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# Multi-mode Interferometer for Guided Matter Waves

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## Abstract

Atoms can be trapped and guided with electromagnetic fields, using nano-fabricated structures. We describe the fundamental features of an interferometer for guided matter waves, built of two combined Y-shaped beam splitters. We find that such a device is expected to exhibit high contrast fringes even in a multi-mode regime, analogous to a white light interferometer.

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Interferometers are very sensitive devices, and have provided both insights into fundamental questions and valuable instruments for applications. The sensitivity of matter-wave interferometers  has been shown to be much better than that of light interferometers in several areas such as the observation of inertial effects . Because of this high sensitivity, interferometers have to be built in a robust manner to be applicable. This could be achieved by guiding the matter waves with microfabricated structures, and by integration of the components into a single compact device, as has been done with optical devices.

In this Letter, we describe such an interferometer for matter waves propagating in a time-independent guiding potential, in analogy with propagation of light in optical fibers (for recent microtrap proposals see ). This interferometer has the surprising feature that interference is observed even if many levels in the guide are occupied, as is the case when the source is thermal, or for cold fermions, even below the Fermi temperature. The multi-mode interferometer is built by combining two Y-shaped beam splitters , capable of coherently splitting or recombining many incoming transverse modes, and arranging the interferometer geometry so that all the different transverse states give the same phase shift pattern. The beam splitters are formed by splitting the atom guiding potential symmetrically into two identical output guides. This was recently demonstrated on an atom chip ; alternatively, this may be realized by optical confinement .

The analysis is done in two dimensions , similar to solid state electron interferometers . The shape of the guiding potential in the transverse direction $`x`$ changes with the longitudinal coordinate $`z`$, from a single harmonic well of frequency $`\omega `$ to two wells of frequency $`2\omega `$ separated by a distance $`d(z)`$, and then back again to a single guide (see Fig. 1a and b).

Let us consider a particle entering in the transverse ground state and with longitudinal kinetic energy $`E_{\mathrm{kin}}`$. In the limit where the atomic transverse motion in the guide (related to $`\omega `$ and the ground state size) is very fast with respect to the rate of transverse guide displacement $`\frac{d}{dt}d(z)`$ as seen by the moving atom (related to the beam splitter opening angle $`\frac{d}{dz}d(z)`$ and $`E_{\mathrm{kin}}`$), the particle will adiabatically follow the lowest energy level throughout the interferometer. This corresponds to the condition $`E_{\mathrm{kin}}[\frac{d}{dz}d(z)]^2\mathrm{}\omega `$. As it can be seen in Fig. 1b, when the two guide arms are far apart (i.e., when $`d(z)\sqrt{\mathrm{}/m\omega }`$), any eigenstate of the incoming guide potential evolves into a superposition of eigenstates $`|n_l`$ and $`|n_r`$, corresponding to the left and right arms, respectively:

$`|2n{\displaystyle \frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}}\left[|n_l+|n_r\right]`$ (1)
$`|2n+1{\displaystyle \frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}}\left[|n_l|n_r\right].`$ (2)
Levels $`|2n`$ and $`|2n+1`$ become practically degenerate inside the interferometer when the arms are widely split, as Fig. 1c shows. For example, it is easy to visualize how a transverse odd state $`|1`$ splits in the middle to become a superposition of two ground states having between them a $`\pi `$ phase, while the even state $`|0`$ does the same, but with a $`0`$ relative phase. As the states become degenerate, an asymmetric perturbation (e.g., a differential phase shift) will couple the odd and even symmetries, thus inducing a mixing between the two states (see also ). Numerical two-dimensional wave-packet calculations for the lowest 35 modes  confirmed that no transitions between transverse states occur, as long as the motion is adiabatic in the sense discussed above, and as long as no asymmetric perturbation is present. In an ideal case, coherent splitting and recombination for all transverse modes can be achieved .

As mentioned, mixing within pairs of degenerate states inside the interferometer can occur if the wavefunction experiences a phase difference between the two arms. Let us therefore introduce a phase shift $`\mathrm{\Delta }\varphi `$ between the interferometer arms, either by making one arm longer by $`\mathrm{\Delta }l`$, giving $`\mathrm{\Delta }\varphi =k\mathrm{\Delta }l`$, where $`\mathrm{}k`$ is the momentum in the longitudinal ($`z`$) direction, or by applying an additional potential $`U`$, resulting in $`\mathrm{\Delta }\varphi =\frac{m}{\mathrm{}^2k}U𝑑z`$. Both phase shifts are independent of the transverse state in the guide, and they are dispersive, meaning that the resulting phase shift depends on $`k`$. In the following, we shall refer to the phase shift caused by a path length difference $`\mathrm{\Delta }l`$.

Following equation 1 and its time inverse, an incoming even state is transformed as follows while transversing through the two beam splitters BS1 and BS2:

$`|2n`$ $`\stackrel{BS1+\mathrm{\Delta }\varphi }{}`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}}[e^{i\mathrm{\Delta }\varphi /2}|n_l+e^{i\mathrm{\Delta }\varphi /2}|n_r]`$ (3)
$`\stackrel{BS2}{}`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}}[\mathrm{cos}(\mathrm{\Delta }\varphi /2)|2n+i\mathrm{sin}(\mathrm{\Delta }\varphi /2)|2n+1].`$ (4)
By taking into account the analogous transformation rule for the nearby odd state, we find that we can describe the interferometer in terms of a matrix

$$\begin{array}{cc}\frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}\left(\begin{array}{cc}\mathrm{cos}(\mathrm{\Delta }\varphi /2)\hfill & i\mathrm{sin}(\mathrm{\Delta }\varphi /2)\hfill \\ i\mathrm{sin}(\mathrm{\Delta }\varphi /2)\hfill & \mathrm{cos}(\mathrm{\Delta }\varphi /2)\hfill \end{array}\right)& \end{array}$$
(5)
in the basis of the two incoming and outgoing transverse eigenmodes $`|2n`$ and $`|2n+1`$. Figure 2 shows the above qualitative behavior in an actual simulation.

