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# Effects of Resonance in Quasiperiodic Oscillators of Neutron Star Binaries

## 1 Introduction

Kilohertz quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs) have been discovered by the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) in a number of low mass X-ray binaries (Strohmayer et al. 1996, van der Klis et al. 1996). The presence of two observed peaks with frequencies $`\nu _1`$ and $`\nu _2`$ in the upper part of the power spectrum became a natural starting point in modeling the phenomena. Attempts have been made to relate $`\nu _1`$ and $`\nu _2`$ and the peak separation $`\mathrm{\Delta }\nu =\nu _2\nu _1`$ with the neutron star (NS) spin. In the sonic point beat frequency (SPBF) model by Miller, Lamb & Psaltis (1998) the kHz peak separation $`\mathrm{\Delta }\nu `$ is considered to be close to the NS spin frequency and thus $`\mathrm{\Delta }\nu `$ is predicted to be constant \[see also the updated version of the SPBF (Lamb & Miller 2001) in which $`\mathrm{\Delta }\nu `$ is allowed to be variable\]. Observations of kHz QPOs in a number of binaries (Sco X-1, 4U 1728-34, 4U 1608-52, 4U 1702-429 and etc) show that the peak separation decreases systematically when kHz frequencies increases (see a review by van der Klis 2000).

There are two other models in the literature which infer the relations between $`\nu _1`$, $`\nu _2`$ and $`\nu _{HBO}`$. The relativistic precession (RP) model involves high speed particle motion in strong gravitational fields, leading to oscillations of the particle orbits. Stella et al. (1999) studied precession of the particle orbit under influence of a strong gravity due to General Relativity (GR) effects. The correlation between high frequency (lower kHz frequency) and low frequency (broad noise component) QPOs previously found by Psaltis, Belloni & van der Klis (1999) for black hole (BH) and neutron star (NS) systems has been recently extended over two orders of magnitude by Mauche (2002) to white dwarf (WD) binaries. With the assumption that the same mechanism produces the QPO in WD, NS and BH binaries, Mauche argues that the data exclude RP, SPBF models (as well as any model requiring either the presence or absence of a stellar surface or a strong magnetic field).

The transition layer model (TLM) was introduced by Titarchuk, Lapidus & Muslimov (1998), hereafter TLM98, to explain the dynamical adjustment of a Keplerian disk to the innermost sub-Keplerian boundary conditions (e.g. at the NS surface). The low branch frequency $`\nu _L`$, the Kepler frequency $`\nu _\mathrm{K}`$ and the hybrid frequency $`\nu _h`$, as they are introduced by OT99 are eigenfrequencies of the oscillator. In the TLM framework the observed horizontal branch oscillation (HBO) frequencies $`\nu _{HBO}`$, $`\nu _1`$ and $`\nu _2`$ can be interpreted as the resonance frequencies near $`\nu _L`$, $`\nu _\mathrm{K}`$ and $`\nu _h`$ which are broadened as a result of the (radiative) damping in the oscillator (see TLM98, Eq. 15). Furthermore, the resonance frequencies $`\nu _{HBO}`$, $`\nu _1`$, $`\nu _2`$ are shifted with respect to the eigenfrequencies $`\nu _L`$, $`\nu _\mathrm{K}`$, $`\nu _h`$. The frequency shift and random errors of the eigenfrequencies depend on the damping rate of oscillations $`\lambda `$ (see details in §3). One should keep in mind that the systematic and random errors in the centroid frequency determination due to this resonance shift can be a factor of a few larger than the statistical error in the determination of the centroid frequency. It is worth noting that an interpretation of the observed QPO phenomena in the framework of any oscillatory (or wave propagation) model requires the aforementioned corrections due to resonance in the presence of damping. For the observed Q-values ($`Q=\nu /2\lambda )`$ of a few, the damped intrinsic harmonic oscillations decay very quickly (less than $`10^2`$ s) and thus only the forced oscillations can exist for time periods of order $`10^{23}`$ seconds and longer (for details see §3.1). There remains the question of what kind of the observational arguments can support the resonance mechanism for QPO phenomena. I address to this issue in §4. The goal of this Letter is to demonstrate how the resonance shift corrections are important for the accurate interpretation of the QPO data. The Letter reports the results of the QPO data interpretation from four Z-sources: Sco X-1, GX 340+0, GX 5-1, GX 17+2 and two atoll sources: 4U 1728-34, 4U 0614+09 and two atoll sources, collected by RXTE during 6 years of observations. In §2, I present the origins of the RXTE QPO data used in the present investigation. In §3 I provide details of the resonance effect on the eigenfrequency restoration using the observed QPO frequencies and in §4 I offer comparisons of the predictions of the TLM model with the RXTE observations. Summary and conclusions are drawn in §5.

## 2 Source and Data Selection

I used the QPO data from Sco X-1 \[van der Klis et al. (1996), (1997), Bradshaw et al. (2002)\]; from GX 340+0 (Jonker et al. 2000a); from GX 5-1 (Jonker et al. 2002); from GX 17+2 (Homan et al. 2002); from 4U 0614+09 (van Straaten et al. 2000, 2002) and from 4U 1728-34 (van Straaten et al. 2002).

## 3 Resonance effects in weakly nonlinear oscillators: relevance to observed QPO phenomenon in X-ray binaries

The observational appearance of asymmetric Lorentzian QPO features, HBO and low frequency harmonics (e.g. van der Klis 2000) is the first indication of the classical resonance phenomena along with a combination frequency effect well established in weakly nonlinear oscillating systems (e.g. Landau & Lifshitz 1965, hereafter LL). Similar effects are described by radiation theory in the context of atom excitation (as the classical damped harmonic oscillator) which is driven by a harmonic wave (see e.g. Mihalas 1970).

OT99 formulate the QPO problem in the framework of an oscillator in the rotational frame of reference. Taking the magnetospheric rotation with angular velocity $`𝛀=\mathrm{𝟐}\pi \nu _{\mathrm{𝐦𝐠}}`$ (not perpendicular to the plane of the equatorial disk) the small amplitude oscillations of the fluid element thrown into the magnetosphere are described by a three dimensional oscillator (see OT99, Eqs 2-4). When the angle $`\delta `$ , between $`𝛀`$ and the vector normal to plane of radial oscillations is small then three dimensional intrinsic oscillations are split into two independent eigenmodes: the radial mode with the hybrid eigenfrequency $`\nu _h=(\nu _\mathrm{K}^2+4\nu _{mg}^2)^{1/2}`$ and the vertical mode with the low branch eigenfrequency $`\nu _L=2\nu _{mg}(\nu _\mathrm{K}/\nu _h)\mathrm{sin}\delta `$. Thus one can consider two independent harmonic oscillators under influence of a damping force probably the radiation drag force (proportional to the velocity of displacement) as introduced by TLM98. The restoring force in these oscillators is only in the first approximation proportional to the dispacement with the proportionality coefficient equal to the square of the eigenfrequency. The interplay between the gravitational, Coriolis forces and pressure gradient maintains the oscillations with frequencies close to $`\nu _h`$ and $`\nu _L`$ but not exactly at these frequencies. In the next approximation one needs to introduce the nonlinear terms for the restoring force (see LL and Titarchuk 2002). Thus the small amplitude oscillations of the fluid element in the magnetosphere can be described by two equations

$$\ddot{x}+2\widehat{\lambda }_1\dot{x}+\omega _h^2x=A_1e^{i\omega t}+\alpha _{1,1}x^2+2\alpha _{1,2}xz+\alpha _{1,3}z^2,$$
(1)
$$\ddot{z}+2\widehat{\lambda }_2\dot{z}+\omega _L^2z=A_2e^{i\omega t}+\alpha _{2,1}x^2+2\alpha _{2,2}xz+\alpha _{2,3}z^2,$$
(2)
where $`x`$ and $`z`$ are the radial and vertical components of the displacement vector respectively. Here we present equations (2-4) from OT99 (written in Cartesian coordinates) using the eigenvector basis (radial and vertical eigenvectors). $`\widehat{\lambda }_1`$ and $`\widehat{\lambda }_2`$ are the damping rates for x and z components; $`\omega _h=2\pi \nu _h`$, $`\omega _L=2\pi \nu _L`$ are angular hybrid and low branch frequencies respectively (OT99), $`\omega `$ is a frequency of the harmonic driving force and $`A_1`$, $`A_2`$ are amplitudes of x and z components of the driving force, $`\alpha _{k,l}`$, ($`k=1,2`$, $`l=1,2,3`$) are coefficients at the weakly nonlinear terms of the restoring force.

### 3.1 Harmonic oscillations

The linear terms of the solution of equations (1-2) are

$$x=C_{1,1}f_{}(t,\omega _h,\widehat{\lambda }_1)+C_{1,2}f_+(t,\omega _h,\widehat{\lambda }_1)+B_1(\omega _L)\mathrm{exp}(i\omega t),$$
(3)
$$z=C_{2,1}f_{}(t,\omega _L,\widehat{\lambda }_2)+C_{2,2}f_+(t,\omega _L,\widehat{\lambda }_2)+B_2(\omega _h)\mathrm{exp}(i\omega t),$$
(4)
where $`f_\pm (t,\omega _{},\widehat{\lambda })=\mathrm{exp}\{[\widehat{\lambda }t\pm it(\omega _{}^2\widehat{\lambda }^2)^{1/2}]\}`$, and $`B_k(\omega _{})=A_k/[\omega _{}^2\omega ^2+2i\widehat{\lambda }_k\omega ]`$. The first two terms in Eqs. (3-4) represent the damped harmonic oscillations (it is assumed that $`\omega _{}/\widehat{\lambda }_k>1`$). They decay very rapidly within a time interval $`1/\widehat{\lambda }_k`$ which is of order of $`<10^2`$ s. In fact, a typical measured $`\lambda _k=\widehat{\lambda }_k/2\pi `$ are always higher than a few hertz (see details below). Thus only the forced oscillations can exist for time periods of order $`10^{23}`$ seconds and longer. The absolute values of the forced oscillation amplitudes

$$b_k=\frac{A_k}{(2\pi )^2[(\nu _{0k}^2\nu ^2)^2+4\lambda _k^2\nu ^2]^{1/2}},k=1,2$$
(5)
(where $`B_k=b_ke^{i\theta }`$, $`\nu _{0k}=\nu _h,\nu _L`$ for $`k=1,2`$ respectively and $`\nu =\omega /2\pi `$) has a maximum at $`\nu _{rk}=(\nu _{0k}^22\lambda _k^2)^{1/2}`$. Below we omit the subscript $`k`$ for simplicity of the presentation having in mind the particular case for the eigenfrequency $`\nu _0`$. Hence the frequency shift of the resonance frequency $`\nu _r`$ with respect to the eigenfrequencies $`\nu _0`$ because of damping is

$$\eta =(\nu _0^22\lambda ^2)^{1/2}\nu _0.$$
(6)
We find that the maximum of the main resonance amplitude for the linear oscillations is not precisely at the eigenfrequency $`\nu _0`$, but rather it is shifted to the frequency $`\nu _r=\nu _0+\eta `$. For a linear oscillator $`\nu _r`$ depends on the damping rate $`\lambda `$. From Eq. (6) it follows that $`\eta \lambda ^2/\nu _0=\lambda /2Q`$ when $`Q=\nu _0/2\lambda 1`$. It is easy to show (see also LL for details) that the half-width of the resonance $`\mathrm{\Delta }\nu _{HW}\lambda `$ for $`Q1`$. Taking a differential from the left and right hand sides of the formula for $`\nu _r`$ one can derive a formula for the random error of the eigenfrequency determination $`\mathrm{\Delta }\nu _0`$ due to the resonance effect:

$$\mathrm{\Delta }\nu _0=\nu _r\mathrm{\Delta }\nu _r/\nu _0+2\lambda \mathrm{\Delta }\lambda /\nu _0.$$
(7)
### 3.2 Anharmonic oscillations and p:q resonance in the QPO sources

The resonance in weakly nonlinear systems occurs at the eigenfrequencies of the system $`\nu _0`$ when the frequency of the driving force is $`\gamma p\nu _0/q`$ and $`p`$, $`q`$ are integers (LL). The observed harmonics and subharmonics of HBO frequencies (Jonker et al. 2000a, 2000b 2002) are probably results of the resonance effect in the weakly nonlinear system. The main resonance peak power (for $`p=1`$ and $`q=1`$) is the strongest among all the harmonics because the peak power diminishes very quickly with the increase of $`p`$ and $`q`$ (LL). The maximum of the main resonance amplitude for the nonlinear oscillation is also not precisely at the eigenfrequency $`\nu _0`$. In the nonlinear case the systematic and random shifts are (in addition to the damping) affected by the amplitude of the driving force and the relative weights (coefficients) $`\alpha _{k,l}`$ of the nonlinear terms of equations (1-2), (see LL for details).

