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# 1 Introduction

## 1 Introduction

One of the most important areas of investigation at the next electron-positron linear collider will be the study of photon-photon collisions. Since photons couple directly to all fundamental fields carrying the electromagnetic current—leptons, quarks, $`W^{}s,`$ supersymmetric particles, etc.—high energy $`\gamma \gamma `$ collisions will provide a comprehensive laboratory for exploring virtually every aspect of the Standard Model and its extensions .

When a polarized laser beam Compton-scatters on a polarized electron beam, each electron is effectively converted into a polarized photon with a high fraction of its energy. The effective luminosity and energy of photon-photon collisions from back-scattered laser beams  is expected to be comparable to that of the primary electron-positron collisions. As reported by Asner and Early , the technology for the required high-powered lasers is well along in development. There are proposals to test this technology using elements of the SLAC Linear Collider. The high energy luminosity, and polarization of the back-scattered laser beams collisions has the potential to make photon-photon collisions a key component of the physics program of the next linear collider . Polarized electron-photon collisions are another important byproduct of this program.

Photon-photon collisions can be classified as follows: (A) The photons can annihilate into a charged pair such as $`\gamma \gamma W^+W^{},q\overline{q}`$, lepton pairs or charged Higgs; (B) the photons can produce neutral pairs via loop diagrams such as $`\gamma \gamma Z^0Z^0,\gamma Z^0`$ and $`\gamma \gamma gg`$ ; or (C) the photons can each couple to separate charged pairs which scatter by a gauge particle exchange: $`\gamma \gamma q_1\overline{q}_1q_2\overline{q}_2;`$ (D) the photons can fuse to produce a single even $`C`$ resonance such as a neutral Higgs, an $`\eta _b,`$ or $`\chi _b`$ higher orbital state. Exclusive hadronic final states such as meson or baryon pairs can be formed. In each case, a state of even charge conjugation $`C`$ is produced in a general partial wave.

A unique advantage of a photon-photon collider is its potential to produce and determine the properties of fundamental $`C=+`$ resonances such as the Higgs boson . One can also use the transverse polarization of the colliding photons to distinguish the parity of the resonance: the coupling for a scalar resonance is $`ϵ_1ϵ_2`$ versus $`ϵ_1\times k_1ϵ_2`$ for the pseudoscalar. More generally, one can use polarized photon-photon scattering to study CP violation in the fundamental Higgs to two-photon couplings . In the case of electron-photon collisions, one can use the transverse momentum fall-off of the recoil electron in $`e\gamma eH^0`$ to measure the fall-off of the $`\gamma `$ Higgs transition form factor and thus check the mass scale of the internal massive quark and $`W`$ loops coupling to the Higgs . The cross sections for pairs of scalars, fermions or vectors particles are all significantly larger (by about one order of magnitude) in $`\gamma \gamma `$ collisions than in $`e^+e^{}`$ collisions, as demonstrated in Fig 1.

Unlike the $`e^+e^{}`$ annihilation cross section, which falls at least as fast as $`1/s,`$ many of the $`\gamma \gamma `$ cross sections increase with energy. The energy dependence of a cross section follows from the spin of the exchanged quanta. Using Regge analysis, a two-body cross section $`\frac{d\sigma }{dt}s^{2\alpha _R(t)2}\beta (t)`$ at fixed $`t`$ where $`\alpha _R`$ is the spin of the exchanged particle or effective trajectory. For example, the $`\gamma \gamma W^+W^{}`$ differential cross section is constant at high energies since the spin of the exchanged $`W`$ is $`\alpha _R=j=1.`$ In fact, after integration over phase space, the cross section for pairs of vector bosons in photon-photon collisions increases logarithmically with energy. This is in contrast to $`\sigma (e^+e^{}W^+W^{})`$ which produces a single $`W^\pm `$ pair in one partial wave and falls as $`1/s.`$ It is also interesting that a dominant two-jet high $`p_T`$ reaction in photon-photon collisions at high energies $`sp_T^2`$ is $`\gamma \gamma gg`$ which proceeds via two quark loops coupling via gluon exchange in the $`t`$ channel.

## 2 Standard Model Tests

Since each photon can be resolved into a $`W^+W^{}`$ pair, high energy photon-photon collisions produce equivalent effective $`W^\pm `$ beams, thus providing a remarkably background-free laboratory for studying $`WW`$ interactions and testing for any anomalous magnetic and quadrupole couplings. The interacting vector bosons can scatter pair-wise or annihilate; e.g., they can annihilate into a Standard Model Higgs boson or a pair of top quarks. There is thus a large array of tests of electroweak theory possible in photon-photon collisions. The splitting function for $`\gamma W^+W^{}`$ can be relatively flat for some $`W`$ helicities, so that one has a high probability for the $`W`$’s to scatter with a high fraction of the energy of the photon. One can thus study tree graphs contributions derived from photon, Z, or Higgs exchange in the $`t`$-channel, and in the case of identical $`W`$’s, the additional u-channel amplitudes. In the case of oppositely-charged $`W`$’s, $`s`$-channel annihilation processes such as $`W^+W^{}t\overline{t}`$ contribute. The largest cross sections will arise if the $`W`$’s obey a strongly coupled theory; in this case the longitudinal $`W`$’s scattering amplitude saturates unitarity and the corresponding $`\gamma \gamma WWWW`$ cross section will be maximal. The cross sections of many Standard Model processes are illustrated in Fig. 2. Reviews of this physics are given in the references.

One of the most important applications of two photon physics is the direct production of $`W`$ pairs. By using polarized back-scattered laser beams, one can in principle study $`\gamma \gamma W^+W^{}`$ production as a function of initial photon helicities as well as resolve the $`W`$ helicities through their decays. The study of $`\gamma \gamma W^+W^{}`$ is complimentary to the corresponding $`e^+e^{}W^+W^{}`$ channel, but it also can check for the presence of anomalous four-point $`\gamma \gamma WW`$ interactions not already constrained by electromagnetic gauge invariance, such as the effects due to $`W^{}`$ exchange.

A main focus of the pair production measurements are the values of the $`W`$ magnetic moment $`\mu _W=\frac{e}{2m_W}(1\kappa \lambda )`$ and quadrupole moment $`Q_W=\frac{e}{M_W^2}(\kappa \lambda ).`$ The Standard Model predicts $`\kappa =1`$ and $`\lambda =0,`$ up to radiative corrections analogous to the Schwinger corrections to the electron anomalous moment. The anomalous moments are thus defined as $`\mu _A=\mu _W\frac{e}{M_W}`$ and $`Q_A=Q_W+\frac{e}{M_W^2}.`$

The fact that $`\mu _A`$ and $`Q_A`$ are close to zero is actually a general property of any spin-one system if its size is small compared to its Compton scale. For example, consider the Drell-Hearn-Gerasimov sum rule  for the $`W`$ magnetic moment: $`\mu _A^2=\left(\mu \frac{e}{M}\right)^2=\frac{1}{\pi }_{\nu _{th}}^{\mathrm{}}\frac{d\nu }{\nu }[\sigma _P(\nu )\sigma _A(\nu )].`$ Here $`\sigma _{P(A)}`$ is the total photoabsorption cross section for photons on a $`W`$ with (anti-) parallel helicities. As the radius of the $`W`$ becomes small, or its threshold energy for inelastic excitation becomes large, the DHG integral and hence $`\mu _A^2`$ vanishes. Hiller and I have shown  that this argument can be generalized to the spin-one anomalous quadrupole moment as well, by considering one of the unsubtracted dispersion relations for near-forward $`\gamma `$ spin-one Compton scattering :

$`\mu _A^2+{\displaystyle \frac{2t}{M_W^2}}\left(\mu _A+{\displaystyle \frac{M_2}{W}}Q_A\right)^2=`$
$`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{4\pi }}{\displaystyle _{\nu _{th}}^{\mathrm{}}}{\displaystyle \frac{d\nu ^2}{(\nu t/4)^3}}Im(f_P(s,t)f_A(s,t)).`$ (1)
Here $`\nu =(su)/4`$. One again sees that in the point-like or high threshold energy limit, both $`\mu _A0,`$ and $`Q_A0.`$ This result applies to any spin-one system, even to the deuteron or the $`\rho .`$ The essential assumption is the existence of the unsubtracted dispersion relations; i.e., that the anomalous moments are in principle computable quantities.

In the case of the $`W`$, the finite size correction is expected to be order $`m^2/\mathrm{\Lambda }^2`$, since the underlying composite theory should be chiral to keep the $`W`$ mass finite as the composite scale $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ becomes large . Thus the fact that a spin-one system has nearly canonical values for its moments signals that it has a small internal size; however, it does not necessarily imply that it is a gauge field.

Yehudai  has made extensive studies of the effect of anomalous moments on different helicity amplitude contributing to $`\gamma \gamma W^+W^{}`$ cross section. The empirical sensitivity to anomalous couplings from $`\gamma \gamma `$ reactions is comparable and complimentary to that of $`e^+e^{}W^+W^{}.`$ A comprehensive analysis of fermion processes in photon-photon collisions is given by Layssac and Renard .