Let us now discuss the longitudinal degree of freedom. Consider a very cold wave packet with longitudinal kinetic energy $`E_{kin}=k^2\mathrm{}^2/2m`$, where $`k`$ is the mean longitudinal momentum of the wave packet. In the transverse direction it occupies the transverse ground state $`|0`$ of the incoming guide. We have chosen the ground state energy in the interferometer arms, $`\mathrm{}\omega ^{}`$, to be twice that of the input and output guides, $`\mathrm{}\omega `$ (see Fig. 1). This implies that if the longitudinal kinetic energy is too small, $`E_{kin}<\frac{1}{2}\mathrm{}(\omega ^{}\omega )=\frac{1}{2}\mathrm{}\omega `$, the wave packet will be reflected already at the first beam splitter. For $`E_{kin}>\frac{1}{2}\mathrm{}\omega `$, it will split between the two interferometer arms to occupy the transverse ground states in both arms, slowing down in the longitudinal direction to ensure energy conservation. If the wave packet experiences a phase shift $`\mathrm{\Delta }\varphi =k\mathrm{\Delta }l`$ in one of the arms, part of it will, after the recombination at the second beam splitter, exit in the first excited transverse state $`|1`$ of the outgoing guide, as described by matrix (5), again provided the longitudinal kinetic energy is large enough. The phase shift is dependent on $`k`$, and thus the different $`k`$ components of the wave packet will obtain different phase shifts. The components with phase shifts close to $`2N\pi `$ will exit in the transverse ground state, and those with phase shifts close to $`(2N+1)\pi `$ will exit in the first excited state. If $`\frac{1}{2}\mathrm{}\omega <E_{kin}<\mathrm{}\omega `$, the transition to the first excited transverse state will be forbidden, and this part of the wave packet will be reflected. If the kinetic energy of the wave packet fulfills $`E_{kin}\mathrm{}\omega `$, transitions to the first excited transverse state at the recombination beam splitter are possible, and no sizeable back reflection occurs. The interference pattern may then be observed by looking at the populations in the states $`|0`$ and $`|1`$ in the outgoing guide, as presented in figure 2.

We note that the part of the wave packet making the transition to the state $`|1`$ will lose kinetic energy to compensate for the additional transverse energy $`\mathrm{}\omega `$ needed for the transition. Therefore the part of the wave packet in state $`|1`$ will travel slower than the part in $`|0`$, by an amount $`\mathrm{\Delta }v\omega /k`$. As explicitly shown in the third column of Fig. 2 for $`\mathrm{\Delta }\varphi =3\pi /2`$, the two outgoing components will separate longitudinally. Similarly, a wave packet entering in the first excited transverse state, acquiring an odd phase shift $`(2N+1)\pi `$, will exit in the ground state, gaining potential energy, and propagating faster than the components exiting in the first excited transverse state. To observe this separation between the two outgoing parts of the wave packet, one has to introduce a pulsed source, which is what we will assume from now on.

The reasoning above is easily extended to higher transverse modes. Components of a wave packet acquiring an even phase shift will exit in the same transverse state as they entered, while components acquiring an odd phase shift will exit in the neighboring transverse state ($`|2n|2n+1`$, or $`|2n+1|2n`$), lose (gain) kinetic energy accordingly, and propagate slower (faster) by the same $`\mathrm{\Delta }v`$, independent of the transverse energy level. Thus, for a system of temperature $`T`$, filling $`2n+1`$ transverse modes, the interferometer is actually composed of $`n`$ disjunct interferometers, all giving rise to the same longitudinal pattern.

If the energy spread of the longitudinal wave packet is large enough, $`\mathrm{\Delta }k\pi /\mathrm{\Delta }l`$, a longitudinal interference pattern will form within the wave packet, as shown in Fig. 3. This pattern, shown here for the states $`|0`$ and $`|1`$, will be the same for all transverse states $`|2n`$ and $`|2n+1`$. The two density patterns will, at the exit of the interferometer, add up to the same wave packet shape one would expect if the interferometer was not there . Looking at the total wave packet, not distinguishing between the different transverse levels, one only sees its envelope. The two transverse state components will, however, propagate with different velocities, as outlined above, and after some time they will rephase as shown in Fig. 3. This will happen once enough time has passed for $`|\mathrm{\Delta }v|`$ to overcome the difference in the position of the pattern peaks. Since $`|\mathrm{\Delta }v|`$ is independent of the incoming transverse mode, all patterns will re-phase at the same time and position, and a multi transverse mode operation could be achieved.

In an actual multi mode experiment, the simplest input state will be a thermal atomic cloud. Such a state is described by a mixed density matrix. The longitudinal states are obtained in the following way: At the start of the experiment, we imagine a thermal atomic cloud trapped in both transverse and longitudinal directions, with transverse confinement by the same trapping frequency $`\omega `$ as in the incoming guide. In the longitudinal direction, the initial trap is approximated by an infinitely high box of width $`L`$. The states we consider are the eigenfunctions of this trap. At time $`t=0`$, one wall of the box is opened up and the longitudinal states start propagating in the positive $`z`$ direction according to their momentum distributions. Each longitudinal state can be approximated by a wave packet with mean momentum $`k=(n+1)\pi /L`$ and momentum spread $`\mathrm{\Delta }k=2\sqrt{\pi }/L`$ .

We carry out a numerical calculation of the interference pattern after the interferometer, starting from a thermal state as described. We take into account the $`k`$-dependent phase shifts acquired by the plane wave components of the longitudinal wave packets, resulting in transitions between different transverse states according to Eq. (5). The plane wave components are slowed down or sped up, if necessary, to ensure energy conservation. The emergence of an interference pattern, despite the incoherent sum over the transverse and longitudinal states, is confirmed by this numerical calculation. Figure 4 gives an example of an interference pattern obtained with a typical “hot” atom ensemble with a temperature of $`200`$ $`\mu `$K and guides with a trap frequency of $`10^5`$s<sup>-1</sup>, already realized on an atom chip . Even though hundreds of transverse levels are populated, high contrast fringes are observed.

