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# Simulations of accretion flows crossing the last stable orbit

## 1. Introduction

The existence of a marginally stable orbit is a distinctive feature of accretion flows onto black holes. Within $`r_{\mathrm{ms}}`$, stable circular orbits do not exist, and gas inevitably plunges on a short timescale into the hole. The location of the marginally stable orbit, which lies at $`r_{\mathrm{ms}}=6GM/c^2`$ for a non-rotating hole, varies strongly with the spin parameter $`a`$ for Kerr black holes. This variation, together with the assumption of a large change in the emission properties of the gas interior and exterior to $`r_{\mathrm{ms}}`$, is central to all attempts to measure $`a`$ from observable quantities for both galactic (Zhang, Cui & Chen 1997) and supermassive black holes (Iwasawa et al. 1996; Dabrowski et al. 1997; Bromley, Chen & Miller 1997). Neutron stars, if they are sufficiently compact, could also possess a last stable orbit, though we will not consider this possibility further here.

The presence of gas on plunging orbits within $`r_{\mathrm{ms}}`$ can have observable consequences. It potentially modifies the profile of the relativistic iron K$`\alpha `$ line that has been observed in the X-ray spectra of some Seyfert galaxies (Tanaka et al. 1995; Reynolds & Begelman 1997; Young, Ross & Fabian 1998), and may create detectable absorption signatures (Nandra et al. 1999). However, it has generally been believed that gas within $`r_{\mathrm{ms}}`$ does not have any dynamical importance, since the infall rapidly becomes supersonic a short distance inside the marginally stable orbit. Whatever complexities may develop in the flow subsequently are then causally disconnected from the disk at larger radius. This line of reasoning suggests that for modelling the disk (by which we mean the region of the flow outside the last stable orbit), it suffices to impose a zero-torque boundary condition at $`r_{\mathrm{ms}}`$ and ignore the interior region altogether. For the details of disk models constructed in this manner, we refer the reader to Abramowicz & Kato (1989), and references therein.

This simple hydrodynamic picture would be oversimplified if magnetic fields inside $`r_{\mathrm{ms}}`$ were strong enough to maintain a connection between the plunging region and the disk. A recent analysis by Krolik (1999) showed that if magnetic fields, generated in the disk, remain frozen into the gas as it inspirals within $`r_{\mathrm{ms}}`$, then the energy density in the fields can become comparable to the rest-mass energy density of the flow. Related ideas have also been proposed by Gammie (1999). In addition to altering the zero-torque boundary condition for the disk, the presence of extremely strong fields in the plunging region could have several potentially observable consequences (Agol & Krolik 2000). For example, the radiative efficiency of the disk, $`ϵ=L/\dot{M}c^2`$, could be substantially increased. The analysis of Krolik (1999), however, depends upon a split of the accretion flow into two distinct regions, a disk at $`r>r_{\mathrm{ms}}`$ in which magnetic dynamo processes (Balbus & Hawley 1991; Brandenburg et al. 1995; Stone et al. 1996; for a review see e.g. Hawley & Balbus 1999) maintain a turbulent state, and a plunging region at $`r<r_{\mathrm{ms}}`$ in which it is assumed that magnetic flux is frozen into the fluid. This split is clearly an approximation, because the same turbulent processes that act to generate and destroy magnetic fields in the disk itself will continue to operate until some finite distance inside the last stable orbit. This may alter the conclusion that a rapid growth in the relative importance of magnetic fields is inevitable (Paczynski 2000). The analytic analysis further assumes that the flow is axisymmetric and steady-state. This is also only approximately the case in a turbulent accretion flow, and needs to be tested via numerical simulations.

In this paper, we employ three dimensional magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations to study the properties of the accretion flow as it crosses $`r_{\mathrm{ms}}`$. A pseudo-Newtonian potential appropriate for a non-rotating black hole (Paczynski & Wiita 1980) is used to mimic the relativistic effect of a last stable orbit within a non-relativistic MHD code. Within this approximation, simulating the evolution of magnetic fields within the plunging region is, if anything, expected to be easier than following the development of turbulence in the disk at larger radii. Within the disk, orbits are stable, and thus in the absence of turbulence a field loop in the plane of the disk will always be sheared out in azimuth until numerical reconnection sets in at the grid scale. Once into the plunging region there is only a finite (but large) amount of shear before the infalling gas reaches the black hole.

The accretion flow within $`r_{\mathrm{ms}}`$ has already been studied by Hawley (2000), who presented global MHD simulations of accretion tori with a geometry similar to that of popular ADAF (Narayan & Yi 1994) and ADIOS (Blandford & Begelman 1999) models for radiatively inefficient flows. This geometry is thought to be appropriate at relatively low accretion rates for both supermassive and stellar mass black hole systems (for observational support see, e.g., Gilfanov, Churazov & Revnivtsev 1999). The specific model considered was geometrically fairly thick at large radius ($`rr_{\mathrm{ms}}`$), although near the last stable orbit the importance of pressure forces, and the vertical scale height, was smaller. Indeed, at $`r=r_{\mathrm{ms}}`$, the relative scale height was $`(h/r)0.1`$, which is similar to the value used in our simulations. Significant magnetic stresses within $`r_{\mathrm{ms}}`$ were obtained in these simulations, and in subsequent higher resolution simulations of the same geometry (Hawley & Krolik 2000).

Existing work suggests that the conditions at $`r_{\mathrm{ms}}`$ may differ for geometrically thin and thick disks (Popham & Gammie 1998). We therefore emphasize that in this paper we address only the case of geometrically thin disks. The existence of a thin disc implies that radiative cooling must be efficient, and this allows us to further simplify the problem by adopting an isothermal equation of state in lieu of solving the energy equation. Thin disks are the expected mode of accretion at high $`\dot{M}`$ in both Active Galactic Nuclei, and in stellar mass Galactic black hole sources.

## 2. Numerical methods

### 2.1. The ZEUS hydrodynamics code

We simulate the accretion flow using the ZEUS code (Stone & Norman 1992a,1992b; Clarke, Norman & Fielder 1994; Norman 2000) to solve the equations of ideal magnetohydrodynamics. ZEUS is an explicit Eulerian finite difference code, formally of second order accuracy, which uses an artificial viscosity to reproduce shocks. Advantages of the code for accretion disk applications include a flexible choice of gridding and co-ordinate systems, and algorithms (Norman, Wilson & Barton 1980) that minimise spurious diffusion of angular momentum relative to mass.

The analyis of the behavior of magnetic fields in the plunging region by Krolik (1999) is independent of the existence of vertical stratification in the disk. For our initial simulations we therefore adopt the computationally easiest option, and consider a vertically unstratified disk (i.e. one where the vertical component of gravity is artificially set to zero), and an isothermal fluid, where the presure $`P`$ is given by,

$$P=\rho c_s^2,$$
(1)
where $`c_s`$ is the sound speed and $`\rho `$ is the density. For our standard model we choose $`c_s`$ such that the ratio of the sound speed to the circular orbital velocity at the last stable orbit, $`c_s/v_\varphi =0.08`$. In an unstratified simulation, of course, $`c_s`$ plays no role in setting the vertical scale height of the flow. However, the ratio $`c_s/v_\varphi `$, which in a real disk is related to the relative disk scale height via $`h/rc_s/v_\varphi `$, still determines the importance of radial pressure forces for the disk structure. The simulated flows are ‘thin’ in the sense that radial pressure forces, which scale as $`(h/r)^2`$, are small compared to the gravitational force. A model with smaller sound speed was also investigated. For better comparison with the simulations of Hawley (2000), we also ran a variant including the effect of vertical stratification.

Standard choices for the Courant number, $`C_0=0.5`$, and coefficient of artificial viscosity, $`C_2=2.0`$, were used throughout. Second order advection was used for all quantities. The only code scaling which needs to be mentioned is that for time. We adopt units in which the orbital period at $`r_{\mathrm{ms}}`$, $`P_{\mathrm{ms}}=7.7`$.

### 2.2. Paczynski-Wiita potential

ZEUS is a Newtonian fluid dynamics code which does not model any of the effects of special or general relativity. Within this framework, we use a pseudo-Newtonian gravitational potential (Paczynski & Wiita 1980),

$$\psi =\frac{GM}{rr_g}$$
(2)
where $`r_g=2GM/c^2`$, to model what is expected to be the dominant relativistic effect around a non-rotating black hole – the existence of an innermost stable orbit at $`r_{\mathrm{ms}}=6GM/c^2`$.

### 2.3. Initial and boundary conditions

We simulate a wedge of the disk extending $`30^{}`$ in azimuth in cylindrical polar geometry, $`(r,z,\varphi )`$. This limitation on the azimuthal extent of the domain has the undesirable effect of eliminating larger scale azimuthal modes of the magnetic field, which contribute significantly to the total power in global disk simulations (e.g. Armitage 1998). The local properties of disk turbulence (for example the relative strengths of radial and azimuthal field components), however, which are probably of more importance for this problem, are less affected by the size of the azimuthal domain.

