text:
# 1 Introduction

## 1 Introduction

Neutron stars are spotted as pulsars by radio telescopes and x-ray satellites. They are more massive (i.e. $`1.5M_{}`$) than our sun but are typically only about $`10`$ kilometers across so that the matter in their centers is compressed to densities that are up to an order of magnitude higher than the density of atomic nuclei . At such densities it is quite plausible that numerous subatomic particle processes will compete with each other and novel phases of matter – like the quark-gluon plasma being sought at the most powerful terrestrial particle colliders – could exist in the center of neutron stars. Figure 1 summarizes the possible scenarios graphically, with the associated equations of state shown in figure 2.

The strangeness-carrying $`s`$ quark is likely to play a vital role inside neutron stars, for several of the building blocks of matter may contain an $`s`$ quark as one of their constituents. Examples are the hyperons $`\mathrm{\Lambda },\mathrm{\Sigma },\mathrm{\Xi }`$, the $`K^{}`$ meson, and the H-dibaryon. More than that, strangeness may also exist in the form of unconfined $`s`$ quarks, which could populate, in chemical equilibrium with $`u`$ and $`d`$ quarks and/or hadrons, extended regions inside neutron stars.

This paper aims at giving a brief overview of the possible manifestations of strangeness inside neutron stars. It is most noteworthy that these objects can nowadays be observed – with state-of-the-art radio telescopes (e.g. Arecibo, Jodrell Bank, Parkes, VLA) and x-ray satellites (e.g. Chandra, HST, RXTE, XMM) – with such a remarkable clarity that previously was only imagined,111See, for instance, http://www.r-clarke.org.uk/astrolinks\_radio.htm, http://pulsar.princeton.edu/, http://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/. which enables us for the first time ever to seriously constrain the properties of superdense matter from astrophysical observations.

## 2 Hyperons

Only in the most primitive conception, a neutron star is constituted from neutrons. At a more accurate representation, a such stars will contain neutrons ($`n`$) and a small number of protons ($`p`$) whose charge is balanced by leptons ($`e^{}`$, $`\mu ^{}`$). At the densities in the interiors of neutron stars, the neutron chemical potential, $`\mu ^n`$, easily exceeds the mass (modified by interactions) of the $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ which then allows neutrons to transform into $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$’s. Mathematically, this is expressed as $`\mu ^n=\mu ^\mathrm{\Lambda }`$, which indicates that for neutron Fermi momenta greater than $`k_{F_n}3\mathrm{fm}^1`$, $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ particles could make their appearance. Such Fermi momenta correspond to densities of just $`2\rho _0`$, with $`\rho _0=0.16\mathrm{fm}^3`$ the baryon number density of ordinary nuclear matter. So, in addition to nucleons and electrons, neutron stars may be expected to hide considerable populations of strangeness-carrying $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ hyperons, eventually accompanied with $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ and $`\mathrm{\Xi }`$ hyperon populations too . The total hyperon population may be as large as 20% .

## 3 Kaons

Once the reaction $`e^{}K^{}+\nu `$ becomes possible in a neutron star, it is energetically advantageous for the star to replace the fermionic electrons with the bosonic $`K^{}`$ mesons. The associated chemical potentials must obey $`\mu ^e=\mu ^K^{}`$. Whether or not this is actually fulfilled in neutron stars depends on the mass of the $`K^{}`$ in dense matter. Information about this is provided by the $`K^{}`$ kinetic energy spectra extracted from Ni+Ni collisions at SIS energies, as measured by the KaoS collaboration at GSI . An analysis of the KaoS data shows that the attraction from nuclear matter may bring the $`K^{}`$ mass down to $`m_K^{}^{}200\mathrm{MeV}`$ at $`\rho 3\rho _0`$. For neutron-rich matter, the relation

$$m_K^{}^{}(\rho )m_K^{}\left(10.2\frac{\rho }{\rho _0}\right)$$
(1)
was established , with $`m_K=495`$ MeV the $`K^{}`$ vacuum mass. Values around $`m_K^{}^{}200\mathrm{MeV}`$ lie in the vicinity of the electron chemical potential, $`\mu ^e`$, in neutron star matter  so that the threshold condition for the onset of $`K^{}`$ condensation, $`\mu ^e(\rho )=m_K^{}^{}(\rho )`$, could be fulfilled in the cores of neutron stars. The situation is graphically illustrated in figure 3, with the uncertainties inherent in the calculations indicted by the shaded regions. Similar to the $`\pi ^{}`$ condensate, a $`K^{}`$ condensate would also soften the equation of state and enhance the star’s neutrino luminosity . The softening of the equation of state can be quite substantial, as pointed in , reducing the maximum neutron star mass from $`2M_{}`$ to about $`1.5M_{}`$. Based on this, the existence of a large number of low-mass black holes in the Galaxy was proposed .

## 4 H-dibaryons

Another boson that could make its appearance in the center of a neutron star is the so-called H-dibaryon, a doubly strange six-quark composite with spin and isospin zero, and baryon number two . Since its first prediction in 1977, the H-dibaryon has been the subject of many theoretical and experimental studies as a possible candidate for a strongly bound exotic state. In neutron stars, which may contain a significant fraction of $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ hyperons, the $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$’s could combine to form H-dibaryons, which could give way to the formation of H-matter at densities somewhere between $`3\rho _0`$  and $`6\rho _0`$ , depending on the in-medium properties of the H-dibaryon. H-matter could thus exist in the cores of moderately dense neutron stars. In  it was pointed out that H-dibaryons with a vacuum mass of about 2.2 GeV and a moderately attractive potential in the medium of about $`30`$ MeV could go into a Bose condensate in the cores of neutron stars if the limiting star mass is about that of the Hulse–Taylor pulsar PSR 1913+16, $`M=1.444M_{}`$. Conversely, if the medium potential were moderately repulsive, say around $`+30`$ MeV, the formation of H-dibaryons may only take place in neutron stars heavier than $`M1.6M_{}`$. If formed, however, H-matter may not remain dormant in neutron stars but, because of its instability against compression could trigger the conversion of neutron stars into hypothetical strange stars .

## 5 Quark deconfinement

It has been suggested already back in the 1970’s by a number of researchers  that neutrons, protons plus the heavier constitutes ($`\mathrm{\Sigma },\mathrm{\Lambda },\mathrm{\Xi },\mathrm{\Delta }`$) can melt, creating the quark-gluon plasma state being sought at the most powerful terrestrial heavy-ion colliders at CERN and RHIC. (Evidence for the creation of such matter in the framework of CERN’s Lead Beam Program has been claimed earlier this year .) At present one does not know from experiment at what density the expected phase transition to quark matter occurs, and one has no conclusive guide yet from lattice QCD simulations. From simple geometrical considerations it follows that nuclei begin to touch each other at densities of $`(4\pi r_N^3/3)^10.24\mathrm{fm}^3`$, which, for a characteristic nucleon radius of $`r_N1`$ fm, is less than twice $`\rho _0`$. Above this density, therefore, one may expect that the nuclear boundaries of hadrons begin to dissolve and the formerly confined quarks populate free states outside of the hadrons. Depending on rotational frequency and stellar mass, densities as large as two to three times $`\rho _0`$ are easily surpassed in the cores of neutron stars, so that the neutrons and protons in the centers of neutron stars may have been broken up into their constituent quarks by gravity . More than that, since the mass of the strange quark is only $`m_s150`$ MeV, high-energetic up and down quarks will readily transform to strange quarks at about the same density at which up and down quark deconfinement sets in . It is therefore three-flavor quark matter that could exist as a permanent component of matter in the centers of neutron stars . It is most fascinating that observational astrophysicists may be able to spot evidence for the existence of this novel phase of matter in the neutron star data, as we shall see next.

### 5.1 Anomalies in the spin-down behavior of isolated neutron stars

Whether or not quark deconfinement occurs in neutron stars makes only very little difference to their static properties, such as the range of possible masses and radii, which renders the detection of quark matter in such objects extremely complicated. This turns out to be strikingly different for rotating neutron stars (i.e. pulsars) which develop quark matter cores in the course of spin-down. The reason being that as such stars spin down, because of the emission of magnetic dipole radiation and a wind of electron-positron pairs, they become more and more compressed. For some rotating neutron stars the

mass and initial rotational frequency may be just such that the central density rises from below to above the critical density for dissolution of baryons into their quark constituents. This is accompanied by a sudden shrinkage of the neutron star, which, as calculated in , occurs at frequencies around 200 Hz (angular velocities $`1370\mathrm{s}^1`$). This effects the star’s moment of inertia dramatically, as shown in figure 5. Depending on the ratio at which quark and normal matter change with frequency, the moment of inertia can decrease very anomalously, and could even introduce an era of stellar spin-up lasting for $`10^8`$ years . Since the dipole age of millisecond pulsars is about $`10^9`$ years, we may roughly estimate that about 10% of the $`25`$ solitary millisecond pulsars presently known could be in the quark transition epoch and thus could be signaling the ongoing process of quark deconfinement! Changes in the moment of inertia reflect themselves in the braking index, $`n`$, of a rotating neutron star, as can be seen from $`(I^{}\mathrm{d}I/\mathrm{d}\mathrm{\Omega },I^{\prime \prime }\mathrm{d}^2I/\mathrm{d}\mathrm{\Omega }^2)`$

$$n(\mathrm{\Omega })\frac{\mathrm{\Omega }\ddot{\mathrm{\Omega }}}{\dot{\mathrm{\Omega }}^2}=3\frac{3I^{}\mathrm{\Omega }+I^{\prime \prime }\mathrm{\Omega }^2}{2I+I^{}\mathrm{\Omega }}.$$
(2)
The right-hand-side of this expression reduces to the well-known canonical constant $`n=3`$ only if $`I`$ is independent of frequency. Evidently, this is not the case for rapidly rotating neutron stars, and it fails completely for stars that experience pronounced internal changes which alter the moment of inertia significantly. Figure 5 illustrates this for the neutron star of figure 5. Because of the changes in $`I`$, driven by the transition into quark matter, the braking index deviates dramatically from 3 at the transition frequency, when pure quark matter is generated. Such dramatic anomalies in $`n(\mathrm{\Omega })`$ are not known for conventional neutron stars, because their moments of inertia appear to vary smoothly with $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ . The future astrophysical observation of such anomalies in the braking behavior of pulsars may thus be interpreted as a signal for quark deconfinement in neutron stars (“quark astronomy”).

