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# The nature of the short wavelength excitations in vitreous silica: X-Rays Brillouin scattering study.

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## Abstract

The dynamical structure factor ($`S(Q,E)`$) of vitreous silica has been measured by Inelastic X-ray Scattering varying the exchanged wavevector ($`Q`$) at fixed exchanged energy ($`E`$) - an experimental procedure that, contrary to the usual one at constant $`Q`$, provides spectra with much better identified inelastic features. This allows the first direct evidence of Brillouin peaks in the $`S(Q,E)`$ of $`SiO_2`$ at energies above the Boson Peak (BP) energy, a finding that excludes the possibility that the BP marks the transition from propagating to localised dynamics in glasses.

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The nature of the high frequency collective vibrations in glasses is highly debated in the physics of disordered materials . At long wavelengths, these vibrations are thought to be well approximated by propagating plane waves (sound waves) with a linear relationship between energy, $`E`$, and wavevector, $`Q`$. Increasing $`Q`$, and in particular when $`Q`$ becomes comparable to the inverse of the interparticle separation $`a`$, the simple linear relation between $`E`$ and $`Q`$ no longer holds, and the dispersion relation shows a bend down, a maximum at $`Q\pi /a`$ and a broad minimum at $`Q2\pi /a`$: this behaviour closely resembles that of the phonon dispersion relation in crystals. At variance with this apparent crystal-like behaviour, several evidences indicate that, even in the low $`Q`$ limit, the nature of the excitations in glasses is by far more complicated than in crystals. Among these evidences there are the universal low temperature anomalies observed in the heat capacity and heat conductivity , and the presence of the so called Boson Peak in Raman  and Inelastic Neutron Scattering (INS) spectra. Despite the experimental and theoretical efforts that in the last years have been devoted to the characterisation of the excitations in disordered systems, the central question about this issue, namely the propagating or localised character of the collective excitations, is not completely settled.

Two main interpretations of the existing experimental data have been proposed so far: they lead to a contrasting view on the nature of the collective excitations in the mesoscopic $`Q`$-$`E`$ region ($`Q`$=1-10 nm-1) . One view assumes that the static disorder in the glass produces strong elastic scattering of sound waves and, as a consequence, the vibrational modes at become localised above a cross-over energy ($`E_{CO}`$). In particular, it is assumed that the Boson Peak energy corresponds to this cross-over energy marking the onset of localisation. The second point of view is based on experimental evidences indicating that the vibrations in glasses maintain a collective propagating nature even at energies well above the Boson peak energy. In this respect, the high energy dynamic structure factor ($`S(Q,E)`$) of different glasses and glass-forming liquids, ranging from fragile systems to strong ones, have been recently investigated by the new Inelastic X-ray Scattering (IXS) technique . These studies have shown the existence of inelastic features whose energy $`\mathrm{\Omega }_Q`$ has an almost linear dispersion with $`Q`$. This extends up to $`Q`$ values few tenth of $`Q_o`$ (the position of the first maximum in the static structure factor $`S(Q)`$) and up to energies in the Boson Peak energy region. These findings demonstrate that propagating collective excitations persist in the mesoscopic $`Q`$ region, and, in particular, that the Boson Peak energy ($`E_{BP}`$) cannot be straightforwardly related to the cross over energy marking the transition between propagating and localised vibrations.

The IXS data reported so far for vitreous silica (v-$`SiO_2`$), despite the generality of the IXS data on the other studied glasses which support the second point of view, are utilised to support either the localised , or the propagating  picture. This conflicting situation is particularly unsatisfactory considering that v-$`SiO_2`$ is the prototype of strong glasses. This can be partly ascribed to the low intensity of the inelastic signal compared to the tail of the resolution broadened elastic one. Indeed, even at the highest investigated temperature, the inelastic contribution in the IXS spectra of v-$`SiO_2`$ is observed as a weak shoulder of the elastic line as can be seen in Fig. 2 of Ref. . As a consequence, in order to deduce from The IXS data the existence of Brillouin peaks and compare their lineshapes to theoretical predictions, the data must be fitted to a theoretical model and deconvoluted from the instrumental response function. As a matter of fact, these experimental data do not give a clear-cut indication on the choice among contrasting theoretical models. Even in a recent work on densified $`SiO_2`$ glass , where the inelastic peak was slightly better resolved than in v-$`SiO_2`$, the Brillouin intensity was so weak that a considerable effort of subjective data processing was needed to compare the experimental result to theories.

In this paper we present a direct experimental evidence on the existence of well defined Brillouin peaks in the IXS spectra of amorphous silica. At variance with the previous IXS experiments on v-$`SiO_2`$ , where the spectra were measured at constant $`Q`$ and as a function of $`E`$, here we present constant $`E`$ cuts of $`S(Q,E)`$ taken as a function of $`Q`$. To appreciate the advantage of this approach, we remind that in the constant $`Q`$ spectra, as a consequence of the finite energy resolution, the elastic component gives rise to a $`E^2`$ tail whose intensity in the Brillouin peak region is often stronger than that of that of the peak itself. Therefore, the extraction of the spectroscopic parameters of the Brillouin peak necessarily requires a fitting procedure and the assumption of a model function for the $`S(Q,E)`$. On the contrary, in the constant $`E`$ measurements -the procedure utilised in the present experiment- the elastic contribution, convoluted to the instrumental response function, gives rise to an almost $`Q`$-independent background which should not affect significantly the position and lineshape of the inelastic signal. This approach allows us to demonstrate the presence of a Brillouin peak at an energy larger than the $`E_{BP}`$. Therefore, without any specific model for the $`S(Q,E)`$, we demonstrate that the Boson Peak does not mark the transition between propagating and non-propagating dynamics in vitreous silica.

The experiment has been carried out at the very high energy resolution IXS beamline (ID16) at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility. The instrument consists of a back-scattering monochromator and five independent analyser systems, held one next to each other with a constant angular offset on a 7 m long analyser arm. We utilised the Si(11 11 11) configuration, giving a total instrumental energy resolution of 1.5 meV full-width-half-maximum (fwhm), and an offset of 3 nm-1 between two neighbour analysers. The momentum transfer, $`Q=2k_{}sin(\theta _s/2)`$, with $`k_{}`$ the wavevector of the incident photons and $`\theta _s`$ the scattering angle, is selected by rotating the analyser arm. Few spectra at constant $`Q`$ and as a function of $`E`$ ($`Q`$=20, 23, 26, 29 and 32 nm-1) were measured with a $`Q`$ resolution of 0.4 nm-1 fwhm for normalisation purposes. The spectra at constant $`E`$ and as a function of $`Q`$ ($`E^{}`$=0, 5.3 and 8.5 meV) were made in two steps. In a first measurement, the spectra were taken in the -2$`÷`$32 nm-1) range by using the five analysers. In a further measurements the -2$`÷`$6 nm-1 region were studied in more detail and with a better accuracy using the analyser number two with a $`Q`$ resolution of 0.4 nm-1 fwhm. The obtained individual spectra have been then pasted together. The $`E`$ scans at constant $`Q`$ were performed by varying the monochromator temperature with respect to that of the analyser crystals. The $`Q`$-scans at constant $`E`$ were performed by setting a constant temperature offset between the monochromator and the analyser crystals and by rotating the analyser-arm to vary the scattering angle. Each spectrum, either at constant $`Q`$ or $`E`$, took about 150’, and each fixed-$`Q`$ or fixed-$`E`$ point was obtained by typical average of five scans. The data were normalised to the intensity of the incident beam. The sample, a Spectrosil-grade $`SiO_2`$, was placed in a variable temperature oven stabilised at 1200 K within $`\pm `$ $`10`$ K. This high temperature was used to enhance the inelastic signal.

The spectra taken at constant energy $`E^{}`$=0, 5.3 and 8.5 meV are reported in Figs. 1a and b. For clarity the error bars are not reported, these are of the order of the scattering of the data with respects to a smooth behaviour. Obviously, increasing energy, the scattering intensity decreases and the spectra become more noisy. The two energy transfers were chosen to be such to correspond to $`E_{BP}`$ ($`E^{}`$=5.3 meV) and on the high frequency side of the Boson Peak ($`E^{}`$=8.5 meV). The $`E^{}`$=0 spectrum has been collected in order to establish the elastic contribution to the spectra at finite energy transfer. This latter spectrum shows, in the measured $`Q`$ range, the intense feature usually referred to as the First Sharp Diffraction Peak (FSDP) centred at about 15 nm-1 and, more importantly, it is almost flat in the 2-6 nm-1 $`Q`$-region, where one should expect Brillouin peaks.

Directly in the raw data of Fig. 1 one can see at low $`Q`$ the existence of well defined structures peaking at 1.25 nm-1 in the $`E^{}`$=5.3 meV cut and 2.1 nm-1 in the $`E^{}`$=8.5 meV cut. These two $`Q`$ positions change almost proportionally to $`E^{}`$. The peaks are superimposed to the featureless elastic contribution. The presence of these peaks in the constant energy spectra is the fingerprint for the existence of vibrational excitations bearing a strict relationship between energy and wavevector. This, in turns, can be seen as a demonstration of the spatially non-localised nature of these excitations, and, in particular, of their propagating character.

The spectra in Fig. 1 contains an elastic contribution as a consequence of the finite energy resolution. In order to subtract the elastic part a series of spectra at constant $`Q`$ have been collected. Two examples of these spectra are reported in Fig. 2a and b for the constant $`Q`$ cuts of $`Q`$=23 and 32 nm-1 (circles). The resolution function (full line), aligned with the elastic peaks, is also reported to emphasise the presence a clear inelastic contribution even at these high $`Q`$ values. These data have been used to normalise the relative intensity between the inelastic and elastic spectra shown in Fig. 1 according to the following procedure. After aligning and scaling the experimentally determined resolution function to the elastic peaks in the spectra of Fig. 2, we estimate the relative intensity between the elastic and inelastic signals at the energy transfers, $`E^{}`$, utilised in the constant-$`E`$ cuts spectra (arrows in Fig. 2a). This elastic to inelastic intensity ratio have been obtained at $`Q`$=20, 23, 26, 29 and 32 nm-1. These ratios allows then to put in the correct relative scale the spectra taken at $`E^{}`$$``$$`0`$ and at $`E^{}`$=0. The consistency of this procedure can be appreciated in Fig. 1 considering that the elastic contribution is shown on a scale determined by the ratio measured at $`Q`$=23 nm-1 in the spectra in Fig. 2a, and that the crossed circles in Fig. 1b are the calculated values of total (elastic plus inelastic) scattering derived from the other constant $`Q`$ scans.

