text:
# 1 Introduction

## 1 Introduction

One possible signal for physics beyond the standard model (SM) would be the presence of significant CP violation in the production of $`\tau `$ leptons , or in their decay . CP violation in production would arise, assuming that $`e^+e^{}`$ annihilate into a virtual $`\gamma `$ or $`Z`$, from the electric dipole form factor (EDM) $`d_\tau ^\gamma (q^2)`$, or its generalization for the $`Z`$ coupling, the so-called “weak” dipole moment form factor (WDM) $`d_\tau ^Z(q^2)`$. These are expected to be unobservably small in the SM. Thus, observation of CP violation in production would be unambiguous evidence for physics beyond the SM. The signal for CP violation in $`\tau `$ production would be the non-zero values of certain momentum correlations of the $`\tau `$ decay products  since the momenta play the role of spin analyzers for the $`\tau `$ leptons.

TESLA is a proposed $`e^+e^{}`$ linear collider with a center-of-mass energy of $`\sqrt{s}=500`$ GeV with the possibility of an extension to $`800`$ GeV . It is a multi-purpose machine that will test various aspects of the standard model (SM) and search for signals of interactions beyond the standard model. A strong longitudinal polarization program at TESLA with considerable polarization of the electron beam, with the possibility of some although not as high a degree of polarization of the positron beam is also planned . We assume an integrated luminosity of a few hundred fb-1, which would lead to copious production of $`\tau ^+\tau ^{}`$ pairs. Longitudinal beam polarization of the electron and positron beams would lead to a substantial enhancement of certain vector correlations, which are non-vanishing in the event that the $`\tau `$ lepton has an EDM or a WDM. We will assume integrated luminosities of 500 and 1000 fb-1 at center of mass energies of 500 and 800 GeV, respectively. We expect a magnitude of polarization of $`80\%`$ for the electron beam and $`60\%`$ for the positron beam.

Our aim in this work is to study these vector correlations constructed from the momenta of the charged decay products of $`\tau `$ leptons. We will confine our attention to two-body decays of the $`\tau `$ leptons for which the correlations as well as their variance due to CP conserving standard model interactions can be computed analytically. We also study the effects of helicity-flip bremsstrahlung  which contributes to these correlations at $`𝒪(\alpha )`$. This is a standard model background to the signal of interest.

The plan of the paper is the following: in the next section we present estimates for the EDM and WDM in certain popular extensions of the SM which sets the scale for our studies. In Sec. 3, we discuss the correlations in general and reproduce results from the literature for our vector correlations. In Sec. 4, we discuss the numerical results for TESLA energies, luminosities, and polarizations, including the limits achievable. In Sec. 6 we discuss the implications of our results for the configuration being planned at TESLA and how our results will translate into certain design criteria for the machine and the detector.

## 2 Dipole Moments in Extensions to the
Standard Model

CP violating dipole moments of leptons can arise in the standard model radiatively. However, since there is no CP violation in the lepton sector in SM, it can only be induced by CP violation in the quark sector. One has to go at least to 3-loop order to generate a non-vanishing contribution to the lepton dipole moments . A crude estimate gives

$$|d_\tau (SM)|\stackrel{<}{}10^{34}\text{e-cm}.$$
(1)
Extensions of the SM where complex couplings appear can easily generate CP-violating dipole moments for $`\tau `$ lepton at one-loop order. Provided these couplings are generation or mass dependent, it is possible that reasonably large dipole moments for the $`\tau `$ lepton are generated, while continuing to satisfy the constraints coming from strong limits on the electric dipole moments of the electron or the neutron.

Since dipole couplings of fermions are chirality flipping, they would be proportional to a fermionic mass. However, this need not necessarily be the mass of the $`\tau `$ lepton. It could be the mass of some other heavy fermion in the theory. As a result, the dipole coupling at energy of $`\sqrt{s}`$ need not necessarily by suppressed by a factor of $`m_\tau /\sqrt{s}`$, but could involve a factor $`m_F/\sqrt{s}`$, where $`F`$ is a new heavy particle in the extension of the SM, and this factor need not be small. It is thus possible to get dipole form factors almost of the order of $`(\alpha /\pi )`$ in units of an inverse mass which appears in the loop. If the mass is that of $`W`$ or $`Z`$, it is possible to get dipole moments of the order of $`10^{19}`$ e-cm. In actual practice, however, the particle appearing in the loop is also constrained to be heavy. As a result, the dipole moments in left-right symmetric models, Higgs exchange model with spontaneous CP violation and natural flavor conservation, and supersymmetric models turn out to be of the order of $`10^{23}`$ e-cm, or smaller .

In the case of most models, information exists in the literature for the values of electric and weak dipole form factors only at $`q^2`$ values of 0 and $`m_\tau ^2`$, respectively. Models in which the $`q^2`$ dependence of the CP-violating form factors has been studied are scalar leptoquark models with couplings only to the third generation of quarks and leptons. Of these, the most promising model is the one in which the leptoquark transforms as an $`SU(2)`$ doublet. In  a value of Re $`d_\tau ^\gamma \stackrel{<}{}310^{19}`$ e-cm was found above the $`Z`$ resonance, with Re $`d_\tau ^Z`$ about $`\frac{1}{4}`$ of this value for a more favorable case. Taking into account restrictions on the doublet leptoquark mass and couplings coming from LEP data values of $`d_\tau ^\gamma \stackrel{<}{}10^{19}`$ e-cm and $`d_\tau ^Z\stackrel{<}{}(\mathrm{few})10^{20}`$ e-cmwere estimated at $`\sqrt{q^2}=500`$ GeV .

Values of $`\tau `$ dipole form factors of the order of $`10^{19}\text{e-cm}`$ are also obtained in models with Majorana neutrinos of mass of a few hundred GeV, and of the order of $`10^{20}\text{e-cm}`$ in two-Higgs doublet extensions with natural flavor conservation, and in supersymmetric models through a complex $`\tau \stackrel{~}{\tau }`$neutralino coupling, not far from the $`\stackrel{~}{\tau }`$ threshold .

## 3 The Vector Correlations

In ref.  an extensive analysis of momentum correlations was first presented in the context of the reaction $`e^+e^{}Z^0\tau ^+\tau ^{}`$, and was subsequently generalized to energies far away from the $`Z`$ resonance in . Expressions were presented there for the $`\tau `$ production matrix $`\chi `$ involving the EDM and the WDM, in addition to the main contribution from SM vertices, which is required to compute the production cross-section, the momentum correlations of interest, as well as their variances, also taking into account the $`𝒟`$ matrices that account for the decay of the $`\tau `$ into (two-body) final states. In ref.  it was shown that in the limit of vanishing electron mass, the initial state depends on the electron polarization $`P_e`$ and the positron polarization $`P_{\overline{e}}`$ only through the CP-even combinations $`(P_eP_{\overline{e}})`$ and $`(1P_eP_{\overline{e}})`$. Therefore one may search for CP violation through the non-vanishing expectation values of CP-odd momentum correlations for arbitrary electron and positron polarizations. In particular, simple “vector” correlations for which the correlations as well as their variances could be computed in closed form, were shown to have enhanced sensitivity to CP violating EDM and WDM of the $`\tau `$ leptons at SLC, and at the energies of a Tau-charm factory. In this work, we shall examine these correlations for their sensitivity to $`\tau `$ EDM and WDM at TESLA energies, polarizations and luminosities.

The CP-odd momentum correlations we consider here are associated with the center of mass momenta $`𝐪_{\overline{B}}`$ of $`\overline{B}`$ and $`𝐪_A`$ of $`A`$, where the $`\overline{B}`$ and $`A`$ arise in the decays $`\tau ^+\overline{B}\overline{\nu }_\tau `$ and $`\tau ^{}A\nu _\tau `$, and where $`A,B`$ run over $`\pi `$, $`\rho `$, $`a_1`$, etc. In the case when $`A`$ and $`B`$ are different, one has to consider also the decays with $`A`$ and $`B`$ interchanged, so as to construct correlations which are explicitly CP-odd.

The correlations we consider are

$$O_1\frac{1}{2}\left[\widehat{𝐩}\left(𝐪_{\overline{B}}\times 𝐪_A\right)+\widehat{𝐩}\left(𝐪_{\overline{A}}\times 𝐪_B\right)\right]$$

and

$$O_2\frac{1}{2}\left[\widehat{𝐩}\left(𝐪_A+𝐪_{\overline{B}}\right)+\widehat{𝐩}\left(𝐪_{\overline{A}}+𝐪_B\right)\right],$$

where $`\widehat{𝐩}`$ is the unit vector in the positron beam direction.

Note that since $`O_2`$ is CPT-odd it measures $`\mathrm{Im}d_\tau ^i`$, whereas $`O_1`$ is CP-even and measures $`\mathrm{Re}d_\tau ^i`$. An additional advantage of these correlations is that the correlations as well as the standard deviation for the operators due to the standard model background are both calculable in closed form for two-body decays of the $`\tau `$ leptons.

The calculations include two-body decay modes of the $`\tau `$ in general and are applied specifically to the case of $`\tau \pi \nu _\tau `$ and $`\tau \rho \nu _\tau `$ due to the fact that these modes possess a good resolving power of the $`\tau `$ polarization, parameterized in terms of the constant $`\alpha _\pi =1`$ for the $`\pi `$ channel (with branching fraction of about $`11\%`$) and $`\alpha _\rho =0.46`$ for the $`\rho `$ channel (with branching fraction of about $`25\%`$) from the momentum of the $`\pi `$ or the $`\rho `$.