### 5.2 Anomaly in frequency distribution of neutron stars in low-mass x-ray binaries

Accreting x-ray neutron stars provide a very interesting contrast to the spin-down of isolated neutron stars. These x-ray neutron stars are being spun up by the accretion of matter from a lower-mass ($`M\stackrel{<}{_{}}0.4M_{}`$), less-dense companion. If the critical deconfinement density falls within that of the canonical pulsars, quark matter will already exist in them but will be “spun out” of x-ray stars as their frequency increases during accretion. This scenario has been modeled in , where it was found that quark matter remains relatively dormant in the core of a neutron star until the star has been spun up to frequencies at which the central density is about to drop below the threshold density at which quark matter exists. As known from above, this manifests itself in a significant increase of the star’s moment of inertia. The angular momentum added to a neutron star during this phase of evolution is therefore consumed by the star’s expansion, inhibiting a further spin-up until the quark matter has been converted into a mixed phase of matter made up of hadrons and quarks. Such accreters, therefore, tend to spend a greater length of time in the critical frequencies than otherwise. There will be an anomalous number of accreters that appear at or near the same frequency. This is what was found recently with the Rossi x-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE). Quark deconfinement constitutes a most natural explanation for this phenomenon, though alternative explanations are possible too .

### 5.3 Diquark condensation and color superconductivity

Recently it was discovered that instantons may cause strong correlations between up and down quarks, which could give way to the existence of colored diquark pairs in superdense matter .222See also K. Rajagopals contribution elsewhere in this volume. These pairs would form a Bose condensate in cold and dense quark matter. Carrying color charges, the condensate ought to exhibit color superconductivity . Both the magnitude of the gap and the critical temperature associated with the color superconductive phase were estimated to be on the order of $`100`$ MeV . The implications of such tremendous gaps for the magnetic fields of pulsars and their thermal evolution were explored in  and , respectively. Color superconductivity may also be linked to the sudden irregularities observed in the rotational frequencies of some pulsars, known as glitches, as shown in the very recent study .

## 6 Absolutely stable quark matter

So far we have assumed that quark matter forms a state of matter higher in energy than atomic nuclei. This most plausible assumption, however, may be quite deceiving  because for a collection of more than a few hundred $`u,d,s`$ quarks, the energy per baryon ($`E/A`$) of quark matter can be just as well below the energy of the most stable atomic nucleus, $`{}_{}{}^{56}\mathrm{Fe}`$, whose energy per baryon number is $`M(^{56}\mathrm{Fe})c^2/56=930.4`$ MeV, with $`M(^{56}\mathrm{Fe})`$ the mass of the 56Fe atom. A simple estimate indicates that for strange quark matter $`E/A=4B\pi ^2/\mu ^3`$, so that bag constants of $`B=57.5\mathrm{MeV}/\mathrm{fm}^3`$ (i.e. $`B^{1/4}=145`$ MeV) and $`B=85.3\mathrm{MeV}/\mathrm{fm}^3`$ ($`B^{1/4}=160`$ MeV) place the energy per baryon of such matter at $`E/A=829`$ MeV and 915 MeV, respectively . Obviously, these values correspond to quark matter which is absolutely bound with respect to 56Fe. In this event the ground state of the strong interaction would be

strange quark matter (strange matter), made up of $`u,d,s`$ quarks, instead of nuclear matter. This finding is one of the most startling predictions of modern physics with far-reaching implications for neutron stars, for all hadronic stellar configurations in figure 1 would then be only metastable with respect to stars made up of absolutely stable 3-flavor strange quark matter . If this is indeed the case, and if it is possible for neutron matter to tunnel to quark matter in at least some neutron stars, then in appears likely that all neutron stars would in fact be strange stars . In sharp contrast to the other stars in figure 1, made up of hadronic matter, possibly in phase equilibrium with quarks, strange stars consist nearly entirely of pure 3-flavor quark matter, eventually enveloped in a thin nuclear crust whose density is always less than neutron drip density ($`4\times 10^{11}\mathrm{g}/\mathrm{cm}^3`$) .

The hypothetical, absolute stability of strange matter gives way to a variety of novel objects which stretch from strangelets at the small baryon number end, $`A10^2`$, to strange MACHOS and strange dwarfs, to the compact strange stars at the high end, $`A10^{57}`$, where strange matter becomes unstable against gravitational collapse . The strange counterparts of ordinary atomic nuclei are the strange nuggets, searched for in high-energy collisions at Brookhaven (e.g. E858, E864, E878, E882-B, E886, E896-A), CERN (Newmass experiment NA52), balloon-borne experiments (CRASH), and terrestrial experiments (e.g. HADRON) . (For a recent review, see  as well as this volume.) One of the most distinguishing features of the compact strange stars are their anomalously small radii which enables the whole branch of compact strange stars to withstand very rapid rotation, down to periods in the half-millisecond regime . In contrast to this, only neutron stars very close to the limiting-mass value may be able to withstand such rapid rotation. An interesting candidate for a small-radius “neutron” star could be SAX J1808.4-3658 whose radius, as argued in , may be significantly smaller than the canonical neutron star radius of $`10`$ km (see however ). Other distinguishing features originate from the fact that the surfaces of bare strange stars are made up of quark matter which allows for stellar luminosities as high as several $`10^{51}\mathrm{erg}/\mathrm{s}`$ .

## 7 Cooling of neutron stars

The predominant cooling mechanism of hot (temperatures of several $`10^{10}`$ K) newly formed neutron stars immediately after formation is neutrino emission, with an initial cooling time scale of seconds. Already a few minutes after birth, the internal neutron star temperature drops to $`10^9`$ K . Photon emission overtakes neutrinos only when the internal temperature has fallen to $`10^8`$ K, with a corresponding surface temperature roughly two orders of magnitude smaller. Neutrino cooling dominates for at least the first $`10^3`$ years, and typically for much longer in standard cooling (modified Urca) calculations. Being sensitive to the adopted nuclear equation of state, the neutron star mass, the assumed magnetic field strength, the possible existence of superfluidity, meson condensates and quark matter, theoretical cooling calculations, as summarized in figure 6, provide most valuable information about the interior matter and neutron star structure. The stellar cooling tracks in figure 6 are computed for a broad collection of equations of state , including those shown in figure 2. Knowing the thermal evolution of a neutron star also yields information about such temperature-sensitive properties as transport coefficients, transition to superfluid states, crust solidification, and internal pulsar heating mechanisms such as frictional dissipation at the crust-superfluid interfaces ).

## Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG).

## References


format: text

text:
# Statics and dynamics of domain patterns in hexagonal-orthorhombic ferroelastics

## I introduction

Ferroelastics are solids that undergo diffusionless, shape-changing phase transformations, usually first-order. The low-temperature (low-$`T`$) phase is, in principle, one of several degenerate products (“variants”) differing only in orientation. But one rarely sees the homogeneous product phase; instead, multiple nucleation events, constraints, intrinsic inhomogeneities, etc, produce domain structures composed of multiple variants separated by domain walls (ideally with certain orientations).

This article deals with hexagonal-orthorhombic (H-O) ferroelastics, where the three equivalent stretch directions give rise to three variants. Examples are the mineral Mg-cordierite (Mg2Al4Si5O18, References), Ta4N (Reference), and Mg-Cd alloys (References). The most interesting feature of these materials is that they provide a rare physical realization of disclinations in crystals. The disclinations result because domain walls rotate the variants as well as link them, all nodes but one failing to close to $`360^{}`$; the consequence is the fascinating domain patterns observed in these materials and in the closely related trigonal-monoclinic material lead orthovanadate \[Pb3(VO4)2, References\]. These patterns differ strikingly from those in cubic-tetragonal (C-T) and tetragonal-orthorhombic (T-O) systems; for example, the star disclination, often self-similarly nested, has no counterpart in the other systems.

Of the several theories dealing with these materials, only that of Wen et al. found patterns consistent with some of those observed. Their phase-field kinetic theory is however highly phenomenological, being based on order parameters with no direct physical interpretation; an expansion to sixth order is necessary, and even the scaled theory requires at least five parameters.

We investigate H-O ferroelastics by expanding the energy density in physical quantities only, namely the strains and their derivatives, to fourth order in the primary order parameter. Computational resources allow us to consider only two-dimensional structures, but this is not much of a restriction, for these are what the literature reports. Our density respects the symmetry of the high-$`T`$ phase; it is minimal, for it contains only essential terms. Scaling reduces the parameters in the density to two, a temperature variable and a stiffness variable, both readily determined from experiment. Our calculated structures depend strongly on the stiffness, which determines how the system responds to the disclinations generated by wall junctions. We investigate both the statics and the dynamics of the theory, using in both methods which satisfy the compatibility relations exactly.

Our static theory, described in Section II, is based solely on classical elasticity theory; it includes nonlinear and gradient terms but no additional phenomenology. Section III solves for the two kinds of wall linking a given pair of variants. Section IV describes static structures found numerically. Section V first describes the equations of motion of our dynamical theory (also based solely on classical elasticity theory) and then goes on to present structures as they evolve in time.

Although our theory is strictly valid only for proper ferroelastics, where the strain is the primary order parameter, we find that it is sufficient to explain qualitatively the patterns observed in all four materials listed above, namely several kinds of three-fold nodes, a common four-fold node, stars (both nested and unnested), the fan node and another untitled node, and even imperfections in some higher-order nodes. Near $`T_c`$, we find triangular and trapezoidal pockets of the high-$`T`$ phase, also as observed. Many of these structures were not found by Wen et al.. Our dynamical studies start from the perturbed high-$`T`$ phase. In the growth stage, we see 12-armed bursts as observed in Mg-cordierite. In the relaxation stage, but still far from the converged state, we see streamers and striations also as observed, and also the formation of the structures seen in our static studies. These are the first simulations to report the bursts, streamers and striations.