The boundary conditions are periodic in $`\varphi `$, and set to outflow at both $`r_{\mathrm{min}}`$ and $`r_{\mathrm{max}}`$. Outflow boundary conditions are implemented in ZEUS by setting zero gradients for all flow variables at the boundary. We note that this choice of boundary conditions allows a significant toroidal magnetic field to be advected across the inner boundary – we have not attempted to impose Newtonian analogs of the general relativistic boundary conditions for magnetic fields at the event horizon of the black hole. From a numerical standpoint, the use of outflow boundary conditions is desirable to ensure that the simulations do indeed model magnetic instabilities, rather than purely hydrodynamic instabilities to which relatively narrow annuli, with reflecting boundaries, are known to be susceptible (e.g. Narayan & Goodman 1989). We use a uniform grid in both $`\varphi `$ and $`z`$. In the radial direction, a uniform grid interior to $`r_{\mathrm{ms}}`$ is matched smoothly onto a grid at larger radii for which $`\mathrm{\Delta }r_{i+1}=k\mathrm{\Delta }r_i`$, with $`k>1`$ a constant. This concentrates resolution in the region of greatest interest near, and within, the marginally stable orbit.

The initial conditions for the calculation are intended as thin disk analogs of the toroidal configuration used by Hawley (2000), with the additional assumption of isothermality. We take a gaussian surface density profile, centered at $`r=2r_{\mathrm{ms}}`$, with an azimuthal velocity appropriate to Keplerian rotation. We relax this profile in a preliminary non-magnetic one dimensional calculation, to ensure that it is an accurate numerical equilibrium state. The resulting profile of $`\rho `$ and $`v_\varphi `$ is then mapped into three dimensions, and a seed magnetic field added. To evaluate the sensitivity of the results to the boundary conditions, three unstratified simulations were run, with different choices of seed field and associated boundary conditions in $`z`$. Two simulations were run with an initially vertical field imposed at all radii where the surface density exceeded a threshold value, taken to be approximately a quarter of the maximum value of the surface density. Periodic boundary conditions for all variables were imposed in the $`z`$ direction. For the first simulation (the ‘standard’ run) the radial and vertical boundaries were at $`r_{\mathrm{min}}=1`$, $`r_{\mathrm{max}}=5`$, and $`z=\pm 0.3`$, in code units where $`r_{\mathrm{ms}}=1.5`$. The initial field strength (in regions seeded with field) was such that the ratio of gas pressure to magnetic pressure, $`\beta _z=5000`$. The numerical resolution was $`n_r=150`$, $`n_z=32`$ and $`n_\varphi =40`$ grid points, with 30 of the radial grid points interior to $`r_{\mathrm{ms}}`$. The second run simulated a cooler disk (with a sound speed half the previous value), in a larger computational volume, bounded by $`1<r<10`$ and $`z=\pm 0.25`$. This run used $`n_r=210`$, $`n_z=32`$ and $`n_\varphi =48`$ grid points, and an initial seed field $`\beta _z=800`$. Finally, a simulation was run with parameters similar to the first, except starting with an initially azimuthal field, with $`\beta _\varphi =100`$. For this simulation the vertical boundary conditions were chosen to be reflecting, with the vertical components of both the velocity and the magnetic field set to zero on the boundaries. The resolution for this run was $`120\times 32\times 40`$ grid points.

Simulations that include vertical stratification are obviously more realistic, but they are also more demanding of computational resources, because the development of magnetically dominated low density regions at high $`|z|`$ places severe restrictions on the timestep. Numerical tricks can be used to mitigate this problem (Miller & Stone 2000), but for this paper we adopted the simpler approach of considering a volume containing only a small number of disk scale heights. We therefore reran the standard model, including the vertical component of gravity, in a domain bounded by $`z=\pm 0.5`$. This admits only a couple of scale heights at $`r_{\mathrm{ms}}`$. As in the standard model, periodic boundary conditions were used for the magnetic field in the vertical direction. For this run we used $`n_r=150`$, $`n_z=48`$ and $`n_\varphi =40`$ grid points.

It is worth noting at the outset that these simulations are not, and are not intended to be, realizations of the same physical situation, and thus the results will differ between them. An initially vertical field gives the fastest possible growth rate of the Balbus-Hawley (1991) instability. Additionally, a non-zero vertical flux boosts the strength of MHD turbulence and increases the effective Shakura-Sunyaev (1973) $`\alpha `$ parameter obtained (Hawley, Gammie & Balbus 1995). Substantially longer timescales are required to reach saturation with an initially azimuthal field. We have run both simulations that used the smaller computational domain until a significant fraction (around a half) of the initial mass had been accreted, and compare the results at this late stage when the flow in the inner regions of the disk, near $`r_{\mathrm{ms}}`$, has reached an approximate steady state.

## 3. Results

Fig. 1 shows the growth in the magnetic energy of the radial magnetic field component in the standard unstratified model with an initially vertical ($`z`$ direction, $`\beta _z=5000`$) magnetic field. Around 10 orbits of evolution are required to reach a nonlinear state in the inner regions of the flow, during which time the radial magnetic field energy grows exponentially. The growth rate is consistent with the expected growth rate of the Balbus-Hawley instability in this field geometry (Balbus & Hawley 1991), evaluated at the smallest radius that has been seeded with magnetic field. Subsequent to the instabilities saturating, the field energy fluctuates but remains roughly constant, before finally starting to decline as a significant fraction of the disk is accreted. At the point the run was stopped, at $`t=200`$, 65% of the initial mass had been accreted. The magnetic field was dominated by the toroidal component, with the ratio of magnetic field energy in the $`z`$, $`r`$ and $`\varphi `$ fields being approximately 1:2:30.

The simulation seeded with an azimuthal magnetic field shows similar behavior, but with much slower growth of the magnetic field energy, despite the initially higher ratio of the magnetic energy to the thermal energy. This configuration was run up to $`t=600`$, by which time just under 40% of the initial disk mass had been accreted.

Fig. 2 shows the evolution of the disk surface density with time, for the standard run with an initial vertical field. The evolution differs somewhat from the standard diffusive evolution of a viscous annulus (e.g. Pringle 1981), due to both the varying amount of time required before the disk at different radii becomes fully turbulent, and due to the development of supersonic infall interior to $`r_{\mathrm{ms}}`$. However the general trend towards a broadening surface density profile, that remains relatively smooth, is recovered. Spatial fluctuations in $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$, shown in Fig. 3, are strongly sheared and thus predominantly azimuthal in extent. When normalised to the mean surface density as a function of radius, as in the figure, there is no obvious visual indication of the location of the marginally stable orbit.

The radial and azimuthal velocities as a function of radius obtained in the standard run are shown in Fig. 4. A small radial velocity within the disk itself transitions smoothly into rapid infall within the marginally stable orbit. The sonic point lies somewhat inside $`r_{\mathrm{ms}}`$ (within a radial distance $`h`$, the disk scale height that would correspond to the assumed sound speed). Note that the radial velocity slightly outside the marginally stable orbit is already beginning to increase in magnitude, in advance of reaching the actual infall region. Beyond $`r2r_{\mathrm{ms}}`$, the radial velocity is outward. This is a consequence of the initial surface density profile and the use of a free outer boundary condition. We have also experimented with runs in which mass was continually injected across the outer boundary, and the disk allowed to evolve until a quasi-steady state was achieved. These runs yielded similar results to those reported here – in particular there was no strong amplification of magnetic field observed interior to $`r_{\mathrm{ms}}`$. However, with inflow boundary conditions at $`r_{\mathrm{out}}`$ it is hard to be sure that purely hydrodynamic instabilities, which are known to occur within relatively narrow annuli when the boundary conditions are reflecting, do not contaminate the results. We therefore concentrate attention on the current simulations which follow a ring of gas which is allowed both to accrete and to spread to larger radii.

As expected for a thin disk, in which radial pressure forces are small compared to the gravitational force, the azimuthal velocity in the disk, $`v_\varphi `$, is very close to the Keplerian value for orbits in a Paczynski-Witta potential.

The presence of magnetic fields in the flow potentially allows the flow interior to the sonic point to communicate with the exterior disk. Generically, except in unusual circumstances, MHD turbulence driven by the Balbus-Hawley instability saturates at a level where the magnetic pressure in the disk is substantially less than the thermal pressure, typically by one or two orders of magnitude (Hawley, Gammie & Balbus 1995; Brandenburg et al. 1995; Stone et al. 1996). Stronger fields, relative to the gas pressure, are likely to occur in the disk corona (Miller & Stone 2000). As shown in Fig. 5 for our standard unstratified simulation, the mean Alfven speed in the disk, $`v_A=\sqrt{(B^2/4\pi \rho )}`$, remains less than the sound speed at all radii. This is even more true for the simulation with the initial $`\varphi `$ field, not shown in the figure, since the saturation level of the magnetic fields in that run is significantly below the value obtained in the initial vertical field runs. Similarly, for the vertically stratified version of the standard run, the mean Alfven speed is smaller than the sound speed at all radii, and is of similar magnitude to the unstratified case. For this run, the magnetic fields and the Alfven speed near the disk midplane, also plotted in Fig. 5, are significantly greater than the mean value in the plunging region, though not by a large factor.

These results do not, however, exclude the possibility that the plunging region can exert a torque on the disk at the last stable orbit. In the presence of turbulence, some regions of the flow have relatively stronger magnetic fields (or lower density), with correspondingly higher Alfven speed. As a result, the critical point can penetrate further into the plunging region than one would estimate based solely on the mean flow properties. As shown in Fig. 5, for both the stratified and the unstratifed runs, we find that the peak Alfven speed at any radius is substantially greater than the mean value. Although it does not rise as rapidly as the absolute value of the radial velocity, it is therefore possible, at least in principle, for the plunging region some distance inside the last stable orbit to be in communication with the disk at larger radii. In our simulations this distance is still only $`h`$, but whether this result also holds for cooler flows is currently unknown.

