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# On the oxygen abundance in our Galaxy

## 1 Introduction

By now, spectra have been obtained for hundreds of H ii regions in spiral galaxies. Accurate oxygen abundances can be derived from measurement of temperature-sensitive line ratios, such as \[OIII\]4959,5007/\[OIII\]4363. This method will be referred to as the Te \- method. Unfortunately, in oxygen-rich H ii regions the temperature-sensitive lines such as \[OIII\]4363 are too weak to be detected. For such H ii regions, empirical abundance indicators based on more readily observable lines were suggested (Pagel et al. 1979; Alloin et al. 1979). The empirical oxygen abundance indicator R23 = (\[OII\]3727,3729 + \[OIII\]4959,5007)/Hβ, suggested by Pagel et al. (1979), has found widespread acceptance and use for the oxygen abundance determination in H ii regions where the temperature-sensitive lines are undetectable. This method will be referred to as the R23 \- method. Using the R23 \- method, the characteristic oxygen abundances (the oxygen abundance at a predetermined galactocentric distance) and radial oxygen abundance gradients were obtained for a large sample of spiral galaxies (Vila-Costas & Edmunds 1992; Zaritsky et al. 1994; van Zee et al. 1998, among others).

It has been found (Pilyugin 2001b) that the (O/H)$`_{T_e}`$ data is sufficient in quantity and quality for an accurate determination of the value of the oxygen abundance gradient within the disk of the spiral galaxy M101. It has been found that the parameters of the (O/H)$`_{R_{23}}`$ abundance distribution in the disk of M101 differ significantly from those of the (O/H)$`_{T_e}`$ abundance distribution. The rather low value of the central oxygen abundance 12 + log(O/H)$`_{T_e}`$(R=0) = 8.81 in the disk of M101 was found. This is in agreement with the result of Kinkel & Rosa (1994). They carried out special spectral observastions of one single high-metallicity H ii region in the disk of the spiral galaxy M101 (NGC5457) and were able to derive the electron temperature, allowing the determination of the oxygen abundance with the classic Te \- method. Kinkel & Rosa (1994) found that the oxygen abundance derived with the Te \- method is lower by around 0.2 dex with respect to the oxygen abundance obtained on the basis of the R23 calibration after Edmunds & Pagel (1984). Castellanos et al. (2002) have also found that the R23 \- method results in the overestimated oxygen abundances in the case of low-excitation H ii regions.

Pilyugin et al. (2002) have re-determined the oxygen abundances in H ii regions in a number of field and Virgo spiral galaxies with the P – method. It has been found for the considered sample of galaxies that the central values 12 + log(O/H)P(R=0) lie in the range 8.71 $`÷`$ 8.99 while the central values 12 + log(O/H)$`_{R_{23}}`$(R=0) lie in the range 9.24 $`÷`$ 9.53. Thus, for all the galaxies, in which the oxygen abundances in H ii regions were derived with the $`T_e`$ – or with the P – method, the value of the central oxygen abundance does not exceed 12 + log(O/H)(R=0) $``$ 9.0.

The radial distribution of oxygen and other element abundances in our Galaxy derived by Shaver et al. (1983) from consideration of H ii regions has found wide acceptance. The Shaver et al.’s data are the basis of the models for the chemical evolution of the Milky Way Galaxy constructed by different investigators (Tosi 1988; Giovagnoli & Tosi 1995; Thon & Meusinger 1998, among others). Shaver et al. (1983) have found the value of the central oxygen abundance in our Galaxy as large as 12 + log(O/H)(R=0) = 9.38$`\pm `$0.04. Radio recombination lines have been used by Shaver et al. to determine electron temperatures in H ii regions and these temperatures have been applied to optical spectra of the same H ii regions to determine the abundances of oxygen and other elements. The Galactic H ii regions with measured temperature-sensitive line ratios will be considered in the present study, and, as consequence, the radial distribution of the (O/H)$`_{T_e}`$ abundances within the disk of the Milky Way Galaxy will be established. The comparison of the obtained radial distribution of the (O/H)$`_{T_e}`$ abundances with that from Shaver et al. (1983) allows us to verify the credibility of the oxygen abundances derived by Shaver et al. (1983).

## 2 H ii regions with available \[OIII\]$`\lambda `$4363 line intensity

Spectroscopic observations of Galactic H ii regions have been carried out by many investigators (Baldwin et al. 1991, 2000; Caplan et al. 2000; Peimbert et al. 1969, 1977, 1978, 1992, 1993; Esteban 1999; Esteban et al. 1998, 1999; Osterbrock et al. 1992; Shaver et al. 1983; Vílchez & Esteban 1996, among others). The Galactic H ii regions with measured temperature-sensitive line ratios are listed in Table 1.

