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# Calculating Limits and Colimits in Pro-Categories

## 1. Introduction

Pro-categories have found various uses over the past few decades, from algebraic geometry    to shape theory    to geometric topology  to applied mathematics \[6, Appendix\]. Unfortunately, the definition of a pro-category is subtle and complicated. The technical complexity of many papers using pro-categories bears this out. As an example of the subtlety of pro-categories, it was only recently discovered  that the category $`\text{pro-}𝒞`$ is cocomplete whenever $`𝒞`$ is cocomplete. (One must carefully interpret \[2, App. 4.3\], which discusses colimits in pro-categories. This result shows that $`\text{pro-}𝒞`$ is cocomplete when $`𝒞`$ is small, which is useful for categories like pro-finite groups but not useful for categories like pro-sets or pro-spaces.)

In several recent projects involving pro-categories    , we have found it necessary to compute various limits and colimits. Since these different computations are similar, we have collected them together in this article. We hope that these calculational tools will be useful to others studying pro-categories.

We begin in Section 2 with a review of the necessary background on pro-categories. We emphasize two important and well-known facts about pro-objects because they are central to the techniques in this paper. First, every pro-object is isomorphic to a pro-object indexed by a cofinite directed set. Second, every map in a pro-category has a level representation.

The category of arrows $`\text{Ar}(\text{pro-}𝒞)`$ in a pro-category is equivalent to the pro-category $`\text{pro-}(\text{Ar}𝒞)`$ . More generally, for any finite loopless category $`A`$, the functor category $`(\text{pro-}𝒞)^A`$ is equivalent to $`\text{pro-}(𝒞^A)`$. We introduce in Section 3 a new reindexing result for a class of infinite diagrams. Unfortunately, we cannot conclude that $`(\text{pro-}𝒞)^A`$ and $`\text{pro-}(𝒞^A)`$ are equivalent for our class of indexing diagrams $`A`$, but we do have an essentially surjective functor

$$\text{pro-}(𝒞^A)(\text{pro-}𝒞)^A.$$

This means that every diagram in $`\text{pro-}𝒞`$ has a level representation. The functor is not an equivalence in general, but fortunately this is not necessary for our purposes. In Section 3.1, we specialize to a particular situation involving diagrams of strict pro-maps. This is critical for a theorem about hypercover descent for the étale topological type .

With this reindexing result in hand, we give an explicit description of cofiltered limits in pro-categories. Since every limit can be rewritten in terms of finite limits of loopless diagrams and cofiltered limits, one can in principle describe an arbitrary limit if one can describe these two special kinds.

Calculation of finite limits of loopless diagrams in pro-categories is well-known \[2, App. 4.2\]. One finds a level representation for the diagram and then takes the levelwise limit. Calculation of cofiltered limits in pro-categories is more complicated. The description of these limits in Theorem 4.1 is the essential result of this paper.

This leads to the main applications. Given a class of maps $`C`$, a pro-map is essentially of type $`C`$ if it has a level representation by maps in $`C`$. This kind of pro-map plays a significant role in many studies involving pro-categories. For example, it is central to the abelian structure on the category $`\text{pro-}𝒜`$ for any abelian category $`𝒜`$    . Also, it is an important part of various closed model structures on pro-categories    .

We prove that the class of maps that are essentially of type $`C`$ is closed under filtered limits for any class $`C`$. This fact has several immediate corollaries. The most interesting is that filtered limits are exact in the abelian category $`\text{pro-}𝒜`$ when $`𝒜`$ is any abelian category. Thus, $`\text{pro-}𝒜`$ is very different from familiar abelian categories such as abelian groups, $`R`$-modules, presheaves, or sheaves. The category $`\text{pro-}𝒜`$ has many of the properties of the opposites of these familiar abelian categories, even though it is not equivalent to any of them.

In the last section, we make some constructions of colimits in pro-categories. We include these results because they are similar to ideas in other parts of this paper and are likely to be useful for computing concrete colimits in pro-categories.

We make one brief comment about ind-categories. All the results of this paper dualize because $`\text{ind-}𝒞`$ is equivalent to $`(\text{pro-}𝒞^{\text{op}})^{\text{op}}`$. For example, we could describe filtered colimits in ind-categories. We give no details because ind-categories occur less often in our intended applications. See  for one exception.

## 2. Preliminaries on Pro-Categories

###### Definition 2.1.

For a category $`𝒞`$, the category $`\text{pro-}𝓒`$ has objects all cofiltering diagrams in $`𝒞`$, and

$$\mathrm{Hom}_{\text{pro-}𝒞}(X,Y)=\underset{s}{lim}\underset{t}{colim}\mathrm{Hom}_𝒞(X_t,Y_s).$$

Composition is defined in the natural way.

A category $`I`$ is cofiltering if the following conditions hold: it is non-empty and small; for every pair of objects $`s`$ and $`t`$ in $`I`$, there exists an object $`u`$ together with maps $`us`$ and $`ut`$; and for every pair of morphisms $`f`$ and $`g`$ with the same source and target, there exists a morphism $`h`$ such that $`fh`$ equals $`gh`$. Recall that a category is small if it has only a set of objects and a set of morphisms. A diagram is said to be cofiltering if its indexing category is so.

Objects of $`\text{pro-}𝒞`$ are functors from cofiltering categories to $`𝒞`$. We use both set theoretic and categorical language to discuss indexing categories; hence “$`ts`$” and “$`ts`$” mean the same thing when the indexing category is actually a directed set.

The word “pro-object” refers to objects of pro-categories. A constant pro-object is one indexed by the category with one object and one (identity) map. Let $`c:𝒞\text{pro-}𝒞`$ be the functor taking an object $`X`$ to the constant pro-object with value $`X`$. Note that this functor makes $`𝒞`$ a full subcategory of $`\text{pro-}𝒞`$. The limit functor $`lim^𝒞:\text{pro-}𝒞𝒞`$ is the right adjoint of $`c`$. We shall always write this functor as $`lim^𝒞`$ to distinguish it from the functor $`lim^{\text{pro}}`$, which is the limit internal to the category $`\text{pro-}𝒞`$.

Let $`Y:I𝒞`$ and $`X:J𝒞`$ be arbitrary pro-objects. We say that $`X`$ is cofinal in $`Y`$ if there is a cofinal functor $`F:JI`$ such that $`X`$ is equal to the composite $`YF`$. This means that for every $`s`$ in $`I`$, the overcategory $`Fs`$ is cofiltered. In the case when $`F`$ is an inclusion of directed sets, $`F`$ is cofinal if and only if for every $`s`$ in $`I`$ there exists $`t`$ in $`J`$ such that $`ts`$. The importance of this definition is that $`X`$ is isomorphic to $`Y`$ in $`\text{pro-}𝒞`$.

A level representation of a map $`f:XY`$ is: a cofiltered index category $`I`$; pro-objects $`\stackrel{~}{X}`$ and $`\stackrel{~}{Y}`$ indexed by $`I`$ and isomorphisms $`X\stackrel{~}{X}`$ and $`Y\stackrel{~}{Y}`$; and a collection of maps $`f_s:\stackrel{~}{X}_s\stackrel{~}{Y}_s`$ for all $`s`$ in $`I`$ such that for all $`ts`$ in $`I`$, there is a commutative diagram

and such that the maps $`f_s`$ represent a pro-map $`\stackrel{~}{f}:\stackrel{~}{X}\stackrel{~}{Y}`$ belonging to a commutative square

in $`\text{pro-}𝒞`$. That is, a level representation is just a natural transformation such that the maps $`f_s`$ represent the element $`f`$ of

$$\underset{s}{lim}\underset{t}{colim}\mathrm{Hom}_𝒞(X_t,Y_s)\underset{s}{lim}\underset{t}{colim}\mathrm{Hom}_𝒞(\stackrel{~}{X}_t,\stackrel{~}{Y}_s).$$

Every map has a level representation \[2, Appendix 3.2\] .

More generally, suppose given any diagram $`A\text{pro-}𝒞:aX^a`$. A level representation of $`X`$ is: a cofiltered index category $`I`$; a functor $`\stackrel{~}{X}:A\times I𝒞:(a,s)\stackrel{~}{X}_s^a`$; and isomorphisms $`X^a\stackrel{~}{X}^a`$ such that for every map $`\varphi :ab`$ in $`A`$, $`\stackrel{~}{X}^\varphi `$ is a level representation for $`X^\varphi `$. In other words, $`\stackrel{~}{X}`$ is a uniform level representation for all the maps in the diagram $`X`$. Not every diagram of pro-objects has a level representation.

Suppose that $`X:I𝒞`$ and $`Y:J𝒞`$ are two pro-objects. A strict representation \[9, p. 36\] of a map $`f:XY`$ is a functor $`F:JI`$ and a natural transformation $`\eta :XFY`$ such that the maps $`\eta _s:X_{F(s)}Y_s`$ represent the element $`f`$ of

$$\underset{s}{lim}\underset{t}{colim}\mathrm{Hom}_𝒞(X_t,Y_s).$$

More generally, a strict representation of a diagram $`X`$ in $`\text{pro-}𝒞`$ consists of strict representations $`(F^\varphi ,\eta ^\varphi )`$ for every map $`\varphi `$ in $`X`$ such that for every pair of composable maps $`\varphi `$ and $`\psi `$ in $`X`$, the functor $`F^{\psi \varphi }`$ equals $`F^\varphi F^\psi `$ and the natural transformation $`\eta ^{\psi \varphi }`$ equals $`\eta ^\psi \eta ^\varphi F^\psi `$.

If $`C`$ is a class of objects, then a pro-object $`X`$ is of type $`C`$ if each $`X_s`$ belongs to $`C`$. A pro-object is essentially of type $`C`$ if it is isomorphic to a pro-object of type $`C`$.

Similarly, a level representation $`\stackrel{~}{X}\stackrel{~}{Y}`$ of a map $`XY`$ is of type $`C`$ (where $`C`$ is a class of maps) if each $`\stackrel{~}{X}_s\stackrel{~}{Y}_s`$ belongs to $`C`$. A map is essentially of type $`C`$ if it has a level representation of type $`C`$.

###### Definition 2.2.

A category $`A`$ is loopless if it has no non-identity endomorphisms. A category $`A`$ is cofinite if it is small, loopless, and for every object $`a`$ of $`A`$, the set of arrows in $`A`$ with source $`a`$ is finite.

A pro-object or level representation is cofinite directed if it is indexed by a cofinite directed set.

For every cofiltered category $`J`$, there exists a cofinite directed set $`I`$ and a cofinal functor $`IJ`$ \[8, Th. 2.1.6\] (or \[1, Exposé 1, 8.1.6\]). Therefore, every pro-object is isomorphic to a cofinite directed pro-object. Similarly, every map has a cofinite directed level representation. Thus, it is possible to restrict the definition of a pro-object to only consider cofinite directed sets as index categories. However, we find this unnatural. Many general notions of pro-categories are best expressed in terms of cofiltered categories, not in terms of cofinite directed sets. For example, consider , in which the author assumes that all pro-objects are indexed by directed sets. The construction of limits on pages 12–13 is technically correct, but it produces a pro-object that is not indexed by a directed set!

On the other hand, we find it much easier to work with cofinite directed pro-objects in practice. Thus, most of our results start by assuming without loss of generality that a pro-object is indexed by a cofinite directed set. Cofiniteness is critical because many arguments and constructions proceed inductively.

## 3. Level Representations and Cofiltered Limits

We study in this section the question of replacing diagrams of pro-objects with level representations. We then use level representations to construct cofiltered limits.

