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# Cumulative particle production and percolation of strings

## 1 Introduction

Production of particles in nuclear collisions in the kinematical region prohibited in the free nucleon kinematics (”cumulative particles”) has long aroused interest both from the theoretical and pragmatic point of views. On the pragmatic side, this phenomenon, in principle, allows to raise the effective collision energy far beyond the nominal accelerator one. This may turn out to be very important in the near future, when all possibilities to construct still more poweful accelerator facilities become exhausted. Of course one should have in mind that the production rate falls very rapidly above the cumulative threshold, so that to use the cumulative effect for practical purposes high enough luminosities are necessary. On the theoretical side, the cumulative effect explores the hadronic matter at high densities, when two or more nucleons overlap in the nucleus. Such dense clusters may be thought to be in a state which closely resembles a cold quark-gluon plasma. Thus cumulative phenomena could serve as an alternative way to produce this new state of matter.

There has never been a shortage of models to describe the cumulative phenomena, from the multiple nucleon scattering mechanism to repeated hard interquark interactions . However it should be acknowledged from the start that the cumulative particle production is at least in part a soft phenomenon. So it is natural to study it within the models which explain successfully soft hadronic and nuclear interactions in the non-cumulative region. Then one could have a universal description of particle production in all kinematical regions. The non-cumulative particle production is best described by the colour string models, in which it is assumed that during the collisions colour strings are stretched between the partons of colliding hadrons (or nuclei), which then decay into more strings and finally into observed produced hadrons

It is clear that if the strings are formed independently for different partons, all the cumulative effect can be generated exclusively by the partonic movement. This can lead to cumulative particles due to the Fermi-motion of the nucleons in the participant nuclei. However in all realistic nuclear models the Fermi-motion generates cumulative particles only in the region immediately above the cumulative threshold. Beyond the threshold the effect dies so quickly that there is absolutely no hope to explain by the Fermi-motion the experimentally known production rates at $`x2÷3`$ . Thus in the string models the cumulative effect is related to the interaction between strings, in particular, to their fusion, which creates strings of higher energy and thus of a longer length in rapidity. A model of string fusion and their percolation was proposed by the authors some time ago . It proved to be rather successful in explaining a series of phenomena related to collective effects among the produced strings, such as damping of the total multiplicity and strange baryon enhancement. Calculations of the production rates in the cumulative region made by the Monte-Carlo algorithm allowing for fusion of only two strings gave encouraging results . They agree quite well with the existing data for hA collisions at $`E_{cm}=27.5`$ GeV \[4,5 \]. However to pass to higher energies and heavy-ion collisons one has to consider a possibility of interaction of many strings. In this note we study such an interaction using a simplified model in which both colour and energy-momentum conservation are imposed on the average.

From the start it is not at all obvious that the colour string approach may give reasonable results in the deep fragmentation region, near the kinematical threshold. The string picture has been introduced mainly to describe particle production in the central region, where its results agree with the data very well. It turned out however that it gives a quite reasonable description of the pion production also in the fragmentation region. The baryon spectra in the nucleus fragmentation region, on the contrary, are very poorly described, which circumstance is standardly ascribed to the interaction between nucleons as a whole . So, moving still further into a cumulative region, we may only expect a reasonable description for the production of pions, and not of baryons. As we shall see from our results, this is indeed so. We get a very reasonable description of the pion production rates for $`1<x<2`$ at 27.5 GeV  but we are not able to describe the proton rates, which are experimentally two orders of magnitude greater than our predictions. Obviously the bulk of cumulative protons come from a different mechanism, which does not involve colour string formation but rather interactions of nucleons as a whole. Such a mechanism was included in the Monte-Carlo code of , which is the reason why it gave results for nucleon production in agreement with the experimental data.

## 2 The model

The fully extended string model assumes that each of the colliding hadrons consists of partons (valence and sea quarks), distributed both in rapidity and transverse space with a certain probability, deduced from the experimentally known transverse structure and certain theoretical information as to the behaviour of the $`x`$ distributions at $`x=0`$ and $`x=1`$. These distributions are taken to be the ones for the endpoints of the generated strings. As a result, the strings aquire a certain length in rapidity. We shall choose the c.m. system for the colliding hadrons with the nucleus (projectile) moving in the forward direction. The cumulative particles thus will be observed in the forward hemisphere.

Let a parton from the projectile carry a part $`x_{1+}`$ of the ”+” component of its momentum $`p_1`$ and a partner parton from the target carry a part $`x_2`$ of the ”-” component of its momentum $`p_2`$. The total energy squared for the colliding pair of nucleons is

$$S=2p_{1+}p_2=m^2e^Y$$
(1)
where $`m`$ is the nucleon mass and $`Y`$ is the total rapidity available. The c.m. energy squared accumulated in the string is then

$$s=x_{1+}x_2S$$
(2)
Note that the concept of a string has only sense in the case when $`s`$ is not too small, say more than $`m^2`$. So both $`x_{1+}`$ and $`x_2`$ cannot be too small.

$$x_{1+},x_2>x_{min}=m/\sqrt{S}=e^{Y/2}$$
(3)
Correspondingly we relate the scaling variables for the string endpoints to their rapidities by

$$y_1=Y/2+\mathrm{ln}x_{1+},y_2=Y/2\mathrm{ln}x_2$$
(4)
Due to (3) $`y_10`$ and $`y_20`$. The ”length” of the string is just the difference $`y_1y_2`$.

Standardly it is assumed that the spectrum of observed particles generated by the string is nearly a constant along its length and zero outside. Due to the partonic distribution in $`x`$ the strings have different lengths and moreover can take different position respective to the center $`y=0`$. The sea distribution in a hadron is much softer than the valence one. In fact the sea distribution behaves as $`1/x`$ near $`x=0`$, so that the average value of $`x`$ for sea partons is of the order $`1/Y`$ (see Eq. (3)). As a result, strings attached to sea partons in the projectile nucleus carry very small parts of longitudinal momentum in the forward direction, which moreover fall with energy, so that they seem to be useless for building up the cumulative particles. This allows us to retain only strings attached to valence partons, quarks and diquarks, in the projectile and neglect all strings attached to sea quarks altogether. Note that the number of the former is exactly equal to $`2A`$ and does not change with energy. So for a given nucleus we shall have a fixed number of strings, independent of the energy.

The upper end rapidities of the strings attached to diquarks are usually thought to be larger than of those attached to the quarks, since the average value of $`x`$ for the diquark is substantially larger that for the quark. Theoretical considerations lead to the conclusion that as $`x1`$ the distributions for the quark and diquark in the nucleon behave as $`(1x)^{3/2}`$ and $`(1x)^{1/2}`$ respectively, modulo logarithms . Neglecting the logarithms and taking also in account the behaviour at $`x0`$ we assume that these distributions are

$$q(x)=\frac{8}{3\pi }x^{1/2}(1x)^{3/2}$$
(5)
for the quark and

$$qq(x)=q(1x)=\frac{8}{3\pi }x^{3/2}(1x)^{1/2}$$
(6)
The quark and diquark strings will be attached to all sorts of partons in the target nucleon: valence quark and diquark and sea quarks. Their position in rapidity in the backward hemisphere will be very different. However we are not interested in the spectrum in the backward hemisphere. So, for our purpose, limiting ourselves with the forward hemisphere, we may take lower ends of the strings all equal to $`x_{min}<<1`$. As a result, in our model at the start we have $`N`$ initially created strings, half of them attached to quarks and half to diquarks, their lower ends in rapidity all equal to

$$y_2=Y/2+\mathrm{ln}x_{min}$$

and their upper ends distributed in accordance with (5) and (6). As soon as they overlap in the transverse space they fuse into new strings with more color and more energy. This process will be studied in the next section.

## 3 String fusion and conservation laws

### 3.1 Complete fusion

Let $`n`$ strings overlap completely in the transverse area and form a new string of higher colour. The process of fusion obeys two conservation laws: those of colour and momentum. As a result of the conservation of colour, the colour of the fused string is $`\sqrt{n}`$ higher than that of the ordinary string . From the 4 momentum conservation laws we shall be interested mostly in the conservation of the ”+” component, which leads to the conservation of $`x`$. The fused string will have the upper endpoint with $`x_n=_{i=1}^nx^{(i)}`$, where $`x^{(i)}`$ are upper ends of fusing strings(we omit the subscripts ”1+”, since we shall be interested only in these variables in the future).

These properties of the fused string transform into certain sum rules which restrict a possible form of the spectrum of produced hadrons. Let us first assume that only one sort of particles is produced and let the mutiplicity density (”fragmentation function” in the terminology of ) of the fused string be

$$\tau _n=\frac{d\mu _n}{dy}$$

where $`\mu `$ is the multiplicity. As mentioned, the total number of particles produced in the forward hemisphere by the fused string should be $`\sqrt{n}`$ greater than by the ordinary string. This leads to the multiplicity sum rule:

$$_{x_{min}}^{x_n}\frac{dx}{x}\tau _n(x)=\frac{1}{2}\mu _0\sqrt{n}$$
(7)
where we denote $`\mu _0`$ the total multiplicity from a simple string. The produced particles have to carry all the longitudinal momentum in the forward direction. This results in the sum rule for $`x`$:

$$_{x_{min}}^{x_n}𝑑x\tau _n(x)=x_n$$
(8)
In these sum rules $`x_{min}`$ is given by (3) and is small. Passing to the scaled variable $`z=x/x_n`$ we rewrite the two sum rules as

$$_{z_n}^1\frac{dz}{z}\tau _n(z)=\frac{1}{2}\mu _0\sqrt{n}$$
(9)
and

$$_{z_n}^1𝑑z\tau _n(z)=1$$
(10)
where

$$z_n=x_{min}/x_n$$
(11)
These sum rules put severe restrictions on the form of the distribution $`\tau _n`$, which obviously cannot be independent of $`n`$. Comparing (7) and (8) we see that the spectrum of the fused string has to vanish at its upper threshold faster than for the simple string. In the scaled variable $`z`$ it is shifted to smaller values (and thus to the central region). This must have a negative effect on the formation of cumulative particles produced at the extreme values of $`x`$.

To proceed, we choose a simplest form for the distribution $`\tau _n`$:

$$\tau _n(z)=a_n(1z)^{\alpha _n1}$$
(12)
The $`x`$ sum rule relates $`a_n`$ and $`\alpha _n`$:

$$a_n=\alpha _n(1z_n)^{\alpha _n}\alpha _n$$
(13)
The multiplicity sum rule finally determines $`\alpha _n`$:

$$\alpha _n(1z_n)^{\alpha _n}_{z_n}^1\frac{dz}{z}(1z)^{\alpha _n1}=\frac{1}{2}\mu _0\sqrt{n}$$
(14)
These equation can be easlily solved when $`z_n0`$ We present the integral in (14) as

$$_{z_n}^1\frac{dz}{z}[(1z)^{\alpha _n1}1]+\mathrm{ln}\frac{1}{z_n}$$
(15)
The integral term is finite at $`z_n=0`$ so that we can write it as a difference of integrals in the intervals $`[0,1]`$ and $`[0,z_n]`$. The first can be found exactly

$$I_1=_0^1\frac{dz}{z}[(1z)^{\alpha _n1}1]=\underset{ϵ0}{lim}_0^1𝑑zz^{1+ϵ}[(1z)^{\alpha _n1}1]=$$

$$\underset{ϵ0}{lim}\left[\mathrm{B}(\alpha _n,ϵ)\frac{1}{ϵ}\right]=\psi (1)\psi (\alpha _n)$$
(16)
The second term has an order $`(\alpha _n1)z_n`$ and is small unless $`\alpha _n`$ grows faster than $`n`$, which is not the case as we shall presently see. In fact we shall find that $`\alpha _n`$ grows roughly as $`\sqrt{n}`$, which allows to neglect the second factor in (14) and rewrite it in its final form

$$\alpha _n\left[\mathrm{ln}\frac{1}{z_n}+\psi (1)\psi (\alpha _n)\right]=\frac{1}{2}\mu _0\sqrt{n}$$
(17)
Obviously $`\alpha _n`$ grows as $`\sqrt{n}`$, modulo logarthmic dependence, as mentioned. To finally fix the distributions we have to choose the value of $`\alpha `$ for the simple string. We take the simplest choice $`\alpha _1=1`$ for an average string with $`x=x_0=1/2`$, which corresponds to a completely flat spectrum and agrees with the results of . This fixes the multiplicity density for the average string

$$\tau _1(y)=1$$
(18)
which favorably compares to the value 1.1 extracted from the experimental data .