Analytic expressions for these correlations can be found in . For the sake of convenience of reference and completeness, we give the expressions here. With the definitions $`r_{ij}(V_e^iA_e^j+V_e^JA_e^i)/(V_e^iV_e^j+A_i^eA_j^e)`$ and the effective polarization parameter $`P(P_eP_{\overline{e}})/(1P_eP_{\overline{e}})`$ (the vector and axial-vector couplings $`A_l^i,V_l^i,l=e\text{or}\tau ,i=\gamma \text{or}Z`$ are listed in ),

$`O_1={\displaystyle \frac{1}{36x\sigma }}{\displaystyle \underset{i,j}{}}K_{ij}s^{3/2}m_\tau ^2(1x^2)\left({\displaystyle \frac{r_{ij}P}{1r_{ij}P}}\right)`$
$`[(A_\tau ^i\mathrm{Re}d_\tau ^j+A_\tau ^j\mathrm{Re}d_\tau ^i)\alpha _A\alpha _B(1p_A)(1p_B)`$
$`{\displaystyle \frac{3}{2}}(V_\tau ^i\mathrm{Re}d_\tau ^j+V_\tau ^j\mathrm{Re}d_\tau ^i)[\alpha _A(1p_A)(1+p_B)+\alpha _B(1p_B)(1+p_A)],`$ (2)
and

$`O_2={\displaystyle \frac{1}{3\sigma }}{\displaystyle \underset{i,j}{}}K_{ij}s^{3/2}m_\tau \left({\displaystyle \frac{r_{ij}P}{1r_{ij}P}}\right)`$
$`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{4}}(A_\tau ^i\mathrm{Im}d_\tau ^j+A_\tau ^j\mathrm{Im}d_\tau ^i)(1x^2)(\alpha _A(1p_A)+\alpha _B(1p_B)),`$ (3)
where $`x=2m_\tau /\sqrt{s}`$, $`p_{A,B}=m_{A,B}^2/m_\tau ^2`$, and $`\sigma `$ is the cross-section of $`e^+e^{}\tau ^+\tau ^{}`$ given by:

$$\sigma =\underset{i,j}{}K_{ij}s[V_\tau ^iV_\tau ^j(1+\frac{x^2}{2})+A_\tau ^iA_\tau ^j(1x^2)],$$
(4)
and

$$K_{ij}=\frac{(V_e^iV_e^j+A_e^iA_e^j)(1r_{ij}P)}{12\pi (sM_i^2)(sM_j^2)}(1x^2)^{1/2}[1P_eP_{\overline{e}}].$$
(5)
Since the energies involved are far above the $`Z`$ resonance, we have neglected the $`Z`$ width in the expressions above.

We have analytic expressions for the variance $`S_a^2O_a^2O_a^2O_a^2`$ in each case, arising from the CP-invariant SM part of the interaction:

$`O_1^2={\displaystyle \frac{1}{720x^2\sigma }}{\displaystyle \underset{i,j}{}}K_{ij}sm_\tau ^4((1p_A)^2(1p_B)^2`$
$`[V_\tau ^iV_\tau ^j(6+8x^2+x^4)+A_\tau ^iA_\tau ^j(62x^24x^4)]`$
$`+(1x^2)([(1+p_A)^2(1p_B)^2+(1+p_B)^2(1p_A)^2]`$
$`[3V_\tau ^iV_\tau ^j(3+2x^2)+9A_\tau ^iA_\tau ^j(1x^2)]`$
$`+4\alpha _A\alpha _B(1p_B^2)(1p_A^2)(1x^2)[V_\tau ^iV_\tau ^jA_\tau ^iA_\tau ^j])`$
$`6(1p_A)(1p_B)(V_\tau ^iA_\tau ^j+V_\tau ^jA_\tau ^i)(1x^2)(1{\displaystyle \frac{x^2}{6}})`$
$`[\alpha _A(1+p_A)(1p_B)+\alpha _B(1+p_B)(1p_A)]),`$ (6)
$`O_2^2={\displaystyle \frac{1}{360x^2\sigma }}{\displaystyle \underset{i,j}{}}K_{ij}sm_\tau ^2`$
$`[(3[(1p_A)^2+(1p_B)^2][V_\tau ^iV_\tau ^j(4+7x^2+4x^4)+A_\tau ^iA_\tau ^j2(1x^2)(2+3x^2)]`$
$`2\alpha _A\alpha _B(1p_A)(1p_B)[V_\tau ^iV_\tau ^j(4+7x^2+4x^4)+A_\tau ^iA_\tau ^j4(1x^2)^2])`$
$`+6(6(1x^2)(p_Ap_B)^2[V_\tau ^iV_\tau ^j(1+{\displaystyle \frac{x^2}{4}})+A_\tau ^iA_\tau ^j(1x^2)]`$
$`(V_\tau ^iA_\tau ^j+V_\tau ^jA_\tau ^i)(1x^2)(4+x^2)(p_Ap_B)[\alpha _A(1p_A)\alpha _B(1p_B)])].`$ (7)
The expected uncertainty (1 standard deviation) on the measurement of $`d_\tau `$ can then be calculated from

$$\delta \mathrm{Re}(\mathrm{Im})d_\tau ^i=\frac{1}{c_{AB}^{a,i}}\frac{e}{\sqrt{s}}\frac{1}{\sqrt{N_{AB}}}S_a,\begin{array}{c}\\ a=1(\mathrm{Re}),\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}2}(\mathrm{Im}),\hfill \\ i=\gamma ,Z.\hfill \end{array}$$
(8)
The electric charge of the electron is denoted by $`e`$. The coefficients $`c_{AB}^{a,i}`$ are discussed in the next section. $`N_{AB}`$ is the number of events in the channel $`A\overline{B}`$ and $`\overline{A}B`$, and is given by

$$N_{AB}=N_{\tau ^+\tau ^{}}B(\tau ^{}A\nu _\tau )B(\tau ^+\overline{B}\overline{\nu }_\tau ),$$
(9)
where we compute $`N_{\tau ^+\tau ^{}}`$ for the design luminosities and from the cross-section at the given energy and the polarizations.

## 4 Results for TESLA

Here we present the results for the vector correlations and their standard deviation at TESLA energies, luminosities and polarizations, using the expressions of the previous section.

We begin with the expression for the cross-section which is of the form

$$\sigma _1(1P_eP_{\overline{e}})+\sigma _2(P_eP_{\overline{e}})$$
(10)
The values of $`\sigma _1`$ and $`\sigma _2`$ for the energies of interest are given in Table 1. Furthermore, in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2 we present profiles of the cross-sections as a function for $`P_e`$ where the profiles correspond to constant values of the positron polarization $`P_{\overline{e}}=0,0.3`$ and $`0.6`$. We will, for the rest of the discussion, consider these to be the reference polarizations for the positron beam. Notice that the cross-section is larger when the $`e^+`$ and $`e^{}`$ polarizations are opposite in sign, and then, it increases with $`e^+`$ polarization. This results in better sensitivities for the corresponding cases.

Analogously, the expressions for the quantities $`c_{AB}^{a,i}`$ and $`O_a^2`$ may be schematically expressed as:

$$c_{AB}^{a,i}=f\frac{C_1^{a,i}(1P_eP_{\overline{e}})+C_2^{a,i}(P_eP_{\overline{e}})}{\sigma _1(1P_eP_{\overline{e}})+\sigma _2(P_eP_{\overline{e}})},\begin{array}{c}\\ a=1,2\hfill \\ i=\gamma ,Z\hfill \end{array}$$
(11)
and

$$O_a^2=f\frac{D_1^a(1P_eP_{\overline{e}})+D_2^a(P_eP_{\overline{e}})}{\sigma _1(1P_eP_{\overline{e}})+\sigma _2(P_eP_{\overline{e}})},a=1,2.$$
(12)
respectively for the operators $`O_1`$ and $`O_2`$, where $`f=4\pi \alpha ^2(\mathrm{}c)^2/3=9.81810^7`$ GeV$`{}_{}{}^{2}`$fb. We have taken $`\alpha ^1=128.87`$. The quantities $`C_k^{a,i}`$ and $`D_k^a`$ are listed in Tables 2-5 for the different energies and channels. Note that the overall dimensions for $`c_{AB}^{1,i}`$ and $`c_{AB}^{2,i},i=\gamma ,Z`$ are GeV2 and GeV respectively and that of $`O_1^2`$ and $`O_2^2`$ are GeV4 and GeV2 respectively, which for brevity, will not be mentioned in the rest of the discussion.

In order to get a feeling for the dependence of the quantities of interest on the polarization, we illustrate $`\pi \pi `$ channel. In Fig. 3, we present $`c_{\pi \pi }^{1,\gamma }`$ as a function of $`P_e`$. The sign of $`P_e`$ is opposite to $`P_{\overline{e}}`$ in order to maximize the effects of longitudinal polarization. In Fig. 4, we have an analogous illustration of $`c_{\pi \pi }^{1,Z}`$. One may note that the curvature of the profiles in Figs. 3 and 4 differ, which is dictated by the relative sizes and signs of the coefficients $`C_k^{1,i}`$ that enter the final expressions for $`c_{\pi \pi }^{1,i}`$. In Fig. 5, we present profiles of the quantity $`S_1`$ for the $`\pi \pi `$ channel. In Fig. 6 and 7 we illustrate the behavior of $`c_{\pi \pi }^{2,\gamma }`$ and $`c_{\pi \pi }^{2,Z}`$. For maximum electron polarization $`P_e=\pm 1`$ all quantities become independent of $`P_{\overline{e}}`$, since the effective polarization parameter no longer depends on $`P_{\overline{e}}`$ ($`P=\pm 1`$). We do not illustrate the behavior of $`S_2`$ since this quantity is practically constant with a value of 52.40 in the entire range of the positron polarization. We have not plotted the corresponding curves for the channels involving the $`\rho `$ and these may be simply generated from the entries given in the tables.

We now discuss the limits achievable at TESLA with the design luminosities and polarizations (we give 1 standard deviation uncertainties). With a fixed value of electron and positron polarizations, one can only obtain limits on linear combinations of the EDM and WDM. Such limits would be defined by straight lines given by the equation

$$\frac{\delta \mathrm{Re}d_\tau ^\gamma }{a}+\frac{\delta \mathrm{Re}d_\tau ^Z}{b}=\pm 1$$
(13)
for the limits arising from $`O_1`$ and by

$$\frac{\delta \mathrm{Im}d_\tau ^\gamma }{c}+\frac{\delta \mathrm{Im}d_\tau ^Z}{d}=\pm 1$$
(14)
for the limits arising from $`O_2`$ where the numbers $`a`$, $`b`$, $`c`$, and $`d`$ can be explicitly computed for given polarizations and luminosities. The value of $`a`$ ($`c`$) is the sensitivity to the real (imaginary) part of the EDM when the real (imaginary) part of the WDM is set to zero and $`b`$ ($`d`$) is the sensitivity to the WDM when the EDM is set to zero.