Spectroscopic data with detections of diagnostic emission lines in the H ii region makes it possible to determine an accurate oxygen abundance (O/H)$`_{T_e}`$. However, the oxygen abundances in the same H ii region with measured line ratios \[OIII\]$`\lambda \lambda 4959,5007/\lambda 4363`$ derived in different works can differ due to different atomic data adopted and different interpretation of the temperature structure (e.g. single characteristic $`T_e`$, two-zone model for $`T_e`$, model with small-scale temperature fluctuations). Therefore the compilation of H ii regions with original oxygen abundance determinations through the Te – method from different works carried out over more than thirty years is not a set of homogeneous determinations. Accordingly, the available published spectra of H ii regions with measured line ratios \[OIII\]$`\lambda \lambda 4959,5007/\lambda 4363`$ have been reanalysed to produce a homogeneous set. Two-zone models of H ii regions with the algorithm for oxygen abundance determination from Pagel et al. (1992) and the Te(\[OII\]) – Te(\[OIII\]) relation from Garnett (1992) were adopted here,

$$\frac{O}{H}=\frac{O^+}{H^+}+\frac{O^{++}}{H^+},$$
(1)
$`12+\mathrm{log}(O^{++}/H^+)=\mathrm{log}{\displaystyle \frac{I_{[OIII]\lambda 4959+\lambda 5007}}{I_{H_\beta }}}+6.174+`$
$`{\displaystyle \frac{1.251}{t_3}}0.55\mathrm{log}t_3,`$ (2)
$`12+\mathrm{log}(O^+/H^+)=\mathrm{log}{\displaystyle \frac{I_{[OII]\lambda 3726+\lambda 3729}}{I_{H_\beta }}}+5.890+`$
$`{\displaystyle \frac{1.676}{t_2}}0.40\mathrm{log}t_2+\mathrm{log}(1+1.35x),`$ (3)
$`t_3=t([OIII])=1.432[\mathrm{log}{\displaystyle \frac{I_{[OIII]\lambda 4959+\lambda 5007}}{I_{[OIII]\lambda 4363}}}0.85+`$
$`0.03\mathrm{log}t_3+\mathrm{log}(1+0.0433xt_3^{0.06})]^1,`$ (4)
$$x=10^4n_et_2^{1/2},$$
(5)
where $`n_e`$ is the electron density in cm-3 (the value of $`n_e`$ was adopted to be equal to 100 cm-3 for every H ii region), $`t_3`$ = $`t_{[OIII]}`$ is the electron temperature within the \[OIII\] zone in units of 104K, $`t_2`$ = $`t_{[OII]}`$ is the electron temperature within the \[OII\] zone in units of 104K. The $`t_2`$ value is determined from the equation (Garnett 1992)

$$t_2=0.7t_3+0.3.$$
(6)
The electron temperatures Te(\[OIII\]) in H ii regions (with two exceptions, H ii regions S127 and S128) have been determined from the measurements of \[OIII\]$`\lambda \lambda 4959,5007/\lambda 4363`$ line ratios, and the electron temperatures Te(\[OII\]) in H ii regions have been derived from the Te(\[OII\]) – Te(\[OIII\]) relation of Garnett (1992). In the case of H ii regions S127 and S128 the electron temperatures Te(\[OIII\]) cannot be directly determined from observational data since the measurement of the \[OIII\]$`\lambda \lambda 4959,5007/\lambda 4363`$ line ratio is not available. Instead, the temperature-sensitive lines \[OII\]$`\lambda \lambda 7320,7330`$ were detected in spectrophotometry of H ii regions S127 and S128 (Vílchez & Esteban 1996). The original oxygen abundances in these H ii regions are given in Table 1.

In Fig.1 we show oxygen abundances (O/H)$`_{T_e}`$ for the individual measurements as a function of galactocentric distance with small open circles. The galactocentric distances are from Deharveng et al. (2000). The best fit to the individual (O/H)$`_{T_e}`$ data is

$$12+\mathrm{log}(O/H)_{Te}=8.900.048R_G.$$
(7)
The scatter is equal to 0.10 dex. Eq.(7) results in the oxygen abundance at a solar galactocentric distance as large as 12+log(O/H) $``$ 8.50. The (O/H)Te – RG relationship is shown in Fig. 1 by a solid line. The large open circles in Fig.1 are average oxygen abundances (O/H)$`_{T_e}`$ for H ii regions (the data from Table 1).

Thus, the obtained value of the central oxygen abundance in the disk of the Milky Way Galaxy 12 + log(O/H)Te(R=0) = 8.90 lies in the same range as the values of the central oxygen abundance in the disks of other spiral galaxies, in which the oxygen abundances in H ii regions were derived with the $`T_e`$ – or with the P – method.

## 3 The oxygen abundance in the solar vicinity

The above obtained radial distributions of $`(O/H)_{Te}`$ (Eq.7) results in the oxygen abundance at a solar galactocentric distance as large as 12+log(O/H) $``$ 8.50. Let us compare this value with recent determinations by other investigators.

Caplan et al. (2000) and Deharveng et al. (2000) have analysed Galactic H ii regions and have obtained the slope –0.0395 dex/kpc with a central oxygen abundance 12+log(O/H) = 8.82 and 12+log(O/H) = 8.48 at the solar galactocentric distance. Rodríguez (1999) considered seven bright Galactic H ii regions with galactocentric distances in the range 6 – 10 kpc and has found that all the H ii regions studied are characterized by similar abundances, 12+log(O/H) $``$ 8.45$`\pm `$0.1. Thus, our value of the oxygen abundance at the solar galactocentric distance is in agreement with that derived recently in other studies.