Recently, Abramovicz et al. (2002) drew attention of the community to the possible presense of $`\nu _1/\nu _2=2:3`$ resonance for two kHz frequencies. A similar effect was also pointed out earlier by Abramovicz & Kluz̀niak 2001; Remillard et al. (2002) for BH sources. Possibly, it is not by chance these kHz frequencies are detected in the observations because in anharmonic oscillator $`\nu _1`$ and $`\nu _2`$ would excite each other (if they are related through this $`2:3`$ ratio, see above). The oscillations with the frequency $`\nu _1`$ ($`\gamma `$) would be a driving force for the oscillations with the eigenfrequency $`\nu _2`$ ($`\nu _0`$) and vice versa. Abramovicz et al. (2002) argue that it is hard to escape the conclusion that a resonance is responsible for distribution of frequency ratios for Sco X-1 and other kHz QPO sources. But a 2:3 ratio is a natural consequence of the TL model where $`\nu _2\nu _h`$ and $`\nu _1\nu _\mathrm{K}`$. In fact, $`\nu _\mathrm{K}/\nu _h=[1+(2\nu _{mg}/\nu _\mathrm{K})^2]^{1/2}`$. The magnetospheric rotational frequency $`\nu _{mg}`$ should very close to the NS spin frequency $`\nu _{NS}=300400`$ Hz (at least within 15 %). But $`2\nu _{mg}2\nu _{NS}`$ are very close the observed lower kHz frequency $`\nu _1`$ ($`\nu _\mathrm{K}`$) and thus the ratio of $`\nu _\mathrm{K}/\nu _h2^{1/2}2:3`$.

The hybrid frequency $`\nu _h`$, introduced and derived in OT99, is a common feature of oscillations in a rotational frame of reference under the influence of a gravitational force. When a gas (or fluid) has a nonuniform distribution of mass density, it may exhibit the Rayleigh-Taylor instability. Hide (1956) and Chandrasekhar (1961) presented the dispersion relation for a fluid rotating with angular velocity $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ ($`\nu _r=\mathrm{\Omega }/2\pi `$) $`\nu _h^2[14\nu _r^2/\nu _h^2]^{1/2}=\omega _0^2`$. It is easy to show that $`\nu _0`$ is very close to the Kepler frequency and thus one can find that $`\nu _h`$, as a root of the Hide-Chandrasekhar relation, is very close to that obtained by OT99. The detailed analysis of the Rayleigh-Taylor instability and oscillations for various density distributions, configurations and boundary conditions is given in Titarchuk (2002).

## 4 Results and Discussion

It was shown in the previous section that observed QPO frequencies $`\nu _{HBO}`$, $`\nu _1`$ and $`\nu _2`$ could be treated as the resonance frequencies related to the eigenfrequencies of the linear damped oscillators. One can restore a particular eigenfrequency $`\nu _0`$, its error bar $`\mathrm{\Delta }\nu _0`$ using formulas (6)-(7) and values of $`\nu _r`$, $`\mathrm{\Delta }\nu _r`$, a QPO halfwidth, $`\mathrm{\Delta }\nu _{HW}=\lambda `$. Thus for each set of $`\nu _{HBO}\pm \mathrm{\Delta }\nu _{HBO}`$, $`\nu _1\pm \mathrm{\Delta }\nu _1`$ and $`\nu _2\pm \mathrm{\Delta }\nu _2`$ we obtain $`\nu _L\pm \mathrm{\Delta }\nu _L`$, $`\nu _\mathrm{K}\pm \mathrm{\Delta }\nu _\mathrm{K}`$ and $`\nu _h\pm \mathrm{\Delta }\nu _h`$ as restored eigenfrequencies. According to formula (10) in OT99 $`\nu _{mg}=(\nu _h^2\nu _\mathrm{K}^2)^{1/2}/2`$ is the magnetospheric rotational frequency, which, for highly conductive plasma in the case of corotation, should be approximately constant $`\nu _{mg}=\nu _{mg,0}`$. In Figures 1 I present $`\nu _{mg}`$ versus $`\nu _\mathrm{K}`$ for four Z-sources: Sco X-1, GX 340+0, GX 5-1, GX 17+2. Indeed one may notice that $`\nu _{mg}=\nu _{mg,0}=const`$ is consistent for two Z-sources, Sco X-1 and GX 17+2. If the magnetosphere corotates with the neutron star (solid-body) rotation, then this procedure of $`\nu _{mg}`$extraction determines the spin rotation of the star. For the other $`Z`$sources, GX 340+0, GX 5-1 one can find the features of the differential rotation which depend on the magnetic field $`𝐁`$ (see OT99). These features of the differential rotation can also be identified for atoll sources 4U 1728-34 and 4U 0614+09. The ”real“ errors bars $`\mathrm{\Delta }\nu _{mg}=(\nu _h\mathrm{\Delta }\nu _h+\nu _\mathrm{K}\mathrm{\Delta }\nu _\mathrm{K})/4\nu _{mg}`$ of $`\nu _{mg}`$ become larger due to these corrections and consequently it is very difficult to identify significant deviations of the rotation of the magnetosphere from the solid-body rotation (at least for two analyzed Z-sources). The $`\delta `$value is calculated using formula (1) in TO01,

$$\delta =\mathrm{arcsin}[(\nu _h^2\nu _\mathrm{K}^2)^{1/2}(\nu _L\nu _h/\nu _\mathrm{K})].$$
(8)
The errors of $`\delta `$ is evaluated using the differential

$$\mathrm{\Delta }\delta =\delta [d\nu _L/\nu _L+d\nu _h/\nu _h+d\nu _\mathrm{K}/\nu _\mathrm{K}+(\nu _hd\nu _h+\nu _\mathrm{K}d\nu _\mathrm{K})/4\nu _{mg}^2].$$
(9)
In Figure 2 the dependence of the angle $`\delta `$ between a normal to the disk and a magnetospheric axis on $`\nu _\mathrm{K}`$ is shown for the four Z-sources The model invariants should be the same, independent of the eigenfrequency branch. Indeed, for each of these Z-sources the $`\delta `$values show little variation with $`\nu _\mathrm{K}`$, $`\nu _h`$, and $`\nu _L`$. within the inferred error bars. The reduced $`\chi _{red}^2`$ for the best-fit $`\delta `$ is always very close to 1. Jonker et al (2002) presented the analysis of the $`\delta invariant`$ of the TLM. They found that $`\delta =6^0.3\pm 0{}_{}{}^{}.1`$ and $`\delta =6{}_{}{}^{}.1\pm 0{}_{}{}^{}.2`$ for GX 5-1 and GX 17+2 respectively. But they pointed out the very large $`\chi _{red}^2=95.2/9`$ and $`\chi _{red}^2=377/9`$ for GX 5-1 and GX 17+2 respectively. Their $`\chi ^2`$ calculations include the statistical error only but do not account for the systematic resonance shift $`\eta `$ and for the random resonance error $`\mathrm{\Delta }\nu _0`$. It can be concluded that their $`\chi ^2`$ for the $`\delta `$mean are significantly reduced when this effect is taken into account. For atoll sources in general it is not clear what kind of low frequencies can be used for evaluation of $`\delta `$. For example, $`\nu _{VLF}`$ presented by van Straaten et al. (2002) for 4U 1728-34 have much stronger dependence on $`\nu _1`$ than those in 4U 0614+09. They are rather subharmonics of $`\nu _{VLF}`$ (than $`\nu _{HBO}`$) which are interpreted by Titarchuk, Bradshaw & Wood (2001) as the magnetoacoustic oscillation frequencies (see also Ford & van der Klis 1998).

## 5 Conclusions

In this Letter, I present the consequences and predictions of the TLM as an oscillatory model for the QPO observations. It is fair to ask what kind of arguments one can put forth for the resonance effect in QPO phenomena in general. I argue that they are (i) the Lorentzian shape of the QPO feature (e.g. van der Klis 2000), (ii) $`1/\omega `$ resonance dependence of the rms amplitude for lower kHz QPO found by Titarchuk, Cui & Wood (2002) using Jonker’s et al. (2000b) data; (iii) observational evidence for 2:3 resonance in the “kHz” QPO sources (Abramovicz & Kluz̀niak 2001; Abramowicz et al. 2002), (iv) harmonics and sidebands of low kHz QPOs (Jonker et al. 2000b). The whole issue of the observational evidence for the resonance effect in the QPO phenomena is beyond the scope of this short Letter.

Using the previously cited thorough analysis of RXTE QPO data for Sco X-1, Sco X-1, GX 340+0, GX 5-1, GX 17+2 and two atoll sources: 4U 1728-34, 4U 0614+09 I a detailed investigation of the accuracy of the QPO frequency determination in the framework of a weakly nonlinear oscillator is offered. The TLM as an example of a weakly nonlinear oscillator is used to extract the model parameters and to test the model. The TLM predicts the existence the invariance of the $`\delta `$. It is established that: (1) The errors of the eigenfrequency extraction are significantly affected by the errors of the QPO halfwidth. (2) The inferred $`\delta `$values are consistent with constants for the four Z-sources and 4U 0614+19 where kHz and HBO frequencies have been detected and correctly identified. I also put forth arguments to explain the QPO phenomena as a result of the resonance effect in anharmonic oscillatory systems.

L.T. acknowledges fruitful discussions with Vladimir Krasnopolsky, Chris Shrader, Paul Ray and with referee. In particular, I am grateful to Charlie Bradshaw, Michiel van der Klis, Peter Jonker and Mariano Mendez for the data which enable me to make detailed comparisons of the model predictions to the observations.