The quantities $`a`$, $`b`$, $`c`$, and $`d`$ are plotted in Figs. 8-11 as functions of $`P_e`$ in the vicinity of $`P_e=0.8`$, for the reference values of $`P_{\overline{e}}`$. In all cases, the variation with $`P_e`$ and $`P_{\overline{e}}`$ is slow in the range we have chosen, since we are already close to the maximum effective polarization. Many models predict a significantly larger EDM than WDM. In this case the limits achievable are precisely $`a`$ and $`c`$ on the real and imaginary parts of the EDM. If this is not the case, the EDM and WDM can be disentangled by switching the relative signs of $`P_e`$ and $`P_{\overline{e}}`$. The limits achievable for equal luminosities for both settings are given in Tab. 6. The pairs $`(𝒜,)`$ and $`(𝒜,)`$ give the vertices in the Re $`d_\tau ^\gamma `$-Re $`d_\tau ^Z`$ plane and $`(𝒞,𝒟)`$ and $`(𝒞,𝒟)`$ in the analogous Im $`d_\tau ^\gamma `$-Im $`d_\tau ^Z`$ plane.

We also present below a table of numbers computed for the contribution from the helicity flip bremsstrahlung to the operator $`O_2`$. We schematically express it as

$$O_2_{SM}=\frac{A^{}(P_e+P_{\overline{e}})}{\sigma _1(1P_eP_{\overline{e}})+\sigma _2(P_eP_{\overline{e}})}$$
(15)
where the quantity $`O_2_{SM}`$ has the overall dimension of GeV, and the corresponding coefficient $`A^{}`$ is tabulated in Tab. 7. The cross-sections $`\sigma _i`$ are given in Tab. 1. Even with extreme values of $`P_e`$ and $`P_{\overline{e}}`$, we get a number of order 1, to be contrasted with $`S_250`$ for the $`\pi \pi `$ channel thereby rendering this background negligible.

TESLA can also be operated at the Z-pole. It is expected that sufficient integrated luminosity will be available to generate as many as $`10^9`$ Z bosons. A simple scaling of the limits obtained in ref.  with the effective polarization parameter $`P0.95`$ could yield 1 s.d. limits of $`3\times 10^{19}`$ e-cm on the real part, and $`10^{18}`$ e-cm on the imaginary part of the weak dipole moment.

## 5 Experimental Aspects

Up to this point we have done analytic calculations of vector correlations for two decay channels of the $`\tau `$ lepton. This gives us a realistic estimate of the limits that can be achieved on the EDM and WDM with these decays with a perfect detector. Here we want to discuss possibilities of improving the sensitivity further and we try to estimate by how much the result will be weakened due to detector effects in a real experiment. We will try to extrapolate the size of the detector effects from the experience from the LEP experiments and SLD .

* In the calculations we have taken into account the decays into $`\pi `$ and $`\rho `$. These are the two most important channels. Together they make up $`13\%`$ of the total branching ratio of $`\tau `$ pairs. More channels can be added. The decay modes $`\tau ^{}\pi ^{}\pi ^+\pi ^{}\nu _\tau `$ and $`\tau ^{}\pi ^{}\pi ^0\pi ^0\nu _\tau `$ and the two leptonic decays $`\tau ^{}\mathrm{e}^{}\overline{\nu }_\mathrm{e}\nu _\tau `$ and $`\tau ^{}\mu ^{}\overline{\nu }_\mu \nu _\tau `$ have been used at LEP/SLC. This increases the potential fraction of the sample used in the analysis to $`82\%`$. However, these additional channels have a lower sensitivity to CP violation. Taking this into account the theoretically achievable sensitivity increased by a factor of 2.8 at the Z-pole. There will probably be a similar factor at TESLA.
* The vector correlations discussed here receive contributions from the most important part of the cross-section. They are more sensitive than the tensor correlations initially discussed in , if beam polarization is available. With so-called optimal observables  the sensitivity from every part of the cross-section can be exploited. The experiments at LEP/SLC started off using the tensor correlations. When they later moved to the optimal observables, the sensitivity improved by roughly an order of magnitude. Also here we expect a gain in sensitivity from the optimal observables, although the situations are not directly comparable.
* The real detector will have a finite energy and momentum resolution for the decay products of the $`\tau `$ leptons. This affects the calculation of the observables and reduces the sensitivity. The reduction of sensitivity at LEP/SLC was less than $`10\%`$ for events without $`\pi ^0`$ in the final state and in the order of $`10\%`$ for events with $`\pi ^0`$ mesons. Despite the higher energies, the relative momentum resolution of the TESLA detector for charged particles should be slightly better than that at LEP/SLC. The energy resolution of the $`\pi ^0`$s (causing the main loss of sensitivity at LEP/SLC) should be substantially better at TESLA. We assume that the loss of sensitivity due to finite energy and momentum resolution will not be larger than $`10\%`$.
* In a real experiment the event samples selected will contain background from misidentified $`\tau `$ decays and also from non $`\tau `$ pair events. The background dilutes the signal and reduces the sensitivity. This reduction of sensitivity was between 1 and 10 percent at LEP/SLC for the different decay channels. At higher center-of-mass energies at TESLA the higher Lorentz boost of the $`\tau `$ leptons makes the identification of their decay channels more difficult. But then we also expect the TESLA detector to have a better performance. Especially the high granularity of the proposed silicon-tungsten electromagnetic calorimeter will simplify $`\tau `$ analysis. Overall we don’t expect to lose more than $`10\%`$ in sensitivity due to background.
* The real detector will not have $`100\%`$ efficiency in the identification of the signal. At LEP/SLC typical values for the overall efficiencies ranged between 50 and $`90\%`$ for the various decay modes of the $`\tau `$ pairs. The TESLA detector should perform at least as good as the LEP/SLC detectors.

Without a detailed study based on a full analysis of events with full detector simulation it is impossible to tell by how much the limit achievable in the real experiment will differ from our analytic estimate. From the argument above we conclude that the achievable limit will not be worse than our analytic estimate. It will probably be better by a factor of a few.

## 6 Discussion and Conclusions

In the present work, we have considered vector correlations among the momenta of charged decay products of the $`\tau ^\pm `$ in two-body decays into final states with $`\pi `$ and $`\rho `$. By considering CP-odd operators which are T-odd ($`O_1`$) and T-even ($`O_2`$) it is possible to probe the real and imaginary parts of CP violating dipole form factors of the $`\tau `$ lepton. We expect the following precision (1 standard deviations) with the expected beam polarizations of $`80\%`$ for the electron beam and $`60\%`$ for the positron beam (in units of e-cm).

| $`\sqrt{s}`$ | $`\mathrm{dt}`$ | $`\mathrm{Re}d_\tau ^\gamma `$ | $`\mathrm{Im}d_\tau ^\gamma `$ | $`\mathrm{Re}d_\tau ^Z`$ | $`\mathrm{Im}d_\tau ^Z`$ |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 500 GeV | $`500\mathrm{fb}^1`$ | $`3.810^{19}`$ | $`0.910^{16}`$ | $`5.410^{19}`$ | $`1.410^{16}`$ |
| 800 GeV | $`1000\mathrm{fb}^1`$ | $`2.710^{19}`$ | $`1.110^{16}`$ | $`3.910^{19}`$ | $`1.710^{16}`$ |

In these determinations the limits on the electric dipole moment are obtained assuming the weak dipole moment is zero and vice-versa. It is possible to disentangle the individual limits by switching the beam polarizations (see Tab. 6).

A priori it cannot be said by how much better tensor correlations of the type considered in  will fare when polarization is included and conclusions cannot be drawn unless they are fully studied. However, it must be noted that the sensitivities we have reported here are significantly superior to those obtainable from the tensor correlations with no beam polarization.

The vector correlations are significantly enhanced due to longitudinal polarization of the beams. The precision achievable without polarization would be at least an order of magnitude reduced. Since the effective polarization parameter is already close to unity with the designed electron polarization alone, the gain from positron polarization even at $`60\%`$ improves the sensitivity by a factor of 2 at most. The measurements are not very sensitive to the precise value of the polarizations. A control on the polarization at the level of a few percent is sufficient.

## 7 Acknowledgments

It is our pleasure to thank Prof. O. Nachtmann for valuable discussions.


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# The Central Starburst and Ionization Mechanism in the LINER/H II Region Transition Nucleus in NGC 4569

## 1 Introduction

One of the most basic properties of low ionization emission line galactic nuclei, their ionization and excitation mechanism, is not currently well understood. These objects include low ionization nuclear emission line regions (LINERs), which have optical spectra dominated by forbidden lines from low ionization species (\[O I\] $`\lambda `$6300, \[S II\] $`\lambda `$6726, \[N II\] $`\lambda `$6584), and “transition objects”, with optical line ratios intermediate to H II regions (dominated by Balmer lines and sometimes \[O III\] $`\lambda `$5007) and LINERs. Various ionization mechanisms have been proposed for these nuclei, including photoionization by a low luminosity active galactic nucleus (AGN) (Ferland & Netzer, 1983), stellar photoionization (Terlevich & Melnick, 1985; Filippenko & Terlevich, 1992; Barth & Shields, 2000), and shock-heating (Dopita & Sutherland, 1995), however, the true nature of only a few individual nuclei has been demonstrated conclusively (Barth et al., 1996; Ho et al., 1996; Gabel et al., 2000).

The physical nature of transition objects remains particularly uncertain. While many LINERs have broad emission line components (Ho et al., 1997b) and compact, flat radio cores (Nagar et al., 2000) indicating they are bona fide AGNs, transition objects do not generally exhibit these features. Thus, there is no direct evidence linking them to AGNs. If stellar photoionization is the dominant mechanism in transition objects, an explanation for the uncharacteristically strong low ionization lines is necessary. Recent studies have determined the essential features required for stars to generate such a spectrum: (a) The spectral energy distribution of the stars must be “hard” compared to typical H II regions, i.e., it must have stronger relative emission beyond the He I and He II ionization limits. A harder SED produces an extended partially ionized zone in the emission line region, thereby enhancing the LINER features (Pequignot, 1984; Shields, 1992; Barth & Shields, 2000). (b) Also, a low ionization parameter is required (Shields, 1992; Barth & Shields, 2000), which is a function of the starburst’s luminosity, nebular density, and the geometry of the nucleus.

