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# The Jet and the Supernova in GRB 990712Based on observations made with ESO Telescopes at La Silla (ESO Programme 59.A-000) and Paranal, Chile (ESO Programme 63.O-0567(B)), and on observations with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, obtained from the data archive at the Space Telescope Institute, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy Inc. under contract NAS5-26555

## 1 Introduction

Optical light curves of gamma-ray burst (GRB) afterglows decay as a power law in time, $`Ft^\alpha `$, with a typical value of the decay index $`\alpha 1`$. In several cases the light curve has been observed to steepen, about 1–3 days after the gamma-ray event, to $`\alpha 2`$ or even steeper (e.g. Kulkarni et al. 1999; Castro-Tirado et al. 1999; Harrison et al. 1999; Stanek et al. 1999; Israel et al. 1999; Holland et al. 2001a; Jaunsen et al. 2000; Jensen et al. 2000). Such a light curve is commonly referred to as a broken power law with $`\alpha _1`$ denoting the pre-break decay index and $`\alpha _2`$ the post-break index.

A generic model that has been successfully applied to afterglow observations is that of a relativistic fireball that sweeps up ambient matter and decelerates. An unbroken light curve can be explained by a spherically symmetric fireball (e.g. Sari, Piran & Narayan 1998), whereas a broken power law in most cases requires a collimated outflow, i.e. a jet (Rhoads 1999; Sari, Piran & Halpern 1999). In the latter case the light curve steepens as the relativistic beaming angle ($`1/\mathrm{\Gamma }`$, with $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ the decreasing bulk Lorentz factor), increases and becomes equal to or greater than the jet opening angle, $`\theta `$.

The currently favored model for long-duration GRB progenitors is that of a collapsar (Woosley 1993), or hypernova (Paczyński 1998). Numerical simulations show that as an iron core of a massive star collapses to form a black hole it releases up to $`10^{52}10^{53}`$ ergs of energy, a fraction of which produces a jet and a gamma-ray burst. The remaining energy explodes the star and produces a supernova (MacFadyen & Woosley 1999).

The presence of a supernova is most easily confirmed by studying afterglow light curves. After an initial power law decay of the emission originating in the jet, an underlying supernova is expected to dominate the late time light curve behavior, in most cases appearing a few days to a couple of weeks after the gamma-ray event.

A number of afterglows have been interpreted by such a scenario, e.g. GRB 980425/SN1998bw, an unusual Type Ib/c supernova located relatively nearby, at a redshift of $`z=0.0085`$ (Galama et al. 1998). Other cases include GRB 980326 (Bloom et al. 1999), GRB 970228 (Reichart 1999; Galama et al. 2000), GRB 000418 (Dar & De Rújula 2000), and possibly GRB 970514 (Germany et al. 2000; Turatto et al. 2000 and GRB 980703 (Holland et al. 2001b).

One counterexample may be GRB 990712, that apparently did not show a steepening light curve nor a supernova-like component. The optical discovery and early light curve of GRB 990712 was reported by Sahu et al. (2000; hereafter referred to as S00), who found that a decay proportional to $`t^1`$, plus a constant host contribution provides a better fit to the data than a $`t^1`$ power law with a constant host and a supernova of type SN1998bw at the appropriate redshift. Hjorth et al. (2000) discussed the late afterglow properties as well as the host galaxy. Their localization of the gamma-ray burst within the host was based on astrometric data adopted from S00 and turned out to be incorrect. They concluded that no SN component was needed. Fruchter et al. (2000) correctly identified the burst location within the host from its variability.

A set of polarization measurements for GRB 990712, presented by Rol et al. (2000), showed a variable degree of polarization at a constant position angle over a 24 h interval starting about 11 h after the gamma-ray event. Because of the constant position angle, Rol et al. (2000) concluded that none of the currently available models could explain the observations. Björnsson & Lindfors (2000; hereafter BL00) on the other hand, showed that the polarization data is most naturally explained by a collimated outflow that was modestly spreading during the polarization measurements. They estimated the jet opening angle, $`\theta `$, to be about $`6^{}`$. A consequence of that interpretation is that a break should appear in the light curve about 1–2 days after the gamma-ray event, for the same reason as the break in the light curves of GRB 990123 (e.g. Kulkarni et al. 1999; Castro-Tirado et al. 1999) and GRB 990510 (e.g. Harrison et al. 1999; Stanek et al. 1999; Israel et al. 1999; Holland et al. 2001a).

Prompted by the BL00 prediction, we have reanalyzed the $`V`$ and $`R`$ band light curves of GRB 990712. We show that a break indeed appears to be present in the $`V`$-band at the time predicted by BL00. As a consequence, a prominent supernova-like component appears in the post-break light curve that is also clearly observed in the $`R`$-band where no sign of a break is detected. The data provides a tantalizing case for the GRB/SN connection. Throughout, we assume a cosmology with $`H_0=65`$ kms-1Mpc-1, $`\mathrm{\Omega }_m=0.3`$ and $`\mathrm{\Omega }_\mathrm{\Lambda }=0.7`$

## 2 The Optical Light Curve

The optical light curves of GRB 990712 in different bands all seemed to decay as $`t^1`$, with a single power-law decay plus a constant host contribution providing the best fit to the data (S00). In these fits, however, the host magnitude was a free parameter in each band. Adding a supernova component of type SN1998bw at the appropriate redshift did not change the derived decay rate. As noted by S00, a decay rate of $`\alpha 1`$, continuing indefinitely, would imply an infinite energy release in the burst. Therefore, light curves decaying with $`\alpha =1`$ or slower are required to break or bend.

Here, we use the ground based measurements of the host magnitudes, $`V=22.40\pm 0.08`$ and $`R=21.91\pm 0.04`$, as determined by Hjorth et al. (2000), reducing the number of free parameters. We concentrate on the $`V`$-band as the host is relatively faint there. In Fig. 2 of S00, the three data points on July 14 may indicate a break in the $`V`$-band. We therefore adopted all $`V`$-band data from S00 and re-reduced the subset of all publically available ESO $`V`$-band data for consistency and independence. We also included the HST data taken 47.7 days after the burst (Fruchter et al. 2000), assuming a power law spectrum to convert the STIS magnitude to a $`V`$-band magnitude. Our $`V`$-band data, measured using aperture photometry, is presented in Table 1. The $`R`$-band data is taken unmodified from S00 as the re-reduction of the $`V`$-band data turned out to be unnecessary. The $`I`$-band data points are too few and far between to allow a reliable fit, in addition to an unknown host magnitude in that band.

Our $`V`$-band light curve is shown in Fig. 1, with the host magnitude subtracted. Also plotted is a broken power law fit to the light curve prior to day 7. We find that the initial light curve decay has a power law index of $`\alpha _1=0.83\pm 0.03`$, while $`\alpha _2=3.06\pm 1.28`$, with the break occurring at $`t_b=1.61\pm 0.19`$ days ($`\chi _4^2=0.434`$, where $`\chi _{\mathrm{DOF}}^2=\chi ^2/\mathrm{DOF}`$, is the reduced $`\chi ^2`$ of the fit). We note that $`\alpha _1`$ is significantly larger than the slope reported by S00. An unbroken power law fit to the entire data set results in $`\alpha =0.82\pm 0.03`$, but the fit is considerably worse ($`\chi _9^2=1.73`$). To estimate the effect of the uncertainty in the host magnitude on the decay rate we subtracted several host magnitudes from the light curve. Varying the magnitude in steps from $`V=22.32`$ to $`22.55`$, resulted in an increase in $`\alpha _1`$ from $`0.85\pm 0.04`$ to $`0.79\pm 0.04`$.

The post-break decay slope, $`\alpha _2`$, is very sensitive to the break time. If we fix the break time at $`t_b=1.5`$ days, then $`\alpha _2=2.42\pm 0.52`$ ($`\chi _5^2=0.734`$). The evidence for the break is not very strong, however, as it hinges mostly on one data point (July 14.787), the reliability of which we are unable to verify (adopted from S00). Leaving that point out, a single power law fit to the entire data set gives $`\alpha =0.81\pm 0.03`$, ($`\chi _8^2=0.696`$).

A break at $`t_b1.5`$ days would be in an agreement with the BL00 interpretation of the polarization data, that the observed early light curve results from a sideways expanding jet. The light curve in that model should steepen by $`\mathrm{\Delta }\alpha =1\alpha _1/3=1.28\pm 0.01`$, quite consistent with the observed steepening of $`2.23\pm 1.28`$.

We show the $`R`$-band host subtracted light curve in Fig. 1. It differs from the $`V`$-band light curve in two important ways. Firstly, it is decaying somewhat faster than the $`V`$-band. A fit to the data from the first 4 days results in $`\alpha =0.94\pm 0.02`$ ($`\chi _{11}^2=1.39`$), that is consistent with the S00 result. Again, using host magnitudes in the interval $`21.7421.95`$, we find increasing decay rates in the range $`0.98\pm 0.02`$ to $`0.91\pm 0.02`$, respectively. Restricting the fit to the first 1.5 days does not affect this result. The difference between the early $`V`$-band decay rate and the $`R`$-band decay rate is significant and is not expected in fireball models, but we have no plausible explanation for it. Secondly, the arguments given in the previous paragraphs, for why there should be a break in the $`V`$-band also apply here. No such break is, however, seen in the $`R`$-band data.

If the break at 1.5 days in the $`V`$-band is real, the late time light curve is seen to be dominated by a component that is first clearly detected at a burst age of about 7 days. Although no break is observed in the $`R`$-band, this late time component can also be clearly seen there as a single power law provides a bad fit to the entire $`R`$-band data set ($`\alpha =0.84\pm 0.01`$ with $`\chi _{16}^2=8.98`$). This late time component appears brighter at earlier times in $`R`$ than in the $`V`$-band and this may be the reason for why a break is not detectable in $`R`$.