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# Rapid Data Search using Adiabatic Quantum Computation

## 1 Adiabatic Quantum Computation

Adiabatic Quantum Computation (AQC) is a new paradigm in quantum computation, in which an initial state $`|\mathrm{\Psi }_0`$ is adiabatically transformed into a final state $`|\mathrm{\Psi }_1`$ by means of a time-dependent Hamiltonian  :

$`H(s)`$ $`=`$ $`f(s)H_0+g(s)H_1`$ (1)
$`\text{where}H_0`$ $`=`$ $`I|\mathrm{\Psi }_0\mathrm{\Psi }_0|`$ (2)
$`H_1`$ $`=`$ $`I|\mathrm{\Psi }_1\mathrm{\Psi }_1|`$ (3)
($`s(t)`$ is a time-like parameter, which monotonically increases with time $`t`$, such that $`s(0)=0`$ and $`s(T)=1`$, where $`T`$ is the required running time of the AQC). The boundary conditions on $`f(s)`$ and $`g(s)`$ are as follows:

$$f(0)=g(1)=1,f(1)=g(0)=0.$$
(4)
Note that $`|\mathrm{\Psi }_0`$ and $`|\mathrm{\Psi }_1`$ are ground states of $`H_0`$ and $`H_1`$, respectively. The adiabaticity condition, which must be preserved at all times, is given by:

$$\frac{\left||(dH/dt)|+\right|}{(E_+E_{})^2}ϵ,$$
(5)
$$\text{where}|\pm =\text{ground state \& first excited state}:H|\pm =E_\pm |\pm .$$

The problem is to estimate the running time $`T`$ for a given computational problem implemented via an AQC.

## 2 Data Search Problem

For a completely unstructured database of $`N`$ items, one would like to find a marked item (say $`\mathrm{`}\mathrm{`}m^{\prime \prime }`$) in the shortest possible time. Schematically:

$`\underset{\text{unstructured database of}N\text{items}}{\underset{}{||||\mathrm{}\stackrel{\text{Marked item}}{\stackrel{}{|m|}}\mathrm{}||||}}`$ $``$ Find $`m`$ in shortest possible time

Now, it is well-known that classically, $`𝒪(N)`$ steps are required on an average to find $`m`$. On the other hand, it was shown by Grover, that quantum mechanics can be used to quadratically speed-up the process . That is, by associating each item in the database with an eigenvector in a $`N`$-dimensional Hilbert space (such that $`m`$ corresponds to the ket $`|m`$), then starting with the symmetric superposition of all states, and applying a series of unitary operations, one can evolve to the marked state in $`𝒪(\sqrt{N})`$ steps.

## 3 Data Search Using AQC

In this case, the adiabatic Hamiltonian (1) replaces the set of unitary transformations mentioned in the previous section. The final state $`|\mathrm{\Psi }_1`$ is again the marked state $`|m`$. Now, it can be proved, by closely following the arguments of , that the following inequality holds (see Appendix):

$$_0^Tg(s(t))\frac{k\sqrt{N}}{4},$$
(6)
(where $`k`$ is a constant of order unity). Note that previously  it had been assumed that $`g(s(t))=1s=1f(s(t))1s`$, for which the above theorem implies that the running time $`Tk\sqrt{N}/4`$ which is at par with Grover’s algorithm. Result (6) can be thought of as AQC generalization of the lower bound on the number of steps of any search algorithm that has been proved previously .

The ‘gap’ between the ground state and first excited state of the Hamiltonian is given by :

$$\mathrm{\Delta }(s)=\sqrt{(fg)^2+\frac{4}{N}fg}$$
(7)
For the choice $`g=1f=1s`$, $`\text{Min}(\mathrm{\Delta })=\mathrm{\Delta }(1/2)=1/\sqrt{N}`$, which is in conformity with the general idea that the running time and minimum gap are inverses of each other. However, (6) and (7) suggest that by suitably changing $`g(s(t))`$, so as to increase the gap considerably, the running time can be significantly reduced. We make such a choice, which satisfies the boundary conditions (4):

$$f=1s+\sqrt{N}s(1s),g=s+\sqrt{N}s(1s).$$
(8)
It is easy to see that for the above choice, $`\text{Min}(\mathrm{\Delta })=𝒪(1)`$ and the running time is

$$T=\frac{1}{ϵ}\left(1+\frac{\pi }{2}\right)$$

which is a constant. The original gap and the modified gap are plotted in figure 1 for $`N=10,000`$.

## 4 Discussion

(1) Note that although the ground state energy rises to $`𝒪(\sqrt{N})`$ for intermediate times, no energy is actually being used in the process. Thus, energy need not be regarded as a resource in this context. Furthermore, by subtracting $`E_{}`$ from Hamiltonian (1) at all times, the resultant ground state energy can be made to vanish, without modifying the gap or the running time.
Error correcting processes would presumably entail heat losses, commensurate with the second law of thermodynamics.
(3) A larger gap in our case may signal greater fault-tolerance than previously considered Hamiltonians .
(4) Work is in progress towards similar considerations for structured data searches, to see whether similar speed-ups are possible .

## Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank E. Farhi and S. Gutmann for useful discussions. S.D. thanks V. Husain for useful comments. This work was supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.

## Appendix

To prove (6), first write (1) as :

$$H(s)=H_1(s)+H_{2m}(s),$$
(9)
where

$`H_1(s)`$ $`=`$ $`\left(f(s)+g(s)\right)f(s)|\psi _0\psi _0|`$ (10)
$`H_{2m}(s)`$ $`=`$ $`g(s)|mm|.`$ (11)
Consider two computers $`|\psi _m,t`$ and $`|\psi _m^{},t`$ respectively at any instant $`t`$, evolving to states $`|m`$ and $`|m^{}`$. The Schrödinger equations are:

$$i\frac{}{t}|\psi _{m,m^{}},t=\left(H_1+H_{2m,2m^{}}\right)|\psi _{m,m^{}},t$$
(12)
subject to the boundary conditions:

$$|\psi _m,0=|\psi _m^{},0=|\psi _0;|\psi _m,T=|m,|\psi _m^{},T=|m^{}.$$
(13)
From (12), it follows that:

$$\frac{}{t}\underset{m,m^{}}{}[1|\psi _m,t|\psi _m^{},t^2]4N^{3/2}g(s).$$

Integrating (Appendix) from $`t=0`$ to $`t=T`$, and using the boundary conditions (13), we get:

$$\underset{m,m^{}}{}\left[1|\psi _m,T|\psi _m^{},T|^2\right]4N^{3/2}_0^Tg(s(t))𝑑t.$$
(14)
Finally, using the fact:

$$1|\psi _m,T|\psi _m^{},T|^2k,mm^{}$$
(15)
which simply means that different computers evolve the same initial state to sufficiently different final states. This yields (6), for $`N1`$.


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# Lattice Supersymmetry

## 1 Exact supersymmetry on the lattice

Supersymmetric gauge theories are expected to exhibit various fascinating phenomena, including electromagnetic duality, nontrivial conformal fixed points, monopole condensation, and relations to gravity and string theory through the AdS/CFT correspondence. It is desirable to study these theories nonperturbatively, and the lattice is the obvious tool. There has been much work done on lattice supersymmetry, but the prospects for practical success presently seem limited.

The origin of the problem is that supersymmetry is part of the super-Poincaré group, which is explicitly broken by the lattice. Ordinary Poincaré invariance is also broken in lattice QCD, for example, but due to the hypercubic symmetry, operators which violate Poincaré symmetry are all irrelevant. In a supersymmetric theory, however, the lattice point group is never sufficient to forbid all relevant or marginal supersymmetry violating operators. The most benign four dimensional supersymmetric gauge theory is $`N=1`$ super Yang-Mills (SYM), consisting of gauge bosons and gauginos. In this theory, the only relevant SUSY violating operator is the gaugino mass. One can therefore tune to the massless point (which has an enhanced $`Z_{2N_c}`$ symmetry), or use chirally improved fermions such as domain wall or overlap fermions to eliminate the fine-tuning (see  and references therein).

However, most supersymmetric theories contain scalar bosons, such as $`N=2`$ or $`N=4`$ SYM, or $`N=1`$ theories with matter fields. When scalars are present there are typically a plethora of possible SUSY violating relevant operators to fine tune away, a practically impossible task. The only symmetry that can prevent these unwanted operators is supersymmetry itself. It is therefore natural to ask whether one can construct lattices which realize exactly at least some of the target theory’s supersymmetry, with the hope of ameliorating the fine tuning problem. In this talk I describe a recent attempt along this line  (for other recent ideas about lattice supersymmetry, see ). Presented here are spatial lattices in Minkowski time; construction of the more useful Euclidean spacetime lattices is underway.

## 2 Lattices from orbifolding

Motivated by recent work on deconstruction of supersymmetric theories  (see also ), we construct our spatial lattices by “orbifolding”. We start with a non-latticized “mother theory” which exists in $`0+1`$ dimensions, which is a $`U(kN^d)`$ gauge theory possessing the amount of supersymmetry desired of the target theory. It will also possess a global symmetry (called an $`R`$-symmetry) which does not commute with supersymmetry. To create the lattice we now identify a $`Z_N^d`$ subgroup embedded within both the gauge and global symmetry groups of the mother theory; the embedding is discussed in ref. . We now project out all field components in the mother theory which are not singlets under this $`Z_N^d`$ symmetry. After projection, adjoint fields of the mother theory, written as $`kN^d\times kN^d`$ matrices, are zero everywhere except for $`N^d`$ $`k\times k`$ blocks on or near the diagonal. These can be interpreted as fields with near-neighbor interactions living on a $`d`$-dimensional spatial lattice with $`N^d`$ sites. The orbifold projection breaks the gauge symmetry down to $`U(k)^{N^d}`$, appropriate for a $`U(k)`$ gauge theory in the continuum. The orbifold projection also breaks some of the mother theory’s supersymmetries, half for each $`Z_N`$ factor. The various components of the mother theory’s supermultiplets get spread about the lattice within approximately one lattice spacing of each other, so that the breaking of the mother theory’s supersymmetry is rather benign, and is restored in the continuum limit.

The resulting lattices are quite peculiar and wonderful: there are one-component fermions scattered over links and sites; noncompact link variables that become gauge fields; bosonic variables on links transforming non-trivially under the lattice point symmetry which become spin-zero particles in the continuum. There is no fermion doubling problem (the exact residual supersymmetry of the lattice ensures that) and yet one can realize without fine tuning continuum target theories which exhibit chiral symmetries.

## 3 A $`1+1`$ dimensional example

As an example of the type of lattice that results, consider our simplest case: a spatial lattice whose target theory is $`(2,2)`$ SYM in $`1+1`$ dimensions. (The “$`(2,2)`$” designation means that there are four real chiral supercharges, two left- and two right-handed) The target theory consists of a $`U(k)`$ gauge field with coupling $`g_2`$, a Dirac fermion $`\mathrm{\Psi }`$, and a complex scalar $`S`$ (all $`U(k)`$ adjoints) with the Lagrangian

$``$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{g_2^2}}\mathrm{Tr}({\displaystyle \frac{1}{4}}F_{\mu \nu }F^{\mu \nu }\overline{\mathrm{\Psi }}i/D\mathrm{\Psi }(D_\mu S)^{}(D^\mu S)`$ (2)
$`+\sqrt{2}(\overline{\mathrm{\Psi }}_L[S,\mathrm{\Psi }_R]+h.c.){\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}[S^{},S]^2)`$
To obtain the lattice theory we start with a $`0+1`$ dimensional mother theory with a $`U(kN)`$ gauge symmetry and four exact supercharges. This mother theory is easily constructed by taking the familiar $`N=1`$ SYM theory in $`3+1`$ dimensions, and dimensionally reducing it to $`0+1`$ dimensions (that just means: take the gauge and gaugino fields to be independent of the $`x`$, $`y`$, $`z`$ coordinates). This mother theory then has four real bosonic fields and four real fermionic fields. It possesses a global $`R`$ symmetry which is $`U(1)\times SO(3)`$; the $`U(1)`$ is the same $`U(1)`$ $`R`$-symmetry found in the $`3+1`$ dimensional $`N=1`$ SYM theory, while the $`SO(3)`$ is just the rotational group that is inherited as an internal symmetry after the dimensional reduction.

