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# The Chandra High Resolution Spectra of Mkn 421

## 1. Introduction

Mkn 421 (cz = 9234 km s-1, Ulrich et al., 1975) is a low redshift blazar, intensively studied over all frequencies. Recent X-ray observations of this source during a monitoring campaign performed by Beppo-SAX have clearly shown that the beamed continuum emission from Mkn 421 undergoes spectral variability correlated with flux changes (Malizia et al., 2000, Fossati et al., 2000). These spectral changes are driven by the shift of the synchrotron peak emission towards higher energies as the source brightens. This causes a flattening of the 0.1-10 keV spectrum when the source is in its outburst phases.

In this paper we present the first, high-quality, Medium Energy Grating (MEG) high resolution spectra of Mkn 421, taken by Chandra with the ACIS-HETG configuration on November 1999 and May 2000. These two observations clearly confirm the findings of Malizia et al. (2000) and Fossati et al. (2000), showing a marked spectral variability of the nuclear continuum in between them. We also look for narrow absorption and emission features that could have escaped detection in the previous low-resolution X-ray spectra of this source. We present here the results of our analysis.

## 2. Data Reduction and Analysis

Mkn 421 was observed with the Chandra ACIS-HETG configuration twice, on November 5, 1999 (as a calibration target) and on May 29, 2000, following a DDT (Director’s Discretionary Time) aimed to catch the source in a very high intensity state. Both sets of data were processed, and then reduced, with the latest version of the Chandra Interactive Analysis of Observations software (CIAO2.0, Elvis, 2001, in preparation), using the most updated calibrations. Standard grade filtering was applied to order-sorted event-2 files (ASCA grades 0, 2, 3, 4, 6). Spurious events accumulated on streaks along the read-out axis of the CCD chips during single read-out phases were removed using the Chandra contributed tool destreak (Houck J. 111http://asc.harvard.edu/ciao/download\_scripts.html ).

First to third order source and background MEG spectra for both the observations were extracted from the order-sorted and cleaned event-2 files using the tool tgextract in CIAO2.0. For each order we rebinned the counts-per-bin histograms by given factors, added positive and negative orders, subtracted the background from the source spectrum, and divided by the effective area, the exposure time and the witdh of the bins in Å, to end up with binned “fluxed” spectra in units of ph s-1 cm-2 Å-1.

In the following we present the spectral analysis of the MEG first order spectra. The compared analysis of all the HETG/LETG data is deferred to a forthcoming paper (Nicastro et al., 2001a, in preparation)

## 3. Spectral Analysis

### 3.1. The Nuclear Continuum and Its Wavelength-Dependent Variability

During the 2000 May Chandra-MEG observation (hereinafter MEG00), Mkn 421 was more than one order of magnitude brighter than during the previous 1999 November observation (MEG99), in the entire 2-26 Å band. However these changes were wavelength-dependent, as shown, in a model-independent way, in Figure 1, where we plot the ratio between the MEG00 and MEG99 spectra.

This ratio clearly shows that the source brightened by almost an order of magnitude in the soft band (above $`12`$ Å) and by much large factors in the hard band ($`\lambda \genfrac{}{}{0pt}{}{_<}{^{}}12\AA `$), so flattening considerably between the two observations. We note that most of the spikes present in this ratio correspond to 1-bin negative fluctuations in the very noise MEG99 spectrum (but see also next section).

Detailed fitting confirms the spectral variability shown by the ratio in Figure 1. We fitted simultaneously the fluxed MEG spectra of Mkn 421 in Sherpa, using a model consisting of a power law attenuated by interstellar absorption (whose hydrogen equivalent column density was constrained to be larger than the Galactic column along the line of sight: N$`{}_{H}{}^{}=1.45\times 10^{20}`$ cm-2, Elvis, Lockman & Wilkes, 1989). All the parameters were left free to vary independently between the two sets of data. The result of this fit is shown in Table 1 (where power law parameters have been converted into energy-fluxed spectra, in units of ph $`cm^2`$ s-1 keV-1, at 1 keV). Reported errors are at a 2-$`\sigma `$ level for 1 interesting parameter.

During both the observations the amount of neutral absorption is consistent with the Galactic one. The 0.5-6 keV beamed continuum of Mkn 421 flattened by $`\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{\Gamma }=0.64_{0.07}^{+0.18}`$ between the two observations, while brightening by a factor of $`19`$.

### 3.2. High Resolution Spectral Analysis

The presence of ionized gas in the blazar environment or along the line of sight, between us and the source, can be efficiently investigated at high spectral resolution, looking for narrow absorption and/or emission features in the soft X-ray band. In particular OVII and OVIII ions can imprint strong K$`\alpha `$ and K$`\beta `$ resonant (R) absorption lines at 21.602 (OVII K$`\alpha `$), 18.63 (OVII K$`\beta `$) and 18.97 Å (OVIII K$`\alpha `$) (rest frame), while strong intercombination (I) and forbidden (F) OVII K$`\alpha `$ emission is expected at 21.9 and 22.1 Å respectively. In Figure 2 we show the 18-24 Å portion of the MEG99 (upper panel) and MEG00 (lower panel) spectra of Mkn 421, along with their best fitting models (red curves). The spectra are binned by a factor of 10, which corresponds to a bin-width of $`\mathrm{\Delta }\lambda =0.05`$ Å (i.e. R = 400 at 20 Å). No clear absorption or emission line is visible in the MEG00 spectrum. However, the MEG99 spectrum shows both negative and positive deviations from the best fitting continuum model that involve several adjacent bins and so are likely to be true, relatively broad, emission and absorption lines. We then tried to fit the most significant ($`2\sigma `$ per bin) of these features with single positive and/or negative gaussians, with all parameters (i.e. normalization, position of the center and full width half maximum) free to vary. We fitted up to four gaussians to this portion of the spectrum, three in absorption, and one in emission, and tentatively identified two different absorbing/emitting systems of ionized gas with oxygen mostly distributed between OVII and OIX species. The lines identification is based on their relative positions, and we identify a system if more than one line from different atomic transitions is detected. None of these two systems is seen in the MEG00 spectrum of MKn 421 (Fig. 2, lower panel), implying variability of the physical conditions of the reprocessing material, and so strongly suggesting its close association with the AGN environment. At the redshift of Mkn 421 (cz = 9234 km s-1, Ulrich M.H. et al., 1975, ApJ, 198, 261) the resonant OVII K$`\alpha `$ falls at 22.267 Å. For our two systems we measure, $`\lambda _1(OVIIK\alpha )=21.806`$ Å and $`\lambda _2(OVIIK\alpha )=20.153`$ Å. If these identification are correct, then the two absorbing/emitting systems are outflowing from the central source with velocities of $`v_{out}^1=6600`$, and $`v_{out}^2=28500`$ km s-1 respectively, maybe preceeding the jet along our line of sight. If this is the case, the disappearing of these systems during the outburst phase of Mkn 421 can be self-consistently accounted for by a sharp increase of the ionization degree of the gas due to photoionization by the beamed continuum emission.

### 3.3. Searching for the WIGM

High resolution HST-GHRS observations of Mkn 421 show at least three strong absorption lines between 1220 and 1260 Å (Penton, Shull & Stocke, 2000, Penton, Stocke & Shull, 2000). One of these lines is identified as H Ly$`\alpha `$ absorption produced by an intervening intergalactic system at a redshift of cz = $`3035\pm 6`$ km s-1, close to three galaxies at gas-to-galaxy distances of 2.142, 3.98 and 4.119 h$`{}_{}{}^{1}{}_{70}{}^{}`$ Mpc. The Doppler parameter associated to this line is $`b=35\pm 5`$ km s-1, and, if the broadening is due only to thermal motion of the protons in the gas, it corresponds to a gas temperature of $`T=(1.4\pm 0.4)\times 10^5K`$, and so to mildly ionized gas in thermal equilibrium. This Warm phase of the Intergalactic Medium (WIGM) is predicted by hydrodinamical simulation for the formation of the large-scale structures in the Universe (e.g. Hellsten et al., 1998; Cen & Ostriker 1999, Davé et al., 2000), and it is thought to host the majority of the baryonic matter in the local Universe (z$`\genfrac{}{}{0pt}{}{_<}{^{}}1`$). However, due to the lack of adequate resolution and high-contrast spectra in the soft X-ray regime, this fundamental baryonic component of the Universe, has so far escaped identification.

The Doppler parameter for oxygen ions in the intervening system along the line of sight to Mkn 421, is 4 times smaller than that measured for hydrogen, so suggesting full width half maxima of putative oxygen lines of the order of 10 km s-1. These are far narrower than the resolution of the MEG99 and MEG00 spectra plotted in Fig. 2, and so, ionized-oxygen absorption associated with this intervening system may well have escaped detection at those resolution. To detect such a WIGM cloud, a resolution of R $`\genfrac{}{}{0pt}{}{_>}{^{}}1000`$ is needed. The full resolution of the MEG at 20 Å is of R$`1000`$, and an ungroupped MEG spectrum has a bin-width of 0.005 Å(i.e. $`70`$ km s-1 at 22 Å), which then allows for 4 non-independent channels for resolution element. At these resolution the strongest lines from the WIGM can begin to show-up in spectra with adequate signal to noise ratio in the continuum (Nicastro et al., 2001b, in preparation). The full resolution MEG00 spectrum of Mkn 421 has $`1015`$ counts in the continuum at $`20`$ Å, and so can be used to investigate the presence of such features.

Based on the observed properties of the UV Ly$`\alpha `$ system, we ran our resonant absorption models (Nicastro, Fiore and Matt, 1999) for a cloud of collisionally ionized gas with a temperature of $`T=1.4\times 10^5`$ K, to predict what lines we should expect in the MEG00 spectrum of Mkn 421, and at which sensitivity level. We included the photoionization contribution by the diffuse EUV-to-X-ray background at the redshift of the intervening Ly$`\alpha `$ system of Mkn 421 (Nicastro et al., 2001b). The relative contribution of photoionization depends, of course, on the baryonic density in the cloud. At the redshift of this cloud the photoionization contribution becomes important for $`n_b\genfrac{}{}{0pt}{}{_<}{^{}}10^5`$ cm-3. At higher density the dominating mechanism is collisional ionization and the gas is only mildly ionized with oxygen distributed between OIV and OVI. At these densities no line is expected to show up in high resolution X-ray spectra. For gas density of $`n_b10^6`$ cm-3, OVII has its maximum, and strong OVII K$`\alpha `$ and K$`\beta `$ are expected at $`\lambda =21.821`$ Å and $`\lambda =18.819\AA `$. Finally for densities lower than $`n_b10^7`$ photoionization dominates and the gas is almost fully ionized, with the oxygen mainly in its OVIII-OIX stages. In this case resonant OVIII K$`\alpha `$ at 19.162 Å is predicted.

We then examined the full resolution MEG00 spectrum looking for these features. We did not find any significant absorption line at the expected wavelengths, and put the following $`1\sigma `$ upper limits on the observed equivalent widths: EW(OVIIK$`\alpha `$) $`>15`$ mÅ, EW(OVIIK$`\beta `$) $`>3`$ mÅ, and EW(OVIIIK$`\alpha `$) $`>3`$ mÅ. These are still compatible with a WIGM filament with typical metallicities of $`Z=0.010.1Z_{}`$, equivalent hydrogen column densities of $`N_H=10^{18}10^{20}`$ cm-2, and densities lower than $`10^5`$ cm-3. Higher signal to noise observations are then needed to definitively address this important issue and constrain the volume and column densities of the local Ly$`\alpha `$ filament along the line of sight to Mkn 421, which in turn would allow one to estimate the baryonic mass contained in this filament.

## 4. Summary

In this paper we presented the first high resolution X-ray spectra of Mkn 421, taken with the Chandra-HETG on November 5, 1999 and May 29, 2000. The main results of our analysis can be summarized as follows: (a) the 0.5-6 keV continuum of Mkn 421 flattened by $`\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{\Gamma }=0.64_{0.07}^{+0.18}`$ between the two Chandra observations, while brightening by a factor of $`19`$. (b) Two absorbing/emitting systems of highly ionized gas have been tentatively identified in the low-state MEG spectrum of Mkn 421 through the detection of absorption and emission K$`\alpha `$ lines from OVII and OVIII ions. These two systems are not seen in the high-state spectrum of Mkn 421, so suggesting that they were intrinsic to the nuclear environment and became fully ionized, and so transparent, as the source brightened. If this interpretation is correct, the two systems were both outflowing from the central source with velocities of 6600 and 28500 km s-1, maybe preceeding the jet along our line of sight. (c) Finally we demonstrated that both very high spectral resolution and high signal to noise data are required to detect high-ionization absorption lines from the WIGM, and used the high signal to noise MEG spectrum of Mkn 421 at full resolution to put limits on the equivalent widths of the predicted OVII and OVIII K$`\alpha `$ and K$`\beta `$ resonance absorption lines that are likely to be associated to the intervening H Ly$`\alpha `$ system along the line of sight to this source.

