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# 1 Introduction

## 1 Introduction

Since the discovery of the Quantum Hall (QH) effect, work by Halperin  and, in particular, Wen  has lead us to understand that there is novel low energy physics at the edge of an incompressible QH system. The predicted Luttinger liquid correlations at the edges have been studied extensively, leading to predictions that have considerable support in experiments .

In this paper we investigate the edge of the compact ferromagnetic $`\nu =1`$ QH system, when the potential confining the electrons to the sample models a realistic potential. This edge has two types of collective excitations bound to it: the much studied edge magnetoplasmon (EMP) , and the edge spin wave (ESW) . When the confining potential softens (diminishes in strength), both these excitations soften and eventually their energies become negative, indicating that the edge reconstructs by spin texture (TEX) or charge density wave (CDW) formation . The spin textured edge has the same spin structure as a QH skyrmion .

An extensively used model for the confining potential is the $`w`$-model , where the potential is obtained from a linearly decreasing, in-plane positive background charge distribution. Unfortunately, however, the $`w`$-model is non-generic, and can not be used to determine, e.g., where, in parameter space, the phase transition into the TEX edge is. A natural attempt to obtain a more realistic description is to use the potential from a charge distribution displaced perpendicularly from the electron gas . However, this gives a potential that converges to its bulk value very slowly, which leads to numerical problems. Here we handle this by modifying the potential slightly.

We determine where the energies of the EMP and ESW modes become negative as functions of the strength of the confining potential and of $`\stackrel{~}{g}=\frac{g\mu _BB}{e^2/ϵl}`$ \- the ratio between the Zeeman and Coulomb energies. This gives a phase diagram for the $`\nu =1`$ QH edge. In particular, we find that as the potential softens the transition from the compact ferromagnetic $`\nu =1`$ edge is into a TEX edge for $`\stackrel{~}{g}\stackrel{~}{g}_c=0.012`$.

## 2 The system and the excitations

The QH system that we consider is a two dimensional electron gas (2DEG) with a large magnetic field B applied perpendicular to the plane of the electrons. We restrict the electrons to the lowest Landau level (LLL). For the vector potential we use Landau gauge; $`\text{A}=Bx\widehat{\text{y}}`$. The system has the geometry of a bar, with periodic boundary conditions in the $`y`$-direction. The circumference of this effective cylinder is $`L`$, and the number of electrons in the gas is $`N`$. The electron wave functions in the LLL are (with the magnetic length $`l=\sqrt{\mathrm{}c/eB}=1`$)

$$\psi _k(x,y)=\frac{1}{\sqrt{\pi ^{1/2}L}}e^{iky}e^{\frac{1}{2}(xk)^2}.$$
(1)
The quantum numbers for the electrons are the momentum in the $`y`$-direction $`k=\frac{2\pi }{L}n`$, where $`n`$ is an integer (this determines the position in the $`x`$-direction) and the spin $`\sigma =,`$. We take $`k=0`$ at the right edge; the left edge is then at $`k_F`$, where $`k_F=\frac{2\pi }{L}(N1)`$ is the Fermi momentum. The geometry is displayed in Fig. 1.

The Hamiltonian for our system is

$`\widehat{H}`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}{\displaystyle \underset{kpp^{}\sigma \sigma ^{}}{}}V(p,p^{})c_{k+p^{},\sigma }^{}c_{k+pp^{},\sigma ^{}}^{}c_{k+p,\sigma ^{}}c_{k,\sigma }{\displaystyle \underset{k\sigma ,k_Fp0}{}}V(pk,0)c_{k\sigma }^{}c_{k\sigma }`$ (2)
$`+{\displaystyle \underset{k\sigma }{}}\delta V(k)c_{k\sigma }^{}c_{k\sigma }+{\displaystyle \underset{k}{}}g\mu _BB(c_k^{}c_kc_k^{}c_k).`$
The first term describes the Coulomb interaction between electrons in the gas, the second is the interaction of the electrons with an in-plane compensating positive background charge. $`\delta V(k)`$ is an additional potential (to be discussed below), and the last term is the Zeeman energy. (A constant term corresponding to the self-interaction of the background charge density has been dropped.) In the LLL, the cyclotron energy $`\frac{1}{2}\mathrm{}\omega _c`$ is common for all electrons, and is ignored. The second and the third term together form the potential confining the electrons to the sample. The case $`\delta V(k)=0`$ is called the ideal edge. $`c_{k\sigma }^{}`$, $`c_{k\sigma }`$ are the creation and annihilation operators for electrons with quantum numbers $`k`$, $`\sigma `$. $`V(p,p^{})`$ are the matrix elements for the unscreened Coulomb interaction $`U(r)=e^2/r`$. Using (1), we find

$$V(p,p^{})=\frac{e^2}{L}\sqrt{\frac{2}{\pi }}\mathrm{exp}^{[\frac{p^2}{2}+\frac{(pp^{})^2}{2}]}_{\mathrm{}}^{\mathrm{}}𝑑yK_0(|p^{}y|)e^{(y^2+2(pp^{})y)/2}.$$
(3)
For the ideal edge, the groundstate of the 2DEG is the compact ferromagnetic $`\nu =1`$ state

$$|\nu =1=\underset{k_Fk0}{}c_k^{}|0,$$
(4)
i.e. all the spin up states within $`k_Fk0`$ are occupied.

We consider particle-hole (ph) excitations of (4) within the LLL. They are characterized by two conserved quantum numbers: the excitation momentum $`q`$ and the spin $`s=0,1`$. The states are

$`|q,s=0={\displaystyle \underset{qk0}{}}\varphi _kc_{k+q}^{}c_k|\nu =1,`$ (5)
$`|q,s=1={\displaystyle \underset{k_Fk0}{}}\varphi _kc_{k+q}^{}c_k|\nu =1.`$ (6)
The range of the momentum for the $`s=0`$ excitation is restricted by the Pauli principle. The wave functions $`\varphi _{k\sigma }`$, and the corresponding eigenvalues (which determine the excitation energies) are calculated by numerical diagonalisation of the Hamiltonian (2) in the ph-subspace $`\{c_{k\sigma }^{}c_p|\nu =1\}`$. For $`s=0`$, one finds the EMP mode, and for $`s=1`$, one finds bulk spin waves as well as spin waves bound to the edge (ESW).