As emphasized by Jikia and Tkabladze , pairs of neutral gauge bosons can be produced in $`\gamma \gamma `$ reactions through one loop amplitudes in the Standard Model at a rate which should be accessible to the NLC. Leptons, quarks, and $`W`$ all contribute to the box graphs. The fermion and spin-one exchange contributions to the $`\gamma \gamma \gamma \gamma `$ scattering amplitude have the characteristic behavior $`s^0f(t)`$ and $`isf(t)`$ respectively. The latter is the dominant contribution at high energies, so one can use the optical theorem to relate the forward imaginary part of the scattering amplitude to the total $`\gamma \gamma W^+W^{}`$ cross section. The resulting cross section $`\sigma (\gamma \gamma \gamma \gamma )`$ is of order 20 fb at $`\sqrt{s}_{\gamma \gamma }`$ , corresponding to 200 events/year at an NLC with luminosity 10 fb<sup>-1</sup> . The corresponding $`\gamma \gamma H^0Z^0`$ process has been analyzed by Gounaris, Porfyriadis and Renard .

A single top quark can be produced in electron-photon collisions at an NLC through the process $`e^{}\gamma W^{}t\nu `$ . See Fig. 3 This process can be identified through the $`tW^+b`$ decay with $`W\mathrm{}\overline{\nu }.`$ The rate is strongly polarization dependent and is sensitive to the structure of the $`V_{tb}`$ matrix element, possible fourth generation quarks, and anomalous couplings. An interesting background is the virtual $`W`$ process $`e\gamma W^{}\nu W^{}H\nu ,`$ where the Higgs boson decays to $`b\overline{b}`$ and $`W^{}\mathrm{}\overline{\nu }.`$

Schmidt, Rizzo, and I  have shown that one can use the sign change of the integrand of the DHG sum rule to test the canonical couplings of the Standard Model and to isolate the higher order radiative corrections. For example, consider the reactions $`\gamma \gamma q\overline{q}`$, $`\gamma eW\nu `$ and $`\gamma eZe`$ which can be studied with back-scattered laser beams. In contrast to the time-like process $`e^+e^{}W^+W^{}`$, the $`\gamma \gamma `$ and $`\gamma e`$ reactions are sensitive to the anomalous moments of the gauge bosons at $`q^2=0.`$ The vanishing of the logarithmic integral of $`\mathrm{\Delta }\sigma `$ in the Born approximation implies that there must be a center-of-mass energy, $`\sqrt{s}_0`$, where the polarization asymmetry $`A=\mathrm{\Delta }\sigma /\sigma `$ possesses a zero, i.e., where $`\mathrm{\Delta }\sigma (\gamma eW\nu )`$ reverses sign. The cancellation of the positive and negative contributions  of $`\mathrm{\Delta }\sigma (\gamma eW\nu )`$ to the DHG integral is evident in Fig. 4. We find strong sensitivity of the position of this zero or “crossing point” (which occurs at $`\sqrt{s}_{\gamma e}=3.1583\mathrm{}M_W254`$ GeV in the SM) to modifications of the SM trilinear $`\gamma WW`$ coupling and thus can lead to high precision constraints. In addition to the fact that only a limited range of energy is required, the polarization asymmetry measurements have the advantage that many of the systematic errors cancel in taking cross section ratios. This technique can clearly be generalized to other higher order tree-graph processes in the Standard Model and supersymmetric gauge theory. The position of the zero in the photoabsorption asymmetry thus provides an additional weapon in the arsenal used to probe anomalous trilinear gauge couplings.

## 3 Inclusive QCD Tests

Because of the simplicity of its initial state, two-photon collisions provide an important laboratory for testing coherent and incoherent effects in quantum chromodynamics. In QCD events where each photon is resolved  in terms of its intermediate quark and gluon states, $`\gamma \gamma `$ collisions resemble point-like meson-meson collisions. One can study detailed features of $`\gamma \gamma t\overline{t}`$ at threshold and its final state evolution. In the case of single or double diffractive two-photon events, one can study fundamental aspects of pomeron and odderon $`t`$-channel physics. For example, the energy asymmetry of charm quark versus anti-charm jets in four-jet reactions can measure the interference of the pomeron and odderon .

Consider, the cross section for producing two quark pairs. $`\gamma \gamma q_1\overline{q}_1q_2\overline{q}_2`$, which can be described as the interaction of two color dipoles . If one of the heavy quark pairs is a charm or bottom quark pair with a small color dipole moment, then the multiple gluonic exchange graphs will Reggeize into a hard pomeron, and one predict a strong energy growth of the production cross section similar to that observed at HERA in diffractive charm electroproduction . The QCD description of the hard QCD pomeron is given by the BFKL analysis . There has recently been progress in stabilizing the BFKL predictions at next-to-leading-order by using BLM scale fixing.

## 4 The Photon Structure Functions

One can also utilize electron-photon collisions at a linear collider to test the shape and growth of the photon structure functions  The back-scattered laser beam provides a high energy polarized target photon, and the neutral current probe is obtained by tagging the scattered electron at momentum transfer squared $`Q^2.`$ One can also reconstruct the charged current contributions where the electron scatters into a neutrino from calorimetric measurements of the recoiling system. It also should be possible to identify the separate charm, bottom, top and $`W`$ contributions to the photon structure functions.

The photon structure functions receive hadron-like contributions from the photon’s resolved Fock components as well as its direct component derived from the $`\gamma ^{}\gamma q\overline{q}`$ time-like QCD Compton amplitude. Because of the direct contributions, the photon structure functions obey an inhomogeneous evolution equation. The result, as first shown by Witten  is that the leading order QCD structure functions of the photon have a unique scaling behavior: $`F_1(x,Q^2)=h(x)\mathrm{}n\frac{Q^2}{\mathrm{\Lambda }^2}`$, $`F_2(x,Q^2)=f_2(x)`$, $`F_3(x,Q^2)=f_3^{\mathrm{Box}}(x)`$.

The most characteristic behavior of the photon structure function $`F_2^\gamma (x,Q^2)`$ in QCD is its continuous linear rise of with $`\mathrm{log}Q^2`$ at fixed $`x`$. As emphasized by Peterson, Walsh and Zerwas , the fact that this tree graph behavior is preserved to all orders in perturbation theory is due to the balance in QCD between the increase of the phase space for gluon emission in the scattering processes versus the decreasing strength of the gluon coupling due to asymptotic freedom. Although the logarithmic rise of the Born approximation result is preserved, the shape of $`h(x)`$ is modified by the QCD radiation. If the running coupling constant were to freeze to a constant value at large momentum transfer, the photon structure function stops rising at high $`Q^2`$ due to the increased phase space for gluon radiation. Thus probing the QCD photon structure functions at the high momentum transfers available at the NLC will provide a valuable test of asymptotic freedom.

## 5 The Photon Structure Function and Final-State Interactions

Recently, Hoyer, Marchal, Peigne, and Sannino and I  have challenged the common view that structure functions measured in deep inelastic lepton scattering are determined by the probability of finding quarks and gluons in the target hadron. We show that this is not correct in gauge theory. Gluon exchange between the fast, outgoing partons and target spectators, which is usually assumed to be an irrelevant gauge artifact, affects the leading twist structure functions in a profound way. This observation removes the apparent contradiction between the projectile (eikonal) and target (parton model) views of diffractive and small $`x_{\mathrm{Bjorken}}`$ phenomena. The diffractive scattering of the fast outgoing quarks on spectators in the target in turn causes shadowing in the DIS cross section. Thus the depletion of the nuclear structure functions is not intrinsic to the wave function of the nucleus, but is a coherent effect arising from the destructive interference of diffractive channels induced by final-state interactions. This is consistent with the Glauber-Gribov interpretation of shadowing as a rescattering effect. Similar effects can be present in the photon structure function; i.e., the photon structure function is modified by rescattering of the struck quark with the photon’s spectator system.

## 6 Single-Spin Asymmetries in Photon-Photon Collisions

Measurements from the HERMES and SMC collaborations show a remarkably large azimuthal single-spin asymmetries $`A_{UL}`$ and $`A_{UT}`$ of the proton in semi-inclusive pion leptoproduction $`\gamma ^{}(q)p\pi X.`$ Recently, Dae Sung Hwang and Ivan Schmidt and I  have shown that final-state interactions from gluon exchange between the outgoing quark and the target spectator system lead to single-spin asymmetries in deep inelastic lepton-proton scattering at leading twist in perturbative QCD; i.e., the rescattering corrections are not power-law suppressed at large photon virtuality $`Q^2`$ at fixed $`x_{bj}`$. The existence of such single-spin asymmetries requires a phase difference between two amplitudes coupling the proton target with $`J_p^z=\pm \frac{1}{2}`$ to the same final-state, the same amplitudes which are necessary to produce a nonzero proton anomalous magnetic moment. We have shown that the exchange of gauge particles between the outgoing quark and the proton spectators produces a Coulomb-like complex phase which depends on the angular momentum $`L^z`$ of the proton’s constituents and is thus distinct for different proton spin amplitudes. The single-spin asymmetry which arises from such final-state interactions does not factorize into a product of distribution function and fragmentation function, and it is not related to the transversity distribution $`\delta q(x,Q)`$ which correlates transversely polarized quarks with the spin of the transversely polarized target nucleon. These effects highlight the unexpected importance of final and initial state interactions in QCD observables.

Final state interactions will also lead to new types of single spin asymmetries in photon-photon collisions. For example, in $`\gamma ^{}\gamma \pi X`$ and $`\gamma ^{}\gamma \mathrm{jet}X`$ we expect $`T`$-odd correlations of the type $`\stackrel{}{S}_\gamma \stackrel{}{q}\times \stackrel{}{p}`$ where $`\stackrel{}{S}_\gamma `$ is the polarization of the real photon, $`\stackrel{}{q}`$ is the beam direction of an incident virtual photon, and $`\stackrel{}{p}`$ is the direction of a produced quark or hadron. The resulting asymmetry of the photon polarized normal to the production plane will be leading twist. As in the proton target case, the single-spin asymmetry will be sensitive to orbital angular momentum in the photon wavefunction and details of the photon structure at the amplitude level.