Fig. 6 shows the ratio of the magnetic energy to the thermal energy for the standard run, and for the run with an initially azimuthal seed magnetic field, as a function of radius. A single timeslice from the simulation produces a rather noisy estimate of this quantity, so we plot the average from 5 independent epochs close to the end of the run ($`t=150`$ to $`t=200`$ for the $`z`$ field run, and $`t=440`$ to $`t=600`$ for the $`\varphi `$ field case). The ratio $`(B^2/8\pi \rho c_s^2)`$ is around 0.05 - 0.1 for the initial $`z`$ field run with $`\beta _z=5000`$, and is modestly greater for the run using a larger computational domain and an initial $`\beta _z=800`$. These values are consistent with the values (0.1 - 0.2) obtained by Hawley, Gammie & Balbus (1995) from unstratified local simulations in the shearing-box geometry, at comparable initial $`\beta _z=3200`$. As expected, the fields are significantly weaker in the simulation with an initial $`\varphi `$ field and non-periodic boundary conditions in $`z`$. In this case we obtain a ratio of magnetic to thermal energy in the $`12\times 10^2`$ range. In all the runs, modest field amplification interior to the marginally stable orbit is observed. The fields remain well below equipartition with the thermal energy, while the kinetic energy is of course orders of magnitude greater still.

Angular momentum transport in the disk is dominated by magnetic, rather than fluid, stresses. We also plot in Fig. 6 a measure of the magnetic stress, normalised to the gas pressure,

$$\alpha _{\mathrm{mag}}=\frac{2}{3}\frac{B_rB_\varphi }{4\pi \rho c_s^2},$$
(3)
which in the disk is just the magnetic contribution to the Shakura-Sunyaev $`\alpha `$ parameter. Typical values obtained are a few $`\times 10^2`$ for the standard simulation, and somewhat less than $`10^2`$ for the simulation with an initial magnetic field in the $`\varphi `$ direction. From the figure, it can also be seen that there is continuing magnetic stress, and a rise in $`\alpha _{\mathrm{mag}}`$, within the plunging region, where the density drops rapidly. In these plots there is evidently nothing special about the location $`r=r_{\mathrm{ms}}`$, and the magnetic torque does not vanish there. The existence of this stress inside $`r_{\mathrm{ms}}`$, which is one of the predictions of Krolik (1999), has also been seen in previous numerical simulations (Hawley 2000; Hawley & Krolik 2000).

For the vertically stratified run, we have also checked for the presence of significant variations of $`\alpha _{\mathrm{mag}}`$, and other quantities, with $`z`$. Interior to $`r_{\mathrm{ms}}`$, the strength of the magnetic stress, normalised to the gas pressure, is found to be greater near the midplane of the disk than at larger $`z`$, but only modestly so.

To test the effect of this ongoing stress on the dynamics of the flow inside the last stable orbit, we plot in Fig. 7 the specific angular momentum $`l`$ of the flow as a function of radius. To reduce fluctuations in $`l`$, we average the specific angular momentum over several timeslices taken from near the end of the simulations. For all the runs, $`l(r)`$ in the disk ($`r>r_{\mathrm{ms}}`$) is close to the Keplerian value for circular orbits in the pseudo-Newtonian potential, apart from a deviation close to $`r_{\mathrm{ms}}`$ where the radial density gradient is becoming large. At a zero-torque boundary, we expect that $`dl/dr`$ vanishes. There is some variation in $`l`$ within the marginally stable orbit, even in the averaged profiles, and weak indications of a small systematic decline towards smaller radii. This is consistent with the aforementioned presence of magnetic stress inside $`r_{\mathrm{ms}}`$. However, it is clear from Fig. 7 that for both the unstratified and stratified simulations the specific angular momentum is close to flat within $`r_{\mathrm{ms}}`$. The magnetic stress that exists within $`r_{\mathrm{ms}}`$ does not appear to be sufficient to change $`l`$ significantly within the last stable orbit. In this (restricted) sense, the numerical results are broadly consistent with the standard, purely hydrodynamic, picture of thin disk accretion accretion onto black holes (Abramowicz & Kato 1989), which assumes a zero-torque boundary condition at the last stable orbit.

The highest resolution of the runs discussed here is obtained in the vertically stratified simulation. For this run, we plot in Fig. 8 the specific angular momentum from 5 timeslices, evenly spaced between $`t=150`$ and $`t=200`$. Significant fluctuations in $`l`$ at any given radius are present. The influence of such fluctuations on the average structure of the disk outside $`r_{\mathrm{ms}}`$ is unclear, though we speculate that they could lead to significant changes in, for example, the radiative efficiency of the flow. However, in none of the slices do we see evidence for the clear and continuing decline in $`l`$, interior to the marginally stable orbit, that was obtained in the simulations of Hawley (2000).

## 4. Discussion

In this paper, we have used MHD simulations to study the transition between a geometrically thin accretion disk, in which inflow is driven by the rate at which turbulence can transport angular momentum outwards, and the unstable plunging region interior to the marginally stable orbit. We find that in many respects the transition resembles that expected on the basis of previous analytic and one-dimensional numerical calculations (Paczynski & Bisnovatyi-Kogan 1981; Muchotrzeb & Paczynski 1982; Muchotrzeb 1983; Matsumoto et. al. 1984; Abramowicz & Kato 1989). In particular, we find no evidence, at least in pseudo-Newtonian simulations at the current resolution, for the extremely strong growth in the importance of magnetic fields (relative to the thermal or rest-mass energy of the flow) and associated dynamical effects discussed by Krolik (1999). Indeed, in these thin disk simulations, the average specific angular momentum is close to flat at and within the last stable orbit. In this respect, the numerical results, at least for the time averaged state, appear to be consistent with disk models computed using a zero-torque boundary condition at the last stable orbit. This differs from the results of some previous simulations (Hawley 2000; Hawley & Krolik 2000), in which an unmistakeable decline in the specific angular momentum inside $`r_{\mathrm{ms}}`$ was obtained. Although the conditions at $`r_{\mathrm{ms}}`$ are expected to vary between thin and thick disks, the model computed by Hawley (2000) and Hawley & Krolik (2000) is thin enough at $`r_{\mathrm{ms}}`$ that $`l(r)`$ is close to Keplerian. We speculate that differences in the equation of state, spatial domain, or numerical resolution could be responsible for the discrepancy. Further simulations investigating these possibilities are in progress.

Although we have not found any strong dynamical effects associated with magnetic fields interior to the last stable orbit, we do see evidence for the essential ingredient – ongoing magnetic stresses in the plunging region – of recent models that have questioned the validity of a zero-torque boundary condition for black hole accretion (Gammie 1999; Krolik 1999; Agol & Krolik 2000). The differences between these simulations, and those presented by Hawley (2000) and Hawley & Krolik (2000), are thus quantitative rather than qualititive in nature. We would therefore emphasize that further improvements in the simulations are required to investigate the behavior of the vertically stratified flows more robustly, to extend the simulations to test the evolution of cooler flows crossing the last stable orbit, and to explore the continuum between geometrically thin and thick disks.

The simulations reported here are non-relativistic, and cannot – even crudely – be extended to model any of the additional complexity that arises if the accretion flow is onto a Kerr black hole. Considerable progress has been made in the development of numerical methods for general relativistic hydrodynamics and magnetohydrodynamics (e.g. Font 2000), but these methods are probably not yet able to follow a turbulent disk flow transiting the last stable orbit. We note, however, that the general relativistic MHD calculations that have already been reported do show important differences with non-relativistic analogs (Koide, Shibata & Kudoh 1999; Meier 1999; Koide et al. 2000), and this should be borne in mind as an important caveat to the results presented here. The dynamics of the inner disk could also be modified by magnetic fields exterior to the disk, either in a disk corona (Miller & Stone 2000; Hawley & Krolik 2000), or by fields linking the disk to a spinning black hole (Livio 1999; Blandford 1999). Given the diverse range of variability observed in accreting black hole systems, further exploration of such ideas is clearly warranted.

We thank the developers of ZEUS and ZEUS-MP for making these codes available as community resources through the Laboratory for Computational Astrophysics, and Charles Gammie, Julian Krolik and Bohdan Paczynski for valuable comments. CSR acknowledges support from Hubble Fellowship grant HF-01113.01-98A. This grant was awarded by the Space Telescope Institute, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., for NASA under contract NAS 5-26555. CSR also thanks support from the NSF under grants AST 9876887 and AST 9529170. JC was supported by NASA/ATP grant NAGS5-7723.


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# Higgs mechanism in the Randall-Sundrum model

(June 2000)

## Abstract

We consider the dimensional reduction of a bulk scalar field in the Randall-Sundrum model. By allowing the scalar field to be non-minimally coupled to the spacetime curvature we show that it is possible to generate spontaneous symmetry breaking on the brane.

The idea that spacetime may have some extra dimensions, beyond the usual four of Einstein’s theory, has been shown to provide an interesting solution to the gauge hierarchy problem . An intriguing version of this scenario is the one proposed by Randall and Sundrum  — a five dimensional model with one extra spatial dimension having an orbifold compactification. Essentially the model consists of two three-branes with opposite tensions sitting at the two orbifold fixed points. The 5-dimensional line element is

$$ds^2=e^{2kr|\varphi |}\eta _{\mu \nu }dx^\mu dx^\nu r_c^2d\varphi ^2.$$
(1)
where $`x^\mu `$ are the 4-dimensional coordinates, and $`|\varphi |\pi `$ with the points $`(x^\mu ,\varphi )`$ and $`(x^\mu ,\varphi )`$ identified. The factor of $`e^{2kr|\varphi |}`$ present in (1) means that the Randall-Sundrum spacetime is not a direct product of 4-dimensional spacetime and the extra fifth dimension. This factor is often referred to as the warp factor. The three-branes sit at $`\varphi =0`$ and $`\varphi =\pi `$. $`k`$ is a constant of order of the Planck scale and $`r_c`$ is an arbitrary constant associated with the size of the extra dimension. The interesting feature of this model is the simple way in which it generates a TeV mass scale from higher dimensional Planck scale quantities. A field with mass $`m_0`$ which is confined on the negative tension brane will develop a physical mass $`m=m_0e^{kr_c\pi }`$; therefore the electroweak scale is naturally realized if one adjusts the length of the extra-dimension to $`kr_c12`$. In fact, in the original version of the Randall-Sundrum model all the standard model particles are supposed to be confined on the brane with only gravity living in the bulk (5-dimensional) spacetime.

