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# Cosmological Evolution of Black Holes in Brans-Dicke Gravity

## I Introduction

The evolution of primordial black holes in scalar-tensor theories has been studied in the literature by several authors . Some questions about what happens to a black hole in an expanding universe when $`G`$ varies in spacetime in these theories were posed by Barrow , who considered two possible scenarios: (a) the effective gravitational “constant”, $`G(t),`$ at the black hole horizon changes along with its cosmological evolution so that the size of a black hole is approximated by $`R=2G(t)M`$. (b) $`G`$ remains constant at the black hole event horizon while it evolves on larger scales; a large inhomogeneity in $`G`$ is therefore generated. The case (b) was called “gravitational memory” because the black hole remembers the value of $`G`$ at its formation time. In either case the observational constraints on the abundance of exploding primordial black holes deduced from the total radiation backgrounds today would be modified .

Scheel, Shapiro and Teukolsky  made numerical analyses of dust collapse in Brans-Dicke (BD) theory, showing that the surface area of the event horizon decreases with time, contrary to the case in Einstein theory. Kang  gave an analytic explanation for the surface-area decrease in BD theory. Later, Jacobson claimed that there is no “gravitational memory” effect, by analyzing the evolution of a scalar field $`\varphi (t,r)`$ in Schwarzschild background . He found a particular solution of the scalar wave equation which matches smoothly between the black hole and a special cosmological background and showed that $`\varphi `$ at the event horizon evolves along with its asymptotic value $`\varphi (t,\mathrm{})`$. However, this solution requires a particular cosmological variation of $`G(t)`$ to occur in the background and may be special. It was also argued that even if the black hole mass in the Einstein frame is constant then its mass in the Jordan frame is time-dependent.

In order to investigate the time-dependence of the black-hole mass, Saida and Soda constructed a “cell lattice” universe in BD theory . In their model the universe is first tessellated by identical polyhedrons, which are then replaced by Schwarzschild black holes. It was shown that the black-hole mass has an adiabatic time dependence, which is qualitatively different according to the sign of the curvature of the background universe.

As an extension of Saida and Soda’s work, we consider a “Swiss cheese” (or Einstein-Straus) model  in BD theory and discuss the evolution of the radius and mass of black holes in an expanding isotropic background universe. The usual “Swiss cheese” model refers to a cosmological model in which spherical regions in the Friedmann-Robertson-Walker (FRW) universe are replaced by Schwarzschild spacetimes. Here we construct such a model in BD cosmology.

## II Background Universe in Brans-Dicke Theory

BD theory is described by the action,

$$S=d^4x\sqrt{g}\left[\frac{\varphi }{16\pi }\frac{\omega }{16\pi \varphi }(_\mu \varphi )^2+_m\right],$$
(1)
where $`\varphi `$ is BD field, $`\omega `$ is BD parameter, and $`_m`$ is the matter Lagrangian. The variations of equation (1) with respect to $`g_{\mu \nu }`$ and $`\varphi `$ yield the field equations:

$`_{\mu \nu }{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}g_{\mu \nu }`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{8\pi }{\varphi }}T_{\mu \nu }+{\displaystyle \frac{\omega }{\varphi }}\left[_\mu \varphi _\nu \varphi {\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}g_{\mu \nu }(\varphi )^2\right]+_\mu _\nu \varphi g_{\mu \nu }\mathrm{}\varphi ,`$ (2)
$`\mathrm{}\varphi `$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{8\pi }{2\omega +3}}\mathrm{Tr}T.`$ (3)
As a background universe, we assume the FRW spacetime:

$$ds^2=dt^2+a(t)^2\left\{\frac{dr^2}{1kr^2}+r^2(d\theta ^2+\mathrm{sin}^2\theta d\phi ^2)\right\},$$
(4)
where $`k`$ $`=0,\pm 1`$ determines the spatial curvature. As an energy-momentum tensor, we introduce a dust fluid:

$$T_{\mu \nu }=\rho u_\mu u_\nu ,$$
(5)
where $`\rho `$ and $`u_\mu `$ are the density and the four-velocity of dust, respectively. The field equations (2) and (3) reduce to the following equations for the background universe:

$$H^2+\frac{k}{a^2}=\frac{8\pi \rho }{3\varphi }H\frac{\dot{\varphi }}{\varphi }+\frac{\omega }{6}\left(\frac{\dot{\varphi }}{\varphi }\right)^2,$$
(6)
$$\ddot{\varphi }+3H\dot{\varphi }=\frac{8\pi \rho }{2\omega +3},$$
(7)
where an overdot denotes $`d/dt`$ and $`H\dot{a}/a`$ is the Hubble parameter.

In the flat space case, with $`k=0,`$ we know the general analytic solution for a dust universe:

$$a(t)=a_0(tt_+)^{\lambda _+}(tt_{})^\lambda _{},\varphi (t)=\varphi _0(tt_+)^{\kappa _+}(tt_{})^\kappa _{},$$
(8)
with constants $`\lambda _\pm `$ and $`\kappa _\pm `$ defined by

$$\lambda _\pm =\frac{\omega +1\pm \sqrt{1+2\omega /3}}{3\omega +4},\kappa _\pm =\frac{1\pm 3\sqrt{1+2\omega /3}}{3\omega +4},$$
(9)
and $`a_0`$, $`\varphi _0`$ and $`t_\pm `$ are arbitrary constants.

If we take $`t_+=t_{}`$, the general solution (8) reduces to the special power-law solution, (used for example by Saida and Soda ):

$$a(t)=a_0(tt_0)^{\frac{2\omega +2}{3\omega +4}},\varphi (t)=\varphi _0(tt_0)^{\frac{2}{3\omega +4}}.$$
(10)
where $`t_0`$ may be set to zero. In the limit of $`t\mathrm{}`$, the general solution (8) converges to the special power-law solution (10). If the present cosmic age $`t`$ is large enough, observations cannot constrain the relation between $`t_+`$ and $`t_{}`$. Therefore, we keep $`t_+t_{}`$ a free parameter.

In vacuum case ($`\rho =0`$) there are analytic solutions for all $`k`$. The vacuum solution for $`k=0`$ is expressed as

$$a(t)=a_0t^{\frac{1}{3(1+\alpha )}},\varphi =\varphi _0t^{\frac{\alpha }{1+\alpha }},$$
(11)
with

$$\alpha =\frac{1\pm \sqrt{1+2\omega /3}}{\omega },$$
(12)
where we have omitted the arbitrary constant $`t_0`$ by fixing the origin of the time coordinate $`t`$. Introducing the conformal time $`\eta =𝑑t/a`$, the vacuum solutions for $`k=\pm 1`$ are expressed as

$`k=+1:`$ $`a(\eta )=(\mathrm{sin}\eta )^{\frac{1\lambda }{2}}(\mathrm{cos}\eta )^{\frac{1+\lambda }{2}},\varphi (\eta )=(\mathrm{tan}\eta )^\lambda ,`$ (13)
$`k=1:`$ $`a(\eta )=(\mathrm{sinh}\eta )^{\frac{1\lambda }{2}}(\mathrm{cosh}\eta )^{\frac{1+\lambda }{2}},\varphi (\eta )=(\mathrm{tanh}\eta )^\lambda ,`$ (14)
with

$$\lambda =\pm \frac{3}{3+2\omega }.$$
(15)
## III Modified Swiss-Cheese Model

Now we consider a model for a black hole embedded in the FRW universe. We replace a sphere in the FRW spacetime with a vacuum region which contains a black hole. Here “vacuum” means $`T_{\mu \nu }=0`$, and does not imply that $`_{\mu \nu }=0`$ due to the existence of BD field.

Extending Israel’s junction conditions for a singular (or regular) hypersurface , Sakai and Maeda have studied bubble dynamics in the inflationary universe . It was found that one can solve the equations of motion for the boundary without knowing the interior metric if the interior is vacuum, $`T_{\mu \nu }=0`$, or has only vacuum energy (a cosmological constant), $`T_{\mu \nu }=\rho g_{\mu \nu }`$. Applying this method to the present model, we can determine the mass and the radius of a black hole without specifying the interior metric, as we shall show below.

Let us consider a spherical hypersurface $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ which divides a spacetime into two regions, $`V^+`$ (outside) and $`V^{}`$ (inside). We define a unit space-like vector, $`N_\mu ,`$ which is orthogonal to $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ and points from $`V^{}`$ to $`V^+`$. In order to describe the behaviour of the boundary, we introduce a Gaussian normal coordinate system, $`(n,x^i)=(n,\tau ,\theta ,\phi )`$, where $`\tau `$ is chosen to be the proper time on the boundary. Hereafter, we denote by $`\mathrm{\Psi }^\pm `$ the value of any field variable $`\mathrm{\Psi }`$ defined on $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ by taking limits from $`V^\pm `$.

For the matter field, we consider a dust (or vacuum) medium for $`V^+`$ and vacuum for $`V^{}`$:

$$T{}_{\mu \nu }{}^{}{}_{}{}^{+}=\rho u_\mu u_\nu ,T{}_{\mu \nu }{}^{}{}_{}{}^{}=0.$$
(16)
Although we assume a smooth boundary at which there is no surface density, it is not obvious that this matching is possible at all times. Therefore, we introduce a surface energy-momentum tensor on the boundary surface,

$$S_{ij}\underset{ϵ0}{lim}_ϵ^ϵ𝑑nT_{ij}=\mathrm{diag}(\sigma ,\varpi ,\varpi ),$$
(17)
where $`\sigma `$ and $`\varpi `$ denote the surface energy-density and the surface pressure of $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$, respectively.

If we introduce the extrinsic curvature tensor of the world hypersurface $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$, $`K_{ij}N_{i;j}`$, we can write the junction conditions on $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ as

$$[K_{ij}]^\pm =\frac{4\pi }{\varphi }\left(S_{ij}\frac{\omega }{2\omega +3}\mathrm{Tr}S\gamma _{ij}\right),$$
(18)
$$S_{i}^{j}{}_{|j}{}^{}=[T_i^n]^\pm ,$$
(19)
$$K_{ij}^+S_i^j+\frac{2\pi }{\varphi }\left\{S_j^iS_i^j\frac{\omega }{2\omega +3}(\mathrm{Tr}S)^2\right\}=[T_n^n]^\pm ,$$
(20)
where we have defined the jump in any quantity $`\mathrm{\Psi }`$ by the bracket $`[\mathrm{\Psi }]^\pm \mathrm{\Psi }^+\mathrm{\Psi }^{}`$ and the three-dimensional covariant derivative by the vertical bar $`|`$. The junction condition for BD field is derived from equation (3) as

$$[\varphi _{,n}]^\pm =\frac{24\pi }{3+2\omega }\mathrm{Tr}S,\varphi ^+=\varphi ^{},$$
(21)
which implies that $`\varphi `$ is continuous at $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ and inhomogeneous in $`V_{}`$.