## II strains and strain energy

Hexagonal-orthorhombic ferroelastics require five strains in general. Since we consider only columnar structures uniform in the 3 direction (normal to the basal plane), we need only the dilatational strain $`e_1`$ and the deviatoric/shear strains $`e_2`$ and $`e_3`$. In the linear approximation for the strain tensor,

$`e_1`$ $`=`$ $`\left(u_{1,1}+u_{2,2}\right)/2,`$ (1a)
$`e_2`$ $`=`$ $`\left(u_{1,1}u_{2,2}\right)/2,`$ (1b)
$`e_3`$ $`=`$ $`\left(u_{1,2}+u_{2,1}\right)/2,`$ (1c)
where $`𝐮(x_1,x_2)`$ is the displacement of the material point originally at $`𝐱`$, and $`u_{i,j}=_ju_i=u_i/x_j`$.

The free energy $`F`$, per unit length in the 3 direction, is the integral $`F=_Ad^2x`$ of the free-energy density $``$ over the undeformed area $`A`$. Since the following is the first study of structures in proper H-O ferroelastics, and since there is no evidence that other terms are required, we use the simplest possible density consistent with symmetry, stability and ability to explain qualitatively the structures observed. Of course the terms omitted may be numerically important; in fact a class of these terms is qualitatively important, for we show below that it breaks an important degeneracy.

The minimal density is slightly simplified from one used previously:

$`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{A_1}{2}}e_1^2+{\displaystyle \frac{A_2}{2}}\left(e_2^2+e_3^2\right){\displaystyle \frac{B_2}{3}}\left(e_2^33e_2e_3^2\right)`$ (2)
$`+`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{C_2}{4}}\left(e_2^2+e_3^2\right)^2+{\displaystyle \frac{d_2}{2}}\left[\left(\stackrel{}{}e_2\right)^2+\left(\stackrel{}{}e_3\right)^2\right].`$ (3)
All coefficients but $`A_2`$ are positive and independent of $`T`$. The $`A_1`$ and $`A_2`$ terms are the contributions from homogeneous volume changes and shears respectively, the latter in the high-$`T`$ phase only; the parameters $`A_1`$ and $`A_2`$ are related to the Voigt constants by $`A_1=2(C_{11}+C_{12})`$ and $`A_2=2(C_{11}C_{12})=4C_{66}`$. But $`A_2`$ softens with decreasing $`T`$, as $`A_2=a(TT_0)`$, where $`T_0`$ is the stability limit of the H phase and $`a`$ is a material-dependent constant. The instability due to the vanishing of $`A_2`$ is isotropic. The orientations of the three O variants are selected by the anisotropic $`B_2`$ term, as described below. The quartic $`C_2`$ term, isotropic, provides stability. Since $`e_1`$ is not the primary order parameter, the term $`\frac{1}{2}A_1e_1^2`$ is often omitted. We show below however that this term plays a crucial role in determining the morphology; very different structures are found for large vs. small $`A_1`$. The $`d_2`$ term, which penalizes spatial inhomogeneities in the primary order parameter, is necessary to give the domain walls an energy and so prevent subdivision into arbitrarily fine variants. A discussion of other possible derivative invariants is given in the Appendix.

The H-O transition occurs at $`A_2=\frac{2}{9}B_2^2/C_2`$; it is first-order. For $`A_2>\frac{1}{4}B_2^2/C_2`$, the energy has only the H minimum, with $`e_1=e_2=e_3=0`$; this minimum disappears for $`A_2<0`$. For $`A_2<\frac{1}{4}B_2^2/C_2`$, there are in addition three degenerate O minima with $`e_1=0`$, symmetrically located in the $`(e_2,e_3)`$ plane:

$`e_2=e_{20}`$ , $`e_3=0`$ (3a)
$`e_2=e_{20}/2`$ , $`e_3=\sqrt{3}e_{20}/2`$ (3b)
$`e_2=e_{20}/2`$ , $`e_3=+\sqrt{3}e_{20}/2`$ (3c)
where $`e_{20}=\left[B_2+\left(B_2^24A_2C_2\right)^{1/2}\right]/\left(2C_2\right)`$; at $`T_c`$, $`e_{20}=\frac{2}{3}B_2/C_2`$. The three variants are elongated in the $`\widehat{1}`$, $`\frac{1}{2}\widehat{1}+\frac{\sqrt{3}}{2}\widehat{2}`$, and $`\frac{1}{2}\widehat{1}\frac{\sqrt{3}}{2}\widehat{2}`$ directions respectively.

## III variant-variant walls

We seek the solution linking the two variants of Eqs. (3b) and (3c), the results for this pair being simpler than for the others; the analysis is easily extended to treat a band of walls. The key new results are the expressions (7) for $`e_1`$ and $`\omega _3`$ in terms of $`e_2`$ and $`e_3`$.

We start from the first-order compatibility relations $`u_{i,12}=u_{i,21}`$; with the linearized strain tensor, these are

$$\begin{array}{cc}\hfill _2\left(e_1+e_2\right)& =_1\left(e_3+\omega _3\right),\hfill \\ \hfill _1\left(e_1e_2\right)& =_2\left(e_3\omega _3\right),\hfill \end{array}$$
(4)
where $`\omega _3=(u_{1,2}u_{2,1})/2`$ is the $`z`$ component of the local rotation $`𝝎`$. Elimination of $`\omega _3`$ gives the more familiar second-order relation

$$\left(_1^2+_2^2\right)e_1\left(_1^2_2^2\right)e_2=2_1_2e_3.$$
(5)
On applying the boundary conditions

$`e_2(\pm \mathrm{})=e_{20}/2`$ , $`e_3(\pm \mathrm{})=\pm \sqrt{3}e_{20}/2,`$ (6a)
$`e_1(\pm \mathrm{})=0`$ , $`\omega _3(\pm \mathrm{})=\pm \mathrm{\Omega },`$ (6b)
and demanding that the strains and $`\omega _3`$ be functions of the single variable $`X=x_1\mathrm{cos}\beta +x_2\mathrm{sin}\beta `$, one finds easily the two solutions

$`\beta =0,X=x_1,e_1`$ $`=`$ $`+(e_2+e_{20}/2),\omega _3=e_3`$ (7a)
$`\beta =\pi /2,X=x_2,e_1`$ $`=`$ $`(e_2+e_{20}/2),\omega _3=+e_3`$ (7b)
Then, with the other two pairings, one has a total of six possible wall orientations, at multiples of $`\pi /6`$ to the hexagonal 100 axis. These results are independent of the details of the free-energy density; we made only three assumptions: the strains are small, they (and $`\omega _3`$) are functions of a single variable, and they have the asymptotic values (6).

The two kinds of wall are orthogonal, as already known. They are obviously different in nature; it is enough that the angles between the stretch axes are different, but we note also that the dilatational strains have opposite sign in the wall region. The walls need not possess the twin property; in Mg-Cd alloys, the “reflection” walls are twin walls but the “rotation” walls are not.

The rotations in Equations (7) are the key to understanding the domain patterns.

For $`\beta =0`$, $`X=x_1`$: the variant at $`x_1+\mathrm{}`$, with $`e_3>0`$, is rotated negatively ($`\omega _3<0`$, clockwise); the other variant is rotated positively; the angle between the stretch directions is not $`\pi /3`$ but rather $`\pi /3\sqrt{3}e_{20}`$.

For $`\beta =\pi /2`$, $`X=x_2`$: the variant at $`x_2+\mathrm{}`$, with $`e_3>0`$, is rotated positively (counterclockwise); $`\mathrm{}`$ ; the angle between the stretch directions is not $`2\pi /3`$ but rather $`2\pi /3\sqrt{3}e_{20}`$.

These rotations are well known in the metallurgical literature, where they are obtained from geometrical considerations. In Mg-Cd alloys, the angles between the stretch axes of the linked variants are calculated from the lattice constants to be $`57.5^{}`$ or $`117.4^{}`$, in good agreement ($`\pm 1^{}`$) with the observations. The leading corrections to Eqs. (7) (due to nonlinear terms in the strain tensor) are easily found: $`e_1=\pm \left(e_2+\frac{1}{2}e_{20}\right)+\mathrm{O}\left(e^3\right)`$ and $`\omega _3=e_3\left(1\frac{1}{2}e_{20}\right)+\mathrm{O}\left(e^3\right)`$.

Our results for H-O walls are in some respects the same as for C-T and T-O systems. In all three systems, a given pair of variants can be linked by one of two possible walls, at $`\pi /2`$ to each other. A given wall not only links the two variants, but also rotates them differentially by an amount proportional to the order parameter, as seen for example in Eqs. (7). Collisions of wall bands generate new kinds of walls, including a strange “wall” between two variants with identical strains but opposite rotations. In both C-T and T-O systems, where the angle between the variant axes is $`\pi /2`$ minus a correction, the two possible wall structures are identical with respect to the dilatational and shear strains; in fact, they are related by a symmetry operation, and so have the same energy. In H-O systems on the other hand, there is no symmetry operation relating the two possible structures and so they generally have different energies.

To determine the structure of the wall linking the variants of Eqs. (3b) and (3c), we first use Eqs. (7) to eliminate $`e_1`$ from Eq. (2) for the density:

$`_{wall}=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{A_1}{2}}\left(e_2+{\displaystyle \frac{e_{20}}{2}}\right)^2+{\displaystyle \frac{A_2}{2}}\left(e_2^2+e_3^2\right){\displaystyle \frac{B_2}{3}}\left(e_2^33e_2e_3^2\right)`$ (9)
$`+{\displaystyle \frac{C_2}{4}}\left(e_2^2+e_3^2\right)^2+{\displaystyle \frac{D_2}{2}}\left({\displaystyle \frac{de_2}{dX}}\right)^2+{\displaystyle \frac{D_3}{2}}\left({\displaystyle \frac{de_3}{dX}}\right)^2.`$
Here $`D_2=D_3=d_2`$ for the density of Eq. (2), but $`D_2`$ becomes $`D_2=d_1+d_2`$ if the $`d_1`$ term is included in the density (see the Appendix); then the length scales of $`e_2`$ and $`e_3`$ for the wall can in principle be different, even though their gradients appear with the same coefficient. Obviously the two kinds of wall ($`X=x_1`$ and $`X=x_2`$) have the same energy. This degeneracy is however due to the particular form of Eq. (2); it is broken if we add to $``$ any invariant odd in $`e_1`$, for example the term $`Ee_1(e_2^2+e_3^2)`$. In principle, such terms can give one wall type a much larger energy than the other; if so, then the domain patterns may be quite unlike those in cordierite, Ta4N, Mg-Cd and lead orthovanadate.