This normalisation procedure is used to derive the inelastic part of the $`S(Q,E)`$ by the subtraction of the normalised elastic contribution from the total scattering intensity. The difference spectra are reported in Fig. 3 (circles) together with the error bars as derived from the counting statistics. In these spectra the existence of well defined Brillouin peaks is highly emphasised. Let us now compare the inelastic spectra reported in Fig. 3 with the predictions of the two models proposed in the literature as a ”good” representation of the dynamics structure factor of vitreous silica. In the first one, the $`S(Q,E)`$ is derived within the framework of the generalised Langevin equation for the considered $`Q`$-component of the density fluctuation correlator , with a choice of the memory function, $`m_Q(t)=2\mathrm{\Gamma }_Q\delta (t)+\mathrm{\Delta }_Q^2`$ . This choice is appropriate for glassy systems. The time independent term $`\mathrm{\Delta }_Q`$, whose value determines the change of the sound velocity, $`c`$, between the fully relaxed ($`c_o`$) and unrelaxed ($`c_{\mathrm{}}`$) limiting values, reflects the presence of the frozen structural $`\alpha `$-relaxation. The parameter $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_Q`$ determines the width of the side peaks, i. e. the sound wave attenuation coefficient, and summarise the effects of very fast (or ”instantaneous”) sound absorption mechanisms. In Ref.s  these mechanisms have been ultimately associated with the presence of structural disorder in the glass. Using the previous expression for $`m_Q(t)`$, the $`S(Q,E)`$ turns out to be:

$$\frac{S(Q,E)}{S(Q)}=f_Q\delta (E)+\frac{1f_Q}{\pi }\frac{\mathrm{\Omega }_Q^2\mathrm{\Gamma }_Q}{(E^2\mathrm{\Omega }_Q^2)^2+E^2\mathrm{\Gamma }_Q^2},$$
(1)
i. e. the sum of an elastic line of intensity $`f_Q`$ ($`f_Q`$ is the non-ergodicity parameter, $`f_Q=1(c_o/c_{\mathrm{}})^2`$), and of an inelastic contribution, whose shape is known as Damped Harmonic Oscillator (DHO). In previous IXS studies on v-$`SiO_2`$, Eq. 1 was used to fit the constant-$`Q`$ measurements leaving $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_Q`$ and $`\mathrm{\Omega }_Q`$ as free parameters. In these studies turned out that, in the small $`Q`$ limit, $`\mathrm{\Omega }_Q`$=$`vQ`$ ($`v`$=6800 m/s)  and $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_Q`$=$`DQ^2`$ ($`D=1.3`$ meV/nm-2) .

Differently from the Langevin equation approach, the authors of Ref.  proposed a model (the so-called EMA model) for the $`S(Q,E)`$ where its inelastic part is assumed to be:

$$S(Q,E)\frac{c_E^2Q^4}{E}\frac{\mathrm{\Gamma }_E}{((E^2+\mathrm{\Gamma }_E^2c_E^2Q^2)^2+4\mathrm{\Gamma }_E^2c_E^2Q^2)}$$
(2)
where $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_E`$ and $`c_E`$ are given by:

$`\mathrm{\Gamma }_E=E^4/E_{CO}^3[1+(E/E_{CO})^m]^{3/m}`$ (3)
$`c_E=c_0[1+(E/E_{CO})^m]^{z/m}`$ (4)
Fitting the IXS data of Ref. , the authors of Ref.  found for the free parameters entering in Eqs. 2-4 the values: $`m`$=2, $`E_{CO}`$=3.9 meV, $`c_0`$=5900 m/s, and $`z`$=0.37.

In Fig. 3 we report as solid and dashed lines the inelastic part of the $`S(Q,E)`$ obtained by Eqs. 1 and 2 respectively convoluted with the experimental resolution function. In calculating the theoretical expressions for the $`S(Q,E)`$ we have used the values of the parameters listed before. The only adjustable parameter is an intensity factors, that has been arbitrarily chosen in order to best fit the experimental data. As can be seen, the DHO model is in a good agreement with both of the constant-$`E`$ spectra in explaining the presence of the Brillouin peak and the high $`Q`$ plateau, although the relative intensity of these two main features is not completely accounted for. On the contrary the EMA model fails to reproduce the existence of the observed Brillouin peak. This is not surprising as the EMA models is based on the assumption that at $``$5 meV (the BP energy) the vibrational modes in vitreous silica became localised. This assumption can be now definitively discarded by the direct inspection of the raw data.

The data $`E^{}`$=5.3 meV clearly discriminate between DHO and EMA models, showing a striking agreement with the DHO. Also the data at $`E^{}`$=8.5 favour the DHO model predictions, although the higher noise level precludes a conclusion as firm as in the $`E^{}`$=5.3 meV case.

In conclusion, this study, independently of any specific model of the $`S(Q,E)`$, has experimentally demonstrated that in v-$`SiO_2`$ there are collective propagating excitations at energies above the Boson peak energy. Moreover, it has shown that the model of the $`S(Q,E)`$ based on the generalised Langevin equation approach is successful in reproducing the main features observed in the experimental data.

Fig.1 - IXS spectra of amorphous silica at T = 1200 K taken as function of $`Q`$ at constant $`E`$: (a) $`E^{}`$=8.5 meV (circles) and $`E^{}`$=0 meV (full line); (b) $`E^{}`$=5.3 meV (circles) and $`E^{}`$=0 meV (full line). The arrows indicate the $`Q`$ positions of the Brillouin peaks. The crossed circles are the total scattered intensity derived from the constant $`Q`$ cuts at energies of $`E^{}`$=8.5 and 5.3 meV.

Fig.2 - IXS spectra of v-$`SiO_2`$ at T = 1200 K taken at constant $`Q`$ (circles): (a) $`Q`$=23 nm-1 and (b) $`Q`$=32 nm-1. The full lines are the resolution function aligned with the elastic peaks. The arrows indicate the energies values of 5.3 and 8.5 meV where the constant-$`E`$ cuts were measured.

Fig.3 - The inelastic contribution to the spectra reported in Fig. 1 (circles) are reported together with their error bars in an expanded $`Q`$ scale: (a) $`E^{}`$=8.5 meV; and (b) $`E^{}`$=5.3 meV. The full (dashed) lines are the parameter-free lineshapes calculated via Eq. 1 (Eq. 2). The two theoretical predictions have been multiplied by arbitrary scale factors.


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# References

WAVELET–PATTERNS IN NUCLEUS–NUCLEUS COLLISIONS AT 158$`A`$ GeV

I.M. Dremin, O.V. Ivanov, S.A. Kalinin, K.A. Kotelnikov, V.A. Nechitailo, N.G. Polukhina

P.N.Lebedev Physical Institute, 117924 Moscow, Russia

## Abstract

We propose to use multidimensional wavelet analysis for pattern recognition in high multiplicity events and consider some examples. Wavelet analysis reveals clustering phenomena in multiparticle production processes. Results of event-by-event studies of some nucleus–nucleus collisions at 158$`A`$ GeV are reported. The clusterization topology is found to be different in different events. Typical patterns include jets and ring-like structures. They are demonstrated here for five high multiplicity events.

With the advent of RHIC and LHC, the events with up to 20000 charged particles produced will be available. The problem of presentation and analysis of these high multiplicity events becomes rather non-trivial. Each particle can be represented by a dot in the 3-dimensional phase space. Therefore, the distribution of these dots can be found for a single event. Different patterns formed by these dots in the phase space would correspond to different dynamics. At lower energies, it has been shown that the distribution averaged over all events possesses fractal properties  which become however less pronounced for nucleus-nucleus collisions as compared to hadron interactions. It would be instructive to learn if the same happens for individual events with multiplicity increasing.

When individual events are imaged visually, the human eye has a tendency to observe different kinds of intricate patterns with dense clusters (spikes) and rarefied voids. However, the observed effects are often dominated by statistical fluctuations. The method of factorial moments was proposed  to remove the statistical background in a global analysis and it shows fractal properties even in event-by-event approach. The wavelet analysis reveals the local properties of any pattern in an individual event at various scales and, moreover, avoids smooth polynomial trends and underlines the fluctuation patterns. By choosing the strongest fluctuations, one hopes to get those dynamical ones which exceed the statistical component.

First attempts to use wavelet analysis in multiparticle production go back to P. Carruthers  who used wavelets for diagonalisation of covariance matrices of some simplified cascade models. The proposals of correlation studies in high multiplicity events with the help of wavelets were promoted , and also, in particular, for special correlations typical for the disoriented chiral condensate . The wavelet transform of the pseudorapidity spectra of JACEE events was done in Ref. . In Ref.  wavelets were first used to analyze two-dimensional patterns of fluctuations in the phase space of individual high multiplicity events of Pb-Pb interaction at energy 158 GeV per nucleon. Averaging over many events can hide the individual patterns. The event-by-event study provides further insight into the underlying dynamics of high multiplicity events where statistical fluctuations become less important.

Previously, some attempts  to consider such events with different methods of treating the traditional projection and correlation measures revealed just that such substructures lead to spikes in the angular (pseudorapidity) distribution and are somewhat jetty. Various Monte Carlo simulations of the process were compared to the data and failed to describe this jettyness in its full strength. More detailed analysis  of large statistics data on hadron-hadron interactions (unfortunately, however, for rather low multiplicity) with dense groups of particles separated showed some ”anomaly” in the angular distribution of these groups.

We have analyzed nucleus-nucleus collisions at 158 GeV/nucleon and demonstrate here five high multiplicity events used for wavelet decomposition with the aim to study the patterns inherent to them.

The data was taken from the emulsion chamber experiment EMU-15 at CERN by the group from Lebedev Physical Institute. The chamber contains thin lead target of 300 $`\mu `$m thickness and 38 nuclear emulsion layers each of 50 $`\mu `$m thickness deposited on the 25 $`\mu `$m mylar base . The first layer is placed in direct contact with the target, the second layer is separated from it by 300 $`\mu `$m, the gaps between others vary but are not less than 3 mm. The target and layers are placed perpendicular to the impinging beam of Pb nuclei. This geometry provides good track resolution. The total thickness of the nuclear emulsion in the chamber is about 0.07 cascade units. Such a small size is very important for registration of central Pb-Pb collisions with many hundreds of charged secondaries produced. The chamber was located in the transverse magnetic field of $`B=2`$T, and it allowed to analyze both angles and momenta (for curved enough tracks) of charged particles. For the present analysis, we use, however, the information about the angles only and show here just five central Pb-Pb events with the highest registered multiplicities from 1034 to 1221 charged particles.