We now orbifold the theory, modding out by a $`Z_N`$ symmetry which is embedded in this $`U(kN)\times U(1)\times SO(3)`$ symmetry of the mother theory, as described in ref. . The effect of the orbifolding is to create an $`N`$-site, one dimensional periodic lattice. At each site lives a gauge field $`v_0`$, a real scalar $`\sigma `$ and a complex one-component fermion $`\lambda `$. On each link lives a complex scalar field $`\varphi `$ and a complex one-component fermion $`\psi `$. Each field is a $`k\times k`$ matrix, and there is an independent $`U(k)`$ gauge symmetry associated with each site. Orbifolding breaks up the multiplet of the mother theory, and reduces the exact supersymmetry from four supercharges to two. Under the residual supersymmetry, the site fields form a real (“vector”) supermultiplet, while the link fields form a “chiral” supermultiplet. In component form, the lattice Lagrangian takes the form:

$`L`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{g^2}}{\displaystyle \underset{n}{}}\mathrm{Tr}[{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}(D_0\sigma _n)^2+\overline{\lambda }_niD_0\lambda _n+|D_0\varphi _n|^2`$ (3)
$`+`$ $`\overline{\psi }_niD_0\psi _n.\overline{\lambda }_n[\sigma _n,\lambda _n]+\overline{\psi }_n(\sigma _n\psi _n\psi _n\sigma _{n+1})`$ (4)
$``$ $`\left|\sigma _n\varphi _n\varphi _n\sigma _{n+1}\right|^2{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}\left(\varphi _n\overline{\varphi }_n\overline{\varphi }_{n+1}\varphi _{n+1}\right)^2`$ (5)
$``$ $`\sqrt{2}(i\overline{\varphi }_n(\lambda _n\psi _n+\psi _n\lambda _{n+1})+h.c.)],`$ (6)
where

$`D_0\varphi _n=_0\varphi _n+iv_{0,n}\varphi _ni\varphi _nv_{0,n+1}`$ (7)
and similarly for $`D_0\psi _n`$. However, this form hides the supersymmetry of the lattice. If instead one writes the Lagrangian in terms of the appropriate superfields, one finds the simple form

$`L={\displaystyle \frac{1}{g^2}}{\displaystyle \underset{n=1}{\overset{N}{}}}\mathrm{Tr}\left[{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}\overline{\mathrm{\Phi }}_ni𝒟_0^{}\mathrm{\Phi }_n+{\displaystyle \frac{1}{8}}\overline{\mathrm{{\rm Y}}}_n\mathrm{{\rm Y}}_n\right]_{\overline{\theta }\theta }.`$ (8)
where $`\mathrm{{\rm Y}}_n`$ is the Grassman chiral multiplet containing the gauge kinetic terms at site $`n`$.

This Lagrangian has a classical moduli space (that is: noncompact flat directions for boson field vevs). We now expand about the vev $`\varphi _n=\frac{1}{\sqrt{2a}}\times \mathrm{𝟏}_k,`$ where $`\mathrm{𝟏}_k`$ is the $`k\times k`$ unit matrix and $`a`$ will be the scale defining the lattice spacing. If we define the target theory’s coupling $`g_2`$ in terms of the lattice coupling $`g`$ as $`g_2^2ag^2`$ and lattice size $`L=Na`$, then the continuum limit is $`a0`$ and $`N\mathrm{}`$ for fixed $`L^2g_2^2`$. At tree level we recover the target theory of Eq. (2), with the identification $`A_0=v_0`$ and $`A_1=\mathrm{Im}\varphi `$ (where $`A_{0,1}`$ are the gauge fields of the target theory) and

$`S={\displaystyle \frac{\sigma +i\mathrm{Re}\varphi }{\sqrt{2}}},\mathrm{\Psi }=\left(\begin{array}{c}\psi \\ \overline{\lambda }\end{array}\right).`$ (9)
Dimensional analysis reveals that the only dangerous relevant or marginal operators are scalar tadpoles and mass terms; however the two exact supersymmetries preclude generating local counterterms for these operators. One must, however, control the noncompact flat directions, or else the path integral is not defined. This can be done by fixing initial and final data on all bosonic zeromodes, and by restricting correlation measurements to time separation no longer than the spatial size of the lattice.

## 4 Other lattices

We have constructed spatial lattices corresponding to the continuum super Yang-Mills theories with four real supercharges in $`1+1`$ dimensions (described above); eight real supercharges in $`1+1`$ and $`2+1`$ dimensions; and sixteen real supercharges in $`1+1`$, $`2+1`$ and $`3+1`$ dimensions ($`N=4`$ SYM). These lattices have unusual structure, such as hexagonal and body-centered cubic for the sixteen supercharge lattices. In each case but the last we can use the lattice symmetries to argue that in perturbation theory there are no allowed counterterms for relevant or marginal operators that would violate the symmetries of the target theory; since these are all super-renormalizable theories, this argument should suffice for proving that no fine tuning is needed in the continuum limit. For the four dimensional case, we have no symmetry argument to forbid dimension four operators that would violate the desired $`N=4`$ supersymmetry. However, we believe that an anisotropic lattice, where two spatial dimensions are characterized by a shorter lattice spacing than the third, can have an $`N=4`$ continuum limit without fine tuning, where would-be log divergences are suppressed by a ratio of lattice spacings, which can be taken to zero.

Euclidean spacetime lattices may be constructed by orbifolding certain supersymmetric matrix models. It remains to be seen how much fine tuning, if any, is needed for these lattices. An encouraging result, however, is that the fermion “determinants” for these theories are real and positive, allowing for Monte Carlo simulation without a sign problem.


text:
# Massive Stars in the Arches Cluster 1footnote 11footnote 1Based on observations with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, obtained at the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc. under NASA contract No. NAS5-26555. 2footnote 22footnote 2Data presented herein were obtained at the W.M. Keck Observatory, which is operated as a scientific partnership among the California Institute of Technology, the University of California and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The Observatory was made possible by the generous financial support of the W.M. Keck Foundation.

## 1 Introduction

The Arches cluster is an extraordinarily massive and dense young cluster of stars near the Galactic Center. First discovered about 10 years ago as a compact collection of a dozen or so emission-line stars (Cotera et al., 1992; Nagata et al., 1995; Figer, 1995; Cotera, 1995; Cotera et al., 1996), the cluster contains thousands of stars, including at least 160 O stars (Serabyn et al., 1998; Figer et al., 1999a). Figer et al. (1999a) used HST/NICMOS observations to estimate a total cluster mass ($``$104 M) and radius (0.2 pc) to arrive at an average mass density of 3(105M pc-3 in stars, suggesting that the Arches cluster is the densest, and one of the most massive, young clusters in the Galaxy. They further used these data to estimate an initial mass function (IMF) which is very flat ($`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ $``$0.6$`\pm `$0.1) with respect to what has been found for the solar neighborhood (Salpeter, 1955, $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ $``$1.35) and other Galactic clusters (Scalo, 1998). They also estimated an age of 2$`\pm `$Myr, based on the magnitudes, colors, and mix of spectral types, which makes the cluster ideal for testing massive stellar-evolution models.

Given its extraordinary nature, the Arches cluster has been a target for many new observations. Stolte et al. (2002) recently verified a flat IMF slope for the Arches cluster, finding $`\mathrm{\Gamma }=0.8`$, using both adaptive optics imaging with the Gemini North telescope and the HST/NICMOS data presented in Figer et al. (1999a). Blum et al. (2001) used adaptive optics imaging at the CFHT and HST/NICMOS data (also presented in this paper) to identify several new emission-line stars and estimate an age for the cluster of 2$``$4.5 Myr. Lang, Goss, & Rodríguez (2001a) detected eight radio sources, seven of which have thermal spectral indices and stellar counterparts, within 10″ of the center of the cluster. They suggest that the stellar winds from the counterparts produce the radio emission via free-free emission, consistent with earlier indications from near-infrared narrow-band imaging (Nagata et al., 1995) and spectroscopy (Cotera et al., 1996). In a related study, Lang, Goss, & Morris (2001b) argued that the hot stars in the Arches cluster are responsible for ionizing the surface of a nearby molecular cloud to produce the arches filaments, as originally suggested by Cotera et al. (1996) and Serabyn et al. (1998), but in contrast to earlier suggestions (Morris & Yusef-Zadeh, 1989; Davidson et al., 1994; Colgan et al., 1996). Yusef-Zadeh et al. (2001) used the Chandra telescope to detect three x-ray components that they associate with the cluster, claiming that hot (107 K) x-ray emitting gas is produced by an interaction between material expelled by the massive stellar winds and the local interstellar medium.

The Arches cluster has also been the target of several theoretical studies regarding dynamical evolution of compact young clusters. Kim, Morris, & Lee (1999) used Fokker-Planck models and Kim et al. (2000) used N-body models to simulate the Arches cluster, assuming the presence of the gravitational field of the Galactic Center. They found that such a cluster will disperse through two-body interactions over a 10 Myr timescale. Portegies-Zwart et al. (2001) performed a similar study and found a similar result, although they note the possibility that the Arches cluster is located in front of the plane containing the Galactic Center. Finally, Gerhard (2001) considered the possibility that compact clusters formed outside the central parsec will plunge into the Galactic center as a result of dynamical friction, eventually becoming similar in appearance to the young cluster currently residing there; Kim & Morris (2002) further consider this possibility.

In this paper, we use new and existing observations to determine the stellar properties of the most massive stars in the Arches cluster. We present astrometry and photometry of stars with estimated initial masses greater than 20 M (the theoretical minimum mass of O stars), based upon HST/NICMOS narrow-band and broad-band imaging. We also present K-band high-resolution spectra of the emission-line stars, based upon Keck/NIRSPEC observations. We couple these data with previously-reported radio and x-ray data to infer stellar wind/atmosphere properties using a modeling code. Finally, we compare our results to those reported in recent observational and theoretical papers.

## 2 Observations

A log of our observations obtained using HST and KECK is given in Table 1.

### 2.1 HST

The HST data were obtained as part of GO-7364 (PI Figer), a program designed to measure the IMF’s in the Arches and Quintuplet clusters (Figer et al., 1999a), determine the star-formation history of the Galactic Center (Serabyn et al., 2002), and determine the nature of the “Pistol Star” (Figer et al., 1999b).

