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# Misleading signatures of quantum chaos

## Abstract

The main signature of chaos in a quantum system is provided by spectral statistical analysis of the nearest neighbor spacing distribution and the spectral rigidity given by $`\mathrm{\Delta }_3(L)`$. It is shown that some standard unfolding procedures, like local unfolding and Gaussian broadening, lead to a spurious increase of the spectral rigidity that spoils the $`\mathrm{\Delta }_3(L)`$ relationship with the regular or chaotic motion of the system. This effect can also be misinterpreted as Berry’s saturation.

Quantum chaos has been an active research field since the link between energy level fluctuations and the chaotic or integrable properties of Hamiltonian systems was conjectured , providing one of the fundamental signatures of quantum chaos  in atoms, molecules, nuclei, quantum dots, etc. The secular or smooth behavior of of the level density is a characteristic of each quantum system, while the fluctuations relative to this smooth behavior are related to the regular or chaotic character of the motion in all quantum systems. To achieve the separation of the smooth and fluctuating parts, the energy spectrum is scaled to a sequence with the same local mean spacing along the whole spectrum. This scaling is called unfolding . Although this can be a non-trivial task , the description of the unfolding details of calculations is usually neglected in the literature.

In this Letter we show that, contrary to common assumptions, the statistics that measure long range level correlations are strongly dependent on the unfolding procedure utilized, and some standard unfolding methods give very misleading results in regard to the chaoticity of quantum systems. Long range level correlations are usually measured by means of the Dyson and Mehta $`\mathrm{\Delta }_3`$ statistic . On the other hand, short range correlations, caracterized by the the nearest-neighbor spacing distribution $`P(s)`$, are not very sensitive to the unfolding method.

Let us consider a rectangular quantum billiard with a size ratio $`a/b=\pi `$. This is a well known example of a regular system. In general, for regular systems level fluctuations behave like in a sequence of uncorrelated energy levels, and the $`\mathrm{\Delta }_3(L)`$ statistic increases linearly with $`L`$. However, it was shown by Berry  that the existence of periodic orbits in the phase space of the analogous classical system leads to a saturation of $`\mathrm{\Delta }_3(L)`$ for $`L`$ larger than a certain value $`L_s`$, related to the period of the shortest periodic orbit. Fig. 1 shows the $`\mathrm{\Delta }_3`$ behavior for a sequence of 8000 high energy levels of the mentioned quantum billiard, calculated with two different unfolding procedures. The mean level density for this system is given by the Weyl law . Using this density to perform the unfolding, $`\mathrm{\Delta }_3`$ follows the straight line of level spacings with Poisson distribution, characteristic of regular systems. In this example, Berry’s saturation takes place at $`L_s750`$, that is outside the figure. Let us suppose now that the law giving the mean level density of the system were unknown. Then, a standard method to obtain the local mean level density at energy $`E`$ is to calculate the average density of a few levels around this energy. Using this method one obtains a very different behavior, the spectral rigidity increases strongly at $`L20`$, and afterwards $`\mathrm{\Delta }_3`$ is close to the Gaussian orthogonal ensemble (GOE) line characteristic of chaotic systems. The latter behavior is not at all related to the Berry saturation. It is a spurious effect due to inappropriate unfolding of the level spectrum and it implies that strong long-range correlations have been improperly introduced by the procedure.

This first example illustrates the problem that can arise with some reasonable unfolding methods currently used in quantum chaos calculations . In order to understand its origin we shall analyze different unfolding procedures. The principal difficulty in the unfolding is the correct characterization of the mean level density $`\overline{\rho }(E)`$. Having this function, the unfolded adimensional variables $`\epsilon _i`$,

$$\epsilon _i=\overline{N}(E_i),\overline{N}(E)=𝑑E\overline{\rho }(E),$$
(1)
have mean level density $`\overline{\rho }(\epsilon )=1`$. The unfolded spacing sequence is then $`\{s_i=\epsilon _{i+1}\epsilon _i\}`$, and the nearest-neighbor spacing distribution $`P(s)`$ is well suited to study the short-range spectral correlations .

The $`\mathrm{\Delta }_3`$ statistic is used to investigate the long range correlations. It is defined for the interval $`[a,a+L]`$ in the cumulative level density as

$$\mathrm{\Delta }_3(a,L)=\frac{1}{L}\underset{A,B}{\mathrm{min}}_a^{a+L}\left[N(\epsilon )A\epsilon B\right]^2𝑑\epsilon .$$
(2)
The function $`\mathrm{\Delta }_3(L)`$, averaged over intervals, measures the deviations of the quasi-uniform spectrum from a true equidistant spectrum.

For some systems a natural unfolding procedure exists, because $`\overline{\rho }(E)`$ is known from an appropriate statistical theory or by a well checked empirical ansatz. For example, $`\overline{\rho }(E)`$ is a semicircle for large GOE matrices , it often has Gaussian form for large nuclear shell-model matrices , and follows the Weyl law in quantum billiards . However, in many systems where there is no natural choice for $`\overline{\rho }(E)`$, it is usually estimated from a set of neighboring levels. The simplest method, called local unfolding, has been widely used . The mean level density is assumed to be approximately linear in a window of $`v`$ levels on each side of $`E_i`$, and is given by

$$\overline{\rho }_L(E_i)=\frac{2v}{E_{iv}E_{i+v}},$$
(3)
where $`L`$ stands for local unfolding. More sophisticated is the Gaussian broadening method . The level density $`\rho (E)=_i\delta (EE_i)`$ is substituted by an average level density

$$\overline{\rho }_G(E)=\frac{1}{\sigma \sqrt{2\pi }}\underset{i}{}\mathrm{exp}\left\{\frac{(EE_i)^2}{2\sigma ^2}\right\},$$
(4)
where $`G`$ stands for Gaussian broadening. The sum runs over all the energy levels, but only those satisfying $`\left|EE_i\right|\sigma `$ do significantly contribute to $`\overline{\rho }_G(E)`$. Although these two methods are different, both depend on a parameter $`v`$ or $`\sigma `$ that measures, in a real or effective way, how many neighboring levels are used to calculate the local mean density.

Let us now consider the atomic nucleus as example of a quantum system more complex than the quantum billiard. In most nuclei, level fluctuations are in agreement with GOE predictions at all energies, showing that the motion is chaotic. However, it has recently been observed that single closed nuclei are less chaotic than expected . One of the most regular nuclei at law energy is $`{}_{}{}^{52}Ca`$. Analysis of the shell-model level spectrum  shows that the nearest neighbor $`P(s)`$ distribution is close to the Poisson limit (the Brody parameter is $`\omega =0.25`$) for levels up to 5 MeV above the yrast line. As the excitation energy is increased, $`P(s)`$ approaches the spacing distribution of a chaotic system. However, other statistics indicate that the dynamics still is not fully chaotic. Often, the mean level density inside a valence space is very well reproduced by an Edgeworth expansion around a Gaussian form . If we use it to perform a smooth unfolding of the 2755 $`J=10`$ levels of 52Ca, the $`\mathrm{\Delta }_3(L)`$ statistic is close to GOE limit for very small $`L`$ values, but it increases linearly instead of logarithmically for larger $`L`$ values, as can be seen in Fig. 2. Except for very small $`L`$ values, the spectral rigidity is intermediate between that of GOE and Poisson limits, giving a clear signature of non chaotic motion. This result is in agreement with the behavior of the wave function localization lengths .

When the Edgeworth expansion fails, as it happens sometimes , the local unfolding or the Gaussian broadening are the available unfolding methods. Fig. 2 also shows the results of local unfolding for $`v=5`$. The calculated $`\mathrm{\Delta }_3`$ follows the line obtained with the smooth unfolding up to $`L2v`$, but then accumulated unfolding errors increase the spectral rigidity and lead to a $`\mathrm{\Delta }_3`$ saturation for larger $`L`$. This is the same behavior that was observed in the quantum billiard system described above. Moreover, as the $`\mathrm{\Delta }_3`$ values are rather close to the GOE limit when $`v=5`$ is used, the conclusion in this case would be that 52Ca is a chaotic system. This example is then very enlightening. First, it illustrates that, contrary to common practice, the $`\mathrm{\Delta }_3(L)`$ statistic should be calculated up to high $`L`$ values, because otherwise one can miss relevant information on the system dynamics. Second, it shows the problems that can arise when the mean level density is not known and one has to rely on local unfolding.

To avoid any uncertainties on the real mean level density $`\overline{\rho }(E)`$ and level fluctuations, we can study GOE and Poisson level spectra, the paradigmatic cases of chaotic and regular systems, respectively. We consider a GOE matrix with dimension $`N=10000`$, and compare the spectral fluctuations obtained by three different methods: Smooth unfolding made with the semicircle law, local unfolding, and Gaussian broadening unfolding. All these methods yield almost indistinguishable results for the $`P(s)`$ distribution, that is in perfect agreement with the Wigner surmise. The behavior of the short range correlations is not affected by the method of unfolding.