One of the fundamental tools for studying pro-categories is the fact that every morphism in a pro-category has a level representation. In fact, every finite loopless diagram in a pro-category has a level representation \[2, App. 3.3\]. The following result  is an elegant explanation of these level representation principles.

###### Theorem 3.1.

Let $`A`$ be any finite loopless category, and let $`𝒞`$ be any category. Then the categories $`\text{pro-}(𝒞^A)`$ and $`(\text{pro-}𝒞)^A`$ are equivalent.

When $`A`$ is the category with two objects and one non-identity morphism, the theorem says that the categories $`\text{Ar}(\text{pro-}𝒞)`$ and $`\text{pro-}(\text{Ar}𝒞)`$ are equivalent. Here $`\text{Ar}(𝒟)`$ is the category whose objects are morphisms in $`𝒟`$ and whose morphisms are commutative squares in $`𝒟`$. This special case will be useful below in Corollaries 5.2 and 5.6.

Beware that the pro-objects of  are indexed by cofiltered categories that are not necessarily small. On the other hand, all of our indexing categories are small; this is an important distinction to keep in mind. Nevertheless, Theorem 3.1 (and its consequences) are still true, as Remark 3.5 indicates.

One important application of Theorem 3.1 is the construction of finite limits in $`\text{pro-}𝒞`$ as stated in the next proposition from \[2, App. 4.2\].

###### Proposition 3.2.

Let $`𝒞`$ be a category with finite limits. Let $`A`$ be a finite loopless category, and let $`X:A\text{pro-}𝒞`$ be a diagram in $`\text{pro-}𝒞`$. Let $`\stackrel{~}{X}:A\times I𝒞`$ be a level representation, where $`I`$ is some cofiltered category, and let $`Z`$ be the pro-object indexed by $`I`$ given by $`Z_s=lim_a^𝒞\stackrel{~}{X}_s^a`$. Then $`Z`$ is isomorphic to $`lim_a^{\text{pro}}X^a`$.

Theorem 3.1 (and therefore Proposition 3.2) also applies when $`𝒞`$ is small and $`A`$ is an arbitrary finite category (possibly having non-trivial endomorphisms) . This is useful for categories such as pro-finite groups but not for pro-sets, pro-spaces, pro-spectra, or pro-abelian groups. Unfortunately, our applications involve categories that are not small, so we do not proceed in this direction. Rather, we generalize in a different direction to the class of cofinite categories as described in Definition 2.2.

Every finite loopless category is cofinite, but other infinite categories may also satisfy these conditions. The most important examples for our purposes are cofinite directed sets. We give more examples of cofinite categories in Section 9 when we study colimits of pro-objects.

###### Theorem 3.3.

Let $`A`$ be a cofinite category, and let $`X:A\text{pro-}𝒞:aX^a`$ be a diagram of pro-objects. Then the diagram $`X`$ has a level representation.

###### Proof.

We may assume that each pro-object $`X^a`$ is cofinite directed with index set $`I^a`$. Choose $`I`$ to be an arbitrary cofinite directed set with cardinality greater than or equal to the cardinalities of every $`I^a`$; this will be the index set for the level representation $`\stackrel{~}{X}`$. Also choose arbitrary set surjections $`h^a:II^a`$.

For every $`a`$, we build a new pro-object $`\stackrel{~}{X}^a`$ by constructing a cofinal function $`f^a:II^a`$ and letting $`\stackrel{~}{X}_s^a`$ equal $`X_{f^a(s)}^a`$.

Fix an element $`a`$ of $`A`$. Assume that the function $`f^b`$ has already been constructed on all indices $`b`$ for which there exists a map $`ab`$ in $`A`$. Then we may proceed by induction because $`A`$ is cofinite.

We may define $`f^a`$ inductively since $`I`$ is cofinite. Let $`s`$ be an index in $`I`$, and suppose that $`f^a`$ has already been defined for $`t<s`$. We choose $`f^a(s)`$ satisfying the following properties. This is possible because there are only finitely many conditions.

First, choose $`f^a(s)`$ sufficiently large so that $`f^a(t)f^a(s)`$ for all $`t<s`$. This guarantees that $`\stackrel{~}{X}^a`$ is a pro-object.

Second, choose $`f^a(s)`$ large enough so that $`f^a(s)h^a(s)`$. This guarantees that $`f^a`$ is cofinal so that the natural map $`X^a\stackrel{~}{X}^a`$ is an isomorphism.

Third, choose $`f^a(s)`$ large enough so that for all maps $`ab`$ in $`A`$, there are maps $`X_{f^a(s)}^aX_{f^b(s)}^b`$ representing $`X^aX^b`$ such that the diagrams

commute for all $`t<s`$. This guarantees that $`\stackrel{~}{X}^a\stackrel{~}{X}^b`$ is a level representation.

Finally, choose $`f^a(s)`$ large enough so that for all pairs of arrows $`ab`$ and $`bc`$ in $`A`$, the diagram

commutes. This guarantees that $`\stackrel{~}{X}`$ is a level representation.

Note that the isomorphisms $`X^a\stackrel{~}{X}^a`$ are given by representatives

$$X_{f^a(s)}^aX_{f^a(s)}^a=\stackrel{~}{X}_s^a$$

that are identity maps. It follows that the diagram

commutes for every map $`ab`$ in $`A`$ because both compositions are given by representatives

$$X_{f^a(s)}^aX_{f^b(s)}^b=\stackrel{~}{X}_s^b.$$

Objects of $`\text{pro-}(𝒞^A)`$ are level representations of diagrams in $`\text{pro-}𝒞`$. This viewpoint gives us a functor $`F:\text{pro-}(𝒞^A)(\text{pro-}𝒞)^A`$.

###### Corollary 3.4.

The functor $`F`$ is essentially surjective in the sense that every object of $`(\text{pro-}𝒞)^A`$ is isomorphic to an object in the image of $`F`$.

###### Proof.

This follows immediately from Theorem 3.3. ∎

###### Remark 3.5.

In general, the functor $`F`$ is not full and faithful unless $`A`$ is finite. We briefly explain why. Let $`X`$ and $`Y`$ be any two objects of $`\text{pro-}(𝒞^A)`$. Then

$$\mathrm{Hom}(X,Y)=\underset{s}{lim}\underset{t}{colim}_a\mathrm{Hom}(X_t^a,Y_s^a),$$

where the symbol $``$ refers to the usual end construction for calculating morphisms in a diagram category \[13, § IX.5\]. On the other hand,

$$\mathrm{Hom}(FX,FY)=_a\underset{s}{lim}\underset{t}{colim}\mathrm{Hom}(X_t^a,Y_s^a).$$

The limit involved in calculating the end does not commute with the colimit unless it is a finite limit. The end is a finite limit if and only if $`A`$ is a finite category.

### 3.1. Level Representations for Strict Diagrams

The reindexing of Theorem 3.3 is very general but also not canonical; one must make choices everywhere. We next study a specific situation in which the reindexing is more natural. This situation arises in .

Suppose given a strict representation of a diagram $`X`$ indexed by $`A`$. Suppose that $`A`$ is cofinite and that the index category $`I^a`$ of each $`X^a`$ has finite limits. If $`I^a`$ is a directed set, then this means that every pair of elements in $`I^a`$ has a least upper bound.

We now discuss a natural way of constructing the reindexing of Theorem 3.3. Let $`I`$ be the product of the categories $`I^a`$ for which $`a`$ is the source of no non-identity maps. The idea is that $`I`$ is the product of the indexing categories of all objects “at the bottom” of the diagram. Note that $`I`$ is cofiltered since arbitrary products preserve cofiltered categories.

For every $`s=(s^a)`$ in $`I`$, define $`\stackrel{~}{X}_s^a`$ to be $`X_t^a`$, where

$$t=\underset{\varphi :ab}{lim}I^\varphi (s^b).$$

The limit is calculated in the category $`I^a`$. The idea is that $`t`$ is the smallest common refinement of the elements $`I^\varphi (s^b)`$ in $`I^a`$. It is straightforward to check that this definition satisfies all of the conditions of Theorem 3.3.

###### Example 3.6.

The main motivation for this discussion of strict representations is that it is critical for the proof of the hypercover descent theorem for étale toplogical types .

For every scheme $`X`$, let $`\text{HRR}(X)`$ be the category of rigid hypercovers of $`X`$ \[9, Prop. 4.3\] . This is the cofiltered index category for the étale topological type $`\text{Et}X`$ of $`X`$, which is a pro-space. Rigid limits  give us finite limits in $`\text{HRR}(X)`$.

For every scheme map $`f:XY`$, rigid pullback  induces a functor $`f^{}:\text{HRR}(Y)\text{HRR}(X)`$. For every rigid hypercover $`U`$ of $`Y`$, there is a canonical rigid hypercover map $`f^{}UU`$. This induces a strict representation of the map $`\text{Et}X\text{Et}Y`$ of pro-spaces.

The rigid pullback functors are compatible under composition in the sense that $`(gf)^{}=f^{}g^{}`$. Therefore, every diagram of schemes induces a strict representation of a diagram of pro-spaces. Hence, we can apply the ideas of this discussion to reindexing the étale topological types of cofinite diagrams of schemes.

## 4. Cofiltered Limits

We can now give a model for constructing cofiltered limits in pro-categories. Start with a functor $`X:B\text{pro-}𝒞`$, where $`B`$ is a cofiltered index category. As mentioned in Section 2, there exists a cofinite directed set $`A`$ and a cofinal functor $`AB`$. We may replace $`X`$ with the composition $`AB\text{pro-}𝒞`$ because the limit does not change. Since $`A`$ is a cofinite category, we can construct a level representation $`\stackrel{~}{X}`$ of $`X`$ as given in Theorem 3.3. A product of cofiltered categories is again a cofiltered category, so the functor $`\stackrel{~}{X}:A\times I𝒞`$ can be viewed as a pro-object.

###### Theorem 4.1.

The pro-object $`\stackrel{~}{X}`$ is isomorphic to $`lim_a^{\text{pro}}X^a`$.

###### Proof.

Because each $`\stackrel{~}{X}^a`$ is isomorphic to $`X^a`$, it suffices to show that $`\stackrel{~}{X}`$ is isomorphic to $`lim_a^{\text{pro}}\stackrel{~}{X}^a`$. By direct calculation with the definition of morphism sets for $`\text{pro-}𝒞`$, $`\stackrel{~}{X}`$ satisfies the required universal property. ∎

###### Remark 4.2.

The reindexing provided by Theorem 3.3 is not absolutely necessary to construct cofiltered limits of pro-objects. For example,  contains another description of cofiltered limits. This construction is suitable for proving some of the applications below but not all of them. One disadvantage of this alternative approach is that it produces pro-objects that are very complicated in the sense that their index categories are far from being cofinite directed sets. On the other hand, the cofiltered limits constructed with the help of Theorem 3.3 are relatively small and computable.

For completeness, we repeat here the construction of . Let $`X:A\text{pro-}𝒞:aX^a`$ be a diagram of pro-objects indexed by a cofiltered category $`A`$ such that each $`X^a`$ is indexed by a cofiltered category $`I^a`$. Define a category $`I`$ as follows. The objects of $`I`$ are pairs $`(s,a)`$, where $`s`$ belongs to $`I^a`$. That is, the set of objects is the disjoint union of the sets $`I^a`$. For each map $`\varphi :ab`$ in $`A`$, we are given a map $`X^\varphi :X^aX^b`$, which is represented by a coherent family of elements $`X_s^\varphi `$ in $`colim_t\mathrm{Hom}_𝒞(X_t^a,X_s^b)`$. The set of maps from $`(s,a)`$ to $`(t,b)`$ in $`I`$ is defined to be the disjoint union over the maps $`\varphi :ab`$ of the subsets of $`\mathrm{Hom}_𝒞(X_t^a,X_s^b)`$ consisting of those elements which equal $`X_s^\varphi `$ in $`colim_t\mathrm{Hom}_𝒞(X_t^a,X_s^b)`$.