## 7 Single and Double Diffraction in Photon-Photon Collisions

The high energies of a photon-photon collider will make the study of double diffractive $`\gamma \gamma V^0V^0`$ and semi-inclusive single diffractive processes $`\gamma \gamma V^0X`$ in the Regge regime $`s>>|t|`$ interesting. Here $`V^0=\rho ,\omega \varphi ,J/\psi ,\mathrm{}`$ If $`|t|`$ is taken larger than the QCD confinement scale, then one has the potential for a detailed study of fundamental Pomeron processes and its gluonic composition. As in the case of large angle exclusive $`\gamma \gamma `$ processes, the scattering amplitude is computed by convoluting the hard scattering PQCD amplitude for $`\gamma \gamma q\overline{q}q\overline{q}`$ with the vector meson distribution amplitudes. The two gluon exchange contribution dominates in the Regge regime , giving a characteristic exclusive process scaling law of order $`\frac{d\sigma }{dt}(\gamma \gamma V^0V^0)\alpha _s^4(t)/t^6.`$ Ginzburg, Ivanov and Serbo  have emphasized that the corresponding $`\gamma \gamma `$ pseudoscalar and tensor meson channels can be used to isolate the Odderon exchange contribution, contributions related at a fundamental level to three gluon exchange.

In addition, the photon can diffractively dissociate into quark pairs $`\gamma eq\overline{q}e^{}`$ by Coulomb scattering on the incoming electron. This measures the transverse derivative of the photon wavefunction $`\frac{}{k_{}}\psi _{q\overline{q}}(x,k_{},\lambda _i).`$ This is the analog of the E791 experiment at Fermilab  which resolved the pion light-front wavefunction by diffractive dissociation $`\pi Aq\overline{q}A^{}`$ on a nuclear target. The results of the diffractive pion experiment are consistent with color transparency, and the momentum partition of the jets conforms closely with the shape of the asymptotic distribution amplitude, $`\varphi _\pi ^{\mathrm{asympt}}(x)=\sqrt{3}f_\pi x(1x)`$, corresponding to the leading anomalous dimension solution  to the perturbative QCD evolution equation.

## 8 Other QCD Tests in Photon-Photon Collisions

Two-photon annihilation $`\gamma ^{}(q_1)\gamma ^{}(q_2)`$ hadrons for real and virtual photons can thus provide some of the most detailed and incisive tests of QCD. Among the processes of special interest are:

1. the production of four jets such as $`\gamma \gamma c\overline{c}c\overline{c}`$ can test Fermi-color statistics for charm quarks by checking for the interference effects of like sign quarks .
2. the total two-photon annihilation hadronic cross section $`\sigma (s,q_1^2,q_2^2),`$ which is related to the light-by-light hadronic contribution to the muon anomalous moment;
3. the formation of $`C=+`$ hadronic resonances, which can reveal exotic states such as $`q\overline{q}g`$ hybrids and discriminate gluonium formation . The production of the $`\eta _B`$ and $`\chi _B`$ states are essentially unexplored in QCD.
4. single-hadron processes such as $`\gamma ^{}\gamma ^{}\pi ^0`$, which test the transition from the anomaly-dominated pion decay constant to the short-distance structure of currents dictated by the operator-product expansion and perturbative QCD factorization theorems;
5. hadron pair production processes such as $`\gamma ^{}\gamma \pi ^+\pi ^{},K^+K^{},p\overline{p}`$, which at fixed invariant pair mass measures the $`st`$ crossing of the virtual Compton amplitude . I discuss this further in the next section. When one photon is highly virtual, these exclusive hadron production channels are dual to the photon structure function $`F_2^\gamma (x,Q^2)`$ in the endpoint $`x1`$ region at fixed invariant pair mass. The leading twist-amplitude for $`\gamma ^{}\gamma \pi ^+\pi ^{}`$ is sensitive to the $`1/x1/(1x)`$ moment of the $`q\overline{q}`$ distribution amplitude $`\mathrm{\Phi }_{\pi ^+\pi ^{}}(x,Q^2)`$ of the two-pion system , the time-like extension of skewed parton distributions. In addition one can measure the pion charge asymmetry in $`e^+e^{}\pi ^+\pi ^{}e^+e^{}`$ arising from the interference of the $`\gamma \gamma \pi ^+\pi ^{}`$ Compton amplitude with the time-like pion form factor . At the unphysical point $`s=q_1^2=q_2^2=0`$, the amplitude is fixed by the low energy theorem to the hadron charge squared. The ratio of the measured $`\gamma \gamma \mathrm{\Lambda }\overline{\mathrm{\Lambda }}`$ and $`\gamma \gamma p\overline{p}`$ cross sections is anomalous at threshold, a fact which may be associated with the soliton structure of baryons in QCD ;
6. Exclusive or semi-inclusive channels can also be studied by coalescence of the produced quarks. An interesting example is higher generation final state such as $`\gamma \gamma B_c\overline{B}_c,`$ which can have very complex angular structure .
7. As pointed out by Hwang , one can study deeply virtual Compton scattering on a photon target in $`e\gamma `$ collisions to determine the light-cone wavefunctions and other features of the photon .

## 9 The Photon-to-Pion Transition Form Factor and the Pion Distribution Amplitude

The simplest and perhaps most elegant illustration of an exclusive reaction in QCD is the evaluation of the photon-to-pion transition form factor $`F_{\gamma \pi }(Q^2)`$ which is measurable in single-tagged two-photon $`eeee\pi ^0`$ reactions. The form factor is defined via the invariant amplitude $`\mathrm{\Gamma }^\mu =ie^2F_{\pi \gamma }(Q^2)\epsilon ^{\mu \nu \rho \sigma }p_\nu ^\pi \epsilon _\rho q_\sigma `$. As in inclusive reactions, one must specify a factorization scheme which divides the integration regions of the loop integrals into hard and soft momenta, compared to the resolution scale $`\stackrel{~}{Q}`$. At leading twist, the transition form factor then factorizes as a convolution of the $`\gamma ^{}\gamma q\overline{q}`$ amplitude (where the quarks are collinear with the final state pion) with the valence light-cone wavefunction of the pion :

$$F_{\gamma M}(Q^2)=\frac{4}{\sqrt{3}}_0^1𝑑x\varphi _M(x,\stackrel{~}{Q})T_{\gamma M}^H(x,Q^2).$$
(2)
The hard scattering amplitude for $`\gamma \gamma ^{}q\overline{q}`$ is $`T_{\gamma M}^H(x,Q^2)=[(1x)Q^2]^1\left(1+𝒪(\alpha _s)\right)`$. For the asymptotic distribution amplitude $`\varphi _\pi ^{\mathrm{asympt}}(x)=\sqrt{3}f_\pi x(1x)`$ one predicts

$$Q^2F_{\gamma \pi }(Q^2)=2f_\pi \left(1\frac{5}{3}\frac{\alpha _V(Q^{})}{\pi }\right)$$

where $`Q^{}=e^{3/2}Q`$ is the estimated BLM scale for the pion form factor in the $`V`$ scheme.

The PQCD predictions have been tested in measurements of $`e\gamma e\pi ^0`$ by the CLEO collaboration  (see Fig. 5 (b)). The flat scaling of the $`Q^2F_{\gamma \pi }(Q^2)`$ data from $`Q^2=2`$ to $`Q^2=8`$ GeV<sup>2</sup> provides an important confirmation of the applicability of leading twist QCD to this process. The magnitude of $`Q^2F_{\gamma \pi }(Q^2)`$ is remarkably consistent with the predicted form, assuming the asymptotic distribution amplitude and including the LO QCD radiative correction with $`\alpha _V(e^{3/2}Q)/\pi 0.12`$. One could allow for some broadening of the distribution amplitude with a corresponding increase in the value of $`\alpha _V`$ at small scales. Radyushkin , Ong  and Kroll  have also noted that the scaling and normalization of the photon to pion transition form factor tends to favor the asymptotic form for the pion distribution amplitude and rules out broader distributions such as the two-humped form suggested by QCD sum rules . More detailed studies are given in the references.

When both photons are virtual, the denominator of $`T_H`$ for the $`\gamma \gamma ^{}\pi ^0`$ reaction becomes $`(1x)Q_1^2+xQ_2^2`$ , and the amplitude becomes nearly insensitive to the shape of the distribution amplitude once it is normalized to the pion decay constant. Thus the ratio of singly virtual to doubly virtual pion production is particularly sensitive to the shape of $`\varphi _\pi (x,Q^2)`$ since higher order corrections and normalization errors tend to cancel in the ratio.

## 10 Exclusive Two-Photon Annihilation into Hadron Pairs

At large momentum transfer, the angular distribution of hadron pairs produced by photon-photon annihilation are among the best determinants of the shape of the meson and baryon distribution amplitudes $`\varphi _M(x,Q)`$ and $`\varphi _B(x_i,Q),`$ which control almost all exclusive processes involving a hard scale $`Q`$. The determination of the shape and normalization of the distribution amplitudes, which are gauge-invariant and process-independent measures of the valence wavefunctions of the hadrons, has become particularly important in view of their importance in the analysis of exclusive semi-leptonic and two-body hadronic $`B`$-decays . There has also been considerable progress both in calculating hadron wavefunctions from first principles in QCD and in measuring them using diffractive di-jet dissociation.

