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# Density of states and electron concentration of double heterojunctions subjected to an in-plane magnetic field.

## I Introduction

Althouth the behaviour of the Quasi Two-Dimensional Electron Gas (Q2DEG) in the presence of a perpendicular magnetic field has been studied extensively, much less attention has been devoted to the situation where the magnetic field is applied parallel to the Q2DEG. In the former case, interesting phenomena e.g. the Shubnikov-de Haas effect  and the integer  and the fractional  quantum Hall effects have been observed. In the latter case, electrons move under the competing influence of the Lorenz force and the force due to the quantum well confining potential.

In the presence of an in-plane magnetic field, $`B`$, single heterojunctions , single , double  and triple  square quantum wells, almost square quantum wells , asymmetric square quantum wells , symmetrical wide single quantum wells and superlattices  have been considered.

The experimental studies include single heterojunctions , double square quantum wells , triple square quantum wells , wide single quantum wells  and superlattices . The most important experimental finding  is, according to our opinion, the strong conductance “oscillations” due to the variation of the density of states (DOS), as $`B`$ is increased. Conductance maxima are identified with depopulations of local energy dispersion minima, while conductance minima are identified with van Hove singularities at the chemical potential. This situation has been encountered in symmetrical square double  and triple  quantum wells and in symmetrical wide single quantum wells . While in the cases of square double and triple quantum wells a simple Tight Binding calculation gave the position of the maxima and the minima, a self-consistent calculation was indispensable in the case of symmetrical wide single quantum wells.

Theoretical studies of the electronic states are usually restricted to simple analytically solvable potential wells, to Tight Binding Approximation, or to perturbative approximations. Self-consistent studies are up to now a few, regarding single heterojunctions , thin single quantum wells  and symmetrical wide single quantum wells .

In the present work, we use self-consistent calculations to study AlxGa1-xAs/GaAs/AlxGa1-xAs wide double heterojunctions (i.e. a system of two heterojunctions with relatively large distance between the two interfaces) subjected to an in-plane magnetic field. Below, we summarize the particular aims of this work.

Our first aim is to study the density of states when the Q2DEG is subjected to an in-plane magnetic field. In this case, the DOS is not a step-like function, as it is with $`B`$=0. We show that its form undergoes important changes as $`B`$ is increased, especially in wide double heterojunctions where usually many subbands are present . The self-consistent study of the electronic states and specifically of the DOS is of great importance for the explanation of the experimental magnetoconductivity in these structures. However, up to now, there is no systematic study of the DOS under these circumstances. We attempt to give a contribution in this direction.

Our second aim is to study a bilayer electron system, different from the commonly used symmetrical double square well. Another potentially bilayer electron system is the symmetrical double heterojunctions, when the well width is increased a lot, due to the transition from a “perfect” square quantum well to a system of two separated heterojunctions . In the former structure a high barrier separates the two electron layers. In the latter structrure the barrier is formed from the redistribution of the carriers in the well and it is relatively weak. Moreover, Smrc̆ka and Jungwirth  have shown, by calculating the energy dispersion curves in a two-subband situation, that symmetrical wide single quantum wells can be potentially bilayer electron systems when the parallel magnetic field is increased. Here, we present the depopulations of the higher subbands and the transition from a single layer to a bilayer electron system not only in the “energy dispersion picture”, but also in the “electron concentration picture”. Thus, we calculate the electron concentration, $`n(z)`$ and the distribution of the electrons in the subbands, $`n_i(z)`$. We also give the “the density of states” picture, which is important for the interpretation of the transport experiments. Moreover, we show in these three pictures that in the centre of our wide quantum well, as the magnetic field is further increased, the bulk Landau levels dominate. Finally, we give an example of an asymmetric heterostructure.

The basic theory is presented in section 2 together with some analogies to the classical picture. In section 3 we present the theoretical results for AlxGa1-xAs/GaAs/AlxGa1-xAs double heterojunctions and we comment on some interesting features observed. Our conclusions are summarized in section 4.

## II Basic Theory

When a magnetic field, $`B`$, parallel to the y-axis, is applied to a three dimensional electron gas, the motion in the xz-plane is quantized to Landau levels with energy eigenvalues $`E_{xz}=\mathrm{}\omega (i+\frac{1}{2})`$, where $`i`$ is a discrete quantum number, $`\mathrm{}`$ is the reduced Planck constant and $`\omega =\frac{eB}{m^{}}`$, is the cyclotron frequency. $`m^{}`$ is the effective mass and q=-e is the electron charge. If we additionally apply an electric field, $`\stackrel{}{E}`$, in the z-axis, $`E_{xz}`$ depend not only on $`i`$, but also on the wavevector in the x-axis, $`k_x`$. Specifically, $`E_{xz}=\mathrm{}\omega (i+\frac{1}{2})\frac{m^{}}{2}(\frac{E}{B})^2\mathrm{}k_x(\frac{E}{B})`$. In this work we are interested in the configuration with a quantum well in the z-axis (with or without the electric field in the z-axis) and the magnetic field in the y-axis. Again, as we discuss below, $`E_{xz}`$ depend on both $`i`$ and $`k_x`$. However, generally in this case $`E_{xz}=E_i(k_x)`$ cannot be expressed analytically and have to be determined self-consistently. Of course, without a magnetic field, $`E_{xz}=E_i+\frac{\mathrm{}^2k_x^2}{2m^{}}`$, where now $`i`$ is the subband index. In all the situations described above, the energy eigenvalue in the y-axis is $`E_y=\frac{\mathrm{}^2k_y^2}{2m^{}}`$ ,where $`k_y`$ is the wavevector in the y-axis. The spin part of the eigenenergy is $`E_{spin}=\pm \frac{1}{2}g^{}\mu _BB`$, where $`g^{}`$ is the effective Landè factor and $`\mu _B`$ is the Bohr magneton.

Summarizing, in the present configuration, there is a magnetic field in the y-axis, a quantum well in the z-axis and possibly an electric field in the z-axis (e.g. an external field due to a gate). With our choice of axes, the Hamiltonian is:

$$\widehat{H}_{tot}=(\stackrel{}{p}q\stackrel{}{A})^2/(2m^{})+U(z)+g^{}\mu _B\stackrel{}{\sigma }\stackrel{}{B},$$
(1)
where $`\stackrel{}{p}`$ is the momentum operator, $`\stackrel{}{A}`$ is the vector potential, $`m^{}=0.067m_e`$ is the GaAs effective mass, $`m_e`$ is the electron mass, $`\stackrel{}{\sigma }`$ is the spin and $`\stackrel{}{B}`$ is the parallel magnetic field.

$$U(z)=U_{bandoffset}(z)+U_C(z)+U_{XC}(z)+U_E(z),$$
(2)
where $`U_{bandoffset}(z)`$ is the potential energy term due to the conduction band minima discontinuity, $`U_C(z)`$ is the Coulombic potential energy, $`U_{XC}(z)`$ is the exchange and correlation potential energy  and $`U_E(z)`$ is the potential energy due to an electric field applied in the z-axis e.g. due to a gate. The magnetic field is applied in the y-axis i.e. $`\stackrel{}{B}=(0,B,0)`$. For the vector potential we choose $`\stackrel{}{A}=(Bz,0,0)`$ . The Hamiltonian becomes:

$$\widehat{H}_{tot}=(\widehat{p}_xqB\widehat{z})^2/(2m^{})+\widehat{p}_y^2/(2m^{})+\widehat{p}_z^2/(2m^{})+U(z)+g^{}\mu _B\stackrel{}{\sigma }\stackrel{}{B}.$$
(3)
We split the spatial and the spin part. $`\mathrm{\Psi }(\stackrel{}{r},\stackrel{}{\sigma })=\psi (\stackrel{}{r})\alpha (\stackrel{}{\sigma })`$ and $`E_{tot}=E_{xyz}\pm \frac{1}{2}g^{}\mu _BB`$. For the spatial part the envelope function equation writes:

$$[(\widehat{p}_xqB\widehat{z})^2/(2m^{})+\widehat{p}_y^2/(2m^{})+\widehat{p}_z^2/(2m^{})+U(z)]\psi =E_{xyz}\psi .$$
(4)
$`[\widehat{p}_x,\widehat{H}]=[\widehat{p}_y,\widehat{H}]=0`$. Thus, we look for solutions in the form $`\psi =\frac{1}{\sqrt{S}}\zeta (z)e^{ik_xx}e^{ik_yy}`$, where S=LxLy is the area of the heterostructure in the xy-plane. The coordinate y splits from the coordinates x and z. We have $`E_y=\frac{\mathrm{}^2k_y^2}{2m^{}}`$, while in the xz plane:

$$\frac{d^2\zeta (z)}{dz^2}+\frac{2m^{}}{\mathrm{}^2}[E_{xz}\frac{m^{}}{2}(\frac{eB}{m^{}})^2(z+\frac{\mathrm{}k_x}{eB})^2U(z)]\zeta (z)=0.$$
(5)
The non-magnetic part of the potential energy is U(z), while the magnetic part of the potential energy is $`\frac{m^{}}{2}(\frac{eB}{m^{}})^2(z+\frac{\mathrm{}k_x}{eB})^2`$. The center of the magnetic potential energy is the point $`z_0=\frac{\mathrm{}k_x}{eB}=\frac{\mathrm{}k_x}{m^{}\omega }`$. Thus, the electron is free in the y-axis, but the magnetic field correlates the motion in the x-axis and the z-axis. The motion in the xz-plane is characterised by a running wave $`e^{ik_xx}`$ and the bound state $`\zeta _{i,k_x}(z)`$ which depends on both i and $`k_x`$.

The energy eigenvalues are:

$$E_{tot}=E_{xz}+E_y\pm \frac{1}{2}g^{}\mu _BB=E_i(k_x)+\frac{\mathrm{}^2k_y^2}{2m^{}}\pm \frac{1}{2}g^{}\mu _BB,$$
(6)
where, generally $`E_i(k_x)E_i(k_x)`$.

The density of states is:

$$n()=\underset{i,k_x,k_y,\sigma }{}\delta (E_{i,k_x,k_y,\sigma })=\underset{i,k_x}{}n_{i,k_x}(),$$
(7)
where:

$$n_{i,k_x}()=\underset{k_y,\sigma }{}\delta (E_{i,k_x,k_y,\sigma })=2\underset{k_y}{}\delta (E_{i,k_x}\frac{\mathrm{}^2k_y^2}{2m^{}}).$$
(8)
We have used the symbolism $`E_{i,k_x}E_i(k_x)`$. Intergrating over $`k_y`$, Eq. 8 writes:

$$n_{i,k_x}()=2\frac{L_y\sqrt{2m^{}}}{4\pi \mathrm{}}\frac{1}{\sqrt{E_{i,k_x}}}\mathrm{\Theta }(E_{i,k_x}),$$
(9)
where $`\mathrm{\Theta }`$ is the step function. We must note here that the DOS is not a step-like function, as it is with zero magnetic field.