The target diagrams of secondary particles distributions for these events are shown in Fig. 1, where the radial distance from the center measures the polar angle $`\theta `$, and the azimuthal angle $`\varphi `$ is counted around the center. One can sum over the azimuthal angle and plot the corresponding pseudorapidity ($`\eta =\mathrm{log}\mathrm{tan}\theta /2`$) distributions shown in Fig. 2. The pronounced peaks ($`\eta `$-spikes) strongly exceeding expected statistical fluctuations are seen in individual events. This inhomogeneity in pseudorapidity can arise either due to a very strong jet i.e. a large group of particles close both in polar and azimuthal angles or due to a ring-like structure when several jets with smaller number of particles in each of them have similar polar angle but differ in their azimuthal angles111It can be called the tower substructure  of the ring. (in the limiting case, they can overlap and form a rather continuous ring222Then it is called the wall substructure .). In all these cases spikes of the pseudorapidity distribution ($`\eta `$-spikes) are observed. The possibility for one or several jets to have a predicted and similar polar angle was discussed in the framework of a hypothesis of Cherenkov gluons . According to it, each colliding nucleus is considered as a bunch of quarks traversing the hadronic medium (another nucleus) and emitting gluons producing final jets. Cherenkov gluons can be created if the nuclear refractivity index exceeds 1. This excess is related to the positivity of the real part of the forward elastic scattering amplitude for hadrons observed in experiment. Thus the necessary condition for this radiation type is fulfilled. The ring-like structure can result from the gluon radiation at a short radiation length as well. Depending on the mean number of gluons produced in a single event, the resulting (the tower or the wall) pattern can differ. It is a well defined position of the ring depending on the radiation length  which is important for theoretical conclusions but not only the jettyness of the ring by itself. Moreover one can expect that the statistical background is rather high if the probability of such radiation is low.

As mentioned above, earlier analysis  showed that even though the statistical fluctuations dominate in the azimuthal structure of ring-like events and global characterization of all events is not conclusive, the real sample shows larger jettyness than in the generated samples. For very dense and isolated groups selected, their angular distribution  favoured the theoretical predictions. At present we do not have high statistics of very high multiplicity events to check the latest result and will concentrate here on patterns in individual events. We rely on emulsion data because inhomogeneity of acceptance in other detectors can not be corrected in the event-by-event analysis and thus results in ascribing the false patterns to individual events.

To reveal these patterns one should perform the two-dimensional local analysis. It is strongly desirable to get rid of such drawback of the histogram method as fixed positions of bins that gives rise to splitting of a jet into pieces contained in two or more bins. This chance is provided by the wavelet transform of particle densities on the two-dimensional plot. Wavelets choose automatically the size and shapes of bins (so-called Heisenberg windows; see, e.g., Ref. ) depending on particle densities at a given position. The multiresolution analysis at different scales and in different regions is performed.

Previously, we presented the results of the one-dimensional analysis  of the two-dimensional plot of one event numbered 19 in Figs.1 and 2 of that paper. To proceed in this way, we subdivided the whole azimuthal region into 24 sectors (thus preserving the histogram drawback in this coordinate), analyzed the pseudorapidity distributions in each of them separately after integrating over azimuthal angles within a given sector, and connected them afterwards. Both jet and ring-like structures have been found from the values of squared wavelet coefficients as seen from Figs. of Ref. . At small scales, the wavelet analysis reveals individual particles. At larger scales, the clusters or jets of particles are resolved. Finally, at ever larger scale we noticed the ring-like structure around the center of the target diagram which penetrated from one azimuthal sector to another at almost constant value of the polar angle (pseudorapidity). For the event 19, this structure approximately corresponds to the peak in its histogram in Fig. 2 or to the ring shown by dashed lines in Fig. 1 even though a part of it lies outside these regions (for more details see Ref. ). Moreover, it is not easy to notice in Fig. 1 any increase of density within the ring just by eye because of the specific properties of the $`\theta \varphi `$ plot where the density of particles decreases fast toward the external region of large polar angles.

Let us mention that other peculiar patterns were observed showing azimuthal asymmetry ($`\varphi `$-spikes) in individual events which reminded the widely discussed (e.g.,see ) elliptic flow corresponding to the large value of the second Fourier expansion coefficient or even three leaves pattern with large third coefficient but we do not discuss them here.

The phenomenon of the particle density decrease at the target diagram outskirts is in charge of purely methodical sharp cut-off of all the pseudorapidity distributions at small rapidities seen in Fig. 2. The corresponding relative increase of the background in this region prevents precise particle detection, and therefore no experimental data is presented here. Let us stress that it is the only inhomogeneity in the acceptance of the emulsion chamber. It does not disturb the patterns at larger values of pseudorapidity. Since wavelet analysis is very sensitive to abrupt variations of functions, we have found in all five analyzed events large values of wavelet coefficients at $`\eta 1.61.8`$. Thus, wavelet analysis helps record the effects of the method of particle registration as well and therefore can be used for this purpose. In particular, we checked it by finding out the inhomogeneity of acceptance of some other detectors and showed that it changes the event patterns. In what follows we will not be interested in such effects leading to the ring-like (or other) structures of purely methodical origin but concentrate on physics results within the region of accurate registration of charged particles in the present experiment.

In principle, the wavelet coefficients $`W_{j_1,k_1,j_2,k_2}`$ of the two-dimensional function $`f(\theta ,\varphi )`$ are found from the formula

$$W_{j_1,k_1,j_2,k_2}=f(\theta ,\varphi )\psi (2^{j_1}\theta k_1;2^{j_2}\varphi k_2)𝑑\theta 𝑑\varphi .$$
(1)
Here $`\theta _i,\varphi _i`$ are the polar and azimuthal angles of particles produced, $`f(\theta ,\varphi )=_i\delta (\theta \theta _i)\delta (\varphi \varphi _i)`$ with a sum over all particles $`i`$ in a given event, $`(k_1,k_2)`$ denote the locations and $`(j_1,j_2)`$ the scales analyzed. The function $`\psi `$ is the analyzing wavelet. The higher the density fluctuations of particles in a given region, the larger are the corresponding wavelet coefficients.

In practice, we used discrete wavelets obtained from the tensor product of two multiresolution analyses of standard one-dimensional Daubechies 8-tap wavelets. Then the corresponding $`ss,sd`$ and $`dd`$ coefficients in the two-dimensional matrix were calculated (see ). Within such an approach one should use the common scale $`j_1=j_2=j`$. Similar basis has been used in Ref. .

As stressed above, the ring-like structure should be a collective effect involving many particles and large scales. Therefore, to get rid of the low-scale background due to individual particles and analyze their clusterization properties, we have chosen the scales $`j>5`$ where both single jets and those clustered in ring-like structures can be revealed as is easily seen from Figs. of Ref. . Therefore all coefficients with $`j<6`$ are put equal to 0. The wavelet coefficients for any $`j`$ from the interval $`6j10`$ are now presented as functions of polar and azimuthal angles in a form of the two-dimensional landscape-like surface over this plane i.e. over the target diagram. Their inverse wavelet transform allows to get modified target diagrams of analyzed events with large-scale structure left only. Higher fluctuations of particle density inside large-scale formations and, consequently, larger wavelet coefficients correspond to darker regions on this modified target diagram shown in Fig. 3. Here we demonstrate two events (numbered 3 and 6) from those five shown in Figs. 1 and 2. They clearly display both jet and ring-like structures which are different in different events. To diminish the role of the methodical cut-off at $`\eta 1.61.8`$ we have used the requirement for the event to be approximately symmetrical in the region of low multiplicities and added to the unregistered region of small $`\eta `$ the tail appearing at large $`\eta `$ thus smoothing this cut-off. Therefore, the number of rings corresponding to this methodical effects is lowered. However, the effect still persists, and, to discard it, we shall consider the region of $`\eta >1.8`$ only.

Even though the statistics is very low, we attempted to plot the pseudorapidity distribution of the maxima of wavelet coefficients with the hope to see if it reveals the peculiarities observed in high statistics but low multiplicity hadron-hadron experiments . In Fig. 4, the number of highest maxima of wavelet coefficients exceeding the threshold value $`W_{j,k}>210^3`$ is plotted as a function of their pseudorapidity for all five events considered. It is quite peculiar that positions of the maxima are discrete. They are positioned quite symmetrically about the value $`\eta 2.9`$ corresponding to $`90^0`$ in cms as it should be for two Pb nuclei colliding. Difference of heights is within the error bars. More interesting, they do not fill in this central region but are rather separated. Qualitatively, it coincides with findings in Refs. .

For comparison, we generated 100 central Pb-Pb interactions with energy 158 GeV/nucleon according to Fritiof model and the same number of events according to the random model describing the inclusive rapidity distribution shape. The fluctuations in these events are much smaller than in experimental ones and do not show any ring-like structure.

Thus we conclude that even on the qualitative level there is the noticeable difference between experimental and simulated events with larger and somewhat ordered fluctuations in the former ones. We are not able to show all experimental and generated events because of lack of space but they just support our conclusion derived from those demonstrated above. With values of the wavelet coefficients at hand we could compare these events in a more quantitative way presenting, e.g., the multiplicities in peaks, their number, moments of the distributions etc. However, our aim here is to show the applicability of the two-dimensional analysis, the qualitative features and differences leaving aside quantitative characteristics till higher statistics of high multiplicity AA-events becomes available. In particular, the special automatic complex for emulsion processing with high space resolution in Lebedev Physical Institute (http://www.lebedev.ru/structure/pavicom/index.htm) is coming into operation, and we hope to enlarge strongly the statistics of analyzed central Pb-Pb collisions quite soon. The more complete analysis of rings and statistics of their angular positions will be available to compare with theoretical results. Wavelets provide a powerful tool for event-by-event analysis of fluctuation patterns in such collisions.

Fig.1 The target diagrams of five events of central Pb-Pb collisions at energy 158 GeV/nucleon obtained by EMU-15 collaboration.

Fig.2 The pseudorapidity distributions of particles in five events shown in Fig.1.

Fig.3 The modified large-scale target diagrams of two events (3 and 6). Darker regions correspond to larger particle density fluctuations.

