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# Losing Weight: A KECK Spectroscopic Survey of the Massive Cluster of Galaxies RX J1347-1145Based in large part on observations obtained at the W.M. Keck Observatory, which is operated jointly by the California Institute of Technology, the University of California and NASA,

## 1 Introduction

As the most massive gravitationally bound objects in the Universe, galaxy clusters are prime targets for studies of structure formation and evolution. In order to use these massive objects as cosmological tools, a good understanding of their mass distribution is required to relate the numerical simulation predictions to the observations. Because of their generic rarity, the most massive clusters constitute in principle the most sensitive cosmological probes, with the the most distant ones providing the tightest constraints, specifically on the value of $`\mathrm{\Omega }_0`$ (e.g., Bahcall & Fan 1998; Ebeling et al. 2001). X-ray selection is currently the most favored technique for finding these massive systems in the Universe because of the very well defined selection criteria. However the most extreme clusters may also be the most unusual cases that may not be present in the current generation of numerical simulations of the Universe. Hence, precise understanding of the most massive clusters is very important in order to derive any useful cosmological constraint.

As an example, MS1054–0321, the highest redshift cluster in the Einstein Medium Sensitivity Survey, is a very massive cluster. Donahue et al. (1998) ascribed a virial mass of $`7.4\times 10^{14}h^1`$ M (for $`\mathrm{\Omega }_m=1`$) to MS1054–0321 based on both its X-ray temperature and a velocity dispersion from a sample of twelve spectroscopic members of $`1360\pm 450`$ km s-1. However, even in this initial study of MS1054–0321, the presence of considerable substructure was noted. More recently, a careful weak lensing analysis using HST images by Hoekstra, Franx & Kuijken (200), a velocity dispersion analysis with a larger sample of spectroscopically confirmed cluster members (78 cluster members, giving $`\sigma _v=1150\pm 97`$ km s-1) by van Dokkum et al. (2000), and new $`Chandra`$ observations (Jeltema et al. 2001) all seem to support a value for the virial mass of MS1054–0321 about a factor of two lower.

We focus in this paper on the cluster of galaxies RX J1347$``$1145 ($`z`$=0.451), discovered by ROSAT. This cluster is the most luminous X-ray cluster discovered to date (Schindler et al. 1995) with an intrinsic bolometric X-ray luminosity 111All published values have been adjusted to the common value of $`H_0=100`$ km s-1 Mpc-1, and the explicit dependence on $`h=H_0/100`$ is given. of $`L_{bol}=50\times 10^{44}h^2`$ ergs s-1 and a gas temperature of $`T_X=9.3\pm 1.0`$ keV from ASCA observations (Schindler et al. 1997). The presumption that this is a high mass object is enhanced by the discovery of two reasonably bright long arcs with lengths of $``$6 arcsec (see Sahu et al. 1998 for the lensing analysis) and by a clear detection of weak lensing (Fischer & Tyson 1997). More recently, Komatsu et al. (1999) and Pointecouteau et al. (2001) have respectively tried to estimate the cluster mass by the measure of the Sunyaev-Zeldovich (SZ) increment (resp. decrement) at submm (resp. mm) wavelengths.

We present here Keck spectroscopy of galaxies in RX J1347$``$1145 which allow us to probe the dynamics of this massive cluster. Section 2 describes the observations and the spectral characteristics of the 47 cluster members. We also report the discovery of a lensed galaxy at $`z=4.083`$. A detailed analysis of the spectra of the cluster members is carried out using spectroscopic indices in §3. In §4, we discuss the results in terms of the dynamical estimate of the mass of this cluster, and compare the derived mass to other mass estimates in §5. We derive a possible model for the mass and dynamics of RX J1347$``$1145 in §6. A brief summary and discussion of the prospects for improving our understanding of the mass distribution of this cluster are included in the last section.

For consistency with earlier work, we adopt the cosmology $`\mathrm{\Omega }_m=0.3`$, $`\mathrm{\Lambda }=0.0`$ and $`H_0=100h`$ km/s/Mpc so that the angular scale at the distance of RX J1347$``$1145 is 3.67 $`h^1`$ kpc/arcsec. Were we to adopt a flat Universe with $`\mathrm{\Lambda }=0.7`$, the angular scale would increase by $`10`$% to 4.04 kpc/arcsec.

## 2 Keck Spectroscopy

Candidate member galaxies in the cluster RX J1347$``$1145 were first selected in 1998, as extended objects of appropriate brightness from a stacked $`R`$-band image (4$`\times `$200 sec) taken with Low Resolution Imaging Spectrograph (LRIS) (Oke et al. 1995). Objects are identified using their J2000 coordinates, so that G47345\_4632 has coordinates RA = 13 47 34.5 and Dec = $``$11 46 32. Absolute astrometric calibration of the field was carried out using the USNO-A V2.0 (Monet et al. 1998).

Beginning in early 2000, we used a color image (made of a $`B`$ and $`R`$-band image) to select candidates with suitably red $`BR`$ color for spectroscopic observations. This significantly enhanced the efficiency of detecting cluster members rather than foreground or background galaxies. However, it has probably introduced a bias favoring the inclusion of elliptical galaxies in our sample. Three slitmasks were used with LRIS, one in 1998 ($`t_{exp}=2500`$s), one in 2000 ($`t_{exp}=2500`$s), and one in May 2001 ($`t_{exp}=2\times 2500`$s). The 300 g/mm grating yielding a dispersion of 2.5 Å/pixel with a 1.0 arcsec wide slit (projected width of 4.7 pixels) was used for all masks. The spectra were reduced in a standard way using Figaro (Shortridge 1993) scripts.

Redshifts were determined by centroiding the CaII H and the K lines \[JC\], as well as using a cross correlation technique (IRAF/RVSAO2.0 package) \[JPK\]. The results were indistinguishable within the errors. From this analysis, a sample of secure 46 members was isolated, with one additional probable cluster member (C47314\_4511) whose spectrum was too noisy to yield an accurate redshift. However, the presence of a detectable 4000 Å break strongly suggests that it belongs to the cluster. Five of the cluster galaxies have two independent spectra taken in different runs; these show no systematic redshift offsets.

Table 1 gives the location and redshifts for the cluster members, with total $`R`$ magnitudes from the best fit large aperture results from the FOCAS package described in Valdes (1989). Table 2 lists the non-members observed, consisting of 22 field galaxies and their galaxy spectral classification according to the system of Cohen et al. (1999), as well as stars, some of which were used to align the slitmasks. Figure 1 shows the $`R`$-band image of the central part of RX J1347$``$1145, where we have indicated the galaxies in our sample with their redshifts.

The two central cDs have approximately equal $`R`$-band luminosity, but display very different spectra. The Western cD galaxy, located at the X-ray peak, is an AGN and has been detected as a radio point source by the NVSS (Condon et al. 1998, Bauer et al. 2000). Its spectrum shows extremely strong \[OII\] 3727 Å emission as well as emission at H$`\beta `$. Weaker emission at \[OII\] at 4959 and 5007 Å as well as H$`\gamma `$ and perhaps H$`\delta `$ is detected. These emission lines have been observed in the spectra of many giant elliptical galaxies sitting at the center of cooling flow clusters (e.g. Crawford et al. 1995).

The galaxy C47229\_4519 has a spectrum very different from any other cluster member. It is, excluding the Western cD, the only cluster galaxy showing even weak \[OII\] 3727 Å emission, and its redshift ($`z=0.4392`$) is slightly lower than all but one other cluster member. It is located in the outer part of RX J1347$``$1145 and has a blue $`BR`$ color. We include it as a cluster member.

Four galaxies (C47229\_4519 included) are slightly offset in redshift compared to the main cluster redshift distribution. Perhaps they are either linked to the cluster infall region or are part of the large scale structure surrounding the cluster.

Altogether, the total number of spectroscopically confirmed galaxies in the close vicinity of RX J1347$``$1145 is 47. Figure 2 shows the velocity distribution centered on the cluster redshift. Note that there are no other galaxies in the spectroscopically observed sample with $`0.41<z<0.52`$.

### 2.1 Detection of a Lensed Object at $`z=4.083`$

During the spectroscopic survey to locate members of the cluster of galaxies RX J1347$``$1145, we serendipitously found an object (O47332\_4511) with a strong emission line at 6177 Å and essentially no continuum blue-ward of this line. Identifying the line with Lyman-$`\alpha `$ and the lack of blue continuum as the Lyman limit gives a redshift of $`z=4.083`$ (Figure 3), and the equivalent width of Lyman-$`\alpha `$ is $``$45 Å. This object, with $`R=23.7`$ (although the very strong emission falls within the $`R`$ bandpass, it should not contribute to the $`R`$-band flux by more than 10%) is 38 arcsec East of the Western cD. Its image is a point source on the STIS image from the HST Archive (Figure 3).

## 3 Spectral Indices

To illustrate that the members of the cluster of galaxies RX J1347$``$1145 are typical early type galaxies, we have measured the strengths of various spectral features, the strength of emission in the 3727 Å line of \[OII\], and the absorption in the 3968 Å line of CaII as well as an index for the strength of the 4000 Å break. Table 3 lists the specific bandpasses used to define each of these indices. The results as a function of total $`R`$ mag are shown in Figures 4, 5 and 6. The possible non-member galaxy C47229\_4519 is included in each of these figures.

Aside from the AGN and the possible non-member galaxy, the remaining 45 members of RX J1347$``$1145 show no evidence for emission in the 3727 Å line of \[OII\] (see Figure 4). Repeat measurements suggest an accuracy of $`\pm 3`$Å for the fainter galaxies in our sample. The same two galaxies stand out from the rest of the sample in Figure 5, where they display Balmer jumps considerably smaller than the majority of the cluster galaxies, and in Figure 6, where they have less absorption in the 3933 Å line of Ca II. All of this is to be expected given that one of these galaxies in an AGN and the second appears to be very blue, presumably from ongoing star formation.

## 4 Velocity Dispersion and Virial Mass

The velocity dispersion was computed using the bi-weight algorithm of Beers, Flynn & Gebhardt (1990), as it is very robust to the presence of outliers. An instrumental uncertainty of $`\pm 100`$ km s-1 in the rest frame is assumed for all measurements. The bi-weight estimator gives $`\sigma _v=910\pm 130`$ km s-1 using the 47 known members of the cluster RX J1347$``$1145. A slightly smaller value ($`\sigma _v=820\pm 110`$ km s-1) is obtained using a classical 3-sigma clipping algorithm (which has the effect of removing the four outlier galaxies discussed in §2, which are slightly offset from the main distribution). Hereafter, we adopt a velocity dispersion of 910 km s-1 for this cluster. Assuming that the cluster follows the $`\sigma `$$`T_X`$ relation (e.g. Girardi et al. 1996), we predict an X-ray temperature of $`T_X=5.1\pm 1.2`$ keV.

The central redshift for the velocity distribution is $`z=0.45095`$. The redshift of the Eastern and Western cDs are respectively $`z=0.4506`$ and $`z=0.4515`$, both of which correspond to rest frame radial velocities that are within 100 km s-1 of the central value. Therefore, taking into account the measured uncertainties, they are both consistent with being at rest at the dynamical center (in the line of sight direction); however we can not speculate on any transverse velocities.

