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# On the Normalization of the Neutrino-Deuteron Cross Section

\[

## Abstract

As is well-known, comparison of the solar neutrino fluxes measured in SuperKamiokande (SK) by $`\nu +e^{}\nu +e^{}`$ and in the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory (SNO) by $`\nu _e+de^{}+p+p`$ can provide a “smoking gun” signature for neutrino oscillations as the solution to the solar neutrino puzzle. This occurs because SK has some sensitivity to all active neutrino flavors whereas SNO can isolate electron neutrinos. This comparison depends crucially on the normalization and uncertainty of the theoretical charged-current neutrino-deuteron cross section. We address a number of effects which are significant enough to change the interpretation of the SK–SNO comparison.

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Both SK and SNO are sensitive to solar neutrinos with energies above about 5 MeV. In SK, these are detected by $`\nu +e^{}\nu +e^{}`$, with possible (indistinguishable) contributions from all active flavors. In particular, if there are $`\nu _e\nu _\mu ,\nu _\tau `$ oscillations, then the latter contribute to the measured flux with a cross section 6–7 times smaller than for $`\nu _e`$. In SNO, on the other hand, the detection reaction $`\nu _e+de^{}+p+p`$ can isolate the $`\nu _e`$ flux.

The measured flux of solar neutrinos in SK, in units of the expected electron neutrino flux from the Standard Solar Model (SSM) , is $`0.45\pm 0.02`$, with the systematic uncertainty dominating . This measured flux may or may not include a contribution from $`\nu _\mu `$, $`\nu _\tau `$ (in any linear combination, since they interact via the neutral current). In an energy-independent (as suggested by the absence of any distortion in the SK recoil electron spectrum ) two-flavor oscillation scenario, there are two extreme cases . First, for $`\nu _e\nu _s`$, the $`\nu _e`$ flux in these units is 0.45, and the undetectable $`\nu _s`$ (sterile neutrino) flux is 0.55. Second, for $`\nu _e\nu _\mu ,\nu _\tau `$, the $`\nu _e`$ flux is 0.34, and the $`\nu _\mu `$, $`\nu _\tau `$ flux 0.66, so that the measured flux in SK is $`0.34+0.66/6=0.45`$. In the first case, SNO will measure 0.45, and in the second case, 0.34. More generally, these arguments can be rephrased as a ratio to eliminate the SSM flux normalization and its $`20\%`$ uncertainty, since the total incident flux is the same for both SK and SNO. Also, a small correction is necessary for the $`hep`$ neutrinos  that add to the dominant 8B neutrinos.

This possible difference of 0.11 is small enough that the uncertainties must be scrutinized closely. Below, we closely follow the analogous results for the percent-level corrections to the theoretical $`\overline{\nu }_e+pe^++n`$ cross section  that are necessary to achieve agreement with experiment .

While results from SNO  have not yet been reported, they have said at conferences  that they expect their flux measurement uncertainty to be dominated by the $`3\%`$ theoretical uncertainty  on the neutrino-deuteron cross section, at least eventually.

In the SNO proposal , the uncertainty on the neutrino-deuteron cross sections was assumed to be about 10% (for comparison, the experimental measurements of neutrino-deuteron cross sections have uncertainties of 10 – 40% ). Since that time, the calculations have been redone by a number of authors, with decreasing quoted uncertainties. The most refined recent calculations are those of Butler, Chen, and Kong (BCK)  and Nakamura, Sato, Gudkov and Kubodera (NSGK) . Each claims an uncertainty of about 3% in the range of energies relevant for solar neutrinos, and they agree to about 1% . It is now important to consider issues that affect the normalization of the total cross section at a comparable level. Three such effects have been overlooked by BCK and NSGK; these effects are comparable and add constructively.

First, at low energies, the neutrino-deuteron cross section is dominated by the Gamow-Teller transition, so that the cross section scales as $`g_A^2`$, where $`g_A`$ is the weak axial coupling to nucleons, and the angular distribution  of the outgoing electron is nearly of the form $`1\frac{1}{3}\mathrm{cos}\theta `$. The present value of $`g_A`$ is $`1.267\pm 0.004`$ . BCK use $`1.26`$, which makes their cross section about 1% too small, and NSGK use $`1.254`$, which makes their cross section about 2% too small. This effect is trivial in nature but must be included.

Second, a more subtle effect occurs because both BCK and NSGK use the Fermi constant $`G_F`$ as determined from muon decay . The radiative corrections to low-energy (much less than the $`W`$ mass) weak processes are frequently divided into “inner” (which are energy-independent) and “outer” (which are generally energy-dependent) corrections. The inner radiative correction is universal to a given reaction and those related to it by crossing symmetry, and can thus be considered to renormalize $`G_F`$ for each set of diagrams. This renormalization is different for purely leptonic and semileptonic processes, e.g., muon decay and neutron beta decay (it is also different for neutral-current weak processes involving a nucleon). Since the inner radiative correction arises from diagrams with internal $`\gamma `$ and $`Z`$ exchanges with high momenta, the quark structure of the nucleon is resolved and the fact that the nucleon is bound in a deuteron is irrelevant. Thus the inner radiative correction increases the $`\nu _e+de^{}+p+p`$ cross section by 2.4%, just as for $`\overline{\nu }_e+pe^++n`$ .

Third, the outer radiative correction must be considered. This arises from bremsstrahlung diagrams with a single external photon and from diagrams with low-momentum internal $`\gamma `$ exchange. The only calculation of the radiative corrections for $`\nu _e+de^{}+p+p`$ is given by Towner . If the bremsstrahlung photon energy is included in the deposited energy, the total radiative corrections are only mildly energy-dependent, and are given in Towner’s Table II as about 4.4%. Taking this at face value, and subtracting the above inner radiative correction of 2.4%, Towner’s result for the outer radiative correction to $`\nu _e+de^{}+p+p`$ is nearly constant at about 2%. This correction is somewhat larger than the corresponding corrections for $`\overline{\nu }_e+pe^++n`$ , and $`\nu _e+ne^{}+p`$ , each about 1% and decreasing with increasing energy. In all cases, the total cross section is increased.

Thus, BCK and NSGK each underestimate the total cross section by about 6%. If the overlooked normalization effects discussed above are taken into account, it does seem reasonable to use the quoted nuclear-physics uncertainty of 3%. It should be noted that these very sophisticated calculations differ from the simplest treatment only by about 10% (while a number of corrections contribute, none is as large as their sum) . Thus, roughly speaking, in order for the cross section to be known to 3%, the corrections only have to be known to 30%, which seems reasonable.

These simple considerations are backed up by the detailed results of BCK and NSGK. BCK have shown that up to next-to-next-to-leading order in their effective field theory treatment, only one unmeasured parameter $`L_{1,A}`$ (it appears at next-to-leading order) appreciably affects their result. They have also shown that their effective field theory series is convergent, with the contribution from each order about ten times smaller than the previous order. NSGK state that Ref.  did not include all of the known exchange-current contributions; when also neglected in NSGK, NSGK agree with Ref.  to about 1%. Similarly, BCK can reproduce the results of Ref.  by adjusting the value of $`L_{1,A}`$. BCK and NSGK agree with each other and Ref.  at the 1–2% level.

Bahcall, Krastev, and Smirnov  quote a theoretical uncertainty of 6% on the neutrino-deuteron total cross section based on nuclear-physics differences in the calculated cross sections of Refs. . Since then, almost all of the difference between Refs.  has been explained by NSGK. Similarly for the difference between Ref.  and the effective range calculation of Ref. , where no exchange current effects are included. Thus, a theoretical uncertainty of 6% seems too conservative.

So far, we have only considered the corrections to the normalization of the total cross section. We now turn to the radiative corrections to the differential cross section. The differential cross section without radiative corrections for a representative neutrino energy is shown in Fig. 1(a). SNO may initially operate with a high electron energy threshold, above the peak in the electron spectrum expected from the 8B neutrino spectrum. If so, a slight downward shift (of order 100 keV) in the electron energies can cause a few-percent decrease in the number of events above threshold (when integrated over the 8B spectrum). For photons below about 1 MeV, the Compton-scattered electrons will not produce detectable Čerenkov light (H. Robertson, private communication). Thus, one of the effects of bremsstrahlung will be to lower the electron energies from the case with no bremsstrahlung. In Towner’s Table I, the bremsstrahlung energy is considered undetected, and the correction to $`d\sigma /dT_e`$ is as large as $`+5\%`$ to $`4\%`$ from low to high scattered electron energies, and nearly vanishing at electron kinetic energy $`T_eE_\nu 2`$ MeV. This is shown in Fig. 1(b). The qualitative features of Towner’s total radiative corrections can be reproduced by a small downward shift in the electron energies.