High-resolution observations of the weak interstellar OI$`\lambda `$1356 absorption towards stars allow one to determine interstellar gas-phase oxygen abundance in the solar vicinity with very high precesion. These observations yield a mean interstellar gas-phase oxygen abundance of 319 O atoms per 106 H atoms (or 12+log(O/H) = 8.50) (Meyer et al. 1998; Sofia & Meyer 2001). The interstellar gas-phase oxygen abundance in the solar vicinity is shown in Fig.1 by the large filled square. There are no statistically significant variations in the measured oxygen abundances from line of sight to line of sight; the rms scatter value for these oxygen abundances is low, $`\pm `$0.05dex. Out to 1.5 kpc, the gas-phase oxygen abundances are stable in diffuse clouds with different physical conditions as measured by the fraction of H in the form of H2. Thus, our value of the oxygen abundance at the solar galactocentric distance derived from consideration of the H ii regions is in agreement with that derived with high precision from the interstellar absorption towards the stars, Fig.1.

The oxygen abundances in H ii regions were determined within the framework of two-zone model for $`T_e`$ within the H ii region. The agreement between the value of the oxygen abundance at the solar galactocentric distance derived from consideration of the H ii regions and that derived from the interstellar absorption towards stars can be considered as strong evidence in favor that the two-zone model for $`T_e`$ is a realistic interpretation of the temperature structure within H ii regions. It should be noted however that this argument is not indisputable due to the dust-phase oxygen abundance. Indeed, one can expect that total (gas- plus dust-phase) oxygen abundances in the H ii regions are equal to the total oxygen abundance in the interstellar medium. The gas-phase oxygen abundances in the H ii regions are expected to be equal to the gas-phase oxygen abundance in the interstellar medium if only the same fraction of oxygen is incorporated into dust grains both in H ii regions and in the interstellar medium. Meyer et al. (1998) have obtained the limit to the dust-phase oxygen abundance in the interstellar medium in the vicinity of the Sun. Assuming various mixtures of oxygen-bearing grain compounds, they found that it is difficult to increase the oxygen dust fraction beyond 120 O atoms per 106 H atmos, simply because the requisite metals are far less abundant than oxygen (if Si/O, Mg/O and Fe/O abundance ratios in the present-day interstellar medium are the same as they are in the Sun). Then the upper value of total (gas- plus dust-phase) oxygen abundance in the interstellar medium in the vicinity of the Sun is of 439 O atoms per million H atoms (or 12+log(O/H) = 8.64). Then, in the case of the dust-free H ii regions the gas-phase oxygen abundances in the H ii regions in the vicinity of the Sun would be equal to the total oxygen abundance and would be as large as 12+log(O/H) = 8.64. In this case the gas-phase oxygen abundances in H ii regions, determined within the framework of two-zone model for $`T_e`$, would be underestimated by 0.14 dex. Taking into account that H ii regions are not dust-free (according to Esteban et al. (1998), the fraction of the dust-phase oxygen abundance in the Orion nebula is about 0.1 dex) one can expect that the gas-phase oxygen abundances in the H ii regions are close (or equal) to the gas-phase oxygen abundance in the interstellar medium, and, consequently, one can conclude that two-zone model for $`T_e`$ distribution within the H ii region provides a realistic gas-phase oxygen abundance in H ii regions.

It has been known for a long time that permitted lines in H ii regions indicate higher oxygen abundances than forbidden lines. Esteban et al. (1998) found oxygen abundances for two positions in the Orion nebula from permitted and forbidden lines. The oxygen abundances derived from forbidden lines are coincident for both positions in the Orion nebula (12 + logO/H = 8.47) and agree well with the interstellar oxygen abundance in the solar vicinity derived from interstellar absorption lines towards the stars (12 + logO/H = 8.50). They found from permitted lines the oxygen abundance 12 + logO/H = 8.61 for position 1 and 12 + logO/H = 8.68 for position 2, although the abundances obtained from the different multiplets observed show significant dispersion. If permitted lines indicate the true oxygen abundance in the Orion nebula, then the uncertainty around 0.1 dex in the oxygen abundances derived from forbidden lines cannot be excluded. However, the origin of the discrepancy between abundances derived from permitted and forbidden lines is not indisputable (see discussion in Stasinska (2002)).

Hence the value of total (gas- plus dust-phase) oxygen abundance in the interstellar medium in the vicinity of the Sun is 12+log(O/H) = 8.6$`\pm `$0.1. Young stars provide an excellent method for probing the metallicity and recent evolutionary history of the Milky Way Galaxy. Early B-type dwarfs have evolutionary ages typically less than 30 Myr and possess photospheres that are not normally contaminated by core-processed material. Hence, these stars should provide information on the present-day chemical composition of the interstellar medium within the Milky Way Galaxy. There have been several attempts to measure the oxygen abundance using young, B-type stars as tracers of metallicity in the Galactic disk (Fitzsimmons, Dufton & Rolleston 1992; Kaufer et al. 1994; Smartt & Rolleston 1977; Gummersbach et al. 1998; Daflon, Cunha & Becker 1999; Rolleston et al. 2000; Daflon et al. 2001, among others). Unfortunately, results from stars are controversial. Recently, Rolleston et al. (2000) and Daflon et al. (2001) have derived oxygen abundances in early type stars using both LTE and non-LTE calculations (see the discussion of earlier results in Rolleston et al. (2000)). Rolleston et al. (2000) have found from early type stars a 12+logO/H value of around 8.80 for the solar vicinity, while Daflon et al. (2001) have found from a non-LTE analysis a 12+logO/H value around 8.50 for the solar vicinity region. It should be taken into account however that Rolleston et al. (2000) have noted that their data should be reliable for estimating the magnitude of the metal abundance gradients in the present-day Galactic disk; although, the absolute abundance values at any particular galactocentric distance may be in error.

