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# On the Origin of the High-Ionization Intermediate-Velocity Gas Toward HD 14434Based on observations made with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, obtained from the data archive at the Space Telescope Science Institute. STScI is operated bythe Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc. under the NASA contract NAS 5-26555.

## 1 Introduction

The canonical picture of the interstellar medium (ISM) in the Galactic disk is one in which the gas resides in multiple “phases” in rough pressure equilibrium with one another. While the details vary (Cox & Smith 1974; McKee & Ostriker 1977), all global models of the ISM in the Milky Way include a hot component ($`T10^5`$ to $`>10^6`$ K). This hot component, motivated by the detection of Li-like oxygen (O VI) absorption (Rogerson et al. 1973) and X-ray emission (Williamson et al. 1974) from the ISM some 30 years ago, is maintained by the input of energy and matter from massive stars into the ISM through stellar winds and supernovae. The precise nature of this feedback into the ISM is not well understood, although it is thought to provide for, among other things, the energy required to explain the quantity and distribution of the “high-ions” O VI, N V, C IV, and Si IV in the Milky Way (e.g., Savage, Sembach, & Lu 1997; Savage et al. 2002).

OB associations containing young, massive stars are ideal locations for studying the hot interstellar medium, since these stars are believed to be directly responsible for its production. The massive Perseus OB1 Association resides in the Perseus Arm of the Milky Way, some 2.3 kpc from the Sun (Garmany & Stencel, 1992). The International Ultraviolet Explorer (IUE) detected high-velocity absorption in the highly-ionized species Al III, Si IV, and C IV toward several stars in this association (Phillips & Gondhalekar 1981; McLachlan & Nandy 1985; Savage, Meade, & Sembach 2001). Phillips & Gondhalekar (1981) and McLachlan & Nandy (1985) concluded that this highly-ionized gas was caused by a supernova explosion within Per OB1 itself. This region is rife with evidence of stellar feedback on massive scales, including the presence of H I and H$`\alpha `$ supershells (Heiles 1979; Reynolds, Sterling, & Haffner 2001; Madsen, Haffner, & Reynolds 2002), lending indirect support to their conclusion. However, the physical processes directly responsible for the production of the observed highly-ionized gas are unconstrained.

In this work, we focus on the ionized gas observed toward HD 14434, a member of the Perseus OB1 Association. High-resolution Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) and Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer ($`FUSE`$) observations of interstellar absorption associated with the Perseus Arm toward HD 14434 are presented. This sight line is remarkable for the presence of an intermediate-velocity cloud (IVC), the velocity of which is inconsistent with its origin in the quiescent gas of the Perseus Arm. This cloud is seen strongly in the highly-ionized species Si IV and C IV; it shows some absorption from the moderately-ionized species Al III and Fe III and none from the more highly-ionized species N V and O VI. While this cloud was seen with IUE, the echelle-mode STIS observations presented here constrain its temperature to a range that is indicative of photoionized material, and we will show that this material is likely ionized by emission from a diffuse X-ray emitting hot plasma.

This paper is organized as follows. A description of the HD14434 sight line is given in §2. The STIS and $`FUSE`$ observations and data reduction techniques are described in §3. In §4, the absorption line measurements are discussed. The nature of the highly-ionized gas toward HD 14434 is presented in §5. Our conclusions are summarized in §6.

## 2 The Sight Line toward HD 14434

HD 14434, an O5.5 Vnfp star (Walborn 1972), is a member of the Per OB1 Association, which is a region of active star formation. Table 1 contains the relevant stellar parameters used throughout this work. We assume the distance to HD 14434 is 2.3 kpc, the distance to Per OB1 (Garmany & Stencel, 1992). At this distance the line of sight toward HD 14434 passes through both the Local Arm ($`V_{LSR}`$ $``$ 0 km s-1) and the Perseus Arm ($`V_{LSR}`$ $``$ -50 km s-1). Figure 1 shows the 21cm H I emission results of the Ledien/Dwingeloo Survey (Hartmann & Burton, 1997) and H$`\alpha `$ emission obtained by WHAM, the Wisconsin H$`\alpha `$ Mapper, (Haffner et al., 2001) toward HD 14434. The 21cm H I data clearly reveal two components from the Local and Perseus Arms and a single weak component associated with the Outer Arm (Vlsr = -100 km s-1). The H$`\alpha `$ data show a single broad component centered at Vlsr = -25 km s-1. At Vlsr = -67 km s-1 (vertical line in Figure 1), the velocity of the IVC studied here, neither H I nor H$`\alpha `$ reveal any clues as to the presence of the IVC.

Evidence for star-ISM interaction is prevalent in this region. In addition to being an active star forming region, Per OB1 resides in close proximity to the double cluster $`h`$ and $`\chi `$ Per \[NGC 869 at ($`l`$, $`b`$) = (134.$`^{}`$5, -3.$`^{}`$5) and NGC 884 at ($`l`$, $`b`$) = (135.$`^{}`$1, -3.$`^{}`$6)\]. These open clusters are believed to be related to Per OB1, with evidence for three episodes of star formation in this localized region of the Perseus Arm (Schild 1967; Marco & Bernabeu 2001). High-resolution H I observations show the presence of numerous wind-blown interstellar bubbles around many stars in this region (Cappa & Herbstmeier 2000), including HD 13022, HD 13338, HD 14442, and HD 14947, all members of Per OB1. Additionally, Heiles (1979) has identified two Galactic supershells in the vicinity of Per OB1: GS139-03-69 at $`l`$ = 139 and $`b`$ = -3 with $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$$`l`$ = 18 and $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$$`b`$ = 10, and one unnamed shell 5 in diameter centered on Per OB1 at $`l`$ = 135 and $`b`$ = -4 (Heiles 1979). Following Heiles’s naming convention, we refer to this shell as GS135-04-27. The GS139-03-69 supershell is visible in the velocity range -87 $``$ VLSR $``$ -59 km s-1 (Heiles 1979; Knee & Brunt 2001), while the observed velocity range for GS135-04-27 is -31 $``$ VLSR $``$ -23 km s-1 (Heiles 1979). The H I emission detected between -60 and -70 km s-1 in the vicinity around ($`l`$, $`b`$) $``$ (135.$`^{}`$0, $`b`$=-3.$`^{}`$5) is likely associated with the southern rim of the GS139-03-69 (Knee 2003, private communication). However, the standard Galactic rotation model predicts a distance to GS139-03-069 of 9 kpc (Kerr & Lynden-Bell 1986) much further away than Per OB2. It is important to note that an accurate distance cannot be obtained from velocity information alone, therefore an association between GS139-03-69 and our IVC cannot be ruled out. Higher spatial resolution H I and H$`\alpha `$ data toward HD 14434 and Per OB2 are required to obtain further insight.

Recent observations from the Wisconsin H$`\alpha `$ Mapper (WHAM) detect a supershell-like structure in the velocity range -60 km s-1 $``$ $`V_{LSR}`$ $``$ -40 km s-1 approximately centered on Per OB1 (Madsen, Haffner, & Reynolds 2002). This velocity range is similar to that seen in intermediate and high-ion absorption (Philips & Gondhalekar 1981; McLachlan & Nandy 1985; this work). The extended structure seen south of the plane in the Perseus Arm may be related to the northern supershell studied by Reynolds, Sterling, & Haffner (2001).

The large-scale structures identified in H I and H$`\alpha `$ emission are likely related to the vigorous star formation occuring in the Galactic disk near this region. In particular, the W4 H II region is found at ($`l`$, $`b`$) = ($`134\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}7`$, $`0\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}9`$), and there is a large amount of evidence that the stars in this region are influencing the ISM on large scales (Normandeau, Taylor, & Dewdney 1996). Star formation associated with W4 may be responsible for driving the vertically-extended structures seen in the H$`\alpha `$ maps of Reynolds et al. (2001) and Madsen et al. (2002). While the observations summarized above are not focused on the specific sight line toward HD 14434, it is important to note that the region in which HD 14434 resides is strongly affected by the presence of massive stars.

## 3 Observations and Data Reduction

### 3.1 STIS

HD 14434 was observed on 2001 April 6, by STIS onboard the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) as part of the guest observer proposal “Snapshot Survey of the Hot ISM” (ID 8662). The data were acquired with the E140M grating and the 0.2′′ x 0.2′′ aperture for a total exposure time of 1440 seconds. This setup provides 43 echelle orders covering the complete wavelength range from 1150 $``$ 1725 Å at a resolving power of $`R`$ $``$ 46,000 ($`\mathrm{\Delta }`$$`v`$ = 6.5 km s-1). There are two pixels per resolution element. The data were reduced and extracted with the CALSTIS pipeline (v2.11). The subtraction of background and scattered light from these echelle data employs the algorithm of Lindler & Bowyers (2000). CALSTIS provides the appropriate Doppler correction to remove the effect of the spacecraft motion and places the spectra on the heliocentric velocity scale ($`V_{helio}`$), accurate to 0.8–1.6 km s-1. An additional shift of +3 km s-1 is required to shift the data from the $`V_{helio}`$ to that of the Local Standard of Rest, $`V_{LSR}`$.111We adopt the standard IAU definition of the LSR, assuming a Solar motion of $`+20`$ km s-1 in the direction ($`\alpha `$, $`\delta `$)1900 = (18h, +30) \[($`l`$, $`b`$) $``$ (56, +23)\], which gives $`V_{LSR}`$ = $`V_{helio}`$ \+ 3 km s-1 in the direction of HD 14434. The final spectrum has a signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio of $``$ 40 per resolution element at 1240 Å. Further information on the design and performance of STIS can be found in Woodgate et al. (1998) and Kimble et al. (1998).

