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# Cosmic String Wakes in Scalar-Tensor Gravities

## 1 Introduction

Topological defects can be formed as a result of one or several thermal phase transitions which occurred in the Early Universe . In particular, much attention has been given to cosmic strings’ models since they are possible sources for the density perturbations which seeded galaxy formation. A relevant mechanism to understand the structure formation by cosmic strings involves long strings moving with relativistic speed in the normal plane, giving rise to velocity perturbations in their wake. If the string is moving with normal velocity $`v_s`$ through matter, a velocity perturbation $`u=8\pi G\mu v_s\gamma `$ (where $`\mu `$ is the linear mass density of the string and $`\gamma =(1v_s^2)^{1/2}`$) towards the plane behind the string results . The study of the effects of a cosmic string passing through matter is of great importance to understand the current organization of matter in the Universe and in this context, many authors have already considered this problem in General Relativity \[3-8\].

On the other hand, it is to notice that all implications of structure formation by cosmic strings have been done in the framework of General Relativity. Nevertheless, it is generally believed that gravity may not be described by Einstein’s action at sufficiently high energy scales where gravity becomes scalar-tensorial in nature. Indeed, most attempts to unify gravity with the other interactions predict the existence of one (or many) scalar(s) field(s) with gravitational-strength coupling. If gravity is essentially scalar-tensorial, there will be direct implications for cosmology and experimental tests of the gravitational phenomena. In particular, all of them will be affected by the variation of the gravitational “constant” $`\stackrel{~}{G}_0`$.

Topological defects have been already considered in the context of a scalar-tensorial gravity. In particular, the authors in ref.  have studied the solutions for domain walls and cosmic strings in the simplest scalar-tensorial gravity - the Brans-Dicke theory; in ref.  the authors have studied the cosmic string in the dilaton gravity, and finally, in ref. , the author has considered a local cosmic string model in more general scalar-tensor theories in which the conformal factor is an arbitrary function of the scalar field. More recently, superconducting strings have been considered in Brans-Dicke  and in more general scalar-tensor theories .

In this work, we consider the formation and evolution of cosmic strings wakes in a scalar-tensor gravity. Namely, we are interested in studying the implications of a scalar-tensor coupling for the formation and evolution of wakes by a cosmic string with metric described in . For this purpose, we consider a simple model in which non-baryonic cold dark matter composed by non-relativistic, collisionless particles propagate around a scalar-tensor cosmic string. We anticipate that our main result is to show that the mechanism of formation and evolution of wakes by an (ordinary) cosmic string in the framework of a scalar-tensor theory presents very similar structure to the same mechanism by a wiggly cosmic string in General Relativity.

This work is outlined as follows. In section 2, we briefly review the properties of the metric of a scalar-tensor string which we are going to deal with throughout this paper and we derive the linearized geodesic equations associated to it. In section 3, we consider the propagation of non-relativistic, collisionless particles in the metric described in section 2 and we study the formation and evolution of wakes in this model. Whenever convenient, we reduce our results to the particular case of Brans-Dicke theory and we compare these results with those already obtained in the framework of General Relativity. Finally, in section 4, we end with some discussions and conclusions.

## 2 Cosmic String Solution in Scalar-Tensor Theories

We start by considering a class of scalar-tensor theories developed by Bergman , Wagoner  and Nordtverdt  in which the scalar sector of the gravitational interaction is massless. For technical purpose, it is better to work in the so-called Einstein (conformal) frame in which the kinematic terms of tensor and scalar fields do not mix. Then, a cosmic string solution arises from the action:

$`S`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{16\pi G_{}}}{\displaystyle \text{d}^4x\sqrt{g}\left[R2g^{\mu \nu }_\mu \varphi _\nu \varphi \right]}+`$ (1)
$`{\displaystyle d^4x\sqrt{g}\left[\frac{1}{2}D_\mu \mathrm{\Phi }D^\mu \mathrm{\Phi }^{}\frac{1}{4}F_{\mu \nu }F^{\mu \nu }V(\mathrm{\Phi })\right]},`$
where $`g_{\mu \nu }`$ is a pure rank-2 metric tensor, $`R`$ is the curvature scalar associated to it and $`G_{}`$ is some “bare” gravitational coupling constant. The second term in the r.h.s. of eq. (1) is the matter action representing an Abelian-Higgs model where a charged scalar Higgs field $`\mathrm{\Phi }`$ minimally couples to the $`U(1)`$ gauge field $`A_\mu `$ and $`V(\mathrm{\Phi })`$ is the Higgs potential .

Action (1) is obtained from the original action appearing in the refs. \[15-17\] by a conformal transformation (see, for instance, )

$$\stackrel{~}{g}_{\mu \nu }=A^2(\varphi )g_{\mu \nu },$$
(2)
where $`\stackrel{~}{g}_{\mu \nu }`$ is the physical metric which contains both scalar and tensor degrees of freedom, and by a redefinition of the quantities

$$G_{}A^2(\varphi )=\frac{1}{\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Phi }}},$$

where $`\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Phi }}`$ is the original scalar field, and

$$\alpha (\varphi )\frac{\mathrm{ln}A}{\varphi }=\frac{1}{[2\omega (\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Phi }})+3]^{\frac{1}{2}}},$$

which can be interpreted as the (field-dependent) coupling strenght between matter and the scalar field. We choose to leave $`A^2(\varphi )`$ as an arbitrary function of the scalar field.

The metric of a self-gravitating string can be found in the weak-field approximation. Expanding the tensor $`g_{\mu \nu }=\eta _{\mu \nu }+h_{\mu \nu }`$ and scalar $`\varphi =\varphi _0+\varphi _{(1)}`$ fields, with $`h_{\mu \nu }1`$ and $`\left|\frac{\varphi _{(1)}}{\varphi _0}\right|1`$, it was, then, found :

$$\text{ds}^2=\left[1+8G_0\mu \alpha ^2(\varphi _0)\mathrm{ln}\frac{\rho }{\rho _0}\right]\left[\text{dt}^2\text{dz}^2\text{d}\rho ^2(18G_0\mu )\left(\frac{\rho }{\rho _0}\right)^2\text{d}\theta ^2\right]$$
(3)
and

$$\varphi _{(1)}=4G_0\mu \alpha (\varphi _0)\mathrm{ln}\rho /\rho _0,$$

in a cylindrical coordinate system such that $`\rho 0`$ and $`0\theta <2\pi `$. $`G_0`$ is defined as $`G_0G_{}A^2(\varphi _0)`$. Notice that this is not the effective Newtonian constant $`\stackrel{~}{G}_0=G_{}A^2(\varphi _0)[1+\alpha ^2]_{\varphi _0}`$ as defined in . $`\rho _0`$ is a distance beyond which all matter fields drop away. Conveniently, it has the same order of magnitude of the string radius. It is interesting to note that the metric of a scalar-tensor string in the weak-field approximation (3) is fully described in terms of one dimensional coupling strength $`(G_0)`$ and one post-Newtonian parameter $`(\alpha (\varphi _0))`$. One new feature of a scalar-tensor string is that it exerts gravitational force on test particles, contrary to its General Relativity partner. From (3), we can easily see that this gravitational force on a test particle of mass $`m`$ is given by

$$f=4mG_0\mu \alpha ^2(\varphi _0)\frac{1}{\rho }$$
(4)
and it is always attractive.

### Propagation of Massive Particles and Light

Let us define a new coordinate system by means of the transformation $`x=\rho \mathrm{cos}[(18G_0\mu )^{\frac{1}{2}}\theta +4\pi G_0\mu ]`$ and $`y=\rho \mathrm{sin}[(18G_0\mu )^{\frac{1}{2}}\theta +4\pi G_0\mu ]`$ in such a way that the missing wedge is placed on the positive side of the $`x`$-axis. Then, metric (3) assumes a simple form:

$$\text{ds}^2=(1+h_{00})[\text{dt}^2\text{dx}^2\text{dy}^2\text{dz}^2]$$
(5)
where $`h_{00}=8G_0\mu \alpha ^2(\varphi _0)\mathrm{ln}[(x^2+y^2)^{\frac{1}{2}}]`$. Metric (5) is conformally Minkowskian and has a missing wedge of angular width $`\mathrm{\Delta }=8\pi G_0\mu `$.

Now we are in a position to study the propagation of massive and massless particles in metric (5). Since this metric is conformal to Minkowski minus a wedge, any massless particles (such as photons) will be deflected by an angle equal to $`8\pi G_0\mu `$. From the observational point of view, it would be impossible to distinguish a scalar-tensor string from its General Relativity partner just by considering effects based on deflection of light (i.e., double image effect, for instance). On the other hand, trajectories of massive particles will be affected by the scalar-tensor coupling (which generates the gravitational force (4)) as well as by the conical geometry. If the string is moving with normal velocity $`v_s`$ through matter, a velocity perturbation

$$u=8\pi G_0\mu v_s\gamma +\frac{4\pi G_0\mu \alpha ^2(\varphi _0)}{v_s\gamma },$$
(6)
where $`\gamma =(1v_s^2)^{\frac{1}{2}}`$, towards the plane behind the string results . The first term is equivalent to the relative velocity of particles flowing past a string in General Relativity and is due to the conical geometry. The second term appears due to the scalar-tensor coupling of the gravitational interaction.

Let us make an estimative of the order of magnitude of the corrected term induced by the scalar field in expression (6). It is very illustrative to consider a particular form for the arbitrary function $`A(\varphi )`$, corresponding to the Brans-Dicke theory, $`A(\varphi )=e^{\alpha \varphi }`$ , with $`\alpha ^2=\frac{1}{2\omega +3},(\omega =cte)`$. In this case, we have that $`G_{}A^2(\varphi _0)=G_0=\left(\frac{2\omega +3}{2\omega +4}\right)G_{eff}`$  where $`G_{eff}`$ is the Newtonian constant. Therefore, metric (3) reduces to

$$ds^2=\left[1+\frac{8\mu G_0}{2\omega +3}\mathrm{ln}\frac{\rho }{\rho _0}\right][dt^2dz^2d\rho ^2(18\mu G_0)d\theta ^2],$$

in agreement with the result previously obtained by Barros and Romero .