The extrinsic curvature tensor of $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ in the homogeneous region $`V^+`$ is given by

$`K_\tau ^\tau `$ $`=`$ $`\gamma ^3{\displaystyle \frac{dv}{dt}}+\gamma vH,`$ (22)
$`K_\theta ^\theta `$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{\gamma (1+vHR)}{R}}={\displaystyle \frac{ϵ}{R}}\sqrt{1+\left({\displaystyle \frac{dR}{d\tau }}\right)^2R^2\left(H^2+{\displaystyle \frac{k}{a^2}}\right)},`$ (23)
where

$$R=a(t)r|_\mathrm{\Sigma },va\frac{dr}{dt}|_\mathrm{\Sigma },\gamma \frac{t}{\tau }|_\mathrm{\Sigma }=\frac{1}{\sqrt{1v^2}},\mathrm{and}ϵ\mathrm{sign}(K_\theta ^\theta )=\mathrm{sign}\left(\frac{R}{n}\right).$$
(24)
From equations (16), (17), (19), (20), (22)-( 24), we obtain the equations of motion:

$$\frac{dR}{dt}=\frac{dr}{d\chi }v+HR,$$
(25)
$$\gamma ^3\frac{dv}{dt}=\gamma \left\{\left(12w\right)vH\frac{2w}{R}\frac{dr}{d\chi }\right\}+\frac{2\pi \sigma }{\varphi }\left\{1+4w+\frac{(12w)^2}{(2\omega +3)}\right\}\frac{\gamma ^2v^2\rho }{\sigma },$$
(26)
$$\frac{d\sigma }{dt}=\frac{2\sigma (1+w)}{R}\frac{dR}{dt}+\gamma v\rho ,$$
(27)
where $`w\varpi /\sigma `$.

Once initial values of $`R`$, $`v`$, and $`\sigma `$ are given, the equations of motion (25)-(27) determine their evolution. As discussed in , initial values should satisfy the angular component of (18),

$$\gamma (1+vHR)ϵ^{}\sqrt{1+\left(\frac{dR}{d\tau }\right)^2\frac{R_{MS}}{R}}=\frac{8\pi \sigma R}{\varphi }\left(\frac{\omega +1+w}{2\omega +3}\right),$$
(28)
where we have chosen $`ϵ^{}=+1`$. $`R_{MS}`$ is defined by

$$R_{MS}R^{}(1g^{\mu \nu }R_{,\mu }^{}R_{,\nu }^{}),$$
(29)
where $`R^{}`$ is defined as $`R^{}\sqrt{g_{\theta \theta }}`$ at $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ on the $`V^{}`$side. Since the Misner-Sharp mass is defined as

$$M_{MS}\frac{R^{}}{2G}(1g^{\mu \nu }R_{,\mu }^{}R_{,\nu }^{})=\frac{R_{MS}}{2G},$$
(30)
we call $`R_{MS}`$ the “Misner-Sharp radius”. Note that $`R_{MS}`$ is a purely geometrical quantity and independent of theories of gravitation.

If we considered a spherical bubble in which there is no black hole (or singularity), we would have to solve the field equations with a regularity condition at the centre and the boundary condition (28), as done in . However, because we are interested in black hole solutions, we do not have to take a central regularity condition into account. Thus, we can use equation (28) to determine $`R_{MS}`$. Of course, our treatment does not guarantee the existence of a black hole in the center. We suppose a black hole as the most interesting object, which can be modeled by appropriate choices of matter and BD field configuration.

At the initial time, we suppose $`v=0`$ and $`\sigma =\varpi =0`$, so $`R_{MS}`$ is given by

$$R_{MS}=R^3\left(H^2+\frac{k}{a^2}\right).$$
(31)
Let us now discuss whether $`v`$ and $`\sigma `$ remain zero during the ensuing evolution. Suppose $`w=0`$, then the only nontrivial term in equation (26) is $`\gamma ^2v^2\rho /\sigma `$. If $`v`$ and $`\sigma `$ evolved from zero, then equation (28) shows $`vH\sigma /\varphi `$, so that $`\rho v^2/\sigma \rho v/H\varphi `$. Therefore, equations (26) and (27) guarantee that, if $`v=\sigma =0`$ at a certain time, $`v=\sigma =0`$ at all time. Interestingly, this result is true only for the dust case, $`\varpi /\sigma =0`$; otherwise the term $`(2w/R)(dr/d\chi )`$ in equation (26) would shift $`v`$ from zero.

In the case of Schwarzschild spacetime, the Misner-Sharp radius coincides with the event horizon. Although this is not necessarily true for general spacetimes, we speculate that the Misner-Sharp radius is a well-defined measure of the size of a black hole. In the next section, we calculate the evolution of $`R_{MS}`$ for black holes in several background cosmological models.

## IV Evolution of Black Holes

The evolution of the Misner-Sharp radius for the $`k=0`$ dust universe is given by equations (8) and (31),

$$R_{MS}=a_0^3r_0^3\left(\frac{\lambda _+}{tt_+}+\frac{\lambda _{}}{tt_{}}\right)^2(tt_+)^{3\lambda _+}(tt_{})^{3\lambda _{}},$$
(32)
where $`r_0`$ is the comoving radius of the vacuum region. Equation (32) shows that the black hole size decreases with time.

If we define the black hole mass by

$$M_{MS}\frac{\varphi R_{MS}}{2},$$
(33)
then it coincides with the mass defined by Saida and Soda . For the $`k=0`$ dust universe, we obtain

$$M_{MS}=\frac{a_0^3\varphi _0}{2}\left(\frac{\lambda _+}{tt_+}+\frac{\lambda _{}}{tt_{}}\right)^2(tt_+)^{3\lambda _++\kappa _+}(tt_{})^{3\lambda _{}+\kappa _{}}.$$
(34)
It is easy to see that equation (34) reduces to $`M_{MS}=`$ constant, if we choose $`t_+=t_{}`$, which is the same result as that found by Saida and Soda . They also showed $`M_{MS}`$ increases for $`k=+1`$ and decreases for $`k=1`$, and concluded that the evolution of the mass depends qualitatively on the sign of the curvature of the universe. We should note, however, that their conclusion is true only for the special case $`t_+=t_{}`$, or equivalently, only for the asymptotic behavior of $`M_{MS}`$ at $`t\mathrm{}`$. Our results give the general solution for all times.

Next, let us consider the scalar-field dominated (vacuum) universe. The time-dependent solutions for $`R_{MS}`$ and $`M_{MS}`$ in flat, open, and closed universes are given by

$`k=0:`$ $`R_{MS}={\displaystyle \frac{a_0^3r_0^3}{9(1+\alpha )^2}}t^{\frac{12\alpha }{1+\alpha }},`$ (35)
$`M_{MS}={\displaystyle \frac{a_0^3r_0^3\varphi _0}{18(1+\alpha )^2}}t^1,`$ (36)
$`k=+1:`$ $`R_{MS}={\displaystyle \frac{r_0^3}{2}}(\mathrm{cos}\eta )^{\frac{3+\lambda }{2}}(\mathrm{sin}\eta )^{\frac{1+\lambda }{2}}(\mathrm{cos}2\eta \mathrm{sin}2\eta \lambda ),`$ (37)
$`M_{MS}={\displaystyle \frac{r_0^3}{4}}(\mathrm{tan}\eta )^\lambda (\mathrm{cos}\eta )^{\frac{3+\lambda }{2}}(\mathrm{sin}\eta )^{\frac{1+\lambda }{2}}(\mathrm{cos}2\eta \mathrm{sin}2\eta \lambda ),`$ (38)
$`k=1:`$ $`R_{MS}={\displaystyle \frac{r_0^3}{2}}(\mathrm{cosh}\eta )^{\frac{3+\lambda }{2}}(\mathrm{sinh}\eta )^{\frac{1+\lambda }{2}}(\mathrm{cosh}2\eta \mathrm{sinh}2\eta \lambda ),`$ (39)
$`M_{MS}={\displaystyle \frac{r_0^3}{4}}(\mathrm{tanh}\eta )^\lambda (\mathrm{cosh}\eta )^{\frac{3+\lambda }{2}}(\mathrm{sinh}\eta )^{\frac{1+\lambda }{2}}(\mathrm{cosh}2\eta \mathrm{sinh}2\eta \lambda ).`$ (40)
If we take $`\omega >500`$, as applies to the universe today, then both $`\alpha O(\omega ^{\frac{1}{2}})`$ and $`\lambda O(\omega ^1)`$ will be negligible. We see that $`R_{MS}`$ and $`M_{MS}`$ both decrease with increasing time, except in the contracting phase of the $`k=+1`$ universe. In a more general scalar-tensor theory, with non-constant $`\omega (\varphi )`$ we would expect similar effects to arise and it would be possible for large changes in $`\omega (\varphi )`$ to occur in the very early universe despite very slow evolution towards a very large value of $`\omega >1000`$ today. However, such a calculation should be performed for a black hole in radiation and dust-dominated universes.

## V Discussion

We have constructed a modified “Swiss cheese” model in Brans-Dicke theory and discussed the evolution of black holes for dust and vacuum universes. We defined the size of a black hole $`R_{MS}`$ by the Misner-Sharp mass, and found that this size always decreases as long as the universe is in an expanding phase. Although we have not specified the metric around the black hole, the black hole mass and radius that we have obtained coincide with those used by Saida and Soda , who assumed a Schwarzschild-like metric. This shows that their ansatz of the Schwarzschild-like metric does not introduce a specialization of the problem.

Let us make a discussion about the definition of mass. In general it is not obvious which definition is the most appropriate among many definitions of quasi-local mass. However, in a spherically symmetric and asymptotically flat spacetime, the Misner-Sharp mass coincides with the ADM mass at spatial infinity, and with the Bondi-Sachs mass at null infinity, as Hayward proved . Although the asymptotic region in our model is not flat but expanding, if the vacuum region inside $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ is much larger than the black hole, we can regard the regions just inside $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ as quasi-asymtotical-flat and hence the above coincidence makes sense. Among the three the Misner-Sharp mass is the simplest to calculate.

We have not investigated the behavior of the interior vacuum region, which was partially investigated by Scheel et al.  and Jacobson . Their analyses suggest that the scalar field increases at the horizon and hence the horizon area decreases with time as the background universe expands. Although Jacobson’s particular solution of the scalar wave equation, with very fast variation of $`\varphi (t,\mathrm{})t`$ in the background universe, look unrealistic, we speculate that his conclusion may be unchanged for a more realistic background model because homogenisation of BD field occurs more effectively for slower time-variation of $`\varphi (t,\mathrm{})`$ . These studies, however, indicate that there are still uncertainties to be resolved as to the behaviour of black holes in background universes with arbitrary time variations in $`G`$. A detailed numerical study of a spherical collapse in a background Friedmann universe will answer some of these outstanding questions.

Acknowledgments

N. S. thanks T. Chiba, T. Harada, J. Koga, K. Maeda, H. Saida, H. Shinkai and T. Tanaka for useful comments, and also DAMTP, University of Cambridge, where a part of this work was carried out. This work was partially supported by JSPS Programs for Research Abroad 1999 and the Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research Fund of Monbu-Kagakushou (No. 13740139).