## 3 The edge potential

The electrons in the gas are confined by the edge potential. The Coulomb repulsion acts to expand the gas, and it is clear that if the potential softens (compared to the ideal edge potential), the gas will eventually undergo a phase transition to a new groundstate. $`\delta V(k)`$ is used to vary the confining potential, with $`\widehat{k}\frac{d}{dk}\delta V(k)`$ as the corresponding force determining the softness.

A standard model for the confinement is the $`w`$-model . Here the confining potential is obtained from a compensating positive background charge density that decreases linearly from its bulk value to zero over a width $`w`$ centered at $`k=0`$. $`w=0`$ corresponds to the ideal edge. For large enough $`w`$, phase transitions are observed. In this model, $`\delta V(k)`$ becomes

$$\delta V_w(k)=\underset{p}{}V(pk,0)\rho _w(p),$$
(7)
where

$$\rho _w(p)=\{\begin{array}{cc}p/w+1/2\hfill & w/2p0\hfill \\ p/w1/2\hfill & 0<pw/2\hfill \\ 0\hfill & |p|>w/2.\hfill \end{array}$$

For a typical $`\delta V_w(k)`$, see Fig. 2a. The $`w`$-model turns out to be a non-generic choice for the confining potential, due to the property $`\delta V_w(\mathrm{})=\delta V_w(0)`$ .

A more realistic model for the confinement may be obtained by displacing the $`w=0`$ charge distribution a distance $`d`$ from the plane of the 2DEG - the displaced charge distribution (DCD) model. This models the displacement of the doped semiconductor layer present in real samples. In this case, one obtains the potential

$$\delta V_{DCD}(k)=\frac{1}{2\pi \sqrt{\pi }}_{\mathrm{}}^{\mathrm{}}𝑑xe^{(xk)^2}\left[2d\mathrm{arctan}\frac{x}{d}+x\mathrm{ln}\frac{x^2+d^2}{x^2}\pi d\right].$$
(8)
(To derive this expression we calculated the total potential from two semi-infinite charge planes, at a point in the 2DEG plane.) $`\delta V_{DCD}(k)`$ converges to its asymptotic value in the bulk, $`d`$, very slowly. This makes the numerical results dependent on the left edge of the sample. To overcome this finite size effect, we replace the DCD potential by

$$\delta V_{th}(k)=\frac{d}{2}\left(1\mathrm{tanh}\left(k\right)\right).$$
(9)
$`\delta V_{th}(k)`$ is very similar to $`\delta V_{DCD}(k)`$, as is seen in Fig. 2b. By construction, it has the same asymptotic values, $`\delta V_{th}(\mathrm{})=0`$ and $`\delta V_{th}(\mathrm{})=d`$, as the DCD potential, but the convergence is exponential. The parameter $`d`$ is used to vary the potential softness; increasing $`d`$ means increasing the softness since the force $`\widehat{k}\frac{d}{dk}\delta V(k)=\frac{1}{2}d\mathrm{cosh}^2(k)\widehat{k}`$ is linear in $`d`$ and acts in the $`+\widehat{k}`$ direction.

## 4 Numerical analysis

As seen from the Hamiltonian, the energies characterizing the system are the Coulomb energy $`e^2/ϵl`$ (here we allow for arbitrary $`ϵ`$, this can be included in previous expressions by replacing $`e^2`$ with $`e^2/ϵ`$), the Zeeman energy $`g\mu _BB`$ and the energy from the confining potential. We define $`\stackrel{~}{g}=\frac{g\mu _BB}{e^2/ϵl}`$ as the dimensionless parameter determining the bulk physics. Note that the ESW mode energy is linear in $`\stackrel{~}{g}`$, whereas the EMP is gapless.

For a semi-infinite system ($`k_F\mathrm{}`$), the dispersion relation $`ϵ(q)`$ of the ESW mode is known for $`q1`$ ,

$$ϵ(q)=\frac{1}{4}\sqrt{\frac{\pi }{2}}q^2\sqrt{\frac{32}{\pi }}\left(\delta V(\mathrm{})\delta V(0)\right)^2q^2+O(q^4),$$
(10)
here, $`\stackrel{~}{g}=0`$. We now see explicitly what is special about the $`w`$-model; the $`q^2`$-term is unaffected by $`\delta V_w(k)`$. With $`\delta V_{th}(k)`$ as the potential in (10), we get $`\delta V_{th}(\mathrm{})\delta V_{th}(0)=d/2`$ and

$$ϵ_d(q)=\left(\frac{1}{4}\sqrt{\frac{\pi }{2}}\sqrt{\frac{2}{\pi }}d^2\right)q^2+O(q^4)$$
(11)
for the energy. Here we have added an index $`d`$ to emphasize the dependence on the confining potential. Eq. (11) can be used to test our calculations. For $`q1`$ at a given $`d`$, our numerical values should converge to the energy given by $`ϵ_d(q)`$ when the system size increases.

We want to calculate energies for a half-plane, i.e. in the limit $`N/L\mathrm{}`$ (the width of the system is $`k_F\frac{N}{L}`$) and $`L\mathrm{}`$. Upper limits for the parameters are set by the simulation time, which grows dramatically with $`N`$. In our simulations we varied $`N`$ between 200 and 800 and $`L`$ between 50 and 400, with $`1.5N/L6`$. To find the asymptotical values, we scale in $`L/N`$ and $`1/L`$ and extrapolate to zero. (When scaling in $`L/N`$ we keep $`1/L`$ constant and vice versa.)

The energies of the ESW and EMP modes only change appreciable with $`L/N`$ for small $`q`$. (This is true for all $`d`$.) At $`q0.6`$ the energies differ by $`10^6`$ for $`L/N`$ between $`0.17`$ and $`0.5`$ (at constant $`L`$). For larger $`L/N`$, the difference increases. It also grows with decreasing $`q`$. At $`q0.1`$ for instance, the difference is $`10^3`$ for $`L/N`$ between $`0.17`$ and $`0.5`$. For $`q<0.4`$, we use scaling in both $`L/N`$ and $`1/L`$. For $`0.4<q<0.6`$, we use $`1/L`$ scaling with the restriction $`L/N0.5`$, whereas for $`q>0.6`$, system sizes down to $`L/N=2/3`$ were used.

First we test our results at $`q1`$. Fig. 3 shows the ESW energy as a function of $`L/N`$ and $`1/L`$ at $`d=0.65`$ and $`q=0.0628`$, compared to the $`q^2`$-term of (11).