## References

Cen R. & Ostriker J.P., 1999, ApJ, 514, 1.
Davé R., et al., 2000, submitted to ApJ, astro-ph/0007217. Elvis M., Wilkes B.J. & Lockman F.J., 1989, AJ, 97, 777.
Fossati G., et al., 2000, ApJ, 541, 166.
Hellsten U., Gnedin N.Y. & Miralda-Escudé J., 1998, ApJ, 509, 56.
Malizia A., et al., 2000, MNRAS, 321, 123.
Nicastro F., Fiore F. & Matt G., 1999, ApJ, 517, 108.
Penton S.V., Shull J.M. & Stocke J.T., 2000, ApJ, 544, 150.
Penton S.V., Stocke J.T. & Shull J.M., 2000, ApJS, 130, 121.
Ulrich M.H., et al., 1975, ApJ, 198, 261.


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# BEAMING IN GAMMA-RAY BURSTS: EVIDENCE FOR A STANDARD ENERGY RESERVOIR

## Acknowledgements

Our research is supported by NASA and NSF. JSB thanks the Fannie & John Hertz Foundation for their generous support, AD holds a Millikan Postdoctoral Fellowship in Experimental Physics, TJG holds a Fairchild Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship in Observational Astronomy, DER holds a Hubble Fellowship and RS holds a Fairchild Foundation Senior Fellowship in Theoretical Astrophysics. The National Radio Astronomy Observatory is a facility of the National Science Foundation operated under cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc. We thank the staff at the Keck and Palomar Observatoroes for their expert help during many observing runs. The W. M. Keck Observatory is operated by the California Association for Research in Astronomy, a scientific partnership among the California Institute of Technology, the University of California and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. It was made possible by the generous financial support of the W. M. Keck Foundation.


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# References

When protons are probed by electron beams at energies of tens or hundreds of GeV, and at correspondingly large momentum transfers ($`Q^2`$), the scattering probability (summarised in the structure function $`F_2(W^2,Q^2)`$ where $`W`$ is the mass of the hadronic system) is rather simple. It exhibits the well known property of scale invariance where $`F_2F_2(W^2/Q^2)`$, with small corrections that are well understood from perturbative QCD. Furthermore, the magnitude of $`F_2(W^2/Q^2)`$ is proportional to the sum of the squares of the (quark and antiquark) constituent charges.

Before the advent of QCD, Bloom and Gilman discovered  an empirical property of the data, namely that the electroproduction of $`N^{}`$’s at lower energies and momentum transfers averages smoothly around the scaling curve measured at large momentum transfers. During the subsequent three decades, and especially following the advent of quantum chromodynamics, this enigma has received considerable theoretical attention . The literature has primarily focussed on understanding how the $`Q^2`$ dependence of resonance excitation can conspire to mimic the $`x^{}\frac{Q^2}{W^2+Q^2}`$ dependence of the deep inelastic data.

Recent high precision data from Jefferson Lab  have shown that this duality is observed for both proton and neutron targets, at least for spin averaged scattering, and that for the proton it occurs locally, i.e., resonance by resonance. This has sparked a renewed interest in the origin of low energy duality, including a recent analysis in the context of a large-$`N_c`$-based relativistic quark model . This work focussed on the dynamics required for a confined struck quark to behave as though it were free, but remarked in passing on the additional conditions on quark charges and dynamics required for duality to be realized locally. These data and the work of Ref.  have led us to focus in this paper on the latter issue, namely the circumstances whereby $`F_2(x^{})`$ \- whose magnitude is in proportion to the sum of the squares of the (quark and antiquark) constituent charges - can in general match with the excitation of individual resonances which is driven by the coherently summed square of constituent charges.

In this note we draw attention to the necessary conditions for this duality to occur in general. We illustrate the essential physical principle in a simple pedagogical model of a system of two spinless electrically charged consitutents. This is then generalised to the more realistic case of three spinning quarks. Implications for both spin-dependent and spin-independent structure functions for proton and neutron targets will be displayed, local deviations from duality are predicted, and the possibility that there could be “precocious” factorisation in semi-inclusive hadroproduction is discussed. These ideas promise a lively program of experimental investigation for CEBAF.

A Simple Model

Consider a composite state made of two equal mass scalars, “quarks” $`q_1,q_2`$ with charges $`e_1,e_2`$ respectively at positions $`\stackrel{}{r}_{1,2}`$. The ground state wavefunction is $`\psi _0(\stackrel{}{r})`$, where $`\stackrel{}{r}_{1,2}=\stackrel{}{R}\pm \stackrel{}{r}/2`$ defines the centre of mass and internal spatial degrees of freedom. A photon of momentum $`\stackrel{}{q}`$ is absorbed with an amplitude proportional to $`\mathrm{\Sigma }_ie_iexp(i\stackrel{}{q}\stackrel{}{r}_i)`$, which excites a “resonant” state with angular momentum L, described by the wavefunction $`\psi _L(\stackrel{}{r})`$.

Focussing on the internal coordinate $`\stackrel{}{r}`$, the transition amplitude is proportional to

$`(e_1+e_2)(exp(i\stackrel{}{q}\stackrel{}{r}/2)+exp(i\stackrel{}{q}\stackrel{}{r}/2))+(e_1e_2)(exp(i\stackrel{}{q}\stackrel{}{r}/2)exp(i\stackrel{}{q}\stackrel{}{r}/2))`$

The expansion, $`exp(iqz/2)=\mathrm{\Sigma }_Li^LP_L(cos\theta )j_L(qr/2)(2L+1)`$, projects out the even and odd partial waves such that the amplitude is proportional to

$$M𝑑rr^2\psi _L^{}(r)\psi _0(r)j_L(qr/2)[(e_1+e_2)\delta _{L=even}+(e_1e_2)\delta _{L=odd}].$$
(1)
The resulting structure function, summed over resonance excitations, will have the form

$$F(q)\underset{n=0}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}[F_{2n}(q)(e_1+e_2)^2+F_{2n+1}(q)(e_1e_2)^2]$$
(2)
which in general will be proportional to $`e_1^2+e_2^2`$ only if the odd and even $`L`$ states sum to equal strengths.

We now derive the circumstances under which this can occur. Consider the $`uu`$, $`(ud\pm du)/\sqrt{2}`$ and $`dd`$ composite systems subject to the following process: $`W^++(dd)(ud\pm du)/\sqrt{2}W^{}+(uu)`$. The overall Bose symmetry of the system will constrain the $`ud+()du`$ intermediate states to have $`L=2n`$ ($`L=2n+1`$) respectively. Following analogous steps to those above, the amplitude will have the form

$$A\left(W^+(q)+(dd)W^{}(q)+(uu)\right)\underset{n=0}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}[F_{2n}(q)F_{2n+1}(q)]$$
(3)
In this case the $`t`$channel involves transfer of exotic quantum numbers (charge 2, corresponding to constituents $`uu\overline{d}\overline{d}`$) and in the absence of such states, the amplitude must vanish according to the theory of hadronic duality , and as is seen consistently in hadronic data. This forces

$$\underset{n=0}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}F_{2n}(q)\underset{n=0}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}F_{2n+1}(q)$$
(4)
which with Eqn.(2) leads to

$$F(q)\underset{n=0}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}F_n(q)(e_1^2+e_2^2)$$
(5)
whereby the square of the sum has become the sum of the squares.

This simple example exposes the physics rather clearly. The excitation amplitudes to resonance states contain both diagonal ($`e_1^2+e_2^2)`$ and higher twist terms ($`\pm 2e_1e_2`$) in the flavour basis. The former set add constructively for any $`L`$ and the sum over the complete set of states can now logically give the deep inelastic curve ; the latter enter with opposite phases for even and odd $`L`$ and destructively interfere. The critical feature that this exposes is that at least one complete set of resonances of each symmetry-type has been summed over.

In a non-relativistic SHO model it is possible to see how the above conspiracy arises. The contribution to $`F(q)`$ from the $`n(L+2k)`$ set of degenerate levels ($`k`$ being the radial and $`L`$ the orbital quantum number) is $`F_n(q)(n!)^1(q^2R^2)^ne^{q^2R^2}`$ from which one can immediately see that $`\mathrm{\Sigma }_nF_n(q)=1`$. It is interesting to note that any individual contribution, $`F_n`$, reaches its maximum value when $`q^2R^2=n`$, at which point $`F_n=F_{n1}`$. This coincidence is true for all juxtaposed partial waves at their peaks, which gives a rapid approach to the equality of $`F_{odd}`$ and $`F_{even}`$. Analytically in the SHO one finds

$$F(q)(e_1^2+e_2^2)+2e_1e_2e^{4q^2R^2}$$
(6)
whereby the coherent (duality-violating) terms vanish like the fourth power of the elastic form factor.

SHO Quark Model

This pedagogical example contains all the essential physics needed to understand the more realistic case of the harmonic oscillator quark model. The example of spinless constituents above involved only electric multipoles, whereas introduction of spin involves both electric and magnetic multipole contributions. The symmetric and antisymmetric states generalise, respectively, to the $`\mathrm{𝟓𝟔}`$ and $`\mathrm{𝟕𝟎}`$ representations of $`SU(6)_{flavorspin}`$. The destructive interference in the $`s`$channel sum is as before and is now correlated with the overall Fermi antisymmetry of the $`SU(6)\times SU(3)_{color}\times \psi (r)`$ wavefunctions. The quark-parton model scaling curves proportional to $`\mathrm{\Sigma }_ie_i^2`$ then obtain if $`F_1(\mathrm{𝟓𝟔})F_1(\mathrm{𝟕𝟎})`$ and if the interaction of the photon with the magnetic moment of the quarks dominates.

This numerology was demonstrated long ago in Ref. , which exhibited the decomposition of the structure functions for $`\gamma +N`$ hadrons when the $`\gamma `$ and $`N`$ spins are antiparallel ($`\sigma _{1/2}`$) or parallel ($`\sigma _{3/2}`$) (i.e., when the net spin projection along the initial photon direction is $`1/2;3/2`$). The relative strengths of the supermultiplets for the case where magnetic interactions dominate are listed in Table 1 from which $`g_1^{p,n}\sigma _{1/2}\sigma _{3/2}`$ and $`F_1^{p,n}\sigma _{1/2}+\sigma _{3/2}`$ can be constructed. The familiar leading twist ratios are obtained immediately from an equal weighting of the $`\mathrm{𝟓𝟔}`$ and $`\mathrm{𝟕𝟎}`$ contributions: $`F^n/F^p=2/3`$; $`A^pg_1^p/F_1^p=5/9`$; $`A^n=0`$.

Table 1: Relative Photoproduction Strengths in the Quark Model

$`\begin{array}{ccccc}& & & & \\ SU(6):\hfill & \sigma _{1/2}^p& \sigma _{3/2}^p& \sigma _{1/2}^n& \sigma _{3/2}^n\\ & & & & \\ \mathrm{𝟓𝟔}\hfill & 11& 6& 6& 6\\ \mathrm{𝟕𝟎}\hfill & 10& 0& 3& 3\end{array}`$

These results imply that for $`F_1^{p,n}`$ and $`g_1^p`$ duality will not be realised unless the $`\mathrm{𝟓𝟔}`$ and $`\mathrm{𝟕𝟎}`$ states ($`N,\mathrm{\Delta }(1236)`$ and the negative parity $`N^{},\mathrm{\Delta }^{}`$ with $`W1.8`$ GeV) have been integrated over. However, for $`g_1^n`$ there is the tantalising possibility that duality may be more localised as the $`\mathrm{𝟓𝟔}`$ alone, consisting of $`N,\mathrm{\Delta }(1236)`$ already satisfies $`𝑑Wg_1^n(W,q)=0`$ in this idealised model, and the dominance of magnetic interactions is also realised for the neutron target. In reality SU(6) is broken, in particular by the differing masses of the $`N`$ and $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$ due to higher twist one-gluon-exchange hyperfine effects in QCD. Hence it will be interesting to investigate these general ideas in explicit quark models to predict the detailed approach to duality in a world where SU(6) is broken. Some qualitative ideas on the $`x1`$ dependence of $`F^n/F^p`$ and $`A^{n,p}`$ already exist in the literature; with the above insights into how the leading twist results relate to the symmetries of the excited hadronic states, explicit calculations summing over the above resonances and incorporating SU(6) breaking in QCD can now be developed and their implications for CEBAF in particular explored.

When we break Table 1 into its $`SU(3)\times SU(2)`$ content, we see that for the proton duality may be satisfied by $`W1.6`$ GeV. This is because the $`\mathrm{𝟕𝟎};^\mathrm{𝟒}\mathrm{𝟖}`$ and $`\mathrm{𝟕𝟎};^\mathrm{𝟐}\mathrm{𝟏𝟎}`$, which are at $`1.7`$ GeV, make negligible contributions (Table 2). For neutron targets, by contrast, one must include the $`\mathrm{𝟕𝟎};^\mathrm{𝟒}\mathrm{𝟖}`$, which necessitates integrating up to 1.8 GeV. This region above 1.7 GeV also contains $`\mathrm{𝟓𝟔}`$ at $`N=2`$ in the harmonic oscillator. Thus we anticipate systematic deviations from local duality, in accord with the new data from Ref. . These data showed that the $`S_{11}(1530)`$ region ($`\mathrm{𝟕𝟎};^\mathrm{𝟐}\mathrm{𝟖}`$) and the $`F_{15}(1680)`$ ($`\mathrm{𝟓𝟔};^\mathrm{𝟐}\mathrm{𝟖}`$) are enhanced relative to the deep inelastic scaling curve for proton targets. As Table 2 shows, the 70 contribution for a proton target is concentrated in the $`\mathrm{𝟕𝟎}^\mathrm{𝟐}\mathrm{𝟖}`$, hence the enhancement seen in Ref. .