With (18) we find from (17)

$$\frac{1}{2}\mu _0=\mathrm{ln}\frac{1}{z_0},z_0=\frac{x_{min}}{x_0}$$
(19)
and the equation (17) can be rewritten as

$$\alpha _n\left[\mathrm{ln}\frac{n}{z_0}+\psi (1)\psi (\alpha _n)\right]=\sqrt{n}\mathrm{ln}\frac{1}{z_0}$$
(20)
One concludes that at $`S\mathrm{}`$ the solution is $`\alpha _n=\sqrt{n}`$. However this is modified by logarithmic terms when $`n`$ is high enough: $`n\sqrt{S}/m`$. At finite $`S`$ Eq. (20) can be solved numerically for $`\alpha _n`$

In any case, we find that with the growing $`n`$ the spectrum of produced particles goes to zero at $`z1`$ more and more rapidly. So although strings with large $`n`$ produce particles with large values of $`xx_n`$, the production rate is increasingly small.

### 3.2 Partial fusion

Now we pass to a more difficult case when two or more strings only overlap partially. This case corresponds to weaker interaction between strings, which retain their form in the transverse space. This case lies at the basis of the percolation phenomenon. To start, let us note that for two or several completely independent strings the conservation laws and the following sum rules are automatically satisfied if they are satisfied for each string individually. As a consequence the case of partially fusing strings has to be treated differently depending on whether we consider a formed cluster as a single string or as a set of many strings formed by the various areas where a fixed number of particular strings overlap. In the first case we have to impose a single pair of conservation laws for the whole cluster. In the second case we find many pairs of conservation laws for strings formed by different overlaps.

An approach which admits the most direct physical interpretation is to consider a cluster of $`n_c`$ strings as a set of many independent “ministrings” formed by different overlaps. This case corresponds to the minimal interaction between strings, which actually only superimpose in the transverse space without changing any of their properties. In this case the conservation laws and sum rules have to be imposed for each particular overlap. If the area of a given overlap of $`n`$ strings is $`S_n^{(i)}`$, where $`i`$ enumerates different overlaps of $`n`$ strings, then the colour of the corresponding ministring is :

$$Q_n^{(i)}=\sqrt{n}\frac{S_n^{(i)}}{C_1}Q_0$$
(21)
where $`Q_0`$ is the colour if the simple string and $`C_1`$ is its area.. As a result, the total multiplicity will be changed correspondingly. Passing to the momentum, we have to assume some manner in which the total $`x=x_c`$ of the cluster is distributed among various ministrings formed by overlaps. A natural way (similar to the one used for the distributiuon of color) is to assume that the part of the longitudinal momentum shared by a string in a particular overlap is proportional to the area of the latter. Then the total $`x`$ of the overlap is:

$$x_n^{(i)}=x_c\frac{nS_n^{(i)}}{n_cC_1}$$
(22)
where $`n_c`$ is the number of strings forming the cluster. Indeed, since

$$\underset{i,n}{}nS_n^{(i)}=n_cC_1$$
(23)
we have for each cluster

$$\underset{i,n}{}x_n^{(i)}=x_c$$
(24)
as it should be. Introducing for each individual overlap its scaled variable $`z=x/x_n^{(i)}`$ we shall write the momentum sum rule in the same form (10) as before. The multiplicity sum rule will now read

$$_{z_n^{(i)}}^1\frac{dz}{z}\tau _n(z)=\frac{1}{2}\mu _0\sqrt{n}\frac{S_n^{(i)}}{C_1}$$
(25)
where

$$z_n^{(i)}=x_{min}/x_n^{(i)}.$$

With the choice (12) the final equation for $`\alpha _n`$ will take the form

$$\alpha _n\left[\mathrm{ln}\frac{1}{z_n^{(i)}}+\psi (1)\psi (\alpha _n)\right]=\mathrm{ln}\frac{1}{z_0}\sqrt{n}\frac{S_n^{(i)}}{C_1}$$
(26)
Obviously calculations cannot be done analytically now but require numerical simulation. They result very time consuming, since one has to identify each particular overlap in each cluster.

A simpler alternative is to treat the whole cluster as a single string of a complicated form and area $`C_n`$, with properties intermediate between $`n`$ separate strings and completely fused ones. This implies a considerable amount of interaction between strings, which redistributes the colour and momentum homogeneously over the cluster area. Let the cluster of $`n`$ strings have the total $`x`$ equal to $`x_c`$. However the maximal momentum $`x_n`$ of the emitted particle cannot be equal to $`x_c`$, since for $`n`$ separate strings just touching each other it is only $`x_1`$. So it should be intermediate between $`x_1`$ and $`x_c`$, depending on the fusion intensity. A natural choice seems to be

$$x_n=x_c\frac{C_1}{C_n}$$
(27)
In fact for $`n`$ independent strings $`C_n=nC_1`$ and $`x_n=x_c/n`$, which is just an average of the maximal momenta of fusing strings. For $`n`$ completely fused strings $`C_n=C_1`$ and $`x_n=x_c`$ as it should be. The momentum sum rule is then

$$_{x_{min}}^{x_n}𝑑x\tau _n(x)=x_c$$
(28)
Taking

$$z=\frac{x}{x_n},\tau =\frac{x_c}{x_n}\stackrel{~}{\tau }$$
(29)
we obtain an equation for $`\stackrel{~}{\tau }`$ of the same form as (25) with $`z_n=x_{min}/x_n`$ The total multiplicity will be also intermediate between the multiplicity of $`n`$ independent strings and of the completely fused string. A reasonable choice similar to (27) is

$$\mu _c=\mu _0\sqrt{n\frac{C_n}{C_1}}$$
(30)
This will lead to the corresponding change in the multiplicity sum rule, which in terms of $`z`$ and $`\stackrel{~}{\tau }`$ becomes

$$_{z_n}^1\frac{dz}{z}\stackrel{~}{\tau }_n(z)=\frac{1}{2}\mu _0\sqrt{n\frac{C_1}{C_n}}$$
(31)
For $`n`$ independent strings (31) goes into (7) with $`n=1`$. For complete overlapping, when $`C_n=C_1`$, (30) reproduces (7). With the choice (12) for the distribution in rapidity we now get an equation for $`\alpha _C`$

$$\alpha _C\left[\mathrm{ln}\frac{1}{z_n}+\psi (1)\psi (\alpha _C)\right]=\mathrm{ln}\frac{1}{z_0}\sqrt{n\frac{C_1}{C_n}}$$
(32)
This equation has to be solved separately for each cluster, so that the form of the distribution of particles produced by a cluster of $`n`$ strings will depend on its geometry (in fact only on its total area). The numerical calculations look easier now, since one has to identify individual clusters only.

### 3.3 Various types of hadrons

In reality various types of hadrons are produced. In the cumulative region the relevant particles are nucleons and pions, the production rates of the rest being much smaller. The multiplicity densities for each sort of hadrons will obviously depend on the flavour contents of the fused strings, that is, of the number of quark and diquark strings in it.

Consider the case of complete overlapping of $`n`$ strings. Let the string be composed of $`k`$ quarks and $`nk`$ diquarks. We shall then have distributions $`\tau _{nk}^{(h)}`$ for the produced hadrons $`h`$. Obviously the multplicity and momentum sum rules are now insufficient to determine each of the distribution $`\tau _{nk}^{(h)}`$ separately. A possibility to overcome this difficulty may consist in using the Regge phenomenology or quark power counting rules to determine the behaviour of the distribution near its kinematical threshold $`xx_n`$. However for multiquark configurations this seems too complicated and insecure, since this behaviour is then governed by Regge cuts rather than poles. Therefore we shall adopt a simpler approach. In our picture the observed hadron is produced when the parton (quark or diquark) emerging from string decay neutralizes its colour by picking up an appropriate parton from the vacuum. In this way a quark may go into a pion if it picks up an antiquark or into a nucleon if it picks up two quarks. The quark counting rules tell us that the behaviour at the threshold in the second case will have two extra powers of $`(xx_n)`$. Likewise a diquark may go either into a nucleon picking up a third quark or into two pions picking up two antiquarks, with a probability smaller by a factor $`(xx_n)^2`$ at the threshold. Since it is the threshold behaviour which is responsible for the cumulative particles, we shall assume, as a first approximation, that the quarks go exclusively into pions and diquarks go exclusively into nucleons. As a result, the ratio of produced pions to nucleons will be equal to that of quarks to diquarks, that is, $`k/(nk)`$.

This means that we may proceed as before assuming one sort of hadrons and in the end just multiply the obtained distributions $`\tau _{nk}`$ by the appropriate factors

$$\tau _{nk}^{(h)}(x)=\xi _{nk}^{(h)}\tau _{mk}(x),$$
(33)
where for the pions and nucleons

$$\xi _{nk}^{(\pi )}=\frac{k}{n},\xi _{nk}^{(N)}=\frac{nk}{n}$$
(34)
Obviously this implies that we have to track the flavour contents of the fused strings in the Monte-Carlo simulations.

## 4 Numerical results

We shall study different scenarios for the interaction between colour strings. We start with the scenario of string fusion, when as soon as the strings touch each other they fuse into a new one with a higher colour and of the same form and transverse area as the initial ones. This corresponds to the maximal interaction between strings, which change not only their colour and momentum but also its geometrical form. This scenario was proposed and realized in a fully developed Monte-Carlo algorithm in . Its application to particle production has given very satisfactory results for energies ranging from SPS to RHIC .

In this case we do not have to bother about partial overlapping, so that Eq. (20) can be used directly to determine the multiplicity of a string with an arbitrary high colour. The distribution of the strings in colour can be deduced analitically for high enough string densities in this scenario . It is governed by a dimensionless parameter

$$\eta =\frac{NC_1}{C}$$
(35)
where $`C`$ is the total transverse area of the interaction and $`N`$ the total number of strings. For a given $`\eta `$ and large $`N`$ one finds that the strings are distributed in colour according to the Poisson law:

$$\nu _n=Ne^\eta \eta ^{n1}/n!$$
(36)
So with string fusion we find the total multiplicity as

$$\frac{d\mu }{dy}=N\underset{n}{}\frac{1}{n!}e^\eta \eta ^{n1}\alpha _n\left(1\frac{x}{x_n}\right)^{\alpha _n1},$$
(37)
where the sum goes over all colors $`n`$ such that $`x<x_n`$. Parameters $`\alpha _n`$ are to be calculated from Eq. (20) and the string momentum $`x_n`$ and its flavour composition (number of quarks and diquarks) has to be found by Monte-Carlo simulations using the distributions (5) and (6).