It is simplest to interpret this late time component as being due to a supernova that rises to a maximum in $`V`$ of about 23-24 mag at a burst age of 1 to 3 weeks. We also show in Fig. 1, the late time light curve of SN1998bw at the redshift of GRB 990712, $`z=0.434`$ (Hjorth et al. 2000; Vreeswijk et al. 2000). The GRB 990712 light curve has a reasonably good resemblance to the light curve of SN1998bw, being almost equally bright in the $`R`$-band and somewhat brighter in the $`V`$-band. We emphasize that due to insufficient data coverage in the $`V`$-band, we have not attempted to fit a broken power law light curve plus a supernova component to the data. We overplot the SN1998bw light curve simply to illustrate the similarity of the GRB 990712 late light curve to it. In addition, it is unknown if SN998bw is typical of GRB associated supernovae. If GRB associated supernovae turn out to be standard candles, fitting late time afterglow light curves to such a standard would provide an independent measurement of the cosmological constant.

## 3 Discussion

In re-analyzing the $`V`$-band light curve of GRB 990712, we have benefited from the measured host magnitudes, reducing the number of free parameters in our fits. The lack of $`V`$-band data from day 1 to day 7, makes it difficult to quantify the significance of a break in the light curve. The strongest evidence for a break may come from the light curve and the polarization data together, as the same physical model then accounts for both measurements, implying that that the early light curve is produced in a collimated outflow.

The $`R`$-band light curve, although not showing a break and therefore not a clear signature of a jet, does reveal a late time light curve behavior similar to the SN1998bw light curve. A supernova-like component then becomes a necessary ingredient to explain the late time light curves. The argument can also be reversed, because if we accept the late time behavior in the $`R`$-band as being due to a supernova, we should expect similar behavior in the $`V`$-band. A break in the $`V`$-band light curve is then demanded by the data as otherwise an unbroken power law fits the light curve. In addition, energetics requires breaks in the light curves because the decay rates in both $`V`$ and $`R`$ are significantly greater than $`1`$.

In S00’s fit including a supernova component, it was assumed that it had properties identical to SN1998bw. This is a very strong assumption and, as noted by S00, is hard to justify by current statistics of GRB/SN associations. We choose not to constrain our fit by SN1998bw, but rather use it to demonstrate the possibility that a supernova may have been present in GRB 990712. If the difference between the light curves of GRB 990712 and SN1998bw is real, it may be due to differences in kinetic energy, composition, explosion geometry or in the properties of the local environment (e.g. Nakamura et al. 2000; Nomoto et al. 2000; Sollerman et al. 2000).

The case of GRB 990712 provides independent evidence from two different sets of measurements for a collimated outflow in a GRB, i.e. the polarization measurements (interpreted by BL00) and the light curve properties (this Letter). The data also shows a strong signature of a supernova like component, especially in the $`R`$-band, that in turn requires a break in the early light curve. It is crucial that as complete time coverage as possible be attempted for future optical afterglows for at least a full month, to be able to discern the properties advocated in this Letter. The first few days are most demanding as a break in the light curve is expected to fall within this burst age. It is also important to follow the late time behavior closely to look for a possible supernova accompanying the burst.

This work was supported by the Icelandic Research Council, the University of Iceland Research Fund, and the Danish Natural Science Research Council (SNF). SH would like to acknowledge support from NASA grant NAG5-9364. We thank the anonymous referee for a number of suggestions that improved the presentation.


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# Detecting top-Higgs at high energy 𝑒⁺𝑒⁻ colliders

## Abstract

We calculate the contributions of the top-Higgs $`h_t^0`$ predicted by topcolor assisted technicolor(TC2) models to $`e^+e^{}\overline{t}c\overline{\nu }_e\nu _e`$ and compare the results with the contributions of $`h_t^0`$ to the processes $`e^+e^{}Zh_t^0Z\overline{t}c`$ and $`e^+e^{}\gamma h_t^0\gamma \overline{t}c`$. We find that $`e^+e^{}\overline{t}c\overline{\nu }_e\nu _e`$ is very sensitive to $`h_t^0`$, which can be easy detected via this process at high-energy $`e^+e^{}`$ collider(LC) experiments with $`\sqrt{s}500`$ $`GeV`$, as long as its mass below the $`\overline{t}t`$ threshold. The process $`e^+e^{}\gamma \overline{t}c`$ also can be used to detect $`h_t^0`$ at LC experiments.

PACS number(s): 12.60Fr, 14.80.Cp, 12.60.Rc

An important issue in high-energy physics is to understand the mechanism of the mass generation. The top quark, with a mass of the order of the weak scale, is singled out to play a key role in the dynamics of the electroweak symmetry breaking (EWSB) and flavor symmetry breaking. There may be a common origin for EWSB and top quark mass generation. Much theoretical work has been carried out in connection to the top quark and EWSB. The topcolor-assisted technicolor (TC2) models, the top see-saw models and the flavor universal coloron models are three of such examples. Such type of models generally predict a number of scalars with large Yukawa couplings to the third generation. For example, TC2 models predict the existence of the top-pions ($`\pi _t^\pm `$,$`\pi _t^0`$) and the neutral CP-even state, called top-Higgs $`h_t^0`$, which is analogous to the $`\sigma `$ particle in low energy QCD. These new particle are most directly related to the EWSB. Thus, studying the possible signatures of these new particles at high energy colliders would provide crucial information for the EWSB and hopefully fermion flavor physics as well.

It is well known that there is no flavor changing neutral current (FCNC) at tree-level in the standard model (SM). The production cross section of the FCNC process is very small at one-loop level due to the unitary of CKM matrix. Thus, the FCNC process can be used to search for new physics. Any observation of the flavor changing coupling deviated from that in the SM would unambiguously signal the presence of new physics. For TC2 models, the underlying interactions, topcolor interactions, are non-universal and therefore do not possess a GIM mechanism. The scalars predicted by this kind of models can induce the flavor changing scalar couplings and give distinct new flavor mixing phenomena which may be tested at both low and high energy experiments. In this paper, we calculate the contributions of the top-Higgs $`h_t^0`$ to the t-channel vector boson fusion process $`e^+e^{}W^+W^{}\overline{\nu }_e\nu _e\overline{t}c\overline{\nu }_e\nu _e`$ and compare with the contributions of $`h_t^0`$ to the processes $`e^+e^{}Zh_t^0Z\overline{t}c`$ and $`e^+e^{}\gamma h_t^0\gamma \overline{t}c`$. Our results show that the top-Higgs $`h_t^0`$ can give significantly contributions to the process $`e^+e^{}\overline{t}c\overline{\nu }_e\nu _e`$ which can be detected at the high-energy $`e^+e^{}`$ colliders (LC) with the center-of-mass energy $`\sqrt{s}=5001500`$ $`GeV`$, as long as its mass is below $`2m_t`$. The effects of $`h_t^0`$ on the process $`e^+e^{}\gamma \overline{t}c`$ also can be detected at the LC experiments.

According the idea of the TC2 models, there is the following relation:

$$\nu _\pi ^2+F_t^2=\nu _w^2,$$
(1)
where $`\nu _\pi `$ represents the contributions of the TC or other interactions to the EWSB, $`F_t50`$ $`GeV`$ is decay constant of the scalars (top-pions or top-Higgs) predicted by the TC2 models, and $`\nu _w=v/\sqrt{2}174`$ $`GeV`$. Thus, the majority of masses of gauge bosons $`W`$ and $`Z`$ come from the technifermion condensate. The couplings of the top-Higgs $`h_t^0`$ to the electroweak gauge bosons $`W`$ and $`Z`$ at tree level are suppressed by the factor $`F_t/\nu _w`$ with respect to that of the SM Higgs H:

$$h_t^0WW:\frac{F_t}{\nu _w}gm_Wg_{\mu \nu },h_t^0ZZ:\frac{F_t}{\nu _w}\frac{gm_Z}{\mathrm{cos}\theta _w}g_{\mu \nu }.$$
(2)
The couplings of the top-Higgs $`h_t^0`$ to the third generation quarks, including the $`tc`$ transition, can be written as:

$$h_t^0\overline{t}t:\frac{m_t}{\sqrt{2}F_t}\frac{\sqrt{\nu _w^2F_t^2}}{\nu _w}K^{tt},h_t^0\overline{t}c:\frac{m_t}{\sqrt{2}F_t}\frac{\sqrt{\nu _w^2F_t^2}}{\nu _w}K^{tc},h_t^0\overline{b}b:\frac{m_b^{}}{\sqrt{2}F_t}\frac{\sqrt{\nu _w^2F_t^2}}{\nu _w}.$$
(3)
$`m_b^{}`$ is the part of the bottom quark mass generated by instanton effects, which we assume $`m_b^{}=0.8`$$`m_b`$. It has been shown that $`K^{tt}=1ϵ`$ and $`K^{tc}=\sqrt{(K_{UR}^{tc})^2+(K_{UL}^{tc})^2}K_{UR}^{tc}\sqrt{ϵϵ^2}`$, which $`ϵ`$ is a model dependent parameter. In this paper, we assume that the part of the top quark mass generated by the topcolor interactions makes up $`99\%`$ of $`m_t`$, i.e. $`ϵ=0.01`$ and take the parameter $`K^{tc}`$ as a free parameter.

The couplings of the top-Higgs $`h_t^0`$ to gauge boson pairs gg, $`\gamma \gamma `$ or $`Z\gamma `$ are similar to those of the neutral top-pion $`\pi _t^0`$ which come from the top quark triangle loop. The general form has been given in Ref.. Thus, for $`200GeVm_{h_t}400GeV`$, the total decay width $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ mainly comes from the decay modes $`b\overline{b}`$, $`\overline{t}c`$, $`WW`$, $`ZZ`$, $`gg`$ and $`t\overline{t}`$ (if kinematically allowed).

The process $`e^+e^{}\overline{t}c\overline{\nu }_e\nu _e`$ can be well approximated by the $`W^+W^{}`$ fusion process: $`W^+W^{}\overline{t}c`$. It has been shown that the effective W-boson approximation (EWA) provides a viable simplification for high energy processes involving $`W^+W^{}`$ fusion. Thus, we use the effective EWA to calculate the contributions of the top-Higgs $`h_t^0`$ to the process $`e^+e^{}\overline{t}c\overline{\nu _e}\nu _e`$ and discuss the observability of $`h_t^0`$ at the LC experiments with $`\sqrt{s}=500GeV1500GeV`$.