The centroid of the galaxy distribution appears to be closer to the Western cD, rather than to the point half way between the two cDs, which are 18 arcsec apart. Thus, we adopt the position of the AGN as the dynamical center of the cluster, as it is also corresponds to the X-ray peak.

As Figure 2 shows, the velocity distribution appears to be that of a Gaussian. A K-S test shows that the probability that the observed velocity distribution for the members of the cluster RX J1347$``$1145 and the fit Gaussian are the same exceeds 98%. There is no evidence in our sample of any deviation of the distribution of the radial velocities from a single Gaussian.

We computed the harmonic radius $`R_h`$ (e.g., Saslow 1985, Nolthenius & White 1987) for our spectroscopic cluster members as

$$R_h=D_A(\overline{z})\frac{\pi }{2}\frac{N_m(N_m1)}{2}\left(\mathrm{\Sigma }_i\mathrm{\Sigma }_{j>i}\theta _{ij}^1\right)^1,$$
(1)
where $`\theta _{ij}`$ is the angular distance between galaxies $`i`$ and $`j`$, $`N_m`$ is the number of cluster members, and $`D_A(\overline{z})`$ is the angular diameter distance at the mean cluster redshift $`\overline{z}`$. The cluster virial mass can then be estimated as

$$M_V=\frac{6\sigma ^2R_h}{G}.$$
(2)
We found an harmonic radius of $`R_h=380h^1`$ kpc and a mass $`M_V=4.4_{1.2}^{+1.4}\times 10^{14}h^1`$ M. This value is somewhat larger than that derived from the measured $`\sigma (v)`$ alone using the fits of Arnaud & Evrard (1999) to the simulations of Evrard et al. (1996) for the mass within a region whose density is 200 times the critical density, $`M=2.9\times 10^{14}h^1M`$.

The fact that most members of our sample of galaxies in RX J1347$``$1145 are red ellipticals argues that the dynamical estimate is a secure estimate of the cluster’s mass.

## 5 Comparison of the Virial Mass With Other Mass Estimators

Measurements of cluster masses deduced from X-ray emission are based on the assumption that the X-ray emitting gas is in hydrostatic equilibrium with the gravitational potential of the cluster. The constant $`T_X=9.3\pm 1.0`$ keV temperature measured from ASCA data by Schindler et al. (1997) corresponds, using the $`T_X\sigma `$ relation of Girardi et al. (1996) (as we do throughout), to a velocity dispersion of $`1320\pm 100`$ km s-1. With this $`T_X`$, Schindler et al. (1997) deduced from the ROSAT images of RX J1347$``$1145 a gas mass of $`1.0\times 10^{14}`$ h$`{}_{}{}^{1}M`$ and a total binding mass of $`2.9\times 10^{14}`$ h$`{}_{}{}^{1}M`$ within a radius of 500 $`h^1`$ kpc.

X-ray mass determinations are usually given as a mass enclosed within a specified radius. We adopt a power law $`\rho (r)r^x`$ for the spatial distribution of galaxies within a cluster to determine the conversion between the harmonic radius and the outer radius, $`r_{max}`$. Kent & Gunn (1982) found $`x3`$ is the appropriate power law to characterize the distribution of galaxies in the Coma Cluster, and we adopt that value. Ignoring a central core extending to $`r=0.05r_{max}`$, the harmonic radius is then 0.49$`r_{max}`$, and this fraction decreases for an even steeper density drop-off or as more of the core is included. Thus the area surveyed by our optical sample, with $`R_h=380h^1`$ kpc, is roughly comparable to an X-ray mass specified within 1$`h^1`$ Mpc.

RX J1347$``$1145 has a large cooling flow ($`1000`$ M/year). Its high luminosity and mass are confirmed by the recent analysis of BeppoSAX observations of this cluster by Ettori et al. (2001), who focus on the cluster gas temperature and the impact of the large cooling flow in its central region. They find, confirming Allen (2000), a gas temperature of $`14`$ keV, but not as large as the very high value of 26.4$`{}_{12.3}{}^{}{}_{}{}^{+7.8}`$ keV of Allen (1998).

The recent $`Chandra`$/ACIS RX J1347$``$1145 image (a 20 ksec exposure we extracted from the $`Chandra`$ archive) shows an extended source whose center coincides with the AGN (the Western of the two central cDs) to within 0.8 arcsec (the relative astrometry was checked using the only X-ray point source overlapping with our LRIS image, which was identified with a faint field galaxy). Taking into account all the astrometric uncertainties, the Western cD and the X-ray peak are consistent with both being at exactly the same position. The contribution of the AGN itself to the total X-ray flux is likely to be small. A more detailed analysis of these data by Allen, Schmidt & Fabian (2002) leads again to a very high X-ray temperature, $`T_X=12.0\pm 0.6`$ keV, which corresponds to $`\sigma (v)=1545\pm 50`$ km s-1.

The SZ results of Pointecouteau et al. (2001) lead to projected gas mass of $`1.9\pm 0.1\times 10^{13}`$ h-5/2 M within an angular radius of 74 arcsec (272 $`h^1`$ kpc) assuming a spherical distribution for the gas. This value is in reasonable agreement with the X-ray determination for the gas mass in this cluster.

The virial mass of RX J1347$``$1145 can be compared to the mass derived from weak lensing of Fischer & Tyson (1997) of $`1.1\pm 0.3\times 10^{15}h^1M`$ within the same 1 $`h^1`$ Mpc radius for this cluster. Assuming an isotropic velocity distribution, the weak lensing results translate into a predicted velocity dispersion of $`1500\pm 160`$ km s-1 (Fischer & Tyson 1997).

The strong lensing analysis for one of the central arcs by Sahu et al. (1998) also suggests a very high mass.222We have confirmed their redshift for the brightest arc, but failed to obtain any credible redshifts for the fainter arcs in RX J1347$``$1145. They derive the projected mass within the radius of the arcs, 38 arcsec (140 $`h^1`$ kpc), and obtain $`3.4\times 10^{14}h^1M`$, which corresponds to roughly $`\sigma =`$1300 km s-1 for a singular isothermal sphere. This mass estimate assumes that the $`z=0.81`$ arc seen in RX J1347$``$1145 is located at the Einstein radius, but no multiple images were identified in this analysis. Thus the derived strong lensing mass estimate should be considered as an upper limit.

We thus see that our measured velocity dispersion for the X-ray luminious and massive cluster of galaxies RX J1347$``$1145 is significantly smaller than that inferred from the X-ray or SZ measurements or from both weak and strong lensing studies. Table 4 summarizes the current discrepant situation, in terms of the velocity dispersion, X-ray temperature or total projected mass within some specified radius. The various measurements have been converted assuming the $`T_X\sigma `$ relation of Girardi et al. (1996); the values so derived are given in brackets in columns 3 and 4 of this table.

### 5.1 The Lensed Object at $`z=4.083`$

We attempt to use the lensed high redshift galaxy we have discovered in this cluster to constrain its mass. With the aid of simple lensing mass models (following the precepts of Kneib et al. 1996), we have identified two faint objects with the appropriate morphology that might be counterparts of this $`z=4.083`$ object: O47283\_4517 and O47300\_4517 (objects A and B respectively, marked in Fig. 1). These models assume that the $`z=4.083`$ object is multiply imaged by the cluster, but this needs to be confirmed in the future; at present we lack the necessary color and spectroscopic information for objects A and B. If we accept either of these two objects marked in Figure 1 as a possible counter-image of the $`z=4.083`$ object, a strong lensing analysis suggests a much smaller total projected mass within a 38 arcsec (140 $`h^1`$ kpc) radius centered on the Western cD compared to the previous lensing analysis. We find a mass of $`1.4\times 10^{14}`$ M for O47300\_4517 (which would correspond to $`\sigma `$ 850 km s-1 for a singular isothermal sphere) and $`1.9\times 10^{14}`$ M for O47283\_4517 ($`\sigma `$ 1000 km s-1 for a similar model). Both mass models are made of two massive cluster scale components centered respectively on each of the two central cDs. The latter case (object A) is more likely to be correct, as in the former, the observed flux ratio between the two images is different than the one predicted by the lens model. Both of these mass estimates are much smaller than the previous weak or strong lensing estimates and both are consistent with our dynamical estimate.

## 6 RX J1347$``$1145 Viewed As A Merger

We are quite confident of our measured velocity dispersion for the galaxies in RX J1347$``$1145. However, as discussed in §5, it is considerably smaller than would be expected from the X-ray, SZ, or lensing analyses of this cluster of galaxies. If we accept all published measurements of $`T_X`$, SZ decrements and lensing shears as valid, the only way we see to reconcile all the data is for RX J1347$``$1145 to be involved in a major merger in the plane of the sky (hence barely affecting the dynamical mass estimate). The probability that such a collision might occur is proportional to the solid angle subtended by a collision “primarily in the plane of the sky”, which, for relative velocity vectors $`\pm 30^{}`$ from the plane of the sky, is 50%.

A merger with this geometry could explain the origin of the various discrepant temperature measurements for this cluster. For multiple merging clumps along a line of sight, the weak lensing signal adds linearly. Hence, irrespective of whether RX J1347$``$1145 is in the process of a merger, the weak lensing mass estimate should yield the correct total mass for the cluster. The dynamical mass estimate, however, will be biased toward the mass of the larger clump, at least until the merger is complete and the galaxy orbits have virialized to the new total cluster mass. Given the substantial uncertainties on the weak lensing mass measurement of Fischer & Tyson (1997), it is just possible to reconcile the values given in Table 4 for the dynamical and weak lensing mass if the masses of the two hypothetical clumps ($`M_1`$ and $`M_2`$, with $`M_2M_1`$) are comparable, with $`0.7<M_2/M_11`$.

Turning to the X-ray measurements, the observed values of $`T_X`$ are very high compared to our dynamical galaxy velocity dispersion. It is likely that the X-ray emitting gas virializes more rapidly in the course of a merger than do the galaxies, and hence might reflect the new total mass of the cluster before the galaxy velocity dispersion would do so. To reproduce the observations with a merger hypothesis, we require equal mass clumps333We assume that the probability of a merger involving three or more equal mass clumps is so low that we can ignore such events., a merger primarily in the plane of the sky, and also a time chosen so that the X-ray gas has virialized to the new cluster total mass but the galaxies have not. Even with this somewhat contrived scenario, it is still not possible to reconcile our dynamical mass with the most recent X-ray analysis (Allen et al. 2002) unless the optical velocity dispersion has been underesimated by at least 2$`\sigma `$, while $`T_X`$ has been overestimated by 2$`\sigma `$. Many of the other recent X-ray analyses of RX J1347$``$1145 yield even higher values of $`T_X`$.

Continuing under the assumption that all published measurements are correct, we see that substantial X-ray emission from gas that has not yet virialized, presumably from shocks associated with the hypothesized merger, is still required to reproduce the X-ray emission of RX J1347$``$1145. Theoretical support for such is given by the hydrodynamic simulations of Ritchie & Thomas (2001), who demonstrate that X-ray luminosity and/or temperature may be strongly enhanced in merging clusters.

