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# The superwind mass-loss rate of the metal-poor carbon star LI-LMC 1813 in the LMC cluster KMHK 1603Based on observations collected at the European Southern Observatory, Chile (ESO N∘56.E-0681, 66.D-0318 & 68.D-0660)

## 1 Introduction

In the final stages of their evolution, stars of main-sequence masses $`M_{\mathrm{ZAMS}}`$ 0.8–8 M ascend the Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB). The end-product of their evolution is a White Dwarf, with a typical mass of $`M_{\mathrm{WD}}`$ 0.5 M. It is thus clear that near the tip of the AGB, stars must be losing most of their mass. The rate at which this occurs is estimated to be $`\dot{M}10^6`$ to $`10^4`$ M yr-1, much faster than the nuclear burning mass consumption rate which normally determines the rate of stellar evolution (van Loon et al. 1999b). Hence the mass loss is important for the subsequent evolution of the star, as well as for the chemical enrichment of the inter-stellar medium. Yet our knowledge and understanding of the mass-loss mechanism and the composition of the mass lost is incomplete.

Amongst the key factors in supporting a dense outflow from an AGB star are the low effective temperature, which allows for the formation of circum-stellar dust, and the high luminosity, which, through radiation pressure on the dust grains and collissional coupling between the dust and the gas, drives a stellar wind. Because the dust only forms at several stellar radii from the star, there has to be an additional mechanism to bring the gas into the dust formation region — possibly provided by strong radial pulsations (e.g. Bowen & Willson 1991).

Dynamical models for the circumstellar envelopes of AGB stars suggest that the mass-loss rate depends strongly on the stellar effective temperature, about $`\dot{M}T_{\mathrm{eff}}^8`$ (Arndt, Fleischer & Sedlmayr 1997). Although this seems to be confirmed for the onset of the dusty mass-loss epoch (Alard et al. 2001), it is not clear whether such strong temperature dependence is also valid during the so-called “superwind” phase where the AGB star is obscured by its optically thick circum-stellar envelope (van Loon et al. 1999b).

A dramatic change in the chemical composition of the mass lost occurs when an AGB star becomes a carbon star (Iben & Renzini 1983): during the temporal ignition of a helium-burning shell, situated in between the degenerate carbon/oxygen core and the hydrogen-burning shell, the convective mantle may reach the nuclear burning layer and transport nuclear burning products to the stellar surface ($`3^{\mathrm{rd}}`$ dredge-up). These thermal pulses (TP) occur on timescales of $`t_{\mathrm{TP}}10^4`$$`10^5`$ yr, and last only briefly. But over the course of TP-AGB evolution, the surface abundance of carbon may exceed that of oxygen, forming a carbon star. Due to the strong binding of the CO molecule, only the remaining oxygen or carbon is used to synthesize other molecules that nucleate to form dust grains in the circum-stellar envelope. Hence the circum-stellar chemistry of carbon stars is fundamentally different from that of oxygen-rich AGB stars.

There is a threshold mass above which $`3^{\mathrm{rd}}`$ dredge-up is strong enough to make a carbon star, roughly at $`M_{\mathrm{ZAMS}}>1.2`$ M and mildly dependent on metallicity (Marigo, Girardi & Bressan 1999). However, in massive AGB stars, about $`M_{\mathrm{ZAMS}}>4`$ M, nuclear burning occurs within the bottom layers of the convective mantle, converting the carbon into nitrogen: Hot Bottom Burning (HBB). At the very end of AGB evolution, the diminished mantle mass as a result of prolonged mass loss causes HBB to cease, and a final thermal pulse may turn the star into a carbon star after all (Frost et al. 1998). These competing processes are likely to depend on the initial metallicity of the star.

Optical studies of the AGB population in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) provide support for the $`3^{\mathrm{rd}}`$ dredge-up and HBB to govern the formation of carbon stars (e.g. Groenewegen & de Jong 1993; Marigo et al. 1999). Recent infrared (IR) studies could assess the effects of mass loss and possible observational bias in optical studies. These studies confirm the delayed formation of massive carbon stars after cessation of HBB, but also suggest that amongst AGB stars in the superwind phase oxygen-rich stars exist with masses below the threshold for HBB (Zijlstra et al. 1996; van Loon et al. 1997, 1998, 1999b; van Loon, Zijlstra & Groenewegen 1999a).

Much of the uncertainty with respect to the progenitor mass and initial metallicity of an individual AGB star can be alleviated if the star is a member of a co-eval stellar cluster. Optical studies provide a great number of such examples in LMC and SMC clusters, confirming the mass-range for optically bright carbon stars between $`M_{\mathrm{ZAMS},\mathrm{min}}`$ 1–1.5 and $`M_{\mathrm{ZAMS},\mathrm{max}}`$ 3–5 M (Frogel, Mould & Blanco 1990; Marigo, Girardi & Chiosi 1996; van Loon 2002).

Van Loon et al. (1998) noted that the oxygen-rich dust-enshrouded OH maser star IRAS 05298$``$6957 is located in the LMC cluster HS 327, and their discovery of an optically bright carbon star in the same cluster directly provided a value for the threshold mass above which HBB occurs: $`M_{\mathrm{ZAMS}}=4`$ M (van Loon et al. 2001).

Tanabé et al. (1997) found one dust-enshrouded carbon star in each of the LMC clusters NGC 1783 and NGC 1978, and another one in the SMC cluster NGC 419. They all have moderate luminosities, $`5000<L<8000`$ L, and progenitor masses, $`M_{\mathrm{ZAMS}}`$ 1.5–1.6 M. Their mass-loss rates are $`\dot{M}<10^5`$ M yr-1, but the relatively long pulsation periods of $`P`$ 500 d indicate that they have already shed a significant fraction of their mass (Nishida et al. 2000).

The IRAS point source LI-LMC 1813 (IRAS 06025$``$6712) was identified as a candidate dust-enshrouded AGB star in the LMC by Loup et al. (1997). Its suspected nature was confirmed after the identification of the extremely red counterpart (van Loon et al. 1997), and it was later found to be coincident with an LMC cluster (van Loon 1999), KMHK 1603 (Kontizas et al. 1990). Kontizas et al. estimate that the number density of LMC star clusters in the direction of LI-LMC 1813 is $``$20 per square degree, with each cluster covering, on average, less than 1 square arcminute. Hence, in the direction of LI-LMC 1813, less than 0.6% of sky is covered by an LMC cluster. There are of order $`10^2`$ IRAS-selected AGB stars in the LMC (Loup et al. 1997; van Loon et al. 1997), most of which are concentrated towards the LMC bar. One does not therefore expect any chance coincidence of an IRAS-selected AGB star within the $`<0.6`$% of sky covered by an LMC cluster in this part of the LMC, rendering LI-LMC 1813 likely to be a physical member of the LMC cluster KMHK 1603.

We present here the results of extensive optical and IR imaging and spectroscopic follow-up observations of LI-LMC 1813 and the cluster KMHK 1603. We identify the dust-enshrouded AGB star as a carbon star, and derive accurate estimates for its progenitor mass, $`M_{\mathrm{ZAMS}}=2.2`$ M, and mass-loss rate, $`\dot{M}=3.7\times 10^5`$ M yr-1, which we confront with theoretical models. Remarkably, the mass-loss rate is very high for this metal-poor ($`\frac{1}{5}`$ solar) object.

## 2 The brightness of LI-LMC 1813

We have collected optical (Gunn g, r & i), near-IR (J, K & L) and mid-IR (N) imaging data, which we combine with archival IR data (2MASS, Denis, MSX and IRAS) to describe the spectral energy distribution (SED) of LI-LMC 1813. These data are described in full in Appendix A1.

### 2.1 Images

The moderately crowded optical images (Fig. 1) feature the sparse cluster KMHK 1603, dominated by the bright star KMHK 1603-1. At these wavelengths, LI-LMC 1813 is invisible. Undetected in the J-band, the brightness of LI-LMC 1813 in the K-band rivals that of KMHK 1603-1 (Fig. 2). These are the only two stars visible at $`\lambda `$ 3 $`\mu `$m, with LI-LMC 1813 by then outshining KMHK 1603-1. At even longer wavelengths, only LI-LMC 1813 is detected.

### 2.2 Photometry

The complete set of optical and infrared photometry in the range 0.5–60 $`\mu `$m for LI-LMC 1813 is listed in Table 1. Also included in the table is photometry for KMHK 1603-1, whose IRAC-2, 2MASS and Denis magnitudes, which have been transformed onto the SAAO system (Carter 1990; Carpenter 2001), are in excellent agreement with each other.

### 2.3 Variability

A third epoch of K-band photometry is available from the acquisition image for the H+K-band spectroscopy in July 2002 (Appendix A2). The K-band magnitude of LI-LMC 1813 is obtained by assuming that the K-band magnitude of KMHK 1603-1 remained unchanged at $`K=11.80`$ mag.

A second epoch of L-band photometry is obtained from the acquisition image taken for the L-band spectroscopy in December 2001 (Appendix A2). The L-band magnitude of KMHK 1603-1 is assumed to have remained unchanged at $`L^{}=11.75`$ mag (if the zero point were the same as that in October 2000, the L-band magnitude of KMHK 1603-1 would be $`L^{}=11.80\pm 0.30`$ mag). Hence the L-band magnitude of LI-LMC 1813 is $`L^{}=9.27\pm 0.25`$ mag, in excellent agreement with the flux-calibrated spectrum.

A sparse lightcurve is constructed from the differences of the three K-band and two L-band magnitudes with their mean (Fig. 3): the variability of (obscured) AGB stars in the K and L-bands are in phase with each other, and have similar amplitudes (see Whitelock et al. 2003). The data are consistent with a pulsation period of $`P`$ 680 d. If confirmed, this would be rather long but not unusual for highly evolved AGB stars (Wood 1998). The large L-band amplitude of $`\mathrm{\Delta }L^{}`$ 1.6 mag might be due in part to temporal variations in the amount and temperature of the warm dust contributing to the IR excess at $`\lambda =`$3–4 $`\mu `$m.

### 2.4 Interstellar extinction

The interstellar extinction towards the LMC is generally low (but see van Loon et al. 1997 for severely reddened background galaxies). From the reddening maps provided by Burstein & Heiles (1982), based on galaxy counts, the reddening towards LI-LMC 1813 is estimated to be $`E(BV)=0.06`$ mag. The reddening maps derived from the far-IR dust emission mapped by COBE/DIRBE (Schlegel, Finkbeiner & Davis 1998) yield a very consistent value of $`E(BV)=0.056`$ mag, which we adopt here. The spatial resolution of these maps is insufficient to detect differences in reddening over a few arcminutes, and therefore uniform reddening is assumed for the region within a radius of $`2^{}`$ around KMHK 1603. This converts to an extinction of $`A_\lambda =0.20`$, 0.15 and 0.11 in the g, r and i-bands, and $`A_\lambda =0.05`$, 0.03, 0.02 and 0.01 mag in the J, H, K and L-bands, respectively (Mathis 1990). The (uncorrected) photometry of Table 1 is corrected for this extinction before further analysis.

### 2.5 The distance to LI-LMC 1813

For the distance modulus of the LMC we adopt $`(mM)_0=18.55\pm 0.17`$ mag as derived by Groenewegen (2000) from the Cepheid period-luminosity relationship. However, the LMC is inclined, causing the distance modulus to vary across the face of the LMC. This is especially important for LI-LMC 1813, which is situated near the rim of the galaxy. Using the values for the centre, inclination and position angle of the nodes from van der Marel & Cioni (2001), the differential distance modulus with respect to the centre of the LMC is $`\mathrm{\Delta }(mM)=0.08`$ mag. Within an uncertainty of $``$ 0.2 mag, the distance modulus to LI-LMC 1813 then becomes $`(mM)=18.47`$ mag.