Using Towner’s Table I, where the bremsstrahlung energy is considered undetected, we can calculate the total cross section by integrating

$$\frac{d\sigma }{dT_e}=\left(\frac{d\sigma }{dT_e}\right)^0\times \left[1+\frac{\alpha }{\pi }g_I(E_\nu ,T_e)\right],$$
(1)
where the superscript 0 indicates the cross section without radiative corrections. Using Towner’s Table II, where the bremsstrahlung energy is considered to add to the detected electron energy, we can calculate the total cross section by integrating

$$\frac{d\sigma }{dX}=\left(\frac{d\sigma }{dX}\right)^0\times \left[1+\frac{\alpha }{\pi }g_{II}(E_\nu ,X)\right],$$
(2)
where $`X`$ is the sum of electron and bremsstrahlung energies (without radiative corrections, this is just the electron energy). In the latter case, the total radiative corrections are nearly constant at $`\frac{\alpha }{\pi }g_{II}(E_\nu ,X)4.4\%`$. If there are no cuts on the kinematic variables, then these two integrals must be identical. We explicitly made this test (using spline fits) for $`E_\nu =12`$ MeV, and found it not to be the case. In the first case, we find an average correction of 0.7% above $`T_e=5`$ MeV (this is also obvious by inspection of Fig. 1, if the correction is evaluated at the average energy for the differential cross section), much less than the 4.4% for the second case. The neglected fraction of the $`d\sigma /dT_e`$ integral below 5 MeV is about 3%, so in order to reproduce the integrated total corrections of 4.4%, the correction below 5 MeV (not given in Towner’s Table I) would have to be of order 100 times larger than that above 5 MeV. Thus, we are unable to see how the results of Towner’s Table I can be consistent with the seemingly reasonable results of his Table II.

Given the importance of the radiative corrections for the SK–SNO comparison, additional work is needed, in particular on the bremsstrahlung spectrum. For a sufficiently soft bremsstrahlung spectrum, the corrections to the total cross section will be applicable. Otherwise, corrections to the differential cross section will also be necessary.

In conclusion, three overlooked effects conspire to increase the normalization of the total cross section for $`\nu _e+de^{}+p+p`$ by about 6%. As noted, the uncertainty in the measured neutrino flux in SNO is expected to be eventually dominated by the uncertainty in the theoretical cross section. In addition, if SNO operates with a high threshold, the effects of the radiative corrections on the differential cross section must be considered. These effects, if not taken into account, could qualitatively change the outcome of the SK–SNO comparison, which is a SSM-independent test for the appearance of the active flavors $`\nu _\mu `$, $`\nu _\tau `$ resulting from neutrino oscillations (e.g., in a $`\varphi _{\nu _\mu ,\nu _\tau }/\varphi _{SSM}`$ versus $`\varphi _{\nu _e}/\varphi _{SSM}`$ plot, where $`\varphi `$ is the neutrino flux). If the effects discussed above, in particular the QED radiative corrections, are correctly taken into account, then the 3% theoretical uncertainty indicated by BCK and NSGK for the neutrino-deuteron cross section in the energy range appropriate for solar neutrinos is attainable.

We thank Malcolm Butler, Jiunn-Wei Chen, Rocky Kolb, Kuniharu Kubodera, Ian Towner, Petr Vogel, and especially Hamish Robertson for discussions. J.F.B. was supported by a David N. Schramm Fellowship (funded in part by NASA under NAG5-7092). Fermilab is operated by URA under DOE contract No. DE-AC02-76CH03000.


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# Nonequilibrium Precursor Model for the Onset of Percolation in a Two-Phase System

## Abstract

Using a Boltzmann-like equation, we investigate the nonequilibrium dynamics of nonperturbative fluctuations within the context of Ginzburg-Landau models. As an illustration, we examine how a two-phase system initially prepared in a homogeneous, low-temperature phase becomes populated by precursors of the opposite phase as the temperature is increased. We compute the critical value of the order parameter for the onset of percolation, which signals the breakdown of the conventional dilute gas approximation.

PACS number(s): 05.70.Ln, 05.70.Fh, 64.60.Ak

The process by which an ordered low-temperature system approaches disorder as its temperature is increased has far-ranging applications in many areas of physics. In systems which allow for low-temperature symmetry breaking, such processes would describe symmetry restoration. There is considerable overlap between treatments found in the condensed matter literature within the context of Ginzburg-Landau models  and those found in the high-energy physics literature through the use of temperature-corrected effective potentials , although clearly there are several crucial differences as well . In this letter, we would like to explore an issue which is of interest to both areas, namely, how to describe the dynamics of nonperturbative thermal fluctuations in simple systems, modeled by the Ginzburg-Landau model.

It is well-known that ferromagnets will become paramagnetic above a certain critical temperature. It is also well-known that such emergence of disorder is due to the nucleation of ferromagnetic domains of the opposite phase . The dynamics of the domain interfaces, as well as their growth, is of interest in many diverse areas, from materials science to particle physics to cosmology, even if some systems require more complicated order parameters. Examples include the recent experiments on Bose-Einstein condensation in dilute atomic gases  and the study of the growth of the condensate ; ultra-relativistic heavy-ion collision experiments ; formation of topological defects both in the laboratory, via pressure quench experiments , or in the early Universe ; and the nematic-isotropic transition in liquid crystals . Diverse as these systems are, they all have one feature in common; their change in behavior is due to the onset of nonequilibrium conditions, which are poorly understood.

In studying these kinds of problems one usually starts with mean-field theory, or some of its microscopic versions, such as the equilibrium one-loop approximation in field theory or the Hartree approximation. In these approximations, localized, high amplitude fluctuations are neglected and replaced by an average interaction of the system with the thermal environment . However, this approximation breaks down as the system approaches criticality and these fluctuations become more important.

It has long been recognized  that in order to fully understand the dynamics of a given system one must go beyond the mean field approximation. One approach is to invoke time-dependent renormalization group techniques . Here, we would like to propose an alternative approach, based on the dynamics of large-amplitude fluctuations, from which we can examine the nonequilibrium properties of the system. As we will show, our approach is valid up to the onset of percolation, which is known to occur before criticality for 3-dimensional systems.

Let us start by considering a standard Ginzburg-Landau model where local fluctuations about homogeneous equilibrium have the free energy

$$F(\varphi ,T)=d^3x\left[\frac{b}{2}|\varphi |^2+V(\varphi )\right],$$
(1)
with $`V(\varphi )=V_0+a(\theta 1)\varphi ^2/2+\lambda \varphi ^4/4`$, where $`a,b,V_0`$ and $`\lambda `$ are (positive) constants and $`\theta `$ is the temperature ratio $`T/T_c`$. For convenience, we have added the constant term $`V_0`$ to fix the minima of the free energy density at $`T<T_c`$ at zero, $`\varphi =\pm \sqrt{a(1\theta )/\lambda }\varphi _\pm `$, which then gives that $`V_0=a^2(1\theta )^2/(4\lambda )`$. The constants $`a`$ and $`b`$ can easily be scaled away and $`F(\varphi ,T)`$ can be made dependent only on the temperature ratio $`\theta `$ and on the coupling constant $`\lambda `$.