Another clue often used to detect mergers in clusters of galaxies is the presence of substructure. Among local clusters, for example, Schuecker et al. (2001) find that $``$50% of a sample of the nearest clusters of galaxies show evidence for substructure, presumably arising from recent mergers, based on their ROSAT images. Turning to dynamical studies, the Coma cluster (Colless & Dunn 1996) and the Cl0024+1654 cluster, studied in detail by Czoske et al. (2001), among many others, both show evidence of substructure. However, in the above two cases, structure is detected within the velocity (redshift) distribution which is several times larger than the upper limit we assign to that of the galaxies in RX J1347$``$1145. The lack of velocity structure in the velocity histogram of RX J1347$``$1145 strongly suggests that there is no substructure in the line of sight direction.

There is, however, some evidence for substructure in RX J1347$``$1145. The most recent X-ray map (from ACIS/$`Chandra`$, shown as an overlay in Figure 1) is to first order circularly symmetric with a probable extension to the SE and extends to a radius $``$240 arcsec, a region comparable in size to that of the optical spectroscopic sample presented here. (See Allen et al. 2002 for a more detailed discussion.) A similar SE extension is seen in the SZ decrement map of Pointecouteau et al. (2001); it is in fact the most prominent peak of the SZ map, arguing for a very high temperature for this clump as well as in the map of Komatsu et al. (2001).

## 7 Summary

Based on 47 spectroscopically confirmed cluster members, we have determined the virial mass of RX J1347$``$1145, the most luminous X-ray cluster known. This mass estimate is much lower than the most recent X-ray, SZ and lensing mass estimates. Note that the case of RX J1347$``$1145 is not unique and that a number of massive clusters are poorly understood. All methods of determining the mass of a cluster of galaxies suffer some bias, which if understood should allow us to understand cluster physics.

In order to reconcile all the published data on RX J1347$``$1145, we suggest that this cluster is undergoing a major merger primarily in the plane of the sky. We further suggest that the extremely high X-ray luminosity of this cluster does not denote an extremely high mass.

This merger assumption, although attractive, needs to be confirmed. As indicated above, in our present sample of 47 spectroscopically confirmed cluster members, there is no evidence for a merger. A detailed 3D analysis of the cluster dynamics would require a significantly larger sample of spectroscopically confirmed members of the cluster, quite difficult to obtain. If deep HST/ACS images are obtained, we will be able verify candidate counter-images and to model accurately the lensing distortion and multiple images to provide additional constraints on the mass distribution within RX J1347$``$1145.

Large scale programs to search for distant clusters of galaxies are underway using both X-ray and optical techniques to find distant clusters. We need to understand how to measure the mass of clusters accurately before the comparison of cluster samples at low and high redshift can be used to constrain cosmology with any degree of precision. The massive, X-ray luminous cluster RX J1347$``$1145 is a perfect case to try to understand how to do this.

###### Acknowledgements.

The entire Keck/LRIS user community owes a huge debt to Jerry Nelson, Gerry Smith, Bev Oke, and many other people who have worked to make the Keck Telescope and LRIS a reality. We are grateful to the W. M. Keck Foundation for the vision to fund the construction of the W. M. Keck Observatory. The authors wish to extend special thanks to those of Hawaiian ancestry on whose sacred mountain we are privileged to be guests. Without their generous hospitality, none of the observations presented herein would have been possible. The archival STIS data was retrieved from the STScI archive and was taken with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, which is operated by STScI for the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under NASA contract NAS5-26555. The archival ACIS/$`Chandra`$ data was retrieved from the $`Chandra`$ Data Archive, which is part of the $`Chandra`$ X-Ray Science Center, operated for NASA by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. We are grateful to Oliver Czoske, Phil Fisher and Piet van Dokkum for useful discussions and suggestions. JPK thanks the CNRS for support.


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# Quantum key distribution for 𝑑-level systems with generalized Bell states

## I Introduction

As far as classical computation and classical communication are concerned, binary units of memory and binary logic gates play an inevitable and natural role due to the inherent simplicity of Boolean algebra on the one hand and their compatibility with on and off states of electronic switches on the other hand. With such classical gates as NOT, AND, and OR, the simplest logical operations with which we are familiar in everyday life, and also any binary function can be implemented. They are also quite simple to design electronically. However in quantum computation and communication (see Nielson and Chuang (2000); Preskill (1998) and references therein), the main resources that have the potential of surpassing our conventional classical methods, are quantum parallelism (for massive computation), non-locality and entanglement (for communication) and uncertainty relations (e.g. for Quantum Key Distribution among other things). For utilizing these resources, two level quantum states are by no means inevitable. Only considerations of quantum hardware should decide between using 2-level or multi level states. At present a major difficulty in quantum computation is the limit on the number of qubits that can be coupled experimentally Steane (1998). Although it may be easier to construct universal gates for qubits than for qudits, the use of d-dimensional systems or qudits has the advantage that compared to qubits, fewer systems should be coupled to obtain a given dimensionality of the Hilbert space. Apart from practical considerations, it will enhance and deepen our understanding of the subject if we try to re-formulate quantum computation and communications in a dimension-free context. In view of this, various authors have tried to generalize some of the algorithms, protocols, or error correcting codes of two level quantum computation to arbitrary dimensional Hilbert spaces Gottesman (1998); Alber et al. (2000a, 2001, b); Bartlett et al. (2001); Knill (1996); Chau (1996); Bechmann-Pasquinucci and Tittel (2000); Bechmann-Pasquinucci and Peres (2000); Cerf et al. (2001). Consequently one sees in the literature that the same basic tool (i.e. a generalized gate) has been defined independently in several works.

For example the generalization of one of the basic gates of quantum computation, thats the controlled not gate appears to have been given independently by a number of authors under different names Gottesman (1998); Alber et al. (2000a, 2001); Bartlett et al. (2001); Mermin (2001); Karimipour et al. (2001). The same is also true for the generalized Hadamard gate. Specially in Alber et al. (2000a) an experimental realization of the generalized XOR gate to $`d`$-levels has been proposed, where the number $`n`$ of photons in an electromagnetic mode signifies the state $`|n,n=0,\mathrm{},d1`$ and a Kerr interaction between these photons and their fourier transform is used to induce the generalized XOR gate on the states.

In this paper we are concerned with a protocol of Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) and its generalization to states of arbitrary dimension. Quantum Cryptography (QC) which is based on very simple ideas and yet not far from real applications as the other highlights of quantum computations are (like factoring large integers) is one of the most promising areas of research in Quantum Computation and Information.

Particularly interesting is that in QC one tries to turn the apparently negative or counter-intuitive rules of quantum mechanics, which has resulted in epistemological debates in the past decades, into absolutely useful devices for engineering applications. One such concept has been the uncertainty principle, or the fact that observation or measurement perturbs the observable. This rule has been utilized in a most beautiful application in the form of BB84 protocol for QKD Bennet and Brassard (1984), where bits of a Key prepared by two legitimate parties, in the form of spin or polarization of particles in random bases, are inevitably perturbed by a non-legitimate third party. (For a review on QC including many theoretical and practical issues, see Gisin et al. (2001).)

Another nonclassical and counter-intuitive concept, has been the concept of non-locality and entanglement which has found even wider applications, to the extent that nowadays a major problem about non-locality is not how to interpret it, but how to measure it like other useful resources as energy and momentum.

The first entanglement-based protocol of QKD has been the work of Eckert Ekert (1991), which later was shown to be equivalent to the original BB84 protocol Bennet et al. (1992),( see Gisin et al. (2001) for finer details). Two other QKD protocols which have used entanglement in an essential way has been reported in Cabello (2000) and Zhang et al. (2001). The first of these uses entanglement swapping via Bell measurements to securely transfer a key and has been generalized to $`d`$-level systems in Karimipour et al. (2001). The second is based on local gate operations on a reusable EPR pair, where Alice tries to hide the secure data by entangling each bit with the EPR pair, sending the bit to Bob who can disentangle the bit and read the data. The strategy of Eve is to somehow entangle herself with the whole state of the EPR and the bit by suitable operations and find access to the data, without being revealed by Alice and Bob.

The aim of this paper is to generalize this second protocol to higher dimensional states and at the same time give a clear exposition of its basics.

For the sake of brevity, we will not go into the details of 2-level protocol. For this, the reader can either consult reference Zhang et al. (2001), or else go through the next sections and at each step set $`d=2`$.

The basic advantage of this protocol is that as we will show, not only Eve’s presence will be detected by Alice and Bob, but also her information gain is zero, compared to the 50 percent information gain in the BB84 protocol. This is true in every dimension, but as we will show Eves presence introduces a higher Quantum Bit Error Rate, in higher dimensional states, so that her presence can be detected more easily.

The structure of this paper is as follows. In section 2 we first review some known and new facts about the generalized Bell states, and the generalizations of CNOT and the Hadamard gates to qudits. In section 3 which has been divided into several subsections, we generalize the QKD scheme of Zhang et al. (2001) to $`d`$-level systems, and discuss the security of the protocol against some individual attacks. We show that the information gain of Eve is actually zero and show how the intervention of Eve introduces an error rate of $`\frac{d1}{d}`$ into the data received by Bob, and greatly enhances the chance of her detections by the legitimate parties. In all this we are concerned only with theoretical considerations and do not consider practical issues, or any rigor in proving security, all these are important but should be considered in separate works. Finally in section 4 which concludes the paper, we discuss a possible route for generalization of our results to the continuous variables. Some of the calculations which are not detailed in the main text, are collected in the appendix.

## II States, and gates for $`d`$-level systems

For qudits, a generalization of the familiar Bell states, has been introduced in Cerf (2000a, b, 1998); Alber et al. (2000a). These are a set of $`d^2`$ maximally entangled states which form an orthonormal basis for the space of two qudits. Their explicit forms are:

$$|\mathrm{\Psi }_{m,n}:=\frac{1}{\sqrt{d}}\underset{j=0}{\overset{d1}{}}\zeta ^{nj}|j,j+m$$
(1)
where $`\zeta =e^{\frac{2\pi i}{d}}`$ and $`m`$ and $`n`$ run from $`0`$ to $`d1`$. These states have the properties $`\mathrm{\Psi }_{m,n}|\mathrm{\Psi }_{m^{},n^{}}=\delta _{n,n^{}}\delta _{m,m^{}}`$ (orthonormality) and $`\text{trace}_2(|\mathrm{\Psi }_{m,n}\mathrm{\Psi }_{m,n}|)=\frac{1}{d}𝟙`$ (maximal entanglement). The following operators Cerf (2000a, b, 1998); Gottesman (1998) are also useful, since they play the analogous role of Pauli operators for qudits:

$$U_{m,n}=\underset{j=0}{\overset{d1}{}}\zeta ^{nj}|j+mj|$$
(2)
For example, given the entangled state $`|\mathrm{\Psi }_{0,0}`$, only one of the parties, say Alice, can generate any Bell state $`|\mathrm{\Psi }_{m,n}`$ by acting on $`|\mathrm{\Psi }_{0,0}`$ with $`U_{m,n}`$, i.e:

$$(𝟙𝕌_{𝕞,𝕟})|\mathbb{\Psi }_{\mathrm{𝟘},\mathrm{𝟘}}=|\mathbb{\Psi }_{𝕞,𝕟}$$
(3)
One should however note that contrary to the Pauli operators, the operators $`U_{m,n}`$ are not necessarily Hermitian.