## 3 The progenitor mass of LI-LMC 1813

The progenitor mass of LI-LMC 1813 may be estimated by isochrone-fitting to the colour-magnitude diagram of the stars in the cluster KMHK 1603.

### 3.1 Multi-object photometry

Multi-object photometry was performed on the optical images using an implementation of DAOPHOT (version ii) and ALLSTAR (Stetson 1987) within ESO-MIDAS. The reader is referred to van Loon et al. (2001) for a detailed description of the Point Spread Function (PSF), multi-object photometry and photometric calibration. As a result, $`7\times 10^3`$ sources were detected in each of the gri-bands in the $`3.7\times 10^3`$ square degree area around KMHK 1603. The completeness drops rapidly beyond $``$ 23 mag.

The point-sources were cross-correlated between the different filters after determining and applying a geometric transformation (rotation and linear translation), using an iterative scheme with a growing search radius and rejecting extended sources on the basis of the sharpness parameter returned by ALLSTAR. The photometry was then corrected for interstellar extinction as derived in section 2.4.

Because there are only $`10^2`$ objects visible in the near-IR images, and hence these images are not at all crowded, the near-IR photometry was obtained manually by aperture photometry. The photometry was transformed onto the SAAO system (see Appendix A1.2) and then corrected for interstellar extinction (section 2.4).

The surface density of stars in the g-band image was measured by counting stars with $`g<22`$ mag and sharpness $`s[0.5,0.5]`$, within a $`28^{\prime \prime }\times 28^{\prime \prime }`$ box which was successively moved across the image at steps of $`9^{\prime \prime }`$. The resulting contour map (Fig. 4) clearly shows the cluster KMHK 1603 as a region with a higher density of stars as compared to the surrounding field. The cluster appears to be somewhat elliptical, but for practical purposes we assume it to be spherical. The centre of the cluster is determined to be located at (J2000) RA$`=6^\mathrm{h}02^\mathrm{m}29^\mathrm{s}`$ and Dec$`=67^{}12^{}54^{\prime \prime }`$.

The surface density of stars, as measured in $`6^{\prime \prime }`$ annuli centred on the cluster, is given as a function of the radial distance in Fig. 5. The surface density in the core of the cluster is three times that of the field, and it drops to the field level at a radius of $`40^{\prime \prime }`$. With a (projected) distance to the cluster centre of $`15^{\prime \prime }`$, LI-LMC 1813 is located well within the cluster boundaries. To minimise contamination by field stars, the colour-magnitude diagrams of the cluster were constructed for stars within a smaller radius of $`30^{\prime \prime }`$.

### 3.2 The age and metallicity of KMHK 1603

The interstellar extinction-corrected $`i_0`$ versus $`(gi)_0`$ colour-magnitude diagram is presented for the cluster KMHK 1603 (Fig. 6, left) and the surrounding field (Fig. 6, right). Also plotted are three isochrones from Bertelli et al. (1994), for a typical LMC metallicity of \[M/H\]$`=0.4`$ and ages of 10 Gyr, 1 Gyr and 100 Myr, after transformation onto the photometric systems as described in detail in van Loon et al. (2003). These isochrones do not include the effects of circumstellar extinction.

Both the cluster and field show a well-populated Main Sequence up to an age of $`t10^9`$ yr, and a red clump of core He-burning giants, at $`(gi)_0`$ 1 and $`i_0`$ 18 mag, consistent with such intermediate or older ages. Although there are a number of field Main Sequence stars brighter than the $`10^9`$ yr Main Sequence turnoff, and corresponding RGB or AGB stars with $`i_0`$ 16 mag, there is a clear absence of stars younger than a few $`10^8`$ yr.

A close-up of the optical colour-magnitude diagram for the cluster stars (Fig. 7) reveals two populations: one of $`t`$ 1 Gyr and an older one of $`t`$ 2 Gyr. The younger population is traced by a Main Sequence turnoff (MS-TO) at $`(gi)_0`$ 0.2 and $`i_0`$ 19.0 mag, clearly separated from the older population with a MS-TO at $`(gi)_0`$ 0.4 and $`i_0`$ 19.8 mag. Both populations show a red clump at roughly the same location in the colour-magnitude diagram. The younger population stands out prominently amongst the stars in the direction of the cluster, but much less so in the field: counting stars with $`(gi)_0[0.1,0.4]`$ and $`i_0[18.5,19.3]`$ mag ($``$ 1 Gyr MS-TO: 1) and stars with $`(gi)_0[0.3,0.6]`$ and $`i_0[19.4,20.2]`$ mag ($``$ 2 Gyr MS-TO: 2), the ratio $`N_1/N_2=0.21`$ for the field but 0.42 in the direction of the cluster. Hence we identify the $`t`$ 1 Gyr stars with the cluster population, and the $`t`$ 2 Gyr stars with the field population. This is in good agreement with the star formation epochs around 1 and 2 Gyr that Smecker-Hane et al. (2002, their Fig. 5) find for another field in the LMC disk. There is also evidence for a younger population of several $`10^8`$ yr, both around KMHK 1603 (Fig. 6, right) and in the disk field studied by Smecker-Hane et al. (2002).

A better match to the optical colour-magnitude diagram of the cluster stars is obtained by an isochrone of slightly younger age, $`t`$ 800 Myr, yet the best match is obtained by an isochrone with $`t`$ 1 Gyr but with a somewhat lower metallicity of \[M/H\]$`0.7`$. Smith et al. (2002) also argue that, with \[M/H\]$`0.6`$, LMC red giants with $`M_{\mathrm{ZAMS}}`$ 3 M often have metallicities lower than what is normally taken as the canonical LMC metallicity, \[M/H\]$`0.4`$ to $`0.3`$. Consequently, we also suspect that the older, a few Gyr-old, field population has a rather low metallicity of \[M/H\]$`0.7`$.

The near-IR colour-magnitude diagram does not distinguish very well between different intermediate-age populations (Fig. 8), but it is clear that the cluster population is not consistent with an age of much less than $`t`$ 1 Gyr (note that the 2MASS data sample a much larger area than the IRAC-2 data). The red clump is clearly visible in the cluster, at $`(JK)_0`$ 0.5 and $`K_0`$ 17 mag.

The brightness of the red clump stars can be used as an age indicator. In the optical, the red clump in the cluster KMHK 1603 is observed at $`m_\mathrm{i}=18.10\pm 0.20`$ mag (Fig. 7) or, assuming that $`m_\mathrm{i}m_\mathrm{I}`$, at $`M_\mathrm{I}=0.37\pm 0.20`$ mag. This suggests an age of either $`t=0.82_{0.14}^{+0.21}`$ Gyr or $`t>`$1.22 Gyr for \[M/H\]$`=0.4`$, and $`t=0.96_{0.16}^+\mathrm{}`$ Gyr for \[M/H\]$`=0.7`$ (Girardi & Salaris 2001, their Table 1). In the near-IR, the red clump is observed at $`m_\mathrm{K}=16.90\pm 0.20`$ mag, or $`M_\mathrm{K}=1.57\pm 0.20`$ mag. This suggests an age of either $`t=0.72_{0.12}^{+0.16}`$ Gyr or $`t>`$1.32 Gyr for \[M/H\]$`=0.4`$, and either $`t=0.78_{0.12}^{+0.16}`$ Gyr or $`t>`$1.39 Gyr for \[M/H\]$`=0.7`$ (Salaris & Girardi 2002, their Table 1). The ambiguity in the age solution is the reason for the near-coincidence of the red clump for the cluster and field stars, if the cluster and field are dominated by populations of $`t`$ 1 Gyr and $`t>1.4`$ Gyr, respectively.

### 3.3 Conclusion: progenitor mass of LI-LMC 1813

We conclude that LI-LMC 1813 probably has an age of $`t=1`$ Gyr (or slightly younger) and an initial metallicity of \[M/H\]$`=0.7`$ (or slightly higher), and hence a progenitor mass of $`M_{\mathrm{ZAMS}}=2.2\pm 0.1`$ M (Bertelli et al. 1994).

## 4 Spectroscopic evidence for the carbon-rich nature of LI-LMC 1813

Dusty circumstellar envelopes may be separated into carbon-rich and oxygen-rich based on their location in IR colour-magnitude diagrams, but this diagnostic can be ambiguous (van Loon et al. 1998; Trams et al. 1999b): the colours of LI-LMC 1813, $`(KL)`$ 4.3 mag, $`(K[12])=K+2.5\mathrm{log}(F_{12}/28.3)`$ 8 mag, and $`([12][25])=2.5\mathrm{log}\left((F_{25}/6.73)\times (28.3/F_{12})\right)`$ 2 mag, are consistent with both carbon and oxygen-rich circumstellar material (Trams et al. 1999b, their Figs. 7 & 8). To determine the dominant chemistry of the stellar atmosphere, we thus resorted to taking near-IR spectra in the H, K and L-bands. These observations are described in full in Appendix A2.

The L-band spectrum of LI-LMC 1813 (Fig. 9) features strong absorption around 3.1 $`\mu `$m from HCN and C2H2 molecules, a narrow absorption feature at 3.55 $`\mu `$m due to HCN, and absorption around 3.8 $`\mu `$m which is attributed to C2H2 (Matsuura et al. 2002). These molecules only form in great numbers after the supply of oxygen has been exhausted in the formation of CO. Hence the strong absorption due to carbonaceous molecules is only seen in the spectra of carbon stars, that have $`n(\mathrm{C})/n(\mathrm{O})>1`$. The strength of the 3.55 and 3.8 $`\mu `$m absorption bands is remarkable, especially as they are veiled by continuum emission from the circumstellar dust at wavelengths $`\lambda >3`$ $`\mu `$m (see Fig. 12). This hints at a contribution from molecules within the dust envelope surrounding the star, causing absorption seen against the thermal dust continuum emission.

The carbon-rich nature of LI-LMC 1813 is confirmed by the H and K-band spectra (Fig. 10), which clearly show the absorption bandhead of CO ($`\mathrm{\Delta }v=2`$) at 2.293 $`\mu `$m, and the Ballik-Ramsay bandhead of C2 ($`\mathrm{\Delta }v=0`$) at 1.77 $`\mu `$m. The strength of the latter requires a high $`n(\mathrm{C})/n(\mathrm{O})`$ ratio, possibly $`>1.4`$ (Lançon & Wood 2000). A high ratio of $`n(\mathrm{C})/n(\mathrm{O})>1.2`$ has also been invoked by Matsuura et al. (2002) to explain the high abundance of C2H2 in the spectra of LMC carbon stars — including LI-LMC 1813. However, the molecular abundances not only depend on the free carbon abundance, but also on the local gas temperature (Matsuura et al., in preparation).

Although the equivalent width of the 3.1 $`\mu `$m absorption in LI-LMC 1813 is very similar to that in other dust-enshrouded carbon stars in the LMC (Fig. 11 and Matsuura et al. 2002), the equivalent width of its 3.55 $`\mu `$m absorption is the largest of that sample. It also has the reddest $`(K[12])`$ colour amongst these stars, which indicates a high mass-loss rate. These observations suggest either a highly advanced evolutionary state accompanied by a large $`n(\mathrm{C})/n(\mathrm{O})`$ ratio, or a very cool extended atmosphere leading to the abundant formation of molecules.