However, Fig. 3 shows a completely different scenario for $`\mathrm{\Delta }_3`$. For the smooth unfolding, the spectral rigidity behaves as predicted by GOE, up to very large $`L`$ values. The local unfolding was performed using two different windows, with $`v=9`$ and $`v=21`$. The calculated $`\mathrm{\Delta }_3`$ coincides now with GOE predictions only up to $`L2v`$, then it leaves the GOE trend because the spectral rigidity increases and finally $`\mathrm{\Delta }_3`$ saturates to a constant value. The Gaussian broadening unfolding was performed for $`\sigma =1`$ MeV and $`\sigma =2`$ Mev. In the central part of the spectrum these values correspond to windows containing about $`10`$ and $`20`$ states, respectively . Therefore, the effective number of states that affect the average level density is about the same as in the local unfolding case. Again, we see the same $`\mathrm{\Delta }_3`$ behavior for $`L`$ values greater than the window used in the unfolding.

Fig. 4 shows the spectral rigidity for 10000 levels generated with Poisson statistics and a uniform density $`\overline{\rho }(E)=1`$. The smooth unfolding gives $`\mathrm{\Delta }_3`$ values close to Poisson predictions, but local unfolding with $`v=2`$, 9 and 21, leads again to the same behavior observed in previous cases for $`L2v`$. In fact, for the small window with four spacings, the $`\mathrm{\Delta }_3`$ of the Poisson spectrum closely follows GOE predictions!

Looking for deeper insight into the spurious $`\mathrm{\Delta }_3`$ saturation, we consider the sequence of nearest level spacings as a physical signal, and apply Fourier analysis techniques to its study. We have chosen a system with Poisson statistics and uniform level distribution to illustrate the idea, because the smooth density is constant. Therefore, the fundamental assumption of the local unfolding method, namely that the mean density is approximately linear within a window, is exactly fulfilled. From the real nearest-neighbor level spacing sequence $`S`$, we obtain: (a) the average spacing sequence $`D_L`$ calculated with the local constant density of Eq. (3) and $`v=21`$, (b) the sequence of smoothly unfolded spacings $`s`$, and (c) the sequence of locally unfolded spacings $`s_L`$. Since for this spectrum $`\overline{\rho }(E)=1`$, we have $`D=1`$ and $`s=S`$.

Fig. 5 displays the power spectrum of these sequences for frequencies up to $`k=0.6`$. For $`D_L`$, it has a maximum near $`k=0`$ and decreases smoothly becoming essentially zero at some threshold frequency $`k_0=\pi /v`$. However, this behavior is a spurious effect, because the real mean spacing $`D`$ is constant and then its power spectrum is zero for all the frequencies $`k0`$. Therefore the local unfolding procedure introduces spurious low frequency components into the $`D_L`$ signal. Comparing the power spectra of $`D_L`$ and $`s`$, it is seen that they are very similar at low frequencies, except for the damping of the former. The power spectra of $`s`$ and $`s_L`$ are also very similar, except that the low frequency components are missing in the latter. These results clarify the deficiencies of local unfolding. It becomes apparent that the procedure is filtering out low frequency fluctuations from the spectrum $`s`$, and improperly including them in $`D_L`$. Moreover, by reducing or eliminating fluctuations of frequency smaller than $`k_0`$, the procedure is introducing long range correlations with wave lengths greater than $`2v`$. As this fluctuation reduction is progressive, the spurious long range correlations become stronger as $`L`$ increases beyond the window size $`2v`$. It is precisely this phenomenon what has previously been detected by the $`\mathrm{\Delta }_3`$ statistic, that strong long range correlations leading to a saturation of the $`\mathrm{\Delta }_3`$ are observed for $`L2v`$.

In summary, we have shown that the correct behavior of $`\mathrm{\Delta }_3`$ is strongly modified by some commonly used unfolding procedures when the exact shape of the mean level density is not known. Methods like local unfolding or Gaussian broadening introduce spurious long range correlations in the unfolded level spectrum, increasing the spectral rigidity and leading to a saturation of $`\mathrm{\Delta }_3(L)`$. In these methods the local average level spacing at energy $`E`$ is calculated from the levels inside an energy window around $`E`$. The spurious behavior of the $`\mathrm{\Delta }_3`$ statistic is observed for $`L`$ larger than the window size. In general it gives misleading signatures of quantum chaos, and for small windows the behavior of $`\mathrm{\Delta }_3`$ may be close to the GOE limit. Furthermore, the spurious saturation of $`\mathrm{\Delta }_3`$ can easily be misinterpreted as Berry’s saturation.

For systems intermediate between regular and chaotic, the traditional spectral statistics $`P(s)`$ and $`\mathrm{\Delta }_3(L)`$ for small $`L`$ values may be close to the GOE limit, and strong deviations of the spectral rigidity from GOE predictions only appear for larger $`L`$ values. Thus if the local mean level density is not known from a statistical theory or a good empirical ansatz, the analysis of energy level fluctuations will not lead to correct conclusions on the system dynamics. In this case, it becomes necessary to go beyond level statistics and study properties of the wave functions, such as localization length, transition strengths and transition strength sums .

We want to acknowledge useful discussions with D. Weinmann. This work is supported in part by Spanish Government grants for the research projects BFM2000-0600 and FTN2000-0963-C02.


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# Detection of an Eclipse during the 1987 Outburst of U Sco

E-mail: tkato@kusastro.kyoto-u.ac.jp

U Sco is a recurrent nova which showed recorded outbursts in 1863, 1906, 1936, 1979, 1987, and most recently in 1999 (for a summary of the 1987 outburst, see Sekiguchi et al. 1988). The eclipsing nature of the object was discovered (Shaefer 1990) after the 1987 outburst. Shaefer and Ringwald (1995) further obtained eclipse timings yielding a precise ephemeris. We examined our time-series photographic observations obtained during on 1987 May 20, which fortuitously covered the primary minimum. This makes the first epoch observation of the U Sco eclipse during the 1987–1999 outburst interval.

The observations were made using a 13-cm reflector (fl=1.0m) and Sakura SR-400 films. The exposure time was typically 475 sec. The negatives and prints were measured by eye, using up to five comparison stars. The estimated step values were analyzed by the least-squares method (Kato 1997). Three comparison stars with known visual magnitudes (AAVSO) were used to calibrate the zero point and the scale. The resultant values are listed in table 1. There was no considerable systematic difference between photographically yielded magnitudes and other visual observations obtained quasi-simultaneously.

Figure 1 shows the overall light curve of U Sco during the 1987 outburst, drawn from the VSOLJ database and the above estimates (the corresponding data in the VSOLJ database have been superseded by the updated magnitudes). Superimposed on the general smooth fading, a temporary fading is apparent (at HJD 2446936), corresponding to the eclipse minimum. According to the ephemeris by Shaefer and Ringwald (1995), there is no other eclipses affecting the overall light curve. Figure 2 presents the enlarged light curve of the time-series photographic observations. Although the scatter is relatively large (especially in the first half of the observation was slightly affected by slightly poor tracking and occasionally truncated exposures), there is a clear fading in the last half of the observation. The exposure centered on HJD 2446936.206 shows the object markedly faint, possibly catching the mid-eclipse.

By using the VSOLJ database between 1987 May 18 and 24, and subtracting the smooth fading trend, all available positive observations (using the same comparison sequence) were converted to the orbital phases based on the ephemeris by Shaefer and Ringwald (1995). The resultant modulations were averaged to 0.02 phase bins (figure 3), on which the primary eclipse with a depth of $``$0.8 mag is clearly seen. The relative insufficiency of the points during the egress phase makes determining the accurate eclipse timing from the phase-averaged light curve relatively difficult, but the still fading trend on the time-resolved light curve at the expected minimum (HJD 46936.199) may be an indication of a slight positive $`OC`$. If we adopt the epoch of the faintest estimate (HJD 2446936.206), $`OC`$ becomes +0.007 d.

The author is grateful to the members of Kyoto University Astronomy Lovers’ Association, who helped the observations and kindly allowed the usage of the instruments. The author is also grateful to the VSOLJ members and staffs who have made the database available.


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# 1 Introduction

## 1 Introduction

Consider a weakly coupled $`U(N)`$ gauge theory on an $`m`$-dimensional torus where the length of each circle is equal to $`L`$. Naively, one might expect that the lowest energy states will have energy of order $`1/L`$. However, it is known that this is not the case. One can add a flat, but globally nontrivial connection which has the effect of changing the boundary conditions on the fields. Rather than having $`N^2`$ fields each with period $`L`$, one can arrange to have $`N`$ fields which are periodic after transversing one circle $`N`$ times. The lowest energy states thus have energy of order $`1/(NL)`$. In string theory, this construction has a simple interpretation. The $`U(N)`$ gauge theory describes the low energy excitations of $`N`$ D-branes wrapped on $`𝐓^m`$. However, it also describes the low energy excitations of one D-brane wrapped $`N`$ times around a circle. The open strings $`(i,j)`$ connecting the $`i^{th}`$ and $`j^{th}`$ brane in the first case are still present in the second, but after going around the circle they are now identified with the $`(i+1,j+1)`$ strings. So for the wrapped brane, there are only $`N`$ different types of open strings labelled by $`|ij|`$ on a circle of length $`NL`$. The latter configuration thus has lower energy states and corresponds to adding the flat connection in the gauge theory.