The production cross section of the subprocess $`W_{\lambda _+}^+W_\lambda _{}^{}\overline{t}c`$ generated by the top-Higgs $`h_t^0`$ can be written as:

$$\widehat{\sigma }(W_{\lambda _+}^+W_\lambda _{}^{}\overline{t}c)=\frac{N_c\alpha }{4S_w^2}\frac{\nu _w^2F_t^2}{\nu _w^4}(K^{tc})^2|ϵ_{\lambda _+}^{W^+}ϵ_\lambda _{}^W^{}|^2\frac{m_W^2m_t^2}{(\widehat{s}m_{h_t}^2)^2+m_{h_t}^2\mathrm{\Gamma }^2}\frac{\beta _t^4}{\beta _W},$$
(4)
with

$$\beta _t=\sqrt{1\frac{m_t^2}{\widehat{s}}},\beta _W=\sqrt{1\frac{4m_W^2}{\widehat{s}}}.$$
(5)
Where $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ is the total width of $`h_t^0`$ and $`\sqrt{\widehat{s}}`$ is the center-mass-energy of the WW center-mass frame. Due to a severe CKM suppression, the cross section $`\widehat{\sigma }(W_{\lambda _+}^+W_\lambda _{}^{}\overline{t}c)`$ is very small in the SM: $`\sigma _{SM}^{\overline{t}c\overline{\nu }\nu }10^510^4`$fb for $`\sqrt{s}=5002000GeV`$. Thus, in above formula, we have neglected the SM contributions.

The cross section $`\sigma ^{\overline{t}c\overline{\nu }\nu }`$ of the process $`e^+e^{}\overline{t}c\overline{\nu }_e\nu _e`$ can be obtained by folding the cross section $`\widehat{\sigma }(W_{\lambda _+}^+W_\lambda _{}^{}\overline{t}c)`$ with the distribution functions $`f_{\lambda _i}^W`$.

$$\sigma ^{\overline{t}c\overline{\nu }\nu }=\underset{\lambda _+,\lambda _{}}{}𝑑x_+𝑑x_{}f_{\lambda _+}(x_+)f_\lambda _{}(x_{})\widehat{\sigma }(W_{\lambda _+}^+W_\lambda _{}^{}\overline{t}c),$$
(6)
where the helicities $`\lambda _\pm `$ of the $`W^\pm `$ each run over 1, 0, -1. $`f_{\lambda _+}(x_+)`$ and $`f_\lambda _{}(x_{})`$ are the distribution functions of $`W^+`$ and $`W^{}`$, respectively. Similarly to Ref., we use the full distribution functions given by Ref. and include all polarizations for the W boson in our calculations.

In Fig.1, we plot the cross section $`\sigma ^{\overline{t}c\overline{\nu }\nu }`$ as a function of $`m_{h_t}`$ for $`\sqrt{s}=500GeV`$ and four values of the parameter $`K^{tc}`$. From Fig.1 we can see that $`\sigma ^{\overline{t}c\overline{\nu }\nu }`$ increases with increasing the value of $`K^{tc}`$ and reach the maximum value for $`m_{h_t}=215GeV`$. For $`m_{h_t}>2m_t`$, the $`\sigma ^{\overline{t}c\overline{\nu }\nu }`$ drops considerably since the $`\overline{t}t`$ channel opens up and the branching ratio $`B_r(h_t^0\overline{t}c)`$ drops substantially. If we assume that a yearly integrated luminosity of a LC experiment with $`\sqrt{s}=500GeV`$ is about $`50fb^1`$, then the cross section $`\sigma ^{\overline{t}c\overline{\nu }\nu }`$ would yield several tens to hundreds such events in most of the parameter space ($`m_{h_t}`$,$`K^{tc}`$). For example, for $`m_{h_t}=300GeV`$ and $`K^{tc}=0.05`$, there would be $`25`$ such events to be generated at the LC experiments with $`\sqrt{s}=500GeV`$.

It is well known that, for high energy process involving $`W^+W^{}`$ fusion, the corresponding cross section grows with the center-mass-energy $`\sqrt{s}`$ of colliders. To see the effects of $`\sqrt{s}`$ on the production cross section, we plot the cross section $`\sigma ^{\overline{t}c\overline{\nu }\nu }`$ versus $`m_{h_t}`$ in Fig.2 for $`K^{tc}=0.05`$ and four values of $`\sqrt{s}`$. The cross section increases from $`1.24fb`$ to $`9.97fb`$ as $`\sqrt{s}`$ increases from $`500GeV`$ to $`1500GeV`$ for $`m_{h_t}=250GeV`$. It is evident from Fig.2 that the top-Higgs $`h_t^0`$ would produce several hundreds to thousands of $`\overline{t}c\overline{\nu }_e\nu _e`$ events in a LC running at $`\sqrt{s}1000GeV`$ with an integrated luminosity of $`L100`$$`fb^1`$. Thus, it is very easy to detect the signals of $`h_t^0`$ via this process at a LC experiment with $`\sqrt{s}1000GeV`$.

Certainly, the top-Higgs $`h_t^0`$ has contributions to the process $`e^+e^{}\overline{t}ce^+e^{}`$ via the subprocess $`ZZh_t^0\overline{t}c`$. The main difference between $`\sigma ^{\overline{t}c\overline{\nu }\nu }`$ and $`\sigma ^{\overline{t}cee}`$ arises from the dissimilarity between the distribution functions for W and Z bosons. Such the distribution functions of gauge boson Z are smaller than those of gauge boson W, $`\sigma ^{\overline{t}cee}`$ is expected to be smaller by about one order of magnitude than $`\sigma ^{\overline{t}c\overline{\nu }\nu }`$. This conclusion is model independent. Thus, we do not consider the contributions of the top-Higgs $`h_t^0`$ to the process $`e^+e^{}\overline{t}ce^+e^{}`$ in this paper.

The top-Higgs $`h_t^0`$ also has contributions to the process $`e^+e^{}Z\overline{t}c`$ via the Bjorken process $`e^+e^{}Zh_t^0`$ followed by $`h_t^0\overline{t}c`$. Thus, $`h_t^0`$ may be detected via this process at the LC experiments. To compare the production rate of $`e^+e^{}\overline{t}c\overline{\nu }_e\nu _e`$ with that of $`e^+e^{}Z\overline{t}c`$ in TC2 models, we plot the rate $`R_1=\frac{\sigma ^{\overline{t}c\overline{\nu }\nu }}{\sigma ^{Z\overline{t}c}}`$ as a function of $`m_{h_t}`$ for $`K=0.05`$ and three values of $`\sqrt{s}`$ in Fig.3. We find that the cross section $`\sigma ^{Z\overline{t}c}`$ decreases with increasing the values of $`m_{h_t}`$ or $`\sqrt{s}`$. For $`\sqrt{s}500GeV`$, the ratio $`R_1`$ is larger than 1 in most of the parameter space. For example, for $`m_{h_t}=300GeV`$, $`K^{tc}=0.05`$ and $`\sqrt{s}=500GeV`$ , the ratio $`R_1`$ approximately equals to $`2`$. Thus, it is very difficult to detect the top-Higgs $`h_t^0`$ via the process $`e^+e^{}Z\overline{t}c`$ at LC experiments with $`\sqrt{s}500GeV`$.

Since the top-Higgs $`h_t^0`$ can couple to gauge boson pair $`VV`$ via the quark triangle loop, the top-Higgs may have significantly contributions to process $`e^+e^{}h_t^0\gamma \gamma \overline{t}c`$. This has been studied in Ref. for the neutral top-pion $`\pi _t^0`$. To see whether $`h_t^0`$ can be detected via $`e^+e^{}\gamma \overline{t}c`$, we plot the ratio $`R_2=\frac{\sigma ^{\overline{t}c\overline{\nu }\nu }}{\sigma ^{\gamma \overline{t}c}}`$ as a function of $`m_{h_t}`$ for $`K^{tc}=0.05`$ and three values of $`\sqrt{s}`$ in Fig.4. From Fig.4, we can see that the cross section $`\sigma ^{\gamma \overline{t}c}`$ increases with $`\sqrt{s}`$, but its speed is smaller than that of the $`\sigma ^{\overline{t}c\overline{\nu }\nu }`$. For $`m_{h_t}=250GeV`$, $`K^{tc}=0.05`$, the ratio $`R_2`$ increases from 1.08 to 4.00 as $`\sqrt{s}`$ increases from 500GeV to 1500GeV. For $`\sqrt{s}=500GeV`$ and in the range of $`200GeVm_{h_t}350GeV`$, $`0.24R_21.05`$. Thus $`h_t^0`$ also can be detected via the process $`e^+e^{}\gamma \overline{t}c`$ at the LC experiments.

For $`m_{h_t}350GeV`$, $`gg`$ is one of the dominant decay modes of the top-Higgs $`h_t^0`$. $`h_t^0`$ may have significantly contributions to the top-charm production at hadron colliders. This has been extended studied by G. Burdman. His results show that the cross section of the gluon fusion production and subsequent decay of the top-Higgs $`h_t^0`$ into the $`\overline{t}c`$ final state is very large. There will be several thousands of $`\overline{t}c`$ events to be generated at the LHC, which are larger than the number of $`\overline{t}c\overline{\nu }_e\nu _e`$ events produced at the LC experiments. Thus it is possible that the top-Higgs $`h_t^0`$ can be more easy detected at the LHC than at the LC experiments. However, we must separate the signals from the large backgrounds before observation of the top-Higgs $`h_t^0`$ at the LHC.

For TC2 models, the underlying interactions, topcolor interactions, are non-universal and therefore do not possess a GIM mechanism. The non-universal interactions result in FCNC vertices when one writes the interactions in the quark mass eigen-basis. Thus, the top-Higgs $`h_t^0`$ can induce the new flavor changing scalar coupling including the $`tc`$ transitions. Considering the production ratio of the FCNC process is negligible small in the SM, we can use the FCNC process to discuss the observability of the top-Higgs $`h_t^0`$. In this paper, we calculate the contributions of $`h_t^0`$ to the processes $`e^+e^{}\overline{t}c\overline{\nu }_e\nu _e`$, $`e^+e^{}Z\overline{t}c`$ and $`e^+e^{}\gamma \overline{t}c`$ and compare the results with each other at the LC experiments with $`\sqrt{s}=500GeV1500GeV`$. Our results show that the processes $`e^+e^{}\overline{t}c\overline{\nu }_e\nu _e`$ and $`e^+e^{}\gamma \overline{t}c`$ can be used to detect the top-Higgs $`h_t^0`$ at LC the experiments with $`\sqrt{s}500GeV`$. However, the process $`e^+e^{}\overline{t}c\overline{\nu }_e\nu _e`$ is more sensitive to $`h_t^0`$ than that of $`e^+e^{}\gamma \overline{t}c`$ , especially in the LC experiments with $`\sqrt{s}1000GeV`$.