The electron concentration is:

$$n(\stackrel{}{r})=\underset{i,k_x}{}n_{i,k_x}(\stackrel{}{r}),$$
(10)
where:

$$n_{i,k_x}(\stackrel{}{r})=_{\mathrm{}}^+\mathrm{}𝑑n_{i,k_x}()f_0()|\psi _{i,k_x}(\stackrel{}{r})|^2.$$
(11)
$`f_0()`$ is the Fermi-Dirac distribution function and $`\psi _{i,k_x}(\stackrel{}{r})`$ is the three-dimensional envelope function. Thus, at finite temperature , $`T`$:

$`n_{i,k_x}(\stackrel{}{r})=2{\displaystyle \frac{\sqrt{2m^{}}}{4\pi \mathrm{}L_x}}|\zeta _{i,k_x}(z)|^2`$ (13)
$`{\displaystyle _0^+\mathrm{}}𝑑\alpha {\displaystyle \frac{1}{\sqrt{\alpha }}}{\displaystyle \frac{1}{1+exp(\frac{\alpha +E_{i,k_x}\mu (T)}{k_BT})}},`$
where $`\mu (T)`$ is the chemical potential and kB is the Boltzmann constant. Using Eq. (12), Eq. (10) becomes:

$`n(z)={\displaystyle \underset{i}{}}n_i(z)={\displaystyle \underset{i}{}}\sqrt{{\displaystyle \frac{2m^{}}{\mathrm{}^2}}}{\displaystyle \frac{1}{(2\pi )^2}}{\displaystyle _{\mathrm{}}^+\mathrm{}}𝑑k_x|\zeta _{i,k_x}(z)|^2`$ (15)
$`{\displaystyle _0^+\mathrm{}}𝑑\alpha {\displaystyle \frac{1}{\sqrt{\alpha }}}{\displaystyle \frac{1}{1+exp(\frac{\alpha +E_{i,k_x}\mu (T)}{k_BT})}}.`$
Therefore, the sheet electron concentration, is:

$`N_s={\displaystyle \underset{i}{}}N_i={\displaystyle \underset{i}{}}\sqrt{{\displaystyle \frac{2m^{}}{\mathrm{}^2}}}{\displaystyle \frac{1}{(2\pi )^2}}{\displaystyle _{\mathrm{}}^+\mathrm{}}𝑑k_x`$ (17)
$`{\displaystyle _0^+\mathrm{}}𝑑\alpha {\displaystyle \frac{1}{\sqrt{\alpha }}}{\displaystyle \frac{1}{1+exp(\frac{\alpha +E_{i,k_x}\mu (T)}{k_BT})}}.`$
For a Hamiltonian like that in Eq. (1), $`m^{}\stackrel{}{v}=\stackrel{}{p}q\stackrel{}{A}`$ , which in our case becomes $`m^{}\widehat{v}_x=\widehat{p}_x+eB\widehat{z}`$, $`m^{}\widehat{v}_y=\widehat{p}_y`$ and $`m^{}\widehat{v}_z=\widehat{p}_z`$. Thus, after a little algebra we obtain for the accelaration and the force operators in the x, y and z axes, respectively: $`\widehat{a}_x=+\omega \widehat{v}_z`$, $`\widehat{F}_x=+m^{}\omega \widehat{v}_z`$, $`\widehat{a}_y=0`$, $`\widehat{F}_y=0`$ and $`\widehat{a}_z=\omega \widehat{v}_x\frac{1}{m^{}}\frac{U(\widehat{z})}{\widehat{z}}`$, $`\widehat{F}_z=m^{}\omega \widehat{v}_x\frac{U(\widehat{z})}{\widehat{z}}`$. So, in the y-axis there is no force on the electrons, in the x-axis there is only the Lorenz force, while in the z-axis there is apart from the Lorenz force, the force due to the quantum well confining potential.

When there is no quantum well ($`U(z)=0`$) the quantities $`\widehat{z}_0=\frac{\widehat{p}_x}{eB}`$, which corresponds to the z-coordinate of the center of the classical cyclic orbit, and $`\widehat{x}_0=\frac{\widehat{p}_z}{eB}+\widehat{x}`$, which corresponds to the x-coordinate of the center of the classical cyclic orbit, are constants of the motion. When $`U(z)=0`$, the quantity $`\widehat{r}_c^2=\frac{(\widehat{p}_x+eB\widehat{z})^2+\widehat{p}_z^2}{m_{}^{}{}_{}{}^{2}\omega ^2}`$, which corresponds to the square of the radius of the classical cyclic orbit is also a constant of the motion. Thus, when $`U(z)`$ can be ignored, electrons describe the well-known spiral motion.

The algorithm used to solve self-consistently the equations above, is divided in the following steps. ($`\alpha `$´) We input an initial guess for the non-magnetic potential energy, $`U_{in}(z)`$. ($`\beta `$´) We solve the envelope function Eq. (5) for each i and for each $`k_x`$ to obtain $`\zeta _{i,k_x}(z)`$ and $`E_{i,k_x}`$. Care should be taken in this step, to include all possible i and all possible $`k_x`$ which contribute to the electron concentration. Thus, we start with many subbands and with a wide range of kx. This means that Eq. (5) must be solved many times. ($`\gamma `$´) $`\mu (T)`$ can be calculated from charge neutrality , using Eq. (14). ($`\delta `$´) Thus, we can calculate, from Eq. (13) $`n(z)`$ and $`n_i(z)`$ and therefore $`U_{XC}(z)`$ . ($`ϵ`$´) Now the charge density is known and it is used to solve the Poisson equation numerically , to obtain $`U_C(z)`$. We suppose that $`\frac{dU_C}{dz}(\mathrm{𝑏𝑢𝑙𝑘})=0`$, because there is no net charge in the bulk material. We take into account the different dielectric constants of GaAs and AlxGa1-xAs . Finally, we choose $`U_C(\mathrm{𝑙𝑒𝑓𝑡}\mathrm{𝑏𝑢𝑙𝑘})=U_0`$, where $`U_0`$ is the value of the conduction band minima discontinuity. $`U_{XC}(\mathrm{𝑏𝑢𝑙𝑘})=0`$, because the envelope functions decay into the AlxGa1-xAs barriers. Thus, $`U(\mathrm{𝑙𝑒𝑓𝑡}\mathrm{𝑏𝑢𝑙𝑘})=0`$. All the structures are long enough in the z-axis, so that bulk conditions prevail before the end of the AlxGa1-xAs barriers. ($`\varsigma `$´) The output non-magnetic potential energy, $`U_{out}(z)`$, can now be calculated from Eq. (2). ($`\zeta `$´) If $`U_{out}(z)`$ is “very close” to $`U_{in}(z)`$, we have finished. Otherwise, we mix $`U_{out}(z)`$ and $`U_{in}(z)`$ to construct the new $`U_{in}(z)`$ and we return to step ($`\beta `$´) .

Finally, we notice that since the envelope functions depend on both i and $`k_x`$, a quantitative calculation of the conductivity will involve tedious algebra, because the scattering matrix elements will depend on $`k_x`$, too. This complication emerges also in the calculation of the screening. For this reason, although some attemps have already been made , a well established transport theory for a Q2DEG with an in-plane magnetic field has not been developed yet.

## III Results and Discussion

We apply our treatment to the case of a symmetrical $`\delta `$-doped AlxGa1-xAs/GaAs/AlxGa1-xAs double heterojunction, in the presence of a parallel magnetic field, from 0T up to 20T. We choose a symmetrical structure because in this case we can observe most clearly the variation of the electronic states induced by the magnetic field in the “energy dispersion picture”, in the “electron concentration picture” and in the “density of states picture”. The structure consists of a 280Å undoped Al0.25Ga0.75As layer, a Si $`\delta `$-doped Al0.25Ga0.75As layer (0.28 $`\times `$ $`10^{12}`$ cm-2), an undoped 250Å Al0.25Ga0.75As spacer, a 600Å undoped GaAs well, an undoped 250Å Al0.25Ga0.75As spacer, a Si $`\delta `$-doped Al0.25Ga0.75As layer (0.28 $`\times `$ $`10^{12}`$ cm-2) and a 280Å undoped Al0.25Ga0.75As layer. All layers are assumed to have a slight unintentional acceptor doping of 5 $`\times `$ $`10^{14}`$ cm-3. We suppose that the sample has been illuminated and therefore all the donors are ionized. This is done because we want to study the effect of the magnetic field under the condition of constant sheet electron concentration. Although our treatment is applicable to any temperature, we will apply it to $`T`$ = 4.2K. This is done because the experiments are usually performed at or below $`T`$ = 4.2K. These material and structural parameters result in a sheet electron concentration, Ns= 0.54 $`\times `$ $`10^{12}`$ cm-2.

First we will describe the evolution of the changes induced by the magnetic field to the energy dispersion curves, $`E_i(k_x)`$. The situation is described in the lower parts of Fig. 1. In this particular structure, for $`B=0`$, due to the large well width, the ground state subband and the first and second excited subbands are populated, with sheet electron concentrations $`N_0`$= 0.238 $`\times `$ $`10^{12}`$ cm-2, $`N_1`$= 0.233 $`\times `$ $`10^{12}`$ cm-2 and $`N_2`$=0.069 $`\times `$ $`10^{12}`$ cm-2, respectively. Initially, as the magnetic field is increased, depopulation of the higher subbands is predicted. The second excited subband is depopulated at $`B`$ 5T and the first excited subband at $`B`$ 7T. Increasing the magnetic field up to 7T, the shapes of the $`E_i(k_x)`$ dispersion curves also change. While the upper subbands remain almost parabolic, the first excited subband, and most obviously the ground state subband undergo important changes, developing gradually local maxima at $`k_x=0`$ instead of local minima at $`B`$ = 0T. As can be seen from the lower parts of Fig. 1 this also happens to the other excited subbands for larger values of the magnetic field. For $`B>`$ 7T, only the ground state subband is populated. At this point the $`E_0(k_x)`$ dispersion curve is continuously below the chemical potential in the range $`k_x=[4\times 10^8,+4\times 10^8]`$ m-1. This means that the system is still a single layer one.

At higher magnetic fields, a transition from a single to a bilayer electron system occurs. This transition has approximately been achieved at $`B`$ = 12T as can be seen from the lower part of Fig. 1c, but the complete separation of the two layers is achieved at $`B`$ = 20T (see Fig. 2 where the electron concentrations are presented). During this procedure, the energy separation of the unoccupied states (those with small $`|k_x|`$) becomes $`\mathrm{}\omega `$. This is due to the fact that the well width is very large and therefore in the central region of the well, as the magnetic confinement overcomes the well confinement, the bulk Landau levels dominate. This has also been predicted for square, analytically solvable, quantum wells when the well width is large enough .