## 5 The mass-loss rate of LI-LMC 1813

### 5.1 Modelling the Spectral Energy Distribution

The SED was modelled with the radiative transfer code ”Dusty” (Ivezić, Nenkova & Elitzur 1999). The input parameter ”density type” was set to 3, which gives a density structure consistent with radiation-driven wind theory. The result of the best fit to the data is shown in Fig. 12.

A stellar temperature of $`T_{\mathrm{eff}}=2500`$ K is used as such cool photosphere is typical for dust-enshrouded AGB stars (van Loon et al. 1998; Groenewegen & Blommaert 1998): carbon stars are produced with $`T_{\mathrm{eff}}`$ 2900 K, the superwind phase starts at $`T_{\mathrm{eff}}`$ 2700 K, and the coldest carbon stars known have $`T_{\mathrm{eff}}`$ 2200 K (Marigo 2002). Such range in temperatures corresponds to a range in derived luminosities of only $`\pm `$ 5%, and a range in mass-loss rates of $`\pm `$ 8%.

The temperature at the inner radius of the dust shell is assumed to be $`T_{\mathrm{inner}}=1000`$ K as this is the typical temperature at which dust grains condense in a circumstellar environment. Since the data used to constrain the SED were taken at many epochs, it is quite possible that variations in the physical characteristics of the dust shell have occurred and therefore modelling with one set of properties will only provide an accurate fit for a portion of the SED. Stellar pulsations lead to variability in the luminosity, and therefore the dust temperature. A closer fit to the IRAS 25 and 60 $`\mu `$m data is obtained by assuming $`T_{\mathrm{inner}}=800`$ K. This would also increase the stellar contribution in the L-band, where photospheric spectral features are seen. Evidence of a higher dust temperature is provided by the much brighter L-band photometric point. Averaged over the pulsational period, a value of $`T_{\mathrm{inner}}=1000`$ K seems appropriate.

As LI-LMC 1813 is a carbon star (Section 4) we use amorphous carbon grains (Zubko et al. 1996) ranging in size from $`a=0.01`$ to 0.1 $`\mu `$m according to a power-law distribution of the form $`n(\mathrm{a})a^q`$ with $`q=3.5`$ (Mathis, Rumpl & Nordsieck 1977). We assume the Dusty default for the dust grain specific mass density of $`\rho _{\mathrm{grain}}=3`$ g cm-3. The Dusty model assumes a gas-to-dust mass-ratio of $`\xi =\rho _{\mathrm{gas}}/\rho _{\mathrm{dust}}=200`$. However, intermediate-age stars in the LMC may have a higher ratio, as their metallicity can be several times lower than solar. This only becomes important when calculating the mass-loss rate from the optical depth and luminosity. In particular, the radial density distribution throughout the radiatively-driven circumstellar outflow depends on the optical depth but not on the gas-to-dust ratio (Elitzur & Ivezić 2001).

The shell thickness depends on the outflow velocity and the length of time for which outflow has occured. The difference between the model results adopting $`r_{\mathrm{outer}}/r_{\mathrm{inner}}=10^2`$ and $`10^4`$ is slight and only noticeable at $`\lambda >30`$ $`\mu `$m. As there is no reason to assume that the dust shell is either extremely thick or thin, we use a relative thickness of $`10^3`$. The inner radius of the dust shell around LI-LMC 1813 is found to be $`r_{\mathrm{inner}}=3.9\times 10^{12}`$ m, and thus the outer radius lies at $`r_{\mathrm{outer}}=3.9\times 10^{15}`$ m. The Dusty model for the best fit to the SED of LI-LMC 1813 predicts an outflow velocity of $`v=9.5`$ km s-1, and hence the duration of intense mass loss is estimated at $`t10^4`$ yr. Although the data do not constrain this timescale better than by a lower limit of roughly $`t>10^3`$ yr, it does suggest that LI-LMC 1813 is undergoing a phase of prolonged intense mass loss (superwind).

Dusty produces the shape of the emergent spectrum, which is then scaled to match the observed flux. From the scaling factor we obtain the bolometric luminosity of $`L=1.5\times 10^4`$ L for LI-LMC 1813, or $`M_{\mathrm{bol}}=5.72`$ mag. This agrees extremely well both with the original estimate of $`M_{\mathrm{bol}}=5.78`$ mag (van Loon et al. 1997), and with the value of $`M_{\mathrm{bol},\mathrm{tip}\mathrm{AGB}}=5.75\pm 0.04`$ mag as predicted from the isochrone fit to KMHK 1603 (section 3.3).

The optical depth, $`\tau `$, not only determines the shape of the SED, but also the mass-loss rate, $`\dot{M}`$, with $`\dot{M}\tau `$. The optical depth at visual wavelengths is found to be $`\tau _\mathrm{V}=50`$, reflecting the highly obscured nature of LI-LMC 1813 (compare with van Loon et al. 1999b). The Dusty model returns a value for the mass-loss rate valid for $`L=10^4`$ L and $`\xi =200`$, with $`\dot{M}`$ depending on $`L`$ and $`\xi `$ as $`\dot{M}L^{3/4}(\xi \rho _{\mathrm{grain}})^{1/2}`$. At solar metallicity, dust-enshrouded objects have $`\xi `$ 100. However, the metallicity of LI-LMC 1813 is $``$ 3–5 times less than solar (Section 3). As the gas-to-dust ratio scales inversely proportional to the metallicity (van Loon 2000), we expect $`\xi `$ 300 to 500 in the dust shell of LI-LMC 1813. Hence we estimate the mass-loss rate of LI-LMC 1813 to be $`\dot{M}=3.7(\pm 1.2)\times 10^5`$ M yr-1.

### 5.2 Discussion: the superwind of the metal-poor carbon star LI-LMC 1813

LI-LMC 1813 is a carbon star. With its estimated progenitor mass of $`M_{\mathrm{ZAMS}}=2.2`$ M, $`3^{\mathrm{rd}}`$ dredge-up is indeed expected to have worked (Marigo 2001) in the absence of HBB (van Loon et al. 2001) to raise the photospheric abundance of carbon to above that of oxygen. The observed high $`n(\mathrm{C})/n(\mathrm{O})`$ ratio can be explained in terms of its low metallicity and relatively high mass as compared to carbon stars in the solar neighbourhood that have generally low-mass progenitors of $`M_{\mathrm{ZAMS}}<2`$ M (see Marigo 2002, her Fig. 6). It also suggests that LI-LMC 1813 has been a carbon star for already quite some time.

LI-LMC 1813 is indeed a highly evolved AGB star. The isochrones that yield the mass estimate (based upon the colour-magnitude diagram of the cluster stars) for LI-LMC 1813 also indicate that its luminosity places it at the very tip of its evolution along the AGB. Its luminosity of $`L=1.5\times 10^4`$ L is a few times brighter than the peak in the optically bright carbon star luminosity function (Groenewegen 2002), but the same as the peak in the dust-enshrouded carbon star luminosity function (van Loon et al. 1999b). This is not unexpected, as the duration of the TP-AGB is longest for stars in the range $`M_{\mathrm{ZAMS}}`$ 2 to 2.5 M (Marigo 2001).

It is therefore not surprising that LI-LMC 1813 is in the superwind phase, experiencing mass loss at a tremendous rate of $`\dot{M}=3.7\times 10^5`$ M yr-1. Schröder, Winters & Sedlmayr (1999) show that low-mass carbon stars, with $`M_{\mathrm{ZAMS}}<1.3`$ M, expell thick shells during a brief period of enhanced luminosity as a result of a thermal pulse, but that more massive carbon stars such as LI-LMC 1813 suffer a longer period of a persistently high mass-loss rate. Our analysis of LI-LMC 1813 provides direct evidence for this superwind to occur at the tip of the AGB.

Vassiliadis & Wood (1993) model TP-AGB evolution including a prescription for the mass-loss rate based on empirical data for galactic Mira variables. They argue that the maximum mass-loss rate during the superwind phase is set by the transfer of momentum from the stellar radiation field onto the outflowing matter: $`\dot{M}_{\mathrm{max}}=v_{\mathrm{exp}}L/c`$, independent of the metallicity or chemical composition. Their prediction for the mass-loss rate of $`\dot{M}=1.2`$$`1.4\times 10^5`$ M yr-1 during the superwind experienced by stars with $`M_{\mathrm{ZAMS}}=1.5`$–2.5 M is three times lower than the actual observed mass-loss rate of LI-LMC 1813. However, Gail & Sedlmayr (1986) have argued that multiple scattering can enhance the transfer of momentum and thus increase the maximum mass-loss rate, which was confirmed by observations of dust-enshrouded AGB stars in the LMC (van Loon et al. 1999b).

Wachter et al. (2002) derive a formula for the mass-loss rate of solar-metallicity carbon stars, based on dynamical models: $`\mathrm{log}\dot{M}=8.861.95\mathrm{log}M/\mathrm{M}_{}6.81\mathrm{log}T_{\mathrm{eff}}/\mathrm{K}+2.47\mathrm{log}L/\mathrm{L}_{}`$. According to this formula, the mass-loss rate of LI-LMC 1813 is predicted to be $`\dot{M}2_1^{+4}\times 10^5`$ M yr-1 for $`T_{\mathrm{eff}}=2500\pm 300`$ K. This agrees extremely well with the observed mass-loss rate of $`\dot{M}=3.7(\pm 1.2)\times 10^5`$ M yr-1. Considering that the metallicity of LI-LMC 1813 is three to five times lower than solar, the good agreement between the actual mass-loss rate of LI-LMC 1813 and the prediction for its mass-loss rate at solar metallicity suggests that the mass-loss rate — at least during the superwind phase — does not strongly depend on metallicity (see van Loon 2000).

In her new calculations for AGB evolution and the formation of carbon stars, Marigo (2002) includes the effects of molecule formation within the stellar atmosphere. One of the differences between these and previous models is that the $`T_{\mathrm{eff}}`$ drops once molecules are being formed, leading to high mass-loss rates of several $`10^5`$ M yr-1 at $`n(\mathrm{C})/n(\mathrm{O})>1.3`$ for carbon stars of $`M_{\mathrm{ZAMS}}>2`$ M. The observed insensitivity of $`\dot{M}`$ to the initial metallicity may, in the case of carbon stars, be due to enhanced formation of carbonaceous molecules as a result of a higher $`n(\mathrm{C})/n(\mathrm{O})`$ ratio at lower metallicity. Alternatively, metallicity insensitivity of the pulsation mechanism has been suggested as a possible reason for the metallicity insensitivity of the mass-loss rate during the superwind phase (van Loon 2002).

When an AGB star arrives on the Mira period-luminosity (P-L) sequence, its mass-loss rate has become so severe that further evolution is along tracks of constant luminosity, with the radius (and hence pulsation period) growing as the structure of the mantle re-adjusts itself to the decrease in mass (e.g. Wood 1998). Describing the Mira as a polytrope, $`R\sqrt[3]{M}=constant`$, and the pulsation as a harmonic oscillator, $`2\pi /P1/t_{\mathrm{freefall}}g(R)/R`$, the period evolves as $`P1/M`$ (van Loon 2002).

If LI-LMC 1813 has evolved from $`P`$ 400 d on the Mira P-L ($`M_{\mathrm{ZAMS}}=2.2`$ M) to $`P`$ 680 d at present, it has a current mass of only $`M=1.3`$ M. According to Marigo (2001), its final mass will become $`M_{\mathrm{WD}}=0.6`$ M. This means that, although it has already lost $`\mathrm{\Delta }M`$ 0.9 M, it must still lose another $`\mathrm{\Delta }M`$ 0.7 M. Stars of $`M_{\mathrm{ZAMS}}=2.2`$ M with correspondingly long periods ($`P`$ 1500 d) have not (yet) been found, the longest known period for such star being $`P`$ 900 d (Wood 1998). This is not surprising, as it would perhaps take as little as $`10^4`$ yr to lose the remainder of the stellar mantle, rendering these objects extremely rare.