The transition object nucleus in NGC 4569 is an ideal object for testing a possible link between starburst activity and low ionization nebular emission. Of all LINERs and transition nuclei with available UV data, NGC 4569 exhibits by far the most pronounced nuclear starburst activity. Maoz et al. (1998) found that the ionizing luminosity of the nuclear starburst in NGC 4569 is sufficient to generate the observed emission line luminosity. Barth & Shields (2000) demonstrated that a large population of very hot Wolf-Rayet stars could harden the integrated SED of a starburst enough to produce the partially ionized zone required to produce a transition object spectrum. They also found that the estimated age of the stellar population in NGC 4569 roughly coincides with the W-R phase of evolution in a starburst.

However, there are no observational signatures of W-R stars in the spectrum of NGC 4569 (Barth & Shields, 2000). Additionally, W-R galaxies typically have emission line spectra characteristic of H II regions, rather than transition objects or LINERs (Guseva et al., 2000). Furthermore, it is unclear if the ionization parameter in NGC 4569 is sufficiently low to generate the observed spectrum. Hence, the questions remain: Is the observed line emission in NGC 4569 generated solely by photoionization by the nuclear starburst? If so, what physical conditions in the nebular gas and starburst are required?

We have undertaken a detailed analysis of the emission in NGC 4569 to answer these questions, incorporating all available observational constraints. In § 2, we summarize the multiwavelength data of NGC 4569 from the literature and present the archival data used in our analysis. In § 3, we apply population synthesis analysis to these data to place constraints on the nature of the nuclear starburst and the emitted flux distribution. Using the derived constraints on the SED and luminosity of the starburst, along with observational constraints on the emission line gas, we use photoionization modeling in § 4 to determine if stellar photoionization can generate the observed transition object spectrum emitted by NGC 4569. Finally, we discuss the implications of our results in § 5.

## 2 Nuclear Data and Multiwavelength SED in NGC 4569

In the following, we describe the optical and UV data used in our analysis and summarize results obtained from the literature for several bandpasses. These multiwavelength observations are crucial for determining the physical mechanisms that power the nuclear emission.

For our study, we adopt a distance of 16.8 Mpc to NGC 4569, given by de Vaucouleurs et al. (1991). Due to the anomalous radial velocity of NGC 4569, $`v=`$223 km s-1, there has been much debate concerning this distance, and it remains highly uncertain (Stauffer et al., 1986, and references therein). We explore the affects of this uncertainty on our results in § 5.

### 2.1 Spectrum and Morphology of the Emission Line Region: A LINER/H II Region Transition Object

NGC 4569 was observed as part of the Palomar survey of nearby galactic nuclei by Ho et al. (1997a) using the Hale 5m telescope with a 2$`\mathrm{}`$ x 4$`\mathrm{}`$ aperture ($``$160 x 320 pc). Based on the observed emission line ratios, \[O I\] $`\lambda `$6300/H$`\alpha `$, \[S II\] $`\lambda `$6726/H$`\alpha `$, \[N II\] $`\lambda `$6584/H$`\alpha `$, and \[O III\] $`\lambda `$5007/H$`\beta `$, they classified NGC 4569 as a LINER/H II region transition object nucleus. The observed line luminosities and estimated uncertainties measured by Ho et al. are given in Table 1. Using the Savage & Mathis (1979) extinction curve and assuming an H$`\alpha `$/H$`\beta `$ flux ratio of 2.9, which is typical of emission line nuclei (Osterbrock, 1989), we derive a reddening of $`E(\mathrm{B V})=`$0.50 ($`\pm `$0.15) for the emission lines. Dereddened line luminosities are presented in column 3 of Table 1. The quoted uncertainties were derived from the uncertainties in the flux measurements and the reddening, using propagation of errors. The uncertainty in the extinction curve in NGC 4569 introduces an additional uncertainty and is examined in more detail in § 5.2.

The morphology of the nuclear line emission in NGC 4569 is delineated in the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) WFPC2 narrowband imagery presented by Pogge et al. (2000). The continuum subtracted H$`\alpha `$ (F656N) and \[O III\] $`\lambda `$5007 (F502N) images shown in Figures 1c and 3b of their study reveal a bright nuclear core with total extent $`<`$ 1$`\mathrm{}`$ (80 pc). There is also a more extended, diffuse nebular emission component apparent in both images. Examination of the spectral bandpass of the F656N filter reveals little contamination from the \[N II\] $`\lambda \lambda `$6548,6584 lines at the blueshift of NGC 4569, and is therefore a good measure of the H$`\alpha `$ emission. For each image, Pogge et al. have measured the flux emitted in the inner $`R=`$0$`\mathrm{}`$.23 (20 pc) core of the nucleus, as well as the more extended nuclear region, $`R=`$2$`\mathrm{}`$.5 (250 pc). Their results give a measure of the compactness of the line emission: $`L_{20pc}`$/$`L_{250pc}=`$0.31 for H$`\alpha `$ and $`L_{20pc}`$/$`L_{250pc}=`$0.74 for \[O III\]. These flux ratios provide valuable constraints for our photoionization analysis in § 4.

### 2.2 UV Data: Evidence for a Compact Nuclear Starburst in NGC 4569

We obtained Faint Object Spectrograph (FOS)/HST UV data from the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) data archives. These data were originally published by Maoz et al. (1998). Two exposures with the G130H grating, and one each with the G190H and G270H gratings were used. These data have a spectral resolution of $`\mathrm{\Delta }\lambda `$1-2 Å . Details of the observations are summarized in Table 2. The two G130H grating exposures were coadded by weighting them according to their exposure times. A combined spectrum was then created from the three spectra and corrected for the systemic velocity of the galaxy.

All exposures were taken through the 0$`\mathrm{}`$.86 square aperture of the FOS. In a study of HST/WFPC2 images taken with the F218W filter ($`\lambda _{central}=`$2200 Å), Barth et al. (1998) found the UV nucleus of NGC 4569 to be very compact though clearly resolved, with a FWHM of 0$`\mathrm{}`$.16 x 0$`\mathrm{}`$.11 (13 x 9 pc2). Thus, the FOS data sample the entire compact UV emitting region. Furthermore, we find that the UV flux of the compact nucleus measured from the HST imagery by Barth et al. matches the International Ultraviolet Explorer (IUE) spectrum obtained through the 10$`\mathrm{}`$ x 20$`\mathrm{}`$ aperture (Keel, 1996) within the noise of the data. Hence, our comparison shows no significant UV emitting sources, other than the compact nuclear starburst, are contributing to the ionization of the emission line gas.

Maoz et al. (1998) found that the FOS UV spectrum of NGC 4569 is dominated by a very young starburst. The resonance doublets of C IV $`\lambda \lambda `$1548,1551, N V $`\lambda \lambda `$1239,1243, and Si IV $`\lambda \lambda `$1393,1403 exhibit P Cygni profiles, indicative of the strong stellar winds produced in O and B stars. Maoz et al. found that the line profiles of the wind features in NGC 4569 are similar to the starburst in NGC 1741, which has a derived age of $``$5 Myr (Conti et al., 1996). They also identified several photospheric features that appear in young, hot stars.

Numerous interstellar lines, both Galactic and intrinsic to the host galaxy, are also apparent in the UV spectrum of NGC 4569 (Maoz et al., 1998). Strong features from the multiplets of C I near $`\lambda `$1277, $`\lambda `$1280, $`\lambda `$1329, and $`\lambda `$1561 were detected at the systemic velocity of NGC 4569, which implies the starburst spectrum is seen through a large column of cool, possibly high density gas intrinsic to NGC 4569. Thus, large extinction of the UV spectrum due to dust is expected. Further evidence for a high extinction of the starburst comes from the flatness of the observed UV spectrum between 1200-3000 Å (Maoz et al.), since an unreddened population of O and B stars would have a sharply rising continuum toward shorter wavelengths.

Besides the red-shifted emission lobes associated with the stellar P Cygni resonance profiles, there are no other apparent emission lines in the UV FOS spectrum of NGC 4569 in the 1200-3000 Å range. Notably, there are no detectable stellar emission features that might indicate the presence of Wolf-Rayet stars, such as He II $`\lambda `$1640 or C III\] $`\lambda `$1909, nor are there UV nebular emission lines. Upper limits on nebular emission line fluxes were determined by Maoz et al. (1998) and are included with our optical fluxes in Table 1.

### 2.3 The Optical Counterpart to the UV Starburst

The continuum flux of the optical emission coinciding with the UV starburst can be derived from analysis of HST/WFPC2 continuum images. Combined with the UV spectrum, this provides constraints in deriving the extinction of the central starburst (see Section 3.3). Exposures taken with the F547M ($`\lambda _{central}=`$5470 Å) and F791W ($`\lambda _{central}=`$7920 Å) filters were used because their bandpasses are sufficiently narrow to exclude contribution from strong nebular line emission, thereby providing fairly reliable stellar continuum fluxes. Although the total CCD detector counts are high, data for the bright core in each of these images remain unsaturated. We integrated the total fluxes in these images over a 0$`\mathrm{}`$.35 x 0$`\mathrm{}`$.35 spatial region corresponding to the approximate size of the UV nucleus as determined from the WFPC2 F218W image (Barth et al., 1998). In Figure 1, we show the F547M image and delineate the region on the sky used for our core flux measurement. Specific fluxes were derived using the conversions provided by Holtzman et al. (1995), assuming a flat flux distribution. This yields $`F_{5470\AA }=`$5.0x10-15 ergs s-1 cm-2 $`\AA ^1`$ and $`F_{7920\AA }=`$2.6x10-15 ergs s-1 cm-2 $`\AA ^1`$.

In a ground-based study of NGC 4569 using a 2$`\mathrm{}`$ x 4$`\mathrm{}`$ aperture with the 2.5m Isaac Newton Telescope, Keel (1996) deduced that the optical stellar continuum is dominated by a population of A-type supergiants from the strong narrow Balmer absorption features. These stars point to a much older population ($`>`$ 15 Myr) than implied by the UV data. Figure 1 reveals that the optical stellar continuum emission is clearly more extended than the compact UV starburst. We have measured the flux in the inner 2$`\mathrm{}`$ x 4$`\mathrm{}`$ region of the F547M image and find that $``$20% of the optical flux coincides with the UV source, i.e., the inner 0$`\mathrm{}`$.35 x 0$`\mathrm{}`$.35 region measured above. Therefore, the population of A supergiants must be in the extended component seen in Figure 1 and cannot be directly associated with the compact starburst. This indicates that the nucleus of NGC 4569 contains at least two distinct young stellar populations: (1) the very young, very compact UV core and (2) a spatially more extended population dominated by A supergiants, with few, if any, young O and B stars present.