It is natural to ask if this same construction works for other spaces. Consider a $`U(N)`$ gauge theory on the quotient space $`M/\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ where $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ is any freely acting discrete group of isometries of a compact Riemannian manifold $`M`$. ($`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ can be nonabelian.) Since the size of $`M/\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ can be much smaller than the original space $`M`$, one might have thought that the energy of low lying states is increased. However, by analogy with the case of the torus, one can ask if there exists a flat but globally nontrivial connection such that the energy of states in the presence of this connection is the same as the theory on $`M`$ without the quotient. We will show that when $`N=n|\mathrm{\Gamma }|`$ (where $`|\mathrm{\Gamma }|`$ is the number of elements in $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$), the answer is yes. The condition on $`N`$ is exactly what one would expect from wrapping branes. $`U(N)`$ gauge theory on $`M/\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ can be obtained by wrapping $`N`$ branes on $`M/\mathrm{\Gamma }`$, but it can also be obtained by wrapping $`N/|\mathrm{\Gamma }|`$ branes on $`M`$ and then taking the quotient. In the first case each brane is wrapped once. In the second, each brane is wrapped $`|\mathrm{\Gamma }|`$ times.

Although we have mentioned the energy of states at weak coupling, the result we establish is actually more general. Nontrivial flat connections correspond to different classical vacua. Since our space is compact, one must sum over these vacua in the functional integral. At low temperature, the partition function (even at strong coupling) will be dominated by the sector with the most light states. This is near the connection which makes the space look “as big as possible”.

Since one often considers branes wrapped on cycles in string theory, this result may have various applications. We consider here its application to the AdS/CFT correspondence . In the simplest context, this states that string theory on spacetimes which asymptotically approach $`AdS_5\times S^5`$ is equivalent to a conformal field theory (CFT), namely an $`𝒩=4`$ super Yang-Mills theory, on $`S^3\times R`$. The gauge group of the Yang-Mills theory is $`U(N)`$, where $`N`$ is related to the string coupling $`g`$, string length $`\mathrm{}_s`$, and the AdS radius $`R`$, by $`N=(4\pi g)^1(R/\mathrm{}_s)^4`$. The Yang-Mills coupling constant is $`g_{\mathrm{YM}}^2=4\pi g`$. In order for the asymptotic time translation in $`AdS_5`$ to agree with Hamiltonian evolution in the gauge theory, one must take the radius of the $`S^3`$ to be the same as the radius of the $`AdS`$ spacetime. This follows from the fact that if one rescales the AdS metric

$$ds^2=\left(\frac{r^2}{R^2}+1\right)dt^2+\left(\frac{r^2}{R^2}+1\right)^1dr^2+r^2d\mathrm{\Omega }_3$$
(1.1)
by $`R^2/r^2`$ so that $`t`$ is proper time in the asymptotic metric, the radius of the $`S^3`$ is $`R`$. In a Hamiltonian formulation , the equivalence of these two theories implies that the energies of all states must agree. Of course, in most cases, one cannot compute the energy of states in the strongly coupled field theory. But this is possible for states protected by supersymmetry, which includes the gauge theory analogs of all the supergravity modes.

To obtain the dual description of the gauge theory on $`S^3/\mathrm{\Gamma }`$, we must consider spacetimes which asymptotically approach the quotient of $`AdS_5`$ by a freely acting discrete subgroup $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ of $`SO(4)`$ acting on the three-spheres of spherical symmetry. If we start with global $`AdS_5`$, this produces an orbifold singularity at $`r=0`$. We will make some comments about this orbifold in section 5, but it is difficult to analyze exactly due to the Ramond-Ramond background. However we can confirm the existence of extra light states and avoid the orbifold singularity by going to finite temperature. At temperatures $`T>T_{crit}1/R`$, the thermal state of the gauge theory is described by the Schwarzschild-AdS solution. One can now take the quotient by $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ without producing any additional singularities. Using this dual description, one can ask when finite size effects become important. We will see from the gravity theory that the answer is $`T1/R`$ for all $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ (provided $`|\mathrm{\Gamma }|<R/l_s`$). Since the volume of $`S^3/\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ is much smaller than $`S^3`$, this is possible in the gauge theory only if there are extra light states.

In the next section, we show the existence of a nontrivial flat connection on $`M/\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ with the desired properties. In section 3 we review the case of gauge theory on $`𝐓^3`$ and show that the existence of extra light states in this case can be seen from the AdS/CFT correspondence by considering nonzero temperature. A similar argument allows one to infer the existence of extra light states of the gauge theory on $`S^3/\mathrm{\Gamma }`$. This is discussed in section 4, and a final section contains some remarks about the zero temperature case (where one has an orbifold of AdS). For a discussion of bound states of branes wrapped on $`M/\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ with nontrivial flat connections see .

## 2 Nontrivial flat connection on $`M/\mathrm{\Gamma }`$

In this section we consider a $`U(N)`$ gauge theory on $`M/\mathrm{\Gamma }`$, where $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ is any freely acting discrete isometry group of $`M`$. We want to find a flat connection so that the density of modes is essentially indistinguishable from the same theory on $`M`$. More precisely, consider a scalar field222We are actually interested in fields valued in the hermitian matrices. This restriction will not lead to any complications however. $`\phi :M/\mathrm{\Gamma }C^NC^N`$ transforming under the adjoint representation of $`U(N)`$. (The gauge theory also has spinors and gauge fields in the adjoint, and the following argument will apply mutatis mutandis for them as well.) For clarity we will focus on the eigenmodes of the gauge covariant Laplacian. At weak coupling, the corresponding eigenvalues are directly related to the energy of states. Normally, one expects the eigenvalues to be larger on $`M/\mathrm{\Gamma }`$, but we will show the following:

> There exists a flat connection $`A`$ such that for every eigenvalue $`\lambda `$ of the Laplacian on $`M`$ (with zero connection) there exist solutions to $`D_A^2\phi =\lambda \phi `$ on $`M/\mathrm{\Gamma }`$. Furthermore, the number of such modes is $`1/|\mathrm{\Gamma }|`$ times the number of corresponding modes on $`M`$.

Since the volume of $`M/\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ is also reduced by $`|\mathrm{\Gamma }|`$, the number of modes per unit volume is the same as on $`M`$.

We shall first consider the case $`N=|\mathrm{\Gamma }|`$. The argument is then easily generalized to the case when $`N=n|\mathrm{\Gamma }|`$ for some integer $`n`$. In the case where $`N=|\mathrm{\Gamma }|`$ the gauge group is $`U(|\mathrm{\Gamma }|)`$. The required nontrivial flat $`U(|\mathrm{\Gamma }|)`$ connection is defined as follows. $`MM/\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ is a nontrivial principal $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$-bundle . The regular representation $`:\mathrm{\Gamma }U(|\mathrm{\Gamma }|)`$ allows us to define an associated principal $`U(|\mathrm{\Gamma }|)`$-bundle, using the left action of $`(\mathrm{\Gamma })`$ on $`U(|\mathrm{\Gamma }|)`$. This associated bundle is reducible to an $`(\mathrm{\Gamma })`$ bundle that can be identified with the original $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$-bundle $`M`$. The original bundle $`MM/\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ carries a natural flat $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ connection, since the fiber is discrete: the horizontal subspace at a point $`u`$ in $`M`$ is just the full tangent space to $`M`$ at $`u`$. This connection induces the required connection $`A`$ on the associated bundle, with holonomy group $`(\mathrm{\Gamma })`$.

A field $`\phi `$ on $`M/\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ transforming under the adjoint action of the gauge group $`U(|\mathrm{\Gamma }|)`$ can be characterized as the pullback $`s^{}\stackrel{~}{\phi }`$, by a local section $`s:M/\mathrm{\Gamma }M`$, of a map $`\stackrel{~}{\phi }:MC^{|\mathrm{\Gamma }|}C^{|\mathrm{\Gamma }|}`$ transforming as

$$\stackrel{~}{\phi }(u\gamma )=(\gamma ^1)\stackrel{~}{\phi }(u)(\gamma )$$
(2.1)
under the right action of $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ on $`M`$. That is, $`\stackrel{~}{\phi }`$ is “equivariant” under the right action of $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ in the adjoint of the regular representation of $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$. This global characterization of $`\phi `$ as the pullback of an equivariant map $`\stackrel{~}{\phi }`$ on $`M`$ encodes the effect of the flat connection. It is equivalent to specifying “twisted boundary conditions” for $`\phi `$ on $`M/\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ in the following sense. If $`M/\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ is covered by a collection of horizontal local sections $`\{s_\alpha :U_\alpha M\}`$, then in each of the local gauge patches the connection $`s_\alpha ^{}A`$ vanishes, but on the overlaps $`U_\alpha U_\beta `$ there is generally a nontrivial gauge transformation relating $`s_\alpha ^{}\stackrel{~}{\phi }`$ to $`s_\beta ^{}\stackrel{~}{\phi }`$. Because of the nontrivial holonomy of $`A`$ there is no global horizontal section, so not all of these non-trivial overlaps can be removed. On a circle, there would be just one non-trivial periodicity condition, while on $`S^3/\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ these “twisted boundary conditions” are generally more complicated.