Figure captions

The cross section $`\sigma ^{\overline{t}c\overline{\nu }\nu }`$ versus the top-Higgs mass $`m_{h_t}`$ for the center-mass-energy $`\sqrt{s}=500`$$`GeV`$ and $`K^{tc}=0.02`$, $`0.05`$, $`0.08`$, $`0.1`$.

The cross section $`\sigma ^{\overline{t}c\overline{\nu }\nu }`$ versus $`m_{h_t}`$ for $`K^{tc}=0.05`$ and $`\sqrt{s}=500GeV`$, $`1000GeV`$, $`1500GeV`$.

The ratio $`R_1=\sigma ^{\overline{t}c\overline{\nu }\nu }/\sigma ^{Z\overline{t}c}`$ as a function of $`m_{h_t}`$ for $`K^{tc}=0.05`$ and $`\sqrt{s}=500GeV`$, $`1000GeV`$, $`1500GeV`$.

The ratio $`R_2=\sigma ^{\overline{t}c\overline{\nu }\nu }/\sigma ^{\gamma \overline{t}c}`$ as a function of $`m_{h_t}`$ for $`K^{tc}=0.05`$ and $`\sqrt{s}=500GeV`$, $`1000GeV`$, $`1500GeV`$.


text:
# A Note on Transfinite M Theory and the Fine Structure Constant

## Abstract

In this short note , using concepts of $`p`$-Adic QFT and $`p`$-branes, we derive the transfinite $`M`$ theory generalization of the inverse fine structure constant given by $`(\alpha _M)^1=100+61\varphi `$ . The orginal El Naschie and Selvam-Fadnavis inverse fine structure constant value $`(\alpha _{HS})^1=100+60\varphi `$ was based on a transfinite heterotic string theory and a quasiperiodic Penrose tiling formalism, respectively. Here $`\varphi `$ is the Golden Mean $`0.6180339\mathrm{}`$. Our results are consistent with the recent astrophysical observations of the Boomerang and Maxima experiments ,the previous results based on the four dimensional gravitational conformal anomaly calculations, and with an enhanced spacetime hierarchy of a suitable number of lines living on Del Pezzo surfaces.

Revised , July, 2001

Motivated by the fact that the bosonic membrane is devoid of anomalies in $`d=27`$, and the supermembrane is anomaly free in $`d=11`$  , and that the anomaly free ( super) string actions ( $`d=26,10`$ ) are directly obtained by a double-dimensional reduction process of both the world-volume of the ( super) membrane and the target spacetime dimension , where the ( super) membrane is embedded, we shall derive the transfinite $`M`$ theoretical generalization $`(\alpha _M)^1`$ to El Naschie’s inverse fine structure constant $`(\alpha _{HS})^1`$ which was based on a transfinite Heterotic string theory formalism .
Selvam and Fadnavis  , independently, obtained this value using a quasiperiodic Penrose tiling model ( a quasicrystal ) associated with the logarithmic spiral, with a golden-mean winding number, which represents a bidirectional vortex ( eddy) circulation process with a five- fold symmetry. Taking into account that there are $`5`$ steps in this process , both in a clockwise and counterclockwise motion, giving effectively a factor of $`5\times 2=10`$ times the fundamental variance which in turn is $`2(1+\varphi )^4`$ , they obtained the value of the $`total`$ variance of the fractal structure associated with the $`5`$ succesive growth-steps modelled by the Penrose quasi-crystal :

$$TotalVariance=5\times 2\times 2(1+\varphi )^4=100+60\varphi $$

which agrees exactly with El Naschie’s value based on a transfinite heterotic string theory formalism. This is no coincidence. Cantorian fractal spacetime has a $`p`$-adic topology and this topology is precisely the one present in those quasicrystals obtained as limiting quasiperiodic point sets with $`p`$-adic internal symmetries. The Penrose tiling is a special case of a variety of well known quasiperiodic tilings like the chair tiling and the Robinson square tiling . Roughly speaking, the electron is a quasiperiodic process or a quasicrystal, as we shall see below.
We will see as well that the inverse fine structure constant obtained by the author \[ 3\] based on a four dimensional gravitational conformal anomaly calculation  $`(\alpha _{conformal})^1`$ has for lower/upper bounds the values $`(\alpha _{HS})^1`$ and $`(\alpha _M)^1`$ respectively. All one needs is to use the following fundamental identities :

$$(1+\varphi )^k=F_{k+1}+F_k\varphi .\varphi ^k=(1)^kF_{k1}+(1)^{k+1}F_k\varphi $$
$`(1)`$
$$\varphi (1+\varphi )=1\varphi =\frac{\sqrt{5}1}{2}=0.6180339\mathrm{}.$$
$`(2)`$
where $`F_k`$ are the Fibonnaci numbers obeying :

$$F_k+F_{k+1}=F_{k+2}.F_k=1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21,34,55,89,144\mathrm{}.$$
$`(3)`$
$$\varphi =\underset{k\mathrm{}}{lim}\frac{F_k}{F_{k+1}}.$$
$`(4)`$
The identities ( 1 ) can be derived by setting :

$$(1+\varphi )^k=A_k+B_k\varphi (1+\varphi )^k+(1+\varphi )^{k+1}=(1+\varphi )^{k+2}=A_{k+2}+B_{k+2}\varphi =$$

$$[A_k+A_{k+1}]+[B_k+B_{k+1}]\varphi .$$
$`(5)`$
after an induction process and after using eqs-(3) which define the Fibonnaci numbers. A $`p`$-adic QFT argument  allows us to show that the $`M`$ theoretical generalization to the inverse fine structure constant is uniquely determined by :

$$(\alpha _M)^1=1+(1+\varphi )^2+(1+\varphi )^5+(1+\varphi )^{10}=$$

$$(F_1+F_3+F_6+F_{11})+\varphi (F_2+F_5+F_{10})=100+61\varphi .$$
$`(7a)`$
This expansion of $`(\alpha _M)^1`$ in $`integer`$ powers of $`1+\varphi `$ is the analog of the expansion of $`137`$ in powers of $`p=2`$ :

$$137=1+8+128=2^0(1+2^3+2^7)$$
$`(7b)`$
and whose $`p`$-adic norm is $`137_2=(1/2^0)=1`$. Notice that one could have performed the $`lacunar`$ series expansion of the form

$$a_n(1+\varphi )^{(1+\varphi )^n}$$
$`(7c)`$
a lacunar series is given in powers of the form $`p^{p^n}`$ but this has $`not`$ the desired $`p`$-Adic form because $`(1+\varphi )^n`$ is not an integer as verified by the fundamental identities eq-(1). Also we must restrict the coefficients $`a_n`$ to be integer valued $`0,1<1+\varphi `$.
El Naschie’s value based on string theory is given by ten copies of the $`complexified`$ dimensions of the transfinite space $`^{(5)}`$ whose real-valued Hausdorff dimension is $`(1+\varphi )^4`$ :

$$(\alpha _{HS})^1=10\times 2(1+\varphi )^4=137+\varphi ^5(1\varphi )^5=100+60\varphi =137.082\mathrm{}\mathrm{}.$$
$`(8)`$
The hierarchy of dimensions obtained by El Naschie were given by suitable powers of $`10\varphi ^n`$ for $`n=0,\pm 1,\pm 2,\mathrm{}.`$. The $`n=0`$ power corresponds naturally to the core dimension of the Heterotic string $`d=10`$ and the hierarchy of dimensions for $`n=\pm 1,\pm 2`$ were $`4k;6+k;10;16+k;26+k`$ respectively, with the value for $`k=\varphi ^3(1\varphi ^3)`$.
However, a close inspection reveals that the quantity $`(\alpha _{HS})^1=100+60\varphi `$ does $`not`$ admit a $`p`$-Adic expansion in the form given by eq-(5a); i.e like the value $`(\alpha _M)^1=100+61\varphi `$ does. This is a direct consequence of the fundamental identities (1). The value of $`4k`$ is not the Hausdorff dimension consistent with the four dimensional gravitational anomaly calculations \[3, 4 \] because the latter value is greater than four . The average dimension of the world $`d4+\varphi ^3=4.236\mathrm{}.`$ This is another reason why one should have for core dimension the value of $`d=11`$, the dimension of the anomaly free supermembrane. We will go back to this crucial point shortly. The value obtained from the gravitational conformal anomaly calculation was  :

$$(\alpha _{conformal})^1=2\frac{(\delta ^2+1)^2}{\delta (\delta ^21)}=137.6414382326.D=4+ϵ=4\delta =4+\frac{\varphi ^3}{2}.$$

$$\delta =1+\frac{\varphi ^3}{8}.$$
$`(9)`$
This value of the inverse fine structure constant is associated with a fractal spacetime dimension of $`4+ϵ=4+(\varphi ^3/2)`$ . It corresponds to an infrared $`fixed`$ point of the renormalization group where scale invariance is restored .
In ordinary ( super ) string theory, a regularization procedure breaks conformal invariance $`except`$ in the critical dimensions $`d=26;d=10`$ . From the conformal field theory point of view this implies that the beta function associated with the worldsheet couplings of the non-linear $`\sigma `$ model corresponding to the ( super ) string have a $`fixed`$ point ; i.e the beta function vanishes in the critical dimensions and conformal invariance is restored in those special dimensions. Hence we have finally :

$$(\alpha _{HS})^1=100+60\varphi =137.082<(\alpha _{con})^1=137.6414<(\alpha _M)^1=$$