### 3.2 $`FUSE`$

Two exposures of HD 14434 were obtained by $`FUSE`$ on 1999 November 24 for a total exposure time of 4441 seconds (archival IDs P1020504001-002). The data, which cover the wavelength range 905 $``$ 1185 Å, were acquired with the star in the center of the large (30 $`^{\prime \prime }`$ x 30 $`^{\prime \prime }`$) aperture and resulted in high resolution ($`\mathrm{\Delta }`$$`v`$ $``$ 20 km s-1) spectra. The alignment of the four channels was well maintained during both exposures. Only data from the LiF1 channel are presented here since this channel has the highest sensitivity. (This is the channel used for guiding.) We utilized the other three channels to provide a consistency check to rule out the possibility of detector artifacts. We refer the reader to Moos et al. (2000) and Sahnow et al. (2000) for more detailed discussions of $`FUSE`$ and its on-orbit performance.

The time-tagged data were reduced and calibrated with CalFUSE222The CalFUSE pipeline reference guide is available at http://fuse.pha.jhu.edu/analysis/pipeline\_reference.html. (version 1.8.7 Dixon et al. 2001) the standard $`FUSE`$ pipeline processing software. The data were co-added with a cross-correlation technique in order to minimize uncertainties in the relative wavelength calibration in each spectrum. The wavelength solution used provides good relative calibration across the LiF channels. Relative wavelength calibration errors for $`FUSE`$ data calibrated with CalFUSE v1.8.7 are equivalent to $``$ $`\pm `$ 6-10 km s-1 (1-$`\sigma `$). The absolute wavelength scale of $`FUSE`$ is not well constrained. We used interstellar Fe II lines in the STIS and $`FUSE`$ spectra to fix the $`FUSE`$ velocity scale to the STIS $`V_{LSR}`$ scale. The final summed LiF1A spectrum (near 1050 Å) and the LiF1B spectrum (near 1140 Å) have S/N ratios of $``$ 20 and $``$ 32 per resolution element, respectively. The uncertainties used in calculating the S/N ratios include a significant contribution from fixed-pattern noise.

## 4 Analysis and Results

In our measurements all stellar continua were modeled with low order Legendre polynomials (order $``$ 4), with the exception of the O VI lines (described below). Figure 2 shows normalized absorption profiles of several low-ionization species (Al II, Mg II, Fe II, and Fe III) as well as profiles of the high-ionization species (Si IV, C IV, N V, and O VI), which are the main focus of this work. As seen from Figure 2, no detection of either N V or O VI is evident, while C IV and Si IV are detected only at the velocity of the IVC. The lower ionization species (e.g., Fe II and Mg II) are detected primarily in the Local and Perseus Arm material. The Perseus Arm component of Al III from IUE (Savage, Meade, & Sembach, 2001) and Fe III is blended with the IVC gas. It is interesting to note that no C IV or Si IV absorption is detected at the velocity of the Local or Perseus Arms suggesting that different physical conditions exist for the IVC gas. We hypothesize that the blue-shifted high-ionization IVC is material once associated with the Perseus Arm which has been accelerated.

We use the procedures outlined by Sembach & Savage (1992) for measuring equivalent widths of the Perseus Arm absorption and estimating the errors in the measurements. These are given in Table 2, along with an equivalent width weighted average velocity. With the exception of Al III (Savage, Meade, & Sembach, 2001), all measurements are from this work. The velocities and column densities measurements agree well from the independent fits from two or more lines for each species, except Fe III. The difference in velocities for the two Al III lines is due to the poor quality of the IUE data (Savage, Meade, & Sembach, 2001). The quoted 1-$`\sigma `$ uncertainties include contributions from statistical uncertainties, fluctuations due to fixed pattern noise, and definable continuum placement errors that were added in quadrature. No systematic continuum placement uncertainties were included in the error budget. Uncertainties for the STIS data are dominated by statistical and continuum placement uncertainties as the contribution from fixed-pattern noise is small. When no detection was evident, 3-$`\sigma `$ upper limits are presented following the prescription of Morton, York, & Jenkins (1986).

### 4.1 VI Concerns

The region around O VI $`\lambda `$1031.926, shown in the bottom panel of Figure 3, is complicated by the presence of O VI in the outflowing stellar wind, H I Ly-$`\beta `$ absorption at 1025.723 Å, and H2 6$``$0 P(3) and R(4) absorption at 1031.191 Å and 1032.356 Å. The weaker member of the O VI doublet at 1037.617 Å is not used in the analysis due to the severe blending with C II at 1037.018 Å and the strong H2 5-0 R(1) and P(1) absorption at 1037.146 Å and 1038.156 Å. The stronger member of the O VI doublet may also be contaminated by HD 6$``$0 R(0) absorption at 1031.912 Å (Sembach 1999) along sight lines with substantial H2 \[log $`N`$(H2) $``$ 19\]. Careful examination of the entire LiF1A spectrum reveals the presence of several unblended HD lines arising from gas in the Local Arm (though none are detected in the Perseus Arm gas). We applied a curve of growth analysis (see below) for five unblended HD lines and determined the equivalent width ($`W_\lambda `$) of the contaminating HD line to be 58.0 mÅ. A simple Gaussian model of the HD contamination was generated and divided into the normalized O VI profile to produce the final unblended O VI spectrum.

The continuum placement of the stronger interstellar O VI line is potentially affected by the presence of a stellar wind feature in the weaker O VI line. This feature is not detected in the stronger O VI line due to its overlap with H I Ly-$`\beta `$. Figure 3 shows the stellar wind profiles of Si IV $`\lambda `$1393.755, C IV $`\lambda `$1548.195, N V $`\lambda `$1238.821, and O VI $`\lambda `$1031.926. A stellar wind feature is clearly observed in Si IV over the range -2100 km s-1 $``$ $`v`$ $``$ -1700 km s-1 (see top panel of Figure 3), close to the terminal velocity of V = 2120 $`\pm `$ 20 km s-1 (this work), which is $``$ 200 km s-1 greater than that derived by Howarth & Prinja (1989) based on IUE data. The terminal wind velocity is determined from the short wavelength absorption limit of the P Cygni C IV wind line at 1548 Å. This wind feature cannot be seen in either the C IV or N V winds because they are saturated (see middle two panels of Figure 3). The wind feature coincides in velocity space with a broad depression near the interstellar O VI line (demarcated by the vertical dashed lines in Figure 3). Though the STIS and $`FUSE`$ data were acquired about two years apart, stellar wind features that occur at or near the terminal velocity, as is the case here, are typically long-lasting entities (A. Fullerton 2002, private communication). These factors indicate that the broad absorption coincident with the interstellar O VI 1032 Å absorption could be due to structure in the outflowing wind of the star. Due to the uncertainties in modelling the stellar continuum in the region surrounding the O VI 1032 Å absorption, we give a conservative upper limit to $`N`$(O VI) in Table 2.

### 4.2 Apparent Optical Depth Method

A useful tool for determining the column density of an absorbing species is the apparent optical depth method (Savage & Sembach 1991). The apparent optical depth, $`\tau _a(v)`$, is a valid, instrumentally-blurred representation of the the true optical depth in the absence of unresolved saturated structure within the line profile. The continuum normalized absorption line profile, $`I(v)`$ $``$ $`e^{\tau _a(v)}`$, is related to apparent column density per unit velocity, $`N_a(v)`$, by

$$N_a(v)=\frac{m_ec}{\pi e^2}\frac{\tau _a(v)}{f\lambda }=3.768\times 10^{14}\frac{\tau _a(v)}{f\lambda (\mathrm{\AA })}\mathrm{ions}\mathrm{cm}^2(\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1)^1.$$
(1)
In this equation, $`m_e`$ and $`e`$ denote the mass and charge of the electron, respectively, $`c`$ is the speed of light, $`f`$ is the atomic oscillator strength, and $`\lambda `$ is the laboratory wavelength of the transition. Savage & Sembach (1991) showed that $`N_a(v)`$ is equivalent to the true column density as a function of velocity, $`N(v)`$, if there is no unresolved saturated structure. The presence of unresolved saturated structure can be identified through the comparison of $`N_a(v)`$ profiles for different transitions of the same species with differing $`f`$-values. In situations where unresolved saturation is present, the derived $`N_a(v)`$ is always a lower limit to the true column density. The integrated apparent column densities are listed in Table 2.