To summarize, we have shown that a multi-mode interferometer may be realized in a two-dimensional geometry, using two symmetric Y-shaped beam splitters. Furthermore, though beyond the scope of the present work, we expect three-dimensional evolution to exhibit qualitatively the same behavior under certain conditions. As Y-shaped microfabricated beam splitters have been realized, we expect the road to be open for the experimental realization of robust guided matter wave interferometers.

We would like to thank Peter Zoller for enlightening discussions. R.F. is grateful to Yoseph Imry for his insight into mesoscopic systems. E.A. would like to thank Helmut Ritsch for his kind hospitality. This work was supported by the Austrian Science Foundation (FWF), project SFB 15-07, by the Istituto Trentino di Cultura (ITC) and by the European Union, contract Nr. IST-1999-11055 (ACQUIRE), HPMF-CT-1999-00211 and HPMF-CT-1999-00235.


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# Layer-Dependent Magnetization at the Surface of a Band-Ferromagnet

## Abstract

The temperature-dependence of the magnetization near the surface of a band-ferromagnet is measured with monolayer resolution. The simultaneous application of novel highly surface-sensitive techniques enables one to deduce the layer-dependent magnetization curves at a Fe(100) surface. Analysis of data is based on a simple mean-field approach. Implications for modern theories of itinerant-electron ferromagnetism are discussed.

A ferromagnetic material is characterized by a spontaneous magnetization $`m`$ which decreases with increasing temperature $`T`$ until the paramagnetic state with $`m=0`$ is reached at the Curie point $`T_c`$. For very low temperatures the form of the magnetization curve $`m(T)`$ is governed by spin-wave excitations according to Bloch’s law. For temperatures very close to $`T_c`$ critical fluctuations result in a power-law dependence $`m(T)(T_cT)^\beta `$ with a critical exponent $`\beta `$. In the wide range of intermediate temperatures the form of $`m(T)`$ depends on the specific system. In case of a band-ferromagnetic material, such as Fe as a prototype, the detailed form of $`m(T)`$ in this intermediate regime must be explained from the underlying electronic structure aha96 ; BDN01 .

Density-functional theory within the local-spin-density approximation is known to give a quantitatively accurate description of several ground-state properties KV83 . For finite temperatures, however, there is no satisfying implementation available. A microscopic theory must account for the existence of local magnetic moments above $`T_c`$ in particular Mor85 . This requires to deal with correlations among itinerant valence electrons as, for example, within the framework of an orbitally degenerate Hubbard-type model with realistic parameters LKK01 . The long history of itinerant-electron ferromagnetism shows that this is a demanding task BDN01 . On the other hand, comparatively simple mean-field approaches based on spin models are known to provide a successful phenomenological description in many cases (see e. g. Ref. CL00 ). Remarkably, while the Weiss mean-field theory fails to reproduce the known $`T0`$ and $`TT_c`$ limits and substantially overestimates $`T_c`$, the form of the Fe magnetization curve $`m(T)`$ at intermediate reduced temperatures $`T/T_c`$ is reasonably well described: For spin-quantum number $`S=1/2`$ there are deviations from the measured bulk magnetization curve of Fe within a few per cent only chi97 ; hah81 .

At the surface of a band-ferromagnet the magnetization may be different for different layers $`\alpha `$ parallel to the surface because of the reduced translational symmetry. Hence, a key quantity that characterizes the surface magnetic structure is the layer-dependent magnetization curve $`m_\alpha (T)`$. Within the framework of classical spin models, the lowered surface coordination number implies that certain exchange interactions are missing. This directly leads to a reduced magnetic stability at the surface BH74 : The top-layer ($`\alpha =1`$) magnetization is substantially reduced as compared with the bulk. However, significant deviations from the bulk magnetization curve are confined to the first few layers in the intermediate temperature range. This is confirmed qualitatively by calculations within Hubbard-type models of correlated itinerant electrons using slave-boson, decoupling and alloy-analogy approaches surf . Roughly, the results are similar to those for Ising or Heisenberg systems in the range of intermediate temperatures. Yet, the precise form of $`m_\alpha (T)`$ for a band-ferromagnetic surface must still be considered as largely unknown.

On the experimental side, determination of the layer-dependent magnetization curve at a surface is a demanding task as well, which has not been achieved so far. In order to measure $`m_\alpha (T)`$, experimental techniques sensitive to surface magnetism are required with a magnetic probing depth tunable with monolayer (ML) resolution. Common surface-sensitive techniques like spin-resolved secondary-electron emission ah87  or (inverse) photoemission ldd93  average over several layers beneath the surface resulting in a (nearly) bulk-like behavior of $`m(T)`$. Nevertheless, in a number of sophisticated experiments a roughly linear temperature trend of $`m(T)`$ has been observed and attributed to the surface magnetization (see kgd84 ; ksg85 ; spr95  for Fe surfaces and DRW85  for experimental techniques).

Here we report on an experiment to determine $`m_\alpha (T)`$ at the (100) surface of bcc Fe. The novel and crucial feature of our experiment is the simultaneous application of different in-situ techniques which are highly sensitive to the magnetization near the surface, but slightly differ in their magnetic probing depths.

Ultimate surface sensitivity (magnetic probing depth $`\lambda =0`$ ML) is achieved by spin-polarized electron capture whz89 ; ipw98 . 25 keV He+-ions are grazingly scattered (incidence angle to the surface plane $`12^{}`$) off a magnetized Fe(100) surface. The ions are reflected and capture target electrons into excited atomic states. The spin-polarization of captured electrons is deduced from the observed degree of circular polarization of emitted fluorescence light. Excited atomic states can only survive collisions for impact parameters exceeding the mean radius of the corresponding electronic orbital. Thus the final formation of atomic states takes place on the outgoing part of the trajectories, resulting in a sensitivity of electron capture to a region at or above the top surface layer.