### 2.4 Multiwavelength Observations

Although the UV spectral data and imagery imply that a very young stellar population is dominating the emission in NGC 4569, this does not rule out the possibility that an obscured AGN is present, which can contribute to the ionization in the emission line gas. Below, we summarize multiwavelength observations obtained from the literature to test this possibility.

Radio Emission

There are no signatures of an AGN in radio observations of NGC 4569. High angular resolution radio data obtained with the Very Large Array (VLA) at 6 cm and 20 cm reveal only weak, extended ($``$4$`\mathrm{}`$, 320 pc) emission in the nuclear region, with integrated fluxes of $`F_{6cm}=`$1.5 mJy and $`F_{20cm}=`$10 mJy (Neff & Hutchings, 1992; Hummel et al., 1987). No compact core component is detected in this data, with an upper limit on any unresolved flux of $`F_{6cm}<`$0.4 mJy at 1$`\mathrm{}`$ angular resolution (Neff & Hutchings, 1992). The spectral index of $`\alpha _{206}=`$1.5, derived by extrapolating between the fluxes at $`\lambda =`$20 and 6 cm and assuming $`F_\nu \nu ^\alpha `$, is much steeper than the slope expected for pure free-free emission in an H II region, $`\alpha _{ff}`$, revealing a substantial non-thermal contribution. We estimated the contribution of free-free emission to the observed flux using the H$`\alpha `$ emission line luminosity given in Table 1, following the method of Osterbrock (1989). Assuming all of the H$`\alpha `$ emission is generated by photoionization in a nebula at $`T_e=`$104 K gives $``$0.7 mJy for the free-free flux, or roughly one-half of the observed value at 6 cm. Subtracting this from the observed fluxes implies a spectral index of $`\alpha _{206}=`$1.9 for the non-thermal emitting component.

The steep slope of the radio emission in NGC 4569 may be the signature of supernovae remnants (SNRs). For example, a survey of SNRs in M31 shows a range of spectral slopes, $`\alpha _{206}`$0.35 to $``$1.6 (Dickel & D’Odorico, 1984). Assuming the non-thermal component of radio emission in NGC 4569 is from SNRs and using an SNR luminosity at 6 cm of $`L_{6cm}=`$1.1x1024 ergs s-1 Hz-1 (Dickel & D’Odorico), approximately 100-200 SNRs are required in the nucleus of NGC 4569, depending on the contribution of the free-free thermal emission.

Far-Infrared Emission

Far-infrared (FIR) fluxes at $`\lambda =`$ 12, 25, 60, and 100 $`\mu `$m are available from IRAS observations (Neff & Hutchings, 1992). These data, at $``$30$`\mathrm{}`$ resolution, sample an extended region in NGC 4569. Since there are no signatures of a central AGN in the radio data, the FIR emission most likely arises from warm dust. Assuming most of the nuclear emission is reprocessed as thermal dust emission, the total FIR luminosity, $`L_{FIR}=`$2x1043 ergs s-1, provides an upper limit on the bolometric luminosity of the starburst. We have compared the FIR spectral energy distribution (SED) in NGC 4569 to blackbody flux distributions at various temperatures and find that at least two dust temperatures are required to fit the data. This is not surprising considering the large spatial region sampled by the IRAS data. The warmer dust may be associated with the inner nuclear region, close to the energetic starburst and possibly in the same gas giving rise to the observed C I absorption, while the cooler dust may be located in more extended regions.

X-Ray Emission

Previous studies of the nuclear X-ray emission in NGC 4569 also reveal no signatures of an AGN. Terashima et al. (2000) found no compact hard X-ray emission in ASCA observations, placing an upper limit of $`L_{210keV}<`$3x1039 ergs s-1 on any unresolved core luminosity. Thus, if an AGN capable of powering the nebular line emission in NGC 4569 is present, it would have to be heavily obscured. A compact component has been detected at soft X-ray energies with ROSAT/HRI, $`L_{0.12.4keV}=`$6x1039 ergs s-1 (Colbert & Mushotzky, 1999), and with ASCA, $`L_{0.52.0keV}=`$6x1039 ergs s-1 (Terashima et al.). The $``$4$`\mathrm{}`$ resolution of ROSAT/HRI imposes the most rigid constraint on the size of any compact emitting region, but still samples the entire spatial region of the compact stellar core, the nebular gas, and the radio emitting source. Spectral analysis of the soft ASCA data by Terashima et al. indicates that it is not consistent with scattering of non-thermal emission by an obscured AGN. Combining this result with the low upper limit on the compact hard X-ray flux, they concluded that the unresolved soft X-ray emission is associated with the nuclear starburst rather than an AGN.

Young starbursts are known to emit soft X-rays. The combined emission from SNRs, interstellar gas heated by supernovae and stellar winds, and X-ray binaries can all contribute to the integrated X-ray emission in a starburst (Fabbiano, 1989, and references therein). Unfortunately, distinguishing between these mechanisms in NGC 4569 by spectral modeling is not possible with the available data. The core luminosity in NGC 4569 is consistent with other starburst nuclei, which are typically in the 1039 ergs s-1 range (Fabbiano). However, the stellar population and the X-ray source are more compact in NGC 4569 than in typical starburst nuclei.

The Broadband Spectral Energy Distribution

In Figure 2, the observed SED of the nuclear emission in NGC 4569 from radio to soft X-ray energies is plotted. UV fluxes were obtained from the FOS spectrum. The optical data are for the inner 0$`\mathrm{}`$.35 x 0$`\mathrm{}`$.35 core of emission derived in § 2.3, while the radio data points are upper limits to any unresolved flux. Due to the low angular resolution of IRAS, the FIR data represent upper limits to the nuclear core flux. The soft X-ray SED in Figure 2 was derived by fitting a power law flux distribution ($`F_\nu \nu ^\alpha =`$1.5) to the observed compact (within $``$4$`\mathrm{}`$) ROSAT/HRI flux quoted in Colbert & Mushotzky (1999). This was done only as an approximation and has no physical basis.

Qualitatively, the entire broadband nuclear SED is consistent with emission associated with a young stellar population. Figure 2 shows that the emitted power is strongest in the optical-UV region, and possibly in the FIR (depending on the contribution from the inner nucleus), with relatively low luminosities at radio and X-ray frequencies. The spectral signatures in the UV indicate a nuclear starburst is dominating the emission and the FIR luminosity can be understood solely as reprocessed stellar radiation with no indications that an AGN is present.

## 3 Spectral Population Synthesis of the Nuclear Starburst

To test if photoionization by the nuclear starburst can generate the LINER/H II region transition spectrum emitted in NGC 4569, we must first establish the integrated spectral energy distribution and luminosity of the stars. Thus, we employ spectral population synthesis analysis in this section to derive constraints on the evolutionary stage and physical conditions in the starburst. These results are then combined with stellar atmosphere models to generate a model SED for subsequent photoionization analysis. The derived flux distribution, along with observational constraints described in the previous section, place limits on the reddening, and hence the luminosity of the nuclear starburst.

### 3.1 Description of the Modeling Code

In the following, we employ a population synthesis modeling code, CLUST\_FLUX, which generates UV spectra for a starburst of specified age, metallicity, and initial mass function (IMF). CLUST\_FLUX computes the present day stellar population using the stellar evolutionary models of Schaller et al. (1992), Schaerer et al. (1993a, b), Charbonnel et al. (1993), and Meynet et al. (1994). These models predict the isochrones in luminosity - effective temperature parameter space ($`LT_{eff}`$) for a given age and metallicity. Combining these results with the IMF, the relative number of stars for all locations in the $`LT_{eff}`$ plane is then fully specified. Stellar evolutionary tracks that include the effects of mass loss are available for various metallicities, ranging from 0.05-2 Z, where Z represents solar metallicity.

CLUST\_FLUX generates a composite model starburst spectrum using short wavelength IUE data (1170-2000 Å). A weighted sum of individual stellar spectra is created from a library of IUE data compiled for the Milky Way and Large and Small Magellanic Clouds, which are classified according to effective temperature ($`T_{eff}`$) and surface gravity (log($`g`$)). Thus, this library is a 3-dimensional grid of spectral data in $`T_{eff}`$, log($`g`$), and $`Z`$, covering three metallicities: Z, 0.25 Z (LMC), and 0.1 Z (SMC). For stellar types not corresponding to exact matches in $`T_{eff}log(g)Z`$ in the IUE library, interpolated spectra are generated. To correct for extinction, with often unknown, highly variable reddening laws for stars in the IUE data, all spectra have been matched to the flux distributions of Kurucz (1992) model atmospheres for corresponding $`T_{eff}log(g)Z`$.

The UV spectral classification criteria of Smith Neubig & Bruhweiler (1997, 1999), aided with the UV line identifications of Dean & Bruhweiler (1985) and Bruhweiler et al. (1981), were used to classify the UV stellar spectra for OB stars in the SMC and LMC. In practically all cases, these classifications were in close accord with corresponding visual spectral types in all three galaxies. High resolution IUE spectra of Galactic stars are available for the solar metallicity grid and have been binned into $`\mathrm{\Delta }\lambda =`$0.25 Å intervals. Since there are few high dispersion IUE spectra for stars in the Magellanic Clouds, the stellar library of sub-solar metallicity SMC and LMC stars is comprised of low resolution ($`\mathrm{\Delta }\lambda `$$``$7 Å ) IUE spectra.

Due to the large uncertainties involved in predicting the population of Wolf-Rayet stars in a starburst (Schmutz & Vacca, 1999), we do not include them in the integrated model starburst spectra. Thus, CLUST\_FLUX does not predict the strengths of the broad UV emission features that are signatures of Wolf-Rayet stars, such as He II $`\lambda `$1640, C IV $`\lambda `$1550, and C III\] $`\lambda `$1909. However, emission from W-R stars can significantly alter the integrated ionizing emission in a starburst and has important consequences for photoionization analysis, as demonstrated by Barth & Shields (2000). Therefore, we explore observational constraints on the W-R population in NGC 4569 separately in § 3.2.

### 3.2 Stellar Population Synthesis Results

Our method is to examine the effect of age on an instantaneous burst of star formation using standard model parameters and to determine the best fit to the spectrum of NGC 4569. The effects of varying metallicity, the IMF, and star formation rate can then be explored to better constrain the physical nature of the starburst. In the following analysis, we adopt the high mass-loss rates of the Meynet et al. (1994) evolutionary models.