Table 2: Relative Photoproduction Strengths of $`\mathrm{𝟓𝟔},\mathrm{𝟎}^+`$ and $`\mathrm{𝟕𝟎},\mathrm{𝟏}^{}`$ Multiplets

$`\begin{array}{ccccccc}& & & & & & \\ SU(6):\hfill & [\mathrm{𝟓𝟔},\mathrm{𝟎}^+]^\mathrm{𝟐}\mathrm{𝟖}& [\mathrm{𝟓𝟔},\mathrm{𝟎}^+]^\mathrm{𝟒}\mathrm{𝟏𝟎}& [\mathrm{𝟕𝟎},\mathrm{𝟏}^{}]^\mathrm{𝟐}\mathrm{𝟖}& [\mathrm{𝟕𝟎},\mathrm{𝟏}^{}]^\mathrm{𝟒}\mathrm{𝟖}& [\mathrm{𝟕𝟎},\mathrm{𝟏}^{}]^\mathrm{𝟐}\mathrm{𝟏𝟎}& total\\ & & & & & & \\ F_1^p\hfill & 9& 8& 9& 0& 1& 27\\ F_1^n\hfill & 4& 8& 1& 4& 1& 18\\ g_1^p\hfill & 9& 4& 9& 0& 1& 15\\ g_1^n\hfill & 4& 4& 1& 2& 1& 0\end{array}`$

In contrast to the proton case, this table predicts that for neutron targets, the $`S_{11}(1530)`$ region ($`[\mathrm{𝟕𝟎},\mathrm{𝟏}^{}]^\mathrm{𝟐}\mathrm{𝟖}`$) will fall $`\mathrm{𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐰}`$ the scaling curve. The third resonance region, containing $`[\mathrm{𝟕𝟎},\mathrm{𝟏}^{}]^\mathrm{𝟒}\mathrm{𝟖}`$ as well as $`[\mathrm{𝟓𝟔},\mathrm{𝟐}^+]^\mathrm{𝟐}\mathrm{𝟖}`$ and $`[\mathrm{𝟓𝟔},\mathrm{𝟐}^+]^\mathrm{𝟒}\mathrm{𝟏𝟎}`$, is expected to be locally enhanced over the scaling curve for both proton and neutron targets. Note that to order $`q^2`$ the $`[\mathrm{𝟓𝟔},\mathrm{𝟎}^+]`$ and $`[\mathrm{𝟕𝟎},\mathrm{𝟏}^{}]`$ multiplets are sufficient to realise duality. Formally the analyis can be extended to higher $`q^2`$ by including correspondingly higher multiplets; however, the credibility of the non-relativistic harmonic oscillator may become questionable. These predictions will be interesting tests of our analysis.

Inclusion of both magnetic and electric interactions shows that the duality is non-trivial. Inasmuch as the magnetic terms dominate at large $`Q^2`$ in the quark model, duality can be realised for the dominantly transverse scattering of the deep inelastic region. For the longitudinal structure function, $`F_L`$, duality is again realised, with the breakdown into $`\mathrm{𝟓𝟔}`$ and $`\mathrm{𝟕𝟎}`$ as in Table 3:

Table 3: Relative Longitudinal Production Strengths, as in Table 2

$`\begin{array}{ccccccc}& & & & & & \\ SU(6):\hfill & [\mathrm{𝟓𝟔},\mathrm{𝟎}^+]^\mathrm{𝟐}\mathrm{𝟖}& [\mathrm{𝟓𝟔},\mathrm{𝟎}^+]^\mathrm{𝟒}\mathrm{𝟏𝟎}& [\mathrm{𝟕𝟎},\mathrm{𝟏}^{}]^\mathrm{𝟐}\mathrm{𝟖}& [\mathrm{𝟕𝟎},\mathrm{𝟏}^{}]^\mathrm{𝟒}\mathrm{𝟖}& [\mathrm{𝟕𝟎},\mathrm{𝟏}^{}]^\mathrm{𝟐}\mathrm{𝟏𝟎}& total\\ & & & & & & \\ F_L^p\hfill & 1& 0& 1& 0& 1& 3\\ F_L^n\hfill & 0& 0& 1& 0& 1& 2\end{array}`$

However, for $`F_1(Q^20)`$ both electric and magnetic multipoles contribute and interfere with phases determined by the $`J^P`$ and the spin-$`L_z`$ correlations in the various $`\mathrm{𝟓𝟔}`$ and $`\mathrm{𝟕𝟎}`$ states. This causes dramatic $`Q^2`$ dependence in polarisation asymmetries  and enables the connection to the Drell-Hearn-Gerasimov sum rule at $`Q^2=0`$. Thus we predict that Bloom-Gilman duality must fail at $`Q^2`$ where the electric and magnetic multipoles have comparable strengths. Calculations in simplistic models successfully predicted that this would be at $`Q^20.5`$ GeV2; these results now merit, and are receiving, more detailed examination . The data from Ref.  show that even as low as $`Q^2=0.5`$ (GeV/c)2 the integrated strengths of spectra at fixed $`Q^2`$ are within $`10\%`$ of the corresponding integrals over the scaling curve. It will be interesting to verify the predicted breakdown at lower $`Q^2`$ and also to test if duality in the magnetic multipoles holds all the way to $`Q^2=0`$.

A Possible Extension to Fragmentation Functions

Our conclusion that the destructive interference between hadronic states of different symmetries is a critical feature of duality, can be applied to semi-inclusive hadroproduction, such as $`\gamma (q)N\pi +X`$. In the quark parton model in the ideal valence quark region when $`u(x)=2d(x)`$ and at large z, where $`D_u^\pi ^{}/D_u^{\pi ^+}0`$, it is trivial to obtain relations such as $`F(\gamma p\pi ^++X)/F(\gamma p\pi ^{}+X)=8`$ (= $`1/2`$ for neutron targets) . The coherent picture described above can be applied to these processes. We find that destructive interference leads to factorisation and to duality, with for example

$$F(\gamma p\pi ^++X)\underset{(W^{}=\mathrm{𝟓𝟔},\mathrm{𝟕𝟎})}{}F(\gamma p\pi ^+W^{})$$
(7)
where

$$F(\gamma N\pi ^+W^{})=\underset{(N^{},N^{})}{}F_{(\gamma NN^{})}D_{(N^{}N^{}\pi )}\underset{q}{}e_q^2q(x)D_{q\pi }(z)$$
(8)
where $`D_{q\pi }`$ is the quark $`\pi `$ fragmentation function, $`F_{(\gamma NN^{})}`$ is the $`\gamma NN^{}`$ transition form factor, and $`D_{(N^{}N^{}\pi )}`$ is a function representing the decay $`N^{}N^{}\pi `$ where $`W^{}`$ is the invariant mass of the final state $`N^{}`$. The breakdown of $`F(\gamma N\pi W^{})`$ into the individual states in the supermultiplets for the final $`W^{}`$ states is shown in Table 4:

Table 4: $`SU(6)`$ and $`SU(3)\times SU(2)`$ Multiplet Contributions to Inclusive $`\pi ^\pm `$ Photproduction

$`\begin{array}{ccccc}& & & & \\ W^{}\hfill & \gamma p\pi ^++W^{}& \gamma p\pi ^{}+W^{}& \gamma n\pi ^++W^{}& \gamma n\pi ^{}+W^{}\\ & & & & \\ \mathrm{𝟓𝟔};\mathrm{𝟖}\hfill & 100& 0& 0& 25\\ \mathrm{𝟓𝟔};\mathrm{𝟏𝟎}\hfill & 32& 24& 96& 8\\ & & & & \\ \mathrm{𝟕𝟎};^\mathrm{𝟐}\mathrm{𝟖}\hfill & 64& 0& 0& 16\\ \mathrm{𝟕𝟎};^\mathrm{𝟒}\mathrm{𝟖}\hfill & 16& 0& 0& 4\\ \mathrm{𝟕𝟎};\mathrm{𝟏𝟎}\hfill & 4& 3& 12& 1\\ & & & & \\ TOTAL\hfill & 216& 27& 108& 54\end{array}`$

Note the self-consistency of the results: $`F(\gamma p(\pi ^++\pi ^{}))/F(\gamma n(\pi ^++\pi ^{}))`$ recovers the 3/2 ratio familiar for the “total” $`F^p/F^n`$. We see also that duality may be obtained at large $`Q^2,W^2`$ when $`W^{}`$ is integrated over the range up to 1.7 GeV ($`\mathrm{𝟓𝟔}+\mathrm{𝟕𝟎}`$). We see also that to a good approximation it may ensue for the $`\mathrm{𝟓𝟔}`$ alone when Born terms and the $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$ are included. To the extent that this is true, one may expect factorisation and approximate duality at small $`Q^2,W^23`$GeV2. A possible example of this was noticed long ago in Ref  for $`\gamma p(n)\pi \mathrm{\Delta }`$ when $`0.2|t|1`$GeV2.

In $`\gamma N\pi +W^{}`$, the above Table strictly applies only to the imaginary part of the amplitudes. One should in principle also consider $`u`$channel diagrams, where the $`\pi `$ is emitted prior to the photoabsorbtion. These diagrams would give an inversion of the ratios for $`\pi ^+/\pi ^{}`$. Ref.  has shown, via fixed $`t`$ dispersion relations, that at least for small $`Q^2`$, the $`s`$ and $`u`$-channel resonances tend to cancel in the real part, whereby the charge ratios are preserved. There is some indication from data on photoproduction that this is the case empirically , but the dependence of these processes on $`Q^2`$ needs to be checked in explicit models and the precision of these ratios tested with data from CEBAF. We hope to return to these questions elsewhere.

Finally, we comment on a characteristic feature of one particle inclusive data: the production of jets. In this resonance duality approach, for any individual partial wave $`L`$ there is a specified angular distribution. Upon summing over $`L`$, the jet characteristics of the quark parton model arise as a result of the constructive interference of spherical harmonics in the near forward and destructive interference in the backward hemisphere . As may be anticipated from the uncertainty principle, after summing over $`L`$ one expects an angular spread of the jet given by $`\mathrm{\Delta }\varphi h/L_{max}`$.

In this letter we have outlined the general features of a programme to understand not only duality, but also to define the “semi-local” averaging procedures that must be employed to see duality at low energies. We shall report elsewhere on detailed predictions that may be tested in the forthcoming experimental programs for CEBAF at Jefferson Laboratory. If we are successful in defining these averaging procedures, it would have a great impact on our ability to measure structure functions in kinematic regions that hitherto have been believed to be inaccessible.

Acknowledgements

We are indebted to W. Melnitchouk, and also to experimentalists at Jefferson Laboratory for discussions of their data. FEC is indebted to Jefferson Laboratory for hospitality and support. This work is supported, in part, by the European Community Human Mobility Program Eurodafne, contract NCT98-0169 and by DOE contract DE-AC05-84ER40150 under which the Southeastern Universities Research Associates (SURA) operates the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (Jefferson Lab).


text:
# On the Saddle Point Property of Abresch-Langer Curves under the Curve Shortening Flow

## 1. Formulation and Normalization

First of all, let us reformulate the problem in terms of support functions of the curves. We would like to study the initial value problem of solving for $`h(\theta ,t)`$,

$$\{\begin{array}{cc}\hfill h_t(\theta ,t)& =\frac{1}{h(\theta ,t)+h_{\theta \theta }(\theta ,t)},\hfill \\ \hfill h(\theta ,0)& =h_{m,n}(\theta )+\epsilon .\hfill \end{array}$$

In order to compare the problem with the situation at $`\epsilon =0`$, we replace $`h_{m,n}+\epsilon `$ with

$$h_\epsilon (\theta )=\left(1+\frac{L}{m\pi }\epsilon +\epsilon ^2\right)^{1/2}\left(h_{m,n}(\theta )+\epsilon \right),$$

where $`L`$ is the arc length of $`\gamma _{m,n}`$. Next, the algebraic area of the curve $`\gamma `$ can be determined by the support function $`h`$, namely,

$$A(h)=\frac{1}{2}_0^{2m\pi }h(h+h_{\theta \theta })\mathrm{d}\theta .$$

Then, $`A(h_{m,n})=A(h_\epsilon )=m\pi `$ with the above choice of initial support function. Let $`h(\theta ,t)`$ be the periodic solution to the evolution equation for $`\theta [0,2m\pi ]`$ and $`t0`$,

(3)
$$\{\begin{array}{cc}\hfill h_t(\theta ,t)& =\frac{1}{h(\theta ,t)+h_{\theta \theta }(\theta ,t)},\hfill \\ \hfill h(\theta ,0)& =h_\epsilon (\theta ).\hfill \end{array}$$

We then have

$`{\displaystyle \frac{A(h(\mathbf{},t))}{t}}`$ $`={\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}{\displaystyle _0^{2m\pi }}h_t(h+h_{\theta \theta })+h(h_t+h_{t\theta \theta })\mathrm{d}\theta `$
$`={\displaystyle _0^{2m\pi }}h_t(h+h_{\theta \theta })\text{after twice integrating by parts,}`$
$`={\displaystyle _0^{2m\pi }}(1)=2m\pi .`$
In other words, $`A(h)=A_02m\pi t=m\pi (12t)`$. We further normalize the flow by letting

$$\stackrel{~}{h}(\theta ,t)=\frac{1}{\sqrt{12t}}h(\theta ,t)$$

and changing of variables from $`t`$ to $`\tau `$ such that $`{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{d}\tau }{\mathrm{d}t}}=1/(12t)`$. We have the following initial value problem for $`\theta [0,2m\pi ]`$ and $`\tau 0`$,

(4)
$$\{\begin{array}{cc}\hfill \stackrel{~}{h}_\tau (\theta ,\tau )& =\stackrel{~}{\kappa }(\theta ,\tau )+\stackrel{~}{h}(\theta ,\tau ),\hfill \\ \hfill \stackrel{~}{h}(\theta ,0)& =h_\epsilon (\theta ).\hfill \end{array}$$

As long as $`A(h)>0`$, (4) is equivalent to (3). This is true in particular if $`h>0`$. Under this formulation, $`h_{m,n}`$ is a stationary solution to (4).