An established technique to study magnetism near a surface is spin-polarized secondary-electron emission, induced by keV electrons at normal or oblique incidence s92 . Based on a mean-field study, Abraham and Hopster ah87  infer from their observed temperature-dependence of the spin-polarization of secondary electrons from Ni(110) a magnetic probing depth of $`\lambda =34`$ ML (with an upper limit of 7 ML) for electrons of about 0 or 10 eV kinetic energy. A compilation of electron scattering cross sections by Schönhense and Siegmann ss93  suggests a similar value for Fe ($`\lambda =4.2`$ ML), in accordance with a recent overlayer experiment by Pfandzelter et al. pow01 .

The probing depth in secondary-electron emission can be considerably reduced by using energetic ions instead of electrons as primary particles rwc90 ; pow01 . Grazingly incident ions are reflected from the top surface layer and do not penetrate into the bulk (“surface channeling”). In practice, structural imperfections like surface steps mediate penetration of some projectiles, leading to a contribution of excited electrons from layers beneath the surface. From computer simulations emulating ion trajectories p98  and an overlayer experiment pow01 , we infer for scattering of 25 keV protons from our Fe(100) surface a probing depth of $`\lambda =(0.5\pm 0.2)`$ ML for electrons of $`1020`$ eV kinetic energy. We note that $`\lambda `$ seems to increase for lower electron energies owing to cascade multiplication governed by electron-electron scattering pow01 . Hence, energy resolution is mandatory if maximum surface sensitivity is aspired.

Electron capture and electron emission yield information on the spin part of the magnetization. Although a general quantitative relationship between experimental observable (electron spin polarization) and magnetization has not been worked out so far, it is generally assumed that one can derive the (normalized) temperature dependence of the magnetization. This assumption appears to be justified in view of the, at least for the conditions of our experiment, weak selectivity of capture and emission processes in $`𝐤`$-space. Considering the small, well-defined, but different information depths of the techniques, a simultaneous application at the same surface thus should enable one to deduce the layer-dependent magnetization curves near the surface.

In our experiment, a (100) Fe single crystal disk is mounted to close the gap of a magnetic yoke with a coil. For the measurements the crystal is magnetized by current pulses through the coil along an easy axis of magnetization $`[001]`$ or $`[00\overline{1}]`$ in the (100) surface plane. This reproducibly yields a full remanent magnetization near the center of the crystal as checked by the magneto-optic Kerr effect. The (100) surface is prepared by cycles of grazing Ar+-sputtering and annealing, until the surface is clean, atomically flat, and well-ordered, as inferred from Auger electron spectroscopy, grazing ion-scattering, and LEED. The target temperature is controlled by a thermocouple attached directly near the crystal. Systematic differences between the thermocouple reading and the crystal temperature are calibrated by Kerr-effect (Curie temperature $`T_c`$) and pyrometer measurements and corrected.

Electrons are emitted by 25 keV protons at grazing incidence ($`1.2^{}`$) or by 4 keV electrons at oblique incidence ($`33^{}`$) and enter an electrostatic energy analyzer (cylindrical sector field) in a direction of about $`10^{}`$ from normal. Spin analysis is performed for electrons with $`1020`$ eV kinetic energy in a subsequent LEED spin polarization detector pow01 . Each polarization spectrum is obtained from two identical measurements with reversed magnetizations to eliminate instrumental asymmetries.

Electron capture into the excited HeI 1s3p3P-term formed during grazing scattering of 25 keV He+-ions is studied via fluorescence light emitted in the 2s3S-3p3P, $`\lambda =388.9`$ nm transition. The circular polarization fraction of the light is measured by means of a rotatable quarter-wave plate, a linear polarizer, a narrow band-width interference filter, and a cooled photomultiplier. The transition being in the UV spectral range, detection is affected on a tolerable level by stray light from the filaments for heating the crystal up to temperatures below about 900 K.

Experimental results are depicted in Fig. 1 as function of the reduced temperature $`T/T_c,T_c=1043`$ K. The data are collected from several quick heating and cooling runs. Short measurement times turned out to be important in order to avoid significant segregation of C at intermediate temperatures and S at temperatures close to $`T_c`$ spr95 . No systematic differences exceeding the statistical error (about $`\pm 0.03`$ for the normalized polarization) were observed for heating and cooling runs, respectively. In Fig. 1 (a) we show for comparison the rotation of the polarization axis associated with the longitudinal magneto-optic Kerr-effect (solid circles). The temperature-dependence is in agreement with previous Kerr-rotation measurements at Fe(100) by Sirotti et al. spr95  and reflects the bulk magnetization, because of the large penetration depth of visible He-Ne-laser light (typically 20 nm abe88 ).

Clearly different temperature-dependences are observed with the surface-sensitive techniques electron-induced electron emission (Fig. 1 (b), open circles), proton-induced electron emission (Fig. 1 (b), solid circles), and electron capture (Fig. 1 (c), solid circles). The curvatures gradually decrease, until, for electron capture, an almost linear behavior is observed. Remarkably, for electron-induced electron emission, a prominent technique to study surface magnetism, the data closely resemble the data from the Kerr-effect.

Information on the layer-dependent magnetization cannot be extracted from the data directly, as these have to be interpreted as exponentially weighted averages over a number of layers corresponding to the probing depth. We use an indirect way by comparing with results of a simple mean-field calculation which is known to reproduce the bulk magnetization curve fairly well, provided that reduced quantities $`m(T)/m(0)`$ and $`T/T_c`$ are used.