The multiplicity results very weakly dependent on the energy through the value of $`x_{min}`$ (eq. (3)), this dependence practically absent for energies above 200 GeV. Our results for $`d\mu /dy`$ per string at the LHC energy 6 TeV (Y=17.5) for different values of $`\eta `$ are presented in Fig. 1 and 2 for pions and nucleons respectively.

In an alternative scenario, which lies at the basis of the percolation phenomenon (”percolation scenario”) strings are allowed to overlap partially and form clusters of different forms and number of simple strings. The total multiplicity will then depend on the chosen model of the distribution of colour and momentum within a given cluster, as explained in the previous section.

If a cluster is assumed to be split in various ministrings formed by different separated overlaps, the total multiplicity will be a sum of contributions from all ministrings

$$\frac{d\mu }{dy}(x)=\underset{n,i}{}\tau _{n,i}\left(\frac{x}{x_n^{(i)}}\right)$$
(38)
where for $`z<1`$ $`\tau _{n,i}(z)`$ is given by (12) with parameters $`\alpha _{n,i}`$ determined from Eq. (26) and for $`z>1`$ $`\tau _{n,i}(z)=0`$. If a cluster acts as a single string with an averaged distribution $`\tau _C(z)`$ described in a previous section, then one has the same expression (38), where the sum is now extended over all clusters. The parameters $`\alpha _C`$ are now to be determined from Eq. (32). In both cases analytical calculations are not possible and one has to recur to Monte Carlo simulations. They simulate the geometrical distribution of strings in the interaction area and their $`x`$ and flavour contents. Afterwards one has to identify all overlaps of a given number of strings or clusters of strings and their areas. The results (per string) for the two possibilities are presented in Figs. 3,4 and 5,6 respectively.

One observes that probability of cumulative production strongly depends on a chosen scenario. The fusion scenario leads to higher cumulative particle production rates, which also fall with $`x`$ much slowlier than in the percolation scenario. The $`x`$-dependence of the rates for pion production is rather well described by the standard parametrization

$$\frac{d\mu }{dy}=Ce^{\alpha x}$$
(39)
where the slope $`\alpha `$ steadily falls with $`\eta `$ from $`\alpha 4`$ at $`\eta =0.25`$ down to $`\alpha 1.5`$ at $`\eta =4`$. At fixed $`x`$ the rates steadily grow with $`\eta `$. For the nucleon production and low values of $`\eta 1`$ the parametrization (39) holds only for the regions $`1<x<1.7`$ and $`2<x<2.5`$ where $`\alpha 2`$. In between and at $`x>2.5`$ the slopes rise up to $`4÷6`$ indicating an abrupt change of $`x`$-behaviour at $`x2`$ which gradually disappears with the growth of $`\eta `$. At $`\eta 2`$ the $`x`$-dependence is roughly described by (39) with the same slope $`1.5`$ as for pions.

In the percolation scenario at relatively small values of $`\eta <1`$ the results are qualitatively independent of the choice of emitters. With both clusters and ministrings one finds the rates which fall with $`x`$ much faster than in string fusion. Again for pions the parametrization (39) holds, with $`\alpha `$ slowly falling with $`\eta `$ from $`9`$ at $`\eta =0.25`$ to $`6.5`$ at $`\eta =1.`$ for ministrings as emitters and from $`9.5`$ at $`\eta =0.25`$ to $`8.5`$ at $`\eta =1`$ for clusters. For nucleon production from ministrings a change of behaviour in the vicinity of $`x=2`$ is again observed. With clusters this change is hardly perceptible. Outside this region the slopes are somewhat smaller than for pions: $`4÷7`$ for ministrings and $`7÷9`$ for clusters.

At higher values of $`\eta `$, beyond the percolation threshold $`\eta _c1.1÷1.3`$, the behaviour of the production rate begins to depend crucially on the choice of emitters. With clusters as emitters a radical change is observed and the production rate becomes close to the fusion scenario up to a certain value of $`x`$ when the rate abruptly goes to zero. The critical value of $`x`$ grows with $`\eta `$ and, as seen from Fig.3, lies around 1.5 at $`\eta =2`$ and at around 2.5 at $`\eta =4`$. On the other hand, the ministrings scenario does not show such an abrupt change of behaviour, the rates well described by (39) with a slope $`45`$ both for pions and nucleons.

To pass to physical inclusive cross-sections one has to know the number of strings $`N`$ in a particular reaction. This number is obtained by multiplying their number in the nucleon (two) by the number of collisions $`\nu `$.

In hA collisions in the nuclear fragmentation region one has

$$\nu =\frac{A\sigma _{pp}}{\sigma _{pA}}$$
(40)
The interaction area is of the order $`\sigma _{pp}`$, so that (35) gives

$$\eta =2\frac{AC_1}{\sigma _{pA}}$$
(41)
According to our previous results  $`C_1=1.26`$ mb. To find the inclusive cross-section one has to multiply $`d\mu /dy`$ per string by $`N`$ and $`\sigma _{pA}`$ and divide by the number of isospin components, which gives the inclusive cross-section per nucleon for positive pions and protons

$$\frac{1}{A}\frac{d\sigma _{pA}^{(\pi ^+)}}{dy}=\frac{2}{3}\sigma _{pp}\frac{d\mu ^{(\pi )}}{dy},\frac{1}{A}\frac{d\sigma _{pA}^{(p)}}{dy}=\sigma _{pp}\frac{d\mu ^{(N)}}{dy}$$
(42)
In AB interactions the number of collisions depends on the centrality. In minimum bias collisions, similar to (40),

$$\nu =\frac{AB\sigma _{pp}}{\sigma _{AB}}$$
(43)
The interaction area is the average overlap area. For $`B<<A`$ it is roughly equal to $`\sigma _{pB}`$. For $`A=B`$ it is approximately equal to $`0.78R_A^2`$. The inclusive cross-section per nucleon will be given by the same Eq. (42). the only difference being that the value of $`\eta `$ should be calculated with (43) and so substancially higher than in $`hA`$ collisons. One can also easily deduce corresponding formulas for the cross-sections in collisions with a given centrality, that is, at a given impact parameter $`b`$ (see ).

Passing to the comparison of our predictions with the experimental data we have first to stress that all the existing data refer to the hadron nucleus collisions at very moderate c.m. energies of 27.5 GeV and below. The strings which are created at these energies have mostly rather small length in rapidity, so that effects of the energy division between strings, neglected in our approach, become important. This implies that our picture can describe these experiments only rather crudely.

Still, forgetting for the moment the absolute magnitudes of the cross-sections, we conclude from Figs. 1-6 that the $`x`$-dependence is correctly reproduced in the two percolation scenarios, which at small $`\eta `$ corresponding to these energies give the inclusive cross-section of the form (39) with the slope $`\alpha 6÷7`$ in complete agreement with the experimental values. It is remarkable that this value of the slope is obtained practically with no parameters, on a pure geometrical basis. The string fusion scenario, in contrast, leads to much smaller values of $`\alpha `$ which definitely contradict the experimental data. So our first conclusion is that it looks as if the experimental cumulative cross-section favour the percolation scenarios.

Passing to the absolute values, we note that in  the double differential cross-sections in momentum and angle are given. To convert them into $`d\sigma _{pA}/dy`$ we fitted the data with

$$\frac{1}{A}\frac{d\sigma _A(x,k_T^2)}{dyd^2k}=Ce^{\alpha _{ex}x\beta k_T^2}$$
(44)
For positive pions produced on $`Ta`$ (A=181) at $`\sqrt{s}=27.5`$ and $`x>1`$ we get

$$\alpha _{ex}=7.15,\beta =1.72\mathrm{and}C=124/\mathrm{mb}/(\mathrm{GeV}/\mathrm{c})^2$$

The resulting ”experimental” $`d\sigma _A/Ady`$ is a pure exponential in $`x`$ with slope $`\alpha _{ex}`$ and is shown as a straight line in Fig. 7. In the same figure we show our predictions for this case ($`\eta =0.343`$) in the percolation scenarios choosing ministrings or clusters as emitters. One observes that the agreement is quite reasonable, especially in view of the mentioned difficulties in applying our picture.

On the other hand, the cross-sections for the protons, result two order of magnitudes smaller than the experimental ones, which can be described by the same expression (49) with $`\alpha =5.7`$, $`\beta =2.4`$ and $`C=28400`$ in the same units. So our picture definitely does not work for the protons, at least at the energies corresponding to the experiment .

Guided by these results, we can make predictions for the cumulative $`\pi ^+`$ production at energies corresponding to RHIC and LHC. Taking the inelastic cross-section $`\sigma _{pp}`$ equal to 39 and 77 mb at RHIC and LHC energies respectively, we find for Pb-Pb minimum bias collisons the corresponding values of $`\eta `$ equal to 2.0 and 4.0. So, using Eq. (42), we can read our predictions for the inclusive $`\pi ^+`$ cross-section per nucleon (in mb)) directly from Figs. 3 and 5 multiplying $`d\mu /dy`$ at $`\eta =2`$ by 33 for RHIC and at $`\eta =4`$ by 43 for LHC.

One sees, that up to certain maximal $`x`$ ($``$ 1.6 at RHIC energy) the cross-sections with clusters as emitters are substantially higher than with ministrings. The difference reaches two orders of magnitude at $`1.5<x<2.5`$ for LHC energy. Beyond this maximal $`x`$ the cross-section with clusters abruptly goes to zero. Thus the study of cumulative pion production at higher energies and atomic number of participants can well distinguish between these two mechanisms.

## 5 Discussion

We have studied the cumulative particle production due to the interaction of colour strings stretched between the partons in the colliding hadrons and nuclei. The results obtained by Monte-Carlo calculations show that the production rate strongly depends on the chosen model of the string interaction. The rate is maximal and falls with $`x`$ with the minimal slope in the string fusion scenario in which strings fuse into the same form and transverse area, which corresponds to the maximal interaction between strings. In the percolation scenario, allowing for partial overlaps, the rate is considerably smaller. This is, of course, to be expected, since fusing string in the same area allows to raise the momentum much more effectively than with partial overlapping. The slope found in the percolation scenario agrees well with the experimental data at moderate energies.

The absolute magnitudes of the found production rates also agree well with the existing experimental data for pions. However for the protons the obtained rates are far too small. This testifies that cumulative protons are mostly produced via a mechanism different from colour string interactions. The fully developed Monte-Carlo simulations with only two strings fused, which were performed in , indicate that this mechanism is related to the interaction between nucleons as a whole. This corresponds to taking into account a part of the colour states of the fused string in which a certain number of quark triplets are in a colourless state. In the approach employed in the present calculations the colour summation is done on the average and such states are neglected (more or less in agreement with the large number of colours limit, which lies at the basis of colour string models )

The inclusive cross-sections for cumulative production are found to grow with energy mostly due to the growth of the proton-proton inelastic cross-section $`\sigma _{pp}`$. They also grow with the atomic number of the participants. Both effects result in the growth of the percolation parameter $`\eta `$. At the RHIC and LHC energies predictions with ministrings and clusters are very different. With ministrings the cross-sectionms continue to behave as at moderate energies with practically the same slope. With clusters the cross-sections are much higher and fall very slowly with $`x`$ (with $`\alpha 1.5÷2`$) up to a certain maximal $`x`$ after which they abruptly fall. This difference in absolute magnitude and $`x`$\- behaviour opens a way to distinguish between the two percolation mechanisms by experiment.

