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# Black hole entropy: classical and quantum aspects*footnote **footnote *Based on lectures given at the YATI Conference on Black Hole Astrophysics, Kolkata, India, April 2001.

## I Introduction

We begin with the startling fact, following basically from Newton’s law of gravitation, that if all matter (and radiation) on earth were to be squeezed into an ordinary marble of a couple of centimetres in diameter, the gravitational field of this marble would be so strong as to render it invisible (or ‘black’). While this is an interesting speculation, it actually portrays realistic situations. Consider the death of stars after the nuclear fuel that powers them is exhausted; the star dies, often with a spectacular explosion, and the corpse begins to contract due to its own gravitational attraction, in the absence of outward pressures generated by nuclear explosions that existed during its lifetime. If such a star-remnant weighs more than a couple of times the mass of the sun, the internal gravitational attraction supercedes all other repulsive forces (like Pauli degeneracy pressure) to cause it to collapse indefinitely under its own weight. During this gravitational collapse, the star contracts, and its density rises. A stage is reached when the resultant gravitational force is so strong as to trap everything, including light to the stellar surface. The particular size of the star for which this happens is given in terms of its remnant mass and is known as the Schwarzschild radius $`r_S=2GM/c^2`$. It is as though the surface of the star at this stage is a one-way membrane - matter and energy can go in through it but nothing can ever come out.

The collapse of the star under its own weight continues beyond this stage, until all the matter (and radiation) has collapsed to a single point ! Of course this is a very special point of space, since the density at this point blows up. It is called a ‘singularity’ or a ‘hole’. It is as though all the matter of the dead star fell through the ‘hole’. Thus, a black hole has no structure! It is just pure gravitation devouring anything around, with a special point where all the stuff ends up, and a geometrical (not real) surface acting like a one-way membrane hiding this special singular point from view of external observers.

There is however an error in all of this: from the Newtonian perspective, photons are quite insensitive to gravitational forces. Our above considerations had endowed them with a small mass, but that is not quite right. To mediate long range electromagnetic forces as they do, photons must have strictly zero mass. So what went wrong ? The point is that we already know that this Newtonian perspective is itself limited; it was replaced about 90 years ago by Einstein’s General Relativity (GR). According to GR, gravitation is no longer to be thought as a force, but only as a manifestation of curvature of spacetime; free particles, both massive and massless (like photons), in such a curved geometry are bound to follow trajectories that are not straight as in flat (Minkowski) spacetime, but bend around the source of the curvature. Also, given the special relativistic equivalence of mass and energy, it stands to reason that anything that has energy (and momentum, but no rest mass) can equally generate a gravitational field as spacetime curvature. This idea is enshrined in the celebrated Einstein equation of GR : $`Curvatureenergymomentumdensity`$ with Newton’s gravitational constant $`G`$ appearing in the proportionality constant.

How do black holes fit into GR ? They fit in very nicely, as exact solutions to Einstein’s beautiful but very complicated equation. They describe spacetimes with curvature, but also possess the property that these spacetimes are singular \- the curvature is infinite at a particular point, consistent with the density blowing up as discussed above. Secondly, the ‘trapped’ surfaces beyond which nothing escapes appear as null surfaces in these exact solutions - they are know as event horizons. Finally, there is this amazing morphology of black holes in GR: they are completely classified by three parameters - mass, electric charge and angular momentum. The astrophysicist S. Chandrasekhar summarised these properties rather eloquently when he described black holes as ‘the most perfect macroscopic objects there are in the universe. … the simplest as well.’

## II Laws of Black Hole Mechanics and Entropy

This simple picture of black holes changed dramatically in the early and mid-seventies. It all started with Hawking’s discovery  within GR that the area of the event horizon of a black hole cannot decrease in any physical process. In other words, if two black holes of horizon areas $`𝒜_1`$ and $`𝒜_2`$ coalesced into a single black hole, albeit with release of a lot of gravitational radiation, the resultant black hole cannot have an area less than $`𝒜_1+𝒜_2`$. This was followed by the discovery , also within classical GR, of two other laws, the so-called Zeroth and First Laws of Black Hole Mechanics. The Zeroth law states that the geometrical quantity known as surface gravity (something like the Newtonian ‘acceleration due to the gravity’) remains constant on the horizon. The First law, for the Schwarzschild black hole (which is completely characterised by mass $`M`$ with charge $`Q=0`$ and angular momentum $`J=0`$), states that

$$dM=\frac{\kappa }{2\pi }d𝒜,$$
(1)
where the surface gravity $`\kappa 1/4M`$ on the horizon. For black holes with all three parameters non-zero (the Kerr-Newman family), the first law takes the form

$$dM\frac{\kappa }{2\pi }d𝒜+\mathrm{\Phi }dQ+\stackrel{}{\mathrm{\Omega }}d\stackrel{}{L},$$
(2)
where, $`\kappa (r_+r_{})/4𝒜,\mathrm{\Phi }4\pi Qr_+/𝒜,\stackrel{}{\mathrm{\Omega }}4\pi \stackrel{}{L}/M𝒜_{hor}`$. Hawking’s earlier discovery of horizon area non-decrease is called the Second Law of Black Hole Mechanics.

The analogy of these three laws with the Zeroth, First and Second laws of ordinary thermodynamics is hard to miss, with the surface gravity being analogous to temperature, horizon area with entropy and mass with internal energy. Coupled with the usual description of the electrostatic potential $`\mathrm{\Phi }`$ and the angular velocity $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ on the horizon, the second and third terms in (2) are together like the usual ‘$`PdV`$’ term of the First law of ordinary thermodynamics. But is this all there is to these laws of black hole mechanics ?

Bekenstein  was the first to go beyond mere analogizing and propose that black holes actually possess entropy \- a truly bold hypothesis. He asserted that the horizon area was a measure of how much entropy a black hole could have, in sharp contrast to standard thermodynamic notions where entropy is supposed to be a function of volume. Drawing upon work of Christodolou and others, Bekenstein concluded that black hole entropy must be proportional to the horizon area: $`S_{bh}𝒜`$. In order that $`S_{bh}`$ be dimensionless, the proportionality constant must have dimensions of inverse squared length. However, if this relation is to be universally valid for all black holes, this constant should be independent of black hole parameters. Also, it should not depend on interaction constants of non-gravitational interactions. Thus, the only available fundamental length in this case is the Planck length, $`\mathrm{}_P(G\mathrm{}/c^3)^{1/2}10^{33}cm`$. Thus,

$$S_{bh}=\eta \frac{𝒜}{\mathrm{}_P^2},$$
(3)
where $`\eta `$ is a dimensionless constant of $`O(1)`$. Now, the Planck length is the distance from a point particle, for instance, at which its gravitational effect characterised by its Schwarzschild radius, becomes as significant as its quantum effect characterised by its Compton wavelength:

$$\mathrm{}_Pr_S\lambda _C,$$
(4)
where, $`r_S2GM/c^2,\lambda _C\mathrm{}/Mc`$; elimination of the mass $`M`$ from the second (approximate) inequality in (4) and substituting back in either $`r_S`$ or $`\lambda _C`$ yields the standard expression for $`\mathrm{}_P`$ given above. In this sense, this length typifies the length scale at which quantum gravitational effects can no longer be ignored. It follows that, black hole entropy must therefore have origins that are actually quantum gravitational in nature. Indeed, an object of pure gravity with no structure classically should not possess any entropy at all. The only way it could possess entropy is through microstates that appear in a truly quantum description.

Bekenstein’s proposal of black hole entropy thus gives us a deep reason to worry about the programme of quantization of gravitation - a programme that has historically been steeped with difficulties and abandoned as hopeless by most practitioners of GR, until relatively recently. But it also raises fundamental issues:

* Why should black holes at all have entropy ?
* In what sense is $`T_{bh}\kappa /2\pi `$ the temperature of the black hole ?
* What becomes of the standard Second law of thermodynamics in presence of black holes ?
* What are the microstates whose counting would yield the area law for black hole entropy ?

We analyze these issues one by one. A gas in a container has a very large number of molecules in random motion. A microscopic description of this system in terms of canonical coordinates and momenta of each particle is actually impossible. Thus, a statistical description, in terms of average macroscopic variables like temperature, pressure, etc. is the best one can have of such a system. This means that one has less than complete information about the system, and this lack of information manifests as entropy. In case of black holes, this lack of information is contained in our lack of information about the very nature of gravitational collapse. Thus, the parameters characterising black holes in GR actually do not specify individual black holes; rather they, like the temperature and pressure of a gas, are average parameters describing equivalence classes of black holes, each of which may have collapsed from a very different star via a very different process.

The temperature $`T_{bh}`$ is not the temperature of the horizon of the black hole in the sense that a freely falling observer will sense it as she crosses the horizon. At the horizon, the redshift factor vanishes, so the observer detects no temperature at all. The notion of black hole temperature is made unambiguous if we imagine placing the black hole in a background of black body radiation in equilibrium at a temperature $`T<T_{bh}`$. In his celebrated work, Hawking  showed that, for an observer located at infinity with a vanishing ambient temperature, a black hole actually radiates in a Planckian spectrum like a black body at a temperature $`T_{bh}`$ ! The mean number of particles emitted at a frequency $`\omega `$ is given by the Planckian formula

$$n_\omega =\frac{|t_\omega |^2}{\mathrm{exp}(\mathrm{}\omega /T_{bh})1},$$
(5)
where, $`t_\omega `$ is the absorption coefficient and we have set the Boltzmann constant $`k_B=1`$. The larger the mass of the black hole, the smaller is this equilibrium (or Hawking) temperature $`T_{bh}`$, so that for most stellar black holes, this temperature $`T_{bh}<<2.7deg.K`$, so that Hawking radiation from such black holes is swamped by the cosmic microwave background. In fact, these black holes absorb rather than emit, radiation. One other outcome of Hawking’s work is fixing the constant $`\eta =\frac{1}{4}`$ in (3); this law, $`S_{BH}=𝒜/4\mathrm{}_P^2`$ is called the Bekenstein-Hawking Area Law (BHAL).