Fig.4 The pseudorapidity distribution of the maxima of wavelet coefficients.
The irregularity in the maxima positions, the empty voids between
them and absence of peaks at $`\eta 2.9`$ are noticed.


text:
# Slow plasmon modes in polymeric salt solutions

## Abstract

The dynamics of polymeric salt solutions are presented. The salt consists of chains $`\mathrm{A}`$ and $`\mathrm{B}`$, which are chemically different and interact with a Flory-interaction parameter $`\chi `$, the $`\mathrm{A}`$ chain ends carry a positive charge whereas the $`\mathrm{B}`$ chain ends are modified by negative charges. The static structure factor shows a peak corresponding to a micro phase separation. At low momentum transfer, the interdiffusion mode is driven by electrostatics and is of the plasmon-type, but with an unusually low frequency, easily accessible by experiments. This is due to the polymer connectivity that introduces high friction and amplifies the charge scattering thus allowing for low charge densities. The interdiffusion mode shows a minimum (critical slowing down) at finite $`k`$ when the interaction parameter increases we find then a low $`k`$ frequency quasi-plateau.

Scattering methods are a powerful tool to study the structure and phase behavior of multicomponent polymer mixtures and were the subject of intensive investigations . In general, polymer blends are characterized by a low entropy of mixing and relatively high enthalpic interactions and polymers are thus to a large extend immiscible . An effective way to enhance the compatibility of polymer blends, consists to introduce long range Coulomb forces between particles by adding electrostatic charges .

Quasi elastic scattering experiments allow, in principle, to measure the decay of various concentration fluctuations in the solution . The fastest relaxation mode is usually the plasmon mode related to the relaxation of charge fluctuations. In the macroscopic limit ($`k0`$) for small ions, the plasmon frequency is proportional to the inverse friction coefficient $`\zeta `$, and to the Debye-Hückel screening parameter $`\kappa ^2`$, i.e., $`\mathrm{\Gamma }k_\mathrm{B}T\kappa ^2\zeta ^1`$. Although it is possible to detect the plasmon by spin echo techniques it remains very difficult to measure, because of low contrast. Then other processes such as water binding - unbinding perturbate a clear detection of the plasmon. To find experimentally accessible plasmon modes in reasonable time scales larger friction coefficients, low charge densities, and higher contrast are required. We suggest to use polymeric salts, where anions and cations are linked to the end of two chemically different polymeric backbones. To be more precise, chains A and B interact by a Flory - $`\chi `$ parameter, which allows for composition fluctuations . Many hydrophilic polymers involve hydrogen bonding and may exhibit a more complex behavior. These effects can be limited by an appropriate choice of temperature and polymers, e.g., end-modified POE at room temperature. The chain friction is a power of $`N`$  larger than the monomer friction of the order of $`\zeta `$ introduced above.

To benefit from the polymeric effects small ions should be absent, which is possible in a one to one A-B mixture, this point will be discussed later. Electroneutrality forbids macrophase separation as $`\chi `$ increases and microphase separation at a finite wave vector $`k^{}`$ is anticipated. Large scale composition fluctuations violate electroneutrality and their relaxation is primarily driven by electrostatics. We will indeed show that at low wave vector the relaxation of composition fluctuations is of the plasmon type but at an unusually slow time scale. Though critical slowing down closer to the microphase separation is interesting, we will mainly concentrate on systems far from the transition where excluded volume effects do not interfere with the plasmon effects. For the weakly charged chains we have in mind that the value for $`\kappa `$ is small. On the other hand the polymer concentration is high and high contrast in scattering experiments can be achieved. Symmetric polymer salt solutions with moderately incompatible backbones (e.g. hydrogenated and deuterated) are thus good candidates to detect slow plasmon modes.

The static properties of the polymeric salts in equilibrium are well described by the random phase approximation, since we assume a sufficiently large overall concentration. The chains are assumed to be of Gaussian connectivity, the monomers interact with an excluded volume interaction of a strength given by $`V_{ij}`$, and the electrostatic interaction between the ionic groups. In the latter the strength of the Coulomb potential is expressed in term of the Bjerrum length: $`l_\mathrm{B}=\beta e^2/4\pi ϵ`$, where $`e`$ and $`ϵ`$ are respectively the electric unit charge and the dielectric constant. The different chemical nature of the chains is commonly expressed by a Flory $`\chi `$ \- parameter, $`V_{\mathrm{AB}}=V+\chi `$. For the purpose here it turns out convenient to use linear combinations of the collective variables to study the usual plasmon (total charges) modes and the interdiffusion (relative $`\mathrm{A}`$ and $`\mathrm{B}`$ fluctuations). It is straightforward to calculate the corresponding static structure factor matrix $`𝐒(𝐤)`$ which is expressed as a function of the bare structure matrix $`𝐒_0(𝐤)`$, corresponding to the single chain conformations in the mixture, and the interaction matrix $`𝐔_{\mathrm{int}}(𝐤)`$ in the form

$$𝐒(𝐤)^1=𝐒_0(𝐤)^1+𝐔_{\mathrm{int}}(𝐤).$$
(1)
The interaction matrix $`𝐔_{\mathrm{int}}(𝐤)`$ contains short (excluded volume) and long (electrostatic) range interactions. The elements of the first matrix are the usual parameters $`V_{ij}`$. The relevant structure factors are $`S^{\mathrm{zz}}(𝐤)`$ (charge / charge structure factor), $`S^{\mathrm{II}}(𝐤)`$ (ionic strength / ionic strength structure factor), $`S^{\varphi \varphi }(𝐤)`$ (concentration / concentration structure factor), $`S^{\mathrm{xx}}(𝐤)`$ (composition / composition structure factor), $`S^{\mathrm{I}\varphi }(𝐤)`$ (ionic strength / concentration structure factor), $`S^{\mathrm{zx}}(𝐤)`$ (charge / composition structure factor). In the case of the symmetric salt where chains $`\mathrm{A}`$ are charged positively and $`\mathrm{B}`$ charged negatively, $`S^{\mathrm{xx}}(𝐤)`$, $`S^{\mathrm{zz}}(𝐤)`$ and $`S^{\mathrm{zx}}(𝐤)`$ have a peak which increases as the value of the Flory parameter $`\chi `$ increases. In this case we find a microphase instability with a characteristic finite wavevector $`k^{}`$. The microphase separation at non-vanishing vector $`k^{}`$ occurs for a sufficiently strong incompatibility. For $`\chi =0`$ or $`\chi `$ finite but sufficiently small, entropy effects are dominant and favor mixing.

In light or neutron scattering experiments, one can measure directly the matrix of dynamical functions $`S_{ij}(𝐤,t)`$. To compute the relevant elements of the dynamic structure factor matrix we start from the generalized Langevin equation, which describes the (short) time evolution of $`𝐒(𝐤,t)`$ and, neglecting memory effects, lead us to a single exponential decay of $`𝐒(𝐤,t)`$, $`𝐒(𝐤,t)=𝐞^{𝛀(𝐤)t}𝐒(𝐤)`$. The decay rate, which is experimentally available is given by the first cumulant matrix $`\mathrm{\Omega }(𝐤)`$ which is related to different correlation functions. Hydrodynamic interactions between monomers are taken into account at the Oseen level .

$$𝛀(𝐤)=k_\mathrm{B}T\frac{\text{d}𝐪}{(2\pi )^3}𝐒(𝐤+𝐪)\frac{k^2(𝐪𝐤/q)^2}{\eta q^2}𝐒^1(𝐤)$$
(2)
The eigenvalues of $`\mathrm{\Omega }(𝐤)`$ lead us to the decay rates of thermal fluctuations in the solution. In a first step the eigenvalues of the frequency matrix eq.(2) have been computed numerically.

Let us first concentrate on the fast (usual) plasmon mode, which corresponds to the relaxation of charge fluctuations. At high wavevector limit, the relaxation is diffusive as for a monomeric salt and the electrostatic interactions are irrelevant. In the low $`k`$ limit, the symmetric salt behaves as an usual monomeric salt. The relaxation of charge fluctuations of size larger than $`\kappa ^1`$ is driven by electrostatics. Since the chain ends are different from the rest of the chain monomers, an additional relaxation mode is expected. At high wave vectors, the relaxation is diffusive and at larger length scales, the relaxation is rather driven by chain elasticity. The slowest mode corresponds to the relaxation of monomer concentration fluctuations and is similar to the mode observed in binary polymer-solvent solutions. This mode is independent of the strength of the electrostatic interaction and, depends mainly on the excluded volume $`V`$. It is insensitive to the Flory parameter $`\chi `$. At small length scales, the relevant friction is proportional to the probed length scale $`1/k`$ and in the limit of the large length scales, the relevant friction is proportional to the correlation length $`\xi `$.

Let us now turn to the interdiffusion mode. If the charges were absent the interdiffusion would show the classical critical slowing down of the composition fluctuations close to the macro phase separation. Charges stabilize the solution against macrophase separation and the relaxation of composition fluctuations at low $`k`$ is dominated by electrostatics: the relaxation frequency has a finite value in the macroscopic limit. This behavior is characteristic for plasmon modes. As can be seen on the Fig. 2 below the frequency is very low (of the order of $`10^4`$Hz, for the typical values shown). At wavevector zero a weak (not visible at the scales of Fig. 2) splitting occurs, due to the dependence of the mobility on the Flory-$`\chi `$ parameter. The behavior found here is somewhat similar to block copolymers. The usually observed critical slowing down is shifted to the local scale $`k^{}`$. Thus the corresponding relaxation frequency shows a minimum for high enough values (higher than chosen in the figure) of the interaction parameter $`\chi `$.

The analytical calculation of the full $`4\times 4`$ system involves tedious algebra and produces long and non transparent formulae. In the low wavevector limit the precise position of the charges is not of specific interest ***This statement is less obvious for the mobility integral occurring in eq.(2). However it can be checked afterwards that the integral is not dominated by the large $`k`$ range.. Therefore it is convenient to smear out the charges. Thus it is possible to replace the system described above by an effective two chain model with a charge $`f=2/N`$ per monomer. The static composition structure factor $`S_{\mathrm{xx}}`$ can then be represented as

$$S_{\mathrm{xx}}=\frac{\varphi N}{2}\left\{\frac{1}{\left(2\chi \varphi N\right)+k^2R_\mathrm{g}^2+4\kappa ^2/k^2}\right\},$$
(3)
where $`\kappa ^2=4\pi l_\mathrm{B}(2\varphi )/N`$. If the chains are uncharged, the classical case of a binary polymer blend is recovered. The term proportional to $`1/k^2`$ stems from the bare Coulomb interaction between the charges. $`S_{\mathrm{xx}}`$ diverges then at $`𝐤=\mathrm{𝟎}`$ and $`\chi \varphi N=2`$. The charges themselves enhance compatibility and yield a microphase separation transition at $`\chi \varphi N=2+4\kappa R_\mathrm{g}`$. The structure factor $`S_{\mathrm{xx}}`$ shows a characteristic peak at a finite wavevector $`k^{}`$ where $`k^2=2\kappa /R_g`$. For understanding the dynamical results obtained by numerical computation of the full four component system it is further convenient to rewrite the structure factor to

$$S_{\mathrm{xx}}=\frac{\varphi N}{2}\frac{1}{\sqrt{\mathrm{\Delta }}}\left\{\frac{1}{1+k^2\xi _1^2}\frac{1}{1+k^2\xi _2^2}\right\}$$
(4)
where we have defined the discriminant $`\mathrm{\Delta }=(2\chi \varphi N)^2(4\kappa R_\mathrm{g})^2`$. In this representation two important length scales show up, i.e., $`\xi _{1,2}^2=(2R_\mathrm{g}^2)/(2\chi \varphi N\pm \sqrt{\mathrm{\Delta }})`$. It is immediately seen that $`\xi _1\xi _2=k^2`$. For weak incompatibility, i.e., $`\chi \varphi N24\kappa R_\mathrm{g}`$, the correlation function in real space consists of two exponential decaying functions $`\mathrm{exp}(r/\xi _{1,2})`$, see eq (4). Closer to the microphase instability, $`24\kappa R_\mathrm{g}<\chi \varphi N<2+4\kappa R_\mathrm{g}`$, the real space structure factor contains decaying oscillatory parts. In the latter regime the plasmon behavior of the composition mode at low $`𝐤`$ will turn out to be hidden by the composition fluctuations. Moreover renormalization theories beyond the RPA are required.