We choose to study the dynamics of the fluctuations as the system is heated from its $`T=0`$ state, where it is in one of its ordered states, say $`\varphi _{}`$, to a temperature $`T<T_c`$, focusing on its evolution to a final equilibrium state determined by a time-independent value of the order parameter $`\varphi `$ at temperature $`T`$. We model the fluctuations away from the initial equilibrium state as Gaussian shaped, spherically-symmetric configurations with a core value $`\varphi _C`$ and radius $`R`$. These precursors are also called subcritical bubbles and treatments involving them have been successfully used in many other contexts before . By expressing the amplitude of the fluctuation as $`\varphi _A=\varphi _C\varphi _{}`$, the fluctuations are parameterized as $`\varphi _f(r)=\varphi _A\mathrm{exp}(r^2/R^2)+\varphi _{}`$. \[The Gaussian satisfies the physical boundary conditions – regularity at the origin and asymptotic approach to the background, while costing very little free energy. See Ref.  for details.\]

Since we are interested in fluctuations which can probe the other available free-energy minimum, their amplitudes can be easily determined by the condition that $`\varphi _f(r)`$ represents unstable fluctuations inside the $`()`$-vacuum phase. We then simply have, from the symmetric double well potential used in Eq. (1) (note that small-amplitude fluctuations are already incorporated in the mean-field approximation to the free-energy density), that those fluctuations with $`\varphi _C\varphi _{\mathrm{max}}=0`$ are the ones probing the $`(+)`$ phase. As for $`R`$, we allow for fluctuations larger than the correlation length, $`R_{\mathrm{min}}=\xi (T)`$, where $`\xi (T)=[V^{\prime \prime }(\varphi _\pm )]^{1/2}`$, consistent with the natural coarse-graining scale dictated by the continuous free energy. Substituting $`\varphi _f(r)`$ in (1) we obtain the free energy barrier for a fluctuation with amplitude $`\varphi _A`$ and radius $`R`$ as $`F_f(R,\varphi _A,T)=(3\sqrt{2}\pi ^{3/2}\varphi _A^2/8)R+\pi ^{3/2}\varphi _A^2[\sqrt{2}V^{\prime \prime }(\varphi _{})/8+\sqrt{3}V^{\prime \prime \prime }(\varphi _{})\varphi _A/54+V^{(4)}(\varphi _{})\varphi _A^2/192]R^3`$. We will refer to the fluctuations with $`\varphi _C\varphi _{\mathrm{max}}`$ as “(+)-phase fluctuations” and the background phase as the “($``$)-phase”.

We next study the dynamical evolution of these fluctuations. For this we use the Boltzmann-like equation derived in Ref.  for the distribution function of (+)-phase fluctuations of radius $`R`$ and amplitude $`\varphi _A`$, $`f_+(R,\varphi _A,t)`$, which satisfies the equation

$$\frac{f_+}{t}=|v|\frac{f_+}{R}+(1\gamma )G_+\gamma G_+,$$
(2)
where the first term in the rhs incorporates the collapse of subcritical domains, which we approximate as having constant velocity $`v=R/t`$. In a forthcoming publication we will show that this is a valid approximation for most of the interesting range of bubble radii. The second term describes the thermal nucleation of fluctuations of the $`(+)`$-phase inside the $`()`$-phase, with nucleation rate $`G_+`$, while the last term describes the inverse process, with rate $`G_+`$. For a degenerate potential these two rates are the same, which we express in terms of the free energy of the fluctuations, $`F_f`$, as given by a standard Gibbs distribution: $`G(\varphi _A,R)G_+=G_+=AT^4\mathrm{exp}(F_f/T)`$, where $`A`$ is a constant. Note also that from Eq. (2), detailed balance imposes that the ratio $`A/|v|`$ be constant, which will be taken as a free parameter in our model; it can be determined for specific models, as shown in Ref. . In fact, the ratio $`A/|v|`$ must depend on dynamical quantities which are, in principle, expressable in terms of the only two parameters in the model free energy, $`\lambda `$ and $`\theta `$, which must control heat diffusion and fluctuations dynamics and can be mapped to specific applications. $`\gamma `$ in Eq. (2) is the total fraction of volume in the $`(+)`$-phase, defined by

$$\gamma =_{\varphi _{\mathrm{max}}}^+\mathrm{}𝑑\varphi _C_{\xi (T)}^+\mathrm{}𝑑R\frac{4\pi R^3}{3}f_+(R,\varphi _A,t).$$
(3)
Note that from our initial condition at $`t=0`$, we have $`\gamma (t=0)=0`$ and, in the asymptotic equilibrium regime at temperature $`0<TT_c`$, $`0<\gamma _{\mathrm{eq}}1/2`$. Eq. (2), together with (3), is an integro-differential equation that we numerically solve for $`\gamma `$. The result is shown in Fig. 1 for different values of temperature and $`\lambda =1`$.

$`\gamma _{\mathrm{eq}}`$ can be computed from Eq. (2) by setting the time derivative term in the lhs to zero. The resulting expression for $`\gamma _{\mathrm{eq}}`$, using Eq. (3), is $`\gamma _{\mathrm{eq}}=I/(1+2I)`$, where

$$I=_{\varphi _{\mathrm{max}}}^+\mathrm{}𝑑\varphi _C_{\xi (T)}^+\mathrm{}𝑑R\frac{4\pi R^3}{3}_R^+\mathrm{}𝑑R^{}\frac{A}{|v|}T^4e^{F_f/T}.$$
(4)
Writing $`\gamma (t)\gamma _{\mathrm{eq}}(t)`$, and using Eqs. (2) and (3), we find an equation for $`(t)`$, after integrating all terms in Eq. (2) by $`_{\varphi _{\mathrm{max}}}^+\mathrm{}𝑑\varphi _C_{\xi (T)}^+\mathrm{}𝑑R(4\pi R^3/3)`$,

$$\frac{d(t)}{dt}+\frac{\mathrm{\Gamma }}{\gamma _{\mathrm{eq}}}(t)\frac{\mathrm{\Gamma }}{\gamma _{\mathrm{eq}}}=0,$$
(5)
where $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$, the total volume-integrated nucleation rate, is given by

$$\mathrm{\Gamma }=_{\varphi _{\mathrm{max}}}^+\mathrm{}𝑑\varphi _C_{\xi (T)}^+\mathrm{}𝑑R\frac{4\pi R^3}{3}G(\varphi _C,R).$$
(6)
The differential equation (5) has a simple solution, given by $`(t)=1\mathrm{exp}(t/\tau )`$, where $`\tau =\gamma _{\mathrm{eq}}/\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ is the equilibration time-scale. Therefore, the analytical solution for $`\gamma (t)`$ is $`\gamma (t)=\gamma _{\mathrm{eq}}\left(1e^{t/\tau }\right)`$. This solution fits very well the numerical solution for $`\gamma `$ shown in Fig. 1. In Fig. 2 we compare the theoretical and numerical results for the equilibration time-scale $`\tau `$, as a function of the temperature, for two different values of $`\lambda `$; the agreement is quite striking. The results in Fig. 2 reveal a peak in the equilibration time-scale. For small temperatures, the equilibration time grows continuously until it reaches a maximum at the temperature $`T_{\mathrm{max}}(\lambda )`$. This is reminiscent of the critical slowing down behavior characteristic of critical phenomena, although we cannot recover the discontinuity at the critical point with our simple model. What we do provide is a dynamical picture of the approach to criticality, which we expand on below. As the temperature increases, a larger fraction of the volume of the initial state in the $`()`$-phase is populated by fluctuations of the (+)-phase; also, as the free-energy barrier decreases with increasing temperature, these fluctuations will become larger in size. Hence, their equilibration time-scales grow with increasing $`T`$, as displayed in Fig. 2. For temperatures larger than $`T_{\mathrm{max}}`$, the equilibration time decreases, vanishing at the mean-field critical temperature $`T_c`$. This is due to the fact that at $`T>T_{\mathrm{max}}`$ the system is described by a free-energy density with a single minimum at $`\varphi =0`$; thus, the true critical temperature is not at $`T_c`$. This is in accordance with what is expected when corrections beyond the mean field to the potential are taken into account  and explicitly seen in large-scale Langevin simulations performed on the lattice . From Fig. 2 our model predicts the values $`T_{\mathrm{max}}0.79T_c`$ for $`\lambda =1`$ and $`T_{\mathrm{max}}0.97T_c`$ for $`\lambda =0.1`$. These results are dependent on the ratio $`A/|v|`$ which entails the microscopic details of a given model under study. Physical lower bounds on this ratio will be discussed below.

