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# Changing look: from Compton–thick to Compton–thin, or the re–birth of fossil AGN

## 1 Introduction

It is well known (see e.g. Matt 2002 for a review, and references therein) that most AGN are ‘obscured’ in X–rays. Their observed spectrum depends on the (hydrogen equivalent) column density, $`N_\mathrm{H}`$, of the absorber. If the column density exceeds the value, $`\sigma _T^1`$=1.5$`\times `$10-24 cm-2, for which the Compton scattering optical depth becomes equal to 1, the sources are called ‘Compton–thick’. If the column density is smaller than $`\sigma _T^1`$ but still in excess of the Galactic one, the source is called ‘Compton–thin’. Assuming the simple geometry depicted in Fig. 1 (in which the absorbing matter is assumed to form a geometrically thick torus, according to the popular Unification models, see Antonucci 1993), the expected spectrum is shown in Fig. 2. In the Compton–thin case, the nuclear spectrum (assumed for simplicity to be a power law with photon spectral index 2) can be directly observed above a few keV, and a fluorescent iron line (with EW$``$10 eV for NH=1022 cm-2 and $``$100 eV for NH=1023 cm-2, see Fig. 3), is produced. In the moderately Compton–thick case (NH=$`4\times `$1024 cm-2) the spectrum below 10 keV is dominated by the reflection continuum (plus a prominent iron line with EW$``$1 keV: Ghisellini et al. 1994; Krolik et al. 1994; Matt et al. 1996) produced by the visible part of the inner wall of the torus itself (see Fig. 1), while the nuclear radiation can be directly visible in transmission at higher energies. This is, for instance, the case of two out of the three closest AGN, the Circinus Galaxy (Matt et al. 1999) and NGC 4945 (Iwasawa et al. 1993; Guainazzi et al. 2000). For column densities exceeding NH=1025 cm-2, no nuclear radiation is transmitted, and only the reflection component is visible (see for instance NGC 1068, Matt et al. 1997). It is worth noting that reflection from highly ionized matter can also be present (cf. Matt et al. 2000), and that the ionization state of the “cold” reflector may include also mildly ionized components (Bianchi et al. 2001). However, for simplicity we will discuss cold reflectors only.

Also the spectrum reflected by the torus depends on its column density. The iron line EW (calculated with respect to both the reflection continuum and the total one), is shown in Fig. 3 for a torus seen face–on as a function of the $`N_\mathrm{H}`$ in the equatorial plane. In Fig. 4 the reflection spectrum is shown. For Compton–thick material, the spectrum is well–known (e.g. George & Fabian 1991; Matt et al. 1991) while for Compton–thin matter it is very different in shape and, overall, less prominent. (Both figures are based on Monte Carlo simulations; see Ghisellini et al. 1994 for details on the simulation code.)

A reflection–dominated spectrum is usually assumed as evidence of Compton–thick absorption, expecially when using instruments working up to $``$10 keV, and therefore unable to detect the primary emission through moderately thick absorbers. However, such a spectrum may occur not only when the nucleus is absorbed, but also when its emission decreases down to invisibility (in this case we will speak of a ‘switched–off’ source), provided of course that the reflecting material is distant enough from the nucleus to act as an ‘echo’ for a while. The classical example of a switched–off source is NGC 4051, observed by BeppoSAX during a prolonged low state (Uttley et al. 1999) and found to be reflection–dominated (Guainazzi et al. 1998), i.e. with a very prominent iron line and the hard (and curved) continuum spectrum typical of a Compton–thick reflection component. NGC 4051 is a well–known Seyfert 1 galaxy but, based on the BeppoSAX spectrum alone, it would have been classified as a Compton–thick absorbed source. The explanation in terms of a decrease of the nuclear flux instead of a temporary Compton–thick absorption is further confirmed by recent Chandra observations (Fruscione et al. 2002), which showed a residual short–term and low amplitude variability during another low state of the source; clearly, in this case the nuclear flux was much fainter then usual, but not completely disappeared as during the BeppoSAX observation. We note, incidentally, that a temporary switching–off of the nucleus may explain at least some of the type 1 sources with a large hardness ratio discovered in X–ray surveys, see e.g. Fiore et al. (2001) and Della Ceca et al. (2001).

Recently, the same kind of variability was discovered in a few Seyfert 2 galaxies, which changed from reflection–dominated (and therefore candidate Compton–thick absorbed sources) to Compton–thin, or viceversa. The clearest cases so far are UGC 4203 (Guainazzi et al. 2002), NGC 6300 (Guainazzi 2002), NGC 1365 (Risaliti et al. 2000) and NGC 2992 (Gilli et al. 2000). For at least some of these sources, a change in the column density of the absorber, rather than a switching–off of the source, cannot be completely ruled out, and indeed Risaliti et al. (2002) claimed that variations in the absorbing column density are common in Seyfert 2 galaxies. However, the changing absorbers in the Risaliti et al. (2002) sample are all Compton–thin, and in most cases the variations are too small to rule out the possibility that they are an artifact due to comparing spectra obtained with different instruments. Moreover, this solution is clearly untenable for NGC 2992 (Gilli et al. 2000; see Sec. 2.4), which has been well monitored over the years, showing a gradual change of the nuclear flux and a costant absorber. We find difficult to imagine a situation in which a Compton–thick absorber on the pc–scale (as suggested by the lack of variability of the reflection components) and with a large covering factor (to allow for the rather large reflection components) can vary so dramatically on time–scales of years. Therefore, in the following we will assume that the observed variations are due to the switching–off of the nucleus. After reviewing the current observation status of this field (Sect. 2), we will discuss some possible implications (Sect. 3).