In the Brans-Dicke case, the expression for the relative velocities of particles flowing past a string reduces to:

$$u=8\pi \left(\frac{2\omega +3}{2\omega +4}\right)G_{eff}\mu v_s\gamma +\frac{4\pi G_{eff}\mu }{(2\omega +4)v_s\gamma }.$$
(7)
Using the values for $`\omega `$ such that $`\omega >2500`$ (consistent with solar system experiments made by Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) ) and $`<v_s>0.15`$ (consistent with strings simulations ), we conclude that the first term is more than 230 times larger than the second one in expression (7).

## 3 Formation and Evolution of Wakes in Scalar-Tensor Gravities

### 3.1 The Formation of Wakes: Cold Dark Matter Flowing Past the String

Matter through which a long string moves, acquires a boost (6) in the direction of the surface swept out by the string. Matter moves toward this surface by gravitational attraction, and a wake is formed behind the string. The aim of this section is to study the implication of a scalar-tensor coupling for the formation and evolution of a wake behind a string which generates the metric (5). For this purpose, we will mimic this situation with a simple model in which cold dark matter composed by non-relativistic collisionless particles moves past a long scalar-tensor string. In our approach, particles propagate in the plane orthogonal to the string in a region $`\rho \sqrt{x^2+y^2}R_0`$, where $`R_0`$ is the size of a region beyond which the string’s small-structures do not affect the motion.

The geodesics associated to metric (5)

$`2\ddot{x}`$ $`=`$ $`(1\dot{x}^2\dot{y}^2)_xh_{00}`$
$`2\ddot{y}`$ $`=`$ $`(1\dot{x}^2\dot{y}^2)_yh_{00},`$
where $`()`$ refers to derivative with respect to the coordinate $`t`$, can be integrated over the unperturbed trajectories $`x=X_0+v_st`$ and $`y=y_0`$ . To linear order in $`G_0\mu `$, we have

$`\dot{x}`$ $`=v_s2G_0\mu \alpha ^2(\varphi _0)\left({\displaystyle \frac{1v_s^2}{v_s}}\right)\mathrm{ln}\left[{\displaystyle \frac{x^2+y_0^2}{X_0^2+y_0^2}}\right]`$ (8)
$`\dot{y}`$ $`=4G_0\mu \alpha ^2(\varphi _0)\left({\displaystyle \frac{1v_s^2}{v_s}}\right)\left[\mathrm{arctan}{\displaystyle \frac{x}{y_0}}\mathrm{arctan}{\displaystyle \frac{X_0}{y_0}}\right]`$
where the particle has started its motion at $`x=X_0`$ and $`y=y_0`$ with initial velocity $`(\dot{x}=v_s)`$ at $`t=t_0`$. $`X_0`$ is a long distance cut-off of order of the interstring separation.

Integrating (8) again and writing $`y`$ as function of $`x`$, we have:

$$y=y_04G_0\mu \alpha ^2(\varphi _0)\left(\frac{1v_s^2}{v_s^2}\right)\left\{x\left[\mathrm{arctan}\frac{x}{y_0}\mathrm{arctan}\frac{X_0}{y_0}\right]+\frac{y_0}{2}\mathrm{ln}\left[\frac{x^2+y_0^2}{X_0^2+Y_0^2}\right]\right\}$$
(9)
With the orbit given by (9), we can infer how particles accrete onto the wakes. This is better seen in polar coordinates $`(\rho ,\theta )`$, such that $`\rho =\sqrt{x^2+y^2}`$ and $`\theta `$ is the angle measured from the $`x`$-axis. If we assume that particles moving toward the string come from both sides from impact parameters $`\delta R`$ and $`\delta R^{^{}}`$ and that the number of particles crossing the element $`\delta \rho `$ into the foward cone per unit time per unit length of string is $`\nu v_s\delta R`$, with $`\nu `$ as the initial number density of particles, then the number density of particles entering the cone at element $`\delta \rho `$ is $`n_e(\rho ,\theta )=\nu \frac{\rho }{R}\frac{\delta R}{\delta \rho }`$ and the number of particles leaving the cone is $`n_l(\rho ,\theta )=\nu \frac{\rho }{R^{^{}}}\frac{\delta R^{^{}}}{\delta \rho }`$ . In both cases, we have used the conservation of angular momentum in order to calculate the velocity normal to the surface of the cone $`Rv_s/\rho `$ .

If we re-write orbit (9) in terms of the polar coordinates and differentiate with respect to $`y_0`$, we find:

$$\frac{\delta R}{\delta \rho }=\frac{R}{\rho }\left[1+4G_0\mu \alpha ^2(\varphi _0)\frac{\rho \mathrm{cos}\theta X_0}{X_0^2+R^2}\right].$$
(10)
Therefore, we can now compute the number density of particles in the volume element $`\delta \rho `$:

$$nn_e+n_l=\nu \left[2+4G_0\mu \alpha ^2(\varphi _0)X_0(xX_0)\left(\frac{1}{X_0^2+R^2}+\frac{1}{X_0^2+R^{}_{}{}^{}2}\right)\right],$$
(11)
which holds just inside the wake.

Let us now compute the density fluctuation inside and outside the wake. We have, then, respectively:

$$\frac{\delta n}{\nu }\frac{n\nu }{\nu }1+8G_0\mu \alpha ^2(\varphi _0)\left(\frac{xX_0}{X_0}\right),$$
(12)
and

$$\frac{\delta n_e}{\nu }4G_0\mu \alpha ^2(\varphi _0)\left(\frac{xX_0}{X_0}\right).$$
(13)
In both cases, we restricted ourselves to $`R,R^{^{}}X_0`$.

We can now compare our results with those already known in the litterature. In General Relativity, the orbit of a test particle is deviated from its unperturbed trajectory because of the conical geometry and , in this case, the two opposite streams of matter in the wake overlap within the wedge with opening $`8\pi G\mu `$ and the inside matter density is doubled. In a scalar-tensor gravity, this scenario is changed and some new effects occur. Namely, the particle’s original trajectory is also perturbed by the presence of the scalar field and a new term induced by the gravitational force (4) appears. Outside the wake, since $`x<X_0`$, $`\delta n_e`$ given by (13) is negative which means that this region is underdense. An important result of this analysis is that the structure of the formed wake in scalar-tensor gravity is very similar to the one in the case of a wiggly string in General Relativity . We will explore this similarity in more detail in the section 4.

### 3.2 The Evolution of Wakes: The Zel’dovich Approximation

Let us now make a quantitative description of accretion onto wakes using the Zel’dovich approximation, which consists in considering the Newtonian accretion problem in an expanding Universe using the method of linear perturbations. Let us consider that a wake is formed by the scalar-tensor string at $`t_i>t_{eq}`$. The physical trajectory of a dark-particle can be written as

$$h(\stackrel{}{x},t)=a(t)[\stackrel{}{x}+\psi (\stackrel{}{x},t)],$$
(14)
where $`\stackrel{}{x}`$ is the unperturbed comoving position of the particle and $`\psi (\stackrel{}{x},t)`$ is the comoving displacement developed as a consequence of the gravitational attraction induced by the wake on the particle. If we assume that the wake is perpendicular to the x-axis, then the only non-vanishing component of $`\psi `$ is $`\psi _x`$. Therefore, the equation of motion for a dark particle in the Newtonian limit is

$$\ddot{h}=_h\mathrm{\Phi },$$
(15)
where the Newtonian potential satisfies the Poisson’s equation:

$$_h^2\mathrm{\Phi }=4\pi G_0\rho .$$
(16)
In equation (16), $`\rho (t)`$ is the dark matter density in a cold-dark matter Universe. Thus, the linearized equation for $`\psi _x`$ becomes

$$\ddot{\psi }+2\frac{\dot{a}}{a}\dot{\psi }+3\frac{\ddot{a}}{a}\psi =0.$$
(17)
For simplicity, we consider hereafter that the Universe is flat. Therefore $`a(t)t^{\frac{2}{3}}`$ in the matter-dominated era such that $`t>t_{eq}`$, and equation (17) becomes:

$$\ddot{\psi }+\frac{4}{3t}\dot{\psi }\frac{2}{3t^2}\psi =0,$$
(18)
with appropriate initial conditions: $`\psi (t_i)=0`$ and $`\dot{\psi }(t_i)=u_i`$. Equation (18) is the Euler equation whose solution can be easily found:

$$\psi (x,t)=\frac{3}{5}\left[\frac{u_it_i^2}{t}u_it_i\left(\frac{t}{t_i}\right)^{\frac{2}{3}}\right].$$
(19)
The comoving coordinate $`x(t)`$ can be calculated using the fact that $`\dot{h}=0`$ in the “turn around”. That is, eventually, the dark particle stops expanding with the Hubble flow and starts to collapse onto the wake. This means that $`\dot{h}=0`$, or equivalently, $`x+2\psi (x,t)=0`$. This yields

$$x(t)=\frac{6}{5}\left[\frac{u_it_i^2}{t}u_it_i\left(\frac{t}{t_i}\right)^{\frac{2}{3}}\right].$$
(20)
Calculating now the thickness $`d(t)`$ and the surface density $`\sigma (t)`$ of the wake, we have, respectively:

$`d(t)`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{12}{5}}u_i\left[{\displaystyle \frac{t^{4/3}}{t_i^{1/3}}}{\displaystyle \frac{t_i^{4/3}}{t^{1/3}}}\right],`$
$`\sigma (t)`$ $`=`$ $`\rho (t)d(t)={\displaystyle \frac{2u_i}{5\pi G_0t^2}}\left[{\displaystyle \frac{t^{4/3}}{t_i^{1/3}}}{\displaystyle \frac{t_i^{4/3}}{t^{1/3}}}\right],`$ (21)
where we have used the average density $`\rho (t)=\frac{1}{6\pi G_0t^2}`$ in the matter-dominated era for a flat Universe. Clearly, we see that wakes which are formed at $`t_it_{eq}`$ have largest surface density  and (21) reduces to

$$\sigma (t)\frac{2u_i}{5\pi G_0t}\left(\frac{t}{t_i}\right)^{1/3}.$$
(22)
Replacing expression (6) for $`u_i`$ in (22), we finally have:

$$\sigma (t)\frac{8}{5}\frac{\mu }{t}\left(\frac{t}{t_i}\right)^{1/3}\left[2v_s\gamma +\frac{\alpha ^2}{v_s\gamma }\right],$$
(23)
where the second term in r.h.s. is the dilaton’s contribution to the wake’s surface density and, as we have already seen in section 2, this term is more than 230 times less than the purely geometrical contribution.