The $`N_a(v)`$ profiles for both members of the Si IV and C IV doublets are shown in the top and middle panels, respectively, of Figure 4. In each case the stronger line is denoted by the solid circles, while the weaker line is represented by the open squares. The overall agreement between the $`N_a(v)`$ profiles for both members of the Si IV and C IV doublets implies little or no evidence for saturation, and hence $`N_a(v)`$ = $`N(v)`$. The bottom panel of Figure 4 shows a comparison of the weaker members of the Si IV and C IV doublets along the line of sight toward HD 14434. There is an excellent correspondence between the Si IV and C IV profiles over the entire velocity extent of the lines. This similarity suggests that Si IV and C IV arise in the same gas (i.e., they are co-spatial). In addition, the similar line widths indicate that the dominant broadening mechanism is non-thermal (e.g., turbulence). The derived C IV/Si IV ratio is 3.8 $`\pm `$ 0.3, quite similar to the Galactic average of 4.3 $`\pm `$ 1.9 (Sembach, Savage, & Tripp 1997).

As a check on the apparent optical depth method, we performed curve of growth (COG) analyses for HD and Fe II. All HD lines are on the flat part of the curve of growth and no HD column density was obtained. The COG for Fe II yielded log\[$`N`$(Fe II)\] = 14.90 $`\pm `$ 0.06 cm-2 and a $`b`$-value of 23.0 $`\pm `$ 4.4 km s-1; the large $`b`$-value is due to the contribution of both IVC and Perseus Arm material. This column density is in good agreement with that determined from the apparent optical depth method, therefore Fe II is unsaturated. The unsaturated Fe II lines (see Table 2) probe a larger apparent optical depth ($`\tau _a`$ $``$ 3) than does Fe III $`\lambda `$1122.546 ($`\tau _a`$ $``$ 1). Subsequently, we assume that Fe III is unsaturated. We adopt the curve of growth results for the Fe II and the apparent column density results for the Mg II, Fe III, Si IV, and C IV. The final adopted columns are presented in Table 4. No results are tabulated for HD due to the fact that all HD lines are on the flat part of the curve of growth.

### 4.3 Component Synthesis

A visual examination of the Si IV and C IV line profiles in Figure 2 reveals a slight asymmetry in the line profiles suggesting the presence of multiple velocity components. We, therefore, used the profile fitting code Owens.f developed by Martin Lemoine and the French FUSE Team (Lemoine et al. 2002) to fit both one- and two-component model to the data. Because the Si IV and C IV absorption toward HD 14434 are co-spatial, the line profiles of both species were fit simultaneously keeping only the number of velocity components fixed. The free parameters in the profile synthesis are: $`V_{LSR}`$, $`N`$(C IV), $`N`$(Si IV), nonthermal velocity ($`v_{nt}`$), and kinetic temperature ($`T`$). The values of $`v_{nt}`$ and $`T`$ were obtained from the following definition of the Doppler broadening parameter, $`b^2`$ = 2$`k`$$`T`$/$`Am_H`$ \+ $`v_{nt}^2`$, where $`k`$ is Boltzmann’s constant, $`A`$ is the atomic weight, and $`m_H`$ is the mass of a hydrogen atom. The fits are shown in Figure 5 and the results summarized in Table 3. The quoted 1-$`\sigma `$ uncertainties do not include systematic errors in the continuum placement, although definable statistical and continuum placement errors are included (see Sembach & Savage 1992).

The best one-component model resulted in a reduced $`\chi ^2`$ ($`\chi ^2`$/$`\nu `$) of 1.42. For this model, a value of $`v_{nt}`$ = 12.0 $`\pm `$ 0.2 km s-1 and $`T`$ = 10,450 $`\pm `$ 3,400 K are derived. For the two-component model, the values of $`v_{nt}`$ and $`T`$ are 10.7 km s-1 and 26,500 K and 11.3 km s-1 and 10,100 K, for the blue and red velocity components, respectively. The two-component fit resulted in an increased $`\chi ^2`$/$`\nu `$, compared with the one-component model. The application of an F-test (Lupton 1993) to the model results reveals that the second component is justified at the 30% confidence level. Thus, the evidence for a second component is not statistically significant. Due to its low confidence, no error bars are given for the two component model.

## 5 The Nature of the Highly-Ionized, Intermediate-Velocity Cloud

The strong Si IV and C IV absorption toward HD 14434 is found in a single IVC centered at -67 km s-1 that is offset by $``$ -20 km s-1 from the lower-ionization absorption associated with the Perseus Arm gas (see Figure 2). A profile synthesis analysis shows this highly-ionized IVC is dominated by nonthermal broadening with $`v_{nt}`$ = 12.0 $`\pm `$ 0.2 km s-1 and is at a relatively cool temperature of $`T`$ = 10,450 $`\pm `$ 3,400 K. Our apparent optical depth analysis (see Figure 4) suggests that Si IV and C IV are co-spatial along the line of sight with a C IV/Si IV ratio of 3.8 $`\pm `$ 0.3, which is consistent with the Galactic average (Savage, Sembach, & Tripp 1997). Our measured ratio is similar to C IV/Si IV $``$ 3 found by McLaclan & Nandy (1985) using IUE data. They concluded that a supernova explosion was the origin of the intermediate-velocity C IV and Si IV absorption toward Per OB1. However, our derived low temperature does not support this conclusion. Therefore, in this section we discuss the existing models as they apply to the origin of the high-ion intermediate-velocity absorption toward HD 14434.

At a temperature of 104 K, neither Si IV or C IV would be present if equilibrium collisional ionization prevailed (Sutherland & Dopita 1993). It is generally believed that the presence of Si IV and C IV absorption in the ISM often arises as a result of non-equilibrium collisional ionization at interfaces of hot gas ($`T`$ $``$ 106 K) with relatively cool ($`T`$ $``$ 102 $``$ 104 K) interstellar clouds. Spitzer (1996) provides a good, concise review of the existing models. Non-equilibrium collisional ionization, through models of turbulent mixing layers (Slavin, Shull, & Begelman 1993), cooling galactic fountain gas (Shapiro & Benjamin 1992), and conductive interfaces (Ballet, Arnaud, & Rothenflug 1986; Böhringer & Hartquist 1987; Borkowski, Balbus, & Fristrom 1990; Breitschwerdt & Schmutzler 1994), results in gas at $`T`$ $``$ 105 K and cannot reproduce the observed C IV/Si IV ratio. Inclusion of self-photoionization (Shapiro & Benjamin 1992; Slavin et al. 1993; Breitschwerdt & Schmutzler 1994) improves the agreement between the observed C IV/Si IV ratio and that predicted by the models. However, these models simultaneously over-produce both N V and O VI by an order of magnitude and have an order of magnitude higher temperature compared with the highly-ionized IVC toward HD 14434. In general, models which rely solely on collisional ionization, including turbulent mixing layers, cooling galactic fountain gas, and conductive interfaces, cannot explain the Si IV or C IV absorption toward HD 14434.

In a time-dependent non-equilibrium model of radiative cooling, Shapiro & Moore (1976) calculated the ionization fraction of several species (H, O, N, C, Si, etc.). In non-equilibrium situations, gas initially at $`T10^5`$ K would cool more rapidly than high-ions recombine leaving the gas “over ionized” for its temperature (Kafatos 1973). Their model follows a parcel of cooling hot gas from an initial temperature of 106 K to a final temperature of 104 K. The lower temperature is similar to that derived for the highly-ionized IVC toward HD 14434. The resulting C IV/Si IV and C IV/Fe III ratios predicted by Shapiro & Moore (1976) at $`T`$ $``$ 104 K are 1.6 and 7.4. The C IV/Si IV ratio is approximately a factor of 2 too low, while the C IV/Fe III ratio is consistent with the observations. More recently, Edgar & Chevalier (1986) developed a model similar to that of Shapiro & Moore (1976) which included updated atomic data for more species and followed the cooling gas with several assumptions regarding its evolution (e.g., isobaric, isochoric). Their calculations resulted in a C IV/Si IV ratio is a factor of 3 to 10 times larger (depending on the assumptions) than the observed ratio toward HD 14434. Inclusion of self-photoionization may resolve the differences between these models and the observations. Future non-equilibrium calculations which include the effects of self-photoionization are needed to determine if this is a viable mechanism to explain the C IV/Si IV ratio.