The dynamics can be understood within the same framework. The relaxation frequencies can be computed along the lines discussed above. It is sufficient to understand the behavior of the relaxation frequencies from figure (1) at low values for the wavevector. Most interesting is the limit at zero wavevectors

$$\mathrm{\Omega }_{\mathrm{xx}}(𝐤=\mathrm{𝟎})=\frac{k_\mathrm{B}T}{6\pi \eta }k^4\left(\frac{1}{\xi _1}+\frac{1}{\xi _2}\right)^1,$$
(5)
which has to be discussed in several limits. The first is the limit of $`\chi =0`$, i.e., no composition fluctuations and therefore no coupling between thermodynamic and electrostatic interactions. For this case we find the simple result

$$\mathrm{\Omega }_{\mathrm{xx}}(\chi =0)=\frac{k_\mathrm{B}T}{6\pi \eta }\frac{4\kappa ^2}{R_\mathrm{g}\sqrt{2}}.$$
(6)
where $`\kappa R_g<<1`$ was taken into account. The physical interpretation here is indeed simple: The relaxation frequency corresponds to a plasmon mode of $`\varphi /N`$ macroions carrying two elementary charges each, whose hydrodynamic interaction is of the range of the radius of gyration $`R_\mathrm{g}`$ (corresponding to the Oseen - tensor $`1/r`$). Composition fluctuations do not couple in this limit, thus the non appearance of any wavevector $`k^{}`$ is natural, in contrast to the upper boundary $`\chi \varphi N=24\kappa R_\mathrm{g}`$. There the first sign of the micro structure shows up in terms of $`k^{}`$. Indeed we find

$$\mathrm{\Omega }_{\mathrm{xx}}(\chi \varphi N=24\kappa R_\mathrm{g})=\frac{k_\mathrm{B}T}{6\pi \eta }\left(k^{}\right)^3/2$$
(7)
In this regime of the interaction parameter the dynamics is ruled by the intrinsic length scale $`k^{}`$ of the microphase separation transition. The plasmon character of the composition mode is reflected by eq. (6). For its observation a weak incompatibility like between deuterated and hydrogenated polymers is necessary. In the other limit which is given by eq.(7) the plasmon character is already blurred by the microphase separation. The slow plasmon mode is predicted in a range accessible by quasi elastic light scattering and spin echo techniques. The dynamical study has been limited to short time scales where the decays are exponential. Entanglements have been ignored completely. With respect to our studies, they will only further slow down all polymeric modes. The measurements are carried out in aqueous solution, and small amount of salt and ions could destroy this behavior. We carried out a model calculation, which involves these ions as individual component in the Langevin dynamics. The small ions couple to the electric charges bound at the chains, via a Coulomb potential. The dynamics of these ions with respect to all polymer modes involving the composition and concentration is a power of $`N`$ faster, $`N`$ being the chain length. Therefore the fast small ions produce a screened electrostatic potential of the Debye - Hückel type, where the screening constant is determined by the concentration of the remaining small ions. The relevant concentration in water is often of order 10-6, slightly higher than imposed by self-dissociation, and the corresponding wave vector is about $`k=10^4`$ cm-1. Thus we expect that at larger wave vectors the slow plasmon mode can be observed.

Acknowledgement: The funding of this work by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Max-Planck-Society and L.E.A. are most gratefully acknowledged. We thank Henri Benoit, Michel Rawiso, Jean-François Joanny, Mustapha Benmouna and Burkhard Dünweg for many helpful discussions.


text:
# Interface fluctuations, bulk fluctuations and dimensionality in the off-equilibrium response of coarsening systems

## Abstract

The relationship between statics and dynamics proposed by Franz, Mezard, Parisi and Peliti (FMPP) for slowly relaxing systems \[Phys.Rev.Lett. 81, 1758 (1998)\] is investigated in the framework of non disordered coarsening systems. Separating the bulk from interface response we find that for statics to be retrievable from dynamics the interface contribution must be asymptotically negligible. How fast this happens depends on dimensionality. There exists a critical dimensionality above which the interface response vanishes like the interface density and below which it vanishes more slowly. At $`d=1`$ the interface response does not vanish leading to the violation of the FMPP scheme. This behavior is explained in terms of the competition between curvature driven and field driven interface motion.

Recently Franz, Mezard, Parisi and Peliti (FMPP) have proposed  a connection between static and dynamic properties of slowly relaxing systems. This is of fundamental importance for disordered systems such as spin glasses, since the low temperature equilibrium properties are hard to compute and still object of controversy after many years of intensive study. The existence of a bridge between statics and dynamics then offers a useful alternative tool for the investigation of the equilibrium state.

Here we are interested in the analysis of this connection for non disordered coarsening systems, such as a ferromagnet quenched below the critical point. In this case the structure of the equilibrium state is simple and well known. Therefore, these systems are particularly suitable for a detailed understanding of the method. Nonetheless, existing results are quite puzzling. For the nearest neighbors Ising model numerical results in space dimension $`d2`$  fit into the FMPP scheme, while recent exact analytical results in the $`d=1`$ case  show a qualitatively different behavior excluding any connection between the relaxation properties and the structure of the equilibrium state. In this paper we investigate the problem through a careful analysis of the linear response function as the space dimensionality is changed. This allows to put together the rich and interesting picture of what goes on in the off equilibrium response of a coarsening system and to uncover the mechanism whereby the FMPP scheme is or is not verified.

Let us first outline the problem. We consider a phase ordering system with a scalar order parameter quenched at the time $`t=0`$ from high temperature to a final temperature $`T`$ below the critical point. The time evolution takes place by formation and coarsening of domains of the opposite equilibrium phases . The characteristic feature of the process is the coexistence of fast and slow dynamics. Within domains local equilibrium is reached rapidly while the coarsening process is slow. In the case of non conserved order parameter, as it will be considered here, the typical domain size grows like $`L(t)t^{1/2}`$. This phenomenology suggests the split of the order parameter into the sum of two independent components

$$\varphi (\stackrel{}{x},t)=\psi (\stackrel{}{x},t)+\sigma (\stackrel{}{x},t)$$
(1)
where $`\psi (\stackrel{}{x},t)`$ describes equilibrium thermal fluctuations within domains, the ordering component $`\sigma (\stackrel{}{x},t)`$ takes values $`\pm m_T`$ in the bulk of domains with the change of sign occurring at the interfaces and $`m_T`$ is the equilibrium spontaneous magnetization. The split (1) accounts well for the observed behavior  of the autocorrelation function $`C(t,t^{})=\varphi (\stackrel{}{x},t)\varphi (\stackrel{}{x},t^{})`$ where $`tt^{}0`$. This quantity can be written as the sum of two terms

$$C(t,t^{})=C_{st}(tt^{})+C_{ag}\left(\frac{t}{t^{}}\right)$$
(2)
representing, respectively, the stationary dynamics of thermal fluctuations $`\psi (\stackrel{}{x},t)`$ and the slow out of equilibrium dynamics of $`\sigma (\stackrel{}{x},t)`$ obeying an aging form. At equal times $`C_{st}(tt^{}=0)=m_0^2m_T^2`$, where $`m_0`$ is the $`T=0`$ spontaneous magnetization, and $`C_{ag}(1)=m_T^2`$. Furthermore, due to the wide separation of time scales, in the range of time over which $`C_{st}`$ decays to zero the aging contribution remains practically constant $`C_{ag}(t/t^{})m_T^2`$.

Suppose, next, that at the time $`t_w>0`$ a small random field with expectations $`\overline{h(\stackrel{}{x})}=0`$, $`\overline{h(\stackrel{}{x})h(\stackrel{}{y})}=h_0^2\delta (\stackrel{}{x}\stackrel{}{y})`$ is switched on. Given the structure (1), the perturbation affects only the ordering component $`\sigma (\stackrel{}{x},t)`$, leaving thermal fluctuations unaltered, exactly as it happens in the equilibrium ordered phase under the action of an external field. Therefore, each unperturbed configuration is mapped into a new one $`\varphi (\stackrel{}{x},t)\varphi _h(\stackrel{}{x},t)=\psi (\stackrel{}{x},t)+\sigma _h(\stackrel{}{x},t)`$ with a modified ordering component. In general, the perturbation will modify both the bulk and the interface behavior of $`\sigma (\stackrel{}{x},t)`$. Accordingly, to linear order we may write

$`\sigma _h(\stackrel{}{x},t)`$ $`=`$ $`\sigma (\stackrel{}{x},t)+{\displaystyle 𝑑\stackrel{}{x}^{}\chi _B(\stackrel{}{x}\stackrel{}{x}^{},t,t_w)h(\stackrel{}{x}^{})}`$ (3)
$`+`$ $`{\displaystyle 𝑑\stackrel{}{x}^{}\chi _I(\stackrel{}{x}\stackrel{}{x}^{},t,t_w)h(\stackrel{}{x}^{})}`$ (4)
where the bulk response function $`\chi _B`$, accounting for the change in the magnetization within domains, must be related to thermal fluctuations via the equilibrium fluctuation dissipation theorem (FDT)