Andrievsky et al. (2002) have derived the radial distribution of the oxygen (and other chemical elements) abundance within the Galactic disk based on the spectroscopic analysis of a sample of classic Cepheids. They have found from Cepheids an oxygen abundance gradient in the Galactic disk that results in a \[O/H\] value of around –0.07 dex for the solar vicinity region. Andrievsky et al. (2002) have derived a differential abundances in the sence that the oscillator strengths used in their study were obtained through an inverted solar analysis (with adopted solar abundances). As consequence, their absolute oxygen abundance values depend on the adopted solar oxygen abundance. The recent determinations of the solar oxygen abundance result in the value of 12+log(O/H) $``$ 8.70 (Holweger 2001; Prieto et al. 2001), i.e. the present-day ”recommended” solar abundance is less (by more than 0.2 dex) than the value recommended several years ago (Anders & Grevesse 1989; Grevesse, Noels & Sauval 1996; Grevesse & Sauval 1998). With this recent solar oxygen abundance, the data of Andrievsky et al. (2002) result in a 12+logO/H value of around 8.60 for the solar vicinity.

Thus, the value of the oxygen abundance at the solar galactocentric distance (12+logO/H$``$8.6) derived by Andrievsky et al. (2002) from the study of Cepheids and the value of the oxygen abundance (12+logO/H$``$8.5) derived by Daflon et al. (1999, 2001) from the study of OB stars are in agreement with the oxygen abundance in the solar vicinity region derived from the interstellar absorption towards stars and from the study of H ii regions. At the same time, there is an appreciable disagreement between values of the radial oxygen abundance gradient derived from the study of Cepheids (–0.022dex/kpc, Andrievsky et al. 2002), from the study of early B-type main-sequence stars (–0.067dex/kpc, Rolleston et al. 2000), and from the study of H ii regions (–0.048dex/kpc, this study). This disagreement can be explained by two reasons. First, there is a relatively large scatter of oxygen abundance values at any particular galactocentric distance for objects of any kind (Cepheids, OB stars, and H ii regions). Second. A majority of data-points, used in the determination of the value of the radial oxygen abundance gradient, are distributed over a restricted (6 $`<`$ RG $`<`$ 13 kpc) range of galactocentric distances: all the Cepheids from the sample of Andrievsky et al. have galactocentric distances in the range 6 – 11 kpc, only three objects from the sample of Rolleston et al. exist for galactocentric distances greater than RG $``$ 13 kpc, only three individual measurements of two H ii regions with galactocentric distances greater than RG $``$ 13 kpc were used in this study. This disagreement prevents us from reaching a definitive conclusion about the value of the radial oxygen abundance gradient within the Galactic disk; though we stress that more and better data are needed to derive the exact value of gradient.

It should be noted that the recent low value of the solar oxygen abundance still exceeds slightly the present-day total oxygen abundance in the interstellar medium at the solar galactocentric distance (see also Daflon et al. 2001). If it is the case, this is evidence that the variation of oxygen abundance at the solar galactocentric distance with time is not smooth (for example, due to an irregular rate of unenriched gas infall onto the disk, see Pilyugin & Edmunds 1996). The discussion of the model for the chemical evolution of our Galaxy is far beyond the goal of the present study, we only would like to note that the recent low solar oxygen abundance results in better agreement with the present-day total oxygen abundance in the interstellar medium (and in young stars) at the solar galactocentric distance than generally accepted earlier solar values.

## 4 Shaver et al.’s set of H ii regions

Combining radio and optical spectroscopy Shaver et al. (1983) have found chemical abundances in a large sample of Galactic H ii regions covering a wide range in galactocentric radius. Radio recombination lines have been used to determine electron temperatures in H ii regions and these temperatures have been applied to optical spectra of the same H ii regions to determine the abundances of oxygen and other elements. Shaver et al. (1983) have found that their oxygen abundances are in agreement with the empirical R23 – calibration. At the same time it has been found (Pilyugin 2000, 2001a,b, 2003) that the oxygen abundances derived with the R23 – calibration after Edmunds & Pagel (1984) involve a systematic error depending on the excitation parameter: the R23 – method provides more or less realistic oxygen abundances in high-excitation H ii regions and yields an overestimated oxygen abundances in low-excitation H ii regions. Taking into account that many H ii regions in the sample of Shaver et al. (1983) are low-excitation objects, the agreement of Shaver et al’s oxygen abundances with the empirical R23 – calibration hints that their oxygen abundances are overestimated.