One can also generalize the Hadamard gate which turns out to be quite useful in manipulating qudits for various applications Gottesman (1998); Alber et al. (2000a); Mermin (2001).

$$H:=\frac{1}{\sqrt{d}}\underset{i,j=0}{\overset{d1}{}}\zeta ^{ij}|ij|$$
(4)
where $`\zeta =e^{\frac{2\pi i}{d}}`$. This operator is really not new and it is known as the quantum Fourier transform when $`d=2^n`$. In that case it acts on $`n`$ qubits. Here we are assuming it to be a basic gate on one single qudit, in the same way that the ordinary Hadamard gate is a basic gate on one qubit. This operator is symmetric and unitary ($`HH^{}=𝟙`$), but not hermitian.

To generalize the NOT and the CNOT gates, we note that in the context of qudits, the NOT gate, is basically a mod-2 adder. For qudits this operator gives way to a mod-$`d`$ adder, or a Right-Shift gate,Gottesman (1998); Alber et al. (2000a); Bartlett et al. (2001); Mermin (2001); Karimipour et al. (2001)

$`R|j=|j+1\text{mod}`$ $`d`$ (5)
$`R^1|jL|j=|j1\text{mod}`$ $`d,`$ (6)
where $`L`$ has been used to denote a left shift. Note that $`R^d=𝟙`$, compared to $`NOT^2=𝟙`$.

For every unitary operator $`U`$ the controlled gate $`U_c`$ which acts on the second qudit conditioned on the first qudit is naturally defined as follows:

$$U_c(|i|j)=|iU^i|j$$
(7)
Note the difference with the qubit case. In the qubit case a controlled operator acts only if the value of the first bit is 1, here it acts $`i`$ times if the value of the first qudit is $`i`$. (Sometimes it is said that a controlled operator is like an  if statement in classical computation Nielson and Chuang (2000). If we take this statement literally, then a controlled operation for $`d`$-level states acts like a loop.) In particular the controlled shift gates which play the role of CNOT gate, act as follows:

$$R_c|i,j=|i,j+iL_c|i,j=|i,ji$$
(8)
Every function $`f`$ from $`\{0,1,\mathrm{},d1\}^n\{0,1,\mathrm{},d1\}^m`$ is made reversible by the definition $`f_r(𝐱,𝐲)=(𝐱,f(𝐱)+𝐲)`$ where all additions are performed mod d. In quantum circuits such a function is implemented by a unitary operator $`U_f|𝐱,𝐲:=|𝐱,f(𝐱)+𝐲`$ where $`𝐱\{0,1,\mathrm{},d1\}^n`$ and $`𝐲\{0,1,\mathrm{},d1\}^m`$. Note that here and in all that follows addition of multi dits is performed dit-wise and mod $`d`$.

Quite analogously to the q-bits, the Hadamard and the Controlled Shift gates can generate all the Bell states $`\{|\mathrm{\Psi }_{m,n}\}`$ from the computational basis states $`\{|m,n\}`$ Alber et al. (2000a):

$$R_c(H𝟙)|𝕟,𝕞=|\mathbb{\Psi }_{𝕞,𝕟}$$
(9)
Many other properties of these gates are simply carried over from the case of q-bits to the general case with appropriate modifications. For example one can check the validity of the circuit identity in fig. (1).

## III An entanglement-based protocol of QKD for $`d`$-level states

In this section we generalize an entanglement-based protocol of quantum Key Distribution first put forward in Zhang et al. (2001) to $`d`$-level states and perform further analysis of the method.

### III.1 QKD in the absence of Eve

The starting point of this protocol is the sharing of a Bell state $`|\mathrm{\Psi }_{00}=\frac{1}{\sqrt{d}}_{j=0}^{d1}|j,j_{a,b}`$ by Alice and Bob. The qudit to be sent is denoted by $`q`$, which is encoded as a basis state $`|q_k`$. Throughout the paper we use the subscripts $`a,b,k`$ and $`e`$ for Alice, Bob, key and Eve respectively. The basic idea, neglecting considerations of Eve’s attack for now, is that Alice performs a controlled-right shift on $`|q_k`$ and thus entangles this qudit to the the previously shared Bell state, producing the state

$$|\mathrm{\Phi }=\frac{1}{\sqrt{d}}\underset{j=0}{\overset{d1}{}}|j,j,q+j_{a,b,k}.$$
(10)
She then sends the qudit to Bob. By this operation she is hiding the qudit $`q`$ in a completely mixed state, since $`\rho _k:=\text{tr}_{a,b}|\mathrm{\Phi }|\mathrm{\Phi }|=\frac{1}{d}𝟙_𝕜`$. At the destination, Bob performs a controlled-left shift on the qudit and disentangles it from the Bell state, hence revealing the value of $`q`$ with certainty.

Note that in contrast with the BB84 protocol, here the key is not determined a posteriori and randomly, hence a larger transfer rate is possible.

### III.2 An individual attack by Eve

A possible conceivable attack by Eve(e) is that she entangles her state to those of Alice, Bob and the intercepted key so that after Bob’s measurement of the qudit, she can obtain partial information about the qudit. The best way to describe and visualize the protocol is to refer to fig. (2), where the qudits are drawn as lines and states at each stage are shown explicitly.

The strategy that Eve follows should be described separately for the first qudit and the rest of the qudits. For the first qudit, she performs no measurement and proceeds so that her qudit gets entangled with the Bell state of Alice and Bob at the end of the process. For this she uses a controlled right-shift on her qudit conditioned on the value of the first qudit being sent (see fig. (2)). The states at various stages are as follows, where in each ket the qudits refer respectively from left to right to Alice(a), Bob(b), the key(k) and Eve(e):

$`|\mathrm{\Phi }_0`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{\sqrt{d}}}{\displaystyle \underset{j=0}{\overset{d1}{}}}|j,j,q_1,0_{a,b,k,e}`$ (11)
$`|\mathrm{\Phi }_1`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{\sqrt{d}}}{\displaystyle \underset{j=0}{\overset{d1}{}}}|j,j,q_1+j,0_{a,b,k,e}`$ (12)
$`|\mathrm{\Phi }_2`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{\sqrt{d}}}{\displaystyle \underset{j=0}{\overset{d1}{}}}|j,j,q_1+j,q_1+j_{a,b,k,e}`$ (13)
Note that choice of $`|0`$ for Eve’s original state is quite arbitrary. Her strategy works with any other choice. In the last stage when Bob performs his Left-Shift gate, he produces the state

$$|\mathrm{\Phi }_3=\frac{1}{\sqrt{d}}\underset{j=0}{\overset{d1}{}}|j,j,q_1,q_1+j_{a,b,k,e}$$
(14)
and thus disentangles the key and measures correctly the value of its first dit $`q_1`$. However his shared Bell state with Alice has now been left entangled with the state of Eve, which is used again by Alice and Bob (unaware of the entanglement with Eve) for the next round (i.e; for sending the dit $`q_2`$ of the key). Thus for the next round the state that Alice and Bob will start with is:

$$|\mathrm{\Psi }_0=\frac{1}{\sqrt{d}}\underset{j=0}{\overset{d1}{}}|j,j,q_2,q_1+j_{a,b,k,e}$$
(15)
Note that we are assuming that Alice and Bob do not have access to a reservoir of Bell states, the later being supposedly expensive. Thus they are using one Bell state for sending the whole key or at least a considerable fraction of it.

It is important to note that Eve modifies her strategy for the next dits, by first performing a left-shift, measuring her qudit and then performing a right-shift on her qudit. The rest of the process is like that for the first qudit (see fig. (3)). The various states in different stages shown in the figure are as follows:

$`|\mathrm{\Psi }_0`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{\sqrt{d}}}{\displaystyle \underset{j=0}{\overset{d1}{}}}|j,j,q_2,j+q_1_{a,b,k,e}`$ (16)
$`|\mathrm{\Psi }_1`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{\sqrt{d}}}{\displaystyle \underset{j=0}{\overset{d1}{}}}|j,j,q_2+j,j+q_1_{a,b,k,e}`$ (17)
$`|\mathrm{\Psi }_2`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{\sqrt{d}}}{\displaystyle \underset{j=0}{\overset{d1}{}}}|j,j,q_2+j,q_1q_2_{a,b,k,e}`$ (18)
At this stage Eve who has disentangled her qudit from the rest of the state measures her own qudit to be $`q_1q_2`$. She then performs the controlled right shift on her qudit to restore the original state $`|\mathrm{\Psi }_1`$. At the destination Bob again proceeds as before, performs his left shift and measures the value of $`q_2`$, leaving the state of Alice, Eve and his own state, in an entangled state ready for use in the next round.

In this way Eve intercepts the qudits

$$q_1q_2,q_1q_3,q_1q_4,\mathrm{}$$

from which she can infer all the sequence by checking $`d`$ possible values for $`q_1`$.

Note that for each qudit, Eve is effectively doing an intercept-recent strategy, however she does not intercept the value of the qudit (say $`q_2`$) sent by Alice, but she measures a value $`q_2q_1`$, where $`q_1`$ is the value of the first sent qudit which has been intercepted in an earlier stage.

### III.3 Protection against Eve’s intervention

To protect this protocol against this kind of attack, Alice and Bob proceed as follows: Before sending each of the qudits, Alice and Bob act on their shared Bell state by the Hadamard gates $`H`$ and $`H^{}`$, respectively. The key point is that a Bell state $`|\psi _{0,0}`$ disentangled from the outside world is unchanged under this operation, while a state entangled with outside is not:

$$(HH^{})|\mathrm{\Psi }_{0,0}=|\mathrm{\Psi }_{0,0}.$$
(19)
In the absence of intervention of Eve, this extra operation has no effect on the protocol.

In fact the shared Bell state is unchanged under more general operators of the form $`UU^{}`$, where $`U`$ is any unitary operator. We will investigate this possibility in appendix B.

It is clear from fig. (2), that for the first qudit nothing changes. However for the second qudit and other qudits, essential changes occur in the intermediate states in the process. As we will see, in this way Alice and Bob can prevent Eve from getting any useful information. The entangled state of Alice, Bob and Eve remained from the first round is

$$|\chi =\frac{1}{\sqrt{d}}\underset{j=0}{\overset{d1}{}}|j,j,j+q_1_{a,b,e}$$
(20)
When Alice and Bob perform their Hadamard gates on their qudits, this state changes to

$$|\stackrel{~}{\chi }=\frac{1}{\sqrt{d}}\underset{i,j,k=0}{\overset{d1}{}}H_{i,j}H_{k,j}^{}|i,k,j+q_1_{a,b,e}$$
(21)
Thus the second round of the protocol after Alice inserts the second dit of the key, starts with the state

$$|\widehat{\mathrm{\Psi }_0}=\frac{1}{\sqrt{d}}\underset{i,j,k=0}{\overset{d1}{}}H_{i,j}H_{k,j}^{}|i,k,q_2,j+q_1_{a,b,k,e}$$
(22)
The state $`|\widehat{\mathrm{\Psi }_1}`$ which results after Alice’s controlled $`R`$ operation will be:

$$|\widehat{\mathrm{\Psi }_1}=\frac{1}{\sqrt{d}}\underset{i,j,k=0}{\overset{d1}{}}H_{i,j}H_{k,j}^{}|i,k,i+q_2,j+q_1_{a,b,k,e}$$
(23)
The qudit is now sent to Bob. We will show in appendix A, that this new state has no information for Eve. In fact we will show that, the density matrix of her system and the qudit will be

$$\rho _{k,e}=\frac{1}{d^2}𝟙_𝕜𝟙_𝕖$$
(24)
Therefore under any unitary operation on her qudit and the sent qudit whether it be the controlled $`L`$ gate used for the first round or a more complex cleverly chosen operator, she will not be able to get useful information from the intercepted data. More generally it is hardly possible for Eve that by a quantum operation derived from suitable interactions with her ancillas, can derive any useful information from this density matrix.