Broad-band images were obtained using HST/NICMOS on UT 1997 September 13/14, in a 2$`\times `$2 mosaic pattern in the NIC2 aperture (19$`\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}`$2 on a side). Four nearby fields, separated from the center of the mosaic by 59″ in a symmetric cross-pattern, were imaged in order to sample the background population. All fields were imaged in F110W ($`\lambda _{\mathrm{center}}`$ = 1.10 µm), F160W ($`\lambda _{\mathrm{center}}`$ = 1.60 µm), and F205W ($`\lambda _{\mathrm{center}}`$ = 2.05 µm). The STEP256 sequence was used in the MULTIACCUM read mode with 11 reads, giving an exposure time of $``$256 seconds per image. The plate scale was 0$`\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}`$076 pixel-1 (x) by 0$`\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}`$075 pixel-1 (y), in detector coordinates. The mosaic was centered on RA 17h45m50$`\stackrel{\mathrm{s}}{\mathrm{.}}`$35, DEC $``$28°4921$`\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}`$82 (J2000), and the pattern orientation was $``$134$`\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}`$6. The spectacular F205W image is shown in Figure 1a, after first being processed with the standard STScI pipeline procedures.

The narrow-band images were obtained at roughly the same time as the broad-band images. One image was obtained in each of the F187N ($`\lambda _{\mathrm{center}}`$ = 1.87 µm) and F190N ($`\lambda _{\mathrm{center}}`$ = 1.90 µm) filters in the NIC2 aperture. The filters widths are 0.0194 µm for F187N and 0.0177 µm for F190N. We used the same exposure parameters for these images as those used for the broad-band images. The difference image, F187N minus F190N, is shown in Figure 2.

### 2.2 Keck

The spectroscopic observations were obtained on July 4, 1999, using NIRSPEC, the facility near-infrared spectrometer, on the Keck II telescope (McLean et al., 1998, 2002), in high resolution mode, covering K-band wavelengths ($`1.98\mathrm{\mu m}`$ to $`2.28\mathrm{\mu m}`$). The long slit (24″) was positioned in a north-south orientation on the sky, and a slit scan covering a 24″$`\times `$14″ rectangular region was made by offsetting the telescope by a fraction of a slit width to the west between successive exposures. The slit-viewing camera (SCAM) was used to obtain images simultaneously with the spectroscopic exposures, making it easy to determine the slit orientation on the sky when the spectra were obtained. From SCAM images, we estimate seeing (FWHM) of 0$`\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}`$6. The plate scales for both spectrometer and SCAM were taken from Figer et al. (2000a). We chose to use the 3-pixel-wide slit (0$`\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}`$43) in order to match the FWHM of the seeing disk. The corresponding resolving power was R$``$23,300 (=$`\lambda /\mathrm{\Delta }\lambda _{\mathrm{FWHM}}`$), as measured from unresolved arc lamp lines.

The NIRSPEC cross-disperser and the NIRSPEC-6 filter were used to image six echelle orders onto the 10242-pixel InSb detector. The approximate spectral range covered in these orders is listed in Table 2. Coverage includes He I (2.058$`\mathrm{\mu m}`$), He I (2.112/113 µm), Br$`\gamma `$/He I (2.166$`\mathrm{\mu m}`$), He II (2.189$`\mathrm{\mu m}`$), N III (2.24/25$`\mathrm{\mu m}`$), and the CO bandhead, starting at 2.294$`\mathrm{\mu m}`$ and extending to longer wavelengths beyond the range of the observations.

Quintuplet Star #3 (hereafter “Q3”), which is featureless in this spectral region (Figer et al., 1998, Figure 1), was observed as a telluric standard (Moneti et al., 1994). Arc lamps containing Ar, Ne, Kr, and Xe, were observed to set the wavelength scale. In addition, a continuum lamp was observed through a vacuum gap etalon filter in order to produce an accurate wavelength scale between arc lamp lines and sky lines (predominantly from OH). A field relatively devoid of stars (RA 17h 44m 49$`\stackrel{\mathrm{s}}{\mathrm{.}}`$8, DEC $``$28° 54 6$`\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}`$8 , J2000) was observed to provide a dark current plus bias plus background image; this image was subtracted from each target image. A quartz-tungsten-halogen (QTH) lamp was observed to provide a “flat” image which was divided into the background-subtracted target images.

## 3 Data Reduction

### 3.1 Photometry

The NICMOS data were reduced as described in Figer et al. (1999a) using STScI pipeline routines, calnica and calnicb, and the most up-to-date reference files. Star-finding, PSF-building, and PSF-fitting procedures were performed using the DAOPHOT package (Stetson et al., 1987) within the Image Reduction and Analysis Facility (IRAF)101010IRAF is distributed by the National Optical Astronomy Observatories, which are operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation.. For the narrow-band photometry, PSF standard stars were identified in the field and used in ALLSTAR. We used these stars to construct a model PSF with a radius of 15 pixels ($`1.125\mathrm{}`$). This model was then fitted stars found throughout the image using DAOFIND. Aperture corrections were estimated by comparing the magnitudes of the PSF stars with those from an aperture of radius 7.5 pixels ($`0.563\mathrm{}`$), and then adding $`2.5\mathrm{log}(1.159)`$ in order to extrapolate to an infinite aperture (M. Rieke, priv. comm.). Table 1 gives the net aperture corrections to correct the aperture from a 3 pixel radius to infinity.

### 3.2 Source Identification and Astrometry

We culled the list produced by the process above by excluding stars with AK$`<`$2.8 or AK$`>`$4.2, or equivalently, stars with mF160W$``$mF205W$`<`$1.4 or mF160W$``$mF205W$`>`$2.1. These choices are motivated by the fact that the majority of stars in the Arches cluster have values within these limits, as can be seen in Figure 4 of Figer et al. (1999a); stars with values outside of these limits are likely to be foreground or background stars. The resultant star list is shown in Table 3. Objects are sorted according to inferred absolute K-band magnitudes, in order of decreasing brightness. K-band absolute magnitudes were calculated using AK = E$`{}_{\mathrm{H}\mathrm{K}}{}^{}/(\text{A}\text{H}/\text{A}\text{K}1)`$, where E$`{}_{\mathrm{H}\mathrm{K}}{}^{}=(HK)(HK)_0`$, and A$`{}_{\lambda }{}^{}\lambda ^{1.53}`$ (Rieke et al., 1989). We estimated intrinsic colors by convolving filter profiles with our best-matched model spectra. In cases where spectra were not available, i.e. for faint stars, AK = 3.1, a value that is supported by Figer et al. (1999a). This absolute magnitude was then translated into an initial mass according to the procedure in Figer et al. (1999a), except that we assumed solar metallicity, a decision supported by our quantitative spectroscopic analysis described later. Alternate identifications were taken from the following: Nagata et al. (1995), Cotera et al. (1996), Lang, Goss, & Rodríguez (2001a), and Blum et al. (2001). We had to allow as much as a 1″ offset in some cases so that the correct objects coincided in the various data sets. The position offsets in the table are in right ascension (RA) and declination (Dec) and with respect to the star with the brightest inferred absolute magnitude at K. These offsets were calculated by applying the anamorphic plate scale at the time of observation and rotating x- and y- pixel offsets in the focal plane in to RA and Dec offsets in the sky. The stars are plotted and numbered in Figure 1b. Note that the masses in this table apply only in the case that the stars satisfy our model assumptions. This is not the case for some of the stars, especially the faint ones, given that they are likely to be field stars in the Galactic Center, but otherwise unassociated with the Arches cluster.

### 3.3 Narrow-band Imaging

The narrow-band filters cover wavelength regions that include several potentially relevant atomic transitions. There are potential contributions to the total observed flux through the F187N and F190N filters from 8 and 2 transitions (H I Paschen$`\alpha `$, He I, and He II), respectively. It is clear from the broad feature near 2.166 µm that He I lines are strong in the spectra of the emission-line stars, while the relatively weak 2.189 µm line indicates that the He II lines falling in the F187N filter are minor contributors to FF187N. We estimate that the flux in the two lines falling in the F190N filter is negligible.

### 3.4 Narrow-band equivalent-widths

The equivalent-widths in Table 3 were computed according to the following equation:

$$EW_{1.87\mathrm{\mu m}}=\frac{(F_{\mathrm{F187N}}F_{\mathrm{F190N}})}{F_{\mathrm{F190N}}}\times \mathrm{\Delta }\lambda ,$$
(1)
where the fluxes are in W cm-2 µm-1 and $`\mathrm{\Delta }\lambda `$ is the FWHM of the F187N filter; this equation assumes that the emission line(s) lie completely within the filter bandwidth, and that there is no contamination of FF190N by emission or absorption lines. We increased FF187N to account for the difference in reddening for the two wavelengths, assuming the extinction law of Rieke et al. (1989); this correction is approximately 8.0% and depends slightly on the estimated extinction. In addition, we reduced FF187N by 9.4% to account for the fact that the F187N filter has a shorter wavelength than the F190N filter and thus FF187N will be greater by this amount than FF190N for normal stars due to increasing flux toward shorter wavelengths on the Rayleigh-Jeans tail of the flux distributions at these wavelengths. Apparently, these two effects nearly cancel each other.

The difference image (F187N$``$F190N) in Figure 2 contains about two dozen emission-line stars with significant flux excesses in the F187N filter, as listed in Table 3. The narrow-band equivalent-widths increase with apparent brightness, as seen in Figure 3. In addition, the colors are redder as a function of increasing brightness (Figer et al., 1999a, Figure 4). Both effects are consistent with the notion that the winds are radiatively driven, so that higher luminosity stars will have stronger winds, and thus stronger emission lines, with commensurately stronger free-free emission which has a relatively flat (red) spectrum. In addition, the emission lines themselves contribute to a redder appearance. These effects are borne out in our models which show that a zero-age O star will have mF160W$``$mF205W =$``$0.07, while a late-type nitrogen-rich WR (WNL) star will have mF160W$``$mF205W =+0.07 from the continuum alone, and mF160W$``$mF205W =+0.13 from the emission-lines and continuum. So, a WNL star will have a color that is about +0.20 magnitudes redder than a zero-age O star. This agrees very well with the color trend seen in Figure 4, after one removes the stars with mF160W$``$mF205W$`>`$1.85; these stars are subject to extraordinary reddening, consistent with their location far from the cluster center and the behavior of reddening as a function of increasing distance from the center of the cluster (Stolte et al., 2002).

### 3.5 Spectroscopy

The spectra were reduced using IDL and IRAF routines. All target and calibration images were bias and background subtracted, flat fielded, and corrected for bad pixels. The target images were then transformed onto a rectified grid of data points spanning linear scales in the spatial and wavelength directions using the locations of stellar continuum sources and wavelength fiducials extracted from arc line images and continuum lamp plus etalon images. The rectified images were then used as inputs to the aperture extraction procedure. Finally, all 1D spectra were coadded and divided by the spectrum of a telluric standard to produce final spectra. The following gives a detailed description of this data reduction procedure.

A bias plus background image was produced from several images of a dark area of sky, observed with the same instrument and detector parameters as the targets. Because the sky level was changing while these images were being obtained, we scaled the sky components before combining them with a median filter. The combined image was scaled in order to match the varying sky emission level in the target images and then added to the bias image formed by taking the median of several bias images. The resultant image was then subtracted from target images, thus subtracting properly scaled bias structure and background. This operation also removes dark current, although the subtraction will be perfect only in the case that the scaling factor for the varying sky level is exactly one. In other cases, a small residual in dark current will remain, although the amount of this residual will typically be less than 1 count (5 e-).