In the case of a square quantum well, the behaviour of the $`E_i(k_x)`$ curves is determined by the competition of the well width and the magnetic length, $`l_B=\sqrt{\mathrm{}/(eB)}`$ . When the well width is smaller than the magnetic length, spatial quantization dominates. The energy levels can be roughly classified into two types, namely, confined states and extended states. In this specific case the confined states in the quantum well increase parabolically as a function of $`k_x`$ , while the extended states have an oscillating form with an “average” separation of $`\mathrm{}\omega `$ . However, as the well width or the magnetic field is increased, this behavior changes. Finally, when the well width is larger than the magnetic length, the electron orbits are governed by the Lorentz force and electrons basically describe spiral motion. At this point the energy dispersion curves are flat with a separation of $`\mathrm{}\omega `$.

In reference , the author, studing thin single quantum wells and taking as the growth axis the z-axis and the magnetic field in the x-axis, bypasses the dependence of the electronic states on the in-plane wavevector in the y-axis (perpendicular to B), using only $`k_y=0`$. This is done in order to override the large numerical cost of the general case. It is evident from the lower parts of Fig.1 that such an approximation cannot be applied in our case because of the strong depedence of the electronic states on this wavevector. Moreover, for high enough values of the magnetic field the states with this wavevector are not occupied.

The “density of states picture” is given in the upper parts of Fig. 1. We observe that although for $`B`$ = 1T (Fig. 1a) the DOS is almost step-like, there is already a peak due to the fact that $`E_0(k_x)`$ has already developed a local maximum at $`k_x`$=0, instead of the local minimum at $`B`$=0T. This corresponds to a van Hove singularity, since $`\frac{dE_0(k_x)}{dk_x}>`$ 0 as we approach the critical point from below and $`\frac{dE_0(k_x)}{dk_x}<`$ 0 as we approach the critical point from above. The DOS of the first excited subband is not a “perfect step”, because $`E_1(k_x)`$ is not exactly parabolic. The DOS for the second and the third excited subbands are “perfect steps” because $`E_2(k_x)`$ and $`E_3(k_x)`$ are parabolic. We can also see that we have three populated subbands.

In the upper part of Fig. 1b we present the DOS for $`B`$ = 7T. Clearly, we can observe the depopulation of the first excited subband. Therefore, at this point, as we increase the magnetic field, the conductivity of the structure increases abruptly, due to the abrupt decrease of the DOS at the chemical potential. We also observe that the total DOS is not step-like and that the second and the third excited subbands are not exactly parabolic. Moreover, since $`E_0(k_x)`$ and $`E_1(k_x)`$ have developed local maxima at $`k_x`$=0, there are two peaks in the DOS, corresponding to the two van Hove singularities.

In the upper part of Fig. 1c we present the DOS for $`B`$ =12T. There is a van Hove singularity at the chemical potential, due to the local maximum of $`E_0(k_x)`$ at $`k_x`$=0. Therefore, at this point, as we increase the magnetic field, the conductivity of the structure decreases abruptly due to the abrupt increase of the DOS at the chemical potential. The total DOS indicates that at the center of the well the bulk Landau levels start to develop. All $`E_i(k_x)`$ have already developed local maxima at $`k_x`$=0 and the energy separation of successive subbands for small $`|k_x|`$ is close to $`\mathrm{}\omega `$.

In the upper part of Fig. 1d we present the DOS for $`B`$ = 20T. The form of the total DOS stems from the combination of two factors, i.e. as we move in the energy axis to higher energies: (a) From the two local minima of $`E_i(k_x)`$ up to the local maximum of $`E_i(k_x)`$ the bilayer electron system dominates. (b) From the local maximum of $`E_i(k_x)`$ up to the local minima of $`E_{i+1}(k_x)`$ the bulk Landau levels dominate. In this region the DOS has the form $`constant\times _i(\mathrm{}\omega (i+\frac{1}{2}))^{\frac{1}{2}}`$ = $`constant^{}\times _{i,k_y}\delta (\mathrm{}\omega (i+\frac{1}{2})\frac{\mathrm{}^2k_y^2}{2m^{}})`$, which is the DOS of a free particle in the y-axis together with an harmonic oscilator in the xz-plane. The energy separation of successive subbands for small $`|k_x|`$ is equal to $`\mathrm{}\omega `$.

Fig. 2 presents the variation of the electron concentration, $`n(z)`$ and of the population of the subbands, $`n_i(z)`$, as we increase the magnetic field from 0T to 20T. The depopulation of the second excited subband at $`B`$ 5T and of the first excited subband at $`B`$ 7T can also be seen in this “electron concentration picture”. Inspection of Fig. 2 reveals that apart from these depopulations, the form of $`n(z)`$ changes even from 1T to 7T, with a little bigger separation of the two parts of $`n(z)`$. This separation increases with the increase of the magnetic field. At 12T there are still electrons in the middle of the well. The division into two parts is complete at 20T. This means that the “electron concentration picture” gives a more precise depiction of the transision to a bilayer system than the “energy dispersion picture”.

We finally give an example of an asymmetric heterostructure. The structure consists of a 700Å undoped Al0.25Ga0.75As layer, a 50Å Si-doped Al0.25Ga0.75As layer (2 $`\times `$ $`10^{18}`$ cm-3), an undoped 50Å Al0.25Ga0.75As spacer, a 600Å undoped GaAs well, an undoped 200Å Al0.25Ga0.75As spacer, a 50Å Si-doped Al0.25Ga0.75As layer (1 $`\times `$ $`10^{18}`$ cm-3) and a 600Å undoped Al0.25Ga0.75As layer. We suppose, again, that all the layers have a slight unintentional acceptor doping of 4 $`\times `$ $`10^{14}`$ cm-3 and that the sample has been illuminated so that all the donors are ionized. $`T`$ = 4.2K. These material and structural parameters result in a sheet electron concentration, Ns= 1.491 $`\times `$ $`10^{12}`$ cm-2. For $`B`$ = 0T, there are four populated subbands with sheet electron concentrations $`N_0`$= 0.742 $`\times `$ $`10^{12}`$ cm-2, $`N_1`$= 0.406 $`\times `$ $`10^{12}`$ cm-2, $`N_2`$=0.229 $`\times `$ $`10^{12}`$ cm-2 and $`N_3`$=0.114 $`\times `$ $`10^{12}`$ cm-2, respectively.

In Fig. 3 we present the energy dispersion curves, $`E_i(k_x)`$ (lower part) and the density of states (upper part), for $`B`$ = 5T. We notice that for this asymmetric heterostructure $`E_i(k_x)E_i(k_x)`$. The populations of the subbands are now $`N_0`$= 1.042 $`\times `$ $`10^{12}`$ cm-2, $`N_1`$= 0.324 $`\times `$ $`10^{12}`$ cm-2, $`N_2`$=0.110 $`\times `$ $`10^{12}`$ cm-2 and $`N_3`$=0.015 $`\times `$ $`10^{12}`$ cm-2, respectively. We can observe the “transposition and the anticrossings of the parabolas” which result in a complicated form for the DOS. We can also see that there are two different van Hove singularities which give the peaks in the DOS.

Generally, both in the symmetrical and in the asymmetrical case, the van Hove singularities are not simply saddle points because the $`E_i(k_x)`$, as we approach the critical points, are not of the form $`\alpha k_x^2`$, $`\alpha >`$0. The exact form of the dispersion curves is obtained from the self-consistent calculation. Anyway, as we increase the magnetic field, whenever the chemical potential is identified with a van Hove singularity, the conductivity of the structure will decrease abruptly. On the contrary, whenever there is a depopulation of a local energy dispersion minimum, due to the decrease of the DOS at the chemical potential, the conductivity will increase abruptly.

Similar results are obtained for other values of the well width. It is the competition between the magnitude of the magnetic field and the spatial quantization - together with the influence of the number of electrons - that determines the overall behaviour of the system. Extensive comparison with experiment will be presented in a forthcoming paper.

## IV Summary

We have calculated self-consistently the energy dispersion curves, the density of states, the electron concentration and the distribution of the electrons in the subbands, for AlxGa1-xAs/GaAs/ AlxGa1-xAs double heterojunctions subjected to an in-plane magnetic field.

We have systematically studied the important changes in the density of states, induced by the variation of the in-plane magnetic field. We have pointed out that these changes are of crucial importance for the explanation of the magnetoconductivity experiments.

In the case of symmetric heterostructures, we have demonstrated in the “energy dispersion picture”, in the “electron concentration picture” and in the “density of states picture” the depopulation of the higher subbands, the transition from a single to a bilayer electron system and the domination of the bulk Landau levels in the centre the wide quantum well, as the magnetic field is continuously increased. We have also given an example of an asymmetric heterostructure.

The author wishes to thank Prof. Fabio Beltram and Dr. Vincenzo Piazza for many useful discussions and for the motivation of this work.


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# How young are early-type cluster galaxies ? Quantifying the young stellar component in a rich cluster at 𝑧=0.41.Work based on observations made with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, obtained from the data archive at the Space Telescope Science Institute. STScI is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc. under NASA contract NAS 5-26555.

## 1. Introduction

Dating the stellar component in galaxies is one of the most important issues in understanding the process of galaxy formation and morphological segregation. Early-type systems can be explained dynamically by coalescence of galaxies of similar masses. In the standard hierarchical merging scenario these events should take place at late stages. However, the first photometric analyses of this type of galaxy hinted at old stellar populations. These seemingly contradictory conclusions can be reconciled as long as the star formation and the dynamical histories are decoupled, so that stars form first and the latest mergers involve only stars and hot gas. An accurate determination of the star formation history is hindered by degeneracies which are sources of controversy with respect to estimates of ages of the stellar populations (e.g. Kuntschner 2000, Trager et al. 2000). The quest is still on for a grid of observables which can disentangle the effects of age and metallicity. Balmer indices and mass-to-light ratios are the best “stellar clocks” at present. We propose an alternative age estimator, namely the flux around rest frame $`\lambda 2000`$Å which is highly sensitive to recent star formation. The Near Ultraviolet (NUV) spectral range has been targeted in local early-type galaxies as an indicator of very old ages through the population of low-mass core-Helium burning stars (Brown et al. 1997; Yi et al. 1999), whose NUV flux peaks around $`\lambda 1500`$Å . However, the flux from a small fraction of 1 Gyr main-sequence stars will overwhelm this contribution. Furthermore, targets at moderate redshift ($`z0.5`$) cannot be older than $`t\mathrm{}<10`$ Gyr for a reasonable cosmology, reducing the importance of old stellar populations in NUV.

In this paper we perform a combined NUV and optical analysis of early-type systems in cluster Cl0939+4713 ($`z=0.41`$), comparing the photometry with a simple two-stage star formation scenario. Cl0939+4713 is the most distant Abell cluster (Abell 851) and one of the richest clusters known. It features a large fraction of post-starburst (E+A or k+a) galaxies (Belloni et al. 1995) and its X-ray structure hints at the merging of two clusters (Schindler & Wambsganss 1996). Hence, this cluster is an ideal first target for the analysis of recent episodes of star formation in early-type cluster galaxies.