Let $`\kappa `$ and $`\stackrel{~}{\kappa }`$ denote the curvatures of the curves with support functions $`h`$ and $`\stackrel{~}{h}`$ respectively. Then they satisfy the following equations, which correspond to equations (3) and (4) respectively,

(5) $`\kappa _t`$ $`=\kappa ^2(\kappa _{\theta \theta }+\kappa ),`$
(6) $`\stackrel{~}{\kappa }_\tau `$ $`=\stackrel{~}{\kappa }^2\left(\stackrel{~}{\kappa }+\stackrel{~}{\kappa }_{\theta \theta }\right)\stackrel{~}{\kappa }.`$
The details of the discussion in terms of support function can be referred to \[CZ\].

## 2. Outward Perturbation

In this section, we will deal with the case that $`\epsilon >0`$. This corresponds to that the initial curve is a small outward perturbation of an Abresch-Langer self-similar curve.

###### Lemma 1.

Let $`\epsilon >0`$ and $`h(\theta ,t)`$ be a $`\frac{2m\pi }{n}`$-periodic solution to initial value problem (3). Then

$$\underset{\theta }{\mathrm{max}}h(\theta ,t)=h(0,t);\underset{\theta }{\mathrm{min}}h(\theta ,t)=h(m\pi /n,t);$$

and, $`h`$ is decreasing for $`\theta [0,m\pi /n]`$. Furthermore, let $`\kappa `$ be the curvature of the curve supported by $`h`$, then $`\mathrm{max}_\theta \kappa (\theta ,t)=\kappa (0,t)`$ and $`\mathrm{min}_\theta \kappa (\theta ,t)=\kappa (m\pi /n,t)`$.

###### Proof.

Firstly, for all $`k1`$, $`_\theta ^k(h_\epsilon )=\left(1+\frac{L}{m\pi }\epsilon +\epsilon ^2\right)^{1/2}_\theta ^k(h_{m,n}).`$ Therefore, $`h_\epsilon `$ and $`h_{m,n}`$ have the same critical points with the same the extremal properties. As a result,

$$\underset{\theta }{\mathrm{max}}h_\epsilon (\theta )=h_\epsilon (0),\underset{\theta }{\mathrm{min}}h_\epsilon (\theta )=h_\epsilon (m\pi /n)$$

and $`h_\epsilon `$ decreases for $`\theta [0,m\pi /n]`$. Secondly, from the evolution equation,

$$h_{t\theta }=\frac{1}{(h+h_{\theta \theta })^2}(h_\theta +h_{\theta \theta \theta }).$$

This shows that $`h_\theta `$ satisfies a parabolic equation, $`(h_\theta )_t=\kappa ^2(h_\theta )_{\theta \theta }+\kappa ^2(h_\theta )`$. By Sturm oscillation theorem, \[An2\], the number of zeros of $`h_\theta `$ is non-increasing in $`t`$. Thus, for all $`t>0`$, $`h`$ has at most 2 critical points in $`[0,m\pi /n]`$.

On the other hand, by symmetry of $`h`$ along $`\theta =0`$ and $`\theta =m\pi /n`$, we must have $`h_\theta =0`$ at the symmetry. Hence for each $`t`$, $`h(\theta ,t)`$ has exactly one maximum and one minimum for $`\theta [0,m\pi /n]`$. The desired results for $`h`$ follow easily.

The proof for $`\kappa `$ is similar by simply observing that

$$\kappa _\epsilon =\left(1+\frac{L}{m\pi }\epsilon +\epsilon ^2\right)^{1/2}\kappa _{m,n};$$

and the equation for $`\kappa _\theta `$ is $`(\kappa _\theta )_t=\kappa ^2(\kappa _\theta )_{\theta \theta }+2\kappa \kappa _\theta (\kappa _\theta )_\theta +3\kappa ^2\kappa _\theta `$. $`\mathrm{}`$

Remark. From the above proof, we indeed have some information about the shape of each leaf of the immersed curve defined by such $`h(\theta ,t)`$. In particular, both the longest distance (the tip of a leaf) and the shortest distance from the origin to the curve are attained along the same directions as those of $`\gamma _{m,n}`$.

###### Lemma 2.

For sufficiently small $`\epsilon >0`$, $`h_\epsilon (0)<h_{m,n}(0)`$ and $`h_\epsilon (m\pi /n)>h_{m,n}(m\pi /n)`$. Moreover, $`\kappa _\epsilon (0)<\kappa _{m,n}(0)`$ and $`\kappa _\epsilon (m\pi /n)>\kappa _{m,n}(m\pi /n)`$. All these inequalities reverse for $`\epsilon <0`$.

###### Proof.

By definition of $`h_\epsilon `$ and its expansion in $`\epsilon `$, we have

$$h_\epsilon =h_{m,n}+\left(1\frac{L}{2m\pi }h_{m,n}\right)\epsilon +O(\epsilon ^2).$$

Note that $`h_{m,n}=\kappa _{m,n}`$, so

$$_0^{2m\pi }\frac{1}{h_{m,n}}=_0^{2m\pi }\frac{1}{\kappa _{m,n}}=_0^{2m\pi }[h_{m,n}+(h_{m,n})_{\theta \theta }]=_0^{2m\pi }h_{m,n}=L.$$

Applying the Mean Value Theorem, there is a $`\theta _{}`$ such that $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{h_{m,n}(\theta _{})}}(2m\pi )=L.`$ According to the preceding proposition, $`h_{m,n}(0)>h_{m,n}(\theta _{})>h_{m,n}(m\pi /n)`$. As a consequence,

$$1\frac{L}{2m\pi }h_{m,n}(0)<0,1\frac{L}{2m\pi }h_{m,n}(m\pi /n)>0.$$

The inequalities can be obtained by putting the above into the expansion of $`h_\epsilon `$.

The proof for the inequalities of $`\kappa `$ is similar by observing that

$$\kappa _\epsilon =\kappa _{m,n}+\epsilon \kappa _{m,n}\left(\frac{L}{2m\pi }\kappa _{m,n}\right)+\text{O}(\epsilon ^2),$$

and applying the Mean Value Theorem to $`{\displaystyle _0^{2m\pi }}\kappa _{m,n}={\displaystyle _0^{2m\pi }}h_{m,n}=L`$. $`\mathrm{}`$

Thus in the case that $`\epsilon >0`$, it follows from the maximum principle, applied to (4) and (6), that there are positive uniform upper and lower bounds for $`\stackrel{~}{h}`$ and $`\stackrel{~}{\kappa }`$ for all $`\tau 0`$. As a consequence of parabolic regularity theory, their higher derivatives are also uniformly bounded. From these estimates, we infer the long time existence of (4) and (6).

###### Proposition 3.

As $`\tau \mathrm{}`$, the solution $`\stackrel{~}{h}`$ to equation (4) with $`\epsilon >0`$ approaches a stationary solution, which is either $`h_{m,n}`$ itself or the $`m`$-circle.

###### Proof.

We consider the entropy $`={\displaystyle _0^{2m\pi }}\mathrm{log}\stackrel{~}{\kappa }`$ for the normalized flow (6). Then

$`^{}(\tau )`$ $`={\displaystyle _0^{2m\pi }}{\displaystyle \frac{\stackrel{~}{\kappa }_\tau }{\stackrel{~}{\kappa }}}={\displaystyle _0^{2m\pi }}\left[\stackrel{~}{\kappa }\left(\stackrel{~}{\kappa }+\stackrel{~}{\kappa }_{\theta \theta }\right)1\right]`$
$`=2m\pi +u(\tau ),`$
where $`u(\tau )={\displaystyle _0^{2m\pi }}\stackrel{~}{\kappa }\left(\stackrel{~}{\kappa }+\stackrel{~}{\kappa }_{\theta \theta }\right).`$
$`u^{}(\tau )`$ $`={\displaystyle _0^{2m\pi }}\stackrel{~}{\kappa }_\tau \left(\stackrel{~}{\kappa }+\stackrel{~}{\kappa }_{\theta \theta }\right)+\stackrel{~}{\kappa }\left(\stackrel{~}{\kappa }_\tau +\stackrel{~}{\kappa }_{\theta \theta \tau }\right)`$
$`=2{\displaystyle _0^{2m\pi }}\stackrel{~}{\kappa }_\tau \left(\stackrel{~}{\kappa }+\stackrel{~}{\kappa }_{\theta \theta }\right)\text{using integration by parts}`$
$`=2{\displaystyle _0^{2m\pi }}\left[\stackrel{~}{\kappa }^2\left(\stackrel{~}{\kappa }+\stackrel{~}{\kappa }_{\theta \theta }\right)\stackrel{~}{\kappa }\right]\left(\stackrel{~}{\kappa }+\stackrel{~}{\kappa }_{\theta \theta }\right)`$
$`=2{\displaystyle _0^{2m\pi }}\stackrel{~}{\kappa }^2\left(\stackrel{~}{\kappa }+\stackrel{~}{\kappa }_{\theta \theta }\right)^22{\displaystyle _0^{2m\pi }}\stackrel{~}{\kappa }\left(\stackrel{~}{\kappa }+\stackrel{~}{\kappa }_{\theta \theta }\right)`$
$`{\displaystyle \frac{2}{m\pi }}u(\tau )\left(u(\tau )2m\pi \right).`$
Suppose there is a $`\tau _1`$ such that $`u(\tau _1)2m\pi `$. Then $`u(\tau )`$ blows up in finite time and so does $`(\tau )`$. This contradicts the boundedness of $``$. Thus, $`u(\tau )2m\pi `$ and $``$ is decreasing in $`\tau `$ as in the embedded case, \[GH\].