Age Constraints

We have generated model spectra for an instantaneous burst of star formation for a range of ages using the standard IMF of Miller & Scalo (1979) and solar metallicity. Their IMF, $`\xi _{MS}`$, is defined by a three component power law function of mass, with spectral indices $`\alpha _1=`$0.4, $`\alpha _2=`$1.5, and $`\alpha _3=`$2.3 in the mass ranges $`M_1=`$0.1-1 M, $`M_2=`$1-10 M, and $`M_3=`$10-120 M, respectively.

The synthesized, normalized spectra in four far-UV spectral regions for instantaneous burst models with ages 0, 2, 4, 5, 6, and 8 Myr are plotted in Figure 3. These show the spectra for the C IV, N V, Si IV, and He II features, as well as important photospheric diagnostic lines. The normalized spectrum of NGC 4569 is superposed on all model spectra. Due to the limited S/N in the FOS spectrum of NGC 4569, we have convolved the data with a $`\sigma =`$1.0 Å Gaussian filter for clarity. To reproduce the spectral resolution of the smoothed FOS data, all model spectra were smoothed using a Gaussian filter with $`\sigma =`$1.5 Å, which reflects the best match between the spectral widths of the photospheric features in the model and observed spectra. The uncertainties in our diagnostic line fits are dominated by uncertainties introduced by the photon noise in the spectrum of NGC 4569.

In Figures 3a-c, the stellar wind profiles of the N V, C IV, and Si IV resonance doublets are seen to vary dramatically with age between 0 and 8 Myr. The observed N V $`\lambda \lambda `$1239,1243 feature in the spectrum of NGC 4569 does not exhibit the broad blue absorption wing seen in the very young starburst models, indicating an age of at least 4 Myr. However, the red-shifted N V emission lobe of the P Cygni profile is clearly present in NGC 4569 and is best reproduced by the 5-6 Myr instantaneous burst models. Since the Si IV $`\lambda \lambda `$1394,1403 doublet feature is most pronounced in high luminosity supergiants, it is a very useful age discriminate. Strong Si IV appears for only a short range of ages and does not occur in the youngest starbursts, as illustrated in Figure 3b. The best-fit to the Si IV wind feature is 4-5 Myr, with a rigid upper limit of 6 Myr. For later ages, the Si IV feature vanishes entirely. The C IV $`\lambda \lambda `$1548,1551 P Cygni feature is strongest in the very youngest starbursts and weakens systematically with age (Figure 3c). It is best matched by the 5 and 6 Myr models. The subordinate line, N IV $`\lambda `$1718, which exhibits a P Cygni profile in spectral types O7 and earlier, is not present in NGC 4569. Our models predict this feature will become undetectable in starbursts older than 4 Myr. In Figure 3d, the spectrum for He II $`\lambda `$1640 is plotted. Since the CLUST\_FLUX models do not include a contribution from W-R stars, the model predictions for this spectral region are similar for different ages. No evidence for a broad He II $`\lambda `$1640 emission feature is evident in the spectrum of NGC 4569, thereby limiting the number of W-R stars in the starburst (see discussion below).

The strengths of the photospheric lines also provide important age diagnostics. The Si III $`\lambda \lambda `$1295-1303 lines from the 3P-3P0 multiplet peak in strength in late B-type stars and, thus, increase through 8 Myr. The Si III lines that are uncontaminated by interstellar O I $`\lambda `$1302 and Si II $`\lambda `$1304 absorption are plotted in Figure 3a. In the NGC 4569 spectrum, the strength and width of the Si III $`\lambda `$1294.5 multiplet line is inconsistent with the Si III $`\lambda `$1296.7 and Si III $`\lambda `$1298.9 lines and is therefore an unreliable diagnostic. However, the Si III $`\lambda `$1296.7 and Si III $`\lambda `$1298.9 line strengths are matched by models with ages $``$ 5 Myr. The Si III $`\lambda `$1417 line, shown in Figure 3b, exhibits the same trend with age as the Si III $`\lambda \lambda `$1295-1304 multiplet and indicates an age of 5 Myr or older in NGC 4569. In Figures 3a and b, the C III $`\lambda `$1247 and C III $`\lambda \lambda `$1426-1428 line strengths also vary with age. The strength of each of these lines in NGC 4569 implies an age $``$ 4 Myr. At later ages, the lines show little variation and provide no upper limit for the ages of interest here. In Figure 4, we plot the model and observed spectra for 1890-1990 ÅṪhis samples numerous Fe III lines (marked on the top of Figure 4) that become prominent in B supergiants, thus providing an additional age diagnostic. The Fe III multiplets are seen to increase in strength with later ages. The spectrum of NGC 4569 is best matched at these wavelengths by ages of 5 Myr and older.

The combined fits to the stellar wind and photospheric features indicate an age of 5-6 Myr for the starburst. Particularly strong limits come from the presence of the N V wind feature, indicating the starburst is $``$ 6 Myr, and the strength of the short-lived Si IV wind line, implying an age of 4-6 Myr. The photospheric line diagnostics imply an age of at least 5 or 6 Myr for NGC 4569.

Initial Mass Function

Model spectra were also generated using different values for the IMF, star-formation rate, and metallicity in an attempt to constrain these parameters in NGC 4569. To test the IMF, we produced models using both a flatter ($`\alpha =`$1.5) and steeper ($`\alpha =`$3) IMF relative to $`\xi _{MS}`$ for the stellar masses $`M`$10 M. Like the previous models, these spectra were generated for an instantaneous burst of star formation using solar metallicity.

A flatter IMF results in a spectrum that is more heavily weighted with features from the most massive main-sequence (MS) stars. Thus, features that arise primarily in the most evolved stars are enhanced, resulting in stronger P Cygni features at all ages relative to the models using $`\xi _{MS}`$. Conversely, we find the predicted strengths of the photospheric lines appearing in the spectrum of NGC 4569 are diminished for ages younger than 6 Myr in the flat IMF models. Thus, if the IMF in NGC 4569 is flatter than $`\xi _{MS}`$, the observed strengths of the photospheric features indicate an earlier age than derived previously.

Of course, the models having a steep IMF give opposite results. This provides a constraint on the IMF in NGC 4569. Specifically, since the observed strength of the Si IV wind feature in NGC 4569 approaches the maximum strength predicted by the standard models (Figure 3b), the IMF in NGC 4569 must be at least as flat as $`\xi _{MS}`$. Otherwise, the Si IV feature would be underestimated in models for all ages.

Star Formation History

The star formation history of the starburst in NGC 4569 is also constrained by the observed strength of the Si IV wind feature. Since a pronounced Si IV wind feature occurs over only a short age interval and since the strength of this feature in NGC 4569 equals the maximum predicted strength for an instantaneous burst, the duration of star formation must be relatively short. For star formation lasting longer than about 3 Myr, the Si IV wind feature would be diluted and weaker than observed in NGC 4569. A similar argument applies in limiting the contribution from multiple bursts of star formation. Thus, the starburst in NGC 4569 is consistent with a single burst of approximately instantaneous star formation. Barth & Shields (2000) reached a similar conclusion based on the small spatial extent of the starburst.

Metallicity

Evolutionary models show that the mass-loss rates of massive stars are highly dependent on metallicity. Since mass-loss rates determine the stellar evolutionary tracks in the HR diagram and the rate of progression along those tracks (Schaller et al., 1992), the constituents of a stellar population are very sensitive to metallicity.

With the LMC and SMC data in our stellar library, it is possible to test the effect of metallicity on a starburst spectrum. We have generated spectra for both $`Z=`$Z/4 (LMC) and $`Z=`$Z/10 (SMC) for comparison with our standard models. The most striking difference is the decrease in strength of the wind features with decreasing metallicity. For example, the 5 Myr, Z/10 model spectrum significantly underestimates the strengths of all three wind features observed in NGC 4569. Although the observed strengths of the N V and C IV features can be reproduced by $`Z=`$Z/10 models with earlier ages, the Si IV line cannot. Additionally, the weakness of the photospheric features in the low metallicity, young burst models are incompatible with the spectrum of NGC 4569. This implies $`Z>`$Z/10 for NGC 4569. Due to insufficient S/N in the spectrum of NGC 4569, we cannot place more rigid constraints on the metallicity.

Wolf-Rayet Stars

The burst age of 5-6 Myr derived from our population synthesis analysis coincides with an age where large numbers of W-R stars may be present, although this depends strongly on the precise age and metallicity of the starburst (Meynet et al., 1994; Schmutz & Vacca, 1999; Guseva et al., 2000). As discussed by Barth & Shields (2000), no W-R emission features are detectable in the optical spectrum obtained by Ho et al. (1997a). Furthermore, we find no broad He II $`\lambda `$1640 ($`W_\lambda <`$1.0 Å) or C III\] $`\lambda `$1909 emission, the UV signatures of W-R stars, in the FOS spectrum of NGC 4569. Additionally, the C IV $`\lambda `$1550 wind feature was well matched by our population synthesis models using only normal O and B stars (Figure 3c), which limits the contribution to this feature from W-R stars.

Since the W-R population in a starburst is extremely sensitive to age and metallicity, the absence of detectable W-R features in NGC 4569 provides further constraints on the starburst. We employ the population synthesis results of Schaerer & Vacca (1998), who derive the strength of the He II $`\lambda `$1640 emission feature in an instantaneous starburst as a function of age and metallicity. Their models employ the same stellar evolutionary tracks used in CLUST\_FLUX and incorporate a full treatment of the relative numbers of the different classes of W-R stars. In figure 10 in Schaerer & Vacca, they give the predicted equivalent width of the W-R He II $`\lambda `$1640 emission line as a function of starburst age for various metallicities. This figure predicts $`W_\lambda `$$``$6 Å for a 5-6 Myr instantaneous starburst with solar metallicity, which is six times greater than our measured upper limit. The He II emission is systematically reduced for lower metallicities, with $`W_\lambda `$$``$1 Å in the 5 Myr $`Z=`$Z/2.5 model, and smaller for older starbursts. Thus, if the spectral synthesis model predictions of the W-R population is correct, this indicates $`Z`$Z/2.5 in NGC 4569.