An attractive alternative to confining standard model particles on the brane is to allow all of the fields to live in the bulk spacetime. Several aspects of this model have been studied and the literature is already immense. In , the physics of a bulk scalar field is studied, and the authors point out that the warp factor in (1) localises the field on the brane. This situation has been further explored in , where bulk gauge bosons have been considered. Some aspects of fermion bulk fields have been explored in , and bulk supersymmetry has been studied in . Both fermions and gauge bosons in the bulk have been studied in . In this last case it turns out that the zero modes, interpreted as standard model particles, are localised on the brane, explaining why the hierarchy problem is solved in a different setting with respect to the original Randall-Sundrum model in which the standard model was confined on the wall. In  a bulk Higgs field as the origin of spontaneous symmetry breaking was also considered. Unfortunately phenomenological constraints for gauge boson masses to be of the order of the electroweak scale requires a hierarchically small Higgs mass. This seems to rule out a bulk Higgs field, leaving two alternatives: stick the Higgs on the brane by hand (or by some as yet unknown confinement mechanism), or expect some dynamics to drive a bulk scalar field to a negative mass squared field in four dimensions. Other arguments have been given in .

In this letter we investigate the possibility of obtaining spontaneous symmetry breaking as a consequence of dimensional reduction within the Randall-Sundrum model with fields living in the bulk. We will show how it is possible to obtain a scalar particle with imaginary mass via a Kaluza-Klein reduction in the Randall-Sundrum spacetime. A scalar field in a higher dimensional spacetime has been shown to reduce in four-dimensions to the Kaluza-Klein infinite tower of scalar fields whose masses $`m_n`$ are quantised . For the Randall-Sundrum metric the masses $`m_n`$ are given by solutions of the transcendental equation

$$0=y_\nu (ax_n)j_\nu (x_n)j_\nu (ax_n)y_\nu (x_n),$$
(2)
where we have defined $`a=e^{\pi kr_c}`$ and $`m_n=kax_n`$, with $`x_n`$ the $`n^{th}`$ positive solution to (2). The functions $`j_\nu `$ and $`y_\nu `$ are given by the following combinations of Bessel functions:

$`j_\nu (z)`$ $`=`$ $`2J_\nu (z)+zJ_\nu ^{}(z),`$ (3)
$`y_\nu (z)`$ $`=`$ $`2Y_\nu (z)+zY_\nu ^{}(z).`$ (4)
The order of the Bessel functions is $`\nu =\sqrt{4+\frac{\widehat{m}^2}{k^2}}`$ where $`\widehat{m}`$ is the mass of the five-dimensional scalar field.

Our model is described by a simple generalisation of that in  :

$$S=\frac{1}{2}d^4x_\pi ^\pi 𝑑\varphi \sqrt{g}\left(g^{AB}_A\mathrm{\Phi }_B\mathrm{\Phi }\widehat{m}^2\mathrm{\Phi }^2\xi \widehat{R}\mathrm{\Phi }^2\frac{\lambda }{k}\mathrm{\Phi }^4\right).$$
(5)
Here $`\lambda `$ is dimensionless (for the moment no value for it is specified) and $`\xi `$ is also dimensionless and represents a non-minimal coupling of the scalar field to the gravitational background. $`g_{AB}`$ represents the metric of (1) and $`\widehat{R}`$ is the scalar curvature computed from this metric. We will see that it is the non-minimal coupling of the scalar field which allows the possible generation of Higgs particles in the theory.

Let us now turn to Kaluza-Klein reduction. In the non-minimally coupled case the situation is different from the one presented in  due to the presence of the $`\widehat{R}\varphi ^2`$ term. Decomposing the fields as a sum over modes and setting $`\lambda =0`$ initially (as in ), we write

$$\mathrm{\Phi }(x,y)=\underset{n}{}\psi _n(x)f_n(y),$$
(6)
with

$$_{\pi r_c}^{\pi r_c}𝑑ye^{2\sigma }f_n(y)f_n(y)=\delta _{nm}.$$
(7)
The field equation for the modes becomes

$`e^{2\sigma }_y(e^{4\sigma }_yf_n(y))+m^2e^{2\sigma }f_n(y)`$
$`16k\xi e^{2\sigma }\left(\delta (y)\delta (y\pi r_c)\right)f_n(y)`$ $`=m_n^2f_n(y),`$ (8)
where we have defined $`m^2=\widehat{m}^2+20\xi k^2`$. It can be seen that the presence of the terms involving Dirac delta distributions in (8) has its origin in the curvature of the Randall-Sundrum spacetime. For $`y0`$ or $`y\pi r_c`$ the linearly independent solutions to (8) are the same Bessel functions as those given in . After applying the boundary conditions appropriate to the orbifold compactification in the model it is easily shown that

$$f_n(y)=N_ne^{2\sigma }\left(J_\nu \left(\frac{m_n}{k}e^\sigma \right)\left(\frac{j_\nu (\frac{m_n}{k})}{y_\nu (\frac{m_n}{k})}\right)Y_\nu \left(\frac{m_n}{k}e^\sigma \right)\right)$$
(9)
with $`\nu =\sqrt{4+\frac{m^2}{k^2}}`$ and

$$j_\nu (z)=(2+8\xi )J_\nu (z)+zJ_\nu ^{}(z),$$
(10)
$$y_\nu (z)=(2+8\xi )Y_\nu (z)+zY_\nu ^{}(z).$$
(11)
For $`\xi =0`$ these results reduce exactly to those in , as they should. The normalization factor can be evaluated in closed form, but the expression is very lengthy and will not be given explicitly here.

Let us now turn to the mass spectrum. As was said before, it is interesting to extend the Randall-Sundrum model by considering the possibility of having other bulk fields. Since spontaneous symmetry breaking in the bulk appears to be disfavoured for a variety of reasons, the Higgs field is forced to live on the brane. No alternative to generate spontaneous symmetry breaking on the brane starting from an ordinary bulk scalar field has been investigated. We want to show that a non-minimally coupled scalar field offers such a possibility.

The masses of the Kaluza-Klein excitations are given by the zeroes of the function

$$F_\nu (z,\xi )=y_\nu (az)j_\nu (z)j_\nu (az)y_\nu (z).$$
(12)
Clearly, the previous considerations lead us to look for a Higgs field after Kaluza-Klein reduction, which in turn means looking for purely imaginary solutions of (12). After rotating to the complex plane ($`ziz`$), $`F_\nu (z,\xi )`$ can be re-written in terms of the modified Bessel functions and the mass spectrum equation reads

$$0=i_\nu (az)k_\nu (z)k_\nu (az)i_\nu (z).$$
(13)
Obviously the previous equation cannot be solved analytically and its numerical study is rather tricky because of the oscillating behaviour of the Bessel functions, the presence of an extremely small exponential factor and of the fact that $`F_\nu (z,\xi )`$ becomes very large.

Although it is necessary to resort to a numerical analysis, several points can be addressed analytically. First of all, note that the function (13) does not admit real zeros unless the order of the Bessel function is imaginary. This can be achieved by letting $`\xi <\frac{1}{20}(4+\frac{m^2}{k^2})`$. Secondly, although the modified Bessel functions appearing in the above transcendental equation are complex, the combination appearing in (13) can be shown to be real. Thus it is possible to expedite the numerical procedure by taking the real part.

A negative value of $`\xi `$ is necessary if we are to obtain a Higgs type mass for the dimensionally reduced field. The coupling constant $`\xi `$ is to be regarded as a free parameter. Although a popular choice is to fix its value to zero or the conformal value ($`1/6`$ for 4-dimensions, and $`3/12`$ for 5-dimensions) for computational simplicity, there is no good argument to prefer any specific value. Indeed, there are specific theories in which a prescription for $`\xi `$ does exist. For instance, it has been shown in  that Higgs scalar fields must have $`\xi 0`$ or $`\xi 1/6`$ in order to have an absolutely stable ground state. Other examples have been considered in .

In performing the numerical analysis various features have to be taken into account. The first is related to the bounds on the Higgs mass. The discussion on this issue is quite complicated because in the Randall-Sundrum model, higher dimensional operators need to be included in order to have a reliable upper limit on the Higgs mass . However, the mass spectrum does not depend dramatically on the value of the Higgs mass— this can be easily seen numerically— therefore we do not expect our analysis to change drastically by altering the Higgs mass within a reasonable range of values. It is interesting to note that from the knowledge of the bounds on the Higgs mass, it is possible to trace back bounds on $`\xi `$. In the following we fix $`m_H=100`$ GeV.

Another parameter, which seems to be quite problematic, is the ratio $`\frac{\widehat{m}}{k}`$, or simply $`\widehat{m}`$, which needed to be finely tuned when placing the Higgs field in the bulk in previous work. We have chosen $`\frac{\widehat{m}}{k}=1`$, again noting that $`F_\nu (z,\xi )`$ is not particularly sensitive to this parameter for values between $`0`$ and $`5`$. The dependence of $`\xi `$ on $`\frac{\widehat{m}}{k}`$ has been studied and the results are shown in (fig 1).