## 2 Seyfert 2 galaxies which changed look

### 2.1 UGC 4203

UGC 4203 (a.k.a. Mkn 1210) has been recently observed by XMM–Newton (Guainazzi et al. 2002), unveiling a X–ray bright nucleus, absorbed by $`N_H2\times 10^{23}`$ cm-2. However, in an ASCA observation performed about five and half years earlier (Awaki et al. 2000), the prominent iron line ($`EW1`$ keV) and the factor of 5 lower 2–10 keV flux indicated a reflection–dominated spectrum (Fig. 5), with the nuclear emission too faint to be visible.

The limited bandpass of ASCA, along with the low flux of the source, does not permit to distinguish bewteen different column densities of the reflecting matter, provided that it exceeds about $`10^{23}`$ cm-2 (see Fig. 4). It is therefore possible that in this case the absorbing and reflecting materials are one and the same.

### 2.2 NGC 6300

NGC 6300, discovered serendipitously by Ginga (Awaki et al. 1991), was observed in a Compton–thick reflection-dominated state by RXTE on February 1997 (Leighly et al. 1999). Two and half years later a remarkably strong Seyfert nucleus (2–10 keV flux $`1.3\times 10^{11}`$ erg cm-2 s-1) seen through a column density with $`N_H2\times 10^{23}`$ cm-2 (Fig. 5), was discovered in a BeppoSAX observation. An XMM–Newton observation performed early in 2001 caught the source still in the high flux, Compton–thin state (Maddox et al. 2002).

As the RXTE bandpass extends up to 20 keV, for this source it is possible to distinguish between Compton–thin and Compton–thick reflection (Fig. 4). The detection in the PCA highest energy band is too strong to be explained as pure reflection by matter with $`N_H2\times 10^{23}`$ cm-2. In this case, therefore, the (thick) reflector must be different from the (thin) absorber.

### 2.3 NGC 1365

A BeppoSAX observation on August 1997 detected in this source a bright Seyfert nucleus, seen through a Compton–thin ($`N_H4\times 10^{23}`$ cm-2; Risaliti et al. 2000) absorber. On the contrary, an ASCA observation, performed three years earlier, detected a very flat X-ray continuum ($`\mathrm{\Gamma }0.8`$) and a 2.1 keV K$`\alpha `$ iron line, both indicating a reflection–dominated state (Fig. 5). Due to the limited bandwidth of ASCA, and similarly to UGC 4203, the possibility that the reflector is simply the inner wall of the absorber cannot be ruled out.

### 2.4 NGC 2992

The brightest and best studied source in our little sample is NGC 2992, a Seyfert 1.9 galaxy with an X–ray absorbing column density N$`{}_{H}{}^{}9\times 10^{21}`$ cm-2. The X–ray flux of NGC 2992 steadily declined since 1978, when it was observed by HEAO–1 (Mushotzky 1982) at a (unabsorbed) flux level of about 8$`\times `$10-11 erg cm-2 s-1, until 1994, when it was observed by ASCA (Weaver et al. 1996) at a flux level more than one order of magnitude fainter. Then the source underwent a rapid recovery: in 1997 it was observed by BeppoSAX at a flux level somewhat higher than in 1994, while in 1998 it fully recovered its 1978 brightness (Gilli et al. 2000; see Fig. 5).

In this case the comparison between the Compton-thin and the ASCA almost reflection-dominated states clearly rules out the possibility that the reflector is the inner wall of the absorber. The 4-10 to 2-4 keV flux ratio during the ASCA observation is $`0.35\pm 0.02`$ (corresponding to $`\mathrm{\Gamma }1.15`$), which is largely inconsistent with the theoretical value expected from a reflection dominated spectrum by a column density $`10^{22}`$ cm-2 (0.53). It is worth noting that in both BeppoSAX observations the power law spectral index was typical for AGN ($`\mathrm{\Gamma }1.7`$), again indicating that the flux recovery is likely to be associated with the re-emergence of the AGN nuclear emission. In summary, for this source there is no doubt that the absorbing and reflecting regions do not have the same column density and likely belong to different gaseous structures.

## 3 Discussion

We have presented evidence of the switching–off of the nucleus in a few Seyfert 2 galaxies based on their changed looks (from Compton–thin to reflection–dominated or viceversa) when observed a few years apart. The evidence cannot be considered conclusive yet, and further investigations, both on the same objects and in search of new objects with a similar behaviour, are needed. In the meantime, let us briefly discuss a few interesting consequences of the proposed scenario.