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# The BeppoSAX view of the X-ray active nucleus of NGC4258

## 1 Introduction

The nearby (distance of 7.2$`\pm `$0.3 Mpc, Herrnstein et al. 1999), bright ($`B_0^T=8.5`$), SABbc galaxy NGC4258 (M106) is spectroscopically classified as a 1.9 Seyfert galaxy (Ho, Filippenko & Sargent 1997, who find \[OIII\]/H$`\beta `$=10.3, and \[SII\]/H$`\alpha `$=0.94). Wilkes et al. (1995) find relatively broad (1000 km s-1) emission lines, which are strongly polarized (5-10%), supporting the existence of an obscured active nucleus in this galaxy. Further support to this case comes from high resolution observations of the water maser in the galaxy nucleus. Miyoshi et al. (1995) discovered a highly inclined thin disk between 0.13 and 0.25 pc. The inclination of the disk is estimated to 82$`\pm `$1 degrees (Herrnstein et al. 1999, the inclination of the galaxy is 70 degrees, Ho et al. 1997). The aspect ratio of the disk is extremely small, $`\genfrac{}{}{0pt}{}{_<}{^{}}0.2\%`$ (Herrnstein et al. 1999). The Keplerian rotation curve traced by the water maser requires a central binding mass, presumably in the form of a supermassive black hole, of $`3.9(\pm 0.1)\times 10^7`$ M (Herrnstein et al. 1999). To date, this is the strongest evidence for a supermassive black hole in a galaxy and the best measurement of its mass. The implied Eddington luminosity is $`5\times 10^{45}`$ erg s-1. Pending an accurate estimate of the observed nuclear luminosity, it is therefore possible in this case to constrain tightly the $`L/L_{Edd}`$ ratio of the active nucleus.

The evaluation of the nuclear luminosity and spectrum is not an easy task because the nucleus is highly obscured. Wilkes et al. (1995) discovered a faint, blue, highly polarized nuclear continuum, but the uncertainty on the optical nuclear luminosity is large (two orders of magnitude, depending on the nature of the scattering region). Similar uncertainties are found using the intensity of the emission lines. Chary & Becklin (1997) found a “nuclear” emission at 2 micron, in excess of that expected from the galaxy profile, of 4.5 mJy, corresponding to a luminosity ($`\nu L(\nu )`$) of about $`10^{41}`$ erg s-1. The nucleus is not detected in VLBA radio maps. Herrnstein et al. (1998) report upper limits to the 22 GHz flux and luminosity of 0.22 mJy and $`\nu L(\nu )=3\times 10^{35}`$ erg s-1 respectively. Conversely, a double, twisted radio jet is visible on scales from milliarcsec to a few arcmin (the latter scale corresponding to a few kiloparsec at the galaxy distance). The jets are visible in optical and X-ray images too. In particular, Cecil, Wilson & De Pree (1995) resolved the jets in ROSAT HRI observations and measured a 0.1-2.4 keV luminosity of $`6.5\times 10^{39}`$ erg s-1. They also detected an unresolved “nuclear” emission of comparable luminosity, confirming previous Einstein results (Fabbiano et al. 1992). ASCA spectra (Makishima et al. 1994, Ptak et al. 1999, Reynolds et al. 2000) resolve at least two distinct components, a thermal component dominating the spectrum up to 2-3 keV and a highly absorbed power law dominating the spectrum above this energy. The ASCA power law energy index is $`\alpha _E0.8`$ and the neutral absorbing column is in the range $`N_H=(0.91.5)\times 10^{23}`$ cm-2 (see Reynolds et al. 2000 for details). The 2-10 keV flux observed by ASCA varied between $`3\times 10^{12}`$ and $`10^{11}`$ erg cm-2 s-1(Reynolds et al. 2000), (6-15)$`\times 10^{12}`$ erg cm-2 s-1, when corrected for intrinsic absorption, during several observations performed between May 1993 and May 1999. This implies a 2-10 nuclear luminosity in the range $`(0.41)\times 10^{41}`$ erg s-1. The uncertainties on the spectral index and absorbing column are quite large (0.2–0.3 and $`(12)\times 10^{22}`$ cm-2 respectively), due to the fact that only a narrow energy band is unaffected by the bright thermal component, and so is the uncertainty on the unobscured flux. Reynolds et al. (2000) also report the detection of a narrow 6.4 keV iron K$`\alpha `$ line of equivalent width of $`107_{37}^{+42}`$ eV.

Because of the small luminosity in terms of the Eddington one, the nuclear emission of NGC4258 can be explained either by a standard accretion disk with a very small accretion rate, or by radiatively inefficient accretion models, such as the Advection Dominated Accretion Flows (ADAF, e.g. Narayan & Yi 1995). The Radio to X-ray Spectral Energy Distribution (SED) has been interpreted in terms of emission from an ADAF with a critical accretion rate $`\dot{m}0.016\alpha _1`$ (Lasota et al, 1996; $`\alpha _1`$ is the viscosity parameter in units of 0.1) or $`\dot{m}0.012\alpha _1`$ (Gammie et al. 1999, their modeling also includes the NIR data and the 22 GHz upper limit). In ADAF models the radio luminosity comes from synchrotron emission and the X-ray comes from the combined contributions of a high temperature (kT$`\genfrac{}{}{0pt}{}{_>}{^{}}`$100 keV) thermal bremsstrahlung and Comptonization of the synchrotron photons. Lasota et al. (1996) point out that this representation is not unique, because of the substantial uncertainties in the optical-UV and X-ray data and because of the difficulty in distinguishing an ADAF from thermal Comptonization, using only the X-ray spectral shape. Both Lasota et al. (1996) and Gammie et al. (1999) do not account in their models for the strong wind expected from the inner accretion disk (Blandford & Begelman 1999, Di Matteo et al. 2000). The wind carries a significant fraction of the mass, energy and angular momentum. In particular, it drastically reduces the synchrotron emission in the radio band and the Compton emission in the O-UV and X-ray bands (Di Matteo et al. 2000). In both modelings the NIR luminosity is generated by a standard, geometrically thin disk, external to the ADAF transition radius.

BeppoSAX, with its good sensitivity over a broad (0.1-200 keV) band, can help in separating the different X-ray spectral components and can provide a strong constraint on the nuclear power law spectral index and on the high energy cut-off (predicted by both ADAF models and thermal Comptonization models). It can help understanding whether the NGC4258 nucleus hosts a “normal” AGN (although of low luminsity) or rather an ADAF. BeppoSAX observed NGC4258 for about 100 ks on December 19-22 1998. The nuclear component was in a high state in comparison with most ASCA observations. This, together with the broad band (the source is detected with a signal to noise ratio $`\genfrac{}{}{0pt}{}{_>}{^{}}3`$ up to about 70 keV) allows us to tightly constrain the flux and spectral shape of the nuclear hard component.

The paper is organized as follows: Section 2 presents the data and gives information on their reduction; Section 3 presents a variability analysis; Section 4 presents the spectral analysis and the broad band, radio to X-ray spectral indices; Section 5 discusses the main results on the hard nuclear component and on the low energy components.

## 2 Observation and data reduction

The observations were performed with the BeppoSAX Narrow Field Instruments, LECS (0.1-10 keV, Parmar et al. 1997), MECS (1.3-10 keV, Boella et al. 1997b), HPGSPC (4-60 keV, Manzo et al. 1997) and PDS (13-200 keV, Frontera et al. 1997). LECS and MECS are imaging gas scintillation proportional counters, the HPGSPC is a collimated high pressure gas scintillation proportional counter and the PDS consists of four phoswich units. The PDS is operated in the so called “rocking mode”, with a pair of units pointing to the source while the other pair monitor the background $`\pm 210`$ arcmin away. The units on and off source are interchanged every 96 seconds. We report here the analysis of the LECS, MECS and PDS data; the HPGSPC data are very noisy, due to high HPGSPC background. The MECS observations were performed with units 2 and 3 (on 1997 May 6th a technical failure caused the switch off of unit MECS1); these data were combined together after gain equalization. The LECS is operated during dark time only, therefore LECS exposure times are usually smaller than MECS ones (a factor of 3 for NGC4258). Table 1 gives the LECS, MECS and PDS exposure times and the count rates.

Standard data reduction was performed using the SAXDAS software package version 2.0 following Fiore, Guainazzi and Grandi (1999). In particular, data are linearized and cleaned from Earth occultation periods (we accumulated data for Earth elevation angles $`>5`$ degrees) and unwanted periods of high particle background (satellite passages through the South Atlantic Anomaly and periods with magnetic cut-off rigidity $`>6`$ GeV/c). The internal background of the LECS, MECS and PDS during the accepted periods is relatively low and stable (variations at most of 30% during the orbit) due to the low inclination of the satellite orbit (3.95 degrees). LECS and MECS spectra were extracted from regions of 8 arcmin and 3 arcmin radii respectively. These radii maximize the signal-to-noise ratio below 1 keV in the LECS and above 2 keV in the MECS. Background spectra were extracted in detector coordinates from high Galactic latitude ‘blank’ fields (98\_11 issue) using regions equal in size to the source extraction region. We have checked that the mean level of the background in the LECS and MECS “blank fields” observations is comparable with the mean level of the background in the NGC4258 observations using source free regions at various positions in the detectors.

The PDS data have been reduced using the variable Risetime threshold technique to reject particle background (see Fiore, Guainazzi & Grandi 1999). This technique reduces the total 13-200 keV background to about 20 counts s-1 and the 13-80 keV background to about 6 counts s-1 (instead of 30 and 10 counts s-1 respectively, obtained using the standard fixed Risetime threshold technique). The PDS rocking mode provides a very reliable background subtraction. This can be checked looking at the spectrum between 200 and 300 keV, where the effective area of the PDS to X-ray photons is small and therefore the source contribution is negligible; we obtain after background subtraction 0.0085$`\pm `$0.012 counts s-1, consistent with the expected value of 0. The net (background subtracted) 13-130 keV on-source signal is 0.121$`\pm `$0.024 counts s-1. The source is detected with a signal to noise ratio $`\genfrac{}{}{0pt}{}{_>}{^{}}3`$ up to $`70`$ keV. The 13-130 keV PDS count rate is $`\genfrac{}{}{0pt}{}{_>}{^{}}3.5`$ times the systematic uncertainty in the PDS background subtraction, equal to 0.020$`\pm `$0.015, (Guainazzi & Matteuzzi 1997). Confusion in the PDS collimator Field Of View (1.4 degrees FWHM) ultimately limits our capability to constrain the high energy spectrum. We have carefully checked for any possible contaminant in a region of 1.5 degrees radius around NGC4258 (using the NED, SIMBAD, AGN, clusters, CVs, Radio and X-ray sources catalogs) finding no obvious bright hard X-ray source. Of course there is the possibility of a bright “unknown” source in the PDS field of view. The chance of finding a source in any given 2 square degrees, the PDS beam area, is however small. The HEAO-1 A4 all sky catalog (Levine et al. 1984) lists just 7 high Galactic latitude sources in the 13-80 keV band down to a flux of 2$`\times `$10-10 erg cm-2 s-1(10mCrab). The 13-80 keV flux is about 20 times smaller than this figure and so, assuming a logN-logS slope of $``$1.5, we expect a chance coincidence rate of 2%.