As the temperature is increased and the volume-density of (+)-phase fluctuations grows, the system will eventually reach an instability point beyond which domains of the (+)-phase will grow by percolating with their nearest neighbors . The question is at what temperature such percolating instability occurs. In order to answer this question, we take full advantage of our dynamical model. \[A preliminary approach can be found in Ref. .\] Since correlation-volume fluctuations have the smallest free-energy barrier, they will be statistically dominant. In order to model the percolation-instability, consider a domain of the (+)-phase of correlation-length radius $`\xi `$. There are three main processes that can change its volume: shrinking due to its surface tension; growth due to the thermal nucleation of another (+)-phase domain of radius $`R`$ just outside it, which accounts for a change of volume $`\mathrm{\Delta }V=4\pi [(\xi +2R)^3\xi ^3]/3`$; and thermal destruction of the correlation size fluctuation due to inverse nucleation, that changes the volume by $`\mathrm{\Delta }V^{}=4\pi \xi ^3/3`$. We thus arrive at an approximate equation describing the rate of change of $`V_\xi `$:

$`{\displaystyle \frac{dV_\xi }{dt}}`$ $``$ $`|v|4\pi \xi ^2+{\displaystyle _{\varphi _{\mathrm{max}}}^+\mathrm{}}𝑑\varphi _C{\displaystyle _{\xi (T)}^+\mathrm{}}𝑑R{\displaystyle \frac{4\pi R^3}{3}}G(\varphi _C,R)\mathrm{\Delta }V`$ (7)
$``$ $`{\displaystyle _{\varphi _{\mathrm{max}}}^+\mathrm{}}𝑑\varphi _C{\displaystyle \frac{4\pi \xi ^4}{3}}G(\varphi _C,\xi )\mathrm{\Delta }V^{}4\pi \xi ^2v_{\mathrm{eff}}.`$ (8)
In Fig. 3 we show the numerical solution for the effective velocity, $`v_{\mathrm{eff}}`$, as a function of temperature. The temperature for which $`v_{\mathrm{eff}}>0`$, $`T_{\mathrm{perc}}(\lambda )`$, indicates the onset of percolation for correlation-volume fluctuations.

Our numerical results give the values $`T_{\mathrm{perc}}0.72T_c`$ for $`\lambda =1`$ and $`T_{\mathrm{perc}}0.96T_c`$ for $`\lambda =0.1`$. $`T_{\mathrm{perc}}`$ obtained with equation (8) is very close to $`T_{\mathrm{max}}`$ given before. As percolation sets in, Eq. (2) begins to underestimate the growth of fluctuations and the further development of the system. $`T_{\mathrm{perc}}`$ then determines the limit of validity of Eq. (2), or the breakdown of the dilute gas approximation, beyond which coalescence of phase fluctuations begins to be of importance. Nevertheless, Eqs. (2) and (8) describe quite well the dynamics until the onset of continuous percolation as well as the equilibrium properties of the system. (Note that continuous percolation, as opposed to lattice percolation, is very poorly understood, and only within simple 2-dimensional mathematical models, such as the Boolean-Poisson model .)

Finally, it is important to test the validity of this model with respect to the calculation of the free energy of the fluctuations. It is clear that as the free energy $`F_f`$ for fluctuations drops below $`k_BT`$ we no longer can distinguish them from simple thermal noise, which then becomes statistically dominant; the description of the nucleation of large-amplitude fluctuations with rate $`G`$ becomes meaningless. Using the temperatures $`T_{\mathrm{max}}`$ and $`T_{\mathrm{perc}}`$, we can set a lower bound on the value of $`A/|v|`$. This is shown in Fig. 4 for the case of $`\lambda =1`$, where we show how $`T_{\mathrm{max}}`$ and $`T_{\mathrm{perc}}`$ change with $`A/|v|`$. The condition $`F_f/T|_{T_n}=1`$ applied to the fluctuations of lowest free energy, $`\varphi =\varphi _{\mathrm{max}}`$ and $`R=\xi `$, gives $`T_n0.87T_c`$ for $`\lambda =1`$ and $`T_n0.99T_c`$ for $`\lambda =0.1`$.

Summarizing, we have presented a simple model based on the dynamics of phase fluctuations that is able to provide a dynamical description of how a continuous ordered system described by a Ginzburg-Landau free energy approaches its percolation instability. The model allows us to compute the temperature for the onset of percolation, which signals the breakdown of the conventional dilute gas approximation, offering also a novel way to estimate the actual critical temperature in a Ginzburg-Landau system, that can be read from the results of Fig. 2. Furthermore, the model studied here, despite its simplicity, exhibits a dynamical picture of symmetry restoration and the breakdown of mean-field theory observed both numerically and analytically, without recourse to large-scale numerical simulations. The model can easily be extended to different systems including inhomogeneous nucleation, or systems outside the Ising universality class. We expect to report soon on these applications.

We thank J. D. Gunton and D. Huse for discussions. M. G. is supported by NSF grants PHY-0070554 and PHY-9453431. R.O.R. was supported by Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico - CNPq (Brazil) and SR-2 (UERJ) and by the “Mr. Tompkins Fund for Cosmology and Field Theory” at Dartmouth.


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# The Size and Shape of Local Voids

## 1 Introduction

Many authors have claimed that low density regions (voids) are the most common features of the large scale structure of the universe owing to the fact that they occupy more than a half of its volume. Individual voids and their properties have been investigated by different authors (cf. Joẽveer et al. 1978; Kirshner et al.1981; Rood 1981 and references that he gives). Since their creation has been attributed to the effects of gravitational instability (cf. Zeldovich, Einasto & Shandarin 1982; Coles, Melott & Shandarin 1993; Peebles 2001 and references therein), the distribution of voids on large scales could provide important constraints on models of structure formation. From N-body simulations it has become evident that in the hierarchical structure formation scenario, matter collapses and forms high density objects, like clusters and superclusters, and enhance the underdense regions between them (cf. Melott et al. 1983). Therefore, if the above view is correct then the morphological and statistical properties of voids (size, shape) should depend on the initial power spectrum $`P(k)`$ and on the density parameter $`\mathrm{\Omega }_{}`$ (cf. White 1979; Melott 1987; Einasto, Einasto & Gramann 1989; Regös & Geller 1991; Ryden & Melott 1996). Blaes, Goldreich & Villumsen (1990) and Van de Weygaert & Van Kampen (1993) studied the morphological properties of voids and found, that the latter structures become nearly spherical in their very underdense internal regions.

In order to study in an objective manner the distribution of voids and their physical properties it is necessary to develop objective void-finding algorithms and to apply them onto well controlled data. Such attempts were pioneered by Kauffmann & Fairall (1991), Kauffmann & Melott (1992) and more recently by El-Ad, Piran & da Costa (1996), El-Ad & Piran (1997) and Stavrev (2000). El-Ad, Piran & da Costa (1997) applied their void-finding algorithm to the IRAS 1.2Jy galaxy catalogue and found, within 80 $`h^1`$ Mpc, 15 voids with an average diameter of $`40\pm 6h^1`$Mpc. Müller et al. (2001) have also studied the distribution of voids and their sizes using the large Las Campanas Redshift Survey and compared their properties with CDM simulations. They found that although the void-size distribution provides important information on the large-scale distribution of matter, galaxy biasing seems more important in defining voids than differences between the cosmological models.

In this paper we use the PSCz-IRAS redshift survey in order to measure the void size and shape distributions in the local universe and to investigate whether these distributions can be used as cosmological probes. The plan of the paper is the following: In section 2 we briefly describe the PSCz data. In section 3 we present the void identification and shape determination procedure, the systematic effects that affect the PSCz void detection and our results. We compare our PSCz results with the corresponding ones of six cosmological models in section 4 and finally in section 5 we draw our conclusions.

## 2 The PSCz galaxy sample

In our analysis we use the recently completed IRAS flux-limited 60-$`\mu `$m redshift survey (PSCz) which is described in Saunders et al. (2000). The PSCz catalogue contains $`15500`$ galaxies with flux $`S_{lim}0.6`$ Jy covering the $`84\%`$ of the sky.