Target images were divided by a normalized flat image, with bias structure and dark current first removed. We then removed deviant pixels from these images with a two-pass procedure. First, the median in a 5-by-5 pixel box surrounding each pixel was subtracted from every pixel in order to form an image with the low-spatial-frequency information removed. If the absolute value of a pixel in this difference image was larger than five times the deviation in the nearby pixels, then its value was replaced by the median data value in the box. The deviation in nearby pixels is defined as the median of the absolute values of those pixels in the difference image. On the second pass, isolated bad pixels were flagged and replaced if both the following were true: they were higher or lower than both immediate neighbors in the dispersion direction, and their value deviated by more than 10 times the square root of the average of those two neighbors. Isolated bad pixel values are replaced by the average values of their neighbors.

We rectified the target images by mapping a set of continuum traces and wavelength fiducials in the reduced images onto a set of grid points. This dewarping in both spatial and spectral directions is done simultaneously and requires knowledge of the wavelengths and positions of several spectral and spatial features; this information was extracted using arc, sky, or etalon lines. Typically, we identified 15 to 20 lines in each echelle order for this purpose. Two stellar continuum spectra and two flat-field edges traced across the length of the dispersion direction were used to define spatial warping. Rectification was done separately for each echelle order.

Unfortunately, there is a lack of naturally occurring, and regularly spaced, wavelength fiducials (absorption or emission lines) produced by the night sky or arc lamps. Because of this, we had to use a three-stage process for determining the relationship between column number and wavelength: rectify the images using the arc and sky lines, measure the etalon line wavelengths in the rectified version of the etalon image and obtain a solution to the etalon equation, and use the analytically determined wavelengths to produce a better rectification matrix. This approach gave results that were repeatable (to within an rms of $``$km s-1) (Figer et al., 2002). This three-stage process is described in detail below.

In the first stage, we chose an order containing many (15 to 20) arc and sky lines so that wavelengths in the rectified images would be fairly well determined. The last few significant figures of some of the arc-line wavelengths, and all of the OH lines, out to seven significant figures, were derived from lists available from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Atomic Spectra Database333http://physics.nist.gov/PhysRefData/ASD1/nist-atomic-spectra.html.

The process for fitting spectral lines was as follows. Each arc or sky line was divided into 10 to 20 sections along the length of the line. Rows from each section were averaged together, and the location of the peak was found by centroiding. Points along the line obtained from the centroiding were typically fitted with a 3rd-order polynomial. Outliers were clipped, and a new fit performed. We used a similar approach to fit the stellar and flat-field edge spatial traces.

We then used the arrays of coefficients from spatial and spectral fits to produce a mapping between points along the spectral features in the warped frame, and points in the dewarped frame. A two-dimensional second or third order polynomial was then fitted to these points, resulting in a list of transformation coefficients, the “rectification matrix.”

In the second stage, after dewarping the etalon image with the rectification matrix produced from the arc and sky lines, we measured the wavelength of each etalon line using SPLOT in IRAF. This provided preliminary estimated wavelengths for each etalon line. Exact etalon wavelengths were given by the etalon equation. Solutions to the etalon equation were found using the constraint that features must have integer order numbers that decrease sequentially toward longer wavelengths. The estimated wavelengths of the 14 to 16 lines were used to produce a series of etalon equations that we simultaneously solved by finding the thickness and order numbers giving the least overall variance from the measured wavelengths. Once these parameters were determined, exact wavelengths could be calculated for each etalon line.

In stage three, the exact etalon wavelengths were used to determine a new rectification matrix by tracing these features in the rectified etalon image. Together with the same spatial information used to produce the first stage rectification matrix, a new rectification matrix was produced. The improved quality of the etalon lines allowed for a higher order (fourth or fifth order) polynomial fit to the etalon mapping between warped and dewarped points. The new matrices were applied to the appropriate spectral orders of target images.

Three images of the telluric standard (“Q3”) were taken using the same setup as was used to obtain the target images. We moved the telescope along the slit length direction between exposures so that the spectra were imaged onto different rows of the detector. We reduced these images using the sames procedures used for reducing the target images.

Finally, APALL (IRAF) was used to extract spectra in manually chosen apertures. The resultant 1D spectra were then coadded in the case that a single object was observed in multiple slit positionings. Before coadding, we shifted all spectra to a common slit position by cross-correlating the telluric absorption features and shifting the spectra. The coadded spectra of all the stars in Table 3 for which we have spectra are shown in Figure 5; note that these spectra have been smoothed using an 11-pixel (44 km s-1) square boxcar function for display purposes. The fluxes were not reddening-corrected, so the spectral shape (roughly flat) is indicative of a hot star observed through a large amount of extinction.

## 4 Results

We use the data in this paper to form a census of stellar types for massive stars in the cluster, estimate physical properties of the stars, determine the dynamical state of the cluster members, and assess the impact of the cluster on its environment.

### 4.1 Spectral Types

The spectra for the most massive stars in our data set are relatively similar, although the features have smaller equivalent-widths for fainter stars. The brightest stars generally have spectra with a weak feature near 2.058 µm (He I), weak emission near 2.104 µm (N III) and 2.112/113 µm (He I), broad and strong emission near 2.166 µm (He I, H I), a weak line near 2.189 µm in P-Cygni profile (He II) in some cases, and weak lines at 2.115/2.24/2.25 µm (N III), where the primary contributors to the emission line fluxes are due to transitions of species listed in parentheses. There are indications of absorption at 2.058 µm in most of the first ten stars, and in some cases, it is strongly in a P-cygni profile (#3 and #8). In both these cases, the absorption appears to have a “double-bottom.” This line and the 2.112/113 µm blend are narrow in the spectra of #10, #13, #15, and #29.

From these spectra alone, we might assign spectral types of WNL (WN7$``$WN9) (Figer, McLean, & Najarro, 1997) or O If+ (Hanson et al., 1996) for the brightest stars, just as have been assigned in Nagata et al. (1995) and Cotera et al. (1996); the degeneracy in the classification of stars of these spectral types was noted by Conti et al. (1995). Figure 6 compares an average spectrum of the Arches stars with those of WNL stars (Figer, McLean, & Najarro, 1997) and O If+ stars (Hanson et al., 1996). We can see that the Arches stars have N III emission at 2.104 µm, 2.24 µm, and 2.25 µm, just like that seen in the spectra of WN7$``$8 stars, while the spectra of the O If+ stars do not have those lines in emission (or they are very weak). Figer, McLean, & Najarro (1997) argued that N III lines in the K-band might be used to distinguish Wolf-Rayet (WR) from O If+ stars on both observational and theoretical grounds. In addition, Figer, McLean, & Najarro (1997) showed that WN stars separate by subtype as a function of the relative line strengths in certain lines of their K-band spectra, i.e. W$`_{2.189\mu m}`$/W$`_{2.166\mu m}`$ or W$`_{2.189\mu m}`$/W$`_{2.11\mu m}`$. The relevant values for spectra of the most massive Arches stars are consistent with classifications of WNL. In addition, the equivalent-widths measured for the emission lines are in the range of those measured for WNL stars in Figer, McLean, & Najarro (1997), but not for O If+ stars. From all these measures, we conclude that the Arches stars are WN9 types, with an uncertainty of $`\pm `$ one subtype. Later in this paper, we use wind/atmosphere models to show that the estimated nitrogen, carbon, and helium abundances verify WNL classifications.

One objection to the WNL classification might be that it is improbable that all the WR stars in the cluster be in the exact same evolutionary phase, i.e. WNL. Actually, such a situation is predicted by Meynet (1995). Indeed, our new observations show that there are no WR stars in the cluster other than the WNL types, given that our narrow-band observations would easily detect the strong emission lines from all WR stars, such as the WNE star in the Quintuplet cluster (Figer, McLean, & Morris, 1995), or the carbon-rich WR (WC) stars seen near the Pistol Star (Figer et al., 1999b). The lack of WC stars suggests an age less than 3.5 Myr (Meynet, 1995), consistent with the WNL classification for brightest stars in the Arches cluster.

We have identified two groups among the most massive stars with spectral types distinctly different than the WN9 spectral type. The group of stars from #10 to #30 are O If+ types, and fainter stars are O main sequence stars.

### 4.2 Identification of the Main Sequence in the Galactic Center

The fainter stars in Table 3 (ID$`>`$30) appear to have little to no excess emission at 1.87 µm, consistent with the fact that their spectra appear to be relatively flat. Indeed, some even show absorption at 2.058 µm, 2.112 µm, and 2.166 µm, of a few angstroms equivalent width. In the case of star #68, the spectrum (Br$`\gamma `$ absorption), apparent magnitude, and extinction, suggest a luminosity and temperature consistent with an initial mass of about 60 M, and its presence on the main sequence, given an age of 2.5 Myr and the Geneva models. The star is likely to be a late-O giant or supergiant, albeit still burning hydrogen in its core, and thus its classification on the main sequence; note that it is too bright to be a dwarf. There are several other similar stars that have relatively featureless spectra, consistent with the spectra of O main sequence stars. This result is a significant spectroscopic verification of the claim in Figer et al. (1999a) that the main sequence is clearly visible in the broadband NICMOS data; also, note that Serabyn, Shupe, & Figer (1999) identified likely O stars with spectra that appeared to be featureless at the resolution of their observations. While a possible identification of the main sequence in the Galactic Center has previously been claimed (Eckart et al., 1999; Figer et al., 2000a), the result in this paper is the first spectroscopic identification of single stars that are unambiguously on the main sequence, as observed by their narrow absorption lines.

### 4.3 Wind/atmosphere Modelling

To model the massive Arches stars and estimate their physical parameters, we have used the iterative, non-LTE line blanketing method presented by Hillier & Miller (1998). The code solves the radiative transfer equation in the co-moving frame for the expanding atmospheres of early-type stars in spherical geometry, subject to the constraints of statistical and radiative equilibrium. Steady state is assumed, and the density structure is set by the mass-loss rate and the velocity field via the equation of continuity. We allow for the presence of clumping via a clumping law characterized by a volume filling factor f$`(r)`$, so that the “smooth” mass-loss rate, $`\dot{M}`$S, is related to the “clumped” mass-loss rate, $`\dot{M}`$C, through $`\dot{M}`$S=$`\dot{M}`$C/f1/2. The velocity law (Hillier, 1989) is characterized by an isothermal effective scale height in the inner atmosphere, and becomes a $`\beta `$ law in the wind. The model is then prescribed by the stellar radius, R, the stellar luminosity, L, the mass-loss rate $`\dot{M}`$, the velocity field, $`v(r)`$, the volume filling factor, f, and the abundances of the elements considered. Hillier & Miller (1998, 1999) present a detailed discussion of the code. For the present analysis we have assumed the atmosphere to be composed of H, He, C, N, Mg, Si and Fe.

We created a grid of models within the parameter domain of interest. It was bounded by 4.4$`<`$log(Teff)$`<`$4.6, 5.0$``$log(L/L)$``$6.5, $``$5.7$``$log($`\dot{M}`$/M$`_{}`$yr-1)$``$$``$3.8 , 0.25$``$H/He$``$10, and 1$``$Z/Z$``$2. This grid was used as a starting point to perform detailed analyses of the objects, for which the grid parameters were fine tuned, and other stellar properties such as the velocity field and clumping law were relaxed. The observational constraints were set by the NIRSPEC K-band spectra, and the NICMOS F187W equivalent-width and continuum (F110W, F160W and F205W) values.