Much of this important two-photon physics is also accessible at low energy, high luminosity $`e^+e^{}`$ colliders, particularly for measurements of channels important in the light-by-light contribution to the muon $`g`$–2 and the exploration of the transition between threshold amplitudes which are controlled by low-energy effective theories such as the chiral Hamiltonian through the transition to the domain where leading-twist perturbative QCD becomes applicable. There have been almost no measurements of double-tagged events needed to unravel the separate $`q_1^2`$ and $`q_2^2`$ dependence of photon-photon annihilation. Hadron pair production from two-photon annihilation plays a crucial role in unravelling the perturbative and non-perturbative structure of QCD, first by testing the validity and empirical applicability of leading-twist factorization theorems, second by verifying the structure of the underlying perturbative QCD subprocesses, and third, through measurements of angular distributions and ratios which are sensitive to the shape of the distribution amplitudes. In effect, photon-photon collisions provide a microscope for testing fundamental scaling laws of PQCD and for measuring distribution amplitudes.

Two-photon reactions, $`\gamma \gamma H\overline{H}`$ at large $`s=(k_1+k_2)^2`$ and fixed $`\theta _{\mathrm{cm}}`$, provide a particularly important laboratory for testing QCD since these cross-channel “Compton” processes are the simplest calculable large-angle exclusive hadronic scattering reactions. The helicity structure, and often even the absolute normalization can be rigorously computed for each two-photon channel . In the case of meson pairs, dimensional counting predicts that for large $`s`$, $`s^4d\sigma /dt(\gamma \gamma M\overline{M})`$ scales at fixed $`t/s`$ or $`\theta _{\mathrm{cm}}`$ up to factors of $`\mathrm{ln}s/\mathrm{\Lambda }^2`$. The angular dependence of the $`\gamma \gamma H\overline{H}`$ amplitudes can be used to determine the shape of the process-independent distribution amplitudes, $`\varphi _H(x,Q)`$. An important feature of the $`\gamma \gamma M\overline{M}`$ amplitude for meson pairs is that the contributions of Landshoff pitch singularities are power-law suppressed at the Born level—even before taking into account Sudakov form factor suppression. There are also no anomalous contributions from the $`x1`$ endpoint integration region. Thus, as in the calculation of the meson form factors, each fixed-angle helicity amplitude can be written to leading order in $`1/Q`$ in the factorized form $`[Q^2=p_T^2=tu/s`$; $`\stackrel{~}{Q}_x=\mathrm{min}(xQ,(lx)Q)]`$:

$`_{\gamma \gamma M\overline{M}}`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle _0^1}𝑑x{\displaystyle _0^1}𝑑y`$ (3)
$`\varphi _{\overline{M}}(y,\stackrel{~}{Q}_y)T_H(x,y,s,\theta _{\mathrm{cm}}\varphi _M(x,\stackrel{~}{Q}_x),`$
where $`T_H`$ is the hard-scattering amplitude $`\gamma \gamma (q\overline{q})(q\overline{q})`$ for the production of the valence quarks collinear with each meson, and $`\varphi _M(x,\stackrel{~}{Q})`$ is the amplitude for finding the valence $`q`$ and $`\overline{q}`$ with light-cone fractions of the meson’s momentum, integrated over transverse momenta $`k_{}<\stackrel{~}{Q}`$. The contribution of non-valence Fock states are power-law suppressed. Furthermore, the helicity-selection rules  of perturbative QCD predict that vector mesons are produced with opposite helicities to leading order in $`1/Q`$ and all orders in $`\alpha _s`$. The dependence in $`x`$ and $`y`$ of several terms in $`T_{\lambda ,\lambda ^{}}`$ is quite similar to that appearing in the meson’s electromagnetic form factor. Thus much of the dependence on $`\varphi _M(x,Q)`$ can be eliminated by expressing it in terms of the meson form factor. In fact, the ratio of the $`\gamma \gamma \pi ^+\pi ^{}`$ and $`e^+e^{}\mu ^+\mu ^{}`$ amplitudes at large $`s`$ and fixed $`\theta _{CM}`$ is nearly insensitive to the running coupling and the shape of the pion distribution amplitude:

$$\frac{\frac{d\sigma }{dt}(\gamma \gamma \pi ^+\pi ^{})}{\frac{d\sigma }{dt}(\gamma \gamma \mu ^+\mu ^{})}\frac{4|F_\pi (s)|^2}{1\mathrm{cos}^2\theta _{\mathrm{cm}}}.$$
(4)
The comparison of the PQCD prediction for the sum of $`\pi ^+\pi ^{}`$ plus $`K^+K^{}`$ channels with CLEO data  is shown in Fig. 6. The CLEO data for charged pion and kaon pairs show a clear transition to the scaling and angular distribution predicted by PQCD  for $`W=\sqrt{(}s_{\gamma \gamma }>2`$ GeV. It is clearly important to measure the magnitude and angular dependence of the two-photon production of neutral pions and $`\rho ^+\rho ^{}`$ in view of the strong sensitivity of these channels to the shape of meson distribution amplitudes (see Figs. 8 and 8). QCD also predicts that the production cross section for charged $`\rho `$-pairs (with any helicity) is much larger than for that of neutral $`\rho `$ pairs, particularly at large $`\theta _{\mathrm{cm}}`$ angles. Similar predictions are possible for other helicity-zero mesons. For an alternative model based on the QCD “handbag” diagram, see the references.

As noted above, the analysis of exclusive $`B`$ decays has much in common with the analysis of exclusive two-photon reactions . For example, consider the three representative contributions to the decay of a $`B`$ meson to meson pairs illustrated in Fig. 9. In Fig. 9(a) the weak interaction effective operator $`𝒪`$ produces a $`q\overline{q}`$ in a color octet state. A gluon with virtuality $`Q^2=𝒪(M_B^2)`$ is needed to equilibrate the large momentum fraction carried by the $`b`$ quark in the $`\overline{B}`$ wavefunction. The amplitude then factors into a hard QCD/electroweak subprocess amplitude for quarks which are collinear with their respective hadrons: $`T_H([b(x)\overline{u}(1x)][q(y)\overline{u}(1y)]_1[q(z)\overline{q}(1z)]_2)`$ convoluted with the distribution amplitudes $`\varphi (x,Q)`$  of the incident and final hadrons:

$`_{\mathrm{octet}}(BM_1M_2)`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle _0^1}𝑑z{\displaystyle _0^1}𝑑y{\displaystyle _0^1}𝑑x`$
$`\varphi _B(x,Q)T_H(x,y,z)\varphi _{M_1}(y,Q)\varphi _{M_2}(z,Q).`$
Here $`x=k^+/p_H^+=(k^0+k^z)/(p_H^0+p_H^z)`$ are the light-cone momentum fractions carried by the valence quarks.

There are a several features of QCD which are required to ensure the consistency of the PQCD approach: (a) the effective QCD coupling $`\alpha _s(Q^2)`$ needs to be under control at the relevant scales of $`B`$ decay; (b) the distribution amplitudes of the hadrons need to satisfy convergence properties at the endpoints; and (c) one requires the coherent cancellation of the couplings of soft gluons to color-singlet states. This property, color transparency , is a fundamental coherence property of gauge theory and leads to diminished final-state interactions and corrections to the PQCD factorizable contributions. The problem of setting the renormalization scale of the coupling for exclusive amplitudes is discussed in . Conformal symmetry can be used as a guide to organize the hard scattering calculation and to determine the leading contributions to the hadron distribution amplitudes .

Baryon pair production in two-photon annihilation is also an important testing ground for QCD. The calculation of $`T_H`$ for Compton scattering requires the evaluation of 368 helicity-conserving tree diagrams which contribute to $`\gamma (qqq)\gamma ^{}(qqq)^{}`$ at the Born level and a careful integration over singular intermediate energy denominators . Brooks and Dixon  have completed a recalculation of the proton Compton process at leading order in PQCD, extending and correcting earlier work. It is useful to consider the ratio $`d\sigma /dt(\gamma \gamma \overline{p}p)/d\sigma /dt(e^+e^{}\overline{p}p)`$ since the power-law fall-off, the normalization of the valence wavefunctions, and much of the uncertainty from the scale of the QCD coupling cancel. The scaling and angular dependence of this ratio is sensitive to the shape of the proton distribution amplitudes. The perturbative QCD predictions for the phase of the Compton amplitude phase can be tested in virtual Compton scattering by interference with Bethe-Heitler processes .

It is also interesting to measure baryon and isobar pair production in two photon reactions near threshold. Ratios such as $`\sigma (\gamma \gamma \mathrm{\Delta }^{++}\mathrm{\Delta }^{})/\sigma (\gamma \gamma \mathrm{\Delta }^+\mathrm{\Delta }^{})`$ can be as large as $`16:1`$ in the quark model since the three-quark wavefunction of the $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$ is expected to be symmetric. Such large ratios would not be expected in soliton models  in which intermediate multi-pion channels play a major role.

Pobylitsa et al.  have shown how the predictions of perturbative QCD can be extended to processes such as $`\gamma \gamma p\overline{p}\pi `$ where the pion is produced at low velocities relative to that of the $`p`$ or $`\overline{p}`$ by utilizing soft pion theorems in analogy to soft photon theorems in QED. The distribution amplitude of the $`p\pi `$ composite is obtained from the proton distribution amplitude from a chiral rotation. A test of this procedure in inelastic electron scattering at large momentum transfer $`epp\pi `$ and small invariant $`p^{}\pi `$ mass has been remarkably successful. Many tests of the soft meson procedure are possible in multiparticle $`e^+e^{}`$ and $`\gamma \gamma `$ final states.