## Acknowledgments

The authors are greatly indebted to Yu.Shabelski for fruitful discussions and A.Ramallo for his help in preparing the manuscript. M.A.B. acknowledges the financial support by the Secretaria de Estado de Educacion y Universidades de Espanna and also of the grant RFFI (Russia) 01-02-17137.

## 6 References

1. A.M.Baldin et al, Yad. Phys. 20 (1974) 1210; Sov. j. Nucl. Phys.20 (1975) 629.

M.I.Strikman an L.L.Frankfurt, Phys. Rep.76 (1981) 215.

A.V.Efremov, A.B.Kaidalov, V.T.Kim, G.I.Lykasov and N.V.Slavin Sov. J. Nucl. Phys. 47 (1988) 868

M.A.Braun an V.V.Vechernin Nucl. Phys. B 427 (1994) 614

2.. M.A.Braun and C.Pajares, Phys. Lett. B 287 (1992) 154; Nucl. Phys. B 390 (1993) 542,549.

N.Amelin, M.A.Braun and C.Pajares, Phys. Lett. 287 (1992) 312; Z.Phys. C 63 (1994) 507.

N.Armesto, M.A.Braun, E.G.Ferreiro and C.Pajares, Phys. Rev. Lett. 77 (1996) 3736.

3. N.Armesto, M.A.Braun, E.G.Ferreiro, C.Pajares and Yu. M.Shabelski Astroparticle Physics 6 (1997) 329

4. Y.D.Bayukov et al. Phys. Rev. C 20 (1979) 764

5. N.A.Nikiforov et al. Phys. Rev. C 22 (1980) 700.

6. A.Capella, U.P.Sukhatme, C.-I.Tan and J.Tran Thanh Van. Phys. Rep. 236 (1994) 225.

7. T.S.Biro, H.B.Nielsen and J.Knoll, Nucl. Phys. B 245 (1984) 449.

8. M.A.Braun and C.Pajares, Eur. Phys. J C 16 (2000) 349.

9. M.A.Braun, F. del Moral and C.Pajares, Eur. Phys. J C 21 (2001) 557.

10. N.S.Amelin, N.Armesto, C.Pajares and D.Sousa, hep-ph/0103060, to be published in Eur. Phys. J C (2001).

11. M.A.Braun, C.Pajares and J.Ranft, Int. J. Mod. Phys. A 14 (1999) 2689.


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# Towards the lattice study of M-theory (II)This research is supported by the Polish Committee for Scientific Research under the grant 2 P03B 019 17. Presented by J. Wosiek.

## 1 SUPERSYMMETRIC YANG-MILLS QUANTUM MECHANICS

Supersymmetric Yang-Mills quantum mechanics (SYMQM) provides the quantitative model of M-theory . Even though much simpler than the original theory the model is not solved in spite of its long history. We have therefore decided to set up a systematic lattice survey of SYMQM beginning with the simplest case of $`D=4,N=2,N_f=0`$(quenched) and gradually extending it as far as possible towards the BFSS limit i.e. $`D=10,N\mathrm{}`$ and $`N_f=1`$. In this talk I will report on the second step along this programme: the first results for higher N will be presented.

The action of the SYMQM reads

$$S=𝑑t\left(\frac{1}{2}\text{Tr}F_{\mu \nu }(t)^2+\overline{\mathrm{\Psi }}^a(t)𝒟\mathrm{\Psi }^a(t)\right).$$
(1)
where $`\mu ,\nu =1\mathrm{}D`$, and all fields are independent of the space coordinates $`\stackrel{}{x}`$. The supersymmetric fermionic partners belong to the addjoint representation of SU(N). The discretized system is put on a $`D`$ dimensional hypercubic lattice $`N_1\times \mathrm{}\times N_D`$ which is reduced in all space directions to $`N_i=1`$, $`i=1\mathrm{}D1`$. The gauge part of the action has now the usual form

$$S_G=\beta \underset{m=1}{\overset{N_t}{}}\underset{\mu >\nu }{}\frac{1}{N}Re(\text{Tr}U_{\mu \nu }(m)),$$
(2)
with

$$\beta =2N/a^3g^2,$$
(3)
and $`U_{\mu \nu }(m)=U_\nu ^{}(m)U_\mu ^{}(m+\nu )U_\nu (m+\mu )U_\mu (m)`$, $`U_\mu (m)=\mathrm{exp}(iagA_\mu (am))`$, where $`a`$ denotes the lattice constant and $`g`$ is the gauge coupling in one dimension. The integer time coordinate along the lattice is $`m`$. Periodic boundary conditions $`U_\mu (m+\nu )=U_\mu (m)`$, $`\nu =1\mathrm{}D1`$, guarantee that Wilson plaquettes $`U_{\mu \nu }`$ tend, in the classical continuum limit, to the appropriate components $`F_{\mu \nu }`$ without the space derivatives.

## 2 RESULTS

Up to date we have addressed the two problems: 1) extracting the continuum limit from the lattice data, and 2) the search for the nontrivial phase structure. The first point is essential in any approach based on the discretization. In particular restoration of the continuum supersymmetry, of the full unquenched model, may crucially depend on the ability to control the continuum limit. The second issue is connected to the problem of the Bekenstein-Hawking entropy which has an elegant solution in the framework of M-theory . Namely the supersymmetric, extremal black holes found in the latter can be viewed as composed of the elementary D0 brane excitations, providing the statistical interpretation of the area of the ”Schwarzschild” horizon which is known to behave as an etropy. In particular, the theory also predicts existence of the two phases in which the gravity and the elementary D0 branes provide good description respectively.

### 2.1 SU(2)

We have found in  that the continuum limit of the model can be readily extracted with the bare parameters scaling with canonical dimensions. This is expected for the one dimensional system. To search for the phase transition we have studied the distribution of the eigenvalues of the Polyakov line $`L=_{m=1}^{N_t}U_D(m)`$, which is a very sensitive determinant of the phase structure in gauge theories. It was found that, similarly to the large volume QCD, in the low temperature phase the eigenvalues are concentrated around zero, while at high temperature the distribution is peaked around $`\pm 1`$ which constitute the center of SU(2). In the space extended theories the $`Z_2`$ symmetry is spontaneously broken in the infinite volume limit and only one direction is populated. In the present 0-volume system, this may happen only in the infinite-N limit, the Gross-Witten model being a known example of the critical behaviour emerging at large N.

### 2.2 SU(3 - 8)

For higher groups we find now the same behaviour, see Fig.1. Since $`\beta =2NN_t^3T^3`$, the histograms correspond to the low and high temperature regions for a range of $`N`$. Evidently they change from convex to concave at some critical value of $`\beta (\beta _c)`$ similary to the N=2 case. The nature of the transition is not resolved yet. Nevertheless, our data show unambiguously that the system behaves differently in both regions. For example, we have also measured the dependence of the size of the system, $`R^2=g^2_a(A_i^a)^2`$, on the temperature, and found that it is definitely different, and the change in the behaviour occurs at the same T where the distributions in Fig. 1 change their shapes. It is also possible, for the first time to confront the N dependence of the transition temperature with theoretical expectations. It follows from Eq.(3) and $`N_t=1/Ta`$, that the ’t Hooft scaling $`T_c(g^2N)^{1/3}`$ implies that the lattice coupling $`\beta _cN^2`$ at fixed $`N_t`$. Fig.2 shows the $`N`$ dependence of $`\beta _c/N^2`$ for available range of N together with the fit of the first $`1/N^2`$ correction. Indeed, the reduced critical coupling seems to saturate towards higher N and one can estimate that $`N=8`$ result is within $``$ 15% of the $`N=\mathrm{}`$ one (a horizontal line).

## 3 NONCOMPACT FORMULATION

We have also studied the new, noncompact formulation of the model which has better numerical behaviour . In this approach the $`D1`$ spatial degrees of freedom are noncompact $`X^i(m)=gA^i(m)`$ and are defined at the discrete time intervals, while the temporal one remains compact $`U_D(m)=U(m+1,m)`$. The action $`S=S_{kin}+S_{pot}`$ reads

$$\begin{array}{ccc}\hfill S_{pot}& =& \frac{a}{2g^2}_mTr(𝐗^i𝐗^k)^2,\hfill \\ \hfill S_{kin}& =& \frac{1}{ag^2}_mTr(\mathrm{\Delta }𝐗^i)^2.\hfill \end{array}$$
(4)
The covariant finite difference along the time direction

$`\mathrm{\Delta }𝐗^i(m+1)=`$
$`𝐗^i(m+1)U(m+1,m)𝐗^i(m)U(m,m+1),`$
takes into account the parallel transport between adjacent lattice sites. This system has the same local gauge invariance as the compact version, Eq.(2). With the new action we have extended previous study to higher dimensions, D=6 and D=10. Preliminary simulations confirm results found for D=4. In particular the average size of the system $`R^2`$ shows a characteristic break in the temperature dependence at the position consistent with the ’t Hooft scaling. Moreover, the $`R^2`$ decreases with D in agreement with the mean field results .

## 4 FUTURE PROSPECTS

Quantitative lattice study of the Yang-Mills quantum mechanics, and possibly the M-theory, have just begun. Quenched results are encouraging, but a lot remains to be done. Simulations work for all interesting values of the dimension $`D`$ and are feasible for a range of N. Recent results give us a rough idea how the large N limit is approached and where the asymptotics sets it. All quenched simulations performed up do date indicate existence of the two regions at finite temperature. This intriguing correspondence with the predictions of the M-theory should be further quantified. Of course, the next step is to include the dynamical fermions. This can be done by a brute force for D=4 and for the first few N’s at D=10. The one dimensional nature of the system should help considerably. For higher N, at D=10, we face the problem of the complex pfaffian. An important insight into the whole subject may be gained by applying the full potential of the small volume approach .


text:
# Implications from recent measurements on sin{2𝛽} and muon 𝑔-2

The recent data on $`𝒞𝒫`$asymmetry in $`BJ/\psi K_S`$and muon $`g2`$are discussed in the framework of standard model and beyond. Possible new phase effects besides the CKM phase are discussed in the processes concerning $`𝒞𝒫`$violation in B decays and muon anomalous magnetic moment (muon $`g2`$). It is found that the new phases will result in difference between angles $`\beta `$ measured from $`BJ/\psi K_S`$and the one from global fit. The ration between them serves as a probe of not only new physics but also new phase besides the CKM phase In the case of muon $`g2`$, the new phase may change the interferences between various contributions. By including the new phases, some cancelations in the real coupling cases can be avoided and the large value of $`g2`$observed in the recent measurements can be understood.

In the recent months, exciting experimental results were obtainedAubert et al. (2001); Abe et al. (2001) in both heavy and light flavour sectors Brown et al. (2001). With the successfully running of B factories, the time dependent CP asymmetries of decay mode $`BJ/\psi K_S`$has been observed. It is the first time that CP violation is observed beyond the Kaon system. The result although coincides with the Standard Model (SM) predictions, implies the possibility of new physics beyond the SM. It is known that the SM has achieved great success in phenomenology. However it has not yet been thoroughly tested. Up to now, we still know very little about the intrinsic physics of electro-weak symmetry breaking, the hierarchy of quark lepton mass as well as the origin of $`𝒞𝒫`$violation. In this talk we will discussed the possible new physics contributions to $`BJ/\psi K_S`$and muon $`g2`$. we will focus on new phases beyond the CKM phase in the new physics models.