In Fig. 3a the energy is seen to approach the predicted value nicely. (We do not expect an exact correspondece since we have a finite $`q`$.) In Fig. 3b we see that the effect of increasing $`L`$ is marginal, certainly when compared to the energy variation in Fig. 3a. This analysis can be repeated for different values of $`d`$, and the agreement with the model in (11) is good at least for $`0.05d0.80`$. We conclude that our numerical results are trustworthy.

To find the critical points where the modes go soft, we first isolate the approximate $`d`$ and $`q`$ values where this happens. Fig. 4 shows typical results for the dispersion relations for both types of excitations for two different values of $`d`$, with $`\stackrel{~}{g}=0`$, $`N=600`$ and $`L=100`$.

In Fig. 4a we are close to the point where the ESW mode goes soft. We determine the $`d`$ value more exactly and in Fig. 5 we see the minimum energy as a function of $`1/L`$ for two different values of $`d`$, with the minimum occuring at $`q0.48`$ (weakly depending on $`L`$ due to the quantisation of $`q`$).

We see that the energy varies quite strongly with $`L`$, however, a linear least-squares fit matches the data very well. Using this line to extrapolate we get $`d_{ESW}=0.602`$ for the critical value. Note that the analytic result, eq. (11), predicts a phase transition at $`q=0`$ for $`d0.627`$ (if only the $`q^2`$-term is considered), whereas we find the transition for finite $`q`$, where $`ϵ_d(q)`$ does not apply, and a smaller $`d`$. We can thus safely conclude that we have found the correct minimum.

In Fig. 4b, $`dd_{EMP}`$, where the EMP mode goes soft. We examine the energy at the minimum ($`q1.28`$) for the EMP mode as a function of $`1/L`$ for two different values of $`d`$ in Fig. 6.

We clearly see that $`d_{EMP}=0.652`$ is the best approximation.

We also see from Fig. 4b that the ESW mode has continued to drop below zero as we increased $`d`$. In order to have a CDW phase, we need the ESW mode energies to be positive. Since the ESW mode is linear in $`\stackrel{~}{g}`$, the energies will become positive if $`\stackrel{~}{g}\stackrel{~}{g}_c`$, where $`\stackrel{~}{g}_c`$ is the absolute value of the minimal ESW energy, at $`d=d_{EMP}`$. Fig. 7 shows the minimum ESW energy (at $`q0.75`$) as a function of $`1/L`$, for $`d=0.651`$ and $`0.652`$.

The $`L`$ dependence is fairly strong, but again the data is practically linear in $`1/L`$. We already know that $`d_{EMP}`$ is closer to $`0.652`$ than $`0.651`$, and, as we can see, $`\stackrel{~}{g}_c`$ only changes by $`10^4`$ in that interval. We conclude that $`\stackrel{~}{g}_c=0.012`$.

## 5 Summary

Along the curve from $`(0,d_{ESW})`$ to $`(\stackrel{~}{g}_c,d_{EMP})`$ in $`\stackrel{~}{g}d`$-space there is a phase transition into a TEX edge. Similarly, along the line $`d=d_{EMP}`$ and $`\stackrel{~}{g}\stackrel{~}{g}_c`$ there is a phase transition into a CDW edge. The critical values are $`d_{ESW}=0.602`$, $`d_{EMP}=0.652`$ and $`\stackrel{~}{g}_c=0.012`$.

In our calculations we assume that the groundstate of the edge is the compact ferromagnetic $`|\nu =1`$ state, and, therefore, we cannot determine anything beyond the TEX and the CDW phase transitions. At larger $`d`$, however, a phase that is a combination of the two is expected . Fig. 8 shows the phase diagram.

For the $`w`$-model, using the explained numerical techniques, we obtain the asymptotical value $`\stackrel{~}{g}_{c,w}=0.008`$ for $`w=7.03`$. Thus the $`w`$-model underestimates the region where the transition is into the TEX edge.

Acknowledgments

We wish to thank K. Lejnell for providing Hartree-Fock results and D. Lilliehöök, S. Isakov and J. Brännlund for their computer skills. Anders Karlhede was supported by the Swedish Science Research Council.


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# The coherent Raman scattering in astrophysics; application to a new model of quasar.

## 1 Introduction

In the spectrum of a quasar, the Lyα lines and the often associated UV metal lines are generally observed with several redshifts; two families of explanations are proposed: either the absorbing gas is in clouds next to the quasar, or it is in the intergalactic space. In the first case, the redshift is produced by a Doppler effect which requires speeds relative to the kernel of the quasar so high that they seem unreachable , in the second case it results from the expansion of the universe, except for the “broad absorption lines (BAL)”. As the absorption lines are generally sharp, the active medium must have precisely defined speeds in the first hypothesis, or be confined in relatively thin intergalactic clouds in the second hypothesis; an explanation of these confinements is difficult: either they use classical physics, for instance magnetic fields, and they are not fully convincing, or they use unobserved matter. The heating of intergalactic matter requires the proximity of hypothetical sources. These problems may be solved, but it remains debated properties: proximity of a quasar and a galaxy having usually a lower redshift, explanation of a regularity in the distribution of the redshifts.

Already in 1981, hundreds of papers found difficult to explain all redshifts using only the Doppler effect . Thus some physicists looked for an alternative to the Doppler effect, but their proposals did not work, some were so fantastic that the search for this alternative is often considered as not serious. Strangely the coherent Raman scattering was never proposed while Giordmaine et al.  had described experiments in which the frequency of ultrashort laser pulses was shifted.

Since, the non-linear light-matter interaction named “Impulsive Stimulated Raman Scattering” (ISRS) has been extensively studied . ISRS shifts the frequencies of the ultrashort laser pulses, introducing no blur, either of the laser beam, or of the spectral line.

Coherent Raman scattering is surely the source of a part of the observed redshift. In this paper, we propose an interpretation of the spectra of the QSOs, using only the usual matter observed by its Lyman and UV spectra and an elementary optical effect deduced from regular spectroscopy.

The sentence “Impulsive Stimulated Raman Scattering”is somewhat ambiguous, it is applied to two different light-matter interactions :

\- Literally ISRS shifts the frequency of a single laser beam, the balance of energy being provided by an excitation or de-excitation of the involved molecules; thus its intensity is limited by the saturation of the medium.

\- The second one is a combination of two simultaneous preceding effects into a parametric effect; the energy provided by a redshift is exactly compensated by a blueshift, so that the molecules remain in their initial states; as the intensity is not limited, this parametric effect hides generally the simple one, so that the acronym ISRS generally applies to it. Planck’s laws attributing a temperature to the beams, the hot beam is redshifted, the cold beam is blueshifted. If the thermal radiation plays the role of cold beams, its blueshift is an amplification, a heating.