Another model which results in the production of Si IV and C IV at relatively cool temperatures is that of wind-blown interstellar bubbles, whose evolution was outlined by Castor, McCray, & Weaver (1975) and Weaver et al. (1977). Stars of spectral type earlier than B2 are known to have strong stellar winds (Howarth & Prinja 1989). The outflowing stellar wind of a star impinges on the ambient ISM and can create an interstellar bubble which have been found to be common around Wolf-Rayet and O-type stars (Chu et al. 1982; Lozinskaya 1991; Cappa & Herbstmeier 2000). The Weaver et al. (1977) model predicts the physical quantities associated with shells driven by the winds from early-type stars including the radius of the shell, expansion velocity, and the column density of O VI and other highly-ionized species. Comparison of the high-ion predictions of the Weaver et al. model333We adopt the stellar parameters listed in Table 1 and the following parameters for the model: an ambient interstellar density, $`n_o`$ = 1 cm-3, and a typical age of an interstellar bubble, $`t=2.3`$ Myr (Cappa & Herbstmeier 2000). with the properties of the highly-ionized IVC toward HD 14434, assuming it is associated with a wind-blown bubble, results in a C IV/Si IV ratio $``$ 16 which is a factor of 4 too large. Therefore, we conclude that the presence of a Weaver-type bubble cannot be responsible for the observed highly-ionized IVC toward HD 14434.

The derived temperature ($`T`$ $``$ 104 K) and turbulent velocity ($`v_{nt}`$ $``$ 12 km s-1) of the IVC are typical of gas found in Galactic H II regions (Reynolds 1991). The low temperature, in particular, suggests that photoionization may play a role in the origin of the high ions toward HD 14434. We used the photoionization equilibrium code Cloudy (v94; Ferland 1996; Ferland et al. 1998) to invesigate the possibility that photoionization may explain the observed properties of the IVC seen toward HD 14434. We considered two photoionization scenarios: ($`i`$) the IVC is associated with a normal H II region surrounding HD 14434; ($`ii`$) the IVC has been ionized by emission from a hot, thermal plasma.

Following Howk & Savage (1999), a suite of single-star H II region models were computed using Cloudy and the stellar parameters in Table 1. For simplicity, we assume that X-rays emitted by the stellar wind can be modelled as an equilibrium plasma at $`T=10^6`$ K with an intensity normalized such that $`L_X/L_{bol}10^7`$ K (e.g., Cassinelli et al. 1981). The results of these models are summarized in Table 5. All the models yield a predicted C IV/Si IV ratio $`1`$. This ratio could be raised by assuming lower densities, but the lowest density model in Table 5 should already be considered extreme. We note that these models, following Sembach et al. (2000), assume depleted abundances appropriate for the warm neutral medium (WNM) of Galaxy; assuming solar system abundances would lower this ratio. Thus standard H II region models seem unable to explain the observed properties of the gas.

Finally, we investigated the ionization characteristics of a plane-parallel cloud illuminated by emission from a diffuse hot plasma. We assume an ionizing spectrum made up of a diffuse interstellar radiation field (Black 1987) and, following Slavin & Frisch (2002), emission from a thermal plasma. The thermal plasma is chosen to have a temperature of $`\mathrm{log}(T_{\mathrm{plasma}})=6.1`$ K (Models 1, 2, and 3) or 7.0 K (Model 4). For Models 1, 2, and 4, the flux is normalized to match the observation of the diffuse X-ray background of the Local Bubble. For Model 3, we normalized the emission spectrum to a diffuse X-ray background with a factor-of-10 higher flux. Figure 6 shows the spectrum of ionizing radiation was used as the source of photoionization for our Cloudy Models 1 and 2. We have investigated the use of the Solar System abundances (Model 1; Anders & Grevesse 1989) as well as the depleted abundances characteristics of the WNM444The Solar abundance model results in a lower temperature because interstellar grains were not included. A more detailed treatment of interstellar grains results in approximately a factor-of-2 increase in the temperature. described above (Models 2, 3, and 4; following Sembach et al. 2000). We then calculated the combination of total hydrogen density and column density that provided the closest match to the C IV and Si IV column densities seen in the IVC toward HD 14434.

Table 6 summarizes the properties of our photoionization models of a gas cloud illuminated by emission from a cooling hot plasma. All models match the observed C IV/Si IV ratio for reasonable $`N`$(H) of about 1019 cm-2. The resulting temperatures are within 2-$`\sigma `$ of that derived from the Si IV and C IV line widths. Models 1 and 2 predict densities and temperatures of $`n_\mathrm{H}`$ = 0.001 cm-3 and $`T`$ = 4,630 K and $`n_\mathrm{H}`$ 0.002 cm-3 and $`T`$ = 6,930 K, respectively. Increasing the X-ray flux (Model 3) results in $`n_\mathrm{H}`$ = 0.016 cm-3 and $`T`$ = 10,100 K and increasing the temperature of the emitting plasma (Model 4) results in $`n_\mathrm{H}`$ = 0.2 cm-3 and $`T`$ = 6,880 K. The Si IV and C IV column densities predicted by all the models in Table 6 agree with the observations to better than 5%. In addition, these models do not over predict the column densities of N V or O VI. With the exception of Model 3, the predicted Al III/Fe III ratio does not match the observations because the IVC absorption is blended with the Perseus Arm absorption. However, the predicted C IV/Al III and C IV/Fe III ratios are in agreement with the lower limits obtained from the observations, therefore our models do not overproduce either Al III or Fe III. It is important to note that the values quoted for C IV/Al III and C IV/Fe III assume that Fe and Al are depleted heavily in the models using the depleted abundances of the WNM.

Models 1, 2, and 4 result in P/k $``$ 340 K cm-3, significantly lower than the average pressure for interstellar clouds P/k $``$ 2500 K cm-3 (Jenkins & Tripp 2001). Lower pressures are not unexpected because models of $`nT`$ for warm neutral cloud halos (Andersson & Wannier 1993) predict $`nT`$ $`<`$ 1000 K cm-3 at the height of Per OB1 above the Galactic plane. We note that the X-ray flux could be stronger in this active region of the Galaxy than in the solar neighborhood. Our Model 3 investigates such an increase in the X-ray flux and results in P/k = 2900 K cm-3, as expected from Jenkins & Tripp (2001). Model 3 also yields a temperature which is in agreement with that observed for the IVC. Note: increasing the density in Model 2 to $`\mathrm{log}(n_\mathrm{H})`$ = -2.2 cm-3 and $`N`$(Htot) = 20.4 cm-2 without increasing the radiation field results in a significantly lower C IV/Si IV = 2.0 for the observed $`N`$(C IV).

There is excellent agreement between our hot plasma photoionization models and the observations of the IVC toward HD 14434. Thus, emission of ionizing radiation by cooling hot gas is likely to be the source of the ionization in this cloud. The cooling radiation hypothesized as the ionization source in these models could arise from a general diffuse hot-ionized medium or from the super-heated interior of a supershell in the Perseus Arm (e.g., GS139-03-69).

Given the similarity of the C IV/Si IV ratio in this IVC to the Galactic average, an extension of our results implies that much of the Galactic C IV and Si IV absorption could arise as a result of photoionization by cooling radiation from a hot, thermal plasma. We note that Fox et al. (2003) have identified narrow (warm) components in C IV and Si IV toward the star HD 116852, suggesting that such absorption is not uncommon in the Galaxy (although their C IV/Si IV ratio was significantly lower than that seen toward HD 14434). Further analyses of high-resolution observations of the highly-ionized ISM are needed to determine if this phenomenom is common throughout the Galaxy.

## 6 Summary

Our STIS observations of HD 14434 reveal an IVC detected in C IV and Si IV and possibly in Fe III and Al III (Savage, Meade, & Sembach, 2001). The intermediate-velocity Si IV and C IV absorption toward HD 14434 is contained in a single velocity component at a temperature of 10,450 $`\pm `$ 3,400 K and with a non-thermal dispersion of 12.0 $`\pm `$ 0.2 km s-1, similar to the values found for Galactic H II regions. The observed high-ion column densities are log\[$`N`$(Si IV)\] = 13.34 $`\pm `$ 0.02 cm-2 and log\[$`N`$(C IV)\] = 13.92 $`\pm `$ 0.02 cm-2, which yield a C IV/Si IV ratio of 3.8 $`\pm `$ 0.3 that is remarkably similar to the Galactic average of 4.3 $`\pm `$ 1.9 (Sembach, Savage, & Tripp 1997).

The presence of Fe III, Al III, Si IV and C IV in low-temperature (104 K) gas suggests that these species are in a region dominated by photoionization. The lack of significant N V and O VI absorption also support photoionization as the source of the highly-ionized IVC. Our photoionization model utilizing emission from a diffuse hot plasma is in excellent agreement with our observations indicating that this is the origin of the IVC toward HD 14434. In addition, the similarity of our C IV/Si IV ratio with the Galactic average suggests that much of the Si IV and C IV detected in the ISM could be produced from ionizing photons from a cooling hot gas.