The compatibility relations are satisfied in Eq. (8), and so the Euler-Lagrange equations can be obtained by varying $`e_2`$ and $`e_3`$:

$`A_1(e_2+e_{20}/2)+A_2e_2B_2(e_2^2e_3^2)+C_2e_2(e_2^2+e_3^2)`$ (9a)
$`=D_2d^2e_2/dX^2,`$ (9b)
$`A_2e_3+2B_2e_2e_3+C_2e_3(e_2^2+e_3^2)=D_3d^2e_3/dX^2,`$ (9c)
with the boundary conditions of Eq. (6a); the $`A_1`$ term in Eq. (9a) results from the compatibility relations. Another route to Eqs. (9) starts from requiring $`F`$, with the density of Eq. (2), to be stationary with respect to the displacement u; then the strains are assumed to depend only on $`x_1`$ or $`x_2`$ and Eqs. (7) are used to eliminate $`e_1`$; finally, the results are integrated to give Eqs. (9).

Equations identical in appearance to Eqs. (9) were derived and solved in our study of C-T ferroelastics. At $`A_2=2B_2^2/C_2`$, they have an analytical solution with $`e_2=e_{20}/2`$ and so $`e_1=0`$; at any other $`T`$, however, the dilatational strain is not zero in the wall region. The analytical solution at $`A_2=2B_2^2/C_2`$, numerical solutions at other $`T`$, and numerical and analytical results for the wall energy are given in Ref.. These C-T results carry over to H-O systems with only changes in notation; we point out however that they seem to differ significantly from the results of Ref..

## IV static structures

To reduce the number of unknown parameters, we transform variables by

$`e_j`$ $``$ $`[2\times 10^3B_2/(3C_2)]e_j,`$ (10a)
$`x_i`$ $``$ $`\sqrt{9d_2C_2/(2B_2^2)}x_i,`$ (10b)
$``$ $``$ $`[8\times 10^6B_2^4/(81C_2^3)].`$ (10c)
Because we work with the displacement, the first (strain) scaling assumes small strains (so that the quadratic terms in the strain tensor can be neglected). We also define a dimensionless temperature by $`\tau =(TT_0)/(T_cT_0)`$, and a dimensionless anisotropy parameter by $`\zeta =A_1/A_2(T=T_c)=9A_1C_2/(2B_2^2)`$. In terms of the new variables, the density is

$`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{\zeta }{2}}e_1^2+{\displaystyle \frac{\tau }{2}}\left(e_2^2+e_3^2\right){\displaystyle \frac{b}{3}}\left(e_2^33e_2e_3^2\right)`$ (11)
$`+`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{c}{4}}\left(e_2^2+e_3^2\right)^2+{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}\left[\left(\stackrel{}{}e_2\right)^2+\left(\stackrel{}{}e_3\right)^2\right],`$ (12)
where $`b=3\times 10^3`$ and $`c=2\times 10^6`$; the scaled theory then has only two parameters, $`\tau `$ and $`\zeta `$. The transition ($`T=T_c`$) is at $`\tau =1`$, the order parameter at $`T_c`$ is $`e_{20}=10^3`$ (an arbitrary value) and the analytical solution is found at $`\tau =9`$. To relate $`\tau `$ to the physical temperature $`T`$, we require both $`T_c`$ and $`T_0`$; the latter can be estimated from the $`T`$ dependence of the order parameter (for example, the value at $`T_0`$ is 3/2 the value at $`T_c`$).

Wishing to study wall configurations, we forced walls into the systems by applying periodic boundary conditions to the displacement u; this apparently simple requirement is sufficient to generate many metastable states. Free boundary conditions, it seems, cannot generate the complex structures seen in experiment, and fixed boundary conditions (specifically $`𝐮=0`$ on and outside the boundary) give results which suffer severely from finite-size effects. The static structures described in this section were found by minimizing the free energy with respect to the components of u, using a conjugate-gradient method; the iteration was continued until numerical errors prevented further decrease in the energy. A variety of starting configurations was used, often random displacements. Finite-size effects are certainly present in the systems we can study (they favour simpler structures); we see the basic structures observed experimentally, however, and so these effects seem unimportant qualitatively.

Detailed comparison with experiment is unfortunately not possible for any of the materials; in fact, experiment offers no guidance at all regarding the parameters $`\tau `$ and $`\zeta `$ of even the minimal theory. Accordingly, we investigated several sets of parameter values; the desired comparison can be made when the parameters are measured.

As the temperature decreases, the order parameter ($`e_{20}`$) of the homogeneous (O) product phase increases and the wall width (proportional to $`1/e_{20}`$) decreases. The two curvatures at the O minima also change, but in different ways. These are $`\gamma _{}`$ and $`\gamma _{}`$ in the directions parallel and transverse to the line from the origin to the O minima:

$`\gamma _{}(T)`$ $`=`$ $`\tau 2be_{20}+3ce_{20}^2,`$ (12a)
$`\gamma _{}(T)`$ $`=`$ $`\tau +2be_{20}+ce_{20}^2;`$ (12b)
both increase monotonically with decreasing $`T`$. For $`T_{BK}<TT_c`$ ($`9<\tau 1`$), $`\gamma _{}<\gamma _{}`$ with $`(\gamma _{},\gamma _{})=(1,9)`$ at $`T=T_c`$. At $`T=T_{BK}`$ ($`\tau =9`$), the curvature is isotropic, with $`\gamma _{}=\gamma _{}=27`$. For $`T<T_{BK}`$, $`\gamma _{}>\gamma _{}`$. The changing curvatures cause the wall trajectories to start closer to the easy direction in the $`(e_2,e_3)`$ plane.

The point of introducing these quantities is that our structures depend strongly on the ratio of the curvature $`\zeta `$ (for dilatational strains) to the curvatures $`\gamma _{},\gamma _{}`$ (for departures of the deviatoric/shear strains from values in a homogeneous O variant). This ratio is small for “soft” systems and large for “stiff” ones. This strong dependence on the relative stiffness arises, in the final analysis, because the walls rotate the variants as well as link them. Because of the rotations, disclinations are formed when walls collide to form junctions (or nodes). Since a single disclination cannot exist in a crystal, the walls form arrays of disclinations of both polarities, often in pairs (dipoles) and higher multipoles. Finally, soft systems and stiff systems respond very differently to the disclinations. In soft systems, the walls can deviate considerably from the optimal orientations found above; additional dilatational strains are then generated, but these have low energy since $`A_1`$ is relatively small. In stiff systems, on the other hand, the walls are straight on the whole, and their directions are highly constrained; other means must be found to minimize the energy.

To describe the nodes, we use the notation $`(k,l,\mathrm{})`$ where the components $`k,l,\mathrm{}`$ are successive angles in units of $`\pi /6`$ (only approximately); this notation, though incomplete because it does not distinguish between the two types of walls, is adequate for our purposes. The 43 possible disclinations, including the star, have been catalogued and the values of the disclination angle $`\delta `$ given for Mg-Cd alloys; those with smallest $`|\delta |`$ follow:

1. $`\delta =0`$ for the (1,3,5,3) node.

2. $`|\delta |=0.243^{}`$ for the star disclination (a three-pointed star with tip angle $`\pi /6`$, often self-similarly nested), the (1,1,1,1,1,7) fan node, and the untitled (1,1,1,4,1,4) node.

3. $`|\delta |=0.486^{}`$ for the “starburst”, our term for a node with 12 walls separated by $`\pi /6`$.

4. $`|\delta |=2.472^{}`$ or $`3.201^{}`$ for the (1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,4) node.

5. $`|\delta |=2.715^{}`$ or $`2.958^{}`$ for the (2,5,5), (1,1,10) and (1,4,7) three-fold nodes and for two five-fold nodes.

Many of the 43 disclinations are not seen because $`|\delta |`$ is too large; for example, the at-first-thought obvious (4,4,4) node fails by $`8^{}`$. And one expects nodes with many arms to appear less frequently.

Figure 1(a) shows a portion of a structure for a soft system ($`\zeta =10`$) at $`\tau =50`$, where $`(\gamma _{},\gamma _{})(117,52)`$. In this and other structures we found for the same parameter values, we see only three-fold nodes and bends, even though (1,3,5,3), star, fan and other nodes have smaller disclination angles. In such soft systems, the walls can deviate markedly from the high-symmetry directions; they bend gently on the whole, but sharp bends can occur, especially at necks like that at the bottom of the figure. Examination of the rotation $`\omega _3`$ shows that the necking results from the collision of identical variants with different orientations. As in T-O systems, the necking reduces the length of the collision region where large dilatational strains are generated. At $`\zeta =1000`$, the neck and the $`\pi /2`$ bends were replaced by a (1,3,5,3) node, though with other significant changes. Figure 1(a) shows also two well formed (2,5,5) nodes (prominent in Ref.); not shown are poorly formed (1,1,10) and (1,4,7) nodes (also seen in Ref.). The overall morphology is like that seen in cordierite, but lack of detail in the published micrographs prevents a direct comparison; there seems to be room here for further experiment.

Figures 1(b) and 1(c) show typical structures obtained also at $`\tau =50`$, but with the moderately soft value $`\zeta =100`$. Nested and unnested stars appear, and also (1,3,5,3), (2,5,5), (1,1,10) and (1,4,7) nodes, though all are imperfect. Nested stars like that in part (b) are commonly seen in experiment; the unnested star of part (c) is like that at the right of Figure 3(c) of Ref..

Figure 1(d) shows a (1,1,1,4,1,4) node, though the vertex in imperfect. This node, similarly imperfect (walls jog at the node), appears in Fig. 7(c) of Ref. and in Figs. 3(b) and 3(c) of Ref.. We find that the node tends to split into simpler nodes at lower $`T`$, as the effective stiffness $`\zeta /\gamma `$ decreases. We often observed, but do not display, staircase structures and the “spiral branch configuration” shown in Fig. 3(a) of Ref..