The SED, Luminosity, and Mass of the Nuclear Starburst

Our spectral synthesis analysis indicates that a 5-6 Myr instantaneous burst of star formation with Z/10$`<Z`$Z/2.5 and a Miller & Scalo (1979) IMF matches the overall spectrum of NGC 4569 quite well. CLUST\_FLUX is similar to the well established population synthesis code of Leitherer et al. (1999), STARBURST99. We have computed numerous comparison models and find the spectra generated by the two models compare favorably. Specifically, they give identical results for the best fit to the starburst in NGC 4569. These results can now be used to construct a model of the ionizing flux distribution for the starburst using STARBURST99. Their models employ the model atmospheres of Lejeune et al. (1997), based on the plane-parallel, LTE, line-blanketing models of Kurucz (1992), for the OB stars and those of Schmutz et al. (1992) for the W-R stars.

In Figure 5, we plot the 5 and 6 Myr model SEDs from STARBURST99 computed for $`Z=`$Z/2.5, consistent with our spectral synthesis results. A dramatic change in the shape of the SED occurs at wavelengths shortward of the He+ ionization edge due to the disappearance of most of the hot W-R stars shortly after 5 Myrs.

As discussed in § 2, the strong interstellar C I and the flat observed UV continuum in the FOS spectrum implies a substantial extinction of the nuclear starburst emission. We adopted the extinction curve of Savage & Mathis (1979) to correct for this. We address limits on the extinction law in NGC 4569 in more detail in § 5.2. Comparison to the shape of the model SED between 1200-1600 Å implies a reddening of E($`\mathrm{B V}`$)=0.5 of the starburst emission. This value is consistent with the reddening derived for the emission lines from the Balmer decrement. Integrating the model flux distribution then gives L$`{}_{Bol}{}^{}=`$1.5x1043 ergs s-1 and L$`{}_{1Ryd}{}^{}=`$1042 ergs s-1 for the bolometric and ionizing luminosities, respectively.

The nuclear starburst in NGC 4569 is quite remarkable. Integrating the IMF of Miller & Scalo (1979) between 0.1 M$``$M$`{}_{}{}^{}`$ 120 M gives a total mass of 3x107 M in the stellar population. There are $``$5x104 luminous O & B stars (assumed to be those with MS masses M$`{}_{}{}^{}`$15 M). Thus, for the massive stars alone, the cluster has a stellar density of about 10 pc-3. We note that these results are sensitive to the uncertain extinction law of the starburst (see discussion in § 5.2). Comparison to the starburst nucleus in NGC 7714 (Gonzalez Delgado et al., 1999) reveals NGC 4569 has about the same number of OB stars compacted in a volume that is 3000 times smaller. Though extreme, the stellar densities in NGC 4569 are not unprecedented. For example, the stellar density is believed to be similar in the Galactic center (Genzel & Townes, 1987, and references therein). Furthermore, the densities and luminosities in the super star clusters in the Irregular galaxies NGC 1569 and NGC 1705 (O’Connell et al., 1994) are comparable. Interestingly, these latter objects are considered to be young globular clusters. This may indicate that the starburst in NGC 4569 is a gravitationally bound system.

## 4 Stellar Photoionization Modeling of the Transition Nucleus in NGC 4569

The primary question we are addressing is: Can ionization by a pure starburst explain the LINER/H II region transition object spectrum in NGC 4569? Now that we have a model of the SED and luminosity of the ionizing emission of the starburst, we can explore this using photoionization analysis. In the following, we present models using our derived SED and all the available observational constraints on the physical conditions of the emission line gas.

### 4.1 Modeling Method, Assumptions, and Parameters

Models were generated using the photoionization code CLOUDY (Ferland, 1996). In computing these models, we assumed the stellar emission comes from a centrally located point source. Considering the simple geometry of the compact starburst evident in the WFPC2 UV image, namely a single, compact knot (Barth et al., 1998), this represents a good approximation to the actual morphology.

Our method in this analysis was to find the simplest model that best reproduces the emission line spectrum observed in NGC 4569. Thus, we sought the fewest number of emission line gas components that combine to match the spectrum. Each model gas “component” was specified by a constant hydrogen gas density, nH, and distance from the ionizing starburst, R. Combined with the stellar luminosity, these parameters determine the ionization parameter for each component,

$$U=4\pi L/n_HR^2c,$$

which determines the ionization state of the gas.

Modeling the emission line region as one or a few discrete components is a simplification. The distribution of emission line clouds is certainly more complex than forming a set of distinct, perfect shells centered on the starburst. However, the minimal component method is the most instructive, since it reveals the general physical conditions that are required to generate the observed emission line spectrum.

All models were computed for an open geometry, i.e., all emission escapes the clouds without interacting with emission line gas on the opposite side of the starburst. This assumes a priori a covering factor less than unity. Furthermore, all emission line clouds were assumed to be matter bounded, with an arbitrarily large column of neutral gas in the backside of the clouds.

The WFPC2 \[O III\] and H$`\alpha `$ flux measurements by Pogge et al. (2000) provide constraints on the distribution of the emission line gas. They found that $``$30% of H$`\alpha `$ and $``$75% of the \[O III\] flux is emitted in the inner R=20 pc region of the nucleus (see § 2.1). The electron density of the \[S II\] emitting region can be determined from the ratio of the \[S II\] $`\lambda `$6716 to \[S II\] $`\lambda `$6731 line fluxes (Osterbrock, 1989). In NGC 4569, F$`_{[SII]\lambda 6716}`$/F$`_{[SII]\lambda 6731}`$=1.0$`\pm `$0.2, which indicates an electron density of ne=600+300-200 cm-3. This is well below the critical density of these lines, nc$``$104 cm-3, and therefore provides an important diagnostic for photoionization analysis.

### 4.2 Model Results

We computed a series of models with the 5 Myr starburst SED (Figure 5) at R=20 pc, consistent with the size of the \[O III\] $`\lambda `$5007 emission core derived from the WFPC2 imagery. Guided by our population synthesis results, we assumed Z=Z/2.5 for the nebular gas, where Z is from (Grevesse & Anders, 1989), modified by depletions onto dust grains. Gas-phase depletions and dust grain abundances typical of the Galactic ISM (Ferland, 1996, and references therein), scaled by a factor of 1/2.5 to correct for sub-solar metallicity, were assumed. The resulting abundances relative to hydrogen are:
He=1.00x10-1, C=5.68x10-5, N=3.73x10-5, O=1.78x10-4, Ne=4.68x10-5, Mg=3.04x10-6, Al=1.18x10-8, Si=4.28x10-7, S=6.48x10-6, Ca=9.16x10-8, and Fe=1.30x10-7.
Results for nH=10$`{}_{}{}^{3}`$106 cm-3 are given in models A1$``$A4 in Table 3.

The observed \[O III\] $`\lambda `$5007/H$`\beta `$ flux ratio in the inner 20 pc core of the nucleus is matched with nH$``$10$`{}_{}{}^{4}`$105 cm-3. The \[O I\] $`\lambda `$6300 luminosity can be generated if a high density component, n$`{}_{H}{}^{}`$106 cm-3, is also present (model A4). However, the other LINER features are not matched by these models due to the high ionization parameter. For example, the predicted \[S II\] $`\lambda `$6726/H$`\beta `$ ratio in model B1 is only 10% of the observed value and \[N II\] $`\lambda `$6584/H$`\beta `$ is underestimated by a factor at least two in all models. We find that no choice of nH or gas-phase abundances can reproduce these lines in the inner 20 pc region.

Thus, if our derived luminosity and SED for the starburst is correct, much of the \[S II\] $`\lambda `$6726 and \[N II\] $`\lambda `$6584 emission must arise at further distances from the central starburst. In model B of Table 3, results are given for R=80, 130, and 180 pc. To satisfy the constraint imposed on the electron density by the \[S II\] $`\lambda `$6716/\[S II\] $`\lambda `$6731 ratio, we assumed nH=103 cm-3. These results indicate R$`>`$130 pc is required to generate the \[S II\] $`\lambda `$6726 and \[N II\] $`\lambda `$6584 flux without overestimating the \[O III\] $`\lambda `$5007 emission. Only at these large distances is the ionizing photon flux sufficiently dilute. However, this gas would lie near or beyond the edge of the area sampled by the aperture. Thus, any model of this extended emission region must account for aperture coverage effects.

We have also computed photoionization models using the 6 Myr SED. Results are given in models C and D, which were computed with the same parameters as models A and B, respectively. Due to the decrease in photoionizing flux between the He II and He I edges compared to the 5 Myr SED (see Figure 5), the 6 Myr model SED generates much weaker \[O III\] emission. The \[O I\] $`\lambda `$6300 emission in the 6 Myr high density model (C4) is also much weaker because the SED is too steep to generate a sufficiently deep partially ionized zone in the backside of the cloud. For the same reason, the \[S II\] and \[N II\] emission in the extended emission line region (model D) is weaker than in the 5 Myr model.

Best-Fit Model for the Emission Line Spectrum

In Table 4, we present a composite model that represents our best-fit to the emission line spectrum of NGC 4569 using the 5 Myr SED. A minimum of three distinct components is required for an acceptable fit. For component 1, we set nH=104.5 cm-3 at R=20 pc to reproduce the \[O III\] $`\lambda `$5007/H$`\beta `$ ratio measured in the core from the WFPC2 imagery. Component 2 consists of a low density gas at a relatively large distance from the ionizing starburst (low U), which is required to produce the \[S II\] emission and much of the \[N II\] flux. We find that nH$``$900 cm-3 is needed to reproduce the \[S II\] $`\lambda `$6716/\[S II\] $`\lambda `$6731 flux ratio in the composite model. A high density component (component 3) is required to generate the \[O I\] $`\lambda `$6300 luminosity. We chose component 3 to be at the location of the \[S II\] emitting gas, however, this component could be located closer to the starburst, as illustrated in model A4 in Table 3. The density for this component, nH=105 cm-3, was chosen to maximize \[O I\] $`\lambda `$6300 and \[N II\] $`\lambda `$6584 to provide the best overall fit. This composite model also satisfies the upper limits measured for the UV emission lines given in Table 1. Specifically, the predicted He II $`\lambda `$1640 flux, listed in Table 4, is equals the upper limit.

