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# Isospin and Z1/3 Dependence of the Nuclear Charge Radii

## Abstract

Based on the systematic investigation of the data available for $`A40`$, a $`Z^{1/3}`$ dependence for the nuclear charge radii is shown to be superior to the generally accepted $`A^{1/3}`$ law. A delicate scattering of data around $`R_c/Z^{1/3}`$ is infered as owing to the isospin effect and a linear dependence of $`R_c/Z^{1/3}`$ on $`N/Z`$ ( or $`(NZ)/2`$ ) is found. This inference is well supported by the microscopic Relativistic Continuum Hartree-Bogoliubov (RCHB) calculation conducted for the proton magic Ca, Ni, Zr, Sn and Pb isotopes including the exotic nuclei close to the neutron drip line. With the linear isospin dependence provided by the data and RCHB theory, a new isospin dependent $`Z^{1/3}`$ formula for the nuclear charge radii is proposed.

Nuclear radius is one of the most fundamental bulk properties of an atomic nucleus. Among all the size quantities describing nucleus, nuclear charge radii has been investigated by various techniques and methods experimentally , including the muonic atom spectroscopy, isotope shift of optical and K X-ray spectroscopy and high energy elastic electron scattering , etc.. Recently more and more nuclei far from the $`\beta `$-stability line become accessible experimentally thanks to the development of radioactive ion beam facilities. The nuclear size connected with exotic phenomena such as skin and halo have become a hot topic. The understanding of its property has importance not only in nuclear physics, but also in other fields such as astrophysics and atomic physics, etc. With its accuracy, the study of the nuclear charge radii is very important to understand not only the proton distribution inside the nucleus but also the halo and skin. Particularly if one can get a simple and reliable formula for nuclear charge radii, it will be very useful to extract the de-coupling of proton and neutron in the exotic nuclei and provide information for the effective nucleon-nucleon interaction widely used in all the nuclear models. Here in this letter the available experimental charge radii data for $`A40`$ will be examined and its global behavior will be studied. Instead of the widely accepted $`A^{1/3}`$ law, a new $`Z^{1/3}`$ formula with isospin effect will be proposed.

Based on the consideration of the nuclear saturation property, nuclear charge radii $`R_c`$ are usually described by the $`A^{1/3}`$ law

$$R_c=r_AA^{1/3},$$
(1)
where $`A`$ is the mass number and $`R_c=\sqrt{\frac{5}{3}}r^2^{1/2}`$, with $`r^2^{1/2}`$ the root-mean square (rms) charge radius. For very light nuclei, because of their small $`A`$ and large fluctuation in charge distribution due to the shell effect with short period, it seems that the charge distribution radius as a bulk property has little meaning. A detail analysis of charge radius data for $`A40`$ shows that $`r_A`$ is by no means a constant, but systematically decreases with $`A`$; i.e., $`r_A1.31`$ fm for light nuclei $`(A40)`$ and $`r_A1.20`$ fm for very heavy nuclei (see upper left panel in Fig. 1). This fact implies that some physics is missing in Eq. (1).

A definite evidence of the violation of $`A^{1/3}`$ law is also found in the measurements of isotope shift in mean square charge radii . In particular, $`\delta r^2_{A+2,A}`$ values (associated with an addition of two neutrons) are often found to be considerably smaller compared to what is expected from the $`A^{1/3}`$ law ($`\delta r^2_{A+2,A}=\frac{4}{3A}r^2_A`$). A typical example is that the observed charge radii of the calcium isotopes 40-50Ca remain almost the same (except a very little change induced by deformation or shell effect), though the mass number $`A`$ has changed significantly. In contrast, there is also evidence that the observed $`\delta r^2_{A+2,A}`$ values (associated with the addition of two protons) are often greater than what is expected from the $`A^{1/3}`$ law (e.g., $`\delta r^2`$ for 46Ti$`^{44}`$Ca, 50Ti$`^{48}`$Ca, etc.).

Along the $`\beta `$-stability line, the ratio $`Z/A`$ gradually decreases with $`A`$, i.e., for light nuclei $`Z/A1/2`$, and for the heaviest $`\beta `$-stable nucleus $`{}_{92}{}^{}{}_{}{}^{238}`$U, $`(Z/A)^{1/3}0.7285`$, thus $`(1/2)^{1/3}/(Z/A)^{1/3}1.09`$, which is very close to the $`r_A`$ ratio $`1.30/1.20`$ shown in upper left panel of Fig. 1. A naive point of view is that the charge radius of a nucleus may be more directly related to its charge number $`Z`$, rather than its mass number $`A`$. Therefore, compared to the $`A^{1/3}`$ law, a $`Z^{1/3}`$ dependence for nuclear charge radii may be more reasonable

$$R_c=r_ZZ^{1/3}.$$
(2)
as noted in Ref. . An analysis of the very limited data of charge radii then available showed that $`r_Z`$ remains almost a constant, i.e., $`r_Z=1.65(2)`$ fm for $`A40`$. The $`Z^{1/3}`$ dependence of nuclear charge radii was also used to modify the Coulomb energy term in the semi-empirical nuclear mass formula , and it was found that the agreement between the calculated and experimental results was improved. Moreover, the $`A^{1/3}`$ law for the nuclear giant ( monopole, dipole and quadrupole ) resonance energy ($`1/R`$) also could be improved, if the $`A^{1/3}`$ dependence is replaced by a $`Z^{1/3}`$ dependence .

In the past two decades, a vast amount of new experimental information on the electromagnetic structure of nuclear ground states of many nuclei has become available , and accuracy has been improved. In particular the muon factories at Los Alamos (LAMPF) and at Villigen (PSI, formerly SIN) started their operation at 1974. Almost all stable nuclei have been measured by the muonic X-ray transition technique and the corresponding charge radii have been rather accurately deduced (the experimental relative error is about $`10^3`$). Moreover, modern techniques for optical isotope shift measurements have made it possible to reach even short-lived (down to 1 s) unstable isotopes. Therefore, it is worthwhile to reexamine the fundamental property of nuclei and to investigate whether the vast amount of improved experimental results follow the $`Z^{1/3}`$ dependence. The values of measured $`r^2^{1/2}`$ for 536 nuclei with $`A40`$ compiled in Ref. are analyzed in Fig. 1 by using the $`A^{1/3}`$ and $`Z^{1/3}`$ dependence, respectively. The dependence of charge radii on the quadrupole deformation $`\beta `$ has been taken into account for the rare-earth deformed nuclei, i.e.

$$r_A=r_{Ad}(1+\frac{5}{8\pi }\beta ^2),r_Z=r_{Zd}(1+\frac{5}{8\pi }\beta ^2),$$
(3)
and for spherical nuclei ($`\beta =0`$): $`r_A=r_{Ad}`$, $`r_Z=r_{Zd}`$, and the values of $`\beta `$ are taken from Ref..

In the upper left and right panels of Fig.1, the charge radii for the most stable 159 nuclei with $`A40`$ along the $`\beta `$-stability line have been analyzed by using the $`A^{1/3}`$ and $`Z^{1/3}`$ dependence. In the middle left and right panels, the same has been done for the measured $`r^2^{1/2}`$ for 536 nuclei with $`A40`$. Two significant features can be observed: (A) On the one hand, the agreement between the data and the calculated results using the $`Z^{1/3}`$ dependence is much better than that using the $`A^{1/3}`$ law, i.e., while there exists a global regular decrease of $`r_{Ad}`$ with $`A`$, $`r_{Zd}`$ nearly remains constant ($`r_{Zd}=1.631(11)`$ fm). The relative rms deviations $`\sigma `$ for the $`Z^{1/3}`$ dependence ($`\sigma =7.57\times 10^3`$ for stable nuclei and $`1.00\times 10^2`$ for 536 nuclei ) are much less than that for the $`A^{1/3}`$ law ($`\sigma =1.90\times 10^2`$ for stable nuclei and $`1.63\times 10^2`$ for 536 nuclei ). (B) On the other hand, though the rms deviation for the $`Z^{1/3}`$ dependence is significantly reduced, an isospin induced scattering of the data in the middle panels in Fig. 1 can be also observed compared with that in the top panels. In fact, $`r_{Zd}`$ generally increases with $`N`$ for most isotopic chains, e.g. for $`{}_{40}{}^{}{}_{}{}^{9096}`$Zr, $`{}_{42}{}^{}{}_{}{}^{92100}`$Mo, $`{}_{44}{}^{}{}_{}{}^{96104}`$Ru, $`{}_{46}{}^{}{}_{}{}^{102110}`$Pd, $`{}_{48}{}^{}{}_{}{}^{106116}`$Cd, $`{}_{50}{}^{}{}_{}{}^{112124}`$Sn, $`{}_{52}{}^{}{}_{}{}^{122130}`$Te, $`{}_{54}{}^{}{}_{}{}^{124136}`$Xe, $`{}_{60}{}^{}{}_{}{}^{142148}`$Nd, $`{}_{62}{}^{}{}_{}{}^{144154}`$Sm, $`{}_{64}{}^{}{}_{}{}^{154160}`$Gd, etc, (except for only a few lighter isotopic chains, e.g., $`{}_{36}{}^{}{}_{}{}^{7886}`$Kr, $`{}_{38}{}^{}{}_{}{}^{8488}`$Sr, and a small anomalous decrease of $`r_{Zd}`$ with $`N`$ due to the shell closure at $`N=50`$ is observed). Therefore, it seems necessary to investigate an isospin dependent correction for the scattering of $`r_{Zd}`$. In Ref. , the isospin effect has been considered based on the $`A^{1/3}`$ law. However, considering the fact that the $`Z^{1/3}`$ dependence can describe the nuclear charge radii much better than the $`A^{1/3}`$ law, we take the $`Z^{1/3}`$ dependence as a more reasonable starting point for describing the isospin dependence of nuclear charge radii.

To confirm that isospin dependent $`Z^{1/3}`$ formula to be developed for nuclear charge radii mentioned above is also valid for nuclei far from the $`\beta `$-stability line, the charge radii in exotic nuclei is needed. However, as no such data is available, what we can do is to require that our new isospin dependent $`Z^{1/3}`$ formula should assort with a reliable and microscopic nuclear model.

The fully self-consistent and microscopic relativistic continuum Hartree-Bogoliubov (RCHB) theory, which is an extension of the relativistic mean field (RMF)  and the Bogoliubov transformation in the coordinate representation, is a good candidate for the present purpose. The RCHB theory can describe satisfactorily the ground state properties for nuclei both near and far from the $`\beta `$-stability line. A remarkable success of the RCHB theory is the self-consistent reproduction of the halo in 11Li  and prediction of the exotic phenomenon - giant halo . In combination with the Glauber model, the RCHB theory successfully reproduces the interaction cross section in Na isotopes  and the charge changing cross section of C, N, O, F isotopes (ranging from the $`\beta `$-stability line to the neutron drip line) on the target of 12C at 930 MeV/u . These successes encourage us to apply the RCHB theory for the description of charge radii of nuclei both close to and far from the $`\beta `$-stability line and check its validity for the data available and provide information for nuclei far away from the stability line.

The detailed formalism and numerical techniques of the RCHB theory can be found in Ref. and the references therein. In the present calculations, we follow the procedures in Ref. and solve the RCHB equations in a box with the size $`R=20`$ fm and a step size of 0.1 fm. The parameter set NL-SH  is used, which aims at describing both the stable and exotic nuclei. The density dependent $`\delta `$-force in the pairing channel with $`\rho _0=0.152`$ fm-3 is used and its strength $`V_0`$ is fixed by the Gogny force as in Ref.. The contribution from continua is restricted within a cut-off energy $`E_{cut}120`$MeV.