## 2. Data Reduction and Photometry

The images were retrieved from the archive of the Hubble Space Telescope. Both were obtained with the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 during cycle 5 (F300W, 14,000 sec) and cycle 4 (F702W, 21,000 sec). References for the projects associated with these images can be found in Buson et al. (2000, F300W) and Dressler et al. (1994, F702W), respectively. The NUV images correspond to the spectral range around rest frame 2000Å at the redshift of the cluster, whereas F702W roughly maps rest frame $`V`$ band. The optical (F702W) images of cluster Cl0939+4713 were used by the MORPHS collaboration (Smail et al. 1997) who estimated the morphologies of a sample of clusters at moderate redshifts. We thereby use their classification in order to extract the sample of early-type systems. All of the galaxies used in our sample were classified as types E, S0 or E/S0.

The pipeline-reduced images retrieved from the archive of the Space Telescope Science Institute were separately registered chip-by-chip and added using a clipping algorithm (IRAF/sigclip) which eliminated cosmic rays without altering the photometry. The final source detection and photometric output was performed using SEXtractor (Bertin & Arnouts 1996). Instead of using a fixed aperture, we decided to use SEXtractor’s “best” estimate for the magnitude, which starts with an

adaptive aperture and checks whether nearby sources are expected to bias the magnitude by more than 0.1 mag, in which case an isophotal estimate is chosen instead. This method allows us to get an estimate for the flux that is closest to the actual “total” magnitude. Our F702W magnitudes agree with Smail et al. (1997) to better than 0.1 mag but differ significantly from Buson et al. (2000) who used a fixed $`1.2\mathrm{}`$ aperture. Additional optical photometry in $`g`$ and $`r`$ was retrieved from Dressler & Gunn (1992). Out of the 72 galaxies classified as early-type systems in the F702W images, we detected 42 both in F300W and F702W out of which 30 (down to F702W$`22`$) are listed in Dressler & Gunn (1992).

Figure 1 shows the NUV$``$optical and optical CM relations. The latter are compatible with a single burst at high redshift as shown in the figure by the thick solid and dashed lines, which give the CM of a simple stellar population formed at redshifts of $`z_F=10`$ and $`1`$, respectively. The prediction for a more recent burst at $`z_F=0.5`$ is also shown as a dotted line. These estimates use the $`UV`$ CM relation observed in Coma and Virgo as a constraint (Bower, Lucey & Ellis, 1992). However, in the top panel, the F300W$``$F702W color magnitude relation is much steeper than the prediction for a monolithic stellar population. A least squares fit to the data points gives a slope of $`0.83`$, significantly steeper than for a single stellar population ($`0.16`$ at $`z_F=10`$). However, we should caution our readers by adding in figure 1 a conservative $`4\sigma `$ detection limit from the F300W images (shaded line). The limiting magnitude in F702W ($`\mathrm{}<28`$) is safely away from the galaxies presented in this sample. This implies many faint galaxies have not been detected and thus would appear red. Hence, the robust assumption that we can make with the present data is that there is an increased

scatter in the faint end of the color-magnitude relation, showing a significant fraction of blue early-type systems in NUV-optical colors. This excess blueness of the fainter early-type systems can only be explained by a younger stellar component. This is a feature which goes unnoticed in optical wavebands since the flux of small fractions in young stars is negligible compared to the contribution from the bulk of — older — stars in the galaxy. However, the F300W filter maps rest frame 2000Å which is a spectral range where the flux from a large mass in old stars can be overwhelmed by a small fraction of young stars.

## 3. Near-ultraviolet flux as age estimator

In order to estimate the fraction of young stars we consider a simple two-stage star formation history (SFH), where stars are instantaneously formed at two different epochs (i.e. we add two simple stellar populations). The old component is formed at a redshift $`z_F=3`$ which gives an age of 7 Gyr at the redshift of the cluster for a $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$-dominated flat cosmology ($`\mathrm{\Omega }_m=0.3`$, $`H_0=70`$km s-1 Mpc-1 used hereafter). The age ($`t_Y`$) and the mass fraction ($`f_M`$) of the young component are explored in a wide range ($`0.05<t_Y/Gyr<7.0`$; $`10^4<f_M<1`$). The most likely SFH to explain the observations is determined by a $`\chi ^2`$ test searching the parameter space spanned by ($`t_Y`$,$`f_M`$) using several metallicities: $`Z/Z_{}=\{1/50,1/20,0.25,0.5,0.75,1,1.25,1.5\}`$, and a range of values for $`E_{BV}`$ 111The galactic extinction at the position of the cluster is $`E_{BV}=0.015`$ (Schlegel, Finkbeiner & Davis 1998). between $`0.0`$ and $`0.5`$ mag in steps of $`\mathrm{\Delta }E_{BV}=0.05`$ mag, using the standard prescription for starbursts(Calzetti 1997). A more generic dust extinction curve such as the $`\lambda ^{0.7}`$ law from Charlot & Fall (2000) give similar answers, which is to be expected if we take into account the spectral range covered by the available photometry. The predicted $`F300WF702W`$ color for simple stellar populations reddened using these two prescriptions differed less than 0.1 mag for the age, metallicity and dust range explored in this paper. For each choice of parameters ($`t_Y`$,$`f_M`$,$`Z`$,$`E_{BV}`$) we compute the three colors available from the data: ($`c_1=`$F300W$``$F702W; $`c_2=gr`$; $`c_3=ri`$) and perform a $`\chi ^2`$ test comparing the data with the predictions for a given SFH, metallicity and dust model using the population synthesis models of Bruzual & Charlot (2000) for a Scalo IMF with mass cutoffs at $`0.1`$ and $`100M_{}`$.

$$\chi _{Z,EBV}^2=\mathrm{\Sigma }_i\frac{(c_iC_{i,Z,EBV})^2}{\sigma _i^2}+\frac{(c_{UV}^{z=0}C_{UV}^{z=0})^2}{\sigma _{UV}^2},$$
(1)
where $`C_{i,Z,EBV}`$ are the predicted colors. The photometric uncertainties $`\sigma _i`$ are taken from the observations for F300W$``$F702W and from Dressler & Gunn (1992) for $`gr`$ and $`ri`$, who estimate their photometric uncertainties to be less than 10% down to $`r23`$. Taking into account the added uncertainties from population synthesis models, we assume a conservative estimate of $`\sigma _i=0.1`$ for the optical colors. The second term in equation (1) is a constraint from local clusters. For a given choice of parameters, we evolve the galaxy to zero redshift and check whether its $`UV`$ vs $`M_V`$ CM relation satisfies the linear constraint found locally (e.g. Coma and Virgo, Bower et al. 1992). This means our estimates are only valid on the assumption that Cl0939+4713 will evolve into a cluster similar to the ones found locally. However, relaxing this constraint does not alter significantly the fraction in young stars, which means the photometry at $`z=0.41`$ already hints at an evolution in Cl0939+4713 very similar to local clusters.

Table 1 gives the photometry and best estimates found for some of the early-type systems in Cl0939+4713 which have observed counterparts in Dressler & Gunn (1992) and give a good fit ($`\chi ^2<1.0`$). The mass fraction in young stars varies widely among galaxies. In order to show the range in $`t_Y`$ and $`f_M`$ allowed, we show in figure 2 the contours at 75 and 90% (thick line) confidence levels for some of these galaxies. The crosses give the position of the minima. The elongated contours are a consequence of the age-mass degeneracy mentioned above. However, one can see from the figure that for some of these galaxies, a significant fraction in young stars is needed in order to explain their colors. In order to gauge the contribution from young stars to the photometry of the system, we define the fractional contribution of the young stellar component to the luminosity of the galaxy. Using the $`V`$ band as reference:

$$f_V=\frac{L_{Y,V}}{L_{O,V}+L_{Y,V}}=\frac{f_M}{(1f_M)\xi _V+f_M},$$
(2)
where $`\xi _V=\mathrm{{\rm Y}}_{Y,V}/\mathrm{{\rm Y}}_{O,V}`$ is the ratio of the mass-to-light ratios between the young and the old components in the reference band.

From an observational point of view it is worth relating $`f_V`$ to the fractional age change ($`\mathrm{\Delta }\tau _V`$) between the oldest burst ($`t_O`$; $`z_F=3`$) and the $`V`$ band luminosity-weighted age ($`t_V`$) after adding the younger burst ($`t_Y`$) whose mass fraction is given by $`f_M`$:

$$\mathrm{\Delta }\tau _V=\frac{t_Ot_V}{t_O}=\left(1\frac{t_Y}{t_O}\right)f_V$$
(3)
The top left panel of figure 2 shows three contours at $`\mathrm{\Delta }\tau _V=\{25,50,75\%\}`$, and the bottom left panel shows similar contours for $`f_V`$.

For some of the galaxies, the most probable SFH corresponds to a fractional age reduction (with respect to the old population) above 50% with respect to a single burst at $`z_F=3`$, even though these galaxies will display at $`z=0`$ a similar CM relation as the one found in Coma. The bottom right panel overlays three contours corresponding to equivalent widths of $`H\beta `$ of 3, 5, and 7Å (thick), showing that a combined NUV-optical photometry along with a spectroscopic measurement of Balmer indices will greatly reduce the age-mass degeneracy.

## 4. Discussion

This paper represents a first attempt at quantifying the fraction in young stars in early-type cluster galaxies. From a spectrophotometric point of view, these galaxies commonly feature a population of very old stars, without any traces of recent star formation. However, from a dynamical point of view, early-type systems must form from succesive merging stages. The observation of these mergers locally display an active process of star formation, but progenitors with very little cold gas will undergo mergers which will not trigger star formation (Van Dokkum et al. 1999). So far, observations of elliptical galaxies in the NUV spectral range were confined to the search of very old helium core-burning stars as a way of estimating very old ages in stellar populations. However, the existence of early-type systems with a clear E+A spectral feature show that galaxies with this morphological type may have a more interesting star formation history. We focus on the NUV spectral range around rest frame 2000Å where young stars overwhelm any contribution from older stellar populations. Observations of spectral indices have found a rather large age spread in field and group early-type systems (Trager et al. 2000). However, their analysis — based on simple stellar populations — cannot quantify a young-to-old mass fraction. A comparison between NUV and optical colors allows us to quantify this stellar mass fraction, although with large error bars. Figure 3 gives the age and mass fraction of young stars (left) in early-type galaxies in cluster Cl0939+4713. Notwithstanding the large error bars, there is a significant trend towards younger ages and mass fractions in fainter galaxies, with a large fractional age difference with respect to a monolithic star formation history at high redshift which can be quantified by a luminosity-weighted age fractional change (bottom right). However, these galaxies can still accomodate the tight CM relation found in local clusters (top right). In the framework of current models of star formation, one could accomodate this trend with lower star formation efficiencies in fainter galaxies, also resulting in a significant change with redshift of the slope of the correlation between mass-to-light ratio and mass (Ferreras & Silk 2000). This would imply that in the latest merging stages the less massive early-type systems could still undergo some star formation, whereas more massive galaxies would just merge stars and hot gas, without triggering star formation. The fact that the method presented here is very sensitive to small fractions of young stars poses a strong constraint on recent star formation in massive ellipticals. We should emphasize that our claim only applies to the scatter at faint magnitudes, since red faint galaxies might lie beyond the detection limit of the archival F300W images used here. There are two possible alternatives to explain the blueness of these faint early-type systems. However, one can argue against them for the following reasons:

* Old stellar populations could contribute to wavelengths around rest frame 1500Å , however this is negligible in comparison to the flux from $`t_Y\mathrm{}<1`$ Gyr stars. A simple stellar population at the redshift of the cluster ($`z=0.41`$) does not yield colors F300W$``$F702W$`<4`$ for ages above $`7`$ Gyr ($`z_F>3`$) both for a Scalo and a Salpeter IMF. Exploring these two IMFs allows us to estimate the contribution of old low-mass stars to the NUV, the contribution in low mass stars being significantly larger for a Salpeter IMF. Yet, the F300W$``$F702W colors did not differ by more than $`0.10.2`$ mag. Furthermore, we compared the output of the population synthesis model used here (Bruzual & Charlot 2000) with the models of Yi et al. (1999) who take special care in computing the NUV contribution from core helium-burning stars. The only significant discrepancy is found for ages above 15 Gyr, which will be important in the study of local elliptical galaxies. However, the redshift of the cluster studied here ($`z=0.41`$) sets an upper limit to the age of any stellar population between 9 and 10 Gyr for reasonable cosmologies. Hence, even though the predicted fractional mass distribution in young stars may slighty differ among models, the connection between an increased scatter in the faint end of the NUV$``$optical color-magnitude relation and recent star formation is fairly robust.
* Another possibility for such blue colors would be extremely low metallicities. However these metallicities predict optical $`gr`$ and $`ri`$ colors which are too blue with respect to the observations. In fact a simple stellar population with very low metallicity ($`Z_{}/50`$) formed at $`z_F=5`$ gives F300W$``$F702W$`=2.7`$, whereas the optical colors are blue as well: $`ri=0.3`$. Furthermore, the evolution to $`z=0`$ gives a color $`UV=0.6`$ that is hard to reconcile with local clusters.

We believe the analysis of $`\lambda 2000`$Å NUV light in moderate and high redshift galaxies should find its place in the combined effort to search for the connection between the dynamical and the spectrophotometric histories of galaxies, along with other currently used age estimators such as Balmer indices or mass-to-light ratios.

We are indebted both to Stéphane Charlot and Sukyoung Yi for useful suggestions and for making available their latest population synthesis models. IF is supported by a grant from the European Community under contract HPMF-CT-1999-00109


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# Observation of a Hard Correlation Gap in Quench-Condensed Ultrathin Beryllium

## Abstract

We report on the tunneling density of states (DOS) in ultrathin and strongly disordered Be films quench-condensed at 20 K. Above 5 K, the DOS shows the well-known logarithmic anomaly at the Fermi level. Only in a narrow temperature range near 2 K is the DOS linearly dependent on energy, as predicted by Efros and Shklovskii. However, both the zero-bias conductance and the slope of the linear DOS are found to decrease drastically with decreasing temperature. Tunneling measurements at mK temperatures have revealed conclusively that a hard correlation gap opens up in the DOS.

It is known that electron-electron (e-e) Coulomb interactions can drastically alter the density of states (DOS) near the Fermi energy in disordered electronic systems. In the weakly disordered limit, Altshuler et al.  have predicted that interactions lead to a singular depletion of the DOS with a $`|ϵ|^{1/2}`$ dependence in three dimensions (3D) and a ln$`|ϵ|`$ dependence  in two dimensions(2D), where $`ϵ`$ is the energy measured from the Fermi level. These corrections have been observed in tunneling studies of the DOS in disordered metals in 3D  and 2D . In the strongly insulating regime, Efros and Shklovskii (ES) have predicted  that Coulomb interactions lead to a soft Coulomb gap in the single-particle DOS, with a vanishing DOS at the Fermi level. This soft gap is quadratic in energy in 3D and linear in energy in 2D. In both 2D and 3D, the Coulomb gap is predicted  to lead to a variable-range hopping resistance of R(T) = R0 $`\mathrm{exp}[(T_0/T)^\nu ]`$, where $`\nu `$ = 1/2 and T is the temperature.

Although it was predicted over two decades ago, the Coulomb gap is by no means an understood subject. The existence of the ES Coulomb gap had mainly been inferred from transport experiments such as glassy electronic relaxation  and hopping conduction . The ES Coulomb gap in 3D was directly observed a few years ago by tunneling in Si:B . Direct evidence for the ES Coulomb gap in 2D has been reported only during the past year by Butko et al. , but no temperature dependence and magnetic field dependence have been reported. The Coulomb gap predicted by Efros and Shklovskii  describes the DOS for adding an extra electron to the ground state without allowing relaxation. Later theoretical studies  of the Coulomb gap, taking into consideration multi-electron processes, have found a further reduction of the DOS near the Fermi energy, leading to a much harder gap with effectively no states within a narrow but finite range of energy. In fact, a change in the hopping exponent with decreasing temperature from $`\nu `$ = 1/2 to $`\nu `$ = 1 was reported a few years ago in Si:B , suggesting that a hard gap might exist at low temperatures. Most recently, the Coulomb gap in 2D has become a subject of renewed interest  with the unexpected discovery of a metal-insulator transition in the 2D electron gas in semiconductor devices .

In this Letter, we report tunneling measurements of the DOS in ultrathin Be films quench-condensed near 20 K in a dilution refrigerator. This setup makes it possible to vary film thickness in fine steps to tune the films from the highly insulating limit to the weakly insulating limit, which can be done in situ at low temperatures and without exposing to air. It allows the use of a single junction to measure, thus to compare in real units, the densities of states from Be films of varying thickness following successive evaporation steps. Earlier studies have suggested  that quench-condensed Be films are nearly amorphous. It was found  that superconductivity could be fully established in films as thin as 12 Å. Although the superconducting transition temperature Tc of bulk Be is near 26 mK, quench-condensed Be films were found to have surprisingly higher Tc, reaching 10 K in thicker films . Scanning force microscopy studies of our Be films, after warming up to room temperature, have found no observable granular structure down to 1 nm.

Our Be films were thermally evaporated onto bare glass substrates held near 20 K during evaporation. The substrates were mounted on a rotator, extended from the mixing chamber to the bore of a 12-T superconducting magnet. The orientation of the films with respect to that of the magnetic field could be calibrated in situ at low temperatures to better than 0.1 . The films had a multi-lead pattern for resistance measurements, with an area of 3$`\times `$3 mm2 between the neighboring leads. Contact pads were pre-evaporated on the glass substrates. For tunneling measurements , one of the tunneling electrodes was an Al film of area 1$`\times `$1 mm2 and thickness 150 Å, evaporated at room temperature and oxidized in air for a period of 2 hours to 2 days. After the Be films were quench-condensed, the resistance of the resulting

Be/Al2O3/Al junctions were found to vary from 5 k$`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ to 1 M$`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ at 20 K. All the tunneling data and nearly all the film resistance data shown below were obtained by calculating the numerical derivative of the 4-terminal dc I-V curves measured using two Keithley 617 electrometers.

Figure 1 shows the temperature dependence of the film sheet resistance, R, measured on one film section deposited on a bare glass substrate following successive deposition steps to increase film thickness. The film changed its behavior from insulating to superconducting when R at 20 K was reduced to below 10 k$`\mathrm{\Omega }`$/$`\mathrm{}`$ as the film thickness was increased. Film $`\mathrm{\#}`$10 in Fig. 1, which was superconducting with Tc $``$ 6 K, had a critical field Hc well above the 10-T field our magnet could reach at 4.2 K. Using the spin-paramagnetic limit , we estimate that for this film the upper-bound of Hc is $`\sqrt{2}\mathrm{\Delta }`$/g$`\mu _B`$ $``$ 13.5 T, where g $``$ 2 is the Land$`\stackrel{´}{e}`$ g-factor, $`\mu _B`$ is the Bohr magneton, and $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$ $``$ 0.92 mV is the superconducting gap (see below). Early studies  estimated that the critical field was 18 $``$ 20 T in quench-condensed Be films of Tc = 8 $``$ 10 K, suggesting that these films were highly disordered with a very short penetration depth.

For tunneling DOS, we measure the dc tunneling I-V from which the tunneling conductance, G = dI/dV, is calculated. When thermal broadening is unimportant, G is simply the product of the tunneling probability and the densities of states of the two electrodes. The quality of our junctions could be tested when the Be films became thick enough so that they were superconducting, such as Film $`\mathrm{\#}`$10 in Fig. 1. Our tunneling studies at 100 mK on Film $`\mathrm{\#}`$10 found that the combined superconducting gaps of Be and Al was 1.20 mV. In a 1.5-T perpendicular magnetic field, H, which was strong enough to suppress superconductivity in the Al electrode and yet was too weak to produce any measurable effect on the gap value of Film $`\mathrm{\#}`$10, we measured an energy gap of 0.92 mV for Film $`\mathrm{\#}`$10. Given that the Tc of Film $`\mathrm{\#}`$10 was near 6 K, this gap of 0.92 mV led to 2$`\mathrm{\Delta }`$ $``$ 3.7kBTc. We note that, for the zero-field data presented below, we do not attempt to extract the DOS profile of the superconducting Al electrode from the measured tunneling conductance. We treat the Al electrode as having a flat DOS because, as will be shown later, the energy scale associated with the DOS structures of the highly insulating Be films is far larger than the gap energy ($``$ 0.28 mV) of the superconducting Al electrode. Finally, the resistance of our junctions was always at least three orders of magnitude larger than the resistance of the Be film sections forming the leads for the junctions. As a result, the tunneling current produced a negligible voltage drop on the leads, ensuring that the measured voltage was the bias voltage across the junctions. We point out that the sheet resistance of the portions of the Be film deposited on top of the Al2O3/Al layers, which formed the junctions, could be different from the rest of the film deposited on the bare glass substrates. Thus one should be cautious when comparing the tunneling data presented below with the film sheet resistance shown in Fig. 1. The goal of this Letter is to report the tunneling DOS in quench-condensed ultrathin Be films, showing the evolution from a logarithmic anomaly to the ES linear Coulomb gap, and the eventual opening up of a hard gap. Simultaneous tunneling and resistance measurements in films deposited on exactly the same under-coating or substrates will be carried out in the future.

In Fig. 2, we plot the tunneling conductance measured at three temperatures of one of the junctions on Film $`\mathrm{\#}`$6 in Fig. 1. The data near 3 K and 2 K in Fig. 2 appear to show the ES linear Coulomb gap  in 2D. However, with decreasing temperature, the slope of the linear DOS decreased sharply and the tunneling conductance at zero-bias dropped toward zero. Thus the DOS can not be described simply by the temperature-independent ES linear Coulomb gap. We point out that the resistance data measured from insulating films (films $`\mathrm{\#}`$1 to $`\mathrm{\#}`$6) in Fig. 1 can not be fitted to a simple hopping law with $`\nu `$ = 1/4, 1/3, 1/2, or 1. This is probably not surprising, given that the measured tunneling DOS depends strongly on temperature. In contrast, the ES hopping law with $`\nu `$ = 1/2 is derived for a temperature-independent soft Coulomb gap. We note that a significant temperature dependence of the tunneling DOS has been reported before in both 2D  and 3D . The temperature dependence seen in Fig. 2 is likely due to the following reason. At low temperatures, electrons are strongly localized with a very low diffusivity, resulting in a very poor screening capability. This is the regime where the ES Coulomb gap is expected. As the temperature is raised, the diffusivity increases and the screening capability is improved. In fact, the tunneling conductance at higher temperatures, such as 5.74 K, is logarithmically in energy, as predicted in the weakly disordered limit .