The structure of Figure 2(a), for a stiff system ($`\zeta =1000`$) at $`\tau =50`$, shows mostly objects with small disclination angles, namely (1,3,5,3) nodes and stars; the few three-fold nodes are badly distorted (1,4,7) nodes.

Figure 2(b) shows a structure formed close to $`T_c`$. The most important features are the triangular and trapezoidal pockets of the high-$`T`$ (hexagonal) phase; the first is seen in Refs., and the second in Fig. 1(e) of Ref.. Trapped high-$`T`$ phase was not seen by Wen et al. who looked at a single temperature, perhaps too low. The pockets can be viewed as small grains trapped by rigid walls which prevent them from changing shape; they can transform to the low-$`T`$ phase only through formation of internal walls, which however cost too much energy at this $`T`$. The structure of Figure 2(b) was generated by warming. In the initial structure, the stars were nested and the trapezoids also showed internal structure; both internal structures gradually faded away with warming. Figure 2 of Ref. shows comparable before-and-after pictures found on cooling.

Figure 2(b) shows also the fan node, though the vertex is imperfect. Imperfect fan nodes are seen in Fig. 7(b) of Ref., in Fig. 11(b) of Ref. (the high-resolution image shows 3 three-fold junctions), and in Fig. 3(d) of Ref..

We found structures also for $`\zeta =0.5`$, 5 and 50, at $`\tau =0`$, where $`(\gamma _{},\gamma _{})=(4.5,13.5)`$; the patterns differed significantly in some respects from those described above. These results and those for $`\tau =50`$ suggest that the stiffness ratio $`\zeta /\gamma `$ is of order 1 for Mg-Cd at the temperature of the observations.

Since $`\zeta /\gamma `$ depends on $`T`$, significant structural changes may result from changing $`T`$: if $`\zeta /\gamma `$ is large at $`T_c`$ and small at low $`T`$, then stars and other structures characteristic of stiff materials may decay as $`T`$ decreases.

## V dynamics

We derive the equations of motion using the Lagrangian formulation, starting from $`=𝒯`$ where $`𝒯=\rho (\dot{u}_i)^2/2`$ is the kinetic-energy density. The result is

$$\rho \ddot{u}_i=\sigma _{ij,j}+\sigma _{ij,j}^{}$$
(13)
where $`\sigma _{ij}=/u_{i,j}`$ is the stress tensor and $`\sigma _{ij}^{}`$ is the dissipative stress tensor. The most general form for the latter, which describes non-conservative forces (friction) in the system, is $`\sigma _{ij}^{}=A_{ijkl}^{}\dot{u}_{k,l}`$ to lowest order; we note that the dissipation cannot depend on the velocity field $`\dot{u}_k`$ itself, only on its space derivatives. The dissipative stress tensor is conveniently found from the dissipative function $`\mathrm{\Psi }`$ by $`\sigma _{ij}^{}=\mathrm{\Psi }/\dot{u}_{i,j}`$. The form which respects the symmetry of the parent (hexagonal) phase is

$$\mathrm{\Psi }=\frac{A_1^{}}{2}\dot{e}_1^2+\frac{A_2^{}}{2}(\dot{e}_2^2+\dot{e}_3^2).$$
(14)
We assume that the dissipation is large and drop the inertial term $`\rho \ddot{u}_i`$; the equations of motion are then

$`A_1^{}\dot{e}_{1,1}+A_2^{}(\dot{e}_{2,1}+\dot{e}_{3,2})`$ $`=`$ $`(G_{1,1}+G_{2,1}+G_{3,2}),`$ (15)
$`A_1^{}\dot{e}_{1,2}A_2^{}(\dot{e}_{2,2}\dot{e}_{3,1})`$ $`=`$ $`(G_{1,2}G_{2,2}+G_{3,1}),`$ (16)
where $`G_i=\delta F/\delta e_i`$:

$`G_1`$ $`=`$ $`A_1e_1,`$ (17)
$`G_2`$ $`=`$ $`A_2e_2B_2(e_2^2e_3^2)+C_2e_2(e_2^2+e_3^2)d_2^2e_2,`$ (18)
$`G_3`$ $`=`$ $`A_2e_3+2B_2e_2e_3+C_2e_3(e_2^2+e_3^2)d_2^2e_3.`$ (19)
Actually, we have to use the equations of motion in terms of the displacement components:

$`\left(\begin{array}{cc}A_1^{}_1^2+A_2^{}(_1^2+_2^2)& A_1^{}_1_2\\ A_1^{}_1_2& A_1^{}_2^2+A_2^{}(_1^2+_2^2)\end{array}\right)\left(\begin{array}{c}\dot{u}_1\\ \dot{u}_2\end{array}\right)`$ (24)
$`=2\left(\begin{array}{c}G_{1,1}+G_{2,1}+G_{3,2}\\ G_{1,2}G_{2,2}+G_{3,1}\end{array}\right)`$ (27)
The time is scaled so that $`A_2^{}=1`$; the dependence on the parameter $`A_1^{}`$ was found to be weak during the H-O transition, but the final states (completely relaxed configurations) did depend on $`A_1^{}`$. We used $`A_1^{}=0`$ for the results shown in Figure 3.

These equations must be solved numerically. Each time step started with the displacement $`𝐮(x_1,x_2)`$ known at the points of a $`256^2`$ grid. The space derivatives of $`u_i`$ were approximated by finite-difference expressions centered on a $`5\times 5`$ grid. The non-linear terms on the right-hand sides were computed, and then the equations were fast-Fourier transformed to give algebraic equations. The solutions were advanced in time using the Euler method, and then fast-Fourier transformed back to position space, to start the next step.

All our dynamical studies were started by perturbing the high-temperature state at a single point. The initial state certainly does not represent the nucleus of the transformation, but we expect its growth to resemble that in experiment; in partial confirmation, we see structures much like those observed. The perturbation grows quickly with time, but eventually it collides with self-images generated by the boundary conditions; of course the collision stage also has no relation to experiment. The hexagonal (high-$`T`$) phase then disappears (unless the temperature is close to $`T_c`$); thereafter, we expect our simulations once again to resemble experiment (again we see structures much like those observed). The relaxation stage which follows is quite slow. We observe the formation of the objects already seen in the static studies reported above, but more interestingly also well-defined structures (streamers, striations) seen infrequently or not at all statically, most of which eventually decay.

In stiff systems (large $`\zeta /\gamma `$), large domains can be penetrated by streamers (thin, wedge-shaped intrusions with relatively thick walls off the optimal directions); one often sees also striated patterns of two alternating variants. The striations and streamers are relics of the H-O transformation. Dilatational stresses occurring at the interface between the high-$`T`$ and low-$`T`$ phase are relieved by local fine-scale twinning of the low-$`T`$ phase. The result is more complicated domain patterns (striations and streamers) shortly after the transformation is complete. Star embryos appear in the vicinity of triple junctions; these form near mis-oriented or curved domain walls after the surrounding area has transformed. In contrast, systems with small $`\zeta /\gamma `$ need not reduce dilatational stresses so strongly, and so show no interesting microstructure.

The key difference between the dynamics of ferroelastics and the dynamics of conventional systems is that the former is nonlocal. For example, the retraction of a streamer (or the vanishing of a domain) cannot be effected by local changes; instead, a global change in the displacement field is required. The nonlocality is seen explicitly in theories where effective long-range interactions between the strains are generated on eliminating the displacement. And the relaxation stage is different also in that the changes from one snapshot to the next cannot be predicted by inspection.

Figures 3(a), 3(b) and 3(c) show expanding regions of low-$`T`$ phase, for stiffness parameter $`\zeta =10`$, 100 and 1000 respectively. The 12-arm burst of part (a) is, we suggest, best viewed as a starburst disclination expanding into the high-$`T`$ phase; it resembles strongly the “stellate twin” of Fig. 1 of Ref. (though the latter is fully developed), consistent with our identification of cordierite as a soft system. The stiffer systems of parts (b) and (c) evolve more slowly; they also show branching at the outer edges, as discussed above.

Figure 3(d) shows the system of 3(b) at a later time. There are several streamers, which retract very slowly with time; similar structures are seen in Fig. 14(b) of Ref.. The long timescale associated with this simple evolution (there is no change in the topology of the domain walls) results from the nonlocal relaxation.

Figures 3(e) and 3(f) show the system in 3(c) at a later time. The complicated structures in 3(e) are not observed in softer systems. In stiff systems they are transitory, existing only immediately after completion of the phase transformation. The domain walls near the striations and star embryos are relatively broad and they deviate from their optimal orientations; at later times, for the most part, they are replaced by well-defined walls as shown in the fully relaxed configuration of 3(f). The divided diamond-shaped structure seen at the top of Figure 3(f) is seen in Fig. 9 (especially part (c)) of Ref., suggesting that Ta-N is a stiff system.

## VI summary

A Landau theory of proper hexagonal-orthorhombic ferroelastics, with the fewest possible number of parameters, describes qualitatively many of the structures seen in Ta4N, Mg-Cd alloys and Mg-cordierite, and in trigonal-monoclinic lead orthovanadate. Our static and dynamical studies found structures not previously seen theoretically, including trapped high-temperature phase, 12-armed bursts, streamers and striations.

Since the theoretical understanding of structures in these systems seems now well advanced, we suggest that the next major theoretical task is to include noise and fluctuation effects in the time development. The effect of the inertial term also seems worth investigation.

## Appendix

Equation (2) contains only one term quadratic in the strain gradients; the most general such expression includes four additional invariants:

$`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}d_1\left(\stackrel{}{}e_1\right)^2`$ (28)
$`+`$ $`d_3\left[e_{1,1}\left(e_{2,1}+e_{3,2}\right)+e_{1,2}\left(e_{2,2}e_{3,1}\right)\right]`$ (29)
$`+`$ $`d_4\left[\left(e_{2,1}e_{3,2}\right)^2\left(e_{2,2}+e_{3,1}\right)^2\right]`$ (30)
$`+`$ $`d_5\left(e_{2,1}e_{3,2}e_{2,2}e_{3,1}\right)`$ (31)
The $`d_1`$ term may be important more generally, but it can be neglected for the wall structures of interest to us here; it obviously plays no role for stiff systems where $`|e_1|`$ is small, and we find numerically that it is qualitatively unimportant also in soft systems. Given this, and that we want a minimal theory, we omit the $`d_3`$ term also. The $`d_5`$ term integrates to a surface term, which vanishes for periodic boundary conditions.