As typical examples, we studied the even-even Ca, Ni, Zr, Sn and Pb isotopes ranging from the $`\beta `$-stability line to neutron drip line. The two neutron separation energies $`S_{2n}`$ is one of the essential quantities to test a nuclear model. In Fig. 2, the calculated $`S_{2n}`$ (open symbols) of the even-even Ca, Ni, Zr, Sn and Pb isotopes by the RCHB theory are compared with the data available (solid symbols) , where a satisfactory agreement is seen. Particularly the deviation between the calculated binding energies with the data available is within $`1\%`$. In the present calculation, the neutron drip-line nuclei are predicted at 72Ca, 98Ni, 140Zr and 176Sn, respectively. In the $`S_{2n}`$ versus $`N`$ curve for each isotopic chain, there are some kinks due to the neutron shell or subshell closure. For example, the closed shells at $`N=`$ 20, 28 and subshell at $`N=40`$ correspond to kinks in the $`S_{2n}`$ versus $`N`$ curve for Ca isotopes at 40Ca, 48Ca and 60Ca, respectively. While the kink at $`N=20`$ for 40Ca may be also due to the Wigner term for $`N=Z=20`$. However, there are no kinks at 70Ca and 176Sn, which indicate the disappearance of magic number $`N=50`$ and $`126`$ for these nuclei in RCHB.

The rms charge radii $`r^2^{1/2}`$ obtained from the RCHB theory (open symbols) and the data available (solid symbols) for the even-even Ca, Ni, Zr, Sn and Pb isotopes are given in Fig. 3. As it could be seen, the RCHB calculations reproduce the data very well ( within 1.5$`\%`$). For a given isotopic chain, an approximate linear $`N`$ dependence of the calculated rms charge radii $`r^2^{1/2}`$ is clearly seen in Fig. 3, which shows that the variation of $`r^2^{1/2}`$ for a given isotopic chain deviates from both the the simple $`Z^{1/3}`$ dependence and the simple $`A^{1/3}`$ law (denoted by dashed lines in Fig. 3). Therefore, a strong isospin dependence of nuclear charge radii is necessary for nuclei with extreme $`N/Z`$ ratio.

In Fig. 4, the experimental and RCHB predicted $`r_{Zd}=R_c/Z^{1/3}`$ for the proton magic isotopes are presented as a function of $`\eta =N/Z`$. It is clearly seen that the coefficient $`r_{Zd}`$ increases linearly with $`\eta `$ (except some deviations due to deformation or shell effect) and the slopes are nearly the same for these isotopic chains. The linear $`\eta `$ ( or isospin $`T_Z=(NZ)/2`$ ) dependence of $`r_{Zd}`$ for an isotopic chain may be understood as the effect of the first order perturbation correction of nuclear wave function due to an isospin $`T_Z`$ dependent interaction . Based on the analysis of data in the middle and upper panels of Fig. 1 and RCHB prediction in Fig. 3 and 4, we propose the following isospin dependent $`Z^{1/3}`$ formula for nuclear charge radii:

$$R_c=aZ^{1/3}\left[1+b(\eta \eta ^{})\right],\eta =N/Z,$$
(4)
where $`\eta ^{}`$ is $`\eta =N/Z`$ for the nuclei along the $`\beta `$-stability line which can be directly extracted from the nuclear mass formula , $`a=r_{Zd}^{}(1+\frac{5}{8\pi }\beta ^2)`$, $`r_{Zd}^{}=1.631(11)`$ fm obtained in upper right panel of Fig.1, and $`b=0.062(9)`$ obtained from the least square fitting.

The analysis of the available data using Eq. (4) with $`r_{Zd}^{}`$ and $`b`$ thus obtained is displayed in the lower right panel of Fig. 1. It is found the data are reproduced better by Eq. (4) than by Eq. (2) (the rms deviation is reduced by about $`40\%`$). The same has been done for $`A^{1/3}`$ dependence but with less success ( see the lower left panel of Fig. 1 ). In Ref. , a similar equation for $`A^{1/3}`$ dependence has been used to describe the isospin dependence of charge radii and a better agreement has been achieved by fitting both $`r_A`$ and $`b`$ simultaneously. But then a simple explanation for $`r_A`$ (saturation property) and $`b`$(isospin effect) in Eq. (4) is missing. It is expected that the modified $`Z^{1/3}`$ formula (Eq. (4)) will become more useful with more and more data obtained for the nuclei far from the $`\beta `$-stability line.

In summary, we have systematically investigated the nuclear charge radii with $`A40`$. It is clearly seen that the $`Z^{1/3}`$ dependence is superior to the $`A^{1/3}`$ law. A delicate scattering of data around $`R_c/Z^{1/3}=1.631`$ is infered as owing to the isospin effect and a linear dependence of $`R_c/Z^{1/3}`$ on $`N/Z`$ ( or $`(NZ)/2`$ ) is found. This inference are well supported by the microscopic RCHB calculation conducted for the proton magic Ca, Ni, Zr, Sn and Pb isotopes including the exotic nuclei close to the neutron drip line, which reproduce $`S_{2n}`$ and nuclear charge radii data available well. With the linear dependence of the coefficient $`r_{Zd}`$ on $`N/Z`$ (or $`(NZ)/2`$ ) read from data and RCHB theory, a new isospin dependent $`Z^{1/3}`$ formula for the nuclear charge radii is proposed, which improves the description of the data available for nuclei near the $`\beta `$-stability line and could be very useful for new data obtained for nuclei far from the $`\beta `$-stability line.

We would like to thank A.Arima, B.A.Brown, I.Hamamoto, K.Matsuyanagi, W.Q.Shen, I.Tanihata, B.Tsang and V.Zelevinsky for delightful discussions. This work was partly supported by the Major State Basic Research Development Program Under Contract Number G2000077407 and the the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant Nos. 10025522, 19847002 and 19935030.


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# Relation between flux formation and pairing in doped antiferromagnets

## I Introduction

Flux phase appeared in the mean-field approaches to undoped and doped antiferromagnets described by the $`t`$-$`J`$ model. The physical meaning of that phase and its relation with pairing was not clear. In some announcements  the competition or coexistence between superconductivity and the flux phase have been discussed in the framework of the mean filed approach and the $`1/N`$ expansion. Some researchers tend to understand the spin gap phase in doped antiferromagnets as the staggered flux phase . Other believe that pairing grows out of the $`\pi `$-flux phase  or that pairs are formed by holes circulating in opposite directions . In this paper we will present a different point of view that the pattern of currents and pairing originate in formation of spin bipolarons of a particular form. We will give some mathematical arguments, based on understanding of pairing in weakly doped antiferromagnets, in support of that idea.

Recently, Ivanov, Lee and Wen  reported staggered-vorticity correlations of the current-current correlation function $`j_{ij}j_{kl}`$ (CCCF) in the $`d`$-wave variational functions for a weakly doped antiferromagnet, where $`j_{ij}`$ denotes the current flowing on the bond $`i,j`$. Similar pattern of the CCCF was found for a bound state of two holes in an exact diagonalization performed by Leung . Since the mechanism of hole binding in weakly doped antiferromagnets is relatively well understood , it is a tempting task to resolve whether there exist a deep relation between binding and the formation of flux patterns.

Fast motion, with the rate $`t`$, of a hole created at some site in the Nèel state forms defects in the original arrangement of spins . These defects, that are spins which have been turned upside down and may also be called magnons, lie on the track of the hole. Strings pinned to a central site form a potential well for a hole which confines its motion in the vicinity of this site. Much slower processes related to the inversion of anti-parallel spins at nearest neighbor sites which occur at the rate $`J`$ shorten strings and give rise to coherent propagation of the hole. Since the separation of energy scales for hopping of a hole and annihilation of defects (magnons) is pronounced it is plausible to introduce the notion of a spin polaron. We may define in this context a spin polaron as a solution of the Schrödinger equation for a particle in the potential well . Slower processes are neglected at this stage of analysis. “Orbital” states of polarons created at all possible sites exhaust, in principle, the relevant portion of the Hilbert space. In practice, the calculation may be confined to some low excited states or even to the polaron groundstate. By calculating the matrix elements of the full Hamiltonian in the polaron basis we derive an effective Hamiltonian expressed in the polaron language. Some processes, like oscillations of the hole in the vicinity of a polaron center, are already incorporated into the eigenenergy of polaronic states. The rest either renormalizes the eigenenergies or gives rise to off-diagonal matrix elements in the polaronic Hamiltonian. The latter circumstance occurs in the case of shortening of strings by an appropriate term in the original Hamiltonian. The approach outlined above has some obvious limitations. It is applicable provided that the correlation length of background antiferromagnetic spin correlations is larger than the polaron radius.

We extend now the concept of spin polarons to the description of interaction between holes . Since we are going to apply this construction to the calculation of the current correlation function, we will provide the reader with more details. We define a spin bipolaron $`|\mathrm{\Psi }_{i,j}`$ as a combination of states which may be reached by independent hopping of holes created at a pair of nearest neighbor sites $`i,j`$,

$$|\mathrm{\Psi }_{i,j}=\underset{𝒫_i,𝒫_j}{}\alpha _{𝒫_i,𝒫_j}|𝒫_i,𝒫_j.$$
(1)
$`𝒫_i`$ parameterizes the geometry of a path along which the hole has been moving and $`|𝒫_i,𝒫_j`$ is a state which has been created in this way. Due to Fermi statistics, order in which holes have been originally created in $`|\mathrm{\Psi }_{i,j}`$ is relevant. We adopt a convention, according to which a hole is created first at the site $`i`$ and $`i`$ belongs to the even sublattice. At this stage of considerations we prohibit, by definition, each hole to follow along the trace left by the accompanying hole. By means of that somewhat artificial restriction we achieve that spin bipolarons are localized and we may proceed as in the case of a single hole. We make a further approximation and neglect all path details including the possibility of path crossing. It is self-evident that the coefficients $`\alpha _{𝒫_i,𝒫_j}`$ for a bipolaron in the groundstate will depend only on the lengths $`\mu `$, $`\nu `$ of paths $`𝒫_i`$ and $`𝒫_j`$, $`\alpha _{𝒫_i,𝒫_j}=\alpha _{\mu ,\nu }`$. The Schrödinger equation that describes a hole pair in a potential well and defines the spin bipolaron, may be written as

$`t\left[\alpha _{\mu 1,\nu }+(z1)t\alpha _{\mu +1,\nu }+\alpha _{\mu ,\nu 1}+(z1)t\alpha _{\mu ,\nu +1}\right]`$ (2)
$`+J\left(4+\mu +\nu {\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}\delta _{\mu ,\nu }\right)\alpha _{\mu ,\nu }=E_2\alpha _{\mu ,\nu },`$ (3)
where $`\alpha _{\mu ,\nu }=0`$ for $`\mu <0`$ or $`\nu <0`$ and z=4. The form of this equation is easy to understand. The first expression in it is related to the fact that each path may be reached from one shorter path and (z-1) different longer paths by a hop of the hole. The second term counts the number of pairs of nearest neighbor sites, that are not occupied by anti-parallel spins. Every such a “broken bond” raises the energy by $`J/2`$ in comparison to the energy of the Néel state.

Formation of bipolarons, and, in particular, strings that connect holes, is an effective way of lowering energy. A compromise between two opposite tendencies to minimize the kinetic energy of holes and to reduce the disturbance of the antiferromagnetic background is reached by means of that process. By shrinking at one end and expanding at the opposite end, a string may move, while keeping a moderate length . The application of the spin-polaron scenario to binding of holes in doped antiferromagnets gave rise to better than qualitative agreement with results of numerical diagonalizations . In particular the hierarchy of states that realize irreducible representations for all momenta and symmetries allowed by the geometry of the $`4\times 4`$ cluster have been reproduced . It turns out that creep of strings favors $`d`$-wave and $`p`$-wave states. More subtle processes decide the symmetry of the bound state in favor of the $`d`$-wave. Some modifications of the $`t`$-$`J`$ model, like asymmetry of the magnetic interaction may lead to stability of the $`p`$-wave state . The weight of bipolaronic states in the bound state amounts to about $`80\%`$ in the case of the $`d`$-wave and $`50\%`$ in the case of the $`p`$-wave . Thus it is apparent that in a qualitative description of current correlation function in the presence of pairing we may neglect monopolaronic states.