The leading-twist QCD predictions for exclusive two-photon processes such as the photon-to-pion transition form factor and $`\gamma \gamma `$ hadron pairs are based on rigorous factorization theorems. The data from the CLEO collaboration on $`F_{\gamma \pi }(Q^2)`$ and the sum of $`\gamma \gamma \pi ^+\pi ^{}`$ and $`\gamma \gamma K^+K^{}`$ channels are in excellent agreement with the QCD predictions. It is particularly compelling to see a transition in angular dependence between the low energy chiral and PQCD regimes. The success of leading-twist perturbative QCD scaling for exclusive processes at presently experimentally accessible momentum transfer can be understood if the effective coupling $`\alpha _V(Q^{})`$ is approximately constant at the relatively small scales $`Q^{}`$ relevant to the hard scattering amplitudes . The evolution of the quark distribution amplitudes in the low-$`Q^{}`$ domain also needs to be minimal. Sudakov suppression of the endpoint contributions is also strengthened if the coupling is frozen because of the exponentiation of a double logarithmic series.

One of the formidable challenges in QCD is the calculation of non-perturbative wavefunctions of hadrons from first principles. The calculations of the pion distribution amplitude by Dalley  and by Burkardt and Seal  using light-cone and transverse lattice methods is particularly encouraging. The predicted form of $`\varphi _\pi (x,Q)`$ is somewhat broader than but not inconsistent with the asymptotic form favored by the measured normalization of $`Q^2F_{\gamma \pi ^0}(Q^2)`$ and the pion wavefunction inferred from diffractive di-jet production.

Clearly much more experimental input on hadron wavefunctions is needed, particularly from measurements of two-photon exclusive reactions into meson and baryon pairs at the high luminosity $`B`$ factories. For example, as shown in Fig. 8, the ratio

$$\frac{d\sigma }{dt}(\gamma \gamma \pi ^0\pi ^0)/\frac{d\sigma }{dt}(\gamma \gamma \pi ^+\pi ^{})$$

is particularly sensitive to the shape of pion distribution amplitude. At fixed pair mass, and high photon virtuality, one can study the distribution amplitude of multi-hadron states . Two-photon annihilation will provide much information on fundamental QCD processes such as deeply virtual Compton scattering and large angle Compton scattering in the crossed channel. I have also emphasized the interrelation between the wavefunctions measured in two-photon collisions and the wavefunctions needed to study exclusive $`B`$ and $`D`$ decays.

Much of the most interesting two-photon annihilation physics is accessible at low energy, high luminosity $`e^+e^{}`$ colliders, including measurements of channels important in the light-by-light contribution to the muon $`g`$–2 and the study of the transition between threshold production controlled by low-energy effective chiral theories and the domain where leading-twist perturbative QCD becomes applicable.

The threshold regime of hadron production in photon-photon and $`e^+e^{}`$ annihilation, where hadrons are formed at small relative velocity, is particularly interesting as a test of low energy theorems, soliton models, and new types of resonance production. Such studies will be particularly valuable in double-tagged reactions where polarization correlations, as well as the photon virtuality dependence, can be studied.

## 11 New Calculational Methods

The light-front quantization of gauge theories can be carried out in an elegant way using the Dirac method to impose the light-cone gauge constraint and eliminate dependent degrees of freedom . Unlike the case in equal-time quantization, the vacuum remains trivial. Since only physical degrees of freedom appear, unitarity is maintained. One can verify the QCD Ward identities for the physical light-cone gauge and compute the QCD $`\beta `$ function. Recently, Srivastava and I  have extended the light-front quantization procedure to the Standard Model. The spontaneous symmetry breaking of the gauge symmetry is due to a zero mode of the scalar field rather than vacuum breaking. The Goldstone component of the scalar field provides mass to the $`W^\pm `$ and $`Z^0`$ gauge bosons as well as completing its longitudinal polarization. The resulting theory is free of Faddeev-Popov ghosts and is unitary and renormalizable. The resulting rules give an elegant new way to compute Standard model processes using light-front Hamiltonian theory.

The light-front method thus suggests the possibility of developing an “event amplitude generator” for high energy processes such as photon-photon collisions by calculating amplitudes for specific parton spins using light-front time-ordered perturbation theory . The positivity of the $`k^+`$ light-front momenta greatly constrains the number of contributing light-front time orderings. The renormalized amplitude can be obtained diagram by diagram by using the “alternating denominator” method which automatically subtracts the relevant counterterm. The DLCQ method also provides a simple way to discretized the light-front momentum variables, while maintaining frame-independence. The resulting renormalized amplitude can be convoluted with the light-front wavefunctions to simulate hadronization and hadron matrix elements.

## Acknowledgments

I thank Professor Clem Heusch for organizing and inviting me to this workshop and to David Asner, Jack Gunion, Dae Sung Hwang, Tom Rizzo, Ivan Schmidt, and Peter Zerwas for helpful comments. Work supported by the Department of Energy under contract number DE-AC03-76SF00515.


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# Characterising the complex absorber in NGC 4151

## 1 Introduction

The Seyfert 1 galaxy NGC 4151 was identified as an X-ray source over thirty years ago (Gursky et al. 1971). As one of the brightest Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) accessible in the X-ray band, it has since been extensively studied by missions such as EXOSAT, Ginga, ROSAT, ASCA, CGRO and more recently RXTE, BeppoSAX and Chandra. This observational focus has revealed that the spectrum of NGC 4151 from 0.1–100 keV is comprised of a complex mixture of emission and absorption components, probably originating in a variety of locations from the innermost parts of the putative accretion disk in NGC 4151, out to the extended narrow-line region of the galaxy. Given this spectral complexity it remains to be seen whether NGC 4151 should or should not be considered as an archetype of its class (Ulrich 2000; Zdziarski et al. 2001).

The intrinsic X-ray to $`\gamma `$-ray continuum emanating from the active nucleus of NGC 4151 appears to be produced by the thermal Comptonization of soft seed photons (e.g. Haardt & Maraschi 1991; Zdziarski et al. 1994, 1996, 2000; Petrucci et al. 2000). There is also a contribution from reprocessing in the form of Compton-reflection and iron-K fluorescence components (e.g. Maisack et al. 1991; Yaqoob et al. 1995; Zdziarski et al. 1996; Warwick et al. 1996; Piro et al. 2002; Zdziarski et al. 2001). Below $``$ 5 keV the hard continuum is strongly cut-off by photoelectric absorption in a substantial ($`N_H10^{23}\mathrm{cm}^2`$) line-of-sight gas column density (e.g. Holt et al. 1980; Yaqoob et al. 1993; Weaver et al. 1994a,b). One of the long-standing problems in X-ray studies of NGC 4151 has been to understand the exact nature and origin of this absorption. X-ray observations show very clearly that the cut-off is not as abrupt as one might expected for absorption in a uniform slab of cold solar abundance material (i.e., the increase in opacity with decreasing photon energy is less rapid than predicted for a uniform cold absorber). Various solutions have been suggested including an inhomogeneous cold absorber (the partial covering model; Holt et al. 1980; Weaver et al. 1994b), an absorber with grossly non-solar abundances (Yaqoob & Warwick 1991) and the partial photoionization of the absorbing medium (i.e., the warm absorber model, e.g., Krolik & Kallman 1984). However, none of these has provided a really satisfactory explanation of the nature of the absorber or the processes which give rise to the large changes in the absorption apparent in NGC 4151 on timescales of days or longer (Yaqoob et al. 1989, Yaqoob et al. 1993). Unfortunately the presence of additional soft X-ray emission components which first appear at $``$ 2 keV and dominate the spectrum below $``$ 1 keV (Weaver et al. 1994a; Warwick, Smith & Done 1995) adds further to the complication. EINSTEIN and ROSAT HRI measurements (Elvis, Briel & Henry 1983; Morse et al. 1995) and more recently observations by Chandra (Ogle et al. 2000; Yang, Wilson & Ferruit 2001) have revealed that much of this soft emission emanates from a spatial resolved ($`1.6`$ kpc) highly ionized plasma coincident with the optical narrow-line region of the galaxy.

In the present paper we investigate the nature of the complex X-ray absorption column in NGC 4151 and in particular focus on the question of whether at least some of the properties of the absorber can be explained in terms of photoionization effects. Our approach has been to use a high signal-to-noise BeppoSAX observation to define the parameters of a “spectral template” representative of the underlying continuum and other features in the X-ray spectrum of NGC 4151. We then use this template to investigate the spectral variations which occurred in NGC 4151 during a “long-look observation” carried out in the latter stages of the ASCA mission. The plan of the paper is as follows. In §2 we specify our spectral template model and determine the relevant spectral parameters using the BeppoSAX measurements. In §3 we give brief details of the ASCA long-look observation, outline the data reduction techniques employed and characterize the flux and spectral variability apparent in the source light curve. In the next section we describe the detailed spectral modelling of the ASCA data focusing on the evidence for a photoionized absorber. Finally in §5 we discuss the implications of our results.