In the SM, by using the Wolfenstein parameterization Wolfenstein (1983) the CKM matrix can be described by four parameters $`\lambda `$, $`A`$, $`\rho `$ and $`\eta `$. As it is unitary, the elements of the matrix must satisfy the unitarity relations. For example, for the columns containing $`b`$ quarks the unitarity relation is given by $`V_{ud}V_{ub}^{}+V_{cd}V_{cb}^{}+V_{td}V_{tb}^{}=0.`$

In the complex plane the relation can be depicted as a closed triangle which is often referred as Unitarity Triangle (UT) and the three angles are defined as $`\alpha `$, $`\beta `$ and $`\gamma `$ respectively. It may be interesting to measure those angle independently and check if their sum is equal to $`\pi `$. That is the simplest way to test the SM. However, the measurement is not easy to be made. There are large difficulties from both theoretical and experimental sides. It is not easy to find a channel which has large branching ratio and small theoretical errors. Fortunately, people found one decay mode of $`BJ/\psi K_S`$ which is suitable for measuring the angle $`\beta `$. In this channel, the branching ratio can reach $`10^3`$ and the theoretical error is less than a few percent.

The angle $`\beta `$ can be measured through time dependent CP asymmetry $`𝒜_{CP}`$ in decay mode $`BJ/\psi K_S`$. The major goal of the current running $`B`$ factories is to precisely determine the value of $`\mathrm{sin}2\beta `$. The First preliminary results in the year 2000 from BaBar and Belle Hitlin (2000); Abashian et al. (2001) were quite smaller than peoples expectation, the BaBar results was almost compatible with zero. However, the situation changed quickly in the beginning of the year 2001. The improved data gave the average value of $`\mathrm{sin}2\beta 0.47`$. A few months ago , both groups reported their latest results. This time the Belle claimed the observation of large $`\mathrm{sin}2\beta 0.99`$Abe et al. (2001), which seemed not supported by the BaBar Collaboration. The BaBar result is near $`0.59`$Aubert et al. (2001). Now, the latest world average value of $`\mathrm{sin}2\beta `$ from time dependent $`𝒞𝒫`$violation in decay $`BJ/\psi K_S`$ is $`\mathrm{sin}2\beta _{J/\psi }=0.79\pm 0.1.`$

In the SM, the angle $`\beta _{\mathrm{fit}}^{\mathrm{SM}}`$ extracted from the global fit should be the same as the one measured from the time dependent CP asymmetry in the decay $`BJ/\psi K_S`$. However, if there exists new physics beyond the SM, the situation may be quite different, the angle “$`\beta `$” extracted from two different approaches are in general not equal. This is because $`ϵ_K`$ and $`\mathrm{\Delta }m_B`$ as well as $`BJ/\psi K_S`$ will receive contributions from new physics in a quite different manner comparing to the ones from the SM. As a consequence, the extracted “$`\beta `$” from two ways will become different. In the most general case, one may find that $`\beta _{\mathrm{fit}}^{\mathrm{SM}}\beta _{J/\psi }\beta `$ when new physics exists and the ratio

$`R_\beta {\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{sin}2\beta _{J/\psi }}{\mathrm{sin}2\beta _{\mathrm{fit}}^{\mathrm{SM}}}}`$ (1)
is therefore not equal to unity.

In a recent workWu and Zhou (2001), it is found that the ratio $`R_\beta `$ may provide a useful tool for probing new physics. For a detailed consideration, two interesting and typical models are investigated. The one is the model with minimal flavor violation (MFV) Buras and Buras (2001); Buras and Fleischer (2001); Buras (2001); Ali and Lunghi (2001) which corresponds to the models without new phase beyond the SM such as minimal SUSY models. Another one is the simple extension of SM with two Higgs doublets (S2HDM) motivated from spontaneous $`𝒞𝒫`$violation Wolfenstein and Wu (1994); Wu and Wolfenstein (1994); Wu and Zhou (2000). In the models with MFV, the value for $`R_\beta `$ can be directly calculated and has the following simple formWu and Zhou (2001) $`R_\beta |_{MFV}\frac{10.79\overline{\eta }}{10.79\overline{\eta }_{\mathrm{fit}}^{\mathrm{SM}}}`$ In this kind of model, as there is no additional $`𝒞𝒫`$violating phase, the $`\mathrm{sin}2\beta _{J/\psi }`$ which is measured from $`BJ/\psi K_S`$ should not be affected and equal to the true value of $`\mathrm{sin}2\beta `$. Provided that the semileptonic $`B`$ decay $`BX_u(\pi ,\rho )\mathrm{}\nu _{\mathrm{}}(\mathrm{}=e,\mu )`$ is not likely to be affected by new physics, then the true value of $`\overline{\eta }`$ can be obtained. It is interesting to point out that the deviation of $`R_\beta `$ from unity from such model is alway in the opposite sign with the measure $`R_\beta `$. i.e. if the measure $`R_\beta `$ is lower than $`1`$, i.e., $`R_\beta <1`$ the models with MFV will predict a value larger than $`1`$, i.e., $`R_\beta |_{MFV}>1`$, vice versa. This simple observation indicates that if the experiment obtains a value of $`R_\beta `$ different from unity, it will be not only a signal of new physics but also a signal of new physics beyond the MFV. In the models with rich sources of $`𝒞𝒫`$violation, such as the two-Higgs-doublet model with spontaneous $`𝒞𝒫`$violation (S2HDM), the possibility of $`R_\beta 1`$ can be easily accommodated.

Recently, the E821 Collaboration at BNL has reported their improved result on the measurement of muon anomalous magnetic moment $`a_\mu =(g_\mu 2)/2`$ Brown et al. (2001). The difference between the measurement and the Standard Model (SM) prediction is reported

$$\mathrm{\Delta }a_\mu =a_\mu ^{exp}a_\mu ^{SM}=426\pm 165\times 10^{11},$$
(2)
which shows a relative large deviation ($``$2.6 $`\sigma `$) from the SM calculation. As muon is about 210 times heavier than electron, it is expected that the new physics effects on muon anomalous moment may be considerable. A large amount of works have been made on checking the new physics contributions to $`\mathrm{\Delta }a_\mu `$ from various models. Here we shall take the standard model with two Higgs doublets (S2HDM) motivated from the study of origin and mechanism of CP violationWolfenstein and Wu (1994); Wu and Wolfenstein (1994) as an example to discuss the new phase effects. In this kind of model, the Higgs sector of SM is simply extended by including an additional Higgs doublet with all the Yukawa couplings being real. After spontaneous symmetry breaking, the origin of both fermion masses and CP-violating phases can be attributed to the well known Higgs mechanism with a single CP-phase between two vacuum expectation values. Namely CP symmetry is broken spontaneously Lee (1973, 1974). This leads to the fact that all the effective Yukawa couplings in the physical basis become complex.

Contributions to muon $`g2`$ from the 2HDM of type II have been discussed in Refs.Dedes and Haber (2001b, a). It seems that the one loop contribution is not large enough to explain the data. Even for a large value of $`\mathrm{tan}\beta 50`$, one still needs a very light mass of the scalar $`M_h5`$ GeV. If both the scalar and pseudo-scalar are included, due to the cancelation between them, the situation will be even worse. One then needs to consider two loop contributions. It was found Chang et al. (2001); Cheung et al. (2001) that from the two-loop diagrams of Barr-Zee typeBZ , the contributions from pseudo-scalar is positive and could be larger than its negative one loop contributions. Thus the net effects for pseudo-scalar exchange become positive. Provided a sufficient large value of the coupling $`\mathrm{tan}\beta `$, its contributions can reach the experimental bound. By including the two loop diagrams, the pseudo-scalar mass must be below $`80`$ GeV even when $`\mathrm{tan}\beta `$ is large and around $`50`$ Cheung et al. (2001). To avoid the cancelation between scalar and pseudo-scalar exchange, the mass of the scalar boson has to be pushed to be very heavy ( typically greater than 500 GeV).

In the S2HDM, as there are flavor changing scalar interactions for both neutral and charged scalar bosons, the bounds on the neutral Higgs mass can be released through the inclusion of the internal $`\tau `$ loop at one loop level tau . Besides this, as it will be shown below that the complex and flavor dependent Yukawa couplings in S2HDM may completely change the interference between one and two loop diagram contributions. As a consequence, one and two loop contributions can be both positive and provide significant contributions to $`\mathrm{\Delta }a_\mu `$.

The phase effects of the Yukawa coupling has been discussed in the literatures Wolfenstein and Wu (1994); Wu and Wolfenstein (1994); Wu and Zhou (2000); Bowser-Chao et al. (1999); Wu (1999). The complex couplings may lead to sizable CP violation in charged and neutral Higgs boson exchanging processes in quark sector, such as $`bs\gamma `$Wolfenstein and Wu (1994); Wu (1999); bsg , neutral meson mixingsWu and Zhou (2000), etc. In the lepton sector, it may result in large electric dipole moment of leptons Bowser-Chao et al. (1999); ylw ; Iltan (2001).

In the case of effective real Yukawa couplings for neutral scalar bosons, $`h`$ is purely a scalar while $`A`$ is a pseudo-scalar. The contributions to muon anomalous moment from these two particles always have different signs at both one loop and two loop level. Namely, for scalar $`h`$-exchange, the contribution is positive from one loop and negative from two loop. But for pseudo-scalar $`A`$-exchange , the one loop contribution is always negative and the two loop contribution is positive. As the experimental data indicate that the deviation of $`g2`$ from SM is positive. The large two loop contribution may lead to the conclusion that the $`A`$-exchange must be dominant and the $`h`$-exchange must be made to be negligible small.

However, in the general case, the situation can be quite different. As all the couplings are complex in S2HDM, the Yukawa couplings for neutral scalar bosons $`h`$ and $`A`$ contain both scalar and pseudo-scalar type fermion interactions. Further more, the couplings are all flavor dependent, which is far away from the 2HDM of type I and II, where the couplings are given by a simple function of $`\mathrm{tan}\beta `$. The fact that one loop and two loop contributions depend on different complex Yukawa couplings provides an alternative possibility that they may not always cancel each other. In a large parameter space, the two kind of contributions may be constructive and result in a large value of muon $`g2`$

The one loop flavor conserving contributions from the scalar and pseudo-scalar have been investigated in Refs. one . In S2HDM, the results for $`h`$ are given by

$`\mathrm{\Delta }a_\mu ^h`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{g^2}{32\pi ^2}}{\displaystyle \frac{m_\mu ^4}{m_W^2m_h^2}}\left[(\text{Re}\xi _\mu )^2\left(\mathrm{ln}{\displaystyle \frac{m_h^2}{m_\mu ^2}}{\displaystyle \frac{7}{6}}\right)(\text{Im}\xi _\mu )^2\left(\mathrm{ln}{\displaystyle \frac{m_h^2}{m_\mu ^2}}{\displaystyle \frac{11}{6}}\right)\right]`$ (3)
where $`g`$ is the weak gauge coupling constant. It can be seen that its contributions decrease rapidly with $`m_h`$ increasing, which means that the one loop diagram cannot give large contributions to $`\mathrm{\Delta }a_\mu `$ except for a very small value of $`m_h`$ 10 GeV or a very large value of $`|\xi _\mu |`$ 70. Note that in the S2HDM, the contributions from $`h`$ and $`A`$ can be negative and positive depending on the sign of $`\mathrm{cos}2\delta _\mu `$, which is completely different from the other type of 2HDM, such as type I and type II, where the $`h(A)`$ loop diagrams always give positive (negative) contributions.