### 3.1 How many reflection–dominated sources are not genuine Compton–thick absorbed?

This is a question that involves, of course, both Seyfert 1s and Seyfert 2s. It is basically impossible to estimate the fraction of these transitions in obscured AGN, due to the lack of a complete and unbiased sample of homogeneously defined Seyfert 2 galaxies with sufficient X-ray temporal and spectroscopic coverage. A XMM–Newton program is ongoing to address this question on the complete sample of Compton–thick AGN defined in Risaliti et al. (1999).

#### 3.1.1 Implications for the optical/X-ray classification mismatch

The existence of a population of Seyfert 1 galaxies with significant X–ray absorption (Maiolino et al. 2001; Fiore et al. 2001; Della Ceca et al. 2001) has been recently recognized. For most of these sources evidence for absorption comes from the flatness of the X–ray spectrum as derived from a hardness ratio analysis, rather than from a direct measurement of the column density, because they are often too faint to allow for a proper spectral analysis. As the X–ray and optical observations are usually not simultaneous, it is possible that this mismatch is, as least for a fraction of these sources, due to a temporary switching–off of the nuclear radiation. Other explanations are still possible (e.g. ionization of the X-ray absorbing medium, low gas-to-dust ratio in the AGN nuclear environment, dust sublimation). However, if the explanation is indeed in terms of variability, with the sources caught in different states by the X-ray and optical observations, one would expect to find also sources which were switched–off when observed in the optical and switched–on when observed in X–rays, namely X–ray unobscured AGN with a type 2 optical spectrum. Objects of this kind have indeed been recently discovered in sparse samples of nearby Seyfert galaxies, as reported by Pappa et al. (2001) and Panessa et al. (2002).

#### 3.1.2 Implications for the cosmic X–ray background

Another possible implication concerns the modeling of the X–ray Background (XRB). Popular synthesis models of the XRB (e.g Comastri et al. 1995) require a significant fraction of moderately Compton–thick sources, in which the nuclear radiation can be directly observed at energies of tens of keV. If many of the reflection–dominated sources will be proven to be simply switched–off AGN, there may be in principle the need for a revision of the XRB synthesis models. As, however, the covering factor of the reflecting matter is by all evidence pretty large (e.g. Matt et al. 2000), it is unlikely that the possible lack of intermediate Compton–thick sources will result to be a serious problem.

### 3.2 How many cold circumnuclear regions?

A question that instead directly follows from the observations of Seyfert 2s which change look, is that of the presence of more than one cold circumnuclear regions.

For at least two out of four sources in our sample, at least two (one thin the other thick) circumnuclear regions are definitely required. (If they actually correspond to two physically and geometrically distinct regions or simply to inhomogeneities in one and the same absorber, it is difficult to say with certainty. However, there is evidence that the Compton–thin absorbers are usually located at much larger distances than the Compton–thick ones, see below). For the other two, this is possible as well, but the limited bandwidth of the observations when the sources were reflection–dominated does not permit to rule out Compton–thin reflection. It is worth noting that in another Compton–thin AGN, NGC 5506, the presence of a Compton–thick reflector can be derived from direct spectral analysis (Matt et al. 2001). Moreover, other Compton-thick AGN in which the soft X-ray spectrum is further absorbed by Compton-thin matter with $`N_H10^{2122}`$ cm-2, are known. The Compton–thin absorber may be associated with the host galaxy disk (e.g. Tololo 0109-389; Matt et al. 2003) or with dusty regions of enhanced stellar formation (e.g. the IR ultraluminous galaxy NGC6240; Iwasawa & Comastri 1998; Vignati et al. 1999).

Several authors have already suggested the presence of more than one cold circumnuclear region in AGN. Maiolino & Rieke (1995), Matt (2000) and Weaver (2001) all proposed the presence of both a Compton–thick and a Compton–thin absorber. While all these authors agree that the Compton–thick absorber should be compact (i.e. the ‘real’ torus) on the base of several direct and indirect evidence in nearby sources (i.e. direct imaging in the Circinus Galaxy, Sambruna et al. 2001; photoionization models of the reflection spectrum in Circinus and NGC 1068, Bianchi et al. 2001, and dynamical mass considerations in the same two sources, Risaliti et al. 1999), there are several possibilities for the Compton–thin absorber: the Galactic disc (Maiolino & Rieke 1995); dust lanes (Malkan et al. 1998; Matt 2000); starburst clouds (Weaver 2002). It is well possible that different Compton–thin absorbers are present in different sources, or even that more than one are simultaneously present in the same source.

## Acknowledgments

GM and RM acknowledges ASI and MIUR (under grant cofin-00-02-36) for financial support.