Viewed in this way, the fields $`\phi `$ on $`M/\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ in the presence of the connection $`A`$ are just the equivariant subclass of all the fields on $`M`$. For each gauge orbit $`u\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ in $`M`$, $`\stackrel{~}{\phi }`$ can be specified freely only at one point, its value at the rest of the points being determined by the equivariance condition (2.1). Since there are $`|\mathrm{\Gamma }|`$ points in an orbit, it is plausible that the number of equivariant $`\stackrel{~}{\phi }`$-modes is $`1/|\mathrm{\Gamma }|`$ times the number of unrestricted modes on $`M`$. We now show that this is indeed the case.

The solutions to the mode equation $`D_0^2\psi =\lambda \psi `$ on $`M`$ can be decomposed according to unitary irreducible representations of the action of $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$. The case of a general group will be treated below using some results from representation theory, but it is perhaps helpful to the reader to first treat the more elementary case where $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ is a cyclic group generated by some group element $`\gamma `$. This is basically the case that has been previously treated in the literature  for the quotient $`S^1/\mathrm{\Gamma }`$. The unitary irreducible representations are then one-dimensional and characterized by a root of unity $`\mathrm{exp}(i2\pi k/|\mathrm{\Gamma }|)`$:

$$\psi (u\gamma )=e^{i2\pi k/|\mathrm{\Gamma }|}\psi (u)$$
(2.2)
for some integer $`k<|\mathrm{\Gamma }|`$ (since $`\gamma ^{|\mathrm{\Gamma }|}=1`$). For such a $`\psi `$ the equivariance condition (2.1) becomes a local condition

$$(\gamma ^1)\psi (u)(\gamma )=e^{i2\pi k/|\mathrm{\Gamma }|}\psi (u)$$
(2.3)
on the matrix $`\psi (u)`$. We need to determine the dimension of the subspace of $`|\mathrm{\Gamma }|\times |\mathrm{\Gamma }|`$ matrices satisfying this condition.

To this end let us use the eigen-basis $`\{|p\}`$ of $`(\gamma )`$:

$$(\gamma )|p=e^{i2\pi p/|\mathrm{\Gamma }|}|p,p=1,\mathrm{},|\mathrm{\Gamma }|.$$
(2.4)
A basis for the space of $`|\mathrm{\Gamma }|\times |\mathrm{\Gamma }|`$ matrices is $`\{|pq|\}`$. Under the adjoint action of $`(\gamma )`$, these basis matrices transform as

$$(\gamma ^1)|pq|(\gamma )=e^{i2\pi (p+q)/|\mathrm{\Gamma }|}|pq|.$$
(2.5)
The matrix $`|pq|`$ thus satisfies the equivariance relation (2.3) provided $`p+q=k`$ modulo $`|\mathrm{\Gamma }|`$. The number of such $`(p,q)`$ pairs is $`|\mathrm{\Gamma }|`$, so there is a $`|\mathrm{\Gamma }|`$-dimensional equivariant subspace of the the $`|\mathrm{\Gamma }|^2`$-dimensional space of matrices. That is, there are $`1/|\mathrm{\Gamma }|`$ times as many equivariant modes as there are unconstrained modes, which is what we set out to prove.

In the above discussion we worked with all the matrices in $`C^{|\mathrm{\Gamma }|}C^{|\mathrm{\Gamma }|}`$, but we are really interested in fields taking values in the hermitian matrices, for which the set $`\{|pq|+|qp|\}`$ forms a basis. Since the transformation rule (2.5) is symmetric in $`p`$ and $`q`$, these basis matrices transform the same way as the non-hermitian ones, so the previous analysis restricts without modification to the hermitian subspace.

Now let us generalize to an arbitrary non-abelian subgroup $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$. In this case the irreducible representations are no longer one-dimensional, but fortunately representation theory easily yields the result as follows. To begin with let us reexpress the equivariance condition (2.1) as

$$(\gamma )\stackrel{~}{\phi }(u\gamma )(\gamma ^1)=\stackrel{~}{\phi }(u),$$
(2.6)
that is, the matrix-valued function must transform under the trivial representation of $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ when both the argument (the point on $`M`$) and the matrix are simultaneously transformed. The counting problem then reduces to this: how many singlets are there among the matrix-valued functions on $`M`$?

The matrix valued functions carry the representation $`𝒮(^{})`$, where $`𝒮`$ is the vector space of scalar-valued functions and here $``$ stands for the vector space of the regular representation and $`^{}`$ is its dual. Let $`𝒲`$ be one of the irreducible representations into which $`𝒮`$ decomposes, and consider the matrix-valued functions transforming under $`𝒲`$ in the argument. These carry the representation $`𝒲()`$, where $``$ has now been identified with its dual.

To find the number of singlets we need three results from representation theory . First, all irreducible representations of a finite group are finite dimensional. Second, the singlet occurs once in $``$. Third, if $`𝒱`$ is any irreducible representation then $`𝒱=(\text{dim}𝒱)`$. The first two results follow from the fact that each irreducible representation occurs in $``$ with multiplicity equal to its dimension. The third result can be seen easily using the multiplicative property of characters: $`\chi _𝒱=\chi _𝒱\chi _{}`$. The character of the regular representation vanishes everywhere except at the identity, so the same is true for $`𝒱`$. At the identity we have $`\chi _𝒱(e)=\chi _𝒱(e)\chi _{}(e)=(\mathrm{dim}𝒱)|\mathrm{\Gamma }|`$, hence $`\chi _𝒱=\chi _{(\mathrm{dim}𝒱)}`$. Since the character determines the representation, it follows that $`𝒱=(\text{dim}𝒱)`$.

Using the first and third results, we have $`𝒲()=(|\mathrm{\Gamma }|\mathrm{dim}𝒲)`$. Using the second result, there are therefore $`|\mathrm{\Gamma }|\mathrm{dim}𝒲`$ singlets. This number is indeed $`1/|\mathrm{\Gamma }|`$ times the dimension of the full space of matrix-valued functions transforming in the argument via $`𝒲`$, namely $`|\mathrm{\Gamma }|^2\mathrm{dim}𝒲`$.

The counting is now easily generalized to the case where $`N=n|\mathrm{\Gamma }|`$ for some integer $`n`$. As in the case $`N=|\mathrm{\Gamma }|`$, there is a principal $`U(n|\mathrm{\Gamma }|)`$-bundle associated to the $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$-bundle $`MM/\mathrm{\Gamma }`$, now by the left action of $`(\mathrm{\Gamma })`$ on $`U(n|\mathrm{\Gamma }|)`$ via the $`n`$-fold direct sum $`n(\mathrm{\Gamma })`$ of the regular representation. As before, this associated bundle is reducible to a $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$-bundle equivalent to $`MM/\mathrm{\Gamma }`$, and the nontrivial flat $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$-connection on $`MM/\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ induces the required flat connection on the $`U(n|\mathrm{\Gamma }|)`$-bundle. The fields $`\phi :M/\mathrm{\Gamma }C^{n|\mathrm{\Gamma }|}C^{n|\mathrm{\Gamma }|}`$ transforming under the adjoint representation of $`U(n|\mathrm{\Gamma }|)`$ are now realized as maps $`\stackrel{~}{\phi }:MC^{n|\mathrm{\Gamma }|}C^{n|\mathrm{\Gamma }|}`$ that are equivariant under the representation $`n(\mathrm{\Gamma })U(n|\mathrm{\Gamma }|)`$ of $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$, i.e. as before they are singlets under the combined action of $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ on the argument and the matrix value. The $`N\times N`$ matrices carry the representation $`nn=(n^2|\mathrm{\Gamma }|)`$, and the matrix-valued functions transforming under $`𝒲`$ in the argument carry $`(n^2|\mathrm{\Gamma }|)𝒲=(n^2|\mathrm{\Gamma }|\mathrm{dim}𝒲)`$. The dimension of the space of singlet functions is therefore $`n^2|\mathrm{\Gamma }|\text{dim}𝒲`$, which is again $`1/|\mathrm{\Gamma }|`$ times the dimension of the full space of $`N\times N`$ matrix-valued functions transforming in the argument via $`𝒲`$.