Recently a new way of oxygen abundance determination in H ii regions, in which the physical conditions in H ii region are estimated via the excitation parameter P (P – method), was suggested (Pilyugin 2001a). By comparing the oxygen abundances in high-metallicity H ii regions derived with the $`T_e`$ – method and those derived with the P – method, it was found that the precision of oxygen abundance determination with the P – method is comparable to that of the $`T_e`$ – method (Pilyugin 2001a,b). Then the comparison of oxygen abundances obtained by Shaver et al. (1983) and oxygen abundances determined with the P – method using the same line intensities can give some idea of the accuracy of Shaver et al’s oxygen abundances. The oxygen abundances obtained by Shaver et al. (1983) will be referred to as (O/H)SH abundances, the oxygen abundances derived with the P – method will be referred to as (O/H)P abundances. Only H ii regions with reliable measured ratios \[OII\]3727,3729/Hβ and \[OIII\]4959,5007/Hβ from the sample of Shaver et al. (1983) will be considered. These H ii regions are listed in Table 2. (O/H)SH abundances as a function of galactocentric distance are shown in Fig.2 by the open squares. The linear best fit to those data is presented by the dashed line in Fig.2. The galactocentric distances are from Deharveng et al. (2000). The best fit to (O/H)SH abundances is given by the following equation

$$12+\mathrm{log}(O/H)_{SH}=9.270.061R_G.$$
(8)
The scatter is equal to 0.15 dex. Eq.(8) results in the oxygen abundance at the solar galactocentric distance as large as 12+log(O/H) = 8.75.

The (O/H)P oxygen abundances in H ii regions are determined with the expression suggested in (Pilyugin 2001a)

$$12+log(O/H)_P=\frac{R_{23}+54.2+59.45P+7.31P^2}{6.07+6.71P+0.37P^2+0.243R_{23}},$$
(9)
where $`R_{23}`$ =$`R_2`$ \+ $`R_3`$, $`R_2`$ = $`I_{[OII]\lambda 3727+\lambda 3729}/I_{H\beta }`$, $`R_3`$ = $`I_{[OIII]\lambda 4959+\lambda 5007}/I_{H\beta }`$, and P = $`R_3`$/$`R_{23}`$. The (O/H)P abundances in H ii regions from the sample of Shaver et al. (1983) are listed in column 4 in Table 2. (O/H)P abundances as a function of galactocentric distance are shown in Fig.2 by the filled rhombuses. The linear best fit to those data is presented by the dotted line in Fig.2. The best fit to (O/H)P abundances is given by the following equation

$$12+\mathrm{log}(O/H)_P=8.950.051R_G.$$
(10)
The scatter is equal to 0.12 dex. Eq.(10) results in the oxygen abundance at the solar galactocentric distance as large as 12+log(O/H) = 8.52.

Examination of Fig.2 (see also the data from Table 2) shows that there is a systematic difference between (O/H)SH and (O/H)P abundances, (O/H)SH abundances are higher on average by 0.2-0.3 dex than (O/H)P abundances. Taking into account that the precision of oxygen abundance determination with the P – method is comparable to that of the $`T_e`$ – method (Pilyugin 2001a,b) we can conclude that the Shaver et al.’s oxygen abundances are overestimated by 0.2-0.3dex.

Our conclusion can be verified by comparison of the radial (O/H)SH abundances distribution with the radial (O/H)$`_{T_e}`$ abundance distribution across the disk of the Milky Way Galaxy. (It should be stressed that the reliability of (O/H)$`_{T_e}`$ abundances in H ii regions is confirmed by the agreement between the value of the oxygen abundance at the solar galactocentric distance traced by (O/H)$`_{T_e}`$ abundances in the H ii regions and that derived from the interstellar absorption towards stars (a model-independent method).) The (O/H)Te – RG relationship obtained above is shown in Fig.2 by a solid line. Inspection of Fig.2 shows that the (O/H)SH abundances lie above (in average by 0.2-0.3 dex) the (O/H)Te – RG relationship. This confirms our conclusion that the Shaver et al.’s oxygen abundances are overestimated by a factor of about 2.

## 5 Conclusions

The compilation of spectra of Galactic H ii regions with available diagnostic \[OIII\]$`\lambda `$4363 line was carried out. Our list contains 71 individual measurements of 13 H ii regions in the range of galactocentric distances from 6.6 to 14.8 kpc. The oxygen abundances in all the H ii regions were recomputed in the same way, using the classic Te \- method.

The oxygen abundance at the solar galactocentric distance traced by H ii regions is in agreement with the oxygen abundance in the interstellar medium in the solar vicinity derived with high precision from the interstellar absorption lines towards stars.

The obtained value of the central oxygen abundance in the disk of the Milky Way Galaxy 12 + log(O/H)Te(R=0) = 8.90 lies in the same range as the values of the central oxygen abundance in the disks of other spiral galaxies, in which the oxygen abundances in H ii regions were derived with the $`T_e`$ – or with the P – method.

The derived radial oxygen abundance distribution was compared with that for H ii regions from the Shaver et al. (1983) sample which is the basis of many models for the chemical evolution of our Galaxy. It was found that the original Shaver et al.’s oxygen abundances are overestimated by 0.2-0.3 dex. Oxygen abundances in H ii regions from the Shaver et al. sample have been redetermined with the recently suggested P – method. The radial distribution of oxygen abundances from the Shaver et al. sample redetermined with the P – method is in agreement with the radial distribution of O/H$`_{T_e}`$ abundances obtained here.