As for the status of the second law of thermodynamics in presence of black holes, it is true that when matter falls across the event horizon into a black hole, the entropy of the matter is lost. One might think of this as a decrease in the entropy of the universe. However, as Bekenstein  pointed out, when matter falls into a black hole, the mass of the black hole, and hence its area, increases. The hypothesis of black hole entropy then says that the entropy of the black hole must increase as a consequence, by at least the same amount as the entropy lost by the the part of the universe outside the event horizon. Thus, in presence of black holes, the Second law of thermodynamics is modified into the statement that the total entropy, defined as the sum of the entropy outside the event horizon and the black hole entropy, can never decrease in any physical process,

$$\delta (S_{ext}+S_{bh})0.$$
(6)
This relation is called the Generalized Second Law of thermodynamics and its enunciation marks the beginning of the subject known as Black Hole Thermodynamics.

## III Microstates

### A Generalities

We now come to the issue of microstates. As mentioned earlier, black hole entropy originates from microstates that must be essentially quantum gravitational in nature. This means that one must consider at least the kinematical aspects of a quantum theory of gravitation. Since entropy entails counting the degrees of freedom of the theory rather than studying the dynamics of these degrees of freedom, a priori one may hope that a kinematical approach may work, especially since there is no complete theory of quantum gravitation yet at our disposal.

Before subscribing to a particular proposal for a quantum GR, one may make some progress in terms of very general pictures of what a black hole may look like in quantum gravity. A crucial role is played by the Planck length $`\mathrm{}_P`$, which is like $`\mathrm{}`$ in the quantum theory of spacetime. Thus, the spacetime continuum may degenerate, at such a length scale, to some sort of a lattice structure with adjacent lattice sites separated by this length scale. However, recall that classical GR has a huge symmetry - those under coordinate diffeomorphisms in spacetime. Quantum GR should least retain at least some aspects of this symmetry, and from purely kinematical considerations, this might be taken to imply that there is no restriction on the kind of lattice structure one should confine to.

Furthermore, we are interested in a canonical picture, i.e., with what happens at a given instant of time, and not the whole of spacetime. To this effect, it is enough to deal with a foliation of a spacetime containing a black hole, by a three dimensional spacelike hypersurface. Such a foliation of the event horizon, which recall is a null hypersurface which behaves as a one-way membrane, can be taken to be some (preferred) spacelike two dimensional spheres. For what follows, this 2-sphere will play the role of the horizon on a spatial slice.

Now consider the same object within the very loose lattice structure considered above. We can think of a two dimensional ‘floating’ (as opposed to a rigid) lattice basically covering the sphere. Since the area of a tiny ‘plaquette’ of this lattice may be taken to be Planck area $`\mathrm{}_P^2`$, it stands to reason that the ratio of the macroscopic area of the event horizon to the area of an elementary plaquette $`𝒜/\mathrm{}_P^2>>1`$. This latter inequality defines our notion of a macroscopic black hole; our treatment in this review will focus on such black holes, and not to those very interesting but difficult cases where this number is $`O(1)`$.

### B It from Bit

Let us now place, following , binary variables (‘bits’) on the lattice sites (or equivalently, at the centre of the plaquettes). Then the number of such variables $`p\xi 𝒜/\mathrm{}_P^21`$, where $`\xi =O(1)`$. Without any loss of generality, $`p`$ can be taken to be an even integer. Now, we can think of the two values of each binary variable as characterising two quantum states, so that the size of the ‘Hilbert space’ of states on the (latticized) horizon is $`𝒩_{bh}=2^p`$. The entropy corresponding to this system is defined as $`S_{bh}\mathrm{log}𝒩_{bh}`$; choosing the constant $`\xi =(4\mathrm{log}2)^1`$, we obtain

$$S_{bh}=\frac{𝒜}{\mathrm{}_P^2}=S_{BH}.$$
(7)
The generality of the above scenario makes it appealing vis-a-vis a quantum theory of black holes in particular and of quantum gravity in general. There is however one crucial aspect of any quantum approach to black hole physics which seems to have been missed in the above, – the aspect of symmetry. Indeed, the mere random distribution of spin 1/2 (binary) variables on the lattice which approximates the black hole horizon, without regard to possible symmetries, possibly leads to a far bigger space of states than the physical Hilbert space, and hence to an overcounting of the number of the degrees of freedom, i.e., a larger entropy.

### C The physical Hilbert (sub)space

But what is the most plausible symmetry that one can impose on states so as to identify the physical subspace ? The elementary variables are binary or spin 1/2 variables which can be considered to be standard spin 1/2 variables under spatial rotations (more precisely $`SU(2)`$ doublets). Recall now that at every point on a curved spacetime one can erect a local Lorentz frame where the basic variables can be subjected to a local Lorentz transformation. Here, of course, we are interested in a spatial slice of the curved spacetime, and so the transformation of interest is a ‘local spatial rotation’. Thus, the symmetry that one would like to impose on the degrees of freedom obtained so far would be invariance under these local spatial rotations in three dimensions. However, since one is dealing with black holes of very large area, this amounts to considering ‘global’ or ‘rigid’ spatial rotations or $`SU(2)`$ transformations. On very general grounds then, the most natural symmetry of the physical subspace must be this $`SU(2)`$ .

One is thus led to a symmetry criterion which defines the physical Hilbert space $`_S`$ of horizon states contributing to black hole entropy: $`_S`$ consists of states that are compositions of elementary $`SU(2)`$ doublet states with vanishing total spin ($`SU(2)`$ singlets). Observe that this criterion has no allusions whatsoever to any specific proposal for a quantum theory of gravitation. Nor does it involve any gauge redundancies (or any other infinite dimensional symmetry like conformal invariance) at this point. It is the most natural choice for the symmetry of physical horizon states simply because in the ‘It from bit’ picture, the basic variables are spin 1/2 variables. Later on we shall show however that this symmetry arises very naturally in the Non-perturbative Quantum GR approach known also as Quantum Geometry. It will emerge from that approach that horizon states of large macroscopic black holes are best described in terms of spin 1/2 variables at the punctures of a punctured two-sphere which represents (a spatial slice of) the event horizon.

The criterion of $`SU(2)`$ invariance leads to a simple way of counting the dimensionality of the physical Hilbert space . For $`p`$ variables, this number is given by

$$dim_S𝒩(p)=\left(\begin{array}{c}p\\ p/2\end{array}\right)\left(\begin{array}{c}p\\ (p/21)\end{array}\right)$$
(8)
There is a simple intuitive way to understand the result embodied in (8). This formula counts the number of ways of making $`SU(2)`$ singlets from $`p`$ spin $`1/2`$ representations. The first term corresponds to the number of states with net $`J_3`$ quantum number $`m=0`$ constructed by placing $`m=\pm 1/2`$ on the punctures. However, this term by itself overcounts the number of $`SU(2)`$ singlet states, because even non-singlet states (with net integral spin, for $`p`$ is an even integer) have a net $`m=0`$ sector. Beside having a sector with total $`m=0`$, states with net integer spin have, of course, a sector with overall $`m=\pm 1`$ as well. The second term basically eliminates these non-singlet states with $`m=0`$, by counting the number of states with net $`m=\pm 1`$ constructed from $`m=\pm 1/2`$ on the $`p`$ sites. The difference then is the net number of $`SU(2)`$ singlet states that represents the dimensionality of $`_S`$.

It may be pointed out that the first term in (8) also has another interpretation. It counts the number of ways binary variables corresponding to spin-up and spin-down can be placed on the sites to yield a vanishing total spin. Alternatively, one can think of the binary variables as unit positive and negative $`U(1)`$ charges; the first term in (8) then corresponds to the dimensionality of the Hilbert space of $`U(1)invariant`$ states. As already shown in , this corresponds to a binomial rather than a random distribution of binary variables.

In the limit of very large $`p`$, one can evaluate the factorials in (8) using the Stirling approximation. One obtains

$$𝒩(p)\frac{2^p}{p^{\frac{3}{2}}}.$$
(9)
Clearly, the dimensionality of the physical Hilbert space is smaller than what one had earlier, as would be an obvious consequence of imposing $`SU(2)`$ symmetry. Using the relation between $`p`$ and the classical horizon area $`A_S`$ discussed in the last section, with the constant $`\xi `$ chosen to take the same value as in that section, (9) can be shown  to lead to the following formula for black hole entropy,

$$S_{bh}\mathrm{log}𝒩(p)\frac{𝒜}{4\mathrm{}_P^2}\frac{3}{2}\mathrm{log}\left(\frac{𝒜}{4\mathrm{}_P^2}\right)+const.+O(𝒜^1).$$
(10)
The logarithmic correction to the BHAL is not unexpected if we think of $`S_{bh}(𝒜)`$ as a power series for large $`𝒜`$ with $`\frac{1}{4}𝒜`$ as the leading term; indeed, various approaches to computation of black hole entropy (like the Euclidean path integral , Non-perturbative Quantum GR , , boundary conformal field theory , and so on) have been used, and a general result like

$$S_{bh}(𝒜)=(\frac{𝒜}{4\mathrm{}_P^2})+C\mathrm{log}(\frac{𝒜}{4\mathrm{}_P^2}),$$
(11)
has been found, with various values of $`C`$, both positive and negative. In some of the perturbative approaches, there is an added constant $`C^{}\mathrm{log}(\mathrm{\Lambda })`$ where $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ is a length cut-off needed to yield a finite result for $`S_{bh}`$ . This is quite in contrast to our result (10) where $`S_{bh}`$ is intrinsically finite. Note also that according to the Second Law of Black Hole Mechanics, if two black holes coalesce, the minimum area of the resultant black hole is the sum of the two horizon areas. For such a coalescence, it is easy to see that, for $`C>0`$,

$$S_{bh}(𝒜_1+𝒜_2)<S_{bh}(𝒜_1)+S_{bh}(𝒜_2).$$
(12)
Assuming isolated eternal black holes which coalesce adiabatically with no emission of gravitational waves, this property is perhaps not too desirable from the point of view of the Second Law of Thermodynamics. From this point of view also our result $`C=\frac{3}{2}`$ appears more preferable. This is precisely the result that was obtained earlier from Non-perturbative Quantum GR (also called Quantum Geometry)  on the basis of incipient contributions in ref. .