## 4 Discussion and Conclusions

The aim of this work was to make a first step toward the understanding of the formation and evolution of cosmic string wakes in the context of a scalar-tensor gravity. For this purpose, in section 3, we studied the motion of non-relativistic, collisionless particles in the metric of a scalar-tensor string described in section 2. The linearized geodesic equations found in section 2 were integrated over the unperturbed trajectories which allowed us to calculate the density fluctuations inside and outside the formed wake. The presence of the dilaton has interesting physical consequences. The dilaton qualitatively alters the particles number density (11) with respect to what occurs in General Relativity. In the latter case, the particles number density crossing the element $`\delta \rho `$ is just twice the initial density, while in the former case we have an additional term which expresses the dilaton’s contribution to the generation of wakes. Analysing expression (13) for the density fluctuation outside the wake, again the dilaton alters the previous result obtained in General Relativity. Since $`x<X_0`$ on the side of the coming fluid, we see that $`\delta n`$ in this region is negative which expresses an underdensity outside the wakes. The evolution of the wake was investigated using the Zel’dovich approximation. Thickness, surface density and “turn around” surfaces were computed.

It was shown that the presence of the dilaton produces an effect which is very similar to the effect of the string’s wiggles on the formation of the wakes, albeit our model is the one for an ordinary string. Comparing numerically both models, it seems that the dilaton’s contribution can be neglected in favour of the wiggles’ contribution: For instance, expression (13) for the inside density fluctuation is $`10^3`$ orders of magnitude less than its analogue in the wiggly string in General Relativity . However, we believe that this should not be seen with “pessimist eyes”: the (small) upper bound to the value of $`\alpha ^2`$ in the matter era is just a confirmation that if gravity was really scalar-tensorial in early eras it evoluted to General Relativity in the present era . At early epochs, it is expected that the scalar’s contribution was of the same order of the tensor’s one. Once the dilaton still contributes to the wake’s surface density and this contribution may lead to interesting cosmological consequences.

Wakes produced by moving strings can provide an explanation for filamentary and sheet-like structures observed in the Universe . The wake produced by the string in one Hubble time has the shape of a strip of width $`v_st_i`$. With the help of the surface density (23), we can easily compute the wake’s linear mass density, say $`\stackrel{~}{\mu }`$,

$$\stackrel{~}{\mu }\frac{8\mu }{5}\left(\frac{t}{t_i}\right)^{2/3}\left[2v_s\gamma +\frac{\alpha ^2}{\gamma }\right],$$
(24)
where we see that the dilaton’s contribution independ on the string velocity. If the string moves slower or if we extrapolate our results to earlier epochs of the Universe when the parameter $`1/\omega `$ has been much larger, we conclude that the second term in r.h.s. of eq. (24) will dominate over the GR term. Therefore, the dilatonic wake would have direct implications on the formation of large-scale structure in the Universe.

## Acknowledgments

This work was partially supported by the Fundação de Apoio à Pesquisa do Distrito Federal (FAPDF). SRMM thanks to CNPq for a PhD grant. The authors would like to thank the referees for very interesting comments and suggestions on the previous version of this manuscript.


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# Sequential fragmentation: The origin of columnar quasi-hexagonal patterns

## I Introduction

Columnar jointing in some kinds of volcanic rocks–especially basaltic lava flows–is one spectacular example of geometrical order in nature, where cracks split the rock in a set of parallel columns . Perpendicularly to the columns the fractures show a distinctive pattern of mostly pentagonal and hexagonal polygons whose sizes vary from a few centimeters to about two meters (see Fig. 1). It has been realized for more than a century that columns result from the contraction of the cooling lava after solidification. There is consensus by now that fractures start at the surfaces of the igneous body, and propagate to the interior as the rock cools down. Fracture patterns at the surface are rather disordered, but the fractures progressively order as they penetrate the sample, reaching an almost stable polygonal configuration after some depth. The fundamental reason of this ordering process is unknown at present. Further evidence for these facts come from the reproduction of columnar cracking in samples of dessicating starches. In this case the columns have diameters in the range of the millimeters, and the ordering process is apparent.

Ryan and Sammis  collected evidence suggesting that the vertical advance of the fracturing front is not continuous, but a discrete process that we call sequential fragmentation: at each step, and when some maximum tensile stress is exceeded, a layer of material is fractured. The existence of this punctuated advance of the fracturing front can be seen in the lateral faces of the columns, which usually have typical marks called striae, or chisel marks. Further work has clarified the form in which fractures propagate within each horizontal layer. A fracture appears at some point and propagates under the combination of mode I and mode III fracturing, guided by the upper part of the rock, which was fractured previously. This is a justification for the prismatic form of the columns and the striae on their faces. However, it assumes that the polygonal pattern is already formed in the upper parts of the rock. Aydin and DeGraff tried to give a justification for the evolution of superficial fractures, which usually meet in the form of a ‘T’, towards the ‘Y’ triple junctions typical of well developed columns. But, as they point out, the prediction of the overall polygonal pattern of fractures would require a three dimensional mechanical analysis of the interaction among many neighbor triple junctions. This is a extremely difficult task if pursuit from a microscopic point of view. They conclude that probably energetic arguments (involving fracture energy and elastic energy) may dictate the way in which the final polygonal pattern is formed.

Energetic arguments have been invoked since quite a long time to justify the polygonal structure of columnar basalts, and it is known that the perfect hexagonal pattern relieves the maximum amount of elastic energy for a given total length of fractures. We argue in the next section that for the problem of sequential fragmentation (in which new parts of the rock are sequentially fractured under the influence of both the previously fractured parts and the still intact rock underneath) a minimum principle can be invoked to describe the evolution in depth of the fracture pattern. In the next section we actually show in a numerical simulation (which assumes only the sequential nature of the fragmentation process and no other ad-hoc assumption) that the fracture pattern starts being disordered at the surface, and progressively orders as it penetrates the sample, approaching the ideal pattern we expect on an energetic basis. The minimum principle is used in section III in phenomenological simulations, to evolve superficially disordered patterns into stable polygonal configurations. The statistical properties of the final patterns agree with the available experimental data in basalts and also in starches. In section IV we summarize our results, and point out some open problems in columnar jointing, mainly associated to realistic conditions of cooling.

## II Energetic description of the ordering process

We will concentrate on the problem of a semi-infinite solid body (‘the rock’) cooling down through a (horizontal) free surface . Since this is a situation of inhomogeneous cooling, there will be thermal gradients within the rock. Thermal gradient will point vertically at every point, and then temperature will be constant in any horizontal plane. Under the stresses generated by the thermal gradient, the rock will fracture.

There are two qualitatively different stages in the fracturing process. One is the appearance of fractures at the surface of the rock. Here, the first fracture appears when some maximum stress is exceeded at some point of the sample. Then it propagates horizontally under the influence of the inhomogeneities of the rock. When new fractures nucleate at the surface, they propagate until they meet older ones, usually at right angles, giving rise to typical surface fragmentation patterns that have been extensively studied, both experimentally and theoretically. For our purposes, we only mention that this stage is governed to a large extent by the random disorder present in the system, since fractures nucleate at points where the body can resist the lowest strain. The pattern at the surface is usually quite disordered.

In this paper we study the second stage of the fracturing process of the rock, namely the way in which the superficial, disordered pattern of fractures penetrates the body and orders. We will assume that the temperature distribution within the rock is a given function of coordinates and time, independent of the actual arrangement of fractures, and homogeneous at each horizontal plane. The last fact, however, is not enough to assure that the fracture front (i.e, the vertical coordinate up to which fractures have penetrated, as a function of the horizontal coordinate) will be horizontal. In fact, in a standard situation of fracture mechanics, it would occur that as soon as a fracture penetrates slightly more than the rest, stresses accumulate onto that fracture, the result being that typically a single fracture advances. For our case however, and under realistic cooling conditions, the temperature gradient decreases ahead of the fractures, so if a fracture advances, it rapidly reaches regions where the lower temperature gradient precludes the further advance of that fracture. This is the reason for the sequential advance of the fracture front as schematically illustrated in Fig. 2. At each “time step”, a horizontal slab of material right below the fracture front is fractured under the influence of the already fractured material above, and the still unfractured material below. We will always assume that the conditions for sequential fragmentation apply.