The approximate value of $`\xi `$ corresponding to a mass of 100 GeV is $`\xi =0.250020221625119498`$. The standard model bounds  on the Higgs mass correspond to $`\xi `$ varying between $`0.250019`$ and $`0.250061`$. It is important to note that for a fixed value of the Higgs mass $`\xi `$ can assume different values. In our computation we took the first zero. As we will discuss, this has the virtue that the next mass eigenvalue (if there is one) is extremely large.

When mode expanding the 5-dimensional action we have to consider the self interaction term, which simply needs to be integrated over the extra co-ordinate. Taking into account only the first low lying mode, after integration, the self interaction term looks like

$$S_{int}=\lambda _{eff}d^4x\psi _n^4(x),$$
(14)
with

$$\lambda _{eff}=\frac{2\lambda }{k}_0^{\pi r_c}𝑑ye^{4ky}f_n^4(y).$$
(15)
Although it does not appear possible to obtain an exact closed form result for this expression, it can be evaluated numerically without difficulties and the result is $`\lambda _{eff}=9.4255310^{18}\lambda `$. Even for very large values of $`\lambda `$ in the $`5`$-dimensional theory, the self-interaction term in the effective $`4`$-dimensional theory is small.

An important feature to consider is the presence of higher Kaluza-Klein modes. It is important to make sure that there are no other low lying modes for at least two reasons: firstly, because their presence would considerably complicate any phenomenological analysis; secondly, because they would give rise in the dimensional reduction of the self-interaction portion to mixed terms. Therefore we had to extend our numerical investigation not only to the first mode, but to higher modes as well, to check the reliability of the present model. Because of numerical limitations, we have studied the function $`F_\nu (z,\xi )`$ only in a relatively large region, $`|z|<740000000`$ corresponding to modes of masses $`m<10^{11}GeV`$. Our numerical study shows that there is only one root in this region, enabling us to discard in the Kaluza-Klein expansion for the self interaction term the mixed modes safely if we are only interested in the low energy effective theory.

In conclusion, we have discussed the issue of a bulk Higgs field, relevant in any attempt to place the standard model in the bulk. Since this possibility is disfavoured, we have indicated a mechanism which admits a bulk scalar field and spontaneous symmetry breaking on the brane. In other words we have considered a bulk scalar field with a positive mass term and indicated a way of obtaining a scalar field with imaginary mass on the brane. We achieved this by considering a non-minimally coupled theory and letting the scalar coupling be negative. The non-minimal coupling constant is responsible for this. Thus it is possible to generate spontaneous symmetry breaking in a natural way using the geometry.

A. Flachi would like to thank the University of Newcastle upon Tyne for the award of a Ridley Studentship.


text:
# 1 The change of the C and O mass abundances through variations of the strengths of the strong and Coulomb interactions. The C mass abundance, 𝑋_C(△), and the O mass abundance, 𝑋_O(◇) are shown in (A), (B), and (C) for stars with masses 20, 5, and 1.3𝑀_⊙, respectively, in units of the standard values, 𝑋_stand. The variations of the strength of the strong and Coulomb interaction are given in the upper and lower scales for the two effective N-N forces MHN and MN. Dashed curves are drawn to show the trends.

Stellar Production Rates of Carbon and Its Abundance in the Universe

H. Oberhummer1∗, A. Csótó2, H. Schlattl3

1 Institute of Nuclear Physics, Vienna University of Technology, Wiedner Hauptstrasse 8-10, A-1040 Vienna, Austria
2 Department of Atomic Physics, Eötvös University, Pázmány Péter sétány 1/A, H-1117 Budapest, Hungary
3 Max-Planck-Institut für Astrophysik, Karl-Schwarzschild-Str. 1, D-85741 Garching, Germany
To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: ohu@kph.tuwien.ac.at

Abstract: The bulk of the carbon in our universe is produced in the triple-alpha process in helium-burning red giant stars. We calculated the change of the triple-alpha reaction rate in a microscopic 12-nucleon model of the 12C nucleus and looked for the effects of minimal variations of the strengths of the underlying interactions. Stellar model calculations were performed with the alternative reaction rates. Here, we show that outside a narrow window of 0.5 and 4 % of the values of the strong and Coulomb forces, respectively, the stellar production of carbon or oxygen is reduced by factors of 30 to 1000.

The formation of 12C through the triple-alpha process takes place in two sequential steps in the He-burning phase of red giants. In the first step, the unstable 8Be with a lifetime of only about $`10^{16}`$ s is formed in a reaction equilibrium with the two alpha particles, $`\alpha +\alpha {}_{}{}^{8}\mathrm{Be}`$. In the second step, an additional alpha particle is captured, $`{}_{}{}^{8}\mathrm{Be}(\alpha ,\gamma ){}_{}{}^{12}\mathrm{C}`$. Without a suitable resonance in 12C, the triple-alpha rate would be much too small to account for the 12C abundance in our universe. Hoyle (1) suggested that a resonance level in 12C, at about 300-400 keV above the three-alpha threshold, would enhance the triple-alpha reaction rate and would explain the abundance of 12C in our universe. Such a level was subsequently found experimentally when a resonance that possessed the required properties was discovered (2, 3). It is the second 0+ state in 12C, denoted by $`0_2^+`$. Its modern parameters (4) are $`\epsilon =(379.47\pm 0.18)`$ keV, $`\mathrm{\Gamma }=(8.3\pm 1)`$ eV, and $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_\gamma =(3.7\pm 0.5)`$ meV, where $`\epsilon `$ is the resonance energy in the center-of-mass frame relative to the three-alpha threshold, and $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ and $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_\gamma `$ are the total width and radiative width, respectively.

The isotope 12C is synthesized further in the He burning in red giants by alpha capture to the O isotope 16O, leading to an abundance ratio in the universe of $`{}_{}{}^{12}\mathrm{C}:{}_{}{}^{16}\mathrm{O}1:2`$ (5). If the carbon abundance in the universe were suppressed by orders of magnitude, no carbon-based life could have developed in the universe. But the production of O is also necessary because no spontaneous development of carbon-based life is possible without the existence of water.

Here, we investigated the abundance ratios of C and O by starting from slight variations of the strength of the nucleon-nucleon (N-N) interaction with a microscopic 12-nucleon model. In previous studies, only hypothetical ad hoc shifts of the resonance energy of the $`0_2^+`$ state were considered (6). Some preliminary results of our calculations are reported elsewhere (7).

The resonant reaction rate for the triple-alpha process ($`r_{3\alpha }`$) proceeding via the ground state of 8Be and the $`0_2^+`$ resonance in 12C is given approximately by (5)

$$r_{3\alpha }=3^{3/2}N_\alpha ^3\left(\frac{2\pi \mathrm{}^2}{M_\alpha k_\mathrm{B}T}\right)^3\frac{\mathrm{\Gamma }_\gamma }{\mathrm{}}\mathrm{exp}\left(\frac{\epsilon }{k_\mathrm{B}T}\right)$$
(1)
where $`M_\alpha `$ and $`N_\alpha `$ are the mass and the number density of the alpha particle, and $`\mathrm{}`$ and $`k`$ are Planck’s and Boltzmann’s constant, respectively. The temperature of the stellar plasma is given by $`T`$.

The two quantities in Eq. 1 that change their value by varying the strength of the N-N interaction are $`\epsilon `$ and $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_\gamma `$ of the $`0_2^+`$ resonance in 12C. These quantities are calculated in a microscopic 12-body, three-alpha cluster model of 12C. The cluster model assumes relatively simple harmonic-oscillator shell-model states for the alpha particles and describes with high precision the relative motions between the clusters, which are the most important degrees of freedom (8). The model treats 12C as a system of twelve interacting nucleons, properly takes into account the Pauli principle, and is free of any nonphysical center-of-mass excitation. The only input parameter in the model is the effective N-N interaction. To explore and understand any dependence of the results on the chosen interaction, we used several different sets of forces, including the Minnesota (MN) and modified Hasegawa-Nagagta (MHN) interactions (9-12). These interactions give a good overall description of the $`\alpha +\alpha `$ scattering and the 12C levels (8).

As a first step of our calculations, we fine-tuned each force (by slightly changing their exchange-mixture parameters) to fix $`\epsilon `$ in Eq. 1 at its experimental value. Then we performed calculations for $`\epsilon `$ and $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_\gamma `$ while slightly varying the strengths of the N-N forces. For a given set of forces, all repulsive and attractive terms of the interaction are multiplied by a factor $`p`$, which was set between 0.994 and 1.006. Thus, the calculations with $`p=1.0`$ correspond to the physical strength of the N-N interaction and reproduce the experimental value of $`\epsilon `$.

We find that the value of $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_\gamma `$ is minimally changed by the small variations of the N-N interactions, leading to negligible changes in $`r_{3\alpha }`$. Thus, in the stellar model calculations we can fix $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_\gamma `$ to its experimental value in all cases. The resonance energy $`\epsilon `$, however, is rather sensitive to variations in the N-N force, leading to large changes in the triple-alpha rate $`r_{3\alpha }`$.