We have so far shown that the nontrivial flat connection $`A`$ makes the space $`M/\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ “look bigger” for fields valued in the adjoint of $`U(N)`$. The argument can also be applied to fields valued in the fundamental representation. These are maps $`\psi :M/\mathrm{\Gamma }C^N`$, which can be characterized as local pullbacks of an equivariant map $`\stackrel{~}{\psi }:MC^N`$. Let us consider here the case $`N=|\mathrm{\Gamma }|`$. The generalization to $`N=n|\mathrm{\Gamma }|`$ follows that given above for fields in the adjoint. The equivariance condition is then $`\stackrel{~}{\psi }(u\gamma )=(\gamma ^1)\stackrel{~}{\psi }(u)`$, which implies that $`\stackrel{~}{\psi }`$ is a singlet in $`𝒮`$. Those $`\stackrel{~}{\psi }`$ transforming in the argument under the irreducible representation $`𝒲`$ carry the representation $`𝒲=(\mathrm{dim}𝒲)`$. This contains $`(\mathrm{dim}𝒲)`$ singlets, which is again $`1/|\mathrm{\Gamma }|`$ times the dimension of the full space of fields in the fundamental transforming under $`𝒲`$ in the argument.

## 3 Gauge theory on $`𝐓^3`$ at nonzero temperature

We now turn to applications of the above result using the AdS/CFT correspondence. Before discussing the case of gauge theory on $`S^3/\mathrm{\Gamma }`$, we consider the simpler case of gauge theory on $`𝐓^3`$. The dual supergravity description of $`𝒩=4`$ super Yang-Mills at temperature $`T`$ on a three torus is given by the near horizon limit of a near extremal black three brane. This is the product of $`S^5`$ and

$$ds^2=\frac{r^2}{R^2}\left[\left(1\frac{r_0^4}{r^4}\right)dt^2+dx_idx^i\right]+\left(1\frac{r_0^4}{r^4}\right)^1\frac{R^2dr^2}{r^2}$$
(3.1)
where the three coordinates $`x_i`$ are periodically identified. The Hawking temperature is $`T=r_0/(\pi R^2)`$ and the total mass is

$$M=\frac{3\pi ^2}{8}N^2T^4V_3$$
(3.2)
where $`V_3`$ is the volume of the three torus and we have used the fact that $`G_5=\pi R^3/2N^2`$. This is known to agree with the weakly coupled gauge theory up to an overall factor of $`3/4`$ .

If the coordinates $`x_i`$ each have length $`L`$, one would expect finite size effects to show up in the gauge theory when $`T\stackrel{<}{}\mathrm{\hspace{0.33em}1}/L`$. However as long as the metric (3.1) is valid, supergravity predicts (3.2) with no finite size corrections. The supergravity solution is expected to break down when either the curvature at the horizon or the proper lengths of the compact directions at the horizon are of order the string scale $`\mathrm{}_s`$ . The curvature at the horizon is always of order $`1/R^2`$, so the curvature is never a problem as long as the AdS radius is much larger than the string scale, $`R\mathrm{}_s`$. The second condition is satisfied when $`r_0L/R\mathrm{}_s`$ or $`TLR\mathrm{}_s`$. So when $`TL1`$, the compact directions at the horizon are still much larger than the string scale, and there should be no corrections. This means that super Yang-Mills on $`𝐓^3`$ must have states lighter than $`1/L`$ so the finite size corrections are suppressed.

As discussed in the introduction, it has already been shown in other contexts that this is indeed the case. Since the potential energy is positive definite, the energy of each state should increase as the coupling increases333One can show that the potential energy is of the same order as the kinetic energy , so the energy of each state increases by only a factor of two or so. This provides a qualitative explanation of the factor of $`3/4`$ discrepancy between the weak and strong coupling results.. So evidence for light states at strong coupling implies that there must be light states at weak coupling. These light states arise by introducing a flat, but nontrivial, connection on $`𝐓^3`$. If one views the gauge theory as describing the low energy excitations of 3-branes, the standard description without a background connection corresponds to $`N`$ branes each wrapped once around the torus. The flat connection describes multiply wrapped branes. If one brane is wrapped $`N`$ times around one circle, there will be very light states with energies of order $`1/(NL)`$, but the effective theory of these states will be one dimensional, and their contribution to the energy will be relatively small. To maintain a three dimensional theory (as indicated by (3.2)) one considers instead a single brane wrapped $`N^{1/3}`$ times around each of the three circles. Then the excitations have energy in multiples of $`1/(N^{1/3}L)`$, so we would not expect to see finite size corrections until $`TLN^{1/3}`$. We have seen that string theory allows finite size corrections to supergravity when $`TL\mathrm{}_s/R=(4\pi gN)^{1/4}`$. Since $`(gN)^{1/4}N^{1/3}`$ (for large $`N`$ and $`g<1`$) one sees that finite size effects in the weakly coupled gauge theory do not become important until a temperature well below that at which they are allowed by the correspondence with string theory. One might even conclude that the string winding mode corrections on the gravity side should not affect the relation between energy and temperature until $`T1/(N^{1/3}L)`$. On the other hand, it might be that at strong coupling in the gauge theory, finite size effects already become important at the higher temperature $`T(4\pi gN)^{1/4}L^1`$.

## 4 Gauge theory on $`S^3/\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ at nonzero temperature

We turn now to the case of a gauge theory on $`S^3/\mathrm{\Gamma }`$. Let us first ask how one sees finite size effects due to the $`S^3`$ (with no quotient) using the AdS/CFT correspondence. A thermal state in the gauge theory at high temperature is described on the supergravity side by a large Schwarzschild AdS black hole

$$ds^2=f(r)dt^2+f^1(r)dr^2+r^2d\mathrm{\Omega }_3$$
(4.1)
with

$$f(r)=\frac{r^2}{R^2}+1\frac{r_0^2}{r^2}$$
(4.2)
The Schwarzschild radius $`r_+`$ is defined by $`f(r_+)=0`$. The ADM mass (neglecting the constant $`AdS_5`$ contribution discussed in the next section) is

$$M=\frac{3\pi r_0^2}{8G_5}$$
(4.3)
where $`G_5`$ is the five dimensional Newton’s constant. The Hawking temperature is444Given $`T`$, there are two solutions to this equation for the Schwarzschild radius $`r_+`$. We are interested in the larger one, $`r_+>R`$, since small black holes have negative specific heat.

$$T=\frac{R^2+2r_+^2}{2\pi r_+R^2}$$
(4.4)
It follows that black holes have a minimum temperature $`T_{min}=\sqrt{2}/\pi R`$. At low temperature, the corresponding supergravity solution is just a gas of particles in $`AdS_5`$. The temperature at which the description changes can be computed by comparing the action for the euclidean black hole and $`AdS_5`$ with imaginary time periodically identified. This was done in  (following ) with the result that the black hole dominates for $`r_+>R`$ corresponding to $`T>T_{crit}=3/(2\pi R)`$. We assume this is the case in the following.

We wish to compute how the mass changes as a function of temperature. (One could equally well compute the entropy as a function of temperature, but that will be determined in terms of the mass since $`dM=TdS`$.) For convenience, we set $`R=1`$ and measure all quantities in units of the AdS radius. First note that since $`f(r_+)=0`$,

$$r_0^2=r_+^2+r_+^4$$
(4.5)
Using (4.4) we solve for $`r_+`$ in terms of $`T`$:

$$2r_+=\pi T+\pi T\left(1\frac{2}{\pi ^2T^2}\right)^{1/2}$$
(4.6)
Substituting this into (4.5) yields

$$r_0^2=\frac{1}{2}\pi ^4T^4\left[1+\left(1\frac{2}{\pi ^2T^2}\right)^{1/2}\right]\frac{\pi ^2T^2}{2}\frac{1}{4}$$
(4.7)
To leading order for large temperature, the mass is therefore555This calculation of the supergravity energy at given temperature is actually an underestimate, since we have neglected the energy in the Hawking radiation outside the black hole. However, as long as the AdS radius is large compared to the Planck scale, this contribution is negligible.

$$M=\frac{3\pi }{8G_5}[\pi ^4T^4\pi ^2T^2+O(T^0)]$$
(4.8)
We now want to compare this with the energy of a weakly coupled $`U(N)`$ SYM. This calculation was done in . It was found that finite size effects alter the factor of 3/4 that relates the energies in the high temperature limit. Here we recap the result.

We first translate the supergravity result (4.8) into field theory language. Since the volume of a unit three sphere is $`V=2\pi ^2`$ and $`G_5=\pi /2N^2`$, this becomes

$$M=\frac{3N^2V}{8}(\pi ^2T^4T^2)$$
(4.9)
The first term agrees with the torus result (4.9). The second corresponds to finite size effects in the gauge theory. It is important only when $`T`$ is of order one in units of the AdS radius, i.e, $`T1/R`$.