¿From now on we will treat the rock as a collection of particles, elastically joined to their nearest neighbors, in the presence of a constant temperature gradient in the vertical direction. Changes in temperature are interpreted as changes in the equilibrium distance between particles. Fractures will be modeled by the saturation of the elastic energy between neighbor particles as they are taken apart a distance larger than some pre-fixed value $`d_{cr}(T)`$ (see Fig. 3). Note that, in this way, for any given temperature distribution, and for any arrangement of particles, we can define a total energy $`E`$ for the system without ambiguity.

It is useful to divide the total energy $`E`$ in two parts, $`E=E_1+E_2`$. The $`E_1`$ term, that we call elastic energy, comes from those particles being at relative distance lower than $`d_{cr}`$. This is an elastic energy since is quadratic in the relative distance between particles. The second part $`E_2`$ is the contribution from particles at relative distance larger than $`d_{cr}`$, and then it can be associated with broken links (since in this case force vanishes), and identified with the fracture energy. Actually, whenever we talk of the existence of a fracture at a given position of the sample, we mean that neighbor particles are separated by a distance larger than $`d_{cr}`$ across that ‘fracture’.

Having defined the degrees of freedom of the system and the total energy, we can think of the system as a point $`𝒫`$ in the configuration space of all particle coordinates. The sequential evolution we have described (Fig. 2), corresponds to the sequential mechanical relaxation of all particles within the slab between $`z_i`$ and $`z_{i+1}`$, with $`dz=z_{i+1}z_i`$ being the thickness of the slab being fractured at step $`i`$. This sequential process corresponds to the movement of $`𝒫`$ in the energy landscape. Assuming that the mechanical relaxation occurs by some kind of ‘viscous’ dynamics, the present description becomes complete and deterministic, and then we can solve in principle all the (non-linear) mechanical equations for the problem, and obtain in all detail the way in which fractures penetrate the sample. The qualitative features of this advance, however, can be inferred from general arguments. In fact, with the fracture front at a given $`z`$ position, we can calculate the stress field ahead of the fractures, and determine the directions along which this stress is maximized. These are the directions that fractures have the tendency to follow as they advance. The system releases the maximum amount of energy when fractures advance along these directions, compared to any other. In other words, at each step the configuration point $`𝒫`$ moves following a steepest descendent path in the potential energy landscape. Note that due to the particular conditions of sequential advance, this movement is ‘quasistatic’, in the sense that it does not involve the runaway of fractures ahead the fracture front.

The kind of argument we are using is equivalent to those used in surface fragmentation to justify the fact that new fractures meet older ones at right angles. This is a consequence of the tendency of fractures to advance perpendicularly to the direction of maximum stress, and is equivalent to say that the configuration point $`𝒫`$ moves down in energy following the steepest descendent path. We are just saying that for sequential fragmentation the advance of all fractures is governed by this kind of principle. Then, our minimum principle, central to all this work, states that under sequential fragmentation conditions the advance of the fracture front occurs with a tendency to reduce as much as possible the total energy of the system. Note that during this ordering process, the existence of small inhomogeneities in the material plays no significant role, as energy will be mostly dependent only on the geometrical configuration of fractures.

Our principle then justifies qualitatively the observed tendency to produce polygonal arrangements. It is important to note, that the system finds the most convenient pattern by modifying the one at the surface (which usually is quite disordered) through small steps as fractures penetrate the sample. In the next two sub-sections we present results that confirm the validity of our interpretation.

### A A stress calculation

First of all we want to show that standard stresses calculations are consistent with the minimum principle. We have calculated the stress field surrounding a system of unevenly spaced fractures in two dimensions. More specifically, we want to calculate the stress field for a set of fractures as depicted in the inset of Fig. 4, namely, there are pairs of fractures separated by a distance $`d_1`$, and the pairs themselves are separated by some other distance $`d_2`$.

We start with lattice points joined by springs to form a triangular lattice, then modeling an homogeneous and isotropic material with Poisson ratio  $`\sigma =2/(4+\sqrt{3})0.35`$. We simulate a piece of size $`l_x\times l_z`$ in the $`x`$ and $`z`$ directions respectively, taking periodic boundary conditions in the $`x`$ direction, and open boundary conditions in the $`z`$ direction. The springs have a rest length $`d_0`$ that depends on its vertical coordinate $`z`$ according to

$$d_0(z)=d_{00}(1\beta \frac{z}{l_z})$$
(1)
In this way we model a constant temperature gradient in the $`z`$ direction (in the simulations we will use $`\beta =0.01`$). The periodic boundary conditions in the $`x`$ direction are taken in such a way that the particles at $`z=0`$ are nominally at zero strain, whereas all planes on top of that are strained with respect to the preferred distance $`d_0`$. The two fractures are introduced in the system by eliminating all springs that go across the fractures.

We have solved numerically the problem, by relaxing (with a viscous dynamics) the coordinates of the particles in order to obtain the equilibrium configuration. Then the stress tensor was calculated and diagonalized at each position. In Fig. 4 we show the results. At each point, the tangent to the line shown in that figure is the direction perpendicular to the eigenvector corresponding to the maximum eigenvalue of the stress tensor, and then it is the direction that fractures will tend to follow as they advance. Starting at the tips of the fractures, we see that these directions go away from each other, as indicated by the arrows. This indicates that, if sequential fragmentation occurs, the close fractures will advance with a tendency to separate from each other, and eventually to produce a set of evenly spaced fractures. In fact, only when the evenly spaced configuration is reached, the maximum stress direction will coincide with the vertical direction, and from here the pattern is not modified. This standard calculation coincides qualitatively with what expected from the minimum principle, since a set of evenly spaced fractures is the configuration that releases the maximum amount of energy (this is the equivalent of the honeycomb lattice in three dimensions). Then we see that the conclusions from our minimum principle do not contradict those obtained from more standard analysis. The advantage, however, is that the minimum principle is much easier to implement in cases where a calculation of stresses is not feasible.

### B Atomistic simulations of ordering

The second result presented to validate the minimum principle is an atomistic numerical simulation in three dimensional systems. We implement sequential fragmentation in the following way. We use a generalization of the procedure extensively used to study surface fragmentation. In that case a layer of material shrinks while it is attached to a fixed underlying layer. We take an hexagonal plane of particles, with particles attached to their neighbors by generalized springs (with an energy-displacement relation as that of Fig. 3) of spring constant $`K`$ and initial natural length $`d_0`$. Their positions are the dynamical variables. They are attached to an underlying hexagonal plane of particles (which are kept fixed to their original positions during the simulations) by vertical springs of constant $`k`$. The vertical springs do not break. Simulation proceeds by reducing the equilibrium distance of the horizontal springs of the layer being simulated. The first fracture appears when the equilibrium distance between two particles becomes grater than the corresponding critical distance $`d_{cr}`$ of the spring that joins them.

For our simulations of sequential fragmentation, the only difference is that we consider also the simulated plane to be joined to an upper plane of fixed particles by spring of constant $`k`$, and that we simulate the fracturing of the system as a sequence of independent two dimensional fragmentation processes. In the simulation of the successive layers the position of particles in the upper plane are taken equal to the final positions of the simulation of the previous layer. In the simulation of the first layer, we do not have an upper plane. However, to avoid introducing disorder into the system (and in order to break the homogeneity that would occur for an absolutely perfect system) we take an upper plane consisting of particles located at the hexagonal lattice plus some random displacement, independent for each particle. We took this displacement to be 0.5 of the lattice parameter. We want to mention that other simulations in which disorder was included, and the first layer was simulated without any upper plane produced qualitatively the same results. The equilibrium distance between particles $`d_0`$ within the layer being simulated is quasistatically reduced from some initial value $`d_{00}`$ to $`pd_{00}`$. We use $`p=0.89`$. In the energy of the horizontal springs (Fig. 3) we use $`d_{cr}=d_0+0.1d_{00}`$. We also take $`K/k=100`$.

In Fig. 5 we see the final pattern of fractures for progressively deeper layers $`n`$, for a system of $`1600`$ particles. As we see, the pattern of fractures that appears is highly disordered for the first few planes, with many fractures ending in the middle of the sample. When we go inside the material, there is a clear tendency to order, forming a polygonal pattern reminiscent of the experimental observations in basalts. Although in Fig. 5 some influence of the hexagonal structure chosen for the underlying lattice is observable, we have verified that the same qualitative process of ordering is found also for other underlying geometries, namely square. We have also looked at the final energy the pattern gets after fracturing, and this quantity is plotted in Fig. 6 as a function of $`n`$. As we see, this quantity has a tendency to be minimized as successive layers are fragmented, which is the right tendency predicted by our arguments. Moreover, in Fig. 6 we also plot the energy expected for a perfect hexagonal pattern, with the size of the hexagons chosen precisely in order to minimize the energy. We see that the solution that was found by the system was not the perfect one, but very close in energy to that. This is a further confirmation that the tendency to minimize the final energy is in fact the driving force for the formation of the polygonal pattern.

## III Phenomenological calculation

Having identified the reason why a superficially disordered pattern shows a tendency to order as it penetrates the material does not exhaust the interesting features of the problem. Here we will address the observation that patterns are usually seen to be polygonal, but not perfectly hexagonal, as it would be preferred by purely energetic reasons. We will show that this is a consequence of the minimization process, since the system is usually not able to reach the absolute minimum of the energy potential, but gets trapped in a relative minimum. Since the problem becomes computationally too costly to be tackled by the methods of the precedent section, we look for a phenomenological approach. We will need to calculate in some approximate manner the energy of the system as fractures advance, in order to search for fracture patterns that tend to minimize the energy.

A realistic calculation is rather complicated and it will be presented elsewhere. Here we will restrict to an heuristic analysis that however is able to show many of the known physical properties of fracture patterns.