In section 2, the previous ab initio study of the coherent Raman scattering of incoherent light  is avoided, considering that ILCRS is an avatar of the impulsive stimulated Raman scattering. G. L. Lamb  gives a general definition of the ultrashort light pulses used to perform ISRS: a light pulse is ultrashort if it is “shorter than all relevant relaxation times”. The pulses making the incoherent light may be “ultrashort” if the two relevant relaxation times in the gases are long enough; these relaxation times are the collisional time and the period of the beats of the incident beam with the Raman scattered beam, that is the period of the Raman transition.

Ordinary incoherent light is made of nanosecond pulses whose intensity is much lower than the intensity of laser pulses. The theory of ISRS shows however that ISRS has no intensity threshold: it may work with ordinary light; section 3 shows that while conventional ISRS is nonlinear, so that the frequency shifts depend on the intensity of the laser pulses, at low light level, it becomes linear, so that the relative frequency shift $`\mathrm{\Delta }\nu /\nu `$ is nearly constant in the spectrum; as it is a qualitative change, the new name “Incoherent Light Coherent Raman Scattering” is justified; ILCRS may be confused with a Doppler effect.

Section 4 studies the intensity if ILCRS.

Section 5 shows that ILCRS may hide absorption lines, so that gases such as H$`{}_{}{}^{+}{}_{2}{}^{}`$, which are easily destroyed by the collisions and are ILCRS active cannot be observed by their absorption.

Section 6 sets applications if ILCRS which are important to study the quasars.

Section 7 reminds shortly properties of quasars, including debatable ones and section 8 uses the results of section 6 to explain them.

## 2 ISRS using nanosecond light pulses.

When a light pulse reaches a mono- or poly-atomic molecule, its eigenstates are mixed with other states and the molecule radiates electromagnetic waves; without collisions, quantum or classical computations are the same for all identical molecules on a wave front, so that the phases of the emitted waves are the same, the scattering is coherent, that is the wave surfaces are preserved. During the light pulse, if the frequencies of the incident and scattered lights are different, their relative phase is a linear function of the time. If collisions restart the excitations of the molecules, the phases of scattered light become incoherent: it is the ordinary Raman scattering. If the incident and scattered light have the same frequency, the collisions preserve the relation of phase between the exciting and scattered light, it is the coherent Rayleigh scattering, that is the refraction. The collisions are usually taken into account introducing stochastic phase factors in the off-diagonal elements of the density matrix, not in the diagonal which corresponds to refraction.

To avoid the incoherence with long pulses, that is to have few collisions during long light pulses, low pressures are necessary. Consequently the light-matter interactions are weak, long light paths in the gas are necessary.

The sum of two sine waves of close frequencies is a sine wave modulated at the difference of frequencies; conversely, the modulation of a sine wave allows to split it into components. If the modulated wave is limited near a maximum or a minimum of the envelope, the modulation is negligible so that a single frequency may be detected; a trivial computation shows that the sum of the two waves is a single wave whose frequency is intermediate, in proportion of the amplitudes .

While ILCRS may be powerful, a coherent scattering with a larger Raman shift cannot rise well visible lines: the refraction makes the speed of propagation of a discrete Raman line different from the speed of the exciting line; thus, the phases of the fields scattered at a distance “length of coherence” are opposite where the scattered fields meet; these fields cancel 222 The beams are supposed wide, forbidding a notable diffraction which, with laser beams, allows a powerful scattering at an angle depending on the ratio of the indices of refraction..

To fulfil this condition with 10 nonoseconds light pulses, the Raman period must be larger than 20 nanoseconds, that is the Raman transition must correspond to radio-frequencies. Such frequencies are common in heavy molecules. In light molecules, these frequencies are found mostly in hyperfine structures whose source is either an odd number of electrons in a polyatomic molecule, or a Stark or Zeeman structure in any mono- or polyatomic molecule.

## 3 Coherent Raman scattering of ordinary incoherent light (ILCRS) as an avatar of ISRS.

ISRS is a nonlinear scattering: the scattered amplitude is proportional to the square of the incident amplitude, so that the frequency shift is proportional to this amplitude. The computations of ISRS show that, however, it has no intensity threshold. As usual in quantum electrodynamics, the amplitude of an electromagnetic field includes the zero point field: the square of the amplitude of the electric field in ISRS writes $`\widehat{E}^2=(E_0+E)^2`$ where the zero point field $`E_0`$ has the same phase than the conventional, usually observed field $`E`$. For low light levels, $`E^2`$ may be neglected; as the zero point field is nether absorbed or scattered, $`E_0^2`$ is not taken into account; the modulus of $`E_0`$ being constant in the average, the scattered field which is proportional to $`2E_0E`$, appears proportional to $`E`$, with the instantaneous phase of $`E_0`$ and $`E`$. Thus the frequency shift does not depend on the intensity of the beam. The scattered field is stimulated by the zero point field, that is it is spontaneous, but coherent in the absence of collisions.

In short, the properties of ILCRS are:

\- ILCRS works only in very low pressure gases.

\- As the light pulses must be shorter than the period corresponding to the virtual Raman transition, ILCRS works only if the gas has very low energy transitions, that is, generally, if it has an hyperfine structure.

\- While in ISRS the frequency shifts depend on the intensity, they do not in ILCRS. An elementary computation shows that the small variation of the relative frequency shift $`\mathrm{\Delta }\nu /\nu `$ in ILCRS results from a dispersion of the spectroscopic constants of the gas.

## 4 Order of magnitude and dispersion of ILCRS.

ILCRS requires so low pressures, thus so long paths to produce a visible shift that it seems almost impossible to measure it in the labs; an other problem is that among ILCRS active, light molecules, only NO and molecules perturbed by a Zeeman effect are stable. An observation of ISRS with nanosecond pulses involves the same molecular constants than ILCRS; the difference which results from the induction of the scattered light by the zero point field rather than by the a powerful field is easily computed. Thus it seems possible to obtain the ISRS parameters of NO with powerful nanosecond laser pulses and a long cell, then deduce the ILCRS parameters of this gas.

Theoretical computations are difficult because they involve the parameters of lots of Raman transitions of molecules which, even H$`{}_{}{}^{+}{}_{2}{}^{}`$, are not well known. Up to now, we have done only a very rough evaluation of orders of magnitude, making, to obtain easily understandable results, the unwarranted hypothesis that the cosmological redshift results from ILCRS in an homogenous intergalactic gas.