Using this property, we conclude that there is a sequence, after passing to a subsequence, $`\tau _j\mathrm{}`$ such that $`^{}(\tau _j)0`$. Thus, using the uniform bounds on $`\stackrel{~}{\kappa }`$, we see that $`\stackrel{~}{\kappa }_\tau 0`$ as $`\tau \mathrm{}`$ which in turns implies $`\stackrel{~}{\kappa }`$ and hence $`\stackrel{~}{h}`$ converge. $`\mathrm{}`$

We will rule out that it converges back to an Abresch-Langer curve. To prepare for this, we first write down some expansions. Let $`\kappa _\epsilon `$ be the curvature corresponding to $`h_\epsilon `$. We have

$`h_\epsilon `$ $`=h_{m,n}+\epsilon \left(1{\displaystyle \frac{L}{2m\pi }}h_{m,n}\right)+\epsilon ^2\left({\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}h_{m,n}{\displaystyle \frac{L}{2m\pi }}+{\displaystyle \frac{3L^2}{8m^2\pi ^2}}h_{m,n}\right)+\text{O}(\epsilon ^3);`$
$`\kappa _\epsilon `$ $`=\kappa _{m,n}\left[1+\epsilon \left({\displaystyle \frac{L}{2m\pi }}\kappa _{m,n}\right)+\epsilon ^2\left({\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}+\kappa _{m,n}^{}{}_{}{}^{2}{\displaystyle \frac{L^2}{8m^2\pi ^2}}{\displaystyle \frac{L}{2m\pi }}\kappa _{m,n}\right)\right]+\text{O}(\epsilon ^3).`$
Besides the entropy $``$ we have seen before, there is another useful functional which is also decreasing along the flow. Let

$$(\epsilon )=_0^{2m\pi }\mathrm{log}\kappa _\epsilon ,(\epsilon )=_0^{2m\pi }\mathrm{log}h_\epsilon .$$

Then

$`^{}(\epsilon )`$ $`={\displaystyle _0^{2m\pi }}{\displaystyle \frac{\kappa _{m,n}}{\kappa _\epsilon }}\left[{\displaystyle \frac{L}{2m\pi }}\kappa _{m,n}+\epsilon \left(1+2\kappa _{m,n}^{}{}_{}{}^{2}{\displaystyle \frac{L^2}{4m^2\pi ^2}}{\displaystyle \frac{L\kappa _{m,n}}{m\pi }}\right)+\text{O}(\epsilon ^2)\right];`$
$`^{\prime \prime }(\epsilon )`$ $`={\displaystyle _0^{2m\pi }}{\displaystyle \frac{\kappa _{m,n}}{\kappa _\epsilon }}\left(1+2\kappa _{m,n}^{}{}_{}{}^{2}{\displaystyle \frac{L^2}{4m^2\pi ^2}}{\displaystyle \frac{L\kappa _{m,n}}{m\pi }}\right){\displaystyle \frac{\kappa _{m,n}^{}{}_{}{}^{2}}{\kappa _{\epsilon }^{}{}_{}{}^{2}}}\left({\displaystyle \frac{L}{2m\pi }}\kappa _{m,n}\right)^2+\text{O}(\epsilon ).`$
It follows that, using $`\kappa _{m,n}=h_{m,n}`$,

$`^{\prime \prime }(\epsilon )`$ $`=2m\pi {\displaystyle \frac{L^2}{m\pi }}+{\displaystyle _0^{2m\pi }}\kappa _{m,n}^{}{}_{}{}^{2}`$
$`=2m\pi \left[12\left(\overline{}{\displaystyle h_{m,n}}\right)^2+\overline{}{\displaystyle h_{m,n}^{}{}_{}{}^{2}}\right]+\text{O}(\epsilon ).`$
For $``$, we may also work out the same calculations.

$`^{}(\epsilon )`$ $`={\displaystyle _0^{2m\pi }}{\displaystyle \frac{1}{h_{m,n}}}\left[1{\displaystyle \frac{L}{2m\pi }}h_{m,n}+\epsilon \left(h_{m,n}{\displaystyle \frac{L}{m\pi }}+{\displaystyle \frac{3L^2}{4m^2\pi ^2}}h_{m,n}\right)+\text{O}(\epsilon ^2)\right];`$
$`^{\prime \prime }(\epsilon )`$ $`={\displaystyle _0^{2m\pi }}{\displaystyle \frac{1}{h_{m,n}}}\left(h_{m,n}{\displaystyle \frac{L}{m\pi }}+{\displaystyle \frac{3L^2}{4m^2\pi ^2}}h_{m,n}\right){\displaystyle \frac{1}{h_{m,n}^{}{}_{}{}^{2}}}\left(1{\displaystyle \frac{L}{2m\pi }}h_{m,n}\right)^2+\text{O}(\epsilon ).`$
Using the fact that $`1/h_{m,n}=1/\kappa _{m,n}=h_{m,n}+(h_{m,n})_{\theta \theta }`$, we have

$$^{\prime \prime }(\epsilon )=2m\pi \left[1\left(\overline{}\frac{1}{h_{m,n}}\right)^2+\overline{}\frac{1}{h_{m,n}^{}{}_{}{}^{2}}\right]+\text{O}(\epsilon ).$$

With these calculations, we have the following nonlinear instability result.

###### Proposition 4.

$`(+)(\epsilon )<0`$ for all sufficiently small $`\epsilon >0`$.

###### Proof.

We consider the functional $`+`$ and already have

$$(+)^{\prime \prime }(\epsilon )=2m\pi \left[\overline{}h_{m,n}^{}{}_{}{}^{2}\overline{}\frac{1}{h_{m,n}^{}{}_{}{}^{2}}\right]+\text{O}(\epsilon ).$$

Here,

$`\overline{}{\displaystyle \frac{1}{h_{m,n}^{}{}_{}{}^{2}}}`$ $`=\overline{}{\displaystyle \left[h_{m,n}+(h_{m,n})_{\theta \theta }\right]^2}`$
$`=\overline{}{\displaystyle h_{m,n}^{}{}_{}{}^{2}}+2\overline{}{\displaystyle h_{m,n}(h_{m,n})_{\theta \theta }}+\overline{}{\displaystyle (h_{m,n})_{\theta \theta }^2}`$
$`=\overline{}{\displaystyle h_{m,n}^{}{}_{}{}^{2}}2\overline{}{\displaystyle (h_{m,n})_\theta ^2}+\overline{}{\displaystyle (h_{m,n})_{\theta \theta }^2}.`$
By Poincaré Inequality, we have $`\overline{}{\displaystyle (h_{m,n})_{\theta \theta }^2}\left({\displaystyle \frac{2\pi }{2m\pi /n}}\right)^2\overline{}{\displaystyle (h_{m,n})_\theta ^2}.`$ Combining the above, together with $`{\displaystyle \frac{m}{n}}<{\displaystyle \frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}}`$, we have

$$(+)^{\prime \prime }(\epsilon )=\left[2\frac{n^2}{m^2}\right]\overline{}(h_{m,n})_\theta ^2+\text{O}(\epsilon )<0,$$

for sufficiently small $`\epsilon `$. $`\mathrm{}`$

Now, we can finish the proof of part (a) in the main theorem. We have already known that the flow $`\stackrel{~}{\gamma }`$ exists for all $`\tau 0`$. By proposition 3, it converges either to the $`m`$-circle or back to its initial curve. As $`+`$ is non-increasing along the flow, it follows from proposition 4 that the latter is impossible. So, it must converge to the $`m`$-circle and (a) holds. Note that we work on equation (4) which is obtained from normalization by the algebraic area. It is equivalent to that by arc length.

## 3. Inward Perturbation

In this section, we will show that, for $`\epsilon <0`$, the singularities occur exactly when the area of a leaf vanishes and the curvature of the curve blows up. We first establish some analytical results. The following lemma basically lays the foundation to show that in the evolution, the leaves eventually “shrink” and exclude the origin.

###### Lemma 5.

Let $`\stackrel{~}{h}(\theta ,t)`$ be a solution to the initial value problem (4). If $`\stackrel{~}{h}>0`$ for all $`\tau `$ in an interval, then $`\stackrel{~}{h}`$ is also uniformly bounded above.

###### Proof.

Modifying an argument in \[GH\], we consider the following quantity, $`W(\tau )`$.

$`W(\tau )`$ $`={\displaystyle _{\pi /2}^{\pi /2}}{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{cos}\theta }{\stackrel{~}{\kappa }(\theta ,\tau )}}={\displaystyle _{\pi /2}^{\pi /2}}\left(\stackrel{~}{h}+\stackrel{~}{h}_{\theta \theta }\right)\mathrm{cos}\theta `$
$`={\displaystyle _{\pi /2}^{\pi /2}}\stackrel{~}{h}\mathrm{cos}\theta +\stackrel{~}{h}_\theta \mathrm{cos}\theta |_{\pi /2}^{\pi /2}+\stackrel{~}{h}\mathrm{sin}\theta |_{\pi /2}^{\pi /2}{\displaystyle _{\pi /2}^{\pi /2}}\stackrel{~}{h}\mathrm{cos}\theta `$
$`=\stackrel{~}{h}(\pi /2)+\stackrel{~}{h}(\pi /2).`$
Therefore, $`W(\tau )`$ is the width (measured perpendicular to the longest axis) of a leaf of the curve defined by $`h`$. By Jensen’s Inequality,

$`\mathrm{log}W(\tau )`$ $`{\displaystyle _{\pi /2}^{\pi /2}}\mathrm{log}\left({\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{cos}\theta }{\stackrel{~}{\kappa }(\theta ,\tau )}}\right)`$
$`={\displaystyle _{\pi /2}^{\pi /2}}\mathrm{log}\mathrm{cos}\theta {\displaystyle _{\pi /2}^{\pi /2}}\mathrm{log}\stackrel{~}{\kappa }`$
$`=\mathrm{log}C(\tau )\mathrm{log}C(0),`$
for some constant $`C>0`$, because $``$ is decreasing (proved in proposition 3). Thus, $`W(\tau )`$ is uniformly bounded below. Since

$$W(\tau )\underset{\theta }{\mathrm{max}}\stackrel{~}{h}(\theta ,\tau )\text{the area of a leaf}A(h)=m\pi ,$$

it follows that $`\mathrm{max}_\theta \stackrel{~}{h}(\theta ,\tau )`$ has a uniform upper bound. $`\mathrm{}`$

Now, we may use this lemma to show that for $`\epsilon <0`$, at some time, a curve in the flow will pass through the origin.

###### Proposition 6.

Let $`\stackrel{~}{h}(\theta ,\tau )`$ be the solution to the initial value problem (4) with $`\epsilon <0`$. Then there is a time $`\tau _1`$ such that $`\mathrm{min}_\theta \stackrel{~}{h}(\theta ,\tau _1)=0`$ and $`\stackrel{~}{h}>0`$ for $`\tau [0,\tau _1)`$.

###### Proof.

Suppose on the contrary that $`\stackrel{~}{h}>0`$ for all $`\tau 0`$. Locally express the tip of a leaf as a concave graph. Specifically, we write

$$\stackrel{~}{\gamma }(\theta (x),\tau )=(x,u(x,\tau )),x(\mathrm{},\mathrm{}),$$

such that $`\theta (0)=0`$. By assumption and the preceding lemma, there is $`M`$ such that $`\mathrm{max}_xuM`$ for all $`\tau `$. Note that the equation on $`\stackrel{~}{\gamma }`$ corresponding to equation (4) is

$$\stackrel{~}{\gamma }_\tau =\stackrel{~}{\kappa }𝝂+\stackrel{~}{\gamma }.$$

Under this local parametrization, we have

$`\stackrel{~}{\gamma }_\tau `$ $`={\displaystyle \frac{x}{\tau }}(1,u_x)+(0,u_\tau );`$
$`𝝂`$ $`={\displaystyle \frac{1}{\sqrt{1+u_x^2}}}(u_x,1);`$
$`\stackrel{~}{\kappa }`$ $`={\displaystyle \frac{u_{xx}}{(1+u_x^2)^{3/2}}}.`$
Therefore, we have the parabolic equation

(7)
$$u_\tau =\frac{u_{xx}}{1+u_x^2}xu_x+u.$$

Fixed a small $`\xi >0`$, we consider the sub-interval $`(\mathrm{}+\xi ,\mathrm{}\xi )`$. By concavity of the graph, we have

$$sup\left\{\right|u_x|:x(\mathrm{}+\xi ,\mathrm{}\xi )\}\frac{1}{\xi }\mathrm{osc}_{(\mathrm{},\mathrm{})}u\frac{M}{\xi }$$

Hence, (7) is uniformly parabolic. By parabolic regularity theory, we know that all higher derivatives of $`u`$ are uniformly bounded in $`(\mathrm{}+\xi ,\mathrm{}\xi )`$. In particular, the curvature at the tip, when $`x=0`$, is uniformly bounded. By propositions 3 and 4, we know that $`\stackrel{~}{\gamma }`$ converges to the $`m`$-circle, contradicting lemma 2 and the maximum principle. $`\mathrm{}`$

The contradiction shows that $`\mathrm{min}_\theta \stackrel{~}{h}(\theta ,\tau _1)=0`$. Clearly, shortly after $`\tau _1`$, $`\mathrm{min}_\theta \stackrel{~}{h}(\theta ,\tau )<0`$ and the evolution of the curve enters the third stage in Figure 2b.

Next, we would like to make sure the solution to problems (3) and (4) exist as long as the leaves do not shrink to points. Since the algebraic area may become negative, it is necessary to look at the unnormalized equation (3).

###### Proposition 7.

Let $`h`$ be a solution to the initial value problem (3). It exists as long as the area enclosed by a leaf does not vanish.

###### Proof.

Suppose otherwise, then there is $`t_{}>0`$ such that actual area of a leaf $`C>0`$ and $`lim_{tt_{}^{}}\kappa (t)=\mathrm{}`$. We represent the curve at time $`t`$, $`\gamma (\mathbf{},t)`$ as a concave graph as before. There is $`\delta >0`$ such that for $`t(t_{}\delta ,t_{})`$ and $`x(\mathrm{}+\xi ,\mathrm{}\xi )`$, we have the evolution equation

$$u_t=\frac{u_{xx}}{\sqrt{1+u_x^2}},$$

which is equivalent to (3); see, for example, \[CZ\]. Again, by similar argument as above, $`u_x`$ is uniformly bounded for $`x(\mathrm{}+\xi ,\mathrm{}\xi )`$ and $`t(t_{}\delta ,t_{})`$. Thus, we obtain a uniform bound for $`\kappa (0,t)={\displaystyle \frac{u_{xx}}{\sqrt{1+u_x^2}}}|_{x=0}`$. By continuity, as $`tt_{}^{}`$, $`\kappa (0,t)`$ a finite value, which is a contradiction. $`\mathrm{}`$

###### Corollary 8.

Let $`t_1`$ be corresponding to $`\tau _1`$ in proposition 6. There is $`t_{\mathrm{}}>t_1`$ such that every leaf of the curve shrinks to a point.