## 6 Summary

As a result of a large observational effort, the mid-IR point source LI-LMC 1813 is now one of the few AGB stars experiencing the superwind phase of intense mass loss for which the progenitor mass, initial metallicity, atmospheric chemistry, luminosity and mass-loss rate are accurately known. It thus provides an important testcase against which to gauge models for the evolution and mass-loss of AGB stars.

Absorption features due to carbonaceous molecules in the near-IR spectra of LI-LMC 1813 indicate that it is a carbon star. From its location in the LMC cluster KMHK 1603, its progenitor mass is inferred to be $`M_{\mathrm{ZAMS}}=2.2`$ M, which is typical for a carbon star, whilst its initial metallicity is three to five times lower than solar.

The object is heavily obscured by its circumstellar dust, which shines brightly at IR wavelengths. From the modelling of the spectral energy distribution, a mass-loss rate of $`\dot{M}=3.7\times 10^5`$ M yr-1 is estimated. This is very high, especially for such metal-poor star. As the luminosity of LI-LMC 1813 ($`L=1.5\times 10^4`$ L) places it at the very tip of its AGB, this observation provides direct evidence for the superwind to represent the final episode in the AGB evolution.

Although the observed mass-loss rate for LI-LMC 1813 is a few times higher than that predicted by the formalism in Vassiliadis & Wood (1993), it is in very good agreement with the prescription based on the dynamical models of Wachter et al. (2002) for solar metallicity. This suggests that the mass-loss rate in the superwind phase may be metallicity insensitive (van Loon 2000, 2002), perhaps because of a larger abundance of carbonaceous molecules other than carbon-monoxide in metal-poor stellar atmospheres (Matsuura et al. 2002; Marigo 2002).

## Acknowledgments

We are grateful to the former Director of ESO for the generous allocation of Director’s Discretionary Time on the 0.9m Dutch telescope from Christmas to New Year’s Eve 1996, to Maria Messineo for taking the H+K-band spectra of LI-LMC 1813 at CTIO (and commenting on an earlier version of this manuscript), and to Dr. George Hau and the ESO 3.6m team for taking the optical spectrum of KMHK 1603-1 during an EFOSC-2 set-up night. We also would like to thank Dr. René Mendez (ESO) for digging up the ancient IRAC-2 filter transmission curves. This publication makes use of data products from the Two Micron All Sky Survey, which is a joint project of the University of Massachusetts and the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center/California Institute of Technology, funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the National Science Foundation. This research also made use of data products from the Midcourse Space Experiment. Processing of the data was funded by the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization with additional support from NASA Office of Space Science. This research has also made use of the NASA/IPAC Infrared Science Archive, which is operated by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Jacco thanks, above all, Joana… for everything.

## Appendix A Observations

### A.1 Photometry

#### A.1.1 Optical imaging (Dutch 0.9m, La Silla)

The direct imaging camera at the Dutch 0.9m telescope at La Silla, Chile, was used on the six nights of December 25 to 30, 1996, to obtain deep images of a $`3.77^{}\times 3.77^{}`$ region around the cluster KMHK 1603, through Gunn g ($`\lambda _0=5148`$ Å, $`\mathrm{\Delta }\lambda =81`$ Å), r ($`\lambda _0=6696`$ Å, $`\mathrm{\Delta }\lambda =103`$ Å) and i ($`\lambda _0=7972`$ Å, $`\mathrm{\Delta }\lambda =141`$ Å) filters (Thuan & Gunn 1976; Wade et al. 1979). The total integration time amounts to 4 hours per filter, split into 5-minute exposures to avoid saturation and to allow for refocussing in order to reach the best image quality. The pixels measure $`0.442^{\prime \prime }\times 0.442^{\prime \prime }`$ on the sky, and stellar images on the combined (shift-added) frames have a Full Width at Half Maximum (FWHM) of $`1.5^{\prime \prime }`$, though some individual frames show stellar images of

<

1.1′′

<

superscript1.1′′\vbox{\hbox{$<$}\offinterlineskip\hbox{$\sim$}}1.1^{\prime\prime} FWHM. The CCD frames were reduced using standard procedures within the ESO-MIDAS package. The reader is referred to van Loon et al. (2001) for more details.

#### A.1.2 J and K-band imaging (IRAC-2, La Silla)

The near-IR camera IRAC-2b at the ESO/MPI 2.2m telescope at La Silla, Chile, was used on January 2, 1996, to image the field around the IRAS point source LI-LMC 1813. Lens C was chosen to cover a field of view of $`133^{\prime \prime }\times 133^{\prime \prime }`$, with a pixel scale of $`0.49^{\prime \prime }`$. A sequence of 12 images in the K-band filter were obtained, each consisting of ten 3-second exposures, shifted by $`5^{\prime \prime }`$ in Right Ascension (RA) with respect to the previous image. This procedure was then repeated backwards, using the J-band filter. The image is deepest in the central $`75^{\prime \prime }\times 130^{\prime \prime }`$. The photometry is transformed onto the SAAO system (Carter 1990). The reader is referred to van Loon et al. (1997) for more details.

#### A.1.3 Near-IR imaging (2MASS & DENIS)

Archival J, H and K-band data is available from the second incremental data release of 2MASS. It contains 8 stars within $`1^{}`$ of LI-LMC 1813 which were detected in the K band down to $`K_{\mathrm{limit}}`$ 15 mag, including LI-LMC 1813 itself, on 26 October 1998. Especially valuable is the detection of LI-LMC 1813 in the H band, which is thereby the shortest wavelength at which the object has been seen. The Denis point source catalogue towards the Magellanic Clouds (Cioni et al. 2000) provides additional I, J and Ks-band data, but its sensitivity only reaches $`K_{\mathrm{s},\mathrm{limit}}`$ 12 mag and no star was detected within $`1^{}`$ of LI-LMC 1813 except for the optically brightest star in the cluster, KMHK 1603-1, which was detected in the I and J-bands. The photometry from both 2MASS and Denis is transformed onto the SAAO system (Carter 1990; Carpenter 2001) before further analysis.

#### A.1.4 L-band imaging (ISAAC, Paranal)

The Infrared Spectrometer And Array Camera (ISAAC) at the ESO VLT at Paranal, Chile, was used on October 19, 2000, to image LI-LMC 1813 through an L-band filter ($`\lambda _0=3.78`$ $`\mu `$m, $`\mathrm{\Delta }\lambda =0.58`$ $`\mu `$m). Because of the high background, the image was obtained after chopping and nodding (both by $`10^{\prime \prime }`$ in Declination), with 9 sub-integrations of 0.104 second at each chop position, and a total on-source integration time of 1 minute. The field-of-view of $`72^{\prime \prime }\times 72^{\prime \prime }`$ (at $`0.071^{\prime \prime }`$ pixel-1) ensured that KMHK 1603-1 was imaged simultaneously with LI-LMC 1813. Conditions were very good, with 6% relative humidity at a temperature of $`15^{}`$C. The seeing was $`0.67^{\prime \prime }`$ at Zenith, with the target at an airmass of 1.442.

The data were reduced using ESO-MIDAS and the Eclipse package (Devillard 1997). First the electrical ghosts were removed (is\_ghost in Eclipse). Then the relative pixel responses were calibrated using a flatfield image, and aperture photometry was performed on the difference of the two images at each nodding position. The photometry was calibrated against that of the G3-giant standard star HR 2354 ($`L^{}=4.989`$ mag; van der Bliek, Manfroid & Bouchet 1996: virtually identical filter as that of ISAAC) at similar airmass (1.392) and only 10 minutes after LI-LMC 1813.

#### A.1.5 Mid-IR imaging (MSX)

LI-LMC 1813 is included in the Mid-course Space eXperiment (MSX) Point Source Catalogue (Price et al. 2001). It was only detected in band A (effective wavelength $`\lambda _0=8.28`$ $`\mu `$m). The transmission of this band runs from $`\lambda `$ 6.1 to 10.8 $`\mu `$m, though, peaking at $`\lambda _{\mathrm{peak}}`$ 9.9 $`\mu `$m, and the measured flux density thus depends heavily on the spectral slope of the object — which is greatly affected by circumstellar emission.

#### A.1.6 N-band imaging (TIMMI-2, La Silla)

The TIMMI-2 instrument at the ESO 3.6m telescope at La Silla, Chile, was used on January 19, 2001, to obtain an image of LI-LMC 1813 through the N2 filter ($`\lambda _0=10.6`$ $`\mu `$m, with a transmission $`>50`$% between $`\lambda =9.74`$ and 11.33 $`\mu `$m). At a pixel scale of $`0.3^{\prime \prime }`$ pixel-1, the slightly vignetted field measures $`96^{\prime \prime }`$ (RA) $`\times `$ $`72^{\prime \prime }`$ (Dec). The standard technique for observing in the thermal IR was employed, chopping $`20^{\prime \prime }`$ in Dec and nodding $`20^{\prime \prime }`$ in RA. The total on-source integration time was 15 minutes. The images were combined, and the photometry was obtained, using standard commands within ESO-MIDAS. The K3 giant $`\alpha `$ Hya was used as a prime calibrator, adopting a flux density of $`F_{\mathrm{N2}}=129`$ Jy (Cohen 1998). The photometry was checked against the IRAS 12 $`\mu `$m flux densities for the K2 and K1 giants $`\lambda _2`$ Tuc ($`F_{12}=3`$ Jy) and $`\gamma `$ Pic ($`F_{12}=7`$ Jy).

#### A.1.7 Mid-IR photometry (IRAS)

Data at 12, 25 and 60 $`\mu `$m were retrieved from the IRAS data base server in Groningen111The IRAS data base server of the Space Research Organisation of the Netherlands (SRON) and the Dutch Expertise Centre for Astronomical Data Processing is funded by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO). The IRAS data base server project was also partly funded through the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, grants AFOSR 86-0140 and AFOSR 89-0320. (Assendorp et al. 1995). The Gipsy data analysis software was used to measure the flux density from a trace through the position of the star (Gipsy command scanaid). For a discussion about the sensitivity and reliability of this procedure for point sources in the LMC, see van Loon et al. (1999b).

### A.2 Spectroscopy

#### A.2.1 Optical spectroscopy (EFOSC-2, La Silla)

The EFOSC-2 instrument at the ESO 3.6m telescope at La Silla, Chile, was used on October 31, 2002, to obtain an optical spectrum of KMHK 1603-1 between $`\lambda =4700`$ and 6700 Å with grism #9. The slit was narrowed to a width of only $`0.5^{\prime \prime }`$ projected on the sky, in order to boost the spectral resolving power to $`R`$ 2000. Two spectra were taken, with exposure times of 300 seconds each, which were then combined. The bias level was subtracted first. Differences in illumination and responsivity across the image were corrected using flatfield spectra of an internal quartz lamp. The wavelength axis was calibrated using two exposures of a He/Ar lamp, with an accuracy to well within the spectral resolution. The sky-subtracted spectra were corrected for extinction by the Earth’s atmosphere, and for the response function as derived from a spectrum of the HST standard star HD 49798.