Suppose that the active model molecules have only two low-lying levels and one high such that the two Rayleigh and the two Raman probabilities of scattering are the same. A classical computation  leads to a needed number of molecules

$$N\frac{16\pi ϵ_0mk}{he^2}\left(\frac{F}{f}\right)^2H_0T$$
(1)
where $`m`$ is the mass of the electron, $`e`$ its charge, $`F`$ and $`f`$ the frequencies of the low and high energy transitions, $`H_0`$ the Hubble constant and T the temperature of the gas. Choosing $`T`$ = 2,7K and $`F/f=10^6`$, the number of molecules $`N`$ is 2 per litre. This result is evidently extremely rough, an error of several orders of magnitude is possible.

Suppose that two spectral lines of frequencies $`\nu _1`$ and $`\nu _2`$ are shifted by ILCRS in an homogenous gas down to frequencies $`\nu _1^{}`$ and $`\nu _2^{}`$, so that $`\nu _1^{}<\nu _2^{}<\nu _1<\nu _2`$. The conditions of the redshift are exactly the same for both lines between $`\nu _2^{}`$ and $`\nu _1`$, so that the measure of $`\nu _1^{}`$ and $`\nu _2^{}`$ can only give an information on the dispersion of the redshifts between the intervals $`(\nu _1^{},\nu _2^{})`$ and $`(\nu _1,\nu _2)`$. If the redshifts are much larger than the difference of the eigenfrequencies of the lines, it is difficult to observe the dispersion.

## 5 Propagation of light in an low absorbing, ILCRS active medium.

The frequencies of a light beam are shifted while the absorption writes lines into the spectrum; an absorption line moves in relation to the spectrum brought by the light; thus the width of the lines is equal to the frequency shift; if the number of lines is large, as in the spectroscopy of vibration-rotation spectra of polyatomic molecules, the lines are mixed, the absorption is almost uniform, the molecules cannot be detected.

If the pressure of the gas is increased, two behaviours may appear :

\- if the molecules are slowly or not destroyed by the collisions (NO, OH, NH2…) ILCRS disappears before a destruction of the molecules, so that the absorption spectrum appears.

\- on the contrary, if the molecules are much sensitive to collisions, as H$`{}_{}{}^{+}{}_{2}{}^{}`$, they are destroyed before ILCRS disappears. Thus H$`{}_{}{}^{+}{}_{2}{}^{}`$ cannot be detected in a nearly stable gas.

While a line is shifted from frequency $`\nu `$ to $`\nu \mathrm{\Delta }\nu `$, it loses the fraction $`\mathrm{\Delta }\nu /\nu `$ of its initial energy. This energy amplifies the thermal radiation, including the zero point field; generally the zero point field is preponderant, so that the amplified field is isotropic. Thus, if a cloud contains molecules active for the ILCRS, while it redshifts the hot beams without blur, it radiates a thermal field in all directions; if the cloud does not absorb, its behaviour differs from the behaviour of a cloud of dust, because the number of hot photons is not changed; but if the gas absorbs, and if the redshift is large enough to rub the spectral lines, it is very difficult to measure a difference.

Neglecting ILCRS, many dusty clouds are observed; near very bright objects, their existence is debatable because the grains of dust may be repulsed by the pressure of radiation and corroded by the plasma which surrounds them; thus, probably, many apparently dusty clouds are clouds containing only ILCRS active gases.

## 6 Propagation of light in a plasma and a magnetic field

Suppose that a light beam propagates in a low pressure plasma of atoms, along an axis $`Ox`$; in a magnetic field, the atoms have an hyperfine Zeeman structure, so that they shift the frequencies by ILCRS. Suppose that the static magnetic field $`B`$ has a zero value at point $`O`$; near $`O`$, with a first order approximation, $`B`$ is a linear function of $`x`$, so that the Zeeman splitting is generally a quadratic function of $`x`$. Thus the redshifting power of the gas is proportional to $`x^2`$, and to the density of atoms $`P`$; if $`\nu _1`$ is the frequency of a spectral element for $`x=0`$, its frequency $`\nu `$ at $`x`$ may be written :

$$\nu =\nu _13bPx^2dx=\nu _1bPx^3$$
(2)
where $`b`$ depends on the gas. Supposing that there are nearly no collisions, the gas has a Doppler lineshape, so that the fraction d$`I`$ of the intensity $`I`$ of the spectral element absorbed at $`x`$ may be written:

$$\mathrm{d}I=kPI\mathrm{exp}(a(\nu \nu _0)^2)\mathrm{d}x=$$

$$=kPI\mathrm{exp}(a(\nu _1bPx^3\nu _0)^2)\mathrm{d}x$$
(3)
In the observed spectra, a single line is seen in different places corresponding to the zeros of the magnetic field, exactly as if sheets of absorbing gas moved with various speeds between a white source and the observer. Figure 1 shows, for various values of $`b`$, including $`b=0`$, the result of a numerical computation of equation 3 for a low absorption, that is considering $`I`$ as a constant in the second member; the width of the line at half intensity is not much increased, but this “ILCRS line” has big feet.

Figure 2 shows the result of the computation for large absorptions, such that saturation appears; to allow a comparison simple Doppler- and saturation-widened lines are drawn in the lower part of the figure.

## 7 Properties of many quasars.

The observations show that, generally:

a) The Lyman absorption spectrum of the quasars is produced by a low pressure gas made of light atoms; the temperature is generally higher than 10 000K.

b) Each Lyman line is observed with several redshifts.

c) Most Lyman lines are sharp.

d) Some quasars have broad absorption lines (BAL); their redshifts are lower than the redshift of the sharper emission lines, larger than the redshift of the sharp absorption lines.

The following properties are debatable:

e) The thermal spectra of the QSOs, hotter for BALQSOs , is attributed to hot dust.

f) The density and the temperature of the plasma increase with the redshift .

g) The quasars are next to galaxies whose redshifts are lower .

h) The values $`z`$ of the redshifts verify rules such as $`\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{ln}(1+z)=0.206`$

i) The relative frequency shifts are nearly constant in the spectrum .

## 8 Simple model of the outer part of a quasar.

Suppose that the quasar is made of a dense, spherical kernel surrounded by a thin atmosphere, origin of the emission lines and by a halo heated by the kernel. The next, sister galaxy (Arp’s hypothesis) has not such a halo. The observation of the polarisation, in the microwave domain, shows the existence of a magnetic field.