Composition in $`I`$ is defined by restricting the composition in $`𝒞`$. Then $`I`$ is a cofiltered category, and there is a functor $`I𝒞`$ to $`𝒞`$ sending $`(s,a)`$ to $`X_s^a`$ and sending a map to itself. It can be checked from the definitions that this pro-object is the limit of the given diagram.

The idea behind the above construction is that we take a diagram whose objects are of the form $`X_s^a`$ and whose morphisms are all possible maps $`X_s^aX_t^b`$ representing one of the pro-maps $`X^aX^b`$ in the diagram $`X`$. Note that even if $`A`$ and each $`I^a`$ are cofinite directed sets, the category $`I`$ is in general not a directed set.

## 5. Essentially Levelwise Maps

Our constructions leads to a result about the behavior of cofiltered limits on pro-objects that are essentially of type $`C`$.

###### Theorem 5.1.

Let $`C`$ be any class of objects of a category $`𝒞`$, and let $`cC`$ be the image of this class under the constant functor $`c`$. The closure of $`cC`$ under isomorphisms and cofiltered limits is equal to the class of pro-objects in $`\text{pro-}𝒞`$ that are essentially of type $`C`$.

###### Proof.

First we show that the class of pro-objects that are essentially of type $`C`$ is closed under cofiltered limits. Let $`X`$ be a cofiltered diagram of pro-objects, each of which is essentially of type $`C`$. We may assume that each $`X^a`$ is actually of type $`C`$. We use the method of \[8, Th. 2.1.6\] to replace each $`X^a`$ by a cofinite directed pro-object that is still of type $`C`$. Then we use this same method to replace the diagram $`X`$ by a cofinite directed diagram with the same limit such that each $`X^a`$ is still a cofinite directed pro-object of type $`C`$.

Now we use the construction of Theorem 4.1. Since each $`X_s^a`$ belongs to $`C`$, each $`\stackrel{~}{X}_s^a`$ belongs to $`C`$ (see the proof of Theorem 3.3). Since each $`\stackrel{~}{X}_s^a`$ belongs to $`C`$, the pro-object $`\stackrel{~}{X}`$ is of type $`C`$. Therefore, $`lim_a^{\text{pro}}X^a`$ is essentially of type $`C`$.

Now we must show that every pro-object that is essentially of type $`C`$ is isomorphic to a cofiltered limit of objects in $`cC`$. It suffices to show that every pro-object of type $`C`$ is a cofiltered limit of objects in $`cC`$. Let $`X`$ be a pro-object such that each $`X_s`$ belongs to $`C`$. By direct calculation of morphism sets, $`X`$ is isomorphic to $`lim_s^{\text{pro}}cX_s`$. Also, each $`cX_s`$ belongs to $`cC`$ by assumption. ∎

###### Corollary 5.2.

Let $`C`$ be any class of maps in $`𝒞`$. Then maps in $`\text{pro-}𝒞`$ essentially of type $`C`$ are closed under cofiltered limits.

###### Proof.

Apply Theorem 5.1 to the category $`\text{Ar}𝒞`$. We use that the categories $`\text{Ar}(\text{pro-}𝒞)`$ and $`\text{pro-}(\text{Ar}𝒞)`$ are equivalent. ∎

This corollary gives several immediate results about particular classes of maps in pro-categories that are of interest.

###### Corollary 5.3.

Let $`𝒞`$ be a sufficiently nice model category \[8, §2.3\] or a proper model category. The class of cofibrations in the strict model structure \[8, §3.3\]  for $`\text{pro-}𝒞`$ is closed under cofiltered limits. The class of fibrations in the strict model structure \[8, §3.8\] for $`\text{ind-}𝒞`$ is closed under filtered colimits.

###### Corollary 5.4.

The classes of cofibrations in the $`\pi _{}`$-model structure for pro-spaces , in the $`\pi _{}`$-model structure for pro-spectra , and in the $`\pi ^{}`$-model structure for pro-spectra  are all closed under cofiltered limits. The class of fibrations in the $`\pi _{}`$-model structure for ind-spectra  is closed under filtered colimits.

The closure of cofibrations in the $`\pi ^{}`$-model structure for pro-spectra under cofiltered limits is a technical necessity for .

Having studied cofiltered limits of essentially levelwise maps, we now proceed to retracts of such maps.

###### Theorem 5.5.

Let $`C`$ be any class of objects of a category $`𝒞`$. The class of objects of $`\text{pro-}𝒞`$ that are essentially of type $`C`$ is closed under retracts.

###### Proof.

Let $`Y`$ be essentially of type $`C`$, and let $`X`$ be another pro-object with maps $`f:XY`$ and $`g:YX`$ such that the composition $`gf`$ is the identity. Consider the countable tower

Since $`gf`$ is the identity, the limit of this tower is isomorphic to $`X`$. On the other hand, the limit is also isomorphic to the limit of the tower

By Theorem 5.1, this limit is essentially of type $`C`$. ∎

We can now state the following corollary, which appears in \[10, Prop. 12.1\]. The proof there is philosophically the same as the one here.

###### Corollary 5.6.

Let $`C`$ be any class of maps of a category $`𝒞`$. The class of maps of $`\text{pro-}𝒞`$ that are essentially of type $`C`$ is closed under retracts.

###### Proof.

Apply Theorem 5.5 to the category $`\text{Ar}𝒞`$ and use that $`\text{pro-}(\text{Ar}𝒞)`$ and $`\text{Ar}(\text{pro-}𝒞)`$ are equivalent. ∎

## 6. Finite Colimits and Cofiltered Limits

It is a well-known and useful fact that filtered colimits commute with finite limits in most familiar categories \[13, Th. IX.2.1\]. Using our constructions of cofiltered limits given in Section 4, we prove that the opposite is true for pro-categories.

###### Theorem 6.1.

Cofiltered limits commute with finite colimits in $`\text{pro-}𝒞`$.

###### Proof.

Let $`A`$ be a cofiltered index category, and let $`B`$ be a finite index category. Suppose given a functor

$$X:A\times B\text{pro-}𝒞:(a,b)X^{a,b}.$$

In order to compute limits with respect to $`A`$, we may replace $`A`$ with a cofinite cofiltered index category as described at the beginning of Section 4. In order to compute colimits with respect to $`B`$, we may replace $`B`$ by a finite loopless category; this is the usual method for rewriting any finite colimit in terms of finite coproducts and coequalizers.

Therefore, we may assume that both $`A`$ and $`B`$ are cofinite. It follows that $`A\times B`$ is cofinite, so we may assume that $`X`$ is a level representation. Thus, we have a functor

$$X:A\times B\times I𝒞:(a,b,s)X_s^{a,b}.$$

Recall that finite colimits of pro-objects may be computed levelwise. By Theorem 4.1 and direct computation, both $`lim_a^{\text{pro}}colim_b^{\text{pro}}X^{a,b}`$ and $`colim_b^{\text{pro}}lim_a^{\text{pro}}X^{a,b}`$ are isomorphic to the pro-object

$$A\times I𝒞:s\underset{s}{colim}X_s^{a,b}.$$

###### Remark 6.2.

Pro-categories are often equivalent to the opposites of more familiar categories. For example, the category of pro-finite abelian groups is equivalent to the opposite of the category of torsion abelian groups \[9, Prop. 7.5\], and the category of pro-finite $`k`$-vector spaces is equivalent to the opposite of the category of $`k`$-vector spaces. See  for an analogous stable homotopy theoretic statement. More generally, the category $`\text{pro-}𝒞`$ is the opposite of the pro-representable functors on $`𝒞`$ \[2, App. 4.2\] . When $`𝒞`$ is small (as in the case of finite abelian groups or finite $`k`$-vector spaces), the pro-representable functors are just the left exact functors.

If the category $`\text{pro-}𝒞`$ were equivalent to the opposite of a more familiar category in which filtered colimits commuted with finite limits, then Theorem 6.1 would follow. When $`𝒞`$ is not small, there is no clean description of the pro-representable functors. Even the categories of pro-abelian groups or pro-sets do not seem to be the opposites of any particularly familiar categories. The isomorphism types of cocompact pro-abelian groups or pro-sets do not form a set, as shown in Theorem 8.2. However, most familiar categories have only a set of isomorphism types of compact objects.

## 7. Pro-Abelian Categories

Let $`𝒜`$ be an abelian category. Then $`\text{pro-}𝒜`$ is again an abelian category \[2, App. 4.5\] . The class of monomorphisms is equal to the class of maps that have level representations by monomorphisms. The same is true for the class of epimorphisms.

Now we have consequence of Theorem 6.1.

###### Theorem 7.1.

Let $`𝒜`$ be an abelian category. Then cofiltered limits are exact in the category $`\text{pro-}𝒜`$.

###### Proof.

Limits are always left exact. Cofiltered limits are right exact by Theorem 6.1. ∎

The surprising part of the previous theorem is that filtered limits are right exact. This is contrary to what occurs in most familiar abelian categories. The failure of epimorphisms to be closed under cofiltered limits is the source of the higher $`lim^i`$ functors.

Filtered colimits in the category $`\text{pro-}𝒜`$ need not be exact. This is another notable difference between pro-categories and most familiar abelian categories. Thus we could define derived colimit functors $`colim^i`$. We expect that there exists a dual Mittag-Leffler condition on filtered systems in $`\text{pro-}𝒜`$ that guarantees that the higher derived colimits vanish. We do not explore these ideas here since we have no application for them.

###### Example 7.2.

We give an example of the inexactness of filtered colimits in the category pro-abelian groups. Let $`A`$ be the free abelian group generated by the countable basis $`a_0,a_1,a_2,\mathrm{}`$. For $`nm0`$, let $`A[m,n]`$ be the subgroup of $`A`$ generated by $`a_m,a_{m+1},\mathrm{},a_n`$. For $`m0`$, let $`A[m,\mathrm{})`$ be the subgroup of $`A`$ generated by $`a_m,a_{m+1},a_{m+2},\mathrm{}`$.

Let $`X`$ be the pro-abelian group

$$\mathrm{}A[0,2]A[0,1]A[0,0].$$

The structure maps of $`X`$ are the obvious projections.

Recall the constant functor $`c:𝒞\text{pro-}𝒞`$. For $`n0`$, there is a map $`f_n:cA[0,n]X`$ of pro-abelian groups. This map is the element of

$$\underset{m}{lim}\mathrm{Hom}(A[0,n],A[0,m])\mathrm{Hom}(A[0,n],\underset{m}{lim}A[0,m])\mathrm{Hom}(A[0,n],\underset{m}{}a_m)$$

given by the obvious inclusion $`A[0,n]_ma_m`$. Each map $`f_n`$ is a monomorphism in the category of pro-abelian groups because it has a level representation

in which each vertical map is a monomorphism.

Note that the maps $`f_n`$ are compatible with the inclusions $`cA[0,n]cA[0,n+1]`$ in the sense that the diagram

of pro-abelian groups commutes. The colimit of the first row is $`cA`$ because $`A`$ is the union of the groups $`A[0,n]`$ and because $`c`$ commutes with colimits since it is a left adjoint. The colimit of the second row is just $`X`$. Thus, the colimit of the above diagram is a map $`f:cAX`$. Now $`f`$ is a filtered colimit of the monomorphisms $`f_n`$, but we claim that $`f`$ is not a monomorphism.