Even when the resultant black hole has a horizon area larger than the sum of the areas, this preference for $`C<0`$ seems to hold, although in a slightly weaker form. Also, from the theory of isolated horizons which incorporates radiation present in the vicinity of the horizon without crossing it, this result seems to have a greater appeal than those others with $`C>0`$.

## IV Holography and the entropy bound

Having identified the kinematical quantum states characterising a black hole horizon, the question that immediately comes to mind is whether there are other states that describe black hole physics. Although the ‘It from bit’ picture tends to imply that the entire information lies with the horizon states, this has been more sharply articulated in the so-called Holographic hypothesis . According to this hypothesis, the horizon states exhaust the Hilbert space of a black hole, encoding the entire information of gravitationally collapsed matter in terms of macroscopic observables like the horizon area.

While a rigourous proof of this hypothesis is not available yet for asymptotically flat spacetimesFor anti-de Sitter spacetimes the so-called adS-CFT Correspondence conjecture  makes this hypothesis plausible, although the conjecture itself warrants a proof., the beginnings of a general proof should first demonstrate the primacy of quantum gravitational states associated with some spacetime boundary rather than the quantum states describing bulk spacetime. Let us see heuristically how this may come about.

Assume that the Hilbert space $``$ of quantum GR in the presence of an inner boundary (and the usual outer boundaries at asymptotic null infinity) can be decomposed into states describing the geometry of ‘bulk’ spacetime and the boundary,

$$_{bulk}_{bdy}.$$
(13)
The canonical partition function $`Z(\beta )`$ can be written formally as

$$Z(\beta )=Tr\mathrm{exp}\{\beta \widehat{𝐇}\},$$
(14)
where, $`\widehat{𝐇}`$ is the full Hamiltonian operator of quantum gravitation. Now, we know that, in the canonical description of classical GR

$$𝐇=𝐇_{bulk}+𝐇_{bdy},$$
(15)
where,

$$𝐇_{bulk}0,$$
(16)
being a sum of first class constraints generating general coordinate transformations and internal (local Lorentz) gauge transformations on the basic canonical variables (metric or tetrad, connections) of GR. The boundary Hamiltonian $`𝐇_{bdy}`$ would, in the case of asymptotically flat spacetime, give the ADM mass etc., and so does not vanish.

Let us assume that the decomposition of the Hamiltonian (15) and the constraint relation (16) hold for the full quantum gravitational operator Hamiltonian, i.e.,

$$\widehat{𝐇}_{bulk}|\mathrm{\Psi }_{bulk}=0,$$
(17)
where, $`|\mathrm{\Psi }_{bulk}_{bulk}`$. The partition function (14) can now be written

$`Z(\beta )`$ $`=`$ $`Tr_{bulk}\mathrm{exp}\{\beta \widehat{𝐇}_{bulk}\}Tr_{bdy}\mathrm{exp}\{\beta \widehat{𝐇}_{bdy}\}.`$ (18)
$``$ $`Z_{bulk}(\beta )Z_{bdy}(\beta ).`$ (19)
Observe that $`Z_{bulk}`$ can be rewritten

$`Z_{bulk}(\beta )`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{\mathrm{\Psi }_{bulk}}{}}\mathrm{\Psi }_{bulk}|\mathrm{exp}\{\beta \widehat{𝐇}_{bulk}\}|\mathrm{\Psi }_{bulk}`$ (20)
$`=`$ $`dim_{bulk},`$ (21)
using the operator constraint eq. (17). While the dimensionality of $`_{bulk}`$ can indeed be infinity, the important point is that it is a constant independent of the inverse temperature $`\beta `$. One thus has

$$Z(\beta )=dim_{bulk}Z_{bdy}(\beta ).$$
(22)
It follows that the entire non-trivial dependence on $`\beta `$ (and thermodynamic implications thereof) of the partition function lies in the ‘boundary’ part of the partition function; the bulk part merely contributes an overall constant scale factor (an additive constant in the free energy) which is not of much relevance thermodynamically.

Notice that the behaviour depicted in eq. (22) extends to the situation with matter as well, since even in that case, without making any approximations, one expects the quantum constraint (Wheeler-de Witt equation) (17) to hold. So, within the tenets of non-perturbative quantum GR (or quantum geometry) in the presence of an inner boundary like a black hole horizon, non-trivial information appears to remain confined to the boundary rather than the bulk. The situation changes dramatically when $`\widehat{𝐇}_{bulk}`$ is approximated by assuming a fixed classical background and the quantum degrees of freedom are assumed to be small perturbative fluctuations about this background, like in a theory of gravitons. The full Wheeler-de Witt equation (17) is then replaced by an inhomogeneous equation which exhibits only the linearized symmetries at the quantum level to leading order. Under such conditions the primacy of the boundary states vis-a-vis physical information is no longer obvious. This is the situation, for instance, in (perturbative) string theory which is basically a theory of gravitons. The bulk partition function in this case is quite non-trivial. The plausibility argument given above must therefore be relegated to the status of an unproven hypothesis, in order that it can have physical applications, like the calculation of black hole entropy. In contrast, a relation like (22) appears to demystify to a large extent why black hole entropy must be a function of horizon area rather than some bulk property.

Let us now return to the issue of black hole entropy. The above discussion of holography seems to justify focusing on the surface degrees of freedom alone in the It from Bit picture and the subsequent Physical State Criterion. Thus, black hole entropy can be taken to represent the maximal possible entropy of a spacetime whose spatial slice has a boundary that coincides with the intersection of this spatial slice with the horizon. Now, it can be shown  that eq. (10) actually translates into a bound on black hole entropy, given by

$$S_{max}=\mathrm{log}\left(\frac{\mathrm{exp}S_{BH}}{S_{BH}^{3/2}}\right).$$
(23)
Thus, it follows that all 3-spaces with boundary have an entropy bounded from above by (23). That this is extremely plausible follows from the following argument, based on reductio ad absurdum : we assume, for simplicity that the spatial slice of the boundary of an asymptotically flat spacetime has the topology of a 2-sphere on which is induced a spherically symmetric 2-metric. Let this spacetime contain an object whose entropy exceeds the entropy bound given in eq. (23). Certainly, such a spacetime cannot have a black hole horizon as a boundary, since then, its entropy would have been subject to (23). But, in that case, its energy should be less than that of a black hole which has the 2-sphere as its horizon. Let us now add energy to the system, so that it does transform adiabatically into a black hole with the said horizon, but without affecting the entropy of the exterior. But we have already seen above that a black hole with such a horizon must obey the bound (23); it follows that the starting assumption of the system having an entropy exceeding the bound (23) must be incorrect.

Thus, we have indeed obtained an upper bound on the entropy of a large class of spacetimes. Notice that this bound tightens the semiclassical Bekenstein bound , which is of course expected because of its quantum kinematical underpinning. We now turn to a brief, mostly qualitative, exposé of aspects of Non-perturbative Quantum GR (also called Quantum Geometry) which is a candidate theory that provides such underpinning.

## V Entropy from Quantum Geometry

Quantum Geometry (QGeo) is a framework for non-perturbative canonical quantization of four dimensional general relativity, consistent with all symmetries of the latter. These symmetries include general coordinate transformations and local Lorentz transformations; within GR these symmetries are generated by first class constraints just as in Maxwell electrodynamics the Gauss law constraint generates (time-independent) gauge transformations which are symmetries of the theory. In the quantum theory, one expects that the Hilbert space will be spanned by states that are annihilated by the constraints, now appearing as quantum mechanical operators. Thus, one could attempt to find the Hilbert space by solving these operator constraints. In practice, this turns out to be a formidable task and all parts of this programme have not been completed yet for QGeo. One finds a kinematical Hilbert space whose elements solve some of the constraints, but not all. As we have already mentioned, this kinematical Hilbert space turns out to be sufficient for the calculation of black hole entropy.

What sort of wave-functions span the kinematical Hilbert space ? We know for example that the configuration space of classical scalar field theory in Minkowski spacetime consists of square integrable function(al)s of smooth scalar fields. However, the situation changes dramatically for the quantum configuration space where non-smooth Dirac delta function-lke distributions must also be included in addition to smooth scalar fields. Similarly, the configuration space of classical GR consists of smooth metrics, but the wave functions of QGeo are function(al)s of metrics that are not necessarily smooth. Thus, one has to consider metrics (and hence curvatures) which are actually generalized functions of spacetime coordinates (i.e., like Dirac delta functions), being non-vanishing only over certain subspaces of the classical continuum.

It turns out that a good basis for the kinematical Hilbert space of QGeo is the so-called Spin Network basis. Typically, a spin network is a three dimensional ‘floating’ lattice embedded in the three dimensional spacelike hypersurface that slices spacetime. It consists of links each carrying a spin $`j`$ which can take integral as well as half-odd integral values. These links meet at vertices where one inserts certain tensors which are invariant under local spatial rotations. Specifying the spins on all links and the invariant tensors at all vertices gives a complete specification of the spin network state. No links are left sticking out of the network, so that the net spin of the state vanishes. Also, the lengths of links are quite immaterial for all physical considerations. These properties ensure that the state is invariant under local spatial rotations and time independent coordinate transformations respectively. However, whether it is invariant under time dependent coordinate transformations is not yet clear. States constructed out of such networks form a complete orthonormal basis for the kinematical Hilbert space. Now, from a classical geometrical standpoint, the curvature is non-vanishing only on the network - it is non-smooth in that sense.

What are the observables in this framework ? These are geometrical in nature, like length of a curve, area of a two-surface, volume of a three-surface etc. The spin network basis turns out to be an eigenbasis for these obervables. For instance, a two-surface $`S`$ with classical area $`A`$ (w.r.t. some classical metric) has a well-defined area operator $`\widehat{A}`$ associated with it, such that the spin network basis is an eigenbasis of this operator, with a discrete spectrum . One can think of placing this two-surface inside the spin network such that it is pierced by the links of the network. Thus the two-surface consists of a two dimensional lattice of punctures, with spins $`j_i`$ at the $`i`$th puncture, $`i=1,2,\mathrm{},p`$. Again, these punctures correspond to deficit angles in classical geometrical terms, emphasizing the non-smoothness of the induced metric on the two-surface. In terms of these spins, the area eigenvalues lying within a Planck area of the classical area are given by

$$𝒜=8\pi \gamma \mathrm{}_P^2\underset{i=1}{\overset{p}{}}\sqrt{j_i(j_i+1)},$$
(24)
where, $`\gamma `$ is the so-called Barbero-Immirzi parameter characterising inequivalent quantizations of the same classical theory, something akin to the $`\theta `$ parameter in Yang-Mills theory.