In addition to the strong interaction, the triple-alpha reaction rate depends on another fundamental force, the electromagnetic interaction. The strength of the Coulomb interaction between the protons is proportional to the fine structure constant $`\alpha _\mathrm{f}`$. To see the sensitivity of $`r_{3\alpha }`$ to changes in $`\alpha _\mathrm{f}`$, we performed calculations for the energy of the $`0_2^+`$ resonance of 12C while slightly varying $`\alpha _\mathrm{f}`$ from its experimental value (1/137.036), much the same way as with the strong N-N interaction. We found that varying $`\alpha _\mathrm{f}`$ leads to a smaller and reversed effect for the change in the energy of the $`0_2^+`$ resonance. This result is logical because the Coulomb interaction between the alpha clusters has a different sign and is weaker than the strong interaction.

The $`{}_{}{}^{16}\mathrm{O}(\alpha ,\gamma ){}_{}{}^{20}\mathrm{Ne}`$ reaction is nonresonant, so variations in the strengths of the strong or Coulomb forces can have only small effects on its reaction rate. The $`{}_{}{}^{12}\mathrm{C}(\alpha ,\gamma ){}_{}{}^{16}\mathrm{O}`$ process may look more dangerous because its cross section is strongly affected by subthreshold states in the 16O nucleus (5). However, if the N-N force is made weaker, then the subthreshold states become less bound, thereby enhancing the $`{}_{}{}^{12}\mathrm{C}(\alpha ,\gamma ){}_{}{}^{16}\mathrm{O}`$ cross section. Therefore, in the case of a weaker force, the small C/O ratio is still decreased. An analogous reasoning holds for a stronger force. Thus, without doing any calculation for the $`{}_{}{}^{12}\mathrm{C}(\alpha ,\gamma ){}_{}{}^{16}\mathrm{O}`$ and $`{}_{}{}^{16}\mathrm{O}(\alpha ,\gamma ){}_{}{}^{20}\mathrm{Ne}`$ reactions with the modified forces, we can conclude that their effect would strengthen our hypothesis regarding carbon and oxygen production.

For stars with masses more than $``$0.9 solar mass ($`M_{}`$) the temperatures in the center can reach the burning temperature of He, thus producing C by the triple-alpha process (13). Depending on the exact conditions in the center, some C may be further fused to O by capturing an additional alpha particle. When all He in the center of the star is consumed, the triple-alpha reaction proceeds in shells around this core. In this phase, two burning shells are present, one shell that burns H and one that burns He, and are separated by a region of radiative energy transport.

In stars with masses $`\begin{array}{c}<\hfill \\ \hfill \end{array}`$$`8M_{}`$ this double shell-burning structure is thermally unstable (14), creating thermal pulses with high rates of mass loss. In this phase these stars lose the whole envelope, i.e., the layers above the H-burning shell, creating planetary nebulae (PNe) with a white dwarf in the center. During one thermal pulse, the H- and He-burning shells alternately provide the energy source of the star. When the energy-release of the He shell approaches its maximum, a convective zone develops. The C and O produced by fusion of He is dredged into layers that might, in a latter part of the pulse, be covered by the convective envelope (15). In this way, they are transported to the surface where they are blown away by the stellar wind, creating a heavy-element enriched PNe.

Unfortunately, the exact amount of C and O dredged up is uncertain, because it depends on poorly understood processes at the boundary of the convective layers, such as overshooting or rotational mixing (16). Thus, theoretical predictions about the composition of PNe are not accurate. But here we were only interested in the change of C and O abundances under modifications of the $`0_2^+`$ resonance energy in 12C. Because we did not expect that additional mixing processes at the formal boundaries of convective zones are altered by changes in nuclear physics, we believed the relative changes of the C and O abundances would remain independent of such mixing processes.

In massive stars ($`M>8M_{}`$) advanced burning phases take place until the center reaches nuclear matter densities, where the collapsing matter bounces back and explodes in supernovae (SNe). Although further nuclear reactions take place in the explosion, the relative abundances of C and O are not believed to change drastically.

The composition of the interstellar material (ISM) is a mixture of ejecta from stars with different masses. To determine which stellar mass contributes to the total amount of C and O in the ISM, one has to know these abundances in the PNe or SNe and the mass function, which provides the number of stars with a certain mass. At present, it is unclear which stars most enrich the ISM with C and O. Various calculations of stellar yields of massive stars exist (17-19), which agree that O seems to be dominantly produced in these stars, whereas the C situation is less clear. Recent investigations appear to support the assessment that stars with masses of $`18M_{}`$ are the major producers of C (20, 21).

The calculations with the reaction rates from the slightly modified strong or Coulomb interaction were performed with a contemporary stellar evolution code, which contains the most recent physics input (22). In particular, use of this code can produce up-to-date solar models (23) and can allow one to follow the evolution of low-mass stars through the thermal pulses of asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars (24). The nuclear network is designed preferentially to calculate the H- and He-burning phases in low-mass stars. Additionally, the basic reactions of C- and O-burning are included, which may destroy the produced C and O in massive and intermediate-mass stars.

We performed stellar model calculations for a typical massive, intermediate-mass, and low-mass star with masses 20, 5, and 1.3 $`M_{}`$, respectively. The stars are followed from the onset of H-burning until the third thermal pulse in the AGB, or until the core temperature reaches $`10^9`$ K in the case of the $`20M_{}`$ star (the nuclear network is not sufficient to go beyond this phase). For the $`1.3M_{}`$ star, which loses its envelope by stellar winds during the thermal-pulse phase, the maximum C and O abundances in the He-burning region have been extracted. By taking the maximum abundances in this region, we have a measure of how much the envelope of the star can be enriched by C or O, irrespective of how efficient the dredge-up of heavy elements is compared with our model.

For the three stellar masses, the evolution is calculated with different values of the resonance energy in the triple-alpha reaction within a range to cover variations in the strength of the strong and Coulomb interaction up to 0.5 and 4 %, respectively. The resulting modifications in the C and O abundances are shown (Fig. 1) with respect to the case, where the standard value of the resonance energy has been used (i.e., with no variations of the strength of the strong or Coulomb interaction). Because each shift in the resonance energy can be identified with a variation in the strength of the N-N or Coulomb interaction, we scaled the upper and lower ordinate with variations in these quantities. Our calculations indicate that the behavior of the residual alpha-alpha interaction, and thus that of the resonance energy of the $`0_2^+`$ state, is expected to lie somewhere between the predictions of two of our effective N-N interactions, the MN (10, 11) and the MHN (12) forces. Therefore, we show the abundances calculated only with these two effective N-N interactions (Fig. 1).

A saturation of the C production is reached with increasing N-N interaction (very pro nounced for the $`5M_{}`$ star) because no alpha particles are available below the He-burning front. Thus, the star does not gain additional energy from the $`{}_{}{}^{12}\mathrm{C}(\alpha ,\gamma ){}_{}{}^{16}\mathrm{O}`$ reaction. The stellar core contracts more rapidly and C-destroying $`{}_{}{}^{12}\mathrm{C}+{}_{}{}^{12}\mathrm{C}`$ reactions ignite earlier. For O, a similar behavior can be observed with decreasing N-N interaction strength. Because the temperatures where the triple-alpha reactions set in are enhanced with decreasing N-N force, the temperatures below the He-burning shell are much higher than in the standard case, and $`{}_{}{}^{16}\mathrm{O}+\alpha `$ reactions can destroy the previously generated O more efficiently than in the standard case (0 %).

We conclude that a change of more than 0.5 % in the strength of the strong interaction or more than 4 % change in the strength of the Coulomb force would destroy either nearly all C or all O in every star. This implies that irrespective of stellar evolution the contribution of each star to the abundance of C or O in the ISM would be negligible. Therefore, for the above cases the creation of carbon-based life in our universe would be strongly disfavoured. The anthropically allowed strengths of the strong and electromagnetic forces also constrain the Higgs vacuum expectation value (25) and yield tighter constraint on the quark masses than do the constraints from light nuclei (26). Therefore, the results of this work are relevant not only for the anthropic cosmological principle (27), but also for the mathematical design of fundamental elementary particle theories.

References and Notes

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3. C.W. Cook, W.A. Fowler, T. Lauritsen, Phys. Rev. 107, 508 (1957).
4. V.S. Shirley, Ed., Table of Isotopes, Volume I (John Wiley & Sons, New York, ed. 8, 1996).
5. C.E. Rolfs, W.S. Rodney, Cauldrons in the Cosmos (Univ. of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1988).
6. M. Livio, D. Hollowell, A. Weiss, J.W. Truran, Nature 340, 281 (1989).
7. H. Oberhummer, A. Csótó, H. Schlattl, Pre-print available at
http://xxx.lanl.gov/abs/astro-ph/9908247.
8. R. Pichler, H. Oberhummer, A. Csótó, S.A. Moszkowski, Nucl. Phys. A 618, 55 (1997).
9. A.B. Volkov, Nucl. Phys. 74, 33 (1965).
10. I. Reichstein, Y.C. Tang, Nucl. Phys. A 158, 529 (1970).
11. D.R. Thompson, M. LeMere, Y.C. Tang, Nucl. Phys. A 286, 53 (1977).
12. H. Furutani et al., Prog. Theor. Phys. Suppl. 68, 193 (1980).
13. R. Kippenhahn, A. Weigert, Stellar Structure and Evolution (Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 1990).
14. M. Schwarzschild, A.R. Härm, Astrophys. J. 142, 855 (1965).
15. I. Iben, A. Renzini, Ann. Rev. Astron. Astrophys. 21, 271 (1983).
16. A. Weiss, P.A. Denissenkov, C. Charbonnel, Astron. Astrophys. 356, 181 (2000).
17. S.E. Woosley, T.A. Weaver, Astrophys. J. Suppl. Ser. 101, 181 (1995).
18. K. Nomoto et al., Nucl. Phys. A 616, 79 (1997).
19. A. Maeder, Astron. Astrophys. 264, 105 (1992).
20. F.X. Timmes, S.E. Woosley, T.A. Weaver, Astrophys. J. Suppl. Ser. 98, 617 (1995).
21. R.B.C. Henry, K.B. Kwitter, J.A. Bates, Astrophys. J., in press. Pre-print available at http://xxx.lanl.gov/abs/astro-ph/9910347.
22. A. Weiss, H. Schlattl, Astron. Astrophys. Suppl. 144, 487 (2000).
23. H. Schlattl, A. Weiss, Astron. Astrophys. 347, 272 (1999).
24. J. Wagenhuber, A. Weiss, Astron. Astrophys. 286, 121(1994).
25. E.T. Jeltema, M. Sher, Phys. Rev. D 61, 017301 (2000).
26. C.J. Hogan, Pre-print available at
http://xxx.lanl.gov/abs/astro-ph/9909295.
27. J.D. Barrow, F.J. Tipler, The Anthropic Cosmological Principle (Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1986).
28. Supported in part by the Fonds zur wissenschaftlichen Forschung in Österreich (P10361-PHY), the OTKA Fund (D32513), the Education Ministry (FKFP-0242/2000), the Academy (BO/00520/98) in Hungary, and by the John Templeton Foundation (938-COS153).