In order to show that $`f`$ is not a monomorphism, we construct a non-zero map $`g:YcA`$ such that the composition $`fg`$ is zero. Let $`Y`$ be the pro-abelian group

$$\mathrm{}A[2,\mathrm{})A[1,\mathrm{})A[0,\mathrm{}).$$

The structure maps of $`Y`$ are the obvious inclusions. Let $`g`$ be the element of

$$\underset{n}{colim}\mathrm{Hom}(A[n,\mathrm{}),A)$$

represented by any of the obvious inclusions $`A[n,\mathrm{})A`$. Then $`g`$ is not the zero map because each map $`A[n,\mathrm{})A`$ is non-zero. On the other hand, the composition $`YX`$ is the zero element of

$$\underset{m}{lim}\underset{n}{colim}\mathrm{Hom}(A[n,\mathrm{}),A[0,m])$$

because for every $`m`$ and every $`n>m`$, the composition $`A[n,\mathrm{})AA[0,m]`$ is zero.

## 8. Cocompact Objects

As another application of our explicit computation of cofiltered limits, we describe completely in this section the cocompact objects of $`\text{pro-}𝒞`$.

Recall that an object $`X`$ of a category is compact if for every filtered system $`Y`$, the map

$$\underset{a}{colim}\mathrm{Hom}(X,Y^a)\mathrm{Hom}(X,\underset{a}{colim}Y^a)$$

is an isomorphism. We dualize this notion as follows.

###### Definition 8.1.

An object $`X`$ of a category is cocompact if for every cofiltered system $`Y`$, the map

$$\underset{a}{colim}\mathrm{Hom}(Y^a,X)\mathrm{Hom}(\underset{a}{lim}Y^a,X)$$

is an isomorphism.

At first glance, this appears to be a strange definition. Note that $`X`$ is cocompact if and only if $`X`$ is compact in the opposite category.

###### Theorem 8.2.

A pro-object is cocompact if and only if it is isomorphic to a constant pro-object.

###### Proof.

First consider a constant pro-object $`cX`$. Let $`Y`$ be an arbitrary cofiltered system of pro-objects indexed by $`A`$. As described at the beginning of Section 4, we may assume that $`A`$ is cofinite. Thus, we may take $`Y`$ to be a level representation. It follows by Theorem 4.1 and direct calculation that both $`\mathrm{Hom}_{\text{pro}}(lim_a^{\text{pro}}Y^a,cX)`$ and $`colim_a\mathrm{Hom}_{\text{pro}}(Y^a,cX)`$ are equal to $`colim_acolim_s\mathrm{Hom}(Y_s^a,X)`$. This finishes one direction of the theorem.

Now suppose that $`X`$ is a cocompact pro-object. Note that $`X`$ is isomorphic to $`lim_s^{\text{pro}}cX_s`$, so the map

$$\varphi :\underset{a}{colim}\mathrm{Hom}_{\text{pro}}(cX_s,X)\mathrm{Hom}_{\text{pro}}(X,X)$$

is an isomorphism. Let $`f:cX_sX`$ be any map such that $`\varphi (f)`$ is equal to the identity on $`X`$, and let $`g:XcX_s`$ be the natural map.

By definition of $`\varphi `$, the composition $`fg`$ is the identity on $`X`$. In order to show that $`X`$ and $`cX_s`$ are isomorphic, it suffices to show that the composition $`gf`$ is the identity on $`cX_s`$.

Define a map

$$\psi :\mathrm{Hom}_{\text{pro}}(X,X)\underset{a}{colim}\mathrm{Hom}_{\text{pro}}(cX_s,X)$$

by the formula $`\psi (h)=fh`$. Because $`fg`$ is the identity, it is easy to check that $`\psi `$ is the inverse of $`\varphi `$. Since $`\psi (gf)`$ and $`\psi (\text{id})`$ both equal $`f`$, it follows that $`gf`$ is the identity map. ∎

## 9. Colimits in Pro-Categories

We assume in this section that $`𝒞`$ is cocomplete. The category $`\text{pro-}𝒞`$ is also cocomplete \[10, Prop. 11.1\], but colimits in $`\text{pro-}𝒞`$ are difficult to compute in general. See  for a special situation. We study a different special situation in which explicit computations are possible. In particular, we compute colimits in $`\text{pro-}𝒞`$ indexed by cofinite categories. At first glance, this does not seem to be especially useful, so we provide two examples.

###### Example 9.1.

Consider the diagram for calculating the realization of a simplicial space $`X`$. This diagram has one object $`X_n\mathrm{\Delta }[n]`$ for each $`n0`$ and one object $`X_n\mathrm{\Delta }[m]`$ for each simplicial operator $`\varphi :[m][n]`$. The maps of the diagram are of two types. The first type is of the form $`\text{id}\varphi _{}:X_n\mathrm{\Delta }[m]X_n\mathrm{\Delta }[n]`$, and the second type is of the form $`\varphi ^{}\text{id}:X_n\mathrm{\Delta }[m]X_m\mathrm{\Delta }[m]`$.

The colimit of this diagram is the realization $`|X|`$ of $`X`$. Note that the diagram is cofinite because each object $`X_n\mathrm{\Delta }[n]`$ is the source of zero non-identity maps and each object $`X_n\mathrm{\Delta }[m]`$ is the source of two non-identity maps. Therefore, the techniques of this section apply to calculating realizations of simplicial pro-objects.

###### Example 9.2.

Consider a countable sequence

In order to calculate $`colim^{\text{pro}}X`$, we may take the colimit of the diagram

which is cofinite. Thus, the techniques of this section apply to calculating colimits of countable sequences.

Let $`A`$ be a cofinite category, and let $`I`$ be a cofinite directed set. Recall that an arbitrary product of cofiltered categories is again cofiltered. Similarly, an arbitrary product of directed sets is again a directed set, but infinite products do not preserve cofiniteness. Consider the subset $`K`$ of $`_AI`$ consisting of tuples $`(s_a)`$ such that $`s_as_b`$ when $`ab`$. Define a partial ordering on $`K`$ by $`(s_a)(t_a)`$ if $`s_at_a`$ for all $`a`$. This is the ordering that $`K`$ inherits as a subset of $`_AI`$.

###### Lemma 9.3.

The set $`K`$ is directed.

###### Proof.

Let $`(s_a)`$ and $`(t_a)`$ be any two elements of $`K`$. We construct a common refinement $`(u_a)`$ by induction on $`a`$. This is possible since $`A`$ is cofinite. Suppose that $`u_b`$ has already been determined for $`b<a`$ such that $`u_bs_b`$ and $`u_bt_b`$. Choose $`u_a`$ such that $`u_as_a`$, $`u_at_a`$, and $`u_au_b`$ for all $`b<a`$. This is possible because there are only finitely many conditions on $`u_a`$. ∎

Note that $`K`$ is not necessarily cofinite.

###### Lemma 9.4.

The inclusion $`K_AI`$ is cofinal.

###### Proof.

Given an element $`(s_a)`$ of $`_AI`$, we must find an element $`(t_a)`$ of $`K`$ such that $`(t_a)(s_a)`$. Suppose that $`t_b`$ has already been chosen for $`b<a`$ such that $`t_bs_b`$. Choose $`t_a`$ such that $`t_as_a`$ and $`t_at_b`$ for all $`b<a`$. This is possible since $`A`$ is cofinite. ∎

###### Lemma 9.5.

The forgetful functor $`U^a:KI:(s_a)s_a`$ is cofinal.

###### Proof.

The projection functor $`_AII`$ is cofinal. By Lemma 9.4, the functor $`U^a`$ is a composition of two cofinal functors, so it is also cofinal. ∎

Let $`X:A\text{pro-}𝒞`$ be a functor. By Theorem 3.3, we know that $`X`$ has a level representation $`\stackrel{~}{X}:A\times I𝒞`$ for some cofinite directed set $`I`$. We now define a functor $`\overline{X}:A\times K𝒞`$. Let $`s=(s_a)`$ be an element of $`K`$. For every object $`a`$ in $`A`$, define $`\overline{X}_s^a`$ to be $`\stackrel{~}{X}_{s_a}^a`$. For every map $`ab`$ in $`A`$, define $`\overline{X}_s^a\overline{X}_s^b`$ to be either composition in the commuting square

Note that the vertical maps are the structure maps of the pro-objects $`\stackrel{~}{X}^a`$ and $`\stackrel{~}{X}^b`$. Here we use that $`s_as_b`$ since $`s`$ belongs to $`K`$. Also note that the horizontal maps come from the level representation $`\stackrel{~}{X}^a\stackrel{~}{X}^b`$ of the map $`X^aX^b`$.

One can verify that $`\overline{X}`$ is indeed a functor by a straightforward diagram chase.

###### Theorem 9.6.

The pro-object $`Z`$ indexed by $`K`$ given by $`Z_s=colim_a^𝒞\overline{X}_s^a`$ is the colimit in the category $`\text{pro-}𝒞`$ of the functor $`X`$.

###### Proof.

Let $`W`$ be an arbitrary pro-object. Then direct computation with the definition of morphism sets in $`\text{pro-}𝒞`$ shows that

$$\mathrm{Hom}_{\text{pro}}(Z,W)\underset{aA}{lim}\mathrm{Hom}_{\text{pro}}(X^a,W).$$

This uses Lemma 9.5 and the surprising fact that the canonical map

$$\underset{sK}{colim}\underset{aA}{lim}\mathrm{Hom}_𝒞(\stackrel{~}{X}_{s_a}^a,W_t)\underset{aA}{lim}\underset{sK}{colim}\mathrm{Hom}_𝒞(\stackrel{~}{X}_{s_a}^a,W_t)$$

is an isomorphism, which uses Lemma 9.4. ∎


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# Untitled Document

AIAA 2001-3360

Geometrodynamics, Inertia and the Quantum Vacuum

Bernard Haisch

California Institute for Physics and Astrophysics, 366 Cambridge Ave., Palo Alto, CA 94306

$`<`$www.calphysics.org$`>`$

Associate Fellow, AIAA — haisch@calphysics.org

Alfonso Rueda

Department of Electrical Engineering, ECS Building

California State University, 1250 Bellflower Blvd., Long Beach, California 90840

arueda@csulb.edu

(Presented at the AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference, Salt Lake City, July 8–11, 2001)

ABSTRACT

Why does F equal ma in Newton’s equation of motion? How does a gravitational field produce a force? Why are inertial mass and gravitational mass the same? It appears that all three of these seemingly axiomatic foundational questions have an answer involving an identical physical process: interaction between the electromagnetic quantum vacuum and the fundamental charged particles (quarks and electrons) constituting matter. All three of these effects and equalities can be traced back to the appearance of a specific asymmetry in the otherwise uniform and isotropic electromagnetic quantum vacuum. This asymmetry gives rise to a non-zero Poynting vector from the perspective of an accelerating object. We call the resulting energy-momentum flux the Rindler flux. The key insight is that the asymmetry in an accelerating reference frame in flat spacetime is identical to that in a stationary reference frame (one that is not falling) in curved spacetime. Therefore the same Rindler flux that creates inertial reaction forces also creates weight. All of this is consistent with the conceptualizaton and formalism of general relativity. What this view adds to physics is insight into a specific physical process creating identical inertial and gravitational forces from which springs the weak principle of equivalence. What this view hints at in terms of advanced propulsion technology is the possibility that by locally modifying either the electromagnetic quantum vacuum and/or its interaction with matter, inertial and gravitational forces could be modified.