Accordingly, the spin-$`S`$ Heisenberg model for the (100) surface of a bcc lattice with layer-independent nearest-neighbor exchange $`J`$ is considered: $`H=J_{i\alpha ,j\beta }𝐒_{i\alpha }𝐒_{j\beta }`$. Here $`i`$ labels the sites within a layer parallel to the surface and $`\alpha =1,\mathrm{},\mathrm{}`$ the different layers. The mean-field free energy is $`F_{\mathrm{MF}}=k_\mathrm{B}T\mathrm{ln}\text{tr}\mathrm{exp}(H_{\mathrm{MF}}/k_\mathrm{B}T)`$ where $`H_{\mathrm{MF}}`$ is obtained from $`H`$ by the usual decoupling $`𝐒_{i\alpha }𝐒_{j\beta }𝐒_{i\alpha }𝐒_{j\beta }+𝐒_{i\alpha }𝐒_{j\beta }𝐒_{i\alpha }𝐒_{j\beta }`$. Assuming collinear ferromagnetic order, $`𝐦_\alpha =m_\alpha 𝐞_z`$, and minimizing $`F_{\mathrm{MF}}`$ with respect to the order parameter, $`m_\alpha =g\mu _\mathrm{B}S_{i\alpha }^z`$ ($`g`$: Landé factor, $`\mu _\mathrm{B}`$: Bohr magneton), yields a coupled set of Weiss self-consistency equations

$$m_\alpha =m_\alpha (0)B_S(Sb_\alpha /k_\mathrm{B}T)$$
(1)
with $`m_\alpha (0)=g\mu _\mathrm{B}S`$, the Brillouin function $`B_S`$ Nol86b  and the layer-dependent Weiss field $`b_\alpha =(2J/g\mu _\mathrm{B})\left(z_{}m_\alpha +z_{}m_{\alpha 1}+z_{}m_{\alpha +1}\right)`$. $`z_{}=0`$ and $`z_{}=4`$ are the intra- and inter-layer coordination numbers for the (100) surface. The total coordination number is $`z=z_{}+2z_{}=8`$. The equations (1) are easily solved numerically for a film of finite but sufficiently large thickness. For the actual calculations we have taken $`S=1`$. Assuming the orbital contribution to the magnetic moment to be quenched completely ($`g=2`$), this appears to be the proper choice in the case of Fe since the $`T=0`$ spin moment is $`2.13\mu _\mathrm{B}`$ per atom GR94 .

To compare with the experiment we assume that each layer $`\alpha `$ gives a contribution proportional to $`m_\alpha `$ but weighted by an exponential factor $`\mathrm{exp}(\alpha /\lambda )`$ where $`\lambda `$ is the probing depth characteristic for the experimental technique applied. From the layer-dependent magnetization curves $`m_\alpha (T)`$, we thus calculate a quantity $`P(T)`$ as

$$P(T)\underset{\alpha =1}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}e^{\alpha /\lambda }m_\alpha (T).$$
(2)
The results are shown in Fig. 1 (curves). The mean-field $`P(T)`$ nicely reproduces the temperature trend of the (properly normalized) measured data for the respective information depth $`\lambda `$. A value $`\lambda =5`$ ML is consistent with the estimates for the probing depth in electron-induced electron emission ($`\lambda =45`$ ML). We have also checked against the choice $`S=1/2`$. This does not change the temperature trend of $`m_\alpha /m_\alpha (0)`$ as a function of $`T/T_c`$ significantly. Surprisingly, considering an enhancement of the $`T=0`$ top-layer magnetic moment (see Ref. OFW83 ), does not lead to a significant change of the temperature trend either. Following Ref. SB88  one may expect a different exchange between the top- and the sub-surface-layer moments: $`J_{12}J`$. Within the experimental error, we find that the measured data are reproduced by calculations for a modified surface exchange in the range from $`J_{12}/J=0.8`$ to $`J_{12}/J=1.1`$.

We conclude that the mean-field calculation gives a rather accurate description of the layer-dependent magnetization at the Fe(100) surface at intermediate temperatures. Clearly, mean-field theory must be considered as a poor starting point to explain surface magnetism. Nevertheless the result is interesting as any theoretical approach that conceptually improves upon the Weiss theory should give the same results (within our experimental error).

In summary, this study for the first time gives detailed information on the layer-dependent magnetization at the surface of a prototypical band-ferromagnet. We report on an experiment to measure temperature-dependent magnetization curves near the (100) surface of bcc Fe. We simultaneously apply different techniques, two of which are novel and based on grazing scattering of energetic ions, resulting in an ultimate surface sensitivity. The magnetic information depths of the techniques being well-defined but slightly different enables one to achieve a near monolayer resolution. The form of the layer-dependent magnetization curve is an important key quantity of surface magnetism which, for intermediate temperatures, represents a benchmark to discriminate between different microscopic theoretical approaches to explain surface magnetism from the underlying temperature-dependent electronic structure.

###### Acknowledgements.

The experimental part of this work was performed in collaboration with T. Igel, M. Ostwald, and Prof. H. Winter. Financial support by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (Sonderforschungsbereich 290) is gratefully acknowledged.


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# Resonance lifetime in Boltzmann-Uehling-Uhlenbeck theory: observable consequences

## I  Introduction

It is usually assumed that the lifetime of a resonance is given by its inverse total width $`1/\mathrm{\Gamma }`$. This assumption is widely used in the transport simulations of nuclear collisions in order to describe the decays of various baryonic and mesonic resonances. However, such a picture is not always correct.

Let us consider a resonance as the intermediate state of the two-body (e.g. $`\pi N`$) scattering. The lifetime of the resonance depends crucially on the relation between its width $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ and the energy spread of the incoming particles $`\mathrm{\Delta }E`$ Joachain : (i) For $`\mathrm{\Delta }E\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ (broad resonance) the lifetime is given by the derivative of the phase shift with respect to the center-of-mass (c.m.) energy:

$$\tau =\frac{d\delta (E_{c.m.})}{dE_{c.m.}},$$
(1)
which is the time delay in the transmission of the scattered wave in the case of scattering with only one partial wave Mes ; DP96 . (ii) In the opposite limit $`\mathrm{\Delta }E\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ (narrow resonance) the averaging of Eq.(1) can be done over $`E_{c.m.}`$ weighted with the cross section which leads to the average life time of $`1/\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ DP96 .