In this framework, it is not yet possible to describe black holes as quantum states that solve all operator constraints. Instead, the idea is to treat the classical event horizon as an inner boundary of spacetime which is canonically quantized using the spin network basis. The boundary conditions imposed on this inner boundary of course correspond strictly to those on the black hole horizon. Very detailed analyses of these boundary conditions have been performed . These boundary conditions require that the gravitational action be augmented by the action of a Chern-Simons theory living on the horizon. Boundary states of the Chern-Simons theory constitute precisely the microstates that contribute to the entropy. These states correspond to conformal blocks of the two-dimensional Wess-Zumino model that lives on the spatial slice of the horizon, which is a 2-sphere of area $`𝒜`$. The dimensionality of the boundary Hilbert space has been calculated thus  by counting the number of conformal blocks of two-dimensional $`SU(2)_k`$ Wess-Zumino model, for arbitrary level $`k`$ and number of punctures $`p`$ on the 2-sphere. The Chern Simons coupling constant $`k𝒜`$. We shall show, from the formula for the number of conformal blocks specialized to macroscopic black holes characterized by large $`k`$ and $`p`$ , that eq. (10) ensues.

Let us start with the formula for the number of conformal blocks of two-dimensional $`SU(2)_k`$ Wess-Zumino model that lives on the punctured 2-sphere. For a set of punctures $`𝒫`$ with spins $`\{j_1,j_2,\mathrm{}j_p\}`$ at punctures $`\{1,2,\mathrm{},p\}`$, this number is given by , for large $`k\mathrm{}`$

$$N^𝒫=\underset{m_1=j_1}{\overset{j_1}{}}\mathrm{}\underset{m_p=j_p}{\overset{j_p}{}}\left[\delta _{(_{n=1}^pm_n),0}\frac{1}{2}\delta _{(_{n=1}^pm_n),1}\frac{1}{2}\delta _{(_{n=1}^pm_n),1}\right].$$
(25)
We consider a large fixed classical area of the horizon, and ask what the largest value of number of punctures $`p`$ should be, so as to be consistent with (24); this is clearly obtained when the spin at each puncture assumes its lowest nontrivial value of 1/2, so that, the relevant number of punctures $`p`$ is given by

$$p=\frac{𝒜}{4\mathrm{}_P^2}\frac{\gamma _0}{\gamma },$$
(26)
where, $`\gamma _0=1/\pi \sqrt{3}`$. We are of course interested in the case of very large $`p`$ appropriate to a macroscopic black hole.

Now, with the spins at all punctures set to 1/2, the number of states for this set of punctures $`𝒫`$ is given by

$$N^𝒫=\underset{m_1=1/2}{\overset{1/2}{}}\mathrm{}\underset{m_p=1/2}{\overset{1/2}{}}\left[\delta _{(_{n=1}^pm_n),0}\frac{1}{2}\delta _{(_{n=1}^pm_n),1}\frac{1}{2}\delta _{(_{n=1}^pm_n),1}\right]$$
(27)
The summations can now be easily performed, with the result given precisely by the rhs of eq. (10).

This establishes on a microscopic basis the validity of the extension of the ‘It from bit’ picture proposed by us earlier. The central role played by variables in the doublet representation of a (global) $`SU(2)`$ group, which we identified with the binary variables on the lattice approximating the horizon, is now clarifed. This completes the derivation of our physical space criterion and the ensuing entropy formula and holographic bound on the basis of a quantum kinematical formulation.

## VI Conclusion

Quantum Geometry as a non-perturbative approach to quantum GR has had a measure of success in providing an ab initio way to calculate the entropy of generic non-rotating four dimensional black holes. The results obtained within this formalism establish on firm foundations heuristic results that can be obtained using somewhat more intuitive arguments. That all the seemingly disparate elements of the formalism converge to these results points to their inherent robustness.

It would be most gratifying to have a complete rigourous proof of the so-called holographic hypothesis, so germane to all considerations of entropy of spacetimes with horizons. Hopefully, we have been able to provide a reasonable intuitive argument as to how such a proof might go. A test of the approach given here would be the derivation of logarithmic corrections to black hole entropy that we have found, from a path integral framework, using only the boundary action and fluctuations around its classical value (which is known to yield the BHAL in the Euclidean approach).


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# Bending Instability of an Accretion Disc Around a Black Hole

## 1 Introduction

Accretion onto a black hole is generally assumed to be thin and axisymmetric (e.g. Pringle, 1981). In presence of a close companion, accretion disk can develop non-axisymmetric instability and spiral shocks are produced (Sawada, Matsuda & Hachisu, 1986). Bending waves and warps are known to be produced in planetary rings (Greenberg & Brahic, 1990) and galactic disks (e.g., Pringle, 1997). These instabilities are due to self-gravity of the disk or due to gravity of a nearby companion. In the present Letter, we demonstrate that an accretion disk could develop a new kind of instability, because of interaction between accreting matter and winds and outflows generated from the star or the accretion disk. The interface between the two becomes unstable due to shear instability or Kelvin-Helmholtz instability. In presence of rotation, which is invariably true in the case of an accretion disk, the instability is not the same in both the upper-half and the lower-half. As a result, the accretion process may not be symmetric with respect to the equatorial plane. The instability is present independent of polytropic index or cooling mechanism in the flow.

In the past, a large number of numerical simulations which concern accretion flows around black holes, have been presented in the literature (e.g., Hawley, Wilson & Smarr 1984; Eggum, Coroniti & Katz, 1985; Molteni, Lanzafame & Chakrabarti, 1994; Molteni, Sponholz & Chakrabarti, 1996; hereafter MSC96 Ryu, Molteni & Chakrabarti, 1997; Igumenshchev, Abramowicz, Narayan, 2000). These work assumed a priori that the flow has a equatorial symmetry and therefore the flow behaviour was studied on one half and used the ‘reflection’ boundary condition on the equatorial plane. With the advent of faster computational techniques and computers, one could perform numerical simulations in more realistic cases, namely, in both the halves simultaneously without using such an artificial boundary condition. MSC96 studied oscillating shocks to explain Quasi-Periodic Oscillations, but these oscillations are generated only in a part of the parameter space. The vertical oscillation of the disk we report here occurs in a much larger range of the disk parameters, only amplitude and frequency vary. For very large energy or very low angular momentum when the infall velocity is high, but outflow is weak, this phenomenon disappears. Thus, these new results may also cause X-ray variabilities in galactic black holes sources and optical/UV variabilities in Active Galaxies and Quasars. A preliminary report on various shock instabilities are presented in Molteni et al. (2001).

In the next Section, we present the formulation of the problem in both Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) and in TVD method. In §3, we present the numerical simulation results and demonstrate the instabilities. In §4, we discuss our results in light of shear instability. Finally, in §5, we draw conclusions.

## 2 Formulation of the Problem

It has been discussed quite extensively in the recent literature that matter close to a black hole must be sub-Keplerian (e.g.,Chakrabarti, 1996). This is because the boundary condition on the horizon forces the flow to radially move with the velocity of light. Thus, matter moving in Keplerian disks farther out must become sub-Keplerian as it approaches a black hole. (In wind accreting objects, accreting matter could be sub-Keplerian throughout.) This assumption is in vogue in the literature in the context of other flow models (cf. Narayan & Yi 1995, Narayan, Kato and Honma, 1997, Artemova et al. 2001; See, however Armitage et al., 2001 and Hawley, 2000, for recent treatment of the physical conditions of canonical disks in the zone of the last stable orbit.) In the simulations described below, we start with a sub-Keplerian flow. For convenience, we use $`r_g=2GM_{BH}/c^2`$ the Schwarzschild radius of the black hole, to be the unit of distance, $`r_g/c`$ to be the unit of time and $`\rho _{ref}`$, a reference density to be the unit of density of matter. Here, $`G`$ and $`c`$ are the universal gravitational constant and velocity of light respectively and $`M_{BH}`$ is the mass of the black hole. We use Paczyński-Wiita (1980) pseudo-potential to describe gravitational field around a Schwarzschild black hole. In all our simulations, we use axisymmetry and flow both above and below the equatorial plane. The first assumption is justifiable, especially because the black hole itself is strictly axisymmetric and inner boundary condition forces the flow to be axisymmetric close to the hole. However, far away, our assumption restricts us from studying non-axisymmetric nature of this instability. This can be overcome only with three-D simulations we plan to perform in future. We inject matter at the outer boundary symmetrically with respect to the equatorial plane. We supply the sound speed, radial velocity, density and specific angular momentum at the outer boundary. We use two numerical procedures, namely, Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (Monaghan 1985; MSC96) and TVD method (a combined Lax-Friedrichs-Osher scheme suggested by Vyaznikov, Tishkin, & Favorsky, 1989). For a sub-Keplerian flow at a distance of $`r=X`$, the free-fall time scale is given by $`t_{ff}=X^{3/2}`$. Thus if the outer boundary where matter is injected is kept at $`X=50`$, one obtains $`t_{ff}350`$. For a convincing result, the simulation must run at least ten times this time scale. We included bremsstrahlung cooling in the hydrodynamic code however we verified that the instability we discuss is not due to any cooling processes. The code were tested with theoretical solutions. For instance, in Molteni, Ryu & Chakrabarti (1996) the codes were found to produce nonlinear features such as standing shocks roughly when theoretical simulations predict them.