INTRODUCTION

Why does F equal ma in Newton’s equation of motion, $`𝐅=m𝐚`$?

How does a gravitational field produce a force?

Why are inertial mass and gravitational mass the same?

These are questions that are usually thought to be more appropriate for philosophers than for physicists, since the apparent facts of nature addressed in these questions are generally regarded as axiomatic. If one assumes that one plus one equals two, plus a limited number of additional axioms, one can develop a self-consistent system of mathematics, but one has to start with such assumptions. In the realm of geometry, the discovery of non-Euclidean geometry in the 19th century taught us that other, non-intuitive assumptions are possible, and indeed, Riemannian geometry became the basis for physics in Einstein’s general relativity (GR). Alternate foundational assumptions can lead to new insights.

Since 1991 we have been engaged in investigations involving the nature of inertia based on the foundational assumption that the electromagnetic quantum vacuum, also called the zero-point field or zero-point fluctuations, is a real and underlying universal sea of energy capable of interacting with matter, and that this interaction may be described using the techniques of stochastic electrodynamics (SED). Following a successful multiyear NASA-funded investigation at Lockheed Martin and California State University at Long Beach, the privately-funded California Institute for Physics and Astrophysics (CIPA) was established in 1999 specifically to study the electromagnetic quantum vacuum and its effects. A group of five postdoctoral fellows with expertise in quantum electrodynamics, superstring and M-brane theory, general relativity, plasma physics and Casimir effects are engaged in theoretical efforts to come to a deeper understanding of foundational questions in physics and to examine the possible nature and degree of electromagnetic quantum vacuum–matter interactions both within and beyond the SED approximations. CIPA has also funded projects by experts at several universities directed toward the general goal of explaining the origin of inertia and certain aspects of gravitation and other relevant physical and astrophysical effects as due to the electromagnetic quantum vacuum.

It appears that all three of the seemingly axiomatic foundational questions posed above have an answer involving an identical physical process: interaction between the electromagnetic quantum vacuum and the fundamental charged particles (quarks and electrons) constituting matter. All three of these effects and equalities can be traced back to the appearance of a specific asymmetry in the otherwise uniform and isotropic electromagnetic quantum vacuum. The key insight is that the asymmetry in an accelerating reference frame in flat spacetime is identical to that in a stationary reference frame in curved spacetime.

It was shown by Unruh  and by Davies  that a uniformly-accelerating detector will experience a Planckian-like heat bath whose apparent “temperature” is a result of quantum vacuum radiation. A tiny fraction of the (enormous) electromagnetic quantum vacuum energy can emerge as real radiation under the appropriate conditions. The theoretical prediction of Unruh-Davies radiation is now generally accepted and SLAC physicist P. Chen has recently proposed an experiment to detect and measure it. Rueda and Haisch (hereafter RH)  analyzed a related process and found that as perceived by an accelerating object, an energy and momentum flux of radiation emerges from the electromagnetic quantum vacuum and that the strength of this momentum flux is such that the radiation pressure force on the accelerating object is proportional to acceleration. Owing to its origin in an accelerating reference frame customarily called the Rindler frame, and to the relation of this flux to the existence of a Rindler event horizon, we call this flux of energy and momentum that emerges out of the electromagnetic quantum vacuum upon acceleration the Rindler flux.

If the Rindler flux is allowed to electromagnetically interact with matter, mainly but perhaps not exclusively at the level of quarks and electrons, a reaction force is produced that can be interpreted as the origin of Newton’s $`𝐅=m𝐚`$. In this view, which we call the quantum vacuum inertia hypothesis, matter resists acceleration not because of some innate property of inertia, but rather because the quantum vacuum fields provide an acceleration-dependent drag force. In future attempts we and coworkers intend to examine the possible contributions of other components of the quantum vacuum besides the electromagnetic. (This is relevant to the issue of possible neutrino mass, which could not be due to the electromagnetic quantum vacuum, but might possibly be due to the vacuum fields of the weak interaction.)

GR declares that gravity can be interpreted as spacetime curvature. Wheeler coined the term geometrodynamics to describe this: the dynamics of objects subject to gravity is determined by the geometry of four-dimensional spacetime. What geometrodynamics actually specifies is the family of geodesics — the shortest four-dimensional distances between two points in spacetime — in the presence of a gravitating body. Freely-falling objects and light rays follow geodesics. However when an object is prevented from following a geodetic trajectory, a force is experienced: the well-known force called weight. Where does this force come from? Or put another way, how does a gravitational field exert a force on a non freely-falling, fixed, object, such as an observer standing on a scale on the Earth’s surface? This proves to be the identical physical process as described in the quantum vacuum inertia hypothesis, due to a non-zero Rindler flux.

In the SED approximation, the electromagnetic quantum vacuum is represented as propagating electromagnetic waves. These should follow geodesics. It can be shown that propagation along curved geodesics creates the identical electromagnetic Rindler flux with respect to a stationary fixed object as is the case for an accelerating object. This is perfectly consistent with Einstein’s fundamental assumption of the equivalence of gravitation and acceleration. An object fixed above a gravitating body will perceive the electromagnetic quantum vacuum to be accelerating past it, which is of course the same as the perception of the object when it is doing the accelerating through the quantum vacuum. Thus in the case of gravity, it would be the electromagnetic Rindler flux acting upon a fixed object that creates the force known as weight, thereby answering the second question. The answer to the third question then immediately follows. Since the same flux would be seen by either a fixed object in a gravitational field or an accelerating object in free space, the force that is felt would be the same, hence the parameters we traditionally call inertial and gravitational mass must be the same. This would explain the physical origin of the weak principle of equivalence.

All of this is consistent with the mathematics of GR. What this view adds to physics is insight into a specific physical process creating identical inertial and gravitational forces. What this view hints at in terms of advanced propulsion technology is the possibility that by locally modifying either the quantum vacuum fields and/or their interaction with matter, inertial and gravitational forces could be modified and possibly one day freely controlled.

THE ELECTROMAGNETIC QUANTUM VACUUM

The quantization of the electromagnetic field in terms of quantum-mechanical operators may be found in various standard textbooks, e.g. Loudon : “The electromagnetic field is now quantized by the association of a quantum-mechanical harmonic oscillator with each mode k of the radiation field.” This can be understood as follows: Application of the Heisenberg uncertainty relation to a harmonic oscillator requires that its ground state have a non-zero energy of $`h\nu /2`$. This reflects the fact that quantum mechanically a particle cannot simultaneously be exactly at the bottom of its potential well and have exactly zero momentum. There exists the same $`h\nu /2`$ zero-point energy expression for each mode of the electromagnetic field as for a mechanical oscillator. (Formally, mode decomposition yields that each mode can be mathematically made into a harmonic oscillator in the sense that the same differential equation is obeyed as for a mechanical oscillator.)

Summing up the energy over the modes for all frequencies, directions, and polarization states, one arrives at a zero-point energy density for the electromagnetic fluctuations, and this is the origin of the electromagnetic quantum vacuum. An energy of $`h\nu /2`$ per mode of the field characterizes the fluctuations of the quantized radiation field in quantum field theory. In the semi-classical representation of SED the quantum vacuum is represented by propagating electromagnetic plane waves, $`𝐄^{zp}`$ and $`𝐁^{zp}`$, of random phase having this average energy, $`h\nu /2`$, in each mode.

The volumetric density of modes between frequencies $`\nu `$ and $`\nu +d\nu `$ is given by the density of states function $`N_\nu d\nu =(8\pi \nu ^2/c^3)d\nu `$. Each state has a minimum $`h\nu /2`$ of energy, and using this density of states function and this minimum energy — that we call the zero-point energy — per state one gets the spectral energy density of the electromagnetic quantum vacuum:

$$\rho (\nu )d\nu =\frac{8\pi \nu ^2}{c^3}\frac{h\nu }{2}d\nu .$$
$`(1)`$
Writing this zero-point radiation together with ordinary blackbody radiation, the energy density is:

$$\rho (\nu ,T)d\nu =\frac{8\pi \nu ^2}{c^3}\left(\frac{h\nu }{e^{h\nu /kT}1}+\frac{h\nu }{2}\right)d\nu .$$
$`(2)`$
The first term (outside the parentheses) represents the mode density, and the terms inside the parentheses are the average energy per mode of thermal radiation at temperature $`T`$ plus the zero-point energy, $`h\nu /2`$, which has no temperature dependence. Take away all thermal energy by formally letting $`T`$ go to zero, and one is still left with the zero-point term. The laws of quantum mechanics as applied to electromagnetic radiation force the existence of a background sea of electromagnetic zero-point energy that is traditionally called the electromagnetic quantum vacuum.

The spectral energy density of eqn. (1) was thought to be no more than a spatially uniform constant offset that cancels out when considering energy fluxes, but it was discovered in the mid-1970’s that the quantum vacuum acquires special characteristics when viewed from an accelerating frame. Just as there is an event horizon for a black hole, there is an analogous event horizon for an accelerating reference frame. Similar to radiation from evaporating black holes proposed by Hawking , Unruh  and Davies  determined that a Planck-like radiation component will arise out of the quantum vacuum in a uniformly-accelerating coordinate system having constant proper acceleration a (where $`|𝐚|=a`$) with what amounts to an effective “temperature”

$$T_a=\frac{\mathrm{}a}{2\pi ck}.$$
$`(3)`$
This “temperature” characterizing Unruh-Davies radiation does not originate in emission from particles undergoing thermal motions. a There is likely to be a deep connection between the fact that the spectrum that arises in this fashion due to acceleration and the ordinary blackbody spectrum have identical form. As discussed by Davies, Dray and Manogue :

One of the most curious properties to be discussed in recent years is the prediction that an observer who accelerates in the conventional quantum vacuum of Minkowski space will perceive a bath of radiation, while an inertial observer of course perceives nothing. In the case of linear acceleration, for which there exists an extensive literature, the response of a model particle detector mimics the effect of its being immersed in a bath of thermal radiation (the so-called Unruh effect).

This “heat bath” is a quantum phenomenon. The “temperature” is negligible for most accelerations. Only in the extremely large gravitational fields of black holes or in high-energy particle collisions can this become significant. Recently, P. Chen at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center has proposed using an ultra high intensity laser to accelerate electrons violently enough to directly detect Unruh-Davies radiation.

Unruh and Davies treated the electromagnetic quantum vacuum as a scalar field. If a true vectorial approach is considered there appear additional terms beyond the quasi-thermal Unruh-Davies component. For the case of no true external thermal radiation $`(T=0)`$ but including the acceleration effect $`(T_a)`$, eqn. (1) becomes

$$\rho (\nu ,T_a)d\nu =\frac{8\pi \nu ^2}{c^3}\left[1+\left(\frac{a}{2\pi c\nu }\right)^2\right]\left[\frac{h\nu }{2}+\frac{h\nu }{e^{h\nu /kT_a}1}\right]d\nu ,$$
$`(4)`$
where the acceleration-dependent pseudo-Planckian Unruh-Davies component is placed after the $`h\nu /2`$ term to indicate that except for extreme accelerations (e.g. particle collisions at high energies) this term is negligibly small. While these additional acceleration-dependent terms do not show any spatial asymmetry in the expression for the spectral energy density, certain asymmetries do appear when the momentum flux of this radiation is calculated, resulting in a non-zero Rindler flux. This asymmetry appears to be the process underlying inertial and gravitational forces.