### III.4 The information gain of Eve

The above situation is analogous to the case of BB84 protocol, where with respect to any basis chosen by Eve, the density matrix of the qubits intercepted by Eve are identity matrices. However there is one major difference in that in the BB84 protocol and its variations and generalizations to higher dimensional states, the protocol ends up with a public announcement of the bases of Alice and Bob, from which Eve finds that she has intercepted a fraction of the qubits or qudits correctly. Therefore Eve finds partial information about the key and only her revealing by Alice and Bob saves those protocols. Here we will show that the information gain of Eve is actually zero and she obtains no information at all about the key. The mean information gain per bit of Eve $`I`$, is the difference between two relative entropies and is interpreted as the percentage of bits which are saved when Eve wants to write the data of Alice from her own intercepted data Gisin et al. (2001). We have:

$$I=H_{a\text{ priori}}H_{a\text{ posterieri}}$$
(25)
Assuming that Alice sends the qudits uniformly, we have: $`H_{a\text{priori}}=\mathrm{log}_2d`$. We also have:

$$H_{a\text{ posterieri}}=\underset{r}{}p(r)p(i|r)\mathrm{log}_2p(i|r)$$
(26)
where $`p(r)`$ is the probability that Eve receives a dit value of $`r`$ and $`p(i|r)`$ is the a posterieri probability that Alice has sent a dit value of $`i`$ given that Eve has received a dit value of $`r`$. The later can be easily calculated from Bayes’s formula

$$p(i|r)=\frac{p(i)p(r|i)}{p(i)p(r|i)}$$
(27)
Since Alice is assumed to send the dits uniformly, we have $`p(i)=\frac{1}{d}`$ and since the density matrix of Eve is unity, $`p(r|i)=\frac{1}{d}`$, thus we find: $`p(i|r)=\frac{1}{d}`$. Inserting all this in (26) we find that $`H_{a\text{ posterieri}}=\mathrm{log}_2d=H_{a\text{ priori}}`$ and hence zero information gain for Eve. This is a very interesting property of this protocol compared with the BB84 protocol and its variations or generalizations to higher dimensional systems where the information gain of the Eve is non-zero. In fact in the BB84 protocol the 50 percent information gain is due to those occasions where the basis of Eve happens to be the same as the publicly announced bases of Alice and Bob. Here there is no public announcement of any kind and so all the dits that Eve measures are really worthless at the end of the protocol.

### III.5 Detection of Eve

At this stage we want to show how Alice and Bob can infer the presence of Eve from comparison of their data. Although by no unitary operation on her system and the key, she can gain information from the key, she may want to use a clever operation to reduce as much as possible the Quantum Bit Error Rate (QBER) introduced into the data received by Bob, and hence her chance of being detected. The QBER depends on her choice of the operation. Suppose that she performs the same sequence of (Controlled $`R`$ \+ measurement + controlled $`L`$ ) operations that she was doing in her successful attacks. It is straightforward to see that with the preservation of Hadamard gates, the new state that reaches Bob, provided that the qudits $`q_1`$ and $`q_2`$ have been sent and Eve has measured a qudit value of $`q`$ in the second round is:

$`|\mathrm{\Phi }_3={\displaystyle \underset{i,k=0}{\overset{d1}{}}}`$ $`H_{i,i+q_2q_1+q}H_{k,i+q_2q_1+q}^{}`$ (28)
$`|i,k,i+q_2,q_{a,b,k,e}`$
After Bob performs his controlled-$`L`$ operation, the final state ready for measurement will be:

$`|\mathrm{\Phi }_4={\displaystyle \underset{i,k=0}{\overset{d1}{}}}`$ $`H_{i,i+q_2q_1+q}H_{k,i+q_2q_1+q}^{}`$ (29)
$`|i,k,i+q_2k,i+q+q_2`$
It is again a simple computation to find the density matrix corresponding to the Key space from this state, which turns out to be

$$\rho _k:=\text{tr}_{a,b,e}|\mathrm{\Phi }_4\mathrm{\Phi }_4|=\frac{1}{d}𝟙_𝕜.$$
(30)
This means that Bob measures all the values of the key qudit with equal probability and his chance of getting the correct qudit is $`\frac{1}{d}`$. Hence the QBER introduced into the data by Eve’s intervention is $`\frac{d1}{d}`$.

## IV Discussions

We have studied a protocol of quantum key distribution for $`d`$-level systems based on shared entanglement of a reusable Bell state and have shown that in this protocol, the information gain of Eve is zero and the Quantum Bit Error Rate (QBER) introduced by her interception into the data received by Bob is $`\frac{d1}{d}`$. The situation is similar to the generalizations of the BB84 protocol to higher dimensional states Bechmann-Pasquinucci and Tittel (2000); Bechmann-Pasquinucci and Peres (2000); Cerf et al. (2001) in which the larger the number of states, the larger is the QBER, which in turn may be larger than any noise already present in the channel. This later fact seems to be an advantage in terms of the security of the key distribution scheme Gottesman and Lo (2001). These results are based only on the analysis of a direct individual attack by Eve. It may be interesting to study further types of attacks and to establish theoretical bounds to the information gain and the QBER in this protocol or go through a general analysis along the lines that have been followed for the BB84 protocol in Gottesman and Lo (2001); Lo (2001); Lo et al. (2000) and to see if this protocol has an unconditional security or not.

Another route for extending our results is to consider the continuous variables. There has been a lot of interest toward quantum computation and quantum communication with continuous variables in the past couple of years (see Braunstein (1998); Pati et al. (2000) and references therein), where instead of bits, information may be stored in infinite dimensional states like position or momentum of a particle or amplitude of an electromagnetic field. Part of this interest derives from the fact that it has been shown that a combination of optical devices like phase shifters and beam splitters may be sufficient to act as a set of universal gates. Therefore many algorithms and protocols have been re-studied for continuous variables Pati et al. (2000). Now that we have a QKD protocol for $`d`$-level states for any $`d`$, a natural question arises whether it is possible to go to a proper continuous limit and define the above process for continuous variables. We can simply replace the discrete states $`|j`$ with continuous variables $`|x,\mathrm{}<x<\mathrm{}`$ and $`\zeta =e^{\frac{2\pi i}{d}}`$ with $`\zeta =e^{2\pi i}`$ in all the formulas for states and operators to adapt the protocol to the continuous variables. In all stages we need also change summations to integrations:

$$\frac{1}{\sqrt{d}}\underset{0}{\overset{d1}{}}\frac{1}{\sqrt{2\pi }}_{\mathrm{}}^+\mathrm{}𝑑x$$
(31)
Following these we will find the generalized Bell states in the continuous case:

$$|\mathrm{\Psi }_{\alpha ,\beta }=\frac{1}{\sqrt{2\pi }}e^{i\beta x}|x,x+\alpha 𝑑x$$
(32)
where $`\alpha `$ and $`\beta `$ are continuous labels ranging from $`\mathrm{}`$ to $`+\mathrm{}`$ and $`|x`$ is a continuous state like position and all the integrals now and hereafter are over the real line. These states are normalized in the sense that

$$\mathrm{\Psi }_{\alpha ,\beta }|\mathrm{\Psi }_{\alpha ^{},\beta ^{}}=\delta (\alpha \alpha ^{})\delta (\beta \beta ^{})$$
(33)
and are maximally entangled in the sense that

$$\text{trace}_2(|\mathrm{\Psi }_{\alpha ,\beta }\mathrm{\Psi }_{\alpha ,\beta }|)=\frac{1}{2\pi }_{\mathrm{}}^+\mathrm{}|xx|𝑑x.$$

The generalization of the Hadamard operator is nothing but the Fourier transform operator which has already been used in Pati et al. (2000) to generalize the Grover algorithm Grover (1997) to continuous domain.

$$H|x=\frac{1}{\sqrt{2\pi }}e^{ixy}|y𝑑y$$
(34)
The controlled right shift operator now takes the form

$$R_c|x,y=|x,x+y$$
(35)
which as an operator takes the particularly simple form

$$R_c=e^{iXP}$$
(36)
This operator has also appeared already in Alber et al. (2000a). To define the form of the protocol for the continuous variables, it is enough to modify all the states in various stages of the protocol as stated above. It may then be practically more feasible to really implement this protocol by optical means.

## Appendix A

In this appendix we show that Eve can not counteract the action of the Hadamard gates by replacing her controlled shift gate by any other unitary operator or even by any quantum operation. Therefore any measurement of her system or the intercepted qudit will reveal nothing to her.

When Eve intercepts the sent qudit, she will have access to the last two parts of the following state:

$$|\mathrm{\Psi }_2=\frac{1}{\sqrt{d}}\underset{i,j,k=0}{\overset{d1}{}}H_{i,j}H_{k,j}^{}|i,k,i+q_2,j+q_1_{a,b,k,e}$$
(37)
One can now find the density matrix of Eve and the sent qudit from $`\rho _{k,e}=\text{tr}_{a,b}(|\mathrm{\Psi }_2\mathrm{\Psi }_2|)`$. Using the primed dummy indices like $`i^{},j^{}\mathrm{}`$ for the bra state $`\mathrm{\Psi }_2|`$ we have:

$`\rho _{k,e}={\displaystyle \frac{1}{d}}{\displaystyle }`$ $`H_{ij}H_{kj}^{}H_{i^{}j^{}}^{}H_{k^{}j^{}}\delta _{ii^{}}\delta _{kk^{}}`$ (38)
$`|i+q_2,j+q_1i^{}+q_2,j^{}+q_1|`$
Summing over $`i^{},k^{}`$ we find:

$`\rho _{k,e}={\displaystyle \frac{1}{d}}{\displaystyle }`$ $`H_{ij}H_{kj}^{}H_{ij^{}}^{}H_{kj^{}}`$ (39)
$`|i+q_2,j+q_1i+q_2,j^{}+q_1|`$
Summing over $`k`$ and using the symmetry and unitarity of $`H`$ ($`H_{kj}^{}H_{kj^{}}=\delta _{jj^{}}`$) and then summing over $`j^{}`$ we obtain:

$$\rho _{k,e}=\frac{1}{d}H_{ij}H_{ij}^{}|i+q_2,j+q_1i+q_2,j+q_1|$$
(40)
Now we use the definition of $`H_{ij}:=\frac{1}{\sqrt{d}}\zeta ^{ij}`$, to set $`H_{ij}H_{ij}^{}=\frac{1}{d}`$. The last step is done by a relabelling of the indices $`i+q_2`$ and $`j+q_1`$ to end with

$$\rho _{k,e}=\frac{1}{d^2}\underset{l,m}{}|l,ml,m|=\frac{1}{d^2}𝟙_𝕜𝟙_𝕖$$
(41)
## Appendix B

In this appendix we investigate the consequences of replacing the Hadamard gates with an arbitrary unitary gate $`U`$. As stated in the text, the Bell state $`|\mathrm{\Psi }_{0,0}`$ is invariant under the action of $`UU^{}`$ for any unitary operator. Suppose that Alice or Bob use an operator $`U`$ instead of $`H`$, either deliberately or else by unwanted errors in their gates. To find the information gain of Eve, we need to calculate as in appendix A, the density matrix $`\rho _{k,e}=\text{tr}_{a,b}(|\mathrm{\Xi }_2\mathrm{\Xi }_2|)`$, where $`|\mathrm{\Xi }_2`$ is

$$|\mathrm{\Xi }_2=\frac{1}{\sqrt{d}}\underset{i,j,k=0}{\overset{d1}{}}U_{i,j}U_{k,j}^{}|i,k,i+q_2,j+q_1_{a,b,q,e}$$
(42)
The calculations are similar to appendix A, and the final result is:

$$\rho _{k,e}=\frac{1}{d}\underset{i,j=0}{\overset{d1}{}}|U_{i,j}|^2|i+q_2,j+q_1_{k,e}i+q_2,j+q_1|$$
(43)
Thus if the operator $`U`$ shares only the property with the Hadamard gate that $`|U_{i,j}|^2=\frac{1}{d}`$, then again we will have $`\rho _{k,e}=\frac{1}{d^2}𝟙_𝕜𝟙_𝕖`$ and the information gain of Eve reduces to zero. In this sense the protocol is somehow robust against a large number of errors in the Hadamard gates.