We would like to thank the dedicated FUSE mission planners for their efforts in planning these observations. This work is based on data obtained for the Guaranteed Time Team by the NASA-CNES-CSA $`FUSE`$ mission operated by the Johns Hopkins University. Financial support to U.S. participants has been provided by NASA contract NAS5-32985. The Wisconsin H-Alpha Mapper is funded by the National Science Foundation. This research made use of the Simbad database, operated at CDS, Strasbourg, France.


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# Search for Narrow Nucleon Resonances below Pion Threshold in the H(e,e'𝝅⁺)X and D(e,e′p)X Reactions

## I Introduction

It is an important issue of modern experiments in hadron physics to provide significant information on manifestations of QCD. As is well known (see e.g. thomasweise ), the description of the experimentally observed baryon excitation spectrum in terms of the colorless three-quark ($`q^3`$) configuration within the various quark models has been quite successful. Moreover, QCD allows for exotic structures like multi-quark configurations, glueballs and hybrids. Such states are mainly expected in the mass region above 1.5 GeV/c2. It is one of the irritating facts, however, that already the $`q^3`$ description predicts far more resonance states than experimentally observed. Thus, the search for missing resonances is one of the major concerns of hadron experiments. On the other hand, the existing low-lying states (nucleon, $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$, N) are well accounted for within the three-quark picture and neither QCD-inspired calculations at low momentum and close to the chiral limit (i.e. Chiral Perturbation Theory) nor perturbative QCD in the high-momentum regime predict states below or close to pion threshold. If such low-lying states did exist, configurations beyond the naive $`q^3`$ picture would be required for an explanation.

Since the strong decay via pion emission is energetically forbidden for states below pion threshold, these states would necessarily be narrow (less than a few keV) with lifetimes typical for electromagnetic or weak decays. A precise examination of the low-lying nucleon excitation spectrum with various probes is thus a powerful tool to test QCD.

Recently, there have been two experiments reported in the literature, one performed at the SATURNE synchrotron in Saclay and the other at the INR in Moscow, which claimed the observation of excited states of the nucleon below pion threshold tati ; filkov . Tatischeff et al. utilized the H(p,p$`{}_{}{}^{}\pi _{}^{+}`$)X reaction to measure the invariant-mass spectrum of the missing nucleon tati . They claimed to have found resonance states at $`M_X=1004`$, 1044, and 1094 MeV/c2, with a statistical significance of up to 17 standard deviations. However, the missing-mass resolution of this experiment was limited and ranged from 7 to 25 MeV/c2 (FWHM). Very recently, Tatischeff et al. reported further the observation of additional states at 1136, 1173, 1249, 1277, 1384, and possibly 1339 MeV/c2 using the H(p,p$`{}_{}{}^{}\pi _{}^{+}`$)X, the D(p,pp)X, and the H(p,pp) reactions tati2 .

Fil’kov et al. filkov  found resonance structures in the D(p,pp)X reaction in the spectra of the invariant masses $`M_{pX}`$ as well as $`M_X`$ and claimed the observation of “supernarrow” dibaryons (SND) at $`M_{pX}=1904`$, 1926, and 1942 MeV/c2. The additionally observed resonance structures at $`M_X=966`$, 986, and 1003 MeV/c2 differ from those reported in $`M_{pX}`$ by about one nucleon mass. They were interpreted to be either genuine, i.e. SND $``$ p + X, or to result from the decay SND $``$ p + n + $`\gamma `$ under the restrictions of a small phasespace and experimental acceptance. The significance for the SND peaks was estimated to be 6 to 7 standard deviations, with a moderate missing-mass resolution of about 5 MeV/c2.

So far, various attempts for an explanation of the narrow resonances tati ; filkov  have been offered. Model assumptions beyond the $`q^3`$ picture result in mass formula prescriptions based on colored mulders  and colorless konno  quark clusters. It has been argued however lvov , that narrow nucleon resonances should be completely excluded, since they were not observed in real Compton scattering experiments leon . Another approach describes the narrow resonances as possible members of the SU(6) spin-flavor multiplet, where only the two-photon transition channel is allowed kobushkin . This picture accounts for the fact that narrow resonances were not observed in photon-induced reactions like in real Compton scattering experiments. Recently, it was proposed to interpret the narrow states as collective excitations of the quark condensate through the multiple production of “genuine” Goldstone pions with a light mass of $`m`$ 20 MeV/c2 walcher . In this model, the narrow states are spatially extended structures and thus they are likely inaccessible to the real photon probe.

Another theoretical interest in the narrow baryons is their influence on astrophysical objects. It was pointed out that the existence of narrow nucleon resonances would drastically affect the structure of neutron stars by lowering their possible maximal mass, which would be inconsistent with the observations kolomeitsev . However, the existence of light pions would still be compatible with the observed masses of neutron stars.

Meanwhile, there have been reported experiments in direct response to Tatischeff’s and Fil’kov’s findings. In a pilot study of the H(e,e$`{}_{}{}^{}\pi _{}^{+}`$)X reaction at the Jefferson Laboratory jlab , the yield ratio H(e,e$`{}_{}{}^{}\pi _{}^{+}`$)X / H(e,e$`{}_{}{}^{}\pi _{}^{+}`$)n was measured, which excludes narrow nucleon resonances to a level of 10-3. The D(p,pp)X reaction has been revisited at the RCNP in Osaka tamii , yielding a null result for the above claimed states. However, the significance of the result of the latter experiment has been questioned in Ref. filkov2 . In fact, we have also reanalyzed the data of the virtual Compton scattering experiments at MAMI, but we did not find any signal above a significance of three standard deviations. In a photoproduction experiment at MAMI, the reactions H($`\gamma `$, $`\pi ^+\gamma `$n) and H($`\gamma `$, $`\pi ^+\gamma \gamma `$n) have been measured with a high luminosity and results are awaited beck .

The issue of the occurence of resonances below pion threshold is thus unsettled. The observation of such narrow states is always limited by the achievable resolution. Experiments providing highest resolution are therefore best suited to perform such studies. In this paper, we report the results of two series of high-resolution measurements using the H(e,e$`{}_{}{}^{}\pi _{}^{+}`$)X and D(e,ep)X reactions. The first reaction has been chosen as the analogous reaction to the H(p,p$`{}_{}{}^{}\pi _{}^{+}`$)X process of Tatischeff et al. tati . The energy transfer corresponds to the excitation region of the $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$ resonance. With the detection of the scattered electron in coincidence with the produced pion the missing mass of the reaction has been reconstructed. The experiment covered the missing-mass region from the neutron mass up to about 1050 MeV/c2. In addition, the second electromagnetic reaction D(e,ep)X has been studied as the analog of the strong D(p,pp)X experiment by Fil’kov et al. filkov . The energy transfer varied from close to the threshold of the deuteron breakup up to the quasielastic region. With the detection of both the scattered electron and the emitted proton, the missing mass of the reaction has been reconstructed. The experiment covered the missing-mass region from the neutron mass up to about 1100 MeV/c2.

## II Measurements

The measurements were carried out at the three-spectrometer facility of the A1 collaboration at the Mainz Microtron MAMI MAMI . The target was a standard liquid hydrogen/deuterium target, which was operated at beam currents of up to 15 $`\mu `$A. The target cell has been made of a thin HAVAR foil of 10.2 $`\mu `$m thickness (8.9 $`\mu `$m in case of the deuterium target). The cell geometry is stadion-like with a length of 5 cm along the beam axis and a width of 1 cm in the perpendicular direction. The beam was swept before entering the scattering chamber to fill a square of 4$`\times `$4 mm2 on the target. The three magnetic spectrometers A, B, and C have been used for the detection of the scattered electrons and of the pions or protons of the respective reactions. The spectrometers are equipped with vertical drift chambers for tracking, a thin and a thick layer of plastic scintillators for the trigger and for $`\pi ^+`$/p discrimination, and a large-volume gas Čerenkov counter for e$`{}_{}{}^{\pm }/\pi ^\pm `$ identification. The setup allows for very clean and high-resolution ($`\mathrm{\Delta }p/p10^4`$, $`\mathrm{\Delta }\theta 3`$ mrad) coincidence measurements yielding missing-mass resolutions of typically 1 MeV/c2 (FWHM).

### II.1 The H(e,e$`{}_{}{}^{}\pi _{}^{+}`$)X Reaction

The first pilot measurement in the H(e,e$`{}_{}{}^{}\pi _{}^{+}`$)X reaction based on our proposal to the Program Advisory Committee at MAMI prop98  was carried out in July 2000 with a total runtime of 18 h. The missing-mass spectrum showed a resonance-like structure around $`M_X1007`$ MeV/c2, with a width of about 1 MeV/c2, i.e. with the resolution of the setup. However, the significance was only $`3`$ standard deviations, not warranting an interpretation of this finding as a positive identification.

A dedicated H(e,e$`{}_{}{}^{}\pi _{}^{+}`$)X experiment was thus performed in February and August 2002 with a total runtime of 257 hours. The parameters of the kinematical settings are listed in Tab. 1.