In the case of one loop flavor changing processes, the loops with internal $`\tau `$-lepton play an important role as it is much heavier than the $`\mu `$-lepton. This then leads to an enhancement factor of the order $`m_\tau ^2/m_\mu ^2𝒪(10^2)`$ relative to the flavor conserving one. In S2HDM, the contributions from $`h(A)`$ exchange are given by

$`\mathrm{\Delta }a_\mu ^{h(A)}`$ $`=`$ $`\pm {\displaystyle \frac{g^2}{32\pi ^2}}{\displaystyle \frac{m_\mu ^2m_\tau ^2}{m_W^2m_{h(A)}^2}}\left(\mathrm{ln}{\displaystyle \frac{m_{h(A)}^2}{m_\tau ^2}}{\displaystyle \frac{3}{2}}\right)\left|\xi _{\mu \tau }\right|^2\mathrm{cos}2\delta _{\mu \tau }`$ (4)
In obtaining the above expression, we have taken $`\xi _{\mu \tau }=\xi _{\tau \mu }`$ for simplicity. The contributions to $`\mathrm{\Delta }a_\mu `$ may be considerable large when $`|\xi _{\mu \tau }|`$ is large. For $`|\xi _{\mu \tau }|=3050`$, the recently reported 2.6 sigma experiment vs. theory deviation can be easily explained even for a heavy scalar boson $`m_h>100`$ GeV. So far, there are no strict constraints on the values of the coupling $`|\xi _{\mu \tau }|`$. Studies on the rare decays $`\tau \mu (e)\gamma `$ and $`\tau 3\mu (e)`$ and the electric dipole moment of $`\tau `$ will be useful to provide an interesting constraint on the parameter. However, as the relevant experimental data at present are primitive and such processes often contain more couplings such as $`\xi _\tau `$ and $`\xi _{\tau e}`$ , the resulting constraints can not be clearly obtained and they are not yet be very strong. To obtain the upper bounds on $`\xi _{\tau \mu }`$, further studies are needed.

For the case that the fermion loop is dominated by top quark, the Barr-Zee type two loop diagrams may lead to a sizable $`\mathrm{\Delta }a_\mu `$. In S2HDM, their contributions are given by

$`\mathrm{\Delta }a_\mu ^h`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{N_cq_t^2\alpha ^2}{4\pi ^2\mathrm{sin}^2\theta _W}}{\displaystyle \frac{m_\mu ^2}{m_W^2}}\left[\text{Im}\xi _t\text{Im}\xi _\mu f\left({\displaystyle \frac{m_t^2}{m_h^2}}\right)\text{Re}\xi _t\text{Re}\xi _\mu g\left({\displaystyle \frac{m_t^2}{m_h^2}}\right)\right]`$ (5)
where $`N_c=3`$ is the color number and $`q_t=2/3`$ is the charge of top quark. $`\alpha =1/137`$ and $`\mathrm{sin}^2\theta _W=0.23`$ are the fine structure constant and weak mixing angle respectively. $`f(z)`$ and $`g(z)`$ are two integral functions which can be found in Ref. BZ  Unlike in the one loop case, where $`\mathrm{\Delta }a_\mu `$ decreases rapidly with growing $`m_h`$, the two loop contributions decrease relative slowly and their signs depend on the value of $`\delta _{\mu \tau }`$. Therefore for a very large value of $`m_h`$, the two loop effects become dominant. Another difference is that in the one loop case the new physics contributions only depend on $`\xi _\mu `$, while the two loop contributions depend on two couplings $`\xi _\mu `$ and $`\xi _t`$, if the fermion loops for $`b`$ or $`\tau `$ are included Chang et al. (2001); Cheung et al. (2001), it will depend on more parameters. As the two couplings are complex numbers, the interference between one and two loop diagrams may not always be destructive. There exists a large parameter space in which the one and two loop contributions are all positive. Thus they can result in a large contribution to $`\mathrm{\Delta }a_\mu `$ . The constraint of $`|\xi _t|`$ has been studied in $`B^0\overline{B}^0`$ mixing and $`bs\gamma `$ as well as the neutron electric dipole moment Wu (1999); Wolfenstein and Wu (1994); ylw ; Bowser-Chao et al. (1999); Wu and Zhou (2001), the typical absolute value for $`|\xi _t|`$ is of the order $`𝒪(1)`$. Taking $`|\xi _t|=1`$ and $`\delta _t=0`$ as an example, the sum of one and two loop contributions from $`h`$scalar exchange reads

$`\mathrm{\Delta }a_\mu ={\displaystyle \frac{\alpha \left|\xi _\mu \right|}{\mathrm{sin}^2\theta _W}}{\displaystyle \frac{m_\mu ^2}{m_W^2}}\left[{\displaystyle \frac{\left|\xi _\mu \right|}{8\pi }}{\displaystyle \frac{m_\mu ^2}{m_h^2}}\mathrm{ln}\left({\displaystyle \frac{m_h^2}{m_\mu ^2}}\right)\mathrm{cos}2\delta _\mu {\displaystyle \frac{\alpha }{3\pi ^2}}g\left({\displaystyle \frac{m_t^2}{m_h^2}}\right)\mathrm{cos}\delta _\mu \right].`$ (6)
It is clear that if $`\delta _\mu `$ lies in the range $`3\pi /4\delta _\mu 5\pi /4`$, the one and two loop contributions will be constructive. It can be seen that for large values of $`\delta _\mu \pi `$, the contributions from $`h`$scalar exchange can reach the experimental lower bound even for a heavy scalar with $`m_h200`$ GeV. This is quite different from the existed 2HDM calculations in the literature, where the allowed range for the scalar boson $`A`$ must be less than 100 GeV , and the scalar boson $`h`$ must be much heavier than $`A`$, so that its negative contributions are negligible.

In summary , the current data on CP asymmetry in $`BJ/\psi K_S`$and muon $`g2`$can be understood as an implication of new physics beyond the SM. If the differences between experiment and SM predictions are confirmed by future high accuracy data, the physics models which have new phases besides the CKM phase are favored. The difference of $`\mathrm{sin}2\beta `$ extracted from $`BJ/\psi K_S`$and global fit can only be explained by the models with new phase. The large muon anomalous magnetic moment can also be better understood with the inclusion of new phases.


text:
# Null Energy Condition Violations in Eternal InflationTalk given at COSMO-2001, Rovaniemi, Finland, August 29—September 4, 2001. At that time, the author’s affiliation was with the Department of Physics, Case Western Reserve University, 10900 Euclid Ave., Cleveland OH 44106. Based on work in preparation [1].

## Abstract

The usual scenario of “eternal inflation” involves an approximately de Sitter spacetime undergoing upward fluctuations of the local expansion rate $`H`$. This spacetime requires frequent violations of the Null Energy Condition (NEC). We investigate the fluctuations of the energy-momentum tensor of the scalar field in de Sitter space as a possible source of such violations. We find that fluctuations of the energy-momentum tensor smeared in space and time are well-defined and may provide the NEC violations. Our results for slow-roll inflation are consistent with the standard calculations of inflationary density fluctuations. In the diffusive regime where quantum fluctuations dominate the slow-roll evolution, the magnitude of smeared energy-momentum tensor fluctuations is large enough to create frequent NEC violations.

Department of Physics and Astronomy, Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155

The usual picture of eternal inflation  involves a locally FRW spacetime which is well described by a de Sitter-like metric with a slowly varying expansion rate $`H`$,

$$ds^2=dt^2\left[a(x,t)\right]^2d\stackrel{}{x}^2,a(x,t)e^{{\scriptscriptstyle H(x,t)𝑑t}}.$$
(1)
In a universe dominated by the vacuum energy $`V\left(\varphi \right)`$ of the scalar field $`\varphi `$ (the inflaton), the equations of motion in the slow roll approximation are

$$\left(\frac{\dot{a}}{a}\right)^2\left[H\left(\varphi \right)\right]^2=\frac{8\pi }{3}V\left(\varphi \right),$$
(2)
$$\dot{\varphi }=\frac{1}{4\pi }\frac{dH\left(\varphi \right)}{d\varphi }$$
(3)
($`G=c=1`$ in our units). According to the standard picture, quantum fluctuations of the inflaton on super-horizon scales $`L\text{ }>H^1`$ behave classically and lead to a random variation of the field $`\varphi (x,t)`$ and of the expansion rate $`H(x,t)`$ on these scales $`L`$. This modifies Eq. (3) so that, in addition to the deterministic change, the field randomly jumps by $`\delta \varphi H/\left(2\pi \right)`$ in horizon-size regions during one Hubble time $`H^1`$ (see Fig. 1). Occasionally, the field will move upward on the potential, delaying the end of inflation. These random “upward jumps” create regions with a larger expansion rate.

For most inflaton potentials, there generically exists a regime where the “jumps” significantly affect or even dominate the scalar field evolution. The latter happens for values of $`\varphi `$ such that

$$\left|\dot{\varphi }\right|\frac{\left(H\left(\varphi \right)\right)^2}{2\pi }.$$
(4)
If inflation starts with these values of $`\varphi `$, the universe will contain a statistical distribution of inflating regions, some of which will thermalize; in that case inflation becomes “eternal” because at any (arbitrarily late) time there will be some regions which have not yet reached thermalization. In this picture of eternal inflation, upward jumps of the effective expansion rate $`H`$ in horizon-size regions are assumed to be caused by backreaction of fluctuations of the scalar field $`\varphi `$ on the metric.

It has been known that eternal inflation requires violations of the null energy condition . The Einstein equation

$$\dot{H}=4\pi G\left(\rho +p\right)+\frac{k}{a^2}$$
(5)
shows that if $`H`$ is to increase and the curvature is zero or negative ($`k0`$), the term $`\rho +p`$ must be negative. For the standard energy-momentum tensor $`T_{\mu \nu }`$ of a homogeneous fluid, this translates into the null energy condition (NEC),

$$T_{\mu \nu }N^\mu N^\nu <0$$
(6)
for some null vector $`N^\mu `$. In other words, the NEC must be violated in any patch of spacetime of size $`L\text{ }>H^1`$ that undergoes an upward jump in its local expansion rate $`H`$.

The issue we are concerned with is the source of these NEC violations during eternal inflation. Energy density of a classical scalar field cannot violate the NEC, since

$$T_{\mu \nu }N^\mu N^\nu =\left(N^\mu _\mu \varphi \right)^20.$$
(7)
A quantum field $`\widehat{\varphi }`$ may violate the NEC in some quantum states; however, the expectation value of the (renormalized) energy-momentum tensor $`\widehat{T}_{\mu \nu }^{ren}`$ of a scalar field in a de Sitter-invariant state does not cause violations of the NEC. In such a state

$$\widehat{T}_{\mu \nu }^{ren}g_{\mu \nu }$$
(8)
because of de Sitter invariance, and therefore the NEC operator has vanishing expectation value,

$$\widehat{O}^{ren}\widehat{T}_{\mu \nu }^{ren}N^\mu N^\nu =0.$$
(9)
Even if the expectation value of $`\widehat{T}_{\mu \nu }`$ does not violate the NEC, the energy-momentum tensor has fluctuations around the mean which may be significant. In the picture of semiclassical gravity, the spacetime metric is completely determined by the expectation value of the energy-momentum tensor and is insensitive to its fluctuations. We would like to include the effect of energy-momentum fluctuations on the metric and for that we would need to go beyond semiclassical gravity. In the present work we restrict ourselves to an evaluation of $`\widehat{O}^2`$ and do not consider the effect of the fluctuations on the metric, which is a separate and more complicated issue.