$`T\chi _B`$ $`(\stackrel{}{x}\stackrel{}{x}^{},t,t_w)=`$ (6)
$`C_{st}(\stackrel{}{x}\stackrel{}{x}^{},tt_w=0)C_{st}(\stackrel{}{x}\stackrel{}{x}^{},tt_w).`$
At this point one can already get a glimpse on what conditions must be realized for statics and dynamics to be connected. Since the bulk response function $`\chi _B`$ probes the equilibrium fluctuations and that is where the information on the equilibrium state is stored, for the FMPP scheme to work the interface contribution $`\chi _I`$ must disappear. Current belief is that indeed this is what happens  assuming that $`\chi _I`$ goes like the interface density $`\rho _I(t)L^1(t)t^{1/2}`$. However, to a closer scrutiny things are not so straightforward and the interface contribution turns out to have more structure than hitherto believed. In particular, there is an unexpected dependence on dimensionality which, in the end, accounts for the discrepancies in the Ising model mentioned above. Before entering the calculation of $`\chi _I`$, it is useful to complete the outline of the problem illustrating a few points.

i) FMPP scheme. Averaging over the external field and the noise the on site total response function is given by

$$\chi (t,t_w)=\frac{1}{h_0^2V}𝑑\stackrel{}{x}\overline{\varphi _h(\stackrel{}{x},t)h(\stackrel{}{x})}=\chi _B(t,t_w)+\chi _I(t,t_w).$$
(7)
In the FMPP scheme one assumes that this quantity obeys the out of equilibrium generalization of the FDT proposed by Cugliandolo and Kurchan , namely that for large times $`\chi (t,t_w)`$ depends on the time arguments through the autocorrelation function $`\chi (C(t,t_w))`$. Furthermore, one assumes that $`lim_t\mathrm{}\chi (t,t_w)=\chi _{eq}`$, where $`\chi _{eq}`$ is the equilibrium response function. With these two hypothesis, the connection between statics and dynamics is derived in the form

$$D(q)=\stackrel{~}{P}(q)$$
(8)
where $`D(q)=T_F\left[\frac{d^2\chi (C)}{dC^2}\right]_{C=q}`$ is the dynamical quantity, while $`\stackrel{~}{P}(q)=lim_{h0}P_h(q)`$ is the static one. $`P_h(q)`$ is the overlap distribution in the perturbed Gibbs state. We recall that for a ferromagnetic system in the unperturbed Gibbs state below $`T_C`$ the overlap distribution is given by

$$P(q)=\frac{1}{2}\delta (qm_T^2)+\frac{1}{2}\delta (q+m_T^2).$$
(9)
ii) Validity of the FMPP scheme. If in (7) we take into account only the bulk contribution $`\chi _B`$, neglecting $`\chi _I`$, then the FMPP scheme is verified. In fact, using (2) and recalling that $`C_{ag}(t/t^{})m_T^2`$ in the range of times where $`C_{st}(tt^{})`$ decays to zero, from (6) follows

$$T\chi (C)=\{\begin{array}{cc}C(t,t)C(t,t_w)\hfill & \text{for }m_T^2<C<m_0^2\hfill \\ m_0^2m_T^2\hfill & \text{for }Cm_T^2.\hfill \end{array}$$
(10)
Eq. (8) then implies $`\stackrel{~}{P}(q)=\delta (qm_T^2)`$. The presence of one $`\delta `$-function instead of two as in (9) does not mean that in the limit $`h0`$ symmetry is broken. Rather, it means that from a response due only to thermal fluctuations it is impossible to distinguish one pure state from the other and everything goes as if symmetry was broken. Numerical simulations of the Ising model for $`d2`$  show evidence for convergence toward the structure (10) in the parametric plot of $`\chi `$ versus $`C`$ as $`t_w`$ becomes large (Fig. 1). This indicates that the interface term $`\chi _I`$ in (7) must be asymptotically negligible.

iii) Violation of the FMPP scheme. From the exact analytical solution of the $`d=1`$ Ising model one finds a different behavior. In $`d=1`$ it is important to realize that in order to make compatible the existence of a linear response regime, which requires $`\frac{h_0}{T}<<1`$ and therefore $`T>0`$, with the existence of an equilibrium state of the form (9), one must take the limit $`J\mathrm{}`$ in the ferromagnetic coupling. This in turn implies $`m_T^2=m_0^2`$. Hence, if (10) were to hold, $`T\chi (t,t_w)`$ would vanish. Instead, one finds  $`T\chi (C)=(\sqrt{2}/\pi )\mathrm{arctan}\left[\sqrt{2}\mathrm{cot}\left(\pi C/2\right)\right]`$ which yields $`D(q)=\pi \mathrm{cos}\left(\pi q/2\right)\mathrm{sin}\left(\pi q/2\right)/\left[2\mathrm{sin}\left(\frac{\pi }{2}q\right)\right]^2`$ and which is in no way related to (9), as shown in Fig. 1. Furthermore, notice that $`J=\mathrm{}`$ leads to the suppression of thermal fluctuations within domains. Therefore, from the above analytical form and $`\chi (t,t_w)=\chi _I(t,t_w)`$ follows $`lim_t\mathrm{}T\chi _I(t,t_w)=lim_{C0}T\chi (C)=1/\sqrt{2}`$. Therefore, the violation of the FMPP scheme in $`d=1`$ is due to an asymptotically dominant interface contribution.

Having made clear the necessity of investigating the relative importance of the bulk and interface terms as dimensionality is varied, we now introduce a semiphenomenological model for $`\chi _I(t,t_w)`$. This is based on the standard methods of the late stage theory in phase ordering kinetics , when only interface motion is of interest. Dropping the bulk term in (4) and defining $`\sigma _I(\stackrel{}{x},t)=\sigma (\stackrel{}{x},t)+𝑑\stackrel{}{x}^{}\chi _I(\stackrel{}{x}\stackrel{}{x}^{},t,t_w)h(\stackrel{}{x}^{})`$ we resort for this quantity to the time dependent Ginzburg-Landau model without thermal noise

$$\frac{\sigma _I}{t}=^2\sigma _I+m_T^2\sigma _I\sigma _I^3+h(\stackrel{}{x}).$$
(11)
Next, in order to allow for the action of the field on the interface motion, while keeping the domain saturation fixed at the unperturbed level $`\pm m_T`$, we make the ansatz

$$\sigma _I(\stackrel{}{x},t)=\frac{u(\stackrel{}{x},t)}{\sqrt{1+\frac{u^2(\stackrel{}{x},t)}{m_T^2}}}$$
(12)
and we make an approximation of the gaussian auxiliary field (GAF) type . The idea is that the non-linearity of the transformation (12) is enough to take care of the non-linearity in the problem and the auxiliary field $`u(\stackrel{}{x},t)`$ can be treated in mean field theory. Inserting (12) in (11) and linearizing the equation of motion for $`u(\stackrel{}{x},t)`$ we find

$$\frac{u}{t}=^2u+m_T^2u\frac{3}{m_T^2}(u)^2+h(\stackrel{}{x})$$
(13)
where $`(u)^2`$ is evaluated self-consistently. The key point is that the linear equation (13) allows $`u(\stackrel{}{x},t)`$ to grow unboundedly yielding via (12) $`\sigma _I(\stackrel{}{x},t)m_T\text{s}ign[u(\stackrel{}{x},t)]`$ which enforces the saturation of domains at the required unperturbed value. Making a further mean field approximation through the replacement of (12) by $`\sigma _I(\stackrel{}{x},t)=m_T\frac{u(\stackrel{}{x},t)}{\sqrt{S(t)}}`$ with $`S(t)=u^2(\stackrel{}{x},t)`$, we have $`\chi _I(t,t_w)=m_T\chi _u(t,t_w)/\sqrt{S(t)}`$ where $`\chi _u`$ is the response of the auxiliary field. Computing $`\chi _u(t,t_w)`$ and $`S(t)`$ from (13) and defining $`\chi _{eff}(t,t_w)`$ by $`\chi _I(t,t_w)=\rho _I(t)\chi _{eff}(t,t_w)`$ we find our main result

$$\chi _{eff}(t,t_w)=t^{1\frac{d}{2}}F(t_w/t)$$
(14)
with $`F(x)=A_x^1𝑑yy^{\frac{d+2}{4}}(1y+\frac{t_0}{t})^{d/2}`$. Here $`A`$ is a dimensionality dependent constant and $`t_0`$ is a microscopic time related to the momentum cutoff $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ by $`t_0=\mathrm{\Lambda }^2`$. The meaning of Eq. (14) can be made transparent regarding the response of the system as due to a set of interfaces each contributing through an effective response $`\chi _{eff}`$. From (14) follows that this quantity obeys

$$\chi _{eff}(t,t_w)(tt_w)^\alpha $$
(15)
with $`\alpha =0`$ for $`d>2`$, $`\alpha =1d/2`$ for $`d<2`$ and $`\chi _{eff}\mathrm{log}(tt_w)`$ for $`d=2`$ . Eq. (15) applies both in the short ($`tt_w<<t_w`$) and in the large ($`tt_w>>t_w`$) time region, with a change in the prefactor taking place about $`tt_wt_w`$. The full time dependence of $`\chi _{eff}(t,t_w)`$ obtained by plotting out Eq. (14) for different values of $`d`$ is displayed in Fig. 2a. A completely analogous behavior is obtained in the Ising model. We have computed $`\chi _I(t,t_w)`$ for $`d=1,2,3,4`$ in the Ising case by suppressing spin flips in the bulk of domains and we have plotted $`\chi _{eff}(t,t_w)`$ in Fig. 2b  . The common features of Fig. 2a and Fig. 2b may be summarized stating that in both cases $`\chi _{eff}`$ obeys the power law (15) and that there exists a critical dimensionality $`d_c`$ such that the exponent $`\alpha `$ is zero for $`d>d_c`$ while it grows positive with decreasing dimensionality for $`d<d_c`$, reaching in both cases the final value $`\alpha =1/2`$ at $`d=1`$. The differences are that $`d_c=2`$ in the GAF approximation, while from the Ising simulations there is a good evidence (Fig. 2b) for $`d_c=3`$. One particular consequence of this, on which we comment below, is that while in the former case we have $`\alpha =0`$ with logarithmic growth at $`d=2`$, instead in the $`d=2`$ Ising model one finds $`\alpha =1/4`$ (Fig. 2b).