The scattered electrons were detected in Spectrometer B at forward angles, and both Spectrometer A and C were used in coincidence with B to detect the pions along the momentum-transfer direction (pion center-of-mass angle $`\theta _\pi ^{}0^{}`$), and almost perpendicular to it ($`\theta _\pi ^{}100^{}`$ and $`110^{}`$), respectively. Most of the AB and BC measurements were carried out simultaneously, exploiting the full capabilities of the three-spectrometer facility.

The resolution of the measured coincidence time, after applying corrections due to individual path lengths and detector-related influences on the timing signals, varied from 0.8 to 1.2 ns (FWHM). The true events were selected by a $`\pm 1.5`$ ns cut on the coincidence time spectrum. The shape of the background has been determined by selecting purely random coincidences. Furthermore, the data were normalized to the collected charge and the target thickness and were corrected for deadtime effects. The loss of pions due to their decay in flight from the origin to the detector has been corrected by weighting each pionic event with an individual survival probability, depending on the pion momentum and on the length of the pion track. The acceptance was determined by a simulation code, which accounts for the energy loss in the target and window materials of the scattering chamber and the spectrometer entrance as well as for the Bethe-Heitler radiation of the electrons. After subtraction of the random background and application of the mentioned corrections, normalized yields for the H(e,e$`{}_{}{}^{}\pi _{}^{+}`$)X reaction have been obtained.

Figures 1 and 2 summarize the results of the H(e,e$`{}_{}{}^{}\pi _{}^{+}`$)X measurements. In the upper halves of Figs. 1 and 2, the normalized yields of three kinematical settings are presented as a function of the missing mass. The missing-mass resolution was $``$ 0.6 MeV/c2 (FWHM) for the AB runs shown in Fig. 1, and $``$ 1.5 to 1.6 MeV/c2 for the BC runs plotted in Fig. 2. The invariant masses of the states claimed by Tatischeff et al. tati  and Fil’kov et al. filkov  are indicated by the vertical arrows. As is seen from the spectra, no significant narrow structure other than the peak corresponding to the ground state of the neutron is found. The missing-mass region from $`M_X950`$ to 1050 MeV/c2 shows a smooth radiation tail. The measurements include a repetition of the kinematics of the pilot run (settings H-2/H-3 in Fig. 1) with about five times the statistics of the first run. In order to quantify the sensitivity of our measurements, we show yield ratios in the lower halves of Figs. 1 and 2. They are obtained by subtracting the radiation tail, modelled by a fifth-order polynomial, and dividing the spectra by the height of the respective neutron peak. The differential cross section for the H(e,e$`{}_{}{}^{}\pi _{}^{+}`$)n channel can be estimated using the Unitary Isobar Model “MAID” maid . For the three kinematics of Figs. 1, 2(a), and 2(b), one obtains $`\mathrm{d}^3\sigma /(\mathrm{d}\mathrm{\Omega }_\mathrm{e}^{}\mathrm{dE}_\mathrm{e}^{}\mathrm{d}\mathrm{\Omega }_\pi ^{})`$ $`2.610^4,\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}8.2}10^4`$, and $`1.910^5`$ $`\mu \mathrm{b}/(\mathrm{sr}^2\mathrm{MeV})`$. As the yield ratios in the lower halves indicate, narrow structures can be excluded to a level of 10-4, 10-3, and 2$`10^3`$ with respect to the elementary pion production process leaving the neutron in the ground state, respectively.

### II.2 The D(e,ep)X Reaction

The D(e,ep)X reaction was studied between May and August 2002 with a total runtime of 632 hours. The measured kinematics can be characterized by the relative energy $`E_{pX}=WM_pM_X`$ of the p-X system, where $`W`$ is the photon-deuteron invariant mass, $`M_p`$ the proton mass, and $`M_X`$ the missing mass of the D(e,ep)X reaction. The kinematics of the measured settings varied from the threshold region ($`E_{pX}0`$) up to the quasielastic region ($`E_{pX}100`$ to 150 MeV). The near-threshold kinematics have been chosen in analogy to the experiment by Fil’kov et al. filkov , where the relative energy of the two outgoing nucleons pn (or possible pX) is small and a strong final-state interaction is expected. In this case, the detected proton is emitted into a small forward cone around the direction of momentum transfer. The kinematical parameters of the measured settings of the D(e,ep)X reaction are listed in Tab. 2.

The D(e,ep)X measurements were carried out simultaneously with a dedicated experiment to measure the electric form factor of the neutron $`G_{E,n}`$ via the D($`\stackrel{}{\mathrm{e}}`$,e$`{}_{}{}^{}\stackrel{}{\mathrm{n}}`$) reaction gen . The $`G_{E,n}`$ experiment utilized Spectrometer A for the scattered electrons and a separate setup to measure the neutron polarization. Spectrometer C (at angles $`90^{}`$ right of the beam) and Spectrometer B (at forward angles left of the beam) were used in coincidence for the detection of electrons and protons, respectively, in a parasitic mode. The electron scattering angle was restricted to large values, which, though not optimal, resulted in quite sizeable four-momentum transfer $`Q^2`$.

The analysis of the missing-mass spectra has been carried out in a way very similar to that of the H(e,e$`{}_{}{}^{}\pi _{}^{+}`$)X measurements described above. To a very large extent, the true $`\pi ^{}`$p coincidence events, which occurred in addition to the random background events, could be identified and removed by requiring a signal in the Čerenkov detector in the electron arm (Spectrometer C). Most of the remaining true $`\pi ^{}`$p events could be identified in the coincidence time spectrum, where the ep and $`\pi ^{}`$p peaks are separated by about 2 ns.

The resulting normalized yields and yield ratios of the D(e,ep)X reaction are presented in Figs. 3 and 4. Figure 3 shows the results of the near-threshold settings, while the results of the quasielastic settings are depicted in Fig. 4. The missing-mass resolution was $``$ 1.3 MeV/c2 (FWHM) for the near-threshold runs, and $``$ 0.9 (1.3) MeV/c2 for the runs near the quasielastic maximum. The continuous part of the missing-mass distribution is mainly due to the radiation tail, with the above mentioned $`\pi ^{}`$p background giving a small contribution in the higher missing-mass region. In Fig. 4(b), the pion threshold is open above $`M_X>1070`$ MeV/c2, yielding additional strength. The invariant masses of the states claimed by Tatischeff et al. tati  and Fil’kov et al. filkov  are indicated by the vertical arrows. Here again, as in the case of the hydrogen experiment described above, no significant peak structure other than the one corresponding to the ground state of the neutron is found. Though the measurements in the threshold region took most of the beamtime (see Tab. 2), the statistics is quite poor even for the ground-state breakup of the deuteron. This is due to the fact that this kinematics maps out very high missing momenta of the proton in the order of 450 MeV/c. In the quasielastic settings (Fig. 4), the cross section is much larger. The differential cross section for the D(e,ep)n channel can be estimated using the deuteron electrodisintegration model of Arenhövel et al. arenhoevel . For the threshold settings of Fig. 3(a) and 3(b), one obtains an average of $`\mathrm{d}^3\sigma /(\mathrm{d}\mathrm{\Omega }_\mathrm{e}^{}\mathrm{dE}_\mathrm{e}^{}\mathrm{d}\mathrm{\Omega }_\mathrm{p}^{})`$ $`1.410^6(2.810^7)`$ $`\mu \mathrm{b}/(\mathrm{sr}^2\mathrm{MeV})`$, respectively, whereas the average differential cross section of the quasielastic settings of Fig. 4(a) and 4(b) is about $`\mathrm{d}^3\sigma /(\mathrm{d}\mathrm{\Omega }_\mathrm{e}^{}\mathrm{dE}_\mathrm{e}^{}\mathrm{d}\mathrm{\Omega }_\mathrm{p}^{})`$ $`1.110^3(2.310^5)`$ $`\mu \mathrm{b}/(\mathrm{sr}^2\mathrm{MeV})`$. Significant structures are excluded to a level of 10-2 ($`510^2`$) for the near-threshold settings, and 10-4 ($`10^2`$) for the quasielastic settings compared to the height of the neutron peak, respectively.

## III Summary

We have searched for narrow structures in the missing-mass spectra of the electromagnetic H(e,e$`{}_{}{}^{}\pi _{}^{+}`$)X and D(e,ep)X reactions in kinematics corresponding to the hadronic beam experiments of Tatischeff et al. tati  and Fil’kov et al. filkov . Our measurements exclude narrow nucleon resonances below pion threshold for the H(e,e$`{}_{}{}^{}\pi _{}^{+}`$)X reaction down to the level of 10-4 compared to the respective transition to the neutron ground state. For the D(e,ep)X reaction, narrow structures are excluded to a level of 10-4 relative to the neutron peak in the quasielastic and to 10-2 in the near-threshold measurements. On the basis of those results the various theoretical attempts konno ; kobushkin ; walcher  for an explanation of the observed structures in Refs. tati ; filkov  might be questioned. In order to draw a final conclusion on the existence of the narrow resonances of Refs. tati ; filkov , the hadronic experiments should be repeated with the same accuracy as the present electromagnetic ones.