A direct evaluation of the fluctuations of $`\widehat{T}_{\mu \nu }`$ is problematic since the two-point function of the energy-momentum tensor $`\widehat{T}_{\mu \nu }\left(x\right)\widehat{T}_{\rho \sigma }\left(x\right)`$ diverges at coincident points $`x`$. Even if this divergence were somehow to be renormalized away, any remaining finite piece will have to be of the form

$$g_{\mu \nu }g_{\rho \sigma }+(\text{permutations})$$
(10)
and, after a contraction with $`N^\mu N^\nu N^\rho N^\sigma `$, will not contribute to the NEC.

From the formal point of view, the renormalized energy-momentum tensor $`\widehat{T}_{\mu \nu }^{ren}`$ and the NEC $`\widehat{O}^{ren}`$ are not operators but operator-valued distributions that become well-defined operators after averaging with a window function, for instance

$$\widehat{O}_W^{ren}d^4x\sqrt{g}W\left(\frac{x}{L}\right)\widehat{O}^{ren}.$$
(11)
Here the window function profile $`W\left(x\right)`$ is chosen so that it falls off rapidly and provides a smearing on scale $`L`$. Averaging over time as well as over space is necessary to avoid divergences in $`(\widehat{O}_W^{ren})^2`$. (Details of the calculations will be given in ). We shall adopt the viewpoint that the quantum energy-momentum tensor smeared in space and time on scales $`L\text{ }>H^1`$ behaves quasi-classically and may provide NEC violations in certain horizon-size regions. This is similar to the assumption made in usual calculations of inflationary perturbations where a coarse-graining on super-horizon scales is performed.

We take the quantum state of the field $`\widehat{\varphi }`$ during slow-roll inflation to be a superposition

$$\widehat{\varphi }(x,t)=\varphi _0\left(t\right)+\delta \widehat{\varphi }(x,t),$$
(12)
where $`\varphi _0\left(t\right)`$ is the classical slow-roll trajectory (represented by a suitable coherent state) and $`\delta \widehat{\varphi }`$ is a quantum scalar field in the usual Bunch-Davies vacuum state of the approximately de Sitter spacetime. We have computed the expectation value $`\widehat{O}`$ and the dispersion $`\widehat{O}^2`$ of the operator given by Eq. (11) in this quantum state. Although the expectation value $`\widehat{O}>0`$ in this state, the NEC may be frequently violated if $`\widehat{O}^2\widehat{O}^2`$.

The calculations were made for a massless field $`\delta \widehat{\varphi }`$ in de Sitter space, with a constant null vector field

$$N^\mu \left(H\eta \right)^2[1,𝐧],𝐧=const,$$
(13)
and an arbitrary normalized window profile $`W\left(x\right)`$ that decays quickly (it is sufficient to assume exponential decay) for $`\left|x\right|\text{ }>1`$. The smearing scales of interest are $`L=(\epsilon H)^1`$ for both space and time (with $`\epsilon \text{ }<1`$). Under these assumptions we have obtained the ratio of dispersion to mean,

$$\frac{\widehat{O}^2}{\widehat{O}^2}=\left(\frac{H^2}{2\pi \dot{\varphi }_0}\right)^2\mathrm{max}(c_1\epsilon ^2,c_2\epsilon ^4)+\left(\frac{H^2}{2\pi \dot{\varphi }_0}\right)^4c_3\epsilon ^8$$
(14)
where $`c_1`$, $`c_2`$, $`c_3O\left(1\right)`$ are window-dependent constants. (This result is otherwise insensitive to the choice of the window profile.) The first term on the RHS of Eq. (14) corresponds to first-order terms in the perturbative expansion in $`\delta \varphi `$, while the second term comes from second-order expansion terms.

Within our assumptions, it follows from Eq. (14) that fluctuations of the energy-momentum tensor lead to frequent NEC violations when

$$\left|\dot{\varphi }_0\right|\frac{H^2}{2\pi }.$$
(15)
Note that this is the same condition as Eq. (4) for fluctuation domination. If this condition holds, the second term on the RHS of Eq. (14) is of the same order or greater than the first term; in other words, perturbation theory is inadequate in the fluctuation-dominated regime. In the opposite regime, perturbation theory is valid, the NEC holds and we obtain an agreement with standard calculations of inflationary perturbations.

We have shown that there exists a range of scalar field values $`\varphi `$ where fluctuations of the smeared energy-momentum tensor on super-horizon scales are significant and suggest frequent NEC violations. This range of $`\varphi `$ coincides with the regime where the quantum “jumps” dominate the evolution of $`\varphi `$, which is required for eternal inflation. In the traditional description of inflation, the quantum field $`\varphi `$ smeared on super-horizon scales is treated as a classical field. If super-horizon scale smearing is an accurate phenomenological description of the quantum-to-classical transition of the vacuum fluctuations in de Sitter space, these fluctuations would indeed seem to provide the necessary NEC violations.

Following the same approach, the present analysis suggests a possibility of spontaneous eternal inflation in de Sitter spacetime. Suppose we had a massive scalar field with the potential shown in Fig. 2. The classical field is located at the bottom of the potential and gives rise to a background inflation. The quantum state of the fluctuations of $`\varphi `$ is assumed to be the Bunch-Davies vacuum. In this state there will also be fluctuations of the energy density and, since the expectation value $`\widehat{O}=0`$ while $`\widehat{O}^2>0`$, violations of the NEC will happen. So the standard picture of eternal inflation picture would suggest that de Sitter space is destabilized by the presence of a scalar field in the Bunch-Davies vacuum.

One may also apply similar considerations to Minkowski spacetime and conclude, by setting $`\mathrm{\Lambda }=0`$ in Fig. 2, that Minkowski spacetime is unstable to eternal inflation. This conclusion would be contrary to the usual assumption that flat spacetime is stable. However, there is a crucial difference between Minkowski spacetime and a de Sitter spacetime, namely that the “horizon scale” $`H^1`$ in Minkowski spacetime is infinite. Therefore for Minkowski spacetime to be unstable to eternal inflation, the NEC-violating fluctuation would have to survive for an infinitely long time. The probability for this to happen vanishes and hence Minkowski spacetime is stable towards eternal inflation. However, in FRW spacetimes with a finite horizon size we might still find an instability towards eternal inflation. To resolve this question, a more precise picture of the backreaction is needed.

An unsatisfactory feature of our argument is that it only concerns itself with the spacetime before and after the fluctuation. The evolution of the spacetime during the fluctuation itself is not considered. Our attempt to go beyond the semiclassical analysis by calculating fluctuations of the energy-momentum tensor was not entirely successful since we do not yet have a scheme for calculating the backreaction of NEC violating fluctuations on the metric. This issue requires further study.


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# Generating and probing a two-photon Fock state with a single atom in a cavity

## Abstract

A two-photon Fock state is prepared in a cavity sustaining a “source mode ” and a “target mode”, with a single circular Rydberg atom. In a third-order Raman process, the atom emits a photon in the target while scattering one photon from the source into the target. The final two-photon state is probed by measuring by Ramsey interferometry the cavity light shifts induced by the target field on the same atom. Extensions to other multi-photon processes and to a new type of micromaser are briefly discussed.

The generation of non-classical states of light has been the subject of an intense theoretical and experimental activity since the first observations of squeezed states of light . The study of these states provides a fundamental understanding of quantum fluctuations and opens the way for new schemes of communication or imaging beating the standard quantum noise limit. Entangled states produced in down-conversion processes have been widely used to test fundamental quantum features such as non-locality  or to realize quantum information transmission schemes (cryptography  or teleportation ). Quantum superpositions of fields with different classical parameters have been used to explore the quantum/classical boundary and the decoherence phenomenon .

In this context, Fock or photon number states are particularly interesting. They exhibit no intensity fluctuations and a complete phase indetermination. Their Wigner function presents negativities which reveal clearly their non-classical nature . Many studies have been devoted to their production and characterization. Single-photon Fock states are easily prepared from a pair of entangled photons by the detection of one of the members of the pair . They can also be prepared “on demand” by controlling the emission of a single radiator: molecule , colored center  or quantum dot . These single-photon states are useful for quantum information transmission schemes . Single-photon sources could also be an essential resource in an all-optical quantum information processing device .

Various schemes of Fock state preparation have been proposed in the context of Cavity Quantum Electrodynamics (CQED) , in which atoms interact one at a time with a high $`Q`$ resonator. A one-photon Fock state has been produced in this way by a $`\pi `$ quantum Rabi pulse in a microwave cavity  or by an adiabatic passage sequence in an optical cavity . With a train of atoms, arbitrary multiphoton Fock states can in principle be generated in a cavity by post-selecting the events in which each atom has emitted one photon. Two-photon states have been generated in this way . The operation of c.w. micromasers can also lead to Fock states preparation. The micromaser field evolves into a number state, provided the atomic velocity is conveniently tuned (trapping states ). A one-photon Fock state has been generated and probed in this way . In all these CQED processes, at least one atom per produced photon is required. Schemes more economical in atomic resources have been proposed  but never implemented so far.

We report in this Letter the production of a two-photon Fock state by a single atom in a high-$`Q`$ cavity. The scheme involves the non-resonant interaction of the atom with two non-degenerate cavity modes. The atom, in a single non-linear process, emits one photon in the initially empty target mode, while transferring another photon from the source mode (containing initially a small field) into the target. This third-order Raman process, resonant for proper atom-cavity mode detunings, is highly efficient.

The principle of the experiment is sketched on Fig. 1(a). More details can be found elsewhere . Rubidium atoms effusing from oven $`O`$ are velocity-selected and promoted, one at a time, in the circular state $`e`$ (principal quantum number 51) in box $`B`$. The atom in the circular state crosses the superconducting cavity $`C`$, which sustains two non-degenerate orthogonally polarized modes $`M_a`$ and $`M_b`$. They have the same gaussian geometry with a $`w=6`$ mm waist. Their damping times are 1.2 ms for $`M_a`$ and 0.9 ms for $`M_b`$. The $`M_aM_b`$ frequency difference is $`\delta /2\pi =128`$ kHz ($`M_a`$ has the highest frequency). At thermal equilibrium, $`M_a`$ and $`M_b`$ contain a thermal field with one photon on average. A field “erasure” procedure can be applied to prepare both modes in the vacuum state $`|0`$ . An external source $`S`$ can be used to inject in $`M_b`$ a small coherent field with a tunable photon number. The modes are nearly resonant with the transition between circular states $`e`$ and $`g`$ (principal quantum number 50) at 51.1 GHz. The detuning $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$ between the atomic frequency and $`M_a`$ can be tuned by changing the cavity length (slow tuning) or by Stark-shifting the atomic line (fast tuning). The final state of the atom is analyzed by the state-selective field-ionization detector $`D`$.