To construct an unbiased continuous density field we have to take into account the well-known degradation of sampling as a function of distance due to the fact that the PSCz catalogue is a flux limited sample. This is done by weighting each galaxy by the inverse selection function, assuming that the fainter unobserved galaxies are spatially correlated with the bright observed ones. Note that the selection function is defined as the fraction of the galaxy number density that is observed above the flux limit at some distance $`r`$. We estimate the selection function by using the functional form of the IRAS galaxy luminosity function of Saunders et al. (1990) with parameters: $`L_{}=10^{8.45}h^2L_{}`$, $`\sigma =0.711`$, $`\alpha =1.09`$ and $`C=0.0308`$ (Rowan-Robinson et al. 2000).

In order to treat the 16% excluded sky (galactic plane, high cirrus emission areas and unobserved regions) we use the PSCz data reduction of Branchini et al. (1999), in which they followed the Yahil et al. (1991) method to fill the galactic plane region. This method consists of dividing the Galactic strip into 36 bins of 10 in longitude and in distance bins of 1000 km/sec width. The galaxy distribution in each bin is then simulated by random sampling the adjacent galactic latitude and distance strips. Therefore the local density fluctuations are extrapolated in the galactic plane. In the high Galactic latitudes, the unobserved regions are filled homogeneously with simulated galaxies following the PSCz radial selection function.

Finally, in this kind of analysis it is essential to transform redshifts to 3D distances in order to minimise the so called “Kaiser” effect. This effect can be understood by noting that the distribution of galaxies in redshift space is a distorted representation of that in real comoving space due to their peculiar velocities (Kaiser 1987). In this paper we use the 3D distances determined by the iterative algorithm of Branchini et al (1999) in which they assume that (a) peculiar velocities are produced by gravitational instability (b) non-linear effects can be neglected once the density field is smoothed and (c) galaxies and mass fluctuations are related through a linear biasing relation with $`\beta =0.5`$111$`\beta =\mathrm{\Omega }_{}^{0.6}/b_{\mathrm{IRAS}}`$, with $`b_{\mathrm{IRAS}}`$ the IRAS bias factor. Our results remain qualitatively the same also for $`\beta =1`$., This value of $`\beta `$ is strongly suggested from the Branchini et al. (2001) comparison between the PSCz density field and the SFI galaxy velocities (cf. Haynes et al. 1999).

## 3 PSCz Voids

### 3.1 Smoothing Procedure

For the purpose of this study we need to derive from the discrete distribution of PSCz galaxies a smooth continuous density field. This is realized by utilizing a Gaussian kernel on a $`N^3`$ grid and using two smoothing radii, namely $`R_{\mathrm{sm}}=5h^1`$ Mpc and 10 $`h^1`$ Mpc, to probe essentially different void sizes.

As we verified in Basilakos, Plionis & Rowan-Robisnon (2001), the coupling between the selection function and the constant radius smoothing, results in a distorted smoothed density distribution, especially at large distances. Gaussian spheres, centered on distant cells, overestimate the true density in regions where galaxies are detected (due to the heavy selection function weighting), while in underdense regions they underestimate the true density. Using numerical simulations, Basilakos et al. (2001) identified the depth out to which these distortions are relatively small and developed a phenomenological approach to correct such biases. Their procedure is effective in recovering especially the high-density end of the probability density function (pdf).

In the present study we use such a corrected density field and based on the above analysis we extend our smoothing procedure out to $`r_{max}`$, where $`r_{max}=130`$ and 170 $`h^1`$ Mpc respectively for the two smoothing radii while the size of each cell is set equal to $`R_{\mathrm{sm}}`$. We will investigate further possible systematic effects of our method and data by using a Monte-Carlo approach in section 3.4.

### 3.2 Void Detection

In order to find our void candidates we select all grid-cells with $`|b|10^{}`$ and with an overdensity under a chosen threshold and then join together those having common boundaries. Due to the fact that voids should be identified as low density regions, the threshold value of the overdensity ($`\delta _{\mathrm{th}}`$) could be defined directly from the probability density function as its 10$`\%`$-ile value ($`\delta _{th}=0.68`$ and -0.39 for the $`R_{sm}=5h^1`$Mpc and $`R_{sm}=10h^1`$Mpc respectively). Using higher values of $`\delta _{\mathrm{th}}`$ we tend to connect voids and percolate underdense regions through the whole volume. Finally, we choose to analyse the above candidate voids for two different limiting distances, namely $`r_{\mathrm{lim}}80h^1`$Mpc for $`R_{\mathrm{sm}}=5`$ $`h^1`$ Mpc, and $`r_{\mathrm{lim}}130`$ $`h^1`$ Mpc for $`R_{\mathrm{sm}}=10`$ $`h^1`$ Mpc respectively in order to avoid distance dependent systematic effects (see section 3.4 and figure 1).

### 3.3 Shape Statistics

Shapes are estimated for those “voids” that consist of 8 or more connected underdense cells, utilizing the moments of inertia ($`I_{ij}`$) method to fit the best triaxial ellipsoid to the data (cf. Carter & Metcalfe 1980; Plionis, Barrow & Frenk 1991; Basilakos et al. 2001). We diagonalize the inertia tensor

$$\mathrm{det}(I_{ij}\lambda ^2M_3)=0(\mathrm{M}_3\mathrm{is}\mathrm{\hspace{0.33em}3}\times 3\mathrm{unit}\mathrm{matrix}),$$
(1)
obtaining the eigenvalues $`\alpha _1`$, $`\alpha _2`$, $`\alpha _3`$ (where $`\alpha _1`$ is the semi-major axes) from which we define the shape of the configuration since, the eigenvalues are directly related to the three principal axes of the fitted ellipsoid. The volume of each void is then $`V=\frac{4\pi }{3}\alpha _1\alpha _2\alpha _3`$. According to the logic of our void-finder, 8 underdense cells in a row can be connected to form a ’void’, which would then appear as purely prolate.

The shape statistic procedure, that we use, is based on a differential geometry approach, introduced by Sahni et al (1998) \[for application to astronomical data see Basilakos et al. 2001\]. Here we review only some basic concepts. A set of three shapefinders are defined having dimensions of length; $`_1=VS^1`$, $`_2=SC^1`$ and $`_3=C`$, with $`S`$ the surface area and $`C`$ the integrated mean curvature. Then it is possible to define a set of two dimensional shapefinders $`K_1`$ and $`K_2`$, as:

$$K_1=\frac{_2_1}{_2+_1}$$
(2)
and

$$K_2=\frac{_3_2}{_3+_2},$$
(3)
normalized to give $`_i=R`$ ($`K_{1,2}=0`$) for a sphere of radius $`R`$. Therefore, based on these shapefinders we can characterise the morphology of cosmic structures (underdense or overdense regions) according to the following categories: (i) oblate-like ellipsoids for $`K_1/K_2>1`$; (ii) prolate-like ellipsoids for $`K_1/K_2<1`$; (iii) triaxial for $`K_1/K_21`$ and (iv) spheres for $`\alpha _1\alpha _2\alpha _3`$ and thus $`(K_1,K_2)(0,0)`$. For the quasi-spherical objects the ratio $`K_1/K_2`$ measures the deviation from pure sphericity.

### 3.4 Test for systematic errors

We run a large number of Monte-Carlo simulations in which we destroy the intrinsic PSCz galaxy clustering by randomising the angular coordinates of the galaxies while keeping their distances and therefore their selection function unchanged. On this intrinsically random galaxy distribution, utilizing the procedure described before, we identify the expected random voids, $`N_{\mathrm{rand}}`$, which are due to our void-identification method itself. In figure 1 we plot for the different smoothing radii, the probability of detecting real voids in the PSCz data, defined as $`𝒫=1N_{\mathrm{rand}}/N_{\mathrm{PSCz}}`$, as well as the number of real PSCz voids, $`N_{\mathrm{PSCz}}`$. In the presence of negligible systematic biases in our method and data, the above selection process should result in $`𝒫1`$, at all distances.

We find that the number of random voids increases with distance, a fact which should be attributed to the coupling of the PSCz selection function (ie., the degradation of the observed mean galaxy density as a function of distance which produces an inherently noisier density field at large distances) and the constant radius smoothing. Our phenomenological method of recovering the true density field (Basilakos et al. 2001) is multiplicative in nature and thus it is unable to correct the low and zero density cells. Therefore, the lower part of the pdf cannot be recovered efficiently. In particular we find that for $`R_{\mathrm{sm}}=5h^1`$Mpc smoothing radius (figure 1, squares), we have $`𝒫>0.8`$ for detecting real voids within $`r80^1`$Mpc while for the $`R_{\mathrm{sm}}=10h^1`$Mpc smoothing radius (figure 1, circles), a similar probability is found within $`r130^1`$Mpc. Note that for the largest voids in our sample this probability is much larger ($`>`$0.98).