To compute the weakly coupled gauge theory energy directly, we need to calculate the modes for scalars, spinors and vectors on $`S^3`$, and evaluate the sums which yield the average energy at a given temperature. One way to do so is to use the results of this calculation from the ancient Ref. . The result is that for large temperature, the energy density for a single scalar, Weyl fermion, or vector is

$$e_0=\frac{1}{30}\pi ^2T^4,e_{1/2}=\frac{7}{120}\pi ^2T^4\frac{T^2}{48},e_1=\frac{1}{15}\pi ^2T^4\frac{T^2}{6}$$
(4.10)
The first term in each case is the usual blackbody expression, and the second term is the leading finite size correction. (For the scalar field, there is no correction of order $`T^2`$.) The total energy for the weakly coupled SYM theory, which has six scalars, four Weyl fermions, and one vector, is therefore $`E=N^2V(6e_0+4e_{1/2}+e_1)`$, or

$$E=\frac{N^2V}{2}\left(\pi ^2T^4\frac{T^2}{2}\right)$$
(4.11)
Comparing (4.9) and (4.11) we see that the leading terms show the well known factor of $`3/4`$ difference between the weakly coupled gauge theory and the supergravity prediction for the strongly coupled regime. The next terms show that this factor of $`3/4`$ discrepancy is not preserved as we lower the temperature. For a given temperature, the supergravity energy starts out smaller than the weakly coupled field theory energy, and decreases more quickly as we lower the temperature.666At the minimum black hole temperature, numerical evaluation of the mode sums shows that the ratio of black hole mass to the weakly coupled SYM energy is $`0.17`$. This implies that the interactions, which are omitted in the weakly coupled gauge theory calculations, must become relatively more important when the temperature is lowered. This makes sense since, at sufficiently low temperature, there is a critical point at which the gauge theory becomes confining. This critical point corresponds to the transition where the entropy drops precipitously and the black hole goes away.

The Schwarzschild-AdS metric (4.1) has spatial slices with topology $`S^3\times R`$. Hence one can take the quotient of $`S^3`$ by any freely acting discrete symmetry group $`\mathrm{\Gamma }SO(4)`$ without producing additional singularities. The temperature is unaffected by the quotient. The only effect on the mass (4.9) is the reduction of the volume $`V`$ by a factor $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$. Since the energy density is unchanged, the finite size effects do not arise until $`T1/R`$ as before. Similarly, in comparing the euclidean action for Schwarzschild-AdS metric and periodically identified AdS, the quotient affects both of them equally777The orbifold singularity does not contribute to the gravitational action since if one removes a small tubular neighborhood of the singularity with radius $`ϵ`$, the extra surface term at this inner boundary goes to zero as $`ϵ0`$. by changing an overall factor corresponding to the volume of a unit $`S^3`$. Thus the critical temperature at which the black hole geometry dominates is also unchanged. The supergravity solution can be trusted as long as string corrections are not important. Since $`r_+>R`$ and $`R\mathrm{}_s`$, the Schwarzschild radius is much larger than the string scale. The other condition to check is that all noncontractible loops have size much larger than $`\mathrm{}_s`$. This will be true as long as $`|\mathrm{\Gamma }|R/\mathrm{}_s`$. (This condition is sufficient, but not necessary. Depending on how $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ acts on the sphere, we could have $`|\mathrm{\Gamma }|`$ larger than $`R/\mathrm{}_s`$ – but certainly no larger than $`(R/\mathrm{}_s)^3`$ – and still have no noncontractible curve with length less than $`\mathrm{}_s`$.) Now consider the gauge theory side. Even though the volume of space is drastically reduced (from $`S^3`$ to $`S^3/\mathrm{\Gamma }`$), the AdS/CFT correspondence implies that the density of low energy states is not affected. This is possible only if one adds the nontrivial flat connection discussed in section 2.

The result in section 2 assumed that $`N/|\mathrm{\Gamma }|`$ is an integer. This was needed in order to construct a connection with holonomy in the direct sum of $`N/|\mathrm{\Gamma }|`$ copies of the regular representation of $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$. In terms of D-branes, this corresponds to assuming that each brane is wrapped $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ times, yielding a total of $`N`$ local branes. If $`N/|\mathrm{\Gamma }|`$ is not an integer then the result cannot hold precisely, and one would expect the relative size of the corrections will be of the order of $`|\mathrm{\Gamma }|/N`$. These corrections will be small unless $`|\mathrm{\Gamma }|`$ is comparable to $`N`$. As noted above, however, validity of the supergravity solution outside the black hole horizon at finite temperature requires that the length of any noncontractible curves be much longer than $`l_s`$. This implies that $`|\mathrm{\Gamma }|<(R/l_s)^3=(4\pi gN)^{3/4}N`$. Hence string corrections to supergravity are already expected before $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ becomes large enough for non-integer $`N/|\mathrm{\Gamma }|`$ to be an issue.

## 5 Gauge theory on $`S^3/\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ at zero temperature

We have discussed nonzero temperature above, but it is natural to ask whether one can also see these extra light states at zero temperature. In this case, the spacetime is just $`AdS_5`$, and we want to consider the quotient by a discrete subgroup $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ of $`SO(4)`$ acting on the three-spheres of spherical symmetry. This produces an orbifold with fixed points at $`r=0`$. Starting with , there has been considerable interest in the effect on the AdS/CFT correspondence of taking quotients $`S^5/\mathrm{\Gamma }`$. These orbifolds reduce the amount of supersymmetry and allow new phenomena. There has been relatively less investigation of orbifolds of $`AdS_5`$ (although see e.g. ). It is difficult to calculate the precise spectrum of twisted sector states due to the Ramond-Ramond background. However the following argument suggests that the extra light states in the gauge theory are necessary for consistency of the AdS/CFT correspondence in this case also.

Consider the low energy excitations on the gravity side. There are the usual supergravity modes which are invariant under $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$. Before the quotient, these modes correspond to states on $`S^3`$ which are invariant under $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$. So they exist in the theory on $`S^3/\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ without an extra flat connection. However, there are also modes in the twisted sector localized in AdS/$`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ near the fixed point. These should be similar to the modes in the twisted sector of a flat space orbifold. If $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ breaks all the supersymmetry, then there are tachyons  representing an instability in the strongly coupled gauge theory. It was shown in  that if $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ lies in an $`SU(2)`$ subgroup of $`SO(4)`$, then half the AdS supersymmetry is preserved. (This is the same condition for orbifolds in flat space.) In this case, it is plausible that there are massless modes. These modes are localized near the origin of $`AdS_5`$, so they correspond to fields on $`S^5`$ cross time. Since the $`S^5`$ has radius $`R`$ and is unaffected by the quotient, these fields produce states with energy of order $`1/R`$. In the gauge theory, these light states can be reproduced only with the nontrivial flat connection.

A less direct way to see the existence of the extra light states is by looking at the ground state energy density. A boundary stress-energy tensor for asymptotically AdS spacetimes was proposed in . For $`AdS_5`$, this gives a finite nonzero answer for the total energy888It was pointed out in  that one cannot assign a nonzero energy to pure AdS without breaking the symmetry. However, as explained in , the AdS symmetry is indeed broken by the need to regulate infrared divergences. $`E=3\pi R^2/32G_5`$. This turns out to agree exactly with the Casimir energy of $`𝒩=4`$, $`U(N)`$ super Yang-Mills on a three-sphere of radius $`R`$. (The Casimir energy can be computed even at strong coupling since it is determined by the trace anomaly which, due to supersymmetry, does not receive corrections.) Now imagine taking the quotient by $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$. On the gravity side, since the local geometry is unchanged and the volume of spheres are reduced, it is clear that the total energy will be reduced by a factor of $`|\mathrm{\Gamma }|`$. If this is identified with the ground state energy of the gauge theory on $`S^3/\mathrm{\Gamma }`$, then the energy density is unchanged by the quotient. This is possible only due to the nontrivial flat connection.

Before one can conclude that the AdS/CFT correspondence predicts that the ground state energy density of the gauge theory on $`S^3/\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ is the same as on $`S^3`$, one needs to answer the following open question: Do there exist solutions of Einstein’s equation with negative cosmological constant which approach $`AdS_5/\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ asymptotically and have less energy than $`AdS_5/\mathrm{\Gamma }`$? If so, AdS/CFT would predict that the ground state energy density of the strongly coupled gauge theory on $`S^3/\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ is even smaller than that of the gauge theory on $`S^3`$. Although this seems unlikely, it has been shown that with zero cosmological constant, there are smooth $`4+1`$ dimensional vacuum solutions which are asymptotically locally euclidean and have negative total energy . In fact the energy is unbounded from below. In the case of Kaluza-Klein boundary conditions (one direction compactified on a circle), it is also true that there are asymptotically flat vacuum solutions with arbitrarily negative energy. However, in this case, there is evidence that when the cosmological constant is negative, the energy is bounded from below . So if there exist solutions asymptotic to $`AdS_5/\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ with energy less than $`AdS_5/\mathrm{\Gamma }`$, it is plausible that the energy will at least be bounded from below.