## 3 Results

All the simulations presented here are carried out with an ideal gas of polytropic index $`\gamma =5/3`$ and a black hole of mass $`M_{BH}=10^8M_{}`$. Fig. 1 shows the results of the SPH method at four different times $`t=3000,5000,7500,`$ and $`13000`$ (time marked in each box). Each panel shows velocity vectors in $`XZ`$ (meridional) plane, $`Z=0`$ being the equatorial plane. To bring clarity, only one out of three arrows have been plotted (this is why there are ‘gaps’, especially in the inflow area). The inflow parameters are: radial velocity $`v_r=0.1240`$, sound speed is $`0.0249`$, $`\rho _{ref}=1.25\times 10^{19}`$ and $`\lambda =1.95`$ is the specific angular momentum. This $`\rho _{ref}`$ corresponds to an accretion rate of $`\dot{M}=1.25\times 10^4\dot{M}_{Edd}`$. We also include bremsstrahlung cooling process. This tends to cool matter whenever it becomes denser and hotter. As a result, more matter ‘sticks’ together and produce enhanced clumpiness. Other than this, the bending instability is produced even without cooling.

There are several features which are to be noted. First, matter is found to be repeatedly ‘pinched’ during accretion process at a regular distance of $`23h(r)`$, where $`h(r)`$ is the local height of the inflow. Second, matter bounces back from the centrifugal barrier and generates an outflow (outward pointing arrows) part of which falls back on the disk and deposits energy and momentum on the disk. Third, accretion flow bends very severely and often the amplitude of the bending wave exceeds ten Schwarzschild radius, at a distance of $`1020r_g`$. Fourth, the flow switches upper-half to lower-half and vice-versa in a time scale of about $`t_{sw}=10000`$ in units of the light crossing time of the black hole. For $`M_{BH}=10^8M_{}`$, this corresponds to a switching time of about four months! For a galactic black hole of $`M_{BH}=10M_{}`$ this time scale would be exactly $`1`$ second. While some of these features may be enhanced because of our finite location of the boundary and also because we assume strictly axisymmetric system, we believe that general behavior should be similar in a three-dimensional simulations as well. Vortices produced asymmetrically are found to affect the outflow rates in upper and lower halves. As a result, the momentum flux in the jet itself may be quasi-periodically switched to high and low values.

In Fig. 2, we use the TVD method. Here we inject matter at $`r=500r_g`$ and use radial velocity $`v_r=0.0444`$, sound speed is $`2.83\times 10^3`$, specific angular momentum is $`\lambda =1.90`$ and reference density is $`\rho _{ref}=10^{19}`$. We use $`129\times 129`$ unequally spaced grids. Velocity field is shown with arrows drawn at every alternate grids for clarity, except in regions $`|x|<100`$ and $`|z|<100`$ where fewer arrows are drawn. Superposed on the velocity field are contours of constant density, the outermost one closest to the axis (or the uppermost/lowermost ones at the outer boundary) being that of $`\rho =0.25\rho _{ref}`$. Density in each contour inward is increased by a factor of two. Disk is found to be bent at several regions by a different degree.

We plot in Fig. 3 the total amount of matter in the upper (solid) and the lower (dashed) halves as a function of time (in units of $`r_g/c`$). Masses in the two halves vary in a complementary way. Large scale fluctuations are found in all time scales, ranging from $`1000`$ to $`100,000`$ time units or more (certainly the largest time-scale is related to the location of the boundary). In Fig. 4, we show the variations of density (solid curves, in units of $`\rho _{ref}`$) and radial velocity (dashed curves, in units of velocity of light) along the $`Zdirection`$ of the flow at three radial distanced $`X=50,150`$ and $`300`$ (marked) respectively. Radial velocity has been multiplied by a factor of $`30`$ to bring the plots in the same scale. While quantities at $`X=300`$ are more or less symmetric with respect to the equatorial plane ($`Z=0`$), quantities at $`X=150`$ have peaks in density and velocity in the upper-half ($`Z>0`$) while those at $`X=50`$ have peaks in density and velocity in the lower-half ($`Z<0`$). The velocity jumps sharply from negative values (inflow) to positive values (outflow). Thus a very strong shear is operating on the surface of the disk. The effects of this are discussed below.

## 4 Possible Origin of Bending of the Accretion Flow

A particle of specific angular momentum $`\lambda `$ is bounced off a centrifugal barrier located at $`r`$ where the centrifugal force balances gravity. A flow has a pressure and therefore it bounces farther out. Outflowing wind and the incoming accretion interact and shear instability could be developed. Chandrasekhar (1961, §105) provides a dispersion relation for a uniformly rotating flow of angular velocity $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ (angular momentum vector pointing in the $`Z`$ direction) streaming with velocities $`v_1`$ and $`v_2`$ along X-axis. For $`\mathrm{\Omega }=0`$ this relation gives the perturbation frequency $`\omega `$ as a function of wavenumber $`k`$ to be: $`\omega =k(v_1+v_2)/2\pm [k_x^2(v_1v_2)^2/4]^{1/2}`$ where we assumed density to be equal in both the media. The perturbation grows in time scale of,

$$t_{KH}=\frac{2\pi }{\omega _i}=\frac{4\pi }{k(v_1v_2)}=\frac{2\lambda }{v_1v_2},$$
$`(1)`$
where, $`\omega _i`$ is the imaginary component of $`\omega `$ and $`\lambda =2\pi /k`$ is the radial wave length.

From Figure 4, one can easily compute the growth time scale at various locations. For instance, at $`x=300,150`$ and $`50`$, for perturbation lengths comparable to the local width of the disk, $`\lambda _x80,60`$ and $`40`$, and velocity differences $`v_1v_20.13,0.17`$ and $`0.25`$ respectively, growth time scales are $`t_{KH}5000,1850`$ and $`350`$ respectively. For a black hole of $`M_{BH}=10^8M_{}`$ as we are considering here, these time scales correspond to $`14,8.3`$ and $`3.5`$ days respectively. The simulations were carried out till $`t=220,000`$ and is much larger than the above time scales. For galactic black hole candidates ($`M=10M_{}`$), the times scales would be $`0.52`$s, $`0.185`$s and $`0.035`$s respectively and oscillations of radiations would have frequencies $`2`$Hz, $`5.4`$Hz and $`28.5`$Hz respectively. Thus the effect of the oscillation is likely to produce a power spectra with excess power in around $`230`$Hz. We note that for low $`\lambda `$, $`v_1`$ is large but the wind is absent. For high $`\lambda `$, $`v_1`$ is smaller, but $`v_2`$ is large. So the frequency should be a function of the input parameters. When rotation is present, $`\omega `$ is obtained not by analytical means, but by using the method of characteristics (Chandrasekhar, 1961). When the axisymmetry is removed we still expect such instabilities, perhaps spiral in nature.

## 5 Discussions and Conclusions

We showed that in presence of outflows, there is a significant degree of time-varying distortion of the accretion disk surface. The interaction of the oppositely moving flows suggest that the distortion or bending is mainly due to the shear instability, although local heating effects, momentum deposition of the outgoing subsonic flow onto the disk, and local rotational effects may not be ruled out. Disk distortion is found to be a generic phenomenon provided both the disk and the jet form and is present in all length scales whenever shear effects are important whether cooling is present or not. We found that both Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics and TVD Methods show this instability. The effects we discuss are very similar to what Norman, Winkler & Smith (1982) and Chakrabarti (1988) discussed in the context of instabilities in jets in presence of terminal Mach shock. There too back-flowing cocoon formed around a jet has a destabilizing effect on the jet. In the case of jets, the back-flow is due to tangential discontinuity separating the jet matter from that of the ambient matter. In the present case, the back-flow is due to the centrifugal barrier.

Observationally we expect that such a behaviour is likely to produce time variabilities in radiation emitted from the inner part (say, $`r<200300r_g`$) of the disk. Thus whereas in AGNs, optical and UV radiations could be seen in time scales of days, in galactic black hole candidates, soft and hard X-rays are likely to show variabilities in time scales of seconds or less. Since the whole disk does not oscillate coherently or quasi-coherently, the power density spectrum is likely to produce a very broad bump due to this type of oscillations.


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# Dynamics-dependent criticality in models with 𝑞 absorbing states

## I Introduction

Recently, dynamical and nonequilibrium properties of many-body systems have been intensively studied. Of particular interest are nonequilibrium phase transitions which might appear in the stationary state of such systems . It is believed that continuous phase transitions can be classified into relatively few universality classes. It is becoming evident, however, that such a classification is far more complicated in non-equilibrium systems than in equilibrium ones. In the equilibrium case, renormalization group and conformal-invariance theories gave a powerful description of this universal phenomena. In non-equilibrium, the situation is far less clear due to the lack of a general theory. Accordingly, a large body of works is based on numerical simulations.

Models with absorbing states constitute a particularly rich class. For these models there is a substantial evidence that continuous phase transitions can be classified into some universality classes. In particular, a large group of models falls into the so-called directed percolation universality class (DP) and it was conjectured that all models with a single absorbing state, positive one-component order parameter and short-range dynamics should generically belong to this universality class . Another group consists of models having a double degenerate absorbing state or whose dynamics obey some conservation law; they belong to the parity-conserving universality class (PC) .

The behaviour of models with a larger number of absorbing states was also addressed in the literature. For example Bassler and Browne examined a model with three absorbing states and concluded that depending on some parameters their model might exhibit DP or PC criticality . However, the control parameters in their model (adsorption rates) introduce asymmetry between absorbing states when the critical point is approached. Consequently, one or two species are effectively expelled from the system upon approaching the critical point hence the DP or PC criticality is an expected feature of this model. Similarly, certain asymmetries are responsible for the DP criticality in yet another model with multiple absorbing states which was studied by Janssen .

To examine the role of degeneracy, one has to study models where the symmetry between absorbing states is not broken at the level of dynamics. Good candidates for such a system are certain multi-species generalizations of the contact process model . In the two-species case these models exhibit the expected PC criticality. In the three-species case Hinrichsen suggested  that such models will always remain in the active phase. This property, which should also be true for models with a larger number of absorbing states, follows from an approximate relationship with the $`q`$-species, parity conserving branching-annihilating random walk models ($`q`$-BARW2, where the number at the end indicates the number of offsprings) . Recently, Hinrichsen’s conjecture was numerically confirmed for models with three and four absorbing states .