### 3.5 The PSCz Void Cosmography

In figure 2 we plot the smoothed PSCz galaxy distribution on the supergalactic plane out to 90 $`h^1`$ Mpc. The contour step is $`\mathrm{\Delta }\delta =0.6`$, starting from $`\delta _{th}=0.68`$) while the $`\delta =0`$ level appears as a thick continuous line. All major known clusters are present, like the Virgo cluster at $`X_{sup}5`$, $`Y_{sup}5`$; the Hydra-Centaurus at $`X_{sup}35`$, $`Y_{sup}15`$; the Perseus at $`X_{sup}50`$, $`Y_{sup}20`$ and the Coma at $`X_{sup}0`$, $`Y_{sup}70`$. We also plot the voids that we have detected as big circles while as crosses we mark the IRAS 1.2Jy voids found by El-Ad et al. (1997). We observe that our respective voids have almost identical positions. However, we do not detect two IRAS 1.2Jy voids, which in one case is due to a slight difference in the void $`Z_{sup}`$-position (our void No5 in table 1) and in the other it is probably due to our adopted overdensity threshold. Furthermore, the underdense region at the upper right section of the density map extends to higher $`Z_{sup}`$ and constitutes a large void (our No 12).

Details for those voids that consist of 8 or more cells are presented in table 1 and 2 for both smoothing radii; the different columns being self explanatory. Evidently 8 voids out of 14 are prolate-like ellipsoids and the rest oblate-like. While from table 2, we see that we have a slight excess of oblate-like voids, with one purely triaxial void ($`K_1/K_21`$). Regarding extreme shaped voids, we have found, in the $`R_{sm}=5`$ $`h^1`$Mpc field, two very prolate voids (see table 1: void 2 and 9), while in the $`R_{sm}=10`$ $`h^1`$ Mpc field, we again find two such prolate-like voids (see table 2: voids 6 and 8).

The median value of the semi-major void axes is $`20`$ $`h^1`$ Mpc and $`28`$ $`h^1`$ Mpc for $`R_{sm}=5`$ $`h^1`$ Mpc and $`R_{sm}=10`$ $`h^1`$ Mpc fields respectively, in good agreement with the results of El-Ad et al (1997).

If we had used the redshift space PSCz density field we would have found the same voids, with a similar size distribution but biased towards prolate shapes.

## 4 Comparison with Cosmological Models

We use mock PSCz catalogues (Branchini et al. 1999) generated from six large cosmological N-body simulations of Cole et al. (1998), in order to investigate whether void properties (shapes and numbers) can discriminate between models. We consider six different cold dark matter models, which are presented in table 3.

For each cosmological model we average results over 10 nearly independent mock PSCz catalogues extending out to a radius of 170 $`h^1`$Mpc which were produced by Enzo Branchini (see Branchini et al 1999). Good care was taken to center the catalogues to suitable LG-like observers (having similar to the observed Local Group velocity, shear and overdensity). Note that due to our ignorance in assigning galaxy formation sites to the DM halo distribution and for a consistent treatment of all models, a biasing factor of 1 has been used in generating the PSCz look-alikes.

We analyse the mock PSCz catalogues density fields (with $`R_{sm}=5`$ $`h^1`$ Mpc) in the same fashion as that of the observed PSCz catalogue. We find that the void shape distribution cannot discriminate among the different models, a result which is similar with the shape-spectrum analysis of superclusters (see Basilakos et al 2001).

In figure 3 we plot the PSCz void-size frequency distribution in logarithmic bins and compare it with the outcome of all six models (hatched regions). We see that the models with similar value of $`\sigma _8`$ produce similar void-size distributions. We have verified this by using a Kolmogorov-Smirnov test on the unbinned distribution of void-sizes from all 10 realizations. Indeed, all pairs of model void-size distributions are excluded from being drawn from the same parent population at a high significance level ($`>99.9\%`$), except for pairs that have similar values of $`\sigma _8`$, ie., $`\mathrm{\Lambda }_{\mathrm{CDM1}}`$-CCDM, $`\mathrm{\Lambda }_{\mathrm{CDM2}}`$-OCDM and SCDM-$`\tau _{\mathrm{CDM}}`$, which appear absolutely consistent among them.

Since in the model-data comparison we deal with only one realization of the Local Void distribution and since we have only 14 such voids, a rather small number for the K-S test to give reliable results (as we have verified using the K-S test with single model realizations), we quantify the differences between models and data by performing a standard binned $`\chi ^2`$ test, taking into account the scatter from the 10 different PSCz-like realizations. These probabilities are presented in table 4. Note the limitations of this test due to the large covariance between bins. However, by applying it to the model distributions, for which we have reliable KS probabilities, we can assess its reliability.

Comparing the void-size distributions of the models among themselves we see that the $`\chi ^2`$ test is less sensitive to differences among the models with respect to the K-S test. With the exception of the CCDM and $`\tau _{\mathrm{CDM}}`$ models, which cannot be discriminated against, the other models follow the overall behaviour found by the K-S test when it was applied to the voids of all 10 realizations.

Regarding the comparison between the PSCz and model voids, we see from both figure 3 and table 4 that the only models that fit the PSCz data, at a high significance level, are models with $`\sigma _8=0.83`$; ie., the $`\mathrm{\Lambda }_{\mathrm{CDM2}}`$ and OCDM, confirming the visual impression. Equivalent results are found by comparing the largest or most extremely shaped void of each realization with that of the PSCz data. This is not to say that an $`\mathrm{\Omega }_{}=0.5`$ should be preferred but rather that a $`\sigma _80.83`$ CDM model is consistent with the data (similar results are found from the whole pdf study; Plionis & Basilakos 2001).

## 5 Conclusions

We have studied the properties of voids detected in the smoothed PSCz galaxy density field as connected regions under some overdensity threshold. We have investigated the biases that enter in the detection of voids using our procedure and the PSCz smoothed density field. We reliably detect 14 voids within 80 $`h^1`$ Mpc, in the $`R_{sm}=5`$ $`h^1`$ Mpc smoothed field, having a median semi-major axis of $`20`$ $`h^1`$ Mpc and 8 voids in the relatively more distant Universe ($`r130`$ $`h^1`$ Mpc) for the $`R_{sm}=10`$ $`h^1`$ Mpc smoothed field, having a median semi-major axis $`28`$ $`h^1`$ Mpc. Finally, we have compared our PSCz void-size distribution with the corresponding ones generated from six cosmological models and we find that the CDM models that best reproduce the PSCz results are those with $`\sigma _80.83`$, independent of cosmology.

## Acknowledgments

S.Basilakos has benefited from discussions with P.Coles. M.Plionis acknowledges the hospitality of the Astrophysics Group of Imperial College. We both thank E.Branchini for providing us with his reconstructed PSCz galaxy distribution and the PSCz look-alikes. We both thank the referee, M.Vogeley, for helpful comments and suggestions.


text:
# A double-slit quantum eraser

## I introduction

Wave-particle duality, a manifestation of the complementarity principle, proposes many questions about the behavior of particles in interferometers. It has long been known that which-path information and visibility of interference fringes are complementary quantities: any distinguishability between the paths of an interferometer destroys the quality (visibility) of the interference fringes. The incompatibility between which-path information and interference effects has been quantified through inequalities by various authors . Originally, it was thought that the uncertainty principle was the mechanism responsible for the absence of interference fringes due to a which-path measurement. The first and perhaps most famous example of this idea is the Einstein-Bohr dialogue at the Fifth Solvay conference in Brussels concerning Einstein’s recoiling double-slit gedanken experiment, in which the momentum transfer from incident particles to the double-slit is measured to determine the particles’ trajectories. However, Bohr showed that the uncertainty in the knowledge of the double-slit’s initial position was of the same order of magnitude as the space between the interference minima and maxima: interference fringes were “washed out” due to the uncertainty principle.