In the Boltzmann-Uehling-Uhlenbeck (BUU) transport theory the colliding particles – by definition – have fixed energies and momenta. Therefore, the correct lifetime of a resonance in BUU is that of Eq.(1) (see also Ref. David99 ). In particular, the life time of the $`\mathrm{\Delta }(1232)`$ resonance is given by Eq.(1) with $`\delta (E_{c.m.})\delta _{33}(E_{c.m.})`$, where $`\delta _{33}`$ is the phase shift of the $`\pi `$N scattering in the S=3/2, I=3/2 channel.

The two definitions of the lifetime, the wrong one as $`1/\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ and the correct one as the phase shift derivative, have a completely different dependence on the c.m. energy (see Fig. 1 and Eqs. (2),(11) below): the inverse width decreases monotonically with $`E_{c.m.}`$ while the phase shift derivative has a maximum near $`m_\mathrm{\Delta }=1.232`$ GeV. Especially, at threshold $`E_{c.m.}=m_N+m_\pi =1.076`$ GeV, the inverse width becomes infinitely large, while the phase shift derivative is zero. In view of the fact that most transport simulations use the wrong $`1/\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ prescription it is interesting to find observable signals sensitive to the different lifetime prescriptions. In the present work – using the BUU model – we study the influence of the $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$ resonance lifetime on the pion absorption on nuclei and on some pionic observables from heavy-ion collisions at 1 A GeV. Note that a quite thorough investigation of the analogous effects within BUU in the Fermi energy domain has been done by Morawetz and coauthors. Their works concern the nonlocal and quasiparticle corrections to the nucleon-nucleon scattering (see Ref. Mor01  and references therein).

The paper is structured as follows: In Sect. II, the modifications of the $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$ resonance absorption and rescattering probabilities in nuclear medium are discussed, the parameterizations of the $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$ width and lifetime for transport simulations are chosen. Sect. III contains numerical BUU results. Coclusions are given in Sect. IV.

## II  In-medium $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$ lifetime

Recently Eq. (1) has been generalized in Ref. leupold01  to the case of the decay of the $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$ resonance with multiple final channels, i.e. when the total width $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ contains not only the $`\mathrm{\Delta }N\pi `$ contribution, but also the absorptional contributions like, e.g. $`\mathrm{\Delta }N^1NN`$. The result of Ref. leupold01  for the decay time of a uniform bunch of resonances which do not interact with each other (see Eq. (3.3) in leupold01 ) rewritten here for simplicity in the nonrelativistic approximation is as follows

$$\tau =\frac{1}{2}A(1K),$$
(2)
where

$$A(\omega ,𝐩)=\frac{\mathrm{\Gamma }(\omega ,𝐩)}{(\omega 𝐩^2/2m\text{Re}\mathrm{\Sigma }^+(\omega ,𝐩))^2+\mathrm{\Gamma }^2(\omega ,𝐩)/4}$$
(3)
is the spectral function and

$$K\frac{\text{Re}\mathrm{\Sigma }^+(\omega ,𝐩)}{\omega }+\frac{\omega 𝐩^2/2m\text{Re}\mathrm{\Sigma }^+(\omega ,𝐩)}{\mathrm{\Gamma }(\omega ,𝐩)}\frac{\mathrm{\Gamma }(\omega ,𝐩)}{\omega }$$
(4)
with the total width $`\mathrm{\Gamma }(\omega ,𝐩)=2\text{Im}\mathrm{\Sigma }^+(\omega ,𝐩)`$. In the case of a resonance gas in vacuum, i.e. when only the $`\mathrm{\Delta }N\pi `$ decay channel is open, Eqs. (1) and (2) are equivalent. This can be easily seen by introducing the phase shift (c.f. Mes )

$$\delta =\mathrm{arctan}\frac{\mathrm{\Gamma }(E_{c.m.})}{2(E_R(E_{c.m.})E_{c.m.})},$$
(5)
with $`E_R=m+\mathrm{Re}\mathrm{\Sigma }^+(E_{c.m.})`$, $`E_{c.m.}=m+\omega 𝐩^2/2m`$.

In transport simulations one deals with the partial lifetimes $`\tau _i`$ of resonances with respect to decay into different channels, including absorption and rescattering. If one uses e.g. $`1/\mathrm{\Gamma }_{\mathrm{\Delta }N\pi }`$ as the lifetime for the $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$ with respect to the $`N\pi `$ decay channel, this corresponds to the use of the “standard” cross section $`d\sigma _{\mathrm{\Delta }NNN}/d\mathrm{\Omega }`$ for the absorption channel. Conversely, if the partial lifetime is changed then the cross section has to be changed accordingly. Notice that the probabilities of the processes with the $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$ resonance in the final state, like e.g. $`\pi N\mathrm{\Delta }`$ and $`NNN\mathrm{\Delta }`$, are not  modified. We now assume that the overall lifetime is given by Eq. (2) and define a modified total width $`\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Gamma }}\tau ^1`$. $`\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Gamma }}`$ can be decomposed into modified partial widths $`\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Gamma }}_i`$: $`\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Gamma }}=_i\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Gamma }}_i`$. There is one important aspect: the modified branching ratios, $`\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Gamma }}_i/\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Gamma }}`$, have to be the same as the original ones, $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_i/\mathrm{\Gamma }`$, i.e. $`\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Gamma }}_i=\mathrm{\Gamma }_i\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Gamma }}/\mathrm{\Gamma }=\mathrm{\Gamma }_i(\mathrm{\Gamma }\tau )^1`$. This ensures that the measurable cross sections for multistep processes are correct. To see this we consider the process $`NNNN\pi `$ with a $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$ as an intermediate state. For the cross section one obtains $`\sigma _{NNNN\pi }=\sigma _{NNN\mathrm{\Delta }}B_{\mathrm{out}}`$, where $`\sigma _{NNN\mathrm{\Delta }}`$ is the production cross section of the $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$ resonance in a nucleon-nucleon collision and $`B_{\mathrm{out}}=\mathrm{\Gamma }_{\mathrm{\Delta }N\pi }/\mathrm{\Gamma }\stackrel{!}{=}\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Gamma }}_{\mathrm{\Delta }N\pi }/\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Gamma }}`$ is the outgoing branching ratio. Keeping the branching ratios constant, both quantities, $`\sigma _{NNN\mathrm{\Delta }}`$ and $`B_{\mathrm{out}}`$ are not modified and hence the (experimentally measurable) cross section $`\sigma _{NNNN\pi }`$ is not modified as well.