###### Proof.

Since $`h(\theta ,t_1)>0`$ for all $`m\pi /n\theta [0,2m\pi /n]`$, we have $`A(h(\mathbf{},t_1))>0`$. By continuity, there is $`\delta >0`$ such that $`A(h(\mathbf{},t))>0`$ for $`t<t_1+\delta `$. Therefore, the area of a leaf of the curve at time $`t<t_1+\delta `$ is still positve. According to the above proposition, solution to (3) still exists for $`t<t_1+\delta `$. On the other hand, it is easy to see that the rate of change of the area of a leaf is less than $`\pi `$, \[AL\]. Thus, there is a time $`t_{\mathrm{}}>t_1`$ that all the $`m`$ leaves disappear. $`\mathrm{}`$

Remark. Recently, an affine version of the curve shortening flow is studied by B. Andrews, \[Ad\], also de Lime and Montenegro, \[LM\]. In the latter paper, a classification theorem parallel to the Abresch-Langer theorem for contracting self-similar curve along the affine flow is established. It is interesting to study whether the saddle point property still holds for these curves.


text:
# Constraints on properties of the protoplanetary disks around UX Ori and CQ Tau

## 1 Introduction

The study of the circumstellar material around intermediate mass pre-main sequence stars has received growing attention in recent years since it has been realized that most of these systems are surrounded by protoplanetary circumstellar disks similar to those found around low mass pre-main sequence stars (see e.g. Natta, Grinin & Mannings 2000). Herbig Ae stars (Herbig 1960; Waters & Waelkens 1998) are particularly interesting because they share the same spectral type as the much older “debris” disk systems, such as $`\beta `$ Pic or $`\alpha `$ Lyrae, of which they may be a preceding evolutionary stage (Mannings & Sargent 1997; 2000; Mannings, Koerner & Sargent 1997).

UX Ori–type stars are intermediate mass pre-main sequence stars, mostly belonging to the Herbig Ae class, that show large and irregular variability at optical wavelengths, characterized by sporadic, deep minima associated with increasing polarization. This behavior is generally believed to be due to variable line of sight extinction provided by dust clumps orbiting about the central star in a flattened structure seen almost edge on (Grinin et al. 1991; Grinin 1994; Natta & Whitney 2001). The optical spectra of these stars show transient absorption features similar to those observed in the “debris” disk system $`\beta `$ Pic, and have similarly been interpreted as due to the infall of evaporating, comet-like bodies in star grazing orbits (see the reviews by Lagrange, Backman & Artymowicz 2000 and Natta et al. 2000).

Single dish and interferometric millimeter wavelength observations suggest that UX Ori–type stars are indeed surrounded by circumstellar material in a flattened structure rotating about the central star. The properties of these disks are similar to those of disks associated with T Tauri and other Herbig Ae stars (Dutrey et al. 1996; Koerner & Sargent 1995; Mannings & Sargent 1997; 2000 Natta et al. 1997; 2001). Natta & Whitney (2001) have shown that scattering of the stellar light by such disks can easily explain the polarization and colors typical of UXORs in deep minima, provided that the disk inclination is in the range $``$45 to 70 (Natta & Whitney 2001). The disks in UX Ori–type systems are not directly responsible for the optical variability, which is caused by a sporadic increase of the optical depth along the line of sight, probably due to density inhomogeneities of matter within the flared disk atmosphere (Bertout 2000).

Recent millimeter interferometric observations of the class prototype (UX Ori) revealed that the circumstellar material is confined within a flattened structure (a circumstellar disk); the emission is characterized by a flat (F$`{}_{\nu }{}^{}\nu ^2`$) spectral energy distribution up to 2.7 mm, suggesting that, if the millimeter emission is entirely due to the thermal emission from the dust grains within the disk, the disk is either optically thick at millimeter wavelengths or is composed of very large ($``$10 cm) dust particles (Natta et al. 1999).

Similar results have been obtained for two other systems in the same class, WW Vul and CQ Tau. In both cases the circumstellar material must be distributed in a disk as in the case of UX Ori (Natta et al. 2001). It is thus tempting to speculate that UX Ori–type systems are characterized by relatively evolved disks, possibly in the phase of grain growth and planetesimal formation.

In this paper we present the results of new interferometric 7 millimeter and centimeter (3.6 and 6 cm) observations of the circumstellar material surrounding UX Ori and CQ Tau. The other UX Ori–type system known to have a flat millimeter spectrum (WW Vul) was excluded from our sample because of sensitivity considerations (it is the faintest source of the sample). The aim of these observations were two-fold: i) to verify whether the flat millimeter wavelength spectral energy distribution extends up to 7 mm; and ii) to quantify, if any, the contribution to the millimeter emission due to possible free-free emission from an ionized wind. The free-free emission, if present, will tend to flatten the observed millimeter spectral energy distribution. The plan of the paper is as follows: in Sect. 2 and 3 we report the observational details and the results; in Sect. 4 we compare our observations with detailed disk models; the implications of our results are discussed in Sect. 5.

## 2 Observations

UX Ori and CQ Tau were observed with the NRAO111The National Radio Astronomy Observatory is a facility of the National Science Foundation operated under cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc. VLA in its most compact (D) configuration in September and October 2000. The observing parameters are reported in Table 1. Each source was observed in the Q-band (43.34 GHz, 0.7 cm), X-band (8.46 GHz, 3.6 cm) and C-band (4.86 GHz, 6 cm), the latter observations were obtained at the same time as the Q-band observations using all the antennas not equipped with 43 GHz receivers (6 for UX Ori and 5 for CQ Tau). At high frequency we used a fast-switching observing cycle with total duration ranging from one to three minutes depending on the distance between the source and the chosen complex gain calibrator and on the elevation of the sources. At X- and C-band we used a standard observing sequence with $``$5 min cycles between source and calibrator. Hourly pointing at X-band on the calibrators were used to correct for pointing drifts during the Q-band observations. The flux density scale was set by observing 3C286 and/or 3C48, the calibration is expected to be accurate within 10-20% depending on the waveband, with the less accurate being the higher frequency band. All data editing and calibration has been performed using standard tasks within the NRAO AIPS software package. Self-calibration was not possible due to the faintness of the sources. All images presented here have been produced using the AIPS IMAGR task with natural weighting of the ($`u,v`$) datasets. No correction for primary beam attenuation has been applied, unless differently noted. At 6 cm, the image rms is higher than theoretical expectation by a factors of about 2 (UX Ori) and 5 (CQ Tau) due to the very sparse $`(u,v)`$ coverage and the presence of strong confusing sources in the field of view far off the phase center.

## 3 Results

### 3.1 7 mm emission

Both sources were clearly detected at 7 mm. In Figure 1 we show the 7 mm contour plots of the region surrounding the target stars. In Table 2 we report the properties of the 7 mm emission along with stellar parameters from the literature. For each source we report distance and spectral type of the target star from Natta et al. (2001, 1999), stellar age and mass as derived from the theoretical pre-main sequence evolutionary tracks of Palla & Stahler (1999), then the VLA peak position, integrated flux, and deconvolved size (or upper limit) as obtained by fitting a gaussian to the 7 mm source. In both cases the peak of the 7 mm emission is coincident (within our positional uncertainties of $`0\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}3`$) with the position of the optical star corrected for proper motion as derived from the Hipparcos catalogue (Perryman et al. 1997).

The millimeter emission is unresolved in UX Ori. In the case of CQ Tau, the 7 mm emission appears to be marginally resolved and elongated in the north-south direction (see Table 2). We find consistent results, albeit with lower signal-to-noise, by fitting a gaussian on a slightly higher resolution image of CQ Tau obtained using the “robust” weighting scheme available with the AIPS IMAGR task. Assuming a circularly symmetric, geometrically thin disk, the measured inclination of the disk axis from the line of sight is 63+10/-15 deg, in excellent agreement with that predicted by the Natta & Whitney (2001) models, who derive a value of 66 deg to explain the polarization of light during the deep optical emission minima. It is interesting to note that, based on CO(2–1) interferometric observations, Mannings & Sargent (2000) derive an upper limit to the size of the gaseous disk smaller than our 7 mm continuum observation, this difference may be due to a different surface brightness sensitivity. Clearly higher resolution observations of both the gaseous and dust components are needed to confirm the exact disk geometry.

### 3.2 3.6 and 6 cm emission

There is no detection of either source at 3.6 and 6 cm. In the last two columns of Table 2 the 3.6 and 6 cm upper limits (3$`\sigma `$) at the 7 mm sources positions are given. There are, however, a few sources far from the stellar positions (see Fig. 1). For the sake of completeness, in Table 3 we report positions and fluxes of these sources, as well as the NVSS counterpart name and integrated flux (when found in the NVSS catalogue, Condon et al. 1998). Following Fomalont et al. (1991) and Windhorst et al. (1993) we can estimate the number of expected background extragalactic radio sources in our fields: at 6 cm over a 200 square arcmin area we expect $``$3 sources brighter than 0.5 mJy, while at 3.6 cm over 50 square arcmin, $``$2.5 sources brighter than 0.1 mJy are expected. These predictions are in rough agreement with the number of centimeter sources we observed, and suggest that they may be extragalactic, which would also be consistent with the non-thermal spectral index of three of them (see Table 3). In any case, none of these cm wavelength radio sources is directly related to our target stars and their circumstellar material and we will not discuss them further.

### 3.3 The millimeter spectra of UX Ori and CQ Tau

To obtain the millimeter spectrum of the circumstellar material surrounding our target stars, we combined our measurements with available millimeter interferometric and single dish continuum observations from Natta et al. (1999) and Mannings & Sargent (1997; 2000). We include both interferometric and single dish measurements and assume that the mm-wave emitting region is confined to a compact region around the star. This assumption is supported by the fact that the 1.3 mm single dish and interferometer fluxes are consistent with each other (see also the discussion in Natta et al. 1999). The cm-wavelength upper limits can be used to constrain the possible contribution of free-free emission to the flux measured at 7 mm. Following Mannings & Sargent (1997) and using the 3.6 cm upper limits reported in Table 2, the contribution to the 7 mm flux from an ionized stellar wind, with a spectral index 0.6 (Panagia & Felli 1975), would be 0.24 and 0.2 mJy for UX Ori and CQ Tau, respectively. This estimate of the upper limit for the free-free emission confirms the earlier conclusion that the millimeter wavelength emission in these systems is due to thermal dust emission with a very small (if any) contribution from ionized gas (Mannings & Sargent 1997; Natta et al. 1999).

In Figure 2 we show the results of power law fits (F$`{}_{\nu }{}^{}\nu ^{\alpha _{mm}}`$) to the millimeter spectral energy distributions. The values of $`\alpha _{mm}`$ that we derive are rather low. The value $`\alpha _{mm}=2.03\pm 0.26`$ in UX Ori, in particular, is among the lowest of those found for Herbig Ae/Be stars (Natta et al. 2000) and is significantly smaller than the average values found for T Tauri stars (Dutrey et al. 1996). In Figure 2 we also show the 7 mm flux of UX Ori with the maximum correction for free-free emission as calculated above. The point, shown as an open triangle, would still be consistent with the thermal dust emission fit we derive. For the CQ Tau system, we obtain $`\alpha _{mm}=2.65\pm 0.10`$. In this case the maximum possible contribution from free-free emission to the 7 mm flux is so small ($`<8\%`$) that it is barely visible in the Figure.

These values of $`\alpha _{mm}`$ are not consistent with optically thin thermal emission from standard interstellar dust grains ($`\alpha _{mm}4`$; Draine & Lee 1984). This result is not uncommon for circumstellar disks around young stars and can be understood if the emission is optically thick or, alternatively, if grains in circumstellar disks have grown to sizes significantly larger than those of grains in the diffuse interstellar medium (Beckwith & Sargent 1991; Pollack et al. 1994; Natta et al. 1999). In fact, for grains with physical size larger than the observing wavelength, the emissivity is just the geometrical cross section, and a flat spectral index at millimeter wavelengths may be an indication of the presence of centimeter-size dust particles (“pebbles”). We will discuss these possibilities in detail for our target systems in the following section.

## 4 Comparison with disk models

The spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of Herbig Ae stars in general, and of UX Ori and CQ Tau in particular, can be explained reasonably well by disk models which take into account the vertical temperature gradient caused by the stellar radiation impinging on the disk surface (Natta et al. 2001; Chiang et al. 2001). In these models, the dust features, such as the 10 $`\mu `$m emission feature, and the mid-infrared continuum originate in the hotter optically thin surface layers of the disk (the disk atmosphere), while the emission at longer wavelengths is due to dust in the cooler disk midplane. Using the simple two-layer approximation developed by Chiang & Goldreich (1997) Natta et al. (1999, 2001) found that Herbig Ae disks are in hydrostatic equilibrium (flared disks; Kenyon & Hartmann 1987). The grains in the disk atmosphere are a mixture of amorphous silicates and some other material, possibly carbonaceous grains or metallic iron, which dominate the opacity in the UV. These atmospheric grains cannot be much larger than $``$1 $`\mu `$m. In the disk midplane grains are probably much larger.