In a magnetic (or electric field), the Zeeman (or Stark) effect induces a hyperfine structure in the atoms : the plasma around the quasar becomes active for ILCRS. A light beam propagating from the kernel to the earth is mostly redshifted during its propagation in the halo. Section 5 shows that the spectrum seems having absorption lines only in places which correspond to zeros of the magnetic field. Near the kernel, the emission lines are added to the continuous spectrum, they have the maximum redshift. The energy lost by the redshift heats the thermal spectrum, simulating heated dust.

The redshifted frequencies do not depend on the speed of a sheet of gas, or the position of an absorbing cloud, they detect the zeros of a static field. In the lower region of the halo of a BALQSOs, the density of atoms is large enough to broaden the ILCRS lines by a saturation, as shown in figure 2; elsewhere the lines are sharp.

Thus, observations a) to e) are explained; f) is a simple consequence of the decrease of temperature and pressure with the distance to the QSO; as the sister galaxy has no redshifting halo, the explanation of g) is immediate.

Supposing that the variation of the magnetic field obeys a similar rule for all quasars seems reasonable; it would explain h).

The difference of the eigen-frequencies of two lines is known from spectroscopy; the difference of the observed frequencies appears generally true to the difference of frequencies computed with the hypothesis of a constant relative frequency shift $`\mathrm{\Delta }\nu /\nu `$; this usual verification is a strong argument for an interpretation of the redshifts by Doppler or expansion effects; as all optical effects, ILCRS is subject to dispersion; section 4 shows that the consequence of this dispersion is small.

Using good spectrometers and good calibrations of the spectra, Webb et al.  found a small variation of $`\mathrm{\Delta }\nu /\nu `$ which they considered as a consequence of a variation of the fine structure constant. It is simpler to suppose that the discrepancy corresponds to the genuine dispersion ILCRS.

## 9 Conclusion

While optical coherence is taught to all physicists, while we see laser beams almost every day, while ISRS is studied for more than thirty years, it is incomprehensible that Raman coherent effects are ignored in astrophysics. Low pressure clouds, containing ILCRS active molecules such as OH, NH2, make surely a part of the observed redshifts; a precise evaluation of this part requires hypothesis about invisible galactic and intergalactic gases and spectroscopic measures and computations, but the rough evaluation forbids to ignore ILCRS a priori.

With an exception to the origin of radio and microwave frequencies, all properties, sure or debated, of the quasars are explained by the hypothesis of a magnetic field in a plasma next to the quasar, plasma whose properties are found from the Lyman and associated UV spectrum. The theory is much simpler than the conventional theory, it needs only usual matter and regular spectroscopy.

The present hypothesis on the quasars should be refined by a very complicated study of Raman spectroscopy in atoms perturbed by Zeeman or Stark effects, and by a precise study of the magnetic fields near the quasars; but the hypothesis gives so remarkably simple an explanation of all optical observations, with only elementary hypothesis and regular physical concepts, that it has a large probability of being reliable.


text:
# Complementarity and diversity in a soluble model ecosystem

## Abstract

Complementarity among species with different traits is one of the basic processes affecting biodiversity, defined as the number of species in the ecosystem. We present here a soluble model ecosystem in which the species are characterized by binary traits and their pairwise interactions follow a complementarity principle. Manipulation of the species composition, and so the study of its effects on the species diversity, is achieved through the introduction of a bias parameter favoring one of the traits. Using statistical mechanics tools we find explict expressions for the allowed values of the equilibrium species concentrations in terms of the control parameters of the model.

One of the main interests in the study of model ecosystems is to elucidate the rules governing the assemblage of ecological communities May . In particular, understanding the critical role that species composition plays in ecosystem processes can provide useful guidelines to management efforts on behalf of endangered species Kareiva . Theory has been prominent in the study of long-term effects of species composition on ecosystem functioning, owing mainly to the difficulty to keep controlled experimental conditions in place for a long period (for a recent remarkable exception, see Brown ). In these studies, $`N`$ species are considered to interact in a given community so that their population numbers or biomasses, denoted by $`x_1,\mathrm{},x_N`$, are determined by the dynamical equations

$$\frac{x_i}{t}=x_iG(x_i,\underset{j}{\overset{N}{}}J_{ij}x_j)$$
(1)
where $`G()`$ is a species-independent nonlinear function, such as Ricker dynamics Murray , giving the rate of increase of each population and $`J_{ij}`$ is the interaction coefficient measuring the effect of species $`j`$ on species $`i`$ Ives ; Lundberg . As a rule, the number of species (diversity) $`N`$ is taken as the control parameter or independent variable and the total biomass (productivity) $`_ix_i`$, viewed as a measure of the ecosystem stability, as the dynamical variable Ives ; Tilman ; Lundberg . However, especially in long-term studies of large ecosystems this approach is faulty since it does not take into account the dynamics of diversity and the species potencial for adaptation to environmental fluctuations Loreau .

In this contribution we consider an alternative approach in which the diversity is given by the number of surviving species in the ecosystem at equilibrium, being thus a dynamical variable that, ultimately, depends on the nature of the species composing the ecosystem. In particular, we assume that the fraction or concentration of individuals of species $`i`$ in the ecosystem, $`x_i[0,\mathrm{})`$, is determined by the nonlinear system of equations, so-called replicator equations Hofbauer ,

$$\frac{x_i}{t}=x_i\left(_i\frac{\varphi }{N}\right)$$
(2)
where $`_i=_jJ_{ij}x_j`$ can be identified with the fitness of species $`i`$ and the term $`\varphi =_ix_i_i`$ ensures that

$$\underset{i=1}{\overset{N}{}}x_i=N$$
(3)
for all times. This constraint enforces an effective competition among the species in the ecosystem. We note that by dropping the $`\varphi `$ term in Eq. (2) we recover the classical equation of Lotka-Volterra Murray .

In the case of symmetric interactions $`J_{ij}=J_{ji}`$ the asymptotic regime of Eq. (2) is simply characterized: the dynamics maximizes the Lyapunov function or fitness functional

$$\left(\{x_i\}\right)=\underset{i,j}{}J_{ij}x_ix_j$$
(4)
and so it can be shown that the only stationary states are fixed points Hofbauer . In this case $`J_{ij}<0`$ corresponds to pairs of cooperating species whereas $`J_{ij}>0`$ to pairs of competing species. The equilibrium regime as well as some aspects of the dynamics can become nontrivial, however, in the case that the functional $``$ has many local maxima. This occurs when the coupling strengths $`J_{ij}`$ are quenched random variables taking on positive and negative values, as in the model of random replicators put forward by Diederich and Opper Diederich  (for further development see Opper ; Oliveira1 ). The assumption of random interactions is a form of taking into account our lack of knowledge of how the species actually interact. Moreover, it allows the use of tools of the statistical mechanics of disordered systems to fully characterize the equilibrium states, thus making feasible the study of large ecosystems. In contrast, to keep numerical accuracy under control, the traditional approach based on the numerical solution of Eq. (1) is restricted to ecosystems composed of typically $`N=10`$ species. We note that in the random replicator framework the productivity $`_ix_i`$ is constant, while the diversity varies since a fraction of the $`N`$ species may go extinct due to outcompetition. This phenomenon becomes appreciable, and hence passive of quantitative analysis, for large $`N`$ only.