## 2 The BeppoSAX data and the spectral template

The broad bandpass of the instruments on BeppoSAX is a tremendous help when attempting to constrain the form of the hard X-ray spectrum of NGC 4151. During the period 1996-1999, this source was observed three times with BeppoSAX as reported by Piro et al. (2002). Here we utilize the observation carried out in January, 1999, which provides the best signal to noise ratio of the available datasets. X-ray data from three of the four instruments on BeppoSAX (namely the LECS, MECS and PDS instruments - see Parmar et al. 1997, Boella et al. 1997, Frontera et al. 1997 respectively were obtained from the ASI Science Data Center. In the case of the LECS and MECS instruments, source spectra were preprocessed via standard BeppoSAX procedures using on-source extraction regions of $`6^{}`$ and $`4^{}`$ radius respectively. Standard blank-sky background files were available for the LECS and MECS whereas in the case of the PDS instrument, background-subtracted source spectra were supplied directly. The spectra were accumulated over the full observation interval (see Piro et al. 2002) to give an on-source exposure time of 83 ks in the MECS and roughly half this for the other instruments.

A BL Lac object (MS 1207.9+3945) is located $`5^{}`$ to the north of NGC 4151. Piro et al. (2002) note that its count rate is $`2\%`$ and $`20\%`$ of that of NGC 4151 in the MECS and LECS instruments respectively. The contamination of the NGC 4151 spectra will be negligible for the MECS but may, on the basis of the Piro et al. (2002) figures, be as high as $``$20$`\%`$ in the LECS at $`1`$ keV. In practice the presence of this confusing source in the LECS data will have little overall impact on our spectra fitting analysis (given the relatively soft spectrum of the BLLAC - Warwick, Smith & Done 1995).

Spectral fitting was carried out using the XSPEC V11.0.1 software package with the Sept 1997 instrument response matrices. For this purpose the source spectra were grouped to give a minimum of 20 counts per bin and the data below 1 keV (from the LECS) were excluded to avoid complications relating to the form of the soft X-ray emitting components and presence of the soft confusing source. We adopt a spectral template model which includes the following emission components:

1. A power-law continuum with a normalization, $`A_1`$, and photon index, $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$, exhibiting a high-energy break at 100 keV;
2. A neutral Compton-reflection component (modelled by PEXRAV in XSPEC, Magdziarz & Zdziarski 1995) with only the reflection scaling factor, $`R`$, as a free parameter. The parameters relating to the incident continuum were tied to those of the hard power-law component. In addition cos $`i`$ was fixed at 0.5 and the metal abundance in the reflector was fixed at the solar value;
3. An iron K$`\alpha `$ emission line of intensity $`I_{K\alpha }`$ at an energy $`E_{K\alpha }`$ (with an intrinsic line width $`\sigma _{K\alpha }`$ set to 0.1 keV);
4. A second power-law continuum representative of all the additional soft X-ray emitting components with a slope coupled to that of the primary hard continuum but with a free normalization, $`A_2`$.

As noted earlier the complex absorption in NGC 4151 has in the past been modelled in number of ways, with arguably the most successful approach being the partial covering (sometimes referred to in the literature as a dual absorber) model (e.g. Holt et al. 1980; Yaqoob & Warwick 1991; Weaver et al. 1994b). In the partial covering scenario a fraction $`f_{cov}`$ of the hard continuum is absorbed by a cold gas column density $`N_{H,1}`$, whilst the remaining $`1f_{cov}`$ fraction of the continuum intercepts a reduced column density $`N_{H,2}`$. In the present paper we prefer to focus on a model employing the same number of free parameters but with the absorber stratified along the line of sight rather than perpendicular to it. In our preferred scenario the complex absorber is represented as product of two absorption components, namely a warm column density $`N_{H,warm}`$ and a cold gas column $`N_{H,cold}`$. For the former we use multiplicative table models in XSPEC generated via the photoionization code XSTAR (Kallman 2001). The ionization state of the warm gas is governed by the ionization parameter $`\xi =L_{ion}/nr^2`$ where $`L_{ion}`$ is the source luminosity in the 0.0136-13.6 keV bandpass in $`\mathrm{erg}\mathrm{s}^1`$, $`n`$ is the number of hydrogen atoms/ions in the gas per $`\mathrm{cm}^3`$ and $`r`$ is the distance from the central source to the inner edge of the warm cloud in cm. We assumed an ionizing continuum of the form adopted by Krolik & Kriss (1995). For further details of the photoionization modelling see Griffiths et al. (1998). The cold absorption was represented by the wabs model in XSPEC which is based on the absorption cross-sections tabulated in Morrison & McCammon (1983). Here we assume solar abundances in both the warm and cold absorber.

The adopted spectral model assumes that only the hard power-law continuum is subject to the complex absorption. However absorption arising in the line-of-sight column density through our own Galaxy is applied to all four emission components ($`N_{H,Gal}=2\times 10^{20}\mathrm{cm}^2`$).

The results of fitting this spectral template to the BeppoSAX data are detailed in Table 1, which lists the best fitting values for the nine free parameters of the model. The quoted errors (here as elsewhere in this paper) are at the 90% confidence level as defined by a $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$$`\chi `$2=2.71 criterion (i.e. assuming one interesting parameter).

The spectral template provides an excellent fit to the BeppoSAX data as illustrated in Fig. 1. Fig. 2 shows the corresponding best-fitting model spectrum.

## 3 The ASCA long-look observation

In the present paper we concentrate on the final observation of NGC 4151 carried out by ASCA during the period May 12-25, 2000. This was an exceptionally long observation carried out during the last phase of the ASCA programme, fully meriting its description as a “long-look”. The ASCA payload included four X-ray telescopes, two equipped with Solid-state Imaging Spectrometers (SIS) and two with Gas Imaging Spectrometers (GIS). All the relevant datasets pertaining to the SIS and GIS instruments were obtained from the ASCA public archive at the HEASARC. Standard screening criteria and reduction techniques were employed using software routines within the FTOOLS package. During the long-look observation the SIS instruments were operated in a single CCD mode with the nearby BL Lac object positioned at the very edge or just off-chip in the SIS-0 and SIS-1 instruments respectively. In an attempt to reduce both the impact of the instrument background and the contamination from the BL Lac to negligible proportions, we applied a $`1^{}`$ radius source extraction circle to the SIS data. Compared to a more standard $`3^{}`$ radius extraction cell, this reduced the 1-10 keV SIS count rate by $`11\%`$. For the GIS data we used a $`3^{}`$ radius source extraction region and a background spectrum taken from an off-source region in the GIS field of view.

As discussed recently by Turner et al. (2001) the ASCA SIS detectors have shown a degradation in efficiency at lower energies, which is probably due to an increased dark current levels and decreased charge transfer efficiency (CTE), producing SIS spectra which diverge from each other and from the GIS data. Furthermore, data from the last phase of ASCA operations (AO-8) have revealed a non-linear evolution of the SIS CTE. Here we have applied the interim solution released on 2001 February 13 by the ASCA GOF (in the form of the CTE file $`sisph2pi_{}130201.fits`$) which reduces some but not all of the spectral inconsistencies (see below). We restrict our analysis to the 1–10 keV band data to avoid the worst of the low energy calibration uncertainties in the SIS instruments (e.g. see Appendix A of Weaver et al. 2001). For subsequent analysis, the total accumulated on-source exposure was 285 ks in the SIS and 435 ks in the GIS detectors.

The light curve in the full 1–10 keV band is shown in Fig. 3 for the combined SIS instruments. An almost identical light curve is obtained for the combined GIS instruments demonstrating that, at least in terms of the broad band variability, the two SIS and GIS instruments produce very similar results. During the $`13`$ day observation the source shows a significant brightening by a factor of more than 3 followed by a comparable decline. The fastest variation is a flux increase of $``$ 35% in roughly 12 hrs. Fig. 3 also shows a plot of the 2–5 keV/5–10 keV softness ratio versus time (for simplicity we show only the SIS data). The brightening of the source is clearly associated with a significant spectral softening, although the spectrum remains relatively soft during the subsequent decline in flux.

We have also investigated the spectral variability exhibited by NGC 4151 by calculating the fractional rms variability amplitude as a function of energy (see Edelson et al. 2002). The result, shown in in Fig. 4, demonstrates, in a model independent fashion, the steep rise in the amplitude of the variability above 1 keV to a maximum at $`3`$ keV, followed a significant decline at higher energy. There is also a hint of a dip at the energy of the iron K$`\alpha `$ line (6.2-6.6 keV).

## 4 Fitting the spectral template to the ASCA data

In order to study the precise nature of the spectral variability exhibited by the source, we have broken the long-look observation up into eight sections utilizing gaps in the light curve to define section boundaries as illustrated in the lower panel of Fig 3. Appropriate response matrices and ancillary response files were constructed using standard FTOOLS routines and the spectra were again binned to a minimum of 20 counts per bin to allow the use of the $`\chi ^2`$ statistic in the spectral fitting.

Here our goal is to explain the softening of the spectrum as the continuum rises and the subsequent lack of spectral evolution during the continuum decline in terms of photoionization effects. In the context of the spectral template description discussed earlier, this implies changes in the ionization of the warm absorber induced by variations in the underlying continuum flux from the central source.

We adopt a very stringent requirement in spectrally fitting the ASCA data in that we fix all but three of the spectral parameters of the template model at the values derived from the BeppoSAX observation (Table 1). The three parameters permitted to vary are the normalization of the hard power-law continuum, $`A_1`$, the normalization of the soft X-ray power-law, $`A_2`$, and the ionization parameter, $`\xi `$. The column densities of the warm and cold components are kept fixed, as is the slope of the underlying continuum and the parameters of the iron K$`\alpha `$ line. For the Compton reflection, we fixed the actual component flux at the BeppoSAX level (rather than fixing the scale parameter $`R`$).