## 3 Variability

Figure 1 shows the MECS 3-10 keV light curve in bins of 2850 seconds. Variability of a factor of about two is evident on timescales of half day, as well as smaller amplitude variations (10-20 %) on time scales as short as one hour. Shorter timescales variations of similar amplitude cannot be sampled, due to the limited sensitivity of the MECS instrument. In this regard the source behaves in a way similar to X-ray brighter, and better studied, Seyfert galaxies (e.g. NGC4051, NGC5506, Green et al. 1993, Nandra et al. 1997).

Figure 2 shows the MECS 3-5 keV and 5-10 keV light curves (on the same scale), together with their ratios. The light curves are not background subtracted (the internal+cosmic background is about 3% and 6% of the mean total count rate in the two bands, and therefore it is negligible). The two MECS lightcurves present similar but not identical variations and, in fact, their hardness ratio shows small ($`\genfrac{}{}{0pt}{}{_<}{^{}}20\%`$) variations. Unfortunately the statistic is not good enough to perform an accurate spectral variability study. To this purpose high throughput instruments, like those that are on board the Chandra and XMM-Newton satellites, are needed. In any case, the spectral variations are expected to be small enough to allow us to safely use time integrated counts. We therefore concentrate hereinafter on the time averaged properties of the spectrum.

## 4 Spectral analysis

Spectral fits were performed using the XSPEC 9.0 software package and public response matrices as from the 1998 November release. LECS and MECS spectra were rebinned following two criteria: a) to sample the energy resolution of the detectors with four channels at all energies whenever possible, and b) to obtain at least 20 counts per energy channel. Constant factors have been introduced in the fitting models in order to take into account the intercalibration systematics between the instruments. The expected factor between LECS and MECS is about 0.9 \[0.7-1.1\]; the factor between the PDS and MECS is 0.8 \[0.7-0.9\] (see Fiore, Guainazzi & Grandi 1999). We assume in all spectral fits the MECS as reference instrument. The energy range used for the fits are: 0.1-4 keV for the LECS (channels 11-400), 1.65-10 keV for the MECS (channels 37-213) and 13-100 keV for the PDS. Errors quoted in this paper are 90% confidence intervals for one interesting parameter ($`\mathrm{\Delta }\chi ^2=2.71`$).

Figure 3 shows that the 0.1-100 keV spectrum (LECS+MECS+PDS) is highly complex. A strong cut-off below 4 keV is clearly visible as well as a faint emission line feature between 6 and 7 keV. The large excess visible between 0.7 and 1 keV is likely due to iron L emission from an optically thin plasma. The next Section presents the analysis of the high energy spectrum (E$`>2.5`$ keV). The thermal component(s) dominating the spectrum below $`2`$ keV are discussed in Section 4.2.

### 4.1 The hard nuclear component

The intensity of the hard component is strongly reduced by photoelectric absorption below 2-3 keV. For the sake of simplicity we therefore exclude the LECS data and limit the fit to the MECS+PDS data above 2.5 keV, when considering the nuclear component. The MECS+PDS spectra were fitted with a power law model plus photoelectric absorption. The agreement between the data and this simple model is acceptable (see Table 2). Thanks to the broad energy band the power law spectral index and the column density of the absorbing gas are well constrained ($`\alpha _E=1.11\pm 0.14`$, $`N_H=0.95(\pm 0.12)\times 10^{23}`$ cm-2). Figure 4 shows the ratio between the MECS and PDS data and the best fit model.

The observed 2-10 keV flux is $`8.0\times 10^{12}`$ erg cm-2 s-1, while the flux corrected for intrinsic absorption is $`1.52(\pm 0.15)\times 10^{11}`$ erg cm-2 s-1. The uncertainty on the unabsorbed flux is mostly due to the uncertainty on the absorbing column. The 2-10 keV nuclear (unobscured) luminosity is $`1.0(\pm 0.1)\times 10^{41}`$ erg s-1. The broad band 0.1-100 keV luminosity of the hard component is $`4.5\times 10^{41}`$ erg s-1.

The inclusion of a narrow line is significant at the 98% confidence level according to the F test. The line energy (6.57$`\pm `$0.20 keV) is consistent with K$`\alpha `$ emission from both neutral and helium like iron. The equivalent width (85$`\pm `$65 eV) is not well constrained. It is consistent with but somewhat lower than that of Seyfert 1 and Compton thin Seyfert 1.9-2 galaxies (Matt 2000). Assuming neutral iron, the observed equivalent width is consistent with that expected from transmission through a column density of about $`10^{23}`$ cm-2 (Ghisellini, Haardt & Matt 1994). The inclusion of a high energy cut-off is not significant. The 90% confidence level lower limit to the cut-off energy is 30 keV.

We have also fitted the MECS and PDS data with a thermal bremsstrahlung model (table 2). The $`\chi ^2`$ is significantly worse than in the power law model fit. We have then fitted the data with a power law plus bremsstrahlung model (fixing the temperature of the bremsstrahlung to 100 keV), to put a limit on the flux of an additional spectral component with the shape predicted by ADAF models with strong winds. The 90% limits on the 2-10 keV unabsorbed flux and on the 0.1-100 keV luminosity of this component are $`4\times 10^{12}`$ erg cm-2 s-1and $`1.5\times 10^{41}`$ erg s-1 respectively, about one third of the total 0.1-100 keV nuclear luminosity.

### 4.2 The low energy spectrum

To study the low energy spectrum of NGC4258 we now include in the spectral fitting the MECS data in the full 1.7-10 keV band and the LECS spectrum, which covers the 0.1-4 keV band. The LECS, MECS and PDS data were fitted with an optically thin thermal plasma model (MEKAL) plus the nuclear absorbed power law component and an iron K$`\alpha `$ line. An additional absorbing column of density fixed to the Galactic value along the line of sight ($`N_H=1.16\times 10^{20}`$ cm-2) has been included in the fit. The best fit power law spectral index and intrinsic absorption resulted very close to the best fit values found in the previous section. In Table 3 we give only the parameters of the low energy component.

The fit with a single thermal component is not completely satisfactory (see Figure 5, upper panel), with rather large residuals between 0.5 and 1 keV. The LECS and MECS spectra have therefore been fitted with a two temperature model plus the highly absorbed power law and the iron K$`\alpha `$ line (figure 5, lower panel). The improvement in $`\chi ^2`$ is significant ($`\mathrm{\Delta }\chi ^2=21.6`$ for three additional parameters, corresponding to a probability of 99.98%, according to the F test, see Table 3). While the temperature of the cooler component is well constrained, for the hotter component we obtain only a lower limit of about 1.3 keV. The metal abundance of the cooler component is constrained to be higher than 0.2 solar, while that of the hot component is constrained to be smaller than 0.9 solar. The results on the other parameters do not change fixing the metal abundances to the solar value. The 0.1-2.4 keV luminosities of the cool and hot components are about 10 and 7 $`\times 10^{39}`$ erg s-1, respectively. The 2-10 keV luminosity of the hot component is $`4\times 10^{39}`$ erg s-1. Because of the complexity of the model and of the limited energy resolution of the LECS and the MECS the uncertainties on these values are however rather large, the order of 50%. A slightly better fit is obtained by replacing the thermal “hot” component with an unobscured power law. In this case the improvement in $`\chi ^2`$ is significant at the 99.998% confidence level ($`\mathrm{\Delta }\chi ^2=23.6`$ for two additional parameters). Fixing the spectral index of the unobscured power law to that of the obscured nuclear component (so mimicking a partial covering model) produces a $`\chi ^2`$ of 89.6, still acceptable. The covering fraction is in this case $`0.935\pm 0.010`$.

### 4.3 Comparison with previous ROSAT and ASCA observations

The BeppoSAX 2-10 keV flux is about 2 times higher than in the May 1993 and May 1999 ASCA observations, while it is similar to that in the 1996 observations (Reynolds et al. 2000). The power law index is consistent with the ASCA measurements. The column density measured by Makishima et al. (1994) is $`1.5(\pm 0.2)\times 10^{23}`$ cm-2, while Ptak et al. (1999) find a nominally lower value ($`0.50.7)\times 10^{23}`$ cm-2 with a typical statistical error of $`(+0.80.3)\times 10^{23}`$ cm-2, see their tables 5 and 7. Reynolds et al. (2000) report values between 0.88 and $`1.4\times 10^{23}`$ cm-2. The BeppoSAX measurement is consistent with all ASCA measurements except that in the May 1993 observation.

The temperatures and abundances of the low energy components are consistent with ASCA (Makishima et al. 1994, Ptak et al. 1999, Reynolds et al. 2000) and ROSAT (Pietsch et al. 1994, Cecil, Wilson and De Pree 1995) determinations; the luminosity of the “cool” component is in agreement with the PSPC, HRI and ASCA measurements. The luminosity of the “cool” and “hot” components are slightly higher than in the ROSAT PSPC and HRI observations and in the ASCA observations, if taken at the face value, but the uncertainties in both the BeppoSAX data on these luminosities are rather large (30 to 50%). The energy and equivalent width of the iron line are consistent with the ASCA determination.

### 4.4 The radio to X-ray nuclear Spectral Energy Distribution

As said in the introduction the SED of NGC4258 was compared with broad band ADAF models by Lasota et al. (1996) and Gammie et al. (1999). The fit of detailed ADAF models to the radio to X-ray SED is beyond the scope of this paper. Here we limit ourselves to consider the two broad band spectral ratios $`R_{RX}`$= L(22GHz)/L(5keV) and $`R_{NIRX}`$=L($`2\mu `$)/L(5keV), plotted in figure 6. The NGC4258 BeppoSAX and ASCA data have been combined with the Herrnstein et al. (1998) 22 GHz upper limit and with the Chary & Becklin (1997) $`2\mu `$ “nuclear” emission. The resulting ratios are compared with the analogous ratios built from the Di Matteo et al. (2000) best fit ADAF + wind models to the SEDs of six nearby elliptical galaxies; and with the ratios computed from the average SEDs of UVX selected radio quiet quasars (Elvis et al. 1994). From figure 6 we note that the NGC4258 points are in the region occupied by radio quiet AGN; and that the $`R_{RX}`$ and $`R_{NIRX}`$ values are 2-4 orders of magnitude lower and higher, respectively, than in ADAF plus wind best fit models.