One can thus expect that for a given dimensionality, the number of (symmetric) absorbing states is the relevant parameter determining the critical behavior of a given model. However, for nonequilibrium systems some other details of the dynamics like e.g., exclusion effects  or certain local symmetries , might affect critical behaviour. The goal of the present paper is to provide yet another example of the dynamics-dependent criticality. In particular, we show that for a one-dimensional model with three absorbing states its critical behavior is PC-like (instead of the expected $`q`$-BARW2-like), when certain local constraints on the dynamics of a model are introduced. Let us emphasize that these constraints, which can be regarded as a local symmetry breaking, do not violate the symmetry between absorbing states . We also suggest a mechanism which could explain such a behaviour.

Our work show that not only global properties of a given model, like the number of absorbing states, but also certain details of the dynamics are relevant to determine its critical behaviour. Accordingly, classification of the critical properties of models with absorbing states is more complicated than originally thought.

The critical behaviour of $`q`$-BARW2 models was recently found to be richer than originally expected. Indeed, in one dimension hard-core effects are known to change the off-critical exponents of the model . Let us notice that these effects do not change the location of the critical point and of the on-critical exponents . At the coarse-grained level, our model can be also regarded as a certain $`q`$-BARW2 model. In our case, however, dynamical details have more dramatic effect: they change both the location of the critical point and values of all critical exponents.

## II Model and its Monte Carlo simulations

Before defining our dynamical model, let us recall some basic properties of the usual equilibrium Potts model. First we assign at each lattice site $`i`$ a $`q`$-state variable $`\sigma _i=0,1,\mathrm{},q1`$. Next, we define the energy of this model through the Hamiltonian:

$$H=\underset{i,j}{}\delta _{\sigma _i\sigma _j},$$
(1)
where summation is over pairs of $`i`$ and $`j`$ which are usually nearest neighbours and $`\delta `$ is the Kronecker delta function. This equilibrium model was studied using many different analytical and numerical methods and is a rich source of the information about phase transitions and critical phenomena .

To simulate numerically the equilibrium Potts model defined using the Hamiltonian (1) one introduces a stochastic Markov process with transition rates chosen in such a way that the asymptotic probability distribution is the Boltzmann distribution. One possibility of choosing such rates is the so-called Metropolis algorithm. In this method  one looks at the energy difference $`\mathrm{\Delta }E`$ between the final and initial configuration and accept the move with probability min$`\{1,\mathrm{e}^{\mathrm{\Delta }E/T}\}`$, where $`T`$ is temperature measured in units of the interaction constant of the Hamiltonian (1), which was set to unity. To obtain a final configuration one selects randomly a site and its state (one out of $`q`$ in our case). In the above described algorithm for $`T>0`$ there is always a positive probability of leaving any given configuration (even when the final configuration has a higher energy). Accordingly, such a model does not have absorbing states for $`T>0`$.

### A A-model

To transform the standard Metropolis dynamics into the dynamics with absorbing-states we make the following modification:
Restriction A:
When all neighbours of a given site are in the same state as this site, then this site cannot change its state (at least until one of its neighbours is changed).

In the following, this nonequilibrium model will be referred to as A-model. Obviously, any of $`q`$ ground states of model (1) is an absorbing state of A-model and the dynamics does not favour any of the absorbing states. Since the dynamics of our models is obtained from a modification of the Metropolis algorithm of an equilibrium system, transition probabilities are parametrized by temperature-like quantity $`T`$. Strictly speaking, for our model the ordinary (i.e., equilibrium) temperature cannot be defined. Nevertheless, we will refer to this quantity as temperature.

To study the properties of this A-model we performed Monte Carlo simulations. A natural characteristic of models with absorbing states is the steady-state density of active sites $`\rho `$. A given site $`i`$ is active when at least one of its neighbours is in a state different than $`i`$. Otherwise the site $`i`$ is called nonactive. In addition to the steady-state density we also looked at its time dependence $`\rho (t)`$. In the active phase $`\rho (t)`$ converges to the positive value while at criticality, $`\rho (t)`$ has a power-law decay $`\rho t^\delta `$. In the absorbing phase the density $`\rho `$ decays either faster than a power of $`t`$ or as power of $`t`$ but with a different exponent than the critical exponent $`\delta `$. The unit of time is defined as a single (on average) update of each active site.

In addition, we used the so-called dynamic Monte Carlo method where one sets the system in the absorbing state, locally initiate activity, and then monitor some stochastic properties of surviving runs . The most frequently used characteristics are the survival probability $`P(t)`$ that the activity survives at least until time $`t`$ and the number of active sites $`N(t)`$ (averaged over all runs). At criticality these quantities are expected to have power-law decay: $`P(t)t^\delta ^{}`$ and $`N(t)t^\eta `$. (For some models $`\delta =\delta ^{}`$, but exceptions are also known ).

Our simulations were made for various system sizes and we ensured that the system was large enough so that our results are size independent.

The simplest case is to consider a one-dimensional chain. However, for $`q=2`$ and for any temperature $`T`$, this model is trivially equivalent to the $`T=0`$ temperature Ising model with Metropolis dynamics. Indeed, in this case the allowed moves are only those which do not increase energy and they are always accepted. The same rule governs the dynamics of the $`T=0`$ Ising chain.

To overcome this geometrical ’pathology’ we consider our A-model on a ladder-like lattice where two chains are connected by inter-chain bonds such that each site has three neighbours. Fig. 1 illustrates the possibility of spreading of activity in the ladder geometry for $`q=2`$. The results of the simulations of such case are in agreement with the up-to-date knowledge concerning one-dimensional systems with multi-absorbing states. Thus we only briefly describe our results. For $`q=2`$ the model has two symmetric absorbing states (all $`\sigma _i=0`$ or 1). Qualitatively, in this case the model resembles other models with two absorbing states , which are known to belong to PC universality class and our simulations confirm such a behaviour.

First, the steady-state measurement of the density of active sites suggests a continuous phase transition between active and absorbing phases around $`T=2.7`$ (see Fig. 2). Measuring the time dependence of $`\rho (t)`$ we observed that at $`T=2.7`$ $`\rho (t)t^\delta `$ where $`\delta `$ is very close to the PC value 0.286. Moreover, in the low-temperature ($`T<2.7`$) phase $`\rho (t)t^{0.5}`$, which is also a typical feature of PC models. Additional confirmation of PC criticality in this case is obtained using the dynamical Monte Carlo method which yields $`\delta ^{}=0.29(3)`$ and $`\eta =0.02(3)`$.

A different behaviour appears in the $`q=3`$ case. Although in Fig. 2 one can see a sudden change of the order parameter around $`T=0.8`$, there is no phase transition in this case. Examining the behaviour of $`\rho (t)`$, we checked that even at low temperature ($`T=0.5`$ and 0.6) the system remains in the active phase. In addition simulations suggest that for $`q=4`$ and 5 A-model behaves similarly to the $`q=3`$ case.

Actually, we expect that for $`q3`$ the model has a critical point but only at $`T=0`$. This point corresponds to the case of zero branching rate in a $`q`$-BARW2 model, which is known to be characterized by e.g., $`\beta =1`$ (with the order parameter expressed in terms of the branching rate) .

As we already mentioned, the absence of the transition for $`q3`$ and $`T>0`$ is an expected feature. However, as we will show below, additional restriction in the dynamical rules of our model induces a transition even for $`q3`$.

### B B-model

This restriction can be formulated as follows:
Restriction B:
A flip into a state different than any of its neighbours is prohibited. In other words, spontaneous creation of for example domains of type A between domains of type B and C is forbidden. Here, A, B, and C denote three (out of $`q`$) different states.

Let us notice that restriction B satisfies at the same time restriction A (but of course not vice versa). In the following we will refer to the model satisfying restriction B as B-model. Let us also notice that restriction B does not break the symmetry and B-model similarly to A-model has $`q`$ symmetric absorbing states. Results of the simulations of B-model for $`q=3`$ are shown in Fig. 2-Fig. 5 (for $`q=2`$ both dynamics A and B are equivalent). First, let us notice that the density $`\rho `$ (Fig. 2) is only slightly larger for B-model than for A-model with $`q=2`$ (the difference is, however, larger than error bars). In addition, this difference diminishes upon approaching the transition point and within our numerical accuracy both transitions seem to take place at the same temperature. Later on we provide some arguments which could explain this apparent coincidence.

The behaviour of $`\rho (t)`$ (Fig. 3) is typical for PC universality class. In the low temperature phase ($`T<2.7`$) we observe the power law decay $`\rho (t)t^{1/2}`$ while at criticality ($`T=2.7`$) $`\rho (t)t^\delta `$ and we estimate $`\delta =0.29(2)`$. The dynamical Monte Carlo method confirms the PC criticality of this model . Indeed, $`P(t)`$ scales with the exponent $`\delta ^{}=0.29(2)`$ (Fig 4) and at criticality $`N(t)`$ remains virtually constant (Fig. 5), which is in agreement with the PC value $`\eta =0.0`$. In our opinion, the above results clearly indicate the PC criticality of B-model. This behavior can be qualitatively explained by considering the relation between our models and certain multispecies parity conserving $`q`$-BARW2 models.

The relation with such models is based on the observation that each domain wall can be at least approximately identified as a branching and annihilating random walker. Although precise mappings between absorbing-states and BARW models are usually complicated, one can argue  that most relevant processes are only long-lived ones which considerably simplifies the resulting BARW model. In particular Hinrichsen argued that dynamics of models with two absorbing states should be approximately described by the following BARW2 model :

$$2X0,X3X$$
(2)
This model is known to belong to the PC universality class . Since there are several types of domain walls, mappings for models with more than two absorbing states require several types of random walkers. Hooyberghs et al. argued that typically in the corresponding $`q`$-BARW2 models the following reactions should be included :

$$XY+Z,$$
(3)
$$Y+ZX.$$
(4)
The process (3) represents the formation of a domain of e.g., type C between domains of type A and B. The process (4) is its reverse and corresponds to the disappearance of the domain C. The $`q`$-species BARW2 model (2)-(4) differs from the one studied by Cardy and Täuber . However, the differences do not affect the critical behaviour which is the same for both models. We expect that our A-model for $`q>2`$ at the coarse-grained level is also described by $`q`$-BARW model with reactions (2)-(4).