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# 1 Introduction

## 1 Introduction

The RS2 model  is based on the solution for the background metric, which was obtained from the solution for the background metric of the Randall-Sundrum model with two branes  by pushing the negative tension brane to infinity. The model describes gravity in a five-dimensional space-time $`E`$ with one brane embedded into it. We denote the coordinates in $`E`$ by $`\{x^M\}\{x^\mu ,x^4\}`$, $`M=0,1,2,3,4,\mu =0,1,2,3`$, the coordinate $`x^4y`$ parameterizing the fifth dimension, which is infinite. The brane is located at $`y=0`$, and all the fields possess a symmetry under the reflection $`yy`$, which is inherited from the RS1 model. Explicitly, it reads

$`g_{\mu \nu }(x,y)=g_{\mu \nu }(x,y),`$ (1)
$`g_{\mu 4}(x,y)=g_{\mu 4}(x,y),`$
$`g_{44}(x,y)=g_{44}(x,y).`$
The meaning of this symmetry can be easily understood even without referring to the RS1 model: if matter is localized on the brane, all the physical fields should possess a symmetry under the reflection in the brane.

It is a common knowledge that among the degrees of freedom of the RS1 model there is a massless scalar field, called the radion and describing the oscillations of the branes with respect to each other. At the first glance, it seems to be very likely that this degree of freedom should drop from the model, if one brane is pushed to infinity. In fact, this assumption was made in papers , where it was noted that the 44-component of the metric fluctuations, which corresponds to the scalar mode, could be gauged out. However, in this gauge the brane is located not at $`y=0`$, but at $`y=\xi (x)`$. Obviously, this ”bent-brane” formulation destroys the reflection symmetry (1), which makes the approach based on this gauge inconsistent; this fact was noted in . In paper  it was observed that gauging out the radion field in the straight brane formulation with matter on the brane leads to unphysical solutions, which diverge at infinity. Thus, gauging out the radion field resulted in some discrepancies, and it looks as if this field were of particular importance in the RS2 model. In the present paper we are going to study the role of the radion in the RS2 model more thoroughly. We begin with briefly discussing the main features of the RS2 model.

The action of the model is

$$S=S_g+S_{brane},$$
(2)
where $`S_g`$ and $`S_{brane}`$ are given by

$`S_g`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{16\pi \widehat{G}}}{\displaystyle _E}\left(R\mathrm{\Lambda }\right)\sqrt{g}d^4x𝑑y,`$ (3)
$`S_{brane}`$ $`=`$ $`V{\displaystyle _E}\sqrt{\stackrel{~}{g}}\delta (y)d^4x𝑑y.`$
Here $`\stackrel{~}{g}_{\mu \nu }`$ is the induced metric on the brane and $`V`$ is the brane tension. We also note that the signature of the metric $`g_{MN}`$ is chosen to be $`(,+,+,+,+)`$.

The Randall-Sundrum solution for the metric is given by

$$ds^2=g_{MN}dx^Mdx^N=e^{2\sigma (y)}\eta _{\mu \nu }dx^\mu dx^\nu +dy^2,$$
(4)
where $`\eta _{\mu \nu }`$ is the Minkowski metric and the function $`\sigma (y)=k|y|`$. The parameter $`k`$ is positive and has the dimension of mass; the parameters $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ and $`V`$ are related to it as follows:

$$\mathrm{\Lambda }=12k^2,V=\frac{3k}{4\pi \widehat{G}}.$$

We see that the brane has a positive energy density. The function $`\sigma `$ has the properties

$$_4\sigma =ksign(y),\frac{^2\sigma }{y^2}=2k\delta (y).$$
(5)
Here and in the sequel $`_4\frac{}{y}`$.

We denote $`\widehat{\kappa }=\sqrt{16\pi \widehat{G}}`$, where $`\widehat{G}`$ is the five-dimensional gravitational constant, and parameterize the metric $`g_{MN}`$ as

$$g_{MN}=\gamma _{MN}+\widehat{\kappa }h_{MN},$$
(6)
$`h_{MN}`$ being the metric fluctuations. Substituting this parameterization into (2) and retaining the terms of the zeroth order in $`\widehat{\kappa }`$, we can get the second variation action of this model. In  the second variation action for the RS1 model was obtained, and we can apply this result to the RS2 model just by changing the definition of $`\sigma (y)`$ and of its derivatives.

The action is invariant under the gauge transformations

$`h_{MN}^{}(x,y)=h_{MN}(x,y)(_M\xi _N(x,y)+_N\xi _M(x,y)),`$ (7)
where $`_M`$ is the covariant derivative with respect to the background metric $`\gamma _{MN}`$, and the functions $`\xi ^M(x,y)`$ satisfy the symmetry conditions

$`\xi ^\mu (x,y)`$ $`=`$ $`\xi ^\mu (x,y)`$ (8)
$`\xi ^4(x,y)`$ $`=`$ $`\xi ^4(x,y).`$
Equations (7) can be rewritten in a more useful component form as follows:

$`h_{\mu \nu }^{}\left(x\right)`$ $`=`$ $`h_{\mu \nu }\left(x\right)\left(_\mu \xi _\nu +_\nu \xi _\mu +2\gamma _{\mu \nu }_4\sigma \xi _4\right),`$ (9)
$`h_{\mu 4}^{}\left(x\right)`$ $`=`$ $`h_{\mu 4}\left(x\right)\left(_\mu \xi _4+_4\xi _\mu 2_4\sigma \xi _\mu \right),`$ (10)
$`h_{44}^{}\left(x\right)`$ $`=`$ $`h_{44}\left(x\right)2_4\xi _4.`$ (11)
## 2 Gauge conditions and equations of motion for <br>linearized gravity

Now let us discuss the gauge conditions and equations of motion for linearized gravity in the presence of matter on the brane. The interaction with matter on the brane has the standard form

$$\frac{\widehat{\kappa }}{2}_{brane}h^{\mu \nu }(x,0)t_{\mu \nu }(x)𝑑x,$$
(12)
$`t_{\mu \nu }(x)`$ denoting the energy-momentum tensor of the matter.

First, we would like to emphasize that in general all fluctuations of metric must satisfy the physical boundary conditions at $`y\pm \mathrm{}`$, $`x^i\pm \mathrm{}(i=1,2,3)`$, i.e. vanish at spatial infinity. This is a reasonable assumption - for example, the $`h_{00}`$-component is associated with Newton’s potential, which must vanish at infinity (for the matter, which is localized in some finite domain). Below we will show that the fields of certain exact solutions (for example, with point-like matter sources) do satisfy these boundary conditions.

Obviously, the gauge functions $`\xi ^M(x,y)`$ must be finite everywhere in $`E`$. This means that

$$\xi _\mu =e^{2\sigma }\eta _{\mu \nu }\xi ^\nu |_{y\pm \mathrm{}}0.$$

The situation with $`\xi _4`$ is more complicated, since $`\xi _4=g_{44}\xi ^4=\xi ^4`$. Let us consider equation (10). It follows from this equation that if $`\xi _4`$ does not depend on four-dimensional coordinates $`x`$, we can satisfy the physical boundary condition for the field $`h_{\mu 4}`$ without requiring $`\xi _4`$ to vanish at $`y\pm \mathrm{}`$. But in this case the last term in the r.h.s. of (9) does not satisfy the physical boundary condition for the field $`h_{\mu \nu }`$ at $`x^i\pm \mathrm{}`$. This means that $`\xi _4`$ must be $`x`$-dependent and vanish at $`x^i\pm \mathrm{}`$. At the same time the form of the second term in the r.h.s. of (10) shows that $`\xi _4`$ must vanish at $`y\pm \mathrm{}`$ to satisfy the physical boundary conditions for the field $`h_{\mu 4}`$. Thus, we have the following boundary conditions for $`\xi _M`$:

$$\xi _M|_{x^i,y\pm \mathrm{}}0$$
(13)
Now let us examine the equations of motion. They look as follows:

1) $`\mu \nu `$-component

$`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}\left(_\rho ^\rho h_{\mu \nu }_\mu ^\rho h_{\rho \nu }_\nu ^\rho h_{\rho \mu }+_4_4h_{\mu \nu }\right)`$
$``$ $`2k^2h_{\mu \nu }+{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}_\mu _\nu \stackrel{~}{h}+{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}_\mu _\nu h_{44}_4\sigma (_\mu h_{\nu 4}+_\nu h_{\mu 4}){\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}_4(_\mu h_{\nu 4}+_\nu h_{\mu 4})+`$
$`+`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}\gamma _{\mu \nu }(^\rho ^\sigma h_{\rho \sigma }_\rho ^\rho \stackrel{~}{h}_4_4\stackrel{~}{h}4_4\sigma _4\stackrel{~}{h}_\rho ^\rho h_{44}+12k^2h_{44}+3_4\sigma _4h_{44}+`$
$`+`$ $`2^\rho _4h_{\rho 4}+4_4\sigma ^\rho h_{\rho 4})+(2kh_{\mu \nu }3k\gamma _{\mu \nu }h_{44})\delta (y)={\displaystyle \frac{\widehat{\kappa }}{2}}t_{\mu \nu }(x)\delta (y),`$
2) $`\mu 4`$-component

$$_4(_\mu \stackrel{~}{h}^\nu h_{\mu \nu })3_4\sigma _\mu h_{44}^\nu \left(_\mu h_{\nu 4}_\nu h_{\mu 4}\right)=0,$$
(15)
3) $`44`$-component

$$\frac{1}{2}(^\mu ^\nu h_{\mu \nu }_\mu ^\mu \stackrel{~}{h})\frac{3}{2}_4\sigma _4\stackrel{~}{h}+6k^2h_{44}+3_4\sigma ^\mu h_{\mu 4}=0,$$
(16)
where $`\stackrel{~}{h}=\gamma ^{\mu \nu }h_{\mu \nu }`$.