## IV Acknowledgement

This work has been supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (SFB 443 and RI 242/15-2).


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# On Some Conformally Invariant FullyNonlinear Equations

## Abstract

We will report some results concerning the Yamabe problem and the Nirenberg problem. Related topics will also be discussed. Such studies have led to new results on some conformally invariant fully nonlinear equations arising from geometry. We will also present these results which include some Liouville type theorems, Harnack type inequalities, existence and compactness of solutions to some nonlinear version of the Yamabe problem.

2000 Mathematics Subject Classification: 35, 58.

Keywords and Phrases: Conformally invariant, Fully nonlinear, Yamabe problem, Liouville type theorem.

In this talk, we present some recent joint work with Aobing Li  on some conformally invariant fully nonlinear equations.

For $`n3`$, consider

$$\mathrm{\Delta }u=\frac{n2}{2}u^{\frac{n+2}{n2}},\text{on}R^n.$$
(1)
The celebrated Liouville type theorem of Caffarelli, Gidas and Spruck () asserts that positive $`C^2`$ solutions of (1) are of the form

$$u(x)=(2n)^{\frac{n2}{4}}\left(\frac{a}{1+a^2|x\overline{x}|^2}\right)^{\frac{n2}{2}},$$

where $`a>0`$ and $`\overline{x}R^n`$. Under an additional decay hypothesis $`u(x)=O(|x|^{2n})`$, the result was proved by Obata () and Gidas, Ni and Nirenberg ().

Let $`\psi `$ be a Möbius transformation.

$$\left(u_\psi ^{\frac{n+2}{n2}}\mathrm{\Delta }u_\psi \right)=\left(u^{\frac{n+2}{n2}}\mathrm{\Delta }u\right)\psi ,\text{on}R^n,$$

where $`u_\psi :=|J_\psi |^{\frac{n2}{2n}}(u\psi )`$ and $`J_\psi `$ denotes the Jacobian of $`\psi `$. In particular, if $`u`$ is a positive solution of (1), so is $`u_\psi `$.

We call a fully nonlinear operator $`H(x,u,u,^2u)`$ conformally invariant on $`R^n`$ if for any Möbius transformation $`\psi `$ and any positive function $`uC^2(R^n)`$

$$H(,u_\psi ,u_\psi ,^2u_\psi )H(,u,u,^2u)\psi .$$
(2)
We showed in  that $`H(x,u,u,^2u)`$ is conformally invariant if and only if

$$H(x,u,u,^2u)F(A^u),$$

where

$$A^u:=\frac{2}{n2}u^{\frac{n+2}{n2}}^2u+\frac{2n}{(n2)^2}u^{\frac{2n}{n2}}uu\frac{2}{(n2)^2}u^{\frac{2n}{n2}}|u|^2I,$$
(3)
and $`F`$ is invariant under orthogonal conjugations.

Let $`U`$ be an open subset of $`n\times n`$ symmetric matrices which is invariant under orthogonal conjugations (i.e. $`O^1UO=U`$ for all orthogonal matrices $`O`$) and has the property that $`U\{M+tN|0<t<\mathrm{}\}`$ is convex for any $`n\times n`$ symmetric matrix $`M`$ and any $`n\times n`$ positive definite symmetric matrix $`N`$.

Let $`FC^1(U)`$ be invariant under orthogonal conjugation and be elliptic, i.e.

$$\left(F_{ij}(M)\right)>0,MU,$$

where $`F_{ij}(M):=\frac{F}{M_{ij}}(M)`$.

The following theorem extends the result of Obata and Gidas, Ni and Nirenberg to all conformally invariant operators of elliptic type.

###### Theorem 1

() For $`n3`$, let $`U`$ and $`F`$ be as above, and let $`uC^2(R^n)`$ be a positive solution of

$$F(A^u)=1,\text{on}R^n.$$

Assume that $`u`$ is regular at infinity, i.e., $`|x|^{2n}u(x/|x|^2)`$ can be extended to a positive $`C^2`$ function near the origin. Then for some $`\overline{x}R^n`$ and for some positive constants $`a`$ and $`b`$,

$$u(x)\left(\frac{a}{1+b^2|x\overline{x}|^2}\right)^{\frac{n2}{2}},xR^n.$$

###### Remark 1

In fact, as established in , the conclusion of the above theorem still holds when replacing the assumption $`uC^2(R^n)`$ by a weaker assumption that $`uC^2(R^n\{0\})`$, $`u`$ can be extended to a positive continuous function near the origin, and $`lim_{x0}(|x||u(x)|)=0`$.

Theorem 1 indicates that behavior of solutions to conformally invariant equations is very rigid. Thus we expect some good theories for conformally invariant uniformly elliptic fully nonlinear equations. Let $`F`$ be $`C^{\mathrm{}}`$ functions defined on $`n\times n`$ real symmetric matrices, and let $`F`$ be invariant under orthogonal conjugations. We assume that for some constants $`0<\lambda \mathrm{\Lambda }<\mathrm{}`$,

$$\lambda I\left(F_{ij}(M)\right)\mathrm{\Lambda }I,\text{for all}n\times n\text{real symmetric matrices}.$$

We raise the following

###### Question 1

Let $`F`$ be as above, and let $`B_1`$ be a unit ball in $`R^n`$ and $`a>0`$ be some constant. Are there some positive constants $`\alpha `$ and $`C`$, depending only on $`F`$, $`a`$ and $`n`$ such that for any positive $`C^{\mathrm{}}`$ solution $`u`$ of

$$F\left(A^u\right)=0,\text{in}B_1$$

satisfying

$$\underset{\overline{B}_1}{\mathrm{min}}ua,u_{C^2(B_1)}\frac{1}{a},$$

we have

$$u_{C^{2,\alpha }(B_{\frac{1}{2}})}C\mathrm{?}$$

Other interesting questions include to understand behavior near an isolated singularities of a solution in a punctured disc of this subclass of uniformly elliptic equations and to establish some removable singularity results.

Let $`(M,g)`$ be an $`n`$dimensional smooth Riemannian manifold without boundary, consider the Schouten tensor

$$A_g=\frac{1}{n2}\left(Ric_g\frac{R_g}{2(n1)}g\right),$$

where $`Ric_g`$ and $`R_g`$ denote respectively the Ricci tensor and the scalar curvature associated with $`g`$.

For $`1kn`$, let

$$\sigma _k(\lambda )=\underset{1i_1<\mathrm{}<i_kn}{}\lambda _{i_1}\mathrm{}\lambda _{i_k},\lambda =(\lambda _1,\mathrm{},\lambda _n)R^n,$$

denote the $`k`$th symmetric function, and let $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_k`$ denote the connected component of $`\{\lambda R^n|\sigma _k(\lambda )>0\}`$ containing the positive cone $`\{\lambda R^n|\lambda _1,\mathrm{},\lambda _n>0\}`$.

It is known (see, e.g., ) that $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_k`$ is a convex cone with its vertex at the origin,

$$\mathrm{\Gamma }_n\mathrm{}\mathrm{\Gamma }_2\mathrm{\Gamma }_1,$$

$$\frac{\sigma _k}{\lambda _i}>0\text{in}\mathrm{\Gamma }_k,1in,$$

and

$$\sigma _k^{\frac{1}{k}}\text{is concave in}\mathrm{\Gamma }_k.$$

Fully nonlinear elliptic equations involving $`\sigma _k(D^2u)`$ have been investigated in the classical and pioneering paper of Caffarelli, Gidas and Nirenberg . For extensive studies and outstanding results on such equations, see, e.g., Guan and Spruck , Trudinger , Trudinger and Wang , and the references therein. On Riemannian manifolds of nonnegative curvature, Li studied in  equations

$$\sigma _k^{\frac{1}{k}}\left(\lambda (_g^2u+g)\right)=\psi (x,u),$$
(4)
where $`\lambda (_g^2u+g)`$ denotes eigenvalues of $`_g^2u+g`$ with respect to $`g`$. On general Riemannian manifolds, Viaclovsky introduced and systematically studied in  and  equations

$$\sigma _k^{\frac{1}{k}}\left(\lambda (A_g)\right)=\psi (x,u),$$
(5)
where $`\lambda (A_g)`$ denotes the eigenvalues of $`A_g`$ with respect to $`g`$. On $`4`$dimensional general Riemannian manifolds, remarkable results on (5) for $`k=2`$ were obtained by Chang, Gursky and Yang in  and , which include Liouville type theorems, existence and compactness of solutions, as well as applications to topology. On the other hand, works on the Yamabe equation by Caffarelli, Gidas and Spruck (), Schoen ( and ), Li and Zhu (), and Li and Zhang (), have played an important role in our approach to the study of (5) as developed in .