text:
# Phase-Control of Photoabsorption in Optically Dense Media

## Abstract

We present a self-consistent theory, as well as an illustrative application to a realistic system, of phase control of photoabsorption in an optically dense medium. We demonstrate that, when propagation effects are taken into consideration, the impact on phase control is significant. Independently of the value of the initial phase difference between the two fields, over a short scaled distance of propagation, the medium tends to settle the relative phase so that it cancels the atomic excitation. In addition, we find some rather unusual behavior for an optically thin layer.

After the initial ideas  and experimental demonstration  of the feasibility of the control of photoabsorption and its products through the control of the relative phase of two fields, much work in atoms  and molecules  has explored a variety of processes. Many interesting issues  have been raised and clarified, establishing thus the idea as a useful tool. With the exception of one paper , however, theory and experiment have dealt only with single-atom (molecule) situations. But, if the ideas are to be contemplated for applications, the issue of propagation is crucial. Addressing this issue is the purpose of this Letter.

We have chosen the fundamental scheme  which has served as a benchmark for many of the initial and continuing work. We consider the excitation of a bound transition through the combined effect of a single- and a three-photon transition via two fields whose relative phase is controlled externally. We formulate and examine the propagation of a bichromatic electromagnetic field $`E`$ through an optically dense medium consisting of Xe atoms. This electric field is a function of time $`t`$ and space coordinate $`z`$ and is composed of the fundamental and its third harmonic fields that have the same (linear) polarization and frequencies $`\omega _f`$ and $`\omega _h=3\omega _f`$, respectively. It is expressed as

$$E(z,t)=\frac{1}{2}[E_fe^{i(k_fz\omega _ft)}+E_he^{i(k_hz\omega _ht)}+\text{c. c.}],$$
(1)
where $`E_j=_je^{i\varphi _j}`$, $`j=f,h`$, with $`_j`$ and $`\varphi _j`$ the slowly varying in time and space real amplitude and phase of the corresponding field, and $`k_j=\omega _jn_jc^1`$, with $`n_j`$ the refraction index of the host medium at frequency $`\omega _j`$. Although in our present treatment the host medium is vacuum, and thus $`n_f=n_h=1`$ and $`k_h=3k_f`$, for the sake of generality, e.g., presence of a buffer gas, we shall keep in the formalism the refraction index. The frequencies $`\omega _{h,f}`$ are chosen so that one harmonic photon and three fundamental photons are at near resonance with the transition from the ground state ($`|1`$) to the $`6s`$ state ($`|2`$) of Xe. A two-photon transition due to the strong fundamental or one-photon transition due to the harmonic fields lead to the ionization continuum (states $`|c`$) of the atom. As we intend to explore intensities of the fields for which the one- and three-photon transition amplitudes between states $`|1`$ and $`|2`$ are of comparable magnitude so as to maximize the modulation depth, the transition $`|2|c`$ would be dominated by the two-photon process and the one-photon ionization due to harmonic photon can be neglected. Experimental contexts for the situation we are considering have been detailed in the literature.

Beginning with the second order wave equation for the field $`E(z,t)`$, in the slowly varying (during an optical cycle) amplitude approximation one neglects all second derivatives and, after projecting onto the corresponding mode function $`\mathrm{exp}[i(\omega _jtk_jz)]`$, $`j=f,h`$, one arrives at

$$\frac{E_j}{z}+\frac{n_j}{c}\frac{E_j}{t}=\frac{1}{cϵ_0n_j}\left[i\frac{\omega _j}{2}P_j\frac{P_j}{t}\right],$$
(2)
where $`P_j=P_j^{}e^{i\varphi _j}`$ ($`P_j^{}`$ being complex) is the slowly varying in time and space field-induced medium polarization at frequency $`\omega _j`$. Consistently with Eq. (1), it can be expressed as

$$P(z,t)=\frac{1}{2}[P_fe^{i(k_fz\omega _ft)}+P_he^{i(k_hz\omega _ht)}+\text{c. c.}].$$
(3)
The most general approach to the calculation of the response of the medium is through the atomic density matrix $`\rho `$ which obeys the equation $`_t\rho =i\mathrm{}^1[H_{\text{atom}}+D,\rho ]`$, with $`H_{\text{atom}}`$ the free atomic Hamiltonian and $`D=\mu E`$ the atom-field interaction in the dipole approximation where $`\mu `$ is the electric dipole operator. Introducing the rotating wave approximation and adiabatically eliminating the continuum and all virtual (nonresonant) bound states (connecting by the lowest-order paths the states $`|1`$ and $`|2`$), the slowly varying density matrix elements of the two remaining states $`\sigma _{11}\rho _{11}`$, $`\sigma _{22}\rho _{22}`$, and $`\sigma _{21}\rho _{21}\mathrm{exp}[i3(\omega _ft+\varphi _fk_fz)]`$, are found to obey the following set of equations:

$`{\displaystyle \frac{}{t}}\sigma _{11}`$ $`=`$ $`\gamma \sigma _{22}\text{Im}\left[\left({\displaystyle \frac{\mu _{12}^{(3)}}{\mathrm{}}}_f^3+e^{i\theta }{\displaystyle \frac{\mu _{12}}{\mathrm{}}}_h\right)\sigma _{21}\right],`$ (5)
$`{\displaystyle \frac{}{t}}\sigma _{22}`$ $`=`$ $`(\gamma +\gamma _{\text{ion}})\sigma _{22}+\text{Im}\left[\left({\displaystyle \frac{\mu _{12}^{(3)}}{\mathrm{}}}_f^3+e^{i\theta }{\displaystyle \frac{\mu _{12}}{\mathrm{}}}_h\right)\sigma _{21}\right],`$ (6)
$`{\displaystyle \frac{}{t}}\sigma _{21}`$ $`=`$ $`\left[{\displaystyle \frac{\gamma +\gamma _{\text{ion}}}{2}}+i\left(\mathrm{\Delta }3{\displaystyle \frac{\varphi _f}{t}}\right)+i{\displaystyle \frac{s_1s_2}{2\mathrm{}}}_f^2\right]\sigma _{21}`$ (8)
$`+i\left({\displaystyle \frac{\mu _{12}^{(3)}}{2\mathrm{}}}_f^3+e^{i\theta }{\displaystyle \frac{\mu _{12}}{2\mathrm{}}}_h\right)(\sigma _{11}\sigma _{22}),`$
where $`\gamma `$ is the radiative decay rate of level $`|2`$, $`\gamma _{\text{ion}}(\mu _{2c}^{(2)}I_f)^2`$ is the 2-photon ionization rate of $`|2`$ being proportional to the square of the intensity $`I_f_f^2`$ of the fundamental ($`\mu _{2c}^{(2)}`$ is the effective 2-photon matrix element for the fundamental field on the transition $`|2|c`$), $`\mu _{12}^{(3)}`$ is the effective 3-photon matrix element for the fundamental field on the transition $`|1|2`$, $`s_1`$ and $`s_2`$ are the lowest-order Stark shift coefficients (polarizabilities) of levels $`|1`$ and $`|2`$, respectively, and $`\mu _{12}1|\mu |2`$ is the matrix element of the electric dipole operator $`\mu `$. Finally $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$ is the detuning of both fields from the $`|1|2`$ transition resonance and $`\theta =(\varphi _h3\varphi _f)(k_h3k_f)z`$ their relative phase.

Consider now the polarization $`P(z,t)=N\text{Tr}[\mu \rho ]`$ of a medium of atomic density $`N`$. In expanding the trace of this equation, we again follow the same procedure as in obtaining Eqs. (3), i.e. we use the adiabatic approximation to expresses all density matrix elements that do not refer to the states $`|1`$ and $`|2`$ in terms of the three main elements $`\sigma _{11}`$, $`\sigma _{22}`$, and $`\sigma _{21}`$. Equating the result with Eq. (3), identifying and grouping together terms oscillating with the same frequencies, we obtain

$`P_f^{}`$ $`=`$ $`2N[_f(s_1\sigma _{11}+s_2\sigma _{22})+3\mu _{12}^{(3)}_f^2\sigma _{21}+i\pi \mathrm{}^1|\mu _{2c}^{(2)}|^2_f^3\sigma _{22}],`$ (10)
$`P_h^{}`$ $`=`$ $`2N\mu _{12}\sigma _{21}e^{i\theta }.`$ (11)
Those equations, together with the Maxwell’s Eq. (2) and the atomic density matrix Eqs. (3), provide a complete description of our system in terms of a closed set of equations.