Film $`\mathrm{\#}`$6 from Fig 1 was so insulating that tunneling measurements could not be made on this film much below 2 K, because at low temperatures such films formed highly resistive leads for the junctions. Earlier reports  have also discussed technical difficulties in tunneling experiments associated with high lead resistance. Tunneling measurements at much lower temperatures were possible only on slightly thicker films which were much more conducting, such as films $`\mathrm{\#}`$7 and $`\mathrm{\#}`$8 in Fig. 1. The low resistance of such films ensured that the measured voltage was across the junctions, as we discussed earlier. In the inset to Fig. 3, we plot one dc tunneling I-V measured at 30 mK on Film $`\mathrm{\#}`$8. We see clearly a wide hard gap of about 30 mV in the DOS. In the main part of Fig. 3, we plot on both linear and log-log scales the tunneling conductance curves measured at a number of temperatures for T $``$ 3.3 K. Above 5 K, the tunneling conductance also had a logarithmic anomaly. Apart from a sharp dip near zero-bias, the tunneling conductance near 2 K showed a V-shaped linear energy dependence. The DOS depleted further by orders of magnitude with decreasing temperature and developed a temperature-independent hard gap below 500 mK.

Films $`\mathrm{\#}`$7 and $`\mathrm{\#}`$8 in Fig. 1 were quite conducting due to the existence of strong superconducting fluctuations.

Nevertheless, we now argue that this hard gap is not a result of these superconducting fluctuations; rather, we believe that the hard gap is a manifestation of localization-enhanced interaction effects in strongly disordered films, and would be found in all our insulating samples if only we were able to measure tunneling in extremely insulating thinner films such as Film $`\mathrm{\#}`$6. First, it seems unlikely that the hard gap originates from superconductivity since the width of the hard gap, 30 $``$ 40 mV, is so much larger than the superconducting gap, $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$ $``$ 0.92 mV, measured on Film $`\mathrm{\#}`$10. Next, we found that the width of the hard gap was reduced from 40 mV in Film $`\mathrm{\#}`$7 to 30 mV in Film $`\mathrm{\#}`$8. Although our crystal thickness monitor was not able to resolve the difference in thickness between these two films, Film $`\mathrm{\#}`$8 was produce by an additional evaporation step upon Film $`\mathrm{\#}`$7, and so is slightly thicker. Hence, we have found a correlation between a thinner film and a wider hard gap. Finally, for a fixed film thickness, we found that the hard gap broadened significantly with increasing perpendicular magnetic fields, H, in the low-field regime, as shown in Fig. 4. The hard gap was insensitive to a parallel magnetic field in the same field range. Such highly anisotropic behavior is most likely an orbital effect rather than a spin effect. Since a perpendicular magnetic field effectively localizes the electrons in 2D, we believe that the field-broadening of the hard

gap in Fig. 4 indicates a correlation between the hard gap and localization. In fact, correlation gaps induced by the localization effect of a strong perpendicular magnetic field have been observed before in tunneling studies of the 2D electron gas in semiconductor quantum wells even in the limit of insignificant disorder.

In conclusion, our tunneling studies of quench-condensed ultrathin Be films have revealed a strong dependence of the DOS on film thickness, temperature, and magnetic field. We have seen that the DOS evolves from a logarithmic anomaly to the ES linear Coulomb gap near 5 K. At mK temperatures, a hard correlation gap as wide as 30 $``$ 40 mV emerges at the Fermi level. As the films become thicker and less insulating, the hard gap narrows. Such behavior has never been observed before. We argue that this hard correlation gap results from the combination of localization and e-e Coulomb interactions, and that the hard gap should also exist in the strongly insulating Be films on which we were not able to perform tunneling experiments.

We gratefully acknowledge numerous invaluable discussions with S. Teitel, Y. Shapir, Y. Gao, and P. Adams. We thank S. Zorba and Y. Gao who performed scanning force microscopy studies of our quench-condensed Be films.


text:
# ON A PROBABLE CONTRIBUTION OF THE EINSTEIN–PODOLSKY–ROSEN EFFECT TO SOLVING THE PROBLEM OF HOMOGENEITY OF THE UNIVERSE

## INTRODUCTION

The problem of domain-wall formation during spontaneous breaking of discrete symmetry was emphasized for the first time by Zel’dovich et al. (1975) just when the role of Higgs fields in cosmology began to be recognized. This problem is associated with the fact that the observed region of the Universe contains a large number of the domains that were causally-disconnected at the instant of phase transition, and the stable vacuum states of such domains after the symmetry breaking, in general, should differ from each other. As a result, a network of domain walls, involving considerable energy density, will be formed. But, on the other hand, the presence of such domain walls is incompatible with the observed large-scale homogeneity of the Universe.

The previously-undertaken attempts to resolve the above problem were based on imposing severe constraints on the parameters or modifying the field theories involved (see, for example, review by Larsson et al., 1997).

Aim of the present report is to show that, in principle, the domain-wall problem may be resolved by a natural way if we take into account the fact that Higgs condensate represents a single coherent quantum state,111Just the assumption of coherent (sometimes also called “classical”) character of the Higgs field is a key item in the mechanism of elementary-particle mass generation. which should experience Einstein–Podolsky–Rosen (EPR) correlations (Einstein et al., 1935) even in causally-disconnected regions during its reduction to the state of broken symmetry.

Such point of view seems to be especially attractive due to the recent experimental achievements, such as (a) the quantum-optical experiments that confirmed a presence of EPR correlations of the single photon states at considerable distances ($``$10 km), and (b) the studies of Bose–Einstein condensate of ultracooled gases, which demonstrated that all predictions of the “orthodox” quantum mechanics are valid for a coherent quantum state involving even a macroscopic amount of substance.

So, if we believe that EPR correlations really take place in Higgs condensate, then it should be expected that the probabilities of various realizations of the Higgs-field configurations after the symmetry breaking will be distributed by Gibbs law. As a result, the high energy concentrated in the domain walls (and, therefore, contradicting the astronomical observations) turns out to be just the reason why probability of the respective configurations is strongly suppressed (Dumin, 2000).

The basic question arising here concerns the efficiency of such suppression for a particular set of the field parameters. The same problem can be reformulated by an opposite way: What parameters should the Higgs field (and its phase transition) have for the probability of domain-wall formation to be substantially reduced? We shall try to give a quantitative answer to this question in the next section.

## THE MODEL OF PHASE TRANSITION ALLOWING FOR EPR CORRELATIONS

Let us consider the simplest one-dimensional cosmological model with metric

$$ds^2=dt^2a^2(t)dx^2.$$
(1)
By introducing the conformal time $`\eta =𝑑t/a(t)`$, Eq. 1 can be reduced to the form $`ds^2=a^2(t)\{d\eta ^2dx^2\};`$ so that the light rays ($`ds^2=\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}0}`$) are described as $`x=\pm \eta +\mathrm{const}`$ (e.g. Misner, 1969).

Let $`\eta _0`$ be the conformal time corresponding to a phase transition. Then, the region of the Universe observed at the instant $`\eta `$ will contain $`N`$ domains that were causally-disconnected during the phase transition (see Figure 1):

$$N=(\eta \eta _0)/\eta _0\eta /\eta _0.$$
(2)
The Higgs field $`\phi `$, possessing $`Z_2`$ symmetry group, after reduction to the state of broken symmetry can be in one of two stable vacua ($`+\phi _0`$ or $`\phi _0`$) in each of the above-mentioned domains. The energy of a “wall” between two domains with different vacua will be denoted by $`E`$ (its expression in terms of the Lagrangian parameters can be found, for example, in paper by Zel’dovich et al, 1975). Besides, for the sake of self-consistency, the periodic boundary conditions will be imposed at the opposite sides of the observable region (i.e., the boundary $`\mathrm{𝙰𝙱}`$ will be identified with $`\mathrm{𝙰𝙱}^{}`$); so that the possible total number of the domain walls is always even.

So, under assumptions formulated above, the probability of realization of the Higgs-field configuration involving $`2k`$ domain walls is equal to

$$P_N^{2k}=\mathrm{\hspace{0.25em}2}A_N\frac{N!}{(2k)!(N2k)!}e^{2kE/T},$$
(3)
where $`T`$ is the characteristic temperature of phase transition, and $`A_N`$ is the normalization factor defined as

$$A_N^1=\underset{k=0}{\overset{\left[N/2\right]}{}}\frac{2N!}{(2k)!(N2k)!}e^{2kE/T},$$
(4)
where square brackets in the upper limit of the sum denote the integer part of a number.

In principle, the problem of finding the normalization factor given by Eq. 4 can be formally reduced to determination of the statistical sum for one-dimensional Ising model (e.g. Huang, 1963 and Isihara, 1971), which has an exact solution. Nevertheless, to get the most physical clarity, we shall not use here this general approach and restrict our consideration only by limiting cases of high and low temperatures (in comparison with the energy of a domain wall). As will be seen later, the respective asymptotic formulas can be reasonably fitted to each other.

### The Case of High Temperature

In the case of high temperature, when neighboring terms of the sum differ from each other only slightly, summation can be approximately conducted over all numbers of the domain walls (both odd and even) and finally gives

$$A_N^1\left(1+e^{E/T}\right)^N;$$
(5)
so that

$$P_N^{2k}\frac{2N!}{(2k)!(N2k)!}\frac{e^{2kE/T}}{\left(1+e^{E/T}\right)^N}.$$
(6)
In particular, a probability of the Higgs-field configuration without any domain walls (which is just the case actually observed in the Universe) equals

$$P_N^0\frac{2}{\left(1+e^{E/T}\right)^N}.$$
(7)
It is interesting to find restriction on the domain-wall energy $`E`$ and phase-transition temperature $`T`$ for the probability of absence of the domain walls to be greater than or equal to some specified number $`p`$ ($`0<p<1`$; for example, $`p=1/2`$):

$$E/T\mathrm{ln}\frac{1}{(2/p)^{1/N}1}\mathrm{ln}N\mathrm{ln}\mathrm{ln}(2/p)\mathrm{ln}N.$$
(8)
### The Case of Low Temperature

As regards the opposite case of low temperature, when the main contribution to the sum in Eq. (4) is produced by a few first terms, we can approximately take into account only two of them; so that

$$A_N^1\mathrm{\hspace{0.25em}2}\left\{1+\frac{1}{2}N^2e^{2E/T}\right\};$$
(9)
and the respective probability of the Higgs-field configuration involving $`2k`$ domain walls will be

$$P_N^{2k}\left\{1\frac{1}{2}N^2e^{2E/T}\right\}\frac{N!}{(2k)!(N2k)!}e^{2kE/T}.$$
(10)
Then, the probability that domain walls are absent at all equals

$$P_N^0\mathrm{\hspace{0.25em}1}\frac{1}{2}N^2e^{2E/T},$$
(11)
and it will be greater than or equal to the specified number $`p`$ if

$$E/T\mathrm{ln}N\frac{1}{2}\mathrm{ln}(2(1p))\mathrm{ln}N,$$
(12)
i.e., to a first approximation, it is again determined by the logarithmic function of $`N`$.