We present preliminary results for stars #8 and #10. A complete, detailed analysis of the whole sample will be discussed in Najarro et al. (2002). Table 4 shows the stellar parameters derived for stars #8 and #10, while Figures 7a,b show the excellent fits of the models to the observed spectra. All stellar parameters for the strong-line-emission object (#8) displayed in Table 4 should be regarded as rather firm with the exception of the carbon abundance which should be considered as an upper limit. For star #10, however, no information can be obtained about its terminal velocity and clumping factor. Further, only upper limits are found again for the carbon abundance, while the uncertainty in the nitrogen abundance is rather high, up to a factor of 3, due to the extreme sensitivity of the N III lines to the transition region between photosphere and wind in this parameter domain. Therefore we have assumed the star to have a terminal velocity of 1000 km s-1, which is representative of this class of objects, and a filling factor of f = 0.1 as derived for object #8. To illustrate how the assumption of different clumping factor or $`v_{\mathrm{}}`$values can affect the derived stellar parameters, we also show in Table 4 two additional models which match as well the observed spectra with modified f (f=1, #10b) and terminal velocity ($`v_{\mathrm{}}`$=1600 km s-1, #10c). Note that there is no simple $`\dot{M}`$C1/f11/2 = $`\dot{M}`$C2/f21/2 scaling (Herald, Hillier, & Schulte-Ladbeck, 2001) nor $`\dot{M}`$1/$`v_{\mathrm{}}`$1 =$`\dot{M}`$2/$`v_{\mathrm{}}`$2 scaling between the models, and that other stellar parameters require readjustment.

Table 4 reveals that objects #8 and #10 have very similar luminosities, temperatures, and ionizing-photon rates. However, their wind densities ($`\dot{M}`$) and abundances reveal different evolutionary phases for these two objects. Object #8 fits well with a WNL evolutionary stage. Its wind density and helium abundance are very similar to those derived by Bohannan & Crowther (1999) for WN9h stars. On the other hand, object #10 can be placed into a O If+ phase as its wind density is roughly an order of magnitude lower than that of object #8 and the derived He abundance and upper limits for nitrogen enrichment indicate an earlier evolutionary phase. Indeed, its K-band spectrum is nearly identical to that of the O8 If+ star HD151804 (Hanson et al., 1996). Interestingly, both Arches objects have luminosities about one magnitude larger than their counterparts in Bohannan & Crowther (1999).

### 4.4 Ionizing Flux

Containing so many massive stars, the Arches cluster produces a large ionizing flux. We estimate the total ionizing flux emitted by the cluster to be 4(1051) photons s-1, based on our wind/atmosphere model fits for the two emission-line stars in Table 4. To estimate the total flux, we multiplied the estimated ionizing flux from #8 by 10, that from #10 by 20, and determined those of the remaining stars in Table 3 by applying equation 3 in Crowther & Dessart (1998); these factors reflect our choice of #8 and #10 as representatives of the first 30 stars in the table. The ionizing flux estimate is a bit higher than that in Serabyn et al. (1998), $``$ a few 1051 photons s-1, after scaling that number for the fact that the cluster contains 50% more O stars than originally thought (Figer et al., 1999a). This amount of ionizing flux is consistent with the Arches cluster being the ionizing source for the Thermal Arches Filaments (Lang, Goss, & Morris, 2001b).

### 4.5 Luminosity

Using the same process as applied to estimate the cluster ionizing flux, we estimate a total cluster luminosity of 107.8 L, or one of the most luminous clusters in the Galaxy. About 40% of the total luminosity is contributed by the 30 brightest stars in Table 3.

### 4.6 Age

As described in Figer et al. (1999b), the absolute magnitudes and mix of spectral types are consistent with a cluster age of 2$`\pm `$Myr. This was estimated using the colors and magnitudes of the stars, i.e. the colors give the extinction value, and the apparent magnitudes lead to absolute K-band magnitudes, which are then compared to isochrones from the Geneva models (Meynet et al., 1994). It is possible for older stars to attain magnitudes as bright as the brightest stars in the cluster, but only at relatively cool temperatures, i.e. T$`{}_{\mathrm{eff}}{}^{}<`$ 25kK. A new age constraint from the data in this paper is given by the absence of WC or WNE stars in the cluster. This observational constraint, when combined with the models of Meynet (1995), gives $`\tau _{\mathrm{age}}<3.0\text{Myr}`$ for the least limiting case (2$`\times `$$`\dot{M}`$, Z=0.040) and $`\tau _{\mathrm{age}}<2.5\text{Myr}`$ for the most limiting case (1$`\times `$$`\dot{M}`$, Z=0.040). In addition, the presence of WNL stars requires $`\tau _{\mathrm{age}}>1.5\text{Myr}`$ from these models. Finally, we note the lack of relatively cool (B-type) supergiant emission-line stars, such as those found in the central parsec (Krabbe et al., 1995) and the Quintuplet cluster (Figer et al., 1999b). The lack of such stars in the Arches cluster implies $`\tau _{\mathrm{age}}<4.0\text{Myr}`$. Finally, the detailed model for star #8 suggests an age of 2.5 Myr, at least for that star. We combine all this evidence to suggest that the cluster age is 2.5 $`\pm `$0.5 Myr, where the error is dominated by our lack of information concerning metallicity.

### 4.7 Velocities

A velocity determination for the emission-line stars is complicated by several facts. First, the strongest spectral features are blended emission lines, making it impractical to simply compare the measured wavelength centroid of a “line” to the expected vacuum wavelength. Because of this, one must cross-correlate the target spectra with respect to a template spectrum composed of features that accurately represent relative strengths of the blended lines. Second, the emission lines are broad, so that small wavelength shifts will produce little change in the cross-correlated power when compared to a template spectrum. Third, there are slight differences in the shapes of the emission lines between spectra of the various stars, so a model blend for one spectrum might not faithfully reproduce the features in another spectrum, at least not to the fidelity required for high precision velocity measurements. Because of these difficulties, we approached the velocity estimates using two techniques. We smoothed the spectra using a box-car filter with varying widths between 1 and 31 pixels (4 and 120 km s-1), finding little difference in the velocities as a function of these widths.

First, we estimated an absolute velocity for star #8 by cross-correlating its spectrum with that of our model spectrum. This method gave a velocity of +54 km s-1 (redshifted), in the heliocentric frame, for the blend near 2.166 µm. Our estimates using other lines are somewhat less than this value, as low as +20 km s-1, but those lines are weaker than the blend at 2.166 µm, and thus produce larger velocity errors.

In the second method, we cross-correlated all the spectra against each other. The cross-correlations were performed separately on three wavelength regions, the first containing the 2.104 µm and 2.115 µm features, the second containing the 2.166 µm and 2.189 µm features, and the third containing the doublet at 2.25 µm. This method was used to compute the standard deviation of relative velocities, allowing us to infer the mass enclosed within some orbital radius that represents an average of the emission-line stars’ orbital radii. Given that small differences in intrinsic blend morphology can affect the location of the maximum point of the cross-correlated power, we also repeated this approach using line centroids to compute velocity differences. Using both approaches, we found a standard deviation of $``$22 km s-1 for a sample containing eight emission-line stars. This value represents an upper limit on the intrinsic dispersion, given that the effects described above would tend to increase the estimated value over the intrinsic velocity dispersion. We also found that the stars were redshifted by +41 km s-1 with respect to star #8. We therefore estimate a heliocentric “cluster” velocity of +95$`\pm 8`$ km s-1, where the error is simply the standard deviation divided by the square root of eight; note that this error neglects the systematic effects described above, so the true velocity might differ from the estimate by significantly larger than the quoted error.

For a gravitationally bound and spherically symmetric cluster of mass Mcluster, the virial theorem gives Mcluster = 3$`\sigma ^2`$R/G (Ho and Filippenko, 1996), where $`\sigma `$ is the one-dimensional velocity dispersion, R is the appropriate radius, G is the gravitational constant, the velocities are assumed to be isotropic, and all stars have equal mass. This simple formula can be compared to the more general case where the cluster can be resolved into individual stars (Illingworth, 1976). Using R = 0.23 pc for the sample in question, we calculate Mcluster $`<`$ 7(104M, or about five times greater than what would be expected from direct integration of the mass function in Figer et al. (1999a) over the area sampled by the stars used in the analysis. This high mass limit results from the systematic effects inherent in our radial velocity determinations, as described above.

## 5 Discussion

In this section, we compare our measurements to those in previous papers and use measurements at other wavelengths to determine the physical parameters of the observed stars. Finally, we discuss how the Arches cluster interacts with its local environment to create heating and ionization of a nearby cloud.

### 5.1 Comparison to Previous Near-infrared Measurements

Table 3 lists over 30 probable emission-line stars, albeit the faintest having relatively weak emission lines; Figure 3a confirms that there are roughly this number of stars with reliable emission-line excesses. This list contains over a factor of two increase in the number of emission-line stars previously identified in the cluster (Blum et al., 2001; Nagata et al., 1995; Cotera et al., 1996). The line and continuum fluxes presented here largely agree with earlier results (Nagata et al., 1995; Cotera et al., 1996). The FF187N and FF190N fluxes reported in this paper are similar to those reported in Blum et al. (2001), after correcting for differences in the assumed zero points, the fact that we corrected for the difference in extinction at the two narrow-band wavelengths, and that we also corrected for the intrinsic shape of the stellar continuum; in addition, our extinction estimates are higher in many cases than those used in Blum et al. (2001).

The spectra in this paper are consistent with the narrow-band photometry in Nagata et al. (1995) and Blum et al. (2001) and the spectra in Cotera et al. (1996), although our high-resolution spectroscopy shows that the photometry is significantly affected by blending of absorption and emission features in P-Cygni profiles.

We confirm the discovery of a new bright emission-line star (#5, B22, N9) near the southern edge of the cluster, reported in Blum et al. (2001), and note that it is a counterpart of the x-ray source, “AR8,” in Lang, Goss, & Rodríguez (2001a). We also confirm that star #16 (B19) is an emission-line star, as suspected by Blum et al. (2001). Blum et al. (2001) listed some additional candidate emission-line stars. We confirm that the following stars from that list are, indeed, emission-line stars (their designations in parentheses): #15 (B8), #27 (B16), #17 (B29), #10 (B30), #10 (B20), #13 (B31).

### 5.2 Comparison to X-ray Flux Measurements

Yusef-Zadeh et al. (2001) reported Chandra X-ray observations of a region including the Arches cluster. They detected three extended sources, one (A1) near the center of the Arches cluster, another (A2) located to the North and West of the center by about 7″ and a third weaker source (A3) about 90″ $`\times `$ 60″ in size underlying the first two. The centroid of source A2 coincides within 1 arcsecond with an emission-line star, #9 in Table 3. The apparent spatial coincidence of the X-ray sources and Arches cluster strongly suggests that the X-ray sources are physically associated with the cluster. Yusef-Zadeh et al. estimate the total X-ray luminosity between 0.2 and 10 keV to be 3.3, 0.8 and 0.16 (1035) ergs s-1 for A1, A2 and A3, respectively. They attribute the emission from A1 and A2 to either colliding winds in binary systems or to the winds from single stars interacting with the collective wind from the entire cluster. The coincidence of source A2 with an emission-line source is very interesting in the context of the latter scenario. A3, on the other hand, has roughly the characteristics expected from shock-heated gas created by the collisions of the multitude of 1000-km s-1 stellar winds emanating from the stars in the rich, dense cluster (Ozernoy, Genzel, & Usov, 1997; Cantó, Raga, & Rodríguez, 2000). Because the X-ray sources are extended, it is unlikely that they can be attributed to single X-ray binary systems. However, the rough coincidence of source A1 with the core of the cluster raises the possibility that it may be comprised of many relatively weak stellar X-ray sources, binary or single, residing in the cluster core, and unresolved spatially from each other.