###### Acknowledgements.

We thank the anonymous referee for helpful comments. This study was partly supported by the Joint Research Project between Eastern Europe and Switzerland (SCOPE) No. 7UKPJ62178 (L.S.P.), the NATO grant PST.CLG.976036 (L.S.P. and F.F.), the Italian national grant delivered by the MURST (L.S.P.).


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# Large Angle CMB Fluctuations from Cosmic Strings with a Comological Constant

## I Introduction

Given the growing evidence for a cosmological constant or dark energy component in the Universe, it is important to determine whether this significantly impacts the evolution of cosmic strings and their observational signatures. The strongest constraints limiting the energy scale of cosmic strings is currently the COBE normalisation of large-angle CMB anisotropy. In this paper, we will infer this normalisation from maps computed using the methods presented in Landriau and Shellard (2003) and determine how this is influenced by late-time domination by a cosmological constant.

## II Method

### II.1 Geometry of Simulations

To compute all-sky maps, the “observers” are located inside the simulation box. Following Pen et al. (1994), we place eight such observers at each corner of a cube of side $`L/2`$ where $`L`$ is the size of the box itself. We use the fact that the string networks, and hence the cosmological perturbations they induce, have periodic boundary conditions to identify opposite sides of the box. The eight realizations of the sky are not completely independent, but the correlations are not apparent. This scheme reduces the effect of the cosmic variance on large angular scales and thus renders the computation of the normalization more accurate.

### II.2 Pixelization

To facilitate the computation of maps and the extraction of the power spectrum, we use an iso-latitude pixelization, which enables us to Fourier transform each ring of constant $`\theta `$ to evaluate the integral over the azimuthal angle. More specifically, we use the equal area with 3:6:3 base pixels, proposed by Crittenden and Turok (1998). In this scheme, each base pixel is subdivided into $`n^2=2^{2p}`$ pixels. The area of a pixel is given by $`A_{pixel}=4\pi /N_{pixel}=\pi /3n^2`$. But, by integrating the spherical surface element over a pixel, we have $`A_{pixel}=\frac{2\pi }{N_p}\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{cos}\theta `$. Hence, the width of a row of pixels is given by

$$\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{cos}\theta =\frac{N_p}{6n^2},$$
(1)
where $`N_p`$ is the number of pixels per row of constant $`\theta `$. In the polar caps, $`N_p=3`$, then $`9\times 2^{i2}`$ repeated $`2^{i2}`$ times with $`2ip+2`$. The equatorial regions are made up of $`n`$ rows of $`6n`$ pixels.

### II.3 Angular Power Spectrum Computations

The pixelized map is the convolution of the real temperature map with the pixel window function. To compute the power spectrum, we need to know the spherical transform of the window function. In real space, the pixel window function is simply given by:

$$W^{pq}(\varphi ,\theta )=\{\begin{array}{cc}\frac{1}{A_{pixel}}\hfill & \text{inside the pixel}\hfill \\ 0\hfill & \text{outside}\hfill \end{array},$$
(2)
where $`p`$ and $`q`$ label the rows and the pixels on that row:

$$\begin{array}{cc}T^{pq}\hfill & =_{𝒮_2}T(\varphi ,\theta )W^{pq}(\varphi ,\theta )𝑑\mathrm{\Omega }\hfill \\ & =\underset{m=\mathrm{}_{max}}{\overset{\mathrm{}_{max}}{}}b_me^{\dot{ı}mq2\pi /N_p},\hfill \end{array}$$
(3)
where

$$b_m=\underset{\mathrm{}=|m|}{\overset{\mathrm{}_{max}}{}}a_\mathrm{}mw(\pi m/N_p)\overline{\lambda _{\mathrm{}}^m},$$
(4)
with

$$\begin{array}{c}w(\psi )=e^{\dot{ı}\psi }\frac{\mathrm{sin}\psi }{\psi }\\ \overline{\lambda _{\mathrm{}}^m}=\frac{1}{\mathrm{cos}\theta _p\mathrm{cos}\theta _{p+1}}_{\mathrm{cos}\theta _p}^{\mathrm{cos}\theta _{p+1}}\lambda _{\mathrm{}}^m(\mathrm{cos}\theta )d(\mathrm{cos}\theta ),\end{array}$$
(5)
From the last line in (3), the $`b_m`$ can be obtained by the inverse sum:

$$b_m=\underset{q}{}T_{pq}e^{\dot{ı}mq2\pi /N_p},$$
(6)
which can be done using a Fast Fourier Transform. The sum (4) can also be inverted to obtain the $`a_\mathrm{}m`$’s:

$$a_\mathrm{}m=\frac{_{p=1}^{n_{rows}}b_mw^{}(\pi m/N_p)\overline{\lambda _{\mathrm{}}^m}}{_{p=1}^{n_{rows}}w^{}(\pi m/N_p)w(\pi m/N_p)N_p}.$$
(7)
To obtain this last equation, we took the approximation that the pixelized spherical harmonics $`w(\pi m/N_p)\overline{\lambda _{\mathrm{}}^m}`$ are orthogonal, which is valid at low $`\mathrm{}`$.

### II.4 COBE Normalisation

To infer the cosmic string linear energy density, we use the COBE angular correlation function because, on the scales of interests, it is good as that of WMAP Halpern (2003). This also enables direct comparisons with previous work.