## 5 Discussion and Conclusions

### 5.1 Origin of the nuclear emission

The nuclear luminosity L(2-10 keV) of NGC4258 during the BeppoSAX observation was about $`10^{41}`$ erg s-1, similar to the NIR $`2\mu `$ luminosity estimated by Chary & Becklin (1997). This is consistent with an extrapolation of the X-ray power law down to a few microns. On the high energy side, the BeppoSAX data are not able to provide a strong constraint on the cut-off. However, BeppoSAX measured a cut-off energy of 100-200 keV in half a dozen Seyfert galaxies (Matt 2000 and references therein; see also Zdziarski et al. 2000, and references therein, for GRO/OSSE results). It is therefore reasonable to assume that the nuclear power law component can be extrapolated up to $`200`$ keV. If this is the case the 3 micron to 200 keV total nuclear luminosity is of the order of $`10^{42}`$ erg s-1. The uncertainty on this number strongly depends on the assumed NIR to X-ray spectral index (an uncertainty of 0.2 on this spectral index would imply a $`50\%`$ uncertainty on the total luminosity). The nuclear NIR to X-ray luminosity is similar to the minimum bolometric luminosity implied by the Wilkes et al. (1995) detection of polarized flux. A nuclear NIR to X-ray luminosity of $`10^{42}`$ erg s-1 and a black hole mass of $`3.9(\pm 0.1)\times 10^7`$ M (Herrnstein et al. 1999) imply an Eddington ratio of $`0.0002`$. Although higher than the Eddington ratios estimated by Lasota et al. (1996) and Gammie et al. (1999) this is still in the ADAF regime (e.g. Narayan, Mahadevan & Quataert 1998). We therefore discuss briefly in the following the applicability of ADAF models to the nuclear emission of NGC4258.

The SED of ADAF models depends on a variety of parameters and assumptions (Narayan, Mahadevan & Quataert 1998, Quataert & Narayan 1999, Di Matteo et al. 2000). Here we distinguish between two main families of models, (a) those in which strong winds efficiently deplete the emission region of emitting electrons and reduce the synchrotron radio emission together with the inverse Compton emission in X-rays (e.g. Di Matteo et al 2000), and (b) those without winds. The observed 2.5-70 keV spectral index ($`\alpha _E=1.11\pm 0.14`$) is steeper than what expected in ADAF models where the contribution of Comptonization is negligible and the X-ray luminosity is mostly due to thermal bremsstrahlung with kT=100-200 keV, i.e. $`\alpha _E0.3`$ at energies below 50-100 keV (case (a), see e.g. di Matteo et al. 2000). An additional kT$`100`$ keV bremsstrahlung component can contribute for at most one third of the broad band X-ray luminosity of the main ($`\alpha _E=1.11`$) power law component (see Sect. 4.1).

On the other hand, if the X-ray band is dominated by Comptonization, case (b), the observed X-ray spectral index can be easily explained. In this case we would expect either strong synchrotron emission in the radio band, or strong infrared emission from the outer thin disk, to provide enough soft photons for the inverse Compton scattering. We discuss these two possibilities in turn.

Strong synchrotron emission

Given the X-ray luminosity observed by ASCA and the higher one observed by BeppoSAX, the Herrnstein et al. (1998) 22GHz upper limit is barely consistent with the Gammie et al. (1999) ADAF models without wind. Furthermore, the observed radio-to-X-ray luminosity ratio is 2–3 orders of magnitude lower than in nearby elliptical galaxies supposed to host an ADAF (see Figure 6 and Sect. 4.4). ADAF solutions with or without winds seem more “radio-loud” than the NGC4258 nucleus. Conversely, the radio-to-X-ray luminosity ratio is consistent with that found in radio-quiet AGNs (Elvis et al. 1994). We also note that the 22GHz upper limit is consistent with the luminosity of a radio jet, whose power is proportional to the optical luminosity of a standard accretion disc (as inferred from the optical emission lines, Falcke & Biermann 1999).

Strong Infrared emission

The NIR to X-ray ratio of NGC4258 is also similar to that of radio-quiet AGNs (see figure 6), while it is higher than in the Di Matteo et al. (2000) ADAF models with winds by 2-4 orders of magnitude. In fact, Gammie et al. (1999) associate the strong nuclear NIR luminosity detected by Chary & Becklin (1997) to emission from a thin disc extending down to 5-50 Schwarzschild radii ($`R_S=2GM/c^2`$). According to Gammie et al. (1999) the flow should become advection dominated and produce a geometrically thick configuration at this transition radius. The size of the X-ray emission region and therefore the putative transition radius can be constrained through X-ray variability studies. There are at least two relevant timescales here, the local dynamical timescale $`t_d=R^{3/2}(GM)^{1/2}`$ and the causality timescale $`t_c=R/c`$. Large variations on timescales of $`40,000`$ seconds are present in the 3-10 keV light curve of NGC4258, as well as 10-20% variations on shorther ($`1`$ hour) timescales. Associating the longer timescales to $`t_d`$, as expected if the hard X-ray luminosity is mostly due to bremsstrahlung emission, produces an emission radius in units of $`R_S`$ of $`r\genfrac{}{}{0pt}{}{_<}{^{}}17`$. Associating the same timescale to $`t_c`$ produces $`r\genfrac{}{}{0pt}{}{_<}{^{}}100`$. These radii are still consistent with the ADAF transition radius of $`550R_S`$ suggested by Gammie et al. (1999). We note however, that even if a transition radius as small as $`5R_S`$ may be mathematically correct, it is less than two times the last stable orbit in a Schwarzschild metric. Since the transition between a geometrically thin disk to a thick configuration is unlikely to be very sharp, this leaves little space for the putative hot plasma region responsible for the X-ray emission. Reynolds et al. (2000) suggest that the size of the nuclear X-ray source may be as large as $`50R_S`$, based on the limit on the width of the iron K$`\alpha `$ line. However, a sizeable fraction of the line emission may well be produced by outer gas, as for example the gas responsible for the X-ray absorption, see Sect. 4.1.

In conclusion, ADAF models with strong winds can be ruled out for the nuclear emission of NGC4258, based on both the measured X-ray spectral shape and the X-ray variability. ADAF models without strong winds may be applicable but it is not clear if they are a viable physical solution (Blandford & Begelman 1999, Di Matteo et al. 2000). Moreover, they imply a radio to X-ray ratio barely consistent with the measured upper limit, and also for them the X-ray observed variability constrains the transition radius to be rather small (between $`20`$ and 100 $`R_S`$).

The IR-to-X-ray Eddington ratio, the X-ray variability and spectral shape, and the radio-to-X-ray and NIR-to-X-ray luminosity ratios suggest that the nucleus of NGC4258 is an AGN in a low state (see e.g. Siemiginowska et al. 1996) or a scaled-down version of a Seyfert nucleus. This is also consistent with the conclusions of Neufeld & Maloney (1995) who suggest that the low luminosity of NGC4258 is the result of low accretion rate ($`10^4M_{}yr^1`$). In the model of Neufeld & Maloney (1995) the radiative efficieny is high, $`10\%`$, in contrast to the low efficiency ADAF models. The X-ray nuclear luminosity can be naturally explained in terms of Comptonization of soft photons in a hot corona (e.g. Haardt & Maraschi 1991, Haardt, Maraschi & Ghisellini 1994). Witt et al. (1997) developed a model of accretion disc plus corona introducing a coupling between the energy dissipated in the corona and the accretion rate. They found that if the viscosity mechanisms are the same in the disc and in the corona, the corona does not form for accretion rates smaller than a critical value, because Compton cooling wins against viscous heating in the corona. This critical value is $`\dot{m}_c0.001`$ at small radii and increases with the radius. Under this condition, if the Eddington ratio of 0.0002 is linearly proportional to $`\dot{m}`$ and if the efficiency in the conversion of accretion power into radiation is $`\eta 0.1`$, a corona should not form in the nucleus of NGC4258. There are at least two ways out from this problem. The first is that the efficiency $`\eta `$ is at least as small as 0.01. This may be the case if a large part of the accretion power is carried out by a different channel, for example kinetic energy in a wind (as also foreseen in the Witt et al. model). Second, the dissipation of accretion power and the viscosity mechanisms may be very different in the disc and in the corona, as in the case of local magnetic reconnection flares in the corona, envisaged by Haardt, Maraschi & Ghisellini (1994).

More theoretical work is clearly needed to understand if accretion rates as small as 0.0002 in Eddington units may power a low luminosity version of a normal Seyfert galaxy nucleus, although this already seems for NGC4258 the most likely and less demanding, in terms of complexity, scenario.

### 5.2 Origin of the low energy component(s)

Makishima et al. (1994) and Ptak et al (1999) found some support for a two temperatures model for the low energy ASCA spectrum of this source. Using ROSAT HRI data Pietsch et al. (1994) and Cecil, Wilson & De Pree (1995) were able to resolve the soft X-ray emission in several components, the most relevant being a jet component. Cecil, Wilson and De Pree (1995) and Makishima et al. (1994) also report the discovery of a hotter thermal component (kT$`4`$ keV). The BeppoSAX data confirm the presence of at least two components, in addition to the obscured nuclear power law, in the 0.1-10 keV spectrum of this source. One component must be thermal, given the strong iron L complex detected, and its best fit temperature is kT$`0.6`$ keV. It can be due to shocks formed in the interaction of the jet with the interstellar matter (Cecil et al. 1995).

The shape of the second component is not well constrained by the BeppoSAX data. It is consistent with both thermal emission with temperature of kT$`>1.3`$ keV or a power law with energy index $`0.2_{0.2}^{+0.8}`$. This component may consist of a fraction of 0.935$`\pm 0.010`$ of the nuclear power law spilling out from a non uniform absorber. NGC4258 is known to be highly polarized (Wilkes etal 1995). This implies that there are lines of sight to the nucleus scattering photons towards us and providing an unobscured view. Such geometry mimicks a partial covering of the nuclear continuum. The observed covering fraction of is consistent with the 5–10 polarization observed in this source (Wilkes etal 1995). Alternatively, the second component may be due to integrated emission from binaries and Supernova Remnants. The contribution from these discrete sources may be estimated from the B band luminosity of NGC4258 (Trinchieri & Fabbiano 1985, Canizares, Trinchieri & Fabbiano 1987, Fabbiano et al. 1992). The total B magnitude, corrected for extinction, is B=8.53 (de Vaucouleurs et al 1991). This corresponds to a luminosity in the B band, in units of the solar luminosity, of log$`L_B`$=10.49. The Fabbiano et al. (1992) relationship between $`L_X`$ and $`L_B`$ for normal spiral galaxies implies a 0.2-4 keV luminosity of $`6\times 10^{39}`$ erg s-1 from discrete sources, which is $`70\%`$ the measured “hot” component 0.2-4 keV luminosity. Since the scatter in the Fabbiano et al. (1992) correlation is a factor of three we cannot exclude that the entire observed “hot” component is due to discrete X-ray sources in the host galaxy. High spatial resolution observations, like those allowed by the superior telescopes on board the Chandra satellite, will be able to resolve the discrete sources in the galaxy and therefore measure or put strong limits to any truly diffuse “hot” component.