$$100+61\varphi =137.700$$
$`(10)`$
Now we shall go back to the crucial point of having $`d=11`$ as the core dimension of the transfinite nonperturbative $`M`$ theory. We mentioned earlier that the bosonic membrane is free of anomalies in $`d=27`$ and the supermembrane is anomaly free in $`d=11`$  and that strings are obtained automatically by dimensional reduction .
The nonperturbative $`M`$ theoretic generalization of the inverse fine structure constant are due to the following $`p`$-brane configurations for values of $`p=0,2,5,10`$ living in $`d=11`$ topological dimensions . The $`5`$ brane and the membrane , $`p=2`$, are Electro-Magnetic dual to each other in $`d=11`$ since EM brane duality requires the numerical relation between the values of the spatial dimensions to be : $`11=2+5+4`$. The $`p=0`$-brane corresponds to the center of mass of the system and the $`p=10`$ brane is the spacetime filling since $`10+1=11`$. Since among our $`p`$-brane configurations we have the membrane (a $`p=2`$ brane ) living in $`d=11`$ dimensions ( and its EM dual $`5`$-brane ) this transfinite $`M`$ theory does naturally $`contain`$ heterotic strings in $`d=10`$ dimensions by a straightforward dimensional reduction of the membrane.
Following Eddington’s view that the inverse fine structure constant is an internal dimension we can see that the net value $`100+61\varphi =(\alpha _M)^1`$ is the sum of the ( fractal ) Hausdorff dimensions of the four transfinite spaces associated with certain $`p`$-branes embedded in $`d=11`$ topological dimensions :

$$^{(11)},^{(6)},^{(3)},^{(1)}$$
$`(11)`$
The ( spacetime filling ) $`10`$-brane spans an $`11`$-dimensional worldvolume; the $`5`$-brane spans a six dimensional one; its Electromagnetic-Dual Membrane spans a three-dimensional worldvolume and the center of mass ( $`0`$-brane) , spans a one-dimensional line, the normal set $`^{(1)}`$. These ( topological ) dimensions corresponding to the worldvolumes, ….. worldlines, spanned by these $`p`$-branes as they evolve in time , match precisely the topological dimensions associated with the four transfinite sets given in eq-(11).
It is suggestive to think that the four transfinite sets present in the decomposition (11) could be related to the electromagnetic, electroweak, strong and quantum gravity phases in Nature. The number $`100+61\varphi `$ can be recast explicitly as :

$$(\alpha _M)^1=137+\varphi ^5(1\varphi ^5)+\varphi =100+61\varphi .$$
$`(12)`$
The first term $`137`$ is the usual $`U(1)`$ contribution; the second term $`\varphi ^5(1\varphi ^5)=60\varphi 37`$ is the electroweak and strong interaction contributions found by El Naschie \[ 1\] and the $`\varphi `$ additional term is the Nonperturbative $`M`$ theoretic corrections; i.e a quantum gravity effect.
At first hand one may be inclined to $`object`$ to such an ” erroneous ” claim because the contribution of $`\varphi `$ is $`not`$ small. In fact it is $`larger`$ than $`\varphi ^5(1\varphi ^5)`$. However, one must realize that in this Nonperturbative transfinite $`M`$ theory there is a nontrivial ultraviolet/infrared entanglement ( mixing ) like that occuring in the construction of Quantum Field Theories in Noncommutative Geometry . It is reminiscent of the large-scale/small-scale $`T`$ duality in string theory. Therefore, due to this highly nontrivial ultraviolet/infrared entanglement/mixing the large $`\varphi `$ correction is truly an $`infrared`$ quantum gravity contribution, as it should be, since adding this term is precisely what is needed to $`match`$ the value obtained from the gravitational conformal anomaly calculation \[ 3,4\] of the inverse fine structure constant. Such contribution was due precisely to an $`infrared`$ long distance effect as a result of the quantum conformal mode fluctuations of the spacetime metric over large scales whose overall effect is to $`screen`$ the electric charge at large distances and cause the $`inverse`$ value of the fine structure constant to increase.
Within the framework of the the fine structure value obtained independently by Selvam and Fadnavis  we can interpret the additional value of the Golden Mean $`\varphi `$, to their value of $`100+60\varphi `$, due to the intrinsic initial perturbation which orginated the logarithmic spiraling growth process in succesive $`5`$ steps ( clockwise/counterclockwise ). When one speaks of growth steps we must specify with respect to what the initial perturbation of this growth process refers to.
Therefore, a straightforward $`p`$-Adic QFT argument  yields the Nonperturbative transfinite $`M`$ theoretical extensions to El Naschie-Selvam-Fadnavis inverse fine structure constant. The value $`100+61\varphi `$ is consistent with the most recent Astrophysical data of the spectral density index obtained from the Boomerang and Maxima experiments measuring the primordial cosmological background curvature perturbations \[8, 9 \] . The spectral index of the two-point correlation function of the Cosmic Microwave Background radiation due to the density perturbations, induced by the curvature fluctuations, was given in terms of the quantum trace anomaly  and the value is $`n2\mathrm{\Delta }3=1.0299358`$ where $`\mathrm{\Delta }=2.0149679>2`$ in full agreement with the numerical bounds of Covi and Lyth .
In a forthcoming publication \[ 9\] we shall present a lengthy and detailed discussion of the results discussed in this short note. Especially , the deep interrelation among $`p`$-Adic QFT  ; the Bruhat-Tits tree-like $`p`$-Adic Topology of Cantorian-Fractal Spacetime  , the Non-Archimedean Geometry associated with the Algebraic continued-fraction Renormalization group-like procedure of the physical constants and the $`p`$-Adic hierarchical structures of ( symmetry breaking ) phases in stochastic processes \[ 10, 11 \].
What remains is to look at the hierarchy of dimensions generated by this transfinite $`M`$ theory. The hierarchy generated by the core dimension of $`d=11`$ is given by $`11\varphi ^n`$ for different values of $`n`$ is :

$$n=0d_o=11$$

$$n=1d_1=11(1+\varphi )=17.7983$$

$$n=2d_2=11(1+\varphi )^2=11(2+\varphi )=28.7983$$

$$n=+1d_{+1}=11(\varphi )=6.7983$$

$$n=+2d_{+2}=11(\varphi )^2=1111\varphi =50.7983=4.2017.$$
$`(13)`$
Hence this hierarchy has the following dimensions :

$$28.7983,17.7983,11,6.7983,50.7983=4.2017.$$
$`(14)`$
The author has been informed by Metod Saniga  that this hierarchy in its integer valued part , is almost exactly reproduced by the sequence of number of lines lying on Del Pezzo surfaces if one adds $`one`$ to each value : $`28;17;11;7;4`$ that would mean nothing but that Del Pezzo hierarchy corresponds to spatial dimensions only , while this enhanced hierarchy grasps both space and time dimensions ! .
As we said previously, the lower dimension $`4.2017`$ is consistent with the four dimensional gravitational anomaly calculation \[3, 4 \] and with the recent Astrophysical data . A $`p`$-Adic interpretation to the fundamental scales in Physics has been given by Pitkanen  based on the Mersenne primes : $`M=2^m1`$ for $`m`$ = prime. Some values of $`m`$ that yield a Mersenne prime are :

$$m=2,3,7,13,17,19,31,61,89,107,127,521\mathrm{}..$$
$`(14)`$
Pitkanen’s $`p`$-Adic Length Scale hypothesis is obtained by selecting the electron Compton wavelength as a reference scale which allows to fix the size of an internal $`CP^2`$ space whose isometries are linked to the standard gauge symmetries of the fundamental interactions. The electron Compton wavelength was chosen to be the one associated with the Mersenne prime corresponding to $`M_{127}=2^{127}1`$ which fixes the size of the internal space to be :

$$l_o137.6\times 10^2Planck.$$
$`(15)`$
The hierarchy of fundamental scales in physics is given by :

$$L=\sqrt{p}l_o.p=M=2^m1$$

The following values for the Mersenne primes are :

$$1M_{127}L10^{10}cm=electron$$

$$2M_{107}L10^{14}cm=proton$$

$$3M_{89}L10^{16}cm=Wboson$$

$$4M_{61}L10^{20}cm=MichaelConrad^{}sFluctuonparticle[20]$$

$$5M_{521}L10^{27}lightyears=Superastronomicalscale$$

$$6M_2=2^21=3LGUTscale$$

The reader may ask, do the remaining scales in between correspond to new particles and forces ? This question is perfectly valid. For a discussion of $`W_{\mathrm{}}`$ Geometry and a master field in $`infinite`$ dimensions that generates an infinity of higher spin massless gauge fields ( interactions ) in lower ( four ) dimensions see  .
The main conclusion of this work is the following : The value $`(\alpha _{HS})^1=100+60\varphi `$ does admit the decomposition $`10\times 2(1+\varphi )^4`$ consistent with the hierarchy of ( complexified ) dimensions generated by the core $`d=10`$ dimensions of superstrings but $`fails`$ to admit the correct $`p`$-Adic decomposition exhibited by $`(\alpha _M)^1=100+61\varphi `$ shown in eqs-(5). Since $`61`$ is a prime number one can see automatically that $`100+61\varphi `$ has for lower and upper bounds the following ( complexified ) dimensions belonging to a hierarchy of dimensions generated by the core $`d=10,d=11`$ dimensions of the superstring and the anomaly free supermembrane, respectively :

$$10\times 2(1+\varphi )^4<100+61\varphi <11\times 2(1+\varphi )^4.$$
$`(16)`$
Constraining the inverse fine structure constant to lie in the interval $`136<\alpha ^1<138`$ ; to be compatible with recent Astrophysical data \[8, 9 \] and with the gravitational conformal anomaly results \[3, 4 \] , which imposes $`d=4+ϵ`$ , we conclude that one cannot simultaneously satisfy $`both`$ conditions of $`\alpha ^1`$ having the correct $`p`$-adic expansion like in eq-(5) and in being a member of the hierarchy of complexified dimensions of the form $`\alpha ^1=2d(1+\varphi )^k`$ for $`d=integer`$ core-dimensions and $`k=integer`$.
One would require to have a relation of the type :

$$136<\underset{n}{}a_n(1+\varphi )^n=2d(1+\varphi )^k<138.$$
$`(17)`$
it seems that this equation does not have solutions for $`a_n=0,1`$ and $`d,n,k=integers`$ in the range between : $`136<\alpha ^1<138.`$ However, a value of the inverse fine structure constant like : $`11\times 2(1+\varphi )^4150.788\mathrm{}`$ is $`consistent`$ with that value obtained by Nottale using scale relativistic arguments if, and only if, the number of Higgs doublets is $`7`$  . The value obtained by Nottale is :

$$\alpha ^1=137.08+2.11(N_H1)\pm 0.13.$$
$`(18)`$
in very good agreement with the experimental value of $`137.036`$ provided $`N_H=1`$ and with the value $`11\times 2(1+\varphi )^4150.788\mathrm{}`$ provided $`N_H=7`$ .