In what follows, we will also use an auxiliary equation, which is obtained by multiplying the equation for $`44`$-component by 2 and subtracting it from the contracted equation for $`\mu \nu `$-component. This equation contains $`\stackrel{~}{h}`$, $`h_{\mu 4}`$ and $`h_{44}`$ only and has the form:

$$_4\left(e^{2\sigma }_4\stackrel{~}{h}\right)4_4\left(e^{2\sigma }_4\sigma h_{44}\right)2_4(e^{2\sigma }^\mu h_{\mu 4})+\mathrm{}h_{44}=\frac{\widehat{\kappa }}{3}t_\mu ^\mu (x)\delta (y),$$
(17)
where $`\mathrm{}=\eta ^{\mu \nu }_\mu _\nu `$. By integrating this equation in the limits $`(\mathrm{},\mathrm{})`$ and using the physical boundary conditions for the fields $`h_{\mu \nu }`$, $`h_{\mu 4}`$ and $`h_{44}`$, we find that the function $`\phi (x)`$, defined by

$$_{\mathrm{}}^{\mathrm{}}h_{44}(y)𝑑y=\phi (x),$$
(18)
is not equal to zero and satisfies the equation

$$\mathrm{}\phi (x)=\frac{\widehat{\kappa }}{3}\eta ^{\mu \nu }t_{\mu \nu }(x)\frac{\widehat{\kappa }}{3}t(x).$$
(19)
Obviously, the admissible gauge transformations do not alter the physical boundary conditions for the metric fluctuations, and therefore equation (19) holds in any gauge. This is an equation for a four-dimensional scalar field, which coincides with the equation for the radion field in the RS1 model with matter on the positive tension brane .

Thus, we arrive at the corollary that the radion field cannot be gauged out in the RS2 model, because otherwise the equations of motion for linearized gravity become inconsistent. In other words, this means that the gauge functions $`\xi _4`$, corresponding to the gauge $`h_{44}=0`$, do not satisfy the boundary conditions at $`y\pm \mathrm{}`$, which is a good check of the consistency of our approach. In fact, this was noted in . It was shown there that the solutions for the linearized gravity in the absence of the radion are unphysical, i.e. they diverge at $`y=\pm \mathrm{}`$.

We will use the following form of $`\xi _4`$ to impose an appropriate gauge on the field $`h_{44}`$:

$$\xi _4(x,y)=\frac{1}{4}_y^yh_{44}(x,y^{})𝑑y^{}\frac{1}{4C}_y^yF(y^{})𝑑y^{}_{\mathrm{}}^{\mathrm{}}h_{44}(x,y^{})𝑑y^{},$$
(20)
where $`F|_{y\pm \mathrm{}}=0`$ and

$$C=_{\mathrm{}}^{\mathrm{}}F(y)𝑑y.$$
(21)
Note that $`\xi _4`$ satisfies the symmetry and the boundary conditions. With the help of (20) we can pass to the gauge, in which

$$h_{44}(x,y)=F(y)\varphi (x),$$
(22)
where

$$\varphi (x)=\frac{1}{C}_{\mathrm{}}^{\mathrm{}}h_{44}(x,y)𝑑y$$
(23)
and depends on $`x`$ only. It turns out to be convenient to choose $`F(y)=e^{2\sigma }=e^{2k|y|}`$. Obviously, the field $`h_{44}`$ satisfies the symmetry and the physical boundary conditions in this gauge. Moreover, we have no residual gauge transformations with $`\xi _4`$. We also note that since $`\xi _4(x,0)=0`$, the brane remains straight in this gauge, i.e. we do not use the bent-brane formulation , which allegedly destroys the structure of the model (this problem was discussed in ).

We would like to note that the gauge choice of the type (22) with an arbitrary finite even function $`F(y)`$ can be used it the RS1 model as well. For example, a gauge with $`h_{44}(x,y)e^{2k|y|}\varphi (x)`$ was used in .

Now let us discuss the gauge condition for the field $`A_\mu =h_{\mu 4}`$. Let us take the gauge function $`\xi _\mu (x,y)`$ in the following form:

$$\xi _\mu (x,y)=e^{2\sigma }_{\mathrm{}}^ye^{2\sigma }A_\mu (x^\nu ,y^{})𝑑y^{}.$$
(24)
Of course, this definition makes sense, if the field $`A_\mu `$ is such that the integral in (24) is well convergent to provide an acceptable ($`e^{2\sigma }`$) decrease of $`\xi _\mu `$. One can easily see that due to the symmetry $`A_\mu (x,y)=A_\mu (x,y)`$ (see (1)), $`\xi _\mu (x,y)`$ satisfies the symmetry condition $`\xi _\mu (x,y)=\xi _\mu (x,y)`$. Moreover, it is easy to see that $`\xi _\mu (x,y)|_{y\pm \mathrm{}}0`$, at least in the sense of the principal value of the integral in eq. (24) (again due to the symmetry of $`A_\mu `$). Finally, it is not difficult to check that the gauge transformation with $`\xi _\mu `$ given by (24) gauges the field $`A_\mu `$ out.