An atom entering an empty cavity in state $`e`$, resonant with $`M_a`$ ($`\mathrm{\Delta }=0`$) or $`M_b`$ ($`\mathrm{\Delta }=\delta `$), would undergo a quantum Rabi oscillation at the frequency $`\mathrm{\Omega }/2\pi =49`$ kHz . We consider here a situation where the atomic transition is tuned above the frequency of mode $`M_a`$ ($`\mathrm{\Delta }>0`$). Direct photon emission in the cavity mode is thus forbidden by energy conservation, provided $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$ is much larger than $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$.

A higher order emission process in the initially empty target mode $`M_a`$ is however possible when the source mode $`M_b`$ initially contains a small field with a photon number distribution $`p(n)`$. Let us first consider the contribution of the $`n`$-photon Fock state in $`M_b`$. The initial system’s state, taken as the energy reference, is $`|e,0,n`$. The symbols in the ket refer to the atomic state and to the $`M_a`$ and $`M_b`$ photon numbers successively. The initial state is coupled by photon emission in $`M_a`$ to $`|g,1,n`$ (energy $`\mathrm{}\mathrm{\Delta }`$) \[see level scheme on Fig. 1(b)\]. This level is coupled by a one-photon absorption in $`M_b`$ to $`|e,1,n1`$ (energy $`\mathrm{}\delta `$), coupled in turn to the final state $`|g,2,n1`$ (energy $`\mathrm{}(\delta \mathrm{\Delta })`$). When $`\mathrm{\Delta }=\delta `$, this third-order Raman process is resonant and injects two photons in $`M_a`$ using a single atom. Note that a symmetrical Raman process emits two photons in $`M_b`$ when $`M_a`$ contains a small field and $`\mathrm{\Delta }=2\delta `$. These Raman processes are related to the cascade in the dressed atom levels used in  to realize a two-photon optical laser oscillator with macroscopic atom samples. We are, however, interested here in a single step process involving only one atom.

The lowest order Raman coupling matrix element is $`\mathrm{\Omega }^3\sqrt{2n}/[8\mathrm{\Delta }(\mathrm{\Delta }+\delta )]`$. The $`\sqrt{n}`$ and $`\sqrt{2}`$ factors arise from the stimulation of the $`|g,1,n|e,1,n1`$ and of the $`|e,1,n1|g,2,n1`$ couplings by the fields in $`M_b`$ and $`M_a`$ respectively. For a coherent or thermal source field, the two-photon emission probability is obtained by summing independently the various Fock state contributions in $`M_b`$, weighted by their probability $`p(n)`$. The efficiency of the process thus increases with the average photon number in the source mode.

This simple discussion neglects the light shifts produced by the non-resonant modes on the atomic levels. These second order effects are much larger than the Raman coupling. An effective hamiltonian model and a numerical simulation of the Raman emission process  show that these shifts reduce the $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$ value at resonance, which becomes smaller than $`\delta `$ and decreases with the photon number in $`M_b`$ (for instance, for a six photon coherent field in $`M_b`$, the resonance condition is $`\mathrm{\Delta }/2\pi =65`$ kHz). For large source fields, the Raman transition merges with the ordinary emission line at $`\mathrm{\Delta }=0`$.

Figure 2 presents the probability $`P_g`$ for detecting the atom in state $`g`$, reconstructed by averaging 1000 realizations of the experiment, as a function of $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$. The atomic velocity is $`v=200`$ m/s. The solid squares on figure 2(a) (with statistical error bars) correspond to both modes initially at thermal equilibrium. The main features are the two direct one-photon emission resonances at $`\mathrm{\Delta }=0`$ and $`\mathrm{\Delta }=\delta `$. Two Raman resonances are also observed around $`\mathrm{\Delta }/2\pi =80`$ kHz and $`\mathrm{\Delta }/2\pi =210`$ kHz. For the first, $`M_a`$ is the target mode (see discussion above). For the second, $`M_a`$ is the source and $`M_b`$ the target mode. These features are reproduced by the numerical simulation of the evolution (solid line). The Raman process in this situation is produced by the thermal field in the source mode and enhanced by the initial thermal field in the target mode. These Raman resonances are not observed with fast atoms (above 300 m/s). The $`\mathrm{\Delta }=0`$ and $`\mathrm{\Delta }=\delta `$ lines are wider in this case and the Raman transfer rate is much smaller. The constant 8% background in figure 2 is mainly due to spontaneous emission outside the cavity, enhanced by the background thermal field.

The other data sets in figure 2(a) correspond to an initially empty $`M_a`$, $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$ being scanned only around the upper Raman resonance. Open squares, obtained when $`M_b`$ is empty, exhibit no resonant transfer. This demonstrates the essential role of the source field in the Raman process. The two other data sets correspond to a coherent field in $`M_b`$ with an average photon number of 5.6 (open circles) and 11.2 (open squares). This field has been independently calibrated by a procedure described in . These last two data sets are enlarged on figure 2(b), together with the results of the numerical simulations (dotted and solid lines). The simulations agree reasonably well with the experiment (note that the effect of the light shifts on the resonance frequency is here clearly apparent). For the largest source field, the transfer rate peaks at 30%. For higher photon numbers, the Raman resonance merges into the one-photon line.

We have also directly probed the final field in $`M_b`$. The same atom undergoes the Raman emission process and measures the field through the dispersive light shift experienced by the atomic level $`g`$ . The atom is initially prepared in $`e`$, with a velocity $`v=170`$ m/s. Mode $`M_a`$ is empty and $`M_b`$ contains a coherent field with 6 photons on the average. The cavity is initially tuned to the Raman resonance condition ($`\mathrm{\Delta }/2\pi =65`$ kHz). The two-photon emission builds up. The frequency detuning $`\mathrm{\Delta }/2\pi `$ is suddenly increased from 65 kHz to 135 kHz, at a time $`t=5\mu `$s after the atom has crossed the cavity axis. The Raman process is frozen from then on. The atom then undergoes a classical $`\pi /2`$ pulse which prepares a superposition of $`g`$ and $`i`$ (circular state with principal quantum number 49). This pulse, resonant on the $`gi`$ transition at 54.3 GHz, is fed from a classical source $`S^{}`$ into a low-$`Q`$ transverse mode of the cavity structure. The phase of the atomic superposition is sensitive to the light shifts produced on $`g`$ by $`M_a`$ and $`M_b`$ (the $`gi`$ transition being far off-resonant with $`M_a`$ and $`M_b`$, the light shifts of level $`i`$ is negligible). These light shifts are proportional to the photon number in each mode and inversely proportional to the final values of $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$ and $`\mathrm{\Delta }+\delta `$. The final atomic superposition is probed by applying on the atom, after it exits $`C`$, a second $`\pi /2`$ pulse on the $`gi`$ transition, resulting in a Ramsey fringe pattern . The probability for detecting the atom in $`g`$ is sinusoidal versus the frequency of $`S^{}`$. The phase of this modulation reflects the accumulated light shift . Note that the final detection of the atom in $`g`$ or $`i`$ selects the events in which the Raman emission has taken place. If the atom is in $`e`$ at time $`t`$ (no Raman emission has occurred), it is unaffected by the Ramsey pulses. These events are discarded.

The corresponding fringes are plotted on figure 3 (solid squares), compared to two reference signals. The open square signal is obtained when $`M_a`$ is empty ($`\mathrm{\Delta }`$ is detuned from the Raman resonance at all times). The phase of these fringes is defined as being zero. The open diamond signal corresponds to a one-photon Fock state in $`M_a`$. The Raman emission is replaced in this case by a resonant $`\pi `$ Rabi pulse in $`M_a`$. Note that, for the three data sets, $`M_b`$ initially contains the six photon coherent field. The phase of the fringes obtained after the Raman process and after the single photon emission are $`\varphi _2=0.52\pm 0.04`$ rd and $`\varphi _1=0.32\pm 0.03`$ rd respectively. The zero phase corresponds to the light shifts produced by the vacuum in $`M_a`$ and the 6 photon coherent field in $`M_b`$. The phase $`\varphi _1`$ reflects the apparition of one photon in $`M_a`$ while $`M_b`$ remains unchanged. The phase $`\varphi _2`$ results from the simultaneous change of fields in $`M_a`$ and $`M_b`$. The first field increases by two photons, thus producing a shift $`2\varphi _1`$, and the second decreases by about one, thus reducing the phase by about $`\varphi _1/2`$, since $`\mathrm{\Delta }+\delta 2\mathrm{\Delta }`$. With the precise detuning values, we predict $`\varphi _2/\varphi _1=1.52`$, in good agreement with the measured ratio $`1.62\pm 0.05`$.

For a more quantitative analysis, we perform a numerical simulation of the experiment taking into account all known imperfections of the set-up: cavity relaxation, spontaneous emission events before or after the interaction with $`C`$, finite contrast of the Ramsey interferometer, two-atom events (the atom number has a Poisson distribution with a low average value ). The lines in figure 3 result from this simulation. They agree well with the experimental data. This confirms our interpretation of the emission process.

The results of this simulation can be used to determine the photon number distribution after the Raman emission process, at time $`t`$. The raw probability for having two photons is 37%. The broadening of the distribution is due to two main experimental imperfections. The $`eg`$ spontaneous emission before the atom enters the cavity generates a 20% background of events where the atom enters $`C`$ in $`g`$. This imperfection could easily be removed by emptying level $`g`$ immediately before the atom enters $`C`$ with a convenient microwave pulse, raising the two-photon probability up to 46%. The second imperfection is the growth of a one-photon residual thermal field in the cavity during the experiment. This background could be suppressed easily (the corresponding experimental improvements are in progress). The two-photon probability would raise then to 63%.

We have shown in this Letter that a single atom can prepare efficiently a two-photon Fock state in a cavity mode by a third-order Raman process. This opens the way to interesting extensions. A coherent superposition of zero- and two-photon Fock states can be readily obtained by preparing the atom intially in a superposition of $`e`$ and $`g`$. We have also observed, for $`\mathrm{\Delta }=\delta `$, the reverse Raman process coupling $`|g,0,n`$ to $`|e,1,n2`$. The atom leaves a photon in $`M_a`$ and is simultaneously excited. This process removes two photon at the same time from the source mode $`M_b`$. A stream of atoms performing this Raman process could thus be used to implement an effective two-photon relaxation in mode $`M_b`$, opening interesting perspectives for relaxation tailoring and quantum states engineering.

With a continuous source of atoms, these Raman processes lead to a new type of micromaser . We are now exploring theoretically its properties. It exhibits novel features, compared to the one- and two-photon micromasers  or to the two-photon lasers . Fock states with higher photon numbers can also be reached. When $`\mathrm{\Delta }=2\delta `$, a fifth order process resonantly couples $`|e,0,n`$ to $`|g,3,n2`$, injecting three photons in a single step into the target mode. With the atomic velocities available now, the corresponding transfer rate is too low (below $`10^3`$) to be observed. The use of laser cooling techniques to prepare very slow circular atoms could allow the observation of this effect.

Acknowledgements : Laboratoire Kastler Brossel is a laboratory of Université Pierre et Marie Curie et ENS, associated to CNRS (UMR 8552). We acknowledge support of the European Community, of the Japan Science and Technology corporation (International Cooperative Research Project : Quantum Entanglement). P. Milman acknowledges support by the Brazilian agency CNPq.