Up to now studies of the random replicator model have considered the strengths of the interactions between species as independent, Gaussian distributed random variables Diederich ; Opper ; Oliveira1 . In this contribution we go beyond this initial stage by introducing some underlying, non-random structure in the interspecies interactions. In the spirit of models for molecular recognition Farmer ; Lancet  we assume that each species is characterized by a set of $`p`$ traits, $`\xi _i^\mu ,\mu =1,\mathrm{},p`$, and that the resulting interactions between pairs of species depend on these traits according to a complementarity principle. Specifically, we assume that the traits $`\xi _i^\mu `$ are quenched, independent random variables that can take on the values $`+1`$ and $`1`$ with probabilities $`(1+a)/2`$ and $`(1a)/2`$, respectively. Here $`a[0,1]`$ is a bias towards the trait $`+1`$, corresponding, e.g., to an economically favored feature of the species. In this sense, the parameter $`a`$ may be thought of as a measure of the human impact on the species composition of the ecosystem. In addition, we assume that the coupling strength between species $`i`$ and $`j`$ is given by the Hebb rule

$$J_{ij}=\frac{1}{2N}\underset{\mu =1}{\overset{p}{}}\xi _i^\mu \xi _j^\mu ij$$
(5)
that was extensively studied in the eighties within the neural networks context Hopfield ; Amit\_book . Clearly, the larger the number of complementary traits (i.e., $`\xi _i^\mu \xi _j^\mu =1`$), the more cooperative the pair of species. Complementarity among species with different traits has been suggested as one of the major mechanisms involved in biodiversity. In that context, the term complementarity subsumes all local deterministic processes which increase the performance of communities above that expected from the performance of individual species grown alone Loreau . If community performance is measured in terms of the fitness functional (4) then the Hebb coupling between species (5) is clearly well suited to model such processes.

As the final ingredient to define the model, we need to specify the self-interactions $`J_{ii}`$. Though for finite $`N`$ the constraint (3) prevents the unbounded growth of any single species, it becomes inefficacious in the thermodynamic limit $`N\mathrm{}`$ and so an additional mechanism to limit growth becomes necessary. The usual procedure is to introduce a competition term between individuals of a same species by setting $`J_{ii}=u>0`$ for all $`i`$ so that $`u`$ can be viewed as a global cooperation pressure. In practice, a positive self-interaction is essential to ensure convergence of the numerical methods used to solve the replicator equations (2).

The maxima of the functional given in Eq. (4) can easily be obtained within the statistical mechanics framework in the limit of infinite $`N`$ but finite $`p`$ (see, e.g., Amit\_book ). We begin by defining the free-energy density $`f`$ as

$$\beta f=\underset{N\mathrm{}}{lim}\frac{1}{N}\mathrm{ln}Z$$
(6)
where

$`Z`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle _0^{\mathrm{}}}{\displaystyle \underset{i}{}}\mathrm{d}x_i\delta (N{\displaystyle \underset{i}{}}x_i)`$ (7)
$`\times \mathrm{exp}\left[{\displaystyle \frac{\beta }{2N}}{\displaystyle \underset{\mu }{}}\left({\displaystyle \underset{i}{}}\xi _i^\mu x_i\right)^2\beta u{\displaystyle \underset{i}{}}x_i^2\right]`$
is the partition function and $`\beta =1/T`$ is the inverse temperature. Taking the limit $`T0`$ in Eq. (6) ensures that only the states that maximize $``$ will contribute to $`Z`$. After some standard algebric manipulations Amit\_book , we find

$`\beta f`$ $`=`$ $`Q+{\displaystyle \frac{𝐦^2}{2\beta }}+\mathrm{ln}\left\{{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}\sqrt{{\displaystyle \frac{\pi }{\beta u}}}\right\}+{\displaystyle \frac{\left(Q+𝐦\xi \right)^2}{4\beta u}}`$ (8)
$`+\mathrm{ln}\text{erfc}\left({\displaystyle \frac{Q+𝐦\xi }{2\sqrt{\beta u}}}\right)`$
with the notation $`𝐳𝐲=_\mu z^\mu y^\mu `$ and where we have invoked the self-averaging property of the sums $`(1/N)_ig(\xi _i^\mu )`$, where $`g`$ is any continuous function, to replace them by the species-independent averages $`g(\xi ^\mu )`$. Here $`\mathrm{}`$ stands for the average taken with the probability distribution

$$𝒫\left(\xi \right)=\underset{\mu }{}\left[\frac{1+a}{2}\delta \left(\xi ^\mu 1\right)+\frac{1a}{2}\delta \left(\xi ^\mu +1\right)\right].$$
(9)
The saddle-point parameters $`Q`$ and $`m^\mu `$ are given by the solutions of the equations $`f/Q=0`$ and $`f/m^\mu =0`$. Only $`m^\mu `$ has a relevant physical meaning, namely, it is the average overlap between the equilibrium solutions and the trait $`\xi _i^\mu ,i=1,\mathrm{},N`$,

$$m^\mu =\frac{1}{N}\underset{i}{}\xi _i^\mu x_i_T$$
(10)
where $`\mathrm{}_T`$ stands for a thermal average taken with the probability distribution

$$𝒲(\{x_i\})=\frac{1}{Z}\delta (N\underset{i}{}x_i)\mathrm{exp}\left[\beta (\{x_i\})\right].$$
(11)
The next step is to take the zero-temperature limit $`\beta \mathrm{}`$. Nonzero solutions for $`Q`$ and $`m^\mu `$ are found in the regime $`Q+𝐦\xi <0`$ only, where the $`p+1`$ saddle-point equations take on a particularly simple form, whose only solution is the symmetric one $`m^\mu =m\mu `$. Explicitly, we find

$$\widehat{m}=\frac{2ua}{2u+1a^2}$$
(12)
and

$$\widehat{Q}=2u\left(1+\frac{pa^2}{2u+1a^2}\right)$$
(13)
with the notation $`\widehat{Q}=Q/\beta `$ and $`\widehat{m}=m/\beta `$.