We think that this formal argumentation can be used in favor of the possibility to make the $`A_\mu `$-field vanish everywhere. Moreover, with a different motivation, an expression similar to (24) was assumed to be well defined in . Anyway, in all the papers concerning the RS2 model it is universally recognized that the field $`A_\mu `$ can be gauged away (see, for example, ). Thus, we also adhere to this opinion. As we will see later, equations of motion can be solved exactly in the gauge $`A_\mu =0`$ (see also ).

After this gauge fixing we are still left with residual gauge transformations of the form

$$_4\left(e^{2\sigma }\xi _\mu \right)=0.$$
(25)
Now we are ready to solve equations of motion in the gauge

$`h_{\mu 4}(x,y)=0,`$ (26)
$`h_{44}(x,y)=e^{2\sigma }\varphi (x).`$
## 3 Solution of the equations of motion

The substitution, which allows us to solve equations of motion in the gauge (26), has the form

$$h_{\mu \nu }=b_{\mu \nu }+\frac{1}{2}e^{2\sigma }\gamma _{\mu \nu }\varphi \frac{1}{2k^2}\sigma e^{2\sigma }_\mu _\nu \varphi .$$
(27)
Note that if $`b_{\mu \nu }|_{y\pm \mathrm{}}0`$, then $`h_{\mu \nu }|_{y\pm \mathrm{}}0`$. Substituting (27) into (15), (16), (17) and using the notation $`\stackrel{~}{b}=\gamma ^{\mu \nu }b_{\mu \nu }`$, similar to the one utilized in (15), (16), we get

$$_4(_\mu \stackrel{~}{b}^\nu b_{\mu \nu })=0,$$
(28)
$$(^\mu ^\nu b_{\mu \nu }_\mu ^\mu \stackrel{~}{b})3_4\sigma _4\stackrel{~}{b}=0,$$
(29)
$$_4\left(e^{2\sigma }_4\stackrel{~}{b}\right)+\frac{1}{k}\mathrm{}\varphi \delta (y)=\frac{\widehat{\kappa }}{3}t_\mu ^\mu (x)\delta (y).$$
(30)
Integrating (30) in the limits $`(\mathrm{},\mathrm{})`$ and using the physical boundary conditions for the field $`b_{\mu \nu }`$, we get

$$\mathrm{}\varphi =\frac{\widehat{\kappa }k}{3}t.$$
(31)
This mean that

$$_4\stackrel{~}{b}=B(x)e^{2\sigma },$$
(32)
where $`B(x)`$ is some function of $`x`$ only. Using the symmetry conditions (1), we obtain $`B(x)0`$.

Recall that we have at our disposal the gauge transformations satisfying (25). With the help of these transformations, we can impose the gauge

$$\stackrel{~}{b}=b=0,$$
(33)
where $`b=\eta ^{\mu \nu }b_{\mu \nu }`$. It is easy to see that there remain gauge transformations parameterized by $`\xi _\mu =e^{2\sigma }ϵ_\mu (x)`$ with $`ϵ_\mu (x)`$ satisfying $`^\mu ϵ_\mu =0`$. Substituting expression (33) into (28) and (29) we arrive at the following system of relations:

$`^\mu ^\nu b_{\mu \nu }`$ $`=`$ $`0,`$ (34)
$`_4(e^{2\sigma }^\mu b_{\mu \nu })`$ $`=`$ $`0,`$ (35)
where indices are raised with flat Minkowski metric $`\eta ^{\mu \nu }`$. The remaining gauge transformations are sufficient to impose the condition

$$^\mu b_{\mu \nu }=0.$$
(36)
The conditions (33) and (36) define the gauge, which is usually called the transverse-traceless (TT) gauge. Having imposed this gauge, we are still left with residual gauge transformations

$$\xi _\mu =e^{2\sigma }ϵ_\mu (x),\mathrm{}ϵ_\mu =0,^\mu ϵ_\mu =0,$$
(37)
which are important for determining the number of degrees of freedom of the massless mode of $`b_{\mu \nu }`$.

Substituting (27) into (2) and using (33), (36) and (31), we get the well-known equation

$`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}\left(e^{2\sigma }\mathrm{}b_{\mu \nu }+_4_4b_{\mu \nu }\right)2k^2b_{\mu \nu }+2kb_{\mu \nu }\delta (y)=`$ (38)
$`={\displaystyle \frac{\widehat{\kappa }}{2}}\delta (y)\left[t_{\mu \nu }{\displaystyle \frac{1}{3}}\left(\eta _{\mu \nu }{\displaystyle \frac{_\mu _\nu }{\mathrm{}}}\right)t\right].`$
This equation is identical to the one obtained by Garriga and Tanaka . It was solved exactly, for example, in , and the solution for ordinary (not tachyonic) matter on the brane looks like

$$b_{\mu \nu }(x,y)=\frac{1}{(2\pi )^4}_{p^2>0}e^{i\eta _{\mu \nu }p^\mu x^\nu }\stackrel{~}{b}_{\mu \nu }(p,y)d^4p,$$
(39)
where for $`p^2=p_0^2+\stackrel{}{p}^2>0`$ (which includes the static case $`p_0=0`$)