#### A.2.2 H and K-band spectroscopy (OSIRIS, CTIO)

The Ohio State InfraRed Imager/Spectrometer (OSIRIS) at the 4m Blanco telescope at Cerro Tololo (CTIO), Chile, was used on 6 July, 2002, to obtain a spectrum of LI-LMC 1813 covering the 0.9 to 2.4 $`\mu `$m wavelength range. The instrument was used first in imaging mode to acquire the star in the slit. The spectra were acquired in cross-dispersed mode through a $`1^{\prime \prime }\times 30^{\prime \prime }`$ slit, providing a resolving power of $`R=1200`$. Four spectra were taken, with each time the star moved over $`5^{\prime \prime }`$ along the slit. The slit orientation was East–West.

The data reduction was performed using Iraf. In the individual spectra bad pixels were eliminated and flatfield and linearisation corrections were applied. Since the spectra were taken in the morning almost at sunrise, the sky brightness changed considerably during the course of the observations. From each image another image (the nearest in time) was subtracted to perform a first sky subtraction. The individual spectra were then extracted and combined. Stars of spectral type A and B were observed as close to the LI-LMC 1813 spectrum’s airmass (1.756) as possible, in order to correct for telluric absorption features and the instrumental response. The raw spectra of these reference stars were obtained in the same manner as LI-LMC 1813. The hydrogen and helium series appearing in these spectra were removed by linear interpolation. The cleaned spectra of the early-type stars were divided by a blackbody curve to eliminate the slope due to their intrinsic energy distributions (see Messineo et al., in preparation, for more details). Temperatures were adopted from Gray (1992) and Vacca, Garmany & Schull (1996). The wavelength calibration was obtained using the telluric OH lines (Iraf tasks refspectra and dispcor; see Oliva & Origlia 1992). The spectra were dereddened (Iraf task deredden) using the extinction law of Cardelli, Clayton & Mathis (1989) — essentially the same as that of Mathis (1990).

#### A.2.3 L-band spectroscopy (ISAAC, Paranal)

ISAAC at the ESO VLT at Paranal, Chile, was used on December 14, 2001, to take an L-band spectrum of LI-LMC 1813. The total on-source exposure time was 36 minutes. With a slit width of $`0.6^{\prime \prime }`$, the resolving power was $`R`$ 600. The optical seeing was $`1.2^{\prime \prime }`$, but the infrared seeing was $`0.5^{\prime \prime }`$. The background was subtracted by chopping with a chopping throw of $`15^{\prime \prime }`$. Telescope nodding and jitter was used to correct for bad pixels. The data was reduced using the Eclipse package (Devillard 1997). Variations of the pixel response across the array were corrected with a flatfield of the twilight sky. The wavelength calibration is based on the exposure by an Ar+Xe arc lamp with the same wavelength setting as the target observation.

The weather was photometric. The B9 IV star HIP 029729 was used as a telluric standard and flux calibration star. For the flux calibration we use the effective temperature, $`T_{\mathrm{eff}}`$, and $`(KL)`$ colour for a spectral type B9 V instead of B9 IV, because no accurate value for $`T_{\mathrm{eff}}`$ is available for sub-giants. The spectrum is represented by a black body with $`T_{\mathrm{eff}}=10,700`$ K (Tokunaga 2000). The K-band magnitude of this star is $`K=7.536`$ mag (van der Bliek et al. 1996) and $`(KL)=0.03`$ mag for a B9 V star, hence the L-band magnitude is estimated to be $`L=7.566`$ mag. The L-band magnitude is converted into Jansky according to the zero-magnitude in van der Bliek et al. (1996).

## Appendix B The optically bright star KMHK 1603-1

The optical and infrared colours and magnitudes of the bright star KMHK 1603-1 are consistent with those of an F-type supergiant in the LMC. It could then either be a field supergiant of relatively young age ($`t10^8`$ yr), or a post-AGB star in the cluster KMHK 1603. The latter case would be especially interesting, as we could then compare the properties of an AGB and a post-AGB star of the same main-sequence mass and metallicity. However, it could also be a galactic foreground main-sequence star.

Modelling of the photometry (Fig. B1) suggested a temperature of (roughly) $`T_{\mathrm{eff}}`$ 6500–7000 K. If at the distance of the LMC, it will then have a bolometric luminosity of $`L1.5\times 10^4`$ L, i.e. virtually identical to that of LI-LMC 1813. As the luminosity of a post-AGB star (before reaching the White Dwarf cooling track) is the same as it had when it left the AGB, this lended further support for the hypothesis that KMHK 1603-1 is a post-AGB star in the KMHK 1603 cluster. Therefore, an optical spectrum was taken in order to confirm or reject this.

The H$`\alpha `$ and H$`\beta `$ photospheric absorption lines in the spectrum of KMHK 1603-1 peak within $``$ 30 km s-1 from the heliocentric rest velocity (Fig. B2), ruling out LMC membership. On the basis of the relative strengths of the H$`\alpha `$ and H$`\beta `$ lines, $`\lambda 5174`$ Mg i triplet (Pritchet & van den Bergh 1977), $`\lambda \lambda 5890,5896`$ Na i D doublet and the $`\lambda 5270`$ and $`\lambda 6495`$ Fe i lines, and by comparison with the spectral library of Jacoby, Hunter & Christian (1984), the spectral type is estimated to be F6 V ($`T_{\mathrm{eff}}=6400`$ K). This suggests a bolometric luminosity of only $`L`$ 15 L, and hence a difference in the distance modulus of $`\mathrm{\Delta }(mM)`$ 10 mag, which corresponds to a distance of $`d`$ 500 pc, or a distance above the galactic plane of $`z`$ 250 pc. From a comparison of the acquisition image of October 2002 with the imaging in December 1995, no proper motion could be detected in excess of $`\mu 0.02^{\prime \prime }`$ yr-1, but the proper motion for a star at $`d=500`$ pc and galactic longitude of $`l_{\mathrm{II}}=277^{}`$ is also not expected to exceed this upper limit.


text:
# 1 19Ne-triton coincidences (𝛾 decays of states in 19Ne). The curve is the sum of a constant background and 8 Gaussians centered at the energies of known states in 19Ne, the widths of which were determined by the experimental resolution of 90 keV FWHM.

The astrophysical rate of 15O($`\alpha `$,$`\gamma `$)19Ne via recoil-decay tagging and its implications for nova nucleosynthesis
B. Davids

Kernfysisch Versneller Instituut, Zernikelaan 25, 9747 AA Groningen,
The Netherlands
J. José

Dept. Física i Enginyeria Nuclear, Univ. Politécnica de Catalunya, and
Institut d’Estudis Espacials de Catalunya, Ed. Nexus-201, Gran Capità 2-4, 08034 Barcelona, Spain

## Abstract

The 15O($`\alpha `$,$`\gamma `$)19Ne reaction is one of two known routes for breakout from the hot CNO cycles into the $`rp`$ process. Its astrophysical rate depends on the decay properties of excited states in 19Ne lying just above the 15O + $`\alpha `$ threshold. We have measured the $`\alpha `$-decay branching ratios for these states using the $`p(^{21}`$Ne,$`t)^{19}`$Ne reaction at 43 MeV/u. Combining our branching ratio measurements with previous determinations of the radiative widths of these states, we calculate the astrophysical rate of 15O($`\alpha ,\gamma )^{19}`$Ne. Using this reaction rate, we perform hydrodynamic calculations of nova outbursts and conclude that no significant breakout from the hot CNO cycles into the $`rp`$ process occurs in classical novae via 15O($`\alpha ,\gamma )^{19}`$Ne.

Novae are thermonuclear runaways powered by the accretion of hydrogen-rich material from a stellar companion onto the surface of a white dwarf in a close binary system. Energy production and nucleosynthesis in such stellar sites are in general determined by the CNO cycles, with contributions from the NeNa and MgAl cycles . The possibility of breakout from the hot CNO cycles into the $`rp`$ process has been extensively discussed in previous work, in particular under the high temperature and density conditions attained in the most massive ONe nova outbursts. Several reactions have been suggested as pathways for this breakout , but only two are currently thought to be possibilities: 15O($`\alpha `$,$`\gamma `$)19Ne and 18Ne($`\alpha `$,$`p`$)21Na. In astrophysical environments the 15O($`\alpha `$,$`\gamma `$)19Ne reaction proceeds predominantly through resonances lying just above the 15O + $`\alpha `$ threshold at 3.529 MeV in 19Ne. For nova conditions in particular, the reaction rate is determined by the $`\alpha `$ width $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_\alpha `$ of the 4.033 MeV, 3/2+ state, owing both to its close proximity to the 15O + $`\alpha `$ threshold and its low centrifugal barrier to $`\alpha `$ capture.

Direct measurements of the low energy cross section, which require high-intensity radioactive 15O beams, are planned. For states in 19Ne lying at excitation energies relevant to novae and accreting neutron stars, only the $`\alpha `$\- and $`\gamma `$-decay channels are open, as the proton and neutron separation energies are 6.4 and 11.6 MeV  respectively. Hence, by populating these states and observing the subsequent $`\alpha `$ and $`\gamma `$ decays, one can deduce the branching ratio B$`{}_{\alpha }{}^{}\mathrm{\Gamma }_\alpha /\mathrm{\Gamma }`$. If $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_\gamma `$ is also known, one can then calculate $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_\alpha `$ and thereby the contribution of each state to the resonant rate of 15O($`\alpha `$,$`\gamma `$)19Ne. Efforts of this kind to detect $`\alpha `$ particles from the decay of 19Ne states populated via transfer reactions were made , but these experiments were insufficiently sensitive to measure Bα for the critical 4.033 MeV state, which was expected to be of order 10-4 .

In an experiment at the Kernfysisch Versneller Instituut , we have succeeded in obtaining branching ratio data at this level of sensitivity. Populating the important states via the 21Ne($`p,t)^{19}`$Ne reaction in inverse kinematics with a 21Ne beam energy of 43 MeV/u, we detected either 19Ne recoils or their 15O $`\alpha `$-decay products in coincidence with tritons in the Big-Bite Spectrometer (BBS) . The large momentum acceptance of the BBS ($`\mathrm{\Delta }`$p/p = 19%) allowed detection of either 19Ne recoils or 15O decay products along with tritons emitted backward in the center of mass system. Positioning the BBS at 0 maximized the yield to the 4.033 MeV, 3/2+ state in 19Ne. This state, whose dominant shell-model configuration is $`(sd)^5(1p)^2`$ , was selectively populated by an $`\mathrm{}=0`$, two-neutron transfer from the 3/2+ ground state of 21Ne. Position measurements in two vertical drift chambers (VDCs)  allowed reconstruction of the triton trajectories. Excitation energies of the 19Ne residues were determined from the kinetic energies and scattering angles of the triton ejectiles. The $`\gamma `$ decays of states in 19Ne were observed as 19Ne-triton coincidences in the BBS, whereas $`\alpha `$ decays were identified from 15O-triton coincidences.

Recoils and decay products were detected and stopped just in front of the VDCs by fast-plastic/slow-plastic phoswich detectors  that provided energy loss and total energy information. A separate array of phoswich detectors was used to identify tritons after they passed through the VDCs. Timing relative to the cyclotron radio frequency signal was also employed for unambiguous particle identification. An Al plate prevented many of the heavy ions copiously produced by projectile fragmentation reactions of the 21Ne beam in the (CH2)n target from reaching the VDCs. The spatial extent of the heavy-ion phoswich array was sufficient to guarantee 100% geometric efficiency for detection of 19Ne recoils and 15O decay products for 19Ne excitation energies $``$ 5.5 MeV. This resulted largely from the forward focusing of the 19Ne recoils, which emerged at angles $``$ 0.36 for tritons with scattering angles $``$ 4. The low decay energies of the states studied limited the angular and energy spreads of the 15O decay products.