The interpretation of the above results goes as follows. In the perturbed system interface motion is driven not only by curvature, as in the unperturbed case , but also by the external field. These two mechanisms compete. For $`d>d_c`$ the curvature mechanism dominates. The external field then affects only the spins strictly belonging to the interface. Within a microscopic time $`\chi _{eff}`$ saturates (see lines for $`d=3`$ in Fig. 2a and for $`d=4`$ in Fig. 2b) leaving the overall response $`\chi _I`$ to decrease as $`\rho _I(t)`$. Instead, if dimensionality is low enough ($`dd_c`$) to weaken the curvature mechanism to the point that the field driven motion may start to play a role in the response, then the single interface response $`\chi _{eff}`$ grows with time like $`t^\alpha `$ counteracting the default decrease in $`\chi _I`$ due to $`\rho _I(t)`$. This effect can be understood realizing that when interfaces are field driven the field produces a large scale optimization of domain positions with respect to field configurations . $`d=1`$ is the extreme case where there is no more curvature mechanism. Then, interface motion is entirely field driven yielding $`\chi _{eff}`$ which grows like $`t^{1/2}`$ and compensates exactly for $`\rho _I(t)`$ producing a non vanishing $`lim_t\mathrm{}\chi _I(t,t_w)`$.

In summary, we have investigated the relationship between the out of equilibrium response function and the structure of the equilibrium state for coarsening systems. For the FMPP scheme to hold, the out of equilibrium response must be dominated by equilibrium fluctuations in the bulk of domains. This we have made precise by separating the bulk from interface response and by analyzing the behavior of the interface contribution $`\chi _I(t,t_w)`$. On the basis of a GAF model we have found that there exists a critical dimensionality $`d_c=2`$ such that for $`d>d_c`$ $`\chi _I(t,t_w)`$ behaves like the interface density $`\rho _I(t)`$, while for $`d<d_c`$ it vanishes slower than $`\rho _I(t)`$ and does not vanish anymore at $`d=1`$, yielding the violation of the FMPP scheme. We have explained this behavior identifying $`d_c`$ as the dimensionality below which the external field competes effectively with the curvature in driving interface motion. The overall picture is confirmed by numerical results for the Ising model, apart from the upward shift from $`d_c=2`$ to $`d_c=3`$ in the critical dimensionality. This means that in the Ising case the field driven mechanism competes with the curvature even more efficiently than in the GAF approximation. In particular, the field driven mechanism is clearly observable in the $`d=2`$ Ising model where $`\alpha =1/4`$ makes the interface response much less preasymptotic than what was estimated on the basis of the interface density argument. Finally, the counterpart of the statement that a persistent interface contribution leads to the violation of the FMPP scheme, is that even if $`\chi _I(t,t_w)`$ vanishes asymptotically, due to the field driven interface motion it may vanish so slowly to hide the realization of the FMPP scheme.

Acknowledgments

We acknowledge useful discussions with A. Coniglio, U. Marini Bettolo and L. Peliti. This work was partially supported by the European TMR Network-Fractals Contract No. FMRXCT980183. F.C. acknowledges support by INFM PRA-HOP 1999.

†corberi@na.infn.it ‡lippiello@sa.infn.it

§zannetti@na.infn.it


text:
# Rare-event induced binding transition of heteropolymers

## Abstract

Sequence heterogeneity broadens the binding transition of a polymer onto a linear or planar substrate. This effect is analyzed in a real-space renormalization group scheme designed to capture the statistics of rare events. In the strongly disordered regime, binding initiates at an exponentially rare set of “good contacts”. Renormalization of the contact potential yields a Kosterlitz-Thouless type transition in any dimension. This and other predictions are confirmed by extensive numerical simulations of a directed polymer interacting with a columnar defect.

The binding transition of a polymer onto another extended object, such as a second polymer, a membrane, or an interface, is of interest in a variety of physical circumstances. The problem has been studied in the context of wetting in two dimensions, the depinning of a flux line from a columnar defect in type-II superconductors, the denaturation of double-stranded DNA molecules in solution , and the localization of a copolymer at a two-fluid interface. In surface physics, formation of facets on vicinal surfaces can be viewed as a bound state problem involving surface steps .

The mathematical framework for the homopolymer binding transition is well-established. The binding transition of a heteropolymer (i.e., a disordered sequence of two or more letters) is expected to be broadened by fluctuations in the monomer contact energy with the target object. But a quantitative characterization of the broadening effect, particularly when the disorder fluctuations are strong, is still largely missing. At present, the only settled case is that of a directed heteropolymer interacting with a columnar defect, where weak variations in the contact energy have been shown to have no effect on the transition, provided the transverse dimension $`d`$ is between one and three . For $`d=1`$, Forgacs et al., using a field-theoretic method, found that weak disorder only introduces subleading order corrections to the singular part of the free energy and does not smear out the specific heat jump at the transition. This conclusion was put into doubt by Derrida et al., who performed a perturbative renormalization group (RG) analysis and numerical calculations. The problem has since been re-examined with conflicting results.

In this Letter we report a novel RG approach to the heteropolymer binding, focusing on the statistics of rare attractive segments that initiate the transition. The frequency for these “good contacts”, in the case of a random sequence, is described by an exponential tail in the distribution of the contact (free) energy whose decay rate $`q`$ depends on temperature. When $`q`$ reaches a critical value, the energy gain at these segments is sufficient to offset the logarithmic entropy cost to form a bound phase. This offers an extremely robust and generic mechanism of heteropolymer binding transition at strong disorder in any dimension. The critical behavior around the transition is analyzed in a real-space RG calculation. Combined with extensive simulation results on the directed random heteropolymer, we conclude that, in the disorder dominated regime, the binding transition becomes infinite order, bearing many of the characteristics of the Kosterlitz-Thouless-Berezinskii (KTB) transition in the two-dimensional XY model.

To set the scene, let us recall the directed polymer (DP) problem on a two-dimensional square lattice $`(r,t)`$ with a columnar defect at $`r=0`$. For simplicity, we restrict the transverse displacement of the DP at each step $`\mathrm{\Delta }t=1`$ to three possible values, $`\mathrm{\Delta }r=1,0,1`$. A step on the defect at $`r=0`$ picks up an energy $`\eta (t)`$ which depends on the location of the contact (or monomer index) $`t`$. In the case of a random heteropolymer, the contact energies $`\eta (t)`$ are taken to be identically distributed and independent from each other.

The above model is easily generalized to the case of a directed walk on a $`(d+1)`$-dimensional hypercubic lattice, interacting with a line defect. The role of extra transverse dimensions is best appreciated in the “necklace” representation, where the partition sum of a DP of length $`L`$ is expressed as,

$$Z(L)=\underset{0t_1<t_2<\mathrm{}<t_nL}{}\mathrm{exp}[H(\{t_i\})/T].$$
(1)
Here $`t_i`$ is the monomer index of the $`i`$th contact, and

$$H(\{t_i\})=\underset{i}{}\eta (t_i)+\underset{i}{}u(t_{i+1}t_i).$$
(2)
The “pair potential” $`u(t)`$ is obtained by summing over thermal paths in the bulk connecting two successive contacts separated by a distance $`t`$. It has the generic form,

$$u(t)/T=f_0t+\beta (d)\mathrm{ln}t+\mu +O(t^1),$$
(3)
where $`f_0`$ is the reduced free energy per unit length in the bulk, $`\beta (d)=1+\frac{1}{2}|d2|`$ is a universal exponent characterizing the first return probability of a random walker in $`d`$ dimensions, and $`\mu `$ is a model-specific parameter.

As emphasized by Fisher, the contact point representation (1) unifies a large class of polymer binding problems including, under certain approximations, polymers that are self-avoiding or interacting with a surface. The linear term in $`t`$ in (3) drops out when the ratio $`Z(L)/Z_0(L)`$ is considered, where $`Z_0(L)=\mathrm{exp}(f_0L)`$ is the partition function of a free polymer. The dominant interaction at large distances is given by the logarithmic term. Since the density of contacts vanishes at a continuous transition, the critical properties are governed by the value of $`\beta `$, which serves to define universality classes. For this class of models, it suffices to consider the DP problem at $`d2`$, which is the case we focus on below.

Previous analytical studies, based on a perturbative treatment of the contact potential, ran into difficulties when disorder becomes relevant. To elucidate how strong disorder modifies the transition, we examine first an extreme case where the contact potential is infinite everywhere except on a small number of randomly distributed sites of density $`A`$. The reduced contact potential $`x_i=\eta (t_i)/T`$ on these sites is assumed to be negative and exponentially distributed with a probability density function (PDF) $`p(x)=q\mathrm{exp}(qx)`$, where $`q`$ is the decay rate. For $`q<1`$, the one-contact partition sum $`z=_{1iL}\mathrm{exp}(x_i)`$ of a polymer of length $`L1/A`$ is dominated by the strongest binding site (i.e., glassy). The typical value of the potential on this site is $`x_mq^1\mathrm{ln}(LA)`$. The excess reduced free energy of a single contact is then estimated to be,

$$\mathrm{\Delta }F/Tx_m+\beta \mathrm{ln}L=(\beta q^1)\mathrm{ln}L+const.$$
(4)
Hence, for $`q<q_c=1/\beta `$, a sufficiently long polymer will make use of the rare occurence of relatively large binding energy (of order $`\mathrm{ln}L`$) on a single monomer to form the bound phase. By setting $`\mathrm{\Delta }FT`$, we estimate a “localization length” $`\xi _{}\mathrm{exp}(const/|qq_c|)`$. Polymers of length $`L<\xi _{}`$ are typically free, while those with $`L>\xi _{}`$ are typically bound.

Although real polymers seldom (if at all) qualify for the above description at the monomer scale, it turns out that the exponential tail can be self-generated under coarse-graining. This should come across as no surprise by noting the following. (i) For a random heteropolymer, a sequence of consecutive negative $`\eta `$’s appears spontaneously. The binding energy is proportional to the sequence length $`n`$ which follows the exponential distribution. (ii) Above the transition temperature $`T_\mathrm{c}`$, $`Z^q/Z_0^q`$ diverge with polymer length for $`q>q(T)`$, while those with $`q<q(T)`$ remain finite. This implies that the PDF of $`Z`$ has a power-law tail $`Z^{q(T)1}`$ towards large values. Equivalently, the PDF of the reduced free energy, $`F/T=\mathrm{ln}Z`$, decays exponentially at rate $`q(T)`$.