We believe this cannot be just a numerical coincidence but that an underlying $`p`$-Adic internal symmetry operates in the Fractal structures of Nature.
T. Smith has used the Hyperdiamond lattice model associated with the exceptional group $`E_8`$, and Octonions, to derive the value of the inverse fine structure constant $`137.068\mathrm{}`$ . In particular, using the Feynman chessboard construction on Hyper-Diamond structures gives the physics of the Standard Model plus Gravitation  . Ord has used a similar Feynman chessboard construction to formulate a spiral gravity model . The $`E_8`$ lattice can be represented by quaternionic $`icosians`$ , as described by Conway and Sloane . This $`E_8`$ lattice can be constructed using the Golden Mean ratio from the $`D_4`$ lattice which has a $`24`$-cell nearest neighbour polytope. We refer to  for details.
Based on the results presented in this work we dare to say that the fundamental particles, themselves, like the electron, can be visualized as a nonlinear dynamical ( multi ) fractal process, represented by a Penrose quasicrystal , for example. It is this lattice structure that is behind the values of the fundamental constants in Nature. Multifractality governs also the prime number distribution  . Not suprisingly, we are going to see more and more in the near future how all these disciplines : number theory, algebraic geometry, Cantorian Fractal spacetime, quasicrystals, $`p`$-Adic QFT, Noncommutative/Nonassociative Geometry, fractal strings…. merge together.

Acknowledgements
We are indebted to M. S. El Naschie and Metod Saniga for numerous discussions that led to this work.

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text:
# 1 Introduction

## 1 Introduction

Optical studies of semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) have been a subject of very intensive recent investigations. It has been experimentally and theoretically established that the number of carriers which occupy a photoexcited QD greatly affect its photoluminescence (PL) spectrum. In spite of its neutral nature, optical spectroscopy has very recently proved to be a useful means for investigating and preparing charged QD systems. We report here on continuous wave (cw) and pulsed optical PL spectroscopy of single self-assembled QDs (SAQDs) embedded within a mixed type quantum well (QW) structure. This specific design, which facilitates charge separation by optical means, is used here to tune the charge state of the QD under study.

## 2 Experiment

Two samples were studied. Sample A consists of a layer of low density In(Ga)As SAQDs, embedded within the wider of a two mixed type coupled GaAs QWs, separated by a thin AlAs barrier layer.. Sample B, which is used here as a control sample, consists of a similarly prepared SAQDs layer embedded within a thick layer of GaAs.

We spatially, spectrally and temporally resolve the PL emission from single SAQDs in both samples using a variable temperature confocal microscope setup. The setup is described in detail elsewhere.

In Fig. 1a (1b) we present the PL spectra from sample A(B) for various cw excitation powers at photon energy of 1.75 eV. In Fig. 1c (1d) we present the temporally integrated PL spectra from sample A(B) for various picosecond pulsed excitation powers by the same photon energy. The repetition rate of our Ti:sapphire laser which was used for pulsed excitation is 78MHz.

In Fig. 1d (1e) we present for comparison model simulations of the pulsed excitation PL spectra for sample A(B) as explained below.

## 3 Discussion

In previous works\[6-8\] we have established that the evolution of the cw PL emission from an optically excited SAQD is due to the recombination of increasingly higher orders of neutral multiexcitons. Characteristically, with the increase in power, satellite spectral lines appear to the lower energy side of the first observed line ($`X_0`$ in Fig. 1b) and higher energy spectral group of lines ($`B`$) emerges above the first observed group ($`A`$). This spectral red shift is explained in terms of the exchange energies between the increasing numbers of electron-hole pairs within the neutral SAQD. At yet higher excitation powers, all the observed discrete PL lines at their appearance order, undergo a cycle in which their PL intensity first increases, then reaches maximum and saturates, and eventually significantly weakens. Consequently, the various groups of spectral lines (A and B in Fig. 1b) seem to be ”red shifted” with the increase in excitation power. This behavior is best described by a set of coupled rate equations, which give the probabilities of finding the photoexcited QD occupied by a given number of e-h pairs (multiexciton order $`N_x`$). At high excitation power the probability to find the QD with small $`N_x`$ vanishes and thereby the PL lines observed at low powers disappear. This is no longer true when pulse excitation is used. In this situation with the increase in excitation power, after reaching saturation, the intensity of the PL of the various spectral lines remains constant and does not decrease with further increase in the excitation power (Fig. 1c). In this case the radiative recombination process is sequential. Therefore, all the multiexcitons which are smaller than the initially photogenerated number of e-h pairs ($`<N_x>`$) contribute to the temporally integrated PL spectrum. This is true, as long as the pulse repetition rate is slow such that all the photogenerated pairs recombine before the next pulse arrives.

In sample A, the SAQDs are initially charged with electrons. These electrons accumulate in the SAQDs due to the special design of the sample which facilitates efficient hoping transport from residual N-type impurities. With the increase in the excitation power the SAQDs are first photodepleted, since the positively charged traps efficiently capture photogenerated electrons while holes diffuse preferentially to the SAQDs. The recombination of an e-h pair in the presence of a decreasing number of electrons within the SAQD reveals itself in a series of small lines to the lower energy side of the PL line due to recombination in a neutral SAQD (line $`X_0`$ in Fig 1a ). The higher the excitation power is, the less charged the dot is and consequently the PL line is closer to the $`X_0`$ line. The intensity ratio between the saturated PL lines from the dot in the presence of charge and that from the neutral SAQD is roughly an order of magnitude. This ratio must be equal to the ratio between the rate by which the photexcited electrons leave the impurities and the SAQD intrinsic radiative rate. In a recent work we showed that the later amounts to 5 ns.. It follows that the lifetime associated with the trapped photoexcited electrons is few times longer than the time between sequential pulses. Therefore, under pulsed excitation, PL lines from charged states saturate with increasing the excitation power and lose their intensity as the power is further increased. At the same time the PL from neutral states, saturates and remains constant (see Fig. 1d). This behavior provides an unambiguous experimental tool for the distinction between the two PL processes.

Comparison between the PL spectra of sample A and sample B reveals yet another distinctive difference. With increasing the excitation power satellite PL lines appear to the i higher energy side of the neutral $`X_0`$ line of sample A. These lines can now be unambiguously identified as resulting from recombination from QDs that are positively charged.

The fact that PL from negatively (positively) charged QD is lower (higher) in energy than the PL from neutral QD is reported here, to the best of our knowledge, for the first time. This phenomenon can be straightforwardly explained by solving the confined few carriers problem, with different confining potentials, for electrons and for holes. The experimental results that we obtained are best fitted by our model,\[6-8\] as demonstrated in Fig. 1(e,f), when a 25% smaller hole envelope wavefunction is assumed. Intuitively it means that the energy associated with the increase Coulombic repulsion due to the additional positive holes is greater than the additional exchange energy and the energy associated with the electrons-hole attraction.

## 4 Summary

We report on the first observation of photoluminescence from a positively charged single quantum dot. Our experimental observations strongly suggest that in self assembled quantum dots holes are better confined than electrons.

Acknowledgments: The research was supported by the US-Israel Binational Science Foundation (453/97), by the Israel Science Foundation founded by the Israel Academy of Sciences, and by the Fund for the Promotion of Research at the Technion.


text:
# Fermi Surface Measurements on the Low Carrier Density Ferromagnet Ca1-xLaxB6 and SrB6

\[

## Abstract

Recently it has been discovered that weak ferromagnetism of a dilute 3D electron gas develops on the energy scale of the Fermi temperature in some of the hexaborides; that is, the Curie temperature approximately equals the Fermi temperature. We report the results of de Haas-van Alphen experiments on two concentrations of La-doped CaB6 as well as Ca-deficient Ca1-δB6 and Sr-deficient Sr1-δB6. The results show that a Fermi surface exists in each case and that there are significant electron-electron interactions in the low density electron gas.

PACS numbers: 71.10.Ca, 71.35.-y, 75.10.Lp, 71.18.+y, 71.27.+a
\]

The cubic hexaborides of the alkaline and rare earth elements have long attracted interest for their wide variety of physical properties in spite of the simple crystallographic structure. These physical properties include very low work functions leading to the use of LaB6 as a thermionic emitter, dense Kondo behavior and electric quadrupole ordering in CeB6, Kondo insulating properties in SmB6 and interesting low carrier density ferromagnetism in the local moment system EuB6. A new aspect to the rich spectrum of properties found in the hexaborides, high temperature weak ferromagnetism at low carrier concentration (HTFLCC) with no atomic localized moments was added about two years ago.

The host materials for HTFLCC are the divalent alkaline earth hexaborides CaB6, SrB6 and BaB6. The crystal structure of these materials can be thought of as a simple cubic CsCl-type arrangement of B6-octaheda and metal ions. The early electronic structure cluster calculations of Longuet-Higgins and Roberts found that the linked B6-network required 20 electrons for a closed shell electronic configuration, indicating that the alkaline earth hexaborides would be semiconductors. More recent band structure calculations show that divalent hexaborides should be semimetals, with a small direct overlap of a primarily boron derived valence band and with a primarily alkaline earth derived conduction band at the X-point in the Brillouin zone. A study of the low temperature properties of single crystals of SrB6 did find approximately 0.001e/Sr, and indications for the importance of electron-hole Coulomb effects.

The unusual aspect of these La-doped divalent hexaborides is that for certain values of $`x`$ in Ca1-xLaxB6 a weak ferromagnetic moment, peaking at 0.1$`\mu _B`$/La at $`x`$=0.005 is found, and nearly identical magnetic effects with La-doping of CaB6, SrB6 and BaB6 also are found. In addition, it was recently found that Ca-deficient Ca1-δB6 is ferromagnetic, but the moment is distinctly smaller than that found at $`x`$ = 0.005, usually by at least an order of magnitude. In all cases the maximum moment is found at x = 0.005. For the largest moment at $`x`$ = 0.005 the data show the loss of magnetization occurs with a Curie temperature near TC = 600 K.