In the transport simulation the modified partial widths must be treated by the Monte-Carlo method in the same way as the usual partial widths. For the $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$ resonance, therefore, the probabilities of processes where the $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$ resonance is present in the initial state are all multiplied by the same factor $`\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Gamma }}/\mathrm{\Gamma }=(\mathrm{\Gamma }\tau )^1`$ to keep the branching ratios constant (cf. also Ref. leupold01  for a different derivation):

$`\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Gamma }}_{\mathrm{\Delta }N\pi }=\mathrm{\Gamma }_{\mathrm{\Delta }N\pi }(\mathrm{\Gamma }\tau )^1,`$ (6)
$`{\displaystyle \frac{d\stackrel{~}{\sigma }_{\mathrm{\Delta }NNN}}{d\mathrm{\Omega }}}={\displaystyle \frac{d\sigma _{\mathrm{\Delta }NNN}}{d\mathrm{\Omega }}}(\mathrm{\Gamma }\tau )^1,`$ (7)
$`{\displaystyle \frac{d\stackrel{~}{\sigma }_{\mathrm{\Delta }N\mathrm{\Delta }N}}{d\mathrm{\Omega }dM^2}}={\displaystyle \frac{d\sigma _{\mathrm{\Delta }N\mathrm{\Delta }N}}{d\mathrm{\Omega }dM^2}}(\mathrm{\Gamma }\tau )^1,`$ (8)
$`\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Gamma }}_{\mathrm{\Delta }NNNNN}=\mathrm{\Gamma }_{\mathrm{\Delta }NNNNN}(\mathrm{\Gamma }\tau )^1,`$ (9)
where $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_{\mathrm{\Delta }N\pi }`$ is the standard $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$ decay width in nuclear matter taking into account the Pauli blocking for the final nucleon, $`d\sigma _{\mathrm{\Delta }NNN}/d\mathrm{\Omega }`$ is the usual differential cross section obtained directly as

$$\frac{d\sigma _{\mathrm{\Delta }NNN}}{d\mathrm{\Omega }}=\frac{1}{64\pi ^2}\overline{||^2}\frac{p_{NN}}{p_{N\mathrm{\Delta }}s}\times \frac{4}{C_{NN}},$$
(10)
where $`p_{NN}`$ and $`p_{N\mathrm{\Delta }}`$ are the c.m. momenta of incoming and outgoing particles respectively, $`s`$ is the c.m. energy squared, $`\overline{||^2}`$ is the spin-averaged matrix element squared given by the one-pion exchange model DSG86 , and $`C_{NN}=2`$ (1) if the final nucleons are identical (different). Analogous modifications have also to be done with the $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$ rescattering cross section (8) and with the three-body absorption width (9), whenever the process $`\mathrm{\Delta }NNNNN`$ is included in the BUU theory.

Before discussing BUU results we will specify the explicit forms of the $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$ resonance width and lifetime. It has been shown in Eh93 , that the total width of the $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$ resonance in nuclear matter is very close to the vacuum decay width. Thus, we take

$$\mathrm{\Gamma }\mathrm{\Gamma }_{\mathrm{\Delta }N\pi }^{vac}(E_{c.m.})=\mathrm{\Gamma }_0\left(\frac{q}{q_0}\right)^3\frac{m_\mathrm{\Delta }}{E_{c.m.}}\frac{\beta _0^2+q_0^2}{\beta _0^2+q^2},$$
(11)
where the parameterization from effe1  is used for $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_{\mathrm{\Delta }N\pi }^{vac}`$, $`q(E_{c.m.})`$ being the pion momentum in the rest frame of $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$, $`q_0q(m_\mathrm{\Delta })`$, $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_0=0.118`$ GeV and $`\beta _0=0.2`$ GeV. For simplicity we will also neglect the energy and momentum dependence of $`\mathrm{Re}\mathrm{\Sigma }^+`$ putting $`E_R=\mathrm{const}=m_\mathrm{\Delta }`$. In this case the lifetime of Eq. (2) reduces to (1) with $`\delta `$ given by (5).

Fig. 1 shows the dependence of the $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$ resonance lifetime on the $`\pi N`$ c.m. energy as given by the derivative of the phase shift (solid line) and by the inverse width (dashed line). The shape of the function $`\tau (E_{c.m.})`$ is basically dominated by the presence of the spectral function $`A`$ in Eq.(2). This implies that resonances with mass near the pole mass $`m_\mathrm{\Delta }`$ have the longest lifetime.

## III  BUU results

In the following we will address the question of whether the difference between the lifetime prescriptions could be visible in observable quantities. The numerical calculations have been performed on the basis of the BUU code in the version of Ref. effe1  using the soft momentum-dependent mean field (SM) with the incompressibility $`K=220`$ MeV. The resonance production/absorption quenching LCLM01  has been implemented in order to reproduce the experimentally measured pion multiplicity in central Au+Au collisions at 1 A GeV.