$`s`$-, $`d`$\- and $`p`$-wave symmetries may be realized as coherent sums of bipolaronic states : $`_{i,j}S_{i,j}|\mathrm{\Psi }_{i,j}`$, where $`S_{i,j}=1`$ if $`i,j`$ is horizontal and $`S_{i,j}=1`$ provided that $`i,j`$ is vertical for the $`d`$-wave, while for the $`p`$-wave $`S_{i,j}`$ vanishes if $`i,j`$ is vertical, $`S_{i,j}=1`$ provided that $`j`$ is on the right side of $`i`$ and $`S_{i,j}=1`$ if on the left. In order to make the story short we have skipped many details. The full construction of bipolarons that conform with irreducible representations of the point group $`C_{4v}`$ may be found in an earlier article .

## II Flux pattern of the $`d`$-wave paired state

As a first example of a contribution to the CCCF we consider a process shown in Fig. 1(a). The middle row and the lowest row depict string states of the type $`|𝒫_i,𝒫_j`$ which are coupled by action of a product of current operators on outer bonds. Circles represents positions of bipolarons, or in other words sites at which holes have been created, while thin arrows symbolize paths. In the case of the state in the second row, a single defect in the Nèel structure occupies the second site from the left, while in the case of the final state in the third row a single defect (magnon) occupies the third site from the left. Current operators which are given by the formula $`j_{ij}i(c_{i\sigma }^{}c_{j\sigma }c_{j\sigma }^{}c_{i\sigma })`$ shift holes in the middle row. Holes are moved in the same direction, which is represented by the arrows in the uppermost row.

If we adopt a convention that the direction of current on both outer bonds is from left to right the contribution to the CCCF is $`t^2\alpha _{0,1}^2`$. The factor $`i^2`$ which stems from product of two current operators has been absorbed by a change of sign related to the fact that the hole created at the even site in the middle row landed at a site which is occupied in the lowest row by a hole created at the odd site. Fig. 1(a) is an example of a contribution to a the CCCF for two bonds which may be connected by a line consisting of a single bond. If we incorporate the outer bonds to that line the length of it amounts to three. Since we expect that the absolute value of amplitudes $`\alpha _{\mu ,\nu }`$ decreases when the total length of two involved paths $`\mu +\nu `$ increases, only the shortest possible string states will decide the sign of the CCCF for two chosen bonds. Figures 1 (b), (c), (d) depict the rest of processes which involve shortest paths for holes which are moved from left to right at outer bonds of a line which length is $`3`$. The contributions from these processes to the CCCF are $`t^2\alpha _{0,1}^2`$, $`t^2\alpha _{0,1}^2`$, and $`t^2\alpha _{0,1}^2`$ respectively. In the final formula these values are multiplied by factors $`S_{i,j}`$ with which bipolaronic states at points represented by open and solid circles appear in the coherent sum that defines the bound state. Analogous processes contribute to the CCCF if holes are shifted from right to left on both outer bonds.

Fig. 2 depicts contributions to the CCCF for holes which move inward on outer bonds of a line of length $`3`$.

In the original string state, in the second row of Fig. 2 (a), to which the product of current operators is applied, holes occupy outer sites, while two magnons reside on a pair of sites in the middle. These magnons (defects) disappear when holes are shifted to the central position in the lowest row. Since holes that have been created in even and odd sublattices, exchange positions, the Fermi statistics again contributes the factor ”$`1`$” but holes are moved in opposite directions, and the contribution to the CCCF becomes $`t^2\alpha _{0,0}\alpha _{0,2}`$. Amplitudes of processes in Figures 2 (b) and (c) are $`t^2\alpha _{0,0}\alpha _{1,1}`$ and $`t^2\alpha _{0,0}\alpha _{0,2}`$ respectively. The directions of hole motion may be inverted if the product of current operators is applied to the string state in the lowest row which gives rise to next three contributions to the CCCF on outer bonds. We can use the insights gained from the analysis of a line which consists of $`3`$ links in total, to obtain a formula for the contribution from bipolaronic states which lie on a line of arbitrary length $`l`$, to the CCCF on outer bonds of that line,

$`2{\displaystyle \underset{m=1}{\overset{l1}{}}}{\displaystyle \underset{n=2}{\overset{l}{}}}(1)^{m+n+1}S_mS_nt^2\alpha _{m1,lm1}\alpha _{n2,ln}`$ (4)
$`+2{\displaystyle \underset{m=1}{\overset{l}{}}}{\displaystyle \underset{n=2}{\overset{l1}{}}}(1)^{m+n}S_mS_nt^2\alpha _{m1,lm}\alpha _{n2,ln1},`$ (5)
where $`S_m`$ is a coherence factor with which the bipolaron at $`m`$-th bond in the line appears in a coherent sum that represents a bound state. An additional lesson of the above analysis is that the shortest string states which contribute with the highest weight to the CCCF for a pair of bonds, lie on shortest paths that lead through lattice points and incorporate these bonds. If the length of such paths amounts to $`l`$, the length of involved strings is $`l1`$, when holes are moved by a product of current operators in the same direction or $`l`$ and $`l2`$, when the holes are shifted in opposite directions. As we have already mentioned, the leading contribution to the CCCF for a pair of chosen bonds is the sum of the expression (5) over all shortest paths that incorporate those bonds. Fig. 3 represents in units $`10^5`$ the CCCF divided by the hole concentration, that has been calculated in this way for the d-wave bound state of two holes. Arrows represent the direction of current on respective bonds. We notice that despite the crudeness of the applied approximation, agreement with results of exact diagonalization performed by Leung  is much better than qualitative. It is an intriguing question, if that coincidence is a manifestation of a deeper relation between pairing and patterns of the CCCF. In order to see that this is the case we assume that the logarithm of the weight of a string $`\alpha `$ is proportional to its length $`l`$. That assumption is very natural because by expanding the string by one lattice spacing we raise the number of broken bonds by 2 and reach 6 longer string states, independently of the value of $`l`$. In our description of spin polarons parameters $`\alpha _{\mu ,\nu }`$, where $`\mu +\nu =l1`$, are related with strings of length $`l`$, but in general $`\alpha _{\mu ,\nu }\alpha _{\mu ^{},\nu ^{}}`$ for $`\mu +\nu =\mu ^{}+\nu ^{}`$, which is the prize which we pay for pinning strings and making bipolarons localized.

We notice that the total length of strings contributing to elements of sums in (5) is $`2l2`$. Under the previously made assumption, that $`\alpha _{\mu ,\nu }\mathrm{exp}(C(\mu +\nu ))`$, all products of two weights $`\alpha `$ are the same in both sums. If we neglect them and evaluate the sum of expressions for all shortest lines that link bonds we again get the staggered flux pattern presented in Fig. 4. We notice that the CCCF defined in this way has the expected structure and apart from bonds attached to the reference bond the CCCF is given by twice the number of shortest paths that connect bonds with the reference bond. This is not by coincidence, because the sum (5) with factors $`\alpha `$ neglected, may be evaluated explicitly,

$`2{\displaystyle \underset{m=1}{\overset{l1}{}}}{\displaystyle \underset{n=2}{\overset{l}{}}}(1)^{m+n+1}S_mS_n`$ (6)
$`+2{\displaystyle \underset{m=1}{\overset{l}{}}}{\displaystyle \underset{n=2}{\overset{l1}{}}}(1)^{m+n}S_mS_n=(1)^l2S_1S_l.`$ (7)
This formula implies that the pattern of the CCCF is determined in a simple way by the symmetry of the bound state or to be more specific by the coherence factors with which bipolarons on involved bonds appear in the wave function.

## III Density correlation function

There exists another quantity which behavior is determined by existence of spin bipolarons. Density matrix renormalization group calculations  and exact diagonalizations  point out that the density-density correlation function (DDCF) $`C_{hh}(r)`$ for holes as a function of distance $`r`$ between them reveals a characteristic structure in the d-wave bound state. The most pronounced feature of it is that the DDCF decays much faster along lines in the $`x`$ ($`y`$) direction, especially if the distance $`r`$ is an even number. We assume again that the highest contributions to the DDCF stem from shortest possible string states. These strings should stretch between relevant sites in order to contribute to the DDCF. Thus, the decay of the DDCF with distance is related to the decay of CCCF by the dependence of weights parameters $`\alpha `$ on string length. Gray disks in Fig. 4 point out to the relation between the DDCF at a pair of sites and CCCF on bonds attached to them. After a short evaluation, the contribution to the DDCF from strings that lie on a line takes the form,

$$2\underset{m,n=1}{\overset{l}{}}(1)^{m+n}S_mS_n\alpha _{m1,lm}\alpha _{n1,ln}.$$
(8)
For the $`d`$-wave state that sum exactly vanishes for points at one of the axis ($`x`$ or $`y`$) if $`l`$ is even. Fig. 5 depicts the DDCF obtained for the $`d`$-wave state by adding contributions (8) from all shortest lines that connect relevant sites.

Notwithstanding the simplicity of our approach the similarity with results of numerical diagonalization by Leung  is evident. Oscillations of $`C_{hh}(r)`$ with distance and minima at points which lie on an axis are visible in both calculations. Thus, we draw a conclusion that the pattern of the CCCF, the structure of the DDCF and the relation between rates of their decay with distance in the $`d`$-wave state is related with formation of bipolarons and strings.

## IV Flux pattern of the $`p`$-wave paired state

Motivated by this observation we may try to guess the pattern of CCCF in the $`p`$-wave bound state. A state with that symmetry may became a groundstate if the exchange interaction between spins in the $`t`$-$`J`$ model becomes anisotropic. By applying the formula (7) we get the structure presented in Fig. 6 for the case of the symmetry $`p_x`$.

No current flows in the vertical direction because there are no bipolarons on vertical bonds. The cancellation which lead to the formula (7) is not exact in the case of the expression (5), and in addition some higher order contribution to the CCCF from spin bipolarons will appear for longer paths. Evaluation of these contributions to the CCCF is beyond the scope of this paper. Monopolarons may also obscure the picture presented in Fig. 6 because the weight of bipolarons in the $`p`$-wave state is smaller than for the $`d`$-wave state.

## V Conclusions

In summary, we have demonstrated that the vorticity correlations in weakly doped antiferromagnets have their origin in formation of spin bipolarons and strings. The flux pattern is determined by the symmetry of the bound state. The rate of decay with distance of different correlation functions related to current or density is determined by the rate with which the weight of strings diminishes with their length. That observation indicates that pairing and vorticity correlations in doped antiferromagnets have common origin in formation of bipolarons or in other words of strings built by magnons that connect holes at their endpoints.

The proximity of both states war already observed in mean field calculations. Conclusions drawn from that observation that pairing grows out of flux or circulating currents are questionable in the light casted by calculations presented in previous sections. Also the statement that pairs are formed by holes that circulate in opposite directions does not agree with our scenario. It seems that agreement between analytical calculations and exact diagonalizations suggest that holes that form a bound state oscillate in all possible directions at opposite endpoints of a string.

Depletion of the single particle spectral weight around the Fermi level  known as pseudogap and exceptional non-Fermi-liquid (NFL)properties of copper-oxide based metals  are characteristic features of those systems that decide about the complexity of their physics. Some suggestions have been expressed that phase fluctuations are responsible for the pseudogap phenomenon . These ideas are tightly related with the Bose-Einstein condensation of local pairs . The microscopic derivation in the framework of a two band model of the marginal Fermi liquid (MFL) concept  which seems to describe quite well the NFL behavior observed in copper oxides is based on existence of circulating currents. The calculation presented in this paper suggests that both local pairs responsible for pseudogap phenomena and circulating currents which give rise to the MFL behavior may be attributed to formation of spin bipolarons. Finally, it is important to emphasize that both phenomena are tightly related and can not be discussed separately in the case of the copper oxides, which is also in agreement with the suggestion their relation with spin bipolarons and string states.

One of the authors (P.W.) acknowledges support by the Polish Science Committee (KBN) under contract No. 5 P03B 058 20.


text:
# UT-950KEK Preprint 2001-53hep-th/0107217 Stability of Quiver Representations and Topology Change

## 1 Introduction

D-branes allow us to study the structure of geometry at sub-stringy scales. From this perspective, space-time is a derived concept appearing as a vacuum moduli space of the D-brane worldvolume gauge theory. A number of works have been devoted to investigating geometry as seen by D-branes and comparing it with standard classical geometry or geometry probed by fundamental strings.