Because no obvious source for a strong coupling between any possible magnetic impurities giving rise to a Curie temperature as high as Tc = 600 K presents itself, the coupling of defect d-state moments on this scale seems rather implausible. One candidate for the origin of the magnetic polarization emerges from studies of electronic correlations in the low density electron gas, such as those of Ceperley and Alder. This is a topic of theoretical speculation with a long and interesting history, going back to Bloch and Wigner. The study of Ceperley and Alder is a T = 0 K computation, comparing unpolarized and completely polarized states of the electron gas, with ferromagnetism showing up for values of rS, the radius of the sphere containing one conduction electron, of order 80 aB. For $`x`$ = 0.005, we compute rS = 15.0 Å = 28.4 aB, using the Bohr radius, aB for the free electron. How the ferromagnetic ground state might occur in an ordered lattice is unknown. The natural energy scale in this particular analysis is the Fermi energy, and for free electrons one calculates EF = 0.062 eV = 720 K for $`x`$ = 0.005 in CaB6. This temperature is of order the observed Curie temperature. More recently, this finding has caused several theoretical investigations into possible mechanisms for this new type of magnetism. In addition there have been two other recent energy band calculations devoted entirely to this subject.

The ordered moment is approximately 0.07$`\mu _B`$/carrier at $`x`$ = 0.005, which corresponds to only a partial polarization of the Fermi sea. The reduction of the moment per carrier seen as $`x`$ increases and rS decreases might then be interpreted as a reduction in the net polarization as the electron density increases.

We report here the results of de Haas - van Alphen measurements on Ca1-xLaxB6 and SrB6 at mK temperatures and in fields up to 32 T in which we observe quantum oscillations corresponding to several extremal cross-sectional areas of the FS, proving the existence of conduction electrons in these materials. In addition, we have measured the effective mass of the carriers on these orbits.

These measurements were performed at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, Tallahassee, FL using a torque cantilever magnetometer designed for operation at low temperatures between 20 and 500 mK in applied fields ranging from 0 to 32 T. Samples of CaB6, Ca0.9975La0.0025B6, Ca0.995La0.005B6, and SrB6 were grown in an Al flux and etched in a 25% HNO2 in H2O solution down to a small plate that was mounted on the cantilever with GE Varnish. No evidence of Al inclusion was observed upon magnification, and no evidence of superconductivity from Al was observed upon cooling. The oscillatory part of the sample’s magnetization is measured as a function of field and the resulting signal is periodic in 1/$`B`$ with a frequency $`F`$. This oscillatory magnetization $`\stackrel{~}{M}`$ is given by the Lifshitz-Kosevich (LK) equation:

$$\stackrel{~}{M}=R_SR_DR_T\mathrm{sin}\left[\left(\frac{2\pi pF}{B}\right)\frac{1}{2}\pm \frac{\pi }{4}\right],$$
(1)
where $`R_S,R_D`$, and $`R_T`$ are the spin, Dingle, and temperature signal amplitude reduction factors respectively, and $`p`$ is the harmonic number. The frequencies of the dHvA oscillations are proportional to extremal areas of the FS perpendicular to the applied field direction. The effective mass of the carriers is determined from the temperature reduction factor by measuring the oscillatory signal amplitudes as a function of temperature. The measured signal from the torque cantilever is a voltage proportional to the gap between the flexible cantilever plate to which the sample is glued and a fixed (reference) plate. The gap is measured as a capacitance with a precision capacitance bridge. The measured oscillations in the torque, $`\stackrel{~}{\tau }`$, arise from anisotropy in the Fermi surface, such that

$$\stackrel{~}{\tau }=\frac{1}{F}\frac{dF}{d\theta }\stackrel{~}{M}BV$$
(2)
where $`F`$ is the dHvA frequency, $`\theta `$ is the angle of the applied field, $`B`$, $`\stackrel{~}{M}`$ is the LK expression above, and $`V`$ is the volume of the sample. The $`\frac{dF}{d\theta }`$ dependence means that a roughly spherical FS with nearly constant FS areas as a function of angle will have a reduced torque signal from that of a highly elliptical FS. Because the signals are inversely proportional to the measured dHvA frequencies, this technique is particularly sensitive to the low frequencies seen in the present results.

The dHvA results shown in the figures are derived from high field measurements. The La-doped samples (except for $`x`$ = 0.010) showed clear evidence of ferromagnetism as shown in Figure 1. Comparing the magnitude of the magnetization as a function of La-doping is complicated by the low frequency dHvA, clearly seen in the pure CaB6 and the $`x`$ = 0.0025 traces. The ferromagnetic moment is maximum for $`x`$ = 0.005 and is smallest for the $`x`$ = 0.010.

The ferromagnetic background of the $`x`$ = 0.0025 and 0.005 samples of CaB6 was subtracted before Fourier transforming the data. We also looked for dHvA oscillations in an $`x`$ = 0.010 sample; however, none were observed. The difficulty of observing dHvA in the $`x`$ = 0.010 sample can be attributed to increased scattering.

Our measurements for SrB6 are in reasonable agreement with the theoretically predicted FS  and ARPES measurements . The FS of SrB6 is centered around the X point and consists of two pieces, an electron “ring” and a hole “lens” (however, the hole pocket due to the boron bands was not observed in the photoemission measurements by Denlinger et al.). Figure 2 shows the raw data and frequencies for SrB6. The hole “lens” corresponds to the dominant low frequency orbit (F $``$ 44 T). The smaller peak corresponds to a FS sheet which has a cross-sectional area approximately 7 times larger than the “lens”. This is even larger than a magnetic breakdown orbit encompassing both the “ring” and the “lens”. Neither of the observed orbits correspond to the electron “ring” mentioned by Rodriguez et al. .

The FS of pure CaB6 is topologically similar as can be seen in Figure 3. The higher frequency was determined by fitting the low frequency and subtracting it from the measured data. The resulting data set showed clear evidence of this 300 T orbit.

It should be noted that the number of holes in either CaB6 or SrB6is determined by the number of Ca or Sr vacancies in the sample. Thus the dHvA frequencies in these two cases may be sample dependent.

La doped CaB6 lacks the strong low frequency orbit attributed to the hole “lens” in the divalent metal deficient materials; however, the higher frequency orbit persists (see Figures 4 and 5). This higher frequency may be modulated by a frequency too low to detect. If this is the case, then La doped CaB6 might have an extremely small hole pocket. In the Ca0.995La0.005B6 sample, a 450 T orbit accompanies the dominant 350 T orbit (Figure 5). As electrons are added to the material, the Fermi level rises leading to a change in the topology of the FS. This is consistent with the hole surface dropping out with increased doping yielding a single ellipsoidal electron sheet. We propose that the 450 T orbit arises from the ellipticity of the FS. The eccentricity of this FS sheet is $`\eta =450/350=1.3`$. From the volume of the FS the number of electrons per unit cell can be calculated . Because the FS is centered at the X point, 3 full FS volumes with 2 spin directions contribute to the electron density. So assuming two states at the FS, the electron denisty is 0.01 per unit cell. If the FS is completely polarized with only one spin state contributing, then the density is 0.005 per unit cell.

The frequencies and cyclotron masses for each of these materials is summarized in Table I. The remarkable result showed in this table is the mass of the higher frequencies orbits in the CaB6 and its electron doped variants. The cyclotron mass for the charge carriers in SrB6 could not be determined because there was no measurable change in signal amplitude from 25 to 600 mK indicating a lighter mass; higher temperature measurements are required to determine these lighter masses. The larger masses of the calcium materials comes from the strong electron-electron interactions.

Because these samples were grown in an Al flux, we were careful to look for evidence of Al contamination that might produce “false” quantum oscillations . As mentioned above, we selected small samples which were visibly free of Al pockets. Also, we looked for the superconducting phase transition of Al on the cool down. As a final test we looked for dHvA signals in a piece of the Al flux on the cantilever, but the flux showed no quantum oscillations. Additionally, the large cyclotron masses of the higher frequency orbits mitigates against attributing their origin to Al contamination – there are no orbits in Al as heavy as 4.5 me.

From the results of these measurements it can be seen that in every case of HTFLCC Fermi surfaces of the conduction electrons exist. For the optimally doped Ca1-xLaxB6 a single electron FS is observed and in the divalent CaB6 and SrB6 an additional hole pocket is observed. Strong electron-electron interactions are observed in each case with the largest values observed in the optimally doped samples. Thus not only must the mechanism giving rise to the band structure be understood, but these inter-electron interactions must be accounted for to understand the true mechanism giving rise to the ferromagnetism.

We would like to thank J. L. Sarrao for helpful discussions. This work was supported in part by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. DMR-9971348 (Z. F.). A portion of this work was performed at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, which is supported by NSF Cooperative Agreement No. DMR-9527035 and by the State of Florida.


text:
# LAYER-BY-LAYER GROWTH FOR PULSED LASER DEPOSITION

## 1. INTRODUCTION

Pulsed Laser Deposition (PLD) is a growth method increasingly used for the fabrication of thin films \[Chrisey and Hubler (1984)\]. It is especially suited for the growth of complex multicomponent thin films, e.g. high temperature superconductors \[Cheung et al. (1993)\], biomaterials \[Cotell et al. (1992)\], or ferroelectric films \[Ramesh et al. (1991)\]. A great advantage of PLD is the conservation of the stoichiometry of virtually any target material in the deposition.

The main feature of PLD is that the target material is ablated by a pulsed laser and then deposited onto the substrate. Thus, in one pulse many particles arrive at the surface simultaneously. The time between two pulses is of the order of seconds and the pulse length usually is of the order of nanoseconds \[Cheung and Sankur (1988)\]. Therefore we are going to neglect the pulse length.

In this paper we present computer simulations showing several features of the growth morphology in PLD. In the next section a short description of the typical island distance for PLD in the submonolayer regime will be given. Thereafter the growth behavior of PLD under the influence of Ehrlich-Schwoebel barriers will be discussed. The aim of this work is to give an insight into possible reasons why in some experimental situations PLD has been shown to produce better layer-by-layer growth than ordinary molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) \[Jenniches et al. (1996)\].