To normalize to COBE, we follow Allen et al. (1996) and compute the angular correlation function using

$$C(\theta ,\theta _s)=\frac{1}{4\pi }\underset{\mathrm{}}{}(2\mathrm{}+1)|W_{\mathrm{}}|^2|B_{\mathrm{}}|^2C_{\mathrm{}}P_{\mathrm{}}(\mathrm{cos}\theta ),$$
(8)
where we use the following smoothing function:

$$W_{\mathrm{}}(\theta )=\mathrm{exp}\left(\frac{\mathrm{}(\mathrm{}+1)}{\mathrm{log}2}\mathrm{sin}^2(\theta /4)\right),$$
(9)
where $`\theta `$ is the smoothing scales. We also use the COBE beam profile $`B_{\mathrm{}}`$ given in Wright et al. (1994).We then compare the result with the value obtained by the four year COBE maps Banday et al. (1997), $`C(0^{},10^{})=(29\pm 1\mu K/T)^2`$ to infer the value of $`G\mu /c^2`$. In the previous equation, $`T`$ is the mean temperature of the CMB also obtained from COBE Bennett et al. (1996) $`T=2.726\pm 0.002K`$.

## III Results

### III.1 Cosmic String Simulations

We created a time series of cosmic string realizations using the Allen-Shellard network simulation Allen and Shellard (1990) in a variety of flat FRW universes with $`\mathrm{\Omega }_m+\mathrm{\Omega }_\mathrm{\Lambda }=1`$, where $`\mathrm{\Omega }_m`$ includes the contribution of dark matter and baryons. These string networks were then used as sources for the CMB map-making pipeline. For all the simulations, we chose $`h=0.72`$ and $`\mathrm{\Omega }_bh^2=0.02`$.

Two string simulations for $`\mathrm{\Omega }_\mathrm{\Lambda }=0`$ and $`\mathrm{\Omega }_\mathrm{\Lambda }=0.7`$ were computed with very high resolution with over 3 million points (16 ponts per correlation length) and spanning a dynamic range of 5 in conformal time, probing the Universe back to $`z=25`$ and $`z=30`$ respectively. All string loops were retained in the simulation to ensure overall network energy-momentum conservation, which was preserved at the level of 1%. Point-joining was used only to ensure a consistent physical resolution, i.e. removing very short segments formed through reconnection. The simulations therefore retained their full small-scale structure. These were the costliest part of the pipeline and took many days to perform on the COSMOS supercomputer (approximately 2000 hours of CPU time). This improves upon previous work with string networks in an expanding Universe, which was performed with fewer points per correlation length, fixed horizon resolution and a separate treatment of loops Allen et al. (1996, 1997).

In addition, we performed a series of smaller simulations (1 million points) for different values of the cosmological constants, specifically, $`\mathrm{\Omega }_\mathrm{\Lambda }=0,\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}0.2},\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}0.4},\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}0.55},\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}0.7},\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}0.85}`$. These simulations had identical initial conditions, so comparisons could minimize the effects of cosmic variance.

The map-making pipeline was tested at resolutions of $`128^3`$ and $`256^3`$. The huge data storage requirements with string networks, SVT-decomposed energy-momentum tensor grids, Boltzmann code output plus checkpointing files meant disk space approaching 1Tbyte was required for $`256^3`$. Further parallelisation issues remain to be resolved for large memory runs.

In figure 1, we present realizations for the $`\mathrm{\Omega }_\mathrm{\Lambda }=0`$ and $`0.7`$ runs.

The angular power spectra for each of these runs are presented in figure 3. We also show four spectra obtained from the $`\mathrm{\Omega }_\mathrm{\Lambda }=0`$ run with their average in figure 2. All these spectra are normalised to COBE.

### III.2 Normalization to COBE

The power spectra illustrated in figures 2 and 3 show a roughly scale invariant plateau for $`\mathrm{}\text{ }<20`$ with a gradual fall-off to an insignificant signal beyond $`\mathrm{}\text{ }>50`$. This fall-off is a consequence of the limited dynamic range of the string simulations and not of the resolution at which the Boltzmann evolution was performed (though there is some influence from the interpolation and smoothing of the string network onto the grids.

Previous CMB work with string networks over a much larger dynamic range has demonstrated that the main anisotropies relevant to COBE are generated at redshifts $`z\text{ }<20`$ Allen et al. (1996), which is within the range of the present work. The reason for this can be seen from studies of the unequal-time correlators (UETC’s) Albrecht et al. (1996); Wu et al. (2002), which peak on scales well below the horizon $`(\lambda _{max}<d_H/3`$). We are confident therefore that our simulations include the primary contributions on COBE scales.