So, as follows from Eqs. 8 and 12, the ratio $`E/T`$ differs from unity only by $`\mathrm{ln}N`$. Consequently, the required temperature of the phase transition is of the same order of magnitude as the domain-wall energy even at large value of $`N`$. Therefore, the required parameters may be satisfied in some particular kind of the field theory.

## DISCUSSION

There is no doubt that a considerably more sophisticated analysis must be carried out to draw unambiguous conclusion on the role of EPR correlations in the phase transitions of Higgs fields. Nevertheless, our consideration, based on the simplest one-dimensional model, shows that such possibility could be quite promising.

Moreover, the situation seems to be even better in the cases of two- and three-dimensional geometry. A well-known property of Ising models in two and three dimensions (as distinct from the one-dimensional case) is a presence of second-order phase transition at some temperature on the order of the domain-wall energy. As a result, one can expect that a restriction on $`E/T`$, similar to Eqs. 8 and 12, will not contain dependence on $`N`$ at all.222To avoid misunderstanding, it should be emphasized that the Ising model, which can be introduced to study the long-range correlations during the phase transition, is only an auxiliary mathematical construction. So, a phase transition in the Ising model is in no way identical to the real physical phase transition of the respective Higgs field. (Particularly, the Ising model can possess a phase transition of only the second order or experience no phase transition at all; whereas the physical phase transition of the Higgs field can be both of the first or second order, depending on the particular Lagrangian.) This problem is still to be studied more carefully.


text:
# 1 Introduction

## 1 Introduction

Observation of the charmonium mesons $`J/\psi `$, $`\psi (2S)`$ and $`\chi _c`$ is a critical component of the measurement of $`CP`$ violation in $`B`$ decays at BABAR and other facilities. Measurements of the inclusive branching fractions of $`B`$ mesons to these states are made using the decays $`J/\psi \mathrm{}^+\mathrm{}^{}`$, $`\psi (2S)\mathrm{}^+\mathrm{}^{}`$, $`\psi (2S)\pi ^+\pi ^{}J/\psi `$ and $`\chi _c\gamma J/\psi `$, with $`J/\psi \mathrm{}^+\mathrm{}^{}`$ in the latter two cases; the leptons $`\mathrm{}`$ may be either electrons or muons. The production rates of the $`\psi (2S)`$ and $`\chi _c`$ mesons are measured relative to the $`J/\psi `$ in order to eliminate common systematic errors in tracking and particle identification.

## 2 The BABAR detector and dataset

The data used in this analysis were collected with the BABAR detector at the PEP-II storage ring, which collides 9.0$`\mathrm{GeV}`$ electrons with 3.1$`\mathrm{GeV}`$ positrons. A luminosity of 7.7 $`fb^1`$ was collected on the $`\mathrm{{\rm Y}}(4S)`$ resonance, $`\sqrt{s}=10.58`$$`\mathrm{GeV}`$ (“on-resonance”), with an additional 1.2 $`fb^1`$ collected at $`\sqrt{s}=10.54`$$`\mathrm{GeV}`$, below the threshold for $`B\overline{B}`$ production (“off-resonance”). The off-resonance data set is used to statistically subtract the non-$`B\overline{B}`$ component of signals.

The BABAR detector is described elsewhere . The tracking system, which is used for pattern recognition and reconstruction of the momenta of charged particles, consists of two sub-detectors. The inner is a five-layer double sided silicon vertex tracker (SVT) which gives precision spatial information for all charged particles and is the primary detection device for low momentum charged particles. It is surrounded by a 40-layer drift chamber (DCH), which provides measurements of track momenta.

The primary sources of information used in lepton identification are the calorimeter and the muon system. The DCH also provides $`\mathrm{d}E/\mathrm{d}x`$ information which is used in the identification of electrons. The calorimeter is constructed from CsI crystals and, in addition to distinguishing electrons, hadrons and muons on the basis of their energy depositions, is used to locate and measure photons. The muon system, known as the Instrumented Flux Return (IFR) in BABAR, consists of resistive plate chambers interleaved with iron plates. There are 19 layers in the central region of the detector, 18$`\mathrm{in}`$ the endcap regions.

## 3 Event selection

The event selection criteria are designed to select $`B\overline{B}`$ decays with high efficiency while suppressing lepton pairs, two-photon events, and interactions with the beam pipe or residual gas in the beam line. We require the event to have:

* at least four charged tracks in the active volume of the tracking system;
* total energy (charged tracks plus photons) greater than 5$`\mathrm{GeV}`$;
* a primary vertex within 5$`\mathrm{mm}`$ of the beam interaction region; and
* a normalized second-order Fox-Wolfram moment  less than 0.7.

A total of $`(8.46\pm 0.14)\times 10^6`$ $`B\overline{B}`$ events satisfy these criteria. This value is obtained by scaling the number of events selected in the off resonance sample by the ratio of muon pairs (luminosities) and subtracting it from the total number of events selected in the on-resonance sample. The uncertainty is dominated by variations in the ratio of selected events to muon pairs in the off-resonance running periods throughout the data collection period.

## 4 Reconstruction of charmonium mesons

### 4.1 Reconstruction of $`𝑱\mathbf{/}𝝍`$

$`J/\psi `$ candidates are formed from pairs of charged tracks in the active fiducial volume of the tracking system and calorimeter. Tracks are required to pass within 1.5$`\mathrm{cm}`$ of the beam line and to include information from the DCH.

Both tracks are required to satify lepton-identification criteria. Electrons must have an energy deposition in the calorimeter of at least 75% of that expected from the track’s momentum and a shape consistent with an electromagnetic shower. Muons must have an energy deposition in the calorimeter of less than 0.5$`\mathrm{GeV}`$—approximately twice the expectation for a minimum ionizing track—and traverse an amount of material that is within two interaction lengths of that expected for a muon of the measured momentum. The pattern of energy deposition in the IFR must be narrow, perpendicular to the flight path of the track, and the location of the hits must have an acceptable $`\chi ^2`$ when fit to the trajectory extrapolated from the DCH.

The two tracks are fit to a single vertex, if possible, before calculating the mass of the candidate $`J/\psi `$. Otherwise, the mass is derived from a simple sum of their four-vectors.

Histograms of mass distributions are accumulated for both the on- and off-resonance data sets. These are then subtracted, after weighting for the difference in luminosities, to give “continuum subtracted” distributions. Figure 1 shows the resulting mass distributions for $`J/\psi e^+e^{}`$ and $`J/\psi \mu ^+\mu ^{}`$ candidates.

The number of $`J/\psi `$ mesons is extracted from the mass distribution using a probability distribution function (p.d.f.) derived from a simulation that includes final state radiation and bremsstrahlung. The mass resolution of the detector simulation is increased from 11.0 to 13.3$`\mathrm{MeV}/c^2`$ to match the observed value.

A systematic error on the fit to the $`e^+e^{}`$ final state is obtained by varying by $`\pm 10`$% the number of $`J/\psi `$ mesons in which an electron undergoes bremsstrahlung in the simulation. This variation, which reflects possible differences between the detector simulation and reality, translates to a 3.5% systematic error.

Systematic errors for both final states are obtained by modifying the selection criteria in two ways. First, the momentum of the $`J/\psi `$ candidate in the $`\mathrm{{\rm Y}}(4S)`$ center of mass (CM) system, $`p^{}`$, is required to be less than 2.0$`\mathrm{GeV}/c`$; all $`J/\psi `$ mesons from $`B`$ decays should pass. Second, the number of charged tracks required is increased to five in order to reject remaining lepton pair events. These studies produce systematic errors of 1.3% for $`e^+e^{}`$ and 1.6% for $`\mu ^+\mu ^{}`$.

We find $`4920\pm 100\pm 180`$ $`J/\psi e^+e^{}`$ and $`5490\pm 90\pm 90`$ $`J/\psi \mu ^+\mu ^{}`$ events with mass greater than 2.6$`\mathrm{GeV}/c^2`$.

### 4.2 Reconstruction of $`𝝍\mathbf{(}\mathrm{𝟐}𝑺\mathbf{)}`$

The reconstruction of the $`\psi (2S)`$ through its decay to $`e^+e^{}`$ or $`\mu ^+\mu ^{}`$ is similar to that of the $`J/\psi `$. In order to reduce the relatively higher background rates, additional selection criteria are applied to the $`\psi (2S)`$ candidate. First, its momentum in the CM system ($`p^{}`$) must be less than 1.6$`\mathrm{GeV}/c`$, true for all $`\psi (2S)`$ mesons from $`B`$ decays. Second, the two tracks must be consistent with coming from a common vertex with a probability greater than 1%. Finally, more stringent particle identification criteria are applied. Muon candidates must penetrate to within one interaction length of the expected amount of material and at least one electron candidate must have an energy deposition between 0.88 and 1.30 times its momentum.

The number of signal events is extracted from the mass distribution using a p.d.f. from simulation, as for the $`J/\psi `$. We do not perform a continuum subtraction in this case, as the requirement on $`p^{}`$ is expected to remove most backgrounds from the continuum. Variation of the amount of bremsstrahlung in the detector simulation leads to a 1.7% systematic error on the number of $`\psi (2S)e^+e^{}`$ events, although this error is negligible compared to the statistical errors in this case. We find $`131\pm 29\pm 2`$ $`\psi (2S)e^+e^{}`$ and $`125\pm 19`$ $`\psi (2S)\mu ^+\mu ^{}`$ events (Fig. 2).

Due to their lower momentum, the pion candidates used to reconstruct $`\psi (2S)\pi ^+\pi ^{}J/\psi `$ are not required to have DCH information. Pairs of pions with mass between 0.45 and 0.59$`\mathrm{GeV}/c^2`$ are combined with $`J/\psi `$ candidates with mass between 2.60 and 3.13$`\mathrm{GeV}/c^2`$ for $`e^+e^{}`$ and 3.06 and 3.13$`\mathrm{GeV}/c^2`$ ($`2.8`$ to $`+2.5`$ standard deviations) for $`\mu ^+\mu ^{}`$. The wider window for $`e^+e^{}`$ is necessitated by the larger radiative tail in this final state. The above requirements on $`p^{}`$ and on vertex quality are applied in this final state as well.