In , it was pointed out that D-branes on orbifolds $`𝐂^2/\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ are described by quiver gauge theories, where a quiver is a diagram representing algebraic structure of the group $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$. It implies that D-branes give a physical explanation of the McKay correspondence: a relation between geometry of resolutions of an orbifold $`𝐂^n/\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ and the representation theory of $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$. (For mathematics on the McKay correspondence, see -.) The purpose of this paper is to study a relation between geometry of an orbifold $`𝐂^n/\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ probed by a D0-brane and the representation theory of $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ based on the concept of stability of the D0-brane.

Stability has been recently brought to attention as it plays an important role in studying D-branes on Calabi-Yau manifolds -. The relevant notion of stability near the orbifold point in the K$`\ddot{\mathrm{a}}`$hler moduli space is $`\theta `$-stability of representations of quivers . It enables us to construct the vacuum moduli space of the quiver gauge theories without solving all equations defining the vacua and to study the marginal stability loci, where D-brane spectrum jumps.

We would like to compare the results obtained from stability of quiver representations corresponding to a D0-brane with geometric structure of three-dimensional orbifolds $`𝐂^3/\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ with $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ an abelian subgroup of $`SU(3)`$. The latter is investigated following the procedure given in . In this formulation, the vacuum moduli space is obtained by solving both F-flatness and D-flatness conditions, the equations defining the vacua, with the aid of toric geometry. The D-flatness conditions contain Fayet-Iliopoulos terms originating from twisted sectors of closed strings, which parameterize the K$`\ddot{\mathrm{a}}`$hler moduli space of the orbifold. The core of the method in  is to convert F-flatness conditions into D-flatness conditions of an auxiliary gauge theory with a large number of chiral multiplets. Scalar components of the chiral multiplets become homogeneous coordinates describing the vacuum moduli space. After reducing redundant coordinates by using D-flatness conditions and gauge symmetry, we obtain the vacuum moduli space of the quiver gauge theory.

Various models were investigated following this procedure -. The most striking feature common to these analyses is that non-geometric phases are projected out. This is in contrast to the analyses based on fundamental strings , in which non-geometric phases are realized as abstract conformal field theories. By inspecting the process of the calculation of the D-brane moduli spaces, we can see that the key to the disappearance of non-geometric phases is the redundancy of coordinates mentioned above. So far, however, physical origin of the redundancy has not been clarified; it just arises as a result of a combinatorial algorithm converting F-flatness conditions to D-flatness conditions. To understand this point is one motivation of this work.

The orbifold we study in this paper is $`𝐂^3/𝐙_2\times 𝐙_2`$. A reason to study this orbifold is that it has a rather rich structure in spite of its simplicity; it contains multiple phases that are related by topology changing processes called flops  as we review in section 2. We also see that non-geometric phases disappear due to the redundancy of homogeneous coordinates. In section 3 we re-examine the moduli space of D0-branes based on $`\theta `$-stability of quiver representations. By comparing the results with those obtained in section 2, we obtain a correspondence between homology cycles of a resolution of the orbifold and quiver representations. Furthermore, we find that the redundancy of the homogeneous coordinates stems from monodromy around the orbifold point in the K$`\ddot{\mathrm{a}}`$hler moduli space. Finally, we discuss the disappearance of non-geometric phases from the viewpoint of stability of D0-branes.

## 2 D-branes on $`𝐂^3/𝐙^2\times 𝐙^2`$: an analysis based on toric geometry

In this section, we first review the method given in  to study D0-branes on orbifolds $`𝐂^3/\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ with $`\mathrm{\Gamma }SU(3)`$. Second, we present the geometric structure of the orbifold $`𝐂^3/𝐙^2\times 𝐙^2`$ obtained by this method .

D-branes on orbifolds $`𝐂^3/\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ are described by quiver gauge theories. A quiver is a graph consisting of a set of nodes $`v_iV`$ and a set of arrows $`a_{ij}A`$ starting from the node $`v_i`$ and ending at the node $`v_j`$. We will denote the number of the nodes as $`N`$. Given a quiver, one obtains a gauge theory by considering a representation of the quiver. A representation $`R`$ of a quiver is a collection of finite dimensional vector spaces $`V_i`$, one for each node $`v_iV`$, and a collection of linear maps $`X_{ij}:V_iV_j`$, one for each arrow $`a_{ij}A`$. The vector $`(n_0,n_1,\mathrm{},n_{N1})`$, where $`n_i`$ is the dimension of the vector space $`V_i`$, is referred to as the dimension vector of the representation $`R`$.

The gauge theory corresponding to a representation $`R`$ is an $`𝒩=1`$ supersymmetric gauge theory with a gauge symmetry $`G=\mathrm{\Pi }_{v_iV}U(n_i)/U(1)`$: a node $`v_i`$ represents a factor of $`U(n_i)`$ in the gauge group $`G`$, and an arrow $`a_{ij}`$ represents a chiral multiplet transforming as $`(n_i,\overline{n}_j)`$ under $`U(n_i)\times U(n_j)`$. Note that the factor $`U(1)`$ in the gauge group is the diagonal subgroup of $`\mathrm{\Pi }_{v_iV}U(n_i)`$ which acts trivially.

A quiver relevant to the discussion of D-branes on $`𝐂^3/\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ is the McKay quiver associated to $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$. Nodes in the McKay quiver correspond to irreducible representations of $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$, and arrows encode information on tensor products of a three-dimensional representation defining the action of $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ on $`𝐂^3`$ and irreducible representations of $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$. In this paper, we restrict $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ to be an abelian subgroup of $`SU(3)`$, whose irreducible representations are one-dimensional. In that case, the number $`N`$ of nodes in the McKay quiver coincides with the order of $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$. Thus a D0-brane on an orbifold $`𝐂^3/\mathrm{\Gamma }`$, which we would like to discuss, corresponds to a quiver representations with a dimension vector $`(1,1,\mathrm{},1)`$.

We are concerned with the vacuum moduli space $``$ of the quiver gauge theory. The vacua are parameterized by values for scalars in the chiral multiplets, modulo gauge equivalence, solving F-flatness and D-flatness conditions. In , it was found to be convenient to consider F-flatness conditions as if they were D-flatness conditions in an auxiliary gauge theory. The vacuum moduli space of this auxiliary gauge theory is a $`(N+2)`$-dimensional space of the following form,

$$\{(p_1,\mathrm{}p_c)𝐂^c|(cN2)\text{D-flatness conditions}\}/U(1)^{cN2},$$
(2.1)
where $`c`$ is the number of scalars in the chiral multiplets of the auxiliary gauge theory. The data necessary to construct this space are obtained through a combinatorial algorithm based on toric geometry. This process is burdensome in general, and hence an analytic expression of $`c`$ is not known for $`𝐂^3/𝐙_n`$ nor $`𝐂^3/𝐙_n\times 𝐙_m`$.

To obtain the vacuum moduli space $``$ of the quiver gauge theory, one must further impose D-flatness conditions

$$D_i=\underset{j}{}(X_{ji}^{}X_{ji}X_{ij}X_{ij}^{})=\theta _i,$$
(2.2)
that exist in the quiver gauge theory from the beginning. Note that although the index $`i`$ takes values from 0 to $`N1`$, the number of independent conditions is $`N1`$. Real parameters $`\theta _i`$ come from twisted sectors of NS-NS fields, and they are related to physical Fayet-Iliopoulos parameters $`\zeta _i`$ through the following relation:

$$\theta _i=\zeta _i\frac{_k\zeta _kn_k}{_ln_l}.$$
(2.3)
This relation comes from the requirement of quasi-supersymmetry of the vacuum . In the case of $`(n_0,n_1,\mathrm{},n_{N1})=(1,1,\mathrm{},1)`$, $`\theta _i`$ coincide with the physical Fayet-Iliopoulos parameters $`\zeta _i`$.

The total number of D-flatness conditions to be imposed on the auxiliary gauge theory is $`(cN2)+(N1)=c3`$, and gauge symmetry is $`U(1)^{cN2}\times U(1)^{N1}=U(1)^{c3}`$. Thus the moduli space $``$ takes the form

$$=\{(p_1,\mathrm{},p_c)𝐂^c|(c3)\text{D-flatness conditions}\}/U(1)^{c3}.$$
(2.4)
Note that the $`N1`$ D-flatness conditions in equation (2.2) have Fayet-Iliopoulos parameters $`\theta _i`$, while $`cN2`$ D-flatness conditions coming from F-flatness conditions do not have such parameters.

Now we investigate the case $`𝐂^3/𝐙_2\times 𝐙_2`$ in detail . Non-trivial elements $`g_1,g_2`$ $`g_3`$ of $`\mathrm{\Gamma }=𝐙_2\times 𝐙_2`$ act on the coordinates $`(z_1,z_2,z_3)`$ of $`𝐂^3`$ as follows:

$`g_1:(z_1,z_2,z_3)(z_1,z_2,z_3),`$
$`g_2:(z_1,z_2,z_3)(z_1,z_2,z_3),`$ (2.5)
$`g_3:(z_1,z_2,z_3)(z_1,z_2,z_3).`$
Here $`g_1^2=g_2^2=g_3^2=1,g_1g_2=g_3`$. Since $`𝐙_2\times 𝐙_2`$ is an abelian group of order four, there are four irreducible representations with dimension one. The quiver diagram is depicted in Figure 1.

Since the quiver has four nodes ($`N=4`$), the associated quiver gauge theory has a gauge symmetry $`U(1)^3`$ and three Fayet-Iliopoulos parameters $`\theta _i`$. The vacuum moduli space of the quiver gauge theory is computed following the procedure stated above. In this case, the combinatorial algorithm gives an auxiliary gauge theory with $`c=9`$. Therefore the vacuum moduli space $``$ is represented as,

$$=\{(p_1,\mathrm{}p_9)𝐂^9|6\text{D-flatness conditions}\}/U(1)^6,$$
(2.6)
where six D-flatness conditions are

$`|p_4|^2+|p_7|^2`$ $`=`$ $`2\stackrel{~}{\theta }_1,`$ (2.7)
$`|p_5|^2+|p_8|^2`$ $`=`$ $`2\stackrel{~}{\theta }_2,`$ (2.8)
$`|p_6|^2+|p_9|^2`$ $`=`$ $`2\stackrel{~}{\theta }_3,`$ (2.9)
$`|p_1|^2+|p_4|^2|p_5|^2|p_6|^2`$ $`=`$ $`\stackrel{~}{\theta }_1+\stackrel{~}{\theta }_2+\stackrel{~}{\theta }_3,`$ (2.10)
$`|p_2|^2|p_4|^2+|p_5|^2|p_6|^2`$ $`=`$ $`\stackrel{~}{\theta }_1\stackrel{~}{\theta }_2+\stackrel{~}{\theta }_3,`$ (2.11)
$`|p_3|^2|p_4|^2|p_5|^2+|p_6|^2`$ $`=`$ $`\stackrel{~}{\theta }_1+\stackrel{~}{\theta }_2\stackrel{~}{\theta }_3.`$ (2.12)
Here we have used parameters $`\stackrel{~}{\theta }_1=(\theta _2+\theta _3)/2,\stackrel{~}{\theta }_2=(\theta _3+\theta _1)/2,\stackrel{~}{\theta }_3=(\theta _1+\theta _2)/2`$.

