed and tested during the eclipses. AR Pav has not yet been detected in radio range, and the available upper limit $`F_{6\mathrm{cm}}14`$ mJy (Belczyński et al. bm00 (2000)) is very far from the present detection limits. Multifrequency radio observations would give us information about the mass loss and the geometry of ionized region. We also desperately need good models of the structure and spectra of accretion disks and boundary layers for symbiotic stars.

###### Acknowledgements.

CQ is grateful to Nicolaus Copernicus Astronomical Center for hospitality and support during the partial preparation of this paper. We thank Nidia Morrell for the acquisition of the 1999 May image. We wish to acknowledge the facilities and support offered by the staff of the CASLEO. We also thank the anonymous referee for valuable remarks and suggestions. This research was partly supported by KBN research grants No. 2P03D 021 12 and No. 5P03D 019 20.