### 5.3 Strong X-ray absorption and water maser emission

The nuclear continuum of NGC4258 varies on a timescale of half a day (see Sect. 3). Our data are not good enough to detect Fe-K line variability. However, all the observations to date are consistent with Fe like flux being constant over at least few times 105 seconds. We also find that the flux of the Fe line is consistent with its origin in the absorbing gas (Sect. 4.1). All this places the Fe line, and so the absorber at a distance of $`>6\times 10^{15}`$ cm. The water maser emission in NGC4258 originates at 0.13 pc from the nucleus. Thus the location of the X-ray absorber is consistent with being the same as that of the maser emission. Such an association between the X-ray absorber and maser emission is further corroborated by a general tendency of maser sources to show strong X-ray absorption, see for example NGC4945 Circinus galaxy, NGC1068 (Matt. et al. 2000 and references therein), ESO103-G35 (Wilkes et al. 2001) and possibly NGC3079 (Bassani et al. 1999).

In the models of Neufeld & Maloney (1995) for maser emission in NGC4258, the X-rays from the nuclear AGN are shielded by gas of large column density. Such shielding helps creating the layer of warm molecular gas in the midplane of the circumnuclear disk. The column density of the shielding gas in the Neufeld & Maloney (1995) model is $`9\times 10^{22}`$ cm-2, exacly what we measure in the present BeppoSAX observation. It is thus reasonable to assume that the large column density gas responsible for the nuclear X-ray absorption is also shielding the molecular gas. Neufeld & Maloney (1995) also note that if the circumnuclear disk is absolutely flat, i.e. not warped, then it would not be illuminated by the X-ray continuum. In this situation the temperature in the midplane of the disk would be too cold to excite water maser emission. Note that in such a geometry there would not be any X-ray absorption either.

All the above facts point towards a direct causal link between strong X-ray absorption and water maser emission. Illumination by X-ray continuum and subsequent shielding by a large column density gas seems to be required for maser emission, at least in some models. If such a scenario is correct, then every maser emitting AGN would show absoption in its X-ray spectrum.

We would like to thank the BeppoSAX hardware teams for the development and calibration of the instruments. In particular, we would like to remember the late Daniele Dal Fiume for his continuous dedication and his fundamental contribution to an instrument of unprecedented sensitivity and robustness like the BeppoSAX PDS.

This research has made use of SAXDAS linearized and cleaned event files (Rev.2.0) produced at the BeppoSAX Science Data Center. It has been partially supported by ASI contract ARS–99–75 and MURST grant Cofin–98–032. SM work has been partly supported by the NASA grant NAG5-8913 (LTSA). We thank Tiziana Di Matteo, Fabrizio Nicastro and Massimo Cappi for useful discussions.


text:
# D-Branes and Vanishing Cycles in Higher Dimensions.

## 1 Introduction

Quantum geometry often exhibits marked differences from the expectations one derives from classical intuitions. These novel features have in recent years helped aid the understanding of many phenomena in string theory . For example, worldsheet instanton effects lead one to determine that it is the collection of all rational curves over a given Calabi-Yau manifold which can be thought of as the quantum version of the variety . In addition, by using nonperturbative probes such as D-Branes, one discovers that one must also consider supersymmetric cycles of all dimensions as relevant to the quantum geometry of a variety . The idea of quantum volume has been studied for a large class of Calabi-Yau threefolds; determining the states which vanish along the discriminant locus and exhibiting the emergence of a massless degree of freedom quite generically . More recently, for the Quintic, much work has been done to study the BPS spectrum of states in great detail, making predictions based on both boundary conformal field theory methods and $`𝒩=2`$ supergravity approaches .

In this paper, we concentrate our efforts to extending the above to include the class of examples which are higher dimensional Calabi-Yau manifolds. The technology of mirror symmetry was first extended to higher dimensions in the paper . We use those results, combined with the advances made in the works listed above, to determine if analagous statements about vanishing cycles can be made in the case of Calabi-Yau manifolds of higher dimension.

First we review the ideas of quantum volume and the technology of Meijer periods developed in , and generalize them to the case of hypersurface Calabi-Yau manifolds in higher dimensions. We then analyze the cases of the sextic hypersurface in $`^5`$ and the heptic hypersurface in $`^6`$. We then consider an example in a weighted projective space. For each of the three examples, we obtain simple expressions for collapsing cycles which vanish along the discriminant locus. We end with some conclusions and remarks, as well as some directions for further research.

## 2 Higher Dimensional Calabi-Yau Manifolds

### 2.1 Quantum Volumes

As is usual, we may define the *quantum volume* of a holomorphic even dimensional cycle in a $`d`$-dimensional algebraic variety with trivial anticanonical bundle to be equal to the quantum corrected mass of the (IIA) BPS saturated D-brane state wrapping it; this is equal to the *classical* mass of its mirror $`d`$-cycle.

This agrees with our naive notion of volume in the classical regime, but as we move in moduli space, corrections arise which alter these volumes as functions of the moduli. In this manner, we obtain an exact stringy expression for the volume of a given even dimensional holomorphic cycle $`\gamma `$ in a Calabi-Yau $`d`$-fold $`X`$ with in terms of the normalized period of its mirror $`d`$-cycle $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$:

$$M(\gamma )=|Z(\mathrm{\Gamma })|=\frac{|_\mathrm{\Gamma }\mathrm{\Omega }(z)|}{(_Yi\mathrm{\Omega }(z)\overline{\mathrm{\Omega }}(z))^{1/2}}=\frac{|q^i_{\mathrm{\Gamma }_i}\mathrm{\Omega }|}{(_Yi\mathrm{\Omega }(z)\overline{\mathrm{\Omega }}(z))^{1/2}}.$$
(1)
In the above, $`\{\mathrm{\Gamma }_i\}_i`$, $`i=1,\mathrm{},h^d(Y)`$, is an integral basis of $`H_d(Y)`$, with $`h^d(Y)`$ being the sum of the ranks of the $`d`$-dimensional Dolbeault cohomology. $`\mathrm{\Omega }(z)`$ is the holomorphic $`d`$-form, written with explicit dependence on the moduli $`z`$. The $`q^i`$ are the integral charges of the cycle with respect to the $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_i`$, and $`_{\mathrm{\Gamma }_i}\mathrm{\Omega }(z)`$ are the periods of the holomorphic $`d`$-form.

In this paper, we consider varieties $`X`$ with $`h^{1,1}(X)=1`$. As such, we may label the point $`z=0`$ as the large complex structure limit, i.e. the complex structure for the mirror variety $`Y`$ which is mirror to the large volume limit of $`X`$. In this class of examples, holomorphic cycles of real dimension $`2j`$ on $`X`$ are mirror to $`d`$-cycles on $`Y`$.

### 2.2 Meijer Periods

The technology of Meijer periods  allows us to write down a basis of solutions to the Picard-Fuchs equation associated to a given variety $`Y`$, which is indexed by the leading logarithmic behavior of each solution.

This is useful, as D-Branes who wrap $`2j`$ dimensional cycles on $`X`$ will be mirror to $`d`$-dimensional branes on $`Y`$ which have periods with leading $`\mathrm{log}^jz`$ behavior near $`z=0`$. Thus, finding a complete set of periods of $`\mathrm{\Omega }(z)`$ and classifying their leading logarithmic behavior gives us a means of identifying the dimension of their even-cycle counterpart on $`X`$. As usual in this context, when we speak about a cycle on $`X`$ of real dimension $`2j`$, we refer to a cycle on $`X`$ with $`2j`$ being the maximal dimensional component, but with the identity of any lower dimensional “dissolved” cycles left unspecified.

In particular, in the case of higher dimensional Calabi-Yau manifolds, we are still able to find a basis of solutions, each representing a single BPS $`2j`$ brane on $`X`$, viewed in terms of the mirror variety $`Y`$. These periods will have branch cut discontinuities on the moduli space; only on the full Teichmüller space are they continuous. This is as the periods of the holomorphic $`d`$-form on a Calabi-Yau manifold solve the generalized hypergeometric equation :

$$\left[\delta \underset{i=1..q}{}(\delta +\beta _i1)z\underset{j=1..p}{}(\delta +\alpha _j)\right]u=0.$$
(2)
where $`\delta =z_z`$ and for a Calabi Yau of hypersurface type of dimension $`d`$, defined as the zero locus of a degree $`d+2`$ homogeneous polynomial in $`^{d+1}`$, we have $`\alpha =\{\frac{i}{d+2}\}_{i=1}^{d+1}`$ and $`\beta =\{1\}_{j=1}^{d+1}`$. These model dependant constants are easily read off, in the case of complete intersections Calabi-Yau, by the divisor theory of the variety at hand, which determine the form of the regular solution to the above equation of Picard-Fuchs type.

The mirror variety $`Y`$ is defined as a quotient of:

$$\underset{i=1}{\overset{d+2}{}}x_{i}^{}{}_{}{}^{(d+2)}(d+2)\psi x_1x_2\mathrm{}x_{d+2}=0$$
(3)
by the identifications $`x_i\omega ^{k_i}x_i`$, with $`\omega =e^{2\pi i/(d+2)}`$ and the $`k_i`$ satisfying $`_ik_i=0`$, where the $`x_i`$ are taken to be homogeneous coordinates on $`^{d+1}`$ and $`\psi `$ is a single complex parameter which specifies the complex structure modulus of the mirror variety $`Y`$. The $`\psi `$-plane is actually a $`(d+2)`$-fold covering of moduli space, since $`\psi `$ and $`\omega \psi `$ yield isomorphic spaces through the isomorphism $`x_1\omega x_1`$; thus, $`\psi `$ is related to $`z`$ by $`z=\psi ^{(d2)}`$.

A class of solutions to these PDE manifest themselves as Meijer G-functions $`U_j`$, for $`j\{0,d\}`$ each with $`\mathrm{log}^jz`$ behavior around $`z=0`$. They possess the following integral representation:

$$U_j(z)=\frac{1}{(2\pi i)^j}_\gamma \frac{ds\mathrm{\Gamma }(s)^{j1}_{i=1}^d\mathrm{\Gamma }(s+\alpha _i)((1)^{j+1}z)^s}{\mathrm{\Gamma }(s+\beta _j)^{dj}},$$
(4)
with $`\alpha `$ and $`\beta `$ as defined above.

This integral has poles at $`\alpha _is=n`$ and $`\beta _j+s=n`$ for $`n^+`$. We may evaluate it by the method of residues by choosing $`\gamma `$, a simple closed curve, running from $`i\mathrm{}`$ to $`+i\mathrm{}`$ in a path that separates the two types of poles from one another. Closing the contour $`\gamma `$ to the left or to the right will provide an asymptotic expansion of $`U_j(z)`$ which is adapted to either the Gepner point ($`\psi ^{(d+2)}=z=\mathrm{}`$ in this parametrization) or the large complex structure point ($`z=0`$). Our choice of defining polynomial for the varieties we study is such that the discriminant locus (conifold point) lies at $`z=1`$.

One should note that the Meijer period expressions we write down are for the bare D-Brane masses, which have not been normalized through use of the Kähler potential. A correctly normalized (and hence, non-holomorphic) mass equation is required to determine nonzero minima of $`|Z(\mathrm{\Gamma })|`$ for a given D-Brane charge $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$, since the minima of the norm of a holomorphic function is neccesarily zero. However, for the question of vanishing cycles, we are able to proceed by considering only the bare mass. It would be of interest to return to this class of higher dimensional examples with the neccesary integral structure at hand, to perform an analysis along the lines of .