More recently, Scully and Drühl have shown that, in certain cases, we can attribute this loss of interference not to the uncertainty principle but to quantum entanglement between the interfering particles and the measuring apparatus.

For example, disregarding internal degrees of freedom, we can represent the state of particles exiting an interferometer by

$$|\mathrm{\Psi }=\frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}(|\psi _1(𝐫)+|\psi _2(𝐫)),$$
(1)
where $`|\psi _1(𝐫)`$ and $`|\psi _2(𝐫)`$ represent the possibility for the particles to take path $`1`$ or $`2`$, respectively. The probability distribution for one particle detection at a point $`𝐫`$ is given by $`|𝐫|\mathrm{\Psi }|^2`$; the cross terms $`\psi _1(𝐫)|𝐫𝐫|\psi _2(𝐫)`$ and $`\psi _2(𝐫)|𝐫𝐫|\psi _1(𝐫)`$ are responsible for interference. The introduction of an apparatus $`M`$ capable of marking the path taken by a particle without disturbing $`|\psi _1(𝐫)`$ or $`|\psi _2(𝐫)`$ can be represented by the expansion of the Hilbert space of the system in the following way:

$$|\mathrm{\Psi }=\frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}(|\psi _1(𝐫)|M_1+|\psi _2(𝐫)|M_2),$$
(2)
where $`|M_j`$ is the state of the which-path marker corresponding to the possibility of passage through the path $`j`$. The which-path marker has become entangled with the two possible particle states. A $`100`$% effective which-path marker is prepared such that $`|M_1`$ is orthogonal to $`|M_2`$. In this case, a measurement of $`M`$ reduces $`|\mathrm{\Psi }`$ to the appropriate state for the passage of the particle through path $`1`$ or $`2`$. However, the disappearance of the interference pattern is not dependent on such a measurement. The which-path marker’s presence alone is sufficient to make the two terms on the right-hand side of equation (2) orthogonal and thus there will be no cross terms in $`|𝐫|\mathrm{\Psi }|^2`$. Therefore, it is enough that the which-path information is available to destroy interference. Moreover, provided that $`|\psi _1(𝐫)`$ and $`|\psi _2(𝐫)`$ are not significantly perturbed by the observer, one can *erase* the which-path information and recover interference by correlating the particle detection with an appropriate measurement on the which-path markers. Such a measurement is known as *quantum erasure*. In addition, if the which-path marker is capable of storing information, the erasure can be performed even after the detection of the particle. The possibility of delayed erasure generated a discussion in respect to it’s legitimacy, with the argument that it would be possible, in this way, to alter the past . This argument is founded on an erroneous interpretation of the formalism of quantum mechanics . In recent years, there have been a number of ideas and experiments (performed and proposed) in which which-path information is accessible without causing severe perturbations to the interfering particles . Among the proposals, we distinguish the ones due to Scully and Drühl  and to Scully, Englert and Walther  due to their originality and pedagogical content.

Due to their momentum, time and polarization correlation properties, photon pairs generated by spontaneous parametric down-conversion play an important role in the experimental demonstrations of quantum erasure . Although the quantum erasure phenomenon is present in all reported experiments, only one  can be considered an optical analog of the original proposal of Scully and Drühl . In this paper we report a quantum eraser experiment which actually uses a Young double-slit to create interference. The experiment is analyzed in connection with the proposal of Scully, Englert and Walther (SEW) . To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first demonstration of a quantum eraser in which interference is obtained from the passage of the particles through a real double-slit.

In section II we give a brief summary of the SEW quantum eraser. The theory behind our quantum eraser is presented in section III. The experimental setup and results are presented in sections IV and V, respectively.

## II THE SEW QUANTUM ERASER

The experiment reported here is inspired by the proposal of Scully, Englert and Walther , which can be summarized as follows: A beam of Rydberg atoms in an excited state is incident on a double-slit small enough to form a Young interference pattern on a distant screen. In front of each slit is placed a which-path marker, which consists of a micromaser cavity of appropriate length such that the emission probability for an atom traversing the cavity is $`1`$. Then, the presence of a photon in either cavity marks the passage of an atom through the corresponding slit and thus destroys the interference pattern, because which-path information is now available. The perturbation to the spatial part of the wave function of the atoms due to the cavities is ignorable . A measurement that projects the state of the cavities onto a symmetric (antisymmetric) combination of $`|0`$ (no photon present) and $`|1`$ (one photon present) performs the erasure, and an interference pattern is recovered in correlated detection.

## III AN OPTICAL BELL-STATE QUANTUM ERASER

Consider the following experimental setup: A linearly polarized beam of photons is incident on a double-slit. If the double slit is of appropriate dimensions, the probability distribution for a one-photon detection at a distant screen is given by a Young interference pattern. Suppose that in front of each slit we place a quarter-wave plate, with the fast axis at an angle of $`45^{}`$ (or $`45^{}`$) with respect to the photon polarization direction. Upon traversing either one of the waveplates, the photon becomes circularly polarized, and acquires a well-defined angular momentum . Supposing that the waveplate is free to rotate, it should acquire an angular momentum opposite to that of the photon, and rotate right or left, depending on the chirality of the photon. If we treat each waveplate as a quantum rotor, we can say that the photon induced a transition with $`\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{}=\pm 1`$. Since the waveplates don’t significantly modify the propagation of the beam, we have, in principle, a which-path marker with necessary characteristics for a quantum eraser. However, this scheme is far from being practical. Besides the difficulty to set the waveplates free to rotate, the separation between the energy levels of a rotor with the mass and dimensions of a waveplate is of the order $`10^{40}`$ eV. In addition, decoherence effects may make it impossible to use macroscopic quantum rotors to mark the path of a photon. This idea is similar to the “haunted measurement” of Greenberger and Ya’sin .

By enlarging the system, however, it is possible to create an adequate which-path detector. Let the beam of photons incident on the double-slit be entangled with a second beam freely propagating in another direction, so as to define a Bell state

$$|\mathrm{\Psi }=\frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}(|x_s|y_p+|y_s|x_p),$$
(3)
where the indices $`s`$ and $`p`$ indicate the two beams, and $`x`$ and $`y`$ represent orthogonal linear polarizations. If beam $`s`$ is incident on the double-slit (without waveplates), state (3) is transformed to

$$|\mathrm{\Psi }=\frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}(|\psi _1+|\psi _2),$$
(4)
where

$$|\psi _1=\frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}(|x_{s1}|y_p+|y_{s1}|x_p),$$
(5)
$$|\psi _2=\frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}(|x_{s2}|y_p+|y_{s2}|x_p).$$
(6)
The indices $`s1`$ and $`s2`$ refer to beams generated by slit $`1`$ and slit $`2`$, respectively. The probability distribution for one-photon detection on a screen placed in the far field region of the overlapping beams $`s1`$ $`s2`$ will show the usual interference:

$$P_s(\delta )1+\mathrm{cos}\delta ,$$
(7)
where $`\delta `$ is the phase difference between the paths: slit $`1`$ detector and slit $`2`$ detector. Introducing the $`\lambda /4`$ plates one in front of each slit with the fast axes at angles $`\theta _1=45^{}`$ and $`\theta _2=45^{}`$, with the $`x`$ direction, states $`|\psi _1`$ and $`|\psi _2`$ are transformed to

$$|\psi _1=\frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}(|L_{s1}|y_p+i|R_{s1}|x_p),$$
(8)
$$|\psi _2=\frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}(|R_{s2}|y_pi|L_{s2}|x_p),$$
(9)
where $`R`$ and $`L`$ represent right and left circular polarizations. Since $`|\psi _1`$ and $`|\psi _2`$ have orthogonal polarizations, there is no possibility of interference. In order to recover interference, let us project the state of the system over the symmetric and antisymmetric states of the which-path detector. This is equivalent to transforming $`|\psi _1`$ and $`|\psi _2`$ in a way that expresses them as symmetric and antisymmetric combinations of polarizations, for example,

$$|x=\frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}(|++|),$$
(10)
$$|y=\frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}(|+|),$$
(11)
$$|R=\frac{1i}{2}(|++i|),$$
(12)
$$|L=\frac{1i}{2}(i|++|),$$
(13)
where “$`+`$” and “$``$” represent polarizations $`+45^{}`$ and $`45^{}`$ with respect to $`x`$. Rewriting the complete state $`|\mathrm{\Psi }`$, we have

$$|\mathrm{\Psi }=\frac{1}{2}\left[(|+_{s1}i|+_{s2})|+_p+i(|_{s1}+i|_{s2})|_p\right]$$
(14)
According to the above expression, we can recover interference projecting the state of photon $`p`$ over $`|+_p`$ or $`|_p`$. Experimentally, this can be done by placing a polarizer in the path of beam $`p`$ and orientating it at +45 to select $`|+_p`$ or at -45 to select $`|_p`$. The interference pattern is recovered through the coincidence detection of photons $`s`$ and $`p`$. Notice that the fringes obtained in the two cases are out of phase. They are commonly called *fringes* and *anti-fringes*.