We first study the geometric structure of $``$ in the region $`\stackrel{~}{\theta }_1>0`$, $`\stackrel{~}{\theta }_2>0`$, $`\stackrel{~}{\theta }_3>0`$. For $`\stackrel{~}{\theta }_1>0`$, $`p_7`$ is nonzero due to the equation (2.7). Combining with a U(1) gauge symmetry corresponding to this D-flatness condition, we can eliminate $`p_7`$. Similarly, in the region $`\stackrel{~}{\theta }_2>0`$ ($`\stackrel{~}{\theta }_3>0`$), we can eliminate $`p_8`$ (respectively $`p_9`$). Thus in the region $`\stackrel{~}{\theta }_1>0`$, $`\stackrel{~}{\theta }_2>0`$ and $`\stackrel{~}{\theta }_3>0`$, the six D-flatness conditions are reduced to the last three equations (2.10), (2.11), (2.12). They describe a resolution of $`𝐂^3/𝐙_2\times 𝐙_2`$. However, the topology of the resolution is not fixed uniquely since the inequalities $`\stackrel{~}{\theta }_1>0`$, $`\stackrel{~}{\theta }_2>0`$, $`\stackrel{~}{\theta }_3>0`$ do not fix the sign of the right-hand side of (2.10), (2.11), (2.12); flop transition occurs as the sign of the right-hand side changes. For example, in the region $`\theta _1=\stackrel{~}{\theta }_1+\stackrel{~}{\theta }_2+\stackrel{~}{\theta }_3>0,\theta _2=\stackrel{~}{\theta }_1\stackrel{~}{\theta }_2+\stackrel{~}{\theta }_3>0,\theta _3=\stackrel{~}{\theta }_1+\stackrel{~}{\theta }_2\stackrel{~}{\theta }_3>0`$, the resolved orbifold has a topology represented by the toric diagram drawn in Figure 2(a). Each line in the diagram represents homology 2-cycle $`C_i`$ in the resolution of $`𝐂^3/𝐙_2\times 𝐙_2`$, whose volume is parameterized by $`\theta _i`$. If we change the sign of $`\theta _1`$, $`C_1`$ is replaced by $`C_1^{}`$ as depicted in Figure 2(b). The volume of $`C_1^{}`$ is parameterized by $`\theta _1`$, which implies that the homology class $`[C_1^{}]`$ is equal to $`[C_1]`$ as noted in .

Before we come to the analysis outside of $`\stackrel{~}{\theta }_1>0,\stackrel{~}{\theta }_2>0,\stackrel{~}{\theta }_3>0`$, we comment on the phase structure obtained from just the three D-flatness conditions (2.10), (2.11), (2.12). These are the D-flatness conditions that appear in the analysis of the orbifold $`𝐂^3/𝐙_2\times 𝐙_2`$ based on fundamental strings . In the region $`\stackrel{~}{\theta }_1>0,\stackrel{~}{\theta }_2>0,\stackrel{~}{\theta }_3>0`$, one obtains the same resolutions of the orbifold as described above. In another region, however, one obtains a singular space. Such regions are called non-geometric phases realized as abstract conformal field theories.

Now we come back to the analysis of the six D-flatness conditions from (2.7) to (2.12). If we consider the region $`\stackrel{~}{\theta }_2<0`$ instead of $`\stackrel{~}{\theta }_2>0`$, we can eliminate $`p_5`$ instead of $`p_8`$ by using the D-flatness condition (2.8). In this case, we obtain the following three D-flatness conditions.

$`|p_1|^2+|p_4|^2|p_8|^2|p_6|^2`$ $`=`$ $`\stackrel{~}{\theta }_1+(\stackrel{~}{\theta }_2)+\stackrel{~}{\theta }_3,`$ (2.13)
$`|p_2|^2|p_4|^2+|p_8|^2|p_6|^2`$ $`=`$ $`\stackrel{~}{\theta }_1(\stackrel{~}{\theta }_2)+\stackrel{~}{\theta }_3,`$ (2.14)
$`|p_3|^2|p_4|^2|p_8|^2+|p_6|^2`$ $`=`$ $`\stackrel{~}{\theta }_1+(\stackrel{~}{\theta }_2)\stackrel{~}{\theta }_3.`$ (2.15)
One can see that the equations (2.13), (2.14), (2.15) have the same structure as the equations (2.10), (2.11), (2.12) if we take into account that we are considering the region $`\stackrel{~}{\theta }_2<0`$ instead of $`\stackrel{~}{\theta }_2>0`$. Therefore, phase structure in this region is the same as that in the region $`\stackrel{~}{\theta }_1>0`$, $`\stackrel{~}{\theta }_2>0`$ and $`\stackrel{~}{\theta }_3>0`$. In this way, we obtain phase structure near the orbifold point in the K$`\ddot{\mathrm{a}}`$hler moduli space as shown in Figure 3. With eight ($`=2^3`$) ways of eliminating the coordinates mentioned above, there are 32 phases in all.

The most striking feature of the result is that non-geometric phases do not appear in contrast to the analyses based on fundamental strings. We can see that what makes non-geometric phases disappear is the redundancy of the homogeneous coordinates $`p_a`$. At each point in the K$`\ddot{\mathrm{a}}`$hler moduli space, we need only six coordinates out of nine to describe $``$, but which coordinates we should choose depends on the region in the K$`\ddot{\mathrm{a}}`$hler moduli space as stated above. Thus it is important to clarify the physical origin of the redundancy of the coordinates to understand the reason that D-branes avoid non-geometric phases.

## 3 D-branes on $`𝐂^3/𝐙^2\times 𝐙^2`$: an analysis based on $`\theta `$-stability

In section 2, we have studied the vacuum moduli space of the worldvolume gauge theory of a D0-brane on the orbifold $`𝐂^3/𝐙^2\times 𝐙^2`$ based on the method using toric geometry. In this section, we re-examine the same space by using $`\theta `$-stability of quiver representations.

The reformulation arises as follows. First, consider the space of solutions of F-flatness conditions. Since it is invariant under the action of the complexified gauge group $`G_𝐂`$, one can talk about the $`G_𝐂`$-orbits satisfying the F-flatness conditions. The key point is that, under certain conditions, the $`G_𝐂`$-orbit satisfying the F-flatness conditions contains a solution of D-flatness conditions. They are $`\theta `$-stability conditions of quiver representations .

To study $`\theta `$-stability of a quiver representation we need to know its subrepresentations. A representation $`R^{}`$ is a subrepresentation of $`R`$ if there is an injective homomorphism from $`R^{}`$ to $`R`$. Here a homomorphism between two representations $`R=\{V_i,X_{ij}\}`$ and $`R^{}=\{V_i^{},X_{ij}^{}\}`$ is a collection of linear maps $`\varphi _i:V_i^{}V_i`$ which satisfy $`\varphi _iX_{ij}=X_{ij}^{}\varphi _j`$ as matrices. A quiver representation with a dimension vector $`n`$ is $`\theta `$-semistable if it satisfies

$$n_i\theta _i=0,$$
(3.1)
and every subrepresentation with a dimension vector $`n^{}`$ satisfies

$$n_i^{}\theta _i0.$$
(3.2)
Furthermore, a representation is $`\theta `$-stable if every non-trivial subrepresentations satisfies $`n_i^{}\theta _i>0`$. Note that the equation (3.1) follows by taking traces of the D-flatness conditions (2.2), so the parameters $`\theta _i`$ in the expression coincide with the parameters appearing in the D-flatness conditions.

To find out $`\theta `$-stable representations, it is useful to consider Schur representations. A representation $`R`$ is Schur if it satisfies End$`R=𝐂`$. This condition implies that Schur representations correspond to D-brane bound states . Since $`\theta `$-stable representations are Schur, we obtain $`\theta `$-stable representations by considering Schur representations which satisfy F-flatness conditions, and then imposing $`\theta `$-stability conditions on the Schur representations.

In the case of $`𝐂^3/𝐙_2\times 𝐙_2`$, endomorphism of a representation with a dimension vector $`(1,1,1,1)`$ consists of four linear maps $`\lambda _i:V_iV_i`$. The condition for the representation to be Schur is that the equations $`\lambda _iX_{ij}=X_{ij}\lambda _j`$ for $`ij`$ have a unique solution $`\lambda _1=\lambda _2=\lambda _3=\lambda _4=\lambda 𝐂`$. It requires that all the nodes in the quiver diagram must be connected by arrows corresponding to non-vanishing $`X_{ij}`$’s. Under this condition, we fix three $`X_{ij}`$’s to be zero by using the complexified gauge symmetry $`G_\mathrm{C}=GL(3,𝐂)`$. Since we also impose F-flatness conditions $`X_{ik}X_{kj}=X_{il}X_{lj}`$ with $`kl`$, more than three $`X_{ij}`$’s vanish in general. The least number of non-vanishing $`X_{ij}`$’s is three, which corresponds to the dimension of the orbifold. To be consistent with the F-flatness conditions, any neighboring two arrows out of the three are in opposite directions. By examining the conditions in detail, we found that there are 32 Schur representations with three non-vanishing $`X_{ij}`$’s. We will illustrate these representations by eliminating arrows corresponding to vanishing $`X_{ij}`$’s from the quiver diagram. The 32 Schur representations are classified into three types according to their forms as graphs.

The first type of Schur representations are such that three arrows start from one node as shown in Figure 4(a). By exchanging labels of nodes, we obtain four Schur representations of this type. The Schur representation in Figure 4(a) has seven subrepresentations with the following dimension vectors,

$$(0,1,1,1),(0,0,1,1),(0,1,0,1),(0,1,1,0),(0,1,0,0),(0,0,1,0),(0,0,0,1),$$
(3.3)
which are determined by the condition that an injective homomorphism exists: when $`X_{ij}`$ is non-vanishing, $`n_j=0`$ implies $`n_i=0`$. Hence $`\theta `$-stability of the representation requires

$`\theta _1+\theta _2+\theta _3>0,\theta _2+\theta _3>0,\theta _3+\theta _1>0,`$
$`\theta _1+\theta _2>0,\theta _1>0,\theta _2>0,\theta _3>0.`$ (3.4)
Thus the representation in Figure 4(a) is $`\theta `$-stable in the region $`\theta _1>0,\theta _2>0,\theta _3>0`$. They are rewritten as $`\stackrel{~}{\theta }_2+\stackrel{~}{\theta }_3>0,\stackrel{~}{\theta }_3+\stackrel{~}{\theta }_1>0,\stackrel{~}{\theta }_1+\stackrel{~}{\theta }_2>0`$.

The second type of Schur representations are such that three arrows end at one node as shown in Figure 4(b). There are four Schur representations of this type. The representation in Figure 4(b) has seven subrepresentations,

$$(1,0,0,0),(1,1,0,0),(1,0,1,0),(1,0,0,1),(1,0,1,1),(1,1,0,1),(1,1,1,0),$$
(3.5)
and hence $`\theta `$-stability of the representation requires

$`\theta _1+\theta _2+\theta _3<0,\theta _1+\theta _2<0,\theta _1+\theta _3<0,`$
$`\theta _2+\theta _3<0,\theta _1<0,\theta _2<0,\theta _3<0,`$ (3.6)
where we have used $`\theta _0+\theta _1+\theta _2+\theta _3=0`$. Thus the representation in Figure 4(b) is $`\theta `$-stable in the region $`\theta _1<0,\theta _2<0,\theta _3<0`$ ($`\stackrel{~}{\theta }_2+\stackrel{~}{\theta }_3<0,\stackrel{~}{\theta }_3+\stackrel{~}{\theta }_1<0,\stackrel{~}{\theta }_1+\stackrel{~}{\theta }_2<0`$).