Let us now notice that in our B-model, the formation of the intruding domain C between domains A and B is forbidden, hence processes of the type (3) are forbidden. The $`q`$-species BARW2 model which corresponds to B-model is thus described by reactions (2) and (4). The main point of our argument to explain the PC criticality of the B-model is the following: The suppressing of the processes (3) implies separation of time scales of parity conserving processes (2), which happen at the much shorter time scale than parity-nonconserving processes (4). As a result the $`q`$-BARW2 model spatially decomposes into single-species ’clouds’. The dynamics within each ’cloud’ corresponds exactly to the dynamics of the $`q=2`$ B-model (which is exactly the same as as for A-model), which at the coarse-grained level is given only by parity-conserving processes (2). Non-conserving processes (4) operate only when different ’clouds’ collide . Upon approaching the transition point domains coarsen and the distances between ’clouds’ increase. As a result, non-conserving processes happen only on a very-long time scale. (Snapshots of Monte Carlo simulations qualitatively confirm formation of such single-species ’clouds’). On the other hand, the order parameter of the system, i.e., the number of particles is mainly determined by the parity-conserving processes (these processes determine the concentration of particles within clouds). As a result, the most relevant dynamics of the model is dominated by the parity-conserving processes which implies PC criticality. As we already mentioned, these processes correspond to the coarse-grained dynamics of the $`q=2`$ model which thus explains why transition temperatures for $`q=2`$ and 3 are the same. It would be interesting to confirm these qualitative considerations with more sound theoretical arguments.

## III Conclusions

In conclusion, we have shown that the critical behavior of a model with $`q`$ absorbing states is not only characterized by the number of absorbing states but that details of the dynamics are also important. At the coarse-grained level our model is equivalent to a certain $`q`$-BARW2 model. It would be interesting to check whether suppresion of processes (3) in $`q`$-BARW2 model leads to a similar change of the critical behaviour.

###### Acknowledgements.

This work was partially supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation and the project OFES 00-0578 ”COSYC OF SENS”.


text:
# Exponential Temperature Dependence of Penetration Depth in Single Crystal MgB2

\[

## Abstract

The temperature dependence of the London penetration depth, $`\lambda (T)`$, was measured in both single crystal and polycrystalline MgB2 samples by a high-resolution, radio frequency technique. A clear exponential temperature dependence of $`\lambda (T)`$ was observed at low temperature, indicating $`s`$-wave pairing. A BCS fit to the lowest temperature data gives an in-plane energy gap $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$ of $`30\pm 2`$ K ($`2\mathrm{\Delta }/T_c=1.5\pm 0.1`$), which is significantly smaller than the standard BCS weak coupling value of 3.5. We find that the data are best described by a two-gap model.

\]

The recent discovery  of superconductivity at 39 K in the binary compound MgB2 has sparked a large number of investigations into its physical properties. A crucial question is whether its high $`T_c`$ can be explained by a phonon mediated pairing interaction within the usual BCS-Eliashberg framework. A first step in answering this question is to determine the symmetry of the superconducting order parameter and the nature of the low energy excitations.

Magnetic penetration depth ($`\lambda `$) measurements are a powerful probe of the low energy excitations. As $`\lambda (0)>1000`$ Å in MgB2, penetration depth measurements probe relatively large distances and are far less sensitive to surface quality than, for instance, tunneling, which is sensitive to disorder on the scale of the coherence length ($`\xi `$ 50 Å). We therefore expect the results to be representative of the bulk.

There have been several recent reports of measurements of $`\lambda (T)`$ for MgB2 by ac-susceptibility , muon spin rotation  and optical conductivity  techniques. These authors conclude that $`\lambda (T)`$ follows a power law dependence \[$`\lambda (T)T^2`$  and $`\lambda (T)T^{2.7}`$ \], which is at odds with tunneling and other measurements which indicate that there is a sizeable $`s`$-wave gap. Here we present the first high resolution measurements of $`\lambda (T)`$ in both single crystal and polycrystalline samples of MgB2. We find strong evidence for a predominately exponential temperature dependence of $`\lambda `$ at low temperature consistent with $`s`$-wave behavior. The gap deduced from fits to the data however, is significantly smaller than the BCS weak coupling value.

Single crystal samples of MgB2 were prepared by a high pressure synthesis route as described in Ref. . The data presented here was taken on a plate-like crystal with dimensions 0.35 $`\times `$ 0.22 $`\times `$ 0.1 mm3, the smallest dimension being the $`c`$-axis. A second sample showed essentially identical behavior. The crystal orientation was verified with an x-ray Laue camera to within $`3^{}`$. The as-grown samples are shiny and gold in color but tarnish quickly in air. To ensure we measured clean surfaces we immersed the crystals briefly in a $``$ 0.5 % solution of HCl in ethanol, which removed this surface discoloration.

Measurements were also made on polycrystalline MgB2 samples, which were fabricated from commercially available (Alfa Aesar) powder. This powder has a relatively wide range of grain sizes which complicates quantitative analysis of the data. For the analysis to give a reliable estimate of the absolute values of $`\lambda (T)`$ grain sizes $`5\lambda `$ are required . To obtain such a distribution the powder was ground in an agate mortar and then sedimented in acetone for one hour. The resulting powder was then cast in epoxy ($``$6% by volume). The grain size distribution was measured from scanning electron microscope images. The diameter of 96% of the grains was less than 1$`\mu `$m, and the mean diameter was 0.56$`\mu `$m.

Measurements of penetration depth were performed in a tunnel diode oscillator operating at 11.9 MHz, with frequency stability of a few parts in $`10^{10}`$ Hz$`^{\frac{1}{2}}`$. This translates to a resolution in $`\lambda `$ of $`10^{12}`$m for our powder samples and $`10^{10}`$m for the single crystals. A particular feature of our apparatus is the very low value of the ac-probe field which we estimate to be $`1\mu `$T. Ambient dc fields are shielded to a similar level with a mu-metal can. Changes in the oscillator frequency are directly proportional to the inductance of the probe coil and hence to the susceptibility of the sample. For single crystal samples, this frequency shift can be directly related to changes in the penetration depth using the known sample dimensions . For polycrystalline samples the relation between the measured susceptibility (per unit volume of superconductor) $`\chi `$ and $`\lambda `$ is more complicated and depends on the size distribution of the grains. For well separated grains

$$\chi =\frac{\frac{3}{2}\underset{i}{}\left(1\frac{3\lambda }{r_i}\mathrm{coth}(\frac{r_i}{\lambda })+\frac{3\lambda ^2}{r_i^2}\right)r_i^3N_i}{\underset{i}{}r_i^3N_i}$$
(1)
where $`N_i`$ is the measured number of grains of radius $`r_i`$  which are assumed to be spherical . $`\lambda (T)`$ of our polycrystalline sample was determined from the measured $`\chi (T)`$ and grain size distribution by solving Eq. (1) at each temperature point.

The superconducting transition of the single crystal is shown in the inset to Fig. 1. The $`T_c`$ was 38.0 K and the 10-90% transition width was 0.3 K showing that the crystal was of high quality. The main part of this figure shows the low temperature ($`T<`$12 K) behavior of $`\lambda (T)`$ for this crystal with the field applied along each of the two principle crystallographic directions. $`\mathrm{\Delta }\lambda (T)`$ denotes the change in $`\lambda `$ relative to that at our base temperature ($`T`$=1.35 K). The striking feature of these curves is the lack of temperature dependence of $`\mathrm{\Delta }\lambda (T)`$ below around 4 K, which points to the existence of an energy gap in all directions in $`k`$-space.

For $`Hc`$ only in-plane currents are excited and the in-plane penetration depth ($`\lambda _{ab}`$) is measured directly, within a calibration factor which depends on the dimensions of the crystal. This calibration factor was estimated using the procedure outlined in Ref. . As the faces of the crystal were somewhat uneven we estimate that the absolute values of $`\mathrm{\Delta }\lambda (T)`$ are only accurate to about 20%. For $`Hab`$ both in-plane and out-of-plane currents screen the field and so we measure a mixture of $`\lambda _{ab}`$ and the out-of-plane penetration depth $`\lambda _c`$. As $`\lambda l_a,l_b,l_c`$ ($`l_a,l_b,l_c`$ are the dimensions of the crystal along the $`a,b,`$ and $`c`$ directions respectively), the effective volume of the crystal penetrated by the field is approximately (for $`Ha`$) $`V=2\alpha (l_al_b\lambda _b+l_al_c\lambda _c)`$, where $`\alpha `$ is the field enhancement due to the demagnetising effects ($`\alpha =1.2`$ for $`Hab`$). In the figure we show an effective $`\lambda `$, $`\mathrm{\Delta }\lambda _e=\mathrm{\Delta }V/(2\alpha l_al_b)=\mathrm{\Delta }\lambda _b+l_c/l_b\mathrm{\Delta }\lambda _c`$, which would be equal to $`\mathrm{\Delta }\lambda _b`$ if the crystal were thin. Again there is some uncertainty in the absolute values ($``$ 20%) because of the uneven surfaces. For this reason we do not attempt to determine $`\mathrm{\Delta }\lambda _c`$ from these data. However, we note that $`\mathrm{\Delta }\lambda _e(T)`$ has a very similar $`T`$ dependence to $`\mathrm{\Delta }\lambda _{ab}`$ but is approximately 1.4 times larger. With the aspect ratio of the crystal ($`l_c/l_b`$) equal to 2.2, we conclude that $`\mathrm{\Delta }\lambda _c`$ is between 1.5 and 2.5 times larger than $`\mathrm{\Delta }\lambda _{ab}`$ up to 12 K.

For our crystals $`\lambda _{ab}(0)1100`$ Å, $`\xi _{ab}(0)`$55 Å, and the mean free path (determined from the resistivity at 40 K) is $``$ 250 Å. We therefore expect to be in the moderately clean, local limit. Hence, for $`s`$-wave pairing we expect, for $`TT_c/3`$, that $`\lambda (T)`$ should follow the BCS behavior

$$\mathrm{\Delta }\lambda (T)\lambda _0\sqrt{\frac{\pi \mathrm{\Delta }_0}{2T}}\mathrm{exp}\left(\frac{\mathrm{\Delta }_0}{T}\right)$$
(2)
were $`\mathrm{\Delta }_0`$ is the value of the energy gap at zero temperature and $`\lambda _0=\lambda (0)`$ in the weak coupling case. In Fig. 1 we show a fit of Eq. (2) to the crystal data in the two orientations. The fit to $`\mathrm{\Delta }\lambda _{ab}`$ ($`Hc`$) gives $`\mathrm{\Delta }_0=29\pm 2`$ K, and to $`\mathrm{\Delta }\lambda _e`$ ($`Hab`$) gives $`\mathrm{\Delta }_0=32\pm 2`$ K. We note the remarkable similarity between these two values (the error reflects the different values of $`\mathrm{\Delta }_0`$ obtained as the upper limit of the fit was varied from 10 K to 15 K).