### A Obtaining which-path information

Which-path information can be obtained by considering the polarization of both photons $`s`$ and $`p`$. The process of obtaining information can be separated into two schemes: Detecting $`p`$ before $`s`$, or detecting $`s`$ before $`p`$, which we refer to as *delayed erasure*. This can be done by changing the relative lengths of beams $`s`$ and $`p`$. We will assume that one photon is detected much earlier than the arrival of the other photon at the measuring devices. Let us consider the first possibility. If photon $`p`$ is detected with polarization $`x`$ (say), then we know that photon $`s`$ has polarization $`y`$ before hitting the $`\lambda /4`$ plates and the double slit. By looking at equations (4), (8) and (9)) it is clear that detection of photon $`s`$ (after the double slit) with polarization $`R`$ is compatible only with the passage of $`s`$ through slit $`1`$ and polarization $`L`$ is compatible only with the passage of $`s`$ through slit $`2`$. This can be verified experimentally. In usual quantum mechanics language, detection of photon $`p`$ before photon $`s`$ has prepared photon $`s`$ in a certain state.

### B Delayed erasure

The possibility of obtaining which-path information after the detection of photon $`s`$ leads to delayed choice . Delayed choice creates situations in which it is important to have a clear notion of the physical significance of quantum mechanics. A good discussion can be found in references . In as much as our quantum eraser does not allow the experimenter to *choose* to observe which-path information or an interference pattern after the detection of photon $`s`$, it does allow for the detection of photon $`s`$ before photon $`p`$, a situation to which we refer to as *delayed erasure*. The question is: “Does the order of detection of the two photons affect the experimental results?”

## IV EXPERIMENTAL SETUP AND PROCEDURE

For certain propagation directions, type II spontaneous parametric down conversion (SPDC) in a nonlinear crystal creates the state

$$|\mathrm{\Psi }=\frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}(|o_s|e_p+e^{i\varphi }|e_s|o_p),$$
(15)
where $`o`$ and $`e`$ refer to ordinary and extraordinary polarizations. $`\varphi `$ is a relative phase shift due to the crystal birrefringence. If $`\varphi =0`$ or $`\pi `$ we have the Bell states $`|\mathrm{\Psi }^+`$ and $`|\mathrm{\Psi }^{}`$, respectively.

Using this state in the interferometer described in the previous section, the probability of detecting photons in coincidence is proportional to

$$\frac{1}{2}+\left[\frac{1}{2}\mathrm{sin}^2(\theta +\alpha )\mathrm{cos}^2\frac{\varphi }{2}\mathrm{sin}^2(\theta \alpha )\mathrm{sin}^2\frac{\varphi }{2}\right]\mathrm{sin}\delta ,$$
(16)
where $`\delta `$ is defined right after expression (7), $`\theta `$ is the smallest angle between the fast (slow) axis of the quarter-wave plates and the $`o`$ axis and $`\alpha `$ is the angle of the polarizer in path $`p`$, with respect to the $`o`$ axis.

The experimental setup is shown in FIG 1. An Argon laser (351.1 nm at $`200`$ mW) is used to pump a 1mm long BBO ($`\beta `$-BaB2O4) crystal, generating $`702.2`$ nm entangled photons by spontaneous parametric down-conversion. The BBO crystal is cut for type-II phase matching. The pump beam is focused onto the crystal plane using a 1 m focal length lens to the increase transverse coherence length at the double-slit. The width of the pump beam at the focus is approximately $`0.5`$mm. The orthogonally polarized entangled photons leave the BBO crystal each at an angle of $`3^{}`$ with the pump beam. In the path of photon $`p`$ a polarizer cube (POL1) can be inserted in order to perform the quantum erasure. The double-slit and quarter-wave plates are placed in path $`s`$, 42 cm from the BBO crystal. Detectors $`D_s`$ and $`D_p`$ are located 125 cm and 98 cm from the BBO crystal, respectively. QWP1 and QWP2 are quarter-wave plates with fast axes at an angle of 45. The circular quarter-wave plates were sanded (tangentially) so as to fit together in front of the double-slit. The openings of the double-slit are $`200\mu `$m wide and separated by a distance of $`200\mu `$m. The detectors are EG& G SPCM 200 photodetectors, equipped with interference filters (bandwidth 1 nm) and $`300\mu `$m $`\times `$ $`5`$ mm rectangular collection slits. A stepping motor is used to scan detector $`D_s`$.

The delayed erasure setup is similar, with two changes: ($`i`$) detector $`D_p`$ and POL1 were placed at a new distance of 2 meters from the BBO crystal and ($`ii`$) the collection iris on detector $`D_p`$ has dimensions $`600\mu `$m $`\times `$ $`5`$ mm.

## V EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS

Before the quantum eraser experiment was performed, Bell’s inequality tests were performed to verify that entangled states were being detected . Figure 2 shows the standard Young interference pattern obtained with the double-slit placed in the path of photon $`s`$, without quarter-wave plates QWP1 and QWP2, and with POL1 absent from detector $`D_p`$. Next, the path of photon $`s`$ was marked by placing the quarter-wave plates QWP1 and QWP2 in front of the double-slit. Figure 3 shows the absence of interference due to the quarter-wave plates. Nearly all interference present in figure 2 was destroyed. The residual interference present is due to a small error in aligning the quarter-wave plates. The which-path information was *erased* and interference recovered by placing the linear polarizer POL1 in front of detector $`D_p`$. To recover interference, the polarization angle of POL1 ($`\alpha `$) was set to $`\theta `$, the angle of the fast axis of quarter-wave plate QWP1. Interference fringes were obtained as shown in figure 4. The detection time was doubled in order to compensate for the decrease in coincidence counts due to POL1. In figure 5, POL1 was set to $`\theta +\frac{\pi }{2}`$, the angle of the fast axis of QWP2, which produced a pattern of interference anti-fringes. The averaged sum of these two interference patterns gives a pattern roughly equal to that of figure 3.

The same experimental procedure was used to produce figures 6 \- 9 for the delayed erasure situation. The experimental results are comparable to the case in which photon $`p`$ is detected before photon $`s`$. We use the term “delayed choice” loosely, in that in our experiment there is no “choice” available to the observer in the time period after the detection of photons $`s`$ and before the detection of photon $`p`$. We simply wish to show that the order of detection is not important, in concordance with the literature.

## VI CONCLUSION

We have presented a quantum eraser which uses a Young double-slit to create interference. The quarter-wave plates in our experiment served as the which-path markers to destroy interference. We recovered interference using the entanglement of photons $`s`$ and $`p`$. Our quantum eraser is very similar to the that of Scully, Englert and Walther. We have shown that interference can be destroyed, by marking the path of the interfering photon, and recovered, by making an appropriate measurement on the other entangled photon. We have also investigated this experiment under the conditions of delayed erasure, in which the interfering photon $`s`$ is detected before photon $`p`$. In as much as our experiment did not allow for the observer to *choose* the polarization angle in the time period after photon $`s`$ was detected and before detection of $`p`$, our results show that a *collapse* of the wave function due to detection of photon $`s`$ does not prohibit one from observing the expected results. Our experimental data agrees with the proposal of Scully, Englert and Walther, that quantum erasure can be performed after the interfering particle has been detected .

## VII ACKNOWLEDGMENT

The authors acknowledge financial support from the Brazilian agencies CNPq, CAPES, FINEP, PRONEX, and FAPEMIG.