Let us suppose that fractures divide the system in sectors of well defined areas $`A_i`$. We are interested in the elastic energy $`E_1`$ of the system after a vertical advance $`dz`$ of the fractures. To lowest order this energy must be a function of the $`A_i`$, of the elastic constants, and of the precise thermal state of the material. We will use the following expression

$$E_1=E_0+\gamma \underset{i}{}A_i^\nu dz,$$
(2)
where $`\gamma >0`$ and $`\nu >1`$ are constants, and we have collected within $`E_0`$ all possible terms that do not depend on $`A_i`$. Three main facts have been used in constructing expression (2). First, the energy is an independent sum over different columns of terms that depend on $`A_i`$. This is the lowest order contribution we expect, in which we disregard contributions proportional to the particular form of the columns, and interaction terms between neighbor columns. Second, the final energy $`E_1`$ increases if $`A_i`$ increases (i.e., $`\gamma >0`$). This is the right tendency, since the final elastic energy becomes lower if new fractures are introduced in the system, and this implies a reduction of the typical $`A_i`$. Third, the exponent $`\nu `$ must be greater than one. This condition implies the tendency of the system to make the distribution of $`A_i`$ as uniform as possible in order to reduce $`E_1`$. With illustrative purposes, in the rest of this paper we will use $`\nu =2`$. We have repeated the simulations with $`\nu `$ in the 1.5 to 2.5 range with no significant change. The precise properties of the material an the thermal state of the system are contained in the value of $`\gamma `$.

Expression (2) for the final elastic energy has to be added with the change in the fracture energy $`E_2`$ during the vertical advance. This is simply given in terms of the energy needed to create the new fractures as

$$\delta E_2=\eta Ldz,$$
(3)
where $`\eta `$ is the fracture energy per unit area, and $`L`$ is the total length of fractures perpendicular to the propagation direction. Collecting the elastic (2) and fracture (3) energy terms, we can rephrase the minimum principle in the following form. Upon fracture advance, the energy functional

$$=\gamma \underset{i}{}A_i^2+\eta L$$
(4)
tends to be minimized. The absolute minimum of (4) is attained by a perfect pattern of hexagons of side

$$l_{\mathrm{min}}=\left(2\eta /9\gamma \right)^{1/3}$$
(5)
Now, we will use functional (4) to evolve irregular patterns (representing superficial fractures) up to point in which they stabilize, and then compare their statistical properties with real ones. Since we are not able to manage a completely general case, we chose a simple possibility that turns out to produce quite interesting results. We generate the pattern at the surface by a process of nucleation of linear fractures: from randomly chosen points within the plane we propagated two opposite, straight fractures. The process was repeated many times, with new fractures stopping as soon as they reached an older fracture. In Fig. 7(a) we show a typical pattern generated by this process. We simulate the modification of the pattern with an algorithm that makes small changes to the positions of the nodes at which fractures join. Each step in the modification of the pattern corresponds to the fracture pattern developing into the rock. The new position for a node was accepted if the new value of the energy, as given by Eq. (4) was lower than the previous value. In addition, at each step of the simulation the configuration was checked for the existence of very close nodes that can allow a change in the topology of the pattern according to the sketch of Fig. 7(d). Again, the changes were accepted only if they reduce the value of $``$. These processes are important since they change the number of sides of the polygons, and allow for a progress towards more stable patterns.

An intermediate pattern in the evolution process is shown in Fig. 7(b), and the final one (after which all proposed changes of the positions of the nodes increase the energy) is shown in Fig. 7(c). Since ‘time’ on our simulations corresponds to ‘depth’ in the rock, the ordering of our patterns represents the progressive order of the real lava fractures deeper into the rock . The final pattern of Fig. 7(c) is not perfectly hexagonal, and thus it is only a relative minimum of (4). There is one single effective parameter in the simulation, that can be taken to be the side of the perfect hexagonal pattern of minimum energy $`l_{\mathrm{min}}`$. For our simulations this value, as given by (5), is indicated in Fig. 7. The qualitative similarity of the final pattern with that of the Giant’s, Causeway shown in Fig. 1, is apparent. This polygonal pattern is now exposed at the surface of the rock, but there is evidence that this is not the original surface. In Fig. 8 we show two quantities that are a measure of the statistical similarity between our patterns and the real ones. In Fig. 8(a) we see the results for the frequency of appearance of polygons with a given number of sides (in this case we also include the results on cornstarch by Müller), and in Fig. 8(b) the corresponding values for the mean area of polygons with a given number of sides, both in our simulations and in the real patterns. The configurations generated by our model are remarkably realistic. We see that, both in real cases and in our simulations, the fractures never reach a perfect hexagonal pattern. Instead, a reproducible distribution of polygons, most of them with 5, 6, and 7 sides is obtained, with a minor contribution of polygons with 4 and 8 sides. Also, polygons with higher number of sides have larger area as Fig. 8(b) shows.

## IV Summary and perspectives

In this paper we have given a first approach to a consistent model for the existence of columnar polygonal patterns in lava flows and some dessicating materials. We have shown in numerical simulations on a discrete model that fractures appear as irregular cracks at the free surface of the material and become ordered as they penetrate into the interior. We have argued that this effect is a consequence of a tendency to minimize an energy functional. The process of minimization follows a rough landscape, and is always towards a local minimun. This process is therefore monotonically decreasing with the thermal fluctuations playing no role. Relying on this principle, we showed that the statistical properties of experimental polygonal patterns can be reproduced.

There are still some problems that deserve further consideration and that we plan to discuss in a forthcoming publication. They have to do mainly with the realistic conditions of cooling. As discussed in section II, it is precisely the decreasing of the temperature gradient ahead of the fractures that makes possible the sequential advance of the fracture front, in a coordinated way all across the sample. The detailed study of this problem provides predictions for the width of chisel marks on the columns.

We also have to determine in a realistic situation the value of the constant $`\gamma `$ and $`\nu `$ in expression 2. This will allow to calculate in particular the typical values for the polygons in basalts and starches. Under realistic cooling conditions we also have to face the problem that temperature changes with time, and the effect of this on the advance of the fracture front has to be discussed.

We thank Roy Clarke, Eric Clement, Alan Cutler, Eric Essene, Len Sander and Youxue Zhang for very useful suggestions. A.G.R. acknowledges partial support from the National Science Foundation. E.A.J. acknowledges the hospitality of ICTP, Trieste, Italy, where part of this worked was done, and financial support from CONICET (Argentina).


text:
# RXTE observation of NGC 6240: a search for the obscured active nucleus

## 1 Introduction

The IRAS survey (Neugebauer et al. 1984) discovered many ultraluminous infrared galaxies (ULIRGs) that emit the bulk of their energy in infrared (IR) photons. Since their bolometric luminosity and the number density are as high as those of quasars, ULIRGs are among the most energetic objects in the universe. The most fundamental problem yet to be solved is the energy source of the extremely intense infrared emission.

NGC 6240, a gravitationally interacting system with a complex optical morphology (Fosbury & Wall 1979; Fried & Schulz 1983), is a very interesting example of ULIRG. Its bolometric luminosity reaches $`2.4\times 10^{12}`$ $`L_{}`$ (Weight, Joseph, & Meikle 1984; z=0.0245 and $`H_0=50`$ km s-1Mpc-1 are assumed). NGC 6240 is outstanding in several respects. Its H2 $`10S(1)`$ at 2.121$`\mu `$m and \[FeII\] 1.644$`\mu `$m line luminosities and the ratio of H2 to bolometric luminosities are the largest currently known (e.g., van der Werf et al. 1993). Further, its stellar velocity dispersion of 360 km/s is among the highest values ever found in a galaxy centre (e.g., Doyon et al. 1994).

The energy source of the huge IR luminosity is controversial. Many IR spectroscopic studies (e.g. Genzel et al. 1998; Ridgway et al. 1994; Rieke et al. 1985; Weight et al. 1984) have suggested that main energy source of the IR emission is starburst activity, which is presumably a super-starburst induced by a merger of two galaxies (Joseph & Wright 1985; Chevalier & Clegg 1985). The ground-based optical spectrum can be classified as LINER, and is interpreted as a result of shock heating (Heckman et al. 1987). On the other hand, a significant contribution from an active galactic nucleus (AGN) similar to Seyfert galaxies was also discovered from IR spectroscopy (DePoy et al. 1986). Another hint of an AGN in NGC 6240 is the presence of compact bright radio cores (Carral et al. 1990 but see Colbert et al. 1994). HST discovered a core that is excited higher than LINER (Rafanelli et al. 1997).

X-ray observation provides an important tool for investigating both the starburst and AGN activity. The ROSAT (Trümper 1990) observations showed that NGC 6240 is fairly bright in the soft X-ray band below 2 keV with a luminosity larger than $`5\times 10^{42}`$ ergs s-1 (0.1-2.0 keV), and the bulk of the X-ray emission is extended in a scale of $`25^{\prime \prime }`$ (Schulz et al. 1998; Komossa, Schulz, & Greiner 1998; Iwasawa & Comastri 1998). Detailed spectroscopic studies with ASCA (Tanaka, Inoue, & Holt 1994) data of NGC 6240 have shown that the soft X-ray spectrum can be explained with two thermal components, a cooler component with a temperature of 0.2–0.6 keV and a hotter component of $`1`$ keV with an excess absorption of $`10^{22}`$ cm-2 (Iwasawa & Comastri 1998). These results show that these soft X-rays are most likely originated from thermal processes, which may arise from starburst activities (e.g. Heckman et al. 1987).

On the other hand, in the 3–10 keV band, another very hard continuum with a strong iron-K emission feature was observed with ASCA (Mitsuda 1995; Iwasawa & Comastri 1998). The observed spectral feature can be accounted for in terms of Compton reflection from optically thick material (e.g. Lightman & White 1988; George, Nandra & Fabian 1990), and is generally accepted as evidence for the presence of an AGN in NGC 6240. The emission-line profile further indicates that a part of the reflector is highly ionized (Mitsuda 1995; Iwasawa & Comastri 1998), and both the ROSAT and ASCA spectra were modeled with a reflection component from warm material surrounding the AGN (Netzer, Turner, & George 1998; Komossa et al. 1998).