### 2.3 Monodromies

We quickly review the procedure by which one obtains the mondromy matrices for a given example, with the dimension $`d`$, and the sets $`\alpha `$ and $`\beta `$ as starting input. The following is a brief summary of the exposition of ; readers wishing greater detail should consult that reference.

The monodromy matrix $`T[0]`$ does not depend on the particular form of the coefficients $`\alpha `$, but only the form of $`\beta `$. In our set of examples, $`\beta =\{1,\mathrm{},1\}`$, and the matrix $`T[0]`$ only depends on the complex dimension $`d`$ of the variety in question (which is equal to the cardinality of $`\beta `$).

The canonical form of the monodromy matrix for the Gepner point, which we call $`T_{can}[\mathrm{}]`$, is derived from the general theory of partial differential equations of hypergeometric type, and is sensitive to the coefficients $`\alpha `$. It is given by the following expression:

$$T_{can}[\mathrm{}]_{\mu \nu }=\delta _{\mu \nu }e^{2\pi i\alpha _\mu }$$
(5)
where $`\mu `$ and $`\nu `$ run from $`0`$ to $`d`$.

The above can be brought, via a change of basis, into a form relevant to our chosen basis of periods $`U^\nu `$, by first conjugating with the following matrix $`C`$:

$$C_{\rho \sigma }=(\frac{\mathrm{sin}(\pi \alpha _\sigma )}{\pi })^{d\rho }(\delta _\rho ^{even}+e^{i\pi \alpha _\sigma }\delta _\rho ^{odd})$$
(6)
and then with the following matrix $`V`$:

$$V_{\tau \omega }=\delta _{\tau \omega }(2\pi i)^\tau $$
(7)
We then have $`T[\mathrm{}]=VCT_{can}[\mathrm{}]C^1V^1`$. The conjugation by $`V`$ is needed to compensate for the normalization factor introduced in front of our integral representation of Meijer periods. It also serves to greatly simplify the form of the monodromy matrices we list in the next section.

### 2.4 Weakly Integral Periods

At this point, the determination of a basis of weakly integral periods bears some review. Since we focus our attention on examining D-branes wrapping cycles whose mass vanishes at singular points in the moduli space, we do not need to know exactly which linear combination of Meijer periods form a basis for an integral charge lattice. We only need to find a basis which is proportonial as a whole, up to some nonzero complex number $`\theta `$, to such an integral basis. Such a basis is called weakly integral in . Should a linear combination of weakly integral periods have a zero somewhere in moduli space, then the (undetermined) integral class proportional to that period vector must also vanish at the same point.

We generate a basis of weakly integral periods in $`\theta H_3(Y,)`$ by finding first one weakly integral period, and then acting on it with monodromy transformations. For hypersurface examples, the regular solution to the Hypergeometric equation is invariant under mondromy about the large complex structure point, and performing monodromies around the three regular singular points preserves the integral charge lattice of $`H_3(Y,)`$ . Thus, if the monodromy matrix $`T[\mathrm{}]`$ corresponding to the action on the periods after making a loop around the Gepner point is cyclic, i.e. there exists a positive integer $`n>1`$ such that $`T[\mathrm{}]^n=1`$, we may take the period vector with only one unit of $`U_0`$ charge and transport it around the Gepner point (n-1) times to generate a basis of $`n`$ weakly integral charge vectors.

## 3 Collapsing Cycles

### 3.1 The Sextic Hypersurface

We will first consider type IIA string theory compactified on the sextic hypersurface Calabi-Yau $`X`$, or equivalently type IIB compactified on its mirror $`Y`$, which is defined by a single homogeneous equation of Fermat type, as described above. For the sextic, using the conventions detailed in , directly and straight forwardly generalized to a case of complex dimension four, and taking our periods to be defined in our normalization convention above, one can easily compute the monodromy matrices around these three regular singular points. They are given by:

$$\begin{array}{ccc}T\left[0\right]=\left[\begin{array}{ccccc}1& 0& 0& 0& 0\\ 1& 1& 0& 0& 0\\ 1& 1& 1& 0& 0\\ 0& 0& 1& 1& 0\\ 0& 0& 1& 1& 1\end{array}\right]& & T\left[\mathrm{}\right]=\left[\begin{array}{ccccc}5& 4& 11& 3& 6\\ 1& 1& 0& 0& 0\\ 1& 1& 1& 0& 0\\ 0& 0& 1& 1& 0\\ 0& 0& 1& 1& 1\end{array}\right]\end{array}$$
(1)
and $`T[1]=T[\mathrm{}]T[0]^1`$ for $`Imz<0`$, $`T[1]=T[0]^1T[\mathrm{}]`$ for $`Imz>0`$.

We choose the period $`U_0`$, which is invariant under monodromy about the large complex structure point, as our generator. Then we use the fact that $`T[\mathrm{}]^6=1`$ and transport $`U_0`$ by monodromy around the Gepner point, to obtain a weakly integral basis of periods $`EU`$ with the matrix $`E`$ given by:

$$E=\left[\begin{array}{ccccc}1& 0& 0& 0& 0\\ 5& 4& 11& 3& 6\\ 10& 5& 35& 6& 24\\ 10& 0& 45& 0& 36\\ 5& 5& 29& 6& 24\\ 1& 4& 8& 3& 6\end{array}\right]$$
(2)
A quick search indicates the following weakly integral period vanishes at the point $`z=1`$:

$$\mathrm{\Pi }_V=2U_0+4U_1+8U_2+3U_3+6U_4$$
(3)
Figure 1. Graph of $`|Z(\mathrm{\Pi }_V)|`$ around the point $`z=1`$ for the sextic hypersurface in $`^5`$.
The horizontal axis represents Re(z).

Figure 2. Graph of $`|U_i(z))|`$ around the point $`z=1`$ for the sextic hypersurface in $`^5`$.
Included, in red, is $`|Z(\mathrm{\Pi }_V)|`$. The horizontal axis represents Re(z).

As indicated in the figures above, the pure n-dimensional periods $`U_i(z)`$ have a finite, nonzero, quantum volume around the point $`z=1`$, where the weakly integral period $`\mathrm{\Pi }_V`$ vanishes. Thus, in the case of this Calabi-Yau fourfold, we have a top dimensional cycle which can be seen as having zero quantum volume on the discriminant locus, as is the case with string theory compactified on a Calabi-Yau threefold such as the quintic. However, the form of the vanishing cycle differs qualitatively from that of quintic hypersurface, having periods representing cycles of all dimensions.

### 3.2 The Heptic Hypersurface

We next consider type IIA string theory compactified on the heptic hypersurface Calabi-Yau $`X`$, or equivalently type IIB compactified on its mirror $`Y`$, which is defined by a single homogeneous equation of Fermat type, as above. For the heptic, using the conventions detailed in , directly and straight forwardly generalized to a case of complex dimension five, and taking our periods to be defined as listed above one can easily compute the monodromy matrices around these three regular singular points. They are given by:

$$\begin{array}{ccc}T\left[0\right]=\left[\begin{array}{cccccc}1& 0& 0& 0& 0& 0\\ 1& 1& 0& 0& 0& 0\\ 1& 1& 1& 0& 0& 0\\ 0& 0& 1& 1& 0& 0\\ 0& 0& 1& 1& 1& 0\\ 0& 0& 0& 0& 1& 1\end{array}\right]& & T\left[\mathrm{}\right]=\left[\begin{array}{cccccc}1& 7& 0& 14& 0& 7\\ 1& 6& 0& 14& 0& 7\\ 0& 1& 1& 0& 0& 0\\ 0& 1& 1& 1& 0& 0\\ 0& 0& 0& 1& 1& 0\\ 0& 0& 0& 1& 1& 1\end{array}\right]\end{array}$$
(1)
and $`T[1]=T[\mathrm{}]T[0]^1`$ for $`Imz<0`$, $`T[1]=T[0]^1T[\mathrm{}]`$ for $`Imz>0`$.

To generate a weakly integral basis of periods (i.e. a basis of periods which correspond to integral wrapped D-Branes, up to an overall complex normalization), we first chose the period $`U_0`$, which is invariant under monodromy about the large complex structure point. We then transport $`U_0`$ by monodromy around the Gepner point to generate a weakly integral basis $`EU`$ with the matrix $`E`$ given by:

$$E=\left[\begin{array}{cccccc}1& 0& 0& 0& 0& 0\\ 1& 7& 0& 14& 0& 7\\ 6& 21& 14& 63& 7& 35\\ 15& 35& 49& 119& 28& 70\\ 20& 35& 70& 119& 42& 70\\ 15& 21& 49& 63& 28& 35\\ 6& 7& 14& 14& 7& 7\end{array}\right]$$
(2)
We have a set of seven weakly integral periods because for the heptic hypersurface, $`T[\mathrm{}]^7=1`$. Numerically evaluating these periods using an asymptotic expansion about the large complex structure point, one quickly finds the following linear combination of Meijer periods which vanishes at the conifold point $`z=1`$:

$$\mathrm{\Pi }_V=U_1+2U_3+U_5$$
(3)
Figure 3. Graph of $`|Z(\mathrm{\Pi }_V)|`$ around the point $`z=1`$ for the heptic example.
The horizontal axis represents Re(z).

Figure 4. Graph of $`|U_i(z)|`$ (for $`i\{0,1,2\}`$) around the point $`z=1`$ for the heptic example.
Included, in red, is $`|Z(\mathrm{\Pi }_V)|`$. The horizontal axis represents Re(z).

Figure 5. Graph of $`|U_i(z)|`$ (for $`i\{3,4,5\}`$) around the point $`z=1`$ for the heptic example.
Included, in red, is $`|Z(\mathrm{\Pi }_V)|`$. The horizontal axis represents Re(z).

As indicated in the figures above, the pure n-dimensional cycles mirror to the periods $`U_i(z)`$ have a finite, nonzero, quantum volume around the point $`z=1`$, where the weakly integral period $`\mathrm{\Pi }_V`$ vanishes. Thus, Thus we have a top dimensional cycle with zero quantum volume on the discriminant locus. In addition, its form is very similar to that of the quintic hypersurface, namely being a linear combination of periods which have leading logarithmic powers which are of odd dimension.

### 3.3 A Weighted Example

Finally, we consider type IIA string theory compactified on a hypersurface Calabi-Yau defined as the zero locus of a single homogeneous polynomial of degree 10 on the weighted projective space $`(1,1,1,1,1,5)`$. The mirror variety can be described as an appropriate quotient of the zero locus of the following polynomial in the coordinates $`x_i`$ on the weighted space:

$$\underset{i=1}{\overset{5}{}}x_{i}^{}{}_{}{}^{10}+x_6^2\psi x_1x_2\mathrm{}x_6=0$$
(1)
Hypersurfaces in weighted projective space obey similar hypergeometric equations to those in regular projective space, with a slight complication by the presence of the nontrivial weights. However, one may still read off the period which is regular by examining the intersection theory of the variety, and thus determine the associated hypergeometric equation which the periods of the holomorphic fourform must satisfy, in exactly the same manner as the unweighted cases. The equation one obtains is of the same form as listed above, with coefficients given by $`\alpha =\{i/10\}_{i=1}^9`$ and $`\beta =\{1,1,1,1\}\{\frac{j}{5}\}_{j=1}^4`$. In this example, the above coefficients to some extent cancel inside the integral expressions for the Meijer periods, leaving only $`\alpha =\{1/10,3/10,1/2,7/10,9/10\}`$ and $`\beta =\{1,1,1,1\}`$. This makes the computation of residues straightforward. Other, more general, examples may be studied; the only cost is a loss of computational simplicity, as generic $`\beta `$ values will introduce additional poles into the solutions and make the computation of the relevant monodromy matrices more cumbersome.