Before proceeding with the ASCA spectral analysis we need to investigated the degree of inconsistency between the SIS and GIS instruments. A comparison of the residuals when the above “template” model is fitted to the SIS-0/SIS-1 and GIS-2 spectral data from time segment 3 is shown in Fig. 5. As noted earlier these correspond to data extracted with a $`1^{}`$ radius source cell in the case of the SIS and a $`3^{}`$ radius cell for the GIS. Discrepancies between the two datasets are most evident below 2 keV and above 8 keV. The contamination of the GIS spectrum by the BL Lac appears to account for most of the problem at low energies. In fact we find that GIS data extracted within a $`1^{}`$ radius cell (thereby greatly reducing the BL Lac contribution) actually agree reasonably well with the SIS data, although this leads to a $`60\%`$ loss of counts in the GIS. The problem at the high energy end is similar in character to that reported by Turner et al. (2001) in a comparable ASCA long-look observation of the narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxy Akn 564. Here we take a somewhat different approach to that employed by Turner et al. (2001). In the subsequent analysis we make use solely of the spectra derived from the SIS data. For our investigation the exclusion of the soft BL Lac flux is a useful advantage which outweighs the spectral uncertainty above 8 keV, since we employ a very tightly constrained model of the hard continuum (via the adopted spectral template). In any case, our main interest is to characterize the spectral changes rather than to determine precise values for spectral parameters. Consistency checks show that very similar results to those reported below for the SIS are obtained with the GIS instruments (in fact somewhat better reduced $`\chi ^2`$ are recorded) provided an extra soft component representative of the BL Lac contribution is including in the spectral modelling.

Fig. 6 compares the SIS spectra from time segments 1, 3 and 5 of the long-look observation during which the source count rate in the 1–10 keV band increased by over a factor of 3. These SIS spectra illustrate that the level of the hard continuum rises by a factor of $`2`$ and that it is the marked softening of the spectrum in the 2–6 keV band that accounts for the additional factor in the count rate increase (cf. Fig. 4).

The results of fitting the constrained template model to the spectra from the eight segments of the long-look observation are given in Table 2. Overall the model provides a reasonable fit to the eight spectral datasets with a combined $`\chi `$2 of 4616 for 3665 d-o-f (degrees of freedom). Interestingly the spectrally variation revealed by the long-look data largely encompasses the range of spectral form exhibited by NGC 4151 in earlier ASCA observations (Fig. 7). In fact our spectral template model provides quite a good description of all the available datasets from the previous seven years of observation by both ASCA and BeppoSAX, with a range of ionization parameter not dissimilar to that derived here.

If we relax some of the parameter constraints then further improvements in the fit to the ASCA long-look segments can be obtained. For example, if we allow $`E_{K\alpha }`$ and $`I_{K\alpha }`$ to vary (but with the parameter value tied across the eight spectral datasets), then we obtain $`\chi ^2=4552`$ for 3663 d-o-f, with best fit values of $`E_{K\alpha }=6.395\pm 0.012`$ keV and $`I_{K\alpha }=2.2_{0.3}^{+0.2}\times 10^4\mathrm{photon}\mathrm{cm}^2\mathrm{s}^1`$ (which according to the F-test is significant at greater than 5 sigma). As a further step if we allow the two column density components to vary (with respect to the BeppoSAX values) then $`\chi ^2=4295`$ for 3661 d-o-f with N$`{}_{H,warm}{}^{}=2.0\pm 0.1\times 10^{23}\mathrm{cm}^2`$ and N$`{}_{H,cold}{}^{}=4.6\pm 0.2\times 10^{22}\mathrm{cm}^2`$ (which is very highly significant according to the F-test). In all these fits the largest residuals are in range 1–2 keV, where the simple power-law model of the soft emission components is clearly a gross over-simplification (Ogle et al. 2000). However, the presence of these 1-2 keV residuals is very unlikely to influence our interpretation of the observed spectral variations in terms of a variable warm absorber (see below).

The spectral fitting of the ASCA long-look observation reveals a range of ionization states for the warm absorber in NGC 4151 (Table 2), A clear correlation is apparent between the ionization parameter ($`\xi `$) and the level of the hard continuum ($`A_1`$) for the first five segments of the observation, which correspond to the period of increasing flux in the light curve (Fig 8). However as the flux drops (segments 6–8) the correlation is lost and the ionization state remains at a comparable level to that seen at the peak of the lightcurve. In contrast, in the BeppoSAX observation, although the continuum was at a level comparable to that at the peak of ASCA light curve, in this case the ionization of the warm absorber was at the bottom end of the range observed with ASCA (Fig 8). The observed correlation in the ASCA long-look data lends support to the warm absorber interpretation for the observed absorbing column and we argue in §5 that the lack of a sustained correlation between ionization level and the continuum flux, is not necessarily inconsistent with this description.

The normalization of the soft power-law component, $`A_2`$, varies by $`15\%`$ during the ASCA long-look observation. There is also an apparent factor 2 decline in the soft component over the 18 month interval between the BeppoSAX and ASCA observations, although as noted earlier there may be some preferential contamination of the BeppoSAX data by the nearby BL Lac object. Bearing in mind that much of the soft emission in NGC 4151 originates in the spatially extended component recently imaged by Chandra, (Ogle et al. 2000; Yang et al. 2001), these results would suggest that there may be some leakage of the hard continuum flux through the absorber down to $`1`$ keV (as suggested by Fig 4) whereas in the current spectral modelling the cut-off is nearer to 2 keV (see Fig 2). Since the complex absorption in NGC 4151 is likely to arise from gas exhibiting a range of ionization parameters, our two component (cold + warm gas) model must, at best, represent only a rough approximation to the real system.

## 5 Discussion

### 5.1 The physical state of the photoionized absorber in NGC 4151

One of the major advantages of the warm absorber description is that it is based on a physical model which is, in principle, readily testable. For example, given sufficient spectral resolution, sensitivity and dynamic range, the true ionization state of the warm gas can be determined directly from the absorption edges present in the X-ray spectrum, A further key diagnostic, somewhat more in tune with current measurement capabilities in the case of heavily absorbed sources such as NGC 4151, is that ionization parameter of the warm gas should track the intensity of the ionizing radiation field, albeit in a complex fashion (Nicastro et al. 1999). In contrast the popular partial covering (or dual absorber) models are based on rather arbitrary, constructed geometries which are very difficult to verify.

Previous studies of NGC 4151 have failed to demonstrate in an unambiguous fashion that the absorbing medium in NGC 4151 does respond to changes in the level of the incident hard continuum (Yaqoob et al. 1989; Fiore et al. 1990; Warwick et al. 1996; Piro et al. 2002). However, the ASCA long-look observation provides an excellent opportunity to study the response of the absorber to continuum changes. The correlation between ionization parameter and the level of the hard continuum apparent over the rising part of the light curve (Fig. 8) would appear to be the signature of a partially photoionized medium. However, a problem then presents itself in that the relatively high ionization state is maintained over the latter part of the observation despite the decline in the continuum. A possible explanation for this behaviour is that the timescale on which significant continuum variations are occurring ($`3\times 10^5`$ s) is somewhat shorter than the timescale on which the balance between photoionization and recombination can be re-established in the plasma. The result is that with quasi-continuous continuum variations (of which the light curve in Fig. 3 represents only a brief snapshot) the warm absorber is invariably in a non-equilibrium ionization state. Nicastro et al. (1999) have discussed some of the complications which arise in such circumstances and show that the delayed response of a medium to sharp increases and decreases in the incident ionizing flux can give rise to variations in the ionization state apparently unconnected with flux changes (and even anti-correlations of ionization level with flux). In the case of NGC 4151 there is clear evidence that the medium is slow to respond; for example even during the period when the ionization parameter and the continuum show a correlation, the former changes by a factor 1.8 compared to a factor of 2.5 for the latter. However, the fact that the degree of ionization tracks the light curve better during the rising segment than during the decline is consistent with the fact that $`T_{ion}L_{ion}^1`$, as is evident from Fig. 1 of Nicastro et al. (1999).

The parameter values for the warm absorber in NGC 4151 are not too far removed from one of the standard cases considered by Krolik & Kriss (2001) (although the assumed form of underlying continuum is somewhat modified with respect to the version in Krolik & Kriss et al. (1995), which we have adopted in the present work). For example, taking $`\xi =300`$ and $`L_{ion}=10^{44}\mathrm{erg}\mathrm{s}^1`$ as representative values for the warm absorber in NGC 4151 and taking the distance of the warm medium from the continuum source to be 1 pc, then the inferred gas density is $`n4\times 10^4\mathrm{cm}^3`$. Table 1 in Krolik & Kriss (2001) gives the corresponding equilibration timescales for selected ions in such a plasma. The warm absorber cut-off is best measured between 2–6 keV, where absorption edges due to the hydrogen- and helium-like ions of Mg, Si, S, Ar and Ca will be of importance (although not individually resolvable in the ASCA data). For these ions the relevant equilibration timescales are typically between $`18\times 10^6`$ s. In fact, the measured column density for the warm absorber in NGC 4151 of $`2\times 10^{23}\mathrm{cm}^2`$ implies $`r_{max}0.5`$ pc (Krolik & Kriss 2001), which in turn (since $`t_{ion}r^2`$), requires a factor 4 reduction in the equilibration timescales quoted by Krolik & Kriss. Nevertheless it is still true that the variability timescale in NGC 4151 is short enough for the warm absorber to be out of ionization equilibrium as required. Since different ions reach their equilibrium abundance, for a given flux of ionizing radiation, on different timescales, the detailed form of the absorption cut-off will depended on the luminosity history of the source stretching back over a period equal to the longest relevant equilibration timescale, which in NGC 4151 will be $`10^7`$ s.