To reduce the impact of the radiative tail and the mass resolution of the $`J/\psi `$ candidate, the number of $`\psi (2S)`$ events is extracted from a fit to the distribution of the mass difference between the $`\psi (2S)`$ and the $`J/\psi `$ (Fig. 3), with a Gaussian distribution for the signal and a Chebychev polynomial for background. In candidates with $`J/\psi e^+e^{}`$, we obtain $`126\pm 44`$ $`\psi (2S)`$ events, while for $`J/\psi \mu ^+\mu ^{}`$, we obtain $`162\pm 23`$.

### 4.3 Reconstruction of $`𝝌_𝒄`$

$`\chi _c`$ mesons are reconstructed through the radiative decay $`\chi _c\gamma J/\psi `$. The selected photon candidates must be reconstructed within the same fiducial region used for leptons and have an energy between 0.20 and 0.65$`\mathrm{GeV}`$ in the CM system. The shape of the energy deposition must be consistent with an electromagnetic shower. To reject photons from nearby hadronic showers, the photon must be at least $`9^{}`$ from the nearest charged track in the calorimeter. The substantial combinatorial background from $`\pi ^0`$ decays is reduced by rejecting any photon that, when combined with any other photon, forms a $`\pi ^0`$ candidate with mass between 0.109 and 0.147$`\mathrm{GeV}/c^2`$ ($`4.0`$ to $`+2.0`$ standard deviations about the $`\pi ^0`$ mass).

In selecting the $`J/\psi `$, muon candidates must satisfy the more stringent requirement that they penetrate to within one interaction length of the expected amount of material. $`J/\psi `$ candidates with mass between 3.05 and 3.14$`\mathrm{GeV}/c^2`$ are combined with photon candidates to form $`\chi _c`$ candidates.

As for the $`\psi (2S)`$, the number of events is extracted by fitting the distribution of the mass difference between the $`\chi _c`$ and $`J/\psi `$ candidates (Fig. 4). The resolution is dominated by the angular and energy resolutions for the photon, and includes a low-side tail due to preshowering before the calorimeter. $`\chi _c`$ signals are extracted from a fit with a “Crystal Ball” function, which includes this feature. The parameter that describes the tail is fixed to the value determined from a complete detector simulation.

A 4.2% systematic error due to a possible mismatch between the fitting function and the true distribution is estimated from fits to simulated data. An additional systematic error is evaluated by requiring $`p^{}<2.0`$$`\mathrm{GeV}/c`$ for the $`J/\psi `$ candidate. The resulting variation in the signal, 9.3% for $`e^+e^{}`$ and 2.0% for $`\mu ^+\mu ^{}`$, although not inconsistent with a statistical fluctuation, is taken as a systematic error.

We simultaneously fit for a $`\chi _{c1}`$ and a possible $`\chi _{c2}`$ component. The only additional free parameter is the number of $`\chi _{c2}`$ candidates: the mass difference between the $`\chi _{c2}`$ and the $`\chi _{c1}`$ is fixed to the Particle Data Group value and the resolution and tail parameters are fixed to those of the $`\chi _{c1}`$.

We find $`129\pm 26\pm 13`$ $`\chi _{c1}`$ and $`3\pm 21`$ $`\chi _{c2}`$ events in candidates in which $`J/\psi e^+e^{}`$ and $`204\pm 47\pm 12`$ $`\chi _{c1}`$ and $`47\pm 21`$ $`\chi _{c2}`$ in candidates in which $`J/\psi \mu ^+\mu ^{}`$.

## 5 Calculation of branching fractions

### 5.1 $`𝑩\mathbf{}𝑱\mathbf{/}𝝍𝑿`$

The number of $`J/\psi `$ mesons produced in our data sample is related to the number extracted from the fit by a correction for the reconstruction efficiency and by the branching fraction for $`J/\psi \mathrm{}^+\mathrm{}^{}`$. We average the published $`J/\psi e^+e^{}`$ and $`J/\psi \mu ^+\mu ^{}`$ branching fractions, assuming a common systematic error, to get $`(5.91\pm 0.10)`$%.

A complete detector simulation is used to extract the probability that both leptons are reconstructed as tracks of sufficient quality within the fiducial volume, with a combined mass greater than 2.6$`\mathrm{GeV}/c^2`$ (the region used in the fit to the data).

The accuracy of the detector simulation in reproducing tracking efficiency has been studied in $`D^0K^{}\pi ^+\pi ^+\pi ^{}`$ decays and in $`\tau `$ pairs in which one $`\tau `$ decays to a single charged track and the other decays to three charged track . From these studies, a uncorrelated systematic error of 2.5% per track is assigned to the overall efficiency.

The probability of the leptons being identified correctly is determined using “control samples”—sets of tracks in which the nature of the particle is known without the use of the particle identification systems. For both electrons and muons, we use lepton pairs and radiative lepton pairs produced in two-photon events. A track is included in the control sample if the kinematics of the event are consistent with expectations and if the other track in the event passes strict particle identification requirements. The control sample tracks are then used to evaluate the efficiency of the selection criteria as a function of momentum and location in the detector. A value for the branching fraction $`BJ/\psi X`$ will be determined once this study has been completed.

### 5.2 $`𝑩\mathbf{}𝝍\mathbf{(}\mathrm{𝟐}𝑺\mathbf{)}𝑿`$

To minimize systematic errors from tracking and lepton identification, we calculate the ratio of $`\psi (2S)`$ and $`J/\psi `$ inclusive branching fractions using the ratio of observed $`\psi (2S)`$ to $`J/\psi `$ mesons. For the purposes of this calculation, we refit the $`J/\psi `$ signal after applying the more stringent particle identification criteria used in reconstructing the $`\psi (2S)`$. Simulation studies indicate that the probability for the $`\psi (2S)\mathrm{}^+\mathrm{}^{}`$ leptons to be reconstructed and pass the identification criteria is equal to that for the $`J/\psi \mathrm{}^+\mathrm{}^{}`$ decay.

The ratio of $`\psi (2S)`$ to $`J/\psi `$ inclusive branching fractions is equal to the ratio of observed mesons, corrected for acceptance, the branching fractions $`J/\psi \mathrm{}^+\mathrm{}^{}`$ and $`\psi (2S)\mathrm{}^+\mathrm{}^{}`$ and a correction for the efficiency of the vertexing requirement. The vertexing efficiency is found by simulation to be 0.941 with a 2% systematic error, which is determined from vertexing studies of the $`J/\psi `$.

For the branching fraction of $`\psi (2S)\mathrm{}^+\mathrm{}^{}`$ we average the two Particle Data Group values and obtain $`(0.90\pm 0.12)`$%. This is the dominant systematic error.

The ratio of $`\psi (2S)`$ to $`J/\psi `$ inclusive branching fractions is calculated from the $`\pi ^+\pi ^{}J/\psi `$ final state data in a similar fashion. It is equal to the number of reconstructed $`\psi (2S)`$ mesons divided by the number of $`J/\psi `$ mesons reconstructed within the tighter mass windows used in this analysis, with corrections for the pion reconstruction probability, the vertexing efficiency and the $`\psi (2S)\pi ^+\pi ^{}J/\psi `$ branching fraction. The probability for the two pions to be reconstructed within the fiducial requirements and the mass window is 0.524. The efficiency of the requirement for a good vertex is found by simulation to be 0.89 with a 4% systematic error. The uncertainty in the published branching fraction for $`\psi (2S)\pi ^+\pi ^{}J/\psi `$, $`(31.0\pm 2.8)\%`$, is the largest component of the systematic error.

The two decay modes give consistent values for the ratio of inclusive branching fractions $`(B\psi (2S)X)/(BJ/\psi X)`$ and are combined to give an overall value in Table 1. The ratio is multiplied by the Particle Data Group value for $`(BJ/\psi X)`$, $`(1.15\pm 0.06)`$%, to obtain the inclusive $`\psi (2S)`$ branching fraction.

### 5.3 $`𝑩\mathbf{}𝝌_𝒄𝑿`$

The ratio of $`\chi _{c1}`$ to $`J/\psi `$ inclusive branching fractions is computed from the number of reconstructed $`\psi (2S)`$ mesons divided by the number of $`J/\psi `$ mesons reconstructed within the tighter mass windows and tighter particle identification criteria used in this analysis, the published $`\chi _{c1}\gamma J/\psi `$ branching fraction, and a correction for the photon reconstruction probability.

The efficiency for the photon reconstruction is calculated from the simulation to be 0.550. A systematic error of 1.6% is obtained by varying the calorimeter simulation resolution and energy scales over bounds determined by studies of $`\pi ^0`$ reconstruction. The branching fraction for $`\chi _{c1}\gamma J/\psi `$, $`(27.3\pm 1.6)`$%, contributes a 5.8% systematic error. The systematic errors on the fit have been described earlier.

To obtain a limit on the production of the $`\chi _{c2}`$, the fit results from Fig. 4 are recast in terms of the ratio of $`\chi _{c2}`$ to $`J/\psi `$ inclusive branching fractions. The likelihood function for each fit is then normalized to unity for $`N_{\chi _{c2}}0`$ and multiplied together to give the combined likelihood. The 90% confidence level is taken to be the ratio of branching fractions that bounds 90% of the area of the likelihood function.

The statistical errors from the fit lead to a 90% confidence limit on $`(B\chi _{c2})/(BJ/\psi )`$ of 0.186. However, there is an 8% systematic error in converting the fits into limits on $`\chi _{c2}`$ production due to the uncertainty in the published branching fraction for $`\chi _{c2}\gamma J/\psi `$. We include this uncertainty by increasing the limit by 1.28 times this error, giving a limit of 0.205.

The results for $`\chi _{c1}`$ and $`\chi _{c2}`$ are summarized and presented as inclusive $`B`$ branching fractions in Table 1.

## 6 Summary

The charmonium states $`J/\psi `$, $`\psi (2S)`$ and $`\chi _c`$ have been reconstructed in $`B`$ meson decays. Preliminary measurements of the ratio of branching fractions $`(B\psi (2S)X)/(BJ/\psi X)`$ and $`(B\chi _{c1}X)/(BJ/\psi X)`$ have been presented and a limit set on the ratio for $`\chi _{c2}`$. Using the Particle Data Group value for the inclusive branching fraction for $`J/\psi `$, these values have been converted into inclusive $`B`$ branching fractions.

A direct value for the $`J/\psi `$ branching fraction will be available upon completion of particle identification studies. Several of these results are statistically limited; more precise values will be available based on data that are currently being recorded. The new data will also permit measurements of the $`p^{}`$ and helicity distributions for these charmonium mesons.

## 7 Acknowledgments

We are grateful for the contributions of our PEP-II colleagues in achieving the excellent luminosity and machine conditions that have made this work possible. We acknowledge support from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (Canada), Institute of High Energy Physics (China), Commissariat à l’Energie Atomique and Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules (France), Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (Germany), Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (Italy), The Research Council of Norway, Ministry of Science and Technology of the Russian Federation, Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council (United Kingdom), the Department of Energy (US), and the National Science Foundation (US). In addition, individual support has been received from the Swiss National Foundation, the A. P. Sloan Foundation, the Research Corporation, and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. The visiting groups wish to thank SLAC for the support and kind hospitality extended to them.