First, we have performed a BUU calculation of the pion absorption on nuclei. To this aim we have selected the experimental data from Ref. Ash81  on reactions $`\pi ^+`$ \+ C and $`\pi ^+`$ \+ Fe at the pion beam energies $`E_\pi =`$ 85, 125, 165, 205, 245 and 315 MeV. Fig. 2 shows the calculated excitation function of the $`\pi ^+`$ absorption cross section in comparison with the data. The standard BUU calculation (dashed lines) employing the $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$ lifetime $`1/\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ underpredicts the data at the lower energies. Using the lifetime of Eq.(2) (dotted lines) improves the agreement amplifying the absorption peak at $`E_\pi =150÷200`$ MeV. The peak corresponds to the beam energy $`E_\pi =(m_\mathrm{\Delta }^2m_\pi ^2m_N^2)/2m_Nm_\pi =192`$ MeV at which the $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$ resonance is excited at the pole mass. However, the peak position is slightly changed by the Fermi motion. The physical reason for the increased absorption with the lifetime of Eq.(2) lies in longer living $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$ resonances near the pole mass (see Fig. 1, solid line). This increases the probability that a $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$ will be absorbed in the collision with a nucleon. Applying now Eq.(2) for the lifetime and, in addition, modifying the $`\mathrm{\Delta }NNN`$ and $`\mathrm{\Delta }N\mathrm{\Delta }N`$ cross sections according to Eqs.(7),(8) results in the absorption cross section (solid lines) practically indistinguishable from the standard calculation, since the factor $`(\mathrm{\Gamma }\tau )^1`$ in Eq.(7) is less than 1 near the pole mass of the $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$.

The discrepancy between our calculations and the data at $`E_\pi <250`$ MeV can be explained by missing the three-body absorption mechanism of the $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$ resonance: $`\mathrm{\Delta }NNNNN`$. We have performed the calculation including the three-body absorption as parameterized by Oset and Salcedo OS87  (see dash-dotted lines in Fig. 2). In this case we show only results with the lifetime of Eq.(2) and the modified absorption and rescattering probabilities in the processes $`\mathrm{\Delta }NNN`$, $`\mathrm{\Delta }NNNNN`$ and $`\mathrm{\Delta }N\mathrm{\Delta }N`$ (Eqs.(7)-(9)), since these modifications, when done all simultaneously, have only a very small effect on the absorption cross section (c.f. solid and dashed lines). We see now a good description at the lower energies, but at higher energies the data are overpredicted somewhat.

The authors of Ref. David99  have observed an influence of the $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$ lifetime variations on the $`K^+`$ in-plane flow in central Ni+Ni collisions at 1.93 A GeV. We have studied the $`\pi ^+`$ in-plane flow for the system Au+Au at 1 A GeV and b=6 fm. Fig. 3 shows our calculations in comparison with the data from Ref. Kint97 . The acceptance of the detector Kint97  for $`\pi ^+`$’s is good only at positive c.m. rapidities. This causes the measured $`<p_x>(Y^{(0)})`$-dependence to be asymmetric with respect to $`Y^{(0)}=0`$. At $`Y^{(0)}>0`$ all calculations generally agree with data within errorbars. However, there is a difference in the flow ($`d<p_x>/dY^{(0)}`$ at $`Y^{(0)}=0`$) between the calculations: the calculation with the modified lifetime (2) and the modified cross sections (7),(8) produces less (negative) flow than the standard calculation, while the results with only modified lifetime (2) are practically the same within statistics with standard ones. Indeed, $`\pi ^+`$’s exhibit the antiflow due to the superposition of the shadowing and the Coulomb repulsion from protons. Smaller cross sections $`\stackrel{~}{\sigma }_{\mathrm{\Delta }NNN}`$, $`\stackrel{~}{\sigma }_{\mathrm{\Delta }N\mathrm{\Delta }N}`$ near the $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$ pole mass give less shadowing and, therefore, less antiflow.

Fig. 4 shows the invariant mass spectrum of the correlated proton-pion pairs from the central collision Au+Au at 1.06 A GeV in comparison with the data from Ref. Eskef98 . We have extracted the correlated pairs by selecting the proton and pion which are emitted from the same resonance and did not rescatter afterwards (see Ref. LCEM00  for the comparison of this method with the background subtraction technique). The shape of the calculated spectrum well agrees with data, but the peak position is overpredicted by about 50 MeV. We checked, that the peak position is not changed and the spectrum gets slightly wider when taking into account also those pairs, where the nucleon experienced rescattering on other nucleons one or two times. The calculations with the modified lifetime (2) (dotted line) and with modifying both lifetime and cross sections (7),(8) (solid line) result in somewhat sharper peaks at the invariant mass of 1.2 GeV. This is due to longer living $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$ resonances near the pole mass, which reach the late freeze-out stage and then decay to the proton-pion pairs. The $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$ resonances propagate now in an expanding nuclear matter and, therefore, their absorption is not so effective as in the pion-nucleus reactions. Thus, increasing the lifetime of the $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$ resonances near the pole mass does not lead to their increased absorption, unlike the pion-nucleus case.

## IV  Conclusions

We have performed a comparative study of the two choices of the $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$ resonance lifetime. Using the inverse width is the standard one. However, this choice is physically wrong, since the resonances propagated in BUU are not asymptotical plane waves, but intermediate states of the $`\pi N`$ scattering. The correct choice of the resonance lifetime in BUU is the derivative of the phase shift (c.f. Eq.(1) or Eq.(2)), which is the delay time of the scattered wave. A consistent transport theory must include also the corresponding modifications of the $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$ resonance absorption and rescattering probabilities according to Eqs.(7)-(9). Surprisingly, we have found a quite weak sensitivity of the calculated pionic observables on the lifetime prescription, once the cross sections are modified accordingly, despite of the strong difference in the c.m. energy dependence of both lifetimes (Fig. 1). Nevertheless, detailed comparison with more precise data on the pion flow and $`(p,\pi )`$ correlations is necessary to confirm the correct choice of the $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$ lifetime in nuclear matter.

###### Acknowledgements.

Authors are grateful to W. Cassing for useful discussions. This work was supported by GSI Darmstadt.