The properties of the grains in the disk midplane can only be studied at millimeter wavelengths, where the emission in many objects becomes optically thin. Its dependence on wavelength reflects the way dust opacity depends on $`\lambda `$, and may tell us about the grain size. However, optical depth effects may still be important even at 1.3 mm. As discussed in Natta et al. (1999) for UX Ori, both an optically thin disk where grains have grown to very large size (“pebbles”) and a small disk, optically thick in the millimeter, have spectral index $`2`$ and may fit equally well the observed SED at all wavelengths. As we will see in the following, the new 7 mm data presented in this paper allow us to clarify the issue, even if they are still not sufficient for deciding it.

To this purpose, we have computed a large grid of models for both UX Ori and CQ Tau following Chiang & Goldreich (1997) and Natta et al. (2001). For each model, we fix the stellar parameters as in Table 2, and take the values of the inclination to the line of sight of 60 and 66 for UX Ori and CQ Tau respectively, as derived by Natta & Whitney (2001). We vary the disk outer radius $`R_D`$ and the surface density profile, defined as:

$$\mathrm{\Sigma }=\mathrm{\Sigma }_0\left(\frac{R}{R_0}\right)^p$$
(1)
where $`R_0`$ is a reference radius. Both $`p`$ and $`\mathrm{\Sigma }_0`$ are varied over a wide range of values. The disk mass $`M_D`$ is uniquely determined once $`\mathrm{\Sigma }_0`$, $`p`$ and $`R_D`$ are fixed. Since we are interested in the disk emission at long wavelengths, the results do not depend on the disk inner radius.

We describe the opacity of the dust in the disk midplane as a power-law function of wavelength with exponent $`\beta `$:

$$\kappa _\nu =\kappa _{1.3mm}\left(\frac{\lambda }{1.3mm}\right)^\beta $$
(2)
The long-wavelength flux depends on the properties of dust in the atmosphere only if and when the disk midplane is optically thin (to its own radiation). We choose dust properties for the grains in the disk atmosphere as in Natta et al. (2001); any other choice that fits the SEDs at shorter wavelengths would not affect our conclusions significantly. These “toy” models are very simplified and can be questioned on a variety of grounds (see e.g. Dullemond 2000). However, they are very useful for the general understanding of the implications of our millimetric observations.

### 4.1 UX Ori

The results for UX Ori are shown in Fig. 3, which plots the computed flux at 1.3mm as function of the spectral index $`\alpha _{mm}`$ between 1.3 and 7 mm. Each curve is computed varying ($`\mathrm{\Sigma }_0.\kappa _{1.3mm}`$) for fixed values of $`R_D`$ and $`\beta `$, as labeled. ($`\mathrm{\Sigma }_0.\kappa _{1.3mm}`$) decreases from the upper left to the lower right of the diagram for all models. The models shown in the Figure have been computed for $`p=1.0`$, but the results are not significantly different for $`p=0.5`$ and $`p=1.5`$. All curves ($`F_{1.3mm}`$, $`\alpha _{mm}`$) have a similar shape. For large values of ($`\mathrm{\Sigma }_0.\kappa _{1.3mm}`$), the disks are optically thick at mm wavelengths, $`F_{1.3mm}`$ is maximum and $`\alpha _{mm}2`$. As ($`\mathrm{\Sigma }_0.\kappa _{1.3mm}`$) decreases, first the emission at 7 mm becomes optically thin: $`F_{1.3mm}`$ retains its optically thick value but $`\alpha _{mm}`$ increases. If ($`\mathrm{\Sigma }_0.\kappa _{1.3mm}`$) decreases further, the emission at 1.3 mm becomes optically thin, $`F_{1.3mm}`$ decreases and $`\alpha _{mm}`$ tends to its optically thin value of $`2+\beta `$. The maximum value of $`F_{1.3mm}`$ depends on the inclination $`\theta `$ and on $`R_D`$ (see also Natta et al. 1999). For fixed values of $`p`$ and $`R_D`$, the disk mass is proportional to $`\mathrm{\Sigma }_0`$. Fig. 4 plots the values of $`\alpha _{mm}`$ as function of the quantity ($`M_D.\kappa _{1.3mm}`$) for $`R_D=100`$ AU (solid lines) and $`R_D=30`$ AU (dashed lines).

As shown by the cross in Fig. 3, UX Ori has a low 1.3 mm flux ($`F_{1.3mm}=19.8\pm 2`$ mJy; Natta et al. 1999) and a very flat spectral index. There are two families of models that can account for both properties at the same time: small disks ($`R_D\mathrm{¡}\mathrm{}`$ 30 AU) which are still optically thick at 7 mm or disks with very large grains, such that $`\beta \mathrm{¡}\mathrm{}0.2`$. We have computed, using Mie theory, the cross section at millimeter wavelengths for large silicates and ices, based on data for a variety of minerals from the Jena database and for the astronomical silicates of Draine & Lee (1984). In all cases we find that grains with $`\beta 0.2`$ between 1.3 and 7 mm have radii of about 10 cm; their opacity is very low, of order of $`2\times 10^2`$ cm2 g-1 (this is the dust only mass opacity, assuming that the grains have a density of 3.5 g cm-3; no correction has been applied for the gas to dust mass ratio). This is about 3 times lower than the value in Natta et al. (1999), based on Fig. 4 of Miyake & Nakagawa (1993), who considered grains of silicates and ices with density $``$1.2 g cm-3. For these values of the opacity, the observed fluxes can only be reproduced by disks with a very massive dust component of about $`0.00250.01`$ M, with little dependence on other disk parameters such as $`p`$ and $`R_D`$. This dust mass is a factor of three to ten higher than the largest dust masses measured in Herbig Ae/Be systems (Natta et al. 2000). When corrected for a gas to dust ratio of 100 by mass, the corresponding total disk mass would reach 0.3–1 M.

Disks that are still optically thick at 7 mm up to their outer edge, where most of the 7 mm flux is emitted, have $`\alpha _{mm}2`$. In order to fit the low millimeter flux of UX Ori, they need to be “truncated” at $`R_D\mathrm{¡}\mathrm{}30`$ AU, as shown in Fig. 3. The dust mass required depends on dust properties; it is at least $`1.3\times 10^3`$ M for grains typical of pre-main sequence disks ($`\kappa _{1.3mm}1`$ cm2 g-1, $`\beta 1.0`$, see also Fig. 4). Again, assuming a gas to dust ratio of 100 by mass, the total disk mass would be 0.13 M. This is a rather large value, but not unique among Herbig Ae/Be systems.

Both kind of disks, “pebble” and “truncated”, fit well the UX Ori SED over the whole range of observed wavelengths, as shown in Fig. 5. However, $`R_D`$ 30 AU is a definite lower limit for the “truncated” disks radius, since smaller disks would not emit enough flux in the mid-infrared. A 30 AU disk can still scatter enough stellar light to reproduce the polarization and colors of the light during photometric minima (Natta & Whitney 2001). In a pebble disk, both the properties of the star at minima and the shape of the mid-infrared emission require the presence of rather small grains on the disk surface. This is consistent with the idea that grains grow to large size first in the disk midplane; however, the condition $`\alpha _{mm}2`$ constrains the mass of dust in small grains to be $`\mathrm{¡}\mathrm{}`$ 1% of the mass of pebble grains (Natta et al. 1999). Note, finally, that the condition that the disk is flared requires that the total disk mass is dominated by the gaseous component.

### 4.2 CQ Tau

The CQ Tau system is closer to the Sun and the central star is cooler than UX Ori. The millimeter wavelength spectral energy distribution is not as flat as in UX Ori, and the value of $`\alpha _{mm}`$ we derive is only marginally smaller than the typical value found in T Tauri systems. The location of CQ Tau on the ($`F_{1.3mm}`$, $`\alpha _{mm}`$) diagram is shown in Fig. 6. It is consistent with a disk having $`R_D`$ 100 AU, as observed, and grains with $`\beta 1.0`$, typical of pre-main sequence disks (Beckwith & Sargent 1991). The mass of dust in the disk is $`1.5\times 10^4`$ M, again typical of Herbig Ae and T Tauri stars (Natta et al. 2000).

## 5 Discussion and Conclusions

UX Ori is certainly an intriguing system. The circumstellar disk may be very small and optically thick, in which case it must be “truncated” at R$`\mathrm{¡}\mathrm{}30`$ AU. How this could happen is unclear. It may be an evolutionary effect, but the system is not a member of a dense stellar cluster (cf. Testi et al. 1999) and the expected timescale required for the star to photoevaporate the outer regions of the disk is too long to explain such a sharp truncation at the estimated system age of $``$3 Myrs (Hollenbach et al. 2000; Hollenbach priv. comm.). A more plausible explanation for such a small disk is the presence of a nearby companion. To create a tidal truncation of 30 AU, the orbital separation should be roughly 60–100 AU (Lubow & Artymowicz 2000). No companion was found in the moderate (0.4″ or 200 AU) resolution search by Pirzkal et al. (1997), although Hipparcos data indirectly suggests the presence of a close companion with a minimum separation of about 20 mas ($`10`$ AU at distance of 450 pc; Bertout et al. 1999).

Alternatively, the UX Ori disk may be more “normal” in size and have grown very large (10 cm) particles in its midplane. Such a disk must be very massive ($``$0.25–1 M for a gas-to-dust mass ratio of 100 or $`M_D/M_{}0.10.4`$), much more massive than any known disk around Herbig Ae and T Tauri stars and very close to the limit for gravitational stability (Shu et al. 1990). Note that this mass estimate assumes a gas-to-dust ratio of 100 and an opacity for the “pebble” dust as derived in Sect. 4.1. A moderate gas depletion may lower this estimate of the present day disk mass. However, the dust mass in UX Ori, up to 0.01 M for “pebble” opacity, would be exceptionally high, much higher than the dust mass derived from the analysis of millimeter fluxes in other pre-main sequence stars (Natta et al. 2000); moreover the initial disk mass before gas depletion would still be very high.

With the available information, the choice between a truncated disk and a larger, pebble disk can only rely on plausibility arguments. Pebble disks must be very massive. However, uncertainties on the opacity and on the exact disk structure make it difficult to determine the mass of the disk accurately. Two possible observational tests may be able to discriminate between the possibilities: i) to search for a possible companion, and ii) to resolve the disk emission at millimeter wavelengths. A 0.2″ separation binary, even with a relatively large luminosity difference, can easily be resolved with modern near-infrared high resolution techniques, unless the geometry is very unfavorable. The detection of a close companion which could truncate the disk around the primary star would support this hypothesis. A more direct approach would be to resolve the disk and determine $`R_D`$. As discussed earlier, a large disk radius would require pebble grains, and could be resolved at 7 mm with the VLA, or at higher frequencies with ALMA. A large disk radius would not be consistent with “normal” disk grains.

Is UX Ori a unique object? If this were the case, albeit interesting per se, it would not shed light on the structure and evolution of typical protoplanetary disks. However, it appears more likely that the properties of the disk around UX Ori are shared by a class of systems which may represent a well defined disk evolutionary stage. As discussed in Sect. 1, WW Vul, which also shares a similar optical photometric variability, has a millimeter spectrum similar to UX Ori with $`\alpha _{mm}=2.2\pm 0.4`$ between 1.3 and 2.7 mm Natta et al. (2001). A set of promising candidates with flat sub–millimeter SEDs has been recently discussed by Meeus et al. (2001). Millimeter wavelength observations of these systems are needed to verify whether the disk properties are similar to that of UX Ori.

CQ Tau appears to have a disk which is similar to other pre-main sequence disks. The primary advantage of observing CQ Tau is the fact that it is near-by (D $`100`$ pc). Our observations with VLA in its most compact (D) configuration marginally resolve its 7 mm emission. They are consistent with the disk inclination predicted by Natta & Whitney (2001), thus providing an indirect support for their models. The sensitivity and resolution of the VLA in more extended configurations at 7 mm offer the possibility to further resolve the disk emission and directly probe the density and temperature structure of the emitting dust within the circumstellar disk of a pre-main sequence star. Very few young disk systems have been recently resolved in the millimeter continuum: the binary system L1551 (Rodríguez et al. 1998), and the TTauri systems HL Tau and TW Hyd (Wilner & Lay 2000; Wilner et al. 2000).

Our observation do not offer any clues about the possible link between the UX Ori–type optical variability and disk properties. We can only confirm the earlier suggestion that the disk surrounding CQ Tau is seen at the inclination inferred by fitting its optical light polarization properties with flared disk models. Since a prediction of these models is that the star is observed through the outer edges of the disk atmosphere, a plausible guess is that the sporadic variability may be caused by disk atmosphere inhomogeneities (Bertout 2000; Natta & Whitney 2001).