Consider

$$\sigma _k\left(\lambda (A_g)\right)=1,$$
(6)
together with

$$\lambda (A_g)\mathrm{\Gamma }_k.$$
(7)
Let $`g_1=u^{\frac{4}{n2}}g_0`$ be a conformal change of metrics, then (see, e.g., ),

$$A_{g_1}=\frac{2}{n2}u^1_{g_0}^2u+\frac{2n}{(n2)^2}u^2_{g_0}u_{g_0}u\frac{2}{(n2)^2}u^2|_{g_0}u|_{g_0}^2g_0+A_{g_0}.$$

Let $`g=u^{\frac{4}{n2}}g_{flat}`$, where $`g_{flat}`$ denotes the Euclidean metric on $`R^n`$. Then by the above transformation formula,

$$A_g=u^{\frac{4}{n2}}A_{ij}^udx^idx^j,$$

where $`A^u`$ is given by (3).

Equations (6) and (7) take the form

$$\sigma _k(\lambda (A^u))=1,\text{on}R^n,$$
(8)
and

$$\lambda (A^u)\mathrm{\Gamma }_k,\text{on}R^n.$$
(9)
Our next result extends the Liouville type theorem of Caffarelli, Gidas and Spruck to all $`\sigma _k`$, $`1kn`$. For $`k=1`$, equation (8) is (1).

###### Theorem 2

() For $`n3`$ and $`1kn`$, let $`uC^2(R^n)`$ be a positive solution of (8) satisfying (9). Then for some $`a>0`$ and $`\overline{x}R^n`$,

$$u(x)=c(n,k)\left(\frac{a}{1+a^2|x\overline{x}|^2}\right)^{\frac{n2}{2}},xR^n,$$
(10)
where $`c(n,k)=2^{(n2)/4}\left(\genfrac{}{}{0pt}{}{n}{k}\right)^{(n2)/4k}`$.

The case $`k=2`$ and $`n=4`$ was obtained by Chang, Gursky and Yang (). More recently, they () have independently established the result for $`k=2`$ and $`n=5`$, and they also established the result for $`k=2`$ and $`n6`$ under an additional hypothesis $`_{R^n}u^{\frac{2n}{n2}}<\mathrm{}`$. Under an additional hypothesis that $`\frac{1}{|x|^{n2}}u(\frac{x}{|x|^2})`$ can be extended to a $`C^2`$ positive function near $`x=0`$, the case $`2kn`$ was obtained by Viaclovsky (, ). As mentioned above, the case $`k=1`$ was obtained by Caffarelli, Gidas and Spruck, while under an additional hypothesis that $`\frac{1}{|x|^{n2}}u(\frac{x}{|x|^2})`$ is bounded near $`x=0`$, the case $`k=1`$ was obtained by Obata, and by Gidas, Ni and Nirenberg,

The methods of Chang, Gursky and Yang in  and  include an ingenious way of using the Obata technique which, as they pointed out, allows the possibility to be generalized to establish the uniqueness of solutions on general Einstein manifolds. Our proof of Theorem 2 is very different from that of  and . A crucial ingredient in our proof is the following Harnack type inequality.

###### Theorem 3

() For $`n3`$, $`1kn`$, and $`R>0`$, let $`B_{3R}R^n`$ be a ball of radius $`3R`$ and let $`uC^2(B_{3R})`$ be a positive solution of

$$\sigma _k(A^u)=1,\text{in}B_{3R},$$
(11)
satisfying

$$\lambda (A^u)\mathrm{\Gamma }_k,\text{in}B_{3R}.$$
(12)
Then

$$(\underset{\overline{B}_R}{\mathrm{max}}u)(\underset{\overline{B}_{2R}}{\mathrm{min}}u)C(n)R^{2n}.$$
(13)
The above Harnack type inequality for $`k=1`$ was obtained by Schoen () based on the Liouville type theorem of Caffarelli, Gidas and Spruck. An important step toward our proof of Theorem 13 was taken in an earlier work of Li and Zhang (), where they gave a different proof of Schoens Harnack type inequality without using the Liouville type theorem.

Our next result concerns existence and compactness of solutions.

###### Theorem 4

() For $`n3`$ and $`1kn`$, let $`(M,g)`$ be an $`n`$dimensional smooth compact locally conformally flat Riemannian manifold without boundary satisfying

$$\lambda \left(A_g\right)\mathrm{\Gamma }_k,\text{on}M.$$

Then there exists some smooth positive function $`u`$ on $`M`$ such that $`\widehat{g}=u^{\frac{4}{n2}}g`$ satisfies

$$\lambda \left(A_{\widehat{g}}\right)\mathrm{\Gamma }_k,\sigma _k\left(\lambda (A_{\widehat{g}})\right)=1,\text{on}M.$$
(14)
Moreover, if $`(M,g)`$ is not conformally diffeomorphic to the standard $`n`$sphere, all solutions of the above satisfy, for all $`m0`$, that

$$u_{C^m(M,g)}+u^1_{C^m(M,g)}C,$$

where $`C`$ depends only on $`(M,g)`$ and $`m`$.

For $`k=1`$, it is the Yamabe problem for locally conformally flat manifolds with positive Yamabe invariants, and the result is due to Schoen (-). The Yamabe problem was solved through the work of Yamabe , Trudinger , Aubin , and Schoen . For $`k=2`$ and $`n=4`$, the result was proved without the locally conformally flatness hypothesis by Chang, Gursky and Yang . For $`k=n`$, the existence result was established by Viaclovsky  for a class of manifolds which are not necessarily locally conformally flat. For $`k\frac{n}{2}`$, the result is independently obtained by Guan and Wang in  using a heat flow method. More recently, Guan, Viaclovsky and Wang  have proved that $`\lambda (A_g)\mathrm{\Gamma }_k`$ for $`k\frac{n}{2}`$ implies the positivity of the Ricci tensor, and therefore, by classical results, $`(M,g)`$ is conformally covered by $`S^n`$ and the existence and compactness results in this case follow easily.

Our proof of Theorem 1, different from the ones in , , ,  and , is in the spirit of the new proof of the Liouville type theorem of Caffarelli, Gidas and Spruck given by Li and Zhu in . We also make use of the substantial simplifications of Li and Zhang in  to the proof in . The proof is along the line of the pioneering work of Gidas, Ni and Nirenberg , which in particular does not need the kind of divergence structure needed for the method of Obata  and therefore can be applied in much more generality.

In our proofs blow up arguments are used, which require local derivative estimates of solutions. For $`\sigma _1`$ (the Yamabe equation), such estimates follow from standard elliptic theories. Guan and Wang  established local gradient and second derivative estimates for $`\sigma _k`$, $`k2`$. Global gradient and second derivative estimates for $`\sigma _k`$ were obtained by Viaclovsky . For the related equation (4) on manifolds of nonnegative curvature, global gradient and second derivative estimates were obtained by Li in . By the concavity of $`\sigma _k^{\frac{1}{k}}`$, $`C^{2,\alpha }`$ estimates hold due to the classical work of Evans  and Krylov . For the proof of the existence part of Theorem 4, we introduce a homotopy $`\sigma _k(t\lambda +(1t)\sigma _1(\lambda ))`$, defined on $`(\mathrm{\Gamma }_k)_t=\{\lambda R^n|t\lambda +(1t)\sigma _1(\lambda )\mathrm{\Gamma }_k\}`$, which establishes a natural link between (14) and the Yamabe problem. We extend the local estimates in  for $`\sigma _k`$ to $`\sigma _k(t\lambda +(1t)\sigma _1(\lambda ))`$, with estimates uniform in $`0t1`$. The compactness results as stated in Theorem 4 were established in  along the homotopy. The compactness results for the Yamabe problem was established by Schoen . We gave a different proof which does not rely on the Liouville type theorem, which allows us to establish existence results for more general $`f`$ than $`\sigma _k`$ for which Liouville type theorems are not available. The existence results follow from the compactness results with the help of the degree theory for second order fully nonlinear elliptic operators () as well as the degree counting formula for the Yamabe problem ().

The first step in our proof of the Liouville type Theorem 2 is to establish the Harnack type inequality (Theorem 13), from which we obtain sharp asymptotic behavior at infinity of an entire solution. Then we establish Theorem 2 by distinguishing into two cases. In the case $`k>\frac{n}{2}`$, Theorem 2 is proved by using the sharp asymptotic behavior of an entire solution and Theorem 1-Remark 1, together with a result of Trudinger and Wang (). In the case $`1k\frac{n}{2}`$, Theorem 2 is proved by the sharp asymptotic behavior of an entire solution together with the Obata type integral formula of Viaclovsky (). For the second case, divergence structure of the equation is used.

Theorem 2, Theorem 13 and Theorem 4 are established for more general nonlinear $`f`$ than $`\sigma _k`$ in , including those for which no divergence structure is available.


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# Some New Developments of Realization of Surfaces into R^"3"

## References