As described above, many observational facts of NGC 6240, in particular X-ray spectroscopy, supports the presence of an AGN in NGC 6240, which may account for a significant fraction of the huge IR luminosity. However, the intrinsic power of the AGN is still uncertain, The hidden AGN could be visible as a strongly absorbed X-ray continuum above 10 keV, penetrating through a thick layer of the obscuring matter.

Very recently, Vignati et al. (1999) has published the BeppoSAX results of NGC 6240, concluding the detection of the direct X-rays from an AGN. As described in this paper, we performed an independent study of NGC 6240 with RXTE which carries the PCA (Jahoda et al. 1996) and HEXTE (Rothschild et al. 1998) covering 2–250 keV.

In the spectral analysis, we also utilized the ASCA data covering 0.5–10 keV energy band with two Gas Imaging Spectrometers (GIS: Ohashi et al. 1996) and two X-ray CCD cameras (SIS: Burke et al. 1991). Simultaneous use of the ASCA data provides more constraints in modeling the spectrum. Moreover, because RXTE has no imaging capability, the RXTE spectrum may be subject to contamination by nearby sources. In fact, we find from the ASCA image that it is the case, and the ASCA data are used to correct the RXTE spectrum.

We have examined various spectral models, and conclude the presence of a high-luminosity AGN in NGC 6240. Our results are in essential agreement with those of Vignati et al. (1999).

## 2 RXTE data

### 2.1 Observation and data reduction

The RXTE observation of NGC 6240 was performed on 1997 Nov 9-11. The data were reduced with Ftools 4.1 and 4.2, We discarded the PCA and HEXTE data that were taken when the centre of field of view was within 10 of the local horizon, and when it was off NGC 6240 by more than 0.01 degree. We also selected the time period when all the five PCUs of PCA were on. The total on-source exposure time after the data screening process is 31.4 ksec and 10.3 ksec for the PCA and HEXTE, respectively. All the five PCUs’ top layers of PCA are used for the analysis, while one of 8 detectors of HEXTE (#3 in cluster B) is excluded because of its failure. We found no significant time variability from the PCA background-subtracted light curve in the entire energy band (3-20 keV) as well as in several different energy bands.

### 2.2 Derivation of PCA and HEXTE spectra

We estimated the PCA background using the current standard method. 111The pcabackest software was used with the background model files of pca\_bkgd\_faint240\_e03v02.mdl and pca\_bkgd\_faintl7\_e03v01.mdl. We attempted to estimate systematic error associated with the background subtraction by comparing the estimated background with the on-source data in the range above 30 keV where the source signal in PCA should be negligible due to low detection efficiency. The count rates of both agreed with each other within 0.01%. Therefore, we did not introduce any systematic error to the PCA background.

We estimated the HEXTE background using the data taken during the off-target pointings (Rothschild et al. 1998). In order to estimate the HEXTE-background systematics, we accumulated spectra from the +1.5 off-pointings and the –1.5 off-pointings, separately, and found that the difference between the two background spectra was within $`\pm `$2%. Therefore, we introduced a 2% systematic error to the HEXTE background spectrum.

Figure 1a illustrates the PCA and HEXTE energy spectra thus obtained. Significant source signals are detected up to $``$25keV in the PCA data. However, the PCA data below 4 keV and above 20 keV were discarded for the spectral analysis below, due to the uncertainty of the energy response reported by Gierliński et al. (1999) and Jahoda et al. (1996). The HEXTE spectrum shows significant signals up to 20 keV, while only upper limits are obtained above 20 keV.

### 2.3 Spectral analysis

In order to see the overall spectral characteristics, we first fit the spectra with a simple power-law model modified by Galactic absorption, i.e. $`f(E)=KE^\mathrm{\Gamma }e^{\sigma _{\mathrm{ph}}N_{\mathrm{H},\mathrm{Gal}}}`$, where $`E`$ is X-ray energy, f(E) is photon flux given in units of photons s-1 cm-2 keV-1, $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ is photon index, $`K`$ is the normalization factor, $`\sigma _{\mathrm{ph}}`$ is the cross-section of photoelectric absorption given by Morrison & McCammon (1983), and $`N_{\mathrm{H},\mathrm{Gal}}`$ is the Galactic hydrogen column density set equal to $`5.8\times 10^{20}`$ cm-2 (Dickey & Lockman 1990). Using XSPEC software (ver. 10.0), we performed a minimum-chi-square fitting. The best-fit photon-index is 0.51 yielding $`\chi ^2/\nu `$ = 210/32 (Figure 1a). The ratio of the data to the best-fit power-law model (Figure 1b) clearly shows evidence for an iron K emission line at $``$6 keV and a flatter continuum above $``$8 keV.

Then, we modeled the spectrum with two power-law continua (soft and hard) plus a line emission, as expressed by $`f(E)=(K_sE^{\mathrm{\Gamma }_s}+K_hE^{\mathrm{\Gamma }_h}+line(K_l,E_l))e^{\sigma _{\mathrm{ph}}N_{\mathrm{H},\mathrm{Gal}}}`$. The iron-line central energy ($`E_l`$) and the intensity ($`K_l`$) are free parameters, and the line width is assumed to be zero. The fit result is shown in Figure 2 and the best-fit parameters are summarized in Table 1. Notable properties of the best-fit model are very small photon index, $``$0, of the hard pawer-law continuum, and a large equivalent width, 0.79 keV, of the iron line. An absorption edge structure is noticeable at 7–8 keV in the fit residual (Fig. 2), which is most likely the iron K-edge. These features are characteristic of the reflected X-rays from an optically thick material as has been pointed out by several authors (Iwasawa & Comastri 1998; Netzer et al. 1998). X-rays impinging on optically thick matter are photo-absorbed as well as Compton-scattered. These processes form a very flat continuum around $`10`$ keV, together with the K-absorption edge and K emission line of iron. We fit the RXTE spectrum together with ASCA data in § 4 with models including the Compton reflection.

## 3 ASCA data

### 3.1 Observation and data reduction

ASCA observation of NGC 6240 was performed on 27 March, 1994. The GIS provides an X-ray image with a circular field of view of $`50^{}`$ diameter. The SIS was operated with 2-CCD mode, covering a much smaller, rectangular field of view of $`11^{}\times 22^{}`$. Iwasawa & Comastri (1998) presented the result of the SIS data only. Here, we analyse both the SIS and GIS data. In particular, the GIS data are useful in order to look for any contamination sources in the field around NGC 6240.

We accepted the GIS and SIS data that were taken when the X-Ray Telescope (XRT: Serlemitsos et al. 1995) axis was more than 5 above the local horizon, and when the geomagnetic cutoff rigidity was larger than 6 GeV/c in order to ensure a low and stable background. Additional screening condition that the elevation angle from the sunlit earth is greater than 25 and 20 was applied to the SIS0 and SIS1 data, respectively. As reported by Turner et al. (1997), the ASCA data of NGC 6240 show no significant time variation.

### 3.2 GIS image

The GIS image in the full energy band 0.5–10 keV shows a point-like source that coincides with NGC 6240 within $`1`$ arcmin systematic error of the satellite attitude. In addition to the emission from NGC 6240, the soft Galactic diffuse emission covers the entire GIS field of view. The position of NGC 6240, $`(l,b)`$=$`(20.73,27.29)`$, is in the middle of an excess-emission structure of Loop I, which is found in the ROSAT All Sky Survey (Snowden et al. 1997). The energy spectrum of the excess emission is very soft ($`kT0.3`$ keV), and it is significant only in the soft energy band below $`2`$ keV.

On the other hand, at higher energies, we find an extended structure as clearly seen in the image for the 2.4–10 keV band shown in Figure 3, in which the background consisting of non-X-ray background (NXB) and cosmic X-ray background (CXB) has been subtracted. These are estimated from the data obtained in the blank sky observations and data taken when the XRT is pointing at the dark (night) earth (for detail see Ikebe et al. 1995; Ishisaki et al. 1997). The background was subtracted to derive the image. In Figure 3, notable emission is located north-east of NGC 6240, and extends towards north as well as east. Since the extension of the emission is much larger than that of the soft X-ray emission of NGC 6240 detected with ROSAT, we consider it to be an unassociated with NGC 6240. In the ROSAT PSPC data, there exist several faint sources around NGC 6240 as illustrated in Figure 3. These sources, if blurred with the angular response of the GIS, seem to form a brightness structure consistent with that observed with the GIS. Therefore, the extended X-ray structure is most probably due to these faint background sources. Since the field of view of RXTE/PCA and HEXTE are both $``$1 degree FWHM, the emission from the contamination sources will contribute to the RXTE spectra significantly. Below we examine the ASCA spectrum of NGC 6240 and the properties of these contamination sources.

### 3.3 Spectrum of NGC 6240

We construct the GIS energy spectrum of NGC 6240 from a circular region of 3 arcmin radius centered on the X-ray peak. The spectra from the two GIS sensors, GIS-2 and GIS-3, are summed. The NXB + CXB background is subtracted, as has been done for the GIS image. The soft excess emission is not subtracted, but it is negligible above 2.0 keV.

The SIS spectrum of NGC 6240 is extracted within a circle of 3 arcmin radius from the SIS-0 chip-1 and the SIS-1 chip-3. The data taken from the two chips are summed together. For the SIS background, we accumulate photons from a region where no contamination source is present on the same CCD chips with which NGC 6240 was observed. Therefore, the soft Galactic diffuse component is also subtracted as a part of the background.