Secondly we can repeat the calculation that lead to the final density matrix of the key dits in the hands of Bob, eq. (30), to determine the new QBER. This time we have

$`|\mathrm{\Xi }_4={\displaystyle \underset{i,k=0}{\overset{d1}{}}}`$ $`U_{i,i+q_2q_1+q}U_{k,i+q_2q_1+q}^{}`$ (44)
$`|i,k,i+q_2k,i+q+q_2`$
It is again a simple computation to find the density matrix corresponding to the Key space from this state:

$`\rho _k`$ $`:=`$ $`\text{tr}_{a,b,e}|\mathrm{\Xi }_4\mathrm{\Xi }_4|`$ (45)
$`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{d}}{\displaystyle \underset{i,k}{}}|U_{i,i+q_2q_1+q}|^2|U_{k,i+q_2q_1+q}|^2`$
$`|i+q_2k_ki+q_2k|`$
Again if for $`|U_{i,j}|^2=\frac{1}{d}`$, we will obtain a completely mixed matrix $`\frac{1}{d}𝟙_𝕜`$, and the same QBER as with the Hadamard gates.


text:
# The Inflaton Field as Self-Interacting Dark Matter in the Braneworld Scenario

\[

## Abstract

A unified model is developed within the context of the braneworld paradigm, where a single scalar field can act as both the inflaton field in the very early universe and also as strong, self–interacting dark matter in the post–inflationary universe. Reheating proceeds due to the overproduction and subsequent evaporation of primordial black holes. Observational constraints, most notably from gravitational waves, are satisfied if the probability of PBH formation is sufficiently high.

\]

The recent advances in astronomical observations are casting new light on old problems in cosmology. Two of the most fundamental questions of interest today are: (i) the origin of the scalar inflaton field responsible for the accelerated, inflationary expansion of the very early universe and: (ii) the nature of dark matter in the universe. Both questions have important implications for our understanding of large–scale structure formation .

New ideas about inflationary cosmology are now emerging with the development of the braneworld scenario, where our observable universe is viewed as a domain wall embedded within a higher–dimensional space . A striking feature of this scenario is the presence of a quadratic density term in the Friedmann equation . Under quite general conditions, this term allows steep scalar field potentials to support an inflationary epoch that would otherwise be impossible in standard cosmology .

An attractive feature of steep inflationary models is that the universe can be naturally reheated by the process of gravitational particle production, where particles are produced quantum mechanically at the end of inflation due to the time–variation of the gravitational field . If the inflaton is stable and is able to survive through to the present epoch, it may represent a possible candidate for the cosmological constant or quintessence field  that has been proposed to account for the high redshift type Ia supernova data .

On the other hand, Barshay and Kreyerhoff first proposed that a metastable inflaton field could be identified with the present–day cold dark matter (CDM) . By employing renormalization–group techniques to calculate radiative corrections to a scalar field potential involving a quartic self–interaction , these authors found that inflation could proceed in the vicinity of the potential’s maximum and would end as the field reached a well–defined minimum. Fluctuations about this minimum result in massive inflaton quanta with an energy density that is sufficiently high that they can provide a significant fraction of the CDM at the present epoch.

In this paper, we consider whether the inflaton field can be identified with the cold dark matter in the universe , within the specific context of the braneworld scenario and the so–called ‘strong, self–interacting scalar field dark matter’ (SFDM) hypothesis that has recently been developed by two of the authors  (see also). The key idea of the SFDM scenario is that the dark matter responsible for structure formation in the universe is a real scalar field, $`\mathrm{\Phi }`$, that is minimally coupled to Einstein gravity and has self-interactions parametrized by a potential energy of the form

$$V(\mathrm{\Phi })=V_0\left[\mathrm{cosh}(\alpha \sqrt{\kappa _0}\mathrm{\Phi })1\right],$$
(1)
where $`V_0`$ and $`\alpha `$ are the only two free parameters of the model, $`\kappa _0=8\pi G`$ and we employ natural units such that $`\mathrm{}=c=1`$. The effective mass of the scalar field is given by $`m_\mathrm{\Phi }^2=\kappa _0V_0\alpha ^2`$. A minimal coupling to gravity avoids the strong restrictions imposed by the equivalence principle on scales of the order of the solar system.

The advantage of the SFDM model is that it is insensitive to initial conditions and the field behaves as CDM once it begins to oscillate around the minimum of its potential. In this case, it can be shown  that the SFDM model is able to reproduce all the successes of the standard $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$CDM model above galactic scales. Furthermore, it predicts a sharp cut-off in the mass power spectrum due to its quadratic nature, thus explaining the observed dearth of dwarf galaxies, in contrast with the excess predicted by high resolution N-body simulations with standard CDM . The strong self-interaction of the scalar field results in the formation of solitonic objects called ‘oscillatons’, which have a mass of the order of a galaxy but do not exhibit the cusp density profiles characteristic of standard CDM . The best–fit model to the cosmological data can be deduced from the current densities of dark matter and radiation in the universe and from the cut–off in the mass power spectrum that constrains the number of dwarf galaxies in clusters. The favoured values for the two free parameters of the potential (1) are found to be :

$`\alpha `$ $``$ $`20.28,`$ (2)
$`V_0`$ $``$ $`(3\times 10^{27}M_4)^4,`$ (3)
where $`M_4G^{1/2}10^5`$g is the four–dimensional Planck mass. This implies that the effective mass of the scalar field should be $`m_\mathrm{\Phi }9.1\times 10^{52}M_4=1.1\times 10^{23}`$ eV.

An important feature of the potential (1) is that it is renormalizable and exactly quantizable, although it is presently unknown whether it originates from a fundamental quantum field theory . Furthermore, the scattering cross section by mass of the scalar particles, $`\sigma _{22}/m_\mathrm{\Phi }`$, can be constrained from numerical simulations of self-interacting dark matter that avoid high-density dark matter halos . This effectively constrains the renormalization scale, $`\mathrm{\Lambda }_\mathrm{\Phi }`$, of the potential to be of the order of the Planck mass, $`\mathrm{\Lambda }_\mathrm{\Phi }1.93M_4=2.15\times 10^{19}`$ GeV . Such a value is indicative of a possible fundamental origin for the scalar field, which in turn suggests that the strongly, self–interacting scalar field dark matter may also have been present during the inflationary epoch . However, we do not perform quantum field theoretic or semi–classical calculations in this paper.

In view of the high energy scales associated with the very early universe, it is natural to assume that the scalar field was initially displaced from its global minimum, $`\kappa _0\alpha ^2\mathrm{\Phi }^21`$. In this limit, the potential is well approximated by an exponential function, but from Eq. (2), the self–coupling is too large to support inflationary expansion in a standard cosmological setting. On the other hand, such a potential can drive inflation successfully within the braneworld scenario . This follows because the Friedmann equation is modified due to the motion of our observable universe (the domain wall) through the higher–dimensional ‘bulk’ spacetime. In particular, in the second Randall–Sundrum scenario , the Friedmann equation is given by

$$H^2=\frac{\kappa _0}{3}\rho \left(1+\frac{\rho }{2\lambda _b}\right)$$
(4)
when appropriate conditions are satisfied, where $`H\dot{a}/a`$ is the Hubble parameter, $`a`$ is the scale factor of the universe, $`\rho `$ is the energy–density of the inflaton field (assumed to be confined to the brane) and $`\lambda _b`$ is the tension of the brane. Conventional Einstein gravity is recovered in four dimensions when the energy density is significantly lower than the brane tension, $`\rho \lambda _b`$. However, at high energies, the quadratic correction implies that the expansion rate of the brane is enhanced relative to what it would be in a universe governed by Einstein gravity . Thus, the friction acting on the scalar field is increased and inflation driven by a potential of the form (1) is then possible at sufficiently high energies even though $`\alpha ^21`$.

Braneworld inflation driven by such a potential has been studied in Refs. . Recalling the main results, the COBE normalization of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) power spectrum  relates the value of the brane tension to the scalar field self–coupling such that $`\lambda _b^{1/4}\alpha ^{3/2}10^{15}`$ GeV. For the favoured value of the latter, as implied by Eq. (2), we deduce that

$$\lambda _b\left(6\times 10^7M_4\right)^4=2.88\times 10^{51}\mathrm{GeV}^4.$$
(5)
For these given values of $`\{\alpha ,\lambda _b\}`$, the magnitude of the potential energy at the end of inflation is $`V_{\mathrm{end}}(3.2\times 10^6M_4)^4=2.33\times 10^{54}\mathrm{GeV}^4`$ and this implies that $`\mathrm{\Phi }_{\mathrm{end}}2M_4`$, thus justifying the exponential approximation to the potential (1) during the inflationary era. In comparison with the canonical $`V=\lambda \mathrm{\Phi }^4`$ potential, where COBE normalization implies the dimensionless parameter $`\lambda 10^{13}`$ should be very small, our model requires the small dimensionful number for $`V_0`$ given in Eq. (3), although this constraint does not arise from the CMB. Furthermore, the magnitude of the potential $`N`$ $`e`$–foldings before the end of inflation is $`V_N(N+1)V_{\mathrm{end}}`$, implying that the initial value of the scalar field is closer to $`\mathrm{\Phi }_{\mathrm{end}}`$ than in the quartic model.

Given the COBE normalization , the spectral index of the scalar fluctuation spectrum is determined to be

$$n=1\frac{4}{N+1}=0.94,$$
(6)
where $`N70`$ is the number of e-foldings that elapse between the epoch that a given, observable mode crosses the Hubble radius during inflation and the end of the inflationary epoch. Remarkably, the tilt of the scalar perturbation spectrum in this scenario is uniquely determined by the number of e–foldings and is independent of the parameters in the potential (1). A spectrum with a tilt of this magnitude away from scale–invariance is presently favoured by analyses of the CMB power spectrum . Furthermore, the amplitude of the primordial gravitational wave spectrum, $`A_T`$, relative to that of the density perturbations, $`A_S`$, can be estimated as

$$r=4\pi \frac{A_T^2}{A_S^2}0.4$$
(7)
implying after COBE normalization that $`A_T^21.7\times 10^{10}`$. This ratio is also independent of the model’s parameters and is within the projected sensitivity of the Planck satellite. It provides a potentially powerful test of the model.