In deriving this model, the relative contribution of each component to the total emission was chosen to best match the observed spectrum. The covering factors for the three gas components were then derived by setting the sum of their H$`\beta `$ luminosities equal to the observed value, L$`{}_{H\beta }{}^{}=`$8x1039 ergs s-1. We corrected for the aperture size in determining the total covering factors of the two extended components. Assuming that the emission from these components comes from a shell of emission at R=180 pc from the starburst, we find that the 160 pc x 320 pc aperture samples a total of 50% of this emission. Thus, the covering factors listed in Table 4 equal the H$`\beta `$ luminosity derived for each component, divided by the H$`\beta `$ luminosity predicted by the models, divided by the fraction of the total emission sampled by the aperture. This is only a rough correction for aperture coverage, since it assumes that a uniform gas surrounds the starburst and that the aperture is centered on this emitting shell.

The high covering factor derived for our model indicates we may be observing the central starburst through the emission line gas. This may be responsible for the large gas column density in our line-of-sight to the starburst revealed by the strong interstellar absorption features and heavy extinction evident in the UV spectrum.

Although the above model is a simplification, the three components represent physically distinct zones of emission. For example, the \[S II\] and \[O III\] components must be isolated and spatially distinct, with little line emitting gas between the two regions. Otherwise, the \[O III\] $`\lambda `$5007/H$`\beta `$ and \[S II\] $`\lambda `$6726/H$`\beta `$ ratios cannot be simultaneously fit. Furthermore, the large difference in densities required for the \[O I\] and \[S II\] regions indicates these lines arise in distinct clouds.

## 5 Discussion

### 5.1 Implications for the Starburst SED

The results of our photoioinization modeling impose limits on the shape of the integrated SED of the central starburst in NGC 4569. From models A and B in Table 3, we find that the actual SED cannot be much harder than the 5 Myr model. Due to the high luminosity of the starburst and the low density of the S II emitting gas, a harder SED cannot reproduce the S II/O III flux ratio and simultaneously satisfy the constraint on the location of the O III gas derived from the WFPC2 imagery - the ionization parameter is too high given the small aperture used to obtain the spectrum.

This implies that models with very large populations of W-R stars, such as the solar metallicity 5 and 6 Myr models generated with STARBURST99, are not correct for NGC 4569 since they have very hard SEDs. This is consistent with our limit derived on the W-R population and metallicity in § 3.2. Similarly, stellar atmosphere models that predict stronger flux beyond the He I ionization edge for O and B stars than the Lejeune et al. (1997) models will produce a worse fit to NGC 4569.

Conversely, the 6 Myr SED, with only a weak contribution from hot W-R stars, is too steep to generate the LINER features (see models C and D in Table 3). It lacks the extended tail of hard photons that is required to generate a warm partially ionized zone in the backside of the clouds where these lines are emitted strongly. The 6 Myr model represents a typical H I region SED. This indicates that W-R stars must contribute to some extent to the ionization in NGC 4569, as claimed by Barth & Shields (2000).

### 5.2 Implications of Uncertainties on the Derived Model

The uncertainty in the distance, D, to NGC 4569 introduces an uncertainty in the absolute values of the measured and derived parameters (e.g., luminosities and spatial extent of the emission line gas, R). However, since R $``$ D and L $``$ D2, the ionization parameter is independent of D (U $``$ L/R2). For a given ionization parameter, photoionization calculations show that the emission line luminosities scale proportionally with the ionizing luminosity, except for models with very high U, which are not applicable to NGC 4569. Thus, a change in D does not affect the essential characteristics of our photoionization modeling results, namely, the derived densities, covering factors, and geometry of the emission line components.

The largest uncertainty in our modeling results is due to the uncertainty in the extinction law, and thus ionizing luminosity, for the starburst in NGC 4569. We have tested various extinction curves from the literature. There are several observational constraints that place limits on the steepness of the extinction curve in NGC 4569. Specifically, the unreddened starburst cannot exceed the optical continuum luminosity we derived for the inner core region using WFPC2 imagery (§ 2.3) and the upper limit on the bolometric luminosity implied by the far-infrared data (§ 2.4). These luminosity constraints provide a lower bound on the steepness of the extinction curve. The Savage & Mathis (1979) curve, which we employed for our analysis, satisfies both of these constraints. However, we find that the Calzetti et al. (1994) extinction law, which was empirically derived for starburst galaxies, greatly overestimates these luminosities and is thus too “grey” to be applied to NGC 4569. Conversely, curves that are much steeper than the Savage & Mathis (1979) curve underestimate the ionizing luminosity required to generate the emission line luminosity, as evidenced by the high covering factor derived from our photoionization models. For example, the SMC curve of Hutchings (1982) results in a factor of two deficit in ionizing photons, and the very steep curve derived for the Seyfert 1 galaxy NGC 3227 by Crenshaw et al. (2001) gives an even worse fit. Additionally, these steep curves would require that the emission line extinction, as determined from the Balmer decrement, is much larger than the extinction of the starburst.

### 5.3 Physical Interpretation of the Model Results

As demonstrated in § 4.2, a specific geometry for the nuclear gas is required if we are to accept stellar photoionization as the sole ionization and excitation mechanism in NGC 4569. A complete model, therefore, must provide a physical interpretation for the distinct spatial components.

The mechanical energy due to frequent supernovae and strong stellar winds associated with the young, massive stellar population may create this structure. In this scenario, the \[S II\] emitting gas in NGC 4569, component 2 in our best-fit model, may be swept-up interstellar gas surrounding the evacuated hot cavity of an interstellar supershell. The more compact \[O III\] $`\lambda `$5007 clouds revealed in the WFPC2 narrowband imagery may be remnants of the original molecular cloud from which the starburst was born. In agreement with this, star-forming molecular clouds are thought to consist of dense condensations (e.g., n$`{}_{H}{}^{}`$102-105 cm-3) embedded in very tenuous intervening gas (Efstathiou et al., 2000, and references therein). The diffuse component would be swept up relatively rapidly by the mechanical energy input by the young stars and may lead to the bi-component spatial structure proposed here.

To assess the validity of this model, we calculated the initial ambient density that would be required to produce the line luminosity of the putative extended \[S II\] emitting region, assuming this gas is comprised of swept-up, diffuse material. Using L=4x1039 erg s-1, which was derived for component 2 in our best-fit model, a minimum of 2x1061 hydrogen atoms are necessary to produce the emission. This is a lower limit to the total gas since it accounts only for the line emitting gas. Dividing this total by the volume enclosed in an R=180 pc region (consistent with our best-fit model), an average hydrogen density of nH=0.02 cm-3 is found for the tenuous component of the pre-starburst interstellar gas. This is typical of a diffuse interstellar density.

The constraints derived on the location of the \[S II\] gas from our modeling results are consistent with the extent of the nuclear radio emission (see discussion in § 2.4). Thus, the extended radio flux could be free-free emission from the \[S II\] emitting nebular gas or non-thermal emission generated in shocks at the interface of the swept-up interstellar medium. Additionally, if we assume a typical temperature and density for the hot, tenuous cavity implied by this model, e.g., T=106 K and n$`{}_{H}{}^{}`$10-2 cm-3, we find that the X-ray luminosity predicted by the hot plasma models of Raymond & Smith (1976) is much weaker than the ROSAT measurement of the nucleus of NGC 4569. Thus, the X-ray emission is likely dominated by X-ray binaries and/or supernova remnants.

Therefore, all observations are consistent with this model. We conclude that it provides a viable explanation for the bi-component gas required by our photoionization modeling, and that the stellar photoionization hypothesis remains a plausible solution for NGC 4569.

## 6 Summary

Our spectral population synthesis modeling results indicate the nuclear starburst in NGC 4569 is 5-6 Myr old and implies a relatively brief duration of star formation. The lack of detectable He II $`\lambda `$1640 emission constrains the population of W-R stars and implies a sub-solar metallicity, with $`Z`$Z/2.5. Luminosity constraints limit the steepness of the extinction curve that applies to NGC 4569. The Galactic curve of Savage & Mathis (1979) satisfies all luminosity constraints, and gives a similar reddening for the starburst and nebular line emission, $`E(\mathrm{B V})=`$0.50. These results imply extreme conditions in the nuclear starburst, with $``$5x104 O and B stars compacted in the inner 9″ x 13″region of the nucleus. Additionally, we find that this young, very dense starburst is distinct from the older, more spatially extended population of A supergiants detected in the optical spectrum (Keel, 1996).

The results of our photoionization modeling build on the previous analysis of Barth & Shields (2000), which demonstrated the general conditions required for a starburst to produce the enhanced LINER features observed in NGC 4569. Using all available observational constraints on the density, luminosity, and geometery of the nuclear region in our analysis, we have identified the physical elements that are required if the transition object spectrum in NGC 4569 is generated solely by stellar photoionization:
(a) At least two spatially distinct line emitting components are needed - a very compact region emitting \[O III\] $`\lambda `$5007 and a more extended component for \[S II\] $`\lambda \lambda `$6716,6731. We propose a model in which these components correspond to the remnants of the parent molecular cloud of the starburst and to a swept-up “shell” of interstellar material, respectively.
(b) A high density (nH$``$106 cm-3) gas is required to explain the \[O I\] $`\lambda `$6300 emission.
(c) The 5 Myr, Z=Z$`\mathrm{}`$/2.5 model SED derived with STARBURST99 (Leitherer et al., 1999) must be similar to the actual flux distribution of the starburst. If our derived extinction is correct, luminosity constraints limit the SED from being much harder. Conversely, an SED that is much softer cannot generate the LINER features. These results are consistent with our population synthesis results, which indicate Z/10$`<Z`$Z/2.5. Thus, our photoionization models support the assertion by Barth & Shields (2000) that W-R stars play an important role in the ionization of NGC 4569.

In conclusion, we have shown through detailed modeling that photoionization by the nuclear starburst is capable of generating the observed LINER/H II region transition object spectrum, consistent with all observations. Our model places specific requirements on the physical conditions in the nucleus. Thus, it makes several predictions that can be tested with future observations.

Facilities of the Laboratory for Astronomy and Solar Physics at NASA/GSFC were used in performing this research. We thank the referee, W. Schmutz, for providing very helpful comments for this paper. We also thank Steve Kraemer and Mike Crenshaw for useful discussions and advice, Margaret Smith Neubig for assisting with the population synthesis analysis, and Gary Ferland (CLOUDY) and Claus Leitherer (STARBURST99) for making their software publicly available.