## 2. ISLAND DISTANCE

The control parameters of PLD are the intensity $`I`$, which is the number of particles deposited in one pulse per unit area, and the diffusion-to-deposition ratio $`D/F`$. The average deposition rate is given by $`F=I/\mathrm{\Delta }t`$, where $`\mathrm{\Delta }t`$ is the time interval between two pulses. The intensity is measured in monolayers (ML), and $`D/F`$ is dimensionless, as the lattice constant is set to unity. The surface morphology depends sensitively on the pulse intensity which qualitatively can be seen in fig. 1. One notices that in MBE there are few large islands relatively far apart whereas for PLD with a high intensity the surface is covered with many small islands.

However, if one reduces the intensity to one particle per pulse, one would expect PLD to produce the same island morphology as MBE. This is indeed the case, although the two situations are not exactly the same, as in PLD the deposition takes place at fixed times whereas in MBE it is probabilistic and therefore the time intervalls between two depositions have a Poissionan distribution. This difference, however, only influences the island morphology at high $`D/F`$, where finite-size effects are setting in \[Hinnemann (2000)\]. In the simulations presented here only $`D/F`$ below the finite-size region are considered. The simulations have been performed on a $`400\times 400`$ square lattice and the island distance has been measured at $`0.2ML`$ coverage, when the island density reaches its maximum but coalescence does not yet set in. In the following the dependence of the island distance on the ratio $`D/F`$ and on the pulse intensity $`I`$ is investigated. For small intensities we recover the well-known power law for the island distance in MBE

$$l_D\left(\frac{D}{F}\right)^\gamma $$
(1)
with the exponent $`\gamma `$ depending on the dimension of the surface, the island dimension, and the critical nucleus $`i^{}`$, i.e. the smallest stable island contains $`i^{}+1`$ atoms \[Stoyanov and Kashchiev (1981); Schroeder and Wolf (1995)\]. For a two-dimensional surface, compact islands and a critical nucleus of $`i^{}=1`$, one obtains $`\gamma =1/6`$. One should note that here the islands are not compact but fractal, as can be seen in fig. 1. This is due to the fact that edge diffusion is not considered in the simulations. The exponent $`\gamma `$ can be determined from simulations such, that one monitors the number of nucleation events in a layer ($`l_D^2`$) as a function of $`D/F`$. The value obtained in the present simulations is $`\gamma =0.17\pm 0.01`$. For PLD with large intensities the island distance obeys a different power law, however:

$$l_DI^\nu .$$
(2)
In this regime the island distance is independent of the parameter $`D/F`$, since the adatoms do not make use of their diffusion probability, as they find an island and attach to it in a much shorter time as the time they are allowed to diffuse between two depositions. The two regimes described by (1) and (2) are separated by a crossover at a certain intensity, where the number of deposited atoms is of the same order of magnitude as the adatom density. As the average adatom density $`n`$ in MBE scales as $`n\left(D/F\right)^{1+2\gamma }`$, the critical intensity has to show the same scaling behavior

$$I_c\left(\frac{D}{F}\right)^{1+2\gamma }.$$
(3)
It follows from (1), (2) and (3) that the island distance can be represented as a scaling law \[Westerhoff et al. (2000)\]

$$l_D\left(\frac{D}{F}\right)^\gamma f\left(\frac{I}{I_c}\right)$$
(4)
where $`f`$ is a scaling function with the asymptotic behavior

$$f(y)\{\begin{array}{cc}=\text{const.}\hfill & \text{for }y1\hfill \\ y^\nu \hfill & \text{for }y1.\hfill \end{array}$$
(5)
Since $`l_D`$ does not depend on $`D/F`$ for high intensities, the factor $`(D/F)^\gamma `$ in (4) must be compensated by the $`I_c`$-dependence of $`f`$: $`I_{c}^{}{}_{}{}^{\nu }(D/F)^\gamma =\text{const.}`$, which together with (3) leads to

$$\nu =\frac{\gamma }{12\gamma }.$$
(6)
The data collapse of the simulation results according to (4) is shown in fig. 2. The exponent $`\nu `$ obtained from the slope in the double-logarithmic plot is $`\nu =0.26\pm 0.01`$ and thus in agreement with the predicted value $`\nu =1/4`$. Furthermore fig. 2 shows that the island distance indeed obeys the proposed scaling law. Thus there is a critical intensity which divides the intensity parameter space in MBE-like and different behavior. Below the critical intensity, the island distance in PLD equals or is very similar to the one in MBE, whereas above the critical intensity it differs significantly.

## 3. GROWTH WITH EHRLICH-SCHWOEBEL BARRIERS

In most experimental situations of PLD and MBE there are barriers to interlayer transport present, i.e. an atom experiences an extra barrier in addition to the diffusion barrier when hopping down from an island \[Ehrlich and Hudda (1966); Schwoebel and Shipsey (1966)\]. This barrier is termed Ehrlich-Schwoebel barrier (ES-barrier) and is of the order of $`0.1eV`$ for metals \[Ruggerone et al. (1997)\]. Intuitively the ES-barrier can be explained as follows: In order to jump down an island edge, the atom goes through a position with a lower coordination than at the saddle point of diffusion on an island. The ES-barrier $`E_{ES}`$ is illustrated in fig. 3. A very useful measure for its effect is the Schwoebel length, which is defined as

$$l_{ES}exp\left(\frac{E_{ES}}{k_BT}\right)$$
(7)
and will be used as the control parameter in the following. The Schwoebel length is dimensionless, as the lattice constant is set to unity. In general the Ehrlich-Schwoebel barrier impedes layer-by-layer growth, as it forces the atoms to stay on the islands for a longer time. This increases the probability that two atoms on an island meet and nucleate before they can leave the island separately. A model surface with second layer nucleation in the submonolayer regime is shown in the right panel of fig. 3.

In the following a description of the growth with ES-barriers in the submonolayer regime is given. It is important to describe second layer nucleation as it contributes to surface roughening and therefore has to be reduced as much as possible in order to achieve layer-by-layer growth. This concept of formulating a second layer nucleation theory and predicting the growth mode for a given parameter set has been successfully applied to MBE \[Tersoff et al. (1994)\], and can be generalized to PLD as follows.

Whether one obtains layer-by-layer growth depends on the time during deposition of the first monolayer until nucleation in the second layer starts. If second layer nucleation does not start significantly before the first layer is completed, one gets layer-by-layer growth, but if it starts well before the completion of the first monolayer, the surface will roughen \[Villain (1991)\]. If one compares PLD to MBE under these circumstances, the high intensity, which produces small islands, seems advantageous, as adatoms on the islands can leave them more quickly, provided they are small enough. On the other hand a high intensity means, that many particles are deposited on the surface simultaneously, which increases the probability for second layer nucleation, as two particles may be deposited on the same island and meet before they can both leave the island separately.

Now a description for the second layer nucleation probability $`p_{nuc}`$ in PLD will be given. Let this quantity be defined as the probability that on a given island of size $`A`$ at least one nucleation occurs during one pulse. As it has been shown in a similar analysis for MBE, the probability of second layer nucleation can be used as a starting point of a second layer nucleation theory \[Krug et al. (2000)\]. It will be calculated making the following assumption: If two or more atoms are deposited simultaneously on the same island, they meet and nucleate before they leave the island. This assumption is true for high enough Ehrlich-Schwoebel barriers. Moreover we assume that in this case the nucleation happens before the next pulse arrives, which requires that $`D/F`$ is high enough. Then the probability of second layer nucleation equals the probability that two or more atoms are simultaneously deposited on an island of size $`A`$ during a pulse of intensity $`I`$. Thus we obtain for $`D/F\mathrm{}`$:

$$p_{nuc}=1\mathrm{exp}(IA)(1+IA),$$
(8)
where $`A`$ is the island area. In order to verify (8), simulations have been performed, where the second layer nucleation probability was measured in dependence of the island size. The simulations were performed on a $`400\times 400`$ lattice for various intensities $`I`$ and Ehrlich-Schwoebel barriers, whose size is indicated by the Schwoebel length (7).

In fig. 4 to the left the results for $`p_{nuc}`$ are displayed for the intensity $`I=0.01`$ and for different Schwoebel-lengths. One can see that the measured curves approach the predicted curve for increasing Schwoebel-barriers and that the agreement is good for $`l_{ES}10^3`$, when the Schwoebel-barrier is high enough to fulfill the assumption that atoms deposited on an island meet and nucleate instead of leaving it. The agreement is not convincing for island areas below $`10`$, as here the discrete nature of the island sites plays a role. The measured curves also deviate from the predicted curve for island sizes above $`40`$. These deviations are due to coalescence, which is not accounted for in the calculation of $`p_{nuc}`$ and which for $`I=0.01`$ already starts for island sizes below $`50`$. This explanation is supported by the diagram in fig. 4 to the right. The measured curves and the predicted curve for $`I=0.005`$ agree much better, as for a lower intensity coalescence starts at a larger characteristic island size. In general one can see that the second layer nucleation probability $`p_{nuc}`$ can be described adequately with (8) for island sizes smaller than the characteristic island size at the onset of coalescence.

## 4. CONCLUSIONS

The island distance depending on the intensity $`I`$ and $`D/F`$ has been described by a scaling law. For intensities larger than $`I_c`$ the typical island area scales like $`AI^{2\nu }`$. Inserting this into (8) leads to the conclusion that pulsed laser deposition in the limit $`D/F\mathrm{}`$ should give worse results than molecular beam epitaxy for layer-by-layer growth. This is clear, as molecular beam epitaxy leads to layer-by-layer growth in this limit even for high, but finite ES-barriers. We emphasize, however, that strain effects and transient mobility of freshly deposited atoms have not been taken into account in the present investigation.

For finite $`D/F`$ the situation is less clear. In order to further analyze this aspect, one needs a description of the time-dependent island area which will be published elsewhere \[Hinnemann et al. (2000)\]. If one compares the growth mode of PLD and MBE, one can already infer, that the use of PLD can only be advantageous for materials with a relatively high Ehrlich-Schwoebel barrier, as there the small islands have the advantage that atoms deposited on them can leave them with a higher probability before they nucleate on them. For growth situations with a very small Schwoebel-barrier, the diminished island size is no advantage, on the contrary, as it enhances second-layer nucleation compared to thermal deposition. The conclusion is that it does not help to just increase the intensity in order to obtain better growth results with a high Schwoebel-barrier. At some point the increased second layer nucleation probability outweights the advantage of small islands \[Hinnemann (2000)\].