In Fig. 2 we show $`\lambda (T)`$ calculated from the susceptibility of the sedimented polycrystalline sample. The data are very similar to that of the single crystals. A fit of the data to Eq. (2) gives $`\mathrm{\Delta }_0=30\pm 2`$ K, which is in very good agreement with the values found for the single crystal. The susceptibility ($`\chi `$) over the full temperature range is shown in the inset. The lack of sharp change in $`\chi `$ at $`T_c`$ for this sample, is entirely due to the small size of the grains \[compared to $`\lambda (T)`$\] obtained by the sedimentation procedure and does not indicate inhomogeneity. This is confirmed by the calculated temperature dependence of the superfluid density (see below) and the sharp transition observed in an unsedimented sample (not shown).

As mentioned above, several other authors  have claimed that $`\lambda (T)`$ in MgB2 does not follow a simple exponential $`T`$ dependence but rather a power law dependence with an exponent close to 2. In Fig. 2 we show a $`T^2`$ fit to the polycrystalline data. Clearly, this fit is much worse than the BCS dependence. We have also tried to fit other forms such as $`AT+BT^2`$ or $`AT^2/(T+T^{})`$ but no significant improvement was found. The same conclusion is reached from fits to the single crystal data. The key reason for this difference is that previous studies have been limited to temperatures above $`4`$ K, whereas $`\mathrm{\Delta }\lambda (T)`$ only shows a clear signature of gapped behavior below this temperature.

From the polycrystalline data we are able to deduce absolute values of $`\lambda (T)`$. We find that $`\lambda (0)=1600\pm 200`$ Å which is in good agreement with other studies . In Fig. 3a we use this value to calculate the superfluid density $`\rho =[\lambda (0)/\lambda (T)]^2`$ for this sample. This uncertainty in $`\lambda (0)`$ does not make any significant difference to the temperature dependence of $`\rho (T)`$.

MgB2 has an anisotropic structure, with Mg atoms sandwiched between planar, hexagonal boron rings. It is therefore expected that there will be some anisotropy between the $`ab`$-plane and the $`c`$-axis responses. Recent results on aligned crystallites and single crystals have shown a significant anisotropy in $`H_{c2}`$ which implies an anisotropy in the coherence lengths, $`\gamma =\xi _{ab}/\xi _c`$. In an anisotropic Ginzburg-Landau theory this implies a similar anisotropy in $`\lambda `$, $`\gamma =\lambda _c/\lambda _{ab}`$. There is some disagreement about the magnitude of this anisotropy, Ref.  gives $`\gamma =1.7\pm 0.1`$ and Refs.  give $`\gamma =2.6\pm 0.1`$. We note that the latter of these measurements were conducted on crystals identical to the ones measured here. As far as we know there is no general solution for the moment of a sphere when $`\lambda `$ is anisotropic, however solutions do exist in the limits $`\lambda r`$  and $`\lambda r`$ . Fortunately, these two limits give similar results for $`\gamma 3`$. To within $`\pm `$10% the effective $`\lambda (0)`$ equals 1.2 $`\lambda _{ab}`$ or 1.5 $`\lambda _{ab}`$ for $`\gamma `$=1.6 and 2.6 respectively. We can use this fact to estimate the values of $`\lambda _{ab}(0)`$ and $`\lambda _c(0)`$ from our polycrystalline data. We find that $`\lambda _{ab}`$=1300 Å and $`\lambda _c`$=2100 Å or $`\lambda _{ab}1100`$ Å and $`\lambda _c2800`$ Å , for the two values of $`\gamma `$ respectively. A value of $`\lambda _c`$ roughly two times $`\lambda _{ab}`$ is consistent with the much stronger $`T`$ dependence of $`\mathrm{\Delta }\lambda `$ in the $`Hab`$ configuration as discussed above.

Using the value of $`\lambda _{ab}=1100`$ Å (appropriate to the anisotropy of our crystals), we calculated the in-plane superfluid density (Fig. 3b) from the single crystal data for $`\mathrm{\Delta }\lambda _{ab}(T)`$. The overall dependence is similar to that of the polycrystalline data, suggesting that there is not a significant anisotropy in the temperature dependence of $`\rho `$. Although the $`Hab`$ data ($`\mathrm{\Delta }\lambda _e`$) is a mixture of $`\lambda _c`$ and $`\lambda _{ab}`$, we note that if we choose $`\lambda _e(0)=1750`$ Å the calculated superfluid density ($`\rho _e=\lambda _e^2(0)/\lambda _e^2(T)`$) almost exactly overlaps $`\rho _{ab}(T)`$, showing that the two differ by only a simple scale factor and supporting the conclusion that there is little anisotropy in the temperature dependence of $`\rho `$.

Although the overall temperature dependence of $`\lambda `$ deduced from our measurements is consistent with an $`s`$-wave BCS picture, the value of the gap obtained is considerably smaller than the usual BCS weak coupling value ($`\mathrm{\Delta }_0/T_c=1.76`$). Similar conclusions have been reached from some tunneling data , and specific heat studies .

The calculated band structure of MgB2 is composed of two sets of distinct bands; quasi-two-dimensional tubes which run along the $`c`$ axis and a roughly three-dimensional network . Several authors have proposed that there may be different gaps associated with these two bands . For these band specific gaps to remain distinct the scattering between bands needs to be weak, and there needs to be some weak coupling between the bands so that the $`T_c`$s are the same. Bouquet et al. have recently proposed a simple phenomenological model to calculate the thermodynamic properties in such a two band system. The model is based on the so-called $`\alpha `$ model which is often used to describe strong coupling effects. It is supposed that the gaps on the two bands $`\mathrm{\Delta }^b`$ and $`\mathrm{\Delta }^s`$ follow the usual BCS $`T`$ dependence, but have $`T=0`$ values which differ from the BCS one. The superfluid densities from each band add together to give the measured total. These two gaps and the ratio of the contributions of each to the total superfluid density are fitting parameters.

In Fig. 3 we show a least squares fit of both the polycrystalline and single crystal data to this model. The agreement with the data is extremely good in both cases. We find that for the polycrystalline data, $`\mathrm{\Delta }^s=30`$ K, $`\mathrm{\Delta }^b=89`$ K with relative proportion 40:60 respectively. For the in-plane single crystal data the parameters are found to be: $`\mathrm{\Delta }^s=29`$ K, $`\mathrm{\Delta }^b=75`$ K with relative proportion 45:55. The small gap ($`\mathrm{\Delta }^s`$) is identical to that found from the fits of $`\mathrm{\Delta }\lambda (T)`$ to Eq. (2). Bouquet et al. have also applied this model to heat capacity data and find very similar results for both the gap values and their relative weights.

First principles, density functional theory calculations of the electron phonon coupling in MgB2, have been performed by Liu et al.. These calculations predict the existence of two distinct gaps with almost equal weights ; a small gap ($`\mathrm{\Delta }/T_c=0.65`$) associated with the 3D sheets and a larger gap ($`\mathrm{\Delta }/T_c=2.0`$) associated with the 2D tubes. Both the size of the gaps and their relative weights are in good agreement with the Bouquet model. In addition, because the smaller gap is located on the 3D sheet, we expect the effective gap, derived from fits to $`\mathrm{\Delta }\lambda (T)`$ at low temperature to be fairly isotropic. This is also in agreement with our observations. We note however, that Raman scattering measurements  on crystals prepared identically to those studied here, have clearly identified only one sharp pair-breaking peak at 105 cm-1 corresponding to a gap value $`\mathrm{\Delta }(0)/T_c=2.0`$. Although there is some scattering below this peak, a second peak corresponding to a second smaller gap has not been seen.

An alternative model  assumes that there is a single $`s`$-wave gap which is anisotropic, having a $`k`$ dependence, $`\mathrm{\Delta }(z)=\mathrm{\Delta }(1+az^2)/(1+a)`$, where $`z`$ is the cosine of the polar angle and $`a`$ is a fitting parameter which controls the anisotropy. Following the procedure outlined in Ref.  we have calculated the superfluid density in this model for arbitrary $`a`$. We find that to fit the observed ratio of $`\mathrm{\Delta }/T_c=0.75`$ we need $`a=2.2\pm 0.4`$, or a total gap anisotropy $`(1+a)=3.2\pm 0.4`$. The overall $`T`$-dependence of $`\rho _{ab}`$ calculated for this value of anisotropy is shown in Fig. 3b and can be seen to be in serious disagreement with the data. Better agreement can be found if we set $`\lambda _{ab}(0)650`$ Å. However, this is almost a factor 2 below our estimate and well outside our expected error. The very different behavior of $`\rho _c`$ in this model (see figure) is also at odds with observed correspondence between $`\rho _{ab}`$ and $`\rho _e`$. Our data therefore clearly favor the multigap model above.

In conclusion we have presented the first study of the penetration depth of both single crystal and polycrystalline MgB2 samples. In agreement with other direct probes of the symmetry of the order parameter we find that $`\lambda (T)`$ is well described by an $`s`$-wave behavior, but with a minimum gap that is significantly less than the weak coupling BCS value. Of the various explanations for the small gap value we find that the two-gap model of Bouquet et al. is in best agreement with the data. We conclude therefore, that although the pairing interaction in this compound may be phononic, the gap structure is far from conventional.

Useful discussions with R.W. Giannetta, R. Prozorov, F. Bouquet, K. Maki, P. Timms, J.F. Annett and J.R. Cooper are acknowledged. This work was partially supported by the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization as collaborative research and development of fundamental technologies for superconductivity applications.