The remaining term (coefficient $`d_4`$) is closely related to the $`d_2`$ term in Equation (2). To demonstrate this, we consider the sum

$`I=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}d_2^{}\left[e_{3,1}^2+(e_{3,1}^{})^2+(e_{3,1}^{\prime \prime })^2\right]`$ (32)
$`+`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}d_4^{}\left[e_{3,2}^2+(e_{3,2}^{})^2+(e_{3,2}^{\prime \prime })^2\right]`$ (33)
of two non-negative invariants. The primes represent terms obtained by $`2\pi /3`$ rotations about the hexagonal axis; for example, $`e_{3,1}^{}=\frac{1}{2}(_1+\sqrt{3}_2)\frac{1}{2}(\sqrt{3}e_2e_3)`$. Each of the above six terms corresponds to the change in the order parameter in the direction normal to one of the six different domain-wall orientations discussed in Section III. The explicit expression for $`I`$ is

$`I={\displaystyle \frac{3}{16}}d_2^{}`$ $`[3(e_{3,1}^2+e_{2,2}^2)+e_{2,1}^2+e_{3,2}^2`$ (35)
$`+2(e_{2,1}e_{3,2}+e_{2,2}e_{3,1})]`$
$`+{\displaystyle \frac{3}{16}}d_4^{}`$ $`[e_{3,1}^2+e_{2,2}^2+3(e_{2,1}^2+e_{3,2}^2)`$ (37)
$`2(e_{2,1}e_{3,2}+e_{2,2}e_{3,1})].`$
Equivalent results are found on working with $`e_2`$ rather than $`e_3`$, for

$`e_{2,i}^2+(e_{2,i}^{})^2+(e_{2,i}^{\prime \prime })^2=e_{3,j}^2+(e_{3,j}^{})^2+(e_{3,j}^{\prime \prime })^2,`$ (38)
with $`ij`$.

The isotropic case corresponds to $`d_2^{}=d_4^{}`$; then $`I`$ equals the $`d_2`$ invariant we used in the free energy. The $`d_4`$ invariant is found from the difference, $`d_2^{}=d_4^{}`$. In keeping with our goal of a minimal theory, we consider the isotropic case and omit the $`d_4`$ term in the free energy.

###### Acknowledgements.

We thank Colin Borys for technical assistance. This research was supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.

## Colour Figures

Figure 2

Figure 3


text:
# Kinematics and morphology of the Narrow-Line Region in the Seyfert galaxy NGC 1386 Based on observations collected at the European Southern Observatory, La Silla, Chile

## 1 Introduction

The emission line regions of active galactic nuclei (AGN) can be divided into the Broad–Line Region (BLR) and the Narrow–Line Region (NLR). The study of velocity fields of the narrow emission–line region in nearby AGN offers an exciting perspective to study details of the circumnuclear kinematics. Besides the primary component, which is given by the rotation of the galaxy, additional velocity components are likely to be present. Especially, in AGN velocity components, such as inflow or outflow motions, may be superimposed onto the regular rotational velocity field (e.g., Osterbrock Osterbrock (1993)). The morphology of the ionized gas component often coincides with radio structures, seen in VLA maps (e.g., Ulvestad & Wilson UW (1984); Pogge RWP (1989)). Such extended radio structures (e.g., radio jets) are often aligned with the optical emission (cf. Capetti et al. Capetti3 (1997); Gallimore et al. GBD (1996)).

First hints for a complex structure of the emission line region of AGN were mentioned by Walker (quoted by Burbidge et al. BBP (1959)) in NGC 4151 und NGC 1068. In the late 60s and later on particularly for NGC 1068 strong indication for a structured emission line region und indiviual substructures were found (Walker W68 (1968); Anderson A70 (1970); Glaspey et al. 1976 a , b; Alloin et al. APBS (1983)). Recent investigations of nearby Seyfert galaxies with high spatial resolution, as it is achieved with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), showed that it is feasible to resolve individual NLR components in the nearest Seyfert galaxies (e.g., NGC 1068, Macchetto et al. Macchetto (1994); NGC 4151, Winge et al. Wi97 (1997); Mkn 3, Mkn 78, Mkn 348, Capetti et al. Ca95 (1995), 1996 b ) on scales as small as 0$`\stackrel{}{.}`$1. In the case of NGC 1068 the morphology of the NLR can be characterized as a clumpy structure of several dozen individual emission line knots.

### 1.1 NGC 1386

The galaxy NGC 1386 (Fig. 1) has been classified as a Seyfert type 2 galaxy by Phillips & Frogel (PF (1980)). The spectra show characteristic strong emission lines of H$`\alpha `$, H$`\beta `$, \[N ii\], and \[O iii\] with expected line ratios and line widths typical for a Seyfert nucleus.

There is some debate on the morphological galaxy type, whether it is Sa or S0, due to the relatively high inclination of $`i71\mathrm{°}`$. Tully (Tully (1988)) lists it as S0 while generally a Sa classification is assumed (e.g., Sandage & Tammann ST (1981); Weaver et al. WWB (1991)). The assumption from the Weaver et al. study was based on the line ratios found for the outer regions of NGC 1386 which were characteristic of H ii regions. In the recent literature one can also find classifications with SB0+ (Tsvetanov & Petrosian TP (1995)), although there are no clear indications for the existence of a bar.

Since attention was first paid on this galaxy, there was some uncertainty whether NGC 1386 belongs to the Fornax galaxy cluster or not. Huchtmeier & Richter (HR (1989)) list a heliocentric corrected systemic velocity of $`918\pm 34\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1`$, derived from H i measurements which is in agreement with the value of $`890\pm 20\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1`$ obtained by Weaver et al. (WWB (1991)), as derived from the rotation curve.

We assume a Hubble parameter, that will be used throughout this paper, of $`\mathrm{H}_0=75\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1\mathrm{Mpc}^1`$. Assuming no effect from the Fornax Cluster the radial velocity, obtained by Huchtmeier & Richter (HR (1989)), translates to a distance to NGC 1386 of 12.2 Mpc. Basic data on NGC 1386 are listed in Table 1.

The distance to the Fornax Cluster has been determined by McMillan et al. (McMillan (1993)), using the Planetary Nebula Luminosity Function (PNLF). From their study of three member galaxies of the Fornax Cluster they derived a distance of $`16.9\pm 1.1\mathrm{Mpc}`$. This value is coincident with the value that Tully (Tully (1988)) listed in his Nearby Galaxies Catalog. More recent measurements using Cepheid based distances yielded $`18.6\pm 0.6`$ Mpc (Madore et al. Ma99 (1999)). They also derived a mean velocity of the Fornax Cluster of $`v=1441\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1`$ with $`\sigma =\pm 342\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1`$. We therefore assume that NGC 1386 is located in the foreground of the Fornax Cluster.

Being one of the closest Seyfert nuclei, NGC 1386 is an ideal candidate for high spectral and spatial resolution investigations of the NLR, and we therefore chose NGC 1386 for a detailed investigation of the NLR kinematics and morphology. One of the techniques applied to this object class besides narrowband imaging (e.g., Evans et al. Evans (1991); Lynds et al. Lynds (1991); Pogge & De Robertis Pogge (1993)) is the speckle masking method (e.g., Mauder et al. Mauder (1992)), although there are alternative techniques that have already been applied to the nearest Seyfert galaxies successfully (e.g., Wagner & Appenzeller SWIA (1988); Dietrich & Wagner DW (1998)). However, the first attempt to resolve individual NLR components within NGC 1386 was made using speckle masking observations (Mauder et al. Mauder (1992)). From their study it was inferred that the morphology of the gas distribution is cone–like.

Weaver et al. (WWB (1991)) studied the NLR in NGC 1386 with medium spectral resolution. They reported on the velocity field as a combination of a normally rotating component and a component undergoing high velocity infall or outflow, as derived from the shape and width of the line profiles. The line width amounts to $`540\pm 40\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1`$ at the nucleus with a double peak line profile. These measurements are in agreement with our better resolved line profiles (due to higher spectral and spatial resolution) which yield a FWHM of $`470\pm 20\mathrm{k}\mathrm{m}\mathrm{s}^1`$. Furthermore, they reported that the optical nucleus is displaced from the kinematical center of the rotation curve by $`1\mathrm{}1\stackrel{}{.}5`$ which corresponds to 60–90 pc.

## 2 Observations and data reduction

### 2.1 Echelle spectroscopy

The Seyfert galaxy NGC 1386 was observed at ESO La Silla, Chile (Nov. 16, 1992) with the Cassegrain Echelle Spectrograph (CASPEC) attached to the ESO 3.6m telescope. The achieved spectral resolution with the short camera is $`\mathrm{R}=\frac{\lambda }{\mathrm{\Delta }\lambda }18000`$ which corresponds to $`\mathrm{\Delta }v=17\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1`$. With the use of the red cross-disperser the echelle spectrum covers the range 5270–7725 Å. The slit covered an area of $`8\mathrm{}\times 1\mathrm{}`$ and was oriented at p.a. $`16\mathrm{°}`$. The CCD chip, a TEK 512M–12 with $`512\times 512`$ pixels of 27$`\mu `$m $`\mathrm{pix}^1`$ offers a spatial scale of $`0\stackrel{}{.}65\mathrm{pix}^1`$. The NGC 1386 spectrum had an integration time of 5400 sec.

The data reduction was performed with the IRAF555IRAF is distributed by the National Optical Astronomy Observatories, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc. (AURA) under cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation. and MIDAS666Munich Image Data Analysis System, distributed by ESO software packages. The spectrum was bias corrected creating a master bias which was subtracted from the spectrum. The tracing was determined from standard star exposures. In this process a Chebychev polynomial of $`3^{\mathrm{rd}}`$ order was fitted along the dispersion axis of each aperture. The master trace was defined by the spectrum with the smallest rms deviations. The echelle spectrum was then background corrected making use of the interorder sections of the 2D echelle spectrogram.