The GIS and SIS spectra thus obtained are illustrated in Figure 4. Following Iwasawa & Comastri (1998), we fit the ASCA spectrum of NGC 6240 with a two-component model that includes a thermal component and an AGN component. The thermal component consists of emission from two optically-thin thermal plasmas of different temperatures, where the higher temperature component has an excess absorption. The AGN component consists of an absorbed power-law continuum and line emission. The model can be written as;

$`f(E)`$ $`=`$ $`\{thml(T_c,Z,K_c)+e^{\sigma _{\mathrm{ph}}N_\mathrm{H}}thml(T_h,Z,K_h)`$ (1)
$`+`$ $`line(E_l,K_l)+e^{\sigma _{\mathrm{ph}}N_{\mathrm{H},\mathrm{AGN}}}K_{\mathrm{AGN}}E^\mathrm{\Gamma }\}`$
$`\times `$ $`e^{\sigma _{\mathrm{ph}}N_{\mathrm{H},\mathrm{Gal}}},`$
where the parameters in parentheses are kept free. For the thermal plasma emission code, we employ the Mewe-Kaastra model (Mewe, Gronenschild, & van den Oord 1985; Mewe, Lemen, & van den Oord 1986; Kaastra 1992) modified by Liedahl, Osterheld, & Goldstein (1995), which is implemented in XSPEC as the MEKAL model. The metallicities, $`Z`$, of the two thermal components are assumed to be the same. The abundance ratios among different elements are fixed to be the fiducial solar values given by Anders & Grevesse (1989).

With this model, we fit the GIS and SIS spectra simultaneously. In this simultaneous fit, the GIS data below 2.0 keV are excluded because of a slight uncertainty in the energy scale of the GIS arising from the complex xenon M-edge structure in this range. A good fit is obtained as shown in Figure 4 and Table 2, and the results are essentially the same as obtained by Iwasawa & Comastri (1998) using the SIS data only. As noted by Iwasawa & Comastri (1998), the striking spectral features are a very flat continuum above $``$4 keV with a photon index of $`0`$ and a strong iron K-line with an equivalent width of 1.2 keV.

### 3.4 Contamination sources’ spectrum

Although the contamination sources near NGC 6240 are not identified, we only need the energy spectrum for the purpose of the present work. We construct the spectrum from the whole field of view of the GIS excluding the 3-arcmin radius circle centered on the X-ray peak of NGC 6240, from which the estimated background (NXB + CXB) is subtracted. In addition, because of an extended outskirts of the XRT point-spread function, the spectrum still contains a significant contribution from NGC 6240. Using a ray-tracing simulation software, the contribution from NGC 6240 outside the 3-arcmin radius circle is estimated and subtracted. Figure 5 shows the GIS spectrum thus obtained. The resultant GIS spectrum contains the total photons from the contamination sources within the GIS field of view and the Galactic soft diffuse emission.

As shown in Figure 5, thus obtained GIS spectrum is fitted satisfactorily ($`\chi ^2/\nu =18.4/25`$) with the sum of a thin-thermal model (MEKAL model) and a power-law model. For the thermal component, we obtain the best-fit temperature of 0.23$`\pm 0.04`$ keV and the surface brightness of 1.0$`\times 10^{14}`$ ergs s-1 cm-2 arcmin-2 (0.5–2 keV), assuming the element abundances to be solar. We identify this thermal component to be the Galactic diffuse emission, since these values are consistent with the ROSAT results (Snowden et al. 1997). Thus, the spectrum of the contamination sources can be expressed by a power law with the best-fit photon index of 1.56$`\pm `$0.23. Its flux is 2.1$`\times 10^{12}`$ ergs s-1 cm-2 (2 – 10 keV), which is $`90`$% as high as that of NGC 6240. Therefore, the contribution from the contamination sources to the RXTE spectrum is quite substantial, and will be taken into account for the analysis of the RXTE spectrum in the next section. It is to be noted that the spectrum of the contamination sources (added together) is pretty hard, consistent with that of AGN. This suggest that these sources, if not all, are possibly AGN.

## 4 RXTE + ASCA joint fit

In this section, we model the 0.5–200 keV energy spectrum of NGC 6240 obtained with RXTE and ASCA, taking into account the contamination sources detected in the GIS field of view. Below 3 keV, the X-ray emission is dominated by the thermal component that presumably originates from the starburst activity in the galaxy, and is well described with the two temperature model (Iwasawa & Comastri 1998) as shown in § 3.3. The X-ray emission from the AGN in NGC 6240 dominates above 4 keV and we perform detailed modeling below.

### 4.1 Power law model

For modeling the energy spectrum of the AGN, we begin with the simplest model, power-law + line, given by equation 1 in § 3.3, The ASCA GIS and SIS spectra of NGC 6240, the PCA spectrum, and the HEXTE spectrum were fitted simultaneously. Since the X-ray intensity of the AGN may have varied between the ASCA and RXTE observations performed at different periods, the normalization factor of the power-law component, $`K_{\mathrm{AGN}}`$, is left free for the ASCA and RXTE spectra, respectively. Since the iron K-line is presumably generated by reprocessing of the X-rays from the AGN on an optically thick matter, the line intensity will be proportional to the AGN luminosity on the time average. Therefore, we assumed that the ratio of the flux of the iron line to that of the power-law continuum, $`K_l/K_{\mathrm{AGN}}`$, was the same in the two separate observations with ASCA and RXTE, respectively. On the other hand, the normalization factor of the thermal components, $`K_c`$ and $`K_h`$, are assumed to be common to the RXTE and ASCA spectra, since the thermal component which is extended should not vary with time. All other parameters are also tied between the two observations. In order to take into account the hard contribution source, a power-law model with the photon index 1.56 as derived in the previous section is included in the PCA and HEXTE spectra with a free normalization factor. We assume that the power law spectrum extends beyond 10 keV with the same photon index.

As shown in Figure 6 and Table 3, the fit is not acceptable. As expected, the obtained parameters of the thermal component are essentially the same as those given in Section 3.3, since the RXTE spectrum has little influence below 4 keV. However, the best-fit power-law continuum of AGN is significantly flatter than that given by Iwasawa & Comastri (1998). Furthermore, the residuals require an even harder continuum in 8–15 keV band, and also suggests a spectral steepening above $`30`$ keV. These features together with a large equivalent width of Fe K-line are consistent with a Compton reflection spectrum. We therefore incorporate Compton reflection in the next subsection.

### 4.2 Reflection model

We employ the Compton reflection model developed by Magdziarz & Zdziarski (1995) implemented in XSPEC as the PEXRAV model. Using the PEXRAV model, we can calculate the reflected X-ray spectrum when X-rays of a power-law spectrum illuminate an optically thick layer of material that is predominately neutral except hydrogen and helium. Here, we assume that the direct X-rays from the AGN are totally blocked by a thick absorber on the line of sight. The parameters that describe the model are: $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$, photon index of the incident power law spectrum with an exponential cutoff at $`E_c`$; $`R=\mathrm{\Omega }/2\pi `$, where $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ is the solid angle subtended by the optically thick material; $`\mu =cos\theta `$, where $`\theta `$ is the angle between the line of sight and the normal vector of the optically thick layer; $`A_{\mathrm{Fe}}`$, the iron abundance of the optically thick material. Element abundances besides iron are assumed to be the solar values.

In the following fitting, $`E_c`$ is fixed at 200 keV (practically a single power law in the observed range). $`\mu `$ is fixed at 0.45 so that the model spectrum is closest to that averaged over all viewing angles as described in Magdziarz & Zdziarski (1995). Combining with the thermal component and the line emission, the overall fitting model is given by

$`f(E)`$ $`=`$ $`\{thml(T_c,Z,K_c)+e^{\sigma _{\mathrm{ph}}N_\mathrm{H}}thml(T_h,Z,K_h)`$ (2)
$`+`$ $`line(E_l,K_l)+refl(\mathrm{\Gamma },K_{\mathrm{AGN}})\}e^{\sigma _{\mathrm{ph}}N_{\mathrm{H},\mathrm{Gal}}},`$
where free parameters are shown in parentheses. The normalization factors of the reflection component, $`K_{\mathrm{AGN}}`$, for the ASCA and RXTE spectra are left free from each other for possible time variation of the AGN luminosity. The flux ratio between the Fe K-line and the AGN continuum $`K_l/K_{\mathrm{AGN}}`$ is assumed to be constant. All other parameters are also assumed to be the same between the two observations. Another power-law with a photon index of 1.56 that represents the contamination sources is added to the model for the PCA and HEXTE spectrum.

As shown in Figure 7 and Table 4, this model can account for the 0.5–200 keV wide-band spectrum satisfactorily. The flux of the contamination sources in the RXTE spectrum determined from the fit is in good agreement with that obtained with the GIS within $`10\%`$. The two normalization factors of the AGN component obtained from the ASCA and RXTE spectra respectively happened to be very close ($`K^{\mathrm{RXTE}}/K^{\mathrm{ASCA}}`$=0.92–1.26), as were the Fe K-line intensities nearly equal in these two observations. The equivalent width of the iron line with respect to the reflection continuum is 0.8 keV, which is a typical value for the fluorescence line associated with the Compton-reflection.

However, the best-fit photon index $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ of the incident AGN spectrum is 1.26$`\pm `$0.13, which is unusually small compared to the typical values for AGNs (e.g. Mushotzky, Done, & Pounds 1993). In this fit, the viewing angle $`\mu =cos\theta `$ was fixed at 0.45. Even if we allow $`\mu `$ to vary (Table 4), photon index larger than 1.54 is not acceptable. The intrinsic luminosity of the AGN is estimated to be larger than $`4.3\times 10^{43}`$ ergs/s, the value corresponding to the maximum solid angle, i.e. $`R=\mathrm{\Omega }/2\pi `$, of 1.0.