Inflation ends when the quadratic corrections to the Friedmann equation (4) become negligible. Due to the steep nature of its potential, the inflaton then behaves as a massless field, where its energy density redshifts as $`\rho _\mathrm{\Phi }a^6`$. This is important, because after the tensor modes have re–entered the Hubble radius, the evolution of the spectral gravity wave energy density, $`\stackrel{~}{\rho }_g`$, is sensitive to the effective equation of state in the post–inflationary universe***The equation of state is assumed to be of the form $`p=\omega \rho `$, where $`\omega `$ is a constant barotropic index. For a massless scalar field, $`\omega =1`$. . It is enhanced (reduced) on shorter scales if $`\omega >1/3`$ $`(\omega <1/3)`$. In general, the bound on the gravitational waves imposed by successful nucleosynthesis, $`\rho _g0.2\rho _{\mathrm{rad}}`$, must not be violated and this results in an upper limit on the duration of the kinetic energy dominated phase .

Sahni, Sami and Souradeep  assume that the evolution of the short wavelenth gravitational waves is similar to that of conventional cosmology. They then conclude that the gravitational wave energy density begins to dominate the scalar field when the universe has expanded by a factor of $`A_T^110^5`$ and, consequently, the universe must become radiation dominated before the temperature has fallen by this factor. Unfortunately, for the model under consideration, the thermalized temperature of the radiation produced from gravitational particle production at the end of inflation is given by $`T_{\mathrm{end}}2\times 10^9`$ GeV, whereas the temperature at the epoch when this radiation dominates the scalar field is $`T_{\mathrm{eq}}(12)`$ GeV , corresponding to a redshift of $`10^9`$.

An alternative mechanism for reheating the universe is therefore required that reduces the duration of the kinetic energy dominated phase. One possibility is through the overproduction of primordial black holes (PBHs) that subsequently decay into relativistic particles via Hawking evaporation . In the above inflationary model, a fraction, $`\beta _0`$, of the energy density of the universe collapses into PBHs due to the density fluctuations that re–enter the Hubble radius immediately after the universe has ceased to accelerate. The PBHs form with a mass of the order of the horizon mass at this time  and this is given by $`M_{\mathrm{pbh}}M_4^2H_{\mathrm{end}}^1`$, where the Hubble radius at the end of inflation, $`H_{\mathrm{end}}^1`$, is estimated from the Friedmann equation (4) under the assumption that $`\rho _{\mathrm{end}}V_{\mathrm{end}}2\alpha ^2\lambda _b`$. Eq. (5) then implies that $`M_{\mathrm{pbh}}10^9M_4`$ and the lifetime of PBHs with this mass is $`t_{\mathrm{evap}}(M_{\mathrm{pbh}}/M_4)^3t_P10^{16}`$s, where $`t_P`$ is the Planck time. This is sufficiently short that constraints on PBH evaporations from primordial nucleosynthesis are satisfied .

Once formed, the PBHs behave as a pressureless fluid and their energy density redshifts as $`\rho _{\mathrm{pbh}}a^3`$. Thus, they are able to dominate the (massless) scalar field before they evaporate if

$$\frac{\beta _0}{1\beta _0}>\left(\frac{M_{\mathrm{pbh}}}{M_4}\right)^210^{18}$$
(8)
and this change in the effective equation of state occurs after the universe has expanded by a factor

$$\frac{\beta _0}{1\beta _0}\left(\frac{a_{\mathrm{end}}}{a_{\mathrm{dom}}}\right)^3,$$
(9)
where $`a_{\mathrm{dom}}`$ denotes the scale factor at the onset of PBH domination. It follows, therefore, that the PBHs dominate the scalar field before the backreaction of the gravitational waves becomes significant if the initial mass fraction satisfies $`\beta _0>10^{15}`$. This is consistent with Eq. (8) and the constraint arising from the integrated gravitational wave energy density is therefore alleviated since the PBH equation of state, $`\omega =0`$, is ‘softer’ than that of radiation.

A stronger, and more reliable, constraint on the initial PBH fraction can be imposed by requiring that the PBHs dominate the universe before the scalar field has reached the minimum of its potential and begun to oscillate. During the kinetic dominated regime, the scalar field varies as

$$\mathrm{\Phi }=\mathrm{\Phi }_{\mathrm{end}}\sqrt{\frac{3}{4\pi }}M_4\mathrm{ln}\left(\frac{a}{a_{\mathrm{end}}}\right)$$
(10)
and from the estimate of $`\mathrm{\Phi }_{\mathrm{end}}`$ given above, $`\mathrm{\Phi }_{\mathrm{end}}2M_4`$, the field reaches the minimum of its potential after the universe has redshifted by a factor $`a/a_{\mathrm{end}}60`$. Thus, from Eq. (9), the PBHs dominate the universe before this point is reached if $`\beta _0>5\times 10^6`$.

If the PBHs come to dominate sufficiently early, the displacement of the scalar field away from its minimum is such that the potential is still well approximated by an exponential form at this time. This is the case for $`\mathrm{\Phi }>0.01M_4`$. Moreover, the standard Friedmann equation is valid for $`\mathrm{\Phi }<1.8M_4`$, where the quadratic corrections in Eq. (4) become negligible. Since its potential is steep, the field subsequently tracks the PBH (fluid) component in this regime as in the standard cosmology , where its potential and kinetic energies scale at the same rate as that of the PBH energy density. More specifically, $`\mathrm{\Omega }_\mathrm{\Phi }=3(1+\omega )/\alpha ^2`$ and $`\dot{\mathrm{\Phi }}^2/V=2(1+\omega )/(1\omega )`$ and this implies that the variation of the scalar field with respect to the scale factor during tracking is given by

$$\mathrm{\Phi }=\mathrm{\Phi }_{\mathrm{t0}}\frac{3(1+\omega )}{\sqrt{\kappa _0}\alpha }\mathrm{ln}\left(\frac{a}{a_{\mathrm{t0}}}\right),$$
(11)
where a subscript ‘t0’ denotes the onset of the tracking behaviour. This is important because the large value of the field’s self–coupling, $`\alpha 20`$, implies that the universe expands by many orders of magnitude before the field reaches its global minimum. In particular, if the PBHs dominate the cosmic dynamics for the majority of their lifetime, the universe can expand by up to a factor of $`10^{12}`$ before the PBHs evaporate. The rolling of the scalar field down its potential during this epoch is only $`\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{\Phi }0.84`$. The subsequent transition to a radiation dominated universe has a negligible effect on the tracking behaviour of the field, and for a wide range of initial conditions, the field does not reach its minimum until well after the primordial nucleosynthesis era has passed. In this case, the nucleosynthesis bounds are not violated since $`\alpha >5`$ . In principle, therefore, our model does not exhibit the problem of overshooting nor undershooting for the initial conditions . The post–inflationary universe after the nucleosynthesis era would then correspond to the universe considered in Refs. , where it was shown that the scalar field can subsequently act as dark matter in the universe.

To summarize, we have found that a scalar field with a potential of the form (1) can drive an epoch of inflationary expansion in the braneworld scenario and may also act as a candidate for the dark matter at the present epoch. The reheating of the universe proceeds via PBH domination and evaporation. The model is able to explain a variety of astrophysical observations over a wide range of scales and, indeed, contains only four, free parameters: the effective mass of the scalar field, $`m_\mathrm{\Phi }`$, its self–coupling, $`\alpha `$, the tension of the brane, $`\lambda _b`$, and the initial mass fraction of PBHs, $`\beta _0`$. It is the insensitivity of Eqs. (6) and (7) to the potential’s parameters that allows us to simultaneously satisfy the constraints arising from the mass power spectrum without the need for fine–tuning. Once fixed by observational constraints, the parameters of the potential can remain unaltered throughout the history of the universe.

In this paper, we have considered the potential (1) from a phenomenological perspective with the primary aim of determining the region of parameter space consistent with astrophysical observation. The parameters cover a wide range of scales and one question that immediately arises is whether the form of the potential (1) and, in particular, the best–fit values for its parameters, can be more fully understood from a field–theoretic perspective. This is beyond the scope of the present paper. Nevertheless, we have developed a model based on a single scalar field that covers the history of the universe from the inflationary era through to the present epoch and it is therefore to be expected that the parameters should cover a similar range of energy scales. The success of the model in simultaneously satisfying a number of fundamental observational constraints provides strong motivation for considering its field–theoretic origin in more detail.

We have viewed the initial mass fraction of PBHs as a free parameter in the above analysis, but its magnitude is determined by the density perturbations at the end of inflation. A more detailed calculation of the fluctuation spectra is therefore required if further insight is to be gained, but this involves an extension of the slow–roll analyses employed thus far  and is beyond the scope of the present paper. Since the post–inflationary universe is initially dominated by a scalar field, the question of PBH formation in this scenario is closely related to the problem of scalar field collapse and this topic has attracted considerable attention in recent years. (For a recent review, see, e.g., Ref. ). Moreover, in estimating the limits on the probability of PBH formation, we have assumed that standard four–dimensional results derived within the context of Einstein gravity are valid. This is reasonable since the PBHs form once inflation has ended and this occurs when the brane corrections to the Friedmann equation (4) have become negligible.

A potential problem with reheating a braneworld inflationary universe via PBH evaporations is that the decay products may radiate primarily off the brane and into the higher–dimensional bulk, thereby rendering the brane effectively cold and empty. This remains an open question in the second Randall–Sundrum scenario, but it has been shown in a related model that most of the Hawking radiation consists of standard model particles that are indeed confined to the brane .

Finally, there is the question of whether the PBHs leave behind stable, Planck–sized relics at the endpoint of their evaporation . Although such a possibility is now considered unlikely, it is worth remarking that when the PBHs dominate the universe before they evaporate, their relics can not overclose the universe if $`M_{\mathrm{pbh}}<10^6`$g  and this bound is satisfied for the above scenario.

In conclusion, we have proposed a simple, unified model of the inflaton and dark matter particles, where the same scalar field provides the origin for the primordial spectrum of density perturbations produced quantum mechanically during inflation and also plays a central role in forming the cosmological structures that we observe today.

###### Acknowledgements.

JEL is supported by the Royal Society. LAUL wants to thank the Theoretisch-Physikalisches Institut (Jena) for its kind hospitality. TM and LAUL are partly supported by CONACyT México, under grants 119259 (L.A.U.) and 34407-E. JEL’s visit to CINVESTAV was supported by CONACyT grant 38495-E. We thank C. Terrero–Escalante for a helpful discussion.


text:
# Numerical Experiment on Interference for Macroscopic Particles

## 1 Introduction

It is well known that the classical rule for the addition of probabilistic alternatives

$$𝒫=𝒫_1+𝒫_2$$
(1)
does not work in experiments with elementary particles. Instead of this rule, we have to use quantum rule

$$𝒫=𝒫_1+𝒫_2+2\sqrt{𝒫_1𝒫_2}\mathrm{cos}\theta .$$
(2)
The classical rule for the addition of probabilistic alternatives is perturbed by so called interference term. The difference between ‘classical’ and ‘quantum’ rules was (and is) the source of permanent discussions as well as various misunderstandings, see e.g. on general references -. We just note that the appearance of the interference term was the source of the wave-viewpoint to the theory of elementary particles; at least the notion of superposition of quantum states was proposed as an attempt to explain the appearance of a new probabilistic calculus in the two slit experiment, see, for example, Dirac’s book  on historical analysis of the origin of quantum formalism. We also mention that Feynman interpreted (2) as the evidence of the violation of the additivity postulate for ‘quantum probabilities’, .