The third type of Schur representations are such that three arrows connecting four nodes form a line as shown in Figure 4(c) and 4(d). Permutation of labels of nodes gives 24 representations of this type. The representation in Figure 4(c) has six subrepresentations,

$$(0,1,1,1),(0,0,1,1),(1,0,1,1),(0,0,1,0),(0,0,0,1),(0,1,1,0),$$
(3.7)
and hence $`\theta `$-stability of the representation requires

$`\theta _1+\theta _2+\theta _3>0,\theta _2+\theta _3>0,`$
$`\theta _1<0,\theta _2>0,\theta _3>0,\theta _1+\theta _2>0.`$ (3.8)
Thus the representation is $`\theta `$-stable in the region $`\theta _1+\theta _2>0,\theta _1<0,\theta _3>0`$ ($`\stackrel{~}{\theta }_3>0,\stackrel{~}{\theta }_1+\stackrel{~}{\theta }_2+\stackrel{~}{\theta }_3<0,\stackrel{~}{\theta }_1+\stackrel{~}{\theta }_2\stackrel{~}{\theta }_3>0`$). The Schur representation in Figure 4(d) also has six subrepresentations

$$(0,1,1,1),(0,0,1,1),(1,0,1,1),(0,0,1,0),(0,0,0,1),(0,1,0,1).$$
(3.9)
As one can see, the first five subrepresentations of (3.9) coincide with those of (3.7); the only differences between (3.7) and (3.9) are the last ones, $`(0,1,1,0)`$ and $`(0,1,0,1)`$. The representation in Figure 4(d) is $`\theta `$-stable in the region $`\theta _1+\theta _3>0,\theta _1<0,\theta _2>0`$ ($`\stackrel{~}{\theta }_2>0,\stackrel{~}{\theta }_1+\stackrel{~}{\theta }_2+\stackrel{~}{\theta }_3<0,\stackrel{~}{\theta }_1\stackrel{~}{\theta }_2+\stackrel{~}{\theta }_3>0`$).

In this way, we can study regions in which Schur representations are $`\theta `$-stable. We found that the $`\theta `$-stable regions for the 32 Schur representations cover the $`\stackrel{~}{\theta }`$-space except for codimension-one marginal stability loci. It was also found that a $`\theta `$-stable region for a Schur representation of the first or second type does not overlap with a $`\theta `$-stable region for another Schur representation. Thus in the region $`\stackrel{~}{\theta }_2+\stackrel{~}{\theta }_3>0,\stackrel{~}{\theta }_3+\stackrel{~}{\theta }_1>0,\stackrel{~}{\theta }_1+\stackrel{~}{\theta }_2>0`$, for example, the $`\theta `$-stable representation is the one in Figure 4(a), and there are seven subrepresentations (3.3).

In contrast, $`\theta `$-stable regions for Schur representations of the third type overlap with each other. For example, the two representations in Figures 4(c) and 4(d) have a common $`\theta `$-stable region, $`\stackrel{~}{\theta }_2>0,\stackrel{~}{\theta }_3>0`$, $`\stackrel{~}{\theta }_1+\stackrel{~}{\theta }_2+\stackrel{~}{\theta }_3<0`$. Therefore, a set of subrepresentations in this region is the union of (3.7) and (3.9):

$$(0,1,1,1),(0,0,1,1),(1,0,1,1),(0,0,1,0),(0,0,0,1),(0,1,1,0),(0,1,0,1).$$
(3.10)
In this way, we can investigate the structure of subrepresentations for any point in the $`\stackrel{~}{\theta }`$-space. We found that there are 32 phases in all, just as in section 2. In fact, there is a simple method to read off the structure of subrepresentations. First consider a cuboctahedron, a polyhedron with six squares and eight triangles obtained from a cube by truncating its eight apices. Next put it at the origin of the $`\stackrel{~}{\theta }`$-space in such a way that squares face to three axes $`\stackrel{~}{\theta }_1`$, $`\stackrel{~}{\theta }_2`$ and $`\stackrel{~}{\theta }_3`$. Then assign fourteen non-trivial subrepresentations of $`(1,1,1,1)`$ to fourteen surfaces of the cuboctahedron in the following way. Let us define $`\stackrel{~}{n}_1=n_1+n_2+n_3,\stackrel{~}{n}_2=n_1n_2+n_3,\stackrel{~}{n}_3=n_1+n_2n_3`$. A subrepresentation $`(0,n_1,n_2,n_3)`$ is assigned to the surface with a normal vector $`(\stackrel{~}{n}_1,\stackrel{~}{n}_2,\stackrel{~}{n}_3)`$ and a subrepresentation $`(1,1n_1,1n_2,1n_3)`$ to the surface with a normal vector $`(\stackrel{~}{n}_1,\stackrel{~}{n}_2,\stackrel{~}{n}_3)`$. The assignment is drawn in Figure 5.

If we assume the size of the cuboctahedron to be infinitesimally small, seven surfaces of the cuboctahedron are visible from a point in the $`\stackrel{~}{\theta }`$-space in general. Subrepresentations of a $`\theta `$-stable representation $`(1,1,1,1)`$ at this point are those assigned to surfaces visible from the point. A set of visible surfaces, and hence that of subrepresentations, changes at some loci in the $`\stackrel{~}{\theta }`$-space. Let us investigate such transitions in detail.

### 3.1 Transitions corresponding to flops

First we would like to examine a process corresponding to a flop transition. Consider a point in the region $`\stackrel{~}{\theta }_1+\stackrel{~}{\theta }_2+\stackrel{~}{\theta }_3>0,\stackrel{~}{\theta }_1\stackrel{~}{\theta }_2+\stackrel{~}{\theta }_3>0,\stackrel{~}{\theta }_1+\stackrel{~}{\theta }_2\stackrel{~}{\theta }_3>0`$, from which seven surfaces corresponding to (3.3) are visible as shown in Figure 6(a). As the value of $`\stackrel{~}{\theta }_1`$ increases, the area of the surface $`(0,1,0,0)`$ visible from that point becomes smaller, and it degenerate to a line when one comes to the locus $`\stackrel{~}{\theta }_1+\stackrel{~}{\theta }_2+\stackrel{~}{\theta }_3=0`$. At the same time the surface $`(1,0,1,1)`$ opposite to $`(0,1,0,0)`$ becomes visible as a line as in Figure 6(b). As one moves further, the surface $`(0,1,0,0)`$ completely disappears while the surface $`(1,0,1,1)`$ appears as in Figure 6(c). Thus $`(1,0,1,1)`$ replaces $`(0,1,0,0)`$ as a subrepresentation when one crosses the locus $`\stackrel{~}{\theta }_1+\stackrel{~}{\theta }_2+\stackrel{~}{\theta }_3=0`$.

Compared with what occurs geometrically at the same locus, this process should correspond to a flop transition $`[C_1][C_1]`$, as in section 2. In fact, if we consider the following correspondence between representations and homology classes,

$`(0,1,0,0)[C_1],`$
$`(0,0,1,0)[C_2],`$ (3.11)
$`(0,0,0,1)[C_3],`$
the process exchanging $`(0,1,0,0)`$ for $`(1,0,1,1)`$ is interpreted as a flop. The key point is the fact that $`(1,1,1,1)`$ corresponds to a D0-brane as noted in section 2. Thus the representation $`(1,0,1,1)=(1,1,1,1)(0,1,0,0)`$ should correspond to a homology class $`[p][C_1]`$ where $`[p]`$ represents a homology class of a point corresponding to a D0-brane. If we ignore $`[p]`$ <sup>1</sup><sup>1</sup>1To exactly discuss the process, we should use K-theory instead of homology theory. In K-theory terms, the flop transition corresponds to an exchange $`[k_1][k_1]`$, where $`[k_i]`$ represents a generator of K-theory ., the exchange $`(0,1,0,0)(1,0,1,1)`$ implies $`[C_1][C_1]`$, which is nothing but the flop transition discussed in section 2. The correspondence (3.11) agrees with the result obtained from the other methods .

Here we comment on an implication of the result on the McKay correspondence. The McKay correspondence between representations of $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ and geometry of resolutions of $`𝐂^3/\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ has been mainly discussed for a particular resolution of the orbifold called a Hilbert scheme. In the present case, the Hilbert scheme is the space with a topology represented by the toric diagram in Figure 2(a). The above result can be interpreted as providing a way to calculate the McKay correspondence explicitly for resolutions other than the Hilbert scheme<sup>2</sup><sup>2</sup>2After we completed this work, we were informed that the McKay correspondence for resolutions other than the Hilbert scheme was explicitly investigated in the cases $`\mathrm{\Gamma }=𝐙_2\times 𝐙_2,𝐙_6,𝐙_{11}`$ in ..

### 3.2 Transitions corresponding to change of coordinates

Next we would like to investigate another type of transition. Start with a point in the region $`\stackrel{~}{\theta }_2>0,\stackrel{~}{\theta }_3>0`$ and $`\stackrel{~}{\theta }_1+\stackrel{~}{\theta }_2+\stackrel{~}{\theta }_3<0`$, from which seven surfaces corresponding to (3.10) are visible as shown in Figure 7(a). As the value of $`\stackrel{~}{\theta }_2`$ decreases, the area of the surface $`(0,1,0,1)`$ visible from that point becomes smaller, and it degenerate to a line when one comes to the locus $`\stackrel{~}{\theta }_2=0`$. At the same time the surface $`(1,0,1,0)`$ opposite to $`(0,1,0,1)`$ becomes visible as a line as in Figure 7(b). As one moves further, the surface $`(0,1,0,1)`$ completely disappears while the surface $`(1,0,1,0)`$ appears as in Figure 7(c). Thus $`(1,0,1,0)`$ replaces $`(0,1,0,1)`$ as a subrepresentation when one crosses the locus $`\stackrel{~}{\theta }_2=0`$.

Compared with the result in section 2, this process should correspond to a change of homogeneous coordinates from $`p_5`$ to $`p_8`$. For a consistent interpretation of the process, it is found to be necessary to consider the following permutation of subrepresentations,

$$(0,0,1,0)(0,1,1,1),(0,0,0,1)(1,0,1,1),$$
(3.12)
in addition to the exchange $`(0,1,0,1)`$ for $`(1,0,1,0)`$. This transformation of subrepresentations is nothing but the reflection of the cuboctahedron with respect to the plane $`\stackrel{~}{\theta }_2=0`$. Similarly, the exchange of the homogeneous coordinates $`p_4p_7`$ ($`p_6p_9`$) in the toric method corresponds to the reflection with respect to $`\stackrel{~}{\theta }_1=0`$ ($`\stackrel{~}{\theta }_3=0`$). We denote the reflection with respect to the plane $`\stackrel{~}{\theta }_a=0`$ as $`A_a`$.

To understand the meaning of the exchange of the homogeneous coordinates, we consider the combinations of the reflections; $`M_1=A_2A_3,M_2=A_3A_1,M_3=A_1A_2`$. For example, $`M_1`$ corresponds to the action $`\stackrel{~}{\theta }_2\stackrel{~}{\theta }_2,\stackrel{~}{\theta }_3\stackrel{~}{\theta }_3`$, and leads to the following permutation of subrepresentations,

$`(1,0,0,0)(0,1,0,0),`$
$`(0,0,1,0)(0,0,0,1),`$
$`(0,1,1,1)(1,0,1,1),`$
$`(1,1,0,1)(1,1,1,0),`$ (3.13)
$`(1,0,1,0)(0,1,0,1),`$
$`(1,0,0,1)(0,1,1,0).`$
Based on the correspondence between representations and homology classes obtained above, the action $`M_1`$ is geometrically interpreted as

$$[C_1][p][C_1][C_2][C_3],[C_2][C_3].$$
(3.14)
Similarly, the actions $`M_2`$ and $`M_3`$ are represented in terms of geometry. It is known that the actions $`M_i`$ satisfying the relations, $`M_1^2=M_2^2=M_3^2=1,M_1M_2=M_3`$, are interpreted as monodromies around the orbifold point in the K$`\ddot{\mathrm{a}}`$hler moduli space .

Thus the change of homogeneous coordinates in the toric method stems from the orbifold monodromy, and the number $`c`$ of the coordinates in the expression (2.4) can be understood from this viewpoint. As discussed in section 2, the fact that D-branes do not see non-geometric phases comes from the redundancy of the homogeneous coordinates. Thus the above argument shows that this property is a consequence of the monodromy around the orbifold point.

For a few examples other than $`𝐂^3/𝐙_2\times 𝐙_2`$, we have verified that the redundancy of homogeneous coordinates in the expression (2.4) can be understood from orbifold monodromy. It would be interesting to have a general expression for the number $`c`$ of homogeneous coordinates in the expression (2.4) for orbifolds $`𝐂^3/𝐙_n`$ and $`𝐂^3/𝐙_n\times 𝐙_m`$.