The flatfield correction was done in two different steps. Due to spatial offsets and different slit lengths, we had to create several groups of flatfields. The internal scatter of the spatial offsets was less than 1 pix within a flatfield group. The deviation between the individual flatfield groups had offsets of the order of $`\mathrm{\Delta }y`$ 2 pix. For each group a normalized flatfield was computed which were used to correct for overall sensitivity variations of the corresponding science frames. Due to the flexure of the spectrograph the echelle object spectra had small offsets with respect to the corresponding flatfield exposure. Hence, we were forced to restrict the 2D flatfield correction to the inner 3″while the 1$`\stackrel{}{.}`$5 wide stripes above and below this region were not corrected in this step. The normalized flatfield was set to unity for the region of these stripes. The criterium for the selection of these scans based on an intensity of less than $``$50 % of the maximal intensity on the position of the individual scan. In the second step the final extracted 1D spectra of the inner 6″of the individual spatial scans were flatfield corrected with a 1D flatfield generated. It was created by normalizing the individual scans of the used flatfield for the 2D correction with the average 1D flatfield of it. Finally we are able to make use of the 2D echelle spectrograms covering the NLR gas of NGC 1386 out to a radius of $`3\mathrm{}`$ from the nucleus.

Subsequently the data were wavelength calibrated by using a ThAr lamp reference spectrum. The unit step was set to 0.1464 Å. The scatter of our wavelength calibration had an rms of 0.014 Å. The spectral resolution of our spectra was obtained from measurements of several night–sky lines in our spectra and was found to be 0.3 Å. A final flux calibration was applied using the standard HR 3454 ($`\eta `$ Hya) which was reduced in the same way as the 2-D spectrum of NGC 1386. The extracted spectrum was finally merged and a two-dimensional image was created from the 11 pixel scans. To correct for the effect of slit illumination, we divided our 2-D galaxy echelle–spectrogram by an identically processed normalized sky–flatfield exposure. Finally a cosmics correction was applied to the spectrum using the MIDAS modify/gcurs routine.

In Fig. 2 we present the spectrum of NGC 1386 from the central $`2\stackrel{}{.}6`$. The typical strong emission lines of Seyfert galaxies, e.g., H$`\alpha `$, \[N ii\], \[S ii\] are visible. Above 6900 Å the spectrum is dominated by strong atmospheric absorption bands (b-band, A-band).

### 2.2 Imaging

We retrieved high resolution images of NGC 1386 from the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) data archive (from the survey by Malkan et al. MGT (1998), Prop.–No. 5479). This image had been obtained with the WFPC 2 aboard the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). It was taken with the F606W filter ($`\lambda _{mean}`$=5843.3 Å, FWHM=1578.7 Å). Further details are given in Biretta et al. (Biretta (1996)).

Additionally, further WFPC 2 images of NGC 1386 became available from a survey of Seyfert galaxies carried out by Wilson et al. (Prop.–No. 6419). These images had been taken in two narrowband and two broadband filters. In our study we made use of the F547M and F658N filter images. The narrowband (F658N) image covers the H$`\alpha `$+\[N ii\] emission within the filter FWHM of 28.5 Å. The WFPC 2 images of NGC 1386 were used to identify the individual components of the NLR in our 2-D spectrum which will be described in detail in Sect. 4.3.

## 3 Analysis

In addition to the pure emission line fluxes the calibrated spectrum also contains the radiation from the underlying stellar population (continuum). To remove this effect in a simple approach we calculated a linear continuum fit to our spectrum across the emission lines of interest (e.g., H$`\alpha `$, \[N ii\]). This linear interpolation which based on the mean flux in continuum windows ($``$10 Å width) at either side of the H$`\alpha `$+\[N ii\] doublet emission line complex ($`\lambda _{blue}^c`$=6538 Å, $`\lambda _{red}^c`$=6675 Å) was determined for each spatial scan and subtracted.

The 2-D echelle spectrogram was transformed from wavelength space into velocity space as described by Dietrich & Wagner (DW (1998)). We used the heliocentric velocity $`v{}_{\mathrm{sys}}{}^{}=918\pm 34\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1`$ of NGC 1386, as given by Huchtmeier & Richter (HR (1989)). We checked this value by measuring the centroid of the redshifted interstellar Na I line and applying the appropriate heliocentric correction. This results in $`v{}_{\mathrm{sys}}{}^{}=924\pm 51\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1`$, in good agreement with Huchtmeier & Richter (HR (1989)).

Since our spectrum covers the wavelength range 5270–7725Å, we have several strong emission lines which are useful for the kinematical study of the line emitting gas. We use H$`\alpha `$ and the \[N ii\] lines for our kinematical investigation. The less intense \[S ii\] $`\lambda \lambda `$ 6717,6731 doublet, \[O i\] $`\lambda `$ 6300 and the \[Fe vii\] $`\lambda \lambda `$ 5721,6087 lines will be used for the investigation of the spatial variations of the physical conditions in the individual NLR emission–line clumps.

## 4 Results

### 4.1 Kinematics

By transforming the spectrum into the velocity space, the $`lv`$ map shown in Fig. 5 c has been obtained. At a distance of 12.2 Mpc, the area covered by the slit of the spectrograph projected onto the plane of the galaxy is $`480\mathrm{pc}\times 60\mathrm{pc}`$. The smallest details visible in the $`lv`$–map are estimated to be of the order of 0$`\stackrel{}{.}`$3 which corresponds to a linear size at the distance of NGC 1386 of only $`18\mathrm{pc}`$. With this high spatial resolution in our spectra it is possible to obtain a detailed picture of the kinematics of the NLR in NGC 1386, based on a 2-D echelle spectrum with spatial information as a function of velocity. In Fig. 3 the spatial scans of the velocity space transformed spectrum in the \[N ii\] $`\lambda `$6583 line are shown. In order to make a quantitative approach, a decomposition using elliptical Gaussians was applied to the spectrum. This yielded the position and velocity of the individual components in the $`lv`$–map as well as the line widths for each individual cloud in the $`lv`$ space. The detailed description of the process of decomposing a 2-D echelle spectrogram is given by Dietrich & Wagner (DW (1998)) for the Seyfert galaxy NGC 1068.

The decomposition of the NGC 1386 spectra yielded 9 individual NLR clouds which show mean velocity differences up to 400 $`\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1`$ in \[N ii\] $`\lambda `$6583. The individual NLR components, marked by letters, and derived by the Gaussian decomposition (see Fig. 5 c) are located at different velocities and spatial locations relative to the nucleus. The line widths of these clouds vary from about $`90235\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1`$ (clouds A, D, F-I) and are accompanied by clouds with considerably higher values of FWHM = $`270470\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1`$ (clouds B, C, and E). The largest and most prominent region in this $`lv`$–map is component A which is blueshifted with respect to the systemic velocity by $`120\pm 10\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1`$ and shows an offset of $`1\stackrel{}{.}6`$ relative to the nucleus.

We have plotted the velocities versus the position in Fig. 5 c with the derived uncertainties, which show the various velocity components for the \[N ii\] $`\lambda `$6583 line. The analysis for H$`\alpha `$ provided nearly identical results.

The identified components with their respective velocities (relative to the systemic velocity) and their positions in our $`lv`$–map are listed both for H$`\alpha `$ and \[N ii\] $`\lambda `$6583 in Table 2. The uncertainties arise from the positional accuracies of our $`lv`$–map. The velocity uncertainties are of the order of $`\mathrm{\Delta }v10\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1`$ and in spatial direction of $`\mathrm{\Delta }l0\stackrel{}{.}1`$.

### 4.2 Morphology of the NLR

Several emission lines of different ionization levels are covered by the wavelength range of our 2-D echelle spectrogram. Therefore, it is possible to search for differences in the morphology of the extended line emission as a function of the ionization potential. With this method one can roughly discriminate NLR components from luminous H ii regions since H ii regions are not supposed to be visible in the high ionization lines as \[Fe vii\] for instance. The mechanism for exciting the gas to temperatures of that degree, where highly ionized Fe–lines become apparent, e.g., \[Fe vii\], can not be achieved with common stellar continuum emission as for instance in a massive starburst, since starbursts can not supply such high temperatures. Therefore, the most likely process is photoionization of the gas by a nonstellar power law continuum provided by the central continuum source or by continuum emission of fast radiative shocks (e.g., Dopita & Sutherland DS1 (1996)). The usual discrimination between H ii regions, AGN–like, and starburst galaxy regions is described in the diagnostic diagrams by plotting the intensity ratios of different emission lines (e.g., $`\frac{[\mathrm{O}\text{iii}]}{\mathrm{H}\beta }`$ vs. $`\frac{[\mathrm{N}\text{ii}]}{\mathrm{H}\alpha }`$, cf. Baldwin et al. BPT1 (1981); Veilleux & Osterbrock VeOs (1987); Allen et al. ADT (1998)).

Luminous H ii regions in the vicinity of an Seyfert nucleus are frequently found. These regions are indicative of massive starbursts. Sometimes the H ii regions appear in a ring structure around the nucleus, which is seen for instance in NGC 7469 (De Robertis & Pogge DP (1985)) and NGC 1068 (Balick & Heckman BH (1985)). In NGC 1386 there are 44 H ii regions visible which were detected by Tsvetanov & Petrosian (TP (1995)) in their survey of H ii regions in Seyfert galaxies. These reside in larger radii to the nucleus, outside our studied central region.

The brightest component which we refer to as cloud A, was initially suspected to be an ultraluminous H ii region (Rossa Rossa96 (1996)), based on the morphology of the 2-D echelle line profiles of different excitation levels. The reason that NGC 1386 is a low luminosity Seyfert galaxy and a detection of an apparent ultraluminous H ii region may lead to the conclusion that NGC 1386 is a starburst galaxy. However, the detection of the high ionization lines, which are characteristic for AGN, rules out that possibility. Furthermore, the line ratio \[N ii\] $`\lambda `$6583/H$`\alpha `$2 rules out the possibility even that component A is a H ii region. It turns out that component A is located in the classical region for power law excitation in the Seyfert regime, according to diagnostic diagrams (e.g., Baldwin et al. BPT1 (1981)).