## Acknowledgements

We thank J. Rosenberg for instructive discussions on representation theory. The work of G.H. was supported in part by NSF grant PHY-0070895. The work of T.J. was supported in part by the NSF under grant PHY-9907949 at the ITP in Santa Barbara and grant PHY-9800967 at the University of Maryland.


text:
# Supernova-Neutrino Studies with 100Mo

## Abstract

We show that supernova neutrinos can be studied by observing their charged-current interactions with 100Mo, which has strong spin-isospin giant resonances. Information about both the effective temperature of the electron-neutrino sphere and the oscillation into electron neutrinos of other flavors can be extracted from the electron (inverse $`\beta `$) spectrum. We use measured hadronic charge-exchange spectra and the Quasiparticle Random Phase Approximation to calculate the charged-current response of 100Mo to electron neutrinos from supernovae, with and without the assumption of oscillations. A scaled up version of the MOON detector for $`\beta \beta `$ and solar-neutrino studies could potentially be useful for spectroscopic studies of supernova neutrinos as well.

PACS : 23.40-s,14.60.Pq, 26.65.+t, 95.55.Vj

Neutrinos carry away most of the energy from core-collapse supernovae. Supernova neutrinos (SN-$`\nu `$’s) can be observed on the earth, and their spectrum contains information about conditions inside the supernova as well as their own properties. Here we aim to show that 100Mo, which responds strongly to spin-isospin probes, is useful for studying supernova weak processes and SN-$`\nu `$ oscillations, and that a good SN-$`\nu `$ detector can be realized by scaling up the proposed $`\beta \beta `$ and solar-neutrino detector MOON.

Though there is much we don’t know about supernovae, the consensus of modelers is that SN-$`\nu `$’s are released roughly thermally from the supernova remnant after diffusing to the surface of last scattering, called the “neutrino sphere”. They therefore escape with an energy corresponding approximately to the thermal energy spectrum at the sphere . In this picture there are really three neutrino spheres, one for electron neutrinos ($`\nu _e`$’s), one for electron antineutrinos ($`\overline{\nu }_e`$’s), and one for the other flavors ($`\nu _x`$’s and $`\overline{\nu }_x`$’s). The $`\nu _e`$ sphere has the largest radius of these because $`\nu _e`$’s interact with matter via both charged- and neutral-current reactions. So do $`\overline{\nu }_e`$’s, but the excess of neutrons over protons in the supernova remnant means that they scatter less frequently through charged-current interactions, so that the radius of their neutrino sphere is smaller. The other neutrinos ($`\nu _x`$, $`\overline{\nu }_x`$ ), with only the neutral-current interactions, decouple deeper within the star. Since the temperature in the supernova core increases as the radius gets smaller, these last neutrinos will have the highest energy, and the $`\nu _e`$’s the lowest energy.

The SN-$`\nu `$ spectrum for a given neutrino species is thought to be roughly

$$S(E_\nu )=cT_\nu ^1\frac{(E_\nu /T_\nu )^2}{\mathrm{exp}(E_\nu /T_\nu a)+1}$$
(1)
where $`T_\nu `$ is the temperature at the neutrino sphere, $`a`$ is the degeneracy parameter, and $`c`$ is a normalization constant. Numerical simulations can be approximately reproduced with temperatures $`T_\nu `$ of about 3.5 MeV for $`\nu _e`$’s, 5 MeV for $`\overline{\nu }_e`$’s, and 8 MeV for $`\nu _x`$’s and $`\overline{\nu }_x`$’s, with the degeneracy parameter $`a`$ taken to vanish. Accordingly, the average $`\nu `$ energies are $`<E(\nu _e)>`$11 MeV, $`<E(\overline{\nu }_e)>`$16 MeV, $`<E(\nu _x)>`$25 MeV, and the spread of SN-$`\nu `$ energies covers the wide region of $`E`$ 5-70 MeV.

Measuring the $`\nu _e`$ spectra would provide us information on the electron neutrino sphere, and thus tell us if our supernova models are on the right track. It could also tell us about neutrino oscillations; if our ideas about where the neutrinos leave the supernova are correct, $`\nu _e`$’s with energies above 30 MeV or so are rarely emitted directly from the supernova. An excess of high-energy $`\nu _e`$’s reaching the earth would be strong evidence for oscillations from $`\nu _x`$ to $`\nu _e`$.

A number of detectors can study neutrinos in the event of a nearby supernova. They have the ability to detect either the charged-current $`\nu _e`$ ($`\overline{\nu }_e`$) interaction, which produces electrons (positrons), or the neutral current interaction (for all flavors), which usually results in the production of neutrons and photons, or both. Antineutrinos from SN1987A were observed by the Kamiokande  and IMB  groups in water Cerenkov detectors via the reaction $`p+\overline{\nu }_en+e^+`$. SuperKamkiokande, with multi tons of water, and the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory (SNO), with kilotons of heavy water, are powerful detectors for SN-$`\nu `$’s (see ref. ). SuperKamiokande, however, has a high threshold ($`Q15`$ MeV) for the charged-current interaction of $`\nu _e`$’s with 16O. The effective threshold energy, including a 5-MeV threshold for detecting an electron produced by the charged-current interaction, is therefore about 20 MeV, well above the average energy of neutrinos emitted from the $`\nu _e`$ sphere. As a result, while the detector is good for charged-current $`\overline{\nu }_e`$ interactions, it will have a hard time saying anything about the flux or energy distribution of thermally emitted $`\nu _e`$’s. Detectors based on liquid scintillator, such as KamLAND , also have a high threshold for $`\nu _e`$ charged current interactions with 12C — about 17 MeV, with an effective threshold energy of around 20 MeV. They will not be able to study neutrinos from the $`\nu _e`$ sphere either. SNO, on the other hand has a low threshold, plus the eventual ability to separately measure charged and neutral current interactions.

Ref.  shows that information on SN-$`\nu `$ energies and oscillations can be obtained by measuring the number of neutrons produced by neutrino scattering from heavy nuclei. The method is very good for getting gross features of the SN-$`\nu `$ spectra and possible oscillations, and the proposed facilities OMNIS , SBNO , and LAND  are based largely on the detection of neutrons. These detectors cannot easily measure the spectra of charged-current events, however. In addition, the $`\nu _e`$ cross section on lead is small at low energies because of the extreme concentration of Gamow-Teller(GT) strength in a single resonance at high excitation, so that information about low-energy neutrinos will be hard to obtain.

A low-threshold charged-current detector would therefore add to our ability to study neutrinos from the $`\nu _e`$ sphere, particularly if the detector could measure the spectrum of electrons from the neutrino interactions and if it were made of a material with a large SN-$`\nu `$ cross section. If our ideas about the $`\nu _e`$ sphere are grossly wrong, such a detector would also tell us that. By looking for high-energy $`\nu _e`$’s, the detector could also complement existing and planned facilities in studying SN-$`\nu `$ oscillations.

A recent paper  argues that MOON (Mo Observatory Of Neutrinos), containing a few tons of 100Mo, would be useful for studies of both $`\beta \beta `$ decay (having the ability to detect a neutrino mass as low as $`<m_\nu >`$0.03 eV) and real time studies of low energy solar-$`\nu `$ spectra. In what follows we discuss how 100Mo and a scaled-up MOON would be useful for studying SN-$`\nu `$’s as well as low energy solar-$`\nu `$’s.

The isotope 100Mo has a threshold ($`Q`$ value) for the charge-exchange process

$$\nu _e+^{100}\mathrm{Mo}e^{}+^{100}\mathrm{Tc}$$
(2)
of only $`Q`$=0.17 MeV, much less than other detectors with light nuclei such as 12C and 16O. In addition, one expects 100Mo to exhibit a large response to charged-current interaction of SN-$`\nu `$’s because of the large neutron excess (isospin $`T_z(NZ)/2=8`$), which enhances the strengths of spin-isospin giant resonances.

Recent measurements of 100Mo(3He,t)100Tc cross sections  confirm this expectation. They show that at energies below 50 MeV this reaction (changing neutrons to protons) primarily excites four isospin giant resonances : the isobaric analog resonance (IAR) with $`J^\pi =0^+`$, the Gamow-Teller giant resonance (GTR) with $`J^\pi =1^+`$, the isovector dipole resonance (IDR) with $`J^\pi =1^{}`$, and the isovector spin-dipole resonance (ISDR) with $`J^\pi =0^{},1^{},2^{}`$. The GTR is accompanied by a low-energy shoulder (GTR’) below the main peak. The IAR and IDR are excited by operators in coordinate space (times the isospin-raising operator $`\tau _+`$) while the GTR and ISDR involve the spin operator $`\stackrel{}{\sigma }`$ as well.

The strength in these resonances are spread over the excitation energy region 5-35 MeV, with the centroid of IAR at 11.6 MeV, the GTR and GTR’ centroids at 13.4 MeV and 8 MeV, and the centroid of the combined dipole resonances, which cannot be separated by the experiment, at 21 MeV . This energy range corresponds nicely with that of SN-$`\nu `$’s, which will therefore also proceed primarily through the resonances, particularly the GTR. The spread of the GT strength down to below 5 MeV together with the low $`Q`$ value of the charge-exchange process in eq. (2) make the effective threshold as low as a few MeV, well below the average SN-$`\nu _e`$ energy. As we discuss next, we can actually use the measured charge-exchange response to calibrate a calculation of SN-$`\nu `$ cross sections.