### 4.3 Reflection + Transmission model

Although, the above reflection-only model gives a satisfactory fit to the RXTE \+ ASCA data, the small photon index derived in § 4.2 still remains to be problem. As shown below, this is resolved by adding an absorbed AGN continuum that is transmitted through a thick absorber on the line of sight. (Here we do not consider the extent of the absorber, hence we assume no scattering of X-rays into the line of sight.) The transmitted AGN component is given by

$$e^{N_{\mathrm{H},\mathrm{AGN}}(\sigma _{\mathrm{ph}}+\sigma _{\mathrm{Th}})}K_{\mathrm{AGN}}E^\mathrm{\Gamma }e^{E/E_\mathrm{c}},$$
(3)
where $`\sigma _{\mathrm{Th}}`$ is the Thomson scattering cross-section, and $`N_{\mathrm{H},\mathrm{AGN}}`$ is the hydrogen-column density along line of sight. The attenuation by the Thomson scattering becomes important above $`10`$ keV as compared to photoelectric absorption.

Adding the transmitted AGN component given by eq. 3 to eq. 2, we construct the reflected- and transmitted-AGN + thermal model as;

$`f(E)`$ $`=`$ $`\{thml(T_c,Z,K_c)+e^{\sigma _{\mathrm{ph}}N_\mathrm{H}}thml(T_h,Z,K_h)`$ (4)
$`+`$ $`line(K_l,E_l)+refl(\mathrm{\Gamma },R,E_c,K_{\mathrm{AGN}})`$
$`+`$ $`e^{N_{\mathrm{H},\mathrm{AGN}}(\sigma _{\mathrm{ph}}+\sigma _{\mathrm{Th}})}K_{\mathrm{AGN}}E^\mathrm{\Gamma }e^{E/E_\mathrm{c}}\}`$
$`\times `$ $`e^{\sigma _{\mathrm{ph}}N_{\mathrm{H},\mathrm{Gal}}}.`$
The photon-index $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$, the cutoff energy, $`E_C`$ (fixed to 200 keV), and the normalization, $`K_{\mathrm{AGN}}`$, are the same for both the reflection and transmitted components. The relative intensities between the transmitted component and the reflection component is determined by the solid angle, $`R`$, which is left free. The metallicity of the elements lighter than Fe and the viewing angle $`\mu =cos\theta `$ are fixed at 1.0 solar and 0.45, respectively. As in the previous fits, including the contamination-source component in the RXTE model, we fit the four spectra jointly with this model.

The reflected- and transmitted-AGN + thermal model gives a good fit (Figure 8, Table 5). The derived photon index is $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$= 1.59 $`{}_{0.26}{}^{}{}_{}{}^{+0.42}`$, which is consistent with the canonical value of 1.9 (Pounds et al. 1990). The best-fit solid angle of the reflector, $`R=\mathrm{\Omega }/2\pi `$, is 0.51, and the absorption column density, $`N_{\mathrm{H},\mathrm{AGN}}`$, is found to be $`1.7\times 10^{24}`$ cm-2. Since $`R`$ was poorly constrained, the intrinsic luminosity of the AGN has a large error range. If we assume that $`R`$ does not exceed 1.0, $`L_\mathrm{X}`$ is obtained to be $`1.1_{0.5}^{+4.5}\times 10^{44}`$ ergs/s in the range 2 – 10 keV. When we leave the viewing angle $`\mu `$ free, the fitting parameters as well as the intrinsic luminosity remain essentially the same, if $`R1.0`$ (Table 5).

So far, we assumed that the matter that obscures the AGN is located only on the line of sight. If the absorbing matter covers a significant solid angle viewed from the AGN such as in the case of a torus, some of the incoming photons will be scattered into our line of sight. Then the model given by eq. 3 would overestimate the AGN luminosity. Matt, Pompilio, & Franca (1999) performed a Monte Carlo calculation of the X-ray transmission through spherically distributed matter for various column densities. According to their result, the true AGN luminosity would be smaller by a factor of $`2`$, if the absorbing matter is distributed in a spherical geometry. Consequently, for the same flux from the cold reflector, the true value of $`R`$ should be larger by a factor of 2 than that in Table 5. The column density of the absorbing matter is also subject to a slight overestimation.

The case that a heavy absorber exists only on the line of sight is rather unlikely. On the other hand, since the fitting result shows a relatively small absorption for the reflection component, the absorbing matter is probably not covering the entire sphere. There two cases, a cloud on the line of sight are spherically distributed matter, are considered to represent two extremes.

In conclusion, the reflected- and transmitted-AGN model gives the following AGN parameters: $`\mathrm{\Gamma }=1.332.02`$, $`L_\mathrm{X}`$(2–10keV) = $`5\times 10^{43}`$$`6\times 10^{44}`$ ergs/s, $`R`$ = 0.1–1, and $`N_{\mathrm{H},\mathrm{AGN}}`$ = 1.0 – 2.7$`\times 10^{24}`$ cm-2, where the range of parameters represents not only the statistical errors but also the uncertainties due to unknown inclination angle of the reflector, and the limits for the two extreme geometries of the absorbing/scattering material.

## 5 Discussion

The X-ray spectrum of NGC 6240 is satisfactorily explained with a model consisting of a thermal component and an AGN component. For the AGN component, and equally good fit is obtained either by the reflection-only model or by the reflected- and transmitted-AGN model. Hence, we cannot conclude the detection of the direct AGN component from the present data. However, without the direct (transmitted) component the derived photon index is noticeably smaller than the typical values for AGN. We consider it more probable that the direct AGN component is present at high energies.

According to the unified model for Seyfert galaxies (e.g. Antonucci 1993), one can interpret the result in terms of a tilted molecular torus in which the near-side of the torus acts as an absorber and the far-side acts as a reflector. If the torus is axisymmetric, both the reflecting part and the absorbing part would have a similar column density. With the reflected- and transmitted-AGN model, the column density of the obscuring matter is estimated to be $`2\times 10^{24}`$ cm-2, corresponding to Thomson optical depth of $`1`$. This is practically enough for a reflector. Thus, the present result is consistent with the interpretation that NGC 6240 has a similar geometry to Seyfert 2 galaxies. The obtained column density gives an IR extinction of $`A_K100`$, which is consistent with the fact that the previous IR observations did not find the AGN itself. Narrow line region that has not been seen in the optical observations would be obscured as well.

The intrinsic X-ray luminosity of NGC 6240 is estimated in § 4.3 to be in the range $`5\times 10^{43}6\times 10^{44}`$ ergs/s in the range 2–10 keV. For the reflection-only case (§ 4.2), the luminosity is estimated to be larger than $`4\times 10^{43}`$ ergs/s, while the upper bound of luminosity is not determined. However, it would be plausible that the solid angle factor $`R`$ is not much less than several %, which gives essentially the same luminosity range as the above. This luminosity is among those of the most luminous Seyfert nuclei, and even comparable to those of quasars. The bolometric luminosity of the AGN may well exceed $`10^{45}`$ erg/s.

Concerning the power source of the huge IR luminosity, a measure of the contribution of an AGN to the IR emission is a ratio of X-ray luminosity to IR luminosity, $`L_\mathrm{X}/L_{\mathrm{IR}}`$. Based on our results given above and the IR flux calculated from the IRAS result with the formula, $`F_{\mathrm{IR}}`$ = flux(25$`\mu `$m)$`\times `$($`\nu _{25\mu \mathrm{m}}`$) \+ flux(60$`\mu `$m)$`\times `$($`\nu _{60\mu \mathrm{m}}`$), gives $`L_\mathrm{X}(210\mathrm{keV})/L_{\mathrm{IR}}=0.010.1`$ for NGC 6240. This agrees with those of other Seyfert nuclei given by Ward et al. (1988).

Vignati et al. (1999), using the BeppoSAX data of NGC 6240, claim that the direct AGN component was positively detected, though they assumed the photon index of the AGN to be 1.8. Other than that, their results and interpretation are essentially in agreement with ours.

The luminosity of the AGN can be used to infer the mass of the central black hole in NGC 6240. If the AGN accretes about 1% of the Eddington luminosity, the total luminosity of $`10^{45}`$ erg/s would lead to a mass of $`M_{\mathrm{AGN}}10^9M_{}`$, which is consistent with the value expected from the galaxy-mass to black-hole-mass relation (Lauer et al. 1997), with the estimated galaxy mass of $`10^{1112}M_{}`$ after having completed its merging epoch (Shier & Fisher 1997).

## 6 Conclusion

The 0.5–200 keV wide band energy spectrum of NGC 6240 obtained with RXTE and ASCA is accounted for in terms of a soft thermal component and a hard AGN component. The soft component is presumably due to star burst activity. The AGN component consists of a Compton reflection component accompanied by an intense Fe-K emission line and probably a transmitted component (a direct component penetrating through a thick absorber). The detection of the transmitted component is not conclusive from the fitting. However, without a transmitted component, the photon index is unusually small. Assuming that the solid angle factor $`R`$ does not exceed 1, we estimated the intrinsic X-ray luminosity of the AGN in the range 2–10 keV to be in the range $`4\times 10^{43}6\times 10^{44}`$ ergs/s, which yields the ratio of the X-ray luminosity (2–10 keV) to the IR luminosity of $`0.010.1`$. The column density that obscures the central AGN is estimated to be larger than $`1.0\times 10^{24}`$ cm-2. These results show that NGC 6240 is among the most luminous Seyfert 2 galaxies.

## Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to Dr. Joachim Siebert for helping the RXTE data analysis. Y.I. was supported by the post-doctoral program of the Max-Planck-Gesellschaft and is currently supported by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Postdoctoral Fellowships for Research Abroad. KML gratefully acknowledges support by NAG5-6921 (RXTE) and NAG5-7971 (LTSA).