ORIGIN OF THE INERTIAL REACTION FORCE

Newton’s third law states that if an agent applies a force to a point on an object, at that point there arises an equal and opposite reaction force back upon the agent. In the case of a fixed object the equal and opposite reaction force can be traced to interatomic forces in the neighborhood of the point of contact which act to resist compression, and these in turn can be traced to electromagnetic interactions involving orbital electrons of adjacent atoms or molecules, etc.

Now a similar experience of an equal and opposite reaction force arises when a non-fixed object is forced to accelerate. Why does acceleration create such a reaction force? We suggest that this equal and opposite reaction force also has an underlying cause which is at least partially electromagnetic, and specifically may be due to the scattering of electromagnetic quantum vacuum radiation. RH demonstrated that from the point of view of the pushing agent there exists a net flux (Poynting vector) of quantum vacuum radiation transiting the accelerating object in a direction opposite to the acceleration: the Rindler flux. Interaction of this flux with the quarks and electrons constituting a material object would create a back reaction force that can be interpreted as inertia. One simply needs to assume that there is some dimensionless efficiency factor, $`\eta (\omega )`$, that in the case of particles corresponds to whatever the interaction process is (e.g. dipole scattering). In the case of elementary particles we suspect that $`\eta (\omega )`$ contains one or more resonances — and in the Appendix discuss why these resonances likely involve Compton frequencies of relevant particles forming a composite particle or object — but this is not a necessary assumption.

The RH approach relies on making transformations of the $`𝐄^{zp}`$ and $`𝐁^{zp}`$ from a stationary to a uniformly-accelerating coordinate system (see, for example, $`\mathrm{\S }`$11.10 of Jackson for the relevant transformations ). In a stationary or uniformly-moving frame the $`𝐄^{zp}`$ and $`𝐁^{zp}`$ constitute an isotropic radiation pattern. In a uniformly-accelerating frame the radiation pattern acquires asymmetries. There appears a non-zero Poynting vector in any accelerating frame, and therefore a non-zero Rindler flux which carries a net flux of electromagnetic momentum. The scattering of this momentum flux generates a reaction force, $`𝐅_r`$, proportional to the acceleration. RH found an invariant scalar with the dimension of mass quantifying the inertial resistance force of opposition per unit of acceleration resulting from this process. We interpret this scalar as the inertial mass,

$$m_i=\frac{V_0}{c^2}\eta (\nu )\rho _{zp}(\nu )𝑑\nu ,$$
$`(5)`$
where $`\rho _{zp}`$ is the well known spectral energy density of the electromagnetic quantum vacuum of eqn. (1). In other words, the amount of electromagnetic zero point energy instantaneously transiting through an object of volume $`V_0`$ and interacting with the quarks, electrons and all charges in that object is what constitutes the inertial mass of that object in this view. It is change in the momentum of the radiation field that creates the resistance to acceleration usually attributed to the inertia of an object.

Indeed, not only does the ordinary form of Newton’s second law, $`𝐅=m_i𝐚`$, emerge from this analysis, but one can also obtain the relativistic form of the second law:

$$=\frac{d𝒫}{d\tau }=\frac{d}{d\tau }(\gamma _\tau m_ic,𝐩).$$
$`(6)`$
The origin of inertia, in this picture, becomes remarkably intuitive. Any material object resists acceleration because the acceleration produces a perceived flux of radiation in the opposite direction that scatters within the object and thereby pushes against the accelerating agent. Inertia in the present model appears as a kind of acceleration-dependent electromagnetic quantum vacuum drag force acting upon electromagnetically-interacting elementary particles. The relativistic law for “mass” transformation involving the Lorentz factor $`\gamma `$ — that is, the formula describing how the inertia of a body has been calculated to change according to an observer’s relative motion — is automatically satisfied in this view, because the correct relativistic form of the reaction force is derived, as shown in eqn. (6).

ORIGIN OF WEIGHT AND THE WEAK EQUIVALENCE PRINCIPLE

Einstein introduced the local Lorentz invariance (LLI) principle in order to pass from special relativity to GR. It is possible to use this principle immediately to extend the results of the quantum vacuum inertia hypothesis to gravitation (details discussed in two forthcoming papers ).

The idea behind the LLI principle is embodied in the Einstein elevator thought experiment. He proposed that a freely-falling elevator in a gravitational field is equivalent to one that is not accelerating and is far from any gravitating body. Physics experiments would yield the same results in either elevator, and therefore a freely-falling coordinate frame in a gravitational field is the same as an inertial Lorentz frame. (This is rigorously only true for a “small elevator” since a gravitational field around a planet, say, must be radial, hence there are inevitably tidal forces which would not be the case for an ideal acceleration.) The device Einstein used to develop general relativity was to invoke an infinite set of such freely falling frames. In each such frame, the laws of physics are those of special relativity. The additional features of general relativity emerge by comparing the properties of measurements made in freely-falling Lorentz frames “dropped” one after the other.

This appraoch of Einstein is both elegant and powerful. The LLI principle immediately tells us that an object accelerating through the electromagnetic quantum vacuum is equivalent to an object held fixed in a gravitational field while the electromagnetic quantum vacuum is effectively accelerating (falling) past it. The prediction of GR that light rays deviate from straight-line propagation in the presence of a gravitating body — which Eddington measured in 1919 thereby validating GR — translates into acceleration (falling) of the electromagnetic quantum vacuum. An object accelerating through the electromagnetic quantum vacuum experiences a Rindler flux which causes the inertia reaction force. A fixed object past which the electromagnetic quantum vacuum is accelerating, following the laws of GR, experiences the same Rindler flux and the resulting force is what we call weight. That is why $`m_g=m_i`$ and is the basis of the weak equivalence principle.

CONCLUSIONS

Geometrodynamics is an elegant theoretical structure, but there is a very fundamental physics question that geometrodynamics has never satisfactorily addressed. If an object is forced to deviate from its natural geodesic motion, a reaction force arises, i.e. the weight of an object. Where does the reaction force that is weight come from? That same force would also be the enforcer of geodesic motion for freely falling objects. GR specifies the metric of spacetime from which geodesics can be calculated, but is there a physical mechanism to keep freely-falling objects from straying from their proper geodesics? Geometrodynamics does not provide a physical mechanism for this. It can only claim that deviations of an object from its proper geodesic motion results in an inertial reaction force. This is true but uninformative. The quantum vacuum inertia hypothesis provides a physical process generating inertia and weight.

Quantum physics predicts the existence of an underlying sea of zero-point energy at every point in the universe. This is different from the cosmic microwave background and is also referred to as the electromagnetic quantum vacuum since it is the lowest state of otherwise empty space. This sea of energy fills all of space and is absolutely the same everywhere as perceived from a constant velocity reference frame. But viewed from an accelerating reference frame, the radiation pattern of the energy becomes minutely distorted: a tiny directional flow is experienced by an accelerating object or observer, the Rindler flux. Importantly, the force resulting from that energy-momentum flow turns out to be proportional to the acceleration. When this energy-momentum flow — that arises automatically when any object accelerates — interacts with the fundamental particles constituting matter (quarks and electrons) a force arises in the direction opposite to the acceleration. This process can be interpreted as the origin of inertia, i.e. as the basis of Newton’s second law of mechanics: $`𝐅=m𝐚`$ (and its relativistic extension).

It has now been discovered that exactly the same distortion of the radiation pattern occurs in geometrodynamics when the metric is non-Minkowskian. The curved spacetime geodesics of geometrodynamics affect the zero-point energy in the same way as light rays (because the zero-point energy is also a mode of electromagnetic radiation). The gravitational force causing weight and the reaction force causing inertia originate in an identical interaction with a distortion in the radiation of the zero-point energy field. Both are a kind of radiation pressure originating in the electromagnetic quantum vacuum. The underlying distortion of the radiation pattern is due to an event horizon-like effect and is related to Unruh-Davies radiation and Hawking radiation.

What the quantum vacuum inertia hypothesis accomplishes is to identify the physical process which is the enforcer of geometrodynamics or general relativity. The quantum vacuum inertia hypothesis appears to provide a link between light propagation along geodesics and mechanics of material objects. Moreover, since the distortion of the zero-point energy radiation pattern is the same whether due to acceleration or being held stationary in a gravitational field, this explains a centuries old puzzle: why inertial mass and gravitational mass are the same: both are due to the same non-zero Rindler flux. This gives us a deeper insight into Einstein’s principle of equivalence.

APPENDIX: INERTIA AND THE DE BROGLIE WAVELENGTH

Four-momentum is defined as

$$𝐏=(\frac{E}{c},𝐩)=(\gamma m_0c,𝐩)=(\gamma m_0c,\gamma m_0𝐯),$$
$`(A1)`$
where $`|𝐏|=m_0c`$ and $`E=\gamma m_0c^2`$. The Einstein-de Broglie relation defines the Compton frequency $`h\nu _C=m_oc^2`$ for an object of rest mass $`m_0`$, and if we make the de Broglie assumption that the momentum-wave number relation for light also characterizes matter then $`𝐩=\mathrm{}𝐤_B`$ where $`𝐤_B=2\pi (\lambda _{B,1}^1,\lambda _{B,2}^1,\lambda _{B,3}^1)`$. We thus write

$$\frac{𝐏}{\mathrm{}}=(\frac{2\pi \gamma \nu _C}{c},𝐤_B)=2\pi (\frac{\gamma }{\lambda _C},\frac{1}{\lambda _{B,1}},\frac{1}{\lambda _{B,2}},\frac{1}{\lambda _{B,3}})$$
$`(A2)`$
and from this obtain the relationship

$$\lambda _B=\frac{c}{\gamma v}\lambda _C$$
$`(A3)`$
between the Compton wavelength, $`\lambda _C`$, and the de Broglie wavelength, $`\lambda _B`$. For a stationary object $`\lambda _B`$ is infinite, and the de Broglie wavelength decreases in inverse proportion to the momentum.

Eqn. (5) is very suggestive that quantum vacuum-elementary particle interaction involves a resonance at the Compton frequency. De Broglie proposed that an elementary particle is associated with a localized wave whose frequency is the Compton frequency. As summarized by Hunter : “…what we regard as the (inertial) mass of the particle is, according to de Broglie’s proposal, simply the vibrational energy (divided by $`c^2`$) of a localized oscillating field (most likely the electromagnetic field). From this standpoint inertial mass is not an elementary property of a particle, but rather a property derived from the localized oscillation of the (electromagnetic) field. De Broglie described this equivalence between mass and the energy of oscillational motion…as ‘une grande loi de la Nature’ (a great law of nature).”

This perspective is consistent with the proposition that inertial mass, $`m_i`$, may be a coupling parameter between electromagnetically interacting particles and the quantum vacuum. Although De Broglie assumed that his wave at the Compton frequency originates in the particle itself (due to some intrinsic oscillation or circulation of charge perhaps) there is an alternative interpretation discussed in some detail by de la Peña and Cetto that a particle “is tuned to a wave originating in the high-frequency modes of the zero-point background field.” The de Broglie oscillation would thus be due to a resonant interaction with the quantum vacuum, presumably the same resonance that is responsible for creating a contribution to inertial mass as in eqn. (5). In other words, the electromagnetic quantum vacuum would be driving this $`\nu _C`$ oscillation.