We thank Barry Clarke and the VLA-AOC staff for for their help while planning and executing the observations and for nice scheduling at the VLA. Support from CNR–ASI grants ARS–99–15 and 1/R/27/00 to the Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri is gratefully acknowledged. DJW acknowledges support from NASA Origins of Solar Systems Program grant NAG5-8195. This research has made use of the SIMBAD database, operated at CDS, Strasbourg, France.


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# References

Estimates of flavoured scalar production in B - decays

Victor Chernyak

Budker Institute of Nuclear Physics, Novosibirsk, 630090, Russia

Abstract

Estimates are presented for the branching ratios of several

two-particle B-meson decays into flavoured scalar mesons.

It seems that there are no estimates of B-meson decays into scalar mesons. The purpose of this short note is to present such estimates. As will be shown, some two-particle decays of B-mesons into scalar mesons have sufficiently large branchings to be of current interest.

1. Having in mind $`B^{}\overline{K}_o(1430)\pi ^{}`$ and $`B^{}\overline{K}\pi ^{}`$ decays, the main contributions in the factorization approximation which looks reliable for these decays, and in the standard notation, come from two terms in the effective Hamiltonian:

$$H_{eff}=\frac{G_F}{\sqrt{2}}(V_{tb}V_{ts}^{})\{a_4[\overline{s}\gamma _\mu (1+\gamma _5)d][\overline{d}\gamma _\mu (1+\gamma _5)b]$$

$$\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}2}a_6[\overline{s}(1\gamma _5)d][\overline{d}(1+\gamma _5)b]\}.(1)$$

The effective coefficients $`a_i`$ in (1) can be expressed either explicitly through the original coefficients $`C_i(\mu )`$ of the effective Hamiltonian , plus perturbative one loop corrections: $`C_i(\mu )C_i^{eff}`$; this cancels the main scale dependence of $`C_i(\mu )`$, see e.g.  and references therein. Or they can be calculated in ”the QCD improved factorization approximation” , which is not much different.

In what follows we will not need their explicit form, but only the typical value of the ratio $`a_6/a_4`$. 111 The coefficients $`a_i`$ change, of course, when going from $`K`$ to $`K_o(1430)`$, as they depend on the form of the meson wave functions. In our estimates below we suppose these differences can be safely neglected for $`a_4,a_6`$ and $`a_1`$. Using the explicit expressions for $`a_i`$ from , which include $`O(\alpha _s)`$ corrections, and the model wave functions of $`K`$ and $`K_o(1430)`$, we have estimated that the differences in the values of $`a_{1,4,6}`$ for $`K`$ and $`K_o(1430)`$ are indeed reasonably small.

The matrix elements are defined as:

$$\overline{K}(q)|\overline{s}\gamma _\mu \gamma _5d|0=if_kq_\mu ,\overline{K}(q)|\overline{s}i\gamma _5d|0=f_k\mu _k,\mu _k=M_k^2/\overline{m}_s,$$

$$\overline{K}_o(1430)(q)|\overline{s}\gamma _\mu d|0=f_oq_\mu ,\overline{K}_o(1430)(q)|\overline{s}d|0=f_o\mu _o,\mu _o=M_o^2/\overline{m}_s,$$

$$\pi ^{}(p_2)|\overline{d}\gamma _\mu b|B^{}(p_1)=(p_1+p_2)_\mu f_+(q^2)+q_\mu f_{}(q^2),$$

$$M_b\pi ^{}(p_2)|\overline{d}b|B^{}(p_1)(M_B^2q^2)f_+^{B\pi }(q^2)M_B^2f_+(0).(2)$$

Therefore, the decay amplitudes look as:

$$T(B^{}\overline{K}\pi ^{})i\frac{G_F}{\sqrt{2}}V_{tb}V_{ts}^{}a_4f_kM_B^2f_+^{B\pi }(0)\left(1+\frac{2M_k^2}{\overline{m}_sM_b}\frac{a_6}{a_4}\right),$$

$$T(B^{}\overline{K}_o\pi ^{})\frac{G_F}{\sqrt{2}}V_{tb}V_{ts}^{}(a_4)f_oM_B^2f_+^{B\pi }(0)(1\frac{2M_o^2}{\overline{m}_sM_b}\frac{a_6}{a_4}).(3)$$

Now, about parameters entering (3). To avoid main uncertainties it is reasonable to take the ratio $`Br(K_o\pi )/Br(K\pi )`$. So, it will be sufficient to know ($`f_k160MeV)`$:

$$\frac{a_6}{a_4}1.21.3,\overline{m}_sm_s(\mu =2.5GeV)110MeV,M_b^{(eff)}4.8GeV.(4)$$

The main new parameter is the coupling $`f_o`$. It can be estimated from the form factor ($`\mathrm{\Delta }M^2M_k^2M_\pi ^20.22GeV^2)`$:

$$K^{}(p_2)|\overline{s}\gamma _\mu d|\pi ^{}(p_1)=\left(p_1+p_2(\mathrm{\Delta }M^2/q^2)q\right)_\mu F_+(q^2)+(\mathrm{\Delta }M^2/q^2)q_\mu F_o(q^2),$$

$$m_sK^{}|\overline{s}d|\pi ^{}d(q^2)=\mathrm{\Delta }M^2F_o(q^2),F_o(q^2=0)1.(5)$$

Saturating the dispersion relation for $`d(q^2)`$ by two lowest resonances, $`K_o(1430)`$ and $`K_o(1950)`$, one obtains:

$$0.22GeV^2\left(f_og_o+f^{}g^{}\right),$$

where $`f_i`$ are couplings of resonances with the scalar current (see eq.(2) above, the coupling $`f^{}`$ of $`K_o(1950)`$ with the current $`m_s(\overline{s}d)`$ is defined in the same way as those of $`K_o(1430);f_i=O(m_s)`$ at $`m_s0)`$, and $`g_i`$ are their couplings to the $`(K^{}\pi ^+)`$-pair. These last can be found from their known decays to $`K\pi :g_o3.8GeV,g^{}2.7GeV`$. Besides, there are estimates  of the ratio of couplings $`f^{}/f_o`$ which look as:

$$\frac{f^{}}{f_o}=\gamma \frac{M_o^2}{M_{}^{2}{}_{}{}^{}}=0.5\gamma ,\gamma =(0.5\pm 0.3).$$

Therefore, one obtains:

$$f_o=(70\pm 10)MeV.(6)$$

Collecting all the above given numbers, we have:

$$Br\frac{(B^{}\overline{K}_o(1430)\pi ^{})}{(B^{}\overline{K}\pi ^{})}14\frac{f_o^2}{f_k^2}2.7$$

(for central values of parameters in (4) and (6)).

So, if $`Br(B^{}\overline{K}\pi ^{})1610^6`$, then $`Br(B^{}\overline{K}_o(1430)\pi ^{})`$ will be $`4310^6`$.

It is interesting not only that $`Br(B^{}\overline{K}_o(1430)\pi ^{})`$ is large by itself, but that it receives the dominant contribution from the term $`a_6`$ which is a power correction, $`O(\mathrm{\Lambda }_{QCD}/M_b)`$, in the formal limit $`M_b\mathrm{}`$.

2. Let us consider the decay $`\overline{B}^oa_o^+(1450)K^{}`$. The corresponding form factor $`F_+^{Ba}`$ is defined as:

$$a_o^+(p_2)|\overline{u}\gamma _\lambda \gamma _5b|\overline{B}^o(p_1)=i\left[(p_1+p_2)_\lambda F_+^{Ba}+q_\lambda F_{}^{Ba}\right],$$

$$M_ba_o^+|\overline{u}\gamma _5b|\overline{B}^oiM_B^2F_+^{Ba}(0).(7)$$

Such form factors, at not too large $`q^2`$, can be found by the method proposed in  (which is known now as ”the light-cone sum rules”). One considers the correlator:

$$K=idxe^{iqx}a_o^+(1450)(p)|T\{\overline{u}(x)\gamma _5b(x),\overline{b}(0)\gamma _5d(0)|0,$$

and proceeding as in  obtains the sum rule ($`\mathrm{\Delta }=(1M_b^2/S_o)0.3)`$:

$$F_+^{Ba}(0)\frac{M_b^3\overline{\lambda }^2}{f_BM_B^4}_0^\mathrm{\Delta }𝑑x\frac{\varphi _s(x)}{1x}\mathrm{exp}\left\{\frac{M_B^2\frac{M_b^2}{1x}}{M^2}\right\},(8)$$

where the wave function $`\varphi _s(x)`$ of $`a_o^+(1450)`$ is defined as: 222 The leading twist wave function of $`a_o`$ also contributes to the sum rules. Estimates show that this contribution is positive and small. We neglect it.

$$a_o^+(1450)(p)|\overline{u}(0)d(z)|0=\lambda ^2_0^1𝑑xe^{ixpz}\varphi _s(x),_0^1𝑑x\varphi _s(x)=1.$$

The coupling $`\overline{\lambda }^2=\lambda ^2(\mu 1.5GeV)`$ is related by SU(3) to the matrix element $`K_o^{}(1430)(q)|\overline{s}d|0`$ in (2), and so: $`\overline{\lambda }^21.15GeV^2.`$ For other quantities entering (8) we use: $`\varphi _s(x)\varphi _s^{asy}(x)=1,f_Bf_\pi 130MeV`$. One obtains then from (8):

$$F_+^{Ba}(0)0.46.(9)$$

Somewhat surprisingly, this transition form factor turns out to be $`1.5`$ times larger than the corresponding $`B\pi `$ form factor: $`f_+^{B\pi }(0)0.30`$. Finally, this is due to strong coupling of scalar mesons to the scalar current.

Proceeding now in the same way as above, one obtains the decay amplitude:

$$T(\overline{B}^oa_o^+(1450)K^{})\frac{G_F}{\sqrt{2}}V_{tb}V_{ts}^{}a_4f_kM_B^2F_+^{Ba}(0)\left[\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}1}\frac{a_6}{a_4}\frac{2M_k^2}{\overline{m}_sM_b}\right].(10)$$

The two terms in square brackets in (10) nearly cancel each other. So, we conclude that $`Br(\overline{B}^oa_o^+(1450)K^{})`$ is very small, in spite of the large form factor.

3. Let us consider now the decay $`\overline{B}^oa_o^+(1450)\pi ^{}`$. Proceeding as before, one obtains the decay amplitude (it follows from the above that the penguin contribution is negligible):

$$T(\overline{B}^oa_o^+(1450)\pi ^{})\frac{G_F}{\sqrt{2}}V_{ub}V_{ud}^{}(a_1)f_\pi M_B^2F_+^{Ba}(0).(11)$$

One has then from (11) and (9): 333 $`Br(\overline{B}^oa_o^{}\pi ^+)`$ is highly suppressed, and so this mode is selftagging.

$$Br(\overline{B}^oa_o^+(1450)\pi ^{})2010^6;Br(\overline{B}^oa_o^+(1450)\rho ^{})3810^6.$$

It is seen that these branchings are sufficiently large to be observable.

4. Finally, let us consider production of two scalar mesons, $`B^{}\overline{K}_o(1430)a_o^{}(1450).`$ Proceeding as before, one obtains from (1) the decay amplitude:

$$T(B^{}\overline{K}_o(1430)a_o^{}(1450))i\frac{G_F}{\sqrt{2}}V_{tb}V_{ts}^{}a_4f_oM_B^2F_+^{Ba}(0)\left(1+\frac{2M_o^2}{\overline{m}_sM_b}\frac{a_6}{a_4}\right).$$

Normalizing by $`B^{}\overline{K}\pi ^{}`$ as before, and using (6), (9) one obtains: 444 The role of the tree $`bu(\overline{u}s)`$ transition is very small here in comparison with the large contribution $`a_6`$.

$$Br(B^{}\overline{K}_o(1430)a_o^{}(1450))Br(\overline{B}^oK_o^{}(1430)a_o^+(1450))$$

$$8.8Br(B^{}\overline{K}\pi ^{}).$$

Therefore, for $`Br(B^{}\overline{K}^o\pi ^{})1610^6`$, these branchings (as well as their charge conjugates) will be $`14010^6`$. It is seen that, in a sense, they are very large.

5. We do not consider here the neutral decay modes like, for instance, $`B^oJ/\mathrm{\Psi }K_o(1430)`$. Because the main factorizable contributions cancel each other here to large extent, the non-factorizable contributions become of great importance, and these are under poor control for such decays at present. One can expect only that, because the transition form factor $`BK_o(1430)`$ is considerably larger than those of $`BK`$, this mode can hardly be much smaller than $`BJ/\mathrm{\Psi }K`$.

We did not consider also flavourless scalars $`f_o(980),f_o(1370),f_o(1500)`$, etc. There are two reasons for this. First, their nature and quark-gluon composition are not well understood at present and, it seems, are complicated. The main reason, however, is that we expect their production in the $`Bf_iK`$ decays can be highly enhanced by the same mechanism which enhances $`B\eta ^{}K`$, and there is no clear understanding of this mechanism up to now.

Acknowlegements

I am indebted to A.E. Bondar who insisted on writing this note. I also thank him for very useful discussions.