The characterization of the ecosystem through the global parameter $`𝐦`$ is not very illuminating, and a better understanding can be achieved by looking directly at the values the species concentrations $`x_i`$ can take on. This can be done, for instance, by calculating explicitly the cumulative distribution that the concentration of a given species, say $`x_k`$, assumes a value smaller than $`x`$, defined by

$$C_k\left(x\right)=\underset{\beta \mathrm{}}{lim}_0^{\mathrm{}}\underset{j}{}dx_j\mathrm{\Theta }\left(xx_k\right)𝒲\left(\{x_i\}\right)$$
(14)
where $`\mathrm{\Theta }(x)=1`$ if $`x0`$ and $`0`$ otherwise, and $`𝒲\left(\{x_i\}\right)`$ is given by Eq. (11). Since all species concentrations are equivalent we can write $`C_k\left(x\right)=C\left(x\right)k`$ and evaluate Eq. (14) by adding the field term $`h_i\mathrm{\Theta }\left(xx_i\right)`$ to Eq. (4). Taking the derivatives of the resulting free-energy with respect to $`h`$ and then the limit $`h0`$ yield

$$C(x)=\underset{n=0}{\overset{p}{}}W_n\mathrm{\Theta }\left(x\zeta _n\right),$$
(15)
where

$$W_n=\left(\begin{array}{c}p\\ n\end{array}\right)\left(\frac{1+a}{2}\right)^n\left(\frac{1a}{2}\right)^{pn}$$
(16)
and

$$\zeta _n=1+\frac{pa\left(a+1\right)2an}{2u+1a^2}n=0,1,\mathrm{},p.$$
(17)
Hence the species concentrations can take on the values $`x=\zeta _n`$ (provided that $`\zeta _n>0`$) only, and the fraction of species with concentration $`\zeta _n`$ is given by $`W_n`$. Here the integer variable $`n`$ yields the total number of traits $`+1`$ assigned to a given species. The fact that $`n`$ is the only species feature that determines the equilibrium concentration is consequence of the symmetric solution $`m^\mu =m\mu `$ of the saddle-point equations. Since $`\zeta _0\zeta _1\mathrm{}\zeta _p`$ the economically more relevant species, i.e., those characterized by the set of traits $`\xi ^\mu =+1\mu `$, are the first ones to go extinct when, say, the cooperation pressure $`u`$ decreases. The condition for the coexistence of all species in the ecosystem is then $`\zeta _p>0`$ that reduces to

$$p<1+\frac{1}{a}+\frac{2u}{a\left(1a\right)}.$$
(18)
We note that the species characterized by $`n<p/2`$ never die out. A comparison of these analytical results with the numerical solution of Eq. (2) for $`N=2000`$ and a single instance of the interaction matrix is presented in Fig. 1 where we show the cumulative distribution $`C(x)`$ for $`p=5`$. For the sake of illustration, the corresponding probability distribution $`P(x)dC/dx`$ is also shown in the inset.

The situation of maximum cooperation occurs for $`a=0`$ since $`\zeta _n=1n`$ and any particular set of $`p`$ traits contributes with the same fraction, $`2^p`$, to the final ecosystem composition. However, this symmetry is broken for $`a>0`$. In fact, as the result of the excess of traits $`\xi ^\mu =+1`$, many different species carry the same or nearly the same set of traits and so their interactions have a strongly competitive character, i.e. $`J_{ij}p/N>0`$, explaining thus the depletion of the concentration of species with $`n>p/2`$. On the other hand, the advantage of species characterized by an excess of traits $`\xi ^\mu =1`$ is twofold. First, their relative rarenesses imply that there are few competing species and, second, they have abundance of cooperative partners among the species with $`n>p/2`$. These two factors explain the dominance, in the sense of occuring at larger concentrations and hence of possessing greater stability, of the species characterized by $`n<p/2`$. A particularly extreme situation is observed in the limits $`u0`$ and $`a1`$, when all species with $`n>p/2`$ die out. These findings can be given an obvious ecological interpretation, namely, species that are too similar and, consequently, compete for essentially the same resources are proner to extinction. However, the situation is not so simple in the case of a nonzero $`u`$. For instance, in the limit $`a1`$ the explosive growth of species with $`n<p/2`$ can be controlled even by a vanishingly small self-interaction parameter, resulting in the coexistence of all species \[see Eq. (18)\]. Fig. 2 illustrates the complex dependence of the species diversity $`D=1C(0)`$ on the control parameters $`a`$ and $`p`$ for $`u=0.1`$. The results for $`u=0`$ are very similar, except in the close neighborhood of $`a=1`$ where $`D0`$, implying that there are a finite number of surviving species only.

These results indicate that, when complementarity is the sole mechanism determining the species interactions, the assemblage of synthetic ecosystems aiming at the exploitation of some particular traits (as in monocultures, for instance) may, in the long term, be disastrous to the economically relevant species. However, if there is in addition some external global pressure for cooperation, then the best strategy for the long-term survival of those species is to guarantee that they are massively present in the initial assemblage. Even so, the more stable species are always those of less economic value.

Although diversity has been manipulated as an independent variable in most of the numerical studies of model ecosystems as well as in small scale experiments, it is becoming evident that, in large scales, species diversity itself is a dynamical variable that adjusts freely to changes in environmental conditions Loreau . The understanding of more complex ecological systems calls then for a more holistic approach. Though relying on the unrealistic, technical assumption of symmetry of the interactions between species, equilibrium statistical mechanics provides an useful (if not the only) analytic framework to tackle this difficult issue. The elusive character of diversity is apparent from our results (see, e.g., Fig. 2) since, despite the simplicity of our model ecosystem, its complex dependence on the control parameters of the model precludes a simple description in terms of a single parameter. This situation is reminiscent of a recent impass in ecology, triggered by the finding of a positive correlation between diversity and productivity in experiments on randomly assembled communities, whereas in nature the most productive ecosystems are those characterized by low species diversity Loreau . These antagonistic conclusions may well be due to the attempt to describe productivity solely in terms of diversity, while a complete description would require the knowledge of other, probably uncontrolled, quantities.

The work of J.F.F was supported in part by CNPq and FAPESP, Project No. 99/09644-9. V.M.O. was supported by FAPESP.