We therefore suggest that an elementary charge driven to oscillate at the Compton frequency, $`\nu _C`$, by the quantum vacuum may be the physical basis of the $`\eta (\nu )`$ scattering parameter in eqn. (5). For the case of the electron, this would imply that $`\eta (\nu )`$ is a sharply-peaked resonance at the frequency, expressed in terms of energy, $`h\nu _C=512`$ keV. The inertial mass of the electron would physically be the reaction force due to resonance scattering of the electromagnetic quantum vacuum radiation, the Rindler flux, at that frequency.

This leads to a surprising corollary. It has been shown that as viewed from a laboratory frame, a standing wave at the Compton frequency in the electron frame transforms into a traveling wave having the de Broglie wavelength for a moving electron. The wave nature of the moving electron (as measured in the Davisson-Germer experiment, for example) would be basically due to Doppler shifts associated with its Einstein-de Broglie resonance at the Compton frequency. A simplified heuristic model shows this, and a detailed treatment showing the same result may be found in de la Peña and Cetto . Represent a quantum vacuum-like driving force field as two waves having the Compton frequency $`\omega _C=2\pi \nu _C`$ travelling in equal and opposite directions, $`\pm \widehat{x}`$. The amplitude of the combined oppositely-moving waves acting upon an electron will be

$$\varphi =\varphi _++\varphi _{}=2\mathrm{cos}\omega _Ct\mathrm{cos}k_Cx.$$
$`(A4)`$
But now assume an electron is moving with velocity $`v`$ in the $`+x`$-direction. The wave responsible for driving the resonant oscillation impinging on the electron from the front will be the wave seen in the laboratory frame to have frequency $`\omega _{}=\gamma \omega _C(1v/c)`$, i.e. it is the wave below the Compton frequency in the laboratory that for the electron is Doppler shifted up to the $`\omega _C`$ resonance. Similarly the zero-point wave responsible for driving the electron resonant oscillation impinging on the electron from the rear will have a laboratory frequency $`\omega _+=\gamma \omega _C(1+v/c)`$ which is Doppler shifted down to $`\omega _C`$ for the electron. The same transformations apply to the wave numbers, $`k_+`$ and $`k_{}`$. The Lorentz invariance of the electromagnetic quantum vacuum spectrum ensures that regardless of the electron’s (unaccelerated) motion the up- and down-shifting of the laboratory-frame spectral energy density will always yield a standing wave in the electron’s frame.

It can be shown  that the superposition of these two oppositely-moving, Doppler-shifted waves is

$$\varphi ^{}=\varphi _+^{}+\varphi _{}^{}=2\mathrm{cos}(\gamma \omega _Ctk_Bx)\mathrm{cos}(\omega _Bt\gamma k_Cx).$$
$`(A5)`$
Observe that for fixed $`x`$, the rapidly oscillating “carrier” of frequency $`\gamma \omega _C`$ is modulated by the slowly varying envelope function in frequency $`\omega _B`$. And vice versa observe that at a given $`t`$ the “carrier” in space appears to have a relatively large wave number $`\gamma k_C`$ which is modulated by the envelope of much smaller wave number $`k_B`$. Hence both timewise at a fixed point in space and spacewise at a given time, there appears a carrier that is modulated by a much broader wave of dimension corresponding to the de Broglie time $`t_B=2\pi /\omega _B`$, or equivalently, the de Broglie wavelength $`\lambda _B=2\pi /k_B`$.

This result may be generalized to include quantum vacuum radiation from all other directions, as may be found in the monograph of de la Peña and Cetto . They conclude by stating: “The foregoing discussion assigns a physical meaning to de Broglie’s wave: it is the modulation of the wave formed by the Lorentz-transformed, Doppler-shifted superposition of the whole set of random stationary electromagnetic waves of frequency $`\omega _C`$ with which the electron interacts selectively.”

Another way of looking at the spatial modulation is in terms of the wave function: the spatial modulation of eqn. (A5) is exactly the $`e^{ipx/\mathrm{}}`$ wave function of a freely moving particle satisfying the Schrödinger equation. The same argument has been made by Hunter . In such a view the quantum wave function of a moving free particle becomes a “beat frequency” produced by the relative motion of the observer with respect to the particle and its oscillating charge.

It thus appears that a simple model of a particle as an electromagentic quantum vacuum-driven oscillating charge with a resonance at its Compton frequency may simultaneously offer insight into the nature of inertial mass, i.e. into rest inertial mass and its relativistic extension, the Einstein-de Broglie formula and into its associated wave function involving the de Broglie wavelength of a moving particle. If the de Broglie oscillation is indeed driven by the electromagnetic quantum vacuum, then it is a form of Schrödinger’s zitterbewegung. Moreover there is a substantial literature attempting to associate spin with zitterbewegung tracing back to the work of Schrödinger ; see for example Huang  and Barut and Zanghi .

REFERENCES

1\] M. Jammer, Concepts of Mass in Contemporary Physics and Philosopy, Princeton Univ. Press (2000)

 B. Haisch, A. Rueda, and H. E. Puthoff, Phys. Rev. A 49 678 (HRP) (1994)

 W. G. Unruh, Phys. Rev. D, 14 870 (1976)

 P. C. W. Davies, J. Phys. A, 8 609 (1975)

 P. Chen, reported at American Astronomical Society meeting, June 6, 2000.

 A. Rueda and B. Haisch, Found. Phys. 28 1057 (1998); A. Rueda and B. Haisch, Phys. Lett. A 240 115 (1998)

 T. H. Boyer, Phys. Rev. D, 11 790 (1975)

 L. de la Peña, and A. M. Cetto, The Quantum Vacuum: An Introduction to Stochastic Electrodynamics, Kluwer Acad. Publ. (1996)

 A. Rueda, B. Haisch and R. Tung, in prep. (2001); R. Tung, B. Haisch and A. Rueda, in prep. (2001)

 R. Loudon, The Quantum Theory of Light (2nd ed.) Clarendon Press, Oxford (1983)

 S. Hawking, Nature, 248 30 (1974)

 P. C. W. Davies, T. Dray, and C. A. Manogue, Phys. Rev. D 53 4382 (1996)

 J. D. Jackson, Classical Electrodynamics (3rd ed.) (1999)

 G. Hunter, in The Present Status of the Quantum Theory of Light, S. Jeffers et al. (eds.), (Kluwer Acad. Publ.), chap. 12 (1996)

 A. F. Kracklauer, Physics Essays 5 226 (1992); for a formal derivation and further illuminating discussion see Chap. 12 of

 B. Haisch and A. Rueda, Phys. Lett. A, 268, 224 (2000)

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# References

A possible scenario for volumetric display through nanoparticle suspensions

Enrique Canessa

The Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics, Trieste, Italy

Abstract

We discuss on the potential of suspensions of gold nanoparticles with variable refractive index for the possible physical realization of in-relief virtual dynamic display of plane images. A reasoning approach for a vision system to display in real-time volumetric moving images is proposed based on well-known properties of optical media, namely the anomalous dispersion of light on certain transparent media and the virtual image formed by a refracting transparent surface. The system relies on creating mechanisms to modify the refractive index of in-relief virtual dynamical display (iVDD) bulbs that ideally would contain a suspension of gold nanoparticles each and that might be ordered in an array filling up a whole screen.

In this work we present an approach for a vision system based on suspensions of gold nanoparticles with variable refractive index that could allow to depict in real-time and in- relief two-dimensional 2D (i.e., planar or flat) virtual images such as light rays that do not converge to the image point but appear to emanate from that point that could be in movement.

To perceive, recognize and gauge with our brain the depth of a 3D picture, nature provides us with two images of the same scene (the so-called stereopsis process ). The amount of depth perceived also depends on the binocular disparity between the two eyes views. The wider the separation, the greater the apparent depth is. By moving our head and looking around objects, we change our view and judge depths of objects at different distances from our eyes (the parallax phenomenon). The brain also uses the so-called accommodation of blurred images to gauge depth from the muscular contraction of the lens surface of the eyes.

Besides the input signals from the two eyes, the brain also uses other cues in the determination of depth. These include the cues that artists rely on to convey a feeling of depth in 2D paintings. Artists convey the roundedness of an object by varying color or indicating the different light intensities on different surfaces (e.g., shadows). Flat, static pictures can also take on some depth by variations in the sharpness of distant objects (e.g., perspective) or by the interposition (i.e., occlusion) of objects.

Separate images to each eye can also present a binocular disparity and hence a 3D view to the observer (e.g., as seen by binoculars). To this end, the stereoscope presents two different pictures to each eye whose viewing appears in depth due to their differences. This old-technique has been used, e.g., in Astronomy to notice changes in the stars positions. Other attempts for achieving static 3D displays are in-relief posters and maps, multiple-layer postal cards, etching monographs, embossed image art, sculptures, holograms (to record and store 3D visual information to be re-displayed under proper illumination), etc.

The shape-from-shading (also known as photoclinometry) is a method used to view planar images in 3D by mathematically relating image intensities and brightness . Other mathematical techniques make it also possible to reconstruct from 2D projections and get a full 3D picture .

Alternative techniques to visually fathom the depths of the world in movement around us have been also explored. These include the 3D-like Cinevision with added external effects and objects (e.g., perfume, dummies and quakes superimposed), the virtual reality (with simulated virtual touch) and 3D computer vision  (based on perspective and light intensity changes and motion sensors). Related work on the 3D display using non-linear optics can be found in .

Motivated by all this firestorm of ongoing activity on the search of techniques for giving the impression of reality (depth) and hopes for subsequent realistic displays, we focus next in the possible vision system based on suspensions of gold nanoparticles with variable refractive index. To achieve an enhanced depth by the in-relief virtual dynamical display (iVDD) of plane images, it is necessary to consider first two physics phenomena as seen in nature and described by geometrical optics (apparent depth) and nonlinear optics (anomalous refraction index.

Images of objects inmersed in a medium with refraction index $`n_1`$ are formed by the refraction of rays at a, say, spherical surface with radius $`R`$ of a transparent material with a different $`n_2`$ . By applying Snell’s law to the refracted rays and after a simple geometrical construction, it can be shown that $`\frac{n_1}{p}+\frac{n_2}{q}=\frac{n_2n_1}{R}`$, where $`p`$ is object distance and $`q`$ is image distance from the spherical surface. For a flat surface, one approximates $`R`$ to infinite hence for small angles

$$q(n_2/n_1)p.$$
(1)
When the sign of $`q`$ is opposite to that of $`p`$, the location of the virtual image is on the same side of the surface as the object.

It is well-kwown that the refractive index (or index of refraction), characteristic of a substance, varies with light. If $`n`$ changes we then deduce from Eq.(1) that the position of a virtual image might move as a function of the frequency of radiation $`\lambda `$. The nonlinearity of the refractive index versus $`\lambda `$ in certain optical media as well as the connection between dispersion and absorption has been known for many years . (For details of the treatment of dispersion according to quantum theory and classical Lorentz electron theory see, e.g., ).

Absorption involves the exitation by radiation of an electron from its lowest energy state to a higher energy state by the incident light wave (quantum confinement). Usually not all of the absorbed energy is re-radiated, remaining as heat in the absorbing material. In quantum theory, absorption is associated with transitions between quantized energy levels. Whereas according to classical theory, this phenomenon is identified with the steady oscillation of a charge in an orbit reacting to radiation. Each electron oscillator has a resonance frequency and, near resonance, the damping oscillator produces the broadening of the amplitude response.

The refraction or bending of a ray of light that passes through a medium is the result of the diminished transmission rate of the wavefronts in the medium. The velocity of light propagation in the medium varies considerably with wavelength $`\omega `$ hence the refractive index $`n`$ varies with the wavelength of the incident light. When $`\omega `$ approaches the wavelengths of strong absorption bands of the medium, $`n`$ undergoes sharp changes around resonant frequencies $`\lambda _R`$.