The 19Ne excitation energy spectrum obtained from 19Ne-triton coincidences, representing $`\gamma `$ decays of states in 19Ne, is shown in Fig. 1. Its most prominent peak is due to the 4.033 MeV, 3/2+ state. The 4.379 MeV, 7/2+ state is the second most strongly populated. Contributions from other known states  are indicated. The experimental resolution of 90 keV FWHM is insufficient to resolve the 4.140 and 4.197 MeV states from one another; the 4.549 and 4.600 MeV states are also unresolved. However, the astrophysically important 4.033 and 4.379 MeV states are well separated from the others. The curve shown in Fig. 1 is the sum of a constant background and 8 Gaussians centered at the known energies of the states, with standard deviations fixed by the experimental resolution of 90 keV FWHM.

Fig. 2 shows the 19Ne excitation energy spectrum obtained from 15O-triton coincidences, corresponding to $`\alpha `$ decays of states in 19Ne. The observed states are labeled by their energies; the 4.549 and 4.600 MeV states cannot be resolved. A fit consisting of Gaussians plus a constant background is shown as well. The states below 4.549 MeV decay overwhelmingly by $`\gamma `$ emission, while the higher-lying states observed here decay preferentially by $`\alpha `$ emission, simply because the larger available decay energy enhances the barrier penetrability. The background represents a larger fraction of the total events in the 15O-triton coincidence spectrum than in the 19Ne-triton coincidence spectrum, though it is still very small. This background is well reproduced by a constant, the value of which is determined to a precision of 7% (1$`\sigma `$).

From these excitation energy spectra, we determine the $`\alpha `$-decay branching ratios of six states in 19Ne. No statistically significant evidence for $`\alpha `$ decays from the states at 4.033 and 4.379 MeV was observed. For these states the $`\alpha `$\- and $`\gamma `$-decay spectra were numerically integrated in 100 keV intervals centered at the known energies of the states. These data were subjected to both Bayesian and classical statistical analyses to determine upper limits on the $`\alpha `$-decay branching ratios at various confidence levels. The more conservative Bayesian analysis yields a 90% confidence level upper limit on Bα for the 4.033 MeV state of $`4.3\times 10^4`$. Using independently determined radiative widths for these states, e.g. , we compute their $`\alpha `$ widths and a very conservative 99.73% confidence level upper limit on the astrophysical rate of 15O($`\alpha `$,$`\gamma `$)19Ne. Details of this procedure can be found in Ref. .

With this 15O($`\alpha `$,$`\gamma `$)19Ne rate, we have performed a series of hydrodynamic calculations of nova outbursts on 1.35 M ONe white dwarfs using an implicit, spherically symmetric, hydrodynamic code in Lagrangian formulation . This code describes the entire outburst from the onset of accretion through the thermonuclear runaway, including the expansion and ejection of the accreted envelope. We assume a mass accretion rate of $`2\times 10^{10}`$ M yr-1 and 50% mixing between the solar-like accreted material and the outermost, ONe-rich shells of the underlying white dwarf. As shown in Fig. 3, confirming the conclusions of Refs. , the 15O($`\alpha `$,$`\gamma `$)19Ne rate is less than 0.02% of the 15O $`\beta ^+`$ decay rate throughout the whole envelope, including its hottest, innermost shell (i.e., the base of the envelope), which is not ejected by the explosion. Since the timescale of the outburst is only a few times the timescale of the hot CNO cycles , this implies that only trace amounts of CNO material are processed via 15O($`\alpha `$,$`\gamma `$)19Ne, even in the material retained by the white dwarf after ejection of the accreted envelope. Moreover, as Fig. 3 illustrates, the contribution of 15O($`\alpha `$,$`\gamma `$) to the production of 19Ne is greatly exceeded by the contribution of 18F(p,$`\gamma `$). In conclusion, no significant enrichment of nova ejecta due to hot CNO breakout via 15O($`\alpha `$,$`\gamma `$)19Ne is expected.

This work was performed as part of the research program of the Stichting voor Fundamenteel Onderzoek der Materie with financial support from the Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek, a NATO Collaborative Linkage Grant, and the U. S. Department of Energy Nuclear Physics Division under Contract No. W-31-109-Eng38.


text:
# Rotation in string cosmology

## I Introduction

The study of cosmological models in the framework of the low-energy effective string theory attracts considerable attention now, see, e.g., gas ; tseytlin ; nonc ; cop ; bar2 ; eas ; bat ; bar3 ; bar1 ; kanti ; chen1 ; chen2 . The (super)string theory provides a scheme for the unification of all the physical interactions, including gravity. In the perturbative approach to the full quantum string theory, one derives the effective action for the metric $`g`$, scalar dilaton field $`\varphi `$ and the 3-form axion field $`H`$ which represents the massless field background. The lowest order effective string model describes the Einstein gravity coupled to $`\varphi `$ and $`H`$.

The string cosmology is of interest, primarily, in connection with the so called pre-big bang phase of the universe’s evolution gas ; tseytlin , and there are certain expectations that it can improve our understanding of the physics in the range of energies between the string scale and the grand unification (GUT) scale.

Recently the cosmological string models with the nontrivial global rotation have been investigated in bar1 ; kanti ; chen1 . In particular, in bar1  the attention was confined to the stationary Gödel type models without expansion, and it was demonstrated that the causal solutions (without closed timelike curves) exist in the first order (in the string tension $`\alpha ^{}`$) effective models. These results were subsequently generalized in kanti  to the “charged” solutions for the models with scalar and electromagnetic fields included. In an attempt to develop a more realistic cosmological model, the possibility of a rotating and expanding universe was investigated in chen1  within the framework of the perturbation theory. A further logical step which can obviously bring a further insight into the rotating cosmologies, should be thus a study of the existence of exact solutions with rotation and expansion. Here we describe such exact models in the low-energy effective string theory, demonstrating that the absence of the closed timelike curves can be combined with the nontrivial expansion and rotation of the universe.

More specifically, in our study we consider the homogeneous Bianchi type IX models with rotation and expansion. The homogeneous Bianchi models in string cosmology were investigated rather extensively in cop ; bar2 ; bat ; bar3 ; chen2 . However, the main efforts were concentrated on the analysis of the evolution of the anisotropy described by the nontrivial shear. For example, the study bar3  of the anisotropic Bianchi type has demonstrated the absence of the chaotic behavior of the solutions in an anisotropic string cosmology with shear. In contrast, our models are shear-free, and thus we can look into the pure rotational effects in cosmology.

It seems worthwhile to mention that the study of the shear-free models is of interest in itself within the framework of mathematical cosmology. In particular, it is rather difficult to construct physically viable models with nontrivial rotation and expansion in absence of shear: In many cases the traditional sources like an ideal fluid, electromagnetic and scalar fields, etc., simply do not allow for such solutions. At best, it is possible to have either expansion without rotation, or a stationary rotating model without expansion. This constitutes the essence of the so called shear-free conjecture, see an overview in seno . It is thus highly interesting to discover that the string cosmology (with the standard sources described by the dilaton $`\varphi `$ and the axion $`H`$) does admit exact shear-free solutions with rotation and expansion.

The new solutions are completely causal, in the sense that the closed timelike curves are absent in these rotating models. In this way, we obtain an important extension of the earlier results bar1 ; kanti ; chen1  by demonstrating the existence of an exact (not a perturbation) rotating, expanding, and causal universe in string cosmology.

Another aspect of our results deserves a special attention. Our models describe a spatially closed universe, and we are thus returning to the old problem of the existence of the truly anti-Machian world models. The early model of Ozsváth and Schücking osch  provides an example of such anti-machian cosmology belonging to the Bianchi type IX. Obviously, the model of Ozsváth and Schücking was to a great extent of academic interest only because it described a nonexpanding world. Moreover, it has been subsequently demonstrated that one can reveal a certain compensation mechanism which yields the total angular momentum equal zero for such a closed world king ; nine , thus effectively removing its status of the truly anti-Machian cosmology. Our new solution describes a closed and expanding world with rotation, thus giving a qualitatively new example of an anti-Machian model, cf. also infl . Furthermore, as far as we can see, there is no compensation scheme similar to king ; nine  for the closed rotating models constructed in the present paper.

## II String cosmology

The lower-energy effective string theory action reads, in the compact notation of exterior calculus,

$$S=e^{2\varphi }\left(\widehat{R}\widehat{\eta }+4d\varphi {}_{}{}^{\widehat{}}d\varphi \frac{1}{2}H{}_{}{}^{\widehat{}}H+2\mathrm{\Lambda }\widehat{\eta }\right).$$
(1)
Here $`\widehat{\eta }={}_{}{}^{\widehat{}}1`$ is the $`n`$-form of the spacetime volume, $`\varphi `$ is the scalar dilaton field, and the 3-form field $`H=dB`$ with the 2-form potential $`B`$ is the axion. The quantities with hats refer to the so-called string frame of the 1-form cobasis $`\widehat{\vartheta }^\alpha `$. The effective cosmological constant (or the central charge) is related to the critical dimension of the (super)string theory: $`\mathrm{\Lambda }=(26D)/3\alpha ^{}`$ for boson string and $`\mathrm{\Lambda }=(153D/2)/3\alpha ^{}`$ for heterotic or superstring. Although this quantity vanishes in critical dimension, it may be nontrivial when a string couples to a conformal theory, for example. Non-rotating solutions in non-critical string cosmologies have been extensively studied in tseytlin ; nonc ; eas . Like in the latter references, we thus consider $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ as an arbitrary parameter. Finally, we will assume that the original higher dimensional theory is reduced to $`D=4`$ by means of a compactification mechanism.

The field equations read, in components

$`4\widehat{D}_\alpha \widehat{D}_\beta \varphi +2\widehat{R}_{\alpha \beta }{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}H_{\alpha \mu \nu }H_\beta ^{\mu \nu }`$ $`=`$ $`0,`$ (2)
$`4\widehat{D}_\mu \widehat{D}^\mu \varphi 4(\widehat{D}_\mu \varphi )(\widehat{D}^\mu \varphi )+\widehat{R}{\displaystyle \frac{1}{12}}H_{\alpha \mu \nu }H^{\alpha \mu \nu }+2\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ $`=`$ $`0,`$ (3)
$`d{}_{}{}^{\widehat{}}H2d\varphi {}_{}{}^{\widehat{}}H`$ $`=`$ $`0.`$ (4)
The conformal transformation $`\widehat{\vartheta }^\alpha =e^\varphi \vartheta ^\alpha `$ from the string frame to the Einstein frame brings the action (1) to

$$S=\left(R\eta 2d\varphi {}_{}{}^{}d\varphi \frac{1}{2}e^{4\varphi }H{}_{}{}^{}H+2\mathrm{\Lambda }e^{2\varphi }\eta \right).$$
(5)
The corresponding field equations read

$`R_{\alpha \beta }{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}Rg_{\alpha \beta }\mathrm{\Lambda }e^{2\varphi }g_{\alpha \beta }`$ $`=`$ $`T_{\alpha \beta },`$ (6)
$`D_\mu D^\mu \varphi +{\displaystyle \frac{1}{12}}e^{4\varphi }H_{\alpha \mu \nu }H^{\alpha \mu \nu }+\mathrm{\Lambda }e^{2\varphi }`$ $`=`$ $`0,`$ (7)
$`d{}_{}{}^{}H4d\varphi {}_{}{}^{}H`$ $`=`$ $`0.`$ (8)
The right-hand side of Einstein’s equations (6) is represented by the energy-momentum tensor of the dilaton and axion fields:

$$T_{\alpha \beta }=2(D_\alpha \varphi )(D_\beta \varphi )(D_\mu \varphi )(D^\mu \varphi )g_{\alpha \beta }+e^{4\varphi }\left(\frac{1}{4}H_{\alpha \mu \nu }H_\beta {}_{}{}^{\mu \nu }\frac{1}{24}H_{\mu \nu \lambda }H^{\mu \nu \lambda }g_{\alpha \beta }\right).$$
(9)
We will study the solutions of the effective string model in the Einstein frame.