To present the numerical results for Xe, we use the parameters calculated previously  via MQDT and appropriately converted to conform to the present definitions. For illustration purposes, it is desirable to have a maximally pronounced interference of the fundamental and harmonic fields. The respective Rabi frequencies are given by the first and second terms in the parentheses of Eq. (5). To obtain, for example complete cancellation at $`\theta =\pi `$ when these two terms are purely real and have opposite signs, it is obvious that the peak values and the temporal widths of both Rabi frequencies should be equal so as to overlap completely. Let the strong fundamental field have a Gaussian temporal profile with a peak amplitude $`_f^{\text{max}}_f(t=t_{\text{max}})`$ and width $`\tau _f`$. Then the peak amplitude and width of the weak harmonic field should satisfy the relations

$$_h^{\text{max}}=\frac{\mu _{12}^{(3)}}{\mu _{12}}(_f^{\text{max}})^3,\tau _h=\frac{\tau _f}{\sqrt{3}}.$$
(12)
In Fig. 1 we plot the ion yield $`Q=[1\sigma _{11}(t)\sigma _{22}(t)]_t\mathrm{}`$ at $`z=0`$ as a function of the relative phase $`\theta `$ for three different intensities $`I_f`$ of the fundamental. In all cases, the detuning $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$ is taken such that it compensates the relative Stark shift of levels $`|1`$ and $`|2`$ at the maximum $`t_{\text{max}}`$ of the pulse, the harmonic pulse duration $`\tau _h=1`$ ns, and the conditions (12) are satisfied. In this figure, for all intensities and relative phase $`\theta =\pi `$, the ionization vanishes completely since the two transition amplitudes interfere destructively and the second term on the rhs of Eq. (5), responsible for the stimulated transition from $`|1`$ to $`|2`$ is equal to zero throughout the duration of the pulses. Consequently, the medium practically does not interact with the fields and the atoms are “trapped” in their ground state $`|1`$. The more surprising result, however, is that in the case $`I_f^{\text{max}}=8\times 10^{10}`$ W/cm2, maximal ionization is found not for $`\theta =0,2\pi `$, as one would expect and is the case for the other intensities. This is a manifestation of the quantum-mechanical interference resulting from the fact that for this set of parameters, in Eqs. (3) the terms responsible for the stimulated transition reach the maxima at $`\theta \pi \pm 0.28\pi `$ where the ionization peaks are located. The numerical simulations also show that, while keeping the conditions (12) satisfied, with decreasing pulse duration $`\tau _f`$, the ion yield reduces and its peaks at $`\theta 0,2\pi ,\mathrm{}`$ gradually disappear, which is analogous to the decreasing of intensity since the total energy of the pulse lessens. Increasing the intensity, however, results in a narrower dip in the ionization profile and a shift of its peaks towards the values of $`\theta `$ that are closer to $`\pi `$.

Let us turn now to the propagation effects. The results presented below are obtained for a density of atoms $`N=10^{13}`$ cm-3. This, however, does not imply any limitation on the generality of the discussion since, as one can easily verify, the parameter $`zN\mathrm{\Sigma }`$, where $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ is the laser beam cross-section, is a propagation constant, and thus it is always possible to rescale the problem to any desired density and propagation length $`z`$. Conditions (12) are assumed at the entrance to the medium. As we have noted above, in the case of initial phase difference $`\theta (0,t)=\pi `$, the atoms stay in the ground state and the medium appears to be “transparent” to both fields; neither the fundamental, nor the harmonic experience any remarkable distortion of their shapes or total energy $`S_j(z)𝑑t|_j(z,t)|^2`$, $`j=f,h`$, over distances of propagation $`z`$ as large as $`50`$ cm. The accumulated over this distance change of the relative phase is only $`10^3\pi `$ rad, which is due to the field independent phase shift of the fundamental, given by the term in parentheses of Eq. (10).

Consider next the case $`\theta (0,t)=0`$, i.e., at the entrance to the cell the two fields interfere constructively. The results corresponding to the parameters of Fig. 1 with $`I_f^{\text{max}}=8\times 10^{10}`$ W/cm2 are collected in Figs. 2 and 3. One can see in Fig. 2 that, in the course of propagation, the relative phase $`\theta `$ (taken at the dynamic pulse maximum $`t_{\text{max}}+z/c`$) grows rapidly and over a distance of the order of 1 cm reaches the value $`\pi `$, at which the initial constructive interference of the two fields turns to destructive. At the same time, the total energy of the harmonic pulse, after a small reduction over a short interval of $`z`$, begins to increase as a result of the energy transfer from the strong fundamental field, in the parametric conversion process. This small reduction of the harmonic takes place only at the beginning of the propagation, when the relative phase is still close to 0 and the two fields interfere constructively, in the process of excitation of atoms from the ground state $`|1`$ to the state $`|2`$, while the generated part of the harmonic field is out of phase with the fundamental approximately by $`\pi `$ and continues to build up with a slight oscillation around the value $`\pi `$ of the phase. It is important to mention that throughout the propagation, the amplitude and the phase of the fundamental field do not change significantly. This is because the number of photons contained in that pulse exceeds by many ($`6`$) orders of magnitude the number of atoms the pulse interacts with over the distance of $`z20`$ cm. Comparing the three graphs of Fig. 2, one can see that with increasing of $`\theta `$ and $`S_h`$, the ionization probability first also grows, which is consistent with the previous discussion related to that intensity of the fundamental filed. But as $`\theta `$ approaches $`\pi `$, the ion yield drops almost exponentially until $`Q10\%`$. This residual ionization that is present even at $`\theta \pi `$ (and tends to 0 rather slowly) is caused by the fact that, because of the significant increase of the total energy of harmonic field, conditions (12) are not completely satisfied and the upper atomic level $`|2`$ acquires population due to that fraction of the generated field which exceeds the initial. Since the temporal widths of the pulses are less than the (radiative) relaxation time of the atomic coherence $`\sigma _{21}`$ ($`\gamma ^12`$ ns), a significant fraction of the harmonic pulse amplitude is generated behind the fundamental (Fig. 3). That part of the amplitude is then attenuated due to the atomic relaxation. Thus the total energy of the harmonic, after passing a maximum at $`z57`$ cm, decays then slowly back. Under these conditions, the leading part of the harmonic pulse that falls under the temporal shape of the fundamental is by $`\theta \pi `$ out of phase with the latter and therefore the ionization vanishes, while the generated tail is continuously scattered by the atoms in the process of radiative decay. The oscillations of the relative phase around $`\pi `$ are also slowly damped and the propagation reaches a “dynamic equilibrium”

We note finally that a similar behavior of the system is obtained for a range of intensities we have explored. The main difference is that for weaker fields ($`I_f^{\text{max}}=3\times 10^{10}`$ and $`1\times 10^{10}`$ W/cm2) the ion yield does not exhibit a maximum other than at $`z=0`$ and drops to zero much faster as $`z`$ increases, which is consistent with the discussion above.

We have examined the problem of propagation in the simplest context of phase control, namely the excitation of a bound state, which has been used as a prototype in much of the initial work . As discussed here, the problem bears resemblance to earlier works  on cancellation in third harmonic generation experiments, and so does the whole issue of phase control. The relevance and possible impact of propagation has been recognized by Chen and Elliott  who presented data and an interpretation in terms of rate equations . Their study showed evidence of non-linear coupling, such as those discussed above, and called for “more rigorous techniques” in the approach to this basic problem. In the limit of validity of rate equations, our results do indeed recapture the equations employed in their analysis. It will be interesting to explore this issue under more general conditions, such as the excitation of states embedded in continua, on which we expect to report elsewhere. The basic features of our analysis should, however, remain valid.

In summary, we have shown that the propagation of a bichromatic field with a preselected initial relative phase, has a profound effect. Over a rather short scaled distance and independent of its initial value, the relative phase settles to a value that makes the medium transparent to the radiation, precluding thus further excitation and consequently control. The scaled distance $`zN\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ does of course involve the density of the species and the cross-section of the laser beam, which suggests some flexibility on the choice of these parameters. In any case, however, the actual length of the interaction region over which control can be active will be defined and limited by the combination of the above parameters, as well as by the geometry of the focused or unfocused laser beam. Briefly, for not very low atomic densities ($`N>10^{12}`$ cm-3), the harmonic field settles to the steady-state value within a thin layer where a focused beam is well approximated by a plane wave. In the presence of large ac Stark shifts, however, a detailed analysis including specific experimental parameters is mandatory.


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# 1 Diagrammatic representation of (a) diffractive DIS, (b) diffractive dijet production in 𝑝𝑝̄ collisions, and (c) an additional, non-factorizing, dijet production mechanism where the colour screening gluon couples to a spectator parton. In diagrams (a) and (b) the Pomeron is treated as a real particle and the process is mediated by a gluon input structure function of the Pomeron at scale 𝑘_𝑡. 𝐸_𝑇 denotes the transverse energy of the hard jets emitted in the diffractive 𝑝𝑝̄ process.

## Acknowledgements

VAK thanks the Leverhulme Trust for a Fellowship. This work was also supported by the Royal Society, PPARC, the Russian Fund for Fundamental Research (98-02-17629) and the EU Framework TMR programme, contract FMRX-CT98-0194 (DG 12-MIHT).