This scale invariance on large angular scales is consistent with the COBE data and allows us to normalize our results accordingly, as discussed above, providing a constraint on the energy density of strings. Our normalization for the flat CDM model,

$$\frac{G\mu }{c^2}=(0.7\pm 0.2)\times 10^6,$$
(10)
has an error reflecting the variance of our results, not systematic effects which may be comparable. This result is lower but consistent with the previous result Allen et al. (1996):

$$\frac{G\mu }{c^2}=(1.05_{0.2}^{+0.35})\times 10^6.$$
(11)
Our result is significantly lower than the one obtained in Allen et al. (1997), $`G\mu /c^2=1.7\times 10^6`$ from a single simulation. This work however focused on small angle anisotropies and did not study sample variance at large angles. Other flat space approximations and semi-analytic estimates for local string networks generally have found a higher normalization than ours, e.g. $`G\mu /c^2=(1.5\pm 0.5)\times 10^6`$ Bennett et al. (1992), $`G\mu /c^2=(1.7\pm 0.7)\times 10^6`$ Perivolaropoulos (1993) and $`G\mu /c^2=2`$ Coulson et al. (1994).

However, there is a key reason why the present work is a significant advance over these previous analyses. Apart from now including all the relevant physics, this analysis uses the highest resolution string simulations to date. The initial points per correlation length have been chosen at levels known to preserve small scale structure accurately Martins and Shellard (2001) and the simulations are evolved at fixed physical resolution. Although the simulations used in Allen et al. (1996) spanned a larger dynamic range, $`z<100`$ (compared to our $`z<25`$), it did so by maintaining fixed horizon resolution through point-joining and smoothing. Subsequent work has shown that at least comoving resolution is required if we are to hope for a satisfactory treatment of string wiggliness. This implies that the previous work did not adequately account for the renormalized string energy per unit length, which in the matter era is $`\stackrel{~}{\mu }1.4\mu `$. Such a factor would tend to increase the string anisotropy, thus lowering the COBE normalization of $`G\mu /c^2`$ (though in a non-trivial manner).

### III.3 Effect of the Cosmological Constant

The influence of $`\mathrm{\Omega }_\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ on the COBE normalization, illustrated in figure 5 is relatively small: for the popular value of $`\mathrm{\Omega }_\mathrm{\Lambda }=0.7`$ we obtained $`G\mu /c^2=(0.74\pm 0.20)\times 10^6`$, only 6% higher than for the flat CDM model.

The reason for the reduced anisotropy in $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$-models is fairly clear. As the Universe becomes vacuum dominated at late times, the expansion rate increases, affecting the Hubble damping term $`\dot{a}/a`$ in the string equations of motion, thus lowering their average velocity as can be seen from figure 4.

As string velocities are the primary cause of CMB anisotropies, there will be a net reduction in $`\mathrm{\Delta }T/T`$.

The smallness of this effect is somewhat surprising, but is explained by the late redshift of vacuum domination. In the $`\mathrm{\Omega }_\mathrm{\Lambda }=0.7`$, this occurs at $`z_\mathrm{\Lambda }0.33`$, which, in the context of our simulations, implies that $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ has a significant effect on only the later stages of the simulation. Comparing the $`\mathrm{\Omega }_\mathrm{\Lambda }=0.85`$ model with the flat CDM model in figure 3, there appears to be a slight relative fall-off in the average power towards $`\mathrm{}=2`$, which is consistent with this picture. However, this effect is likely to be swamped by cosmic variance.

We have found that our data points are well fitted by

$$\frac{G\mu }{c^2}=\left(0.695+\frac{0.012}{1\mathrm{\Omega }_\mathrm{\Lambda }}\right)\times 10^6.$$
(12)
This analytic fit is motivated by the asymptotic limit in which string velocities should vanish as the network is frozen and conformally streched in an extreme $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$-model: $`\mathrm{\Omega }_\mathrm{\Lambda }1`$ and $`\mathrm{\Omega }_m0`$. Our results are summarized in table 1 and plotted in figure 5 along with the fit (12).

## IV Summary

In this paper, we presented large angle maps of CMB fluctuations seeded by networks of cosmic strings in flat FRW universes with a cosmological constant. From the COBE data, we have obtained a constraint on the string linear energy density $`G\mu /c^2\text{ }<0.7\times 10^6`$ which is lower than previous work because string small-scale structure is incorporated more accurately in the network simulations. We were able to find the dependence of the string density $`\mu `$ as a function of the cosmological constant, obtaining a good fit with a simple semi-analytic formula. Given the uncertainties in the overall normalization, these results should provide an adequate means by which to characterise the effects of $`\mathrm{\Omega }_\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ on cosmic string models.

Although current CMB data have shown that cosmic strings cannot be the dominating source of CMB anisotropies (e.g. Bennett et al. (2003)), they can nonetheless be present albeit at a lower energy scale. For example, they are copiously produced at the end of brane inflation Sarangi and Tye (2002); Pogosian et al. (2003). With this in mind, our normalisation appears low when compared with the value inferred from the possible detection of a gravitational lensing event by a cosmic string: $`G\mu /c^20.4\times 10^6`$ Sazhin et al. (2003). This linear mass density would be somewhat higher than allowed in the standard cosmic string scenario considered in this paper.

## Acknowledgements

We are grateful for useful discussions with Gareth Amery, Richard Battye, Martin Bucher, Carlos Martins, Proty Wu and Rob Crittenden. The Allen-Shellard string simulation was used to generate the networks used as sources in this paper Allen and Shellard (1990). This work was supported by PPARC grant no. PPA/G/O/1999/00603. All simulations were performed on COSMOS, the Origin 3800 supercomputer, funded by SGI, HEFCE and PPARC.