### 5.2 The properties of the iron K$`\alpha `$ line

In the present paper we have modelled the iron K$`\alpha `$ emission in a very simple fashion, namely as a single narrow line at an energy appropriate to cold (i.e. neutral or low-ionization) material. In the long-look ASCA observation, the measured line flux was $`2.2_{0.3}^{+0.2}\times 10^4\mathrm{photon}\mathrm{cm}^2\mathrm{s}^1`$, with no evidence for any variations in either the line intensity or in the line profile during the observation period. The BeppoSAX observation gave a somewhat higher value (at the $`3\sigma `$ level) suggesting the possibility of line variations, but on the other hand the ASCA value is in excellent agreement with the iron K$`\alpha `$ line flux measured by Ginga almost ten years earlier. The lack of significant variability on timescales of many years suggests the origin of this narrow component is in a medium located well outside of the immediate surroundings of the nuclear source (i.e. not in a putative accretion disk), but probably does not exclude the region occupied by the warm absorber. However, the predicted range of iron ionization states in the warm medium is Fe XVI – FeXXI with the associated K$`\alpha `$ line emission ranging in energy from 6.4 – 6.6 keV. Since the measured line energy excludes much of this range, we conclude that the bulk of the line equivalent width (which ranges from 82 – 195 eV during the eight segments of the observation, depending on the continuum level) derives from less strongly photoionized material located further from the nucleus than the warm medium. The cold absorber in our model can only account for the observed iron K$`\alpha `$ flux if it subtends a full $`4\pi `$ steradians as viewed from the central source and has an iron abundance a factor 3 higher than solar.

In contrast with previous claims suggesting a complex broad iron line structure in NGC 4151 (Yaqoob, et al. 1995; Wang et al. 1999, 2001; Yaqoob, et al. 2001), we find no compelling evidence to include a relativistically broadened line in any of our modelling (the best fit intrinsic line width of the “narrow” line in the ASCA data was $`110\pm 20`$ eV but this may over estimate the true line width given the SIS calibration uncertainties). The lack of any variability in the line profile during the observation contrasts with earlier claims of line profile variability in NGC 4151 on $`10^4`$ s timescales (Wang et al. 2001).

Clearly a very extended broad-line profile is easily confused with a continuum form including a non-negligible contribution from Compton reflection and modified by a complex absorption. The complex variable nature of the underlying continuum and the absorption may then easily manifest itself as variability in the broad-line profile. We will return to this issue at a later date utilizing newly acquired data from XMM-Newton.

### 5.3 The spectral index versus flux correlation

Previous observations of NGC 4151 with both EXOSAT and Ginga have revealed an apparent correlation between spectral index measured in the 2–10 keV band and the level of the underlying continuum (Perola et al. 1986; Yaqoob & Warwick 1991; Yaqoob et al. 1993). Fig. 9 shows a compilation of measurements from EXOSAT and Ginga (taken from Yaqoob et al. 1993) which suggests that as the source brightens the photon index steepens, from $`\mathrm{\Gamma }1.35`$ to $`\mathrm{\Gamma }1.7`$, at which point the correlation saturates. Yaqoob et al. (1993) also note that the spectral slope changes occur on roughly the same timescale as the flux variations. However, a perplexing aspect of the spectral index flux correlation observed in the medium energy bandpass is that the effect is not mirrored in the hard X-ray/soft gamma regime (Johnson et al. 1997; Piro et al. 2002).

An underlying assumption of the spectral template model adopted in the present paper is that the spectral index of the hard power-law continuum in NGC 4151 remains constant (at a value $`\mathrm{\Gamma }1.65`$), as the continuum flux changes, in apparent contradiction to the correlation noted above. (Testing this assumption against the ASCA observation demonstrates that the ASCA datasets are broadly consistent with the assumed value of $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$=1.65, however the values are poorly constrained due to the very limited effective bandpass, and the fact that the values of $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ derived are very dependent on the exact details of the applied spectral model).

We have investigated the possibility that the spectral index versus relation may actually be a misinterpretation of the softening of the NGC 4151 spectrum as the source flux increases, bearing in mind that the reported correlation was established using both proportional counter data with limited spectral resolution and a highly simplified spectral model (in fact just a power-law continuum model, modified by a heavy cold absorbing column). To this end we have taken our spectral template model and an appropriate Ginga response, and simulated a set of five Ginga spectra using XSPEC. In this simulation, the normalization of the hard power-law continuum was increased in steps from $`1`$ to $`10\times 10^2\mathrm{photons}\mathrm{cm}^2\mathrm{s}^1`$, but with all the other parameter values, (including the ionization parameter and the flux in the Compton-reflection component) frozen at the values obtained from the BeppoSAX spectral fitting. The simulated 3.5–20 keV Ginga spectra were then each fitted with a simple absorbed power-law model (cf. Yaqoob & Warwick 1991; Yaqoob et al. 1993) and the effective photon spectral index measured. The result was a spectral index versus 2–10 keV flux correlation closely matching the reported correlation (Fig. 9). Since the simulation did not include any of the complications associated with varying ionization parameter of the warm absorber, it follows that the observed spectral changes are induced solely as a result of the presence of a non-varying spectrally-hard Compton-reflection component. Clearly, in this scenario, as the direct continuum brightens, the relative contribution of the Compton-reflection declines and the overall spectrum softens until eventually the measured spectral index saturates at the value pertaining to the underlying continuum.

## 6 Conclusion

There has been much debate as to whether NGC 4151 is simply a very bright, nearby representative of the broad class of galaxies harbouring luminous Seyfert nuclei or a unique object (Ulrich 2000). In the X-ray band this uncertainty is due, in large measure, to the heavy, complex and variable absorption which characterizes the 2–6 keV spectrum of NGC 4151 but which is not mirrored in the great majority of well-studied Seyfert galaxies (Mrk 6 is arguably the best known example of a NGC 4151 analogue, Feldmeier et al. 1999).

In this paper we have presented a detailed analysis of two archival datasets of NGC 4151, one from BeppoSAX the other from ASCA, which tests the hypothesis that the complex absorption is due to a combination of warm and cold gas distributed along the line of sight to the active Seyfert nucleus in this source. We find that this relatively simple model does indeed provide a good description of the two datasets in question and, in fact, gives a reasonable fit to all of the ASCA and BeppoSAX observations from the past seven years. Our key finding is that the warm absorber corresponds to a relative low density ($`10^5`$ cm-3) gas, with a column density of $`2\times 10^{23}\mathrm{cm}^2`$ and with ionization parameter in the range log($`\xi `$) $`2.42.7`$. Since the equilibration timescale for the dominant ions is of the same order or longer than the timescale of the continuum variability, the warm component is invariably observed in a non-equilibrium ionization state. Non-equilibrium conditions help explain why past studies based on relatively short observations spaced by weeks, months or years have failed to identify a consistent signature of the warm absorber in this source.

In a recent paper, Krolik & Kriss (2001) discuss how evaporation from the inner edge of the obscuring torus in an AGN can give rise to an inhomogeneous photoionized wind in which a broad range of temperatures coexist in equilibrium. Krolik & Kriss (2001) then go on to suggest that this wind is the origin of the highly ionized, warm absorbers seen in over half of type 1 Seyfert galaxies. For most Seyfert 1 galaxies the properties of the warm absorber are inferred from the OVII and OVIII absorption edges, whereas in NGC 4151 the combination of warm and cold absorbers gives rise to a sharp spectral cutoff below $`2`$ keV, thus eliminating the oxygen features. Nevertheless, as noted earlier, the inferred properties of the warm component in NGC 4151 are not too far removed from one the standard cases detailed by Krolik & Kriss (2001). It is therefore reasonable to hypothesise that the warm absorber in NGC 4151 originates in such a multi-temperature wind, but that the unusually complex character of the absorption is due to a line of sight which grazes the top edge of the obscuring torus so as to intercept a substantial column of both the warm and cold components. In essence in terms of its X-ray absorption properties, NGC 4151 is intermediate between the Seyfert galaxies in which the absorption, if present, is predominantly due to the Krolik & Kriss’s multi-temperature wind (type 1 objects) and those where the cooler material of the obscuring torus dominates (type 2 objects).

The other findings of this paper are that (i) the reported hardening of the spectrum of NGC 4151 as the continuum level falls may be simply due to the presence of an underlying (hard and relatively constant) Compton-reflection component and (ii) there is no compelling evidence for a relativistically broadened iron K$`\alpha `$ line in NGC 4151 contrary to earlier claims.

In summary, it appears that many of the X-ray properties of NGC 4151 can be explained in terms of the current paradigm for Seyfert galaxies. Future observations with XMM-Newton, Chandra and INTEGRAL will be able to test the degree to which our spectral template description is valid and should further illuminate the question of whether NGC 4151 should be regarded as the archetypal Seyfert galaxy.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

NJS gratefully acknowledges the financial support from PPARC. It is a pleasure to thank Simon Vaughan for his many valuable discussions, and Keith Arnaud for his help with XSPEC The archival ASCA X-ray data used in this work was obtained from the Leicester Database and Archive Service (LEDAS) at the Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of Leicester. The archival BeppoSAX X-ray data used in this work was obtained from the BeppoSAX ASI Science Data Center at ESRIN, Italy. This research has made extensive use of NASA’s Astrophysics Data System Abstract Service.