## III Metric and the geometry of spacetime

In this paper we continue the investigation of the cosmological models belonging to the wide class of rotating spatially homogeneous metrics rotrev

$$ds^2=dt^22Rn_adx^adtR^2\gamma _{ab}dx^adx^b.$$
(10)
Hereafter the indices $`a,b,c=1,2,3`$ label the spatial coordinates, $`R=R(t)`$ is the scale factor, and

$$n_a=\nu _Ae_a^A,\gamma _{ab}=\beta _{AB}e_a^Ae_b^B.$$
(11)
Here $`\nu _A,\beta _{AB}`$ are constant coefficients ($`A,B=1,2,3`$), while

$$e^A=e_a^A(x)dx^a$$
(12)
are the invariant $`1`$–forms with respect to the action of a three-parameter group of motion which is admitted by the space-time (10). We assume that this group acts simply-transitively on the spatial ($`t=const`$) hypersurfaces. It is well known that there exist 9 types of such manifolds, distinguished by the Killing vectors $`\xi _A`$ and their commutators $`[\xi _A,\xi _B]=f^C{}_{AB}{}^{}\xi _{C}^{}`$. The invariant forms (12) solve the Lie equations $`_{\xi _B}e^A=0`$ for each Bianchi type, so that the models given by (10) are spatially homogeneous.

The models of this class have rather attractive geometrical and physical properties. In particular, we can recall that, in the majority of the earlier cosmological models with rotation, shear manifests itself in the parallax effects and in the distortion of the background radiation which imposes very strong limits on the value of the vorticity col . In contrast, one can show rotrev  that the parallax effects are absent and the microwave background remains isotropic in all shear-free spacetimes (10). As a result, these models satisfy all the known observational tests, including the most important limits from the microwave background radiation analysis col  which are not applicable to the shear-free geometries. For further details on the observational tests for such rotating models see coll  Moreover, these models are completely causal (no closed timelike curves are allowed), when the matrix $`\beta _{AB}`$ is positive definite.

Previously nine  we have studied Bianchi type IX closed stationary worlds with the spinning fluid as the source. Now, we consider expanding closed worlds belonging to the Bianchi type IX. Denoting the spatial coordinates $`x=x^1,y=x^2,z=x^3`$, we have explicitly the invariant 1-forms

$`e^1`$ $`=`$ $`\mathrm{cos}y\mathrm{cos}zdx\mathrm{sin}zdy,`$
$`e^2`$ $`=`$ $`\mathrm{cos}y\mathrm{sin}zdx+\mathrm{cos}zdy,`$ (13)
$`e^3`$ $`=`$ $`\mathrm{sin}ydx+dz,`$
which satisfy the structure equations

$$de^A=f^A{}_{BC}{}^{}e_{}^{B}e^C,\mathrm{with}f^1{}_{23}{}^{}=f^2{}_{31}{}^{}=f^3{}_{12}{}^{}=1.$$
(14)
After these preliminaries, we can write the ansatz for the line element (10)

$$ds^2=g_{\alpha \beta }\vartheta ^\alpha \vartheta ^\beta ,g_{\alpha \beta }=\mathrm{diag}(1,1,1,1),$$
(15)
in terms of the orthonormal coframe 1-forms $`\vartheta ^\alpha `$:

$$\vartheta ^{\widehat{0}}=dtR\nu _Ae^A,\vartheta ^{\widehat{1}}=Rk_1e^1,\vartheta ^{\widehat{2}}=Rk_2e^2,\vartheta ^{\widehat{3}}=Rk_3e^3.$$
(16)
Here, $`k_1,k_2,k_3`$ are positive constant parameters. The Greek indices $`\alpha ,\beta ,\mathrm{}=0,1,2,3`$ hereafter label the objects with respect to the orthonormal frame; the hats over indices denote the separate frame components of these objects. Using (16) in (15), we find explicitly the $`3\times 3`$ matrix:

$$\beta _{AB}=\left(\begin{array}{ccc}k_1^2\nu _1^2& \nu _1\nu _2& \nu _1\nu _3\\ \nu _1\nu _2& k_2^2\nu _2^2& \nu _2\nu _3\\ \nu _1\nu _3& \nu _2\nu _3& k_3^2\nu _3^2\end{array}\right).$$
(17)
It is straightforward to obtain the kinematical quantities which describe the spacetime geometry. A direct calculation of the vorticity, $`\omega _{\mu \nu }=h^\alpha {}_{\mu }{}^{}h_{}^{\beta }{}_{\nu }{}^{}_{[\alpha }^{}u_{\beta ]}`$, shear, $`\sigma _{\mu \nu }=h^\alpha {}_{\mu }{}^{}h_{}^{\beta }{}_{\nu }{}^{}_{(\alpha }^{}u_{\beta )}\frac{1}{3}h_{\mu \nu }_\lambda u^\lambda `$, and the volume expansion $`\theta =_\lambda u^\lambda `$, yields:

$`\sigma _{\mu \nu }=0,a^{\widehat{1}}={\displaystyle \frac{\dot{R}\nu _1}{Rk_1}},a^{\widehat{2}}={\displaystyle \frac{\dot{R}\nu _2}{Rk_2}},a^{\widehat{3}}={\displaystyle \frac{\dot{R}\nu _3}{Rk_3}},\theta =3{\displaystyle \frac{\dot{R}}{R}},`$ (18)
$`\omega _{\widehat{2}\widehat{3}}={\displaystyle \frac{\nu _1}{2Rk_2k_3}},\omega _{\widehat{3}\widehat{1}}={\displaystyle \frac{\nu _2}{2Rk_1k_3}},\omega _{\widehat{1}\widehat{2}}={\displaystyle \frac{\nu _3}{2Rk_1k_2}}.`$ (19)
As usually, here $`u=_t`$ is the velocity of a comoving observer (normalized by $`u_\alpha u^\alpha =1`$) and $`h_{\mu \nu }=g_{\mu \nu }u_\mu u_\nu `$ is the standard projector on his rest 3-space.

## IV Field equations and their exact solutions

### IV.1 Axion equation

The axion field equation (8) is solved by

$$H=\frac{a_0}{R^3}\left(\vartheta ^{\widehat{1}}\vartheta ^{\widehat{2}}\vartheta ^{\widehat{3}}+\frac{\nu _1}{k_1}\vartheta ^{\widehat{0}}\vartheta ^{\widehat{2}}\vartheta ^{\widehat{3}}+\frac{\nu _2}{k_2}\vartheta ^{\widehat{0}}\vartheta ^{\widehat{3}}\vartheta ^{\widehat{1}}+\frac{\nu _3}{k_3}\vartheta ^{\widehat{0}}\vartheta ^{\widehat{1}}\vartheta ^{\widehat{2}}\right).$$
(20)
Note that one needs also to satisfy the condition $`dH=0`$ which means the existence of the potential 2-form so that $`H=dB`$. Here $`a_0`$ is an arbitrary integration constant.

### IV.2 Einstein-dilaton system

The analysis of the Einstein-dilaton system (6)-(7) ultimately shows that the geometric parameters of the model should satisfy

$$\nu _10,\nu _2=\nu _3=0,k_2^2=k_3^2=k_1^2\nu _1^2.$$
(21)
The last equation is particularly important, as it guarantees the absence of closed timelike curves since then the matrix (17) turns out to be explicitly positive definite: $`\beta _{AB}=k_2^2\delta _{AB}`$. Making use of (21), one can verify that (6)-(7) reduce to the system of the three equations

$`{\displaystyle \frac{\ddot{R}}{R}}+2{\displaystyle \frac{\dot{R}^2}{R^2}}+{\displaystyle \frac{k_1^2}{2k_2^4R^2}}{\displaystyle \frac{k_1^2}{k_2^2}}\mathrm{\Lambda }e^{2\varphi }`$ $`=`$ $`0,`$ (22)
$`{\displaystyle \frac{\ddot{R}}{R}}+{\displaystyle \frac{\dot{R}^2}{R^2}}+{\displaystyle \frac{k_1^2}{4k_2^4R^2}}{\displaystyle \frac{e^{4\varphi }a_0^2}{4R^6}}\dot{\varphi }^2`$ $`=`$ $`0,`$ (23)
$`\ddot{\varphi }+3{\displaystyle \frac{\dot{R}}{R}}\dot{\varphi }{\displaystyle \frac{e^{4\varphi }a_0^2}{2R^6}}+{\displaystyle \frac{k_1^2}{k_2^2}}\mathrm{\Lambda }e^{2\varphi }`$ $`=`$ $`0.`$ (24)
These three equations are not independent. There is a first integral

$$3\frac{\dot{R}^2}{R^2}+\frac{3k_1^2}{4k_2^4R^2}\dot{\varphi }^2\frac{k_1^2}{k_2^2}\mathrm{\Lambda }e^{2\varphi }\frac{e^{4\varphi }a_0^2}{4R^6}=0$$
(25)
which provides the consistency of the system (22)-(24). The unknown scale factor $`R(t)`$ and the dilaton field $`\varphi `$ can be determined from the integration of (25) together with any one of the equations (22)-(24) (the two remaining equations are then satisfied automatically).

### IV.3 Simple solution

Before we analyze the Einstein-dilaton system in detail, one can readily find one particular solution:

$$e^\varphi =\frac{Q}{R},R=R_0+\frac{k_1}{2k_2^2}Pt,a_0=\frac{k_1}{k_2^2}Q^2.$$
(26)
Here $`Q`$ and $`P`$ are the two arbitrary constants which have to fulfill the condition

$$P^2+12\mathrm{\Lambda }Q^2k_2^2=0.$$
(27)
When $`2\mathrm{\Lambda }Q^2k_2^2=1`$, the rotating world is stationary, but for $`2\mathrm{\Lambda }Q^2k_2^2>1`$ the cosmological scale factor monotonously grows with the linear law.

### IV.4 Convenient change of variables

Let us introduce instead of the scale factor $`R(t)`$ and the dilaton field $`\varphi (t)`$ the new variables

$$\psi :=\mathrm{ln}R+\varphi ,r:=\mathrm{ln}R+\frac{1}{3}\varphi .$$
(28)
If we simultaneously change the independent time variable from $`t`$ to

$$\tau :=^tdte^\varphi ,\mathrm{i}.\mathrm{e}.\frac{d}{d\tau }=e^\varphi \frac{d}{dt},$$
(29)
then the system of the equations (25) and (23), (24) is re-casted into

$`2\left({\displaystyle \frac{d\psi }{d\tau }}\right)^26\left({\displaystyle \frac{dr}{d\tau }}\right)^2+V(\psi )`$ $`=`$ $`0,`$ (30)
$`{\displaystyle \frac{d^2r}{d\tau ^2}}+\left({\displaystyle \frac{d\psi }{d\tau }}\right)^2`$ $`=`$ $`0,`$ (31)
$`{\displaystyle \frac{d^2\psi }{d\tau ^2}}+3{\displaystyle \frac{dr}{d\tau }}{\displaystyle \frac{d\psi }{d\tau }}+{\displaystyle \frac{1}{4}}{\displaystyle \frac{dV}{d\psi }}`$ $`=`$ $`0,`$ (32)
where the potential $`V=V(\psi )`$ reads

$$V(\psi )=\frac{a_0^2}{3}e^{6\psi }\frac{k_1^2}{k_2^4}e^{2\psi }+\frac{4k_1^2}{3k_2^2}\mathrm{\Lambda }.$$
(33)
The system (30)-(32) has exactly the form of the evolution equations in the so-called “shifted frame” introduced in eas . The potential (33) has formally the same structure as in eas , but we have certain corrections of the coefficients in $`V`$ by the rotation parameters.