### 5.3 Comparison to Radio Flux Measurements

From Table 3 we see that one of the objects analysed in this work, #8, has also been detected at 8.5 GHz (Lang, Goss, & Rodríguez, 2001a). Our derived mass-loss rate is consistent with the observed radio flux (0.23 mJy) only if the outer wind regions are unclumped. Such a behavior for the clumping law has been suggested by Nugis, Crowther, & Willis (1998) from analysis of galactic WR stars. They found that the observed infrared to radio fluxes of WR stars are well reproduced by a clumping law where the filling factor is unity close to the stellar surface, increasing to a minimum at 5 to 10 R and returning again to unity in the outer wind where the radio flux forms. Note, however, that the line fluxes of the weaker lines like Br$`\gamma `$ or He I remain unaltered with this new description of the clumping law, but the line fluxes of the strongest lines, such as Pa$`\alpha `$, formed in the outer wind can be significantly reduced. From Table 4 we see that our models are fully consistent with the observed equivalent-width of Pa$`\alpha `$.

We consider now the possible correlation between line fluxes and radio-continuum flux analogous to the one discussed above for K-band fluxes (see Figure 3a). In principle, we also expect the near-infrared emission line strengths to scale with the free-free emission detected at radio wavelengths (Nugis, Crowther, & Willis, 1998; Leitherer, Chapman, & Koribalski, 1997). However, we do not find such a correlation, as can be seen in Figures 8a,b. A similar result was obtained by Bieging, Abbott, & Churchwell (1982) for a sample of eight WR stars. We believe this apparent absence of correlation between Pa$`\alpha `$ line-strength and radio flux is caused by both observational and physical effects. The observational effect is related to the fact that the radio measurements are picking up only the tip of the iceberg, i.e., those stars with the densest winds of the cluster. The physical effect is related to the fact that all three components contributing to EW1.87µm (H I, He I, and He II) are very sensitive to changes in temperature in the parameter domain appropriate to these objects. Further, both the line and continuum fluxes depend strongly not only on the mass-loss rate but also on the shape of the velocity field and the clumping law. Therefore, such strong dependence of the Pa$`\alpha `$ line flux on several stellar parameters introduces a large scatter in the expected line-strength vs radio-flux relationship.

The radio fluxes of the most massive Arches stars are comparable to those of WNL stars, but not to those of O If+ stars. The WN8 star WR105 (van der Hucht, 2001) would emit 0.14 mJy at the distance of the Arches cluster, comfortably within the range of fluxes measured for the Arches stars. Similar values are reported for WR stars in Bieging, Abbott, & Churchwell (1982). On the other hand, HD 16691 (O4 If+) emits 0.3 mJy at 4.9 GHz, according to Wendker (1995), implying an expected flux of 1.7 $`\mu `$Jy at the distance of the Arches cluster, assuming that the star has a parallax of 1.7 mas (Perryman et al., 1997). The expected flux is two orders of magnitude below the flux levels of the brightest Arches stars (Lang, Goss, & Rodríguez, 2001a). No doubt, this difference is due to the relatively low mass-loss rate for HD 16691, about 1/20 of that of the bright Arches stars. A similar trend can be seen in Figure 6 where the emission lines in the spectra of HD 16691 are shown to be much weaker than those in the spectra of the Arches emission-line stars. Again, weak winds produce weak emission lines and weak free-free emission.

Finally, we report several additional radio sources having emission-line star counterparts. They were found by comparing the radio continuum contour plot in Lang, Goss, & Rodríguez (2001a) with the difference image in Figure 2; they are marked by squares in this figure. We have designated the four near-infrared counterparts to these newly identified radio sources in Table 3.

### 5.4 Evolutionary Status of the Massive Stars in the Arches Cluster

The emission-line stars appear to contain significant amounts of hydrogen, while also exhibiting considerable helium content. We believe that this can be explained by the most massive stellar models in Meynet et al. (1994). For the brightest 10 or so stars in Table 3, the observations can be fit by these models for Minitial$``$120 M stars that have evolved to cool temperatures while retaining hydrogen. In particular, star #8 can be fit by a Minitial$``$120 M star with solar abundance, standard mass-loss rates, age of 2.4 Myr to 2.5 Myr, and present-day mass of 72 M to 76 M (Schaller, Schaerer, Meynet, & Maeder, 1992).

### 5.5 Relation to the Nearby Molecular Cloud (M0.10+0.03)

It appears that the Arches cluster heats and ionizes the surface of M0.10+0.03, the nearby molecular cloud (Serabyn & Guesten, 1987; Brown & Liszt, 1984), given that the cluster can easily provide the necessary flux to account for the infrared emission and recombination-line flux from the cloud.

The relative heliocentric velocity between the cluster stars (+95$`\pm 8`$ km s-1) and the ionized gas on the surface of the cloud ($``$20 to $``$50 km s-1) suggests that the physical association is accidental and that the cluster stars are ionizing the surface of the cloud. This difference in velocity is reminiscient of that observed between the Quintuplet (+130 km s-1) (Figer, 1995; Figer et al., 1999a) and the Sickle cloud, M0.10+0.03 (+30 km s-1) (Lang, Goss, & Wood, 1997). In both cases, it appears that young clusters happen to lie near molecular clouds whose surfaces are ionized by the photons from the hot stars in the clusters. The following shows that the ionizing flux and energy required to heat the cloud can be provided by the Arches cluster. Note that a differential velocity of 100 km s-1 would produce a relative drift of 100 pc in 1 Myr, a distance that would bring a cluster within the vicinity of a few clouds, given the spatial distribution of clouds in the central few hundred parsecs.

#### 5.5.1 Ionization and Heating

Even before the discovery of the Arches cluster, Serabyn & Guesten (1987), Genzel et al. (1990), and Mizutani et al. (1994) suggested that the Thermal Arched Filaments are photoionized by nearby hot stars. After the discovery of the cluster, many authors considered the possibility that the cluster is ionizing the cloud. One problem with this idea is the fact that the filaments are very large, and have roughly constant surface brightness and excitation conditions (Erickson et al., 1991; Colgan et al., 1996), indicating that the ionizing source is either evenly distributed over many parsecs or is relatively far away. Given the new ionizing flux estimates in this paper and in (Serabyn et al., 1998), the cluster would produce enough flux to account for the filaments, even if 20 pc away, far enough to allow for the even illumination that is observed. Indeed, Timmermann et al. (1996) predicted this result, and Lang, Goss, & Morris (2001b) present a detailed analysis that confirms it.

Cotera et al. (1996) give estimates for the total ionizing flux of 2$``$5(1050) photons s-1, depending on whether one models the spectral energy distributions for the emission-line stars with Kurucz (1979) atmospheres or blackbody functions; however, this estimate includes only flux from the dozen or so emission-line stars that were known at the time. Nonetheless, the results of this paper suggest that the cluster ionizes the cloud.

The heating in the cloud produces an infrared luminosity of 107 L (Morris, Davidson, & Werner, 1995). Assuming a covering fraction of $``$10%, we find that the Arches cluster can deliver about this much luminosity, within a factor of two.

#### 5.5.2 Location along the line of sight

Given the Br$`\gamma `$ flux from the filaments measured by Figer (1995), we know that the line emission is extincted by about AK$``$3. This implies that the filaments are on the near side of the cloud, since such an extinction corresponds only to the typical foreground extinction to the Galactic Center, and precludes any substantial additonal extinction. This information leads to the conclusion that the Arches cluster is on the near side of, and is approaching, the wayward molecular cloud that is moving in opposition to the bulk motion of stars and gas around the Galactic Center (McGinn, Sellgren, Becklin, & Hall, 1989), consistent with the geometry described in Lang, Goss, & Morris (2001b).

### 5.6 Dynamical Evolution and Uniqueness of the Arches and Quintuplet Clusters

The temporal coincidence of the star formation events that produced the massive clusters in the Galactic Center, and the lack of older red supergiants, suggest that the Galactic Center has been host to a recent burst of star formation. Kim, Morris, & Lee (1999) and Kim et al. (2000) predicted that compact young clusters in the Galactic Center would evaporate on short timescales, i.e. a few Myr. Portegies-Zwart et al. (2001) argue that other clusters similar to, yet somewhat older than, the Arches and Quintuplet clusters exist in the central 100 pc. This argument is based upon a dynamical analysis which predicts that such clusters evaporate after 55 Myr, and further that the clusters’ projected surface number density in stars drops below the limit of detectability in a few Myr. The statement that members of dispersed clusters could have gone undetected is incorrect. Such stars would easily be detectable for their extreme brightness, i.e. there would be hundreds of stars as bright as IRS 7 (in the central parsec) strewn about the central 100 pc for each Arches/Quintuplet-like cluster between the age of 5 and 30 Myr. Given the claim in Portegies-Zwart et al. about the expected number of “hidden” young clusters in the central hundred parsecs, we would expect to see of order ten thousand red supergiants in this region. Only a few are seen, as demonstrated by surveys for such stars (Figer, 1995; Cotera, 1995).

Portegies-Zwart et al. suggest that clusters could be “hiding” near bright stars due to limitations in dynamic range, but these arguments are specious, since the dynamic range of array-based detections are obviously not limited by the digitization of a single read if multiple coadds are used (e.g. Figer et al. (1999a) reach a dynamic range of over 105). Thus in agreement with Kim et al., we conclude that the clusters must disperse rapidly

### 5.7 Comparison to NGC 3603 and R136 in 30 Dor

The Arches cluster is similar in age and content to NGC 3603 and R136 in 30 Dor, and is surrounded by a giant H II region as is R136. In contrast to these clusters, we do not see WN5h or WN6h stars (Crowther & Dessart, 1998), suggesting that the Arches cluster is older. This is consistent with our age determination, as suggested by other means described earlier.

While our spectra exhibit no primary diagnostic lines to estimate metallicity, we may use our estimates for the helium and nitrogen abundances in object #8 in conjunction with the evolutionary model for 120 M to infer metallicity. For Z(He)=0.7, the models predict the star to have already reached its maximum nitrogen surface mass fraction. Hence, we may compare our derived nitrogen mass fraction, Z(N)=0.016, with the evolutionary models values at different metallicities (Schaller, Schaerer, Meynet, & Maeder, 1992). We see that this value is met for solar metallicity. A more detailed analysis of the metallicity of the Arches stars will be presented in Najarro et al. (2002).

We thank Nolan Walborn and Nino Panagia for critical readings of the paper. We thank John Hillier for providing his code. F. N. acknowledges DGYCIT grants ESP98-1351 and PANAYA2000-1784. We acknowledge the work of: Maryanne Angliongto, Oddvar Bendiksen, George Brims, Leah Buchholz, John Canfield, Kim Chin, Jonah Hare, Fred Lacayanga, Samuel B. Larson, Tim Liu, Nick Magnone, Gunnar Skulason, Michael Spencer, Jason Weiss and Woon Wong.