### 3.3 Decay products on marginal stability loci

Finally we would like to discuss decay products at marginal stability loci. They are read off from the cuboctahedron as follows. Subrepresentations on its surfaces visible from a point in the $`\stackrel{~}{\theta }`$-space are interpreted as potential decay products. As one of the surfaces shrinks to a line, decay is triggered by the subrepresentation on this surface since the stability condition (3.2) for this subrepresentation saturates. Remaining elements of the decay must be such that the sum of dimension vectors of decay products is $`(1,1,1,1)`$. By inspecting the rule of assignment of subrepresentations on the cuboctahedron, one can see that decay products are two subrepresentations on the shrinking surfaces at the marginal stability loci. For example, on the locus $`\stackrel{~}{\theta }_1+\stackrel{~}{\theta }_2+\stackrel{~}{\theta }_3=0`$, $`(1,1,1,1)`$ decays into $`(0,1,0,0)`$ and $`(1,0,1,1)`$ as shown in Figure 6(b).

This result agrees with the conjecture on decay products given in . To explain the conjecture, we need to make some definitions. A sequence of subrepresentations of a semi-stable representation $`R`$,

$$0=R_0R_1R_2\mathrm{}R_m=R,$$
(3.15)
is called a Jordan-H$`\ddot{\mathrm{o}}`$lder filtration if the dimension vectors $`n_a`$ of $`R_a`$ satisfy $`\theta n_a=0`$ and the quotients $`M_a=R_a/R_{a1}`$ are $`\theta `$-stable. By using a Jordan-H$`\ddot{\mathrm{o}}`$lder filtration, the graded representation of $`R`$ is defined as

$$\mathrm{gr}(R)=_aM_a.$$
(3.16)
Given a semi-stable representation $`R`$, there may be several Jordan-H$`\ddot{\mathrm{o}}`$lder filtrations but $`\mathrm{gr}(R)`$ is unique. We also note that $`\mathrm{gr}(R)`$ coincides with $`R`$ for $`\theta `$-stable representations. The conjecture given in  is that decay products of $`R`$ on marginal stability loci are given by $`\mathrm{gr}(R)`$. In the present case, on the locus $`\stackrel{~}{\theta }_1+\stackrel{~}{\theta }_2+\stackrel{~}{\theta }_3=0`$, the representation $`R=(1,1,1,1)`$ has a Jordan-H$`\ddot{\mathrm{o}}`$lder filtration,

$$(0,0,0,0)(0,1,0,0)(1,1,1,1).$$
(3.17)
It leads $`\mathrm{gr}(R)=(0,1,0,0)(1,0,1,1)`$. Thus D0-brane decays into a threshold bound state of $`(0,1,0,0)`$ and $`(1,0,1,1)`$ at $`\stackrel{~}{\theta }_1+\stackrel{~}{\theta }_2+\stackrel{~}{\theta }_3=0`$, in agreement with the result read off from the cuboctahedron.

## 4 Discussions

In this section, we would like to discuss why non-geometric phases are projected out from the viewpoint of stability of D0-branes<sup>3</sup><sup>3</sup>3In , a relation between the non-geometric phase and 0-brane instability was argued in a different context..

In standard classical geometry, elementary constituents of a space are points; correspondingly, a space probed by a point particle is described by classical geometry. In this paper, we have used a D0-brane as a probe to study the orbifold. Since a D0-brane is a point-like object, it may seem reasonable that a space probed by a D0-brane has a classical geometric interpretation. However, there is an issue we have to care about: stability of a D0-brane. If a D0-brane becomes unstable, it decays into a sum of higher dimensional objects in general, and loses the property as a point-like probe. Thus the most likely expectation is that a space probed by a D0-brane is described by classical geometry only if the D0-brane is stable. This expectation is consistent with the result in this paper. As we have seen, any point in the $`\stackrel{~}{\theta }`$-space where a D0-brane is stable belongs to geometric phases, and the loci on which D0-brane is marginally stable coincide with boundaries of geometric phases. In this respect, the fact that D0-branes are always (semi) stable may be understood as one explanation of the disappearance of non-geometric phases.

Of course, it is not clear that the expectation holds for other cases. It is necessary to examine to what extent the expectation can be applied.

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Y. Ito, Y. Ohtake and T. Takayanagi for valuable discussions.


text:
# Propagation of exciton pulses in semiconductors

## I Introduction

The transport properties of excitons  in Cu2O have been studied extensively in recent years. In one series of experiments , a pulse of excitons was created at one end of a crystal of Cu2O and detected at the other following propagation inside the sample. In another series of experiments , excitons were created and imaged as they expanded inside a crystal subjected to external stress. (The stress effectively created a confining potential for the excitons.)

Two noteworthy conclusions emerged from these experiments. First, drag in the propagation of excitons due to their scattering with (longitudinal) acoustic phonons was found to decrease with decreasing lattice temperature. The second observation  followed from experiments with two laser pulses separated by a time delay of $`100`$ ns. The first pulse created an asymmetric wave of excitons; the excitons created by the second pulse travelled in the trail of the first. This second wave was observed to be symmetric and to have the characteristics of a solitary-wave, specifically, those of a “bright soliton” (i.e., a local elevation in the density.)

Here, we will argue that the waves created by the second pulse are likely to resemble classical solitary waves. These waves are, however, essentially different from solitary waves in, e.g., water (as first observed by J. Scott Russell ) due to the presence of dissipation caused by the scattering of excitons with phonons . We will suggest that the effects of nonlinearity and dispersion, which give rise to solitons, must be combined with dissipation in order to create generic conditions appropriate for the propagation of localized pulses of excitons in the crystal. All three mechanisms play an important role.

The studies of Refs.  attributed the observed localized waves to the formation of a Bose-Einstein condensate of excitons . In Ref. , second-order perturbation theory was used to describe the exciton-exciton interaction , which gave rise to effective attraction between the condensed excitons. In Ref. , it was shown that an exciton condensate coupled to acoustic phonons can give rise to bright solitons. However, as pointed out in Ref. , solitary waves in a Bose-Einstein condensed gas have a characteristic length scale determined by its healing length $`\xi `$ given by $`\mathrm{}^2/2m\xi ^2=nU_0`$, or $`\xi =(8\pi na)^{1/2}`$, where $`m`$ is the exciton mass, $`n`$ is the exciton condensate density, and $`U_0=4\pi \mathrm{}^2a/m`$ is the exciton-exciton scattering matrix element, with $`a`$ being the scattering length. For typical liquid helium temperatures of order 2 K, the critical density for the Bose-Einstein condensation of excitons is of order $`10^{17}`$ cm-3. The scattering length for exciton-exciton elastic collisions in Cu2O has been calculated to be $`a2a_B`$ , where $`a_B`$ is the exciton Bohr radius. The Bohr radius of excitons in Cu2O is $`5`$ Å  so that $`\xi 0.01`$ $`\mu `$m, which is about four orders of magnitude smaller than the width of the narrowest pulses $`l_p1`$ mm. (The crystal is typically a few millimeters long.)

Finally, a model which has been proposed in connection with the ballistic propagation of excitons attributes the observed phenomenon to a classical effect due to a “phonon wind” . Many of the observations have been explained in the context of this model and our study is consistent with the claim that the excitons are described by classical equations. On the other hand, the two studies examine effects which are essentially decoupled.

More specifically, while both models include dissipation, the phonon-wind model focuses on the spatial and temporal effects of laser excitation, whereas our model concentrates on the effects of non-linearity and dispersion. In the present study we make the implicit simplified assumption of a delta-like form of laser excitation in space and time. In such a case, the phonon-wind model essentially reduces to a diffusion-like equation, neglecting the effects of non-linearity and dispersion. Of course, one should worry about more complicated forms of the laser excitation, however the problem we have studied is quite complicated and we have chosen to overlook these effects in order to demonstrate clearly the combined effect of dissipation, non-linearity and dispersion; we believe all three effects are very crucial in these experiments. Finally, from an experimental point of view, our study would be mostly suitable for short (in space and time) laser pulses.

## II Hydrodynamic description

Following Ref. , we start with the hydrodynamic equations describing the system,

$`{\displaystyle \frac{n}{t}}+(n𝐯)`$ $`=`$ $`0,`$ (1)
$`\left[{\displaystyle \frac{}{t}}+𝐯\right]𝐯`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{p}{n}}{\displaystyle \frac{𝐯}{\tau }},`$ (2)
where $`𝐯`$ is the velocity field, $`p`$ is the pressure, and $`\tau `$ is the exciton-acoustic phonon scattering time. The neglect of viscosity in these equations can be justified by looking at the characteristic scales: The viscous force $`\eta ^2v`$ is of order $`\eta v/l_p^2n\tau _sc^3/l_p^2`$, where $`\eta `$ is the viscosity, $`\tau _s`$ is the scattering time for elastic exciton-exciton collisions, and $`c^2=p/n`$ is the adiabatic sound velocity. Therefore, $`|\eta ^2v/p|c\tau _s/l_p`$. Typical values of $`c5\times 10^5`$ cm/s, $`l_p`$ 1 mm, and $`\tau _s=(n\sigma v)^1`$ with $`\sigma =8\pi a^2`$ imply that $`\tau _s`$ 1 ns for $`n10^{17}`$ cm-3, $`a10`$ Å, and a temperature $`T1`$ K. Therefore, $`c\tau _s/l_p10^21`$.

Linearizing the above equations and considering small variations in the density and the pressure, $`n=n_0+\delta n`$ and $`p=p_0+\delta p`$ (where $`n_0`$ and $`p_0`$ are the “background” density and pressure of excitons created by the first laser pulse), one can derive the equation:

$`{\displaystyle \frac{^2\delta n}{t^2}}c^2^2\delta n+{\displaystyle \frac{1}{\tau }}{\displaystyle \frac{\delta n}{t}}=0.`$ (3)
This equation leads to the dispersion relation

$`\omega ^2c^2k^2+i\omega /\tau =0,`$ (4)
which interpolates between two limits. For $`kc\tau 1`$, the motion of the exciton pulse is diffusive, and

$`_t\delta n=c^2\tau ^2\delta n,`$ (5)
with $`\omega =ic^2\tau k^2`$. In the opposite limit $`kc\tau 1`$,

$`_{tt}\delta nc^2^2\delta n=0,`$ (6)
with $`\omega =ck`$, corresponding to sound propagation.

## III Non-linearity versus dispersion

The analysis so far applies to small variations around equilibrium. For larger excitations it is also necessary to account for the effects of non-linearity and dispersion. For simplicity, we start with a (one-dimensional) wave propagating with velocity $`c`$ along the positive $`x`$ axis,

$`_t\delta n+c_x\delta n=0.`$ (7)
Any function of the form $`\delta n=\delta n(xct)`$ is a solution of Eq. (7). Allowing for dispersion and non-linearity, this becomes

$`{\displaystyle \frac{\delta n}{t}}+c(1+\alpha {\displaystyle \frac{\delta n}{n_0}}){\displaystyle \frac{\delta n}{x}}+\beta {\displaystyle \frac{l_p^3}{\tau _p}}{\displaystyle \frac{^3\delta n}{x^3}}=0.`$ (8)
Here $`\alpha `$ and $`\beta `$ are small (positive) dimensionless quantities, which can be calculated from microscopic theories. It is not our goal to calculate them here, and we treat them as phenomenological parameters. Also $`\tau _p`$ is the time for the pulse to travel a length $`l_p`$ (i.e., $`l_p=c\tau _p`$.) Typically, $`\tau _p100`$ ns for relatively narrow pulses. Equation (8) leads to the dispersion relation

$`\omega =ck\left[1+\alpha {\displaystyle \frac{\delta n}{n_0}}\beta (kl_p)^2\right],`$ (9)
which provides a reasonable description of non-linearity and dispersion. For $`k0`$, the sound velocity is $`c(1+\alpha \delta n/n_0)`$, and the local sound velocity is greater in regions of higher density. For $`\alpha =0`$, $`\omega /k=c[1\beta (kl_p)^2]`$, which implies that longer wavelengths travel faster. Equation (8) is of standard Korteweg–de Vries form, and the competition between the last two terms gives rise to solitonic solutions .