$`\stackrel{~}{b}_{\mu \nu }(p,y)=\left[\stackrel{~}{t}_{\mu \nu }{\displaystyle \frac{1}{3}}\left(\eta _{\mu \nu }{\displaystyle \frac{p_\mu p_\nu }{p^2}}\right)\stackrel{~}{t}\right]{\displaystyle \frac{\widehat{\kappa }}{2\sqrt{p^2}}}{\displaystyle \frac{K_2\left(\frac{\sqrt{p^2}}{k}e^{k|y|}\right)}{K_1\left(\frac{\sqrt{p^2}}{k}\right)}}.`$ (40)
We note, that (40) coincides with the corresponding formula for the RS1 model, obtained in , in the limit $`R\mathrm{}`$.

Thus, the exact solution for linearized gravity in our gauge is given by (27), (33), (36), (31), (39) and (40). Taking into account, that $`\varphi `$ does not depend on the extra coordinate $`y`$ and using (27), (39), (40) one can easy see that with a ”good” energy-momentum tensor $`t_{\mu \nu }(x)`$ (for example, that of a static point-like source) fields $`h_{\mu \nu }(x,y)`$ and $`h_{44}(x,y)`$ decay to zero at the spatial infinity.

Now let us examine gravity on the brane. The fluctuations of the metric on the brane have the following form

$$h_{\mu \nu }(x,0)=b_{\mu \nu }(x,0)+\frac{\widehat{\kappa }k}{6}\eta _{\mu \nu }\mathrm{}^1t.$$
(41)
Using (38), one can easy see that equation (41) coincides with the solutions for gravity on the brane, obtained in , although we did not use the ”bent-brane” formulation, which was used in .

Finally, we have to answer the question, which was posed in the title of the paper. Obviously, it amounts to finding the number of the independent degrees of freedom in the RS2 model. As we have shown, we cannot completely gauge away the radion field in the presence of matter on the brane (see (19)). The situation is rather different, if there is no matter on the brane. In this case we deal with equations for the free fields, possessing solutions of the plane wave type, which do not vanish at infinity. Therefore, we have to drop the physical boundary conditions for all the components of the metric fluctuations. Thus, there is no need for the gauge function $`\xi _4`$ to decay to zero at $`y\pm \mathrm{}`$ (though the functions $`\xi _\mu `$ must still decay to zero at $`y\pm \mathrm{}`$, because $`\xi ^M`$ must be finite everywhere in $`E`$ and $`\xi _\mu =e^{2\sigma }\eta _{\mu \nu }\xi ^\nu `$). It means that the radion field can be gauged out and is no more an independent degree of freedom of the RS2 model in this case. Nevertheless, the radion field appears, if we place matter sources on the brane, and it allows us to solve consistently the equations of motion.

We can find an analogy to this situation in electrodynamics. It is a common knowledge that longitudinal photons do not appear in the asymptotic states (on the mass shell), whereas their contribution is important in the radiative corrections (off the mass shell). The radion field is very similar to longitudinal photons: it is absent in the asymptotic states, but it is absolutely necessary for consistently describing the interaction off the mass shell.

There is another problem, which may arise in the case of the absence of matter on the brane. Since we drop the physical boundary conditions for the field $`A_\mu `$ ($`A_\mu |_{y\pm \mathrm{}}0`$), the gauge parameter $`\xi _\mu `$, defined by formula (24), may not decay to zero $`e^{2\sigma }`$ at infinity. This means that there may be additional degrees of freedom in the RS2 model. This problem deserves a more detailed investigation.

## 4 Conclusion

In the present paper we have studied the boundary conditions for the metric fluctuations and the gauge functions in the RS2 model with and without matter on the branes and solved exactly the equations of motion in the presence of matter on the brane in a convenient gauge. The validity of the imposed gauge conditions was carefully checked. The gauge is very simple and is more transparent from the physical point of view, than the gauge used in , where the equations for linearized gravity were solved exactly as well. Another advantage of this gauge choice is that the brane remains straight in this case. We have shown that although the radion is not an independent degree of freedom of the model, it is indispensable in the case of the presence of matter on the brane (in this case the radion field cannot be completely gauged away). The analysis made above is completely equivalent to the one made in , where linearized gravity in the RS1 model was treated. We believe that the physically transparent method, which was used in this paper, is useful for understanding the general structure of both Randall-Sundrum models.

Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to B.A. Arbuzov, G.Yu. Bogoslovsky, R.N. Faustov, V.I. Savrin, L.M. Slad and N.P. Yudin for useful discussions. The work was supported by the grant UR.02.03.002 of the programme ”Universities of Russia”. I.V. was supported in part by the programme SCOPES (Scientific co-operation between Eastern Europe and Switzerland) of the Swiss National Science Foundation, project No. 7SUPJ062239, and financed by Federal Department of Foreign Affairs.