Precise expressions for the matrix elements that govern these cross sections are given in Ref. . We use the charge-changing quasiparticle random phase approximation (QRPA) to calculate most of these matrix elements. Our approach is similar to that of ref.  with improvements such as a larger model space (about 20 single-particle levels around the Fermi surface for both protons and neutrons), and a better treatment of the Coulomb interaction of the outgoing electron  The interaction we use has the same $`\delta `$-function form, with parameters adjusted to fit the observed GTR energy and the low-lying spectrum in 100Mo. For neutrinos of the energies we consider here, it is sufficient to include multipoles up to $`J=4`$.

In the important $`1^+`$ channel, we replace the QRPA calculation with the measured GT strength. Because the neutrino cross section in this channel is determined mainly by the operator $`j_0(qr)\stackrel{}{\sigma }\tau _+`$, rather than the GT operator $`\stackrel{}{\sigma }\tau _+`$, we must supplement the measured GT strength with a q-dependent form factor. We obtain the form factor from the Helm model  , which takes the strength to be peaked at the nuclear surface. We cannot repeat this procedure for higher multipoles because they are not separated in the measured spin-isospin dipole strength distributions (and the overall normalization is not known). Our theoretical strength distributions, however, reproduce the measured ones quite well, up to the unknown normalization constant. We choose not to artificially quench the strength of the dipole transitions because no clear evidence supports such quenching; muon capture, in fact, argues against it . The use experimental data to calibrate these calculation should make them accurate to within a factor of two at worst111Our cross sections for the highest-energy neutrinos may be slightly too small because of the restrctions on our single-particle space..

Fig. 1 shows the calculated cross section for $`\nu _e`$ scattering on 100Mo as a function of neutrino energy. The charge-changing flux-averaged SN-$`\nu `$ cross sections, broken down by multipole, appear in Table 1. We consider two cases, non-oscillating SN-$`\nu _e`$’s, and SN-$`\nu _x`$’s (either $`\nu _\mu `$’s or $`\nu _\tau `$’s, but not both) that oscillate completely into $`\nu _e`$’s. We label these two cases by $`\nu _e`$ and $`\nu _{ex}`$. GT-like transitions, the major part of the $`1^+`$ contribution, dominate the cross section, particularly for the non-oscillating $`\nu _e`$’s, which have lower energy on average. The cross section for $`\nu _{ex}`$’s is more than an order of magnitude larger than that for non-oscillating $`\nu _e`$’s. Since $`\nu _x`$’s have energies well above the GT and dipole giant resonances, the phase space for $`\nu _{ex}`$ scattering is quite large.

Fig. 2 shows the calculated spectra (or counts per MeV ton of 100Mo) of electrons produced by the charged-current interactions of both $`\nu _e`$ and $`\nu _{ex}`$ from a typical supernova 10 kpc away, emitting $`3\times 10^{53}`$ ergs. We assume that the SN energy is partitioned equally among all neutrino flavors. The average electron energy of 25 MeV for $`\nu _{ex}`$ is about 2.5 times larger than the average energy of 11 MeV for $`\nu _e`$, reflecting the ratio of temperatures at the two neutrino spheres. This means that the flux of $`\nu _e`$’s is higher by the same factor, a fact reflected in the count rates.

The large electron energy for $`\nu _{ex}`$, together with the large cross section, make a $`\nu _{ex}`$ component clearly visible; the observation of a large fraction of the events at relatively high electron energies would be a clear signal of oscillations. But the figure also tells us about the importance of a low threshold. In a large enough detector, the neutrinos from the $`\nu _e`$ sphere will clearly be observable if there are no oscillations. If there is a resonant effect that converts all $`\nu _e`$’s into $`\nu _x`$’s then, of course, no detector will tell us anything about the $`\nu _e`$ sphere. But if — as in the solution to the solar and atmospheric neutrino problems with large $`\theta _{12}`$ and $`\theta _{13}=0`$ — half of the emitted $`\nu _e`$’s oscillate into $`\nu _x`$’s, the number of events from $`\nu _e`$ relative to that from $`\nu _{ex}`$ will be the same as shown in the figure. At energies below 10 or 15 MeV, a significant fraction of the events would come therefore from the $`\nu _e`$ sphere, and one could learn something about the spectrum of emitted $`\nu _e`$’s even in the presence of oscillations.

How large a detector would we need? Our calculations imply that with a supernova 10 kpc away emitting $`3\times 10^{53}`$ ergs, one would detect about 2 $`\nu _e`$’s and about 13 $`\nu _{ex}`$’s (under the no-oscillation and maximum-oscillation scenarios discussed above) in a detector with 30 tons of 100Mo. Such a detector is roughly equivalent to the MOON detector discussed in ref. , which contains 3.3 tons of 100Mo, corresponding to 34 tons of natural molybdenum; we argue below that the cross sections on other molybdenum isotopes will be of the same order as in 100Mo. Thus, even as proposed MOON could conclusively answer the question of whether there are oscillations from $`\nu _x`$ to $`\nu _e`$. One would need a detector at least an order of magnitude larger, however, to look closely at the spectrum of non-oscillating $`\nu _e`$’s, and thus the characteristics of the electron neutrino sphere.

The proposed MOON detector could be realized either as a supermodule of plastic scintillators with thin natural or enriched molybdenum layers or a liquid scintillator doped with natural or enriched molybdenum. The former design can be scaled up to a kiloton of natural molybdenum by increasing the Mo thickness of the modules from of 0.03 g/cm2 to 2 g/cm2 ($``$1mm). The average energy loss in the foil is only 1.7 MeV for the electron from ($`\nu _e,e`$). Thus the effective threshold energy ($`Q`$ value + detector threshold energy) could still as low as 2 MeV, far below the average energy of the $`\nu _e`$’s.

The cross-section of SN-$`\nu _e`$’s per unit weight for 100Mo is about as large as that for 208Pb because of the large neutron excess $`(NZ)/A`$ = 0.16 and the small thereshold energy. What are the effects of using natural molybdenum rather than 100Mo? As Table 1 suggests, the non-oscillating $`\nu _e`$’s mainly excite the GT resonance, so that their cross sections are very roughly given by the product of the GT strength $`B(GT)`$ and a phase space factor $`G`$. The GT strength is roughly proportional to $`T_z`$ and $`G`$ is proportional to $`(E_\nu Q_G)^2`$, where $`E_\nu `$ is the effective neutrino energy and $`Q_G`$ the $`Q`$ value for exciting the GT resonance. $`Q_G`$ has a slight linear dependence on $`T_z`$  . These facts imply that the use of natural Mo with the $`T_z`$6 (on average) will reduce the $`\nu _e`$ count rate by something on the order of 35$`\%`$ from the rate in 100Mo, which has $`T_z=8`$. The $`\nu _{ex}`$’s excite all the resonances discussed above, but the strength associated with those also depends linearly on $`T_z`$. If we assume that the energies of those resonances scale the same way as that of the GT resonance, we find that the count rates in natural molybdenum for the high-enegy neutrinos are perhaps 30$`\%`$ smaller than in 100Mo. The $`Q`$ values for the ground state transitions are just a few MeV higher for other Mo isotopes than for 100Mo. Thus a detector with natural Mo can still have a low effective threshold, and efficiencies of the same order as those with 100Mo. Such a detector could therefore serve our purpose: providing useful information about the spectrum at the electron-neutrino sphere, as well as observing oscillations and measuring the effective temperature at the $`\nu _x`$ sphere. And if our ideas about the emission of neutrinos by supenovae are wrong, the detector would be sensitive enough to tell us so.

Mo, which has a large neutron excess, is not so sensitive to antineutrinos because most of the GT transitions are Pauli blocked. Neutral-current interactions of SN-$`\nu `$’s would excite the Mo isotopes, which decay mostly by emitting neutrons and successive $`\gamma `$ rays. These particles deposit energy in a large volume of scintillator, and so could be separated from charged-current events, which have a single electron signal accompanied by several neutron and $`\gamma `$ signals. But other detectors, such as SK and SNO, would see more neutral current events (and many more antineutrino-charged-current events) than this one would . A Mo detector, with its sensitivity to $`\nu _e`$’s, would therefore not obviate other detectors, but would complement them nicely. Information on the antineutrino spectrum, for example, could strengthen evidence for oscillations that might be observed in the neutrino spectrum.

In summary, 100Mo and other Mo isotopes have large cross sections for SN-$`\nu _e`$ and SN-$`\nu _{ex}`$. A scaled up version of MOON, which could measure electron energy spectra down to $`2`$ MeV, would be useful both for studying neutrino oscillations and for learning about conditions at the electron-neutrino sphere. With the exception of SNO, which has an effective threshold of few MeV, no other detector could do the latter as well. Other heavy nuclei with large $`NZ`$ could conceivably be used in place of molybdenum in the liquid-scintillator version of the detector.

We thank Professors R.G.H. Robertson and P. Vogel for valuable discussions. We were supported in part by the U.S. Department of Energy under grant DE–FG02–97ER41019.