In particular, this induced the viewpoint that there are some special ‘quantum’ probabilities that differ essentially from ordinary ‘classical’ probabilities. We also remark that the orthodox Copenhagen interpretation of quantum formalism is just an attempt to explain (2) without to apply to mysterious ‘quantum probabilities’. To escape the use of a new probabilistic calculus, we could suppose that, e.g. electron participating in the two slit experiment is in the superposition of passing through both slits. We mention that, in particular, this implies that quantum particles do not have trajectories.

However, there is another approach to quantum experiments that is not so strongly based on special ”non-classical” features of elementary particles. This is so called contextualist approach. In experiments with elementary particles we have to take into account whole experimental arrangement, see N. Bohr  and W. Heisenberg . Thus quantum probabilities are context-depending probabilities. Here the term context is used for a complex of experimental physical conditions. The contextualist approach to quantum mechanics was developed in many directions, see e.g.  -. Recently the classical probabilistic derivation of quantum rule (2) was presented in the series of papers of one of the author’s  -. This derivation demonstrated that it seems that special quantum features are not important to get interference modification (2) of classical rule (1). Interference can be induced for macroscopic systems by variations of context. It is not important what kind of physical systems, micro or macro, are prepared by a complex of physical conditions. Theoretical investigations - demonstrate that we could, in principle, get interference for macroscopic systems.

These theoretical considerations stimulated the numerical investigation presented in this paper. We consider a classical analogue of a well known quantum two-slit experiment. Charged particles are scattered on flat screen with two slits and hit the second screen. We show that the probability distribution on the second screen when both slits are open is not given by the sum of distributions for each slit separately, but has an extra interference term that is given with the quantum rule of the addition of probabilistic alternatives. In principle, we can introduce complex amplitudes of (classical!) probabilities and work with macroscopic quantities in the Hilbert space framework, cf. .

## 2 The Model

We consider a classical analog of the two slit experiment (Fig.1). The uniformly charged round particles are emitted at point $`e`$ with fixed velocity with the angles evenly distributed in the range $`[0,2\pi )`$. Each particle interacts with the uniformly charged flat screen $`S_1`$. The charge distribution on the particle and the screen stays unchanged even if the particle comes close to the screen. Physically this is a good approximation when the particle and the screen are both made of dielectric. There are two rectangular slits in the screen (on the Fig.1 the slits are perpendicular to the plane of the picture). Particles pass through the slits in screen $`S_1`$ and gather on screen $`S_2`$.

We consider three experiments. In the first one the bottom slit is closed with the shutter, in the second - the upper slit, and in the third both slits are left open. The charge distribution on the shutter is the same as on the screen, i.e. in the first two experiments one can think as if the uniformly charged screen has only one slit. In this and several paragraphs below by the screen we mean screen $`S_1`$.

Now let us write the equations of motion in each of three experiments ($`i=1,2,3`$)

$$m\ddot{𝒓}=𝑭_i$$
(3)
where $`𝒓`$ determines place of the particle. Here $`𝑭_i`$ is force affecting the particle in each experiment. It is given by the Coulomb’s law

$$𝑭_i=\underset{𝒟_i}{}\frac{q\sigma }{|𝒓^{}|^2}\frac{𝒓^{}}{|𝒓^{}|}𝑑s$$
(4)
where $`𝒓^{}`$ is a vector from an element on the screen to the particle, $`q`$ is charge of the particle, $`\sigma `$ is charge density on the screen, i.e. charge of a unit square. We integrate over the surface of the screen, the integration region $`𝒟_i`$ is plane of the screen except the splits, as it was mentioned above it is different in each experiment depending on which slits are opened.

Projecting equations (3)-(4) to $`xy`$-plane, where $`x`$ and $`y`$ denotes horizontal and vertical coordinates of the particle respectively we get

$$\begin{array}{cc}\hfill m\ddot{x}& =q\sigma \underset{\mathrm{\Gamma }_i}{}𝑑y^{}\underset{}{}𝑑z^{}\frac{x}{(x^2+(yy^{})^2+z_{}^{}{}_{}{}^{2})^{3/2}}\hfill \\ \hfill m\ddot{y}& =q\sigma \underset{\mathrm{\Gamma }_i}{}𝑑y^{}\underset{}{}𝑑z^{}\frac{yy^{}}{(x^2+(yy^{})^2+z_{}^{}{}_{}{}^{2})^{3/2}}\hfill \end{array}$$
(5)
where $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_i`$ indicates the integration region for the $`i`$-th experiment. In our previous notations $`𝒟_i=\mathrm{\Gamma }_i\times `$. We have

$$\begin{array}{cc}\hfill \mathrm{\Gamma }_1& =(\mathrm{},l)(l+2R,+\mathrm{})\hfill \\ \hfill \mathrm{\Gamma }_2& =(\mathrm{},l2R)(l,+\mathrm{})\hfill \\ \hfill \mathrm{\Gamma }_3& =(\mathrm{},l2R)(l,l)(l+2R,+\mathrm{})\hfill \end{array}$$
(6)
Here $`2l`$ is the distance between slits and $`2R`$ is the height of the slit.

Integrating the rhs of (5) we get

$$\begin{array}{cc}\hfill m\ddot{x}& =q\sigma \underset{(a,b)\mathrm{\Gamma }_i}{}2\left(\mathrm{arctan}\frac{by}{x}\mathrm{arctan}\frac{ay}{x}\right)\hfill \\ \hfill m\ddot{y}& =q\sigma \underset{(a,b)\mathrm{\Gamma }_i}{}\mathrm{ln}\left(x^2+(by)^2\right)\mathrm{ln}\left(x^2+(ay)^2\right)\hfill \end{array}$$
(7)
where the notation $`(a,b)\mathrm{\Gamma }_i`$ means that the sum extends over all subranges of $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_i`$ given in (6). For example for $`i=1`$ we have two summands with $`(a=\mathrm{},b=l)`$ and $`(a=l+2R,b=+\mathrm{})`$, and (7) will take the following form

$$\begin{array}{cc}\hfill m\ddot{x}& =2q\sigma \left(\pi +\mathrm{arctan}\frac{ly}{x}\mathrm{arctan}\frac{l+2Ry}{x}\right)\hfill \\ \hfill m\ddot{y}& =q\sigma \mathrm{ln}\frac{x^2+(ly)^2}{x^2+(l+2Ry)^2}\hfill \end{array}$$
(8)
here we took into account that $`\mathrm{arctan}(\pm \mathrm{})=\pm \pi /2`$ and the sum of the logarithms for $`a=\mathrm{}`$ and $`b=+\mathrm{}`$ vanishes.

We take the following initial values

$$\begin{array}{cc}\hfill x(0)& =D\hfill \\ \hfill y(0)& =0\hfill \end{array}\begin{array}{c}\hfill \dot{x}(0)=v_0\mathrm{cos}\alpha \\ \hfill \dot{y}(0)=v_0\mathrm{sin}\alpha \end{array}$$
(9)
where angle $`\alpha `$ is a random variable uniformly distributed in $`[0,2\pi )`$. The constant parameters $`v_0`$ and $`D`$ are initial velocity and distance between emitter and the screen.

Particles are emitted at point $`e`$ (see Fig.1), move obeying (7),(9) passing through slit(s) in the screen $`S_1`$ and gather on the screen $`S_2`$. Having points where particles hit the screen $`S_2`$ we compute frequencies with which particles appear on screen $`S_2`$ as a function of coordinates on the screen. We interpret this frequencies as probability distributions. We are interested in computing the probability distribution over a vertical line on screen $`S_2`$ with $`z=0`$. That is why we consider a motion only in the $`xy`$-plane and initial values (9) do not contain $`z`$-coordinate.

We solve the equations of motion (7) with initial conditions (9) numerically. We use Rungie-Kutta 4th order switching to Adams 4th order method. We used GNU C++ (g++) compiler to realize the simulation on Ultra-SPARC computer running Solaris. We had to explore about $`10^5`$ trajectories and we used 4-processor parallel computer located an Växjö University. The computation process was easy to make parallel as moving particles are not interacting, i.e. one could think as if they were emitted with long intervals. The algorithm automatically adjusted the computation precision making shorter steps when the particle comes near to the first screen or the coordinates ($`x`$ and $`y`$) changed more than minimum precision allowed. The first stage of computation was calibration when the algorithm determined the angle ranges for which the particles passed through the slits and hit the second screen. This reduced the angle range from $`[0,2\pi )`$ to a set of ranges, which are different in each experiment. In fact we used symmetry of the first two ones (when only upper or lower slit is opened) making computations only for the first one. The second screen was separated with cells of equal size, the diameter of a particle. The number of particles which hit into each cell was calculated and interpreted as a probability distribution.

Let us denote the probability distribution in the first experiment (only upper slit is opened) as $`P_1=P_1(y)`$, in the the second experiment (only lower slit is opened) as $`P_2=P_2(y)`$, and in the third experiment (both slits are opened) as $`P_{12}=P_{12}(y)`$. Although since the force is different in each experiment, see (3), it is quite clear that (Fig.2)

$$P_{12}\frac{P_1}{2}+\frac{P_2}{2}$$
(10)
To become an equality the above equation should have an extra term

$$P_{12}=\frac{P_1}{2}+\frac{P_2}{2}+\sqrt{P_1P_2}\mathrm{cos}\theta $$
(11)
where $`\sqrt{P_1P_2}\mathrm{cos}\theta `$ is a so-called interference term (Fig.3), and $`\theta =\theta (y)`$ is spread along $`y`$-axis.

The function

$$\mathrm{cos}\theta =\frac{2P_{12}(P_1+P_2)}{\sqrt{P_1P_2}}$$
(12)
is shown on the (Fig.2). Please note that as there are ranges where $`P_1`$ or $`P_2`$ are equal to zero, i.e. $`P_1P_2=0`$ the function $`\mathrm{cos}\theta `$ is not determined and from (11) we see that $`P_{12}`$ does not depend on it.

Conclusion. We have shown that the proposed classical model has a context dependence and could be adequately described with contextual formalism. Quantum like behavior for macro systems is demonstrated. We simulate quantum-like interference for macroscopic objects. Such a simulation essentially reduced the gap between micro and macro worlds. 111In particular,recent experiments of the group of A. Zeilinger  and the Boulder-group  can be interpreted as successful steps in this direction.

One of the authors (A.K.) would like to thank S. Albeverio, L. Accardy, L. Ballentine, V. Belavkin, E. Beltrametti, G. Cassinelli, A. Chebotarev, W. De Baere, W. De Myunck, R. Gill, D. Greenberger, S. Goldstein, C. Fuchs, L. Hardy, A. Holevo, T. Hida, P. Lahti, E. Loubents, D. Mermin, T. Maudlin, A. Peres, I. Pitowsky, A. Plotnitsky, A. Shiryaev, O. Smoljanov, J. Summhammer, L. Vaidman and I. Volovich, A. Zeilinger for fruitful discussions on probabilistic foundations of quantum mechanics.

This work was done during the visit of Ya.V. to Växjö University, he is grateful for the kind hospitality.

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