The task now is to devise a suitable framework to track the renormalization of the contact energy distribution due to multiple contacts. We have succeeded in achieving this end under a real-space RG scheme. The main ideas are outlined below. The contact point representation (2) defines a one-dimensional lattice gas model. Consider a segment of $`b`$ sites along the chain which is mapped to a single site under a block transformation. The site is occupied (i.e., contains a contact) if at least one of the $`b`$ sites on the segment is occupied, and empty otherwise. In the former case, the Boltzmann weight of a contact, $`w_i=\mathrm{exp}[\eta (t_i)/T]`$, transforms as,

$$w=\underset{i=1}{\overset{b}{}}(1+w_i)1.$$
(5)
Rescaling $`tbt`$ reduces $`w`$ by a factor $`b^\beta `$ due to the logarithmic interaction. Hence the following iterative RG equation is seen to hold,

$$1+\stackrel{~}{w}=\frac{1}{b^\beta }\underset{i=1}{\overset{b}{}}(1+w_i)+1\frac{1}{b^\beta }.$$
(6)
For $`b=2`$, Eq. (6) coincides with the iterative equation for the partition function $`Z=1+w`$ on the Berker lattice given by Derrida et al. A full treatment of the problem can be formulated in terms of the PDF $`P(x)`$ of the reduced contact free energy $`x\mathrm{ln}(1+w)`$. From the distribution of the sum $`y=_ix_i`$,

$$Q(y)=𝑑x_1\mathrm{}𝑑x_b\delta \left(y\underset{i=1}{\overset{b}{}}x_i\right)\underset{i=1}{\overset{b}{}}P(x_i),$$
(8)
we obtain the distribution of $`\stackrel{~}{x}\mathrm{ln}(1+\stackrel{~}{w})`$,

$$\stackrel{~}{P}(\stackrel{~}{x})=Q[\psi (\stackrel{~}{x})]\frac{d\psi }{d\stackrel{~}{x}}.$$
(9)
Here $`\psi (\stackrel{~}{x})=\stackrel{~}{x}\beta \mathrm{ln}b\mathrm{ln}\left[1+(b^\beta 1)\mathrm{exp}(\stackrel{~}{x})\right]`$ is obtained from (6) by solving for $`y`$.

In the limit $`b1`$, Eqs. (9) define a RG flow in the space of distributions. Since $`Q(x)`$ is a convolution of $`P(x)`$, it is convenient to introduce the Laplace transform,

$$\widehat{P}(s)=_{\mathrm{}}^0𝑑xe^{sx}P(x).$$

Collecting terms to the first order in $`dl\mathrm{ln}b`$, we obtain,

$$\frac{d\widehat{P}(s)}{dl}=\widehat{P}(s)\mathrm{ln}\widehat{P}(s)\beta s[\widehat{P}(s)\widehat{P}(s1)].$$
(10)
Consider first the homopolymer problem described by $`\widehat{P}(s)=\mathrm{exp}(as)`$. The parameter $`a`$, which defines an effective free energy on a given scale, satisfies,

$$da/dl=a+\beta \left(1e^a\right).$$
(11)
The stable fixed point at $`a=0`$ corresponds to the unbound phase where the contact potential renormalizes to infinity. Transition to the bound phase occurs at $`a=a_\mathrm{c}<0`$.

The PDF $`P(x)=Aq\mathrm{exp}(qx)+(1A)\delta (x)`$ considered in the single-contact model above corresponds to

$$\widehat{P}(s)=\{\begin{array}{cc}1+As/(qs),\hfill & s<q;\hfill \\ \mathrm{},\hfill & sq.\hfill \end{array}$$
(12)
Setting $`A=0`$, we obtain a family of fixed-point functions of (10), parametrized by $`q`$. Writing $`\widehat{P}(s)=Z^s`$, where $`Z=1+w`$ represents a certain restricted partition function, we see that these fixed-points describe correctly the behavior of the system above the binding transition.

It can be shown that, within the class of functions that have a power-law singularity at $`s=q`$, (12) is the only one that is renormalizable. we have derived a two-parameter RG flow equation from (10) by matching terms that diverge as $`sq`$. For $`A1`$, the result reads,

$`dq/dl`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}qA,`$ (14)
$`dA/dl`$ $`=`$ $`(1q\beta )A+{\displaystyle \frac{2q}{2q}}A^2.`$ (15)
The RG flow obtained by integrating (Rare-event induced binding transition of heteropolymers) at $`\beta =3/2`$ is illustrated in Fig. 1(a), where $`q`$ is plotted against $`A^{1/2}`$ in analogy with the KTB transition. The critical manifold ($`T=T_\mathrm{c}`$) is indicated by the thick line. For $`T>T_\mathrm{c}`$, the flow ends on the $`A=0`$ axis at a $`q>q_\mathrm{c}=1/\beta `$. In contrast, below but close to $`T_\mathrm{c}`$, $`A`$ first decreases, reaches a minimum value and then increases again. Integrating the flow equation near $`q=q_\mathrm{c}`$ and $`A=0`$ yields an exponentially diverging correlation length $`\xi _{}\xi _0\mathrm{exp}(\alpha |TT_\mathrm{c}|^{1/2})`$. As in the KTB transition, the free energy per unit length has an essential singularity when approaching $`T_\mathrm{c}`$ from below,

$$f_sT/\xi _{}=(T/\xi _0)\mathrm{exp}\left(\alpha |TT_\mathrm{c}|^{1/2}\right).$$
(16)
We have checked the above predictions against (i) full iteration of Eqs. (9) at $`b=2`$ and $`\beta =3/2`$ (Berker lattice with a branching ratio $`n=2\sqrt{2}`$), and (ii) transfer matrix calculation in (1+1) dimensions. In both cases, the contact energy is taken to be $`\eta =u_0+2g^2+2gϵ`$, where $`u_0`$ is the strength of the contact potential at the homopolymer binding transition, and $`ϵ`$ is a random variable satisfying the normal distribution. With this choice, the transition temperature of the annealed problem (as defined by $`F_\mathrm{a}T\mathrm{ln}Z`$) is fixed at $`T_\mathrm{a}=1`$. The strength of the disorder can be tuned by varying $`g`$.

To probe the effective contact potential on a given scale $`L`$ on the square lattice, we have computed the partition sum $`Z(L)`$ over all directed paths that start at $`(0,0)`$ and end at any point on the $`t=L`$ line. The quantity $`x(L)\mathrm{ln}[Z(2L)/Z(L)]`$, computed for a given realization of the disorder, yields a single-scale contact potential. Figure 2(a) shows the integrated distribution $`\mathrm{\Pi }(x)`$ for two temperatures at $`g=2`$ and a sample size $`10^5`$. The exponential tail quickly develops as $`L`$ increases. At $`T=T_\mathrm{a}`$ (top), the tail decays as $`\mathrm{exp}(x)`$. The pre-exponential amplitude decreases as a power of the length. At $`T=T_\mathrm{c}`$ (bottom), the decay rate of the tail approaches the critical value $`q_c=2/3`$, while the amplitude changes much slower as compared to higher temperatures. In both cases, the typical value of $`x(L)`$ approaches $`\frac{1}{2}\mathrm{ln}2`$ (dotted lines) expected for a uniform repulsive potential. For comparison, the integrated distribution of $`x=\mathrm{ln}Z`$ on the Berker lattice, obtained through numerical iteration of (9), are shown in Fig. 2(b). A similar trend is observed, though the data spans over a much bigger range and is much less noisy.

Using the Berker lattice data, we have fitted the tail of $`\mathrm{\Pi }(x)`$ to the exponential form $`A\mathrm{exp}(qx)`$. The evolution of $`A(L)`$ and $`q(L)`$ in the critical region is shown in Fig. 1(b). Each data set corresponds to an increasing series of $`L`$ in powers of four (from right to left) at a given temperature. The resemblance to the RG flow diagram in Fig. 1(a) is apparent. Therefore the two-parameter flow equations (Rare-event induced binding transition of heteropolymers), although only approximate in construct, correctly captures the asymptotic renormalization of the tail.

On the square lattice, the localization length $`\xi _{}`$ in the bound phase can be determined from the mean free energy $`\mathrm{ln}Z(L)`$ which goes through a maximum at $`L=\xi _{}`$, as shown in Fig. 3(a). For a polymer of length $`L<\xi _{}`$, $`\mathrm{ln}Z`$ increases with $`L`$ and approaches the asymptotic behavior $`\frac{1}{2}\mathrm{ln}L`$ (dashed line) of a purely repulsive line. Thus, even at $`T<T_\mathrm{c}`$, a sufficiently short polymer (or a short segment of a long polymer) is typically repelled by the target object. The attraction, due to rare events, is felt (in a typical realization of the disorder) only when $`L>\xi _{}`$. The asymptotic behavior at $`L\xi _{}`$ is given by $`\mathrm{ln}Z(L)fL`$, where $`f(T)`$ is the reduced free energy per unit length in the thermodynamic limit. The variation of $`\xi _{}`$ and $`f`$ with $`T`$, as shown in Fig. 3(b), is in agreement with Eq. (16). Extrapolating the curves to the horizontal axis (as indicated by the dashed lines), we obtain $`T_\mathrm{c}/T_\mathrm{a}=0.96`$, 0.9, 0.85, and 0.8 for $`g=1.5`$, 2, 2.5, and 3, respectively. These values agree with the analysis based on the evolution of the tails of the distribution. Details of our study will be published elsewhere.

In summary, we propose that the random heteropolymer binding transition at strong disorder is induced by rare fluctuations of the contact potential. A real-space RG scheme is presented to analyze the evolution of the PDF of the contact potential under successive block transformations. Within a two-parameter Ansatz for the tail of the distribution, a RG flow similar to that of the KTB transition is derived. The analysis yields an exponentially diverging correlation length and an essential singularity for the free energy as $`T_\mathrm{c}`$ is approached from the bound side. These predictions, which hold in all dimensions when disorder is relevant, are confirmed by extensive numerical calculations on the Berker lattice and on the square lattice in (1+1) dimensions.

Finally, we comment briefly on the relationship between our work and previous numerical studies of the DP binding transition on the square lattice, which were done on binary disorder with $`\eta =\rho \pm \mathrm{\Delta }`$. By looking at the evolution of $`P(x)`$ at $`T=T_\mathrm{a}`$, we discover that, even for $`\mathrm{\Delta }=\mathrm{}`$ (while keeping $`\rho \mathrm{\Delta }`$ finite), the tail develops at a much slower rate than for gaussian disorder. Since $`d=1`$ is marginal with regard to the relevance of weak disorder, we expect results reported previously to be influenced, to a lesser or greater extent, by crossover effects. Indeed, the transition temperatures $`T_\mathrm{c}`$ determined in these studies, using methods different from ours, are either indistinguishable or only slightly below $`T_\mathrm{a}`$ of the corresponding annealed problem. We leave a detailed discussion of this and other issues to a future publication.

We thank the CEA Saclay (LHT) and the Hong Kong Baptist University (HC) for hospitality, where the work was performed. The research is supported in part by the Hong Kong/France PROCORE program, and by the Hong Kong Baptist University (FRG/99-00/II-53).