For this weighted case, the monodromy matrices around the three regular singular points are:

$$\begin{array}{ccc}T\left[0\right]=\left[\begin{array}{ccccc}1& 0& 0& 0& 0\\ 1& 1& 0& 0& 0\\ 1& 1& 1& 0& 0\\ 0& 0& 1& 1& 0\\ 0& 0& 1& 1& 1\end{array}\right]& & T\left[\mathrm{}\right]=\left[\begin{array}{ccccc}4& 3& 7& 1& 2\\ 1& 1& 0& 0& 0\\ 1& 1& 1& 0& 0\\ 0& 0& 1& 1& 0\\ 0& 0& 1& 1& 1\end{array}\right]\end{array}$$
(2)
and $`T[1]=T[\mathrm{}]T[0]^1`$ for $`Imz<0`$, $`T[1]=T[0]^1T[\mathrm{}]`$ for $`Imz>0`$.

We choose the period $`U_0`$, which is invariant under monodromy about the large complex structure point, as our generator. In this case, $`T[\mathrm{}]^5=1`$, but we may still transport $`U_0`$ by monodromy around the Gepner point, to obtain a weakly integral basis of periods $`EU`$ with the matrix $`E`$ given by:

$$E=\left[\begin{array}{ccccc}1& 0& 0& 0& 0\\ 4& 3& 7& 1& 2\\ 6& 2& 18& 1& 6\\ 4& 2& 17& 1& 6\\ 1& 3& 6& 1& 2\end{array}\right]$$
(3)
The following weakly integral period vanishes at the point $`z=1`$:

$$\mathrm{\Pi }_V=2U_0+3U_1+6U_2+1U_3+2U_4$$
(4)
Figure 6. Graph of $`|Z(\mathrm{\Pi }_V)|`$ around the point $`z=1`$ for the weighted example.
The horizontal axis represents Re(z).

Figure 7. Graph of $`|U_i(z)|`$ around the point $`z=1`$ for the weighted example.
The horizontal axis represents Re(z).

As indicated in the figures above, the pure n-dimensional periods $`U_i(z)`$ have a finite, nonzero, quantum volume around the point $`z=1`$, where the weakly integral period $`\mathrm{\Pi }_V`$ for this example vanishes. The form of $`\mathrm{\Pi }_V`$ in the weighted case is similar to that of the sextic, explicitly containing a mixture of cycles of all leading logarithmic behavior.

## 4 Conclusions

In this paper, we have extended the results of  to include examples which occur in higher dimensions. This is a natural direction to explore, and shows that even in higher dimensional Calabi-Yau manifolds, one may have a top-dimensional cycle with zero quantum volume, at a point in the moduli space where all pure cycles of smaller dimension remain at finite, nonzero, size.

For fourfold examples, it might be of interest view to the manifolds in question as the internal part of a type IIB sting theory compactified down to two spacetime dimensions, and examine the relevant supergravity limit. BPS black hole states corresponding to supersymmetric D-branes in the two extended spacetime directions should possess a simplified version of the attractor mechanism analogous to the one existing in four dimensions. One might consider studying attractor flow lines in moduli space, and attempt to determine features of the spectrum of D-branes in the sextic and the weighted example, much in the same spirit as the analysis of . This is a topic to which we may hope to return to in future work.

###### Acknowledgments.

The author would like to thank Brian Greene; this work was completed under his direction. The author would also like to thank Gautham Chinta and Frederik Denef for useful discussions.


text:
# Lemma .

Algebra, Geometry & their Applications

Seminar Proceedings

DISCRETE VERSIONS OF THE BECKMAN-QUARLES THEOREM FROM THE DEFINABILITY RESULTS OF R. M. ROBINSON

Apoloniusz Tyszka

Technical Faculty, Hugo Kołła̧taj University

Balicka 104, 30–149 Kraków, Poland

E-mail: rttyszka@cyf-kr.edu.pl

Abstract. We present shorter proofs of the discrete versions of the Beckman-Quarles theorem first proved in .

2000 Mathematics Subject Classification: 51M05, 03B30. The classical Beckman-Quarles theorem (, ) states that if $`f:^n`$$``$$`^n`$ $`(n>1)`$ preserves all unit distances then it is an isometry. In this note we derive the discrete forms of this theorem () from a Lemma proved there and from Robinson’s results on geometric notions which are definable in terms of the unit distance (). This new proof avoids reference to the deeper result of H. Maehara on rigid unit-distance graphs as well as the auxiliary results from pp. 128-132 in , and may thus be considered simpler.

For the remainder of the paper we fix an integer $`n>1`$. For algebraic $`r>0`$ let $`P_r`$ denote a binary predicate, where $`P_r(x,y)`$ have the intended interpretation “the distance from $`x`$ to $`y`$ is $`r`$”. Let $``$ be the first order language with equality in which the only non-logical symbol is $`P_1`$. We say that a $`k`$-ary relation $`R`$ in $`^n`$ is (existentially) definable in $``$ (i.e. in terms of the unit distance using equality and logical connectives $`\neg `$, $``$, $``$, $``$, $``$, $``$) if there exists an (existential) $``$-formula $`\varphi (x_1,\mathrm{},x_k)`$ such that

$`x_1,\mathrm{},x_k^n`$ $`(R(x_1,\mathrm{},x_k)\varphi (x_1,\mathrm{},x_k)`$ holds in $`^n)`$.

The following two results are special cases of results from : Theorem 1. (i) All algebraic distances in $`^n`$ can be defined existentially in terms of the unit distance.
(ii) Let the algebraic numbers $`r`$ and $`s`$ satisfy $`0<s<r`$. The local equidistance relation in $`^n`$:

$$sd(K,L)=d(M,N)(d(K,L),d(K,M),d(K,N),d(L,M),d(L,N),d(M,N)r)$$

can be defined existentially in terms of the unit distance.

Theorem 1 in  states that, if $`X,Y^n`$ and $`d(X,Y)`$ is an algebraic number then there exists a finite set $`\{X,Y\}S_{XY}^n`$ such that
($``$) each map $`f:S_{XY}^n`$ that preserves unit distance also preserves the distance between $`X`$ and $`Y`$.

It means that all positive algebraic distances in $`^n`$ can be defined existentially in terms of the unit distance without using equality and using only conjunction.

Theorem 3 in  states that, if $`K,L,M,N^n`$ and $`d(K,L)=d(M,N)`$ then there exists a finite set $`\{K,L,M,N\}C_{KLMN}^n`$, such that
($``$) each map $`f:C_{KLMN}^n`$ that preserves unit distance satisfies $`d(f(K),f(L))=d(f(M),f(N))`$.

From item (i) of Theorem 1 follows the existence of $`S_{XY}`$ with the weaker property $`()`$ admitting only injective $`f:S_{XY}^n`$ satisfying

$`P,QS_{XY}`$ ($`d(P,Q)=1d(f(P),f(Q))=1`$).

We will denote this weaker property by $`(w)`$.

From item (ii) of Theorem 1 follows the existence of $`C_{KLMN}`$ with the weaker property $`()`$ admitting only injective $`f:C_{KLMN}^n`$ satisfying

$`P,QC_{KLMN}`$ ($`d(P,Q)=1d(f(P),f(Q))=1`$).

We will denote this weaker property by $`(w)`$.
In  we have proved the following:

###### Lemma .

If $`X,Y^n`$ and $`\epsilon >0`$ then there exists a finite set $`\{X,Y\}T_{XY}(\epsilon )^n`$, such that each unit distance preserving mapping $`f:T_{XY}(\epsilon )^n`$ satisfies $`|d(f(X),f(Y))d(X,Y)|\epsilon `$.

If we set $`\epsilon =\frac{d(X,Y)}{2}`$ in this Lemma, we deduce that $`XY`$ implies $`f(X)f(Y)`$, if we set $`\epsilon =\frac{|d(X,Y)1|}{2}`$, we deduce that $`d(X,Y)1`$ implies $`d(f(X),f(Y))1`$.

Using this observation, we get the following result, which represents a new proof of the two main results in :

Theorem 2. If $`X,Y^n`$ and a set $`\{X,Y\}S_{XY}^n`$ satisfies $`(w)`$, then

$$\stackrel{~}{S}_{XY}:=S_{XY}\underset{\stackrel{P,QS_{XY}}{PQ}}{}T_{PQ}(\frac{d(P,Q)}{2})\underset{\stackrel{P,QS_{XY}}{d(P,Q)1}}{}T_{PQ}(\frac{|d(P,Q)1|}{2})$$

satisfies $`()`$. (Since $`S_{XY}`$ satisfying $`(w)`$ is known to exist by Theorem 1, we have proved the existence of a finite set satisfying $`()`$).
If $`K,L,M,N^n`$ and a set $`\{K,L,M,N\}C_{KLMN}^n`$ satisfies $`(w)`$ then

$$\stackrel{~}{C}_{KLMN}:=C_{KLMN}\underset{\stackrel{P,QC_{KLMN}}{PQ}}{}T_{PQ}(\frac{d(P,Q)}{2})\underset{\stackrel{P,QC_{KLMN}}{d(P,Q)1}}{}T_{PQ}(\frac{|d(P,Q)1|}{2})$$

satisfies $`()`$. (Since $`C_{KLMN}`$ satisfying $`(w)`$ is known to exist by Theorem 1, we have proved the existence of a finite set satisfying $`()`$).

In  it was shown, by providing an infinitary definition of the segment congruence relation $``$ ($`ABCD`$ if and only if $`d(A,B)=d(C,D)`$) in terms of $`P_1`$, that plane Euclidean geometry over Archimedean ordered Euclidean fields (all positive elements have square roots) can be axiomatized in the infinitary language $`_{\omega _1\omega }`$.

It is worth mentioning that our results from §1 in  imply, for the case of Archimedean ordered Euclidean fields, more than plain infinitary definability of $``$ in terms of $`P_1`$. For such fields we have the following definition:

$$abcd\underset{n=1}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}\underset{r^+}{}xy(P_r(a,x)P_r(c,y)P_{1/n}(b,x)P_{1/n}(d,y)),$$

in which we think of the $`P_r`$ and $`P_{1/n}`$ as abbreviations for their positive existential definitions in terms of $`P_1`$, these positive existential definitions are valid in any Archimedean ordered Euclidean field.

Received on 02.06.2001.


text: # Plunge waveforms from inspiralling binary black holes