We seek solutions of Eq. (8) which preserve their shape, i.e., which have the form $`\delta n(xut)`$, and which satisfy the boundary condition that $`\delta n0`$ as $`|z|\mathrm{}`$. Such solutions have the form

$`{\displaystyle \frac{\delta n}{n_0}}=C\mathrm{sech}^2\left[\left({\displaystyle \frac{\alpha C}{12\beta }}\right)^{1/2}{\displaystyle \frac{xut}{l_p}}\right],`$ (10)
with $`u=c(1+\alpha C/3)`$. For fixed $`\alpha `$ and $`\beta `$, there is thus a family of solutions characterized by their maximum amplitude, $`C`$. For $`\alpha C12\beta `$ the size of the travelling wave is of order $`l_p`$. This result reflects the expected competition between non-linearity and dispersion that gives rise to this localized excitation. In addition, the velocity of this pulse is of order $`c`$, which can approach the speed of sound $`c_l`$ of Cu2O. For example, for a classical gas $`p=nk_BT`$, and thus $`c^2=k_BT/m`$, with $`m=3m_e`$ being the total exciton mass density ($`m_e`$ is the electron mass.) For $`T2`$ K, $`c3.2\times 10^5`$ cm/s, in good agreement with experiment.

## IV Scattering of excitons with the crystal

Equation (8) does not include the effects of the scattering of excitons with the crystal. As noted above, this mechanism leads to the diffusive motion of excitons. It is thus worth considering what is known about exciton-phonon interactions in Cu2O.

In Refs. , paraexcitons under low excitation conditions were observed to be highly mobile, with a diffusion constant $`D10^3`$ cm2/s. For $`D=c^2\tau `$ with $`c^2=k_BT/m`$, $`\tau `$ is seen to be $`20`$ ns. For typical thermal velocities of order $`3\times 10^5`$ cm/s, the mean-free path of excitons is $`50`$ $`\mu `$m. This corresponds to $`10^5`$ lattice sites and is thus quite large. In addition, $`D`$ showed a rapid increase for temperatures below $`6`$ K. These observations were explained in Ref.  using a simple classical model which showed that excitons with wavevectors smaller than $`k_l=mc_l/\mathrm{}`$, where $`c_l`$ is the longitudinal speed of sound in Cu2O ($`c_l4.5\times 10^5`$ cm/s), cannot emit acoustic phonons and thus cannot scatter with the lattice. For exciton temperatures below $`T_l`$, where $`k_BT_lmc_l^2`$, exciton-acoustic phonon scattering is suppressed. This freeze-out temperature is $`T_l4`$ K for longitudinal acoustic phonons in Cu2O.

In the experiments of Refs.  with an excitation of $`1.2\times 10^6`$ W/cm2, the temperature varied between 1.9 K and 4.1 K. For $`T2.5`$ K, which is close to the freeze-out temperature $`T_l`$, the propagation of the exciton pulse showed a transition from diffusive to ballistic motion. In Ref.  for conditions under which the exciton propagation was diffusive, the diffusion constant was reported to be even higher, $`D2\times 10^3`$ cm2/s, corresponding to $`\tau 40`$ ns.

It is worth pointing out that in the experiments where the sample was illuminated with two pulses , these were delayed by $`100`$ ns. This time delay is comparable to $`\tau _p`$. It is thus reasonable to expect that the first pulse diffuses inside the crystal and creates a background density of excitons through which the second pulse must pass.

## V A more realistic problem

In view of these considerations, we have included an additional term in Eq. (8) to describe the effects of exciton-phonon scattering:

$`{\displaystyle \frac{\delta n}{t}}+c(1+\alpha {\displaystyle \frac{\delta n}{n_0}}){\displaystyle \frac{\delta n}{x}}+\beta {\displaystyle \frac{l_p^3}{\tau _p}}{\displaystyle \frac{^3\delta n}{x^3}}=\gamma {\displaystyle \frac{l_p^2}{\tau _p}}{\displaystyle \frac{^2\delta n}{x^2}},`$ (11)
with $`\gamma `$ being a positive parameter. Here $`\tau _p/\gamma `$ can be identified as the exciton-acoustic phonon scattering time. Since $`\tau _p100`$ ns and $`\tau `$ is $`30`$ ns, $`\gamma `$ is expected to be greater than, but on the order of unity. The term on the right side of Eq. (11) gives an imaginary part to the dispersion relation, modifying Eq. (9) to

$`\omega =ck\left[1+\alpha {\displaystyle \frac{\delta n}{n_0}}\beta (kl_p)^2\right]+(kl_p)^2{\displaystyle \frac{i\gamma }{\tau _p}}.`$ (12)
With such a dispersion relation the wave is damped. For example for $`k1/l_p`$, $`\delta ne^{\gamma t/\tau _p}`$.

## VI Effect of dissipation on the pulse propagation

Equation (11) interpolates between two extreme modes of propagation. For $`\gamma =0`$ the solution is a travelling wave, which propagates without change in shape with a velocity of order $`c`$. When $`\gamma `$ is nonzero, the width of the pulse increases with time and its shape changes. As $`\gamma `$ is increased, this spreading velocity increases and eventually equals $`c`$ at some $`\gamma _{\mathrm{max}}`$. For $`\gamma \gamma _{\mathrm{max}}`$, the pulse pulse spreads slowly relative to its propagation velocity of $`c`$.

To determine $`\gamma _{\mathrm{max}}`$, it is convenient to use the notation $`\varphi =\delta n/n_0`$ and the quantities

$$X=\frac{x\varphi 𝑑x}{\varphi 𝑑x}\mathrm{and}X^2=\frac{x^2\varphi 𝑑x}{\varphi 𝑑x},$$
(13)
and the associated width $`\mathrm{\Delta }X=\sqrt{X^2X^2}`$. The time derivative $`_tX`$ can be regarded as the velocity of propagation of the pulse; $`_t\mathrm{\Delta }X`$ describes the rate of increase of the width. The desired average values follow immediately from appropriate integrals of Eq. (11). We find that

$$\frac{}{t}X=c\left(1+\frac{\alpha }{2}\frac{\varphi ^2𝑑x}{\varphi 𝑑x}\right).$$
(14)
For $`\gamma =0`$ and $`\varphi `$ given by Eq. (10), Eq. (14) gives the expected result that $`_tX=c(1+\alpha C/3)`$, i.e., the velocity of propagation $`u`$ given above. Similarly, we find that

$$\frac{}{t}\mathrm{\Delta }X^2=\alpha c\left(\frac{x\varphi ^2𝑑x}{\varphi 𝑑x}\frac{x\varphi 𝑑x}{\varphi 𝑑x}\frac{\varphi ^2𝑑x}{\varphi 𝑑x}\right)+2\gamma cl_p.$$
(15)
The $`\alpha `$-dependent term in this equation evidently vanishes for any symmetric pulse shape. For such pulses we see that

$$_t\mathrm{\Delta }X=\frac{\gamma cl_p}{\mathrm{\Delta }X}.$$
(16)
For pulses of typical width of order $`l_p`$, this suggests that $`\gamma _{\mathrm{max}}`$ is of order $`1`$. The characteristic scattering time of $`\tau _p`$, which establishes the crossover from the motion of a localized pulse to diffusive motion, is thus of the same order as the characteristic scattering time $`\tau `$ for exciton-phonon collisions that has been determined experimentally as described above. As we discuss below, the approximately linear growth of $`\mathrm{\Delta }X^2(t)`$ indicated by Eq. (15) provides a definite test for the validity of our description.

## VII The benefits of dissipation

While dissipation can obscure the solitonic propagation, it also plays a far more positive role. In its absence, an initially localized pulse will often break up into a discrete number of solitons (plus small amplitude, non-solitonic motion.) This is illustrated in Fig. 1(a) where we show the evolution of an initial pulse

$$\varphi (x,0)=\frac{\lambda }{3}\mathrm{exp}\left(\frac{x^2}{\lambda ^2l_p^2}\right)$$
(17)
with $`\lambda =3`$, which leads to the formation of three solitons. (The calculation was performed for $`\alpha =0.24`$, $`\beta =0.02`$, and $`\gamma =0`$.) Once formed, the distance between the individual solitons grows linearly with $`t`$. The generic break-up of localized peaks into many solitons is in marked contrast to the experiments considered here, which see only single, localized peaks. Dissipation of sufficient strength can provide an effective mechanism for preventing the formation of unwanted local maxima. This is illustrated in Figs. 1(b)–(d) obtained numerically for $`\gamma =0.01`$, $`0.03`$, and $`0.2`$, respectively. Once new local extrema have been formed, dissipation will tend to reduce the local maximum (where the curvature is negative) and enhance the local minimum (where the curvature is positive.) For all values of $`\gamma `$, the local maximum and minimum slowly merge and ultimately disappear. Given the linear growth of the separation between local maxima and the much longer time scale required for dissipation to eliminate them, it is clear that $`\gamma `$ should exceed some minimum value, $`\gamma _{\mathrm{min}}`$, chosen to ensure that secondary maxima never form. The value of $`\gamma _{\mathrm{min}}`$ is set by a complicated interplay between the initial pulse shape and the parameters appearing in Eq. (11). For the present case of $`\lambda =3`$, numerical simulations indicate that $`\gamma _{\mathrm{min}}=0.024`$. The initial pulse width considered here is larger than that appropriate to the experimental initial conditions of Refs. . A more realistic calculation would involve a value of $`\lambda `$ that is smaller than (but on the order of) unity. We have used here the value $`\lambda =3`$ for convenience. In addition, numerical evidence indicates that $`\gamma _{\mathrm{min}}`$ grows slowly as the width $`\lambda `$ decreases.

An interesting feature of our results is that $`\gamma _{\mathrm{max}}`$ and $`\gamma _{\mathrm{min}}`$ differ by a large factor (i.e., $`40`$ in the present case.) This suggests that it is not necessary to fine tune the dissipative term in Eq. (11) in order to obtain localized pulse propagation. Indeed, the qualitative impression of solitary pulse propagation seems to be a particularly robust phenomenon, and its observation cannot be regarded as a demonstration of true solitonic propagation.

## VIII Two experimental challenges

The model we have presented can be checked easily since it makes the following two definite predictions: 1) We have noted that, in the presence of dissipation, $`\mathrm{\Delta }X^2(t)`$ grows linearly with $`t`$. Since $`t`$ is the time for the pulse to propagate inside the crystal, $`\mathrm{\Delta }X^2`$ should also grow linearly with the size $`L`$ of the crystal along the direction of pulse propagation (keeping all other conditions fixed.) 2) As we have seen, the propagation of excitons is sensitive to the value of $`\gamma `$, and thus to their coupling with phonons. If an external stress (of a few kbar) is applied, excitons can couple to transverse acoustic phonons, as discussed in Ref. . The transverse speed of sound $`c_t`$ is

lower than $`c_l`$, and the corresponding freeze-out temperature is consequently some ten times smaller than $`T_l`$, i.e., $`0.5`$ K . If the same experiments were performed in the presence of stress, the term on the right of Eq. (11) would be enhanced and the motion would become more diffusive with increasing stress. (The conclusions of the other theories  are expected to be less sensitive to external stress.) These tests are likely to provide compelling evidence for or against our picture since the empirical value of $`\gamma `$, estimated above, is relatively close to $`\gamma _{\mathrm{max}}`$.

## IX Summary

We have presented a phenomenological theory attributing the formation of localized waves of excitons in Cu2O under certain experimental conditions to the combined effects of dispersion, non-linearity and dissipation. Both analytical estimates and numerical simulations suggest that the characteristic time scale for the crossover between the regimes of localized propagation of the pulse and diffusive motion is comparable to the scattering time for exciton-phonon collisions.

## ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

G.M.K. is grateful to G. Baym, A. Jolk, M. Jörger, and C. Klingshirn for useful discussions. G.M.K. would also like to thank the Physics Department of the Univ. of Crete, Greece for its hospitality.

Present address: Mathematical Physics, Lund Institute of Technology, P.O. Box 118, S-22100 Lund, Sweden