This anomalous behavior of $`n`$ was first observed in electrically excited rarified gases some time ago (see reviews in ). Since then, there has been a continuing interest in investigating the exceptionally high values of the refractive index near resonance lines by laser excitation in bulk semiconductors  and Sodium vapor  to mention a few. Experiments in air and diatomic gases show that the resonant wavelengths lie in the ultraviolet (i.e., shorter than the visible wavelengths). The characteristic damping times for the resonances are usually compared with the incident light intensity pulses used.

Variations in density $`\rho `$ (due to, e.g., compressibility) , in small temperature gradients  and in angle of light incidence  also produce changes in optical refractivity. Though such changes are not sufficient to produce appreciable percentage of excited states (and produce the so-called ‘negative dispersion’ effect).

Within classical electromagnetic theory, $`n`$ is represented as a complex, frequency dependent quantity . It can be shown that $`n(\omega )=Re\sqrt{ϵ(\omega )}`$, where $`ϵ`$ is the dielectric permittivity of the medium, and the absorption coefficient is given by $`\delta (\omega )=2(\omega /c)Im\sqrt{ϵ(\omega )}`$.

There is also a close relation between dispersion and absorption. For a Lorentzian oscillator, the extreme values of $`n`$ occur at a frequency at which $`\delta `$ has half its maximum value and it can be approximated by

$$(n1)_{extreme}n_o1\pm \frac{\delta _{max}}{2},$$
(2)
where $`n_o1`$ is the reduced refractivity due to different electron oscillators per molecule.

It is important to mention that measurements of nonlinear refraction at room temperature and upon ($``$picosecond) excitations by a laser pulse have also been reported in porous-glass nanocomposite materials  and transparent dielectrics materials  owing to their potential applications for improving the performance of photonic devices. On the theoretical side, the electronic properties of these particles with diameters of few up to ten nanometers and embedded in a dielectric have been studied in .

A large amount of work has also been devoted to the study of quantum size effects in suspensions of submicron size colloidal particles . However, it has been only in recent years that the ultrafast nonlinear response of metal colloids to light has been measured (whose diameters are much smaller than the optical wavelength) . These fascinating nanoparticle systems, which are neither quite microscopic nor quite macroscopic , are of our interest for the iVDD implementation and the possible 3D display of visible plane surfaces.

Experimental results using a single beam technique , show that the non-linearity is ultra-fast with response time shorter than, e.g., the $`28ps`$ pulse duration of the laser used. The absorption spectrum of gold nanoparticles having mean diameter of $`20nm`$ displays a maximum at a frequency of $`525nm`$. Particles larger in size have a red-shifted plasmon maximum . Copper nanoparticles in 2-ethoxyethanol and water shows distinct absorbtion peaks at 572 and 582 nm, respectively .

The optical response of rod-shaped gold nanoparticles in solutions, with different aspect ratios, is also of interest in the visible . It has been observed that their absorption spectral features consist of a dominant surface plasma attributed to the collective dipole oscillation. corresponding to the longitudinal resonance. Its characteristic frequency shifts to the red when increasing the anisotropic shape of the nanorods. As with the nanoparticles in suspension, data from human photoreceptors in the retina shows that the wavelength of maximum absorbance of the sensitive receptor cells known as cones lies also in the range $`534564nm`$ .

As anticipated the initial stages of image processing in nature consist of fairly simple, usually local, transformations of the array of (refracted light) intensity values in the image . Inspired by these observations, in what follows, we introduce the iVDD system for the image filter that might produce the sensation of depth under normal viewing conditions without the use of external glasses or special sensors.

An input signal (such as a TV signal comming from an antenna) could be simultaneously displayed in two receiver sets. A radiation-sensitive detector photodiode that converts light into an electrical signal, placed in front of one of the TV screens, could be used for the voltage analysis of the time-varying imagery in real time. The photodiode could send a voltage signal to a selective switch. The switch could possess two different (or a discrete set of) output states of emitted light that could radiate the iVDD bulb in the visible portion of the electromagnetic spectrum in which the moving images containing 2D information transmitted by a second receiver set might cross.

Following reported experimental data, if frequencies at or near resonance $`\lambda _R`$ can be used to radiate the iVDD bulb, sufficient excitation of energy states would produce a nonlinear $`n`$ of the suspension. Since the refractive index of the iVDD bulb (filled with the nanoparticles) would change abruptly then one can deduce from Eq.(1) that the position of a virtual image should move (back or forward) as a function of the frequency (greater or smaller than $`\lambda _R`$). The incident wavelengths should be near (and not equal to) the wavelength at which the nano gold colloidal suspension has a maximum absorption. So little should be transmitted or reflected of the incident light in a similar way to fluorescent-tube discharge lamps where the incident UV light excites a fluorescent coating on the internal surface of a bulb.

A coherent laser light could be activated by the voltage signals coming from the photodiode. The required high-frequency radiation could be produced by, e.g., a Nd:YAG laser ($`\lambda 530nm`$) providing $`30ps`$ pulses at a repetition rate of $`10Hz`$ . (For visible light, one requires frequencies of the order of $`\mathrm{3\hspace{0.33em}10}^6GHz`$: since $`\lambda =c/\omega \mathrm{3\hspace{0.33em}10}^8/\mathrm{100\hspace{0.33em}10}^9`$ cycles per seconds. The use of Incandescent and fluorescent lights might also emit light in this frequency range. Besides, acoustic-optic modulation might alter the refractive index as observed in recent experiments in optical fibers .

Because the refractivity should vary sharply over the profile of a spectral line due to the smallness of the particles inside the iVDD bulb, the propagation of the two wavelengths of light through the iVDD bulb will cause the position of a virtual image formed in the iVDD bulb to move as a function of the frequency of radiation according to refraction phenomena. This effect would allow to simulate spatial information out of the planar images. By using reported experimental data for the absorbance spectra of gold particles in suspension, we carry out a crude estimation for the extreme value of $`n`$ given in Eq.(2) and found that the virtual image would have (maximum, minimum) depths of about $`\pm 15\%`$ from the receiver screen distance.

Thus, our simple system involves the generation of light excitation as emitted, e.g. from a TV screen. This radiation could be used to alter the refractive index of a stable inhomogeneous nanoparticle dispersion which generates an in-relief virtual dynamical viewpoint and allows to gain depth control by the light-frequency filtering. Due to the fast-response time of the non-linear dispersion, motion changes should appear as in TV and cinema motion which consists of a permanent stream of frame pictures. The electron beam fired out of a gun inside a TV set hits a phosphor-coated screen to draw a picture at a rate of 30 times every second.

In principle to transfer the full screen information one could think of an array of iVDD bulbs filling up the screen area. Each screen pixel to be seen in-relief should be in correspondence (and be representable) with the 2D full screen. The viewer would see a virtual image which might appear as a relief image of the original full-screen object.

The present system needs to be compatible with TV broadcast standards and standard home TV receivers, including the new digital TV broadcasting which allows to improve the overall quality of the picture (overcoming the problems of ghosting and compressing the signal) . If we consider a (black and white) rectangular computer screen (roughly 25cm diagonal) having an array of 640 by 480 pixels, then one would need about 307,200 iVDD bulbs to cover out all the screen.

Of course, the present ideas are only speculation as there are many technical problems to consider in practice. A few of these are discussed next for completeness.

To the best of the Author’s knowledge there does not exist a similar proposal for a possible iVDD system described in the literature (combining both nonlinear optics phenomena and simple laws of geometrics optics as used here), or a similar product available in the market, or a similar claim in the USA patents database .

Although certain significant properties of optical media have long been studied by specialists, the techniques and instruments which could make them observable (e.g., precision and sensitivity of measurements) have been only available in recent years. These include small, high-tech lasers (with low power requirements, low phase noise and superior frequency stability). The high light frequencies needed for the iVDD system are not yet achieved by commercial Voltage Controlled Oscillators (VCOs) which are widely used for wireless communications. These are available in radio frequencies spanning 100 MHz to 3 GHz with supply voltages ranging from 3 to 12 Volts and operative over a wide range of temperatures. Tiny Crystal Clock Oscillators allowing fast delivery of many frequencies are only available in this range. All this technology is developing.

Put more precisely, it is only now possible that these thoughts for a 3D virtual dynamic image could become feasible. To have a suitable experimental test platform, the system relies on creating reliable mechanisms to modify the iVDD bulbs’s refractive index displaying the recent observed non-linear optics properties of small metal particles in suspensions which could be ordered in an array to fill up a whole screen.

In theory the present vision system for displaying in real-time and in-relief 2D moving images should overcome the following problems: One should search for the best transparent material for the iVDD bulb container of the nanoparticles in suspensions (made of lens; glass bounded by smooth ”curved” surfaces). One should identify which thin optical elements to use to reduce aberration (if any will appear). It would be necessary to control the size distribution as well as the stability of the gold nanoparticles in suspension against agglomeration (percolation) and sedimentation. It is well-kwon that grafted polymers represent an interesting alternative means to obtain a solid matrix and control interparticle separation. Gold-graft copolymer composites could then be used to characterize the distribution and spatial arrangement of the nanoparticles. One should avoid using photorefractive materials -the subclass of nonlinear optics materials in which light emerging from such substances does not necessary have its frequency proportional to the incoming light. It is necessary to investigate the characteristic frequencies (leading to transition on the visible) of the optical transparent media to be used. One should identify the optimal visual angle and the possible range of vision. The iVDD should be isolated from vibration. Small vibrational disturbances on the iVDD bulbs might cause the outgoing laser transmission beam to deviate from the desired pointing angle. One should quantify the iVDD (fast) response times to control and avoid superimposition of images. One should avoid to have images magnified upright (M=image height/object height). One should avoid double refraction (through birefringent substrates) in optically anisotropic media. One should identify if there is any absorbed energy not re-radiated, remaining as heat in the absorbing material.

To conclude we would like also to mention that laser-induced holographics TV, (i.e., moving holographic videos with a wide-angle display of 3D dynamic images) is being developed by the MIT’s Media Laboratory whose usage is expected by the year 2020 . Our iVDD system could differ from Holographics TV by the following. In principle, the iVDD system could display ”mezzo” relievo images only and not a full volumetric, 3D display as in holographics TV. It could display in-relievo images over a reduced angle-range vision -holographic video display is capable of rendering full-color 25x25x25mm images with a $`15^o`$ view-zone at rates over 20 frames per second. The iVDD system could contain less information than holograms and could also require a Laser source. However, it might require simpler manipulation as it could be easy to attach to present TV or Computer screens.

In order to get visual effects that might look like the real things one could try the iVDD. It could be a reasonable, cost-effective alternative to holographic TV because the costs of large optics necessary for holographics TV could be reduced to acceptable levels. Our iVDD system could also be compatible with display media other than TV, e.g., in-relief Computer and, probably, Cinema screens. Many practical applications can be anticipated including the entertainment and cultural business. The iVDD system could help to medical imaging in real time, robotics, design, etc as well as to preserve realistic vision of extincted species and/or rare objects of which only photographic records exit.

It has been said that virtual images cannot be displayed on a screen (see, e.g., Ref.). However, a reasoning approach indicates that there could be a way for achieving this optical phenomenon on a large screen made of an array of tiny Virtual Dynamical Display (iVDD) bulbs containing gold nanoparticle suspensions. One could also think of the two different input images to be displayed in two separated planes and that the resulting image disparity would be sufficient to create a steroscopic view to cross the iVDD bulbs.