In order to understand the behavior of the solutions, we need to analyze the two subcases: (i) the central charge term dominating in $`V`$ (this takes place for the large positive values of $`\psi `$), (ii) the negligible (or zero) central charge term.

### IV.5 Dominating cosmological term

In the case when $`\psi `$ have large positive values, the potential $`V(\psi )`$ is dominated by the central charge (cosmological) term and the potential is approximately $`V=\frac{4}{3}\frac{k_1^2}{k_2^2}\mathrm{\Lambda }`$. The solution of (30)-(32) is straightforward and we obtain for the positive $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$:

$`\psi (\tau )`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{\sqrt{3}}}\mathrm{ln}\mathrm{tanh}\left(A\tau /2\right)+\psi _0,`$ (34)
$`r(\tau )`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{3}}\mathrm{ln}\mathrm{sinh}\left(A\tau \right)+r_0.`$ (35)
Here $`\psi _0`$ and $`r_0`$ are integration constants and

$$A=\frac{k_1}{k_2}\sqrt{2\mathrm{\Lambda }}.$$
(36)
The original scale factor and the dilaton field then read:

$`R^2`$ $`=`$ $`R_0^2\mathrm{sinh}\left(A\tau \right)\left(\mathrm{tanh}\left(A\tau /2\right)\right)^{1/\sqrt{3}},`$ (37)
$`e^{2\varphi }`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{e^{2\varphi _0}}{\mathrm{sinh}\left(A\tau \right)\left(\mathrm{tanh}\left(A\tau /2\right)\right)^\sqrt{3}}}.`$ (38)
A solution with $`\mathrm{\Lambda }<0`$ can be obtained with the help of the evident analytical continuation. It is worthwhile to note that, since the constant parameters are always given by (21), the closed timelike curves are absent for all values of the central charge.

The above formulas describe the behavior of the system near the singularity ($`R=0`$) when for small moments of $`\tau `$ the functions $`\psi `$ and $`r`$ take very large values. In this regime, the cosmological term is dominating in the potential $`V`$.

### IV.6 Vanishing cosmological term

Now let us analyze the case of the critical string cosmology when $`\mathrm{\Lambda }=0`$. It is convenient to take (22) and (25) as the dynamical equations in this case. The equation (22) then can be straightforwardly integrated and yields the first integral:

$$R^4\left(\dot{R}^2+\frac{k_1^2}{4k_2^4}\right)=\frac{C_0^2}{3}.$$
(39)
Here the integration constant is necessarily non-negative and we denoted it by $`C_0^2/3`$ (the coefficient $`1/3`$ is introduced for later convenience).

Introducing the dimensionless variables, $`\rho :=R/R_0`$ and $`\xi :=t/t_0`$ with

$$R_0^4=\left(\frac{2C_0k_2^2}{\sqrt{3}k_1}\right)^2,t_0^2=\frac{3}{C_0^2}\left(\frac{2C_0k_2^2}{\sqrt{3}k_1}\right)^3,$$
(40)
we reduce (39) to the quadratures

$$𝑑\rho \frac{\rho ^2}{\sqrt{1\rho ^4}}=\pm 𝑑\xi .$$
(41)
Integrating this, we obtain the solution $`\rho (\xi )`$ in the implicit form:

$$E(\mathrm{arcsin}\rho |1)F(\mathrm{arcsin}\rho |1)=\pm (\xi \xi _0),$$
(42)
where $`F(\phi |m)`$ and $`E(\phi |m)`$ are (first and second kind) elliptic integral special functions. Another (equivalent) representation of the same solution uses the hypergeometric function:

$$\frac{\rho ^3}{3}{}_{2}{}^{}F_{1}^{}(\frac{1}{2},\frac{3}{4},\frac{7}{4};\rho ^4)=\pm (\xi \xi _0).$$
(43)
The behavior of the scale factor as a function of time is depicted in Fig. 1.

It is now easy to find the dilaton field by making use of equation (25). Substituting (39) into (25), we integrate the resulting equation to find:

$$e^{2\varphi }=\frac{1}{4C_0}\left[\mathrm{exp}\left(2C_0\frac{dt}{R^3}\right)+a_0^2\mathrm{exp}\left(\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}2}C_0\frac{dt}{R^3}\right)\right].$$
(44)
One can do more and obtain the explicit form of the function $`e^{2\varphi }(R)`$ in terms of the scale factor. Using the above solution, we derive:

$$e^{2\varphi }=\frac{1}{4C_0}\left[C_1\left(\frac{R^2}{1+\sqrt{1(R/R_0)^4}}\right)^{\pm \sqrt{3}}+\frac{a_0^2}{C_1}\left(\frac{R^2}{1+\sqrt{1(R/R_0)^4}}\right)^\sqrt{3}\right].$$
(45)
Here $`C_1`$ is a new arbitrary integration constant.

Note that although the formulas obtained describe the exact solution for $`\mathrm{\Lambda }=0`$, they also display the approximate behavior of the system when the cosmological term can be neglected as compared to the 2 other terms in the potential $`V`$.

### IV.7 Exact rotating solution

The combination of the results of the two previous subsections yields the complete dynamics of the axion-dilaton-graviton system for the nontrivial $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$. However, besides the above approximate configurations, there always exists an infinite family of the complete exact solutions of (30)-(32) which is parametrized by an arbitrary real papameter. These solutions are obtained when the cosmic rotation parameters satisfy the condition

$$\frac{k_1^2}{k_2^8}=8a_0^2\mathrm{\Lambda }^2.$$
(46)
Then, denoting

$$e^{2\psi _0}:=\frac{1}{4k_2^2\mathrm{\Lambda }},$$
(47)
we can introduce the “Hubble function”

$$H=\pm \frac{A}{3}\left(1e^{2(\psi _0\psi )}\right)^{3/2}$$
(48)
\[with the constant $`A`$ given by (36)\] such that the potential (33) is given by $`V(\psi )=6H^22(dH/d\psi )^2`$. The system (30)-(32) is then evidently integrated by setting $`dr/d\tau =H`$ and $`d\psi /d\tau =dH/d\psi `$. As a result, the solution can be given explicitly in the parametric form:

$`r(\psi )r(\psi _0)`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle _{\psi _0}^\psi }{\displaystyle \frac{H(\psi )}{H^{}(\psi )}}𝑑\psi ,`$ (49)
$`\tau (\psi )\tau (\psi _0)`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle _{\psi _0}^\psi }{\displaystyle \frac{1}{H^{}(\psi )}}𝑑\psi .`$ (50)
Using (48), the integrals are straightforwardly evaluated to give

$`r(\psi )r(\psi _0)`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{3}}(\psi \psi _0){\displaystyle \frac{1}{6}}\left(e^{2(\psi \psi _0)}1\right),`$ (51)
$`\tau (\psi )\tau (\psi _0)`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2A}}\left[e^{\psi \psi _0}\sqrt{e^{2(\psi \psi _0)}1}+\mathrm{ln}\left(e^{\psi \psi _0}+\sqrt{e^{2(\psi \psi _0)}1}\right)\right].`$ (52)
These results can be directly compared to the non-rotating solution of eas  which is recovered in the limit of the vanishing rotation parameter $`\nu _1=0`$. A qualitative new feature, as compared to eas , is that the value of the axion integration constant $`a_0`$ is not rigidly fixed by the central charge $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$: there always exists a nontrivial $`\nu _1`$ which satisfies (46) for any $`a_0`$ and $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$.

## V Discussion and conclusion

In this paper, we have studied the problem of universal rotation in string cosmology. We have demonstrated the existence of a number of cosmological models with rotation and expansion which are exact solutions of the low-energy effective string (non-critical, in general) field equations for the metric, dilaton and axion. These solutions are spatially homogeneous, belonging to the type IX of the Bianchi classification. The models under consideration are parallax-free and have an isotropic background radiation, being thus in a good agreement with observations rotrev . Moreover, the solutions obtained are completely causal: the absence of closed timelike curves is guaranteed by the positive definiteness of the matrix $`\beta _{AB}=k_2^2\delta _{AB}`$ which follows from (21).

The magnitude of the universal rotation for all solutions is given by

$$\omega ^2=\frac{1}{2}\omega _{\alpha \beta }\omega ^{\alpha \beta }=\frac{\nu _1^2}{4R^2k_2^4}=\frac{1}{4R^2}\left(\frac{k_1^2}{k_2^4}+\frac{1}{k_2^2}\right).$$
(53)
Correspondingly, the vorticity decreases with the growth of the scale factor.

It is worthwhile to mention that, among other solutions, we derive the simple solution (26) with the scale factor increasing linearly in time. The (constant) expansion “velocity” $`\dot{R}`$ is essentially determined by the rotation parameters, in particular, it becomes faster with an increasing rotation.

Other solutions of the system (22)-(24) turn out to be closely related to the non-rotating solutions of eas  which is based on the possibility to recast the original system into the form (30)-(32) of the so-called “shifted frame” introduced in eas . The analysis of the system (30)-(32) shows that it is sufficient to consider the two cases when $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ is, respectively, essentially larger and smaller than the other terms in the “potential” (33). In the case of a dominating central charge (cosmological) term, the approximate behavior of the scale factor and of the dilaton is given by (37), (38) which describe the fields near the cosmological singularity at $`R=0`$. As we see, the large values of the rotation parameter $`\nu _1`$ yield a more rapid growth of the scale factor, whereas the vorticity quickly decreases in time.

When the cosmological term vanishes, we derive an exact solution for the system (22)-(24). It is given by the equations (42) or (43) and (45). For a large value of rotation constants ($`k_1k_2`$), we again see that the scale factor increases rapidly in time, whereas the vorticity quickly dilutes during the expansion. Such a behavior is also approximately correct for small values of the cosmological term in (33).

Finally, there always exists an exact solution with cosmic rotation parameters fulfilling the condition (46). It is possible to find a suitable $`\nu _1`$ for any values of the axion constant $`a_0`$ and the cosmological term $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$. These exact solutions are given by (51), (52) and they represent the direct generalization of the non-rotating solutions discussed earlier in eas .

Summarizing, we find that all the exact solutions which describe the expanding and rotating cosmological models have the same qualitative properties: The large rotation parameters accelerate the expansion of the world, or, in the case of a contracting phase, this decelerates the contraction rate. However, the rotation apparently cannot prevent the occurrence of cosmological singularities, at least in the low energy approximation. The study of higher order corrections to the effective string action may change this conclusion.

The last but not least remark: Since the solutions obtained describe the spatially closed world, their very existence represents the evidence of the possibility of the truly anti-Machian cosmological models. This observation extends the previous results osch ; infl ; nine  to the case of the more physically realistic closed models with rotation and expansion.

## VI Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank A. Tseytlin for the useful hints and comments about the effective string theory. This work was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft with the grant 436 RUS 17/70/01.