The comparison of the morphology of the NLR in the Seyfert 2 galaxy NGC 1386 with each of the low ionization lines (e.g., H$`\alpha `$, \[N ii\], \[S ii\]) shows a similar pattern, whereby the higher ionization lines like \[Fe vii\] show a different morphology. In the low ionization lines the bright component A is the dominant source in the $`lv`$–map. Comparing this with the velocity field in the \[Fe vii\] line shows that this component is not visible. Here only a central component is appearing which is most likely identified with the nucleus of the Seyfert galaxy. Hence, there is some evidence that the true nucleus has a much lower apparent luminosity than the NLR component A, indicating a hidden nucleus. This picture is supported by HST imaging studies. It has clearly shown, that nuclear dust lanes which are also visible in NGC 1386 are a common feature with typical scale heights of 20–50 pc (Capetti et al. 1996 b ) which often leads to obscuration of the central region of an AGN. Furthermore this is indeed evidenced by X–ray measurements, which show that the active nucleus in NGC 1386 is covered by a Compton–thick (i.e. $`\mathrm{N}_\mathrm{H}>10^{24}\mathrm{cm}^2`$) screen (Maiolino et al. MSB (1998)).

In Fig. 4 we show the spatial variation of profiles of the \[N ii\], H$`\alpha `$ lines together with the \[Fe vii\] $`\lambda `$ 6087 Å line.

### 4.3 Identification of individual NLR components

Next we made a detailed comparison of our reduced 2-D echelle spectrogram with WFPC 2 archive images taken with the HST. In Fig. 5 a we show a superposition of the inner part of NGC 1386 of the F658N filter HST image with the CASPEC slit. In Fig. 5 b we show the region (in contours) which is covered by the CASPEC slit. In the right–hand panel of Fig. 5 the direct comparison of our CASPEC spectrum of the \[N ii\] $`\lambda `$ 6583 Å line as a $`lv`$–map is shown. The contours are given in logarithmic scale. The outer two spectral scans of our echelle spectra are severely affected as a result of the flatfielding process as described in Sect. 2. We limit our study to the central $`6\mathrm{}`$, where only the outermost regions are to some point influenced by the flatfield uncertainties on a small scale.

Now we can identify the individual NLR components seen in our echelle spectrogram with the components in the WFPC 2 image. Due to the high dispersion individual components of line emission are separated in velocity space and can be located spatially with high precision (as discussed in Dietrich & Wagner DW (1998)). Therefore, we can cross–check the components (or emission knots) in the two ‘images’. This investigation of the morphology can also be regarded as an additional method to the direct imaging studies in the respective narrow–bands (e.g., \[O iii\], H$`\alpha `$).

In Fig. 5 c we have plotted the velocities of the individual NLR components that have been identified in our \[N ii\] $`\lambda `$6583 Å $`lv`$–map (after Gaussian decomposition) as a function of the distance to the nucleus in arcseconds. The error bars arise from the uncertainties in the determination of the $`l`$ and $`v`$ coordinates in our $`lv`$ map.

The velocity field of NGC 1386 is not as much disturbed as the velocity field in NGC 1068 (Wagner & Dietrich WD (1996)) which shows velocity differences up to $`1000\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1`$. Weaver et al. (WWB (1991)) tried to determine the position of the nucleus in their spectroscopic study. Since their spectra were taken at medium resolution, the position of the nucleus of NGC 1386 could not be identified unambiguously. Most likely a definitive answer would be given by polarimetric studies, such as it was done in the case of NGC 1068 (Capetti et al. 1996 a , Capetti3 (1997)), or by astrometry of the radio nucleus.

The brightest component in our echelle spectrum coincides with the brightest component in the WFPC 2 image of NGC 1386. This bright component A is offset by $``$95 pc with respect to the nucleus. A comparison of the HST WFPC 2 image (F658N) with our $`lv`$ map of \[NII\] $`\lambda `$6583 suggests a correspondence of the components A and G with the bright dominating component at $`1\stackrel{}{.}5`$ in the HST image of NGC 1386. These two components have a similar velocity dispersion of FWHM$``$100 km s-1 and are blueshifted with respect to the nucleus. Our components D and I are associated with the emission knots at $`2\stackrel{}{.}0`$ and $`0\stackrel{}{.}5`$ in the HST image, respectively. The FWHM of D and I is comparable to the FWHM of A,G, and H, however the components D and I are redshifted with respect to the nucleus. The components B,C,E,H might be connected with the central bright emission complex at $`0\stackrel{}{.}3`$ in the WFPC 2 image. In contrast to the other components they are nearly located along the line of sight and show a velocity dispersion of the order of FWHM $``$ 350 km s-1. The velocity split of the individual components is of the order of 400 km s-1 and taking the weak and quite uncertain component F into account it rises to $`\mathrm{\Delta }v`$ 800 km s-1. Due to the large separation in velocity space from the other components we have not plotted component F into the $`lv`$ map.

## 5 Discussion

One of the motivations for the investigation of the velocity field of the NLR in NGC 1386 is to examine whether there are correlations between radio– structures and optical emission. In the theoretical picture the deviations from a pure rotational component of the velocity are manifested in infall or outflow motions. In the case of an outflow motion, this often leads to the detection of corresponding radio structures in the highly resolved VLA maps. Those structures are mostly identified with a jet, propagating through the ambient medium. The interaction of the outflowing radio plasma with the NLR gas will produce shocks and this shock gas can be described as an expanding cooling cocoon around the radio jet (Taylor et al. TDA (1992); Axon et al. Axon (1998)). Evidence for this scenario is found by Axon et al. (Axon (1998)) who mapped spectroscopically the inner few arcseconds of NGC 1068 at high resolution. They detected a velocity split of the order of 1000 km s-1 of individual components which was also found by Dietrich & Wagner (DW (1998)). The observed velocity difference in NGC 1386 can be explained within the framework of the models suggested by Taylor et al. (TDA (1992)) and Axon et al. (Axon (1998)).

The slit position of NGC 1386 in our investigation was chosen because the study by Mauder et al. (Mauder (1992)) showed that the NLR has an elongated structure, with an asymmetrical biconical shape. A distinct substructure is visible in their speckle images and a few components could be resolved in the central part (100 pc). From their speckle imaging an opening angle could be derived and the extended H$`\alpha `$–emission is mostly visible at a position angle of $`20\mathrm{°}`$. Our identifications of the NLR components are in agreement with the observed NLR morphology by Mauder et al. (Mauder (1992)).

Our simple approach to reconstruct the H$`\alpha `$, \[NII\] emission line complex using elliptical Gaussian profiles provide some evidence for two components of the NLR velocity field of NGC1386. Our components can be associated with the bright emission line complexes of an HST narrow-band image (F658N). The components which might be dominated by the general galactic rotation can be characterized by FWHM $``$ 100 km s-1 while the components with FWHM $``$ 350 km s-1 might be in radial motion. This result is in good agreement with Weaver et al. (WWB (1991)) who also provide evidence for a two component velocity field of NGC 1386.

Even the velocity difference of the components with larger FWHM is of the order of 400 km s-1 only, there might be some interaction of the NLR gas with the outflowing radio plasma. The study by Ulvestad & Wilson (UW (1984)) revealed a slightly elongated structure in their VLA map ($`\lambda `$=6 cm) of NGC 1386 at the p.a. $`225\mathrm{°}`$. So the radio–emission points anti-parallel to the optical emission. However, a more recent investigation by Nagar et al. (NWMG (1999)) revealed a 300 pc extended feature in p.a. $`170\mathrm{°}`$ in their VLA $`\lambda 3.6`$ cm map.

A further interesting result of our analysis is the detection of the bright component (cloud A) which is displaced by $`1\stackrel{}{.}6`$ from the nucleus. In the study by Weaver et al. (WWB (1991)) they reported a displacement of the optical nucleus by $`1\stackrel{}{.}5`$ from their kinematical studies (kinematical center), which is most likely coincident with cloud A in our investigation. The true nucleus of NGC 1386 has a much less apparent luminosity than cloud A, and hence is most likely highly absorbed. This is also evidenced by X–ray observations (Maiolino et al. MSB (1998)). We conclude that component A is excited by photoionization, as is evident from the measured line ratios.

The fact that there is a cone–like geometry of the NLR on small scales, hints that absorption plays a role on those scales and that effect implies that the ionizing radiation can not escape isotropically from the circumnuclear regions. The observation of cone–like geometries in the central regions of Seyfert galaxies is a common feature. Evans et al. (Evans (1991)) have shown that the NLR in NGC 1068 is cone–like and comprises of several components. The kinematics of the strong components of this cloud ensemble have been studied by Dietrich & Wagner (DW (1998)). At least $``$16 components are visible in their $`lv`$–map obtained for the \[O iii\] $`\lambda `$ 5007 Å–line down to the scale of $`0\stackrel{}{.}2`$ that reside in the central $`6\mathrm{}`$ region. From their study it was inferred that the velocity field of NGC 1068 is driven by shocks due to the interaction of the radio jet with the ambient medium.

## 6 Summary and Conclusions

We have studied the kinematics and the morphology of the NLR in the Seyfert galaxy NGC 1386 with high spatial resolution with CASPEC and archival HST images. The following results have been obtained.

* the NLR of NGC 1386 is composed of 9 individual components with 5 components being redshifted and 4 being blueshifted with respect to the systemic velocity.
* the brightest component (cloud A) is blueshifted by $`120\pm 10\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1`$ and shows an offset of $`1\stackrel{}{.}6`$ to the south.
* this cloud A is identified with the brightest region in the HST image, and is excited by photoionization
* the true nucleus NGC 1386 has a much lower apparent luminosity, and is possibly hidden by nuclear dust lanes.
* there is evidence for a two component velocity field in NGC 1386

The results show that with this technique of sub–arcsecond mapping, which makes use of highly resolved 2-D spectra, it is possible to identify individual NLR components in the nearest Seyfert galaxies. In this respect it is a powerful tool to describe the kinematics and morphology of the NLR.

###### Acknowledgements.

We would like to thank Dr. Andreas Jüttner who carried out the spectroscopic observations. We thank Dr. Hartmut Schulz for valuable comments on the manuscript. The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) is acknowledged for making the NGC 1386 images available to us through their HST–data archive. This research was supported by the DFG (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft) through SFB 328. In addition, JR acknowledges financial support from the DLR (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft– und Raumfahrt) through grant 50 0R 9707. MD is supported through NASA grant NAG 5-3234.